June io,. 1909] 



NA TURE 



431 



rial. We think perhaps he might have omitted many 

 notes on the species of plants and fish, and have 

 brought out more clearly Commerson's views on 

 more general subjects. Indeed, undue stress is laid 

 throughout on Commerson's qualities as a collector 

 as compared with his qualities as a great thinker. 

 The style and printing of the book are excellent, and 

 the illustrations are all that could be desired. The 

 index is very defective. J. S. G. 



.4iV ANGLER IN NORTH AMERICA.' 



THE name of the auihor is a sufficient indication 

 that this is essentially a book for the angler, 

 and can be trusted to contain an inter- 

 esting and unexaggerated record of the 

 results attained by a master of the craft 

 who has gained much experience in 

 strange and distant waters. Not many 

 anglers can afford to pursue their sport so 

 far afloat, but most can find some touch 

 of altruistic pleasure in the story of 

 another's triumphs, particularly if in 

 waters that can never come under their 

 own rods. Mr. .\fialo, too, is always 

 careful to describe the local conditions and 

 cost of his operations, so that his book has 

 not only its intrinsic interest, but will 

 serve as a practical guide to any fisherman 

 fortunate enough to follow him. 



It was with the ambition, though hardly 

 with the hope, of catching the enormous 

 tuna that (he author undertook the long 

 journey to Catalina Island, off the coast of 

 California. It is the sea-angler's Elysium, 

 where there are glass-bottomed boats 

 through which to view the lively sea- 

 gardens of the placid ocean ; motor- 

 launches to take the fisherman swiftly to 

 the choicest spots ; guides who are full of 

 humour as well as of experience; and every 

 comfort on shore-^^for those who can pay. 

 In the event, as told in chapter iii. (in 

 which lies the central interest of the book), 

 the tuna did not materialise, but Mr. 

 ."Kfialo found consolation and daring exer- 

 cise for rod and line in huge sea-bass 

 (Cviwscion nobilis), yellow-tail (Seriola 

 dorsalis), and albacore (Germo alalnnga). 



Not only did he thus sample " the finest 

 sea-fishing in the world," but he had also 

 a short experience of " the most wonderful 

 lake-fishing on earth," on his way home 

 bv the Canadian Pacific route, in a water 

 near Kamloops, British Columbia, where 

 rainbow trout that " jump like tarpon " 

 and " fight like demons " are so plentiful 

 that the happy angler may hook " a fish 

 of some size at every cast." Previously, 

 the author had tried his skill on Lake 

 Tahoe, in California, and subsequently on 

 Lake Minnewanka, near Banff, in the 

 latter case apparently without noteworthy 

 result, as there is a certain vagueness here 

 in his narrative. Finally, on reaching eastern Canada 

 he fished Lake Broom, some eightv miles from Mont- 

 leal, andhad sport with black bass and pickerel. 



Reminiscences of fishing, however, barely suffice to 

 make up one-third of the book. The remainder is 

 filled with the author's descriptions and impressions 

 of many old familiar places, such as Barbados, Trini- 

 dad, Cartagena, Colon and the Isthmus, New Orleans, 



hers in California and 

 on : WitlierbyandCo., 



the Pacific coast towns of the States and British 

 Columbia, the Yosemite Valley and the big trees of 

 Mariposa, the Columbia River, Puget Sound, the 

 Canadian Rockies, the prairies, Niagara, and the St. 

 Lawrence. His outlook on this panorama is that of 

 the usual " intelligent traveller," and has little of 

 noveltv, save the touch of individuality that one may 

 catch in every well-expressed personal narrative. He 

 is frank in his disapproval of certain American traits 

 that grate on most visitors brought up under different 

 conventions. But the people of the Republic, with 

 their still prevalent idiosyncrasy of seeking the opinion 

 of travellers, must have become accustomed to such 

 criticisms. Perhaps, indeed, like most young folk, 



" Sunset Playgrounds : Fishing D.iys 

 ada." By F. G. Aflal-. Pp. xii+251. 

 1 ) Price js. 6ii. net. 



NO. 2067, VOL. 80] 



Wheels, Colun.bla River. From "Sunset Playgrounds," by F. G. Allalo. By 

 permission of Messrs. Witherby and Co. 



they would rather endure some little disparagement 

 than pass imnoticed. 



The book is illustrated with numerous reproductions 

 from photographs of the usual scenic type and of 

 Catalina Island fish. 



Is the head-line on p. 229 a feeble joke or a printer's 

 absurd blunder? It reads, "The Side-show Girl," 

 while the only feminine noun in the underset growl 

 at the surroundings of Niagara Falls is The Maid of 

 the Mist, and this is no girl, but the well-known old 

 pleasure steamer. G. W. L. 



