Reviews and Recent Books

The Alps In 1864: A Private Journal By A. W. Moore
Edited By Alex. B. W. Kennedy, L.L.D., F.R.S.

(Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1902).

The announcement made by Prof. Kennedy, in a letter published in the Alpine Journal four years ago, that permission had been obtained to reprint and publish Moore’s “Alps in 1864,” must have given considerable pleasure to mountaineers, for owing to the extreme ‘scarcity of the privately printed edition of that Work, few of them ever had the opportunity of seeing much less of reading it. Its publication, therefore, may well be considered a notable event in the annals of Alpine bibliography.

The author’s name will be familiar to readers of Whymper’s “Scrambles” and the publications of Freshfield and Grove on the Caucasus; and the early volumes of the Alpine Journal record his energy in furthering the interests of the Alpine Club and in the exploration of the Alps. He shared the honour with a group of other Englishmen, whose names stand out prominently, of being the first to reach the summits of some of the highest peaks, and to cross some of the most difficult passes in the Alps and the Caucasus.

His “Journal,” however, deals, as its title indicates, with the Alps only. It was written originally for Moore’s own subsequent perusal, and to recall to his recollection the details, topographical and incidental, of his vacation tour in that year. Not long afterwards he was induced to print some copies of the manuscript, which he presented to personal friends. These, naturally, did not measure its value in a monetary sense, and were not likely to part with it readily. Neither is it likely, as with many other books, that the new publication will much affect the value of the ‘privately printed edition in the eyes of the fortunate few who now own it, for they are probably men who will not grudge the pleasure which publication offers to the increasing number of readers of good Alpine literature.

Mr. Moore, held an important position at the India Office, and he was an early example of the many men of high attainments, who in recent times have taken to that grandest of all recreations – mountaineering. His energy was remarkable. He was about 19 years of age when he paid his first visit to the Alps. Two years later, he went with the Rev. H. B. George (the then editor of the Alpine Journal ), on a tour in the Bernese Oberland, which Mr. George has recounted in his “Oberland and its Glaciers.” At 23 years of age, Moore made the series of brilliant expeditions which are described in the “Journal.” The tour lasted six weeks, and he was at times joined by Mr. Horace Walker, Miss Lucy Walker, Mr. Whymper, and a few other friends, while as guides, the party had the ever-to-be-remembered Christian Almer, Melchior and Jakob Anderegg, Michel Croz, Peter Perren, and Rudolph Boss. In those six weeks Moore made the following excursions:- The Brêche de la Meije (first crossing); the Ecrins (first ascent); Col de la Pilatte (first crossing); Moming Pass (first crossing); the Wetterlücke (first crossing) to Lauterbrunnen; and in addition crossed many other high passes, made glacier expeditions, and attempts on the Grand Corniér (by the Moiry Glacier), and the Dom (from Zermatt). He also made successful ascents of Mont Blanc (from the Pavillon de Bellevue by the Aig. du Goûte, across the summit and down by the Corridor to within a short distance of Chamonix, in twenty-one-and-a-half hours); the Rimpfischhorn; Aletschhorn (by the Aletsch Glacier, and back by the Jägi Glacier to the Lötschen Thal); the Eiger; and over the Wetterhorn to Rosenlaui and back to Grindelwald in one day. Altogether, his tour formed the material of the privately printed book. In the new edition, it is more conveniently divided into chapters; otherwise, alterations in names of places only have been made, and, Mr. Moore’s family having placed two of his later Journals at the editor’s disposal, four more chapters have been added to the sixteen which constituted the 1864 Journal.

These later journals describe expeditions made by Moore in 1865 and 1872 – his companion in the Alps, during the greater part of those vacations, being Mr. Horace Walker, with the two Andereggs as guides. In the former year he worked through N. Switzerland, on to the Bernina Alps, thence into Northern Italy, round into the E. Pennines, on again to the Mont Blanc district, and from there to the Eastern Oberland. This tour also occupied the greater part of six weeks – in which he made the ascent of the Tödi, (the first ascent by an Englishman,) made several new passes and routes, and first ascents of the Piz Rosegg, the Ober Gabelhorn, Pigne d’Arolla, and Mont Blanc, by the Brenva Glacier.

