« ^cUt. r| LI^rto7=[DC5 ^'S'^ u y[ ''mr% < Id < AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE BLUE JACKETS OR HOW WE DISPLAYED THE AMERICAN FLAG IN FOREIGN WATERS BY LIEUTENANT HENRY E. RHOADES Engineer Corps U. S. N BOSTON D LOTHROP COMPANY WASHINGTON STREET OPPOSITE BRO.MFIELD Copyright, 1890, BY D. LoTHROP Company. CONTENTS. Page CHAPTER I. From New York to Rio 9 CHAPTER 11. From Rio to the Cape of Good Hope 26 CHAPTER III. From Simon's Town to the Comoro Islands 42 CHAPTER IV. From the Comoro Islands to Bombay 50 CHAPTER V. From Bombay to Singapore 71 CHAPTER VI. From Singapore to Foo-Chow 85 CHAPTER VII. At Shanghai 102 CHAPTER VIII. From Shanghai to Hiogo 124 CHAPTER IX. In Japan 138 CHAPTER X. Doings and Customs in Japan 157 CHAPTER XI. Transferred 168 CHAPTER XII. In the Land of the Incas 185 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIIl. Lima 201 CHAPTER XIV. Around the Horn 218 CHAPTER XV. Homeward Bound 232 CHAPTER XVI. To THE North for Rescue 247 CHAPTER XVII. Icebergs and Esquimaux 261 CHAPTER XVIII. On to Upernavik 275 CHAPTER XIX. Good-bye to the Pole 289 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. The Iroquois weathen'ug a storm in the Japan Seas . . . Frontispiece. On the Spar-Deck 12 Listening to the Articles of War = . . . 15 At Guadeloupe 18 " Ceara does not present an Imposing Appearance " 22 A belle of Ceara 25 The Officers before King Neptune 28 Outer Harbor of Eio de Janeiro 31 Rio de Janeiro 35 Table Mountain 37 Ostriches 39 Among the Comoros 47 In Prince Abdallali's Palace 51 Our Guide to Aden 57 An Aden Mendicant GO Tlie Sultan's Harem 01 Dancing Girls of Muscat G5 Inhabitants of the Island of Salsette, near Bonbay 67 A Parsee ISIerchant 68 Hindoo Women of Bombay in Ceremonial Dress 73 The Lions' Cave on the Island of Elephanta 75 In tlie Cavern of Siva 77 Singapore 79 Hashish Smokers 81 Chinese Junk 90 A Chinese Pagoda 93 Diagram of Gambling Table 95 Sedan-chair • . . . 96 A Chinese Theater 99 A Chinese Hair-dresser 102 Chinese Mourners 105 Chinese at dinner 110 A Chinese Holiday 113 A Cliinese Wedding 115 Coast of Formosa 122 Natives of Formosa 125 Home Scene in Japan ... 129 A .Japanese Garden 131 A Japanese Street Scene 135 A Japanese Family 138 Tlie Last of tlie Tycoons 141 ILLUSTKATIONS. The Empress of Japan A Jinrikisha Interior of a Japanese Temple A Sliop on Curio Street . Statue of Dia-Bootz Tattooing Fusi-Yama A Japanese Feast-clay In a Gale .... Xot a Pacific Bird's-eye View of San Francisco ■Woodward's Garden, Sau Francisco Scene in Panama To receive the Consul An Inca Ruin A Peruvian " Palace " Interior of Cathedral at Lima A Liman Lady The Picadores . "Ease Her ofl", Blocl Threshing in Chili Heaving the Log Santiago . In Smyth's Channel Penguins . Natives of Terra del At Mess . Lieutenant Henry E. G. W. De Long. Charles W. Chipp The Juniata in an Ice Floe Village of Fiskenaes An Esquimau . A Sledge Journey In the Crow's Nest Upernavik George "W. Melville Prospecting St. John's linger ! " Fuego Rhoades 142 145 147 148 151 157 1(10 103 168 171 174 177 181 187 llJl 194 198 201 205 211 215 218 221 224 227 234 241 24(1 250 251 255 259 261 265 282 285 293 AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE BLUE JACKETS CHAPTER I. FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. THE grand old sloop of war Iro- quois swung at her dock in the Brooklyn navy-yard awaiting the signal that should start her upon her trip around the world. Our nominal destination was the East Indies, but our commander was at liberty to use his own discretion as to the places to be visited. \ The mission of the Iroquois was peculiar. The Great Rebellion was over. The Repub- lic of the United States I JBHB of America had not gone down in shipwreck. It was V^^PSf ready to take to itself new life and strength. To carry the \ ^^M flag into the by-places of the world, to emphasize the fact, alike to civilized and barbarous folk, that the United States " still lived," and that the American Navy was still afloat and alert — this was, in a general way, the reason for our cruise. Incidentally we were ourselves to observe and 9 10 FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. study the habits and life of the different peoples to whom we should go, and add our investigations to the records already in the possession of the Government. Such an expedition partook largely of the nature of an excursion. Applications for service were numerous, and the influence of the " powers that be " was sought by many officers to enable them to be detailed to the Iroquois. Our twenty-four officers, our one hundred and seventy-five sailors and marines all looked forward to the trip with eagerness^ and there was less of the conventional grumbling that is the accompaniment of every voyage — unless it was at the delay in starting. Tiresome business, this of the navy ? you ask. Well — no ! and yes ! The bitter experiences are the long three-years' separa- tions from loved ones at home, the weary waiting for news from them, and for the often delayed orders to return after the term of the cruise has expired. Each officer is supposed to be entitled to a certain amount of sea-service, and a corresponding amount of shore-service. Too often, however, favoritism has interfered and permitted certain officers seven and eight years of service at home, while others less fortunate have been compelled to spend more than their rightful share at sea. Many people are not aware of the fact that when an officer goes to sea his family is not permitted to accompany him upon his ship. The Navy Department, indeed, long ago dis- covered that a naval officer's wife has not the faculty of preserv- ing discipline on board ship. It is for this and kindred reasons that the Government has frequently found itself forced to forbid the wives of naval officers from following their husbands. But all is not bitter in this life at sea. There is a charm in RBC NdJ FEOM XEW YORK TO RIO. 11 the frequent changes that are part of an extended cruise. At every port the " best people " have a ready welcome for a naval officer of the United States; his uniform, so long as he respects it, gives him entrance to any society. There is plenty of study and routine work to occupy the time on long cruises, for before each promotion the officer must pass a rigid examination upon every subject pertaining to his profession. This may be the designing: and buildins; of a vessel, the construction of her machinery, the making of her guns, rigging or sails. In fact every branch in the science and practice of the naval service, including navigation and preparations for battle, must be familiar to the naval officer. A man devoted to his profession loves the sea and loves to be upon it. Have vou never been aboard a man-of-war ? Then come with me aboard the Iroquois, as she lies here ready for sea. Here she is : a long, graceful ship with fine model ; her tall, raking masts seeming almost to penetrate the clouds ; the yards crossed in symmetrical perfection ; the halliards, sheets, braces, lifts, clew- lines and every other bit of the rope-rigging hauled taut and the spare ends neatly coiled on the deck ; the sails tightly and deftly- rolled with the shapely bunt in the jaw at the mast ; the guns with their big nmzzles closed by tompions poking their heads out of the port-holes, and the guns themselves shining with the burnishing given them by the use of a cork steeped in lamp- black and bees-wax ; the decks so white from holy-stoning as to be clean enough to eat from, and an officer in blue and gilt at the gangway to greet you. Once upon deck you are interested, at once, in the attractive- looking sailors, or " blue jackets " as they are aptly termed. Their large-legged trousers, their baggy-looking shirts trimmed with 12 FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. white braid, and their peakless, flat-topped caps make them in appearance the very pink of neatness. When the ship is under way those not on watch are sit- ting about the deck mending their clothing, braiding knife 'y>%, lanyards, or do- i'^.Oj ing some fancy '^'iP' embroidery — for " ^ which all well- ' disciplined navy sailors are noted I — or are taking a nap. Those on watch are per- ;i^ forming the reg- ular dutieSjStand- V ing by the braces, sheets or tacks, or at the wheel. They may be at drill with small arms, great guns or broad.swords, for a navy ship's crew is a well-regulated family, and can handle a gun as well as they can the capstan bars or marline-spikes. They are not sailors alone, they are soldiers also, and do soldiers' duty when ON THK SPAR-DKCK. FROM NE^Y YORK TO RIO. 13 called upon. On the berth-deck below yon will find hooks screwed into the beams at short intervals, and each numbered ; and from these are suspended the hammocks at night. Along on either side of the ship are big sea chests, one for each sailor's mess (there are about a dozen men in each mess). In these sea-chests are brightly-polished tin plates and pans and kettles, sugar, pepper, biscuit, flour and salt ; above them hang the "diddy" boxes or bags in which the sailors keep thread and needles, pieces of cloth, comb and brushes, blacking, writing materials and the pictures of sweethearts and wives, children or favorite heroes. Returning to the deck and going aft we descend a gangway ladder into the ''country"; the space just outside of the officers' quarters or wardroom. Passing inside we observe a long table, and beyond it a pantry filled with white dishes, glistening glass and bright silver ware. On either side of this wardroom are the officers' state-rooms ; a single occupant to each. It may be wondered how a man can live in so limited a space with so much magnificence (for here he keeps his seven uniforms) and have everything neat and orderly. The sea air is apt to ruin the brave finery, but the officers have learned that if they must clothe and support themselves from the meager pay the Govern- ment allows them they must study a close economy. On the walls of each room are little bits of art, in the way of etchings or small paintings ; attractive hangings decorate the latticed doors, and indeed a spirited rivalry exists as to the respective beauty of these little rooms. It is sometimes far from pleasant after expending much time and taste in fitting up one's room to be obliged to give it up after a short occupancy only, and to take the next room aft, simply 14 FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. because another officer happening to outrank you by a few num- bers, is ordered on board. Yet this is one of the exigencies of the Service. By reguhition, rank is respected in the occupation of rooms, in going aboard and in leaving the ship, and in matters of ceremony. If perchance you should be the junior of all the others, and there were not rooms enough, you must put up with sleeping in a hammock. The officer must not only furnish his own uniforms, gold lace, buttons and all, he must also provide his own table. For this reason the officers club together, have their own larder, and have their meals served in what is known respectively as the wardroom mess, the steerage or midshipman's mess, and the warrant officers' mess. The captain dines in his solitary apartment — the cabin, aft on the spar-deck. Once in a while, at sea, he will invite two or three of the officers to dine with him, and afterwards to enjoy a sociable game at cards. When in port he will sometimes have some friends on shore to dine with him. It often happens when ■meeting a vessel belonging to the navy of another nation that official courtesies are exchanged at dinner with the officers, and, although these courtesies are requisite, unlike foreign navies, our officers must bear the expense of both food and wines. Each Sunday there is a muster of officers and crew on the quarter-deck, and religious services are held. On ships where there is no chaplain, an officer is selected to read the Episcopal service. On the first of every month there is a general muster, when the officers and crew listen to the reading of the articles of war. There is little " loafing " on board ship, even during peace. At last the signal was given. The anchor was weighed and catted, engines were started and the Iroquois sailed down the FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. 15 beautiful harbor of New York, and was off for her cruise round the world. Passing outside of Sandy Hook we soon lost sight of those two beacon lights on the Highlands of Navesink, always so wel- MSk% LISTENING TO THE ARTICLES OF WAR. come to inward bound vessels. Fires were now hauled and the Iroquois was put under full sail. This was in accordance with the orders of the Navy Depart- ment. Soon after the close of the Civil War it was ordered that all steam vessels of the navy when off on a voyage should, except in cases of emergency, proceed under sail. The engines had not been stopped many hours when we en- countered tempestuous weather, which continued, almost without interruption, for twenty days. The wind blew a hurricane. It 16 FROM NP:W YORK TO RIO. howled and shrieked through our rigging ; hatches were battened down ; coils of ropes were flung down ; clew-lines, reef-tackles and buntlines were manned ; halyards were let go with a run ; orders were bawled out by strong lungs, and carried out by the piping of the boatswain's whistle. The confusion was increased by the taking in of all upper sails, sending the royal and top- gallant-yards to the deck, and housing the topgallant-masts. Life-lines were strung fore and aft. The winds came with a rush, filling the lower sails and keeling the ship-channels under. It needed genuine nautical toes to keep a grip of the deck. The continual hissing of the seething waters, and at brief intervals the smash of some great volume of green sea as it broke aboard added alike grandeur and danger to the scene, while there was also the continual jar of the ship and the creaking and groaning of timber and panels strained in their strong fastenings by the enormous leverage aloft, and the heaving of the ship. Our good old ship, however, belied the stories of the weak- ness of the American Navy. She bowled along under close- reefed topsails and storm staysails ; the sea followed after us in bold, jagged cliffs of surge and foam, and towering walls of green- ridged waves lashed themselves into seething froth as if snarling and struo-o-lins to overtake us. Now our bows would swoop down to the base of a glittering green arch roiling along ahead of the vessel, then down would fall the stern as the surging sea ran under and past her, while the bows would go soaring upward with a noble and majestic motion. The plunging ship, the daz- zling masses of foam, and the whistling, screaming wind were the continual features of our trip until we reached the island of Guadeloupe. Life below decks was far from agreeable, and not a few of our mess wished they had resigned before starting on FROM XEW YORK TO RIO. 17 such a cruise. But aside from the general discomforts and irreg- uhirity of meals, and the loss of one man who was washed over- board, we had nothing of daily interest to record in our diaries other than — " same as yesterday." At last we sighted land, and on February 21 we anchored in the harbor of Pointe-a-Pitre. Pointe-a-Pitre is the principal town of that island of the Antilles in the West Indies, known as Guadeloupe. It belongs to France. It is an island of some two hundred and fifty thousand acres, and with its neighboring small islands forms a separate colonial government. Guadeloupe was one of the personal discoveries of Columbus in 1493, but has been a French possession since 1635, with the exception of four or five years in the early part of the present century, wlien it was under British control. The colony to-day has a population of one hundred and fortv-five thousand. During the ten days of our stay at Pointe-a-Pitre we were feted at cafes and entertained at cock-fights by the French officials. On the mornino; after our arrival a few of us, bv invitation of the Prefect, breakfasted with him at the Cafe Frangais. There were twenty-eight at the table, and the first course was served at ten o'clock. One course followed another, and it was not until ten minutes after midnight — fourteen hours after sitting down — - that we arose to bid each other " Good night! " Thus our first holiday — Washington's Birthdny — was passed much more pleasantly than one could have expected upon an island where the day is seldom thought of. Other breakfasts and dinners were arranged for our entertainment during our stay at this port. It is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the sport of cock-fight- ing. It is a cruel amusement, but it is the holiday and Sunday pastime at Pointe-a-Pitre. At the urgent request of a prominent 18 FROM XEW YORK TO RIO. citizen 1 was prevailed upon to witness a i^eleas de cjallos. This is what we know in English as that hrutal encounter a cock- fight. Bills, with illustrations suggestive of such an erent, were liberally posted about the streets, and as there must always be a "first experience," I went to see the great battle. It was a panorama of tropical life. Crowds were moving toward •fe\^ the suburb along an avenue shaded by the stately cottonwood-trees. From this grove- like avenue a sudden turn brou^'ht us to an unattractive collection of buildings, and here from various directions came the galleros or cock-fighters, each carrying a game-cock which had attached to one of its legs a string; and a small bit of wood. [.f^ffMHi i" iil '"'. N! ^s^l „, — effl n,'/' ^..' AT GUADELOUPE. Entering; an adobe buildinji:, the interior of which formed an amphitheater, I found hundreds already gathered there — a motley crowd — all interested in the approaching event. Earnest discussions in both French and Spanish were in progress, and a bedlam indeed it was, shrouded in clouds of tobacco ^j smoke, dense enough to smother any one but a West Indian. Passing through a narrow passage we entered the amphitheater, where the contests were to occur. Ranged around close to the sides of the amphitheater were scores of coops, each with its game-cock crowdng lu.stily; as if it had just won a battle, wdth FROM NEW YORK TO KIO. 19 no expenditure of physical force. The galleros flocked in with their birds, waiting for some one of the sporting fraternity to offer to purchase after he had made his expert examination. In the center of the amphitheater was a circular space, perhaps twenty feet in diameter, and surrounded by a fence three feet high. This was the cock-pit, and its dirt bottom was as smooth as a pavement. In the pit stood the manager, a dignified, handsomely dressed Guiuleloupian. The audience occupied the seats that rose around the pit as in a circus. Every man was a study. The audience was of all classes. Here you might see dandified-looking fellows, in tight-fitting trousers and handsomely embroidered jackets, and by their sides, perhaps, a veritable tramp — a fellow with a dirty complexion, unkempt hair standing on end, and with a not over- supply of clothing on his body. In close proximit}^ to the tramp might be two jaunty and handsomely-dressed young women, wearing a fair amount of rich jewelry, and between their thumb and first two fingers, or clasped in silver holders, sweet-scented cigarettes. As they conversed, now languidly or now with spirit, the smoke from their cigarettes curled lazily about their heads. At their sides sat the humble daughter of a servant or a laborer, in rags, perhaps, but just as earnest a spectator as her neighbors, as were also her father and mother who accompanied her. Here truly were all sorts and conditions of men. While I looked about me, studying the faces and dress of these people, the birds were being made ready for the fight, and I dropped into a " reserved " seat. A fjallero, looking more like the respectable father of a family than a cruel sportsman, had a sharpening stone, and was hard at work sharpening the spur for his pet. 20 FROM NEW YORK TO lUO. When fniislied, this spur is like a delicate razor-blade sharpened on the outer edge and curving the reverse of a sickle ; so that when the bird jumps up and strikes it will cut rather than pene- trate, as does an ordinary spur. Only one spur is used, and when the sharpening is done the spur is bound to the right leg. The comb and wattle are trimmed close, to prevent the adversary from catchinii: hold ; and the tail and other Ion"; feathers are cut short. The two birds selected for the fight are now carried into the pit, where the birds are weighed. Each of the gaUeros then takes his bird to opposite sides of the pit. Filling their mouths with cold water they spray it over the birds as a Chinese laundry- man sprinkles a shirt. At a signal from the manager the birds are held beak to beak until they snap and bite at each other with considerable ferocity. Then comes a second signal, and now the birds are dropped to the ground. They look about, pass by each other, and then turn with a rush and close in fight. One springs up, bringing its spur over the other's head, but too high ; and as it reaches the ground its adversary dashes at it, sending a spur into its eye. A deafening shout ascends from the backers of the successful bird, while a dismal silence hangs over the friends of the other. The fight grows more exciting. The dandified-looking spectator jumps to his feet, waves his sombrero over his head and offers odds on the first bird ; and one of the brilliantly-dressed young women shakes her bracelet in response to the wager. The battle is continued. The cocks leap and lunge at each other with their spurs ; the spectators become wild with excite- ment ; strange words of pleasure or disappointment are shouted ; the gall er OS leap around the ring, each following his bird and FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. 21 yelling to encourage it, not, however, being permitted to touch it. In five minutes streams of blood are coursing down the necks of the birds and almost blinding; them. Still the\- fio-ht, until a luno-e from one lays its antagonist on the ground. There, as it lies on its side, it continues to plunge and fight, until at a signal the gaUeros seize the birds and take them to their respective corners. Each man takes his bird, cleans out its mouth, breathes into its nostrils and again sprays it with cold water, when the birds are once more set to the battle. Thev cut and slash at each other ten minutes lono;er, when the bird that but a few moments before lay on its side makes a desperate dash, sending the spur clear into its opponent's head. The multitude is in an uproar, and the bird last wounded rolls over on the ground — dead. The victor, weak and shaky, tries to crow, and then amid the most intense excitement and a con- fused jabbering of voices, it, too, sinks to the ground, dead, like its vanquished antagonist. This brutal sport is not a spectacle cal- culated either to refine or improve humanity ; even as a sport in its lightest and least objectionable form, it is simple and absolute cruelty. But it is the favorite diversion of these excitable and light-minded islanders. On the following day we left Pointe-a-Pitre, and after being sixteen days at sea, with nothing to relieve the monotony other than one of the heavy storms that so often sweej) the Caribbean Sea, we anchored at Ceara, Brazil. V/e were glad to get to Ceara. The place is neither command- ing nor attractive, but — "any port in a storm!" We appre- ciated Ivingi: at anchor in the harbor rather than rolling; and tossing at sea ; we appreciated our new-found ability of sitting at meals with some chance of getting food into our mouths, 22 FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. ratlier tlian the certainty of spilling it clown our necks or into our laps. From our anchorage, a mile off" shore — for there are no wharves to moor to — Ceara does not present an imposing appear- ance. The town is the capital of the province of the same name — one of the northernmost divisions of the present Republic of Brazil, and has a population of from twenty to twenty-five thou- sand. The greater part of the town is not visible from the point of anchorage, but still, to one not thoroughly accustomed "CKAKA DUES NOT l^RESENT AN IMPOSING APPEARANCE. to tropical scenery, it has a romantic and novel air. Low, square- looking houses, with red-tiled roofs, all joined together and forming a sort of unbroken wall ; two square towers with black corners at the top ; two unfinished spires, the tips only to be seen ; a low yellow building with a heavy brick wall of the same interesting color — this was Cerea as seen by us from the harbor. And mingled with, and surrounding all, are trees — not very tall, but with that luxuriance of foliage only produced by a FROM NEAV YORK TO RIO. 23 tropical sun — these were mostly the cocoanut palms. On one side rises a hirge bare sand hill, its base flanked with low bushes and trees. It looked for all the world like a bald head with a ring; of hair around it. There are no piers, nor even a mole on the water-front of the bay, hence the first care upon going ashore is to avoid being capsized in the surf. The craft used by the native watermen is called ii jimghada, and is safer than a ship's boat ; it is superior to it for landing, and should be employed in preference. The juncjhada is simply a raft formed of the cabbage palm-tree, the loo-s beino- lashed tos^ether and fitted with a mast and a large tri- angular sail. These rude rafts sail well and swiftly, and are just the thin"- for landing on a beach in the surf. Riding in on the crest of a toppling wave we were driven high and dry on the beach, and sprang quickly to earth before the following wave could overtake us. The center of the town was reached by a walk of a mile through the hot sand. It took us past miserable huts made of wattles, and plastered with clay — the '• palatial " residences of the colored population — and brought us in front of the square- tow^ered cathedral that formed the most prominent object in the town. I attempted to enter, but finding the entrance closed, I continued on to the Hotel de France. The hotel at Ceara is an '' elegant mansion " — at least it was so advertised. On one side of the narrow main entrance was a billiard room, with a single French carom table ; on the other side was a small and dirty salle a manger, while dead ahead I Ijlundered into a large room — kitchen, bedroom, and everything else besides ! I did not prolong my stay, but sallied forth in quest of a som- brero, as my navy cap gave me nc protection from the hot sun. 24 FROM NEW YORK TO KIO. Being hatted, I started siglit-seeing. As a matter of course, the Catheth^nl came first. It M'as the biggest thing to see, and wherever we might be, we always made it a rule to commence at the top, working down gradually to huts and hovels. The en- trance was now open, and 1 found myself in a small hall with galleries similar to those in a theater. The grand altar faced the doorway, and on either side of the entrance there were shrines, the patron saints of which were represented by two doll-like figures not more than three feet high. One was dressed in womanly garments of red and blue, such as the Virgin Mary is pictured as wearing ; the other was adorned in the Eastern style, with the air of some unfortunate princess in the Arabian Nights. She was altogether a rather mysterious-looking person. Our next visit was to the fortress. Here we saw nothino; worthy of note aside from superanuated guns, dirty stone walls, and still more dirty soldiers. We had learned to mouth and mumble enouo;h Portuo-uese to make the muchaclios understand what we wanted to eat upon arrival at the Hotel de Nacoes. After an comida (dinner) we sauntered out to the jail, and were accosted at the great gateway by the formidable-looking sentries. '• Podamos entrar ? " we demanded. " Si, senor ! " we were answered, and in we went. One corridor crossed another, and on either side were cells containinsr from eiii-ht to a dozen men each ; one contained four women. The male pris- oners were employed in making shoes, straw hats, and — them- selves comfortable ; the women and children on the outside of the gratings, were relatives of the prisoners on a social visit. Upstairs were several lofts with a few individuals therein. A very polite corporal, sergeant, or Lord High Chamberlain for aught we knew, was inclined to be friendly, and insisted that we >■^.l|-^Vi:,;;H':■•|,. ... IV ill '.111 A FELLK OF CEARA. FROM NEW YORK TO RIO. 25 should examine every nook and cranny, while all the time he poured into our ears his babbling jargon of l)ad Portuguese, verv few words of which we understood. AYe remained at this port five days, and after visiting the cemetery, a sandy, solitary place quite filled with graves — among which were those of two of the " sailors of the U. S. S. Mohican " — we spent most of the time in social enjoyment. I formed many pleasant acquaintances, two of them being especially agreeable. These were the lovely seiioritas, Juanita and Emilia ; charming young ladies with Castilian features and sparkling black eyes, raven hair and olive complexion. One must meet these statu- esque figures in society, and at their homes in evening dress, to judge justly of their far-famed beauty, and yet I thought them beautiful even in ordinary house or street dress. I found that with my letters of introduction I was received with cordial hos- pitality in the few homes I was privileged to visit ; but American naval officers are especially welcome, and the belles of Ceara are as strongly attracted by the glitter of brass buttons and gold lace as are their sisters in the United States. Thev chat with you in their rich musical Spanish or Portuguese, perform bril- liantly upon the piano, dance well, and are delighted with a tete-a-t'ete. At last — all too soon, it seemed to me — we had to take our departure from Ceara. We took away pleasant memories and photographs of some of the belles ; and we left behind little bits of our hearts. Sailors always do. Our next port of destination was Rio de Janeiro, the seat of government of what was then the Empire of Brazil. Fourteen days after leaving Ceara the Iroquois was making her way into that grand and spacious old harbor known to all who cruise the Southern Seas. CHAPTER 11. FROM RIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. E XCEPT to the uninitiated, "cros- sing the line" is a racy if rude ex- perience. On a hot March forenoon during our voyage from Ceara to Rio we crossed the equator. And here we met King Neptune. Only those who have actually experienced the " line baptism," as the sailor's first intro- duction to King Neptune and his bouncing wife Amphitrite is called, can appreciate just what this first crossing of the equator means. The reception is a rude farce practiced upon all persons who for the first time cross the equatorial line, and thus come within the sacred dominions of King Neptune. One may only escape the rough initiation by a money tribute. At about ten o'clock on the March morning aforesaid a harsh voice, which seemed to come from the depths of the sea, bawled through a speaking trumpet, " Ship ahoy ! " The officer of the deck (who had, like myself, tw^ice crossed the equator) responded " Aye, aye, sir! " and those below rushed on deck in the expect- 26 FROM RIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 27 ation that a ship had been spoken. Then came the second hail : " What ship is that ? Where do you hail from ? " Our name, nationality and destination being given, King Neptune and his queenly consort Amphitrite ^vere observed coming over the star- board gangway. They were followed by a motley crowd of courtiers armed with stuffed clubs, immense razors made of sheet- iron, a bucket of lather into which were thrust a large white-wash brush, and a piece of board sharpened and toothed like a comb. The kingly mantle of the " god of the sea " was an old tar- paulin ; his legs were encased in great water boots ; on his head gleamed a yellow-painted crown, and his long hair and " massy beard" had the suspicious appearance of manilla hemp. His marine Majesty was as hideous looking a creature as one would care to see. In one hand he carried a huge telescope, and in the other a sextant. Neptune and his retinue at once took charge of the ship, and summoned all of the officers before him for muster. Tliose who could not furnish satisfactorv evidence that they had crossed the line before, were taken into custody by the king's body-guards. Neptune then elevated his sextant for an observation, and after chalking out his problem on the deck declared the latitude to be nought, and the ship on the line. Many dodges to escape tribute were resorted to by the un- initiated, but the secretaries of the water-god, with huge pen- cils, would scrawl something on the open books and drawl out, " The lie is recorded." Those who unhesitatinulv paid the trib- ute in money or in '' grog," escaped the rough initiation. There were, however, three on board who were determined to resist this enforced tribute. They were therefore taken in hand. The first victim, tightly blindfolded, was conducted before '• Neptune Rex," who seated in state upon his throne, directed that the 28 FROM 1:10 TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. usual questions be put. A spy-glass was tlieu handed to the initiate, and as he elevated it he Scaw a sharp line made by a piece of thread stretched across the lens. When asked if he saw the line, he attempted to answer, but as his mouth opened to reply it was stopped with a douse of lather. The next question was followed by the thrust of a tooth brush, dipped in a black mixtnre, which the sufferer was informed was a new kind of dentifrice. Then the sheet-iron razor was drawn roughly across his face, and the initiate was informed that he was at liberty to enter the realms of Neptune. As he rose to his feet he received a push and at once fell into a great tub of water. This was the " line baptism." So, one after the other, the three recalcitrant ones passed through the ordeal, when Nep- tune and his courtiers fell into line and disappeared over the side. It is needless to say that the actors in this " sea-masque " were members of the crew of the Iroquois. We were now in what the sailors call " the doldrums," drifting along under a frying snn, upon an ocean of molten brass. The occasional draught of air that touched us now and then expired in its efforts to reach us. A week of this is horribly monotonous. THE OFFICERS BEFORE KING NEPTUNE. FROM EIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 29 Hour after hour, day after day, one beholds always the same placid sea, the same unrufHed swell, the same cloudless sun tlashhig at mid-day. The heat fell straight upon our heads ; our eyes were made sore with its fiercely-burning reflection from the water ; the tar oozed from the deck seams. Added to this never- varying monotony of the equator came the constant hauling of braces and of tacks, and the almost continuous shifting about of the sails m order to catch everv breath of air, the officer of the deck testing its direction by the wetting of the ends of his fingers. Tiring of the doldrums after seventy-two hours' acquaintance with them, fires were made under the boilers, the propeller was lowered in its place, and we steamed along till we ran into the " trades." Then we again hauled our fires, and on the tenth of April arrived at the entrance of the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. No town was to be seen at the entrance of this most beautiful, most secure and most spacious bay in the world. A range of granite mountains encircles the harbor. At the left of the entrance rises the peak so often described by travelers. It is higher than its neighbors, and of that peculiar conical_ form which gives it the name of ''Sugar Loaf." I must confess to a slight feeling of disappointment with regard to the height of this famous hill ; but, as with Niagara Falls, time changed this feel- ing to one of Avonder and admiration. It was truly a strange freak of Dame Nature to place such an immense block of granite, so like a grim sentinel, just at the harbor's mouth. All round the bay the blue waters are girdled with mountams and lofty hills in every variety of picturesque and fantastic outline. The most attractive of these is " Lord Hood's Nose." Curious as to the cause of this title, I found, by looking at the peak horizon- 30 FROM KIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. tally, that the outline of the top was a capital representation of the profile of some such aristocratic old English nohle as one sees in portraits of the British peerage. Steaming: alon"' we came at last to the entrance of tlie harbor. It is onlv seventeen hundred yards wide, and to me it seemed to bear about the same proportion to the circular harbor within as the entrance to the. ring of a circus bears to the entire tent. The harbor contains fifty square miles of anchorage, is flanked by beautiful hills and dotted with many islands. Its entrance is protected by a number of formidable-looking fort- resses. The city stands on the west shore of the bay, about four miles from its mouth. As we came to anchor the main part of the city lay on our left, at the foot of the hills. The most notable peak, old Corcovada, towered above the clouds ; while many, fully as high, are clustered around it. The old town, nearest the bay, is laid out in squares ; the streets, crossing at right angles, are narrow, but paved and flao-o-ed ; and the white-walled houses with roofed vermilion tiles are comraonlv two stories hio-h. The new town is built to the west, and the two districts are separated by the Campo de Santa Anna. This is an immense park or square, on different parts of which stand an extensive garrison, the town hall, the National Museum, the palace of the Senate, the foreign office, and other prominent buildings. The square gray towers of the mosque-like cathedrals, an old convent on a hill, the custom house near the water's edge and a cluster of the w^orld's shipping, make up the main town. On the side toward '* Suu'ar Loaf " stands the town of Bota Foljo. to which old-fashioned stages make frequent trips. On the opposite side of the bav is the villas-e called Porto Grande, to which a FR0:M RIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOFE, 31 couple of old-fashioned ferry-boats run on irregular trips. Great municipal improvements have been made in recent years ; the streets though narrow are as well-paved as are those in man}- of our own towns, and the city is abundantly lighted with gas. OUTER HARUOR OF RIO DE JANEIRO. From our anchorage, the great circle of regular gas-lights around the water-front reminds one of a vast torch-light proces- sion, with the deputations from the several wards filing in to join the main body. The water-front has also commodious wharves and quays built along its edge, and this capital city of what is now the Brazilian Republic, has about fifty chapels and churches, costly and imposing structures with rich internal decorations. There are also numerous hotels and cafes. 32 FKOM lilO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. Fronting the landing is the Ro3"al Palace, from which, in 1880. the Imperial f;imily was expelled. At the time of our visit the Empire was undisturbed and royalty was almost democratic. The old Emperor, Dom Pedro II., seemed to care nothing for splendor. He usually rode in an ordinary black coach, drawn by six mules. Twelve negro cavalrymen followed after, their discipline not too strict to prevent them from smoking cigarettes as they escorted his Brazilian Majesty. The coachmen and foot- men seemed almost shabby in worn suits and silver lace. The Emperor w^ore the plainest of black clothes, and was very cour- teous to all wdio approached him. He had aged rapidly since his visit to the United States, at the time of the Centennial Exposi- tion in 1876. To me he appeared to show a great increase of agre since the dav wlien I first saw him in 1863. On a vovaEre during that year to San Francisco by the way of the " Horn " and the Straits of Magellan, on the new Pacific Mail Steamship Golden City, we stopped at Rio Janeiro, and both the Emperor and the Empress visited the steamer. Apparent!}' not afraid of soiling either their persons or their clothes, they visited every part of the vessel from the keelson to the hurricane deck. After makinu: a vast collection of the brilliant Brazilian beetles and srortreous feather flowers, for which Rio is noted, the Iroquois, on April 25, bade farewell to the Western world and sailed to the southwest, bound for Simon's Town, at the Cape of Good Hope. The details of an ocean voyage are generally monotonous. There would have been wdth us little to vary this monotony on the stretch from Rio de Janeiro to the Cape of Good Hope, had it not been for one or two experiences of bad weather. With the wind fair and steady, an ocean voyage on a steamer or a FROM RIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 33 sailing vessel presents an almost daily succession of the same scenes. The broad ocean stretches away on either hand like a level waste ; the sky is clothed in the apparently endless sun- shine of the tropics. The lazy, even motion of the goodly ship; the mechanical movements of the sailors; the regular reliefs of the officers ; the daily quarters ; the morning drills at the great guns or with broadswords, and the evening parades ; the appear- ance of a sea-bird or two, mostly Mother Carey's chickens ; a ■group of tumbling porpoises, or a cluster of flying fishes — these are the features of a tranquil voyage, so far as they attract the attention of an ordinary observer. To one of speculative mind or with a lively imagination an ocean voyage always affords ample food for thought. For such an one the wonders of the deep and of the sky may well attract, interest and absorb. To such, the shifting colors of the sea, and its varying expanse — now ribbed with waves like the dimples of a pool, now heaving into long rolling ridges of dark green, cres- ted with snowy foam ; the phosphorescent wake of the ship on a moonlight night ; the white silvery sails bellied out smoothly with the wind ; the soft sigh of the gentle breeze ; the dull roar of the distant gale — all these are matters of intense pleasure. But one day the wind rose quite suddenly. It came in such violent and uncertain gusts, that it was not many hours before it settled into a steady gale and we were running under a close- reefed foresail and a storm staysail. Tarpaulins were brought out to batten down the hatches , life-lines were stretched ; the seas rose in their might, sweeping with such great force along the deck that even the u'uns had to be secured with extra tacklino;s. The orders of the officers could hardly be heard above the shriek- ing and howling winds ; the heavy black, low-hanging clouds o 4 FIIOM KIO TO THE CAPE OF (iOOD HOPE. seeniecl to vie with one another in their swift transit above us ; the ship rolled and pitched, now seemingly going upward with her bows as if she would pierce the heavens, the next instant plunging down into the deep abyss, w^ith an immense seething sea rolling up ahead of her as if challenging our power to battle with it. Then she would roll — oh! how she would roll. The tliird-i*ate navy vessels have a well-earned reputation in that line, and the Iroquois w^as no exception. The wardroom furniture, or whatever else might not be secured to the deck, went rolling and tumbling about. To sleep, or even to lie in one's berth at such a time, was almost out of the question, and the only safety from beino; unceremoniouslv thrown from the berths and landed in a heap on the floor of the room, was to strap one's self in. During such times our regular daily bill of fare was sadly interrupted. A dinner w^as what the insurance companies would call an extra-hazardous risk. Soup was dispensed with. So, in fact, were the other courses, and our meals were mainly of bread and coffee, sardines or canned meats. The wind weirdlv whistling; throug:h the rig;u;ino; • the creak- ing and groaning of the strained ship's timbers ; the roaring of the commands of the officers ; the running about on deck of heavy-booted men ; the ringing of the bell at each half-hour, the number of strokes noting the time ; the rattling of chains and ropes as the sails were shortened or reefed ; the sudden loud report as again and again a sail was rent in ribbons ; the rush of a heavy sea sweeping a boat from the davits, were the chief elements in the savage and exciting experience of a storm on the ocean. It made us almost wish that Diaz, the Portuo-uese navigator, who attempted to precede Columbus in his discovery of America, had never discovered the Cape of Good Hope. iplilf I I . IIIIIIIIIPI. ^0^ '-w». W' m ^^^ Wk t ';i D 05 I— * < (d Q O p4 I, ■■' ,n:'iiii: iii'.'ii"!''. 