TWO ON THEIR TRAVELS.
• volume than we expected. It is becoming difficult to describe the ordinary route of travel, and people seem to have lost the art of enlivening literary landscapes with the ups and downs of travel. This, however, the authoress has succeeded in doing, for she is not only observant, but ready to see the bright side of things without being flippant ; she means to be amusing, yet she never bores the reader and is never vulgar. She and " Andrew " cruised about the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, BIM Japan, and returned by the Trans-Siberian Railway. The cruises and adventures in the Dutch East Indies, and the dolce far niente life of the Colonial Dutch, are very cleverly sketched. Mrs. Colquhoun brings home to us the easygoing, contented phlegm of the Dutch in the Celebes and Borneo. They acclimatise admirably ; too well, in fact, for apparently they do not find the need of exerting themselves. She was charmed with the scenery of the country, and liked the people. Both Borneo and the Philippines give her plenty of material for pen and pencil. The text illustrations and reproductions of colour draw- ings are very chat ming, notably "Planting Paddy in Java" and "A Filipino House." Japan is so well known that one would not have been surprised at finding nothing new; but Mrs. Colquhoun escapes this reproach, and really tells us most interesting details of the factory lif3 of the Japanese. The artistic treasures of some of the temples are not forgotten, and travellers can refresh their memory with Mrs. Colquhoun's pages. She is never a bore, has a remarkably keen eye for costume and colour, and evidently an equally quick appreciation of national characteristics and customs. We must not forget to mention the charming coloured plate entitled " Sayonara,"—two Japanese women saying " Good- bye " to each other. Two on their Travels is a distinctly enter- taining book ; it may be opened anywhere and read with pleasure, and it is prettily illustrated.
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