Scented Isles and Coral Gardens: Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies/end matter
Daily News.―"A Book of the Day" … "We journey with Mr. Mackellar with pleasure … we must read between the lines in this book if we are to get from its full value. Then we shall find it instructive and moving to the imagination."
Morning Post.―" an interesting, vivacious, and incidentally instructive book. … Mr. Mackellar's opinions on more serious matters are based upon shrewd observations of facts."
Daily Telegraph.― … "this goodly volume (which has the additional advantage of being admirably equipped with illustrations) … a great deal to tell … which is both novel and striking … his observation has always individuality, and he certainly does not hesitate to speak of the world as he finds it … he writes with great vigour and spirit of the deserted temples and palaces of the Incas … has clearly the proper spirit of the intellectual traveller … it deserves cordial recognition as an obviously sincere record of a vigorous attempt to see new countries with the veil of illusion removed."
Pall Mall Gazette.― … "as to the things of which he writes, their name is legion. From his leaving the shores of old England, to his calling at Lisbon on the return journey, there is hardly a thing, great and small alike, that escapes his notice … the letters from the Republics are capital reading. … Altogether Mr. Mackellar is an interesting and observant cicerone, whose deductions are often pointedly deserving of consideration."
Westminster Gazette.―..." the lively and readable record … the trials and difficulties … encountered were certainly numerous enough, and many of them would seem to have been overcome only by a pluck and determination which not every one can command. … He certainly supplies much valuable information as to the present state of the countries he visited, and his book may be recommended alike to those who enjoy travel and adventure as well as to those who are anxious to learn something about the resources which are only waiting for labour and capital to develop them.".
Illustrated London News.―"A seeing eye and a thinking mind, based on a knowledge of history and affairs, and his letters make very interesting reading."
The Spectator.―" There is great pleasure in reading it, for it is invariably entertaining and often instructive … some of the scenes … are curious in the extreme."
The World.― … "entertaining record … contains a great deal of useful information."
Newcastle Chronicle.―"A very shrewd observation of men and things … gives us some racy accounts, all characterised by a keen insight into more than superficial matters … As an impression of South America from a cultured man of the world the book is calculated to convey a much clearer idea of a people and places than a shelf-full of dry as dust reports."
Western Press.―"A cheery optimism pervades the whole story of his travels … a very readable and interesting volume. … A very clear idea of the people and their characteristics. … An interesting chapter of incidents and individuals which might be met with by any well-recommended and polite European. The story of the author's travels is well told."
Western Morning News.―"Decidedly welcome from every point of view … the extent of the journey takes one's breath away, for it seems that our globe-rambler moved round the whole of the great southern continent except the northern bit of it, and his sharp eyes left nothing of interest unnoticed. … A very charming book, and we can only hope that the writer may, indeed, revisit the south continent and give us again the result of his travels."
Birmingham Post.―"An interesting journey … he makes it interesting to the reader."
The Observer.―"All round the coast roamed with observant eye and ready pen, and though he confesses at the end 'that a whole continent at a time is too much,' it will not be too much for the reader who likes keen observation and shrewd and vivid comment."
Nottingham Guardian.―"In a series of well-written letters he gives an interesting account of many of the things which came under his notice, flavoured here and there with a touch of quiet humour. … He gives us a charming picture of Cotopaxi and its neighbours as seen in the rosy light of early morning. … Life in Quito is described in a chapter full of good things."
Irish Times.― … " generally interesting and not seldom amusing."
Northern Whig.―" Knows how to seize on points of interest, and his vivid snapshots give one a new impression of this little known continent."
Yorkshire Post.―"Distinctly entertaining … he is racy … never dull."
Sheffield Telegraph.―"Written in a pleasantly unconventional style, and carries his reader far away from all beaten tracks, and gives interesting descriptions of the least known people of South America. … Mr. Mackellar does much in this volume to lift the veil and reveal the country and people to all who are sufficiently interested to read his book."
The Coloniser.—“A most entertaining book, and be it said at once that, although a Scotchman, the author has a delightful sense of the humorous ... is a staunch patriot, and always has the well-being of Britain at heart. ... A most entertaining and instructive book.”
Aberdeen Free Press.—“He has a keen eye for what is picturesque and interesting, and regards his surroundings from a perfectly detached point of view ... quite a different outlook from that of the ‘professional’ traveller. ... The social life of the people, their religions, their amusements, their manners, their morals are all transferred to Mr. Mackellar’s pages, and the breezy and unconventional style in which he writes adds to the charm of his pictures. There is a wealth of solid information in his journal set down in such a way as to interest the general reader, for Mr. Mackellar never for a moment forgets to be entertaining, and therein lies the chiefest charm of his book.”