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YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

FROM THE COLLECTION MADE BY
CHARLES SHELDON B.A. 1890
OF BOOKS ON NATURAL HISTORY
EXPLORATION • HUNTING & FISHING
GIFT OF FRANCIS P. GARVAN
B.A. 1897

TRAVELLING ABOUT
OVER NEW AND OLD GROUND.

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Front.

BICEABD O'HiEi EUEKK.

TRAVELLING ABOUT

NEW AND OLD GROUND

LADY BARKER, Wavy 'v -
Author of " Stories About'. — " "Station Life in New Zealand,'1 &°c

WITH MAPS AND

TRA TIONS

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS
THE BROADWAY, LU'DGATE
NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET

Eca.
812Bb

PREFACE.
Travelling About needs but the shortest of
prefaces — merely a few words to stand on the
threshold and explain to its readers, as they enter,
that the author leaves it entirely to themselves to
consider her book either an introduction to other
books, or a book in itself. This they will do as their
haste or leisure, their taste or distaste, may lead
them ; but she ventures to hope that, in either case,
her labour will not be lost. While she will be the
better pleased should these necessarily short and
imperfect accounts of the travels of such men as
Livingstone, Burton, and Baker, induce her readers
to read the books written by the travellers them
selves, she confesses that she will be very much
mistaken and disappointed if an abstract and brief
chronicle of some chapters of modern travel be not
found to possess some interest of its own for young
people. So far as she is aware, she is not doing over again
a task — or rather a pleasure — which has been done
before; for, though unnumbered epitomes of travel
have been compiled, their editors seem invariably

vi PREFACE.
to have begun with Marco Polo and to have left off
somewhere about Mungo Park, whereas her most
ancient author wore his " sandal shoon and scallop
shell " no more than forty years ago, while the
majority wear them still ; and may they wear them
long. If, in the intervals of their pilgrimages, any
of them should find time to trouble themselves with
such a little thing as her book, she trusts they will
own she has not been a mere copyist from theirs ;
trusts they also will wish her well in her endeavour
to diffuse the knowledge of a world so much of
which they may call their own — a world the wonders
of which were in old time seven, but, through their
achievements and the achievements of enthusiastic
and gallant men who lived before them, are now
seventy times seven, and its beauties ten thousand
times ten thousand.
A list of the books consulted is added on the
next page.
F. N. B.

LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED.
Wills' Exploration of Australia.
Shirt's Narrative.
Polack's New Zealand.
Dilke's Greater Britain.
Meade's Ride through New Zealand.
Stephens' and Catherwood's Central America.
Lord Milton's North West Passage.
Pumpelly's Travels.
Captain Townshend's Travels.
Burton's Highlands of Brazil.
Hinchcliffs South America.
Head's Pampas.
Smith's Peru.
Burton's Abeokuta and Camaroons.
Livingstone's South Africa.
Speke and Grant's Victoria N'yanza.
Baker's Albert N'yanza.
Rajah Brooke's Journals.
Charles Brooke's Sarawak.
Keppel's Travels.
McLeod's Peeps at the Far East
Sherrard Osborn's Japan.
Steinmetz's Japan.

CONTENTS.
PART I.— AUSTRALASIA.
CHAPTER I. PAGH
THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION  3
CHAPTER II.
THE EXPLORERS' FATE  l6
CHAPTER III.
STURT'S NARRATIVE  29
CHAPTER IV.
BACK TO MOORUNDI  37
CHAPTER V.
NEW ZEALAND AS IT WAS  45
CHAPTER VI.
NEW ZEALAND AS* IT IS  57
CHAPTER VII.
THE MIDDLE ISLAND  68

x CONTENTS.

PART II.— NORTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER VIII. PAGE
BURIED CITIES  79
CHAPTER IX.
DANGERS BY LAND AND SEA  91
CHAPTER X.
FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN  I05
CHAPTER XI.
ACROSS THE ROCKV MOUNTAINS  112
CHAPTER XII.;
ARIZONA AND THE SILVER MINES  II9
CHAPTER XIII.
HUNTING EXPERIENCES  I3I
PART IIL— SOUTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER XIV.
THROUGH THE MINING PROVINCE  wy

CHAPTER XV.
ON THE RIVER 

157

CHAPTER XVI.
IN AND ABOUT BUENOS AYRES  r 169

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTER XVIT. PAGE
THE PAMPAS  l8o

CHAPTER XVIII.
PERU  I90
PART IV.— AFRICA.
CHAPTER XIX.
ABEOKUTA  . . 203
CHAPTER XX.
THE CAMAROONS  214
CHAPTER XXI.
THE GREAT DESERT  225
CHAPTER XXII.
TO LOANDA  234
CHAPTER XXIII.
FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE  244
CHAPTER XXIV.
FROM ZANZIBAR TO THE VICTORPA N'YANZA  25.7
CHAPTER XXV.
THE MEETING AT GONDOKORO  269
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE ALBERT N'YANZA  280

xii CONTENTS.
PART V.— ASIA.
CHAPTER XXVII. PAGE
BORNEO, SARAWAK, AND CELEBES  295
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE DYAKS  305
CHAPTER XXIX.
FROM CALCUTTA TO LUCKNOW  316
CHAPTER XXX.
LUCKNOW, AGRA, AND DELHI  326
CHAPTER XXXI.
UP TO SIMLA  336
CHAPTER XXXII.
>APAN  343

PART I.
A USTRALASfA.

120 125

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

CHAPTER I.
THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
When I was in Melbourne five years ago, the first
thing I went to see was the beautiful statue at the
upper end of Collins Street, to the memory of Burke
and Wills, the unfortunate explorers of the interior
of Australia.
No one can look at that statue, at least I could not,
without grieving at the recollection of these two lives
sacrificed to carelessness and neglect of orders. If
one quarter of the money which was expended, and
the trouble which was taken to collect their scattered
bones, and to do honour to their memories, had been
bestowed on them whilst they yet survived, there is
little doubt but that they would have been alive now.
There lies before me at this moment a photograph
of Mr. Burke, taken on the eve of his journey. It
represents a tall vigorous man in perfect health,
with a handsome, resolute countenance. At his feet
a camel is crouching, and its pack-saddle is also
B 2

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

visible. Vast treeless plains stretch away in the dim
background ; and a faintly delineated camel proces
sion occupies the middle distance. I see by reference
to Dr. Wills' account of the Expedition, that this
portrait must have been taken at the end of the first
day's march out of Melbourne — which, by the way,
was only a seven-miles stage. Mr. Wills, whose name
is so closely associated with his leader's throughout,
refused to be photographed, alleging that his father
already possessed a satisfactory likeness of him. This
likeness is the frontispiece of Dr. Wills' book; it
shows us a gentle pensive face, with a broad thought
ful brow : such a good countenance, that we can easily
believe the fond father's declaration of the worth and
depth of William John Wills' character.
We do not know much about these two brave self-
sacrificing men here in England ; but I can testify
that they are remembered with gratitude and deep
pity by their fellow-colonists in Victoria. I asked and
heard a great deal about them myself, but I shall
found the account of their Expedition on a book
called " Successful Exploration of Australia." It
is that written by the father of the explorer, and
contains all the particulars which could be obtained
on the spot by a careful collector and sifter of the
scanty evidence which was all that seems to have
been forthcoming.
The first part of the volume is occupied by a
memoir of William John Wills. From it we learn to
love and respect the man for his unselfishness, his
perseverance, and his devotion to the welfare and im
provement of his adopted country. He went out to
Melbourne in 1853, twelve years and more before I
saw that wonderful city ; but if a century had passed
since he wrote his first impressions of the wooden and

THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 5
canvas town which then bore the name of Melbourne,
the progress in all the arts and refinements of civiliza
tion could scarcely have been more striking.
But it is not with beautiful Acclimatization Gar
dens, with magnificent Houses of Legislature, with a
Free Library which is unequalled in the world, that
this story has now to do. We must resolutely turn
our back on the Melbourne of to-day, with its hotels,
its theatres, its clubs, its shops, its railway stations, its
banks, and its fine houses, and stand with the little
band of pioneers in the Royal Park just outside
Melbourne, on the 20th August, i860. I stood there
myself five years later, and sadly thought of that
Monday morning, with all its gay bustle, the tents
disappearing, as they were struck and packed one
after the other ; the long procession of waggons, of
pack-horses, of drays, and lastly of camels.
We learn from Dr. Wills' book to hate and distrust
those camels at the very outset of the journey. They
were brought over from India by one Mr. Landells
expressly for this Expedition ; wonders were antici
pated from them as beasts of burden, but they appear
to have signally failed to realize any of the many
sanguine expectations of the explorers. Every one
who knows anything about camels knows that they
are, in Scotch phraseology, " vara kittle cattle " to
have anything to do with. Their patience is very
much exaggerated ; they cannot carry any weight
proportionate to their size, and their long sprawling
legs soon fail them, except on absolutely dry level
ground. Why then were they selected to carry the
necessaries of existence for these poor brave men over
a country of which nothing was known, and which
turned out to be perfectly unsuitable for them ?
However, it is only too easy to be wise now ; and

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

instead of railing at the camels, let us come back to
the morning of the start, with its sunshine and its
warm soft breeze. Nearly the whole population, as
Dr. Wills tells us, turned out to witness the imposing
spectacle. He copies the account which appeared in
the Melbourne Herald of the 2 1st August, and I
cannot do better than transcribe a portion of the
newspaper narrative for you.
I may skip a few resonant preliminary blasts of
the Herald's trumpet, and come at once to the enu
meration of the " ten thousand or more of our good
citizens, who there assembled to witness the departure
of the Exploring Expedition. Never have we seen
such a manifestation of heartfelt interest in any
public undertaking of the kind as on this occasion.
The oldest dwellers in Australia have experienced
nothing equal to it.
" At an early hdur crowds of eager holiday folks,
pedestrian and equestrian, were to be seen hieing
along the dusty ways to the pleasant glades and
umbrageous shade of the Royal Park. A busy scene
was there presented. Men, horses, camels, drays, and
goods, were scattered here and there amongst the
tents, in the sheds, and on the greensward, in pic
turesque confusion ; everything premised a departure
—the caravansery was to be deserted. Hour after
hour passed in the preparations for starting. By and
by, however, the drays were loaded — though not be
fore a burden of 3 cwt. for each camel at starting was
objected to ; and extra vehicles had to be procured.
The horses and camels were securely packed, and their
loads properly adjusted.
"It was exactly a quarter to four o'clock when the
Expedition got into marching order. A lane was
opened through the crowd, and in this the line was

THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 7
formed ; Mr. Burke on his pretty little grey at the
head. The Exploration Committee of the Royal
Society took up a position in front.
" The Mayor of Melbourne then mounted one of the
drays, and said : ' Mr. Burke, I am fully aware that
the grand assemblage, this day, while it has impeded
your movements in starting, is at the same time a
source of much gratification to you. It assures you
of the sincere sympathy of the citizens. I will not
detain you ; but for this great crowd, and on behalf of
the colony at large, I say, God speed you.'
" Mr. Burke (uncovered) said, in a clear earnest voice
that was heard all over the crowd : ' Mr. Mayor, on
behalf of myself and the Expedition I beg to return
you my most sincere thanks. No Expedition has ever
started under such favourable circumstances as this.
The people, the Government, the Committee — all have
done heartily what they could do. It is now our
turn ; and we shall never do well till we justify what
you have done in showing what we can do ' (loud and
prolonged cheering)."
Then they started, and our hearts sink within us
from the very first. In vain we learn that the Expe
dition had been carefully organized by a practical and
talented man, that the arrangement of its details had
occupied more than two years, and that over .£9,000
had been subscribed in Victoria alone, a large sum
for the undeveloped resources of the colony to fur
nish. There were divisions in the camp even before
it became a camp, and doubts and misgivings sprang
up at the beginning.
Looking at it dispassionately, and with the most
earnest wish not to depreciate Mr. Burke's character
or services, I cannot make myself think he was fitted
to be the head of such an Expedition. He must have

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

been from all accounts absolutely fearless of danger,
of great physical strength, generous, loyal, and noble
as any Paladin of old. But, alas ! there is something
more required for a leader of men. There is fore
thought, decision, clearness, and conciseness in giving
orders, and much more which cannot be set down here.
These poor Burke, fine fellow as he was, does not
appear to have possessed ; and yet it seems hard and
cruel to cast now even one reproachful glance at his
lowly grave under the box-tree in the pathless roll
ing plains which lie between New South Wales and
the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Mr. Wills was nearly perfect as a second in com
mand. Possessing the strictest sense of discipline
and unquestioning obedience, unflagging cheerfulness
and endurance, he would have been the most
trusty weapon which ever came to a commander's
hand ; but instead of this, he found himself in posi
tions where his life at last paid the forfeit of vacillating
ideas, based on miserably slender information, and
where self-will and opposition to his chief could alone
have saved them both.
We must remember that the eyes of all the in
habitants of the Australian colonies were turned upon
this Expedition ; and to account for and appreciate
the breathless interest which attended its progress
we must recollect that the colonists were waiting for
news of what sort of country lay beyond the com
paratively narrow strip between the sea-shore and the
River Murray, with which they were familiar. They
knew that between the Australian Alps and the great
Pacific Ocean lay hundreds and hundreds of miles of
inland country, but that was all they knew. Whether
it was fitted for the habitation of man and beast,
whether it was deserted or fertile, well watered or

THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 9
barren, rich in minerals or poor and thankless — all
this they longed to hear. The prosperity of their
children, the growth of the beloved new land and
its resources — all hung on what the Expedition
should discover and report. They must have felt that
it was not a question of personal wealth or benefit to
either Burke or Wills, for the salaries accepted by
them appear to us but scanty recompense for months,
and perhaps years, of incessant exposure to wind and
weather. It is impossible to doubt that, in undertak
ing the Charge and conduct of the Victorian Exploring
Expedition, both Burke and Wills had a single eye
to the development and improvement of the colony
with which they had cast in their lot, and never a
thought of their own personal advancement.
Now we shall start afresh with the little party of
adventurous men, and shake off the straggling crowd
of idle hangers-on. I must notice that my infor
mation is chiefly drawn from Mr. Wills' Diary and
Letters. Few papers of poor Robert Burke's were
found : it is supposed that they were wilfully lost or
destroyed, but my own impression, founded on what I
gather of his unpractical habits, is that he trusted
chiefly to young Wills' notes for the necessary aids to
his memory. At all events, the volume before me
naturally bases most of its information on the letters
and field-journals of Mr. Wills.
The first note from him to his father breathes the
same wonderfully hopeful contented spirit in which
his last almost illegible words are traced precisely ten
months afterwards. Dissensions and difficulties date
from the first day's journey, but there is no trace of
either in Wills' letters. A month after the Expedi
tion started Mr. Burke found it necessary to dismiss
his foreman, Fergusson, who, we are told, was of so

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

unprepossessing an exterior and address, that Mr.
Burke was warned that he would probably find it
necessary to shoot him ! Under these circumstances,
we feel quite thankful when he is safely packed off
with only hard words on both sides. No sooner was
this individual disposed of than the original second
in command, Mr. Landells (Wills was third in power
at the outset), began to make difficulties on behalf of
his camels. Amongst other perquisites and comforts
necessary for the well-being of these animals, it
appears that rum is included, and passing over young
Wills' temperate and straightforward letter to Pro
fessor Neumayer on the subject of the grand quarrel,
we will copy from the Argus what the Melbourne
press thought of the affair three months after the
Expedition had started.
After touching on Mr. Landells' conduct, and
speaking in high terms of the letter from Mr. Wills,
alluded to above, the Argus goes on to say : —
" These camels, under Mr. Landells' spoiling, ap
pear to have become the plague of the Expedition.
They were to have rum solely, as it now appears,
because Mr. Landells knew of an officer who took
two camels through a two years' campaign in Cabul,
the Punjab, and Scinde, by allowing them arrack.
They were to carry more stores for themselves than
they were worth ; they were not to make long journeys,
nor to travel in bad weather, nor to be subject to any
one's direction, or opinion, or advice. In fine, the chief
difficulty of exploring Australia seemed to consist in
humouring the camels. We may imagine the feelings
of a leader with such a drag as this encumbering him
Mr. Pickwick could never have viewed with such dis
gust the horse which he was obliged to lead about as
Mr. Burke must have regarded his camels."

THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION. n
We do not know how many animals originally
started with the travellers : we hear of one camel,
with only. 4 cwt. on its back, tumbling down and dis
locating its shoulder; but Mr. Burke's first and most
business-like despatch tells us, that after Mr. Landells'
departure there were sixteen available camels and
fifteen horses left. This report gives also the names
of the diminished party. They consisted of seven
Europeans and a Sepoy. Dr. Beckler, the botanist
and medical adviser to the Expedition, and Dr.
Becker, its naturalist and artist, had both by this
time resigned their appointments, and our only won
der is that they ever accepted them, as they were evi
dently poor weak creatures, quite unfit for hardships.
This despatch of Mr. Burke's is dated Torowoto,
October 29, i860, and is full of hope and courage.
The proposed route of the Expedition was due
north, straight across the vast unexplored continent,
and through a great part of it now known as Queens
land. I may mention here that Victoria has bene
fited very little by the pecuniary sacrifices she then
made. To her, however, belongs the honour and
glory of having found the men and the money, and
she honours the names of her brave adopted sons as
much as if they had brought her news of thousands of
added acres. But it is a fact that "all the land dis
covered by the Burke and Wills Expedition, now
called Burke's Land, has been handed over to
Queensland by the Home Government. It extends
up to Cape York on the extreme north, in Torres
Straits.'' According to a rough calculation, they
must have travelled some 400 miles by the time
they had reached Torowoto. Burke describes the
country as very well grassed, and forming splendid
sheep-grazing land, with a sufficient supply of creeks

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

and water-holes. He is, in the same document, full
of praise of Mr. Wright, in whom he had a totally
misplaced confidence, and declares with greater truth
that he feels himself most fortunate in having Mr.
Wills as his second officer.
I next turn to Mr. Wills' official report of the
same country under the same date, and find it not
nearly so encouraging as Mr. Burke's. He, Mr. Wills,
writes in his official character as Surveyor to the
Expedition, and enters into minute details of the
nature of the soil, its dryness, the drifting sand, and
the poisonous " Darling Pea," which groVs on the
river of that name, and which, when eaten in any
quantity, drives horses mad. He considers the land
about Torowoto more fitted for cattle than sheep, as
it is swampy.
Altogether these two despatches, read in the order
they are printed, teach us the character of the men —
Robert Burke, hasty in his judgments, sanguine,
warm, and impulsive, a man to love, but not to
follow ; John Wills, sober, prudent, observing and
cautious, a man who would follow where he loved,
all over the world.
At this point the party split up again. Wright
went back to Menindie, where he lingered for months
instead of following the explorers ; whilst Burke and
Wills, with only five men, set out from Torowoto on
the 29th September, and reached Cooper's Creek,
as nearly as possible half-way across the continent,
on the nth November, having travelled 250 miles
in about six weeks. Here the Expedition halted
for a short time. A dep6t of clothing and stores
was formed, and many consultations were held on
the subject of the shortest route to the Gulf of
Carpentaria. The explorers knew that Mr. Douall

THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 13
Stuart was on the point of starting from Adelaide
with the hope of arriving at the Gulf by a different
route, so, as Dr. Wills' remarks, it became a rival race
as to who should reach the goal first.
We are given about this time a charming little
letter from Mr. Wills to his sister, in which he tells
her that they had then halted at Cooper's Creek for
three weeks, and intended to linger there a fortnight
longer. He makes light of all the discomforts and
fatigues they had hitherto experienced, and declares
it has been more like a pic-nic than an Expedition.
One little episode which he mentions does not sound
very alluring. He and a comrade, McDonough by
name, started from the Creek on a reconnoitring expe
dition, taking three camels with them. They found
no water, and at the end of the third day the animals
escaped, whilst Mr. Wills had gone to a rising ground
at a little distance to make some observations. He
had left them in charge of McDonough, desiring him
not to lose sight of them for a moment ; but this man
set to work to light a fire and boil his pannikin,
neglecting to watch the camels. When Wills re
turned and inquired where they were, McDonough
pointed to some stunted bushes in the distance, and
said they were the camels. Of course they were
nothing of the sort, and after a fruitless search the
travellers " concluded," as our Yankee cousins would
say, to start homewards. But Cooper's Creek was at
least ninety miles away, and they had so little water
left that it was necessary to walk fast and steadily.
With this terrible fear of thirst before them, they
stepped out, and actually reached the depdt with
its welcome deep water-holes in forty-eight hours.
Young Wills describes the forced march as if it were
a holiday ramble; but even his calm composure cannot

14 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
lessen the hardship of such a journey, with, as he states,
the thermometer at 105° in the shade and 140° in the
sun, and a hot wind blowing. They had not half a
pint of water left when they reached the camp. No
wonder that he speaks of " smacking their lips over a
drink of cold water with as much relish as ever any
one did over the best sherry or champagne."
Cooper's Creek could not have been a very inviting
place, with its myriads of flies, and its flat extensive
plains covered with herbs dried like hay, and its
water the colour of "flood water in the Dart;" but
such as it was, we read of their leaving it as if it were
a home to which they bade farewell when they started
for Eyre's Creek on the 16th December, i860. Again
the small party divided : a man called Brahe remained
at the depdt with two Europeans, Dost Mahomet
(the Sepoy before mentioned), six camels, and twelve
horses. This only left King and Charley to accom
pany Burke and Wills, and they took with them six
camels, one horse, and three months' provisions.
Before concluding my chapter I must pause for a
word about this unhappy man Brahe. After reading
both sides of the story, it seems hard to know whether
he is most to be blamed or pitied. Here are the op
posing statements. Dr. Wills declares that Brahe,
who seems to have been a good sort of man in the
main, "received most positive orders to remain at
Cooper's Creek until the return of the exploring party
from the Gulf of Carpentaria." He did not do so ; he
waited for four months, and then went away, taking
all the stores of clothing with him, and leaving a very
small proportion of the provision deposited in a
cache. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine a
more trying position than poor Brahe's. Expecting
every day to be relieved by Mr. Wright, who he

THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION . 15
understood was to join him immediately, he remained
in that desolate spot for four months and five days,
without word or token from any living creature. He
had to listen to the daily heart-rending appeals of one
of his companions who was sick unto death, and who
prayed him to set out homewards. At last he yielded,
and, twenty-four hours after he and his party had
started, Burke and Wills and King arrived to find
themselves deserted' and forsaken. But this is antici
pating, and therefore we will return and follow the
explorers step by step to the bitter end.

CHAPTER II.
THE EXPLORERS' FATE.
Almost the first entry in Mr. Wills' field-book num
bered " one," refers to some friendly blacks whom they
met, at a point where the sandstone range crosses
the creek. Of these natives Mr. Wills writes, " They
pestered us to go to their camp and have a dance,
which we declined. They were very troublesome, and
nothing but the threat to shoot them will keep them
away. They are, however, easily frightened ; and
although fine-looking men, decidedly not of a warlike
disposition. They show the greatest inclination to
take whatever they can, but will run no unnecessary
risk in so doing. They seldom carry any weapon
except a shield and a large kind of bomerang, which
I believe they use for killing rats, &c. Sometimes,
but very seldom, they have a large spear ; reed-spears
seem to be quite unknown to them. They are, un
doubtedly, a finer and better-looking race of men
than the blacks on the Murray and Darling, and
more peaceful ; but in other respects I believe they
will not compare favourably with them. They appear
to be mean-spirited and contemptible in every respect."
It was close upon the Australian Midsummer when
the little band started for the sea-shore, so many

THE EXPLORERS' FATE. 17
hundred miles away. From the first, their steps lay
due north, slightly trending to the west, and Mr. Wills
mentions passing through lovely valleys covered
with fresh green plants, and gay with red-breasted
cockatoos, pigeons, and other birds. In every page
of the journal we find careful observations about
water recorded, as, of course, in a new country every
thing depends upon that necessary. At one camp we
are amused to come across a notice of an exceptionally
good water-hole, and of the night being so calm and
bright that Mr. Wills was able to secure an observa
tion of the eclipse of Jupiter's satellite, using the water
as an horizon. All through the Expedition the blacks
proved most friendly ; and we find more than one
notice of an interchange of civilities, fish fried in their
own fat being bartered by the natives for beads and
matches. Up to latitude 27° 25J' South, the country is
described as being of the finest description for pas
toral purposes, but the region beyond was sandy and
arid, and very bad for travelling. However, they
pushed on, only halting for one day at a spot named
by them " Gray's Creek," to celebrate Christmas. We
can imagine the four Englishmen trying hard, like
Mark Tapley, to be jolly under adverse circum
stances. Disagreeables we may be sure there were,
enough and to spare, but brave John Wills does not
mention them ; he only tells us of the advantages
attending the situation of that lonely Christmas
camp, the abundance of water, the shade of the
timber, the sufficiency of food, and the absence of
vermin. At half-past four on the following morning they
started afresh to pursue their way over the " earthy,
rotten plains," in the direction of Eyre's Creek. The
c

1 8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.

record of each day's journey is deeply interesting, but
we cannot linger by the way : we must march rapidly
from camp to camp, over country which improved as
soon as they got into the tropic of Capricorn, and
which not only furnished excellent feed for the horses,
but flocks of ducks and wild pigeons to improve the
travellers' fare. It is hardly possible to imagine any
thing more exciting than this rapid dash through such
a virgin country, rich with its treasures of food and
water, all waiting, as it had been waiting since the
creation, for Man to come and take possession of h:s
splendid inheritance. Let us think for an instant of
Burke's and Wills' feelings as they marched hopefully
and steadily on, disregarding everything except their
goal, the sea-shore. They had both believed that
these rich lands lay useless here, and now their belief
was turned into knowledge, and they must have
proudly thought that thousands of human creatures
in the coming generations would remember their names
as we remember the names of those who bring us
good news. Is it any wonder that even the rough
hasty notes, which are all the record we possess of
this part of the Expedition, breathe a spirit of joy
and hope which should make the colour mount in
your cheek, and the true adventure-light shine in
your eyes, as you read the soul-stirring words ?
And now they are nearing the desired sea-coast ;
the water' begins to taste salt, they strike on the
course of the Flinders River, and they get upon the
country which had before been traversed by Mr.'
Gregory and other previous explorers. I confess this
part of the narrative disappoints me greatly. In Mr.
Wills' journal there is absolutely no mention made of
Mr. Burke and himself actually standing on the sea
shore, and yet the tone of the report assumes diat

THE EXPLORERS' FATE. 19
they did so. We are told in one place, that they left
Gray and King behind at the camp marked "119" in
charge of the camels, and pushed on alone for the
shore. The next field-journal, numbered 9, takes
up the narrative from the day — the 13th February,
1 861 — when "the party turned their faces to the
south, and commenced their long and toilsome march
in return." But there is no actual statement of the
when and the how they saw the ocean, and knew that
their mission was ended, their brightest hopes fulfilled,
and that their names were even then written down on
the list of those who deserve well of their country.
Of all this we know nothing ; but, in turning to
the concluding observations, we find this perplexing
entry in one of Mr. Burke's scanty notes : " 28th
March [six weeks after they had left the sea behind
them, remember] : " at the conclusion of report, it
would be well to say that we reached the sea, but we
could not obtain a view of the open ocean, although
we made every effort to do so."
And yet it seems taken for granted that they pene
trated to the shore, and reached the spot marked as
the mouth of the Flinders River. The tracings on
the careful and excellent map at the end of Dr. Wills'
book lead us to the same conclusion, even in the face
of Burke's simple and artless entry recorded above.
We must, however, turn back with the happy,
triumphant men, with them rejoin King and Gray,
and start for Cooper's Creek once more. Already
the provisions were running short ; and we can feel
for poor Wills' disappointment when, having shot a
pheasant, he records his disgust at finding it " all
feathers and claws."
It was now the middle of February, and the journal
contains almost daily entries of heavy thunderstorms,
c 2

TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.

flashes of lightning, and pouring rain. This relieved
them of their constant dread of a water famine, but
made the ground so boggy as to be almost impass
able, the creeks difficult to cross ; and we now come
to the first record of failing strength. Wills writes :
" The dampness of the atmosphere prevented any
evaporation, and gave one a helpless feeling of lassi
tude that I have never before experienced to such
an extent."
On the 3rd of March we find this entry, the only
one of the sort : " In crossing a creek by moonlight,
Charley rode over a large snake ; it did not touch him,
and we thought it was a log until he struck it with the
stirrup iron. We then saw that it was an immense
snake, larger than any I have ever seen in a wild
state. It measured eight feet four inches in length,
and seven inches in girth. The weight was 1 \\ lbs.
The under-part was yellow, and the sides and back
had irregular brown transverse bars on a yellowish
brown ground. I could detect no poisonous fangs,
but two distinct rows of teeth in each jaw."
The next camp is marked as "Feasting Camp,"
and we are rather at a loss to discover the origin of
the name until we are reluctantly obliged to believe
that they feasted on the snake ; for on the following
day (17th return camp), there is mention made of
Mr. Burke feeling very unwell, having been attacked
by dysentery, being giddy, and unable to keep his
seat on camel-back ; and a further statement that
these unpleasant symptoms had dated from a dinner
off broiled snake. We should think so, indeed ! It
is quite a relief to find they had some freshly-
gathered dates to eat at their next halting-place.
By the 6th March the only horse, " Golah," gave in,
despite the richness of the feed, which is everywhere

THE EXPLORERS' FATE.

recorded. He was obliged to be left behind, as he
could not travel even when the pack and saddle were
taken off. Wednesday, 13th March, is marked as a
night of incessant rain, but there is no trace or symp
tom of grumbling at the misery and discomfort it
must have entailed ; and there is even a little sparkle
of humour, in naming a camp, six or seven wet days'
journey further on, " Humid Camp." Just before this
they were obliged to leave 60 lbs. weight of things
behind, owing to the failing strength of the camels.
" Muddy Camp " is the next entry ; and then comes
"Mosquito Camp." The resting-place for the 25th
March is called " Native-dog Camp," and there is a
record of one of the party, Gray, having been caught
stealing and eating a hastily-prepared mess of flour.
Apparently this was not his first theft, as " many
things had been found to run unaccountably short."
Gray excused himself by saying he was ill with
dysentery ; but his excuse did not weigh with Mr.
Burke, who called him up and gave him a severe
thrashing. On the 30th March, Boocha, one of the camels, had
to be killed, and they halted early to cut him up and
jerk his flesh. All this time Gray was supposed to
be shamming illness, because he declared himself
unable to walk ; but unfortunately there is no doubt
that he was as weak as he declared, for on April 17th
Mr. Wills notes his death, and they appear to have
halted for a day to bury him. The survivor, King,
said afterwards, that they were all so weak they could
hardly scratch a grave deep enough to inter Gray's
body. We find about this time the first mention of cold
nights, an additional trial to failing strength. Let
any of us imagine what it would be to lie on wet, cold

22 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
ground, night after night, with insufficient covering,
and therefore to be unable to sleep from cold. It was
now getting late in the autumn, and they knew full
well that each sunrise and sunset would bring them
nearer to a winter, short, indeed, but greatly to be
dreaded by human creatures without proper food, or
shelter, or clothing.
I have no words of my own in which to narrate
the frightful disappointment awaiting the worn-out,
weary travellers. I shall copy Dr. Wills' affecting
account of it : —
"On Sunday, April 21, 1861, the survivors, Mr.
Burke, my son, King, and two camels, reached
Cooper's Creek, at the exact place where the depdt
party had been left under Brahe. There was no one
there ! During the last few days every exertion had
been made, every nerve strained, to reach the goal of
their arduous labours, the spot where they expected
to find rest, clothing, and provisions in abundance.
King describes in vivid language the exertions of that
last ride of thirty miles ; and Burke's delight when he
thought he saw the dep6t camp. ' There they are,'
he exclaimed. ' I see them ! ' Lost and bewildered
in amazement, he appeared like one stupefied when
the appalling truth burst on him. King has often
described to me the scene. Mr. Wills looked about
him in all directions. Presently he said, ' King, they
are gone ;' pointing a short way off to a spot, ' There
are the things they have left' Then he and I set to
work to dig them up, which we did in a short time.
Mr. Burke at first was quite overwhelmed, and flung
himself on the ground."
It is hardly possible to realize the depth of such a
disappointment, the bitter despair of knowing they
had been deserted, and that their lives would surely

THE EXPLORERS' FATE. 23
pay the penalty of the desertion. If hope deferred
maketh the heart sick, what must be the feeling
produced by hope extinguished ?
Still there is not a word of grumbling or complaint,
not a line of reproach against the comrades who had
saved themselves at their expense. If one additional
pang were wanting to that supreme moment, it might
have been found in the date of Brahe's despatch,
barely twenty-four hours old. Here is the document
itself, which has the sole merit of not offering any
excuse for conduct which was quite inexcusable.
"Depot, Cooper's Creek, April 21, 1861.
" The depot party of the V. E. E. leaves this camp
to-day, to return to the Darling. I intend to go
S.E. from camp 60, to get into our old track near
Bulloo. Two of my companions and myself are quite
well ; the third, Patten, has been unable to walk
for the last eighteen days, as his leg has been severely
hurt when thrown by one of the horses. No one has
been up here from the Darling. We have six camels
and twelve horses in good working condition.
"William Brahe."
So far from recording strictures on Brahe's conduct,
Mr. Wills' journal contains a congratulatory entry
at the discovery of a cache under a tree, marked
" D. T. G. ; " he is deeply thankful at this man
Brahe having left any food, though the division was
most unfair ; and it fills one with indignation to read
of 150 lbs. of flour taken for four men in health
and strength, whilst 50 lbs. were left for an equal
number (he did not know of Gray's death) at starva
tion point. Other things, such as oatmeal and sugar,
were but little more evenly apportioned. Even

24 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
patient John Wills cannot help writing in his diary,
" We are placed in a very awkward position with
respect to clothing." What do you think this
awkward position was ? Simply that William Brahe
had taken all the clothing — which by the way was
Mr. Wills' private property — with him, and that the
explorers returned to the depdt, where they ex
pected to replace their rain-sodden rags by new good
garments, to find everything gone.
And yet King testifies that Wills "never once
showed the slightest anger or loss of self-command."
Here is his own confession of their bodily weakness —
borne without a murmur, remember : —
" Our legs are almost paralysed, so that each of us
finds it a most trying task only to walk a few yards.
Such a leg-bound feeling I never before experienced,
and hope I never shall again. The exertion required
to get up a slight piece of rising ground, even without
any load, induces an indescribable sensation of pain
and lielplessness, and the general lassitude makes one
unfit for anything." He attributes, further on, this
state of prostration to " an exclusively animal diet ot
such an inferior description as that offered by the
flesh of a worn-out and exhausted horse."
There had probably been some sort of shelter
erected at the dep6t, for Mr. Wills writes quite cheer
fully of the improvement which the forty-eight hours'
rest and the oatmeal porridge had made in the dis
tressing symptoms so pathetically described above ;
but still we find them starting homewards on
April 23 rd. Unfortunately, instead of returning by
the Darling River, Burke decided on the route to the
Adelaide district, by Mount Hopeless. Mr. Wills
differed most decidedly from bis leader, and we
cannot but lament that he yielded the point. Mr.

THE EXPLORERS' FATE. 25
Burke's reasons for going that way seem to have been
chiefly founded on a vague report that there were
some South Australian settlers, 100 or 150 miles
from Cooper's Creek, in that direction. Think of the
difference which lay in that or; and yet not so much
after all, for there were no such people as these
visionary settlers.
Just before they started, the party buried these
journals of poor Wills in the cache from which the
provisions had been taken. A despatch of Mr.
Burke's is added, containing a brief account of their
discoveries ; he says : " We are very weak." In
another place we read : " We have all suffered much
from hunger : " and again, " Greatly disappointed at
finding the party here gone. We shall move very
slowly down the Creek." Slowly, indeed, they moved,
but Wills keeps a record to the end ; still writing
brave, manly words to the last. Only once or twice he
cannot help noting their sufferings from the cold at
night. Five days' march further on one of the two
remaining camels got bogged in a creek, and as Wills
says, " lay quietly in it, as if he quite enjoyed his
position." Weak as they were, every effort to extri
cate the brute was useless ; so, towards evening on the
second day, they killed him and cut off such meat as
they could conveniently get at, and jerked it.
On May 6th they seem to have abandoned the idea
of continuing this route, and poor Wills' diary for
that day is brief. He says, " The rations are rapidly
diminishing ; our clothing, especially the boots, are
all going to pieces, and we have not the materials for
repairing them properly ; the camel is completely done
up, and can scarcely get along, though he has the
best of feed and is resting half his time." The
remaining journals contain frequent notices of ,cainp-

26 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
ing with the blacks, who seem to have been always
hospitable and friendly enough, sharing their fish and
" nardoo," a sort of pulse apparently, it being alluded
to as the seed of a small shrub.
On Thursday, May 30th, they made another cache,
and deposited the accumulation of journals and notes
since leaving Cooper's Creek, also a note from Mr. Wills
detailing their wretched plight. They seem to have
wandered about a good deal, as one notice refers to a
solitary journey by Mr. Wills of seventy miles. Fancy
that distance accomplished by a man tottering on the
edge of his grave. " Nardoo " was found in abun
dance, and they learned to prepare it from the natives.
It is described as very palatable, but utterly insuffi
cient for the nourishment of a white man, though it
forms the staple food of the blacks in that district.
The explorers do not seem to have suffered from
hunger, only from failing strength. Their emaciation,
according to King's account, must have been frightful ;
and at last Wills confesses himself too weak to move,
and implores Burke and King to leave him and go up
the Creek in search of the blacks.
We can imagine the reluctance with which they at
last, and only after his repeated and earnest entreaties,
consented to do so. Wills says in his last journal,
" ft is our only chance ;" and then, on the 30th June,
King and Mr. Burke left him with nardoo seed
near him enough to last for eight days, water and
firewood in proportion. Poor fellows, they only took
enough for two days' consumption with themselves.
It is a slight comfort to think he was not utterly
without shelter. A sort of wigwam or " gunyah " had
afforded them all a sleeping-place for some nights past,
as they had taken possession of a deserted camping
place of the blacks. Mr. Wills entrusted Burke with

THE EXPLORERS' FATE. 27
his watch and a letter of leave-taking addressed to his
father, and dated, " Near Cooper's Creek, 27th June,
1 86 1." He says they are " on the point of starvation,
not so much from absolute want of food, but from the
want of nutriment in what we can get." He says
plainly, that their sad plight is owing to the desertion
of his post by Brahe. The postscript of this letter
fills us with amazement : here it is : —
" I think to live about four or five days. My spirits
are excellent."
He probably did not live even half that space of time.
When King returned six days later, alone, he found
him lying dead and stripped of his clothes. As the
supply of nardoo had not been touched, King judged
he had only survived a few hours, and the subsequent
testimony of the natives confirmed this idea.
We must now follow King's narrative. He tells us
that on the second day after leaving Mr. Wills, poor
Burke became unable to move. He seems to have
been quite as brave and self-possessed at the last as
was his companion and second in command, whom
he had grown to love so dearly. Giving King a few
final instructions, Burke begged him to remain to
the last, saying, '' It is a comfort to know that some
one is by ; but, when I am dying, it is my wish that
you should place the pistol in my right hand, and
that you leave me unburied as I lie." King's narra
tive continues, " That night he spoke very little, and
the following morning I found him speechless, or
nearly so, and about eight o'clock he expired." King
may well add, " I felt very lonely."
After this King lived entirely with the blacks until
he was found by Mr. Howitt's searching-party on the
15th September. Burke must have died on the 2d
July, having therefore lived for two and a half.

28 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
months with the .blacks. On the 18th Mr. Howitt
records the discovery of poor Wills' bleaching bones,
and their interment in a sandy grave. Mr. Howitt
read I Cor. chap. xv. in that desolate spot, and cut
the explorer's name on a tree close by. The following
day they sought and found Mr. Burke's untouched
body, the pistol still lying near the extended right-
hand. They wrapped the crumbling form in a union-
jack, and laid it in a shallow sand grave beneath a
box-tree, upon which they carved an inscription telling
who rested there.
And so they turned wearily homewards with their
sad news. Rumour of disaster had preceded them,
and their report confirmed every one's worst fears.
We need not dwell on King's reception in Melbourne ;
the poor exhausted man received such an ovation as
well-nigh killed him. Then came commissions, and
committees, and inquiries by the score, until we are
fairly dazed. To only one question is the answer worth
transcribing, for its moral goes with it. King states
in answer to question 1,714(1) "We each had our
Bible and Prayer-book — we read them ; the evening
before his death Mr. Burke prayed to God for forgive
ness, and died happy, a sincere Christian."
Now I will end this chapter with nobler words than
any I can pen, and I hope that even if my dear boy
friends cannot understand their full force and beauty
at this moment, they will commit the sense of the
grand lines to memory, and act up to the spirit of
their teaching in the far-future years.
" My brother, the brave man has to give his life
away. Give it, I advise thee ; thou dost not expect
to sell thy life in an adequate manner ? Give it like
a royal heart ; let the price be — nothing : then hast
thou in a certain sense got All for it."

CHAPTER III.
sturt's narrative.
I HAVE read these two handsome volumes carefully,
and although they contain much valuable information,
the style of the narrative is somewhat dry, and I shall
therefore condense it into as short and as palatable a
form as is possible.
Captain Sturt tells us that sixteen years before
he undertook the journey here recorded he had made
an attempt to explore the Murray River, starting
from Sydney on the south-eastern side of the Aus
tralian continent, and the capital of New South
Wales. Of this Expedition we have no account,
and the explorer merely states that he " returned
to Sydney, disheartened and dissatisfied with the
result of his investigations." But the discoveries he
had made were really much more important than he
imagined at the time, and paved the way for other
enterprising men. Sir Thomas Mitchell, Captain
Grey, Mr. Eyre, Mr. Oxley, Mr. Flinders, and many
others made journeys and expeditions into the interior,
of greater or less importance according to the means
at their disposal ; but we propose to devote these
chapters solely to a brief recapitulation of the Expe
dition into Central Australia, undertaken by Captain
Sturt during the years 1844-6.

30 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
The travellers started from Adelaide, a town on
the sea-coast of the south of Australia, with the
design of penetrating as far as they could inland,
towards the north. They naturally selected the early
spring as the most favourable season at which to
commence a journey into an unknown country, in
order that the misery of cold might not be added to
the many hardships they would have to endure.
It was on the ioth of August, 1844, therefore, that the
main body ofthe Expedition set out, but Captain Sturt
and his friend and medical adviser, Mr. F. H. Browne,
did not start from Adelaide until the 16th. Here I
must pause for a moment to notice the admirable
arrangements made by Captain Sturt as commander
of this Expedition. He appears to have taken extra
ordinary pains to insure the comfort and well-being
of his men, thirteen in all. Besides Captain Sturt we
find Mr. Poole named as assistant, and Mr. Browne as
surgeon. The live stock consisted of eleven horses,
three bullocks, two-hundred and six sheep, four kan
garoo dogs, two sheep dogs ; and among the dead
stock were one boat and boat-carriage.
They turned their steps north-eastward from the
first, and halted for a few days at Moorundi to
re-arrange the loads, and see to the final details of so
great an undertaking. We cannot fail to admire the
regulations established in the little camp, both with
regard to its discipline and order, and also its relations
towards the natives, whose track they might be ex
pected to cross for some time to come.
Of course it is impossible to follow the party step
by step, though I would fain linger with them at the
camp at Lake Bonney, a small lake formed chiefly
by the back-water of the Murray, where Captain Sturt
describes the beauty of wood and water, cliff and

STURT'S NARRATIVE. 31
grass lands, with the noble River Murray sweeping in
grand curves beneath its high banks. Although they
had hardly been marching for a fortnight, the sheep
are stated to be already " exceedingly tame and tract
able, following the party like dogs." To any one
acquainted with the chamois-like shyness of Aus
tralian or New Zealand sheep, this is high praise
indeed. The nights seem to have been still very cold, and
on the 6th September (answering to our March
weather) they found thick ice in the buckets in the
morning. They expected to have seen some natives
at Lake Bonney, but only eight or nine were forth
coming, and these regarded them with suspicion, and
could not imagine why they should journey with so
many drays and waggons. It was perfectly natural
that our explorers should find but scant wel
come from the dwellers in these Vast unknown
lands. The blacks had already learned that the
white man possessed terrible and mysterious weapons,
and the first evil consequence to the poor stunted
Bushman was, that all his game became wild and
were scared and driven away from their usual feed
ing-places. A party of travelling whites meant,
then, to the eyes of the natives, possibly famine and
death, certainly extra trouble and difficulty in pro
curing food.
Captain Sturt mentions fine herds of wild cattle
feeding along the richly-grassed banks of the Murray,
on that very pasture land which now belongs to the
province of Victoria, and is marked on the maps as
" Australia Felix." I wonder if any of my boy readers
will be colonist-farmers enough to know that cattle are
the very best stock in the world to put on new land ?
They create a surface drainage, which is one of the

32 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
first requisites in a new country, by their heavy hoof-
prints, and they fertilise the land they feed on. This
is a digression, however, and we must come back to
Captain Sturt and his party ; but before I leave
these cattle I must record their having caused an
accident to the principal stockman, Flood by name,
— a very important personage, I assure you. This
was how it happened.
Although they had only been marching for a
month, the necks of the bullocks were becoming
sore from the pressure of the yokes, and, in order to
relieve the poor beasts, Flood proposed to induce
some of their wild free brethren to join the camp
and take their places. This was easier said than
done, and cost four of the best horsemen many a
fruitless gallop. At last, at an exciting moment
of the chace, when all depended on the animals being
turned towards the river, Flood attempted to load and
fire his carbine whilst he was in full gallop, thinking
that the noise of its report would scare back the
cattle. The gun went off indeed, but it carried away
three of the first joints of the fingers of poor Flood's
right hand, and the cattle got away unscathed. This
accident obliged the party to halt on the lovely Ana
branch of the Darling River, which runs down from the
north, and joins the Murray just here, about lat. 34°.
It was now the third week in September, and they
bade adieu to the Murray, and turned northwards to
reach the valley of the Darling. I am tempted to
copy Captain Sturt's description of this camp : —
" The stream itself was very pretty. Beautiful and
drooping trees shaded its banks, and the grass in its
channel was green to the water's edge. Evening's
mildest radiance seemed to linger on a spot so fair,
and there was a mellow haze in the distance that

STURT'S NARRATIVE. 33
softened every object. The cattle and horses were
up to their flanks in grass, and young reeds and sow-
thistle, mallow, peppermint, and indigo fera were grow
ing in profusion around us. Close to our tents there
was a large and hollow gum-tree, in which a new
fishing-net had been deposited ; but where the owner
intended to use it was a puzzle to us, for it was im
possible that any fish could remain in the shallow,
muddy waters of the Darling, which was at its lowest
ebb. Whether the natives anticipated the flood which
shortly afterwards swelled it I cannot say, although
I am led to believe they did, either from habit or
experience." Near this spot was a large encampment of natives,
and a very amusing black fellow who had volunteered
to join the Expedition earlier in the day, and was
called Nadbuck, appears to have heard of the vicinity
of this tribe with great anxiety. Probably these
rangers of woods and forests in Nature's own great
park must have regarded Mr. Nadbuck as a renegade
and deserter, and despised him for his effeminacy
in wearing clothes, and indulging in luxuries beyond
their simple ken. Indeed, Nadbuck would not per
mit the party to pass the native encampment until he
had gone first to prepare their minds for the appari
tion of the drays Captain Sturt records the scene in
very graphic language, and it seems before my eyes
as I read his admirable account.
On a bend of the river, close to its banks, were
assembled the men of the tribe. They had, with the
true wild-animal instinct, hidden their lubras (women)
and piccaninnies out of sight. Fine, tall, handsome
fellows they must have looked, standing there in per
plexity and terror that bright Spring morning. Per
haps they dimly guessed that this peaceful procession

34 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED,
heralded other comers, who would gradually push
them further and further back from these fertile
lands — back to the inhospitable stony desert behind.
Our friend Nadbuck walked at the head of the line
of drays and horses, between two aged men of this
tribe, holding a hand of each, whilst another native
ally in the Explorers' camp, called Toonda, "walked
up to the natives, folded his blanket around him with
a haughty air, and eyed the whole of them with a
look of stern and unbending pride, if not of ferocity."
Captain Sturt seems to have done all in his power
to allay the fears of these poor creatures. He not only
enforced the strictest rules concerning the conduct of
his own people, but he made presents to the old men
of the tribe.
We cannot help taking an interest in the develop
ment of Toonda's character. Soon after this, the
dogs who accompanied the Expedition pulled down
and killed a fine fat kangaroo, which the man ap
pointed to feed them was about to distribute to the
hungry animals, when Toonda wrathfully interposed,
threatening Jones with his waddy (or tomahawk), and
shouting " Kangaroo mine ! sheep yours ! " He was
much disappointed, however, when, a few days later,
a sheep was killed, and on his coming, as usual for
his share of the meat, Captain Sturt reminded him of
his own arrangement; but he seems to have submitted
so cheerfully to the restriction that we are quite glad
to hear he was forgiven, and fed with good fresh
mutton. A little way from this spot the party came
upon a kangaroo freshly killed and prepared for cook
ing. Captain Sturt immediately ordered the dogs to
be tied up and the meat left untouched, to the astonish
ment and gratification of the poor, scared hunters.
The weather continued cold to the 9th October,

STURT'S NARRATIVE. 35
as they held their monotonous way up the Darling,
and on the 10th they turned westwards for the first
time, and reached Laidley's Ponds, a broad water
course, through which the floods of the Darling were
flowing with great velocity. The poor travellers here
encountered thunderstorms and heavy rain. From
these ponds Mr. Poole, the next in rank to Captain
Sturt, made expeditions and collected information
about the country. We read of a tea-party at
Cawndilla, the next camp, to which many lubras
came, and were each made supremely happy by a
present of two lumps of white sugar after they had
swallowed their cups of tea. The heavy rain and
thunderstorms passed over, it became extremely hot,
and, whilst the fine dry weather lasted, Captain Sturt
prepared to make brilliant little dashes into the moun
tainous interior, leaving the draught animals and
heavy baggage in camp at Cawndilla. The food of
the men was excellent, consisting of fresh meat,
bread, &c., whereas their three officers, Sturt, Poole,
and Browne took nothing but salt bacon with them
during these short, hurried journeys. This diet, added
to the greater amount of exposure and hardship en
dured by the officers, brought on scurvy, and it is sad
to read, later in the volume, of Mr. Poole's terrible
sufferings from this disease.
However, at present, that is in October, they were
all well and strong except Mr. Browne, who had a
low fever on him. Nothing can be more interesting
than the account of their rambles among hills 2,000
feet high, over crags and rocks which make one giddy
to read of, and where they were forced to economise
every drop of water. All this time the gallant little
party, in light marching order, were working their way
N.N.W., as you may see on the map for yourselves,
D 2

36 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
November arrived, bringing greater heat, but still
some refreshing showers fell. Their route seems
to have made a sort of loop, and we find Captain
Sturt returning to Cawndilla about the 1 8th, leav
ing Mr. Poole and Mr. Browne to explore a little
longer. The whole party met again at Cawndilla
on the ist December, when they prepared to shift the
depdt camp higher up to the N.W. It was necessary
to take great precautions on account of the heat, and
of their ignorance of where water was to be found ;
however, they surmounted all difficulties, and gra
dually and cautiously worked their way into the in
terior. The suffering to both man and beast from
the daily increasing heat — for Christmas Day had
come and gone — and the interminable dry sandy
plains, without a pond or creek for miles and miles,
must have been great indeed ; but just as the bullocks
were at the last gasp from thirst, a providential dis
covery of water saved them in time. In January
we read of the ground being so thoroughly heated
that whenever the poor bullocks stopped to rest —
and that must have been every hour or so — "they
pawed the earth to find a cool place" on which to
stand their burning hoofs. Still the explorers marched
steadily on, without a thought of turning back or
giving in, like the brave men they were, and at last,
on the 27th January, they reached a favourable spot,
marked on the map a Depdt Glen, where they once
more pitched their tents and prepared to rest.

CHAPTER IV.
BACK TO MOORUNDI.
They little thought when they encamped in this
pretty spot, on the brink of a fine pond of water
shaded by trees and cliffs, that it would be nearly
six months before the tents could be struck : but so
it was, and we can easily imagine how galling and
annoying this detention must have been. Yet it
would have been madness to have stirred from the
oasis one day earlier than they did. As Captain
Sturt says himself, " Providence had guided us to the
only spot in that wide-spread desert where our wants
could have been permanently supplied."
We need not linger long at the place of their
captivity, but will presently go on with the story from
the date at which they were set free by the first
autumnal rains. The heat during their imprisonment
must have been great indeed, but they bore it, as they
bore everything, cheerfully and bravely. Early in
February all the birds had migrated to more fertile
regions, and poor Captain Sturt mournfully records
how dull and deserted they felt when pigeons, parrots,
bitterns, cockatoos, and other birds (having previously
congregated together, bird-fashion, before migrating)
passed away simultaneously in a single day, the line
of migration being directly to the N.W.

38 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
Mr. Poole had been very ill with scurvy for some
time ; Captain Sturt and Mr. Browne were also
sufferers, but not to so great an extent. By May
Mr. Poole was in a fearful state, all his skin along
the muscles turned black, and large pieces of spongy
flesh hung from the roof of his mouth, which was in
such a state he could hardly eat. They determined
to move him early in June, and having made every
preparation in their power to ensure his comfort, he
was started off homewards in a dray lined with sheep
skins and with a tarpaulin roof. But alas ! before he
had travelled many miles, and only twenty-four hours
after he left the dep6t camp, he rose up in his moving
home to take some medicine, calmly observed that he
thought he was dying, and falling on his back expired
without a struggle. His remains were brought back
to camp and interred under a beautiful tree, a Grevilia,
close to the traveller's underground room.
Before we leave this spot for ever, let us pause to
think how desolate must have been the situation of
these dozen men cooped up amid arid sandy plains.
Here is what Captain Sturt says of their position : —
"Everything combined to depress our spirits and
exhaust our patience. We had gradually been de
serted by every beast of the field, and every fowl of
the air. We had witnessed migration after migration
of the feathered tribes, to that point to which we were
so anxious to push our way. Our animals had laid
the ground bare for miles around the camp, and never
came towards it but to drink. The axe had made
a broad gap in the line of gum-trees which orna
mented the creek, and had destroyed its appearance.
We had to witness the gradual and fearful diminution
of the water on which our lives depended ; day after
day we saw it sink lower and lower, dissipated alike

BACK TO MOORUNDI. 39
by the sun and the winds. The flesh of the remaining
sheep became perfectly tasteless, though they kept in
excellent condition."
On the 1 8th July, 1845, the camp broke up, and
re-commenced marching in a north-westerly direction.
Heavy rain had previously fallen, and already the
vegetation was springing up luxuriantly around them ;
but by the time the anniversary of their departure
from Adelaide came round they were forced to halt
again and form another depot near the only obtainable
water. The explorers had penetrated to 29° 40' 10"
S. lat., and to 141° 30' E. long.; but the country still
deserved the name it has ever since borne, " Sturt's
Stony Desert," and if we examine a large map we
are struck by the character of the names given to the
hills. We have a Mount Hopeless and a Mount
Deception quite close to each other, besides other
trivial names, such as Reaping-hook Hill.
It was a new feature in this camp to be obliged to
make military defences, but Captain Sturt judged
it prudent to do so. We find him therefore order
ing the construction of a pallisade 4^ feet above
ground ; but it seems to have been intended more for
the protection of the sheep than the human beings, as
the animals were pretty sure to be wanted first by
the natives. As soon as things were sufficiently and
securely arranged, Captain Sturt started, accompanied
by three picked men, among whom was our old friend
Flood of the finger adventure, taking fifteen weeks'
provisions. They steered N.N.W. and in about three
weeks reached the spot marked on the map as " Sturt's
farthest," 8th September, 1845.
On their way they met with scattered groups,
rather than tribes of natives, but could not succeed
in obtaining any information about the country before

40 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
them. Considering that neither party knew the other's
language, this is not surprising, nor are we astonished
to read that on Captain Sturt producing some fish,
intending by it to inquire the way to the nearest
water, a lubra pounced on the symbol, and tried to
eat it. She was not allowed to do so, and must
therefore, in her own dark mind, have added gluttony
to the "' white fellows' " many failings.
The food for horses along this route was scanty
and uncertain, and the water more precious than the
finest gold. Captain Sturt tells us that the main ob
ject of this expedition was to discover whether or no
a chain of mountains existed " trending down from
N.E. to S.W., and forming a great natural division of
the continent:" but having reached the 138th meri
dian without any sign of such a range, he naturally
concluded it did not exist ; and, like a prudent man,
turned back again, recrossing the stony desert, and
returning after frightful hardships to the depdt camp
at Fort Grey on 2nd October. On this homeward
journey they met some natives " in a sad state of
suffering for want of water ; with their lips cracked
and their tongues swelled." The horses used to
wander away during the night in search of a drink,
and the frequent chases after them helped to exhaust
the explorers' failing strength. Many times we feel that
it must now be all over, surely they cannot get out of
this difficulty ; yet just as they are at their last gasp
some lucky discovery of a surface-pool, or a muddy
pand, or a disused well, furnishes a few mouthfuls of
water to the parched travellers and their horses.
After they had surmounted all these trials, and had
safely reached Fort Grey camp to find it flourishing
and untouched, all the rest of the party naturally
thought that they might now count on being allowed

BACK TO MOORUNDI. 41
to turn their steps homewards to Adelaide. Great,
therefore, was their astonishment when, a few days
only after the completion of their journey just re
corded, during which they had travelled 800 miles
during seven weeks, to hear that Captain Sturt was
fully bent on pushing still further into the interior,
but to the N.E. this time.
He proposed that Mr. Browne should return to
Adelaide with all the party but three, leaving him five
horses, and as much provision as could be spared.
At first Mr. Browne would not hear of this, though
the gallant fellow was even then too ill to stand ; and
he declared he would not desert his leader, but would
await his return from the proposed expedition in the
spot where the camp was then pitched.
On the 9th October, therefore, Captain Sturt, Mr.
Stuart, the draughtsman to the expedition, and two
other men, started for further investigations. They
only carried with them this time a ten weeks' supply
of flour and tea. At first they were fortunate,
crossing beautiful grassy well-watered plains in their
north-eastern course ; but this belt of verdure was of
small extent, and we can heartily sympathise with
Captain Sturt when he says that he " really shuddered
at the reappearance of those solid waves (of sand),
which I had hoped we had left behind, but such was
not the case."
The weather was getting colder, and the water
supply, although scanty, not absolutely dried up.
The little party came across deserted temporary vil
lages erected by the blacks, but failed to meet any ot
the natives, from whom they might have obtained
sign directions. On their return journey they met
with a few : but this is anticipating.
As so much of the success of the Expedition de-

42 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
pended on the horses, Captain Sturt gives us a short
memoir, as it were, of these animals, which we cannot
do better than copy.
" My own horse was a grey called Duncan. I had
ridden him during the whole of my wanderings, and
think I never saw an animal that could endure more :
he was aged." The other riding-horses did not pos
sess sufficient character to make them interesting,
except " Bawley, a strong, compact little animal,
with a blaze on his forehead, high-spirited, with a
shining coat ; and, having been a pet, up to all kinds
of tricks." We hate " Traveller," a light chestnut ; " a
washy brute," always eating and never fat. Then
there was " the Colt " and " Slommy."
By this time the horses had worn out the last sets
of shoes, and had also worn their hoofs down to the
quick, insomuch that any inequality in the ground
made them limp, and it was distressing to ride them.
Further on we are told of their exceeding tameness,
poor brutes, and how when they prepared to rest for
the night, without having found any water, they would
collect round Captain Sturt, and "pull my hat off my
head to attract my attention."
We rejoice once more to bend our steps back to
Fort Grey dep6t, having reached on the 2 1st October
the spot marked as " Sturt's farthest " in this direc
tion, 1 80 miles from the start. Want of water was
once again the barrier which stayed their progress,
and they suffered much. Two of the horses actually
dropped on those dreadful plains. No wonder Captain
Sturt describes himself as " feeling a little weak " and
longing for the rest which was, however, an " indul
gence he could not justify to himself."
During the first days of November the heat was
intense, so great that the mercury in Captain Sturt's

BACK TO MOORUNDI. 43
thermometer rose to the top of the instrument, and
expanded to such a degree as to burst the bulb ; and
this " in the fork of a tree sheltered alike from the
wind and sun." Still they struggled on. Just at the
last Bawley fell, and never rose again, but their own
lives hung on too slender a thread to leave room for
lamentations over a horse's death. They reached the
camp about the 12th November to find it completely
deserted, and a letter from Mr. Browne, found in a
pre-arranged spot, told the sad reason why. The
water at the depdt had turned perfectly putrid at the
first summer heats, and made all who drank it
seriously ill.
No wonder that Captain Sturt, persevering as he
was, felt such bitter disappointment that he declares
" I could calmly have laid my head on that desert
never to raise it again."
They felt that their only chance of life lay in
catching up Mr. Browne and the rest of the party ;
and so, after feeding off scraps left by the dogs in the
neighbourhood of the camp, they mounted the freshest
of the pack-horses, and after twenty hours' hard
riding — this, remember when they were weak and
suffering — overtook their comrades, and found com
parative rest and shelter. But their troubles were not
yet over. The summer heats buriied fiercer and yet
fiercer ; if a match fell on the ground, it ignited ; if a
rocket was lit, it " exploded at once without rising."
Captain Sturt was now ill with scurvy, had quite
lost the use of his limbs, and suffered agony at every
jolt of the springless cart in which he was forced to
travel. The party struggled on to "Flood's Creek
after incredible hardships, and when Cawndilla Creek
was once more reached, felt as if they were quite at
home again, more especially as here we were met

44 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
by fresh supplies of food and clothing, and — quite as
precious luxuries — letters from home."
They lingered over the Christmas Day of 1845
under shelter of huts made of boughs, which were
much cooler than their tents. The change of diet
improved poor Captain Sturt's health so much that he
says he began to entertain hopes of being able to ride
into Adelaide. The last days of 1845 and the few
first of 1846 were exceedingly oppressive, but on the
17th Captain Sturt was so far recovered from his
fatigues as to be able to mount a horse for the first
time since November. His wife met him at Moorundi,
from whence the Expedition had started two and a
half years previously, and the narrative closes with a
glimpse of a happy reunion.

