«MlMniW#NM«PMMNIMNW>w¦mmmimiitmmmiimtmm i«iii«i» I^uNdtheWohld. s^^^ Ec t7« YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ALBERT H CHILDS YALE '61 MEMORIAL COLLECTION cr NOTES OF A TRIP ROUND THE WORLD BY ANDREW CARNEGIE. NEW YORK. li ' ' Think on thy friends when thou haply see'st Some rare, noteworthy object in thy travels, AVish them partakers of thy happiness." TO MY BROTHER, AND TRUSTY ASSOCIATES, WHO TOILED AT HOME THAT I MIGHT SPEND ABROAD, THESE NOTES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE GRATEFUL AUTHOR. Braemar Cottage, Cresson, July, 1879. ' ROUNt) THE WORLD. New York, Saturday, October 12, 1878. Bang ! click ! the desk closes, the key turns, and good-by for a year to ray wards— that goodly cluster over which I have watched with parental solicitude for raany a day ; their several cribs, full of records and labelled Union Iron Mills, Lucy Furnaces, Keystone Bridge Works, Union Forge, Cokevale Works, and last, but not least, that infant Hercules, the Edgar Thomson Steel Rail Works — good lusty bairns all, and well calculated to surviA^e in the struggle for existence — great things are ex pected of them in the future, but for the present I bid thera farewell; I'ra off for a holiday, and the rise and fall of iron and steel ' ' affecteth rae not. ' ' Years ago, Vandy, Harry, and I, standing in the very bottom of the crater of Mount Vesuvius, where we had roasted eggs and drank to the success of our next trip, resolved that some day, instead of turning back as we had then to do, we would make a tour round the Ball. My first return to Scotland and journe)'' through Europe was an epoch in ray life, I had so early in ray days deter rained to do it ; to-day another epoch coraes — our tour fulfils another youthful aspiration. There is a 2 ROUND THE WORLD. sense of supreme satisfaction in carrying out these early dreams which I think nothing else can give ; it is such a triuraph to realize one's castles in the air : other drearas reraain, which in good tirae also must come to pass ; for nothing can defeat these early in born hopes, if one lives— and if death coraes there is, until the latest day, the exaltation which coraes frora victory if we but continue true to our guiding star and manfully struggle on. And now what to take for the long weary hours ! for travellers know that sight- seeing is hard work, and that the ocean wave may becorae raonotonous. I cannot carry a whole library with rae. Yes, even this can be done ; raother's thoughtfulness solves the problem, for she sends me a present of Shake speare, in thirteen handy voluraes. Come, then, my Shakespeare, you alone of all the raighty past shall be my sole companion. I seek none else ; there is no want when you are near, no mood when you are not welcome — a library indeed, and I look for ward with great pleasure to many hours' comraunion with you on lonely seas — a lover raight as well sigh for raore than his affianced as I for any but you. A twitch of conscience here. You ploughraan bard, who are so rauch to me, are you then forgotten ? No, no, Robin, no need of taking you in my trunk ; I have you in ray heart, frora " Tam O'Shanter" to the " Daisy." Pittsburg, Thursday, October 17. Thursday raorning, October 17th. What is this? A telegrara ? "Belgic sails from San Francisco 24th instead of 28th." Can we make it ? Yes, travel- ROUND THE WORLD. 3 ling direct and via Omaha, and not seeing Denver as intended. All right ! through we go, and here we are at St. Louis Friday morning and off for Omaha, to catch the Saturday raorning train for San Francisco. Friend Ferguson, of the Vulcan Works, meets me at the station, as telegraphed, and in the twenty minutes allowed for breakfast a good work is done between us, the docuraent signed, and we are off for Omaha. If we miss but one connec tion we shall reach San Francisco too late. But we shan't. Having courted the fickle goddess assiduous ly, and secured her smiles, we are not going to lose faith in her now, come what may. See if our good fortune doesn't carry us through. Omaha, Saturday, October ig. All aboard for " Frisco !" A train of three Pullmans, all well filled— but what is this shift made for, at the last moraent, when we thought we were off ? Another car to be attach ed, carrying to the Pacific coast Rarus and Sweet zer, the fastest trotter and pacer, respectively, in the world. How we advance ! Shades of Flora Teraple and "2.40 on the plank road !" that was the cry when first I took to horses — that is, to owning them. At a much earlier age I was stealing a ride on every thing within reach that had four legs and could go. One takes to horseflesh by in heritance. Rarus now goes in 2. 13!^, and Ten Broeck beats Lexington's best time raany seconds. 1 saw him do it. And so in this fast age, second by second, we gain upon old Father Tirae. We traverse all day a vast prairie watered by the 4 ROUND THE WORLD. Platte. Nothing could be finer : such fields of corn standing ungathered, such herds of cattle grazing at will ! It is a superb day, and the russet-brown raan tle in Avhich Nature arrays herself in the auturan never showed to better advantage ; but in all direc tions we see the prairies on fire. Farraers adopt this as the easiest raode of getting rid of the rank Aveeds and undergrowth, but it seeras a dangerous prac tice. They plough a strip some twenty to thirty feet in width around their houses, barns, hay-stacks, etc., and depend upon the flames not overleaping. Third night out, and we are less fatigued than at the beginning. Sunday, October 20. We have been passing through the grazing plains of Nebraska all day. Endless herds of cattle un trammelled by fences ; the landscape a brown sea as far as the eye can reach ; a rude hut seen now and then, for a shelter to the shep herds. No wonder we export beef, for it is fed here for nothing ; horses and cattle thrive on the rich grasses as if fed on oats ; no flies, no mosqui toes, nothing to disturb or annoy, while pellucid streams run through the ranches, so that good water is never wanting. There can be no question that our export trade is still in its infancy. The busi ness is now fully organized, and is subject to well- known rules. At Sherman we saw the large show bills of the Wycoming County Cattle Raisers' Asso ciation, offering heavy rewards for offenders against these rules, and the Cheyenne Herald is filled with advertisements of the various "marks" adopted by ROUND THE WORLD. 