To the hosts of young readers who bade Dr. Bronson and his nephews Fred and Frank good-by in Hong-Kong at the end of Part First of The Boy Travellers in the Far East[1] the announcement that, by the appearance of Part Second of this fascinating narrative, they may once more journey into strange lands with their young friends, will be a welcome one. Starting from Hong-Kong, the boys continue their travels down the coast to Singapore, stopping by the way in Cochin China, Anam, Cambodia, and Siam. From Singapore they sail through the Malayan Archipelago to Batavia, in doing which they cross the equator. From Batavia they take long excursions into the interior of the island of Java, and here the reader has again to leave them for a time while they make preparations for further explorations of the wonderful lands of the Far East.
The book is filled with tales of adventure by land and sea with pirates and wild animals, curious bits of history, accurate descriptions of strange people and queer customs, animals, birds, and plants. In it the author has so artfully blended instruction with amusement that the young reader is taught in spite of himself, and finds the driest facts interesting when presented in this charming form. The letter-press is supplemented by copious illustrations that appear upon nearly every page. The binding is very handsome, and the book bids fair to prove one of the notable attractions of this year's holiday season.
Most books of foreign travel are written with the view of cramming the minds of their readers with the greatest possible amount of information, and the result is apt to be a fit of mental indigestion from which the victim does not readily recover. In Harry Ascott Abroad,[2] however, the author has carefully avoided the text-book plan, and has confined himself to the simple relation of an American boy's every-day experience during a year's residence in Germany, and while travelling in Switzerland and France. The story is told in the boy's own language, and is made up of just such facts as will interest other boys, and at the same time teach them what to expect, and what mistakes to guard against, if they happen to find themselves in a position similar to that of Harry Ascott.
Mrs. Cochran (Sidney Dayre) has earned so enviable a reputation as a writer of short stories for children that while the "young readers" feel sure that anything from her pen must be interesting, their parents are equally confident that the tone of the story will be healthy and pure. The Queer Little Wooden Captain[3] and The Little Lost Girl, the two stories contained in the present volume, are Christmas tales, both of which, without moralizing, teach how much greater are the joys of giving than those of receiving.