CHAPTER V.
NEW ZEALAND AS IT WAS.
SCARCELY any country in the world has changed so
much since the year 1831 as New Zealand, and there
fore I propose to contrast the best account I can
find of it at that not very distant date, with my own
experience, supplemented by descriptions of those
parts unknown to me, taken from two delighful books
by Lieutenant Meade, R.N., and Sir Charles Dilke.
In this chapter I shall give you a re'sume' of Mr.
Polack's very interesting volumes, which treat of New
Zealand as it was between thirty and forty years ago.
I think it is quite possible that the ideas of some of
my young readers on the geographical position of
these three New Zealand islands may be as vague as
mine once were. I can only hope they do not consider
them to be a part and parcel of Australia, which
would be about as correct as if they imagined England
was a bit of Africa. They are nearly a thousand
miles distant from the nearest part of the Australian
continent, and extend over thirteen and a half degrees
of latitude : that is, from 34° to 470 40' S. lat. The
North Island has always been the most inhabited by
the natives ; its climate is warmer, and it is better
timbered than the Middle Island, which, by the way,

46 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
is marked in some old maps as " Island of Victoria."
At present, and for the last twenty years, it has been
called, however, the Middle or South Island ; but this
latter name is incorrect, and is likely to cause confu
sion with the real South Island, a tiny little place of a
million acres or so, known by the name of Stewart's
Island, and inhabited only by a few straggling settlers,
who make a trade with the whalers, and fell timber
for exportation. It is rather what the Irish would call
a "misfortunate" little fragment of earth, for it appears
to be too small to be of any use to the colonists.
This is all we need say about it, I think, for it has not
yet made itself of sufficient importance to be noticed
in a brief sketch.
I may begin by reminding you of Captain Cook's
discovery ofthe islands in the year 1769, whilst cruis
ing in his ship, appropriately named the Endeavour.
He seems to have landed first in a bay on the eastern
side of the North Island called Poverty Bay. Few of
the original names given by the sailors to the bays and
promontories have been changed, and they are very
suggestive of first impressions. The native names
have also undergone singularly little alteration ; and
as they are pretty and soft-sounding, we must hope
that they will not be hastily superseded. Captain
Cook first cast anchor, on the 8th October, 1769, at a
place named Turunga, which is marked on Mr. Polack's
map as " Turunga or Poverty Bay." The name exists
to this day, and the place was the scene of a frightful
massacre of white people about three years ago.
The very first accounts of these natives, who are
called "Maoris," represent them a turbulent set of
people, always fighting with each other. Indeed
Captain Cook is reported to have said, after his fifth
and last visit to New Zealand, that he never landed

NEW ZEALAND AS IT WAS. 47
on any part of the North Island without being re
quested immediately by the natives to assist them in
making war on the neighbouring tribe. He adds,
" Had I attended to these requests I might have ex
tirpated the whole race ; for the people of each village
applied to me to destroy the other."
We learn that Cook was disappointed in getting
supplies at his first anchorage, and therefore gave the
bay the name it still bears, in spite of its being
famous for the richness of its agricultural produce.
As we know that Cook steered north after leaving
Turunga, let us hope that he next dropped the En
deavour's anchor at a place marked the " Bay of
Plenty," as it is suggestive of abundant supplies to
the brave explorers.
The next visitor was the French commander
Crozet, who tried in 1772 to propitiate the wild
dwellers on this coast. They accepted all his gifts,
devoured the food he offered, and then beat and
maltreated the ships' crews when they attempted
to land, which was much higher up the coast ; nearly
at the extreme north, but still on the eastern side
of the island. Several unfortunate French sailors
were treacherously murdered. Mr. Polack remarks
that in consequence of this outbreak, the revengeful
feelings of the natives were excited, and their hatred
to the French nation continues unabated to this day
at the Bay of Islands, although between 3,000 and
4,000 ships of all nations have since anchored in that
very spot.
Of course, the subject upon which all the earliest
discoverers dwell with the greatest horror is the
cannibalism of the New Zealand natives. I have
heard it offered as an excuse for this horrible pro
pensity, that they had no other means of satisfying

48 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
their hunger; but in the late wars the Hau-haus, though
they had plenty of potatoes and pigs, devoured their
enemies with quite as great an appetite as ever. The
necessity, if it once existed, no longer does so, for the
lands of both North and Middle Islands are covered by
flocks and herds. We certainly read in the histories
of these old ghoulish times that the only indigenous
animal in New Zealand was the rat ; but there were
always plenty of birds and fishes. No one can deny
that the supply of meat was unequal to the demand,
but still it could hardly have been necessary to eat
each other. The Maori ovens in the Middle Island,
still give up ghastly relics of human bones when opened,
but its few native inhabitants have always been a gentle
easily civilized race, as we shall presently see.
To return to the ferocious Northern Islanders, how
ever. Mr. Polack seems to have made himself
thoroughly master of their strange customs. He
gives us an elaborate account of the system of
" tdpu" or prohibition, which is so curious that it
seems worth a brief notice as the first of their most
cherished laws. It is a religious observance, and
must emanate from the priest to be at all binding.
For instance, the priest, acting probably out of pure
caprice, would " tapu " a child ; the urchin might
then be as naughty as he pleased, his own father
dared not touch him to inflict a good and necessary
whipping. How would it answer for us all to be
" tdpued " the day before we go back to school ?
If a grown-up person was engaged on any holy
work, he was often " tapued " from food ; and in that
case had nothing to eat except what was put into
his mouth by a friend. How highly inconvenient
would such an arrangement be ! If you wanted to
prevent your pig or your dog from being stolen, it

NEW ZEALAND AS IT WAS. 49
would have needed to be " tapued " at once as its
only chance of safety. There was one phase in this
system which the farmers in our hunting counties
would probably like adopted. When a field of corn
had reached a certain stage of its growth, the New
Zealand Maori farmer used to cut off a lock of his
hair, get a priest to tie it on a pole at the side of his
patch of land, and then no one dare go on it, for it
was strictly " tapued."
Another advantage of the " tapu " rite was that
there need never be any difficulty or delay in getting
up a good battle and replenishing the chief's establish
ment with wives or slaves, or the public larder with food.
Whenever any warrior wanted to pick a quarrel with
a neighbouring tribe, he had but to break its " tapu."
Letting his pig loose into a patch of " tapued " sweet
potato would do it very nicely.
" Utu," or satisfaction, was another firmly esta
blished custom which the early settlers must have
found very puzzling. It was demanded for every
thing, even a self-inflicted injury, and was simply
a system of fines. It may be easily exemplified by a
case of dog stealing in London. Somebody fancies
my dog (alas, this simile is drawn from nature !) — he
carries it off, and, in the present state of civilization,
demands sundiy sovereigns before he will give it up.
I don't like doing it, but I have to pay them. If
I were a Maori, it is the thief who would have to
give me whatever I demanded as " utu " for stealing
my dog. If I were to write fifty pages on "utu" I
could not make it clearer to you. Both the " tapu "
and '' utu " exist among the Maoris up to this very
day. I often heard of instances of them whilst I was
in New Zealand.
I wish I could avoid touching on the subject of
E

So TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
cannibalism, but I am afraid that no history of the
North Island would be complete without a few words
on the horrible custom. We cannot help laughing
when we hear of the common threat, " I'll eat your
head;" or the reproach, "Who fed on his parents?"
But these jokes had a great deal too much truth in
them to be pleasant. The bones of an enemy were
supposed to make a particularly good chisel. The
natives defended themselves to Mr. Polack by declar
ing that all creation set them the example; that the
pati, or puss, always ate the kiore or rat ; and that the
strong preyed on the weak both by land and sea. They
further assured him that the satisfaction of eating their
enemy was much enhanced by the priest's declaration
that he was thereby annihilated, and that the process
of being digested prevented the slain foe from ever
enjoying happiness in another state of existence.
With all their warlike propensities, Mr. Polack con
siders the New Zealander an arrant coward, and says,
" He will never engage in fair combat, or advance to
an attack, unless previously certain of becoming a
victor." This is the case even now, as all the records
of our late wars in that country dwell on the im
possibility of getting the Maori to stand in the open.
They are fond of ambushes, and show great skill in
skirmishing, but nothing will persuade them to risk a
pitched battle.
With reference to this fearful appetite for human
flesh we must do them the credit to quote Mr. Polack's
declaration : " Yet many natives have sickened at the
thought of such provender, and refused it with uncon
cealed horror."
The unhappy slaves were naturally often killed for a
trifling fault, and eaten ; but on the whole the pre
ference of the Maori was given to his enemies, though

NEW ZEALAND AS IT WAS. 51
he by no means disdained a morsel of white man. It
is no wonder to read, that, "From the earliest tra
ditions, these people have been bred in continual fear
of each other. Every family has some tale of dread
ful suffering to relate, occasioned by the acts of their
neighbours. They are continually seeking opportu
nities for revenge, each tribe being observant of the
politics of the surrounding villages." " Club law, or
the law of might constituting right, is the enactment
made use of in this community."
With all this ferocity, the savage seems to have
been wonderfully patient and forbearing to the Mis
sionaries, and Mr. Polack mentions, more than once,
how much influence for good these excellent men had
over the ferocious natives. Here, as elsewhere, the
law of God needs to be taught before the untutored
mind will listen to the law of man. Indeed Mr.
Polack expressly says, in many places, that the New
Zealanders repulsed vigorously the first efforts made
by the traders to civilize them. They were quite con
tented to go on as their forefathers had done, depend
ing upon forays for slaves to work for them, for
no warrior would degrade himself by practising
peaceful arts.
Their constant cry was, " Let the white man return
to his residence ; who sent for him ? He came from
beyond sea to us — he has seen us. What does he
further want ? Let him go back."
It must have been very difficult for the early
settlers to make their way in the face of such scant
welcome, but the spirit of adventure and the true
instinct of colonization were strong within them, and
they persevered. From that time till now, however,
they have had rather a hard life of it ; and indeed the
question of, who was in the right ? seemed perplexing
e 2

5 2 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
enough. From time to time the fierce tribes have
risen and fallen upon smiling homesteads and peace
ful farms, burning and slaying right and left, and
driving off the flocks and herds of the white man.
In yain the poor settler pleaded that his Government
had given him the land he held.
" Who knows or cares about your Government ?
They gave away what did not belong to them when
they gave you this." Then the authorities stepped
in, and showed title-deeds setting forth the purchase
of sundry blocks of land all duly signed and receipted.
The Waikato chieftains laughed at the solemn parch
ment with its flourishing characters, and said, "The
tribe who sold this, sold what did not belong to them.
It is ours, and we won't sell it."
Can you not imagine how perplexing and irritating
all this must be ? And yet it has been, and we fear
will be, the North Island way of doing business for
many a long day.
To return, however, to Mr. Polack's interesting
volumes. We will pass over many horrid details of
cannibalism, the recital of which would only make
you sick, and see what we can learn of the art of
tatooing. I have seen the process performed on white
arms during the tedium of a five months' sea-voyage,
when everybody was so weary of everything that I
wonder we did not all jump into the sea. On a white
skin the effect of anchors, monograms, and crests
punctured in sky-blue characters is not ugly, but on a
Maori chieftain I cannot say it is an improvement to
an already ugly face. Here is Mr. Polack's descrip
tion of a great chief undergoing the painful process
of being made " beautiful for ever " : —
" His face was besmeared with blood, that had
partly dried on his skin, and also streamed from the

NEW ZEALAND AS IT WAS. 53
punctures then making. The practitioner of the art
was a native of Wakatiwai on the banks of the
Thames, and .was accounted an adept in this really
difficult branch of the native arts. I could scarce
refrain from smiling at this artist. In giving any
interesting touch to the agonized impatient under his
hands, he would incline his head on either side, with
the self-satisfied air of an academician when giving a
touch that ' tells,' according to the technical term of
connoisseurs. At every stroke given by the operator,
the victim to fashion winced and writhed ; which will
not excite surprise, as each cut jagged into the flesh
with the acuteness of a sharp knife, blood flowing
profusely at every incision ; this was wiped away with
a piece of soft flax, that an extra tap might be given
if the flesh was not already cut deep enough.
"We passed on from this prostrate chief, who sum
moned all his fortitude to appear calm before us,
though the quivering of his whole body evinced the
tormenting pain he was suffering. I next espied
some male exquisites in a small shed, decorating
each other for the occasion. One was stooping
down having his hair combed, feathered, and painted ;
while, in turn, he was giving a touch of red ochre and
shark's oil to the legs of his coiffeur."
The proper dress to be worn with a tatooed
countenance is a mat ; and very fine and flexible
these soft silky flax garments are ; they are worn
fastened over the right shoulder, and hanging in
graceful folds like a toga. The Maoris of the pre
sent day are fast losing the art of mat-making, as
they find clothes more convenient ; but still there are
times when the old savage nature will assert itself.
For instance, I was once at a ball which boasted of
the presence of four or five Maori chieftains. They

54 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
stood together at one end of the room, keen-eyed and
intelligent, with a slight air of contemptuous indif
ference, but no surprise in their glances. Extremes
meet, and your true savage and your true dandy are
never astonished, I believe, at anything. Well, upon
this occasion the chieftains stood silent and watch
ful, faultlessly attired in full evening dress, and look
ing the high-bred gentlemen they were, in spite of
spiral patterns of bright blue tattoo all over their
dusky faces. To them presently approached, with
some timidity, the prettiest- young lady in the room,
leaning on her father's arm. She inquired, with a
charming embarrassment, whether Te Henare or Te
anybody-else would like to dance, and professed her
willingness to be their partner. Immediately the
youngest and bluest chieftain stepped forward and
commenced pulling off his coat with alacrity, an
nouncing his great desire to dance English dances,
but entreating her to wait half a moment whilst he
took off his clothes ! I leave you to imagine the dis
comfiture of the young lady. I hope her partner
intended, if he had carried out his scheme, to sub
stitute a mat at all events, for the tight European
garments ; but this point will never be cleared up,
for the fair damsel hastily retracted her offer and
departed swiftly, covered with confusion.
Mr. Polack gives us a long descriptive list of the
birds to be found in the North Island, as well as of
the plants and shrubs ; but as these would not interest
you, we shall pass them over, merely saying that the
song of a blackbird or thrush is worth all the notes
within the compass of the birds of New Zealand,
and that there is a curious absence of wild-flowers
and a preponderance of thorns among the shrubs.
The ferns are splendid, and grow in luxuriance. I

NEW ZEALAND AS IT WAS. 55
have often found half a dozen varieties in full beauty
in the bed of a creek sheltered by a dense growth of
scrub or bush, when the snow was lying deep on the
ground. As I said before, the only animal really indigenous
to the islands is the kiore, or rat, though even these
are supposed to have been introduced by European
vessels one or two centuries ago. The natives are
very fond of eating them.
There are no snakes or serpents of any description,
whereas in Australia these reptiles are very common.
Mosquitoes and sand-flies are great plagues, especially
to dwellers near a " bush " or forest. Out of newly-
turned earth these little creatures of torment swarm
in legions, and are a real trial to the settlers.
Mr. Polack was much scandalized at the unruly
conduct of the small Maori children ; in fact, he does
not hesitate to say they were dreadfully spoiled ; and
it is strange to read of the tenderness towards their
children shown by these wild, savage tribes of the
New Zealand islands.
We read of a certain Te Kuri who lost his little boy,
four years of age. The father was distracted at his
child's death ; and, being unable to part with the body,
" eviscerated it and the head, and cooked the whole
in the same manner the head of an enemy is pre
served, stuffing the inside of the body with scraped
flax ; and at a distance it was impossible to perceive
the difference between it and a living child. I have
often seen Kuri carrying this apology for an infant
in his blanket behind his back, and remarked one day
what a pleasing and remarkably quiet child it ap
peared. This observation elicited a laugh, in which
the father joined. The body had been stuffed in the
state I saw it at least five years."

56 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
The two volumes from which we have compiled
this chapter, conclude with a clear-sighted statement
of the probable difficulties which would arise in
colonizing New Zealand; but that Mr. Polack did
not think them insurmountable may be gathered from
this paragraph : —
"New Zealand once systematically colonized, will
be regarded in a very few years by Great Britain
among the first in value of her colonies, without any
of those attendant expenses that have hitherto been
inseparable in the formation of those adjuncts to her
greatness. The country is destined to become the
granar)--, as well as, from her peculiar locality, the
safeguard of the many rising colonies now established
on the four coasts of New Holland."
How far this prophecy has been fulfilled will be
our business to show in the next chapter.

CHAPTER VI.
NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS.
BEFORE I tell you anything of my own New Zealand
experiences, which are confined almost entirely to the
Middle Island, we will see what Sir Charles Dilke
thought of the North in the year 1866. His first
glimpse of Wellington, then the capital of New
Zealand, was on a lovely November day. Here are
his earliest impressions of it : " Wellington appeared
very English and very quiet ; the town is sunny and
still, but with a holiday look : the outskirts are gay
with cherry-trees in full fruiting, and English dog-
roses in full bloom." This is a description of the spot
of which Mr. Polack speaks thus vaguely only thirty
years before : " In the harbour of Wanganin Atera,
or Port Nicholson, all the ships of Europe might
anchor in perfect security." But when he saw it, no
ships had, as far as he knew, ever anchored • there ;
it is on the south-western side of the island, and forms
a portion of the channel between the two islands
known by the name of Cook's Straits.
Auckland, the present seat of New Zealand Govern
ment, is situated much higher up, at that part of the
North Island where the land appears to be broken
up into numerous small pieces, and nearly worn
through by the action of the water on each side.
On the east it is washed by the Hauraki Gulf,

5 8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
and guarded from the swell of the Pacific roller-
waves by the Great Barrier Isle. We will glance
at the passing record of another English traveller,
Lieutenant Meade, R.N., in the year of grace 1864.
He is steaming out of Auckland harbour in a wes
terly direction bound for Tauranga, on a December,
nearly midsummer, night. " The summer's night was
calm and warm, the sea like glass. We had stayed
till the end of an opera, very fairly produced by an
American company, and the last strains of Maritana
left pleasing impressions on our minds."
Here is a change, indeed, for little more than a
quarter of a century to work. Fruit, flowers, and
music, instead of grisly images over wharres (or
native huts), human bones left from the last feast,
and the cries of tortured slaves. Thirty years before,
had the travellers landed at either of these spots,
those were the sounds and sights which would have
greeted them, or else the great Primeval Silence would
have brooded over all in oppressive and unbroken
stillness. Yet, in spite of all the advantages of civilization, in
spite of the cherry-trees, the gorse hedges, the rosy
cheeks of English children playing in peace and
safety on places where their fathers' lives would not
have been worth a moment's purchase ; in spite of all
this, we read with a sorrowful heart what Sir Charles
Dilke says ofthe Maori or "Native" of New Zealand.
He begins the -subject by quoting the words of a
well-known Maori song : —
" As the Patella1 fly has driven out the Maori fly ;
As the Pakeha grass has killed the Maori grass ;
As the Pakeha rat has slain the Maori rat ;
As the Pakeha clover has starved the Maori fern ;
So will the Pakeha destroy the Maori."
1 English.

NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS. 59
My own experience on this subject is so limited, that
I am obliged to borrow still from Sir Charles's most
interesting book " Greater Britain." Here is what he
thinks and says about the effects of our colonization : —
" In America, in Australia, the white man shoots or
poisons his red or black fellow, and exterminates him
through the workings of superior knowledge ; but in
New Zealand it is peacefully, and without extra
ordinary advantages, that the Pakeba beats his
Maori brother.
" It is not merely that a hunting and fighting
people is being replaced by an agricultural and
pastoral English people, and must farm or die. The
Maori does farm ; Maori chiefs own villages, build
houses, which they let to European settlers ; we have
here Maori sheep-farmers, Maori ship-owners, Maori
mechanics, Maori soldiers, Maori rough-riders, Maori
sailors, and even Maori traders. There is nothing
which the average Englishman can do which the
average Maori cannot be taught to do as cheaply
and as well. Nevertheless, the race dies out. The
Red Indian dies, because he cannot farm ; the Maori
farms, and dies."
Sir Charles Dilke evidently considers that the
decay of the Maori race had commenced before we
came to the Islands, for he remarks later on : " The
Maories themselves were dying out. In New Zealand
the wintry cold of the winters causes a need for some
thing of a tougher fibre than the banana or fern-root.
There being no native beasts, the want was supplied by
human flesh ; and war furnishing at once food and the
excitement which the chase supplies to peoples that
have animals to hunt, became the occupation of the
Maories. Hence in some degree the depopulation of
the land."

60 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
Now we will take one more good look at our old
savage friends in blankets and mats and war-paint,
before we turn our backs on the North Island, and,
crossing Cook's Straits, devote a few pages to a de
scription of the peaceful wool-growing, sheep-ridden,
Middle or South Island.
We must still see with Sir Charles's eyes whilst we
are in the North, though we have not space for all of
his graphic description. It is December, the summer
of 1866.
Let us imagine ourselves seated on mats on a light-
greensward ; in the centre of the grass-plot is planted
a tall flagstaff, from which float the Union Jack and
a pure white streamer, emblems of British rule and
British wish for peace. On the left is a village of
low wharres fenced with a strong stockade, and on
the right are groves of karakas, the sacred tree of
New Zealand.
" A thousand kilted Maories dotted the green land
scape with patches of brilliant tartans and scarlet
cloth. Women lounged about, whiling away the
time with dance and song; and from all the corners
of the glade the soft cadence of the Maori cry of
welcome came floating to us on the breeze, sweet as
the sound of distant bells. The faces of the older
people were horribly tattooed in spiral curves. The
chiefs carried battle-clubs of jade and bone ; the
women wore strange ornaments."
This assembly was one of vast political importance,
for it was called together to debate on the settlement
of a vexed question, one which had often ended in
warfare. The British Government had agreed to
purchase an enormous block of land, that of the
Manawatu ; the price was arranged to the satisfac
tion of all parties, but the difficulty lay in deciding

NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS. 61
between the various claimants to the money. It was
a negotiation of extraordinary difficulty and delicacy.
Three Maori tribes claimed ownership of the land.
One, because they had owned it, so they declared,
from the earliest times ; another, because they had
fought for and conquered a good deal of the country
in question ; but the third and last claim constituted,
in Maori eyes, much the strongest title to the land,
and was the most likely to lead to an appeal to arms
if it were disputed or neglected. One of its chiefs had
been cooked and eaten on the ground. There was no
doubt about this historical fact, and it must have
created great difficulties for the unfortunate commis
sioners. The three tribes were the Ngatiapa, who
were well armed ; the Ngatiraukawa, who had their
rifles ; and the Wanganuis who had indeed come
unarmed to the meeting, but ' had sent for their
weapons in hot haste.
" On a signal from the Superintendent, the heralds
went round the camps and pahs to call the tribes to
council. The summons was a long-drawn cadence, of
which the words mean, ' Come hither ! Come hither 1
Come, come, Maories ! come ! ' And men, women,
and children soon came thronging in from every side,
the chiefs bearing sceptres and spears of ceremony,
and their women wearing round their necks the
Heitiki, or greenstone god.
" No sooner were we seated on our mat than there
ran slowly into the centre of the ring a plumed and
kilted chief, with sparkling eyes, the perfection of a
savage. Halting suddenly, he raised himself upon
his toes, frowned, and stood brandishing his short
feathered spear. It was Hunia te Hakeke, the
young chief of the Ngatiapa."
This orator ran about all the time he was speaking,

62 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
and although his gestures must have been somewhat
alarming, his words were conciliatory. To him suc<
ceeded the leader of the Opposition, a young chieftain
of the Wanganuis, " who wore hunting-breeches and
high boots, and a long black mantle over his Euro
pean clothes. There was something odd in the shape
of his cloak, and, when we came to look closely at it,
we found that it was the skirt of the riding-habit of
his half-caste wife." He was rather coughed down ;
and we felt full of anxiety for the fate of the costume
of his successor in the debate, a funny old grey-beard,
whose costume was very picturesque so long as
he stood perfectly still, but when, waxing warm
with his subject, he raised his right arm, and waved
his tribal sceptre, his drapery " began to slip off
his shoulders, and he had to clutch at it with the
energy of a topman taking in a reef in a whole
gale." The next speaker was a small chieftain of
the Ngatiraukawa tribe, who literally told his dreams,
which were fortunately of a prophetic nature and
shadowed forth a happy peaceful ending to the
negotiations. The only oration which we need transcribe entire
is remarkable for its terseness. The speaker was
scantily attired, and walked round and round the ring
of councillors repeating these words incessantly : " It
is hot, and the very birds are loth to sing. We
have talked for a week, and are therefore dry. Let
us take our share — 10,000/., or whatever we can get —
and then we shall be dry no more."
All the speeches, however, were not so short as
this one, and to use an expressive, though scarcely
slegant, Maori simile, the waistbands of the debaters
were now beginning to slip down low, so there was a
pause in the debate, and all the honourable members

NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS. 63
went to lunch off whitebait boiled in milk and eaten
with wooden spoons out of flax-blade dishes.
When the Runanga, or Parliament, met again at four
in the afternoon, the debates waxed hotter, the speakers
had recourse to taunts and jeers at each other ; but
when a declaration of war seemed imminent the
chieftains had to give in and cease to exchange
defiances from sheer exhaustion. This Runanga sat
for three days, but all the questions were happily
adjusted, the tribal distribution of the money was
agreed upon, and the Superintendent started off to
fetch it from the nearest town.
" No sooner was he gone than a kind of solemn
grief seemed to come over the assembled people.
After all, they were selling the graves of their ances
tors, they argued. The wife of Hamuera, seizing her
husband's green-stone club, ran out from the ranks of
the women and began to intone an impromptu song,
which was echoed by the women in a pathetic chorus-
chant : —
" The sun shines, but we quit our land; we abandon for ever its forests,
its mountains, its groves, its lakes, its shores.
All its fair fisheries, here, under the bright sun, for ever we re
nounce.
It is a lovely day ; fair will be the children that are born to-day ;
but we quit our land. "
and so on for many verses.
The next day a grand war-dance and festival took
place to celebrate the payment of the money, for no
one in the world loves hard cash so much as your
thorough-bred Maori. Hunia's toilette at the ball
must have been beautiful. A heron's plume in his
hair, and another at the muzzle of his gun, a kilt of
three layers of gauze-silk, pink, green, and red,
and over his shoulders a short white satin scarf.
They alternately ate, danced, and made compli-

64 TRA VELS: RE- TRA VELLED.
mentary speeches until the morning, and we feel
quite exhausted when we think of their gymnastic
feats. We have just room, before the end of this chapter,
to glance at Lieutenant Meade's description of a
Runanga, which must have possessed a singular in
terest for him and his comrades, inasmuch as the
subject under debate was whether he and his fellow-
travellers were Kingites or Queenites, and whether they
should be killed and perhaps eaten on the spot, or let
go free.
Before we come to this we will quote Mr. Meade's
opinion of the Maories of the present day. He says —
" As, a race they are honest. There are thieves
among them, but they are few and despised. They
are a very good-tempered people, easily pleased, but
keenly alive to a slight, not quarrelling much among
themselves, and still more rarely coming to blows.
They are very intelligent and reflective ; they learn
what is taught them in the schools much more rapidly
than the Europeans, and he who wants to ' weather '
a Maori in a bargain will have to get up very early in
the morning. Although a well-made race, especially
about the lower limbs, with calves which would make
the fortune of any London footman, they are not so
fleet-footed as Europeans ; neither in trials of strength
can they lift such heavy weights."
This Parliament was held also in the open air, but
the " Riki," or war-flag, was flying from a tall pole,
and 150 armed warriors stood round it. Even Mr.
Meade, for all his good-tempered fearlessness, is
obliged to admit them to have been "the most vil
lainous-looking crew I ever set eyes on in New
Zealand." The proceedings commenced by a great burly

NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS. 65
ruffian, Te Aokatoa (which means "All the World"),
gabbling away at a. tremendous rate, in gibberish
which was supposed to be a combination of English,
French, and Hebrew, but winding up with a Maori
hymn, which, Mr. Meade remarks, with a coolness
marvellous at such a juncture, was the only native
music he ever heard sung in tune. But to this chant
soon succeeded discordant cries of, " Let the pig be
stuck ! Let the calf be killed ! "
" Then uprose Hemipo (Mr.' Meade's native guide),
and addressed the Runanga on my behalf and his
own. He had been well primed before starting with
some good stiff lies. I had thought it better to trust
to his knowledge of his countrymen's character for
the concoction of a plausible account of myself, which
should satisfy any Kingites whom by ill-luck we
might chance to meet with, than any story which I
could evolve from my own comparative ignorance of
the people whose lands we wanted to traverse by fair
means or foul. He accordingly explained to his
audience that I was a civilian Pakeha, who had only
recently come out for my own pleasure to see the
country ; that I was going to return to England im
mediately, and that my only reason for wishing to
pass through their territory was to avoid missing my
passage in the ship which was to sail next week, &c.
"But though his own life was nearly as much at
stake as mine, I could not help admiring the cool,
almost careless, way in which he spoke, playing with
his riding-whip, as though he were speaking to his
own people at home ; behaving, in fact, as became a
' rangatira ' (gentleman) in difficulties."
But the senate appeared bent on murder, and still
the cry arose, " Let -him die! let him die!" The
street-boys of an English row were represented by
F

66 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
numerous urchins, who came and squatted in front of
the Pakeha, and tried to move him from his dignified
calm by jeers and taunts ; but we read that he smoked
on unmoved, even when his knowledge of the lan
guage made him aware that his nearest savage
neighbour, Karouria, was offering in the handsomest
manner to carry out the sentence of the court on the
spot. This proposal, however, must have caused
some uneasiness in the breast of the legitimate exe
cutioner, " a tall man with no hair on his face, and
rather a humorous expression of countenance; he
wore his blanket, like most Maories, toga fashion,
and twitched it at intervals, as if to keep his right
arm clear and free, for he carried a small bone-
handled tomahawk, which he took little or no pains
to conceal."
At the most critical moment, when the best they
could hope for was a sudden death without previous
torture, a woman left her place amongst the savage
spectators, walked slowly through the open space,
and sat down at the Englishman's feet.
Her husband had been killed by the British, and
yet she chose this beautiful, noble revenge. All who
were present felt that she had won the day, and that
Mercy, enshrined within this dusky, savage form, had
triumphed over the old cruel instincts. There was
no reason whatever for her act ; she was only moved
by a spirit of compassion.
A murmur of admiration warned Hemipo that now
or never was the moment for escape, so they coolly
" walked down the slope to saddle the horses, avoid
ing as well as we could all appearance of hurry, which
might have been likely to provoke an attack, in the
same way that snatching one's hand away frqm a
warrot induces it to bite."

NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS. 67
When once they were out of sight, and enough had
been done for dignity, they sprang into their saddles
and rode for their lives, fearing a treacherous ambus
cade at each turn of the road.
And now we will bid adieu to the North Island, with
its strange mixture of English civilization and Maori
savagery, its beautiful scenery and its sanguinary
feuds. All the machinery of Government is set up
there, and it abounds in all the elements of pros
perity. Its very rocks have hidden veins of gold, and
its agricultural prospects are fair indeed. But all this
prosperity hangs on the somewhat uncertain turn of
the native temper. The Maori tomahawk is a very
sword of Damocles over the settlers' heads, and no
people need to cry more earnestly and incessantly,
" Give peace in our time, O Lord."

F 2

CHAPTER VII.
THE MIDDLE ISLAND.
I HOPE I have made you understand the geographical
position of this island sufficiently for us to follow
Sir Charles Dilke without delay across Cook's Straits,
up Queen Charlotte Sound, past Picton and Nelson —
which he calls a gem-like little Cornish village — to
Hokitika, the chief town of the famous goldfield on
the west coast of the Middle or South Island.
When I saw it, the evening shadows were coming
rapidly on, a thick grey mist creeping up from the
gorges of the mountains, and all was blurred and
indistinct. Still it was a most suggestive picture
which lay before me as I stood on the deck of the
little Albion, and strained my eyes towards the dim
shore. On board our tiny mail-steamer all was hurry
and confusion ; every moment of the fast-flying day
light was precious, for no man could tell in how long,
or rather how short, a time, it might become impos
sible to land the impatient diggers who crowded the
forecastle, all ready to drop into the pilot-boats
alongside. We had brought these men, over 200 in
number, from Melbourne; and as it was in the full
flush of the west coast gold-fever, every vessel con
veyed as large a crowd. Besides these professions '

THE MIDDLE ISLAND. £9

diggers who arrived by sea, the long list of new
arrivals from inland was swelled by men of all ranks
and grades from other parts of the island. Shepherds
left their sheep, bankers their till, farmers their crops,
and they all poured in one continuous stream by
narrow mountain-passes, over incredibly bad roads,
down to the mouth of the river Grey, from whence
they dispersed, according to the rumours of the day,
up the narrow gorges, following the "lead of the
gold." I am speaking of the year 1865. Now it is quite
different ; there is still a large town, with a great
population, at Hokitika, but it is comparatively
deserted to what it was in those first wild days when
those who had hitherto failed in every attempt to earn
a livelihood believed they had only to cross the
mountain ranges to find on the other side that elusive
wealth and happiness which they had been vainly
chasing all their life long.
But to come back to the crowded deck of the
Albion. I was much struck by the orderly, respect
able appearance of our digger-passengers. I stood
watching them embark as rapidly as possible, and
saw nothing but quiet good humour ; nor did I hear
a rough word. They were all wonderfully alike in
type, and their dress was so much the same that it
might almost have passed for a uniform. They all
looked the picture of health, with bronzed faces, and
long, somewhat shaggy, hair and beards. Every man
wore a red flannel shirt, moleskin trousers, strong
leathern belt around his waist — from which hung a
large clasp-knife — and thick boots: these generally
came high up the leg, and the trousers were stuffed
into them. Their " swag " consisted of a long narrow
bundle of blankets, a pannikin and " billy," or pot

70 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
for boiling tea, &c. Besides the diggers, we had also
brought several hundred boxes of oranges for Hoki
tika; but these were kept until the morning, and
consequently never landed, for at midnight a furious
N.W. gale got up, which would have driven us on the
Bar of evil repute, and wrecked us in half an hour.
At the first warning puff, therefore, our captain got
up steam (our fires were only banked), and we set
off as fast as we could make headway against the
tremendous waves rolling into the open roadstead.
My last glimpse over-night showed me the white
Vandykes of thousands of tents, closely clustered
together, streaming down in white lines from every
narrow defile, and swarming on the sea-shore. Here
and there I could at first discern a flag flying from a
rare wooden building, marking a theatre or a tavern.
The camp-fires made specks of brightness all among
the tents, like distant glow-worm gleams, and the
smoke arose and mingled with the evening mists,
which were creeping down from the background of
shadowy indistinct mountain-ranges. I longed, like a
child, for the morning light, to enable us to cross the
treacherous Bar, with its barrier line of beating surf;
but when the daylight came, no land was in sight,
and we were speeding towards our destination, Port
Lyttleton, only a few miles away from Christchurch,
the capital of the province of Canterbury, in the
'South Island.
Sir Charles Dilke was more fortunate than I, for a
year later he made Hokitika early on a calm summer
morning, and this was the view which met his eyes: — >
" A hundred miles of the Southern Alps stood out
upon a pale blue sky, in curves of a gloomy white
that were just beginning to blush with pink, but ended
to the southward in a cone of fire that blazed up

THE MIDDLE ISLAND.

71

from the ocean : it was the snow dome of Mount
Cook struck by the rising sun. The ever-green bush,
flaming with the crimson of the rata-blooms, hung
upon the mountain-side, and covered the plain with a
dense jungle."
The two principal islands of New Zealand are
divided into nine semi-independent provinces, three
of which are large and powerful, Auckland in the
North, Canterbury and Otago in the Middle, or
South, Island. Besides these there are six smaller
provinces, which are comparatively poor and small.
All these divided interests entail a very cumbrous
machinery to govern them and arrange their affairs.
We will take a glance at Canterbury, the most im
portant province of the Middle Island. It seemed
little less than marvellous to me, when I arrived at
Christchurch, to hear that the colony was then only
sixteen years old. I found excellent roads, hand
some churches, capital shops, clubs, gas, artesian
wells, pavement in the town. Outside it the flax-
swamps had been changed into meadows and fields of
clover, which made one wish one was a horse or a
cow — so green and inviting did they look ; and pretty
little villas nestled among groves of trees. There
were Acclimatization Gardens, which possessed two
trout, in delicate health, as much an object of interest
to the community as if they had been human beings
on the brink of the grave. Reading-rooms were not
wanting, nor Mechanics' Institutes, nor a Museum,
where I nearly broke my neck looking up at the
Moa's skeleton.
This gigantic and awe-inspiring bird must not,
however, be dismissed in so flippant a manner. I will
give you a proper, respectable account of him. For
tunately for all parties, the " Dinornis " is now extinct,

72 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
though it is supposed that only a hundred years ago
some of the twelve species existed. There were six
perfect specimens in the Government museum at
Christchurch, beginning with the Dinoris giganteus,
the skeleton of a bird ten feet high, and ending with
the Dinoris didiformis, a pretty little creature only
four feet three inches. The bones from which these
specimens were carefully collected, and set up by the
Government geologist, Dr. Haast, were found in the
north of the province a short time since. I believe
that a stray bone is found here and there all over the
island, and it is quite a common thing for the shep
herds to bring in a handful of clear agate-looking
stones which they find in a little heap all together.
These have been at one time in a Moa's gizzard,
having been swallowed by it, as smaller birds pick up
gravel, to digest its food. Our imagination is spared
the task of fancying these tremendous birds flying
about, for they belong to the great Apterix, or wing
less family.
The tunnel through the Port Hills, which divide
Lyttleton from Christchurch, is now finished, and is at
once the most costly and most splendid engineering
work of the kind in the southern hemisphere. A little
bit of it falls in now and then, but that is nothing,
and does not at all fulfil the dismal prophecies which
accompanied every stroke of the excavators' tools.
After you reach Christchurch and get beyond its
pretty suburbs, the first thing which surprises a tra
veller is the vast extent of the treeless, yellow-tinged,
Canterbury Plains. Across them from north to south
runs a magnificent chain of snow-capped mountains,
and their grand outlines serve to make the monotony
of the thousands of acres of table-land endurable
These plains are almost all now divided into sheep

THE MIDDLE ISLAND. 73
or cattle runs. -Where the soil is sufficiently good, and
the difficulties of carriage not too great, the enterpris
ing settler tries his hand at farming, but he has many
obstacles to contend with. I need not go minutely
into them in so slight a sketch as this, merely mention
ing that after a good harvest the farmer cannot always
find customers at anything like paying price, and in
a bad year he must be a heavy loser. Wind is his
enemy as well as rain, for it often happens that, just
as his corn is ripe and within a few hours of being
cut, a north-westerly gale will blow the grain out of
the ear ; or supposing it has been cut, the north-west
"wind sends his sheaves flying through the air as if
they were thistledown.
Sheep and wool are the important items of Middle
Island prosperity. Whenever an English steamer, or its
forerunner, the telegraphic summary of news, arrives,
the first question each man asks his neighbour is, " How
is wool ? " and in proportion to the answer, " Down,"
or " Up," does his countenance rise or fall. The con
versation is also tinged with peculiar idioms in con
sequence of this all-absorbing topic. For instance,
it is not uncommon to hear one gentleman demand of
another whether he proposes to " Wash this year ? "
and it is startling, to say the least of it, to be told,
" No, I shan't wash this season ; I'll shear in the
grease," If haply the answer to the washing question
be "Yes," it is generally followed by the query, " Hot
or cold water ? " which invariably leads to an ani
mated discussion on the merits of the various systems.
Happily, the appalling inquiry " Are you scabby ? "
is dying away now, for scab, that curse to sheep-
farmers, has been nearly stamped out.
As I have said so much in the preceding chapters
about the Maories of the North Island, I will devote

74 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
only a few lines to their quiet brethren of the Middle
or South Island. They are looked down upon by
their warlike fellow-savages, who declare that the
handful of peaceable natives in the Middle Island
are only the remnant of a small body of escaped
slaves who survived a certain raid or expedition, of
which the tradition is as follows. Some sixty years
ago the Maories in the North Island, being short of-
provisions, or craving variety, chose calm weather and
crossed over in a fleet of canoes, surprising the
dwellers in the Middle Island, and as usual cooking
and eating them. Their ovens, with the remains of
calcined human bones, exist all over the country to
this day ; but it is difficult to believe of the few
remaining Maories in the Middle Island that they
were ever cannibals. In appearance their type of
countenance more nearly resembles the Negro than
does that of the North Island Maori ; nor have I ever
seen the least trace of good looks in either men or
women. When we took possession of the Middle Island, the
Government carefully apportioned and set aside large
tracts of country, which are called Maori Reserves.
These lands not only comprise the best soil, but are
particularly selected for possessing advantages of
wood and water. I believe the Middle Island Maories
have never expressed the least dissatisfaction at these
arrangements, and they dwell in peace and prosperity
within their own borders. They build schools, wherein
their children are taught English-fashion, and the
wharres of the North Island have given place to trim
pretty cottages. On the whole, they are well off, and
particularly fond of horses. A Maori seldom walks if
he has a chance of bestriding any animal; and I was
much amused once to meet a bridal procession going

THE MIDDLE ISLAND. 75
to a Dissenting chapel close by, in which the bride
was mounted on a tall raw-boned grey horse. She
was quite young, and looked the picture of good-
humoured self-satisfaction, but the fashionable white
muslin costume, ornamented with white satin bows,
seemed rather out of place en Amazone, and I never
shall forget how droll her white satin shoes on bare
brown feet looked as they hung down by her charger's
gaunt side.
At shearing-time those who are accustomed to the
work go " up country " in small gangs to seek and find
ready employment in the large wool-sheds. I have
also constantly seen Maories in Christchurch offering
for sale freshly-caught whitebait in flax baskets.
It is a great pity that the splendid forests which
once covered Canterbury, and, indeed, almost all the
Middle Island, have been so much destroyed by fire.
For miles and miles there is not a tree to be seen, and
yet the mountain-sides bear traces of tree-stumps,
and in many places are strewn with huge, half-burned
logs. The first thing a colonist does is to plant trees
around his dwelling, not only for ornament, but
because he knows that without their shelter he will
never be able to induce anything to grow in his garden.
Groves of poplars and gum-trees are rapidly springing
up all over the country, as they grow more quickly
than other trees ; but they have a very parvenu and
mushroom appearance in comparison with the grand
silent native bush, which still exists here and there in
great patches of timber.
The inland lakes are magnificent, and will some
day, if the labours of the Acclimatization Society be
crowned with success, become well stocked with fish.
There are no hot-springs like those in the North
Island, so well described by Mr. Meade ; but Switzer-

PART II.
NORTH AMERfCA.

EOETH AMERICA.

CHAPTER VIII.

BURIED CITIES.

My table is covered with books of travels in
North America, which seems to possess attractions
for all the adventurous spirits in both the Old and
New Worlds. Many of the most interesting volumes
before me are written by American travellers ; and
here I may notice one little difference in these works.
The Englishman travels chiefly for the pure love of
seeing new scenes, and having a shot at big game ;
and, in short, from the true British restlessness of
disposition which underlies our stolid outer manner.
The American, on the other hand, has always an eye
to business. We hear little of the habits of buffaloes
and elks from our tall cousins, but we gather a great
deal of useful information about the countries they
pass through so rapidly.
I do not mean to infer from this that we are only
a nation of tourists or huntsmen. No, we naturally
travel sometimes on business, but when we do so, I
fancy, we don't write books about what we see or hear
by the way. Perhaps it is in order to carry out this
little theory of mine that I select from the great heap
of travellers' tales four books from which I hope to
compile a varied and interesting series of tours for
you. Two of these volumes are written by Americans,

80 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
and two by Englishmen. We will take them in order
as they come.
Business first, and pleasure afterwards, shall be our
motto ; so we will begin by dipping into one of the
most interesting bpoks of travel ever written. It is
the joint production of Messrs. Stephens and Cather-
wood, and extends from the year 1839 to 1852.
I do not mean you to infer that they were travelling
all that time, for the Preface expressly tells us that
this volume relates only to their first journey, which
occupied about ten months of the years 1839-40.
In 1 841 they set forth again, and explored the Penin
sula of Yucatan, and made some other shorter tours
in 1 849-50 ; but these cannot now be touched upon.
One of the writers, Mr. Stephens, started on his
first journey, that of October 1839, m the position of
Minister to the United States, and we owe to him the
greater portion of the entertaining narrative before
us. They left New York, then, on the 3rd of the
month, in a British brig, and steered straight for
the Bay of Honduras. A reference to the map will
enable you to follow their course exactly. This is
about the only part of the expedition which I
personally envy them, for their ocean-track, so far, is
familiar to me. When I read that "on the 9th we were
within the region of the trade- winds, on the 10th
within the tropics, and on the nth with the ther
mometer at 80°, but a refreshing breeze, we were
moving gently between Cuba and St. Domingo, with
both in full sight." When, I repeat, I read this
sentence, the words have a magic all their own, to
conjure up the recollections of the beauty of those
tropic seas, set with islands almost as thickly as their
glorious sky is with stars. I see again, as in bygone
days, the crisp, translucent Atlantic waves, just tipped

BURIED CITIES.

with a foamy fleck here and there. Over them the
good ship, with her ugly name " Mary Ann," moves
as smoothly as a Long Acre carriage bowls over a
level road, for the breeze is lifting her steadily along.
If you lean over the brig's side and gaze down into
the endless blue depths through which you are making
your watery way, you catch glimpses of strange
creatures flashing to and fro in their sparkling ocean-
home, or an exquisite bit of seaweed spreads its lace
like film out on the water for one brief instant. Then,
at another moment of the long, enchanted day, you
raise your eyes, and across the dancing wave-lines
mountain shapes stand out against the glowing sky
with forms as varied as those of cloud-land, and
changing lights and shadows play over the irre
gular surfaces of a beautiful West Indian Island.
If ceaseless variety constitutes the charm of scenery,
then you have no cause to complain, for each island
differs in loveliness from its sister isle, and yet all are
fair and exquisite to behold.
But memory gives me back no photograph of
the past more clear and sharp in its outlines than
my first tropic night at sea. I can feel again that
awful tranquillity, wrapped in which we were silently
speeding along under a crowd of softly-rustling
canvas, when I looked up to behold, for the first time
in my life, a tropic moon and tropic stars. They
hung, or so it seemed to me, in mid air, like great
shining globes of light. I could see the deep blue
ether stretching away above, as well as beneath them ;
I could feel the warmth of their golden beams on my
upturned, wondering face, and a great oppression of
beauty fell upon me as I thought of Carlyle's
words : — " Brief, brawling day, with its noisy phan
tasms, its poor paper crowns, tinsel-gilt, is gone, and
G

82 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
divine, everlasting Night, with her star-diadems, with
her silences and her veracities, is come."
No doubt Messrs. Stephens and Catherwood saw
and, perhaps, felt all this glow and warmth of beauty
while the weather lasted, but they record, as faithful
historians are bound to do, eighteen days of terrible
weather before reaching Belize, the capital of Hon
duras, in the curve of the Gulf of that name. Of
course one of the first things they saw was another
brig, laden with mahogany, as that is the great trade
of the place. For miles and miles along the coast,
but standing back a little from the sea-line, extends
a succession of forests of these noble, stately trees,
and the timber-merchants in Honduras drive a
flourishing trade, and find the road to fortune toler
ably smooth and easy.
We may pass over their amazement at the slender
bridge which spans the great gulf between Black and
White at Belize. ' In these days a traveller arriving
even from New York, as they did, would not find
such matter for astonishment in the fact of the most
respectable inhabitants having black wives and bronze-
coloured children, whom they educated with as much
care, and made money for with as much zeal, as if
their skins were perfectly white.
The United States Minister and his travelling com
panion visited the excellent Negro schools, and many
other institutions of this English settlement in Central
America ; but we are most amused with their amuse
ment at the primitive forms of the administration of
justice in the Grand Court at Belize. There was cer
tainly nothing grand about the court except its name,
for the costume of the judges, if the day proved sultry,
was generally a roundabout jacket, which sounds
rather a school-boyish dress for such grave and learned

BURIED CITIES. 83

functionaries. But the astonishing part of the court
consists in the absence of lawyers in spite of plenty of
law, for as we are told very prettily, "Belize is a
place of large commercial transactions ; contracts are
daily made, and broken, or misunderstood, which
require the intervention of some proper tribunal to
interpret and compel their fulfilment.
Everybody pleaded their own cause and defended
their own "misunderstandings," and the trial was
conducted in the most affectionate, not to say free
and easy, manner. Imagine the defendant in a trial
at Westminster Hall- putting his hand in a friendly
way on the plaintiff's shoulder when he interrupted
his statements, and saying, in coaxing tones, " Now
don't, George ; wait a little, and you shall have your
turn ; don't interrupt me, and I won't you." It is not
surprising that our travellers were amazed at such a
system, and contrasted it favourably with all their
former experiences of the "reign of law."
However, they could not linger long in these hos
pitable regions, where all doors were open to them,
but departed in a few days amid flying flags and
thundering cannon for Puerta Gorda, a settlement
of Carib Indians 150 miles south-west down the
coast. The object of their short visit to this place
seems to have been to afford the inhabitants an oppor
tunity of getting themselves christened or married
by a good Padre, who was a fellow-passenger of the
two American gentlemen. Mr. Stephens records his
disappointment at the natives' anxiety to profit chiefly
by the former rite, but as nearly all the men were
away at work in the great mahogany forests, the
scarcity of bridegrooms is not so surprising after all.
They soon re-embarked, and steered for the inner
most bend of the Honduras Gulf, casting anchor in
G a

84 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
the beautiful harbour of Ysabel. Here they bade
adieu to the "Mary Ann," and, after making arrange
ments for the hire of Indians and mules, started to
cross the great Mico mountain, purposing to reach
Guatimala by this difficult but short route. So light
are the spirits of the travellers, that, as we read their
accounts, we are apt to underrate the hardships they
encountered, for it is not possible to help laughing
when at one of their halting-places, where they
stopped for a meal, at the summit of the mountain,
we find these details : —
"We unrolled the napkin containing our stores,
and the scene that presented itself was too shocking
even for the stoutest nerves. We had provided bread
for three days, eggs boiled hard, and two roasted
fowls ; Augustin (their half-caste servant) had for
gotten salt, but he had placed in the napkin a large
paper of gunpowder as an adventure of his own.
The paper was broken, and the bread, fowls, and eggs
were thoroughly seasoned with this new condiment.
A.11 the beauty of the scene, all our equanimity, every
thing except our tremendous appetites, left us in a
moment. We wished the whole of the murderous
seasoning in Augustin's body, for we could not pick
out enough to satisfy hunger. It was, perhaps, the
most innocent way of tasting gunpowder, but even
so, it was a bitter pill. We picked and made exca
vations for immediate use, but the rest of our stores
was lost."
On this journey the muleteers appear to have been
greedy and extortionate beyond their regulations,
and Mr. Stephens narrates how, at one halting-place,
when the muleteer suddenly demanded a higher scale
of payment, and on his refusal threatened to summon
the United States Minister before the Alcade, Mr.

BURIED CITIES. 85
Catherwood cheered his drooping spirits by promising
that if he were imprisoned, he, Mr. Catherwood,
would proceed to bombard the village with his
brace of revolvers !
It is not until we reach this part of the narrative
that we perceive the object of the long and tedious
journey, with its days of hard riding and its nights
rendered sleepless by noise and vermin, undertaken
by the adventurous friends. But here Mr. Stephens
tells us, with much enthusiasm, how his imagination
had been fired by reading Humboldt's accounts of the
reports of the ruined cities in Mexico and Central
America. These narratives had suggested to the
enterprising explorers wild and wandering ideas in
regard to the first peopling of this country, and the
strong belief that powerful and populous nations had
occupied it, and passed away, whose histories are
entirely unknown.
Humboldt had told the world of Mitla, the Vale of
the Dead ; Xoxichalco, a mountain hewed down and
terraced, called the Hill of Flowers ; and the Pyramid
or Temple of Chalula. But since Humboldt's days
rumours had reached both Europe and America of
great cities beyond the Vale of Mexico, buried in
forests, ruined, desolate, and without a name. The
prevailing idea respecting these remains was that
they betokened to a race long anterior to that which
inhabited the country at the time of the Spanish
conquest. Copan was the first of these buried cities which lay
in their route towards Guatimala. From Ysabel their
path trended to the south-east, and very graphic and
interesting are the pages devoted to a minute account
of these massive stone remains, which have outlasted
by so many centuries the hands which hewed and set

86 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
them up. We admire, at every line, the patience and
perseverance of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Catherwood.
The difficulties which were thrown in their way by the
stupid Spanish and Indian dwellers on the outskirts of
the forest must be read to be believed. At last, in a
fit of desperation, the explorers proposed to buy
Copan, " idols " (as the stone monuments were
called) and all, for the sum of fifty dollars! It was
considered a very handsome offer, as they were
articles for which the demand was never brisk, and
in spite of the difficulties attending the sale, on
account of the scarcity of paper whereon to draw
up the deed, it was at last happily completed, and
duly signed and sealed.
With much enthusiasm Mr. Stephens dilates on the
wonders and glories of his new freehold. We see by
his help the depths of the tropical forest, its silence
only broken by chattering monkeys and screaming
parrots; the group of Indians clearing with machete
and axe the overhanging vines and creepers, and
bringing to light once more the long-hidden tokens
of human skill in its blind groping after artistic
beauty We read of a stone portrait of some king,
chieftain, or sage, with an expression of face at once
noble and severe, and showing a close imitation of
nature. Plentiful were the sculptured skulls of mon
keys, but we think the following passage describes
the most wonderful of the remains at Copan : —
" There are two fine stone pyramids, moderately
large and lofty, from which is suspended a hammock
that contains two human figures, one of each sex,
clothed in Indian style. Astonishment is forcibly
excited on viewing this structure, because, large as it
is, there is no appearance of the component parts
being joined together ; and though entirely of one

BURIED CITIES. Sy

stone and of an enormous weight, it may be put in
motion by the slightest impulse of the hand."
It is no wonder that Mr. Stephens records the feel
ings of solemn awe with which he gazed on the ruins
of ancient Copan. He infers, from the frequency of a
Death's-head in the decorations, and the numerous
sacrificial altars, that he was standing amid the fallen
evidences of a holy city — the Mecca or Jerusalem
of an unknown people.
Here the friends separated, Mr. Catherwood remain
ing behind, whilst Mr. Stephens pushed on towards
Guatimala, travelling through wooded mountains and
crossing many rivers, but owing his chief discomforts
to the knavery or stupidity of his muleteer. He
records at each stage the hospitality and goodness
of the "cura," or padre, of the village. Never did
he beg in vain at a priest's door for the rest and re
freshment he so sorely needed, and which often was
churlishly denied by others. We quite love one old
cura, " a man of six feet high, with broad shoulders,
and a heart as big as his body and as open as his
wearing apparel," who gave up his own catre or bed-
st;ad to the tired traveller.
Very touching and beautiful is the account of a
house of mourning by the wayside, with the young
widow kneeling by her dead husband all through the
soft tropic night, looking out at the starlit heaven,
and pathetically demanding, amid sobs and tears,
" Oh, our Lord of Esquipulas, why have you taken
him away ? My only help, my consolation, my head,
my heart ; you who were so strong, who could lift a
ceroon of indigo, why have you left me ? "
We must hasten on with. Mr. Stephens through
the beautiful scenery, all fair and lovely by nature,
but polluted by man's wickedness and violence at

88 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
each step of the road, till we reach with him the city
of Guatimala, the capital of Central America. Here
he revelled, poor weary man, in clean sheets and
decent food, and records his delight at being estab
lished in a house once more, for he seems to have laid
aside at this place the r61e of traveller, and assumed
that of United States Minister for a short time.
A few months before, one of the revolutions — as
common to these explosive latitudes as their own
earthquakes — had taken place, of which a certain
outlaw called Carrera was the leader ; and Mr.
Stephens enters minutely into an account of the ex
isting politics, and describes his interview with the
popular hero of the day. But such topics are foreign
to our proposed plan of keeping ourselves always
moving on, in a way which ought to gladden the heart
of a policeman, so we will once more take the road
with our author, who set out on an excursion to La
Antigua and the Pacific Ocean on the 17th December,
1839, partly to be out of harm's way.
He descended a wild and rugged road, crossed El
Rio Pensativo, and found himself once more amid
shattered though modern ruins. A series of earth
quakes had gradually laid La Antigua low, and vol
canic irruptions had helped to destroy what had once
been the finest town of the New World, and had
borne the proud title of the City of the Knights of St.
James. It was founded in 1542, but having suffered
from volcanoes of water as well as of fire, and from
earthquakes innumerable, it was finally abandoned in
1777. Mr. Stephens could not afford time to linger long
in this spot, so lovely, that even volcanoes could not
make it desolate, but hastened on through the classic
ground, where Cortez received the ambassadors from

BURIED CITIES.

the Kachiquel kings, where Alvarado fought his
most brilliant battles, past the rugged sides of a
volcano, where he saw the seams and gullies made
by the irruption of the water, past Ciudad Vieja,
till he reached the beautiful city of Escuintla. A
few hours' repose was all the indefatigable traveller
permitted himself, and a hasty visit to its roofless
cathedral, whose rich walls had been rent by a recent
earthquake. Before this ruined splendour stood two
venerable ceiba trees, and the platform commanded
a splendid panoramic view of the volcanoes and moun
tains of La Antigua.
At two o'clock that same night, with a brilliant
moon overhead and a single guide, Mr. Stephens and
his fellow-travellers started for the Pacific. Day
light found them amid gigantic forest-trees, from
75 feet to IOO feet high, and 20 feet to 25 feet in
girth. From these massive branches hung a drapery
of vines, and red or purple-blossomed creepers. Not
only were parrots and other brilliant-hued birds
flitting about, but here was the fitting leafy home
of the great Guacamaya or macaw, with its red,
green, and yellow plumage. These gay-feathered
creatures made the lights of the beautiful forest
picture ; its shadows were vultures and scorpions,
and the monster iguana, or lizard, 3 feet in length.
Emerging from the forest shade, later in the day,
they journeyed on over a rich uncultivated plain,
capable of supporting thousands of human beings
on its broad and fertile bosom, but for miles and
miles they never met a living creature. Soon they
struck the course of the river Michatoyal, and, fol
lowing along its banks, heard, long before they saw
them, the distant boom of the waves rolling in from
the great Southern Ocean. These are Mr. Stephens'

90 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
own words : " The sound was grand and solemn,
giving a strong impression of the immensity of those
waters, which had been rolling from the creation,
unknown to civilized man. I was loth to disturb
the impression, and rode slowly through the woods,
listening in profound silence to the grandest music
that ever fell upon my ear. The road terminated
on the bank of the river, and I had crossed the
Continent of America."

