BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 217, 1 June 1918, Page 11

BOOKS OF THE DAY

British East Africa. Many works have been published of recent years dealing with sport and travel in East Africa, but a new book entitled I'After big Game: the Story of an African Holiday" (London, T, Werner Laurie) possesses an interest all its own, and is to bo welcomed as an exceedingly valuable addition to the already large mass of literature dealing with British East Africa. The joint authors are ■ Mr. It. S. Meikle, F.Z.S. (Scotland), and Mrs. Meikle, who, in 1912, made a journey to British East

Africa. Their main objects were big game shooting and the study of the natural history of the. Protectorate, but they appear to have been just as keenly interested in the- nativo races and tho prospects of tho European planter and stockbreeder as in tho chasing, and slaying d the wild animals for which the region is 60 famous. A large portion of tho book is devoted to the wanderings of tho authors "on safari,-" and tho progress, management, and results of their expeditions in search of big game, .but even in this section a somewhat hackneyed subject has been invested with a new interest. Por many readers, however, tho book will possess ( a special fascination in its beautiful word pictures of tho scenery along the Uganda railway and of the lako region, tho curious customs of the various native tribes, and of tho social life of tho white settlers, ever, before the war at least, a rapidly increasing section of the population. ; . The climate- in' the highlands is de: lightful, but, of course, in the coastal region precautions have to be taken against malaria. Natural loveliness and an unhealthy climate too often go hand-in-hand in the Tropics. Zanzibar on the whole ia yery unhealthy. Rnys Mr. Meikle •-

It is correctly said that anyone who stays there any length nf time irets malaria. I met men, how&ver. who had lived in the town, or father on its ou(skirt«. for many years, and who certainly seemed healthy enough. Some' of them had never had foyer. So far, howevpr as I could ascertain, it" is certain death for any whito man to sleep in the nlantation area, where vegetation is dense and rank. . . .

Tl!« direct heat of the 6un in terrific. Pilh helmets must be worn—cork ones are use-, less—and no old stager will go abroad without hie "life preserver"—a whito umbrella.. , ■ The authors epeak very highly of tho work.done by the Germans. At Dar-es; Snlaam, at Tanga, and elsewhere in German East Africa,, they found evidence in plenty of the thoroughness of German methods. 'The roads were admirably constructed, scrupulous attention was given to sanitation; everywhere German scientists were found playing an important part in scientific research in connection not only with local diseases, but the utilisation of natural resources. Sisal fibre was exported to tho value of nearly in 1912,' and yet it, is only twenty years since the first trial ■ plants were brought from South America. So far cotton growing hae been a failure, and coffee was just being experimented with before, the War. The authors pay a high tribute to Herr Demburg's spirit of enterprise. His greatest work was the expedition, of tho Tanganyika railway/ ,

When , ho took office, in 1907, scarcely a hundred miles had been completed under Dernburg's viforous handling tho scheme took a new leaso of life i and tho road was rapidly puehed forward to Taboro, and thence toward tho lake; At the timn of our visit (November, 1913) it was within an aoo. of completion. Aβ a matter:.of fact. Tanganyika was.'reached on Pebiiiiary 1, 1914, where the lino touched the shore at Kigorao. near TJjiji, the soot where Stanley, after his arduous quest, stepped forward to meet a solitary whito man with tho historic words: "Dr. Livingstone, I preeume?" In the chapter on Zanzibar, and at greater length in the specially interesting chapter entitled "Some Races and Customs," the authors make it clear why the Indian immigrants aro bo disliked, not only in Natal, but in British East Africa. The popular English idea of tho "mild Hindu" does not prevail in East Africa. Mr. Meikle writes: The Indian there is for the most part drawn from the offecourinirs of the population, and tho oMection to him ie not becauso h6 Is an Indian but because ho is a very bad type of Indian. The Ifcandn, Railway'lβ resDonsible for his preßence. Some 20,000 to 30.000 coolies wero brought over to, aseiet in its construction. They found the land one where they could live with easo: they stayed, sent for. their friends and relatives, and started to'make money.. To that, of course, there ia no possible- objection. TCte men who go to British East Africa'sro to make money alno. Aβ long as tho Indian restricts himself to legitimate trading he fulfils a useful minioae. Tho Indian storo ia tho only ehoT) in outlying stations, eo distant froffii civilisation and with eo few possibilities of trade, that no white man would ecUIo there or could make a living if ho did. So far no good. And thero are other tfn. djans, such as merchants, tradorp, bfflciale, and others. wh(j are highly, estimablo persons, and to "whote conduct no possiblo exception can be taken.

Taken on tho whole, however, the Indian population of East Africa is "distinctly objectionablo as regards habits, personality, and methods of business." The Indian's object ie to make money as fast as possible. He is tho Shyloc'k of the country—indeed, Mr. Meikle declares the famous Venetian usurer to have been a saint in comparison with the Indian "bunnin," or. money-lender, as he prac-. tises his calling in East Afrj.ca. He is not a fair trader, living oof/then f/ the "smell of an oil rag," filthy in .his habits, nnd in the hovol he calls his home. "Typhoid nnd the plague were unknown in British East Africa before hie time." An ovorfriendly Government, which makes the possession of means n condition before admitting an English settler lets the Indian in free. lie "keeps all the drinking dens, runs tho illicit etills, supplies the natives with abominable spirits, owns all tho gambling hells and brothels is' the receiver of stolen goods, the procurer of native girls"—no wonder the authors consider him to be "the centro of moral corruption in the Protectorate." In addition he is, it is declared, "responsible for the introduction 'of venereal disease, which is ravaging certain tribes, notably the Maeni and the Ivikuyu. to a horrible extent."