5 different owners. Large profits have been made in the trade — the best assurance that it will grow. We saAv nuraerous herds of antelope to-day, but they graze araong the cattle and are altogether too finely civilized to raeet our idea of " chasing the an telope over the plain;" one raight as well chase a sheep. As night approaches we get higher and higher up the far-famed Rocky Mountains, and be fore dark reach the highest point, at Sherman, eight thousand feet above tide. But our precon ceived notions of the Rocky Mountains, derived from pictures of Fremont a la Napoleon crossing the Alps, have received a rude shock ; we only clirab high plains — not a tree, nor a peak, nor a ra vine ; Avhen at the top we are but on level ground — a brown prairie ; " only this, and nothing more." Tuesday, October 22. Desolation ! In the great desert ! It extends to Mexico southward and to British Columbia in the north, and is five hundred miles in width. Rivers traverse it only to lose theraselves in its sands, no outlet for the water of this vast basin being known : the great Salt Lake itself slips aAvay and sinks into its own bed. What caverns raust exist below capa ble of receiving these waters ! and whither do they finally go ? At the station we begin to raeet a raixture of Chinese and Indians — Shoshones, Piutes, and Win- nemuccas. The Chinaraen are at work on the line, and appear to be very expert. At Ogden we get sorae honey grapes — the sweetest I ever tasted. It is raidnight until we are out of the desert. 6 ROUND THE WORLD. We are up early to see the Sierras. My first glimpse was of a ravine reserabling very rauch the AUeghany Gap below Bennington — going to bed in a desert and aAvaking to such a view was a delightful surprise indeed. We are now running down the western slope two hundred and twenty- five miles from San Francisco, with mines on both sides, and numerous flumes which tell of busy tiraes. HaUoa ! what's this ? Dutch Flat. Shades of Bret Harte, true child of genius, what a pity you ever forsook these scenes to dAvindle in the foreign air of the Atlantic coast ! A whispering pine of the Sierras transplanted to Fifth Avenue ! How could it grow ? Although it shows sorae faint signs of life, how sickly are the leaves ! As for fruit, there is none. America had in Bret Harte its raost distinctively national poet. His reputation in Europe proved his originality. The fact is, Araerican poets have been only English "with a difference." Tennyson raight have written the " Psalra of Life," Browning " Thanatopsis," but who could have Avritten "Her Letter/ ' or " Flynn of Virginia, " or " Jim , " or " Chi tiqua" ? An Araerican, flesh and bone, and none other. If the East would only discard him as Edin burgh society did his greater prototype, he might be forced to return to his " native heath" in pover ty, and rise again as the first truly Araerican poet. The weather is superb, the sky cloudless ; the train stops to allow us to see the celebrated Cape Horn ; the railroad skirts the edge of the raountain ; and we stand upon a precipice two thousand feet high, sraaUer mountains enclosing the plain below, and the American River running at our feet. It is very fine ROUND THE WORLD. 1 indeed, but the grandeur between Pack Saddle and San Francisco, with the exception of the entrance to Weber Canon and a few miles in the vicinity, is all here ; as a Avhole, the scenery on the Pacific Railroad is disappointing to one familiar with the AUeghanies. At Colfax, two hundred miles from San Francis co, Ave stop for breakfast and have our first experi ence of fresh California grapes and salmon, the for mer black Hamburgs not to be excelled by the best hot-house grapes of England, and what a bagful for a quarter ! We tried the native white wine at din ner, and found it a fair Sauterne. With such grapes and climate, it must surely be only a question of a few years before the true American wine makes its appearance, and then what shall we have to im port ? Silks and AvooUens are going, watches and jewelry have already gone, and in this con nection I think I may venture to say by-by to foreign iron and steel ; cotton goods went long ago. Now if Avines, and especially that creature of fash ion — champagne — should go, what shall we haA^e to tax ? What if Araerica, which has given to mankind so many political lessons, should be des tined to show a government living up to the very highest dictate of political economy, viz., supported by direct taxation ! No, there remain our horae products, whiskey and tobacco ; let us be satisfied to do the next best thing and make these pay the entire cost of government. The day is not far distant when out of these two so-called luxuiies we shall collect all our taxes ; and those virtuous citizens who use neither shall escape scot free. 8 ROUND THE WORLD. No greater contrast can be imagined than that from the barren desert to the fertile plains below : oleanders and geraniums greet us with their welcome smiles ; grapes, pears, peaches, all in profusion ; we are indeed in the Italy of America at last, and Sacra mento is reached by half-past ten. Since the great flood which alraost ruined it some years ago exten sive dykes have been built, walling in the city, which so far have proved a sufficient barrier against the rapid swellings of the Araerican River, that pours down its torrents frora the mountains ; but if Sacra mento be now secure against flood, she is certainly vulnerable to the attacks of the not less terrible de mon of fire. Such a mass of combustible raaterial piled together and called a city I never saAv: it is a tinder-box, and we are to hear of its destruction some of these days. Prepare for an extra, " Great fire in Sacramento; the city in ashes:" but then don't let us call it accidental. What a valley we rush through for the hundred railes which separate Sacraraento from San Fran cisco ! It is about sixty railes in width and as level as a bilUard-table. Here are the famous wheat fields : as far as the eye can reach on either side we see nothing but the golden straw standing, minus the heads of wheat which have been cut off, the StraAV being left to be subsequently burnt down as a fertiUzer. Fancy a Western prairie, sub stitute golden grain for corn, and you have be fore you the California harvest : for four hundred miles this vaUey extends, and it is wheat from one end to the other— nothing but wheat. Granted suffi cient rain at the rainy season— that is, from Novem- ROUND THE'- WORLD. 