probably safe to claim for some of our American photographers as high a degree of mechanical excellence as that attained by any other people. That which is yet most required is artistic treatment. Of course, very much depends upon the subject, and the willingness of the sitter to abide by the better taste and judgment of the operator. It is rare to find such models. Ordinarily, the sharper the picture and fewer the shadows, the more satisfactory it is. Many see in shadow only dirt, and the more screens employed to illuminate, by false reflections, the shaded side of a subject, the more it is to the sitter's liking; for this reason, photographs are rarely of interest except to those personally acquainted with the subject. With Mrs. Cameron's work it is different; in addition to the value they possess as likenesses, their artistic qualities are of so high an order as to command the admiration of all. Our portrait painters might also profit by a careful study of this lady's work. How many American portraits would find purchasers if forced upon the market? Yet almost fabulous prices have been paid for pictures of unknown persons, on account of their artistic merit. At the recent sale of the Demidoff collection, at San Donato, a portrait by Van Dyke brought $30,000, and one by Rubens $16,200. The reputation of these artists no doubt greatly influenced the sale, though there are like instances in which both artist and subject have been unknown. Since it is the aim to combine art and utility in all other departments of manufacture, would it not be well to try to effect the same combination in portraiture? Justice to the artist, however, compels us to admit that the absence of art in portraiture is oftener the fault of the patron than the painter. In no other branch of picture-making is the artist so hampered. He is frequently compelled to yield to the notions of others, which are oftener at variance with the generally accepted ideas of taste and treatment, and can therefore not be held wholly responsible.

ANIMALS IN MOTION.

Few events have excited greater interest among artists and those interested in animal life than the exhibition given at the Art Rooms, early in May, by Mr. Muybridge, illustrating the movements of the horse and other animals in rapid motion. By the application of electricity to a series of cameras placed at short intervals, and equidistant from each other, Mr. Muybridge has succeeded in obtaining a succession of instantaneous photographic impressions, illustrating the positions of an animal during all the stages of a stride. When first produced, these plates excited much skepticism and ridicule. Taken singly, they are entirely deficient in grace, and convey no impression of movement whatever; but when made to follow each other in rapid succession, by means of the zoögyroscope-a revolving disc, from which the impressions are projected upon a screenthe effect is so startling as to convince the most skeptical of the accuracy of the plates. The principle has been applied with equal success to horses, cattle, and dogs, and also to the flight of birds and quick movements of men. The inventor, in his enthusiasm, predicts a great revolution, not only as regards the rearing and training of horses for speed, but in the matter of their representation on canvas. That a horse in running never assumes the position given it by artists may, perhaps, be accepted as a demonstrated fact. Also, if it is the intention of the painter to convey the idea of rapid movement, it

is equally certain that no single position of the animal developed by photography will serve his purpose. Movement in the horse is presented only by the rapidity with which one position follows another, as demonstrated by the zoögyroscope. The artist can employ no such artificial means, but is necessarily limited to a single attitude, and must, therefore, compromise upon some pose that will convey to the eye the same impression that accompanies a rapid succession of positions in nature. In other words, fact must be sacrificed to impression. How well artists have succeeded in conveying this impression has been many times proved by the readiness with which the smallest children interpret their intentions. Putting aside all prejudice in favor of previously accepted notions, we fail to see how Mr. Muybridge's discovery will greatly affect art as regards the movement of animals.

THE EPIDEMIC.

From a perusal of Eastern periodicals, it would seem that our California artists have no special cause for condolence on the ground of adverse criticism. The epidemic which manifested itself so strongly during the late exhibition was, it appears, not local, but attacked with equal virulency art writers all over the country. From the north, south, east, and west, the outcries of the afflicted are audible, and the manifestations are so alike that one is prone to attribute the disease to some cause not in the control of picture-makers. Professor Jevons might find in it fresh evidence of the truth of his "sun-spot" theory; or perhaps the planetary conjunction has adopted the art departments of the press as a kind of safety-valve for the diffusion of any superfluous influence not specially allotted to the various phenomena that are to manifest themselves according to programme during the coming year. In New York, critics are divided on the question of the Academy and the Society of American Artists, and assail strongly those leagued with their enemies. Boston, with its well-known complacency, spares its own, but claims that an artist to be recognized must first gain its approval, and therefore has little sympathy to bestow upon those outside its charter limits. Faint pipings are heard from all parts of the Far West. It is perhaps too soon to determine what will be the effect of all this commotion upon the future American school. Many, for the time being, may be discouraged; but probably, when the heavenly bodies shall have recovered from their dissipations, harmony will be once more restored between the pen and brush.

