5 APRIL 1957, Page 24

The Brass Dolphins, by Christopher Kinin- month (Seeker and Warburg,

25s.): spirited and

near-scholarly account of life in Malta by a seasoned Mediterranean traveller who now lives on Gozo, the smaller of the islands; spoilt at times by a chi-chi style; an exaggerated social

sensitivity and a maddening use, throughout the text, of the words 'my friend' to describe a com-

panion. An unusual and stimulating book, it is humble enough to realise that an educated Anglo- Saxon cannot enter into the outlook of a Maltese pealant just because he tries, and has a fresh, analytical eye, agreeably free of the usual Mediterranean-lover's clich6s in looking either at landscapes or at institutions.