9 ber till February — and the husbandman seeks nothing more ; nature does all the rest, and a bountiful har vest is a certainty. In some years there is a scarcity of rain, but to provide against even this sole remain ing contingency the rivers have but to be properly used for purposes of irrigation ; with this done the Avheat crop of the Pacific coast will outstrip in value year after year all the gold and silver that can be mined. Douglas Jerrold 's famous saying applies to no other land so well as to this, for it indeed needs only " to be tickled with a hoe to smile with a harvest." We reach Oakland, the Jersey City of San Fran cisco, on time to the rainute ; the ferry-boat starts, and there lies before us the New York of the Pa cific, but instead of the bright sparkling city we had pictured, sinking to rest, its tall spires suffused with the glories of the setting sun, imagine our surprise when not even our own smoky Pitts burg could boast a denser canopy of smoke. Our friend who had so kindly met us upon arrival at Oakland tried to explain that this was not all smoke ; it was mostly fog, and a peculiar wind which soraetiraes had this effect, but we could scarcely be raistaken upon that point. No, no, Mr. O'Brien, you raay know all about " Frisco," the Chi nese, the raines, and the Yoseraite, but do allow rae to know soraething about sraoke. We reached our hotel, frora the seven days' trip, and after a bath and a good dinner with agreeable corapany, Ave were shown as much of the city as it was possible to see, until the " wee short hour ayant the twal." ROUND THE WORLD. Palace Hotel, San Francisco, / 3- ) Wednesday Evening, October 23. A palace truly ! Where shaU we find its equal ? Windsor Hotel, good-by ! we cannot help it, but you raust yield the palm to your Western rival. There is no hotel in the Avorld equal to this. The court of the Grand at Paris is poor compared to that of the Pal ace. Its general effect at night when brilUantly Ught ed is superb, its furniture, rooms, and appointraents are all fine, but then it tells you all over it is a tour de force. It was built to " whip all creation," and the raillions of its lucky owner enabled hira to tri uraph. It is as much in place as a Taj would be in SUgo ; but then your California operator, when he has made a "pile," goes in for a hotel, just as in New York one takes to a marble palace, or a grand railway depot, or in Cincinnati to a music hall, or in Pittsburg to building a church or another rolling raill. Every coramunity has its social idio syncrasies, but it struck us as rather an amusing coincidence that while we had recently greeted no less a man than Potter Palmer, Esq., behind the counter in Chicago as ' ' mine host of the garter, ' ' we should so soon have found ourselves in the keep ing of Senator Sharon, lessee of the Palace. These hotels don't impress one as being quite suitable mon uments for one who naturally considers his labors about over when he builds, as they are apt appar ently to prove rather lively for corafort to the own ers, and we have decided when our building tirae comes that it shall not be in the hotel line. We got to bed at last, but who could sleep after such a day, after such a week ? The want of raotion, the click. ROUND THE WORLD. ll click, click of the Avheels — our sweet lullaby apparent ly this had become — was wanting ; and then the tele grams from home, which bade us Godspeed, the warm, balmy air of Italy, when we had left winter be hind — all this drove sleep away ; and when drowsi ness came, what apparitions of Japanese, Chinese, In dians, elephants, camels, josses, dromedaries ! they came in endless procession. We were at the Golden Gate ; we had just reached the edge of the Pacific Ocean, and before us lay " The wealth of Ormus and of Ind Or where the barbaric East Scatters gorgeous pearls and gold." To every blink the livelong night there came this refrain, which seemed to close each scene of oriental magnificence that haunted the iraagina tion : " And our gude ship sails ye morn, And our gude ship sails ye morn." Do Avhat I would, the words of the old Scotch ballad would not down. Sleep ! who could sleep in such an hour ? Dead must be the man whose pulse beats not quicker, and whose enthusiasra is not en kindled when for the first time he is privileged to whisper to himself : The East ! the East ! " And our gude ship sails ye morn." Harbor of San Francisco, | Thursday, October 24, 1878. ) At last ! noon, 24th, and there she lies — the Bel gic — at her dock ! What a crowd ! but not of us ; eight hundred Chinaraen are to return to the FloAvery Land. One looks like another ; but how quiet they 12 ROUND THE WORLD. are ! are they happy ? overjoyed at being homeward bound ? We cannot judge. Those sphinx-like, cop per-colored faces tell us no tales. We had asked a question last night by telegraph, and here is the re ply brought to us on the deck. It ends with a ten der good-by. How near, and yet how far ! but even if the message had sought us out at the Antipodes, its power to warm the heart with the sense of the near presence and companionship of those we loA^e would only have been enhanced. In this we seem almost to have reached the dream of the seer, who tells us that thought brings presence, annihilating space in heaven. We start promptly at noon. Our ship is deeply laden with flour, which China needs in consequence of the famine prevailing in its northern provinces, not owing to a failure of the rice, as I had under stood, but of the millet, which is used by the poor instead of rice. Some writers estiraate that five raillions of people must die frora starvation before the next crop can be gathered, but this seeras in credible. And now America comes to the rescue, so that at this moraent, while frora its eastern shores it pours forth its inexhaustible stores to feed Europe, it sends frora the West of its surplus to the older races of the far East. Thus frora all sides, fabled Ceres as she is, she scatters to the world frora the horn of plenty. Favored land, raay you prove worthy of all your blessings ! For three hundred miles the Pacific is never pa cific : coast Avinds create a swell, and our two first nights at sea were trying to bad sailors, but the rao tion was to rae so soft after our long railway ride ROUND THE WORLD. 