Reviews
Mountain Sickness And Its Probable Causes. By T. G. Longstaff, M.A., M.D.
(London: Spottiswoode & Co., Ltd. 1906.)
In this short book the author has given a concise and interesting account of the signs and symptoms of Mountain Sickness. This he does by relating more or less in their own words the experiences and feelings, first of various mountaineers, especially those who have attained the greatest height:- secondly of balloonists:- thirdly of scientific observers in Pneumatic Chambers:- and lastly he gives his own. The character and causes of this illness are studied both from practical and scientific points of view, and the general results shortly and plainly stated.
The whole book reads lightly and pleasantly, keeps the reader constantly interested, and makes the subject, which in itself is very abstruse, comparatively simple and straight-forward. The scientific side is very lightly treated, and though he implies that ordinary Migraine accounts for many of the symptoms he makes no mention of the condition called Acetonuria which sometimes occurs in Mountain Sickness, and is found in some diseases where there is semi-starvation and want of Oxygen.
Every Mountaineer ought to read the book: it will give him some hours of pleasant occupation, will teach him all that is worth knowing up to the present time about Mountain Sickness, and may be of value to him in future expeditions.
F H.M.
New Ordnance Survey Maps.
One Inch To A Mile And Two Miles To An Inch.
(Large Sheet Series.)
In noticing these new issues almost unqualified praise can be given to the many and various improvements effected, especially in the One Inch Maps.
As in the smaller sections issued a few years ago the hill shading is brown (engraved lines for the One Inch Map and fine Screen impression for the Half Inch), roads sienna, waters blue and woods green.
In the maps of the hilly districts it is pleasing to see considerable additions to the nomenclature. For purpose of example the immediate surroundings of Wasdale Head may be taken. On Scafell the names Hollow Stones, Mickle Door,[1] Broad Stand and Lord’s Rake now appear. The Pillar Rock is named and indicated, though faintly. Wind Gap, Little Scout Fell and Dore Head each appear; while not only Mosedale Beck but its tributary, Black Beck, is named. This naming of many of the tributary becks is a very I acceptable feature, for though long familiar their names could I only be found by referring to the Six Inch Map.
Throughout the district under notice the added detail includes other long-wanted bits of information and renders the particular map much more useful, though, as an exception, on turning to Great Gable the words Napes Needle may be seen placed immediately above the words Styhead Tarn, but whether this addition so placed would render easier the finding of that pinnacle even in clear weather is highly problematical. Generally, however, the added names are welcome, and whereas in the old black shaded maps the reading of names was difficult, the lighter brown shading in the new maps allows the names to be read with comparative ease.
The maps of this Large Sheet Series average 18in. x 27in. as against 12in. x 18in. of the previous issue, while the cost per sheet has not been raised in as great a proportion.
Praise must be bestowed on the sensible, though not new, method of folding and casing, the result being that the map opens as do the pages of a book and any part of it can thus be readily consulted in the open without first exposing the whole to wind or rain. It may be suggested, however, that the top and bottom margins might each be reduced a quarter of an inch, as at present the folds fit so closely that even in the study some care is required to avoid injuring the edges, a fault which would obviously be accentuated in a wind on the open fell.
It is regrettable that the same complete meed of praise cannot be extended to the new Half Inch Series. These are shaded, coloured and contoured in the same manner as the One Inch maps, but owing to the smaller scale and the various sizes and forms of type used and the apparent attempt to incorporate, partly by these means, a greater amount of information, the result is not pleasing to the eye, and the maps convey little suggestion of the surface modelling of the country. This new departure in scale is designed for the use of cyclists and as a general purpose map. It challenges unfavourable comparison with the beautiful maps on the same scale issued by Messrs. John Bartholomew & Co., but while a glance at a section of Bartholomew’s map reveals the whole surface structure of a tract of country, on the ordnance map it is necessary first to find a given starting point and then patiently to trace out mile by mile one’s intended route. This disparity is accounted for almost entirely by the fact that Messrs. Bartholomew have adopted what may be termed a natural scheme of altitude colouring for their contours. On their sheets the low-lying fertile lands are green, and with rise in altitude one passes through gradations of brown until the hill tops are reached, whose tint naturally suggests the peat and heather, while the names everywhere shew plainly upon the clear colouring.
