New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-07


Charles Scribners Sons.
THE TANNING OF THE JUNGLE. BY DR.. c. w.
Doyle. l6mo PIP. 200 Philadelphia; ). Is LIP
pincott Company.
Penang to the Philippines BY Rouns s,l.I
Wildman, Consu-General OF the United states
at Hong Kong. Illustrated by Henry SANDMAN
limo, PIP. 3i7 Boston: Lothrop Publishing Gem
pany
limo, pp 38. Paris Armand Colin ct Gle; New
York: Dyrsen and Pfeiner.
The authors of ION the Edge OF the Empire
deal with the native soldiers, peasants traders,
priests and other types of India. Englishmen
appear in some Of their stories but rarely as
the principal actors. The native and his primi-
tive emotions hold the centre of the stage.
This combined with the marked ability Of Mr..
Jepson and Captain Beames, gives to the book
exceptional interest and value. 1t provokes
comparison, of course, with Mr.. Kipling who
is so clearly the master in this field that every
thing done there by other men is Involuntary
tested by his standard, but ION the Edge OF
the Empire" bears the trial well. 1t presents
frst-hand report Of the mysterious peoples
OF India, and it is full Of the romantic and
tragic atmosphere of that land. 1t gives special
prominence to the tragedy. The native as here
described can be brave in action and loyal 10
his white masters, but beneath his suave eX-
terror there dwells an extraordinary blood
tbirstiness. His religion, told, is strong
on the side of ceremonial and weak in ethical
force. Nothing stands between injured
native and his revenge save, sometimes, cir
cumstance, and his patience in biding his time
to surmount the obstacles placed in the way
OF his sanguinary plans is one of the traits
which this book most wildly exhibits. There
are thirty tales IN the collection and they cele
at
Indian character with many subsidiary touches
portraying minor figures in the company that
gives the fort or highway bazaar its color.
The situations are dramatic and nearly all
have the element of strangeness which means
so much in stories OF the East The style is
good Each narrative of native cruelty greed
or mere singularity is carried quickly and
clearly to an effective conclusion. Mr. JepSon
and Captain Beames not men of genius and
they leave Mr.. Kipling untroubled in his pre-emi-
hence, but he would probably be the first TO
recognize the original force in their work, its
truth and its charm. The book comes UNI
heralded 1t leaves a deep impression, and *
genuine merit receives its deserts it ought TO
take a high place, along with the best work
Of Mrs Steele and the best things Of those
numerous writers in the English magazines who
treat constantly themes of Indian life.
DR.. c. w Doyle just falls short OF command
ing equally cordial praise The Tanning OF the
Jungle contains some interesting pages, the
personages are picturesque and the incidents
are striking but the authors manner lacks
spontaniety and his effects, though plausible,
are not quite convincing.
Mr.. Wildman struggles in vain between the
demands of fiction and those of purely de-
scrptive prose. He knows his facts, but he
has been tempted to little stories out OF
his experiences on the Malayan coast and out
of the tales he has been told; his pen Is
obviously unpractised in the art of blending
the raw material Of literature with imagination
and art, and the result is trhe crude. This
is shown by one of his best stories, "Amok!"
In this he has a really inspiring theme-the
EXP erience of a Malay youth torn with jealousy,
pride and senseless murderous rage his frenzy
finally sending him out into the village street
to run amok" with his deadly kriss. The tale
has good passages, but a whole is loosely
written The author needs experience. In the
mean time his book is worth reading, like DR..
Doyles for the rough sketches that it gives OF
people and things always profoundly fascnat-
ing to the Western mind.
In NJ Rosnys novel young modern scientist
embarks upon a search for certain treasure
hidden by an ancestor several centuries be-
fore in the wilds of South Africa. The docu-
III, nts giving a clew to the whereabouts of this
treasure have been handed down from one
generation to another, until at the time the
story opens-in Paris-their meaning has,
through one accident or another, become OBJ
scured Through the cleverness of the young
scientist aforesaid the enigma is decphered,