CHAPTER IX.
DANGERS BY LAND AND SEA.
It was not long after his return to Guatimala before
Mr. Stephens came in for a revolution, and the 1st
January, 1840, saw the Liberal Party defeated, the
whole place in an uproar, and Mr. Stephens setting out
from his head-quarters " in search of a Government."
But, unfortunately, he found a fever before he had
succeeded in discovering orthodox rulers ; and we
pity the sufferings he describes so pathetically. It is
bad enough to be alternately chilly and burning, to be
racked with pain, and drenched with odious remedies,
when we are lying in a comfortable bed, amid quiet
soothing scenes ; if we add noise, fleas, dirt, a blazing
sun, and constant travelling to these miseries, we
may faintly perceive the extent of our poor tra
veller's wretchedness. However, he reached Istapa,
an open roadstead on the Pacific, and immediately
embarked on board a French ship. Here he met with
great kindness and attention. Indeed, he complains
of too much of the latter, as, during a violent access
of his illness, he could not keep the chief steward
out of his cabin. Morning and evening that official
appeared, cup and spoon in hand, with the dry an
nouncement, "Monsieur, un vomitif ;" "Monsieur, un
purge." There was no escape, the contents of the cup

TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.

had to be swallowed, but the result was a successful
cure for the time.
The brig's course lay south, as she was bound
for Costa Rica, the southernmost state of the Con
federacy. Mr. Stephens determined on the journey
for the sake of the sea-air; on the 22nd January
they started ; and on the 2nd February, wind and
weather having been most favourable, they cast
anchor in the harbour of Caldera. This port had so
deadly a reputation for fever and ague, that lingering
was impossible, and in a few hours Mr. Stephens started
once more to retrace his steps by way of Cartago.
His object was to obtain some information respecting
the canal route between the Atlantic and the Pacific
by means of the lake of Nicaragua and the river
Southran. He was accompanied by his new and ex
cellent servant " Hezoos," which name he was shocked
to find meant " Jesus." Hezoos was not very brave,
it appeared, and Mr. Stephens tells us this little tale
about him : —
"In one of the darkest passages, Hezoos stopped,
and, with a voice that made the woods ring, cried
out, " A lion ! a lion ! " I was startled, but he dis
mounted and lighted a cigar. This was cool, I
thought ; but he relieved me by telling me that the
lion was a different animal from the ' roarer of the
African desert, small, frightened by a shout, and only
ate children."
Mr. Stephens did not linger long at Cartago, for he
was anxious to return to Guatimala, where there was
a chance that the revolution might be over ; and on the
13th February a final start homewards was made in
very light marching order. Before two days' journey
was ended, the travellers came in for an earthquake,
which terrified them almost to death. After a hard

DANGERS BY LAND AND SEA. 93

day's travel, they were seated at supper in a hut,
when a sound was heard in the roof as if it were open
ing and about to fall on their heads. One of the party
started up, flung his arms around the nearest person's
neck, shouting " Temblor, temblor ! " (an earthquake).
In an instant all had rushed out of the frail shelter,
and had flung themselves prostrate on the heaving
earth. To their surprise, the hut did not fall, but this
is accounted for by its being built of undried bricks,
or " adobes " of clay and straw, which are laid in a
' soft state upon the top of each other, with upright
posts between, so that they are dried by the sun into
one mass, which moves with the surface of the earth.
On ist March, Mr. Stephens reached Grenada, and
he gives a most interesting account of an extinct vol
cano appropriately named El Infierno de Masaya, with
a crater a mile and a half in circumference, and 500 or
600 feet in depth. Imagine men going down into this
frightful pit, from which smoke and flame are reported
to have issued unceasingly, in search of gold ? Yet
there is a record of two monks and two Spaniards
having descended in a large bucket, suspended by a
chain 150 fathoms long. As soon as they had reached
this depth, the heat began to melt the chain and
bucket, and they were glad enough to give the signal
to be drawn up " sufficiently frighted."
Mr. Stephens, however, thinks this tradition ex
aggerated, for he describes the scene as one of sin
gular and quiet beauty, with green grass growing
luxuriantly within the huge basin. He was anxious
to descend into it, but the sides were too steep. He
suggests that it would be a very good speculation to
buy the volcano, build a nice hotel at the top, put a
railing round " El Infierno " to keep the children from
tumbling in, a zigzag staircase down the sides, and a

94 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
glass of iced lemonade at the bottom ! He calculates
that the volcano might be purchased for ten dollars,
and we are rather surprised he did not add it to his
purchase of Copan with its masses of fallen stone.
Leon 'was the next town passed through, where a
small revolution seethed and bubbled in the streets,
rendering any stay but the very shortest dangerous.
Everywhere Mr. Stephens gives us the same report —
a beautiful country, well watered and wooded, with
soil of marvellous richness, all rendered useless by the
" assassin-looking scoundrels " who inhabit so fair a
region. From Leon Mr. Stephens hastened to em
bark at Naguiscolo, and steered for the opposite
shore of the Conchagua Bay. From hence he made
a hurried journey through the state of St. Salvador,
the richest in Central America. It extends for 180
miles along the seaboard of the Pacific Ocean, and
produces tobacco, indigo, and balsam of the finest
quality. Five or six days' forced journey brought
them to the town of St. Salvador, and from this a
fresh start was made for Guatimala, which they
reached in a few days to find things in a much worse
state than when they left. In fact the arrival of
"El Senor Ministro del Norte America" seems to
have created fresh political complications, for it
became an open question which of the rival cabinets
should possess such a functionary. Mr. Stephens
records with quiet drollery how he and his followers
surrendered to one party in the morning, only to be
captured out of their hands in the evening by the
opposite set of revolutionists. The climax of these
disagreeables seems to have arrived when the unfor
tunate Minister heard that he was expected to
entertain his co-statesmen for the time being, and

DANGERS BY LAND AND SEA. 95
consequently had to furnish two good meals a day to
opposing parties at a moment's notice.
Besides this commissariat difficulty, there was the
constant danger of being shot by mistake ; but at last
the city settled " into a volcanic calm," which does
not appear, however, to have brought any ease of
mind to our traveller, and we rejoice with him at the
safe arrival of Mr. Catherwood, who had been left
behind at Copan, and whose account of his excava
tions is exceedingly interesting. Very beautiful is
one drawing of an idol at Quiriga, so covered by
luxuriant tropical vegetation, fern's, mosses, &c, that
the grim faces and strange forms look out on us from
frames of exquisite foliage. The first idea of the
explorers had been to remove some of these great
carved stones to their own country, but, as they say,
"We had not the Government for paymaster," and
the undertaking was too costly for private enterprise,
so the monuments still remain in the same spot where
they were first discovered.
In the meantime, Mr. Stephens decided, that, as he
was obliged to report to the authorities at Washing
ton, " After diligent search, no Government was to
be found in Central America at that date," he was
at liberty to go where he pleased. He and Mr.
Catherwood therefore started for Palenque, 1,000
miles distant in a south-westerly direction, and just
within the Mexican frontier. The dangers of this
route were many and varied, but the Indians were
the most dreaded enemies ; and, as usual, before start
ing, the travellers were well primed with horrible
stories of recent assassinations and murders. It was
judged safer to provide the two American gentlemen
with passports, in which Mr. Stephens was vaguely
described as "Consul for the North;" and, having

Q.5 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED
arranged their business in Guatimala, sent off their
heavy luggage — among which Mr. Stephens espe
cially mentions his now useless diplomatic coat —
they set forth on their perilous journey on the
7th April.
They proposed to themselves to visit several ruined
cities by the way, and their first halt was at Teepan,
which amply repaid their most sanguine expectations.
They also paused at the ruins of Santa Cruz del
QuicW, once the large and wealthy capital of Utatlan ;
but unhappily we cannot linger with them.
Quezaltenango was their next halting-place. It
stands amid the ruins of the ancient Xelapah, or
" under the government of ten," having been governed
by ten captains, who each presided over 8,000 dwell
ings, and, according to Fuentes, contained 300,000
inhabitants. Here all was beautiful and interesting,
and Mr. Stephens deplores that they could not
examine the treasures of Aztec art and of nature so
profusely scattered around them; but it was neces
sary to push on and seek a land where at least human
life was safe. They could not pause at the beautiful
ruins of Quezaltenango even for rest, but hurried
forward to Gueguetenango, which they reached in
" a shattered condition, both animals and men having
suffered severely from the forced marches over bad
roads." As for Juan, the muleteer, he could do little
else than moan " Vay morir ! " (I am going to die).
Here also were ruins to be found — ruins of the
ancient city ; but the chief curiosities of the place
consisted of old vases and fragments of human bones
secured in mounds, or hidden away in caves.
The Indians were too numerous and too " excited "
to make a long visit to this interesting spot possible
to the unfortunate Consul for the North and his ener-

DANGERS BY SEA AND LAND. 97

getic companion, so they took saddle once more to
cross the frontier to Comitan. Before they could
reach this place of comparative safety, they had a
most disagreeable adventure. A burning forest barred
their path, and laid desolate the villages on the route
in which they had hoped to find rest and shelter for a
few hours. They barely escaped with their lives, and
had scorched faces and hands by the time the danger
was passed. We pity the mules almost as much as
we do the men, for the poor beasts were attacked by
swarms of enormous flies, which had been driven out
of the bush by the fierceness of the flames. These
insects had to be brushed off with a stick, but not
before they had driven the mules nearly frantic by
their bites, which drew blood freely.
Mexico was entered by a most beautiful road, and
the boundary river between it and Guatimala — the
Rio Lagertero — safely crossed. Here Mr. Stephens
congratulates himself on standing on comparatively
safe and free soil, " out of the dangers of revolutions,
in good health, with good appetite, and something
to eat!"
The next morning they started in high spirits, and
half resolved to ride through Mexico and Texas to
their own door in New York. But this idea gave
way to the anxieties which soon gathered as thickly
as ever about them, and it was as much as they could
do to reach Comitan. Here their passports did them
good service, and Mr. Stephens acknowledges that he
should have found it difficult to prosecute his researches
at Palenque — which was their next point — without
those documents.
The ist of May saw them setting out for that city,
and on the third day they reached Ocasingo, the
nearest inhabited place. Here they were comfortably

TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.

housed, and from hence they made many and frequent
expeditions to some ruins and caves in El Monte,
which latter v/ere supposed to communicate with the
old city of Palenque, 150 miles distant.
They had little time to devote to clearing away the
tropical growths of centuries which shrouded both the
reported ruins and the entrance to the supposed vast
subterraneous passages, so they started almost im
mediately. Great was their grief at having to turn
their backs on such attractions, and Mr. Stephens says :
" It had additional interest in our eyes, from the chr
cumstance that this would be the best point from
which to attempt the discovery of the mysterious city
seen from the top of the Cordilleras."
Yahalon was the next stage. How beautiful must
be a journey through a land where every hour and
day produce something new ! They never had any
idea of the character of the place they were approach
ing until they had entered it, and one splendid scenic
surprise followed close upon another. Alas ! the
more beautiful the face of the country, the more
hideous seems to have been the nature of its inhabi
tants. The Indians all along this lovely route bear
the worst characters in the world, and at Tumbala
the muleteers considered the danger so great that
they promptly ran away, and left the Americans to
journey on with unknown attendants taken at random
from the surrounding ruffians. On they went, how
ever, through a country as wild as it was before the
Spanish conquest, over mountain-tracks so steep that
the mules could barely scramble up them with only
the saddles on their backs, under a broiling sun, with
precipices 1,000 feet deep beneath them. At last
they paused at Nopa, on the mountain top, and never
was the shelter of a rancho more welcome. Yet this

DANGERS BY SEA AND LAND. 99
rancho was only a pitched roof covered with palm-
leaves, and supported by four trunks of trees. Its
floor was strewn with snail-shells and the ashes of the
fires in which those delicacies had been cooked.
From this lofty point the last start for Palenque
was made, and they arrived at the village in safety.
The ruins were eight miles off, and a vile road lay
between ; but after a few hours of well-earned rest,
and some hasty purchases, they set forth, and the first
glance at the ruins, which they reached at nightfall,
amply repaid them for all their hardships and toil.
This is the best known of all the ancient cities of
America, as it was the first to awaken interest and
attention. The earliest mention we have of it is taken
from the Spanish records, which state that in the year
1750 a party of Spanish travellers found in the midst
of this vast solitude, ancient stone buildings, the re
mains of a city covering from 18 to 24 miles of
ground, known to the Indians by the name of " Casas
de Piedras." Up to that date Mr. Stephens states
that there is no mention of the existence of such a
city in any book, nor even a tradition of its hidden
wonders, though he suspects the Indians were aware
of the proximity of the ruins to their village of
Palenque. However, in the year 1786, the then
King of Spain ordered an exploration, which was
undertaken in the following year by Captain Antonio
del Rio, who proceeded at once to the spot from
Guatimala. This officer made an ample and minute report of
his discoveries to his Government, but the documents
were locked up in the archives at Guatimala until the
year 1822, when they fell into the hands of an English
gentleman, who at once published them, but without
attracting much attention to the subject.
H 2

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

Another expedition was sent out in 1805, by
Charles the Fourth of Spain, under Captain Dupaix,
but one of the numerous Mexican revolutions hap
pening about the same time, it became of more im
portance to preserve existing cities from ruin than
to search for those already ruined, so the subject
slumbered once more, and the work of M. Dupaix,
with its beautiful illustrations, was not brought out for
twenty-eight years more.
Mr. Stephens evidently considers that all the in
formation hitherto given concerning the size and ex
tent of the old ruins of Palenque has been taken from
the vague and varying reports of the Indians, and he
proceeds to show the falsity and exaggeration of most
of the existing statistics. Nothing" can be more simple
or more straightforward than his interesting details.
In an old palace he established his temporary home ;
its corridors were infested by bats and scorpions, but
lit up at night by giant glow-worms ; it abounded
with magnificent carved doorways and lintels ; with
silent, staring images of departed kings and heroes
of bygone ages; and with gay swarms of parrots
and lizards.
Mr. Stephens and Mr. Catherwood now wished to
start for Yucatan ; and so home, but just before they
set out it was proposed that they should become the
purchasers of the ancient city, and the ground
on which it stood, 6,000 acres, for 300/. ; and the
bargain was actually struck. On the 4th June
they left the village of Palenque and set their faces
homewards. It does not say much for his fellow-
creatures — at least as they appear in Central America
— that Mr. Stephens' parting regrets were lavished
on his faithful macho, or mule. He records his testi
mony to its courage and endurance, adding that it

DANGERS BY SEA AND LAND. 101
had carried him safely over 2,000 miles of the worst
roads ever travelled by a mule. We are quite glad
to learn that this faithful beast was turned out into
rich pasture grounds to roam untouched by spur or
bridle till his old master should return again.
And now we are on the point of bidding farewell
to our fellow-travellers, in whose company we have
made so long and so dangerous a journey. Soon
after their last start from Palenque they crossed the
river Usumasinta, 500 or 600 yards wide, one of the
noblest rivers of Central America, rising among the
mountains of Peten, and emptying itself into the
Lake of Terminos, in the Mexican Gulf. Here the in
cessant jogging on mule-back was exchanged for a
lounge on the deck of a river boat, or bungo, which
appears, however, to have been essentially a fair-
weather craft ; for Mr. Stephens narrates, with much
humour, how, when a squall of wind and rain came
on, the four or five passengers on board this cranky
skiff, as a matter of course, took off their boots and
coats and got out their life-belts. It seems to have
been high time to adopt these precautions, for the
mainsail had stuck half way, and would neither move
up or down, whilst the patron or captain of the boat
looked at the refractory sail with tears of terror in his
eyes, and besought his sailors, or " marineros," to aid
him, in long sentences beginning, " Gentlemen, do me
the favour."
However, they escaped drowning by what seems
little short of a miracle, and, after, having been much
buffeted, cast the heavy stone which did duty for
an anchor, in the little port of Laguna. This place is
a small harbour in the seven-miles-long island of
Carmen, which, with another smaller island, bars
Lake Terminos from the full sweep of the waters of

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

the Mexican Gulf. They re-embarked for Sisal, sixty
miles beyond, the seaport of Merida. It is not diffi
cult to guess the attraction this town — founded on the
site of an old Indian village, but surrounded by flat
uninteresting scenery — possessed for our travellers.
They had heard reports of the existence of Indian
buildings in its neighbourhood. Uxmal was the name
of this their last Buried City. It is described as being
the most beautiful of all. Mr. Stephens says : " We
came at once upon a large open field strewed with
mounds of ruins, vast buildings on terraces, and
pyramidal structures grand and in good preservation,
richly ornamented, without a bush to obstruct the
view, and in picturesque effect almost equal to the
ruins of Thebes."
In spite of such strong inducements to remain and
explore, they were obliged to decide on a sudden
and speedy departure for Havana. Fever was very
prevalent at Uxmal after the heavy rains, which
were just over, and Mr. Catherwood was taken so
seriously ill that his life depended on his leaving the
unhealthy, though fascinating spot. Mr. Stephens
had time, however, to make several very interesting
drawings and plans of the ruins. It was a great
puzzle to him to observe that there was no trace or
remnant of fountains, wells, or streams, amid these
old-time dwellings. Water the former inhabitants
must have had ; and yet where, under the surface of
the ground, could they have concealed the sources
of their supply? In all other excavations and ex
plorations he had discovered, as was to be expected
in so hot a country, abundant signs in every silent
house-place of tanks and cisterns, but here it was
quite different.
On the 29th June they re-embarked at Sisal for

DANGERS BY SEA AND LAND. 103
Havana, but their ill-luck attended them to the last.
The Spanish brig was not seaworthy ; they had calms
and head-winds, water and provisions ran short, and
had it not been for crossing the track of a vessel
bound for New York, which took them on board,
their entertaining and delightful book would pro
bably never have been written ; for the journals, note
books, and sketches from which it was to be com
piled would have sunk, with their brave, persevering
authors, in the Gulf Stream. It was owing, at last,
to Mr. Stephens' sharpness and courage in embarking
in a boat half-full of water, on waves swarming with
sharks, that the Helen Maria was at last safely
reached, and the somewhat dangerous run to New
York accomplished by the 31st July, after an ab
sence of ten months.
We feel how impossible it has been to convey, in so
few pages, any but a very small portion of the in
formation contained in this large volume ; information
so pleasantly given that it reads more like chapters
from an old romance, mingling Spanish and Indian
legends in its story, than a book of realities. But in
spite of the large proportion of the exciting and the
marvellous in these delightful travellers' tales, we
must do full justice to the fairness of spirit and
freedom from prejudice in which they are written.
This is never more apparent than in Mr. Stephens'
last chapters upon the subject of the antiquity of his
beloved ruins. He discards all the fantastic theories
which assign their origin even to antediluvian dates,
and states his belief that they were inhabited to within
some three centuries ago — in fact, up to the time of
the Spanish conquest. He accounts for their ruin
and decay by the natural and evident theory of
exposure to tropical rain and sun, and the effects of

104 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
rapid tropical vegetation in excluding light and air,
and so hastening the downfall of a deserted city ;
and he is firmly persuaded that a scattered remnant
of their former inhabitants still exists in remote parts
of Mexico and Central America.

CHAPTER X.
FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN.
"Variety is pleasing," said the old copy-books, and
they were quite right ; so we will have as much
variety as possible. Our next excursion, therefore,
shall present a sharp contrast to the last. We will
take it with Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle for our
guides, and we will endure, with them, cold instead of
heat, frost-bites instead of mosquito-stings ; our enemies
shall be the hardy Sioux and other North American
Indians, in place of the lazy Carib or Southern Indian,
and we will hunt the buffalo and trap bears instead
of searching for ruined cities and a lost people.
We approach this portion of our task with great
diffidence, however, for the volume from whence our
information is drawn, stands almost alone as a charming
book of travels over a wild and unknown region. To
touch is to spoil it, for seldom has a narrative been so
deservedly and widely popular as the one before us.
All the success we can hope for in the few pages
devoted to a re'sume' of its contents, is to create a
desire in the minds of those readers who have not yet
read "The North- West Passage by Land," to make
themselves acquainted with a bright, graphic, and
most interesting record of adventure and sport written
in simple language.

106 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
Our travellers set forth on the 19th of June, 1862,
from Liverpool, bound to Quebec. We gather from
the context, some chapters further on, that Lord
Milton had made a former excursion to these happy
hunting-grounds two years previously ; but of this
we do not, unfortunately for ourselves, possess any
record. We are told in the Preface that the object of the
present expedition was to discover the most direct
route through British territory to the Gold Regions of
Cariboo, and to explore the unknown country on the
western flank of the Rocky Mountains. Besides this
design, the travellers also hoped to draw attention to
the importance of establishing a highway, through
British possessions, from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
not only for inter-colonial traffic, but also to afford a
more rapid and direct communication with China and
Japan. They frankly acknowledge that the idea of this
North-West Passage by land was not an original one,
but had been entertained for many years by the early
French settlers in Canada. We also had dreamt
dreams for three centuries of a North-West Passage,
but our visions had pointed to an ocean high
way which, when discovered, has proved practically
useless. Neither Lord Milton nor Dr. Cheadle felt inclined
to linger in cities ; they only gave one day to Niagara,
which no amount of Barnumism, nor railways, nor
hotels seems able to spoil ; and then they started foi
La Crosse, in Wisconsin, on the banks of the Missis
sippi. Thus far the journey had been by rail, sleeping
in luxurious night-cars, and speeding on without inter
mission ; but at La Crosse they took steamer up the
" Great River," as the Indians call the Mississippi, and

FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN. 107

went swiftly on to St. Paul, the chief city of the
State of Minnesota, and the great border town of
the North-Western States.
The Trans-Continental Railway, which now extends
from shore to shore, was then finished only to six
miles beyond St. Paul, as far as St. Anthony, where
our travellers were fain to betake themselves to a
miserable "stage," or covered spring- waggon. Their
miseries and sufferings in this wretched vehicle
are most amusingly described, though our pity is
chiefly given to two splendid dogs belonging to one
of the party, who were chained on the top of a pile
of luggage on the roof of this conveyance. The
poor animals, a bloodhound and a Newfoundland,
kept tumbling off their slippery perch, and hung
dangling by their chains at either side, half-strangled,
until hauled back again.
The road lay through open, level country, exceed
ingly fertile, and giving evidence of its rich pasture in
the extraordinary fatness of the horses and cattle
which grazed on it. Sixty-five miles of travelling by
" stage " brought the wayfarers to Sauk Centre, and
from thence they struck the boundary of the Red
River Settlement, and went across it to Georgetown,
which they reached on the 18th of July, just a month
from the date of their leaving Liverpool !
We look in vain for Georgetown on the best maps,
and Lord Milton describes it as being merely a
trading port of the Hudson's Bay Company, round
which a few settlers have established themselves, with
a company of Minnesota Volunteers as a protection
against the Sioux. The travellers had intended to
proceed by steamer from this point to Fort Garry,
a more important settlement five hundred miles dis
tant ; but finding that the arrival of the boat was very

1 08 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
uncertain, they determined to try their luck by canoe,
on the Red River.
The party had been increased by a certain Mr.
Treemiss, a fellow-passenger from England, who had
been bitten by the explorers' ardour, and had volun
teered to join them. This part of the expedition was
full of danger and difficulty. Not only were the
banks of the river infested by wandering and preda
tory tribes of Sioux, Chippeways, and Assiniboines,
but the birch-bark canoes were in bad repair and
anything but water-tight. It was impossible to engage
a guide ; the half-breeds were all afraid to go, as the
terrible Sioux were out on the war-path.
However, none of these threatened perils had any
effect in turning our Englishmen back. They packed
a little provision in the smallest possible compass,
took their guns and ammunition, and embarked each
in their skiff, which sat as lightly as a leaf on the
sluggish stream. At first all went well. We are told,
in picturesque language, how they lazily paddled and
floated along under the deep shade of the trees, the
stillness of the woods being only broken by the dip
of the paddles, the occasional splash of a fish, or the
cry of an oriole, or kingfisher.
As night approached numbers of owls, whip-poor-
will, and " loons," hooted and called from the densely-
wooded banks, and flocks of ducks floated past.
These peaceful denizens of the silent river were often
" requisitioned " to furnish forth a good supper for
the hungry invaders, and, after a sufficient number
had been shot, they landed and camped. The account
of the cooking does not give us the idea of an Ude
or Francatelli's talents ; but the travellers possessed
large quantities of what we are often told is the best
sauce. This, their first night on their own resources

FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN. 109
was both wakeful and uncomfortable, and when they
re-embarked the next morning, Lord Milton's canoe
had to be ignominiously towed along by his fellow-
travellers, for his arms were so blistered and swollen
from the exposure of the day before, that he could
not use his paddle.
Their progress was, as might be expected, very
slow, and disagreeably varied by violent " riband "
thunderstorms for three successive nights. The ri
band-storm passes over only a narrow line, but within
these limits is exceedingly destructive. Their ammu
nition got spoiled, and they suffered greatly from
hunger until the river steamer fortunately overtook
them on her way up. Glad enough they must have
been to clamber up her friendly sides, haul their
exceedingly cranky canoes in after them, and finish
the rest of the river-journey in what seemed, by
the contrast to sixteen days' paddling, the greatest
luxury. The Red River Settlement extends some twenty
miles northward, beyond Fort Garry, which stands
on the bank of the Assiniboine River, and fifty miles
to the west of the settlement. It was established
in 181 1, under Lord Selkirk's auspices, but is now
incorporated with the Hudson's Bay Company, and is
a very important post, with wealthy farmer-inhabitants.
But our enterprising explorers determined, instead of
wintering within its comfortable inclosure, to travel
westward to some convenient point on the river Sas
katchewan, so as to be in readiness to cross the great
mountain barrier with the earliest summer weather.
They fitted themselves out from the stores at Fort
i Garry with horses and dogs, moccasins, and deer-skin
shirts, blankets, and buffalo robes, pemmican, tobacco,
tea, salt, &c. It may be as well here to state what

I io TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
pemmican is, as our readers probably share our former
ignorance of this indigestible dainty. The coarser
kind is made of meat dried in thin flakes by sun or
fire, placed in a dressed buffalo skin, and pounded
with a flail until it is reduced to small fragments and
powder. The fat of the animal having been melted,
the boiling grease is poured over the mass, and it is
well mixed and stirred together. When cool, it is as
solid as linseed cake, and tastes like chips and tallow.
We confess to being quite able to understand Lord
Milton's assertion that a very little of it goes a long
way. A finer kind of pemmican is made with marrow
and the addition of berries and sugar. Great quan
tities were prepared in England for the Arctic Expe
dition made of the best beef, with currants, raisins,
and sugar. It is invaluable to a traveller in a country
where food is scarce, as it contains a large amount of
nourishment in very small weight and compass ; but its
unhappy consumers suffer habitually from dyspepsia.
Although it was now the middle of autumn, the
Indian summer shone in all its glory. The swarms
of mosquitoes and sand-flies had disappeared, and
clear, bright, sunny days were succeeded by nights of
bracing freshness. By September 26th our party had
reached a settlement called Carlton House, on the
south bank of the Saskatchewan, and from thence
they made a final start for their winter quarters near
the White Fish Lake, eighty miles NN. W. of Carlton ;
and touching the border of that giant forest, which
stretches away for so many unknown miles to the
. north. This spot comprised the advantages of shelter
under the shadow of the lofty trees, fishing, and a
hundred, or so, miles of good trapping grounds. On
the way to La Belle Prairie, as their destination was
called, on the lands belonging to the peaceful tribe

FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN.

of the Wood Crees, they met several herd of buffalo,
which furnished them with large supplies of jerked
and frozen meat as well as a few extra skins.
The " Lodge," as the hunters' winter-quarters is
always named, was speedily built, inexperienced as
were its architects, and though somewhat dark and
draughty, served as an admirable shelter during the
long, severe winter. At all events, it is quite certain
that its inhabitants possessed so much pure unself
ishness, generosity, and good humour, that any roof
which harboured them must have straightway be
come a pleasant, cheery homestead. These delightful
qualities are, fortunately, quite as portable as pem
mican, and important to the well-being and comfort
of stay-at-homes as well as of travellers.

CHAPTER XI.
ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
TThey remained at the " Lodge " all the winter, with
occasional visits from the Indians, but in no need of
excitement as long as there were animals to hunt or
trap. We learn a good deal about the habits and
peculiarities of the various fur-clad animals, and
become acquainted with nice distinctions between
martens and minks, cross and silver foxes, fishers and
ermines. But there also grows upon us, as we read
these pages, a great dread and hatred of the wolverine,
"le sacr£ carcajou," as their half-breed huntsman calls
the cunning beast. Indeed, we wonder that this animal
has not been held to represent the Evil One himself in
the Indian myths, for his courage and cunning in ill-
doing shows an instinct which rises to intelligence.
In contrast to this Satanic quadruped, who tastes
poisoned baits before he swallows them, and can detect
the presence of the most homoeopathic ^quantity of
strychnine, who can, without risk to himself, enter any
trap and devour the captured animal, we have an
account of a Birds' Ball, which we must positively
give in the author's own words : —
" In the spring of the year the prairie grouse as
semble together at sunrise and sunset in parties of

A CROSS THE ROCK Y MOUNTAINS. 1 1 3
from twenty to thirty, at some favourite spot, gene
rally a rising ground, and dance — yes, dance like mad !
It is a running bird, and does not ordinarily progress
by hopping ; but on these festive occasions they open
their "wings, put both feet together, and hop like men
in sacks, or the birds in a pantomime, or ' The
Perfect Cure,' up to one another, waltz round, and
' set ' to the next ! A prairie chicken-dance is a most
ludicrous sight, and whilst they are engaged in it they
become so absorbed in the performance that it is easy
to approach them. Their places of rendezvous are
recognisable at once from the state of the ground, the
grass being perfectly flat in a circular patch, or worn
away by the constant beating of feet."
On the 3rd April, 1863, the party broke up their
winter-quarters, and turned their backs on La Belle
Prairie — more deserving than ever of its name, with
its spring carpet of large blue anemones — with regret,
and started for Edmonton, which lay in a N.W. direc
tion, in the Saskatchewan district. This " establish
ment" was reached on the 14th May, and whilst
collecting horses and other necessaries for their long
and dangerous journey, they attempted, unsuccess
fully, to gain some information about the country on
the west of the mountains. It was acknowledged that
many explorers had started on the expedition through
the forest, but none had returned to tell his experience
save one, who reported that he had " neither time
men, nor provisions to cope v/ith it, and was nearly
overtaken by the snows of winter."
On the 3rd of June the little band, six in number,
left Edmonton, and struck at once into a W.N.W. direc
tion. During the journey they examined the country,
as well as they could, for traces of coal, and tested the
river sand for gold. The country was slightly undu-
1

1 14 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.

lating and thickly wooded, and it was impossible to
obtain a view 'of it. The McLeod River was easily
crossed, and the explorers followed its western bank
until they reached a place where it makes a great
bend to the south, and the trail, or track, turns off at
right angles to avoid it. At this point their guide, a
French Canadian, deserted them, and returned to
Edmonton, leaving the party at least 700 miles from
its destination, and perfectly ignorant of the route.
They soon lost the right track, which had gradually
become fainter at every step, and whilst camping to
consider their position, had the misfortune to set the
forest on fire. It was a most critical moment, and
had it not been for the energy and activity of the two
Englishmen, there is little doubt but that the whole
party must have perished miserably. The frightened
horses added to their difficulties and hampered their
movements, but at last the blaze was got under, and
the next day they made a fresh start, turning off at
right angles from the point where the river bends to
the south. After a few hours' march they came to a
tree bearing an inscription to tell that three miners
had penetrated thus far, and believed themselves to
have been close to the Athabasca, or " Great River of
the Woods." This information proved correct, and the
next day brought them to its deep and swollen waterp.
From a knoll hard by the explorers had their first
glorious view of the Rocky Mountains.
The pine^clad hills, running nearly north and south,
rose in high and higher succession to the west into a
range of rugged rocky peaks, which had for background
grand snow-clad mountain outlines. A cleft in one of
the ridges nearly opposite to them, as clean as if made
by a knife, showed to their gladdened eyes the gorge
by which they were to pass, and they recognized, frem

ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 115
description, one peculiar rock to be "La Roche a
Myette," close to Jasper House.
With fresh hope and courage they plunged anew
into the thick timber, and soon reached the base of
" La Roche." Here they struck a well-marked trail,
which led them up a steep cliff amid a succession of
strange fantastic peaks. They were now fairly in the
Rocky Mountains, and it is difficult to imagine a more
magnificent scene than that which burst on our tra
vellers. We must try to realize how weary they
had become of wandering for a fortnight amid the
forest gloom, before we can feel with them their
overpowering delight at the boundless view around
them. The Athabasca rushed beneath them with the
impetuosity of a mountain torrent and the volume of
a mighty river, and ice-bound rocks glittered like
fairy pinnacles over their heads. But more welcome
than all this glorious scenery was a glimpse of a little
wooden building on the further side of the river,
which told them that they were in the right track, and
had reached " Jasper House."
It was a very difficult matter to build a raft and
swim the horses across the rapid, wide stream ; but
the peril was safely overpassed, and the weary travel
lers housed for a night or two. Short was their rest,
however, for on July 4th we find them starting again
under the guidance of an Iroquois to cross the Atha
basca once more. After they left the river valley,
and, still following the N.W. track, entered a rocky
narrow ravine, their progress became slow and diffi
cult. On the 9th they had the satisfaction of coming
upon a stream flowing westward, and thus perceiv-.
ing they had unconsciously reached the highest
land and gained the water-shed of the Pacific. The
next day brought them to the Fraser River, but
1 2

1 16 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
the travelling became more difficult and harassing
at each step.
In a day or two they began the descent on the
Pacific side, and noticed a marked change in the
vegetation. Cedars, silver pines, and many new
deciduous shrubs showed strangely to their eyes. The
scenery too was very fine, though the large timber
made the descent more dangerous than ever. Often,
whilst cautiously proceeding down a steep narrow path
along the mountain-side, the path would be barred by
a fallen pine-tree, which required an hour's toil to
move, and that in a spot where a false step would
send them headlong down into the river.
On the 14th they reached the Grand Fork of the
Fraser, the original T£te Jaune Cache, so called
from being used by an Iroquois trapper, nick-named
" Yellow Head," to hide the furs he obtained on the
western side of the ranges. Here they fortunately
encountered some friendly Sushwaps Indians, who
ferried them across the Fraser and landed them safely
on its opposite bank, the boundary line of British
Columbia. Good pasturage abounded at this spot,
so it was decided to camp for a day or two, and rest
the horses. One of the young Sushwaps volunteered
to guide them for the first day's journey, until they
should strike the trail of a party of emigrants who
had, preceded them by a month or so, and thus
make their path to Cariboo plain and easy. So
they set out again on the 19th, and were fortunate
enough to hit the desired track without difficulty
in twenty-four hours. Here their guide left them,
and they followed the emigrant's track across Canoe
River, round a range of hills to the south, till, on
the -25th, their route was stopped by a large river
-flowing from the N.W. Here they camped and con-

ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 117
sidered the position. The spot bore evident tokens
in felled timber of the emigrants having halted to
make a raft, probably to cross the river ; but the
track on the other side failed them in the wished-for
direction, and led to the belief that the party whose
footsteps they were following had turned their faces
southward to seek Kamloops.
It was evidently impossible that so small and weak
a party as our explorers could penetrate the unknown
country which lay westwards, and they were forced
to give up the idea of finding the direct road to
the gold fields, which they were persuaded trended
in this direction. With great reluctance therefore
they decided to try for Kamloops, 130 miles distant.
They encountered terrible difficulties in cutting their
way through the pathless primeval forest which rose
up around them. From inscriptions on trees they
learned that the emigrants had, at this spot, con
structed rafts, on which they purposed to drop down
the river to Kamloops, but our explorers had no axe
with which to fell the necessary timber.
On the 31st July they left the emigrants' camp
by a steep, densely-wooded path, and soon found
their way blocked by a mountain-range. Their
progress was slow and toilsome, averaging but six
or seven miles a day, and provisions were running
very short. They were compelled on the 9th August
to kill and eat one of their horses, but so miserably
thin was the poor overworked beast, that his carcase
only yielded them thirty or forty pounds of lean
meat. On the 12th August they entered a barren
and rocky region, but it was the 23 rd before they
struck, by mere chance, a trail which led them, with
the assistance of some Indian guides whom they met
soon after, straight to Kamloops.

1 1 8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
Here the ragged, half-starved, weary travellers met
with the most generous hospitality, and they con
fess that sufficiency of meat and drink, after three
weeks of half-rations, seemed to them the height of
earthly felicity. For three weeks they rested and
refreshed themselves, and then on the 8th September
set out for Victoria. This was indeed easy travelling,
for they rode along a high road, and slept at nightfall
under the shelter of a roof. They passed between
Lytton and Yale, v/here most of the gold- yielding
bars, or sand-banks, lie. At this latter place they
embarked on the River Fraser, and after stopping
one night at the rising city of New Westminster, the
capital of British Columbia, proceeded to Victoria.
Their voyage led them through the Gulf of Georgia,
past Mount Baker, amid beautiful scenery till they
reached Victoria, which is beautifully situated on the
shore of a small, rocky bay.
Even in this lovely spot the wanderers could not
rest : they were resolved to visit Cariboo, which they
reached in three days, and the statistics of the yield
of gold in that region reads like the wildest romance.
The enormous rush to the gold-fields has exhausted
the surface gold, Lord Milton thinks, but the deeper
mines still give an immense quantity of the glittering
" root of all evil."
Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle did not linger long
amid the famous gold-fields of British Columbia, and
on the 25 th we find them back again at Victoria, from
which place they embarked for a cruise in H.M.
gunboat Forward to San Juan and Nanaimo. O'
this voyage they give no details, but close their
thoroughly delightful book with many practical and
useful hints to intending explorers and emigrants to
British Columbia.

CHAPTER XII.
ARIZONA AND THE SILVER MINES.
THE only unsatisfactory part of Mr. Pumpclly's
admirable book of travels, which lies before me now,
is that it has no beginning. The reader is simply
put down at the westernmost end of the railway in
Missouri in the autumn of i860, and informed that
his destination is the Silver Mines of Santa Rita in
Arizona, but he has no idea how or why Mr. Pum-
pelly found himself at the above-mentioned spot.
Now, if Mr. Pumpelly's reader at all resembles
the person to whose lot it has fallen to compile
these travels, he will feel himself very ill-used. A
traveller who writes an account of what he has seen
or done, becomes a personal acquaintance of those
who read his book ; in some instances He succeeds
in making himself into a delightful and entertain
ing friend ; and this has been Mr. Pumpelly's case.
But we want to know all about our friend's ante
cedents, especially how he got to that lonely little
wayside station, and above all where he started from.
However, as the author has chosen to be silent on
these points, we must only content ourselves with ex
pressions of gratitude to him for the information
which he has given, and, taking up the thread of his

TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.

narrative from the somewhat vague indications vouch
safed to us, go on, in his pleasant society, through
Missouri and Arkansas, the Indian territory, a little
bit of north-eastern Texas to Arizona, and eventually
through Sonora and California to San Francisco —
familiarly called, by its inhabitants, Frisco.
Mr. Pumpelly is an American by birth, and tells
us incidentally that he is tall, with blue eyes and a
red beard ; but we cannot picture his appearance half
so well as we can his character. To great powers of
observation and true down-eastern shrewdness, he
must have united courage and endurance, besides
possessing that true nomadic spirit which makes
light of personal discomfort, and finds pleasure in
the mere act of journeying through new scenes.
Without this qualification all travellers' tales must
consist of pathetic complaints relating to their indi
vidual privations and hardships, or bitter invectives
against manners and customs differing from their
own. But Mr. Pumpelly was a true traveller. From the
first moment we enter a stage-coach, starting from
the unfinished railway in Missouri to Tucson in his
company, we find him making light of discomforts,
and only intent on showing us in his pages the fea
tures of the country through which he passes. At
first, whilst the heavy overladen vehicle toiled slowly
along through the more barren parts of Missouri
and Arkansas, there was little in nature to distract
the traveller's mind from his disagreeable fellow-
passengers ; but after a while, when the road entered
the Indian territory and the fertile valley of the
Red River, all discomforts were forgotten in pure
delight at the scenery, fair with Eden's primeval
beauty.

ARIZONA AND THE SILVER MINES. 121
This valley of the Red River is of great extent,
and as rich and fruitful through all its length and
breadth as was the country through which Lord
Milton and Dr. Cheadle passed. Their route, how
ever, as a reference to the map will show, was much
further north, whilst our present guide will lead us
in a south-westerly direction.
After passing the Arkansas River, and travelling for
two or three days through the cultivated portion of
north-eastern Texas, the route entered gradually a
desert country. Desolate and barren indeed must
be the southern part of the Llano Estacado, lying
between the Brazos and the Pecos Rivers. It is
chiefly high table-land, some 4,500 feet above the sea,
its dry gravelly soil bearing only scattered cacti and
yucca shrubs. The burrows of the prairie dogs alone
give variety to the dreary monotony of the scene, and
rattlesnakes and lizards are the only other animal life
which exists until the Pecos River is passed. Then
indeed the infinite face of Nature once more smiles
on her children, and grassy plains slope gently away
from castellated cliffs and peaks. Through the clear
pure air could be seen — a hundred miles away —
the grand outlines of the Guadaloupe Mountains
standing out in embattled forms against the dazzling
sky, as if they would shut in and surround the desolate
wastes from which the travellers were just emerging.
Tucson was reached at last, after a long and sleep
less journey. From thence Mr. Pumpelly intended to
Start for his home at Santa Rita, but it was necessary
to make some preliminary preparations. These were
happily completed in a few days, and with himself and
his possessions packed in a waggon, he started early
in the morning for the Santa Rita Mines. Short as
was the distance, — only thirty miles — it took two toil-

122 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
some days to reach the hacienda. The geographical
position of this part of America is so little known that
we cannot do better than extract Mr. Pumpelly's con
densed sketch of its boundaries : —
"Arizona, at the time of my visit, comprised sim
ply the tract of country known as the Gadsden Pur
chase, having been bought ofthe Mexican Government,
through our Minister Mr. Gadsden, for $10,000,000, to
serve as a southern route for a railroad to the Pacific.
Taken from the States of Chihuahua and Sonora,
it was bounded by these on the south, by the Gila
River on the north, the Colorado River on the west,
and the Rio Grande on the east. It thus formed a
long narrow strip, lying between 31° and 33" N., and
containing about 30,000 square miles. The present
boundaries of Arizona are Utah and Nevada on the
north, New Mexico on the east, Sonora on the south,
and California on the west.
"Western Arizona, and North-Western Sonora, of
which I have more particularly to speak, lie between
the watershed of the Rocky Mountains and the de
pression occupied by the Gulf of California and the
Colorado River."
Nothing could have been more picturesque and
beautiful than the situation of Mr. Pumpelly's new
home, in a broad valley, shut in by the lofty range of
Santa Rita Mountains ; their dark porphyries and
white tufa cliffs cutting sharp outlines against the blue
sky. And yet, what are almost the first words he
writes of this fair scene ? He says it is so beautiful, it
might belong to another planet ; that, seen through
its wonderfully clear atmosphere, under glowing sun
shine or soft moonlight, it has seemed a paradise;
and again, " under circumstances of intense anxiety,"
it has been to him a very prison of hell.

ARIZONA AND THE SILVER MINES. 123
What these circumstances were, and how terrible
the anxiety which came in their ghastly train, we
shall presently learn. Few and evil indeed were the
days of men, women, or children likely to be in this
valley of silver, and, before Mr. Pumpelly had slept
for a week under the roof of the hacienda, he had
come to the conclusion that every man held his life
in his hand.
On his first expedition, undertaken a few days later,
to Fort Buchanan, twenty miles off, he and his com
panion passed a man driving a cart laden with hay,
about fifty yards from the shelter of the Fort. Five
minutes afterwards they heard the report of a pistol,
and on retracing their steps, found the driver lying
dead on the dusty road. A small thicket by the way
side had afforded shelter to some fierce but cowardly
Apaches who were his murderers. The poor young
man was known to have a few dollars in his pocket,
and so he was doomed to die, what Mr. Pumpelly
calls " the common death of the country."
For two centuries had these rich treasure valleys,
which run up among the Santa Rita Mountains, been
watered with human blood, but in spite of ruined
furnaces, deserted mine-openings, and a country posi
tively depopulated by constant Apaches raids, the
Americans have persevered in working the silver veins,
which in old days cost the heart's blood of so many
Spaniards. The Jesuits appear to have made the most
successful resistance to their terrible neighbours in
bygone years, and they extracted much of the costly
ore ; but time and circumstances were against them,
and the Apaches have driven the Society out of the
country. The common saying is, that " in Arizona, the hoofs
of your horse throw up silver with the dust ; " but Mr.

1U TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
Pumpelly considers this an exaggeration, though he
seems to credit a report that the supports of some of
the old mines still exist in columns of massive silver.
Difficult indeed was his task ; short of money, of
miners, of machinery, of fuel, and never knowing
whether each hour might not be his last. He was not
alone, however, but was fortunately associated with
Mr. H. C. Grosvenor, who held the post of Superin
tendent of the Mines.
Early in the winter, the Indians made a raid on
their stockade and carried off in the night all their
horses and mules. The owners of these fifty or sixty
fine animals naturally attempted to recover them, and
this led to a series of skirmishes, which resulted in
their mines "becoming the scene of more fighting
than any other part of the country."
Besides this guerilla warfare, there was a regular
campaign going on between the 150 or 200 men,
whom the Government of the United States provided
to defend its property, and the Apaches. It origin
ated in the capture by the Indians of a cow and a
child, but ended after much bloodshed in the igno
minious defeat of the regulars.
Whilst affairs were in this state, Mr. Pumpelly
found himself obliged to take a long solitary journey,
with a quantity of pure silver ore in his custody,
and he well describes what it is to travel by night
in a country of hostile Indians. Yet the night is
really safer than the day, for the darkness is some
security. Of course, the ore was sent by a waggon,
and equally, of course, it never reached its desti
nation. But the loss of the shining curse seemed
but a light evil compared with the catastrophe which
the theft brought about. When the waggon failed
to arrive at the proper time, the Superintendent,

APACHES INDIANS.

ARIZONA AND THE SILVER MINES. 1*25
Mr. Grosvenor, and the author, who had reached the
hacienda in safety, mounted their horses and set forth,
carrying ten days' provisions, to look for the precious
freight. They suspected the Mexican drivers and
escort, for no Indians had been seen in the neighbour
hood. Only two miles from home, the road topped a
hill, and in the valley below they saw with delight
the missing waggon, toiling slowly but safely along.
Their first impulse was to go to meet them, and return
all together; but Mr. Grosvenor objected to this
course, saying, it would show the Mexicans that he and
Mr. Pumpelly had suspected them. Acting on this
cautious delicacy, the two friends retraced their way
home. Hour after hour passed until the short twilight
fell upon the land, and then they thought it necessary
to see what caused the delay. At first both started,
but Mr. Pumpelly turned back to get something almost
directly, and Mr. Grosvenor said he would only go to a
little knoll close by and see if the waggon was in sight.
Two other Americans happened to be in the house, and
after the lapse of half an hour, Mr. Grosvenor not
having returned, it became necessary to go and seek
him. The three gentlemen started, armed to the
teeth, to walk along the road in the brilliant moonlight.
Mr. Pumpelly tells us, most pathetically, how, just as
they were starting, the house-cat ran, mewing to them
as if to ask to be taken. He stooped down and lifted
the gentle affectionate creature up in his arms ; and it
was well he did so, for a moment later his attention
was attracted by her bristling fur and staring eyes.
He glanced in the direction she was gazing, and there
against the sky-line stood out the crouching figure of
a man, who was running for shelter to some cacti hard
by. Mr. Pumpelly dropped the cat and drew his
pistol, cocked it, and ran up the hill, All was silence

1 26 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
and darkness. There was no time to lose, so the three
friends went as quickly as they could over the broken,
uneven ground towards the ravine at whose entrance
they had seen the waggon so many hours before.
There indeed stood the waggon, but neither mules nor
men were to be seen. Near it lay something white,
" a bag of flour," said one of the party ; but even as the
words were spoken, a great dread and horror came
over them, to be more than realized when they came
a few steps nearer. It was no flour-sack ; it was the
yet warm, naked body of the murdered Superintendent.
With his head nearly severed from his body, thrust
through by a dozen lances, in a pool of blood he
lay. Two more bodies lay near poor Mr. Grosvenor's ;
they were those of the Mexican drivers. From the
signs of the struggle they guessed, that, soon after the
waggon had passed the spot at which they had seen
it, a large body of Indians must have sprung out of an
ambush and attacked it. The muleteers and escort
were overpowered, and their bodies lay among the
brushwood by the roadside. After all this bloodshed
the victors found but little profitable spoil. The ore
was absolutely useless to them in its uncrushed state,
so it lay by the side of the waggon. The mules had
been driven off, and hard by were tokens that one of
the animals had furnished a supper to the fierce
Apaches. Flour lay scattered on the ground and
mixed with the blood-stained dust.
The murdered men could not be buried until the
arrival of a party of soldiers in the course of a few
hours. Then, with the armed escort standing around,
and with a revolver in one hand and a spade in the
other, watching for the least sign of ambush or sur
prise, graves were dug, the burial service hastily read,

ARIZONA AND THE SILVER MINES. 127
and the unhappy victims laid to rest under the shade
of some trees.
Things grew worse and worse every day. To the
ferocity of the bloodthirsty Apaches, who would
brook no foreigner near their own haunts, was added
the treachery of the Mexicans. It is therefore no
wonder that we find Mr. Pumpelly resolved to leave
the country as soon as possible. Before he could give
up his post however, he thought himself obliged to
refine and send away all the ore which had been
extracted from the mines under his care. To do
this it was necessary to cut wood and convert it into
charcoal ; this had to be done stick by stick, and by
hand, for there were neither horses nor mules to
draw the waggons. " All had to sleep on their arms
round the furnace, taking turns at working, sleeping,
and patrolling, receiving rations of diluted alcohol
sufficient to increase their courage without making
them drunk."
These were weeks of sleepless anxiety ; often the
silence of the night was broken by yells from the
Apaches, or volleys of rifle-shots. One morning, just
as dawn was breaking over this beautiful but mise
rable valley, the chief smelter was shot whilst tending
the furnace, and after his death Mr. Pumpelly had to
perform this duty himself.
Great as were the dangers indoors, where all kept
watch and ward, they seemed as nothing compared to
the risks attending the removal of the metal when it
was separated from the lead and melted. The trains
containing the boxes of silver were attacked, and the
mules stolen ; but by the energy and bravery of the
Americans, every bar and ingot was safely lodged at
Tubac and placed under the care of the military force
there.

1 2 S TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
Eight months of this life had effectually disgusted
Mr. Pumpelly with Arizona and its inhabitants. We
are not surprised therefore to find him, so soon as he
had got rid of his precious charge, undertaking a tour
into the Papagoria, or land of the friendly Papago
tribe. Two other American gentlemen accompanied
him. There were mines also among these people, and
Mr. Pumpelly mentions two very rich ones, one of
which contained free gold as well as silver.
This tract of country lies between Arizona and
California, and is dry and arid. The Indians suffer
much from want of water, and often die in a dry
season by numbers.
After this excursion they returned to the Heint-
zelman Mine, a new purchase by a private company,
near Tubac, and worked by Germans in charge of a
brother of our author's. As they rode up, a mes
senger met them. His face was pale, and his manner
hurried. "What news?" inquired Mr. Pumpelly. "All
murdered," the brief and terrible answer. This time
the Mexicans had been the assassins, and the just-
cooled silver the tempting bait with which the Father
of Murders as well as of Lies had caught his prey.
This was too much. Mr. Pumpelly only stayed to
bury his brother and the poor workmen, and then
turned his back for ever upon the Arizona Mountains.
Well might the narrow entrance to these silver-bearing
ranges be called the " Gate of Hell," for hellish deeds
were of daily and nightly occurrence within their cliff-
portals. The travellers decided on taking the quickest route
to California, although it led them through a desert
country ; but they had suffered so much lately at the
hands of their fellow-creatures, that any route com
paratively free from the footsteps of men seemed pre-

ARIZONA AND THE SILVER MINES. 129
ferable to a well-trodden highway. They encamped
one night at Quitovac; and even on the confines of
this desolate region they had reason to believe them
selves tracked, so they changed their route to San
Domingo. From thence they made their way over
the sandy cacti-bearing plains along the Gila River to
Colorado city. Here they rested only a few days, but
at their start from thence they found treachery and
treason among their followers, and narrowly escaped
with their lives.
At last, in the beginning of September, they
approached the western edge of the Colorado
desert. They travelled chiefly by moonlight, and
Mr. Pumpelly gives so vivid a description of the
horrors of this last portion of their dreary journey,
that we find ourselves obliged to transcribe it : —
"As though fearful that the traveller may forget
the horrors of a thousand miles of journey over its
awful wastes, the desert, as a last farewell, unfolds in
this dismal recess (a spot where the desert sends an
arm like an estuary into the mountains which limit
it), a scene never to be forgotten. Already from the
plain, through the clear moonlight, we saw the lofty
range bordering the waste, a barren wilderness of dark
rock rising high above the grey terraces of sand that
fringe its base, great towering domes and lowering
cliffs rent to the bottom, and clasping deep abysses
of darkness. As all night long we forced our way
through the deep sand of the gorge, winding among
countless skeletons glittering in the moonlight,
scorched by hot blasts ever rushing up from the
desert behind us, we seemed wandering through the
valley of the shadow of death, and flying from the
very gates of hell."
But their troubles were nearly over. The next day

13° TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.

they reached the summit of the Sierra Nevada, and
as they passed the ridge felt the fresh ocean-breeze
blowing in their faces. All fatigue was forgotten: the
jaded horses raised their drooping heads, and the
western declivity of the mountain-range was soon
descended. Over green pastures and herds of cattle
their delighted eyes wandered, past the vineyards of
Los Angeles, and that port was safely reached.
From hence a steamer took them northwards up
the coast to San' Francisco, and here our enterprising
traveller found an appointment awaiting him. He
was selected as one of two mining engineers to
explore a portion of the Japanese Empire, so he
had no sooner reached what he thought would prove
tiis destination, than he found himself hurried off to
Yokohama. Here then we must bid him adieu,
with many acknowledgments for his delightful com
panionship.