A close comparison of these maps dealing with the same tract of country shews little advantage in point of detail to either production. The ordnance survey certainly indicates by the letter P that at a certain village there is a post-office; by T that there is both post and telegraph; while windmills and windpumps may also be discovered by the curious and diligent searcher whom they may concern; but, such details apart, most map-users will readily give the palm to the older series.
It may be of interest to local readers to know that sheet 9 of the new Half Inch Series (called the Leeds and Bradford Sheet) ranges from Clapham in the north-west to Ramsbottom in Lancashire, whilst its eastward limits are from Easingwold in the north to Hemsworth on the southern border of the map.
Further particulars of the new maps may be obtained from Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, 1, Adelphi Terrace, London, the wholesale distributing agent for the Government.
J.H.B.
The Netherworld Of Mendip:
Explorations in the Great Caverns of Somerset, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and elsewhere.
By Ernest A. Baker And Herbert E. Balch.
(Clifton : J. Baker & Son [1907].)
By gathering together and publishing in book form the substance of various articles on cave exploration which have appeared in certain English and Irish papers the authors have produced a work which we venture to think will be well received by the increasing number of people who take an interest in cave exploration, either as a sport or as a science. The preface tells us that of the 19 chapters those dealing with the Scientific results are by Mr. Balch “who has been writing on the geology of Mendip, more among the caves, for upwards of twenty years,” while “the accounts of actual experiences in which the sporting side is predominant” are by Mr. Baker, whose Moors, Crags and Caves of the High Peak we favourably noticed on p. 92 of this vol.
The Caves of Somerset occupy the greater part of the book. Yorkshire is represented by a single chapter recounting an exploration in Stump Cross Cavern, two chapters are given to Derbyshire Caves and one describes a visit to Mitchelstown Cave, Ireland.
The illustrations are excellent, but the few plans given of the caves have been so reduced in scale as to render them almost useless. This fault is so apparent that the authors will no doubt see that any work of this kind they may bring out in future is free from it. A clear and correct plan is of greater importance, as a record of an exploration and of more use to the reader, than any number of pages of description.
The book is further evidence of the interesting and valuable work that is being done by English Speleologists. It is written in a style that will be found attractive even by those persons who have been slow to see wisdom in the burrowing propensities of followers of the sport.
The Alps In Nature And History. By W. A. B. Coolidge.
(London: Methuen & Co. 1908.)
Occasionally – but with somewhat long intervals of time between – new books on the Alps appear which well deserve the conspicuous places accorded to them on the library shelves of the Alpine reader.
Some consist of reminiscences and impressions which help the reader towards a little understanding of that spell which the Mountains hold over the climber, and are generally furnished with tale and incident which thrill the reader as in imagination he shares in the joy of difficulties overcome on peak and glacier. Among such, Moore’s “Alps,” Leslie Stephen’s “Playground,” Whymper’s “Scrambles,” Tyndall’s, Freshfield’s, Conway’s, Dent’s and other writers’ works, long , ago elevated to the importance of Alpine classics, quickly come to mind.
But there are other excellent Alpine books of a different class which, though not having as great an influence towards the growth of mountaineering as those named, are also of considerable importance. Ball, Murray, and Whymper`s and the Climbers’ Guides are all books of high excellence and great usefulness.
There is however another important class of Alpine book of which but few examples exist so far, and this need not be wondered at, for its author should have an extensive knowledge of Alpine literature, be a historian of wide reading and judgment, a mountaineer of experience, and have an intimate acquaintance with the life and habits of the Swiss people gained by permanent residence amongst them. These qualities are combined in Mr. Coolidge to an unequalled degree, and of this there is good evidence in his latest book “The Alps in Nature and History.” Its value consists in the accumulation of a mass of historical facts and figures relating to the Alps which no other book that we know of on the subject contains, and of the arrangement of these in such order, and at times with such completeness as to make it one that no future student of Alpine history should be without. Though it abounds with names, dates and heights of peaks it is not a book of the gazetteer kind – merely for reference, it is essentially a readable book, and mainly of very great interest.
