$s 
 
 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Accession 1... 0.0.1.44 
 
 I ."< 
 
i!P^iiI 
 
 VUu V \V IJ->V V /!> V V V\- - Lmi; 
 
 SSas WI PB 
 
 I v \ i\ /l/H ;w,i / .11 w w v 
 
 vw; r v 
 
 
 
 
 
4 
 
MULTUM IN PARVO. 
 
JHIV1ES BHXCHEUDER. 
 
MULTUM IN PARVO. 
 
 NOTES FROM THE 
 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS 
 
 -OF- 
 
 JAMES BATCHELDER, 
 
 A Retired Locomotive Engineer. 
 
 By JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO : 
 
 PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO. 
 1892. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 HE object of this work is to give 
 my friends a slight knowledge of 
 the places I visited during my trav 
 els in different parts of the world. 
 To give a full description of every 
 place would make too large a book, 
 so I shall confine myself to de 
 scribing some of the most important sights to be 
 seen along the various routes taken. 
 
 My first trip of any great note after starting on 
 my travels was to Alaska, in 1882. The next 
 was a trip around the world, in 1883. During the 
 year of 1884 I made five separate and distinct 
 trips in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, 
 
 100144 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 and have recorded them as such in this work. I 
 spent the year of 1885 in different towns in Cali 
 fornia, and have also spoken of them in these 
 pages. In 1886 I took a trip to the Yellowstone 
 National Park. During 1887 I traveled in South 
 ern California, and in 1888 I visited South and 
 Central America. I made no journey of any im 
 portance during 1889, but in 1890 I made a sec 
 ond voyage around the world. 
 
 All of these trips were accomplished with a 
 great deal of pleasure to myself, and I have put 
 them in writing, with no attempt at literary style, 
 but in a straightforward and sincere manner, 
 without any intention of having it published for 
 sale or for circulation to any extent merely for 
 the gratification of myself and a few of my most 
 intimate friends and relatives. 
 
 I need scarcely say that, for me, it brings 
 back incidents of foreign travel, recalls the place 
 and circumstances, and opens long vistas of de 
 li ghtful memories. 
 
 It may not be out of place to state to others 
 who may chance to read this that my life, from 
 
I UK FACE. 
 
 VI 1 
 
 boyhood up to the time I commenced my travels, 
 was spent at hard labor. I have had no advan 
 tages in the art of wielding words and phrases, so 
 must give as my excuse for errors that may occur, 
 my lack of experience in literary composition, 
 and hope due allowance will be made for them 
 
L 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE. 
 
 I. MY TRIP TO ALASKA 19 
 
 II. MY TRIP AROUND THE WORLD 28 
 
 III. CONTINUATION OF A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD . 56 
 
 IV. CONCLUSION OF A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD . . 87 
 V. A TRIP ACROSS THE CONTINENT FROM CALIFOR 
 NIA TO MASSACHUSETTS 115 
 
 VI. A TRIP TO MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE . . 127 
 VII. A TRIP TO THE NORTHERN PART OF NEW HAMP 
 SHIRE 135 
 
 VIII. A TRIP TO CANADA AND THE LAKES .... 139 
 IX. A TRIP THROUGH THE SOUTHERN STATES AND 
 
 MEXICO 145 
 
 X. SHORT TRIPS IN CALIFORNIA 156 
 
 XI. A TRIP TO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK . . 160 
 
 XII. A TRIP TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA .... 185 
 
 XIII. A TRIP TO SOUTH AMERICA 205 
 
 XIV. A SECOND TRIP AROUND THE WORLD . . . 243 
 XV. CONTINUATION OF SECOND TRIP AROUND THE 
 
 WORLD 274 
 
 XVI. CONCLUSION OF SECOND TRIP AROUND THE WORLD 306 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 NOTES FROM THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 WAS born November 6, 1828, in the town of 
 Warren, Graftoii County, New Hampshire. 
 My parents, like most good, honest New 
 England country people, were not overburdened 
 with "this world s possessions; but by bard work, 
 they managed to get a good living from the prod 
 ucts of a farm, situated about two miles from 
 the village school, where I received as much edu 
 cation as I was capable of taking until I was ten 
 years old. 
 
 About that time my father was instantly killed 
 by the falling of the limb of a tree which be 
 was cutting, it having struck him on the head. 
 This was very hard for my mother, as she had a 
 large family of children, consisting of six boys 
 and two girls. Fortunately, two of the boys were 
 nearly young men and able to take care of the 
 farm. 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As the care of the family devolved upon them, 
 I came to the conclusion that I would find some 
 place where I could take care of myself. So, at 
 the early age of ten years, I commenced the bat 
 tles of life, and have been as prosperous ever since 
 as anyone could expect to be under the circum 
 stances. Thanks to kind Providence. 
 
 On leaving home the extent of my baggage 
 was a few changes of linen tied up in a handker 
 chief, which I carried under my arm. This bun 
 dle, together with the suit of homespun I had on, 
 comprised the full extent of my worldly goods. 
 
 My mother accompanied me about a mile on 
 my way, giving me good advice the while. Then, 
 with tears in her eyes, she gave me a kiss and 
 her parting blessing, leaving me with the in 
 junction that I must be a good boy and come to 
 see her as often as I could. 
 
 I have faithfully tried to follow her good ad 
 vice by living an honest, upright life, and have 
 often held out a helping hand to those who found 
 themselves unequal to the struggle on life s jour 
 ney. By hard work and prudence, I have accu 
 mulated a competence that has enabled me to in 
 dulge in my life s dream of traveling. 
 
 Many years have passed since then, and I am 
 an old man now; but that parting scene is as 
 fresh in my memory as though it were but yester 
 day; and should I live a thousand years, I will 
 always remember it. Poor woman! She never 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 had any too much of this world s goods, but I 
 hope she is happy now and receiving her reward 
 for the trials and troubles she had to endure 
 while battling witli the cares of this life. She 
 died about twenty years ago. 
 
 After taking my leave of her I dried my eyes, 
 and, with a sad heart, I walked on till I reached 
 the town of Wentworth, where I found a home 
 with a family named Keyser, my wages being 
 my board and clothing with three months school 
 ing each winter. The rest of the year I had to 
 work hard, so I had no time to keep up my studies, 
 and what little I learned in one winter was 
 nearly forgotten before the next school term be 
 gan. This was the only chance I had in my 
 youth to get an education. It is far different with 
 young boys nowadays. I stayed at Wentworth 
 about five years, and then my desire to travel 
 and see some of the world began. I took my 
 first pleasure trip at this time, and, although a 
 short one, it was none the less interesting. I 
 started on foot to visit an uncle of mine, who 
 lived -in Burlington, Vermont, about one hundred 
 miles away. I would walk each day as far as I 
 could, and when night came I would stop at some 
 farmhouse, and ask to be kept overnight, which 
 request was never refused. After staying with 
 my uncle about three weeks, I returned in the 
 same way to Wentworth, where I found a posi 
 tion in a hotel, which I held for two years. 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I then tried several occupations, such as driving 
 team, working at stone work, and learning the 
 blacksmith trade. But I was not satisfied with 
 any of this work, and after a short time found a 
 position as fireman on a locomotive on the New 
 Hampshire Northern Railway. This was in 1848, 
 when I was twenty years old. I served as fireman 
 two years, during which time I was badly hurt in a 
 collision of two trains near Grafton Center, which 
 came very nearly making a cripple of me for life; 
 but, fortunately, I recovered entirely from the ef 
 fects of it, and will state here that, during my 
 thirty-five years on a locomotive, I have never 
 lost any time on account of sickness, nor have 
 I received any other than the above-mentioned 
 injury on a railway. And I was never discharged 
 from any position I ever held, either on a railroad 
 or elsewhere. At the end of two years as fireman, 
 I was promoted to the position of engineer, in 
 which capacity I served three years on that road. 
 
 I then went to Illinois, where I found employ 
 ment on the Burlington and Quincy Railroad, 
 running the mail train from Chicago to Mendota, 
 and from Aurora to Galesburg. In 1858, after a 
 stay of five years on that road, on account of the 
 long, cold, snowy winters, together with my rov 
 ing disposition, I left there and came to California 
 with the intention of engaging in mining, but 
 not finding it a paying business after trying it a 
 short time, I started out to find some other em- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 ployment. Leaving the mines, I went to Sacra 
 mento ; not finding anything there to engage in, 
 I went to Napa City, where I found a man who 
 wanted an engineer to run an engine in a sawmill 
 in the redwoods some five miles from Napa. He 
 said he had been imposed upon by men who 
 called themselves engineers, but whom he found, 
 after trying, were not what they represented 
 themselves to be. He engaged me at $75 per 
 month and board. I found the engine in a bad 
 condition, but soon put it in working order, and 
 remained there ten months, then went to San 
 Francisco, where I found a position as engineer on 
 a sand train taking the sand from a large hill 
 on Market Street between Third and Fourth to 
 fill in the low land at the foot of Market Street. 
 After the sand hill was removed, a passenger 
 train was run to the old Mission Dolores, and I 
 was in charge of the first engine on that road, 
 and held the position until 1863, when a local 
 railroad was built in Oakland connecting with 
 steamers at the end of a long wharf for San 
 Francisco. I was the first engineer engaged on 
 this road, and served until 1883, making twenty 
 years of steady employment. During these 
 twenty years I took several trips to different parts 
 of California, taking in Los Angeles, Riverside, 
 San Bernardino, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Yosem- 
 ite Vallgy, the Geysers, and Lake Tahoe. I also 
 visited certain places in Nevada. 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I met with an accident while out driving, which 
 came very nearly heing a serious one. The horse 
 got frightened by a threshing machine, and gave 
 a leap into a ditch which we were passing, upset 
 ting the carriage and breaking my collar bone. 
 My young lady companion and the horse fortu 
 nately escaped uninjured. The affair caused con 
 siderable merriment among my intimate friends, 
 who frequently made the remark that I could 
 run a locomotive but could not run a mustang. 
 
 During the last year of my service on this road, 
 I took a trip to Alaska on the steamship Decota. 
 This was an excursion of about one hundred 
 tourists. The trip (of which I will give a full 
 description later on) was greatly enjoyed by all. 
 Soon after this I left the employ of the railroad 
 company, having by prudence and industry ac 
 quired a sufficient amount of capital to enable 
 me to gratify my lifelong desire to travel. I will 
 try to give my friends a faint description of places 
 I have already visited, hoping that some day 
 they will have the opportunity of taking the 
 same trips themselves. 
 
 From the time I came to California, in 1858, I 
 had never seen any of my relatives until my re 
 turn there in 1883, while on my tour around the 
 world, making a separation of twenty-five years. 
 Upon my arrival at the town where I was born 
 and spent my boyhood s days, I started to walk 
 to my old home, where my brother stiH resides. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 As I walked through the village, I felt very sad. 
 My mother had died since I had left there, and 
 no one remembered me. I saw not one in the 
 place whom I looked upon as a friend, but the 
 place had not changed much, as nearly as I could 
 remember. People sat upon their porches the 
 same as of yore; the same flowers seemed to 
 bloom in the gardens; the same loungers to 
 stand about the tavern door; the same young 
 men and girls to hang on the garden gates. I 
 could scarcely realize that some of them might 
 be sons and daughters of those I had known 
 twenty-five years before. There stood the old 
 church that I used to attend when a boy. Well 
 do I remember the funeral services of my father 
 being held there some forty-five years ago. It 
 seems to have undergone but little change since 
 then. The same churchyard has been receiving 
 constant additions, some whom I had known in 
 my boyhood having been laid away in that final 
 resting place. My father and sister were laid 
 there many long years ago. On arriving at the 
 old farm, there stood the same old house and 
 barn, the same old orchard, on which the hand 
 of time had left its mark; and the same brook 
 went rippling by over its pebbly bed, with its 
 large rocks here and there that I used to play 
 upon when a boy. As I gazed upon all these 
 familiar scenes, I could almost fancy myself a 
 boy again. But the people! Alas, what a change 
 2 
 
XVI II INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I found in them! My brother had grown old, and 
 looked feeble and careworn, and soon will have to 
 take his place with those who have gone before. 
 His children had grown to be young men and 
 women, some of whom were unborn when last I 
 saw him. As I stood looking at them, and the 
 changes they had undergone, I was made to real 
 ize that I, too, have turned the bend, and am on 
 the road to that final home to which we all must 
 go sooner or later. 
 
 " For with equal pace 
 
 Impartial fate 
 Knocks both at the palace 
 And the garden gate." 
 
 In conclusion I will state that I have never 
 married, and have never had a home that I could 
 call my own since I left my boyhood s home. 
 Nor have I since known much about the comforts 
 of a home or the influence of a woman s loving 
 heart or guiding hand. But I can often bring to 
 mind some act of kindness or something that was 
 said to cheer me, or some slight or coldness by 
 some who were too thoughtless to remember that 
 they had ever been children. And should I live 
 a thousand years, any slight or kindness that has 
 ever been shown me by those with whom it was 
 my lot to associate, will never be forgotten. 
 
e 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MY TRIP TO ALASKA. 
 
 LIvFT San Francisco 
 toward the last of July, 
 1882, arriving at Victo 
 ria, British Columbia, 
 after traveling two days 
 and a half by steamer 
 along the coast of California and 
 Oregon. 
 
 Victoria, is a city of about 
 thirty thousand inhabitants, and 
 is located on Vancouver Island. 
 It is a sleepy place, and thor 
 oughly English, but picturesque in every detail, 
 having a commanding view of the Straits of Fuca 
 and the far-away heights of British Columbia, also 
 of the snowy mountain peaks of Washington. 
 
 Alaska is quite an unknown country to a great 
 many. It has been under the control of the 
 
 (19) 
 
20 LIFK AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 American Government since 18lV7. Its scenery 
 rivals in grandeur and beauty that of Switzerland, 
 Norway, and Sweden; but how few are aware of 
 it. It has the largest glaciers in the world. The 
 territory of Alaska was purchased from Russia in 
 1807 for $7,200,000, and has an area of five hun 
 dred and eighty thousand one hundred and 
 seven square miles. It is equal in size to all of the 
 Tinted States east of the Mississippi River, and 
 north of Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. 
 Its coast, including the islands if taken in a 
 straight line, would belt the globe. 
 
 On leaving Victoria we went to Nanaimo, and 
 then to Departure Bay, some three miles from the 
 latter place, where we spent three days coaling 
 up the ship. This gave us an opportunity to 
 visit the coal mines located about five miles in 
 land. They are very extensive, and the coal is of 
 a fine quality. A narrow-gauge railway connects 
 the mine with Nanaimo. While there we enjoyed 
 an old-fashioned "down East" clam bake. The 
 captain hired Indians to get the clams for us, and 
 bread, pies, cake, and wine were provided from 
 the ship. We also got up a fishing party one 
 afternoon, and went out in small boats; but as 
 the fish would not bite, we exploded dynamite 
 cartridges in the water, which stunned them and 
 brought them to the surface in good quantities. 
 
 In the evening we had a dance in the Nanaimo 
 hall, and returned to the ship in the wee small 
 
JAMKS BATCHKLDKIJ. 21 
 
 hours of the morning. The music was furnished 
 by the military band of Fort Vancouver, which 
 accompanied us on our trip. Our coming in and 
 going out of ports were signaled by the playing 
 of the band. They also favored us with fine 
 music after each meal, and played dance music 
 each evening in the cabin for the guests, which 
 added greatly to the enjoyment of the trip. On 
 leaving Nanaimo, a party of ladies and gentlemen, 
 accompanied by a brass band, came in small boats 
 drawn by a steam launch, and sailed around our 
 steamer several times, their band serenading us 
 the while, which was answered by our band in 
 return. After our steamer got under full heading, 
 leaving some distance between us and our sere- 
 naders, our captain fired a parting salute from the 
 cannon on the steamer, and much merriment was 
 caused when one of the other party answered it 
 by firing off a pistol. 
 
 Our next stopping place was Fort Wrangle. 
 This was a large mining camp a few years ago. 
 The mines w r ere located on the Steikeen River, 
 but they have been nearly worked out, so that 
 now the place is quite dull. On our way here we 
 passed through the straits known as the Seymore 
 Narrows, where the width is half a mile, the 
 depth seventy fathoms, and the current runs at 
 the rate of nine miles an hour. It is as danger 
 ous as the St. Lawrence Rapids, it being full of 
 hidden rocks. A United States man of war was 
 
22 LIFK AND TRAVKLS OF 
 
 lost here some time ago. At Wrangle the Indi 
 ans have standing beside their best-built houses 
 tall spires of native wood on which are rudely 
 carved the heads and animals that form the 
 family crest of the inmates of the house. They 
 are called totem poles. The Alaskan Indian is 
 very fond of his totem pole, as it forms his crest 
 and his history both in one. 
 
 From here we went to Holcomb Bay for the pur 
 pose of seeing a glacier. We cast anchor at eight 
 o clock A. M. and went ashore in small boats, pro 
 curing the services of an Indian to act as our pilot. 
 The glacier seemed to be but a short distance off, 
 and the Indian said it was very easily reached, 
 but we found to our sorrow that it was not so near 
 nor so easy to reach as we expected. We had to 
 beat our way through the underbrush up and 
 down steep hills for about three miles without the 
 least sign of a trail, sometimes having to crawl on 
 our hands and knees. Our guide said we were 
 the first white people who had ever reached that 
 glacier. The trip was accomplished after a good 
 deal of perseverance and hardship, but the scen 
 ery was so grand when we arrived there that 
 we felt ourselves amply repaid for our trouble. 
 The glacier was one thousand feet high, lying in 
 a deep gorge between two high mountains. It 
 is said to be moving down, but so slowly that it 
 is not perceptible to the eye. While climbing 
 about over this glacier, we saw large cracks in the 
 
JAMES BATCHBLDEB. 
 
 ice several hundred feet in depth and three or 
 four wide. Should anyone slip and fall into any 
 of these cracks, his body could never he found. 
 When we left the ship in the morning, we ex 
 pected to return at noon, hut failed to do so till 
 six p. M. that evening. The next morning we ar 
 rived at Juneau. This is quite a lively mining 
 place. During the summer, business is quite brisk, 
 but the winters are long and very cold, so that 
 mines cannot be worked more than four months in 
 the year. I do not think they are rich enough to 
 pay much at that rate, and the chances are they 
 will have to be abandoned unless some richer dig 
 gings are found. While at Juneau, Captain Carrol, 
 commander of our ship, made arrangements with 
 several boat crews of Indians to row their canoes 
 around a small island about a mile distant, for a 
 purse of $20 to the crew which made the quickest 
 time. There were fifteen canoes, with twelve men 
 in each, to compete for the prize. They used 
 short side paddles, or oars, and all kept time in 
 making their strokes. This was as fine a boat 
 race as one could wish to see, and I think we all 
 enjoyed it to its fullest extent. 
 
 After leaving here we went into the Tackou In 
 let, where we started out with the intention of vis 
 iting one of the finest glaciers in the world, but had 
 to give it up on account of so many floating ice 
 bergs. We were afraid of heing caught between 
 them and crushed to death, so we took another 
 
24 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 direction, and went to see one less beautiful and 
 grand. 
 
 The next stop we made was at Chilkat, after 
 making an interesting run of twelve hours up 
 Lynn Canal to Pyramid Harbor, the head-waters 
 of inland navigation, and lying nearly sixty de 
 grees north latitude. Chilkat River flows into 
 Pyramid Harbor, up which canoes can run to 
 Chilkat village, one of the largest Indian settle 
 ments in Alaska. Lynn Canal is a narrow strip 
 of water with the high mountain peaks of the 
 Chilkat Range on one side and the White Moun 
 tains of Alaska on the other. On arriving at 
 Pyramid Harbor we found a small Indian village 
 and a few white traders. The traders had two In 
 dian women who had been condemned by their 
 tribe to be burned at the stakes, as they were sup 
 posed to be witches. They had been hidden away 
 by the traders until we arrived, when they were 
 taken on board our ship and carried to Sitka, where 
 they were safe from their persecutors. It is a 
 common practice among the Indians, when any 
 one of their number is sick, for the medicine man, 
 when he fails to effect a cure, to accuse someone 
 of having bewitched the sick person. The party 
 thus accused is taken by their tribe and burned at 
 the stakes. In the case referred to, had our ar 
 rival been delayed a few days longer, the traders 
 would have been compelled to give the squaws up, 
 in order to save their own lives, as they were threat 
 ened with death unless they gave them up. 
 
.JAMES BATCHELDER. 25 
 
 Sitka, located on Paranoff Island, has a fine har 
 bor, which is formed by two long arms of the is 
 land. Sitka Bay is full of islands of various 
 sizes, and is one of the finest bays in the world. 
 Sitka is not now what it was when peopled by the 
 Russians. There was a great deal of gayety here 
 then, but since they have gone, its glory, too, has 
 flown. There is not much of interest to be seen 
 here after one has seen the interior of the Greek 
 Church, with its old gold gilt paintings and rich 
 ornaments, also the castle on the hill near the 
 wharf, which is a crumbling ruin now. But, in 
 its day, the house was gorgeously furnished, and 
 was the residence of the Russian governor, whose 
 commands were obeyed by all. At that time Sitka 
 had quite a population, but most all of the peo 
 ple have gone; the houses are vacant and going 
 to ruin, and had they tongues would say, "My 
 day is done; my glory has departed." 
 
 On leaving here we went back to Victoria, stop 
 ping at Hootsnoo and Metacatta, two small Indian 
 villages. At the latter place they have a large 
 cannery, where Indians, who are kept under the 
 care of white traders, put up large quantities of 
 fish. The Indians go to school, speak good En 
 glish, and work at different trades, such as black- 
 smithing, tinsmithing, etc. They are also taught 
 music, and play a brass band quite well. 
 
 From Victoria we went to Port Townsend, in 
 Washington Territory, which is the port of entry 
 for all shipping in these waters. 
 
MFK AND TKAVKLS OF 
 
 Our next place was Seattle, a growing business 
 place, and the largest town in the territory. 
 
 We next went to Taeoma, where we left the 
 ship, the steamship company being kind enough 
 to make our tickets transferable via Portland to 
 San Francisco, giving us an opportunity to see 
 something of Oregon, which privilege we were 
 glad to get. Portland is a fine city situated on the 
 left bank of the Willamette River, twelve miles 
 above where that stream empties into the Colum 
 bia. It is built on the slope of a hill, whose top 
 is still covered with pines and fir trees. On clear 
 days the city enjoys a magnificent view. Far 
 away towards the east rest three snowcapped 
 mountains, Mt. Hood looming above the rest. 
 During our stay at Portland we took a trip up the 
 Columbia River to The Dalles, making a short stop 
 at Fort Vancouver. Here we were met by a lieu 
 tenant, whose name I cannot now recall, but who 
 had been a fellow passenger on our trip to Alaska- 
 He took us for a drive around the military post. 
 The fort occupies a lovely little spot, and reflects 
 great credit on General Miles, its present com 
 mander. 
 
 The scenery along the river to The Dalles is very 
 grand and picturesque, and resembles somewhat 
 that of the Rhine, only this is barren rock with 
 but little vegetation, while the Rhine is inter 
 spersed with castles, vineyards, and crumbling- 
 ruins. On returning to Portland we- took a trip 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. &4 
 
 to Salem. This city is thecapital of Oregon, and 
 is situated in the Willamette Valley, about fifty 
 miles from Portland. It is a manufacturing town 
 of considerable importance. The capitol, which 
 was begun in 1873, when completed will be an 
 imposing structure. The penitentiary, also sev 
 eral institutions of learning, are located in Salem. 
 Among the most important are the Willamette 
 University, an institution of long standing, the 
 school for the deaf, dumb, and blind, and an In 
 dian training school maintained by the national 
 government. From there I returned to Portland, 
 where I took the steamer for San Francisco, arriv 
 ing there after having traveled about four thou 
 sand miles, most of the time on inland waters, and 
 I consider myself well repaid for the time and 
 money spent, as it was one of the most enjoy 
 able trips I have ever taken. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 MY TRIP AROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 STARTED on a trip around the world 
 about the middle of January, 1883, leav 
 ing San Francisco for Japan, and arriving 
 at Yokohama after a voyage of nineteen days, 
 during which time we encountered a number of 
 squalls, which caused some of the passengers to 
 arrange for the disposal of their worldly goods. 
 But nothing serious happened. 
 
 Japan is a beautiful country. It consists of 
 four large islands, which may be regarded as 
 Japan proper, and of many small ones, some lying 
 near the shore, and others lying far out in the sea. 
 The native name of the whole country is Nippon. 
 Japan is bounded on the east and south sides by 
 the Pacific Ocean, while on the west and north 
 are the Yellow, Japan, and Okhotsk Seas. Its 
 mainland is within about one hundred miles of 
 (28) 
 
.IAMKS BATCH ELDER. 
 
 the great continent of Asia. Taking the four 
 great islands as one, the length of the country, 
 measured north and south, is nearly nine hun 
 dred miles, and its breadth, about eight hun 
 dred miles. The production of tea in Japan is 
 enormous. They ship to the United States, an 
 nually, about thirty-five million pounds, or fifty 
 per cent of all the tea consumed here the rest 
 comes mostly from Formosa, Foochow, and Amoy 
 
 in China. 
 
 Japan has five lines of railway in operation, ag 
 gregating two hundred and sixty miles. The lon 
 gest line, from Tokio to Xikko,is seventy-five miles. 
 It was recently opened, and belongs to the Imperial 
 Japanese Railway Company. The other lines are 
 owned and operated by their government. All 
 the employes on the trains are Japanese, having 
 learned the business from Englishmen sent here 
 in the early days of railroading in this country. 
 After a few days stay in Yokohama I went to 
 Tokio. This is the largest and finest city in 
 Japan, and is its capital. The city was founded 
 nearly three hundred years ago. Its great feature 
 was, and still is, its castle, or fort. It lies on a 
 sidehill overlooking the city, and is partly sur 
 rounded by a wide canal, so that in case of an in 
 vasion the bridges could be torn down, affording 
 complete protection. Another feature of the 
 modern capital is the great temple district of 
 Sheba. It is adorned with fine old trees, rising 
 
oU TJFK AXD TRAVELS OF 
 
 here and there into wooded slopes and hills. 
 These groves of Sheba were once secluded and 
 sacred, but are now opened to the public. 
 
 Another beautiful spot of like association, but 
 made far less beautiful by battle and fire, is 
 Woogeno, or Ugeno, on the opposite side of the 
 city. There is another temple in Tokio, called the 
 temple of Asakusa, a notable place of its kind, 
 and full of interest to the stranger. It is the 
 principal Buddhist temple in Tokio. Its attrac 
 tions are those of a fair rather than those of a 
 temple, having such exhibitions as tea houses, 
 waxworks, shows, monkeys, and various enter 
 tainments. In the immediate neighborhood 
 singing girls make merry the hearts of citi/ens 
 and visitors, filling their ears with joyous music, 
 and their eyes with pictures of graceful dancers. 
 But these sights are not strange to the Jap 
 anese mind, associated with their temples and toy 
 shops. The business streets and shops in Tokio 
 are chiefly managed by Japanese. The number of 
 foreign residents are so few in proportion to that 
 of their own nation that they do not interfere 
 with the native aspect of the place, as one walks 
 or rides along its thoroughfares. During my 
 stay in Japan I rode around in jinrikishas to my 
 heart s content. One consists of a small chaise on 
 two wheels, propelled by a man between the 
 shafts. When I first arrived at Tokio, I was met 
 at the station by one of these carriage men who 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 31 
 
 asked me in English if 1 wanted to go to a good 
 English hotel. I told him that I did, so he told 
 me to get into his conveyance, and he would take 
 me to one. After taking me a considerable dis 
 tance up town, he stopped in front of what he 
 told me I would find a good English hotel. I 
 was surprised on entering to find that not a per 
 son could understand a word I said, so I returned 
 to the street and informed my carriage man that 
 he had made a mistake. Then he informed me 
 that I could get a good English dinner here any 
 way. I told him to tell them I would be back at 
 noon, in time for dinner, and J had as good a 
 meal there as one could wish for. It was served 
 in courses, French style, by beautiful young 
 native waiter girls. 
 
 The Japanese are a polite and genteel race of 
 people. The women of the higher class are 
 pretty, and neatly dressed, and keep their houses 
 and themselves clean, it being their custom to 
 take a bath every day. Before anyone can enter 
 their house, their boots have to be taken off, and 
 slippers, which will be found outside the door, 
 put on in their stead; or, if a person chooses, he 
 can go in in his stocking feet. The floors are so 
 clean that they will hardly soil a white pocket 
 handkerchief. It is the custom of the females, as 
 soon as they marry, to blacken their teeth, and 
 arrange their hair in a peculiar style, so as to be 
 easily distinguished from those who are not mar 
 ried. 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OK 
 
 On leaving Tokio I went down the inland sea 
 of Japan, anchoring in the harbor of Koby, a 
 pretty looking European town, and one of the 
 places open to foreign trade. Over the hills be 
 yond lies Hiogo, which is a genuine old Japanese 
 town, which practically adjoins Koby, and is con 
 tiguous with it. From here I went to Osaka, one 
 of the three large cities of Japan. It has a pop 
 ulation of one million, and was at one time the 
 capital. The most beautiful sea voyage in the 
 world is the trip on the inland sea of Japan. Be 
 tween the large islands there is an expanse of 
 water five hundred miles in extent from east to 
 west, and varying greatly in breadth, forming a 
 landlocked sea. We were two days and one night 
 making the trip, and during the whole voyage the 
 water had scarcely a ripple on its surface. The 
 sidehills along the route are nearly all made into 
 tea fields by building terraces one above the other 
 lo the very top of the highest hills. Our passage 
 through this sea was an ever-changing panorama 
 of green fields on the islands, narrowing straits, 
 expanding bays, hills and valleys, with cities 
 scattered along its shores, seeming to roll past us 
 with constantly varying beauty. 
 
 After passing through the sea we arrived at Na 
 gasaki. This was the last place we stopped at 
 while in Japan. While here I had the pleasure 
 of seeing the manner in which they load the 
 ships with coal. Small girls from ten to fourteen 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 33 
 
 years old form a line from the lighter to the deck 
 of the ship, and pass the coal in baskets from one 
 to another, the one on deck emptying it into the 
 ship s hold. The wages of these little girls for a 
 day s work is about fifteen cents. One of the 
 great features of the country is the sacred moun 
 tain, Fujiama, the highest mountain in Japan, 
 thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
 It was a volcano, but it is now extinct. On ap 
 proaching Japan it can be seen from any direction 
 while yet far out at sea. 
 
 After leaving Nagasaki we crossed the Yellow 
 Sea to Shanghai, China. On the way we experi 
 enced pretty heavy weather, and the ship rolled 
 about over the waves in a frightful manner, and 
 when dinner time came I was the only passenger 
 at the table, the others having all succumbed to 
 seasickness a sickness I never was troubled with 
 during all my travels by water. But during this 
 voyage I was sitting on a chair with my feet on 
 another warming them, when the ship gave a 
 sudden lurch to one side and threw me over 
 against a table which stood near by fastened to 
 the floor, with such a force as to break it loose, 
 and table, chairs, and myself were piled up in a 
 heap in one corner of the cabin. I was somewhat 
 hurt and bruised by the fall, but not seriously. 
 
 Shanghai lies about fifty miles inland on the 
 Yankersee River. It has a large European popula 
 tion, French, English, and Americans. It is also 
 3 
 
34 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 a large native city, having fine Avails around the 
 old town, but there is not much to be seen here 
 that will interest a stranger. The streets are nar 
 row and dirty, as all Chinese cities are. The first 
 evening of my arrival here I left the hotel in 
 the American settlement to take a look at the old 
 town inside the walls, but when I got to the gate, 
 I found that no Europeans were allowed inside 
 after dark, so I concluded to return to my hotel, 
 but got lost in the native settlement outside of the 
 walls, it being almost as large as it is on the in 
 side. I wandered about from eight o clock in the 
 evening till eleven, trying to find someone who 
 could speak enough English to direct me to the 
 hotel I was looking for; but it was impossible for 
 me to make either police officers or anyone else 
 understand the name, and I began to think I 
 would have to stay out all night. Finally, about 
 eleven o clock, I came to a place which appeared 
 to be a Chinese hotel, so I stepped in and inquired 
 at the office if there was anyone there who could 
 speak English. A party of Chinese were playing 
 billiards in another part of the room. The officer 
 called to one of them, who immediately came up 
 to me. I put the same question to him, and on 
 his answering me in the affirmative, I asked him 
 to tell me of one of his rikisha men, so that I 
 could get him to take me to the Astor House. He 
 did so, and in about five minutes time I was 
 safely landed at the house I had been hunting 
 
JAMES BATCHKLDER. 35 
 
 for all the evening. In Shanghai and in Hong 
 kong they have some of the Japanese jinriki- 
 shas, but the wheelbarrow is the old mode of 
 conveyance, and is still used to some extent, al 
 though it is fast giving way to the rikisha. 
 
 From Shanghai we went to Hongkong, and 
 then to Canton. While on the China Sea we en 
 countered several squalls, but nothing serious, al 
 though in another of the sudden lurches the ship 
 gave, I got another fall, which lamed me so badly 
 that it took me about a week to recover from it. 
 While in Canton, under the direction of a guide, 
 I saw all that was to be seen of any importance. 
 While here I did as every other visitor does, rode 
 in a sedan chair, and the ride ranks among the 
 funniest of my life. The motion is a slow, sleepy 
 one, but not altogether unpleasant, although, 
 like many other luxuries, one must acquire a 
 taste for it. Two men will carry a chair when 
 one goes a short distance only, but as I wanted to 
 be out all day I had to have six men, three for 
 my guide s chair and three for mine, which made, 
 including my guide, seven men for me to pny 
 making sight-seeing in Canton rather expensive. 
 
 Canton is the second city in size in China, Pe- 
 kin being the largest. During my stay in Canton I 
 took my meals and slept on board the ship I came 
 on, having made arrangements with the captain 
 to do so, paying the regular hotel prices for the 
 privilege. There is only one European hotel in 
 
30 LIFK AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Canton, and a very poor one at that. It is a com 
 mon tiling to see the women hobbling along 
 through the streets, with such small feet encased 
 in such tight shoes that they can scarcely walk. 
 They are thus crippled while yet little children 
 by the cruel custom of bandaging their feet, bend 
 ing all the toes but the large one under the foot 
 until they are dislocated. The heels are drawn 
 up towards the legs until a partial dislocation of 
 the ankle takes place, and are held in that posi 
 tion by bandages. They have to keep the band 
 ages on for ten or twelve years, which cripples 
 them for life. They suffer the most excruciating 
 pain under this treatment, but it entitles them to 
 a mark of distinction, as only the rich and aris 
 tocratic portion of the people practice this inhu 
 man treatment. 
 
 On my return to Hongkong I had to wait nine 
 days before a ship left for the direction I wished 
 to go, although three days would have afforded 
 me ample time to see all there was to be seen in 
 the place. The city is on a high bluff along the 
 bay, presenting a fine sight from the ship on en 
 tering the harbor, but, like Constantinople, when 
 one goes ashore, the beauty all disappears. Hong 
 kong belongs to the English Government, and is 
 a large commercial place, having trade with all 
 parts of the world. 
 
 After leaving here I went to Saigon, in Anam, 
 Cochin China, This is a French settlement, and 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 37 
 
 lies about fifty miles inland, on the Saigon River. 
 We then went to Singapore, in Malay, thence 
 through the Straits of Malacca, a long strip of 
 water extending from southeast to northwest and 
 connecting the Bay of Bengal with the South Pa 
 cific Ocean. It is a pretty piece of water, and 
 while passing through it we were never out of 
 sight of land on one side or the other. It takes 
 nearly two days for a steamer to pass through it. 
 On the east is the peninsula of Malacca, and on 
 the west is the island of Sumatra, which extends 
 south nearly to Java, the two islands being sepa 
 rated by the Straits of Sunda. Singapore is situ 
 ated on an island fifty or sixty miles in circumfer 
 ence, at the lower end of the straits. There are about 
 fifteen thousand inhabitants on the island, compris 
 ing Chinese, Parsees, Hindoos, Singhalese, Arabs, 
 Armenians, Japanese, Siamese, Jews, and negroes. 
 From Singapore we went to Columbo, situated on 
 the island of Ceylon. While on the voyage cross 
 ing the Indian Ocean we had the pleasure of 
 viewing some of the beautiful sunsets of which 
 that locality is so famous. There is no place in 
 the world where the sunsets form such beautiful 
 pictures as on the Indian Ocean. This is sup 
 posed to be caused by the sun setting behind large 
 banks of heavy fog that rise in the distance in 
 every conceivable shape and form. And when 
 the sun is setting behind this, it gives it the color 
 of gold, and the appearance of rivers and lakes, 
 
38 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 dotted here and there, containing islands of every 
 size and form covered with vegetation of every 
 kind; and little boats of every description laden 
 with human freight seem to be playing on the 
 water between the islands, while on the banks and 
 hills, which form high above the water, can be 
 traced magnificent castles and palaces surrounded 
 by gardens and groves of the most beautiful fo 
 liage, and in the background rise high mountain 
 peaks all seeming as natural as if they actually 
 existed. I have read many glowing descriptions 
 of the beauties of Paradise, with its rivers of gold, 
 etc., but I have never seen anything equal to make 
 me feel the realization of the picture as did the 
 sunsets on the Indian Ocean. 
 
 On reaching Columbo I took a trip by rail sev 
 enty-five miles inland to a place called Kanda. 
 Mile after mile of trees of wonderful growth, la 
 den with spices of every description, is seen on ev 
 ery side, making the island of Ceylon, as it is said 
 to be, the garden of the world, 
 
 " Where every prospect pleases, 
 And only man is vile." 
 
 Almost every nationality in the world can be 
 found on this island, but the majority of the pop 
 ulation is divided into three distinct races, called 
 Singhalese, Bergers, and Tamelites. They all 
 dress in the oriental style, and men and women 
 dress alike. They wear their hair done up on the 
 back part of the head, and fasten it with a tortoise 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 39 
 
 shell comb. Neither sex wears hats or headgear 
 of any kind. It is almost impossible to tell a 
 male from a female, the only difference being in 
 their faces, which are more masculine looking. 
 There is a small class of people here called Par- 
 sees. The females are very handsome, and the 
 men are smart business people. They are some 
 what like our Jews. They deal in clothing, jew 
 elry, and precious stones, the latter, such as rubies, 
 sapphires, the topaz, and cat s eye, being found in 
 large quantities on the island. As gold is not a 
 mineral product of the island, they buy gold coin, 
 such as English sovereigns and French Napoleons, 
 which they make into very fine jewelry. While 
 in Columbo I saw Arabi Pasha, who was exiled to 
 this island, but is at liberty to go and come as he 
 pleases to any part of it. He lives in a fine house 
 near the edge of a lovely lake, in the neighbor 
 hood of the cinnamon garden. I had a long talk 
 with him through an interpreter. He has four 
 wives with him, whom he brought from Egypt. 
 
 After a ten days sojourn on this delightful 
 island, I started for Calcutta by the way of Mad 
 ras, passing through the Bay of Bengal, and up 
 the Hoogley River. At Madras the ship anchored 
 some distance from shore, and the Hindoo natives 
 came out in small boats to take the passengers 
 ashore. I made a bargain with one to land me 
 for two rupees and eight annas, but when three 
 or four yards from shore, the water was too shal- 
 
40 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 low to allow the boat going any further, so the 
 coolies took me in their arms and carried me to 
 dry land, for which they wanted extra pay, but I 
 refused to pay it, as the bargain was for them to 
 land me for the sum already stated. AVe had 
 quite an exciting time for a little while, fifteen 
 or twenty of those half-naked natives having 
 gathered around me to demand extra pay for 
 what they deemed extra services. I knew they 
 were not entitled to it, so did not give it to them. 
 They take every advantage of a foreigner they 
 can, and will beat him every time unless he is 
 determined to fight his way through. 
 
 Calcutta is a large city, and lies one hundred 
 miles inland on the Hoogley River, one of the 
 mouths of the Ganges, as that river ends in sev 
 eral streams, each having a different name, but 
 all emptying into the Bengal Bay. Calcutta has 
 been the capital of the British Empire for more 
 than a century, and it is the center of British 
 influence for the whole East. Fort William is an 
 extensive fortress standing on the Maidan, a vast 
 open plain extending more than two miles up 
 and down the Hoogley River south of the city. 
 The portion of the Maidan bordering on the river 
 is the most fashionable drive in the city, being 
 similar to the Prater, in Vienna, or Rotten Row, 
 in Hyde Park, London. Every evening just be 
 fore sunset, when the heat of the day has passed, 
 all Calcutta turns out for an hour s drive up and 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 41 
 
 down the strand. The sight is one of the gayest 
 to be seen in the suburbs of any city, and one of 
 the most peculiar. Nowhere in the East or West 
 have I seen anything to equal it. Europeans in 
 gay equipages, with their Sepoy outriders, move 
 along in a steady line, three or four abreast, until 
 night comes on. The scene is decidedly oriental. 
 Coachmen and footmen, some of whom are 
 splendid types of the various tribes of India, are 
 all dressed in Eastern costumes, the colors and 
 styles of which are as varied as the races of Hin- 
 dostan. One who would study oriental life 
 should not fail to be on the strand an hour before 
 sunset. 
 
 While at Calcutta I visited the cremation 
 ground, where the bodies of the dead are burned. 
 On the death of a Hindoo, the body is put on a 
 litter and carried on the shoulders of four men 
 down to the river, where it is dipped into the 
 water and then taken to the cremating ground 
 and placed on a large pile of wood, prepared for 
 that purpose, and burnt. The water in the river 
 is considered sacred, and their belief is that if 
 they dip the body into it, his or her sins will all 
 be washed away. There is hardly a day passes 
 but one or more bodies may be seen upon the burn 
 ing funeral pyre, which is in a stone building on 
 the banks of the Hoogley River, facing the stream. 
 The building is about two hundred and twenty- 
 five feet long by fifty broad. The front has a 
 
42 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 stone rail about four feet high running along the 
 edge of the bank. There is no flooring other than 
 the solid earth. From the front a stone stairway 
 about ten feet wide leads down to the river. The 
 land entrance is composed of archways in the 
 back wall, close to the sides, through which the 
 bodies are carried for cremation. Calcutta has 
 several fine large public gardens, where bands 
 of music play each evening to large crowds of 
 people, comprising nearly every nationality. I 
 did not remain in this delightful city as long as 
 I should have if the weather had not been so hot, 
 the mercury usually reaching one hundred and 
 twenty and one hundred and thirty degrees 
 above zero in the shade all day, and not less than 
 one hundred during the night. 
 
 Leaving there I went to Delhi, a distance of 
 nine hundred and fifty-five miles inland, in 
 which place I staid a week, and then went to 
 Bombay. Delhi is, or rather was, the old imperial 
 city of India, and during my stay there I visited 
 all places of note. Familiar as they seemed to 
 me from the description I read during the time 
 of the Indian mutiny in 1857, I found I knew 
 but little about it in reality. Modern Delhi was 
 built by the Emperor Shah Jehan, about the mid 
 dle of the seventeenth century. It is inclosed by 
 a wall, or rampart of red granite, five and one- 
 half miles in circuit. There are twelve gates, the 
 principal ones being the Calcutta, Kashmir, Moori, 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 4o 
 
 Lahore, and Delhi gates. The streets are full of 
 busy people, each one talking at the top of his 
 voice, as though the person addressed was de 
 prived of his hearing. Venders of all kinds of 
 produce, displaying their stock in trade on the 
 backs of donkeys and camels, seem to be ev 
 erywhere, and business looks brisk with them. 
 Dirty, barefooted little children, clad in very short 
 skirts, and magicians or jugglers, who perform 
 all kinds of tricks in the open air, help to swell 
 the throng. Beggars, as in all other parts of the 
 East, are very plentiful, and appeal to the charity 
 of strangers. If given a small sum, the}^ are con 
 tent to go their way, but if their prayer is un 
 heeded, they will follow you and keep up a con 
 tinual appeal, as long as you stay in the vicinity. 
 The weather at Delhi is hot, and everyone seems 
 to stay outdoors as much as possible. 
 
 The products of the country are brought to 
 market on the backs of camels. They file into 
 the city in the morning from every direction in 
 long lines. Each beast is tied by a rope or chain 
 to the back strap of the one that precedes it. They 
 move along steadily, neither turning to the right 
 nor left, their packs often extending three or four 
 feet from their sides. One meeting them with a 
 carriage has to be careful not to come in contact 
 with them, otherwise he would be in danger of 
 being carried along by them, as they will not stop 
 or turn out for anyone. Before the present city 
 
44 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 was built, Delhi had occupied various sites within 
 a circuit of twenty miles to the south and west, 
 most of which space is now covered with ruins. 
 Their changes of locality were owing sometimes 
 to invasions destroying the old towns and necessi 
 tating the construction of new, and sometimes to 
 the ambition of particular emperors, who wished 
 to found a more splendid residence than those of 
 their predecessors. Wherever the king built his 
 fortified palace, there the nobles clustered around 
 him, and the inhabitants of the old city followed 
 the court, botli on account of the trade which it 
 controlled, and because their old town, being un 
 protected by the king s soldiers, became exposed to 
 the assaults of the robber tribes. The whole arena 
 covered with ruins is not less than forty-five square 
 miles. The principal street in Delhi is called 
 Chandi Chawk. It is about a mile in length and 
 one hundred and twenty feet wide, and extends 
 from the western entrance of the palace to the 
 Lahore gate. Another large street intersects the 
 city from north to south. During my stay in 
 Delhi I visited the palace and citadel, the Kot- 
 wale, in front of which many notorious rebels 
 were executed after the capture of the city by the 
 English in 1857. Close to it is the mosque, where 
 Nadir Shaw sat in 1738 and ordered the massacre 
 in which one hundred thousand of the Delhi peo 
 ple were killed. Just beyond this is the arsenal, 
 a portion of which was blown up by Lieutenant 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 45 
 
 Willoughby in 1857, to prevent its falling into the 
 hands of the rebels. Leaving the palace we pro 
 ceeded to the Jami mosque, one of the most beau 
 tiful mosques in the East, situated on a small 
 rocky eminence overlooking the city. The court, 
 a square of 450 feet, is paved with stone, and has 
 handsome sandstone gateways on each of the three 
 sides, with a magnificent flight of steps leading to 
 each. From the summit a lovely view is obtained 
 of the city and surrounding country, widely over 
 spread with monuments and other buildings in 
 various stages of decay. There are a great many 
 ancient buildings and mosques in Delhi, but to 
 describe them all would take up too much time 
 and space. The tomb of the Emperor Houma- 
 gouri is the most noted. It stands in the middle 
 of an immense terrace, and is surrounded by a 
 beautiful flower garden. It is composed of white 
 marble and rose-colored sandstone, and the dome 
 is the perfection of strength and grace. Around 
 it, spreading from the Jumna River to the western 
 hills, are a multitude of tombs of every descrip 
 tion. He is said to be the true founder of the 
 great Mogul dynasty, but he did not long enjoy 
 the empire conquered by his father, for, having 
 been deposed by a successful rebellion, he became 
 a fugitive, and had to take refuge with the king 
 of Persia. At length he treacherously got posses 
 sion of a city belonging to his protector, and, with 
 the money and forces obtained by this act, he sue- 
 
46 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 ceeded in overthrowing his younger brother, Kam- 
 ran. Having put out Kamran s eyes, he continued 
 the reconquest of his empire, and at last re-estab 
 lished his throne at Delhi, after sixteen years of 
 exile. Six months afterward he died from inj uries 
 received from a foil down the staircase of his li 
 brary upon a marble floor. Delhi lies upon the 
 banks of the Jumna River, three hundred and 
 ninety-four miles north of Allahabad, at which 
 place it unites with the Ganges. On my way to 
 Delhi I passed through Allahabad. It is situated 
 on the tongue of land formed by the confluence 
 of the Jumna and Ganges, and is considered by 
 the Hindoos as one of the most sacred localities, 
 being a place where three rivers unite, only two 
 of which, however, are visible. The third is sup 
 posed to flow direct from heaven, and add its ce 
 lestial waters unseen by mortal eye. When a pil 
 grim arrives here he sits down at the bank of the 
 river and has his head and body shaved, so that 
 each hair may fell into the water. They claim 
 that the sacred writings promise them one million 
 years residence in heaven for every hair thus de 
 posited. After shaving he bathes in the water, 
 and then is supposed to be prepared to take his 
 flight to the better world. 
 
 The Hindoos are either Buddhist or Brahmin 
 in their religion, but the former are few in com 
 parison to the number of their inhabitants. They 
 are all idolaters. They do not worship the im- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 47 
 
 ages, but the holy men whom they represent. 
 They believe in a supreme being, but do not 
 worship, as they claim he does not want worship. 
 They respect the memory of their dead relatives, 
 and worship their fathers and mothers. They 
 also worship those who have been worthy men 
 and left records behind them, whom they claim 
 to be God incarnate, like our Christ. They do 
 not worship a god, but godlike men, and they 
 say and believe that the spirits of these are in the 
 images and animals that they worship. They do 
 not worship the serpent, but the power it possesses. 
 The serpent with them is the symbol of eternity, 
 because with a single sting he can pass a man 
 into eternity. The cow is also very divine, be 
 cause it gives milk to all, but they do not worship 
 the animals, only the power they have. The 
 Hindoos are very devout worshipers, and I have 
 seen them kneeling to trees in parks and gardens, 
 making all kinds of gestures with their hands, 
 while every few 7 minutes they would make a quick 
 bend forward and kiss the earth near the roots of 
 the tree and then straighten up and go through 
 with the same motions as before, repeating this 
 thirty minutes at a time in many cases. 
 
 On leaving Delhi I went to Bombay, eight 
 hundred and fifty miles by rail. The railroads 
 in India are all ow r ned by the English, and are 
 all well built, and kept in good order. The 
 bridges are all built of iron, and the depots are 
 
48 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 the finest I have seen anywhere. The ears are 
 the same as those used in Europe. They are di 
 vided into compartments, first, second, and third- 
 class, and just before the train starts, the doors 
 are all locked, and kept so until the train stops at 
 a station, when they are unlocked, and relocked 
 when the train is ready to start again. This is 
 kept up until they arrive at the end of the road. 
 While in Bombay I was introduced to the 
 national dish, and also the national beverage, 
 namely: Bombay duck, curry and rice, and 
 brandy and soda. They were not bad to take, 
 especially the latter. One of the great sights to 
 be seen here is the Elephant s Cave. It is a sub 
 terranean temple in a solid rock, which has been 
 hewn and chiseled away to the very center of 
 the mountain. The excavation consists of four 
 chambers. The central one is majestic with gate 
 ways, abutments, porches, and columns. On 
 either side of the principal hall or temple are 
 lesser chambers, or chapels. The roof is sup 
 ported by massive pillars, each of which repre 
 sents a figure. The whole temple is filled with 
 colossal figures, twice the size of the human fig 
 ure, and representing heathen gods. This cave is 
 supposed to have been built about twelve hun 
 dred years ago, and is one of the curiosities of the 
 world. Unfortunately for sight-seers, the cave 
 has been almost ruined, as most of the pillars 
 have been broken down by the guns of the Portu- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 49 
 
 guese fired into it, to clear it of the nest of rebels 
 who took refuge in its vast recesses. There 
 is a class of people in Bombay called Parsees, 
 numbering about ten thousand, which embody a 
 great part of the wealthy members of the city. 
 The most intelligent and enterprising are also 
 found among them. No small part of the busi 
 ness of the East is in their hands, and leading 
 houses have branches in Paris, London, and also 
 eastern Asia. Their dress is partly European 
 and partly oriental. The Parsee women are very 
 handsome ; in fact, they are the most beautiful 
 women I have ever seen during my travels. The 
 Parsees have a peculiar way of disposing of their 
 dead. They have a large cemetery on Malabar 
 Hill, near Bombay. The ground is the highest 
 in the vicinity, and selected for the reason that 
 no one can look into it. The approaches to it are 
 guarded, and no one is allowed to enter except 
 the priests and those who have charge of the 
 dead. Within this cemetery are five round 
 stone towers, called towers of silence, each about 
 sixty feet in diameter and forty or fifty feet in 
 height. When a death occurs, the body is taken 
 to the gate of the cemetery and delivered into 
 the hands of the priests. After a ceremonial, the 
 body is taken to one of the towers and laid on a 
 grate on the top of the tower. A flock of vultures 
 is always waiting to devour the flesh, and the 
 bones fall into the body of the tower below. It 
 
 OF THE ^^ 
 | UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
50 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 seems a most revolting mode of disposing of one s 
 near and dear friends. I should much prefer the 
 Hindoo mode of cremating. 
 
