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FIVE MONTHS' FINE WEATHER 
 
 IN 
 
 CANADA, WESTERN U.S., AND MEXICO. 
 
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^ FIVE MONTHS' FINE WEATHER 
 
 IN 
 
 CANADA, WESTERN, U.S. AND MEXICO. 
 
 On Saturday morning, nth August, 1888, after a 
 wonderfully quick passage, we found ourselves so close 
 to New York, that we were almost certain to land in the 
 evening, and, with the exception of a solitary croaker, 
 who had prophesied misfortunes of all kinds ever since 
 we left Queenstown, all the passengers packed their 
 trunks, put on their best clothes, and prepared joyfully 
 for land. However, the croaker was right this time. 
 As we were sitting on deck after lunch, suddenly there 
 was a horrible noise, and we were covered with soot and 
 steam. The spindle to the high-pressure cylinder valve 
 had broken inside the crossheads ! 
 
 One's first idea was naturally that the poor fellows in 
 the engine-room must be terribly scalded and knocked 
 about, but happily no one was injured. That fear re- 
 lieved, we could feel the bitter disappointment of the 
 delay. Not only must we spend another dreary night 
 in the stuffy cabins, but no doubt we should lose the 
 race we were running with the new much vaunted Ct'ty 
 of New York, and anyhow, we had lost the glory of 
 making the fastest passage on record. 
 
 B 
 
2 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 A beautiful French steamer of the Transatlantique 
 line passed and jeeringly offered to tow us in. Next 
 day we saw with great satisfaction that she had not 
 arrived in time to land her passengers in the evening, 
 and when we learnt that the City of Nezo York had 
 done very badly, we felt almost consoled ; but it was a 
 very dull afternoon. A canary flew out from New York 
 to welcome us, and a big fish swam about close to the 
 ship for a long time, some said it was a shark, and some 
 said it was a sturgeon. 
 
 The engines were got to work again after four hours' 
 dela}--, and the run after dark was very interesting as we 
 passed the immense hotels and tea-gardens in Coney 
 Island and other favourite resorts, flaring with gas and 
 electric lights. An American charged us strictly not to 
 omit visiting West Brighton in the mornirfg, when we 
 should see " hundreds of thousands of men, women, 
 children, cats, dogs, and other living creatures all bathing 
 together." The Elephant Hotel was just distinguish- 
 able by its curious shape. 
 
 We stopped outside Sandy Hook for the night, and 
 next morning at six o'clock we were all up, dressed, 
 and breakfasting, eager to see the new world. 
 
 The harbour of New York is exceedingly pretty ; the 
 Unibria seemed to be going all the way to the hotel, we 
 passed so far up the river. The statue of " Liberty," by 
 (K Birtholdi, is very effective, the position is so fine, facing 
 down the harbour as if welcoming the new comers. I 
 suppose the design was not taken from the frontispiece 
 of Truth, but it looks very like it — the lines are too 
 
in Canada, Western U.S.^ and JMexico. 3 
 
 straight, and the pedestal too large and heavy. The 
 saying current at the time of its presentation to America 
 by the French nation came to one's mind : " All the 
 liberty France ever had she gave to America." 
 
 Immediately after breakfast, the Custom's officer came 
 on board, and took up his position in the dining-saloon. 
 Everybody had to pass before him and sign a declara- 
 tion he had nothing liable to duty. I noted that one 
 gentleman declared two bottles of whisky and 150 
 cigars, and was allowed to take them in free. The 
 whole business of disembarking was very wearisome, 
 not the less so because of the heavy rain that fell all 
 the morning. However, we were agreeably surprised 
 with the Custom's House. We had been told over and 
 over again that the officers were rude and rough, and 
 did their best to annoy the traveller, often upsetting all 
 his goods on to the ground, and leaving him to re-pack 
 as best he might ; while ladies spoke of heavy charges 
 on old clothes, on the pretext that they were new. It 
 used to be the rule to bribe the officials, but new men 
 had been lately appointed on purpose to stop it, and 
 should any one offer a bribe to one of these, the con- 
 sequences would be serious. We had made up our 
 mind not to bribe, as a few hours' delay at the docks 
 would be better than a few weeks in New York, should 
 we hit upon the wrong man. 
 
 When, after weary waiting, our turn came, we found 
 a very gentlemanly, quiet-mannered person, who did 
 not look in the least bribable. He examined every- 
 thing most minutely, opening with special interest an)' 
 
 ii 2 
 
4 Five M 071 tils' Fine Weather 
 
 parcel, such as a bit of needlework or a io^w gloves 
 wrapped in paper, even looking into a tiny parcel con- 
 taining net for veils, which could have hardly covered 
 any contraband goods ; but whatever he touched he 
 replaced, and at the end, he kindly helped us to lock up 
 and strap our trunks. Of course the journey before us 
 did not require new clothes or finery of any kind. 
 
 There is one point I was never able to clear up, as 
 everybody told a different tale, viz. : do diamonds pay 
 duty when unquestionably private property .-' I was 
 particularly asked what I had, but I had absolutely 
 none, not even a ring. Some ladies put on their jewel- 
 lery under their cloaks, and I noticed a gentleman with 
 a magnificent solitaire in his rough tie, the only diamond 
 out of place that caught my eye in America, where I 
 was told everybody wore them all day long. A few 
 years ago a gentleman I knew took over one brooch, 
 and had to pay 170 dollars duty, although it was for a 
 present ; but lately an American dealer is said to have 
 passed a quantity free, simply by taking the precaution 
 of having a monogram stamped on each case, which 
 was taken to show private ownership. 
 
 I saw a Custom's officer unfasten and examine a few 
 sticks and umbrellas tied together, perhaps six in all, 
 and another furious at having to spend the morning 
 finding out the exact sum a lady had to pay on two fans 
 she had brought from Paris to give to her daughters. 
 
 At last we were free, and got into a landau, which is 
 probably the oldest article in America, so dilapidated 
 was it ; windows shattered, doors broken, lamps gone, 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 5 
 
 and lining in tatters. The New York roads were 
 worthy of it, such holes, such bumping, and thumping", 
 and shaking. We arrived at the Windsor Hotel about 
 10.30 a.m. 
 
 It must be to this landing on Sunday that is owing 
 the wonderful luck that attended us through our 
 journey. We had almost perpetual fine weather, and 
 where storms did occur, they always seemed to be 
 arranged for our advantage, as the heavy rain at Mon- 
 treal, which filled the Lachine Rapids and the Mont- 
 morenci Falls, near Quebec, and the snowstorm which 
 delayed the Denver and Rio Grande train just long 
 enough to enable us to enjoy the whole of the grand 
 scenery in full daylight. 
 
 After Edward had gone round presenting some letters 
 of introduction, and making arrangements for our on- 
 ward progress, he returned to the hotel for me, and we 
 spent the short time we had in New York in seeing as 
 much as we could. We went first to the top of the tower 
 of the Produce Market, fourteen stories high. Of course 
 there is an elevator. The view is glorious — all New 
 York, the harbour, the statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn 
 Bridge, the two rivers, everything is visible from this 
 tower, and New York looks far better from there than 
 from the level. 
 
 The streets are dirty and badly paved, the shops 
 have no smart appearance, the elevated railway is un- 
 sightly, and the whole place covered with telegraph and 
 telephone wires, just like great cobwebs, except for the 
 rough poles at every corner leaning all ways, so that 
 
6 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 one feels disappointed with New York, except as seen 
 from the tower. Of course I only speak of the first 
 impression.- There are some very fine buildings in the 
 commercial part of the city, and some handsome 
 churches, but the whole effect is shabby — the elevated 
 railroad is a hideous disfigurement ; it is built dowai 
 the middle of the street, mostly on trestles or columns, 
 so that cinders from the engine, or anything dropping 
 from the trains may fall on to the heads of the 
 passengers below. 
 
 New York " licks creation " in hotels. The Windsor 
 Hotel far surpasses any I know in Europe, for the 
 comfort and elegance of the apartments, the luxury of 
 the table and, what is very rare in America, the quick 
 service. The universal weak point is the w^ashing 
 apparatus. Of course it is not always possible to 
 secure a room with a bath, and then the arrangement 
 of the tiny basin with the two taps over it is madden- 
 ing. One keeps knocking one's head against the taps> 
 and any incautious movement of the sponge catches 
 the chain which holds the plug, and all the water dis- 
 appears. The theory of hot water conveyed to every 
 room is delightful, but in practice one generally has to 
 let both taps run for half an hour before one discovers 
 which is the hot water tap. 
 
 We found .acceptable accommodation all over the 
 States and Canada with hardly any exceptions, that is, 
 good according to the American style, clean, comfort- 
 able bedrooms, and meals better than one could expect 
 in towns only a {q\\ years old. The service always bad, 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S.^ and Mexico. 7 
 
 and the hotel people, always disobliging. The meals 
 are at stated hours, and while it is' impossible to get 
 breakfast at the early hour promised, it is equally 
 impossible to get' dinner a moment after the fixed 
 time. The cook goes home, and the manager himself 
 cannot keep him. I often wondered what an invalid 
 would do in an American hotel. What we most dis- 
 liked was the waste of time at meals. When we had 
 examined the lengthy menu, and chosen our food, we 
 had to wait half an hour until it was cooked. Then 
 everything came on together, and was piled around us. 
 My soup, fish, meat, potato, everything on its tiny 
 dish, in a circle round the one plate that was meant to 
 serve for the whole dinner, and Edward's portion in 
 tiny dishes round his plate. Of course things got cold. 
 The great want in American hotels which is much 
 felt by Europeans is the omniscient porter of con- 
 tinental Europe, or the friendly landlord of English 
 inns. The guide-books are very poor things, the waiters 
 are generally strangers, so there is no means of obtain- 
 ing information. The American landlord is rarely 
 seen; we saw him occasionally, and found him a curious 
 creature. He is delighted to discuss the weather or 
 politics with you, but if you ask a question as to how 
 best to visit the neighbourhood or the price of carriages 
 or anything connected with his business, his dignity is 
 up in arms at once. He considers himself a gentleman, 
 and you want to treat him as if he were a hireling. As 
 for the clerks at the hotel offices, they are proverbial 
 for impertinence even in America. 
 
S ' Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 The following- is a specimen of their manners. Our 
 h"nen had returned from the laundress, and an important 
 piece was missing, so Edward went to the office and 
 asked the clerk to make inquiry. " You must have 
 counted wrong," said the clerk ; " nobody wants your 
 things." This was in one of the best and oldest 
 established hotels in the States. 
 
 Tiicsday, August i^th. — We went on board the 
 Hudson River steamer at 9 am. for Albany. We 
 would gladly have rested and seen a little more of New 
 York, but everybody said we must reach the Yellow- 
 stone Park not later than the beginning of September, 
 and we had much to do before then. 
 
 On going on board, we deposited our hand-baggage 
 in a parcel office in the steamer. Hand-baggage is a 
 very important article on America, for you are never 
 sure when you will see your trunks again. The first 
 lesson the traveller learns is that he is the last person 
 whose convenience is to be considered. If the station- 
 master or the carrier does not feel inclined to worry 
 about the luggage that evening, though it may cause 
 you to lose your train next day, there is nothing to be 
 done. So it is wise always to have a few things in a 
 " grip." which is the American for hand-bag, and as 
 there are no porters at the stations, you have to carry 
 it yourself, so you must not have it heavy. The steamer 
 was very large and luxurious, with comfortable seats, 
 and we had a lovely day on the river, which is very 
 wide and beautiful in its way, but not the least like the 
 Rhine, as New Yorkers fondly igiagine. The size of 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. g 
 
 the river is impressive, the handsome residences near 
 the city look very attractive, further on the Palisades 
 are both curious and beautiful, then come the pretty 
 towns nestling- at the foot of the cliffs, and the Catskill 
 mountains in the background. 
 
 An excellent lunch made us still more contented. It 
 was our first experience of negro waiters, who are better 
 than any others when well trained. They move about 
 as quietly and as gracefully as cats. Some of the large 
 establishments must choose them for their looks, as I 
 never saw a good-looking negro anywhere else. One 
 or two of the waiters on the steamer were splendid men 
 with no trace of negro features except their skins, 
 which were black as coal, and seemed to have been 
 beautifully polished. They really look as if they 
 blacked themselves like boots instead of washing, the 
 gloss on them was so bright. White and black men 
 are never seen working together as waiters, either all 
 are negios or all white. At the conclusion of our meal, 
 we tipped our waiter, who evidently did not expect 
 anything, and some Americans at the same table 
 reproved us for so doing, but everywhere else we found 
 the waiters as anxious for tips as any German, and 
 the bell-boys especially tiresome. The bell-boy is a 
 functionary whose duty it is to answer the bells and 
 transmit the orders to the waiter, chambermaid, or 
 whatever servant's service you require. 
 
 It may prove useful to some if I give the result of 
 our experience. It is no good tipping any one unless 
 the traveller means to make some stay in an hotel ; 
 
10 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 Then he should tip the head waiter to give him the 
 same seat at every meal. After that, he must square 
 the waiter in charge of his table. Table d'hote is always 
 served at tables accommodating from four to ten people. 
 In that way he will secure attention, and earlier comers 
 will be kept waiting until he is served. 
 
 We arrived at Albany at 6.10 p.m., and took the train 
 at once to Saratoga, where we arrived at 8 o'clock, 
 and walked across the street from the station to the 
 monster United States Hotel just opposite. It is built 
 round a large garden, and contains 916 rooms. We 
 expected to see great magnificence of dress and ex- 
 travagance generally, and were disappointed to see a 
 very common, dull-looking set of people. The prin- 
 cipal beaux of the place seemed to be the hotel clerks. 
 As we left very early next morning, we saw nothing 
 more of the place except the pretty main street with its 
 big trees. Our small bedroom, with bath, on the fourth 
 storey, tea, and breakfast, cost ten dollars. 
 
 Wednesday, August i^th, was a hard day. We left 
 Saratoga at 8.20 a.m., and arrived at Caldwell, on Lake 
 George, about 9. We did not leave Caldwell until 
 past 10 o'clock, instead of 9.40, and were, in conse- 
 quence, late all day. We spent four hours zigzagging 
 from side to side of Lake George, landing one passenger 
 here, and taking off another there, sometimes crossing 
 the lake only to deliver a case of mineral waters. Sara- 
 toga was a dreary-looking pleasure-resort, but Lake 
 George is charming. The English element in the 
 American character has discovered this healthy out- 
 
in Canada, JVeslern i/.S., and lilexico. ii 
 
 door fashion of holiday making. The lake is full of 
 little islands, and on them and on the side of the lake, 
 people camp out in tents, regardless of mosquitoes, do 
 for themselves with the help of canned foods of all 
 kinds, and spend the summer days boating, playing 
 tennis, fishing, flirting, and generally enjoying them- 
 selves. At some points there were small, rough hotels, 
 and at every landing there was a merry crowd greeting 
 the coming and speeding the parting guests, and shout- 
 ing jokes as long as the steamer was within hail. 
 
 Unfortunately, the scenery, though pretty, is mono- 
 tonous, and we were very glad when we got to the end 
 and took the train to Fort Ticonderaga, where we joined 
 the steamer for Plattsburgh. Lake Champlain is more 
 beautiful, as well as much larger than Lake George. 
 The shores are sometimes flat and cultivated, sometimes 
 rocky and hilly, but always there are the beautiful 
 Adirondack mountains in the distance. The weather 
 was changeable and threatening, which improved the 
 scenery by the lovely variations of colour and cloud 
 effects. 
 
 Both steamers were very comfortable. We had no 
 time for supper at Plattsburgh, where we took the train 
 again and arrived at Montreal about ii p.m., after a 
 shaky run, very tired and thirsty. The customs' exa- 
 mination at the Canadian frontier was nothing. 
 
 The Windsor Hotel at Montreal is large and hand- 
 some, with good rooms, but wretched food and service. 
 It faces on to the square and the new Roman Catholic 
 cathedral built on the model of St, Peter's at Rome. 
 
1 2 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 It rained incessantly the two days we were in 
 Montreal, with occasional thunderstorms, so that, but 
 for the great kindness of our fellow-traveller on the 
 Umbria, Sir Donald Smith, we should have seen nothing 
 of the place ; but he sent his brougham, notwithstanding 
 the deluge, to take us round the town and the favourite 
 Montreal recreation-grounds, the cemeteries, which are 
 certainly unusually large and elegant. The drive is 
 called "Around the Mountain," and most of it was 
 through the Protestant cemetery. The driver regretted 
 we did not allow him to take us through the Roman 
 Catholic cemetery, which, he said, was much larger, but 
 we had seen as many tombstones as we cared for. At 
 last we reached the view which, even in the rain, was 
 very fine — all Montreal, with the big Victoria Bridge, 
 and as far away over the plains as the mist and clouds 
 would permit. 
 
 Sir Donald also asked us to dine with him at no less 
 than 1 1 57, Dorchester Street, where he has built a beau- 
 tiful house, fitted up with American woods which ought 
 to be better known here, the colours are so pleasing. Sir 
 Donald showed us his magnificent picture-gallery, where 
 he has a fine Turner, a Millais, a Boughton, two large 
 M'Whirters, and many very valuable old masters. 'But 
 his great pride is his matchless collection of ancient 
 Japanese porcelain and curios, of which we only saw a 
 {g.\\, as they were not yet arranged. The collection was 
 formed by an Englishman who lived many years in 
 Japan. He died recently, and his wife would only sell 
 the collection as a whole, and, though many had the will. 
 
in Canada^ Weste^'n U.S., and Mexico. 13 
 
 only Sir Donald had the power to buy such a prize ; 
 and still people have been heard to say that wealth 
 does not add to one's happiness ! 
 
 Next day we drove in pouring rain, still enjoying Sir 
 Donald's brougham, to Lachine, but while we waited for 
 the steamer, the rain cleared ofif, and we had a splendid 
 run down the rapids, which are curious, but not so 
 exciting as we expected from the picture on the ad- 
 vertisement, which represents a Red Indian pilot in full 
 war-paint steering through rocks which barely afford 
 room for the steamer to go through them, while billows 
 mountains high threaten to overwhelm her. Now there 
 was nolndian pilot, no billows to speak of, and ap- 
 parently no particular danger to any one who knew the 
 road. 
 
 On reaching Montreal, we were transferred to the 
 comfortable s.s. Quebec, and started at once for that 
 city. The scenery looked very lovely in the gorgeous 
 sunset, and in the bright starlight night. We met a 
 Montreal acquaintance on board, who said, as every one 
 says, that the French element in Eastern Canada grows 
 stronger daily. The employers of labour have much 
 difficulty with the French workpeople, who are Roman 
 Catholics, and keep too many religious holidays. We 
 noticed that everybody in the streets seemed to be 
 speaking French, and several men we spoke to could 
 not understand English. 
 
 Saturday, August i^tk. — Up at 5.30 to see the fine 
 approach to Quebec, which is called Kebec by the 
 natives. It was a splendid day, with baking sunshine 
 
14 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 and a refreshing breeze. The town is on a steep cHff, 
 with steps for streets. We ascended in an elevator, and 
 after rushing first to Dufferin Terrace, which overhangs 
 the St. Lawrence river, for the view, we went to the St. 
 Louis Hotel for breakfast, and then took a carriage and 
 drove the round of the sights of Quebec. The roads are 
 equal to those of New York and Montreal, that is, they 
 are disgraceful. First we went to the Citadel, where we 
 found Lord Stanley taking his morning walk on the 
 terrace, which is said to have the finest view in 
 America. I should say from our experience it is the 
 only one of its kind — so peaceful and civilized. It is 
 very lovely ; but it is a great thing to say that it is the 
 most lovely in the land of the Yosemite and Niagara. 
 
 Lord Stanley was amused at my disappointment on 
 finding Canada so French. He thinks that the French 
 element is overpowering the English in the eastern 
 provinces, but that it is because the English go west, 
 where there are better opportunities for men of energy. 
 He thinks the trade of the country is not diminish- 
 ing, but is changing. From the Citadel we drove to 
 the Plains of Abraham, passing the beautiful new Par- 
 liament buildings and many splendid Roman Catholic 
 churches by the way. There is nothing to see at the 
 Plains of Abraham, except a cricket-ground, a jail, and 
 a wretched monument to Wolfe, so we hurried away 
 over some queer roads and down break-neck hills, 
 through the town, and along a good country road to the 
 falls of Montmorency, which are ninety feet higher than 
 Niagara. There is a steep staircase, or rather, series of 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Illexico. 15 
 
 ladders, down the cliffs opposite the falls. I struggled 
 down to the first landing-place, whence I could see the 
 rainbows on the spray. Edward went to the bottom to 
 look up at the falls. There is nothing in Europe to 
 equal them. There was abundance of water, owing to 
 the recent heavy rains, but occasionally there is hardly 
 any. Some ladies told me they had seen them almost 
 dry. It was lucky I spoke to these ladies, for they told 
 us to be sure to visit the Natural Steps. The drivers 
 always try to avoid the extra journey, and assure the 
 unwary that there is nothing worth seeing. Our driver 
 was very loath to take us, but we insisted on going 
 there, and were well rewarded, though there was a long, 
 rough walk and a steep scramble through a wood to 
 get to the Steps, which reminded us of the Strid at 
 Bolton, but magnified and glorified. The stream flows 
 through a rocky gorge, and its bed really is a succession 
 of long steps. It is a brown stream, and appears to 
 be full of gold dust, which turned out on examination 
 to be sawdust from timber cutting up-stream. Such is 
 the effect of sunshine. After rambling about for some 
 time, we went back to the Point Levis Station, on the 
 south side of the St. Lawrence, and took train back to 
 Montreal, where we supped at the hotel, and then went 
 back to the station, expecting to get at once into our 
 sleeping-berths, which had been engaged beforehand, in 
 the Montreal Pulman car. We found that some one 
 else had got them. Of course he had not bribed the 
 conductor — all conductors are immaculate — but we had 
 to tramp about the station for more than an hour until 
 
1 6 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 the train came in with the Boston car, where happily 
 we got two lower berths, and made our first night's 
 journey in a Pulman sleeping-car — not much sleep, so 
 we were not sorry to be turned out at Kingston Junc- 
 tion at 5.30 a.m., but we were horrified to find that there 
 was no boat ready to take us to the Thousand Islands, 
 and no breakfast to be had. We had a short train 
 journey to Kingston itself, where we roamed about in a 
 famishing condition until the official who sells the 
 steamer tickets took pity on us, and gave us some of 
 the coffee he keeps for the workmen, for he is a 
 temperance worker, and wisely gave the men coffee to 
 keep them off beer. A man had carried our rugs, &c., 
 to the boat, and as Edward was asking the ticket-seller 
 what he ought to give him for it, a voice in the back- 
 ground called out, " Give him what you'd give him in 
 Yorkshire; you come from Leeds or thereabouts, I 
 know." We turned, and saw a stout party, who said he 
 came from Bradford, but unfortunately he took another 
 boat, and so we saw him no more. It was not an 
 interesting journey until we reached the islands in about 
 an hour and a half. After that, it was very pretty, but 
 monotonous. The islands are of all sizes, from tiny rocks 
 to quite important islands with several large houses and 
 parks, still far too small for sport of any kind ; and as 
 the river is rather dangerous for boating, with occasional 
 rapids, it must be very monotonous living on an island. 
 We arrived at Alexandria Bay about noon, and took 
 up our quarters at the Thousand Islands House, a very 
 good hotel, where there were some very fine men among 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. i 7 
 
 the black servants. One, I think, was the handsomest 
 man I ever saw ; he was very tall and splendidly pro- 
 portioned, had perfectly regular features, and was as 
 black as night. I should have liked to bring that man 
 home for a footman, but probably English servants would 
 not like to have a negro among them. No American 
 ever sits down to meat with a coloured man. At the 
 railway dining-rooms there is a separate table for the 
 black men, and if there are any Chinese, there is another 
 table for them. The conductors generally sit among 
 the passengers, who w^ould be thought absurdly arrogant 
 if they objected. I should often have preferred our 
 coloured brethren, for the railway conductor, though 
 sometimes extremely kind and pleasant, is often insolent. 
 I took the address of the head waiter at the Thousand 
 Islands House, meaning to visit his shop in New York. 
 He was a wonderful manager. I never saw such per- 
 fection of waiting as at this hotel. He gave directions 
 by signs, and the rapidity and graceful movements of 
 these waiters were charming. They carried heavily- 
 laden trays on one hand high above their heads. I 
 watched with great interest, expecting to see collisions 
 between going and coming waiters, but everything went 
 as smoothly as if by clockwork. I never saw a black 
 woman-servant, except once, in the whole of our journey. 
 After dinner, Edward took a boat, and went to present 
 his letter of introduction to Mr. Pulman, who lives close 
 by, in a house costing 50,000 dollars, which he has built 
 on an island he bought for 40 dollars twenty-five years 
 agO;, before fashion had discovered the Thousand 
 
 C 
 
1 8 Five Monilis Fine Weather 
 
 Islands, He kindly showed Edward over his house, 
 and gave him a letter to his firm at Pulman Town, 
 where his works are. 
 
 Monday^ August 20th. — We were called at six, and 
 started by the 8 o'clock steamer for Gananoque, 
 We found afterwards that there were two other boats 
 later in the morning, but all the hotel people assured us 
 the 8 o'clock was the only boat. We had to wait five 
 hours at Gananoque, v/ith nothing to do but eat a bad 
 dinner and watch some magnificent butterflies, and 
 crickets, that looked like butterflies when flying. I 
 heard afterwards these were katydids. They make a 
 loud noise when flying. At last the steamer called for 
 us and took us back to Kingston by the other side of 
 the river. At one stopping-place, where there was an 
 enormous hotel, we saw a little boat containing two 
 people, completely overturned by the wind suddenly 
 catching the sail. Of course there was a rush of other 
 boats to the rescue, but they were barely in time. I 
 should not like to stay here, it seems as if such accidents 
 must be frequent. There is a strong main current and 
 numbers of cross currents and windy corners, and every- 
 body does without professional help. We took the 
 boat train to Kingston-junction, and the 3.32 train to 
 Toronto, where we arrived at 10.45 P-m., and found a 
 comfortable room at the Queen's Hotel. Next day we 
 walked and trammed round Toronto, which is a very 
 handsome, prosperous town. We sought diligently for 
 the magnificent parliament buildings, whose photograph 
 was in every shop window, and only discovered late in 
 
///. Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 19 
 
 the day that they were not yet built. We took the 
 5 o'clock train, arriving at Niagara about 8.15, and took 
 the bus to Clifton House Hotel, on the Canadian side, a 
 long way from the station, and directly opposite the 
 falls. I shut my eyes all the time we were driving, not to 
 catch any glimpse of them on the way, as I wanted to 
 see the full glory at once. I do not know why Niagara 
 should be more to me than any other fine sight, but so 
 it was. I do not think a glimpse of Paradise would fill 
 me with greater awe and enthusiasm, and still it kept 
 recurring to me how roany people had said the first 
 sight of Niagara disappointed them, I have heard many 
 say so. When at last I saw it shining in the brilliant 
 moonlight, the whole extent visible from our bedroom 
 balcony, I felt that nothing mortal could equal the glory 
 of it, the loveliness and the power, and the fulness of 
 content it seems to put into one's heart. Here at last is 
 something without weakness or failing, perfectly beau- 
 tiful, resistlessly strong, the roar of the waters musical 
 and satisfying. It was delicious to wake in the night 
 and hear the roar. 
 
 In the morning we took a carriage and drove first to 
 the rapids, admiring the Cantilever Bridge on the way. 
 The immediate vicinity of the falls, both on the Ameri- 
 can and the Canadian side is public property, but below 
 the bridge everything is enclosed, and has to be paid 
 for. 
 
 A rather dangerous-looking elevator takes one down 
 to the rapids, where there is a long promenade close to 
 the water. This is the place where poor Captain Webb 
 
 C 2 ^ 
 
20 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 was last seen alive. The pace is tremendous, and the 
 big waves, or rather upheavals of water, stand far above 
 the general level. It is a marvellous sight ! 
 
 From the rapids we drove over the Suspension 
 Bridge to the whirlpool. We ought to have seen this 
 from the Canadian side, but our driver had different 
 interests from ours, so he took us to the American side, 
 where there is no elevator, and we had a dreadful pull 
 down and up the i8o steps. The whirlpool, from that 
 side, is decidedly disappointing. Then we drove to 
 the top of the American Falls, where everything has 
 been done to assist visitors. Railings have been put 
 close to the edge, so that one can lean quite over the 
 falls, and looks through the lovely green water and 
 watch it take its great leap. 
 
 Our great adventure was passing through the Cave 
 of the Winds. First we had to take off all our own 
 clothes and put on special flannel suits and macintosh 
 hoods, long jackets and trousers, and rough boots and 
 stockings, both alike, so that we were comical-looking 
 objects. Then we went down a long winding staircase 
 in a tower to the foot of the falls. From here a guide 
 led us and two gentlemen along wooden platforms and 
 up and down little stairs, scrambling over rocks, 
 drenched by spray and mixed up with rainbows, making 
 desperate efforts all the while to look at the immense 
 falls which were thundering in our ears. At last we 
 got round to the other side of the first part of the falls, 
 of course comparatively a small part, but bigger than all 
 the Swiss wasscrfalls put together. 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico, 21 
 
 Then comes the tug of war ! the guide disappears 
 behind the water, and you dash in after him and find 
 yourself scrambhng along the side of the rock, no path, 
 no rope, nothing but a little ledge up and down any- 
 how. It is impossible to see, or hear, or even breathe, 
 for the spray and wind and noise of the cataract which 
 thunders past close to your head, and you cannot stop 
 to admire for fear your breath will not hold out. I was 
 quite happy, but then I had the assistance of the guide. 
 Poor Edward was dreadfully upset. About half-waj' 
 through, there is a drop of about three feet or more, and 
 when he saw me go down this, he thought I had gone for 
 good. He could not get his breath for some time after 
 we came out. 
 
 We heard afterwards that this really is a very dan- 
 gerous adventure, and many lives have been lost. A 
 lady fell last year, and was never seen again. It was 
 supposed she was jammed amongst the rocks at the foot 
 of the falls, but these accidents are not put into the 
 newspapers to frighten people and spoil trade. It is 
 certainly quite unfit for any one with the slightest weak- 
 ness of the heart, lungs, or nerves, but for strong people 
 it is a queer experience well worth the trouble, and 
 reminded me of the delightful sensation out hunting 
 when one faces a fence one is not quite sure one will get 
 over. 
 
 From the cave we drove to the Three Sisters Islands 
 to see the rapids above the falls, and then through 
 Prospect Park, and over the other Suspension Bridge 
 back to the hotel. 
 
2 2 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 After early dinner, we walked along the Canadian 
 side to Prospect Point, where Table Rock formerly- 
 stood, and where was the old Cave of the Winds, 
 associated with Professor TyndaFs name. Here there 
 was no cataract to pass under, and come out the other 
 side, but a kind of path under the main fall, and each 
 person went as far as his powers allowed. Professor 
 Tyndal going further than any one else. Now only a 
 short piece of the beginning of the path remains. We 
 went down to it by the elevator, and walked most of the 
 way, when to our amazement we saw some gentlemen 
 in complete macintosh suits solemnly do the five or six 
 yards good^path with a little spray falling over them, 
 evidently thinking they were accomplishing the same 
 feat as Professor Tyndal. 
 
 Of course we paid our respects to Mrs. Webb, and 
 bought a large photograph from her. 
 
 I wish to say that there is not a single objectionable 
 advertisement near Niagara, as one so often sees 
 described in books. They swarm in fitting places, but 
 we did not see one that marred the scenery, either at 
 Niagara or anywhere else in America. Another note is 
 that the Clifton House Hotel and the Queen's Hotel, in 
 Toronto, are almost the only hotels in America where 
 salt-spoons are found. 
 
 TJmrsday, August 2ifd. — We walked to Prospect 
 I'ark, on the American side, and went down by the 
 elevator to the steamer^ which goesclose to the American 
 Falls, and as near as it can get to the Horse-Shoe 
 Fall. 
 
in Canada^ Wesfei^n U.S., and Mexico. 23 
 
 Not only does this give one a better idea of the 
 height of the falls, but it enables one to see the curious 
 break in the middle of the Horse-Shoe Fall. Part of the 
 rock has fallen since our visit, enlarging this break. 
 The steamer approaches the Horse-Shoe Fall twice, and 
 when it reaches a certain point, the water takes hold of it 
 and swings it round. We landed on the Canadian side, 
 and while walking along the cliff, met a fellow-passenger 
 on the Umbria, who expressed himself much disap- 
 pointed with Niagara. 
 
 All through our journey we kept meeting " Um- 
 brians." 
 
 After dining early, we took the train to Chicago. It 
 had to come from New York, and was two hours late, 
 so we did not start until 4.45. We had a row with the 
 hotel porter and the United States customs' officer, who 
 was so angry because he was not tipped, that he de- 
 liberately smashed my box. After turning over every- 
 thing, he found the photograph of Niagara, which he 
 declared was dutiable, being "a picture," but he had no 
 time to inquire how much we must pay, so the baggage 
 could not be put in the Chicago van, but must be 
 examined at Port Huron about i a.m. After we got to 
 our carriage, the hotel porter followed us, and offered to 
 get the trunks put in the through van if we would give 
 him a quarter. We declined to do business with him, so 
 we had to pass them at Port Huron, which was no 
 misfortune, as we saw the train put on to the enormous 
 ferry-boat to cross the river. We had nothing to pay 
 on the photograph after all. 
 
24 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 We got tea that evening very comfortably on a 
 Pulman dining-car. 
 
 Tea is generally pretty good, except that one some- 
 times gets preserved milk, but dinner is not to be com- 
 mended. Perhaps one would be less critical were it not 
 for the expectations raised by the advertisements. 
 Whose mouth would not water at the prospect of a 
 meal "combining all the delicacies of the Atlantic and 
 the Pacific, with the game and fruit of the countries 
 passed through." This is the modest description given 
 by the Northern Pacific Railroad of its Pulman dining- 
 car fare. 
 
 One does not sleep well in a Pulman car. There is a 
 peculiar smell, and it is very like being in one's coffin. 
 No wonder there is a smell about the bedding, for it is 
 never aired. As soon as the passenger rises, the porter 
 comes to do up the bed and turn it back into seats. He 
 takes away the linen, but the blankets and mattresses 
 are shut up inside the berth at once until next night. In 
 the daytime the cars are delightful. We took the 
 drawing-room on this journey. This is a little snuggery 
 cut off the rest of the car, with its own washing 
 apparatus. It is very comfortable, but only having 
 windows on one side, it is not so convenient for seeing 
 the country, so we did not take it again. 
 
 As usual, we were hours late, and only arrived in 
 Chicago at 12.40 p.m. The country passed through 
 was very uninteresting and poor-looking, much of it 
 still uncultivated. Chicago is a wonderful place, with 
 magnificent buildings of a massive style of architecture. 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 25 
 
 as if they were expected to stand a siege, Pulman's 
 offices are one of the finest, but many far surpass any- 
 thing of the kind here, for they are only private 
 commercial buildings, and still they are built regardless 
 of expense with blocks of granite often ten feet square 
 at least. The public buildings are very fine too, but the 
 roads are the same as usual, only dirtier, and the place 
 is smothered in smoke. The whole town is built on a 
 swamp, and has been raised eleven feet above the 
 original surface, so there is naturally great difficulty 
 with the drainage. We admired Chicago very much ; it 
 is not only fine, but it is characteristic of its inhabitants, 
 and copies no European city. 
 
 The Palmer House Hotel is very dirty and uncomfort- 
 able. Charges very high. I had my breakfast brought 
 to my room one morning, and the extra charge for the 
 service of bringing it was one dollar ! The Richelieu 
 Hotel is said to be excellent. 
 
 We spent our first afternoon in a general survey, and 
 took the cable car to Lincoln Park, the new promenade 
 along the shore of Lake Michigan. The road there 
 goes through a tunnel under the river lighted by elec- 
 tricity. The tramcars here are run like trains, several 
 together, at a great speed, and everybody must get out 
 of their way. I saw a policeman seize the horse in a 
 private carriage, and force it out of the way of an 
 approaching car, as if the whole place belonged to the 
 tram company. The American policeman has no non- 
 sense about him ; he would and does make short work 
 of any troublesome people. He carries not the sword 
 in vain. 
 
2 6 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 On our return to the hotel we found an immense 
 crowd awaiting the arrival of Mr. Thurman, the Demo- 
 cratic candidate for the office of Vice-President. 
 Another crowd came with him and filled the enormous 
 hall of the hotel — there must have been over looo 
 inside the hotel. Judge Thurman is a sweet-looking 
 gentleman, but seemed far too old for public life, at 
 least for electioneering. He was very tired, and refused 
 to speak a word for a long time, but the crowd would 
 not be appeased, so at last he came forward and said in 
 a low voice that he " guessed he saw Democrats before 
 him, and if Democrats, they were reasonable people, 
 and when he told them he had travelled three hundred 
 miles, and made nine little speeches, they would not 
 expect a speech to-night, as he heard a few people were 
 coming to hear him speak to-morrow, and he wanted 
 to save his voice and strength till then." A lady 
 spiritualist was waiting to present him with an address 
 and a picture representing a prophetic vision she had 
 had concerning him. It was very indistinct, but seemed 
 full of angels, and an enthusiastic politician rushed 
 about all the time thrusting into everybody's hand 
 cards with a picture of the Democratic leaders, and the 
 inscription. Vote for Cleveland and Thurman, and buy 
 your carpets at the City of Paris Store, 138, State 
 Street. 
 
 Next day Judge Thurman had an outdoor meeting of 
 about thirty thousand, but we could not attend, for 
 Edward went off to see Mr. Armour's stock-killing 
 establishment, five miles out by train. He did not sec 
 
/// Canada, Western U.S., and Afexico. 27 
 
 the oxen led from one pen to another by the trained 
 decoy ox, but saw the old fellow standing there having 
 accomplished his work of treachery. He is a great pet 
 of all the men. Edward saw both oxen and pigs killed 
 and cut up. The cleverest thing is the contrivance for 
 fetching the hair off the pigs by revolving discs with 
 sharp flat springs. He saw the sausage- making, the 
 potting and sealing of the canned beef, and the refrige- 
 rating chambers and cars, which are kept at a tempera- 
 ture of 36 degrees. The cars are double, the inner 
 one being protected by the air space between it and 
 the outer car, and only the ends are filled up with ice. 
 Edward was astonished to see how dirty the surround- 
 ings were. The places where the work is actually done 
 were very clean, but outside that, all was careless and 
 slovenly. Armour employs 5000 to 6000 men, and kills 
 one and a quarter million hogs a year, besides 500,000 
 cattle, and 100,000 sheep. 
 
 On his return, Edward called at Mr. Armour's office. 
 The clerk glanced at the clock, and said : " Mr. Armour 
 is away at lunch, he will be here in a minute and a 
 quarter," and he was. He spends his life in that office ; 
 early in the morning and up to any time of night that 
 there is any business to do. It is hardly worth while 
 being a millionaire in Chicago. The clerks arrive at 
 8 a.m., have three-quarters of an hour for dinner, and 
 remain always until six, and later if required, and until 
 three on Saturdays. Mr. Armour is very kind to his 
 people, and works harder than they do. He told Edward 
 that now he had found employment for all former waste 
 
2 8 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 products. He made glue, oil, grease, &c. ; the most 
 valuable bit of an ox, his leg bone, is sold for knife- 
 handles. He seized Edward's coat. " Why," said he, 
 " these buttons are made of dried blood." He has a 
 secret process of making for 40 cents {\s. Sd.) a pound 
 the isinglass used for clarifying beer, formerly brought 
 from Russia at three dollars (12s. 6d.) a pound. Every- 
 thing not otherwise utilized is made into " fertilizers," 
 i.e. manure. 
 
 After dinner, which is early here, Mr. Armour sent 
 one of his clerks with his carriage to take us to see 
 his grain elevator,- We had a horrible drive to it 
 through clouds of black dust and a multitude of evil 
 smells. The grain elevator is situated on the side of 
 the river, as much grain is brought to it by boat and 
 transferred to the railway cars. There is storage-room 
 for 2,250,000 bushels (of sixty pounds). The building 
 is 155 feet high, and 550 long by 112 wide, and con- 
 tains four tracks, on each of which twelve cars can stand 
 while the grain is poured into them from above. The 
 engine which works the twenty-eight elevators is of 
 1 500 horse-power, and each elevator carries 7000 bushels 
 an hour. First, we saw the grain shovelled out of the 
 cars by large scoops, two men with scoops in each car. 
 It looks like ploughing ; these men hold down the 
 scoops, and a rope fastened to an engine outside pulls 
 them along. They empty an immense waggon in seven 
 minutes. Then we saw the "Jacob's ladder" bands 
 with buckets, which run over pulleys at 570 feet a 
 minute to convey the grain to the top to be weighed 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 29 
 
 and poured into the ships or cars ready to take it away, 
 or if for storage, into enormous bins 75 feet deep, and 
 12 feet square. What pleased me most were the 
 splendid views of Chicago from the top windows of the 
 immense pile. Though it was past 6 o'clock on 
 Saturday evening, the men were still working, and the 
 foreman came to ask our conductor if he should begin 
 to empty another lot of waggons that evening. After 
 leaving the elevator, our young friend drove us round 
 the towHj first down Dearborn Avenue, the property of 
 Mr. Palmer, the hotel owner. It was a swamp when he 
 bought it, but he made a sea wall to the lake with a fine 
 promenade, and reclaimed the land, built himself a 
 splendid mansion, gorgeously decorated, and then sold 
 off the other land at prices which paid for everything. 
 We saw numbers of fine houses, and our guide kept 
 saying, "You see that large house? the owner built 
 that .out of one speculation," or " that man found a 
 mine out west, and built that house out of it," &c. 
 Money seems to be made here quickly, but not 
 easily. 
 
 Business-hours are dreadful. There can be no social 
 life or interest in music, literature, politics, or science, 
 when men are at their offices twelve hours a day. The 
 shops were open, and masons and road-menders, &c., at 
 work that Saturday evening, and afterwards we noticed 
 that not only do Americans work all Saturday, but 
 often on Sunday. 
 
 Sunday, 26th August, was desperately hot. We had 
 a dinner worth recording. 
 
30 Five Months' Fine Weather'- 
 
 Mock Turtle Soup 
 
 Fried Soft-shell Crabs. 
 
 l^randy Peaches. Stuffed Mangoes. 
 
 Boiled Capon, Cream Sauce. 
 
 Corn on Cob. Tomatoes. 
 
 Sweetbreads with Mushrooms. 
 
 Frog Legs a la Maitre d'hotel. 
 
 Punch Siberian. 
 Pies. Cakes. Ices. Coffee. 
 
 The crabs were nasty — the soft shells give one the 
 impression they are out of season. Frog legs good. 
 
 Dinner over, we turned out to see what we could. 
 After vainly endeavouring to extract any information 
 from the hall porter, we got into a cable car for South 
 Park, four miles out, and went as far as the car would 
 take us, which was some way past the park. It looked 
 very gay and pretty, with plenty of visitors ; then, after 
 coming back a little way, we changed to another car 
 that went to Jackson's Park by the lake side, which is 
 also very pretty and nicely kept, but both badly want 
 good trees. It was a great rush and scramble to get 
 seats in the homeward cars. We jumped on as the car 
 was coming up to the park, and coming pretty fast, too, 
 and kept our hold until some one got out, and then 
 we managed to get room to perch for the return 
 journey. 
 
 The cars carry as many as can find foot-hold. In the 
 country where the road is clear, they go at great speed, 
 up to fourteen miles an hour. 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., a7id Mexico. 31 
 
 Next day I spent alone, roaming round the town and 
 looking at the shops, which are poor and dear. Some 
 moderately good peaches were marked 35 cents each, 
 which did not seem to be cheaper than the English. 
 In New York, too, they were dear. Perhaps the abun- 
 dant and cheap peaches are found in the Eastern States. 
 We paid only 5 cents each for large ones in San Fran- 
 cisco in October, but they had no flavour. American 
 peaches are hard, and are cut into slices and eaten with 
 cream for breakfast, I visited the school of art, where 
 they have Mr. Boughton's " The Last Minstrel." In 
 the meanwhile Edward had gone to Pulman Town, 
 about three-quarters of an hour by tram. This is en- 
 tirely the property of the Pulman Palace Car Company, 
 who have laid it out nicely, with trees and open spaces, 
 and is occupied by their 4000 workmen. 
 