Beginning with a short description of what are commonly known as the Swiss Alps – those great chains of snow-covered mountains with their lateral buttresses which lie N. of Italy – the author makes the too frequently forgotten distinction between them and the Alps or pastures as they are known to the mountain dwellers. The topography of the mountains, the earliest known accounts of the snowy regions, and the modern theories of the life of a glacier are all well described, and then we have two very interesting chapters on the flora and fauna of the Alps by authorities on those special subjects – the one on “Alpine Flowers” by Mr. George Yeld, and the other on “The Beasts and Birds ” by Mr. Howard Knox.
As the book proceeds its value becomes even more evident. The history of the peoples of the various Alpine districts, their different languages, dialects and religions are all ably dealt with, and then follow two long and important chapters on the Political History of the Alps and the great Historical Passes. The former of these two has been no uncommon subject with past writers, and much time and ingenuity have been expended in endeavouring to identify certain western passes with past events in Roman history, but the history of the scores of other less known passes has never before been so fully dealt with in an English work.
This, the first half of the book, will appeal to the general reader and student, but the mountaineer will find the second half of still greater and indeed engrossing interest, and here Mr. Coolidge’s knowledge shows itself in a marked degree.
“The Exploration of the High Alps” up to the end of 1865 – a vast subject, “Modern Mountaineering” and “Alpine Guides,” are chapters of exceptional value, though each necessarily of moderate length in a single volume of demy octavo size, and there is also a charming little chapter entitled “A Year’s Round in the Alps.” But we regard the last fourth of the book on “The various Divisions and Groups of the Alps” as the most important of all. This subject has been treated by previous authors – both English and Continental – and at greater length, but few if any of them had the personal knowledge of the extensive subject that he was handling as Mr. Coolidge has, and this has enabled him to give us information not to be found elsewhere.
Two appendices are added, the first giving the heights of the principal peaks and passes in the Alps, and the second a list of the peaks in the order when they were first ascended. The latter is of extreme value and must have necessitated a very great amount of research. Its usefulness would, however, have been enhanced by the addition of the names of the men who first conquered the peaks. Some are named in an earlier part of the book, but they might have been repeated here with advantage.
The book is adorned with fine illustrations from photographs by Signor Sella, Mr. Alfred Holmes and others. These are particularly acceptable because of their uncommonness, among them being a striking view of the Roththal face of the Jungfrau from the Ebnefluhjoch and a charming view of the Jungfrau range from the Blumlisalphorn.
The book is worth double its published price.
The Journal Of The Fell And Rock Climbing Club Of The English Lake District. Vol. I. No. 1.
Edited By G. F. Woodhouse, M.A. And Edward Scantlebury.
(Barrow, 1907.)
The youngest of English Climbing Clubs has been formed in a district in which it would have been surprising if the appeal of its founders had not met with quick and gratifying response. Though the first meeting of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club was held not much more than two years ago the number of its members already reaches to over 200 and the list includes the names of some well known English mountaineers.
It is not certain that an increase in the number of Climbing Clubs in Great Britain is conducive to the best interests of Mountaineering, and the question might well be asked whether it would not be better for Clubs with like tastes and aims to combine and form one central club with branches in districts where men may conveniently meet to practice or talk about their favourite sport and listen to the reading of papers of interest. If however there be justification for the addition of another Climbing Club to the already long list of such, surely votaries of the sport who reside in or near the Lake District can show it, for amongst its mountains English climbers most do congregate and there is perhaps no part of the country where a club of this kind is so likely to succeed.
So sure do the Committee of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club seem to have been of its sound growth and usefulness that the burden of a Club Journal was soon taken up, the first number making its appearance within 12 months after the formation of the Club. We congratulate the joint Editors, Messrs. Woodhouse and Scantlebury on the general excellence of the 100 pages of matter and illustrations which it contains. An excellent portrait, in photogravure, of the late J. W. Robinson, who was one of the Vice-Presidents of ‘ the Club, appropriately forms the frontispiece, and an appreciatory “In Memoriam” notice of that much respected man among mountaineers is contributed by Mr. George Seatree, his fellow Vice-President. The origin and aims of the Club are stated, this being followed by a short sporting paper by the late Mr. Robinson. A welcome re-print is given of Mr. Williamson’s historic articles on “The Climbs of the English Lake District,” which appeared in All the Year Round, in 1884, and we are promised a supplement to this in the next number of the Journal. Other papers of note are “A new climb on Scafell Pinnacle” via the Low Man Buttress nose; “The Crescent Climb, Pavey Ark” by Mr. Fred Botterill, and one descriptive of the climbs to be found on Gimmer Crag by Mr. Andrew Thomson.
