CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Indian Alps, and How We Crossed Them. By a Lady Pioneer. (Longman.)—About three hundred miles duo north from Calcutta is the station of Darjeeling, and close thereto, running irregularly into our frontier, is the pfotected State of Sikhim. This sumptuous volume is an account, recorded with pencil as well as pen, of a tour made in that region, which lies, it will be remembered, in the easternmost and loftiest part of the Himalayan range. The Himalayas are not, it would seem, well suited to tourists, if these be of the ordinary make and material of mortal men. You cannot go in the " rains " for fear of malaria, nor in the months that precede them, as the country is covered with mist, and are practically confined to the winter, when you have, for the most part, fine weather, but, of course, very cold. In the winter, therefore, the " Lady Pioneer," with her husband and a friend, and the usual troop of porters, &c., started. The tale of their wanderings is a very pleasant one. The " incidents of travel "—and incidents are not wanting in such regions—are told in an agreeable way. Not the least pleasing feature of the book is the kindly spirit in which the writer regards her native followers and acquaintances. This, as much as any literary skill, gives her the art of making them real and interesting to us. No one, for instance, will easily forget Lattoo, the Lepcha girl, with her little love- story, or fail to be sorry with the author at the news which meets her on her return. The illustrations are very nicely drawn, and the coloured sketches particularly attractive.
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