6 DECEMBER 1930, Page 50

All who knew or served under Sir Frederick Jackson will

read with interest his posthumous volume entitled Early Days in East Africa (Arnold, 21s.). The reader without kiwi knowledge may find the account difficult to follow, so many are the threads which have to be unravelled. Familiar names and places carry a curious, almost romantic, naivete, when they first appear in the days of the I.B.E.A. Company, and more often than not these first appearances give no hint of the eminence which was later to overtake them. Sir Frederick, a scholar and a naturalist, was a great administrator because, though he knew when firtmess was required, he knew also better than most ,that non-interference was nearly always the best policy. • The naturalist in him abhorred roads and " progress ' : the administrator demanded order and effi- ciency. This conflict made him an intriguing personality and gives the volume an interest beyond a mere recital of pioneer. mg.