 The only place where drink is sold is the bar of the 
 hotel. On the whole Edward was rather disappointed. 
 There was nothing new in the iron-working machinery. 
 The wood-carving machinery was interesting, and the 
 works for making the brown paper wheels, which are 
 said to be a great success. They are made of layers of 
 brown paper pasted together and compressed by hy- 
 draulic pressure, becoming so hard, that they can be 
 turned up like wood to fit the steel tyre. The Pulman's 
 cars are very handsomely upholstered in plush, and 
 expensively decorated. Inlaid woods had gone out of 
 fashion, and the new cars were being decorated with 
 natural woods polished to show the grain. The com- 
 pany kindly sent Edward by special engine to the South 
 
32 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 Chicago iron and steel works, where he saw four blast 
 furnaces in operation smelting Lake Superior iron ore, 
 which is very rich, containing 60 per cent, metallic iron. 
 Each furnace produces 1300 tons a week. The steel 
 works were stopped for want of work. Business is 
 always slack- at the presidential election, and of course 
 this, which turns on the Free Trade question, is more 
 disturbing than usual. 
 
 Protection does not always keep the wolf from the 
 door. I was astonished to find from a local paper that 
 there is great poverty even in this prosperous city. The 
 articles in this paper were written by a lady who has 
 taken employment in a number of trade establishments, 
 just staying long enough in each to see how it is carried 
 on, and she gives her experience. It is a pitiful tale, 
 quite equal to " The Bitter Cry of Outcast London." 
 Here the misery of low wages is increased by the exces- 
 sive cost of living. It seems extraordinary that there 
 should be actual starvation here in the centre of the 
 great corn-lands, and especially now, when the harvest 
 is above the average. A gentleman told us he had 
 been visiting in the country, and to show him how fine 
 the corn is, his friend drove him in a two-horse waggon 
 into a field, and standing up in the waggon, they could 
 not look over the top of the corn. Corn, in America, I 
 should mention, always means maize. 
 
 Edward's final excursion was to see the new tunnel 
 under the lake to bring water to the city. There is one 
 already, but the new one is to run four miles out, to 
 make certain of getting pure water. A crib is to be 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., a?id Mexico. 2>3 
 
 sunk, wilh a large wrought-iron cylinder, two miles out, 
 to facilitate working. In the afternoon we moved on two 
 and a half hours by train to Milwaukee, a very pretty, 
 bright-looking, brand-new town on the edge of Lake 
 Michigan, almost exclusively inhabited by Germans. 
 It was curious to hear every one talking German and 
 shouting, " Ach ja ! " " Je wohl ! " A large party were 
 at the station to greet some returning friends, which 
 they did with great enthusiasm. It is said the Germans 
 keep very much to themselves in America, and, if 
 strong enough, try to Germanize the public institutions, 
 having in some places actually caused the public day- 
 schools to teach in German. This makes the genuine 
 Americans very angry. 
 
 The Plankington Hotel is poorly conducted and 
 cheaply gaudy. We were disappointed, as Mr. Armour 
 had spoken of it as very fine, being the property of his 
 friend, the great Milwaukee millionaire, Plankington. 
 There is a kind of tradition that a millionaire should 
 always build a hotel. We started for Minneapolis next 
 day at 11.15 a.m. There was no Pulman car on the 
 day train, so we had a very fatiguing journey. It is 
 not usual to have Pulman cars on what are called local 
 trains. The ordinary cars are not uncomfortable, but 
 they are very noisy. As soon as the train starts a man 
 comes selling newspapers ; he goes through all the cars, 
 banging the doors after him, then he comes back and 
 brings round a cargo of books, mostly pirated editions 
 of "Robert Elsmere" and Rider Haggard's books. 
 Then he goes round with apples and pears, then ba- 
 
 D 
 
34 Five MontJis Fine Weather 
 
 nanas, then dried figs. At each visit he requires your 
 attention, and sometimes one gets cross at the perpetual 
 interruptions. 
 
 There are always babies in ordinary or Pulman cars. 
 Children do not have a good time in America. When 
 a few weeks old their travels begin. They swarm in 
 hotels, little dots of two or three years old taking meals 
 at the table-d'hote at seven and eight o'clock in the 
 evening, and those of riper years, such as six, roam all 
 over the hotels alone, playing with the elevator boys 
 and the waiters. They look very delicate. On this 
 occasion there were several babies in the car, and they 
 all screamed. There was not much to see on the way ; 
 we seemed to go over endless swamps, past many lakes, 
 and very poor-looking soil, mostly not cultivated or 
 even used as grazing-land. 
 
 Nothing astonished me so much in America as the 
 immense tracts of totally unoccupied land even so far 
 east as this. Later on we met a gentleman who had 
 a cattle ranche in Texas. He told us his cattle were 
 driven up every year for sale to Miles City, Dakota, 
 a town on this line of railway, the whole way on 
 free land, feeding on the grass they pass over. He 
 thought this would be the last year they could do it, as 
 the land was being quickly taken up. At half-past 
 three we reached Kilbourn, which is a pretty little 
 place ; and at half-past four. Camp Douglas, where 
 there are some remarkable rocks standing out of the 
 plain and curious round, flat-topped hills. A little 
 before five o'clock we came to a tunnel, which is such a 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and JMexico. 35 
 
 curiosity in this flat region that a city has been named 
 after it — Tunnel City. Just as we entered the tunnel 
 an unlucky passenger opened the car door, admitting 
 a blast of sulphur that almost poisoned us. A lady 
 with a terrible cough was half killed. The single-line 
 tunnels are very suffocating, being so narrow. We had 
 tea at La Crosse, and after that ran along the bank of 
 the Mississippi all the rest of the way. It was really 
 lovely ; the sunset glow on the broad river and the 
 pretty banks, and the big steamers and rafts, were all 
 delightful, but the mosquitoes, which swarmed into the 
 cars, were not delightful. We must have taken them 
 to the hotel, for they worried us all night, I slept with 
 a veil on. We arrived at Minneapolis at 11.55 p.m., and 
 got a cab for a dollar to the West Hotel, We had great 
 difficulty in getting our luggage, as the station-master 
 said it was too late for any one to bother about luggage. 
 
 West House is a first-rate hotel, very handsomely 
 built by the millionaire West, and splendidly furnished 
 in excellent taste. We were thankful to get to a com- 
 fortable room, with a bath, for we were grimy and dirty 
 beyond description. Very bad coal is burnt on the 
 railways here, very smoky, and with an unpleasant smell. 
 
 Thursday, August loth. — Our first care was to go to 
 the Northern Pacific agent, to make inquiries about the 
 Yellowstone Park, We had had so much advice on 
 the subject that we were quite at sea. It ended in our 
 buying the forty-dollar round-trip tickets, which are cer- 
 tainly the most satisfactory arrangement. All trouble 
 is taken off one's-hands, and time and opportunity given 
 
 D 2 
 
36 Five Months Fine WeatJier 
 
 to see everything worth seeing. A lady and gentleman 
 in the office told us they had just returned from the 
 Park, and had had wet, cold weather. They advised 
 us to take plenty of wraps and waterproofs, which we 
 did, and found them dreadfully in the way, as we did 
 not have a drop of rain. 
 
 Minneapolis is a charming town, with some very fine 
 buildings. The cause of its prosperity is the water-power 
 supplied by the once beautiful Falls of St. Anthony, 
 which are now utilized for everything — the water carried 
 off in little channels to mills and works without number. 
 Edward presented his letters of introduction, and then 
 we visited the celebrated Pilsbury and Company Mills. 
 The Company present visitors with a card, on which is 
 printed : — 
 
 " Startling Facts. 
 
 "Fact No. I. — Mill A is the eighth wonder of the 
 world. 
 
 "Fact No. 2. — Mill A grinds 9,500,000 bushels of 
 wheat yearly. 
 
 "Fact No. 3. — Mill A has a capacity of 7000 barrels 
 daily. 
 
 " Fact No. 4. — Mill A makes more flour than any 
 other two mills on the globe. 
 
 "Fact No. 5. — The mills of C. A. Pilsbury and Co. 
 could feed two cities as large as New York." 
 
 It is supposed to be the largest flour-mill in existence, 
 and has every new appliance. The flour goes through 
 four hundred operations before it is ready for use. We 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 2)7 
 
 were shown all over the immense place, which is beauti- 
 fully clean, but very hot. Every precaution has to be 
 taken against fire. We got a splendid view of the 
 town from the top. Then we went to some lumber 
 works, which were very interesting. We saw the tree 
 floating in the river, then drawn up a tram-line by 
 chains, and put on to a wonderful machine that cut off 
 the rough outside uneven layer, and passed it on to 
 other machines, which made it into planks, planed them, 
 cut them into lengths, and piled them in several heaps, 
 according to length, in the yard. Then we went back 
 to "the most magnificent hotel in the world" (see ad- 
 vertisement), looking in at the Exhibition on our way. 
 It was very poor. Next morning we had a delightful 
 excursion to Minnehaha Falls on the motorcar ; we had 
 only seven minutes to run across the road and through 
 a little wood to the Falls, and back to the car. They 
 deserved a much longer visit, for it was a pretty 
 spot, and the Falls are well named, they are such 
 sparkling, laughing waters. We should be very proud 
 of them in England, but in America people are accus- 
 tomed to bigger things. 
 
 At 4.35 p.m. we started by the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad for Livingstone Junction, for the Yellowstone 
 Park. The country was very uninteresting at first, and, 
 not having got accustomed to the sleeping-berths, the 
 night was very disagreeable. I tried really go''f"j.ther 
 
 bed, as most people do, but never ''Pi\<. <- -.t-^ . K,,f 
 ' r 1:" ' .y of letters to write ; but 
 
 ment. I was always X}\% ^ o • ct- a- ,1 
 
 ' .e Hot Sprmgs alter dinner, and 
 
 secured the lavatory ^ 
 
2)S Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 Saturday we spent mostly on the platform at the back 
 of our car — a capital place for seeing the country, as the 
 Pulman is always at the end of the train, unless there is 
 a private car on. Of course it is very dusty, but that is 
 of no consequence. We met an Englishman on his way 
 to join his brother at his ranche in Wyoming, who had 
 been over here several times before. He told us that a 
 few years ago he and his brother were detained at 
 Livingstone a few days, just as the boom in land was 
 going on, as it was thought Livingstone would become 
 a great centre. They bought land at the beginning of 
 the week, and so rapid was the rise in price that they 
 sold it at the end of the week at a profit sufficient to 
 cover the expense of their whole trip. Livingstone did 
 not succeed as expected, so land has gone down again. 
 This seems to be the history of most western towns. 
 It is quite a common question to ask about a place, if it 
 has had a boom ; it seems to be a kind of distemper to 
 be got over in youth. Our friend also explained to us 
 how the places get such wonderful names. A trapper 
 he knew married and settled at a place on the line. His 
 name was Gustav, and his wife's name Minnie, so he 
 named the settlement after themselves, Mingusville. It 
 is situated between Bismarck and Gladstone. At first 
 the country was very uninteresting ; then we got to the 
 prairies, which were not covered with grass, but with 
 coc v,t-ush, a pale, silvery, olive-coloured plant with a 
 
 It is supposed to'^&y^ some now sewn in muslin. An 
 and has every new appliaricfcld in the place of quinine, 
 four hundred operations before it^^cl Lands, which arc 
 
ill Canada, Wesfeni U.S., and Mexico. 39 
 
 wonderful. Everything is burnt, and turned curious 
 colours, bright red and yellow, &c. The rocks are the 
 oddest shapes, and there are mounds of all sizes and 
 fossil trees. There was hardly any vegetation, and what 
 there was looked uncanny — such metallic greens and 
 blues. It is said that in places there are coal-seams 
 exposed to the air and burning perpetually. We were 
 a long time passing through this desolate district, which 
 made us reflect what a terrible journey it must have 
 been for the early settlers, who had only bullock- 
 waggons. After that the country again became mono- 
 tonous and uninteresting, except for the wild sunflowers, 
 which made a blaze of colour along the roadside. The 
 train reached Livingstone in the night, and went on 
 West, leaving our car on a siding. The station had 
 been burnt down the night before our arrival, and the 
 remains were still smouldering. We had to pick our way 
 through them to the hotel for breakfast next morning. 
 
 We left by train at 8.15 for Cinnabar, through a very 
 wild and pretty valley, passing the Devil's Slide on the 
 way — a curious wall of stone in one block, fourteen feet 
 across, running straight up the hill, with another wall 
 parallel to it, not so strongly marked, and all the clay 
 between washed away. At Cinnabar we took seats on 
 the coach roof, and had a lovely drive up the valley of 
 the Garrison River, a very steep pull, to the Mammoth 
 Hot Springs Hotel, where we arrived very tired, hungry, 
 and dirty. It was very hot, so I declined further 
 exertion that day, having plenty of letters to write ; but 
 Edward started for the Hot Springs after dinner, and 
 
40 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 went past them to the Devil's Fireplace, a narrow hole 
 extending far into the ground, and said to be very hot. 
 A ladder is placed for the benefit of those who care to 
 enter, but few fancy the descent. There he met two 
 young fellows, who persuaded him to go on with them 
 to a hot lake set apart for men to bathe, and had a 
 delightful bath. The hotel here is very good and com- 
 fortable. It has a good view of the terraces of the hot 
 springs and Liberty Cap, a large rock supposed to 
 resemble in shape the cap on the dollar. I had a bath 
 in the evening, and was alarmed by a terrible grass- 
 hopper kind of creature that had come direct from the 
 springs through the pipes. Still, the lady at Santa 
 Barbara whose ablutions were disturbed by a large 
 tarantula, fared worse than I did. 
 
 Monday, September -^rd. — We started at eight o'clock 
 in a charming little carriage and pair called a Surrey. 
 A nice young fellow from Helena we had talked to the 
 day before introduced us to our driver, a merry, chatty 
 old gentleman, who showed us everything on the road, 
 and drove very carefully. The road is generally very 
 good, but occasionally there is a stream to drive through 
 or a rocky bit, and sometimes the road goes dangerously 
 near the rotten ground round the springs. Miss Bates 
 describes both the Yellowstone and the Yosemite as 
 dangerous and very fatiguing expeditions, but both have 
 been wonderfully improved since she visited them. We 
 met neither difficulty nor danger at either. The fourth 
 occupant of our carriage was a gentleman from New 
 York, who travelled with us from Minneapolis, and was 
 
y 
 
 m Canada ^ Western U.S.^ and Ulcxico. 41 
 
 very quiet and pleasant. There must have been over 
 thirty carriages of all kinds. Some large 'busses, others 
 holding six or eight people, and a few like ours. It is 
 prudent to settle on the day of arrival how one wishes 
 to go round the Park, for there is no changing on the 
 way, and disagreeable fellow-travellers would spoil all 
 pleasure. The long procession kept together through 
 the steep defile of the Golden Gate, so called because 
 the rocks are covered with bright golden yellow moss. 
 The gate itself is a pillar of rock on the precipice side 
 of the road, which really is like a gate-post. After 
 reaching level ground we scattered to avoid dust. The 
 first point of interest is the Obsidian Cliff's, entirely 
 composed of this volcanic glass which is quite black. 
 There were a few boiling springs, but wonderland is 
 not reached until lunch-time at Norris Geyser Hotel. 
 After the meal we all walked on ahead of our carriages 
 to the First Geyser Basin. There would be about sixty 
 of us — no guides — the steam and smell and noise 
 direct one where to go. Anything more uncanny, 
 horrible and extraordinary than this dreadful place does 
 not exist ! Boiling springs sending up columns of steam, 
 some clear, some black, some sulphur, close together. 
 Some throbbing like great machines, and the water 
 sinking out of sight, and then rushing up again with a 
 terrible noise. One little geyser playing every two 
 minutes, others at longer and irregular intervals. The 
 riost appalling is called the Hurricane. The water is 
 shot out of the rock sideways with tremendous force and 
 noise, not continuously or apparently regularly, but as if 
 
42 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 some great struggle was going on inside. The ground 
 is uncomfortably hot, and sounds quite hollow. It is 
 white like lime, with bright-coloured spots, where there 
 is iron or sulphur. There are dozens of springs, some 
 only bubbling, some throwing spray or drops a foot high 
 — all boiling. If there is a Mouth of Hell on earth, it 
 is certainly here. Going on, we came to a mud geyser, 
 which immediately started its performance for us. It 
 always bubbles, and it seems to get excited, and in three 
 places in the pool the mud dashes itself higher and 
 higher and more and more violently up to about four 
 or five feet high, raising the level of the whole basin, 
 which is about fifteen feet diameter, about a foot. After 
 some minutes it gradually quietens and subsides. A sad 
 thing happened here last year. Some visitors had a pet 
 dog with them, and somebody having thrown a stone 
 into the boiling mud, the poor little thing thought it was 
 meant for him, and jumped in. He sank out of sight 
 instantly. We went on to the Steam Valve and another 
 large basin, but neither did more than bubble, so we 
 went into the wood, where we found a magnificent 
 geyser that had killed the trees round it, and covered 
 them with incrustation. To our delight it began to 
 work, and was soon throwing up water to the height of 
 fifty or sixty feet ; quite a great stream was made by the 
 overflow. It performed twice. The Minute Geyser 
 refused to do anything for us. I put my finger into a 
 hot spring at leisure, but I took it out in haste. It was 
 scalding. All over the park at every turn, amongst the 
 trees, at the top of the hills, at the side of icy cold rivers, 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 43 
 
 everywhere are boiling springs — mostly mineral water, 
 but unfortunately so full of alkali that they cannot 
 be used for medical purposes. In about an hour the 
 carriages picked us up, and we drove on. 
 
 The Beryl spring is a lovely light blue semicircular 
 pool standing about three feet above the road like an 
 ornamental marble basin. The spring builds this basin 
 itself by depositing the lime contained in the water. 
 We passed Beaver Lake, so called because beavers 
 abound there, and have built a dam zigzag across the 
 lake. Their houses look like piles of sticks. It is 
 forbidden to kill anything in the park, so it is hoped by- 
 and-by there will be plenty of the wild animals there 
 which are being rapidly exterminated outside. We 
 only saw beavers, a snake, wild ducks, little birds, a few 
 butterflies, and large dragon-flies, and traces of elk. 
 Some of the other party saw a bear, which are pretty 
 common, and are said to come down to the hotels at 
 night to eat the refuse thrown out for the pigs. 
 
 We passed some very pretty lakes and rivulets, all full 
 of curious colours, and near the hotel we forded the rapid 
 Fire Hole River. It was the third time we had forded a 
 river in our forty miles' drive to Lower Geyser Basin. 
 We were seven and a quarter hours on the way, arriving 
 shortly after five o'clock. A very decent hotel, like a 
 Swiss chalet with tiny rooms, quite clean. We visited the 
 Gibbon Falls on our way, and had a difficult scramble 
 down the steep hill-side without much reward, as there 
 was hardly any water. We met numbers of camping 
 parties. Sheep-farmers and people of that kind in the 
 
44 /"z:^^ Months Fine Weather 
 
 neighbouring country bring all their families and num- 
 bers of servants, in waggons and on horseback, and live 
 in tents on canned food. Unfortunately they cover the 
 park with rubbish — it is littered with cans, which of 
 course last for years. As a whole the park is ugly ; 
 there must be nine dead trees to one green one. 
 
 Tuesday, September /\th. — Drove off at seven o'clock, 
 and followed the Fire Hole River for some time. First 
 we saw the Paint Pots. Like everything else, this has 
 been over-described. It is very curious to see the mud 
 bubbling up, but it is not brilliantly coloured. It is very 
 fine, and generally white, tinted in places with pink and 
 blue. There is a tiny little spring close by that clucks 
 like a hen. The noises of some of the boiling springs 
 make one's flesh creep. As one bends over them, and 
 looks down into the bottomless depths, groans and 
 wailings seem to rise from them as if prisoners in tor- 
 ment. The next great sight was the Excelsior Geyser, 
 which kept us waiting two hours, not only in a blazing 
 sun, but in clouds of steam from the Prismatic Lake and 
 the Turquoise Lake, both lovely and of marvellous 
 colouring, but disagreeable to be near^ because of the 
 sulphur-smelling steam, which damps one's clothes and 
 one's spirits. The Excelsior Geyser itself is in a lake 
 with rocky sides about fifty feet high when it is 
 quiescent. When at work the whole surface of the lake 
 rises considerably. At last the performance began, and 
 we all stood on the brink and watched the water begin 
 to bubble in different places, then the centre became 
 more and more agitated and the Geyser rose, first quite 
 
ill Canada^ Western U .S., and Mexico. 45 
 
 small, then higher and larger, until we had to fly from 
 the torrent of water and stones that were thrown hundreds 
 of feet high and yards over the edge. One gentleman 
 was badly hit by a stone. It was an absurd sight to see 
 us all flying, after having chosen our positions so care- 
 fully to get the best possible view. This piece of the 
 park which contains the Excelsior Geyser, the lakes, and 
 several boiling springs, is a desolate region, all brim- 
 stone and alkali, and so horrible to look at that it is 
 called " Hell's Half Acre." A soldier of the garrison 
 was loitering by the Prismatic Lake when we first 
 arrived, and he puzzled us by telling us it was the 
 " Spasmodic " Lake. We did not know what it might 
 do. A little further on we found the Grotto, Giant, and 
 other geysers, all silent except for steam, and then the 
 Devil's Punch Bowl, a curious hill which the spring has 
 built around itself. The ground is so rotten for some 
 distance that we could not drive near it, and even had to 
 pick our way carefully on foot. This rotten ground is 
 the only danger of the park. Since our visit a carriage 
 was overturned by the ground giving way under two 
 wheels, and was rescued with difficulty. Happily the 
 visitors had got out to look at something. It is said 
 that people have been badly burnt, and even killed by 
 falling through the rotten edges of the springs and 
 geysers, which are never protected, but these casualties 
 are not put in the papers. 
 
 The most beautiful object in the park is the Castle 
 Geyser. The formation is really like an old castle. 
 Almost every geyser builds up some kind of house for 
 
46 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 itself with the deposit from the waters, and this is called 
 the formation. Often the shapes are very remarkable, 
 as the Grotto, which has almost roofed itself in. The 
 Castle performs very irregularly. It was very lively all 
 the time we were within sight, rising to about forty feet, 
 but it did not go off properly until after we had left. 
 Those who stayed all night at the Upper Geyser Basin 
 Hotel saw it rise to the height of 150 feet, and said it 
 was glorious. 
 
 We arrived at the Upper Geyser Basin Hotel after 
 fourteen miles' drive, and had lunch, after which I went 
 with others to visit the neighbourhood, which is the 
 headquarters of the geysers, but Edward was so unwell, 
 he preferred to sit on the veranda and watch Old 
 Faithful, which is close by, and goes off every sixty-five 
 minutes, and is as fine as any. It is a very serious draw- 
 back to the Yellowstone Park that the air, or steam, or 
 something, seeks out everybody's weak point and attacks 
 it. Edward felt his rheumatism, as did many others, 
 those with weakness of the heart were quite ill, weak 
 throats and chests suffered. There were very few of us 
 free from pain. About a dozen of us got a soldier who 
 happened to be loitering near, to act as guide. There is 
 a garrison in the park, to prevent visitors shooting wild 
 animals, or defacing the scenery, or carrying off 
 specimens, or annoying the geysers by throwing in 
 stones or soap to make them work. It is extraordinary 
 that soap cut into thin pieces and thrown into a geyser 
 will cause it to perform. I met people who had done it ; 
 but, unfortunately, after we had left the park, otherwise 
 
in Canada, Western [/.S., and Mexico. 47 
 
 I might have got a new testimonial to the efficacy of 
 " Pears." We saw the Lion play, and afterwards the 
 Lioness and the Cubs, a large geyser with four little 
 ones round it. We admired the formation of the 
 Sponge, so like a sponge that one is astonished to find 
 it hard to the touch ; the Beach, just like a bit of sea- 
 shore, and many others much alike, some silent, some 
 extinct; one born only three months ago, and one a 
 year old. The Bee-hive, and several others well known 
 by name, have not gone off for years. Our guide told 
 us he had been on the spot over a year, and had watched 
 the geysers carefully. He said none except Old Faith- 
 ful worked at regular intervals, as they were said to do 
 formerly, but his opinion was that they never had clone 
 so. Some would remain quiet for months and then 
 break out again and perform daily or several times a day. 
 We saw the Minute Man Geyser, not large, but a very 
 pretty one, which really did go off every minute, and 
 a quite new geyser which has this peculiarity : — all the 
 water thrown up falls back into the basin, and recedes 
 into the depths again, none escapes. The Beauty 
 Spring is a large pool, very transparent, and full of lovely 
 colours. The beauty of the large springs consists in the 
 colouring. They are supposed to be bottomless. The 
 centre is dark blue, and has a weird, unfathomable look, 
 the sides are formation deposited by the spring, and 
 shine light blue, green and white through the clear water, 
 bubbles rise continually like messages from below, and, 
 bending over, one hears strange noises. Altogether, the 
 horrible desolation, the dead trees, the glaring white 
 
48 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 ground, the steam, the sulphur smells, the choking white 
 dust, the uncanny noises, and the geysers going off all 
 around in the most startling fashion, make a scene to be 
 remembered with interest, but never with a wish to re- 
 visit it. All is marvellous, but desperately ugly and 
 disagreeable. It corresponds in America to the chamber 
 of horrors at Madame Tussaud's. 
 
 We drove back to Lower Geyser Basin that night by 
 a shorter route, and had the luck to come upon the 
 Grotto Geyser in full play. After dinner, my diary was 
 a source of great uneasiness to an American lady. She 
 felt sure I was saying disagreeable things about Ameri- 
 cans, which was certainly not the case, as my only 
 entry about them was my amusement at the perpetual 
 question, as I stood admiring something, " Now, have 
 you anything like this in Europe ? " (invariably pro- 
 nounced " Your 'ope.") In the Yellowstone Park, I 
 could conscientiously answer that we had not. Jonathan 
 is rather touchy. I was speaking of a very pretty girl 
 we had met riding through the park. I remarked, she 
 reminded me of an Engl'sh girl, because she was so sun- 
 burnt. A stranger from the other end of the table 
 called out he " begged to inform me there were pretty 
 girls in America." I explained I thought the American 
 girls took better care of their complexions, and so peace 
 was restored. There were no other Britishers in the 
 park except a young Englishman, settled in Helena, 
 and a Welsh parson, also settled in America, and who 
 was actually tramping through the park without any 
 money in his pocket and living on the charity of tlte 
 
in Canada, Western U.S.^ and Mexico. 49 
 
 drivers, or any one who might hear of his case. I 
 believe he slept in the stables. We met very few 
 English travellers during the whole of our journey. 
 Our room this time was in the dependance, close by a 
 hot spring. It was funny to trot downstairs and fill 
 one's pitcher, like Rebecca, every time we wanted a 
 little hot water. We had to be careful in the dark; as 
 there was no railing round the basin. 
 
 Wednesday, September $th. — By returning to the 
 Lower Geyser Hotel, instead of sleeping at the Upper 
 Geyser Hotel, as many did, we saved ten miles in this 
 day's journey, only leaving thirty-two miles to the 
 Caiion. We started soon after seven o'clock, and, ex- 
 cept that the road was extremely bad, there was nothing 
 remarkable before lunch. We had then reached a 
 dreary spot, miles from any habitation, and found there 
 two tents and a delightful Irishman, who lives here 
 with one assistant through the season to provide lunch. 
 He gave us an excellent meal of hard-boiled eggs, pie, 
 potted turkey, ham, tongue, tea, coffee, &c., and was so 
 chatty and merry we enjoyed our stay there very much. 
 He intimated that he had been one of Mr. Forster's 
 victims, but J. think it was his joke, he did not look 
 outrageous. Soon after leaving here we reached Mary's 
 Lake, the highest part of the park. It is merely a 
 collection of rain-water with two outlets. Then we had 
 to take a great round, owing to the rotten ground, to 
 get to the Sulphur Mountains, hills entirely composed 
 of sulphur, and at the foot a large yellow spring bub- 
 bling violentlj\ It was very curious and ugly. At 
 
 E 
 
50 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 one point we were within seven miles of the Yellowstone 
 Lake ; occasionally people go there from the Canon, 
 and have some fishing, which is poor, as the lake is 
 overstocked and the trout are unhealthy and unfit for 
 food. 
 
 We arrived at the Grand Caiion Hotel about three 
 o'clock, meeting on the way the landlady, head waiter 
 and two maid-servants riding for pleasure on the ponies 
 which should have taken visitors up the Canon. We 
 luckily preferred walking, as it is only three and a half 
 miles to Inspiration Point, the end of the path. It was 
 the very best time of the day to see the Caiion as the 
 afternoon sun shone straight down it, bringing out the 
 beautiful colours in the cliffs, red, yellow, brown, and 
 occasionally blue, with a lovely green river dashing 
 down the middle, sometimes over rocks with white, 
 angry waves, and occasional pools of darker green. 
 The path which runs along the top of the cliff is quite 
 easy, but there are points jutting out into the Canon 
 from which the finest views can be obtained, which are 
 rather dizzy climbs. Look-Out Point is easy and the 
 view from that magnificent. The Caiion is glorious, 
 very deep, and with rocks curiously shaped into pinna- 
 cles, turrets, even animals, and wonderfully coloured. 
 The Falls are grand, but the Caiion is even more lovely 
 than the Falls, and it is utterly unlike anything in the 
 Old World. 
 
 We looked down into two eagles' nests. An eaglet 
 in one was raging and scolding a strange bird that was 
 taking a mean advantage of the old birds' absence to 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 51 
 
 steal the baby's food. In the wood that skirts the 
 Cafion we saw numbers of chipmunks, or ground 
 squirrels, so tame and so inquisitive that they come 
 within a yard of one's feet, and gaze most intelligently 
 at the stranger. Inspiration Point is extremely fine. We 
 were three and a quarter hours in the Cafion that after- 
 noon. Next morning we got up early and went to 
 Look-Out Point to see the morning sun shine down 
 the Cafion from the other end, but we preferred the 
 evening sun. We also went down a steep path to the 
 platform on the edge of the Lower Falls, whence one 
 looks straight down over the Fall, which is 350 feet 
 high and has an immense volume of water. The 
 Upper Falls are smaller, but also very pretty. The 
 hotel is a rough wooden building, very cold, badly 
 managed, and uncomfortable. Food uneatable. Some 
 people go back from here over Mount Washburn on 
 horseback, a very fatiguing ride. Opinions were 
 divided as to whether the views did or did not 
 repay one for the trouble. It is also a considerable 
 addition to the expense. Our journey was entirely 
 covered by the forty-dollar tickets — hotel accommoda- 
 tion, carriages, and all. We thought it very cheap. 
 
 At ten o'clock we started for the last day's drive in 
 the Park by a new road direct to Norris Geyser Hotel, 
 passing the beautiful Virginia Falls. The river does 
 not fall, but runs over a steep bank of rock sloping very 
 rapidly from a great height, at a point where the hills 
 draw close and make a narrow gorge with curious 
 rocks. We found a large party at Norris Springs 
 
 E 2 
 
52 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 Hotel, the Press Association of Dakota, eighty of them, 
 with their wives and sisters ; a very Hvely set. One of 
 them addressed himself to us, and finished by presenting 
 us with "his card," which turned out to be a tract. 
 Our driver turned up his nose with disgust. " Why," 
 said he, " he's a sky pilot/' A queer old fellow, our 
 driver, X. Beadier! He is lame from a gunshot wound 
 in the thigh, received years ago in the rough old times 
 when he was a miner and used to act as guard to the 
 bullion wagfcons. The road robbers were so bad then 
 that fights were constantly occurring. It is his boast 
 that he never gave up his gold, he always " shot first," 
 and had thus killed many men. At last a vigilance 
 committee was organized to put down the robbers and 
 he was made captain. After many days hunting for 
 the suspicious characters, they arrested over one hun- 
 dred men, gave them a fair trial, and hung twenty-two. 
 This settled matters so far as the public was concerned 
 but Beadier had many fights afterwards with the friends 
 of the men hung. The State is going to give him five 
 thousand dollars. Last year the proposal to do so was 
 lost by one vote ; but this year, it is said, he is certain 
 to get it. He was a delightful driver, and should be 
 secured at once by any English visitor. Some of the 
 old robber race still remain, for only last year the 
 Northern Pacific train was stopped and looted by four 
 men, who failed to break into the strong bullion safe 
 but " held up " the passengers. " Holding up " signi- 
 fies the American brigands' custom of making the 
 victims hold up both arms to show that they have no 
 weapons, while their pockets are picked. They are 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 53 
 
 placed in a line and one robber covers them with his 
 revolver while the others secure the plunder. 
 
 From Norris we drove back to the Mammoth Hot 
 Springs the way we came, stopping to obtain some 
 specimens at the Obsidian Cliffs. We arrived about a 
 quarter to five, before the rest of the party, and so 
 secured a good room, and then went off to the hot 
 springs as I wanted to see them before changing my 
 dusty garments. We climbed from one basin to another, 
 admiring the extraordinary formations and the colours, 
 from pure white to dark chocolate, green, pink, and 
 yellow. One place looked just like a shop-window 
 with silks puffed out for exhibition, of every shade, 
 from cream to dark brown. In the basins are lovely 
 fringes and tracery of formation, sometimes like sea- 
 weed — in another place like large fans. I picked a bit 
 of formation out of the hot basin, and, to my surprise 
 found a living tiny worm on it. The water was too hot 
 to keep one's hand in a moment. We could hardly 
 tear ourselves away, and only gave ourselves time to 
 rush back for dinner. Next day we rested, read and 
 wrote letters, and said farewell to our fellow-travellers, 
 who all left in the morning. It was this morning that 
 we were amused to see an American child about five 
 years old come into the coffee-room, seat herself at a 
 table, summon the waiter, and order her breakfast, 
 which she had all alone. 
 
 Very few new arrivals came, as the season is nearly 
 over. Last year there were four inches of snow on the 
 1st of September. 
 
 Saturday, September St/i. — We started, in the com- 
 
54 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 pany of the Dakota editors, for Livingstone, where we 
 lost our friends, who had special carriages into which 
 they kindly invited us, but we were only going to 
 Helena. We were kept waiting so long at Cinnabar, 
 apparently to please the conductor, that we had no 
 time, as promised, for tea at Livingstone. Punctuality 
 is not the soul of business on American railways. We 
 were not to arrive at Helena until 1.45 a.m., so settled 
 ourselves to sleep, but about midnight a poor little 
 mite of three years old, who had been dragged all 
 through the park and was utterly worn out, suddenly 
 found expression for her misery in a series of shrieks 
 and wild sobbing. After vainly endeavouring to soothe 
 her with apples and iced water, the father carried her 
 off to the smoking-room. Fancy an English child con- 
 suming apples and iced water at midnight ! But I 
 think the oddest meal I ever saw living being partake 
 of, was the evening repast of a boy of ten or so on the 
 Hudson River steamer. He ate a Vanilla cream ice 
 with bread-and-butter ! We passed through a tunnel 
 lined only a small part of the way with wood. It goes 
 through some coal seams, and it was very pretty to see 
 the coal sparkle as our lights passed it. The Cosmo- 
 politan Hotel at Helena is rather rough. We had a 
 good room, pervaded by a strong chemical smell from a 
 shop on the ground floor. On the whole we were com- 
 fortable, but the food was bad. 
 
 Helena is a wonderfully pretty place, not in itself, but 
 from its position. The glow of the sun on the red plains, 
 the sand clouds, and the blue mountains in the back- 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 55 
 
 ground, reminded us of Mr. Goodall's Eastern Pictures, 
 There is a Chinese quarter, principally gambling-houses, 
 which is the great Chinese vice. They live principally 
 by market-gardening. 
 
 We got a beautiful view of the town, which is on the 
 slopes of some hills, with the plain in front of it and 
 the distant mountains, from the Reservoir Hill, where, 
 too, we met a Scotchwoman, happily married and 
 settled, but rather home-sick. Still, she liked Helena 
 better than San Francisco, she said, where she had 
 formerly lived, and where she had seen several murders 
 in the streets. I never heard a good word spoken for 
 San Francisco by any one who had lived there, even 
 Californians dislike it, and go east as soon as they have 
 made money. 
 
 Monday, September 12th. — We started in a " Surrey " 
 and pair for Marysville and the Drumlummon Mine, 
 three and a quarter hours' drive up hill, through very 
 pretty scenery. Both the Northern Pacific and the 
 Montana Central have a line to Marysville, and run each 
 one train a day each way, though there is nothing but 
 the mine at Marysville, another mine starting somewhere 
 a few miles further up the hills, and some wretched cot- 
 tages on the way. Mr. Bayliss, the English manager 
 of the mine, and his pretty wife received us very kindly. 
 It is great satisfaction to have such a specimen of 
 English beauty in Helena, which is rather noted for 
 pretty women. It was also very pleasant to hear once 
 more the English language, as she is spoke at home. The 
 Americans in the West are very difficult to understand, 
 
56 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 all the vowels are pronounced " aw," and the consonants 
 are rather slurred over. 
 
 The celebrated Drumlummon Mine is in the side 
 of a hill. After putting on rubber boots and mackin- 
 toshes we walked to the entrance, where we were 
 seated on a car and pulled along some way on a level 
 to where there were many men working, far away 
 inside the hill ; there were cuttings both above and 
 below. We descended two hundred feet and saw more 
 rock-drilling. Part of the mine was closed, to put in 
 a large engine for hoisting up the quartz, and to sink 
 the shaft deeper, to one thousand feet. After lunch, 
 such a treat after table-d'hote meals, we went through 
 the mills to see the quartz crushed. It first goes into a 
 machine like the Marsden stone-breaker, from which it 
 falls into stamps, where it is pounded small, and then is 
 washed through wires and over large plates covered 
 with quicksilver which picks up most of the gold and 
 silver and every three hours is removed and the precious 
 metals separated from it by heat and made into bars on 
 the premises. 
 
 The impoverished ore is then washed over "concen- 
 trators," machines with endless sheets of india-rubber 
 running in an opposite direction to the flow of water. 
 The heavier particles of ore cling to the india-rubber, 
 while the sand is carried away by the water. This gives 
 a mixture of metals, which is sent to California to be 
 smelted. All the machinery was American. The English 
 cannot make mining machines to compete with Ameri- 
 cans, owing to their want of experience. The Drum- 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 57 
 
 lummon Mine is principally a gold mine — 60 per cent, 
 gold to 40 per cent, silver. 
 
 After a cup of tea with Mrs. Bayliss, we started 
 at four o'clock, and arrived in Helena at 6.40. Our 
 driver was very chatty ; he told us thirty years ago 
 he was so far gone in consumption that the doctors 
 said he could not live a month. He came ofif at 
 once to Helena, to try the mountain air as his last 
 chance, and he had become quite strong, though he still 
 had a nasty cough, and had married and lived as if in 
 ordinary health, except that he could not do indoor work. 
 He was quite well even in their desperate winter weather, 
 with thirty and forty degrees of frost. Helena, he told 
 us, was a friendly, sociable, little place, nobody at all 
 proud, not even the sixteen millionaires who are the 
 boast of the town. Everything is very dear, and wages 
 very high. A bricklayer gets seven dollars a day ; 
 l^x. Bayliss has to pay his black cook forty dollars a 
 month, and he told us the man who pulled us on the 
 tram-car got about 250/. a year in our money. Lately 
 a newly-arrived clergyman thought it was only right to 
 get up a fund for the relief of the poor and the congre- 
 gation took up the idea heartily, collected 1600 dollars, 
 formed a Committee, and then could not meet with any 
 one who would receive the money. The hero of Helena 
 is Mr. Kruse who discovered the Drumlummon Mine. 
 This is his history as told to me, and it is the history of 
 hundreds of men, except for his extraordinary good 
 luck. He starts off with a pony, a sack of flour, a piece 
 of bacon and a pick, and for months he prospects for 
 
58 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 gold. Nobody will trust him with half a dollar, for he 
 is a low drunken fellow. One day he sticks his pick in 
 the ground and props himself on it, to eat his bacon, 
 gets up to go away and notices that his pick has knocked 
 up some gold quartz. He sticks up a mark to show 
 that he has been there, goes off, registers his claim, and 
 sells a quarter of his find for 2,000,000 dollars, builds a 
 fine house and marries the prettiest girl in Helena, and 
 the whole country round attends his wedding feast. 
 
 Tuesday, September nth. — Left Helena at 9.15 a.m. 
 We passed through the Rockies by the Mullen Tunnel. 
 After this we constantly saw Chinese working on the line 
 as plate-layers, &c. It seems that the North Pacific Rail- 
 way are having disturbances about employing Chinese 
 cheap labour, and the white men are calling on the state 
 authorities to forbid it. In Pierce County the farmers 
 are in need of Chinese labour to take the place of the 
 Indians, who generally come in swarms at the hop- 
 picking season, but from some unknown cause have not 
 come this year. White labourers could not be procured in 
 sufficient number, but the State will not allow the Chinese 
 to come, and the magnificent hop crop will be lost. 
 
 The railroad goes through an Indian reservation, the 
 Flatheads, and from the train we saw many fishing or 
 standing by their wigwams. Once when the train had 
 stopped, an Indian galloped past, first on the line and 
 then up the steep rocky bank, without slackening pace, 
 like a cat. He seemed to have a very loose seat, but 
 they are said to be perfect horsemen. As the scenery 
 was very fine we sat on the platform at the back of the 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 59 
 
 carriage all day. The run along the Clark's Fork of the 
 Columbia River is exceedingly beautiful^ much finer 
 than any river I know. Very high cliffs, often covered 
 with golden moss and many sharp curves, the broad 
 beautiful river sometimes widening into lakes and some- 
 times crushed into narrow gorges. At Heron we had 
 to change carriages to get into the Tacoma sleeping- 
 car. There was a great crowd and a rush but we cir- 
 cumvented the Yankees and secured two lower berths. 
 
 Wed?iesday, September 12th. — Was not a happy day. 
 A baby screamed for eleven hours without ceasing. 
 Then we had no dinner, for at Ellensburgh a large 
 Republican convention arrived, carrying brooms with 
 which they meant to, and afterwards did, " make a clean 
 sweep," and they devoured everything on the dining- 
 car. We were alarmed when first we saw them and we 
 made at once for the cook and asked him if there would 
 be enough. He first inquired were they Republicans or 
 Democrats, for, he said, the Republicans eat most, but 
 the Democrats drink most. We got nothing until supper- 
 time except a handful of broken biscuits, crackers they 
 call them. It would have been quite easy for the 
 cook to procure more food from the large stations we 
 passed but that it is not the way in America. 
 
 They are a patient people, and put up with the worst 
 train service ever heard of, something like the Scotch 
 service on August loth and nth. 
 
 Trains are almost invariably behind time, hours being 
 wasted at roadside stations without apparent cause, or 
 trainssometimes creeping on over level ground atthe rate 
 
6o Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 of six or eight miles an hour. The pace from Pasco 
 Junction to Yakima was not equal to that of an ordi- 
 nary tram-car and unfortunately there was no scenery. 
 We passed some nice bits later in the day when crossing 
 the Rockies. We saw the beginning and the end of the 
 old Switchback Railway that goes over the top of the 
 mountain, used before the tunnel was constructed, now 
 only used if the tunnel is blocked, as it is very steep and 
 dangerous. As soon as we reached the western slopes 
 the country became beautifully green, with hop-grounds 
 and forests of fine trees. Here we first saw the forest fires, 
 which spoil the scenery very much, not only by destroy- 
 ing and blackening the timber, but by the smoke, which 
 has the effect of a fog. Many are lighted by sparks 
 from the engines or by fires left burning by squatters 
 and spread by the wind, but many are started by natural 
 causes, it is said by the dry boughs rubbing against 
 each other. We arrived at last at Tacoma, where there is 
 an excellent hotel. 
 
 The town of Tacoma is very prettily situated on 
 Puget Sound, with the lovely snow-topped Mount 
 Tacoma standing solitary in the background. This 
 district is misty, and often people stay a week at 
 Tacoma without discovering the mountain, but we 
 luckily had the pleasure of his company most of the 
 time we were there. It is a baby town, not yet on any 
 map, but has already some good shops and pleasant 
 dwellings. The small wooden houses are running up 
 like mushrooms. The new comer orders a house as he 
 would a coat, and it is ready by the end of the week. 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 6i 
 
 The steamer from Tacoma to Vancouver started at 
 3 p.m., and stopped all night at Seattle, another baby- 
 town, which is the most prosperous of all, as coal and 
 iron have been found in the vicinity. The English 
 Moss Bay Iron Company is starting large works there, 
 and the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway will 
 soon be finished, and will connect the town with the 
 North Pacific Railroad. There is a large hotel, the 
 Occidental, where we got an excellent dinner, after 
 roaming through the streets and admiring the pros- 
 perous, busy, go-ahead little place.^ We slept in our 
 cabin, because the boat started about 4.30 a.m., and 
 amused ourselves for an hour by throwing things into 
 the water to see the phosphorus. Next day we had a 
 very disagreeable, foggy journey, and arrived two hours 
 late at Vancouver, so that we could get no dinner, only 
 tea and cold food, although Vancouver Hotel is one of 
 the best in America. It was only by chance that we 
 got our luggage, as I happened to be sitting on my box 
 when the man came to take it on shore, and I asked if 
 it were going to be examined by the Customs' officers 
 on board. He told me all baggage was to be taken 
 into custody until Monday. I explained that we had 
 nothing with us except our boxes, no grips, so the 
 officer very kindly examined ours at once. Next 
 day, Sunday, was foggy and disagreeable, but we were 
 satisfied to rest, as we had secured a cosy sitting-room. 
 There we met an English clergyman who had just 
 returned from the Alaska Expedition and was much 
 ' The whole town was burnt down a few months after our visit. 
 