THE NEW YORK EXHIBITIONS.

Citizens of New York are much to be envied on account of the facilities afforded them for the enjoyment of the fine arts. As a metropolis, it is naturally sought by a majority of our best artists, who there find a wider field for the disposal of their works; and likewise the foreign pictures that seek an American market are there first offered to view. The past winter seems to have been unusually prolific as regards art display. In addition to the usual exhibits at the galleries of dealers, where many works of the best modern French painters have been shown, no less than five exhibitions have been given by the various societies. Until quite recently, water colors have met little encouragement in this coun try. They now seem to have gained a firm foothold in

New York, and their exhibitions excite much interest. The one given during the past winter has been generally well received by the press. Among the contributors are many familiar names, while others, quite new to the public, are spoken of as doing creditable work. At the Salmagundi Club exhibition, in black and white, the works of Shirlaw, Smiley, Abbey, Kappes, Reinhart, and the numerous other excellent contributors to the Scribner and Harper magazines, were to be seen. It is mainly to the members of this club that we are indebted for those pleasant articles relating to the Tile Club. The showing of the "Society of American Artists," though excellent in many respects, and exercising a healthy influence upon American art, was not regarded much in advance of their last year's exhibition, except in the department of sculpture. At the Academy, the exhibition was regarded not quite up to the average, though comprising a large number of pictures. Messrs. Fuller, of Boston, and Winslow Homer received special mention, the first for a portrait of a boy reading, and the latter for some negro studies and a camp scene. Perhaps the most interesting of all the exhibitions was the loan collection, embracing works of the old masters and modern pictures by foreign and American artists, brought together on the occasion of the opening of the Metropolitan Museum, in Central Park. A writer in Scribner's Monthly dwells with special pleasure upon the fact that, instead of being eclipsed by comparison with the works of so many eminent foreign painters, as many feared would be the result, American art stood the test very satisfactily. This is certainly encouraging to our painters, and promises well for the future.

THE LOAN AND ART EXHIBITION. Several loan exhibitions of pictures from private galleries have been given in San Francisco, under the auspices of the Art Association, but to the people of Oakland belongs the credit of introducing to our coast the first general loan exhibition, embracing all articles of interest, historical as well as artistic. The success of the enterprise was much doubted at first. The projectors anticipated difficulty in finding in our young community a sufficient number of articles of interest to make an exhibition that would prove attractive to the public. The result, however, was most gratifying, not only to the enterprising ladies who had the affair in charge, but to the large number who attended during the two weeks of its continuance. Notwithstanding a little doubt on the part of some as to the authenticity of a few of the articles displayed, as a whole the exhibition was instructive as well as interesting. All tastes might have been gratified by a visit, from that of the historian and antiquarian even to the epicurean. Imagine one of the latter contemplating, for instance, a tooth and part of the jawbone of the great consul and bon vivant, Lucullus. The identical bone and ivory that eighteen hundred years ago, enshrouded in the presumably fat cheeks and firm lips of the conqueror of Mithridates, served on so many occasions in the mastication of roasted dog and succulent pig, stuffed with asafoetida. The sight of it recalls to mind that great feast given his friends, which cost the owner upward of fifty thousand denarii-a sum so great that historians regard the fact of sufficient importance to be transmitted to all posterity. Our barbarous ancestors, clothed in skins, gathered oysters on the coast of Britain for that very occasion, and all the then known world was taxed for contributions of beast,

