By REGINALD FARRER,
Author of 'The Garden of Asia.'
With numerous Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net.
The shrines of Oriental romance have once more charmed the pen of Mr. Reginald Farrer. His book has little concern with modern Ceylon, its industries and exports. He tells rather of the bygone glories and sanctities of ancient Lanka, when the island was the seat of a powerful monarchy and a dominant church. He gladly deserts the beaten track for the fastnesses of the jungle and the great dead cities whose bones lie lost in a shoreless ocean of green. Under his guidance, all those who love contemplation of 'old unhappy things and battles long ago' can follow the tale of the Buddhist hierarchy and the Cingalese monarchy, realizing their ancient glories amid the ruins where they lie buried, and their final tragedy in the vast jungle that now for many centuries has engulfed their worldly majesty.
Nor is the interest of the book wholly antiquarian and historic, for Ceylon—that Eastern Island of Saints—is a vast flowering garden, of whose blossoms and paradises all votaries of horticulture will delight to read in Mr. Farrer's pages.
THE BOOK OF WINTER SPORTS.
With an Introduction by the Rt. Hon. the EARL OF LYTTON,
and contributions from experts in various branches of sport.
Edited by EDGAR SYERS.
Fully illustrated. Dewy 8vo. 15s. net.
Every winter more and more visitors are attracted to Switzerland, the Tyrol, and Scandinavia, to take part in the various winter sports of which this book is the first and only comprehensive account in English. Each sport is dealt with separately by an expert. Thus, Mr. and Mrs. Syers write on Skating, Mr. C. Knapp on Tobogganing, Mr. E. Wroughton on Ski-running, Mr. Bertram Smith on Curling, Mr. E. Mavrogordato on Bandy, and Mr. Ernest Law on Valsing on Ice. The various chapters give instructions in practice, rules, records, and exploits, as well as useful information as to hotels, hours of sunshine, the size and number of rinks, and competitions open to visitors at the different centres. The book contains a large number of original illustrations. It should be indispensable, not only to experts in the various sports, but to the far larger class of holiday-makers who engage in them as a pastime.