The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-18
BOOK REVIEWS

curtailed; moreover, it is a feature so
unfamiliar that it gives an additional
value and interest to what is other
wise of rare worth. One cannot read
this journal without a feeling of in
creased reverence for the great adj
miral as we follow him in the difficult
ties and dangers which beset him. as
we read of his mighty faith and hopes;
of his frequent discouragements; of
his accomplishments in his intellectually
immense gift to the world: of his final
neglect, abandonment. and belittling,
which he records in the tone of
heartbrokeA man.
In succession come the variations of
the daring Spanish adventures who
pursued his work and explored the
Gulf of Mexico and the land to the
south and west; the voyages and dis
coveries of the Cabots from England,
who pierced the mystery that shrouded
the northern shore of the Atlantic and
traced the land southward those of
the Cortereals, whose daring resulted
in the loss of their leader. but was of
much added interest and knowledge
of the New World; and of Others who,
denying dangers, sought the shores of
America in their endeavor to find the
waterway they believed to exist as a
route to the Indies. Space will not
permit us to follow in the track of
Cortes in his conquest of Mexico, nor
in those of Ponce de Leon. Narvaez,
De Ayllon, De Soto, and the many
others whose expeditions are recounted
in the pages before us; nor the &C
counts of the indigenes they encoun-
tered; nor those of the French naviga-
tors, Ribault, VerraZano, Laudonniere,
and Cartier, and their fateful colonial
ventures; the exploration of the Cana
dian river and its tributary lakes; the
discovery and exploration of the Mis-
slsslppi by Joliet and Marquette and
LIE Sale. The enterprises of Gilbert
and Raleigh; the discoveries of Hud-
son, Block, Christensen and May; the
thrilling adventures of Champlain; and
the story of the daring adventures
who penetrated the mazes of the froz-
en- Arctic and delineated the north
ern confines of the American continent
these are all traced in the volume be-
fore us, in a series of narrations which
for interest cannot be eXcelled There
is Decliar fitness and charm in all
these variations, which have been told
largely in the words of the actors and
spectators of the events related. The
text is a most valuable contribution to
h1story-to many it will be a revela-
tlon-While to all it is a source of
readily available and trustworthy in
formation on one of the most impor-
tant branches of American history.
In the second volume, entitled Tn
dams in Historic Times" we have a
work of unusual value The author
DR.. Cyrus Thomas, and his collabora-
tor, Professor w. j. MCGEE, are men
who for their close study of the sub
ject in question have acquired much
more than national reputation-one
cannot read the volume without being
impressed with it's exactitude, thor
oughness, and completeness. The
northern section of our continent are
traced as to their sources, their Gus
toms, their organization, their systems
of government, their intertribal con-
iicts, and their relations with the
intruding whites.
An ample narrative is given of the
conflicts of the pioneer Spanards who
invaded the domain of the Indians in
Mexico Florida, and the South; of the
French and English in their respec-
tive spheres of influence; of the end
less intriGues between the Europeans
and the Indians in the course of the
long and bitter struggles for political
and commercial advantage on the part
of the rival European colonists and
settlers; and of the red mans long
protracted contest with the settlers
and colonists. Indian diplomacy and
savagery in all their degrees of bar
barity are told in this volume, and the
various agreements and concessions
that have gradually shorn the Indian
of his empire and placed him in posi-