Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-06
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. C. M.
THE PEDRO GORINO. Capt. Harry
Dean and Sterling North. Houghton,
Mifdin 10

THE PEDRO GoRINo. Capt. Harry
Dean and Sterling North. Houghton,
Mifnin Co.
His next move was to secure ship
| Of mis- own. Great projects cannot pause
at any lands end. And the ship was
found at Stavanger, In the tiptop OF
Norway. A battered hulk. Yet it held
the spirit, the essence of power which
| every true seaman feels and runs out
to meet. Upon its prov was a faded
name. This, under the brush OF a
| painter OF Spanish persuasion, came out
as the Pedro Gorino. Its real name,
as 1t turned out, had been Pellar Curl,
that Of a peasant girl of Norway who
| in some long ago had led her people
VIGOROUSLY against the invading robber
do. since the fighting fiber Of Pellar
Curl still, clearly, possessed the sturdy
craft.
And 50 the Pedro Gorino, manned
| and equipped, set out upon its great adj
venture. This, nothing less than the
| first move toward the building OF all
Africa into an empire of its native peo-
! pie, strong dominion, able to repel
| encroachment from an outside world,
marauding and acquisitive. This ship
commander, Harry Dean-leader, con-
queror, builder, all in his dreams, you
see-waS remembering Haiti, a mere
pinpoint beside his own vast scheme.
| He was recalling Toussaint POverture
and the Christophes who fought the
best soldiery of France to a finish. This
and more-oh, much more !-would fol-
low his own outfaring in behalf Of his
race, in behalf of Africa, the rightful
dominion OF that race. A dream-but
| a great one. Its outcome? Well, you
know your geography and your history
as we'll as I do. The answer lies in the
daily press and in the current maps.
To be sure, a dream is the most I'M
dependable of things. Yet. what would
we do without them?
So, here, the vision turns to story.
Capt. Harry Dean is telling it, the story
of his own career. Sitting beside him,
pen in hand, is Sterling North taking it
down. No, no. not at all-bears not the
slightest resemblance, either in purpose,
or substance, or effect, to that other
taking down" of a year or so ago.
There Is nothing even a shade spec
tacular about any part Of this COM
panionable recital.
Capt. Harry Dean is of African blood,
undiluted. Born and reared in the
United States, circumstance plus his
own inner drive began early to shape
him to the pattern Of pure adventure.
Even as a lad, years before the ship
Pedro Gorino became even faint fore
shadowing, he had covered pretty much
the world itself. AS his years grew, so
also did his wanderings reach out into
the far places of the earth. Between
voyages he penetrated the bordering
lands. Desert. forests. wide plains.
topping mountains, deep rivers to be
crossed-these became his transient
passion Of quest. A trader, now. Here
sojourner among strange peoples
native and barbaric at times, civilized
and sophisticate at other times. A
hunter of wild beasts, now. An OBJ
server Of strange rites among the
primitives at other times. Barring the
way to the empire Of his dreams stands
always the obstructive white man, OF
whom he has many things to tell here.
Listening in, one marvels-even in
this hour of amazing individual achieve
ment, Of astounding individual expert
ences-that man, single personality,
could have done so many different
things; that he can hold so much OF
change and adventure within his own
life and recollection. Reading or listen
ing. as you will, 1t Is clear that the
prime usefulness of Sterling North is to
shake down the mass, and maze, Of fact
into measurable scope, is to tie together
in q seizable simplicity innumerable de-
tails Of a common kinship, is to CO.
ordinate and round and conclude the
big matter. Probably the triumph OF
the whole is the personal flavor of Capt.
Harry Dean himself. This, in some
thing like Jealous ZEAL Sterling North
has maintained and projected to the
complete savoring Of the strange story
Of great wanderer driven by a great
dream.
UNDISCOVERED AUSTRALIA. Capt
Sir G. H. wilkins, M. c. G. P. Put
MANS Sons.
Undiscovered Australia" constitutes
the completely authentic factual report
Of scientist upon an expedition into
Australia. The definite purpose of this
mission was to secure for the British
Museum specimens of characteristic ma
tive animals of this continental island
for the use of both general student and
special investigator. The timelineSS Of
the work is established by the fact that
for one reason or another certain of
these animals are already fading out of
the scheme Of existence. Therefore, If
it serves any good purpose to have such
specimens, now is the time to obtain
them. Interesting and useful as Is the
report of Capt. wilkins upon the results
of his expedition in the special line for
which it was instituted, quite as useful
and interesting is the body of collat-
eral fact concerning Australia that the
book holds in so great an abundance.
All in the days work of hunting this
native animal or that one, there sum
here as part of the procedure innumer-
able pictures and scenes belonging to
one of the least known regions Of the
earth-one of the least generally known
regions. The face OF the country, the
climate, the condition of the soil, the
attitude of the population. not only to-
ward the ttlling of the soil, but toward
other occupations as well that have
risen through the incoming of outsiders
into this huge area-theSe points, and
many another, come out in this report
of scientific investigation directed spe-
cihcally upon the fauna of Australia.
The effect of the study as a whole,
therefore, Is that Of general survey In
mans information about the theme in
question appears to exhaust itself with
the kangaroo, that curiously wise and
ingenious and interesting creature that
was saved, obviously, from Noah'S boat.
But there are many, many others, whose
names I undertook to set down for fur
ther pursuit These grew upon me so
rapidly, however, that giving UP the
scheme was necessity. I make the
POAlO OLuy W IlLIlt dU IIl6 IICIl LEU tIldt
lies within the island for the zoologist
and biologist. Birds of unfamiliar build
and color and habit-these are numer-
Gus and absorbing. Strange creatures
that appear to have started along def
nitely charted lines of animal develop
ment and then to have veered of to
things unknown In our common knowl-
edge of animal structure and habit.
In this undertaking the geography of
different localities becomes clear where
tive Of any clear notion of the huge ex-
panse. In one region cannibals come
into the open and In another one vari-
GUS tribal origins are suggested by cur
rent rites and ceremonies that have