CHAPTER XIII.
HUNTING EXPERIENCES.
In accordance with my theory at page 79, you will
have no difficulty in guessing that these concluding
chapters on North America are taken from an
Englishman's book. And so they are, for I found the
record of Captain Townshend's journey over ten
thousand miles so very amusing, that I have chosen
his volume as an illustration of my firm conviction
that more Englishmen travel, as he did, for mere
sport and adventure, than any other people.
It is impossible to make the same objection to
Captain Townshend's narrative as we did to Mr.
Pumpelly's, for the gallant Life Guardsman begins at
the very beginning ; and we start with him on the
afternoon of the 1st of August 1868, in one of
Cunard's steamships, bound from Liverpool to New
York. That city was duly reached by the nth, and
Captain Townshend lingered there until the 17th,
when he left for Newport, in the State of Rhode
Island. The whole tour was through the States, and
extended from New York to San Francisco, by a
different route from that selected by the other
travellers whose books we have been dipping into.
k 2

132 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
Captain Townshend and his friend and brother
officer, Mr. Kendall, crossed the Rocky Mountains,
but by a pass much further south than that used
by Lord Milton.
This entertaining book of travels may be said to
describe the country lying between Lord Milton's
and Mr. Pumpelly's routes, and it is partly for this
geographical advantage that I choose it.
Interesting as are Captain Townshend's sketches of
towns and town life, we shall pass them rapidly over.
Our borrowed scenes have been chiefly drawn from
great Nature's stage, and the picture of life in a New
York boarding-house, or in the hotel of a fashionable
watering-place, would be out of place among our
open-air sketches. During their short stay at New
York, our travellers naturally endeavoured to obtain
information about their prospect of sport further west ;
and here the contradictory assertions which we have
all of us suffered from under similar circumstances
came into full play. This is an example : —
" We were often told that we should enjoy ourselves
much more, and see far more of American life and
customs, by spending the winter season at New York ;
and as to buffalo-hunting, we were generally assured
that, if we went into a farmyard and shot so many
bulls and cows, we might have about as much excite
ment and danger, with far less trouble, as if we were
galloping after buffalo on the plains. On further
inquiry, however, we always found that our inform
ants had never themselves tried which was the best
sport ! "
From Newport, Captain Townsend made an excur
sion into Canada, and saw Quebec, Montreal, and
Ottawa, of which place he quotes the following
epigram, declaring that it describes with tolerable

HUNTING EXPERIENCES. 133
accuracy the geographical position of that town.
Imagine ourselves, therefore, inquiring of a Yankee
" What sort of a place is Ottawa ? "
" Guess, if you start from the North Pole and face
southward, the first clearing you come to is Ottawa ! "
A sail on Lake Ontario, and a voyage down the
St. Lawrence, where the Rapids were shot in a small
steamer, are vividly sketched ; and so is a visit to
Niagara ; but we prefer to start from New York again
with the hunters, as it was from that town the regular
hunting expedition may be said to have set forth.
The 5th October, therefore, saw Captain Townshend
and his fellow-sportsman comfortably established, bag
and baggage, in one of Pullman's Palace Sleeping
Cars, in which they were able to eat, drink, and be
merry during the day, and at night to lie down and
sleep whilst they were whirling over the thousand
miles between New York and Omaha. The journey
only occupied thirty-six hours, and they passed
Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Fort Wayne on their
iron way.
Omaha, the capital of the State of Nebraska, was
the place for which they were bound, and from whence
they intended making final arrangements for the
equipment of the scouting party. These preparations
occupied some days, which our enthusiastic travellers
filled up by expeditions to shoot prairie chickens and
wild ducks in the neighbouring marshes. Captain
Townshend describes very amusingly, how, instead of
erecting sheds or duck-houses for shelter in the last-
named sport, the musk-rats save the sportsman this
trouble, by biting through the bulrushes, and building
a dome-shaped house, about six feet in diameter and
three feet above the water. Upon these reed cupolas
the sportsmen sat, and in a few hours they made

134 1KAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
capital bags of geese and snipe, as well as mallards,
teal, and widgeon.
Our author tells some excellent stories, which
should be read in their own proper place ; but one
is so good we cannot help copying it. The day's
sport among the bulrush-covered marshes being over,
they sat after dinner around the cheerful fire in a
neighbouring farmhouse, and, as was natural, heard
with delight many stories illustrative of Western
ways. " Among them was one of a conjurer, who came to
Omaha to exhibit his tricks. Wishing to perform the
well-known feat of having a pistol fired at him, he
gave a weapon to one of the Western boys who formed
his audience, and desired him to fire at him. The
man did as he was told, and of course the conjurer
held up the bullet in his hand. The native of the
West looked at him in astonishment and disgust, and
then exclaiming, ' By thunder, I never missed a man
twice ! ' drew his own revolver from his belt, and shot
the juggler through the shoulder. The unfortunate
man ran for his life, and, it is needless to say, attempted
no more similar exhibitions at Omaha."
On the 17th October, the hunting and Indian scout
ing party started in force across the plains. Captain
Townshend and Mr. Kendall may be described as
attached to this expedition, which was undertaken
for more serious ends, and was under the command of
a General. Fourteen hours on the Union Pacific
Railway took them two hundred and fifty miles west
of Omaha, and from this point they commenced their
march. The Platte was the first river crossed, and
although it is a shallow stream, its ever-shifting quick
sands made it difficult to cross the twelve waggons
and ambulance drawn by mules.

HUNTING EXPERIENCES. l^S
Once safely across, the force encamped took great
precautions against a night surprise by the Indians.
Captain Townshend thought such vigilance somewhat
needless in the bitter cold of a night on these high
table-lands, for the Indian shuns all risk of being
killed at night. He believes that in such a case he
would have to hunt in darkness in the spirit-land, and
therefore will not even steal a mule unless it can be
done safely.
At the time of this expedition there were no less
than three Indian chiefs out on the war-path, and each
had a "tail" of some two hundred or more dusky
warriors. " Spotted Tail," " Turkey Leg," and " Black
Kettle " were their names ; and their object was to do
as much mischief as they could to the Pacific Railroad
by pulling up the sleepers and rails.
When we remember that the force which Captain
Townshend accompanied only numbered a couple of
hundred in all, we see how necessary it must have
been to guard against a surprise.
The first buffalo, an old bull, was sighted and killed
on the second day's march, and antelopes as well as
smaller buffalo kept the camp well supplied with fresh
meat. This portion of the country must have been flat
and uninteresting enough — dreary and barren as any
African desert, with only short brown grass, and dwarf
cacti to cover the dusty plain. Neither water nor trees
were to be seen, whilst the whitened bones of buffalo
and deer alone told of any living creatures having
ever passed over the lonely waste. But excitement
was not wanting, for the Indian trails were numerous
and fresh, and even deserted wigwams were occasion
ally met with. At night the cayotes or prairie wolves,
and a small marmot, called the prairie dog, kept up a

1 36 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
dismal howling, so that in spite of the early hours,
reveille" never sounded too soon.
One hunt after buffalo may be described as a fair
sample of. the peril and excitement of the sport : —
" After a chase of three miles, I got near enough to
the bull to give him a bullet from my Spencer car
bine ; but my horse being unsteady, it only struck him
in the hind-quarters, and made him kick out with
one leg in a most absurd manner. I gained on him
steadily, until at last I got up to him ; and as we
galloped abreast along the side of a ravine — he on the
higher ground, I on the lower — I saw that blood was
pouring from his nose, and that he could not go much
further. Checking my horse, I was just going to give
him a finishing shot at about ten yards' distance,
when, suddenly stopping, he cocked his tail, lowered
his horns, and charged me with a rush. I fired, at the
same time digging my spurs into my horse's side, in
order to shoot ahead of the buffalo. The horse
became frightened, however, and stood still. In a
moment the bull was on us, catching me with his
head and horns just under the knee-joint of the left
leg, and tossing me on the. ground several yards off.
He then passed clean under my horse's hind-quarters,
hoisting them up with his back as he passed, but not
injuring the terrified animal, which he pursued for a
few yards."
Captain Townshend was too severely wounded to
follow the bull — which got away to die, in all proba
bility, a miserable death on the plains, but had,
at all events, the consolation, could he have known
it, that the buffalo-hunter was incapacitated for the
present from following his favourite sport. Our
traveller was compelled to travel in the ambulance,
wrapped in a medicine robe or buffalo skin, which had

HUNTING EXPERIENCES. 137
lately been taken from the lodge of a Sioux chief.
This garment was beautifully dressed outside, and on
the inner side was painted, with horrible minuteness, a
representation of the massacre of a party of United
States' soldiers by the Red Men. There seems to us
to have been a want of tact in thus enfolding a sick
and fevered patient in so fearful a covering, for toma
hawking and scalping, as well as minor tortures, had
been only too faithfully depicted by the Sioux artist.
Captain Townshend lay helpless, wrapped up in the
medicine robe, reflecting that they were marching
through the best and most bravely defended hunting-
grounds of this very tribe, and that any chance
shout might be the signal that the original owner or
designer of the mantle was at hand. However, the
Red Skins never came, except in the fevered dreams
of the patient.
Besides the Sioux, the Trans-continental Railroad
has sworn foes in the equally fierce and warlike tribes
of the Cheyennes and Rapahoes ; but in spite of all
opposition the line has been finished, and works well.
We fear, from Captain Townshend's unprejudiced
report, that a war of extermination has been carried
on ; the hunters, trappers, and ranche-keepers saying
openly that an Indian should be shot down like a dog
wherever he may be seen. Yet it is the white man
who is the intruder, scaring by his noisy trains and
shrieking engines, the herds of antelope and buffalo
far away from all spots accessible to their original
Red owners. We must remember, that with the
Indian it is not a question of sport or hunting, but of
his actual existence, for he depends for his daily food
on these animals. " Leave us and our game alone," is
his constant cry ; but what is called civilization is too
strong for him, and in spite of his desperate struggles

1 3 8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
to preserve his one possession, the Indian and his
game are year by year — almost day by day — driven
further and further away ; away from the plains where
grass and water are to be found, back into sterile and
desolate regions, safe indeed from whizzing trains, but
so rocky and barren that the difficult life becomes an
impossibility. So the unhappy savage dies, fighting
hard like a wild animal, and his food becomes sport
for rich or enterprising travellers from distant
countries, who speed over his old hunting-grounds
in Pullman's Palace Cars.
But we must come back to our scouting party.
They had made good progress, for by the 28th Octo
ber they had reached the great chain of the Rocky
Mountains, and, by the time a halt was called at
Fort Saunders, had gradually and almost imper
ceptibly ascended a height of 7,300 feet above the
sea-level. Here they were weather-bound for a day or two,
and when a fresh start was made it was with a party
reduced to one-fourth of the original number, and
composed of fresh officers and men. At first the
route lay along the bank of the Laramie, over the
plains called after that river, but they soon left the
stream behind and crossed a spur of the huge moun
tain range. Game was shy and scarce here, and the
cold, at this late season, most intense, especially at
night. The real ascent of the Rocky Mountains could not
be said, however, to have commenced until the party
began the ascent which divides Wyoming from Colo
rado. Here they had to cut their way through the
great belt of pine forest which clothes the main ridges
of the mountains, and as a passage had also to be
cleared for three waggons, the task became tedious

HUNTING EXPERIENCES. 139
indeed. Not only was it necessary to fell some trees,
but others, dead ones, which blocked up the road, had
to be removed ; and this work was carried on with two
feet of snow on the ground ! When * the track led
through a swamp, young saplings had to be cut down
and laid over the shaking ground to form what is
called a " corduroy " road, over which alone the
waggons could pass. On the surface of the snow
could be plainly seen the foot — or perhaps we should
say, paw — prints of bears, panthers, and wolves, and
it was a happy day on which the track of a great
grisly bear could be discerned. However, the way
farers had not much superfluous energy to spare, and
found it sufficiently hard work to provide fresh meat
for so many hungry men. Four antelope and two
black-tailed deer constituted a satisfactory bag, but,
even in these mountainous pine-clad solitudes, great
care was still needful lest a rock should prove the
shelter of a wandering Red Skin also looking for a
dinner. Elk were to be found further on to the west, and
Captain Townshend esteems himself a most fortunate
man in getting, to his own. solitary rifle, a magnificent
head. But alas, elk-horns are too cumbrous to be
moved through a forest, so the splendid trophy lies
under the pine branches now.
When the travellers reached Fort Steel, 130 miles
west of Fort Saunders, on the banks of the Platte, they
may be said to have crossed the Rocky Mountains, and
from this point they struck across the dreary plains
for Salt Lake. At first the journey was by rail, but
the last 180 miles had to be undergone in a coach.
Travelling at the rate of four miles an hour in a most
uncomfortable conveyance made our Englishmen wish
themselves back again in their camp-life, with all its

HO TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
dangers and difficulties, but with, at all events, room
for their legs !
From time to time, indeed, they were released from
their cramped and crowded prison on wheels, to walk
across a swamp, or struggle, as best they could,
through a snow-drift. At last, however, the lumber
ing, springless vehicle drew up at midnight before the
porch door of the Townsend House (or hotel) in the
Salt Lake City, and the blessing of rest and sleep
became once more possible to the weary travellers.
Captain Townshend himself thinks that it is the
sense of contrast between the monotonous desert
plains traversed for so many tedious hours, and
the cultivation surrounding the Mormon City, which
makes all new arrivals so enthusiastic in their praise
of Utah's charming situation. But even allowing for
this influence on travellers' tales, there must be great
natural beauty in the site of the town. He tells us
that it stands at the foot of the great Snowy range of
the Wahsatch Mountains, with lesser hills (the Oquirr
range) surrounding the fertile valley. Through its
midst runs the Jordan River, which carries the fresh
waters of Utah Lake down to the briny waves of the
Great Salt Lake. The broad streets of this city of
curious domestic arrangements are shaded by avenues
of beautiful trees, and kept free from dust or glare by
sparkling way-side streams. With bright sunshine
and a warm soft air, what can the heart of the nume
rous Eves wish for except the power of saying
" Like Alexander, I will reign,
And I will reign alone "
They only reign alone insomuch as each wife has a
separate house and garden of her own, and it is
perhaps owing to this precaution that Captain Towns
hend is able to add his testimony to that of so many

HUNTING EXPERIENCES. 141
other writers, who speak of the deep peace and quiet
which broods over Salt Like City. We confess
that the exact contrary of such a statement would
have been less surprising to us. We also learn that
these duplicate and triplicate wives " have a subdued
air about them, and a way of looking down as though
ashamed of themselves," and, under the circumstances,
this is the most natural air for them to wear, poor
creatures. There is, however, so large an element of good
mixed up with, and emanating from, the teaching of
these strange people, that it is hard to condemn un
reservedly a growth which bears such abundant fruits
of honesty, sobriety, and thrift. They found this
plain a howling wilderness, and it now fulfils literally
the old scriptural prophecy that the desert shall
blossom as a rose. One thing, which we think has
not before been noticed, strikes our author as strange.
The Mormons declare that in spite of the uninhabited
and desolate nature of their chosen country, they
have discovered hieroglyphic inscriptions, and other
remains, on and among the rocks of the Wahsatch
range, which prove that, after all, they are only suc
cessors to a former race or colony, who dwelt here in
the long-ago ages of the world.
We become gradually so thoroughly accustomed
to long distances whilst travelling with our various
pen-and-ink companions, that we consider Captain
Townshend's next and last stage quite a short one.
When he and his party set out from Utah City
for San Francisco, there lay between them and
that motley town 1,000 miles of land and water,
divided into two journeys, equal indeed in length, but
differing widely in comfort. For the first half of
their way they would be jolted in a mud-waggon — a

142 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED-
lower depth of cramped misery than the stage-coach
— but the last 500 miles would be rail and steamboat.
Accordingly they travelled monotonously, with aching
bones, over the Great American Desert. During the
day the heat was intense as in summer, but with
nightfall came a bitter icy wind sweeping over the
unsheltered level ground, and a sharp frost, rendering
buffalo robes a necessary of life. All along the route
they met groups and parties of miners, for rumours were
afloat of gold and silver veins shining here and there
through the limestone rocks ; and where these glitter
ing lures are spread, there will men of every nation
and clime under the sun find their way. Through
frost and snow, burning heat or poisonous swamps,
they will flock to worship the golden god. There
is no mountain so high, no forest so dense, no
river so deep, but that it will be crossed by human
feet seeking after gold in flakes, or dust, or imprisoned
in quartz. Poor creatures ! after all it is happiness,
under the form of wealth, which they seek so
passionately ; and yet — and yet, we know that neither
gold nor silver can buy the only real or lasting
happiness for Time or for Eternity.
The experience of all travellers teaches us, as
Captain Townshend's does, how lightly this hard-won
gold is lost, and every author whose path has led
him across a gold-field tells the same story of
crowded gambling or drinking-houses, where gold
and human life are equally cheap.
It is a relief to leave all these sordid scenes, and
embark on board a steam-packet at Sacramento. For
125 miles the travellers floated down the beautiful,
wide river, with its well-wooded banks, dotted by
villas, past the Bay of Suisun (where the San Joa
chim joins the waters of the Sacramento), through

HUNTING EXPERIENCES. 143
the Carquinez Straits, till they reached San Fran
cisco, thus ending their long journey of nearly 4,000
miles across the great North American continent.
At San Francisco, then, we must leave them ; amidst
its luxuriant fruits and flowers, its groves of Welling-
tonia Gigantea, and its swarms of Chinese coolies.
Captain Townshend's travels did not end here, and
we have some fifty pages more of amusing sketches ;
but, as at this spot they lingered until it was time
to embark for the West Indies, we must close the
volume with regret. Few Englishmen see so much in
so short a time, and still fewer describe what they
see in such simple and unaffected words.

PART III.
SOUTH AMERfCA.

80ITIH AMEBICA.

CHAPTER XIV.
THROUGH THE MINING PROVINCE.
South America is a difficult country to deal with,
for whilst inferior to no other portion of the globe in
vast internal resources, or attractive external features,
it has not been so fortunate as other and more insig
nificant places in its historians.
Books on South America abound, but the most
careful research fails to give me, from any one
recent traveller, aught but a general account of a
circumscribed region. The facilities for locomotion
are limited indeed in Southern America, and the
chronic state of political ferment renders travelling
difficult and dangerous. It is constantly recorded by
the travellers whose works have come under my
notice, that their original intention had been to
make a much more varied and extended journey,
but that they found such obstacles at every turn of
their route, such lets and hindrances from the lazy,
shiftless inhabitants, that they were fain to leave
well alone, and to remain within reach of food and
shelter. One of the best of recent works on South America
is from the pen of Captain R. F. Burton. It is called
" The Highlands of the Brazil ; " but yet his range
L 2

148 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
of personal observation appears to have been very
limited compared with the vast area of the Brazilian
Empire. If we refer to the map, we perceive that
he started from Rio Janeiro, and travelled as best he
could some 850 miles by land to Sahara, where he
embarked on board a raft on the Sao Francisco, and
made 1,150 miles' voyage up that river. The time
occupied by this excursion was only five months,
and he truly says that five years would not have
have been too much to devote to it ; so we may
judge from this statement how hurried and imperfect
is the notice he is able to give to the shores on either
side of the mighty river.
His account of the journey ends somewhat abruptly
at the great Rapids of the Rio de Sao Francisco,
instead of landing us at its real termination, the
mouth of the stream. He acknowledges that this
may seem to be a caprice, but pleads that it was
impossible for him to wind up his tale with petty
details of a short land journey and a few hours on
a steamboat, when his mind was filled with images
of beauty and grandeur.
In reading all these books we are struck by the
confident expectation of the traveller that his de
scription will attract crowds of tourists, and that eager
feet will hasten to follow in his footsteps. But ap
parently this has not been the case, and we can
hardly wonder at vacation tourists, or even those
¦ with whom the fever of locomotion is a chronic
disease, not finding the country, so faithfully and
graphically described, particularly enticing.
For instance, let us turn to Captain Burton's
gravely offered advice, to any one desirous of
travelling comfortably in Brazil, merely suggesting^
that a country where such selfishness — to call it by

THROUGH THE MINING PROVINCE. 149
no harsher name — is declared to be absolutely neces
sary, can hardly be very agreeable to travel in.
" Let every thought be duly subordinate to self.
Let no weak regard for sex or age deter you from
taking, or at least trying to take, the strongest beast,
the best room, the superior cut, the last glass of
sherry. When riding, lead the way, monopolize the
path, and bump up against all who approach you.
If a companion choose a horse, a saddle, or a bridle,
endeavour to abstract it — he had evidently some
reason for the choice. Never go to an hotel if there
be a private house within a league ; and above all
things, keep the accounts. Finally, if you invite a
man to dine, score up his liquor on the wall, staring
him in the face, so shall or may it deter him from the
other bottle. And thus your trip will cost you 123
mil-reis, instead of 750 mil-reis a head."
Now, a careful study of Captain Burton's very
interesting volumes leads us to doubt strongly
whether his practice was not very dissimilar to his
theories, and his wife warns us in her Preface not to
take him at his own valuation, for that he delights in
pretending to be much worse than he is. She says
that she protests vehemently against his moral senti
ments, which belie a good and chivalrous life ; and we
suspect that in the above-quoted sentence, he is pre
tending to offer advice which he would be the last to
follow. Captain Burton tells us that his " plan was to visit
the future seat of Empire along the grand artery of
the Sao Francisco, and to make known the vastness
of its wealth and the immense variety of its pro
ductions, which embrace all things, between salt and
diamonds, that a man can desire." He is very
enthusiastic on his subject. The youngest of empires

1 50 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
and the only monarchy in the New World, so richly
dowered with physical beauty and material wealth,
and so magnificent in geographical position, seems
only to need inhabitants to become Fortune's favoured
child. Immigration has been going on steadily for
some years past, and 10,000 settlers were confidently
expected during the year following Captain Burton's
visit. Coffee and sugar attract the planters ; the
almost boundless plains, the great graziers ; and
almost every known metal lies buried under the
teeming soil. Still the drawbacks are serious, first of
which must be reckoned the climate, though Captain
Burton vehemently denies the prevalence of yellow
fever in any alarming proportion, and declares that
the climate, allowing it to be tropical, is one of the
healthiest in the world. He admits freely, however,
the existence of serious drawbacks, which we shall
touch on in due time as we skim lightly over his
pleasant pages.
The travellers, six in number, including Mrs.
Burton, started from Rio de Janeiro, described by old
chroniclers as " the very loyal and heroic city," on
12th June, 1867; and after three days' travel by
steamer and rail, which Captain Burton declares was
only a Cockney excursion, reached Petropolis, from
whence the real old-fashioned journey began. We
see with his eyes the top-heavy coach, drawn by four
fiery little mules, and driven by a stout young German.
Through rich coffee-bearing valleys, past the rapid
Piabanha and Parahybuna Rivers, over bridges built
long ago, by tall houses where travellers are taxed for
moving about, they bowled along, changing their wiry
active little steeds constantly. In the lingering
patches of forest by the road-side they heard the
wild cry, "Tucano, Tucano," of that strange bird,

THROUGH THE MINING PROVINCE. 151
whose acquaintance some of us must have made at
the Zoological Gardens — the Rhamphastus — with
its " Lord Hood's nose." Mule troops or tropas
crowd the road in places ; droves of pigs, sheep, and
goats are met with, and yet the markets are ill-
supplied with butchers' meat, which is both scanty and
bad. Guinea-fowls are numerous, so are ducks, and
the varieties of fowls enumerated would rejoice a hen-
wife's heart. Twelve hours of what Captain Burton
calls "kaleidoscopic travel" brought them to their
firsit night's resting-place in Minas Geraes, where
neatness and comfort added a charm to the light,
cool, pure air.
This ideal travellers' rest stood on a hill. Beneath
them lay the city of Juiz de F6ra, which consists of
one dusty street, or rather road, with palm-trees
planted across it in pairs. The residents live outside
this single-street town, in villas and chateaux within
the virgin forest. To some of these picturesque
dwellings Captain and Mrs. Burton were invited, and
there they rested, lying on the grass eating Tangerine
oranges, under the delicious shade of myrtle-trees,
and admiring the Wellingtonias and screw-pines. But
this was their last glimpse of comfort for a long time.
The next day brought a break-up of the party, only
one gentleman accompanying our travellers north
ward, and a fresh start in a rickety crowded coach.
The rising ground through which their new route lay
was rather too cold for coffee or cotton, but rice,
maize, and tobacco flourished well ; and the gaudy
semi-tropical birds were displaced by vultures, buz
zards, and a species of thrush, and of the cuckoo.
They soon struck the road between the metro
polis of the empire and the capital of the gold and
diamond province, and a very poor road it was;

152 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
the Brazilian trusting chiefly to the great engineers,
Sun and Wind, and neglecting to metal or macada
mise his highways or byeways. Fortunately for our
travellers the dry season was at its height, and the
mules made a good run in to Barbacena. This town
stands on high ground ; beneath it lie, outstretched,
the vast Campos or Prairies, which extend westward
of the Maritime Sierra and the Beira-mar or coast
country. At first sight nothing can be more unpro
mising than the appearance of stubborn sterility of these
Campos ; but Captain Burton is of opinion that they
were originally forest-land, and that if the practice
were discontinued of burning the clumpy, tussocky
grass, with which they are covered, the soil would
recover its original fertility, and become fit fcr stock
breeding. He cannot say too much in favour of the
pure perfumed air, so refreshing to a European way
farer in the Tropics. He says, "The mornings and
evenings are the perfection of climate ; the nights
are cool, clear, and serene, as in the Arabian desert
without its sand."
Of Barbacena itself, — the white city on the hill
tops, — Captain Burton has much to say which I
cannot, for want of space, repeat here ; but I may
remark his natural astonishment at the absence of
gold currency in a country so rich in the precious
ore as Brazil. At Barbacena he was shown, as a
curiosity, the gold bar, "l'ingot d'or," formerly
current in the country. In 1808 the circulation of
gold-dust as a medium of commerce was prohibited,
and from that time till 1864 paper money came
gradually into use. At that date the Golden Age may
be said to have ended, and gold coins are never seen
except in the Museums. Silver even is rare, and
cumbrous copper pieces, called "dumps" by the

THROUGH THE MINING PROVINCE. 153
English, and worth about a penny, are the only repre
sentatives of bullion in the empire. Larger sums
circulate in paper, which has a forced circulation.
Good mules to speed the travellers on their way
awaited them at Barbacena, through the kindness of
a Superintendent of Mines, and they set forth re
joicing on beasts which could keep their legs instead
of tumbling down every few yards. From Barbacena
they struck off at a right angle to the west, making
Barrosa their first halting-place. The bridle-path led
them over hills and dales covered with thin grass and
glowing with light in the quivering hot haze. Captain
Burton quotes here the Paulistan proverb, which we
may all make into portable property of our own:
" Ride slowly up the hill for the sake of your beast ;
prick fast over the level for the journey's sake ; and
ride gently down hill for your own sake."
Nothing could be more picturesque and lovely than
the situation of Barrosa, its white houses peeping out
from thickets of roses, Poinsettias, orange and coffee
trees ; but when the travellers arose next morning
and prepared to resume their journey, they found
that all night long their unhappy mules had been
victims to the attack of the huge vampire bats. The
animals were weak and languid, and the blood-clotted
bites on their neck and withers showed the favourite
feeding-places of these horrible creatures. Naturalists
differ as to whether the wound is inflicted by the
vampire's pointed teeth or by the sharp-hooked nail
of its thumb. It is described as a dreadful-looking
animal with " deformed nose, satyr-like ears, and
staring, fixed, saucer eyes, backed by a body mea
suring two feet from wing-end to wing-end. "
Sao Joao ended the next day's journey, an im
portant town in the Minas Geraes, or Mining Province.

1 54 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
From a hill near the town the travellers could look
down on the ancient gold diggings, " the El Dorado of
El Dorado," the focus of the auriferous foci, albgashed
and pierced for gold, with pits, fodinas, and quarries
long since abandoned. From this spot Captain Burton
struck up the Valle}'' of the Rio das Mortes Grande
(or Great Death), through red land cut and hacked by
the gold-washer, towards Sao Jose d'el Rei, where a
halt for a few hours — made sleepless by discomfort —
was called ; and at I A.M. the next day (June 23)
they reached the Alagoa Dourado, or Golden Lake,
where a line of railroad was just commencing. The
first chain of this, called the Dom Pedro Segundo
Railway, was laid by the English travellers, though it
was not then decided where it was to run, various
termini being warmly advocated by the dwellers in
three separate valleys.
Early next day they were up and off again, past
"Ochos d'Agua," or Eyes of Water, so called from
the, lakelets by the road-side ; but, in spite of luxu
riant vegetation and lovely scenery, this part of the
long journey was made utterly miserable by the
attacks of a species of tick. Awful indeed is the
account of this "acaride," a mere dot to the naked
eye, but, when put under the microscope, a sort of
hundred-bladed animal knife. Its head is then seen
to be armed with a trident of teeth, its four pairs of
legs, of unequal length, are each and all provided with
sharp and strongly-hooked claws, and when once it
takes up its abode in human flesh, dislodge it who can.
Horses and cattle have been known to die from ex
haustion, and a fever is not an uncommon conse
quence to the traveller passing through a country
where every blade of grass is covered with these tiny
torments. If it were not for the kind offices of the

THROUGH THE MINING PROVINCE. 155
Caracara buzzard, a tick-eating bird, I do not know
what would become of man or beast in the cool damp
spots along the banks of the Sao Francisco River.
From Sao Joao d'el Rei the route lay north,
slightly trending east, ascending the Serra de Santa
Antonio, fording the two forks which form the Silver
River, past the Itabira Peak, and so on to Casa
Branca, the site of the mines and village of the same
name. The mining estate lies 4,350 feet above thesea
level, and contains quartz with visible gold. Rich and
productive as this mine was, it has " knocked " or
fallen in, from causes which I cannot stop here to ex
plain, for we must hurry on to the last march to Morro
Velho, which Captain Burton calls the Queen of the
Minas Geraes Mines, where they lingered for a week
and more. Most graphic is the account of the descent
into the Cachoeira Mine.
" And now looking west, the huge Palace of Dark
ness, dim in long perspective, wears a tremendous
aspect ; above us there seemed to be a sky without
an atmosphere. The walls were either black as the
grave, or broken into monstrous projections. Despite
the lamps, the night pressed upon us, as it were, with
a weight, and the only measure of distance was a
spark here and there, glimmering like a single star.
Everything, even the accents of a familiar voice,
seemed changed ; the ear was struck by the sharp
click and dull thud of the hammer upon the boring
iron, and this upon the stone ; each blow struck so as
to keep time with the wild chaunt of the borer.
Through this cavern of thick-ribbed gold, dark bodies,
gleaming with beaded heat-drops, hung by chains in
what seemed frightful positions ; there they swung like
Leotard from place to place ; there they swarmed
up loose ropes like monkeys ; there they moved over

1 5 6 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
scaffolds which made one too dizzy to look at. It
was a place
" ' Where thoughts were many, and where words were few.'"
From Morro Velho a trip of eleven days was orga
nized, the route of which lay first east, then by south
and westwards again, describing a sort of circle by
Ouro Preto, past Casa Branca once more to Morro
Velho. The object of this excursion was to examine
a seam of combustible matter of disputed substance,
which, when duly reached, turned out to be transition
lignite, or brown coal.
Ouro Preto, the Golden City, ill deserves its name,
for it is nothing but a great village, romantic and
picturesque enough, but where all symmetry or
beauty in architecture gives place to convenient ar
rangements for gold- washing. It is called by some
writers the capital of the Minas Geraes, and, as
usual, its history is full of revolutionary episodes ;
and Captain Burton collects and recapitulates some
thrilling and touching stories of its political martyrs.
Gonzaga, the popular Brazilian poet, flourished here,
until he was exiled to Mozambique, where he died in
1807, and his memory is still cherished in this his
native town.
This, and another interesting excursion from Sa
hara, which was reached from Morro Velho, brings us
to the end of Captain Burton's first volume and of
our chapter. His second volume is devoted to his
raft voyage, and we will just dip into it.

CHAPTER XV.
ON THE RIVER.
The trial trip of the Brig Eliza was certainly not
calculated to inspire confidence in her passengers. In
the first place, she was not a brig at all, but a very
crazy raft with a standing awning, and the first effect
of her crew and passengers, fifteen souls in all, com
ing on board, was to sink the frail craft several inches
beneath the surface of the water. However, Captain
Burton cheerfully declared that the fact of such a
vessel being afloat spoke favourably for the placid
nature of the stream she was about to navigate.
The local name of these rafts is, the " ajdjo," or
" balsa," and they are simply composed of three
canoes — the longest placed in the centre — and lashed
together by hide ropes, with a sort of platform made
of boards running round the sides, on which the crew
stand to work. A helm is not a necessary part of the
equipment, and Captain Burton evidently considered
himself fortunate in possessing one. There was also
a stout boat-hook, and the unwonted luxury of an
anchor. The paddles varied with the nature of the
stream, sometimes resembling oars, and sometimes
poles, and being generally placed in hands quite
unaccustomed to use them, the progress was but

T5 8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
slow. The oarsmen were, or affected to feel, nervous
at every obstacle ; we confess their fears do not seem
groundless to us : but the chief passenger was in
dignant at their indolent ways. They pulled hard for
a few minutes, and that always at the most danger jus
moments, when it would have been safer to steer care
fully and float with the stream ; then, when the current
was slow, they lay upon their oars and let themselves
drift lazily along, sucking sugar-cane, or occasionally
blowing blasts upon a cow-horn.
The voyagers started from Sahara on August 7th,
1867, and we are not at all surprised to hear that
during the first day's journey they were greeted by
such cries, as " You'll never reach Trahiras." How
ever, they crept on slowly but surely, landing at the
nearest important villages.
The chief feature of these dwelling-places along
the first dart of the river bank seems to have con
sisted of ruined churches and abandoned mines.
Abandoned, not because of the failure of the metal,
gold, iron, stone, or what not, but for want of
mechanical knowledge and perseverance. The Bra
zilian miners appear willing enough to scratch on the
surface for what they can easily find, but the moment
the process involves a little trouble, that instant they
give up the mine and wander off to look for easier
work. The Minas Geraes deserves its name, for it
literally teems with mineral and metallic wealth.
The first long halt was at Jaguara, some eighty
miles down the river, which they reached at night-fall
on the 10th ; and here they rested five days, making
excursions to the great grazing prairies in the neigh
bourhood, and examining the lakes or lakelets which
water the Campos. Legends float over these pools,
ight and filmy as the evening vapour which hung

ON THE RIVER. 159

above their calm depths ; there are tales of a
silver cross held in a woman's hand, thrust up from
the middle of the waters of the " Holy Lake," and
other fables still more mythical.
Captain Burton confesses that it was with an effort
of will he re-embarked on board the crazy Eliza on
August 1 6th, but it was not long before he met with
new friends as hospitable as the old. They showed
him the sugar estates along the river-bank, explained
their method of making sugar ; dwelt much on the
Arcadian delights of a planter's life, the very opposite
to that led by the energetic traveller ; and finally gave
him a ball, which Captain Burton liked least of all
the hospitality showered on him. More useful was
a present of a quantity of sugar-bricks, placed, at
the last moment, on board the Brig Eliza.
About the 22nd of the month they attempted to
shoot their first rapids, the '' Maquine Abaixo," and,
to the astonishment of all, the Eliza, having been
much lightened of stores and passengers, " slid safely
down, in her usual playful elephantine way."
All through his book Captain Burton constantly
predicts a brilliant future for his beloved Brazil.
Writing of this Sao Francisco river, with its rapids,
its uncertain shifting, shallow bed, he says : —
" And this desert stream will presently become a
highway of nations, an artery supplying the life-
blood of commerce to the world. The sand-bank
upon which we lie may be the landing-place of some
wealthy town. The " Ounce Rapid," and the " Fierce
Sandbar," will be silenced for ever. And the busy
hum of men will deaden the only sounds which now
fall upon our ears, the baying of the Guara wolf, and
the tiny bark of the little bush rabbit."
But I, and I think my readers too, must venture to

1 60 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
differ from Captain Burton, and to think rather, that
the days of Brazilian glory are past and gone. When
again will the people hand down to their descendants
legends of lakes with golden sands, of cities paved
with gold, of the Emperor of the Musus, the great
Paititi or gilded king, who made his toilette by being
smeared with oil in the morning when he got out
of bed, and then covered with gold-dust, blown at
him through long reed-tubes by his courtiers ? All
these mythical glories have departed, set with the
setting sun, and as yet there is but the dawn on the
horizon, the first faint streak of the light of Freedom
and of Industry.
Captain Burton declares emphatically, that these
New Worlds are the Lands of Promise, " scenes
where the dead past shall be buried in the presence
of that nobler state to which we must now look in the
far future." I hope so.
The Brig Eliza found the navigation of this part of
the river difficult and perilous from the number of sand
bars and rapids, but she reached in safety the Corrego
do Bom Successo, a little way off the main stream,
on the 26th of August. Here she was secured and
made snug, and Captain Burton disembarked in order
to make an excursion E.N.E. to Diamantina, the City
of Diamonds. Three days' journey on mule- and horse
back, over the Serra do Bura, across the mouth of the
Paraima River, up the steep range of the Contagem
(or Diamond) tolls, brought them to the Cerro forma
tion, the true Diamantine land.
Here the luxuriant vegetation, the tree-clothed
clay hills, changed into rocky ribs and ridges, pro
truding from red and yellow ground, bearing mean,
stunted shrubs and grass. The surface of the country
is, as Captain Burton says, " confused and orderless, a

ON THE RIVER. 161

land of crisp Sierras stripped to the bones." And yet
the people, who live in wretched dab and wattle huts,
tell you that your feet cannot touch the earth without
treading on precious stones. Just at the chief diamond
quarry the cultivation is better, and the surround
ing aspect less dreary.
Diamantina itself has a well-to-do and important
look, having greatly changed since 1801, when it was
known by the name of the Village of the Mud-hole.
Now the wooden tenements have given way to
cathedrals, and streets, called Rua da Gloria, and
squares, markets, and what not.
Becky Sharp says, in Vanity Fair, that it would be
quite easy even for her to be good and nice if she had
3,000/. a year, and it is in something of a similar spirit
that Captain Burton, after dwelling on the beauty and
amiability of the lovely ladies of this city with a name
out of a fairy tale, adds, " Perhaps the wealth of the
place has something to do with it." At all events, we
may reasonably suppose that the trouvaille of dia
monds did really influence the open-handed hospi
tality our travellers met with among the diggers for
gold as well as gems.
In the account of a christening fete given at this
city of precious stones, it seems only correct and
proper that every lady present should have worn a
necklace of diamonds ; but ornaments of plain, un
alloyed gold were also fashionable.
Even here, however, it is the old story, — the pros
perity of Diamantina is on the wane. And why ?
For the last thirty years the surface quarries have
been exhausted, and the capitalists who now work
the mines find it difficult to procure workmen. The
same soil yields gold richly, and Captain Burton
looks forward confidently to the time when immi-
M

162 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
grants shall pour into this part of the great Mining
Province by rail and steamer. He reminds us that
the famous Braganza diamond, now among the crown
jewels of Portugal, came from the mine of Caethe
Mirim in 1741, so did the Abaete Brilliant, and the
Estrella do Sul, whose radiant name sets forth its
claims to value. Yet Captain Burton assures us that
the Diamantine formations of Brazil have been but
barely scratched, and bids us think of " the next gene
ration working with thousands of arms, directed by
men whose experience in mechanics and hydraulics
will enable them to economize labour." The glitter
ing prospect fairly dazzles his readers, and it is with
something of the feeling which lingers after a brilliant
morning-dream that they wake up from visions of
diamonds shining amid golden sands, and turn to
the poor, old, shapeless Brig Eliza.
The country must have looked very flat and un
interesting, and the brig more crazy than ever, as
they pushed out of the creek " Bom Successo," and
prepared to shoot the rapid of Capivara. Their
resting-place for the night was called the "Port of
the Little Donkeys," and altogether we feel it a sad
come-down in every way.
There seems to be no doubt that, setting aside
visions of flashing stones and glittering gold-dust, the
Minas Geraes, or Mining Province of the Brazilian
Empire, offers great attractions to our crowded
Western peoples. Of this part of his journey Captain
Burton says, " It is the land best fitted for immigrants.
Hereabouts a proprietor is ready to part with four
square miles, including a fine large corrego (or creek),
for less than I paid for my raft. The views are beau
tiful, the climate is fine and dry, mild and genial;
there is no need of the quinine bottle on the breakfast

ON THE RIVER. 163

table, as in parts of the Mississippi Valley. There are
no noxious animals ; and, except at certain seasons,
few nuisances of mosquitoes and that unpleasant
family. The river bottom is some four miles broad,
and when the roots are grubbed up it will be easy to
use the plough, whilst the yield of corn and cereals is
at least from 50 to 100 per cent. There is every
facility for breeding stock and poultry, besides wash
ing for gold and diamonds ; limestone and saltpetre
abound, whilst iron is everywhere to be dug. Lastly,
the people are hospitable and friendly to strangers ;
my companion, who had a smattering of engineering,
could have commanded employment at any fazenda."
Between this point and Guaicuhy there was little
difference in the daily routine of life on board the
Brig Eliza. Constant shooting of rapids furnished
excitement, for each rapid was a peril to life and pro
perty. While the raft floated down a mile or two of
calm water, the travellers fished, or strolled along the
banks gun in hand. They lingered at Guaicuhy, a
town on the junction of the two great rivers, Das
Velhos and Sao Francisco, for three days, much tor
mented by chegoes, insects no larger than a flea,
which burrowed in their feet, causing much suffering
and lameness. Of these detestable creatures another
very amusing traveller in chegoe-haunted regions
relates the following experience. A Yankee com
panion said suddenly to him one day, " By the bye,
have you had jiggers ? "
" I'm happy to say I have not," was the reply.
" Well, I guess I have. One day I felt something
itching like fits under my great toe, and I couldn't
see what on earth was the matter ; but I scratched
away when I could get a chance. Next day it got a
good deal worse, and I found that scratching did no

164 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
good ; so I sent for the doctor. ' You've got jiggers,'
said he, ' and bad ones too.' So he brought out his
knife and whittled away at my toe till there was
precious little left but the bone, I can tell you, sir,
that's a fact."
Captain Burton appears, however, to have escaped
better than this unfortunate man, for arnica was his
most severe remedy ; but it is not surprising that he
was glad enough to embark once more on his raft-
canoe on the 1 8th September, and start for a fresh
conflict with shallows and rapids, sand-bars and
sunken rocks. The heat was very great at this part
of the voyage, and the swarming, buzzing insects,
which clustered beneath the shade of the river-side
trees, obliged the travellers to keep the Brig Eliza
out in the middle of the stream, beneath the full
blaze and glare of the mid-day sun. The strong
current of the river was more of a hindrance than
a help to them, and necessitated constant poling ;
but Januaria was safely reached at last about the 23rd.
It proved so attractive a resting-place to both captain
and crew, and it was so difficult to escape from the
hearty hospitality of all classes, both high and low,
that it was the 26th before a fresh departure could be
made in very bad weather.
They now encountered, for some days, constant
showers, the monotony of which was broken by an
occasional hurricane, and the river showed symptoms
of flooding ; but still they held bravely on their watery
way, dropping down the fierce and treacherous stream,
in the hopes of outstripping the bad weather. It was
often difficult to escape swamping, but at last the
Ilha da Carunhanha was reached. This is a tributary
from the west which splits the Sao Francisco into
two channels. It serves as a boundary between the

ON THE RIVER. 165
Minas Geraes and the province of Bahia and the
town, Sao Jos6 da Carunhanha, where Captain
Burton landed for a day during a tremendous
thunderstorm. On Michaelmas-day the raft pushed off again, and
made the best of her way to the Serrote da Lapa,
or cavern, a popular place of pilgrimage. Captain
Burton found nothing to interest him in the cavern,
though he penetrated to the fane, which impressed
him very little except by its damp heat ; and he records
with wonder that it has a high local reputation, and
four hundred pilgrims visit it on holy days.
Urubu de Cima, Town of Turkey-Buzzard, was
the next halt, a nest of fever and ague, with no
advantages to compensate for living in such a place;
and Bom Jardim, a name of good omen, was steered
for without delay. At this part of the voyage the
scenery was relieved from monotony by the Serras on
the western bank of the river, with their varied out
lines and forest-covered slopes. Bom Jardim is at
present only a hamlet with the usual ruined chapel,
but Captain Burton predicts great things for it on
account of its situation. Equally distant from the
capital of Bahia, San Salvador on one side, and from
Palma in the province of Goyaz on the other, with
the Sao Francisco as a water-way, and a steam tram
way for land travel in the far future, it is connected
by land and water with the Brazilian Mediterranean,
the river Amazon ; but as yet it is all unconscious of
its coming greatness, which seems to me somewhat
shadowy and doubtful.
The Villa da Barra is a straggling dirty town, built
where the Rio Grande pours its waters into the Sao
Francisco ; beyond it the river broadens, but navi
gation becomes more difficult on account of the

1 66 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
isudden squalls and the shallow water. Wind and
¦rain added to the wretched Elizas difficulties, and the
crew and passengers were glad of any excuse to land
and examine Chique-Chique, from whence they made
a little excursion to see some diamond-washings,
which had, however, produced but one good-sized
diamond, and this gem had cost its finder his life.
Captain Burton considers that Chique-Chique, or
Cactus Town, has around it lands of immense
fertility, salubrious mountains, which as yet have
only been scratched and played with for diamonds
and gold, and all the conditions requisite for a
capital. Navigation on the Sao Francisco became more
difficult at every mile ; islands and sand-banks barred
the way. In some parts of the river-bed there was
more land than water, and the dense overhanging
branches forbade them to hug the shore. The weather
continued furious, and the wind often blew dead
ahead ; indeed Captain Burton does not scruple to
echo his pilot's opinion, that it was " damnado ; " but
still they held on, in spite of warnings and dismal
prophecies. Our energetic traveller is obliged to
acknowledge his surprise at the continued good
health of crew and passengers. He never had an
hours' sickness, and his companions improved in
health. Of Joazeiro, a ragged town built where four streams
unite, it is predicted that it will be the future terminus
where the great lines of Anglo-Brazilian rail will meet
from Pernambuco and Bahia ; but in spite of its
excellent commercial position, Captain Burton thinks
it will never attain any great importance, on account
of. its poor soil. This is the more remarkable, as after
they left Joazeiro the country became most beautiful.

ON THE RIVER. 167
The sloping fields on either side of the great river
were green with manice, maize, beans, and wild
grasses, and farms and fields abound. It is in fact
the lower garden of the Sao Francisco, which here
becomes deep and swift, rendering it pleasanter navi
gation, down to Boa Vista, where they anchored for
a night on the 29th October.
Here they were obliged to change both crew and
tackle, as the river is from this spot only navigable
for canoes, and neither poles nor oars were of any
use ; paddles were substituted, and, under the guid
ance of an excellent pilot, they shot the good and
easy rapids on the way to Cabrobo', and even the
bad and difficult ones which lay between that Villa
and among the Thousand Islands.
Here all the dangers and adventures of the route
ended, the Sao Francisco became a calmly-flowing
stream, whose blue and placid waters reflected the
red glow of sunset, which ended a day of excitement
and exertion. How welcome must have been the
quiet of the night, with only the distant roar of the
rapids to remind them of their past difficulties !
Only fifteen leagues separated them from Varzea
Redonda, but Captain Burton took three days on the
way, as he explored the river-side thoroughly, es
pecially the curious Written Rocks — great sandstone
walls covered with characters. These are popularly
supposed to be guides to buried treasure, but no man
has yet discovered what the strange symbols mean.
They refer to a pre-historic age of Brazil, and are
supposed to have been cut with jade hatchets by the
natives in bygone centuries. Captain Burton gives
careful drawings of them, for which we must refer our
readers to his delightful book.
At Varzea Redonda, famous for its salubrity, the

1 68 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
poor old Brig Eliza, no longer of any use, was
broken up and given away, the anchor especially
being a great prize. Two days of monotonous
riding led to the Porto das Piranhas, and from this
port Captain Burton embarked on his homeward
voyage.

CHAPTER XVI.
IN AND ABOUT BUENOS AYRES.
THE voyage between beautiful Rio Janeiro, coasting
down the eastern land-line of South America to
Buenos Ayres, is one of the most dangerous in the
world. It occupies only a week, but during those
few days the unhappy passenger may confidently
reckon on the wind going at least twice round the
compass, and blowing hard from each quarter in turn.
This is Mr. Hinchcliff's experience in his " South
American Sketches," and he bewails himself pathe
tically on the subject, assuring us, that, of all the
'airts which blow" over the South Atlantic Ocean,
El Pampero is the very worst. This hurricane wind
of the coast rushes from the gorges of the Andes as
out of a funnel, sweeps over a thousand level miles of
Pampas, and bursts upon the parboiled inhabitants
of the south-eastern portion of the great Continent
as a cold south-wester.
The entrance to the Silver River, the Rio de la
Plata, must be very beautiful ; a " grand reality,"
Mr. Hinchcliff calls it. Imagine the head-lands of
Monte Video and Point Piedras, sixty miles apart, and
the rive.r, which has been rushing through the sea for
1 20 miles from Buenos Ayres, still preserving its

1 70 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
waters pure and fresh on the southern side. It is
indeed more of an estuary than a river at this place,
and is shallower after it reaches the ocean than at any
other part of its long and winding line. Many rivers
are absorbed into the Rio de la Plata by the time it
has reached the deep Atlantic stream. The mighty
Uruguay, rising nearly a thousand miles off in Brazil,
the Parana, with its great tributary the Paraguay,
all fall into the huge river, whose mingled waters,
alas ! are here more yellow than white, more like
Father Tiber than Sabrina, "goddess of the Silver
Lake." No traveller to Buenos Ayres would consider his
descriptions complete without an account of the
great slaughtering establishments in that city, where
a thousand cattle at a time are killed chiefly for the
sake of their hides and tallow. The flesh is con
verted into jerked beef; but Mr. Hinchcliff acknow
ledges that it is miserable stuff, and has hitherto been
exported chiefly to the Slave States.
We will see the wholesale butchery with his eyes,
and tell it almost in his words: —
" About 800 beasts had been driven in a corral or
enclosure made of strong posts nearly a foot thick,
which tapered off into a kind of funnel six feet wide,
crossed by a strong bar with an iron pulley in it.
This was approached by a small tramway, upon which
travelled a truck large enough to carry two of the
animals at the same time, and running parallel to the
slaughtering platform, which was of great size, and
gently inclined towards the gutter for carrying off the
blood. Dark-visaged men and lads were chatting gaily
as they sharpened their knives, and the chief execu
tioner stood by his post, somewhat raised over the
bar and pulley. The pulley was traversed by a rope

IN AND ABOUT BUENOS A YRES. 171
of raw hide, at one end of which was a lazo running
on a ring of iron, and the other end was attached
firmly to two horses standing saddled in the open
yard. Two gaily-dressed peons, cigarette in mouth,
jumped lightly into the saddles of the two horses,
casting a glance behind to see if all was right ; the
infantry were ready, knife in hand, and the work of
death began. The butcher gathered up his lazo, and
with practised eye selected two beasts whose heads
were sufficiently close together to be entangled in a
single cast. He swung it two or three times round
his head, and in a moment the four horns were firmly
gripped with unerring accuracy. At a signal from
him the horsemen spurred their steeds into a plunge
forwards for about twenty yards with the other end
of the rope, and thus dragged the poor brutes for
wards till their heads were jammed hard against the
bar. Then the executioner stooped, and with two
quiet thrusts of his knife divided the spine a little
behind the horns ; he cast loose the noose from their
heads, and two corpses fell heavily on the truck,
which was rapidly wheeled to the platform, where
the bodies are deposited and the truck sent back for
more victims. In five minutes each animal is skinned
and cut up, literally vanished, " gone to pieces," as
Mr. Hinchcliff puts it, and he marvels much at the
rapidity of the process.
It is salutary and refreshing to turn from these
huge shambles, with their attendant hordes of scaven
gers, dogs, and sea-gulls, and get away with our
pleasant companion to the sweet open campo or
country, on a visit to an estancia twenty miles south
of the city. The ride thither must have been deli
cious, cantering over the breezy Pampas covered with
soft, springy turf; but we are amused to find how

172 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
unlike the South American horse is to his Austra
lian brother. When Mr. Hinchcliff came to the first
narrow streamlet or creek, resembling a ditch with
high steep banks and a muddy bottom, he naturally
expected his steed would jump the small arroyo. But
no, nothing was further from its intention; it is the
custom for all horses to wade or flounder through the
thick clay which forms the bottom of these creeks,
and many are lost in the attempt — as the clean picked
carcases, with legs still sticking fast in the mud,
attest. An Australian horse, if ever such a "screw,"
will always go over a tolerably wide creek " flying,"
if he be only permitted to choose his own ground
from whence to take off. These arroyos are fed
from a region of swamps where snipe and ducks, teal
and widgeon, find, or rather found, till Mr. Hinchcliff
went there, a marshy home.
The Pampas themselves are rendered somewhat
dangerous riding by the biscachos, who burrow all
over them. These animals resemble the prairie dogs
of North America, but are larger ; they sleep in their
holes all day, the entrances to which are guarded by
.their faithful friends, the lovely little Pampas owls.
When sunset comes the owls relieve guard, and go
off to seek food for themselves all night, whilst the
biscacho amuses himself by adding to the rubbish
heaps at the mouth of his burrow. No magpie suffers
more from kleptomania than he does, and a silver
watch was once found amid the miscellaneous col
lection of a biscachos.
Life at Monte Grande must be delightful, especially
to bold riders and thorough sportsmen ; but we must
not linger too long in that charming spot. Mr
Hinchcliff's next excursion from Buenos Ayres was
a much longer one, extending to an estancia 300

IN AND ABOUT BUENOS A YRES. 173
miles away, in the Banda Oriental, on the bank of
the Uruguay.
The journey was performed in a steamer up La
Plata, and our traveller is much struck by the con
trast of the scenery on each bank of the river. On
the Buenos Ayrean side, boundless plains stretched
away in an unbroken monotony ; whilst the Banda
Oriental was broken up into beautiful hills and dales,
picturesque glimpses of wood and water, and all the
details which go to make up a fair and lovely sylvan
scene. Large islands intercepted the steamer's path,
breaking up the Silver River into many channels,
confusing enough to navigators. As at the mouth of
the Hooghly, these jungle-covered, uninhabited places
are the favourite home of the South American tiger,
or jaguar; but Mr. Hinchcliff was disappointed in his
hope of sport.
As they sped up the river, the country grew more
and more beautiful, and all too soon they were landed
at the nearest point to the estancia, amid a wealth
of trees and blossom, parrots swinging on trailing
creepers, turf mixed with patches of scarlet verbena,
which fairly dazzles and delights us to read of. Fain
would we linger with Mr. Hinchcliff in his new
quarters, so rich in game and affording such splendid
pasture for both sheep and cattle ; but we must turn
resolutely away from their fascinations, and return
with him once more to Buenos Ayres, from which he
made, later, an expedition to Parana. This city is
four hundred miles higher up the river, and is the
capital and seat of Government of the Argentine
Confederation. Of course, it is also the scene of cea.se-
less changes of ministry ; and revolutions are by no
means unknown. There is not much to admire in the
place itself; but the surrounding country is pretty,

1 74 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
and the open, breezy Pampas can- be easily reached
from the town. The most striking feature about
Parana is the enormous quantity of fossil oyster-beds.
In some places the earth is split into crevasse-like
chasms, some thirty or forty feet deep, whose perpen
dicular sides are almost entirely composed of gigantic
oyster-shells. The small river which runs near takes
its name from these relics of former days, and is
called Rio de las Conchitas.
Whilst he was at Parana, Mr. Hinchcliff had occa
sion to cross the interior of Entre Rios — that great
tract of country lying between the Parana and the
Uruguay. The journey had to be performed by
diligencia ; and he gives the following amusing ac
count of his attempted start : —
" With some difficulty we found the place indicated,
and entered a huge yard covered with rubbish. A
fat and grimy man emerged from a shed ; my com
panion asked him where the diligencia for Nogoya was
to be found.
" Aqui Senor" (here, sir), said the man, pointing
out to us one of the most dilapidated wrecks in his
establishment. " That the diligencia ! " we both exclaimed.
" Si, Senor'.'
" Well, but we thought it was to start to-morrow, or
the day after, and it is all in pieces."
" It will be ready, Seiior."
"' But half one side is gone, and half the bottom ; it
has no seats, no windows, no coach-box ; the lining is
torn to atoms, and it has only one spring."
"All will be ready, Senor, ¦manana!'
They knew that manana, though it literally means
to-morrow, is a very indefinite word in a Spaniard's
mouth, so they deferred paying for their places until

IN AND ABOUT BUENOS A YRES. 175
next day. When the morrow came, a second visit
to the shed showed them their vehicle in exactly the
same state as when they last saw it, except that an
iron support had been added to the weakest side of
the wreck.
Under these circumstances the travellers said
vaguely that they would call again, and in the mean
time set about the arrangements for an excursion to
Santa Fe, a place a little way up the Salado River,
bearing to the west of Parana.
Although this stream is tolerable wide and deep
where it debouches into the Parana at the town of
that name, it narrows considerably as you ascend,
which accounts for the extreme smallness of the river
steamers. Santa Fe itself is entirely a city of the past. Long,
silent streets, empty of the bustle of human life,
stretch away to the surrounding plains ; the ancient
fortresses, built by the Spanish founders to protect the
city from Indian raids, are empty and ruinous. Even
in the cathedral, with its lofty watch-tower, from
whence a bird's-eye view of all the country round can
be obtained, the dust of years lies thick and undis
turbed. There was no sign of outer or inner life in
all the sleepy dwellings. Tokens meet the eye at
every step of former energy and expectation, but all
was now marked with decay and disappointment.
The old Spanish colonists built, in eager faith and
hope, the walls of this city, which was at once to
be a nucleus from which proselytizing rays would
diverge, and a centre of attraction to all the fabled
wealth of their new conquest, but their religious and
secular visions of increase and aggrandisement were
alike airy dreams, never to be realized by the sordid
dreamers.

176 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
But so it has been ; the El Dorado, which was to be
won by blood, and fire, and sword, was never reached,
and its very name has now passed into a proverb for
a hopeless quest ; yet all travellers think and proclaim
that there is wealth greater than the greediest Spaniard
ever dreamed of, waiting for men in those beautiful
lands — wealth to be won by hard labour and honest
industry, to be wrung from the willing soil, not from
an oppressed people ; golden captives to the axe and
plough, not to the bow and spear.
The first thing which Mr. Hinchcliff and his com
panion did on their return in a day or two to
Parana, was to visit the ruinous diligencia. Its
repairs had not progressed one inch, but still the
proprietor assured them that it would be ready
immediately, and that they should have excellent
accommodation. At last, wearied out and disgusted, the Englishmen
made fresh arrangements and set forth in another
vehicle, scarcely less dilapidated, and drawn by two
horses, with a third animal attached by a rope to the
side, so that he need not draw unless his services were
urgently required. This in a stage of a hundred miles,
where there was no chance even of passing through a
village between Parana and Nogoya, for which place
they were bound. No wonder it was late by the time
they reached the principal inn at that remote town of
the Argentine Republic. On their way they had seen
plenty of deer and partridges, and a few of the South
American ostrich, which is a smaller bird than its
African brother. These graceful creatures are grey,
and do not possess those beautiful side feathers, which
are the glory of their namesakes, but they afford
excellent sport.
Even out-of-the-way Nogoya was in a ferment with

IN AND ABOUT BUENOS A YRES. 177
internecine wars and rumours of wars, and the National
Guards were the heroes of the hour.
The next start was for the estancia de Las Cabezas,
on the road to Gualeguay, which lies south-east of
Parana towards Buenos Ayres. On this journey they
met with one adventure which will serve as a specimen
of the excitement attendant upon South American
travel. At each posting-stage the mail coach (in which
Mr. Hinchcliff travelled from Nogoya) was re-horsed,
by the primitive method of driving any tropilla or
troop of horses which happened to be grazing in the
neighbourhood, into a corral. Here six steeds were
lassoed, and forced most unwillingly to act as a team
for the said mail-coach. As might be expected, there
was a good deal of plunging and kicking at each fresh
start, but the boy-postilions, embryo Gauchos, stuck
fast to their crazy saddles, and only laughed and
shouted at each fresh complication. At length they
reached a spot where the road was crossed by a dry
river-bed, with banks some twenty-five or thirty feet
high on either side. Down these crumbling preci
pices the coachman proposed to take the vehicle and
six wild horses, describing a sharp angle at the bottom
of the river, and trusting to the impetus of the descent
to force him and his load up the other bank. He had
the grace, however, to suggest that his passengers
should get out, which they were only too glad to do ;
and from a place of safety they saw their conveyance
prepare for a descent, steep as the wall of a house.
The leaders with their ragged riders soon disappeared
down the bank, and the heavily-laden coach looked to
the spectators as if it must fall on, and crush, the
wheelers ; but, spite of all the known laws of gravita
tion, the cumbrous affair reached the rough clay bottom
safely, turned the perilous corner, and attempted to

178 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
dash up the opposite side. In vain the horses
struggled ; and the driver shouted and flogged. After
some heavy lurches, the coach capsized with a crash,
and horses and boys rolled over and over back into
the hoof-trodden clay of the old river-bed. In an
instant, and long before those on foot could reach
them, both horses and riders were on their legs, safe
and unharmed ; no one was hurt, except one man
whose leg had been broken by a heavy box falling on
it, and a few struggles set the coach upright again,
and off they all started at full gallop, bearing the poor
wounded man carefully inside, as far as Las Cabezas,
seven miles from Gualeguay.
The estancia where our traveller halted was 40,000
English acres in extent, and carried 12,000 head of
cattle, 40,000 sheep, and a large number of horses.
Comparing the acreage of this estancia with that of an
Australian or New Zealand sheeprun, I may confi
dently assert that the pasturage must be better in the
Entre Rios than in any of our antipodean colonies, for
the same number of acres there would only afford
sufficient feeding-ground for either the cattle or the
sheep in the numbers mentioned, certainly not for
both on the same station.
On this estancia the increase of the sheep seems
just in the same proportion as in Australia, namely,
that the aggregate of the flock is doubled in three
years, and the breed is improved from the same stock ¦
the Negretti rams from Germany being the favourite
importations, and often costing 200/. in the colony.
Land for grazing purposes is rapidly rising in value,
and Mr. Hinchcliff thinks that sheep or cattle farming
would be found a more profitable speculation in either
Entre Rios or Buenos Ayres, or even in the Banda
Oriental, than in Australia.

