The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-10 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE WHITE STONE CANOE, or, THE BET-
TER LAND. By Percy B. St. John, Author of
" The Trapper's Bride," "Eagle's Nest." 4.c.
This is the third of the Indian Tales by Mr. St.
John, who announces that the series will be com-
pleted in three more. In the " White Stone Canoe,"
Mr. St. John maintains the high character he has
already acquired as a delineator of Indian character,
and a describer of Indian scenery. The scene of the
story is laid in the country of the Comanche In-
dians, on the confines of Mexico, and the following is
the legend (related by Isaonie, a Comanche chief,)
from which the title of the work is taken :
" Many years Igo a young daughter of our tribe died
on the day of her wedding. The heart of her young
warrior was black as night, and he resolved to join her.
The old people told of a path which led to the land of
souls, and the warrior said that he would follow it. His
journey was long and ()Teat. Over hill and valley,
through frost and snow he went, until he came to eter-
nal spring, and then he found himself on the banks of a
broad lake. He found a canoe of shining white stone
tied to the shore, with shining paddles. lie was brave,
and he entered. The warrior crossed the lake, and there
he found her he had sought. She was white as milk, and
fair as the swans on lake Za-za-pi."

The tale is most dramatica'lly told—the incidents
are startling, yet probable, and follow one another in
such rapidity, that the attention never flags, while the
characters are admirably drawn and accurately discri-
minated. Indeed, so dramatic is the tale, and so ar-
tistically is it " built," to use a stage phrase, that we
feel convinced that Mr. Percy St. John would attain
high fame as a dramatist if he chose to devote his
attention to that department of literature. His de-
scriptions of scenery are deliciously fresh and exhi-
larating. The words conjure up, and paint, as it
were, the scene before the eyes of the reader. Take
the following as a specimen :
" About twenty miles from the Comanche camp is
situated a translucent spring of remarkable beauty.
Taking its rise in the cleft of a rock, it falls clear and
pellucid into a hollow, formed doubtless by the ceaseless
falltif the water, where it made a pool, bottomed by the
golden sand which could be counted grain by grain
through the pure and liquid element. Round about,
shading and cooling the fountain, were trees of varied
form and hue. Here the live oak, stunted, gnarled, and
ever green, the crowning laurel, the prcud and erect
cedar, the Indian yew.
'<' Tile fruitful Olive, and the Plaintain round
The Carver Holme, the Maple scidom inward sound.'
From the fountain, along each side of the rill which
thence bubbled o'er and ran towards the plain below, lay
soft green meadows, where the deer loved to dwell, crop-
ping the luxuriant grass, and sheltere:l from the noon-
tide heat by little clumps of masquit and other bushes,
'neath which these antelopes of the American wilderness
crept, confiding and wearied. Deep imbedded in the
soft turf, the hunter would find their empty forms earn-
ing him that game was near at hand, while the pelican,
the stork and the croaking crane kept tuneful chorus
near every spot where rank vegetation denoted the pre-
sence of marsh or streamlet.

vV
" ' Nov Morn her rosy steps in th' eastern clime
Advancing—sowed the earth with orient
and some hall doz,n turkey buzz irds sailing high aloft,
and whirlinr, round in lour; continued circles, proclaimed
that near the founta'n was some prey which they hoped
to fail upon, but were restrained from attacking by the
presence of human beings. The wild turkey and the
squirrel were simultaneously in motion. The one flying
from his roosting tree in search of morning food. the
other commencing his gambols on the top of a half-dead
sycamore, shore but scanty foliage hid him from sight ;
the screeching night-owl, scared by the break of dawn,
flew hooting to his solitude, teaching as has been quaintly,
said, that no life is so safe as the obscure ; that retire-
ment, if it bath less c;:nifort, yet has less danger and
vexation than that which brings us much in contact with
the mtltituds ; sayings which tend only to demonstrate
that, for the selfish purpose of saving ourselves trouble,
we should avoid the service of our fellow men. Fools
may be trappists if they please, but every honest and
honourable man will commune with his kind, and serve
them even to his own detriment."

SIR FRIZZLE PUMPKIN—NIGHTS AT
MESS, AND OTHER TALES.
Some years have elapsed since we laughed at and
with Sir Frizzle Pumpkin, when he made his first ap-
pearance before the literary world, as one of the Black-
wood regiment, commanded by Christopher North.
Here we have him in the separate command of a de-
tachment of Blackwood's, and right glad are we to
see our old friend again, and laugh with and at him
once more. Of the many reprints of papers from
Blackwood, which have appeared of late, this is by no
means the least amusing. The book is well
printed, of a convenient size for the sitters by fires on
winter evenings to hold in their hands to read, and to
all such who are fond of whim, wit, and pleasantry,
and who enjoy a hearty laugh, we recommend Sir
Frizzle Pumpkin.

THE LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC RE-
GISTER AND ALMA NACK FOR 1847. By
J. W. G. Gutch, M.R.C.S.L., Foreign Service
Queen's Messenger.
In addition to the usual contents of an almanack,
this very neatly printed little work gives us no less
than 182 pages of scientific information, arranged
under the heads of the various sciences. It is beauti-
fully got up, with gilt edges in roan tuck, and is of
more permanent value than the generality of annual
pocket-books.