62 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 delighted with it. His accounts of the scenery were 
 most tempting, but it proved too late for us to go, as it 
 is very cold up there. 
 
 Vancouver, the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
 road, is the rival of Tacoma, the terminus on Puget Sound 
 of the North Pacific Railroad. Tacoma has the advantage 
 of a second great route, the Shasta, to San Francisco, and 
 has a richer district at the back of it, besides being equal 
 to Vancouver as a port. Certainly Tacoma seemed more 
 prosperous, as houses there could not be run up fast 
 enough, while in Vancouver there were numbers to let. 
 Formerly this little village was called Fort Moody, a 
 better name than Vancouver, which is a source of 
 trouble and mistakes, owing to its being the name of 
 the important island close by. We were told that Lady 
 Burdett Coutts had presented a peal of bells to Van- 
 couver. I forget which she meant them for, but the 
 wrong place had got them, and meant keeping them. 
 There were shoals of Chinese and many shops of 
 their curios. We were making a few purchases, when 
 we were astonished at hearing our name, and there 
 was actually a former constituent settled in Vancouver, 
 and prosperous. 
 
 We went to see the s.s. Batavia, just arrived from 
 China with emigrants for the States. They were packed 
 like herrings and were a horrid-looking lot. 
 
 People give them a bad name up here, but afterwards 
 I heard them well spoken of. I fancy they are very 
 badly treated. Sometimes, we were told, the Chinese 
 get obstreperous on the voyage. Then they are bat- 
 
in Canada^ WesteTu U.S., and Mexico. 63 
 
 tened down and the steam hose turned on. They pay 
 fifty dollars each for their wretched accommodation. I 
 tried hard to buy a joss direct from an emigrant. Of 
 course there are plenty in the shops, but I thought if I 
 could get a true joss direct from a believer, it would 
 bring me luck, and I wanted one of the funny ones 
 which fold up into lockets, and are hung round the 
 neck, but nobody would part with one. 
 
 We had a splendid drive in the park, which is simply 
 a piece of primeval forest, with good roads cut through it. 
 The trees are enormous, and moss grows on the lower 
 branches like wool on sheep. There were very it'^fj living 
 things; a few rooks and chipunmaks, some gigantic slugs 
 and a frog were all we saw, but bears and deer are 
 plentiful inland. At one point we had to walkthrough 
 a narrow path amongst the big ferns which cover the 
 ground, to see the biggest tree of all, which is more 
 than thirty feet round the trunk and immensely tall. 
 The shell beach is another of the great features of the 
 park. It is a large piece of ground near the water, 
 which is formed yards deep of nothing but shells. Im- 
 mense trees, most of them seventy feet high, and some 
 probably more, are growing on this great shell bed. It 
 is used to mend the roads like gravel, numbers of carts 
 were taking it away for that purpose. 
 
 The drive round the park is ten miles long, with 
 lovely views on to English Bay, the Narrows, and Bur- 
 rard's Inlet. The mountains on the other side of the 
 water, opposite Vancouver, with the white Mission vil- 
 lage on the shore, are very pretty. As we approached 
 
64 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 the town we saw a boatful of Indians bring some deer 
 they had shot to sell for a dollar a piece. I regret to 
 say that a few hours afterwards we saw them helplessly 
 drunk. It is strictly forbidden under heavy penalties to 
 sell spirits to the Indians, but they get them somehow. 
 
 Tuesday, September ?>th. — We started for Banff, 648 
 miles east, at 12.45 P-"i' When past Wharnock we 
 got a magnificent view of Mount Baker, a lofty, snow- 
 covered mountain, standing alone, like Mount Tacoma. 
 It is sixty miles off, on U.S. territory. The scenery 
 was pretty from the first, but the grand part began at 
 Yale, and from there to Banff, so far as we could see, 
 there was not a mile where the scenery was not ex- 
 traordinarily beautiful. The line crosses four ranges of 
 mountains, the Cascade, the Gold, the Selkirks, and the 
 Rockies. It is always night, unfortunately, when the 
 Gold range is crossed. All the way, except at a few 
 large stations, there is hardly a trace of human habita- 
 tion except the people working on the line and here 
 and there a small timber place and, very rarely, a 
 squatter's miserable hut and bit of clearing, and a few 
 Indians. It must have been a very difficult road to 
 make, and is a great triumph of engineering. We, on 
 the last carriage, often saw the engines and front car- 
 riages on the curves in front of us — once we saw the two 
 engines and seven carriages ahead of us. The Fraser 
 Canon begins at Yale, the scenery of which is described 
 as " ferocious." It is very wild and grand, but I think 
 the Thompson Canon, which we passed after bed-time, 
 is still more terrible. Perhaps the moonlight increased 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 65 
 
 the effect. We had a good supper at the little hotel at 
 North Bend. Next morning I was up at five o'clock, 
 and got a glimpse of the reddest sunrise I ever saw. 
 The heavens seemed to be on fire. Unfortunately, just 
 then the train was running due east. Breakfast was on 
 a dining-car and was very good. There cannot be any- 
 thing finer in the world than the run this day, with such 
 diversity of scenery, all wild. Lovely lakes, glorious 
 snow mountains, grand rocks, wild streams dashing in 
 perpetual rapids and many whirlpools to join immense 
 rivers, and forests wherever trees can find foothold. 
 The gorge of the lUecilliwaat is very narrow, and about 
 ten minutes past Albert Caiion station the train stops 
 to allow passengers to go into a balcony and. look down 
 three hundred feet to the river. Tlien comes the steepest 
 rise, where a big eight-wheeled coupled engine pushes 
 the train, and we Had great excitement over the break- 
 ing of the iron pin fastening the bar and coupling it to 
 our carriage. A young engineer had been explaining 
 to us all that this arrangement was most dangerous, and 
 when the broken pin went whizzing past his head, he 
 was wild with delight at the confirmation of his opinion. 
 After passing through miles of snow-sheds and much 
 zigzagging, on account of the steep ascent, we reached 
 Glacier, where we dined, and where we would willingly 
 have spent a week, so beautiful is it, surrounded by snow 
 mountains with glaciers in every direction. The 
 highest peak is named after our kind friend " Sir 
 Donald " (Smith) ; it is a rocky tooth far away in the 
 sky. The road rises some way after Glacier and then 
 
 F 
 
66 Five Months' Fine Weather - 
 
 descends rapidly. We came soon to one of the most 
 beautiful views I ever saw. The mountain-side is very 
 steep, as are all the surrounding mountains, and covered 
 with pine-trees, and we looked down from the train, 
 almost a bird's-eye view, into a magnificent valley full 
 of bright green pines and firs and yellow cotton-wood 
 trees and the Beaver river meandering quietly through 
 it. The whole valley was filled with a slight haze of 
 smoke from forest fires, of which there were plenty of 
 small ones near the line, but later on we came to the 
 enormous fire which caused the smoke. It seemed to 
 cover many acres of forest. After dark we passed many 
 fires, but none so large as this. The rain that fell while 
 we were at Vancouver had extinguished many of them. 
 They brought that perpetually recurring ten shillings 
 for chips at home to my mind. After passing through 
 the narrow gorge bridged in one place by a fallen tree, 
 down which the Beaver river runs to join the Columbia, 
 we ran a long way on the level, having the Selkirks on 
 one side and the Rockies on the other, and then we 
 ascended the Rockies to Field, where we supped. After 
 that, all was dark until we reached Banff at 11.30 p.m. 
 
 Banff is 4500 feet above sea-level, and there is a 
 good hotel, for which all supplies have to be brought 
 from Winnipeg. There were only twenty-five guests 
 on account of the lateness of the season, as snow may 
 come any day. In July and August there are some- 
 times 120 visitors in the hotel, besides numbers living 
 in tents and wooden huts, and no doubt, when this 
 delicious place is better known, it will become the 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 67 
 
 Switzerland of America. The first afternoon and the 
 morning of the second day were rainy, but not bad 
 enough to prevent our visiting the pretty bits close 
 to the hotel, i.e. the Falls of the Bow river and the 
 Pontoon bridge. The mountains which surround the 
 valley were glorious with fresh snow. Some are very 
 loft}^, some are bare rocks, some wooded a long way 
 up, and the autumn tints were very fine, especially 
 the brilliant yellow cotton-wood trees. The Canadian 
 National Park occupies the whole valley, which is in 
 shape something like a star-fish, with the hotel in the 
 centre. It is far more beautiful than the American 
 Yellowstone Park, and is much recommended as a 
 health resort on account of the pure bracing air. It 
 is quite out of the mining district, so there were no 
 specimens about, and no miners with their amusing 
 tales of their successes and disappointments. 
 
 One of the most interesting tales was told us by a 
 Scotchman on the Seattle boat. He was a railway 
 man by trade, but whenever he had made a little money 
 he had set off to the gold district to "prospect." Some- 
 times he had done well, but once he found a very rich 
 vein and sank a shaft and found it grew richer as he got 
 lower, so he spent on it all he had and all he could 
 borrow. The fame of it spread, and many wanted to 
 share his venture and offered good prices for the half or 
 the quarter, but nothing would induce him to part with 
 the smallest fraction. This time he thought he would 
 become a colossal millionaire. Suddenly, to his horror, 
 the vein ceased. It ran straight into the earth in the 
 
 F 2 
 
68 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 form of a V and he had just hit the centre of it, so, 
 besides losing all he had saved, he had to work for 
 months to repay what he had borrowed. 
 
 Another amusing mine story was of one that promised 
 well but turned out badly, so the owners put up large 
 engines, and arranged somehow to cart and train 
 regularly to a certain point a large quantity of rich ore, 
 which was reported in the newspapers, and then secretly 
 carried back to the mine. Then the owners went to 
 New York and sold the mine to a company for two 
 millions. 
 
 Saturday^ September 22?id. — We took a carriage for 
 the whole day and drove first to the Devil's Head Lake, 
 nine miles off, getting back to lunch. Happily the day 
 was magnificent and the rain had put out the forest fires, 
 so that the views were quite clear. It was a very pretty 
 drive up a valley due east to the lake, which runs thir- 
 teen miles, but unfortunately turns a corner, so one 
 only sees the beginning of it. It is all shades of blue 
 and green, according to depth, light, and shadow, and 
 sparkles like diamonds in the sunshine. The colouring 
 of the trees and rocks, and the peculiar red tinge of the 
 turf make a wonderful picture. The Devil's Head is a 
 rock on a mountain close by. We could not see any 
 likeness to a head at all. On our return, we stopped to 
 look at a shop said to be kept by a man from South 
 Kensington Museum, but I am sure Professor Flower 
 would faint if he saw those atrociously stuffed birds and 
 beasts. There was a live beaver in a box outside, baking 
 in the sun, which seemed very unhappy. 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico, 69 
 
 After lunch we drove in the opposite direction to a 
 sulphur spring, high up on the mountain-side, where 
 there is a small hotel with baths. The view from it is 
 very fine down a valley opposite : another ray of the 
 star-fish. Then downhill again to the Grotto, a hot 
 spring in what looks like the cone of an extinct geyser. 
 It is reached through a long underground corridor, the 
 platform being over the stream that carries away the 
 water from the spring, and at the end is a place to bathe 
 from, though how any one can enter such a gloomy 
 pool, only lighted by a hole in the far-away roof, I can- 
 not imagine. From there we went to the station to 
 inquire about the freight train that was to take us back 
 to Field next day, so that we might get the scenery by 
 daylight, and that settled, we went down the valley 
 past the Bow Falls and past a mountain whence an 
 immense mass of rock fell about six weeks ago at 1 1 p.m., 
 frightening everybody by the terrible noise. This is a 
 very pretty valley, and Mr. Van Home and other gen- 
 tlemen connected with the Canadian Pacific Railroad 
 have selected very choice lots down by the river to 
 build. They can only get leases of the land, because 
 it is national property. 
 
 Sunday, September 2yd. — We started by freight train 
 for Field at 12.30 p.m. The guard was exceedingly 
 kind and gave us the view seats in the tower of his van 
 and pointed things out to us. When we looked for him 
 and his man at Field with a view to tips they were no- 
 where to be found. It was a marvellous journey ; such 
 cliffs and precipices, and such gradients. A second 
 
70 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 engine of great size and power held us back on the 
 descent, besides a break on every carriage, and the 
 guard admitted that if once the train got its head there 
 would be nothing for it but to jump off. Everywhere on 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway the greatest care is taken, 
 and every possible precaution and safeguard are used, 
 and constant vigilance. I counted fifty roadmen at 
 work between Field and Donald, a distance of fifty 
 miles. The hotel at Field is small and rather earwiggy, 
 but very fair. Unfortunately, there is nothing to do, as 
 there is no walk to take, unless one goes up or down the 
 line, or up the side of the cliff. We were desperately 
 hungry, because the sandwiches we brought from the 
 Banff Hotel were made of such coarse salt bacon we 
 could not eat them, but we had to wait until long past 
 seven o'clock for dinner because the cook was out for a 
 walk. The east-bound train rushed in, supped, and 
 disappeared in the darkness, making one feel very 
 lonely. There was only one other guest — a Mr. 
 De Wolff, who is running a mine in Mt. Stephen, 1200 
 feet above the railway, in connection with smelting 
 works at Vancouver. His idea is that in course of time 
 many mines ^Xvill be started in this district, and all the 
 smelting will be done in Vancouver. 
 
 Next day we joined the west-bound express at 
 9.10 a.m., and spent the day on the platform at the end 
 of the train enjoying the glorious scenery. Dined at 
 Glacier, and supped on the dining-car. We were for- 
 tunate in getting two comfortable lower berths, but we 
 rose early to see the Thompson Caiion, which we had 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 71 
 
 passed by starlight on our way up. To our disgust the 
 morning proved foggy, so we did not see all of it, but 
 what we did see was very wild. The train crawls along 
 a shelf cut in the steep mountain side, hundreds of feet 
 above the mad, whirling, dashing river. Much of the 
 line between Banff and the flat district near the sea is 
 made on such steep slopes of drift, or clay, or sand, that 
 the greatest, unceasing precaution is necessary to get 
 along safely. Men go over the line just ahead of every 
 train to see that all is right, no slip occurred, and 
 nothing fallen from above, and at times the train only 
 goes about five miles an hour. Luckily this is generally 
 when the scenery is finest. All day it was fine. The 
 Fraser river was our constant companion nearly all the 
 way. First a torrent dashing through narrow gorges 
 amongst lofty mountains, it finally widens into a broad 
 river. In the wild part there were terrible rapids and 
 whirlpools, where the water appeared to be twelve to 
 twenty feet higher at the sides than in the troughs. The 
 Indians manage to get about between the many dan- 
 gers in their little boats, salmon fishing. The Fraser 
 river is full of salmon, which the Indians catch and dry 
 on little platforms in the sun or with fire under. We 
 saw some of them in a little canoe going through a very 
 dangerous bit of river to a rock in the middle, where 
 they had a salmon net. Canning salmon is a great in- 
 dustry all along the coast, as the rivers are full of them. 
 We once saw a whole train-load go off east. Sometimes 
 an Indian catches a dog-salmon, a fine-looking fish, but 
 unfit for food. If he thinks he will not be found out, he 
 
72 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 cans it, to the disappointment of some poor creatures 
 far away. We never got any salmon equal to British or 
 Irish salmon — the flavour is inferior. Mount Baker 
 was at its best again, as the day was so fine, and we had 
 a delightful journey back to Vancouver. This Canadian 
 Pacific Railroad trip is worth all the trouble of coming 
 to America. We could spend a month at Banff, there 
 is so much to do and see for which we had not time, 
 and from many of the other stations interesting trips 
 can be made by boat on the Columbia River, or into 
 the neighbouring valleys, besides unlimited opportunities 
 for mountain climbing. 
 
 Wednesday^ September 26th. — We rested and enjoyed 
 the comforts of the hotel and visited a timber-mill 
 where very large logs are cut. The largest we saw cut 
 was forty-two inches by twenty-five inches, but they 
 have been made there twenty-four inches square by 
 one hundred and eighteen feet long. These long balks 
 are for the Chinese market. The cutting is done by 
 two circular saws five feet in diameter, one above and 
 a little in advance of the other, working together. 
 They can thus cut logs up to four feet six inches in 
 diameter. Most of the machinery was old-fashioned. 
 The finest thing there was an Indian workman, a 
 magnificent fellow, tall, strong, and graceful as a panther. 
 His face was very peculiar, a long hooked nose and 
 straight wide mouth, with a strong line each side. He 
 would make a perfect Mephistopheles, and would not 
 need to go on tiptoes when he wanted to be impres- 
 sive. He was wonderfully solemn generally, but in 
 
in Canada, Wesiej^n U.S., and Mexico. jt^ 
 
 the pauses of the work he turned to make quite 
 Mephistophelian gestures to his friends, and then his 
 face became all grin. I watched him a long time. He 
 was the finest Indian I ever saw. Generally they are 
 short and ugly, the women very coarse. 
 
 Thursday, September 2'jtJi. — The park we visited the 
 previous week was formally opened by the mayor. 
 Forty carriages of all kinds went in procession, all 
 decked out with flags, of which, I regret to say, there 
 were as many American as British. We left Vancouver 
 by the 2.30 boat for Victoria. As we waited for the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway express to come in, we saw a 
 train-load of sand very rapidly emptied on to the pier 
 by a sand plough. The wooden piles of the pier are 
 constantly destroyed under water by a worm called the 
 torrido, which makes a hole, at first no larger than a 
 darning needle, but as the worm grows, so the hole 
 enlarges to the size of a man's finger — many remedies 
 were tried to destroy the worm, but nothing succeeded 
 except creosote, which is too expensive, so now the 
 piles are being surrounded by sand. We had a delightful 
 passage to Victoria. To our astonishment Mt. Baker 
 reappeared when we had got some way from land, and 
 we passed through a school of whales spouting and 
 leaping occasionally out of the water. Paget Sound is 
 full of large islands, very like the Thousand Islands, 
 but on a grander scale. When evening came on, after 
 a fine sunset glow, the stars shone out in thousands. 
 It is curious that often there is very little colour at 
 sunset in the west, but a splendid glow in the east. 
 
74 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 We arrived at Victoria at nine o'clock. The electric 
 lights were visible long before we arrived, and by them 
 we were able to notice what a roundabout entrance 
 there is to the harbour. We walked to the Driard 
 Hotel, of which we had heard much, but were dis- 
 appointed, as the cooking is very inferior. The rooms 
 were good. Victoria is a pretty place, with a nice park 
 and a Chinese quarter, where we managed to do a little 
 shopping by signs. We also bought at an English 
 shop some Indian carvings in black stone. It is a kind of 
 slate and is only found on the Hydahs Indian reservation. 
 In Vancouver Island we saw very funny-looking Indians. 
 The great excursion is to Esquimaux, the British 
 naval station and headquarters of the Pacific fleet. 
 It is quite at the mercy of any enemy who might take 
 a fancy to it. There were plenty of old-fashioned 
 muzzle-loading guns and even two six-inch breech- 
 loading guns, but none of them 'were mounted and the 
 carriages were safely put away in the stores. There is 
 a large graving-dock and a small machine-shop for 
 repairs, built by the Canadian Government. We drove 
 back by the Gorge, a pretty bit, where an arm of the 
 sea winds up like a river. A kingfisher was in posses- 
 sion of the place. At night we got on board the s.s. 
 T. J. Potter and slept in our cabin, as she sailed at 
 4 a.m. The Custom officer awoke us at six o'clock, but 
 passed our luggage without examination, so I think he 
 might have let us sleep. At eight o'clock we stopped 
 at Port Townsend, another baby town, very prosperous, 
 placed at the extreme end of the peninsula that 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 75 
 
 separates Puget Sound from the sea, on American 
 territory. The whole peninsula is one dense forest, 
 which has been bought up by a large company in San 
 Francisco, greatly to the annoyance of local folk. It 
 seems no single person or firm may legally take up 
 from the State more than a certain quantity of land, 
 but this company gets people to claim and take up, 
 and then buys from them, and is powerful and clever 
 enough to hold its own. Here we saw a horrid creature, 
 a great octopus, clinging to a pile of the landing-stage. 
 We thought there was another further back under the 
 platform, and there were also some enormous white sea 
 anemones or fungi, some feet below the water, so that 
 we could not see them clearly. Port Townsend expects 
 to be eventually the great port of this district ; it is 
 nearest the ocean, and all boats going to Vancouver and 
 Tacoma must pass it, but at present it has no railway 
 nearer than Tacoma. 
 
 At Seattle we changed from the Potter, which 
 remained there until 3.30, to the Hasseto, a ricketty old 
 boat with a large stern paddle-wheel, which started at 
 once. We wanted to catch the night-train for Port- 
 land "and had to pick up some of our goods at the 
 Tacoma Hotel, but when we arrived we were told the 
 train was four hours late, so we decided to stay all 
 night at the hotel. Next day we learnt a train had 
 been sent off at the usual time with the local traffic. 
 That is always the way in America, it is impossible to 
 obtain information. We should have been glad to take 
 the night-train, because the run to Portland is very 
 
76 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 ugly and flat. The railway company is reclaiming a 
 piece of shore at Tacoma by putting out a pier, and 
 filling in the space between pier and shore by washing 
 down the hill-side into it with a powerful stream of 
 water through a hose- pipe. This interested us, because 
 it was the system employed formerly in hydraulic gold- 
 mining, now forbidden, on account of the damage caused 
 by the debris, which covered the lower country and 
 ruined the agriculture. 
 
 After a weary journey, nothing interesting, not even 
 the ferry across the Columbia River, with slight rain 
 all day and much mist, we arrived at Portland at 
 2.30 p.m. We had been told over and over again that 
 it was very late in the season for fine weather in this 
 district, that if rain once set in it would probably go on 
 for months, so, as it had set in and looked as if it 
 meant continuing, and as, moreover, we learnt that the 
 Northern Pacific train had been delayed two days on 
 account of a burnt bridge, and we should have our 
 train to ourselves, we decided to go on at once and 
 miss the Columbia River. Portland looked very doleful 
 as we drove to the hotel for letters, quite in vain, and 
 the cabman made us pay an extravagant fare. Port- 
 land seems to be a declining city, killed by its new rivals 
 on Puget Sound. Perhaps sunshine would have altered 
 its appearance, but it looked quite mouldy and for- 
 gotten, the streets empty and forlorn. 
 
 We had a very comfortable journey to San Francisco 
 in the almost empty car. Teas and breakfasts on car, 
 and dinner at Sissons. There was an interesting negro 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. jy 
 
 in charge of the car, who wanted, as so many do, to 
 come to England, where they think they will escape 
 the contempt shown for their race by Americans. 
 This man was born in the Bahamas, and had been in 
 charge of some lower department in a place of business 
 or warehouse in New York. One young fellow after 
 another had come under him, learnt from him, and been 
 passed over his head. At last he went to the " Boss," 
 and asked him if he were not to be advanced. "Im- 
 possible," said the master, " except porter, there is 
 nothing else open to you because of your colour." So 
 he left, but found it the same everywhere. I did not 
 know what to say to him, there are so few negroes in 
 England that they are looked upon as curiosities, and 
 there are plenty of our own people to do the work. 
 He gave a terrible account of their condition in Cali- 
 fornia. He said they could expect no justice against 
 a white man ; no Court would decide in favour of a 
 coloured man whatever the case might be. A white 
 conductor went further than this. He said all justice 
 was sold. A rich man might do anything he liked, 
 from murder downwards, with impunity. This opinion 
 we heard again and again from Californians, and indeed 
 pretty well all over the States. As far as I could judge 
 from their own accounts, Mr. Bryce's book is simply 
 a pretty picture of what things ought to be ; but in fact 
 there is but one judge and one law, the almighty dollar. 
 My black friend meant to go back to the Bahamas 
 when he had saved a little money. There, he said, a 
 man was a man whatever his colour, and respected 
 
78 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 according to his conduct ; everything was open to all, 
 and coloured men might be soldiers or policemen, or 
 anything they were fit for. We often found men in 
 America who looked forward to returning to Australia as 
 a happier country than the United States. It is a great 
 trouble to genuine Americans that recent comers do not 
 amalgamate with them and become one people. The 
 Irish are of course the worst, for they are not only most 
 interested in Irish affairs, but they use their political 
 power as American citizens to forward their plans and 
 intrigues in the old country ; but the Germans also 
 remain Germans, and congregate together and keep up 
 home associations and their attachment to the Father- 
 land, and the English^ too, are said to keep themselves 
 together, and never forget the land of their birth. 
 
 The journey from Portland to San Francisco occu- 
 pied a night, a day and a night. There is very pretty 
 scenery. Mount Shasta, a glorious snow-covered giant, 
 was visible all the morning, but, unfortunately, was 
 clouded over when we were at Sissons, which lies just 
 at its foot. There is a long and difficult rise to Sissons, 
 3555 feet above sea-level. Often we could see the line 
 doubling on its track four and five times. A young 
 fellow got out at a station on the hill-side, and went 
 straight up to a station some way above, arriving 
 as soon as the train, but quite exhausted. The descent 
 is more gradual and is through a great grazing country, 
 partitioned into immense estates, and covered with 
 fine horses and cattle. Then the train gets into the 
 Sacramento Valley, which might have been made for 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 79 
 
 its accommodation, and follows it until dark, passing 
 some curious rocks looking as if giants had com- 
 menced to build there, something, I suppose, like the 
 pillars of Staffa, and a delicious cascade, that falls over 
 banks of moss under drooping trees — a fairy spot. It 
 was at Red Bluff, on this line, that I met the first 
 beggar I had seen in America. 
 
 Tuesday, October 2nd. — We reached San Francisco 
 at nine o'clock, an hour late, on a foggy morning, and 
 were disgusted with the difficulties of the arrival. We 
 had to get out of the train at Oakland Pier, and wait 
 until all the luggage was transferred, before getting 
 into the immense ferry-boat, which took us across in 
 half an hour to San Francisco. Here we landed on a 
 tumble-down, dirty platform, and went through shabby 
 wooden buildings amongst a crowd of screaming, 
 hustling hotel-touters, who knocked us down and 
 trampled upon us and tore us to pieces. Of course we 
 had checked all our baggage (25 cents each), and, avoid- 
 ing the hotel 'bus (25 cents each), took the cable car 
 (5 cents each) to the door of the Palace Hotel. This 
 is, on the whole, a good hotel, though the service in the 
 restaurant is very bad, and I should think the drainage 
 doubtful. Perhaps we should have done better if we had 
 taken our meals in the table-d'hote room. Here we 
 tasted terrapin. It was like minced mutton with an in- 
 numerable quantity of small bones. Squab, we found, is 
 only American for pigeon, and Californian champagne is 
 very bad for the price, but so were all the Californian 
 wines, Zinfandeln, &c., we got at the hotel ; but it is 
 
So Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 said some of them^ when got from the wine-merchants, 
 are really quite good. The principal thing to do in 
 San Francisco is to loaf about China-town, visit the 
 Joss-house, a dark room up a very steep staircase over 
 a chemist's, with some huge idols and some finely carved 
 and coloured shrines with candles burning before them, 
 Roman Catholic fashion ; and make desperate attempts 
 to see the views from different points. Our experience 
 was that, however fine the morning, as soon as we 
 came within a quarter of an hour of any point we 
 were making for, a great sea-fog rolled in and swallowed 
 up everything. We managed to see the sea-lions, an 
 inferior kind of seal without fur, which dwell in multi- 
 tudes on a rock opposite the dirty Cliff House Restau- 
 rant, and we heard them bark. They make a great 
 noise. From there, too, we first caught a glimpse of the 
 Pacific Ocean, not much, on account of the fog. We 
 had miles of cable car, and "dummy engine" train, 
 on this round. The country is all sand dunes, and 
 this road goes past great tracts of cemeteries. The 
 Freemasons have their own, the Odd Fellows theirs, 
 anything to distinguish one man from his brother worm. 
 Friendly societies are more thought of here than with 
 us. Men wear little brooches to show that they belong 
 to certain societies — even the President of the American 
 Institution of Mechanical Engineers wore a little 
 brooch to make people aware of the fact. The variety of 
 these badges is endless, some gentlemen wearing several 
 at once. We visited the United States Mint where we 
 saw nothing new, but we learnt something new about 
 
in Canada, Western U.S.^ and Mexico. 81 
 
 our old neighbours in Swansea. The official guide, in 
 his speech to a large party of visitors, after describing 
 how as much as possible was got out of the ores here, 
 continued, " The refuse metal is then sent on to Swan- 
 sea, where labour is at 5 cents a day ! " 
 
 Colonel Taylor took us to the Fire Station to see the 
 twelve o'clock drill. At the electric signal the horses 
 rush to their places in front of the car, the men come 
 sliding down poles instead of down the staircase, and all 
 is ready in two and a half seconds. I was disappointed 
 with the btisiness. The firemen did not even take their 
 places on the car, nothing was done at all except harness 
 the horses. The harness is hung over the car and when 
 the horses take their places it drops on to them, leaving 
 nothing to be done except to buckle the belly strap and 
 clinch the collar clasp. Then, too, it was not a fire 
 engine at all, it was only a salvage car. These things 
 are all over-described. Edward being much interested 
 in the cable cars, we visited several of the stations to 
 see the engines at work and how the whole thing was 
 done. There is nothing pleasanter to travel by, or 
 quicker, or safer when they have a fair chance ; but I 
 must say when we were in a car that dashed like light- 
 ning down an incline much too steep for horse cars and 
 saw other cable cars tearing along towards us at right 
 angles along cross streets, so that the slightest mistake 
 on the part of either driver would dash the two cars into 
 each other; I felt less charmed with them. The longest 
 cable is 36,000 feet, the steepest incline i in 5.V, the 
 price 5 cents everywhere. This 5 cent piece is the 
 
 (; 
 
82 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 lowest coin in circulation in California ; coppers can 
 only be used to buy postage stamps. 
 
 Colonel Grey, formerly chief engineer to the Northern 
 Pacific Railway, took Edward to see the Union Iron 
 Works, a large shipbuilding yard with a hydraulic 
 graving-dock. They were building two fast cruisers for 
 the U.S. Government to go nineteen and a half knots 
 an hour, and carry two 8-inch and six 6-inch guns. 
 No armour plating except a protected deck over the 
 machinery. 
 
 It was during our stay in San Francisco that Mr. 
 Cleveland finally decided on the exclusion of the 
 Chinese, to the great delight of everybody except the 
 Chinese themselves, on whom it fell so unexpectedly 
 that two thousand were said to be even then on their 
 way to San Francisco, many of them having resided 
 there before, but all were to be refused admittance. 
 
 Travellers are told that Chinatown is full of bad 
 characters, and that it is not safe to go there after dark 
 without police escort, but this seems to be only a means 
 of extorting money. Nothing does ever happen to the 
 inquisitive tourist. Most of those who employ the 
 Chinese speak well of them. On the railways it is 
 found necessary to put them in gangs under Chinese 
 heads, as they quarrel with white overlookers, but they 
 work steadily^and never strike. That is probably their 
 great fault in the eyes of the American workman. 
 They make good private servants, too. Colonel Grey 
 told us he had had a Chinese butler in his service 
 thirteen years, with complete charge of the wine and the 
 
 ■to 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 83 
 
 silver. Twice the man had been summoned home by 
 his mother ; the first time, because she thought it time 
 for him to take a wife, and the second time, because she 
 thought it only right he should come to visit his wife 
 and see his child — each time he was away six months. 
 It seems grandmother first and then mother rule in 
 Chinese families. Another less pleasing anecdote told 
 us as true, was of a Chinese servant who, after fourteen 
 years' satisfactory service in one family, went into a 
 violent passion over nothing particular, pulled out his 
 knife, and killed three people. 
 
 " Johnny," as he is called, looks very good-tempered 
 and cheerful. Still I sympathize with the Americans in 
 wanting to get rid of them. So far there has been free 
 trade in labour and nothing else, and the land is being 
 filled with strange races. We were told that the horrible 
 low Poles, Russians, &c., who swarm into London and 
 our manufacturing towns, fill all the works in the big 
 Eastern States manufacturing centres, and take very low 
 wages, so that the natives are forced to go West. Still, 
 I cannot think how California will get on without the 
 Chinese, for now they do all the work, make the rail- 
 roads and keep them in order, do the washing and the 
 cooking, and most of the field-labour. 
 
 With the assistance of a gentleman in business in San 
 Francisco, Edward made a calculation as to the relative 
 comfort and prosperity of the labouringclasses in England 
 and California, taking into consideration on one hand 
 the high wages paid, and on the other the extravagant 
 prices of the necessaries of life. The result was^ that 
 
 G 2 
 
84 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 while a single man can live as well and save more money 
 in California than he can in England, a married man 
 with a family will be rather worse off. Rents are so 
 high that many working men live in boarding-houses. 
 Clerks, railway conductors, and people of that class 
 rarely have houses of their own, because American 
 women dislike housework. The woman, who in Eng- 
 land would put her pride in her comfortable home, and 
 would herself work to keep it clean and tidy, and pre- 
 pare her husband's meals with loving hands, is in 
 A.merica a fine lady with fashionable hat and stylish 
 costume, and would not for a moment think of putting 
 her hand to brush or kettle, it would seem to her a 
 degradation, so they live at hotels or in boarding-houses 
 with great expense and little comfort. 
 
 The election excitement was very great all the time 
 of our visit, and occasionally small processions in curious 
 fancy uniforms with bands of music would look in at the 
 hotel and give us a tune. Nobody seemed to pay any 
 attention to these processions as they passed along the 
 streets, there was no tail of cheering politicians. There 
 is quite a different feeling about these things in America 
 to what there is in England. The procession is not a 
 popular demonstration — it is an advertisement. 
 
 We never got to see the whole of the Golden Gate 
 Park, We reached the band stand one Sunday after- 
 noon, and found hundreds of carriages and a number 
 of pedestrians listening to the music. Close by is a 
 pleasing monument to the composer of the " Star- 
 spangled Banner," the American National Air. The 
 fog came pouring up from the ocean before we had 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. ^^ 
 
 been there ten minutes, so we fled. The same afternooi? 
 we took a car up a steep street and then got into a bit 
 of waste ground on the top of a hill, from where we had 
 a magnificent view of the Bay and the Golden Gate. 
 The sun was setting gloriously, but still streams of fog 
 were pouring across the Park, happily missing the town 
 for once. We walked back down California Street and 
 Nob Hill,.sometimes called Snob Hill, and saw the large 
 houses of the millionaires, each with two entrances, one 
 for use and the other as an excuse for an immense flight 
 of steps. Our excursion to the Presidio, the military 
 reservation, was as unlucky as that to the Golden Gate 
 Park. We got some pretty views on the way, and 
 admired the trim officers' quarters, but as soon as we 
 started to walk to the particular view we had come for, 
 the fog calmly rolled over the hill, and covered it up. 
 The shops in San Francisco were very good, finer than 
 any others we saw, but most to be admired was the 
 extraordinary number of cake shops. People go to 
 them for meals, just taking tea, cofiee or chocolate, and 
 cake. We tried them once or twice for afternoon tea ; 
 but that is not their object, they are for poor people to 
 make a solid meal. In one shop the man told us they 
 cut up fifty cakes a day. 
 
 We left San Francisco in the evening, and arrived 
 at Raymond, the end of the railway towards the 
 Yosemite Valley, at 7 a.m., Tuesday, the 9th October, 
 after a miserably cold night in the Pulman car. We 
 had a wretched breakfast at the tiny hotel there, but, 
 after that, all was well with us. We had secured 
 the box seats on the coach for the whole journey. 
 
86 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 there and back. The drive to the White Soda Springs 
 was pretty, winding through a forest. Here we got an 
 excellent lunch, well cooked and pleasantly served 
 by the landlord and his family. To my astonishment, 
 I saw in the visitors' book that one of our party 
 complained that he could not get enough to eat ! No 
 doubt I have been as unjust in some of my criticisms. 
 After leaving the White Soda Springs the scenery 
 became very grand as we rose higher and higher on the 
 mountain side. Occasionally there were glimpses of 
 distant hills away towards the sea, but the valley and 
 the opposite hills were sufficient of themselves to make 
 the drive delightful. The finest distant view was from 
 the top of a steep hill, at a place feelingly named by 
 some pedestrian " Perspiration Point." The immense 
 trees, oaks, cedars, and pines of different kinds, with the 
 golden green moss on their trunks, and the bushes of 
 all colours, with the variations of light and shadow 
 on the ground as the sun shone through the trees, 
 and the cloudless blue sky, were a good preparation 
 for the grander beauties of the valley. We had a very 
 pleasant, good-looking driver, Tommy Gordon, very 
 careful at the dangerous corners. The roads are rough, 
 so that we were pretty well shaken and tired. Poor 
 hotel at Wawona. 
 
 Wednesday, Oetoher loth. — We got up at five o'clock, 
 according to orders, but could get no breakfast until 
 6.40. We started about seven. Our new driver, Uriah 
 Toby, was a big, handsome, solemn fellow, a very fine 
 whip. We dashed down the steep hills and round the 
 
271 Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. Sy 
 
 sharp corners at a splendid pace. I do not suppose we 
 went any slower because of my delight in his prowess. 
 His skill was wonderful. I spent the day with one eye 
 on his driving, and one on the scenery. He must come 
 of a Yorkshire stock. Certainly he was the best speci- 
 men of the wild Westerners we met with during our 
 journey. At first the road was much the same as on 
 the previous day, except that the trees were finer, 
 and the pine that bears enormous cones, up to sixteen 
 and eighteen inches long, grows in this forest. Quail 
 abounded larger than ours, also ground and grey squirrels, 
 blue jays, and woodpeckers busy knocking holes in the 
 trees and storing up acorns, sometimes killing the trees 
 by the extent to which they honeycomb them. Fresh 
 deer-tracks were on the road, and we were told rattle- 
 snake were common. Indeed, Tommy Gordon's hat was 
 decorated with the rattle of one he had killed on the 
 roadside with his whip. After driving thirteen miles, 
 and admiring the extensive view from Look-Out Point 
 across the Merced Valley, and over row after row of 
 hills towards the coast, we changed horses, then had 
 two more miles up-hill, and then four miles' rapid 
 descent to Inspiration Point, whence the first view of 
 the Yosemite Valley is obtained, a view never to be 
 forgotten. The beautiful photographs and enthusiastic 
 descriptions can give but a very poor idea of its wonderful 
 grandeur. The next point is called Artists' Point, 
 because it is better for sketching. After a delightful 
 rush down the hillside, and a long drive on the level, 
 we reached the Stoneman House Hotel, quite good, at 
 
88 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 the end of the valley. We were much tired and shaken^ 
 for the road is rough, being torn up by the constant 
 traffic during the dry season. Toby niissed every stone 
 and hole he could in a wonderful way, and he brought 
 the coach down the hills and round the corners with 
 admirable skill. Most of the way the road skirts preci- 
 pices, like a Swiss road. The weather had been very 
 hot ever since we left Raymond, and continued so until 
 we reached Raymond again. So unfortunately, the cele- 
 brated waterfalls, the Virgin's Tears and the Yosemite 
 Falls, were absolutely dry, and the Bridal Veil had very 
 little water. This is passed on the right soon after 
 reaching the valley ; then the glorious rock of El Capitan, 
 a straight wall three thousand three hundred feet high, 
 perhaps the most beautiful object in the valley, is passed 
 on the left ; the Cathedral Rock, the Cathedral Spires, 
 the Sentinel Rock and Dome on the right, and the 
 Three Brothers on the left. The Royal Arches, 
 Washington Column, North Dome, Half Dome, and 
 Glacier Point are well seen from the hotel. Unfortu- 
 nately, the dust was so deep, walking was out of the 
 question. We made a desperate attempt to reach Mirror 
 Lake on foot, but had to give it up. The journey from 
 Raymond to Clarkes, or Wawona, is forty miles, with 
 four teams of four horses ; from Clarkes to the Stoncman 
 Flotel is twenty-six miles, with two teams of four horses. 
 The drivers have only Monday off. vSix days in the 
 week they drive these great distances, every yard of the 
 road being such as to require the utmost care. It is 
 wonderful there are not more accidents. The Govern- 
 
in Canada^ Weste^ni U.S., and Mexico. 89 
 
 ment of the United States made a present of the 
 Yosemite Valley to the Californian' Government, who 
 hold it as a place of recreation for the people for ever. 
 They make the roads, which are fairly broad, and good 
 as the nature of the country allows. There were some 
 curious bits of work. In several places the road was 
 hemmed in too closely by immense trees, so, instead of 
 cutting one down, the exact distance required had been 
 measured on the trunk, and a slice taken off high enough 
 to allow the wheels to pass. In other places, big dead 
 trees having fallen across the road, the obstacle had 
 been sawn across at both sides of the road, and only the 
 middle piece removed. The Government have built the 
 Stoneman Hotel, which is much larger than any of the 
 old ones. 
 
 TJmrsday, October \\th. — A blazing day. We started at 
 nine o'clock on a buckboard to see what we could. First 
 to the Mirror Lake, now almost dried up and muddy, but 
 pretty from its situation. In the side of the great walls 
 of rock near the lake is a profile, said by the Indians to 
 be one of their ancient heroes, with a name many 
 syllables long, looking for his lost bride, Tis-saack, to 
 return and bring joy and happiness to his wigwam. It 
 is difficult to feel sentimental about Indian love affairs. 
 No doubt Tis-saack ran away because she was tired of 
 carrying his tent and baggage after him on foot while 
 he rode on ahead. She would also have to do all the 
 hard work, pitching the tent, cooking, getting in fire- 
 wood, &c., while the devoted husband smoked, fished, or 
 hunted. Let us hope she found an easier situation. 
 
go Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 From the lake we went down the valley, past El 
 Capitan, and up the hill (on the opposite side of the 
 valley to Inspiration Point), on the Milton Road, getting 
 some lovely views down the Merced Caiion, where there 
 used to be a road to Madera, now deserted, because 
 three roads into the valley did not pay. From the 
 Milton road we saw the road we came by, and the zig- 
 zag from Inspiration Point into the valley. On the 
 Milton side the road is suddenly blocked by a magnifi- 
 cent rock, standing out alone on the hill-side, and has 
 to make many doubles to get high enough to pass it. 
 So rich in beauty is the valley that this rock has not 
 been thought worthy of a name, though it would make 
 the fortune of a Scotch valley. It was the same with 
 some curious rock pillars. The road was very steep 
 and rough, so that on reaching the top we were glad to 
 rest in the shade of some gigantic pine-trees and eat our 
 lunch. As the yellow flowers in my hat had faded to 
 dirty white and looked very shabby, it suddenly occurred 
 to me to take them out, and trim my hat with the 
 beautiful golden moss, which I did with complete success, 
 and gained many compliments from fellow-travellers. 
 I brought that moss home, and it is golden now. On 
 our return to the valley we followed the river, and, 
 leaving the carriage, struggled through the brushwood 
 to get to the pools to see the lovely reflection of EI 
 Capitan. About a third of the way up this bare rock a 
 solitary pine-tree has managed to plant itself and grow 
 about one hundred feet. It is very difificult to distin- 
 guish it amongst the many lines on the rock, of cracks 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 91 
 
 and inequalities. Our driver had arranged for us to 
 arrive at the Bridal Veil at the proper moment to see 
 the rainbow. To-day it was 3.40. The sun must be at 
 a particular point of its descent to catch the fall, and 
 then it turns it into one immense rainbow. As we saw 
 it, even with so little water, it was very beautiful. We 
 reached the hotel about 4.30, after a delightful day, to 
 find it literally empty — not a creature there, except one 
 Chinaman in the kitchen. At last Edward induced him 
 to make us some tea, but as he said he had nothing to 
 do with the cream, Edward had to go into the cellar and 
 take what he wanted himself. 
 
 This night we were the only guests in the hotel, the 
 Boston family who came with us having gone to Glacier 
 Point. The Boston gentleman is a wholesale boot and 
 shoe manufacturer, and employs a large number of 
 Irish, who give him a great deal of trouble with strikes 
 and disputes. His daughter told me how frightened 
 they often were, for the men would wait outside her 
 father's office and would form two lines for him to walk 
 through while they swore at and threatened him. Even 
 men who had been with him twenty years, and re- 
 ceived much help and kindness from him, would join 
 the rest. Another traveller was a German gentleman, 
 representative of a soft woollen goods firm, who was 
 making an extended tour, combining business and plea- 
 sure. He had been in every West Indian island, all 
 through South America and Mexico, and was now going 
 through the States. These German superior commercial 
 travellers are everywhere, seeking whom they may 
 
92 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 devour. We had that day an opportunity of testing 
 the American boast of the high wages they pay. On 
 our drive we met a cart with five horses, bringing freight 
 for the Stage Company, so we inquired what pay the 
 driver got. He said he owned cart and horses ; he 
 came fifty miles, and was paid three cents per pound ; 
 he carried 3500 pounds up and down these dreadful 
 roads, so would receive 105 dollars. Out of this he had 
 to pay twelve dollars for tolls, one dollar for the keep 
 of each horse per day, and his own food, two meals at 
 fifty cents each, altogether forty-two dollars for the 
 journey, so that he would only have sixty-three dollars 
 in hand to cover his own wages, and five days' work and 
 wear and tear of his five horses and cart. Poor pay in 
 a country where the lowest coin is five cents ! 
 