'A, ! i:. .1 jlI :.!ij.,. t'.'jjJA'i •JMmh In.' mil,; i>ni i . i .ijilj FROM lilO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 37 At last, after thirty-two da3's at sea, the cheering hail " Land, ho ! " came from aloft. '• Where away ? " shouted the officer of the deck. '■ One point on the port bow ! " came the reply from the masthead lookout. An hour later the outlines of old Stormberg, one of the peaks near the Cape, with its top nine thousand feet above the sea, were plainly traced. Intending to neglect Cape Town and go on the east side, to Simon's Bay, for harbor, repairs and fresh provisions, our course was changed to TABLE MOUNTAIN. the southward. At sundown we sighted Lion's Head, one of the mountains that flank Cape Town, the capital of Cape Colony, and, behind, one could make out the great precipices of Table Mountain. On the morning of the twenty-seventh of May we anchored in Simon'sBay, opposite the settlement known as Simon's Town. We remained here about a week. During our stay dinners and receptions were given to the officers ; horseback rides to the vineyards were taken ; we played billiards, called at the clubs, at which every hospitality was extended us, and carried on the usual innocent flirtations. The town is inhabited by an assem- 38 FROM RIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD UOPE. blage of varied races, the English and KalHrs predoniinatiiio". There are also a few Mozanibi(|iiers and Hottentots, besides a number of half-castes. Wool appears to be the staple joroduct of the colony, although ostrich farming and grape culture are extensively carried on. The place, except when an English, French or American war-vessel visits it, is dull and lifeless. Then, however, everyone awakens from the usual lethargy, and entertainments are at once improvised, so that Cape Town may not be the only attraction. A more sociable people can hardly be found than the good folk at Simon's Town and naval officers find welcome in every home. We had been here only forty-eight hours when the flagship of the Asiatic British Squadron stopped on her way to England. The old English admiral was a jolly fellow, and we met him at dinner on his vessel, on our vessel, and on shore. He always had a good surfeit of fresh stories at com- mand, and would entertain his company for hours, keepmg them roaring; with lau2;hter. I remember well how the old officer gave us our first impres- sions of Japan and the life and habits of its people. iVs we were to spend a year among the islands, we were much interested in learnins: somethinsr beforehand. He treated of the islanders generally, but dwelt seriously upon their mode of dress and their festival customs. He warned us not to he over-fastidious ; that we would no doubt have our ideas of morals encroached upon and perhaps be disgusted, but we would become so accustomed to these native peculiarities in a week's time that we would not even notice them. His predictions proved true. One most agreeable diversion at Simon's Town was our daily ride to the numerous vineyards situated about fifteen miles in the interior. Here we would sample the various native wines and FROM RIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 39 invariably pronounce them '^ good." I have not yet seen anv of our testimonials in print ; but as we were novices rather than connoisseurs, our opinions would scarcely prove of mercan- tile value. Before leaving the Cape Colony I had, through the courtesy of the English proprietor, the privilege of visiting an ostrich ranch. I was furnished with a guide, or rather " we " were, for there were a half-dozen of us in the party. Our guide was par- ticularly watchful to see that no inquisitive American helped himself to plumes from the seventy birds of the ranch. Stop- ping in front of a pen I made bold to ask the guide where the birds roosted ? I also inquired how it was that the birds did not run their heads into the sand when they appeared so afraid of us? My guide enlightened me by cynically inquiring whether I liad studied the characteristics of the ostrich beyond the common - school primer. I was forced to admit that I had not. He then in- formed me that a tame adult ostrich is not only afraid of nothing, but that it would be dangerous to go into its pen. His assurance would have been sufficient, but to still further convince me he sprang into a pen in which there was a large male bird. It was at least eight fe et high, and as it ap- proached the guide it looked at his OSTRICHES. 40 FROM KIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. hetad as if to lincl the most presenUible spot to peck ; then, brac- ing back, it pitched forward, then back again and forward on its knees. Tlien the big bird lifted its wings, threw its neck back and gave several severe thrusts of its head upon either side of its back. The guide had with him a pole, crotched at the end. This was used not to anger the ostrich, but to place against the bird's neck if it should show fight. As the bird kicks forward this crotched pole pins and overpowers it. The legs of the ostrich are enormously powerful, and the two toes armed with formidable claws look treacherous indeed. Each bird eats about forty pounds of grass a day, ni addition to corn, vegetables and pulverized shells. The male birds are distinguishable by their black plumage and white tail and wing feathers, the females by their brownish gray color, and smaller stature. The nest of the hen-bird is made in the ground, where she lays from twelve to fifteen eggs weighing four or five pounds each. If the eggs are taken away from the hen she will sometimes lay thirty (a suggestion that may be of value to those interested in incubators). The birds while sittino; take turns on the nest, the female bird sitting: from sunrise till sunset, and the male bird from sunset to sunrise. It takes forty-two days to hatch out the eggs, and the chicks are brooded from four to six weeks by the old hen. An ordinary hen ostrich will produce three broods a year. They begin to lay eggs when about four years old, but, like wine, they improve with ao-e. The ostrich is plucked of its plumage about once every seven months. Each bird, irrespective of sex, produces two dozen living white plumes. The incentive for ostrich farming in South Africa is that, as an article of export, ostrich plumes rank next FROM RIO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 41 to the diamond, and the business has assumed immense propor- tions. It is estimated that in the Cape Colony alone ten million pounds are invested in the ostrich business. So jealous are the South Africans of such other sections as have endeavored to de- velop the business that an immense export duty has been placed both on the birds and their eggs. CHAPTER III. FROM SIMON S TOWN TO THE COMORO ISLANDS. T was on the third of June that the boats- wahi's whistle shrilled on deck, and his sten- torian tones commanded : "All hands up anchor — ahoy ! " When the fluke of the anchor showed above the water, the ship's nose was pointed seaward. Then, with a pnrting salute from the guns of the fort, amid the dipping of colors, and the waving of handkerchiefs, we steamed out of the harbor and headed up the Mozambique Channel. Five days later we anchored in the quiet and roomy harbor of St. Augustine, Madagas- car. Here we spent three days of varied experience. Our pilot was a character in himself. He met us about a mile outside the harbor, and we enffag-ed his services for twelve silver half-dollars. Before long we discovered that our pilot was a prince in disguise. He was none other than Prince George, a son of King William, the executive of this part of Madagascar. The prince's only insignia of rank was a round, flat piece of ivory, about two inches in diameter, fastened upon his forehead. His body was entirely naked, with the exception of a loin-cloth made of cheap calico, 42 FEOM Simon's town to the Comoro islands. 43 and a short skirt of white muslin. He wore several rings on his fingers ; home-made affairs hammered out from pieces of silver coin obtained from the whalers who sometimes stop here for chickens and yams. His hair was gathered up in about twenty small knobs, each besmeared with a white grease. The settlement is one of the largest native habitations on the island. It has a population of perhaps two hundred, housed in small nmd-huts, not more than three feet in height, and rounded up from the sides, having as entrance-way an opening only large enough to crawl through. In each of these huts live a man, his wife, and perhaps two or three children. Hardly had we cast anchor before a number of the officers, myself included, obtained permission to go on shore to " see the sights." We saw them, but, at one time, had " grave " appre- hensions. Our Colt's revolvers, which we were thoughtful enough to strap around our waists, overcame the prejudice of the natives, and spared the Government's pension fund from encroachment by our heirs, executors and assigns. We wandered back from the coast, but had not gone more than a half a mile when about thirty naked natives, armed with long spears, suddenly emerged from the bush and surrounded us. They began to mumble an unintelligible jargon, and we re- verted to our youthful days and tried to recall the prayers we had been tausrht before we received our first lesson at hazins; at the Naval Academy. We concluded that they were expressing their thanks to their god — whoever he might be — that they were so soon to have a delicious feast, although none of us were fat enough to kill. We tried to make them understand this at first, but as their manner and movements grew more menacing, we concluded that valor was the better part of discretion, and drew out our 44 FROM SIMOX'S TOWX TO THE COMORO ISLANDS. big navy revolvers. The result was a great reassurance to us, and I became convinced that there was at least one people on the earth who could be made to quail before the American Navy. We tired a few shots from our revolvers into the air, where- upon our black, unclothed, grease-besmeared and cannibalistic friends fell back and permitted us to pass on unmolested. But curiosity, with us, was now at an end. We had no craving- desire for a further survev of the interior of the island, and we speedily returned to the settlement to observe and be observed. The natives, men, women and children alike, were inclined to be familiar, but as, in Madagascar, familiarity would breed — vermin — we kept them at a favorable distance. The village consists of about forty huts, of a half-globe shape six feet in diameter, and made of thatch. The entrance is through a small hole, rendering it necessary to crawl inside in a horizontal position. In this hut the entire family eat, drink and sleep. The only furniture of the mansion seemed to be the bare ground, and a rude shelter between the inmates and the hot tropical sun and the rains. The food of the villagers is prin- cipally buffalo meat, chickens, Indian corn and sweet potatoes. With a few pieces of silver we could buy the entire settle- ment, including the women and children ; but gold is looked upon as base metal of no more value than brass would be, and as they have no use for money, excepting to hammer it into trinkets and ornaments, the silver is used for this purpose. We laid in a good stock of provisions at the following prices : a buffalo carcass for eight half-dollar pieces ; a sheep for two yards of calico: four dozen chickens for eight silver half-dollars; twenty-five ears of green corn and two bushels of sweet potatoes for a plug of tobacco, worth eighty-three cents. FROM Simon's town to the Comoro islands. 45 On tlie following day we were visited by tli9 royal family, King William, Prince George and several chiefs. Each native carried a spear, each wore upon his forehead a circular piece of ivory, and the royal robes of office were similar to the costume of Prince George already described. They sat about on the deck^ on the captain's table or berth, and upon other places con- venient for them — excepting on the big guns — and rested per- fectly content, all the time carrying on, between themselves, a conversation in an unintelligible gibberish. The royal visitors would have remained longer than was agreeable had we not impressed upon them the impropriety of stopping away from their wives and families after starlight. But daylight, the next morning, witnessed the advanced guard of the village coming to pay the ship a visit. They clambered on board and wandered about the ship below and above, without so much as asking " by your leave." After exchanging quarters and half-dollars, and old files for some of their spears, and not desiring to barter for any of their vermin, we cordially invited them to leave. But they hesitated. Observing that the entire village had embarked in their outrig^o-ers, and were intending; to visit us, we concluded it a good time to have a little target prac- tice with the great guns, utilizing a huge bowlder on the beach as a target. The second shot had not been fired before the natives scrambled into their boats and pulled toward the shore, evidently believing that we intended to destroy their village. Ceasing our firing we observed the village again afloat and com- ing toward us. Then we resumed our target practice, and the natives, seeing with what facility we shattered our natural target, went ashcre again. This time they ran back into the country and we were troubled no more. 4G FituM Simon's town to the comoko islands. « Early on the morning of July 13 we weighed anchor and set sail, laying our course up the Mozambique Channel. Eleven days later we anchored in the harbor of Moosamoodoo, Island of Johanna. Tliis is one of the Comoro Islands, of which there are foui*, of volcanic origin, and at the upper end of the Mozam- bique Channel between the northern end of Madagascar and the African coast. The four islands are, the Angaziya or Great Comoro, Arijonan or Johanna, Mayotta and Mohilla. They are mountainous, the highest peak rising above six thousand feet. The inhabitants, about eighty thousand, are principally Moham- medans, but fetichism or the worship of supposed magical powers prevails to some extent. Mavotta was ceded to France in 1842. The other islands belong to Arabia. The people of Johanna find their principal employment in connection with ships calling for provisions. The trade of Comoro and Mohilla is of the same character, but the islands are not now so much frequented for the purpose of victualing as was the case in former years. When within two miles of the entrance of the harbor of Moosamoodoo, a boat came alongside with some of the principal men of the island — one of them a pilot. This boat, we learned, was formerly the fourth cutter of the Rebel privateer Alabama, a notable " destroyer of the seas " which had touched at these islands in February, 1864. The costume of the men of Moosa- moodoo was decidedly attractive. It consisted of white robes w^ith loose jackets, and a silken girdle about the waist, each supporting a cimeter, the scabbards and handles elaborately finished with gold and silver in the etruscan work peculiar to the Arabs. These cimeters are purchased at Muscat, and cost from one hundred to five hundred rupees each (fifty dollars to two FROM SIMON S TOWN TO THE COMORO ISLANDS. 47 liimdred and fifty dollars each). Our visitors' feet were incased in sandals, and large white turbans adorned their heads. Many of them spoke English with fluency, and French as well. Within half an hour after dropping our a^nchor our decks swarmed with AMONG THE COMOROS. the natives, but there was not that objection to their presence that we found with the Madagascans. Upon o-oino: on deck the next mornino- T was struck with the soft picturesque beauty of the hills aa they lay in the morning sun which lighted up their tops and sides, and threw the ravines and valleys into shades of night. I was lulled by the roar of the surf upon the rough beach. It was delightful to sniff the fragrance of the land as it came to us upon the dew-laden wings 48 FROM Simon's town to the comoeo islands. of the softest breezes. After lunch 1 \isited the town, which, from our anchorage, made so picturesque a pictui'e, with its tall minaret, its two forts — one perched on a hill commanding the town, and the other upon the beach among the stone-houses. But the illusion was rudely dispelled upon reaching the shore. We landed upon a beach of rocks and shells, and through a con- siderable surf even in the calmest of weather. Along the shore was strewn the washed clothes of the officers and crew ; and a set of vagabond-looking natives of all colors, save that of the Caucasian, were lounging about, looking curiously on. The town we found dilapidated and squalid to the last de- gree ; the houses of rough stone, cemented and thatched ; the streets not more than five feet wide, and horribly crooked. The town is also inclosed by a stone wall, of perhaps twenty feet in height. At each corner of the inclosure a gateway scarcely- wide enough for two persons to pass at the same time, furnishes an entrance to the town. This wall was built as a sort of de- fense against the pirates, who, some years ago, were in the habit of visiting the island and plundering the people of everything, even to their slaves. Slaver}' is carried on to a large extent on the islands ; and the Sultan of Johanna owns seven hundred, whom he keeps principally to till his lands on the east side of the island. The other Arabs own plantations and slaves, but not to the same extent as the sultan. The people here com- plained greatly of the oppressions practiced upon them by the English who, they assert, " are strong enough to interfere in everybody's business, and to threaten us with the exercise of their power if we bring over any more slaves from the main." The slaves would gladly go to the island, as their native chiefs are continually making war and enslaving one another. FROM SIMOX'S TOWN TO THE COMORO ISLANDS. 49 The inhabitants of the island, in great part a mixture of Arabs and negroes, are intelligent and sprightly. They purchase many cotton goods from the American whalers, but their oppor- tunities were disastrously interrupted during our Civil War, as Captain Semmes and his murderous crew of the Alabama, captured and burned all American vessels coming in their way. The highest parts of Johanna are densely wooded, and the mountainous sides are so steep in some places that the tops of some of the trees touch the trunks and roots of others. The language, a peculiar Arabic dialect of the island, is very soft and pleasing to the ear. One of our few places of visit was the home of Prince Abdal- lah, and I was struck with its novelty, as well as with the ex- treme beauty of face and physical build of this pure and full- blooded Arab. He was a tall, soldierly-looking fellow, w^ith square shoulders, broad hips, well-pro]3ortioned limbs, olive com- plexion, finely-cut features, black eyes, black hair and a shining black heavy moustache. I was also surprised with the beauty of one of his three w^ives, who I chanced accidentally to see with her mask raised. The walls of his princely home were filled with a number of small niches, receptacles for coffee cups, ornaments, and everything imaginable. A number of couches were ranged around the room, and the floors were covered with rich and heavy Turkish carpets and rugs. I afterwards visited the homes of two other minor princes, in which I found everything half-way clean, w^tli an attempt at tawdry finery. A black houri was set to fan me, and a crowd of half-dirty children gathered around us, but no representative of the full-grown fairer sex. The ^vomen of this country are kept perfectly secluded from all men, except their fathers. 50 FKUM .Simon's town to tiik comoko islands. brothers or liusbaiuls, until they become old and homely ; and if a girl or women ha.s occasion to go on the street, it must be with her face behind a tricornered mask, with her eyes peeping over the top of it. We were always served with refreshments upon each visit — confections and rose syrup, the strongest drink used on the island. No wine, malt or distilled liquors are allowed to be used under a severe penalty; fifty lashes on the bare soles of the feet must pay for each offense, or the culprit must sit in the stocks under the broiling hot sun for four or five weeks. After refreshments w^e walked into the prince's garden, a beautiful wilderness of betel and cocoanuts, mandarin orange and mango-trees, with heterogeneous patches of rice, sweet potatoes and beans, and here and there a cotton-plant. Slave huts dotted the garden, and walls of loose stones ran along crooked lanes and by-ways. As we walked along, after leaving the garden, some of the people were seen at prayer, and others were j^reparing their evening meal. People met us with kindly greetings, and the Cadi, a venerable-looking old man, stopped to w^ish me a safe return to my home. From the parapet of the fort I enjoyed an excellent view of the towai. A short distance away was the mosque, to • which I paid a visit, being careful before entering to remove my shoes, as did the natives. After extending: our stroll a little further we made our way to the beach and returned to the vessel to lunch. On the beach we encountered tiie Johanna army — a company of about forty soldiers being drilled in the manual of arms by their command- ant. Their movements were as awkward as the soldiers wdiom I have seen in Hayti, and on the Isthmus of Panama, But their dress was a feature : white trousers, red coats and red caps — FROM SIMON S TOWX TO THE COMORO ISLANDS. 51 condemned uniforms purchased from the English soldiers. Scarcely any of them had a button on their coats, and, having no means of sewing, they were fastened together with strings. The soldiers were the blackest of slaves, and the most miserable- looking set of beings one could expect to see. After lunch our IN PKINCE ABDALLAH S PALACE. commander, with a few of tlie officers, went ashore. They were received in regal style by the " army," detailed on this day as the bodv-cfuard of the sultan. We were escorted to the resi- dence of Prince Abdallah, a band of music preceding us. It con- sisted of two di'ums and a clarionet, each musician playing inde- ' pendently of the other, and much resembled the music of two tin 52 FK03I Sl.MOX's TOWN' TO THE COMOIIO ISLANDS. pans and a fisli-honi. On Friday, Avliich, by tho way, is the Mobanimedan Sabbath, though not kept so rigidly as our Puri- tan Sabbath, we were visited by several princes — cousins-ger- nian of the sultan — one of them being the commander-in-chief of the army. The next day the princes and other chief noblemen visited us in force. The high priest was also Avith them. He was a fine- looking personage, an Arab hy descent, with a well-developed forehead, and an easy, gentlemanly bearing. He wore a hand- some gold and silver mounted cimeter at his side, and was evi- dently held in high esteem by his people. After the usual ex- change of courtesies our visitors returned to their palaces. In the afternoon the captain and a few other officers paid an official visit to the sultan. Our reception on shore was similar to that of the day previous, with the exception that the captain was given the position of state in a palanquin — a silk upholstered chair, fastened on two bars and carried on the shoulders of a dozen slaves. Arrived at the palace the sultan and his staft received us in official robes, and conducted us to the reception parlor, which was gorgeously furnished. We drank one another's health over a glass of sherbet, as well as that of the Pj-esident of the United States, and after an hour's informal chat took our leave. On Sunday the Prime Minister paid an official visit to the ship to announce that the sultan would pay his respects to the officers on Monday. Promptly at noon on the day following Sultan Abdallah, with his princes and staff, came off to the ; hip. He was preceded by a boat in which was that irrepressible band still hard at its alleged music, and reminding me very forcibly of what a home for foundlings might be on a Christmas morning FROM Simon's town to the Comoro islands. 53 after clriims and trumpets had been liberally distriljuted among its small inmates. In the full-dress uniform of the Navy, we received our royal visitors and greeted them with the firing of a salute of twenty- one guns. The sultan expressed a very favorable opinion of the vessel, and seemed to be specially interested with the en- gineer's department. His Highness was a fine-looking, well- formed person, apparently about forty years of age. He had a moderate harem of four wives. This is not an over-supply, ex- cept when provisions are expensive. But then food is nearly as cheap here as in Madagascar. Perhaps the sultan would not object to a dozen wives, if the Arabic law did not hmit him to four. The sultan is well-educated, and writes and speaks English and French fluently. One of the laws of the island, which might operate well in onr own country, provides that a person found guilty of petty larceny shall, for the first offense, have one of his hands cut off ; for the second offense he loses the other hand. It may be well to note that few persons have lost a hand, and there are none who have had both hands cut off'. CHAPTER IV. FEOM THE COMOEO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. ^N the morning of the thirtieth of July we sailed out of the harbor of Moosamoodoo ; and if our personal com- fort had been a consideration above the interests of the Government, our sliip's nose would have been pointed to the south- ward rather than toward the equator. ■^j Our next stopping jDlace was to be Aden, fj^jf the Arabian seaport at the mouth of the Red ir Sea, and the westward key to the East Indies. -^ From the Comoro- Islands to the Seychelles,, the change in temperature was very agreeable, and the nights were cooled by a delightful breeze. The third day out we had a terrific gale. The seas rose in their might, sweeping over the decks with great force and carrying before them ever3'thing that could be loosened. With hatches battened down, ship-life became frightfully uncomfortable. But then the experience was no worse than it had been a score of times. On Augi;ust 9 we rounded the island of Soootra and entered the Arabian Gulf. The next day ou" ship's carpenter Gerry died, a victim to patent medicines. We tried to keep his body till we 54 FROM THE COMORO ISLAXDS TO BOMBAY. 55 should reach Aden, and give him a Christian burial on shore; but decomposition set in a few hours after his death, and it became necessary to bury him at sea. The body was sewed in canvas, and weighted with a couple of hundred pounds of iron. It was borne by the sailors to the port gangway ; the officers and crew were piped to the gangway ; the engines were stopped, and after reading the service for the " burial of the dead," the body was slid from a plank into the sea, and the ship proceeded upon her journey. It was the first death that had occurred on board since we left New York, and was our only loss of life on the voyage, with the exception of the sailor who had been washed overboard during the storm in the Caribbean Sea. Twelve days after leaving the island of Johanna we dropped anchor off Steamer Point, Aden being about four miles distant. There are few white people in this city, which is called by the native Arabs Aden, or Eden (Paradise), because of its fine climate and its once celebrated commerce. The city has a population of about ten thousand. One tenth of this number are of that branch of the Persians known as Parsees, differing from the Persians only in their religion. The rest of the people are English, Arabs and Jews. No sooner had our anchor touched the bottom than the latter swarmed about us. They were burdened with ostrich feath- ers, lion and leopard skins, attar of roses, and other articles of barter, any of which could be purchased at one tenth of the original price asked. The current money is the " rupee " and the " anna " ; the former a silver coin of the value of forty-five cents United States money, the latter worth about three cents, and minted by the East Indies Company. Several of us took an early opportunity to visit the city of Aden. Hiring camels we were soon speeding our way along 56 FROM TTTE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. the roud. This camel-riding was, to us, a novel mode of transporta- tion. The gaunt angularity and uncouth appearance of the beast added to the novelty ; and its noiseless movement over the sand has appropriately given it the name of the '• Ship of the Desert." The amble of the camel, wliich is a curious amalgama- tion of a simultaneous rolling and pitching, has its advantages. The rider may sit sideways, backwards, or in the orthodox fashion, with his feet in or out of the stirrups; he may let his legs dan- gle carelessly, or sit cross-legged after the manner of Turks and tailors, without fear of his equanimity being disturbed by the stumbling, kicking, shying, or bolting, for the camel is a sure- footed animal. The riding-gear consists of a large double pad of goat's hair cloth, stuffed with grass or straw, and thrown over the back of the beast. A wooden frame-work of sticks, with a pair of conical pommels four feet high, is placed on the pad, and this is covered with carpets and cushions. Upon this superstruc- ture the traveler is perched. The harness is completed by a twisted bridle of goat's and camel's hair fastened over the animal's nose. The camel has some of the obstinate traits of a mule, and will oppose you until jou prove yourself the master ; it will lie down if it thinks it has too much upon its back, and until some of the load is removed, will refuse to rise, even though you should beat it to death. When its burden is lightened the camel will trudge along merrily — if a beast with so sullen a heart can ever be called merry. Treat the camel kindly, pat it on the shoulder, speak to it gently, or sing to it a song, and it will turn its head toward you with a pleasant twinkle of the eye, as if to express thanks. The pace in camel-riding is steady and uniform, but slow ; OUR GUIDE TO ADEN. FROM THE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. 59 yet the long strides take one over the ground almost as fast as would a trotting pony. To mount, to ride and to dismount are all awkward proceedings. That you may mount, the camel kneels and you straddle its back, or rather jump into the saddle ; then, as the beast rises, you have a feeling of light-headedness, occasioned by the rapidity of the action and the distance covered. To dismount, the beast again prostrates himself. Persons who have never used this method of transportation can know little about the sensation of those who take passage by camel. You soon realize that it is possible to become seasick on dry land, and you get down from the hump with as much gratitude as comes to a seasick man when at last he lands in New York from a pitching ocean steamer. The changes of scenery on the journey to Aden were magnifi- cent. The fortifications commanding the harbor are some of the best and most formidable I have ever seen. Midway between Steamer Point and the city there has been hewn from the solid rock a magnificent system of cisterns for collecting the rain- water from the surrounding; circle of hills. These cisterns range from the bottom to the top of the mountain, and are each about thirty feet square and fifty feet deep. Their total capacity is about thirty millions of gallons. The builders of these massive cisterns are unknown, but it is presumed that they were constructed several hundred vears ago. This is the most remarkable country that T ever saw for rain — or rather the scarcity of rain. Most of the water used for drinking and cooking is condensed from the sea water. I am told that it has not really rained more than once in the past five or six vears ; although once in four or five months there is a light shower. GO 'i:OM THE COMOIM) ISLANDS TO UOMBAY. Aden is a dilapidated-looking town, but it has become more important since the completion of the Suez Canal. The houses are built of stone and cement ; they are about twenty feet high, and are perfectly smooth on the out- side. It is a thriving place, and most of the business is monopolized by the Parsees. A single visit is sufhcient for pleasure, for at every step }ou meet a dozen or more curb-stone peddlers who thrust their wares into your face and almost force you to buy. We re- mained here five days, to coal and make a few repairs, then took our de- parture for Muscat. We were ten days at sea between Aden and Muscat. The long passage was due to the light breezes which barely gave our vessel steerage-way under sail. But our three days' visit to this important capital of 'Oman in Arabia and its center of tr;i.de, were profitably spent. Muscat, or more pro- perly Maskat, is a large town, situated on the Gulf of 'Oman, and in the gorge of an extensive pass which cleaves the dark mountain walls behind the city and widens as it advances into the interior. From our anchorage the city presents a fine view. But, after landing, the illusion is dispelled. It consists of narrow, crowded and filthy streets ; wretched huts, AN ADEN MENDICANT. ix\ww'T^'twim z < -1 3 FROM THE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. 61 intermingled witli mean and squalid houses ; and filthy bazaars, the proprietors of which are money brokers, vegetable, cotton and silk goods dealers, and an indolent, filthy and corrupt class of Persians cand Arabs. The palace of the Sultan, Synnd Sileni, the Governor's house and some other buildings, are good and sub- stantial, and stand on the beach. The population of Muscat, and of the adjoining town of Matrah, which is simply a large collec- tion of huts, about two miles distant, is estimated at about seventy thousand ; it consists of a mixed race of Turks, Persians, Arabs, Syrians, Kurds, Afghans, Belochees, Indians and others. They are chiefly engaged in commercial and maritime pursuits. The principal body of merchants are the Banians, who almost exclu- sively monopolize the pearl trade of the Persian Gulf. They also deal very heavily in attar of roses, which can be purchased for six rupees (three dollars) a bottle. Each bottle contains about a hvuidred drops, or a little more than a teaspoonful of the pre- cious liquid. One needs to be shrewd, however, or he will be imposed upon with an adulterated article. The most common language you hear is the Hindoostanee. Our official visit to the sultan was made on the day after our arrival, and we were handsomely entertained with sherbet, coffee, dates and confections. The residence of the sultan, like all Turk- ish houses, was divided into two distinct parts ; the selamlik for the men, and the haremlik for the women. The latter had as many separate suites of apartments as there are women. A Turk who has but one wife — there are few who do not have more — may require a large haremlik, if his mother and sisters live with him ; for each must have her private suite of rooms and servants for her separate use. No crowding nor mixing of domestics is permitted in a well-ordered establishment in Muscat; so that, G2 FROM THE rOMOKO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. should there be four wives, they need never see one another unless they please. The first wife, who takes precedence over all others while she lives, is called the " hanura." She has a right to the best rooms, and to a fixed portion of her husband's income, which he must not reduce to minister to the caprice of the younger spouses. These points are, as a rule, settled through the •• ulemas," or priests, before the marriage ; therefore a lianum's jointure is as safe as is that of a French woman who has her marriage contract drawni up by a notary. Monogamy has become more and more the rule among the Turks of the higher class, in recent years ; and even among those who have two or three wives, the hanum has gradually come to be regarded as having the same rank as the mistress of the Christian home. She visits and entertains the hanums of other gentlemen, but keeps aloof from wives of the second and other degrees. These are not equals in her sight, being generally women of a lower social status, who have not brought any dower to their hus- bands. Time was when a pacha w^ould take four wives of equal degree ; that is, daughters of other pachas, or of the sultan, and all richly portioned ; but manners and custom have changed in this respect, at least in the European part of Turkey. It must not be supposed, however, that a hanum cherishes any jealous hatred of her fellow-wives. She is content with the largest share of her husband's respect, without demanding his exclusive devotion. Her philosophy sometimes goes to the length of choos- ing from among her '• odaliks," or companions, one whom she deems meet to be his morganatic spouse, and she will do this the more readily if she has taken a fancy to the girl, and is un- willinci- to see her leave the house. In some houses, not of the hicrhest class, the four wives are as friendly as it is possible for FROM THE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. 63 women to be under the same roof, though each may have a differ- ent set of out-door friends whom she will not introduce to the others. In any case, the supremacy of the hanum is always ac- knowledged, and the others will not intrude into her presence un- less invited. So long as strange women are in the house, the huslDand is excluded from the harem. The guests, at a reception, begin to arrive toward six o'clock, accompanied by their maid-servants, and negroes carrying lanterns. The reception rooms are bril- liantly lighted with tinted wax candles, and scented with fragrant pastilles. There is no handshaking or kissing between the hos- tess and her guests ; but each lady, as she enters, lifts her hand gracefully to her heart, her lips, and her brow, as much as to say : " I am devoted to you with heart, mouth and mind." Refresh- ments are soon brought in, and the women compliment one an- other on their respective dresses. After coffee, sweetmeats and cigarettes are discussed, and dancing girls are introduced ; at this stage of the proceedings, the elderly women generally sit down to cards or some other game. In some houses, where Christian manners have penetrated, a lady pianist rattles off waltzes and operatic airs to the company. But this does not exclude the per- formances of the dancing girls, whose gyrations and fantastic music with tambourines and castanets are much appreciated. After several hours of uninterrupted pleasure, the lady of the house gives the signal for guests to retire by clapping her hands and ordering cake. At once the maids hurry to fetch the delicacy, and soon a very aromatic and spongy pudding is produced ; after disposing of this the guests wasli their fingers and mouths with rose-water contained in silver basins, and the party is at an end. G4 FROM THE C()MOi;0 ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. On tlie morning of the twenty-ninth of Augnst, the day on which we left Muscat, I liad the good fortune to influence our guide — softening the palm of his hand with five rupees — to break the laws of his land by permitting ys to look upon the faces of some of his beautiful countrywomen. AVe followed him to the suburbs of the town — outside of the wall; then takin^: us to a vacant house, he bade us remain cjuiet. In a little while he i-eturned, with his wife, sister, or cousin, I do not know which. She removed her mask, and there before us stood a blushing and splendid beaut}'. She had large black eyes, a broad low forehead, full red lips, delicately red-tinted cheeks, and a statuescjue form. She was a perfect type of a Circassian W(unan. An artist would have gone into ecstasies over her beautiful arms and rounded shoulders. She had small feet and beautiful hands. Her feet were shod in loose sandals, with soft covers and flexible soles. Her hair was bhtck, and worn long;, and slie had expressive blue eyes. And her costume was as picturesque as her form was fair. It consisted of loose silk pantaloons reachinu' onlv to the knee, and finelv-wroiight stock- ings ; with an upper garment which was a close-fitting sleeveless vest, cut away in front and but slightly open at the neck. Having encroached thus far upon the sacred customs of Mus- cat, we again " insulted " our guide with more rupees, and he pro- duced a company of dancing girls. In the poorest and shabbiest huts on the outskirts of the town the dancing trirls have their homes. We found them different from the neighbors of their sex, in this — their faces were not covered. But they were beautiful in feature, in form, in complexion, and in the flashing ixlances of their eves. Their dresses Avere of a light rose color, or a delicate yellow, while others were of a soft blue of the thin- FROM THE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. 65 nest gauze. Their foreheads were covered with jewels of Turkish gold and silver coin, and suspended in strings one below another. They Wcre stockmgless, but wore red morocco shoes, stiff and hard. Their belts were strung with trinkets, such as small silver tmugles. or little bells, and they all had metallic cymbals on each 1 :- ::r^ DANCING GIRLS OB" MUSCAT. hand. The music began, the shoes were suddenly stripped off, and tlie dancing commenced. Their hips rose in unison with the music ; their bodies swung either way ; their toes were cramped into the sand, and their countenances assumed a peculiar earnestness of expression ; their fervor increased ; their features became impassioned ; the cymbals clicked with greater intent, 66 Fi;OM THE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. and thus they passed from one degree of excitement to another, till they became exhausted with the intense action of every muscle of their forms. And these senseless contortions of the nuiscles of thoir bodies were called dancing. There was little of the " poetry of motion " about it. A few hours later we were leaving the quiet and sultry harbor of Muscat on our eight hundred and fiftj^ miles run to Bombay. The nights at sea were beautiful in the bright moonlight, and as balmy as September at home. The change in temperature, from that at Muscat, was very agreeable, and the nights were delightfidly cooled by a splendid breeze, so that our sleep was restful. Seven days at sea brought us to anchor in the harbor of Bombay. This is called the grandest city of the East Indies, but — I forbear ! It is usuall}^ the first or the last city of India visited by the tourist. If he comes from Europe by way of the Suez Canal he generally lands at Bombay and proceeds overland across India ; if he comes from America by way of Japan and China, he may land at Calcutta and proceed to Bombay overland, Bombay and Calcutta are the Alpha and Omega of India. Bombay has a convenient and pretty harbor, with plenty of anchoring ground ; and it and Calcutta are rivals for superiority, their claims being hotly contested by their respective partisans. As to which is the finer I will not attempt to decide. On land- ing, we were greeted by large numbers of Hindoos, Sepoy soldiers, women, palanquin carriers, buggy drivers and cats. Escaping from these, we went up through the long narrow streets on a tour of inspection. The natives who greeted us on the quay had been waiting our coming on shore, with their minds prepared to fleece the cargo of new victims. They came INHABITANTS OF THE ISLAND OF SALSETTE, NEAR BOMBAY. FEOM THE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. 67 upon us like hungry wolves, and shouted at us in all sorts of dialects. They pulled our clothes, crowded us in one direction and pushed us in another; one urged us to ride in his carriage — a vehicle much resembling a country doctor's gig — and another pulled us towards his palanquin. While, last but not least, there was the ever-present ludicrous and alarmingly persistent guide yell- ing over our shoulders that he would show us all the si^dits and describe them to us, if we would onl}- come his way, and all for a rupee. But ^ve were determined, on this first day, to see the city on our own hook. Bombay is divided into two halves, or rather quarters ; one the foreign quarter, and the other the native quarter. The for- eign portion of Bombay is not attractive, for the public and private buildings are inferior in architectural effect. The for- eign quarter is designated as " The Fort." but the fort disap- peared years ago to make room for Imilding purposes. The buildings are closely crowded and the streets are narrow and dingy. . The Esplanade, as the redeemed ground is called, contains some fine buildings. European faces are few and far between ; the shops are native, and the crowd pushing through the streets is as un-English as possible. Of the eight hundred thousand inhabitants of Bombay only about ten thousand are Europeans. But here are Asiatics of every class ; Parsees with their flowing frocks and miter-looking hats ; Hindoos, with turbans of various shapes and colors, some fitting close to the skulls, and others spreading like mushrooms; Moslems, with close caps, or with turbans differing from all others ; and coolies of the lower caste, or no caste at all, quite uncovered as to the head, or sporting only a thinly-wound dirty piece of cloth. The women pass you 68 FKO.M THE { O.MOI£0 IbLAXlJ.S TO BOMBAY. with heads wholly or partially covered, and some expose their faces completely to the gaze of the stranger without fear and without reproach. All have " rings on their fingers and rings on their toes, " and many of them have their ankles and wrists thickly hooped with bands of silver or bone. A profusion of jew- elry is also suspen- ded from noses and enrs. Some are not content with pierc- ing the lobes of their ears, after our civilized, fashion, but perforate their entire circumfer- ence to obtain points of support for jewelry. But this fashion is not solely confined to the native women, for many of the men of Bombay are just as barbarous in their tastes. The native town of Bombay has many large houses, with successions of balconies and windows, suggestive of palaces. In the narrow and open-fronted shops you see, as everywhere in tlie A PARSEE MERCHANT. FROM THE COMORO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. 