13 that I seemed to be resting on air cushions. It was more delightful to be awake and enjoy the sense of perfect rest than to sleep, tired as we were, so we lay literally " Rocked in the cradle of the rude imperious surge," and enjoyed it. The third day out we are beyond the influence of the coast, and begin our first experience of the Pacific Ocean. So far it is simply perfect : we are on the ideal sumraer sea. What hours for lovers, these superb nights ! they Avould develop rapidly, I'ra sure, under such skyey influences. The teraperature is genial, balm)' breezes bloAv, there is no feeling of chilliness ; the sea bathed in silver, glistens in the moonlight ; we sit under aAvnings and glide through the water. The loneliness of this great ocean I find very irapressive — so different frora the Atlantic pathway, we are so terribly alone, a speck in the universe ; the sky seeras to enclose us in a huge inverted bowl, and we are only groping about, as it were, to find a way out ; it is equidistant all around us ; nothing but clouds and water. But as we sail westward we have every night a magnificent picture. I have never seen such resplendent sunsets as these : we seera nightly to be just approaching the gates of En chanted Land ; through the clouds, in beautiful per spective, shine the gardens of the Hesperides, and Imagination readily creates fairy lands beyond, peo pled with sprites and fays. It is not so much the gorgeousness of the colors as their variety which gives these sunsets a character of their own ; one can find any thing he chooses in their infinite depths. 14 ROUND THE WORLD. Turner must have seen such in his mind's eye "1 never saw such sunsets as these you paint,' said the critic of his style. "No, don't you wish you could ?" was the reply. But I think even a pro saic critic would feel that these Pacific pictures have a spiritual sense beyond the letter, unless, indeed, he were Wordsworth's friend, to whora " A primrose by the river's brim A yellow primrose was to him. And it was nothing more." He, of course, is hopeless. Thursday, October 31. We have been a week at sea. Can it be only seven days since we waved adieu to bright eyes on the pier ? We begin to feel at horae on the ship. The passengers are noAv known to each other, and hereafter the days will slip by faster. 1 Avent down with the doctor and Vandy to see the China men to-day. What a sight ! Piled in narroAs^ cots three tiers deep, with passages between the roAvs scarcely wide enough for one to Avalk from end to end of the ship, these poor wretches lie in an atmos phere stifling to such a degree I had to rush up to the deck for air. So far three have died, and two have become crazy. My fooUsh curiosity has made the voyage less satisfactory, for I cannot forget the danger of disease breaking out among this horde, nor can I drive the yeUoAV, stupid-looking faces out of mind. The night of the day in which I had gone below Ave Avere playing a rubber of Avhist in the cabin Avhen the port-hole at my head was pushed open, and a voice in broken English shouted, " Cra- ROUND THE WORLD. 15 zee raanee, he makee firee, firee !" I jumped round and saw a Chinaraan. Such an expression — Shake speare alone has described it — " with a look of such purport as he had been loosed frora hell to speak of horrors. ' ' Fire ! that epitome of all that is appalling at sea, the danger each one instinctively dreads, but no one mentions. One ran one way and one another. The doctor (a real canny Scot, who sings " JNIy Nannie's awa" like Wilson) Avas over the rail and down the hold in a raoraent. I ran to Captain Meyer's room on the upper deck and roused him. He too Avas down and in the hold like a flash — braA'C felloAvs that they are, these "true British sailors." I waited the result, knowing that if fire had really started a general stampede of Chinamen would soon come frora the hatches, but all was still. How long these few raoments seeraed ! In a short time the Captain returned, looking like a ghost, in his night-clothes. One of the crazy men had broken loose from his chains, and the Chinamen were panic-stricken. The watchraan wanted the raost startling alarra, and found it, undoubtedly, in that word Fire. It is all over ; but when he next has to sound an alarm let him ' ' take any form but that. ' ' We havea reverend missionary and wife, with two young lady missionaries in embryo, who go out to begin their labors araong the Chinese. They are busily engaged learning the language, poor girls ! what a life they have before thera ! but apart from all question of its true usefulness, they have the grand thought to sustain thera, and ennoble their lives, that they go at the call of duty. We watch the Chinese eating, and laugh at the use of chop- i6 ROUND THE WORLD. sticks, but we forget that one reason why John Chi naman prides himself upon being at the pinnacle of civilization is that he does use these very chop-sticks. None of the other races in Asia, and until recently he knew no other, ever got beyond chop-sticks, the use of which they learnt frora China, while raost of thera don't even have them yet. As for us, our an cestors were using their fingers, barbarians as they were, when the Chinese had risen, centuries before, to the refinement of these sticks, while as to the fork, it is only about three hundred years old. Shake speare probably, Spencer certainly, had only a rude knife at his girdle to carve the half-raw flesh he bolted, the fingers being important auxiliaries. We must be modest upon this chop-stick question. It costs the ship eleven cents per day a head to feed these people, and this pays for a wholesome diet in great abundance, much beyond what they are ac customed to. While on the subject of the Chinaman I raay note that of course we did not get through California without hearing the Chinese problem warmly dis cussed. It is the burning question just now upon the Pacific coast, but it seems to me our Califor nians' fears are, as Colonel Diehl would put it, " slightly previous." There are only about 130,000 Chinese in America, and great numbers are re turning as the result of hard times, and I fear harder treatment. There is no indication that we are to be overrun by them, and until they change their reUgious ideas and corae to California to marry, settle, die, and be buried there, it is prepos terous to beUeve there is any thing in the agitation ROUND THE WORLD. 