Geographic Literature 



207 



formerly the senior member of the staff 

 of the Survey. Dr. Bell, since he joined 

 the Sur^^ey, in 1857, has made surveys, 

 both topographical and geological, in 

 almost every section of Canada. 



Three expert geologists of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey are now engaged in 

 making an examination into the min- 

 eral resources of Cuba. The work is 

 very important, and may result in much 

 economic value to the island. It was 

 undertaken at the suggestion of Gov- 

 ernor-General Wood, and all of the ex- 



penses will be met by the Cuban gov- 

 ernment. 



The U, S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 



has five parties in Porto Rico charting 

 the coast of the island. This work has 

 now been in progress for two years, and 

 great advance has been made in obtain- 

 ing accurate charts of the coastline. 

 Several local harbor charts of the Ha- 

 waiian Islands are being published by 

 the Survey, the result of surveys made 

 in 1899 and 1900. 



GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 



Where Black Rules White : A Journey 

 Across and About Haiti. By Hes- 

 keth Prichard. Illustrated. 8vo, pp. 

 [i-xi +] 1-288. New York : Chas. 

 Scribner's Sons, 1900. 

 Made attractive b}- a tasty symbolic 

 binding, clear type, thick and large 

 paper, fair half-tone reproductions of 

 photographs, and excellent press- work, 

 this book is a convenient outline of its 

 writer's knowledge concerning one of 

 the most interesting portions of the west- 

 ern hemisphere — the only considerable 

 portion which has ever reverted from 

 Caucasian rule to the dominion of an 

 alien race. The fifteen brief chapters 

 are based mainly on the observations of 

 a single visit ; although interesting his- 

 torical details are interwoven here and 

 there, there is nothing in profession or 

 performance to indicate that the author 

 was inspired by the instincts of the his- 

 torian, and much to indicate that he was 

 not geographer or geologist, naturalist 

 or artist, ethnologist or sociologist, econ- 

 omist, or even serious student^ — but just 

 a tourist bent on writing a book. So 

 the chapters are light if not froth}^, the 

 expressions youthful if not flippant ; yet 

 the vocabulary is remarkably rich and 

 the word-painting singularly vivid, and 



the narrative smacks of the soil through- 

 out. The author pays tribute to Tous- 

 saint L'Ouverture as the one noble 

 figure in Haytian histor3^ but shows 

 that the bloodthirsty Dessalines is the 

 local hero ; he summarizes the history 

 of black rule as one of steady lapse from 

 civilization to barbarism if not to sav- 

 agery , and is correspondingly pessimistic 

 as to the future of the island ; he ascribes 

 the progressive degradation partly to the 

 incompetence of the masses, partly to 

 the corruption of the classes, but mainly 

 to the persistence of the Vaudoux cult 

 with its depressing beliefs and ghastly 

 ceremonies running down to serpent- 

 worship and human sacrifice. The book 

 is material for knowledge of Haiti — 

 material rather meager and tenuous, 

 perhaps, but direct, useful, and happily 

 dressed. W J M. 



China. By James Harrison Wilson. 



Third edition. With map. 8vo, pp. 



xxxvii + 1-422. New York : D. Ap- 



pleton & Co. 1 90 1. 



For many years General Wilson's 

 work on China has been a standard 

 authority. The third edition includes 

 an account of the Boxer War and of 

 the diplomatic conferences of last fall. 



