22 MARCH 1902, Page 23

The Land of the Lost. By William Satchell. (Methuen and

Co. 6s.)—In The Land of the Lost we have more of the conven- tional realism of pot-house brawling with appropriate oaths and blood. But intertwined with the brutality is a theme of senti- ment. There is a sufficiently interesting love story with one heroine and two heroes, and in the end the better man gets the girl. The scene is in Auckland, and the business occupying the men of the tale is gum-scraping. This introduces an element of practical interest and makes occasion for some good descriptive passages.