weeks, amid circumstances the most trying that it is possible to imagine. In one instance the cold appears to have been intense indeed, for "all food was frozen-even brandy began to freeze one night-meat in the tins or ham had to be chopped with the axe; butter could without any fear be carried in the waistcoat-pocket, to be enjoyed on the march." Still, however, they reached the 77th degree of latitude, which on the east coast of Greenland is a perfectly virgin soil. Here they terminated their journey northwards; and having erected a cairn, they placed in it a box containing a document worded as follows: "This spot, which lies in 77° 1' North latitude, and

Ruined Esquimaux Huts and Tent-rings.

18° 50' West longitude from Greenwich, was reached by the German Arctic Expedition in sledges (the last three German miles on foot), starting from the winter harbour by Sabine Island, after an absence from the ship of twenty-two days." The return journey to the ship was as eventful as the one already undergone; and after this was completed they made, among other excursions, one which is of some interest, to the remains of an Esquimaux settlement. The following account is given of this: "On the shore facing the south-west we discovered a long row of graves, heaps of stone so evidently built by the hand of man that they must at once strike the eye;

beside them were the upper parts of four well-preserved earth-huts belonging to the natives. These were remarkable even in the distance by a small crater, edged with a circle of stones. . . . . Upon coming nearer square open holes were to be seen, half in the earth, built over with strong stone walls, from which a massive underground passage led into the open air." Then follows a minute account of "those curious huts, which certainly lead us to class them as an exceedingly primitive style of dwelling. The rings were simply the outlines of a tent, and are common enough in West Greenland."

We have said enough to show the reader how exceedingly interesting is this book, but we have not said enough of the illustrations, which are admirably drawn and well painted. Especially can we commend the coloured illustrations, which are to our mind some of the very best work of this description that we have ever seen. Altogether the book is one which the German nation may well be proud of.*

CHINA, INDO-CHINA, AND THE STRAITS OF MALACCA.†

ALTHOUGH the present work can hardly be called a scientific one in the strictest sense of the word, still, inasmuch as geography is to a certain extent unquestionably scientific, it must therefore pass muster in the ranks of scientific literature. Still, Mr. Thomson has been, to a certain extent, possessed of the powers of observation of a keen naturalist, and he has given us in this volume views of China, both with pen and pencil, which are perfectly original, and some of them are of the most intense interest. Doubtless the present work has been published with a view of bringing before the general public those views which the author originally published in a much larger and a vastly more expensive volume. However that may be, we must express our gratitude to him for the pains he has taken in presenting us with a series of views which we believe were originally photographed by himself, and which therefore have a value far beyond what the mere pen-and-ink or pencil sketches of an artist would have, inasmuch as they are far more truthful. It is impossible to do more than give three or four quotations from this interesting work, which is written in a remarkably pleasant style, which possesses both accuracy of general statement and withal runs easily and smoothly to the ear.

Johore is one of the places visited by the writer, who describes it as separated from Singapore by a narrow strip of water, and in its wild forests we meet with a "type of man by far the most primitive that these regions have to show. These are the Jacoons, who, like the orang-outang or mias of Borneo, are reported to dwell in trees. . . They are said to be the true aboriginal inhabitants of the land. The pure' specimens among them are woolly-haired and dark-skinned; the same sort of people, indeed, whom we

The blocks have been kindly lent by Messrs. Low.

"The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China; or, Ten Years' Travels, Adventures, and Residence Abroad." By J. Thomson, F.R.G.S. London: Sampson Low & Co. 1875.

meet with in the Papuans of New Guinea, in the natives of many of the Pacific islands, and in the mountains of Indo-China . . . They detest the Malays, and hold no intercourse with them." Further we meet with the author's description of many curious habits and manners of the people of Siam. By the way, some of the writer's tales strike us with a doubt as to their accuracy, which we do not like to express more particularly; for instance, the story of the Siamese Prince and the foreign china-broker.

However, we can pass over this, when there are so many facts of the greatest interest and of undoubted truth. What, for example, can be more wonderful to see in such a country than the Temple of Nakhon Wat? A wondrous temple, gigantic in point of size, symmetrical in all its parts, and yet completely different from the buildings of the population now existing. "The secret," says the author, "of my emotion lay in the extreme contrast between Nakhon Wat-rising, with all the power which the magnitude of proportions can give a sculptured giant pyramid, amid forest and

jungle-clad plains-and the grass-thatched huts . . . which are all that the present inhabitants have either wish or ability to set up. Nakhon Wat is raised upon a stone platform. It is carried from its base in three quadrangular tiers, with a great central tower above all, having an elevation of 180 feet. The outer boundary-wall encloses a square space, measuring nearly three-fourths of a mile each way, and is surmounted by a ditch 230 feet across. . . . Facing the cardinal points of the compass and in the

centre of each side of the boundary-wall there are long galleries, with arched roofs and monolithic pillars, which present a striking and clerical appearance," &c. And so on the author describes this wondrous temple, and he gives sketches of the drawings and sculptures that are within it. Some of these resemble many of those that readers will be perhaps most familiar with in Assyrian remains, and are works that could alone have been executed by an advanced and educated race.