Evening star., 1933-12-31
10y SARAH 9. BOWERMAN
The Men Wh0Write Books and Some of Their
Habits-More Of Scotland, and Some Of
the Nezv Fiction.

entered Scotland in his small motor car by way
of Carlisle, circled around the west coast from
Lowlands to Highlands to almost the northern
most point at John OGroats, then down the
east coast, back to Lowlands and over the
border into England at Carter Bar, where two
posts stand on the moor, with Scotland on
one and England" on the other. Sketch maps
on the endpapers make his route delightfully."-
clear. His own experiences of unfettered travel
are mingled with stories from the rich history
and tradition of Scotland. Almost every place
in the Highlands is associated with Prince
Charlie. At the battlefield of Culloden, near
Inverness, he was defeated by the royal troops
under the Duke of Cumberland who is said to
have written his mo quarter order on the back
of a nine of diamonds card which he picked up
from the floor Mary, Queen Of Scots, rivals
Prince Charlie in the affections OF most Scots
The little island of Inchmaholme, III the Lake
of Menteith, near Stirling, was the retreat for
a few happy days of the child Mary Stuart
before she departed from the Rock of Dunn
barton for France The stern C0VenanterS made
much Scottish history. For the burning OF the
Covenanter George Wishart, Cardinal Beaton
was murdered in his castle Of st. Andrews, close
to what is now one Of the most famous golt
links in the world
Two parts of Mr.. Morton's tour caused him
especial pride. One was his 40-mile walk
more to Blair Atholl, with night spent at
stalker'S hut, where the stiffness Of the High
land night was marred by the raucous discords
of a singer in Stockholm music hall. The
skirling of the bagpipes which had awakened
him in the morning at Aviemore better suited
the scene. The other memorable experience
was a weeks trawling on an Aberdeen trawler
whose skipper reluctantly consented to take
him the condition you've got to muck in
with US And ''muckng it was the 10
men who made up the crew worked almost con-
tinuously throughout the day and night, fling
ing out the nets, drawing them in after three
hour periods, cleaning and packing away the
fish, and in emergency mending net
badly torn from becoming entangled in a wreck
on the sea bottom. Sleeping was in casual
snatcheS, eating not society function
The life of the North Sea trawlers is grim and
specialized and does not make men rich. Mr.
Morton left Scotland as the falling leaves of
Autumn were blowing about the roads and the
hedges were touched with rime. He is one of
the few writers Of books of travel who gives
information but not too much, enabling his
readers to share his impressions with pleasure
equal to mis- own. and causes keen regret when
the journey is over
THE CAT HAD NINE LIVES. Adventures and
"reminiscences by Achmed Abdullah. New
York: Farrar & Rinehart.
THOUGH he has had his nine lives Achmed
Abdullah, short story writer and pursuer
of adventure, is Unsuitable and wants more
lives, or more of life. Finding, from first to
last, life jovial and bully and interesting.
Therefore doing my utmost to preserve this
same life, since am not brave at all, but a
careful who objects strenuously to death.
there being such raft of things still to do
and see" Lamenting one evening to a group
of friends the dearth of new plot for stories
he received the helpful suggestion from one
of them that he write some rambling rem-
niSCenceS. of the sort that are fOStered by
slow music decent bottle of champagne the
companionship of good friends and the nos
talgic scent of Spring drifting in through the
window" He took the advice and here are the
"reminiscences, varied and unusual enough to
satisfy any taste which turns away from the
tame and the commonplace.
If heredity counts for anything, Achmed
Abdullah prince Nadr Khan DuranD could
not have escaped being lover of danger and
a sensationalist. His father a Russian,
who would, one year, extol the soul and, the
next, the body" The sons of that father
preferred him during his Paris interludes,
when the body was uppermost. for then he
was jovial and ready to pay his sons most
reckless debts without complaint. OF his
mother. an Afghan and Moslen, who at
tempted to poison her second husband Achmed
Abdullah says: Her dislike of me began when
I was a small child suppose that, in certain
respects, reminded her too much of my
father; and my antipathy to her-which, being
sentimentalist at heart, sought to overcome
was more or less instructive" Exploring the
possibilities of life naturally began early for
the son Of such parents and carried him to
many parts of the world. He has served in
the Turkish army and in the British Military
Intelligence Service; he has been in Tibet at
70 below zero and in West Africa at 120 in
the shade-"and no shade to speak of; he
q r,0En xr-tl, Ix;
m1ll1onaires; he has worked on plays with David
Belasco; he has been left wounded in a she'll
hole in the Balkans He now proclaims him
self "fair-to -middling Moslem" and Brit
ish subject more British than King George
himself" He calls his "reminiscences a rhotch-