New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-06-18
Literary Nese's and Criticism

the subject Of North and South Amer
lea, while in France he had great diff
Guilty in allaying the suspicious Of the
gendarmes of en- American who chose to
| tramp it in Europe.
He rarely dropped his disguise as
sailor. On the few occasions when he
revealed himself as man Of education
he aroused only prejudice against him
self; the agents of many charitable In
stftutions to whom he applied immedi-
ately drew the conclusion that there
must be some derk passage In his life.
Once it stood him in good stead
The warwickshire. of the Bibby Line, ply
ing between England and Burma, put in
al Marseilies TO await her overland passen-
gers. and sent out cali for sailor. l
was the first man on board, displayed my
discharge from the cattle boat and was
called into the cabin.
1T don't tell in this discharge whether
you are an A. 3. or not" said the mate; .
II am an 4. B." I replied, though
meant quite a different sort Of A B. from
what the mate understood by my answer
l was signed on at once
The book is first of all and ali the
time a personal narrative of unfailing
interest. Its sociological value is slight.
Mr.. Franck draws but few generaliza-
tons and no social comparisons The
people he met and with whom and
among whom he travelled he presents
as individuals, not as representatives of
types or races. He appears to have been
utterly impervious to hardships of heat
and cold and hunger and dress and lodg-
ing end of filth unspeaka bic.
With no geographical, geological or
naturalistic purpose or mission, Mr..
North has wandered through one of the
least known parts of the northern half
of the continent. and written a lesurely,
pleasant account of mis- travels, in which
description of mountainous country and
vanishing Indians, of ruined missions and
Ieisurely Mexicans, of rare towns and
encountered characters is mingled
with some hardship, the North Ameri-
cans humorous way Of taking things as
they come and making the best ofsthem.
and an occasional shot at mountain
sheep. He says:
Students of natural history, wise hunters
and close Observers OF museum specimens
win smile when / state that the Southern
and is not white. Nevertheless, make
the direct statement for the benefit of those
not coming under any of the above classes,
for have not forgotten how. on my first
hunt for mountain sheep, searched the
surrounding cliffs for a woolly white AMI
NAL with big curling horns, and now, when
I finally saw light dun colored creature, L
would have allowed It to escape as deer
that was in too steep place to bother with
had not its immense curled horns suddenly
come into view.
In the chapter headed Uncle Sans
Lost Province Mr.. North opens a for
gotten page Of American history on
which is written the occupation OF the
peninsula by our troops in the Mexican
War, the story of William Walker and
the record of the negotiations for the
purchase of the territory in 1859 and
again twenty years later He deals
briefly with prehistoric stone writings,
follows the Spanish orders up and down
interior and coast, and is interesting all
the while. This terra iDcognita" is, in
deed, a tempting region for the traveller
in search of novelty and the activity of
body, which is often the best Of mental
rest Admiral Evans's brief foreword
refers, as a matter of couse. to Mag
dalena Bay. Besides the Illustrations
there are two maps. A photography and
an index complete the book.