The sun., 1916-09-03

deeds Of popular assemblies and armies
in the field.
Roughing II IN Eastern Lands.
An entertaining and at the same
time rather provoking account OF per-
sonai experiences in the Orient IL
given by Captain r. c. FOwLE in
Trdrcls IN tho Middle East tE. p.
Dutton and Company. The author Is
an officer in the Indian army who OBJ
tanned long leave Of absence on two
occasions TO study languages In the
days before the a His first trip
for the purpose Of studying Arabic
took him up the Persian Gulf to Bag
dad and then into the back country
and To Tadmor and Damascus. In
the second trip Persian was his object
and In IL he traversed the country on
the eastern border to the Caspian and
then from north to south on the vest
ern side. He made use Of beaten
tracks and visited no place that other
travellers have not described. He
leaves out most OF the things the
reader would expect, but shows
throughout boyish spirits that are
very engaging and treats the sights
OF the Orient much as a hurried WISH
tor might those OF Europe. which
gives IN original note to his story.
His observation Il exact and minute
for h matters he chooses to speak
about, which makes his omissions the
more provoking. and occasionally he
let's slip a remark which shows that
he kept his soldiers eyes open.
He starts In the proper vacation
Spirit like a boy when school has let
out. anxious to see new things and to
get close to the natives: he has
formed a high opinion Of the Moslem
In India. which he retains throughout.
and Is ready to associate with all
classes. lie tells OF the sea trip with
h-.c: S!.E;rscs Q: enc ports nc touches
Mt. When he gets to Bagdad he
carefully avoids all history or political
matter and tells Of the streets. OF the
people he g In them and of a
tramp round the walls. He spent a
month In the city studying Arabic,
but he Is silent az to any experiences
or Impressions after the irst days.
Then lie made an excursion up the
rivers on horseback this he describes
In detail with the Inconvenience hs
underwent. Later he made his way
10 Tadmor and thence TO Damascus
with a horse aravan across the
desert. He never mentions ruins or
excavations. In Damascus ne put IN
another month 81 study and here he
describes vividly n dcrvish dance. a
Turkish bath and the street lie. lie
is always on tho lookout for the char
a"terist.cs Of the natives and makes
the reader understand them.
The second trip was more ambitious;
for that he had n camel caravan. He
started from Quettah. using the railroad
as far as he could. and made his way
through tho Afghan country to the
Persian border. Then he worked his
way north To Meshed, where ne stayed
three weeks. hut about which ne says
nothing. He relates all the difficulties
and discomforts Of the Journey, how
ever. though he never grumbles. He
also describes what he calls a "Nfo-
hammcdan passion play that he hap
pcned to see. His plans for traversing
northern Persia had to he given up.
so he sold his camcls. made a very
rough winter journey to Ashland in
Russian territory and thence by rail
and steamer TO Baku. He praises the
Russian railroads and their regard for
the travellers comfort highly and con-
trasts them with Indian methods.
From Raku with much trouble he went
to Teheran, about which city he Is
silent, he tells OF a most uncomfort-
able journey In a post wagon to
Ispahan, or the other hand, and Of
that town he does give some descrip.
ton. Then follows q laborious horse.
back expedition 10 n port on the Per-
sian Gulf, and the return TO India.
From the perusal of the book the
reader will derive a clear idea Of the
physical character OF the country the
author passed through: he will also
learn about tho variety Of modes Of
conveyance, all uncomfortable and far
removed from those OF civilized lands.
lie will derive marked impressions
about the people who dwell In them,
especially the common people. and
will enjoy the many individual figures
that Interested the author. He may
revise his notions OF Mohammcdan re-
ligion and of Mohamincdan character.
He will like the author, too, with
his boyish ardor and freshness Of OUT
look. For the information usually ex-
pectcd from books OF travel In strange
lands. however. he IL look else.
where; art, history. archaeology, sta
tistics and even conventional descrip-
ton are all carefully avoided.