Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-04
rHInET AND NEPAL: Painted and De-

York: The Macmillan Company.
Washington: Brentano's.
Mr.. Landor's first expedition into Tibet
was a painful experience. He was taken
prisoner by the lamas and severely tor
tured, escaping with his life by the merest
chance He returned to London much
broken in health. and there wrote his book
'In the Forbidden Land which threw
flood of light upon the ways of the world
in that inaccessible region. He did not re-
gain his strength rapidly and eventually,
within two years, decided upon a second
expedition into the great mountains That
extend like a solid, mpenetrable wall across
the northern frontier of India. His pur-
pose was not to repeat his effort to unVel
Tibet. but to explore certain difficult passes
and peaks in Nepal and southwestern Tibet
The lurc of the mountains drew him, and
he responded. 1t must be said that the
atmosphere of the roof of the world had
a remarkable effect upon him. He seemed
to regain his vigor Immediately upon reach
ing the foothills He organized an ex-
petition in twelve hours after arriving at
his point of departure
In this volume of his writings Mr.. Lander
refers deprecatingly to the Younghusband
mission to Lhasa last year. He regards
that expedition as "enigmatical.' He takes
no pains to conceal his disrespect for the
enterprise 1t followed his own second ven
ture by nearly five years, but in his present
. work he refers repeatedly to the undertake
ing of the British government as unwar-
ranted and misguided. There is evidently
no love lost between these visitors to Tibet.
Indeed Mr.. Lander appears TO have been
a source Of considerable annoyance to the
administration in India, for he declares
that he was seriously though not effective
" handicapped by the orders of government
officials to the minor functionaries in
Nepal to throw all possible obstacles in
his way. He persisted, however, crossed
the mountains and made his way some
distance into Tibet before voluntarily turn
ing and working back into and through
Nepal.
The book is chiefly description of his
mountaineering. 1t should be noted that he
insists that the great range should be
called the "Himahlyas. and not the
'Himalayas," with a marked difference In
pronunciation. The passage of the Lam
dor party through the passes and up the
peaks undoubtedly a thrilling eXpe-
rience In his capacity as illustrator Mr.
Lander does not allow his reader to under
rate the perils of the trail. He has a GER
tain style of reproducing and coloring his
photographs which develops the sense Of
vastness impressed upon every visitor to
these giant ranges Precipitous declivities,
seemingly bottomless crevases, thread-like
trails along the faces of sheer cliffs thou
sands of feet high, frail bridges over
yawnng chasms-these are some of the
blood-stirring suggestions afforded by both
text and pictures.
Incidentally there is much information in
the book regarding the character of the
NepaleSe, strangely mixed race inhabit-
ing the extreme northeastern wilds of In
da In the main, as regards descriptions
of Tibet and its people, Mr.. Landor's pres
ent volume is somewhat disappointing. He
refers his reader frequently to his other
work on the same subject. His brilliantly
colored drawings illustrative of Tibetan
types are, however, highly instructive and
make the work attractive apart from the
occasionally too personal text.
Doubtless the greatest value of such ex-
plorationS lies in the contributions they
make to geographic knowledge. In this re-
spect the second Lander enterprise in the
"Himahlyas' was worth the effort He
was enabled to map, more accurately than
heretofore, the mountains, passes and gla-
cierS of northwestern Nepal and the ad-
jacent Tibetan territory. He brought away
with him. however, nothing of particular
value in other lines of Information.
The story of the expedition is briskly told
and IL Is at all points entertaining.
THE WHITE TERROR AND THE RED;
Novel of Revolutionary Russia BY
A. Cahan, author of 'Yekl," &c New
York: A S. Barnes & Co.
This story has two especial claims for
consideration, first that in a most timely
manner 1t bears upon conditions in Rus
STA which have their counterpart in the
events of the day, and second that it is
from the pen of a man who has himself
passed through some of the experiences of
the characters he portrays. Mr.. Cahan was
a teacher in a school in Welsh, in the prov
ince of Nitebsk, when he joined a reyolu-
uonary circle" His name was found by
the police in a compromising letter, and his
house was searched. Having been warned
OF the impending visit Mr.. Cahan had de-
stroyed all discriminating papers and the
lr,.-i
10 base a charge. He was spied upon, how
ever. and his arrest was ordered with the
virtual certainty of Siberian exile. He es-
capped at night in a rowboat, which carried
him seventy-five miles to Vitebsk, from
which city he Travelled by stage to another
town, where ne secured a false passport
and managed to make his way across the
frontier lie came to the United States,
where he has since resided. In The White
Terror and the Red he dramatically de-
scribes the revolutionary movement of the
seventies and eighties, one result of which
was the assassination of Alexander IL and
the subsequent plots against the life of
Alexander III. The ramificatons of the
underground influence are clearly shown,
the central character being a young mem
Der OF the nobility, who awakens to a
realizing sense of the cruelties of govern
ment and the necessity of rescuing Russia
from the thraldom of the titled classes
The scene of the assassination is dramati-
cally described. A love story is woven into
the tale, which closes with the main char
acters OF the novel immured for life in "a
Russian prison. AS a sign of the perss-
tence and ingenuity of the revolutionists
Mr.. Cahan explains the means by which
the prisoners. though separated by solid
walls. contrive TO communicate with each
other from one end of the prison to the
other. 1t is thrilling story aptly illustrat-
ing the situation in Russia today. despite
the lapse of time since the events which it
wildly describes
THE LIFE OF FLORENCE NIGHTIN-
GALE. BY Sarah A. Tooley, author
OF Personal Life of Queen Victoria"
&c Illustrated. New York: The
Macmillan Company. Washington:
Brentanos.
Last october was celebrated in quiet
way in London the fftieth anniversary of
the departure of Florence Nightingale for
the Crimea with band of thirty-eght
nurses Miss Nightingale was then thirty
four years of age. and today, close upon
eighty-fve, she retains her keen interest
Ill 4ar.. af,,it, IN hn yarthl ip