bird, and fish. When we realize that this bit of bone was perhaps the first to pierce each delicacy served on that occasion, our reverence for Lucullus is not only enhanced, but our gratitude to the ladies of Oakland for the exhibition surpasses expression. Near by lay a dish from which the Great Frederick- the founder of the German empire-supped; perhaps one of the set from which the enraged father selected a missile to hurl at the head of poor Wilhelmina, because she loved music. Under the same category of epicurean reminders may be classed also the punch-bowl of George I., Napoleon's tumblers, and some of Louis Phillippe's chinaware. Among the many articles of historical interest might have been seen lying side by side, on a Japanese table, the skulls of two of the incas of Peru-men who planned a civilization of their own, remarkable and even instructive to the proud princes of the Old World. One involuntary hopes that the owners had the good fortune to die before Pizarro and his gold-seekers first placed foot within the bounds of their peaceful, happy empire. There were relics of all ages, from embalmed child of ancient Thebes to the brass warming-pan "one hundred years old." Old Greek weapons were compelled, for the time being, to keep company with vulgar modern cannibal war-clubs. A bit of curtain from the bed of the beautiful and romantic Queen of Scots divided one's attention with an autograph letter of the proud Elizabeth-a letter written by the same hand that signed the fatal warrant. Here, a lock of Washington's hair caused the American heart to palpitate, and there lay Washington's razor. If that great man ever did mutter an unrecorded oath, perhaps this quiet little instrument was the cause of it. Old portraits, books, and manuscripts, autograph letters of historical personages, bricà-brac and curios from everywhere, embracing scarabæi and sacred bugs from Egyptian tombs, and silver heads and pottery from American tumuli; bronzes, draperies, furniture, and pictures saluted the visitor from all sides. Of the latter, little can be said. With a few striking exceptions, the gallery was composed of imported copies, too often seen to excite interest. The exhibition will be remembered by all who attended, and will encourage still greater achievements in the same direction.

AUCTION PICTURE SALES.

A few years ago it was the custom among our local artists to dispose of their pictures at auction. Every year a combination sale was held, to which each painter was invited to contribute one or more works from his easel.

Money was then more plenty, and taste not as critical as it is to-day. Pictures, good and bad, were sure to bring under the hammer all they were worth. It soon became known in the East that California offered a rich field for such sales, and, as a natural consequence, carloads of pictures rolled overland, and were thrown upon the market. In nearly every instance these pictures belonged to what is called the commercial order, for the manufacture of which several establishments exist in New York, where many men are employed, and from twelve to sixteen copies of a single work produced in a day, to be distributed as originals to the different markets in the United States. With rich looking, cheap frames, and not unfrequently the names of celebrated artists attached to them, they commanded a ready sale. One year, it is stated, no less than twenty-three hundred of these pictures were offered to the San Francisco

public through a single auction house.

To-day a large portion of the "gems" that adorn our residences belong to this class, and, in many instances, are prized as valuable originals. Picture buyers naturally waited for these sales, hoping to secure cheap bargains, and the artists, in order to compete with the imported stock, could not afford the time and care necessary to the making of a good picture. They painted auction pictures, to be sold at auction prices. In every instance, however, the purchaser who imagined he was trading upon the necessities of painters, received all he was entitled to for the small prices paid. At times our artists offered their best work, but the public, from a distrust engendered through the former practice, failed to respond to the extent the pictures deserved. Since then, purchasers have been patronizing the studios and exhibitions. By this means they secure conscientious work, and the artist receives just remuneration.

During the

past two years of depression, art has been at a standstill, and, in consequence, some of our best painters are seeking other markets, while many have been obliged to resort to teaching and illustrating. In our opinion, the worst effect of the "hard times" is the revival of the custom of selling pictures at auction. The sale held May 19th, at the rooms of Newhall & Co., in which several well known artists participated, cannot be regarded a success. In a few instances, however, the prices realized were sufficient to warrant an expectation of better times in the near future. With these encouraging signs, artists will probably find it unnecessary to continue this method of disposing of their productions. The practice is apt to degenerate into simply a picture-making business, and not only cheapens the work of those who participate, but works an injustice to those who labor conscientiously and earnestly for the advancement and the elevation of art.

THE NORTH AMERICANS OF ANTIQUITY: Their Origin, Migrations, and Type of Civilization. By John T. Short. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1880. or sale by Payot, Upham & Co., San Francisco. American antiquarian knowledge has received vast accessions from the patient investigations of the past few years, and the volume before us gives, in a popular and fascinating form, the results of these studies. The author pays a just tribute to our eminent Californian historian, Mr. H. H. Bancroft, and, indeed, makes copious extracts from, and references to, that gentleman's exhaustive work, The Native Races of the Pacific States. After discussing the antiquity of the Americans, and reviewing the evidence, Mr. Short says:

"We have seen that as yet no truly scientific proof of man's great antiquity in America exists. This conclusion is concurred in by the most eminent authorities. At present we are probably not warranted in claiming for him a much longer residence on this continent than is assigned him by Sir John Lubbock, namely, three thousand years. Future research may develop the fact that man is as old here as in Europe, and that he was contemporaneous with the mastodon. As the case stands in the present state of knowledge, it furnishes strong presumptive evidence that man is not autochthonic here, but exotic, having originated in the old world, perhaps thousands of years prior to reaching the new.'