17 against them beyond the usual prejudice of the ig norant races next to thera in the social scale. I met the owner of a quicksilver raine, whose remarks shed a flood of light upon the raatter. The raine yields a lean ore, and did not pay when worked by white labor costing $2 to $2. 50 per day. He contracted with a Chinaraan to furnish 170 raen at one half of these rates. They work well, doing as rauch per man as the white man can do in this climate. He has no trouble with them — no fights, no sprees, no strikes. The difference in the cost enables him to work at a profit a raine which other wise would be idle ; and to such as talk against Chi nese labor in the neighborhood, he replies, "Very well, drive it off if you please, but the raine stops if you do." The benefit to the district of having a raine actively at work so far has ensured protection. This is the whole story. Our free Araerican citizen frora Tipperary, and the restless rowdy of home growth, find a rival beating thera in the race, and in stead of taking the lesson to heart and practising the virtues which cause the Chinaraan to excel, they raount the rostrura and proclaira that this is "a white raan's country," and " down with the niggers and the Heathen Chinee," and "three cheers for whiskey and a free fight !" Friday, November i. We saw flying-fishes to-day, for the first tirae. The Captain had been telling us as we approached the 30th degree of latitude that we should see these curiosities, and, sure enough, while standing on the bridge this raorning, looking toward the bow, I 1 8 ROUND THE WORLD. saw, three objects rise out of the water and fly from us. One seemed as large as a herring, the others were like humraing-birds. They have rauch larger wings than I had supposed, and shine brightly in the sun as they fly. We have on board a gentleraan connected Avith the Dutch Governraent, who visits their out-of-the-Avay possessions in the Malay Archipelago. He has been Avhere a Avhite raan never Avas before — -in the interior of New Guinea, and has seen strange things. He tells us that the birds of Paradise take seven years to develop. The first year male and female are alike, but year after year the male acquires brighter feathers, until it becoraes the superb bird we know. Sorae one reraarked that it is just the reverse Avith the birds of Paradise in raan's creation. Here our Ea^c puts on gayer plumage year after year until finally she develops into a still more superb bird, Avhile the male remains the same sober-suited bird he Avas at first ; but this Avas from a bachelor, I think. We are in a new world, sure enough. The tales are all of people and islands and birds we never heard of. Do you know, for instance, that such a potentate as the Sultan of Terantor exists ? and that, ambitious ruler that he is, he now claims tribute from the whole of NeAv Guinea ? Then, again, let me tell you the Sultan of Burnei gets $6000 per year tribute from SetAvanak, and, grasping tyrant that he is, demands more ; hence the Avars Avhich rage in that quarter of the globe. The Setwanaks have appealed to the " God of Battles," and are no doubt shouting on all hands that " Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God ;" and " Millions for defence, not a cent fortrib- ROUND THE WORLD. 19 "ute. " Look out for their forthcoraing declaration of independence ; and Avhy shouldn't they have their "Whereases" as Avell as your even Christian ? The Dutch have 35,000,000 under their SAvay in Java and the other Malay Islands, as many almost as the United States or Great Britain have Avithin their borders. The Avorld gets raost of its spices and its coffee from these people. So the Dutch are not to be credited only Avith having taken Holland, you see. I raentioned that three Chinaraen had already died ; another is reported gone to-day : all have to be embalmed, of course, and the doctor gets as his fee $12.50 for each corpse. He complained to me the other day that these people would not take his raedicines, and, Scotchraan-like, didn't see the point I raade — that they raight naturally hesitate to swalloAV the potions of one whose highest reward arose from a fatal result. The Heathen Chinee is not a fool. The coffins of the dead on the wheel-house begin to make quite a show ; they are covered with canvas, but one Avill soraetimes see the pile. Not one of these men could ever have been induced to leave his horae without satisfactory assurance that in case of death his remains would be brought home and care fully buried in the spot where he first drew breath. I remeraber reading in MacLeod's " Highland Par ish" that so strongly iraplanted is this sentiraent in the Highlanders that even a wife who marries out of her clan is brought home at her death and buried among her own kith and kin. I confess myself to a strange syrapathy with this feeling. It seems to agree with the eternal fitness of things, that where we first 20 ROUND THE WORLD. saw day we should rest after the race is run. Yes the old song is right. Wherever we wander in life's stormy ways May our paths lead to home ere the close of our days, And our evening of life in serenity close In the Isle where the bones of our Fathers repose. We have on board a member of Tiffany & Co., Mr. Maguaran, who roams the earth in search of "bright gems rich and rare," an unusually intelli gent man, who has been alraost everywhere and seen every thing. One can scarcely ask a ques tion upon art or literature to which he has not the answer. He has kindly shown rae "sorae things in waves" which I have always passed over before. Hereafter they will have a new in terest and a new beauty for rae. I now watch by the hour for sorae rare effect and colors to which I was before stone-blind. Sorae of the rarest jewels are rated by coraparison with the eraerald and aqua raarine colors shown by the pure waves of the ocean. Thanks, ray fellow traveller, for a new sense awakened. The albatross, which follow us in large nurabers, are a source of pleasure. These are not the sacred bird of the ancient mariner, but are of the sarae spe cies. They excel all other birds, I think, in power and gracefulness of flight. It is rather a glide than a fly, as they appear scarcely ever to flap their wings, but they sail on as it were " by the sole act of their unlorded will." No wonder such woe befell the ancient mariner through killing one. They are too grand to destroy. Last night I had a fine treat in seeing these birds gathering for the night ROUND THE WORLD. 