69 East, the merchants squatted among their wares, and in a space so confined tliat it is not necessary to rise to reach any article on sale. Workmen of various branches are observed to be busy ; copper, silver and goldsmiths abound, as well as tailors, shoe- makers, barbers, etc. Everywhere is seen the miter-like hat, and the long, parson-like coat of the Parsee, and everywhere we find the wearer thereof engaged in business. The Parsees really control a monopoly of the shop-trade. They are an attractive-looking people and possess a shrewd- ness of no common order; they have all the Israelitish keenness for mercantile pursuits, and are not inaptly called the " Jews of Western India." As their name, " Parsis" or " Parsee," would indicate, their origin is Persian. They came into India several centuries ago, being the remnant of the old-time Fire-worshipers who with their priests, or magi, emigrated from Persia after its conquest by the followers of Mohammed. Bombay seems to be their chief abiding place, and it to-day gives a livelihood to about eighty thousand of them. Some of them possess enormous wealth, and several of the hospitals and other institutions here owe their origin to Parsees. Bombay will have occasion to long revere the name of Sir Janssetjee Jedeebhoy, a Parsee, who before his death on April 15, 18-59, contributed upwards of one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars towards the founding, endowment and support of institutions of a purely benevolent character. The Parsees are loyal to their ancient faith and are still wor- shipers of fire as the symbol of Divinity. When they came from Persia they brought the sacred embers with them. These fires have ever since been kept burning perpetually on their altars. They worship the sun as the great representative of the Divine 70 VllOM TUE CUMUUO ISLANDS TO BOMBAY. Power, and at sunrise, every morning, they may be observed at the water's edge with heads and hands reverently uplifted towards the rising sun. As they rigidly refrain from using fire for any ignoble purpose, it is not deemed courteous nor polite to offer them a cigar ; yet they do not take offense if a stranger smokes in their presence. The disposition of the dead is neither by incineration or burial ; but the bodies are left exposed to the sun until the vult- ures have cleared all the flesh from them, when the bones are swept into a deep pit. The principal place for exposing the bodies is upon the highest point of Malabar Hill just outside the city. Here are the famous burial structures known as the dakh- mas or " Towers of Silence." Strangers are rarely admitted to the inclosure, and no Parsee, except the few employed about the place, may enter the tower. It is surrounded by a high wall ; the yard is perhaps two acres in extent, and near the entrance is a buildino; in which is an altar with the sacred fire. This is also the sagii or temple where people come to pray, and here the priests change their apparel after their services are over. The towers are nine in number, of plastered masonry, not over twenty-five feet high and about thirty feet in diameter. In the side of each tower is a double iron door, where the bearers enter with the bodies ; but through this door no Christian, no Hindoo, nor even a Parsee, save the priests and attendants, is permitted to look. Two of these towers are unconsecrated ; one of them being set apart for the bodies of murderers, and the other for suicides. Vult- ures may be seen at any time hovering about the tops of the towers, evidently waiting eagerly for the coming of a fresh corpse ', and an hour after the body has been placed within the tower, nothing but bones remains. CHAPTER Y. FROM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. FROM the deck of our ship Ave obtained the finest possible view of Bombay. The picturesque hills were bathed in a blue haze, and ships of every clime were ridino; at anchor in the harbor. An American man-of-war so seldom visits Bombay that ours was an object of great interest during the few days of our stay ; our decks and cabins swarmed continually with the officials and natives, the mer- chants and the laborers from the town. To us the shore offered the srreatest attraction, and we never missed an op- portunity of visiting it ; often taking long rides into the country in one of the cheap and numerous buggies, and some- times in one of those novel native conveyances, the palanquin. If one wants to enjoy a slow tour through the streets, with- out stopping at the shops, he would better take a palanquin, a comfortable little box in which the rider may recline or sit erect. The palanquin of Bombay is so constructed that it may be opened or shut at pleasure ; its interior being provided with a cocoa mattress upholstered in leather, and so elevated at one 71 72 FROM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. end that the occupant may recline in a half-sitting posture. Poles extend out from either end and rest on the shoulders of the palanquin-1)earers. It is a comfortable though slow mode of travel in 2^. I have given a considerable space to the Parsees, but there are also to be seen in the heterogeneous crowds in the Bombay streets, the tall and martial Rajpoots ; the swaggering Mussul- man, in his green turban ; the sleek Marwarees or Jodhpureans with tight-fitting, parti-colored turbans of red and yellow ; the pig-tailed Chinaman, and — beggars of every description. It is said that among; the Parsees such a thinsj as a beD:2;ar is un- known but a visitor to the East Indies, coming in contact with the filthy, vermin-covered mendicants that are to be encountered at every footstej^, would be apt to have his sentiment of charity seriously encroached upon. I was much attracted by the Hindoo women who, when young, are delicate and beautiful, so far as one may reconcile beauty with the olive complexion. They are of almost perfect proportion ; their limbs are small, their features soft and regular, and their eyes black and languishing ; but the bloom of beauty soon decays, and age makes rapid progress before they have seen thirty years. This may be attributed to the climate and the customs of the country. No women can be more attentive to cleanliness than the Hindoos. They employ every method to render their persons delicate, soft, and attractive; their dress is peculiarly becoming. It consists of a long piece of silk or cotton tied around the waist, and hanging in a graceful manner to the feet. It is afterward brought over the body in negligee folds, and under this, covering the front of the body, is a short waistcoat of satin. Their long black hair is adorned with jewels and wreaths of flowers ; their FllOM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. 73 ears are bored and loaded with pearls ; a variety of gold chains, strings of pearls and precious stones fall in clusters from the neck, and the arms are loaded with bracelets from the wrist W^ ^^'^■ HINDOO WUMEX Ol" BOMBAY I.\ CEREMOXIAL DRESS. to the elbow. Many of them also wear gold and silver bands or chains round the ankles, and an abundance of rings on their fingers and toes. Among the adornments of the fingers may frequently be seen a small circular mirror. The richer the /4 FROM BOMBAY TO SINCiAPORE. dress the less becoming is it. A Hindoo woman of distinction always seems to be overloaded with finery ; while the village girls, witli fewer ornaments, but in the same elegant drapery, are more captivating. There are very few women, however, even of the lowest families, who at their marriage have not some jewels. The visitor should not leave Bombay without inspecting the interesting Caves of Elephanta. These, tradition asserts, were once the secret halls where assembled the ancient Freemasons. The island is about a mile from the main land ; it is formed of two bold mountains covered with trees and brushwood, and a small stretch of rice-fields cultivated by a few Hindoo farmers. Near the landing-place is a portion of the figure of an elephant. It was once of life size, shaped out of solid rock, and gave the name to the island. It has nearly crumbled to pieces by the action of the . weather. Ascending the mountain by a narrow path that winds among rocks and trees and underbrush, we arrive at the excavation which has Ions; excited the attention of the curious and afforded ample scope for the discussion of anti- quaries. The principal temple and adjoining apartments are two hundred and twenty feet long and one hundred and fifty feet broad. Wherever the observer casts his eye he is attracted by the numerous and rich decorations. He is also constantly reminded that he is in a trreat cave. He l)eholds four rows of massive columns cut out of the solid rock — uniform in their order, and placed at regular distances so as to form three magnificent avenues leading from the principal entrance 1o the grand idol which terminates the middle vista. The central image is com- posed of three colossal heads reaching nearly from the floor to the roof — a height of fifteen feet. It represents the triad deity FROM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. 75 in the Hindoo mythology — Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, in the character of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.* The middle face (that of Brahma) displays regular features, and a mild and serene character. The towering head-dress is much ornamented, as are those on either side which appear in profile, lofty and richly adorned with jewels. The countenance of Vishnu has the same mild aspect as Brahma ; while the visage of Siva is altogether different — severity and revenge, characteristics of his destroying attributes, being strongly depicted. One of the hands of Siva encircles a large cobra de capello ; while the other contains fruits, flowers and blessings of mankind. The lotus and pomegranate are also easily distinguished. On either side of the Elephanta triad is a gigantic figure lean- ing on a dwarf, an object frequently introduced in these excava- tions. The giants guard the triple deity and separate it from a large recess filled with a variety of figures — male and female, in different attitudes. They are in tolerable proportion, but ex- press no particular character of countenance. One conspicuous figure, is like the Amazon, single-breasted ; the rest, whether intended for goddesses or mortals, are generally adorned like the modern Hindoo women, with bracelets and rings for the ankles ; but the men have bracelets only. The intervening space between the large figures is occupied by small aerial figures hovering about them in infinite variety. The sides of the temple are adorned with similar compositions placed at regular distances ; they terminate the avenues formed by the colonnades so that, except at a near approach, only one group is seen at a time. The regularity and proportions of the whole *Tliis rcmiirknl)lc' bust i« now supposed to be a triform representation of Siva alone, and not of bis associates in the Hindoo trinity. 70 FROM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. are remarkably striking. The figures are generally in grace- ful attitudes, but those of herculean stature indicate no muscu- lar streno:tli. From the right and left avenues of the principal temple, are passages to smaller excavations on each side ; that on the right IN THE CAVERN UF SIVA. is much decayed and not enough of the sculpture remains to trace out the original figures. A pool of water penetrates from it into a dark cavern far under the rock. A small temple on the left contains two baths, one of them elesj-antlv finished. The FROM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. 77 front is open and supported by pillars of a different order from those in the large temple ; the sides are adorned with sculpture ; the roof and cornice are painted in mosaic pattern, some of the colors being still bright. The opposite bath, of the same propor- tions, is less ornamented. Between these two baths is a room detached from the rock. It contains a colossal representation of the Ungula. Several small caves also branch out from the great excavation. Elephanta Cave is a work which would be admired by the curious, had it been raised from a foundation like other remark- able structures. But when we consider that it was tunnelled mch by inch into the solid rock, and with tools evidently not used in similar works in modern times, we cannot but be aston- ished at the conception and completion of so vast an undertak- ing. I am, of course, no advocate of Hindooism, but I confess that a visit to these excavations filled my mind with awe, even though I was surrounded by idols. There are other great caves aside from Elephanta, in the vicinity of Bombay, but want of time alone prevented me from visiting them. In direct contrast to this awe-filled experience was an amusing spectacle which occurred on the seventh of September, during our Indian visit, and which I had the privilege of observing. This was the burial of the gods or idols of one of the many castes of Hindoos. It is of yearly occurrence, and I went to a quiet side of the harbor to witness this part of a strange relig- ious ceremony. The idols are made of plaster, some of them small, others of almost life-size; some of them plainly habited, others richly and gayly adorned. Some were brought down in palanquins and others in sedan-chairs, but always preceded by a procession of from twenty to two hundred persons, most of whom 78 FllOM nOMUAY TO :>lNGAl'OKE. were opium drunk and danced along the streets keeping unsteady time to the beating of drums. Arriving at the beach a peculiar ceremony was performed. It was, I learned, a burial service, and consisted of dancing and a monotonous singing. This over one of the celebrants, with an idol perched upon his head, waded out till the water reached his chin and then dived down to bury the idol in the mud. This is done to dispose of the sin-inoculated idols, which have become corrupted with the wicked things un- burdened to them at the confessional. During the two hours I stood witnessing this strange and 3'et laughal^ly impressive cere- mony, no less than a hundred idols were drowned and buried in the mud. A stranger would have wondered if it was an insane asylum delivery, and yet I should have been sorely displeased to have missed the sight. AVe bade good-by to Bombay on the seventeenth of Septem- ber, and put to sea. Our next port was to be Singapore, in the Straits of Malacca. A remarkable and interesting incident occurred the night after we entered the Straits. The island of Sumatra was in sight. Our vessel lay in a dead calm, or, as it is sometimes called, an " Irish hurricane " — the only wind being up and down with the mast, and the sails hanging fiat and flapping back and forth with the motion of the vessel in the swell. It was about midnight when the messenger was sent bv the ofhcer-of-the-deck to arouse all of the officers and the creAv's watch below. Hurrying on deck we observed that the sea was peculiarly white, and we seemed to be sailing in an ocean of milk. It aroused all of our sailor-superstition ; but after rubbing our eyes until they were fully opened and freshening up our faculties we realized that the phenomena, one of rare occurrence, was due to innumerable ani- U3 Oi O < FROM BOMBAY TO SIXGAPOHE. 79 iiialcula?. Our commander, who later became Rear-Aclmiral Eavl Eiiij-lisli, remarked that he had witnessed a simiLar occurrence m the Indian Ocean about twenty-five years before. On the third of October we anchored in the harbor of Sinsfa- pore. No sooner was the anchor down tlian a hundred jabbering natives sprang on board, chimbering up from the small boats in which thev had come out from the shore. We seemed to have dropped into Bedlam. They all talked at once in their strange dialects, gesticulated to each other and to us, and everything was in confusion. Some were hotel proprietors, and some were beggars ; some were bird-sellers and some were Singapore gentle- men and merchants ; some were laundrymen and some were thieves. The hotel proprietors, with cards in their hands, were recommendino' to us their various inns ; the beo;g:ars suns; in our ears " backsheesh ! backsheesh ! " The laundrymen tried to con- vince us that our clothes would be nicely done up and without the use of stones and clubs to pound the dirt out, but we well knew from experience how much dependence we could give to these people. The thieves were on the alert to steal anything from a hundred-pound solid shot to a gold watch. Singapore, like Hong Kong, is an English port ; and, like Hong Kong, it has a large population of Chinese. They are found in all occupations, from the lowest to the highest. Some of them are " hewers of wood and drawers of water," while others are merchants doing an extensive business, even to owning and managing steam vessels. The hotels are provided with Chinese and Malay servants, and are infested with Chinese ped- dlers, who bring to you Chinese and Japanese goods and curios, and above all handsomely mounted birds of paradise and tiger claws. The Bengalee and other natives of India are encrasfed in 8U FiiOM UOMIJAV TO blNCiAroKE. tnides similar to those of the Chinese; uiul one must be careful not to coniinc himself to the one-price system, for you may pur- chase anything at one fifth of the original price demanded or less. They have equally as weak consciences as the Jews 1 found at Aden, or even those on Chatham and Division Streets in New York. I obtained some handsome birds of paradise and some tiger claws, both mounted and unmounted. At Singapore will be found Indians (the Marhatti Hindoo) with the turbans and bright-colored sarongs ; Parsees with that tall, tapering, queer-looking indescribable hat of theirs very- much like ca stove-pipe ; Chinese workmen stripped to the waist, and wearing naught on their heads but the classic queue ; Malay workmen, bare as to body and lower limbs, their entire garment consisting of a loin cloth and a huge turban, and their skins a finely polished black. Singapore has quite an extensive business. It is the pur- chasing point for Siam and Borneo, and in a great measure for Java and Sumatra. There are two larije gardens here, both of them well worth a visit. The luxuriance of tropical growth is grand in itself, and one sees new and curious trees that would require considerable space for a worthy description. In each garden one may see the ourang-outang of the largest growth ; the ostrich, the elephant, the lion, the camel, and many other species of the animal kingdom peculiar to the torrid zones ; but the one thing above all others of rare beauty is the male bird of paradise. The males alone, like the peacock, are the birds of splendid plumage ; not only are they characterized by great brilliancy of tints, but they have a glossy, velvety appearance, a metallic luster and a singularly beautiful play of colors. Tufts of feathers growing from the shoulders extend far beyond the body FROM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. 81 and to the tip of the tail and are of great vakie as plumes for ladies' hats. There are pretty drives around and over the Malay Peninsula, and to meet a tiger now and then in a portion of a jungle nearest the main land is not an uncommon occurrence. The main land HASHISH SMOKERS. is infested with tigers, and they occasionally swim across the chan- nel in search of prey. As tigers only attack persons on foot I was especially careful to ride on all of my excursions and to select only the fleetest-footed horses. The statistics of the Chinese and natives eaten annually by tigers are not carefully kept, but they ?.re unhappily large. 82 FKUM BOMBAY TO SINGAPORE. " So you never have smoked hashish ? " said a friend to me one day at Singapore, and added, " Well, you've missed one of the greatest treats of your life. But just come with me and Til give you a taste of the drug which, for at least twenty centuries, has caused happiness and misery to millions of our fellow-beings." My friend had spent thirt}" years in the East, hence I readily placed myself under his guidance. Hashish (pronounced has- heesh) is the Oriental name for the plant we term Indian hemp, and its use is said to cause real happiness, and by no means the sensual enjoyment that might be supposed. The hashish-eater is as happy as is one who hears pleasant news or is intoxicated with success. I followed my guide to a native house, and passing through a dark hall we came to a door and gave a light tap. It was opened at once by a black houri who bade us enter. It was difficult to discern anvthino-. as everv avenue of li^j-ht seemed to be barricaded. The floor was carpeted with thick Chinese matting, and on the walls were a number of cheap pictures. Against the walls were four long bunks with matting bottoms. A half-dozen benches, a table and two low ottomans made up the rest of the furniture. The bunks were occupied by either men or women in a semi-stupid or dozing state. A new customer had just preceded our entrance, and as the proprietor brought him in a ''lay-out" I thought I would get my experience from observation. The lay-out was a Turkish narghil, a small brazier full of incandescent charcoal, and a porcelain jar. The narghil was different in some respects from the one used for smoking tobacco. It was, like the latter, a handsome glass globe half-filled with perfumed Water and provided with two glass tubes, one going almost to the bottom of the glol^e and terminating in a FROM BOMBAY TO .SIXGAPOKE. 83 metal bowl ; the other just penetrating the cork top of the globe and connected to a long rubber tube the end of which was an amber mouth-piece. The metal bowl was about the shape and size of a hen's egg, inside of which, a little space apart, were two pieces of grating. The proprietor, with a pair of small tongs, placed some small live coals on the upper grate, and then with a thin knife took from the porcelain jar a piece of hashish and placed it on the coals. The drug w^as a thick paste of a dark greenish-black hue ; its odor was penetrating, but thin. The moment the paste touched the hot coals it began to smoke and burn. A perforated cap was then put on the metal bowl, and the tube and mouth- piece handed to the stranger, wdio very considerately gave me the preference. A few deep inhalations filled my throat and lungs with the vapor, the effect of which does not begin to com- pare with that of opium. It seemed soothing and narcotic in character ; it produced a pleasant sensation in the wind pas- sages, and, unlike tobacco-smoke, caused no desire to cough. In ten minutes the first charge of hashish had burned out and was renewed. My first symptoms were an increased action of the heart and a sensation of pleasurable warmth. These w^ere followed and supplanted by a mental exaltation, and a feeling akin to pain. It seemed as if some enemy were trying to compress my skull. This was followed by an illumination of the brain or mind, and a fading of everything without. Then came a profound sleep, from which I soon awakened wdth sensations of nausea and headache. It was my first and last experience. There are several preparations of hashish, both as a medicine and an indulu'ent. and there are four wavs of usins it. The 84 FlIUM BOMliAY TO SINGAPORE. French cat the extract or paste, a shigle dose being a pill as large as a tive-cent silver piece. The Moors and Persians dissolve it in a strong aromatic fluid and drink the concoction. You may buy the leaves and smoke them in a pipe, or roll them into a cigarette. Or you can smoke the paste in a narghil. The trou- ble with eatino' or drinkin"- the drno- is, that it causes a disease of the stomach, and eventually a painful dyspepsia. If you smoke the leaves you irritate the lungs and throat with the vapor of the wood-fiber. With the narghil the stomach and lungs are not affected, and the narcotic effect comes on in a few min- utes. It may be nnhealthful, but it is not as injurious as is opium or morphine. CHAPTER VI. FROM SIXGAPORE TO FOO-CIIOW. A' FTER a stay of eleven clays at Singapore, we steamed out of the harbor, and in a few hours left the Straits of Malacca behind us. Crossing the Gulf of Siam, we had the island of Borneo on our right ; this remained in siirht for a con- siderable distance, and then we entered the China Sea. Our experience of the cyclones of the North Atlan- tic, and the pamperos off the River Plate, did not permit us to look forward with pleasurable anticipations at the possibility of encounter- ing, in these waters, one of those destrojang tempests known as the •• typhoon." Our fears and superstitions, however, were unnecessary, for we had the finest of weather, and ten days at sea brouofht us in sicrht of the island of Luzon, one of the largest 85 86 FROM SINGAPORE TO FOO-CIIOW. of the Philippines; before the night of the tenth clay had closed in we were swinging at anchor in the harbor uf Manihi. It was Sunday when we arrived, but tliat did not keep us from desiring to go on shore, and before long a half-dozen of us were walking along the esplanade. About the first thing to at- tract our attention was a I'lila de (jallos (cock-fight), and we stopped to see it, only to soon become disgusted. We had al- ready been present at just such a brutal exhibition on the other side of the globe, and had no desire for a repetition. Imagine an amphitheater with four or five hundred Spaniards, and " mes- tizos " or natives, each one crowding and pushing and yelling at the top of his voice, and reaching over the heads of one another handing i\\Q\v centavos (pennies) and reals (shillings) to the book- makers to wager upon the fowl selected to win ; a circular space in which were two men, each with a sharply spurred game-cock in his hands and each one holdinsr his bird fast until the master of ceremonies should give the signal for the fight to begin. The confusion, the Babel of tongues, and the intense excitement, espe- cially of those spectators who had wagered their few pennies on the result, suggested the possibility of personal conflicts ; but hardly a moment passes before one of the birds is seen to stag- ger, bleeding freely from a chance wound given it by the other bird; then the fight is ended, only to be succeeded by another equally blood-curdling contest between two fresh fowls. On the following day we again visited the shore to '' take in the whole town." For this purpose we hired a barouche for the whole day at an expense of " dos pesos' — two dollars. Passing over the bridge that separates the old settlement from the new, Ave rode for a mile along one of the pleasantest drives I have ever seen. This broua:ht us to the walled town FROM SINGAPORE TO FOO-CHOW. 87 which we entered through the " Puerto de Ysabel Segunda," or Gate of Isabel the Second. Ridmg through the streets of the old city we met on every side, ruins of old cathedrals, convents, barracks, and other buildings, the result of the great earthquakes of 1863. Convulsions of the earth have been frequent here, but seldom so disastrous as in 1863. Only one of the old cathedrals escaped the destructive upheaval. We met on our drive uiany handsome private carriages, hlled with the fair sex looking as bright, fresh and cheerful as the flowers of May ; and with that beauty of feature and complexion which is only to be found among the Castilian race. The native population of the island live in houses walled with bamboo rods, and roofed with palm leaves. These native dwell- ings, usually encircled by banana plantations, are raised on poles and stand some four feet above the ground, after the manner of the prehistoric buildiugs of the lacustrine epoch. The entrance is reached by a kind of ladder, and underneath the building is the storehouse for the farming implements. Here, too, is the refuge for the pigs and poultry. As a rule, these habitations have a small ante-chamber — two rooms and a kitchen — sepa- rated from the main house, but reached by a bamboo bridge. One of these chambers is the eating-room, the other serves as a sitting- room by day and a dormitory at night. In eyery home you hnd plenty of cigars and cigarettes ; curved, finely tempered knives, called bolos ; wicker-baskets and a few religious books, and betel boxes. No house, no individual, indeed, seems to be complete without this betel box. The betel, or Penang nut, is really a native of the Malay Pe- ninsula, but it may be found in any part of the East Indies. It is about the size of an Enolish walnut. It is an astrinsfent ; but / 88 FI.'OM SIXCAPOKE TO FOO-(IK)V.'. with the leaf of the betel pepper it becomes a narcotic stimulant. It causes a ijiddiness to those not accustomed to its use. The betel nut seeins as essential to the Malays, whether in their own peninsula or in the Philippines, as is tobacco to a New York bootblack, or as is opium to the confirmed Chinese opium- smoker. It is a revolting habit to a fastidious person, for if a man or woman speaks to 3'ou while chewing his or her "quid" of betel, the mouth looks as if it was full of blood. The betel nut is the fruit of the Areca or betel palm. The nuts oTow in clusters, but the tree does not beo:in to bear till it is six years old. Each nut is about the size and shape of a nutmeg and is covered with a fibrous yellow husk. The fruit is gathered, be- fore it is quite ripe, in the early fall and deprived of its husks. The nut is then boiled in Avater. cut into slices and dried in the sun, assuming a black or dark brown color. The betel-chewer takes a leaf of the betel-pepper, spreads upon it a paste of lime or spices, and rolls it about a piece of the nut. When thrust into the mouth the chewer begins to work his jaws and to spit. The custom of chewing it has become so general with the natives, not only in the Philippines but also in Java, Sumatra and other places in the East Indies, as to be considered a part of eti- cj[uette — men. women and children indulging in it from morning till night. So widespread indeed is the betel habit in the East that it is estimated that one tenth of the human familv indulge m betel chewino-. It g-ives a reddish color to the saliva, so that the lips and teeth seem to be covered with blood. By its habitual use the lips and teeth become blackened as with a dye and the teeth are loosened . The Tatralas and Biscavers are the most numerous anion a; Manila's population, wliile the Mestizos form the influential part FROM SINGAPORE TO FOO-CHOW. 89 and by their activity engross the greatest share of the trade. The Mestizos are mostly of Chinese fathers and native niotliers, but possess more the characteristics of the Spanish than the Chinese. Tlie principal industries depended upon here are coffee-grow- ing, cigar-making and the manufacture of peha cloth from tlie fibres of the leaves of the pine-apple plant. This cloth is of different textures, some of it being as fine as silk while some is as coarse as horse-hair cloth. It is all of it verv strono; and the better arrades far excel the finest lawns in texture. Thousands of women are employed in the factories and it is interesting to watch them in their embroidery work on the better trrades of the peila cloth, especially in the working of fine handkerchiefs, some of which are here worth as much as one hundred dollars each. The cigar-making industry is also c[uite extensive, and the Manila cigars and cheroots are famous. Indeed the majority of smokers prefer them to the Havana product. Theii" manufacture is under the charge of an administration whose headquarters are at Manila, and it is estimated that twenty thousand persons are employed in this branch of manufacture. The annual output is full}' one hundred millions. The best brand, the Imperials, may be purchased here at less than forty dollars a thousand. Nearly 92,000,000 pounds of Manila hemp and more than 280,000.000 pounds of sugar are annually shipped from the port of Manila. From Manila we sailed for our first port in China, the land of the almond-eyed, pig-tailed, opium smoker and fan-tan player. On the third day after leaving our Spanish friends we sighted the lofty peak of Victoria Hill that rises 1825 feet above the mao-nificent harbor of Houl;: Kone. Its summit was nearly hidden by the clouds ; but, with our strong marine-glasses we could see Sedan-chairs ascendino; or descending' with visitors on 90 KKOM HINGAPOPvE TO FOO-CHOW. the main road. No sooner was the anchor down in Hong Kong harbor tlian the ship was surrounded by sampans. This is the Chine.^^e errand boat. It is iVoni twelve to hfteen feet in lenutli, and is so constructed as to provide habitation for an entire family. As the sampans pulled alongside us there sprang from them on CHINESE JUNK. board the Iroquois, washerwomen, compradors (runners for ship- chandlers), tradesmen and boatmen all clamoring for our pat- ron a o-e. From our deck we obtained a grand panoramic view of Hong Kontr, a citv which is under the o;overnment of the British authorities. Its name properly rendered is Hiang-Kiang " the place of sweet streams." The harbor and island bears a strong resemblance to Gibraltar. The city itself has little about it to sug- gest a port in China ; in fact but for its inhabitants it would an- swer as well for any city in Europe of similar size. Its resem- FKOM SINGAPORE TO FOO-CHOW. 91 blance to Gibraltar disappeared upon going ashore, for we found the streets much wider and the houses more uniformly built. The principal thoroughfare is called Queen's Road. It is lined on both sides with fine warehouses, banking institutions, a hotel, and other public buildings. A little back of the Queen's Road, is the native quarter where are huddled together the Chinese residents. The first thing to attract our attention was the Chinese women, dressed in their baggy trousers and sacks, their feet encased in diminutive sandals, and their black glossy hair combed up in a novel manner and stiffened with pomade into a semblance of a cock's comb. The Chinese coolies are seen trotting along the street with a wooden yoke over their shoulders. From each end of this yoke is suspended a sling, one holding a case or basket of merchandise, and the other a big stone, perhaps as a balance to the other burden. Chinese tradespeople passed us, their silken skull-caps handsomely embroidered or their silk pajamas fastened together with gold buttons, in strong contrast to their more cheaply costumed pig-tail brethren. From these would come a courteous recog-nition or the salute: '"Chin-chin?" which has a similar meanino: to our trreeting- of •' How are you ? " After a brief stop at the hotel — thorougijly American in every respect — we continued our sigrht-seeino-. Sedan - chairs were everywhere rang;ed along the curb, the carriers readv to take us from one end of the town to the other for a few " cash." But this was our first day on shore and we preferred to walk. A few steps from the hotel we heard the jingling of silver ; turning our heads, we observed a Chinaman sitting beside a large basket filled with " trade," or Mexican dollars, and he is testing them to learn whether any of them are - chop " — that is light weight — 92 FROM SINGAPORE TO FOO-CIIOW. or have not the true ring to tlieni. This is the bank and '•.luhn'" (as all Chinamen are called) taking up a handful of dollars passes them one at a time from one hand into the other and readily detects the false ring. In fact none are so expert as the Chinese in testins: coins. The Chinese are famous for " chopping " silver dollars, a system of fraud largely practiced by inserting alloy in the place of silver extracted ; this, while it does not alter the appearance or weight of the coin perceptibly, cannot be detected except by an ear most susceptible to sound. The Chinese shops next attracted our attention ; here were found articles of vertic of every class of Oriental design — carved work in ivory and sandal-wood ; jewelry, silks, satins, crepe, China ware of native pattern, and many other things too numerous to mention ; the}^ were cheap, too, if one was but shrewd enough to avoid being swindled. The principal mode of conveyance, the Sedan-chair, is made of bamboo. It is borne on the shoulders of the Chinamen and is a comfortable and sleepy vehicle to ride in. The rapidity with which these coolie carriers get over the ground is something surprising, and they seem to be able to travel the entire day without becoming exhausted. From the curio shops we went to a gambling-house to see the National game, fan-tan, or " yet, yee, sam, see " (one. two, three, four), played. To the novice, fan-tan is to all appearances a game in which there can be no cheating ; but a better acquaint- ance with the Chinese and their delicacy of touch convinced me that the dealers can tell to a " cash " (the small brass money used) the exact number they pick up in their double-hand, thus making cheating not only possible, but actual. The gambling room was on the main floor ; in the center was a table about six A CHINESE I'AUUDA. FROM SINGAPOEE TO FOO-CHOW. 95 feet square, surrounded by a crowd of chattering Chinamen, each with his string; of cash, and some with silver coin. I have never seen o'reater excitement around the u-amblinu- tables in San Francisco even. Above the table is a gallery where the '• foreigners," Americans, English, Germans and others, congre- gate, their wagers being lowered in a small basket to the table below. On the table is traced a small square with, the first four numerals on the sides, as in this diao^ram : The dealer sits at one end of the table ; he holds in one hand a long pointer and has at his left a pile of cash, with holes in the center. Before the bets are made he takes a double handful of the cash which he places immediately in front of him, covering the pile with a large bowl. The bets having been made the bowl is taken off, and with the pointer the dealer counts off the cash, four at a time, until all are counted off except the last lot, when, if one, two, three, or four, remains, that number wins. Bets may be made on either of the four sides as the gamblers select, or upon two numbers by placing the bet on either of the four corners. Winning on a single number gives the winner four times the amount bet, minus seven per cent, for the dealer ; and winning on either of the corners (two numbers, or two m FKUM 5-l^UArOlJE TO FUU-tJlOW. ^■1 ~^ clumces of winning) gives to the winner twice the amount of the bet. minus seven per cent. One peculiarity of the Chinese is that they can make them- selves imdei'stuod in almost any European tongue in less than one third the time re- <^^s______ quired ])y the average American or European to make himself under- stood in Chinese. They readily acquire a smat- tering of our language, or " pigeon English," hut it is with the greatest difficulty that we learn anything of theirs. Trade is cren- erally conducted by middle-men or " com- pradores." If a foreign merchant wishes to make purchases of any of the native products he must do so throuo;h the compradore. If he wishes to sell aiiy- thinof of foreio^n manufacture it must be done throucrh the same channel. The compradore employs all the servants about the house ; he fixes their salaries and is responsible for their honesty ; he even keeps the bank account and superintends the shipping of goods. Though a servant only, he is practically the head or the SEDAN-CHAIR. FKOM SIJ^GAPOKE TO FOO-CHOW. 97 manager of the house ; and he is invariably a shrewd, clear- headed fellow, who watches his master's interests — and his own — with a careful eye. " John Compradore " is an indispensable necessary. The Chinese guilds and trade combinations surpass any of European or American origin. The Chinese, as a people, are self- sufhcient, bigoted, supercilious, jealous, and seem likely to remain so for all time. No people, it has been said, has ever been found who did not profess some kind of religion. The Chinese have their deities, but it would be more difficult than most peo- ple imagine to say in just what their religion consists. The teachings of Confucius form the basis of their national juris- prudence ; but it can hardly be called a religion since it does not inculcate the worship of any god. Buddhism is evidently the religion of the masses in the interior provinces ; but the generally low character of its priesthood, and the dilapidated condition of its temples — as I later observed in my visits to Amoy and Foo-chow — tell an impressive story of the growing indifference of the educated and influential masses. The Mahometans are much less numerous in some sections of the Empire, but, pos- sibly, are a more intelligent and better class of people. The Mandarins, or the government officials, are Confucians. In a qualified sense, most Chinamen may properly be classed as Spiritualists. All over China, more even than in Hong Kong, one sees pago- das or temples of worship, octagonal in shape and of enormous height : and, upon inquiry as to their origin and title, one is told that the first is unknown, and that the second has reference to " Fantr-Shin." the Q;od of wind and water. Leaving the " English city of China," as Hong Kong is called, 98 Fiioyi telNGAPOliE TO FOO-tllOW. our next stop enabled us to view the very extreme of Chinese life. This was Foo-Chow — or Fuh-Chow-Foo (Hai)pY City), the capital of the province of Fiih-Keen. It is linely situated on the River Min, aljout thirty-five miles from the sea, and is in- closed by a great Avail six miles in circumference, it is about thirty feet high and twelve feet thick. The Iroquois went within seven miles of the city, and from there we took our steam launch to the capital. The river was crowded with junks, some of them used as lighters for transporting merchandise down the river to the ocean vessels ; and some of them having a m}' sterious appear- ance suggestive of pirates. There are very few foreigners^ in Foo-Chow, but our one day's visit was intensely interesting. The residence of the consul was an old Buddhist monastery in the foreio-n reservation on the rig;ht bank of the river. To u'et into the native cit}* we cross a bridge of forty arches spanning the river, and then pass through one of the seven gateways of the great wall. At all hours of the day and night the narrow streets swarm with Chinese. Each house seems packed with them ; each store and cellar are alive. There are bazaars where are exhibited and sold lacquer and ivory work the finest that can be found in China. Here, too, are groceries, opium joints, gambling houses, restaurants, barber-shops, and silk and crepe shops. Beggars and peddlers meet one at almost ever}^ step ; the}^ were about the first we had met in China. Ol^servinsf a crowd throno;ing; into one particular buildiug we joined it. We entered through a long; hall whose walls were covered with shelves and cases filled with fish, fruit and tobacco. Doors half-open disclosed bunks filled with drowsy men, and a gambling den upon whose central table a score of Orientals were tempting fortune. On FROM SINGAPOEE TO FOO-CHOW. 99 the next floor a restaurant and kitchen were in full blast, the tables filled with patrons, while cooks and waiters were hurrying to and fro. The next floor was an orchestra hall, decorated with scarlet banners, joss-sticks, lanterns, gongs, cymbals and A CHi^'iibi; THKAXiiK.. screens. Lovers of Chinese harmony (?) crowded the room. The musicians sat in a circle. One had an instrument that seemed a compromise between a piccolo and a bag-pipe ; another held a small banjo-like instrument, and still another had a larger one ; three of the musicians plaj^ed upon nameless instruments, lOU FK03I SlNGAPOllE TO FOO-CIIOW. \vliicli seemed a mysterious compound of dry wood and sheep- skin, out of which unearthly nuisic was evolved by drumsticks ; another was beating on a metal gong suspended from the ceiling, and the last man of the " band " was clanging two brass cymbals fullv tliree feet in diameter. These musicians manage to extract more noise out of their wood and metal than could a good-sized " Calatliumpian band." At first all is crash, clash, bang! cluck-a-luck, cluck-a-luck ! and you want to go home. After a' time you become accustomed to the din and conclude to sit it out. The programme is long and diversified — a national air, a love song, a symphony, etcr, etc. Wagner and Strauss are outdone. The National air represented the Chinese army in full retreat and the enemy after them — a sort of Turkish, or rather Chinese patrol, and we were happy enough when the music died away in the distance. The enemy evidently got the best of it. Eeturning to the ship we could not help giving a shudder as we passed those mysterious-looking war-junks. Of all the dan- gers that beset the mariner on the Chinese coast, be it from storm or fire, or the hidden reef, none have such terrors for vessels trading on the Pacific as do these pirate shijDs that infest the Eastern seas. An attack by these pirates is conducted with such cunning, treachery and skill, that, if successful, it leaves the affair to those who watch and wait for a ship that never returns to the port a mystery far harder to bear than would be a known misfortune. The quaint junks that leave the Chinese ports at nightfall are, to all appearances, the peaceful traders they profess to be ; but let an unprotected vessel come in view and at once the scene chano;es as if bv mao;ic. Deck-loads of merchandise are thrown FROM SINGAPOEE TO FOO-CHOW. 101 into the holds ; cannon bristle in their places ; the crews are marvellously reinforced by men who have been hidden below ; and the former lazy coaster glides swiftly along, propelled not only by its sails, but by long and powerful sweeps. The doomed vessel is quickly surrounded by the pirates, and a cannonade soon brings her masts and yards crashing to the deck. Her crew may defend themselves as they can, but they are outnumbered fifty to one. The pirates close in upon the defenseless vessel ; they throw rockets and " jingals " that leave an unquenchable fire and a stupefying odor wherever they fall ; the defense grows more feeble, and now, running alongside, the pirates board and slay all of those who may have survived. After the slaughter, the plunderers transfer the cargo, bore a hole below the water-line of their captive and leave her to sink. Then the pirates repair the damages which their own vessel may have sustained, stow the guns below, divide the booty and disperse. If these pirates should by chance be caught they are promptly punished with death ; knowing this they yet brave the penalty and instances are not unfrequent where no chance of escape being left to them the baffled pirates have committed suicide rather than suffer the inevitable penalty of an ignominious death. CHx\PTER VII. AT SHANGHAI. F 7R0M the mouth of the Mill to the mouth of the Woosung River, which is only about twelve miles from Shanghai, is a run of but three clays under sail and steam. Anchoring off the American concession, or set- tlement, at Shanghai on Sun- day night we went at once on shore finding only the bars, the billiard-rooms and the churches open, and all fairly well patronized. As I had not been inside of an American church or chapel in many months, I availed myself of the opportunity to attend church once again and after services returned to the ship. The following day gave us a better opportunity for a pano- ramic view of one of the foremost emporiums of commerce in the East. Thirty years ago Shanghai was a third-rate Chin(ise town ; to-day its great shipyards, mercantile houses and other imposing buildino;s show what a benefit foreigners have been to China. 102 AT SHAXGHAI. 103 Shanghai proper, or rather the native town, is a city inclosed by a great stone wall three miles and a half in circuit and pierced with seven gates. It is inhabited strictly by natives. In general appearance and in its population it does not differ from Foo- Chow, as described in a previous chapter. Below the city on the river is the distinctive territory of the foreigners — the Americans, French and English. Each of these nations has con- cessions of its own, each is separated from the other by a canal or creek, spanned with bridges. Opposite the English settle- ment, the largest of the three concessions, the river makes a wide bend, and a picturesque view is presented as one approaches the city by water. The river is thronged v/ith great homely junks lashed side by side. The American concession is the scene of greatest activity, inasmuch as its river front is one long line of docks where the shipping discharges its cargoes. Here, too may be found a dry-dock, machine shop and foundry run by American interests. The English concession is the place of residence of nearly all the foreign merchants ; here are built the large and imposing honf/s, or warehouses, the churches, hotels, etc. Its picturesque appearance is greatly enhanced by a large garden along the front. The French concession is of less importance. We found there in one of the large buildings a large American billiard parlor, and over it we learned that an American lodge of Free Masons meets workino; under a Massachusetts charter. The steamboats which traverse the river, like those running from Hong Kong to Canton and Macao, are similar to those running on the Hudson River and Lono- Island Sound ; most of them indeed were built in the United States. Were it not for the numerous junks and for the adjoining China-town one might imagine this an American port. 104 AT SHANGHAI. One peculiar superstition among the Chinese is that of paint- ing an eye on the l)ows of the junks and small boats, and on the paddle-boxes of their steamers. They reason that '• no eye have got, no can see." So deep rooted is this superstition that the}' ^villnot travel by water in any conveyance which is without this talisman for fear that the vessel would come to o-rief. The native'town is squalid and dirty ; it has low brick build- ings, narrow streets, and is crowded with dirty, repulsive-looking Chinese. At the main entrance a large and hideous-looking idol greets the visitor, but I soon left it behind me and emerged into civilization again. I enjoyed a two-wheeled perambulator resemb- ling the jin-rick-i-sha of Japan ; it has two shafts and is drawn by a Chinaman. I directed my man-horse to take me to Sikaway, where are the Chinese cemeteries a centurv old. It is a vast plain covered with small mounds. One of the mounds, the grave of a mandarin, was surmounted by a life-size statue of two horses. A little distance bevond were two small baskets fastened at the tops of two poles planted in the earth. My curiosity was awakened and I examined the baskets only to find in each the head of a Chinaman who had been decapitated on the very spot where each had committed a murder, this sentence being in accor- dance with the old feudal law. The baskets had been hano^ino' thus for two years or more. A Celestial's funeral is as interesting as it is curious. It is the custom in China when a native is about to die, for the eldest son to remove the body from the bed to the floor of the principal room in the house, placing the feet of the dying toward the door. A piece of money is placed within the mouth in order that he may have the wherewithal to pay his fare to the next world. In cer- tain cases a hole is made in the roof to facilitate the exit of the z D O Z s I AT SHANGHAI. 