The number is profusely illustrated and well printed. Though it contains a few printers errors these are of little consequence, but we suggest that in the spelling of place names a little consistency might be shown. The Editors should make up their minds whether Westmorland or Westmoreland, and Wasdale or Wastdale are the more correct ways of spelling those place names, and not use, first one spelling and then the other.
We heartily wish the Club and its Journal continued success.
Since the above review was written, No. 2 of this Journal has appeared.
It is, if possible, better than No. 1, and contains over a hundred pages of well written papers, reviews, and other matter of special interest to the members of the Club.
Mountaineering reversed is given a prominent place, for Mr. George Seatree leads off with a very readable paper on Alum Pot, in which he expresses the pleasures he experienced during a day of pot-holing with some of our members.
A sequel to Mr. Williamson’s article on The Climbs of the English Lake District, which was reprinted in the first number, is contributed by Mr. George D. Abraham, and though necessarily short will be found of much use to climbers who are not well acquainted with the district.
Where all is good we merely mention in particular, Mr. Woodhouse’s “With Map and Compass,” and Mr. Oliverson’s “The Rope, as used in Rock Climbing.”
If the same high excellence of this journal continues to be maintained, there ought to be a large demand for copies. Illustrations form a great feature, and the List of Lake District Hotels, Inns, Farm-houses, &c., that is appended to this number make it alone worth buying.
My Alpine Jubilee. 1851-1907. By Frederic Harrison.
(London: Smith, Elder & Co. [1908].)
This is a delightful little book.
Apparently prompted by the jubilee gathering of the Alpine Club, Mr. Harrison has been prevailed upon to collect and publish in book form some letters and articles which he wrote for the “Times,” “Cornhill ” and “Westminster Review ” and these he has prefaced by half-a-dozen letters addressed from Switzerland to his wife and daughter, in 1907. To all he has given the title of the book, though from the text it would appear that his own Alpine career began some 57 years ago.
The style of the letters, in which the scholar appears in almost every line: the happy reminiscences related of days spent in valley and on glacier, pass, and peak in the few years which immediately preceded the formation of the Alpine Club: when the natives saw but few strangers and the mountain sides had no comfortable huts: before the railways had opened Switzerland to the European public, and when the only Inn at Zermatt was at Seiler’s Chalet with its eight or ten rooms: all make charming reading.
Mr. Harrison claims to have “founded” Mürren as a “station,” for he tells us that when in 1853 he and his brother crossed the Tschingel Pass (or does he mean the Sefinen Furgge?) from Kandersteg to Lauterbrunnen “there was neither inn, nor hut, nor so much as a glass of milk to be got in the two or three poor chalets there,” and that at Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken, and Thun he and his brother “filled the hotel registers with vehement praise of the views and air of Mürren, and rebukes to the indolence of tourists who neglected so magnificent a station.”
Even to-day one need not wander far from Mürren to experience the same joys of quiet amidst grand surroundings that Mr. Harrison felt 56 years ago; for out of all the crowds who now visit the place in summer but few tourists appear to leave it except to re-enter the train which took them there. Yet “Nature is as lovely, as sublime, as ever, and the railways, pensions and grand hotels, and circular trippers are after all but scratches on the surface and flies upon the granite rock.”
We do not gather from the author’s modest references to his own ascents of high peaks that these were numerous, though he does tell us that he has crossed most of the celebrated passes in Switzerland. But, what of that! When a man can see as he sees and has the gift of describing in charming language the feelings which Alpine scenery inspires, we are grateful to him for their expression, without asking for his climbing record.