21 upon the Avaters in the hollow of a deep wave. A dozen were already in the nest as our ship swept past, and others were coming from all directions every raoment to the fold ; probably thirty birds Avould thus nestle together through the long night in the middle of this waste of waters. 1 was glad for their sakes, poor wanderers, that their lonely lives Avere brightened at night by the companion ship of their fellows. Our second Sunday at sea. As I write the bell tolls for church. Our raissionary will have a sraall congregation — only twenty -two passengers, and the cabin can hold but few more. 1 trust he will be moved to speak to us, away in mid-ocean, of the great works of the unknown, the raighty deep, the universe, the stars, at which we nightly won der, and not drag us down to the level of dogmas we can know nothing of and about which we care less. The serraon is over. Pshaw ! He spent the raorning attempting to prove to us that the wine Christ made at the raarriage feast was not ferraented, as if it raat- tered, or as if this could ever be known, and I was in the mood to preach such a magnificent sermon myself, too, if 1 had had his place. No ; I shall never forgive him — never ! Monday, November 4. Our course is the southerly one, 5120 railes to Yokoharaa, some five hundred miles further than that of the great circle ; but for the increased dis tance Ave have full corapensation in the delightful weather and calra seas we experience. The water is about 72°, the air 73°, so that it is genial on deck. 2 2 ROUND THE WORLD. We are really in suramer weather — soraething so different frora Atlantic saiUng. I get accustomed to it with difficulty. Last night at ten o'clock we passed half Avay, ten days and eight hours out. The captain showed us his chart to-day, and it was reas suring to see that to-morrow Ave shall pass Avithin 120 miles of land — the Midway Islands. Upon one of this coral group the Pacific Mail Corapany has deposited 3000 tons of coal and a large amount of mess pork as a reserve supply should any steamer be disabled. We passed the Sandwich Islands, not more than 450 miles to the southward, Avhen one quarter of the way over, and the Bonian Islands occupy about the sarae relative position in our course to the eastAvard, so that the iraraense distance between San Francisco and Yokohama is finely provided for in case of acci dent. You have but to sail southward and find a port of refuge. Indeed, there is for the entire distance on this latitude a new strip of land under process of manufacture. A good chart shows islands dotting the South Pacific Ocean, all of coral forraation ; these raillions of toilers are hard at Avork, and it is only a question of tirae when our posterity Avill run by rail frora the Sandwich to the Philippine Islands, ahvays provided that the work of these little builders is not interfered Avith by forces Avhich destroy. Thus the grand, never-ending AVork of creation goes on cycle upon cycle : " The valleys filled up, and the moun tains made low." Gone, Noveraber 5th, 1878, a dies non, Avhich never was born. Lost, strayed, or stolen — a rare diadera, composed of twenty-four precious geras — sorae diaraond bright, some rubies rare, some jet ROUND THE WORLD. 23 as black as night. It Avas to have been displayed at raidnight to an admiring fcAV Avho nightly gaze upon the stars, but Avhen looked for it Avas nowhere to be found. A well-known party, familiarly known as Old Sol, is thought to be concerned in the matter, but chiefly is suspected a notorious thief who has stolen many precious jcAvels — Old Father Time. Oh, many an hour has that thief stolen, but this gobbUng up of a whole day and night at one fell swoop seems out of all reason ; yet he has done it ! We have no 5th of Noveraber. An amusing story is told of sorae clergymen returning to Araerica, in which case a day is gained, and it is necessary to have tAvo days of the sarae date instead of omitting one, as in our case. The line was crossed on Sun day, and the captain, never thinking, called out to the chief officer to make another Sunday to-raorrow. One of the clergyraen Avas Scotch, and Presbyterian at that. " Mak a Sawbath — mak the holy Saw- bath ; ma conscience !" The order had been given, however, and tAvo Sundays were observed ; but our scandalized friend could ncA'er be reconciled to the captain who had presumed to have a holy Sabbath of his ' ' ain making. ' ' Thursday, November 7. These nights were not raade for sleep, nor these days either, for that raatter ; but of all the nights 1 have ever seen I think this one excels. The raoon is overhead and at the full, casting her mellow light around, suffusing Avith a soft glory the heavens above, and lending to the dancing, foaming waves a silvery shiraraer. Jupiter is on the Avestern hori- 24 ROUND THE WORLD. zon, fading out of sight, but how lustrous ! Lyra, Arcturus, Aldebaran seem of gigantic size. All sails are set, and a fair, balray wind from the sweet south raakes the Belgic ghde through the rushing waters. We are only twenty railes frora the Morrell Islands. Hoav 1 long for a deckful of ray friends to exult with rae in this deUght ! Nothing but Byron's lines will do it justice. They are too long to quote here, but here are four lines, which I raust repeat : " For the night hath been to me a more familiar face Than that of man, And in her dim and solitary loveliness I have learned The language of another world." One does feel in such raoraents, when beauty and subliraity are so overpoweringly displayed, that there are worlds and life beyond our ken. Friday, November 8. I knew I went to bed soraetirae early this morn ing, but reading last night's effusion in the cold, sober light of day, it strikes rae I must have been rather enthusiastic. However, as I intend these notes to be an honest record of my feelings, I shall not attempt to modify the outburst. I know I recited poetry all the evening as I trod the deck, and there fore Avas in the mood for any thing. The captain told me to-night he had, in all his voyages of this season, never had one so fine as this. Of course he hadn't. Just our luck, you see. He never had one who enjoyed a trip more — that he is free to confess, I fairly revel in the sea, and pity poor Vandy, who is never quite up to the mark on shipboard. Some far-aAvay ancestor, sorae good Scotch " deil raa ROUND THE WORLD. 