The Romance of Polar Exploration. By C. Frith Scott. (C.
Arthur Pearson. 5s.)—It is necessary, in judging of this book, to bear in mind the inexorability of the limits of space. Mr. Scott very properly includes Antarctic voyaging in his account of "Polar Exploration." But he has to give up a considerable proportion of his pages to this branch of the subject. Hence ho has to crowd all the pre-Franklin story into two or three pages. We cannot help regretting the loss, for the experiences of these early voyagers were, if possible, more picturesque than those of their modern successors. Still, something had to be sacrificed, and, on the whole, it was better to keep that with the conditions of which we are more familiar. And it would be ungracious to complain. After all, as a romance the story of Franklin, with its long-concealed issue and the dramatic discovery, stands without a parallel. And, coming to later times, who ought not to be satis- fied when he reads of Nares, Greoly, Peary, Nansen, and the Duke of Abruzzi ? The South Polo story cannot, indeed, vie with that of the North ; but it has attractions and wonders of its own. The story of Hare, the New Zealander, who after a thirty-six hours' sleep in the snow rejoined his comrades, is, as the author says, unique.—We welcome a new edition of Britain's Sea-Story, Edited by E. E. Speight, B.A., and It. Morton Nance (Hodder and Stoughton, ..5s.), with its narrative of "British Heroism in Voyaging and Sea-Fight from Alfred's Time to the
Battle of Trafalgar." The editor gives us, besides, an introduc- tory sketch of the development of sailing vessels. The inhabitants of Britain figure in this, as they must have had a considerable transport, if, as Caesar alleges, they were able to give substantial help to their neighbours in Gaul. The volume itself consists of extracts chosen from a great variety of authors.
Previous page