Perhaps the article on Mountaineering which is reprinted from the “Westminster Review ” of 1864 and forms the longest article in the book will appeal the most strongly to our readers. We take the liberty of extracting the following from it as a sample of what the book contains. He says :-
“Of the more ready modes in which a busy man may feed his passion for earth, the best is Alpine climbing – the best, not only for the special beauty and variety of scene, but as being that form of nature which fills the spirit most deeply with emotion, and drives it into simplicity and seriousness. Oh, unforgotten hours, for how many causes is your memory dear! What can a man say who struggles to recall you! – how tell, how remember with method or completeness the full measure of exhilaration –
Trasumanar significar per verba
Non si poria –
the tramp in silence under the morning stars; the hush which precedes the dawn, and the glowing circles of sunlight round the distant peaks; the ring of the crisp ice in the early morn; the study of the path, and the halt merry with shouts and jests; the snatched meal, preposterous but delicious; the grappling with some mad ice-torrent, and the cunning path wound upwards through a chaos of sérars; the wild and fairy loveliness of cavern and chasm; then the upward strain across some blinding wall of snow; the crash of the ice-axe and the whirr of the riven blocks; the balanced tread along the jagged ridge; the spring at the last crag, and then the keen cheer from the summit ?
What a summit! what a reward for work! – the world as it were, and all that it holds, the plains and hills, the lakes, rivers, towns, villages, meadows and vineyards, myriads of peaks snow-tinted, and valleys infinite, opening before the amazed eyesight in circle beyond circle, and all around and beneath broad wastes of snow and unimaginable gulfs. And then comes home to the dullest a sense of awe at standing thus looking out over the earth amidst force so portentous and expanse so vast-a creature oneself how slight, how ignorant, and yet how strong and sovereign! Then, filled through and through with awe and joy, the last look taken, one turns again to work, to the mad whirl of the glissade, the still more treacherous descent, the dripping glacier-bridge at noon, the effaced footprints, the cheery tramp through slush and snow, happy and bespattered, stumbling and laughing, drenched and merry – the tread at last on the springing turf as on that of a long unseen home; the first mosses, the highest pines, and the log huts, one after another; the first few and ever-increasing marks of man and cultivated earth and civilised existence, the blessed signs of human life and social aid, the nestling village, huts and barns, the long files of gentle herds, the half-golden patch of corn, the quaintly poised bridge, the lowly roof and flashing cross of the village church, the kindly ‘ good night of the peasant, the simple welcome and the homely glow of the hospitable hearth.”
This is a delightful, moving picture, every detail of which many of our readers will recall to mind.
We commend the book to all lovers of the Alps whether mere tourists or mountaineers.
Adventures On The Roof Of The World,
and
True Tales Of Mountain Adventure. By Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond.
(London: T. Fisher Unwin.)
On the re-issue of these two books of mountain adventure at reduced prices we take the opportunity of saying a few words about them.
In the main the contents consist of the cream of the tales of mountain adventure which are to be found in the best of our Alpine books. To each tale Mrs. Le Blond has added appropriate introductory remarks and explanations, while her occasional comments on the incidents related are, as would be expected, thoroughly sound.
The books are worthy of commendation. The illustrations are plentiful and excellent; but it is a little astonishing to find Jean Antoine Carrel’s name under a portrait of J. J. Maquignaz, and a view shewing the two Gabelhorns, Rothhorn , and Weisshorn, named The Dent Blanche. These mistakes appeared in the first edition of the “Tales,” but ought not to have been repeated in the second.
My Climbs In The Alps And Caucasus. By A. F. Mummery. (Second Edition).
(London. T. Fisher Unwin. 1907.)
Though this edition of Mummery’s ‘Climbs’ bears the imprint “Second’ it has been re-issued no less than five times, one impression being in French. That edition contained a portrait of Mummery, which now appears in the English edition also as a frontispiece. A most interesting introduction by Mrs. Mummery, with extracts from letters he addressed to her during his last and fatal expedition, is also given. It is good of Mrs. Mummery to have opened these letters to the world of climbers, who will eagerly listen to a little more about the expedition than has been told by one of his two companions.
A short appreciation of Mummery in which his characteristics are viewed from other than the rnountaineer’s side, is contributed by his friend and co-writer of a book on Economics – Mr. J. A. Hobson.
These are the new features in the last edition of a work now so well known to mountaineers that it is unnecessary to repeat all the good things that have been said about it and its author.