 Bombay is a pretty city, full of very fine gar 
 dens, and boasts a very large common, upon 
 which one of the military bands stationed there 
 play every evening, and the common, in con 
 sequence, is thronged at such times with ladies 
 and gentlemen. I was reluctant to leave Bombay, 
 in spite of its being so hot, as it is a very pretty 
 place. The weather in all parts of India, as well 
 as on the Isle of Ceylon, "was so hot that to be 
 able to sleep at night I had to hire a coolie to fan 
 me with a punka. This is a wide piece of cloth 
 suspended by cords from the ceiling over the bed, 
 and about six inches from it. A string is attached 
 to this, run through a pulley, and fastened in the 
 wall of the room, passing through it down into 
 the hall. A coolie sits in the hall, and pulls the 
 string all night for half a rupee, amounting to 
 twenty cents in our money. From the sweep of 
 the fan a fine breeze is obtained, which enables 
 one to get a good night s rest. This, together 
 with plenty of cold brandy and soda, enabled me 
 to get through this hot country all right. 
 
 After leaving Bombay, I went by steamer to 
 Suez, crossing the Arabian Sea, thence through 
 the Gulf of Aden, and up the Red Sea, a long, 
 narrow body of water lying between Arabia and 
 Abyssinia, with land in sight most of the way. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 51 
 
 When passing through the Gulf of Suez, at the 
 upper end of the Red Sea, we were shown the 
 place where the Israelites crossed. It is needless 
 to say that their tracks are not visible at the 
 present time. At this point Mt. Sinai is in 
 plain view on the Arabia side, while the land of 
 Egypt is on the other. At Suez I employed a 
 guide to take me to the train, which runs to Cairo, 
 Egypt. We had to travel about two miles on the 
 backs of donkeys to reach the station. On going 
 ashore at Suez we saw some thirty or forty Arabs 
 coming on the backs of those little animals, run 
 ning them at full speed until they came up to us, 
 and then stopping short, each one wishing us to 
 hire his donkey, and being so persistent that I 
 was compelled to strike some of them several 
 times to keep them away from me. Our Sail 
 Francisco hotel runners and hack drivers are bad 
 enough, but these fellows take the cake. I finally 
 told my guide to pick out three, and make the 
 rest stand back, or I might have to murder a few 
 of them. After settling the donkey question- 
 luckily, without any bloodshed we proceeded on 
 our way to the station, which we reached without 
 further trouble. On our way to Cairo we passed 
 through Fel el Kabier, where the English army 
 surprised and captured the Egyptians, under 
 Arabi Pasha, a short time ago. Cairo has become 
 almost entirely a modern city. In Constantinople 
 you can see the Turk now as he was two thousand 
 
52 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 years ago, but Egypt has been overrun since early 
 in the present century by Greeks, Italians, and 
 French, who have usurped the commerce, and 
 crowded the natives into the background. Of 
 ancient Egypt one does not see much in the city 
 itself, although it is close at hand. There are 
 white colored buildings by the thousands, all in 
 the Italian style, for the architects of modern 
 Cairo have all been Italians. The buildings are 
 placed on broad streets and avenues, running in 
 such different ways that they seem to have but 
 slight relation to one another. The foreign por 
 tion covers many miles of ground, some of the 
 finest palaces and gardens lying on the banks of 
 the Nile. Of course the Arabs, and their don 
 keys, camels, tricks of trade, etc., are scattered 
 throughout this quarter, and their houses and 
 streets are in the immediate vicinity. Sometimes 
 a minute s or at most a five minutes walk from 
 this modern part of the city will take you into 
 the midst of a life that has scarcely changed 
 since the time of Ohemtop, except as modified by 
 Mahomet and his doctrines. While here I did 
 the Pyramids, as nearly every visitor does. I 
 climbed the rugged side of the largest one of 
 them, a distance of four hundred and eighty feet 
 above the level of the plain. The Pyramid is 
 six hundred and ninety-three feet square at the 
 base. The stones of which it is composed are 
 about thirty feet long, four feet high, and three 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 53 
 
 feet broad. It covers about eleven acres. The 
 height is 480 feet, and its summit is a platform of 
 thirteen feet square, composed of twelve massive 
 stones. The ascent is made with the help of three 
 Arabs, two of whom go ahead, and lend their as 
 sistance by reaching down and taking hold of your 
 hands, while the other assists you from behind. 
 You put one foot on the step above, and with the 
 combined efforts of yourself and the three guides, 
 you are raised to the next step, repeating this un 
 til the top is reached. The task is a hard one, 
 and only a few steps can be taken without sitting 
 down for a rest. 
 
 On descending, two of the guides jump down 
 to the steps below, and, by placing your arms upon 
 their shoulders, you let yourself down on a level 
 with them. Meantime the third man has a rope 
 tied under your arms, while he stands on the step 
 above and holds onto the end of it to keep you 
 from pitching forward. These men are very at 
 tentive to their trust; but as soon as they start 
 with you, they keep continually begging for back- 
 sheesh, telling you the while how safely they will 
 take you up and back, if you will but give them 
 a little something and not let the old sheik know- 
 it, for he would take it away from them. The 
 sheik is the man who has charge of all the guides 
 here, some thirty or forty in number, and he re 
 ceives all the money paid for their services. I 
 also visited the famous Sphinx, which is situated 
 
54 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 in the vicinity of the Pyramids. It is a colossal 
 image made of one piece of stone. But it has 
 been badly defaced, having parts broken from its 
 arms, nose, and ears, which has robbed it of its 
 beauty, if it ever had any. I remained in Cairo 
 five days, during which time I visited the citadel 
 and several other places of note. The citadel is 
 built upon a high hill, and overlooks the entire 
 country as far as the eye can see. It was very 
 lively while I was there, for just before my arrival 
 atjout fifteen thousand English soldiers had ar 
 rived from Tel el Kabier, the Egyptian war hav 
 ing just closed. 
 
 On my way to Cairo we took dinner at Zaga- 
 zig. Here I met an American gentleman from 
 Philadelphia, and I found him one of the most 
 agreeable fellows I ever came across. One even 
 ing we went into the Pasha s garden, and hired a 
 nargilla, or Turkish pipe, for two, paying one 
 piaster (about five cents of our money) apiece for 
 the pipes and tobacco. Then we had to hire a 
 native to start them going for us. I wondered 
 what the home folks would think could they have 
 seen us. 
 
 From Cairo I went to Ismalia, half way up the 
 Suez Canal, thence through the canal to Port Said. 
 The canal is about one hundred miles in length. 
 It is carried on embankments raised in four suc 
 cessive natural lakes. The depth of the water is 
 twenty feet, and its width at the bottom is two 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 55 
 
 hundred and forty-six feet. Its minimum width 
 at the top is three hundred and forty-six feet. It 
 is without locks and nothing but steam vessels 
 use it. They make the transit in twenty-four 
 hours. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 N leaving Port Said I went to Joppa, the 
 seaport for Jerusalem. Joppa stands on a 
 high hill formed like a sugar loaf. On 
 the summit is a small citadel, or fort, which com 
 mands the town, while the bottom of the hill is 
 surrounded by a wall. The place looks rather 
 desolate at the present time. The harbor is one 
 of the worst in the world. If a ship arrives in 
 stormy weather, the passengers cannot be landed, 
 and have either to be taken to Bey root or Port 
 Said, whichever place the ship is bound for; then, 
 if the weather permits, they are taken to Joppa 
 by the next steamer bound for there. When I 
 arrived it was calm but foggy, and we were lost 
 for sometime; however, after cruising round for 
 a while and taking soundings, we made our land- 
 (56) 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER. 57 
 
 ing in perfect safety, about four hours late. In 
 sacred history Joppa appears as the port of Jeru 
 salem in the time of David and Solomon. And 
 it was the place to which the cedars of Lebanon 
 were floated from Tyre for the building of King 
 Solomon s temple. It was at Joppa that the 
 Apostle Peter saw the vision which corrected his 
 Jewish prejudices concerning the Gentiles. It 
 was here that St. Peter brought to life a Christian 
 woman named Dorcas, while he was here with a 
 tanner by the name of Simon. The house of 
 Simon is still standing, and is among the curiosi 
 ties shown to visitors sojourning there. 
 
 From Joppa we went by stage to Jerusalem, 
 forty miles distant, most of the way being over 
 barren fields of stone, occasionally relieved by a 
 few olive trees. Of the many places and things 
 to be seen in and about Jerusalem, I will only 
 give a slight description of some of the most im 
 portant. The best -time to visit this place is dur 
 ing Easter, for at that season there are pilgrims of 
 both sexes from all nations on a pilgrimage to 
 this Holy City, the most devout among them 
 being poorly clad Russians and Jews. In the 
 district where Jerusalem is situated, many of the 
 great events recorded in the Scriptures took place. 
 They are all shown and explained to the visitor 
 by the well-posted dragoman, or guide, who is 
 usually engaged for the occasion. The church 
 of the Holy Sepulcher is the most historical and 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 interesting thing to be seen there. It is supposed 
 to comprehend within its limits the scenes of the 
 great events of the crucifixion, entombment, and 
 resurrection of Christ. It was built by the Em 
 press Helena, mother of Constantino the Great. 
 Another very interesting object is the mosque of 
 Omar, or the dome of the rock on Mt. Moriah. 
 It occupies the site, and is supposed to contain 
 some of the ruins, of the temple. It was here 
 that Abraham offered up his only son on the altar, 
 and where David offered burnt offerings, when 
 the destroying angel with uplifted sword stood 
 over the doomed city. The temple has passed 
 away now, and in its place stands the mosque of 
 Omar. It is over five hundred feet in circumfer 
 ence, and is surmounted by a large dome. On 
 the outside it is covered with tiling and colored 
 marble. Inside the dome is covered with gold 
 and delicate tracery. The walls are covered with 
 beautiful mosaics and passages from the Koran. 
 Inside the twelve marble pillars that support the 
 dome is a space sixty feet in diameter. This is 
 inclosed by an iron railing and lattice work, and 
 overhung with a fine canopy of crimson silk. 
 This is the spot where the ark of the covenant is 
 supposed to have stood in ages gone by. The vis 
 itor is not allowed to enter this sacred inclosure, 
 but he can put his hand through the lattice, and 
 touch the stone. It was from this rock, the Mo 
 hammedan says, that the prophet Mohammed 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER, 59 
 
 took his upward flight, when one night he as 
 cended to heaven. This is not a place where the 
 traveler can visit as he wills, like most of the 
 places in Palestine, for the Moslems guard the 
 place with great jealousy, and for years would not 
 allow a Christian to enter it on pain of death. 
 Now, however, it can be visited with suitable per 
 mits, which can be obtained from the consul of 
 your government, at Jerusalem. The city of Je 
 rusalem was built on five hills, called Mt. Moriah, 
 Zion, Equer, Ophen, and Calvary. The city is 
 surrounded by a fine wall, some twenty feet high 
 and from six to eight feet thick. This wall has 
 six gates, of which Joppa and Damascus are the 
 principal ones. The land about the city is very 
 poor, rocky, and uneven, and but little can be 
 raised here excepting olives, of which there are a 
 great many old orchards. Tourists, most compe 
 tent to judge, are agreed that the present olive 
 trees on Mt. Olivet, near Jerusalem, are the same 
 that Christ prayed under, and where his disciples 
 fell asleep nearly nineteen hundred years ago, 
 and these same trees are yielding their annual 
 crop of fruit. The summit of Olivet, or what 
 was called the Mount of Olives, is three hundred 
 feet above the city, and commands a fine view of 
 the city and the surrounding country. Every 
 building and every locality can be clearly dis 
 tinguished. Looking eastward, the valley of the 
 Jordan and that of the Dead Sea, although 
 
60 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 twenty miles distant and about four thousand 
 feet below, are seen so distinctly that one can 
 hardly believe they are so far off. The surface of 
 the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the face of 
 the globe, it being thirteen hundred and twelve 
 feet below the Mediterranean and the ocean, and 
 to look down upon it from the Mount of Olives is 
 like looking down into the depths of the earth it 
 self. The Garden of Gethsemane lies along the 
 side of Olivet. I bought a bouquet of flowers, 
 which were picked for me while there. 
 
 During my stay I went to Bethlehem, where I 
 saw the Church of Nativity. It is a beautiful 
 structure, and occupies the place where our Sav 
 iour is said to have been born. The room repre 
 senting the manger is gorgeously fitted up, and is 
 supposed to stand on the spot where the manger 
 was at that time. I also visited Bethany, the 
 Pool of Siloam, the fountain of the Virgin Mary, 
 the tombs of the kings and the prophets, and 
 every other place in and about the city known in 
 sacred and profane history. The mode of con 
 veyance is on the backs of donkeys, there being 
 no carriage roads in Palestine, excepting the one 
 from Joppa to Jerusalem, and that is a very poor 
 one. The people count the distance here by the 
 minutes or hours, they having no idea of miles, 
 but reckon the time it takes the donkey to travel 
 that distance. The population of Jerusalem at 
 the present time is about thirty thousand, made 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 61 
 
 up of nearly every nation on the face of the 
 globe. The largest portion, however, is Arabs, 
 and the next Jews. I met an American crank 
 there, and asked him what he was doing, and his 
 reply was that he was waiting for the second com 
 ing of Christ. I told him I thought he was fool 
 ish to wait there any longer, for I thought if 
 Christ should come a second time, he would se 
 lect a better place. The crank left me in disgust, 
 and I never saw him after. While here I formed 
 the acquaintance of the American Consul and his 
 wife, a Mr. and Mrs. Merrill, from Massachusetts, 
 whom I found very pleasant people, and I en 
 joyed several visits with them, besides having 
 had the pleasure of their company on the stage 
 to Joppa, as they went on a visit to that place, 
 also. I met them again, some two weeks later, at 
 Beyroot, in Syria, I having gone there by steamer 
 from Joppa. I went from Beyroot by stage to 
 Damascus, passing over Mt. Lebanon, a distance 
 of eighty miles. This is a mountain range ex 
 tending from northeast to southwest nearly one 
 hundred miles in length, and from ten to twenty 
 in width. It has an elevation of about seven 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea. To the 
 east of this mountain is another range, called 
 And Lebanon, running parallel to it. Between 
 these two is a valley called El Bukar. The width 
 of this valley varies from twelve to twenty miles. 
 The ancient Orentes River runs through it. And 
 
62 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 the River Jordan takes its rise here. The view 
 from the mountain over this valley is very pictur 
 esque. Extensive groves of olive, mulberry, 
 orange, lemon, citron, and fig trees are to be 
 seen everywhere, also vineyards and grain fields. 
 The cedars of Lebanon are mostly things of the 
 past, there being but a few of them left. There 
 are numerous towns and villages along these 
 mountains, and they are inhabited by two dis 
 tinct races, known as the Druses and the Maron- 
 ites. There are also Turks, Greeks, and Jews, 
 but they are few, and do not form an important 
 part of the population. Upon making an appli 
 cation at the stage office for a seat on the stage, I 
 found all the seats were engaged for the day trips 
 three or four days ahead, so I was compelled to 
 make the delightful trip by night, if I made it at 
 all. So I procured a ticket for the evening stage, 
 leaving Beyroot at five p. M., and arriving at Da 
 mascus at eight o clock the next morning. On 
 taking my seat in the coach I found that my 
 traveling companions consisted of two Arabs as 
 passengers and an Arab driver. This, I can as 
 sure you, was not a very pleasant position to be 
 placed in, when starting out on an all-night s 
 journey over such a rough country. However, 
 after going a short distance, I came to the con 
 clusion that my fellow-travelers were perfect gen 
 tlemen, and would have been splendid company 
 could they have spoken English. As it was, they 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. G3 
 
 tried to talk with me, and every now and then 
 would smile and shake hands with me, and say, 
 "Araba Tie," which I afterwards learned meant 
 in English, "good-morning." Ahout midnight 
 we arrived at Dier el Kamar, a little less than 
 half way to Damascus. Here I was informed 
 that I could get something to eat, and I lost no 
 time in taking advantage of the opportunity, and 
 had the pleasure of enjoying as fine a supper as 
 one could wish. 
 
 Damascus, the Mohammedan Paradise, is among 
 the oldest cities in the world, and the only one of 
 the ancient cities that has never been destroyed. 
 It resisted the conquering armies of King David 
 and Solomon, who with this exception reigned 
 over all the land between the Jordan and Eu 
 phrates Rivers. 
 
 The city is beautifully situated on a plain east 
 of the Anti Lebanon Range, about eighty miles 
 from Beyroot. The principal street of the city is 
 called Strait. It has been known by that name 
 for upwards of two thousand years and is so re 
 corded in the Bible. It runs through the ba 
 zaars, and extends far into the country, with 
 houses built on both sides of it. The bazaars are 
 very extensive, and filled with the finest of goods, 
 such as carpets, saddlery, copperware, curios, 
 slippers, Damascus steel, cutlery, and silver and 
 metal works. The city is full of beggars, who 
 follow the strangers up with their pitiful cry for 
 
G4 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 backsheesh, until their presence becomes unbear 
 able. But, should one feel charitably disposed, 
 and give to a few of them, the number suddenly 
 increases to so many that it would take a small 
 fortune to supply them. One often has to call in 
 the assistance of an officer to disperse them, so 
 that he may be able to walk in peace. But, 
 even then, they are likely to meet him at the next 
 corner with the same cry; then his only hope 
 of getting rid of them is to go to his hotel, and 
 remain there until they leave, to hunt up some 
 fresh victim. I was compelled to do this several 
 times during my stay there. Dogs are considered 
 sacred animals in Damascus, also in Constantino 
 ple, and all the Mohammedan cities, and, in con 
 sequence, the streets of those places are overrun 
 with them, as it is considered a sin to kill them. 
 They seem to belong to no one in particular, and 
 manage to live on what they pick up on the 
 streets, until they die of old age. Sometimes at 
 night they gather under one s window, and hold 
 a regular concert there, which they continue for 
 hours at a time, and, by the variety of voices, one 
 would imagine they were trying to play the opera 
 of Pinafore. 
 
 The plain on which Damascus stands is more 
 than fifty miles in circuit, covered with the most 
 beautiful gardens and orchards, forming a wav 
 ing grove, rich with the most luxuriant foliage 
 and luscious fruits. The river Abana runs 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 65 
 
 through the city. It is a rapid stream, and is 
 inclosed by walls on both sides, forming a canal, 
 and running through arches under the city for a 
 long distance. The river grows smaller as it ap 
 proaches the city, as the water is taken out 
 higher up the stream for irrigation of thousands 
 of acres of rich land, and hundreds of villages, 
 as well as the whole city of Damascus, receive 
 their water supply from it. The river Jordan be 
 low the Sea of Galilee waters only a strip of jun 
 gle. As a work of engineering, the system of the 
 canals by which the Albana is used for irrigation 
 may be considered as the most complete and ex 
 tensive in the world. On my return to Beyroot 
 I formed the acquaintance of a Mr. Dingley and 
 wife, Americans from Maine, and had the pleas 
 ure of traveling witli them for several weeks. 
 We finally parted company in Italy, near Naples. 
 They went to Rome, while I continued my jour 
 ney to Naples. Mr. Dingley is the proprietor of 
 the Lewiston Journal, published in Lewiston, 
 Maine. I found him one of the jolliest fellow s I 
 have ever met with, and his wife was equally 
 charming and entertaining. Leaving Beyroot 
 we went to Larnaca, island of Cypress, and then 
 to Smyrna. Here we chartered a train of cars to 
 take us to Ephesus, the old historical city, now in 
 ruins. The distance was fifty miles, and we paid 
 10, making it $1.00 per mile for the train. 
 
 Ephesus is situated in the province of Lydia,near 
 5 
 
66 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 the mouth of the river Caystrus. At the time of 
 Augustus it was the greatest place of trade of all 
 the twelve Ionic cities of Asia Minor. It was in 
 this condition at the time it was visited by St. 
 Paul, who resided there three years. Near the 
 west end of the town are found some massive 
 structures, which, since 1868, have been carefully 
 excavated, sometimes as much as eighteen feet be 
 low the surface. It is now certain that these 
 stand on the site of the famous Temple of Diana, 
 one of the seven wonders of the world. This im 
 mense building was once destroyed but was re 
 built in greater splendor than before. It was the 
 largest Greek temple ever constructed. Its length 
 was four hundred and twenty-five feet, and its 
 width two hundred and twenty feet. It had one 
 hundred and twenty-eight columns, thirty-six of 
 which were finely carved of solid marble, and 
 were sixty feet high. Ephesus stood on a plain 
 broken by hills that were high, but easy of as 
 cent. Probably all or most of the public build 
 ing stood on the summits of these hills, while the 
 lower grounds were occupied with dwellings and 
 shops. There is no reason to doubt that this was 
 a noble city, some two or three thousand years 
 ago, but now there is not one single human habi 
 tation within the ancient city. Everything is in 
 ruins, and the whole area is strewn with frag 
 ments of marble columns. We returned to 
 Smyrna in season to take the next steamer en 
 route to Constantinople. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 67 
 
 Our trip to Constantinople was very pleasant 
 and full of interest. After passing through the 
 Dardanelles we landed at the historical islands 
 of Rhodes and Patmos. The latter place is where 
 the Apostle John was banished by the Romans, 
 and where he saw the vision which caused him to 
 write the "Revelations" recorded in sacred his 
 tory. Constantinople is the capital of Turkey, 
 and is a city of strange contrasts. Like the city 
 of Canton, distance lends a charm. While ap 
 proaching it, we were delighted at the sight of its 
 marble palaces, tall towers, beautiful gardens, and 
 magnificent mosques in every direction. But 
 when you enter the city, these attractions seem to 
 vanish. The streets are narrow and dirty, and 
 alive with dogs, while the dwellings and shops 
 are cheap, frail structures. The city stretches 
 over plain, valley, and hill on either side of the 
 Bosphorus, as far as the eye can see. The por 
 tion south of the Golden Horn and west of the 
 Bosphorus is known as Stamboul, while that por 
 tion north and west of the Bosphorus is known as 
 Pera. The portion which occupies the eastern 
 bank is known as Scutari. Yet Stamboul, Pera, 
 and Scutari are all included in the one great and 
 noble city of Constantinople. The sea at this 
 place is a highway of commerce and a pleasure 
 lake combined. Although it divides the city, it 
 is not forced out by wharves, docks, or piers on 
 either side. You will find people in Constantino- 
 
68 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 pie of every nationality from the three great con 
 tinents, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and when stand 
 ing on the bridge of the Sultana Valide, which 
 connects Stamboul with Galata and Pera, you 
 will see people of all nations and all grades, from 
 the gorgeous pasha to the beggars in filth and 
 rags. It is a moving panorama, such as is seen 
 in no other city under the sun. It is composed 
 of Turks, Greeks, Cossacks, Moors, Jews, Egyp 
 tians, Caucasians, Syrians, Tartars, Hottentots, 
 French dandies, and half nude negroes. The va 
 rious costumes are of all colors and styles, from 
 that of Adam to the latest Parisian fashion. The 
 principal street is the grand Rue de Pera. It is 
 long and so narrow that two carriages can scarcely 
 go abreast. It has no sidewalks, and men, women, 
 horses, camels, carriages, and dogs mingle pro 
 miscuously in the middle of the street. Some of 
 the people are very poor. Beggars infest the 
 streets by day, and robbers infest them at night. 
 The Mohammedan women always conceal their 
 faces when on the street, and the wife occupies a 
 different part of the house from that of her hus 
 band, not even taking their meals together, and 
 they never meet except when he chooses to pay 
 her a visit. On our voyage to Constantinople we 
 had among our passengers a Turkish judge and 
 his four wives. The wives were not allowed to 
 occupy staterooms, nor to eat at the table, but 
 had to sleep on deck, with nothing but their 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 69 
 
 shawls for beds. Their meals were served to 
 them on deck by the steward. Not so with their 
 liege lord and master, however, for he had his 
 stateroom, and took his meals at the table with 
 the rest of the passengers. A Turk is allowed to 
 have seven wives, if he can support them. At 
 their homes they are mere toys of their husband, 
 and live in constant dread of being supplanted 
 by a younger and fairer rival. While I was in 
 the city, I took a trip up the Bosphorus on a 
 small steamer. Our landings were made first on 
 the Asiatic side, and then on the European side 
 and vice versa, until we were nearly up to the 
 Black Sea. It took just five minutes to make the 
 trip from one side to the other. At the end of 
 the route I left the steamer, and started to climb 
 a high hill, which would have afforded me a fine 
 view of the Black Sea and the surrounding coun 
 try, but the weather was so hot I had to give it 
 up. I sat down to rest on a small elevation over 
 looking a large Turkish fort. While sitting there 
 the commander of the fort saw me, and, thinking 
 I was afraid to proceed farther on account of rob 
 bers who infest that region, kindly sent three 
 armed men from the fort to escort me to the top 
 of the hill; but, after I explained to them through 
 my guide my reason for not proceeding, and 
 thanked them for their kindness, they returned 
 to the fort. The Turkish soldiers are poorly 
 dressed and very poorly paid, receiving only ten 
 
70 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 cents per day, and they are lucky if they get that, 
 as the government is often in arrears in keeping 
 them paid up. I had a great desire to see the 
 sultan, so my guide led me to where I could see 
 him as he passed on his way to the mosque. 
 This was on Friday, that being their Sabbath in 
 stead of Sunday. We met with some difficulty, 
 however, for, on arriving at the vicinity of the 
 mosque, we found that an armed guard had taken 
 possession of the street leading from the palace to 
 the mosque, and no one was allowed to stand on 
 the street. But as we had come there for the ex 
 press purpose of seeing him, we found a party 
 who was willing to let us stay in his store until 
 the sultan had passed, for the modest sum of a 
 mageda, a Turkish dollar. The distance from 
 the palace to the mosque was about a half a mile. 
 The guard was composed of several regiments of 
 soldiers, reaching the entire distance. The sultan 
 rode by in a carriage, and remained at the 
 mosque an hour. After returning to the palace, 
 the guard formed into companies and marched to 
 their barracks. They made a fine display dressed 
 in their gaudy uniforms. One of the great sights 
 to be seen in Constantinople is the Turkish ba 
 zaar, which is the largest of its kind in the world. 
 It is situated in Stamboul, and occupies several 
 blocks, all under one roof, aud having narrow 
 streets running through it, used by pedestrians 
 only. In passing through, one will hear noise 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 71 
 
 and confusion in as many different languages as 
 must have been heard at the building of the 
 tower of Babel. Another interesting thing to be 
 seen there is the mosque of St. Sophia. It is the 
 only one in that city open to Christian visitors. 
 It is supposed to contain the tombs of the 
 Emperor Constantine and his mother, the Em 
 press Helena. The walls are composed of rich 
 mosaics, around which are Arabic inscriptions 
 from the Koran written in letters of gold. The 
 vast galleries are supported by stately columns of 
 green granite, and the large dome, which is lighted 
 at night by ten thousand burning candles, rises 
 high above the city. It was erected in the fifth 
 century, and is the only rival of St. Peter s at 
 Rome. 
 
 From Constantinople I went to Athens, and 
 visited both the ancient and modern cities. The 
 seaport of Athens is Pineus. The distance to 
 Athens is four miles, and the road leads between 
 hills and groves of olives. The Acropolis remains 
 constantly in sight, but the city of Athens does 
 not come in view until one gets close to it. The 
 ancient city is situated on a rocky hill which 
 rises from the middle of a plain. The upper part 
 was called the Acropolis, and the lower part the 
 Katapolis. Nothing remains now but a part of 
 the fortress of the once renowned Acropolis on 
 the hill, which boasted the finest work of Athe 
 nian art. Its principal ornament was the temple 
 
72 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 of Minerva, the Parthenon, which in its present 
 condition is the admiration of the world. It was 
 two hundred and fifteen feet long, ninety-seven 
 feet broad, and seventy feet high. In it stood the 
 gold and ivory statue of Minerva by Phidias. 
 Fifty-five columns still remain at the entrance to 
 the temple, and some enormous blocks of marble 
 are resting upon them. Of the temple of Nep 
 tune some beautiful fragments are still to be seen, 
 and it is easy to trace the circuit of the amphi 
 theater. Outside the Acropolis lie the temples of 
 Thesus and Olympian Jupiter, one on the north 
 and the other on the south side. The first is of 
 Doric structure, and surrounded by thirty-six fine 
 pillars. The interior is full of beautiful sculpture. 
 Outside the temple stand several marble seats 
 brought from the neighboring Areopagus. Of 
 this nothing more is left than a chamber hewn in 
 the rock, to which a flight of steps, also cut in the 
 rock, leads. Of the temple of Olympian Jupiter, 
 enough of the formation wall is left to show its 
 proportions, as well as its magnificent columns, 
 fifty-eight feet in height. This temple was the 
 most superb building in Athens. The exterior 
 was adorned with one hundred and twenty fluted 
 columns, fifty-nine feet in height and six feet in 
 diameter. All three temples were built of the 
 finest white marble. Not far from the Areopagus 
 is the Pugx, where the free people of Athens were 
 accustomed to debate. All that remains of it now 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 73 
 
 is the rostrum and the seats, which are cut out of 
 the rock. Not far from this is the rocky prison 
 where Socrates drank the poison. Mars Hill, 
 where St. Paul stood when he spoke to the people 
 of Athens, is also near this place. It is a small 
 rocky mound, steep on either side. Steps are cut 
 in the rock so that people can ascend to the top. 
 I had the pleasure of standing on the very spot 
 where the Apostle Paul was supposed to have 
 stood. 
 
 After leaving this place we went to the island of 
 Corfu, one of the many islands in the Grecian 
 Archipelago, and thence across the Adriatic Sea 
 to Brindisi, Italy, where we went by sail to Na 
 ples. It was near there I took my leave of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Dingley, they going to Rome instead. 1 
 regretted very much to part with them, but I 
 promised to pay them a visit at their home in 
 Lewiston, Maine, on my return to America. I 
 kept my promise a year afterwards, having a de 
 lightful visit in my two days stay with them. 
 
 The city of Naples is beautifully situated on the 
 Bay of Naples. Nature has done as much for 
 this city as for any in the world. It rises as an am 
 phitheater from the shores of the sea to the top of 
 the surrounding hills, forming a panorama of such 
 varying beauty that one could gaze forever, and 
 never tire of the sight. On the east rises Vesu 
 vius in solitary and awful grandeur, while the 
 villages of Massa, St. Sebastian, Pollena, and 
 
74 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 other small towns are scattered on its sides. Tak 
 ing a guide, I went to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. 
 It was belching forth smoke and lava, and my 
 guide got me a piece of red-hot lava, from which 
 I lighted my cigar. Pieces of lava are continually 
 thrown from the crater high in the air, and after 
 falling to the surface, and while yet soft, the 
 guides frequently press pieces of coin into them. 
 After it lias cooled off the coin is found to he 
 firmly imbedded in the lava. These they sell to 
 tourists as souvenirs of Vesuvius. The crater is 
 now easily reached. We took a conveyance and 
 rode to within a short distance of the summit, 
 where we took an elevated railway car, which 
 runs very nearly to the top by means of an end 
 less wire rope at an angle of about 45. This 
 railroad is nine hundred yards long, and is thir 
 teen hundred feet higher at the upper end than at 
 the lower. The cars can cany twenty persons at 
 a trip. At the terminus of the road, a short walk 
 brought us to the crater. It is a wild-looking 
 place. Thick smoke keeps issuing from the deep 
 cracks here and there, and at times it is almost 
 stifling. Some of the openings are two and three 
 feet wide, and by looking into them we could see 
 twenty or thirty feet down. The air is hot enough 
 in some places to easily roast eggs. The old crater 
 is now almost filled up, and is forty or fifty rods 
 distant from the present one. Beds of lava are 
 scattered all over the sides of the mountain, hav- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 75 
 
 ing been belched forth from time to time. The 
 lava is piled up forty and fifty feet high in some 
 places. The first eruption of Vesuvius, on record, 
 took place in the year 79, which destroyed, with 
 other villages, the cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, 
 and Stabia. These were buried for seventeen hun 
 dred years, and were only discovered by chance. 
 Until the year 1500, history records nine eruptions, 
 and since then there have been forty-eight very se 
 vere ones. One of the most terrible was that of the 
 16th of December, 1631, in which three thousand 
 persons perished, and several towns were destroyed. 
 From that time up to 1872 there have been eleven 
 large ones. The last one occurred on the 26th 
 of April, 1872, and lasted several days, offering 
 scenes of horror and devastation. About fifty 
 visitors perished, among whom were eight med 
 ical students. More than forty thousand persons 
 fled from Naples to escape its terrible fury. This 
 frightful eruption has left a sad memory in the 
 minds of all who were unfortunate enough to 
 have witnessed it. 
 
 I also visited the ruins of Pompeii. It lies 
 on the opposite side of the mountain from 
 Naples. A large area of this ancient city has 
 been dug out, and one can walk through 
 streets and squares twenty feet below the sur 
 face. Some of the buildings are two stories 
 high, and in a fine state of preservation. They 
 are vacant, however, as all the contents have been 
 
76 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 removed and distributed among the different 
 museums of the world. On some of the walls and 
 ceilings I saw some of the finest fresco paintings 
 I have ever seen, and the sculpture work is also 
 very fine. A small force of men are constantly 
 digging out the old city, the material taken out 
 being used to fill in the low lands. This work is 
 done by the Station Government. All visitors are 
 charged three francs(sixty cents) for admission, and 
 are furnished a guide who speaks the language of 
 the visitor. This makes it all the more interest 
 ing, as the guide points out all places of interest, 
 and explains the rank each building held in the 
 time of its glory. History points to this city as 
 having been founded 600 years B. c., by a Stabian 
 colony. The Romans made it a retreat from the 
 noise and tumult of Rome. It was a fine city of 
 about thirty thousand inhabitants. It was built at 
 the southern base of Vesuvius, at the end of a 
 promontory near the mouth of the river Sarno,and 
 having the sea on both sides. We find in history 
 that, in the year 59, a quarrel broke out, during 
 the combats of gladiators in the amphitheater, 
 between those of Pompeii and the Norcerines, in 
 which many of the latter were killed. The peo 
 ple of Norcera applied to Nero, who laid the case 
 before the senate, who suspended all public spec 
 tacles in Pompeii for ten years. 
 
 In the year 63 it was partly ruined by an earth 
 quake. The terrified inhabitants fled from the city, 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 77 
 
 but soon returned, and Pompeii was recovering its 
 past splendor, when, on the 23d of August, in the 
 year 79, the dreadful eruption of Vesuvius broke 
 out, and continued for three days, pouring out tor 
 rents of inflammable matter, pumice stone, boiling 
 water, and ashes. The wooden roofs of the houses 
 were burned, or sunk in, under the weight of 
 accumulated matter. Very few skeletons have 
 been found, which goes to show that the most of 
 the inmates had time to escape. Some even re 
 turned, dug into their houses, and took all the 
 things of value that they could carry. Pompeii 
 was covered with a stratum of earth, pumice stone, 
 and ashes to the depth of about twenty feet. The 
 excavations were begun on the 1st of April, 1784, 
 under Charles the Third. The first objects of art 
 were discovered by some countrymen who were 
 digging near the spot. The walls were discovered 
 in 1814. The city had been surrounded by a 
 double wall varying from twenty-five to thirty 
 feet in height. At stated distances are to be seen 
 the ruins of towers. All but two of the gates 
 were entirely destroyed. The streets are straight 
 and very narrow. The tracks of the wheel are 
 still visible in the pavement. The streets are all 
 paved with lava, having a raised footpath on 
 each side. Public fountains were placed at the 
 entrances of the principal streets. All this wealth 
 and splendor were swept away in less time than it 
 takes to write about it. On my return to Naples, 
 
78 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 I visited the king s palace, the National Museum, 
 and several other places of note, and then con 
 tinued my journey to the "Eternal City," Rome. 
 
 Naples is three thousand years old, and was 
 founded by the Greeks before Rome was ever 
 thought of. It is the largest city in Italy, con 
 taining about five hundred thousand inhabitants. 
 But the interior of the city is far from being 
 beautiful, nor does it contain any great monu 
 ments of antiquity, and in many respects it is a 
 disagreeable place to be in. The streets are dirty, 
 narrow, crooked, and very noisy. Many of the 
 people are poorly dressed, and beggars are numer 
 ous. Crime, vice, and debauchery have left their 
 marks upon many of the faces. During my stay 
 there when wishing to take a walk through the 
 city, I was cautioned before leaving the hotel to 
 beware of pickpockets, and, in consequence, was 
 ever on the lookout. The situation of the city is 
 very picturesque. It has a mild climate, and the 
 surrounding country is very fruitful. 
 
 My journey from Naples to Rome took seven 
 hours by rail, all of which time I spent in antic 
 ipating and realizing the beauties of the scenery. 
 It is useless for me to try to enumerate all the 
 places and objects of interest both ancient and 
 modern to be seen in and around Rome. There 
 is the Vatican, the Capitol, the ancient and modern 
 palaces, the Colosseum, the churches, which are 
 also repositories of art, the seven hills, the Apian 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 79 
 
 Way, the Suburbs, Albano Prascati, and a thousand 
 ruins, all of which have their classic history. 
 There is no other city in Europe where a traveler 
 can tarry so long and find so much of interest. 
 The modern city is a beautiful place, full of plazas, 
 gardens, parks, and fine buildings. St. Peter s 
 Church and the Vatican palace are among the most 
 noted places in modern Rome. The Vatican is the 
 residence of the pope. It is a collection of build 
 ings on one of the seven hills, which covers a space 
 twelve hundred feet in length and one hundred 
 feet in breadth. It is built on the spot once occu 
 pied by the garden of Nero. The Vatican is filled 
 with statues found beneath the ruins of ancient 
 Rome. The walls hold paintings from the great 
 est masters, and curios, medals, and antiquities of 
 every description are to be seen there. Seventy 
 thousand statues from the ruined temples and 
 palaces of Rome have been exhumed, which fact 
 will give some idea of the size and richness of the 
 Vatican. 
 
 St. Peter s Church is the largest of its kind in 
 the world. It is six hundred and eight feet in 
 length, the height of the nave is one hundred and 
 fifty feet, and the length of the transept is four 
 hundred and fifty feet. The height of the dome 
 from the pavement to the summit inside is four 
 hundred and five feet, and from the pavement to 
 the top of the cross outside is four hundred and 
 thirty-five feet. The high altar stands directly 
 
80 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 beneath the dome, and is a most expensive struc 
 ture. It is said to stand directly over the grave of 
 St. Peter. The canopy over it is solid bronze, and 
 is said to have cost one hundred and ten thousand 
 dollars. The church contains many fine statues 
 and paintings. The cost of the building was 
 over sixty million dollars. The semicircular col 
 onnades are composed of two hundred and eighty 
 immense columns, inclosing an area which is 
 beautifully ornamented. There are not many of 
 the ancient buildings left. The colosseum, which 
 is partly in ruins, was a massive structure in its 
 day. It had the capacity of seating upwards of 
 seventy thousand persons. When Rome was in 
 its glory, this immense building was often filled 
 to its utmost to witness the combats between 
 gladiators and wild beasts, as well as to fence with 
 each other with sharp swords, in which case, 
 should one disarm the other, and have him at his 
 mercy, the victor would look up to the audience, 
 and, if their sympathies were with the armed one, 
 and they wished to have his victim killed, they 
 would signify it by pointing their thumbs upward, 
 while, on the other hand, if they wished the life 
 of the disarmed one to be spared, they would point 
 their thumbs downward. 
 
 The Pantheon, the pride of Koine, and one of 
 the wonders of the world, is the oldest, yet the 
 best preserved building in that city. It is the 
 only temple still standing, which Paul saw as he 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 81 
 
 entered the city of his martyrdom. It stands in 
 Plaza Delia Rotunda. Its interior consists of one 
 immense circular room one hundred and forty- 
 three feet in diameter and one hundred and 
 forty-three feet in height. This measurement 
 does not include the walls, which are twenty feet 
 in thickness. By an inscription on the portico, 
 we learn that the Pantheon was built by Agrippa, 
 the son-in-law of Augustus Caesar, twenty-seven 
 years before the birth of Christ, which makes it 
 a century older than the Colosseum. From the 
 time of Augustus to that of Constantine it was a 
 celebrated heathen temple. It was afterwards 
 changed from paganism to popery, and dedicated 
 to the Virgin Mary and the martyrs. It is now, 
 like Westminster Abbey, in London, used for the 
 tombs of the noted dead. It is here that Victor 
 Emanuel lies in his last resting place. His son, 
 the present king of Italy, visited the tomb while 
 I was there. 
 
 From Rome I went to Florence, noted for its 
 famous art gallery, containing the choicest speci 
 mens of painting and sculpture known; it is 
 also the birthplace of Americus Vespucius. I 
 had the pleasure of seeing some of the most mag 
 nificent works of art the world has ever produced. 
 I saw tables the tops of which were made en 
 tirely of precious stones in mosaic work, and 
 valued at millions of dollars. I visited the tombs 
 of the Medici family, the walls of which are 
 studded with costly jewels and precious stones. 
 6 
 
82 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 I next visited Venice, the city of canals. I cannot 
 imagine a more beautiful scene than Venice by 
 moonlight. The canals are then swarming with 
 gondolas, in the cool of the evening, and music, 
 both vocal and instrumental, is heard everywhere. 
 All through my travels I never met with a more 
 contented or happy people than those of Venice. 
 The city is considered one of the most beautiful 
 in the world. It was built on marshy islands, 
 seventy-two in number, and these islands are sub 
 divided by one hundred and forty-nine canals, 
 over which are about three hundred and sixty 
 bridges. The houses are mostly built of brick 
 and covered with plaster, ornamented in front by 
 a covering of white marble. They are generally 
 so situated as to have a communication with a 
 canal by means of a landing stair in the water, of 
 which almost every family plies a gondola. The 
 gondolas are used to carry passengers from one 
 part of the city to another, answering the purpose 
 of our street cars here. They are propelled by 
 two oarsmen, called gondoliers. Before Venice 
 was built, the people on the mainland were con 
 siderably troubled by bandits, who came down 
 from the Alps and stole the crops which had been 
 stored away for the winter s support. So, in order 
 to protect themselves from these lawless fellows, 
 the people built their houses on these little islands, 
 and as they grew to be stronger they united into 
 one city for their mutual defense and benefit. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 83 
 
 When looking at the city from a distance, it 
 seems to be floating on the water. It is divided 
 into two unequal parts by the Grand Canal, which 
 runs through it, varyingjin breadth from one hun 
 dred to one hundred and eighty feet. This canal 
 has several small steamers plying up and down it 
 for the accommodation of the people. One of the 
 principal sights to be seen is the historic bell of 
 St. Marco. This is a wonderful church, but it is 
 beyond my ability to give a description of it. It 
 must be seen to be appreciated. Venice is in a 
 fair way of becoming one of the most important 
 manufacturing cities in Italy. One of the great 
 industries is glass making. They employ fifteen 
 thousand people for bead making alone. They 
 also do a large business in glass blowing, mosaic, 
 and colored enamels. Some of the almost lost 
 arts have been revived, among them artistic cast 
 ings in metal, and lace making. The former now 
 has thirteen factories busily engaged, and the 
 latter gives employment to some three thousand 
 women. They also make imitations of antique 
 furniture in ebony and ivory, but instead of using 
 these costly materials they use pear wood and 
 bone with very satisfactory results. 
 
 Leaving Venice I went to Milan, and thence to 
 Basle, in Switzerland. In Milan I visited the 
 cathedral, one of the finest churches in Europe, 
 noted for its ornamental architecture. The city 
 is built after the modern style, and resembles some 
 
84 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 of our best-built American cities. It is also noted 
 for its musical conservatories. I next went by the 
 way of the St. Gothard Railway to the Italian 
 lakes, where I had a chance to see the beautiful 
 historical Lake Como, which Claude Melnotte pic 
 tured so vividly to his prospective bride. 
 
 The St. Gothard Railway, passing over the Alps, 
 is the most remarkable piece of railroad engineer 
 ing in the world. It was finished in 1882, having 
 taken ten years for its completion. It was built 
 by the governments of Germany, Italy, and Swit 
 zerland, each furnishing a stipulated sum of money 
 towards it. The total cost was nearly fifty millions 
 of dollars. To enable the men to build the road, 
 four cross lines had to be built right in the heart of 
 the mountain, in order to approach the main tun 
 nel, which is nine and a quarter miles in length. 
 As the grades were so steep, tunnels had to be cut 
 in the sides of the mountains, and the road forms 
 a complete circle in the rock, something like an im 
 mense corkscrew. After coming out of the tunnel, 
 one can look down a hundred feet below, and see 
 the part of the track we were on just before we en 
 tered the tunnel. There are four places, each hav 
 ing two such tunnels, on this road, and when the 
 train curved the last time, you can see from the 
 car window two other tracks, one below the other, 
 which the train had just a short time before passed 
 over. 
 
 There are on this line fifty-four tunnels in 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 85 
 
 all, but the St. Gothard is the largest in the world. 
 It is nine and a quarter miles long, eight feet 
 broad, and twenty- one feet high. It contains a 
 double track, and is lined with masonry through 
 out. It took eight years to bore it, and cost about 
 thirteen million dollars. The boring machines 
 were worked by compressed air. The Castlehorn 
 rises six thousand and seventy-six feet above the 
 center of it, and Salla Lake rises three thousand 
 three hundred and fifty feet above. The moun 
 tain scenery to be seen while riding over that road 
 is grand. I have been up in the Green Mountains 
 of Vermont, the White Mountains of New Hamp 
 shire, the Alleghany, Rocky, and the Sierra Ne 
 vada, but this rivals them all in wildness and 
 grandeur. After reaching the top, we descended 
 in the same manner. 
 
 The road winds along the shore of Lake Lu 
 cerne for quite a" distance, affording a fine view 
 of either side, and one can see peak rising above 
 peak of the neighboring mountains, in countless 
 numbers. Lake Lucerne is a beautiful body of 
 water, noted for its magnificent scenery. Its great 
 est length is twenty-three miles, lying somewhat 
 in the form of a cross. Mt. Rigi is in this neigh 
 borhood, and an elevated railroad has been con 
 structed to the top. The cars are propelled by 
 cog wheels, running in cogs in the center of the 
 track. This road is built similar to the one run 
 ning to the top of Mt. Washington, in New 
 Hampshire. 
 
86 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 After leaving the lake, we stopped within a 
 short distance of the town of Altorf. This is the 
 place of the traditional scene of William Tell, the 
 liberator of Switzerland from the Austrian yoke. 
 A colossal statue of Tell, erected in 1861, is said to 
 occupy the spot where the intrepid archer aimed 
 at the apple placed on the head of his son by the 
 tyrant, Gesler. It is said that the lime tree where 
 his son stood, lived till 1567. The ride from Lu 
 cerne to Basle is very pleasant. Here and there 
 a castle, or the ruins of one, comes to view from 
 the highest points, as we rapidly pass along. 
 
 We saw many women working out in the fields? 
 taking the place of the men, while here in Amer 
 ica a woman is seldom seen doing a man s 
 labor. The women of Europe who work in the 
 fields handle the hoe, fork, and spade as well as 
 any man, and they are stout and coarse featured, 
 compared with our delicate American women. 
 
 Basle is a beautiful city, and one of the oldest 
 and largest in Switzerland. It dates from the old 
 Roman times. It is situated on the Rhine, above 
 navigation. 
 
 From Basle I went to Zurich. The National 
 Exhibition was being held there at that time, and 
 they had the finest display of mechanical and 
 agricultural implements I ever saw. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 _^ Jtww * Zurich I went to Munich, in Ger 
 many, crossing the beautiful Lake Con 
 stance to Lindon. I journeyed the rest 
 of the way by rail. While at Munich, they were 
 holding their International Art Exhibition. It 
 was the grandest collection of paintings and 
 sculpture I ever saw. Munich is one of the art 
 centers of the world, and has numerous art gal 
 leries. 
 
 I next went to Linz, in Austria, and from 
 there by steamer down the Danube to Vienna. 
 I think this city ranks next to Paris in beauty. 
 It is very artistically laid out, and is kept in ex 
 quisite order. It abounds in magnificent build 
 ings, and more are being built. In the old 
 portion of the city the streets are narrow, but the 
 new part has broad avenues, which stretch for 
 
 (87) 
 
00 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 miles, and the fine buildings give it the appear 
 ance of a city of palaces. It also boasts of beau- 
 .tiful parks and public gardens. The Prater is a 
 natural park, comprising several low islands, 
 formed by arms of the Danube River. It is 
 divided into two parts, called the Upper and 
 Lower Prater, by the Prater Avenue. This park 
 is open on Sundays and week days. It contains 
 coffee houses, panorama, circus, swings, jugglers, 
 rustic kitchens, long rows of tables and benches, 
 an amphitheater, and trains of carriages; and, 
 with the multitude of people all dressed in their 
 various costumes and engaged in the various 
 sports and exercises, forms one of the most beau 
 tiful sights to be seen anywhere. 
 
 From Vienna I went to Dresden, passing 
 through Bohemia. Dresden is noted for its fa 
 mous Chinaware, and it has some very fine art 
 galleries, after visiting which I went to Berlin. 
 I read so much about this place during the 
 Franco-Prussian War that it held particular in 
 terest for me. I visited the famous " Unter den 
 Linden," where the French proposed to sing the 
 Marseilles hymn, but a more important engagement 
 in Paris prevented them from doing so. "Unter 
 den Linden" is to Berlin what "Rotten Row" is to 
 London, or the Boulevard is to Paris. It is the 
 gathering place of all the wealth and nobility of 
 London or Berlin. Under the Linden is one of 
 the finest streets to be found. It is about a mile 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 89 
 
 in length and one hundred and ninety-six feet 
 in width. It takes its name from its avenues of 
 linden trees. Chestnut trees are mingled here 
 and there. In the center of this avenue is a wide 
 walk, or foot promenade, with a row of trees on 
 each side, and on both sides of this walk are un- 
 paved drives for horsemen, and on either side of 
 these are still two other wide ones, paved, for 
 carriage drives, while beyond these are wide 
 sidewalks belonging to the fine buildings built 
 upon each side of the street. All the nobility of 
 Berlin have their palaces on this street. It ex 
 tends from Brandenburg Gate to the statue of 
 Frederick the Great, the finest equestrian statue 
 in the world. This statue was begun in 1840, 
 and completed in 1851. It is forty-four feet in 
 height, surmounted by a statue of the great king, 
 on horseback, in his coronation robes. The prin 
 cipal buildings in the city are the emperor s pal 
 aces, the university buildings, and the royal 
 library. Among other objects of interest is a very 
 remarkable monument, erected to commemorate 
 the great victories of the German nation in the 
 late European wars. It appeared to be about 
 two hundred feet in height, and was sur 
 mounted by an elegant statue of Victory. It 
 is made of the finest polished stone, and con 
 tains a record of all the famous battles of the 
 late wars. It also has several battle scenes en 
 graved on it. 
 
90 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Berlin has some very fine parks and flower 
 gardens. Just before entering the city, we came 
 to a magnificent forest of hundreds of acres of the 
 finest trees. This has been laid out in parks, 
 with beautiful drives. 
 