107 spirit as it leaves the body, under the supposition that some means of exit is needed. At the same time priests and women, hired as mourners, are sent for ; and upon their arrival a table is spread with meats, fruits, lighted candles and joss-sticks for the delecta- tion of the soul of the deceased. Superstition is a strong ele- ment in the Chinese character, and it leads to the belief that each person is possessed with seven animal senses that die with him ; also that he has three souls — one of which enters Elysium and receives judgment, another abides with the tablet and the third dwells in the tomb. The wailing and weeping by the mourning women is relieved at intervals by the intoned prayers of the priests, or the discord- ant " tom-tomming " of the drummers, who have also been called to assist at the ceremonies. The women weep and lament with an energy and direfulness which, if genuine, would be commend- able. The priest usually directs these lamentations and emotional demonstrations, much as the leader of a band would conduct his musicians. Now and then the wails may become irremilar, but they are relieved by a few nasal notes from the priest and a drumming of the " tom-toms." It would be uncharitable, how- ever, to assert that the grief of the nearest relatives is not genuine. The first ceremony after death is the washing of the body with purchased water that has been blessed ; then the deceased is dressed in his best clothes, a fan is placed in his hand, a hat put on his head and shoes on his feet. Here, again, superstition asserts itself in the peculiarities concerning dress, the belief being that the " dear departed " will wear these habiliments in Elysium, and it is desired that be should appear in the next world as a respectable and superior member of society. It is also expected 108 AT SIIAXGnAI. that he will need money in the next world and, at intervals dur- ing the ceremonies, gilt and silvered paper in the shape of coins, etc., is burned in the belief that it will accompany the soul and be converted into '• cash." Clothes, furniture, horses, Sedan- chairs, etc., made of paper, are burned in the belief that in the next world they will be converted into similar necessaries on the same principle — for the benefit of the dead. When it is desired to transport a body from one part of China to another, it is not permitted to carry the corpse through any walled town ; nor across any landing place, or through any gateway which can be construed in any way as part of the terri- tory or right of way belonging to the Emperor. "Spare no ex- pense " is the motto of all Celestial funerals, in the matter of coffins and other funeral habiliments, and a dutiful son will see that the parents are provided with these melancholy receptacles, some- times, many years before their death. The coffins are heavy, unwieldy things, and are not even provided with the handsome silver handles and screws familiar to us. They are made of heavy boards four or five inches in thickness, rounded at the outer joints, and appear invariably to take the form of the pol- ished trunk of a tree. The inside is lined with cement, the joints are carefully sealed with a similar substance, but a hole is invariably drilled through the lid over the face of the body to facilitate the entrance and departure of the spirit. Preceding- the coffin, as it is carried from the house of death, are elaborately trimmed Sedan-chairs, each containing meats, fruits and confections, and usually two roasted pigs. Banners wave above it. Altar pieces emblazoned with the name and age of the dead person, the tablet, photograph and other of his belonpings, are also carried in the procession. Arriving at the AT SHANGHAI. 109 burial-place the body is deposited in the earth with elaborate ceremonies. The burial-places are generally selected by necro- mancers, and if the family be rich the selection is made without regard to difhcully or expense. One of the chief requirements is to obtain a good view, as, for instance, from the side of a hill overlooking water, a copse or a ravine near a hilltop. After the burial the tablet is carried back to the house by the mourn- ful procession, and is set up in a room with other tablets of the family reserved for the purpose, and incense is daily burned and prayers offered before them. The food carried in the procession is either distributed among the poor or is consumed in the house. Earl}^ in April in each year the relatives of the dead may be observed wending their way to the tombs to repair and to cleanse them, and to make offering's. " Che lao fan 7nira ma iiuf' is as familiar a ureetino- amono- Chinamen as '• How are you ? " is with the English-speaking peo- ple. Translated it means : '' Have you eaten ? " it beiug the oiiinion of Chinamen that he who is able to eat is surelv well, happy and all right in every respect. The stomach is always well taken care of, and "How many bowls of rice have you eaten ? " is the same as asking of how many meals you have partaken. It is answered among Celestials by stating how many they have disposed of, and representing with their hands the size of the bowls. The Chinaman believes that his stomach is the source of intellectual life ; therefore the more iDortlv a man is the wiser he is supposed to be. Those who regularly eat meat at meals — the rich only — are credited with being wise, happy and distinguished men ; but those whose chief diet is rice, corn, vegetables and pickled raw fish, are believed to be unhappy, ignorant and oppressed by fate. 110 AT SIIAXGIIAI. Chinamen who have families enjoy their meals at home, and the others eat at restaurants. The coolies, or M'orkiny^-class, must be satisfied with two meals a day — usually at nine a. m. and 5 p. m. — while well-to-do Chinamen have three or four meals a daj*. The head of the family gets the choice of the food, the father only eating meat ; the rest of the family must -^r^^^^^ CHINESE AT DINNER. be satisfied with rice and vegetables. Poor families purchase their food from street venders who peddle out provisions, and, on a small hand vehicle like a wheelbarrow, carry along a stove on which to cook them. The Chinese use no table-cloth, napkins, knives, forks, spoons, plates or glassware. They carry the food from the bowl to the mouth with the ancient chop-sticks, while sheets of thin, soft rice-paper take the place of napkins and handkerchiefs. After using the sheet of paper it is thrown away, and Orientals look upon the custom of Europeans using a handkerchief several times as a filthy habit. I had the privilege of attending a formal Chinese dinner AT SHANGHAI. Ill given by a Mandarin. The invitations were on a reel colored paper about six inches long by three, inches ^Yide, covered with Chinese characters that I never attempted to interpret. At the appointed time the guests were received after long and elaborate ceremonies, and were then conducted to a large banquet room. The dinner consisted of ninety-nine courses, each alternate course being champagne or other wine. It was a tedious affair. No topic of interest was discussed, but the host narrated a story — part in Chinese and part in pigeon-English — which has ever since left a mysterious impression upon my mind. Everybody smoked during the dinner, and the only women present were those who tried to amuse the a:uests with a sinD;le act of a Chinese melodrama on an improvised stage. Our host called attention to the small feet of some of the players, and related to us how it was done. This distortion of the foot is most generally observed among the higher classes, and it is not uncommon to see a fully-developed woman with feet no more than five inches in length. When the child has learned to walk, and is able to do certain things for herself, the binding of her feet is begun, and the pain caused by the compression is said to be most intense. Strong bandages, two inches wide, are manufactm^ed for binding the feet. The end of the strip is laid on the inside of the foot at the instep, and carried over the tops of the toes and under the foot, drawing the toes with it down under the ball of the foot ; thence it is passed over the foot, and clown around the heel. By this stretch the toes and the heel are drawn together, leaving a bulge on the instep and a deep indentation in the sole under the instep. This course is gone over with successive layers of bandage until two or three yards of cloth have been used. 112 AT SHANGHAI. Mlien the final end is sewed down. To wholly gratify a Chinese woman the '• indentation " must measure about an inch and a half from the ])art of the foot which rests on the ground up to the instep. The toes are finally drawn completely over the sole, and the foot is so squeezed upward that in walking only the ball of the great toe touches the ground. Powdered alum is freely used when the feet are first bound, and always afterward, to prevent ulceration and to modify the offensive odor. At the end of the first month the feet are put in hot water, and after a long soaking the bandages are care- fullv unwound, the dead cuticle beingr abraded durinar the unwindino- of the bandage. When the bandas-es are removed it is not unusual to find ulcers and other abominations. Fre- quently, too, large pieces of flesh slough off the sole, and it sometimes happens that some of the toes drop off. The patient is not only oblivious of this fact, but she feels amply repaid for the suffering by believing that she has smaller and more deli- cately formed feet than have her neighbors. It frequently happens that, in their intense desire to have small feet, some girls will shrewdly tighten the bandages on their feet at the expense of great pain. Oar host carried us on a mental visit to Pekin, not having the opportunity of going in any other way, and drew us a pict- ure of the young Emperor, who rules over two hundred and fifty million people, and who occupies the same apartments in which lived the Emperor who preceded him on the Dragon Throne. The palace is called the Yang-Hsin-Tien. Here he eats with gold-tipped ivory chop-sticks ; here he sleeps on a large Ning-Po bedstead, richly carved and ornamented with ivory and gold ; and like one of those living Buddhas, who may be seen in a A CHINESE HOLIDAY. AT SHANGHAI. . 113 lamasery on the Mongolian plateau, lie is knelt to by all his attendants, and is honored as a god. The respect felt for him is far more profound than he feels for his subordinates, and the seclusion in which he is kept is an almost complete isolation. The great reception hall is back of the central gate of the palace. When the principal mandarins wish to gain an audience with the Emperor, they must, according to custom, enter on foot, by the east or west gates, either of which is more than half a mile from the center of the palace ; if, however, they are aged, a special decree may be obtained, permitting them to be borne to the palace in a Sedan-chair. The rooms of the Emperor consist of seven apartments, each of which is provided with a K'ang, or divan. The K'angs are covered with red felt of native manufacture, and the floors are covered with European carpets. The dragon and the phoenix are embroidered upon all of the cushions. There is an endless variety of pretty things scattered through the rooms, and changes are made only when expressly ordered by the Emperor. The rooms of state include a space of about ninety feet long by twenty-five to thirty feet wide, and are divided into three separate apartments, the throne room being the middle one. These apartments open into one another by folding-doors, the upper portions of which are of open-work in which various auspicious characters and flowers are carved. In winter the doors remain open, the spaces being closed by thick embroidered damask curtains. In summer bamboo curtains fill the spaces. These curtains are rolled up when ventilation is desired. Small doors at the sides of the curtains are used for entrance and exit. The fact that the Emperor's person is believed to be sacred, and that no lancet could score his skin, led to his bein^ vacci- 1 14 AT SHANGHAI. iiiited ulieii a babe, and before his high destiny wns thought of. He lias eight eunuchs constantly in attendance upon him, besides nn indelinite number for special occasions. The former wait upon him at liis meals, and restrain him if he attempts to take too much of any one thing. Shanghai is noted for its display in Chinese weddings — a ceremony which " barbarians " are not, as a rule, privileged to attend. It was by special favor that I was permitted to witness one. It proved an event tedious with manifold ceremonies. At noon on the auspicious day I was escorted to the home of the bridegroom, and was received by the host with much cere- mony and politeness. I was next ushered into a room where the wedding was to be solemnized. Four large oval lamps orna- mented with silver tassels hung across the entrance ; four large Chinese glass lamps were suspended from the ceiling, and in the center of the room hung another lamp ornamented with bead work. Two ordinary Chinese tables did service as an altar, upon which was placed a large incense urn flanked by a pair of large candlesticks. A smaller urn and a pair of candlesticks stood farther back, the latter decorated with evergreens and holding red candles. On the tables were ranged numerous small dishes of fruits, pieces of sugar-cane, and various highly-colored but unwholesome-looking cakes and confections. One large picture and some scrolls covered with Chinese char- acters ornamented the walls opposite the entrance, and the usual high-backed chairs were ranged along the sides of the room. Having seated myself and my escort, tea was brought us, so hot, that not even my desire to comply as far as possible with Chi- nese etiquette, could for some time induce me to taste the scald- ing liquid. I had not long to wait for the ceremonies. First AT SHANGHAI. 115 came a number of respectably-dressed men wearing official hats, who ranged themselves about the entrance. Then came, in twos, a dozen boys, clean and well-dressed — some playing upon flutes almost as long as themselves, and others keeping a fair accom- paniment on small dull-sounding tambourines or tom-toms, which A CHINF.SE WEDDING. they beat with a stick. Next came a more noisy and far more discordant orchestra of adults ; and immediately following them the gorgeous, closed bridal-chair, all scarlet and tinsel. This was set down at the entrance of the hall, facing inwards. The red candles on the table and the candles in the pendant lamps were now lighted, and in came a fussy person, who proved to be the master-of-ceremonies. He took his station at the IIG AT SHANGHAI. right liand of the table and began to repeat, in a measured sing-song, expressions which no doubt were intended as suited to the occasion. The next moment two middle-aged matrons, who gave one the idea of being " poor relations," came forward, each with a bowl of sweetmeats, and stood beside the bridal- chair. At the bidding of the master-of-ceremonies the matrons raised the curtain which hung in front of the chair, and pre- sented some of the sweetmeats to the, as yet to us, invisible occupant. The delicacy was transferred from the bowl to the lips of the bride-elect on the points of silver chopsticks, which each of the matrons gracefully drew from her own chignon for the purpose. With a taste, however, which I could easily appreciate, the bride refused the proffered dainties. The two women then lowered the curtain, and turning to the assembled guests, went about tempting them in the same manner with the delicacy, on the same chopsticks, refused by the bride. The master-of-ceremonies then sung another solo, but before he concluded my eyes were attracted to the door leading to the interior of the house, through which the young hero of the occa- sion entered with feio;ned reluctance, the two matrons drao-D-incr him forth to the ceremony. On he came, led by the relent- less matrons like a lamb to the slaughter, a carpet being laid in front of him. When he had been drao-o-ed to the side of the room farthest from and opposite the entrance, he was left stand- ing; with his face to the wall. It seemed to me as if he were in a position to appreciate the pigeon-English expression of the Chinaman who sees his neighbor turn from an accusation, " Have got shame-face ! " More sing-song declamations from the master- of-ceremonies now followed, and then the two women raised the curtain of the chair, and reaching toward the bride-elect drew her AT SHANGHAI. 117 gently from her place of concealment into the full gaze of the o'Liests. A murmur of admiration escaped from the assembled guests as the delicate young figure was, like the bridegroom, led along a carpeted path to the place where the latter stood, until both were side by side with their faces to the wall. The bride-elect was attired in a long red garment profusely embroidered with grold lace. Her head-dress was a most elabo- rate affair. It was shaped somewhat like a helmet, was covered with light blue enamel work, and studded plentifully with pearls ; a long red silk veil, extending to her feet, completely concealed her countenance. In this position the bride and groom began " chin-chinning" (talking) first to each other and then to the-wall. These were the vows and exhortations that each would be true to the other, and live a happy and prosperous life. A mysterious pronunciamento uttered by the leader of the rites was followed by more protestations made to the wall, and then the " happy pair " were turned round by the aid of the indefatigable matrons and were uru:ed to kneel with their faces toward the tables. The master-of-ceremonies then taking pieces of red and green ribbons tied them tosrether, and g-ivino; the end of the latter to the bride and the end of the red one to the groom, the ceremonies of union were continued. x\ssisted again by the matronly aides the bride and groom arose, turned their faces towards the wall and resumed the repeating of profound vows to one another ; after this, they knelt awhile, then arose, turned toward the company and were seated side by side at the table. The bridegroom's sister then appeared on the scene, and with much modesty and confusion approached the two principals and chin-chinned them in turn, while the master-of-ceremonies showered majestic words upon them. The charge that they should 118 AT SHANGUAI. '•love, honor, obey, cherish," etc., was pronounced, fire-crackers were diseliargecl in the courtyard, the musicians struck up a lively air with their banjo-like instruments, drums and gongs were beaten, and in the midst of the din and confusion the husband and wife were led away by the assistants, the husband precedinsji: and walkinii; backwards in order that he mislit face the Ijride, and thus they passed into tlie bridal chamber of their future home. This reference to the elaborate ceremonies of a Chinese wedding invites attention also to one of the peculiar institutions of China, and a most profitable vocation : the matrimonial bureau. When, in China, either a man or woman possessed of an eloquent tongue and suave manner wishes to replenish his or her purse, instead of going upon the rostrum as a lecturer or reader, he or she will start a matrimonial bureau. Owing to the reverence paid to these agents by the public, and the penalty imposed by law and custom in case of miscon- duct, their responsibilities are by no means small. Marriage in China, even though reduced to a business basis, is accepted by the people as the one sacred contract that dem.ands unconditional obedience. So much do the Chinese believe in the will of their " Joss " or god in the selection of an help-meet, that the most illiterate will appeal for the guidance of Joss before they broach the subject to the match-maker. These prayers are invariably offered by the parents or guardians of the parties desiring mar- riage, and are a source of emolument to popular priests and temples. Before the match-maker starts out on his responsible but pleasant duty he likewise will burn Joss-sticks and colored in- cense papers before the idols, to insure his success. The condi- AT SHANGHAI. 119 tion of a suitor's finances is not always considered by the contracting parties, especially on the part of the men. It is quite common for well-to-do men to marry poor girls, and occa- sionally poor youths will marry the daughters of the rich. In short, the characters rather than the wealth and influence of the individuals are thought of in marriages. The family record of the youth is carefully searched for two or three generations back. If the respective occupations of the father, grandfather and great-grandfather are found to have been respectable, and the traits of chara.cter of the youth are satisfactory, he is then dul}^ reported to his future father-in-law as an eligible party. A scrutiny of the girl's family record is not necessary, except in so far as it gives the moral standing of the father in the community ; this must be unimpeachable. Her own peculiarities are diligently inquired into. She must not have been seen to stand at the outer gate of her own house, except upon holidays and festival occasions, and then only in the company of older women. She must not talk loud, nor long; must speak only when absolutely necessary; and when older people are around she must not speak at all. She must be economical in habit and neat in dress ; industrious and ingenious with the needle ; gen- erally amiable and courteous, and attentive to her parents. These, in China, are the chief requisites of a good wife. When the betrothal is concluded the match-maker receives his fee, which ran«:es from one dollar to three hundred dollars, according to the bridegroom's worldly condition, and the '•' matri- monial agent " is constituted master-of-ceremonies at the wedding feast. CHAPTER VIII. FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. OUR instructions had been, after leaving Shanghai, to go direct to Nagasaki, Japan. On receipt, however, of information that there had been trouble between the na- tives and some American sailors, at Tam- Sin, on the island of Formosa, it was ordered that we should go there to investigate the matter. Formosa is a Portus-uese word meanina: " beautiful," but the many criminal acts of the natives, especially upon shipwrecked sai- lors, have made the island anything l^ut at- tractive. The island is about two hundred and thirty-seven miles long, and seventy miles average breadth. It is really divided into two parts by a chain of mountains running along its wdiole length from north to south. The western side is occupied for the most part by Chinese colonists, while on the eastern side dwell the savage tribes. The island was originally peopled by a brave and industrious Malay race. It was invaded and conquered by the Chinese about 100 B. C. ; by the Dutch in 1634-6 ; and by pirates in 1661. The pirate rule becoming too tyrannical, the people in 1683 re- volted, defeated their oppressors and made a treaty with the Chi- 120 FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. 121 nese Government whereby Formosa should be annexed to the lat- ter as a part of the provinces of Foo-Kien. If the Chmese re- turns are trustworthy, the population of the island is now about three and a half millions. Of the aborigines not more than thir- ty-five hundred are still extant. Some of this number are em- ployed at the coal-mines of Ke-Lung ; others obtain a livelihood from the fisheries, but the majority inhabit the mountain regions of the interior, and there cultivate the soil or raise cattle. The carboniferous period of Formosa is especially well repre- sented by an outcrop of rock two thousand feet in thickness, con- taining twenty workable veins or seams of coal. The main coal bed is about twenty feet thick and consists of a soft and easily- mined semi-bituminous coal. It has been known to the Chinese for centuries, and has been mined and sold throughout the sea- port provinces for at least a thousand years. The mining is very primitive — the labor being done by hand and not by machinery. As the coal is worked, columns are left standing and passage- ways are heavily timbered to prevent the falling of the roof upon the workmen. The breaking, screening and cleaning is all done by hand. The coal is then stored and delivered to the junks that crowd the harbor of Ke-Lung. These supply nearly all the south- eastern provinces. Little or no coal is used in the interior, chiefly on account of the expense of transportation ; but along the seaboard, the canals, the great rivers and the tributaries, it is in constant demand. It is employed in households for roasting and long-continued boiling ; it is used in the trades by porcelain and china-ware manufacturers, smelters and metal-workers, and other smaller industries. The northern provinces of China likewise use coal, but obtain it from the famous mines of Nu-Chwong, in the province of Shin- 122 FRO>r STIAXOTIAI TO TTIOGO. Kiang, Corea. Like other mining properties in China, the coal- mines belong to the Government. They are leased to private parties, syndicates, or corporations for a percentage of the gross out-put, varying from five to twenty per cent. The Ke-Lung 3>Tr c» COAST OF FORMOSA. mines produce as much as one million tons a year. As the cost of mining is low and the freight by junks about equal to that of the coasting coal schooners between New York and Philadelphia, coal could be sold at Hon"; Kong^, Canton. Foo-Chow or Amoy at three dollars a ton, and then give a handsome profit ; but the tax, which is levied on the gross out-put and not on net delivery. FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. 123 together with the open corruption of officials and the efforts of the Chinese to keep foreigners out of the trade, increases its cost per ton to anywhere from five to eight doUars. For this reason the vice-royalty of Kwong-Tung and Foo- Kien, under whose jurisdiction Formosa lies, is considered the greatest prize in Chinese politics. It usually costs the successful candidate from a quarter to a half million of dollars. It involves an annual expenditure of half a million, and though the official term is for three years only, the incumbent retires at the end of the term a millionaire. It is needless to remark that these vast sums are suspected of being drawn from the coal-mines of Ke- Lung. Other minerals are obtained in large quantities in the vicinity of Ke-Lung; in fact, between Ke-Lung and Tai-Wan- Fu, the capital of Formosa, there are several valuable mines, in- cluding gold, silver, copper, iron, quicksilver and lead. The smelting and working of these ores, and of their resul- tants, are principally done with Ke-Lung coal, and it gives em- ployment to a large portion of the population; it also gives heavy returns to the Imperial treasury and, to the Viceroy of the provinces. It was owing to the convenience of these mines, principally, that the Government ordered its main arsenals erected at Foo-Chow. Our mission to Formosa was to inquire into a gross insult up- on the person of the United States Consul. With one or two other gentlemen he had ventured into the interior on a pleasure tour, where the whole party was attacked by the natives, and cruelly beaten. The trouble was finally adjusted by the payment by the natives of an indemnity of forty thousand dollars. From Tam-Sin we went to Tai-Wan-Fu (meaning " Great Se- cret " ) a few miles down the coast. It is the capital of the is- 124 FROM SIIANGHAI TO IIIOGO. land and is a port of trade, having extensive dealings with for- eign cunimerce. It is a large straggling town with numerous open spaces surrounded with trees, and encircled by a wall some six miles in extent. In addition to the several Buddhist temples, variety is given to the architecture by the palatial homes of the wealthy mandarins. The Cheh-wan, or " green " savages, with the characteristics of the American Indians, live in the suburbs, in domiciles festooned with Chinese skulls. Tea-growing is extensive, the Formosa Oolong at one time being a great favorite in the United States. Among other pro- ducts are camphor, gum, rice, corn, sugar, tobacco, spices, oranges, pineapples, guavas, cocoanuts and other fruits. The prominent features of the harbor are a Chinese fort, and the old Dutch fort " Zelondin." The latter I found in ruins and all of the guns dis- mantled. Several empty shells were lying around loose in the casemates ; and in one place (the old armory) were a number of old STuns of G-inch caliber, and two 10-inch mortars. The fort was tumbled in ruins by the earthquake of 1842. As in the Chi- nese forts, there were inner and outer walls wdth a brick parapet, and between them a moat ten feet wide. We were honored with a visit by the Tao-Tai, or chief Mandarin, whose insignia of rank was a red button and a peacock's feather in his hat. He was ac- companied by his staff, distinguished personages — or rather, men who considered themselves of much importance. The official de- vice of his chief secretary was a white button on the peak of his hat. There was the usual interchange of courtesies over a glass of wine ; a verbal contract that any indignities practiced upon American subjects should be met with speedy punishment was agreed upon, and this was sealed by another glass of wine. Two da3's was all-sufficient to satisfy my curiosity about For- FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOOO. 125 mosa, and we straightway laid our course for Nagasaki, on the is- land of Kiu-Siu. This island is one of the Japanese group, and has great capacities for trade with the civilized world. Arriving at Nagasaki we found that the harbor fulfilled its wide reputa- NATIVES OF FORMOSA. tion. It was most accessible, was provided with an excellent lighthouse at its farthest approach, and admirably protected by high, rugged hills, that rise nearly to the dignity of mountains. There is here a dock-yard, ship-yard, foundry and machine shops adequate to every want ; and here the Japanese Government has built several vessels that would be a credit to the skill and work- manship of some of the American ship-builders. The island is 12G Fi;o>r siiaxoiiai to nior.o. one of the most interesting of the group that forms the Empire of Japan, and liere the Japanese are pushing their way and have already succeeded in establishing a considerable trade. The coal area of Ta-Kashima, the most important coal-field of Japan, is less than an hour's sail from Nagasaki, and the supply is virtually in- exhaustible. The coal is l)ituminous and the average daily out- put is about one thousand tons. The Island of Kiu-Siu, as are all of the Japanese islands, is volcanic. Within a day's sail of Nagasaki, southward, is an ac- tive volcano in a condition of almost perpetual action ; the scoria from it covers the neiirhborincx o-round for a considerable distance and is found in dense masses twenty miles at sea. Earthquakes are not uncommon, but fortunately they are of a mild character, rarely doing any damage. The general aspect of the country is wild and rugged, and in many places there are to be found almost inaccessible acclivities. The great need of the island is good roads connecting Nagasaki with the interior, and with the larger cities in the vicinity. Owing to the absence of needed highways, the only means of communication with coast towns is by Ijoats, junks, and small steamers ; and with the interior by rugged path- ways used by the natives, who transport the products of the country in panniers supported by a pole across the shoulders ; and sometimes, wdiere the pathway permits, by buffaloes. There are numerous valleys teeming with fertility, and cap- able of supporting a much larger population and of producing every variety of grain, vegetable, fruit and vine of the semi-trop- ical climate. The vegetation is luxuriant and clothes the moun- tains even to their very summits. With care and industry two and three crops of cereals and vegetables can be raised. The people, like the Latin races of Southern Europe, are impulsive, FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. 127 imaginative and impassionate ; but they show an intense longing for the culture, knowledge and mechanical appliances of more favored races. In this latter characteristic they are vastly supe- rior to the Chinese. They are especially friendly to the Ameri- cans, and strain every effort to offer them a hospitable welcome. The United States opened this country to the commerce of the world, yet England and France have reaped the greater benefits. Kiu-Siu is the birthplace of many of the heroes, warriors and statesmen of Japanese history ; including such men as Satsuma, in his time one of the leading daimios of the Empire. The great rebellion of 1876, wdiich cost the Imperial Government of Tokio one hundred million dollars in its six months of duration, was under the leadership of the famous Daimio Saigo, who was also a native of this island. The first landing in a new country is generally a moment of great interest, even to the oldest traveler. There is something pleasant in new sensations ; novelty presents itself in almost every form. Once among new things, the traveler discovers that his ideal is something very different from the living embodiment. In the first view of Japan — whether it be on the island of Kiu- Siu, or Niplion, or even of little Yesso, there are peculiarities in the Japanese figure, physiognomy and costume for which even long familiarity with the adjoining population of China hardly prepares one. For instance, the race of boatmen, and the work- ing-classes in Japan, generally are content with the narrowest possible girdle and connecting band ; this limited costume is, to be sure, common enouo'h in other Asiatic countries. thoug;h as a rule, there is, in China, a more liberal allowance of calico for a coverino; anions; the men, ev^en under the hotter sun and harder work, than seems to be the usage in Nagasaki. 128 FROM SIIAXCTIAI TO IIIOOO. It is in a .study of the married Japanese women, however, that one's notions become most confounded. One must be brouo-ht up from infancy to these manners and customs to be able to look upon their large mouths full of blackened teeth, and upon their lips thickly daubed with a brick-red color, not to turn away with a strong feeling of repulsiveness. When they have renewed the black varnish to the teeth, plucked out the last hair from the eyebrows, the Japanese matrons may certainly claim imrivalled preeminence in artificial ugliness over all their sex. Their mouths, thus disfigured, are open sepulchers. Were it not for such perverse ingenuity in marring Nature's fairest work, many among them might make some considerable pretensions to beauty. The type is neither Malay nor Mongolian, but the elaborate style of dressing the hair is in itself a study, and displays a marvelous amount of feminine ingenuity. One might certainly search the world throug;h without being; able to match the woman-kind of Japan for such total abnegation of personal vanity. Surely some- thing else than the whole womanhood of Japan deliberately mak- ing itself hideous, might have sufficed to prove the absence of all wish or design to captivate admirers. It has occurred to me that the husbands pay dearly for any protection or security such custom is supposed to bring ; since, if no other man can find anything pleasing in a face so marred and disfigured, the husband must be just as badly off if he has in him any sense of beauty. It may be said by those who would disagree with me, that, " when the affections are engaged, a lov- m^-- husband sees onlv the mind and the heart in the face, and loses the individual features." And this must be the only reasonable answer. Leavino- Na^^asaki we made an interesting and picturesque FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. 129 trip up through the Simonoseki Straits and the inland sea to Kobe, or Hiosro. The inhand sea presents attractions to the pleasure-seeker that are unsurpassed in any country. Each mile traversed offers some new feature to please the eye. The main land, on either side, with valley succeeding valley, and hill surmounting hill — some bald and naked, while others are covered with the most lux- uriant verdure — forms a picture grand and beautiful in the ex- treme, and amply repays one for the unpleasant experiences of a sea-voyage in reaching it. The cities of Hiogo and Osaka — the latter about eight miles from the mouth of the river at the upper end of Hiogo Bay — are in themselves objects of interest, fully equal if not surpassing any in Japan. Situated on one of the finest bays of the Empire, with boats of every description — from the ponderous junk to the beautiful foreign pleasure yacht mov- ing; over it — Hioo-o is of o-reat interest. Its beaches of white sand afford every facility for sea-bathing. Every house in Hiogo has its well of pure cold water ; the hotels, of which there is a bountiful supply, are provided with Avarm and cold baths of pure fresh water, and their tables are supplied with almost every luxury. Good Japanese ponies may be hired for a few tempos (pennies) for those who wish to visit the mountains in the back-ground, where can be enjoyed the sight of magnificent waterfalls, and cool and limpid streams. Japanese temples enveloped in groves of pine and arbor-vitse overlook the beautiful panorama below. The old and familiar sound of the overshot and flutterino; water-wheel — as it drives the hundreds of stamps in cleaning the hulls from rice and other grains — is to be met at every turn, and the visitor is for some time oblivious of the fact that he is in this ex-treme Oriental lod vvoM siiA\(;iiAi TO iiinao. point of tlie universe. The valley-lands are filled with the native esculents, and as they rise in terraces one above the other here and along the shores of the inland sea, with the tiny streams flowing through them for irrigation, they afford a scene of rural life that till' eye never tires of resting upon, enlivened as it is by the happy song of the husbandman as he toils at his endless task. The beautiful blending of mountain, valley and water scenery forms a picture that challenges comparison. The most important objects that greet the eye, as one rounds the point at the entrance to Kobe harbor, are the two martello towers, immovably picketed like twin giants for the defense of the place. The origin of these towers and of their name is not generally known. The word " martello " is derived directly from the Italian, and indirectly from the Latin niarcuhis, or martulus, diminutive of marcus, meaning a hammer. About the year 1540, Charles the Fifth, King of Spain, introduced the idea of this kind of defense for the Spanish coast, and erected a number of them along the shores of Sardinia and Sicily, as a protection against the numerous attacks of pirates. Long after- wards the French placed several on the Corsican coast. When, in 1794, Corsica fell into the hands of the English they appropri- ated both the design and name of the defense and erected Mar- tello towers on the Irish coast for the purpose of resisting the threatened invasion of that island by the French. The Fenians afterwards brought them into notice by using them as strong- holds during their spasmodic efforts to throw off the English yoke. There is but one along the American coast ; it stands, or did stand, on Tybee Island. These martello towers are circular in form, and thus present the least surface to a shot from a battery ; the chances of a c < FROM .SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. 133 cannon-ball striking the walls at a right angle are very small, and a shot at any other angle would be turned aside. In the Hiogo towers the entrance is by a heavy door near the ground. In the center of the room within the tower a deep well has been sunk j but the ascent to the second story may be made through a small aperture in the floor. Here a half-dozen small guns are mounted on a movable carriage, and may be fired from any of the ports encirclinu- the tower. The two towers are within range of each other ; both are built of strong masonry, the walls being four feet thick at the base and about thirty feet high. They are of quite modern construction, having been erected to resist the encroachments of those very foreigners who are now so rapidly over-running the country. I well remember when I was first in Japan. It was in 1868, during the Japanese rebellion, and it was rumored that the retreating Tycoon's forces had arranged to attempt to destroy these Martello towers at Kobe ; but the plan was thwarted by the foreign vessels-of-war which sent armed forces to protect them. A small quantity of powder was discovered^ but nothing more than this to confirm the report of intended destruction, and it is doubtful if the rumor had any better foundation than the thou- sand-and-one canards that fed the public mind during that exciting period. From our anchorage a small white speck is visible as we look to the eastward of the town of Hiogo, high up on the top of one of the highest elevations. Seeking it out on one of my daily horseback rides, I foitnd it to be the residence of the priests belono-ino; to certain neig-hboring; pagodas, known as the '■ Moon Temple." The place is well worth visiting and will repay the Wearied traveler for the toil of ascending some steep and lugged 134 FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. paths. There are two paths leadmg to the •' Moon ; " one branches off from the Osaka road abont three miles from Hio^o, the other runs a little below a magnificent waterfall, which may be visited on the way. The scenery along both pathways is extremely varied and beautiful. That leading from the Osaka road is the most frequented, and the tea-houses or refreshment places for the acconnnodation of pilgrims abound at very short distances. These tea-houses are built of bamboo, with thick, soft matting on the floors, and a pot of tea boiling cheerfully in a shee-bang, a box of coals. The other pathway, and I think the grandest, has, after leaving the cultivated land, no habitation or signs of man's home. Not a traveler did we meet ; the silence and absence of human life makes this route very impressive. The pathway finished, and all its difficulties surmounted, the traveler stands before a gateway and sees beyond it a flight of two hundred and seventy-eight stone steps. He feels there is more hard work before him. The view from this spot is very bold and striking ; the steps tower before one — wide and of good pro- portion — and on each side are houses for the priests. The labor of building these structures must have been very great. The foundations are of rough masonry, rising some thirty or forty feet above the ground built almost perpendicularly from a pro- jection on the slope of the mountain. Ascending, the houses are found to be scrupulously clean, and I was cordially invited to enter upon condition that I should first remove my shoes. Once within, I found the screens, bronze work, bedding, etc., to be of the best description, and I could not help reflecting that " poor, self-immolating priests, suffering and enduring all things," yet manage in all parts of the w^orld to get the best of everything. FROM SHANGHAI TO HIOGO. 135 The temples were not large, nor of such fine worknmnship as 1 have seen elsewhere, although the bronzes and metal work within seemed very beautiful ; but the visitor can scarcely get close enough for a thorough inspection. A new temple of larger size was in course of construction, the wood JAPANESE STREET SCENE. and stone being obtained on the spot. I observed some excellently carved work in cedar, and it was evidently in- tended to make the new buikling very attractive. The view from the peak of the mountain was varied, and extended as far as the eye could reach. The bathing places at Kobe are not on the beach as at Newport and Long Branch, but they are generally in that portion of the house most accessible to the street, and where 130 FEOM SHANGHAI TO IIIOGO. there is continual passing and repassing. Nor is any se- clusion attempted. A visitor is greeted by the bathers with that musical and courteous greeting, " 0-hai-O " (Good day!), and it is not an uncommon thing to see men, women and children bathing together in their primitive condition, dress- ing and undressing in the open space around the circular or square bathing tanks, into which is constantly flowing, and passing oft' by overflow, the steaming water. Let me, however, caution the uninitiated against doing great injustice to the womanhood of Japan by judging them by our American rides of decency and modesty. Where there is no sense of immodesty, no consciousness of wrong- doing, there is, or may be, a like absence of any sinful or depraved feeling. Especially is this the case where the customs of the country are rigidly observed. Fathers, broth- ers and husbands all sanction it ; and from childhood the feeling must grow up, as effectually guarding them against self-reproach or shame, as their " more civilized " sisters in adopting dresses in the ball-room or at the opera, that are often open to criticism ; or any other generally adopted fashion of garments or amusements. Any one of the real performers in the bath-house scene, when all is over and the toilet is completed, will leave the l^ath-house door a very picture of womanly reserve and modesty, and musically utter to those whom they leave behind, ^^Saionara!" (Good bye!) The toilet of a Japanese damsel or '' moosome," is a matter of no light consideration. The long, coarse tresses of raven black hair must be w\ashed, combed and greased till the head shines like a knob of polished black marble ; the cheeks must be rouged to the proper tint ; the throat, neck and bosom are pow- FEOM SHAXGIIAI TO IIIOGO. 