An Australian Ramble. By J. Ewing Ritchie. (T. Fisher Unwin.)
—It is rather difficult to know what the author is, in spite of his alternative name of " Christopher Crayon." But if " Christopher Crayon" is a nom-de-plume, it is not to be wondered at that he should wish to write under it rather than under his own name. A more slipshod, shambly-rambly performance than this book has seldom been offered to the public even by a globe-trotter. Take, for instance, this : " It is strange to remember that at one time Colombo was so far off that the news of her Majesty's accession to the Crown, which occurred on June 20th, 1833 [sic], did not reach
Colombo till some immense time after." Or again : " Dr. Strong calls his place 'the Australian Church.' It seems to me, as far as I can make out, that the wish is father to the thought ;"—and so forth, and so on. The most pertinent and coherent remarks in the book are on the subject of the drinking which prevails in Melbourne and Sydney. These may be set off on the credit side against such a terrible capacity for " marring a curious tale in telling it," as is shown in turning the celebrated saying that it would be better if the Australians " damned their climate a little less and their rivers a little more," into " a country which, as has been well remarked, could get on very well if the inhabitants would grumble less at the climate and dam the rivers more."
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