 About twenty miles from Berlin is Potsdam, 
 the summer residence of the imperial family. 
 Near the station is the old palace, but little used 
 now. It contains the celebrated dining room 
 used by Frederick the Great when he wished to 
 dine with his ministers, unattended by his serv 
 ants. The table was so arranged that the center 
 o it could be let down into the kitchen, through 
 a trap door, by means of a secret spring, and 
 loaded with the choicest viands, then, by the 
 same process, returned to the dining room. 
 This could be repeated as often as desired. The 
 old church where he is buried is in sight of this 
 place. The house in which he lived and died, 
 the chair in which he sat, and the book he was 
 reading when he died, are all shown to the visi 
 tor. Here also are the graves of his favorite dogs, 
 eight in number, and his pet horse. Each has a 
 separate gravestone. 
 
 Potsdam has some beautiful parks also. They 
 were laid out and planted with trees under Fred 
 erick the Great s immediate supervision. The 
 trees are so large now that the branches form an 
 arch over the walks and drives, and, looking up 
 or down, it seems like looking through a tunnel. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 91 
 
 While in Berlin I met Minister Sargent, and had 
 a very pleasant chat with him. 
 
 From Berlin I went to Frankfort-on-the-Main. 
 This is one of the oldest and richest cities in Ger 
 many, situated on both sides of the river Main. 
 It has a very fine public garden, called Palmigar- 
 ten. The grounds are very tastefully laid out, 
 and have a large conservatory filled with tropical 
 plants and ferns. This garden is a great Sunday 
 resort for the people of Frankfort, crowds going 
 there to listen to the music, which is considered 
 the finest in Germany. The hall is provided 
 with seats and promenades, half hidden by the 
 growing plants, which gives it the appearance of 
 a tropical scene. 
 
 While there I visited the panorama of the 
 Battle of Sedan. It was very good. One could 
 hardly tell where nature left off and art began. 
 The battle was fought on September 1, 1870, be 
 tween the French and Prussians. 
 
 From Frankfort I took the cars for Mayence 
 the head of navigation on the Rhine, and thence 
 to Cologne, by steamer. It was a six hours ride, 
 full of interest. The scenery was grand, and the 
 steamers were like floating palaces. The river 
 Rhine is not very wide, but in some places the 
 current is so rapid that it goes with the velocity 
 of a mill stream. All along the river the steep 
 hillsides are terraced off in a wonderful way, and 
 vineyards greet the eye everywhere. On the tops 
 
92 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 of some of the highest hills are old castles, some 
 well preserved, others in ruins. All unite to form 
 a panorama of an ever-changing scene, and I en 
 joyed the trip hugely. 
 
 Cologne is a fine city of about one hundred and 
 fifty thousand inhabitants. The city dates from 
 the time of the Christian era. A Roman colony 
 was planted there by the mother of Nero, although 
 there was already a small city there at the time. 
 In the year 308 Constantine the Great built a 
 stone bridge across the Rhine at this place. That 
 bridge has entirely disappeared, and in its place is 
 a fine iron bridge, where cars, teams, and foot pas 
 sengers pass to and fro. 
 
 The cathedral at Cologne is one of the finest 
 buildings in Europe. It was begun in 1248, but 
 was not completed till 1880. Four and one-half 
 million dollars were spent on it during that time. 
 It is built in the form of a cross. The nave is 
 planked with double and the transit with single 
 aisles. The total length is four hundred and 
 forty-four feet and its breadth is two hundred and 
 seven feet. The walls are one hundred and fifty 
 feet high, and the height of the roof is two hun 
 dred and one feet. The height of the larger towers 
 is five hundred and twelve feet. These towers, 
 two in number, are the highest in the world ex 
 cept the Washington monument. This massive 
 stone cathedral is covered with turrets, statuary, 
 and all sorts of figures, presenting in all a most im- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 93 
 
 posing appearance. Its largest bell was cast from 
 the metal of a cannon, captured from the French 
 during the last war, and weighs twenty-five tons. 
 It stands on a high eminence and can be seen a 
 long distance off. St. Peter s Church at Rome is 
 larger and more adorned with works of art, and 
 the cathedral at Milan is more beautiful in some 
 respects, but, take it all in all, that at Cologne has 
 no rival among the structures erected for Christian 
 worship. 
 
 The next place I visited was Brussels, the capi 
 tal of Belgium. There I visited the Parliamen 
 tary buildings and also the famous battle field of 
 Waterloo. In appearance it is no different from 
 any other field, and had it not been for the guide, 
 who pointed it out to me, I might have walked 
 all over the historic ground without knowing it. 
 I was shown the spot where Wellington and 
 Bliicher met after the defeat of Napoleon and his 
 army. That was a cold day for Napoleon, as cold 
 as it was for his namesake relative when he under 
 took to whip Kaiser William. The battle of 
 Waterloo was fought on June 18, 1815. 
 
 The battle was between the allied English, 
 Netherland, and German troops under Welling 
 ton, and the French under Napoleon, and it re 
 sulted in the complete overthrow of the French 
 emperor. On June 14 the forces of Wellington, 
 comprising about ninety-two thousand British, 
 Hanoverian, Brunswick, Nassau, and Netherland 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 troops, were stationed between the rivers Scheldt 
 and Nivelles, the duke having his headquarters 
 at Brussels, while Blucher, with three corps of 
 Prussians, about ninety thousand men, occupied 
 Namur, Charleroi, and the adjacent country on 
 both sides of the Sambre. 
 
 Wellington resisted the various attacks of the 
 enemy from ten o clock in the morning till about 
 five in the afternoon. By this time sixteen thou 
 sand Prussians reached the field of battle, and by 
 7 P. M. the forces under Blucher amounted to above 
 fifty thousand men, with one hundred and four 
 guns. Wellington then advanced his whole line 
 of infantry, and, the Prussians advancing simulta 
 neously, the rout of the French became com 
 plete. The total loss of the allies, including the 
 Prussians, was about twenty-three thousand and 
 that of the French thirty thousand, besides two 
 hundred and twelve pieces of cannon. 
 
 Napoleon quitted the wreck of his army, re 
 turned to Paris, and, finding it impossible to raise 
 another army, abdicated. He afterwards surren 
 dered to the English, and was banished to St. Hel 
 ena, where he died during exile, May 5, 1821. 
 Several survivors of the engagement who served 
 in that war have died during the past year. A 
 few were still living while I was there, in 1883, 
 and residing with their friends or relatives in va 
 rious parts of the country. 
 
 Brussels is one of the most beautiful cities in 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 95 
 
 Europe, arid, like Paris, is celebrated for its 
 magnificent squares, public buildings, fountains, 
 walks, and drives, as well as for its manufactures of 
 lace, carpets, and other articles. It is also noted 
 for its beautiful women, which fact alone would 
 prove an attraction for most American travelers. 
 I found it particularly so in my case. 
 
 I next went to Paris, a day s ride by rail. 
 There was not much to be seen along the road, 
 but the sight of Paris made up for it. The city 
 is pleasantly situated on both sides of the river 
 Seine. Its streets are not spacious, like those of 
 London, but its public buildings are far more 
 splendid. It abounds in public walks, gardens, 
 and other places of amusement, as well as in ex 
 tensive and valuable libraries, and literary and 
 charitable institutions. It is considered the gay 
 est, and by many the most fashionable city in the 
 world. One of the great features of Paris is the 
 Triumphal Arch, built by Napoleon. It is the 
 grandest structure of its kind in the world. It is 
 one hundred and forty-seven by seventy-three 
 feet at the base, and one hundred and sixty-two 
 feet high. The central archway is forty-five feet 
 broad and ninety feet high. Its inner walls are 
 inscribed with the names of three hundred and 
 eighty-four generals and ninety -six victories. The 
 finest sculptured ornaments are four groups of 
 colossal figures, one of which represents the de 
 parture of the army in 1792. There are ten 
 
96 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 streets and broad avenues radiating from the 
 arch. One is the Avenue de Imperatrice, which 
 consists of a carriage way, foot walks, and a 
 bridle road. It is nearly a mile long and three 
 hundred feet wide, bordered by continuous 
 gardens, outside of which on either side is 
 still another carriage road, and beyond this are 
 gardens and villas. This avenue leads to the 
 much-read-of Bois de Boulogne, an extensive 
 park laid out in the modern style of landscape 
 gardening. It has the appearance of a large for 
 est, and is on the outskirts of the city. It has 
 beautiful drives and bridle paths in every direc 
 tion, and is visited mostly by the upper classes of 
 society. On pleasant afternoons you can see lines 
 of carriages containing the wealth and beauty of 
 Paris. The lines of carriages often are five and six 
 miles long, extending clear around its beautiful 
 lake and far up the Champs Ely sees. 
 
 The Jardin de Acclimation is a park which 
 attracts all classes of people. The zoological gar 
 den is in this park, and is well stocked with ani 
 mals and birds. A band discourses fine music 
 every afternoon, attracting crowds of people. One 
 of the most attractive promenades of Paris is the 
 Boulevard Interior. It follows for three miles 
 what were once the fortifications on the northern 
 side of the ancient city. It is one continuous ave 
 nue, but certain parts go by different names. 
 One part of it is called des Italiens. It is an old 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 97 
 
 saying that France is the center of civilized na 
 tions; Paris is the center of France, and the Bou 
 levard des Italiens is the center of Paris. 
 
 While there I took a trip on the circular rail 
 road, which afforded a splendid view of that 
 lovely city. I also visited St. Cloud and Ver 
 sailles to see the imperial palaces. The one at 
 St. Cloud was burned during the siege of Paris, at 
 the time of the Franco-Prussian War, and has 
 never been rebuilt. That at Versailles is still 
 standing, and is furnished in luxuriant style, al 
 though it is not occupied, for, since France has 
 become a republic, they have made but little use 
 of those old-time palaces. They are kept in good 
 condition for the purpose of showing them to vis 
 itors. The palace with its surrounding garden 
 and fountains at Versailles is something grand. 
 
 After doing Paris and its suburbs, I started for 
 London, taking the Dieppe and New Haven route. 
 We had a rough passage crossing the English 
 Channel, and most of the passengers got seasick, 
 but, fortunately, I escaped, not being in the least 
 affected something to be truly thankful for, I am 
 sure. 
 
 London, the metropolis of the British Empire, 
 is one of the largest and most wonderful cities in 
 the world. So much of interest is to be seen 
 there that it would require months to see it all, 
 and volumes to describe it. London, compara 
 tively speaking, has not so great a proportion of 
 7 
 
98 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 magnificent buildings as some cities, still, it con 
 tains a great number of splendid edifices. Among 
 them may be mentioned St. Paul s Church, which, 
 if we except St. Peter s in Rome, is the finest in 
 the world. In commerce and manufactures it ex 
 cels every other city, and it abounds in literary 
 and humane institutions. Almost everything that 
 the ingenuity of man has invented is made here 
 in a high state of perfection, and many articles 
 are unrivaled in their excellence. 
 
 The population of London is about four mil 
 lion five hundred thousand. It is estimated that 
 a birth takes place every four minutes, and in 
 every six minutes a death occurs. It contains 
 many thousand miles of streets, and an aver 
 age of twenty-eight miles of new streets are 
 opened, and about nine thousand new houses 
 built in a year. There are about one hundred 
 thousand foreigners in the city, from every quar 
 ter of the globe. 
 
 It contains many beautiful parks and gardens. 
 Hyde Park is the most popular, and may be 
 called the people s park. Rotten Row and the 
 Ladies Mile are in this park, and are known the 
 world over. The beauty and wealth of the city 
 can be seen at this park any afternoon during the 
 summer months. Princes, dukes, lords, members 
 of Parliament all mix in with the crowd, driv 
 ing in their elegant turnouts, or riding fine horses, 
 and all vie in showing off to the best advantage. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 99 
 
 There are several fine old oak trees, the oldest 
 of which is said to be not less than four hundred 
 and fifty years of age. All kinds of games are in 
 dulged in, but football and cricket are the favor 
 ites. Kensingston Garden is near by, separated 
 from it by the Serpentine, which is crossed by a 
 handsome stone bridge. This place is more like 
 a private garden than a park, the public not 
 being allowed to drive in it. However, it is a 
 favorite promenade. Its principal attraction is 
 the celebrated Albert Memorial, erected by Queen 
 Victoria in memory of her late husband, the 
 Prince Consort, It is the finest and most costly 
 private monument in the world. It is said to 
 have cost $1,200,000. It rests on a polished gran 
 ite base one hundred and thirty feet square. The 
 four corners supporting it are of white marble, 
 representing groups of figures inhabitants of the 
 four quarters of the globe. Above these groups 
 are four more representing manufacture, commerce, 
 agriculture, and engineering, while at the base 
 there are life-size figures of some of the most rioted 
 men. The statue of the Prince Consort is in the 
 center, and represents him in a sitting posture. It 
 is of gilt bronze, as is also the whole canopy. 
 
 Regent Park is another favorite resort. It is very 
 beautiful, with its grand old trees and lovely 
 drives, which extend around its outer edge for 
 two and a half miles. A part of this park con 
 tains the zoological garden, which has the largest 
 
100 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 exhibition of birds, beasts, and reptiles to be seen 
 anywhere in the world. I visited several other 
 parks in London but of less interest. 
 
 I also visited the Tower of London. It was built 
 eight hundred years ago, and was used as a for 
 tress and palace in olden times; now it is used as 
 a depository of the national arms and accouter- 
 ments. The ancient records of the kingdom con 
 tain many documents relative to the warlike 
 stores preserved in and issued from the tower. 
 Additions were made from various sources until 
 the collection contained the most interesting speci 
 mens of armor and weapons of almost every age of 
 English history. 
 
 In the banqueting room the devices are fine. 
 The north windows contain passion and sunflow 
 ers made of sword blades, ramrods, bayonets, and 
 pistols In the west window the rising sun is well 
 imitated in the arrangement of bayonets and 
 springs of ramrods. The device in the center of 
 the avenue represents a water spout at sea; an 
 other represents a pineapple, and so on. 
 
 The numerous halls, galleries, and gardens of 
 the palace in the tower were the scenes of magnif 
 icent wedding festivities on the occasion of the 
 marriage of Henry the Third. To this monarch 
 the whole fortress was indebted for much of the 
 splendor and importance it possessed in the early 
 ages. Edward the Third often held his court in 
 this tower. We have ancient records of the mag- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 101 
 
 nificent scenes that were at times enacted within 
 these gloomy walls. But there is also a sadness 
 about this place, for the annals of the tower as a 
 prison tell of its fearful and gloomy events. It is 
 said to contain secret passages to rooms of torture, 
 and that dungeons abound within and beneath 
 the fortress. Everything is in keeping with the 
 dark ages in which it was built, and the dreadful 
 scenes it has witnessed. 
 
 If those walls could speak, what tales of horror 
 they might recount! Many persons of rank have 
 been imprisoned and executed here. Among 
 those who lost their lives in this place are Anne 
 Boleyn, executed May 19, 1536, and Lady Jane 
 Gray. The ax and block used on those occasions 
 are still kept in the tower as relics of curiosity to 
 be shown to visitors. It was in this same tower 
 that the youthful sons of Edward the Fourth 
 were smothered by pillows by order of their uncle, 
 Richard the Third. 
 
 After sojourning my allotted time in London, 
 I went to Scotland via the Midland Railroad, and 
 visited Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the famous 
 Scottish Lakes. On my return I stopped at Ster 
 ling Castle, and had the opportunity to inspect 
 one of the oldest and strongest castles of the early 
 days. The trip on the lakes is very interesting, 
 and is taken by all tourists who come in this vi 
 cinity. The trip can be made in one day. 
 
 We left Glasgow in the morning by rail, and on 
 
102 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 our arrival at Loch Lomond we were transferred 
 to a pretty little steamer, on which we crossed the 
 lake. Then we went by stage through the Tros- 
 sacks, where the scenery is very grand, Ben Lo 
 mond, a lofty mountain plain, being in view 
 during the whole ride. After arriving at Loch 
 Katrine, another beautiful lake hemmed in on 
 all sides by high mountains, we took passage on 
 another little steamer, crossed the lake, and again 
 took the stage to the railway station, and returned 
 by rail to Glasgow, reaching there the same even 
 ing. While on the trip I formed the acquaint 
 ance of a party of American ladies from Chicago 
 and California, which, of course, made the trip 
 doubly pleasant to me. 
 
 Glasgow on the Clyde is, in regard to commerce, 
 manufactures, and population the first city in 
 Scotland. George s Square is a fine place, situated 
 in the heart of the city. It contains a large num 
 ber of monuments erected to the memory of some 
 of Scotland s most noted men; among them are 
 those of Sir John Moore, Robert Burns, James 
 Watt, David Livingstone, Robert Peel, and Sir 
 Walter Scott. 
 
 From Glasgow I went by steamer down the 
 Clyde River and crossed the Irish Channel to Bel 
 fast, and thence by rail to Dublin. While there 
 I visited Phoenix Park and saw the spot where 
 Lord Cavendish and Secretary Burk were mur 
 dered. I also saw the prison in which the sup- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 103 
 
 posed murderers were confined until they were 
 executed. 
 
 One of the great features of this place is Dublin 
 Castle. It is supposed to have been begun in the 
 year 120, by Myles Fitzhenry, a son of Henry the 
 Second, and was finished in 1220. It is situated 
 on Cork Hill, the highest and most central part 
 of the city. It was a place of great strength, and 
 was divided into two courts, which are called the 
 upper and lower castle yards. The upper yard, or 
 court, contains the official residence of the viceroy, 
 and the buildings are all uniform red brick with 
 blue granite facings on all sides. An archway 
 under the east section of the buildings connects it 
 with the lower castle yard. The principal en 
 trance to the castle opens into the upper yard. 
 The arch over the gate is of limestone, and bears 
 on its pediment an elegant statue of Justice. 
 
 In the castle a guardroom is fitted up, wherein 
 a company of foot soldiers are stationed, sentries 
 being posted at the various entrances to the castle 
 and other prominent points. St. Patrick s Hall 
 is in the castle, and is eighty-two feet long, forty- 
 one broad, and thirty-eight feet high. It is hand 
 somely decorated with fine fresco paintings on 
 the ceilings. In one place St. Patrick is repre 
 sented converting the Irish people to Christianity. 
 Another place shows Henry the Second seated 
 under a canopy receiving the submission of the 
 Irish Chieftains. A mosaic representation of 
 
104 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 George the Third, supported by figures of Liberty 
 and Justice, is seen in the middle circle. 
 
 At either end of the hall is a large gallery for 
 the musicians and spectators. It is here they 
 hold their court balls, and no one is admitted 
 unless in court dress or uniform. Cards of admis 
 sion are given to spectators, but they must appear 
 in full dress. Dublin is a pretty city. 
 
 The buildings on each street seem to have been 
 built all after the same plan, and at the same 
 time, and by the same party. Dublin is situated 
 at the head of a spacious and picturesque bay at 
 the mouth of the Liffey River, seven miles from 
 the Irish Sea. It is noted for the beauty of its 
 women, and the biddies can be seen there in all 
 their glory. I have come to the conclusion that 
 the better class of Irish in Ireland are as fine and 
 intelligent as anyone could wish to meet. I 
 found them as much so as in any country in 
 Europe, or, in fact, in any country I have traveled. 
 The class of Irish which we see in America is 
 composed mostly of the scum of Ireland. 
 
 From Dublin I recrossed the Irish Sea to Holy- 
 head in Wales, and from there I went to Liver 
 pool. I spent a few days at Manchester and War- 
 rington. At the latter place I paid a visit to 
 some relatives of friends of mine in California. 
 These folks accompanied me to Manchester, and 
 escorted me over the whole city, pointing out all 
 places of particular interest. Manchester is a 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 105 
 
 large inland city and in population ranks next 
 to Liverpool and next to London in manufac 
 tures. Its cotton fabrics are much celebrated for 
 their variety and beauty. It has ninety-one cot 
 ton mills, thirteen silk mills, thirty small ware 
 mills, forty-eight iron foundries, forty-eight dye- 
 works, and about one hundred machine shops. 
 The cotton mills employ about sixty thousand 
 people. 
 
 The City Hall is one of the finest buildings in 
 Europe. The floors are tiled in mosaic work of 
 colored stones set in shapes of butterflies, spiders, 
 serpents, etc., and edged with borders of China 
 work. The work, which is very beautiful, was 
 done by men who came from Italy for that ex 
 press purpose. The cost of the building was enor 
 mous, but I am not able to give the figures. 
 
 Liverpool is a large seaport on the Mersey. It 
 is the largest shipping port in the world, and is the 
 second city in England in respect to wealth and 
 commerce. It has splendid docks, and while 
 strolling along them one can see thousands of 
 masts rising from the many vessels and ocean 
 steamers, a large number of which are dispatched 
 daily from its harbor to all parts of the world, 
 while others are constantly arriving laden with 
 treasures from all quarters of the globe. There is 
 no other place in the world where there is such 
 a continuous line of docks. They present a quay 
 age to wet docks and tidal basins, alone, of twenty- 
 
106 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 two and one-half miles, and a water space of three 
 hundred and thirty-three acres, which, together 
 with land sheds, quays, and warehouses, cover an 
 area of one thousand and forty acres. These fig 
 ures apply only to the Lan cast ersh ire side of the 
 Mersey dock and harbor estate. 
 
 On the Chesline shore at Birkenhead there are 
 docks with a water area of one hundred and sixty- 
 four acres, with nearly ten miles quayage, thus 
 making in all a water area of nearly five hundred 
 acres, and a total quayage of thirty-two miles. In 
 addition are twenty-two graving docks for repair 
 ing vessels with an aggregate length of floor of 
 fourteen thousand feet. The whole estate is 
 studded with imposing buildings, such as dock- 
 masters residences, custom house, police stations, 
 clock towers, dockyard offices, etc. 
 
 On the Lan castersh ire side is a double line of 
 railway tracks five miles in length. There is no 
 part of the habitable w r orld that cannot be reached 
 from Liverpool. It is connected with New York 
 by a fleet of magnificent steamers which run with 
 almost the same regularity as our railroad trains. 
 
 Before leaving for America I must give a short 
 sketch of some of the hotels at which I had the 
 pleasure or the misfortune to stop while in 
 Europe. As a rule, they w r ere well kept, but everv 
 means w r as resorted to to extract money from 
 strangers. Their rates seemed reasonable enough, 
 but little, unexpected items would appear on the 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 107 
 
 bill, which would run it up to an exorbitant sum. 
 The price of the room does not include the light, 
 such as gas, candle, or coal oil ; nor does it include 
 any service whatever; these are all charged extra 
 in the bill. Hot water and soap are also charged 
 as extras, and various unexpected items are 
 added, particularly if they never expect to see you 
 again. Their motto is to get while they have the 
 chance. 
 
 The employes of the hotels are required to show 
 great respect to the guests, and, when a guest 
 passes in or out, all who happen to be near the 
 entrance at the time, lift their caps and bow in 
 respect. This applies to Italy in particular. All 
 of the servants expect a little something from the 
 guest when he is about to depart; this is called 
 tipping. When the guest is ready to leave, the 
 manager rings a bell, and in an instant the cor 
 ridor is filled with servants from all parts of the 
 house. One would never imagine there were so 
 many, but among them are some who had not 
 been seen by the guest before, and, although they 
 have rendered you no service, they expect to share 
 with the others in the everlasting tips. They all 
 follow to the carriage, shower you with good 
 wishes and a bon voyage. 
 
 The restaurants along the railways on the Con 
 tinent are very good, and on some lines they seem 
 to be all under one management. The conductor, 
 or guard, as he is called there, takes your order 
 
108 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 for dinner and telegraphs it ahead, and, when the 
 train arrives at the station, dinner is brought to 
 you on a platter. You can eat your meal at your 
 leisure, while the train moves speedily on to the 
 next station. Here the tray with its dishes is 
 taken away and sent back on the returning train, 
 or kept there in exchange for some which had 
 been taken to the other station by passangers go 
 ing in the opposite direction. The railways all 
 through Europe are well built and kept in splen 
 did order. The trains are run at a very high rate 
 of speed, and the block signal system is used on 
 most of the lines. By this system they avoid ac 
 cidents, which are so frequent in this country, for 
 no two trains can be between two stations at the 
 same time. The forward train in passing a sta 
 tion sets a danger signal, which remains in that 
 position till the train passes the next station, when 
 it is dropped, and set at the next one, and so on 
 along the entire length of the road. This works 
 automatically, by means of electricity, and is a 
 great safeguard to trains following each other on 
 the same track. The railways in Europe have all 
 double tracks, and no two roads are allowed to 
 cross each other on the level; one has to go under 
 the other; nor is a carriage road allowed to cross 
 a railway on the level. The roads are all well 
 fenced, and no one is permitted to walk on the 
 track, under penalty .of arrest and fine. Police 
 are stationed all along the track. The cars are 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 109 
 
 not so comfortable and pleasant to ride in as our 
 American cars, for they are divided into compart 
 ments, first, second, and third class often being in 
 one car. The seats face each other, and there is a 
 door on each side of the car. While the train is 
 in motion these doors are locked, and opened by 
 the conductor at every station. Each compart 
 ment is provided with a distress signal or electric 
 bell. On some roads these electric bell buttons 
 are covered with glass, which must be broken be 
 fore an alarm can be given. The passenger is 
 supposed to break it with his fist, No one can get 
 on the train without a ticket, as it has to be pre 
 sented at the gate before entering where the train 
 is standing. The conductor does not take up the 
 tickets; but, when the passenger arrives at his 
 destination, as he passes through the gate, 
 the ticket is taken by the station agent. 
 Carriage fare in European cities is generally not 
 so expensive, as the tariff is everywhere fixed by 
 law, and the driver is obliged to show the rate 
 sheet to all who may wish to see it. 
 
 I left Liverpool for New York September 1, 
 1883, on the steamship Abyssinia, a slow but 
 staunch craft. Our passage across the Atlantic 
 was a very rough one for the first four days out. 
 For the remainder of our trip we had calm weather, 
 with the exception of heavy fogs off the coast of 
 New Foundland. We reached New York safely 
 after a voyage of eleven and one-half days. 
 
110 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 While on the voyage a death occurred among the 
 deck hands. One of their number was sick when 
 we left Liverpool, and died on the way. He was 
 buried at sea. It was the first and only case of 
 the kind that occurred during my long journey 
 around the world. On reaching New York I stayed 
 a few days to visit places of interest, among them 
 Central Park, the new suspension bridge, etc, 
 
 I next went to Massachusetts, where I met a 
 brother whom I had not seen for twenty-five years. 
 I stayed with him a short time and then continued 
 my journey to New Hampshire, where I found 
 other relatives whom I had not seen for the same 
 length of time; and, had they not known I was 
 coming, they would never have recognized in me 
 the person who had parted from them so long ago. 
 I paid them a little visit, and then left for Phila 
 delphia, where I remained a few days, and then 
 departed for Chicago, remaining there three weeks 
 to visit old friends, who took me in charge and 
 pointed out all the places of note in and about that 
 large and interesting city. The place had im 
 proved so much during my residence in California 
 that I could see no resemblance to the Chicago I 
 had resided in twenty-five years ago. It has be 
 come of late the largest pork, lumber, and wheat 
 center in the world. The beauty of its parks, av 
 enues, and buildings is not much surpassed by 
 anything of the kind which I saw during my 
 travels elsewhere. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. Ill 
 
 From Chicago I went to New Orleans, one of 
 the oldest cities in the United States. It was set 
 tled by the French in early times, and is laid out 
 very much like some of the old cities in Europe. 
 From there I took the cars en route to California, 
 stopping a few days at San Antonio, Texas. This 
 is a pretty little city, the houses being built mostly 
 of white sandstone, which is so soft that it can be 
 sawed in blocks, and the buildings when com 
 pleted have the appearance of having been 
 painted white. The San Antonio River is a beau 
 tiful stream flowing through the middle of the 
 city and is spanned by several fine bridges. An 
 other feature of the city is the old mission church. 
 It is an ancient edifice constructed of massive 
 stones which give it more the appearance of a 
 castle than a temple of worship. It is built within 
 the walls of a fortress, which was used as a defense 
 in early times. The San Pedro Springs situated 
 in San Pedro Park, is a pleasant place to visit. 
 The park is situated on the outskirts of the town 
 in a beautiful grove of trees, and contains springs 
 of pure water, in which are turtles and several 
 kinds of fish, which come to the surface to be fed 
 by the visitors. Another place of interest is the 
 Alamo plaza. It was there that David Crockett 
 and James Bowie, the inventor of the famous knife, 
 were buried together with those companions who 
 fell in heroic defense of the Alamo during the 
 Texas war of independence from Mexico in 1835. 
 
112 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 My next stopping point was at Tucson, where I 
 stayed a few days and then went to Yurna and 
 visited a friend, formerly of California, who was 
 employed by the Arizona government as superin 
 tendent of the territorial prison located there. 
 My friend showed me all through the prison, and 
 I saw some of the hardest-looking faces among 
 the criminals confined within its wall that the 
 world ever produced. I also spent a few days at 
 Los Angeles, after which I journeyed direct to 
 Oakland, California, arriving there on the 18th 
 of December, 1883. 
 
 This completed niy trip around the world, 
 which was to me very interesting indeed. It 
 took me eleven months to make the trip, during 
 which time I traveled at least thirty thousand 
 miles, and visited most all of the principal cities 
 in the Old World. I am truly thankful to the 
 kind providence which watched over me and 
 guided me safely through all the dangers which 
 threaten both sea and land. 
 
 And I am glad to be once more at home in my 
 adopted State. I feel grateful that I am an 
 American citizen and that I can call America 
 my home. Each country I visited had its own 
 particular attractions and peculiar features, but 
 in not one of them did I find such a combination 
 of all that goes towards making a country desir 
 able for a permanent residence as in our own 
 America. I have learned to appreciate it more 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 113 
 
 since having traveled in a foreign land; yet, at 
 the same time, I am not of that class who cannot 
 see anything good or beautiful outside of their 
 own country. 
 
 The journey was taken by the writer as a mere 
 pleasure trip, without any intention of writing an 
 account of what is to be seen, learned, and en 
 joyed from such a trip. It would take volumes 
 to record all, so I came to the conclusion that I 
 would keep a record of the route taken, and give 
 a slight description of some of the principal cities 
 and things to be seen, for the mere gratification 
 of myself and some of my most intimate friends. 
 
 Having made the tour of the world in eleven 
 months, it may be thought by some to be too 
 short a time in which to take such a trip; but the 
 facilities for traveling are so great at the present 
 day that the actual traveling time in going round 
 the world has been reduced to two and one-half 
 months, thus leaving me eight and one-half 
 months for sight seeing and other amusements. 
 For the benefit of my friends or anyone who may 
 wish to take a trip of this kind, I will state that 
 the best way to carry money is by letter of credit, 
 and only draw on it the amount you expect to use 
 in each country you visit. It will be necessary to 
 abstain from drinking water as much as possible, 
 especially in the southern parts of Asia. 
 
 I was very fortunate during my trip; I met 
 with no accident of any kind; I never had the 
 
114 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 slightest illness; I never missed a steamer or train, 
 nor was I detained a single day or scarcely an 
 hour; and I never lost a piece of baggage; and I 
 always met with the best of fellow-travelers, who 
 showed me all the respect due to a gentleman. 
 This trip has been accomplished with a great deal 
 of pleasure and enjoyment, and will continue to 
 be a source of enjoyment during the remainder of 
 my life. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 A TRIP ACROSS THE CONTINENT FROM CALIFORNIA 
 TO MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 TER my return from the trip around the 
 world, I spent a part of the winter in Cali 
 fornia visiting some of the places of re 
 sorts I had not seen before, namely, Santa Cruz, 
 Monterey, and Duncan s Mills. These are all 
 great resorts for summer tourists, and all are well 
 patronized, the two former on account of their 
 facilities for surf bathing, and the latter for its 
 beautiful mountain scenery and fine climate. 
 
 Toward the last of April, 1884, I left Oakland 
 on the overland train via the Central Pacific Rail 
 road. At Port Costa the whole train with the en 
 gine was taken across the Sacramento River on 
 the ferryboat Solano. On our arrival at Benicia 
 the train was again transferred to the railroad 
 
 (115) 
 
116 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 track, and we proceeded on our journey to Sacra 
 mento. We reached that city after recrossing the 
 river on a magnificent bridge. 
 
 On leaving Sacramento we soon found our 
 selves in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where the 
 road leads through a continuous line of snow- 
 sheds for about forty miles. Donner Lake, which 
 lies several hundred feet below the track on this 
 route, is called the gem of the Sierras, and is but 
 two miles from Truckee. This beautiful lake was 
 made historical by its connection with the suffer 
 ings of the Donner party in the winter of 1847. 
 It seems strange to anyone not acquainted with 
 the condition of the country at that time to read 
 of the awful sufferings for want of food; but then 
 there were no white settlers in the mountains, nor 
 was there any habitation whatever within a long 
 distance; there was no food to be had, and the 
 people were too weak to make their way over the 
 snowy mountains to the unknown country beyond. 
 
 We next came to the Truckee River, which flows 
 through the town at a rapid rate, reminding me 
 very much of the Abana in Damascus. It is fed 
 from the waters of Lake Tahoe. Next we came 
 to the Humboldb River, with its sink in the quick 
 sand. Taking all of these with other lovely sights 
 to be seen along the road, and the good fortune of 
 meeting with gentlemanly conductors and porters, 
 and having pleasant traveling companions con 
 sisting of two ladies from Oakland, one gentleman 
 
JAMES BATCHELDEK. 117 
 
 from Boston, one from Chicago, and an English 
 man from Australia the trip from Oakland to 
 Ogden was made as pleasant as one could desire. 
 At this point the party separated, some going by 
 the Union Pacific, others by the Denver and Rio 
 Grande, while I stopped over at Salt Lake City. 
 This is a fine city with streets all of the same 
 width, 130 feet, having a stream of fresh water on 
 either side of them which act as sewers to carry 
 off any filth that may accumulate. 
 
 During my stay I took a carriage and drove to 
 the Mormon Tabernacle. This building is two 
 hundred and thirty-three feet long, one hundred 
 and eighty-three feet wide, and seventy feet high, 
 and seats six thousand five hundred persons. The 
 roof covers the entire building without a single 
 support on the inside. It is the largest of its kind 
 in America. While 1 was at one end of the build 
 ing and the guide at the opposite end, he dropped 
 a pin, which I distinctly heard as it struck the 
 fioor. We next went to the unfinished temple, 
 the corner stone of which was laid in April, 1858. 
 It has already cost $1,700,000. It is two hundred 
 feet long by one hundred feet wide and two hun 
 dred feet high, with towers at either end each two 
 hundred feet high. We next visited Brigliam 
 Young s grave, and then Fort Douglas, some three 
 miles from the city. From there we could seethe 
 hill called Red Butte, where Brigliam Young 
 claimed the revelation was made to him on his ar- 
 
118 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 rival at Salt Lake. The fort lies several hundred 
 feet higher than the city, and from it could be 
 seen a beautiful panorama of the city, lake, and 
 valley, spread out before our eyes. 
 
 After leaving there I traveled via the Denver 
 and RioGrande Rail road, termed the "Scenic Route 
 of the World." This road runs through the great 
 Salt Lake Basin, in Utah Valley, and passes 
 through some of the most beautiful scenery I ever 
 saw. The Castle Gate consists of two immense 
 towers five hundred feet above the track and sep 
 arated only enough to allow the trains and river 
 to pass through. Then there are the Palisades, 
 which appear like large cities, with their domes, 
 spires and minarets, reminding me very much of 
 my first sight of Constantinople from the deck of 
 the steamer. We then ran along by the side of 
 the Price River for quite a distance, winding 
 around short curves, up steep grades, and down 
 the same, over a comparatively smooth track, and, 
 when night came on and we were obliged to re 
 tire, it was with a request to be called at five 
 o clock in the morning to see Black Canon. This 
 place is indeed a piece of nature s most wonderful 
 work. Its rock-bound chasms are wild and pic 
 turesque in the extreme. Gunnison River rushes 
 madly by at its base, and cataracts leap from its 
 high cliffs down perpendicular walls thousands of 
 feet high, into whose gloomy depths the sun never 
 penetrates except when at its meridian. After 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 119 
 
 passing through this canon we came to the town 
 of Gunnison. From there the road begins its 
 grade, winding on and up the Rocky Mountains 
 on a grade of two hundred and seventeen feet to 
 the mile, crossing and recrossing till the Conti 
 nental Divide is reached and crossed at Marshall 
 Pass, ten thousand seven hundred and fifty feet 
 above the level of the sea. At this point the snow 
 was quite deep and still falling. This was on the 
 1st of May, and I began to think my chance for 
 gathering Mayflowers was rather slim, but on de 
 scending the mountain on the other side we soon 
 came into a warmer climate. 
 
 Our next piece of fine scenery was what is called 
 the Grand Canon. It was grand indeed. I advise 
 anyone who wishes to take a trip East, and who 
 is a lover of fine scenery, to go via the Denver and 
 Rio Grande Railway. After passing through the 
 last-named canon we reached Canon City. At this 
 place we learned that one of the railroad bridges 
 had been burned the night before, and, in conse 
 quence, our train was detained three hours. This 
 gave us an opportunity to visit the Colorado State 
 Prison, located there. Our next stopping place 
 was South Pueblo, from which place we continued 
 our journey to the city of Denver, "the queen of 
 the Rockies." 
 
 The time over the road is quite fast, averaging 
 twenty-eight miles per hour, including stops. At 
 Denver I stopped at the Windsor House. This 
 
120 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 is a good hotel. There are several good hotels and 
 many fine residences in the place. The Union 
 Depot, built of native lava stone, is five hundred 
 and three feet long, sixty-seven feet wide, and one 
 hundred and eighty-three feet high, to the top of 
 the dome. It is one of the best built depot build 
 ings in the country. 
 
 On leaving Denver 1 took the Burlington and 
 Missouri route, which crosses the plains for several 
 hundred miles. The land is very poor, and is 
 used only for grazing. I saw large herds of cat 
 tle and sheep, but they looked very poor, and a 
 great many had died during the spring. 
 
 Our next stop was made at Kansas City, which 
 had many points of interest, but my time was lim 
 ited. The city is perched on a high bluff at the 
 junction of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. It 
 is one of the most flourishing and most promising 
 of the western cities, and has a larger population 
 than any of its rivals. It is a large railroad cen 
 ter and a growing business place, and it is destined 
 to be one of the most important points on the At 
 lantic slope west of St. Louis; but it can never 
 outrival Denver in regard to beauty of scenery. 
 Kansas City has thirteen trunk line railroads cen 
 tering in it. 
 
 Our next journey was over the Missouri Pacific 
 line to St. Louis. This road runs along the Mis 
 souri River bottoms, so that there is but little to 
 be seen except the river and a few small towns. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 121 
 
 At St. Louis 1 went across the line bridge over the 
 Mississippi River. It has two tracks below and 
 a travelway above, and is (including the ap 
 proaches) one and a half miles long, sixty feet 
 wide, and one hundred feet above the water s level. 
 It is made of steel. All trains leaving here for 
 the East, from the Union Depot, pass through a 
 tunnel under the city, about a mile long, and then 
 cross the bridge. St. Louis is noted for its fine 
 parks. While there I visited Tower Grove and 
 Lafayette Parks and Shores Garden. 
 
 Leaving there via the Ohio and Mississippi 
 Railroad, I passed through the States of Illinois 
 and Indiana to Cincinnati, in Ohio. This city is 
 called the Queen of the West, and, by some, the 
 Paris of America. I suppose it is on account of 
 its fine streets, fountains, and arcades. Covington, 
 Kentucky, is just across the Ohio River. A mass 
 ive suspension bridge spans the river between the 
 two cities. The bridge is so high that it does not 
 in any way interfere with the navigation of the 
 river. Over this suspended structure there is a 
 constant stream of pedestrians and vehicles of 
 every description passing to and fro, as a large 
 business is carried on between the two cities. On 
 the river bank are steamboats of every descrip 
 tion, which ply between this place and the South. 
 
 The bridge is nearly a half a mile long and 
 about one hundred feet high. It is suspended on 
 a great wire cable, three feet in diameter, which 
 
122 LIFP: AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 passes over stone towers two hundred feet high. 
 The cost of the bridge was about two hundred 
 thousand dollars. There is a fountain in this city 
 situated on Fountain Square, which was made in 
 Munich, and was presented to the city by Henry 
 Probosco. It is one of the most magnificent of its 
 kind I have ever seen, excepting those of Rome. 
 The circular water basin in which it stands is 
 about twenty-five feet in diameter. The base of 
 the fountain at the water s edge has infant figures 
 at either corner, represented as sporting in their 
 bath; and, above these, there are on the four sides 
 groups of statuary with basins at their feet, from 
 whose overflowing brims the water falls in jets. 
 The whole is mounted by a large female figure 
 spreading out her arms as if bestowing a blessing, 
 and from the tips of her fingers tiny threads of 
 water fall, forming into a fine spray. There are 
 some ten or twelve figures in and around this 
 beautiful fountain, and the height of the crowning 
 figure is about fifty feet above the street level. 
 The whole is made of bronze, and cost $250,000. 
 Cincinnati is situated in a sort of basin, sur 
 rounded on all but the river side by hills, which 
 rise abruptly from the city level, and whose tops 
 are reached by an incline railway car drawn by 
 a cable. The distance is short and at an angle of 
 about forty-five degrees. At the top and bottom 
 of the hills the cable cars are met by horse cars, 
 which take the passengers any direction to their 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 123 
 
 destination. The hills are built up with fine res 
 idences, and a view from their summits on a clear 
 day is grand. There are several fine parks up 
 there and a large lake, which freezes over in win 
 ter, making a fine resort for skaters. During my 
 stay at Cincinnati I saw some of the effects of the 
 late riot. The walls of the burned courthouse 
 were still standing, but preparations were being 
 made to pull them down and rebuild. 
 
 From here I went via the Marietta and Cincin 
 nati Railroad to Parkersburg, thence via the Bal 
 timore and Ohio to Washington, stopping over 
 night at Grafton, West Virginia, in order to cross 
 the Alleghany Mountains by daylight, This trip 
 was a most delightful one, with the grand scenery, 
 composed of mountain pines and dashing streams. 
 
 After passing over the summit of the mountain, 
 the train ran at an enormous speed, and, when it 
 reached one of the short curves which are so nu 
 merous on that line, it seemed as if the cars had 
 no intention of following the engine, but were 
 about to be dashed to destruction into the depths 
 below. At last we safely reached Harper s Ferry. 
 This is the place where John Brown, with a few 
 followers, undertook the task of liberating the 
 slaves, before the war broke out, but was arrested 
 and executed for his foolhardy act. His soul has 
 been marching on ever since, so I think it must 
 be far from here by this time. I saw 7 the ruins of 
 the old Confederate fort which was destroyed by 
 the Union forces during the War of Rebellion. 
 
124 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 1 next crossed the Potomac River over a fine 
 bridge, then journeyed along the valley of the 
 Potomac to Washington, at which place I visited 
 all the public buildings and places of interest, 
 namely, the Capitol, the White House, Patent 
 Office, War Museum, Smithsonian Institute, and 
 the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, where the 
 paper currency is made. The government em 
 ploys one thousand two hundred persons at this 
 place, consisting of eight hundred women and 
 four hundred men. I also saw the spot in the 
 railroad depot where Garfield was shot. It is 
 marked by a star in the floor. 
 
 I took a trip down the Potomac to Mt. Vernon, 
 the home and tomb of Washington. On the way 
 I landed at Alexandria in Virginia. This place 
 figured largely in the late war. It was in this 
 place that the Marshall House was rebuilt on the 
 site of the hotel in which Colonel Ellsworth w y as 
 shot, in 1861, for pulling down a Confederate flag. 
 Christ Church, of which Washington was a ves 
 tryman, is in this city. It was built in 1773, of 
 brick brought from England. 
 
 I took a trip to the National Military Cemetery 
 at Arlington, a vast field of the nation s dead. 
 There, under the shade of noble oaks, are buried 
 sixteen thousand two hundred and sixty-four 
 soldiers of the War of the Rebellion; of these, 
 eleven thousand nine hundred and fifteen are 
 known, and four thousand three hundred and 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 125 
 
 forty-nine are unknown. The following are some 
 of the inscriptions engraved on a few of the stones: 
 
 "No rumor of the foe s advance 
 Now sweeps upon the- wind; 
 No troubled thoughts at midnight haunts 
 Of loved ones left behind." 
 
 "Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead, 
 
 Dear as the blood ye gave ; 
 No impious footstep here shall tread 
 The herbage of your grtive." 
 
 " Your own proud land s heroic soil 
 
 Must be your fitter grave ; 
 She claims from war his richest spoil, 
 The ashes of the brave." 
 
 The entire Arlington estate consists of one 
 thousand one hundred and sixty acres, of which 
 two hundred acres are inclosed by a fine wall for 
 the cemetery. It was once the home of Robert 
 E. Lee, but it now belongs to the United States 
 Government. Fort Whipple is located on this 
 ground, and is the headquarters for the signal 
 service. One of the great sights to be seen at 
 Washington is the Washington Monument. It 
 is now four hundred and thirty feet high and 
 fifty-five feet square at the bnse, but, when com 
 pleted, it will be five hundred and fifty feet high 
 and thirty feet square at the top. It will be the 
 highest artificial structure in the world, and will 
 rise many feet above the cathedral spires and 
 monuments in Europe and the East. It will be 
 fifteen feet higher than the main tower of the 
 
126 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 new City Hall in Philadelphia, forty-four feet 
 higher than the great cathedral at Cologne, and 
 ninety-five feet higher than the St. Peter s at Rome. 
 It is built of fine marble. Each State in the 
 Union has contributed a block of marble, finely 
 carved and engraved, to be used in its construc 
 tion. 
 
 On leaving Washington I went via the Penn 
 sylvania Railroad to New York, passing through 
 Baltimore and Philadelphia. I made a short stay 
 at New York, as I had visited that place a short 
 time before. Leaving here I went by the New 
 York and New Haven route to Springfield, Mass., 
 and then via the Boston and Albany road to Bos 
 ton. On the way we passed through Hartford, 
 Connecticut, where the old Charter Oak once stood! 
 On my arrival at Boston I paid a visit to some old 
 friends, formerly of California. I then went to 
 New Bedford, where I visited with relatives for 
 a few weeks, and then started on a trip to Maine 
 and New Hampshire. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A TRIP TO MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 ft 
 
 HIS trip was taken about the middle of 
 June, 1884. I stopped over at Boston 
 and witnessed the celebration of the one 
 hundred and ninth anniversary of the Battle of 
 Bunker Hill. The procession was fine. The line 
 of march was around Bunker Hill, or Monument 
 Square, in Charleston, Massachusetts. Monument 
 Square is on the top of the hill and comprises 
 four acres of ground, in the center of which stands 
 the Bunker Hill Monument. It is two hundred 
 and twenty-one feet high, thirty feet square at the 
 base, and fifteen feet at the top, and is built of 
 solid granite. It has a flight of winding stairs to 
 the top, from which a fine view of the surrounding 
 country is to be had. 
 
 During my stay in Boston I enjoyed a drive of 
 some fifteen miles out in the country, passing 
 through several fine New England villages. I 
 
 (127) 
 
128 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 then left Boston via the Boston and Maine Rail 
 road en route to Portland, passing through some 
 large manufacturing towns, namely, Lawrence 
 and Haverhill in Massachusetts, Exeter and Dover 
 in New Hampshire, Biddeford andSaco in Maine. 
 Portland is a pretty place, but business was very 
 dull. The Maine "liquor law" was in full blast, 
 but, as I am not in the habit of drinking intoxi 
 cating liquors to any extent, the law did not af 
 fect me much. 
 
 From Portland I took a trip to Lewiston via 
 the Maine Central, where I found my old friend 
 of the Lewiston Journal, who had been my travel 
 ing companion in Palestine a year before. Lewis- 
 town is the largest manufacturing town in the 
 State. It has some ten or twelve large cotton 
 mills and several large shoe factories. It lies on 
 the bank of the Androscoggin River, which fur 
 nishes the city with tine water power. On the 
 opposite bank of the river is the city of Auburn, 
 which is to Lewiston what Oakland is to San 
 Francisco, or Brooklyn to New York. 
 
 From Lewiston I returned to Portland and 
 thence via the Portland and Ogdenburg Railroad 
 to the Crawford House, in the White Mountains. 
 On our way we passed by Lake Sebago, a fine 
 body of water tw r elve miles long and nine miles 
 wide. It receives the water of twenty-three ponds. 
 This lake forms the water supply for Portland. 
 There are tw r o small steamers making daily trips 
 plying between the towns. 
 
UWVtKSI 1 
 
 
 JAMES BATCHELDER. 129 
 
 Our next place of note, after passing along the 
 Saco River, with Mt. Kearsarge and the hotel on 
 its summit, and several other high peaks in view, 
 was the Willey House, in the Crawford Notch, New 
 Hampshire, where, in June, 1826, two slides fell 
 off Mt. Willey near the house, which caused the 
 family to move farther up the mountain to what 
 they supposed was a safer place; but, on the night 
 of the 28th of August, a deluge of rain fell, caus 
 ing another slide, which buried the whole family, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Willey and their five children and 
 two hired men. The bodies of three of the chil 
 dren were never found, and the others were sadly 
 mutilated. 
 
 On arriving at the Crawford House, which is 
 located at the entrance of the Crawford Notch 
 fronting the Saco Lake and hemmed in on all 
 sides by high mountain peaks, I went to the top 
 of Mt. Willey, four thousand four hundred and 
 seventy feet above the level of the sea. The view 
 from this point is very grand, but not so extended 
 as that which can be obtained from Mt. Washing 
 ton, which I afterwards visited. It is the highest 
 peak east of the Rocky Mountains and north of 
 the Carolinas, being six thousand two hundred 
 and eighty-three feet high. On account of this 
 elevation, it has the same climate as the middle 
 of Greenland at seventy degrees north latitude. 
 A fine hotel, a signal station, and a fine spring of 
 water are on the very top of Mt. Washington. It 
 9 
 
130 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 is estimated that about ten thousand people visit 
 there every summer. From the summit we have 
 a view of one thousand miles in circumference, 
 and within this circle can be seen scores of vil 
 lages and hamlets, and hundreds of mountains, 
 with the valleys of the chief rivers of New En 
 gland, also a part of five different States, and the 
 Province of Quebec. 
 
 Before the railroad was built to the top of this 
 mountain, there were several lives lost from ex 
 posure. In 1851 there was a young graduate of 
 Oxford University by the name of Strickland, 
 who went up the Crawford path and perished by 
 falling over the cliff. In 1855 Miss Lizzie Bourne 
 went from the Glen House on foot; when within 
 thirty rods of the summit, which was veiled in a 
 fog, she sat down to rest, and died there. The 
 spot is marked by a pile of stone near the railroad. 
 In 1856 Benjamin Chadler got lost on the Glen 
 House path, and died from exposure. His re 
 mains were found a year later. In 1874 a young 
 man from Pennsylvania strayed from the same 
 path and has never been heard of since. The rail 
 way is three miles in length and is propelled by 
 a cog wheel running in cogs in the center of the 
 track. The average grade is one thousand three 
 hundred feet to the mile, and the steepest is 
 thirteen and one-half inches to the yard. There 
 are nine curves on the road, varying from four 
 hundred and ninety-seven to nine hundred and 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 131 
 
 forty-five feet radius. The ascent takes one and 
 one-half hours, and the fare is $6.00 for the round 
 trip. A similar road has since been built on Mt. 
 Rigi, in Switzerland. There is one of the same 
 kind on a high bluff back of Vienna, in Austria. 
 
 Among the many fine places to be seen from 
 the Crawford House is the Idlewild, a fine forest 
 which overlooks the Saco Lake. This glen is 
 provided with rustic seats and tables, and from its 
 position on a high bluff pretty views are to be 
 enjoyed. 
 
 From the Crawford House I went to the town 
 of Bethlehem, not the town where our Saviour 
 was born, but a small New England village in 
 New Hampshire. This place is devoted almost 
 entirely to summer boarders, and is nearly de 
 serted in winter. It has between twenty and 
 thirty large hotels and boarding houses, which 
 can accommodate from two to three thousand 
 persons, and all are filled during the season. 
 The trip to the summit of Mt. Washington and 
 back can be made in a day. 
 
