Rossiter W. Raymond 



To general literature he contrib- 

 uted one delightful book, Mountain- 

 eering in the Sierra Nevada, and a 

 few magazine articles. The book de- 

 scribes the scenery and the people 

 encountered by him in his early Cali- 

 fornia experiences, and has never 

 been surpassed as a gallery of vivid, 

 graceful, and imaginative yet accur- 

 ate sketches of nature and men. Bret 

 Harte's admirable work is more ro- 

 mantic, more artificial, less delicately 

 humorous, and less perfect in style. 

 Indeed, considering the relatively 

 small amount of King's literary work, 

 his mastery of style was wonderful. 

 Perhaps the most perfect specimen 

 of it was his fanciful sketch, The 

 Helmet of Mambrino, published in 

 the Century. 



Doubtless one reason why he did 

 not publish more was, as Mr. Em- 

 mons suggests, his fastidious taste, 

 which led him to be dissatisfied with 



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