6 DECEMBER 1902, Page 10

Billows and Bergs. By W. Charles Metcalfe. (F. Warne and

Co. 5s.)—We venture to think that the place which Mr. Metcalfe chooses for the beginning of his story is not quite appropriate. "The Trade Winds had left us in latitude 55 degrees north of the Equator." Now the fifty-fifth parallel runs exactly through Newcastle-on-Tyne. The trade-wind is defined as "a wind blow- ing steadily towards the thermal equator and deflected westward by the eastward motion of the earth." How should this blow a ship up to the North of England? However, this matters very little. There is plenty of exciting adventures in this story, with, possibly, a little too much of the horrible.