LEWIS CARROLL 171
practised in every college and school ; and when the man of science, looking forth over a world which will then own no other sway than his, sliall exult in the thought that he has made of this fair green earth, if not a heaven for man, at least a hell for animals.
I am, sir,
Your obedient servant, February loth. Lewis Carroll.
On March 29, 1876, "The Hunting of the Snark" was published. Mr. Dodgson gives some interesting particulars of Its evolution. The first Idea for the poem was the line " For the Snark zvas a Boojum, you see," which came Into his mind, apparently without any cause, while he was taking a country walk. The first complete verse which he composed was the one which stands last In the poem: —
In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee, He had softly and suddenly vanished away —
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.
The Illustrations were the work of Mr. Henry Holiday, and they are thoroughly in keeping with the spirit of the poem. Many people have tried to show that "The Hunting of the Snark " was an allegory ; some regarding it as being a burlesque upon the TIchborne case, and others