In 1872, he again began his tour in N. Switzerland. and passing round to the Oberland went on to the E. Penn.ines, where, during an attack on the Weisshorn by the route first made by the late Mr. Hawthorn Kitson, and only once repeated since (by Mr. Coolidge), he met with an accident from a very trivial slip on the Bies Glacier, and dislocated his shoulder. We imagine what most men would have done after that. Not so with Moore; for in the three weeks which remained of his holiday – with bad weather intervening – he took long walks, made five high passes, and ascended five peaks.

These records almost make one envious of such enthusiasm and physical endurance as Moore must have possessed, for many of the expeditions named were long and trying. Most of them are related in a delightful – because modest and unassuming – way in these Journals, yet with a fulness and freshness that shew the pleasure he must have felt in writing them. The many incidents which the mountaineer never wearies of recalling in after days – the preparations for an expedition; the bivouac on the mountain side, with the best of companions; the early morning start, with the prospect of viewing scenes of grandeur and beauty never before seen by man; the exhilarating work on glacier and crag; the joy of the successful ascent; and – with rare exception – the happy return. All these, with many other delights which only mountaineers experience, are here recorded. In this book Moore may be said to have built his own monument, and a worthy one it is!

Following each chapter are valuable notes by Professor Kennedy, relating specially to the routes described. To enable him to do this satisfactorily, he visited and photographed most of the scenes referred to, and with the aid of other well-known Alpine photographers, the new edition is embellished with more than 40 photogravures, all of such artistic excellence that it would be difficult to select one of greater beauty than another. A portrait of Mr. Moore forms the frontispiece. Both editor and publisher have done their share in the publication of Moore’s “Alps in 1864,” with signal success.

Highways And Byways In The Lake District. By A. G. Bradley.

London: Macmillan Co., Ld., 1901.

THIS, the latest of the admirable “Highways and Byways” ‘ series, must be one of the most interesting to our readers, dealing as it does with ground so familiar to the majority and so attractive to all. Many books have been written on the Lake District for the “general reader,” but we know of none more successful than this.

It is hardly necessary to say there is nothing to appeal to the climber as such, though we may say that if the work as a description lacks completeness, it is in the omission of very many upland scenes and the pleasant “byways” leading to them, which might with propriety have been included. Of the passes even, other than those crossed by coach roads, none are included except Black Sail. Wasdale and its immediate neighbourhood is introduced to the reader, and disposed of in the following passage:-

“All about here is the region most beloved by the amateur cragsmen. These daring souls foregather greatly at the inn down at Wasdale Head, which is a convenient point whence to attack “the best bits of work.”  Here, too, I am credibly informed, you may listen to a jargon, as mysterious to the uninitiated as even golf was in the times when there were any uninitiated, and the acrobatic feats of the day are illustrated, they tell me; by ardent souls at night, on the smoking room furniture, amid a most conspicuous absence of whisky and tobacco. The late Mr. Wynn Jones (sic), who was killed in 1899 on the Alps, has written an admirable book on climbing in the Lake country, which will interest even those who have no mind to follow in his perilous steps.”

It will be gathered from the last sentence of the above quotation that the writer is not a scoffer; on the other hand, in view of his remarks on the cautious guide-book makers’ instructions to the “hardy pedestrian,” and from other passing observations, he might at least be considered as within the outer circles of hill climbers himself; and this makes the omission noticed above all the more extraordinary.

The Lake District differs from most parts of Britain in having had a comparatively uneventful history. The Norse invaders, who quickly drove out the Celtic inhabitants after the protecting arm of Rome had been withdrawn, soon settled down, and their descendants-the statesmen element -led a life apart from the rest of the country for many centuries, their seclusion in fact being rarely broken until the advent of the tourist at the close of the 18th century. There being no feudal lords there is an absence of castles, abbeys and other mediæval remains except on the outskirts, and the traditions of many generations of sturdy dalesmen, interesting and romantic as they are, are “more adapted to be the background of a chapter than a book.”  Our author has therefore drawn on practically the whole of Cumberland for his historical matter, and devotes a good deal of space to Edendale and Carlisle – certainly out-bounds, but the result is very good. Cockermouth, St. Bees and Ravenglass are not much visited by the traveller, but a chapter devoted to these towns is one of the best in the book. Another happy inclusion is a jaunt to Caldbeck, the birthplace of the immortal John Peel.

