OVER: 'MY , . SHOULDER '!- [To the Editor of tRE SPECTATOR.]
Sta,—The title of my travel book Over My Shoulder (reviewed in yeair•last issue) is borrowed, from R. L. Stevenson's wordS': " We' who have only looked at a country over our shoulder; so to speak, as we went by, will have a conception Of it far more memorable and articulate than a. man who has lived there all his life."
Your reviewer says : " it is doubtful if Stevenson meant his remark to apply to passengers on a luxury cruising liner, with its rose-coloured port-holes." . Why " doubtful " ? The passage occurs in ..4?a Autumn Effect, and has no more to do with " luxury cruising liners " than has ray book. I have never been on a cruise and am thankful I have never seen a ship with " rose-coloured port-holes." While I am grateful for the reviewer's comment that Over My Shoulder is " readable and entertaining," I should like to correct the statement that it is an account of " a world cruise." Actually I sailed in 14 different ocean-going vessels, some quite Small (as the 2,000 ton steamer mentioned on page 104). Perhaps I should have been more explicit in the introduction. I trust my letter is not merely another example of Stevenson's dictum " grumbling is the traveller's pastime."—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, . BERNARD MARTIN. ' Chylands, Springfield, Chelmsford, July 15.
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