IN AND ABOUT ,B UENOS A YRES. 1 79
Mr. Hinchcliff describes with great spirit the details
of a feast of came con cuero, consisting of a large piece
of beef, cut from the bullock's ribs and roasted with
the hide on, which preserves the juice and essence of
the meat in the highest perfection. To appreciate this
costly dish at its full value, we must remember that
the hide is the most valuable part of a bullock in the
River Plate, and the Homeric feast can therefore be
but rarely afforded. It makes a delicious meal, this
square yard of beef, served up without any dish, and
standing upon the rough table in its own hide.
The account of the funeral of a dead Gaucho (or
rough rider), who was taken at full gallop, dressed
exactly as when alive, and fastened upright in his
saddle, across the plains to the place of interment,
concludes this interesting volume, and we must refer
all who wish to know more of Mr. Hinchcliff's wan
derings, to his own bright and clever pages.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE PAMPAS.
DOWN the western side of the great South American
Continent, there extends, as we all know, one of the
three loftiest mountain-ranges on the surface of the
globe, — the Cordillera of the Andes. But it is not of
those snow-topped peaks, nor of the beautiful vegeta
tion which clothes its lower hills, that I propose to
tell you in the next few pages. My subject will
rather be an illustration of the extremes which Nature
sometimes loves. At the foot of this gigantic pile,
where every conceivable mountain shape and form are
heaped together, where human eyes become utterly
confused, and unable to judge whether a rock be forty
or four hundred feet away from them, just beneath
these ever-cloud-clad summits, she smooths the land
lying south between the Cordillera and the Atlantic
into one vast level plain.
For nine hundred miles in breadth these Pampas
extend, right down to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata,
where it runs into the ocean at Buenos Ayres, and
the most beautiful mountain scenery in the world
does not appear to exercise a greater fascination over
those who live amid its various charms than does this
great flat surface of land over its few and hardy
inhabitants.

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THE PAMPAS.

Perhaps "inhabitant" is the most inappropriate
word I could possibly have selected to apply to the
Gaucho, who alone may be said to inhabit the Pam
pas, insomuch as he does not really dwell on the great
plain, all ready though it be for his reception, with its
fertile soil, its exquisite climate, and the many streams
which flow down from the steep sides of the Andes.
How is it possible to use such a term, when speak
ing of a creature, or race of creatures, who almost
resemble the Centaurs of old ? Travellers say, that a
Gaucho, on foot, is the most melancholy- looking
object it is easy to conceive, helplessly straddling over
the ground, which he never walks on if he can ride, or
rather skim over it, instead. As great a difference is
there between a Gaucho in the saddle and a Gaucho
on Shanks' mare, as between a duck in the water and
a duck on the land.
" What is a Gaucho ? " do you ask. A Gaucho is
simply one of a race of men who live on horseback
out on the free open Pampas : men who have literally
no wants, no desires, beyond the possession of a good
saddle and bridle and a pair of sharp spurs: men
who begin to ride at four years old, and ride all the
days of their lives, and finally ride to their graves.
You have been told, on the last page but one, how a
Gaucho is taken to be buried, so it need not be
repeated here ; but it seems difficult to imagine that
even his last tranquil home can afford rest to the
wandering rider.
It is really impossible to tame these wild, roving
Arabs of the south, and one cannot but admire, and
indeed envy, the independence of their precarious
existence. It is of no use trying to induce the
Gaucho to build a house or live in a town. He
sleeps out in the open air nearly all the year round,

182 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
(and so should we ; perhaps, if our houses were as full
of fleas and bugs as his are) ; he lives on beef and
water, both of which he can find in any quantity on
the Pampas, and he considers the skeleton of a horse's
head to be the most comfortable chair in the world.
I am tempted to dwell a little on this peculiar
tribe, because, beyond their bare name, they are not
often mentioned by travellers. One meets with the
word here and there, in the account of an excur
sion from Buenos Ayres or Mendoza, as applied to a
dirty, disreputable sort of mounted guide, or escort ;
but these are the worst specimens of their fellows.
The true Gaucho is a descendant of the early settlers,
and traces his pedigree back to some of the best
families in Spain. His noble air, the grace with which
he wears his ragged poncho, his hospitality and good
manners, all show the blueness of the blood in his
veins and contrast favourably with the degeneracy of
the mongrel race around him.
To our minds, the most interesting feature of Pam
pas travel must be these very light and irregular
cavalry, skimming like swallows over plains bounded
on one side by the Andes, and on the other by the
Atlantic. Like gipsies, in their love of a free open-air
life, and like children in their indifference to money,
the Gauchos will always stand alone as a type of ro
mantic people, with few of the faults and many of the
excellencies which belong to the highest civilization.
No traveller has more thoroughly comprehended or
more admirably described the Gauchos than Sir
Francis Head, and no one who has read his " Ride
across the Pampas " can avoid feeling how life-like and
vivid are his word-sketches of the strange, uncouth
dwellers on those vast plains. Of the Pampas them
selves his accounts are most alluring. Who would not

THE PAMPAS. 183

wish to exchange rail and steam for swift gallops over
springy turf, gallops which begin at early dawn and
go on until 1 20 miles of country have been left behind,
and the rider could eat his own horse, nay, his own
saddle, for very hunger ! Let us hope, however, he is
not often driven to so indigestible a meal ; nothing
worse probably than beef awaits the ravenous horse
man, beef to be washed down by a drink of pure
water, and then six or eight hours' sleep on the
ground outside a Gaucho hovel with his saddle as
a pillow. It is no wonder that Sir Francis Head found this
life somewhat fatiguing at first, though he afterwards
declares that he got into such splendid condition that
he felt as if no exertion could kill him, and that he
could tire ten or twelve horses in a day. He found
when he began these long riding journeys, which,
we must mention, were undertaken for business, not
pleasure, that the constant galloping confused his head,
and that at the end of a hard day's work he could
scarcely speak or stand ; but by degrees the rider
became accustomed to the motion, and found it the
most delightful in the whole world. The life too is
so alluring, from Sir Francis's description, with its
boundless variety ; now sweeping over green level
plains, where a sharp look-out must be kept for
Indians or for bisacheros, now riding swiftly among
the tall slim stems of a vast wood. There is none of
the undergrowth or jungle in the region of trees
which grow on the Pampas similar to that met with
in other semi-tropical forests, for Sir Francis parti
cularly remarks that the trees are not crowded, and
that they never obstruct the traveller's rapid pace.
The only shadow on the sunny delightful picture is
cast by the poor horses, and we cannot help shudder-

1 84 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
ing to read of the suffering endured by the wild,
beautiful creatures. Taken from the plains over
which they have hitherto roamed, hurriedly and
cruelly taught what bit and bridle mean, they are
spurred till they drop ; their bleeding sides declare
the sharpness of the Gaucho's long silver spurs ; and
though they do not go far, still they are witnesses to
the truth of the sporting phrase, " It is the pace which
kills." We read of horses who have been urged at
this furious speed all day (for, even if not mounted,
they gallop loose with the spare animals), and are put
into a yard at night, gallop sixty miles next day,
turned out to graze among stones and rocks for a few
hours, brought at nightfall into a bare, dusty yard,
ridden for sixty or seventy miles the third day, again
put supperless into a corral, and not turned out on the
plain until the following morning.
Sir Francis says : — ¦
" In riding across the Pampas with a constant
succession of Gauchos, I often observed that the
children and the old men rode quicker than the young
men. The children have no judgment, but they are so
light, and always in such high spirits, that they skim
over the ground very quickly. The old grey-headed
Gaucho is an excellent horseman with great judg
ment ; and although his pace is not so rapid as the
children's, yet, from being constant and uniform, he,
arrives at his goal nearly in the same time. In riding
with the young men I found that the pace was un
avoidably influenced by the subject on which we
happened to converse, and when we got to the post,
I constantly observed that, somehow or other, time
had been lost."
We will take one journey across the the Pampas as
a specimen of Sir Francis Head's mode of travel, with

THE PAMPAS. 185

its independence and its hardships, its delights and its
fatigues. The indefatigable horseman was on his way
from Buenos Ayres vid San Luis and Mendoza to
some gold mines at the foot of the great Cordillera,
near the town of La Carolina.
It took twelve days' hard riding to reach San Luis,
and the programme of the journey was somewhat
monotonous. At daylight, often an hour before, the
traveller was awakened by his Gaucho guide for that
part of the journey, who aroused him by saying
impatiently, " Vamos, Senor" (Let us come, sir). It
was no use offering up the sluggard's petition, for the
Gaucho would surely be off in a few moments, and
out of sight in a few more ; so whilst the mate — a sort
of decoction of tea — was being hastily prepared, the
traveller washed his face and hands, saddled his horse,
and was off and away long before the sun, which had
set upon him, thirty miles away from his sleeping
place, was up. All day the story is the same,
" Galloped my horse till he came to a standstill,
then got on a fresh one ; in about another hour this
horse quite done up, by constant spurring could just
keep him in a canter ; at last down he fell, and my
foot hung in the stirrup."
Fresh horses were driven loose with the party, so a
remount was always close at hand.
At night it was generally one of two things. A
halt at a Gaucho hut, where the stiff and tired rider
was offered the skeleton of a horse's head to sit upon,
and beef and water for supper — with a choice of sleep
ing within the shelter of mud walls, among babies and
old women, pigs and fowls, fleas, bugs, and creeping
things innumerable ; or out of doors in the fresh,
frosty air, with his saddle for a pillow and a poncho
for a coverlet. This was varied when a town was

1 86 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
reached, by a night's lodging in a cafe, where " No
hay! Senor," was the unvarying answer to all de
mands for other eatables than beef.
At Mendoza, of earthquake celebrity, Sir Francis
fared no better, though he was much amused by the
primitive simplicity of the manners of its inhabitants.
Men, women, and children bathed every evening in
the Rio de Mendoza, a shallow stream which runs
through the Alameda or principal promenade, where
all the rank and fashion of the town congregate
at sunset to eat ices and smoke cigars. I confess
myself, that instead of being duly shocked at this
Naiad-like behaviour, anything which gives me an
idea of cleanliness is most welcome and refreshing
after the details of personal filth and crawling vermin
with which all books of South American travel are
filled. It is a custom which sounds, at all events,
cool and clean, and so long as the performers and
spectators like it, we do not see what business it is
of ours. We agree with Sir Francis in wishing that
the Rio de Mendoza was a little deeper at the
Alameda, as it seems unsatisfactory to read that the
water does not reach the bather's knees : still, let the
Mendozians bathe in peace, with the dark outline
of the Cordilleras before them, and the paper lamps
glimmering like glow-worms on the trees of the
Alameda, and the music of the band heard tinkling
and braying amid the laughter of the girls as they
splash each other in the shallow stream.
Only one day's halt was called at Mendoza, and at
daylight Sir Francis started again from the Fonda
under the guidance of a young Gaucho, who galloped
like the wind, singing as he went. That day, one-
hundred and fifty-three miles were accomplished. It
is no wonder, that as soon as the riders dismounted

THE PAMPAS. 187

they flung themselves on the ground and fell asleep,
to be awakened in an hour or two by a welcome offer
ing of some soup with the meat left in it. Up and
on with the first ray of light, and in three or four days
they arrived, in passing through the province of Santa
¥6, at a place where a courier had been murdered by
some Salteadores (robbers). The hut was in ruins,
near which a few deer were feeding, but at sight of
the horsemen the shy animals fled away. At the
mean threshold lay a fine dog, with his throat cut ; but
Sir Francis says he never saw so much expression in
the countenance of a dead animal: "his lip was curled
up, and one could not but fancy that it expressed the
feelings of rage and fidelity under which he had
evidently fought to the last." Within the hut, loosely
covered by a few fallen adobes, or mud-bricks from
the wretched walls, they found the bodies of the
courier and postilion, and the vermin-covered floor
was strewn with the covers of letters destroyed in
the search for gold-dust.
Our traveller was accompanied by an old man, the
father of the murdered courier, who proceeded coolly
to complete the interment of his son by pulling down
the remainder of the tottering wall on his corpse, and
thus hiding it from view; after which he murmured a
prayer, crossed himself, lit a cigar, and remounted his
horse to continue his interrupted gallop.
Darkness was but little hindrance to the constant
rapid movement. When overtaken by nightfall before
the post-hut could be reached, the only precaution
taken was for the Gauchos to keep in a line, and
when the leading horseman passed a biscachero,
which was every two minutes, he gave a loud shrill
whistle to warn the others of the danger. In spite of
these slender precautions, the rider across the Pampas

TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.

has many and many a fall, caused by his horse's put
ting its leg into biscacho's hole. Even the Gauchos
occasionally meet with severe accidents from the same
reason, though Sir Francis notices that the wild horses
accustomed to the Pampas generally take care of both
their riders and themselves by smelling the holes and
shrinking aside, even when at full gallop.
Very terrible are the stories of the Indians who then
ravaged parts of the Pampas. In Santa Fe they were so
bold and so numerous that there were no cattle left in
the whole province, and people were afraid to live there.
They used to burn the huts, kill the men and children,
and carry off the young women and the animals. We
should feel inclined to pity these modern Sabines if it
were not for the testimony of a French officer, who, on
his way through the territory of these Pampas Indians,
met several of the young women who had been for
merly carried off by the tribe. He offered to obtain
permission for them to return to their own country
and people, but they all declared that they were
perfectly happy and comfortable, and that no earthly
inducement would tempt them to leave their husbands
and children.
Upon one occasion a little mud fort in one of the
most lonely and desolate parts of the plain was de
fended for nearly an hour by eight brave Gauchos
against nearly three hundred Indians.
The Gauchos fought as men fight for all they hold
dear on earth. Behind them, within the rude shelter
of the primitive fort, were huddled their wives and
little children, and their beloved horses and cattle.
The naked, screaming savages, led by their cacique,
rushed at the low wall with brandished spears , but the
musket, which was the only fire-arm possessed by the
Gauchos, scared them when it went off at last, having

THE PAMPAS. 189

hung fire for a long time. The random discharge
killed one of the Indians, and the rest wavered.
They were gallantly led by their cacique, but he
could not make them face a second shot from Brown
Bess, and they galloped away, leaving some spears
sticking in the ground. The Gauchos kept those as
trophies, and Sir Francis acknowledges that he looked
upon the rough weapons as among the proudest
military trophies he had ever beheld.
These Indians are still better and more fearless
riders than the Gauchos, who declare that they cannot
keep up with them, and that in a fray they charge
at full gallop, without either saddle or bridle, and
sometimes crouching beneath their horses' bodies.
We will not follow Sir Francis across the Great
Cordillera, as this chapter professes only to skim with
him over the long level plains at its eastern base, but
nothing can be more interesting than his account of
the journey on mule-back, with its sharp contrasts to
the speed of his daily gallops across the Pampas for
so many succeeding weeks.
He was rejoiced to find himself once more at Men
doza on his return journey to Buenos Ayres, and the
vast plains were full of fresh charms for him. The
first thing he noticed was a dead horse — ridden to
death, perhaps — with forty or fifty condors devouring
it. Locusts were devouring the vegetation of one
part of the Pampas, and the traveller nearly lost his
straw hat by flinging it on the ground after he had
alighted at a post-hut. These insects looked upon
it as a delicacy, and set to work to devour it without
loss of time.
The last day's stages covered 120 miles, and that
brought Sir Francis Head safe and sound to Buenos
Ayres, where we must leave him with as much regret
as he felt in parting from his beloved Pampas.

CHAPTER XVIII.
PERU.
Now we will take a glance at the western side of
the South American Continent, and we cannot do
better than select Peru for our chapter's travel —
Peru, shut in between the sea and the Great Cordillera
of the Andes — which mountains derive their name
from the Indian gardens on the steep hill-sides of
the Sierra, called Andenes by the early Spaniards, and
traverse the whole of South America longitudinally
from north to south — from the Bay of Panama in
the extreme north-west of the continent, through
New Granada, Ecuador, Peru, and Chili, down to the
last low spurs running into Patagonia.
We have chosen Peru on account of its historical
interest, with its legends of the Incas, its famous
conquest, its exquisite beauty, and its terrible mis
fortunes. All these things are written in other and
more learned books, but the object of these pages is
to arouse that noble thirst for information which will
not be quenched by the tantalizing sip which is all
that can be offered out of so small a chalice, but will
seek for more satisfying draughts drawn from deeper
wells. Lima, the capital of the Peruvian Republic, stands

PERU. 191
seven miles inland from its seaport Callao, and al
though all travellers agree in praising its equable
climate, free from extremes of heat or cold, still it is
liable to a rough shake every now and then from an
earthquake. But in the tables of mortality, neither
these constant shocks, nor the equally constant politi
cal disturbances, are credited with the short precarious
tenure of human life in Lima. Like the inhabitants
of some other cities we know of, they are their own
deliberate murderers. They persist in trying to
breathe air tainted by foul smells and decay, and
bad water, and the result of the experiment is not
encouraging, for those who are strong enough to fight
the battle for existence against the evil-smelling heats
bred from miasma and filth, become poor weak de
generate creatures, whilst the more delicate individuals
give up the struggle and die young.
The native dark races still linger round the ruined
and overgrown temples and dwellings where their
forefathers lived and worshipped, and the Tables of
Returns for both Lima and Quito show a large pro
portion of Indian inhabitants. Hewers of wood and
drawers of water have these people become to their
conquerors, but they still cherish the early traditions
of their race, and look forward to a millennium — a
time when Manco Capac and Mama Oello, the son
and daughter ofthe Sun, will return to restore the old
Inca dynasty, which they founded four centuries before
the Spanish invasion and conquest of Peru.
Some of the aborigines utterly refuse to adapt
themselves to the strange faith and rule of the new
comers, and prefer to wander, like gipsies, over the
province, subsisting by selling balsams, herbs, and
barks. There is one tribe in particular, called the
Callavayas or Yungeflas, which may be said to have

192 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
monopolized this trade, and doubtless many of our
most valuable medicines come to us from their hands.
But now the Gentiles (as the Indians call the European
settlers) have learned where and how the magic herbs
grow, and go and find them for themselves ; so the
Callavayas have set up as wandering quack doctors.
They are not content with furnishing the drug, but they
prescribe how it is to be administered. Their practice
cannot be very successful, for they are now chiefly
known by the soubriquet of Mata-sanos, or killers of
the healthy !
Still, to this day are to be found worthy scions of
the royal lineage ; it is not so long ago since a -chief
tain with a pure Inca pedigree found himself in the
thick of a revolutionary fray. Not only was he
valiant and strong, but he possessed the old instinct
of coolness in danger, which is the highest courage,
inasmuch as it is a mental more than a physical
quality. He headed a wild rush upon the enemy's
ranks at a critical moment of the battle, and then
ordered his men to fall back and reform for another
furious onslaught. The first to face the foe, Santa-
Cruz — for that was the gallant cacique's name— was
the last to retreat, and he was cut off and surrounded
by a troop of light cavalry. One man couched his
lance and rode straight at the cacique, calling to
him to surrender.
"Alza esa lanza, y sigue me!" (raise that lance
and follow me), shouted Santa-Cruz, in a tone of
authority ; and he rode back to his men, followed by
the lancer who had obeyed on instinct. The story
says that Santa-Cruz promoted the man to a place in
his own body-guard when he became President of
Bolivia. Like the greater portion of the South American

PERU. 193
continent, Peru is rich in mines, — coal, silver, quick
silver, gold, and other metals. In the town of Cerro
Pasco, built on a lofty peak of the Lower Andes,
14,000 feet above the sea level, and near the mouth
of the great mine "La Mina del Rey" (the king's
mine), the very adobes, or unburnt bricks, of which
the rude houses are formed, contain a considerable
proportion of silver. The whole of this eyrie-like
city is so burrowed under by the human moles follow
ing the shining lead of the rich silver veins, that it is
quite possible it may tumble in altogether some fine
day, especially as earthquakes are not entirely un
known. When a mine is in process of being made,
the workmen leave enormous pillars at short intervals
to support the roof of earth on which the town stands.
But we learn that as the silver is exposed to view in
these supports, and glistens temptingly amid its
earthly home, the miners, especially the Indians,
cannot resist chipping and picking the ore out of the
pillar. The consequence of this system of pilfering
is that the supports become gradually more and
more ruinous, and in many instances crumble away
entirely, leaving an increased weight to be borne by
the few pillars in which the silver does not lie so
evidently on the surface.
All the accounts of the mines in South America
speak of the excavations as having been hitherto very
shallow, mere scratchings in fact, and the deeper the
soil is dug, the greater the wealth discovered ; so if
buried treasure was the only thing wanting to ensure
the prosperity of the many races and mixed peoples
who are scattered over the vast area, how brilliant
might be the future of that continent ! But we know
that all the hidden silver in the world will not buy
perseverance, or self-denial, or patriotism, or any of
O

1 94 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
the qualities by which men or nations raise themselves
above the common herd who care for nothing except
their own personal well-being. In many volumes of
South American travel, I find everywhere the same
report. Travellers of every age and clime tell the
same story: a country rich and productive in every
source of wealth, above and below its surface, well
watered, well wooded, with scenery fair as any poet's
dream, inhabited throughout its length and breadth
by a feeble, inert, mixed race. With perpetual puerile
strife seething and bubbling on its surface ; with no
care for the morrow, no great aspirations or noble
ambitions, what is the practical use of all the splendid
materials so lavishly scattered- throughout the land ?
Both the conquering and the conquered race have
degenerated. The first have outgrown their power
and capability of ruling ; whilst their former sub
jects are too demoralized to try to grasp the wrested
sceptre of the Incas. The old traditions say that
nearly all the free-men perished in the days of Balboa
and Pizarro, preferring death to subjection ; and that
these patient yoke-wearers are only the descendants
of slaves, who have never really loved or possessed
the soil.
We cannot do better than give some account of
two excursions made by Dr. A. Smith, from Lima to
Tarma — a pretty Sierra town — in the first instance,
and from Lima to Pasco, by way of Junin, Pomacancha,
&c. in the second.
. Although they were undertaken some thirty years
ago, we cannot find much difference or improvement
in the accounts of more modern travellers. They may
speak, indeed, of better shops for luxuries at Lima or
Quito, greater facilities for ensuring the personal com
fort of the traveller, but there is no distinct record of

PERU. 195
any noticeable improvement in the political or social
condition of Peru and Chili.
Tarma, which was the point of Dr. Smith's excur
sion from Lima, is situated E.N.E. from that city, in
the centre of the Andes, and is the favourite resort
of sickly persons from Lima, and rheumatic miners
from Yauli. It must be a lovely spot, nestled among
the giant mountains, but blooming and fertile as any
southern valley. Near to the town there is a beau
tiful cascade, and the winding lanes enclose orchards
of peaches and apples, besides fields of wheat and
barley. Not far off are the ruins of the ancient city
of Leon de Guanuco, reckoned by the natives as only
second in importance to the capital of the whole
empire of the Incas, Cuzco. Many of the outer shells
of these Indian dwellings are still standing, though
the city is silent and deserted ; and Dr. Smith was
struck by the exact perpendicular of the lines of the
mud and stone walls that have so long outlasted the
dusky race which reared them.
On the heights above the town are to be- seen the
ruins of some Indian moats and fortifications, and it
is difficult to conceive any spot more romantic or
more beautiful than the cliffs on which stand the
silent streets of Leon de Guanuco. Dr, Smith says
of it :—
" Its lakes of Rumichaca, so named because their
waters escape under a natural bridge of rock; its
woods of alder and perejil ; its bamboo thickets ;
numerous dingles and silvery waterfalls ; its rapacious
puma ; its herds of deer ; its narrow pathways and
slippery pastures, from whence the grazing ox so often
rolls into the fathomless ravine, are still present to our
mind in one group, with the lovely conjunction of the
cultivated vales of Huacar and Huaylas, and the
O 2

196 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
watery cross formed by the confluence of their respec
tive streams."
Peru is famous for the light aerial bridges which
span its rivers ; and as all travellers mention them, we
ought to do so. The centre land of Peru abounds in
streams and mountain torrents, which are subject to
sudden, tumultuous, freshes from the bursting of
heavy thunder-clouds, continued pouring rain, or
snow-falls at night, which the first hour or two of
sunshine melts. It follows, therefore, that the more
solid structures of masonry adopted in other coun
tries would be liable to be swept away, and the
stonework bridges with which the Spaniards tried to
replace those used by the natives often met with
that fate.
The Indian engineers invented a soga or swing
bridge, to meet the difficulties which attended crossing
their mountain ravines and torrents, and in many
places this primitive contrivance is used to this day.
The soga bridge of modern Huanuco is made of
ropes twined from twigs of willow, or any other
flexible branches, which are securely fastened at
the ends on the opposite banks of the water;
on these bundles of broom, or some long-branched
shrubs, are placed crosswise, the whole being closely
and firmly bound together by slips ofthe maguey-
leaf. The bridge is wide enough to admit of a foot-
passenger, and a hand-rope runs along each side of it,
by which the traveller can steady himself as he walks
across on the frail structure.
In another place, over the river Jauja, there is a
bridge of this sort which is actually strong enough
for cargo-mules to pass over. In this instance the
first ropes of the slender foundation are made of
bullocks' hide, and the twigs of broom are replaced

PERU. 19;
by cross-pieces of wood placed close together, which
are secured in their proper positions by thongs. This
offers a foot-hold for the animals, who pass over it, we
are told, with perfect confidence. If the chasm or
torrent be a narrow one, the more simple expedient of
a felled tree is adopted, which gives a slippery passage
to the other side. Sometimes the tree is fixed in a
sort of piled-up stone buttress projecting on each
side of the river.
There is also a curious portable bridge used by the
Indian tribes who dwell in the Lower Andes, and
which seems very like the sort mentioned by travellers
as being in vogue among the natives of the Hima
laya Mountains. It consists of a leathern bucket or
bag, which is suspended on a lasso cast from one side
of the ravine to the other, and slipped along by the
passenger himself, something after the fashion of an
aerial ferry. It is said that these bridges were found
extremely useful to the Montonera or irregular patriot
troops, during the late war that ended in the separa
tion of Peru from Spain.
If the space between the banks be too wid6
to admit of any of these simple contrivances, then
the Indian passes in the balsa, a very small canoe
or raft made of rushes. When the paddler and
his passenger seat themselves on its level platform,
the basket craft is pressed down to the water
within an inch or two of its surface ; and, for my
own part, I think that the famous vessel of the three
Wise Men of Gotham must have been a safer con
veyance than a rush-built canoe.
Scattered here and there over these great lonely
mountain-sides are ruins of guacas, or tombs of the
Sun-worshippers. " In some of these mouldering
monuments," writes Dr. Smith, " are still to be found

198 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
internal chambers or sepulchral vaults, entered by
very narrow openings ; and from these labyrinths
mummies, cloths of different colours, various domestic
utensils, sacred figures, and idols, have been frequently
extracted." A neat silver idol, supposed to be a likeness of an
Inca, was taken out of one of these guacas, which are
very numerous among the remains of four hundred
temples in and around Cuzco.
At some of the stages in this mountain-journey the
travellers had to sleep on the ground with their saddle
bags for pillows. Very different must have been their
sensations from those described by Sir Francis Head,
who tried the same bed and pillow so often during his
rides across the Pampas. In his case the bed was
outside the hut, and he used to lie down under the
clear sky, in the fresh, sweet air, close his eyes,
and then he " Heard nothing more till, again it was day."
Poor Dr. Smith gives a piteous account of his miser
able nights passed on the floor of a dirty hovel,
where -it was impossible to stretch his legs out without
roasting his toes in the midst of a wood fire which
burned in the centre of the hut. Sleep was out of
the question, either in or out of doors : outside, the
air was too piercingly cold ; inside, the swarms of rest
less chirping guinea-pigs wandered over the weary
travellers all night in search of crumbs of food. In a
niche in the mud wall, originally intended for the
patron saint of the owner, a strong-lunged cock
roosted — keeping one eye open, however, in readiness
to crow loudly at the first faint streak of daylight.
It is no wonder that under these circumstances early
rising was agreeable, and the morning start was
always accomplished in excellent time.

PERU. 199
As the traveller rides along the steep hill-paths of
these mountains, he hears from time to time the warn
ing whistle of the sentinel vicuna, who keeps watch
just as the red deer does in Scotland whilst the rest of
the flock is feeding. It was almost impossible to get
even a sight of a herd of these fleet and wary crea
tures ; the moment the shrill whistle sounds through
the profound stillness of a valley in the Andes, that
instant the whole herd of vicunas bound away down
wind to a still more sheltered feeding-ground, and
only the sentinel is to be seen, faithful to his post
until the last weak hind has disappeared, when he too
sets off at his best pace, but in another direction.
, Geese are to be met with on some of the inland
lakes, and also whole flocks of flamingoes, besides
the delicately plumaged diving duck, and numbers of
cormorants and kites.
Pasco was the point to be reached on the second
journey, and a reference to a large map will show
that this town lies much further N.N.E. than Tarma.
Beyond it again is Huanuco — by no means to be con
founded with Leon de Guanuco, or De Huanuco, as
it is pronounced. To reach this modern Huanuco, a
descent has to be made of nearly 7,000 feet in a
north-easterly direction from Cerro Pasco, and Dr.
Smith describes this route as being one of the most
beautiful over which he had occasion to travel Owing
to the inaccessible position of the town of Cerro
Pasco, its nearest market-town is this same Huanuco,
and it must be a somewhat stiff climb for the sellers
of fruit and vegetables who have to drag their loads
up the steep hill- path. Huanuco is in a fertile valley,
whereas the bleak hill-tops around the Cerro are
barren on their stony surface, and teeming with
richest silver beneath the ugly ground.

aoo TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
Not very far from Cerro Pasco is the great lake of
Lauricocha, deep and silent birthplace of the River
Amazon, which, for many and many a mile, is called
the Maranon. In fact, it bears this name until it
enters the Brazilian portion of Guiana, north-east of
the empire. For more than a thousand leagues
the Maranon, or Amazon, winds down towards the
Atlantic Ocean, into which it rushes at last with such
strength and volume that for two hundred miles and
more its fresh pure waters are as free from brackish
taint or taste as when they left Lake Lauricocha,
thousands of miles away among the Lower Andes.
This chapter offers but a very superficial sketch
of a country full of deep interest to all who look
beneath the surface of a cruel past, through the
clouds of revolutionary thunderstorms, on to the
bright clear sky of the future, which we would fain
hope will make up to this lovely Western land for all
she has endured from the greed and oppression of her
conquerors. Peru is a Republic, free to develop her own
resources, and to work out a place and a destiny
for herself and the nations around her ; and it will
be her own fault if she does not rise to better things
than mere silver-mining.

PART IV.
AFRICA.

CHAPTER XIX.

ABEOKUTA.

There are many portions of this immense continent
concerning which we know very little. But, perhaps,
we know less of this part of its west coast than of
any other territory on its whole seaboard. For this
reason I will give it the place of honour, and re
commence these imaginary travels at a place which
would probably be the very last that would attract
me, if the journey was to be made by any other
means than those of pen and ink.
No really interesting account of travel on the
Gold Coast of Africa has ever been published. The
country is a very difficult one to travel in, and there
is but little sport or scenery to reward the explorer
for risking his life amid the swamps and miasma
which render the mouth of the Niger so deadly to
human life.
Blue Books, more than any man can number, have
been written on our dealings with the savage tribes
along the coast of Guinea ; but they are not remark
able for vivid or picturesque reports of the country
and people. Captain Burton, of exploring fame, has
given us not only a very interesting work on his
Political Mission to Dahome, but also an account of

204 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
an Excursion — with a geographical aim and end —
to Abeokuta and the Camaroons Mountains.
On both journeys the starting-place was the same,
Fernando Po, an island in the Bight of Biafra ; but
as the trip to Abeokuta was the most characteristic,
we will select that one to make in Captain Burton's
company. It is necessary at the outset to refer to
the map, in order to understand the bearings of the
route followed by this cosmopolitan traveller and his
half-dozen adventurous companions.
To comprehend the importance which attaches
itself to Captain Burton's explorations and dis
coveries among the Camaroons country, we must
remember that he did not undertake the expedition
entirely from love of travel or want of occupation,
but chiefly in order to see if it were not possible
to find some healthy hill-region within an accessible
distance of the poisonous Gold Coast, where fever-
stricken Europeans might go to recruit their shat
tered health. In this object he was successful, as
our readers shall presently see for themselves.
The very earliest notice which Captain Burton
could find of these mountains from the pen of a
European traveller was an account in Barbot of a
journey made by M. J. Grazilhier in 1699, to what
was then called the Ambozes, or Camaroons Country.
He gives a translation of the narrative in his Ap
pendix, but we do not learn much from it, as Captain
Burton supplements M. Grazilhier's statement with
sundry notes and notices which correct and con
tradict the text. The names of the rivers, being
mostly in Portuguese and not those by which they
are now called, are very confusing. M. Grazilhier had
no hesitation in saying that the three islands called
the Ilhas Ambozes, and formed by three branches

ABEOKUTA. 205
of the Camaroons River running into the Great
iEthiopic Ocean, harboured the very "worst blacks
of all Guinea." He declared that these islanders
subsisted entirely by making raids on their neigh
bours, and that they drove a flourishing trade in
slaves and "accory," which perplexing article of
traffic Captain Burton takes to mean Aggeri or Popo
beads. The next traveller's tale referred to by Captain
Burton is written by a worthy Baptist Missionary,
Meyrick by name. He took a journey up the Little
Camaroons River, turning to the left on the mountain
side, and he records his impressions of the " heathen "
in very simple and touching language. The date of
his visit was 1845, and he speaks of the country at
the foot of the hills being well populated by a gentle,
affectionate race, with a very different mien and bear
ing from those of the proud mountaineers. It was,
however, a hard task to persuade the people of the
spiritual object of the Missionary's journey. They
preferred to tell him their traditions of a "great
water," and of white men on the mountain — the
highest of the Camaroon range ; and of stories of
gunpowder, salt, and dollars, besides many pieces of
cloth, lying on the enchanted hill-sides awaiting a
finder bold enough to seek them. Munggo was the
name of this dreaded mountain in the Isubu tongue,
and it was successfully scaled by the Mission party.
The traveller enjoyed a lovely view from its sum
mit of the grassy lowlands and the different rivers
in the Bight of Biafra ; but what made all the pros
pect seem specially lovely in the good Missionary's
eyes was the knowledge of its containing very few
slaves. He ends his journal with one very naive and
pleasing anecdote, which we will transcribe : —

206 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
" When the people were at one time very noisy at
Manja's place, I requested John King, if possible, to
command silence. His reply was, 'Oh, what a pity
all the people in the bush are free ! We cannot get
them to be quiet when we like.' The information
made my heart leap for joy, and rendered the noise
far less disagreeable than I at first considered it."
We must now, however, make a fair start with
Captain Burton on the 9th of October, 1861, from
the island of Fernando Po. He had only returned a
week before from a flying survey of the Oil Rivers
in the lovely delta of the Niger, and was already
wearied to death of enforced rest and a quiet life.
He embarked on board H.M.S. Arrogant, and made
a rapid passage to Lagos, reached on the 23d, but
not without incident. Passing over lightly a sharp
attack of fever, which laid him up for some days,
Captain Burton gives a spirited description of a
furious tornado, when the topmast was struck by
lightning and the magazine had a narrow escape
from explosion.
At Lagos a fortnight's heavy work was needed to
arrange and prepare the necessaries for a West African
journey. Captain Burton had determined to take the
usual line from Lagos to Abeokuta, across the Ikoradu
water, through the Agboi Creek, and thence up the
Ogun River. Lagos was gladly left behind, for it is a
pestilential place only a few feet above the sea level ;
a disorderly mass of huts and houses with mud walls
and huge sloping roofs of dry palm-leaf. Just outside
the low-lying, fever-stricken town is Fetish Point, a
grove of gigantic Egbas-trees, where the ground is all
holy, and none but fetish or reverend men are per
mitted to dwell. Here horrid rites are performed,
and there was a custom of impaling alive a young

ABEOKUTA. 207

female, which sacrifice was supposed to breed plenty
in the land. Captain Burton himself saw, a few
months later, at Benin, a young woman lashed to a
scaffolding upon the summit of a tall blasted tree, and
being devoured by the turkey-buzzards. The people
declared it to be a fetish charm for bringing rain. We
have all heard of the famous Tree of Death at
Badagry, and until quite lately there used to be a
similar tree at Lagos, on whose great trunk and wide-
spreading branches the heads and limbs of male
factors were nailed.
Nearly all the names of places in savage countries
have some connection with their principal charac
teristics. Thus the Camaroons, a river which rises in
the mountain-range of the same name, is an English
attempt to pronounce the Portuguese word Camaroes,
shrimps or prawns, which swarm at the mouth of the
stream. Again, some miserable little lumps of land
opposite Lagos in the Bight of Benin, sand-drift
covered with clumps of mangrove and bush, are called
Sacrifice Islands. In the good old times all execu
tions took place there, and the victims to Oro — one of
the most cruel of African gods — there met a dreadful
death by crucifixion or impalement.
But we will not linger a moment longer than is
necessary among these ghastly horrors. A few hours
rowing up Osa, or Victoria Water, brought the travel
lers to a great lagoon of considerable extent, which is
supposed to connect the Benin with the Volta River.
Every stroke of the oars sent them forward among a
less dank and malarious undergowth, though animal
life is still scarce, and but few birds or beasts are to be
seen. Insects abound in the deep overhanging shade,
and prove most unpleasant visitors. We have an
account of a huge " mangrove fly," which the natives

*>8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
suppose has eyes under its wings ; but however that
may be, it certainly possesses a sharp stilet which
draws blood freely. Then there were black mangrove-
ants, gad-flies like the English horse-fly, and every
where swarms of vicious though tiny sand-flies.
A tornado only slightly checked their course next
day, and towards evening they reached the banks of
the Agboi's stream, where dwarf palms, bananas, and
various wild fruits grew, being crowned besides in
places with enormous trees. On the waters of the
creek — emerald green from the reflection of the over
hanging branches — floated a pure white lily, the
Nymphaea, which ancient Egypt borrowed from the
Hindu and then allowed to die out.
The next river into which the canoes drifted was
the Ogun, at its confluence with the Agboi ; and their
first day's journey on its broad placid surface was
twenty-six miles. As they held their way up this
stream, they passed the mouth of the Akisa Creek,
where they were much annoyed by numerous fishing
ropes of calamus and reeds, which are secured to trees
on the bank, and stayed with stout stakes about mid
stream. Captain Burton is very pathetic about the
annoyance which these ropes caused him ; and it is
not surprising, for, with the water running like a
mill-race, it is very difficult to shoot exactly under
the highest part of the line. He says they are both
tough and strong, with wicker canes, something like
eel-baskets, attached to them as traps for fish.
The ascent of the Ogun River occupied them four
days, and they only made sixty-four miles all that
time. It was consequently the 1st November by the
time they reached Aghameya, where they landed, and
mounted wretched little ponies, for an eight or ten
miles' ride to Abeokuta. I confess to great surprise

ABEOKUTA. 200

at reading how imposing is the appearance of this
modern metropolis of Egba-land. The first bird's-
eye view of the town must have been both picturesque
and beautiful. An undulating plain, suddenly broken
by fantastic masses of grey and red granite, some
times 300 feet high ; among these eccentric and
huge boulders cluster groups of mud, palm-thatched
hovels, and patches of native forest stand dotted
about the town. A line of denser and more regular
trees marks the course of the Ogun River, but the
town stands principally on its left bank. The whole
is surrounded by the famous defences of Abeokuta,
which Captain Burton assures us played as important
a part in Yoruba history as the Great Wall of China,
or the lines of Torres Vedras. These said defences,
however, only consist of a mud wall five or six feet
high, pierced here and there with a loophole ; but they
have been found hitherto quite sufficient to puzzle an
African Moltke or Von Roon.
There is a Mission Compound, in the suburbs of
Ake, and actually an English church with a mud
steeple. In the centre of the town proper stand two
brass six-pounders, sent by our Government to the
Alake of Abeokuta ; a useless present, as the natives
say they cannot afford to keep weapons that " eat so
much powder."
Within the Mission Compound is a printing-office,
whence issues once a fortnight the local paper,
published partly in English and partly in Egba ; it is
called the " Iwe Irohin " (The Book of News). Its
editor was a distinguished Cambridge scholar, who has
brought his intellect down to write leaders on the Use
and Abuse of the Cowrie, Plough versus Hoe, and so on.
The few English settlers are attempting to teach
the West Africans how to prepare cotton, but the
p

210 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
natives inquire, "Who would make his skin cold with
labour when he can sit in the shade r " so the work of
instruction does not progress satisfactorily. Fuel is
also scarce and dear, in spite of the remnants of native
forest, and consequently the steam machinery for
rolling and pressing lies idle and rusty in a shed.
A day or two after the arrival of the travellers they
were presented to the King Alake, who occupied
during the ceremony of this court reception a large
niche in the mud wall of his palace, a sort of loose-box,
with an old brocade bed-hanging draped as a con
cealing curtain before the recess. Behind it squatted
the Alake, who is never allowed to converse with
strangers, except through his Ministers. He was a
large, massive man, blind of one eye, and without
any upper teeth. His dress was a toga of white
watered silk, striped with crimson bands, and he wore
a necklace and bracelets of beautiful red coral. Over
his head dangled calabashes inscribed with fetish
charms, to avert sickness or death ; and a couple of
swords rested on the wall behind. One was an old
Turkish scimitar, and the other an antique Toledo,
much worn down, but still bearing in distinct charac
ters on its blade the noble Castilian motto, " No me
trajas sin razon," (Do not unsheath me needlessly) ;
and on the other side, " No me degaines sin honor,"
(Do not restore me to my scabbard without honour).
The "palaver" could not have been amusing, for
etiquette demanded that the Alake should pretend to
be very sleepy and go off into a doze, from which he
was at last awakened by a sycophant singing a song
with a chorus of Ai-ku, " Don't die." Then came a
great deal of drinking, and a princely gift of a " dash "
or present of a sheep, a goat, and cowries, to the value
of eighteen shillings. The real business which was

ABEOKUTA. 211

the object of the visit to Abeokuta was of course
shelved and postponed by the African diplomatists as
long as possible.
Some of the customs at this place are so strange
that I cannot refrain from noticing them. Captain
Burton met a procession engaged in celebrating the
noisy funeral obsequies of a high official. He was
told that there existed strong suspicions that the dead
man had been poisoned, but it was explained away by
the statement that " he had gone to sleep." Further
inquiry proved that just before his death he had
received a message requesting him "to go to sleep."
That is to say, a quarrel in which he was engaged
prevented the transaction of public business ; and as
African quarrels are regular vendettas, there was no
chance of the business routine going on properly until
one of the disputants was " put to sleep," which had
been accordingly done.
There are five great crafts in Abeokuta, the black
smith, carpenter, weaver, dyer, and potter. The two
last trades are carried on almost entirely by women,
but, as may be imagined, the tools and implements
are of the most primitive kind ; thus a saw is unknown
to the carpenter, a mordaunt to the dyer, or a wheel
to the potter.
Before they left Abeokuta they paid another visit
to the Alake, and were indulged with a private view
of some industrial specimens collected for the Great
Exhibition of 1862. There was palm-leaf fibre, and
native silk, beans of many varieties, chalk, and cotton,
the last being of course the most interesting exhibit,
especially just then, when all the civilized world was
suffering from the effects of cotton famine.
At last the conversation turned upon kidnapping
and human sacrifice, and as it took a turn which the
p 2

2 1 2 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
King did not like, he insisted on making a speech
himself. This was a gross breach of court usage;
his chiefs and counsellors arose in great wrath and
left the assembly, loudly declaring that as the King
would speak, they washed their hands of the conse
quences. However, nothing would silence the angry
old gentleman, and he made a long, fierce oration,
which ended in a fine burst of language : " Never," he
cried, " never will my word be for peace, so long as
the Ibadan holds the graves of our fathers, our homes,
and our ancestral farms." And he actually foamed at
the mouth !
It is not surprising to hear that he required to be
revived by peppermint-drops as soon as he sat down
again amid much applause, and he then retired to put
on fresh robes, and came back to shake hands with
his English visitors.
On the 5th November, ¦ the Alake paid, as a fare
honour, a return visit to Commander Bedingfield.
Upon this occasion he wore a robe of scarlet velvet,
with a blue bead fez, and looked what Captain Burton
disrespectfully calls "an old guy." He was attended
by a select circle of wives, who relieved each other in
fanning the monarch with large fans made of cow-
skin. The Alake responded to the welcome of the
English naval officer by thrusting out his tongue, as
a sign of good-humour and fellowship, and then the
palaver began. Having once set etiquette at defiance
by speaking to the strangers himself, the Alake
seems to have liked the sound of his own voice so
well that he determined to make speeches in future,
and upon this occasion he aired his sentiments with
regard to the three classes of white men with whom
he was best acquainted — Missionaries, Soldiers, and
Merchants. He considered the first-named to be

ABEOKUTA. 213

good people who "teach book," and exhort their
neighbours to live in peace with each other. War-
men, according to him, were also good men : " their
trade is to fight, and yet they fight for order; they
are heroes, they are giants. As for merchants, they
come to get what they can ; they care for nothing
but cowries ; they trade with a man, and then with his
enemy." " In fact," said the Alake, raising his voice,
" they are all liars and rascals." This was hardly a
judicious remark, as several members of that maligned
body were present, and did not like hearing them
selves abused.
However, the palaver went off successfully, and the
great monarch returned in state, carried on a sort of
bamboo platform, with a brand-new pink silk umbrella,
bordered by a red fringe, held over his kingly form.
There was a great deal of signing of treaties after
wards; but it is somewhat discouraging to hear that
there is nothing the West African enjoys more
thoroughly than signing a document pledging himself
to all sorts of good deeds ; and that he never dreams
of keeping any treaty for more than five minutes
after it is made.
The volume concludes with elaborate statistics
respecting the culture of cotton, but as these would
hardly interest my young readers, I will pass on in
the next chapter to the Expedition to the Camaroons
Mountains, still in Captain Burton's good company.
According to the old saying enjoining us to be
" off with the old love before we are on with the
new," we must add that on the 8th November the
flying visit to Abeokuta was brought to a close, and
the whole party re-embarked on the Ogun in their
river-boats, and returned to Lagos after a twelve
days' absence.

CHAPTER XX.
THE CAMAROONS MOUNTAINS.
A GLANCE at the outline map of Africa will show
that Abeokuta lies due north of Lagos, but it can only
be reached by two days of canoe voyaging, expos
ing the traveller to all the sudden changes of a West
African climate. For this reason, Captain Burton,
still bent on finding a Sanatorium easily accessible to
the whites who are compelled to live at Lagos, deter
mined to seek a refuge from fever which might be
reached with greater facility. In a country where
roads are not, and where the jungle growth soon re
captures any path which has been stolen from it in the
native forests, it is easier to go by sea, and a steamer
is at once the least fatiguing and most comfortable
conveyance for invalids.
It was indeed time to find a place where English
sailors could go to recruit their health, for Captain
Burton tells us that in the fall of that year, the third
since H.M.S. Prometheus had been stationed at Lagos,
a green slimy drift came up with the autumn tides
and was deposited on the beach ; a tropical sun beat
down on this messenger of fever, and in a few days
the whole of the crew were attacked. During the
preceding twenty-three months only two cases of

THE CAMAROONS MOUNTAINS. 215
fever had broken out on board among ninety-eight
men ; but no sooner had this fatal deposit begun to
taint the air with its offensive odour, than first one man
and then another became ill. Before a month was
over, 107 cases of fever, intermittent and remittent,
were reported, and at last all the Prometheans were
down, except one tough old quartermaster. The crew
had to be hastily taken to Ascension Island some
half-hundred at a time, and most of their lives thus
saved. It was with this terrible lesson before him that the
energetic Captain Burton determined to find some
place on the coast, within a couple of days' steam, out
of fever range. He had often admired from the deck
of his vessel the splendid outlines of a mountain
range 13,760 feet high, whose spurs ran quite close
down to the shore almost opposite the island of
Fernando Po, whose highest peak was supposed to be
volcanic, and is called by the natives "Theon Ochema,"
or Mount of Heaven.
On this errand of mercy and healing Captain
Burton ltft pestilential Lagos on the nth December,
1861, in H.M.S. Bloodhound, and held a due easterly
course, just touching at the mouths of the dull and
deadly Brass and Bonny rivers; and on the 18th they
cast anchor in Ambas Bay — Ambas being the last
corruption of Ambozes, the duplicate name for the
Camaroons. Early the next day the little party set forth. It
numbered what Captain Burton calls four heads and
eighteen tails ; the former comprising, besides the
leader Judge Calvo, Mr. Saker, a missionary, and
Mr. Mann, an ardent botanist and explorer. Their
road lay at first among magnificent intertropical forest-
trees, through whose giant branches the newly risen

216 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
sun's rays filtered, in a cooled and modified fashion,
upon the travellers. 1 hey were of course on foot, and
carried alpenstocks, which the slippery and clayey
nature of the soil rendered necessary. Around them
fluttered palm-birds, the widow-bird, and the touraco,
with its strange note exactly like a dog's bark. At
their feet the ants swarmed in such myriads, that, in
stead of admiring the beauties of the wealth of foliage
above their heads and the distant hill glimpses, they
were obliged to take heed where they trod, lest they
should mistake a thriving ant-hill for a lump of clay.
The consequences of such an error would have been
frightful to the legs of the wayfarers, and it often
happened that the unwary traveller had to make
with all speed for the nearest rivulet and plunge into
it, to rid himself of his fierce little foes.
The first three miles were indeed hard work to over
pass, and many times during the walk did the
eighteen krumen who carried the luggage "tie a face"
of fatigue and exhaustion; but at last a hut was reached
and a halt called. Here they were received and
hospitably entertained by one Botani, its owner, a
chief of high degree. This individual's complexion
was wonderfully fair, being of a sallow yellow instead
of a bronze tint. His brown eyes were bare of lash
and brow, his long fat upper lip was clean shaven,
and he had a regulation whisker tatooed in bright blue.
He was clad in a scanty breech-cloth of chequed cotton,
the red and yellow coatee of the old Royal Marines,
and a very tall black beaver hat. He had a long tale
of grievances against his neighbours to tell, which we
need not repeat, but will push on to the next halting-
place, where they found that, although only j\ miles*
from the sea, the altitude reached was 2,650 feet.
At this stage of the journey difficulties arose as to

THE CAMAROONS MOUNTAINS. 217
its continuance. Botani and his people demanded
500/. as the price of permitting Captain Burton and
his party to ascend the mountain ; but these indig
nantly refused to pay the natives a cowrie beyond
what was a fair return for their services, or for food.
In spite of threatening looks and savage shouts, the
explorers calmly proceeded to load the krumen and
set forth up the " Hill of Difficulty." They rightly
trusted to the childish nature of the West African,
who screams and roars for what he wants, but gives in
after a time, when he finds he can't get it. Captain
Burton seems to have thoroughly understood the
mingled kindness and firmness by which such natures
are to be governed, and he always got his own way
at last.
The second day's journey from this spot saw them
clear of bush and forest, and emerging on a broad
field of lovely green, tinted thus by a dense mass of a
small moss, and thick fern of a single species. A
hunter's path was easily found, and they pursued their
way among blackberries and heath, with swarms ot
bees buzzing around them. The air was intensely
rarified, and one or two of the party complained ot
temporary deafness. Presently they neared a wood,
from whence so loud a clamour proceeded, that
Captain Burton, expecting an attack from the
natives, made a warlike disposition of his forces, to be
met by an army of chattering monkeys, who soon
beat a rapid retreat to the tallest tree-tops. The next
day's progress was a sharp contrast to the green turf
and waving branches. They emerged upon the lava
region ; the march became, in the glaring, scorching
solar rays, a mere stumbling ; all around them arose
a tumbled sea of lava, like mountain waves. Before
their faces stood a mural precipice, and each step

2 1 8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
nearer to the mouth of the exhausted crater, at the
peak of the highest cone, was more painful and more
difficult than the preceding one. However, beyond
the last horrid lava-ridge of broken rocks, the aspect
of the country suddenly changed once more, and the
smooth surface of the scoriae became overgrown by
moss and a dwarf grass. That night their camp was
at a truncated cone, named by them " Black Crater,"
7,000 feet above the sea level ; and the cold was so
hard, dry, and piercing, that it seemed to mock at
clothing. The air was pure (as might be expected at
such an elevation), but the night was a wretched one
nevertheless. Morning dawned upon weary, jaded
men, who had been unable to sleep from cold and
dew ; but, fortunately, the first rays of the sun restored
circulation and warmth to their cramped, aching limbs.
Glorious, indeed, must have been the view which lay
before them at day-dawn; the grassy platforms, the
belts of forest, and the swelling sea of hills around,
out of the midst of which rose in solitary majesty the
peak of Little Camaroons.
Here was the spot where Captain Burton would
fain have established the future Sanatorium. Here
were wood and water, shelter from the high winds,
and abundance of fuel. A few hill-paths, similar to
those in the Neilgherries, would have made riding
easy, and the free-growing clover would afford splen
did pasturage for sheep and cattle. The land seemed
rich from its annual dressing of fallen leaves and de
cayed grass, and soil only a foot deep was fertile
beyond description. Butterflies flitted about ¦ but
the kite was the only bird seen. ,
The next night's resting-place, christened "Earth
work Camp " was still higher, the barometer show
ing an altitude of 7,300 feet; but out of the region

THE CAMAROONS MOUNTAINS. 219
of dew, as a newspaper left out all night was perfectly
dry in the morning. Early the next day they began
the ascent of the highest cone of the Camaroons, called
Pico Grande. Traces of huntsmen appeared oftener,
for a species of antelope lives among these hills, whilst
violets and myosotis bloomed among the turf. A
furious north-easter made climbing a difficult task,
but the magnificent scenery around forced the tra
vellers to forget fatigue or discomfort. They could
now perceive that the cone had, like Etna, two
distinct summits, which were named by acclama
tion, respectively, the Victoria and the Albert Moun
tains. Captain Burton pauses here, to note how
strange was the coincidence that, only two days be
fore, the Great and Good Prince had been taken
Home, — Home beyond the highest mountain on the
surface of the earth ; Home to that glorious land of
which all earth-beauty is but a faint type.
They could only feast their eyes at a distance on
the stately Presence of the Peak, for they were obliged
to return to Earthwork Camp for Christmas Day : and
before they set forth again, they had made their en
campment comfortable by embankments, and a rude
hut for shelter, platforms for drying botanical speci
mens, &c. ; all extemporised out of Nature's materials
around. Captain Burton says that, though all was
rural in the extreme, the general appearance was
decidedly cosy. A whipping-post for refractory kru-
men, just outside the porch, completed the arrange
ments ; and here they paused for two days to rest
and refresh themselves before undertaking a recon
naissance of Pico Grande, preparatory to the general
expedition to its summit.
All was ready by the 27th December, and a small
detachment of the party started at day-dawn. So

2 20 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
difficult and steep was the path, that it took two hours
to accomplish a mile and a quarter. After a short
rest they set out again, winding over the undulating
hills, with their stunted herbage. Signs of deer were
numerous, but not a quadruped, large or small, did
they see. By ten o'clock they had only accom
plished two and a half miles from camp, and were so
done up that they had to camp and breakfast. But
the true mountain-fever was on the climbers. Beyond
the base of the hill where they rested, the ground
swelled gently upwards to the foot of the king ot
all Cones, and Captain Burton's experienced eye
soon selected their path — a broad meandering lava-
bed, which had been confined to certain limits by
dwarf spiracles dotted on both sides. It was an
enticing sight for a lover of mountains ; that peak, with
its vivid and pure lights, and its dark transparent
shadows. Who could linger over food, with Pico Grande
unsealed before them ? Captain Burton confesses
that his breakfast stuck in his throat, and he gave his
companion, Judge Calvo, no peace until they were
once more under weigh. An hour's walking sensibly
lessened the distance between them and the great
peak, but, owing to an error easily made among so
many perplexing undulations, they took the wrong
course towards it, and found themselves, after much
hard climbing, at the summit of a lesser cone, with
the double-tipped Victoria and Albert Mountains still
ahead. In spite of this provoking waste of time and
strength, they pressed onwards and upwards, until,
by 1.30, Captain Burton stood alone on the summit of
Victoria Mountain. From it he could look across a
bowl 250 feet deep, the mouth in fact of the crater,
to the Albert Mountain, about 1,000 feet away. He

THE CAMAROONS MOUNTAINS. 221
says, " Victoria Mountain proved to be the shell of a
huge double crater, opening to the south-eastward,
where a tremendous torrent of fire had broken down
the weaker wall. The whole interior lay before me,
plunging sheer in vertical cliff. Not a blade of grass,
not a thread of moss, breaks the gloom of the Plu
tonic pit."
To record his claim, Captain Burton heaped up a
small cairn of stones, and within its shelter placed a
fragment of an old Punch ; but the furious N.E. gale
prevented him from lingering on the spot he had been
so keen to reach, and after half an hour he was obliged
to commence an undignified descent, — undignified,
insomuch as he slid and rolled down the crumbling lava
sides of the Great Peak with his feet as often as his
head uppermost. Thirty minutes of this sort of
" slithering " brought him in a very ragged and
bruised condition to the foot of the cone, where he
collected the rest of the small party, promised his
laggard krumen a sound thrashing, and hastened
home. It had taken them twelve hours to get over
ten miles, and it was dark, and cold, and dangerous
travelling, by the time they reached camp again.
So great had been the strain on the muscles, that
they were all kept awake by cramp and spasmodic
contractions of the feet and legs. The next day
Captain Burton admits that the whole party hobbled
about like cheap screws after a long hunting-day,
and his own feet were so terribly flayed and blistered
by his boots that it was more than a month before he
could use them again.
! The next week was a quiet one ; not a soul ap
proached the camp : the natives dreaded a rough
reception from the white men, who were doubtless
collecting the vast stores of cloth with which the

TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.

mountains are supposed to be covered ; for to the
West African, cotton cloth and copper rods hold the
same place in their imagination and day-dreams, as
gold and jewels do in Eastern fairy tales.
During this short time of needful rest the explorers
saw sometimes, in the quiet early morning, a distant
antelope, or heard at night the howl of a hysena ; but
all animals were shy of approaching them, having
been thoroughly scared by the native hunters. The
days were those of the Tuscan Apennine in spring or
autumn, the mornings still and clear, and they could
hear the distant murmurs of the sea waves. During
the daylight clouds hung about them, and sometimes
dissolved in short sharp showers. At night the
thunder grumbling beneath their feet was the only
audible sound. The mercury stood at 500, and the
nights were cool, comfortable and mosquitoless.
Early in January a second expedition to the
summits of Pico Grande was undertaken by most of
the explorers ; but Captain Burton was still unable to
walk, and it was not until the 27th of January that
the whole party set out in force for the final ascent,
and to take possession of the highest peak of the
Camaroons in the name of its god-mother, Her
Britannic Majesty. They made two days' march of it ;
but still Captain Burton was the first to scale the
Victoria Peak. When the others had reached the
goal the union jack was hoisted on the very edge of
the volcanic lip, and a bottle of champagne was
drunk, all standing bareheaded, to the health of the
new and illustrious owner of " Monga ma Loba, Theon
Ochema." Then a slip of sheet-lead, with names and
dates duly inscribed on it, and a couple of silver coins,
were enclosed in an empty bottle, and the ceremony
was pronounced complete. Scientific observations

THE CAMAROONS MOUNTAINS. 223
showed the altitude of Victoria Mountain to be 12,700
feet above the sea level.
The rest of the little band were satisfied, and more
than satisfied, with climbing the Victoria Peak. Not
so Captain Burton : he could not know a happy
moment until he stood on the summit of the Albert
Mountain ; so he set off at once to scale the V-shaped
dyke which forms its background. He was rewarded
for his pains not only by a magnificent panoramic
view of the other side of the country around the
Camaroons, but he discovered a lower soufriere in
subdued volcanic action. " The flues smelled strongly
of sulphur, and, when there is much moisture in the
atmosphere, the vapour must raise its fitful breaths
in considerable volumes, and perhaps exhibit at night
flashes of lambent flame."
Captain Burton considered rightly that the dis
covery of this Burning Field, its soft yielding surface
streaked with bands of a soft green moss, over which
small birds were hopping, and its occasional puffs of
volcanic breath, explains some doubtful points. The
natives had many traditions of a " God-made " fire
on the ground, which they declared to be totally
different from that sometimes lighted by the mountain
huntsmen ; captains of vessels had also reported
similar phenomena.
We should scarcely imagine the excursions recorded
in this and the preceding chapters in the light of
holiday tours, but we find Captain Burton, a little
further on, pathetically lamenting that, his Christmas
holidays being now over, he was obliged to return
to his consular home at what the natives always call
" Nanny Po." Accordingly, on the last day of January,
1862, the camp which had afforded them shelter, and,
as Captain Burton affectionately declares, comfort, for

224 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
thirty-nine days, was broken up, and after a parting
climb to the summit of Black Crater,— the nearest
peak to the camp, — they turned their faces down-hill.
Joyful were the krumen : loitering was over, it became
difficult to keep pace with them, and two days' quick,
descending marches brought them to Victoria. A
couple more days found Captain Burton sailing out of
the Camaroons River, leaving Victoria with a sigh, and
thus tenderly apostrophising its receding shores : —
" Farewell, Camaroons ! farewell, beautiful heights !
where so many calm and quiet days have sped with
out sand-flies, or mosquitoes, or prickly heat. Adieu !
happy rustic wilds, where I have spent so many
pleasant weeks even in West Africa. Adieu ! and
may adieu in this case bear all the significance of au
revoir !