25 care, ' ' who took to smuggling instead of the more fashionable occupation of cattle-stealing, for most of the carles " Found the meat that made their broth In England and in Scotland both," must have implanted in the Carnegies the instinct of the salmon for the sea. 1 should have been a sailor bold, and sailed the "sawt sawt faeme," a pirate Avith a pirate's bride captured vi et armis, and all the rest of it. I am up late again to-night, but, fortunately, there wasn't a soul on deck to hear rae trying to sing " Up, up, with the flag, let it wave o'er the sea, I'm afloat, I'm afloat, and the Rover is free." The officer on the bridge halloaed to rae once, and asked if I wanted any thing, but I forgave him. He could only hear my roaring at his distance ; had I been nearer, the melody would no doubt have reached his ears, and he would have known I was singing a tune. Still I thought it politic to affect not having heard hira, and quietly stepped down to bed. I shall avoid friend Ryan in the morning, as it would be embarrassing to be asked, especially before the young ladies, who or what I was howling at last night ; sorae people have no tact, and he raight be one of these, and fail to coraprehend. With the ex ception of the officers, our crew, sailors, stewards, and all, are Chinese, and in aU and each of these ca pacities they excel. They stand the heat of the fur naces better than any other class, and as stewards are models. 26 ROUND THE WORLD. Sunday, November ro. Our third Sunday at sea. The past Aveek has been unbroken sunshine, raoonlight, and sraooth seas. So far not a ship has been seen. 1 have read carefully eleven of Shakespeare's plays dur ing the spare hours of the voyage, and have en joyed those most Avith which I was least familiar, while some passages in even the best known 1 Avon- der greatly at not having long ere this coraraitted to raeraory, to live there Avith the rest, and corae at ray call to minister to me. They are such gems. I have them now, and feel as if I have made new friends, whose angel visits will do rae good in days and nights to come. Byron affected to disparage the master, but I note tAvo other gems, besides many I kncAv of before, for which he stands indebted. His celebrated line in " Mazeppa," " I thought 'tAVOuld never dapple into grey," is frora " Two Gentleraen of Verona," andthe " Bright, particular star" frora " AU's WeU that Ends WeU." But of course I do not intend any reflection upon Byron. Such was, and is, the aU-pervading transcendent nature of Shakespeare's genius ; it was, and is, and shall be for ages yet to come, simply impossible for any Avriter to avoid draAving from that fountain, for every thing has his "environment," and Shakespeare is the euAdronment of all English-speaking raen. Wednesday, November 13. Four hundred and fifty railes from land ! To day Ave have had the only taste of Neptune's power he has favored us with : it began to blow at mid night, and to-day we have a grand sea. 1 have just ROUND THE WORLD. 27 come frora the deck after witnessing the Pacific in its fury, and no one would believe that one ocean could differ as much from another as this does from the Atlantic. The Avaves here move in immense raasses. It is an acre of water in raotion, as one solid lump, instead of a few feet square dashed into foam. ' ' What care these roarers for the narae of king ? " 1 have no ticed that even in the sraaUest waves cast aside by the ship, forraations are different frora those of other seas. It is raidnight, and we are only 125 railes from Japan. Not a passenger except myself on deck, but I cannot sleep. Vandy would be with me, I know, poor fel low, were he able to crawl, but the storra has set tled hira for the present. How strange that none feel sufficient interest to stay awake and watch with me ! They would be araply repaid. The phos phorescent sea shows forth its wonders now^ — not alone in the rayriads of small stars of light, which please you in the Atlantic, but at every turn of the foam dashed frora the bow and sides of the ship raasses of glittering phosphorescence as large as ray travelling cap. What creatures these must be which can emit light in such clusters ! I leave the deck Avith the cheery " All's well" ringing in my ears as the ship dances before the wind which brings to a close our long flight across the Pacific. How we have longed for this last night, and yet how often in after life are we to sigh for a return to the glorious nights Ave have lived at sea ! Where we have " Mingled with the universe to. feel What we can ne'er express, Nor cannot all conceal." Good-night, ray band of dear, dear friends, now 2 8 ROUND THE WORLD. in the midst of your daily toil, for it is yet day with you, racking your brains that the hoUday wanderer may revel as he is now doing. In the earnest hope that the day may not be far distant when to you may corae sirailar enjoyment when he is the toiler, he goes at last to bed. Friday, November 15. Land ahoy ! The islands of Japan are in sight, and the entrance to the bay is reached at 4 P.M. The sail up this bay is never to be forgotten. The sun set as we entered, and then came such a sky as Italy cannot rival. 1 have seen it pictured as delug ing Egypt with its glory, but this we have yet to see. Fusiyama itself shone forth under its rays, its very surarait clear, 13,000 feet above us. The clouds in large raasses lay east and west of the peak, but cower ing far below, as if not one speck dared to rise to its crown. It stood alone in solitary grandeur, by far the raost impressive mountain I have yet seen, for mountains, as a rule, are disappointing, the height being generally attained by graduations. It is only to Fusiyaraa, and such as it, that rise alone in one unbroken cone, that one can apply Schiller's grand line, " Ye are the things which tower." Fusiyaraa towers beyond any crag or peak I knoAV of ; and I do not wonder that in early days the Japanese located the home of their gods upon its crest. It Avas nine o'clock when the anchor dropped, and in a fcAv min utes after small boats crowded alongside to take us ashore. Until you are roAved in a " sampan" in style, never flatter yourself you have known the gro tesque in the way of transportation. Fancy a large ROUND THE WORLD. 