137 derecl, carefully leaving, however, on the nape of the neck three lines of the orisrinal brown skin of the owner in accordance with the rules of Japanese cosmetic art ; the eyebrows must be care- fully rounded and touched with black, and the lips reddened with cherry paste with a patch of gilding in the center. When all this has been done and the clothes properly adjusted, the "obi," or huge sa^h of many colors, is tied in the knot of prevailing fashion; the cleanest of white socks and the newest of black- lacquered sandals are drawn on the feet, and then the belle is ready for her promenade or reception. She must, however, have the proper allowance of rice paper in lieu of a single pocket-hand- kerchief ; also her tobacco pouch, pipe and fan, and then she sallies forth, turning her toes in and playing with her fan in well-affected demureness. The mother is likewise rouged, painted, combed and adorned, but not a vestige of eye-brows graces her forehead, and her teeth are blackened in accordance with the rules for married women. The father is clean-shaved ; his queue or top-knot is smoothly plastered in a roll on his head ; his raiment, stiff, new and shining, has the family crest embroidered or stamped on the back and flowing sleeves of his " kimono," or coat. Women with blackened teeth are seen at everv turn, their mouths looking^ like open sepulchers, so dark and forbidding is the cavern they disclose. They are generally uncovered nearly to the waist, if in summer time, and usually have a copper-colored marmot hanging to the breast or carried in a sort of pouch on the back. Tattooed workmen and shopboys add to the throng, and swaggering among the groups are many of the two-sAvorded gentry — " Yakunius " — retainers of the daimios, all fully impressed with their own im- portance and superiority, as well as of the masters they serve. CHAPTER IX. IN JAPAN. T HE customs and the habits of the Japanese differ l)ut little in different sec- tions of the Empire. The old standards are, however, more closely followed in those places where the people have not lono- been in contact with foreigners and have not adopted some portions of their dress. There is something particu- larly interesting and pathetic in viewing those people who have not attempted to cast aside their original ideas and take up with those of foreign importation. I was peculiarl}^ struck with this in studying the Japanese workmen. They do their work sitting upon the floor, and everything is performed in a manner 138 IN JAPAN. 139 just the reverse of the " civilized " people. The carpenter pulls the plane towards him instead of pushing it forward as do we ; the blacksmith pumps the bellows with his feet, while both hands are occupied in holding and hammering ; the cooper holds his tubs with his toes ; the doors of the houses do not swing on hinges, but are pushed back to the right or left in slides ; the locks slide to the left, ours to the right ; the horse stands in his stall with his tail where, according to our custom, his head ought to be ; pedestrians turn to the left, we to the right; an American to injure his enemy kills him, a Japanese to spite his foe commits hari-kari — kills himself. Since my visit to Japan in 1868, the history of the Empire has been crowded with incident ; the ports of Osaka and Kobe have been opened to commerce, although prior to that event many were skeptical of the sincerity of the Japanese in their avowal of this intention. An immense assemblage of American and English vessels-of-war with one French frigate lay snugly in the bay of Kobe to force, if necessary, the native government to comply with its treaties ; but, luckily, the great event passed off quietly and peaceably, the powerful armament of the ships being employed to announce from their hoarse throats by salutes of twenty-one guns from each, the important fact that these two great ports of Southern Japan were at last open to the trade of the world from which they had been shut out so long. The demonstration on shore was confined to the simple act of hoist- ing the National emblems at the various consulates and making the first official record that Kobe and Osaka had been made treaty ports on January 1, 1868. This event was quickly followed by the great internal revolu- tion or rebellion, and the abolishment of the Tycoonate ; Stots- 140 IN JAPAN. baslii retreated to his own castle at Osaka ; then came the as- serted supremacy of Satsuma and his retainers ; then the defeat and consequent retreat of the Tycoon and his forces, the Tycoon taking refuge upon om^ vessel on the night of January 13, going to Yokohama with us and rewarding our benefaction with a lib- eral distribution of some of his most valuable personal property — swords, lacquer ware, costumes, etc. I continue to prize my gifts very highly, both because of their associations and their intrinsic value. This was followed by the Mikado's new departure by which he assumed the dignity of a secular Emperor, and so announcino; himself to the w^orld. He came forth from the seclu- sion of his sacred palace at Kioto, proceeded to Yeddo, formed a new Cabinet, established officials at the open ports and at the same time declared his determination to respect the treaties made wdth foreign powers. It w^as the beginning of the new and pro- gressive Japan. Next followed a period of great excitement and trouble which necessitated our immediate return to Kobe : all foreigners were forced to quit Osaka ; the northern fleet of Japanese war vessels blockaded the southern fleet of the Japanese Navy in Hiogo Bay ; the latter escaped and the former returned to Yeddo Bay. Then came a period of yet greater excitement beginning on February 4, wdien some of the advance body-guard of Prince Bizen made an unwarrantable attack upon some American and French sailors on the main street of Hiosro. Prince Bizen and his followers w'ere driven before the bayonets of a couple of hundred Ameri- can sailors and marines under command of Captain English and a half-dozen other officers, myself included, and escaped to the mountains. The city was then occupied and put under martial law by the American, English and French naval forces. A week THE LAST OF THE TYCOONS. •«; IX JAPAX. 141 later there arrived from Kioto, tlie Imperial capital, the envoy Higashi-no-shoshi ; quiet and order wei'e restored and the envoy and his subordinates departed for Yeddo. On the second of March I witnessed, with others, the per- formance of hari-kari and the decapitation of Ikeda-Ise. This was the officer who commanded Bizen's men, and under whose orders they attacked the American and French sailors, simply because they did not prostrate themselves as did the Japanese citizens upon the approach of Bizen in his ''norimous," or palan- quin. Almost on the heels of this act came the massacre at Sa- kai ; the visit of the foreign officials to the Mikado at Kioto ; the dreadful attack on the English body-guard by the " ronins," or coolies ; the subsequent departure of the foreign ministers to Yeddo, and, finally, the re-instalment of Stots-bashi to power, and of the possession of his territories. A brilliant future for Osaka and Hiogo was foretold, and the former has become a great mart of trade in Japan, with Kobe as its seaport. Kobe is the busiest of the shipping ports of Japan. Its har- bor is dotted with merchant vessels of all kinds — from the huu-e iron steamers, to the small barks and native junks. Because of its nearness to the great tea districts, Kobe is also the chief port of shipment for Japan teas, several exporters having large estab- lishments for the firing and packing of the leaf. The town lies at the foot of a low ranii-e of mountains cov- ered with a beautiful verdure and foliage, and the rills of houses running down from each ravine stop near a long bund on the water-front — one part of which is lined with fine foreign resi- dences. But the most picturesque part of the bund is where the Japanese houses are situated, and in front of which lie hundreds of junks loading and unloading their curious cargoes. 142 IX JAPAX, The run from Iliogo to Yokohama is a distance of only three himdred and twentv-five miles, and we were fortunate in havino; pleasant weather for it. We had covered 23,339 miles since leav- ing New York. Yoko- hama is the principal port of Japan, and is situated on the grand bay of Tokio, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. It is divided into two sec- tions : the foreign settle- ment at Yokohama, and the native settle- ment at Kanagama. The business houses, bunga- loAVS, shops, warehouses and hotels are in the former ; and the curio shops and Japanese liv- ing-houses are in the latter. Upon the " bund," or river-front, is a wide street run- ning the full length of the town. Here are the two principal hotels, the banking houses, and the Yokohama Club. The main street of the town has upon it the warehouses, the large foreign mercantile houses, and two large banks. The principal residences are on the plateau or bluff, at the upper end of the town ; and here the married men and bachelors live in houses furnished much as they are at home, their house-servants being Japanese women or, more frequently, Chinese boys, who are valets, butlers and. in most cases, chambermaids. THE EMPRESS OF JAPAN. IN JAPAN. 143 The main street of the native town is called Curio Street, taking its name from its being the chief mart for every descrip- tion of lacquer or cabinet inlaid work for which the Japanese are famous. This thoroughfare, though always full, presents its busi- est appearance when a strange man-of-war or a mail steamer comes into the harbor, for all new arrivals seem suddenly smitten with a desire to invest in china or porcelain ware, lacquer boxes, cabinets or ivory work, all or any of which may be purchased in any shop on the road. At such times groups will gather in front of every curio establishment, bargaining either in plain or " pigeon " English, eked out by a tremendous amount of gestic- ulation. After a long dickering the purchaser will march off with an armful of bargains, feeling satisfied with his shrewd- ness, although the shop-keeper has taken from him fifty per cent, more than he would have asked a resident in the settle- ment. The chief mode of conveyance is the " jinrikisha," a little two-wheeled cart, with a top to shield the rider from the sun and rain. It is much the shape of an old-fashioned doctor's gig. The term ''jinrikisha" means one-man-power-wagon, and this Japanese '' herdic " is drawn by from one to three native coolies, many of whom, before the Japanese rebellion, were of the " samurai " or two-sworded gentry, who were retainers of the daimios. Owing to the poverty of the latter, and the Govern- ment edict forbidding the promiscuous wearing of two swords, these " samurai " have taken up with a more menial employment. Before the introduction of the jinrikisha, in 1868, the " nori- mous," or Japanese palanquin, was the common conveyance. Journeying out beyond Kanagawa on the Tokaido or Im- perial road, your half-naked coolies keeping up the invar- 144 IN JAPAN. iable and monotonous chorus of '' 0-hai-o, o-hai-o," you meet the pca.^ant women, scarce even half-clacl, and without a thouuht that it is not the most correct and natural thincr in the world. Unconcerned as if no eye rested upon them, they go about their daily labor and household duties in that state of undress that would seem almost shocking to a fastid- ious woman of the "Western World. The men are even less clad. A simple strip of cloth is tied about their sturdy brown bodies, and hangs in as grace- ful folds as the Roman toga. Children, entirely naked, are runniui!: about as unconcerned and unnoticed as if it were enjoined upon them to do so. This, at first, causes aston- ishment, but a repetition of the sight soon familiarizes one to it. There are no more indications of rudeness or in- tended immodesty than are observed among those who wear ampler clothing. It is a common sight in all the villages to see the mother stretched upon the mats sleeping, the babe beside her taking its nourishment, and the men and children of the house dozing away as if there were no future. On landing at Yokohama the first thing to attract my attention was the beggars. I had been warned against these mendicants, but they did not appear to be more numerous here than in other ports of Japan. Every foreigner who has spent any time among tlie Japanese has become familiar with the plaintive appeal that so frequently has greeted his ears : '• Anatu ! tempo chodi ? chob-a-chow cum aremas ! " Trans- lated into English this is : '' Sir ! give me a tempo ? I am huno-rv ! " And each has learned as well that if he re- sponds to every cry that assails his benevolence, during even IN JAPAN". 145 a short walk, he must soon sensibly dimmish his stock of change, be it ever so extensive. Had Charles Lamb ever lived in Japan I doubt whether he would ever have penned that exquisite plea : " A complaint of the decay of beggars." But, so long as a Government licenses, and a false creed A JINRIKISHA. fosters, them, no Oriental Elia will ever be tempted to mourn their decadence in a prize poem. Mendicants abound throughout the East, and Japan has her full quota. At every turn you meet crowds of them, and their melancholy but persistent prayers are continually ring- ing in your ears. Take a stroll any morning through the 146 IN JAPAN. tliorouglifares of Hiogo, Nagasaki, Osaka or Yokohama, and you will pass groups of them basking lazily in the sun, and possibly trying to reduce the number of vermin on their l)odies. They belong to that suffering class peculiar to Euro- })('an or American cities, whom rum or worse misfortune (if there can be worse) has reduced to want. You trace no resemblance here to tlie faces " pinched with cold, and the eyes wild with huuu'er, that oft-times thrust themselves for the moment upon your attention in the home promenades of wealth and fashion •' like ghosts at weddings " to haunt you ever after ; these are jolly, strong-limbed fellows ; happy amid their rags as Italian lazzaroni who enjoy their own filthiness and despise labor ; or, as we know them at home in the United States, veritable '• tramps " of the truest type. From a native the Japanese beggars will accept a few cash (about ninety-six to a tempo, the latter worth only one and a half cents) and add a benison, but from a foreigner nothing less than a tempo will do. It is their price, and they must live. Of course they gamble. Why shouhl they not ? they ask. Their betters do the same, and you cannot expect to find all the cardinal virtues in the humble sphere of a beggar. These tramps are licensed to beg, and they pay a tax to the Government for the privilege ; the religion of the country tolerates others who make an easier and better living off the devoutly inclined Japan- iese. There are several classes who thus live on eleemosynary incomes: there are the nuns with hats like half-bushel baskets -and a face beneath, frequently youthful and ruddy, and graced with two bright eyes and a mouthful of pearlywhite teeth ; in looped-up dress and sandal shoes they travel along from village to village. There are the jolly fat friars, or " bonzes " as they INTEklOR UF A JAPANESE TEMPLE. IN JAPAN. 147 are termed in Japanese, clad in priestly garments and tingling a bell as tliey go from house to house. And there are the travel- ing singers, so forlorn in their costumes, so piteously melancholy in their instrumental music, so execrably discordant in their vocal efforts. But, after all, they belong to the same class — the class which will always exist in Japan. Still, many of them are mis- erably poor and surely worthy of our aid if one can only dis- criminate. Jumping into a jinrikisha, my man-horse sped on with his ceaseless chant. Steering carefully out of the way of other vehicles, we passed perambulators packed with vegetables on their way to market ; and men with filled baskets suspended from the bamboo shoulder pole, innumerable. One of these men carried sixteen barrels (presumably empty), eight at each end. Bettoes passed us running beside horses and their riders, and we were everywhere greeted good-humoredly with, " 0-hai-o ! " Only the yellow-robed and clean-shaven crown priests looked at us askance. Every one seemed bent on doing things just contrary to the ways we have at home : the cows had bells on their tails instead of suspended at the neck ; the draught bullocks wore straw shoes ; the horses were mounted from the right, every- body turned out to the left ; acquaintances met and shook their own hands ; the gardens were watered from a little pail with a wooden spoon ; and, I believe, carpenters build houses beginning at the roof first. No one should leave Japan without visiting the famous Bud- dhist statue of Dai-bootz. about sixteen miles from Yokohama. Having the opportunity I joined a party one day and availed myself of the privilege. Procuring each a horse and a '' betto," an attendant who follows all the way on foot, at the enormous 148 IN JAPAN. expense of five itzaboos (one dollnr and sixty-six cents) for the da}', we passed through the native town of Kanagawa and so on, by the '' tokaido" (the Imperial road of Japan) to 0-don-gia ; thence we went throug-h the hamlet of Tot-su-u;a to Fui::i-Sawa, where we stopped for refreshments for horses and men. A SHOP ON CURIO STREET. From Fugi-Sawa to Dai-bootz, a distance of three miles, it was not deemed prudent to become separated from each other, because of the native prejudice against foreigners, so we walked our horses till we came to a bridge crossing a stream, and there near a bamboo grove loomed up before us the bronze divinity IN JAPAN. 149 known as Dai-bootz, or the "Great Bncldha " ns it is generally called — an object of admiration to travelers, and of adoration by all Buddhists. It is erected in a mysterious retreat where the storms of six centuries have beaten upon it, and wdiere it has been worshiped by millions. Neither the storms nor the prayers have had any seeming effect upon this, the greatest curiosity of Japan, for there he sits with folded hands and head inclined, his eyes and lips closed, in serene composure ; his head covered with small knobs to represent snails. On an altar at the foot of the statue, incense was burning ; each side was flanked bv two laro;e bronze vases, and a bronze table stood in front. The idol is formed of plates of bronze an inch thick, cast in separate pieces, soldered together, and fin- ished in so perfect a manner that one can hardly discern the joints between the plates. It is considered the finest work of art, and the most perfect expression of religious sentiment of the Japanese people. It is in a squatting posture, and forty- two feet high from the hips to the top of the head. It is upon a pedestal thirteen feet high. Its other dimensions are : cir- cumference at the base, one hundred and fifteen feet ; breadth across the shoulders, twenty-four feet ; base to top of thumb, seven feet ; diameter of finger, six and a quarter inches ; length of thumb nail, seven and a half inches. It was erected in the thirteenth century. Originally a temple was built over it ; but this, tradition states, was swept away by some extraordinary convulsion of the sea about two hundred years ago. The priests now worship inside of the statue. " Fools' names, like fools' faces, are ever seen in public places," and so, like hundreds of others who had preceded us, we inscribed our names on the inside of the idol, selecting for our place of in- 150 IN JAPAN. &cription, one of the shoulders. Some names were dated as writ- ten in 18G1!. Our guide, like guides all over the world, was full of information, and for a half-dozen tempos gave us a history of Buddha's representative, about as follows: Dai-bootz was Buddha's coadjutor, and when he came among the Japanese to convert them to the new belief the native unbe- lievers rebelled, and in their indignation determined to extermi- nate the new missionary. But to their surprise, there suddenly appeared myriads of snails and other shell-fish (periwinkles, prob- ably), and covered the entire body of Dai-bootz. This caused great consternation, and the natives being naturally superstitious they fell upon their knees with their faces to the ground and at once became Buddhists. Then this statue w\as erected to their new divinity's most sacred memory. Our curiosity about Dai-bootz satisfied, we pushed on a mile further to Kama-Kura, a village of eight temples, two sacred horses, and the " sacred " rock. I was curious to know why two white horses should be considered worthv of more devout wor- ship than two of any other color, but was led to believe that to starve is a part of the worshiping catechism. The animals were barely more than skin and bones, and w^ere dependent upon the generosity of visitors for subsistence. We expended a few tempos in the way of relief to their partialh^ collapsed stomachs, and left them to live upon their faith until other visitors should come and be moved with charitable impulse. The sacred rock at Kama-Kura dropped, it is claimed, from Heaven in a meteoric storm. The temples in this place were not unlike others in Japan, excepting that the}^ were more beautifully adorned. Hundreds of gla&s bells suspended from the outer corners of the temples, fnrni.shed with pieces of tin which passed through the 5^^^ ^:^im # fc STATUE OF DAI-EOOTZ. IN JAPAN. 153 bells, were vibrated by the light airs against the glass globes, thus giving out a pretty but weird tinkling music. Following the bettoes with their ceaseless chant, our ponies sped on, carrying us safely between the ruts in the sandy track, till we came to a tea-house. Calling a " moos-i-me," a pretty lit- tle dame with shining black hair, a sweet smile, and sparkling eyes, I bade her, " cha mot-te-koi ! " (Bring me some tea ! ) and then squatted on the soft matting. The next moment our charm- ing waiter trotted in with a tray of little cups filled with the Oriental beverage and some confections. After regaling our- selves and giving the satin-skin Japanese beauty an " itza-boo " (about thirty-five cents) we started on our return over the " to- kaido," the same route by which we came. The " tokaido " stretches from Yokohama to Yeddo. It is a wide and beautiful avenue, and the scene of constant motion and traffic. Here were pack-horses and porters with luggage ; travelers of a higher order ; men and women in norimous carried by four bearers, go- ing along merrily but more deliberately than is customary with the Japanese, and as becomes the dignity of superior rank. We also met "yacounins " or samurai ; " renins," or outcasts, who some- times play the mendicant instead of the highway robber. And so in time we get back to our hotel in Yokohama, where, after a liberal dinner, we make ready to attend a Japanese theater. The Japanese are, perhaps, more of a theater-going people than can be found elsewhere. Their taste is catered to continually. Theatrical entertainments are provided to gratify the wants and means of all classes. At the first-class establishment which I attended, was a revolving stage, upon which was set the scenery and properties necessary to the play. The orchestra occupied an elevated pen at the left of the stage-floor. The actors, we were 154 IN JAPAN. assured, were of the first rank and their dresses were soru'eous in the extreme. Everything in the play was intense!}^ Japanese — descriptive of their fables and romances, as well as reproduc- ing actual episodes in the history of the Empire. The play was a first-class pantomime yet the actors possessed dramatic ability. The first-class or orchestra seats cost an itzaboo, and smoking was permitted all over the house, while tea was served between the acts to those who would pay a tempo a cup. There was no necessity for going out between the acts to " see a friend," or " to get a clove." There was no sharp practice in the way of re- served seats, and the Yankee custom of licensing ticket-specula- tors had not then been adopted. There are no " star " actors among the Japanese. A ubiqui- tous prompter reads in a tone readily caught Ijy the ]3layers, words which are duly repeated while the prompter is doing his duty to the next one. Then there are side-shows of juggling. An expert will bewilder an audience with top-spinning with tops of all sizes. He will throw his top from him and by the action of the string as it unwinds, draw it back so that it is caught in his hand. An unopened fan is then taken in his other hand and the top is placed on one of the sides and spun along it. Then the fan is opened and the top continues to spin along its edge to the further side, and along it until the hand is reached, when it runs up the arm to the shoulder across the back and down the other arm on to the fan again. Then it will be tossed into the air and caught upon one of the corners of the open fan from which it is tossed attain and aorain into the air and caug;ht as it descends. Again the top will be started along a string that is fastened to an open lantern thirty or forty feet from the ground ; the top as- cends the incline until it enters the lantern which opens out in IN JAPAN. 155 the shape of an iimbrella, and a wealth of festoons of bright- colored tissue paper descends all about the performer. Those who w^itnessed " Little All Right " and the troupe of Japanese acrobats who exhibited their wonderful tricks years ago in the United States will remember the many surprising feats performed by them. Of all the sports indulged in by both men and boys in Japan, kite-flying seems to afford them the most amusement and enjoy- ment. To attempt to describe the varied patterns of kites would be almost if not quite impossible. They are made of tough rice paper stretched upon frames of bamboo, and of all shapes — square, oblong and oval. One may see a whole menagerie float- ing in the air — crying babies, boys with outstretched arms, horses, fish, bats, hawks, crows, monkeys, snakes, dragons, cattle, ships, carts, etc. Across and behind the top of the kite is stretched a thin strip of whalebone, which gives a humming, buzzing or singing sound in the air like a hurdy-gurdy or a swarm of beetles. In kite-time men and boys turn out in processions, and the sing- ing made in the air by the hundreds of kites is delightful. There is also great sport when they send " messengers " on the cords or tangle each other's kites ; and the American boys may be pleased to know how they cut the strings of rival kites and send the proud prize fluttering to the ground. They take about ten feet of string near the end held in the hand, dip it into glue and then into bits of ground glass, thus covering the string with thou- sands of tiny blades as sharp as lances. They then attempt to cross each other's strings, and the most skilful will saw the cords of their antao'onists' kites. Fans and umbrellas are made all over the Empire, and it is inte'restinir to watch the makers and their skilfulness. 156 IN JAPAN. Osakca is the principal iii;inufacturing center of the"ogi,"or folding fan, wliicli are those almost exclusively exported. The prices vary from a tempo up to several itzaboos, according to the quality. Fans of the ^^uperior quality, known as the " uchiwa," are manufactured at Kioto, where they are handsomely adorned with figures, writing, etc., and are extensively used by the w^ealthier Japanese. Fashion prevails there as well as in other countries, and the designer gives out to the engravers the pat- terns which are expected to be the most salable. When the printed sheets that are to form the two sides of the fans have been handed to the workmen, together with the bam- boo splints that are to form the ribs, the two sheets with which the fan is to be composed are put in between two pieces of pa- per saturated with oil, and properly creased. The four are then folded together and put into a strong press, or under a heavy weight. After a sufficient time has elapsed the sheets are then removed from the mould to be pasted upon the ribs. Before the folds take their proper shape the fan has to be folded and opened several times, and, when it is put away to dry, it has received more handling than any foreign paper could stand ; in fact, foreign paper has been tried and had to be given up as un- suitable for the work. Prior to 1867 the sale of Japanese-made fans seldom exceeded ten thousand a year, but since then as many as three millions have been exported in a single year from Osaka and Yokohama alone. During the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, in 1876, no less than eight hundred thousand fans were sent from Japan to be sold there, their cost aggregating fifty thousand dollars; and these were over and above the annual export. CHAPTER X. DOIXGS AXD CUSTOMS IX JAPAN. w HOSOEVER has visi- ted the island of Niphon has seen Fnsi- Yama, the Sacred Moun- tain of Japan . But no one should go awa}' from the island without visit- ing this errand old freak of nature. Fusi-Yarna is eighty miles inland from Yoko- hama, and yet it is the first thing sighted in approaching the coast. I have said that no one should leave Japan until a visit had been paid to Fusi-Yama, but it should be remembered that there are but two months in the year, July and August, when the mountain is sufficiently free from snow to permit the ascent to the top. It is to this snow-capped and cloud-enveloped volcano that the na- tives journey in crowds every year to worship. To make a pil- grimage to Fusi-Y^ama is an act of virtuous duty with the Japan- ese, as it is tauo:ht that deliverance from misfortune and sickness attaches to this duty. 157 158 T)01X(;S AND CUSTOMS IN JArAX. After making the necessary preparations for the long journey on horsebnck, a party of us started to visit this cloud-piercing mountain. Our horses and bettoes being made read}^ and our saddle-bags packed, we started just as the rising sun touched the slittering; cone of snow and liohted it with brilliant beams. It presented a singular and picturesque appearance, springing ab- ruptly from a broad base into an almost perfect cone, truncated only at the extreme pinnacle, and towering far above all the surrounding ranges of hills. By the Japanese, who are any- thing Imt cosmopolitan, Fusi-Yama is esteemed : " The matchless; for which poets cannot find words, nor painters find skill and colors sufficient to represent the mountain as they think it deserves." Our route lay over a succession of hills of no great height, but from whence excellent views were obtained stretching over the cultivated valleys on either side, with a background of mountains to the westward, among which Fusi-Yama soars conspicuous in solitary grandeur. We halted at Tot-Sooka where we slept over night, and after a light breakfast on the following morning pushed forward on our journey. With our straw-shod horses our pro- gress was not to the swift, as we had to go through some rough passes when it required our bettoes to lead our ponies safely across the boulders. Our last halt before we reached the base of grand old Fusi was at a wayside tea-house, where, as at many other places along the Tokaido of Japan, one can get with a few "cash" or integral parts of a cent a meal served with courtesj^ and includ- ing a sweet potato, a fried fish and a cup of tea. Or, if you de- sire a lighter diet, you may have any fruit that is in season — a bunch of grapes or a slice of water-melon, red and luscious. Moori-yama, a hamlet at the foot of the mountain, we reached DOIXGS AXD CUSTOMS IX JAPAX. 159 at nightfall and found a comfortable lodging-house, with beds of the soft matting, our rooms being formed by the folding screens. A refreshing night's sleep, a palatable breakfast, mainly of fruit, found us in good condition for our laborious ascent of the moun- tain. So with three "yoboos" or guides and a few strong " yama-booshi " (mountaineers) we started on our ascent. Making our way through waving corn-fields and numerous pas- tures of high rank grass we soon arrived at Haki-Mondo, where we left our horses and the last trace of habitation and the haunts of men. Then, on foot, we began our winding ascent, toiling over the rubble and scorice of the mountain. At intervals we halted for rest in the little caves dug out and roofed over where weary pilgrims had often found refuge from bad weather. There are eleven of these huts or caves at distances of a mile or more apart, and in one of them we spent the night ; sleeping on our rugs, our limbs being too tired for over-fastidiousness. At daylight we began the upper half of our ascent. The clouds were skimming along beneath our feet, and a vast and picturesque panorama of hill and plain, bounded by the sea, stretched far away. The last half of the ascent was by far the most arduous, as our path grew more steep as each rod of ground was passed. The air became more rarefied ; our breathing was perceptibly affected ; our path led directly over fragments of out-jutting rocks ; our footing became more uncertain because of the loose scoriae, and, consequently, these obstacles added much to our fatigue. At last we were on the topmost stone and looking down into the yawning crater. It was a great oval opening, with ugly jagged lips. It seemed about a thousand yards in length, six hundred in width and perhaps three hundred and fifty in depth. The estimated height of the edge of the crater, above 160 DOINGS AND CUSTOMS IN JAPAN. the level of the sea, was 13,977 feet, and the highest peak, 14,177 feet. The volcano has long been extmct, the latest eruption, by Japanese record, having occurred in 1707. The Japanese whom we met were dressed in white garments, carefully stamped with mystic characters and images, by the ''bonzes" (priests) located there during the season for that pur- pose. The origin of the pilgrimage of these religious delegates is FUSl-VAMA. traced back to an early date, when the founder of the Sin-too re- ligion (the oldest in Japan) took up his residence in the moun- tain. Since his death his spirit has been looked upon as possess- ing influence to bestow health and various other blessings upon those whose devotion to his memory induces them to make the pilgrimage. Tradition also tells us that Fusi-Yama uprose in a single night from the bowels of the earth ; also, that a lake of equal dimensions made its appearance near Miaco (the former abiding place of the Mikado) at the same hour. DOINGS AND CUSTOMS IN JAPAN. 161 What, on the last clay, took us eight hours in actual time to ascend, took us only three hours to descend. We could have rolled down in much quicker time, but the consequences might have been different. We found only patches of snow here and there near the summit, but we were well repaid for our visit as we succeeded in visiting the matchless mountain in the only interval of fine weather, and before the setting in of winter — a season of the year at which the journey is next to impossible. On the journey to Fusi-Yama, I had an exceptional opportunity of giving some attention to the investigation of the pagodas — the Japanese joss-house or temple. I found them generally of greater height than others I had seen in Japan — some of them reaching an altitude of a hundred feet or more. Many of these Japanese pagodas have existed for seven hundred years, and have successfully withstood the many heavy vibrations of the ground caused by earthquakes, which must certainly have achieved their overthrow had they been built of stone or brick. The first pagoda I ascended was during this trip to Fusi-Yama, and I was struck with the amount of timber employed in its construction. I could not help feeling that it was an absurdly excessive waste of material. What occurred to me as most absurd, yet it had a legitimate use, was an enormous pole which ran from the base of the structure to its apex, and passed up through its cen- ter. The purpose of this was, evidently, to avoid the structure being blown over by the wind. The pagoda is to a Buddhist temple what a spire is to a Christ- ian church, and the great quantity of timber used as its central and side supports may have seemed necessary in view of the fre- quent earthquakes. Their scientific method of keeping the pa- goda upright shows the careful observations of the Japanese. 1G2 DOINGS AND CUSTOMS IN JAPAN. The pagodca or temple, referred to as the one first visited, stands at the sacred gateway of Sn-ba-shi-ri, and is dedicated to the gods of the mountain. Here many pilgrims, stopping over night on their way to Fqsi-Yama, engage in worship. The crowds of pilgrims on their way to and from Fusi-Yama pre- sent a curious yet interesting spectacle, dressed in their white garments, and wearing a rosary of beads suspended from the neck. They also bear a staff, and a bell is suspended from the "obi" that encircles the waist. No pilgrim ever goes to Fusi-Yama without his bell. During the season of the pilgrimage there is a constant jingle, jingle, jingle ringing out upon the air at all hours of the day and night. There are three of these worshipping places on the direct road. They are in charge of the priests or guardians of the mountains, and are so placed that every one must pass through them as he goes up or down. Money is expected from all, and that the pilgrims may be reminded of this duty the officiating priests offer a glass of water to each as a refresh- ment. They also have charms for sale to those who will pur- chase them. One of these is a strip of paper which insures the purchasers against the perils of fire and robbery. Another, an envelope, has the outlines of Fusi-Yama upon it, and it is folded in a mysterious way and contains fine grains of rice, the symbol being that it is an antidote and specific against all the ills of the bod}'. The native pilgrimage to Fusi-Yama is no child's play. It is a heroic sacrifice, performed in obedience to a high religious duty, nnd in the belief that in undertaking it the pilgrim honors the memory of his gods. Pagodas, however, are not confined to the district of Fusi- Yama, and temples abound everywhere in the Empire. Each m I w DOIXGS AND CUSTOMS IX JAPAX. IGo hamlet has its especial gocl and shrine, and each new-born child is taken to the shrine in its district within a month after its birth. The god of this home-shrine becomes the child's patron. In nearly every house there is a god-shelf with a miniature wooden temple which contains tablets covered with paper, upon which are written the names of the gods in which the household place their trust, as also the names of the deceased ancestors and rela- tives. At night a lamp is lighted in front of the shrine and on the god-shelf of the Buddhists. The glowing glimmer of these lamps is one of the evening features in the cities of Japan. The fifth of May is the great festival day above all others, and Japan has many fete-days. But on the fifth of May the relatives and friends of that family to whom within the year a boy has been born make it a special occasion for holding high carnival. The parents testify to their joy by feasting all comers who honor them by their remembrances. Friends and relatives of the family make it an occasion to present gifts and toys suitable for boys, and anticipate the future with gifts of clothing fitting for the little lad as he grows to it. There are diminutive suits of armor, tiny swords and bows and arrows, toy horses with full suits of trappings — in fact, everything that contributes to, or is likely to augment, the pleasure and comfort of little boys. On such days grand processions are arranged. These parade through the streets singing and gyrating about to the music of a vile and irregular pounding upon tom-toms. The paraders are dressed in their best and most gorgeous costumes, and they carry through the streets suspended from bamboo poles the gifts intended for the various boy-babies, stopping in front of each house where a boy has been born during the year. Such houses are designated by the effigy of a fish suspended from the roof. 1G6 DOINGS AND CUSTOMS IN JAPAN. The fish is also an emblem that is carried in the procession. These fish-emblems are made of variegated colored rice paper, the eyes and scales being outlined by the brushes of the Japanese artists ; they are so constructed as to be inflated by the breeze ; and are thus exhibited to herald the glory that has its lodg- ment in the house from which the emblem is exhibited. The girl-babies are not forgotten, but less attention is given to them than to the boys ; in fact, girls in Japan, are looked upon as a necessary evil and are simply tolerated. Another day and a separate festival time are given to herald the advent of girls, but it is on the third day of March, a season when there is little to do in the way of tilling the land and the time can be well spared. But the fish is not floated as a symbol ; the doll takes its place, and all the to3's known to the girl-world are abundantly and lavishly displayed. There is, however, very much of pride exhibited on both of these child festivals, and the gifts are ostentatiously displayed by the fond parents for the admiration of their friends. In a few years the little girl-baby grows up ; she receives the attentions, of the opposite sex; begins to have some idea of the tender passion, and to rouge and powder as do her civilized sis- ters ; resorts to strange devices to make herself attractive, and so, after a time, finds a husband, blackens her teeth and pulls out her eyebrows and becomes a Japanese matron. Marriage in Japan is an institution unknown as a religious sacrament, or as a legal contract pronounced or ratified by any judge, mayor, or alderman. It is the simplest form of matri- monial union that can be imagined. When a Japanese child is born and named, it is registered in the official records of the district where the parents live. If the DOINGS AND CUSTOMS IX JAPAN. 1G7 person removes to another district the registration is transferred to his or her new home. Wishing to take a wife and having obtained the consent of the maiden and her parents, the would- be husband appears at the "Kencho," or place of registration, and after simply registering the woman as his wife she becomes known and considered as his sacred property, to have and to hold so lono; as he likes — and no lonp^er. The manner of divorce is equally as easy as the contract of marriage ; that is, if the man wishes to get rid of his wife, for he only can divorce. The husband need only give the wife what is known as the '•' three lines and a half paper," to the effect that she is no longer bound to him as his wife. She is then con- sidered unmarried and may reclaim her maiden name. The two are "quits." But the woman is powerless to get rid of her husband ; there is no power on earth — that is, no Japanese power — that can divorce the husband from the wife. That prerogative belongs to the noble man ; he alone binds, and he alone can cut loose. It must be stated, in closing this chapter, that the manners and customs of the Japanese have undergone an almost marvel- ous change since my visit there. No half-civilized nation on the globe has shown itself so ready to adopt the manners, methods and life of Europe and America. From governmental to domes- tic forms the revolution has been general, and the old days of mikado and tycoon are fast becoming a thing of antiquity. CHAPTER XL TRANSFERRED. SAl-0-NA-RA ! " Good-by to Japan. I said the word with regret that Feb- ruary day when I stepped on board a Pacific Mail stea- mer at Yokohama, en route to San Francisco. I was to leave the Iro- quois. Orders had come from the Secretary of the Nav}' detaching me from the squadron in Asiatic waters and ordering; me home for other duty. Sweet as the word ''home" sounded, I was still sorry to say good-by for I had many pleasant ties of friendship to bind me to the ship that had carried me to the other side of the world. Then, too, in China and Japan, I had made many friends and life had been both novel and pleasant in these waters. But orders must be obeyed, and my face was turned east- ward. My servant packed all of my clothing, books, and my 168 TRANSFERRED. 169 collections of curios in as compact a space as possible — yes, and my bedding, too, for the Government requires naval officers to furnish everything from their stinted salaries — and I was soon on my way to San Francisco. The only passengers on the Pacific Mail steamer by which I went east were a half-dozen other naval officers, and the wife of an American merchant in Honsr Kono;. It was a twenty-two days' steady steaming trip to San Fran- cisco, and our ship life would have been monotonous indeed if we had not prepared a daily schedule of pastime. Rising at half-past seven, we took a light breakfast at eight, and spent the inter- vening hours until our regular breakfast at eleven o'clock playing " bull." This is purely an English game and is played as fol- lows : A large square, with nine smaller squares, is chalked upon the canvas-covered deck, and the players stand at a line fifteen feet distant. Each player has two ring quoits, made of rope and canvas, and the play is to lodge the quoits into any of the series of smaller squares, each of which is numbered. The maximum number of points to be made is one hundred. Breakfast over, we promenaded the deck till lunch, at one o'clock, smoking our Havanas, or rather, Manilas, meanwhile. After lunch we smoked, read or enjoyed a siesta till dinner at five. Following dinner the course was — smoke and promenade. Then at eight o'clock we had tea and after that played whist till midnight. On Sundays we changed the routine to smoking, reading, promenading, sleeping and attending Divine service, one of the officers being selected to read the Episcopal service. So day after day we followed this routine till we reached San Francisco. It is the impression with many that on the Pacific one does 170 TKANSFEKRED. hot experience as rough weather as on the Atlantic ; on this trip, however, the okl Pacific belied its name. Some found the sea a rougher life than the}^ expected, and one inexperienced individual declared he would rather be a half-starved huckster's horse than a sailor. He declared that the books about the Pacific Ocean were full of lies, written only for girls to read. He had come aboard without his sea-legs or a water-proof stomach, and the latter was not warranted incapable of nausea. We had a seven- days' gale, and the seas would sometimes break over in great solid volumes, seething and rushing along the deck, while now and then one would break into the saloon washing it out. After the storm had cleared away and we had settled down to our routine of daily amusements, life aboard ship was enjoyable. An incident occurred on this trip which, to those who have not stopped to give it consideration, will certainly be novel and interesting. It will be necessary first to recall to the reader's attention the fact that once in every twenty-four hours the sun makes a complete revolution around the earth, traveling through three hundred and sixty degrees of longitude (one hun- dred and eighty degrees east and one hundred and eighty degrees west of Greenwich). Hence it is that a degree east of the voyager it is noon four minutes earlier than on board ship, be- cause a decree" east the sun reaches its meridian four minutes earlier. Thus, as we travel east, we gain four minutes to each degree, and if we should make a complete circuit of the earth around to the eastward we would have gained twent3^-four hours in sun- time. To adjust this on our records would call for two days of the same date ; or, if we should go around to the westward, our clocks would have to be set back four minutes for each degree TRANSFERRED. 