"Waar I to mention everything in your book which is especially worthy of remark, I should have to write down the heads of all your chapters"—was the substance of a sentence in one of Sir Charles Lyell's letters to Mr. Darwin, This remark is equally ap. plicable to Mr. Floyer's book "Un. explored Balichistan." The are so interesting and varied and the foots so ensily and pleasantly told, that we feel tempted to quote so much that the result would be little less than an abridgment. Of writing books of travel there is no and, and we, who have read no small afore of them, are pretty well acquainted with the faults which they share in common. Those faults in " Unexplored Balichistan" are conspicuona by absence. It task of no small difficulty to write a book fall of personal adventures without bringing into undue Prominence the writer's self; we are often annoyed by the continual recur rence of the personal pronoun I, and only too often the writer poses as a suffering martyr claiming sympathy and commiseration for troubles which, however great, we cannot help remembering are self imposed. There is nothing of all this in the book before ug, and it is quite casually that we learn of sufferings which affected only the writer himself. The descriptions of scenery are vigorous, and fresh from the note-book, rather than carefully elaborated in the study. Mr. Floyer's accounts of the continual streams of poor diseased creatures who tucked begging him upon then, are inexpressibly touching, and not seldom inexpressibly ludicrous, They would never believe that sometimes it was beyond mortal power to do anything for them, but always, if refused medicine because it was useless to give it, thought that they bad not offered sufficient price, and so went home to fetch all their little store, until anything from chips of soap to things more or less efficacious, lind to be given to pacify them. Ths chief charm of this book is that its readers are themselves brought face to face with each incident on the route, and we feel as though we had seen and heard, rather than that we have rend, the desoriptions of places and things. The circumstances which decided Mr. Feyer to undertake his travels are exceptional. He was stationed at Jask, a fort on the Persian Gulf, and he obtained leave from his official duties on account of extreme ill-health; he was advised to go to Minab for change of air, as there was @ good straightforward road th pretty well frequented. This advice acted on him in a contrary direction, He would go on uno straightforward, well-frequented road; he had long wanted to know what lay beyond the range of hills that runs down the Mekran const, and now, excepting for illness, here was his best opportunity for finding out. There are not many many mon of three or four and twenty, lying at death's door, who would have turned their eyes to the hills beyond which Lay an unknown country, As the name of his book itself signifies, the land over which he proposed to travel was unexplored. No European had ever set foot on most of the route maps were vague, and information antrastworthy and exaggerated; dan. gers both from climate and hostile tribes, immense. Surely these were considerations even fora hardy veteran. It would be an injustice however to Mr. Floyer's good sense to suppose the journey was undertaken through mere curiosity, and wanton carol ness of life. Sir Frederic Goldsmid had before suggested that competent men should explore Bashakard, Baluchistan, etc. A knowledge of those countries is of international importance, and it is scarcely necessary to remark that were it not for the intrepidity of such men as Mr, Feyer, were dangers never encountered, and unduly risked, we should never have attained our present state of civilization and knowledge. Therefore all honour should be given to those who have dared, and those who have triumphed over, difficulties such as these, "Not a truth has to art or to been giv it, souls toiled and striven; and many have striven and many" have failed, and many died slain by the truth they assailed." As we have before stuted, Mr. Feyer started on the travels from Jask. His firat journey was to Bint and Bampur, ina north easterly direction; lo describes the onravan with which he started, in a fow masterly touches, not wearying his readers with long list of the virtues and vices of each man, nor the details of his luggage, though at the same time they are put in possession of the leading facts and char. acteristic of men and camels, He does not forget to pay his debt of gratitude to the "princely hospitality of the Jask Lancers who, armed with big spears and mounted on donkeys, scoured the surrounding country for pariah dogs." When Mr. Feyer was well on hia journey he experienced some difficulty in finding his way, being perplexed by the numerous goat-paths etc. After a time however they found three huts, and on seeing them the men rushed forward to ask the way; "but they found the sole occupant was a toothless old woman, who, do what she would, could not niter a single intelligible word, Our whole party followed up, and acting on the usually received theory that anyone they could not understand must be deaf, commenced a vigorous yelling that would have been amusing had I not felt that time was precious. Old Jettal who had taken the lend was the first to give in, and, wrought up to the highest pitch tion, he recommended her in a despairing yell to go and got some one to bury her, and rushed off mut. tering and shaking his head."
After Mr. Feyer lind returned to Jask some time he retreated to a small desert island in the Persian gulf called Honjam, where he read up "botany, geology, entomology, observations astronomical, meteorological," eto. We h him in thinking that is anything but " lively place for those who have nothing to do, being about five miles long by three brand, "and almost entirely composed of rugged hills which look absolutely barren. At first nevertheless Mr. Feyer found over a hundred different botanic cal specimens, and ove uew species, a delicately pretty plant which has been named after him at the Royal Gardens, Kew. From Honjam we are taken to Kishorn Island, where we read an amusing account of the animals going down to the water to drink, and of a thirsty walk" in which there is more than touch of pathos, from Kishorn to Bushire, and from thence back toJask. Soon afterwards the equipment was ready for Mr. Floyer's great march to Anguhran, the capital of Bashakard, en route for Baghdad, Ho was accompanied by his' faithful and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.