Carried 01 By Esme Stuart. (National Society.)—An in- teresting story
of adventure and peril. The scene is laid in the West Indies. The great buccaneer, Henry Morgan, makes an attack on the Spanish settlement there, beginning with the Island of St. Catherine. The story is chiefly concerned with one Harry Fenn, the son of an English yeoman whom Morgan has carried off, and the family of Don Estevan, Governor of St. Catherine. The troubles and perils which they undergo are graphically described, and will no doubt be very popular with young people. Still, the book is not in Miss Stuart's best style. It has neither the originality nor the careful delineation of character which generally mark her productions. Perhaps we have an exception in the Indian, Andreas ; his love and devotion for his master, and the melancholy end which they bring upon him, are powerfully drawn. But the faithful Indian, like the rest of the characters in this book, is by this time well known to us. In fact, unless he has something to distinguish him very clearly from the rest of his species, he is what we should call rather hackneyed. Nevertheless, if the book is somewhat lacking in originality, it has a good, healthy tone, and will not fail to prove exciting to those minds which are not as yet jaded by tales of thrilling adventure. Silver Star Valley. By M. Bramston. (National Society.)— Miss Bramston has given an interesting account of life in one of the mining communities among the Rocky Mountains. Not only has the book plenty of adventure and incident, but it also possesses the merit of being true to life. Some of Miss Bramston's characters are really well drawn. There are some humorous touches also. We can sympathise with the English boy who is suddenly set down in the midst of a homely but excessively pious Scotch family, and who has Alleyne's "Call to the Unconverted" given him to read on Sunday afternoon, and is told, when he asks permission to write a letter,—" We do not write letters on the honourable Sabbath."
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