 My next stopping place was at the Profile House, 
 at the north end of the Franconia Notch, in a 
 narrow glen between the walls of Eagle Cliff and 
 Mt. Canaan. The glen is one thousand nine hun 
 dred and seventy-four feet above the. level of the 
 sea. The Profile House stands on the highest 
 point of any house in those mountains except the 
 Summit House, and it is said to be one of the 
 
132 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 best-kept hotels in the United States. The Profile 
 (formerly called the old man of the mountains) is 
 a wonderful semblance of the human face, formed 
 by the ledges on the upper cliffs of Mt. Canaan. 
 It is the most remarkable phenomenon of the kind 
 in the world. It is formed of three disconnected 
 ledges of granite in different vertical lines, their 
 aggregate height being from thirty-six to forty 
 feet and their height above the lake one thousand 
 two hundred feet. One rock forms the forehead, 
 another the nose and upper lip, and a third the 
 massive chin. Profile Lake is a pretty sheet of 
 water, and lies directly under the Profile. It was 
 formerly called the Old Man s Washbowl. There 
 is another lake north of the hotel, called Echo 
 Lake. There is a small cannon there, which will 
 be fired off on the payment of fifty cents, and the 
 echoes are heard in the adjacent mountains. 
 
 From the Profile House to Woodstock, a dis 
 tance of ten miles, is made by stage through the 
 notch. About half way through is the Flume 
 House, at which place I stopped over a short time 
 in order to visit the flume and pool. The flume 
 is about three-fourths of a mile from the hotel, 
 and is reached by a good carriage road, which 
 crosses the Pemigewasset River and stops near 
 the flume. The flume is a fissure in Mt, Flume s 
 side, and through this runs a rapid little brook. 
 It is about seven hundred feet long, with walls 
 sixty to seventy feet high, perpendicular and 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 133 
 
 parallel, and from ten to twenty feet from each 
 other. A plank walk passes through the gorge, 
 crossing the stream several times. The pool is a 
 gloomy chasm in the forest where the Pemigewas- 
 set flows into a deep basin surrounded by high 
 cliffs. It is over one hundred feet in diameter, 
 and the water is forty feet deep. 
 
 After leaving here I went on to Woodstock and 
 thence by rail through the beautiful Pemigewas- 
 set Valley to Plymouth. This village is one of 
 the most beautiful in New Hampshire. It is situ 
 ated at the junction of the Pemigewasset and 
 Baker Rivers. It is the county seat of Graf ton 
 County, and is the site of the State Normal School. 
 The old courthouse, which was taken down in 
 1875 and a new one erected in its stead, was the 
 place where Daniel Webster delivered his first 
 plea before a jury. The chief business of the 
 place is the manufacturing of the so-called Ply 
 mouth buck gloves. Eleven firms are engaged in 
 this industry, producing one hundred and thirty 
 thousand pairs of gloves annually. 
 
 On leaving here I went to Weirs, on the shore 
 of Lake Winnepesaukee, where the trains of the 
 Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad connect 
 with the steamer Lady of the Lake. This lake is 
 nineteen miles long and eight and one-fourth 
 miles wide. Near the shore are steep hills. One 
 of the chief elements in the scenery is the great 
 archipelago, which rises in the lake and consists 
 
134 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 of two hundred and thirty-seven islands, several 
 of which are inhabited. They vary in size from 
 five hundred acres to less than ten acres. Accord 
 ing to my idea there is nothing in Europe of the 
 kind that can surpass the beauty of this lake and 
 mountain scenery as viewed from a trip across the 
 lake. Winnepesaukee is an Indian name, and it 
 is said there are no fish in. the lake, for the reason 
 that they all break their necks trying to pronounce 
 the name of the lake. 
 
 My next stopping place was at Concord, the 
 capital of New Hampshire. It is a very pretty 
 city and quite a large railroad center. This is the 
 place in which I spent my first five years in rail 
 roading. From here I went to Nashua and thence 
 to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where I spent a 
 short time and then started for another trip to 
 New Hampshire. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A TRIP TO THE NORTHERN PART OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 fURING the summer of 1884, after my trip 
 to the White Mountains, I left New Bedford 
 for a visit to the home of my childhood, 
 Warren, situated in the northern part of New 
 Hampshire. This place has become quite promi 
 nent in the last few years as a summer resort, on 
 account of its beautiful mountain scenery and 
 trout brooks, of which there are more than one 
 hundred. There are several very pretty cascades, 
 the most picturesque being Hurricane Brook, 
 which falls from the side of Mount Car, southeast 
 of the village. Here, also, are found the Wate- 
 iiomee Falls and Middle Cascades, where the water 
 descends over high, step-like ledges for two hun 
 dred feet or more. Baker s River rises north of 
 Warren, east of Mt. Moosilauke, and flows into 
 the Pemiquasset, near the town of Plymouth. Its 
 
 (135) 
 
3ti LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 present name was given in honor of Captain 
 Baker, a soldier of the Indian wars. 
 
 There are several high mountains in Warren 
 and vicinity, but the only one that I climbed to 
 the top of and intend to describe is the Moosilauke. 
 It is the highest elevation in New Hampshire west of 
 Lafayette, and is four thousand eight hundred and 
 eleven feet above the level of the sea. It is one of 
 the best sight points in the State, giving a grand 
 view of the Franconia and White Mountains, and 
 overlooking the rich Connecticut Valley for miles. 
 The mountain is composed of a high and pointed 
 south peak and a broad plateau on the north, 
 joined by a narrow ridge and flanked by wooded 
 foothills. The plateau is covered with loose stones 
 and has but little slope. The Prospect House 
 stands on the south side. The mountain is sep 
 arated from the Blue Ridge by the gorge in which 
 rises the Baker River, and from Mount Clough on 
 the northwest by a low and traversable pass. On 
 the east side of the mountain is a deep gorge, or 
 ravine, in whose upper part the Seven Cascades 
 are located. This ravine is one of the wildest 
 places in the State, and is difficult to traverse on 
 account of its dense forest. Besides the Prospect 
 House there is a summer boarding house at the 
 foot of the mountain, five or six miles from War 
 ren. The houses are well managed, and the 
 charges are moderate. 
 
 The distance to the top of the mountain is about 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER. 137 
 
 four and one-half miles, and the ascent is not dif 
 ficult to make by carriage. The ridge is met a 
 little way north of the south peak, and is followed 
 to the north, with broad views on either side. 
 Soon we are out on the Bald Mountain ridge, 
 which connects the two peaks. On either hand 
 are wild and hideous gorges, three thousand 
 feet down into the depths below. The view from 
 the summit of this mountain is grand in the ex 
 treme. The view extends for hundreds of miles 
 in every direction, composed of vast fields, moun 
 tains, lakes and rivers, and dotted with hundreds 
 of villages and hamlets. Among the noted moun 
 tains to be seen from it are the Presidential Range 
 of White Mountains, the Franconia Range, the 
 Green Mountains in Vermont, Saddle and Grey- 
 lock Mountains in Massachusetts. Nine sharp 
 peaks of the Adirondracks in New York State can 
 also be plainly seen, besides innumerable summits 
 from the table-lands of Canada. Hundreds of 
 tourists visit this mountain every year from all 
 parts of the Union, and, as Warren is the termi 
 nus of the railroad, the summer travel has done 
 much towards building the place up. On leaving 
 the mountains I returned to the old farm where I 
 was born and lived till I was ten years old, and 
 where my elder brother still resides, having spent 
 nearly sixty years of his life there. After a so 
 journ of about three weeks, roving over hills, 
 climbing the rocks, and viewing the same famil- 
 
138 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 iar scenes of my happy childhood days, with 
 a sad heart I bade a long, and, perhaj s, a final 
 adieu to my old home and relatives there. I feel 
 truly thankful to the kind Providence who has 
 been with and watched over me during all the 
 long years of our separation. My best wishes will 
 ever be with my old friends, and relatives, even 
 though I may never see them again. 
 
 From Warren I went to Nashua, New Hamp 
 shire, where I visited other relatives for a few 
 days, and then went to New Bedford and re 
 mained a short time, after which T took a short 
 trip to Canada. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A TRIP TO CANADA AND THE LAKES. 
 
 ]& 
 
 ^EAVING New Bedford, Massachusetts, 
 ^ about the last of August, I passed through 
 Boston, Concord, and White River Junc 
 tion to Burlington, Vermont. This is a fine city of 
 about ten thousand inhabitants. It lies on a high 
 bluff on the shore of Lake Champlain, and is one 
 of the oldest towns in New England. The State 
 University is located there. 
 
 From Burlington I went across the lake to 
 Plattsburg, New York, and visited the noted bat 
 tle field, of Plattsburg. From here I went to 
 Ogdensburg, thence down the St. Lawrence River 
 to Montreal. On the way we passed through 
 rapids where the water runs at the rate of fifteen 
 or twenty miles per hour, which made it quite 
 exciting for most everyone on board the steamer. 
 The passage on the Long Sault rapids is thrilling. 
 An Indian pilot came on board to pilot us through. 
 
 (139) 
 
140 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 The rapids are nine miles long and are divided by 
 an island in the center. We made the distance 
 in thirty minutes without steam. As vessels can 
 not ascend the rapids, canals have been cut in the 
 land and supplied with locks wherever the rapids 
 occur. In the descent of the Lachine rapids we 
 were wrought to a higher degree of excitement 
 than while descending the Long Sault. It is an 
 intense sensation. We seem to be hurrying onto 
 a rock, and are within an ace of total destruction 
 when the vessel yields her helm and sweeps into 
 another channel, and then on until we reach calm 
 water. 
 
 Montreal is a pretty place and resembles very 
 much some of our American cities. It has fine 
 buildings and parks. Mt. Royal Park is situated 
 on a high hill back of the city. A winding road 
 way leads to the top of it, which overlooks the 
 city and country for miles around. Among the 
 noted sights to be seen in Montreal is the Victoria 
 bridge. It is nearly two miles in length, and is 
 supported by twenty -four piers and two abutments 
 of solid masonry. The tube through which the 
 railway track is laid is twenty-two feet high and 
 sixteen feet wide, and cost $6,300,000. 
 
 The Cathedral of Notre Dame is a fine and 
 massive structure, capable of holding ten thousand 
 people. It is the finest church on the continent, 
 and has a front on the square of one hundred 
 and fifty feet, It comprises seven chapels and 
 nine aisles. It has six towers, of which the two 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 141 
 
 on the main front are two hundred and thirteen 
 feet in height. Its chief window is sixty*four feet 
 high and thirty-six feet broad. In one of the 
 front towers is an elevator for the accommodation 
 of people who wish to go to the top, where a lovely 
 view of the river, city, and surrounding country 
 can be had. The Windsor Hotel is as fine a 
 structure, and as well managed, as any on this 
 continent. 
 
 On leaving here I went down the river to Que 
 bec. This place was founded by Samuel de Cham- 
 plain, July 3, 1603, and in 1020 Fort St. Louis 
 was built. Since that time there have been sev 
 eral wars between the French and English, until 
 the famous battle was fought on the Plains of 
 Abraham, on September 13, 1759, between the En 
 glish under General Wolfe and the French under 
 General Montcalm. Both generals were killed, 
 but the English won the day. Then in 1763 
 Canada was ceded to England by treaty. Quebec 
 is the second strongest fortified city in the world, 
 Gibraltar being the strongest, The fort, or citadel, 
 stands on a high hill above the city and com 
 mands a very picturesque view. During the Rev 
 olutionary War this city was blockaded by Mont 
 gomery and Arnold, in the year 1775. During 
 the same year, as Montgomery was scaling the 
 walls on the bluff of the fort, he was discovered 
 and shot by a sentinel. He fell to the ground, a 
 distance of three hundred and sixty-five feet. The 
 
142 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 house in which he was laid out still stands and is 
 one of the objects of interest shown to visitors. 
 
 There are a great many things to be seen in 
 Quebec and vicinity, that will interest a stranger, 
 among which are Wolfe s monument, on the Plains 
 of Abraham, the Governor s garden, the Citadel, 
 the Terrace, and the Falls of Montgomery. The 
 falls are two hundred and seventy feet high. 
 They are deep set in a small bay, or chasm, and 
 descend in a sheet seventy-five feet wide, broken 
 midway by an immense rock hidden beneath the 
 foam. They and their surroundings form a beau 
 tiful picture. 
 
 From Quebec I went to Sherbrook and then to 
 Newport, Vermont, the famous summer resort, 
 situated on Lake Memphremagog. This lake is 
 from one to two miles in width and thirty miles 
 long. About two-thirds of it is in Canada and 
 the rest in Vermont. An excursion down the 
 lake on one of their fine steamers, Mountain Maid 
 or Lady of the Lake, is a most delightful experience. 
 Memphremagog is an Indian word and signifies 
 lake of abundance. The scenery about this lake 
 very much resembles that of Loch Lomond, the 
 queen of the Scottish lakes. There are upwards 
 of twenty islands in this lake, the largest being- 
 one hundred miles in extent and known as Prov 
 ince Island. The Owl s Head Mt. House is a 
 beautiful summer resort, situated at the base of 
 Owl s Head Mountain, twelve miles from Newport 
 
JAMKS BATCHELDER. 143 
 
 and eighteen miles from Magog, at the outlet of 
 the lake. The summit of the mountain is three 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea. From 
 its rugged top a most charming panorama is 
 spread out before the eye. 
 
 From here I went to Wells River, thence to 
 Concord, New Hampshire, the capital of my na 
 tive State. This is a beautiful city of about four 
 teen thousand inhabitants. It supports eleven 
 churches, two daily papers, and seven banks. The 
 famous Concord wagons and coaches are made 
 there, giving employment to two hundred and 
 fifty men. There are, also, large granite quarries, 
 which give employment to about five hundred 
 and ten men. They turn out nearly $800,000 
 worth of stone annually. The State House is a 
 fine granite building surmounted by a dome, from 
 which a grand view of the surrounding country 
 can be obtained. 
 
 I next went to Nashua, in the same State. This 
 place has about ten thousand inhabitants, and is 
 a large manufacturing city in cotton goods, iron 
 works, locomotives, locks, and many other articles. 
 Its water power is derived from the Nashua River. 
 The city was founded in 1823 on a sandy plain. 
 A branch railroad runs to the villages of Amherst, 
 Mt. Vernon, and Milton, those places being much 
 frequented by summer tourists. 
 
 From Nashua I went to New Bedford, Massa 
 chusetts, thus completing this interesting trip. 
 
144 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 After remaining there for a short time, I returned 
 to California. New Bedford is a fine city of about 
 forty thousand inhabitants, and is one of the 
 oldest towns in New England. It dates back al 
 most to the time of the landing of the Pilgrim Fath 
 ers on Plymouth Rock. It was at one time the 
 largest whaling port in the world. That industry 
 has now drifted to the Pacific Coast to a great 
 extent. Ne\v Bedford s capital is largely invested 
 in manufactures. During the summer I visited 
 there I took in several of the summer resorts, 
 such as Newport, Say Head, Martha s Vineyard, 
 and Nonsett Bay. I also visited old Plymouth 
 Rock, where our forefathers landed upwards of 
 two hundred years ago. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A TRIP THROUGH THE SOUTHERN STATES AND 
 MEXICO. 
 
 EAVING New Bedford about the middle 
 of November, 1884, 1 started for California, 
 via the Fall River line to New York, 
 then to Richmond, Virginia, passing through 
 Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington on my 
 way. Richmond, the capital of Virginia, was the 
 Confederate capital during the Rebellion. It was 
 within about five miles of there that General 
 Robert E. Lee surrendered his arn\y to General 
 Grant, which event ended the war. While there 
 I visited the old Libby Prison and Castle Thunder, 
 which gained so much notoriety during the war 
 for the ill treatment of the Union soldiers impris 
 oned there. Castle Thunder has been burned 
 down since then, but the prison still stands and 
 is used for a tobacco factory. 
 
 On leaving Richmond I went to Danville. This 
 10 (145) 
 
146 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 is a large tobacco manufacturing place and keeps 
 about one hundred and thirty factories busily en 
 gaged. From Danville I went to Atlanta, the 
 capital of Georgia. This place was burned dur 
 ing the war by the force under General Sherman. 
 It was the starting place for his famous inarch to 
 the sea. The city has been rebuilt in a splendid 
 style, and is the loveliest business place in the 
 whole South. From this place I went to Montgom 
 ery, Alabama. This is the handsomest city in the 
 South, and was the capital of the Confederate 
 States before Richmond became the capital. After 
 leaving there I went to Mobile. Business was at 
 a standstill there, and the buildings were old and 
 dingy. It was a brisk business place before the 
 war. 
 
 I next went to New Orleans. There I visited 
 all the places of note, including the Exposition 
 buildings, which are the largest of the kind in 
 the world. The main building covers thirty-three 
 acres. From there I journeyed to Morgan City by 
 rail, thence by steamer to Vera Cruz, Mexico. I 
 stopped on my way three hours at Galveston, 
 Texas. At Vera Cruz we encountered a heavy 
 gale from the north, which came very nearly up 
 setting our small boat as we were being trans 
 ferred from the steamer to the shore. We man 
 aged to get through all right, with the exception 
 of getting our clothes and baggage well soaked 
 with salt water from the spray that beat into the 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 147 
 
 boat at every splash of the waves. Vera Cruz is 
 a very old city, and was the principal place for 
 landing the United States troops during the war 
 in Mexico. The city was taken by Generals Scott 
 and Taylor, the former with a naval force in front 
 of the city, and the latter with a force of infantry 
 on land back of the city. Both forces kept up a 
 continuous fire until the opposite side was com 
 pelled to surrender. 
 
 From there I went to the City of Mexico, two 
 hundred and sixty-three miles by rail. This road 
 passes through the finest part of the republic. 
 The land is rich and fertile, but the people are 
 too lazy and indolent to cultivate it properly. 
 There are, however, some fine coffee fields, and 
 tropical fruits grow there in abundance. As a 
 rule, the common working class have no idea of 
 economy or of providing for the future; the lives 
 of most of them seem to be occupied in obtaining 
 food or amusement for the passing hour without 
 either hope or thought for the future. Their pre 
 vailing vices are gambling, fighting, and drunken 
 ness. 
 
 A species of cactus, or century plant, grows 
 there, from which the Mexicans derive food, drink, 
 and raiment. This plant grows wild in the moun 
 tains, and springs up everywhere in patches like 
 weeds. The fiber of the leaf beaten out and spun 
 makes a beautiful thread called pita, which, when 
 woven into a fabric, is like linen. The rope made 
 
148 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 from it is called manilla hemp, and is the strong 
 est in use. It is cut into coarse straws to make 
 the brooms and whitewash brushes used in that 
 country, and is also a good substitute for bristles 
 for scrub brushes. It even supplies the place of 
 combs among the common people. But the chief 
 value of this plant is the intoxicating drink, 
 pulque, which is made from it and of which the 
 Mexicans are very fond. The effects of this bev 
 erage are felt soon after drinking, making those 
 who drink it wild and furious. They oftentimes 
 fight brutally while under its influence, slashing 
 each other with their machete*, long knives, which 
 they all carry. The combined taste, smell, and 
 color of the liquid suggests spoiled buttermilk to 
 the Americans, but, strange to say, the natives 
 think it one of the most delicious drinks in the 
 world. It is said to be healthful and an excellent 
 aid to digestion. 
 
 In coming from Vera Cruz to the City of 
 Mexico I passed through Jalapa, where this 
 plant grows to perfection. From the Plains of 
 Apam, about sixty miles from Mexico, two special 
 pulque trains are run into the city each day, sup 
 plying the market with the same regularity as do 
 the milk trains which supply the Eastern cities. 
 An old Indian tradition says, "Paradise is Mexico 
 in general, but the Garden of Eden is Jalapa." 
 
 On our way from Vera Cruz to Mexico we 
 passed through the city of Orizaba, and from that 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 149 
 
 point had a fine view of Mount Orizaba, the star 
 mountain of Mexico. It is seventeen thousand 
 one hundred and seventy-six feet above the level 
 of the sea, and was the first land discovered by 
 those who reached Mexico by the way of the gulf. 
 
 After leaving Orizaba, the road winds round on 
 a heavy grade through fine mountain scenery till 
 it readies the great basin where the City of Mexico 
 lies. The bottom of this great basin is seven 
 thousand feet above the sea. and is hemmed in by 
 two hundred miles of encircling hills and moun 
 tains, many of which have been active volcanoes, 
 but are now quiet and covered with forests. 
 
 Mount Popocatapetl is the highest of the peaks, 
 and is seventeen thousand five hundred and forty 
 feet above the sea level. There are five lakes 
 in the valley. Looking west it is fifty miles to 
 the foothills, where the sky and mountains seem 
 to blend, forming one of the grandest panoramas 
 of inland views I have ever seen. 
 
 The City of Mexico is supplied with water by 
 two aqueducts, resting on strong stone arches. 
 The water comes from a mountain stream some 
 twelve miles distant and from a spring near Cha- 
 pultepec. These aqueducts are built in the mid 
 dle of a wide roadway, with drives on each side. 
 
 The castle of Chapultepec is a strong fortifica 
 tion on a mound in the middle of a plain some 
 three hundred feet high and about three miles 
 west from the heart of the city. The city has a 
 
150 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 population of about four hundred thousand. It 
 is built on a dead level plain, and the streets cross 
 each other at right angles. Looking down any 
 street in any direction you can observe its end 
 opening into the country. 
 
 The great cathedral stands on the north side 
 of the Plaza de Armas, where Cortez and his 
 army once entered the city, and where General 
 Scott massed his army after the surrender of the 
 city in 1847. The plaza is eight hundred and ten 
 feet long and six hundred feet wide. The cathe 
 dral occupies five hundred feet in length and 
 four hundred and twenty feet in breadtli of 
 this plaza. The center of the plaza has been 
 planted with trees and laid out with walks inter 
 spersed with flowers and shrubbery. In the midst 
 of it all stands a platform surrounded by an iron 
 railing, where military bands play at evening re 
 treats. The cathedral is the largest in North 
 America and is a grand building. It was begun 
 in the year 1573, and was completed in 1667, 
 being nearly one hundred years in process of erec 
 tion. 
 
 It cost a little less than $2,000,000. It is in 
 the form of a cross four hundred and twenty feet 
 long, two hundred feet wide, and one hundred and 
 seventy-three feet high at the dome, with two 
 massive towers two hundred feet high. It is 
 richly ornamented ; the high altar is a most 
 imposing mass of gilding. It has five naves, six 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 151 
 
 altars, and fourteen chapels. The decorations sur 
 pass any American cathedral I have ever seen. 
 The great men of Mexico are buried there, and 
 among them are the remains of the Emperor 
 Iturbide. The cathedral is always open, and 
 throngs of people are going in and out from early 
 morn till late at night. To ascend the tower, one 
 has to go up winding stone steps, and when at the 
 top is rewarded with a fine view of the city and 
 surrounding country. 
 
 Looking southward, we could see the roads, 
 avenues, and fields over which General Scott 
 fought his way to the capital from St. Augustine 
 during the Mexican War. Most of the houses in, 
 Mexico seem to have been built after the same 
 plan. Each dwelling surrounds an open court, 
 around which are balconies and corridors, with 
 flowers and vines trailing up and down them, 
 forming a luxuriant network; many of the courts 
 have fountains playing in their centers. The 
 outside doors of the houses along the streets are all 
 made of heavy iron, and when shut and bolted 
 at night, the inmates are as safe from marauders 
 as they would be if they were within the prison 
 walls. 
 
 Mexico can boast of several beautiful drives 
 and parks. The Alameda and the Pasca de 
 Bucareli, two of the finest, extend to the Greta de 
 Belen. Seeing the people of both sexes out on 
 these promenades reminded me very much of the 
 
152 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Champs Elysees and Bois de Boulogne, in Paris, 
 or Hyde Park, in London, the difference being in 
 number, not in style, as they all seemed to be in 
 full dress parade. The Plaza de Toras, contain 
 ing the arena for fights with wild beasts and the 
 Spanish Mutadores, was in that neighborhood, 
 but that cruel sport is not in practice now. The 
 old Spanish sport of bullfights, however, is still 
 kept up, although it is not allowed inside the city 
 limits. I had the pleasure, or, rather, the misfor 
 tune, to witness a bullfight while there, and con 
 fess it to be one of the most cruel and disgusting 
 sights I ever witnessed. 
 
 The amphitheater is capable of holding ten 
 thousand people, and it was filled to its utmost 
 capacity with every class of people, from the gov 
 ernor of the State to the dirty and half-clad peon. 
 Most all the natives of the male sex cany a knife 
 or pistol in a belt which is worn for that purpose. 
 The bullfights are carried on something like the 
 circus in the United States. The fighters are men 
 selected and educated for that purpose, and give 
 performances the year round. The amphitheater 
 is circular in form with the center open to the 
 sky. The arena is in the center, and is about one 
 hundred feet in diameter. It has a smooth gravel 
 floor, and is surrounded by two strong fences 
 about six feet apart and eight feet high. The 
 second fence is used as a safeguard for the audi 
 ence, in case the bull should jump over or break 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 153 
 
 down the first one. In four places in the arena, 
 at equal distances from each other, are partitions, 
 six feet wide, nearly as high as the fence, and just 
 far enough from it for men to run behind; these 
 are the only protections the men have when 
 closely pursued by the bull. It sometimes seems 
 impossible for them to escape being gored by the 
 horns of the bull as he darts behind one of the 
 partitions. The chief of the bullfighters, or 
 swordsman, is the one who kills the bull, and he 
 is called El Capstan. 
 
 The banderilla is a barbed spear with a handle 
 about two feet long, gaudily ornamented with tinsel 
 designs and streamers; these are stuck into the 
 bull s hide, tormenting the poor brute until lu* 
 becomes furiously savage, and dangle at his 
 neck and side. The fighters who stick these into 
 him are called banderillas. The capa is a bright 
 red cap used to madden the bull and to divert 
 and blind him when making an attack. The 
 capadores are the fighters who use the capa. The 
 pica is a long pole with a sharp steel goad in the 
 end. The picadores are the horsemen armed 
 with picas. The horses are blindfolded, and the 
 bulls are allowed to gore them to death after the 
 proper time has expired. 
 
 The death blow is given to the bull with a 
 sword three feet long, having a stiff, pointed 
 blade. The El Capitan allures him on to an at 
 tack and then plunges the sword through his heart; 
 
154 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 if the blow is well dealt, the animal drops dead on 
 the spot. The first thing at the commencement 
 is the grand entering of the bullfighters, some 
 ten or twelve in number, some on horseback and 
 some on foot, all dressed in glaring, gaudy colors, 
 marching to the lively air played by the brass 
 band, reminding me much of the commencement 
 of a circus performance. When all are ready for 
 the fight, the Capitan throws open the door and 
 flaunts his capa before the entrance, which causes 
 the savage beast to rush through to avenge the 
 insult ; as he passes, a man perched at the door 
 thrusts two banderillas into his back, thus increas 
 ing his rage and causing him to rush headlong 
 first at one and then at another with his sharp 
 horns. The feelings of the people are wrought 
 up to the highest pitch of excitement as one after 
 the other is run down. Just as the bull s head 
 lowers for the terrible toss, the banderillas are 
 thrust one on either side of his neck, and the 
 man hastens to a place of safety, while the poor 
 bull bucks and bellows furiously with rage and 
 pain. Men are often killed during these fights 
 and I was told that when such a thing happens 
 the body of the victim is dragged out of the 
 arena, and the fight is continued without further 
 interruption. 
 
 After the fight is over, the lazadores exhibit 
 their skill with the lasso. A lot of wild horses 
 are driven to the arena, and while being pursued 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 155 
 
 the loop is thrown around the legs of one of them ; 
 the well-trained horse plants his feet firmly to re 
 ceive the shock, as the other, jerked by the rope, 
 loses his balance and is thrown to the ground. 
 The performance is kept up till some ten or 
 twelve horses are th rown and conquered. Sunday 
 afternoons are the days for these barbarous ex 
 hibitions, that being the gala day in the City of 
 Mexico. 
 
 During my stay I visited the famous Catholic 
 Church at Guadaloupe. It is the most richly 
 ornamented church in the world. The altars, 
 railings, and fences connecting the two altars are 
 all covered with solid silver as thick as a case 
 knife blade, which gives them the appearance of 
 being made of solid silver. The domes, ceilings, 
 and ornaments are all gilded with gold leaf. It 
 is a very ancient structure, and was built during 
 the reign of Montezuma, before Cortez entered 
 the City of Mexico, in 1519. 
 
 From Mexico I went to El Paso, in Texas, and 
 then came on to Oakland, thus completing my 
 journey after an absence of eight months, during 
 which time I visited all the principal cities in 
 twenty-eight States and three Territories, taking 
 in, also, Canada and Mexico. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SHORT TRIPS IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 URING the year 1885 my trips were short, 
 extending only over a small scope of coun 
 try. I visited by stage and carriage several 
 small towns and farming districts in the valleys, 
 where I saw some of the most beautiful fruit or 
 chards and vineyards in the State. A part of the 
 season I spent in San Jose. This place is called 
 the Garden City, and well does it deserve the pleas 
 ant appellation, for it is one of the most delightful 
 towns on the Pacific Coast. San Jose approaches 
 nearer in appearance to some of the old shady New 
 England towns than any other city in California. 
 The streets stretch between long lines of beautiful 
 shade trees, and the public parks and private gar 
 dens resemble semi-tropical groves. 
 
 During my stay in this city of gardens 1 took 
 a trip to the summit of Mt. Hamilton. This is 
 the site of the Lick Observatory, which is being- 
 built with the $700,000 donated for that purpose 
 (156) 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 157 
 
 by the late James Lick, who died in 1876. This 
 gift was made to the State of California on condi 
 tion that the county of Santa Clarashould construct 
 a road to the summit. This proposition was ac 
 cepted, and the road was constructed and com 
 pleted in 1876, costing $80,000. There is not -a 
 more magnificent mountain road existing in the 
 United States. It rises four thousand feet in 
 twenty-two miles. The first four miles of the 
 twenty-six are over a level avenue. The summit 
 is four thousand three hundred and two feet 
 above the level of the sea. The road is very 
 crooked and winds around immense horseshoe 
 curves until we seem to be returning to the very 
 point from which we started. 
 
 For seven miles we face, in our constant wind 
 ings, every point of the compass. The grade in 
 no place exceeds three hundred and forty-three 
 feet to the mile until it reaches the summit of the 
 main mountain, where a grand view of the sur 
 rounding country may be had. 
 
 Santa Clara Valley and the Santa Cruz Moun 
 tains are to the west; a bit of the Pacific Ocean 
 and Monterey Bay are to the southwest; the count 
 less ranges of the Sierra Nevada are to the south 
 east; to the north are the many lower ranges of 
 hills; and against the horizon is Lassen Butte, one 
 hundred and seventy-five miles away. The bay 
 of San Francisco lies spread out before you, and 
 beyond it is Mt. Tamalpais, at the entrance to the 
 
158 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Golden Gate, while Mt. Diablo lies to the east and 
 north, forty miles distant. I know of no point on 
 the Pacific Coast that affords as extensive an out 
 look over so strange a country. The whole sug 
 gests to the mind some vast, stormy sea, whose 
 surface is broken into waves and billows. 
 
 The land for the site of the observatory com 
 prises one thousand three hundred and fifty acres, 
 and was granted by Congress in 1870. The crest 
 of the mountain is divided into five different peaks. 
 The one occupied by the observatory has been 
 cut down some thirty feet to level it for the build 
 ings, which are large, handsome, and strong. Now 
 all is completed except the dome for the large 
 equatorial. All of the instruments and most of 
 the minor apparatus are suitably mounted and in 
 place. 
 
 Leaving San Jose I went to Santa Rosa, where 
 I spent some time visiting all the points of inter 
 est in Sonoma County. Santa Rosa is the count v 
 seat of this county. It is a beautiful city and is 
 situated near the foothills on the east end of the 
 Santa Rosa Valley, which is fifty-five miles long 
 and ten miles wide at this point. It lies near a 
 large grape and fruit district, and a rich farming 
 country. While I was staying here, I met a man 
 who came to California on the same steamer with 
 me in 1858. We had never met since that time, 
 until we met by chance in Santa Rosa. He is the 
 owner of a large winery in that place, and makes 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 159 
 
 about three hundred thousand gallons of wine an 
 nually. 
 
 I also took a trip to the summit of Mt. Diablo. 
 It is easily reached by a few hours rail and car 
 riage ride from San Francisco. From this sum 
 mit can be seen views unequaled for extent of 
 vision and beauty of scenery. Spreading out 
 below are rivers, mountains, valleys, farms, towns, 
 cities, railroads, plains, and forests, forming a pan 
 orama of grandeur seldom to be seen. 
 
 After spending the year 1885 in the above men 
 tioned places, together with San Francisco, Oak 
 land, and Sacramento, I then, in 1886, took a trip 
 to the Yellowstone National Park. 
 

 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A TRIP TO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 
 ft 
 
 OWARDS the last of April, 1886, 1 left San 
 Francisco for Oakland, where, at the mole, 
 we took the cars for Port Costa, passing 
 along the shore of our beautiful bay through Oak 
 land, Berkeley, and San Pablo. We had a fine 
 view of the fortifications on Alcatraz Island and 
 Black Point, also of the hills of Saucelito and the 
 Golden Gate. 
 
 At Port Costa the train was transferred to Be- 
 nicia, on the opposite side of Carquinez Strait, 
 by the steamer Solano, the largest of its kind in 
 the world. It is four hundred and twenty-five 
 feet long, and has four tracks running the entire 
 length. It can accommodate a train of an engine 
 and twenty cars at one trip. 
 
 At Benicia we were again transferred to the 
 main track, and soon found ourselves whirling 
 through the large and beautiful valley of the 
 (160) 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 161 
 
 Sacramento, which at this season of the year pre 
 sents a picture of rare beauty. On either hand 
 are broad fields extending for miles away, carpeted 
 with myriads of wild flowers of all tints and 
 shades, on a groundwork of green, waving grain; 
 and, studded here and there, are fruit orchards of 
 almost every variety. The deep green of the al 
 falfa fields and the light green of the wheat form 
 a background of charming contrast. A large 
 grove of old oaks, which had been spared by the 
 woodman s ax, forms a border along the margin 
 of a natural water course. These, together with 
 beautiful little villages and the snow-capped 
 Sierras sharply defined against a clear azure sky, 
 complete a picture where nature has displayed 
 the wealth of her rarest beauties, which cannot 
 be surpassed by the artist s brush, and which re 
 quires an abler pen than mine to fully describe. 
 When we arrived at Tehama, I obtained my 
 first view of the grand old Shasta Butte, which is 
 upwards of fourteen thousand feet above the level 
 of the sea. To the west of Teharna are the coast 
 mountains, and on the east the Sierras loom up in 
 the distance. Tehama is a small town on the 
 west bank of the Sacramento, and is the point 
 where the Oregon and California via Marysville 
 and Sacramento crosses the river and forms a 
 junction with the road from Davisville and San 
 Francisco for Redding, Shasta, and all points by 
 stage and rail in Northern California and Oregon 
 as far as Portland. 
 11 
 
1()*2 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 After a ride of nearly two hundred and fifty 
 miles tli rough this beautiful valley, I left the cars, 
 and, getting aboard a stagecoach, I went to Shasta, 
 the county seat of Shasta County, where I made 
 my first stop. This town is three miles from the 
 railroad, and is prettily situated in the foothills of 
 the mountains surrounding the Sacramento Val 
 ley. It is as attractive a town as can be found in 
 any mountains, and, in a sanitary point of view, 
 it can be excelled by none. This was a lovely 
 place during the early mining days of California. 
 
 The placer mines around here were very rich. 
 I heard an old miner say that he made as high as 
 $100 per day for months at a time with a rocker. 
 They are all worked out now, none but China 
 men being able to make a living, and a very poor 
 one at that. In traveling through the canons one 
 day I came upon a gang of them who were work 
 ing with a rocker. I asked them if they found it 
 rich. They said they made only two bits a day 
 for four men. Wherever there have been found 
 rich placer mining and ore of great value, there 
 is always a fountain head in the vicinity, which 
 is prospected for quartz ledges and ore veins. 
 Going into the hills in almost any direction one 
 meets a prospector at nearly every turn, laden 
 with pick, pan, and shovel. The recent discovery 
 of rich ledges and bodies of gold and silver bear 
 ing ore has a stimulating effect on the prospector. 
 After he finds a ledge he selects fragments from 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 163 
 
 various parts of the rock, and, after pulverizing it 
 in a hand mortar, he washes the result in a saucer 
 or horn; if no free gold is obtained, it is consid 
 ered worthless and is abandoned, only to be taken 
 by someone else, who will sink a little deeper, test 
 the ore a little more thoroughly, and then in time 
 relinquish the claim, to be followed by others in 
 definitely. 
 
 The life of a prospector is a hard one, and to 
 follow it a man must have patience and perse 
 verance and endure many hardships. A good 
 quartz prospector should be also an assayer. He 
 should know in what formations of earth or rock 
 to expect ore, and then be able to test it by fire 
 and acid assays. There are several quartz mills 
 running in this country with very satisfactory re 
 sults, and the chances are many more will be 
 added to the number in the next five years. I 
 paid a visit to a quartz mine located near Shasta, 
 where a rich pocket had been struck a short time 
 before, which paid as high as $30,000 to the ton, 
 but that was soon worked out. 
 
 Leaving Shasta I went by rail to Slate Creek. 
 This road is built along the side of the upper Sac 
 ramento River above high-water mark and winds 
 around between high and steep ridges, which 
 grow narrower until only a channel is left for the 
 river, which has a very rapid current of deep blue 
 water. It has worn its channel low and to a 
 nearly uniform grade, where it foams, dances, and 
 
164 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 sparkles over its rocky bed. The railroad follows 
 its crooked course until we reach Slate Creek, 
 some five miles above Delta, where we take the 
 stage, which makes daily trips between here and 
 Ashland, Oregon, the southern terminus of the 
 Oregon Railroad. The stages are good, and are 
 driven by gentlemanly drivers, but the road is 
 rough and mountainous, and as the trip to Sissons 
 occupies the whole night, it is very tiresome, even 
 if made without an accident. 
 
 Arriving at Sissons I broke my journey. This 
 place is situated in Strawberry Valley, the first 
 opening into a series of small, elevated valleys 
 which stretch about the base of Mt, Shasta. This 
 valley is small and is bounded on the west by Mt. 
 Scott, five thousand feet above the valley. At the 
 northern limit of the valley is Black Butte, a vol 
 canic cone in the shape of a sugar loaf, three 
 thousand feet above the plains, or over six thou 
 sand feet above the sea. To the east rises Mt. 
 Shasta in all its grandeur, fourteen thousand four 
 hundred and forty-four feet above the sea level. 
 The valley is only three thousand five hundred 
 and sixty-seven feet, thus making Mt. Shasta ten 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven feet 
 above the plain. It is isolated from every other 
 mountain, which gives it the finest exposure of 
 all the lofty peaks in California; there are few 
 mountains in the world which stand so apart and 
 are seen to such great advantage. It is a conspicu- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 165 
 
 ous landmark on an area of several hundred miles 
 in extent. 
 
 One day while stopping at Sissons, I took a trip 
 to Castle Lake. This is a small lake lying high 
 in the hills west of Strawberry Valley. Our party 
 consisted of myself and a gentleman and three 
 ladies from San Francisco. Procuring our outfit 
 from Sissons saddle horses, guide, and a sumptu 
 ous lunch we started along the valley until we 
 came to the Sacramento River, which we had to ford- 
 From here our route was up steep mountain sides 
 along a narrow trail through brush nearly as high 
 as the horses back, over rocks and logs, until we 
 reached the top of a bald mountain, eight thou 
 sand feet above the sea, where our view extended 
 over a scope of country for hundreds of miles in 
 extent. Looking toward the west at our left high 
 above us was Castle Rock, with its domes, spires, 
 and minarets looming above the mountains on 
 which it stands, while at the right several hun 
 dred feet below lies the beautiful little lake, sur 
 rounded on three sides by high and rugged 
 mountains. To the north our view extends the 
 entire length of the Shasta Valley, including the 
 Siskiyou Range of mountains and the Cascades in 
 Oregon, where the snow-capped Mt. McLaughlin 
 rears its head far above all others. Near us rises 
 the famous Mt. Scott, ten thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea. From this mountain the Sacra 
 mento, Shasta, Scott, and Trinity Rivers take their 
 
166 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 rise, flowing in different directions. These rivers 
 are fed by thirty-three small lakes in these moun 
 tains. 
 
 Looking south our view extends far down the 
 Sacramento Valley, with Lassen Butte at our left, 
 and still farther to the left a distant view of the 
 Sierra Nevada Range is had. To the east the 
 beautiful valley of the McCloud River is spread 
 out before the eye, and to the left of this Mt. 
 Shasta appears in all its splendor. The trip was 
 a hard one, but we felt well paid for the hard 
 ships we had to endure by the grandeur of the 
 scenery. There are other very interesting trips 
 which can be taken from Sissons without much 
 hardship and with slight expense. One of these 
 is a trip to the Sacramento Falls. The trip can 
 be made by carriage from the hotel for about six- 
 miles; a trail is then taken for a half a mile, cross 
 ing the Sacramento River on logs which had fallen 
 across it. The stream is followed for a short dis 
 tance, when the falls appear on the opposite side 
 of the river. The falls are composed of numer 
 ous bodies of water pouring into the river from 
 a high bluff amid fern and moss-covered ledges 
 of rock. The view from our position on the ledge, 
 together with the roaring and crackling of the 
 rushing water as it came pouring over in its on 
 ward course to the sea, was grand in the extreme. 
 
 Another trip of great interest can be made to 
 the McCloud River, and still another to the top 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 167 
 
 of Mt. Shasta. The latter is a hard trip; some 
 have started and failed to reach the summit, while 
 others make it without much trouble. 
 
 I was loth to leave Sissons, but as time pressed 
 me I could not prolong my stay. I think it is the 
 best place in the State in which to spend the sum 
 mer vacation. Parties can be furnished with ex 
 perienced guides, carriages, saddle horses, camp 
 ing outfits, and, in fact, everything necessary for 
 the comfort or pleasure of the tourist by the 
 genial host, Mr. Sisson, at very moderate charges. 
 The mountain scenery about here is romantic; 
 the water is pure and cold, and the climate is de 
 lightful, with cool breezes from the snow-capped 
 peak of Mt. Shasta. Last but not least, the table 
 is supplied with the best of everything that the 
 season affords. It is just the place to enjoy a sea 
 son and build the system anew. 
 
 Leaving here we took the stage for Yreka, pass 
 ing through almost the entire length of Siskiyou 
 County. This is the extreme northern county of 
 California and is very mountainous. There are 
 two grand ranges of mountains extending nearly 
 the entire length of the State on the eastern 
 and western borders. At the northern part of 
 this county these two ranges are contracted, form 
 ing some of the most rugged and gigantic moun 
 tain peaks to be seen anywhere in the world, the 
 crests of which tower as high as the lofty peaks 
 of the Alps. Mt. Shasta, whose summit is covered 
 
168 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 with perpetual snow, is within about ten hundred 
 feet of the far-famed Mt. Blanc. These moun 
 tains are covered as far up as the snow line with 
 immense forests of fir and sugar pine. 
 
 After a ride of thirty-five miles we arrived at 
 Yreka, the county seat of Siskiyou County, situ 
 ated in the western part of Shasta Valley, four 
 hundred and thirty miles from San Francisco. 
 The town is surrounded by high hills, from the 
 top of which a splendid view is had of valleys, 
 hills, and mountains. Looking towards the north 
 the Siskiyou Range of mountains is in plain view, 
 while far beyond rises the snow-capped peak of 
 Mt. McLaughlin, in Oregon. To the east and 
 south the view extends the entire length of both 
 Little and Big Shasta Valleys, which are dotted 
 with hundreds of volcanic mounds of various 
 size, shapes, and forms, and in the- background 
 rise the majestic peaks of Shasta, Scott, and Black 
 Mountains. Below lies the beautiful little town 
 of Yreka, with its lovely gardens and shade trees 
 making a picture the beauty of which is seldom 
 surpassed. 
 
 From here to Ashland our route is along the 
 Little Shasta Valley, crossing the Shasta and 
 Klamath Rivers. Over the latter river we crossed 
 on a ferry large enough to accommodate the 
 stage and six horses. The motive power is the 
 current of the river, and the boat is held against 
 the stream by ropes running through a cable 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 169 
 
 suspended across the river; then, by shortening 
 the forward rope and lengthening the hind one, 
 the boat stands diagonally across the stream. 
 The current, which is a rapid one, strikes it in 
 such a position as to drive it across in a short 
 
 time. 
 
 Along the route in this valley we were shown 
 a high peak in the shape of a sugar loaf, which is 
 called Mary s Peak. The name was given to it in 
 honor of Mary Price, a young lady, the daughter 
 of the first settler in this place. She climbed to 
 the top of this peak and planted the American 
 flag there in 1852. The house in which she lived 
 with her parents is still standing. It was built 
 of stone, with portholes for rifle shots, and was 
 used as a kind of fort for their protection against 
 the Indians, so numerous in this section at that 
 time. Alas! the poor Indian is nearly extinct 
 now, and his hunting ground is converted into 
 beautiful gardens and fruit fields by the industri 
 ous white man. 
 
 Leaving the valley we commenced the ascent 
 of the Siskiyou Range, winding around on a beau 
 tiful road until we reached the summit, seven 
 hundred feet above the sea, Looking back in the 
 direction from which we came, Mt. Shasta, which 
 had been hidden from our view for some time, ap 
 peared again in all its grandeur, while to the right 
 of it Mt. Scott and Black Butte, and to the left 
 several high peaks in the Butte Creek Range, lie 
 
170 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 in the background, forming a picture not soon 
 forgotten. Descending on the other side, the road 
 winds around on short curves down steep grades 
 shaded by beautiful trees until Rogue River Val 
 ley is readied, through which we pass on our way 
 to Ashland, Oregon. This is the southern termi 
 nus of the California and Oregon Railroad. It is 
 a beautiful town situated at the southern end of 
 Rogue River Valley. It more closely resembles 
 a New England town than any other place on the 
 Pacific Coast, on account of the rows of shade trees 
 which line the streets and the beautiful streams 
 of water running through from the mountains 
 above. The residences are neat, and the yards 
 are tastefully adorned with flowers, shrubs, and 
 fruit trees. At this place our journey of one hun 
 dred and twenty-five miles by stage was completed, 
 for we connected with the railroad at this point. 
 Ashland is quite a resort for those in search of 
 health. The region about here is rich in soda 
 and sulphur springs both cold and warm. The 
 medicinal properties of the water are highly 
 spoken of by those who have tested them. The 
 soda-spring house is a most delightful place in a 
 remote valley, surrounded by the Siskiyou and 
 Cascade Mountains, ten miles from Ashland. 
 While I was here, a party of United States engi- 
 neers,under the command of Captain C. C. Button, 
 started to explore and make a geological and topo 
 graphical survey of the Crater Lake and Cascade 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 171 
 
 Mountains, which were set aside by the govern 
 ment for a national park. The lake is located in 
 the summit of the Cascade Mountains, in Southern 
 Oregon, about one hundred miles from Ashland. 
 It is six by eight miles in extent, and is sur 
 rounded by cliffs from one to two thousand feet 
 high. The .scenery around it is said to be very 
 beautiful. The party took along three boats, one 
 large one for sounding, and two small skiffs. The 
 large boat is very strong and is twenty-six feet 
 long, has a five-foot eight-inch beam, and is two 
 feet deep amidships. It is iron bound and weighs 
 nine hundred pounds. It is a model of beauty, 
 and has been christened the Cleetwood. 
 
 Leaving Ashland our route is along and through 
 the Rogue River Valley, which is often called the 
 Italy of Oregon, on account of its clear skies and 
 sunny days. It is the most productive fruit re 
 gion in the State; grapes, peaches, apricots, plums, 
 pears, apples, and all kinds of northern fruits of 
 superior flavor grow here in abundance. This 
 valley abounds in scenery of the most romantic 
 character. Lofty mountains, beautiful lakes, splen 
 did waterfalls, and enormous precipices are to be 
 seen in this lovely valley of Southern Oregon. 
 
 Leaving the valley, our route is over a spur of 
 the Cascade Range, thence down into and through 
 the Umpqua Valley to the Calipooia Range. 
 This region abounds with wild and beautiful 
 scenery. The canons are so winding that in 
 
172 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 order to attain twelve miles of actual distance, 
 thirty-five miles of track had to be laid. On de 
 scending this divide, we found ourselves in the 
 beautiful Willamette Valley, the largest in the 
 State. It is about one hundred and fifty miles in 
 length, and varies in width from twenty to thirty 
 miles. It lies on both sides of the Willamette 
 River, and is rich in soil and under good cultiva 
 tion. 
 
 The farmhouses, as a rule, are good, and reap 
 ing and threshing machines were busy at work in 
 large fields of wheat on either hand. The towns 
 along this valley are models of beauty, with broad 
 streets, handsomely shaded with sugar maples, 
 neat residences, and substantial business blocks. 
 
 At Albany I again broke my journey for a few 
 days. This is a fine city and lies on the east bank 
 of the Willamette River, about eighty miles from 
 Portland. It is the county seat of Linn County. 
 There is not much to be seen here to interest a 
 traveler, so we will pass on to Portland. On the 
 way we had some fine views of Mt. Hood and of 
 some of the more southern peaks in the Cascade 
 Range. 
 
 The city of Portland lies on the west bank of 
 the Willamette River, about twelve miles soutli 
 of where that stream unites with the Columbia. 
 The ground on which the city stands slopes up 
 ward from the water front to the base of high 
 hills. These hills have been partly built over 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 173 
 
 with elegant residences. A macadamized road 
 leads to the summit of Robinson s Hill, from 
 which point a most pleasing view is had of the 
 city and surrounding country. The winding- 
 course of the Willamette is traced for miles; in 
 the foreground rise the wooded slopes of Mt- 
 Taber, while in the background is the long, blue 
 ridge of the Cascade Mountains, with Mt, Hood 
 towering above all. To the left rise the high 
 peaks of St. Helens, Rainier, and Adams, and to 
 the right is the white top of Mt. Jefferson. Five 
 snow peaks set in such beautiful surroundings is 
 a sight to be seen from no other point in the world. 
 Another drive leads to the city park, which is 
 located on these hills, and still another leads to the 
 River View Cemetery. I will not undertake a 
 full description of Portland, for it would require 
 too large a space. It is sufficient to say that a 
 handsomer city of its size cannot be found in the 
 United States. 
 
 Leaving Portland by the Northern Pacific Rail 
 road, our journey was along the Columbia River, 
 where the scenery is very grand. Our first sight 
 of any note was the Pillars of Hercules, two gi 
 gantic columns of rock on each side of the track, 
 seeming as if built for a gateway to that region. 
 After that came the beautiful Multnomah Fall, of 
 eight hundred and twenty feet, pouring into a 
 basin of great depth. A rustic bridge has been 
 built across the stream at the outlet of the basin, 
 
174 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 and the train stops for fifteen minutes to allow 
 passengers to ascend the bridge. There is a 
 legend connected with this fall which runs some 
 thing like this: 
 
 Once upon a time, many years ago, there lived 
 in a wigwam on the mountain a little Indian 
 maiden, young, pure, and fair, whom the red men 
 called Multnomah. She was wont to roam beside 
 a little streamlet running near her mountain 
 home. One morning as she was standing there, 
 casting pebbles at her shadow, a noble youth, who 
 was walking to and fro, suddenly appeared before 
 her. It was a case of love at sight, but it seems 
 love that rises accidentally is the first to fall, for all 
 their cherished hopes turned to weel and woe in a 
 lovers quarrel. They parted, as many have done 
 in later years, but, woman-like, she repented, went 
 to her lover, pleaded forgiveness, and begged to 
 be taken back to his affections. Her entreaties 
 were in vain, so she sought a frightful precipice 
 over which the water bounded, fading away far 
 beneath in mist. She gazed for a moment, and 
 then hurled herself headlong far into the depths 
 below. They called the foil Multnomah in honor 
 of this poor unfortunate maiden. 
 