 Friday, October 12th. — Another blazing day. We 
 started at eight o'clock for a long day's work. We 
 drove to the stables, close to the old ^hotels, and then 
 mounted ponies for the ascent to Glacier Point. It is a 
 wonderful trail, quite safe and easy, but rather giddy, as 
 at several turns the pony's head is over one precipice 
 and his tail over another, and often, by stretching out 
 an arm, we could have dropped pebbles straight down, 
 hundreds of feet, into the valley. The beauty of it sur- 
 passes, I think, anything in Switzerland. For some 
 time we crept up under the Sentinel Point, which towered 
 far above us, but by-and-by we reached his level, and 
 from Glacier Point looked down upon him. Half-way 
 to the point there is a turn in the zigzag, from which 
 the traveller can see both ways, up and down the valley. 
 
m Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 93 
 
 It is a dizzy pleasure, as there is a sheer descent of one 
 thousand five hundred feet on each side, but there is no 
 danger. We stopped to visit a flat rock, remarkable 
 both for the view from it and for the curious Agassiz 
 Column close by. This column is composed of three 
 immense stones, one on the top of the other. Most of 
 the rocks seemed to be divided into upper and lower 
 parts, sometimes of different kinds of stone. It was very 
 interesting to note how different the rocks looked from 
 different elevations. For instance, from the valley, the 
 Washington Column looks very fine, but as one rises it 
 fades into insignificance, and seems to melt into the 
 general outline, but the Half Dome looks magnificent 
 from every point. The Cap of Liberty looked but a 
 small affair from Glacier Point, but when one is close 
 to it, it is very fine. This wonderful trail was made 
 by a man called Macauly, from Antrim, who now keeps 
 the little inn at Glacier Point with the assistance of his 
 wife, a pleasant, motherly German, and his two fine 
 boys, who, however, are to go to school next year, and 
 the mother is to go down, too, to make a home for them 
 and keep them out of mischief. Mr. Macauly is a most 
 interesting man. He told us that he had been a sailor, 
 first on the Cunard Hne^ but had joined the Confederate 
 service because the pay was so high. He planned 
 the trail all by himself, although he knew nothing of 
 engineering, just planning it out from place to place by 
 his eye. Every one told him he would never succeed, 
 but he persevered, though often despairing. Seven 
 nationalities, he said, were concerned in making that 
 
94 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 road — himself (Irish), one Englishman, one Scotchman, 
 a Chinese, two Indians, one American, and a Mexican 
 lad, who worked best of any. It was made in five 
 months, and for seven years he took toll, and then sold 
 it to the State for 2500 dollars. His little inn is beauti- 
 fully clean, and our lunch there excellent. We should 
 have liked to spend a week there, and make excursions 
 into the forest, though that might not have been safe, for 
 there are bears. His boys saw one a few days before 
 our visit not far from the house. The view from the 
 verandah is marvellous — across the valley to the Nevada 
 and Vernal Falls, the Cap of Liberty, the Half Dome, 
 Cloud's Rest, and, far away in the distance. Mount Lyall, 
 where Mr. Macauly said there was a " living glacier." 
 Glacier Point is so called only because from it a glimpse 
 can be had of this glacier far away. A short distance 
 from the inn is a rock jutting out about twenty feet 
 beyond anything else over the valley, just a bar of 
 rock, as if one had put a plank out over the straight, 
 unbroken drop of three thousand five hundred feet. To 
 my horror I found my husband standing on this stone 
 enjoying the view. He had to come off at once, it was 
 too dreadful, but there were nooks and crannies in the 
 rocks where one could wedge one's self and peer over. 
 At one point the rock is flat, and Macauly has put a 
 strong railing. From here we looked straight down 
 on to the hotel, and shouted, as is usual, until some 
 one down below answered our greeting. 
 
 After two hours' rest we mounted our ponies and 
 started for the Nevada and Vernal Falls. By-and-by 
 
211 Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 95 
 
 the track was so steep and rough we preferred trusting 
 our own feet, so got off and walked some way, then up 
 and on again, no longer on a handsome road like Mr. 
 Macauly's, but on just a natural path, very queer at 
 times, round the mountain side down to the valley, where 
 we crossed the bridge over the Illilouette River, passing 
 the lovely Illilouette Falls, then up a tremendous pull to 
 the top of the Nevada Falls, where we got off the ponies, 
 and walked on to the very rock the water falls over. 
 The guide advised our walking down the tiny canon to 
 the foot of the falls, as the path was so steep and rough. 
 Part of the road before reaching the Nevada Falls is 
 very impressive. On one side, for about thirty yards, 
 there is a steep slope, then it ends. From the track 
 one simply sees that there must be a terrible precipice 
 at that point, and that if one's pony slipped and 
 rolled down the bank, there would be nothing to stop it. 
 From below one sees that it is the edge of an extra- 
 ordinary amphitheatre of rock, almost perpendicular. 
 Snow's Hotel, at the foot of the Nevada Falls, was 
 closed, so we missed our tea. We scrambled close to 
 the foot of the Nevada Falls, and over the rocks to the 
 very edge of the Vernal Falls, that is, as near as nerves 
 permitted ; mine kept me further off than Edward 
 ventured, but still I got to where I could look straight 
 down where the water plunges about four hundred feet 
 without a break. There is a natural barricade of rocks 
 close to the falls. The water washes one's feet within a 
 yard of its plunge. There is no practicable path to the 
 foot of the Vernal Falls. A long way off we climbed 
 
96 Five MontJis' Fine Weather 
 
 over rocks into the bed of tlie river to get a glimpse of 
 them from below. On leaving the top of the falls we 
 had to ascend a long way to get round a difficult point, 
 then a steep descent, which gradually became easy, until 
 we reached the valley, and indulged in a " lope " (canter) 
 on the flat to the hotel. Our guide was pleasant and 
 obliging ; he was the brother of the manager of the 
 stables. It was a glorious day. Those who have time 
 should take two days, spending the night at Glacier 
 Point ; indeed, those who have time should spend the 
 summer here. 
 
 Saturday, October i^tk. — Up at 4.30. Started at 6. 10 
 back to Wawona. We were very sorry to leave the 
 valley so soon, for, though we had seen almost every- 
 thing, still we should have liked to see everything again, 
 and spend more time at the best points. Not only is 
 the valley wonderfully beautiful, but it is different from 
 any other. The mountains surrounding it are huge piles 
 of bare granite, with precipitous sides and curious shapes, 
 while the valley itself is full of fine trees, with a peaceful, 
 clear river winding through it, reflecting the wonderful 
 rocks above. Then, too, we could gladly have spent hours 
 climbing round the Nevada and Vernal Falls, and many 
 other charming bits. We hurried back to Wawona, be- 
 cause the afternoon is devoted to visiting the big trees of 
 Mariposa. It was very sad to say farewell to the valley 
 at Inspiration Point. There one sees the whole glorious 
 scene at once ; a few turns of the wheels and it is gone 
 for ever, not the tiniest glimpse to be had anywhere. 
 
 After lunch at Wawona, Toby got a little trap, 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 97 
 
 as there was only one other visitor, a German gentleman, 
 to take us to the Mariposa Big Trees. It was a very 
 beautiful forest drive. We went past magnificent pines 
 and cedars, but they were nothing compared to \.\\& Sequoia 
 gigantea, the highest of which reaches two hundred and 
 seventy-two feet. It is odd that there is no English name 
 for them. We left the carriage and stood at the foot of 
 the Grizzly Giant, and felt like ants creeping round him. 
 Our heads did not reach beyond his roots. Another 
 tree has a doorway cut through the middle, twelve feet 
 by twelve feet, for the coach to drive through, and still 
 the tree lives. The biggest trees are named, many after 
 Presidents of the United States. " Andy Johnson " has 
 fallen, and people walk through the hollow trunk without 
 stooping. The German bought two little trees to take 
 home, and somebody said the Earl of Devon had one 
 on his estate in England that had grown sixty feet in 
 twenty-five years. Toby told us the Mariposa trees 
 were four thousand years old, and I read in an American 
 guide-book that they " were present at the birth of our 
 Lord." I did not see any reason given for their subse- 
 quently leaving Nazareth to settle here. We bought a 
 little pin-cushion of the bark, which is said to be as good 
 as emery paper for needles. 
 
 Sunday, October i^th. — Started at eight o'clock -for 
 Raymond — a charming drive. Tommy Gordon, the 
 driver, was musically inclined to-day, and favoured us 
 with many songs, one very sentimental, about " marble 
 halls, where my love sits and drinks his wine and thinks 
 of me ;" but that soon wearied him, and he went off to 
 
 H 
 
98 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 a very long comic song about "Jim Jones." I could 
 only catch one verse of it : — 
 
 Then he went to Jersey City, 
 
 And lived altogether on clams and cheese, 
 
 He put all his money in his mother-in-law's pocket, 
 And took out a patent for raising fleas. 
 
 After dining at Raymond, we got on board the Pul- 
 man sleeper, and were taken to Berenda, where we had 
 to wait until 4 a.m. for the Southern Pacific train, which 
 landed us at San Francisco at noon. After looking for 
 letters and finding none, and securing berths on the s.s. 
 Santa Rosa for San Diego on the 19th, we went off at 
 once to Monterey to the delightful Hotel del Monte. 
 It was a weary journey of nearly four hours without 
 Pulman car, but the scenery was very pretty, such 
 orchards and vineyards, pretty towns and villages, trees 
 and flowers, and beautiful hills on each side in the dis- 
 tance. We arrived very tired, and indulged in tea in 
 our own room, which we much enjoyed. We were sorry 
 to leave our Boston fellow-travellers, whom we rejoined 
 at Wawona, at 'Frisco. The gentleman was originally 
 a miner, and his wife wore a brooch containing the first 
 nugget he had found. He was going to Sacramento to 
 see an old comrade, still living in the cabin they once 
 
 shared. Mr. C was a very quiet man, but he told 
 
 us some interesting tales of Californian life when he was 
 amongst the gold-diggers. It must have been a fearful 
 time — no law^ no protection for life or property. One 
 man might shoot another, and nobody would interfere — 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 99 
 
 it was nobody's business ; only when matters got too 
 serious they would organize a vigilance committee, arrest 
 the murderers, and hang them. A plank out of an 
 upper-storey window, or the projecting branch of a tree, 
 sufficed as gallows. One of his experiences shows how 
 reckless men can become. A ruffian strolled into town 
 one day, maddened with drink, and telling every one he 
 met that, having already killed eleven men, he meant 
 that day to kill a twelfth, "so that he might have a jury 
 to sit on him in hell ; " he did not care who it was, but 
 he meant to kill somebody. First he went up to a man 
 he knew, who was sitting with his dog between his knees, 
 and shot the dog dead with his revolver, but this man 
 had presence of mind to keep quiet, for if he had 
 spoken, or moved to get his pistol, the wretch would 
 have shot him at once. After vainly endeavouring to 
 pick a quarrel with anybody who knew him, he went to 
 a drinking-saloon, where he found a stranger, just come 
 into the town. Now Bret Harte would have made a 
 
 prettier ending to this tale, but Mr. C was not a 
 
 man to romance, and so it became still more ugly. All 
 the men of the town, seeing his state, and knowing him, 
 slipped quietly away without a word of warning to the 
 stranger. The murderer went to him and stood him a 
 drink, and, as the poor fellow raised the glass to his lips, 
 sprang upon him, knocked him down, stamped on him, 
 and fired five times into him. After this, he thought it 
 wise to retire into the country. Then the others came 
 back, and put the corpse on a cart and drove it round 
 the town to work up the feelings of the community, and 
 
 n 2 
 
100 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 a band was organized to go after the murderer and bring 
 him back. After a long search they found him, and 
 fired at him, but he got away, though wounded, and 
 they followed on. At last they found his horse, covered 
 with blood, and then they found him, badly hurt, tied 
 him securely, brought him back^ and the townspeople 
 met them outside the town, drove the waggon containing 
 the wounded, fettered wretch under a tree, strung him 
 up to one of the boughs, and drove the waggon "away, 
 and so he was hung. There is a want of the heroic 
 about this story !. 
 
 Tuesday, October l6th. — Rather misty, but the air 
 pleasant. It seems the almost constant mist from the 
 sea is considered one of the charms of Monterey by the 
 visitors from the blazing inland States. We were glad 
 to have a quiet day, roaming on tlie beach and in the 
 pretty grounds of the hotel, which cover one hundred 
 and ninety acres, and contain a maze like Hampton 
 Court, tennis and croquet courts, swings, &c. There is 
 a large sea-bathing establishment on the beach. The 
 hotel is very comfortable, the great feature being the 
 winding ascending passages instead of staircases. Our 
 bedroom, with bathroom attached, and very good simple 
 board, was only seven dollars a day for both of us. 
 Next day was brighter, so we took the seventeen miles' 
 drive in a little carriage and pair, six dollars. They 
 appeared to be very short miles. This drive, which is 
 remarkably pretty, is almost entirely over the Hotel 
 Company's property. It goes past the old barracks 
 and the Chinese fishing-village to the seaside, which it 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. loi 
 
 follows a long way, until it reaches the famous cypress 
 grove, which is said to share with the cedars of Lebanon 
 an^d some grove in Japan the distinction of being the 
 oldest trees alive. Now, as Toby said the Mariposa 
 trees were four thousand years old, how old must these 
 be ? They certainly have the appearance of great age ; 
 many are dead, many dying, and the Spanish moss 
 disfigures them badly, and must exhaust them. It grows 
 on every branch. Still, they are very picturesque. We 
 saw plenty of sea-lions, and numbers of coot, wild geese, 
 and very odd-looking birds with long thin bills, flying 
 close past our heads in long, single-file processions. 
 First our driver said they were albatross, and then he 
 said they were pelican. We scrambled over the rocks 
 to look into the pools on the beach at the large mussels 
 and the crabs, and there we found the most magnificent 
 sea-anemones, fully a foot across when open, and of the 
 most brilliant light green. The abellona is plentiful 
 here, but lives in deep w^ater. Every child in England 
 owns an abellona shell I should say, though it does not 
 know the name. We found a little Chinese fishing-vil- 
 lage where they were sold, and we bought one, so fresh 
 that part of the fish was still sticking to the shell. 
 Johnny eats them, but no one else does, though they 
 ought to be as good as scallops. It is said if the fish 
 dies a natural death the brilliant colours in the shell fade. 
 We lunched at the Pebble Beach on provisions we had 
 taken with us, our coachman sharing the meal, and 
 telling us of the long drives he had taken English people 
 several times. It was very tempting to hear of the 
 
102 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 scenery on the road between Monterey, via the Yosemite 
 Valley, and Virginia City, but of course the season was 
 too late for us to do it. Further on is a beach of white 
 sand, which was being carted away for glass manufacture. 
 After leaving the lovely coast, we drove through woods 
 alive with quail, and, finally, got on to the high road, 
 which was very rough and dusty. We looked at the 
 Roman Catholic Church, built in 1794 of bricks plastered 
 over and coloured yellow, the court-yard paved with 
 whales' bones, formerly very common here, but now be- 
 coming scarce, as the whales have been killed off. I 
 fancy our drive ought to have included the old Mission, 
 of which we saw a photograph afterwards atTaber's shop 
 in San Francisco. The driver told us this church, close 
 to the hotel grounds, was the old Mission, and we then 
 knew no better. At the beginning of the wood there is 
 a colony of tiny wooden houses, not half the size of the 
 smallest Arcachon villas, and frames for tents, which are 
 covered in the season with gay-coloured calico, and let, 
 like the tiny houses, to visitors who take their meals at 
 a second-class hotel in the middle of the colony, all be- 
 longing to the Del Monte Company, so that, when the 
 great hotel has its full complement of eight hundred 
 guests, and the second-class hotel, which is also large, 
 is full, and all the villas and tents are taken, the share- 
 holders must make money. 
 
 Thursday, October i8th. — Rose early, and took the 
 6.20 train to Menlo Park, where we got a trap to drive 
 to Senator Stanford's horse-breeding establishment at 
 Palo Alto, where he has over 1000 horses. We passed 
 
in Canada^ Weste7-n U.S., and Mexico. 103 
 
 the University he is building, and the grand tomb he is 
 erecting for himself, his wife, and only son, who died a 
 short time ago, and we drove past the house, with a 
 smart garden, and, coming close up to it, like a park 
 meadow in England, a large vineyard. The horse- 
 breeding establishment is in two divisions ; one for run- 
 ners, which looked like a nice lot of hunters, the other 
 for the great American speciality in horse-flesh — trotters. 
 Senator Stanford is supposed to have the finest, and 
 wins all the races. Occasionally he sells some at 
 enormous prices, but the groom who showed us round 
 remarked with delightful frankness, " He never sells any 
 he thinks he can get any good out of," Of course, his 
 standard is very high. 
 
 The stables were of the most primitive description, 
 just wooden sheds, whitewashed, and guiltless of fittings, 
 except a few pegs on which the clothing was hung and a 
 i&^N medicine bottles stuck in a corner ; none of the trim- 
 ness and neatness that make English stables so pleasant. 
 The horse's food is brought in a bucket at meal-times ; 
 this struck me as being a very good arrangement. 
 Some of the horses were beauties, but very different 
 from anything over here. Electioneer, the original stud 
 horse, now sixteen years old, would be far too heavy 
 for a brougham, but he was a great prize-winner in his 
 day. In some cases a little blood has been introduced 
 and the colts are very handsome. There is a mile race- 
 course for exercising the trotters, who are put into the 
 most comical, tiny, two-wheel traps. The driver has a 
 seat about the size of a postage-stamp, and puts his legs 
 
I04 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 along the shafts. He looks as if he were hanging on to 
 the horse's tail. Unfortunately we never saw a trotting 
 match, but the pace even of these horses exercising was 
 remarkably fast, and the action very fine. 
 
 We drove back to the station past a number of buck- 
 eye trees. As I had often heard and read of buckeyes, 
 after which the State of Ohio is nicknamed, I got some 
 to bring home. They seem to be a kind of horse- 
 chestnut. On reaching San Francisco we went off to 
 Taber for photographs of what we had seen, and then 
 to the curiosity-shop opposite the hotel, where wc got a 
 bowl of Indian wicker-work which holds water, and an 
 old tobacco pouch of the same. These things are 
 becoming scarce, because the Indians can make more 
 by working as ordinary labourers. The dealer told us 
 with pride that he was born and brought up in Wigmore 
 Street, Cavendish Square ! 
 
 Friday, October \Q)tJi. — At 9 a.m. we went on board 
 the steam-ship Santa Rosa. As Edward had been 
 given a pass, and introduced to Captain Ingall by the 
 managing partner, we were allowed to take our trunk 
 into our cabin, which was roomy and comfortable, and 
 were invited to dine at the captain's end of the table. 
 The Santa Rosa is very well managed and prettily 
 decorated. Unfortunately, the fog concealed the coast, 
 and the day would have been dreary had we not made 
 the acquaintance of a cheery, blue-eyed little English- 
 woman, Mrs. Hcrmon, who came with her brother, Mr. 
 Roberts, to California on account of her health ten 
 years ago. San Francisco not suiting her, they settled 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S.^ and Mexico, 105 
 
 at San Diego, where she is always well. Mr. Roberts 
 had the post of chief clerk on the railway, and having 
 to go about a great deal on their work, became 
 thoroughly acquainted with the country and started as 
 land agent, doing very well for a time, but the worry 
 and hard work of it, together with his regular occu- 
 pation, proved too much for his health, and he died 
 about six months before we met her^ leaving her hands 
 full, as there was no one else to take up the business, 
 her husband, an architect and a more recent arrival in 
 the country, not knowing anything about it. She has 
 also the fruit ranche they had just started. I asked her 
 many questions about South California and the pros- 
 pects of Englishmen coming out there. She told me 
 she and her brother had had a good deal to do with 
 young fellows sent out from England. Some were 
 quite unfit for the life, and they had sent them back ; 
 others they had started, advised, and looked after. 
 Sometimes, she said, a young fellow would be sent out 
 with 500/. in his pocket — too small a sum to be of any 
 service— and then, if otherwise a likely lad, they would 
 persuade him to return the money to his father and 
 work for hire until he had saved something and gained 
 experience of the climate, soil, and methods of cultiva- 
 tion, which are totally different from ours. She said it 
 was best for a lad to bring 1000/. with him and buy an 
 uncleared lot. While he is clearing and preparing the 
 land, which he must do with his own hands as labour 
 is too dear to be worth employing, he is gathering 
 knowledge quite as well as if he were apprenticed to 
 
io6 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 some farmer, who would put him to do just the same 
 
 work. If he buys a cleared lot, he is sure to pay much 
 
 more than it is worth, and will begin without the 
 
 necessary knowledge, which can only be gained on the 
 
 spot. The lad should put up a decent little house to 
 
 live in, as too rough and coarse a life has a demoralizing 
 
 effect. She thinks that whenever possible a sister should 
 
 be sent out with a lad, on equal terms as to profits, 
 
 because she makes a home for him, and there is so much 
 
 a woman can do on a ranche ; for instance, preserving 
 
 fruit when it is too cheap to sell. It seems to me a 
 
 rough life for a girl, but she said there were many nice 
 
 people settled there now, who had started reading and 
 
 other societies. When the land is cleared and the olive 
 
 and orange trees -planted which will not bear for some 
 
 years, vegetables and small fruit should be planted 
 
 between them. These pay very well as there is a large 
 
 demand for them ; indeed, nothing can be sent away, 
 
 because the local demand is so great. When the ranche 
 
 is in working order, Mrs. Hermon considered it ought 
 
 to pay five hundred pounds a year clear profit, besides 
 
 keeping the owner, but over and over again she laid stress 
 
 on the necessity for the farmer to do the work himself, 
 
 not merely superintend, but labour with his hands. 
 
 Not only do the Chinese get very high wages, but, as 
 
 we heard from different sources afterwards, it is dan- 
 
 . gerous to employ them on account of the jealousy of 
 
 the white men. In one case a farmer had had fifty 
 
 acres of raisin grapes ruined by tramps and roughs 
 
 because he employed Chinese labour. It is very im- 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 107 
 
 portant in California to keep well with the roughs, as 
 there is no redress, and the law is delightfully uncertain. 
 Mrs. Hermon had seen great evil done by deceitful 
 prospectuses. People come from England, Germany, 
 Italy, &c., lured by their promises, and often staking 
 their whole substance on the venture. In one case a 
 circular was sent offering wonderfully fertile land at 
 three dollars an acre ; and when the poor wretches had 
 broken up their homes and come over, the secretary of 
 the company told them they certainly had had land at 
 that price, but now they had nothing under seventy-five 
 dollars an acre. Another company de;^cribed their land 
 as well supplied with water, whereas there was not a 
 drop to be had until the settler made a deep well. The 
 idea given by the advertisements was of a land where 
 oranges and vines, and all manner of rich vegetation 
 covered the ground, and all the farmer would have to 
 do would be to prune and trim and gather the produce. 
 This is not a true picture of South California. It is a 
 desolate region, except where great labour and costly 
 artificial irrigation have brought out the qualities of the 
 soil. Labour can do nothing there without capital, and 
 it is a question if such a life — mere manual labour at 
 market-gardening — is well repaid by the very small 
 measure of success that seems possible. Whenever 
 we heard of people making money, it was not by 
 ranching but by land speculations. 
 
 We had an amusing instance of the accuracy of a 
 prospectus. A fellow-traveller tried to induce Edward 
 to take shares in some company that owned " twelve 
 
ic8 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 miles of orange groves." It was so printed on the 
 prospectus, but on inquiry they dwindled to eight miles 
 staked out for orange groves — not quite the same thing. 
 
 Santa Barbara was passed at 5 a.m. All day we had 
 alternate fog and sunshine, with only occasional glimpses 
 of the coast, as we were now further out. But this day 
 we saw what we had never counted on meeting so far 
 north — flying-fish in numbers, shining in the sun Hke 
 herrings, and flying about as if disturbed by the ship. 
 They really did fly, not jump ; they turned first one way, 
 then the other. One flew half round the ship. It gave 
 us great pleasure, but it made us feel a desperately long 
 way from home to see these outlandish creatures as 
 common as minnows. 
 
 Just before coming to San Pedro we passed a large 
 iron ship stranded on the rocks. It was an English 
 ship, laden with coals, then worth eighteen to twenty 
 dollars a ton, owing to the strike in New South Wales. 
 The captain refused to take a pilot on board, because 
 he had been the journey before and thought he knew 
 his way, though this part is very difficult to navigate, 
 not only on account of rocks, but of the dense masses 
 of seaweed, which choke the screw and render the ship 
 unmanageable. Of course he came to grief, and lost all 
 his own fortune, which he had put in the venture, as 
 well as the ship. San Pedro has no harbour : it is an 
 open roadstead, and passengers go off and come aboard 
 by a tender. This is the landing-place for Los 
 Angeles. 
 
 San Diego has a very fine harbour, almost land- 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 109 
 
 locked, but with an entrance twenty-seven feet deep. 
 We narrowly escaped running down a tug ; even the 
 captain lost his presence of mind to such an extent that 
 he gave orders in plain English instead of nautical 
 terms, telling the man at the wheel to steer " the other 
 way." From this I judged the danger must have been 
 great. It was evening, and very chilly when we arrived, 
 so that the long journey to the Coronado Beach Hotel, 
 always tiresome, was very unpleasant in the open hotel 
 bus. The hotel is built round an inner court or garden 
 230 by 150 feet, and is supposed to accommodate 2000 
 guests in 630 bedrooms. This sounds like a puzzle, 
 but I take it from a printed card. It has seventeen 
 and a half acres of carpet, and the total cost of it was 
 one million dollars. It was almost empty when we 
 were there and very uncomfortable, the charges high. 
 A curious feature in this* district is the Bridal Chamber, 
 rooms finer and smarter than the others, specially 
 reserved for newly-married couples. There are bridal 
 chambers on the s.s. Santa Rosa and others of 
 the line, and at all the hotels. At the Coronado 
 Beach Hotel, to quote their own words, " The two 
 bridal chambers in suites are exquisite in their appoint- 
 ments of white and gold. It would be a species of 
 literary sacrilege to try and enumerate their charms. 
 In every particular they are the very acme of perfection." 
 By the way, this gives a good idea of the usual style of 
 American advertisements. Generally, people like to 
 hide the fact that they are newly married ; but here it 
 is otherwise. Captain Ingalls told us of one happy 
 
no Five Months Fine Weather \ 
 
 couple who had engaged the bridal cabin, and came on 
 board in all their bridal finery, but immediately after 
 leaving the harbour the Pacific Ocean proved too much 
 for the bridegroom, and he fell flat on his face in the 
 saloon, and remained there groaning and lamenting 
 until they reached Santa Barbara. 
 
 We rested on Sunday, admiring the lovely bay and the 
 brilliant colouring of sea, sky, the distant hills, and 
 indeed everything, in the delicious sunshine. It is sup- 
 posed that formerly a river ran out here, but somehow 
 it disappeared, and the curious bay is the old mouth of 
 the river, kept open by the sea, but gradually filling up. 
 It is the only harbour in the States south of San Fran- 
 cisco, which is the finest in the world. North of San 
 Francisco there is again no harbour south of Puget 
 Sound. It is said that large vessels can go about seven 
 miles up the San Diego bay, where they are absolutely 
 protected from the ocean by the long narrow tongue of 
 land which stretches from the southern extremity of the 
 bay, due north to the entrance, which is at the north 
 end. 
 
 It is this narrow strip of land which widens at the 
 northern end and the so-called North Island, which is 
 practically one with it, that the Coronado Beach Com- 
 pany bought and cut up into building plots. The 
 wonderful hotel was the decoy to bring speculators and 
 settlers, and in that capacity it is a great success, 
 much of the land being already sold and many good 
 houses, as well as a multitude of small ones, already 
 built. Even the chambermaid in the hotel had invested 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and JMexico. iii 
 
 her savings in a villa. The hotel itself is unprofitable, 
 and there were rumours it was bankrupt. There had 
 been an idea that Southern California would rival 
 Florida as a winter resort, and so immense hotels have 
 been built everywhere, but even yellow fever cannot 
 drive people from Florida, and there are very few 
 attractions in California. There are no roads for 
 driving or preparations of any kind for tourists. 
 People are said to drive on the beach in the season, but 
 whenever we went on it, it was too soft even for walking. 
 There are some moderately good shops, in one a tempt- 
 ing display of curiosities, but as they were mostly 
 Mexican silver work and such things, we did not buy 
 much. Still we found a few things we wanted. The 
 sunsets over the ocean are very fine. There are some 
 rocky islands outside the bay which stand out beautifully 
 against the sky. 
 
 Monday, October 22nd. — We spent the day with the 
 Hermons, meeting them on the road to Sweetwater Dam 
 in the morning. The drawback of Coronado Beach is 
 the ferry. A car ride to the ferry, then waiting for the 
 boat, crossing, and then another car ride to the main 
 streets of the town, are a bad beginning and finish to a 
 day's excursion, as it means half an hour at each end of 
 the day. We had to walk about a quarter of a mile to 
 catch another car, which took us all the way to Sweet- 
 water Dam and left us there, to see what we could, 
 while it went some way further and returned to pick us 
 up. We only had about half an hour, but it was enough 
 to see the Dam which is a very important work, an 
 
1 1 2 Five Montlis Fine Weather 
 
 immense wall built across the Sweetwater Valley to 
 collect the great body of water that comes down the 
 river in spring, and retain it for irrigation all through 
 the year. The company who made the Dam own the 
 land it is meant to irrigate, which they sell off in five- 
 acre lots for building, and large pipes convey the water 
 along the main roads, and any one may attach pipes for 
 his own property and use as much water as he wishes 
 for house^ garden, stables, &c,, for a rent of two and a 
 half dollars per acre. The soil is wonderfully fertile 
 when irrigated, and very little of the five-acre plots was 
 wasted in flowers ; they are all planted with orange and 
 olive trees. Mrs. Hermon had a ten-acre plot, a special 
 favour, as the wish of the company is to make this the 
 great residential district, so they discourage market- 
 gardening. It is called Chula Vista, and commands 
 lovely views both towards sea and land. Every house 
 built there must cost at least two thousand dollars. Mrs. 
 Hermon showed us how she had planted her ten acres 
 with orange and olive trees, and, for present profit, one 
 thousand strawberry plants, which would yield fruit in 
 December, although only planted in October. The 
 planting being now finished, she meant to discharge the 
 Chinese labourer, who had received forty dollars a 
 month. An American, aged twenty, who did outside 
 work and drove the carriage, received thirty dollars a 
 month, with board and lodging. Mrs. Hermon spoke 
 well of the Chinese, and said they are good, steady 
 workers, but slow. The American can do more and 
 better work in the time if he will, but Johnn}^ has this 
 
171 Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 113 
 
 great superiority, that he requires no watching. He 
 will work all the time as if his master's eye were on him. 
 Tliere was some very fine fruit for dessert — a bunch of 
 grapes weighing three and a half pounds, and splendid 
 apples and pears, but the greatest treasure they had 
 found for me was a live tarantula. They had put it in 
 a bottle, and wanted me to bring it home, but really it 
 was too loathsome. 
 
 These spider monsters are found, like the centipedes 
 and scorpions, in turning over new ground ; they are all 
 venomous and, it is said, a tarantula bite kills, but Mrs. 
 Hermon's man said he had never heard of any one 
 being injured by either tarantula or centipede, though 
 they are fairly common. 
 
 Mrs. Hermon's was quite a large house, and I am 
 sure no English servant would have gone there as maid 
 of all work, but her girl, certainly rather rough-looking, 
 cooked the lunch very nicely and brought it in and 
 changed plates, &c. We noticed everywhere that 
 though wages are high in the States, the work is very 
 hard, and servants are not looked upon as members of 
 the household but as machines. A servant undertakes 
 to do certain work and if she is ill, she is just turned 
 out to make room for a machine in better working 
 order. Of course the servants show just as little regard 
 for their employers. Mrs. Hermon is trying English 
 treatment. After lunch Mrs. Hermon drove us to see 
 several fruit ranches where oranges, guavas, lemons, limes, 
 pomegranates, the third crop of figs, and many other 
 fruits were growing in wonderful profusion. The per- 
 
 I 
 
114 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 Simmon, a Japanese fruit, is the most beautiful tree, 
 the fruit is a brilHant red. The Forbidden Fruit 
 looks very handsome, but does not ripen so far north. 
 Of course vines are luxuriant, but they do not pay to 
 grow now, though the grapes are fine muscat and quite 
 large. 
 
 We visited an old lady, Mrs. Kimball, who gave us 
 grapes off vines that had not been irrigated since they 
 were first planted, six years ago. Kimball is the great 
 name at San Diego. Many years ago the three 
 brothers Kimball bought an immense tract of land, ten 
 leagues, from a Mexican to whom it had been granted 
 by the Mexican Government before the Americans stole 
 half their country. They paid 30,000 dollars for it, of 
 course quite wild and bare. For years they struggled on, 
 often having to borrow money to pay the taxes, which 
 are levied there on all land, whether cultivated or not. 
 At last they persuaded the California Southern Rail- 
 road to come to San Diego, by giving them 40,000 acres 
 and every second block. A block in America is now 
 taken as a term of measurement an eighth of a mile 
 long. 
 
 Now the Kimballs are millionaires, but remain very 
 simple people. This Mrs. Millionaire was hoeing her 
 vineyard in a little cotton dress with the sleeves rolled 
 up, but no doubt Miss Millionaire shines in silk and 
 diamonds, and has her eye on the British peerage. It 
 is to be hoped she will not fall a prey to some adventurer 
 like the individual who called himself Sir George 
 Bridges, Bart., and got engaged lately to the prettiest 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 115 
 
 heiress in San Francisco. Luckily he was discovered, 
 before it was too late, to be an American forger who 
 had played the same trick in several towns and been 
 married more than once. 
 
 Another ranche we visited was the property of a 
 charming old lady of eighty-four, who came there some 
 years back for her son's health. He died, and now she 
 lives there without kith or kin, or even an old friend 
 near her, and still she seems quite happy. 
 
 A visit to Mr. Kimball's olive-mill closed the day. 
 Olive oil making is the rising industry in California, 
 and pays very well, but it requires capital, as the trees 
 have to be planted and do not bear for some years, and 
 the mill and machinery take money. There is no 
 quantity of olives now raised to supply a large mill, but 
 everybody is planting them. Mr. Elwood Cooper has 
 a large olive ranche and mills near Santa Barbara, 
 and the year before last he sold all he made at 
 twenty-five dollars a barrel to go east, and last year 
 at fifteen dollars a barrel. The mill we visited was 
 not even a one horse, it was a one man affair. The 
 process is simple. The olives are crushed stones and 
 all, under a vertical stone roller, then they are put in a 
 tub with holes over a vat, and are very slowly pressed 
 to force out the oil, which is strained, filtered, and 
 bottled, and sold at a dollar a pint. The mast is then 
 put back under the roller, water added, and the same 
 process repeated for second quality oil. The olive-tree 
 growing in California was originally introduced by the 
 Spanish priests, and is called the mission olive. 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 Mrs. Hennon left us at the car station, and on arriving 
 at the hotel we found that, although she had driven us 
 about all the afternoon, we had spent a dollar and a half 
 in car fares. There is a car line to the Mexican frontier, 
 but as there is nothing to see except the boundary-stone, 
 we did not make the excursion, but devoted ourselves 
 to the immediate neighbourhood. San Diego expects 
 to eventually occupy an area four miles by eighteen 
 miles, without Chula Vista, and National City, and the 
 whole of this is already divided into town lots, twenty- 
 five feet by one hundred and twenty feet, at prices vary- 
 ing from eighty-five to five hundred dollars a lot. This 
 information was given us by the estate agent, living like 
 a hermit at the top of University Heights. We had 
 come up by car, and seeing fellow-creatures, he had 
 emerged from his office to take advantage of such an un- 
 usual occurrence. As we laughed at the idea, he waved 
 his hand proudly to draw our attention to the four 
 houses in view, one of them his own office. " All these," 
 said he, " were built since last May." They were miles 
 apart. The long tram-lines are built, like the large 
 hotels, not for profit in themselves, but to induce people 
 to buy lots and build. 
 
 Another car journey took us all along the narrow strip 
 called Coronado Beach, and round the south end of the 
 Bay to the town, in about an hour, with, of course, 
 several changes of car. The sandy waste was marked 
 off into building-plots all the way, some streets already 
 graded, and a few trees planted. In some places the 
 beach is only about thirty yards wide and just above 
 sea- level. It looks as if the waves would go right over 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 117 
 
 it in rough weather. Quite at the south end of the bay 
 there is marshy land, which affords some shooting. 
 
 Thursday, October 2^th. — We left San Diego at 9 a.m. 
 by the California Southern Railroad, and had a pretty 
 run to East Riverside through the Temecula Canon, 
 passing every now and then towns, with graded streets, 
 and trees planted, and everything but houses. They 
 look very comical, but the pity of it is, that it stops 
 ordinary cultivation. If one building-plot is sold, the 
 rest cannot be reconverted into agricultural Ian 1. After 
 changing cars, a run of twenty minutes took us to River- 
 side, the show place of California. As we were trying 
 to arrange about a carriage to take us round, a gentle- 
 man joined us whom we had met before, and who owned 
 a good deal of property in this district, and insisted on 
 acting as showman and standing treat with the carriage. 
 It was a great advantage to have him with us, as he 
 told us all about the great Riverside Irrigation and 
 Land Owning Company, and took care that we saw all 
 the best parts. We drove over wide roads decorated 
 with aloe and palm trees, past gentlemen's houses, each 
 with its orange ranche, to the Magnolia Avenue. The 
 magnolias were planted, but died with one consent, and 
 I do not think they would have been more beautiful 
 than the pepper-trees and gum-trees. There is also a 
 Cyprus avenue, handsome but gloomy. 
 
 We were struck with the great neatness and care 
 required by the orange-trees — not a weed was to be seen. 
 The soil must be kept broken, so that the sun and air 
 can reach the roots, and they must be irrigated three 
 times a year. The orange becomes profitable when six 
 
I i 8 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 years old, improves until it is sixteen, and continues in 
 its prime for many years, being a very long-lived vege- 
 table. At sixteen and after it is said to bring in a profit 
 of 80/. sterling per acre. We saw some olive planta- 
 tions and quantities of grapes drying in the sun on 
 trays for raisins ; it is the sun that turns the white 
 muscat to purple. Seventy-thousand boxes of raisins 
 were exported from Riverside last year. We saw the 
 sorting and packing establishments in the town, but did 
 not admire them. It was all handwork, and the fruit was 
 too much fingered. Chinese were packing raisins in 
 boxes, which were also made on the premises. A man 
 told us he nailed together 600 boxes a day, and as he 
 put all the nails he used into his mouth, and there are 
 ten nails in each box, we calculated that he must take 
 daily a good dose of iron, and we suggested an addition 
 of a little quinine. There are two crops of grapes a 
 year, but they are not very profitable. 
 
 An Englishman called Gage, formerly a little 
 jeweller, started a store here a short time ago, and, 
 after looking about him, devised a new system of 
 irrigation, and has opened up another large tract of 
 land, and so he is rapidly becoming a millionaire. 
 
 Riverside is a teetotal settlement ; wine is not allowed 
 even in the big hotel. They were building more 
 schools. The first thing done when a new settlement 
 is really started is to put up a big schoolhouse. 
 
 We came on to San Bernardino at 5.30 p.m, arriving 
 at six, and put up at the new Hotel Stewart, which was 
 good though not finished. San Bernardino is a very 
 pretty little place, and appeared prosperous. We spent 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 119 
 
 a morning rambling about and eating the delicious 
 grapes of the vineyards that surround it, and in the 
 afternoon started for Los Angeles, just the same kind 
 of place, only larger, and with much the same pretty 
 background of mountains. It is a monotonous country. 
 We passed a number of big hotels on the way, 
 apparently all guiltless of occupants, and the whole 
 valley was laid out in lots to suit purchasers. Much of 
 the land was already under cultivation. 
 
 As the large Raymond Hotel at Pasadena, the 
 fashionable suburb of Los Angeles, was still closed, we 
 put up at the Westminster Hotel, only opened a few 
 months but quite comfortable. Everybody was talking 
 about "Minister" West's foolish letter, and they looked 
 upon the dishonourable means employed to obtain it 
 as most praiseworthy ; so "smart." The Los Angeles 
 Times crowed about it much as our Daily News did 
 of having secured some valuable piece of war news 
 before any other newspaper had got it. The Times 
 drew a most interesting distinction between " private " 
 and " confidential." The letter to Mr. Sackville West 
 promised that whatever answer he sent should be kept 
 " private," and Mr. West marked his letters " private," 
 and so " Mr. Murchison " (as the correspondent 
 called himself) was at liberty to publish it ; but had 
 the word "confidential" been used, the Times would 
 have considered it most dishonourable to have shown it 
 to any one. The local Republican leaders were all 
 delighted. I quote from the Los Angeles Times : 
 Major Bonebrake " thinks it will have a good deal of 
 influence in the result " of the election. Colonel Ban- 
 
1 20 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 bury said, " the richest thing you have struck ; " while 
 General Brierly remarked, " It's knocking the Demo- 
 crats silly all along the line." 
 
 America is a wonderfully military country, one hardly 
 ever meets a plain Mr. Probably not one of the three 
 gentlemen interviewed by the Times had the slightest 
 connection with the army. We had travelled with a 
 San Francisco gentleman for some days, and had heard 
 him addressed as " General," and saw his arrival at San 
 Bernardino announced as that of " General," so I in- 
 quired why he was called General, as he was an insurance 
 agent, and had never been in the army. The answer was, 
 he was called so " by courtesy." The newest fashion is 
 to call yourself or your friends "Judge." Probably 
 military titles are becoming too common. 
 
 Two other quotations from the Los Angdcs Times 
 are rather good — " The Pall Mall Gazette s expose of 
 London immorality, the Deutsche Riindschaii s publica- 
 tion of the late German Emperor's diary, and the Los 
 Angeles Times Sackville West correspondence are the 
 three great journalistic sensations of the present 
 decade." 
 
 The other is remarkable for elegance of language : — ■ 
 " Thurman rose up on end yesterday in Ohio, and 
 fairly snorted over the enterprise of the Pomona states- 
 men in springing upon an unsuspecting public the most 
 beautiful sensation of the campaign." 
 
 Western American newspapers are very uninteresting. 
 Often two pages will be devoted to a chronicle of the 
 entertainments given by Mesdames Brown, Jones and 
 
in Canada^ WLstern U.S., and Mexico 121 
 
 Robinson, the guests and their govvns ; and long 
 accounts of friendly societies' picnics. Another page 
 will be taken hy \.\\^ findUeton\\\iQ a French paper, while 
 less than half a page suffices for all European news. 
 Baseball occupies a good deal of room, and there are 
 curious announcements that such a town has "sold " an 
 eminent player to another town. Often the articles are 
 written in slang that is quite incomprehensible to 
 foreigners, or, what is almost as bad, ordinary words 
 used to convey new meanings, as for instance, in the 
 following sentence from the St. Louis Daily Globe 
 Democrat: — "As this country (America) is unexampled 
 there is nothing to compare with it." The oddest 
 newspaper we saw was presented to us by a fellow- 
 traveller, who owned and edited it. It was about the 
 size of the Saturday Review, was published weekly, and 
 had but one subject — the wickedness of singing hymns 
 when God had specially provided psalms for the pur- 
 pose. All the crimes and misfortunes of humanity 
 were attributed to our neglect of the Psalms. 
 
 We spent a day exploring Los Angeles, which 
 appeared to be very prosperous and growing rapidly. 
 The residential quarters are exceedingly pretty, each 
 house having a garden planted with orange-trees, aloes, 
 &:c., and coming down to the edge of the road, from 
 which it is separated only by a small curbstone, except 
 in S0me streets where a stream of water about eighteen 
 inches broad, flows between the pavement and the 
 gardens. We noticed that the Los Angeles ladies are 
 very pretty. 
 
