The Cruise of the Crystal Boat. By Gordon Stables. (lutchin-
son.)—A great deal of labour has been bestowed upon this book, and there is even a considerable amount of ability in it. But, in its main characteristics, it does not recall the best of Mr. Gordon Stables's work. For one thing, he does not appear at home in the first chapters, the scene of which appears to be laid somewhere in Asia ; and although, with the help of his "crystal boat," he traverses a considerable amount of space in his semi-Asmodean attempt to unroof the world and see the misery of a considerable portion of it, he does this in a fashion so clumsily improbable as to make it a dreary task to follow his plot. There are several exciting adventures of the kind that boys will appreciate in this book ; there could hardly fail to be such in a volume of nearly 350 pages. But it is to be hoped that Dr. Stables will return to that direct narrative of stirring and startling incident in which he has achieved such notable and deserved success.
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