ICO 
REVIEWS, ETC. 
[Nature and Art, M..y 1, 1867. 
REVIEWS. 
The Rail and the Rad; or, Tourist Angler' s Guide to Waters 
and Quarters Thirty Miles round London. By Greville 
F. (Barnes). London: H. Cox, 346, Strand, W.C. 1867. 
mHE little work before us is exactly that which it professes 
I to be, viz., “ A Tourist Angler’s Guide.” It is the first 
book of a series, and contains much highly useful information 
as to the various fishing stations to be found on the border 
lands of the Great Eastern Railway, between London and 
Waltham, together with the railway fares, distances, places 
of refreshment, boundaries, club charges (day and annual), 
description of water, fish, and a host of other matters of 
equal interest and importance to the brethren of the gentle 
craft. 
It is, we are informed, the author’s intention to furnish 
the public with a “Wander Book,” of the same description, 
for all the lines of railway leading- from metropolitan din, 
smoke, bustle, and restlessness, to the margins of pleasant 
streams, where the speckled golden trout leap ; to still, 
deep, shady pools, where the greedy pike lurks in ambush 
among the waving- rushes and tufted reeds ; and to where 
the weary son of toil may woo Nature in her most choice 
and attractive garb, drink in fresh air and new life, hear the 
soaring lark sing, inhale the perfume of sweet hedge-flowers, 
and when the day of pleasant relaxation is at length ended, 
find his way safely and expeditiously back to the struggles 
and turmoil of this work-a-day world, all the better for the 
trip, refreshed and re-invigorated. “ Greville F.’s Guides” 
cannot fail to be received as a most acceptable addition to 
our sporting- literature. 
Elijah the Prophet. A Poem, by G. Washington Moon, 
F.R.S.L., Author of “ The Dean’s English.” Third 
Edition. London : Hatchard & Co., 187, Piccadilly, 1867. 
We once met an Englishman, an author of remarkable 
talents and strong poetical feelings, who scarcely knew Elijah 
by name. His childhood had passed without his ever hear- 
ing- how the ravens fed the prophet by the brook Cherith. 
He had himself used the phrase of the “ still small voice,” 
but its peculiar beauty was half lost to him, for he knew 
nothing of the context, — that passage of marvellous sub- 
limity. To such a man a fine modern poem on Elijah 
might have proved a sort of revelation ; but it would be 
hard indeed to find a poet equal to the theme. Mr. Washing- 
ton Moon has, this time at least, been tempted out of his 
proper sphere : he has essayed the almost hopeless task of 
expanding the grand old prose into Spenserian stanzas. 
Fine specimens of bathos might easily be selected from 
any of the twelve cantos, but the honest enthusiasm of 
the preface disarms us. We admit, moreover, that the 
author is now and then seized with a transiept fit of inspira- 
tion : on these occasions he generally breaks loose from the 
trammels of the Spenserian stanza. Our readers must be 
satisfied with one example, — the description of the chariot 
and horses sent to translate Elijah : — 
“ Ethereal, yet visible ; for bright 
Unto intensity through purest light 
Indwelling, was that chariot of the skies. 
The horses, too, were creatures not of earth ; 
Their necks were clothed with thunder, and their eyes, 
Starry with beauty, told of heavenly birth. 
No harness fetter’d them, no curb nor girth 
Restrain’d the freedom of those glorious ones ; 
Nor traces yoked the’jchariot at their heels, — 
It follow’d them as planets follow suns 
Through trackless space in their empyreal courses ; 
For lo ! the fiery spirit of the horses 
Was as a mighty presence in the wheels, 
And in the dazzling whirlwind which behind them flow, 
And caught Elijah up as sunlight drinks the dew.” 
TO A SWALLOW. 
From the Danish of Wilster. 
I. 
Little Swallow, whom the summer brings, 
Thou hast travell'd from afar so long : 
Whither wilt thou go, to rest thy wings ? 
AVhom wilt thou enliven with thy song ? 
II. 
Round about the meadow art thou wheeling, 
Where the buds are bursting into bloom : 
Doubting where to hang thine airy dwelling : 
Half a stranger in thy native homo. 
III. 
Yonder, through the tender lime-tree leaves, 
Seest thou not a low and narrow door F 
Nestle there, beneath the cottage eaves ; 
Twitter there, till summer-time is o’er. 
IV. 
Never’ need thy brooding heart be beating-, 
Though a lattice open near thy nest : 
Thou wilt only hear a voice repeating, — 
“ Where the swallow builds, the roof is blest,” 
V. 
Speed thee, — speed upon thy winged ways ; 
Seek the roof above yon oottage door : 
Then, if there thou bringest happy days, 
Oh, how I shall bless thee evermore. 
H. W. 
In a Review, in the columns of the Builder, of Mons. 
Daly’s “ Revue Generale de T Architecture et des Travaux 
publics,” we find notice of a most interesting communication 
to that editor from his countryman, M. Perrin, General in 
the Siamese Army and Mandarin of the third class there. 
Our subscribers will be pleased, probably, to observe how 
the imposing illustrations of the Siamese architecture in our 
recent review of Mr. Fergusson’s great work may serve 
also for the description given by the gallant general. We 
therefore extract the passage from our contemporary. 
“ He says that none would believe the numbers of marble 
monuments, temples, palaces, columns, and staircases at 
D’Ancor-viat. ‘ I assure you, believe me or not, that the 
most celebrated of ancient or modern monuments are but 
barracks near those I have seen here ; our palaces, our 
basilicas, the Vatican, the Colosseum, are dog-kennels by 
the side of them.’ Marble was the material of all around. 
The natives informed the general that these magnificent 
ruins covered an area of ten leagues by twelve. He asks, 
‘ What city can this be P Of what empire was this the 
capital ? I have seen temples in a good state of preserva- 
tion, except the vegetation that has encrusted them, which 
do not measure less than a league around. They have 
forests of marble columns ; the whole is of marble. All 
the walls are sculptured and ornamented. The first effect 
these monuments produced upon me was stupefaction. I 
wished to enter a temple which appeared well preserved. 
It had eleven flights of steps, and I know not how many 
flights each to arrive only at the first of the five peri- 
styles ! ” Recovering-, the general ascended the steps that 
led to a high tower, and then he ascended the tower, and 
thence surveyed the ruins, where he saw mai-ble enough 
upon the ground, and below the ground, that could rebuild, 
in the fashion of giants, all the cities in the universe. 
“ The educated natives know not to whom to impute this 
ruined city ; notwithstanding that their literature goes 
several centuries back further than ours.” 