 A short distance beyond the fall we came to the 
 cascades on the Columbia River, where the water 
 rushes down swift rapids in foaming torrents. 
 From this place on to The Dalles the scenery 
 is superb, in my opinion surpassing any river 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER. 175 
 
 scenery in the world. There was not much to 
 be seen between The Dalles and Spokane Falls, at 
 which place L stopped for a few days. It is a 
 beautiful little city in the eastern part of Washing 
 ton. It is built on a level plain overlooked by 
 picturesque hills, and commands a view of the 
 lofty mountain ranges in the distance. 
 
 The city lies near the falls of the Spokane 
 River. The streets are broad, and the place has 
 quite a number of substantial business blocks. 
 The river above the falls is divided into many 
 channels by rocky islands. Standing on a bridge 
 which spans the stream, the view which can be 
 seen is almost as grand as that of Niagara. Look 
 ing up the stream you can see the water rushing 
 through the various channels, down cascades, and 
 culminating in one great fall of sixty-five feet. 
 From here to Helena, Montana, the route is along 
 the shores of Lake Pend d Oreille for fifty-five 
 miles, and then along Clark s Fork of the Colum 
 bia for a considerable distance, where the scenery 
 is grand, consisting of mountain peaks of the 
 Coeur d Alene Range, one towering above the 
 other until they reach the height of five thou 
 sand three hundred feet above the sea. During 
 one day s ride we breakfasted in Washington, took 
 dinner in Idaho, and had supper in Montana. 
 Our meals were served in Pullman Palace din 
 ing cars. 
 
 When I arrived at Helena, I again stopped over. 
 
176 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 This is the capital of Montana, and is called the 
 "Queen of the Mountains." It is situated in 
 what was called the Last Chance Gulch, a name, 
 given to it hy four miners, who, in 1864, weary 
 and sick at heart at their previous non-success, 
 pitched their tents here as a last resort. It proved 
 to be ricli in gold mines, and it is said that in two 
 years time each was worth $50,000. The city now 
 has a population of twenty thousand. 
 
 After leaving Helena we followed along the 
 Gallatin River for about fifty miles, to where it 
 unites with the Madison and Jefferson Rivers, 
 which empty their waters into a common channel 
 to form the Missouri. When we reached the sum 
 mit, we were five thousand five hundred and sixty- 
 three feet above the level of the sea. From this 
 point we began to descend again at the rate of 
 one hundred and sixteen feet to the mile, till we 
 arrived at Livingston, at which place we left the 
 main line of the Northern Pacific and took the 
 Yellowstone Park Branch to Cinnabar, a distance 
 of fifty-one miles. 
 
 Most of the route is along the Yellowstone 
 River and through a beautiful valley called Par 
 adise Valley. The scenery forms a perfect pano 
 rama of grandeur, presenting ever-varying views. 
 The Snow Mountains border the river on the 
 south and east, their lofty pinnacles glistening with 
 snow and presenting views and atmospheric effects 
 which are perfectly superb. These mountains rise 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 177 
 
 from three to four thousand feet above the ele 
 vated valley. 
 
 At Cinnabar we were transferred to the stage, 
 and after a six-mile ride along the Gardiner River 
 Valley, we arrived at the Mammoth Hot Springs 
 Hotel. This was the starting place for our trip 
 through the park. It took us five days to view 
 the chief attractions, which included the Norris 
 Geyser Basin, Lower Geyser Basin, Upper Falls, 
 and the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone River 
 A full description of these wonders of nature 
 would take up too much time and space, so I shall 
 only describe some of the most important. 
 
 The Yellowstone National Park is situated in 
 the midst of the most elevated part of the Rocky 
 Mountains. The tract embraced within the park 
 limits lies mainly in Northwestern Wyoming, but 
 it includes, also, a narrow strip of Southern Mon 
 tana and Eastern Idaho. It is sixty-six miles long 
 and fifty-five miles wide. The lowest elevation 
 of any of the narrow valleys of the park is six 
 thousand feet above the sea, and some of the moun 
 tain ranges which hem in these valleys raise their 
 proud peaks ten thousand to twelve thousand feet. 
 
 The park is a region of wonder, terror, and 
 delight, where nature puts forth all her powers 
 in her ever-changing moods. Thousands of hot 
 springs and hundreds of geysers throwing steam 
 and hot water from ten to two hundred feet in the 
 air, grand canons and falls, mighty cataracts, 
 12 
 
178 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 verdant valleys, beautiful woods, silver streamlets, 
 foaming cascades, and mirror-like lakes, unfold a 
 succession of pictures which seem to try to out 
 rival each other in beauty. 
 
 The most noted geysers in the park are the 
 Giant and Giantess, Castle, Grotto, Beehive, the 
 Splendid, Grand, Sawmill, and the group called 
 the Lion, Lioness, and two Cubs, but the most in 
 teresting of all is the one called Old Faithful, 
 because of the great regularity with which erup 
 tions occur. And these occur every hour, begin 
 ning with several splashes or spurts, which con 
 tinue for about four minutes, becoming more and 
 more powerful, when they are followed by a 
 rapid succession of jets, -which escape with a roar 
 and soon attain a height of one hundred to one 
 hundred and fifty feet. 
 
 The water eruption is followed by steam, which 
 finally dies away and leaves the crater empty. 
 The water eruption lasts from four to five min 
 utes. The crater is an oblong opening two by six 
 feet on the inside. It is situated on a mound of 
 geyserite measuring at the base one hundred and 
 forty-five by two hundred and fifteen feet and at 
 the top twenty by fifty-four feet, and rising eleven 
 feet and eleven inches above the surrounding level. 
 The mound is composed of layers of deposit in a 
 succession of terraces which are full of shallow 
 basins. The water in these basins is as clear as 
 crystal, and the edges of the pools are exquisitely 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 179 
 
 beaded and fretted, showing delicate tints of 
 rose, white, saffron, orange, brown, and gray. The 
 north end of the crater has large globular masses 
 of beaded, pearly deposit, and its throat is of a 
 dark yellow or rusty color. 
 
 This description of Old Faithful gives the main 
 points of all the other geysers I have mentioned, 
 with the exception that some have more beau 
 tiful formations around them. Some are of a 
 spongy formation, resembling a large piece of 
 sponge, while others have lace-ribbed borders,hav- 
 ing the appearance of being crusted with pearls. 
 The hot springs all through the park are the most 
 beautiful water pools I have ever seen. The 
 crystal clearness of the water cannot be described, 
 and must be seen to be appreciated. 
 
 While at the Upper Geyser Basin 1 was fortu 
 nate enough to see three of the most important gey 
 sers in action at the same time, and never have 
 I seen a grander sight of nature s most wonderful 
 powers. I cannot close without saying a few 
 words about the Yellowstone Falls and the Grand 
 Canon. 
 
 The Upper Falls, of which the height is given 
 as one hundred and sixty-two feet, and the Lower 
 Falls said to be three hundred and fifty feet, com 
 pose this wonderful work of Nature. The river 
 between them is two hundred feet in width, but 
 it contracts to a distance of one hundred feet at 
 the point where it takes its final leap into the 
 
180 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 gorge below. Recovering from the plunge, the 
 river finds its outlet through the canon, appearing 
 in the distance like a streamer of satin ribbon 
 laid along the depths of the Grand Canon, be 
 hind the winding walls of which it is lost to view. 
 
 The Grand Canon is a wonderful gorge, which 
 displays a scene of enchantment surpassing every 
 expectation. It is from one thousand to two thou 
 sand feet in depth; but it is not the depth that 
 impresses the beholder most, it is the brilliant 
 coloring of the walls and towering rocks on each 
 side, which are one mass of changing colors, daz 
 zling in their brightness, and when the sun is shin 
 ing, the whole gorge seems to be ablaze with red, 
 yellow, white, blue, green, orange, and vermilion, 
 lighting up the walls equal to any palace. I 
 could compare it to nothing I had seen excepting 
 the sunsets on the Indian Ocean, which last only 
 while the sun is setting, and then fade away, 
 while this is as steadfast as the rocks themselves. 
 
 At a high elevation which we reached in the 
 park, the three Tetons were plainly visible, their 
 pointed peaks rising thirteen thousand eight hun 
 dred and fifty-eight feet above the sea. These 
 peaks rise out of the beautiful Teton Basin, near 
 the boundary line which separates Idaho from Wy- 
 oming. They extend from the Grand Canon of 
 Snake River to the southern extremity of Yellow 
 stone Park. The center peak is sometimes called 
 the Shark s Tooth. The basin in which they 
 
JAMKS BATCHELDKR. 181 
 
 stand is known as the Robbers Retreat, for it had 
 been for a long time the den of a most daring 
 band of horse thieves. As many as one hundred 
 men belonged to the band, and their raids ex 
 tended over a large scope of country. 
 
 Tlie hotels, bridges, and roads are the only 
 change from nature in tlie whole park, which con 
 tains nature s grandest works of art, and it is well 
 worthy of a visit from all who have the opportu 
 nity. 
 
 From Yellowstone Park I returned to Portland, 
 and thence to San Francisco by the way of Ya- 
 quina Bay* Yaquina is the terminus of the Ore 
 gon Pacific Railroad, where it connects with the 
 steamer for San Francisco. It is a small place at 
 present, but large improvements are being made. 
 It has an excellent harbor, and bids fair to become 
 a port of considerable importance before long. 
 
 Newport, a town situated on the bay four miles 
 further on, though not so fashionable as the sea 
 side watering place of the same name in Rhode 
 Island, nor yet up to the lovely little town on 
 the shore of Lake Memphremagog in the Green 
 Mountain State, is so located that from almost any 
 point of view one can never tire of the varied and 
 beautiful scenery, consisting of mountains, bays, 
 rivers, and the ocean. A more beautiful spot 
 for a town site is not easily to be found, and Ore 
 gon may well be proud of it. It has two fine 
 drives over a hard, smooth beach. The one on the 
 
182 LIFE A XI) TRAVELS OF 
 
 north side extends five miles along the beach to 
 Cape Foul weather, where the lighthouse is located. 
 Tins is one of the sights of the place and is well 
 worth seeing. 
 
 On the south side the drive is ten miles long, 
 to a place called Seal Hock. They are both beau 
 tiful pleasure drives, with fresh scenes to greet the 
 eye at every turn. At Seal Rock there are some 
 tall pinnacles, from the top of which you have 
 a magnificent view up and down the coast for 
 twenty-five miles each way. The place also af 
 fords fine surf bathing, and is perfectly safe, as it 
 is not in the open ocean, but three hundred yards 
 inside the heads, and a high bluff protects the bath 
 ers from the wind. Lately this place has- become 
 more widely known, and it is destined to become 
 a popular resort. 1 know of no place where a 
 short time can be more pleasantly spent by those 
 in need of recreation. 
 
 I left there on the steamer Yaquina, on the 3d 
 of September, at two P. M. In crossing the bar 
 we encountered a heavy sea, which lasted through 
 the night, causing many of the passengers to con 
 sign to the deep what they had eaten during the 
 day. Although I managed to retain what 1 had 
 eaten, I had no desire for more when dinner was 
 announced. This was the first meal I refused to 
 partake of during my travels by water. 
 
 The next morning was beautiful, and the sea 
 was as calm as a river, and continued so till we 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 reached San Francisco, on September 5, which 
 completed my journey of nearly five months, dur 
 ing which time I visited all the places of note 
 which I had not seen before in Northern Cali 
 fornia, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and 
 a part of Wyoming; and happy am I to once more 
 tread the soil of my adopted State, for the more 
 I travel abroad, and the more I see of other States 
 in our own country, the more I prize our Golden 
 State, which I am proud to call my home. All 
 other places I have visited have their attractions, 
 and do for a time, but for a lifelong residence give 
 me California. Nor do I think there is a city of 
 its size in the United States where there is so 
 much to interest a stranger as in San Francisco. 
 The Golden Gate Park is not excelled by any of 
 the kind I have seen in older or larger cities, 
 while a trip to the Cliff House cannot fail to ex 
 cite delight and admiration, and a walk or a 
 drive along the shore of the Pacific on the beau 
 tiful sandy beach fills one with new life and 
 vigor. The Cliff House has several large porches 
 which face the sea, and those who choose may 
 pleasantly pass the time here watching the waves 
 as they splash against the rocks, and in listening 
 to the barking of the seals, whose roar can be heard 
 above the music of the waves. Then a ramble 
 through Sutro s garden, situated on the heights 
 overlooking the Cliff House, must be appreciated 
 by all lovers of the beautiful. This garden is 
 
1S4 
 
 LIFE AXD TRAVELS. 
 
 filled with beautiful flowers and shrubbery of all 
 kinds from all parts of the world, besides groups 
 of choice statuary so arranged as to show to the 
 best advantage. 
 
 Among other sights of interest in San Francisco 
 are Woodward s Gardens, the United States Mint, 
 and the Presidio. It is a treat to ride on some of 
 our cable cars to the tops of the high hills of the 
 city, which are more numerous and much larger 
 than the seven hills of Rome, or the five mounds 
 upon which Jerusalem once stood. Our railway 
 cable system is the best in the world, and from 
 the tops of any of the hills a magnificent view of 
 the city, bay, and surrounding country is ob 
 tained. All these and many other attractions of 
 the place cannot fail to make a sojourn of several 
 days or more very interesting to anyone visiting 
 San Francisco. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A TRIP TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 s?l 
 
 "HE sun si i one clear and pleasant as I left 
 
 San Francisco on the 27th of April, 1887, 
 by the steamship Queen of the Pacific. 
 At the wharf there was the usual hurry and ex 
 citement, the usual crowd standing on tiptoe, or 
 climbing upon piles to wave handkerchiefs, and 
 catch the last words from outgoing friends. At 
 last the captain gave the word "to cast off, when 
 the noble ship swung back from her moorings, 
 and pitched her way through the ships at anchor 
 in the bay. The passengers stood on the prom 
 enade deck, watching familiar objects as they 
 were passed, and bidding them one by one a si 
 lent adieu. These were shortly left behind, and 
 our vessel was plowing her way through the 
 ocean swells that rolled through the entrance to 
 the bay. When fairly outside the Golden Gate 
 the warm sunshine of the harbor was cooled by 
 the bleak trade winds, which were quite piercing. 
 
 (185) 
 
186 LIFE A XI) TRAVELS OF 
 
 Then, too, the change from the smooth waters of 
 the bay to the swelling waves of the ocean, gave 
 the ship a peculiar motion that was not very 
 pleasant to some who were not accustomed to 
 sailing. Such very quietly retired to their rooms, 
 presumably for a season of meditation. I was 
 not seasick in the least, and I did not expect to be, 
 for this was not my first experience at sea, and 
 every voyage I make gives me more confidence 
 in the power and capacity of a ship to triumph 
 over the conflicting elements. 
 
 When night came, the wind went down; the 
 evening was warm and pleasant, and the sea was 
 as smooth as a small lake in summer, merely 
 rippled. I staid on deck until it was quite late. 
 The passengers were singing in the social hall as 
 in a parlor, until ten o clock ; when, one by one, 
 they disappeared, until I found myself the only 
 occupant of the deck. It is then that one feels 
 alone, for there is nothing around, beneath or 
 above, but the silent sky and the sleeping ocean. 
 It is then that one seems to feel that he has ex 
 changed the security of the shore, and the society 
 of the most genial friends, for that of strangers 
 and the perils of the deep. 
 
 The next morning we were at Port Harford. 
 This is the port for San Luis Obispo, situated nine 
 miles inland, and connected with it by a railroad. 
 Some of the passengers left the ship here, while 
 others from the above-named town came on board, 
 
JAMES r.ATCIIKLDKK. 187 
 
 filling the places of those who had left us. After 
 a delay of a few hours, exchanging freight and 
 baggage, we were again out at sea, under full 
 headway. It was a beautiful day. The sun 
 shone bright and warm, and the time was spent 
 in walking about the deck, singing, reading, play 
 ing cards, etc. 
 
 During the afternoon we passed Point Concep 
 tion, a long point of land reaching far out at 
 sea, upon which is one of the finest lighthouses 
 in the United States. It is two hundred and fifty 
 feet above the water and has a revolving light, 
 showing a white flash every half minute. It also 
 has a fog whistle, which is sounded in thick 
 weather. A fog bell, weighing three thousand 
 one hundred and thirty-six pounds, is used, too, 
 in bad weather. 
 
 Our next stopping place was Santa Barbara. 
 From there we went to San Pedro, arriving early 
 the next morning. At this place passengers for 
 Los Angeles leave the ship and go inland by rail 
 about twenty miles. Leaving here about noon, 
 we went directly to San Diego, reaching there be 
 fore dark. The entrance to the harbor is roman 
 tic; the channel is narrow and crooked, forming 
 a complete letter S. 
 
 This completed my journey by water, I having 
 reached the southern point of my trip. I returned 
 to San Francisco overland. The passage was un 
 eventful and unattended by the usual squalls 
 
18S LIFK AND TKAVKI.S OF 
 
 and piles, so frequent on an ocean voyage at this 
 season of the year. We were never out of sight of 
 hind during the trip, and the scenery was beauti 
 ful, impressive, and sometimes grand, which added 
 much to the interest and pleasure of the voyage. 
 
 San Diego is the county seat of San Diego 
 County, the most southern county of California. 
 Its southern limits border on Mexican territory. 
 The city is beautifully situated on the bay of San 
 Diego, a fine sheet of water twenty miles long and 
 two miles wide, almost landlocked, making one 
 of the most beautiful harbors in the world, and 
 the best on the Pacific Coast, with the exception 
 of San Francisco, from Callas, in South America, 
 to Alaska. 
 
 About three miles inland from here is the old 
 town of San Diego, which was settled in 1769 by 
 the Franciscan friars, who established a mission 
 there. This was the -first one made in California, 
 but in 1771 ten missionaries arrived here from 
 Mexico and established missions in various places 
 in Southern California, twenty-one in all. One 
 of these is the famous mission San Gabriel, which 
 is still in existence, and probably will be for years 
 to come. The bells of this church were brought 
 from Spain nearly a century ago. They are fam 
 ous for the sweetness of their tones. 
 
 It was at San Diego that General Fremont 
 landed in 1841, with orders to join Stockton near 
 Los Angeles, in order to capture that place from 
 the Spanish army under General Castro. 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER. 189 
 
 One of the most beautiful places about San 
 Diego is the island known as the Coronado 
 Beach. It lies between the city and the sea just 
 across the bay. It is beautifully laid out, with its 
 avenues one hundred and forty feet wide, having 
 drives, walks, and bridle paths between rows of 
 trees, and a boulevard around the entire island, 
 containing parks and streets lined with trees. 
 There is also a broad avenue running directly 
 across the island from the bay to the ocean. It is 
 a mile and a quarter long, and has a double row 
 of orange trees near the center for the entire dis 
 tance. Between the rows of trees is a street rail 
 road which runs cars in connection with a steam 
 ferry from the city. On each side of these trees 
 there is a driveway, and outside of the driveway 
 is also a line of shade trees. 
 
 A large hotel is being erected on the island 
 near the beach, fronting on the sea, which will be 
 able, when completed, to accommodate one thou 
 sand five hundred guests. It will have a theater 
 and dance hall connected with it, all under the 
 same roof. The foundation of this immense 
 building is of concrete and covers three acres of 
 ground, including the inside court. The view 
 from here is splendid; but I will not undertake 
 a description of it. Though I have it vividly be 
 fore my eyes, I cannot describe it with words in 
 such a manner as to give the reader a fair idea of 
 its beautv, for I have always found even the finest 
 
190 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 and most skillful descriptions of views and land 
 scapes insufficient, and could never form a dis 
 tinct picture from them unless I had seen them 
 myself before. 
 
 From here I went to Riverside by rail. The 
 country along the route is uninteresting, most 
 of it being barren and rocky, but occasionally 
 there is a green spot with a small stream of water, 
 along the banks of which are clumps of the oak and 
 willow. There are a few small towns along the 
 route that lay claim to future greatness. Then, 
 again, we have a little of the picturesque in pass 
 ing through Temecula Canon. This is a rocky 
 gorge several miles in length, with hills rising 
 hundreds of feet on either side and drawing 
 nearer together, until there is scarcely room for 
 the train, and little streams of pure water that 
 ripple over the rocky bed. Farther on the hills 
 recede and gradually lose their steepness, until 
 they are lost to view, and we are passing through 
 a wonderful little valley containing one hundred 
 and eighty hot and cold mineral springs of all 
 kinds, whose curative qualities are said to be 
 wonderful. 
 
 Elsinore Lake is in this valley. It is a beauti 
 ful sheet of pure mountain water, seven miles in 
 length and three miles in w T idth, around which 
 are large and prosperous settlements of orange, 
 vine, and fruitgrowers of all kinds. 
 
 This lake is near the railroad, and is becoming 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 191 
 
 a summer as well as a winter resort. It is only a 
 short distance from Riverside. 
 
 Riverside is a pretty little town located in the 
 midst of orange and lemon groves and vineyards 
 that extend ten miles in length and from three to 
 four in width, all laid out with wide streets and 
 avenues between rows of shade trees. The most 
 beautiful of these is known as Magnolia Avenue. 
 It is seven miles long and one hundred and thirty- 
 two feet wide. On each side there is a fine wide 
 sidewalk, shaded with a row of palm trees inter- 
 spread with the Japanese willow. Next to these 
 are two wide carriage ways, between which is a 
 row of large pepper trees for the entire distance. 
 
 The land along this avenue is planted with 
 vineyards, orange and lemon groves, and orchards 
 of almost every known fruit, having the appear 
 ance of one vast orchard, dotted with many fine 
 residences of wealthy people. 
 
 The water for irrigating this vast section is 
 brought from the Santa Ana River, by two large 
 ditches running the entire distance. Small ditches 
 radiate from these in every direction, making one 
 of the finest systems of irrigation to be found in 
 the United States. The Riverside oranges are 
 famous for their brightness of color and the rich 
 ness of their flavor. I never have found oranges 
 that excel them in any part of the world. There 
 are many varieties of ornamental trees along the 
 streets and avenues in this place, which add much 
 
19*2 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 to its beauty. But, in my opinion, there is no 
 other tree which grows that will equal the orange 
 as an ornamental tree. Xo other shows such 
 rich green foliage, varying from a pale yellowish 
 green to a rich dark shade, with glossy leaves, and 
 at nearly all seasons of the year it is laden with 
 both blossoms and ripe fruit. And, certainly, no 
 flowering or ornamental tree or shrub of any kind 
 is so handsome as an orange tree whose branches 
 are hanging with ripe fruit, It is far more attract 
 ive than a magnolia, pepper, or palm tree. 
 
 Last year I traveled in the North, through 
 mountains and gorges, with massive cliffs rising 
 thousands of feet, crowned with snow, and the 
 dashing waters hissing among huge rocks in the 
 depths below, and think there is nothing grander 
 than to ga/e over a rugged wilderness of rocks, 
 and upon wastes that never have been trodden by 
 the foot of man. 
 
 There is another kind of scenery which I en 
 joyed from a hill unknown to fame, and rising in 
 perfect solitude from the plain back of the little 
 town of Riverside. It is a softer landscape of 
 graceful hillsides, sloping to the green meadows 
 and woodlands, glorious with magnificent foliage 
 of a southern clime, fertile fields, thriving or 
 chards and vineyards meeting the glance in every 
 direction, all charming in the bright sunlight 
 under a brilliant sky. 
 
 After all, it is not so much the locality which 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 193 
 
 gives the pleasure to the tourist as the eye scan 
 ning it. Every lover of nature has his favorite 
 scenery. High mountains please one, while an 
 other is content with an old pear tree in the gar 
 den, or a river bank overhung by oaks and wil 
 lows. But to me there is true poetry in a great 
 array of peaks, each carrying a name famous in 
 the history of ascents. 
 
 Leaving Riverside I went to San Bernardino. 
 This is the county seat of San Bernardino County. 
 It is a beautiful little town, and one cannot fail to 
 be charmed with its situation. It lies half hid 
 den among the trees, with the hills sloping grad 
 ually. Fertile fields, thriving young orchards 
 and vineyards, are to be seen on every side, 
 while at a short distance rise the steeper moun 
 tains of the San Bernardino Range. 
 
 The little stream that flows through the town 
 and neighboring fields is one of the numerous 
 brooks that run down the side of Mt. San Bernar 
 dino, and unite to form the Santa Ana River. 
 It can be traced all along its winding way by the 
 oaks, sycamores, and willows which line its banks. 
 
 About six miles from here, in the foothills, are 
 located what are known as the Arrowhead Hot 
 Springs, taking their name from a profile of an 
 arrowhead on the side of a steep mountain over 
 looking the springs. It was formed by a slide 
 that occurred many years ago. It is a conspicu 
 ous landmark and can be seen from any part of 
 13 
 
194 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 the valley. These springs have become very pop 
 ular of late, and the medicinal properties of the 
 water are said to be excellent. 
 
 The town of San Bernardino was first settled by 
 the Mormons, in 1852. Before that time there 
 was only a stock ranch here. There is a story 
 told of the finding of this place by the Mormons, 
 which will bear repeating here. It seems that an 
 old trapper, who had been all through this valley, 
 had visited Arrowhead Springs, and could give a 
 full description of them, arrived at Salt Lake, 
 where he met Brigham Young and described to 
 him this beautiful valley and its surroundings, 
 including the Arrowhead and Hot Springs. 
 
 Shortly after this Brigham announced to his 
 followers that he had had a vision from heaven, 
 showing him a beautiful country, and he repeated 
 to them the story he had heard from the old trap 
 per. 
 
 Soon after, a party of nearly one thousand of 
 his followers came here and settled, finding every 
 thing the same as Brigham had declared he had 
 seen in his vision. In 1856 most of this party re 
 turned to Salt Lake. Some remained and are 
 still here and are in full faitli with the Mormon 
 Church,excepting that part which sanctions polyg 
 amy, it not being considered a part of the Mor 
 mon religion by those remaining here. 
 
 From here I went by rail to Los Angeles, pass 
 ing through the entire length of the San Gabriel 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 195 
 
 Valley. This is a new route, and has been opened 
 to the public only a week. The entire valley is 
 very attractive. In every portion are countless 
 farms, with beautiful residences. New towns are 
 springing up along the road, and one can trace the 
 lines of young fruit trees in the newly planted or 
 chards and the rows of cuttings in the vineyards. 
 
 Pasadena is the pride and crown of this valley. 
 Its broad avenues are bordered with pepper trees 
 and with hedges of cypress and lime. 
 
 The valley about here is thickly dotted with 
 beautiful homes of modest cottages, with lovely 
 gardens, half hidden by orange and lemon groves 
 and vineyards. Delightful walks with arbors and 
 summer houses of evergreen, climbing vines and 
 flowers of every variety, are to be seen at every 
 turn. The scenery along this valley is grand, 
 the Sierra Madre Mountains standing boldly up 
 in the background, while the foothills look so 
 tempting for a stroll like one I used to take in the 
 Granite State in my childhood days. 
 
 On arriving at Los Angeles by rail, one sees 
 the poorest part of the city first ; for in going from 
 the station to the business portion, he has to pass 
 through the old Spanish settlement known as 
 Sonora. This is a dilapidated place, with its 
 squares of low, flat-roofed, adobe buildings, which 
 have stood here for a long period of time, but are 
 fast crumbling away, the inhabitants dying out 
 or being pushed aside to give room for the more 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
196 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 energetic and enterprising American people, and 
 the neat modern streets of a rapidly growing city. 
 (Since the above was written the station has been 
 moved.) 
 
 The city of Los Angeles is the natural center of 
 a large commercial, agricultural, and industrial 
 community. There are sections of Los Angeles 
 County under a higher state of cultivation than 
 can be found anywhere else in the United States. 
 These localities are settled mostly by the wealthy 
 and well-to-do classes of people. From Third 
 Street Hill, or any other hill that rises back of the 
 city of Los Angeles, one looks upon a scene that 
 is truly picturesque, consisting of vineyards, or 
 ange and lemon groves, and orchards of almost 
 every known fruit. It is a collection of gardens 
 six miles square, producing at all times of the 
 year almost everything that grows under the sun. 
 
 If one drives out into the country, large fields 
 of wheat and barley, backed by the dark green of 
 the vine, orange, and lemon, and other shrubbery, 
 are to be seen everywhere, rankly growing with 
 the fruit in different stages of advancement. In 
 riding along one may hear the song of the laborer 
 in the field, and see madam e at the kitchen door 
 or in the garden picking weeds from among the 
 flowers, while the house dog, too lazy to bark, lies 
 idly sleeping in the shade. 
 
 From here I went by rail to San Buenaventura. 
 This is a Spanish name and signifies "Saint of 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 197 
 
 Good Venture." This route is through the Santa 
 Clara Valley of the South. The scenery here is 
 very attractive. Mountains rise on either side 
 from two to four thousand feet in height, present 
 ing a bold and rugged outline against the sky. 
 The Rio de Santa Clara runs through this valley, 
 and at intervals the railroad crosses a small stream 
 of water, a tributary to this river, on whose banks 
 are clumps of shade trees. As we glide along, 
 new beauty breaks upon the eye at every turn. 
 
 There are several varieties of sagebrush grow 
 ing along the mountain sides, the blossoms of 
 which furnish honey to thousands of swarms of 
 bees. Almost all the farmers in the valley and 
 all the stockmen in the mountains have from 
 twenty to a hundred hives of bees, producing in 
 many cases four hundred pounds of honey to the 
 hive. The honey is taken out by the use of the 
 honey extractors. The comb is not disturbed and 
 is refilled. 
 
 At San Buenaventura I took the stage for Santa 
 Barbara, thirty miles distant along the coast. To 
 our left is the beautiful Santa Barbara Channel 
 while far out at sea is a chain of islands rising 
 up like sentinels to a height of about two thousand 
 feet. The ever-changing panorama of valleys, 
 mountains, islands, rivers, and sea, all combined 
 to make the trip from Los Angeles to this place 
 one of great interest, and one not soon to be for 
 gotten. 
 
198 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Bar 
 bara County. It is a beautiful city of nearly five 
 thousand inhabitants. It rises gradually from the 
 sea, attaining an elevation of three hundred feet 
 in a distance of one and a half miles. The mis 
 sion here was founded December 4, 1786. It is 
 the only mission in California which lias been 
 occupied constantly by the Franciscan friars, 
 from its founding up to the present time. The 
 old church was so badly injured by an earthquake 
 in 1812 that it was necessary to take it down. 
 The present structure was built in 1815. It is in 
 a splendid state of preservation. The walls con 
 sist of large cubes of cut sandstone nearly six feet 
 in thickness. They are strengthened by buttresses 
 of a similar nature. It is the most substantial 
 mission church in California, and it contains 
 many fine pictures by Spanish painters. The 
 church and the dwellings of the priests, which are 
 connected with it, are all that now remain of the 
 old mission buildings. 
 
 From here I continued my journey by stage. 
 The route for several miles is along the Santa 
 Barbara Valley. As the stage passed along, gay 
 houses, surrounded by beautiful gardens, rich 
 with flowers and trees of magnificent foliage, were 
 to be seen on either side. 
 
 Leaving the valley we commenced the ascent 
 of the Santa Ynez Mountains, winding around their 
 side, making almost every point of the compass, 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 199 
 
 and steadily climbing higher and higher. Our 
 turns were short and sometimes in ravines, at 
 other times above the edge of a frightful precipice, 
 whose crumbling walls threatened to give way be 
 neath our weight. We soon commanded a view 
 of innumerable mountain chains lying beneath 
 us. As we reached the summit, a grand pano 
 rama was spread out before the eye. Cities, towns, 
 valleys, mountains, islands, and sea lie sleeping 
 far beneath us in all their loveliness, while the 
 lower hills rise in massive waves, clothed with 
 oaks and manzanita. 
 
 Huge granite bowlders lie as if tossed on the 
 hillsides, or piled up over level tracts as if placed 
 there by the hand of man. The atmosphere is 
 pure, soothing, and exhilarating. It is a delight 
 to breathe it and fill the lungs with it, as one 
 would drink from a pure spring. From here 
 the road begins its rapid descent to the valley be 
 low. Looking down from the top of the stage 
 coach, the descent seems impossible, but we move 
 on in long curves around the edge of the moun 
 tain, turning, twisting, and winding under the 
 branches of the oak and sycamore, which are 
 draped with hanging moss and wild grapevines. 
 Finally we are down into the Santa Ynez Valley, 
 on which the ripened fields of wheat, barley, and 
 clover lie spread in a light brown carpet on 
 either side, while to the right extends the limpid 
 blue Santa Ynez River, losing itself in graceful 
 
200 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 curves behind the wooded hills and in the dis 
 tant fields and pastures terminating the view. 
 Towards nightfall I reached Los Alamos, after a 
 ride of sixty miles by stage over this interesting 
 country. 
 
 The next morning I resumed my journey by 
 rail to San Luis Obispo. This is the county seat 
 of San Luis Obispo County. It is an interesting 
 and pretty little town, situated at the end of a 
 beautiful valley surrounded by giant mountains. 
 From here El Paso de Robles is thirty miles, 
 which is made by stage, and completes my stage 
 ride. I connected at this point with the Southern 
 Pacific Railroad. 
 
 This place is famous for its hot mineral springs, 
 delightful and picturesque surroundings. It lies 
 in the valley of the Salinas River, on a plain 
 gently sloping toward the foothills of the Coast 
 Range, shaded by groves of giant oaks and cotton- 
 wood. The main spring is situated in the center. 
 The reservoir is eight feet square. The water is 
 hot and bubbles with gases from the bottom. It 
 has a flow of more than four thousand gallons 
 per hour. There are two plunge baths built of 
 solid masonry, one for ladies and the other for gen 
 tlemen. In the rear of these are the public and 
 private bath rooms. The hotel is first class and is 
 surrounded on three sides by neat and comfort 
 able cottages. The table is one of the best sup 
 plied and appointed on the Pacific Coast. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDEK. 201 
 
 These springs were used and highly valued by 
 the old mission priests nearly a hundred years 
 ago, and the native Indians have the greatest con 
 fidence in their healing qualities. The rush of 
 visitors is becoming greater every year, and it is 
 here that one can find freedom and rest from toil, 
 and fill the system with new blood and healthful 
 vigor. 
 
 From here I completed my trip on my arrival 
 at San Francisco, after a day s ride through the 
 charming Santa Clara Valley. This is called the 
 Garden Valley of the Pacific Coast. It is well 
 worthy of the name. The surroundings are beau 
 tiful and picturesque. The lofty peaks of the 
 Santa Lucia Pacheco and Los Barberos stand out 
 harmoniously against the azure sky. They seem 
 to be almost within hailing distance, while the 
 rolling, billow-like hills, fringed with a purple 
 foam of redwood, evergreen, oak, and pine, create 
 a captivating landscape. In the foreground the 
 valley lies sleeping in all its loveliness. As we 
 glide along, every turn brings a new surprise and 
 reveals a new beauty now an avenue of stately 
 trees, then a succession of gardens, again along 
 the channel of a stream where tall oaks and syca 
 mores shade the way, next for miles a succession 
 of vineyards, orchards, and fruitful fields, while 
 nestling among the vines and amid the roses are 
 stately mansions and beautiful cottages, which be 
 speak the thrift and refinement of their occupants. 
 
20*2 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 This visit to the land of the vine, the olive, the 
 orange, and pomegranate, afforded me a great deal 
 of pleasure and enjoyment. It will always he re 
 membered as one of the most enjoyable experi 
 ences of my life. But whenever T visit any other 
 part of the State, I am always glad to return to 
 San Francisco, where the days are cool for work, 
 and the nights are cool for sleep. Its breezes are 
 purer, more refreshing, and more healthful than 
 those in any other part of the State. 
 
 About two weeks before starting on my trip to 
 Southern California, I took a ride to the summit 
 of Mt. Tamalpais. This, although a short excur 
 sion, occupying only a day s time, was, neverthe 
 less, a pleasant one, and well worthy of notice 
 among other and longer journeys. Mt. Tamal 
 pais is a high peak in the Coast Range, bordering 
 on the Bay of San Francisco and forming the 
 northern wall of the Golden Gate. Its summit 
 has been selected by the United States Govern 
 ment as the initial point of the coast survey for 
 establishing longitude and latitude. I left San 
 Francisco by the ferry of the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad on one of those matchless days which 
 are the pride and boast of California. After a 
 very pleasant ride of one hour, we reached San 
 Rafael. This is the county seat of Marin County. 
 It is a pretty place nestled in a little nook in the 
 foothills. Its surroundings are romantic, and at 
 this season of the year the hillsides are clothed 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 203 
 
 in verdant grass, daisies, tulips, pines, and bloom 
 ing buckeyes. To the west stands Mt. Tamalpais 
 like a sentinel, guarding the approach to the bay 
 through the Golden Gate, and keeping an eye over 
 San Francisco and all the little towns within its 
 reach. 
 
 At San Hafael we procured a carriage for the 
 ascent of the mountain The route is through 
 Ross Valley, which is dotted with fine residences 
 of wealthy people. These houses would grace any 
 city street. Leaving the valley we commenced 
 the ascent of the mountain, on the winding 
 road, which presents a series of pretty and by far 
 the most picturesque views of any to be found so 
 near San Francisco. At every turn a new scene 
 appears, rivaling in beauty the former. As we 
 still continued, the many changes appeared like 
 the shiftings of a pamorama, and as we neared the 
 summit, a more enchanting picture broke upon 
 our vision. A beautiful little lake lay under the 
 sunlight like a mantle of gold. All around this 
 sparkling gem of the mountain could be seen 
 the dark green of the oak, madrona, and manza- 
 nita bowing down their outspread boughs, as if to 
 sip the cooling waters. Arriving at the summit, 
 two thousand eight hundred feet above the level 
 of the sea, the view is grand and impressive. 
 
 At our feet lay the bay of San Francisco, dotted 
 with islands, and sails of commerce. The sur 
 rounding hills were soft undulations, between 
 
204 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 which lie the cities of Oakland and San Fran 
 cisco. Beyond lies the Alameda Valley, sleeping 
 in all its loveliness. To the east the view ex 
 tends far up the valley of the Sacramento, with 
 Mt. Diablo standing out boldly three thousand 
 eight hundred and ninety-six feet, while the 
 view stretches until the distant horizon is bounded 
 by the snow-clad peaks of the Sierras. To the 
 north the eye roams over a series of valleys sepa 
 rated by ranges of mountains and hills extending 
 over the counties of Marin, Napa, Sonoma, and 
 Lake, with Mt. St. Helena towering four thousand 
 three hundred and forty -three feet above the sea, 
 and whose summit is a conspicuous landmark 
 over a great scope of country. To the west rolls 
 the almost boundless expanse of the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 The return down the mountain was much more 
 agreeable than the ascent. The landscape was 
 ever changing, as we wound around the many 
 curves, with skirting cliffs on one side and deep 
 ravines on the other. The scene was sublime, and 
 the experience was one to be remembered for a 
 lifetime. 
 
 I have visited many places that are better 
 known and that occupied much more time, but I 
 have seen no place where a day can be spent with 
 more interest and pleasure than in a trip to the 
 summit of Mt. Tamalpais. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A TRIP TO SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 "BOUT the last of January, 1888, I left San 
 Francisco by the steamship Colima for 
 Panama. 
 
 A crowd had been increasing for more than an 
 hour before the advertised time for sailing, until 
 it numbered hundreds who had assembled to take 
 leave of their friends perhaps forever; for who 
 could say that it would not be their last time of 
 meeting. 
 
 As the ship s bow receded from the wharf, the 
 last grip of the hand was given, friends hurried 
 ashore, and none remained on board but those 
 who were to be our constant companions for weeks 
 to come. 
 
 Looking back to the pier we had just left, I 
 could see anxious faces watching the fast disap 
 pearing ship, as if they were looking for some 
 loved one s form, that they might hold its mem- 
 205 
 
206 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 ory forever. The group of passengers on deck 
 kept their faces toward the shore, having in their 
 minds, no doubt, pictures of friends and happy 
 homes that hereafter would be only a memory. 
 
 Patiently we plowed our way through the stub 
 born waters, and, towards night, we were well out 
 to sea. At first some of the passengers were sea 
 sick and either kept their berths or walked about 
 the deck looking as if they would rather sit down 
 somewhere and only think than to do anything 
 else. Later on everybody came down into the 
 cabin for their regular meals, and the crisis had 
 passed. 
 
 Our course was near the shore, but occasionally 
 we lost sight of land. The coast along Lower 
 California is uninteresting, low, barren, and deso 
 late; but after passing the Gulf of California, the 
 scenery was picturesque and diversified, consisting 
 of ranges of mountains extending into the in 
 terior. As far as the eye could reach, not a single 
 tract of flat or table-land appeared anywhere. 
 The entire coast of Mexico is a succession of 
 mountains bordering on the Pacific. 
 
 Every evening, when the sun went down, it 
 looked like a great red ball dropping into the sea; 
 for here it appears to be divested of that excessive 
 brightness which on land frequently dazzles and 
 pains the eye of the beholder. The rising and 
 setting of the sun at sea are usually fine spectacles. 
 Those on the Pacific generally surpass those of 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 207 
 
 the Atlantic in grandeur and beauty, but the 
 most gorgeous I have seen have been on the 
 Indian Ocean. 
 
 Our first landing place was at Acapulco, about 
 one thousand eight hundred miles southeast from 
 San Francisco. It has a beautiful and safe har 
 bor, surrounded on three sides by lofty ranges of 
 wooded mountains, and it is nearly landlocked. 
 
 The town has a population of about three thou 
 sand, chiefly of mixed blood. Very few people 
 show any pure Spanish descent. Some of them 
 are quite good looking, polite, and civil. 
 
 I was here in 1858, and the little town has not 
 changed much during the thirty years that have 
 passed since I walked its streets. Thirty years of 
 struggling, active life, of strenuous endeavor, 
 crowned now with failure and again with tri 
 umph, of rough adventure, of voyaging by sea 
 and by land! I look back and think of the 
 crowd of faces, men and women, that I have 
 learned to know between then and now, some of 
 whom are dead, some of whom are estranged, while 
 others are still near my home, wishing for my safe 
 return. Thirty years! one-half of a human gen 
 eration! We can scarcely realize its length, until 
 once more we stand upon its half-forgotten ground. 
 
 Along the coast of Guatemala the shore appears 
 level and covered with timber for some distance 
 from the water, when the mountains rise abruptly, 
 the peaks being from ten to fourteen thousand 
 feet above the sea. 
 
208 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Our next stopping place was at Champerico. 
 This is a small town on the coast of Guatemala. 
 It is connected with the interior by a railroad 
 twenty-seven miles in length, reaching large coffee 
 plantations. Coffee has increased to such an ex 
 tent of late as to become a large export from this 
 country. Champerico has no harbor ; ships arriv 
 ing here have to anchor in the roadstead. Land 
 ings must be made in small boats, which are 
 dangerous in rough weather. 
 
 Our ship lay at anchor here nearly twenty-four 
 hours, and, although the surface of the water was 
 as smooth as an inland lake, there was an under 
 current, or land swell, causing the ship to roll as 
 if in a storm at sea, making it very uncomfortable 
 for those on board. When again under headway, 
 we experienced no more of this, and our good ship 
 plowed along as smoothly as a duck on a mill 
 pond. 
 
 The next morning we were at anchor in the 
 roadstead off San Jose de Guatemala. From the 
 deck of the ship a magnificent panorama burst 
 upon our view a long line of black beach 
 washed by the foam of the breaking wave, dense 
 forests of deep green coming down to the water s 
 edge, the unbroken inland as far as the eye could 
 reach, with two volcanic peaks in the background. 
 I have seen nothing on our trip down the coast 
 half so grand and beautiful as that which lay be 
 fore me at this place. 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDP;R. 209 
 
 Our ship lay here two days, which afforded us 
 an opportunity of visiting the city of Guatemala, 
 which is seventy miles inland and is connected 
 by rail with San Jose de Guatemala. Landing 
 can be made only by means of small boats and 
 lighters. When a wharf is reached, a huge bas 
 ket or cage is found swinging from the end, by 
 means of a pulley, over the water. The passen 
 gers crawl into it and are hoisted ashore by a 
 dummy engine. The trip inland is an ever- 
 changing panorama of beauty. On either hand 
 are large plantations of sugar cane and coffee 
 fields, with here and there beautiful groves, con 
 taining cocoanuts, bananas, pineapples, oranges, 
 and all other tropical fruits, growing rankly. 
 
 When the train stops at the stations, we are 
 met by an army of female peddlers, with all kinds 
 of fruits, Indian wares, cigars, cigarettes, etc., 
 which are urged upon the passengers. As we 
 ride, we pass at the base of high mountains, cross 
 ing frightful precipices and along beautiful streams 
 of pure mountain water, and skirting the shore of 
 a beautiful lake for miles, all the while climbing 
 higher and higher, until we reach the city of 
 Guatemala, five thousand feet above the sea. 
 This is the capital of the Guatemalan Republic. 
 It is a handsome city of nearly seventy thousand 
 inhabitants. It has many fine buildings, nearly 
 all of one story, painted white, giving the city a 
 clean appearance. 
 14 
 
"210 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 The streets cross each other at right angles, are 
 well paved, and kept clean. They are all raised 
 from their centers to the sidewalk, so that any 
 thing thrown into them is washed into the sewers 
 by water that runs in the center of the street. 
 The entire city is lighted by electricity and has a 
 fine system of street cars and all other modern 
 improvements. A full description of this beauti 
 ful city would occupy too much space for this 
 writing, so I will not attempt it. 
 
 We returned to the ship at half past ten r. M., 
 after a trip of two days full of interest, The next 
 morning we lay at anchor near Acajutla, loading 
 coffee and other freight. The only excitement to 
 be had here was in watching a school of whales 
 playing about the ship. At times they would 
 raise themselves nearly out of the water, within a 
 a stone s throw of the ship. It was the nearest 
 view I had ever had of a whale at sea, From there 
 we went to La Libertad, in Salvador, and then to 
 Punta Arenas, in Costa Rica. This is a pretty 
 little town. It is situated at the head of a beauti 
 ful cove, surrounded on three sides by lofty moun 
 tains, rich in gold and silver mines, which are 
 being developed by English and American capi 
 tal. 
 
 The town lies near the water, half hidden 
 among trees of the most magnificent foliage of a 
 tropical clime. The trees grow down to a beauti 
 ful beach of black sand, which lines the shore for 
 
JAMES BATC HELDER. 211 
 
 miles on either hand. The harbor here is not a 
 good one, it being open to the sea, In fact, the 
 Pacific Coast from Acapulco to Panama has no 
 good harbors, and the landing of passengers from 
 ocean steamers is very dangerous if the weather is 
 rough. It sometimes happens that passengers im 
 ports north of Panama cannot be landed, but are 
 obliged to go on to Panama and try to land on 
 the up trip. 
 
 From Punta Arenas I went to Panama, thus 
 completing my voyage by the steamship Colima. 
 The passage was not attended by any remarkable 
 circumstance. During the entire trip we had 
 beautiful weather, the sea being as smooth as 
 the inland seas of Alaska, Our passenger list was 
 not large. The time was spent in reading, writ 
 ing, playing cards, telling stories, and in other 
 amusements so common on an ocean voyage. It 
 would be monotonous to the reader if I should 
 describe the pleasures and discomforts of a long 
 ocean journey which must be enjoyed or suffered 
 by travelers. It will be sufficient to state that 
 the voyage was accomplished without mishap, and 
 with probably less than the usual discomforts of 
 so long a journey. 
 
 Panama is one of the oldest towns on the 
 American Continent. It was settled before Cortez 
 entered Mexico and before the conquest of Peru 
 by Pizarro. It was sacked and burned by that 
 buccaneer, Henry Morgan, in 1670, and has suf- 
 
212 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 fered by pestilence and fire many times since. It 
 has a population of about twenty thousand, most 
 of which are black. It is a poverty-stricken place. 
 Its money has but little value, it being forty per 
 cent below par for American gold. 
 
 There is a public plaza here a small open space 
 where the populace gather in the evening to listen 
 to music by a military band, played twice a week. 
 Otherwise there is nothing to see to interest any 
 one except the view from the sea wall. From 
 here we have a fine view of the beautiful bay, with 
 its score of islands, its many steamers and sails, 
 a land view of the town and hills in its vicinity, 
 and a long line of coast with range upon range of 
 the beautiful forest region of the isthmus. 
 
 I was detained here twelve days, the steamer 
 that should have left for the south being in quar 
 antine at Callao. While I was here, I visited a 
 portion of the work that is being done on the 
 Panama Canal, which, when completed, will con 
 nect the Atlantic with the Pacific Oceans. It is a 
 gigantic piece of work, and has already cost about 
 two hundred millions of dollars, and is only about 
 half done. 
 
 After my twelve days stay here I embarked on 
 the Pacific Navigation Company s steamer Santa 
 Rosa for Callao. It was dark when the Santa Rosa 
 raised anchor and started on her voyage south 
 ward. When morning came, we found ourselves 
 clear of the Bay of Panama, on the broad Pacific, 
 and out of sight of land. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDKR. 213 
 
 On the morning of the third day out we crossed 
 the equator and could see Dead Man s Island. It 
 looked like some gigantic corpse floating on the 
 water. This island lies off the Gulf of Guyaquil, 
 and is a landmark for seamen. 
 
 Our course was now changed, and we steamed 
 eastward. On our left was the Island Puna, on 
 which Pizarro organized his forces at the time of 
 his conquest of Peru. We soon came into the 
 Guyaquil River, whose banks are covered with 
 superb tropical vegetation, relieved at intervals 
 by picturesque cane-built native huts. 
 
 The city of Guyaquil lies about seventy-five 
 miles inland, on this river. It is the largest port 
 in the Republic of Ecuador, there being a popula 
 tion of nearly fifty thousand. It is quite an im 
 posing place, with its high towers, fine buildings, 
 broad streets, and good system of street cars. 
 
 The pineapple of Guyaquil is famous all over 
 South America, on account of its size and flavor. 
 Under favorable circumstances the great volcano 
 of Chimborazo, towering twenty-one thousand four 
 hundred and twenty feet above the sea, can be 
 seen from this port, but clouds rested upon the 
 mountains and I missed the view. From here 
 southward there is little to interest the traveler. 
 The wooded shores of Equador soon disappear 
 and the aspect becomes entirely changed. 
 
 The whole coast of Peru for two thousand miles 
 is a dreary waste of sand and rock, unrelieved by 
 
214 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 tree, shrub, or blade of grass, except at long inter 
 vals, where there are narrow valleys of green, 
 marking the course of some small river, strug 
 gling down from the mountains to the sea. 
 
 We landed at Payta, the most northern point 
 in Peru, and then at several other small towns 
 which are connected by rail with larger towns 
 back in the interior, and afterward went on to 
 Callao. 
 
 As I have said before, the entire coast of Peru is 
 barren and uninteresting, but, looking back for 
 miles upon the distant ranges of mountains which 
 rise one above the other, until they unite with the 
 great chain of the Andes, pinnacle upon pinnacle 
 of the purest white, tower like clouds above the 
 dark outlines of the nearer mountains and form a 
 picture once seen not easily forgotten. 
 
 We had crossed the line before reaching Guya- 
 quil, and had had the sun very nearly over our 
 heads all the way to Callao. All along, near the 
 equator, on dark nights, the water was so full of 
 phosphorus that the ocean seemed to be in a flame, 
 and sparks of fire appeared to rise from the sur 
 face. A cloud of light was seen traversing the 
 waves as far as the eye could see. 
 
