A Flight to Mexico. By J. J. Aubertin. (Regan Paul
and Co.)— As the author of this record of a short visit to Mexico was able to converse with the natives in their own language, he, of course, gained many interesting particulars which would have escaped an ordinary traveller. Bat the facts which give a special interest to the book, and which could have been gained in no other way, are those re- lating to the last days of the unfortunate Maximilian. He was shown the fatal spot, a small mound just outside Queretaro, where he and his two companions suffered death ; and he heard from the lips of officers concerned in the military part of the affair, and from the confessor who gave him spiritual consola- tion, many most affecting details. Yet with all his interest in Maximilian, and compassion for his untimely end, the anther thinks he can trace to a certain feebleness and vanity in the Emperor's mind, a good many of the untoward circumstances by which he was thwarted. There are several illustrations of buildings and landscapes in Mexico which, though not very fine specimens of art, yet help, with the author's vivid descriptions, to take one with him through the country. There are many interesting little bits of information about other places visited by the author, who does not aim to do more than to gossip pleasantly with his readers about any- thing of which he is reminded by the objects on his route. He seems to give a good idea in this way of engineering difficulties in Mexico, by comparing them with those of Brazil. The only draw- back to an otherwise instructive and entertaining book is found when the author allows himself to sneer at the faith of those who do not share his scepticism.
Previous page
