The Log of a Cowboy. By Andy Adams. (Constable and
Co. 6s.)—This is a very truthful, and at times picturesque, record of the cowboy's life on the trail. It describes a great drive of cattle from Brownsville, on the Texas shores of the Gulf of Mexico, to the Blackfoot Agency in Montana, where the cattle were turned over to fulfil a million-pound contract for beef. It is in its way a painstaking, patient record, too minute, perhaps, and at times holds the reader with some stirring situation. To many it will appear dull, though the writer has considerable command of language; but we have felt that we get to know the individual cowboys and their way of telling a story, and rejoiced even in the details, knowing them to be but a part of a very striking picture. The story of a stampede and the tremendous work it entails on the whole "outfit " is alone worth reading, and scarcely less fascinating is the recital of the unsuccessful attempt to drive the herd across the waterless desert. For an absolutely true account of a cowboy's life we can cordially recommend this book.
Ranching with Lords and Commons. By John R. Craig. (William Briggs.)—The greater portion of this book is devoted to the story of the Oxley Ranch in Alberta. Mr. Craig is a very straightforward, plain-speaking cattleman, and his narrative and tone are refreshingly vigorous. He is never offensive, but he never spares those who fall below his standard. Incorporated with these more personal and private chapters are descriptions of short trips and the life of the ranching community in the North- West. Mr. Craig has no great pretensions to literary form, but his book is very wholesome reading, and we do want the honest, un- varnished truth about these big syndicates, cattle or otherwise. Cattle-owners may derive some valuable hints from Mr. Craig's, that is to say, the manager's, view of these big ranches held by non-resident owners.
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