171 made, and when we would have completed the circuit of three hundred and sixty degrees, would have lost twenty-four hours. To adjust this on our record we should need to skip a day. In other words, a traveler bound eastward, who should cross the one hundred and eightieth de- scree of lono;i- tude at five minutes before midnight on July 4, would find the next day would be of the same date and, consequently, would celebrate the anniversary of the Dec- laration of Independence twice in the same year ; and, if on an American vessel-of-war, he would on two successive days hear the national salutes fired for the same purpose. NUT PACIFIC. 172 TRANSFERRED. If, on the other hand, the traveler bound westward should cross the one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude at midnight on February 28, of any leap year, he would find the next day to be March 1, and hence would not see a twenty-ninth of February in an interval of eight years ; or, if he had reached the same point at midnight on July 3, the next day would have to be July 5, and the usual Independence Day gunpowder, fire-crackers, devil-chasers and torpedoes would have to be dispensed with. In my own case it was half-past eleven r. m., on March 15, when we crossed the one hundred and eightieth meridian, and as I had gone around to the eastward, we had an extra half-hour of March 14, and the next day was necessarily March 15, again, so we had twenty-four and one-half hours of March 14, forty-seven and one- half hours of March 15, and my log-book and diary and other records show the fact that I lived one more day in that year than did my friends at home. My diaries also show another fact, that, as I never have made the circuit by the westward, I have lived . one more day than all the days of my life added together. This is a peculiar experience in one's career, yet, strange to say, I do not feel a day older than I am. The remainder of the voyage to the California coast was with- out special interest. I continued to eat and digest five meals a day, to smoke my regular allowance of cigars, promenade the deck, and play " bull " and whist with as remarkable regularity as I ate my breakfast, lunch and dinner and the sub-meals provided. We did not sight more than three vessels in all that five-thou- sand miles of sea-travel, and aside from passing a school of whales now and then, nothing was seen to attract our vision aside from the broad expanse of ocean. We arrived at San Francisco — the Paris of the Pacific, as it is TRANSFERRED. 173 called — on March 29. Here is a city that seems to have grown from pure impulse, and in a lawless fashion, regardless of all rules and precedents. I found that it had grown marvelously since my first visit in 1863. In 1849, and for years afterwards, it was a camping-ground of adventurers, and the original settlers " squatted " around on the low-lying ground along the bay, about a mile from the old Mission Dolores, the seat of Spanish influence. It has grown like a weed on a southern river bottom; and Telegraph Hill and Russian Hill are now well-covered with fine residences. The city is built on a point of land shaped like a clenched fist ; washed on two sides by the bay itself, and on a third by the ocean. Here is a city like other cities — brilliantly lighted shops and an army of restless people jostling each other on the pavements. The cosmopolitan flavor here is like that of Paris ; your next-door neighbor may be an Oriental, who is an exact copy of his venerated ancestor dead and turned to clay generations ago. Within a single square may be found repre- sentatives of half the races of the earth. One section of the city is known as China-town, and if one has never seen the Chinaman in his native home he should by all means look at him here. Passing along through Dupont Street, one sees Chinese stores on either side, hears the cries of Chinese street vendors, and catches scraps of the magpie chatter of the revelers who sit in the high balconies of the restaurants. Farther on there is a celebration of fireworks ; and then will come the expiring clash of cymbals, and soon after a great roar like the noise of a dam breaking its bounds. A streaming throng of pig-tailed heathens from wide-open doors, filling the sidewalks and overflowing into the street, tells you that it is a Chinese play-house. A few minutes later you will find some of 174 TRANSFERRED. these people gathered .about a long table, at the end of which sits a demure-looking Chinaman counting " cash " with a pointed stick, and you lind that it is a game of fan-tan, the national gambling game. Back of this, into a room fitted up with rough shelves or bunks, a throng of Chinamen is pouring to indulge in an opium-smoke. Two squares north of China-town is French-town. Here are BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO. numerous old rookeries which seem to be waiting only for an earthquake to come and push them down ; narrow alleys with swarming colonies grouped about courtyards, and bakers' shops, and cabarats and groceries without number. A little beyond is the Mexican quarter, with its low-browed and dark-skinned populace. Everywhere one sees wealth and poverty brought into sliarp TRANSFERRED. 175 contrast ; no street preserves its character for more than a few blocks. The stately avenue suddenly drops into the free-and-easy street, with its old unpainted houses and a show of general neglect. On the great promenades, fashion, wealth and respectability are jostled by rags and squalor, and the extremes of disrespectability. The unconventional and the grotesque are sure to obtrude themselves at all times and places. But it is on Sunday that one sees the city in its most characteristic aspect. The day is kept sacred to religious observances by a small portion of the commu- nity only ; fully three-fourths of the population look upon it with a continental eye and keep it as a sort of holiday. The large French, German and Italian colonies go on picnics with religious regularity, and upon their return at nightfall with bands playing and flags flying march through the streets to their society halls. Workingmen take their outing at the suburban resorts, and in the gardens near the Mission Dolores. At night the variety and legitimate theaters are in full blast ; vice is flaunted in the open glare of the street lamp, and its local habitations are scarcely a block away from the chief thoroughfares. Up anchor ! Afloat again ; the sloop-of-war Ossipee is south- ward bound. Glad enough was I to get on board of a United States war vessel once more where I could dispense with trunks and boxes, and the labor of going to them every few days to get out " clean biled linen." Here was everything again quite handy in my five-by-eight room, contracted, but cosy and homelike. And I am glad to get to sea once more. Along the Pacific coast one rarely sees boisterous weather, unless, perhaps, it be in crossing the Gulf of California. After clearing the harbor our engines were stopped and the vessel was put under sail, in order to save unnecessary expendi- 170 TKANSKKKKKI). tures in the useless consumption of coai. With light winds aiicl a smooth sea life on shipboard was lazy, and might have been monotonous had it not been for the daily routine of a man-of- war. There was drilling at great guns, small arms, and broad- swords, and frequently we would be routed out at night at "fire" or ''general" quartei's. This was always exciting and highly -conducive to wakefuhiess for the remainder of the night. Twenty-four days at sea brought us into the harbor of Acapulco. Of all the ports on the Pacific, between San Francisco and Panama, Acapulco is the most picturesque and most charming. It is a perfectly land-locked harbor, and its entrance lies between two rugged eminences which rise abruptly from the sea. To one who is unfamiliar with the coast, the spot offers no hint of a refuge for ships, except an indifferent lighthouse. The emi- nences which I mention are islands. The shores of these and of the mainland are very steep and rugged, and great breakers dash high upon the seaweed crags. Mountains closely hedge the harbor about, and the town lies on its inner side, close to the base of a promontory which juts out as if to reach its strong arms toward the sturdy isles which guard the gateway. Groves of cocoanut palms cast dense shadows upon the beach ; palms adorn the courts of the principal houses and cluster about the straggling quarters of the peons, while masses of them stretch along the lower slopes of the mountains. Some of the streets run up and back from the shore to a considerable distance. They are lined with the small adobe or reed huts of the lower class ; these are generally thatched with leaves, with here and there, next to the street, a new awning covered with tiles. In some of the principal streets the side- •J ■J z C5 o o o TRANSFERRED. 179 walks are raised a couple of feet from the level of the street, according to the fancy of the builders of the adjoining houses. Glancmg in at wide-open doors you invariably see a dusky female slowly swinging in a hammock, and perhaps a servant or two stretched lazily upon the floor. In almost all of the better houses I observed sewing-machines, some of them operated in the heat of the day. In some of the houses I shuddered with surprise at seeing huge, many-colored lizards scurrying away as I approached. There is also at Acapulco a fort or citadel, battened somewhat by the besieging shells of the French. It is chiefly used as a caboose and contains many dungeons. Volcanic peaks loom up in the background, and further back rises ever a continuous and majestic procession of volcanic mountains. The waters of the bay swarm with man-eating monsters, but this does not prevent the natives from swarming about each arriving vessel, offering to dive bottomward for the silver coins thrown to them by the passengers. The most interesting feat- ure of Acapulco is the life of the people who subsist by the small traffic which they carry on with the steamers that touch here. No sooner does the prow of a steamer show itself around the sharp corner that vessels must turn in entering the harbor, than the bum-boats may be seen pushing oft: from the shore, and in a fe^v minutes are alongside, the natives chattering like so man}' monkeys. The bum-boats at all these Mexican ports are the primitive dug-out canoes, wdiich, as every one who has seen them will acknow^ledge, are not ungraceful in appearance, especially when tossing about on the waves. The natives paddle them to-day just as did their ancestors centuries ago, before Cortez set his desolating foot upon the Aztec empire. 180 TRANSFERRED. The huts of the bum-boat people are on the beach, clo.se to the foot of the promontory. Here clothesless children, chicken.s, pigs, dogs, monkeys and parrots live promiscuou.sly together in the sand. Copper-colored dam.sels wade into the water, secure their dug-outs, load them with fruit, parrots and cocoanuts and then push off to the newly-arrived vessel to dispose of their merchandise. Garrulous parrots with beautiful plumage may be purchased for five to eight dollars each, and other curiosities mav be bouirht at fairly reasonable sums. But one mav be swindled if he choose to permit it, for these natives who live a lazily industrious life have little compunction and less conscience when a trade is in sisiht. The laborers of Acapulco are peculiarly interesting. I saw a dozen or more of them bearing burdens on their backs from the beach to the town. Their dress was meager in the extreme — short drawers, hardly covering the thigh, and tunics which left the neck and arms bare. They had very much the air of slaves. Wrapped about their heads was a cotton scarf, its elaborate color and figure giving them a decidedly Oriental appearance. But Acapulco is a dreadfully hot place, and we were glad enough to get to sea again, even with the prospect of arriving in Panama Harbor in a few days. Twelve days' sailing from Acapulco found our ship lazily rocking in the Bay of Panama among a group of islands cov- ered with luxurious pineapple and cocoanut palms and lemon trees. Vessels find no wharves to lie aloncrside of nor can thev get nearer than a mile from the city. From this anchorage Panama looks like some storied house of romance and valor in the Old World, and one might readily forget that it is in reality the home of pestilence and death. As long as you remain under TRANSFERRED. 181 the awning stretched above the deck the heat does not oppress you, and the breezes blowing from the mountains of the isthmus are really cooling in contrast with the stagnant air on shore or below decks. Splendid fish sport about the vessel, and we court the most pronounced tan by angling over the stern rather than seek recreation on shore. The waters are alive with sharks of SCENE IN PANAMA. the ugliest and most rapacious species, and if a white man should fall overboard by accident it would have been better had he thought, beforehand, of leaving his watch and money behind as mementos for his friends ; for sharks reckon nothing of time and have no use for monev. It is a singular tradition and yet, one declared to be true, that the natives may swim about the harbor with perfect impu- 182 TKANSFERRED. nity as sharks never attempt to molest them. In fact, the sharks of Panama Bay and Acapulco Harbor are as fastidious in their tastes as are the Feejee Islanders, who could not be induced to eat one of their own color unless they were actually starving, but who enjoy greatly a steak or chop of wdiite man. The natives of Panama are the most intrepid boatmen of the tropical coast, and it is an interesting picture to see these men, almost as naked as when they were born, managing their lofty- masted dug-outs in nasty, squally weather. They have a superb physical development and are rather below the Anglo-Saxon standard in stature ; but they are graceful in movement and as quick and as lithe as the monkeys that infest the cocoanut groves. They are not black, but their skin is of a rich glossy bronze. Panama had a commercial importance more than a hundred years ago, but lost it, and for more than a century the Isthmus was deserted. The discoveries of gold in California in 1849 brought the isthmus again to notice by attracting to the west coast most of the worthless population of the east coast of North America. To accommodate the great flocking of reckless adven- turers the construction of the Panama Railroad was begun in 1850, but not completed till five years later. Since then the traveler has been enabled to enjoy the luxury of tropical scenery along the forty-seven miles of railway, and without the fears of dying from yellow fever before completing the journey in the three hours' travel, which formerly took twice as many days to accomplish on mule-back and in boats on the Chagres River. The wealth of vegetation wdiich covers the isthmus is a glo- rious sight ; the many varieties of palms are conspicuously in- termingled with each other and are superbly relieved by the beau- tifully green banana trees, lieavA^ with bunches of the luscious, TRANSFERRED. 183 ripening fruit and by the splendid cotton trees. But, like all luscious tilings, this luxuriant tropical vegetation soon palls upon the senses. Panama is not a pleasant place of residence and yet it is by no means as unhealthy as supposed. True, it is long before a European becomes acclimated ; but the great objection is that summer and winter are of the same temperature, and the same horrible heat continues without the comfort of the promise that " in six months it will be cool enough." But hotter than the climate is the intense heat of the political atmosphere. Panama is almost constantly in a state of revolu- tion, and it is not pleasant to live alongside of a bomb-shell with the fuse lighted. Panama has a history. Its foundation dates back to 1519. Five years later Pizarro sailed away from it on his first daring voyage looking to the conquest of Peru. A century later its great importance as a city, in buildings and com- mercial wealth tempted Morgan and his company of buccaneers to cross the isthmus to capture it. Panama continued to prosper till the middle of the eighteenth century, when Spain's important trade had to find another outlet, and Panama received its death blow. Anchor was weighed about sunrise, and five minutes later we were swinging around the beautiful little island of Ancon with the good ship's nose one point to the eastward of Taboga. The beauties of Panama Bay developed to our eyes as we rode her in- creasing expanse ; the cathedral towers were sharply relieved by the tremulous blue air around and above them. Taboga is ideally beautiful, and once, long before workshops and the modern summer cottages of the Pacific Mail Company profaned it, it was an ideal abode of natural simplicity and innocence. The dark- 184 TRANSP^ERRED. eyed, olive-tinted damsels, in their reed-built cots in the interior, are still there, and one of them may attend you iit the famous spring, which is one of the greatest treasures of Taboga ; but you will not find them unsophisticated and confiding. The blight of civilization is that while it corrects the worst phases of barbar- ism it also smothers what little charm the latter possesses. The coast of the State of Panama to the west of the city is ac- centuated by a few peaks which rise abruptly from the low, gen- eral surface of the isthmus and are therefore imposing. As it receded from sight Panama became more and more attractive. It was a case in which distance certainly did lend enchantment to the view. CHAPTER XII. IX THE LAND OF THE IXCAS. T was no cross to be compelled to leave behind us the place so famous in the past as a commercial center. The change was in fact delightful ; for, once out at sea, it became so cool that oui" blue cloth uniforms were more comfortable than the white linen suits that on the isthmus had seemed so burdensome. Five days under sail after clearing the Bay of Panama we sighted Cape Santa Elena. Rounding this we entered the Gulf of Guayaquil. A little farther on we sio-hted the island of Puna, risins; from the low sandy beach so like a regular and uniform cone, that after sailing around it one is almost in doubt whether or not he has really looked at it from opposite sides. By sundown we had anchored opposite the town of Guaj-a- quil, from whose river no one has ever departed without one of the perfect grass ham.mocks and the "Panama" hats for which the place is noted. The anchor was hardly off the cathead before the vessel was surrounded by a fleet of canoes and the peculiar rafts known as junghadas or balsas. From these craft crowds of men and women 185 186 IN THE LAND OF THE IXCAS. streamed over our srano;\vav, climbins; the side of the vessel like monkeys, their arms and heads burdened with fruits. And such luscious fruit as it was ! Oranges and plantains, pomegranates and bananas, cactus, alligator pears and mangoes, all tempting to the eye and most agreeable to the palate. Besides these they brought us the flavorless and watery nisperos and the memeys ; the o;uava, a larg;e black bean of almost sickish sweetness cov- ered with a slimy down, and the chirimoyo, or custard apple, which last, though more luscious, is to my taste less delicious than a strawberry or peach. In addition, most of the venders had monkeys, parrots and paroquets for sale. Guayaquil looked most attractive from the deck. Up and down the river the bank was lined with canoes and rafts, laden with the products of the upper country, and on each raft the picturesque thatched hut, the home of the boatman. x\long the shore stretched a row of three-storied wooden houses, the second story protruding and supported by a colonnade so as to form a cov- ered arcade over the front entrance. The characteristic building material of Guayaquil is the bamboo, and all the houses and even some of the churches are built of such reeds, so bound together with cords that few nails enter into their construction. These buildings are therefore almost earthquake-proof for they yield so readily to the vibrations of the earth during the disturbances of its surface peculiar to the region that they are comparatively safe. The main street terminates at the hillock of Santa Anna, from which springs the semi-circle of low hills, that with grace- ful, broken outlines rise behind and above the town. The streets elsewhere are a maze of channels of mud, more or less liquid, through which one must pick his way around a ridge of stones ; and, if tempted by the banana and cocoa palms overhanging the IX THE LAXD OF THE INCAS. 187 reed fences to seek refuge from the vile odors of the streets to enter an enclosure, one will find pigs and children wallowing there together, in a filth through which there are no stepping stones. With the thermometer standing at ninety degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, we tind it very pleasant to lie in a hammock upon the piazza of one of the residences of the Alcalde, where we can escape the hot sun-rays and feel a soft breeze fan- ning our cheeks. The he m p of which the hammocks are made is called henequin. It is an evergreen, succulent plant, and, three years after transplanting, the first leaves are ready to cut. The leaves are from four to six feet in length and each plant contin- ues to produce for from twelve to thirteen years. The Guayaqnilians have their own peculiar method of scraping the leaf to obtain the filaments, which are dried in the sun and done up in bales. The making of the hammocks is one of the chief employ- ments of the town. All the twine is made by hand, the hemp being rolled between the hand and the thigh. Experts will twist an average of a yard a minute, and the hammocks are TO RECEIVE THE CONSUL. 188 IN THE LAND OF TlIK INCAS. made by u'irls and women. Quick workers can make three or lour liammucks a day, for which they receive about ten cents each. The finest henequin. from which the most costly liam- mocks are made is called ^;<7«. Hammocks are used by all classes as substitutes for the ordinary beds. The following day found us at sea again, sailing along an almost desert coast. With the first glimpse of the Andes, that vast mountain range that is the prominent feature of the South American continent, we witnessed the effect of their in- fluence. Tliis range gives expression to the scenery, and by its influence on the climate and country in a great measure deter- mines the character and habits of the people. Two days later we cast anchor in the open roadstead of Parita, a town without a drop of drinking water within twenty miles of its center, excepting such as is produced by condensation. Parita is the outlet of a rich back country and was once a place of great importance. Our first visitor was United States Consul Murphy, who seemed as pleased to meet us as if we had been his nearest relatives. The old aqueducts built by the Incas remain, but the rivers have worn their beds to a depth below the canal levels. It is one of the most distressing places on the South American coast. Besides a quay and an iron Custom House, it boasts of only a few irregular streets, lined with mud or cane houses. It was after dark when I went ashore w4th Colonel Murphy, and the population was lying on mats in the streets, a more agreeable sleeping-place than the interior of the hot hovels. Those who were not lying on mats were moving about at a funeral pace, the women enveloped in black mantos which concealed their faces and figures. It reminded me of a, city of the dead. We remained here but two days. IX THE LAND OF THE INCAS. 189 After leaving Parita we stood well out to sea and made a long ocean detour before we again put into port. This port was Chimbote. At the time of my visit there it was a small settle- ment built close to the beach, its few houses occupied mainly by those employed in the survey and construction of the Chimbote and Huaraz Railroad, the contract for which had been given by the Peruvian Government to John G. Meiggs, brother of " Prince Henrv " Meiyrtrs. While here I obtained permission along with a brother officer to make a three-days' horseback excursion into the country, along the line of the new railroad. For several miles our path led us over a sandy plain covered with a low leguminous bush called '• algarrobera " ; and also a small coarse wild grass and a running vine with a white blossom, similar to our " morning glory." This vine-blossom ultimately develops into a fruit cov- ered with thorns, about the size and shape of an Qgg. This fruit has a saponaceous quality, and the natives use it largely in place of soap. It makes a good lather and readily removes dirt- stains. As we rode along this sandy plain we were frequently sur- prised by herds of wild donkeys, the sight of which would start our horses into a sharp gallop. On inquiry of the natives we learned that no one was permitted to dispose of these donkeys. It seems that immediately following the Spanish conquest a great number of these beasts were sent to this district and the natives given possession of the land upon condition that they would keep a fatherh/ supervision over their long-eared and unruly neighbors, hence thousands of them run wild. Leaving^ the '^ wild asses " and the res-ion of bushes behind us we came out upon a soft, sandy plain. To the right rose a lofty lOU IN THE LAXD OF THE IXCAS. mountain, along the slope of which were the ruins of an old "acequia," or aqueduct, built during the period of the reio-n of the Incas. Eight miles from Chimbote we came out upon an old road (formerly the Inca road), on either side of which stretched for a long distance an adobe wall, and the ruins of several old buildings. Seven miles further on we came to a Chinese camp, in which lodged the laborers employed in grading the new rail- road. The wages of these almond-eyed Celestials, including board, clothing and medical attendance, was one sol, or about one United States dollar a week, and yet they were never known to go on strike for higher wages. To the right of the camp stood in bold relief a mountain with a steep ascent, having an altitude of four hundred feet. Upon its summit were the ruins of an old castle or fortified srranarv- There were still standino; the walls which formerly supported the towers or bastions. This, as well as the aqueduct, which extends from Chimbote far inland, was built at the time of the Inca dynast3\ The walls were about sixty feet in height, and the enclosure one hundred and fifty feet square. Near this was the site of an ancient town, which, to all appearances, must have been of considerable extent. Leaving this our drive took us along a shady road leading through a large '' hacienda," or plantation. We here crossed a stream which nearlv encircled the hacienda. It was the first running; water we had sio'hted since leaving; Chimbote. The roadway was grandly shaded with a species of laurel and swamp- willow. In a larsre enclosure were a score or more of China- men threshing rice by driving horses rapidly around on the straw. The mode of separating the rice from the straw and the chaff was most primitive. The fanning machine was apparently IN THE LAND OF THE INCAJS. 191 unknown here, and the rice was separated from the refuse by the wmd as it was tossed up into the air. At this pomt we reentered the roadway, walled on either side with adobe, and leading us through another beautiful hacienda. On the right was an immense field of about three hundred acres AN INCA RUIN. of growing cotton, boiled out and nearly ready to pluck, and pre- senting a grand picture to the stranger's eye. On the left were immense corn-fields, recjularlv laid out and irrio;ated from a stream of water runninsc throuuli the hacienda. Leaving: this larg-e plantation, we came out on a broad open plain covered with fine loose sand, into which the horses'- feet sunk to the fetlocks. On the right we again caught sight of the old aqueduct running along the slope of the mountain ridge. For three miles along 192 IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. this plain we followed a line of stakes marking the course of the railroad. Suddenly we found our progress checked by an arch- way which had become filled up with the stones and dirt from the embankment. We retraced our steps a short distance and then found a path leading up the steep ascent of an immense elevated plateau, up which our horses climbed. Driving a couple of miles along the edge of the plateau, we had a grand panoramic viev/ of the valley two hundred feet below, and of a well-made road rimning through it. AYe looked at this longingly, but the problem presented was, " How shall we reach it ? " The sides of the plateau were too steep to attempt a descent, and we were further aggravated by the beautiful and extended view of the plantation which seemed to have no beginning or ending, and with the Santa River coursintr through it. It was now sundown, horses and riders alike were tired out, we were hungry, darkness was rapidly creeping over us and no camping-place on the plateau in sight. Our horses were too much fatigued to attempt a return to our first camp, and if we could not find a path down to the valley before night's darkness settled, we must make the best of it with a bed on the bare ground. Continuing along the edge of the plateau for two or three miles further, we at last struck a tortuous but dangerous path, down which we rode and near its foot found the lodge of the '•' administrador,"or superintendent. \Ye had ridden about twenty-five miles, most of the way through deep, heavy sand, and one of the horses was so exhausted that we apprehended his absolute breakino; down. The lodcre was an immense low-lmilt structure. As we drove up the administrador, Senor Pastor, advanced and in a polite commanding tone, said, " Caballeros, entrada I " (Gentleman, IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. 193 come in !) A servant was ordered to take our horses, and as we entered the building observed that our host and three other Peru- vian gentlemen were about to sit down to dinner. Places were at once provided for us at the table. Our host protested against our continuing the journey that night, ordered our horses to Ije stabled and fed, and a room and beds to be prepared. Neither Senor Pastor nor his friends could speak English, consequently we had to resort to our limited knowledge of Spanish. We con- gratulated ourselves that in this we succeeded admirabl}^ Our new friends were as sociable as they were hospitable, and in spite of the tired limbs and our desire for a bath, caused us almost to regret when bed-time came. The evening was spent in chatting, playing the guitar and singing Spanish and American songs alternately, and I was glad to feel that I was enough of a player to accompany myself on the guitar. I learned that the plantation was the property of Seiior Benito Valdeavallano, who lived in Lima, but who at that time was in Europe on a bridal tour, having but recently married Senorita Rosa Sauri, the belle and beauty of Lima. The plantation was valued at about a half-million of dollars. There were then grow- ing about a million cotton plants^ two hundred acres were planted in sugar cane, and about six hundred acres sowed with rice. Two hundred Chinamen were employed upon the plantation. They cooked their own food, and their rations, mostly of rice, were served to them every evening. Regularly at 7 o'clock in the evening they were assembled at roll-call, and as each man's name was called he stepped forward and received his allowance of food for the following day. A refreshing night's sleep, a light breakfast at eight o'clock, consisting of coffee nnd fruit, found us in good condition to 194 JX THE LAND OF THE IXCAS. re.-^ume our journey. Mounting our horses, we bade our kindly host •• adios," and followed along the line of survey of the road. At eleven o'clock we reached the engineers' camp and had a sumptuous breakfast set before us. Later in the day we started on our return, and reaching the Valdeavallano plantation. ^,<-»^.»--i _^ A PERUVIAN "PALACE." took dinner, and spent the night there. The following day we returned to our ship home, well pleased with our excursion to the interior. After making a careful survey of the harbor of Chimbote and plotting a safely corrected chart, we put to sea again and in good time reached Callao, the commercial port of Lima, the capital of Peru. Callao is about six miles from Lima, and the two places are connected by a railway. IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. 195 My first visit to Lima, however, was not by railway but on horseback over the " alameda," a road of considerable beauty, and one of the most striking and impressive thoroughfares on the continent. I had been here once before at the time of the great earthquake which destroyed many of the towns along the coast. At a distance the spires and domes of the cathedral and iglesias, or churches, glitter in the sun, and the Moorish style of architecture gives the city a very picturesque appearance. The houses are low and irregularly built, but the streets are regular and attractive. The " Plaza Major," or Great Square, is the prin- cipal locality and faces the Cathedral. On one side is the palace of the President and the bishop's palace ; and on the south side is the old palace of Pizarro, in which is the noted painting rep- resenting the violent death of Atahualpa, the favorite son of Huayna Capac, Inca of Peru, who died in 1525. The one thing which impressed me the most, as I made a tour of the shops, was the dazzling beauty of the Peruvian ladies. They seemed to be all eyes ; indeed they have the reputation of being the most beautiful women in the w^orld. Meeting them on their way to mass in the morning, or shopping later in the day they strike you as charming. But to see them in their homes you begin to reflect and are apt to conclude that they are not so much fairer than some of the fair daughters of New York or Phila- delphia. If it were not for the mantua, the most needful feature in the street dress of the Limanian ladies, we would not so thoroughly admit their perfect beauty. This garment they wear in such a coquettish way, that it conceals every feature except the fair one's bewitching eyes and lovely olive complexion. The mantua is peculiar to Peru and Chili. It is worn by women of all arrades and ages — the senora and the senorita, the 19G IX TllK LAXD OF THE INCAS. mujer ami the iiiuchachita, the rich and the poor. It is always of black, luaclo of crape, and costs anywhere from one to a thou- sand sols, according to quality. The wealthy belle will wear a niantua trimmed with fine silk fringe, or rare point lace ; while the poorer girl must be satisfied with an edging of cheaper lace. This is arranged so as to fall over the forehead and is always so nicely adjusted that the edge of the lace will just reach the eye- lashes and cover half the cheek. Then the ends are tastefully thrown over the left shoulder, and fastened at the back with a clasp pin more or less costly. Some wear the mantua so that it covers one eye. I have said that in their homes the Lima wom- en do not strike one as so beautiful as they appear on the street ; but in the drawing-room they are, nevertheless, most attractive, bright,vivacious and winning. They are affectionate, impetuous and strong-willed ; impulsive, frank and generous. At seventeen or eighteen the Peruvian girl marries ; at twenty-five she is the mother of three or four children. To have the photograph of a Limanian belle signifies no special concession ; you can buy them of any photographer. To think of a Peruvian breakfast, even after a Delmonico dinner, sharpens my appetite even now. My first trip to Lima gave me also my first experience at breakfast there. A brief summary of it would not give you the faintest idea of its excel- lence. It must be described in detail. Immediately after rising on board of ship one is satisfied with a cup of coffee and a plate of fruit, until the hour of the regular breakfast or eleven o'clock. So are the native Peruvians. Eleven o'clock came and I sat down with a familv at breakfast. The duskv senoras and senor- itas, children and adults, if they are of the well-to-do class, dress in spotless white wrappers, and permit their long, heavy, raven- IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. 197 black hair to hang in two loose plaits down their backs. If the sea-breeze be very cool they appear with little crimson or blue sacques drawn over their white robes. Our breakfast began with soup. Nothing can be more deli- cious than these native soups — one, in particular, called cliupe. It is made of a kind of crab, like the English shrimp, but more delicate to the palate and resembling the lobster rather than the crab. The shrimps were boiled alive in new milk, after which was added rice, parsley, grated cheese, hard boiled eggs, potatoes in halves, onions and bread crumbs. It was unsalted. The next course consisted of oranges and bananas ; but, to such as pre- ferred, fresh figs, melons, or bananas w^ere served before the chiq^e- Then followed fish, broiled or fried ; the corbiiia, a salt- water fish very much like mackerel in flavor, being broiled ; and the pickailais, resembling our small fresh water perch, being fried. After this came the more substantial course : fried bananas with poached eggs ; mutton chops breaded ; delicious tender beefsteak with fried potatoes, and a salad of lettuce or radishes ; ham and eggs, and always the native dish, aquique, compounded of red peppers and potatoes, and made so hot with Chili pepper that the tears start from the eyes as one swallows it. Then came rice cakes and picantic, another fiery dish made principally of mustard, or a dish of rice and curry. The next course was a delicious cup of hot coffee, never boiled but con- densed in French coffee-pots, and always clear as amber ; served in tiny Sevres china cups, with neither milk nor sugar, unless requested — '• truly a nectar fit for the gods." The breakfast ends with cigars, or cigarettes, and claret, and the ladies not only light your cigars, but also light a cigarette for themselves. Here you sit and chat at the table for a half hour longer — a siesta. 198 IN TlIK LAND OF THE IXCAS. The Peruvian manner of eating is not American. Tlic}' use the knife quite as often as they do the fork and the fini^ers more it '?! ' V- '«" , .«!_■ • ' -as; -^rr INTERIOR OK CATHEDRAL AT LIMA. than either. One peculiar cu.stom at the table needs special men- tion : — If there is a little delicacy upon the plate, a bit of the IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. 199 breast of a fowl, a tender morsel of turkey, or any little dainty that is inviting, it is a very delicate compliment to the person sitting next you to take this morceau between your thumb and finger, and place it in that person's mouth. I have often seen a young Peruvian gallant pick up a piece of chicken, or a bit of game, and convey it with his fingers to the mouth of the leading belle, although his fingers may be dripping with gravy. Or, if it be preserved fruit, the juice may be running down his wrist. It is considered a most delicate compliment, and for any one to refus^e these proffered finger bits would be deemed an almost un- pardonable msult. No large dishes are placed upon the table, nor are platters of meat served in large quantities ; each person has each course separately set before him, that he may help him- self to what he pleases. I found a visit to the Cathedral on the Plaza, an interesting visit after my breakfast in Lima. The interior is richly furnished, but the most elaborate ornament is the shrine, which reaches nearly to the roof of the building. It is made of gold, silver and copper and is said to be valued, in weight, at about three million dollars. The various images are also very rich affairs. Descending into the cellar, our guide led us to the vault or tomb where lie the bones of Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru, and his chief commander. Their remnants of silk robes are in rags, and evidences are plain that many little strips have been taken away as relics. We believe, but with some hesitancy, the state- ment of our guide that the gowns, or what is left of them, are the original ones in which the bodies were laid out ; but we are not inclined to be too incredulous when we hand our guide a sol (valued at about eighty cents), and he turns away his head as we tear off a little strip from each as a relic, to remind us liUU IN THE LAM) OF THE INCxlS. that we have looked upon the bones of the famous conqueror of Peru. It is still fashionable to go on resurrection expeditions among the ancient Inca ruins, to dig in the ancient burying grounds for the nnimmies and the coins and other valuables entombed with them. So, immediately after breakfast, I started with three others, a doctor being one of our party. Of course, the latter's taste naturally tended toward securing skulls, but the rest of us wanted huacos (water-coolers) made of clay and of the most unifjue and quaint designs, or perhaps specimens of some other household utensils. Our research convinced us that the Incas had the same mode of preserving their dead as did the ancient Egyptians ; and in each grave were placed articles of decoration as well as utensils required by the spirits to set up housekeeping in the Happy Land. Among the latter were water-pots or huacos. These are jars made of clay in various shapes, mostly of idols, and in which drinking water was kept and cooled by evaporation. Rings and other ornaments of gold, silver and copper ; copper chips and balls used as coins by the Incas ; cups and plates made of metals and of the most quaint designs — these, together with strings of beads and a great variety of other relics, we found in the ruins. They lay in close proximity to perfect skulls and other bones, as well as weapons of primitive warfare and other curiosities that interest antiquarians nowadays. We found there were hundreds of graves yet untouched. In fact any one can dig up all the relics desired by simply hiring a couple of men and going out to the ruins. CHAPTER XIII. LIMA. THE fashionable entertainment in Peru is bull-bait- ing. The best bull- fights are to be seen on the Dos de Mayo (second of May), or some other great fete-day. Excepting on these prime fete- days, the bull is not killed, as in Spain and in Mexico, and no horses are slaugh- tered in the rintj;. The animal is simply teased and tortured to make a Liman holiday. The Plaza del Toros, or Bull Amphitheater, is only a short distance from the city on the Calle de Alcalda, and the street was alive with a motley crowd of pedestrians and carriages all pushing forward to witness the combat de toros (bull-fight). It was like the main thoroughfare of a country village on a muster-day. The dense mass of people present all the colors of 201 202 LIMA. the rai)il)ow. The focus to which all are pressing is the entrance to the amphitheater, and. the shouts of the assemblage crowding to the entrance are as bewilderimi; as must have been the famous tournament of tongues at Babel. Finally we make our way in and obtain seats, and then — what a change ! The place is .sim- ply a huge amphitheater, wdth seats running seven-eighths of the circle and every one occupied. There is a continual murmur of conversation in Spanish ; a clatter of fans, and thousands of spirals of smoke from the cigarettes which the senors, the seiio- ras and the senoritas are happily indulging in. The expectation is intense, and all is excitement and impa- tience. After an overture from the band, a trumpet blast is heard. A breathless hush falls upon the assembly like a j)all. A door opens and four mounted jyicadoj^es (the prickers) enter the arena. They are dressed in fanciful colors and carry long lances. Then follow the chohis. These are the real combatants. In addition to their gay attire, they w^ear short silken cloaks of many colors. After these come the ccqKidores, with long magenta-colored scarfs with which they provoke or divert the attention of the bulls. The attention of the spectators is divided between the men and the door through which the bull is expected to enter. The trumpet again sounds, and a fierce young bull plunges into the arena with distended nostrils, a snort and a bound. Then the terrible battle for supremacy begins. The sight is indeed a thrill- ing one ; and yet, after all, it is a game of cowards, although in the disgusting spectacle that follows, the safety of the actors is insured by a moderate degree of skill and a nimble pair of legs. The bright colors worn by the 'picadores, chohis and capadores. tend to anger the poor badgered beast and provoke attack. Sud- oriQ LIMA. 20 denly the bull devotes its attention to one of the capadores, who stands a short distance away flaunting his scarf, and at once down goes the great head and drives straight on him. The cap- ador runs for his barrier, a section of a fence at the side of the ring, and another capador a short distance from the side of the bull flaunts his scarf and the bull drives him to his barrier. Then follows a dash at the ^icac?or who drives a dart into the bull's side. Sundry of these tormenting pricks sting the bull to madness, the shouts of the spectators rend the air, and the blood streams from the side of the wounded bull. Perhaps the bull has been quick enough to transfix its horns into a horse's belly, and the horse goes galloping across the arena with intes- tines trailino- on the ground. The bull's attention is then diverted by a picador waving his scarf, or a cholu may have blinded the beast's eyes by throwing a cloak over its horns. The air rings with the plaudits of the spectators, the trumpet again sounds and a handerillero (he who sticks the poisoned dart with colored ribbons into the neck of the bull) enters to give the final thrust. He carries two darts, each with a harpoon point at one end. K picador stands near the handerillero and waves his scarf, and as the bull dashes towards him the handerillero thrusts the darts into the bull's shoulders. Then a cholu hands two more darts to the handerillero, wdiich are wound with paper tubes containing detonating powder. These are speedily thrust into the enraged bull's shoulders. Stung with agony the poor animal rushes at everything that comes in its way. The detonat- ing powder ignites and soon the bull is enveloped in a cloud of smoke and fire from which issues a fusillade of explosions. Then the trumpet again sounds and the matador, the star actor of the fi2:ht, enters. He carries in one hand a long, narrow 