LITERARY NOTICES. 



625 



be much more striking if this complicated, 

 cross-reference catalogue arrangement had 

 been dispensed with. 



Although the information conveyed is 

 local, the accounts of the habits of the 

 birds contain many new and valuable facts, 

 stated in a way to inspire confidence in the 

 reader. Mr. Minot's style, though often 

 somewhat crude, and showing marked de- 

 fects, is pleasant and strong. He has paid 

 particular attention to the notes and songs 

 of birds, and describes their music felici- 

 tously. Evidently he has had a sharp eye 

 upon them everywhere, and under all sorts 

 of circumstances, for his delineations abound 

 in minute touches, which show close obser- 

 vation. 



The Andes and the Amazon ; or, Across 

 the Continent of South America. By 

 James Orton, A. M. Third edition, re- 

 vised and enlarged, containing Notes of 

 a Second Journey across the Continent 

 from Para to Lima and Lake Titicaca. 

 With two Maps and numerous Illustra- 

 tions. New York : Harper & Brothers, 

 1876. Price, $3. 



In popular interest and in general sci- 

 entific value this volume by Prof. Orton will 

 occupy a favorable position among the many 

 excellent books of South American travel 

 that have appeared since the great work 

 of Darwin in 1835, and to whom the vol- 

 ume before us is fittingly dedicated. 



The account of the first journey, made 

 in 1867, was published soon after, and was 

 favorably received. The route on that oc- 

 casion was from Guayaquil to Para, at the 

 mouth of the Amazon, by way of Quito. 



The second journey was made in 1873, 

 and commenced where the first one termi- 

 nated. 



By aid of two excellent maps, the route 

 of the traveler can be followed from Para 

 up the Amazon, thence through forests, and 

 over horrible roads upon the eastern slope 

 of the Andes, to the great plateau and city 

 of Cajamarca, " the most beautiful plain in 

 all the Andes." The city is 9,400 feet 

 above the Pacific. In it are the remains 

 of Atahuallpa's palace and other memorials 

 of the struggles of the Peruvians with the 

 Spaniards. 



"Two days from Cajamarca, the party 

 shouted for joy at the sight and sound of a 

 locomotive," a sign that their hardships were 

 vol. x. 40 



over. The Andes of Peru are being trav- 

 ersed by roads grander than those of the 

 Aztecs. 



Having arrived at the Pacific coast, a 

 half-hour's ride by rail took the travelers to 

 the city of Lima. Arriving at Mollendo, a 

 new village, " with the ocean on one side 

 and a vast desert on the other," Prof. Orton 

 took the train for Lake Titicaca, a distance 

 of 325 miles. He was the first passenger 

 over the newly-finished road to the lake 

 from the Pacific. The route is over des- 

 erts and apparent solitudes, on which look 

 down some of the snowy giants of the Andes 

 18,000 feet high. At 107 miles the train 

 stopped at Arequipa, a city in a valley of 

 green verdure ; and, finally, at Puno, an In- 

 dian village, 12,547 feet above the ocean. 

 Before reaching it the waters of Lake Titi- 

 caca were seen. 



The highest point on the route was 14,- 

 660 feet, where snow lay on the hills, and 

 where there was no sound of life. " So 

 profound was the stillness that the buzzing 

 of an insect would have been painful." 



"I gazed," says the author, "rapt in 

 thought, upon the lake, brimful of history. 

 Its surface, at a height of 12,493 feet, lies 

 level with the tops of lofty mountains, and 

 it has an area of 2,500 square miles." 



Everywhere around it are monuments 

 of a civilization which has passed away. 



Of the railroads of Peru, the Oroya, 

 which was being built, will attain at its 

 greatest elevation a height of 15,645 feet 

 above the level of the sea. 



The geology and natural history of the 

 Amazon region- and the Andes, their re- 

 sources and inhabitants, make several chap- 

 ters of great interest. Besides two maps, 

 the volume contains 80 illustrations. 



Science Lectures at South Kensington : 



1. "Photography," by Captain Abnf.y. 



2. " Sound and Music," by Dr. Stone. 



3. " Kinematic Models," by Prof. Ken- 

 nedy. Manchester Science Lectures 

 for the People: 1. "What the Earth 

 is composed of," by Prof. Roscoe. Mac- 

 millan & Co. 



These are all excellent addresses by 

 able men, and as popular as the nature of 

 the subjects will allow. They are illus- 

 trated, and on good paper, and the pub- 

 lishers furnish them at 20 cents apiece. 