"

The various theories as to the colonization of the continent are subject to a rigid scrutiny, and two chapters are given on the Indian traditions bearing upon this point. An able comparison of crania is instituted, in the course of which occurs a description of the curious habit of head-flattening, in various nations, both in America and the old world. A very interesting chapter is the one on the Ancient Pueblos and Cliff-dwellers, from which we extract:

"The descriptions of them seem more "suitable to form parts of the most romantic works of fiction than of sober and scientific memoirs from the pens of government explorers. One hundred miles westward from the ruins of the Chaco lies the Chelly Valley or Cañon. The Chelly is one of the tributaries of the Rio San Juan from the south, having its source in the Navajo country.

The Chelly Cañon is described as from one hundred and fifty to nine hundred feet wide, with perpendicular sides between three hundred and five hundred feet high. Simpson, in 1849, found several caves built up in front with stone and mortar in a side cañon."

The United States party explored the Mancos River in Colorado:

"One of the first cliff houses discovered by the explorers is a most interesting structure, the position of which, six hundred feet from the bottom of the cañon in a niche of the wall, furnishes a strangely significant commentary on the straits to which these sorely pressed people were driven by their enemies. Five hundred feet of the ascent to this aerial dwelling was comparatively easy, but a hundred feet of almost perpendicular wall confronted the party, up which they could never have climbed but for the fact that they found a series of steps cut in the face of the rock leading up to the ledge upon which the house was built. This ledge was ten feet wide by twenty feet in length, with a vertical space between it and the overhanging rock of fifteen feet. His next discovery in the face of the vertical rock, which here ran up from the bottom of the cañon and at a height of from fifty to one hundred feet, were a number of nestlike habitations, one of which is figured in the cut.

*

*

*

The

"The cliff-house in this case was reached by its occuThe walls are propants from the top of the cañon. nounced as firm as the rock upon which they were built. The stones were very regular in size, and the chinking-in of small chips of stone rendered the surface of the wall remarkably smooth and well finished. dwelling measured fifteen feet in length, five feet in width, and six feet in height. A short distance below this little dwelling, five or six cave-like crevices were found walled up in front with perfect walls, rendered smooth by chinking. Three miles further down the cañon, the party discovered, at heights ranging from six to eight hundred feet above their heads, some curious and unique little dwellings sandwiched in among the crevices of the horizontal strata of the rock of which the bluff was composed. Access to the summit of the bluff, a thousand feet high, was obtained by a circuitous path through a side cañon, and the houses themselves could only be reached at the utmost peril-of being precipitated to the bottom of the dizzy abyss-by crawling along a ledge twenty inches wide and only high enough for a man in a creeping position. This led to the wider

shelf on which the houses rested. The perfection of the finish was especially noticeable in one of these houses, which was but fifteen feet long and seven feet high, and with a side wall running back in a semicircular sweep. In every instance the party found the elevated cliff-houses situated on the western side of the cañon with their outlook toward the east, while the buildings at the bottom of the cañon were indiscriminately built on both sides." A full account is given of the interesting discoveries in Arizona and New Mexico. The book is handsomely illustrated, and a valuable accession to current literature.

THE BOY TRAVELERS IN JAPAN AND CHINA. By Thomas W. Knox. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1880. For sale by Payot, Upham & Co., San Fran

cisco.

Mr. Knox has made an entertaining book, not only for boys, but for children of an older growth. The book is filled with pleasant description, and with a variety of incidents. As a specimen of the book-maker's art it does much credit to its publishers. It is profusely and beautifully illustrated, the subjects being furnished by the scenery, buildings, works of art, and curious sights in the countries visited.

ODD OR EVEN? By Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney. Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1880.

One who lives to reach the end of one of Mrs. Whitney's sentences is usually repaid for the time expended, and a fortiori one who reaches the end of a work from her pen is not frequently disappointed. The book before us is not an exception to the rule. It abounds in strong characterizations, and the story is, on the whole, well sustained. The plot is laid in an out-of-the-way place, and the people are not of the every-day type. There is a certain freshness about the book, which even the writer's tendency to stop and moralize every now and then does not destroy.