Plenty of variety is afforded by a fund of racy anecdote and reminiscence, brightened by a touch of humour, besides much entertaining gossip on topics of interest to almost everybody. Mr. Bradley abstains from rhapsody of any kind, and his descriptions of scenery are couched in simple and direct but effective and pleasing language. Certain features of the scenery too, are noticed, which are often overlooked altogether unless mentioned as detracting from the beauty of the Lake Country. The absence of heather is sometimes lamented, but heather is only attractive for a month or two in late summer, while the turf which clothes the mountain sides is beautiful the year round. Again, the deciduous trees, too, which are so general, are more pleasing than the monotonous pine woods of some regions. These and other critical observations are as just as the recommendation to see the Lakes at their best “while the cuckoo’s notes can be heard.” It might also have been said that winter, too, has charms not possessed by the usual holiday season, and that only those who have visited Lakeland between Christmas and Easter know the full measure of its beauty.

With regard to climate, it is true that there is a closeness and want of bracing qualities in most of the valleys, but the district is not peculiar in this respect, as all of our western hill countries share the same disadvantage.

Our author has a good deal to say about railways, and seems to think that the outcry against any proposals for the extension of them, and other facilities of locomotion – such as the electric tramway from Windermere to Ambleside, is unreasonable. The latter project would be, however,  but the thin end of the wedge, which would soon be driven home with disastrous results. It could easily be shewn that the ideas set forth are ill-considered and inconsistent, for, after all, it is better to meet a few “beanfeasters” on the turnpikes than to have them strewing waste paper, orange peel, and other indications of beanfeasts over all the hill sides. It is bad enough to meet ginger beer bottles floating down the Brathay Without having to expect to see them in more remote streams. And assuredly there are still a good many people who dissent from the assertion that the railway has done no harm to Snowdon.

The omission from the volume of a considerable part of Furness, which ought to be included in a description of the Lake District, is explained as the result of an accident to the author, and possibly the same reason may account for a larger number than usual of typographical errors, more particularly misspellings of place names.

The illustrations are throughout by Mr, Joseph Pennell, and are, on the Whole, excellent.

H.H.B.

The Scenery Of England And The Causes To Which It Is Due. By The Right Hon. Lord Avebury.

(London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1902.)

Lord Avebury, better known as Sir John Lubbock, is without ‘ doubt, the Crichton of Science and Commerce. To the long list of books he has written on Insect Life, Primitive Man, “The Pleasures of Life,” Physical Geology, &c., he has now added one which will be cordially welcomed by all lovers of English scenery. Lord Avebury is a brilliant and fascinating writer upon any subject in which his vigorous mind becomes interested. He is one of the few -men who can not only provide food for the profound student, but also whet the appetite of the satiated general reader. In the book under review his absorbing love for his subject glows through every page and though, from the nature of the work, there must be much that is mere statement of fact, yet these facts are clothed with a charm of style and a wealth of illustration that everyone “who reads may understand.”

Within the last few years there have been published a number of really excellent works upon geo-morphology – works that have done more to rouse interest in the so called ” dry as dust” subject of Geology than did all the learned treatises on that, subject previously written. For one who will laboriously wade I through the Stratigraphical and Palaeontological sections of a geological work there are a hundred who will study the physical chapters with zest and profitable pleasure, and to this reason, there is little doubt, is due the popularity of such books as Sir A. Geikie’s
Scenery of Scotland; Prof. Marr’s Scientific Study of Scenery; and Sir John Lubbock’s Scenery of Switzerland. The ordinary man usually asserts that there is no attraction in the subject of geology. It seems to him the most severe and dry of all the sciences, devoid too of scope for the exercise of the imaginative faculty. And why is this charge so frequently made? The book under review is one more proof that the fault lies not in the subject itself, as Lord Avebury has here succeeded in presenting hard geological facts in such a glowing way as should arrest the attention of both the poet and the speculative philosopher.

