76 BEVIEWS OF BOOKS. [Nov. 



irretrievable confusion. The late Emperor Nicliolas once said to his 

 son Alexander, " I believe you are the only honest man in Paissia." 

 There is cause yet ibr such a statement. 



Newfoundland the Oldest British Colony: Its History, its present Con- 

 dition, and its Prospeets in the Future. By Joseph Hatton 

 and the Eev. M. Harvey. London : Chapman & Hall, Lim. 

 1883. 



In this magnificent volume, the aid of the literatenr and the 

 engraver has been stretched to lay before the reading public the 

 story so long lost in mist of the nearest yet least frequented of 

 our British colonies. The literary and artistic get-up are all that 

 could be wished. As to its arboricultural authority, here is the verdict 

 of a lumber-man. He writes : " Messrs Hatton and Harvey, in their 

 late work on Newfoundland, have made some astounding statements 

 as to the quantity and value of pine-growing in a limited extent of 

 territory on that island. They assert that a tract of land situated 

 there, containing 460,800 acres, is estimated to be capable of 

 producing 92,160,000 feet of timber annually for 100 years, the 

 yearly value of such timber being placed at 1,843,300 dollars. 



" This statement is pronounced by some of the best Canadian 

 authorities to bear absurdity on its very face. 



" Would it not be better for the colony, instead of allowing, or at 

 least not discountenancing, grossly exaggerated statements, to have 

 the timber districts of the island examined by competent Canadian 

 experts, who have had sufficient experience in timber to enable them 

 to make proper estimates of the growth and quality of pine ? The 

 reports of these explorers, when published, would then carry with 

 them such weight as a knowledge of their character and experience 

 would sustain." 



Bevista dc Monies, N"os. 183, 184. September 1 and 15, 1884. 



The influence of the Forestry Exhibition has extended even to 

 Madrid ; for we find in the alcove, three long critical letters on its 

 contents, arranged geographically, signed " Z." If any of the 

 exhibitors wishes the calm judgments of a Spanish professor, if they 

 merely wish to see their names in what must be to many of them 

 a strange tongue, let them procure these two numbers of our 

 contemporary. 