The handsome get-up of the first edition is maintained in the second.
Guide To The Walks And Climbs Around Arolla. Collected And Written By Walter Larden, A.C.
(London: S. Chick & Co. 1907.)
Those who make the head of the Val d’Arolla their centre will appreciate the boon which this printed pocket edition of Mr. Larden’s well-known Guide Book is sure to be found.
Its publication was due to the suggestion of Dr. T. Brushfield who undertook to gather the necessary funds, and as all surplus receipts are to be devoted to charitable purposes in Switzerland – most probably to the relief of the widows and families of guides who have lost their lives in the Alps, the enterprise deserves success.
If the book should pass into a second published edition we hope with Mr. Larden that the authority on the history of the Val d’Herens will be induced to enhance its pages with particulars of the ascents of more of the surrounding peaks and other information of interest to mountaineers, thus making it more on the lines of Conway and Coolidge’s “Climbers’ Guides.” It would also be a convenience if the heights of the peaks and passes were given.
The use of a number of simple line drawings of the chief mountains instead of the few more expensive wash drawings – and on ordinary text paper instead of plate paper – which has the fault of sticking when damp – would be an improvement. As for the text, the names of the contributors are for the most part sufficient guarantee of the accuracy of the descriptions. Several of our members’ names appear among them.
We observe that Mr. Larden advises climbers to purchase Conway’s “Climbers’ Guide to the Central Pennine Alps”; but this has been out of print at least six years.
The Heart Of Lakeland. By Lehmann J. Oppenheimer.
(London: Sherratt & Hughes. 1908.)
We believe most climbers, and particularly those who know the heart of Lakeland well, will agree with us after reading Mr. Oppenheimer’s book in saying that it is wholly delightful
Seldom is an author gifted as he with the qualities which specially fit a man for writing a book of this kind. He is an ardent lover of Nature, a first-class climber with a keen eye for the beauties of Lakeland, a talented artist, a good photographer, and his style of writing is clear and interesting. In his book are gathered articles written years ago, and to these are added others which, to some extent, link them up and form a suitable introduction and finish to the whole. Scenes and climbing incidents are pictured with a master hand.
Beginning with “Early Impressions” he takes us to Wasdale Head at Easter, when its hotel is filled with a jovial gathering of climbers, and he makes the reader almost feel the actual delight of the day’s sport on the surrounding fells – the start, the day on the crags, the return, and the enjoyable evening around the hearth with men of kindred taste and not widely different opinions on their favourite topic – then much to the fore. Again, he tells of the conquest of new gullies and of new routes up crags, while in other chapters he chats no less interestingly about days on old climbs, which though many times previously done, never lose their charm with the true and best rock climber. Other chapters tell of moments of quiet and meditation when the hills seem to breathe their secrets to some men, and particularly to those from busy towns, who find Lakeland so perfect a setting for deep thoughts. Appropriately the book concludes with “Castles in the Air” – dreams of possibilities of a happy ending of life’s days in the land the author loves so well, but dreaded anticipation of the not impossible time when railways will not only disturb the quiet of Lakeland dales, but may also rack the sides of its passes and fells.
Mr. Oppenheimer knows his subject well. He has roamed over it in all seasons and weathers, for only by so doing is it possible to gain a true insight into its many wonderful moods and beauties. His name is associated with some of the best climbs made in recent years, and in his accounts of these, climbers will follow him with that feeling of enjoyment which only climbers know.
Some prominence is given in the book to the advantages of Buttermere as a centre. In the main we agree with the author that it has been unduly neglected by climbers, but the comparisons he draws between it and Rosthwaite and Langdale are, we think, made a little too much of and to the disadvantage of the two last named places, for in his list of climbs within “easy reach” a number of well-known ones are not included. On Great End the central and S.E. gullies are not the only climbs, and surely the 9 gullies on Bowfell links should also be included in the Langdale list! Nevertheless, Buttermere is well favoured in its comparative proximity to some of the ` best climbs in Lakeland, and is surrounded by some of the grandest fells, and wood and lake scenery to be found in the district.
