9 APRIL 1898, Page 24

They that Sit in Darkness. By John Mackie. (Hutchinson and

Co.)—This is an Australian story, and brings a refreshing odour of the bush in its pages. The heroine is one of those won- derful Australian girls that we hear so much about. She is cer- tainly a very charming creature, and has a very decided spice of the savage in her. We see scenes in bush-life, an open-air police-court, and some fighting, all described with plenty of spirit. The country described, and some of the scenery is drawn with both feeling and power, is that of the Carpentarian region. The conclusion is melancholy—so unduly so, that the blindness of the hero, as well as other details, must be actual incidents, and as to many of the characters, thsre can be no doubt as to their being drawn from life.