Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-09
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
l.. C. NJ.
THE LAST HOME OF MYSTERY. 7

THE LAST HOME OF MYSTERY. E.
Alexander Powell. The Century Co.
I'm not going. The Weather will be
too hot. Besides, too many others will
be there to chatter and crowd and push,
obscuring and confusing historic spots
and works of art, even the landscape It
self. No, I'm not going on Summer
tour across the sea.
My mind ran along about like that.
So, instead, picked shady spot I'M
der a company of big trees wherein
birds, busy with their housework, chirped
softly and companionably, and where
the leaves colloguin' with the wind told
innumerable secrets of far places and
distant years. Under these trees swung
hammock and beside it set an easy
chair. for change--like moving out of
the blue room into the gray. And thus
prepared set out with Col. Powell
along the book route to India, to its
very secreteSt corner at that.
Now some go a-traveling to find the
end Of the rainbow, and some to make
warfare against the monstrous wrong
doing of all the rest of the world, and,
again, others fare out for change and
excitement and possible hazard. And
SO we come upon them-poetS, crusad-
ers, adventures.
But Alexander Powell Is not of the
tribe of any one Of these. Something
of a poet, to be sure, and COED deal
Of an adventurer with, maybe, the stuff
OF the crusader in his makeup. But,
first and foremost, here is the business
man turned world traveller. Efficiency
is his first name-his last name, too.
Like any other competent man of af-
fairs, he knows exactly what he Is do
ing, where he Is going and why. He
knows what he Is after and recognizes
it while yet long way off. This, what
ever 1t may be, he rounds into portable
shape and delivers 1t without seepage or
leakage of any sort. In this spirit OF
efficient activity he has journeyed the
world over, knowing the. East from the
Balkans to Japan and down to the tip
of Africa, like a book" as the country
saying runs.
A round dozen Of volumes on this
subject Of the East give evidence by
their scope and quality of the business
efficiency Of Col. Powell in the treat
ment of that which constitutes his cap
ital. Rich and important material COL
lected and at hand is by many an
author counted about the sum and sub
stance of any book venture. Not by this
author, however. The sense of struc-
ture is strong in him. His books, all
of them, prove this. The foundation.
the walls, the roof in its finish of tower
or dome or spire are all here, each con-
tributing to the unity of the whole, all
sustaining the underlying purpose OF
the study itself.
But come along with me. Take the
chair-or the hammock, If you will
Let's gol Let's be of by the Powell
book route for the kingdom Of Nepal,
locked-in land of a thousand mysteries,
Of countless strange conceptions Of life
in its bearing upon human safety and
well-being No? Well, right here is the
map, placed just as map should be.
See 1t, right there, Nepal? A tiny shoe
string kingdom facing the sacred
Gauges to the south and Rugged in
tight to the north by the bear -clasp of
the Himalayas. Speaking of the map
calls up the pictures, SO abundant and
so admirable in their illumination of
landscape, of native types. of habits and
customs, Of rights and ceremonies. of
gods and men. And don't miss the pic
ture on page 81-the young maharajah
Just a baby but, oh, the high hat" of
him. riding in state. Adorable!
THE land Of thousand religions
and of three million gods. and she wor-
ships them all'-Mark Twain speaking
in Twainish fashion of India. And re-
ligion is the great preoccupation OF In
dia, therefore of Nepal itself. Since this
is so clearly true, religion In one or
another of its many aspects strikes at
the keynote OF Col. Powell's portrayal
of the country and sets the starting
point of many swift-changing adven-
lures up and down this little kingdom,
THE Last Home OF Mystery"
The inf1exible orders OF society are
set in ancient religious beliefs. The
ideas of government rise there as well.
The relation of, separate kingdoms,
principalities and minor units OF civil
administration to India, as a whole,
originate in the dictum of this god or
of that one The divergent attitudes to-
ward the overlordship of England are
dictated by this deep-seated religious
sense. In a word. the collective life OF
India-civil, military, governmental
has had its rise in the fundamentals OF
religious belief In this country. There
fore, rites and ceremonies have a large
part in this book about Nepal since
these aressignihcant of the daily exist
ence of the people Of Nepal. OF the
whole Of India as matter OF fact.
The book, in passing effect. is OF the
nature Oh pdScdAIt WllclVAA 6OAo :.
men take active part. Idols and Idyls"
hobnob together much to the disad-
vantage of the flrst-or SO 1t seems to
us sitting here under the trees looking
on. till we remember that everybody
has a right to his own notions OF lie
and creation and deStiny-or ought to
have such right.
Around this parade of religion that
neglectS not the lowliest nor the mean
est moment in any mans life, Col
Powell has built the story OF Nepal.
Trained to Western ways, to Western
ideas Of collective living. he has sub
stantial and useful things to say about
the work of England in India as
whole In the opening up Of Nepal he,
by way of this book, continues the sur
vey of England in the Orient. falr
and understanding man OF sane ap-
praisals that are unvitiated by PARTISAN
ship and half-baked notions about the
other side of the world. 1.-The Last
Home of Mystery" is a waywiSe and
discerning book, patient with unlike
nesSes, far-seeing as to future develop
mentS along the various lines that must
soon pry this kingdom of mystery wide
open to the great modern annihllators
of distance and seclusion. AS a. thing
to see, the book is a captivation OF
movement and color. of swift change,
of astonishing incidents. It is a. piano.
rama of the daily life of the Orient IN
one of its most hidden places. Won
derful journey. this, along new DOCK
trail set by this untiring traveller, oy
this most capable and efficient writer on
strange peoples and remote regions.
X
ROUND THE HORN BEFORE THE
MAST. A. Basil Lubbock. E. p.
Dutton & Co.
This book was written 80 years ago.
Since that time it has been pretty con-
stantly in state of reprint and anotner
edition. Readers wanted it. Despite !
the years it, so they said, had lot OF
the salt of the sea in it yet and they'd
like some more of it, If the publishers
didn't mind. And so, here it is again,
l.,.n. man. ,..iti, x,anranNer q de. !