We take exception too to the name Mr. Oppenheimer has given to the miniature Dru-like buttress which lies on the north-west side of Stogdon’s Gully on Bowfell. It is known to the local shepherds as Hen-Tor, Hen-Taw, or Hent-Haw, and one of these picturesque names is given to it by the Ordnance Surveyors. Why seek to change the name?
Let those people who ignorantly imagine that climbers care for and see nothing of .interest in Lakeland but grim and dangerous crags, on which they foolishly risk life and limb, read Mr. Oppenheimer’s chapter on the service that was held in Grasmere Church in memory of our late Queen. As a study of some of the dales-people, and their surroundings, it is charming. His tale of the little fussy pew-opener advancing up the aisle unconscious of the fact that his charges had already entered a pew he did not intend for them is amusing. Dr. John Brown, of blessed memory, has told a similar tale, but with a different ending, for whereas the Grasmere sides-man relieved his injured feelings on some whispering children, Dr. John Brown’s dour Scotsman, James, pulled the visitors out, marched them further up the kirk to the place he had appointed for them, and shut them in with a snap.
We heartily commend the book. It is tastefully got up, well printed, and the illustrations of crag, mountain, dale, leaf, wood, stream, pool and cloud, are numerous and very beautiful.
Reviews of Mr. George D. Abraham’s “The Complete Mountaineer” and Mr. Ashley P. Abraham’s “Rock Climbing in Skye,” are held over for our next number.
Recent Books
The Alpine Guide. Vol. II. The Central Alps, Part I. By the late John Ball. A new edition, reconstructed and revised by A. V. Valentine Richards. With six maps. Size 7¼ x 4?, pp. xxviii. and 327. (London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1907. Price 6s. 6d. net.)
Adventures On The Roof Of The World. By Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond. Second edition. With over 100 illustrations. Size 8 x 5?, pp. xvi. and 333. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1907. Price 5s.)
Wall And Roof Climbing. By the Author of “The Roof-Climber’s Guide to Trinity.” [G. Winthrop Young]. Size 9 x 5¾, pp. viii, and 109. (Eton College: Spottiswoode & Co., Ltd. 1905. Copies may be obtained from the Assistant Secretary of the Alpine Club at 2s. 6d. each.)
Mountain Sickness And Its Probable Causes. By T. G. Longstaff, M.A., M.D. Size 8½ x 5½, pp. 56. (London: Spottiswoode & Co., Ltd. 1906. Price 1s.) Reviewed on p. 731.
The Netherworld Of Mendip. Explorations in the Great Caverns of Somerset, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and elsewhere. By Ernest A. Baker and Herbert E. Balch. With map, plans, and 52 illustrations. Size 8¾ x 5?, pp. xii. and 172. (Clifton: J. Baker &.Son. 1907. Price 7s 6d. net.) Reviewed on p. 334.
The Complete Mountaineer. By George D. Abraham. With 75 illustrations. Size 8? x 5½, pp. xv. and 493. (London: Methuen & Co. 1907. Price 15s. net.)
Rock-Climbing In Skye. By Ashley P. Abraham. With 30 full page illustrations in collotype, 9 diagrams of the chief routes, and a map, Size 9 x 6?, pp. xxiv. and 330. (London: Longmans, Green &. Co. 1908 Price 21s. net.)
Alpine Plants At Home. First Series. Sixty photographs by Somerville Hastings, F.R.C.S. Size 5¾ x 3?, pp. 71. (London & Glasgow: Gowans & Gray. 1908. Price 6d. net.)
A beautifully illustrated little handbook of Alpine flowers, with the Latin, French, German and English names, and some notes on the plants.
The Swiss Democracy: The Study of a Sovereign People. By Henry Demarest Lloyd. Edited by JOHN A. HOBSON. Size 8 x 5¾, pp. xvi. and 273. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1908. Price 6s. net)
The Matterhorn. By Guido Rey. Translated from the Italian by J. E. C. Eaton. With 14 coloured plates, 23 pen drawings, and 11 photographs. Size 10 by 7, pp. 336. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1908. Price 21s. net.)
The Bernese Oberland. (Conway and Coolidge’s Climbers’ Guides). Vol. III. From the Dent de Morcles to the Gemmi. By H. Dubi. 1907. Vol. IV. Part I. From the Grimsel to the Sustenlimmi. By H. DUBI. 1908. Vol. IV. Part II. From the Sustenlimmi to the Uri Rothstock. By H. DUBI. Size 5? x 3¼. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1908. Price 10s. each.)