122 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 Sunday, October 2Zth. — We had engaged a trap to 
 take us the grand round, and had been promised a 
 spirited team and a driver who knew the country well 
 and would point out everything. We got a driver who 
 did not even know the way ; and of our spirited team, 
 one was broken-winded and very lame and the other 
 could hardly keep on its legs. We started at 8.30, and 
 drove first to Pasadena and up the hill occupied by the 
 Raymond Hotel, to see the view from the terrace. The 
 worst of this country is that there is only one view, the 
 same at San Bernardino, Pasadena, and Los Angeles. 
 From there, after much trouble to find the right road, 
 we went to the Sierra Madre Villa, pleasantly situated 
 on the slope of the mountain, with a good view and a 
 garden. We had to wait here an hour for the horses to 
 rest. As we drove away down the hill from the villa, 
 one of them fell and nearly upset the trap. By-and-by 
 we pulled up under a tree and ate our lunch of salt 
 meat sandwiches, crackers, hard boiled eggs, and grapes. 
 The fare never varies, and the driver always expects to 
 share. This man was dull and uninteresting, in fact, he 
 was half asleep. He told us he had to be up every 
 morning at four o'clock to look after his horses, to drive 
 all day, and to drive the 'bus to the train at night, not 
 getting to bed until eleven o'clock. He got sixty dollars 
 a month and a room. We generally found that wages 
 were higher than with us, but the work much harder. 
 One man does two men's work, and gets a man and 
 a halPs wages. 
 
 After losing our way several times, we reached 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 123 
 
 " Lucky " Baldwin's ranche, where there was nothing to 
 see except some tumble-down sheds for stables, and a 
 {q\w fair horses. The whole place neglected and deso- 
 late looking. I could not learn that there was any- 
 special reason for Mr. Baldwin's nickname, except 
 that he had made money, which is not uncommon in 
 California. 
 
 From there we went to the San Gabriel Mission, 
 stopping on our way at the charming San Gabriel Hotel 
 to enjoy a lemon squash. The great feature of this 
 hotel is that there is no bar, or drinking-place, an im- 
 mense advantage for quiet people. This hotel also 
 belongs to a company which owns an enormous tract 
 of land, and hopes in time to build a town round it. 
 
 There was not much to see at the Mission. It is an 
 old church built of brick and plastered, with a nice old- 
 fashioned bell-tower. We looked inside and found a 
 priest catechising some small folk in Spanish, which is 
 still spoken by the old inhabitants. 
 
 Again we lost our way and found ourselves close to 
 a large winery. The country roads are all loose soft 
 sand, and are mended by putting down straw, which 
 mixes with the sand and binds it together. The winery 
 had used the grape stalks for the purpose. At last we 
 hit upon a main road and reached the hotel about 
 five o'clock. We should have liked to know if the 
 driver received the extra dollar charged for the carriage 
 because it was Sunday. 
 
 Tuesday, October 30//^. — We left Los Angeles by the 
 9.40 a.m. train to San Pedro, and then went on 
 
124 ^^"^^ Months Fine Weather 
 
 board the lug which takes goods and passengers to the 
 steamer. We waited one and a half hours for her some 
 way out in the bay, but happily the sea was perfectly 
 smooth. The sun went in about two o'clock, and after 
 that it was very cold and dreary. Next day there was 
 a strong ground-swell, which was too much for every- 
 body on board. It was still very cold, but clear, so that 
 we could see the beautiful coast, and when we arrived 
 at San Francisco about 6.20 p.m., and passed through 
 the Golden Gate, the scene was lovely. The city and 
 the forts were brilliantly lighted up, the sunset had 
 turned the sky to gold, and looking back, when we had 
 passed through the Gate, we saw it as it gained its name 
 — a fort on each side, and, through the opening, the 
 glory of the sunset. It was one of the grandest sights 
 in America. 
 
 The boat was about four hours late, so the baggage 
 was not given out, though we landed before seven 
 o'clock. The walk over the landing-stage was horrid, 
 the hotel touters screaming and rushing at and over us 
 like mad bulls, and hardly any lights, so that we all 
 tumbled into holes and over dust heaps and planks. 
 
 We spent two more days in San Francisco, and had 
 the pleasure of seeing the great Democratic demonstra- 
 tion. Some friends invited us to their corner room, from 
 which we could see the procession come up Market 
 Street and turn along Montgomery Street. We watched 
 it for two and a half hours, and then retired, as it seemed 
 likely to go on for some time. The prettiest things 
 were the stands erected along the streets with red fires. 
 
ill Canada ^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 125 
 
 We could not see very well, as we were so far off and 
 the light was so bad. 
 
 We took the ferry to Oakland, and went by train and 
 car to Piedmont, a very pretty drive up hill, with a nice 
 view over the great harbour. There is. a restaurant 
 at Piedmont, frequented in summer by the San 
 Franciscans. 
 
 During our stay in California, the great divorce state, 
 I watched the accounts of the divorce trials with much 
 interest. They seemed to me to be very serious 
 affairs. Only in one case was divorce granted for causes 
 that would not have procured at least judicial separa- 
 tion in England. This exception was very remarkable. 
 A white woman obtained a divorce on the sole ground 
 that she had married, believing her husband to be a 
 white man, and had discovered afterwards that he had 
 black blood in him. The announcement was made in 
 both the principal San Franciscan papers as an ordinary 
 matter. Of course one hears tales of absurd divorces, 
 but they may not be true. One parvenu millionaire, 
 whose name is freely given, is said to have divorced his 
 old wife, who had struggled through bad times with 
 him, because he did not think her sufficiently elegant 
 for his new position. This surely must be a joke, like 
 the tale about the old negro who won 15,000 dollars in a 
 lottery, so divorced his old wife and gave a white woman 
 3000 dollars to marry him ; " For what," said he, " is 
 wealth, without position in Society ? " 
 
 It was on leaving San Francisco that we made the 
 acquaintance of the American Ticket Brokers' Associa- 
 
126 Five MontJis' Fine Weather 
 
 tion. The main object of all American railways seems 
 to be to avoid making money. For this purpose all 
 baggage trafficwas put into the hands of Wells, Fargo and 
 Co., and similar firms, who take charge of it and pay 
 the railroad companies so much a ton, but charge the 
 passengers so much a pound. This was completely 
 satisfactory so far as it went^ but did not dispose of the 
 passengers ; so the different railways combined to issue 
 absurd return tickets, unlimited as to time, which 
 give choice of return by any route, and are only a trifle 
 more expensive than single tickets. It is the same with 
 long journey tickets, which are sold at greatly reduced 
 rates. 
 
 We ignorantly bought single tickets from Chicago to 
 San Francisco for 97^ dollars each, when for 100 dol- 
 lars we might have had return tickets, which we could 
 have used as far as Denver, and then sold to the Ticket 
 Brokers' Association. We met a gentleman who had 
 done so. These tickets took the traveller from Chicago 
 to Tacoma, over the Northern Pacific, and down to San 
 Francisco by the Shasta route. He might return to 
 Chicago either by Salt Lake City, Denver, and the 
 centre of America, or go south by the Southern Pacific 
 as far as El Paso on the Mexican frontier, and back by 
 any route he liked. Our only dealing with the Associa- 
 tion was from San Francisco to Denver. We applied 
 for tickets, and were seized by the Association agent, 
 who bought us two tickets for New Orleans, via, Denver, 
 and other places we wished to visit. On reaching Den- 
 ver we called at their office and sold the coupons we 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico, iiy 
 
 did not require at a price fixed by the agent in San 
 Francisco — we saved y\ dollars on each ticket. 
 
 I have the circular of the Association giving the 
 official list of members for 1888. They have offices in 
 138 towns. The first purchaser gains by the transaction, 
 the agency gains, and the second purchaser gains. 
 Sometimes one ticket will pass through half a dozen 
 hands. All this is so much loss to the companies. 
 
 Saturday, November yd. — We left San Francisco at 
 9.30 a.m. for Virginia City. It was a sunny, warm da}-, 
 but after leaving Sacramento the line rises to a great 
 height, and it got colder and colder, until a heavy snow- 
 storm came on. The porter lighted the stove in the 
 Pulman car^ and burnt the evil-smelling coal so common 
 in the States, so that we were almost suffocated, and 
 were thankful to leave the train at midnight at Reno, 
 where we got a bed at the little station hotel, which is 
 quite clean and acceptable. 
 
 Next morning we were up early, and off by train to 
 Virginia City, to see the celebrated silver-mines. We 
 expected to have to spend a night there, but luckily met 
 a gentleman in the train who told us we could see every- 
 thing in the day, and return to Reno. Edward had 
 asked for return tickets, but, being told they were only 
 good for the day of issue, had not taken them. Our 
 fellow-traveller told us they were the same price as the 
 single tickets. In any European ticket office the clerk 
 would certainly have told a stranger of this arrange- 
 ment, and that the time allowed would be ample for 
 seeing the mines. 
 
T2S Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 The run to Virginia City was very interesting, up hill 
 all the way, and probably prettier than usual on account 
 of the snow which covered everything. It is a district 
 of narrow gorges with rivers running through them 
 which supply water-power for the quartz mills. 
 Virginia City looks as if it had been thrown at the 
 precipitous mountain side, and had stuck on as best it 
 could. 
 
 Edward presented his letters of introduction to Mr. 
 Lyman, of the Comstock Consolidated Mine, who settled 
 for us to go down the mine at i o'clock, so we went off 
 and had a good lunch at the very unpromising-looking 
 International Hotel. 
 
 The descent proved to be a very serious business. 
 First we had to change our clothes for costumes pro- 
 vided by the company, consisting merely of trousers 
 and long blouses of blue serge, cap, thick boots and 
 stockings. The only difference between us was that I 
 wore my blouse outside, and tried to imagine it looked 
 like a petticoat. A thick waterproof coat is worn until 
 the low level is reached, where the heat is very great. 
 We descended 1650 feet, and went through lofty pas- 
 sages nearly all supported by timber. Some of the 
 supports were bent and curved by the enormous pressure 
 of the earth above. They have to be constantly watched 
 and renewed. Our guide pointed out in several places 
 timbers that had been twelve years in position, and 
 become quite hard. We brought away a piece of wood 
 from the 1550 level that is as close and hard as a stone. 
 It is an enormous mine. The last point of interest 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 129 
 
 visited is the Sutro Tunnel^ made to drain all the Corn- 
 stock lode ; it is many thousands of feet long, and 
 contains a big stream. 
 
 The Comstock lode was discovered in 1859, ^'''cl 
 already 500,000,000 dollars have been taken out of it 
 It now yields four millions a year. This kind of mine is 
 not so speculative as the old nugget-finding business. 
 When a lode is discovered it can be tested to a certain 
 extentj as to how far it goes, and how rich it is in 
 metals. 
 
 On returning to the upper world we were turned into 
 a luxurious dressing-room at the back of the office, with 
 bath and hot towels, and gladly resumed our own 
 garments. Then we were taken over the works to see 
 the machinery, which differs in several respects from 
 that at the Montana Mine. The Comstock people have 
 an electrical process of separation. 
 
 There is no danger in silver-mines from foul and 
 inflammable gases, as in coal-mines ; but sometimes 
 the old timbering takes fire. The water is taken off by 
 the Sutro Tunnel, to which each mine pays it share. 
 The water used for the hydraulic machinery is also 
 conveyed away by the tunnel, so that they get an extra 
 fall of 1700 feet. 
 
 We had a rush to catch our train back to Reno, but 
 we just managed it, and so we were able to continue 
 our journey by the midnight train to Ogden. We got 
 lovver berths in the Pulman car^ and slept, notwithstand- 
 ing the bitter cold. Next day we passed over a per- 
 fectly flat plain with a line of hills in the distance on 
 
 K 
 
130 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 each side. Usually this journey is very dusty and 
 ugly, but the snow had remedied all that, and though 
 monotonous it was really pretty. Edward saw a wolf 
 cross the line. They abound in that country. 
 
 The platforms outside the cars were occupied by 
 Indians, who have the privilege of riding free on this 
 line, because it went through their reservation without 
 paying them anything. They were dressed in the ordi- 
 nary way except for their hats and that they wrapped 
 themselves in blankets instead of overcoats. We could 
 not induce them to talk. 
 
 We arrived at Ogden at 11 p.m., and put up at the 
 little station hotel, just in time to secure the last bed- 
 room. A lady and gentleman who followed us had to 
 take a sitting-room. Next morning we left Ogden at 
 9.40 a.m., arriving at Salt Lake City at 11 a.m. We 
 saw the Lake from the train, and, not far from the city, 
 we passed some boiling springs, so close to the Lake 
 that the railway had only just room to pass between 
 them. There is a great bathing establishment on the 
 Lake, which was closed for the winter. In summer 
 great numbers go there for the salt-water bathing. The 
 country between Ogden and Salt Lake City is well 
 cultivated and covered by herds of fine cattle and 
 horses. 
 
 We went at once to Walker House Hotel, which was 
 very stuffy and disagreeable, quite a third-rate house. 
 The Walkers were formerly Mormons, but have left the 
 church ; still I was surprised to see on sale in the hotel 
 hall, tracts and pamphlets abusing the Morm.ons, and 
 
ill Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 131 
 
 insulting photographs, and Mrs. Stenhouse's book. 
 There is said to be a new and better hotel, called 
 " Cullens." 
 
 Edward had a letter of introduction to Mr. Young, a 
 son of Brigham Young, but he was away, so another 
 eminent Mormon, Mr. B,, and an old gentleman, Mr. A., 
 one of the early believers, kindly took us to see the 
 tabernacle and other objects of interest. The tabernacle 
 is an immense building remarkable for its roof, 250 feet 
 by 1 50 feet, in one span without any other support than 
 the outer walls. The architect was Brigham Young, 
 who invented the plan in the night, probably it was 
 revealed to him in a dream. Wreaths of evergreens put 
 up ten years ago still decorate the roof, because it was 
 found they improved the acoustic properties of the hall, 
 which seats 8000 people. We were taken to the gallery 
 opposite the platform to hear a pin dropped in a hat, and 
 the keeper whisper to us across the whole building. 
 Both sounds came clearly to us, but I noticed that when 
 he spoke aloud, the voice seemed blurred as it were^ and 
 the words were not distinct. 
 
 Mr. B. stated that every Sunday 25 per cent, of the 
 whole population attended service in the temple. A 
 lady told me that nothing can equal the miserable faces 
 of the women of the congregation. 
 
 The unfinished Temple close by is a splendid edifice 
 of white granite. This is to supersede the present 
 Endowment House, if it is ever finished, and all the 
 secret rites, to which Gentiles are not admitted, will be 
 performed there, such as baptisms, marriages, &c., which 
 
 K 2 
 
L^2 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 they call the ordinances, so it is cut up inside into small 
 apartments, which is a pity. The architecture is heavy, 
 but imposing. 
 
 From there we went to the Gardo House, a very 
 common-place villa, built for himself by Brigham 
 Young, who did not live to occupy it. Our guides told 
 us he meant to have " invited" his favourite wife Amelia 
 to live with him there, and two rooms at the back of the 
 house had been specially fitted up for the mother of his 
 eldest son. The other wives would have remained over 
 the way, at the Lion House, I suppose, with the nume- 
 rous gables. We thought at first there was a gable for 
 each wife, but that could not be the case, for there were 
 only nine or ten gables. 
 
 The Gardo House is not worth visiting. The man in 
 charge told us that, a few days before our visit, a lady 
 tourist came alone, and asked to look round. He 
 showed her into the drawing-room, and then addressed 
 her thus, " Madam, how is it that you, a lady, dare 
 venture thus alone into the power of a family of 
 Mormons, of whom you have heard such dreadful 
 accounts ? Are you not afraid to come here, where 
 there is none to help you ? " The lady, no doubt 
 thinking him mad, for he looks a complete lunatic, made 
 at once for the hall door and fled. 
 
 Mr. B. then drove us to Fort Douglass, the United 
 States military station, from which there is a beautiful 
 view over the city and plains to the mountains, now 
 finer than usual with the newly-fallen snow. 
 
 On our way back to the hotel we passed a polling 
 
in C ana day Western U.S., and Mexico. 133 
 
 station, which reminded us that the Presidential election 
 was going on. Utah not being a state, the election was 
 only for local officers and the representative to Congress, 
 who has not the same rights as a state representative. 
 We stopped to see how the polling was carried on, and 
 were allowed to go right into the booth. In CaHfornia 
 no one is allowed to go within 150 feet of it, except for 
 the purpose of voting. 
 
 This was the process : — There are five election judges 
 who correspond to our returning agents, and are nomi- 
 nated by the Government, but one must belong to the 
 minority party. These five men sit at the back of a 
 counter, on which are the ballot boxes. No one else is 
 allowed there by the law, but, as a matter of fact, there 
 were two others, one a policeman. By the ballot boxes 
 are piles of small envelopes. The voter receives his 
 voting-paper, which is printed, from the political 
 agents, and brings it with him, and puts it into an 
 envelope he takes from the pile, gums it up, and puts it 
 in the box. There is no writing, no mark, no number 
 of any kind, to distinguish one vote from another, so no 
 scrutiny is possible. It seemed to us that there would 
 be no difficulty in manipulating either papers or boxes. 
 
 Mr. A. was not allowed to vote because he was known 
 to have two wives, though on account of his great age, 
 he is not molested by the Government, who are now 
 punishing polygamy by imprisonment, and have about 
 400 Mormons locked up. The President himself is in 
 hiding. The difficulty seems to me to be that, legally, 
 the Mormons are not married at all. They only go 
 
134 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 through their mysterious ceremony in the Endowment 
 House, which I suppose has no legal weight. 
 
 During the drive I tried to have a little talk with Mr. 
 A. about Mormonism, of which I knew absolutely 
 nothing. My aim was to discover the important doc- 
 trine differing from other churches founded on the 
 Bible, which induced the Mormons to cut themselves 
 adrift from the rest of the world. Mr. A. could tell me 
 of none. " Our principles," said he, " are all contained 
 in the Gospels." 
 
 He preferred to tell me his own history. He is now 
 over seventy years of age^ and is evidently a man who 
 would have fallen a prey to any religious excitement ; he 
 is the type of the religious fanatic. Mormonism 
 happened to be the religious craze of the day, so he 
 plunged into that. He came to Salt Lake City in i8$2 
 from Manchester, accompanied by his wife, who was 
 also a convert. Such was their haste to reach the 
 promised land, that they started within a short time of 
 his wife's confinement, which took place on board ship, 
 and of course the baby died. As soon as they reached 
 New York a child sickened, but they did not stop for 
 that, on they went, and it died on the way. Leaving 
 the poor little corpse unburied in the dead-house, they 
 hurried on, and another, and then another child 
 sickened and died, so that of seven children they lost five 
 on their way to Zion. Mr. A. seemed to think this 
 greatly to his credit, and that our Lord would be pleased 
 that he had sacrificed his children. I did not like to 
 remind him that Moloch was the god who liked to have 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 135 
 
 children slain on his altar, but I did say that I should 
 have thought God's curse was on the journey, and I 
 should have hurried back at once. It was useless to ask 
 for information why he did all this, he would continue 
 his autobiography. 
 
 On arriving at Zion, his wife gave him a second wife, 
 and they have " lived like sisters together, bringing up 
 their families side by side." He had had seventeen 
 children. I noticed that Mr. B., who was talking busi- 
 ness with Edward, kept one eye on us as soon as 
 religion was mentioned, and he often interrupted the 
 conversation. 
 
 Next morning he called and offered to answer me any 
 questions I wished to ask, so I asked if polygamy was 
 an essential point in their religion. He said belief in it 
 was, although not 10 percent, of the Mormons practised 
 it. A man must obtain permission from the President 
 himself^ and must show that he had means to support 
 two or more families, and also that his character 
 entitled him to the privilege. I reminded him of the 
 projected settlement in Canada, where they had under- 
 taken not to practise polygamy ; he said they " would 
 only take one wife to Canada, and leave the others in 
 Utah." 
 
 They believe that Joseph Smith was inspired, and 
 that their elders are inspired, not always, so as to be 
 infallible, but occasionally, which must be an un- 
 comfortable state of things, for who is to decide when 
 a prophet is inspired and when not ? Then he wandered 
 off into vague talk about their belief that God was in 
 
136 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 the wind and the sunshine as much as in miracles, and 
 that they could put no limit to His power, they could 
 not say that He should no longer inspire men as of old. 
 Evidently he was not going to tell us anything serious. 
 
 We visited the celebrated Co-operative Stores, which 
 only appeared to differ from the Civil Service Stores 
 in the curious particular, that prices were not marked 
 in plain figures. I understand that the profits, which 
 must be very large, go to the elders or shareholders, 
 not like the real co-operative stores which divide them 
 among the purchasers. 
 
 We went to the museum, a small place belonging to 
 the Mormons, where they treasure a scrap of satin 
 damask from the furniture in Windsor Castle, a bit 
 of guimp from the Tuilleries curtains, an iron stove 
 presented by Brigham Young to the first lady who 
 became a plural wife, and other odds and ends. 
 
 I found a picture representing an angel in the usual 
 white robes and wings, but with a beard like a prophet, 
 and a man kneeling before him, so I asked for an 
 explanation, which the keeper of the museum gave me 
 fully. It was a portrait of the angel Moroni, or 
 Mormon, who told Joseph Smith where to find the 
 golden tablets of the Books of Mormon. The original 
 picture was drawn from the description given by Smith 
 and four or five others of the original Mormons who 
 saw the angel. I did not know before that there had 
 been an angel in the case, but the old fellow told 
 me that Moroni was a prophet who lived in America 
 A.D. 400, and wrote a book in strange characters on 
 
in Canada^ Westei'n U.S.^ and Mexico. 137 
 
 golden tablets, and buried it and died, apparently with- 
 out doing anything particular. The book remained 
 hidden until Joseph Smith found favour in the eyes of 
 Moroni, whose angel appeared to him and pointed out 
 the place of burial. Smith dug up the golden plates 
 and translated them, and then the angel, with true 
 American economy, took back the precious tablets. I 
 began to laugh at the absurd tale, but I found that it 
 really is part of the Mormon creed. 
 
 I found at the Walker Hotel a little paper giving the 
 Thirteen Articles of Faith of the Mormon Church : — 
 
 "Articles of Faith of the Mormon Church. 
 
 " I. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in 
 His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " 2. We believe that men will be punished for their 
 own sins and not for Adam's transgression. 
 
 " 3. We believe that through the atonement of 
 Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the 
 laws and ordinances of the Gospel. 
 
 " 4. We believe that these ordinances are : First, 
 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; second, Repentance ; 
 third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins ; 
 fourth. Laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 " 5. We believe that a man must be called of God, 
 by 'prophecy, and by the laying on of hands,' by those 
 who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and admi- 
 nister in the ordinances thereof. 
 
138 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 " 6. We believe in the same organization that existed 
 in the primitive church, viz. apostles, prophets, pas- 
 tors, teachers, evangelists, &c. 
 
 " 7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, 
 revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, 
 &c. 
 
 " 8. We believe the Bible to be the Word of God, as 
 far as it is translated correctly ; we also believe the 
 Book of Mormon to be the Word of God. 
 
 "9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that 
 He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet 
 reveal many great and important things pertaining to 
 the Kingdom of God. 
 
 " 10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and 
 in the restoration of the Ten Tribes. That Zion will 
 be built upon this continent. That Christ will reign 
 personally upon the earth, and that the earth will be 
 renewed and receive its paradisic glory. 
 
 "II. We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty 
 God according to the dictates of our conscience, and 
 allow all men the same privilege, let them worship 
 how, where or what they may. 
 
 "12. We believe in being subject to kings, presi- 
 dents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honouring 
 and sustaining the law. 
 
 "13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, be- 
 nevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men ; in- 
 deed, we may say that we follow the admonition of 
 Paul, ' We believe all things, we hope all things,' we 
 have endured many things, and hope to be able to 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 139 
 
 endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely 
 or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these 
 things." 
 
 The tenth article is very curious, and must be taken 
 from the book of Mormon. There is surely no text in 
 the Bible that can be twisted into a reference to America 
 as the inheritance of the chosen people. 
 
 We left Salt Lake City on the 7th of November, and 
 travelled with a gentleman from the Eastern States 
 settled in Utah, and his mother, who had been on a 
 visit to him, and they told us a good deal about the 
 Mormons. Putting aside, as manifestly untrue, the 
 horrible tales current in Salt Lake City, where of course 
 there is a great deal of friction between the Gentiles 
 and the Mormon population, there remains quite 
 sufficient to show that they are very undesirable mem- 
 bers of a nation. They will not allow the ordinary 
 laws of the country to govern them. Their object is to 
 be a community to themselves, governed by their own 
 officers, or, as they say, the Church, which consists of 
 the President and a body called, I think. Apostles. 
 These men claim and obtain absolute power over the 
 mass of the Mormons. If any disposition to rebel is 
 shown, immediately an elder has a revelation which 
 of course all believers are bound to obey. Formerly 
 stronger measures were used. Officers called Destroy- 
 ing Angels would shoot down offenders in the streets, 
 and it was on this account that Uncle Sam built Fort 
 Douglass and keeps a whole regiment there. Even 
 Mr. S. said that Salt Lake City would be more 
 
140 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 prosperous if it were not that there is a constant fear 
 of the Mormons doing something violent. 
 
 The Mormons are still sufficiently in the majority to 
 keep the City government entirely in their own hands. 
 The young men are allowed to mix with the world, but 
 the girls are kept in, and are taught that their only 
 salvation is in marriage. The Mormon women are 
 said to be very immoral, even Amelia, the Prophet's 
 favourite wife, having sunk to the lowest depths. In 
 families children cling to their own mothers, and are 
 jealous of the other wives' families, so that there is 
 great bitterness and heart-burning, and polygamy 
 would die out of itself were it not that the heads of the 
 church hold to it, as a means of fixing members they 
 fear to lose. Our informant told us he had a friend 
 who refused to go on a mission, thereby exciting the 
 suspicions of the elders, who compelled him to take a 
 second wife, much against his inclination. 
 
 Several important members have left the body, 
 notably the Walkers, who provided for all their wives, 
 and returned to decent life. The tithe, which is levied 
 from all the community, is a stumbling-block to many. 
 The large sums raised are paid to the Church, and are 
 never accounted for, and it is the general belief that they 
 go into private pockets, and that the Temple will never 
 be completed because it forms a good excuse for the 
 disappearance of the funds. It was commenced about 
 1850. 
 
 Polygamy is said to be more common in the country 
 than in Salt Lake City itself Peasants marry several 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. i.|i 
 
 wives, not because they want wives, but because they 
 want field-labourers. A gentleman told us he had been 
 in a hovel near Provo, where an old man lived with two 
 wives and six grown-up daughters, two of these women, 
 half-sisters, were to be married that week to a neighbour, 
 as old as their father, who only wanted them to work on 
 his farm. Rich Mormons, we were told, bought farms 
 in different parts of the country, and established a wife 
 on each farm, who managed it for her husband, he going 
 to visit her when it was time to collect the profits. 
 
 It was three o'clock (November 7th) when we left 
 Salt Lake City, and shortly after crossed a pretty little 
 stream called the " River of Jordan." Our train was 
 three and a half hours late, said to be a most unusual 
 thing on this line. A broken axle on a goods' train had 
 delayed the San Francisco express. 
 
 It was a brilliant starlight night and Castle Gate 
 looked wonderfully grand. It is a bare rock sloping a 
 little on one side, but perfectly perpendicular on the side 
 fronting the railway, and quite on the edge of the line. 
 It is 400 to 500 feet high, and only twenty to thirty feet 
 broad. I believe there is a similar-shaped, but smaller, 
 rock opposite. Some years ago a sailor, who was 
 working on the road as foreman of a gang of plate- 
 layers, undertook to go up it and plant the national flag- 
 on the top. It was considered an impossible feat, but 
 one morning he went there with his gang, who were 
 delighted to assist him, and somehow he got up and 
 fulfilled his promise. The flag-staff is still there, but of 
 course the flag has been torn to bits by the wind. 
 
142 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad is the most 
 uncomfortable line we came across in our travels. The 
 food in the buffet car was uneatable. There was actually- 
 only one Q%g on board. The berths are very uncom- 
 fortable on account of the narrow gauge, I tried an 
 upper berth, but could not sleep. The cold was intense, 
 as the porter let the fire go out. About five o'clock I 
 got up, and took refuge in the first-class carriage, which 
 was very warm. 
 
 Luckily, we got an excellent breakfast at Cimarron, 
 and then, warmed and comforted, we settled ourselves on 
 the platform at the back of the carriage to enjoy the 
 grand scenery. The much-advertised observation car 
 did not put in an appearance. It was a very fine 
 sunny day, the snow five or six inches deep, and the cold 
 so great that the Gunnison river was frozen quite across 
 in several places, though it is a rapid stream. 
 
 As the train was so late, we arrived at the Black 
 Canon in broad daylight instead of at 5 a.m. We were 
 disappointed with it. It was fine, but not equal to our 
 expectations, but Marshall's Pass exceeded them. It is 
 glorious. The train winds up the mountain-side for 
 about two hours through magnificent scenery, all the 
 grander for the covering of deep snow. As we emerged 
 from every snow-shed, we could look down on the road 
 we had just travelled, and sometimes we could see it 
 double three or four times. The Ouray mountains 
 form the background, and are seen from so many 
 different points of vievv^ that we could hardly believe it 
 was always the same range. Many other fine moun- 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 143 
 
 tains, whose names nobody knew, completed the 
 picture. At the top of the Pass there is an immense 
 snow-shed, in which the train halts for examination of 
 wheels, &c., before commencing the descent, which is 
 very steep, with many sharp curves. Everybody got 
 out of the train, and marched about. The other pas- 
 sengers were much amused at my pocketing a splinter 
 of wood off the shed to take home as a souvenir. One 
 gentleman " guessed " he would take a rail home. I 
 believe we were the only tourists in the train. We were 
 fortunate in having a very pleasant conductor over this 
 part of the line, who told us which way to look for 
 views. The run down hill was very fine. The second 
 engine, that had helped to pull us up, ran some way in 
 front of us to make sure the line was in order. We 
 could generally see it on the zigzags of the line running 
 in the opposite direction to what we were going. 
 
 We arrived desperately hungry at Salida, where we 
 found an excellent dinner. A German-American young 
 lady called her father's attention to the energy with 
 which we attacked the roast turkey. She was quite 
 shocked by our voracity, but she had been living on the 
 fat of the land at Salida for some days, while we had 
 hardly had a well-cooked meal since leaving Vancouver. 
 
 Again we put on all our rugs, and settled ourselves to 
 brave the cold at the back of the car for the sake of the 
 grand Canon of the Arkansas and the Royal Gorge. It 
 was very cold, very smoky, and very dusty ; but the 
 scenery was worth the discomfort. The caiaon is very 
 pretty — the rocks come close to the river, and are very 
 
144 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 steep and grand, and broken into fine shapes ; but the 
 Royal Gorge is overpowering. It is worthy of the 
 Canadian Pacific, it is so sternly grand, the rocks so 
 lofty and precipitous. There is only just room for rail 
 (a single line, narrow gauge) and river ; indeed in one 
 part the road is actually suspended over the river, and 
 the colouring was very fine. The sun was in the west, 
 and did not shine straight down the caiion, but caught 
 a peak here, a boulder there, bringing cut the rich red 
 of the granite. This again is worth all the trouble of 
 the whole journey. It is sublime. 
 
 Daylight just lasted long enough for us to see all the 
 canon. Soon after leaving it dusk came on, and we saw 
 no more. We arrived at Colorado Springs about 
 7.30 p.m. and went to the Antlers Hotel, which is stuffy, 
 badly managed, and the food wretched. 
 
 The excitement about the Presidential Election was 
 very great everywhere. It was practically certain that 
 Harrison was elected, although all the returns were not 
 in, and his supporters were shaking hands and crowing 
 lustily. Unfortunately, the man in charge of the 
 luggage was a Republican, and showed his joy by 
 pitching the boxes about wildly. The unfortunate 
 Democrats were regretting not only their defeat, but 
 their lost bets. A brakesman on the train had lost his 
 gold watch, which he had staked against four silver 
 ones, his thirty dollars overcoat just bought for the 
 winter, his coat, hat, and shirt. 
 
 We met that day a curious example of American 
 manners. When Edward went to the Pulman car 
 
in Canada^ Western US., and Mexico. 145 
 
 lavatory in the morning he found three railway-men at 
 their abkitions. They brushed their hair with the 
 Puhiian brush, and they used the Pulman soap and 
 towels ; the passengers had to wait until these men had 
 finished. 
 
 Friday y November (^th. — We took a carriage and drove 
 first to Manitou, a pretty village just at the foot of Pike's 
 Peak. Here we tasted natural soda-water from the 
 great spring, and then drove on to Ute Pass, as far as 
 the Rainbow Falls, a nice little waterfall, which may 
 catch a ray of sunshine for about five minutes during the 
 day. The pass is a pretty rocky defile. From there 
 we went to the Garden of the Gods, 500 acres of waste 
 land with remarkable sandstone rocks. The most 
 ordinary shape is the mushroom, the head being a 
 different kind of stone from the stalk. The Tower of 
 Babel, Jupiter, and the Cathedral are very large rocks. 
 Unfortunately the Cathedral spires are not on the 
 Cathedral, but some paces off, as if they had been 
 brought there ready to put on when the Cathedral was 
 completed. The Cathedral forms one side of the 
 Beautiful Gate, and the Sentinel the other. After pass- 
 ing through it, we looked back on the wonderful scene. 
 The sun was on the Gate^ making the red sandstone 
 rocks glow, and through them, as if in a frame, were the 
 beautiful green slopes leading up to the snow-covered 
 Pike's Peak. The sky was intensely blue. Altogether 
 the combination of form and colour made a perfect 
 picture. Close to the red Cathedral is a curious white 
 rock. 
 
 L 
 
146 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 We drove on to Glen Eyrie, where our driver assured 
 us there was nothing to see, so, as we fooh'shly believed 
 him, we missed the curious rock called the Major Domo. 
 The drive back from Glen Eyrie is over a curious, 
 natural embankment, from which the views, towards the 
 mountains on one side, and over the immense plains on 
 the other, are very fine. 
 
 Colorado Springs is a great health-resort — people 
 come even from England. The air is so pure, dry and 
 bracing, that people who settle here in good health, 
 merely for business purposes, find it difficult to live any- 
 where else afterwards. We heard of a case of con- 
 sumption stopped by the wonderful Colorado climate, 
 but the poor fellow was obliged to remain there for the 
 rest of his life. In the summer invalids go up to the 
 parks, which are said to be very beautiful. The skies 
 of Colorado are famous for their beauty, and certainly 
 we have seen none finer except at Biarritz, where the 
 sunsets are unrivalled. After making some purchases 
 of the handiwork of the Navajo Indians, who live some- 
 where in the neighbourhood, we took the 4.10 p.m. train 
 for Denver, passing the small Palmer Lake and the 
 Castle Rock, which is very handsome, on the way, as 
 well as many of the curious rocks of Monument Park. 
 W^e arrived at Denver frightfully hungry ; but owing to 
 the hotel boy, a mere child, telling us that dinner went 
 on until 8 o'clock, we reached the dining-room just too 
 late, and could get nothing but supper. Why so large 
 an hotel should stop dinner at 7.30 is a question I 
 recommend to the consideration of the director who 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 147 
 
 sent us there. Supper is a most disagreeable meal. 
 We made a considerable disturbance. We interviewed 
 the manager, but could not even get a plateful of soup. 
 The Windsor is a good hotel, with exceptionally stupid 
 and careless clerks, even for America. 
 
 Saturday, November loth. — Fair, but very cold. We 
 walked about the town, which has grown rapidly to a 
 very fine large city, and bought some buffalo robes, 
 which we had been searching for all our journey. They 
 used to be very plentiful and cheap ; but now all the 
 buffaloes are killed, and the shopkeeper, an Englishman, 
 named Taylor, said he did not expect he should get 
 any more. We got also another Navajo Indian blanket. 
 It is said the women stretch the warp from one tree to 
 another, instead of in a loom. 
 
 After dinner we went to a friend's rooms, opposite the 
 hotel, to see the great triumphal Republican torchlight 
 procession. Before leaving the hotel we had the pleasure 
 of hearing a performance on the drum by Major 
 Hendershof, known as the Drummer Boy of the Rappa- 
 hannock, accompanied by his son on a big drum, and a 
 stout party on the flute. It was the first time we ever 
 heard the drum as a solo instrument, and we were 
 delighted with it. They came with the Leadville 
 Republican Drum Band, which marched into the large 
 hall of the hotel military fashion, and gave us several 
 tunes. The favourite national air in the Northern States 
 is " Marching through Georgia." It was always a great 
 satisfaction to me to find that though the Northerners 
 hate us much, they hate the South still more, and the 
 
 L 2 
 
14^ Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 South have a very lively contempt for Northerners. 
 Ireland and England are bosom cronies compared to the 
 North and South. 
 
 The procession came up the main street, and turned 
 along the cross street, and, as our friend's rooms were at 
 the corner, we saw it splendidly. It took an hour and a 
 half to pass. The procession was a curious mixture of 
 politics and advertisements. First came, as part of the 
 procession itself, two platoons of police on large white 
 horses, then the Pioneer Corps Old Guard, a most 
 exclusive club, which never exceeds twelve members, 
 and wears bearskin hats and magnificent uniforms. 
 Then came an unhappy democrat, who, in fulfilment of 
 a bet, had to walk in the republican procession carry- 
 ing a banner inscribed, " I am of the spoils " ; he was 
 enthusiastically cheered. Then came, according to the 
 newspapers, a number of generals with their " aides " 
 and stafts, colonels, majors, and commodores without 
 end, probably all decent shopkeepers of Denver. Then 
 clubs in quaint uniforms carrying banners with amusing 
 inscriptions, " Grover, Grover, did you ever get left?" 
 " Grover, Grover, get out of the clover." " Please pass 
 the crow to Grover." This refers to a celebrated ban- 
 quet in Chicago. Bets were made by twenty-four 
 gentlemen that they would dine together after the 
 election, and the twelve victors should feast on snipe, 
 while the twelve vanquished should each consume a 
 roast crow. Grover is Mr. Cleveland's christian name. 
 Carts decorated with banners and lanterns came at 
 inter\'als, sometimes entirely commercial, as, " Ask your 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 149 
 
 grocer for Bluine ;" sometimes wholly patriotic ; some- 
 times a judicious mixture, as " Celebrate our Victory 
 with Heidsieck's dry champagne, importer (name and 
 address followed). The principal milliner had sent out 
 a car with all her young ladies on board. A favourite 
 emblem was the rooster, especially perched on the top of 
 a broom wrapped in the national flag. Several carts 
 contained men throwing fire about and fireworks. When 
 they passed we had to shut the windows. One club 
 called itself the " Devil's Own Crew," and was led by his 
 Majesty. Many leading merchants of Denver rode in 
 the procession. There was a coloured contingent, which 
 is not a usual feature in republican demonstrations as 
 the negroes are mostly democrats. Of course, there 
 were several bands of music, and many amusing devices. 
 On the following Monday at noon, there was to be 
 another procession, which unfortunately we did not see. 
 Several democrats had, in fulfilment of bets, to wheel 
 victorious republicans in barrows dov/n the main street. 
 There seemed to be no end to the bets on the election, 
 not only jokes like this, but money bets. A lady in the 
 hotel had won a large sum through a New York broker 
 in the ordinary business way. 
 
 There is a great deal to see round Denver by excur- 
 sions of two or three days, but the weather was too cold 
 for that kind of thing. In Denver itself there is little of 
 interest. A gentleman took us to see some smelting 
 works, which were interesting, and afterwards drove us 
 round the residential part of the town, where there are 
 many good houses and fine churches, Denver is the 
 
150 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 handsomest and most prosperous-looking town we saw 
 after leaving Chicago, which it excels in beauty of situa- 
 tion. The long range of snow mountains in the distance 
 is very fine. 
 
 Moiulaj', November 12th. — We left Denver at 7.30 a.m. 
 by the Fort Texas and Fort Worth line for Trinidad. 
 We did this to escape a night in the cars, and also to see 
 the country by daylight. We had reluctantly given up 
 the Silverton excursion, on account of the snow. We 
 were getting a little tired, too, of caiions and passes, and 
 perpetual railway journeys. 
 
 The run to Trinidad was very beautiful. The Spanish 
 Peaks and the Sangre de Christo range are well seen, 
 and the grand Pike's Peak is hardly ever out of sight. 
 The view from the top must be very extensive ; but, un- 
 fortunately, we were six weeks too late to make the 
 ascent, which is not difficult and is made on " burros," 
 i.e. donkeys. Many Spanish words have got into the 
 American language in the old Mexican provinces. The 
 Grand Union Hotel at Trinidad was very dirty, and the 
 food quite uneatable, but nobody ought to omit visiting 
 Trinidad on that account. It is wonderfully well 
 situated. A river runs through the middle of the town ; 
 on one side is Fisher's Peak, a mountain with a remark- 
 able rock at the very top, shaped like an anvil, and on 
 the opposite side are smaller hills, on one of which is a 
 monument to the earliest pioneer, after whom it was 
 named Simpson's Rest. Fisher was also one ofthe first 
 settlers. The town appeared to be growing fast, and 
 could boast already some large works and fine houses, 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 151 
 
 but the old town is Mexican, witli adobe buildings and 
 curious beehive-shaped ovens in front of the houses. 
 There are coal-mines close to the town, so coal is only 
 one dollar per ton, while in San Francisco it was twenty- 
 two dollars. 
 
 Tuesday, November I'^th. — We were five minutes late 
 for breakfast, so could not even get a poached ^%g, 
 though it was only nine o'clock. We took another 
 walk round the town and then came in and sat in our 
 bedroom. Next (5oor was the public sitting-room, which 
 had been let to some travelling dentists. We smelt the 
 ether, and heard the groans of the victim through the 
 closed doors, and then the encouraging remark of the 
 dentist, " All right, they are all out ! " All ! ! ! 
 
 By-and-by the porter came and said we must leave 
 our room, it was let, but we might sit in the public room 
 with the dentist, if we liked. We did not feel equal to 
 that, so we went out again and walked to the station, 
 buying six lemons for twenty cents on the way. We 
 begged a glass of water, and astonished and amused the 
 grocer very much by squeezing a lemon into the water 
 and drinking it. It was quite a new idea to him. The 
 glass was very dirty, but then everything in Trinidad 
 was dirty. The streets were full of dead cats, dead 
 rabbitSj old hats and boots, bones, and tin cans. 
 
 We left Trinidad at 12.35, and were very glad to get 
 a good dinner at Raton. We had a very disagreeable 
 journey of twenty-seven hours to El Paso. The scenery 
 is desolate and ugly, plains of sage brush, scrub and 
 sand, with low hills in the distance. The only amuse- 
 
152 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 ment was watching for the prairie dogs, of which we saw 
 numbers sitting on their burrows, which look hke very- 
 large ant-hills. 
 
 The car was very uncomfortable. Several passengers 
 had their food with them and ate on board, a most 
 objectionable practice, as the smell of food pervades the 
 car, instead of meal-times being used for ventilation. I 
 suppose it is economical, but it is dirty. There were 
 two dreadful children on board. One, a puny, miserable- 
 looking baby, that cried and moaned without ceasing 
 for over twenty hours. At last I suggested to its mother 
 she should retire to the ladies' lavatory with it for a 
 time. " Ah ! " she said, " I don't think it would do 
 baby any good/' "At any rate," said I cruelly, "it 
 would be a great relief to the rest of us." Curiously 
 enough, that baby ceased its lamentations and behaved 
 quite well the rest of the way. The other was a fine 
 merry boy, who would have been capital fun anywhere 
 else, but he made a dreadful noise and played horses up 
 and down the car with his nurse. His parents had taken 
 the drawing-room, where they enjoyed peace, and left 
 Friedrich in the car for our benefit. The sun was 
 blazing, but the hot-water pipes in the car were kept 
 too hot to touch all day, as if it had been very cold. 
 
 The cattle we passed looked very thin and weak ; often 
 we saw dead cows lying about, and often heaps of their 
 bones. It has been a very bad season, no rain for 
 eighteen months, and, therefore, no food for the cattle, 
 which are entering the winter season in very bad con- 
 dition. If it prove severe, the loss will be great. 
 
ill Canada, Westei'u U.S., and Mexico. 153 
 
 El Paso is a pretty, prosperous little town, with a hideous 
 new court-house, a very fair hotel, called the Grand 
 Central, and large smelting works. Ore is brought in 
 great quantities from Mexico, as well as from the States, 
 because it is easier to work a mixture of different ores* 
 than all from one mine. Tiiere is a heavy import duty 
 on metals, but none on ore. 
 
 A tram-line, the only international line in the world, 
 took us to Paso del Norte, just across the frontier. We 
 visited the old church of adobe, or sun-dried brick, 
 whitewashed. Inside, the church is very quaint, with a 
 fine roof of semi-circular carved beams. There were 
 many shops selling Mexican goods, and the whole place 
 looked foreign, and the people dressed Mexican fashion 
 and smelt of garlic. The Mexican Central Station is a 
 v^ery fine building. This is an English line. Americans 
 never build handsome " depots," as they call stations. 
 