 Callao is the port for Lima. It has a fine har 
 bor, large, beautiful, and perfectly secure for ship 
 ping. The largest vessels can lie here with safety 
 This magnificent harbor is sheltered by the long, 
 lofty island rock of San Loren/o, looming up about 
 four miles across the channel. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 215 
 
 Callao has suffered from earthquakes at various 
 times. Those doing the greatest amount of dam 
 age occurred in 1693 and 1746. At the latter 
 date Callao was sunk and the country around was 
 entirely submerged by the tidal wave which fol 
 lowed the earthquake. There were at the time 
 twenty-three vessels in the harbor, nineteen of 
 which were sunk. The other four were carried 
 some distance on shore by the force of the wave. 
 The spot inland where these vessels were stranded, 
 is still pointed out to the visitor. Out of a popu 
 lation of four thousand people only four hundred 
 are said to have escaped. 
 
 There are two lines of railroad plying between 
 the port and the capital. Each line runs trains 
 every alternate hour all the day long, and by one 
 of these I proceeded direct to Lima, This city 
 was founded by Pizarro, the discoverer and con 
 queror of Peru, in 1535. He called it the City of 
 the Kings, for the permanant seat of the govern 
 ment. Here he settled and resided until he fell 
 by the hands of assassins, in 1541. The palace 
 that he built is still standing, but has been par 
 tially destroyed by fire several times and as many 
 times been repaired. It is now used as the official 
 residence of the head of the government, and as 
 quarters for a detachment of troops. 
 
 The city is located on a plain, on both sides of 
 the river Rimac, which is spanned by a stone 
 bridge an ancient and massive structure of six 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 arches, built in 1610. It has recesses on each side* 
 furnished with seats, which are much frequented 
 by the lower class on pleasant evenings. The city 
 is full of churches and convents. There are no 
 fewer than sixty-six Catholic Churches, occupying 
 the most valuable property in the city, and are 
 exempt from taxation. They are all very wealthy. 
 The celebrated cathedral is one of the wealthiest 
 churches in the world, and equal to the famous 
 cathedral in the City of Mexico. It fronts on the 
 grand plaza and is a massive structure. It is 
 three hundred and seventy-three feet long and 
 one hundred and seventy-five feet wide. The 
 roof and galleries are supported by Doric columns 
 eighty-four feet high and nine feet in diameter at 
 the base. 
 
 The grand altar is one of the most beautiful 
 pieces of carved work in the world. It was done 
 by artists of the sixteenth century. The entire 
 inside is richly ornamented with gold and silver. 
 There are no pews, but almost everyone carries a 
 rug or mat, remaining constantly kneeling upon 
 tliis during the service. It has a chime of bells, 
 the largest of which weighs four tons. It was 
 cast in Madrid, Spain, in 1533. The clapper 
 alone weighs three hundred pounds. The tower 
 where these bells hang is reached by a narrow, 
 winding stairway. There are three organs in this 
 church, one of which is said to be the third larg 
 est in the world. 
 
JAMES BAT( IIKU>Kli. 217 
 
 There is a very beautiful Jesuit Church in this 
 city, that has a hell which was cast during the 
 early days of Spanish rule. It is said that when 
 the metal was melting, the ladies of Lima in pass 
 ing by threw in all their jewelry and ornaments 
 of gold and silver. It has a very sweet tone. It 
 is sounded every evening, striking the hour of 
 nine o clock. 
 
 The grand plaza is a gay place during the 
 evenings. It is here that one can see all the gay 
 and beautiful life of Lima. Two of its sides are 
 occupied by the government house and the ca 
 thedral. The other sides are lined with portals 
 or arcades, behind which are retail shops filled 
 with everything that can be found in London or 
 Paris. In the middle of this plaza, surrounded 
 by beautiful flowers, shrubbery, and statuary, is a 
 magnificent bronzed fountain. The shaft is forty- 
 two feet high. It stands in the center of a reser 
 voir or iron tank twenty feet across and four feet 
 high, which rests upon a raised stone platform 
 and is beautifully ornamented. Perched upon 
 the edge of this tank are eight lions mounted 
 upon the backs of as many griffins, each spurting 
 a tiny stream of water from his mouth into a 
 large basin ten feet above. Over this is another 
 basin that receives the water which comes trick 
 ling down 011 an inverted basin above. From 
 this it drops into the basin below T by many 
 streams and then into the reservoir. The whole 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 is surmounted by a bronze figure representing 
 Gabriel in the act of blowing his trumpet. Be 
 sides this principal fountain, there are smaller ones 
 at each corner of the plaza used as drinking 
 fountains. 
 
 There is another very fine plaza,or public square, 
 here called Indepeiidencia, which is adorned by a 
 magnificent bronze equestrian statue of Boliver, 
 the liberator of Peru from the Spanish yoke. It 
 was cast in Munich and is thirteen feet nine 
 inches high. The horse is represented as rearing, 
 while the liberator waves his hat with his right 
 hand, thus throwing open his cloak and displaying 
 his uniform beneath. On the sides of the marble 
 pedestal are bronze tablets representing the deci 
 sive battles which secured Peruvian independence. 
 Another tablet bears the national arms. It is 
 placed on the spot where the victims of the In 
 quisition were burned. The Inquisition was a 
 tribunal of rigid despotism. Every year vast num 
 bers of persons suspected of crimes were brought 
 here from all parts of the country, to be tried by 
 this Inquisition. Most of them were doomed to 
 a dreadful punishment. 
 
 The houses are built so as to guard as much as 
 possible against destruction of life by the frequent 
 occurrence of earthquake. Most of them are only 
 one story high. The walls are of matted cane, 
 frescoed on the outside in imitation of stone. 
 The roofs are flat, because the lack of rain renders 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 219 
 
 a pitched roof unnecessary. The houses of some 
 of the better classes are elegantly fitted up and 
 furnished. They all open onto a portico or inner 
 court yard, which is often converted into a 
 beautiful garden thus inclosed by the house. 
 
 The ladies of Lima, as a rule, are very beautiful. 
 The people of the upper class are highly culti 
 vated, refined, and have agreeable manners. 
 They are, when on the street, enveloped in a 
 manto. This is a long black shawl sometimes 
 plain and often richly embroidered and trimmed 
 with lace. It covers the head and is wrapped in 
 loose folds around the person. It is held by one 
 hand over the face, so that only the eyes can be 
 seen. It is very attractive and interesting. 
 
 While I was here, I witnessed a bullfight, so 
 common in Spanish countries; but, as I gave a 
 full description of one of these brutal scenes in a 
 previous chapter, I will only say that the same 
 cruel scenes were enacted as before. 
 
 Lima is twelve degrees south of the equator. 
 It never rains here, but there is a cloud of vapor 
 that hangs over this section during the summer 
 months, so that vegetation will grow without irri 
 gation. The climate of Lima is delightful. The 
 heat is not so great as at other places in the same 
 latitude, 011 account of the cool breezes that blow 
 from the Pacific and down the snowy sides of the 
 Cordilleras. While I was here I took a trip over 
 the Oroya Railroad. This road was built by 
 
220 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Harry Meggs, the great railroad contractor of 
 South America, It is one of the most wonderful 
 feats of engineering skill in the world. It is not 
 completed, hut when finished, it will run over a 
 pass in the Andes fifteen thousand seven hundred 
 and twenty-two feet above the sea, and connect 
 the rich, fertile valley of the Amazon River with 
 the seaboard of Peru. It will also establish by 
 rail and boat a steam communication between 
 the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. 
 
 Leaving Lima the road runs along the valley 
 of the Rimac for nearly fifteen miles, on an almost 
 level plain. We next enter a narrow gorge, 
 where the stream comes down in a rushing torrent 
 over a stony bed. As we advance, the slopes on 
 either side become higher and steeper and nearly 
 bare of vegetation until we reach Chosica, about 
 twenty-six miles from Lima. Chosica has an 
 elevation of two thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-one feet. Here the chief gradings and 
 great curves of the line begin. Looking ahead, we 
 seem to be about to dash against the side of a 
 mountain of rocks, when the train stops, com 
 mences to back up on a higher zigzag, then it 
 stops again and is drawn up another. This is 
 done four times, always at a different level above 
 the same point in the valley. 
 
 The tunnels along the line are frequent. Some 
 times one is directly above the other. We rise 
 seven thousand three hundred and seventeen feet 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER. 221 
 
 in the distance of only thirty-four miles. All of 
 these turnings and windings with the mouths of 
 the tunnels can be seen above, at a great height. 
 Those we have just left can be seen in the deep 
 abyss beneath. It seems as if we are climbing an 
 immense staircase. We pass over deep, broad ra 
 vines that are spanned by huge iron bridges. 
 We can look down directly into the chasm below. 
 
 Forty-eight miles from Lima is the most strik 
 ing scene on the entire route. In front, the river 
 rushes out of a narrow cliff, while on either hand 
 the mountains rise to a prodigious height with a 
 steeper declivity than I have seen anywhere else. 
 The deep chasm, the roar of the river in the chan 
 nel below, the towering masses above, leaving but 
 a strip of sky in view, combined to form an im 
 pression of its awful grandeur not soon to be for 
 gotten. 
 
 Through the courtesy of the engineer, I was al 
 lowed to ride on the engine through the most in 
 teresting part of this scenery. The present ter 
 minus of the road is at Chicla, about eighty miles 
 from Lima and twelve thousand two hundred and 
 twenty feet above the sea. 
 
 From here on, everything has to go by pack 
 trains of mules or llamas, over fearfully rough 
 trails. When the tunnel through Mt. Meggs will 
 be finished, it will reach an elevation of fifteen 
 thousand seven hundred and twenty-two feet, and 
 will mark the greatest height to which human in 
 genuity has forced the locomotive. 
 
222 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 On my return from this most interesting trip I 
 embarked on the steamship Ecuador, at Callas, for 
 Mollendo. This latter place has rather a danger 
 ous harbor. The landing is made by means of 
 small boats through the surf. One is lucky if lie 
 manages to get on the small wharf without a 
 ducking. 
 
 From here to Puno, on Lake Titicaca, three 
 hundred and twenty-five miles distance, is a fine 
 line of railroad. It is built on an easier and more 
 economical plan than the Oroya line. The 
 mountain passes are lower and other obstacles 
 less formidable. After staying two days at Mol 
 lendo I started for Arequipa. We soon began to 
 ascend the foothills to Tanbo, one thousand feet 
 elevation, leaving the fine fertile valley of Tanbo 
 to our right, down below. From here we pro 
 ceeded along splendidly constructed serpentine 
 lines of railroad gradings, without tunnels or via 
 ducts, and with scarcely any artificial embank 
 ments, rising along the mountain slopes to Cach- 
 endo, three thousand two hundred and fifty feet 
 above the sea. Just before reaching this station 
 we turned a sharp curve, and the glorious sight of 
 the great middle Cordillera burst upon my eyes, 
 with the snow-covered peaks of Coropuna, twenty- 
 two thousand eight hundred feet high ; Char- 
 chani, nineteen thousand; Misti, eighteen thou 
 sand six hundred and fifty, and Pichupichu, 
 seventeen thousand eight hundred feet above the 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 223 
 
 sea. The last three surround the city of Are 
 quipa, and appear so near as to be in the im 
 mediate neighborhood. 
 
 Higher up the mountain the road is forced 
 through barren rocks, with not a bit of vegetation. 
 At last, at station Tiavaya, six thousand seven 
 hundred and fifty feet high, we got the first 
 glimpses into the green valley of the Arequipa 
 River. Farther on, the many towers and high 
 church buildings of the town itself come in sight, 
 and a few minutes later the train runs into the 
 fine station of the famous city of Arequipa, seven 
 thousand five hundred and fifty feet above the 
 sea. This is a very pretty city, of nearly fifty 
 thousand inhabitants. It resembles the city of 
 Guatemala in nearly every detail. It is situated 
 in a beautiful valley, green with fruit and vege 
 tables of almost every known kind, and watered 
 by the Arequipa River, that passes through the 
 city. 
 
 Like every other South American city I have 
 seen, it has its grand plaza, with the cathedral 
 forming one side, and closed in on the other sides 
 by substantial buildings, all having portals, under 
 which a lively retail trade is carried on. This 
 plaza has a garden in its center, full of gay flow 
 ers and shrubs. In the middle of this garden is 
 a magnificent bronze fountain with three basins. 
 From the middle basin rises a pillar, surmounted 
 by the figure of Fame spouting the w r ater from her 
 
224 LIFK AND TKAVKLS OF 
 
 trumpet. The water pours from the mouths of 
 four lions into the other two basins. On each 
 corner of the plaza are small drinking fountains. 
 A band plays on the plaza every Thursday and 
 Sunday evenings to a large concourse of people 
 of both sexes, who promenade to the lively strains 
 of the music. 
 
 The cathedral is considered one of the finest 
 buildings in South America. It is built entirely 
 of square blocks of white sandstone. The interior 
 contains a new pulpit, beautifully carved of solid 
 oak and executed in France in 1871). It was the 
 gift of a rich Auquipan lady. 
 
 Nearly all the buildings are constructed with im 
 mensely thick walls, and are only one story high, 
 on account of the earthquakes which occur so fre 
 quently here. Scarcely a week passes without 
 some trembling of the earth, but little damage 
 has been done since 1868. The city was almost 
 destroyed at that time, and from five to six hun 
 dred people were lost. The consequences can 
 still be perceived in the heaps of shapeless ruins 
 all around the town. Nearly every church and 
 house still bear the traces of that tremendous con 
 vulsion of the earth. 
 
 From Arequipa I went by rail to Puno. After 
 leaving the station the train soon crosses the val 
 ley and river on a fine trestle bridge sixty feet 
 high and one thousand feet long. Ascending in 
 sharp curves, it winds around the base of Mt. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 225 
 
 Charcbani to Aguas Calientes, nine thousand five 
 hundred feet above the level of the Pacific. 
 About four miles above this station the steepest 
 and most wonderfully constructed gradings and 
 sharp curves begin. Five long winding turns of 
 the track, one above the other, can be seen. 
 
 We were now right in the middle range of the 
 Andes no watershed no Sierras, the land form 
 ing numerous terraced plains varying from nine 
 thousand feet to fourteen thousand feet in height 
 stretching toward east and west for miles and 
 miles. Isolated mountains, mostly extinguished 
 volcanoes, are scattered over the plains. Higher 
 and higher up these plateaus the train winds. 
 The only vegetation to be seen is some specimens 
 of the cactus family similar to those found in 
 Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. 
 
 We soon reached Crucero Alto, one hundred 
 and eighteen miles from Arequipa, and fourteen 
 thousand six hundred and sixty-six feet in eleva 
 tion. This is the highest point of the road, and, 
 up to the present time, the highest ever traversed 
 by locomotives and trains. 
 
 Now gradually descending, we wound around 
 the mountain lakes of Saracocha, thirteen thou 
 sand five hundred and ninety-five feet, and Cachi- 
 pascana, thirteen thousand five hundred and 
 eighty-five feet above the sea. The outlet of 
 these lakes runs east and flows into Lake Titi- 
 caca. A long winding around the hills, run- 
 15 
 
220 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 ning nearly on a dead level, brings us to Puno, 
 two hundred and eighteen miles from Arequipa, 
 and twelve thousand five hundred and forty 
 feet above the sea. We must stay at Puno over 
 night and take the steamer the next morning on 
 Lake Titicaca for Chililaya. 
 
 This lake is one hundred and twenty miles 
 long and forty miles wide. It is the highest nav 
 igable lake in the world. It is twelve thousand 
 five hundred and five feet above the sea. There are 
 two small screw steamers running on this lake. 
 These steamers have a freight-carrying capacity 
 of about one hundred and twenty tons. They 
 have accommodation for twenty -four first-class pas 
 sengers. The oldest of these steamers was years 
 ago brought up to Puno in pieces from Tacna, on 
 the backs of mules and llamas, over the fearfully 
 rough Cordillera of Tacara. The pass reaches 
 an elevation of fifteen thousand feet. It was an 
 achievement which at the time a great many peo 
 ple thought impossible, and it was ridiculed even 
 in the European papers. 
 
 I will not undertake a description of the beau 
 ties of this lake and the road beyond, for I cannot 
 do it justice. The mountains around the lake 
 slope down to the water s edge in a succession of 
 headlands, forming charming bays and narrow 
 channels, never allowing the sight of land to be 
 lost. The lake is full of islands, most of which 
 are considered sacred by the descendants of the 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 227 
 
 Incas. These islands were dedicated to the sun 
 and to the moon by their forefathers. There are 
 many ruins of beautiful structures here, now 
 called palaces of the Virgin, of the sun, the tem 
 ple of the moon, etc. Tradition says that in the 
 islands of this lake were developed the germs of 
 Inca civilization, when they established the seat 
 of government at Cuzco. 
 
 We anchored once during the trip. It was off 
 Copocabana, a small town on the large peninsula 
 of the same name. It belongs to Bolivia. Here 
 is the shrine of Our Virgin of Copocabana, far 
 famed over the Andes provinces of Peru and Bo 
 livia. Thousands of pilgrims, not only poor In 
 dians but also a great many of the best families, 
 particularly from La Paz and the surrounding 
 villages, unite here every year to pay tribute to 
 the Virgin during the great church feasts in 
 A ugust. 
 
 Soon we started again, when the fine panorama 
 of the immense snow-capped range of the Eastern 
 Cordillera gradually began to rise on the horizon. 
 It slowly showed more plainly, until the entire 
 long chain of the mountain giants came into view, 
 with their fields of perpetual snow and their large 
 glaciers creeping down their sides, overlooked by 
 the gigantic Illampo Sorato, twenty-one thousand 
 two hundred feet high, the sharp pyramid of 
 Huaina Potozi, twenty thousand two hundred 
 feet, and the magnificent three-peaked Illimani. 
 They were in full view all the way to La Paz. 
 
228 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 This was the most sublime panorama of moun 
 tain scenery I had ever seen. Long chapters 
 might be written to describe the beauties of the 
 mountain scenery in the Andes, but space will 
 not permit of it in this. 
 
 I have visited the mountain regions of Alaska, 
 the Rocky Mountains, the White Mountains of 
 New Hampshire, the Green Mountains of Ver 
 mont, the Alleghanies and the Alpine region of 
 Switzerland, but I have seen nothing that will 
 equal in beauty and grandeur the view that can 
 be enjoyed from a trip over this route. 
 
 When we landed at Chililaya, we took the stage 
 for La Paz. We traveled along the table-lands 
 for forty-eight miles. The stage is an immense 
 wagon drawn by eight horses and will accommo 
 date eighteen persons. We had a ride of seven 
 hours with three changes of horses. 
 
 Our first sight of La Paz was from a high ridge 
 above the valley on which the city stands, and 
 which we descend by zigzag turnings. The view 
 from this bluff is grand indeed. Sixteen hundred 
 feet below, and directly under us in a broad ravine, 
 was spread the city of La Paz. Deep below were 
 the grayish groups of houses of the town, divided 
 by the gulch of the river and relieved here and 
 there by green patches of fields and meadows, as 
 well as by the trees and blooming shrubbery, 
 having as a background the splendid white masses 
 of the long range of the Cordilleras. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 229 
 
 Descending an excellent serpentine road and 
 further on through the narrow crooked outskirts 
 and streets of the city itself, which are quite 
 pretty, I reached my hotel. 
 
 La Paz has about eighty thousand inhabitants. 
 It is one of the highest cities in the world, being 
 twelve thousand one hundred and ten feet above 
 the sea. Although the capital of Bolivia is at 
 Sucar, all the foreign ministers reside at La Paz, 
 and during the war with Chile the Legislature met 
 here, in order to be nearer to the seat of hostilities. 
 
 Near here are grown all the products of the 
 temperate zone, and not far away on the eastern 
 slope can be seen all the luxuries of a tropical 
 vegetation. The large market halls offer, every 
 morning, a highly interesting picture of genuine 
 Indian life. Members of all the different tribes 
 are seen. They are chiefly women, and are very 
 picturesque in their gay-ribboned headdresses 
 and dark homespun woolen garments. Some 
 flock in from their remote hamlets, often many 
 miles away, and bring for sale their scant} prod 
 ucts of barley, potatoes, hot peppers, etc., while 
 others come from the rich Yungas Valley, about 
 twenty-five miles away, and at least five thousand 
 feet lower, leading their mules and llamas, heav 
 ily laden with the finest and choicest fruits of the 
 tropical region, which they sell at astonishingly 
 low prices. 
 
 The La Paz River is one of the head streams of 
 
230 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 the mighty Amazon, which goes rushing through 
 dark, deep ravines, full of cascades and roaring 
 cataracts, down to the great Brazilian plains. 
 
 On my return voyage to Puno we got the full 
 benefit of one of the bursters, so much dreaded 
 here. It was indeed a rough night, and the 
 storm handled our little steamer in a fearful man 
 ner. Some of the passengers got seasick and 
 paid tribute to the god of Lake Titicaca as faith 
 fully as they would have done to old Neptune 
 himself under similar circumstances. I suffered 
 in no way except from a sleepless night and by 
 having my baggage well soaked with water, that 
 came into the cabin when the sea rolled over the 
 deck. 
 
 From Puno I returned to Arequipa, where I 
 stayed fourteen days awaiting a steamer for Chile. 
 At almost any point I visited in Peru I could see 
 ruins of ancient towns and cities that were once 
 inhabited by the Incas. In these can be traced 
 vestiges of castles, w r alls for defenses, remains of 
 palaces, dwellings, nights of stone steps, stone 
 towers, aqueducts, reservoirs, foundries, prisons, 
 and tombs. In excavating the last, many articles 
 of gold and silver, with great quantities of pottery, 
 silver coins, etc., have been taken from them. 
 
 Business in Peru is very dull at the present 
 time. It has never recovered from the effects of 
 the war with Chile. The government was left 
 poor and many wealthy families were reduced to 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 231 
 
 poverty. The ruins and wrecks in Lima, Mol- 
 lendo, and other places, give still a sad picture of 
 what happened during the unfortunate war. 
 
 The Chilean army, after conquering the coun 
 try, stole many articles of value, such as wild 
 animals from the zoological garden in Lima, valu 
 able libraries, statuary from public gardens, orna 
 mental street lamps, etc., and conveyed them to 
 Chile. 
 
 The Peruvians have a native drink called Chi- 
 che, which is made of Indian corn, and contains 
 all the nutriment there is in the corn. It is pleas 
 ant to the taste, healthy and cheap. It is used in 
 large quantities by the poor people, and supplies 
 in a great measure the necessity for more solid 
 food. 
 
 The Indians of Peru are called Cholers. They 
 are the pure descendants of the Incas. Some of 
 them are quite good looking. The men wear a 
 poncho, a large shawl with a hole in the center, 
 through which the head goes. The folds come 
 down to the knees. They are never without this. 
 It makes an overcoat by day and a blanket by 
 night. The women wear short dresses reaching 
 to the ankles, and Panama hats. 
 
 All along these high mountain passes I saw 
 large flocks of exceedingly beautiful little animals 
 called vicunas. They are much valued for their 
 fine and precious wool, which is spun and woven 
 into beautiful shawls and other fine woolen goods 
 by the Indians. 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 1 was told at Mollendo that while traveling in 
 these great altitudes I would be likely to suffer 
 from serocha, a kind of mountain sickness, the ef 
 fects of which vary with different individuals, 
 as does seasickness. I was not troubled with this 
 in the least, but I observed it in others, and it ap 
 peared to annihilate all pleasure that they might 
 otherwise have enjoyed. 
 
 Leaving Arequipa I went to Mollendo and took 
 passage on the steamship Virgila for Chile. On 
 the passage to Valparaiso a most unfortunate oc 
 currence took place in the death of the steward of 
 the ship. He died suddenly, and, there being no 
 doctor on board, it was impossible to procure a 
 certificate stating the cause of his death. This oc 
 casioned great uneasiness among the passengers, 
 for fear we might be ordered into quarantine on 
 our arrival at Valparaiso. Fortunately, this was 
 not done, and we were allowed to go on shore. 
 
 Valparaiso, which means the Vale of Paradise, 
 has a fine harbor. Hundreds of crafts can be 
 seen here, bearing the flags of almost every nation 
 in the world. The harbor is large and pictur 
 esque. An almost perpendicular ridge extends 
 nearly around the bay. The city extends three 
 or four miles along a narrow strip of land which 
 lies between the sea and the cliffs. In some places 
 there is only width enough for one street. At 
 others, for three or four running parallel to each 
 other, but these extend for only a few blocks. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 233 
 
 The rocky cliffs have been terraced as the town 
 has grown. The city now extends back upon the 
 hills a long distance. One house is built above 
 the other and is reached by winding roads and 
 steam lifts, which carry passengers up inclined 
 planes. What roads there are twist about in the 
 most confusing and circuitous fashion .They are 
 so steep that one has to stop and pant for breath 
 as he climbs them. 
 
 From the top of these hills a magnificent view 
 can be had of the city, bay, and surrounding coun 
 try, with Aconcagua and other high peaks of the 
 Andes in the background. 
 
 The business portion of the city is along the 
 beach. It has fine shops and stores, which con 
 tain as complete an assortment of goods as can be 
 found in any city of the world. 
 
 The parks and plazas here are adorned with 
 beautiful fountains and statuary of bronze and 
 marble, much of which was stolen from the public 
 and private gardens of Peru during the late war. 
 The street car conductors are all females. They 
 wear a neat uniform of blue flannel, a jaunty Pan 
 ama hat, and a white pinafore with many pockets 
 in which to carry their tickets and small change. 
 The cars are double deckers, with seats upon the 
 roof as well as within. The conductor occupies a 
 perch upon the rear platform, taking the fare as 
 the passenger enters. Street car riding is a pop 
 ular amusement with the young men about tow r n 
 
234 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 to flirt with the conductors, who are sometimes 
 quite handsome. 
 
 The experiment of having female conductors 
 was first tried during the war with Peru, when 
 the able-hodied men were sent to the army. It 
 proved so successful that their employment has 
 become permanent. 
 
 From Valparaiso I went to Santiago by a rail 
 road which is run on the English plan. The cars 
 are similar to those in use all over Europe. The 
 scenery along the line is grand and picturesque, 
 the snowcaps of the Andes being constantly in 
 view. 
 
 Santiago is the capital of Chile and is a beauti 
 ful city. It was founded by Pedro Valdivia in 
 1541. It is situated on a plain at the foot of the 
 Cordilleras Mountains. 
 
 The Alameda, the principal street of the city, is 
 a beautiful place. It is three hundred feet wide 
 and has four rows of poplar trees and two streams 
 of pure running water over its entire distance. It 
 stretches the full length of the city, three miles, 
 from Santa Lucia to the Exposition Park and 
 Horticultural Gardens. In the center is a wide 
 promenade, while on either side is a driveway one 
 hundred feet wide. 
 
 The promenade is dotted with a line of statues 
 representing famous men or commemorating fam 
 ous events in the history of Chile. There is an 
 equestrian statue of O Higgins, a celebrated leader 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 235 
 
 at the time of the war for independence. He is 
 on horseback and is represented as having just 
 ridden down a standard bearer, who is lying 
 under his horse s feet, still grasping the fallen 
 banner. The reins are on the horse s neck. He 
 is rearing madly. O Higgins arms and hands 
 are extended in the air, one flashing a sword, the 
 other pointing before him, while with open mouth 
 he is calling on his comrades to follow him. 
 
 The Alameda is thronged on pleasant after 
 noons with handsome carriages. From three to 
 five o clock several military bands are placed at 
 intervals of nearly half a mile, and the music calls 
 out large crowds of people to drive or walk. The 
 equipages to be seen here are equal to those in 
 Central Park and Rotten Row. 
 
 Fronting The Alameda on either side are the 
 finest palaces and dwellings in the city, their 
 beautiful gardens being adorned with fountains. 
 In a walk through this street, a superb view of 
 the Andes can be obtained. These mountains 
 rise near the city to the most majestic height. 
 
 The Santa Lucia is one of the most beautiful 
 places I have ever seen. It is a hill of rocks one 
 thousand feet high, rising abruptly from the very 
 heart of the city, and converted by art into one of 
 the most beautiful of promenades and parks. 
 
 There is a succession of winding walks, stair 
 ways, parapets, and balconies, grottoes, flower 
 beds, groves of trees, and vine-hanging arbors, 
 
236 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 from the base to the summit. At the west side, 
 near the edge of a precipice eight hundred feet in 
 height, is a miniature castle and a lovely little 
 chapel. Three or four hundred feet below the 
 chapel, on the opposite side of the hill, is a level 
 place on which a restaurant and outdoor theater 
 have been erected. 
 
 This place is the resort of the aristocracy. 
 They come here on summer nights to eat ices, 
 drink beer, listen to the plays on the stage and to 
 the bands of music. They make themselves 
 merry, just as their age, fancy, or idleness impels 
 them. 
 
 From the summit there is a splendid panoramic 
 view of the city, the fertile valley studded with 
 numerous hamlets and the great snowy range of 
 the Andes. No other point about here gives one 
 such a lovely view of the city and its numerous 
 gardens. 
 
 The main plaza is a large open space adorned 
 with trees, flower beds, and a miniature lake 
 filled with thousands of goldfish of all sizes. In 
 the middle of this lake is a showy fountain, spurt 
 ing water from the mouths of numerous dragons. 
 The great cathedral forms one side of this plaza, 
 some public buildings another, while modern 
 houses with arcades complete the square. 
 
 The botanical and zoological garden is a fine 
 place, with a good collection of animals. Every 
 thing is well managed and neatly kept. The 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 237 
 
 National Museum is situated in the center of the 
 garden. The Theater Municipal is one of the fin 
 est theaters I have ever seen. The interior is 
 fitted up with very good taste, and all the latest 
 improvements are everywhere applied to warrant 
 a speedy exit in case of an accident. 
 
 It was in this city, on the 8th of December, 1868, 
 during a great fire in a church, that more than 
 two thousand women of the first families in Chile 
 were burned to death. It was a day of high fes 
 tival ; the church was crowded to excess and 
 lighted by innumerable coal oil lamps suspended 
 from the ceiling. One of these broke and fell upon 
 the light drapery of a woman s dress. The flames 
 spread from lamp to lamp, and sheets of fire ex 
 tended over the multitude, engulfing them in one 
 burning mass. A handsome statue has been 
 erected on the spot on which the church stood, 
 to commemorate the catastrophe. 
 
 They have a very curious way here of supply 
 ing customers with milk. On the residence streets 
 there are platforms erected a few blocks apart, 
 upon which a cow is tied and milked to order by 
 a dairymaid, whenever a customer calls. On a 
 table near by are measure cans, glasses, and some 
 times a bottle of brandy, so a man can mix a 
 glass of punch if he wishes. In the morning 
 these stands are surrounded by servants from the 
 aristocratic families. Women and children stand 
 with cups and buckets waiting their turn. As 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 fast as one cow is exhausted, another is driven 
 upon the platform. 
 
 The shops and stores here are filled with the 
 prettiest kinds of goods; expensive diamonds, jew 
 elry, and laces,iri fact, everything that can be found 
 in Paris or in London, may be purchased here. 
 The ladies of Santiago are famous for their beauty 
 and fine complexion. They dress in the height 
 of the Paris fashions. 
 
 At Santiago, Valparaiso, and other points I 
 had grand views of the gigantic masses of Mt. 
 Aconcagua lifting its table-like summit twenty- 
 two thousand six hundred feet above the sea 
 and far above all the snowy ranges of the Andes. 
 No one has ever reached its summit; but greater 
 altitudes have been reached in the Himalayas in 
 India. It is a grand sight, standing as it does 
 alone with no other high peak near it. The 
 clearness of the atmosphere in this region gives 
 one an opportunity to see it at a long distance. 
 Nevertheless, it is only while sailing on the Pa 
 cific that one sees this mountain in its complete 
 proportions, for the Andes, on which it rests, are 
 heaved to such a vast altitude that the relative 
 elevation of its summit becomes reduced by com 
 parison with the surrounding mountains. The 
 Andes constitute an uninterrupted mountain chain 
 from the Straits of Magellan in the south to the 
 Isthmus of Panama, in the north. This chain 
 is close to the Pacific shore and is four thousand 
 five hundred miles in length. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 239 
 
 Along this mountain chain are broad, frigid 
 deserts swept by fiercely cold winds and deep 
 valleys, gorges and ravines in which flow swelling 
 rivers or rapid torrents fed by the melting snow 
 in the dry season and swollen by the rain during 
 the wet season. 
 
 A railroad is being constructed across these 
 mountains, which, when completed, will connect 
 Chile with Argentine Republic. One can then 
 make the trip from Valparaiso to Buenos Ay res 
 in a Pullman car amid some of the grandest 
 scenery in the world. 
 
 The hotels in South America as a rule are 
 good. Some are as handsomely furnished and as 
 well kept as any in San Francisco or New York. 
 They are kept generally by women whose hus 
 bands are engaged in other occupations, but the 
 servants, including cooks and bed makers, are 
 men. AVherever I went in Chile I could see some 
 of the ornaments which had been stolen from 
 Peru during the war ornamental street lamps, 
 benches of carved stone in parks, pretty iron 
 fences, images from the cemeteries, altar equip 
 ments, etc. Among other things are two marble 
 statues, one of George Washington, the other of 
 Abraham Lincoln. They stand in the court 
 yard of the post office in Santiago. They were 
 also brought from Peru. 
 
 Everywhere I went in Central and South Amer 
 ica, I noticed large numbers of churches and 
 
240 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 monasteries, with a great number of priests and 
 devotees, the latter mostly of the fair sex. 
 
 Leaving Santiago I returned to Valparaiso and 
 embarked on the fine Pacific Steam Navigation 
 Co. s steamer Pizarro for Callao. For the last six 
 months the ports north of Chile had been closed 
 to all vessels from any Chilean port, but they 
 were now open to vessels which would undergo 
 a quarantine in the first port at which they 
 would call. So when we reached Mollende, our 
 ship was condemned to pass the five days in 
 quarantine at this port. We were made very 
 comfortable on board during the time, thanks to 
 the officers of the ship. 
 
 In the passage from Chile I had an opportu 
 nity to pay short visits to Iquique, Pasaqua, and 
 Arica. A large business is conducted at every 
 one of these places, in the manufacture of salt 
 petre from the nitrate of soda that is found in 
 great quantities in the interior. 
 
 The ports belonged to Peru before the war with 
 Chile, at which time they were taken and still re 
 main the property of the Chilean Government. It 
 was at Arica, in 1868, that the steamship Wateree 
 was carried about a mile inland by a tidal wave 
 that followed the earthquake which was so disas 
 trous to life and property at Araquipa and other 
 places in the vicinity. Nothing remains now of 
 the noble ship but the boilers, which still mark 
 the spot where she was stranded. The Wateree 
 .belonged to the United States Navy. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 241 
 
 When relieved from quarantine, we proceeded 
 on our way to Callao. After waiting ten days I 
 took passage on the stain ship Puno for Panama. 
 As I came on board, I noticed a young man whom 
 I took to be an American. I could plainly see, by 
 his pale face, sunken eyes, and emaciated form, 
 that his life was fast drawing to a close. I learned 
 very little of his previous history, but he said he 
 had left a happy home three years before, in good 
 health and with prospects for the future. He had 
 contracted in Peru that dread disease, consump 
 tion. The only hope left him was that he might 
 be spared long enough to reach his native land, 
 where he might die peacefully, surrounded by 
 friends and relatives. He had a mother and two 
 sisters anxiously awaiting him. But, alas, that 
 foul destroyer had taken too strong a hold on him, 
 and he died before reaching Panama ! He was 
 consigned to the deep, there to remain until the 
 sea shall give up its dead. A death and burial 
 on land is sad, but it is more affecting at sea, for 
 it is usually among strangers, with no friends or 
 relatives to soothe and comfort one in the last hour, 
 or to shed a tear at the grave. 
 
 From Panama I traveled on the Pacific Mail 
 Steamship Company s steamer Acapulco for San 
 Francisco, where I arrived after an absence of 
 nearly six months. During that time I had 
 traversed twelve thousand miles by water. The 
 weather was delightful during the entire journey. 
 16 
 
242 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 We had no storms at sea, and the various ships 
 were as steady as anything on the water can be. 
 Even the most forlorn of the passengers had little 
 excuse for seasickness. 
 
 The trip, on the whole, was an enjoyable one. 
 There were some few detentions that could not be 
 avoided. They were annoying, but there is always 
 some bitter to be tasted with every sweet. The 
 bee, which finds a thorn on every rose, comes home 
 laden with honey. 
 
 My arrival home has been welcomed by many 
 a friend, for there are few who have not a friend 
 to take an interest in their return. The whole 
 trip was accomplished without an accident and 
 devoid of the slightest illness. Once more I thank 
 kind Providence,who watched over me and guided 
 me through all the dangers of so long a journey. 
 
 And now the excursion is finished. I warmly 
 thank those whom I chanced to meet as I jour 
 neyed from place to place, for they showed me 
 every kindness and attended to all my wants. I 
 now bid them all adieu. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A SECOND TRIP AROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 * 
 
 FTER my return from South America I 
 
 7 
 
 determined that at some future time I 
 would take another trip around the 
 world, over a different route from the one I had 
 traveled before, and visit some parts of the world 
 that I had not yet seen. So, after making all 
 necessary arrangements for the voyage, I started 
 on this most interesting trip, and I will endeavor 
 to give a feeble description of the route and some 
 of the sights on the way. 
 
 I left San Francisco in the latter part of Janu 
 ary, 1890, on the steamship Australia, for Hono 
 lulu, Hawaiian Islands. The scenes and inci 
 dents connected with the departure of all ocean 
 steamers are substantially the same, and, having 
 described them in previous chapters, I will spare 
 the reader, and say only that a large crowd 
 had collected at the wharf to bid their friends 
 good-bye and Godspeed on their journey. Amid 
 
 (243) 
 
244 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 kisses, hand shaking, regrets, tears, and waving of 
 handkerchiefs, the bell rang, the gates were closed, 
 and the great ship started on her long journey. 
 
 We soon passed Fort Alcatraz, and glided out 
 through the Golden Gate into the broad Pacific. 
 I stood on the deck watching the hills along the 
 coast, and saw them change from green to blue 
 and from blue to purple, behind us, until at 
 length they sank in the distance. 
 
 I then turned my attention to my fellow-passen 
 gers, to see whom fate had thrown together, for it 
 is often the case that a journey which would other 
 wise be long and tedious is rendered delightful 
 by good company. We soon became acquainted 
 with one another, even formed friendships, made 
 a little society of our own, and parted reluctantly 
 at the end of the voyage. 
 
 I have always found persons on an ocean voy 
 age who like to have someone to talk with and to 
 communicate their adventures or prospects. One 
 often meets with queer characters on such voy 
 ages, but it is an easy matter to reject such as do 
 not harmonize with us as soon as that fact is 
 fairly ascertained. 
 
 The passage to Honolulu was uneventful. We 
 had fine weather, and the time was spent in the 
 amusements that are usually indulged in on such 
 voyages. It was rendered particularly interesting 
 by two natives of the islands, who entertained the 
 passengers each evening in the social hall with 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 245 
 
 native songs, rendered by a beautiful male and 
 female voice, to the accompaniment of a guitar. 
 
 Early on the morning of the seventh day out 
 we saw land. It was the island of Maui, fifty 
 miles south of us. Soon after we saw the island 
 of Molekai, then the island of Oahu, on which the 
 city of Honolulu is situated. As we approached 
 this island, we found the coast to be wild and rug 
 ged, with coral and volcanic hills. Between these 
 hills green valleys covered with groves of cocoa- 
 nut palms came down to the ocean. As we drew 
 nearer to the harbor, we could see a broad plain 
 backed by mountains and covered with trees, 
 above whose green foliage arose the spires of the 
 city of Honolulu. 
 
 These islands were discovered by Captain Cook 
 in 1778. He was murdered by the natives in the 
 same year. There are eleven islands in all, eight of 
 which are inhabited. The population of the group 
 at the present time is about eighty thousand, one- 
 half of whom are natives. The remainder are 
 foreigners. At the time of their discovery the 
 population was about three hundred thousand. 
 The natives were formerly barbarians, but mis 
 sionaries reached there from Boston in 1820, and 
 since then civilization has spread gradually all 
 over the group. 
 
 The government is a limited monarchy. There 
 is a king, a house of lords, and a house of repre 
 sentatives. The members of both houses are 
 elected by the people. 
 
246 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP 
 
 Honolulu is the capital of the kingdom. It is 
 situated on the island of Oalm, and has a popula 
 tion of about twenty-five thousand, including 
 whites, natives, and Chinese. The city is very 
 pretty. It has many fine business blocks, several 
 beautiful public parks, and along most of the 
 streets are low-built cottages standing well back, 
 with broad, inviting verandas, nearly hidden by 
 tropical and semi-tropical plants, trees, and flow 
 ers. This city is full of choice ornamental shade 
 trees, among which are the cocoanut palm, bread 
 fruit, and candle nut. The Royal Band gives con 
 certs at the Hawaiian Hotel two or three evenings 
 of the week, and discourses excellent music. The 
 drives about the city are beautiful and well kept. 
 There are many things to be seen in and about 
 the city that are interesting and amusing. Weeks 
 could be spent here and every day one would be 
 able to see something new and strange. 
 
 From here I took a trip to the volcano of Kil- 
 auea, the largest active volcano in the world. It 
 is situated on the island of Hawaii, the largest of 
 the group. This island is ninety miles long and 
 seventy-four miles wide. It contains four thou 
 sand two hundred and ten square miles. The 
 volcano has a crater on the eastern side of Maun a 
 Loa, four thousand and forty feet, above the level 
 of the sea, 
 
 I left Honolulu by the steamship Kinau for 
 Hilo, a distance of nearly two hundred and fifty 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 247 
 
 miles. The greater portion of this trip is occupied 
 in crossing the channels between the different 
 islands. These channels are remarkable for their 
 roughness and heavy ocean swells. The rough 
 ness of the English Channel, or Lake Titicaca, is 
 nothing when compared with these channels. 
 They are a dread to even old seafaring voyagers. 
 
 The scenery of Hawaii is grand and picturesque. 
 Numberless waterfalls pour over the high bluffs, 
 and on the uplands are great fields of sugar cane. 
 Beyond these can be seen the three great peaks of 
 the island. Mauna Kea is on the left. It rises thir 
 teen thousand eight hundred and five feet above 
 the sea and is capped with snow. On the right is 
 the lesser mountain, called Haulalai, eight thou 
 sand two hundred and seventy-five feet in height, 
 while in the middle the superb rounded dome of 
 Mauna Loa rises thirteen thousand six hundred 
 and seventy-five feet above the sea level. 
 
 On the morning of the second day out we ar 
 rived at Hilo. This is a small, quiet town and 
 conveys a perfect idea of tropical life. The town 
 has a great variety of fruit-bearing trees, among 
 which the alligator pear is prominent. 
 
 It rains almost every day in Hilo, and I was 
 told that one hundred and thirty inches have 
 fallen during a single year. This accounts for the 
 many brooks and rivulets that pervade the gar 
 dens and course along the roadsides. The dis 
 tance is thirty miles from Hilo to the volcano, 
 
248 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 twelve of which are made by carriage and the re 
 mainder on horseback over a rough trail. 
 
 The whole route is full of the evidences of fierce 
 volcanic action. Soon after leaving the town we 
 entered the Hilo woods. For several miles the 
 scenery is unsurpassed by any tropical woodland 
 view I have ever seen. The road is a good one, 
 and the forest includes an infinite variety of trees, 
 shrubs, vines, and ferns. The ferns especially 
 grow in the greatest profusion. Beyond the forest 
 land are groves of cocoanut palms, which will 
 flourish where no other tree will grow. 
 
 About seven miles from the Volcano House we 
 entered a second strip of woods, and when we 
 emerged from this we were close to the hotel on 
 the edge of the crater. This will be a very easy 
 and interesting trip after the completion of the 
 carriage road which is being built by the govern 
 ment. It will run through the most beautiful 
 woodland views imaginable, where at every turn 
 in ascending or descending there is something 
 new and beautiful to be seen. It would be almost 
 a hopeless task to try to describe the richness and 
 variety of plant life along the route. 
 
 Standing on the bank of the crater of Kilauea, 
 a few rods from the Volcano House, we looked 
 down five or six hundred feet upon the floor of 
 the pit. It looks smooth from this height, but 
 ivhen the descent to it is made, it is found to be 
 tossed and torn into massive mounds and waves 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 249 
 
 of all shapes and sizes, resembling the waves of a 
 stormy sea. This pit or caldron is nine miles in 
 circumference and three miles long by two miles 
 wide. The entire length of this must be traversed 
 on foot in order to reach the lake of fire. 
 
 I started from the hotel under the care of a 
 guide at three p. M. and reached the lake of fire 
 just at dusk. This is without doubt the most 
 wonderful and the most beautiful exhibition of 
 its kind in the world, and must be seen to be 
 fully appreciated. The lake of melted lava varies 
 in size at different times and is continually chang 
 ing. At the time of my visit it was about four 
 hundred feet long by two hundred feet wide. It 
 was coated with a black crust, excepting the five 
 active fountains in different parts of the lake. 
 They were tossing lava twenty-five or thirty feet 
 into the air. The lava twisted into serpent-like 
 shapes, brilliantly illuminating the thick vapors 
 that form in the sulphur pits and the clouds above. 
 This is a magnificent spectacle at night, and one 
 would never tire of watching it. Soon the black 
 crust began to crack, forming a glowing net 
 work upon it. These seams rapidly widened, 
 great cakes of lava broke off, turned up their 
 edges, shot out in all directions, and dived into 
 the fiery gulf below. Fountains of fire would 
 shoot everywhere, then with a sharp spitting 
 sound the entire crust went down, and the lake 
 became in an instant one vast expanse of boiling, 
 
250 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 spouting billows of flame. A fe\v minutes more 
 and the lake had cooled ; a hard crust had formed 
 over it ; the spirting fountains had changed their 
 position. In a short time the movement began 
 again. The lake burst open as before, and the 
 mass that had been black but a few minutes previ- 
 ious became a second time a seething red sheet of 
 fire. This volcano is constantly changing. It 
 increases and diminishes, but in only a few in 
 stances has it been known to wholly die out, and 
 then only for a few weeks at a time. 
 
 This is only a feeble description of what is to 
 be seen at Kilauea. I have tried to give only 
 some of its most important features, the memory 
 of which will linger with me as long as I live. I 
 sat there and watched it until I was satisfied. I 
 then returned to the Volcano House under the 
 care of my guide, stumbling over blocks of lava 
 and through vast fields of sulphur holes, from 
 which poured jets of hot, blinding steam so heav 
 ily laden with sulphur as to make it difficult to 
 breathe. We reached our hotel in safety at ten 
 o clock in the evening. AVe found a nice warm 
 supper awaiting us, which we enjoyed. After a 
 cozy chat by a cheerful log fire, I had a few 
 hours of deep, sweet sleep. 
 
 This trip from Honolulu was the roughest by 
 sea and the hardest by land that I have ever 
 made, but the scene I witnessed more than repaid 
 me for the hardship I had to endure, and I would 
 not have missed it for the world. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 251 
 
 Along the edge of the volcano are numerous 
 large tree ferns, often reaching to the height of 
 twenty feet, with leaves eight or ten inches long 
 and stems three or four inches in diameter. 
 They are very beautifully colored, revealing all 
 the shades of green. They are the marvel and 
 delight of every lover of nature. There are also 
 red berries here, called by the natives ohelo. 
 They resemble large red currants, and are some 
 what agreeable to the taste. These berries were 
 considered sacred to the fire goddess Pele by 
 the natives until the beginning of the present 
 century. No one dared to eat of them before he 
 had thrown some into the fiery pit of the volcano. 
 
 In the year 1825 a famous chiefess who had been 
 converted from paganism to the Christian religion 
 by the missionaries, is said to have defied the power 
 of the fire goddess Pele. She visited the volcano, 
 reproved the idolatrous worshipers, and neglected 
 every rite which they had been taught to consider 
 necessary for their welfare. In vain the priests 
 threatened her with the vengeance of the offended 
 deity. She replied that she feared them not; that 
 the fire of the volcano was the work of the God 
 she worshiped, and that she would abide the con 
 sequences of daring Pele in the recesses of her 
 domain. After eating several of the berries, she 
 went to the brink of the abyss, descended several 
 hundred feet towards the liquid lava, and cast 
 some of the berries into the flames an act most 
 
252 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 sacrilegious, according to their ideas. Then she 
 praised God amidst one of the most sublime of 
 his works. 
 
 From there I returned to Honolulu by the 
 same route and embarked on the steamship Mari- 
 posa for Auckland, New Zealand. On the way 
 we stayed a short time at the island of Tutuila, 
 one of the Samoan group. Here we were met by a 
 small boat. Mail for the other islands was taken 
 on board arid landed. Any letters that were 
 written on our ship were taken ashore and mailed 
 for their destination in any part of the world. 
 These are the islands that suffered such destruc 
 tion of life and property by the great hurricane 
 about a year ago, when several ships of the Ger 
 man and American navy were wrecked. 
 
 On Wednesday, February 26, within two days 
 sail from Auckland, we crossed the one hundred 
 and eightieth meridian of longitude from Green 
 wich. The next morning we awoke to find it 
 Friday, the 28th. The explanation of this is sim 
 ple. Traveling toward the west we were going 
 with the sun and constantly gaining upon it. If 
 we should go completely around the world, we 
 would gain an entire day on the circuit. Going 
 eastward, it is reversed and we lose time. There 
 fore, it is necessary, in order to rectify this loss or 
 gain of time, to strike a day out of the week when 
 going westward and to add one when going east 
 ward. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 253 
 
 The point selected for this is just half way 
 around the world from the observatory at Green 
 wich. The difference in time between this par 
 allel and Greenwich being twelve hours, a vessel 
 sailing westward is twelve hours earlier than the 
 time at Greenwich, and one sailing eastward is 
 twelve hours later. 
 
 Should these vessels continue on to Greenwich, 
 they would, of course, be twenty-four hours behind 
 and twenty-four hours ahead respectively. To 
 rectify this the West-bound ship drops a day out 
 of its reckoning, and the other ship adds one. At 
 Greenwich they both show the same time. As we 
 were going westward, we had no Thursday in our 
 week, but had we been sailing eastward, we would 
 have had two. 
 
 Auckland is approached by a long, winding, 
 beautiful harbor, protected on all sides by high 
 bluffs. The city is rather pretty, and has a popu 
 lation of fifty thousand. It lies on the slopes of 
 two hills, one being on each side of Queen Street. 
 It is a sleepy place and purely English. 
 
 We arrived here at six o clock in the morning. 
 On reaching the shore I tried to find a cab or a 
 carriage to take me to the places I wished to visit. 
 I was told that no carriages would be on the street 
 until nine o clock. I then went to a livery stable, 
 engaged a horse and buggy, and rode all over the 
 place, including the summit of Mt. Eden. 
 
 This is a beautiful round mound in the form of 
 
254 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 a sugar loaf, about one thousand feet high, lying 
 near the city, from whose summit superb views 
 are obtained of the sea, city, and surrounding 
 country. Looking southward, the view extends 
 over a large extent of country, rising from which 
 are numerous volcanic peaks, whose fires have 
 long since died out, but the evidences of their 
 mighty works are strewn all over the country. 
 
 Turning to the north, the city lies spread out 
 at our feet, with its parks and gardens, which are 
 very fine and extensive. Farther on is the beau 
 tiful bay, with its many outlying islands, crowned 
 with mountains, whose summits rise high. Be 
 yond these, extending as far as the eye can reach, 
 is the great Pacific. 
 