The success of The Scenery of Switzerland was so marked that the author was well justified in adopting a similar plan in the arrangement of his English book, even at the cost of laying the former work under ‘tribute to an extent which is not common. Thus no fewer than six chapters appear practically verbatim in the English treatise – except for slight modification in terminology. This could have been avoided only by a copious list of references – a course which, though it would have considerably reduced the size of the later book, would at the same time have lessened its value as a complete work. Of the two courses open we think the author has followed the better one.

To write a book upon the scenery of a country which is in itself an epitome of the geology of the whole earth is indeed a Herculean labour. If, therefore, we are in any degree disappointed, we candidly admit that the failure to realise our anticipations is due to the apparent impossibility of the task. We doubt if any other author could have succeeded so well. As a work upon English Scenery it is unequalled. But, in saying this, we by no means imply that it is of uniform excellence throughout. There are faults of omission as well as faults of commission. In the opening paragraph reference is made to the importance of geology in the study of natural scenery, and this is followed by some fifty pages dealing with the various geological formations to be found in England. In our opinion the value of this part of the work would have been much enhanced by the insertion of a geological map.

Again, readers of Sir A. Geikie’s Scenery of Scotland will remember that the appendix is “A brief summary of the more obvious or interesting geological features, in their relation to scenery, which lie open to the observation of the traveller by some of the principal routes through Scotland.” Lord Avebury, in his preface to The Scenery of England , speaks of this “charming” work of Geikie, but a still higher compliment would have been paid that work by the adoption of a similar plan in dealing with English Scenery. The most unsatisfactory part of the work under review, however, is the section dealing with Dry Valleys and Underground Rivers. Seeing that these features are entirely characteristic of chalk and limestone formations, and that these formations are so characteristically English it seems to us that this subject of natural underground drainage has received too scant justice. Apart from the small extent of its treatment here, however, the author has been singularly unfortunate in some of his statements. On page 339 he speaks of the water from Hellen Pot, in Yorkshire, as emerging at Clapham Beck Head, and of the Pot itself as being 359 feet in depth. To those who know the district it is evident that these statements can only apply to Gaping Ghyll. As a matter of fact, the waters from Hellen Pot are known to pass under the Ribble and to emerge again on the side opposite to that on which the Pot is situated.

One of the most interesting chapters in the book is that dealing with Rocks and Scenery. We, however, very much doubt the statement made on page 425, that water charged with carbonic acid can dissolve silica. Those who have worked through a course in a chemical laboratory will remember that silica is only soluble in alkaline solutions. The presence of alkaline carbonates in a solution would render silica soluble, and this is probably what was intended. In the section dealing with Lakes it is interesting to compare the similar chapter in the author’s Scenery of Switzerland, and to trace the influence of Prof. Marr in the opinion arrived at with regard to so-called Rock basins. Let us hope that the Pullar survey of the Scottish lakes will do something towards clearing up this vexed question. To the general reader the final chapters – particularly those in which the author shews how scenery has been affected by laws and customs, and how the arrangement of fields, hedgerows, and trees is due to our system of land tenure – will probably be the most interesting. Here the author is on his own ground and, naturally, at his best.

An excellent feature of the work is the really fine series of illustrations, some of which, it is interesting to note, have been contributed by a well-known Leeds photographer.

W.P.

Two Winters In Norway. By A. Edmund Spender, B.A., Oxon.

(London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1902).

