The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China; or, Ten Years' Travels, Adventures, and Residence Abroad
1875; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 11; Issue: 272 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1038/011207a0
ISSN1476-4687
Autores Tópico(s)Global Maritime and Colonial Histories
ResumoMR. THOMSON'S sojourn in the countries with which his book is concerned seems to have extended from 1862 onward, during which time he evidently had plenty of leisure to visit various places on the south-east and east of Asia, extending from Penang to Pekin. We can heartily recommend his modest work to anyone wishing to obtain a fair idea of the social life, scenery, and productions of the districts which he visited, and in which he usually sojourned for some time, including the Malay Peninsula, Siam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Amoy, Pekin, and other coast-towns of China. He also sailed a considerable distance into the interior of China, up the Yang-tse-Kiang, and made a short walking tour into the interior of Formosa. Mr. Thomson put his eyes, his ears, and his camera (for he is an accomplished photographer) to excellent use, so that we do not know any work of the size that conveys a juster and fuller idea of the manners and customs of the various peoples whom he visited. Mr. Thomson makes no pretension to have travelled in the interests of science, but only to be a photographer and an observer of the ways of men. Nevertheless, throughout the work occasional jottings are introduced that may be of interest to the botanist and geologist. Among the very first pages he hazards some conjectures as to the cause of the love of brilliant colours among tropical men, birds, and flowers, which are evidence of some observation and thought. “Perhaps,” he says, “our men of science might be able to tell us whether the heat of the oriental sun develops in flowering plants a craving for the absorption of certain colours of the solar spectrum, and for the reflection of others; whether, indeed, the electric affinities of plants in this way are affected by temperature. Can we, in the same way, account for the brilliant plumage of tropical birds, in which homogeneous red, yellow, and blue are very conspicuous, and also for the liking which uncultured Eastern races show for the reds, blues, and yellows”
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