On a Coral Reef: the Story of a Runaway Trip
to Sea. By Arthur Locker. (Cassell, Potter, and Galpin.)—This is a thoroughly pleasant boy's book, telling us by its title what we are to expect, and not dis- appointing us. We have in it the adventures of two boys who ran off to sea, being afraid of condign punishment at home on account of some stacks having taken fire after they had been pistol-shooting in the stick- yard. The ship which they join is bound for the East Indies, but when it gets past the Mauritius and is bowling along nine knots an hour before a good breeze, it runs on a sunken reef, and the crew just manage to escape to some rocks that are nigh at hand. On this reef our heroes remain till the longboat is fitted up, and sent for help to the Mauritius. A mutiny among the crew, and the division of the men into two camps, with other incidents of the same kind, mark the sojourn on the coral island ; but help comes at last in the shape of a man-of-war, and the men are taken off safely. Better still, the two runaway lads find their friends in Australia, so that the story ends happily. We recommend it to boys in general, only begging them not to follow the example of its heroes.
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