BY OLIVER OPTIC,

Will Begin Next Week.

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NATURE'S SCULPTURE.

BY GEORGE WALDO BROWNE.

Perhaps the strangest public work ever suggested by man was that of
Dinocrates, whose scheme was to cut and carve Mount Athos into the form
of a gigantic man, holding in one hand a town, in the other a cup to
receive the drainage of the mountain before it reached the sea.

His king, Alexander the Great, declined to accept his plan; though,
amused at his extravagant notion, he gave him a permanent place in his
attendance.

A small village in Northern Italy to a wonderful extent fulfills the
wild dream of the Macedonian architect, the houses being grouped in such
a manner upon a broken eminence of land that from a certain point a
striking resemblance to an upturned human face is outlined. In addition
to a chin, nose and brow, a white chimney lends an eye to the profile,
while a line of bushes at the crown has the appearance of shaggy locks.

Allowing that a vivid imagination has much to do toward perfecting these
faces of nature's sculpture, and that a range of hills or coast line
will lend itself to almost any fancy we choose, there are in different
localities stones and cliffs bearing a remarkable resemblance to the
human countenance, individual peculiarity sometimes being easily traced
in these grave omens.

As the voyager approaches Rio Janeiro, he sees in the distance,
apparently rising from the sea, lonely and majestic, a massive stone
head, with the profile of the Iron Duke of England, the brow, the nose,
the chin, each feature perfect in its outline.

St. Vincent, of the Cape Verde group, has a huge volcanic rock which
requires no grievous strain of the imagination to transform into the
figure of George Washington in a recumbent position, the profile, the
hair and even the collar frill being reproduced with remarkable
clearness.

Rising grimly from the whirlpool of waters beating fiercely the rugged
western extremity of Santa Catalina Island, in the West Indies, is an
isolated block of basaltic rock, many feet in height, bearing a marked
likeness of a human face. It is known as "Morgan's Head," from a fancied
resemblance to that noted free-booter.

Among the countless rocks fringing the coast of Norway is one forming a
striking picture of a horse and rider about to plunge into the surf,
fifteen hundred feet below. This gigantic illusion, to the fan