 We left El Paso at 4 p.m. on November isth^and had 
 our luggage examined by a gorgeous person with a tall 
 sombrero and a pistol, and no end of silver braid and 
 buttons. He was perfectly polite and pleasant, as we 
 found afterwards is the universal custom of Mexicans. 
 Our plan had included visits to Chihuahua and Zacatecas ; 
 but Mr. Mackenzie, of the Mexican Central, advised us 
 not to stop there, because it would be very cold as they 
 are on very high ground, and the hotels are poor, so we 
 went on to Quert'taro. We found Friedrich on board 
 the Pulman car, but he behaved better, being perhaps 
 rather tired. Chihuahua looked very pretty from the 
 train ; it is tv ( miles from the station. The country 
 
154 /^/^^^ ]\Touths' Fine Weather 
 
 was much the same as in New Mexico as far as Zacatecas. 
 We arrived there at 8.20 a.m. on November 17th. 
 
 Zacatecas is a great mining centre, and worthy of a 
 visit. The mines are close to the line, so that we saw in 
 one place horses trampling the ore, and in another we 
 saw water being drawn from the mines in raw-hide 
 buckets. It is said that labour is so cheap here that 
 machinery does not pay. The town is surrounded by 
 lovely hills and deep ravines, and is full of fine churches. 
 From Zacatecas to Mexico the country is very pretty, 
 and sometimes exceedingly beautiful. We spent all the 
 morning at the back of the car. We reached Aguas 
 Calientes, a very pretty place, about noon, and had a 
 good meal there. The vegetation was a great delight 
 to us. Every now and then a new plant appeared, first 
 rare, then gradually becoming common. First came the 
 magvey or aloe, a single plant here and there, but later 
 there were great fields of it, as it is cultivated largely in 
 Mexico. Then we caught sight of an " organ cactus," 
 first a {q\\ spikes at long intervals, later on great hedges 
 of it. The hills are finer as one gets south, and more 
 varied in their shapes. We admired a curious bell- 
 shaped peak, but could not learn its name. At En- 
 carnacion there is a high trestle-bridge worthy of notice. 
 At Silao we got a poor dinner, the only bad meal on 
 the road. 
 
 The railway-station appears to be the favourite lounge 
 of the people. Many bring baskets made of straw and 
 horsehair, gloves, sweets, fruit, and other little things, to 
 sell to the passengers. The " dulce de Celaya," a mix- 
 
ill Canada, Wcstei-n L/.S., and Mexico. 155 
 
 ture of goats' milk and sugar, nicely flavoured, is very 
 good. 
 
 There was a guard of soldiers at every station, who, if 
 not useful, were very ornamental. After the long years 
 of war. first against the Spanish Viceroys, then amongst 
 themselves, and then the American and French inva- 
 sions, numbers of men who had been soldiers took to 
 the road as brigands, and plundered the trains and 
 coaches, especially those carrying bullion. President 
 Diaz took the matter in hand, and it is said that now 
 the last highway robber has been shot. 
 
 The people are very good-looking, with the blackest 
 hair and eyes, the whitest teeth, and the most picturesque 
 rags ever seen. 
 
 We left the train at Queretaro at 10.35 P-m., after a 
 journey of fifty-four and a half hours. We had tele- 
 graphed for a carriage, vi^hich met us at the station, and 
 off we went in the dark, until we pulled up at a portc- 
 cocJicre carefully shut and bolted. It was the Hotel del 
 Ferro Carril. Our driver knocked hard until some one 
 came, and they had a long conversation together before 
 we were admitted. We then found ourselves in a small 
 court-yard surrounded by a building one storey high, no 
 light, except the lantern of the man who had admitted 
 us, and the glorious stars. The man rushed off for a 
 key, and showed us into a long, narrow room, with no 
 window and tiled floor. He unrolled a hearth-rug, and 
 put it by the bedside, and then rushed off again for the 
 sheets and blankets. It was too small a room 
 for two, so he had to fetch a second key and 
 
I 56 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 more blankets. Everything was very clean, but 
 the mosquitoes took care we did not sleep. Perhaps, 
 too, we were rather excited at finding ourselves at last 
 in Mexico. People always pulled long faces when we 
 said we were going to Mexico, and advised us to carry 
 revolvers, and described the natives as nothing short of 
 ogres, who spent all their time robbing and slaying the 
 unwary traveller. The Americans cling particularly to 
 these opinions ; and, strange to say, the Mexicans have 
 an equally bad opinion of the Americans. Often Mexi- 
 cans have said to us, " We knew at once you were not 
 Americans ; we love the English." This dislike of the 
 Mexicans to the Americans no doubt is caused mostly 
 by the war, and partly also by the objectionable Ameri- 
 cans who, having made their own country too hot to 
 hold them, take refuge in Mexico, much as the English 
 used to take refuge at Boulogne. 
 
 I have travelled a good deal in Europe, but I never 
 met so pleasant a people as the Mexicans. Not only 
 are they courteous to strangers, but to each other. 
 Their politeness is Castilian, and their kindness quite 
 Yorkshire. The merry fellow in rags that would dis- 
 grace a scarecrow, pulls off his hat to greet his lady friend 
 whose chemise, petticoat, and reboso are not worth six- 
 pence altogether. They have no awkward feeling of 
 inferiority because you are richer than they, nor are they 
 the least presumptuous. In short, they are thorough- 
 bred, if such a term means anything. They have only 
 one fault, they are dirty, which is not surprising, as 
 water is so scarce that it is difficult often to get enough 
 to drink. At one station on the line the women were 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 157 
 
 actually waiting with large jugs to get water from the 
 tender of the locomotive, it was so difficult to procure in 
 the neighbourhood. 
 
 Sunday, November \%tJi. — We rose early, and having 
 found our friend of the night before, made him under- 
 stand that we wanted breakfast, so he took us through 
 another court and into the dining-room, and gave us a 
 very good breakfast. The coffee came in a tea-pot and 
 the milk in a watering-can, and we drank it out of 
 tumblers, and the waiter talked Spanish to us, which 
 we did not understand, and we talked English to him 
 which he did not understand, so we were very merry 
 and enjoyed our meal immensely. Then we found the 
 landlord, a courtly old gentleman, who had served 
 under Maximilian and knew some French. He got a 
 carriage for us and told the driver where to take us. 
 It was a closed carriage, so we both perched on the seat 
 by the driver, who was much amused and chattered 
 away in his own tongue, pointing out all the great 
 churches, &c. We admired his sombrero, so he stuck 
 it on my head to see if I looked well in it. 
 
 First we went to the Cerro de las Campanas, or Hill 
 of the Bells, where Maximilian and the two Mexican 
 Generals, Mejia and Miramon were shot. Three small 
 stone columns mark the spot ; railings and brass 
 plates have disappeared. Maximilian is generally 
 regarded as rather an interesting person in England, 
 but in Mexico they knew him too well, his cruelty, his 
 vanity, and his weakness. His history was simply this. 
 Being over head and ears in debt, and having quarrelled 
 with his brother, the Emperor of Austria, he accepted 
 
158 Five Afonths^ Fine Weather 
 
 the throne of Mexico, knowing well that it was only 
 offered him by a faction. He bargained that he must 
 have a handsome sum of money down, 3,000,000 
 dollars, with which he paid off the mortgages on his 
 favourite residence, Miramar, and other pressing debts. 
 Maximilian landed in Mexico on May 29th, 1864, and 
 managed, by the help of the French army, under Bazaine, 
 and the church, to keep up a kind of court in the city of 
 Mexico ; but the nation would not accept him. Juarez, 
 the great President, never ceased to exercise authority, 
 although once driven by the French as far as Paso del 
 Norte. On October 3rd, 1865, Maximilian signed the 
 decree, that in future all prisoners taken in arms 
 against him should be shot as traitors, although at the 
 time two-thirds of the country were in arms against 
 him. Under this law, which he and the Empress 
 Charlotte signed in a little boudoir off the ball-room 
 between two dances, men were shot in cold blood after 
 the engagements, sometimes twenty or thirty, sometimes 
 hundreds at a time. When the American Civil War 
 was ended, the United States put pressure on Napoleon 
 to remove his troops, which he did willingly, seeing 
 what a hopeless, never-ending contest it was. 
 
 After Bazaine's departure Maximilian took refuge in 
 Queretaro, which, after a siege, was given up to the 
 national army, and he was made prisoner and executed 
 on June 19th, 1867. 
 
 It is said that JUarez would gladly have spared him, 
 but the widows and orphans of the poor fellows murdered 
 in obedience to that terrible Law of October 3rd, com- 
 
til Canada, JVestn'ii U.S., and Mexico. 159 
 
 pelled the President to do justice. Since then the 
 Republic has been firmly established, and the country- 
 has progressed rapidly. The present ruler, Porfirio 
 Diaz^ was one of Juarez' generals. His brilliant 
 military exploits did much to dishearten the French, 
 so Bazaine tried to induce him to betray the great 
 President, and become ruler himself, but Diaz was not 
 that kind of man. 
 
 The view from the Cerro over Oueretaro and the 
 neighbourhood is very lovely. The brilliant colouring 
 of sky, verdure, white buildings, and tile-covered domes 
 of churches, all shining in the delicious sunshine, the 
 large haciendas or country-houses outside the town, and 
 the lovely hills which surround it, made a glorious 
 picture. A more unlikely place to stand a siege could 
 not well be found, as the hills command it on all sides. 
 From the Cerro we drove back to the town and through 
 the picturesque streets, past Santa Clara, Santa Rosa 
 and other fine churches, to the cathedral where a great 
 service was going on, so we could not walk about. I 
 went to the front and knelt among the worshippers, and 
 received the blessing, and was asperged with holy water 
 from the altar, but Edward was too severely Protestant 
 for that, so he did not see the inside of the cathedral. 
 Then we visited the Town Hall and saw the coffin in 
 which Maximilian was first placed, and the stools with 
 handsome satin cushions, but no backs, on which Mejia 
 and Miramon sat at their trial. There was a portrait 
 of Maximilian, a poor weak silly face. The Town 
 Hall was a very nice building with large rooms. The 
 
i6o Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 driver pointed out to us the windows of the room the 
 Emperor occupied during the siege, and also the 
 windows of the room in which he was afterwards im- 
 prisoned in a convent. We visited another church in 
 which were some curious wooden images, and then, as 
 the driver seemed to think we had seen everything, we 
 went back to the hotel and hunted up the landlord to 
 ask him where we could buy opals. There are plenty of 
 people about who come up to strangers and offer opals 
 for sale, but they are poor things, just like cornelians. 
 
 The Mexican opal is not like the stone we call opal. 
 There are some very like it, but they are not good. 
 The best are red stones, transparent, with green fire, 
 which when good are beautiful, but we never found a 
 good one on sale. We saw two or three very fine ones 
 worn by the owners. Then there are some that look 
 like drops of water when held in the hand, and show 
 all the prismatic colours, but these are too delicate to 
 use. The colours would not show at any distance. 
 There are yellow ones, which look like cairngorms, 
 until the light catches them, and then they too show 
 all colours. We were directed to a dealer in a back 
 room, upstairs, in an ordinary house, nothing to show 
 a dealer lived there. He had nothing really good, but 
 we bought three at five dollars each {\^s.\ the Mexican 
 dollar is worth only 3^". We then returned to the 
 market-place, which was full of people, as Sunday is 
 their market-day. There were fruit, rough but very 
 pretty pottery, vegetables, meat, and other useful things 
 on sale ; but what astonished us was the quantity of 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. i6i 
 
 toys, tiny jugs and crockery, little wooden things, tiny 
 baskets of all shapes, the. sweetest little things, which 
 we were delighted to buy for a few pence, but what 
 could the natives do with them ? — and we were certainly 
 the only strangers in Queretaro. I saw many people 
 in the poorest attire buy these things. It was new to 
 us then, but we soon found that in Mexico, " II n'y a de 
 necessaire que le superflu." 
 
 The natives never think of wasting money on clothes, 
 anything does for clothes, an old sack is not at all an 
 uncommon garment, but they buy ices, toys and 
 cakes freely. It is the climate that does it, the de- 
 licious sunshine that is itself food and clothes, and 
 makes mere existence a pleasure. There was fruit on 
 the stalls that we never saw or heard of before, and as 
 the good folks saw we did not understand the language, 
 they ate them to show how good they were. It was 
 great fun going round amongst them, they were all so 
 merry, and jolly and friendly. Wherever we went a 
 lad followed, trying to sell us a paper of small opals — we 
 had bought one from him still embedded in a bit of 
 rock. I was so lucky as to pick up a very old Spanish 
 coin in good condition. It had been used as a hat 
 decoration, and the owner wanted to change it for a 
 modern quarter-dollar. He was offering it to a stall- 
 keeper, who did not like the look of it, so I stepped in 
 and made the exchange. I found I had really cheated 
 the poor fellow, as the landlord told me it was a c ood 
 old coin, and he would be glad to give me a dollar and 
 a half for it. 
 
 M 
 
i62 Five Months'' Fine Weather 
 
 We were very sorry to leave the market-place, but 
 our train started at 11.35 a.m., so we went back to the 
 hotel, and paid our very modest bill, and thanked the 
 worthy landlord for his kindness. The lad with the 
 opals was still with us, so the landlord bargained with 
 him, and we bought them for about a third of what he 
 first asked. Then we went to the station, where there 
 was the funniest lot of people waiting to see the train 
 come in. If it were not for the Atlantic Ocean we 
 would certainly spend all our winters at Queretaro. 
 
 There was no Pulman car on the train, but the first 
 class was very comfortable, with only a few gentlemen 
 on board. On leaving Queretaro the train passes under 
 one of the arches of the immense aqueduct, which is 
 two miles long. The water is brought altogether five 
 miles to supply the city. The first station is for the 
 Hercules Cotton-Mills, a most important factory, and 
 worthy of a visit. There are now many cotton-mills in 
 Mexico which are very prosperous. The Indians (as 
 the natives are always called, though they are not in 
 the least like the Red Indians of North America) make 
 very good workpeople, so long as their wages are paid 
 regularly. If the wages are not forthcoming on the 
 proper day, they are frightened at once, remembering 
 how it was in the old unsettled times before the Re- 
 public was firmly established. The scenery was ex- 
 ceedingly pretty, and at every station there was an 
 amusing crowd of merry picturesque people selling 
 fruitj &c., or just begging. We got a capital dinner ajt 
 San Juan del Rio. We just got a glimpse of a large 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico, 163 
 
 church at Tula, but could not see anything of the Aztec 
 remains, and unfortunately we never returned as we 
 intended, to see this interesting old place. Daylight 
 just lasted long enough for us to see the wonderful Tajo 
 de Nochistongo, an immense ditch, commenced in 1607 
 to open a vvay through the mountains for the super- 
 fluous waters of the great Mexican table-land, which 
 have no natural outlet. At first a tunnel was made, 
 but that was perpetually coming to grief in one way or 
 another, so it was finally decided to make this immense 
 cut, which was completed in 1789. The greatest width 
 is 630 feet, and its greatest depth 196 feet, and its length 
 67,537 feet. The railroad runs along the side of it, 
 about fifty feet above the stream. 
 
 This great work did a good deal to drain the country, 
 but there are still floods every year, and new works on 
 a very large scale are being carried out at present. 
 After passing through the Tajo we had a very fine 
 sunset, and then a large round moon came out, but did 
 not give much light, so we saw no more until we reached 
 the city of Mexico at 7 p.m. Having been told that 
 the Mexicans were great thieves, we were astonished to 
 find that it is usual to hand over one^s ke\s to a bag- 
 gage collector, who passes the boxes through the 
 Custom's-house and brings them on to the hotel. We 
 had put a bag of money in a trunk, but nothing was 
 missing. A bag of money sounds like great wealth, 
 but it takes very few dollars to fill a bag, and even in 
 the States one meets with little gold, some notes, but 
 principally silver. In England one goes out shopping 
 
 M 2 
 
164 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 with money in one's pocket, and brings home one's 
 purchases in a cart, but in the States one goes out with 
 one's money in a cart, and returns with the purchases in 
 one's pocket — thanks to the heavy coinage and the high 
 prices of everything. 
 
 We went to the Hotel Yturbide, where we got a large 
 room looking into a bit of garden with a tank of stag- 
 nant water. We had to go through this little garden 
 on our way to the Cafe Anglais for dinner, as the 
 restaurant in the hotel was closed. In the dim light we 
 saw large creeping things going about in numbers. We 
 picked our way through them carefully, but a Spanish 
 lady passing, laughed at my precaution, and deliberately 
 put her tiny foot on a horrible creature. We saw after- 
 wards by daylight they were immense cockroaches about 
 three inches long and two inches across, flat and black, 
 with either claws or horns like stag-beetles. 
 
 Monday, November igih. — We changed our hotel and 
 got very good accommodation at the new Hotel Jardin, 
 which has a restaurant on the premises. The hotel and 
 the restaurant are generally separate businesses. The 
 food was not very good, but then it was very cheap. 
 Coffee and bread excellent, and plenty of milk. We 
 paid a dollar each per day for breakfast, lunch, and 
 dinner ; and three and a half dollars for our apartment, 
 which consisted of a small sitting-room and a large bed- 
 room (with two beds) out of it. The hotel is an old 
 monastery, overlooking a large garden. The Hotel 
 Yturbide is a magnificent building, erected in the last 
 century as a private residence, and used as a palace by 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 165 
 
 the unfortunate Yturbide during his reign of a year. 
 Yturbide was called the Liberator, because it was 
 under his leadership that the long struggle of the 
 Mexicans against the Spanish Viceroys was finally suc- 
 cessful. His immense popularity turned his head, and 
 he made himself emperor ; but the people have a rooted 
 objection to emperors, so they sent him into exile with 
 a very handsome pension. After a short time he allowed 
 himself to be persuaded to try to regain his throne, 
 landed at Vera Cruz in 1824, was taken prisoner at 
 once, and shot. Since 1855 the palace has been an 
 hotel. We were told of several good restaurants in 
 Mexico ; but we were generally tired and glad to dine 
 quietly at home. There was always something we 
 could eat, and we could get poached eggs if we were not 
 satisfied. We probably could have made arrangements 
 with the restaurant-keeper to have fed us better if we 
 had stayed any time. 
 
 The Mexican onyx, of which we think so much in 
 England, must be very cheap, for I noticed both in the 
 
 hotel, otherwise very simply furnished, and elsewhere 
 
 > 
 that it is used as commonly as marble with us. 
 
 The post-office is well managed. Every day a list is 
 
 fastened up on the wall of letters poste restante, and of 
 
 those insufficiently addressed. After examining the list 
 
 one goes to the clerk and asks for one's letters, giving 
 
 the day they arrived. Travellers must take note of a 
 
 regulation which lost us many letters. After a month 
 
 all unclaimed letters are opened and returned to the 
 
 senders. 
 
1 66 Five Month's Fine Weather 
 
 We had a delightful day loafing about the streets, 
 which are full of handsome shops and wonderful old 
 churches. The cathedral is worthy of the country. It 
 is finely situated on the principal square, the Plaza 
 Mayor, a very large open space with a garden called the 
 Zocalo in the centre, and a band-stand where military 
 bands play daily. The cathedral was commenced in 
 1573 ; it was the third church erected on this site, 
 formerly occupied by the great Aztec Temple. It has 
 two towers, from which there is a magnificent view of 
 the whole table-land of Mexico. We loved the cathe- 
 dral. Whenever we had half an hour to spare during 
 our stay in Mexico we always made for the Plaza Mayor 
 to look at it again, and every time it seemed to be more 
 beautiful. 
 
 Tuesday, November 20th. — We went to the cathedral 
 and visited the interior, which is very grand. The main 
 altar is gaudy ; but behind it, in the east end, is the 
 glorious altar De los Reyes, all carved woodwork, gilt, 
 and decorated with coloured statues and pictures, in a 
 style named after its inventor, the Spanish architect 
 Churrigverra, who flourished about 1690. Many of the 
 side-chapels are richly adorned. The choir is very 
 grand. Railings of tumbago, a mixture of gold, silver 
 and copper, of enormous value, surround the choir, and 
 make a pathway to the high altar. As we were peering 
 through the doorway at the beautiful carved work of the 
 stalls, a charming old ecclesiastic, evidently of authority, 
 saw us and beckoned to us to come in. We tried very 
 hard to have some conversation, but we could not get 
 
171 Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 167 
 
 on well^ though Spanish is an easy language, very like 
 Italian, He asked us if we had cathedrals in England, 
 and if we were Catholics, and he pointed out the beauties 
 of the cathedral, of which he was evidently very proud, 
 and had the old choir-books opened to show us the 
 splendid illuminated letters and quaint pictures. On 
 leaving he shook hands with us most kindly, and I 
 dropped the best court curtsey I could manage, which I 
 found afterwards was quite the correct thing for me 
 to do. 
 
 Mexicans shake hands a good deal. I have seen a 
 servant after bringing his master's luggage to the train, 
 and taking his last orders, shake hands most cordially 
 with him. He was a soldier servant, too, and his master 
 an officer. 
 
 People who came to our assistance when we were 
 unable to make ourselves understood always shook 
 hands with us. The upper class mostly know French, 
 and often strangers would stop and ask if they could 
 help us when they saw we were in difficulties. 
 
 It is very amusing walking about Mexico, people 
 offer you lottery tickets every minute, and there are 
 delightful little stalls in the streets selling the oddest 
 collection of odds and ends, from amongst which you 
 sometimes can pick up an interesting old coin, or an 
 old painting on copper. Sunday is the great day for 
 these street-sellers, many of whom just spread their 
 wares on the pavement. We often wondered who 
 bought the glass stoppers without bottles, the fragments 
 of brass and iron, umbrella tops, and similar valuables. 
 
1 68 Five Months' Fine Weathei^ 
 
 We found a nice old ivory figure in a little shop, 
 amongst a lot of things of which not one was worth 
 sixpence. I know well, for I looked into every hole and 
 corner hoping to find another bit of ivory. I never 
 found a good old Spanish fan, though I sought diligently 
 for one. If I found an old fan it was not good — if good 
 it was not old. 
 
 Doors and windows are generally open, and one can 
 look in and see the dressmakers and tailors and cobblers 
 at work, and the women making tortillas, the national 
 dish. The tortilla-maker has a sloping slab of granite 
 on four legs and a granite rolling-pin. She takes maize 
 and crushes it without any preliminary grinding, mixing 
 it with water until it becomes a soft paste. This is very 
 hard work. Then she takes up a little bit, flattens it 
 between her hands and pats it until it is quite thin like 
 a pancake, and then it is cooked and eaten hot. Every- 
 body seems happy and jolly, chattering like magpies, 
 and delighted to see strangers. We sat in our window 
 a long time watching a cabman and his wife have their 
 dinner. She had brought it in a basket, and evidently 
 she thought well of it and pressed him to eat, and when 
 the husband had eaten as much as he wished of each 
 dish she finished it. There were several courses, and 
 they chattered the whole time. 
 
 Next day we again wandered about the city and 
 visited the Academy, where there are some very fine 
 old pictures, and just looked into the Museum, where 
 the wonderful Aztec calendar stone, stone of sacrifice, 
 &c., are kept, Mexico must have been very rich and 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 169 
 
 magnificent in the old Spanish times. There are num- 
 bers of magnificent houses built round courtyards and 
 decorated with fountains, statues, tiles and carvings. 
 One house, built by the son or grandson of Cortez and 
 La Marina, is entirely covered outside with tiles. The 
 effect is curious and very handsome. The National 
 Bank, the Mexican Railway Ofiices, and many other 
 places of business occupy fine old houses formerly 
 belonging to great Spanish families. The inner court- 
 yard is still the favourite plan for a Mexican house, no 
 doubt it is cool and pleasant in summer. The carriage 
 is kept in it under the balcony which leads to the upper 
 rooms, and sometimes the horses are groomed there. 
 Plants stand about, and bird-cages, and sometimes a 
 big dog. 
 
 There are almost as many churches as houses. It is 
 said that some time ago the church owned two-thirds of 
 all the wealth and land in the country, but as on several 
 occasions they opposed the Republican Government 
 and were found to be conspiring to overturn it, laws 
 were passed depriving them of the power to own land 
 at all, and abolishing convents and monasteries, and 
 confiscating all their property, and forbidding the clergy 
 to appear in the streets in distinctive dress. As the 
 Mexicans are very devout Catholics it was thought the 
 church would win the day, but the people stuck by the 
 Government. Great streets were made right through 
 the old ecclesiastical buildings, and when the priests 
 excommunicated the workpeople who demolished them, 
 they protected themselves by sewing relics and pictures 
 
1 70 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 of saints on to their garments and went on merrily. 
 Often one sees a church turned into a warehouse or a 
 railway station. What seems to me a great pity is that 
 the oldest Catholic Church in Mexico, San Francisco, in 
 which Cortez often heard mass, has been cut up into 
 two Protestant places of worship, and part of the old 
 church pulled down. San Domingo has escaped and is 
 very large and handsome, the altars richly carved and 
 gilded up to the roof, with coloured cherubs and faces 
 introduced — the Churriguerresque style again. Santa 
 Theresa is half destroyed. We never passed a church 
 without looking in, there is generally something worth 
 seeing, and often interesting services were going on with 
 pleasant music. 
 
 Friday, November 22,rd. — We started early to see the 
 Monte de Piedad, which is on the Plaza Mayor. This 
 is a national institution, founded by the Condede Regla 
 in 1775 to enable the poor to obtain loans on pledges at 
 almost nominal rates of interest, and so keep them out 
 of the hands of the usurers. At one time it was so 
 highly thought of that family jewels and plate were 
 deposited in the vaults, just for safe keeping during the 
 troubled times, but President Gonzales having seized 
 the funds and, some say, part of the property placed 
 there, its credit was gone. It is now recovering from 
 the blow, but there is nothing of any consequence in the 
 vaults, as they are called, though they are upstairs 
 rooms. Pledges remain unsold a year, then if interest 
 is not paid on the loan, they are brought out, valued 
 by specialists and put up to auction. If the price is not 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 171 
 
 reached they remain a month exposed for sale in the 
 large room on the ground floor, then the price is reduced 
 and they are again put up to auction. This goes on 
 until they are sold. Things go very cheap, but I never 
 saw anything of real value sold there. We picked up a 
 few little things cheap, but now there are so many 
 dealers looking out for jewels, and so many English and 
 American residents ready to buy curios, that things do 
 not remain long unsold if 'they are really interesting. 
 There are numbers of private pawnbrokers as well, who 
 sometimes have very nice things to sell. We were told 
 that the Mexicans have no prejudice against pawning 
 their things. If a young lady wants a new ball dress 
 she will pawn a necklace to get money for it. We 
 never passed a pawnbroker without going to see what he 
 had. Luckily for us they had not found out the value 
 of old things, so we generally got \\hat we wanted very 
 cheap. 
 
 The flower-market is close to the Cathedral, and is full 
 every morning of lovely bouquets, baskets, and devices 
 in flowers at very low prices. On the other side of the 
 Cathedral is the book-market ; there we saw nothing 
 remarkable, but probably that was owing to our igno- 
 rance. There were plenty of old books, but not illumi- 
 nated or illustrated. 
 
 From the markets we went to the museum, and went 
 through all the rooms. There are some wonderful- 
 pictures showing the progress of Cortez from the coast, 
 said to be the very pictures sent to Montezuma at the 
 time. There is Montezuma's feather-decorated shield, 
 
172 Fiv2 Months' Fine Weather 
 
 and ancient Aztec earthenware without end, some of it 
 very elegant^both in form and decoration. The greatest 
 treasure is a small obsidian vase or jug, wonderfully 
 carved with the figure of a man, whose arms form the 
 handles. There were some of the masks of different 
 materials which puzzle antiquaries so much. They can 
 never have been either useful or ornamental, and as the 
 Spanish conquerors utterly destroyed every Aztec book 
 and record, there is no means of finding out their pur- 
 pose. In the gallery on the ground floor of the museum 
 the Government has collected all the principal statues 
 of the gods and great carvings, for fear they should be 
 exported on the sly. Luggage leaving the country is 
 always examined to prevent passengers taking any an- 
 tiquities. The statues of the gods are all hideous ; the 
 most celebrated, the idol Huitzilopochtli, is evidently 
 only a collection of attributes. 
 
 Teoyainiqui, the goddess of Death, and Chac-Mool, 
 the god of Fire, are human figures. All the names are 
 guess-work, and antiquarians differ among themselves 
 about them. There is not a single beautiful figure ; all 
 are curious and many grotesque, but the decorative 
 work is very fine. The feathered serpent, supposed to 
 represent the god Quetzalcoatl, is really fine. This god, 
 it is said, was believed by the Aztecs to have descended 
 from heaven to live among them and teach them agri- 
 culture and many useful arts. After a time he left them 
 and went into the mountains, bidding them keep alight 
 the sacred fire until his return to reign over them, 
 when he would come from the east on white wings. 
 
in Canada, Westej'-n U.S., and Mexico. 173 
 
 Tradition described him as of a fairer complexion than 
 the Aztecs, so when Cortez arrived from the east, a fair 
 man compared to them, they took the white sails of his 
 ships for the white wings, and many refused to fight 
 against him, believing him to be Ouetzalcoatl. 
 
 The Stone of the Sun, or Calendar Stone, is covered 
 with beautiful carving, said to be hieroglyphics, very 
 Egyptian in style. The Sacrificial Stone is decorated 
 round the circumference, but the top is almost plain, 
 with a hollow in the centre and a channel from it to the 
 edge. This is said to have been for the blood of the 
 human sacrifices ; but if the thousands of victims we 
 read of were really slain on this stone, is it not strange 
 that there should not be the slightest stain on it ? 
 
 As we wanted to finish all the " sights," we went on 
 to the National Palace on the Plaza Mayor, where 
 there is nothing of note except the picture of the " Cinco 
 de Mayo," the battle on the 5th May, 1862, when the 
 Mexicans, under General Zaragoza, obtained their first 
 success over the French, so it has been ever since a 
 great day with them. We were stopped by the guardian 
 and shown into a handsome apartment until the gover- 
 nor's permission could be obtained, and after waiting 
 some time an elegant little officer appeared, and deeply 
 regretted that owing to the governor's absence we could 
 not visit the palace. Wc explained that all we wanted 
 was to see the picture. Not even that could be aHowed, 
 so we departed ; but as we went towards the staircase, 
 we saw an open door and we walked through it and 
 found ourselves in the Hall of the Ambassadors, with 
 
1 74 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 the throne and the famous picture. We did not admire 
 it very much after all. Then we went back to the 
 Cathedral to visit the tiny Chapel de las Animas, 
 which is embedded in the Cathedral. No one knows 
 its origin, but it has been there for over 200 years. 
 
 We wanted to see the mint, and as La Mineria seemed 
 a very likely translation, we walked to it, but found that 
 was the School of Mines. The secretary kindly sent a 
 man to show us round. He took us into the geological, 
 astronomical, and mechanical rooms, and to the top of 
 the building for the view. All Mexican roofs are flat. 
 Then he took us to the library, which is in a fine old 
 chapel. The altar had not been removed, but was used 
 as a table, although the sacred pictures were still there. 
 A young gentleman was busy with the plans for draining ■ 
 Mexico, which is always flooded after rain, being only 
 very slightly higher than the Lake Texcoco. The 
 streets were full of water^ and many drains burst after a 
 moderate rainfall during our visit ; but in the rainy 
 season, August, September, and October, the water in 
 the streets is often two feet deep, and men make money 
 by carrying people across them on their backs. 
 
 The young engineer kindly showed us the plans and 
 explained them in French. There is to be a long canal 
 going through the three lakes, and then a tunnel, con- 
 veying the water through the hills to the north of the 
 city. Once through, the water is to be allowed to find 
 its own way to the sea. Some people think that if all 
 the water is drained away it will interfere with the foun- 
 dations of the city and bringdown some of the buildings. 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 175 
 
 Afler seeing so mucli, and as it was two o'clock, we felt 
 we deserved our lunch, so we went back to the hotel and 
 asked Johnny, the interpreter, to get us a carriage for 
 the afternoon. Johnny is an amusing little fellow, a 
 Mexican, who was brought up in the American Embassy, 
 and speaks English. He got us a nice little victoria, one 
 dollar per hour. 
 
 First we came to the Alameda, a pleasant^ shady 
 garden, where people walk on Sundays. At the back of 
 it is the Plaza de Morelos, with a statue to the priest- 
 hero in the centre, and a lovely old church on each side. 
 Then we went to the Panteone San Fernano, the 
 cemetery where Juarez is buried. His tomb is a beau- 
 tiful white marble monument by the brothers Islas, 
 Mexicans. It represents Juarez lying dead, supported 
 by a female figure of Mexico, over life-size. It is one 
 of the finest statues we have ever seen. Guerrero, 
 Zaragozo, whose monument bears the inscription Cinco 
 de Mayo, and many of the heroes of the last war, are 
 buried here, and I was surprised to see Mejia's tomb 
 amongst them. Shot as a traitor, he is buried among 
 the very men against whom he fought. The cemetery 
 is very ugly and crowded, part of it under water, and 
 the common folk buried on shelves, as in Italian 
 cemeteries. 
 
 We drove to Atzcapotzalco, passing on the way two 
 beautiful bits of architecture. The Casa de los Mas- 
 carones, or house of the masks, so called because there 
 are faces amongst the elaborate ornamentation. It is 
 occupied by some poor people who would not let us look 
 
1 76 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 inside. I fancy it was a girls' school. The beautiful 
 fa9ade is quite neglected, even grass growing in the 
 cracks. The other was the fountain of the Fiddling 
 Kings, also very elaborate. There used to be an 
 immense aqueduct here, now half pulled down, taking 
 water to Mexico, and this fountain evidently supplied 
 the little village. No one knows who the Fiddling 
 Kings were intended to represent, or anything about it. 
 We drove past the village of Popotla, with a pretty old 
 church, San Esteban, unfortunately with locked doors, 
 and close to it the immense old trunk of the Arbol de 
 la Noche Triste, the tree under which Cortez sat and 
 wept after he had been driven out of Mexico, July ist, 
 1520. The tree is still alive. The tears of Cortez must 
 have preserved it, for there does not appear to be 
 another old tree in the neighbourhood. At the next 
 village, Tacuba, there was another fine old church, also 
 locked up, and a large churchyard surrounded by a 
 handsome wall of inverted arches, which is a common 
 style in Mexico. At last we reached Atzcapotzalco, 
 where, too, the large church was locked up. The wall 
 of inverted arches surrounding this churchyard had a 
 cow's horn inserted in each division, as if for a peg to 
 fasten things to, and on each pinnacle where the arches 
 met there was a statue or vase. The drive was very 
 pleasant all the way, though the cottages we passed were, 
 many of them, very poor and dirty, and the road was all 
 holes and dust. There was a tram-line, the cars drawn 
 by little mules that went very fast. We had to return 
 the way we came. 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. ilJ 
 
 Saturday, November 24///. — There had been heavy rain 
 in the night, so that the streets were wet and dirty. We 
 went to the Mercado (market) San Juan, where there 
 was nothing interesting, but some way past it we found 
 the lovely Salto del Agua, a fountain formerly the end 
 of the Chapultepec Aqueduct. We wandered through 
 some evil-smelling streets, and found the Collegio de 
 San Ignacio, a beautiful building coloured pink, a 
 favourite fashion here, and very pleasing. Even the 
 Sagrario, which forms part of the Cathedral, is coloured 
 pink. 
 
 On our return to the hotel we had a visit from a 
 charming old Spanish gentleman, Seiior de Garay, who 
 talked to us for one and a half hours, telling us about 
 Hidalgo, Morelos, and Juarez, for whom he has the 
 greatest veneration. Seizor de Garay has great faith in 
 the future of Mexico and in the stability of the Republic. 
 He told us that he had seen curious changes in nature 
 take place here. The year of the cholera in Europe, 
 the swallows that used to come in great numbers did not 
 come at all, and every one said it was a sign of the 
 approaching cholera. The cholera did not come, but 
 the mosquitoes did, and although the swallows have 
 reappeared lately (but not in large numbers), the 
 mosquitoes have remained, and are very troublesome. 
 There used to be swarms of rooks in the neighbourhood, 
 but these have been killed off by the French and other 
 foreign residents for sport, and they too have made an 
 end of the hares which used to be very numerous. 
 Mexicans will not eat hares, believing them to feed 
 
 N 
 
178 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 upon corpses. Three years ago, when the electric h'ght 
 was introduced, the enormous cockroaches made their 
 appearance, and although the electric light has only 
 existed three months in Morelia, the cockroaches are 
 appearing there too. They had never been seen before 
 anywhere. A pretty bird, very like a sparrow with a 
 red breast, a sweet songster, now common, is a recent 
 arrival in Mexico. He said several trees and plants 
 grow now freely which were formerly unknown. The 
 best way to make money, he thought, was to buy large 
 haciendas, and cut them up into small farms, and sell to 
 the tenants, or to the people from the neighbouring 
 towns and villages, who will pay handsomely, as all have 
 money saved, and there is a great desire among them to 
 own land. Large haciendas, if away from the railways^ 
 can be bought very cheap. 
 
 Sunday, November 2$th. — In the afternoon we went to 
 the bull-fight, to see the Spanish company. It was 8 
 wretched affair. There were three fights going on that 
 afternoon, so the seats were mostly empty. The bulls 
 would not fight, and the men dare not go near them. 
 If the bull turned his head there was a general scamper. 
 At first there was some pretty work with the horses, 
 who were not blinded, and were very plucky. The men 
 kept the bull off and saved their horses for a time, but 
 afterwards they just put them on to the bull to be 
 gored. All the pretty play with the coloured cloaks 
 was beyond the power of these cowardly fellows, and as 
 for the poor bulls, all they asked was to live in peace, 
 and go home to their wives and families. With much 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 179 
 
 trouble, the first bull was made to understand that he 
 was not among friends, but still he did not want to hurt 
 anybody, so the matador, just arrived from Spain, ap- 
 proached to kill him. A disgusting butchery followed. 
 The matador was so nervous that he dare not go near 
 the bull ; but at last he made an effort, and stuck his 
 sword into the poor beast at random, right through his 
 back under the bone. Then he got another sword and 
 tried again. This time the poor thing fell, but it got up 
 again, and walked about two or three minutes. Of 
 course a clever matador kills the bull in a second. The 
 second bull utterly declined to fight, so he was lassoed 
 and taken out. The lassoing was very pretty. Two 
 men came into the ring on horseback and cantered 
 round. Then one of them threw his lasso over the bull's 
 head and one fore foot ; as he kicked, the other man 
 threw his lasso over the hind legs, and threw him. After 
 a couple of minutes the man holding his head jerked him 
 to make him get up, while the other man slackened his 
 lasso, and they trotted him out. It was such a wretched 
 show we went away ; there was not a bit of skill or 
 pluck in the whole exhibition. We found some Ameri- 
 cans also departing, and walked home together. They 
 had been in Yucatan, and had seen the great ruins, and 
 had been much pleased. The American Consul there 
 who is continuing the excavations, had been very kind 
 to them. 
 
 Monday, November 26th. — I dreamt I was at a pig- 
 fight, and, as the sounds continued when I woke, I 
 rushed to the window, and saw three men struggling 
 
 N 2 
 
I So Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 with a great fat pig. They had three fat fellows in a 
 cart and three running about the road. The men seized 
 one very fat pig, and staggered under its weight to the 
 cart, into which they hoisted it after great efforts, piggy 
 scolding vociferously all the time. It was better fun 
 than the bull -fight. 
 
 After doing a little shopping at Gorilla's, the best 
 silversmith, and at the Monte de Piedad, we visited a 
 lovely church called La Profesa, where we found some 
 good paintings and some wonderful silver-work reli- 
 quaries framed like pictures. We visited the Mint, and, 
 notwithstanding our ignorance of Spanish and theirs of 
 anything else, they understood that we wanted to see 
 the works, and so they showed us round most politely. 
 
 The Mexican silver dollar is a very pretty coin. On 
 one side is the Cap of Liberty in a glory, and on the 
 other side the national crest, an eagle sitting on a nopal 
 or cactus, eating a snake, just as the Aztecs saw it when, 
 on their descent from the north, it was a sign to them 
 that that was the right place for them to settle and build 
 their city. 
 
 We found great inconvenience resulting from the re- 
 cent change in the coinage to the decimal system. The 
 old real, worth \2\ centavos, is still the popular unit of 
 value, and now there is no coin answering to it. Half 
 a real is called a medio, but the new five and ten cent 
 pieces have no individual names. In the country dis- 
 tricts the people look very suspiciously at the new coins. 
 
 We walked from the Mint to the Plaza de la Con- 
 cordia, and into the pretty little church El Carmen, 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. i8i 
 
 where some ceremony was going on. As we turned from 
 the church door we caught sight for the first time of the 
 glorious snow mountains Popocatepetl and Tztaccihuatl, 
 both extinct volcanoes. We made off to the Cathedral 
 at once, and up the tower to get the full view. It 
 was glorious. All the city, the lakes, the plains, the 
 Shrine of Guadalupe, and the great circle of mountains, 
 all fine, though none equal to the two giants. Every- 
 thing was clear and lovely. Mexico looks quite a small 
 city, with an inordinate number of churches. Most of 
 them have tiled domes, which look very bright in the 
 sunshine. The straight Paseo de la Reforma, leading 
 to Chapultepec, showed well, but the fortress palace was 
 mostly hidden by the trees. The sunset threw a lovely 
 pink glow on the snow mountains. Iztaccihuatl is 
 called the "White Woman," because the snow-covered 
 part is exactly the shape of a dead woman covered by 
 a shroud. It was a glorious scene. 
 
 Tuesday, November 2'jth. — We got up at 4.45 a.m. 
 and got breakfast at the station, at a staU — very fair 
 coffee, with milk and bread. The train left at 6.30 for 
 Puebla. Our kind friends of the Mexican Railroad had 
 given us a private carriage at the end of the train, and 
 there we sat in comfort, and enjoyed the beautiful 
 scenery. The morning was very cold, but it brightened 
 into a glorious day. 
 
 The Mexican Railroad leaves Mexico along the old 
 causeway built in 1676 for the pilgrims to Guadalupe, with 
 fifteen beautiful altars dedicated to the fifteen mysteries 
 of the Rosary. About six or seven of these altars are still 
 
1 82 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 standing by the side of the railway. The Hne runs for 
 some way by the shallow Lake Texcoco, passing Guada- 
 lupe, of which we got a good 'view. Then through the 
 great fertile plain of Apam, mostly planted with magveys, 
 cultivated for the sake of the juice, which is made into 
 pulque, the national drink. We tasted it once only. It 
 looks like thin milk, tastes like something nasty fer- 
 menting, and smells like yeast. It is said to be whole- 
 some, and is rather intoxicating. The fibres of the 
 plant are equal to hemp, and are used in many manu- 
 factures — thread, matting, &c. The Aztec mounds at 
 San Juan Teotihuacan can be seen from the train. 
 
 At Apizaco we found a good lunch, and looking up 
 from its consideration, saw a pleasant, genial, honest 
 face that could only belong to an Englishman. It was 
 Mr. Evans, the locomotive superintendent, who had 
 been informed of our arrival and had come to greet us. 
 It turned out he was an old Midland Railway man, so 
 Edward and he soon found they had many mutual 
 friends. He was married to an English lady, and had 
 lived many years in the country very comfortably. He 
 told us their servants had been with them over ten years. 
 The Mexicans seem to make very good servants, kindly 
 and attentive, and becoming attached to their employers 
 like English servants. 
 
 At Apizaco we left the main line for the Puebla 
 branch, which runs through beautiful scenery. Popo- 
 catepetl and Iztaccihuatl on the right, and the snow- 
 covered Peak of Orizaba and the Malintzi on the left, 
 while the countless beautiful churches^ large haciendas, 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 183 
 
 and the rich vegetation make a magnificent foreground. 
 Soon after leaving Apizaco we passed a very pretty 
 waterfall, name unknown. The railroads are everywhere 
 used by the natives as high roads. There are very few 
 trains in the day, and the ordinary roads are very bad, 
 so riders and foot-passengers take the railroad. When 
 a train appears they have to get off the line as best they 
 can. Sometimes they have great difficulty, and have to 
 plunge into thickets or scramble into the ditches. Often 
 they are overtaken and killed. Before we knew that 
 accidents were of common occurrence we used to be 
 very much amused by their difficulties ; but afterwards 
 we felt rather nervous. Happily, we never witnessed 
 anything of the kind, but it seems numbers are run over 
 in the year. 
 
 We arrived at Puebla at 11.45 a.m. and took the 
 bus to the Hotel de las Diligencias ; very comfortable, 
 with good food and pleasant servants. 
 
