3 DECEMBER 1904, Page 14

Tibet : the Country and its Inhabitants. By F. Grenard.

Trans- lated by A. Teixeira do Mattos. (Hutchinson and Co. 10s. 6d. net.) —M. Grenard was the chosen companion of the ill-fated Dutreuil de Rhins in his scientific expedition to Tibet, which left France in the year 1891. The story of the leader will always be among the most tragic connected with Tibet's long years of mystery. It is only now that the public, in England at least, have had the opportunity of knowing much about the history of these painful events, and to any one who cares for real adventure and discovery, hardship, danger, and endurance, this book will be of extreme interest. The fascination of Tibet began years ago for many of us, and the French have taken their full share in courageous, unselfish exploration. Who does not remember the simple, delightful record of Huc and Gabet ? M. Grenard tells his story very clearly and well, and with a straightforwardness worthy of the leader he mourns so sincerely. The one passion of Dutreuil de Rhins was for science. He seems to have had an impatient severity of temperament which perhaps, fine in itself, was hardly in his favour among such people as the Tibetans. Even his friend, full of honest admiration, must have realised a certain imprudence and lack of diplomacy, without which the expedition, perhaps bound to be a failure, might not have ended in tragic disaster. The present valuable book, however, contains a quantity of information on Tibet and its inhabitants, the direct result of those months of toil and disappointment.

CAUTION.