CONFIDENCE. By Henry James, Jr. Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1880. For sale at the book

stores.

Confidence is the name of a somewhat plotless novel by Mr. James, in which he introduces a number of aimless people, with nothing to do, and, what is worse, nothing to talk about. The chief end of their delightfully vacuous existence seems to be what the author calls "ingenious remarks," some of which, to be sure, are sprightly enough, but which, spread over three hundred and fifty pages, grow wearisome to the spirit. We are assured that the characters are different, one from the other, yet they are all patiently laboring after "ingenious remarks" in a very similar manner, the ideas, and even the structure of their sentences, being identical, and the conversation of each of the several characters bearing a striking resemblance to the asides and connecting clauses of Mr. Henry James, Jr.

By the Author of

YOUNG MRS. JARDINE. A novel.
John Halifax, Gentleman, etc. New York: Harper
& Brothers. 1880. For sale by Payot, Upham &
Co., San Francisco.

It requires courage to write a book, nowadays, in which the sentiment is healthful and the characters are healthy. Modern fiction, like modern society, is pessimistic, and wears a liver pad. Your latter-day hero is blasé, and your latter-day heroine is eccentric. The book before us takes us back to a few such simple ideas as love, truth, honor, and embodies them in strong per

sonifications. There is a refreshing optimism which abounds on every page, although now and then degen- . erating into "gush." There is no striking originality in the story or the people it tells of. Roderick Jardine incurs his wealthy mother's displeasure by marrying his dowerless cousin, and the book is chiefly an account of the love, life, and struggles of this young couple. Roderick is unused to poverty, is ashamed to work at first, and learns the lesson with some bitterness of heart, coming out nobly, however, at the last. "Young Mrs. Jardine," who is, perhaps, a trifle overdrawn, is an unselfish and devoted character. We have no hesitation in pronouncing the book worthy of the high reputation of its author.

SCIENCE PRIMERS. Introductory, by Professor Huxley, F. R. S. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1880. For sale in San Francisco at Appleton's agency, 107 Montgomery Street.

This little book is intended as an introduction to an extended series of scientific primers, designed for young minds, and is appropriately filled with definitions and explanations of rudimentary principles. It will be followed by a succession of primers, in various departments, by the most eminent specialists. The illustrations are drawn from familiar sources, and abstractions are either simplified or omitted.

A PRIMER OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. By Eugene Lawrence. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1880. For sale by Payot, Upham & Co., San Francisco. Mr. Lawrence has covered a large field in an amazingly short space in the little book before us. Of its value it is sufficient to say that the author of Historical Studies has maintained his reputation in this last effort.

FRANKLIN SQUARE LIBRARY. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1880. For sale by Payot, Upham & Co., San Francisco.

The enterprising firm of Harper & Brothers have issued several numbers of this series. The titles indicate the field covered by the "Library," and the prices are annexed to show how cheaply one may read if he

has the desire.

No. 107. The 19th Century. A history. By Robert Mackenzie. Price, 15 cents.

No. 109.-A Sylvan Queen. A novel. By the author of Rachel's Secret. Price, 15 cents.

No. 110.-Tom Singleton, Dragoon and Dramatist. A novel. By W. W. Follett Synge. Price, 15 cents. No. 111.-The Return of the Pioneers. A novel. Jacques Vincent. Price, 10 cents.

By

No. 112.-Russia Before and After the War. By the author of Society in St. Petersburg. Translated from the German (with later additions by the author) by Edward Fairfax Taylor. Price, 15 cents. No. 113.-A Wayward Woman. A novel. By Arthur Griffiths. Price, 15 cents.

No. 108.-Barbara, or Splendid Misery. A novel. By
Miss M. E. Braddon. Price, 15 cents.
No. 116.-For Her Dear Sake. A novel. By Mary
Cecil Hay. Price, 15 cents.

THE ALCHEMIST.

