New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-09-03
TRAVEL BOOKS
Neglected Corners OF Europe
North and South.

FINLAND AS 1T Is by u,, maI
s ~ t,iI m XII. SOS. e. P Dutton & Co.
,r-vrpGyE AND ITS PEOPLE. BY
Az Erancns NJ Gostling. With eight illus
trations in color by Leopold Lelee'
thirty-two other illustrations anu Ioap'
Svo. DID. xix. col. The Macmillan Ooih-
pany.
We Americans are beginning to recog-
nize the possibilities Of travel at home
and 70 discover the republics to the south
of us as a new fed eminently well worth
visiting in holiday mood. The European
tourist. too. is beginning TO retrace MS
stems from the ends OF the earth to eA-
More hooks and corners of his own con-
tinent. long overlooked or negiecteu ia
the midst of enthusiasms that pecKoi'eu
10 Japan. Northern India or the ias'-
nesses Of Southern and Eastern Aiiioa'
Tho east coast of the Adriatic has peeh
rediscovered after a century Of oblivion
the Balkan principalities would ne auueu
TO the map of travel but for their IN
security; and only the other day an Eng
ljshman. weary of the beaten paths, told
&c of the unsupported delights of leisure
lAS
y, nrosress through the Balearic Islands
,ust beyond the busy lanes OF Med'ter-
ranean steamship tours. Now one OF MS
compatriots would have us share the
Measures of her tour Of exploration
through the unknown heart of France
while another seeks TO guide us beyond
the ftords of Norway-another compare
, lively recent find" Of European travel
10 Finland, the country Of a thousand
lakes.
To be sure, a decade has already
nassed since the natural beauties anu
the quaint charm of the towns ana
naonle of the grand duchy that politically
&c no more were first proclaimed To
world Of tourists despondingly WONDER
ing where to 60 next in search oil nov
eltv. but the response to the call OF 'he
nioneers was far smaller than their en-
thusiasm deserved. Local conui'''"S
were decidedly not prOpitious, FOR II N"'
| EinIand's misfortune that led to her as
covery as paradise of travel.
That picturesque venturer into the
,,,os te places of this earth, Mr.. Harry he
Uindt was of the company OF carry
tourists In Finland. His narrative OF MS
trim and what il yielded is no longer new
hut II retains the simple charm OF us
first novelty. the verve with which II was
written. and these qualities make well
come a recent new issue of the volume
in this country. Much has changed IN
! Finland. no doubt, since the days OF MS
visit. when its incorporation with the
ompire had been only recently decreed'
and, no doubt, many of the changes nave
not been for the better; but TINS fact
gives the book an historic interest that
adds 10 its readableness and value. The
Finland he saw had not yet been Rus
sianized: it was still It's own simple but
strongly individualized national self.
That delightful individuality, that
restful simplicity Of life, comparable
with nothing else in Europe. least Of all
in Russia itself, nor even in the histori-
| caIlv so closely allied Sweden, makes the
book still eminently we'll worth It's read
er's while. Its character studies are in
happy mood, its descriptions Of work and
play customs and manners closely
packed with information, but brisk In
form. and it contains much practical
| guidance for the tourist that is as reli-
able now as when 1t was written. The
beauties Of nature are eloquently lauded.
but 1t is In It's descriptions of the Finnish
found, for, after all, the country is still