AFBICAK POSIMAH.

P. 2i5

CHAPTER XXI.
THE GREAT DESERT.
FEW books are better worth reading than Dr. Living
stone's " Missionary Travels in South Africa." But the
great size of the book, which extends to nearly 700
pages, has not improbably acted as a drawback to
many young people, who are easily daunted by so
ponderous a tome. Let me hasten to assure them
that it is not in the least dull, and that any one who
likes to read of travel and adventure will find enough
and to spare of the most exciting incidents. I
can only travel in very butterfly fashion with the
learned Doctor; but if I succeed in arousing in our
young readers a spirit of appreciation and emula
tion of such a noble ambition as that which has
always actuated David Livingstone, I shall feel that
I have not wasted my time and theirs over these
pages. Although Missionary work does not come within
the ideal limits of our little field, still, in reading such
a book as the one before us, we must always bear
in mind how earnest and devoted a servant of his great
Master Dr. Livingstone has shown himself. This dedi
cation of the energy and perseverance which form his
chief characteristics, dates from his early youth, and
Q

226 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
we find him thus writing of himself at the threshold
of his great career: —
"In the glow of love which Christianity inspires,
I soon resolved to devote my life to the alleviation of
human misery. Turning this idea over in my mind,
I felt that to be a pioneer of Christianity in China
might lead to the material benefit of some portions of
that immense Empire."
The outbreak of the opium war prevented the young
Scotchman's plan being carried out, and led to his
turning his thoughts and steps towards the Continent
which will always be associated with his name.
In his introductory chapter, Dr. Livingstone con
fesses quite simply how hard he finds it to give us
the record of his doings. He has none of the literary
aspirations which are so often united to a love of
locomotion ; he says, " I think I would rather cross
the African Continent again than undertake to write
another book ; it is far easier to travel than to write
about it." Would that other travellers recognized this
truth !
This volume gives an account of sixteen uninter
rupted years of missionary and medical work, carried
on without cost to the inhabitants of the country. Its
story extends from the year 1840 to 1856, and we
will start northwards with the writer, from Kuruman,
the furthest inland Missionary Station from the Cape.
He had landed at the Cape earlier in the year, pro
ceeded at once from thence by sea to Algoa Bay, where
he picked up cattle, &c. for the journey ; and, for the
last six months, had lingered in the neighbourhood of
Kuruman, studying not only the language, but the
habits, ways of thinking, and laws of the people
amongst whom he proposed to travel. At the outset
of his wanderings, before those who crossed his path

THE GREAT DESERT. 227

had learned to look upon him as one who never turned,
or even looked back from the plough to which he had
so early set his hand, very disparaging remarks used
often to be made concerning his appearance and
powers. Once he overheard some lazy companions
say, " He is not strong ; he is quite slim, and only
appears stout because he puts himself into those
bags (trousers) ; he will soon knock up." The youth
ful explorer used to revenge himself by keeping them
all at the top of their speed for three or four days, till
they were fain to cry for mercy.
One of the first adventures recorded by our author
is sufficiently horrible to satisfy the most inordinate
appetite for the ghastly. It occurred two or three
years after his arrival in Africa, and when he was
comparatively settled at a Missionary Station which
he had established at some distance from Kuruman,
in a N.E. direction. The name of the beautiful
valley was Mabotsa, and it had long been ravaged by
lions. So fierce and daring were these beasts, that
the simple natives declared they were not ordinary
lions, but enchanted monsters, sent against them
through the witchcraft of a neighbouring tribe.
Partly to dissipate this idea, and partly to free the
people from the constant tax on their animals levied
by the King of the Cat tribe, Dr. Livingstone organ
ized a grand hunting expedition, trusting to scare the
wild beasts away, even if they should not be fortunate
enough to kill them. The head of the hunters was a
native, one Mebalwe, of whom the Doctor records
that he was an excellent man. This I do not gain
say, but take leave to doubt his being as good a sports
man, for not only did he miss his shot at the danger
ous game, but allowed the lion to break through the
circle and escape. The next shot belonged to the
Q 2

228 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
young Missionary ; he sent the contents of both his
barrels successfully into another lion's body (for there
were three animals in the cover). Just as he was
reloading, he heard a warning shout ; but it was too
late. The first lion was upon him from behind, and
seized his shoulder, growling close to his ear, and
shaking him as a terrier would a rat. This last pro
cess was -pleasanter than it sounds, for it utterly anni
hilated both fear and pain, producing a sort of dreamy
calm and self-possession. It sounds incredible to read
of a man in a lion's jaws being in a state to notice
everything ; but the Doctor was able to observe the
lion's eyes fixed upon the excellent Mebalwe, who
was only ten yards off, and had his gun pointed
straight at the beast. Both barrels missed fire, pro
bably from the way the schoolmaster's hand was shak
ing, and the lion, feeling himself insulted, let go his
grasp of Dr. Livingstone, and attacked Mebalwe ; but
on another native interfering with a spear, the enraged
beast transferred his attentions to him. A couple of
bullets now took effect, however, and he rolled over,
dead, leaving Dr. Livingstone with eleven teeth
wounds on the upper part of his arm, the bone of
which was also crunched into splinters. He congratu
lates himself on escaping with "only the inconvenience
of a false joint in my arm ; " and on his flesh-wounds
healing rapidly. He attributes this to his tartan jacket
having wiped off the virus from the lion's teeth as they
pierced his flesh, whereas the native, whose naked
shoulder was seized, suffered great pain, besides
sloughing and discharge from the wound for more
than a year.
Like the North American Indians, the Negro tribes
are named after certain animals, and the Doctor
considers that this shows they were addicted to

THE GREAT DESERT. 229
animal worship in ancient times. One tribe bears a
name, of which the translation is, " they of the
monkey ; " another, " they of the fish," and so on.
The people never eat the animal after which they are
called, and profess a great dread and terror of it.
Dr. Livingstone writes in a kindly spirit of the
natives among whom he had cast in his lot ; and
through his pages we learn to hold a very different
opinion of the South African to that which we must
entertain of his West Coast brother. There is the
same rude system of chieftain and clansmen, but in
the south there seems to prevail a much more elevated
idea of the duties and responsibilities of the former.
One Sechele, the chief of the Bakuena, or " they of
the alligator," says, " If a chief is fond of hunting,
all his people get dogs, and become fond of hunting
too ; if he loves beer, they all rejoice in strong drink."
But he goes on to say that he does not find his people
so ready and eager to imitate him when he turns to a
religion which teaches him to lead a nobler life. Per
haps poor Sechele's experience of a host of imitators,
following only frivolous or evil exemplars, is more
common than he thought for.
The Mission at Mabotsa was often annoyed by its
unpleasant neighbours, the Boers or farmers of the
Cashan Mountains, who made raids upon the natives
and carried off as many as they could to labour on
their farms, without any pay, saying coolly, " We make
the people work for us in consideration of allowing
them to live in our (!) country." The only wonder is,
that as the Bakuenas are greatly superior in number
to their tyrants, they did not rise and annihilate them ;
but we must remember that the people were entirely
unarmed, whilst the Boers possessed muskets. As soon
as the Caffres (quite a distinct race from the Bakuenas)

23a TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
obtained fire-arms, the Boers near their country left
them entirely unmolested. During an affray which
occurred between the Boers and the Bakuenas, the Mis
sionary Settlement suffered severely, onthe pretext that
its owners had instructed the people how to kill Boers.
Not only was the house and garden demolished, but
Dr. Livingstone's furniture, medicines, and clothing
were sold at public auction to pay the expenses of
the foray. Indeed, all through his long campaign
against ignorance and darkness of both mind and
spirit, Dr. Livingstone found the Boers his steady
opponents. They were as eager to keep the country
in its uncivilized state so long as they could draw
their supplies of labourers from it, as he was to open
it up to all the blessings of light and culture ; and the
good Doctor exclaims, with pardonable pride, " We
shall see who have been most successful in resolution
—they or I."
Dr. Livingstone's journeys have proved that the
Great Desert, which South Africa was supposed to be,
so far from being a useless tract of country, supports
multitudes of both large and small animals, sends con
tributions to the markets of the world, and last, not
least, affords a refuge to many a hunted fugitive tribe.
It was on ist June, 1849, that Dr. Livingstone and
his family prepared to cross this unknown Sahara,
bounded on each side by an ocean, and with the
Equator dividing it. Their only serious apprehension
was the failure of the water supply. Food they knew
they should find, for they were prepared to fall back
upon caterpillars, mice, and frogs, when meat ran short.
The Hottentots have no larger water-vessel than an
ostrich egg, and this they carry, a dozen at a time,
in a large net slung over the shoulders.
At the beginning of their journey their path lay —

THE GREAT DESERT. 231
north from the first — through tree-covered hills, and
past wells filled with water ; but they always found
the soft white sand very trying to the strength of the
oxen, as the wheels sank into it over the felloes, and
made the draught of the waggons very heavy. They
came across elands, stein bucks, harte-beestes, zebras,
rhinoceros, buffalos, and ostriches, besides many other
smaller animals. The beasts of prey were easily
scared. The hyasna will only bite if an animal runs
away ; if it stands still, so does he.
As they struck more out into the open desert, the
country became quite flat, with a peculiar glare of
bright sunlight over the whole scene. One clump of
trees and bushes looked so exactly like another that if
the traveller left the precious wells, and walked a
quarter of a mile in any direction, he often found it
difficult to return, and even the sons of the desert
occasionally lose their way. Naturally, their pro
gress proved but slow, and it was not until the 1st
of August, after two months of this monotonous
travelling, that they reached the shore of Lake
Ngami, and stood by its vast expanse. Of its great
size we may form some idea, by reading that on its
SS.W side no horizon was visible, yet it is very
shallow in the dry season. The water is fresh when
the lake is full, but brackish when low ; and is prin
cipally fed by the rivers Zouga and Teoughe. The
banks of the former are very beautiful, closely resem
bling parts of the Clyde ; and the trees which fringe
the steep slopes bordering the Zouga are especially
fine. On its southern side the travellers found im
mense numbers of elephants, though of a somewhat
smaller size than usual, averaging only eleven feet in
height. Dr. Livingstone was accompanied on this expedi-

232 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
tion by his brave wife and their three little children,
who may claim to be the ' youngest explorers ever
heard of. The whole party were obliged to return to
Kolobeng, a station on the very edge of the desert,
where they remained until April of the following year,
when they made a fresh start across the great sandy
plain, intending to re-cross their old friend, the Zouga,
at its lower end, work their way up its northern
bank, till, they could join the Tamuna le River,
and ascend it to visit a great chief, Sebituane, in the
north. Fever broke out among the little party so
soon as they exchanged the pure air of the desert
for the shade and shelter of the trees by the river
bank, and they were obliged to return to Kolobeng
to recover and recruit. They soon set forth again,
bearing rather more to the eastward, and were met,
a hundred miles from the journey's end, by the chief
Sebituane, whom they were going to see. The
greeting was a cordial one on both sides, and the
chief was most liberal in gifts, not only of live oxen,
but of their prepared skins, rendered beautifully soft
by tanning, as coverings from the cold of a desert
night. Sebituane was a great warrior, and ruled his
people well and wisely. Dr. Livingstone listened
with great interest to the story of his life, and thought
the narrative not unlike the " Commentaries of
Caesar," or "the History of the British in India." He
had conquered all the black tribes, and made himself
dreaded by even the terrible and rival chief, Mosili-
katse. " He has a heart, he is wise," were the expres
sions used by all, in speaking of Sebituane.
Poor, fine fellow ! Soon after this meeting, which
he had so courteously come to seek, an old wound
near the lungs broke out afresh and brought on
a fatal illness. Dr. Livingstone visited him con-

IHE GREAT DESERT. 233
stantly, and talked to him of the Christian's hope
and of a future life. He listened gratefully, and his
last words were to bid one of his attendants fetch a
drink of milk for the little boy, Robert Livingstone,
who had come with his father to visit him.
Sebituane was succeeded by his daughter, who lived
further to the north ; and the exploring party were
obliged to wait on the River Chobe, where Sebituane
had met them, until they could receive her permission
to go on with their journeys. There was no difficulty
in obtaining this, and they set out in a north-easterly
direction for one hundred and thirty miles to Sesheke.
It was not until the end of June 185 1 that they were
rewarded for all their toil and hardships by the dis
covery of the Zambesi, which was not supposed to
traverse that part of Africa. The few old Portuguese
maps placed it much further to the east ; and the
most careful inquiries failed to elicit any previous
knowledge of the noble stream from the natives
further south.
Dr. Livingstone found the Slave-trade had just
commenced in these districts, Sebituane having only
permitted it in his territory the preceding year. There
was nothing to be done, however, except to show the
people by means of legitimate commerce, how short
sighted was their waste of the human material ; and
this could only be . accomplished by establishing a
highway from the coast into the centre of the country.
Dr. Livingstone therefore determined to return to
Capetown ; and set. out thither at once, arrived some
months later, and immediately sent his wife and
children home to England. He then started by
himself, with only native servants, on another journey,
which will form the subject ofthe next chapter.

CHAPTER XXII.

TO LOANDA.

JUST a year after the discovery that the Zambesi
flowed across the country between the latitudes 12°
and 1 8°, where it had never been traced before, Dr.
Livingstone started, in the beginning of June, 1852, on
his second journey from Capetown. This expedition
extended to Loanda on the west coast, and thence
across South Central Africa to Quilimane on the
eastern coast. It was made in the usual conveyance
of the country, a heavy Cape waggon drawn by ten
oxen, and this mode of travelling is described as
resembling " a prolonged system of picnicking, ex
cellent for the health, and agreeable to those who
re not over-fastidious about trifles, and who delight
in being in the open air."
The first portion of the route was the same which
had been previously followed as far as Kolobeng.
After that they struck straight for the north, having
previously passed through land admirably adapted
for sheep-farming, and successfully used for that
purpose by Dutch and French refugees, who are in
discriminately known as Boers, or farmers. Most of
the former inhabitants of these fertile plains had

TO LOANDA, 235

gradually been driven back hundreds of miles into
the interior. The Bushmen are rarely met with ;
the sagacious elephant has retreated before the sound
of fire-arms ; only the stupid ostrich, a few antelopes
and gnus remain.
In some parts the small fly, known as the tsetse,
proves a more insurmountable barrier than mountain
ranges to the progress of cattle and other animals.
The bite of this little poisonous insect is certain
death to the ox, horse, and dog, and yet it is per
fectly harmless to man and wild animals, or even
to calves whilst sucking. It is sometimes many
months before the bitten beast dies, but no care or
remedy can save it. Further on, between lat. 20°
and 27° S. is an invisible foe to animal life, which
is even more dangerous than the bite of the tsetse.
The disease known as horse-sickness (peripneumonia)
is not only specially fatal to horses, but also attacks
cattle and wild animals. The winter months of the
year, beginning with April, are the only ones in which
Englishmen can hunt on horseback, and even then the
chance is that their stud will be decimated before
December. The better condition the poor animals
are in, the more liable they are to this disease.
Up to the latitude of Lake Ngami the whole
of the country bordering on the desert is remark
able for its salubrity. Europeans whose constitu
tions have been injured in India find it both healthy
and restorative, and many instances are known of
consumptive cases having been perfectly cured by
the influence of the climate alone. The winter is
perfectly dry, as not a drop of rain falls between
early in May and late in August ; and however warm
it may be in the day during summer, the evenings
are deliciously cool, and a pleasant refreshing night

236 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
follows the hottest day. Indeed, nothing can be more
delicious than the balmy feeling of both morning and
evening all through the year.
On his way through the Kalahari Desert, Dr.
Livingstone fell in with many lions, and with a still
greater- number of stories about lions. As some of
these are opposed to the usually accepted idea
of the King of the Forest, we. will give them to
our readers. In the first place, so far from the
"man-eater" being the most ferocious and powerful
of his tribe, he is invariably an old lion, who finds
unarmed human beings a far easier prey than wild
animals. For this reason, when a lion begins to
descend into the vale of years and takes to replen
ishing his larder with goats, the natives become
nervous, and say " His teeth are worn, he will soon
kill men." They generally, however, take no steps
until he has carried off a woman or a child, and then
they think it high time to organize a hunting-party
and go out to kill him. But in spite of an old lion's
taste for human flesh, he always retains a wholesome
dread and fear of his lord and master, and if en
countered in the daytime will often slink away.
Dr. Livingstone declares that most of the self-
appointed portrait-painters to His Leonine Majesty
have fallen into serious errors, and are chiefly content
to make their lions' faces like old women in night
caps. He considers that the countenance is more
like a dog than a cat, especially in the prolonged
nose, but it possesses none of the nobility of the
St. Bernard or Newfoundland dogs. There are not
two opinions respecting its great strength, and the
mass of muscle around its jaws, shoulders, and fore
arms is immense.
A story is told of a man who was stealthily crawl-

TO LOANDA. 237

ing towards a rhinoceros ; he happened to glance
behind him, and saw to his horror that a lion was
stalking him! He only escaped by springing up a
tree like a cat. Another report from the pen of the
famous hunter-traveller, Major Vardon, gives a spirited
sketch of three lions simultaneously attacking a buffalo.
They soon pulled the poor brute down, but two were
shot while tearing away with teeth and claws ; the
third lion made off.
We are quite surprised to learn that only a practised
ear can detect any difference between the roar of a
lion and that of an ostrich — the most harmless and
silly of birds. Dr. Livingstone admits that this state
ment does not apply to the deep gruff growl which the
quadruped gives when hungry, but rather to his usual
voice, which makes a singing noise. He says that to
this day he can only distinguish between the roar of
the lion and that of the ostrich with any certainty by
knowing that the one roars by night and the other by
day. Near the Lake Country they hardly ever make
any sound at all.
So slow was the rate of travelling on this journey
that by January 1853 they had only arrived at Let-
loche, many miles short of the Lake Ngami. This was
Mr. Gordon Cumming's farthest station north, and
Dr. Livingstone bears willing testimony, from his own
observation of the extraordinary quantity of game he
saw, to the truthfulness of Mr. Cumming's interesting
book. Ostriches are particularly abundant in this
neighbourhood ; when caught young they are easily
tamed, but they appear to be useless in a domesticated
state. They bear the character of being extremely
foolish, and from their inability to swerve from a
straight line when going at full speed — twenty-six
miles an hour— are often shot by the horseman manag-

238 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
ing to cut across their path. It is not uncommon
to find forty-five eggs together in one nest, several
ostrich mothers having thus set up a regular cricke or
nursery, in the desert. Not only is this arrangement a
great saving of time and trouble in the formation of
several separate nests, but the newly-hatched birds are
all put under the care of one old cock, who solemnly
leads them about in search of food. Until they are
able to travel on their own account, the natives say
that the young birds subsist on the outer row of eggs,
which are not so deeply buried in the sand as the
others, but this seems somewhat hard upon these
younger brothers and sisters ofthe joint-stock family.
The poor birds are hunted to death by the Bushmen
chiefly for the sake of a few feathers in their wings
and tails, for the flesh is very coarse, and at its best '
resembles that of a very tough old turkey.
The account which Dr. Livingstone gives of the
capacity for religious -instruction shown by the Bush
men is not very encouraging. They show little
reverence for or desire to know anything of a future
state. Upon one occasion an old Bushman was in
duced to relate the story of his past life to the Mis
sionary. One episode was the murder of five of his
fellow-tribesmen in cold blood. The hearer was pro
voked to say, " What a villain you are to boast of
killing women and children of your own nation !
What will God say when you appear before him ? "
" He will say," replied he, " that I was a very clever
fellow." This is, however, rather explained away by
the impossibility of convincing the hoary sinner that
the Deity could be anything else but the chief of
another and more powerful tribe. They are not an
untruthful people, and in one respect we might per
haps copy with advantage the usual formula addressed

TO LOANDA. 239

to a new comer at a Bakwain village. After inquiries
as to where the rain is — the most important topic —
the next demand is usually, " What news ? " To this
the stereotyped answer runs : " There is no news ;
I heard some lies only."
From Kolobeng, as we stated before, the route had
been due north, leaving Lake Ngami on the west, and
by the 1st March they reached Kamakama, where no
stay was made, as the pools along the route were dry
ing up, and whence the road trended westwards. Ten
days later the miasma from these stagnant, rapidly-
absorbed pools of rain-water caused fever to appear
in the camp, and delayed them for more than a week.
As soon as the sick had sufficiently recovered to be
placed in the waggons, the expedition continued its
course without halting, until the little hill N'gwa
was reached. It is only 300 or 400 feet high, but
appeared a lofty mountain to eyes accustomed for so
long to a level plain.
From this point the country became very beautiful,
well-wooded and grassed, traversed by water-courses
almost big enough to be called rivers. At last the
Sanshureh River was reached and crossed— where the
Chob6 runs into it — with some difficulty, on a pon
toon, the waggons being taken to pieces and carried
over on canoes lashed together.
In order to avoid the flooded lands to the north of
the Chobe, they now turned sharp to the west, and on
the 23rd May reached Linyanti, the capital town of
the Makololo, and only a short distance from their
camp of 185 1. Here the good Missionary halted, and
attempted to teach and tame the wild people about
him. Their progress was but slow, the alphabet
proving a formidable asses-bridge to the dusky
scholars. By the end of the month the indefati-

240 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
gable teacher was laid up with a violent fever, which
detained him for four weeks; but early in July the
travellers set off again, intending to ascend the river
from Shesheke.
For this purpose they procured from the friendly
natives thirty-three canoes, of which the largest was
thirty-four feet long by twenty inches wide ; all were
flat-bottomed. The crew consisted of 160 men, and it
must have been a pretty sight to see the little fleet skim
ming over the water, the paddles keeping perfect time.
Unfortunately a fresh wind soon sprung up, raising large
waves on the river, which is here called the Leeambye,
and, one of the canoes oversetting, the old doctor of the
Makololo tribe was drowned. The river is more than
a mile broad here, with beautiful islands and well-
wooded banks. A great many villages are scattered
along its course, through a fertile valley, where, as the
inhabitants say, " hunger is not known."
September, 1853, found Dr. Livingstone back again
at Linyanti after a nine weeks' tour, in which he
had been accompanied by the chief of the Mako
lolo tribe. He was still weak from fever, and his
new friends gravely debated whether, in his weak
state, he ought not to be forcibly detained amongst
them until he was better fitted to continue his arduous
journey. They asked him if they would not incur
blame by allowing him to depart; and insisted on his
writing a book (i.e. a letter) to Mr. Moffat to say that
he insisted on setting out. They managed to keep
him with them until nth November, when he left,
amid many lamentations, crossed the Chobe once
more, and on the 30th reached Gonye Falls. The
heat, and consequent lassitude, of this part of the
journey, must have indeed been trying to a sick
man, but the exquisite beauty of the surrounding

TO LOANDA. 241

country prevented Dr. Livingstone from regretting
that he had started before he was half recovered.
On their way to Libonta, the last town of Mako
lolo, they came across a good many war-paths, and
rumours of forays were rife. Our traveller did
all he could to adjust the difficulties and settle the
local grievances, with more or less success. He only
remained a few days at Libonta, and then struck
out into an uninhabited border country, which lasted
till Londa was reached. All this time, since their
last departure from Linyanti, their course had been
NN.W. The confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye
was reached on the 27th December, and the scenery
became still more charming after a heavy rainfall. At
this point the last-named river turns eastward, it
therefore became necessary for Dr. Livingstone to
pursue his way towards Loanda in Angola, and he
transferred the canoes to the waters of the Leeba,
and began to ascend it.
By January 1854 they were passing, amid much
heavy rain, through a fine country, where the women
may indeed be said to have their rights, for all the
chiefs are ladies ! We regret to learn that the doctor
of the tribe is the real ruler however, as he invariably
governs the chieftainess through her superstitions.
Here the deep gloom of the endless forests, con
trasted with the recollection of the shadeless glare
of the healthier Kalahari Desert. The end of the
month saw them at Shinte, and they made their way
to Katema from thence. This town was called after
the powerful chief of that name, and was the scene of
a formal reception and many festivities ; but alas fever
broke out again, and there was nothing for it but a
speedy change of air. They pushed on as well as
they could, suffering many privations from want of

242 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
proper food and from constant exposure to the in
cessant rain, until Katende, a Njambi village, was
passed. Most of this part of the journey was per
formed on ox-back, and a tolerably fat animal made
a great difference in the rider's comfort and well-
being. The Longe was crossed early in March, but the
expedition was brought to another standstill by the
increasing severity of Dr. Livingstone's fever, at Loa-
jima, a tributary of the Kasai. He was reduced
almost to a skeleton, and often fell from his ox
through sheer weakness and inability to guide the
hard-mouthed brute.
At the river Chikapa the Portuguese territory was
entered, and the course held was W.N.W., which soon
brought them into the Slave-market country. They
passed through many villages, and by the 2nd of
April had reached Bashinje on the banks of the
Quango. Here they were detained by rains, and the
village of Cassanje was not reached until the 13th.
In this village live many Portuguese traders in wax
and ivory, though even now our travellers were 300
miles from the coast.
Mountainous country was entered by the middle
of May, and the purer air did wonders for the
fever-stricken traveller. Owing to the change from
oxen to horses, and better means of progression, the
intervening miles to Loanda seem to have been
quickly passed, for it was only the 31st of May
when Dr. Livingstone, then suffering from chronic
dysentery, and in the last state of exhaustion, was
laid in Mr. Gabriel's own bed at Loanda.
This good Samaritan seems to have been the only
Englishman in a population of 12,000 souls, and
acted as our Commissioner for the suppression of

TO LOANDA. 243

the Slave-trade. Even his generous hospitality and
brotherly care towards the great African explorer
could not undo the effects of two years of disease, and
it was a long time before Dr. Livingstone recovered
the smallest measure of health or strength.

« i

CHAPTER XXIII.
FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE.
LOANDA is regarded by the Portuguese somewhat as a
penal settlement, all the European soldiers sent out
being convicts ; but it is a quiet place enough, in spite
of all the arms in the city being placed every night
under the charge of men who have been transported
for various offences. It was once a considerable city,
and though now falling rapidly into decay, still boasts
of a cathedral and other public buildings. The popula
tion, 1 2,000 souls, is nearly made up of people of colour ;
at the date of Dr. Livingstone's visit there were but two
American merchants, and one Englishman. The Portu
guese home government has not received much credit
for sincerity, in declaring that all its best efforts are
directed to the suppression of the slave-trade, and when
we read of thirty-seven slavers lying in the harbour
under the protection of the guns of the fort, we confess
that it seems hard to believe they are in earnest.
Dr. Livingstone gives us a very amusing account of
the astonishment of the natives belonging to the
Makololo tribe, who had accompanied him, at the
ships and houses at Loanda. Of the ships they

FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE. 245
asserted that they were not canoes at all, but towns,
adding, " And what sort of a town is it that you must
climb up into with a rope ? " A house of two storys was
a triumph of architecture in their simple eyes. " How
coidd one hut be built on the top of another ? " they
demanded. " Were the people in the upper hut obliged
to walk about on the pointed roof of the lower one ?
and into what were the poles of the topmost hut
driven ?" It was marvellous ! but at last the point was
settled by the brilliant suggestion that these dwellings
were not huts at all, but detached mountains with caves
in them. The caves were the rooms ! So far, however,
from these Makololo being fools they were uncom
monly shrewd practical men. Dr. Livingstone fell
dangerously ill again in August, and whilst he was
laid up, his dusky companions drove a thriving
trade in fire-wood, and also earned a good deal by
helping to unload at sixpence a day — a cargo of
coal — " stones that burn," as they called the black dia
monds. With the money so obtained they purchased
clothing and beads to take back to their own country,
and astonished the sellers of these commodities by their
preference of good material to gay colour.
On the 20th September, 1854, Dr. Livingstone who
had now recovered from his last severe attack of fever,
made a fresh start with his Makololo companions and
some twenty additional carriers. He purposed to go
back as nearly as possible by the same route to the
junction of the Leeambye with the Zambesi in the
very heart of south Central Africa, and from that
point to follow boldly the latter river to its mouth on
the east coast, thus opening up the country to right
and left. It was a difficult and hazardous undertak
ing, but its aim was noble and unselfish ; and, like
the Israelites of old, he was safely led through deserts

246 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
and by highways and byways till he reached the haven
" where he would be." May the same good fortune
attend him in all his future journeys !
The travellers made their first stage by sea to the
mouth of the Bengo, on which river they embarked in
canoes, and ascended it as far as Kalungwebmo, and
from Massongano explored the branch river which led
to various points of interest in Angola, Dr. Livingstone
visiting en route the Portuguese sugar and cotton plan
tations. At Golunga Alto he was detained some
time owing to a sort of jaundice breaking out among
his men, and it was the middle of December before
the party were sufficiently recovered to resume their
journey to Ambaca, rather more to the south than
the route by which they had come to Loanda. The
Lucalla was soon crossed, and a detour made to
visit the famous Rocks of Pungo Andongo. These
consist of a group of curious column-like rocks up
wards of three hundred feet high, with little streams
running between them, and a village nestled under
their lee. In former days this locality had a bad repu
tation for fever, but is now thought to be the healthiest
spot in all Angola. Slavery still rules here, and the
market-price of a good healthy lad is twelve shillings,
or two pair of boots, or two pounds of ivory, according
to the currency at the time of the purchase. In this
charming spot, at the house of a wealthy and hospit
able Portuguese merchant Dr. Livingstone lingered,
partly to recruit his shattered health, and partly to re
write, whilst the occurrences were fresh in his mind
some lost journals.
New Year's Day 1855, was chosen as auspicious
for the commencement of a long journey, and the
travellers started in the evening of that day for Can-
dumba, along the right bank of the Coanza. On

FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE. 247
reaching the confluence of the Lombe they struck off
in a north-easterly direction through fine open
country for Malange, where they fell into their old
trail. This was faithfully followed to Cassange, which
was left on the 20th February, but not before the
strong westerly wind had brought a fresh access of
fever on its pestilential wings. The moment the sick
could move they crawled to Quango through daily
rain, and made the best of their way to the old cross
ing place of the Loajima. This was reached on the
30th April. It appears to be chiefly remarkable for
the eccentric head-dresses of its inhabitants ; and in
these days, when our thoughts appear to run in the
same groove, a few hints on West African coiffeures
may not be useless.
Some ladies braid their thick and shaggy locks into
innumerable small plaits, which are attached to an
ornamented hoop encircling the head. The effect is
very similar to the convential aureole around a Saint's
head. Some again introduce a pair of buffalo-horns
amid their woolly tresses and cover them with hair, so
cleverly that it appears as if Nature and not Fashion
had bestowed these excrescences on the people as
well as the animals. Strips of hide are found very
useful in supporting the hair in the shape of a tiara
or helmet, and in arranging it into one large clump
or horn sticking straight out from the forehead, not
unlike a reversed chignon. When the countenance
beneath this head-dress is tattoed in stars the effect is
thought to be extremely fascinating.
The river Moamba was crossed in canoes early in
May, and their road lay across level plateaux, for the
most part treeless, but covered with grass. Very few
animals were to be found here, but then, on the other
hand, neither were the travellers troubled by flies or

24S TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
mosquitoes. After halting a few days at Cabango
they struck away to the south-east, arriving at the
hippopotami-haunted river Loembwe about the 30th
May. On the evening of June 2nd they reached the
village of the chieftain Kawawa, rather an important
personage in those parts. All along their route they
were very civilly and kindly received by the natives.
The only difficulty seems to have arisen from the im
possibility of complying with the entreaties of the
natives to "trade," cloth or calico being urgently
needed for clothing. The poor women could only
afford a very narrow strip of cotton print as a skirt,
and the babies were quite naked. As the cold is severe
at night during the winter, the villagers tried hard to
induce Dr. Livingstone to part with his stores in ex
change for food. The women's importunities were the
most difficult to resist, as they held up their poor little
shivering infants, entreating him to sell them only a
rag to wrap them in, for "the fire was their only
clothing." Feather garments are sometimes worn, but,
as may be imagined, they are extremely troublesome
to make.
After the Kasai had been left behind, the country
through which the travellers passed became more full
of animal life. Each step which brought them nearer
to the Zambesi, the home of every species of water
fowl, and the way was made interesting by fresh dis
coveries of birds and insects. Larks of jet-black
plumage, with yellow feathers on the shoulders, sang
above their heads at day-dawn; swifts and swallows
darted over the extensive plains ; and here and there
a vulture showed like a blot on the clear sky. Nothing
could be more beautiful than these boundless tracts of
countiy, rich in vegetation, gay with wild-flowers, and
cheerful with birds : but alas for their unhealthiness !

FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE. 249
It gave the good doctor his twenty-seventh attack of
fever ; and as there was no surface water to be found
he suffered frightfully from thirst. This attack was
succeeded by one of blood-spitting, and it is not sur
prising to learn, that " our progress had always been
slow, and I found that our rate of travelling could
only be five miles a day for five successive days."
The wonder is that Dr. Livingstone could move at all,
not that he moved slowly. On the sixth day both oxen
and men showed serious symptoms of knocking up,
and the five-mile-stage dwindled to bi-weekly moves
of two or three.
Katema's township of straggling villages was
reached by the 14th June, and all were very glad to
see old familiar faces again. Their welcome was a
cordial one, and the handsome presents brought by
Dr. Livingstone were joyfully received. Perhaps our
readers may like to know how best to win by gifts the
heart of an African chief. Here is Dr. Livingstone's
account of his present to Katema : —
" When he visited our encampment I presented him
with a cloak of red baize ornamented with gold tinsel
which cost thirty shillings ; also a cotton robe, both
large and small beads, an iron spoon, and a tin panni
kin containing a quarter of a pound of powder. We
were informed that the chief never used any part of
a present before making an offer of it to his mother,
or the departed spirit to whom he prayed. Katema
asked if I could not make a dress for him like the one
I wore, so that he might appear as a white man when
any stranger visited him. One of the councillors,
imagining that he ought to second this by begging,
Katema checked him by saying ' Whatever strangers
give, be it much or little, I always receive it with
thankfulness, and never trouble them for more.' An

250 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
excellent rule which is not always observed even in
civilized countries."
It was now the middle of the June winter, and
although the sun was very hot in the day-time, when
the thermometer stood at 88° or 900 in the coolest
shade, the nights, when it sank to 47 J, were bitterly
cold. The travellers left Katema's town on the 19th,
and, crossing the wide plain on the north bank of the
Leeba, and the river itself, came to the village of
another old acquaintance, Shinte by name.
Here a political complication had to be referred to
the Missionary's decision. Shinte was in the habit of
selling members of his tribe in exchange for pieces of
cloth. The unfortunate people thus turned into slaves
against their will, naturally objected to the trade, and
Shinte decided in his own mind that the only serious
objection they could have, and which he would enter
tain, arose from the small size of the bit of cloth
which was paid for them. He therefore begged Dr.
Livingstone to assure the people that in future he,
Shinte, intended to demand many more yards of cloth
for each slave, thus removing, as he hoped, all grounds
of complaint. But, as may be imagined, the Mis
sionary sympathized with the people, and explained
to Shinte that if he continued his traffic, he would
very soon annihilate his tribe (which had already
dwindled considerably), and find himself only lord
of so many pieces of cloth, which could neither
defend him from his enemies nor work for him.
This was a new idea to Shinte, and he promised to
reconsider the matter from this point of view.
The exploring party remained with Shinte until the
6th July, and parted from him on the best possible
terms, descending the Leeba, whose wooded banks
afford shelter to many herds of wild animals, very diffi-

FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE.

cult of approach. On the 27th Libonta was reached,
and the travellers were received with demonstrations
of the utmost joy. Not only had the wanderers re
turned safe and sound, but they had brought presents
and good news ofthe state of feeling in the chiefs' breasts
all along the route. The Missionary took advantage
of the rapturous welcome to hold a service in the open
air, and speak to the happy people on the goodness
of the God who had preserved them from all the
dangers of strange tribes and disease, when their own
most skilful diviners had pronounced that they had
perished long before. Their progress all down the
Baratse valley was one continued ovation. The
people brought supplies daily ; each village gave an
ox, sometimes two ; and when the Doctor lamented
that he could make no return, the Libontese answered
gracefully, '' It does not matter, you have opened a
path for us, and we shall have sleep."
This hospitable village was left on the 31st July,
and after passing Naliele on the 13th August, the
party fell in with a dangerous adventure. They were
paddling quietly along the river in their canoe at mid
day, when a hippopotamus struck the frail boat with her
forehead, lifting one half of it quite out of the water,
and nearly overturning it. One of the crew was tilted
into the river by the force of the blow, but the rest
sprang to the shore, which fortunately was only ten
feet off. There were eight men at the time in the
canoe, and, as it floated away empty, the hippopotamus
was observed to come to the surface of the water and
look at it, as if she saw with satisfaction that her foes
had disappeared. The poor beast made the attack in
revenge for her young one having been speared by
.the travellers the day before, and it is so unusual
for these animals to begin a quarrel, that the crew

252 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
exclaimed " Is the beast mad ? " Doubtless she was
mad, poor creature ! as mad as we should be if our be
loved little ones were cruelly murdered before our eyes.
Long before Sesheke, the Makololo capital, was
reached, the winter had ended, and a halt was called
at Linyanti, where Dr. Livingstone waited for the
horses which had been left behind, and for the fierce
summer heats to abate, employing his time in teaching
and preaching, until the 3rd of November. The party
had now swelled to a large one, for Sekeletu took
charge of Dr. Livingstone, and brought a " tail "
which would have been no discredit to a Highland
chieftain. It numbered some 200 men, and Sekeletu
proposed to feed them on the way eastwards, by the
simple expedient of requisitioning an ox at every
village, which idea was successfully carried out. As
an instance of Dr. Livingstone's power of winning that
heart-love which money cannot buy, I may notice a
little story he tells of an incident that occurred during
a violent thunder-storm soon after he set out. The
rain was pelting down, and after a hot day the
travellers soon felt miserably cold. "My clothing
had gone on," writes the Doctor, " and I lay down
on the wet ground, expecting to spend a miserable
night, but Sekeletu kindly covered me with his own
blanket, and lay uncovered himself."
They entered their canoes on the 13th November,
and sailed down the river to the confluence of the
Chobe. Our traveller was much struck by the
legends which the boatman told him of hidden
monsters lying in the water depths, who could catch
the canoe, holding it fast and motionless in spite of
the utmost exertion of the paddlers. He considers
these to be vestiges of traditions about animals which
no longer exist, and it is quite possible that an exami-

FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE. 253
nation of the calcareous tufa of this region would
reveal fossil bones of the ancient fauna.
We must bear in mind that the terms " Leeambye "
and "Zambesi" mean the same word, "the River,"
and it is owing to this confusing difference of dialect
that it is so difficult to gather from the natives of
Central Africa accurate geographical information.
Dr. Livingstone had been following the same stream
all down the Barotse valley, but it was now called
th-e Zambesi, and after Kalai had been passed, they
came upon the splendid cataract now known as the
Victoria Falls. At this spot the river is bounded
on three sides by cliffs four hundred feet high, and
a stream, one thousand yards wide takes a leap of a
hundred feet, and then becomes suddenly compressed
into a space of fifteen or twenty yards. In looking
down, nothing but a dense, white, rainbow-spanned
cloud is to be seen, from which rises, two hundred
pr three hundred feet into the air, a great jet of
vapour. No wonder that the natives declare that
this spot is the abode of the Deity. Dr. Livingstone
devotes many pages to a minute and beautiful de
scription of these magnificent Falls, pages which I
regret I cannot transfer bodily to these. We must
turn our backs on the lovely spot, and hasten on
towards the mouth of the Great River. The Ka-
lomo, one of the southern feeders of the Zambesi,
was passed on the 30th November, and after that
the path lay still to the east, slightly trending
north, with high ridges in view on each side. The
country was beautifully undulating, affording excel
lent pasture, up to the river of Dila, and the further
the travellers advanced, the more densely populated
it became. Great was the astonishment excited by
the appearance of the first white man, and the

¦254 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
popular interest took the acceptable form of offerings
of maize and masuka, a pleasant fruit.
Chiponga was reached after a month of somewhat
monotonous travel, and the first days of January
1856 found the travellers still pushing on between
the ranges of hills which flank the Zambesi. Game
was abundant, and the inhabitants of the villages
they passed not only received them with the greatest
civility, but always furnished a couple of guides to
the next little hamlet. The soil along the noble river
is most fertile, and all the valleys were in full culti
vation, bearing rich crops of maize. The horrid tsetse
so fatal to cattle, caused them to hurry along with
all speed until the confluence of the Loangwa with
the Zambesi was reached.
On the 29th January Dr. Livingstone crossed to
the south bank of the Great River, and, scarcely had
he done so, when a fall of heavy rain set in and
obliged him to camp for some time. Here he lost
one of his men from a lingering sickness, and Feb
ruary had commenced before he could resume his
march. By the middle of the month the Portuguese
territory was reached, and, in a fortnight more, Tete,
where the Portuguese commandant received the weary
Englishman with the utmost kindness. Dr. Living
stone was so thoroughly worn out, that his generous
host insisted on his remaining with him for at least a
month, until the sickly season at Quilimane or Kili-
mane, should be over, and this he did. But the
indefatigable explorer could not really rest whilst
anything remained to be done, but waited with wha^t
patience he could, examining the country for seams
of gold, and of coal, visiting the hot-springs, besides
teaching as well as doctoring all who came to him.
April had come and nearly gone before the final

FROM LOANDA TO KILIMANE. 255
start for Kilimane was made, but as the path was
smooth, and the dangers few from this point, we need
not follow the great explorer any further — especially
as Captain Hyde Parker had previously published an
exhaustive report of the Quilimane and Zambesi
Rivers, which he had thoroughly explored a year or
two before. This document was furnished to Dr.
Livingstone, and has been published by the Geo
graphical Society. From it and other journals affixed,
we learn that the Zambesi has five principal mouths,
and is always deep enough at its entrance for com
mercial purposes. It is a magnificent river all through
its long course, and is a mile and a half wide at
Mazaro, not far from the sea.
Just as the long toilsome journey across the immense
continent had been accomplished, the traveller broke
down. Fever in its very worst form seized upon him
at Mazaro, and he was more dead than alive by the
time he was put on board H.M. brig Frolic, bound
for the Mauritius. His faithful and devoted friend
Sekwebu accompanied him to this place, which was
reached on the 12th August ; but here the poor native's
mind gave way from grief at the prospect of parting
with his beloved master, or dread of the great ocean
and the long voyage, for Dr. Livingstone had offered
to take him home to England, and to the beloved ahd
revered " Ma-Robei't " (Mr§. Livingstone). Sekwebu
became insane and leaped overboard, deliberately
drowning himself by pulling himself down, hand under
hand, by the chain-cable. His body was never even
found. The passage home to England was full of peril for
the traveller, as he narrowly escaped shipwreck ; but
he was mercifully guided safely home to his native
country, which he reached in December, 1856, after

256 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
thirteen years of absence. The closing words of his
book are words of gratitude to the Hand which had
preserved and led him through the African deserts,
and of renewed self-dedication to the work which he
took up at the threshold of his life. Of him it may
truly be said, that, having once put his hand to the
plough, he has never looked back.

CHAPTER XXIV.
FROM ZANZIBAR TO THE VICTORIA N'YANZA.
The expedition treated of in Captain Speke's Journal
of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile was
the third which he had undertaken with t'ne same
object. On his previous journey he confidently be
lieved that he had discovered the Great Lake from
which the Nile rose, and which he re-christened by
the name it will always henceforth bear, — the Victoria
N'yanza. Many ages, and many nations, have speculated
where the wonderful Nile had its hidden source.
Long ago, expeditions were fitted out to discover,
among the " Mountains of the Moon " the secret
springs; but the explorers always returned baffled
and mystified, declaring that it was impossible to
trace accurately the windings of the river, or to
obtain reliable information from the inhabitants of
Unyamuezi, the Land of the Moon. These poor
people could not understand or believe that white
men merely wished to find out where the Great River
sprang from, but imagined that ivory must be their
real object, and that meant oppression, and slavery,
and misery in a hundred forms. It was no wonder,
therefore, that they discouraged all explorers, and

258 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
told mystic and absurd tales of the river disappearing
in a jungle, or sinking suddenly in the midst of a sandy
plain. To the pioneers of geographical knowledge
the subject was full of attraction and difficulty, but all
the information previously collected seems to have
been more of a hindrance than a help to Captains
Speke and Grant when they started from Zanzibar on
the 2nd of October, i860, intending to reach the
Victoria N'yanza by a different route from any yet
attempted. Sir Samuel Baker was travelling towards the same
point from the opposite approach, and few stories are
more dramatic than the account of the meeting of the
explorers ; but, before we come to the record of that,
we must glance at Captain Speke's most interesting
journal of the difficulties and dangers, and, more
trying than all — the delays — which he and Captain
Grant encountered.
Their course lay W.N.W. from the first, through a
great tract of country known by the name of U-za-
Ramo. It is of a singular conformation, there being
no hills, but the land in the central line is formed like
a ridge between the two rivers — the Kingani and the
Lufigi — furrow fashion. It is well grassed and
wooded, and inhabited by a noisy tribe of agricul
turists. These people are expert slave-hunters, and
drive such a roaring trade in human flesh that they
are wealthy enough to clothe themselves comfortably,
and are noticed by Captain Speke as the "best
dressed " tribe on his line of march. They are insati
able thieves, though sometimes they try the more
civilized method of annexation under the name of
"hongo," or "rights." The village near one of our
travellers' encampments was presided over by a cer
tain chief known as " Monkey's Tail," who aided

TOWARD THE VICTORIA N'YANZA. 259
by his neighbour, " Lion's Claw," made most ex
tortionate demands for double hongo of cloth and
calico. This attempt to levy two sets of taxes within
a five miles' march was unfortunately a fair specimen
of what the explorers might expect. Indeed, long
before we have reached the fiftieth page of this book,
we have made up our minds that all the African
tribes are sons and daughters of the horseleech, for
they seem to know no other words than " give, give."
Thanks are unheard of, and gratitude is a weakness
quite unknown. The most lavish generosity falls far
short of the expected " hongo," which is an elastic
kind of tax capable of swallowing up all a traveller's
possessions. Besides the constant demands of the villagers for
their " rights " or " dues," to be paid before the ex
pedition could possibly be allowed to proceed, the
porters, or pagazis, used constantly to strike for more
beads or wires, declaring suddenly that they would
not go a step further without ten extra necklaces or
some coveted piece of cloth. Thrashing was abso
lutely useless, as it resulted in their running away ;
and there was nothing for it but to resist firmly and
set out, when the porters generally got frightened at
the idea of being left behind and followed as quickly
as possible, until they saw another favourable oppor
tunity of tormenting their unfortunate " father."
Sometimes the porters ran away altogether, taking
the small flock of goats with them, and many days
had to be wasted in tracking the deserters. Part of
the escort consisted of Hottentots furnished by the
Sultan of Zanzibar. These men were so exceedingly
diminutive that it was not unusual to see a powerful
native step behind and lift up a " Tot " (the name they
went by), package and all, and, holding out the
s 2

26c TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
struggling little creature at arm's length, parade him
about the camp. On the line of march antelopes were
frequently met with, and now and then a wild pig, all
of which afforded a welcome change from a diet of
green pigeons and doves.
Fourteen days' march brought them to the Usagara
(Usa meaning ' country of '); and here the plateau they
had been travelling over rose gradually to some 500
feet above the sea-level, whilst the monotony of the
landscape became varied by hills 5,000 or 6,000 feet
high. The people of these uplands, however, con
trasted unfavourably with the lowlanders on each side.
They are wretchedly poor, and miserable in every
respect ; dingy in colour, and utterly without spirit
or courage. It is no wonder that they fall an easy
prey to their prosperous neighbours, who look upon
these hills as a sort of preserve for slaves in which
they may, and do, hunt at will.
The park-like country harboured magnificent game,
and the porters and camp-followers were both sur
prised and delighted at Captain Speke's generosity in
distributing the result of their morning's sport to the
natives, instead of selling it to the poor half-starved
wretches, and stopping a portion of their miserable
weekly pittance as payment.
The expedition was delayed at the ford of Kiriiru
by increasing sickness among the fragile little Tots,
and an attack of fever, which laid Captain Grant low.
At every halting-place the indefatigable explorer did
his best to obtain accurate information respecting the
river-system from the natives, but they dread so much
anything which would open up their country, and
make it easier for the terrible ivory or slave mer
chants to penetrate inland, that it was very difficult to
obtain any rational or coherent statement.