 About noon I returned to the vessel, and we 
 started for Sydney. It is a distance of twelve 
 hundred miles, which is four days travel The 
 first twelve hours we ran near the land, along the 
 coast of Northern New Zealand, which is high 
 and picturesque. We then rounded North Cape, 
 and left for behind the Three Kings, a group of 
 islands a few miles north of the cape, and the last 
 land we were destined to see until the shores of 
 Australia should greet our sight. This route is 
 said to be the roughest part of the Pacific Ocean. 
 Our trip, however, seemed to have been an ex 
 ception, for the ocean was as calm and peaceful 
 as one could wish, and well deserved the name 
 Pacific. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 255 
 
 In fact, the entire trip from San Francisco 
 to Sydney was made during beautiful weather. 
 Most of the way the sea was as smooth as the Bay 
 of San Francisco on a calm day. As a rule, the 
 Pacific is not so rough as the Atlantic, nor is the 
 weather as hot here as in the same latitude of the 
 eastern hemisphere. There was no day during 
 the voyage that we did not have a cool breeze, 
 which made it delightful to lie back in a steamer 
 chair, and gaze at the almost boundless ocean, 
 while the ship plowed along. 
 
 On coming to Sydney we passed through at 
 the Heads, a small opening in a long line of al 
 most unbroken red cliffs, into a landlocked har 
 bor called Port Jackson. From that point can 
 be seen the Queen City of the southern hemis 
 phere, Sydney, with its great buildings, towers, 
 domes, spires, monuments, loft} 7 chimneys, and 
 forest of ships. 
 
 It was at these Heads in 1856 that the captain 
 of a British ship returning from England with a 
 large load of passengers, undertook to make the 
 harbor without the aid of a pilot. It being a very 
 dark night and the wind blowing a gale, he mis 
 took the entrance, and in a few minutes all were 
 lost excepting one man. He was found the next 
 day clinging to some rocks under the cliffs, was 
 rescued, and told the fate of the ship. 
 
 The harbor of Sydney is one of the finest in the 
 world. It is sheltered by bold and lofty bluffs. 
 
256 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 The city was founded in 1788. Its natural situa 
 tion is very beautiful. It stands on a ridge of 
 sandstone rock which runs down to the bay in 
 numerous ridges, between which lie the natural 
 harbors of the place. It is a pretty city, and is 
 the capital of New South Wales, one of the five 
 colonies of which Australia is composed. 
 
 Each colony has its own governor, parliament, 
 postal and railway system. New South Wales is 
 a free-trade colony. So one arriving at Sydney 
 suffers no examination of baggage, but if he takes 
 the train for Melbourne, his luggage must be ex 
 amined at the frontier of the next colony. 
 
 Many of the buildings in Sydney are made of 
 freestone, which looks light and cheerful, but the 
 streets are narrow and crooked. The city has 
 many fine statues, prominent among which are 
 those of the queen of England, the prince con 
 sort, and Captain Cook. 
 
 The National Art Gallery, which stands in the 
 midst of a great park, called the Domain, has a 
 large collection of paintings. It is always open 
 to the public. There are pretty parks and public 
 gardens, including the Zoological and Botanical 
 Gardens, each with a good collection, making de 
 lightful resorts. All these parks and gardens, to 
 gether with the National Museum, are open to the 
 public at all times free of charge. 
 
 While I was in Australia, I took a trip to Bot 
 any Bay. This place was discovered by Captain 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 JAMES BATCHELDER. 257 
 
 Cook, and was the first place on which white men 
 landed in Australia. It is only a few miles from 
 Sydney, and forms a pleasure resort for the people 
 of that city. It is reached by rail. The cars are 
 double deckers. I sat on the roof, with many 
 others, and had a splendid chance to see the coun- 
 try. 
 
 During my stay in Sydney I took a trip to the 
 celebrated Jenolan Caves, formerly called the 
 Fish River Caves. They are situated in the 
 range of the Blue Mountains. The route is by 
 rail to Mt. Victoria Station, seventy-five miles, 
 thence by stage thirty-six miles. Starting from 
 Sydney we passed through the richest farming 
 country in New South Wales, called the Emu 
 Plains. We then came to the foot of the Blue 
 Mountains, which rise abruptly from the plain. 
 Here we encountered the " Zigzag," which is one 
 of the greatest feats of railroad engineering in 
 Australia. 
 
 The view, looking back over the vast extent of 
 settled country, as one climbs the ascent, is grand. 
 On the summit the country seems to be a level 
 pleateau, well wooded, with pleasant streams here 
 arid there. Suddenly one comes upon the edge 
 of an abyss, a deep, narrow gorge, fifteen hundred 
 feet in depth, with a stream of water at the bot 
 tom, while from and near its side rise huge 
 pillars of rock from six hundred to three thousand 
 feet in height. 
 17 
 
258 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 I visited three of these narrow canons with 
 huge waterfalls, called Wentworth Falls, Ka- 
 toomba Falls, and Gobett s Leap. 
 
 Wentworth Valley, below the falls, is a narrow 
 gorge, into whose gloomy depths a beautiful 
 stream vanishes in a series of magnificently grace 
 ful cataracts. At the head of this valley is a rocky, 
 perpendicular wall of about one thousand feet in 
 height. From the base of this wall the lower 
 cliffs fall away in terraces, until the sides nearly 
 meet. 
 
 These valleys, gullies, and waterfalls reminded 
 me very much of the Grand Canon in the Yellow 
 stone National Park. All along the sides of these 
 mountains, at the altitude of between three and 
 four thousand feet, are some of the favorite sum 
 mer resorts of the Sydney people. 
 
 Leaving Mt. Victoria Station by stage, we 
 climbed higher and higher amid beautiful scen 
 ery, until we reached the height of four thousand 
 three hundred and sixty-five feet. Then we de 
 scended the mountain side by sharp zigzags for 
 some two thousand feet, until the mouth of the 
 caves was reached. Here we were conducted to 
 the Cave House, a rough but very comfortable 
 building. It is located in a ravine, with steep 
 hills rising on both sides. Facing the house is a 
 grand arch, five hundred feet long, sixty feet high, 
 and fifty feet wide, through which a lovely stream 
 courses its way at a rapid rate. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 259 
 
 These caves were discovered in 1841 by a band 
 of mounted police who traced a number of fleeing 
 convicts to their shelter. The extent of the caves 
 was not known until 1856. Mr. Willson, the pres 
 ent proprietor of the Cave House, while hunting 
 wild cattle, came across them, and commenced 
 their exploration. The government then took 
 possession of them and reserved them as public 
 property, paying Mr. Willson one hundred and 
 fifty pounds per year during his life. The area 
 thus set apart is about six square miles. 
 
 The caves are of enormous extent. The entire 
 region is a mass of limestone and shells, which 
 shows an upheaval from the sea. Deep gorges 
 and valleys have been carved out of this by rain 
 and running water, which have worn away the 
 rock and hollowed out the caves. The mountain 
 for an unknown distance is honeycombed with 
 these in series at different levels. Some of them 
 are hundreds of feet above the others. These 
 caves form the most beautiful spectacle I have 
 ever seen. Their beauty and grandeur surpass 
 all description. 
 
 Passages open above or below into great halls, 
 or abysses, hundreds of feet in height. There is 
 great wealth of beauty and variety of form and 
 color of the alabaster-like material. Brilliant 
 crystals hanging from the roof and encrusting 
 the walls vary in size from gigantic columns to 
 the most delicate fretwork. All of these places 
 
260 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 have been given names, such as Bridal Veil, 
 Grecian Bend, Confectionery Shop, Lot s Wife, 
 etc. One is very appropriately called Crystal 
 City, for the crystallizations have arranged them 
 selves over a level floor in miniature likeness to 
 a collection of buildings, streets, towers, and ram 
 parts. Another well-named spot, and the most 
 striking of all, is the battle field. It is really a 
 crystallized vision of a battle. I could see the 
 confused mass of men at arms, horses and ban 
 ners struggling slowly down over the edge. There 
 they stand as if afraid to proceed. 
 
 Still another of exquisite beauty has been 
 properly called The Mystery. It is a great mass 
 of crystallization, several feet in extent a tangled 
 maze of branches and lace-like filaments, spark 
 ling in every direction with gems, not only beauti 
 ful in form but of the loveliest colors mingled 
 with the purest white. 
 
 The variety of coloring is remarkable. Some 
 times you will see a single brown or red pillar 
 among a forest of white ones. There are so many 
 of these beautiful objects that I will not attempt 
 to describe them all, so will speak of only two 
 more. 
 
 In one of these chambers a number of stalac 
 tites give out beautiful soft tones when struck. 
 A tune can be played upon them. This place is 
 called Music Hall. In the lower caves are streams 
 whose sources are still unknown, and pools of clear 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 261 
 
 water whose depths are very deceptive. The re 
 flection of the stalactites in this pool is charming. 
 The most attractive caves are the two Imperials 
 and the Lucus. The former two are lit by means 
 of electricity. 
 
 Before leaving the hotel each visitor is pro 
 vided with candles. The guide carries a magne 
 sium lamp of two hundred and fifty candle power, 
 which throws its light all over each hall and 
 chamber, showing the stalactites splendidly. 
 Three hours are spent in every one of the three 
 above-named caves. A great deal has been done 
 by the authorities to make these wonders accessi 
 ble to the public, They have cut staircases, railed 
 off the most dangerous places, erected long wire 
 ladders, and have fenced in many of the more del 
 icate objects. No one is allowed to enter a cave 
 without a guide who is provided by the govern 
 ment. There is no charge for services or for ad 
 mission, but a small fee is collected from every 
 visitor to pay for the candles and for the magne 
 sium lights. This trip was made under some dif 
 ficulty on account of the heavy rains, which 
 swelled the streams and rendered the roads im 
 passable. For this reason I was detained three 
 days and was compelled to walk three miles to 
 reach the caves. In good weather this would be 
 a delightful trip. The roads would be in fine 
 condition and the scenery grand in the extreme. 
 But the trip is worth taking under the most try 
 ing conditions. 
 
262 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 On my return to Sydney I stayed a few days 
 and then went to Melbourne, a distance of five 
 hundred and seventy miles by rail. Sleeping cars 
 are run on the night trains, but they are not so 
 fine nor are the accommodations as good as on 
 roads of the same length in America. At Albury, 
 a station on the dividing line between the Colonies 
 of New South Wales and Victoria, a change of cars 
 is made, because the colonies insist on maintaining 
 different gauges for their railways. The country 
 along the route is generally uninteresting. The 
 landscape is everywhere lacking in the pictur 
 esque, by reason of the monotony of its foliage. 
 The eucalyptus is almost the only species to be 
 seen, which at its best is not a very beautiful tree. 
 The soil is rich and produces everything that can 
 be raised in California, besides many kinds of 
 fruit which are unknown in California. Fruit is 
 sold for about one-half the California price. 
 
 Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, is situated on 
 the banks of the Yarra. It has a population of 
 nearly four hundred thousand, and differs much 
 from Sydney. The latter, with its beautiful bay 
 and surroundings, is much more picturesque, but 
 the streets of Melbourne are wider and better laid 
 out. Melbourne has several fine parks and public 
 gardens, beautified with trees, miniature lakes, 
 fountains, rocky basins, and artificial waterfalls. 
 The Botanical and Zoological Gardens are partic 
 ularly interesting, the latter because it contains 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 263 
 
 a number of birds and animals that are natives of 
 the country. The kangaroo and wombat are, 
 I believe, to be found in no other in the world. 
 There are also animals of different lands, as are 
 to be seen in our traveling menageries. There is 
 a fine collection of the feathered races, those of 
 Australia being noted for the gorgeousness of 
 their plumage. 
 
 Melbourne has a fine system of cable railways. 
 The cars are of the same pattern as those in use 
 on the Market Street system in San Francisco. 
 They are well patronized. The streets are so 
 wide that the cars are not a hindrance to other 
 traffic. 
 
 While in Australia I visited Van Dieman s 
 Land, now called Tasmania. The trip occupies 
 twenty hours, three of which are spent on the 
 Yarra River and Hobson Bay. We then passed 
 out through the heads into the open sea just at 
 nightfall. This is generally a rough trip and 
 there was no exception to the rule in our case. 
 Our little craft was tossed about like an eggshell, 
 but she was a good sea boat and rode the waves 
 splendidly. When I awoke next morning, land 
 was in sight. On approaching it we entered the 
 broad river Tamar, whose banks are lined with 
 rushes and gum trees. As we proceeded, we 
 passed in rapid succession lovely islands, rounded 
 slopes, fertile flats with verdant foliage, and here 
 and there isolated houses. After three hours ride 
 
264 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 up this river between narrowing banks that dis 
 closed some fresh beauty at every turn, we ap 
 proached the city of Launceston. 
 
 It is the second city in size on the island, Ho- 
 bart being the largest It is situated at the junc 
 tion of the North and South Esk Rivers, where 
 they merge into the wider waters of the Tamar. 
 There is not much to be seen except the gorge 
 through which the North Esk tumbles down to 
 the Tamar in a series of cascades, gliding between 
 huge rocks several hundreds of feet in height, 
 forming a living picture of great beauty. 
 
 From there I went by a narrow-gauge railway 
 to Hobart, the capital of the island. The route 
 is over steep grades, around sharp curves, and 
 through picturesque scenery. About twenty miles 
 from Hobart we came in sight of the River Der- 
 went, which we followed to the city. The shores 
 of this river are bold and picturesque. The hills 
 rise beyond them in flowing lines until they melt 
 into distant mountains. These, with capes, trees, 
 and dwellings, form a picture the beauty of 
 which is rarely surpassed. 
 
 Hobart is a pretty city charmingly situated. 
 It is surrounded by hills and mountains, except 
 where the Derwent opens into lake-like form, 
 making a deep and well-sheltered harbor, whence 
 it leads its way into the Southern Ocean. There 
 are many delightful drives about Hobart, and ex 
 cursion steamers make daily trips to places of in- 
 erest in the vicinity. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 265 
 
 I took a fifteen-mile drive into the country over 
 the Hun Road. As soon as we left the streets of 
 the city, we commenced to ascend an easy grade 
 and a good road along the base of Mt. Welling 
 ton, until we reached an elevation of one thousand 
 two hundred feet. Along this road are grand 
 primeval forests. The huge stumps of the gum 
 trees alternate with vegetation of a lesser growth. 
 The underwood is starred everywhere with bush 
 flowers and ferns. The wattle tree, with a pretty 
 yellow flower, the lily of the valley, and the honey 
 suckle, besides a score of other varieties, are to be 
 seen everywhere. 
 
 On the western side of the island are vast for 
 ests, and mountains rise from five thousand feet 
 to the dome of Ben Lomond, fifteen thousand and 
 ten feet above the sea. The island is very pro 
 ductive. The apples, pears, and peaches are noted 
 for their size and flavor. In fact, all the fruits of 
 the northern countries are produced here in great 
 abundance and perfection. The island is re 
 nowned for its beautiful women. The ones born 
 there are very good looking, as a rule. The na 
 tive Indians are quite extinct. The last one, a 
 woman, died in 1876. 
 
 Tasmania, or, as it was then known, Van Die- 
 man s Land, was for many years a penal colony, 
 and ships arriving here from England with con 
 victs landed at Hobart. But that kind of immi 
 gration was stopped many years ago. Tasmania 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 is now one of the Australian colonies, with a gov 
 ernor, House of Parliament, and House of Repre 
 sentatives, but, like the other colonies, it is under 
 the protection of Great Britain. 
 
 Returning to Melbourne, I embarked on the 
 steamship Yarra, of the French mail, for Mar 
 seilles, France. Our first stopping place was Port 
 Adelaide, where we took the train for the city of 
 Adelaide, nine miles inland. It is an attractive 
 city, of nearly thirty thousand inhabitants. It is 
 the capital of South Australia. Its streets are 
 wide. Most of the houses are built of white sand 
 stone. The trim gardens, well-kept lawns, and 
 luxuriant hawthorne hedges give the city a light 
 and cheerful appearance. While I was here, I 
 took a carriage ride over the town and visited the 
 Botanical Gardens. They are quite extensive 
 and very handsome. They are adorned with 
 statuary, artificial lakes, trees, ferns, and flowers, 
 making a most delightful resort. People gather 
 there by the thousands to promenade to the lively 
 strains of music rendered by a military band. 
 
 Our next stopping place was at Albany, a small 
 town on the shore of King George s Sound, in 
 Western Australia. The coast line along this 
 sound is broken but picturesque. Some of the 
 capes rise perpendicularly from the sea. As we 
 approached the entrance to the harbor, great 
 basaltic columns were to be seen at the right and 
 left, resembling castles and towers, rising in many 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 267 
 
 places more than a thousand feet above the sea. 
 There is not much to be seen in Albany a few 
 streets and some tine residences surrounded by 
 iiower gardens. The town lies in a nice little 
 cove on the sound, a beautiful sheet of water 
 studded with rocky islands. Beyond this is Cape 
 Lunen, the last land we were destined to see for 
 twelve days. Leaving here, we rounded this 
 cape and commenced our journey of three thou 
 sand nine hundred and twenty -six miles, to make 
 one of the islands in the Sechelles group. We 
 were now fairly out of the South Pacific and in 
 the Indian Ocean. 
 
 On the third day out we encountered a gale 
 from the southwest, which lasted all day. The 
 sea presented a sublime spectacle. It was lashed 
 by the wind into huge, mountain -like waves, 
 which came rolling over and over from as far as 
 the eye could reach. It was a grand sight to me, 
 for I am not timid or affected by the motion of 
 the ship. I sat on deck for hours watching the 
 foaming heaps of water as they came rolling di 
 rectly towards us. Our ship met them nobly and 
 rode triumphantly over their heads. 
 
 Towards night the wind went down, and the 
 next morning we had a bright sky, a pleasant 
 wind, and a smooth sea. When I woke on the 
 morning of the twelfth day from Albany, land 
 was in sight. It was hailed with delight by all 
 on board. I know of nothing that affords one so 
 
268 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 much pleasure as a stroll on shore after being con 
 fined for weeks to the narrow limits of a steam 
 ship, with nothing to see but the sky and the 
 ocean. We had reached the island of Mahe, one 
 of the Sechelles group. It is situated in the In 
 dian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar, four de 
 grees south of the equator. 
 
 These islands, together with the Mauritius 
 group lying near, belong to England. They form 
 a colony, have a governor and House of Parlia 
 ment. 
 
 The island presents an attractive picture as one 
 approaches it from the sea. It appears to be one 
 vast mountain of rock, with little or no vegeta 
 tion, but on entering the beautiful bay on which 
 the town is located, an enchanting landscape is 
 spread out to view. The immediate vicinity is rich 
 with all kinds of tropical vegetation, running far 
 back into the foothills. Further on, overlooking 
 this, is a perpendicular ledge of rock almost a 
 thousand feet in height. It extends the entire 
 length of the island, with pinnacle after pinnacle 
 rising in the air. They resemble the spires and 
 minarets of a large city. 
 
 The population is fifteen thousand. Nearly all 
 are black. About three thousand of these are 
 residents of the picturesque little town of the port. 
 This island was not inhabited by any native race 
 when England took possession of it. Afterwards 
 people were brought from Africa by vessels of the 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 269 
 
 British Navy. The town has a few business 
 streets, that are very narrow and are without side 
 walks. Back of these, in the residence portion, 
 are strewn thousands of immense bowlders and 
 rocks that have broken from the ledge above and 
 have come tumbling down to where they now lie. 
 
 All over this portion of the town are small, 
 primitive dwellings, built, not upon streets but 
 upon bridle paths that wind among the rocks and 
 bowlders. These are shaded by delightful groves 
 of lemon, banana, cocoanut, and breadfruit, so 
 dense that the sun can scarcely penetrate them. 
 The climate is extremely warm. While walking 
 along these paths, one sees the entire population 
 sitting in groups upon rocks under these shades, 
 gossiping and idling away their time as best suits 
 their fancy. The industry of this island is the 
 cultivation of vanilla, cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon, 
 black pepper, cocoa, and coffee. 
 
 The next day after leaving here we crossed the 
 equator, and it was pleasant to see rising higher 
 and higher in the evening skies the familiar con 
 stellations. The northern heavens are much more 
 brilliant than the southern. We were glad to bid 
 farewell to the Southern Cross and see again the 
 Great Bear and the Polar Star. It seemed like 
 meeting old friends. 
 
 Our next landing place was Aden, in Arabia. 
 This is a small town, located on the Gulf of Aden, 
 near the entrance to the Red Sea. Surrounding 
 
270 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP 
 
 the town are vast mountains of rock, destitute of 
 vegetation. The city is located about five miles 
 inland. It is situated on a dry plain at the foot 
 of almost perpendicular bluffs of volcanic rocks. 
 It is a fine drive from the port to the city. The 
 road is good and is lined with half-naked Arabs 
 on foot, and camels and donkeys heavily laden 
 with all kinds of merchandise. Looking back 
 from the highest point on the road, which is 
 reached by zigzags, the sight is a grand one. It is 
 a moving panorama of life. The city has a pop 
 ulation of nearly thirty thousand, mostly black. 
 It is supplied with water from some ancient tanks 
 that were built about the year 600. 
 
 Aden is supposed to be a large crater formed of 
 lofty, precipitous hills, of which the highest peak 
 is one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five 
 feet in height. These slope toward the sea, with 
 numerous spires, which form a series of valleys 
 radiating from a common center. The descent of 
 the rain water from these hills through numer 
 ous ravines converges into one valley above the 
 town, where tanks are located for the collection 
 and storage of water. There are thirteen now in 
 use. Some are formed by a dyke, which is built 
 across the valley, others, by being cut out of the 
 rock. In fact, every feature of the rock has been 
 taken advantage of and connected by small aque 
 ducts, so that no water is lost. The overflow of 
 one tank has been conducted into the succeeding 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 271 
 
 one; thus a complete chain has been formed, reach 
 ing to the town. 
 
 From there I went to Sue/, passed through the 
 Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez, where to our right 
 could be seen the historic Mt, Sinai. This is the 
 mountain on which Moses is believed to have re 
 ceived the commandments. At Suez we com 
 menced our journey through the canal. We were 
 piloted on the block system, except in the great 
 lakes, where ships pass each other freely and steam 
 at full speed. 
 
 At every station there are signal posts, from 
 which steamships are directed to go into the sid 
 ing or into the canal as may be required. All 
 vessels running at night have an electric projector, 
 that throws light from twelve to fifteen hundred 
 yards. It was a grand sight to see six or eight 
 great ships go on while we waited at a siding. 
 
 Arriving at Port Said, at the northern end of 
 the canal, I spent a few hours on shore. I had 
 been here in 1883. It was the first place I visited 
 on this trip that 1 had seen before. It had not 
 changed. We were beset, as formerly, by a herd 
 of beggars of all nations. Groups of idle Arabs 
 in their native dress lounging about the streets, a 
 few women in their dark blue gowns and veils, 
 some camels and donkeys, are all that are to be 
 remembered of Port Said. 
 
 It was our last landing place until we reached 
 Marseilles. On this voyage we passed many of the 
 
272 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP 
 
 beautiful islands of the Mediterranean, which 
 broke the monotony of the journey. On the day 
 after leaving Port Said, we ran along the coast of 
 Crete or Candia for some distance. On the morn 
 ing of the third day we passed through the Straits 
 of Messina, which separate Italy from the island 
 of Sicily. The scenery is grand. The run through 
 the straits takes about three hours. At our left, 
 on the island of Sicily, there is a succession of 
 ridges terminating near the water s edge in bluffs. 
 Between these ridges are delightful little valleys 
 gradually sloping down to the water, with numer 
 ous towns and hamlets nestling among luxuriant 
 groves of oranges, lemons, and olives. Back of 
 these rise the black, volcanic dome of Mt. Etna, 
 ten thousand eight hundred and eighty feet high. 
 The whole forms a picture not soon to be forgotten. 
 The city of Messina lies along these straits in 
 full view. It was founded by the Greeks as a 
 colony nearly three thousand years ago, and is 
 still a flourishing port. It seems to spread itself 
 along the shore for miles. Old castles and towers 
 top every eminence. They are flanked by strong 
 modem forts and handsome buildings that rise 
 one above another. The whole being backed by 
 a dark forest, gives the town a fine appearance 
 from the sea. After emerging from the straits, 
 we passed the Lipari Group of volcanic islands- 
 From the domes of some I could see smoke rising, 
 especially Stromboli. This is a round dome ris 
 ing from the sea in the shape of a sugar loaf. 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER. 21 3 
 
 The next morning we passed through the 
 Straits of Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia. 
 These islands are barren and mountainous. There 
 is not much to be seen on them from the ship ex 
 cept the sight of land, which is always interesting 
 to one 011 an ocean voyage. The following morn 
 ing we were at Marseilles, thus completing our 
 journey of nearly ten thousand miles and occupy 
 ing thirty-three days. The trip was uneventful. 
 There was a large number of passengers of differ 
 ent nationalities. The ship was well appointed, 
 and all minor details, such as board, cabin, etc., 
 were all that could be desired. The weather was 
 brilliantly fine for the most part. Dances, games, 
 theatricals, etc., marked at intervals the progress 
 of the voyage. General comfort and good will 
 existed on board. 
 
 18 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF SECOND TRIP AROUND THE WORLD 
 
 f 
 
 ARSEILLES is the oldest city in Western 
 Europe. It was founded by the Phoeni 
 cians six hundred years before Christ. 
 The city was a republic, electing a council of six 
 hundred members, who chose from among them 
 selves fifteen rulers. They formed several colo 
 nies, and the city prospered. She was in the height 
 of her glory at the time of Caesar. But having 
 taken sides. against him, he destroyed the fortifi 
 cations, robbed her of all her treasures and of all 
 her colonies excepting Nice, leaving her so weak 
 that she fell an easy prey to the Goths and other 
 barbarians. She did not recover her greatness for 
 centuries. At the time of the Crusades, the city 
 was as rich and important as in its early days. 
 In 1660 Louis XIV. succeeded in conquering it 
 arid in depriving it of its ancient rights. He 
 united it to France, so its independence was at an 
 
 end. 
 
 (274) 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 275 
 
 The city is situated in the midst of a semicircle 
 of mountains of whitish rock. It has a beauti 
 ful harbor, in front of which are several rocky is 
 lands. The surrounding country is a dusty valley, 
 which is carefully cultivated, being planted with 
 vineyards and orchards of olive, fig, and pome 
 granate trees. The old town is ugly but the new 
 part is built of light-colored stone. It has broad 
 streets and fine sidewalks. Its population is 
 nearly six hundred thousand. The city slopes 
 gradually upward from the harbor on two hills 
 almost four hundred feet above the sea. On the 
 top of one of these stands the church of Notre 
 Dame. There is a high terrace in front of this 
 church. Jt is ascended by several paths and 
 many steps, from which an extensive view of the 
 city and country can be obtained. 
 
 One can see the entire width of the valley and 
 innumerable white villas on the surrounding 
 hills. In the opposite direction the view extends 
 over the harbor and the barren group of islands 
 at its entrance, with the Mediterranean in the dis 
 tance. The city contains fine museums, parks, 
 and zoological gardens. 
 
 From Marseilles I went to Nice by rail. The 
 route is along the coast near the water. It is 
 dotted with villages and summer residences and 
 lined with cactus hedges. One sees on the way 
 numerous olive orchards, also gardens of vio 
 lets, cassia flowers, roses, and other fragrant bios- 
 
276 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 sotns, which are manufactured into perfumery. 
 Nice is a charming place. Tt is situated on the 
 shores of the Mediterranean, and is celebrated for 
 its pure air and mild temperature. Fogs being 
 unknown, thousands of people from the north of 
 Europe gather here during the winter months. 
 There are many hotels for their accommodation. 
 
 From Nice I went to Monaco and Monte Carlo. 
 This is a delightful jaunt, through gardens and 
 orange groves, past fields of almond trees in full 
 bloom and hillsides covered with olives. To our 
 right, as far as the eye could reach, stretched the 
 blue Mediterranean, dotted with sails. Ahead of 
 us the majestic masses of the Maritime Alps, with 
 their snow-capped summits, could be seen. As 
 we approached Monte Carlo, our surroundings 
 became more and more beautiful. The city lies 
 on the side of a steep hill, with terrace after terrace, 
 fringed with majestic palms and gardens glowing 
 with flowers of every color. 
 
 This is an independent principality compris 
 ing six square miles. It includes Monaco and 
 Monte Carlo. It is governed by Prince Charles, 
 who has an elegant palace at Monaco. He has 
 his own postal system and a standing army of 
 about one hundred men. He receives a large 
 revenue from the gambling casinoes at Monte 
 Carlo. Monte Carlo is one of the most beautiful 
 places I have ever seen. It is full of hotels, casi 
 noes, gardens, theaters, delightful walks and 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 277 
 
 drives. It is the great gambling headquarters of 
 the world, where fortunes are daily lost and won 
 on the turn of a single card. The managers of 
 the casinoes are very careful as to what visitors 
 they admit. No minor or citizen of Monaco is al 
 lowed entrance. If a man is left penniless, the 
 company advances him sufficient money for his 
 fare home, wherever that may be, which serves 
 the purpose of removing inconvenient people and 
 of keeping things pleasant. But occasionally a 
 poor fellow will blow out his brains when fortune 
 has forsaken him. 
 
 From Monaco I returned to Marseilles, where 1 
 took the steamer for Algiers, in North Africa. 
 This excursion occupied twenty-eight hours. On 
 entering the harbor the view from the ship is 
 very picturesque. The city rises abruptly from 
 the bay, reaching high upon the mountains- 
 There is a stone viaduct two hundred feet back 
 from the bay. It is one hundred feet high and a 
 mile long. It follows the contour of the bay. It 
 is built upon a series of archways, the lower tiers 
 being used for stores and market places, and the 
 top as a wide street or boulevard. 
 
 All the houses in the city are whitened inside 
 and out. They rise abruptly one above another, 
 and form an immense amphitheater, all of which 
 can be plainly seen from the sea. The city is di 
 vided into two parts, the lower, or European, and 
 the upper, or Arabian. The European part was 
 
278 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 built by the French. The buildups are mostly 
 of hewn stone, four and five stories high, with 
 small iron balconies at each floor. 
 
 This division has some fine parks, and a public 
 square called La Place du Gouvernement. This 
 is large, and is fringed with maple trees. There 
 is a life-sized statue of the Duke of Orleans in the 
 center. A military band plays to a great con 
 course of people of nearly every nation under the 
 sun : Arabs, Moors, Turks, Israelites in Moorish 
 dress, Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Moorish 
 women with their faces covered to their eyes, and 
 a multitude of strangers from all parts of the 
 world, each speaking his own language and dress 
 ing according to his habit or the custom of the 
 country. 
 
 The upper or Arabian part is inhabited chiefly 
 by Arabs and Jews. It lies on the side of a steep 
 hill rising behind the French town. The streets 
 are very narrow and so steep that carriages can 
 not be used on them. These streets are joined 
 by many alleys just wide enough to pass through. 
 They are very confusing to the stranger, but a 
 walk through this quarter was more interesting 
 to me than any of the sights of modern Algiers. 
 Three Sundays are celebrated there in each week : 
 the Arabs keep Friday, the Jews Saturday, and 
 the French Sunday. 
 
 The city was founded in the tenth century, and 
 until 181 (> it was a formidable stronghold of pi- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 279 
 
 rates. Up to that time the Algerines were the 
 terror of the seas. They were especially dreaded 
 on account of their habit of retaining in slavery 
 all whom they captured in war. Since then a 
 great change has come over the place. The 
 French seized the district in 1830, and now the 
 town and its neighborhood has become a sanato 
 rium for modern Europe. It is a gay place. Its 
 cafes swarm with gaily uniformed officers. In 
 front of these cafes are singing girls dressed in 
 white, wearing full trousers gathered around the 
 ankle and slippers without stockings. Its streets 
 teem with the peasantry in their picturesque cos 
 tumes. Donkeys laden with market produce pass 
 and repass, followed by men in red caps and blue 
 blouses, or maidens in their short skirts and sabots. 
 
 From Algiers I went to Oran by rail. This 
 was a thirteen hours ride and full of interest. 
 The road winds through one of the richest and 
 most beautiful countries I have ever seen. It be 
 ing in the month of May, the ground was carpeted 
 with grass and wild flowers everywhere, and with 
 the blossoming fruit trees formed a charming pic 
 ture. 
 
 Oran has a population of about one hundred 
 and fifty thousand. It is a dull place, with not 
 much to see that will interest anyone, so I took 
 passage on the steamer for Malaga, in Spain. 
 This city has about the same population as Oran, 
 and is very much like it as far as sight-seeing is 
 concerned. They are both very old cities. 
 
280 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Malaga is situated on a delightful plain sur 
 rounded by hills, which produce raisins, figs al 
 monds, oranges, lemons, and limes, all introduced 
 into Spain by the enterprising Moors before 1492. 
 They occupied this place for about eight hundred 
 years. 
 
 From Malaga I went to Gibraltar, the most 
 strongly fortified place in the world. The city 
 lies within the fortress, and when a stranger ar 
 rives he must get a permit from the proper au 
 thorities. The permit allows him to stay only 
 until the first gun is fired, at eight p. M., after 
 which time, if he wishes to prolong his stay, his 
 hotel manager gets his leave extended. 
 
 When I was in Gibraltar, I visited its galleries. 
 These are tunnels and massive arches in the solid 
 rock. They are supported by columns and ex 
 tend around the whole face of it in two ranges. 
 From these, at intervals, openings have been 
 blasted, through which peer the muzzles of guns. 
 The galleries are fully armed, and have large 
 magazines attached to them. 
 
 After obtaining permission from the authori 
 ties, I proceeded to the old Moorish castle yard and 
 was conducted through the galleries by one of the 
 gunners, who explained everything to me. The 
 rock is one thousand four hundred feet high, and 
 the view from it is very extensive. Two seas and 
 the famous Straits of Gibraltar, bordered by two 
 continents, are spread out to the view. Below us 
 
JAMES BATCH ELDER. 281 
 
 could be seen the whole of the town of Gibraltar 
 as on a map, the sandy isthmus with the waves 
 breaking in white crests on its shore, and the vil 
 lage of Catlin nestling at the foot of the tremen 
 dous precipice which almost overhangs it. Along 
 the shore one sees numerous fishing villages 
 backed by green fields and orange groves, while 
 far beyond rise in majestic grandeur the Serrania 
 de Honda and the Sierra Nevada, covered with 
 perpetual snow. The Moors held Gibraltar for 
 seven hundred and fifty-one years. It was their 
 first landing place and their last point of depar 
 ture from Europe. 
 
 Leaving that city I went to Langier, in Morocco, 
 a distance of about forty miles, and occupying 
 nearly four hours time by steamer. The sudden 
 change from the manners and customs of the 
 West to those of the oriental nations, which are 
 to be seen here in perfection, is curious and inter 
 esting. The streets are steep and narrow. They 
 are crowded with Moors in their picturesque cos 
 tumes, Jews, easily recognizable by their peculiar 
 dress, slaves of every tinge, and wild -looking men 
 from the Riff Coast, with uncovered heads, shaven 
 all but one long lock, by which they expect to be 
 pulled up into heaven. These men are the verita 
 ble descendants of the old Riff pirates. The Med 
 iterranean was a wide field for their operations. 
 
 The oddest and most engaging sights in the city 
 are to be seen at the market place. There are 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 caravans of weary animals which have arrived 
 with enormous loads from the interior, strings of 
 little Barbary donkeys that have also brought up 
 heavy burdens, the Arab musician, with his pipe 
 and tom-tom, the snake charmer, the story-teller, 
 with a circle of attentive listeners, women closely 
 veiled sitting in groups in the shade. Moorish 
 soldiers with their blue cloaks and red caps form 
 a rare picture. One finds it difficult to wend his 
 way through the crowd. 
 
 Tangier is a very old town. It was a city of 
 importance before the time of the Romans. It is 
 now the residence of the foreign representatives to 
 the emperor. They are not permitted to enter 
 the capital. The city is built on two hills, near the 
 western side of a fine bay surrounded by magnifi 
 cent mountains. There are some picturesque 
 ruins of the Roman period near the town, but the 
 people of the place constitute its chief attraction. 
 All the houses are white and generally of only 
 one story, with no windows opening on the street. 
 They are lighted by an open court on the inside. 
 Some of those of the better classes are gorgeously 
 fitted up, the furnishing being of the very best. 
 Here and there rise the tall minarets of a mosque, 
 brilliant with its many colored mosaics. From 
 these mosques, when all else is calm and still, rises 
 the cry calling the faithful to prayer. 
 
 Fez, the capital of Morocco, is situated in the 
 northern part of the empire. The government is 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 283 
 
 an absolute monarchy, the emperor holding the 
 destinies of life and property in his own hands. 
 Nearly all of the Moors belong to the Moham 
 medan faith. They date from the time they claim 
 Mohammed took his flight to heaven. By this 
 reckoning, when I was there, in 1890, it was 1307. 
 
 Leaving Tangier we sailed out through the 
 Straits of Gibraltar into the broad Atlantic, and, 
 after a few hours, cast anchor at the harbor of 
 Cadiz, an attractive city delightfully situated. It 
 is at the extreme end of a long peninsula which 
 is joined to the continent on the south by a very 
 narrow strip of land. Though the streets are not 
 wide, they are long and very clean. The houses, 
 which are high and bright colored, are crowned 
 with terraces having glass and gilt balconies. 
 
 The city has a population of sixty -five thousand. 
 It contains several public squares and fine prom 
 enades. The Alameda is a delightful one. It is 
 along the ramparts, which are built of granite with 
 a series of spacious terraces. A military band 
 plays there every night during the summer, and 
 all the beauty of the city go out to walk along 
 this promenade. Cadez is very old. It was cap 
 tured by the Romans two hundred and six years 
 before the Christian era. At one time it was the 
 most important city in the world. It has few 
 objects of interest except the ladies. 
 
 I went next to the beautiful city of Seville, 
 located on the Guadalquivir. This too is a very 
 
284 LIFE AND THAVKLS OF 
 
 old place. It was taken by Julius Ccesar forty- 
 five years before Christ and was afterwards a 
 favorite post of the Romans. There are still 
 many vestiges of its magnificence and prosperity 
 during the Roman rule, viz., a portion of the walls 
 and towers and the aqueduct. It is one of the 
 most pleasant and interesting cities in Spain. It 
 has narrow, shady streets lined with high houses, 
 having courts in the center, which contain foun 
 tains, orange trees, and flowering plants. There 
 are also plants on the house tops. The sight-seer 
 is detained by the beautiful cathedral, the picture 
 galleries, the museums, the Alcazar, and the to 
 bacco factory. 
 
 The Alcazar is a portion of the former Moorish 
 palace, erected when Seville was an independent 
 kingdom. It is very beautiful and has since been 
 occupied by Peter the Cruel, Ferdinand, Charles 
 V., and other Catholic kings. It covers a large 
 area and is flanked by great square towers, built 
 of stone brought from the ancient temple of Her 
 cules. The grand court is ninety feet long and 
 seventy feet wide. There are twenty-four arches 
 opening into it. The floor is paved with beauti 
 ful marble. On one side is the recess where once 
 stood the Moorish throne. In one of the wings 
 was the private chapel of Ferdinand and Isabella- 
 it was in the Alcazar that Isabella gave audience 
 to Columbus. The walls and altar of this chapel 
 are considered the finest in Europe. It would be 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 285 
 
 useless for me to attempt a full description of this 
 building, so I will pass on to the tobacco factory. 
 The factory is in a building six hundred and 
 sixty feet long and five hundred and twenty-five 
 feet wide. It has twenty-eight interior rooms 
 without partitions, separated only by arches which 
 support the roof. The factory is carried on by 
 the government and employs five thousand women 
 and girls in preparing tobacco and making it into 
 cigars and cigarettes. Their fingers move with 
 amazing rapidity. Nearly ten thousand pounds 
 of tobacco are used in a single day. Some of these 
 women bring their infants and keep them in 
 baskets by their sides while they perform their 
 task. The best workers among the women make 
 forty cents a day, while the poorest make about 
 half that amount. They must all be examined 
 at night before leaving the factory, for it is said 
 they will steal. The process is tedious and amus 
 ing but necessary. 
 
 The Cathedral of Seville is one of the largest 
 and most magnificent in Spain and perhaps in 
 the world. It is five hundred and eighty-two 
 feet long by four hundred and twenty feet wide. 
 It has nine entrances. The interior is divided 
 into five naves, supported by immense pillars. Its 
 painted windows, ninety-three in number, are the 
 finest in Spain. The floor is paved with large 
 blocks of black and white marble. There are 
 thirty-seven chapels in the cathedral, each of 
 
286 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 which contains a world of wealth. It contains 
 many beautiful paintings and statues executed 
 by the old masters. The grandeur of this church 
 when the shades of evening are falling is very 
 impressive. 
 
 The favorite promenade of the Sevilians is the 
 Delicias de Cristina, situated along the banks of 
 the Guadalquivir. It is divided by charming 
 walks and drives and contains horticultural and 
 botanical gardens. The walks are planted with 
 acacia, cypress, and other trees, under whose shade 
 the beauty and fashion of Seville do their flirting 
 and star gazing, while the air is fragrant with roses 
 and orange flowers. 
 
 When I left Seville, I went to Granada, the 
 Moors Andalusia. The route for the most part is 
 through a wild and picturesque country. The 
 city is attractively located. It is built upon four 
 hills, which rise to the height of two thousand two 
 hundred and forty-five feet. These hills are at 
 the extremity of an extensive and beautiful plain, 
 green with all kinds of fruit and vegetation. It 
 is dotted with sparkling, whitewashed villas, that 
 resemble so many sails. There is much in Gra 
 nada to interest a traveler, the palace of Charles X., 
 with its wonderful gardens, the cathedral, with its 
 royal tombs, the old city streets, full of Moorish 
 antiquity, and the Alhambra, or Moorish palace. 
 The last is the most important and most interest 
 ing. It towers above the town on a broad plateau 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 287 
 
 upon the highest of the four hills. It is sur 
 rounded by beautiful gardens, which are woody. 
 In spring they are full of sweet-scented wild 
 flowers, which numberless streams of snow water 
 from the Sierra Nevada Mountains keep green and 
 blooming. The woods of these gardens are of a 
 heavy growth ; the deep ravines, well-built roads, 
 and bridal paths twisting in all directions, make 
 a most charming resort in the sultry hours of 
 summer. 
 
 I will speak of only some of the Alhambra s 
 most important features. It was built by the 
 Moors during their reign of nearly eight hundred 
 years in Spain. It was used by them as a palace 
 and mosque until they were driven from Spain 
 by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. After that 
 it was occupied by the Catholic kings. It is beau 
 tifully ornamented with sculpture and carvings. 
 It is divided into halls, courts, recesses, balconies, 
 and a throne room. These are ornamented with 
 inlaid work of blue and gold, made in circles, 
 crowns, and stars, interwoven with flowers and 
 leaves. The court of lions is the most celebrated 
 portion of the palace. It is an oblong of one 
 hundred and twenty-six feet in length, seventy- 
 three in width, and twenty -two feet in height. It 
 is surrounded by a low gallery, which is supported 
 on one hundred and twenty-eight white marble 
 columns. A pavilion projects into the court at 
 each extremity, elaborately ornamented, having 
 
288 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 walls of filigree work. In the center of this court 
 is the famous fountain of lions. This is a mag 
 nificent alabaster basin resting on the backs of 
 twelve lions of white marble. Their manes are 
 cut like the scales of a fisii. 
 
 All through the East the lion is an emblem of 
 strength and courage. It was in the hall of the 
 ambassadors here that Columbus made his arrange 
 ments with the court of Spain to start on his voy 
 age of the discovery of America. 
 
 I went to the top of the watch tower in the 
 Alhambra grounds, where an extensive view can 
 be obtained of the city and surrounding country. 
 At my feet was the city, while beyond it the plain 
 stretches for thirty miles to the base of the Sierra 
 Nevada Mountains. This plain is full of points 
 of historical interest, which are pointed out by the 
 guide. 
 
 I was shown the place where Ferdinand and 
 Isabella pitched their camp during the conquest 
 of Granada. It was across this plain that the 
 Moors took their melancholy way, and from the 
 summit of a distant hill turned to gaze for the 
 last time at the scene of so much grandeur and 
 glory. This hill still bears the name of the Last 
 Sigh of the Moor. 
 
 From Granada I went to Cordova, another city 
 on the Guadalquivir. It was held by the Moors 
 from 756 to 1236. It has a population of nearly 
 fifty thousand. It is dull now, but it is said that 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 289 
 
 during its occupation by the Moors its commerce 
 extended to all parts of the civilized world, and 
 its inhabitants numbered a million. Of its an 
 cient greatness the city retains but one monu 
 ment, the Moorish mosque, which is now used as 
 a Catholic cathedral. It is five hundred and fifty 
 feet in length and three hundred and ninety in 
 width, and is profusely ornamented with colored 
 marble. It is divided into seventeen naves by 
 twenty -seven aisles, and is covered with an im 
 mense roof, supported by eight hundred short 
 columns of marble, porphyry, jasper, and other 
 richly-colored stones. The floor is in mosaic, and 
 the ceiling is richly paneled and gilded. 
 
 There is little else to detain a traveler. The 
 town is dark and gloomy, the streets narrow and 
 by no means clean. There are no squares or pub 
 lic buildings of any importance, so I journeyed on 
 to Madrid, a lively place of wide streets and 
 beautiful buildings. The parks, drives, and 
 plazas are not much surpassed by those in Paris 
 or London. The Park of the Retiro is a fashion 
 able drive thronged at all reasonable hours of the 
 day with equipages that would do no discredit to 
 any park in the world. In the evening everybody 
 is out entire families, officers from the various 
 barracks, nursemaids with daintily-attired chil 
 dren, flashily-dressed girls attended by their admir 
 ers all promenade to the strains of music rendered 
 by military bands that play every evening in sum- 
 19 
 
290 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP 
 
 mer. The varieties of uniforms glowing in parts 
 of the park among the glittering multitude render 
 the scene exceptionally gorgeous. 
 
 The Prado is another fine drive two and a half 
 miles in length, with profuse foliage, fountains, 
 flowers, and fine statuary. It has monuments of 
 Columbus and Isabella. It is also a promenade ) 
 and the best place in Madrid to see the beauty of 
 the city. The women of Spain are noted for their 
 beauty and grace. One who visits this spot will 
 see all classes, from the aristocrat to the peasant, 
 who have come for a short time to the capital. 
 They saunter out in swarms and form a proces 
 sion. Many of the women use mantillas as head 
 dresses for street wear, but the custom among 
 fashionable ladies is fast changing in favor of the 
 Parisian hat. 
 
 The stranger may join the strollers, or for a 
 penny is allowed to occupy one of the thousand 
 seats that are placed along the edge of the prome 
 nade, and observe the crowd at his ease. 
 
 The Plaza Mayor is lovely. It is where the tri 
 bunal of the Inquisition was held in olden times. 
 When the victims had been condemned, they 
 were led out of the city to the fateful place of ex 
 ecution and burned at the stake. It is believed 
 that not fewer than half a million of the best peo 
 ple of Spain met their death in this manner dur 
 ing the Inquisition. 
 
 The Puerta del Sol (the Path of the Sun) is the 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 291 
 
 chief square in Madrid. It is in the heart of the 
 city, and is the central point, whence all the prin 
 cipal streets and tramways diverge. Here one 
 sees outdoor life in all its glory. The royal pal 
 ace is an immense pile of buildings, which, includ 
 ing its garden, occupies nearly eight acres. 
 
 From Madrid I went to Bordeaux, in France, 
 and thence to Paris. In crossing the frontier of 
 every country of Europe the train is delayed 
 nearly an hour; our baggage is taken into the 
 station and laid on a long counter to be opened 
 for inspection, after which it is replaced on the 
 train, and we are allowed to proceed. 
 
 Spain is out of the tourists beaten track, and is 
 not visited by many; but, according to my idea, 
 there is more fascination in a trip to Spain than 
 to any other European country. The land is 
 beautiful; the habits of its people are strange. 
 There is not much to see along this route that an 
 artist would be likely to sketch or a traveler to 
 remember. 
 
 In leaving Spain we crossed the Pyrenees 
 Mountains, from whose summit we could look 
 down upon both countries. In the descent the 
 country is undulating, with peaceful villages here 
 and there. Next, long stretches of unbroken 
 plain covered with pine trees are met, then in a few 
 hours Bordeaux is reached. 
 
 This is a large city, charmingly situated on the 
 banks of the Garonne, seventy miles inland. It 
 
292 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 is a large shipping port crowded with vessels from 
 every part of the world. It has also a large wine 
 industry. There is not much to detain a stranger, 
 so I left for Paris. 
 
 I had been in Paris seven years before. Almost 
 the only thing I could discover that I had not 
 seen before was the Eiffel Tower, which had been 
 built in the meantime. It stands on the bank of 
 the Seine one thousand feet high and three hun 
 dred feet square at the base. At each corner 
 there are pillars fifty feet square of iron lattice 
 work supported by open curved arches slanting 
 inward as they rise to a distance of six hundred 
 feet from the ground. From this point four sim 
 ilar pillars continue to the top. There are several 
 large assembly rooms at different heights. The 
 first of these is an immense hall two hundred and 
 thirty feet from the base. It is used as a prome 
 nade and restaurant. Still further up is a second 
 gallery nearly one hundred feet square. This 
 was the highest point I reached, and from it an 
 extensive panorama is spread out before the eye. 
 Just below lies the great city, with its innumera 
 ble monuments, its avenues, towers, and domes, 
 with the Seine winding through it like a long 
 ribbon of steel. Farther on the green circle of 
 hills which surround the city is in plain view. 
 The whole forms a picture of incomparable love 
 liness. 
 
 Later I went to Antwerp, in Belgium, and re- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 293 
 
 mained a few days. During that time I took a 
 trip of one day to Brussels. I had spent several 
 days in that city on my other visit. Antwerp is 
 delightful and abounds in richly-stocked mu 
 seums, art galleries, fine churches, parks, gardens, 
 wide streets, and beautiful promenades. I will 
 omit a description of these, and pass on to Hol 
 land, a queer old country of canals, dikes, and 
 windmills. 
 
 All the land of Holland is very low; in some 
 places it is below the sea level at high tide. In 
 order to keep these waters within bounds, im 
 mense dikes have been constructed, which are 
 composed of earth and sand. They are wide and 
 dotted with houses and windmills, and have good 
 roads along the top, which are ornamented with 
 avenues of trees. There is no natural flow to 
 wards the sea, so unless the rainfall is removed 
 by artificial means, it would soon cover the entire 
 country. By the use of pumps and other hy 
 draulic apparatus, the water is emptied into 
 canals, from which it runs toward the sea. Hence 
 the multitude of windmills and canals which 
 characterize every Dutch landscape. 
 
 The only city I visited in Holland was Amster 
 dam, 011 the Amstel. It is built upon ninety-five 
 islands, which are connected by more than three 
 hundred bridges. The buildings all rest on 
 foundations of piles. From almost any point in 
 the city one can see innumerable windmills, a 
 
294 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 network of canals and bridges, also houses, ships, 
 and people. The canals are all bordered with 
 elm trees, which give them a refreshing appear 
 ance. The bridge across the Amstel is a fine 
 structure, with thirty-five stone arches. The city 
 has famous botanical and zoological gardens. Its 
 museums and art galleries are excellent. The 
 royal palace is the finest building. It is situated 
 on the Dam, one of the largest squares in that 
 place. The interior is elegant ; its banquet room 
 is one of the largest in Europe. It is one hun 
 dred and twenty feet long, sixty feet broad, and 
 one hundred feet high. 
 
 The industry of diamond cutting is carried on 
 quite extensively and supplies work to ten thou 
 sand artisans. There are many short excursions 
 of interest that can be made from Amsterdam. 
 Some of these places are off the ordinary line of 
 travel, and changes have not come, so the genuine 
 old-fashioned style of living is still to be seen in 
 them. I made one of these to the island of Marken, 
 in the Zuyder Zee, thirty miles from Amsterdam. 
 It is inhabited by fishermen. They use implements 
 and wear costumes which have retained the same 
 styles for ages. On account of the picturesqueness 
 of their dress, Marken has become a sort of show- 
 place. 
 
