Mr. A. R. Colquhoun's book bearing the above title, published two or three months ago, is the most important con tribution to the' great Eastern problem

recently produced. English journals have devoted considerable space to reviews of it ; some of them even returning to the subject after the lapse of an interval, with the view to _npresaing its contents and conclusions on English public opinion. The same must be our own excuse for recurring to the book. Too much space could hardly be devoted to this object, as, if bis book is secured a hearing, it cannot fail to excite deep interest and even a wholesome anxiety as to our position and prospects in the Far East. Mr. Colquboun had been known al ready as a traveller of exceptional resource, and a keen and comprehensive observer. One-third of the present work is devoted to the overland journey through Siberia, including a historical sketch of the progress of Russian occupation of that remarkable country. There are, perhaps, even still a good many people whose only idea, of Siberia is that of dreary wastes, mines, gangs of convicts, and tyrannical officials. To such the account given in this book will come as a revelation. The writer deals with

every aspect of the country, its present de velopment and future possibilities, but above all dwelling on the iUusfcration which it affords of the steady, unswerving persistence of Russian policy for something like two centuries. His remarks on the great rail way, the idea underlying its original incep tion, its progress and influence so far, and the incalculable influanca that awaits it in

the future, are admirably conceived. The railway is the greatest factor in the inter national situation of to-day, and its weighty significance h_s been enormously enhanced by the recent diversion of root© from a ter-

minus at Vbdrvostock to a terminus at Port Arthur. Mr. Colqnhoon writes with the weight and earnestness of a man who feels convinced that the meaning of this great fact is not fully grasped. The English people have a habit of waking late, and their waking to the effect of the Siberian railway on the history of the world has yet to come.
