CURRENT LITERATURE.
Three Pleasant Springs in Portugal. By Commander the Hon. Henry Shore, R.N. (Sampson Low, Marston, and Co. 12s. 6d.) —This book gives the feeling that the author enjoyed himself very much, both while he was travelling and while he was writing about his travels. His style is rather rambling, the construction of his sentences is sometimes peculiar, and be is perhaps a little too fond of using a French or a Latin word where an English one would have been equally, or perhaps more, appropriate. However, these are but slight blemishes on a book which gives us a vivid picture of Portuguese scenery and manners. The former must be as beautiful as the latter are uncouth, but at the same time kindly. He gives an amusing account of a scene at a table d'hôte, of which he was a witness, at a fashionable hotel near Lisbon :—" Our attention was attracted to a male member of the community seated within a yard or two of us, whose outward form and devotion to his victuals at once suggested a comparison with the fat boy in Pickwick, say, on attaining the age of fifty—supposing him to have lived so long How that fat-encased gentleman en- joyed his food ! He had come to dine, and it was only meet that nothing should be allowed to interrupt the enjoyment to be derived from a dinner of many courses and three hours' duration." By some means he was not ready for dessert quite as soon as the rest of the party, so that when, after eating an orange or two and some locusts, he called for strawberries, there were none forth-
coming. "And now there ensued a scene He fairly howled like a spoilt and greedy child To yell for the
waiters was the work of an instant 'Call this a dinner !' he shouted in stentorian tones, in his own sonorous mother tongue, 'Call this a dinner, and no strawberries F' Conversation had ceased. Every eye was directed sympathetically on this poor victim of misplaced confidence who was making the room echo to the cry of Marang,ao,' for the Portuguese are mui sympafica, and there was not a man or woman in that assemblage but would have willingly torn the strawberries from his or her mouth to have stayed the cravings of their fellow-countryman,—and stopped his jaw." At last the waiters produced a dish of straw- berries. "A smile stole over the face of the fat hidalgo, as relapsing into his wonted silence, he proceeded to fill up a large tumbler with the berries, smothered them in sugar, filled up the glass with generous Colares, and swilled off' the contents with- out a wink." Commander Shore's account of the exploits of English soldiers and sailors in Portugal is interesting, and his sketch-map showing battles and other events is clearly drawn. He has a keen feeling for beautiful scenery, and his descriptions of the fine views, of which there are many in this country, are well done. It is odd that so few English people go to Portugal ; it is an easy place to get at, and there is a great deal worth seeing there.
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