The lamp was turned low, and the measured breathing of the watcher told that he slept. I was in that exasperating half-asleep state, so familiar to the invalid, which has all the accompaniments of slumber except its comforts, when the door softly opened and a mysterious individual entered, who silently motioned to me to follow him. With unreasoning obedience I complied. My guide led me through a number of halls and passages, all strangely unfamiliar to me, and at last entered a small room dimly lighted by the dull red flame of a smoky lamp. The disordered state of things, and the general aspect of the room marked it as the laboratory of a man of science. The tables, chairs, and even the floor were piled with dusty volumes, and with numerous mechanical contrivances which puzzled me with their apparent uselessness. In a corner of the room sat what I supposed, at first glance, was a man. My guide, however, checked the polite obeisance I was making in that direction, and going to the corner drew the chair and its occupant to the centre of the room. The figure was, to all appearance, the corpse of a young man. I turned to my conductor for information, and he explained:

"Know that I am the possessor of a secret which far surpasses the embalming process used by the ancient Egyptians in preserving their dead, though I admit it was in endeavoring to discover their secret that I obtained mine. I have had for many years a suspicion-nay, I may say a belief that it would be possible to cause a body to retain all its mental faculties intact if subjected to this process, which can scarcely be called embalming. This object once attained, we find an agent in electricity which, properly directed, endows the subject with a kind of life and activity, subservient, in some degree, to the will of the operator, and capable of performing wonders. It was many years before I was able to secure material for the carrying out of my plan. It is necessary that the party honored by this distinction should be in the enjoyment of health at the time of his demise, and that the immediate cause of his death be not so violent as to impair any of his mental faculties. I could, of course, have lured some unsuspecting curiosity-seeker into this room, and quietly and unceremoniously dispatched him in some manner best suited to the furtherance of the project in hand. But this course was open to the objection that my further experiments would have been interrupted by the technicalities of legal investigation; and, besides, I have conscientious scruples against such a plan. It meets with much opposition from the ignorant, and would probably result eventually in the elimination of its advocates."

I heartily approved of these arguments, and a feeling of relief, not to say complacency, stole over me which I had not experienced before since entering the room. I accordingly listened with more assurance as the alchemist continued:

"This is the body of a young poet, who terminated his brief sphere of uselessness about six or eight months ago. There was much disagreement among the physicians concerning the cause of his sickness. Whatever

it may have been, I decided that it left him in every way qualified for my purpose. On pretense of taking his remains to his distant friends, I secretly removed them to this apartment, and they have been instrumental in assisting me to elaborate the theory which has been the study of my life. The cadaver has been subjected to my preparation, and by placing him under the influence of an electric current, I am usually able to elicit from him remarks upon any subject which may be spoken in his ear by the operator. Unfortunately, owing to the unnatural bent of his intellect, he has an uncontrollable predilection for putting all of his conversation into verse. This eccentricity nearly caused dire disaster at one time, when, without thinking, I asked his opinion on some topic connected with the Turko- Russian war. The unusual exertion attendant upon his efforts to find rhymes for some of the proper names nearly proved fatal, and indeed occasioned a double compound fracture of the inferior maxillary bone, which even yet interferes seriously with his pronunciation. Another peculiarity, which is probably also owing to the flighty nature of his feeble intellect, is this: he very often evades the subject given him entirely, and prates volubly of something in no way connected with it. I simply mention these things that you may understand before he begins that whatever is peculiar in his compositions is due to his paucity of brains, and not to anything I have neglected or overlooked in my preparation."

The alchemist then connected an electric battery with the body of the young man, and, turning to me, asked if there was any subject I would like to hear discussed. It suddenly occurred to me that I was down on the bills for a poem at the next meeting of the literary club to which I belonged, and I determined to utilize this electric poet and turn his gibberish to account. Accordingly I murmured the name of the author who was to receive a panegyric at my hands. There was a preliminary chattering of teeth, a slight grating of the injured jaw-bone, and the ghastly orator began, not, however, on the subject I had proposed:

A monster lived near Hampington,
John Thompson was his name;
And rarely he was seen of men,

Yet wondrous was his fame.
'Twas said he was the strongest man
That ever drew a breath;
He carried carnage in his path,
His very look was death.
The pathway to his forest cave

Was dark with human gore, And those who trod that gloomy path Found exit nevermore.

And thus John Thompson grew to be A hero of renown;

His deeds were told with bated breath, And spread from town to town.

And yet it was a noted fact

That no two living men

Had ever, at the same time, seen
This monster or his den.

But once there came to Hampington
A modest looking man,