TOWARD THE VICTORIA N'YANZA. 261
Zungomero was reached on the 23 rd, a lovely spot,
fertile, and once populous, but the slave-trade has
turned its flourishing gardens into jungles. It is a
junction or terminus of two roads leading into the
interior, of which the northern leads by the Miikon-
dokua, and the other edges on the Riiaha. river. Both
tracts unite again at Ugogi, and both were familiar to
Captain Speke. But in African travel so much de
pends on the previous season, that former experience
is valueless ; for whereas water and provisions had
then been plentiful along the line of march, it was now
reported that the whole country ahead was oppressed
by famine and drought.
After much deliberation, and having despatched a
third set of specimens to the coast, they set forth,
turning to the south, so as to penetrate the forests
which stand between the greater range and the little
outlying one.
The Tots, who seem to have been much more
trouble than profit, were finally got rid of as the ex
pedition entered the Mbiiiga country a few days later,
where rich valleys, watered by little brooks, and beau
tiful well-wooded hills, made up a lovely landscape.
The first and only giraffe killed on the journey here
fell to Captain Grant's rifle, besides elands and an
unnamed animal somewhat like the harte-beest of
Southern Africa.
At Unyamuezi the party were greeted by a famous
down-trader, known as the great " Mamba," or Cro
codile. This mighty man wore a dirty Arab gown,
with a coronet of lion's nails decorating a threadbare
Cutch cap. He declared that his followers amounted
to* 2,000 in number, though not half of them were
forthcoming, and confessed that he had found it very
difficult to get through the country from Ugogo on

262 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
account of the famine, having been reduced to boil
down the skin aprons of his porters for soup ! As
neither Captain Speke nor Captain Grant could quite
make up their minds to face a district where there
was no other alternative but this potage between them
and starvation, they very reluctantly turned their
steps northwards, so as to reach the track leading
from Rumuma to Ugogi.
All along this path the scenery boasted every
variety of hill and dale beauty, woods and streams ;
but nothing of the people could be seen ; like
frightened rats, they rushed off into the jungle,
carrying all their provision with them, as soon as
ever the first faint sound of the caravan met their
ears. It was impossible to procure food by fair
means, and Captain Speke was loth to use force ;
his followers abused him for his squeamishness
when they returned from their foraging parties
with nothing to show but a few arrows sticking in
them. Inengi, at the foot of the western chain, was reached
by the middle of November, but the party had been
much thinned ere this by heat and thirst. The sup
plies diminished daily, and they were generally de
pendent on their guns for a meal.
By the first days of December a series of forced
marches had carried them through the worst of the
famine-country, but the adjoining districts still af
forded but scant supplies. New Year's Day, 1861,
was spent at the little mud village called Jiwa la
Mkoa, or Round Rock, among some Wakimbii
settlers, who were far more civilized and agreeable
hosts than any natives previously encountered, and
the marches were tolerably easy up to the end of the
month, by which date the expedition entered the

TOWARD THE VICTORIA N'YANZA. 263
large and fertile district of Unya-Muezi, or Country
of the Moon. Before this kingdom was cut up into
petty states it must have been one of the largest in
Africa, exceeding England in size.
There are no historical traditions known to the
people, and the first account we have of them is from
the Hindus, who traded for slaves and ivory with the
inhabitants of the east coast of Africa some time
before the Christian era. According to Captain
Speke, the Men of the Moon are hereditarily the
greatest traders in Africa, and are the only people
who for love of barter and change will leave their
own country as porters and go to the coast. This
they have done as far back as it is possible to trace,
and they still do it with the greatest zest. They are
much darker than their neighbours on either hand,
and are desperate smokers and tipplers.
The camp was first pitched at Kaz6, in the mer
chants' depot, and, when fairly settled in position, the
Sheikh and a whole conclave of Arab merchants lost
no time in calling upon Captain Speke. The hosts
and guests were at cross purposes. The old Sheikh
wanted the Englishmen's advice and assistance in a
guerilla warfare which he was waging against his
neighbours, while the explorers made the most of
their opportunities, and questioned the Arabs about
the Nile. It was difficult to induce them to listen or
answer, for the " beef feast of war " had been cooked,
and all were eager to devour it and start upon the
war-path. The Sheikh thought the N'yanza might be
the source of the Jub, which is the largest river
known to the Zanzibar Arabs, but could not grasp
the idea of the Nile having its home there. But as
soon as the warriors had been safely despatched, Cap
tain Speke got hold of some quiet old stay-at-homes

364 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
and had a long geographical talk with them. This
was the result : —
" I told Abdulla all I had written and lectured in
England concerning his stories about navigators on
the N'yanza, which I explained must be the Nile, and
wished to know if I should alter it in any way ; but
he said, ' Do not, you may depend it will all turn out
right;' to which Musa added, all the people in the
North told him that when the N'yanza rose, the stream
rushed with such violence, it tore up islands and floated
them away. I was puzzled at this announcement, not
then knowing that both the Lake and the Nile, as
well as all ponds, were called N'yanza ; but we shall
see afterwards that he was right ; and it was in conse
quence of this confusion in the treatment of distinctly
different geographical features under one common
name by these people, that in my former journey
I could not determine where the Lake ended and the
Nile began."
The old chiefs further volunteered information
respecting a wonderful mountain to the north of
Karague, so steep and so lofty that it had never been
scaled, and that its head was always white. At the
foot of this mountain they declared that a fierce tribe
dwelt, against whose spears no man could stand.
They wore no clothes and lived up trees, so the old
Arabs asserted ; and moreover, these Wakidi had small
stools fixed on behind always ready for sitting, and
only owned to one weakness in the world, a passion
for beads and iron collars or bracelets, to possess
which they would certainly not hesitate to murder
white men. Alarming as these accounts were, Captain
Speke seems to have received them with not merely
one but several grains of salt, and only redoubled
his inquiries as to the self-supporting nature of the

TOWARD THE VICTORIA N'YANZA. 265
country which stretched out between him and this
terrible mountain.
Before, however, a first start could be made, early in
February, wars and rumours of wars set the whole
country in a blaze, and rendered any attempt to engage
a new set of porters impossible. As usual, the terms
of the proposed treaty were submitted to our tra
vellers ; but the negotiations failed at an early stage,
owing to the treachery of the Arabs, who have been
known to break their faith even after exchanging
blood by cutting incisions in one another's legs — the
most sacred bond or oath the natives know of.
During the delay attendant on these suspended ne
gotiations, Captain Speke and his companions set off
for a week's shooting, which resulted in bagging one
black antelope, and hearing a good many lions roar
at night. It was the middle of March before a suffi
cient number of porters could be coaxed or bribed to
engage their services, and they generally deserted
directly after receiving a piece of cloth as " bounty."
However, on the 17th the camp broke ground, and
got on pretty well until the 21st, when all the men
mutinied for an extra necklace apiece. Captain Speke
tried starvation very successfully, and soon reduced
them to submission, resuming his march through beau
tiful valleys, until they entered the Usagari district,
fording the Gombe Nullah for the second time.
A somewhat long halt was made at Mininga, which
had been reached about the 24th March, owing to sick
ness in the camp and delay in bringing up the rear
baggage, but the time was well employed by our in
defatigable traveller in collecting, stuffing, and drawing.
As April and May came and went without bringing
any prospect of a move onwards, Captain Speke
naturally got impatient, and on the 1st of June set out

266 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
with only a dozen men for Kaze again, determined to
find out for himself what caused the delay. On his
arrival he was beset by clamorous Arabs, who en
treated him to help them, vowing they were ruined,
dying of starvation, and that it was quite impossible
to find porters to carry their ivory back to the coast,
still less to bring his loads on to him in the interior.
It took nearly a fortnight to settle all the negotiations
and return again with fresh porters to Mininga, which
brought the time to the middle of June; but finding
Captain Grant's health much restored, no delay was
made there, and the travellers started for Mbisu, two
days' march ahead. The rate of travelling became very
slow, and the delays endless. At each village a feast
was held in honour of the white men's arrival*, at which
the chief and all the inhabitants, and the whole of
the exploring expedition (always excepting the poor
harassed Englishmen) made themselves so very drunk
that it was many days before the journey could be re
sumed. Pomb4 or native beer, was the beverage, and
it was consumed in public out of plaited straw bowls.
It was very difficult, after more than a week's stay, to
get away from the hospitality of Mbisu, and Niinda
held them convivial prisoners for two days longer, and
it was the 3rd July before the camp was formed at
Phiinze, where Grant and a few men were left whilst
Captain Speke pushed on ahead, purposing to send
relief back to his fellow-traveller as soon as possible.
The Unyamuezi frontier was crossed on the 10th
July, and the Uzinza district entered. This territory
was ruled by two chieftains of foreign blood, descended
from the Abyssinian stock, of which specimens were
to be met with scattered up and down the country.
The inhabitants resemble the Men of the Moon, but
are rather more energetic and actively built. Their

TOWARD THE VICTORIA N'YANZA. 267
country is well cultivated, especially the uplands, which
slope towards the Mountain of the Moon, where they
get frequent rainfalls. It was very difficult for Captain
Speke to get on through this district, as more than
the usual "hongo" difficulties attended each step of the
way. After the cloth, and wire, and beads had been
duly presented, and accepted with ill-concealed delight
if not with gratitude, there seems to have been always
a delay and nearly a quarrel before the " price of
friendship" could be settled and the drum beaten.
Makaka is handed down to posterity as a peculiarly
rapacious chieftain. He seems to have resembled a
naughty, spoiled child ; and one longs to punish him as
such imps are punished. Poor Captain Speke was
powerless, and could only do his best to keep the
savage in good temper, and prevail on him to let
the people go. But his heart was quite as hard
as Pharaoh's of old, and every excuse was seized
upon as a reason for delay. Makaka delighted in
paying Captain Speke visits of ceremony, not to do
him honour, but for the pleasure of being received
with a royal -salute. The men could not, however,
load the muskets fast enough to satisfy his impatience.
The moment the first volley was fired, he said, " Now
fire again, fire again ; be quick, be quick ! What's the
use of those things ? (meaning the guns). We could
spear you all whilst you are loading ; be quick, be
* * quick, I tell you."
This chieftain wore a piece of sea-shell bound on
his forehead, and whenever his highness sneezed, all
his attendants snapped their fingers to keep off the
evil eye. He considered himself very fine, arrayed in
one of Captain Speke's pieces of cloth, which had been
steeped in rancid butter to bring out the colour. After
the first compliments had been passed Captain Speke

268 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
inquired what Makaka had seen when he went to the
Masai country, and learned that " there were two lakes,
and not one;" for on going from Usoga to the Masai
country he crossed over a broad strait, which connected
the big N'yanza with another one at its north-east
corner. It was very difficult to get any information
out of the impetuous chieftain, who grudged every
moment wasted in such frivolous questions, when there
were treasures of cloth and picture-books yet to be
examined with childish delight.
It was more than a week before Captain Speke could
make a move to rejoin Captain Grant, and this portion
of the journey was performed exposed to the cold
easterly winds which blow for half the year over the
great African plateau, and which resemble the Har-
mattan. They gave the explorer a bad cough, which
hung about him for a long time, causing him great
suffering. But no personal inconvenience seems to
have weighed for one moment with this ardent ex
plorer. In spite of bad nights and fatiguing days he
pushed on, sometimes too weak and ill to be con
scious of his hardships. Siimeresi's boma, or palace,
afforded him shelter, welcome enough at first, but it
became as intolerable as a prison on account of the
delays attendant on a fresh start. Grant had been
left behind in the jungles near M 'yonga's, from whence
he sent accounts to his sick, helpless fellow-traveller,
of his having been robbed and well-nigh murdered.
Captain Speke exerted his influence with Lumeresi, to
such good purpose that assistance was sent, and a
junction effected between the two friends by the 26th
September; and early in October a fresh start was
made, which must form the subject of another chapter

CHAPTER XXV.
THE MEETING AT GONDOKORO.
For a fortnight the march went on with tolerable
steadiness. The country was fertile and beautiful,
and the climate agreeable. Indeed, as poor worried
Captain Speke remarks pathetically, they " ought all
to have been happy together," but at every village
they met with nothing but theft and desertion from
within, and rapacity and deceit from without. At
Usui, twelve days' march from Miiamba, things were
brought to a climax by a general mutiny, the porters
laying down their loads and refusing to stir without
an extra payment of four wires each. The travellers
found themselves quite at the mercy of these wretches,
and after trying arguments, threats, and reproaches,
had nothing for it but to give in, four days having
been wasted in settling their demands; the moment
the required present was made, something else was
asked for, and so on to the end of the journey, or
the end of the unfortunate travellers' store. One
village, Vikora's, is held up for our admiration as the
site of the solitary encampment where " no one tried
to pillage us."
King Mtesa, lord of the Uganda Country, seems
to have been quite as great a robber as the rest of his

27° TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
compatriots, and the first fifteen days of November
were spent in camp at Uthungu trying to settle
preliminary negotiations for continuing the march
through his territory. A Colt's revolver at last
softened the royal heart, which had been much
touched by a previous gift of a sixpenny red cotton
pocket-handkerchief, and the explorers were con
ducted through the kingdom, escorted by a guard
of honour. These rapacious " protectors " departed
at Vigiira, leaving their prote'ge's much pleased to get
rid of them, especially as on leaving they imparted
the cheering information that nothing need be
dreaded worse than wild animals, between that
spot and Karagiie.
The further they penetrated into the country before
them, the better they liked it, for the people became
less turbulent, and the village chiefs more civil and
obliging. On the 25th November the expedition
arrived at a charming, home-like spot, Weranhanje
by native name, but re-christened Little Windemere
by Captain Grant. Within shelter of a clump of
splendid trees by the shore of a mountain lake 5,000
feet above the sea-level, stood the palace enclosure
of Riimanika the king, and his brother Nnanaji,
who was a great doctor, and especially clever in in
venting " dream charms " and foretelling events. Both
princes were fine- looking men, with a physiognomy
which denoted the best blood in Abyssinia. The two
brothers shook hands, English fashion, with the
explorers, and inquired what they thought of their
beautiful country. One question led to another, and
Captain Speke found himself called upon to give a
description of the whole wide world, its proportions of
land and water, the power of ships, and many other
general and comprehensive topics. The King was polite

THE MEETING AT GONDOKORO. 271
and considerate, and inquired where the travellers would
like their camp built; and as soon as a site was chosen,
sheds and huts went up as rapidly as Aladdin's night-
built fairy palace. The Wangiiana were all in the
highest good-humour, and delighted with their visitors,
whom they regarded as benevolent magicians. The
explorers persuaded the King they had come on pur
pose to see him, and he in his turn did his best
to display his possessions. Amongst other sights, the
wliite men were taken by the King's brother to see
the wives of the sovereign and princes of the blood
royal. The peculiarity of these ladies consisted in
their size. The Turkish standard of beauty was here
carried to the utmost limit ; and from her earliest
infancy, a girl destined for the honour of a royal
alliance is fattened by a diet of curdled milk, until
she resembles a prize pig more than a human being.
Captain Speke thus describes one of the principal
wives : — " She could not rise ; so large were her
arms, that between the joints the flesh hung down
like large, loose stuffed puddings." A sister-in-law
of the King was unable to stand upright, and upon an
attempt being made to raise her from the usual
crouching position, she fainted, for the unusual exer
tion had driven the blood to her head. The fathers of
the damsels who aspire to a place in the King's house
superintended, rod in hand, the fattening process, and
kept the wretched girls under their charge sucking
milk through a straw all day long, from the time they
were ten years old.
The noisy ceremonies attending the " New Moon
Levee " in this kingdom were invented to discover how
many loyal subjects the Sovereign possessed, and an
oath of fealty was administered all round once a
month. On Christmas Day the courteous Rumanika,

272 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
having heard that it was the English custom to cele
brate that festival by a good feast of beef, sent the
wayfarers an ox, and was made happy by a return
present. New Year's Day, 1862, was ushered in by the most
exciting intelligence, which nearly drove the travellers
wild with joy. They heard that Mr. Petherick, an
English ivory-merchant, was on his road up the Nile,
endeavouring to meet them, and they became all
anxiety to effect a junction with him ; but poor
Captain Grant was unable to move from a bad leg,
which caused him dreadful suffering. Under these
circumstances it was decided to leave him behind with
some of the most faithful servants, and for Captain
Speke to set out with the remainder towards the
Great Lake to the N.N.W. of the Uganda Country.
Accordingly, on the 10th January we find him
pushing on, crossing back over the Weranhanje spur,
and reaching on the 16th the Kitangule Kag^ra, a
river which falls into the Victoria N'yanza on the
west side. He now prepared to descend the Moun
tain of the Moon, among whose valleys lie the Lakes
from which arise, not only the Nile, but also the
Congo, and the Shire branch of the Zambesi. The
country was rich and well cultivated, and the march
free from its usual difficulties, till they reached the
hill-spurs which form the frontier of Riimanika's
kingdom. They next entered Mtesa's land, Uganda,
and held steadily on until the end of the month,
when a halt was called at a village from which a view
of the Victoria N'yanza could be obtained. Captain
Speke considers that the Lake has shrunk considerably
in the course of centuries, and entertains no doubt
that at one time it extended quite up to the foot of
the mountain ranges amongst which it lies cradled.

THE MEETING AT GONDOKORO. 273
All the flat country between the Mountains of the
Moon and the N'yanza is fertile and beautiful, but
covered with rush-drains, which are divided from one
another by islands and miry bogs. The inhabitants
declared that at certain times in the year no one could
ford these drains, as they are all flooded ; but strange
to say, when most rain fell in Uganda they were lowest.
In'the dells grew magnificent trees, towering up like
huge pillars, and spreading out their great branches
canopy-wise over head. Buffaloes found excellent
pasture among the rich grass of these hollows, and
antelopes were often met with.
The King's palace or Kibuga, in the province of
Bandawaroga, was reached by the 19th February, and
Captain Speke declares it to have been a magnificent
sight ; the whole hill covered with gigantic huts,
such as he had never before seen in Africa. The halt
here was a long one — from the middle of February to
the 7th July ; and the time passed principally in court
ceremonials. The gait of King Mtdsa is described
by Captain Speke. It seems that the traditional
walk of the royal race of Kibuga is modelled after
the step of the lion, but the outward sweep of the
legs intended to imitate the stride of the noble beast
produces a most ludicrous waddle. Mt6sa was always
accompanied by a pet dog uncommonly like a street
cur in appearance, but duly decorated with a collar
formed by several rows of gay beads. • The King
was immensely delighted with his new visitor's pre
sents, and especially longed to "annex" a rifle which
he had seen kill four cows in quick succession. As
soon as the weapon was presented to him he loaded
it, and, handing it to a page, bade him "go and
shoot a man in the outer court." The urchin de
parted in high glee, and soon returned to announce
T

274 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
that he had performed the royal command. "And
did you do it well ? " asked the King. " Oh yes,
capitally," said the lad ; but no one inquired who
had been the victim of the experiment.
Captain Speke's medicine-chest had to submit to
heavy demands, for the King and all his courtiers
constantly applied for -a remedy for a pain, the
nature and locality of which remained unknown to
the unwilling amateur doctor. In spite of the vague
description of the ailment he was always assured that
he had worked a complete cure, and the number of
his self-elected patients increased like the sands on the
sea-shore. A blister was so favourite a remedy that
at last the King issued an order that they should all
be kept for his benefit; and he was with difficulty
prevailed upon to spare one of the delightful and
fashionable plasters for his mother's cure. This
severe treatment was followed up by a course of
quinine ; but all this time poor " Bana," for so
Captain Speke was named by the Waganda, longed
to leave the court, and get forwards to the Lake. He
found he was making himself a great deal too agree
able and popular to be lightly parted with, and that
if he wished to be " moved on," he must begin to be
troublesome. Accordingly, he commenced sketching,
a proceeding which filled the natives with terror, lest
it should prove a form of witchcraft, and he no longer
prevented his men from pillaging for food. Many
shooting expeditions were organized, and the King in
sisted on trying a charm upon his beloved Whitworth's
rifle, to ensure his killing a buffalo; but justice obliges
us to state that, with or without the talisman, his dusky
majesty seems to have been a first-rate shot.
Captain Speke endeavoured to persuade the King
to send some messengers to Mr. Petherick, to beg

THE MEETING AT GONDOKORO. 275
him to join the party; but this idea did not meet with
any favour, though Mtesa pretended to make languid
preparations for an embassy. Three men were at
length sent forward, and Captain Speke was taken
out hippopotamus-shooting, to keep him quiet and
amused until their return. This excursion extended
until the end of April, when they returned to the
palace, and nearly a month later Captain Speke had
the immense satisfaction of welcoming his friend and
brother-explorer Captain Grant to Uganda. As the
health of the latter was now restored, the re-united
companions became exceedingly impatient to reach
that end of the N'yanza where the Nile pours out ;
and besides this anxiety to attain the real aim and
object of so many past difficulties and perils, they
were often in danger of starvation, for the King,
having got everything in the shape of "portable
property " out of his unwilling guests, even to their
little pocket-compass, took slight heed of their wants,
and often allowed them to remain twenty-four hours
without food. After a compulsory fast of this dura
tion, Mtesa would inquire laughingly, "Bana, are you
hungry ? " Then, on hearing the state of the case, he
would affect great wrath, and desire his courtiers to
go and fetch unlimited quantities of plantains and
pomb£. It was the 3rd of July when the "road was granted,"
or, in other words, permission obtained to resume the
journey; but the final ceremonials of farewell did not
take place until the evening of the 6th, and early on
the 7th a start northwards was made. Five days'
marching brought them to Kari, a sort of royal
grazing farm, through thirty miles of a fine hilly
country, with alternate strips of jungle and rich cul
tivation. Here they had to halt for some days to

2j6 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
collect the cows given by the King, and on the 20th,
having reached Stiajerri, the travellers separated,
Captain Grant turning westwards to join the high
road to Kamrasi's, and Captain Speke pushing on for
Urondogani, where on the 2 ist he had the happiness
of standing on the brink of the Nile. Let the great
explorer himself describe the view which rewarded
him for so much toil and hardship : —
" Nothing could surpass it ! It was the very perfec
tion of the kind of effect aimed at in a highly-kept
park ; with a magnificent stream from 600 to 700
yards wide, dotted with islets and rocks, the former
occupied by fishermen's huts, the latter by sterns and
crocodiles basking in the sun — flowing between fine
high grassy banks, with rich trees and plantains in
the background, where herds of nsunnu and harte
beest could be seen grazing, while the hippopotami
were snorting in the water, and florikan and guinea-
fowl rising at our feet."
The small party moved as rapidly as possible up
the left bank of the Nile, plodding through huge
grasses and jungle, past the Isamba Rapids to the
beautiful Ripon Falls. At this point the expedition
may be said to have fulfilled its mission, for it had,
without doubt, ascertained that the Nile rose in the
Victoria N'yanza, and Captain Speke only regrets that
he could not, owing to the delay he had met with, go
and look at the north-east corner of the Lake, so as to
see with his own eyes what connection there was by
the strait so often spoken of, between it and the other
lake, where the Waganda went to get their salt, and
from which they said another river flowed to the north,
making Usaga an island.
The information which he collected told him that
there was quite as great a volume of water on the

THE MEETING AT GONDOKORO. 277
eastern as on the western side of the Lake, and that
the most remote water, or top head of the Nile, is the
southern end of the Lake, situated close on 30 S. lat.
Thus the Nile flows through thirty-four degrees ot
latitude, a length in direct measurement of more than
2,300 miles.
Captain Speke returned to Urondagni on the 3rd ot
August, and from that place fitted out an expedition
to attempt to navigate the Nile from its parent lake
until Mr. Petherick's relieving party should be met
with. Five boats of five planks each constituted
the frail flotilla, and a start was made on the 13th;
N'yassi was reached the same night; but their pro
gress was very slow, for the lazy crew either could not
or would not use their paddles, and on the smallest
excuse pulled to shore. The next day the voyage was
stopped by a canoe full of armed men, who success
fully opposed the passage of the river. The crew of
the exploring boats would not strike a blow, but con
tented themselves with shouts of " Help ! Bana, they
are killing us ! Mother, mother, help us ! " However,
they were forced to leave the river, and follow its course
by the banks until a junction was effected with Grant
on the 20th, and then the united camps marched back
again to the north frontier station of Uganda, where
they met with a hospitable reception, but whence they
had eventually to set off for Kamrasi's palace beyond
the Kafu River. Whilst they were delayed here, a good
deal more information regarding Little Luta Nzige
was picked up. It seemed an established fact that this
was the same piece of water which they had heard of
in Karague under the same name, as lying beyond
Utiimbi. Here the insatiable Kamrasi extracted from
Captain Speke his gold chronometer worth 50/., and it
was about as useful to the savage monarch as it would

278 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
have been to a child of two years old. In the evening
the watch was returned, broken, with a request for
something else. A Bible was the next thing that at
tracted his attention, and he set to work diligently to
count its pages, believing that each leaf represented a
year since the creation.
On the 9th of October the two explorers with their
followers escaped from the half friendly, half thieving
clutches of Kamrasi, and dropped down the Kafu in a
canoe, reaching Giieni on the 1 2th, and getting to Wire,
beyond the Karuma Falls, by the 19th. After they
entered the Kidi Country, turning their backs on the
N'yanza, they crossed swamp after swamp, toiling
through terrible passes with such difficulty that ten
miles constituted a hard day's journey. November
found them still slowly struggling on, but on the 3rd
of that month they came upon an outpost of Turks,
whose commander, a tall black, in full Egyptian regi
mentals, essayed to hug and kiss Captain Speke, who
managed to avoid the embrace, and inquired who was
his master ? " Petrick," was the reply, " and the colours
are Debona's, and Debona is the same as Petrick." Not
very correct or lucid intelligence this, but the travellers
were forced to be content, and to wait for an immense
time trying to persuade Mahomed to start. He de
layed so long, however, that their patience came to an
end, and they set out without his escort, marching
along the Nile from village to village ; but it was the
15th of February, 1863, before Gondokoro was reached;
and not Mr. Petherick, but Mr., now Sir Samuel Baker,
seized them by the hand. What a joyful meeting it
must have been — so much to tell and so much to learn.
The first home-letters were received here, and among
them was Sir Roderick Murchison's announcement, on
behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, of the

THE MEETING AT GONDOKORO. 279
award of their " founder's medal " to Captain Speke
for the discovery of the Victoria N'yanza in 1858.
At this point Sir Samuel Baker begged hard to have
the honour and glory of completing the search for the
Little Luta Nzige, and Captains Speke and Grant
turned their steps homeward by way of Alexandria, not
entirely because they were weary of their self-imposed
task, or disappointed at the result of their investiga
tions, but because, with a noble spirit of self-sacrifice,
they were willing to share their laurel wreath with a
fellow-labourer in the same wide field of geographical
science, and were content to let him finish what they
had so well begun. How well he finished it we shall
soon see for ourselves.

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE ALBERT N'YANZA.
Sir Samuel Baker records in generous and affec
tionate language the meeting with his brother-
explorers, mentioned in our last chapter. He and
his wife had reached Gondokoro by way of Khar
toum, twelve days previously, and when they heard
the noise caused by a fresh arrival in camp, had no
other idea but that Andrea Debona's ivory porters
had appeared at last.
" My men rushed madly to my boat, with the re
port that two white men were with Debona's party,
who had come from the sea ! Could they be Speke
and Grant ? Off I ran, and soon met them in reality ;
they had come from the Victoria N'yanza, from which
the Nile springs. As a good ship arrives in harbour,
battered and torn by a long and stormy voyage, yet
sound in her frame and sea-worthy to the last, so both
these gallant travellers arrived in Gondokoro. Speke
appeared the more worn of the two ; he was excessively
lean, but in good tough condition ; he had walked the
whole way from Zanzibar, never having once ridden
during that wearying march. Grant was in honourable
rags. He was looking tired and feverish, but both

THE ALBERT N'YANZA. 23 1
men had a fire in the eye that showed the spirit that
had led them through."
At the first blush of meeting, Sir Samuel considered
his expedition virtually ended by this rencontre, but
when, with more admiration for what they had ac
complished, than regret at his own disappointment, he
congratulated the travellers on the honour so hardly
earned, they, with characteristic candour and gene
rosity, pointed out to their brother-explorer, that
much yet remained to be done. It was true that the
Nile had been tracked from the Victoria N'yanza, and
crossed at Karuma Falls, in N. Lat. 2° 17', but al
though the course of the great river was known to be
northerly, it had suddenly turned west from the Falls,
and the natives declared that it held this course for
many days' journey, and at last fell into a large
N'yanza, called the Luta Nzige, or "dead locust"
lake. All three explorers saw at a glance how im
portant it became to follow the Nile to this lake,
and from thence back again to Gondokoro, but it had
been impossible for Captains Speke and Grant to
continue to track the river from Karuma, on account
of the civil wars raging among the tribes. They were,
however, persuaded that the Luta Nzige must be a
second source of the Nile, and that the expedition
would be incomplete without making this point sure.
Sir Samuel shall go on with the story of the noble
emulation, so free from any taint of mean jealousy or
sordid ambition.
" I had been much disheartened at the idea that the
great work was accomplished, and that nothing re
mained for exploration. I even said to Speke, " Does
not one leaf of the laurel remain for me ? " I now
heard that the field was not only open, but that an
additional interest was given to the exploration by the

282, TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
proof that the Nile flowed out of one great lake, the
Victoria, but that it evidently must derive an addi
tional supply from an unknown reservoir."
Not only did Captain Speke urge Sir Samuel Baker
to go on with his expedition, which had been fitted
out at so much cost and pains, but generously gave
him a map of his route, and with his own hand wrote
minute instructions as to the best way of managing
the natives, adding every possible hint about the na
ture and resources of the country. Sir Samuel says,
" I am particular in publishing these details, in order
to show the perfect freedom from jealousy of both
Captains Speke and Grant. Unfortunately, in most
affairs of life there is not only fair emulation, but
ambition is too often combined with intense jealousy
of others. Had this miserable feeling existed in the
minds of Speke and Grant, they would have returned
to England with the sole honour of discovering the
source of the true Nile ; but in their devotion to the
specific object of their expedition, they gave me all
information to assist in the completion of the great
problem — the ' Nile Sources.' "
And now we will take leave of our former fellow-
travellers, with a parting wave of the hand in friend
ship, and set our faces for the Luta Nzige, — undaunted
by all the tales we have heard of hardship and dan
ger ahead,— in company with Sir Samuel and his
heroic wife. Our readers will have glanced over the
last two pages to but little purpose if they do not
share our admiration for the character of our new
exploring companion, and for his ready acknowledg
ment of the value of the geographical achievements
of his fellow-countrymen.
On the 26th February, 1863, Captains Speke and
Grant sailed from Gondokoro, returning down the

THE ALBERT N'YANZA. 283
Nile in boats belonging to Baker's expedition, and
that explorer started a few days later, after quelling
a serious mutiny and outbreak among his men, for the
Latooka Country. Before this was reached, however,
they had to pass through a powerful and unfriendly
tribe, who dwelt among the mountains of Ellyria.
They had neither guide nor interpreter, and they
commenced the desperate journey in darkness, about
an hour after sunset. The expedition had been
most carefully planned, and everything arranged to
insure success. The transport animals were in good
condition, the saddles and pads made under Sir
Samuel's own superintendence, and every detail of
pack-saddles and loads simplified. All that is said on
this point, in the volumes before us (Baker's Albert
N'yanza), is of real practical value to the traveller, be
he journeying for pleasure or business, and will be
equally sound advice to wayfarers in other countries.
Look after the pence — so to speak — the petty details
of travelling, and the pounds, or great events, will
take care of themselves. The improvidence of the
natives in the uncivilized countries we have travelled
through, is the most striking feature of their character.
Like children in their loves and hatreds, their fits
of good or bad temper, they are also childlike in
neglecting to take the simplest precautions to avoid
suffering extremes of hunger and thirst.
No sensational novel is more thrilling in its interest
than the pages devoted to these forced marches through
the narrow defiles between Tollogo and Ellyria, where
each rock ahead might prove the cover from which a
shower of spears would be cast at the advanced guard
of the little force. At this stage of the expedition, its
pioneers were invariably Sir Samuel and his brave wife.
Side by side, and unattended and undaunted, they rode

284 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
before their cowardly followers, to warn the caravan
of any difficulty. But all difficulties and obstacles
were overpassed, and the rocky gorges threaded with
no more serious misadventure than the pet monkey
eating and scattering the men's supply of kisras, or
black pancakes, or a tired camel nearly crushing a
poor woman, or the drum which announced the hour
of starting being squeezed flat, and silenced for ever.
During most of the journey, the donkeys were a con
stant source of aggravation. It was above all things
necessary to push on towards the Ellyrian chief's
village with great speed ; the principal hindrance to a
rapid progress consisted in the" frequent stumbles of
the poor camels, but as if their misfortunes were not
bad enough, whenever a camel fell and a halt was
called, all the donkeys — twenty-one in number — laid
themselves quietly down and rolled upon their loads.
At last the lonely valley of Ellyria was reached, and
the camp formed under some large trees which grew
by the side of a stream. The appearance of the white
people was the signal for all the natives to swarm like
bees out of their palisaded villages on the heights
above, and cluster around the strangers. They are
described as being naked and brutal, but in these un
pleasant attributes they were exceeded by their chief
Legg£, who is pronounced to be the greatest rascal in
Central Africa. Without generosity, or even a bar
barous sense of honour, Legg6 begged for everything
he saw, and would not hear of making the customary
return presents, and as the natives refused to sell pro
visions, the camp was chiefly dependent for food upon
its leader's rifle.
On the 30th March, they turned their backs on this
fertile and beautiful but inhospitable region, and held
an easterly course through a somewhat flat country,

THE ALBERT N'YANZA. 285
until the Kanieti river was passed, and a welcome halt
made at the village of Wakkala, which stands amid
the happiest of hunting grounds. Elephants, giraffes,
buffaloes, zebras, rhinoceros, and many varieties of
antelope are the large game, and it was a severe trial
to so ardent a sportsman as Sir Samuel to be unable
to linger for a few days' shooting. But the lofty sum
mit of " Gebel Lafeet," one of the chief peaks of the
Latooka range, lay before them, and they pushed on
through the winding valley at the foot of the hilly
chain which encloses the Latooka country. The
capital of this district is called Tarrangolhi, and when
this point was reached, Gondokoro had been left 10 1
miles behind them.
Very different from the Bari and Ellyrian savages
were the gentle inhabitants of Latooka. Tall and
well made, their cast of countenance was remarkably
pleasing ; Moy, the principal chief, was a model of
savage courtesy, and his brother Commoro, or the
Lion, one of the cleverest and most sensible natives
ever met with. The toilette of the natives is primitive
in the extreme, as all their efforts are devoted to cover
ing their heads. This is effected by allowing the hair
to grow long, and then twisting it into a natural
helmet, intertwined with narrow strips of bark, and,
as soon as the proper shape is attained, sewing bright
beads in a regular pattern over the felt-like material
offered by the mixture of hair and bark fibre. The
men devote all their energies to perfecting this adorn
ment, which requires the patient hair-dressing of years ;
but the women prefer to plaster their thick locks
quite flat to the head, with red ochre and fat, tatooing
their cheeks and temples.
About the middle of April Sir Samuel went on a
short elephant-hunting expedition, accompanied by a

286 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
few Latookas, who were keen sportsmen, and Richarn,
a faithful black, brought up by the Austrian Mission
at Khartoum, and hired at that place. Buffaloes were
first met with, but the hunters were distracted from
following them by the sudden appearance of two fine
bull elephants, steaming away like locomotives ahead
of them. To mount his old Abyssinian hunter,
"Tetel," or "hartebeest," touch him with the spur
and start with a shout of "Follow me " to the Latookas,
in swift pursuit of the noble game, was the work of a
moment. After a quarter of an hour's chase over deep
ruts and gullies concealed by long grass the quarry was
overhauled, and received a shoulder shot from the
Reilly No. io rifle. The only effect of the wound
was to make the elephant rush along quicker, and it
was some time before the bold huntsman could get an
opportunity of reloading, obliged as he was to follow
the animal closely, lest it should be lost sight of amid
the tall grass and bush. A second shot, just behind
the bladebone, brought the elephant with a shrill
scream down full charge upon his pursuer, and it be
came a regular "battle of the spurs," for there was
nothing for it but to fly and reload at full gallop. At
last the poor beast halted, and stood before his pur
suer, with drooping trunk and ears closely pressed
back upon its neck. But just as the rifle was raised
and ready, a rushing sound was heard, and a herd of
some eighteen or twenty elephants, with immense
tusks, broke cover and bore down to where " Tetel "
and his rider stood motionless and concealed by the
high grass. When they had arrived within twenty
yards of his ambush, the bold hunter dashed out of
his cover with a yell which fairly scared them. They
turned and rushed up hill, but owing to the rough
ground it was difficult to keep up with the herd. Sir

ELEPHANT HUHTIKG.

P. 286

THE ALBERT N'YANZA. 287
Samuel accordingly singled one out, and stuck closely
to him, but his men having, as usual, run away the
moment the sport grew dangerous, he had no second
gun at hand. It became therefore necessary to give
over the chase, and seek for the track of the wounded
elephant. A short search brought Sir Samuel to the
spot, but lo ! like Mother Hubbard's dog, who was
found laughing, when his coffin was brought home, the
supposed dying beast had revived, and the moment he
saw his enemy, jerked up his trunk in saucy defiance,
and made straight at him. It was now the hunter's
turn to be hunted, and he had a very narrow escape,
only saving himself by a sharp turn round a tree.
When the open was gained, a fresh steady shoulder-
shot brought the elephant once more on his knees,
but only to stagger up again, and, screaming with
rage, charge wildly and desperately at his implacable
foe. Sir Samuel declares that in a life's experience
in elephant-hunting, he never was hunted for such a
distance, and that another hundred yards would have
baffled him. At one time the huge animal was within
ten yards of the horse's tail, and had his trunk stretched
to the utmost to grasp it, but the horse, not relishing
the idea of being thus stopped, put his best legs
foremost, and did his best. But poor Tetei's best
would not have availed him if the elephant had not
suddenly given up the chase and turned away into
the jungle, where he was found dead, poor beast,
next morning.
Scattered thickly through Sir Samuel's book are
stories of hunting expeditions, of dangers met and
overcome with prudence and courage, and, as we
read on, we feel puzzled to know which of the two
explorers to admire and wonder at the most, — the
husband, or the brave and beautiful wife. Never

288 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
had an adventurous pioneer of civilization such a
help-meet. No personal hardship, no suffering, no
misery weighed, even lightly as a feather, in the un
equally poised scales where failure or success trembled
in the balance. The gentle yet heroic woman-spirit
never failed to counsel perseverance, and enforce hope
in the most desperate crisis ; her husband has re
warded her, for it is through his pages that we all
learn to love and admire her.
Making a fresh start from the beautiful Latooka
Valley with the shattered remnants of the expedition
on the 2nd of May, 1863, we once more enter the
mountainous country which encloses it. Obbo was
the name of the next district, where the explorers
were hospitably invited to remain, but the climate not
being found favourable, they started on the 21st, and
returned to Latooka, where fever and small-pox made
their dreaded appearance in the little camp. Change
of air was the only remedy, so a month later they
made another attempt to get through the Obbo
country. This part of the march was difficult in the
extreme. Famine brooded over the once fertile plains,'
constant fever enfeebled the English travellers, andj
the heavy rains not only made the roads almost im
passable, but disagreed with the animals, whose fast
diminishing numbers were thinned yet more rapidly
by the attacks of the odious Tsetse. Yet here, in
tiresome inaction, Sir Samuel was forced to remain
until the month of January, 1864.
By this time he and his wife were reduced to the
very threshold of death's awful door by constantly
and regularly recurring attacks of fever. Just at the
moment when an easy mode of transit became of
paramount importance to the weak frames which still
held, as if by a miracle, those dauntless spirits, the

THE ALBERT N'YANZA.

last of the baggage animals died. Mouse, the solitary
remains of the original stud, had long ago been bitten
and tormented to death by birds and flies, and now
the last donkey gave up the struggle for exist
ence. Even the quinine came to an end, and never
was there a more forlorn hope than that which led
Sir Samuel and his wife, with faltering steps, towards
the hidden lake. The lady rode on an ox ; her
husband, who could hardly stand, lost his bovine
steed at the outset, and had to journey on foot until
another could be procured.
Three days' slow and painful progress through lovely
scenery brought them to the Asua river, and Shooa,
a highland village, was reached on the 13th January.
At this place their few remaining porters deserted, but '
still they held on their way through forest and prairies
till they struck the Somerset river, or Victoria White
Nile, on the 22nd January. From this point they
made for the Karuma Falls, which Captain Speke had
visited in October 1862, and put up at the village ot
Atada, about three hundred yards from the river.
Here they were delayed waiting for Kamrasi, our
former acquaintance, to make up his capricious mind
on the subject of their reception. In vain Sir Samuel
sent ambassadors and messages by the dozen to
declare that he was " Speke's own brother," and to
drop hints of costly and beautiful presents in reserve
for the M'Kamma, or king ; it was the middle of
February before they were escorted to the palace,
where the king received him very graciously. It
turned out, however, afterwards, that this was not the
true Kamrasi, but his younger brother. Of course the
first subject of conversation was on the topic which
laid so near the explorers' hearts, the Luta Nzige, and
they were now told it was six months' journey off, and
u

290 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
that it would be certain death to attempt it in their
weak state.
At this place every one of their porters left them,
and not a man was left to carry the luggage. Con
stant attacks of fever succeeded each other with
frightful regularity, but on the 22nd February a final
start for the Lake was made, Kamrasi, or rather
M'Gambi, having furnished them a guide and a few-
porters. But before they could turn their backs on
this marshy place, where every instant's delay lessened
their slender chance of success, it was necessary to bid
good bye to the rapacious impostor, who wound up
his hundred and one requests by a demand that pretty,
fair Lady Baker should be left behind in exchange for
a couple of his " squalid savage " mates. We are
delighted to find, however, that the supposed Kamrasi
very nearly had his brains blown out and his dusky
face well scratched by the indignant couple, and he
hastily retracted his insolent demand with an ample
apology, and did his utmost to speed his infuriated
guests on their desperate way.
The next two chapters read like the record of a
dreadful nightmare journey, and it is with a thrill of
triumph and joy we stand with the undaunted tra
vellers, alone and hand in hand, on the shores of the
Luta Nzige, early on the morning of the 14th March.
From its blue bosom rose towards the west, mountains
7,000 feet high ; a boundless sea horizon glittered far
as their weary eyes could reach, on the south and
south-west ; whilst the eastern shores of the lake were
from north to south occupied by the Chopi, Unyoro,
Uganda, Utumbi and Karagwe countries. From this
latter point the Lake was reported to turn suddenly to
the west, and no man knew how far it extended in
that direction.

THE ALBERT NYANZA. 291
This then was the great Basin of the Nile, where
every drop of water was received, from the passing
shower to the mountain torrents which drain the
north of Central Africa. The Victoria N'yanza was only
a vast reservoir for the great system of western drain
age, and this was the true birthplace of the mighty
river. On the shores of the huge rocky cistern, appro
priately called by Sir Samuel the Albert N'yanza, we
will leave the worn-out wayfarers. Theirs must have
been the deep joy with which no stranger dare inter
meddle, and to all who would read the simple and
touching record of a brave man's triumph, we would
say, read it in his own words, for they can alone do
justice to the subject.
There, too, will be found the account of the return
journey, full of its own trials and sufferings, beginning
from the time when they reluctantly turned their backs
on the fascinating lake, including a shameful detention
at Patooan of two months' duration, and a further
delay at Kisoona, where they would have been tolerably
comfortable had it not been for the terrible frequency
of the fever fits, which were at length subdued by a
sort of vapour bath formed by the steam of boiled
castor-oil leaves.
There was little doubt of its being the true Kamrasi
this time who acted as their jailor-host, for he begged
for everything, from Lady Baker's little fringed ker
chief on her head, to the stool her husband was
sitting on.
Early in September the camp moved on, hold
ing an E.N.E. course, passing, first through the
Foweera tribe and then through that of the M'was,
till they reached the shores of the White Nile again.
It was quite the middle of November when the tra
vellers at length bade adieu to Kamrasi, and joined

292 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
their small party to a band of eighty Turks and 700
porters on their way to Shooa laden with ivory. The
end of the fifth day brought them to that place, where
they lingered for six months, making excursions, col
lecting geographical information, and drawing maps
of their journey. There was no big game to be met
with, except waterbucks and hartebeestes. February
1865 found the travellers en route once more, passing
through the Ellyrian mountains and reaching the
dep6t at Gondokoro before the end of the month, and
making Khartoum at sunset on the 5 th May.
Here the joy of the richly earned welcome which
awaited them was damped by the news of the noble-
hearted Speke's accidental death, and Sir Samuel
winds up his lament for him in these generous words,
with which also we must reluctantly bring our chapter
on African Travel to a close.
" I wish it to be distinctly understood how thoroughly
I support the credit of Speke and Grant for their dis
covery of the first and most elevated Source of the
Nile in the great Victoria N'yanza. Although I call
the river between the lakes the ' Somerset,' as it was
named by Speke upon the map he gave me, I must
repeat that it is positively the Victoria Nile, and the
name ' Somerset ' is only used to distinguish it, in my
description, from the entire Nile that issues from the
Albert N'yanza.

PART V.
ASIA.

CHAPTER XXVII.
BORNEO, SARAWAK, AND CELEBES.
THOUGH everybody knows where Borneo is, perhaps
few are able to put their finger instantly on Sarawak,
or Celebes, for the geography of even "well educated "
people is often rather hazy, and they would be very
sorry to fall into the hands of an examiner with maps
printed neatly off upon his wonderful brain. Nothing
short of such a theory could account to them for the
way in which such an examiner would know exactly
where every place was, its latitude, longitude, chief
products, and all about it. Of course I do not suppose
that any one so learned will ever look into this hum
ble little book, which • only professes to instruct the
very ignorant, and to amuse those who are easily
amused. To such then, for whom I confess a strong sympathy
and fellow-feeling, I address myself with the whispered
information that Sarawak is a province on the western
coast of the island of Borneo, whilst Celebes is an
island on the east, and is separated from its big neigh
bour by the straits of Macassar.
All travellers declare that *the scenery, whether on
the coast or in the interior of these islands, is exqui-

296 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
sitely beautiful, but they are inhabited by a fierce
warlike mixed race, who are very difficult to civilize
and govern. So long as we glide among the thickly
clustered isles of this southern portion of the Indian
Archipelago, and enjoy from the deck of the ship
the splendid outlines of mountain and cliff, bays
and river-mouths, — or wander, gun in hand, under the
deep shade of the inland forests, to emerge next
moment upon picturesque glades and waterfalls, —
all is well with us. But when it comes to perpetual
alarms of tribal warfare, among the numerous inhabi
tants of the districts or rajahates, who are not given
to discriminating between friend and foe, — when we
hear that the savage Saribus, or head-hunters, are out
"a-moking,"1 and would rather prefer the variety of a
white man's head to the usual bronze-coloured ones ; —
then we feel it would be far better to dwell in the
ugliest and most prosaic spot of earth where the
doctrine of peace and goodwill towards your neigh
bour was taught and obeyed.
But fortunately for these wild members of the great
human family, there are some adventurous spirits who
prefer carrying their lives in their hands to insuring
them in an office, and who devote all the best years of
their existence to trying to tame and teach the beauty
of law and order to savages whose actions are guided
almost entirely by omens and dreams. Foremost
among these unselfish men stands the Rajah Sir
James Brooke, who tells us frankly, that he has found
his happiness in advancing the happiness of his
adopted people, and whose nephew, Mr. Charles
Brooke, the Tuan-Muda of Sarawak, has been equally
fortunate in trampling out the last efforts of the
piratical Malayan chiefs and their friends and sup-
1 An expression equivalent to our " running a muck."

BORNEO, SARAWAK, AND CELEBES. 297
porters amongst the Dyaks of Saribus. Another
member of the same family, Mr. Brooke Brooke, was
also Tuan-Besar of Sarawak, and in spite of the
.difficult tempers and volcanic natures of the Malays
and Dyaks, these Englishmen feel a real affection for
the wild race to whose welfare they have devoted
their lives.
We will turn over the pages of some published
journals of both the Tuan-Muda and the Rajah,
which are edited by Captain R. Mundy, R.N.,
who also adds some very interesting remarks ot
his own.
More than thirty years ago, Sir James, then only
Mr. Brooke, touched land at that part of the island
of Celebes where a deep arm of the sea runs into
the interior, forming a large bay called the Gulf of
Boni. Celebes is of a most eccentric shape. As I
look at it now in a large map of the Indian Archi
pelago, it resembles nothing so much as a star-fish,
with one of its points shorter, and the other much
more elongated, than in the real creature. Boni's
Gulf is the space between the south-east and western
tongues of land, whilst Faminie Bay divides another
and more northern strip from these. Celebes has far
more than its fair share of sea-coast, and scarcely any
part of it can be said to be inland.
However, Mr. Brooke was in ecstasies with the first
glimpse of its mountain ranges, after a tedious three
weeks' passage thither from Singapore, and the New
Year's Day of 1840 found the good ship (or, as its
owner and master calls it, the yacht) Royalist cruising
along the western side of the Gulf of Boni. The
Dutch were before us in this island, as they were in
all these latitudes, but, what with wars and treaties,
they and other nations have gradually made way

298 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
for us. In 1840 the State of Boni was the most
powerful in Celebes, and was governed by a king,
elected by the seven chief rajahs of the territory ; but
although Mr. Brooke desired to see this monarch, the
state ceremonies were too long and tedious to admit
of his doing so. So he set forth again, still coasting
northwards; and even at this early stage of his career
we come across some words written in this, his private
journal, for his own individual guidance, which we
must transcribe here. They carry their own teach
ing with them. Perhaps among the unknown boy-
readers of this little book there is one whose future
career may resemble in some respects that of Sir
James Brooke. May he be guided by the spirit of
these lines ; so will the good which the great Rajah
did during his life live after him.
"I must ever stamp on my mind, ever and ever
recur to the same just principle, that any collision
with these poor people would be as barbarous as
unjustifiable. It rests with me alone to forbear. All
about me would plunge forward, take and give
offence, and cause the shedding of blood — and in
nocent blood. Patience; patience, then, patience!"
And yet the Rajah was by no means a peace-at-any-
price man. We find him later counselling bold
measures with the turbulent Sea Dyaks, and as
serting his own position with courage and dignity
when necessary.
After six months' cruise around the Gulf of Boni,
Mr. Brooke returned to Singapore, refitted and sailed
once more for Borneo, landing at Sarawak at the end
of August, 1840. Borneo, in its entirety, measures
900 miles in length, 700 at its greatest breadth, and
its circumference is six thousand miles. Except
Australia, it is the largest island in the world, and

BORNEO, SARAWAK, AND CELEBES. 299
from its favourable geographical position, its fertile
soil, healthy climate, and rich mineral treasures, will
doubtless be of great importance in future commercial
history. Its capital — that is, the capital of Borneo
Proper — is Brune, on the western sea-board, and not
very far from the little island of Labuan, now be
longing to us. The inhabitants of Borneo may be
roughly divided into two races — the Kadyans, or Hill
people ; and the Muruts, or Dyaks. These again are
subdivided into many sects differing from each other
in laws and customs, the constant infringement of
which is a fruitful source of wars. It is impossible
to imagine any country more misgoverned than this
at the date of Mr. Brooke's arrival. The people were
starving amid the possibility of plenty; the once
considerable trade with China in camphor, tortoise-
shell, birds'-nests, and sandal-wood, had dwindled to
nothing, and the violent and anarchical native govern
ment frightened away European settlers.
Omar Ali-Sapudin was the reigning Sultan in
1840, and a very inefficient one he appears to have
been, for half his people were rebels, and each man's
hand was raised against his neighbour. Although
Mr. Brooke defends his future subjects from some of
the most odious accusations made by other travellers,
still he admits enough to prevent our having any
great envy of his elevation to rule over people who,
for instance, eat their parents when they get old
and helpless, or, as the amiable Patakans do, wander
from place to place without home or hearth, and roost,
like birds, in trees. The Battas dispose of their
criminals also by eating them ; but Mr. Brooke em
phatically denies that they are anthropophagi, and
declares that the famous lor dara, or feast of blood,
consists of nothing worse than the tit-bits of a newly

300 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
killed animal minced and eaten raw with blood and
spices. I will tell you some of the curious habits of these
people ; first and foremost, that the women have, ages
ago, outstripped their more civilized sisters in the
race for power and place. All the offices of state in
Celebes are open to women, including that of Aru
Matoah, or chief magistrate, and four out of six of the
principal chiefs of Wajo are generally females. These
strong-minded ladies appear in public like the men,
governing and acting in the most independent fashion,
with or without the consent of their husbands. But
we cannot find that the difficulties or troubles of
Government are more easily met or fewer than under
our " oppressive and tyrannical " system, which en
joins women to remain as quiet as their nature
permits. Indeed the evidence goes to prove rather
the other side of the question. The more open
and avowed the petticoat government, the more
confusion and intrigue, at all events among the
Dyaks. They are guided almost entirely by omens. Every
thing is a sign or symbol of the future, even to a knot
in a bit of wood, and everybody is his own fortune-teller.
When, in addition to this spiritual bondage to a
straw or a feather blown at random by the wind,
a dream is held to be an infallible warning, we
may imagine how difficult it is to carry on even the
simplest business. As may be expected, the Dyaks
are credulous to a degree, and the wildest stories are
gravely received, if backed up by a good nightmare
or a puzzling omen. For example, in Sarawak a
man took a sudden freak to run off into the jungle
and live as an Antu, or spirit. We are not told how
Antus manage to exist in this world, with its trouble-

BORNEO, SARA WAK, AND CELEBES. 301
some unspiritual ways, but Mr. Charles Brooke was
assured that when the individual returned, after a few
years, to his own place and people, he was covered
from head to foot with a thick coating of hair, like
the orang-outans with which the woods are crowded.
The story goes on to declare that in a short time
the hair all fell off, and he became once more like
his fellows.
Another legend is, that once upon a time a Dyak
lost himself and wandered for a month in some
mountain caves, returning to his friends and rela
tions without either ears, lips, or fingers. These
somewhat indispensable parts of his frame he
asserted to have been eaten off by the swarms oi
bats which infested the rocky labyrinth, and his only
food during his wanderings consisted of his winged
enemies. On the whole, " head-hunting " must be the most
disagreeable of the customs of the country, and was
the one which the Rajah and Tuan-Muda did their
best to put down with a strong hand. A man is not
allowed to take unto himself a wife until he can pro
duce at least one head as a trophy, and it does not
signify in the least on whose shoulders the head has
grown. Friend or enemy, it is quite the same to the
Saribus Dyaks. Heads they want, and heads they
will have. When they have obtained the coveted
article, they exhibit it at a feast much as we should
a racing-cup ; after which the company, dressed in
their best clothes, walk past in procession, each
person tapping it with a bit of wood for luck's sake.
Unfortunately, the same head won't do twice — it
must be a fresh head for each festival.
Like many savage nations, the Dyaks have a
surprising memory, but possess no means of distin-

302 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
guishing marks or letters. One day the Tuan-Muda
wanted to give some instructions to a Dyak friend,
and as. a great deal of counting was involved in the
transaction, the natives brought a few dry leaves, for
which pieces of paper were afterwards substituted.
He arranged each fragment separately on the table,
and used his fingers in counting as well, until he
reached ten, when he lifted his foot on the table, and
took a toe to accord with each bit of paper answering
to the name of a village, name of chief, number of
followers, and amount of fine. After having finished
with his toes, he returned to his fingers again. When
the list was completed, Mr. Charles Brooke (the Tuan-
Muda) counted forty-five bits of paper on the table,
and repeated once more the names of the villages, &c.
" Now," said the Dyak, " this is our kind of letter ;
you white men read differently." Mr. Brooke goes
on to say that early the next morning the names
were gone over with perfect accuracy, and for a
month longer remained fixed by this curious process
in the Dyak's memory.
Each tribe's manners and customs vary far from its
neighbour's, and doubtless this is the reason of the
incessant hot water in which the Borneans live; yet
both the Rajah and the Tuan-Muda and Besar
found the people amenable to reason, and full of
good qualities. The Rajah acknowledges that he
was much discouraged, in his earlier attempts to
develop the mineral resources of his adopted country,
to find that whilst he was making preparations with
trench and sluice to wash the earth of the Santah
river for diamonds, his head man, or overseer, devoted
his energies to carving on a stick an inscription in
Chinese characters, which signified, " Rajah Mudah
Hassim, James Brooke, and Hajji Ibrahim present

BORNEO, SARAWAK, AND CELEBES. 303

their compliments to the Spirit, and request his per
mission to work at the mine."
I must conclude my chapter with a good word for
the ladies of the islands of the Indian Archipelago ;
that is, a good word for their appearance. The
women of Borneo, Celebes, and Sarawak, are far from
plain. In early youth they are quite handsome, and
appear, from the evidence of European visitors, to be
sprightly, laughing damsels enough ; rather free and
easy, perhaps, according to our ideas, but strictly
proper according to their own. In spite, however, of
the gallantry of the Rajah and others in trying to
paint these dusky damsels in bright colours, we come
across stories of childish rage and unchildish deceit.
Their tempers are also of the shortest, and it is not
an uncommon occurrence, if a husband ventures
to find fault with his dinner, either in quantity or
quality, for the wife to go off to the nearest jungle
and deliberately poison herself. In such a case the
husband would be summoned before a tribunal, re
proved for his harshness, and fined " a jar " (of what
we do not know), which is supposed to be the market
value of an average wife.
The instance of deceit is more commonplace. A
young Dyak lady had a habit of running away
from her home to avoid performing her share of the
household duties. The chief, or head of the family,
tried every means to tame the fugitive ; he even per
suaded her to take an oath that she would not run
away for a certain time. The next morning the» bird
had flown. When caught and brought back her feet
were fastened into a kind of frame, or stocks, and in
this position she received, with great apparent peni
tence, a long lecture from the head of the household.
Topsy-like, she bewailed her inability to be good, but

3°4 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
declared she would try her best in future. Whilst
she was speaking, her hands were slyly but busily
engaged in hacking and hewing, with a rude tool, at
the insecure stocks, and so soon as the Mentor's back
was turned, the young lady was off and away to her
jungle haunts, where she could live in idleness on
wild berries and fruits.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE DYAKS.

In spite of the peaceful efforts of the good Rajah to
develop the resources of Borneo, he was discouraged
and thrown back from time to time by an unexpected
outbreak of his turbulent subjects. We find him
deploring, in the bitterest grief, that whilst he was
working hard and finding his reward in the general
prosperity and increasing happiness of the tribes, news
came that the Sakaran Dyaks had made a sudden
piratical descent upon the main land with a fleet of
seventy prahus1 conveying 1,200 fighting men. With
this force they perpetrated frightful ravages, burning
villages, laying waste the country wherever they
effected a landing, and carrying off the women and
children into slavery. This outbreak took place early
in 1846, and before half that year was over, came the
intelligence that Brune had been the scene of still
more frightful calamities. The Sultan of Borneo be
came alarmed at the favour with which most of the
members of his family regarded the British Govern
ment, and in order to secure the throne to his elected
successor Muda Hassim, quickly massacred all the
rest of his relations. Mr. Brooke says, " My un-
1 Boats adapted for coast warfare.
X

306 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
happy friends have all perished for their faithful
adherence to us. Every man of ability, even of
thought, in Borneo, is dead — sacrificed!"
Up to this time Mr. Brooke's efforts had been
chiefly devoted to developing the trade and industry
of the people, encouraging their rulers to undertake
and fulfil the duties of government in a more en
lightened and patriotic spirit. But now it was neces
sary to put down these horrors with a high hand.
The Sultan had set an example of treachery and
cruelty which showed his unfitness for his high
position. Mr. Brooke never rested therefore until,
by means of a division of the English fleet under
Rear- Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, he had brought
about the defeat and submission of the Sultan, the
total destruction of the strongholds of the Illanun
pirates, and the cession of the Island of Labuan.
By September of the same year, Mr. Brooke had
been, by the universal demand of the people, raised
to the dignity of Rajah, and invested with the sove
reignty over the whole coast of Borneo Proper from
Point Assi to Malladu.
Captain Mundy gives a very interesting account of
the cruise of H.M.S. Iris along the sea-board, in the
course of which he describes how the treacherous
Sultan tried to get money for Labuan. This was an
after-thought on his Bornean Majesty's part, and
not to be entertained for a moment by the British
Government. Then Omar Ali tried to gain time by
declaring it would be unlucky to sign the treaty of
cession on the day fixed, as it happened to be Friday.
After some argument he was driven from that posi
tion ; but fresh difficulties were raised, until at last
Captain Mundy "turned to the Sultan and exclaimed
firmly, ' Bobo chop, bobo chop ' ' followed up by a few

THE DYAKS. 307

other Malay words, the tenor of which was that I
recommended his Majesty to put his seal forthwith."
Now we do not know what " bobo chop " signifies,
but it must be a very strong expression, for the story
goes on to say that his Highness instantly arose, saying
" I promised and I will perform ; " and returned in a
few minutes bearing the royal signet, which was then
and there affixed to the treaty.
Before closing these chapters on the principal
islands of the Malayan group, I must give my
young readers a specimen of Dyak diplomacy and
Dyak warfare. I find both in Captain Keppel's
'' Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido," and I
heartily recommend all boys who love stories about
piracy to get these two volumes and read for them
selves of surprises and fights by sea and land. I
can safely promise that if, like fat Joe in Pickwick,
" they wants to make their flesh creep " (and what
boy does not desire this ?) they will find stories
horrible enough to satisfy the most voracious appe
tite for pirates.
It was some time before that just mentioned, when
the Sultan had taken it into his head to murder his
whole family, that he employed himself in writing
Captain Keppel a letter. Now this was by no means
an everyday affair with his Majesty, and he made a
tremendous fuss about handing it to the brave captain
of the Dido.
First of all the letter had to be sealed with a seal "as
big as the crown of my best bonnet," as Katie says in
her song ; then to be sewn up in a large yellow silk
bag, which bag had to be laid on a shining brass tray;
a huge canopy was held over tray and letter and all ;
and so, with sword-bearers before and sword-bearers
behind, this wonderful document was borne into the
x 2

308 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
presence of Captain Keppel, who sat in formal state
to receive it, surrounded by high officials' and native
chiefs. It did not take the gallant sailor long to open
his letter. A knife soon unfastened the yellow bag
which was its envelope, and the interpreter read out
these words :
" This friendly epistle, having its source in apure
mind, comes from Rajah Muda Hassim, next in suc-
session to the Royal throne of the kingdom of Borneo,
and who now holds his court at the trading city of
Sarawak, to our friend Henry Keppel, head captain to
the war-frigate belonging to her Britannic Majesty, re
nowned throughout all countries, who is valiant and
discreet, and endowed with a mild and gentle nature."
Then the letter went on to say what the writer
wanted, which was simply that as he and the Sultan
found it a great deal of trouble to put down piracy,
he wished Captain Keppel and the Dido to do it for
them. The postscript runs thus : " We can present
nothing better to our friend than a kris, such as it is,"
and the date is " 20th day of Rabial Akhir, 1257." We
are glad to learn that the royal kris, or dagger, was a
handsome weapon with a good deal of gold about it,
and a handle of carved ivory. The return gift of
Captain Keppel was a French timepiece, which greatly
delighted Muda Hassim.
Before we come to the pirate-hunting adventures
which were the natural consequence of Captain
Keppel's undertaking the job the Sultan and Muda
Hassim found too difficult, we will give a little bit
of one more letter which is still worthier of a place in
the Bornean Polite Letter Writer. It is from a cer
tain Laputongei, the Rajah of Waju, and is addressed
to Mr. Brooke.
" The Prince Saduka now embraces and kisses his

THE DYAKS. 309

adopted father Mr. Brooke, and presents the compli
ments of the Queen Arutempih. This is our statement.
We now let fly this writing to Singapore," and so on,
about a list of grievances, winding up with, " As a mere
sign of our regard, for there is no substance to it,
Laputongei sends Mr. Brooke two pieces of Bugis
cloth, and to Mr. Bonstead a couple of bags of sugar."
But if we turn from words to deeds, we shall
find a great difference in style. Fair speeches are
exchanged for hard blows, and protestations of eternal
gratitude for the blackest treachery.
First of all, we will see what a " prahu " or gunboat
was like in Captain Keppel's day. They were too
heavy to pull, though they carried from thirty to fifty
oars, according to size. Their armament consisted of
one or two six-pounders in the bow, one four-pounder
stern-chaser, and a number of swivels, besides mus
ketry, spears, and swords. The boat was divided into
three sections, and fortified with strong planks, one
behind the bow, one amidships, and one astern to
protect the steersman. The women and children
were taken on the piratical excursions, for the simple
reason that they dare not remain behind, lest a neigh
bouring tribe should make a descent on the river
village during the absence of the men, and carry off its
weaker inhabitants to perpetual slavery. When an
action was imminent, the prisoners, the women, and
the infant pirates were stowed away down below, and
ran as great risk from suffocation as from a stray
shot. Nothing could exceed the valour of these pirates.
They looked upon the occupation as an honourable
hereditary pursuit, and were robbers from pride as
well as from taste. Indifferent to bloodshed, they
were fond of plunder, but fondest of slaves ; and their

3 1 o TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
Datus, or chiefs, regarded piracy as the noblest pro
fession open to free men. Their prahus never sailed
singly, but in fleets, and did not venture out to sea
except in the calmest weather. They drove a flourish
ing trade at the river mouths, and were very wrath
at the efforts of the English Admiral to put a stop to
their mode of doing business. For many generations,
both the Dutch and English Governments had left
them unmolested, and they bitterly resented their
interference now.
Captain Keppel was persecuted by entreaties from
the feeble Sultan and his equally useless heir, Muda
Hassim, to put a stop to these piracies, which were
gradually destroying the native trade ; and the Cap
tain of the Dido readily promised to see what could
be done by his blue-jackets. News came that a fleet
of prahus had been hovering about Cape Datu, and
as the Dido's largest pinnace happened to be under
repair, Mr. Brooke lent a large boat, which had been
built under his orders by the natives at Sarawak,
and was called the Jolly Bachelor. There was no
lack of volunteers from the Dido for pirate-hunting,
and a mate, two middies, six marines, and a dozen
seamen were despatched, under the command of the
second lieutenant, a Mr. Hunt. They hoisted a brass
six-pounder into the Jolly Bachelor, and started in
high spirits. About a week later, one of the middies
returned, bearing in his arms the captured colours of
an Illamin pirate, and this was the story he told : —
" Three days after they got outside, they observed
three boats in the offing, to which they immediately
gave chase, but unsuccessfully. However, as soon as
darkness came, the prahus could be made out creeping
towards them, but the moment the Jolly Bachelor
attempted to get near them, they scudded away.

