The Barren Ground of Northern Canada. By Warburton Pike. (Macmillan.)—Mr.
Pike underwent great hardships, and ran no small danger of death, coming as near to absolute starvation as a man well could, and had for his reward the consciousness of having seen what no other white man had ever seen, and of killing sundry musk-oxen. At the same time, his book is a distinctly valuable contribution to our geographical knowledge, and he has much that is curious to tell us about the natural history of the parts which he visited. One remarkable fact is that the rabbits and lynxes almost die out every seventh year in Northern Canada. They go on increasing at a great rate for six years ; when the climax is reached, the country swarms with them; then comes the epidemic, and scarcely one is to be seen alive. Does this throw any light on the grouse-disease, which, some assert, comes from overstocking ? Unfortunately for the Indians, it means starvation. The rabbits keep them alive, as the moose have become scarce. The scientific element, then, is not absent from the book, but it is in the main a tale of perilous adventure told in a simple and unaffected fashion.
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