Books Reviewed

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 743, 16 August 1929, Page 14

Books Reviewed

FORTY YEARS ON FUR TRAILS FOR 40 YEARS Henry John Moberly, younger son of a post-captain of the Royal Navy, was in the adventurous service of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He entered it in 1854, and left it when he was 70 years of age. He had been for years a factor for the company. At the solicitation of friends he wrote the story of his adventures, but the manuscript circulated only among friends until recently, when a Canadian author persuaded Mr Moberly, then 91 years of age, to allow him to put it into shape for publication. The result is a vigorous and very interesting tale of thrilling times in the service of the oldest and most famous chartered company in the world. These reminiscences start in days when the Hudson’s Bay Company held sovereign powers over vast expanse of territory. Sir George Simpson, a famous administrator —he is, although Mr Moberly does not mention the fact, honoured in Hawaiian history as one of Kamehameha’s successful ambassadors in securing recognition of Hawaii as an independent kingdom in 1842-43 —was Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company when Mr Moberly entered the service, and Mr Moberly tells some good stories of that indefatigable worker, who tempered his sovereignty with a sense of humour. Those, be it remembered, were days when the Canadian Pacific Railway had not been driven from ocean to ocean, when Indian confederacies warred with each other and sometimes with the white people, when the buffalo roamed the prairie in droves, and when the birchbark canoe and the dog-sleigh were the most common means of transpor tation. In his long years as a company officer fit the field, Mr Moberly lived eventful days on trail and river, mountain and plain, among Indian braves and trappers, with bear and buffalo and wolf hunts and escapes from floods and ice break-ups to add variety to his numerous adventures. He was a true conqueror of the grim Northland, and his story was indeed well worth the telling. It is of historical value, and decidedly interesting. Further, there seems to be nothing in it at all apocryphal. "When Fur Was Kin«.” Henry John Moberly and William Bleasdell C.ameron. J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., London and Toronto. Our copy from the publishers.

An Intelligent Thriller Despite the deluge of thrillers which have inundated the literary market, it is still possible to be thrilled —and intelligently thrilled —by Edward Millward’s story “The Copper Bottle.” Fortunately he has discarded the process of employing weird drugs, international crooks and super-detec-tives. He gives us an “excellent” murder in a country house. A young man proceeds to tell the story as he assists two detectives, quite ordinary people, in unravelling the mystery. This young man tells the story extraordinarily well, and if the reader guesses who the criminal was he should join the nearest detective force at once. “The Copper Bottle” was one of the entries in a competition held by the publishing firm of Methuen and Co. for the best detective novel by hitherto unknown authors. “The Copper Bottle.” Our copy comes direct from the publishers, Methuen and Co., Ltd., London. Just Plain Love We knew that the heroine was poor, beautiful and scrupulously honest; that the hero was strong, not-too-silent, handsome and sun-bronzed by travelling in the tropics; that the “Man Without Mercy” was extremely wealthy and extremely cruel, and that the heroine would have a nasty time through nearly 300 pages of Concordia Merrel’s latest novel. She did. Because Judith Connor’s brother had stolen some money from his employer she offered to take his place in the office and pay it back. Her employer was the “Man Without Mercy.” He humiliated Judith in every possible way. He took her to lunch and bought her orchids, he took her to dinner and the theatre and bought her beautiful frocks, and the other girls in the office treated her shockingly because of this. All except one girl, who was sympathetic and sensed that there was something strange behind it all. But Judith’s sun-bronzed lover did return from the tropics to save her from

the “Man Without Mercy,” who finally admitted to his rival that “Love was stronger than power.” - Here is a soporific novel which will bring tears to the eyes of every girl who is in love with romance and happy endings. “The Man Without Mercy.” Hodder and Stoughton, London. Our copy comes from the firm’s Sydney agent, W. S. Smart. A Penal Exile In Australia. I-ess than 100 years ago death or transportation was the common punishment provided in the law of England for persons who committed crimes against property. Something of what the system of penal transportation meant in suffering and hardship is revealed in an amazing book just published by Jonathan Cape, “The Adventures of Ralph Rashleigh.” The name is a pseudonym concealing the identity of a young man, “of j decent family and education,” a penal i exile in Australia from 1825 to 1844. j That the book is not fiction, but a ! true personal record, is vouched for : by the publishers, and also by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Birkenhead, who says in an introduction that, after consideration, he is “of the opinion that this remarkable volume of memoirs may be accepted as authentic.” The original manuscript was discovered in New South Wales; but, being unacceptable in its archaic literary form, was rewritten, the publishers claim, with absolute fidelity to the original. The narrative is extraordinary in its interest. As a piece of imaginative writing It would rank high; as a diary it must have a definite historical value as illuminating the dark origin of Australian history. There are accounts of hangings and lashings and clubbings, of the manifold and frightful privations imposed by a system that, according to Lord Birkenhead, had its justification in the incontrovertible fact that it “worked well.” The transcription has been done with great skill, with a starkness of style demanded by the subject, and, one infers, copied from the original. The book is unique of its kind, and can be recommended. “Tire Adventures of Ralph Rashleigh. a Penal Exile in Australia, 1825-1844.” Edited by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Birkenhead. Jonathan Cape. Our copy from the publishers. Cowboys Of The Sky. It had to come. The horse, in this age of speed, was beginning to get a little out-of-date, and William Byron Mowery picked a winner when he transferred his characters to the air. In “The Silver Hawk,” Jim Dorn, aerial-surveyor, is a direct descendant of the chivalrous cowboy; he rides above Canadian lakes and mountains that replace the sage-bush country, on a 450 horse power airplane. Mr Mowery knows his ail craft —though the ceiling of Dorn’s ’plane, the engine of which was fitted with a super-charger, should have been more than 23,000 feet but he also knows human nature, and the story he tells of Dorn’s love affair is a very readable one. “The Silver Hawk.” William Byron Mowery. Constalk Publishing Co. Our copy from Angus and Robertson, Ltd., Sydney. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED “Aussie,” Augi f number. Devoted to the Doings of Dad. Interesting New Zealand section.