Sagas of the Sea by Archibald MacMechan (review)

REVIEWS OF BOOKS 351 a portionof Alberta on whichthe sitesof the postsareshown. As the author is connected with the Survey Branchof the Department of the Interior thesepositions may betaken ascorrectaccording to our present information. F. W. HowAY Sagas oftheSea. ByARCI-IIBALD MACMECt-IAN. (TheKing'sTreasuries of Literature.) LondonandToronto: J. M. Dent & Sons. [1923.] Pp. 156. Tte•- essentiallymaritime quality of Nova Scotian life is aptly set forth in thesebriefhistoricalsketches by a long-timeresidentof the old portof..I-Ialifax. The talescannotbut appealto anyone whose im_agination haseverbeenluredby the hazardsof sea-faring, andtheir interest isenhancedfor all studentsof Canada'shistoryby the specialprovincial flavour of the collection. Five of the nine "sagas" recountincidentsin time of war,--the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Great War. Two of theseareexamples of idealdisciplinein theoldnavy andin the new; a third tellsof shipwreckand hazardous adventurein the carrying of dispatches betweenQuebec and New York in 1780; a fourthdescribes the sack of Lunenburg by a fleet of rebel privateers two years later; anothertellsthe lurid fate of an American privateerin Nova Scotian watersin 1813. The remainingfourare talesof peril in the work-a-day livesof seamen of the province. All of them are told with the charm and distinction whichwehavecometo expectin everythingtheauthor writes. Professor MacMechan has drawn his material almost exclusively fromoriginalsources, whichheduly notes,for each"saga", in the table of contents. Refrainingfromfictitiousembellishments, heachieves his expressed aim, to state the facts "as plainly as may be and let them speakfor themselves". Nevertheless the facts are illuminatedin the statement by the author'snautical knowledgeand enthusiasm,and, as onewould expectat his hands,are linked suggestively with the wider life of the provinceand given their due settingand significance. The volume stimulatesappreciationof the specialmaritime "colour" of Nova Scotia's community life, and well illustrates the important rgle playedby the provinceand her sonsin the historyof sea-faring. The neatpocketformat,dearto the heartsof the book'spublishers, hasthe advantage,by virtue of its inexpensiveness, of makingthe work available for extensive use in schoolsand of inviting a wide popular circulation. REGINALD G. TROTTER ...