New-York tribune., 1921-03-27

Splcndidly conveyed In these
two books. The rich tropical
scenery is not the only attractive fea-
ture of the West Indian islands and
the neighboring mainland of South
America. These countries are also rich
in romantic historical memories. The
Spanish Main was the favorte haunt
of the pirates and buccaneers who con-
stantly attacked and looted the Span
ish treasure ships during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. Both Sir
Frederick Treves and Mr.. Graham re-
lieve their descriptive passages with
frequent digressions into the more
striking and picturesque episodes of
Latn-American history.
Sir Frederick gives full account of
the West Indies. He never falls into
the commonplace jargon of the average
guidebook. One is reminded of Steven
son and Conrad in this typical observa-
tion about the beauty of the tropical
ocean:
Colors of the Tropical Sea
"The sea assumes strange and unex-
pected tints. 1t may be violet, purple
or maroon, with streaks of lettuce
green or forget~me-not blue, or may
show a stretch Of brilliant luster such
as shines on a beetles back, or may
simmer into a lake of lapis lazuli.
In calm days the water over the reef
will be lilac or even claret colored, or
koI> IS ~, ~ J1
mushroom, while within the reef is
that vivid green which can be looked
down into from the stern of steamer
among the coiling eddies thrown up by
the screw. 1t Is, indeed, in these West
Indian islands that
"'The rainbow lives in the curve of the
sand'"
The author is equally skillful in re-
cording his impressions of the peoples
who inhabit these wonderful islands.
He finds them mixed race, with the
negro element strongly predominating.
He describes the West Indians as good
natured, lively and talkative, with an
incurable propensity to laziness, which
would probably appear in any race
blessed with such easy surroundings.
The natives of the West Indies are
scarcely compelled to earn their bread
in the sweat of their brows. The warm
climate reduces the demands for fuel
and clothing to a r,inimum and boun-
tiful nature provides food in abun-
oance.
The 1uxuriance Of West Indian vege-
tation is amazing. Sir Frederick gives
The following vivid picture of an island
Jungle:
A West Indian Jungle
Through the dancing haze, through
the languorous vapor that fills the
forest as with the smoke of incense,
through the fume cf dead leaves, there
comes strange hum of life, the drone
of insects, the rustic of the darting
lizard, the fiutter of hurrying wings.
"The vegetation of the tropics is
prof1igate and extravagant. A West
Indian jungle shows to what excess the
!ibertinage of leaf and stem may reach.
Everything in this spendthrift forest
is immoderate and exaggerated. The
underground is to man what plot of
weed is to hiding mouse, or what the
woods of Brobdingnag were to Gulli-
yer. Here is creeper that covers half
an acre. Here is a plant like a violet
in it's form, but it would shelter a
child. Here is a gcranium leaf, but it
is shining and stiff and measures two
feet across. This bush might be made
of parsley were it not so magnified that
it rises to the height of many feet.
This thicket suggests a clump of
bracken, yet such is the size of every
fernlike fan that it would hide dozen
horsemen."
Nature in the Caribbean regions has
aspects. The fou,ishing city of ST.
Pierre, in Martinique, was literally
blotted off the face of the earth by
terrific volcanic eruption in 1902.
Kingston, in Jamaica, was destroyed by
an earthquake in 1907.
Parts of Sir Frederick's narrative
read like a novel. He often sketches
imaginary scenes from the past, and
he draws literally upon history for
exciting tales of adventure. He shows
us Drake and Hawkins setting out on
their last ill-fated cruise through the
Spanish Main, where the latter lost
his life. He tells of the fierce battles
in which the French and the British
eontended for the beautiful island of
Saint Lucia. The following spirited
rsrtrait of pirate captain dividing
his loot might have come out of
Treasure Island.
A Pirate Chief
1.-The captain is enthroned on stout
sea chest. He is an execrable-looking
villain, with bedraggled mustache
and dirt-matted hair. His face is so
weather hardened and SO tanned that
his features may have been carved out
of teak. One of his eyes has been
gouged from it's socket, while the lid
of the other has been made to drocp
by reason of saber cut, which has
left pink streak across his temple.
II SC SQfin coat