204 LIMA. rapier ; in the other is a short stick, to which is attached a small colored flag. He is the cynosure of all eyes ; loud and wild shouts of applause hail his appearance. Approaching the bull he provokes it with the flag, and the silence is almost painful, as he must show both daring and art in the final coup. Suddenly there is a flash of steel in the air. Like a stroke of liohtnino: the long rapier descends upon the bull, and is driven into its body clear up to the hilt. The bull stops short, staggers a few steps, then drops to its knees and the next instant rolls over, dead. The enthusiasm is as wild as a tornado ; it rises and falls in shouts upon shouts, and continues for several minutes. A team of horses is driven in ; the dead bull is dragged out from the ring, cut up and sold to such as are willing to buy bull beef. I witnessed the slaughter of three other bulls and two horses, and then the spectators departed for their homes. The following day, at the invitation of the superintendent of the Oroya Railroad, I enjoyed a flying trip from the wearisome monotony of the changeless summer weather of Lima, to the cooler summit of the Andes. Before noon I found myself at San Bartolomge, forty-seven miles from Lima, and at an eleva- tion of eight thousand feet above the level of the sea in the bracing mountain air of the summit. The trip was made on one of the most powerful locomotives that w^as ever placed upon rails. Passing through the green val- ley of the Rimac which winds like a silver ribbon down to the sea, we thundered through ravines; over iron and stone bridges; and around the precipices of great mountains, to the sides of which still clung w^reaths of the morning mists. Above, the pinnacles of rock rose cloudward. Still, we rushed on and ever upward, dashing now and then through a tunnel into which a THE PICADORES. LIMA. 207 river had burst and was rushing noisily ; and then dashing out into the sunshine again we crossed a bridge hung fully a hun- dred feet above another torrent. At some phices the railroad formed a letter S ; at another point its shape was that of a horse-shoe ; now it took the form of the letter Z, and at times these windings were so close to- gether' that but a glimpse of sunshine was vouchsafed us before we plunged into the hollow darkness. Arriving at San Bartojo- ra^ at the end of a three hours' ride through this picture of grandeur we disembarked and took breakfast. The breakfast- hour in Peru is never earlier than eleven o'clock, and here amid the peaks of the Andes we enjoyed a meal equal to one we might have obtained at Delmonico's. A siesta of an hour after breakfast, including; a smoke of one of Henry Meiggs' dollar Havanns. and the exciting and perilous downward trip to Lima began. We rode in a hand-car with one of the engineers in charo-e. At the start the brakes were re- lieved, our car was given a gentle push and on we sped at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, with sparks of fire flying from between the rails and the wheels of our car till we reached Chosica, midway back to Lima. Here we stopped for lunch. Another rest of an hour after lunch and we resumed our trip homeward down the inclined plane, along the valley of the Rimac and passing several beautiful haciendas. Near one of those picturesque plantations, in a little meadow enclosed by white palings, rises a simple mausoleum of brick, where lie the remains of •■Prince Harry," as Henry Meiggs was known by the Peruvians. The magnificent mountains, whose ravines he had spanned, were in full sight in all their grandeur, and the murmur of the train as it speeds along on the road he 208 . LliMA. imniortalized seems to beat the long roll as it passes the mound that marks his last resting-place. Within that brick mausoleum lies the coffin that incloses all that was mortal of the man who, exiled from his native land because of wrong-doing in California through which man}^ creditors suffered, was yet able in due time ' to atone for the disaster he had caused and make good the losses of those who had suffered. I know that he often wished that he might return if only for a visit to his native land, and I be- lieve that it was proposed by the California legislature to relieve him from the ban under which he lived an exile. But it failed to do him the justice he deserved or to recognize that he had rio'hted his wrono;s. Without other mishap than the killing of a llama that had imprudently attempted to cross the track ahead of us, Ave sped rapidly downward with the natural force of gravity, and even that was held in constant check by the brakes. Lima was reached in forty minutes from Chosica, and we soon sought re- freshment for our weary limbs after partaking of the hospitali- ties of Henry Meiggs, Jr. Although our stay at Lima was a continuous round of enter- tainment and festivities I was not sorry when the time was set for us to leave. It was early on a Wednesday morning that the mooring; shackles were loosened, the anchors weio-hed, and the engines were started to take us out of harbor on the way to the " Ciudad Principal," the leading city of Chili, Valparaiso. The " spirit of economy " of the Navy Department having decreed that the Government vessels shall not proceed under steam, except in cases of emergency, after making a good offing the fires were hauled, the vessel put under sail and the propeller was hoisted. This gives but slow progress on the Pacific where LIMA. 209 the winds are harcll}' sufficient to give us more than steerage way, and we were thirty days making the run to Valparaiso. The day before reaching the harbor of Valparaiso we sighted the island of Juan Fernandez, sacred to the memory of Robin- son Crusoe, and " his man Friday, who kept things tidy and listened to the yarns his master told." Our captain concluded to run in close enough and to permit some of us to go ashore for an hour just to revive the memories of our boyhood days when we had sat up nights and with the aid of a bottle of liirht- ning bugs had read chapter after chapter of Crusoe's marvelous experiences. Does the boy live, wherever the English tongue is spoken, who has not read a description of this island and pored over the tale of the famous castaway ? It is onl}' necessary to say that Daniel Defoe, or whoever wrote the book, must have studied the place with great attention, or had the island created to suit the picture he gave to it. The little harbor is there, with its rocks and its coves, its nooks and its crannies, just as it was when Robinson Crusoe be- came an involuntary inhabitant of the island. The cave in which he, with Friday and the animals, lived during the rainy season is in good order still ; and the cliffs, up which he and Friday used to chase the mountain o-oats, have not been removed bv earth- quake or tidal wave. The goats are there, and so are the arma- dillos ; the birds of wonderful plumage still remain, and the crawfish mav still be seen amonu" the rocks. I venture to sav that every bov in the United States who has read the storv could go all over the place and feel afterwards that everj'thing re- mained — except Crusoe and the faithful Friday. The island now belongs to Chili, and is leased to a cattle company which has from thirty thousand to fift}- thousand head 210 LniA. of cattle and as many more sheep grazing over the hills. R. Crusoe, Esq. , were he alive would find plenty of associates there, for it is inhaljited l»y half a hundred people — ranchmen with their families under the supervision of a Frenchman. Besides the stock, they raise poultry, and ship chickens and eggs and vegetables also to the Valparaiso markets. There is also a large cpiantity of excellent timber on the island, and no one goes there without bringing awa}^ a cane or two as mementos. The interest in Robinson Crusoe is much stimulated by those who come this way. It is difficult for others to appreciate as did we the fact that we were so near a port where we could obtain fresh provisions. It was on June 23, and we had been seventeen days at sea when the ward-room mess extended its courtesies to our executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Francis Morris (since dead) in honor of his birthday. It could not be expected that after being so long at sea a sumptuous and delectable meal, a la Delmonico, could be served, but our steward, ever ready and competent in any emergency, more than exceeded our anticipations. Our first course was oyster soup ; second course, canned salmon ; third course, canned beef, sausage, canned chicken, mashed potatoes, bread and butter, and last, plum pudding and black coffee. It was a feast fit for — well, for those who love "a life on the ocean wave." But a life on the ocean wave is not of the sentimental expe- rience that some may suppose. The day previous to sighting San Juan Fernandez, the falling barometer, the wind coming out from the northwest, and the overcast sky, gave sufiicient warn- inij" that we were to have some nasty weather. It be^ran to blow scood and stiff soon after sundown, and at 10 P. m. was blowimj' LIMA. 211 a ffoocl a:ale with ca bio; sea. The vessel was bove-to before midnight under a close-reefed foretop-sail and a storm stay-sail. Then the ship began to show some of her best points in rolling " EASE HER OFF, BLOCKLINGF.R ! " and did it successfully. The masts and timbers creaked and groaned, the dishes and bottles were tossed about the ward- room and pantry at every lurch, and the loose articles of furni- ture chased each other about the deck. 212 LIMA. Every room sliowed signs of sad havoc to clothes, books, cards, pictures, etc., all lying in a confused mass upon their floors. Then came the welcome intelligence that the officer of the deck had just brought the vessel up a point to the sea to steady her ; but either he or the sea had made a mistake, for the ship gave one of her worst lunges and longest rolls — and her movements were all extremely bad — and chairs and tables, books and pictures and crockery broke loose once more and began their perambulations about the ward-room. Before the table was secured it went to pieces and one of the leaves landed in my berth. Then a simultaneous shout was raised : " Ease her off that point, Blocklinger ! " And so it went on all that nii^ht and the next dav. We arrived and anchored in the harbor of Valparaiso on the Fourth of Julv, and we almost foro'ot that we were not at home. The day was enthusiastically celebrated by the American resi- dents ; the fireworks were elaborate, and the absence of the nois}^ firecrackers was thankfully noticeable. Valparaiso, or, in English, " Paradise Vale," has been so named not because it is a valley, nor does it come up to man's idea of Eden. It is a city with a fine bay, which the people compare to that of Naples, and to which, indeed, it would bear some resemblance if it had Vesuvius on one side, the ridge of Posilippo and the shore of Mergellina on the other. There is no place on the sea, as we all know, in which ingenious minds do not manage to trace some likeness to the famous Campanian Bay. Many are the times when in sight of Sandy Hook, and the Highlands of Navesink. and Lon^ Island, a strancrer is asked whether the entrance of New York Harbor does not suggest the view from Cape Miseno. LIMA. 213 Valparaiso may be well content with being like itself. Be- hind a spacious quay, and along the few yards of level between the Ijluffs and knolls that rise almost perpendicularly over the town, and the water edge, there run all along the bay two parallel streets, two or three miles in length. And here are the shops and warehouses, the hotels, the banks, and all other buildings connected with trade or government business. These thorough- fares are w^ell paved, have excellent sidewalks, are provided with good Yankee horse-cars, and have a general air of comfort and luxury. Most of the business men, especially the Americans and English, reside with their families ni the 23retty garden-houses or villas with which the overhanging hills are studded, many of them perched on the brow of perpendicular cliffs, propped up and only accessible through winding paths and long and weary flights of steps. The mountains that sweep around the bay are arid and dusty, for the coast here, as every where further north, is a thirsty, burnt-up region. But so wonderful is the purity of the air that on a fine morning or evening, as you look towards the northeast across the bay and over the masts of the shipping, you see the huge masses of the Cordilleras rearing themselves above the landscape. In the rear of all. looms up the snowy range of Aconcagua, at a distance of at least a hundred miles, and at a heiu'ht six or seven times that of Vesuvius. No seaport in the Old or New World is entitled to higher praise for cleanliness, order and decency, than is Valparaiso. It is a Spanish-American city. The French keep the hotels ; the Americans, English and Germans run the banking-houses ; and the Italians, chiefly Genoese, have the general minor trade. The latter 214 LIMA. coiLstitute, here as at Lima, a thriving colony of petty shop-keepers. Tlie Italian colonj' in Valparaiso is, however, not so numerous as the one at Lima, nor is it by any means the largest in Chili. \^ilparaiso is a •• white men's town." Here is to be seen less of that endless muster of clingy complexions, made up of African or Asiatic t^'pes, which saddens a traveler as he cruises among the West Lidies. as he lands at the Isthmus, or proceeds along the Colombian. Ecuadorian and Peruvian coasts. In Chili if this does not altogether cease it at least becomes less obtrusive and less offensive. In the winter season Valparaiso is quite animated and fash- ionable from the influx of a large portion of the population of Santiago, who come here from that seat of government in quest of fresh air and '' city society." Theatrical performances, circus amusements, and the elite of metropolitan and provincial society are then in town, and lend a fresh charm to the home circles, among which female beauty both of the dazzling fair and the piquant brunette type is at no time deficient. The women of Chili are not so pretty as are their sisters of Peru, but they are fair nevertheless. They are generally larger in figure and feature, and have not the dainty feet and supple grace of the Liman belles. Half the ladies are of the Saxon type, and blonde hair looks very graceful where for months one has seen nothino- but midnio;ht tresses. Modern costumes are worn here more generally than in other sections of South Amer- ica, and Paris bonnets are plentiful in all of the shops. But the fascinatino- lace-trimmed black mantua is so common as to be considered the costume of the country. It is becoming to al- most everybody as it hides the defects of homely forms and figures, and heightens the grace and beauty of those already LIMA. 215 attractive. The maiitua makes an old woman look young and coquettish ; a stout woman is made to look more slender and graceful, and a slender person is made fascinating by it. Here and there may be seen women with white flannel skirts and black mantuas. These are penitents — well-intentioned THRESHING IN CHILI. women, who have taken some holy vow to get a measure nearer Heaven, and who hover about the churches and sit for hours saying prayers before some saint or crucifix, looking at nothing and recognizing no one — an advertisement of penitence. Even the wives of bankers and of merchants wander about clothed in 216 LIMA. penitential rol^es, giving notice to the world that they have sinned. And those souls that cannot be purged by this method of advertising their acts of wrong-doing retire to a convent where they scourge themselves with whi[)s, mortify the flesh with sack- cloth and feed themselves upon mouldy crusts. It is seldom that you find men among the penitents, and the largest numbers nuiy always be observed after the society or carnival season, or at the end of the summer when people return from the fashionable resorts. At the beiifinnino; of Lent these places are full. Those whose sins are too great to be washed out by this process are sent to a House of Refuge, or a reforma- tory. It was from one of these convents that "' Prince Harrj' " Meiggs, got his second wife. The whole Chilian territory, though more extensive than that of Italy and the Italian islands, is barely one-third that of either Peru or Bolivia ; and, unlike that of those two other States, it all lies between the Cordillera of the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, and owns not one single inch of that '• Montana," or east- ern slope of the mountains which might supply boundless re- sources of agricultural wealth to Peru and Bolivia. The Chil- ians, as a matter of course, flatter themselves that the wealth accruino; to them from the nitrate districts will never have for them the demoralizinor effects that it had for Peru. Chili became, from an early period, a thriving agricultural community, making more of what she had on one side of the Andes than Peru was able to get out of her boundless possessions on both sides. The trans-Andine districts of Peru could be of little or no practical use till that country had established a thor- ousfh communication between her western and eastern watersheds. The railways intended to open that intercourse exhausted the LIMA. 217 Peruvian treasury, and they are yet and will probably remain for years to come unfinished ; and. in so far, inefficient and un- productive, if not doomed to perish. The heavy outlay occa- sioned by those transversal lines has left nothing for the con- struction of lonyjitudinal lines. These mig-ht and should have favored the intercourse between the hundred valleys on the Pacific side, both along the coast and, what was more important, throusfhout the interior. With better judgment or better fortune. Chili, having no lands and no object to pursue across the Andes, turned all her energies to her own, the western, side of those mountains and scored it with useful and productive lines of longitudinal rail- ways, one of which has a length of one hundred and fifteen miles. CHAPTER XIV. AROUND THE HORN N OT until I had made a long anticipated trip to Santiago, the capital city of the Chilian Republic, did we bid farewell to Valparaiso. I found the climate of the Chilian capital much like that of Washington, where sometimes to feel the grate- ful warmth of a fire is not uncomfortable. There is however an absurd notion among Chilians that fires in houses are not healthful, hence the people spend a portion of the year in a perpetual shiver, and a portion in perpetual perspiration. July and August, it must be remembered, are mid-winter months of South America. Nothing can convince a Chilian that artificial heat is not danojerous to health, and durino- the winter, which is also the rainy season, he depends upon heavy- wraps to keep him warm or in anything approaching comfort. Santiago, like Valparaiso, has its finest shops in the arcade, or portales. They are brilliantly lighted every night till mid- night. The shops are full of the most attractive goods, the most expensive diamonds, jewelry and laces ; and it is a favorite 218 AROUND THE HORN. 219 boast that evervtbino; that can be found in New York or Paris can be purchased in Santiago. Between eight and ten o'clock at night, the shops are crowded with beautiful ladies, and as there always seems to be plenty of money in Chili, and the peo- ple have refined tastes and luxurious habits, the trade must be continuous and large. Many of the private residences are palatial in size and equip- ment, and the toilets of the women are superb. The equipages are equal to those seen in either New York, London or Madrid, and on pleasant afternoons the alameda or public drive is a grand and animated panorama. The alameda is about six hundred feet wide and stretches its full length, a distance of four miles, across the city, extending from Santa Lucia to the Exposition Park and Horticultural Gardens. In the middle of the alameda is a grand promenade, while on either side is the roadway a hundred feet wide. The promenade is lined with statues representing famous men, or commemorating historic events in the career of Chili. Military bands, placed at intervals of a mile or so along the ala- meda, play every afternoon or evening. Fronting the alameda are the finest palaces in the city, magni- ficent dwellings of carved sandstone, between one and two hundred feet square. Residences which cost five hundred thousand dollars to build and a quarter of a million dollars to furnish are common, and there are several which cost much more. One of the most conspicuous examples of extravagance in Chili is the former resi- dence of Henry Meiggs. It was occupied by him before he went to Peru. It stands in the center of a block eight hundred feet square, surrounded by a forest of foliage and a beautiful garden, and cost a mint of money. Every timber, brick and tile in it was imported at an immense expense. 220 AROUND THE HORN. xVnother fanioiisly expensive residence, is a magnificent struC' tiire modelled after a Turkish palace. It was built by an Irish adventurer, named O'Brien, who discovered one of the richest silver mines in Chili, and lived like a prince till his money was all gone. At the time of our visit, O'Brien was said to be again in the mountains building up another fortune. Tn the courtyard of the post-office grounds one is surprised at being con- fronted with marble statues of Washington and Lincoln. Santiago is a handsome city, but blue jackets like us, who must roam over the w^orld to protect what there is left of the American commerce, and the other interests of the country, are not privileged to stop a long time anywhere. Our movements are controlled by the Secretary of the Navy, and as our ship was our house we returned to it, and the following day set sail from delightful Valparaiso. An interesting trip was before us. Our captain informed us that our orders were to go down through Smyth's Channel, a tortuous route with narrow channels, attended with more or less danger, and seldom traversed by large vessels. I do not recall that any American vessel ever navigated it before, excepting the steamer Hassler, in 1872, upon which the late Professor Agassiz made his famous fishins; tour around the world when he g-ath- ered specimens of the finny tribe and studied the origin, forma- tion and disposition of the glaciers. "We had been eighteen days at sea when we sighted Cape Tres Montes ( Three Mountains ). This name is taken from the three high peaks on the point of land that here juts out from the coast. It stands at the entrance to Smyth's Channel. The first few days after leaving Valparaiso, we had a succession of calms, and the observations on the seventh day at sea put us only AROUND THE IIOllN. 221 about a hundred miles to the southward. Then we had a terrifie gale, and with heavy seas the vessel rolled unmercifully and made life in Neptune's arms scarcely worth the living. The sighting of Cape Tres Montes was therefore a welcome deliver- ance, for we at once raised steam and made for harbor. Before 1=-* / jiirfcfe',r :,i'- ^^'^\^ *5 SANTIAGO. night we were lying quietly at anchor in the Harbor of Port Otwav. What a relief to have an all-night's sleep without the fear of being thrown from your berth by the lurching of the ship, and with the privilege of being able to cook breakfast in the morning and eating it in a civilized way. The following morning we weighed anchor and, steaming across the Gulf of Peiias, entered the mouth of the Channel. My first impression of this notable 222 AROUND THE HORN. passage-way was certainly favorable. It was a winding channel, the glassy sniootlmess of which was only broken by the splashing of " steamer " ducks and other inland seabirds. On the main shore, not far from the beach, I observed a quietly browsing herd of guanacos, the Patagonian sheep fi'om whose wool many of our finest sleioh-robes are made. We had already carefully studied our charts, and had become convinced that our journey through this narrow and tortuous channel was not to be absolutely free from danger or of easy navigation ; that it must be made in daylight only ; and as the safe anchorages are from twenty-five to seventy-five miles apart, that, on some days, we could hope to travel the shorter distances only, owing to the fact that the next anchorage might be at too great a distance to be reached before dark on the same day. It had been our captain's intention to make his first anchor- age within a quiet little harbor known as Hail Cove, but circum- stances prevented. It was now August 1, by the calendar, and the first day of the last of the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere ; but, in this latitude, we were deeply impressed with the truth of its being mid-winter on the coast of Patagonia. The tops and sides of the mountains were covered with snow, and there was a cold drizzling rain with now and then an inter- ruption of sleet and hail. It was at this point that we really left the Pacific Ocean and entered the channel. Passing; Sombrero Island we crossed Tarn Bav, and then sighted Hail Cove. We pushed on through a narrow and dan- gerous portion of the channel expecting to reach Island Harbor before sundown. Our progress, however, was aggravatingly slow because of the corroded condition of our old boilers which made it next to impossible to generate steam enough to more than keep AROUND THE HORN. 223 the enci'ines running^. Darkness was comino- on. We could not return to Hail Cove with safety, and it was dangerous to go on to Island Harbor. So we simply kept the engines turning over to stem the current, and held our position abreast of a high peak, an excellent landmark. ^yith such treacherous weather as we had, it was a long and tedious night Daylight was welcomed as it seemed to me I had never welcomed it before. The boilers were in such a worn-out condition, having been in continuous and hard service during and since the Civil War, that I feared they might really give out before we could make harbor, so I stood watch in the engine- room all night in order to see that the pressure of steam was not permitted to fluctuate. When day began to break we pushed on towards Island Harbor. Here we remamed at anchor for nearly twenty-four hours, strengthening b}' patches some of the weakest spots of the boil- ers. Not a ripple disturbed the placid surface of the water and the landscape and waterscape made a spectacle of grandeur. In the background were high, undulating plains or plateaus, frequently intersected by valleys and ravines, or rising into successive or isolated mountains, many of the latter of volcanic origin. The peaks, and sides of the mountains, were covered with snow ; in some of the ravines were huge expanses of glacier, and in others cascades of silvery waters; at the foot or base of the mountains appeared only a sparse vegetation of stunted bushes, and round thistle clumps. The wind in piercing and howling blasts swept almost inces- santly from various quarters. We were thankful enough that we were not being: tossed about at the mercv of the ancrry seas outside, for in this latitude the old Pacific belies its name. At 991 AROUND THE HORN. frequent intervals we espied three or four guanacos bounding over the phiteaus ; along the edge of the channel were seals and sea-otters ; and now and then a sea-lion, whose barkings were any- thing but musical, would bob up his head. At daylight the next morning under a light pressure of steam we started upon an- IN SMYTH S CHANNEL. other stretch, hoping to reach Gray Harbor, fifty-four miles dis- tant. Upon arriving abreast of Connor's Cove, however, a distance of only twenty-six miles, it seemed best to anchor here to make repairs to the boilers. There is nothing really attractive about Connor's Cove, unless it be the mountains at either side. They are of immense proportions and make this spot the safest and most quiet harbor in the channel. At one point, a few miles before reaching Connor's Cove. T PENGLIXS. AROUXD THE TIOIJX. 225 noted a strange rock formation. A bare rock, in outline mneli like that of Anthony's Nose on the Hudson River, opened to view and as we approached it the profile bore a marked resem- blance to the facial outlines of the immortal Washing-ton. It was nearly perfect in lines and proportion. Before again leav- ing- harbor I went ashore to orather ferns and shoot g-ame. We were successful in the former only for no game was to be seen. By daylight the following morning w^e were ready to proceed intending to stop at Gray Harbor, but, upon reaching that point several hours of daylight were still left to us, and we concluded to push on through the English Narrows. This point is the great bugbear to navigators of Smyth's Channel. A strong six-knots current runs through here, and at one half-mile stretch of the ten-mile run there is hardly room enoug-h for a vessel of our size to pass throug-h without g-etting; dangerously near to one shore or the other. We could jump from either side of the vessel to the shore, and the overhanging branches of the trees along the banks swept against our boats at the davits. The captain and navigator were forward direct- ing the movements of the vessel ; two of the quartermasters were in the " chains " on either side and alternating in getting rapid casts of the lead ; two quartermasters were at the helm, to respond quickly to the orders ; the engineer was at the valves of the engines, and every other officer and man was at his post ready to act under instructions in case of emergency. It was an anxious twenty minutes for every person on the vessel. Not the slightest accident occurred, however, and after the great danger was passed the navigator dropped his hands and uttered with great relief and satisfaction a fervent " Thank God ! " The look of anxiety lifted from tlie captain's face, and 226 AHUUM) THE IIOKX. he expressed his coiigratuhitions to both officers and crew for their unswerving attention and fidelity to their duties. At four o'clock in the afternoon we encountered the first ice. It was a large iloe and several small bergs. Fifteen minutes later we anchored in Eden Harbor. Here the space was too limited for the ship to swing in safety, and as we did not care to leave the ship on the rocks a hawser was run from the stern and made fast to a large tree on the shore. There were ducks, penguins and seals in abundance. The scenery about us was grand in the extreme — the mountain tops heavily capped with a snowy mantle ; great high cascades, the fall of whose silvery waters gave forth a roar in their descent like showers of heavy rain ; while the beautiful contrast between a great glacier in a ravine on the right, and the trees that grew at the water-side furnished a striking foreground for our picture. At times the shores were shut in from view by heavy snow- squalls, the flakes so large as to resemble showers of feathers. The main-land for a stretch of a mile or more is a bold massive rock, whose side is almost perpendicular and with an altitude of about two thousand feet above the level of the sea. The follow- ing morning, bright and early, w^e started on another day's jour- ney of fifty-six miles to Puerto Bueno (Good Port). When off Topar Island, looking through Trinidad Channel, we could see the turbulent Pacific with its seas running almost mountain hioh. From Puerto Bueno we made a journey of twenty miles only to Mayne Harbor. After making some more necessary repairs to the boilers — putting on twenty-two soft patches — I went on shore with a half-dozen other officers to gather ferns and mussels. The latter were easilv secured and there was an abundance of them. The AROUND THE HORN. 229 largest of them grew on the rocks under the water, but it was too cold to encourage the dij^ping or plunging an arm's length below the surface to s:et them. We were also fortunate enoug^h to shoot a few ducks, and we saw large flocks of " steamer " ducks, which derive their name from their peculiarity in flying, or rather in propelling themselves, for they do not fly. They move rapidly along above the surface of the water by a paddling motion of their wino-s. leavinoj a wake of foam which resembles, on a small scale, that of a paddle steamer. Our shoot of game furnished us a dinner and breakfast of fresh meat, and our mus- sels served as a palatable first course. Our next day's run was to Isthmus Bay. This was to be our last anchorage in Smyth's Channel. A heavy August snow- storm set in soon after starting, but when it ceased what a grand view set up before us ! Long ranges of mountains from thirteen hundred to five thousand feet in height, clothed in snow with here and there great patches of green foliage, gave us another striking picture. In a few hours we rounded Cape Tamar. Here we left Smyth's Channel ; here we gave our last look upon the Pacific and bade it " Good-bye ! " Just before reaching this point we obtained a good view of the '• Hassler Glacier," in Glacier Bay, named by Professor Agassiz when he was here in 1872 on the Hassler. It has probably existed thousands of years, being added to by the snows, and as it has drifted towards the water has broken oft' into small bergs. We also saw several sea-lions whose barkings were hideous. We also sighted the English steamer Ariel on her way to Valparaiso through Magellan's Strait. Here was an always welcome opportunity to send letters home. So speaking the Ariel we hurriedly made up a mail, went throna:h all the sea-courtesies of an ocean acquaint- 230 AROUND THE HORN. anceship and sent our messages for home on board tlie English steamer. At noon we passed Cape Forward, which is the southernmost point of South America. At this point we changed om- course east-northeast towards the boisterous and inhospitable Atlantic, sailing through the Straits of Magellan. Grand pictures often opened up to view. The land on our left was of undulating slopes of grassy-looking land, with high, bold mountains, their peaks towering above the clouds that gave a backo-round. Glaciers were to be seen in the fiords of the main-land, and we had opportunities for studying fine examples of complete and incomplete glaciers, exhibiting in all their gran- deur that wonderful denuding power which these ponderous masses of ice exercise as they move over their rocky beds. We stopped once or twice during the day to do a little pros- pecting on the shore, where we examined the billets of wood which, nailed upon the trees, recorded the dates of passage of other vessels at that point. Billets such as these have sometimes recorded instances of shipwreck and the suffering of castaways, which succor mio-ht have relieved had it but been at hand. About four o'clock in the afternoon we reached Playa Parda Cove, a beautiful land-locked basin. Here, as at other points in the straits, we found little billets of wood fastened to the trees bordering the shore, and recording the visits of other explorers to these uninhabitable regions. There was also a small box, into which letters are frequently deposited from passing vessels to be collected by the mail steamers passing through. Availing our- selves of this ocean post-office we left a few letters here ad- dressed to our wives or sweethearts. These missives reached their destinations months before our arrival home. AROUND THE HORN. 231 The steamer clucks, which we here found in large numbers, would occasionally fly out from their retreats and cackle vigor- ously as they paddled over the water. As they strung out to the seaward, flapping their wings in imison, there was a sort of wabble in their swimming motion arising from the alternate paddling of their feet. The hills here seem to be more lofty than in any other part of the straits, for they are very narrow, widening perceptibly as we travel towards the Atlantic, thus giv- ing to the scenery a most imposing character. In the bushes, a little back from the beach, I stumbled across a rudely built coffln, the inscription telling me that it contained the remains of a young oflicer of the Chilian frigate Almirante Cochrane. There were numerous foxes and rabbits to be seen, but they traveled faster than our shots, and not being able to shoot any I returned on board. CHAPTER XV. nOMEWAED BOUND. .vJ N the following; mornina: as we were just about weigh- ing anchor to proceed to the Chilian convict settle- ment, known as Sandy Point, two Fuegian canoes were observed approaching our vessel, the natives in them screeching at the top of their voices " Galleta tabac " (biscuit and to- bacco). A green branch was stuck in the bows of each canoe, and in the leading boat stood a native waving a piece of white cloth intended as a flag of truce. We responded amicably to their vociferous shouting, and the natives slowly but warily approached us. These were not the first Fuegians that we had seen, but they were the first we had opportunity of communicating with. There were eight of the natives, in addition to five dosrs, the latter being by far the most respectable portion of our native visitors. A more diabolical cast of countenance than that pre- sented by the savages, for such they really were, would be diffi- cult to imagine. All were naked, with the exception of a very 232 HOMEWARD BOUND. 233 narrow waist-cloth and a .square scrap of seal-skin that covered their shoulders, neither of which offered but little protection from the freezing atmosphere. On a mat of sea-weed, in the stern of the boat, sat a woe- begone creature of a woman steering the boat; on the bottom sat two black little youngsters, as naked as when they were ushered into the world, with big chunks of ice in such close proximity as to suggest that the pickaninnies might be warming themselves by them. These natives in their guttural jargon could only articulate in language to be understood, " Galleta tabac ! " and then point to the chunks of ice, suggesting a desire to exchange. We gave them biscuit and tobacco, and one of the sailors took compassion on the woman and gave her a pair of discarded trousers and a "jumper " (blue sailor's shu^t). One of the natives, with a freak of selfishness peculiar to some men, im- mediately donned them and an hour after they left the ship re- turned and begged for more. Concluding to 'defer continuing our journey till next day, we cordially extended the hospitalities of the Navy Department to our native visitors who scrambled on board and gave us an opportunity of studying their features. My observations led me to believe that these inhabitants of Patagonia bear away the palm as among the most primitive of all the varieties of the human species. They lead a wandering life, constantly shifting in their canoes from place to place, and traveling in families of from eight to a dozen, all of whom stow themselves away in the same canoe and sleep in the same hut. They live almost entirely upon mussels and limpets ; this simple fare being varied occasionally after the capture of a seal, an otter, or a guanaco. During December and January the natives have an abundance of seal meat. 234: lIOMhnVAUI) IJOUND. Those who came on board were similar to all of the Fuegians. They were of low stature, the men averaging only about five feet ill height. Their complexion is of an ochery or copper color ; their heads are large, with broad prominent cheek bones ; they have large and wild-looking eyes, dark and placed close to- gether : large mouths and beautiful teeth ; their limbs are long and bony, their shoulders and chests of good proportion. Their NATIVES OF TERRA DEL KUEGO. hair is black and coarse, but they wear no beard, excepting a few straggling hairs on lip and chin. In spite of the fact that they were almost naked, I discovered that they were sensible to the cold, and I frequently observed their teeth chattering and their bodies shivering from head to foot as the snow or rain pelted over their unprotected skins. Each of the men carried HOMEWARD BOUND. 235 two spears, similar to those used by the Esquimaux. One is for fishing and the other for sealing. While in the cabin the natives chanced to look in the mirror and saw for the first time the reflection of their own faces. At once they exhibited such an inexpressible look of astonishment, that one could not tell whether they were pleased or disappointed with their features. But as there seem to be no degrees of beauty among the Fuegians it is hardly possible that there is any divided opinion among them as to one being handsomer than another. They carried on an incessant and unintelligible jargon which soon grew monotonous. Some brandy was offered to them which one of their number tasted and spat out, where- upon the others deliberately emptied their glasses upon the cabin carpet. And yet there is no temperance society in Terra del Fuego. Soon afterward they left the ship, and then in company of four or five of our officers I followed and landed near the same spot where the natives beached their boat, ^yalking back into the bush we were met by the native men, each armed with a bludgeon, and wearing upon their faces such a determinedly re- pidsive look that we could see we were not welcome. They were inclined to obstruct our approach to their little huts, into which the women had been taken and jealously shut up. The question was : What strategy could we devise to unbend their oppositions ? Bribery ? Yes, a few biscuits and pieces of tobacco won their esteem and we were then conducted to the huts and permitted to examine them and the canoes. The latter were made of roughly hewn planks, the bottom ones being turned up at each end so as to form a flat bow and stern. The planks were secured by lacings of a creeper vine, 236 HOMEWARD BOUND. such as is seen to clinib around the trunks of trees. The seams were caulked with strings of bark ; the oars, or paddles, were rude pieces of wood. On the bottom of the canoe that I exam- ined was a small fire resting on a bed of clay, and near it lay a large piece of seal blubber. The hut, in which the women had been imprisoned, was shaped like a haycock, its skeleton frame being made of the bou(»:hs of vouno; trees, over which were thrown the skins of sea-lions. The interior was bare of furniture, not even the trou- sers and shirt given by one of the sailors being anywhere in sight. And it was the most forbidding human covering that one could imatrine. The features of the women were much like those of the men, and there was little difference in the stature as compared with the sturdy members of the family. Our curiosity was speedily satisfied and we returned to our ship. On the following morning we weighed anchor and proceeded to Punta Arenas (Sandy Point). This is an interesting Chilian settlement, and was established in 1843. Our run here was de- lightfully entertaining, both with the grandeur of scenery, the schools of seals, the barking sea-lions and the large flocks of steamer ducks which we passed. The long ranges of mountains on both shores present an imposing sight, those on the Patago- nian side being the grandest. The highest mountains are es- timated to reach an altitude of seven thousand to eio;ht thousand feet; but, as they are covered with an almost perpetual haze or mist, their peaks are seldom seen. The highest and most impos- ing of the Patagonian peaks is Sarmiento, which seems to rise abruptly from the water at its foot. The landscape panorama was relieved from all possible monotony by numerous blue-tinted glaciers. HOMEWARD BOUND. 237 The town of Sandy Point is interesting because it is the only settlement on the Straits of Magellan. It is the southernmost settlement of the world, and, excepting our ship village, was the first sign of civilization we had seen since leaving Valparaiso. It is about midway between the southernmost city (Valparaiso) on the west coast, and the southernmost city (Buenos Ayres) on the east coast of South America. The town comprises between two and three hundred houses, which shelter from the intermit- tent, m fact, almost ceaseless storms, a community of perhaps a thousand people. These represent all sorts and conditions of men — for there are few women — from the Digger Indian to the f)ure Caucasian. There are convicts, traders, deserters and shipwrecked sailors ; Chilians, Italians, Portuguese, Spaniards, French, wandering Jews, and those of other types and tongues. English or Chilian (Spanish) is most generally spoken, but an interpreter for any language, excepting Fuegian and Esquimau, mav be found here without s^reat search. J o The Chilian Government deserves great credit for its perse- verance in maintaining a settlement in this wild region, notwith- standing the sad fate of the colony which was established by Sar- miento in 1850 in a sma.ll bay westward of Sandy Point, which he named Bahia del Gente (Bay of the People). Eight years later Sarmiento returned to find that the colonists had perished from starvation. After that the bay was named and it has since been called Port Famine. Merchant steamers and war vessels, including the two lines of Pacific coast mail steamers running to Europe, avail themselves of the safer and shorter route through the straits from ocean to ocean ; and, as all of these vessels touch at Sandy Point, the colonists are kept in comparatively frequent communication with other parts of the civilized world. 238 HOMEWARD BOUND. For several years Sandy Point was a penal colony, with a small garrison guarding it ; but, after the mutiny which occurred among the convicts and exiles in 1877, when a greater portion of it was burned to the ground. Chili ceased sending her convicts there. They were employed in working the coal mines. In the only half-dozen hours of quiet weather which we were fortunate to have, we here took on board a hundred tons of coal. Southerly winds prevail which always cause a heavy surf to break along the shore, and, as there is no breakwater to protect the boats from being swamped in attempting to go ashore, com- munication with the town is dangerous so long as these winds continue. Wherever they visit tourists always display an appetite for curios. So here we satiated ours. We bought sea-lion tusks, ostrich feathers, guanaco skins, serpent skins, armadillo tails, ostrich ruiJS made from the breasts of the voung birds and as soft as down, and with plumage more beautiful than that of the eider duck of Greenland. Ostriches are not bred here as in South Africa, but run wild and seem to be dying out. They are hunted by the natives, who, at a distance of two and three hun- dred yards, dexterously lasso them with a bola (two heavy balls on the end of a long rope). The hola revolves in the air, and, upon striking the bird, the momentum it has attained causes the rope to coil about the bird's neck or legs, crippling or tripping it. The following morning we got under way intending to go right out and challenge the blustering Atlantic, but a blinding snow-storm caused us to seek shelter under the lee of Cape Greg- ory where we anchored till the next day. Our anchor had hardly touched bottom than a canoe with a half-dozen Fuegians came alongside and greeted us with the now familiar plaint, " Galleta HOMEWARD BOUND. 