 After lunch we made our way with much difficulty 
 to the Cholula tramway and had an hour's shaky ride 
 to Cholula, passing an old aqueduct in ruins and a 
 picturesque bridge with a fine gateway at each end. 
 The Pyramid of Cholula, once surmounted by a temple 
 to Quetzalcoatl, is now crowned by the church of Nostra 
 Senora de los Remedios. The tram-car stops to set 
 down passengers at the foot of the mound, and then 
 goes on to some distant village. The ascent is by an 
 easy winding road, attributed by some to the Aztecs 
 and by some to the Spaniards. What a glorious 
 country Mexico would have been if the Spaniards had 
 
1 84 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 never come ! They knocked down and destroyed 
 everything! The pyramid was once a dense mass of 
 houses in terraces ; now it would be difficult to believe 
 it was not a natural mound, except that pieces are 
 broken away and show how it is built up, mostly of 
 lava and concrete. As we strolled to the top a lad 
 followed us with a handful of ancient Aztec earthenware 
 heads, spindle whorls, beads, and obsidian arrow-heads 
 found amongst the debris. We bought them at last for 
 a small sum. I picked a number of bits of arrow-heads 
 out of the cutting made for the tram line. The little 
 heads are a great puzzle to antiquarians. They abound 
 all round the old Aztec cities^ and no one knows what 
 they were used for. They are all different, so perhaps 
 it was their way of taking portraits. 
 
 The view from the top of the pyramid is very fine. 
 After enjoying it for some time we went down into 
 Cholula and made for a large Gothic-looking church, 
 which turned out to be San Francisco, built in the 
 sixteenth century, and containing a wonderful flat arch 
 — so flat, it is a marvel that it stands. It was under- 
 going repairs, and so was the Capilla de los Naturales, 
 an immense building erected in 1660 to accommodate 
 the great number of Indians that flocked to the shrine. 
 We were told by a Spanish gentleman that the district of 
 Puebla contains no less than 200 churches ! We walked 
 round the plaza and then back to the car, and were jolted 
 to Puebla, but landed a long way from our hotel. 
 Having utterly lost our way, we applied to a young 
 gentleman who was passing, and he actually walked all 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 185 
 
 the way to the door and then waved his hat and shook 
 hands with us. Unfortunately he only spoke Spanish. 
 It was a perpetual source of regret to us that we could 
 not speak Castellana. Dictionaries are not always to 
 be relied on, as that evening Edward, having looked up 
 blankets, went to the landlord and asked for "blanquilla." 
 Our host consented cheerfully, and sent at once for a 
 couple of eggs ! 
 
 Wednesday, November 28///. — We went to the Cathe- 
 dral and spent all the morning admiring it and the 
 wonderful decorations of the interior. The Cathedral is 
 built of dark grey stone with white ornaments, and is 
 large, dark, and impressive outside, but inside all is 
 gorgeous. The high altar, completed in 1819, is very 
 large, most of it being of Puebla marble or onyx richly 
 carved and gilt, and adorned with life-sized coloured 
 statues of bishops. Beneath the altar is the sepulchre 
 of the Bishops of Puebla, said to be very beautiful, but 
 we missed seeing it. The choir is a miracle of inlaid 
 woods, and has old books splendidly illuminated. Every 
 confessional is elaborately carved, and all the side 
 altars rich with ivory figures, silver reliquaries, and fine 
 pictures. It was curious to find amongst all these riches 
 occasional places where, from some cause or other, they 
 had fallen short, so that instead of marble there was the 
 commonest painted wood, and abominable daubs within 
 a few feet of priceless old masters. The sacristy was 
 full of old tapestry and inlaid furniture. Service was 
 going on all the morning, with very sweet music. 
 
 After lunch we took a carriage and drove round the 
 
1 86 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 city, which is full of fine old churches. It is said that 
 there is a network of subterranean passages under the 
 whole of Puebla, connecting the churches and monas- 
 teries with each other. This is said of many places in 
 Mexico, and that people do not like venturing into them 
 to explore them, when they are discovered by a monas- 
 tery or church being pulled down. Of course our driver 
 took us first to see the new Casa de la Maternidad, a 
 fine building of which they are very proudj and the 
 Penitentiary, which was in the unhappy condition that 
 the old was pulled down, and the n2w not yet built, but 
 after that he took us to the church of San Francisco, a 
 very large handsome building decorated inside and out 
 with priceless old tiles as beautiful as gems ; some were 
 quite pictures, one tile having on it a design of two 
 birds and several flowers round them, the colouring 
 remarkably brilliant. In this church is treasured an 
 ugly doll with long hair, dressed doll fashion in rich 
 satin and damask. It is the image of the Holy Virgin, 
 presented by Cortez to his friend the Tlascallan chief. 
 We stopped to look at the public laundry. There were 
 two rows of washing-places, with a natural stream flow- 
 ing between them, the whole roofed over. The women 
 were chattering merrily over their work. We went 
 through the market, where there was the usual display 
 of pottery, fruit, vegetables, and baskets. Often in the 
 markets we saw people selling scraps of cotton materials 
 that had evidently been samples, and we wondered what 
 use could be made of them. Afterwards we saw that 
 they are used to patch clothes. We visited the pawn- 
 brokers, but found nothing to suit us. 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 187 
 
 Puebla is an exceedingly pretty town, the principal 
 square, in which the Cathedral stands, has arcades on 
 three sides with good shops, and altogether the city 
 looks prosperous and comfortable. We met here 
 a contractor for part of the Inter-oceanic Railroad, 
 who told us he paid labourers thirty-seven centavos 
 a day, and stone-masons seventy-five centavos, and 
 generally had to give them something every night on 
 account. 
 
 Thursday, November 2gtk. — We retook possession of 
 our comfortable carriage at eight o'clock, and started 
 for Apizaco, and from there to Orizaba. It was as 
 usual a delicious sunny morning, and all the big moun- 
 tains were quite clear. We just caught a glimpse of the 
 Pyramid of Cholula. At Apizaco we had a chat with 
 an English railway official, who had spent nearly all his 
 life in Mexico, and gave the natives an excellent 
 character. We had a very pleasant run through a pros- 
 perous-looking country to Esperanza, where a nice 
 young Englishman, Mr. Hollis, road-master on this 
 portion of the line, met us, and told us he had been 
 commissioned by Mr. Shirley, the traffic-manager, to run 
 us down the celebrated incline on a hand-trolly, so that 
 we might see it better than we could from the train. 
 Mr. Hollis had only recently come from England with 
 his young wife, neither of whom could speak Spanish, 
 He took us to see her in their little house by the station, 
 a lonely life for her without a single person to speak 
 to in her husband's absence. Our car went on ahead 
 of the trolly, which is a delightful conveyance. We 
 sat in front, and Mr. Hollis at the back, working 
 
1 88 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 the break, and showing us the points of interest, and 
 generally enjoying the rare pleasure of having Eng- 
 lish people to talk to. We were sorry to say good-bye 
 to him at the end of the day's journey. 
 
 The incline begins at Boca del Monte where we got on 
 to the trolly, and were soon tearing down the incline, 
 slowing for the interesting bits, and often stopping 
 altogether to admire the scenery and the engineering of 
 the line, which are both wonderful and worthy of each 
 other. The line is like a shelf on the mountain side, 
 the gradient in some parts one in twenty, with many 
 short tunnels and some giddy bridges, of which the 
 most remarkable is called by the name of the engineer, 
 " Winner's Bridge." It was a very curious feeling to 
 stop on one of these bridges and look down on to the 
 valley below, much like standing in a spider's web. 
 From the line we looked straight down on to the roofs 
 of Maltrata, in the lovely valley of La Joya, every field, 
 road, and cottage marked as if on a map. About half- 
 way down is a station called Alta Luz, Mr. Hollis 
 told us that women, after offering their fruit and flowers 
 for sale at Maltrata, will rush up a mountain path and 
 be at Alta Luz as soon as the train, to offer their wares 
 again. As we descended flowers became more plentiful. 
 Unfortunately, I have never been able to remember the 
 names of flowers, but I recognized many old hot-house 
 friends. The gardenia grows freely and appears to be 
 a great favourite. 
 
 From Maltrata the line goes straight across the valley 
 and then enters a lovely ravine with a stream rushing 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 189 
 
 through it. The ravine is so narrow that for some 
 distance the line runs on a bridge above the stream. 
 This is the Barranca del Infiernillo, or ravine of the 
 little hell. After that the descent to Orizaba is so slight 
 that we had to get men to push the trolly. At Nogales 
 we passed a large and prosperous cotton factory be- 
 longing to Mr. Braneth, of the Mexican Railroad, and 
 a marble quarry and works, belonging to two Americans 
 called Brisbane, who are doing very well. When we 
 arrived at the station we found the landlord of the 
 Hotel de la Borda waiting for us. He is a German 
 with an English wife, and his hotel is exceedingly com- 
 fortable and clean, and the food excellent. As it was 
 too late to do much we went to the Plaza, where there 
 is a pretty garden, and to the market-place. 
 
 The weekly market was just over and everybody 
 packing up and going to church, so we went there too, 
 and found a large crowd attending the evening service 
 after the close of their busy day, before going home. 
 They were very devout, and joined heartily in the 
 responses. 
 
 Friday, November 30//^. — We took a carriage and 
 drove over the worst road we had seen, which is saying 
 a great deal, to a wonderful waterfall. We passed 
 through a large farm where we saw coffee, bananas, and 
 many hot-house flowers growing almost wild. The 
 oranges looked lovely in the sun. After driving some 
 distance we left the carriage, and the driver guided us 
 through fields to a point whence we looked down into 
 the loveliest ravine. A stream ran down the centre 
 
1 90 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 between steep rocks, and just opposite us a second 
 stream came leaping down the cliff in a series of falls 
 of great height to join it ; one waterfall falling into 
 another. Across the ravine were the beautiful moun- 
 tains, and all round us trees and flowers, with butterflies 
 and great buzzards flying about, and over all the intense 
 blue sky and the sunshine which maketh glad the heart 
 of man. We stayed there a long time, and our cheery 
 driver danced round us, picking flowers and finding good 
 places whence to see the falls, and generally doing 
 everything he could think of to give us pleasure, as is 
 the custom of this delightful people. We drove back 
 to the hotel by another road passing the lovely old 
 church of San Gertrudis on the way. 
 
 We met Mr. Shirley close to the hotel, who said if 
 we would wait another day he would take us down part 
 of the way himself. Of course we accepted with joy. 
 He walked through the town with us and kindly acted 
 as interpreter. We found some nice old Spanish tor- 
 toiseshell combs adorned with gold-work and pearls at 
 a pawnbroker's, and a lovely old coral bead and fine gold- 
 work rosary. These we bought very cheap, but I had 
 the curiosity to ask the price of a modern European 
 ring that had been left by some traveller, and I was 
 amused to find the pawnbroker wanted much more than 
 it would have cost new. In another pawnshop I 
 bought some pearls ; the colour is good, but they are too 
 badly shaped to be worth much. A great deal of 
 coarse brown pottery is made in Orizaba, often very 
 pretty, and I saw here two twisted glass bottles that a 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico, igi 
 
 little more skill and better tools would have made 
 " Venetian." Pottery is made everywhere, and is often 
 very artistic, both in shape and decoration, but is rarely 
 well enough baked to stand packing. 
 
 This is the great coffee-growing district. A gentle- 
 man at the hotel was buying quantities of it to ship to 
 New Orleans. He told us that his broker had called 
 his attention to a group of Indians who had brought 
 into town eight asses laden with coffee which they sold 
 for 1 60 dollars. The men were in rags. The broker 
 said this money would be taken home and buried. An 
 Indian never breaks into a dollar. He has no wants 
 beyond what he supplies by his own and his family's 
 labour, and the only purchase he makes is, at long 
 intervals, a straw hat for a few coppers. This has been 
 going on for generations, the secret of the deposit is 
 handed down from father to son, and it is believed there 
 are millions buried in the district. These Indians have 
 a great objection to strangers coming amongst them. 
 It is all very well for the day, but when night draws on 
 they like the stranger to return home, as they are afraid 
 he wants to discover their hidden treasures. In one 
 Indian town the military have had to be called in twice, 
 and use ver}^ severe measures, for the inhabitants mur- 
 dered people who tried to settle among them. An 
 American couple have started a little fruit and flower 
 farm near Maltrata, but we were told they were sure 
 to give it up shortly, so many accidents would happen 
 to them. 
 
 It is curious how the Indians clingf to the manners 
 
192 Five Months Fine Weather' 
 
 and customs of their ancestors. Rich men will send 
 their sons and daughters to be educated at the best 
 establishments, but on their return they have to give up 
 modern dress and \vays_, and wear the simple and not 
 too burdensome native garb, and carry goods to market 
 for sale. 
 
 We spent the afternoon wandering about the town, 
 which is exceedingly prettily situated at the foot of the 
 mountains, with a river running through it, and a plea- 
 sant alameda, or public garden, and pretty streets and 
 lanes. Orizaba is the beginning of the hot country, so 
 the vegetation is very luxuriant and beautiful. Mr. 
 Shirley dined with us at the hotel, and told us a good 
 deal about the natives, of whom he spoke very kindly. 
 The Mexican Railroad pay higher wages than are usual 
 because they like to keep their men. At Orizaba they 
 pay 50 cents a day for a labourer, but down in the hot 
 country they pay more, because it is difficult to work in 
 the terrible heat. There is much swampy land on the 
 low level, which is very unhealthy. The line near the 
 coast is said to have cost a life for every sleeper. Out 
 of 1400 foreign workmen, principally from New Orleans, 
 only 250 went home again. This great mortality was 
 mainly caused by the immoderate indulgence of the 
 men in the native spirit, aguardiente, which is very 
 cheap. 
 
 Saturday, December ist. — Unfortunately our view from 
 the trolly was spoilt by rain. Mr. Shirley took us as far 
 as Fortin. About half-way we stopped and walked 
 through a little tunnel by the side of the line into a 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 193 
 
 beautiful glen. A large river falls about 100 feet, and 
 then disappears underground, reappearing five miles 
 off. It is a lovely spot, and can be reached no other 
 way. Happily the rain cleared in time for us to see 
 the Metlac bridge, which crosses a broad ravine, down 
 which a stream flows, that, until last September, had 
 never been known to be more than two or three feet 
 high. It is a wrought-iron girder bridge carried on cast- 
 iron columns substantially braced together (very like 
 the Crumlin Viaduct in South Wales), and is built on a 
 curve, radius 325 feet, the height is 95 feet. On the 
 night of September 8th there was no rain at Metlac^ but 
 a waterspout must have fallen up in the hills^ for 30 
 feet of water came rushing down the ravine, tearing up 
 big trees, and dashing them like catapults against the 
 bridge. The flood broke down 150 feet of the bridge, 
 leaving the rest uninjured. The traffic then crossed 
 this piece on a temporary wooden trestle roadway, but 
 a new iron bridge was on its way from England, and 
 is probably in its place now. 
 
 At Fortin Mr. Shirley presented us to Mr. Tomblin, 
 who left England with his brother when agriculture was 
 at its worst, and is doing well out in Mexico. They 
 live with a charming Spanish gentleman, a bachelor, 
 who owns an enormous coffee plantation, which they 
 manage for him, and they all join in coffee buying and 
 other speculations. It must be delightful for Senor 
 Vivanco to have two bright young English fellows to 
 live with him. Mr. Tomblin took us across a couple 
 of fields to their house, and he and Senor Vivanco 
 
 O 
 
194 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 received us with the greatest kindness. Luckily our 
 host spoke English well and French like a Parisian. 
 Mr. Tomblin showed us all the process of coffee-drying. 
 When first picked it is put in the sun to dry. We saw 
 quantities on the flat roof. Then it is put through 
 machines which knock off the outer husk and the inner 
 husk and skin. When the inner skin is completely 
 removed the coffee is called " washed." The sorting is 
 not a matter of quality, but of shape. The round 
 berries fetch a rather higher price than the flat ones, 
 because they roast better. Then it is packed in sacks. 
 We were mounted on lovely little Mexican horses to 
 visit the plantations where there are 350,000 coffee- 
 trees, shaded by 3,000,000 bananas. The combination 
 of the small, dark green foliage and the crimson berries 
 of the coffee plant, with the large drooping leaves of 
 the bananas is very pretty. Seiior Vivanco lent me his 
 own dear little grey horse, but unfortunately he had no 
 ladies' saddle, and the only thing to be found in the 
 neighbourhood was an old child's saddle, with a tiny 
 stirrup in the shape of a heart, and fastened on to the 
 horse by one strap over a piece of carpet. I believe 
 the horse was ashamed of both saddle and rider, for I 
 had the greatest difficulty in keeping my perch; it 
 could not be called a seat. The Mexican bridle is very 
 easy to manage ; the bit is cruel in a heavy hand, but 
 insures instant obedience. The horses are very fresh 
 and spirited, and did not seem troubled by the bits. 
 
 Mr. Tomblin said he would bring over some of the 
 Mexican horses when he came to England and exhibit 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 195 
 
 tnem. They descend from the Spanish barbs, and are 
 beautifully formed, swift and active, with very easy 
 paces, generally about fourteen hands high. We had a 
 delightful ride, and on our return a delicious dinner, of 
 which I will give the meim, as it was the only meal we 
 got in the house of a Spaniard, though we got native 
 dishes several times. 
 
 Soup with some kind of paste in it. 
 
 Omelette with a sauce of tomatoes and chillies. 
 
 Filet de boeuf 
 
 Small gourds cut in halves, filled with some mixture 
 of vegetables. 
 
 A Ragout. 
 
 Baked puff fritters, very crisp and light, with chilli 
 sauce. Rice cake and custard. Pine-apple sliced in 
 sugar. Oranges sliced in claret. Fruit pastes of all 
 kinds, made in moulds like jellies. French wine and 
 mezcal with the coffee, a spirit or liqueur made from 
 aloes, but not the same kind of aloes that are used for 
 pulque. We brought some mezcal home with us, and 
 also some fruit paste, which is made largely in Mexico. 
 Coffee was curiously served. Cold extract of coffee, 
 made every morning in sufficient quantity tor the day, 
 was brought in a decanter, and a little poured into the 
 cupSj and boiling water added. Several times during 
 the meal tortillas were brought and placed by each 
 person, some cold and crisp^ some hot, all very delicate 
 and very nice. The common way of eating tortillas is 
 to fold them up and use them as spoons, of course 
 devouring them at the same time. They are named on 
 
 o 2 
 
196 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 this account " Spoons of Montezuma," because when a 
 Spaniard, boasting one day of his king's magnificence, 
 gave as an example of it that he had a clean spoon with 
 each course, the Mexican answered, " My king is still 
 more magnificent, for he has a new spoon with every 
 mouthful." Sefior Vivanco told me one servant was 
 employed all day long making tortillas for his house- 
 hold. She prepared the corn, and made it into dough 
 every afternoon, for use the following day. 
 
 The garden was very beautiful. There were roses, 
 gardenias, large variegated-leaved plants grown at home 
 •n stoves, tulip-trees, which are so common that they are 
 even used for hedges, orange-trees and a wonderful con- 
 volvulus with a beautiful flower, which when still a bud 
 is exactly the shape and size of a duck. Senor Vivanco 
 told me the natives were very pleasant people, and quite 
 honest. He pointed out a man at the station who 
 makes his living by selling bouquets. As this man 
 lives at the station it is quite a common thing for people 
 to leave large sums of money, which they wish to send 
 off by train, in his care. 
 
 Mr. Shirley joined us again at the station, and went 
 on to Vera Cruz with us. We saw the beautiful falls 
 of the Atoyac from the train, and then passed for miles 
 through a dense jungle. The vegetation was marvellous, 
 all shajDes, sizes and colours of trees, shrubs and grasses 
 but very few flowers. It was not the right time of the 
 year for them. In the old diligence days this part of 
 the road was much dreaded, it was so unhealthy. 
 
 Captain Powell, of the Mexican Railroad, met us at 
 
in Canada, Westei^n U.S., and Mexico. 197 
 
 the station, and kindly walked with us to the Hotel Uni- 
 versal, where we got a good clean room. The chamber- 
 maid at this hotel did her work with a cigarette in her 
 mouth, and an ugly dog following her. It was Very 
 smelly down stairs. Captain Powell told us there had 
 been no case of yellow fever in Vera Cruz for exactly 
 two years. The old town walls had been pulled down, 
 and since then it had been more healthy. A Norther 
 was on all the time we were in the Tierra Caliente, or 
 Hot Land, as the low-lying districts near the sea are 
 called, so we did not get any great heat. We had 
 heard such conflicting accounts of Vera Cruz that we 
 hardly knew whether it was safe to visit or not. Many 
 told us we must arrange to arrive in the morning, and 
 leave in the evening, so that we should not spend a 
 night there for fear of the " Vomito/' the yellow fever ; 
 but we found that positively it is looked upon as a 
 health-resort by Mexicans, who go there for sea breezes- 
 Sunday, December 2nd. — Vera Cruz is a pretty little 
 town with a Plaza Mayor^ where the band plays, 
 and where cocoa-nut palms grow. These were the 
 first we had seen. The shops and the market were not 
 particularly interesting, but the harbour and landing- 
 stage were most amusing. The famous island fortress 
 San Juan d'Ulloa is very near the main land, and affords 
 some protection for the ships, but if a storm comes on 
 their only safety is in flight to the sea. The govern- 
 ment have begun to construct a breakwater, but probably 
 were short of money, so after letting down blocks of 
 stone sufficient to prevent ships leaving the harbour that 
 
198 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 way, they stopped the works. The great danger lies in 
 the numerous reefs, visible in calm weather by the surf 
 on them. There was a wreck lying to the south of the 
 harbour, a French ship lost in the same storm that 
 destroyed the Metlac bridge. The most amusing feature 
 of Vera Cruz is certainly the zopilotes, or buzzards, 
 who are the city scavengers, and swarm everywhere, 
 walking about the streets and skurrying away on one 
 leg, and with much wing action, when I poked them with 
 my umbrella. They sit in groups on the balconies and 
 housetops, and appear to have a good deal of conversa- 
 tion among themselves. They are the size of small 
 turkeys, and black as night. 
 
 Mr. Shirley came for us and took us to see the great 
 fortress. The governor was formerly in the employ 
 of the Mexican railroad, so as Mr. Shirley was with us, 
 he took us round himself and was very polite and 
 pleasant. It is about twenty minutes' row to the 
 island — a very pleasant journey through the shipping 
 congregated there. As soon as we got inside the fort, 
 a number of prisoners surrounded us, offering their 
 handiwork for sale. We bought a good many of their 
 carved cocoa-nuts and two cocoa-nut cups, exceedingly 
 well done and most elaborate. They make them to get 
 a little pocket-money for tobacco, &c. First we were 
 taken to the governor's rooms, and then to the top of 
 a tower to see the fine view of the city and surrounding 
 country, all sand wastes, and the distant hills, and sea- 
 wards we could distinguish the dangerous reefs on which 
 so many vessels have come to grief. 
 
in Canada, Wesierii, U.S., and Mexico. 199 
 
 Then the governor took us over the prison. We 
 visited the kitchen, and saw the food preparing for the 
 prisoners. It smelt very nice. They have two dishes 
 for dinner, one a strong meat soup, with lumps of meat 
 and vegetables in it, the other a savoury mess of vege- 
 tables, with oil or fat and a large piece of bread. A^ 
 breakfast and supper they have coffee, bread, and the 
 favourite national dish, frijoles or beans, without which 
 no Mexican meal is complete. The prisoners wear striped 
 garments. There is no capital punishment in Mexico, 
 but ninety-nine years' imprisonment is the severest legal 
 sentence. We were told that some of the men were there 
 for dreadful crimes. There is a law which compen- 
 sates to a great extent for the want of the death penalty, 
 that is : — one that a prisoner shall be immediately shot 
 down if he attempt to escape. Prisoners particularly 
 obnoxious to the government are generally got rid of 
 under this law while being conveyed from one prison 
 to another. Men convicted of minor offences are often 
 sent into the army instead of to prison. The present 
 governor of San Juan has done all he can to im- 
 prove the condition of the prisoners, but the dungeons 
 are beyond his power to make really fit for habitation 
 He has done a good deal by breaking through the im- 
 mense walls and putting in doors and windows, such as 
 they are, mere slits in the enormously thick masonry. 
 Formerly the only communication with the dungeons 
 was a hole in the roof. The prisoner was let down with 
 ropes, and food and water given him the same way. 
 Light and air there were none, except through this hole. 
 
200 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 The governor showed us small dungeons in which 
 political prisoners used to be confined alone. Santa 
 Anna had locked up, or rather buried, Juarez in one. 
 There was no break in the walls, except the hole in the 
 roof. By-and-by Juarez got the upper hand and put 
 Santa Anna in the dungeon, but when quiet times 
 came he forbade the use of them altogether, and most 
 of them were destroyed. We went into the dungeons 
 now used, which are very dark and damp and unsavoury. 
 It is by the light of those bits of windows, or miserable 
 candles, that the prisoners do the fine carving. They 
 soon spoil their eyesight. Very often the prisoners 
 mutiny and try to escape, but they have never yet been 
 successful. Generally a soldier is found to help them, 
 who steals the .keys, probably killing the officer who 
 keeps them. He lets out the prisoners and they lock 
 up the soldiers, and try to kill the officers and the 
 governor. There has been one mutiny under the present 
 governor. He and another officer took refuge in the 
 tower^ which has a narrow winding staircase, and de- 
 fended themselves with a handspike. All the other 
 officers were killed, and then forty prisoners got on a 
 raft to go to the land. A cannon-ball sunk the raft, 
 and those who managed to swim ashore were seized as 
 soon as they reached land and shot at once. 
 
 In the afternoon we took cars all round the town 
 (for there is no Mexican town without tramways). It 
 was a pretty drive, past the Bull-ring and the old 
 fortifications and many new houses. We had a pleasant 
 evening with the Shirleys, who have a little house 
 
in Canada^ W ester ji U.S., and Mexico. 201 
 
 close to the sea, where they bring the children for change 
 of air. Here, again, our ignorance of Spanish was very 
 vexatious, for Mrs, Shirley's jolly little son could not 
 speak English. We spent the night in our carriage as 
 the train started for Jalapa at such an unearthly hour 
 in the morning. Mr. Shirley lent us sheets and blankets, 
 so that we had very comfortable beds, but oh, the 
 mosquitoes ! 
 
 Monday, December "^rd. — Our untiring benefactor, 
 Mr. Shirley, sent his man with coffee for us just before 
 the train started at 4.30. We got up comfortably, and 
 were ready to change to the mule cars at Paso de 
 San Juan at 6.8. 
 
 The gradients are too steep for locomotives to run 
 to Jalapa, and there is not sufficient traffic to make a 
 better line pay. The new inter-oceanic railroad is to 
 pass through Jalapa on its way to the coast. We were 
 favoured with a small car and a pair of mules belonging 
 to the manager of the line, Colonel Thrirkill, and 
 started before the others. There were seven relays, 
 and each time much persuasion, kicking and pushing 
 were required to get the mules harnessed and started. 
 They always wanted to go another way, but once 
 started, they gave no more trouble. It was amusing to 
 watch them jump over the holes, and where the road 
 was bad, from sleeper to sleeper. The line is 54 
 miles long from the junction, the steepest gradient 
 8 in 100, and the total rise, 4562 feet. Going up one 
 does not see the country so well as coming down, and 
 the day was misty, but even then the journey was 
 
202 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 charming, on account of the beautiful trees and flowers, 
 and numbers of large butterflies and humming-birds' 
 with whom we made acquaintance for the first time. 
 There were great lizards eighteen inches long — splendid 
 fellows, quite harmless. Our driver tried to catch one 
 for me as it was rushing into its hole, but unfortunately 
 the tail broke off" in his hand. We arrived at Jalapa at 
 four o'clock, an hour before the other cars, having had 
 a delicious Mexican meal at Rinconada, besides excel- 
 lent coffee and bread at a little refreshment-room at 
 one of the first villages we came to. Colonel Thrirkill 
 met us and insisted on our going to his house, which 
 we did with very great pleasure. Nothing is more 
 delightful on a long journey than to escape from the 
 hotels, and be once more in a well-ordered home, with 
 a friend at the head of the table ; and Colonel Thrirkill 
 was the most delightful host. He had been in the 
 great American Civil War, and told us about the 
 desperate struggle the South made against the North, 
 before she was crushed by superior wealth and numbers. 
 Colonel Thrirkill had had an open fireplace built in his 
 sitting-room, probably the only one in Mexico. The 
 fire was delightful as it was cold in the evenings. 
 
 We took a walk round the town which is prettily 
 situated on a slope, with a good market-place and club, 
 and one or two churches. The oldest church has been 
 pulled down by the government on the pretext that it 
 was so decayed it was falling down of itself, but I dare- 
 say the real reason was that great treasures were said 
 to be hidden there. Many iron pots were discovered 
 
in Canada, JVestei^n U.S., and Mexico. 203 
 
 embedded in the walls, but all were empty. The 
 owner of a neighbouring house was more fortunate. 
 Some accident brought a bit of his wall down, and he 
 found a treasure in coin, silver spoons and dishes, &c., 
 worth 30,000 dollars. The pawnbrokers were quite 
 uninteresting. 
 
 Tuesday, December <\tli. — It rained all day, so the 
 expedition Colonel Thrirkill had planned to take us to 
 Cautepec, could not come off I enjo3^ed the fire all 
 day, but the gentlemen ventured out to a tobacco 
 manufactory, employing 600 or 700 hands, where they 
 bought some cigars. Tobacco grows well in Mexico, 
 and is often sold for Havana. 
 
 Wednesday, December ^tli. — It was a magnificent day 
 but very cold at first, quite a hard frost. We started 
 for Vera Cruz at 6.30, Colonel Thrirkill going with us. 
 The mist had all cleared away, and the immense moun- 
 tains at the back of Jalapa, the Cofre de Perote and the 
 Peak of Orizaba, looked glorious in the sunshine. On 
 the way down we often got magnificent views as far as 
 the sea and over the surrounding country. On the 
 north a line of hills extends right into the sea, and 
 there is only one path over them to the next valley, 
 and that is so bad that, though mules go over with 
 baggage, it is not considered safe for people to ride. 
 The natives carry travellers up and down on their 
 backs. They are so strong they will run up the steep 
 ascent even when carrying a stout German who owns 
 a vanilla plantation there. This German has become 
 very rich by cultivating the vanilla. It is easy to 
 
204 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 grow the bean, but very difficult to dry it properly, 
 neither too quickly nor too slowly. He dries them in 
 blankets by a method of his own. 
 
 Colonel Thrirkill pointed out to us by the roadside 
 several trees on which men had been hung for plunder- 
 ing the diligences in the old times. They were hung 
 on the spot where they committed the crime. One tree 
 had had forty-nine men hung on it after a great high- 
 way robbery ; among them were a man, his five sons 
 and two nephews. After an execution the branch used 
 is always cut off. We asked if he had ever been shot 
 at, he said only once, not by a brigand but by a man 
 he had prosecuted for stealing. Pie was caught and 
 sent to San Juan d'Ulloa. 
 
 A wonderful bean grows here covered with tiny, 
 almost invisible prickles. Boys collect them in quills 
 and amuse themselves by blowing them abroad, in 
 church, or wherever there is a crowd. They enter the 
 skin and instantly cause intense irritation which lasts 
 twenty-four hours. It was suggested we should bring 
 some home to disperse our opponents' meetings at the 
 next general election. 
 
 The mules brought us down very quickly, they 
 can do twenty-four miles an hour. The natives are 
 quite as active as the mules. They will leave the 
 junction with the car and arrive at Jalapa before it, 
 going across country and not stopping, like the car, 
 fifty minutes for refreshments. 
 
 We had a capital dinner at the Hotel Diligencias, 
 and took coffee in front of the Hotel Universal, and then 
 
in Canada^ Western U.S., and Mexico. 205 
 
 said good-bye to our good friendSj Colonel Thrirkill 
 and Mrs. Shirley, and once more retired to our car. 
 
 Thursday, December 6th. — The train started very 
 early for Mexico, but our man managed to get us a 
 little coffee, and after dressing quietly we got more 
 coffee and bread, both excellent, at Paso del Macho. 
 It was a lovely morning, and the mountains and trees 
 and the Atoyac waterfall, everything was at its best. 
 At Cordova we laid in a stock of fruit at absurdly low 
 prices. A large basket of capital oranges, basket in- 
 cluded, 2 reals [\od.), ly bananas also 2 reals, but 
 this price was far too high ; a pine-apple, very sweet and 
 juicy, cost us a medio (2^-</.), we might have had two for 
 the price but did not want another, and natives would 
 have got three. The granadita is one of the nicest 
 Mexican fruits. It is shaped like an egg with a hard 
 rind, and the inside is like a gooseberry. There were 
 many quite new to us. On one occasion we caused 
 great amusement in the restaurant at Hotel Jardin, by 
 bringing home a fruit that looked like a green hedge- 
 hog. After considering it with great interest during 
 lunch, we proceeded to cut it up and eat it, our opposite 
 neighbour chattering to us in Spanish the whole time, 
 It was very nasty, and Johnny coming in just then 
 was called up by our friend to explain that it was not 
 a fruit at all, but a vegetable and should only be eaten 
 cooked. This was what he had been trying to tell us 
 all the time. We had it at Colonel Thrirkill's as a 
 vegetable, and liked it much better. 
 
 The day being very bright and clear we saw to 
 
2o6 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 advantage the splendid scenery that was partly hidden 
 by rain on our downward journey. It turned cold 
 before we reached Mexico. 
 
 Friday, December jth. — 'Professor Gardner came to 
 lunch with us, and told us of a delightful curiosity- 
 shop, where we got some beautiful things, a wonderful 
 old ivory amongst them the like of which has been 
 rarely seen at Christie's. We paid many visits to the 
 funny little shop. 
 
 Next day we visited the Castle of Chapultepec. 
 The drive there is very pretty. It is along the 
 Paseo de la Reforma, the fashionable promenade, 
 two miles long and very wide, with trees on each 
 side of the drive, and again at the side of the wide 
 footpaths. There are handsome stone seats, where 
 there were often picturesque groups of natives, flirting 
 or gossiping. At the city end is an equestrian statue 
 of Charles IV., said to be very fine, and further on a 
 beautiful monument to Columbus by the French 
 sculptor, Cordier. In the next glorieta (or open space) 
 is a work by a native artist Jiminez, a monument to 
 Guatimotzin, the last Aztec king, who was tortured to 
 death by Cortez, in the hope that he would reveal 
 hidden treasures. Many heroic legends are associated 
 with his name. This pleased me most. It is decorated 
 with fine bas-reliefs of historical scenes, and at the 
 top is a very spirited statue of the hero in the act of 
 throwing a dart. There are six glorietas, and eventu- 
 ally all are to be adorned with statues of national 
 heroes. Juarez is to come next. It is interesting to 
 note that the native Mexican element is overpowering 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico, 207 
 
 the Spanish. Juarez and Diaz both sprang from the 
 old Aztec stock without any Spanish intermixture. 
 
 At the end of the Paseo, which is perfectly straight, 
 stands the great rock on which the castle is built. It is 
 divided into two portions, the military school and the 
 palace, which is very commonplace inside, much as if 
 Gillow had been turned in to do as he liked, except the 
 rooms furnished and decorated by Maximilian which 
 are far below Gillow's standard. The views from the 
 broad marble terraces are very fine. It must be a 
 delightful residence. At the foot of the great rock is a 
 magnificent grove of monster cypress-trees, older than 
 history. The grey moss which hangs from every bough 
 gives them a hoary appearance, but they are quite 
 vigorous. A monument commemorates the saddest 
 incident of the American invasion. When the American 
 army marched on Mexico city, they were compelled to 
 take Chapultepec, which is a fortress as well as a palace 
 and a military academy. The cadets turned out to 
 defend the place and fought splendidly, and almost every 
 one of these poor lads was killed. 
 
 We drove back to Mexico too early to meet the 
 fashionable world who assemble here every afternoon 
 in closed carriages. So genteel is this promenade that 
 fashionable families, if unable to attend in person, send 
 their carriages with closed windows to represent them. 
 Gentlemen go on horseback, and a Mexican gentleman 
 on horseback is indeed a thing of beauty. He wears a 
 short coat or jacket, tight-fitting trousers, adorned from 
 waist to boots with a double row of silver buttons, large 
 spurs inlaid with silver, which look formidable, but are 
 
2o8 Five MontJis' Fine Weather 
 
 really harmless, as the rowels do not end in points, and 
 a large felt sombrero with silver or gold decorations. 
 These sombreros often cost immense sums of money. 
 The saddles are very large, of embossed or embroidered 
 leather, with endless flaps and dangling appendages, 
 and silver ornaments and enormous stirrups. Behind 
 the rider is strapped the bright-coloured serape, hanging 
 down to the level of the stirrups. The beautiful little 
 horses look almost too small for so much splendour. 
 The serape is the national garment for men of every 
 degree. It is about eight feet long and four feet wide, 
 with a hole in the middle to put the head through. 
 This hole is seldom used, it is generally draped across 
 the shoulders. The women of the lower classes in- 
 variably wear the reboso, the same shape as the serape, 
 but of thin blue and black cotton. They put them over 
 their heads. Anything more picturesque and less con- 
 venient could not well be imagined as there is nothing 
 to keep it in its place. Ladies have quite discarded 
 them, though formerly they had charming silk ones, 
 which are now becoming scarce and valuable. 
 
 We went to the Cathedral as usual, and found it 
 magnificently decorated with blue and silver damask, 
 and hundreds of lighted candles, in honour of the feast 
 of the Immaculate Conception. It seemed to be a 
 great social festivity, as we met numbers of bouquets 
 evidently on their way to be presented to friends, and 
 confectioners' boys carrying cakes, as if many afternoon 
 teas were going on. It is a mystery to me why artists 
 do not come out here and paint the glorious scenery 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 209 
 
 and the handsome people who are wonderfully graceful 
 and picturesque in their bright-coloured rags. It would 
 be such a delightful change from the eternal views 
 of Venice by sunlight, moonlight, early morning, 
 sunset, &c., &c. 
 
 Sunday, December gth. — We went by tramcar to 
 Guadalupe to visit the celebrated shrine. Unfor- 
 tunately the great church was closed for repairs. The 
 Virgin of Guadalupe is the patroness of the native 
 Mexicans, while the Virgin de los Remedios belongs 
 specially to the Spaniards. The good people seem to 
 look upon them as quite distinct and rival divinities. 
 The reason of the national devotion to the shrine of 
 Guadalupe is that it contains the miraculous picture of 
 the Holy Virgin, presented by her to a native Mexican, 
 while our Lady de los Remedios is merely a Spanish 
 importation. The legend is this : — A poor man called 
 Juan Diego, very pious, was on his way to mass one 
 morning in December, I53i,when the Blessed Virgin 
 appeared to him and told him to go to the Bishop, and 
 say she wished a church to be built in her honour on 
 the site of an ancient Aztec temple. The Bishop 
 Zumarraga refused to believe his tale, so he went back, 
 and told the Holy Virgin, and she commanded him to 
 meet her there again on the following Sunday. Again 
 she appeared to him and again the Bishop refused to 
 accept his message, unless he could bring some proof 
 that he was divinely commissioned. The Bishop seems 
 to have been impressed to some extent, for he sent 
 people to watch Juan Diego, but as soon as he reached 
 
 P 
 
2IO Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 the hill where the vision appeared, they lost sight of 
 him. Our Lady told him to come next day, and he 
 should receive the necessary proof. Next day, however, 
 he was kept at home by his uncle's illness, which got so 
 much worse that the following day he had to fetch the 
 priest to confess the dying man, and, so that he might 
 not be delayed by the vision, he took another road. 
 When crossing a barren rock, the Holy Virgin met him 
 and told him his errand was needless, for his uncle was 
 quite recovered. She then commanded him to go once 
 more to the Bishop, and as proof she caused to spring 
 out of the rock a rose-tree in full bloom. He was to 
 pluck the roses, wrap them in his serape, and show them 
 to no one until he reached the Bishop. When the 
 vision disappeared a miraculous spring gushed from the 
 rock, which retains marvellous powers of healing to this 
 day. When Juan Diego opened his serape to give the 
 roses to the Bishop, he found that a picture of the Holy 
 Virgin, as she appeared to him, was painted on the 
 rough cloth. Of course the Bishop hesitated no longer, 
 but built the chapel and put in it the miraculous picture. 
 Strange to say, artists have recently been allowed to 
 examine it, and cannot discover how it is done. It is 
 neither oil nor water-colours, nor any known medium. 
 
 On leaving the car we found ourselves on the large 
 square in front of the big church. Dozens of gambling 
 tables, with all manner of games of chance, stood about 
 the square, which was crowded with dirty people. We 
 saw some Indians sweeping down the bit of pavement 
 where they had spent the night under a straw matting. 
 
in Canada^ Western U,S., and Mexico. 211 
 
 There were many Indians about who looked more like 
 the Red Indians of the States than any we had seen 
 before in Mexico. The great church being closed, ser- 
 vice was going on in a side chapel. A bystander assured 
 me the picture over the altar really was the ritratto 
 miraculoso, but I think it can only have been a copy. 
 
 We went to the holy spring which is enclosed in a 
 pretty little chapel. People not only drink the water 
 but take it away in bottles for friends unable to come. 
 It is very good water, and so plentiful that an eminent 
 engineer would like to use it for supplying the city with 
 drinking water^ but fears ecclesiastical opposition. I 
 meant to drink some, but after seeing what dirty people 
 let down the cup into the water, drew it up, drank some 
 and threw back what they left, I thought I would forego 
 my share of the promised blessings. Then we mounted 
 the steps to the small chapel " del Cerrito," of the little 
 hill. The chapel has nothing worthy of notice except 
 its fine position and the view from the terrace in front 
 of it, but half-way up is a very curious representation in 
 stone of the mast of a ship with sails spread. It is said 
 to contain a real mast and sails and to have been erected 
 by some sailors who being in imminent peril at sea, 
 vowed to consecrate their ship to the Blessed Virgin of 
 Guadalupe if she would save them. The storm imme- 
 diately abated, and on reaching shore the sailors dragged 
 their ship, according to their vow, across the great 
 mountains and set it up here. The whole of Guadalupe 
 is on the hill side, and is a very conspicuous and 
 beautiful object from any part of the great tableland. 
 
 P 2 
 
2 12 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 Monday, December \oth. — We got up at five o'clock, 
 breakfasted at the station, and started at seven o'clock 
 by the National Railway for Toluca, It was a hard frost 
 but the sun soon came out and the day was very hot. 
 We arrived at Toluca at 9.30 a.m. It was a very pretty 
 run. The Hne winds through the hills, following a 
 stream for some miles, then turning down a more con- 
 venient valley, until it reaches the edge of the immense 
 plain on which Toluca is'situated. Then it runs along 
 a terrace about 200 feet above the plain and the views 
 are very fine. The plain is as flat as a board, and 
 beyond it rise the mountain 'and the great snow-topped 
 extinct volcano Xinanticatl. 
 
 Toluca is a pretty town, very prosperous-looking and 
 full of churches. There is a calvario on a hill closeby, 
 from which one can see all over the plains. All Mexican 
 towers are prettily built, with open spaces and arcades, 
 and stalls selling cheap goods. Pillow lace is made at 
 Toluca very like torchon lace. I got several pieces, but 
 one particular bit I wanted was on the pillow of a 
 woman in the market. She had already made several 
 yards, but it was an order, and nothing would induce 
 her to let me have it. The Church must be enormously 
 rich here. Although there were fine churches at every 
 corner, we saw two new ones in the process of con- 
 struction, both very important buildings. There is in 
 the church ot El Carmen the first organ made in America. 
 It is a queer-looking thing, with the pipes in a box and 
 the bellows outside. We regretted having stopped a 
 whole day at Toluca, for there is nothing particular to 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 213 
 
 see and our time was getting short. The Hotel Gran 
 Sociedad was very good. 
 
 Tuesday, December \\th. — We took the 9.35 a.m. 
 train for Morelia. About half an hour after leaving 
 Toluca we passed the Cerro del Senor, a high hill with 
 a church at the very top, formerly a place of pilgrimage. 
 About one o'clock we came to a real cauon, very pretty, 
 though on a tiny scale compared to those in the States. 
 It twists and turns with the course of the river, and 
 smaller canons branch off, affording lovely views. All 
 at once the train rushes into the open, and the glorious 
 panorama of the valley of Solis lies before the traveller. 
 After crossing this valley, and through another range of 
 hills, the valley of the Lerma is reached, and for miles 
 the track runs by the side of the big river. Great old 
 trees grow in the water. The province of Michoacan 
 is the richest in Mexico ; there are mines of silver and 
 gold, great grazing-districts covered with herds of 
 splendid cattle and hcrses, much cultivated land, which 
 gives often two crops a year, and in the hotter part there 
 are forests of valuable trees, both for ornamental woods 
 and precious dyes. 
 
