COUNTRY LIFE IN TENNESSEE.
Next to flu! Ground : Chronicles of a Countryside. By Martha Mcculloth-Willianis. (W. Heinemann. 6s.)—The country life which is here described is that of Tennessee, west of the Alleghenies and east of the Mississippi River. It is a tine country of grass, plough, and wood ; and the life and doings at White Oaks are described with much feeling for the charms of rustic life. The authoress is one of the school of Jefferies, and writes with minuteness on the aspects of the fields, the habits of the animals, and the thoughts and doings of the negroes. In one chapter we have a long description of ploughing operations ; in another an account of 'possum shooting; in another observations on night noises; in others reflections on the habits of hogs, horses, cows, and feathered folk. The style is vigorous, the descriptions are full of love for Nature, and in the detailed accounts the writer usually chooses the right adjective, though American- isms often grate upon our cars. But we have read the book with pleasure, and see before us clearly Joe and Patsy and Old Man Shack, and the place they lived in, and the changing seasons there.
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