These three volumes complete the description of the climbs in the Bernese Alps.
The Alps In Nature And History. By W. A. B. Coolidge, M.A. With map, 20 illustrations and 7 diagrams. Size 8? x 5½. pp. xx. and 440. (London: Methuen & Co. 1908. Price 7s. 6d. net.) Reviewed on p. 334.
Tyrol. Painted by E. H. Compton, and described by W. A. Baillie-Grohman. With 24 full-page illustrations in colour. Size 7½ x 5¼, pp. x. and 208. (London: A. & C. Black. 1908. Price 6s. net.)
My Alpine Jubilee: 1851-1907. By FRederic Harrison. With a portrait. Size 7½ x 5, pp. ix. and 141. (London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1908. Price 3s. 6d. net.) Reviewed on p. 339.
Guide To The Walks And Climbs Around Arolla. Collected and written by Walter Larden, A.C. 3 illustrations. Size 5? x 4¼, pp. ix. and 138. (London: 1908. Price 2s. 9d. post free from Dr. Brushfield, St. Mary’s, Scilly Isles, Cornwall.) Reviewed on p. 342.
The Climbers’ Pocket Book: Rock Climbing Accidents, with Hints on First Aid to the Injured. Some uses of the Rope, Methods of Rescue, and Transport. By Lionel F. West, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. With illustrations. Size 6? x 4?, pp. 79. (Manchester: The Scientific Publishing Co. [1907.] Price 2s. 6d. net.)
The Life And Letters Of Leslie Stephen. By Frederic William Maitland. With 5 portraits in photogravure. Size 9 x 6½, pp. ix. and 510. (London : Duckworth and Co. 1906. Price 18s. net.)
Mountaineering In The Land Of The Midnight Sun. By Mrs Aubrey Le Blond. With 71 illustrations and a map. Size 8½ x 5?, pp. xii. and 304. (London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1908. Price 10s. 6d. net.)
My Climbs In The Alps And Caucasus. By A. F. Mummery. Second Edition (Fourth Impression), with an introduction by Mrs. Mummery and an appreciation by J. A. Hobson. Photogravure portrait of the author, 10 plates and 22 illustrations in the text. Size 10½ x 7, pp. XL. and 361. (London : T. Fisher Unwin. 1908. Price 21s. net.)
The Heart Of Lakeland. By Lehmann J. Oppenheimer. With 38 . illustrations. Size 9 x 5¾, pp. 196. (London and Manchester: Sheratt and Hughes. 1908. Price 6s. net.) Reviewed on p. 347.
Scrambles Amongst The Alps, In The Years 1860-69. By Edward Whymper. [6th edition]. With illustrations from photographs by W. F. Donkin and Alfred Holmes. Size 6? x 4?, pp. viii. and 480, (London : T. Nelson and Sons. Price 1s. net.)
We hope the boys of the present day will show their gratefulness to Mr. Whymper for granting Messrs. Nelson a concession to publish the “Scrambles,” at this low price by purchasing and reading it. Many a mountaineer has been led by it to take up the sport, and we trust it will have a like influence on some of the rising generation. It is, however, curious to see an edition of the “Scrambles” without the beautiful woodcuts which graced the earlier editions.
Ruwenzori: An account of the Expedition of H.R.H. The Duke Of The Abruzzi to the Snow Ridges situated between the Equatorial Lakes of Central Africa. By Filippo De Filippi, F.R.G.S. Done into English by Caroline de Filippi, née Fitzgerald. Illustrated from photographs by Vittorio Sella. With 24 plates, 170 half-tone illustrations, 5 panoramas, 3 maps, &c. Size 10 x 7, pp. xvi. and 408. (London: Archibald Constable & Co., Ltd. 1908. Price 31s. 6d. net.)
The Land In The Mountains. Being an account of the past and present of TYROL, its People and its Castles. By W. A. Baillie-Grohman. With 81 illustrations, and 2 maps. Size 8¾ x 5¾ pp. xxxi and 288. (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.. Ltd. 1907. Price 12s. 6d. net.)