WHEN Mr. Spender decided to follow Mrs. Tweedie’s lead in visiting Norway in Winter and Writing a book on the subject, it is greatly to be regretted that he should have chosen, with one exception, the same route and scenes which she so graphically and so ably described eight years ago. In that interval there has been little or no alteration in the places visited, and a second description can never have the charm or freshness of the first; but when the second itinerary follows the first to Kristiania, Holmenkollen, Kongsberg and the silver mines, and gives the same peeps into lowland and into upland life, one expects that in incidents and anecdotes at least there will be something fresh. Even in these the second book follows the first, and we have repeated at length a description of trotting on the Kristiania Fjord and the history of Anna Kolbjörnsen – whose name is incorrectly spelt. It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and it is a pity that Mr. Spender was not content to imitate the brevity and pithiness of “A Winter Jaunt to Norway,” and at the same time treat his readers to descriptions of places less known to Englishmen. Surely repetition can be avoided in descriptions of country life in Norway, where in winter the phases of life differ as widely as does the climate, and where the people of one valley are often so isolated from the inhabitants of the next that their manners and speech are like those of another country.

The book would have been much more interesting if the chapters on the Fjeld Lapps and Military training in winter had been expanded at the expense of the many, pages of uninteresting and commonplace padding with which it commences. More photographs, too, of the Mountain Lapps would have greatly added to the interest of the narrative of the trip on the high uplands, for carefully selected photographs accompanied by brief and clear descriptions will convey more to the mind of a reader than any amount of unillustrated writing by a man who is not gifted with the pen of a Stephen or a Kipling.

The photographs with which the book is illustrated are excellent, and Mr. Spender is to be congratulated on his results, as the light in winter is often insufficient for good snap-shot work. Some of his views of jumping must have been taken with exposures so short as to make it difficult to obtain good detail. Certainly, photographs cannot reproduce the brilliance of the winter landscape in sunshine, but without these it is impossible to convey any idea at all to those who do not know the beauties of sunlit snow scenes.

There seems to be a fatal fascination about the Norwegian language for those who have been once or twice in the country, which lures them on to quote in the most unnecessary way from phrases which they think they know. The universal use of o instead of ø throughout the book makes the meaning of many words absurd, as does the general use of Norwegian verbs with English terminations. The use of double articles and the regular addition of the plural s to the plural word ski go far towards spoiling the book for anyone who has the merest smattering of the language. There is so much bad spelling in it that one almost believes Mr. Spender has printed his own efforts at Norwegian to confirm his statements as to how little he knew of the language, for in one sentence (pp. 16 and 17)   he has used a wrong introductory phrase, a wrong verb, a German adjective, and a wrong article. Unfortunately this is only the beginning of the errors, for it is a rare exception to find a correct Norwegian word in the book, and it speaks poorly for a traveller’s powers of observation when he fails to spell their phrases for “many thanks” and “good day” correctly, at the end of two visits to the country. The bad spelling cannot possibly be regarded as phonetic, for it bears no relation to the correct pronunciation, and in his one attempt to explain the sound of a word the author is equally at fault.

Nor in his geography of Norway does he seem to be any more accurate than in his orthography of the Norwegian words, for the statement that the Jotunheim mountains can be seen from the valley below Kongsberg, at a distance of 120 miles, does not need comment, while the meaning that he gives of the word “Jotunheim” (p. 76) is perhaps the most extraordinary thing in the book.

Altogether, one cannot but feel that here an opportunity has been missed of producing not only an interesting but a useful book, and it is to be hoped that when the next one appears on this delightful subject it will leave its readers wiser as to many things which are difficult for the ordinary traveller to find out. Let it inform us about times and seasons – when and where to obtain the best conditions of snow, where to get the best instruction and practice on those wonderful long snow shoes called ski, and if we are to have Norsk let it be such that the reader may learn correctly a few of the simple phrases which every visitor should know before he goes for a holiday to that fairyland of frost and sunlit snow.

H.P.

Guide To Switzerland. By W. A. B. Coolidge.

(London; A. & C. Black. 1901.)

A distinctive feature of the new edition of Messrs. Black’s “Guide to Switzerland,” which has been written and entirely re-arranged by Mr. Coolidge, is that it deals mainly with the principal routes followed by the majority of tourists in that country, and as great numbers visit Geneva and Chamonix, often extending their travels to the Italian valleys just south of ‘ the Swiss Alps, and to the N. Italian Lakes, these have been included in the book. Hints, too, are given about less frequented places lying off the main routes.

