GEO GRAPHIC LI TER A TURE 
41 
however, the work is open to criticism. With regard to the temperature 
and wind theories the author fails to make himself clear. He also omits 
^iny explanation of the important part the salts play in the matter of 
ocean currents, and he entirely ignores the Yucatan channel current, the 
strongest one in existence. The general appearance of the book is excel- 
lent. The illustrations, with but few exceptions (as, for example, that of 
mount Vesuvius, on page 376), are very good and the price is exceed- 
ingly reasonable. 
The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn: A Study of Life in Tierra del Fuego and 
Patagonia. By John R. Spears. Pp. 319, with illustrations. New 
York : G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 1895. 
So few books have been written about the terra incognita between cape 
Horn and the straits of Magellan that a new one by so well known an 
author as Mr John R. Spears will be heartily welcomed. It is written 
in the author’s usual quaint style, with a vein of humor running all the 
way throiigh; and while it does not claim to be a record of personal e.x- 
ploration like Beerbohm’s or Lady Brassey’s, but merely a collection of 
newspaper sketches written up at.homefrom data gleaned during a cruise 
around the edges, it is full of valuable information. While the author’s 
ideas of the gold diggings are a trifle too sanguine, his account of the Ona, 
Yahgan, Tehuelche, Alaculoof, and other Indians, as well as of the mis- 
sionaries who are tr}dng in vain to tame them, of the famous Welsh 
colony on Chubut river, of the general resources, and also of the birds, 
beasts, and reptiles, of lands at thetii^ end of the hemisphere is extremely 
interesting. 
*Stan ford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel {new series). Africa. 
Volume II, South A frica. By A. H. Keane, F. R. G. S., etc. Pp. 671, 
with 11 maps and 92 illu.strations. London : Edward Stanford. 1895. 
American agents, J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. $4.50. 
This admirable volume, fresh from the press, gives an authentic, “up 
to date ” account of the geography, history, and political complexion of 
South Africa. It is illustrated by nearly 100 admirably chosen plates and 
text figures and a dozen excellent colored maps. Perhaps no part of the 
world has ever undergone so rapid and fundamental a metamorphosis as 
has South Africa “ since the leading powers resolved, a few years ago, to 
transform this continent to a political dependency of Europe.’’ “ Occur- 
rences of far-reaching consequence,” says the author, “ have followed in 
«uch swift succession that in the preparation of this work the chief dilli- 
culty has been to keej) i)ace with the shifting scenes. In some instances 
many carefully prepared pages have had to he greatly modified, and even 
rewritten, owing to the unexpected turn taken by events in vanous parts 
of the continent.” ^Madagascar, ^Mauritius, and other islands of the 
Indian ocean are included in the book, and the author adopts the very 
modern view of an “ Indo-African continent ” connecting South Africa 
through Madagas(!ar with the Indian peninsula. While the work^deals 
mainly, as wouhl be expected, with the more purely geograi)hic and 