 My next stopping place was Hamburg, situated 
 on the lower Elbe, and having a population of 
 four hundred thousand. It has a commodious 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 295 
 
 harbor, where numerous ships from all quarters 
 of the globe lie. The quays stretch along the 
 Elbe for a distance of five miles. Hamburg is 
 comparatively a modem city, on account of the 
 fire in 1842, which destroyed a quarter of the 
 buildings. Since then very extensive additions 
 and alterations in some of the quaintest streets 
 of the city have been carried out. This accounts 
 for its thoroughly new aspect and for the al 
 most entire disappearance of all relics of the 
 past. There are, however, still many handsome 
 residences of merchants of the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth centuries. The city has many pleas 
 ant promenades, gardens, and much fine statuary. 
 The environs of Hamburg are delightful, being 
 sprinkled with country houses, gardens, and parks 
 in every direction. 
 
 When I had completed my visit at Hamburg, 
 I went to Copenhagen. The route is by rail to 
 Keil, thence by steamer to Korsor, Zealand, where 
 a connection is made with the direct train to 
 Copenhagen. It is a lovely ride. The country is 
 perfectly level. Highly cultivated wheat fields 
 and immense dairies abound. At intervals 
 quaint cottages with their small patches of well- 
 kept gardens are to be seen. 
 
 Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is situated 
 on the island of Zealand. It has a population of 
 three hundred and fifty thousand. It is one of 
 the cleanest and prettiest cities in Europe. It is 
 
296 
 
 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 called the Athens of the North, on account of its 
 advanced state of art and literature. Its parks 
 and gardens are not excelled anywhere in Eu 
 rope. It abounds in museums, theaters, and art 
 galleries. The Tivoli Garden is its most charm 
 ing place of resort; it is very large, and con 
 tains a lake, upon whose waters are several small 
 boats used by pleasure seekers, and moored to its 
 shore is a large ship used as a cafe. This ship is 
 tastefully decorated and is usually filled with a 
 gay throng. There are also within the gardens 
 five or six concert pavilions. Besides other at 
 tractions, there is a structure made of wood in the 
 form of a beer bottle. It is one hundred feet 
 high and people go to the top of it in an elevator. 
 The cage holds eight persons; when it reaches the 
 top of the bottle s neck, it forms the cork. 
 
 Within the city are several canals, four large 
 lakes, and many small ones. There are also 
 springs which continually give forth most excel 
 lent water. The city is laid out on a grand scale. 
 The wide, winding avenues are bordered with 
 beech trees. Some of these avenues have a prom 
 enade in the center wide enough for eight persons 
 to walk abreast. On either side is a space eight 
 feet wide for equestrians, and there is still room 
 for four car tracks on both sides. Then comes 
 the sidewalk. Near the middle of the city is a 
 large irregular space called King s New Market, 
 from which thirteen of the business streets radiate 
 
JAMES BATCHELDEB. 297 
 
 In the center rises an equestrian statue of Chris 
 tian V. It is cast in lead and is called Hesten, 
 meaning The Horse. 
 
 Severable enjoyable excursions can be made in 
 the neighborhood. I made one to Dyrehave, or 
 Deer Park, a grand old forest of oaks and beeches. 
 It is the largest park in the world; the inclosure 
 contains four thousand two hundred acres, divided 
 by a small river. Rich corn fields, green pastures, 
 country houses, and villages surround the park. 
 It is a favorite retreat for all classes in summer. 
 The dress of the peasant women is very becoming. 
 Large groups of deer are frequently seen in these 
 woods. 
 
 From Copenhagen 1 went to Christiania, in Nor 
 way. The steamer carries the mail and stops at 
 most of the villages along the coast. Sometimes 
 the open sea is encountered, but the route is gen 
 erally between the islands. The water varies 
 from deep, narrow channels, one hundred feet 
 wide, running among ugly-looking, almost per 
 pendicular rocks, to wide, expansive stretches of 
 water, miles across. In going up the Christiania 
 Fiord the scenery varies suddenly from that of 
 the rugged, barren coast. Here it is charming 
 in the highest degree. Gradually sloping hills, 
 which now and then swell into mountains of 
 moderate height, meet the view on either side. 
 These undulations are generally covered with 
 pine or birch, and, as the day advances, they as- 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 sume the deepest purple, by which the pastures 
 form a striking contrast with their soft green. 
 All along the fiord are numerous villas, whither 
 at this season of the year the inhabitants of Chris- 
 tiania take their families. Christiania is pretty, and 
 is pleasantly situated at the north end of the Chris 
 tiania Fiord. It is the capital of Norway, and has 
 about one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. 
 It is noted for the grandeur and beauty of its sur 
 roundings, as well as for the size and elegance of 
 its streets and public buildings. The most note 
 worthy of its edifices are the Royal Palace, the 
 University, and the House of Parliament. 
 
 The Royal Palace is situated on an eminence 
 in the western part of the city. The grounds are 
 nicely laid out and command an excellent view 
 of the town, the fiord, and its numerous islands. 
 These grounds are very extensive, with shady 
 walks and seats open to the public. Many pleas 
 urable excursions can be made in the suburbs. 
 One is to St. John s Hill, an attractively laid-out 
 eminence two hundred and eighty feet high. 
 There is a reservoir on its summit belonging to 
 the city water works. An ornamental structure, 
 with a lofty tower which is visible for miles, is 
 built upon it. From the top of this is a most en 
 chanting panorama of mountains, trees, water, 
 and buildings, which unite in making a grand 
 masterpiece of art and nature that would be diffi 
 cult to describe adequately. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 299 
 
 Another pleasant ramble which I made was to 
 Oscar s Hall, a chateau which was erected for 
 Oscar I. as a holiday residence about forty years 
 ago. The mansion, being painted white and being 
 situated on an eminence of eighty feet in height, 
 may be seen for miles. It is surrounded by a 
 pleasant park. The interior of the castle is noted 
 for choice paintings, the works of celebrated Nor 
 wegian artists. There is a series of paintings in 
 the dining room, ten in number, representing the 
 stages in life from childhood to old age. There 
 are also some fine old carvings. One large cabi 
 net made in 1637 must be of immense value. 
 There are quantities of curiosities, but space for 
 bids a detailed description. 
 
 Near this palace is an ancient church with high 
 wooden columns stenciled in a peculiar manner. 
 It has carved trusses supporting the roof. About 
 the church are a number of low-built houses. 
 Inside of these can be seen the furniture and arti 
 cles for domestic purposes that were used two or 
 three hundred years ago wooden jugs, punch 
 bowls, bedsteads, and a variety of skin clothing. 
 While I was in Christiania, Emperor William, of 
 Germany, arrived with a fleet of ten line of battle 
 ships and two steam yachts. A grand display 
 was made when they sailed into the harbor. 
 First came four Norwegian torpedo boats, as if to 
 clear the way. Following these were two lines of 
 battle ships a few hundred yards apart. Around 
 
300 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 these were more than sixty steamboats, all gaily 
 decorated with evergreens and bunting, laden 
 with passengers who had gone out to meet the 
 Kaiser. The entire length of the quays was lined 
 with a most ordinary assemblage of people dressed 
 in their best. 
 
 A tasteful pavilion had been erected near the 
 landing place. It was adorned with gigantic 
 German eagles in gold and beautiiied with flowers 
 and greens. The streets along the route to the 
 royal palace were likewise decorated and crowded 
 with people. 
 
 Soon King Oscar, of Norway and Sweden, ac 
 companied by the emperor, rode past in the court 
 carriage, drawn by six beautiful black horses. 
 There were other carriages, drawn by splendid 
 teams of four, filled with court officials and other 
 officers in brilliant uniforms- They passed amidst 
 the thundering of cannon and the cheers of the 
 multitude. It seemed difficult to think of anything 
 equaling the enthusiasm of the people and the en 
 tire success of the day s pageant. It was a general 
 holiday, the shops and other houses of business 
 being closed. The city was crowded with visitors 
 from the country. The gay dresses of the peas 
 ants are very striking. The headdress is usually 
 black with red binding and two bright-colored 
 ribbons behind. The jackets are of the Garibaldi 
 style, with what I think the ladies call bishop 
 sleeves. A handkerchief is worn around the neck. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 301 
 
 It is brilliant in color, and the two ends that cross 
 on the breast are pinned with a kind of brooch 
 which looks like silver. Over this a small bow of 
 green ribbon with flowers is worn. 
 
 The most attractive part of the costume is the 
 skirt. It is of navy blue with a scarlet band 
 around the top and bottom. The front width is 
 one mass of strips of scarlet, white, orange, black, 
 and green. Low shoes and scarlet stockings are 
 worn with this. 
 
 The next place of interest that I visited was 
 Stockholm. From the train numerous small 
 lakes, swift running streams, large forests of beech 
 and maple, green valleys, where at intervals are 
 nestled hamlets or solitary farmhouses, and some 
 times a small town with a church and a hotel, can 
 be seen. 
 
 Stockholm, surnamed the Venice of the North, 
 is the capital of Sweden. It is one of the most 
 beautiful cities in the world. It is situated at the 
 influx of Lake Malaren into an arm of the Baltic 
 Sea. It is built upon nine islands. Being sur 
 rounded by islands and water in almost every 
 direction, and having plains and rocky hills, it is 
 exceedingly picturesque. All of these islands are 
 connected by bridges. Communication between 
 different parts of the city and the suburbs is 
 maintained by means of numerous small steam 
 ferryboats, which run in all directions at inter 
 vals of nearly three minutes. 
 
302 LIFE ANI} TRAVELS OF 
 
 The city has many historical monuments and 
 museums, as well as very extensive collections of 
 art works. The parks are noteworthy on account 
 of their monuments, fountains, choice trees, shrubs, 
 and flowers. Bands play in many of them dur 
 ing the summer months. Under the shade of the 
 trees are seats and tables for the hundreds who 
 take refreshments there. 
 
 One of the great sights is a church, which is the 
 royal mausoleum. It has not been used for di 
 vine service since 1807. The floor is literally 
 paved with memorials of the illustrious heroes 
 and statesmen of the past. Here repose the mor 
 tal remains of the much-honored Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, the champion of the Lutheran Protestant 
 Church. The following is the inscription on the 
 slab: "He braved dangers, loved piety, overcame 
 his enemies, enlarged his dominion, exalted his 
 nation, and triumphed in death." 
 
 The country in the vicinity is very picturesque. 
 Surrounding the city is an immense fertile plain, 
 diversified by dark forests, which contrast with 
 the bright green meadows and the yellow stubble 
 of the fields. The forests in the distance form 
 a majestic setting to this gay living picture. In 
 whichever direction the eye turns, no matter what 
 the elevation may be, the horizon is mysterious 
 with the ocean or the woods. One can leave the 
 quays in any of the countless little steamboats, 
 and in ten minutes be able to stand where he can 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 303 
 
 scarcely find a trace of cultivation, but probably 
 some old tower in the woods will testify to the 
 presence of an ancient royal hunting lodge. 
 
 On leaving Stockholm I went to St. Petersburg 
 by steamer. It is an interesting journey and 
 takes three days. From the time we left Stock 
 holm until Helsingfors was reached, we were 
 among a multitude of islands; first, those that 
 are near the coast of Sweden, then the Alends. 
 After leaving these we were soon among those 
 that line the coast of Finland. The Alend Islands 
 number about three hundred. Some of them are 
 inhabited. The others are desolate and rocky, 
 upon which are a few pine trees. 
 
 Our first landing place was at Abo, in Finland. 
 This is a town of considerable importance and 
 was the ancient capital of Finland. The Russian 
 Government has now moved the capital to Hel 
 singfors. From Abo the steamer runs for miles 
 along a rocky shore. A few hours before arriving 
 at Helsingfors we passed through a strait seven 
 miles long. In most places it is no wider than a 
 canal, and its shores are edged with fir, birch, and 
 alder. Between these trees we catch glimpses of 
 fertile fields and pretty farmhouses painted red 
 or yellow 7 . 
 
 After leaving this strait we came into a broad 
 bay, at the extremity of w^hich lies the city of 
 Helsingsfors. The view on nearing this city is 
 lovely. To the left there is a suburb of pictur- 
 
304 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 esque villas grouped on a rocky height, while at 
 the right a neck of land juts into the sea, on which 
 are some handsome buildings. Farther on is the 
 Greek Church, which is very imposing. It stands 
 on a hill and is built of brick in the usual style 
 of Greek Churches. It has a large gilt dome, sur 
 mounted by a Greek cross, and surrounded by 
 thirteen smaller domes, which are also of gilt. 
 The roof is painted white, which gives the build 
 ing the appearance of having been visited by a 
 snowstorm. 
 
 Still farther on is the tower, with its row of white 
 and yellow buildings, bright and clean, running 
 along the quays. These quays command the ad 
 miration of all who see them. 
 
 There is a great variety of races and languages 
 amongst the inhabitants of this city. It is most 
 striking at the market place, where business brings 
 them together. There are Swedish fishermen in 
 their sailor clothes, Finns with their short cloaks, 
 Russian soldiers wearing long gray overcoats, and 
 many are in the peasant style of dress of the last 
 century. 
 
 The next place we visited was Wiborg, one of 
 the chief towns of Finland. It was taken from 
 the Swedes by Peter the Great in 1710, since 
 which time it has belonged to Russia. The town 
 contains twenty thousand inhabitants besides five 
 thousand soldiers. It is spread over a wide plain 
 and surrounded by rivers and canals. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 305 
 
 As we steamed along the Gulf of Finland, the 
 dome of St. Isaac s Church was visible long be 
 fore we reached St. Petersburg. After a sail of 
 nearly eight hours from Wiborg, the steamer 
 comes to Cronstadt, and, passing its docks, filled 
 with shipping, arrives in another hour at the city 
 of St. Petersburg. 
 
 20 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF SECOND TRIP AROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 ft 
 
 HE Government of Russia being an abso 
 lute monarchy, all power emanates from 
 the czar. He has no advisers and exer 
 cises complete control over the lives and property 
 of his subjects. Of course the visitor sees but 
 little of the yoke that the country is under. Pass 
 ports are a matter of first importance to the trav 
 eler in Russia, not because people are halted 
 on the street to show their passports, nor because 
 the police line the streets and are waiting for 
 strangers at every corner, as is currently supposed, 
 but it is impossible to get in or out of Russia, or 
 to obtain food or lodging when one is there, with 
 out them. The police know very well that 
 strangers have their passports or they would not 
 be in Russia. I procured mine at Washington, 
 and before leaving Stockholm had it vised by the 
 Russian Consul. Long before reaching St. Peters 
 burg the captain takes the passport and holds it 
 (306) 
 
JAMES BATCHELDEK. 307 
 
 until the Russian officers come on board. It is 
 taken by them and turned over to the police 
 bureau at the pier in St. Petersburg, where the 
 baggage is examined. The traveler passes through 
 the bureau and receives the pass again. 
 
 It is given to the hotel proprietor, who seems 
 to be in some measure responsible for his guests. 
 The visitor is then permitted to register, and the 
 number of his room is written on his passport. 
 It is next sent to the police headquarters and re 
 turned in a day or two. One is obliged to pay a 
 small fee when he receives it again. If the police 
 are not satisfied with the passport, they will send 
 for the visitor, question him closely, and permit 
 him to stay or not as they are impressed with his 
 story and appearance. If one wishes to change his 
 room or hotel, he must notify the police and state 
 what change has been made. It will thus be seen 
 that the police know where every stranger in 
 Russia can be found at any time. The same 
 formalities must be observed with regard to the 
 hotels in every town of Russia. When one wishes 
 to leave the country, permission must be obtained 
 from the police at the town where the passports 
 were last handed in. Even the inhabitants are 
 not allowed to go more than fifteen miles from 
 home without a permit from the police. 
 
 St. Petersburg, the modern capital of Russia, 
 has a population of about a million. It was 
 founded by Peter the Great in 1703, amid the 
 
308 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 marshes though which the Neva River discharges 
 its waters into the sea. It is the strangest place 
 ever chosen for a city. The obstinate will of this 
 man sought to dispense with all natural advan 
 tages. It is said he selected it as being a window 
 looking out upon Europe. But surely a site 
 might have been found with as good an outlook 
 which would be a less desolate and fatal position. 
 
 Between forty and fifty thousand peasants were 
 forced to work for many years before a firm foun 
 dation for the city could be completed. During 
 this time every conveyance approaching the city, 
 whether by sea or land, was required to bring 
 a certain number of stone to be used in filling up 
 the holes and paving the streets. 
 
 There are several beautiful palaces in St. Peters 
 burg, belonging to the royal families. The most 
 important is the Winter palace, a vast pile of im 
 posing buildings situated on the banks of the 
 Neva. The interior is divided into suites of splen 
 did halls, audience chambers, drawing rooms, etc. 
 The walls and ceilings are brilliantly ornamented 
 with gold and silver, and are in some instances 
 set with precious stones. The walls are also hung 
 with beautiful oil paintings, representing battle 
 scenes, executed by the best artists, including 
 some of the old masters. All this, with the plate 
 of beaten gold, which has belonged to the em 
 perors from Peter the Great to the one of the 
 present, the marbles, malachites, vases, and gilt 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 309 
 
 furniture, produces an enchanting effect. The 
 crown jewels, some of the finest gems in Europe, 
 are here. One of them, the famous Orloff dia 
 mond, is the largest crown diamond in Europe. 
 It weighs one hundred and ninety-four and three- 
 fourths carats, and has a history. It now sur 
 mounts Russia s imperial scepter. 
 
 The imperial crown is set with more than forty 
 diamonds, of immense size and great purity, an 
 exquisite ruby, and a very large sapphire. The 
 coronet of the empress is perhaps the finest Euro 
 pean collection of diamonds set in a single orna 
 ment. There is also a handsome necklace con 
 taining thirty-seven brilliants of the first water. 
 It was presented to the Russian emperor by the 
 son of the shah of Persia when he visited the Rus 
 sian court. There are also other ornaments and 
 gems here which in point of beauty and size are 
 worthy to keep them company. 
 
 In this building is the death chamber of Em 
 peror Nicholas I., who died March 2, 1855. The 
 room is void of the luxury or even ease that usu 
 ally attends the earthly career of crowned heads. 
 His sword, helmet, and military cloak lie where 
 he left them. 
 
 The Hermitage is connected with the Winter 
 Palace by several galleries. It was built by Cath 
 erine II., but is now used as a museum and pic 
 ture gallery. Many consider that this edifice 
 stands alone in Europe for the elegant solidity of 
 
310 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 its form and the costliness of its material. Its 
 dimensions are vast. The vestibule, hall, and 
 marble staircase are grand. Every pillar and 
 monolith are of Finland granite. The picture 
 gallery equals in extent the largest in Europe, and 
 contains pictures by Rubens, Van Dyck, Murillo, 
 Raphael, Titian, and other of the old masters. 
 
 There are numerous pieces of beautiful statu 
 ary by Michael Angelo and others. My limited 
 space will not allow me to speak of the thousands 
 of interesting objects which help to form the col 
 lection at the Hermitage. This accumulation 
 can compare in variety, size, and value with any 
 other in the world. 
 
 In Russia religion governs the whole life as 
 well as the heart of the popular classes, and holds 
 sway at least over the exterior habits of the upper 
 classes. They all bow, cross their breasts, some 
 times kneel and kiss the pavement when they 
 pass any of the many chapels that are to be found 
 along the public thoroughfares. In many cases 
 religion appears to be only a uniform, but all 
 wear it, for etiquette requires it. 
 
 One of St. Petersburg s most beautiful churches 
 is St. Isaac s Cathedral. An idea of its proportions 
 and cost may be formed when it is known that 
 the foundation, partly because of the marshy na 
 ture of the soil on which it is built, cost more than 
 a million dollars. Its form is that of a Greek 
 cross with four principal entrances. It is a colos- 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 311 
 
 sal building, of granite, marble, and gold. It has 
 an immense cupola of copper overlaid with gold, 
 which is supported by thirty very large pillars of 
 polished granite. From the summit of this rises 
 a smaller cupola of the same design surmounted 
 by a large cross. The larger cupola is surrounded 
 by four similar smaller ones. 
 
 The steps are of porphyry, the walls of lapis la 
 zuli; the floor is variegated marble, and the dome 
 is made of malachite. All this is magnificently 
 gilded. Everything in this elegant structure is 
 made of the most costly material. Distributed 
 through the church are images of the Virgin and 
 of many saints. There are also many small 
 shrines, before which are silver stands covered 
 with tapers that are constantly burning. Streams 
 of worshipers cross themselves over the breast 
 with the thumb and two fingers of the right hand, 
 bow the knee, touch the floor with their foreheads, 
 and then pass on to make room for others. At 
 the back of the church is a very tall window. 
 On it is painted Christ enthroned in gold and 
 purple, his right hand raised as if in benediction. 
 There are numerous huge garlands of gilded an 
 gels, and a wealth of all kinds of ornaments, that 
 glitter magnificently in the dim light of the inte 
 rior. 
 
 Another of these fine churches is the Cathedral 
 of St. Petersburg, dedictated to Our Lady of Ka 
 zan. This is also built in the form of a cross. 
 
312 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 This building cost $3,000,000. Inside is a col 
 onnade of fifty-six columns, which support a 
 cupola of Finland granite. The image of Our 
 Lady of Kazan was placed in this church in 1821. 
 It had been brought from Kazan. It is covered 
 with jewels. One of the diamonds in her crown 
 is of fabulous value. It has also an immense 
 sapphire. As the Greek religion does not permit 
 idols in its places of worship, the votaries adorn 
 their Madonnas and other holy pictures with jew 
 elry and finery. 
 
 The cathedral resembles an arsenal more than 
 a place of worship. Military trophies taken from 
 various nations in Europe are hung on every side. 
 One sees Turkish standards, French colors, and 
 the keys of surrendered cities. 
 
 Space permits me to speak of only one more of 
 these churches. The Cathedral of St. Peter and 
 St. Paul was founded by Peter the Great in 1703. 
 It contains the mortal remains of all the emper 
 ors and empresses of Russia from Peter the Great 
 to the late emperor, with the exception of Peter 
 the Second, who died in Moscow and was buried 
 there. 
 
 The side aisles are taken up with white marble 
 tombs that mark the sites of the graves. All are 
 adorned with gold crosses, gold corners, and 
 splendid funeral accessories, and surrounded by 
 palm trees and other growing plants and flowers 
 that bloom in the faint light of innumerable 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 313 
 
 burning tapers and lamps. This church is also 
 somewhat of an arsenal, its walls being decked 
 with flags, standards, and other trophies of war 
 taken from the French, Poles, Turks, Swedes, and 
 Persians. Among the many keys of captured 
 cities are those of Paris. 
 
 The most beautiful street in the city is the 
 Nevskoi Prospekt, It is three miles long and 
 more than one hundred feet wide. At one end 
 stand the admiralty buildings, which are sur 
 rounded by gardens full of trees and bright flow 
 ers. By crossing the garden one reaches the 
 pontoon bridge which spans the Neva. From 
 this bridge the panorama of St. Petersburg lay 
 before my eyes in all its splendor and greatness. 
 
 In every direction one sees churches, palaces, 
 huge architectural masses, long lines of massive 
 granite quays, bridges, canals laden with barges, 
 steamers, islands, rivers, small lakes, and parks 
 having little groves, grassy lawns, statuary, and 
 flowers. This affords a fine example of what may 
 be done with a marsh. 
 
 On the bank of the river stands a hut of wood 
 now encased in a stone house. It was the first 
 habitation built by Peter the Great, in 1703. 
 He occupied it while overseeing the construction 
 of his new city. It is a poor, one-story house, hav 
 ing but two rooms and a kitchen. One of these 
 is fitted up as a chapel. People congregate there 
 for prayer. 
 
314 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Peter is regarded as a saint by the populace; 
 indeed, all the Russian emperors are looked upon 
 by the peasantry as more than human, but Peter 
 is the most revered of all. Everything which has 
 belonged to him is kept with superstitious venera 
 tion. The furniture in this building is of his 
 own making. The tools with which he worked, 
 a boat that he made, and some books are shown to 
 the visitor. But the chief collection of his me 
 morials is in a gallery of the Hermitage called Pe 
 ter the Great s Gallery. It is of great interest. 
 
 The Nevskoi Prospekt is the principal street in 
 the city and is the pride of every patriotic Russian. 
 The entire characteristic movement of St. Pe 
 tersburg may be seen on this highway the 
 tramways, strings of carts laden with goods, 
 multitudinous common droskies, which look like 
 toy carriages, the finer private droskies, drawn by 
 splendid trotters, the throngs of silent foot pas 
 sengers, civil servants, officers in long gray over 
 coats, women of the lower classes wearing short 
 dresses of pale green and gaily embroidered 
 handkerchiefs on their heads, ladies in Parisian 
 toilets, here and there queer old women who seem 
 to have seen better days and who now console 
 themselves by smoking cigarettes, as they lounge 
 in the sun, street hawkers, who sell kvas and other 
 drinks, fruit, and flowers, nursemaids wearing the 
 national costume and coiffiere, a sort of tiara of 
 blue or red velvet embroidered with large pearl 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 315 
 
 beads, priests in long flowing black gowns and 
 tall brimless hats, sometimes covered with a veil, 
 Circassians with their long coats, the breasts of 
 which are stiff with cartridges, and a patrol of 
 Cossacks ambling along on their little horses, with 
 their hay nets slung from their saddles. 
 
 There is no other place in the city where such 
 a variety of people and costumes may be seen as 
 on this street, but the most noticeable feature of 
 a Russian street is a vehicle called drosky, a 
 little carriage that flies about in every direction. 
 The fare is cheap and every lady rides. The 
 minute you issue from your hotel or stop for a 
 second on the sidewalk, a dozen droskies will dash 
 up, the drivers will offer their services and ges 
 ticulate with their right hand. 
 
 There is- nothing like it in any other country. 
 It is a very low, small open carriage, having four 
 wheels. The hind ones are not more than two 
 and a half feet in diameter and the forward ones 
 about eighteen inches. There is a raised seat for 
 the driver and another that will hold two passen 
 gers. It has no support for the back and generally 
 has nothing to protect one from the weather, 
 though at Moscow covered droskies are not un 
 common. Over the wheels are splashboards, which 
 curve down and form a step only a few inches 
 from the ground. 
 
 The carriage is always of a dark color and the 
 seat is covered with dark cloth. The shafts are 
 
316 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 attached directly to the front axle and fastened to 
 the collar by means of straps wound around and 
 around, without rings or buckles. There are no 
 traces. The harness is as light as possible and is 
 adorned with fine chains and other ornaments 
 that glitter in the sun like gold or silver spangles. 
 
 The coachman is as peculiar as the vehicle he 
 drives. He wears a low-crowned felt hat, that 
 narrows dow r n toward the brim, is curled on the 
 sides, and is curved back and front, and a dark blue 
 or green caftan, with long plaited skirts reaching to 
 the ground. This caftan is wrapped around the 
 body and fastened under the left arm by hooks 
 and eyes or buttons. 
 
 While I was in St. Petersburg I made a tour of 
 the islands, a great place of resort. There are 
 four or five close to one another in the mouth of 
 the Neva. They are intersected by canals and 
 small lakes and connected by bridges. They are 
 all perfectly flat and are laid out in parks and 
 villas. The constant interchange of land and 
 water is rather bewildering. One does not know 
 when an island is passed and another is reached. 
 They are the pride and delight of the city. 
 
 Several nice excursions may be made from St. 
 Petersburg. The most interesting one that I 
 made was to Peterhoff. A palace is there built 
 by Peter the Great. It is situated on an eminence 
 overlooking a green plain of tree tops. Beyond 
 are the waters of the Gulf of Finland, the port and 
 fortification of Cronstadt. 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 317 
 
 In the interior are innumerable articles of vertu, 
 gorgeous tapestries, marble, porcelain, and mal 
 achite, as well as a great many pictures, which 
 represent chiefly the naval victories of Russian 
 commanders. A fountain called Samson throws 
 a jet eighty feet high in front of the palace. A 
 gigantic bronze figure forces open the jaws of a 
 lion, from which the water rushes. On each side 
 are jets which throw the water vertically and hor 
 izontally. The principal basins are at the foot of 
 the elevation on which the palace stands. A 
 flight of broad steps leads from them to the palace. 
 Ranges of marble slabs, over which the water 
 pours, are on both sides. These slabs are arranged 
 so as to allow lamps to be placed behind the water. 
 I counted three hundred jets of water flowing at 
 one time. The splendor of these water works is 
 not equaled anywhere except at Versailles, near 
 Paris. 
 
 I have not told of all the magnificence which is 
 to be seen in St. Petersburg. It will compare with 
 any other city in Europe and surpass most of them. 
 The northern twilight in summer lasts until 
 nearly midnight. The sun disappears, the red 
 sunset glow fades, yet does not quite vanish. 
 
 The Greek calendar is in use all over Russia, 
 which is twelve days behind the Latin, that is 
 used in all other parts of Europe and America. 
 
 The next place of interest that I visited was 
 Moscow. I traveled by rail and found the coun- 
 
318 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 try along the route very monotonous. Hour after 
 hour one sees broad plains, which extend far into 
 the distance, with occasionally a forest of pine and 
 silver birch, and at very rare intervals a village 
 composed of a score of cottages built of logs and 
 surrounded by poorly tilled fields. The fields are 
 cultivated by swarms of peasant women, dressed 
 in red shirts and wearing bright handkerchiefs 
 on their heads. It is said that there is not a 
 mountain in this part of Russia. The highest 
 land between the Baltic and the Black Seas is 
 only one thousand three hundred and twenty- 
 eight feet above the sea. 
 
 The first view as one approaches Moscow pro 
 duces an impression never to be forgotten. The 
 numberless steeple points, star-spangled belfries, 
 airy turrets, strangely shaped towers of palaces 
 and of old convents, attract the eye, while the 
 edifices themselves remain concealed. The city, 
 formerly the capital of the Russian Empire, has 
 a population of about eight hundred thousand. 
 It is situated on the banks of the Moskva River, 
 which contributes its water, by the Channel of 
 Oka, to the great Volga. 
 
 It was founded in 1147 and was one of the most 
 irregular cities in the world, but it was all de 
 stroyed except the Kremlin by the conflagration 
 of 1812. The Kremlin suffered severely after 
 wards from the mines that w^ere sprung under its 
 w r alls by order of Napoleon, on its evacuation by 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 319 
 
 the French. But it has been completely restored, 
 and Moscow has risen from her ashes larger and 
 more beautiful than before. 
 
 The Kremlin stands in the heart of the city. 
 Its inclosure is two miles in circuit. Most of the 
 interesting as well as the historical spectacles of 
 Moscow are to be seen within its walls. It is the 
 treasury of nearly all that is dear to the Russian 
 heart. It is crowded with palaces, churches, mon 
 asteries, arsenals, museums, and other buildings 
 of almost every imaginable kind. The Tartar 
 style of architecture, with gilded domes and cupo 
 las, generally predominates. There are round, 
 square, and pointed roofed towers, belfries, turrets, 
 spires, sentry boxes, fixed upon minarets, domes, 
 walls pierced with loopholes, ramparts, fortifica 
 tions of every species, and steeples of every height, 
 style, and color. The aggregate forms a most 
 agreeable picture when seen from the distance. 
 
 The Kremlin is entered by five gates. The 
 most important two are the Redeemer s and the 
 St. Nicholas . Each of these has a tradition. A 
 picture of the Saviour has been hung over the 
 first since the foundation of the city. It is an 
 object of the greatest reverence to every Russian, 
 and neither the emperor nor the humblest peas 
 ant would dare to pass under it without removing 
 his hat. The outriders of splendid equipages, the 
 bearers of dispatches who rush through on mat 
 ters of life or death, all remove their hats and 
 
320 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 hold them until they pass through to the other 
 side, and visitors must do the same else they will 
 be speedily reminded of their mistake. 
 
 Tradition says that when the French army was 
 there in 1812, they tried to remove the picture, 
 thinking the frame was of solid gold; but every 
 ladder they placed against the wall fell broken in 
 two. Next an attempt was made to batter the 
 wall and picture with cannon, but the powder 
 would not ignite. After that fires were built 
 under the gun, which caused it to burst backward 
 into a thousand pieces and to wound the artillery 
 men; still the picture was unharmed. 
 
 Near the St. Nicholas, Napoleon s powder train 
 exploded too ; although many of the surrounding 
 buildings were completely destroyed and the tower 
 was split up to the picture of the saint, neither 
 the glass that covered it nor the lamp that hung 
 before it was injured in the least. 
 
 The palace within the Kremlin is built on the 
 site of the old Tartar palace, and presents an odd 
 mixture of the styles of architecture of the differ 
 ent periods. The interior, however, is magnificent. 
 It is as sumptuous as Russian architects, decora 
 tors, and upholsterers could make it. 
 
 The treasury is one of the most wonderful mu 
 seums in the world. It is the depository of the 
 venerated historical objects which are hereditary 
 in the imperial families. The collection con 
 sists of regalia, arms, armor, carriages, costumes, 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 321 
 
 thrones, crowns, enamels, scepters, gold and silver 
 ware, precious stones, jewelry, and other objects 
 of art, the value of which would be difficult to 
 estimate. 
 
 Near this palace stands the tower of Ivan Veliki, 
 three hundred and twenty feet in height. It is 
 divided into five stories and has thirty-four bells 
 of various sizes, the largest weighing sixty-four 
 tons. 
 
 Close to the base of the tower, on a pedestal of 
 granite, stands the monarch of all bells. It was 
 cast in 1730, during the reign of Empress Anne. 
 The tower in which it hung was burned seven 
 years later. When it fell a piece was broken from 
 its side. The bell remained buried until 1836, 
 when it was placed in its present position with 
 the fragment beside it. This bell is twenty-six 
 feet high, sixty-eight feet in circumference, two 
 feet thick, and weighs two hundred tons. 
 
 The arsenal is very extensive and always has 
 weapons sufficient to arm one hundred and fifty 
 thousand men. The cannon taken from the dif 
 ferent European powers are arranged in rows 
 along the walls outside of this building. They 
 amount to eight hundred and seventy-five pieces. 
 One cannon in a corner of the arsenal has never 
 been fired. It is called the King of Guns and 
 weighs fort} r tons. 
 
 Moscow is said to contain one thousand six 
 hundred churches, including shrines and chapels. 
 21 
 
322 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 The churches are all very grand, being beauti 
 fully decorated inside and out, but I will attempt 
 to describe only a few of them. 
 
 Outside of the Kremlin walls stands the Cathe 
 dral of St. Basil, the Beautiful. Russian churches 
 are much alike, but this differs from all the others 
 that I have seen. It has at least twenty domes 
 and towers, which are not only of different shapes 
 and sizes, but they are gilded and painted in all 
 possible varieties of color. There is no main 
 chapel. Each dome has a separate place of wor 
 ship, where services may be carried on without 
 disturbing the worshiper in any other. It was 
 erected by John the Terrible. It is said that he 
 was well pleased with the skill of the Italian 
 architect, and, after eulogizing his work, ordered 
 that his eyes be put out, to prevent him from 
 planning another. 
 
 Within the Kremlin is the Cathedral of the 
 Assumption, one of the most interesting of Rus 
 sia s Christian monuments. All the emperors 
 have been crowned in this church. The corona 
 tion is said to be a grand sight. Among the 
 numerous relics and objects of interest behind the 
 altar screen is a model in gold of Mt. Sinai. A 
 golden coffin containing the host is within, and 
 on the lid is an engraving of Moses standing on 
 the top of the mountain, bearing in his hands the 
 tablets of the law. There is an immense Bible 
 which was presented to the cathedral by the 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 323 
 
 mother of Peter the Great. The binding is cov 
 ered with emeralds and other precious stones, 
 which cost more than a million of dollars. There 
 are five rows of pictures on the walls, representing 
 saints and the Virgin. They are bedecked with 
 breastplates, necklaces, and bracelets, literally 
 ablaze with diamonds, emeralds, amethysts, pearls, 
 sapphires, turquoise, and rubies. Add to this the 
 magnificence of the silver and vermilion lusters 
 hanging from the ceiling, the profusion of burn 
 ing tapers and lamps, suspended from gilt brack 
 ets glimmering before every holy image, and cast 
 ing reflections over the multitude of militant 
 archangels, and the brilliancy of the interior of 
 this cathedral passes all conception. 
 
 The cathedral of the Archangel Michael is 
 another grand church. It is noted for being the 
 last resting place of all the czars, to the time of 
 Peter the Great. The interior is adorned with 
 gold and precious stones. The vestments are 
 gorgeous and costly. The gospels are finely il 
 luminated, and have an enameled gold cover 
 studded with precious stones. There is a cross 
 here having remarkably large-sized pearls, which 
 belonged to John the Terrible. Many of the 
 treasures in these churches are exhibited only to 
 male visitors. 
 
 The Cathedral of the Annunciation is beauti 
 fully decorated. The floor is paved with agate, 
 jasper, and carnelian. The frescoes are most curi- 
 
324 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 ous ; they represent Greek philosophers, as heralds 
 of Christ s coming. The former czars were bap 
 tized and married in this church. It is rich in 
 saintly relics, and has among its objects of inter 
 est a painting of the meeting of the blessed and 
 condemned spirits. It was used by the French 
 as a stable for their horses in 1812. 
 
 The great riding school of Moscow is celebrated 
 as being the largest room in the world, whose 
 roof is unsupported by pillar or prop. Two regi 
 ments of cavalry are able to go through all their 
 maneuvers and evolutions in this vast room. 
 The boulevards around the Kremlin are very 
 wide; they are planted with shade trees, and have 
 numerous benches. In the suburbs trees, gar 
 dens, and parks abound. 
 
 During my visit at Moscow I made an excur 
 sion to the Sparrow Hills, a slight eminence a few 
 miles from the city, and the first point from which 
 Napoleon with his army saw Moscow. The en 
 tire ridge is laid out in gardens, which contain 
 booths, restaurants, cafes, and a pretty little sum 
 mer theater. It was here that Napoleon, in sight 
 of the blazing city, dictated the intelligence of the 
 conflagration to France. This is a favorite sum 
 mer evening resort for the Moscow people. 
 
 The whole city outside of the Kremlin presents 
 such a vast empty aspect that it seems to have been 
 built in expectation of some future population 
 rather than to meet the present wants; but the many 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 325 
 
 wooden buildings and the frequency of fires offer 
 an explanation for the immensely wide streets, 
 and the isolation of the houses. By this means the 
 spreading of fire is limited. The city is irregu 
 larly built. Churches and other public build 
 ings are mingled confusedly with private dwell 
 ings, large and small, thereby making the place 
 more attractive. There are many indulations in 
 the streets, which form fine points of view. 
 
 Warsaw was the next place I visited. It was 
 the capital of Poland until that country was 
 united to Russia. It is situated on both sides of 
 the Vistula River, which is spanned by a fine iron 
 bridge. This bridge, a beautiful park, a few in 
 teresting streets, and some large public buildings, 
 constitute all there is to be seen in Warsaw. 
 
 After having spent a few days in Warsaw, I 
 went to Vienna. This unattractive route has no 
 fine forest, pretty cottages, lakes, or waterfalls to 
 please the traveler. 
 
 Vienna, the capital of Austria, is one of the 
 most charming cities in Europe. In fact, no Eu 
 ropean city except Paris has more parks or finer 
 public buildings, including cathedrals and palaces. 
 I visited this city in 1883. I have described it in 
 a previous chapter, so will pass on to Buda Pesth, 
 the capital of Hungary, occupying a pleasant site 
 on the Danube, one hundred and fifteen miles 
 below Vienna. The name is derived from the 
 united towns of Pesth and Buda, they being situ 
 ated one upon each side of the river. 
 
326 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 Buda, the older part, was an ancient Roman 
 colony. Pesth, a modern city, has wide streets, 
 pleasant promenades, and magnificent edifices. 
 There is a beautiful suspension bridge over the 
 Danube. The two cities are connected by a good 
 iron bridge. There are also numbers of ferry 
 boats which ply between the river banks along 
 the entire extension of the city 
 
 Buda is built on both sides of a bluff, which is 
 crowned with a small fort. From this point is 
 spread a magnificent panorama. To the right is 
 the hill on which stands the ancient fortress of 
 Buda; to the front is the majestic royal castle, with 
 gardens and terraces spreading down the declivity 
 of the hill almost to the water s edge. In the 
 background are the vine-clad mountains of Buda, 
 which produce most delicate wines. By crossing 
 the suspension bridge one reaches an excellent 
 tunnel that leads through this hill. A few steps 
 bring one to the little station of the wire rope 
 railway, which transports one up to the ancient 
 fortress. 
 
 There is a delightful island in the middle of 
 the Danube, called Margaret Island. It comprises 
 one hundred and twenty -two acres of land near 
 the city, and is the property of Archduke Joseph. 
 It is laid out in gardens that contain groups of 
 stately trees, fragrant flower beds, and smooth, 
 green lawns. It has also many spacious build 
 ings, bath houses, restaurants, dance halls, and 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 327 
 
 music stands, where gypsy "bands perform two or 
 three times a week. The small ruins of an ancient 
 nunnery and a garden of remarkable roses stand 
 in the center of the island. There are springs of 
 hot water, too, which afford a cure, or at least a 
 mitigation, to suffering humanity. There are also 
 hot water springs all along the bank of the Dan 
 ube near Buda. The famous bitter-water springs 
 are here, the products of which are exported over 
 the whole globe. If these springs were properly 
 managed, Buda Pesth could become a favorite 
 watering place. . 
 
 On leaving the above city I returned to Vienna 
 and wended my way to Zurich, in Switzerland. 
 On this route one passes through the Tyrol, where 
 the scenery becomes more varied as the road 
 winds in sharp curves through deep defiles, over 
 hung by tremendous cliffs_, mounts slowly to 
 dizzy heights, creeps along the edge of precipices, 
 through dense forests, across beautiful natural 
 parks, and along the banks of swiftly running 
 mountain streams. The hills and mountains are 
 covered with fir trees, relieved by villages and fine 
 old castles. Of the endless variety of natural 
 beauty on this route my pen fails me in giving 
 a picture; I can only assure the lover of nature 
 that there could be no more delightful scenes of 
 lakes, mountains, forests, streams, and moorlands. 
 From the summit the descent is quite steep, and 
 the road winds through woodland scenery and ex- 
 
LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 quisite cascades, until the shore of Lake Zurich is 
 reached. From this point the road leads along 
 the lake shore to the city. 
 
 Zurich is romantically situated at the base of 
 the Alps, at the place where the Limmat River 
 issues from the lake that lies at the foot of the 
 long line of snowy Alps. It is embedded between 
 ranges of hills, whose slopes are covered with vine 
 yards, orchards, and groups of houses, in pleas 
 ing alternation, while the heights are crowned 
 with dusky forests of pine. 
 
 Thousands upon thousands of tourists have ad 
 mired the beauties of this lake, and nothing can 
 be more delightful than to glide swiftly over the 
 smooth waters in a steamboat, to the upper end 
 of the lake, past the vine-clad hills and the trim 
 villages that line its banks. 
 
 Zurich, with its numerous delightful promenades, 
 pleased me very much. The Quay promenade, 
 bordering the lake, is connected by a magnificent 
 bridge, from which there is a splendid view of the 
 Alpine chains. The valley of the Limmat, near 
 the city, is not wide, and the heights which limit it 
 are studded with numerous houses and villas, 
 which are interspersed in a very pleasing manner 
 with gardens, orchards, and vineyards. 
 
 From Zurich I went to Paris, en route for Havre, 
 where I embarked on the steamship Normandie, 
 bound for New York. The voyage across the 
 Atlantic was not attended with any incident 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 329 
 
 worthy of note. The weather, during the entire 
 journey, was fine. There was a large number of 
 passengers, among whom were some excellent 
 musicians who entertained us in the social hall 
 every evening. 
 
 On my arrival at New York I found the custom 
 authorities not a whit less particular in their ex 
 amination of baggage than those in other countries. 
 I shall not undertake a description of the places I 
 visited in the United States. The summer resorts 
 are numerous, and many of them are delightful. 
 The mountains, hills, valleys, glens, lakes, and 
 rivers of the United States present scenes of 
 beauty and grandeur which no region in Europe 
 can surpass, and which fully compensate for the 
 lack of picture galleries and fine churches. 
 
 After a short stay in New York I paid a visit 
 to my relatives in the New England States. I 
 then returned to New York en route for Chicago, 
 where I remained two weeks with friends who 
 pointed out to me all the attractions of the Garden 
 City of the West. 
 
 This city was nearly swept from the earth s 
 surface by fire in 1871. Property was destroyed 
 to the value of nearly three hundred million dol 
 lars; but, like Moscow, it has risen from its ashes 
 larger and more beautiful than before. It has 
 mammoth hotels, spacious stores, fine ecclesiasti 
 cal edifices, other large public buildings, and beau 
 tiful residences, while iron foundries, machine 
 
330 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 shops, steam sawmills, planing mills, flour mills, 
 and huge elevators are everywhere to be seen. Its 
 market for grain, beef, and pork is the largest in 
 the world. The parks are numerous and the 
 drives delightful. 
 
 When I had completed my visit, I journeyed on 
 to the Twin Cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis, 
 located on the Upper Mississippi, two thousand 
 and sixty-five miles above its mouth. They are 
 ten miles apart from center to center. Their 
 combined population is nearly three hundred 
 thousand, and although they are of considerable 
 commercial importance, they contain nothing of 
 interest to detain a traveler. 
 
 My next stopping place was Winnipeg, the capi 
 tal of the Province of Manitoba. It is at the junc 
 tion of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. It is well 
 built and has a population of thirty thousand. 
 For many years it has been the chief post of the 
 Hudson Bay Company. 
 
 The next place of interest to me was Vancouver. 
 Leaving Winnipeg I traveled by the Canadian 
 Pacific through a broad plain checkered with 
 fields of grain and dotted with farmhouses. We 
 passed station after station, resembling each other 
 except in the size of the villages surrounding 
 them. These generally have a church, a hotel, 
 and a grain elevator. 
 
 After a ride of nearly a thousand miles over 
 this almost level country, we reached the foothills 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 331 
 
 of the Rocky Mountains, which rise in successive 
 tiers to the snowy ranges behind them. As we 
 proceeded, the snowy mountains seemed to rise 
 abruptly in great masses, streaked and capped 
 with snow and ice. Next the train passed between 
 two almost vertical walls of dizzy height. This 
 is the gap by which the Rocky Mountains are 
 entered. 
 
 In a few hours we reached Banff, the station for 
 Rocky Mountain Park and Hot Springs, a medic 
 inal watering place and pleasure resort. This 
 park is a national reservation, twenty-six miles 
 long and ten wide, embracing parts of the valleys 
 of the Bow, Spray, and Cascade Rivers, with 
 Devil s Lake and several grand mountain ranges. 
 From this point to the Pacific Coast the scenery 
 is magnificent. Three great mountain ranges 
 must be crossed, the Selkirk, the Gold Range, and 
 the Cascade Range. The Selkirk Range forms 
 the backbone of the country, rising in this part 
 higher than the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 At Rogers Pass is a glacier whose top measures 
 a mile in width. Several currents flow from under 
 neath the base of this mass of ice and unite in a 
 deep gorge, in which Glacier Hotel is situated. 
 Magnificent mountain views are to be obtained 
 from this spot. The railroad avails itself of this 
 ravine and also of another that comes into it at 
 right angles a short distance below, to get down 
 out of the pass. The line, by repeated loops and 
 
332 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 double loops, runs for six miles, descends six hun 
 dred feet, and accomplishes just two miles of actual 
 distance. Here are six almost parallel lines in 
 full view, each at a lower stage; they are the loops 
 of the Canadian Pacific. Further on the steep 
 banks of the deep winding canons of the Thomp 
 son and Fraser Rivers have called for great engi 
 neering skill, and give, for hundreds of miles, a 
 succession of grand scenes. From Boston Bar, 
 the principal canon of the Fraser, to Yale, the 
 scenery is intensely interesting. The great river, 
 forced between vertical walls of rock, roars and 
 foams madly. Down this vast chasm go the rail 
 way and river together. The former is cut into 
 the cliff two hundred feet above it. It twists and 
 turns in every direction and plunges at intervals 
 of a minute or two through projecting angles of 
 rock, which seem to close the way. 
 
 As the valley widens, farms and orchards be 
 come frequent, and, after passing through the forest 
 of mammoth trees, we find ourselves on the tide 
 waters of the Pacific. Shortly after this the train 
 rolls into the station at Vancouver, the western 
 terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. 
 
 The city of Vancouver is situated on a penin 
 sula, which slopes from the water on either side 
 to an elevation of nearly two hundred feet. The 
 city was incorporated in 1886, at which time it 
 had a population of only six hundred. It has 
 about twenty thousand now r . The present site of 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 the city was at that time a dense wilderness of 
 huge firs; where they stood are massive blocks of 
 brick and stone. 
 
 The city is well provided with parks, the largest 
 of which is Stanley Park, of nearly one thousand 
 acres. A beautiful driveway has been constructed 
 around it, and from some of the elevations on this 
 road an extensive view is obtained of the surround 
 ing country and of the numerous islands in the 
 Gulf of Georgia. There are also several other at 
 tractive parks. 
 
 After having visited the places of interest in 
 Vancouver, I went by steamer to Tacoma, and 
 thence by rail to Portland, Oregon. But all the 
 pleasures of the trip came to an end at this place. 
 Up to this time I had had no hardships to endure, 
 no difficulties to overcome, no accidents or annoy 
 ances of any kind. So far the trip had been 
 made with a great deal of pleasure and comfort, 
 which will never be forgotten. 
 
 I left Portland at six o clock in the evening of 
 the 12th of November for San Francisco. After 
 a run of nearly two hours, when crossing a long 
 trestle bridge over what is known as Lake Labish, 
 fifty miles south of Portland, the train and trestle 
 went down together, dropping twenty feet. The 
 crash was tremendous. The engine was over 
 turned and half buried in the mud. The tender 
 overturned behind it, and the cars were broken 
 and twisted out of shape. The number killed at 
 
334 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 
 
 the time was only three, but since then death has 
 claimed two more. More than a hundred were 
 injured, some very seriously; in fact, almost every 
 one in the train was more or less injured. 
 
 After a stay of three weeks I had so far recov 
 ered as to be able to proceed on my way to San 
 Francisco, thus completing my second trip around 
 the world. 
 
 There is no course of life that affords more ad 
 vantages than that of travel, especially in foreign 
 countries. It gives a better education than can 
 be acquired from books; and we learn to appre 
 ciate our native land, our own home, for having 
 been away. I have always returned with my love 
 for my own country deepened and my mind 
 broadened. I travel alone and find it the most 
 independent way. One can always find persons 
 with whom to talk, and often someone who will 
 accompany him when sight-seeing in large cities. 
 This over they part and perhaps never meet again. 
 I have often met persons who had started in com 
 pany with others, but could not agree and had 
 parted, each going by himself. 
 
 In order to enjoy traveling one should have a 
 contented spirit, that adapts itself easily to cir 
 cumstances and treats temporary inconveniences 
 with good-humored contempt. One should not 
 be dependent on little comforts and indulgences, 
 but manage to be happy in their absence. 
 
 During my travels I have seldom taken a letter 
 
JAMES BATCHELDER. 
 
 335 
 
 of introduction, nor do I care for one. I depend 
 much upon accidental acquaintances, and I have 
 always found that being kind and affable to those 
 whom I met, paying proper respect to their man 
 ners and customs, and feeling at home among 
 them, was a sure method of enabling me to enjoy 
 myself and to find comforts as sweet as those I 
 had been accustomed to in my native land. 
 
 And now my roving disposition has been well 
 satisfied. There are few places visited by travel 
 ers that I have not seen. During my wanderings 
 I have come in contact with the rich, the poor, 
 the cultivated, and the rough; but never once, in 
 any part of the world, did I experience the slight 
 est discourtesy or lack of kindness. Often perfect 
 strangers have taken trouble and even put them 
 selves out to do me a favor; and for this kindness 
 and hospitality, that was everywhere ex-tended to 
 me, from all with whom it has been my fortune 
 to come in contact, I have the most grateful recol 
 lection. 
 
STAMP ED 
 
 
 1933 
 
 LB 2l-50w-l, 3j 
 
U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 100144