Mr. Hunt’s original manuscript which is in possession of the writer, together with odd charts, maps, diagrams and thermometric records, all of them bearing marks of having come from a very hot region, are strong proofs of the authenticity of his exploration. Perhaps it is unnecessary to add that the author has taken many liberties with Mr. Hunt’s text. The condition of the documents necessitated certain guess-work, and he has freely added a number of Inferno pictures that were drawn long before Hiprah Hunt’s valuable papers came to his notice. =If he has illuminated the dark and serious subject with a suspicion of fun--it is meant to convey the hope he feels for all sinners like himself, that some relief of a slightly humorous nature may be found even in Hell.= A. Y. There are many portraits of Dante giving a more soulfully poetic cast to his countenance and which are much more pleasing for admirers of the great Florentine, to look upon, than the one reproduced here; but this is the first portrait ever published which is intended to portray the way the poet must really have felt at the termination of his trip through the Infernal Regions. [Illustration] A portrait of Hiprah Hunt in his library which contains the following well-thumbed books: John Bunyan’s “Sighs from Hell,” Jonathan Edwards’s pamphlet on “The Justice of Endless Punishment,” Christopher Love’s “Hell’s Terror,” William Cooper’s “Three Discourses Concerning the Reality, the Extremity, and the Absolute Eternity of Hell Punishments,” Jeremy Taylor on “Pains of Hell,” and Alexander Jephson’s “The Certainty and Importance of a Future Judgment and Everlasting Retribution.” Besides these he possesses several histories of the Devil and many old prints pertaining to the same subject. [Illustration: _Yours Infernally Hiprah Hunt._] _CANTO I._ In the beginning Mr. Hunt tells how he passed the day in a large city where he delivered his unique lecture on Dante, and spent the rest of his time sight-seeing and searching for literature on his favorite subject. Tired and confused with the busy scenes and active incidents of the day, he is returning by night train to his home. As usual, when traveling, he reads his Divine Comedy. He has not read far when he is overcome by a sense of drowsiness. Sleepily, he reviews the events of the day in the bustling city while musing over the grewsome scenes in his book. What with the thoughts of high buildings, cable cars, of arch-heretics in their fiery tombs, slot machines, automobiles and gibbering ghosts, of swift-running elevators and headless spirits, of well-dressed gamblers and “Adam’s evil brood” at large, his mind is truly in a chaotic state. [Illustration] [Illustration: DISORDERED MUSINGS.] _CANTO II._