 Acambaro is the junction for Morelia. Here we had 
 to change trains, as so far we had been on the main line 
 for the north. After leaving Acambaro, and crossing 
 another range of mountains, the third in the day, we 
 reached the valley of Morelia and the beautiful lake of 
 Cuitzeo. The sun set soon after we reached the lake, 
 turning the mountains rose colour and the sky into 
 gold. It was exceedingly beautiful. We reached 
 
214 -^^^'^ Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 Morelia about seven o'clock, and, by the advice of the 
 guard, we took the tram-car and he took our baggage- 
 ticket to give to a cargadore, or carrier, to bring to 
 the hotel. It never came. Hotel Oseguerra was clean 
 and comfortable, but the food very bad. 
 
 On our way a fussy little man had attached himself 
 to us, who was the English agent for Singer's sewing- 
 machines in Morelia. He was very kind in helping us, 
 and after dinner he called to take us to see the illumina« 
 tions in honour of the festival of Guadalupe. 
 
 We walked down the street to the fine promenade 
 leading to the Sanctuary of Guadalupe. Strings of 
 coloured lamps were hung across the road, and the 
 promenade and park at the end of it were crowded. 
 We noticed numbers of soldiers in the crowd, for this is 
 the district where the Church and reactionary party have 
 most power, and it is well garrisoned to prevent a rising. 
 The church called the Sanctuary was a blaze of light, 
 and crowded to suffocation. 
 
 Close to it is a large open space, where hundreds of 
 people were lying about, and cooking their food or buy- 
 ing it of the many stall-keepers. These were country 
 folk, come to take part in the greatest religious festival 
 of the year. They were going to spend the night there 
 in the open air. 
 
 Wednesday^ December \2th. — Of course our first care 
 was to look up our box. We found it safe enough at 
 the station, and by-and-by we met the station-master, 
 who was seeking us to take us to the governor to com- 
 plain. It seems there is a Custom-house officer at the 
 
in Canada^ Westemi U.S., and Mexico, 215 
 
 station, who ought to .examine all the luggage that 
 comes in, but rarely does so ; only now and then, at 
 long intervals, he insists on visiting a box. Unluckily, 
 ours took his fancy, and nothing would induce him to 
 let it be sent to us. We accompanied the station- 
 master to the governor's, and he made a speech and the 
 governor made a speech, all in Spanish, and we bowed 
 respectfully whenever they pointed to us, and finally 
 shook hands with everybody in the room, and the 
 station-master was satisfied and we got our box ; but 
 we had lost a couple of hours over the affair. 
 
 Our new friend of the sewing-machines was waiting 
 for us in the full glory of the Mexican costume, spurs, 
 silver buttons, and all. The effect was decidedly marred 
 by a pair of Jfince-7ie2. He got the keys of the cathedral 
 towers for us, and we went up at once and got a splendid 
 view of the town and surrounding country. Morelia is 
 beautifully situated on a small hill rising out of the 
 wide plain. Though a small town, it is the principal 
 one of the district and has a large market. The streets 
 are straight, crossing each other at right angles, and 
 whichever way one looks there is a glimpse of green 
 fields and trees at the end of them. 
 
 The cathedral is large and imposing outside ; inside 
 the best thing was the carving of the choir railings and 
 seats and the organ. We visited many of the churches 
 including the little old church of the Santa Cruz, for- 
 merly the cathedral. There was nothing particular in 
 any of them. 
 
 The Monte de Piedad, a branch of the great esta- 
 
2i6 Five Months^ Fine Weather 
 
 blishment in Mexico, contained nothing interesting. 
 The two markets were almost empty. There were a 
 few stalls protected from the sun by great straw um- 
 brellas. The shops were closed on account of the feast. 
 Our friend urged us to stay over the next day, which 
 was market-day, to see all the country people come in. 
 We should have liked to do so, but we had seen in the 
 guide-book that the market at Patzcuaro was particu- 
 larly interesting, and rich in fancy work in ivory and 
 the famous Uruapan ware. We much regretted after- 
 wards that we had not taken his advice. After mid-day 
 dinner we went again to the fine old causeway leading 
 to the sanctuary. It is paved, and on each side is a 
 handsome stone wall with a continuous line of seats. 
 We noticed that the barracks were placed in the old 
 monastery actually adjoining the sanctuary. 
 
 There is a pretty garden in what is supposed to be 
 the old Aztec style, with curious stone carvings, and 
 past the church is the fine aqueduct, lOO years old, and 
 a wood with shady walks. The most charming bit of 
 all is the old Glorieta, with a large fountain in the centre 
 and comfortable seats all round. We remained there 
 a long time watching the people, many of whom had 
 brought provisions and were evidently spending the 
 whole day there. 
 
 We visited the cathedral once more, and left Morelia 
 at 7.10 p.m. for Patzcuaro, which we reached at 9.15. 
 The only hotel by the lake is Hotel Ibarra, in an old 
 hacienda. It is very dirty and objectionable in every way, 
 ut the journey must not be given up on that account. 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 217 
 
 Thursday, December I'^th. — A very fine day. At 
 7.30 a.m. we went on board the steamer Mariaito 
 fime^tez — such a ghost of a steamer, everything worn 
 out and broken and hardly hanging together. For 
 some time we were drenched by the steam from the 
 engines, which poured through every crevice. The 
 captain, engineer, pilot and a third of the crew was a 
 very nice young fellow who lodged in the hotel. We 
 took our lunch with us, a large dish of cold chicken 
 and another of tongue. Unfortunately, the chicken 
 was smothered in garlic and the tongue soaked in 
 vinegar, so we had only the hard-boiled eggs to eat 
 after all. 
 
 The Lake of Patzcuaro is exceedingly beautiful, with 
 many islands, and surrounded by hills that at one end 
 are very lofty. There are thousands of ducks and coot, 
 and some gentlemen staying at the hotel had gone out 
 in a little boat to shoot them. To their great mortifica- 
 tion they hardly got a bird. Afterwards, the reason for 
 their want of luck was discovered. The natives, who go 
 about in canoes a la Robinson Crusoe, just tree-trunks 
 hollowed out, and oars like spoons, have a great hunt 
 every Wednesday. Hundreds of boats come out and 
 act in concert, forming a large circle, to drive all the 
 birds together, then they shoot what they can with a 
 kind of javelin, and form another circle round those that 
 escape the first. They continue this hunt all day, so 
 naturally the birds are very wild on Thursday. 
 
 We stopped at a village across the lake, called 
 Sinzunzan, where there is a very old churchy with the 
 
2 1 8 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 oldest and biggest olive-trees I ever saw in the church- 
 yard. We measured one that was thirty feet in girth. 
 Here is treasured a very large picture by Murillo, a gift 
 from the King of Spain when the church was rich and 
 important. It is said that Church, the American 
 artist, offered a million dollars for this great work, which 
 represents the entombment of our Lord, but nothing 
 could induce the natives, who are very proud of their 
 picture, to part with it. When at one time they thought 
 it was going to be sold and sent away, they mounted 
 guard round the church to prevent its removal. It is 
 very powerfully painted, but, so far as one can see in 
 the dim light of the sacristy, it is very dull, sober 
 colouring for Murillo. There was a very early picture 
 in the church itself, with a kind of shutter to close over 
 it and only leave the faces exposed. At the back of the 
 main altar there was some fine hammered silver work, 
 also very old. 
 
 On our way back to the boat we entered a cottage to 
 see the pretty common pottery made. The woman 
 made it very rapidly. The clay is red and takes a fine 
 glaze, and they make very pretty, as well as funny 
 shapes, and decorate them with black and white, and 
 scratch designs on them. We bought six pieces for 
 seventeen cents. 
 
 After a very pleasant day on the lake we got back 
 to the hotel at 5.30, and had a very bad supper. We 
 afterwards met a Mr. Roberts from New Orleans, con- 
 ductor on the Guadalahara railway, who had been in 
 this neighbourhood and had learnt that there was a 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 219 
 
 great Aztec king, named Calzontzin, who had ruled 
 over the Sinzunzan district^ buried in the village, and 
 great treasures were supposed to be buried with him. 
 Mr. Roberts and some of his friends clubbed together to 
 dig up his Majesty, and, after going some feet into the 
 ground, the labourers came to enormous stone slabs, 
 which were raised, and under them was found the body 
 of the king, very well preserved, but it fell to pieces as 
 soon as it was touched. There were no treasures with 
 him, and when they wished to dig deeper the Govern- 
 ment interfered, so all their money was wasted. Mr. 
 Roberts gave me a fragment of the old king's clothes, 
 two of his teeth, a little head like those we got at 
 Cholula, and some horn rings and one of silver, from 
 chains of rings that were with the body. All these 
 things were taken from the grave. If we had known 
 when at Sinzunzan^ we would have visited the spot. 
 
 Friday, December lA^tJi. — We set off with our pockets 
 full of money for the Patzcuaro weekly market, of 
 which the guide-book had promised such great things. 
 We found absolutely nothing to buy ! It was a large 
 market, but only of fruit, vegetables, matting, common 
 pottery, and imported manufactured articles. A man 
 took us to his house to show us some very elaborate 
 feather-work pictures, large landscapes. They were 
 curious, but very ugly. The colours of the feathers 
 were not suitable for landscapes. We walked the two 
 and a half miles from the lake to the town, as it was a 
 terrible road to drive over, and the only available 
 carriage was broken, and tied up with string in all 
 
2 20 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 directions. The Americans at the hotel charged us 
 strictly not to return after dark, which was hardly likely 
 as we started at 8.30 a.m., and they advised us anyhow 
 to take a gun. One might as well take a gun along the 
 Bayswater Road. A merrier, friendlier people I never 
 saw. They were all laughing and chattering as they 
 passed in shoals along the road, and most of them 
 greeted us, and remarked that we were " Ingles." It 
 was delightful to see how amiable and courteous they 
 were with each other. The way a Mexican dism.isses a 
 beggar is characteristic of the people. He does not say, 
 '' Go away, you lazy rascal ; you ought to be made to 
 work," but he smiles sweetly upon the beggar, and says, 
 " Perdonite, por Dios," (" Forgive me, for the love of 
 God.") The effect is the same, but with less friction. 
 We had a most amusing walk to the town, and on our 
 return the glorious view over the lake made up for the 
 absence of the people. There is nothing in the town 
 specially worthy of a visit, though it is pretty, as all the 
 towns are, and the hotel seemed better than ours. After 
 our return we sat a long time on the balcony of the 
 hotel watching the people return from the market and 
 embark in their primitive canoes for home. Patzcuaro 
 Lake is wonderfully pretty, and well worth the discom- 
 fort one has to put up with. Probably a better hotel 
 will be started now that the line is open. 
 
 Saturday, December i ^tJi. — We had a starlight walk to 
 our train, which started at 5 a.m. It was very cold 
 until the sun came out. After that the day was delight- 
 ful. Had it not been for the kindness of the conductor, 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 221 
 
 Mr. Murray, a Canadian, we should not have got away, 
 for the luggage-clerk said our box had come too late, it 
 ought to have been there an hour before. We had to 
 wait at Acambaro from 10.30 to 4.35. We walked 
 through the very pretty town, and visited some churches, 
 the finest and handsomest being San Francisco, which 
 contains two large fine Chinese vases in the sacristy, one 
 converted into a filter. The rest of the time we spent 
 sitting on the benches that surrounded the fountain in 
 the large garden of the Plaza Mayor, watching the 
 people fetch water for their household consumption. 
 All the water is carried by hand. Every town has its 
 own peculiar fashion of carrying water, that is the 
 professional water-carrier. The poor people fetch their 
 own, children often bringing quite large jars to fill that 
 seem much too heavy for them to carry. Each person 
 drank what he wanted before filling the great earthen- 
 ware vessels of all shapes and sizes. Though we did no5 
 see a person in Acambaro who appeared to have a penny 
 to spare, there was an ice-vendor very busy. The cry, 
 "Nieve, Nieve," is rarely silent in Mexican towns. 
 
 We got on to Celaya that evening, and put up at 
 Hotel Solis. I think we should have done better at the 
 other hotel ; we could not well have done worse. Our 
 room was about twenty-five feet square, and had no 
 window or ventilation of any kind, except the door, 
 which was not very large. The smell was most un- 
 pleasant. Edward dragged my bed close to the door, 
 which we left open, so I slept quite well. We walked 
 round the town after supper, and saw some magnificent 
 
222 
 
 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 churches, one especially looked very fine in the moon- 
 light. The streets were full of people selling fruit and 
 food of different kinds, and each little stall had a light 
 made by a small fire in a brazier stuck on the end of a 
 strong stick. These fires quite lighted up the streets, 
 and made a warm glow on the lower part of the churches, 
 while the cold blue light of the moon illuminated the 
 upper part, and caught the tiles on the domes. 
 
 Sunday, December i6th. — Owing to the stupidity of 
 the hotel servant, we were up far too early, and had to 
 wait a long time for our train. We tried to get some 
 coffee at the station, but found it too bad to drink. 
 This is far from the coffee-growing country. 
 
 We arrived at Irapuato at 6.30 a.m., and had to wait 
 two hours for the Guadalahara train, so we took the 
 tram-car to the town, which is some way from the 
 station, and tried to get some coffee in the market, 
 which was being held in the great open space opposite 
 the big church, and in the broad, principal street. The 
 coffee was very bad, so we went to the Hotel del Ferro 
 Carril, where we got a very fair meal. It appeared to 
 be a much better hotel than that at Celaya, and is kept 
 by a Havana Englishman. The town is full of beautiful 
 churches, and is worthy of a longer visit than we made. 
 Strawberries are said to be ripe here all the year round. 
 We bought some at the station which were not fit to eat. 
 
 The journey to Guadalahara is not interesting, mostly 
 over flat low-lying land. We got a very bad lunch in 
 the middle of the day in a hut made out of old sleepers.. 
 The natives crowded round to watch the animals feed, 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 223 
 
 and peered in through every crack and cranny in the 
 walls. This line is only just completed ; it was opened 
 last May, and is a source of great excitement and 
 astonishment to the natives. When we arrived at 
 Guadalahara at 6 p.m., the station was densely packed 
 with well-to-do people, who had come to see the train 
 arrive. Half a mile out carriages and gentlemen on 
 horseback were waiting to see the wonder. We had 
 quite a struggle to get away. We engaged a man to 
 take our box to a cab, but he set off direct to the hotel 
 with it at a tremendous pace, and we had to tear after 
 him, for when one of these men gets a load to carry he 
 runs, and the heavier it is the faster he goes. We were 
 delighted to meet an hotel servant, and set him to pursue 
 the box, while we followed quietly. The dust was dreadful. 
 The hotel was quite good — Hotel Cosmopolita. 
 
 Monday, December lyth. — The official in charge of 
 the station lent us one of their people, a Mexican, who 
 spoke English, to show us round and interpret for us. 
 Our first excursion was to San Pedro, along the fashion- 
 able drive. Guadalahara is a social centre, many country 
 people have houses there, and come in for the wet 
 season. The self-taught artist, Panduro, lives at San 
 Pedro, and it is also the centre of the pottery manu- 
 facture for which Guadalahara is famous. It excels all 
 other native pottery, and is remarkable for its brilliant 
 colouring and decorations in silver and gold. We 
 bought a quantity of it for 25 dollars. Panduro works 
 in clay, but he does not make vases and jars. He 
 makes figures, water-carriers, men on horseback, groups, 
 
224 F^^^^ Months Fine Weather 
 
 &c., and his fame is principally owing to his portrait 
 busts, which are three or four inches high, and very 
 clever. He did Edward and me ; both excellent 
 likenesses. Panduro is a very intelligent-looking man, 
 with full dark eyes, and a heavy crop of dark hair. He 
 was at work in a shed when we arrived, but he took us 
 to his bedroom for Edward's first sitting. It was a 
 large room, beautifully clean. His serape spread on 
 the bed for a quilt, and a picture of Our Lady of 
 Guadalupe on the wall. In working he holds the lump 
 of clay in his left hand and fashions it with his fingers, and 
 with small bits of wood and iron sharpened to a point. 
 Another excellent figure-maker is Pedro Zumiga. 
 
 There is no hotel at San Pedro, so we went into 
 a little eating-house for lunch, where the woman was 
 busy cooking and sending out meals, with the help of 
 a servant. She only had a fire in a brazier, on which 
 they put everything to cook in little pots and squatted 
 by it, keeping up the fire with fans, and when there was 
 nothing else to cook the servant made tortillas. Seeing 
 we were people of note, and should require delicacies 
 out of the ordinary way, she sent for some meat, 
 curious fragments of some unknown animal, and eggs 
 and sugar, and set to work to prepare our meal. It 
 was all very nasty and very amusing. Unfortunately 
 the husband came in quite drunk, and was put in a 
 chair, where he went off to sleep at once. After 
 finishing our shopping, we took the tram-car back to 
 Guadalahara. After dinner we went to the Plaza 
 Mayor, where the band was playing. 
 
in Canada ^ Western U.S., and ]\Iexico. 225 
 
 Tuesday, December iZtJi. — Every day during our short 
 stay in Guadalahara, Panduro came in and worked on 
 the busts. He had recently returned from a two 
 months' visit to Mexico City, where he had been em- 
 ployed by President Diaz at lOO dollars a month and 
 all expenses, to make busts of his family and friends. 
 There was some talk of sending him to the French 
 exhibition. 
 
 Guadalahara is a very handsome town, but looks too 
 new to be so interesting as many others. It is ex- 
 tremely prosperous, being the centre of a rich district. 
 The climate is said to be perfection, and certainly was 
 so during our visit. It is warmer than Mexico City, 
 being 700 feet lower. Our Mexican friend took us 
 round the shops and to the prison, which is very large, 
 accommodating 1 100 prisoners. The building is very 
 peculiar, and is made to suit the system of government, 
 which is strictly Republican. On the ground-floor are 
 long corridors, having on each side cells, fifteen feet by 
 twenty feet. Each prisoner has a cell to himself. These 
 corridors meet in three large courtyards, one for those 
 who are awaiting their trial, one for men, and one for 
 women. In the daytime the prisoners work together, 
 and they are turned into the courtyards for an hour 
 every evening for recreation. On this level there are 
 no paid officials whatever. Order is kept by managers 
 chosen from amongst the prisoners, generally men of a 
 better class than the bulk or of more respectable ante- 
 cedents. These managers are armed with clubs. If 
 they do well, they get their term of imprisonment cur- 
 
 Q 
 
2 26 Rive Months'' Fine W eat he 7' 
 
 tailed. One of the managers was a gentleman who had 
 been rudely treated and struck by a police officer. He 
 waylaid him next day and killed him. He was taken, 
 tried, and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. 
 On the flat roof that covers the cells and forms long 
 terraces commanding the courtyards and windows, and 
 quite inaccessible from below, are stationed sentinels 
 with loaded guns, who would shoot down at once any 
 prisoner who attempted to escape, or was beyond the 
 control of the managers. There were only twenty-five 
 paid men in all the prison. Work is done by the 
 prisoners and sold for their benefit. We bought a 
 serape and some fire-fans, and we were shown some 
 wonderful straw work sombreros, that were going to 
 the Paris Exhibition. A charming old gentleman 
 walked round the roofs with us and explained all this. 
 
 As we walked back from the prison we passed a very 
 old Spanish church falling to ruins, and also San Felipe, 
 which we entered, and a beautiful old church of the 
 Capuchinas with a fine tower. This is the loveliest 
 object in Guadalahara. After dinner we again went to 
 hear the music on the plaza and found it illuminated 
 in honour of the anniversary of some victory gained 
 over the French by the Governor, whose palace forms 
 one side of the plaza. Another side is occupied by the 
 very ugly modern cathedral with towers like extin- 
 guishers. 
 
 We noticed several times in the town and in the 
 courtyard of our own hotel, a curious pavement made 
 of bones. 
 
/// Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 227 
 
 Wednesday, December 19//A — We visited the Orphan- 
 age, a large building where a number of orphans 
 are brought up, the girls completely, the boys until the 
 age of twelve, when they are transferred to the School 
 of Artisans. All the children looked very happy and 
 well cared for, and the bright, pleasant young lady who 
 showed us round, told us she had been a pupil and 
 was now a teacher, and knew nothing of the outside 
 world. The children are taugh*^, besides the ordinary 
 subjects, photography, lithography, music, advanced 
 drawing, and the most wonderful embroidery. The}- 
 were making wonderful things for the Paris Exhibition. 
 
 Thursday, December 20th. — Our train left at 8 o'clock 
 a.m., and arrived at Irapuato at 5.20 p.m. Some priests 
 travelled by our train, one, a charming old gentleman, 
 was seen off by about a dozen friends. It amused us 
 much to watch their farewells. Besides much hand- 
 shaking, they embraced him just like people do on the 
 stage, no attempt at kissing at all^ but first the right 
 arm over the shoulder and the left arm on the waist, and 
 then the left arm over the shoulder and the right arm 
 on the waist. There was a lady amongst the friends 
 who took leave the same way, but it was the most deli- 
 cate, graceful ghost of an embrace, 1 hey just touched each 
 other with the tips of their fingers. We took our lunch 
 with us to avoid the horrid meal we had had in coming, 
 and as we got plenty of delicious fruit on the way, we 
 did well. We dined comfortably at the Hotel del Ferro 
 Carril at Irapuato, and afterwards walked back to the 
 station by starlight, joined the express at 7.40, and 
 
 Q 2 
 
2 28 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 were fortunate in getting good berths. VVe arrived in 
 Mexico at 7.15 next morning, and drove at once to the 
 hotel for breakfast. We spent the whole day shopping 
 and packing. 
 
 The plaza was full of booths and hawkers selling 
 sweets, candied fruits, toys of all kinds, and great paper 
 boxes of curious shapes, meant to be filled with bon- 
 bons, and hung up at Christmas parties as a kind of 
 Aunt Sally, to be shied at. When broken, of course 
 the sweets fall all over the floor, and the children 
 scramble for them. Some were ballet-girls, some devils, 
 balloons, fish, and the prettiest of all were ships in full 
 sail. There was a great crowd, and numbers of boys 
 with baskets, anxious to be hired to carry home pur- 
 chases. A lady told me that on the Jour des Morts 
 there was a similar market, but all the wares represented 
 skeletons, cofifins, death's-heads, or something pertaining 
 to death or burial. Children were sucking sugar skulls, 
 and the stall-keepers cried, " Fresh skeletons ! " She 
 gave me a skeleton ice-seller, wonderfully made in paper, 
 for which she had paid a real. 
 
 Saturday, December 22nd. — We walked about the 
 lovely city, feeling very sorrowful that we had to leave it 
 so soon, and might never see the glorious cathedral again. 
 We took the tram-car to Tacubaya, with which we were 
 disappointed, as all the vaunted gardens are enclosed by 
 high walls. We saw the Arbol Benito, under which a 
 holy priest rested long years ago, and blessed it, that it 
 should never lose its leaves, but be for ever green. I 
 am sorry to say it was shedding its leaves rapidly, and 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 229 
 
 was not green at all ; but the fountain which sprang 
 from the ground at the bidding of the priest is still there, 
 so the tale must be true. 
 
 Sunday, December 2ird. — Again we visited the ar- 
 cades, and bought some silver buttons and clasps, and 
 some tiny wooden b >ots, exquisitely carved by an 
 Indian, who picks up the old boots thrown into the 
 street and copies them in miniature. We went up the 
 cathedral tower again, and admired the lovely mountains 
 that seemed close to us, the air was so clear. 
 
 Monday, December 2^th. — By the kindness of Mr. Foot, 
 of the Mexican Railroad, we were run down to San 
 Juan Teotihuacan at 9.30 to see the wonderful Aztec 
 remains, instead of having to take the only regular train 
 in the day, which starts about 5 a.m., and would have given 
 us a very long time to wait before we could return. A 
 gentleman connected with the railway, who spoke 
 Spanish, went with us. As there is no inn at San Juan, 
 we took lunch with us, but nothing could induce the 
 manager of the restaurant to lend us knives and forks ; 
 he said we might never come back. It was in vain that 
 Johnny reminded him that we were leaving all our lug- 
 gage in the hotel ; he would not trust us. On our return 
 we found him very penitent, and anxious to make friends 
 again. He would come to us at almost every meal, and 
 converse in Spanish in the most affable way, though he 
 knew we could not unders'and what he said. We were 
 an hour in the train, and then got into a wonderful old 
 carriage that was waiting for us at the station, and drove 
 over a rough road, over big stones and across beds of 
 
230 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 streams, all guiltless of water except one, where a little 
 tiny brook trickled down a great ravine that would hold 
 a roaring torrent in the rainy season. This stream was 
 theTeotihuacan, and had a handsome new bridge across 
 it. There were great hedges of organ cactus, and num- 
 bers of aloes and prickly pears. We passed a fine old 
 church, much out of repair, and a few small cottages, 
 each guarded by a savage dog. We had to take a long 
 round to get to the Pyramid of the Moon, which we 
 climbed in the heat of the day, and found it a very stiff 
 pull, over loose stones and what had once been a path. 
 The mound is built up principally of lime, concrete, and 
 lava, and soon falls to pieces when meddled with. A 
 large cavern had been dug into the rock to see if it con- 
 tained any tombs, and a deep hole was discovered, but, 
 having been left for some time, the roof had fallen in 
 and the whole of it was choked up. The ground is 
 covered with bits of broken crockery and obsidian arrow- 
 heads. People came to sell beads, little heads, and such 
 things for a few coppers. Two large carvings offered 
 us were very ugly, and coarse, and indistinct. The 
 opinion of antiquarians is that each of these mounds was 
 crowned by a temple, and the road, still plainly dis- 
 cernible, called the Pathway of the Dead, connected the 
 two, while the immense city was built all round them. 
 
 The view from the top of the mound is very pretty 
 and very curious, for the maguey fields are so different 
 from anything one is accustomed to, and have a speckled 
 appearance at a distance. I was disappointed with the 
 Pathway of the Dead, which did not come up to the 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 231 
 
 pictures of it. It is not a straight road from one mound 
 to the other, it is straight for a long way, but not as far 
 as the Pyramid of the Moon. At the top of the mound 
 is a Httle altar with a wooden cross. 
 
 We scrambled down the other side and soon came to 
 the colossal head forming a table, the whole one block 
 of soft granite about five feet square. There is a gutter 
 across the table, which is supposed to show that it was a 
 sacrificial stone ; but there is not the faintest stain of 
 blood. We sat down by the stone to eat our lunch, and 
 soon three friends gathered round us, and shared our 
 meal. One was a man who squatted down beside us, 
 and picked the carcase of the turkey. He found and 
 carefully treasured the tinfoil off our bottle of wine. 
 The other two were children, a funny little boy, and a 
 sweet little girl, who was in charge of some goats. All 
 we gave her she wrapped up in her reboso, and when 
 we asked her where she was going to take it, she said, 
 " A mi Mamma." I tried to get her to eat a tempting 
 little cake, but she would not touch it, all must be taken 
 to mamma. All three had a little store of clay heads 
 and obsidian to sell. By the way it is a mystery how 
 the ancient Mexicans procured so much obsidian. It is 
 not much found in the country, if at all. We had a 
 v-ery pleasant lunch, and were much amused to see how 
 the man refrained from pressing his goods upon us until 
 we had purchased the children's. They were no relatives 
 of his at all. We noticed this good feeling wherever we 
 met the Indians selling things. They never seemed to 
 care much whose wares we bought ; nobody ever quar- 
 
232 Five ]\IontJis Fine Weathei' 
 
 relied or tried to get the better of the others. It was 
 the same at the stations, and with the hawkers in the 
 streets. 
 
 Many excavations have been made in the smaller 
 mounds, and steps and foundations of houses have been 
 discovered. 
 
 We had a rough climb up the Pyramid of the sun and 
 down the other side. The mounds are high, the Moon 
 150 feet, and the Sun 216 feet, and there is not anyroad. 
 Then we rejoined the carriage, and made off quickly to 
 the station to catch the freight train, which landed us 
 back in Mexico at 4.15. We had had a delightful day. 
 
 Christmas Day. — We could not help feeling a little 
 homesick, especially as the whole of the hotel went to 
 visit friends except ourselves. We had the restaurant 
 to ourselves at dinner. A man came selling strawberries 
 as we were at breakfast, so we bought some for a real) 
 5<^., just to say we had eaten fresh strawberries, grown 
 out of doors, on Christmas Day. They had no flavour. 
 We went to service in the cathedral in the morning, but 
 there was nothing special, and in the plaza the people 
 were busy pulling down the stalls, and taking them 
 away. Evidently Christmas Day is not so much con- 
 sidered in Mexico as in England. Christmas Eve is the 
 special occasion for family parties. In the afternoon we 
 went to Guadalupe, hoping to find the great church 
 open, but it was still closed. 
 
 Wednesday, December 26th. — An English firm had 
 lent us their carpenter to help us to pack our purchases, 
 and already he had spent hours measuring and making 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and JMexico. 233 
 
 boxes, and putting in bits of wood he called " tavolas," 
 to keep things apart. While Edward went off to get 
 money and tickets, &c., the carpenter and I had quite a 
 field-day. We managed to understand each other quite 
 well somehow. He was very intelligent and obliging. 
 At last, after great planning, and fixing, and fitting, and 
 arranging, the fifth box was finished, and the dear man, 
 who had been kindness and patience itself, took the 
 hammer in his hand to put in the first nail of the last 
 lid. " In the name of God," said he reverently as he 
 struck the nail. It took me altogether about ten hours 
 and quantities of cotton-wool to pack the large ivory 
 figure alone. That very morning we secured the little 
 ivory chorister boy we had bargained for so long in the 
 Plaza San Domingo. 
 
 Thursday, December 2'jth. — It was a '^oggy morning, 
 so we did not see Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl any 
 more, but we got a glimpse of the cathedral towers as 
 we drove to the station to take the Central Railway as 
 far as Celaya. We saw our driver in the crowd that met 
 the train at Queretaro, and exchanged greetings. At 
 Celaya we only had time to get across from one station 
 to the other, to take the national line to San Miguel 
 d'AUende, where we arrived in the dark, and left next 
 morning before day, so we saw nothing of it, but we 
 had a pleasant evening with Mr. Ferrars, who put us 
 up in his nice little house there. 
 
 Friday, December 22,th. — ^We w^ere at the station at 
 4.40 a.m., only to find the train was two hours behind 
 time. We waited in the station-master's office where there 
 
2 34 F^''-'^ MontJis' Fine Weather 
 
 were five men asleep around the stove ; the conductor on 
 a camp bed, two men on the floor, one on the table, and 
 one on a box. Two more unfortunate travellers soon 
 joined the party. When the train arrived we could not 
 get into the Pulman car because the people had not got 
 up yet, and the first-class was very uncomfortable, 
 being crowded with second-class passengers, because 
 there was no second-class car on the train. It is 
 advisable in Mexico always to take second-class tickets 
 if you do not wish to go in the Pulman car, for either 
 there is no first-class car and all the travellers are put 
 in the second-class, or there is no second-class and 
 everybody goes in the first. This is often the case on 
 American railways, too. 
 
 We arrived one and three-quarter hours late at 
 San Luis Potosi, where Mr. Wharf met us, and 
 took possession of us, and made life pleasant for 
 us during our stay at San Luis. There was a great 
 crowd to see the train come in, as there was at 
 Guadalahara, because here, too, the line has only 
 been opened a short time. We enjoyed our visit 
 to San Luis .immensely. It was delightful to have 
 pleasant friends to talk to, and go about with. Mr. 
 Wharf was the manager of that branch of the Central 
 Railway, and lived at San Luis with his family, and 
 there was also the engineer of the line to Tampico, Mr. 
 Schmidt and his wife, who were kind to us. The hotel 
 was poor, so Mr. and Mrs. Wharf insisted on our 
 taking all our meals with them, which was very pleasant 
 and home-like. 
 
 San Luis is a very prosperous town, increasing 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 235 
 
 rapidly, and likely to become a large place, as both 
 the National and Central Railways go through 
 it. There are some very fine old churches. The 
 Cathedral is handsome outside, but poorly decorated 
 inside, and the facade of the Church of El Carmen is 
 exceedingly rich, with carved columns, and a very fine 
 tower. Near the top of the facade is a curious attempt 
 to represent clouds in carved stone. There is a very 
 large alameda near the station, and a large market 
 where I bought a napkin, decorated with drawn work, 
 from an old woman's cake-basket. I offered her a 
 dollar for it and though that was quite a large sum for 
 her, she was unwilling to sell because it would disturb 
 her little show of biscuits. At last her friends per- 
 suaded her to make the effort. The Plaza on which 
 the Cathedral and hotel are situated is very pretty. 
 
 The pawnbrokers were delightful. I got several 
 nice things, amongst them an old carved ivory fan. I 
 asked the man the price, and I understood him to say 
 doce (twelve), so knowing that one must always bargain 
 in Mexico, I was just going to say, " Too dear, I will give 
 you ten and a half," when Mrs. Wharf remarked, she 
 did not think two [dos] dollars was a high price for it, 
 so I altered my remark, and said, " Too dear, I will give 
 give you one and a half for it." I got it for one and 
 three-quarters. Z^ci' pronounced " doss," and ^/(jff, pro- 
 nounced " docee," sound much alike. 
 
 The next day we spent the same way, roaming about 
 the town and visiting the churches. We saw the 
 people fetching water from a fountain, and while we 
 watched them they completely emptied the basin, 
 
2^6 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 ■J 
 
 although it was pla}'ing all the time. Waterworks are to 
 be constructed shortly to supply the city, by an eminent 
 English engineer. Like Guadalahara, San Luis en- 
 joys a perfect climate, and it is said is becoming quite 
 a health-resort. It is more interesting in itself, and the 
 surrounding country prettier than Guadalahara. The 
 sun comes out day after day with unfailing regularity, 
 and even the wet season is healthy and pleasant. 
 Wonderful embroidery is made in this neighbourhood, 
 especially drawn work. 
 
 Sunday ,D eceinber '^otk. — We left San Luis at 9.50 a.m., 
 our kind friends seeing us off. We had a dreary journey 
 through an ugly flat country, stopping perpetually 
 because something had gone wrong with the locomotive ; 
 at one time we stuck on a curve for an hour and a half. 
 We got no dinner, because instead of arriving at Saltillo 
 at 7 o'clock, we did not get there until 11 p.m. We 
 went to bed at last in despair, and the porter brought 
 us some black coffee at midnight. 
 
 Monday, December 3IJ"/. — We arrived at Nuevo 
 Laredo, where we got breakfast, an 9.15. The Mexican 
 customs examination was nominal, and the American" 
 officer examined the boxes quite quietly, not upsetting 
 anything. 
 
 We felt very doleful about leaving Mexico, which is, 
 of all countries, the most beautiful and the pleasantest 
 to travel in. The pure bracing air and heavenly sun- 
 shine make one feel happy and ready to enjoy every- 
 thing. 1 never saw a happier-looking people. 
 
 Numbers of Englishmen are settling in Mexico, 
 which is lull of minerals, especially on the west, while 
 
ill Canada, Western U.S., and Alexico. 237 
 
 the fertility of the country is extraordinary. The Eng- 
 lish get on well with the natives, and find them very 
 satisfactory workpeople, anxious to learn, and not 
 afraid of work. Often the .English marry Mexican 
 ladies, who are very pretty and devoted to home 
 life. 
 
 Part of the Central Railway having been washed 
 away, the men worked most energetically to get it put 
 right, going on as long as daylight lasted. We asked 
 the contractor what he paid for overwork. " We pay 
 them for all they work over twenty-four hours a day," 
 he said. 
 
 We had a dreary journey from Laredo to San Anton. 
 The day was dull and rainy, and the country ugly and 
 flat. As usual, the train was late, so the Southern 
 Pacific train had gone on without us, and we had to 
 spend the night at San Anton. The Menger Hotel is 
 a large second-class house with first-class prices. 
 
 Tuesday, January \st. — The new year came in cold 
 
 and dull. We started in the morning for New Orleans. 
 
 We could get no Pulman car until we reached Houston, 
 
 ■where a capital dinner was set before us ; but we had 
 
 only time to pay for it, not to eat it. 
 
 We arrived at New Orleans early next morning. It 
 is a disagreable entrance like San Erancisco ; one has 
 to leave the train and go on a ferry-boat. There is 
 some talk of building a bridge to enable trains of all 
 lines to run into the city. The St. Charles Hotel is 
 very good. We had unpleasant, rainy, cold weather all 
 the time we were in New Orleans, which is a dreadfully 
 damp place. The country is perfectly flat as far as 
 
238 Five Months Fine Weather' 
 
 one can . see, and very ugly. In fine weather New 
 Orleans is probably a very pleasant city, but it looked 
 very ugly and dirty to us. The main street, Canal 
 Street, is immensely broad, 200 feet, and must have 
 been very pretty when there was an avenue of trees 
 down the middle of it ; but now that the avenue is 
 replaced by a tram-line, the beauty has departed 
 
 The old French Cathedral and the buildings on each 
 side of it in Jackson Square are very handsome and 
 interesting ; they are so totally diff rent from anything 
 else in America. It is strange to pass from the 
 bustling streets, full of black folk, to this peaceable, 
 lonely spot, like a bit of an old French town. Another 
 survival of the French times is the expression " Creole," 
 taken to signify anything first class ; for instance," the 
 mam at breakfast included "Creole eggs," which I 
 ordered, hoping to discover a new dish, but the waiter 
 explained it only signified they were best quality. No 
 doubt it acquired this signification when the Creoles 
 monopolized all the good things. We walked to the 
 jetty, which seemed to be covered with cotton ready 
 for shipping. Negroes everywhere, rather short and 
 poor-looking. The policemen even there were Irish, 
 We spoke to one, and he answered us in a lovely brogue. 
 
 We took the car to the great cemeteries to see 
 the monuments to the Confederate Generals. The 
 finest is that to General Andrew Johnson, an eques- 
 trian statue of great spirit. There were fresh bouquets 
 and wreaths on the tomb. When I was subsequent!}^ 
 buying photographs of New Orleans I could not find 
 
in Canada, IV es fern U.S., and Mexico. 239 
 
 one of this statue, but the photographer said he would 
 get one for me somehow and send it to England, and he 
 did so. He would not be paid for it ; he seemed pleased 
 at our admiration for it, and for Southern pluck. Most 
 of the graves are very costly, being small houses to 
 contain the coffins, as the ground is too wet for them 
 to be buried. 
 
 Thursday, January 'i^rd. — Another cold, rainy day. 
 Mr. Corthell, the eminent engineer, who is to build the 
 new bridge over the Mississippi, took us with him in a 
 tug up the river to the place where it is to cross, and 
 then down to where a carpet was being made of trees, 
 brushwood, &c., held together by iron bands and wire, 
 18 inches thick, 200 feet wide, and 300 feet long, to lie 
 upon the side of the river-bank up to low-water mark, 
 and along the bottom, which is 150 feet deep. It was 
 to be kept in place by heavy stones, in order to protect 
 the bank, which the river continually carries away, 120 
 feet having been carried away in one year. What the 
 Mississippi takes from one bank it gives to the other, to 
 the detriment of both. A gentleman of the party, a 
 town commissioner, told us he remembered when the 
 river extended over the space now occupied by the jetty 
 whence we started, and three blocks of houses up to the 
 Custom House. The carpet costs 12 dollars per foot, 
 and is confidently expected to prevent further trouble. 
 "We passed a number of wooden barges, like long boxes, 
 with square ends, each containing 1000 tons of coal, 
 brought all the way from Pittsburg — 2600 miles — on the 
 river, at the rate of \\ dollars a ton. One steamer can 
 
240 Five Months Fine Weather 
 
 bring thirty of these barges down stream, but the cur- 
 rent is so strong that only a quarter of them can be 
 taken back empty. Tiie rest are sold for 25 dollars 
 each for firewood, though they cost 700 to make. We 
 saw, also, the flat boats that bring fruit from Honduras 
 and the hot countries to New Orleans, whence it is sent 
 north by train, and the curious cotton steamers, with 
 the cabins supported on columns, and all the deck 
 covered with cotton-bales. These steamers used to do 
 a large passenger trade before the railways were made. 
 The river itself is only admirable for its great size. The 
 water is muddy, and the banks flat. We were shiver- 
 ing in the cold east wind, and very glad to get on shore 
 and find a cab to take us through the drenching rain 
 to the hotel, where a good dinner soon warmed us. 
 
 That afternoon and next day, also cold and wet, 
 we spent arranging for our homeward journey. 
 We found that none, of the big boats of any line 
 were running to suit us, so we took a cabin on the 
 s.s. Fulda, of the Nord-deutscher Lloyd. We left New 
 Orleans at 5.30 p.m. by the Illinois Central, and 
 after a dreary journey we arrived at Cairo at 6 p.m. 
 next day, five hours late, so it was too dark to see the 
 bridge for whose sake we had come so far out of our 
 way. We reached St. Louis about midnight, and put 
 up at the excellent Southern Hotel, especially recom- 
 mended in the advertisement as " fireproof," which 
 seems to be a favourite description of anything superior 
 in St. Louis. I suppose conflagrations are common 
 there. 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., attd Mexico. 241 
 
 The pride of St. Louis is the fine bridge built by 
 Captain Eads over the great river. The city is very 
 large, smoky, and prosperous, quite new and handsome, 
 and utterly uninteresting. 
 
 We left by the 8 p.m. train next day for New York by 
 the Vandalia route, very rough and shaky. When a 
 carriage was added to the train it was done with such 
 force that we thought it was a collision. At Pittsburg we 
 were transferred to the Pennsylvania Central, which is a 
 first-class line. From there we ran at night through a 
 country of forges and coke-ovens, and immense towns 
 flaring with natural gas. It was a fine sight in its 
 way.* 
 
 Tuesday, Zth January. — We arrived at New York at 
 8.40 a.m., and had once more the weary business of 
 crossing the ferry, which makes the entrance to so 
 many American cities unsightly and disagreeable. We 
 were busy all day arranging for Our departure, and only 
 found time to visit Tiffany's shop, of which one hears 
 so much. We were much disappointed with it. It is 
 like a large bazaar, and though things were very nice, 
 they were no better than half-a-dozen big London 
 jewellers, and there were no large pieces of silver. 
 Things were of the wedding present description. Edward 
 dined with some friends, so I had to go down alone, 
 and to my horror, was placed by the head waiter to do 
 gooseberry at a small table where a gentleman was 
 entertaining a very pretty, sweet-looking girl. He was 
 
 1 The district since drowned by the bursting of the great 
 reservoir. 
 
 R 
 
242 Five Months' Fine Weather 
 
 an author, and she had read his book and they talked 
 Hterature. "Do you Hke Tennyson ?" "Oh so much. 
 Do you like Emerson ? " " Oh yes, I have read every- 
 thing he wrote. Do you like Longfellow ? " As long as 
 they kept to this style of criticism they did very well, 
 but at last they got to Shakespeare, whose Antony and 
 Cleopatra seems to contain the " To be or not to be " 
 speech, in the American version. Then the gentleman 
 struggled valiantly with Antony's speech about an 
 honourable man ; he was sure there was something 
 about an honourable man in it, and the lady remarked 
 that Shakespeare was a great friend of her father, and 
 often dropped in to tea. This was too much for the 
 author, so he changed the subject. 
 
 As I listened to the conversation going on around 
 me, I gathered that nearly every one present lived 
 permanently at the hotel, which seems to be quite a 
 little social world in itself. Between eight and nine 
 o'clock a number of ladies went away from the hotel, 
 evidently to some kind of entertainment, for they were 
 most expensively and elegantly dressed in bright or 
 very light colours, but with bonnets. I suppose they 
 must have been going to the theatre or concerts. The 
 ideas of American ladies on dress are very different 
 from ours. It is only lately that they have generally 
 adopted low dresses at all, but now they wear them 
 more than we do. A lady who gives an afternoon at 
 home, wears a low-necked dress and so do her daughters, 
 and the young ladies who are asked to help to entertain, 
 but the guests come in bonnets and cloaks. It must 
 
in Canada, Western U.S., and Mexico. 243 
 
 either be very hot for them, or very cold for the 
 hostess. 
 
 Wednesday, January gth. — We went on board the 
 Fidda at II a.m., and started punctually at noon. Our 
 cabin was very comfortable, and the whole boat clean 
 and well ventilated, the food remarkably good and the 
 servants very attentive. The first night was very rough, 
 and only six passengers appeared for breakfast next 
 morning, but after that we all got quite well, and then 
 it was I learnt the truth of the sailor's proverb about 
 " the appetite of a first-class passenger." The weather 
 was delightfully warm and sunny, and though the sea 
 was very rough, no one was the worse for it of all the 
 120 passengers. The Fulda seemed to be such a little 
 cockle-shell of a boat compared to the Umbria, and of 
 course went much more slowly. We landed at South- 
 ampton on the 17th January, and reached London at 
 nine o'clock the same evening. Some day, when the 
 new steamers make the voyage across the Atlantic a 
 pleasure instead of the dreary business it is now, we 
 hope to return to sunny Mexico and its merry, 
 courteous people. 
 
LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, 
 
 ST. John's hoi'se, clerkenvvell road. 
 

 
 
 
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