Mr. MeiWe sums up the position as to the Indians in East Africa as follows-.

No ono has any objection to Indians as Indians. Tf n. body of Englishmen from tno Blnma of London took up their abodo in Bast Africa, and acted in tho saino way. the objection to their presence would bo just as strong anil universal.- Tho better class of Indians talte the same -view, and hold aloof from any association -with this class. But it is perfectly clear that their cusfcncc in the colony is an evil, and that I the sooner they aro nlcarcd out tho better for British East Africa and for the Empire. ' • An interesting chapter on "Various •Posts,- Insect and Othcrwiso," is followed by ono in which tho commercial prospects, of tho" Protectorate aro dealt with, much valuable information boing given for the benefit of would-be settlers. That well-known expert, Mr. Alflalo, contributes a supplementary chnptur on fishing in the Protectorate, and a special word of prniso is duo for tho numerous and interesting illustrations, mainly from photographs by tho authors. A largo map shows the route, of the authors' wanderings. (Now Zealand price, 18s. lid.) A Dickens , letter'sold, with many others, at n London auction in March last, was specially fnterestir.g ds containing a statement of tho novelist's political faith ae an uncompromising Jiadicnl, and refusing to apply to (ho Tories "for anything. ... It would tie my hands, Hsal my lips, rob my pen of its honesty, ami bind mo neck and hands in the most discreditable fellers." Thackeray, it may bo remembered, was also an ardent Liberal, but not so advanced in hie political views as Diokens. Thackeray stood for Oxford in tho Liberal interest, but was defeated,

A Famous Pen Draughtsman. During the last few years Australia has produced more than ono artist who has , specialised in pen and "crayon draughts- | I manship ami whose-work has been well I! worthy of a place' alongside that of those : j European (,'iiuits of pen dniughtsmun- ■ j ship—Charle?)' ICeenc, tho Englishman; Menzel, the German; and Forain, the Frenchman. In Normim Lindsay sho can fairly claim to possess the .greatest living master of pen drawing. There is no one, either in London,' Paris, or Now York, who is his superior in this branch of graphic art. Tho originality, tho wide raugo of his imaginative powers, his splendidly tu'ective lino, his capacity for arresting and holding the eye by the sheer strength of his composition, in theso ho is- first amongst latter-day masters of black and white. In a handsomely produced quarto volume, entitled "Tho Pen Drawings of Norman Lindsny" (Sydney, Angus and Robertson), are roproduced fifty of Lindsay's brilliant and successful compositions, prefaced by two well-written articles, ono by tho wellknown artist Mr; Julian .Asiiton . and a second and longer essay entitled "Norman Lindsay: His Inspiration and Technique," by his brother, also a' clover artist, Mr. Lionel Lindsay. Allowanceduly mado for a certain exuberance of laudatory praise—some degreo of fraternal hero worship was only natural—the second article gives a very accurate view of Norman Lindsay's placo in modern art. Mr. Lindsay gives 6ome interesting information as to his brother's earlier career. Ho was, and is still, as he was at twelve, an industrious student, ever thinking out ' and experimenting with new forms of art—lie has recently taken, with marked success, to painting in water colour—ever seeking new and out-of-the-way, subjects upon which to employ his.versatile and vigorous pen, pencil, or brush. Mr. Lindsay does not apologise for that obsession with the female figure—especially the feminine nude-•-which is evident in so many of his brother's drawings, and defends "certain brutalities of his early work" as boinj; pleas for tho "liberty 'of expression." Undoubtedly, if, wo may judge Lindsay's later work by tho specimens here given, thiit tendency to brutality us still' allpowerful. The Rubcns-liko opulence of bis nudes and semi-nudes is apt to become tiresome, just as . did tho loshy exuberance of UowJandson'd and Gilray's blowsy wenches. But to mo it is Lindsay's malo figures which arc. so unreservedly brutal. There is something horribly satyr-like and' positively bestial in their faces, even in sub■jects where the eemi-brute is not being professedly drawn. One finds this brutality . oven in Lindsay's pictures of street urchins in tho'"Bulletin." It is a blot upon the art of a great artist, and it will remain so until the artist has got rid of it. As to the drawings reproduced in this volume, nearly all have not hitherto been reproduced. They include the powerful- "Pollice Verso," the acquisition of which by the National Gallery of Victoria caused such an outcry from the Mrs. Grundys of Melbourne, the yet more powerful "Dionysius"; an illustration to Mcrejowski's novel, "Tho Forerunners"—possibly the finest pen drawing of figures that this century -haa seen; specimens from the Casanovn, Boccacio, Rabelais, Petronius, and Villon suites; a splendid "Bacchanal," and many others. -In one of the earlier drawings, "The Rivals" (1901), there is a distinct suggestion of the English woodcuts of the 'sixties—it has tho true Sandys ftnd pre-Ranhaelite touch, nnd in the illustration to "Tom O'Bedlam". there is a resemblance to the style of the late Howard Pyle. But as a rule Norman Lindsay has his own conception, his own methods. His work- is charged full of originality, and he has tho power of carrying his original"ideas into effectivo execution. He is a genius—at times, maybe, a wayward genius, often at open war with conventionality, sometimes erring sadly 'against tho canons of good taste, but still a genius. Wise collectors of artistic publications will secure a copy of this collection, which will, so I - venture to predict, be eagerly sought after in a few years to como, and fetch a much higher price than tho 123. Gd. the book now costs.