It is concisely written, and up to date in its information. The printing of place-names and routes in leaded type, and the cross references to them throughout the book much increase its utility. It contains an excellent general map of Switzerland, six sectional maps, and one-too often omitted from Swiss guide books – shewing the principal routes from London to Bale, Berne, Lausanne, and Geneva. Twenty pages of useful information for cyclists, by Mr. C. L. Freeston, and a very full index, are added. Being printed on exceedingly light paper its weight will scarcely be felt in the coat pocket, for which it is a convenient size.

Recent Books.

The Alps In 1864 By W. A. B. Coolidge. With Cycling Supplement by Chas. L. Freeston. Eight maps and 4 illustrations. Size 6? x 4?, pp. xxx. and 245. (London: Adam . A Private Journal. By A. W. Moore. Edited by A. B. W. Kennedy, L.L.D. With portrait, 41 illustrations in 1 photogravure, and 10maps. Size 93/4 x 61/4, pp. xxxv, and 444. (Edinburgh: David Douglas. 1902. Price 36s. net.)
Reviewed on p. 336

Guide To Switzerland By W. A. B. Coolidge. With Cycling Supplement by Chas. L. Freeston. Eight maps and 4 illustrations. Size 6? x 4?, pp. xxx. and 245. (London: Adam & Charles Black. 1901. Price 3s. 6d.)
Reviewed on p. 346

Swiss Life In Town And Country By Florence Donaldson. With a map and 106 illustrations. Size 81/2 x 53/4, pp. xii. and 213. (London: Sampson Low, Marston . By A. T. Story. With 25 illustrations. Size 7 x 43/4, pp. x. and 248. (London: George Newnes, Ltd. 1902. Price 3s. 6d. net.)

Lepcha Land; or, Six Weeks in the Sikhim Himalayas By Florence Donaldson. With a map and 106 illustrations. Size 81/2 x 53/4, pp. xii. and 213. (London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. 1900. Price 10s. net.)

Two Winters In Norway. Being an account of Two Holidays spent on snow-shoes, and in sleigh-driving, and including an expedition to the Lapps. By A. E. Spender, B.A. With 40 illustrations. Size 8? x 53/4. pp. xiv. and 270. (London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1902. Price 10s. 6d. net.)
Reviewed on p. 344

The Scenery Of Scotland. Viewed in connection with its physical geology. By Sir Archibald Geikie. Third Edition. With 4 maps and numerous illustrations. Size 8 x 5?, pp. xx. and 540. (London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 1901. Price 10s. net.)

The Scenery Of England, and the causes to which it is due. By the Rev. H. D. Rawnsley. Second Edition. With portraits and other illustrations. Size 71/2 x 5, pp. xi. and 236, and vii. and 251. (Glasgow: Jas. MacLehose . By The Right Hon. Lord Avebury. With numerous illustrations and maps. Size 83/4 x 53/4, pp. xxvi. and 534. (London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 1902. Prize 15s. net.)
Reviewed on p. 341.

Literary Associations Of The English Lakes. By the Rev. H. D. Rawnsley. Second Edition. With portraits and other illustrations. Size 71/2 x 5, pp. xi. and 236, and vii. and 251. (Glasgow: Jas. MacLehose & Sons. 1901. Price 10s. net. Two vols.)

Highways And Byways In The Lake District. By A. G. Bradley. With map and 87 illustrations by Joseph Pennell. Size 73/4 x 5?, pp. xii. and 332. (London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 1901. Price 6s.)
Reviewed on p. 338

A Picturesque History Of Yorkshire. Being an account of the History, Topography, and Antiquities of the County of York. By J. S. Fletcher. In three volumes, with 600 illustrations. Size 9? x 7?. (London: J. M. Dent & Co. 1899-1901. Price 7s. 6d. net per vol.)

Lower Wharfedale. The History, Antiquities, and Scenery of the Valley of the Wharfe, from Cawood to Arthington. By Harry Speight. With map, portraits, and numerous illustrations. Size 8? x 53/4, pp. 532. (London: Elliot Stock. 1902. Price 10s.)