THE DYAKS. 311

When this game had been played two or three times,
the sailors grew tired and hungry, and resolved to pull
in shore, light a fire, and cook their supper. This was
eaten in peace, and they returned to their boat, hauled
her out to her grapnel near some rocks for the night,
and, having stacked their loaded muskets round the
mainmast, laid down to sleep with their cutlasses beside
them. Sentries and officers of the watch were duly
placed, but each man was more tired than his neigh
bour, and soon all the Jolly Bachelors were sound asleep.
" At three o'clock next morning, Lieutenant Hunt
chanced to awake, and thought he was still dreaming,
when he saw a Malay, brandishing his kris, and per
forming softly a private war-dance on the bit of a
deck, being unable to restrain his ecstasies at having
got possession of a fine trading boat. In the middle
of the triumphant jig, the pirate turned, and saw Mr.
Hunt's bare head and round astonished face, with the
moonlight shining full upon it. In an instant he
jumped overboard, and almost at the same moment a
discharge from three or four cannon, only a few yards
off, cut the Jolly Bachelor's rigging almost to pieces,
and awoke her sleeping crew. It was fortunate that
the men had been lying down when the volley of
grape and canister came on board, for not one was
hurt. When they sprung to their feet, they found a
large prahu on each bow, lashed to the side by cables.
In a moment these ropes were cut, the fire returned
with interest, and the Jolly Bachelor backed astern to
cain room. The struggle was both sharp and short,
for a Malay pirate never expects or gives quarter, and
fights as it were with a halter round his neck. The
odds were fearfully against our men, for the prahus
were protected with shot-proof barricades across the
fore part of the boat, which had to be cut away before

3 1 2 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
the fire from the swivel guns could take effect. They
pressed hotly forward, knowing that the fate of the
battle depended on the first five minutes ; but disci
pline carried the day against numbers. The marines
stood steady as rocks, loading and firing with coolness
and precision, whilst the pirates wasted their strength
in trying to board, only to be driven back, first by a
volley and then by clubbed muskets. One pirate
boat soon began to sink, and the other made off
round a point, where they were joined by a larger
boat in reserve, which took them in tow and out of
sight as quickly as possible. When our men boarded
the sinking prahu, ready as Jack ever is to be good to
his enemy the moment he is down, they found nothing
but three feet of blood and water, with dead and
dying men lying across the thwarts, or heaped on
each other in the ghastly pool beneath. Every
pirate who could move had thrown himself over
board, never dreaming of mercy or pity being shown
to a fallen foe."
On another occasion, Captain Keppel was in com
mand, the boats of the Dido were pulling up the
branch river Lupar, on an errand of punishment
against one Seriff Muller, a great friend and patron
of pirates, if not actually one himself. It was neces
sary to advance with caution, and when night came
on they took possession of a deserted farmhouse on
the river bank, which was soon fortified and occupied
by about fifty volunteers, commanded by our sailor-
author, who was as usual attended by his bugler and
a medley of Dyak and Malay followers, in addition to
his own gig's crew and some officers and marines.
Sentries and look-out men were duly placed, "Tiga"
given as a watchword, and all was quiet and peaceful
until midnight, when suddenly a Dyak war-yell burst

THE DYAKS. 313

out from the midst of the sleepers, which was mecha
nically answered, and gave the signal for the com
mencement of a scene of indescribable confusion in
the crowded farmhouse. In a moment every man
was on his legs ; swords, spears, and krisses dimly
glittered over their heads ; but the difficulty was to
find the enemy. Everybody, with great promptitude,
held his loaded pistol to the head of the man nearest
to him, but his hand was invariably stayed by the cry
of " Tiga " from the fancied enemy. In the meantime,
the bugler was pathetically imploring his master to
allow him to sound the alarm ; but it was quite un
necessary, for the yell had also awakened the men in
the boats, who hurried to rescue, as they imagined,
their friends on shore from a night surprise. When
order was somewhat restored, it was discovered that
the whole alarm arose from a Dyak who, having eaten
too much supper, dreamt or imagined, that he felt a
spear thrust upwards through the bamboo floor of the
building, and promptly yelled with the anguish of his
dream-wound. Indeed, it took "all the Queen's sailors
and all the Queen's men " to convince him, after
torches were lighted, that he had not received a
mortal injury.
But our last look at beautiful Borneo need not be
on its dark places, for even thirty years ago it was
not without happy and peaceful scenes.
Let us imagine a successful expedition on its home
ward way, after having driven a fleet of piratical
prahus out of the river, and bestowed for a time the
sense of security and safety, so precious and so rare,
upon the dwellers in Sarawak.
As soon as the leading boat comes in sight, guns
are let off dangerously at random ; cannon fire, and
all the inhabitants of the river-side village go forth

314 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
to meet and welcome the men who have rid them
of their foes. In all countries, civilized or savage,
the first form which gratitude takes is a good dinner,
so our brave tars are fed and feasted to their hearts'
content. When the practical part of the entertain
ment comes to an end, and the deliverers have well
dined, a band of females, headed by the three prin
cipal wives of the Tumangong,1 advance to welcome
them. These ladies are richly and prettily dressed
in sarongs, or short petticoats, and silken scarves worn
gracefully over one shoulder. All are young, and
most are pretty, for the Borneans judge, and judge
rightly, that, however useful old women may be in
their generation, on festive occasions young ones are
more popular and more ornamental. What would
become an intolerable bore if performed by a copper-
coloured, toothless hag, becomes a pleasing cere
mony when the principal performer is nineteen years
old, and has a lovely face and lithe, slight figure.
These dusky nymphs advance in a graceful proces
sion, with half-dancing steps; and as they pass the
good-humoured jolly tars, each lady throws a handful
of yellow rice over him, repeating some mystical
words, and follows it up by grating a lump of gold
against a dried piece of shark's skin, till a glittering
shower besprinkles each sailor's head, in token of
coming rewards and honours.
Then the pipes are lighted by the ladies' hands,
and gravity and silence settle down on the convivial
party. So we will leave them, feasting, not fighting ; and
our last glance shall be at the pretty Inda and Amina,
1 Title of a Malay officer.

THE DYAKS. 315

not at the rebel Pangeran troop, or the pirate chief
described so vividly by Captain Keppel, dying, shot
through the lungs, with his latest look a proud wistful
survey of that ocean over which his fast-sailing prahu
had so often skimmed in pursuit or triumph.

CHAPTER XXIX.
FROM CALCUTTA TO LUCKNOW.
THE title of this chapter would have been more at
tractive twenty years ago than it is now. Twenty
years ago the route from Calcutta to Simla was
not the beaten, tourist-frequented track, which it
has become in days when, a traveller thinks nothing
of "taking a run out to India for some shooting."
Ever since the introduction of railroads and the con
sequent opening up of the interior of the country,
travelling has become so easy, not only to India, but
in India, that not a few of those who feel a spirit in
their feet impelling them to ramble about for a time
choose to set their faces to the far East.
Twenty years ago the very Overland voyage to
Calcutta would have been matter enough for a book,
not to say a chapter. Now, even the stay-at-homes
know as much about it as the travellers ; for there
have been libraries written about the route, and every
meal and stopping-place are as accurately set forth as
in a Murray's Guide Book. Besides which it is a
melancholy fact that we don't care to hear about the
doings of our fellow-creatures when these no longer in
volve hardships and tragedy. Who cares to know how
comfortable was the cabin of the P. and O. steamer ?

FROM CALCUTTA TO LUCKNOW. 317
or how fine the weather was, a little hot perhaps, but
that was of no consequence ; or how agreeably a few
hours were spent in the Bazaar at Cairo, or a hun
dred other pleasant little occurrences ? No ! Don't
tell us anything about your journey unless you were
shipwrecked or attacked by pirates, or there was a
fire or a mutiny on board, or some other " interesting
circumstance." I choose Dr. Macleod's book, " Peeps at the Far
East," from among its fellows, because much of
what it describes is already familiar to me ; but I
ishall certainly skip the introductory chapter about
the voyage, which was unexciting and prosperous,
and, turning to the middle of the handsome volume,
we will land with the chatty Doctor at the Calcutta
wharf. He does not say whether he shared the dis
appointment which I was childish enough to feel at
the sight of Garden Reach. The only explanation
which I can give of the exaggerated accounts of its
beauty is, that after the months of sea and sky of the
old-times voyages, any spot of earth must have looked
fair and lovely, and was accordingly described in
glowing colours. At all events, whatever may be the
reason, Garden Reach, as my eyes beheld it ten years
ago, was undeserving of its pretty name and fame.
The first remark which Dr. Macleod makes about
the Calcutta houses, is one of those neat little word-
touches which give one a more vivid idea of a place
than pages of minute description. He notices the
spaces between the houses, and says every house
seems to say to the other, " Keep off, I am hot — let
me breathe — let me have air ! " That is just it. The
so-called Palaces of Calcutta are large, forlorn, dreary-
looking mansions, standing in lonely grandeur. When
a dwelling is fresh from the plasterers' and painters'

i 1 8 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
hands it looks tolerably handsome ; but the first rainy
season washes its outer coat of stucco nearly off, and
gives it a ruinous and neglected appearance. Perhaps
my theory of a long voyage on first impressions may
account for Calcutta's name — "A City of Palaces." We
all know how large a hovel looks after some weeks or
months on board ship, so these very moderate-sized
houses may have appeared more worthy of their fine
names to our forefathers than they do to us. The
palaces at Calcutta would not look very regal if they
were put down among the half-finished houses
South Kensington-way.
Dr. Macleod's sea-weary eyes were delighted with
the green verdure of the "Maidan," or Park, and
impressed by the grandeur of the Chowringee Villas.
He describes very well the evening appearance
of this fashionable resort, with its crowd at once
gay and picturesque, its mingling of the refine
ment of the West and the barbaric splendour of the
East. He admires the branch of the Ganges, here
called the Hooghly, flowing along one side of the
well-kept parallelogram which forms the Park, and
giving the scene so peculiar and distinctive a cha
racter. In no other city in the world do great
vessels fresh from the storm — dangers of the sea
lie moored to a shore whereby its rank and fashion
drive and sit. Yet the taper masts and confused
lines of rigging are harmonious adjuncts to the scene,
and do not seem to entail any of the usual unsightly
accompaniments to river traffic. Hereabouts are on
ugly wharves or storehouses, no ghastly funeral piles
or dying pilgrims, not even a bad smell. But, alas !
there is only one short hour between sunset and
dark in which to enjoy it all. The moment the sun
is sufficiently low on the horizon to render it safe,

FROM CALCUTTA TO LUCKNOW. 319
every one goes out riding and driving. Scarcely has
a new comer looked around him or her, noticed
the wonderful smartness of the ladies' toilettes —
unwisely attracting more attention to their faded
charms than simpler and less conspicuous garments —
the listless, boiled look of the cross children in their
ayah's laps, the harassed overworked appearance of
the gentlemen, than the daylight goes out of the sky
as if the sun had been put out with an extinguisher,
and in five minutes it is pitch dark. The lamps,
with which every buggy and carriage is provided,
are lighted amid indescribable jabbering and chat
tering of the native servants, every one goes home
as fast as he can, and the hurrying carriages and
horsemen, all going in the same direction, the car
riage lamps glowing like fireflies in the increasing
darkness, the ghostliness of the white robes and
turbans of the Syces as they flit through the
crowd, all ma!"1 up a scene of mystery and en
chantment which no one who has once seen it can
ever forget, and which cart never grow tame or
common-place. This fashionable quarter of Calcutta, however, re
presents but a very small portion of the city, which
covers an area of sixteen square miles, and contains
very nearly a million of inhabitants : 400,000 of these
are natives ; but there is one portion devoted to the
Chinese, and in their bazaar, or street of hovel-like
shops, you may buy treasures of ivory toys, and film
like kites, and astoundingly ugly josses.
Our fellow-traveller was much amazed at the early
hours at which visits are paid. Indeed, it is by no
means uncommon for a high Calcutta official to leave
his card upon a new arrival somewhere about six
o'clock in the morning, whilst from ten to twelve are

320 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
the fashionable hours at which ladies make calls. The
reception-rooms struck Dr. Macleod, as they strike
every one, as being of a singularly empty and un-
home-like appearance, wanting that cosy, inhabited
look wliich an English drawing - room generally
acquires, even in spite of gaudy upholstery. The in
dispensable Punkah is also a great disfigurement to
a Calcutta room, whether its waving drapery be brown
holland or crimson silk.
Open handed hospitality is the rule in Calcutta,
as it is all over India ; and Dr. Macleod speaks
gratefully of the attentions he received. However
cold and formal we, as a nation, may be in our own
dear little foggy island, the moment we go to foreign
parts we become confiding, nay, even, rash, in the
warm welcome we extend to new comers. The
Christian teaching which is so little practised at
home, is fully carried out among Englishmen abroad
in all parts of the world. It is enough to be a stranger,
and in any distress or trouble, to be fed and visited
and comforted by fellow-countrymen and women who
have already made comfortable homes for themselves
in the far land.
Dr. Macleod saw Calcutta at the most favourable
time of year, when the mornings and evenings are
cool, and the heat at mid-day bearable; though
even then it always appeared to me a stretch
of courtesy to call it the "cold season." But by
February, this comparative coolness changes day
by day to a warmer glow, and it is necessary to
hasten the journey "up country," ere the warm
winds set in. These gales are considered very
healthy ; they prevail all over the N.W. Provinces
of Bengal during the summer months. Inside, a
house, where the wind blows through wet mats of

FROM CALCUTTA TO LUCKNOW. 321
fragrant cus-cus grass, they are exceedingly pleasant,
but woe betide the unhappy traveller who makes a long
dawk journey during their continuance. I can only
say he will be a very strong minded and admirable
person if he preserves his temper for five consecutive
minutes. However this was not our traveller's fate, and rail
roads would have shortened his sufferings even had
the dreaded Monsoon been abroad. He left Calcutta
on the nth February, starting from the railway
station at Howrah on the opposite bank of the
Hooghly, and travelling on the iron road which
stretches straight off for a thousand miles to Delhi.
It has always seemed to me that there are two things
concerning Bengal which no one ever realizes from
travellers' tales, whether printed or written. One of
them is the vast extent, far beyond our insular
imagination, of the plains between Calcutta and
Umballah, and the other is the dead level, the utter
flatness of these plains : no words can convey the
immensity of the one, or the monotony of the other.
But both these topographical features became enor
mous advantages to engineers when a line of railroad
had to be laid down, though we suspect they would
rather have to tunnel through hills than bridge the
rivers which sweep across the flat expanse — rivers
which, for some months of the year, are quiet and
well conducted, and during the others behave like
the ungovernable capricious torrents they are.
But we must return to the good Doctor, whose first
resting-place was, after twenty-four hours' rail, at
Bankipore, the nearest station to Patna, where only a
short halt was made, and Benares reached at midnight
of the same day. This city, on the frontier of the
N.W. Provinces, is to the Hindoos what Mecca is to
Y

322 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
the Mohammedans, or Jerusalem to the Jews. Its
antiquity is so great that its early history is almost
entirely lost and buried amid wild legends and
traditions ; but even to this day a thousand temples
remain within its walls to testify to the religious spirit
of former days. It was the home of theology and
learning, the stronghold of the Brahmin teachers ; at
once the Rome and the Oxford of India.
The sacred territory is nearly fifty miles in circum
ference ; and to crawl around its limits has always been
the dearest wish of the devout Hindoo ; and even now
the ghauts or landing-places on the holy Ganges are
crowded with devotees, whilst it is impossible to go a
mile on the high road in any direction without meet
ing pilgrims returning to their homes laden with jars
of the river-water, as presents to those who cannot
journey thither themselves.
The Moslem conquerors, with their hatred to idols
and temples have laid low many of the most splendid
shrines of Brahma, and only one of any note — the
Temple of Bisheswar, the idol king of Benares — remains
in good preservation. The number of sacred bulls
wandering loose about the streets has of late years
greatly diminished, but the monkeys are just as much
protected and worshipped as ever. It is certain death
to a European to kill a monkey, and it is not long
since a young officer who did this, was shot in his bed
by his servant. The wretched native had the true
martyr spirit, though his light was but darkness. He
entreated the lad not to kill the animal, assuring him
that his fate was sealed if he did so. The young man
persisted in wantonly destroying his former pet, and
two days afterwards this servant, who had been up to
that fatal morning attached and devoted to him, shot
him in the back with his own gun as he lay in his bed,

FROM CALCUTTA TO LUCKNOW. 323
and then stood quite still, holding the smoking weapon
in his hands until he was seized. He never attempted
to elude his fate or deny his crime, and the only grief
he showed was for his young master's fate. As for his
own doom, he never said more than " He killed me as
well as himself when he shot the monkey."
To see the native part of Benares, or " the City," as
it is called in distinction to the European bungalows
which form its suburbs, one must go on elephant-
back ; for thus, and thus alone, can a visitor penetrate
through the narrow streets of houses seven storeys
high with small latticed windows. But after a time the
lanes, never very wide, become so narrow that the
elephant has to be exchanged for one's own feet or
a donkey. In the shops on each side of these slender
threads of streets are displayed the brocades for
which Benares is celebrated ; curious native arms
and accoutrements, toys, sweetmeats, and what not.
But other cities as attractive entice us onward ; their
tall minarets and gilded cupolas telling of barbaric
splendour and pomp which existed when we were
blue-skinned savages with matted hair, dressing in
skins and living in forests. Let us courageously turn
our backs on Benares, as beautiful in its grey and
silent age as it ever could have been in the first flush
of its grandeur and power.
A few hours' railway journey hrings the traveller to
Cawnpore, a place which derives its sole interest from
the tragedy enacted there during the Great Mutiny.
In itself the town is even more commonplace than
most military stations in India, with its comfortable
bungalows, well-made roads, clubs and assembly
rooms. As Dr. Macleod says : " where the desperate
defence was made, one sees only a flat dusty plain ;
where the awful slaughter-house stood, a flower-
y 2

3 24 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.

garden of beautiful roses ; the ghaut of the massacre
appears but a commonplace river bank, and the Well
looks only a nice bit of gothic architecture." But
a whole generation must pass, perhaps many gene
rations, before Englishmen or women can gaze
at these spots without the colour leaping to their
cheeks and the light of battle flashing into their
eyes. Other spots of earth have their fearful story
written in red words, which can thrill or freeze the
reader's soul, but no other place can vie with Cawn
pore in exciting burning indignation, and a wild
surge of revengeful wishes. The gentlest spirit in
the feeblest human frame cannot stand by that well
without needing to repeat, as a spell to calm its fierce
inner tumult, the solemn words carved on a rude
wooden cross which used to stand near its bricked-up
mouth : " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the
Lord." That tottering, hastily erected symbol of
Christain charity has been removed long ago, and
round the deep grave where our countrymen and
women and their fair haired children lie sleeping
quietly, has been raised a beautiful gothic screen ; but
the lesson is still enforced by Marochetti's Angel of
Peace. Behind and above this serene and saintly
figure rises a tall cross ; and the Angel's arms rest
meekly over her breast, enfolding the martyr's palm
branches, whilst her downcast eyes gaze for ever on
the tomb beneath her feet. The dead sculptor's heart
and hand have well realized and expressed the human
sorrow and the divine sympathy.
Yet this was the end of the tragedy ; and one feels
that here the weary at least found rest, and could feel
neither shame nor anguish more. It is far worse to
stand on the steps of the ghaut against which the
Ganges laps* so peacefully, to look down the placid

FROM CALCUTTA TO LUCKNOW. 325
reach of the noble river, and to remember that here
was the greatest Massacre. Down theseslippery steps
came delicate women, and stalwart soldiers, and little
children, all thinking that they were going to Alla
habad, to safety and peace, that the bitterness of
death was over. In a few hours the remnants of the
fugitives returned. It is for these survivors we feel
the most intense pity, not for those of the little band
whose shot- riddled v bodies were swirling down the
river, or lying, past sense and feeling, in the blazing
boats. Beyond the first wild terror of the surprise,
they had felt no pain or trouble ; but not till the day
of judgment shall we ever know what misery was in
reserve for those whom Tantia Topee's ambuscade
spared. But, ah ! by that Great Day we may each of
us feel our need of forgiveness too much to denounce
or cry for vengeance on those who have wronged us
on earth !
In one of the burying-grounds stands a tomb which
tells us that Sir William Peel is buried there — a
frank, loyal-hearted sailor, beloved by all who knew
or served under him ; shot and shell had spared the
life which fell a prey to cholera in the pest-stricken
city of blood, which Cawnpore then was.
Only forty miles off stands Lucknow, the capital of
Oudh, and the former residence of its King and Court.
But we shall find too much to interest us in that
fine old city, with its beautiful buildings and the story
of its gallant defence, to crowd the subject in at the
end of a chapter. It deserves a fresh page to itself.

CHAPTER XXX.
LUCKNOW, AGRA, AND DELHI.
LUCKNOW is built on the Goompty River, ana
one of the first things the Rebels did was to de
stroy the bridge, thinking by this plan to stop
Outram's force, which was advancing as fast as
man and horse could travel, to the rescue of our
beleaguered countrymen. As well might the Sepoys
have tried to stop a runaway horse with a pack
thread. They had not time to blow up the mas
sive buttresses on which the old bridge rested ;
and behind the shelter of these projections our
engineers laid down pontoons in the night for Outram
and his brave following to cross over, and complete
ihe good work of deliverance begun by Havelock.
Every spot of Lucknow is full of thrilling interest.
Let us enter the city at the gateway common to
Indian towns beneath the shot-pecked span of which
many heroes passed that year, their hearts beating
high with the hope that there was yet time to save.
Here Outram dismounted on the 1st September, after
he had fought his desperate way right through the
mutineers ; and here had passed before him his noble
brother-warriors, pressing forward eagerly to be first in
at the Relief. Under its grim portals had wound, not
long before, a long procession, chiefly women and

LUCKNOW, AGRA, AND DELHI. 327
children, whom Havelock had snatched away from their
desperate position and sent off to a place of com
parative safety, whilst he remained to hold the Rebels
at bay. Few men were to be seen in the slowly
moving line. These had laid down their lives long
before, during the terrible hundred and thirteen days
of the first siege, and it was their widows and fatherless
children who now took their sad way out of the fatal
town. Come up with me to the top of the Kaiser-Bagh,
and look round in the early dawn of a new day.
Beneath our feet lie the ruined gardens of the palace
of the last King of Oudh. Within each large square
of buildings was once a plot of garden-ground, but
the enclosures are now a wild tangle of roses and
jasmines ; in one particular quadrangle we may
notice a few orange-trees, standing at regular distances
apart, in gaunt isolation, whilst around them lie con
fused heaps of ploughed-up earth, with here and there
what looks like broken pink crockery with a glint of
gold where a sunbeam wavers.1 What are these ?
They are the ruins of a pink and gold tessellated
pavement, made at one of the great Staffordshire
manufactories, and laid down just before the Mutiny,
for the delicate feet of a favourite and beloved Ranee
to walk on. Of the hundreds of dozens of gay tiles
in this spot, only three escaped unbroken from the
fire of our artillery ; and it is strange to think of the
destiny of those pieces of china, to have been made
in a smoky district of England, by grimy English
workmen, and to lie shivered to pieces by the fast
and furious fire of English gunners. They were
ordered for feet clad in velvet and gold embroidery
• I need not say that all this is changed now, but I describe exactly
what I saw ten years ago.

328 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
to walk on, they were trodden under the iron heels
of rough half-maddened soldiers.
But we must not linger too long gazing beneath
us. Glance around. There is the 32nd Mess House,
with its partitions letting in the daylight through
bullet-holes ; those bare ruined walls yonder once
belonged to Mr. Gubbin's house, and that square
dilapidated building is the famous Residency. The
pointed slender arch before us marks the spot where
brave Neill fell, and the exquisite minarets yonder
belong to the Imaum Baragh. The strange shape of
the roofs of the Chattah Munzil, or " Umbrella Palace,"
attracts the eye, and it is quite possible to see from
this distance the gilding on the queer little mushroom-
shaped cupolas dotted about that building.
I have been speaking of ten years ago — four years
only after the mutiny. Now, of course, all the ruin is
repaired ; over the ground occupied by the Rebel lines
has passed the plough and harrow ; fresh green turf
has been laid over the once baked and trampled
ground ; trees are planted where cannon stood in
position ; and Lucknow owes to that dreadful Mutiny
a magnificent People's Park, or Maidan.
The devastation around the old Dilkoosha Palace is
not so well obliterated. Its Deer Park is a thing of
the past, and the splendid timber about the remains
of the great pile of buildings is more useful to conceal
than to ornament the ruinous gardens. Of all the
beautiful Indian gateways, few are more perfect than
the Roumey-Durwassa, and Lucknow would be well
worth a visit if that " doorway " were its sole archi
tectural gem.
The next stage toward the giant mountains which
are before us, though we cannot yet see them, is Agra ;
so near (as distances go in India) and yet so dif-

LUCKNOW, AGRA, AND DELHI. 329
ferent from Lucknow. Although it is intensely and
thoroughly Eastern in its buildings, still it is not in
the least like other Hindoo cities.
Three miles out of Agra, on the west bank of the
River Jumna, stands a woman's tomb in pure white
marble, which so long as the world shall last, will be
unrivalled in fame and beauty. The Taj-mahal was
built by Shahjehan, as a mausoleum for his wife Noor-
mahal ; and for the last two hundred years and more
he has slept beside her, beneath that wonderful fairy
like dome. The chief charm of the Taj is the sharp
contrasts it presents both inside and out. It is sur
rounded by a dense mass of trees selected for their dark
and glossy foliage. At a short distance from the
entrance, two slender white minarets point heaven
wards like snowy fingers from amid this sombre cypress
grove. After the handsome . red stone Gateway is
passed, you see before you a lovely vision of pure
white marble, which seems irregular in shape, and
yet is harmonious in its perfect outlines. The eye
travels up to the great dome, standing out against
the turquoise sky as if it were carved from snow,
along a water-way leading straight up to the platform
on which the Taj stands. The edges of this canal
are also of purest white, and a brilliant flower ribbon of
colour borders its sides, the gay tints of the flowers
showing still brighter against the shadow of the
gloomy background.
When we have crossed the threshold with its in
scription, " To the Memory of an undying Love," we
come again upon flower-wreaths, twining sprays, and
bouquets of loveliest blossoms, the sole flecks of colour
amid the white arches, lace-like screens, and slender
shafts around. But these are inlaid flowers, and, ever
fresh as when they left the mosaic-workers' hand two

33» TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
hundred years ago, they bloom eternally in lapis lazuli,
chalcedony, cornelian and jasper. The least tone or
note of music sounded under the dome goes sighing
softly up into the arched vault above, and after wan
dering round it in fairy echoes, at last dies away
gradually, or we may fancy that, like a soul set free, it
has floated out into the blue and boundless ether.
Such is the Taj, and poor and cold and colourless
my words seem, whilst memory brings back to me all
the purity of its outline, and the solemn tenderness of
its colour.
Having seen this glorious tomb, no other building
seems worth seeing, but after visiting it again and
again, the traveller may go seven miles in another
direction, north of Agra, to Secundra, and look at
the noble mausoleum to Akbar Shah, who lived
about three hundred years ago, and was one of the
most celebrated rulers of India in old days. He was
tolerant, wise, and just, and his English successors
have found little to alter in the scheme of social im
provement which he left behind him. He lies beneath
a marble cenotaph surrounded by an ornamented
wall, unroofed, so that the blue sky hangs ever over
his resting place. Before the great Shah came here
to sleep his last sleep, he dwelt within the massive
red stone walls of the fort, and his Audience Hall
still exists, at one end of which is his throne, empty
for nearly three centuries.
Close to the Fort is the Mootee Musjid or Pearl
Mosque, a gem of Art, with its exquisite arches and
triad of white domes. The balcony of the Zenana
Musjid, or women's Mosque, is beautiful as a dream,
and the despair of all description.
And now let us go on to the capital of the Great
Mogul, the ninth Delhi built over the ruins and in the

LUCKNOW, AGRA, AND DELHI. 331
neighbourhood of its predecessors. The present city
is walled, unlike most Indian towns, which are sur
rounded by a suburb of native houses, and rely for
their defence on a citadel or large fort in the centre,
which affords shelter for all in case of attack. The
walls of Delhi are not very imposing in appearance,
but, nevertheless, they kept our troops at bay for
some time, owing to the military advantages pos
sessed by the surrounding country, which the rebels
occupied before the arrival of our siege train.
I have yielded so much to the temptation of
recalling the stirring scenes of '57, enacted at Cawn
pore and Lucknow, that I must needs omit all
mention of the mutiny in connection with Delhi,
unless we mean to turn our Travels into records of
battles and sieges. Instead, therefore, of taking my
readers to the low ridges around the town, where
our artillery were posted, and pointing out every
spot full of historical interest, I will try to keep
more to the peaceful profession of sight-seeing, and
walk with 'them down the Chandnee Chouk, the
principal street of Delhi. We will stand at the
Lahore gate, and look down this picturesque and
beautiful road, more than street, for it is ninety feet
wide and divided along the centre by a row of tall
trees. Beneath their shade is a canal at which groups
of natives and animals stand drinking, and the view is
arrested by the lofty red embattled walls of the king's
palace at the other end of the long street. On the
right hand of the Chandnee Chouk, are the shops of
the goldsmiths, and on the left those of the silver
smith. As we walk down one side and come up the
other, it is impossible to know which turns out the
most beautiful embroideries. Here are gorgeous
shawls, and saddle cloths, blazing in massive bullion

332 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
on a black or crimson ground, golden sword-handles,
and velvet scabbards ; next door are exquisite orna
ments to imitate the mimosa blossom, with its little
golden tuft of a flower, or huge bangles with jewelled
eyes gleaming out of dragon's heads; besides tur
quoises and carbuncles from Lahore, set in every kind
of quaint device. Our breath is taken away, and our
eyes dazzled, so we think to restore the balance of
our minds by strolling up the other side of the street.
But the temptations are even greater here. Look at
that cloak of pale blue cashmere, covered with silver
brocade, a line of crimson silk thread following the
glistening curves of the pattern, so as to give warmth
of tone without gaudiness ; or pause at that enormous
ease, with a silver tiara, star-shaped pins, bangles for
ancle and arm, huge tassel-like earings, and massive
chains, ordered for a native princess. Here are also
silver-hilted weapons, both swords and spears, silver-
mounted pipes, silver bits and frontlets for horses,
silver-embroidered housings.
Yes, the silver side of the Chandnee Chouk is even
more tempting than the gold, so we had better hurry
once more down its length, under the shade of the
trees, this time away from the shops, and reach the
Palace Gateway, whose open court can hold ten
thousand horsemen with ease.
There is no remnant here of former glory, except
size. In the Hall of Audience, where once the
famous peacock throne stood, there is nothing left
to admire except the carving of the white marble
pillars which supported the arched roof. It is pathetic
beyond the power of words, this desolate silence,
these odours and tokens of decay and dilapidation,
and amidst it all remains the vain inscription, " If
there be a paradise on earth, it is here." Passing

LUCKNOW, AGRA, AND DELHI. 333
on through the private Hall of Audience, more mo
derate in size, but exquisite in its inlaid decorations,
we arrive at the Hall of Justice, where the light
comes in through filmy sheets or panes of Alabaster,
which act as prisms, and cast exquisite dancing flecks
of colour on the pure white marble pavement. One
feels as if this hall were a chapel, with its pointed roof
springing from two rows of columns down the centre,
which form an isle on either hand, and the subdued
sunlight flickering in bright spots as if through
stained glass, adds to the impression.
Let us hasten out once more frorn the close, foul
smells within these empty walls, and climb the marble
steps hard by, which lead to the platform where the
Jumna-Musjid, the Great Mosque of Delhi, stands.
You will be weary of raptures over stone and marble,
if I linger here, perhaps. Those who care to read an
account of this noble pile of buildings, an account
which will bring it before their eyes as vividly as if
they stood looking up at the three marble dome's,
the cornices running round the whole red sandstone
building, the verses from the Koran traced in black
marble, in letters two feet high, can do so in
Dr. Macleod's beautiful book.
We will keep out in the open air, and drive off to
see one of the cities of tombs, just outside the present
Delhi. This is one of the strangest spots in India.
Here is a space equal to the site of a small town
covered entirely by tombs, and yet not in the least
resembling a cemetery. Most of the silent resting-
places are cenotaphs, enclosed in walls of white
marble, with steps leading up to them. Some are
like small mosques, others like solitary minars ; but all
are beautiful and poetical in feeling. On many of the
sculptured decorations, we recognized familiar types,

334 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED
such as a railing or wall around a young girl's tomb,
made of tall lilies, every second flower or so, hanging
as if drooping from its stalk. There are inverted
torches, butterflies soaring aloft, many images from
the old and new worlds, speaking probably of foreign
workmen. Yet this strange city was not given over
to the dead. When our voices disturbed its profound
hush, there swarmed out from its sheltering roofs,
crowds of loathsome beggars, lepers, maniacs, outcasts
and pariahs from the haunts of living men. Ah ! how
horrible it was, the gaunt famine-stricken wretches,
looking as if they had died long ago, and yet were
still wandering about their last earthly home. Their
dusky skins showed so distinctly among the fresh,
lovely carving of the tombs where they dwelt. Death
was, here, ever so much lovelier than life.
V/e will pass quickly by Humayoon's Tomb, be
cause we feel somewhat ashamed to remember that
here the old king and the princes of the blood royal
took refuge after the fall of Delhi ; from hence they
set out to return, as they thought, in peace and safety
to the captured city ; and they were simply murdered
on their way thither by us. No doubt their death
would have been decreed sooner or later, but we in
England cannot be reconciled to the idea of killing a
man without a fair trial, and I hope we never shall.
Now let us come to the curious old observatory,
built, this and five others, in 1728, by the Rajah of
Jeypore, Jeh Sing, who was the Herschel of India.
He conceived the idea of making astronomical instru
ments in stone, and there they stand to this day, on
the dusty plains of Delhi, two equatorial dials of
gigantic dimensions; there are also others near
Benares. It would be a pity to touch Dr. Macleod's account

LUCKNOW, AGRA, AND DELHI. 335
of the Kootab, besides which you really should read
the book yourselves. There is only one little thing I
may mention, because evidently no person has dared
to tell so learned and clever a man as our traveller
such nonsense ; but still it may amuse us silly people.
Close to the Kootab stands a remarkable pillar, of
a single cast of wrought iron, about seventeen tons in
weight, and fifty feet high, of which more than half is
under ground. It measures only five feet in circum
ference, and has not a speck of rust, although it
appears from the inscription that it was put up
in the sixth century. Now Dr. Macleod's Cicerone
stopped there, but mine informed me gravely that
there was no doubt whatever that the world turned
round upon this pillar, and that the other end stuck
out at the antipodes of that exact spot. The guide
added that he knew it " as a fact ! "

CHAPTER XXXI.

UP TO SIMLA.

At Delhi we must take leave of Dr. Macleod,
parting from him at the Cashmere Gate whose story
he tells so well. His face was turned towards
Calcutta, a thousand miles away, but we will set
ours towards the glorious mountain ranges and go
swiftly on up to their very foot.
We will not journey quite so fast as we have done
hitherto with the good Doctor, but will loiter at
Kurnaul for a little shooting. Never was there such
a place for game. Snipe abound in the marshes,
whilst the jungle is alive with hares, partridges, and
peacocks. At each jheel or pond we come to, coveys
of duck and teal are flushed, but owing to the absence
of retrievers, we lose half the game which falls to
our guns.
Dogs in India get quite as much spoiling as
children from their native attendants, who never
think of correcting them in any way, but let them
do just as they please. The consequence of this
treatment is that the dogs never dream of obeying
orders, and hunt on their own account and for their
own amusement, whilst their owners rail at them,
and their attendant runs about after his naughty

UP TO SIMLA. 337

charges, imploring them to behave properly. Perhaps
the dogs don't understand Hindoostanee ; at all
events they treat with supreme contempt the dog-
keeper's pathetic entreaties to " Mr. Dog " to fetch a
bird out of the water, or to stand steady at his point
until his master arrives. What would an English
gamekeeper say to such behaviour ?
The constant presence of jackals in the jungle inter
feres very much also with the scent, and I remember
that upon one occasion a steady old pointer, too old to
learn bad habits, stood for nearly half an hour motion
less, with fixed eyes and raised front paw, before a bush
from which the beaters found it impossible to flush a
bird. At last after much knocking of the shrubs
about with sticks, and calling off old Ponto, who
would not listen to any suggestion of giving in, a
huge wild boar was dislodged from his hiding place.
It is impossible to describe the look of horror and
amazement which came over the pointer's face as his
game rushed out at him, upsetting and trampling
him under foot. It was so totally unexpected an
episode in Ponto's sporting career that he could not
get over it, but slunk at heel all day with his tail
drooping, pondering deeply on what sort of a country
it could be where partridges looked like pigs and
knocked a dog down.
Most of the shots are fired from the back of an
elephant which has been trained to stand steady
under fire, and is therefore called a "shikarri" or
hunting elephant, yet it is very rare to find one who
will really remain sufficiently steady for what is
called among sportsmen a pretty shot. But it is
still more difficult to see the game, or to take aim
on foot, for the jungle is so dense that the sportsman
cannot look a yard ahead on account of the numerous
z

33 8 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
light bushes, through which the elephant goes steadily
crashing, acting unconsciously as a beater, and putting
up red-legged partridges at almost every step.
The " hills " as they are called, are in full view now,
straight ahead, and morning and evening their lofty
peaks can be seen far above, in what seems cloud
land. At first, and if one has never seen real Alps,
it appears incredible that those fantastic, half-hidden
outlines, so high up above the peaks of ordinary
mountains, should be anything but unsubstantial
shapes, "daughters of earth and water" "nurslings
of the sky ; " but that is only because no imagination
can grasp the height and grandeur of the three or
four great mountain ranges of the world unless some
thing akin to them has previously taught us on what
scale to regulate our expectations.
Umballah is the last large town almost at the foot
of the Himmalayas on this side, and it presents none
of the interesting features of Indian cities. It is in
fact only a very large military station, built in the
midst of a dusty hot plain, and it does not possess
any of the interesting features of the towns we have
stopped at by the way. No mosques or ruins, or
beautiful native goods exposed for sale, nothing but
barracks and bungalows, and a native quarter where
the most unpicturesque side of Bengalee manners and
customs are exhibited.
There is nothing here to detain the traveller, unless
his taste lies in the direction of military sights and
sounds, so we will push on to Kalka, a small station
quite under shelter of the lower range of the great
mountains. This little place is in the province or
kingdom of Puttialah, whose Rajah has, or had, a
perfect mania for letting off fireworks ! He was an
exceedingly amiable personage, a very good friend

UP TO SIMLA. 339
to the English, and desirous of shewing them every
civility in his power, upon all occasions. These
attentions invariably took the form of fireworks, and
nothing delighted the good Rajah's heart so much as
a visitor of high degree, who would consent to linger
whilst he caused rockets and Catherine wheels and
roman candles to explode in their honour. We can
not help fancying what would be His Highness'
delight at our Crystal Palace, the dazzling displays
from the terraces of which are enough to create in all
bosoms the same intense longing for snapping, sput
tering delights which the Rajah possesses. Cremorne
also would be to him "the place to spend a happy
day," or rather evening, and he would fain have the
fifth of November celebrated with all its fizzing
honours, twice a year.
But perhaps it may not have been our good for
tune to be entertained with pyrotechnic displays, and
we have gone quietly to bed instead, with our last
waking thoughts running on the journey before us on
the morrow. After so many hundred miles of dead
level it is an excitement to look forward to mountain
travelling, though by the time twenty-four hours have
passed we are fain to cry for mercy, and tempted to
regret the plains beneath us.
This part of the journey is performed in a different
manner from those in any other portion of the world
over which we have so rapidly skimmed. It is true that
people sometimes ride over these paths, but the general
form of locomotion is to be carried in a Jhaunpauhn,
or sedan chair, with curtained sides, by four men at a
time, who are relieved every quarter of a mile or so by
a fresh set of bearers. However luxurious and easy
such a mode of conveyance may sound, it is the very
reverse of comfortable in reality, for the unhappy
z 2

34° TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
passenger is jolted until he expects his spine to
appear through the top of his head, and, by the time
Kussowlie is reached, it needs all the exquisite beauty
and grandeur of the scenery around him to efface the
recollection of his sufferings by the Way. He looks
with envy on his head native servant, sitting in cross-
legged dignity upon a light platform borne on the
shoulders of a couple of stout mountaineers, who step
easily out with their load, grunting a sort of chorus
to while away the time.
The narrow mountain-track is perhaps more pre
cipitous, as far as Kussowlie, than at any other portion
of the road to Simla ; but it is a new and delicious
sensation to the traveller to breathe the fresh moun
tain air, to get away from the monotony and dusty
glare of the plains, and to zigzag along the mountain
side, watching the immense plateau falling away, as it
were, beneath his feet. A short halt is all that can
be spared for rest or breakfast, and then begins a
long tedious day of up and down hill, climbing to the
very summit of a steep ridge, only to descend to the
bottom of the ravine below, and so on up the next
step of the giant staircase. Sometimes when the
weary Jhaunpauhnees have paused at a streamlet in
the shade, to drink and rest or smoke their hubble-
bubble for a few minutes, the wayfarer may look up and
see, from the over-hanging cliffs or shrubs, a peering
monkey-face, or a hairy arm stretched out to pluck a
tempting berry. He may even see, as I did once, a
panther watching two monkeys at play on a ledge of
rock. The lithe beautiful creature — the morning sun
shining on its glossy yellow coat — lay stretched out,
cat fashion, with its eyes intently fixed on an old
monkey, who was apparently trying to educate her
refractory baby. The child would not do something

UP TO SIMLA. 341

the mother wished, so she held it out by one out
stretched arm over the very verge of the shelf of rock,
shook it vigorously, and with many cuffs tried to
frighten it into obedience, evidently threatening that if
it were not good directly she would drop it, in which
case it must have fallen straight into my Jhaunpauhn !
The small monkey did not relish the prospect, and
squealed, and, I regret to say, bit its mother. Again
and again was the struggle for parental authority
resumed, until at last the mother chanced to turn
her head, caught sight of the watching foe, and with
a shriek of terror which was almost human in its
piercing shrillness, swung herself with one bound on
to an overhanging branch, and so into a thicket above
the rock, her baby clinging tightly round her neck
with both arms, and burying its little head in her
long hairy coat, as if afraid to look at the crouching
creature. It was such a glimpse of wild life, made
up of narrow escapes and frolic passing into deadly
terror, though the little scene did not last as long as
these lines would take to write or read.
All through the long bright day we go up and
down, over ridge after -ridge, until the traveller's
bones ache, and he feels as if Simla must be in the
moon. But at last, just at dusk, he sees standing out
against the darkening sky-line of one long bare ridge,
sundry gables and straight roof-lines. That is Simla.
Through the suburb of Boileau Gunge, with its scat
tered houses and beautiful glimpses amid its forest
clearings, the Jhaunpauhnees trot with short quick
steps, assuring each other, in a doggrel chant, that the
rice is even then being cooked and the curry pre
pared, and that a good sleep will soon make them
forget how heavy the Sahib has been and how long
the road. Then there is a sudden stop, the Jhaun-

342 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
pauhn is put down before a door, and, dazed and con
fused, feeling as if his brains were upside down, and
he was not sure whether his whole body was not also
in the same position, the traveller emerges from cold
and weariness and darkness into the bright light and
warmth of a Simla hearth, and the first words he
says are, " It is exactly like England ! " That is the
highest praise the exile can bestow on any place. We
grumble at the dear old nest so long as we are in it,
but when we spread our wings and fly away, our
thoughts turn back more faithfully even than our
tongues; and if we were candid or humble enough
to acknowledge it, our inmost hearts sing ever —
" It's liame, hame, I fain wad be,
Hame in my ain countrie."

CHAPTER XXXII.
JAPAN.
AND now we must begin to think of winding up our
pleasant journeyings together, unless we want to
make this volume so large that little people will be
afraid to open it lest it should contain more in
struction than they have any idea of acquiring. We
would fain hope that it will teach the little readers as
much indirectly as it has taught the big writer, and
that they will study the routes described on the
maps which have been drawn on purpose for them
with so much pains and care.
Without going quite so far as Mrs. Blimber in
"Dombey and Son," who used to declare that she
only wished to see " beautiful Tusculum " and would
then be ready to die, we may say in more sober
fashion that of all the countries re-travelled in this
little volume, there is not one which possesses a
greater attraction for us than Japan. Japan which
has been shut up for so many centuries, and which
even now has opened only three of her ports to
European traders.
Look at the map, and you will see on the eastern
side of the Asiatic continent, divided from it by the
Sea of Japan, a long, narrow cluster of islands, of

344 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
which the largest is called Nipon, and at its south
western extremity a smaller group ; they all make up
the Japanese Empire. We learn that the word Japan
is only a European corruption of Ji -pun-quo — the
country where the sun is born. This is again the
Chinese pronunciation of Nipon, or Dai Nipon (great
sun origin) ; and the imperial banner is a red sun on a
white ground. It is supposed that there are nearly
3,000 islands in the Mikado's empire, and that if they
were all placed side by side, instead of being broken
up with narrow channels of water between them, they
would cover somewhere about 170,000 square miles.
Only four of these islands are large enough to be dis
tinct on our map — Nipon, Kinsin, Sikok, and Yesso.
In Nipon, which is of far greater size than the others,
is built the chief city Yedo, and inland from Wo-
dowara Bay rises the famous Fusiyama, the most
perfect of volcanic cones, 14,177 feet above the sea.
There are authentic records of terrible eruptions from
its now peaceful and snow-clad summit, beginning
from the year 7S1, and extending at intervals down
to 1707; but since that date it has not emitted a
puff of smoke. It is regarded as sacred, and thou
sands of pilgrims from the lower classes ascend it
annually to offer up prayers and incense to the
turbulent spirit who is supposed to dwell inside the
vast empty crater which has sunk 350 feet below
the level of its lip.
After the careful perusal of many books, wind
ing up with a recent Blue-book (most interesting
of all!), I have come to the conclusion, that the
Japanese are a generous and brave people, frugal
and thrifty, scrupulous, clean, and neat in their
habits and in their houses, wonderfully ingenious,
and full of patriotism and devotion to their insti-

JAPAN. 345
tutions. In the Blue-book I found an account of the
wonderful recent revolution in Japan, when the whole
system of the double monarchy, the Tycoon and the
Mikado, was done away with, and the people's eyes
were opened suddenly to the absurdity of having a
sort of dummy sovereign in the Mikado, an emperor
who was jealously locked up and kept in cotton-wool
at Kioto.
No sovereign of Europe or China, no prince in India,
can show a pedigree to match with that of the
Mikado, which stretches back for twenty centuries.
But for the last 700 years the Mikados have been
emperors only in name, their empire being really
ruled by the successors of one Yoritomo, a prince of
the imperial blood, who usurped the secular power
in the twelfth century, and transmitted it to his
descendants. These reigned at Yedo as hereditary
Tycoons or Shoguns ; but the Mikado, secluded in his
city of Kioto, always remained the sacred Emperor
venerated by his people.
Scarcely three years ago, however, came a change.
The powerful Daimios, answering to our old feudal
Barons, fomented a revolution, which spread so
rapidly that the power of the Tycoons was broken up,
and the last of the dynasty, Prince Keiki, voluntarily
returned his powers into the hands of the Mikado.
By November 1868 the revolution was virtually ac
complished, the ex-Tycoon had. taken his place
among the other Daimios as the mere chief of a clan,
and the Mikado and his Court left the sacred city
which had been their residence from time immemorial,
for Yedo.
It must have been a strange procession, and it
is no wonder that thousands of Japanese flocked to
see it, bowing their heads in death-like silence as the

346 TRA VELS RE-TRA VELLED.
sacred presence passed by. First came the Daimios
and their armed followers, then the kuges or court
lords, one of whom bore the regalia, and, surrounded
by the household troops, the flower of the Japanese
army, came the Ho-or-een, or Phoenix car, crowned
with a golden image of the Phcenix, represented by
the head and body of a peacock, joined to the
spreading plume-like tail of the magnificent copper
pheasant. But the noblest incident in this wonderful revo
lution was contributed to the future history of the
island empire by its own Daimios. Prince Kaga, the
richest of the nobles, set the example, and the official
Gazette of December 1869 contains a memorial,
signed by this prince by right of nature as well as
by courtesy, and many other Daimios of the West. It
has been so well translated by Mr. Mitford, that it is
a great pity we cannot give it at length. It sets forth
how, in the humble opinion of the memorialists, the
Great Body must not lose, nor the Great Strength
delegate its power, for a single day ; how all was the
Emperor's to give and to take away ; and how they,
the undersigned, reverently returned into the Emperor's
hands all the possessions he had in former ages be
stowed on their ancestors, praying him to issue orders
for the remodelling of the various clans. They say
at the end : " Let all proceed from the Emperor ; let
all the affairs of the empire, both great and small, be
referred to him, so that the internal relations of the
country may be placed on a true footing."
This loyalty and devotion of the nobles is almost
without a parallel among Western nations, and well
deserves a record here ; but having briefly noticed it
we will pass on to a less historical, but perhaps more
amusing account of Japanese ways and customs.

JAPAN. W
First we shall glance at the universal use they "make
of paper. Perhaps you may think that we in England
put our waste rags to a great many uses, and may
instance all the pretty things made of papier-mache.
Well, the Japanese are far before us in that manu
facture, and they employ quantities of paper besides
in its more tissue-like state. Imagine a paper pillow
case, or rather a pillow made of folded layers of
paper, the uppermost being taken off every morning.
The doors of the houses are of paper stretched on
a slight frame ; handkerchiefs, and many other things
which we make of calico, silk, or muslin, have their
paper substitutes in Japan. Waterproof coats are
made of it, and so are dusters and string ,- all parcels
being tied up by strips of paper. In the marriage
settlements of the Japanese ladies, the most im
portant question to be decided between the two
families is the quantity of paper allowed to the bride,
lest the generous lover should turn into a stingy
husband and curtail the supply of paper for house
hold consumption.
We have in England so many specimens of Japanese
lacquer-ware, porcelain, carving, and embroidery from
Yedo or Nangasaki, that any description of them
here would be superfluous ; but perhaps we may say
a word about the difficulty in buying and selling all
these pretty things in the country where they are
made. First of all a list is drawn for official infor
mation of every purchase made by a foreigner, and
when articles have been selected in the bazaar, they
are carried straight off to a Government office, where
their value in silver itzibus (a little silver coin worth
about sixteen-pence) is placed in one scale, whilst the
foreign coin is placed in the other, allowing for a
certain percentage to meet the expense of recoining

348 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
the foreign money. Even then the poor merchant
does not get his hard cash ; the Government official
carries the amount of the value of all the itzibus to
his credit. All this cumbrous machinery is set to
work merely to prevent Europeans receiving Japanese
money, and to guard against foreign coin being circu
lated in the country. The new treaties, of commerce,
however, stipulate that these absurd restrictions shall
be done away with.
The Japanese are the most extraordinary people in
the world with regard to their bathing arrangements.
All travellers agree in declaring them to be an
instinctively modest and decent nation, refined inl
their domestic habits, and far superior in civilization,
as we understand the term, to most Eastern nations.
Yet with all this high social standard it is the custom
of the country to bathe in public. A tub of cold
water is placed in the street, outside the hall door,
and into this bath the lady of the house, generally
accompanied by her children, has the embarrassing
habit of stepping three or four times during the
course of a long summer's day. One traveller re
cords his horror and amazement, at going to some
public baths where he had observed that there were
separate entrances for ladies and gentlemen, to find
that, once within the paper partition, everybody
splashed about with as little regard for each other's
presence as if they were so many fishes. One polite
lady overwhelmed him with confusion by observing
the wretched man's hesitation, and, attributing it to
the bath being too crowded, she gracefully stepped
out of the division she and her family occupied,
and offered it to the stranger. Captain Sherard
Osborn records that although he took every possible
precaution to ensure a private tub during his stay at

JAPAN. 349
Yedo, he never could shake off the attendance of an
old priest, who was deputed by the Japanese Govern
ment to take notice of the English method of using
soap and towels.
A ride in Japan must be a fearful undertaking both
for man and beast. The poor horses have their tails
tied up in bright blue bags, whilst their heads can
scarcely be seen from the quantity of brass and bronze
trappings which cover it. Then, in describing the
saddle, we hardly know which to pity most, the horse
that carries it or the man who rides on it. Imagine a
huge, demi-peak, brass or bronze-bound affair, shaped
like the letter V, with stirrups like large shoes, which
are made of solid bronze, inlaid with silver, and
weighing about forty pounds the pair. It is no won
der that sedan chairs are preferred as modes of con
veyance, or that when an Englishman has to ride on
a Japanese saddle, he generally%>rings his pillow out
with him, and sits on it on horseback.
Never were such people for fairy tales and legends.
All books of travel in Japan have one or two of these
stories introduced into their pages, but Mr. Mitford,
who was the secretary to our legation in Japan for some
years, has collected and translated a few of the most
curious and beautiful national legends, and published
them, with quantities of illustrations from Japanese
pictures done on wood by Japanese artists.
It is not within the scope of a book of travels to
talk about fairy tales, but any boys or girls who want
to add Japanese myths to their heap of legendary lore
cannot do better than try to get a peep at the two
volumes which Mr. Mitford has published, called
" Tales of Old Japan."
But we must come back from the fairy to the real
world, and say a little word about the extraordinary

350 TRAVELS RE-TRAVELLED.
custom of hara-kiri or suicide. In the first place all
the Japanese officials wear one or two swords, and
consequently the operation can be performed at a
moment's notice. Not only are criminals of high
rank sentenced to perform hara-kiri on themselves,
which they do without the least hesitation, but
young men of good family are trained from child
hood to have such a nice sense of honour, that if
a disparaging remark is made on one of them, the
object of the sarcasm immediately performs hara-
kiri on himself in public. The only satisfaction the
sensitive victim of ill-nature can possibly have in
thus dying, is the knowledge that etiquette demands
that the person who made the remark which led
to the suicide shall also perform hara-kiri, so at
all events they die together, the slanderer and the
slandered. Perhaps you will ask what the rite is ; it
is very nasty, but quite simple, consisting merely of
drawing the invariable sword, and giving a couple of
slashes in the shape of a cross over the stomach.
Nowadays it is considered more fashionable to give
yourself a little scratch, upon seeing which the nearest
attendant draws on a pair of white gloves, and neatly
finishes cutting you to pieces. We must state that it
is not nearly so common as it used to be, and early
English travellers in Japan often unconsciously caused
the nobles to commit suicide by neglecting some cus
tom, or infringing one of the many laws of etiquette
which it was death to neglect.
We may easily imagine that two large double-hilted
swords must be a very cumbrous addition to one's
every-day dress, and occasionally they get their wearer
into serious scrapes. Mr. Pumpelly gives us an account
of an incident which occurred during his stay in Japan.
He and some Japanese officials had been making an

JAPAN. 351
expedition to see a volcano, and in cantering home
through the woods in single file, one of the officers
met with the following accident. Mr. Pumpelly says:
" As I was riding at a brisk gallop, a short distance
in advance of the others, I saw, too late to avoid it, a
grape-vine hanging like a swing, forty or more feet
long, and its lower end just high enough from the
ground to strike my stomach. To cry out a warning
to those behind, and give the swing a push into the
air was the work of an instant, but it was too late ;
the returning vine embraced Takeda, and as I looked
back his horse had gone from under him, while the
force of the shock expended itself in causing him to
make several somersaults around the loop, preparatory
to a tremendous flap on the ground. His swords had
fallen from the scabbards, and he narrowly escaped
being transfixed by one of them, which stood point
up, its hilt buried in the moss."
Among the odd customs of the country there is
none stranger than the toilette of the boatmen in the-
Bay of Yedo. These stout, athletic fellows, smooth-
skinned and bronze-coloured, dispense, unlike their
countrymen, with all clothing except a small blue
waist-cloth ; but then, on the other hand, why should
they tie up their noses ? Is it for fear of malaria,
of which there is certainly more risk ashore than
afloat, or is the Japanese pose a fractious feature, or
do noses require to be taken great care of in Japan ?
Captain S. Osborn asks these questions, and is
unable to answer them, but there is evidently some
unexplained mystery about Japanese noses, for if we
turn to a page of Japanese caricatures, in another
work, we shall find most of the fun is connected with
the nose. In one large picture two bird-men are
represented dressed in feather suits, with preposterous

3 52 TRA VELS RE- TRA VELLED.
beaks or noses, which are carried over a friend's
shoulder, and made useful by bearing baskets of
goods slung midway. In another caricature, worthy
of a place in the Book of Nonsense, a young lady has
stuck her long and pointed nose out of a casement
window, and is anxiously trying to induce a pair of
tame birds to alight on it.
But oh! the little wee dogs in Japan! Not only
do all travellers agree in representing them as fasci
nating pets, but I have had many acquaintances
among them. First and foremost was a yellow dog,
about as large as a small King Charles, and with just
the same feathery legs and tail, but with the face of a
pug. She was named " Daru," and was of a most
loving and timid disposition, but dainty and charming
in her manners and behaviour. Then there was a
tiny creature of a more rare and valuable breed ;
pure white in colour, with black marks, a long silky
coat, and very pug face. This poor little pet became
stone blind, but possessed a wonderful intelligence,
and lived to a good old age in great happiness. Then
I have seen very small jet-black Japanese dogs, with
pointed faces, extremely like Pomeranian dogs in
miniature. They are sold in pretty little cages ; and I
only know that if I had the good fortune to go to
Japan, I should make very extensive purchases in the
dog bazaar, for all the dogs I have met with from
that country are so extraordinarily sagacious and
affectionate. The police arrangements in Japan are very com
plicated, and in addition to ?he vast official staff
there is a sort of arrangement by which everybody
becomes a special constable at a moment's warning.
For instance, if a' fight should arise in a street, the
nearest inhabitants must separate the combatants.

JAPAN. 353
Should a man kill another, his life pays the forfeit
even if he did it in self-defence ; but the three nearest
families are by law and custom compelled to keep
Within doors for many months ; time is given them
to lay in a stock of provisions for the period of their
domiciliary imprisonment, and then their doors and
windows are closed upon them. Besides this, all
the inhabitants of the street are punished by public
labour in proportion to their negligence in preventing
the murder ; the chief men of the street are more
rigorously punished than the rest, for whom they are
responsible.
1 And now I have told you all about Japan that I
know myself, and I can only hope that I have been
able to awaken in you a wish to see not only that
wonderful and interesting country, but some of those
touched upon in other parts of this little book ; and I
would fain believe that it may afford you a little
pleasure to read what has been such a great happiness
to me to write — a record of the perseverance and
energy of brave* men who have led the va-n in the
march of civilization all over the world.

THE END.

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