239 tabac ! " These natives of Terra del Fuego have acquired the taste of tobacco from the sailors, and are so crazy for it that I believe they would sell themselves to procure it, if they could not get it in any other way. Some of us did profitable trading with the natives, and for a couple of plugs of tobacco and a few biscuit I obtained in ex- change a handsome guanaco robe, one of the rarest of fine skins, which I could have sold in New York for seventy-five dollars. On the following morning we made our final start for the home-waters of the Atlantic Ocean. In a few hours we passed Cape Virgin and sailed out through the east entrance of the Straits of Magellan into the Atlantic. Keeping our course to the eastward till in sight of the Falkland Islands, we then pointed our ship's nose north and towards home. The Falkland Islands lie about two hundred and fifty miles off the coast of Terra del Fuego, and belong to the British Crown. The governor of the islands lives at St. Louis, a small town on the coast with a population of about eight hundred. Here is maintained a coaling station solely for English vessels-of- war. Like Australia, the chief industry of the islands is sheep- raising, and the wool exports are becoming quite large. Nothing else g;rows here because of the barrenness of the soil and the low temperature, but steamers call at the islands about once a month to leave and take uj) the mails, and to leave provisions and take away the wool. After getting clear of the land our engines were stopj)ed, the fires drawn from the boilers and the vessel put under sail. Day after day we sailed along, at times with barely steerage-way ; at others hurriedly taking in all sail to escape the results of a terrific squall ; and at others bowling along under close-reefed 240 HOMEWARD BOUND. topsails, with the wind howling and shrieking through the rig- ging, with the vessel plunging and surging in the heavy seas ; sometimes on our direct course, but too often in an opposite direction. But all these are the experiences of the sailor who is homeward-bound by the longest way round ; and they were the experiences of our thirty days' trip between the Straits of Mauellan and Rio de Janeiro. We had the usual heavy squalls of rain, snow and hail ; and some of them seemed to have been gotten up for our special in- convenience. The hailstones were frequently as large as wal- nuts. There were days, however, but not of frequent occurrence, when we had sunshine. But in the entire thirty days we did not pass a dozen vessels all told, and those we saw were sailing-ves- sels, all under the foreign flag with the exception of one — a California packet, flying from her head the handsome stars and stripes. There is no finer sight than a full-rigged ship heeling over with a fierce supply of wind screeching past her. Her white sails were swelled out like the sides of a balloon, and the sight of her flag dipping three times to us sent a thrill of pride and patriotic fervor through my veins, for there is not a handsomer flag; in the world than our own. When we passed our sea-companion we were about fourteen hundred miles south of Rio de Janeiro. It was September 1, and a cold, blustering March-like day. Two hours later was ob- served an ominous-looking black cloud which threw a solid shadow upon the sea. It came up rapidly, and as experience had taught us that here was quick work required, we sought to shorten all sail before the squall should strike us. The boat- swain's whistle, shrill as it always is, seems to have been given a HOMEWARD BOUND. 241 new force in calling all hands to " shorten sail." The officer of the deck, with his big tnnnpet, alert and experienced after his three years' cruise, bellowed out : " Let go the topgallant hal- liards ! Hands by the fore and mizzen topsail halliards ! Hands AT MESS. b}' the braces ! " Scarcely had the yards come down from aloft by the run, and the sails hauled up to the lower yards, when the squall burst upon us. The old ship leaned down to it under a fores tay-sail, and a tarpaulin used as a storm-sail in the miz- zen-rigging. For a space she laid almost motionless with the 242 IIOMKWAKI) BOUND. smooth water under her lee bubbling and churning half-way up the bulwarks. But now, yielding to the full impulse of the blast, with a long, hissing plunge, she takes the first of the seas, and, like a fleeing gypj^y, rushes forward as though she were the very ' spirit of the storm whose darkness had rolled over her, and whose ravingrs from the rio:2:in2; are deafenino;. What a grand sight is the heaving, snow-like path of the vessel, headed with the squall, which seems to speed along on the wings of it. iVll was flying darkness for a full quarter of an hour as though the tornado had not yet ended ; then the windward darkness light- ened, a streak of blue broke through the clouds, the weight of the wind sensibly diminished, and the vessel was again put under sail. The welcome steady wind which followed the squall sent us bowling merrily along, with each mile made bringing us nearer to our homes and our loved ones whom we had not seen for three long years. Fifteen days more at sea brought us in sight of Lord Hood's nose, that rocky profile which commands the entrance to the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. I found that Rio had not changed any in general appearance since I was there three years before on my outward tiip around the world. At least the changes were so slight as not to be spe- cially noticeable. The feather-flower stores, the Brazilian bug shops, the jewelry shops, the hotels, the Emperor's city palace, all presented the same attractive appearance as when I first saw them ; they were as treacherous to the purse, for a visitor here could never think of returning; home without a collection of dia- monds and bug jewelry and feather flowers for sister or cousins, for sweetheart or wife, or bless them ! the children. HOMEWARD BOUND. 243 Here we found letters from home, some that had been await- ing us for two months. Old in date, but new to us with re- assurances of remembrance and affection from our loved ones. The few necessary repairs were hurried forward, coal was taken in, but the start on our final heat for home was delayed two days to permit the officers to attend a grand reception given by Dom Pedro. The delay was only welcomed because of the social opportunity which it gave to us, an opportunity to again greet one who then seemed to be Brazil's popular sovereign, and an opportunity to engage in the ball-room whirl with some of Rio's lovely and titled daughters. But it was not a welcome m.issive which the mail steamer, that arrived meanwhile, brought from the Secretary of the Navy, ordering a careful survey to be made of some reported rocks off Cape St. Roque, and to locate them correctly on the charts. I had already written home requesting that a plate be set for me at the Thanksgiving table, and I feared I should not be there to empty it, but my fears were needless, as I reached home just in time to help at the feast, and interest all at the gathering with startling sea-stories — all of them, of course, strictly true ! We bade good-bye to Rio de Janeiro a few days before the first of October, and with our " homeward bound " pennant fly- ing, and saluted by the flag-ship Lancaster's band playing " Home, Sweet Home ! " we passed out of the harbor, almost wiping Lord Hood's nose with our pennant as we passed it. In a few hours we had left Cape Frio behind, and were headed homewards. Adverse winds and light breezes made us twenty-four days at sea before reaching Fernando de Noronha, off Cape St. Roque. 244 HOMEWARD BOUND. We were four days locating Las Rocas (the two rocks) and then we again pointed for New York, reaching there without inci- dents of interest two days before Thanksgiving. The vessel was inspected, inventories of stores, etc., taken and turned over to the officers of the Navy Yard, and then the vessel was put out of commission, the officers detached and placed on •' waiting orders." My cruise around the world was over. LIEUTENANT HENRY E. RHOADES. CHAPTER XVL TO THE NORTH FOR RESCUE. Y home-stay- ing was to be but brief. By the custom of the Depart- ment I was en- titled to remain at home for at least a year, but duty was afoot for which I had always yearned. The cry for rescue came from the frozen north where Captain Hall of the Polaris and his companions were impri- soned in the ice. The Juniata was de- tailed in the spring of 1873 to go in search of the castaways and here was my opportunity. From my youth I had read with avidity of the Arctic experi- ences of Sir Hugh Willoughby, of Barentz and Ross, and Parry, of Sir John Franklin and Weyprecht, and our own American explorers — Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, Dr. Isaac I. Hayes and Dr. C. H. Hall. In my most enthusiastic moments I had scarcely dared hope that I should ever have the opportunity to have my name recorded among the Arctic explorers, living or dead. For four hundred years men had been striving to reach the North Pole and had failed. I wanted to go and — succeed! 247 248 TO THE XOKTII FOR RESCUE. The fascination for Arctic researcli was strong within me. I wanted to visit the Pohir seas, the home of icebergs, icefields and glaciers,' of the grand aurora and the midnight suns, and the home of o-reat white bears, seals and the Eskimau. The opportunity to gratify my thirst for Arctic travels came at last when in the year 1873 it was proposed to fit out the United States steamer Juniata to go to the North, in search of the nineteen missing people of the Polaris. Without delay I volunteered for the expedition, and pleaded so hard for permis- sion to go up on this cruise, that in a few days I received my orders from the Secretary of the Navy to report for duty on the Juniata as assistant engineer — not to fathom the unexplored region, not to discover the disturbances to the magnetic needle, but for the noble purpose of rendering succor to the unfortunate remnant of Captain Hall's ill-fated expedition. At the latest tidings received from them in 1872 the cast- aways were reported as drifting about in a disabled vessel some- where among the ice barriers of Smith's Sound, north of Cape York. The Polaris started north in June, 1870. She was in command of Captain C. H. Hall, who died November 8, 1871, and was buried in a stone tomb in Thank God Harbor. Up to the time of his death there had been continual bickerings, because of jealousy regarding superiority to command, between Captain Buddington, the sailing-master, and Captain Tyson, the ice-pilot. Captain Hall lacked the power to discipline, hence serious con- flicts repeatedly occurred which it seemed must eventually end in a disgraceful mutiu}-. It would appear as if an interposition of Providence alone prevented a personal conflict. The vessel drifted helplessly about after the commander's TO THE NORTH FOR RESCUE. 249 death and at last was nipped in the ice and received injuries which made it a question of how long she could be kept afloat. Preparations were made to abandon her. Captain Tyson and a portion of the crew, including Hans Christian, the Eskimau in- terpreter, his wife and two children, and fourteen others were landed on an ice-floe, and a portion of the ship's provisions were landed with them. Suddenly' the ice broke, the ship parted from her moor- mgs and drifted away, and the parties were separated near the seventy-eighth parallel of latitude, about the middle of October, 1872. Tyson and his eighteen companions drifted on the ice- floe for one hundred and ninety-six days, a distance of over twelve hundred miles, and then on April 30, 1873, were rescued bv the sealinc!: steamer Tigress and brought to St. Johns, N. F. From St. Johns they were sent to New York. The Polaris drifted north and went into harbor back of Littleton Island. Houses were built on shore, and the party landed with their records, provisions and instruments. During the winter the Polaris was so badly crushed between two ice- bergs that she sunk. This left Buddington's party without any chance of escape, except by their two small boats and the hope of being picked up by some of the Arctic whalers. The Juniata was fitted out with provisions, etc., for a two years' cruise ; her bows were heavily sheathed with wood and iron for penetrating the ice, and the command was given to Captain D. L. Braine, U. S. N. We left New York for the North on June 24. With us we took a small steam launch, to be used for continuing the search after the vessel had reached the highest point deemed consistent with safety. Among our officers were Lieutenants G. W. De Long and Charles W. Chipp, navigator and 250 TO THE NORTH FOK RESCUE. watch officer respectively, l)otli of whom were afterwards victims of the Jeannette expedition. We were ordered to stop at St. Johns to replenish our supply of coal and provisions. Long before reaching there I grew very anxious to see one of those grim old Arctic mon- sters of which I had read so much, and which have so often driven almost into hysterics Polar travelers who attempted to describe them ; those beauti- ful but grim warders of the pole that have caused the mysterious disappearance of many of our steamers and sailins: vessels, leaving no one to tell the tale. At last our lookout aloft suno; out in a clear and strong voice, " Land ho ! two points on the starboard bow ! " Immediately the engines were slowed down, and in another minute the lookout shouted, " Iceberg about two miles, sharp on the starboard bow ! " At about the same instant the Arctic monster became plainly visible from deck, but the shout of the lookout had caused great commotion ; officers and men came tumbling up from below and went each to his station. Ten minutes later we were abreast of our cold visitor. It was an immense fellow, its table-like top being about sixty feet above the level of the sea, and its length, at the base, fully four hundred feet — a dangerous monster for a ship to strike in a fog. On sighting this big berg we were not more than forty miles G. W. DE LONG. TO THE NORTH FOR RESCUE. 251 from the entrance of St. Johns harbor. An hour later we picked up a pilot, and our first question was : " Have any tid- ings of the Polaris people been received since the Frolic took Tyson and his party to New York? " We had a faint hope that she might have been heard from, but we also hoped that our voyage to the Arctic regions would not be interrupted. Not the least tidings had been received, although several sealers had come in from Baffin's Bay since Tyson's party had been picked up. Arrivins; at St. Johns we had some heavv beaver-clothinsc made up, and laid in a stock of thick and warm under-cloth- ing and strong leather water- proof boots. We also had the bows of the vessel resheathed with stiff plate-iron. To make the steam launch serviceable for the crossing of Melville Bay, after reaching Upernavik, a skeleton frame was put over the screw to protect it from the ice and her bows were heavily sheathed. The bunkers of the vessel were also filled with coal, and a hundred additional tons were stored on deck, as there was no knowino; when or where we might sfet coal in the Arctic, un- less there was some remaining at Disco, left there by the frigate Congress when she convoyed the Polaris to that point. While in St. Johns one of the places visited was the lunatic asylum. Here T experienced an amusing incident. An insane spiritualist. Henry Earle by name, imagined himself the victim CHARLES W. CHIPP. 252 TO THE NORTH FOR rtP:SCUE. of prejudice and imposition ; he claimed that he was imprisoned at the instigation of the " Tek'graphic Cable Company," against which he assumed to have a claim of three million dollars, and a royalty of five thousand pounds a year from England and the same from the United States, for his advice to Cyrus W. Field at the time of the second laying of the cable. He begged me to nitercede on his behalf with President Grant to secure his re- lease, and he handed me the following remarkable communica- tion whicli he asserted had been sent to him from the Spirit woi'ld : " To the Captain and Officers of the United States Steam sloop-of-ioar Juniata : " I am commanded to inform you that the Polaris is in 70° 12' north latitude, and in longitude 45° 10' west.* She will be ready to leave that place on the twelfth of July to proceed to the nearest port where stores are deposited. The divine power will grant you favorable winds so as to spare your fuel. You shall have no difficulty in finding the ship and we advise you to leave this port in eight days from this date. I was communi- cated with heretofore by Captain Hall, who regrets that such a report as poisoning him should have originated in the minds of his countrymen, as he died of heart disease and is very happy in the sixth sphere. I wish you to inform his friends and the public to the same effect, so that the crew of the Polaris who are rescued may enjoy their liberty and citizenship. '• Henry Earle." That the spirits were so seriously in error in their geography was no fault of Mr. Earle ; they had probably departed from * This Nvould place her high and dr)' in the interior of Greenland. TO THE NORTH FOR RESCUE. 253 this world before Greenland's coast was well defined. Earle was a man of superior education, and his gray hair and flowing white beard and sorrowful features enlisted my sympathies. On the morning of July 9, having received our mail from the incoming steamer and been favored with the last letters from home that we could reasonably expect to receive before our re- turn, however long our stay in the Arctic, we weighed anchor and steamed out of the harbor of St. Johns amid the thunder- ing salutes from the forts, the waving of handkerchiefs and the cheers of the populace. Our two ice-pilots. Captain Buddington, uncle to the sailing-master of the Polaris, and Captain Dodge who was with Dr. Hayes' exjDedition, now began their regular duties on watch. There was little relief from the monotony of the fogs, and the days grew longer as we approached the latitude of the mid- night sun and continual winter. We began to meet with small fields of ice soon after we left St. Johns, but we did not mind small things. As we traveled north the ice became thicker and in larger pieces, and we grew more and more careful of our movements. The second day out we fell in with some large bergs. One of these looked much like a stately church with an immense towering steeple. There was not one on board who did not realize a sort of fascination with the slow but perceptible move- ment of those Arctic monsters. There they floated, not a sin- gle one but dozens — looming up before us as we steamed along and extending; miles over the sea. The third morning out a dense fog shut down upon us, and though we crept cautiously along, the danger became a fixed fact when our ice-pilot hailed to change the course at once to 254 TO THE NORTH for rescue. escape an iceberg almost under our bows. The greatest excite- ment and confusion prevailed. The helm was put hard over, the engine stopped and re- versed, and then we saw how narrowly we had escaped the peril of striking either one of two monster bergs. Had our ship been cauyrht between them it could no more have resisted the crush- ino; than could an eg-or-shell in the hand of a man. The only sound that broke the ominous stillness of the broad sea was the occasional crunching and grinding here and there of the bergs coming together, or the reverberations as they broke apart — sending out reports like to distant artillery. These two bergs, that, but a moment before, had threatened to end our very existence, stood as commandingly as the Rock of Gibraltar. But already the warmer latitudes had begun to tell upon them. Pieces of ice crumbled away at the tops and rolled down their sides ; deep rents appeared on their surfaces, and at last, with one great convulsion that seemed to shake the very skies, one of them toppled completely over with a report that was frightful to an Arctic novitiate. In dense fogs, and especially during dark nights, these ice mountains are a constant source of solicitude to the most careful navigator, as contact with one of them is inevitable shipwreck. Sometimes their proximity may be indicated by plunging a sen- sitive thermometer into a bucket of water drawn from the sea, but the farther north one sails this decrease of temperature is not always to be depended upon with any degree of certainty. In the calm succeeding a storm, when there is a heavy sea or swell, timely warning of the approaching iceberg is sometimes given by the low murmur of the surf beating against the berg like the breakers on a lee shore. If an ice pack, a uniformly o z < < < Z TO THE NORTH FOR RESCUE. 257 level field of broken ice, is near, the grinding of the huge ice blocks on the outer edge of the pack adds materially to the din. Such weather as we had was anything but encouraging to our mission to say nothing of the general effect upon our dis- positions. We had fogs and fogs, so that in the daylight we ran slowly, and at night hove-to because of the danger from the bergs, hence our progress was slow. On the fourth day out we sighted Cape Farewell, the southernmost point of Greenland, and laid our course for Fiskenaes, to buy dogs for our sledge journeys. Here and there were fields of ice and numerous ice- bergs which reminded us of our proximity to the Arctic circle. In the distance loomed the hio-h snow-covered land that was in truth '' Greenland's Icy Mountains " — no hymnal myth as sup- posed by some, but grand ranges devoid of all verdure and wrapped in their mantles of eternal snow. These peaks rose, some of them, to an altitude of from two thousand to three thousand feet above the level of the sea, and stood before our eyes a majestic and sublime reality. The appearance of this part of Greenland's coast was very striking, especially to strang- ers to Arctic scenery. The mountains, with their peaks so pointed as scarcely to admit of the snow resting upon their steep and almost precipi- tous sides, were intersected by grand fiords and gorges penetrat- ing for miles into the interior, and formed a magnificent land- scape. The farther north we sailed the more were we impressed with the fact that icebergs have a habit of coming down in nests ; and that they owe their existence to a common parent glacier, or to having once been a single huge mass of ice that a warmer climate and the ever-restless forces of nature have shat- tered into a family. 258 TO THE NORTH fou kescue. Although about seven-eighths of an iceberg is submerged, the remaining one-eighth only being visible, it must not be inferred, as seems too often to be the case where the height has been de- termined, that it extends seven times as. far in dej)th. Besides they are often surrounded by a hazy mist, even on the clearest days, due to the surrounding moisture of their chilly faces ; the effect of this is to make them seem much higher than they really are, a fact which under these circumstances renders estimates of their altitudes particularly unreliable. It was about noon that we were abreast of the little Danish settlement of Fiskenaes. Here on July 3, 1721, Hans Egede landed with wife and children, and began his noble and unselfish labor of Christian love among the Esquimaux. The missionary institutions founded by him and the Moravians have gradually incorporated the whole native population of Greenland into Christian communi- ties. The harbor of Fiskenaes is undefined on the general charts, and having no harbor chart we had to thread our way among icebergs having as a guide only the large chart, which Kane and Hayes had used on their expeditions. A fin-back whale and scores of seals, the latter sporting on the ice-floes, were the only things presented to relieve the monotony of our journey except tlie ever-present and thundering icebergs and the crunching ice-fields. It was here that we grappled with the most perplexing phase of Arctic life that greets the inexperienced explorer, viz. : that of continuous daylight. Not only did we not know when the hour for retiring came, but it was so nearly impossible to sleep that we were obliged to nail something dark over all the open- ings to the room to keep out the light. A quarter of an hour TO THE NORTH FOR RESCUE. 259 after midnight the eastern horizon was grandly picturesque from the reflection of the rising sun, that peeped above the horizon at 2.20 A. M. We were unable to work into the harbor of Fiskenaes be- cause of the thick, impenetrable ice, so the course was changed and the ship's nose directed towards Godhaab. A dense fog VILLAGE OF FISKENAES. soon shut down, and I had just fallen into a sound sleep when 1 was startled hy a sharp and quick ring of the engine-room gong. It was the signal for the engines to be stopped. Simultaneously there was a confused commotion on deck and shrill, quick cries of "Breakers ahead ! " "Icebergs on both bows, close aboard! " " Go astern quickly ! " With a single bound I jumped from my berth to the engine- 260 TO THE NORTH FOR RESCUE. room, and at the same instant ordered my servant to gather my few vakiables (my thick clothing and water-proof boots) and put them in my straps ready in case of necessity to abandon the ship. The prompt responses to the orders from deck saved the vessel from destruction. After the eno;ines had asj^ain been started I went on deck to face the dangers we had defied and to express my opinion regarding them in terms more emphatic than elei>'ant. There on the starboard bow was a huge black rock with the surf breaking over it ; and on the starboard quarter a great stranded iceberg, each not more than a ship's length from us. The vessel's headway had been stopped just in time ; twenty seconds more would have made us a wreck. The fos: lifted almost immediately afterwards, and we found that we were not more than a half-mile from the coast. This was altog:etlier too near for mental comfort, especially to one with a family depen- dent upon him. It often occurred that we were in error as to our position. This however was not due to carelessness nor negligence, but rather to the great deviation of the compass needle, to imperfect charts and unknown currents. CHAPTER XVII. ICEBEKGS AND ESQUIMAUX. A FEW hours after our escape from ship-wreck between an iceberg and an almost submerged rock we had the pleasant experience of a furious gale — if an Arc- tic C3^clone can be thought pleasant. We made harbor in a cove where the high rockv shore shielded us from the violence of the tempest. Here a party of us landed, and with our shot-i^^uns we secured nine eider-ducks ; the meat of these birds was eaten with relish after our long ex- perience with canned foods. In this desert place I stum- bled upon the grave of an infant. It was a rudely-made tomb, in which the body was seen lying on the face of the rock with stones piled up about it. How long it had lain here there was no way of telling, but the features and flesh were as perfect as if the baby had just died, though possibly it had lain there for months. 261 2G2 ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. Here and there were patches of soil with a few spears of grass growing up through them. A quarter of a mile back was a good depth of snow, covering the rocks as far inland as the eye could reach. Fox tracks were numerous, but no foxes could be seen ; and as not the least sign of habitation was anywhere apparent, the country presented a deserted and uninviting ap- pearance. Just after dinner two kayaks, each with its single occupant, paddled alongside, and we hoisted kayaks and Esqui- maux on deck. It was the first kayak I had seen and I examined it minutely. It was the frailest specimen of marine architecture that ever car- ried human freight. One kayak is the same as every other kayak, all being alike in general construction and dimensions. This one was about sixteen feet long, as many inches wide at the beam, tapering with an upward curve to a sharp point at each end and the keel protected by narrow strips of walrus bone. The skeleton of the boat was of light strips of wood, covered with dressed and tanned sealskin sewed together by the native women with the tendon and sinew of the deer, and made very strong. Not a drop of water could find its way through the seams, and the skin itself was absolutely waterproof. The only opening to the boat was a round hole midway between the ends which admits the hunter or paddler as far as the hips. This hole is bound with a wooden rim over which the kayaker laces the lower edge of his water-tight jacket, and thus fastens himself in and keeps the water out. The kayaker propels his novel boat with a single double- bladed oar. about six feet Ions;. This instrument of locomotion is grasped in the middle and dipped alternately into the water to the right and then to the left. The kayak weighs only about ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. 263 thirty pounds and sets as gracefully as a duck upon the water. Long practice is required to manage this Greenland canoe, and no slack-rope dancer ever needed more steady nerve and skill of balance than does this same kayaker. Yet, hi this frail craft he does not hesitate to ride seas which would swamp an ordinary boat, or to break through surf which may sweep completely over him. But, being used to all kinds of weather and every hard- ship, in spite of all adversaries he manages to keep himself upright. These two kayakers were dressed as are all Greenlanders — in sealskin from head to foot. This was not however the skin of tJie fur-seal such as our fashionable ladies wear in the me- tropolis, but of the hair-seal — the only species that abounds in Greenland waters. As our Esquimau visitors knew no English, and as our Esquimau education had unfortunately been neg- lected our communication was neither brilliant nor entertaining. Our captain wrote a letter to the Danish governor, or rather to the agent of the Greenland Trading Company, as are all the supervisors of the Greenland settlements, and sent it by one of the kavakers who darted off at a rate of not less than eitj^ht miles an hour. The other remained on board. Early on the following morning a large number of kayaks swarmed about the ship, and each occupant had with him fish and sealskin clothing which he wished to exchange for tobacco, underclothing or money. One fellow amused us by turning himself and kayak a complete revolution in the water, and recovering his equilibrium each time. We weighed anchor and in a few hours w^ere lying oft" Suk- ker-toppen, or the Sugar-loaf, where a hundred or more natives, men, women and children, had assembhid on the rocks and 26-t ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. were shouting '' Kiiiio ! Kiiiio ' " (Welcome ! Welcome ! ) We were unable to get any dogs here so we amused ourselves with a tour of observation through the settlement, buying little bits of native handiwork — kayak models, sealskin money bags, etc. In the evening a reception was given in our honor by the natives, and we found it both novel and convenient to dance with women whose costumes neither trailed upon the floor, nor fell away on the neck, nor were curtailed on the arms from above vaccination mark. The women's dress differs but little from that of the men. The women wear breeches, the men trousers; the women's boots come up above the knees, while those of the men do not go much above the calf of the legs. The women's clothing is more finely wrought, and is ornamented with trimmings and lacings of Ijright-colored skins. The women also dress their hair by comb- ing it up from the front and back and sides to the top of the head into a sort of horn-shape, standing straight up, with a strip of colored cloth or ribbon banded around it. A piece of blue cloth or ribl3on indicates that the woman is married ; a black piece indicates that she is a widow ; a red piece that she is a maiden. The following day we proceeded to Holsteinborg, ninety miles from Sukker-toppen. This is a settlement of about one hun- dred and fifty Esquimaux and the most dirty and vermin-covered people I have ever seen in Greenland. A Danish brig was lying here, about to sail for Copenhagen. As this was an opportunity for sending mail home we spent some time writing letters know- ing that they would be gladly received in spite of the fact that they would be from four to six months old when opened. We were detained at Holsteinborg by a fog, denser and even worse ^^■■■■IRiHilim i ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. 265 than a London fog, if one can be worse. It entailed upon us an aggravating delay of three days before we could start for God- havn, a settlement on Disco Island, of about the same population as Holsteinborg;. It was at Godhavn that the United States frigate Congress ESQUIMAU AND HIS SEAL-DOG. came with coal and provisions for the Polaris. The most of this extra fuel we found intact in the storehouse. Our route from Holsteinborg, and even at the very entrance of Godhavn Harbor, was obstructed by numerous icebergs of every fantastic form and shape. It was here that we saw for the first tim^e the midnio-ht sun. 266 ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. The novelty of a seemingly endless day, experienced for the first time, sadly interfered with our natural rest and sleep. Long past midnight and giving no thought to passing time, sounds of mirth and music from our improvised ballroom in the storehouse were wafted off to the ship. At Godhavn we found the Esquimaux similar in feature, dress, and stature as in other places, but more strongly odorous. There is no word in the English, Esquimau, or any other language that I ever understood, which could describe this Polar perfume. The natives are a most jovial, merry-hearted band of savages; laugh- ing heartily at everj^thing that had the appearance of a joke, and imposing more work upon the muscles that held up the corners of their mouths into a chronic grin, than upon any other in their lazy bodies. It was here that I first saw the oomiak, or woman's boat. It was a sealskin scow, made of a light frame of wood over which, when quite green, the skins were drawn ; and the seams stitched together as in the kayak. We remained a week at Godhavn before we started for Upernavik, the northernmost point to which our vessel had been authorized to go. From Upernavik further search for the Polaris people was to be made by a selected crew in the steam launch, Little Juniata, under command of Lieutenant De Long. The interval of our stay at Godhavn was spent in various ways : rambling through the ravines, climbing over the glaciers, scaling the mountains in search of game, or going down the coast on hunt- ing expeditions. Here also we had our first experience with the Arctic mosquitoes. You may talk about Florida and New Jersey mosquitoes ! Why, they are not for a moment to be compared with those we found, or, rather, to those that found us at God- ICEBEEGS AXD ESQUIMAUX. 267 liavn and Upernavik. They were as thick as raindrops durino- the rainy season on the Pacific coast, and when once they had fastened tlieir nippers upon us and got in their fine work — oh, what misery I They attacked us in armies, but their bites stung only for the moment as they seemed to leave no poison. And thev were immense fellows ! On the north side of the harbor are the Lyngenmarkfjeld, a range of mountains about two thousand feet in height. From the summit of one peak, which I reached after a tedious climb through ravines and over glaciers, a glorious picture was presented before me. At my feet lay the picturesque settlement of God- havn, with the Juniata, resembling a toy ship, lying snugly at anchor in the harbor. Outside the harbor the sea was blocked with numberless icebergs. From where I stood I counted seven hundred and thirty bergs dotting the placid sea ; and beyond stretched the great ice fiord of Jacobshavn, flanked by its gigan- tic discharging glacier, and with the mouth of the fiord almost choked with huui:e iceber2:s. At brief intervals a rolling thunder, as of distant artillery, told us of the disruption of one of those great bergs. They were of so many different shapes as to make a magnificent panorama. One resembled the capitol at Washington, with its dome almost perfect, but minus the Goddess of Liberty with her back to the city. Others were in the shape of castles, cathedrals, arched bridges, etc. Remarkable as it may seem, I found at this altitude consider- able veo;etation. Most of it was what is known as the rock willow, and grew in soil of only three or fo-ur inches' depth. I observed that the Esquimaux utilize this growth by cutting it into small blocks of peat in the summer-time and piling it up into 268 ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. mounds to dry out. It is then saturated with seal oil and used as fuel. Upon my return to the vessel, I sat down to dinner, after which and a siesta with an Havana cigar — made in Canada and purchased at St. Johns ! — I went ashore to enjoy our regular evening dance with the Esquimau maidens. The waltz and polka steps of the Esquimau women were in good time to the music and quickly acquired. The baUroom was the cooper-shop, a room about fifteen feet square, and its decora- tions the tools of the carpenter and pieces of wood. Except when dancing, the women stood on one side of the room, and the men on the other ; and the instant the music stopped the women would rush back to their places. Here was no retiring to a quiet corner for an innocent flirtation, no stepping upon the useless trains of dresses. In their simple, and I must say, modest costume, the Esqui- maux appear a happy and contented lot. They are a people who live from hand to mouth on the product of the winter's hunting ; some of this they dispose of to the Greenland Fur Company, which is not over liberal in remunerating tlie Greenlander. This Company keeps and sells hard rye biscuit, rice, and some other provisions to the Esquimaux, and a meal of "hard-tack" and "salt-junk" (corned beef) would be a feast to them. Their turf-built hut is roofed over with drift-wood, or skins. It is a hovel with a single room ten or twelve feet square ; a small window is cut on one side to admit a scanty ray of light, and a long tunnel-shaped entry opens into the hut by a skin door. Here they eat, drink, and lodge. Upon first landing at the shore the men meet you with a ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. 271 respectful bow and a broad grin ; next, the women with their infants on their backs ; and mingled in with the crowd are the children and dogs, howling in unison and evidently trying to compete with each other in making a noise. What greets one most strikingly perhaps, is the odor which rises from the slabs of drying seal meat, or from the vapor sent off from the pots of boiling seal-blubber, seal oil, or offal ; and yet these people live happily without annoying any one, and would hardly think of exchanging their abode for any other home. The conveniences of these people for life comforts are not numerous. A half-dozen sealskins constitute both mattress and comfortables for two persons ; or a dog-skin bag will do for one. An iron pot does duty as a stove, in which the Esquimaux burn peat saturated with seal-oil ; a couple of pots for boiling rice and other foods serve all the purposes for cooking ; a rude lamp made from a dish of oil with dried moss for wicking, answers the purposes of a light through the long winter night. Each family has its half-dozen dogs, a sledge and a kayak ; an old musket, a couple of lances or harpoons, materials and implements for repairing clothes, fishing-lines, and, to ray great surprise, each hut had its time-piece — an American clock. Aside from the Governor, who is the agent for the Fur Com- pany as well, the principal person is the schoolmaster, a man part Dane and part Esquimau. He also fills the place of priest and carpenter. His hut, similar to the others, furnishes a home for himself, his wife and his five children. We often had opportunities to observe the grand effect of the Arctic mirage. Jacobshavn, forty-eight miles distant, and numerous icebergs seemed to be suspended or floating above the horizon in bold relief. One berg with a pinnacle at one end, had 27- ICEBKIUJS AND KSC^UIMAUX. the appearance of the steeple of a stately church ; -when in- verted by the mirage it presented the appearance of two churches, one balancing itself by its steeple upon the steeple of the other. After having several suits of sealskin clothing made up, and purchasing a lot of dogs, we started for Upernavik. Our depart- ure was attended with sadness on the part of the Esquimaux. The men stood on the rocks waving adieu with sealskins, and the women shed tears. What wicked civilized creatures we seemed to thus have broken the hearts of any of these Arctic maidens ! To add to the pleasing state of the vessel we had twenty-four Esquimau dogs coralled in a pen on deck to be used on our prospective sledge journeys. Such a howling lot as they were ! No sooner did we get them into their pen than a regular battle ensued, and for some days we were compelled to tie up a few of the most pugnacious in order to seciu^e anything like peace. This incessant dog fight continued until we had gained the acknowledged supremacy by thrashing the whole pack. This state of things happens in all badly-regulated dog com- munities, and there is always a " king " dog, one who must con- quer all the others, after which he may rule his subjects with despotic sway, frequently settling a quarrel between a couple of pugilistic disputants, and reserving for himself the best of every- thing in the shape of food. The other dogs yield their tid-bits with cringing servility, the conqueror exerting a complete mas- tery over his canine subjects, and exacting from them the most abject homage. To take charge of such an unruly pack we ob- tained the services of an expert Esquimau driver, who, with his kayak and long-lashed whip, lived with the pack forward. The whip is the main feature in dog government as well as dog- driving, and its use would no doubt rouse all the charitable ICEBERGS AND ESQUIMAUX. 273 instinct — for clogs — of the late renowned Henry Bergh. To be a good driver of Esquimau dogs it is necessary to be able to use the implement of discipline in a dexterous manner. The whip-lash is a thong of sealskin about twenty feet long, attached to a short handle no more than two feet in length. In the hands of an experienced driver it is a formidable weapon, and the dogs often receive severe punishment from it. They are guided solely by it. A very annoying and distressing piece of work connected with dog-sledging is disentangling the lines, which in a short time become in a grievously entangled state from the constant dodging about of the dogs ; and this, it must be remembered, has to be done with hands encased in thick woolen mitts. To bare one's hands in the Arctic would ensure serious frostbite. In consequence of the great amount of dog food that has of necessity to be carried, it is almost impossible to use the dogs for long journeys to the northward. The Esquimau dogs are usually voracious ; they are nlways hungry ! Nothing in the shape of fresh meat or of skin is safe from their insatiable appe- tites ; even the thongs that are used for lashing the di;fferent parts of a sledge together, unless they have been well rubbed over with tar, are unsafe when dogs are around and will most assuredly be gnawed off. We had also with us a couple of large sledges for long iournevs and bulky freiuht ; but I never had but two sledo^ins; expeditions in the Arctic, and these were, happily, short. Those who stay at liome at ease have little or no idea of what sledge traveling in the Arctic really is. We often see pictures of trav- elers on sledges, comfortably wrapped in blanket shawls and furs, and drawn by dogs or reindeer gayly caparisoned, their bells 274 ICEBKKG.S AND ESQUIMAUX. jingling as they dash along at a rapid pace over a smooth plain of snow and ice ; and after the day is finished a large fire is built, when salmon and venison provide a sumptuous meal. And then tlie travelers ensconce themselves in a nice, warm snow- house. This is the fiction ; the fact is a much sterner picture. But it is a novel sensation nevertheless to go dashing along on the dog-drawn Greenland sledges, exploring a perfectly un- known country, a wild and barren tract of land, or rather of rock; riding over a snow-covered expanse, receding from the coast in long undulations into the interior until lost among the conically-shaped hills of from one thousand to two thousand feet in lieio;ht, that invariablv form the chief features of Arctic scenery in these high latitudes. CHAPTER XVIII ON TO UPEKNAVIK. OUR run to Uper- navik was a continued skirmi.sh with the icebergs. The farther north we went they became more numerous and of more gigantic pro- port ion s. One in sight, not more than a mile away, was like an immense flat- topped mountain, and, cut through it from side to side, a perfect archway. Soon afterward we ran within three hundred feet of an immense table berir, its roof towering: a hundred feet above the tops of our masts, thus making it in the neighborhood of three hundred feet above the sea's surface. Hence, there may have been a depth of twenty-one hundred feet below, on the prin- ciple that seven-eighths of the bulk of ice is submerged. Early on the morning of July 30, we were startled by the cry of the lookout in the crow's nest aloft : " Land ho ! close aboard ! " The engines were stopped and reversed, all hands were called to quarters, the anchors cast from the catheads, the 275 276 ON TO UrEKXAVIK. cables cleared for running, and the next instant the officer-of-the- deck shouted through his trunijoet, " Let go the port anchor! let go ! " After running out about sixty fathoms of chain (tliree hundred and sixty feet) without getting bottom, we feared our bold rock ahead might prove to be an iceberg in the middle of the sound. But after twenty fathoms more of chain were run out the anchor took bottom. Then we let go the starboard anchor to be doubly sure of holding. After eight hours' delay the fog lifted and we realized from the bold, lofty Gibraltar- looking rock, that faced us how barely we had escaped shijDwreck from running into it. But, fortunately, we had anchored about six hundred feet from the shore in a little bay with bold rocky cliffs on three sides of us. Our getting in so dangerously close to the land was due to the great variation between the magnetic needle and the true north, the variation being about eiglitj^ degrees and affected largely by local polarization. We were about twelve miles south of Upernavik to which place we steamed and came to anchor. The little bay of Upernavik was so limited in its accommodations that it was necessary to moor the vessel bow and stern by run- ning hawsers out to either shore. This served to keep the ice- bergs from floating down upon us, as well as to keep the vessel from swino'ingj hei- ends on the rocks. One laro;e berg: floated CD