Perseverance Island. 24g 



Bearer; or the Life of General Ulysses S. Grant; his Youth, his 

 Manhood, his Campaigns, and his Eminent Services in the Recon- 

 struction of the Nation his Sword has redeemed; as seen and re- 

 lated by Captain Bernard Galligasken, Cosmopolitan, and written 

 out by Oliver Optic' The work is illustrated by the well-known 

 artist, Thomas Nast. 



PERSEVERANCE ISLAND. 



General Douglas Frazar's 'Perseveiance Island,' in new edi- 

 tion by Lee and Shepard, Boston, is a truly wonderful book, on 

 the publication of which all boys and lovers of spirited, adventur- 

 ous, wholesome reading are to be congratulated in the heartiest 

 manner. For its sub-title the remarkable volume is called the 

 'Robinson Crusoe of the Nineteenth Century.' It might have 

 been well to have called it the American Robinson Crusoe, as the 

 author describes the achievements of a Vermont Yankee on a 

 lonely island in the Pacific, where he was shipwrecked, and yet 

 attained wealth, comfort, and all that is worth having, save human 

 companionship. The story is told without any attempt at fine 

 writing; but the homely language of the volume will make it all 

 the more welcome with sensible people. The evident purpose of 

 this Yankee Crusoe, is to show how much a man may achieve who 

 knows how to help himself The hero joins a Pacific island ex- 

 pedition, but is thrown, after some remarkable adventures, on a 

 lonely island, where his first duty consists in building a fire with- 

 out any modern appliances, and in distilling sea water that he may 

 quench his thirst. Next he makes a hat for himself, then a knife 

 and a lamp. After this he builds a hut; and on an exploring 

 tour he discovers wild goats, the descendants of animals left there 

 a hundred years before by a previous settler; he finds coal, sul- 

 phur, and wild grapes- He proceeds to make* bricks, to melt 

 iron, to make steel, and to attempt astronomical observations. 

 He constructs a sub-marine boat, manufactures glass, builds a 

 steam-yacht, discovers the remains of a pirate and his millions of 

 treasure, finds gold, and kills a sea-serpent. All this is very 

 wonderful. But the best part of the story, which is told with ex- 

 quisite simplicity, consists in teaching a boy — and his father — how 

 to overcome obstacles, how to make much of small things, how to 

 use one's head and hands, and how to make nature subservient to 

 human wants and comforts. In an interesting note at the close is 

 a quotation from the New York Herald, referring to the arrival of 

 William Anderson, at New York, on the U. S. S. S. Tallapoosa, 

 and giving suggestions as to the future of that remarkable person- 

 age. No spirited boy, no sensible person of whatever age, will 

 lay the book aside without having caught a part of the author's 

 courage, manliness and spirit of self-help. It is a treasure for 

 which one ought to bespeak the widest possible attention. No 



