FROM THE THAMES TO 1Hes SEINE.
From the Thames to the Seine. Written and Illustrated by Charles Pears. (Chatto and Windus. 12s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Pears, wisely relegating the technical instructions intended for possible imitators to an appendix, makes a very pleasant tale out of his voyage from Hammersmith to the Havre. He went by himself, a somewhat foolhardy proceeding, as it seems to a stay-at-home critic,—he might urge, however, that the world has been won by such doings. Anyhow, whether he was wise or not in doing it, it is distinctly interesting to hear how he did it. He crossed from Ramsgate to Calais, and then worked his way westward along the French coast, visiting, among various places, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Wimereux, Etaples, Montreuil, St. Valmy-sur-Somme, Le Tr6port, and Eu. He tells not only about the sea, but about . land, for his shore doings naturally give occasion for more variety of narrative, and the charm of the book is enhanced by his clever pencil. The French towns and fishing villages mostly pleased him, but Le Treport was an exception. Now and then Mr. Pears is a little paradoxical. What can he mean by the " awful neatness and generous repair which rob English cathedrals of the charm which is to be found in those of the Continent" ? The custodians of these same Cathedrals do not feel the charm of decay, or rejoice to see how "each shaking tile, each broken slate, tells its tale of age." And is it not possible that some of the bitterness which he shows to Le Treport was due to his own mood at the time ?
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