Book Reviews 



343 



Handbook of To those who have not yet opened this little volume the 

 YoSEMiTE reviewer feels that he should utter a friendly warning. 



National Park* Herein lovers of the Incomparable Valley will find little to 

 enhance the complaisant delight of those who feel "they 

 know their Yosemite." On the contrary, this book will leave the majority of its 

 readers with the feeling that former trips to Yosemite have been rather futile, 

 and (if one may take Omar for precedent and compare Creation to a circus) 

 they will know that they have heretofore not only missed many of the most 

 interesting side-shows, but a large part of the main performance as well. 



Assuming that you are familiar with the discovery and history of the region 

 as set forth by Professor Kuykendall in the opening chapter, are you also 

 familiar with the facts of Professor Kroeber's account of the Yosemite Indians 

 in chapter two ? Or, if you have studied the geology of the park and can afford 

 to skip Professor Lawson's chapter on this subject, how about your knowledge 

 of the life-zones of the Yosemite region ? Do you know at what level the Cali- 

 fornia laurel gives way to the Jeffrey pine and from which of the six zones the 

 Sierra Nevada Rosy Finch dares never to wander? The birds, perhaps, you 

 know. Do you know the insects? The trout, perhaps; but the amphibians, 

 what of them? And if you know all that Ray Bailey knows of camping in 

 Yosemite, do you also claim Mr. Wallace Curtis's knowledge of motoring 

 there? Are you aware that your photograph of Bridal Veil is poor because it 

 was taken at ten o'clock instead of at one, and your filming at the Happy Isles 

 was not so good because it was taken at one instead of at ten? To vaunt the 

 feeling of superiority which comes to one who has read this book may be 

 immodest, but it is not unjustifiable. 



Fortunately the binding of the book is not expensive, for the ardent fisher- 

 man will probably resort to the radical operation of removing its appendix, 

 which contains, among other valuable data, a list of over two hundred lakes 

 and streams, with the species of trout they contain, the year of their planting, 

 and a notation as to whether the fishing in each is excellent, good, fair, poor, 

 or nil. C. N. H. 



The Friendly The author warns the reader that he may skip the first two 

 ARCTicf chapters of this book, as the narrative begins with chapter 



three. Yet these first two chapters, to the average reader, will 

 prove of unparalleled interest as a monograph on the polar region. In them, 

 one by one, are demolished almost all previous conceptions of that terra incog- 

 nita. In the first place, it is not cold — that is, not as cold as Montana. In the 

 second place, it is not buried in eternal snow. "Sverdrup estimates the total 

 annual snowfall of Ellesmere Island, the most northerly island yet found in 

 the world, at about one-tenth of the Weather Bureau estimate of the annual 



*Handbook of Yosemite National Park: A Compendium of Articles on the Yosemite 

 Region by the Leading Scientific Authorities. Compiled and edited by Ansel F. Hall, 

 U. S. National Park Service. Illustrated. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London. 

 1921. 



■^The Friendly Arctic: The Story of Five Years in Polar Regions. By Vilhjalmur 

 Stefansson. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company. 1921, Price, $6.00. 



