"THE FINDING OP THE SNARK."

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3100, 4 June 1881, Page 3

"THE FINDING OP THE SNARK."

All who enjoyed that clever nonsense of Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snarl.," will be delighted to hear that a fresh treat is in store for them, in the shape of a sequel to that " most exquisite fooling," namely, "The Finding of the Snark." An early edition has been published, and from one of these advance copies just received we give our readers the following extracts. Perhaps no sequel is ever as good as the book that suggests it, and a great deal of the old fire is sometimes missing here ; bub enough fun is left to make the book almost as popular as its predecessor was.

The reader will remember how the hunters are left bereaved of the baker, and cajoled by a Boojum. The story picks up the thread of the old narrative at this point. The sorrow-stricken group are stir prised by a sudden exclamation of the butcher's, who discovers a photograph lying on the ground, and remarks —of the poor vanished baker—

He is gone from our view-he is lost, ft is true; But, at least, ho has left us his carte. They all crowd round to examine the new discovery, save the bellman, who remains proudly aloof, and when the conjectures have been exhausted, gives his opinion—■ When they'd all said their fill, then the silence he broke With the voice that they all knew so well, And. r"; an accompaniment, still r" he spoke, He mournfully tolled on his bell. His opinion i 3 that it is not a likeness of the baker at all; and, after indicating essential points of difference, concludes that it is a likeness of the very object of their search — " This appears like a man who could tell chalk from cheese, Preach a sermon, make plain things look dark; Wear number nine shoes, hold orthodox views; In fact, it look 3 more liku a Snark." After some argument, they agree to hunt J up the banker, who the reader will remember was driven mad by a Bandersnatch, and j they proceed to do so — ! They sought for the banker, with sticks and stone?) They puisued him with poker and tongs ; They found him still rattling away at his bones, And chanting his mimaicil song 3 They showed him the likeness with scrupulous carei They showed it with forks and with hope ; He dropped both his bones, ran his hands through his hair, And demanded clean"tcwe ; s and soap. The supplied him with the required articles, and he then —after tranquilising himself by drawing several cheques for small amounts—unfolds a secret he had long kept hidden — " I was young, I w.is fair, I had once not a care,"— Said the bellman, " I don't wish tOßtill you, But I've heard that before in a song, I am sure, — Give us something original, will you ?" The banker, thus checked, tells them how he once lived in a town that fairly abounded inlSnarks. The bellman is naturally incensed that this information had not been supplied at an earlier stage of the voyage, but the banker thus excuses himself — " There are things," said the banker, addressing the crowd, In reply to the bellman's remark, "That may never be uttered or Bpoken aloud— Need I say they refer to a Snark ?" He goes on to state that he told this im" portant secret often to inanimate objects, but without any change being made in the Bhip's course— " I muttered it oft in the dead of night, When all save the watch, were asleep; The mainmDst I told—'twas a pitiful sight To see how the mainmast did weep." On being pressed to divulge the secret he informs them that in order to find the land of Snarks the following course must be pursued — " Ycu must tie tho mainbraco in a wonderful knit No mortal could ever undo; You must ask if the figure-head finds itself hot, And regale it on sweet Irish stew, You must call it odd names, and amuse it with games, You mußt strew the lee-scuppers with cards, Trim the sails with point-lace, wash the cathead's sleek face, Make the carpenter square all the yards." All these instructions are faithfull carried out, and the adventurers find themselves off the long sought shore. They land, and speedily find a Snark, but the author still keep us in delightful uncertainty as to the uature and appearance of this strange being. They surround the Snark carefully—• " For they thought of escape he'd be thinking ; But he showed no alarm, took tho barristers arm, And aßked his opinion on riiiking." The Snark is then taken on board, and tho trouble fairly oommences. He proves a regular Tartar, assumes tho complete control of the ship, and reprimands the bellman— Said he ought to be fined and disgraced, IPut in irons and rated, his neck dislocated, Because the backstays were unlaced.

He iasulted the banker by calling him "Cash ;" He christened the butcher " Cold Veal," He broke thro' all lawa, without reason or cauia, He would t ik to the man at the wh el. He'd a 'emble the crew when they'd plenty to do, And setting astride of a block, Would lecture them sound'y, and tff'k to them rouadly On the breeding of pure anchor stock. At lest, roused to just indignation by his insisting upon calling up all hands at 3 o'clock in the morning to listen to his opinion on South African policy, the Snark, and, most unjustly, the banker, are cast overboard, with a life-buoy between them, and when left, the Snai-k is still cheerfully chatting to the banker — In fact he was offering to bet Large suma in bank notes that " this buoy, Hit floats, Will prove that the water is wet."