Evening star., 1935-10-23
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Cermond.
GOLD, DIAMONDS AND ORCHIDS.
BY william La Varre. New York:
Fleming H ReYell COMPANY.

Fleming H. Revell Company.
A decorative jacket cover with pho
tosraphic inset showing the smiling
countenance Of pretty girl who is up
to her neck in a jungle swamp is the
first item OF fascination in the story of
William La Varre's seventh expedition
into the lost worlds of South America.
The pretty girl is his wife, and the trip
in search Of gold, diamonds and orchids
from which they have only recently re-
turned is the first on which she has
accompanied her adventurous, treasure
hunting husband.
Exploring unmapped lands for new
treasure is not a hobby or paStime with
William La Varre, who is also news
paper man and an eminent economist,
but a profession. 1t is the realization
Of an ambition formed in childhood TO
go adventuring into strange worlds, to
which the years of growing into young
manhood added the determination to ex-
plore the lost territories OF northern
South America, and to make it pay. His
first adventure yielded more OF expert
ence and knowledge than of actual cash
profit, but each excursion into the jungleS
since has produced a great variety OF
treasures, ranging from herbs, barks
and useful insects to gold and diamonds,
for which civilized humanity has need
or a desire.
This seventh expedition into the I'M
explored jungles of British Guiana is
the climax of fifteen years of effort to
locate the source of the apparently
never-ending supply of diamonds that
can be had for the gathering in this
region of South America. 1t will be re-
membered that 1t was William La Varre
who brought the great Kurupung dia-
mond out of the British Guiana jungleS
a few years ago.
Beginning with the take-of Of the
expedition up the river which empties
into the sea at Georgetown, a fully de-
scrlptive and enthralling narrative is
recorded in Gold, Diamonds and Or
chidS" Of the experiences and the find
ingS of these two interepid white pioneers
with their company of native guides and
helpers during twelve months of tedious
but always fascinating journeying
through the jungleS and over the noun
tains southwark toward and across the
Equator, eventually coming out through
the Amazon River to Para.
Each episode in the history Of the ex-
pedition has its own particular thrill of
excitement. danger, amusement or dis
covery. There are the accounts of driv-
ing the four heavily laden canoes through
tortuous jungle floods and rapids under
the skillful navigation of Captain Pete;
of Jimmy, Hector, Big London, Altman.
Tagami and other natives OF the expe-
dition. whose loyalty. endurance and in
tuition made possible the success of the
undertaking; of birthday party in the
jungle, with the honor guest receiving
fortunes worth Of pure white orchids
gathered by some of the natives. while
others presented her with various OF
natures gifts and the cook produced
rare feast.
Among the stories of strange happen
ipgs is the one in which the mystery Of
the Moon Demon, who drenches crystal
stream with crimson. is solved. and an
other in which dead alligator comes to
life in a canoe in the thick blackneSs
of night on jungle stream. Then there
is the story of woman being stoned
into the wilderness for what the ex-
plorer believes to be the offense Of at
tempting to poison her husband. and of
the surprise and danger to which he is
WllCIl Sic lClulllS. nSdlll
is the thrilling story of climbing The
Mountain-That- t-Cant-Be- Climbed" and
of the terrifying experience of descend
ing its hazardous, unstable boulders.
One particularly appealing human in
tereSt episode is that of the entire party
stopping for two days and listening for
radio reports Of the flight of the Lind
berghs from Manaos, Brazil. to Trinidad,
while Captain Pete. who had battled the
treacherous jungle rivers for fifty years,
sat on the jungle roof and prayed for
the safety of the flying couple until
overcome by numbness from the cold of
a violent tropical storm.
These are but random incidents in the
chronicle OF year Of pushing deeper
and deeper into the "loSt world" and OF
bringing out of this uncharted wilder
neSeS rich treasures for the use Of civil
iZation. The gathering OF gold, orchid
bulbs, medicinal barkS and other prod
ucts of the soil, the discovery of tribe
of white Indians and village OF blighted
women are al, but part of the story Of
how a potato scraper containing thirty
five diamonds weighing more than
carat each led to the Creek-of Bright
Rocks and eventually to the mountain
GUS birthplace of the precious stones.
There is only one thing wrong with the
book. Despite its more than generous
size and its splendid Photographic illus
trations, there just isn't enough OF 1t!
~ **
BEAUTY IN JAPAN. BY Samuel H.
Wainwright. jr. New York: G. p.
Putnam's Sons.
Japan and beauty are synonymous.
Ever since the outside world was first
permitted to enter and enjoy with
freedom the Land of the Rising Sun
the first emotional reaction to its charm
has been a response to its passion for
beauty. There are, of course, unlovely
conditions in Japan just as there are
in all the nations of the world. but these
are largely political and economic sore
spots, not visible in the material struc-
tuIe presented to the eye of the stranger
within it's gates. For the Japanese are
a beauty loving race, with a universal
appreciation of the artistic and a re-
markable gift for translating everything
that is to be seen or handled into q
work of art.
In preparing this handsome volume
about Japan it has been the purpose Of
the artist-author to analyze the peculiar
genius of its people for beauty and to
present in q profusion of illustrative
sketches examples of the adeptness with
which art has been applied to every
phase of life and of construction within