29 wide canoe, Avith a small cabin in the stern, the deck in front lower than the sides, and on this four crea tures, resembling nothing on earth so much as the demons in the Black Crook, minus most of the cov ering ; they stand tAvo on each side, but not in a line, and each works a long oar scull-fashion, emitting at CA'ery stroke such shouts as never Avere heard be fore ; the last one steers as Avell as sculls Avith his oar, and thus we go propelled by these yelling devils, who apparently work theraselves into states of fearful excitement. We land finally, and pass the Custom House Avithout exaraination, and with sea-legs which are far frora steady. We reach our hotel. A bite of supper — but what fearful creatures again to bow and wait on us ! More deraons. We laugh every min ute at some funny performance, and wonder where Ave can be ; but how surprisingly good every thing is we eat or drink on land after twenty -two days at sea ! Tuesday, November 19. , We have been three days in Japan, and all we can tell you is that we are powerless to convey raore than the faintest idea of that which raeets us at every turn. Had we to return to-morrow, we should still feel that we had been fully compensated for our journey. As you know, we have seen raost of what Europe has to show of the strange and novel ; but a few hours' stroll in Yokohama or Tokio has re vealed to us raore of the unexpected than all we ever saw in Europe. No country I have visited till now proved to be as strange as I had iraagined it ; the contrary obtains here. All is so far beyond what 1 3 30 ROUND THE WORLD. had pictured it that I ara constantly regretting so few of you will probably ever visit Japan to see and enjoy for yourselves. Let me try to describe a Avalk. We are at the hotel door, having received the repeated boAvs, almost to the ground, of nuraer ous demons. A dozen big fellows rush up, each in his " ginrikshaw" as a cab-horse, and invite us to enter, just as cabmen do elscAvhere. But look at their costume, or shall I rather say want of costume } No shoes, unless a raat of straAV secured Avith straAV strings twisted around and between the big toe and the next one may be called a shoe ; legs and body bare, except a narroAv strip of rag around the loins, and such a hat ! it is either of sorae dark materi al, as big as the head of a barrel (I do not exagger ate), to shelter them from the sun or rain, or a light straw flat of equal size. These are the Bettoes, who will run and draw you eighteen miles in three hours and a quarter, this being the distance and time by "ginrikshaw" to Tokio. We decline to enter, and walk on. What is this ? The first man on stilts — such are his shoes, coraposed of a flat board about a quarter of an inch thick, on which the foot rests, underneath which two pieces of similar board run crosswise about three inches apart and about four inches in height ; on the edges of these cross-pieces he struts along. A second has solid Avooden pieces of equal height, a third has' flat straAv shoes, a fourth has none. Look out behind ! What is this noise ? " Hulda, hulda, hulda !" shouted in our ears. We look around, and four cooUes, as naked as Adam, one at each corner of a four-wheel truck, pushing a load of iron and relieving themselves at every step ROUND THE WORLD. 31 by those unearthly groans. Never have we seen that indispensable coramodity transported in that fashion before. But look there ! I lere coraes a fish monger Avith a basket sAvinging on each end of a bamboo pole, carried over the shoulder — all single loads are so carried — and there goes a water- carrier, carrying his stoups in the same raanner, Avhile over his shoulders he has flung a coat that would make the reputation of a clown in the cir cus. The dress of the women is not so varied, but their painted lips and Avhitened necks, and, in the case of the married woraen, their blackened teeth, afford us rauch cause for staring, although I cannot bear to look for one instant upon these hideous-look ing wretches when they smile ; I have to turn my eyes away. How woraen can be induced to raake such disgusting frights of themselves I cannot con ceive, but fashion — fashion does any thing. The ap pearance of the children is comical in the extreme. They are so thickly padded with dress upon dress as to give them the look of httle fat Esquimaux. The women invariably carry them on their backs, Indian-fashion. Here are two Japs meeting in the middle of the street. They bow three tiraes, each inclination lower and raore profound than the preced ing one, infinite care being taken to drop the proper nuraber of inches befitting their respective ranks. They then shake their own hands in token of their joy, and so on we go. We are now in the region of the shops. These are sraall booths, and squat on the floor sit four or five raen and women around a brazier, warming their hands while they sraoke. All the shops are of wood, but a small part is con- 32 ROUND THE WORLD. Structed of mud, and is said to be fire-proof. In this the valuables are instantly thrown when one of the very frequent fires occur. The floors are mat ted, and kept scrupulously clean. No one thinks of entering without first taking his shoes off. The shop floors are raised about eighteen inches above the street, and on the edges purchasers sit sideways and make their bargains. The entire street is a pave raent, as no horses are to be provided for. We visited the tea factories at Yokoharaa, Japan having of late years become an exporter of tea to Araerica. Last year no less than 5000 tons were shipped. Tea when first gathered is tasteless, but after being exposed to the sun it ferraents like hay. It is then curled, twisted, baked, and brought to the dealers, who again pick it carefully over and roll it into the forra in which it reaches us. We saw raany hundreds of woraen and girls in the establishment of Messrs. Walsh, Hall & Co., rolUng rapidly about with their hands a quantity of the leaves in large round pots under which a small charcoal fire was burning. And now, for the benefit of my lady friends, let me explain that the difference between black and green tea is simply this : the former is allowed to cure or ferment in the sun about fifty rainutes longer than the latter, and during this extra fifty rainutes certain elements pass off Avhich are thought to affect the nervous system, hence green tea has a greater effect upon weak nerves than the black, but you see the same leaf makes either kind as the owner elects. But here coraes in a strange prejudice. Green tea of the natural color could not be sold in the Ameri can market. No, Ave insist upon having a " pret- ROUND THE WORLD. 33 tier green," and Ave are accoraraodated, of course. What is a dealer to do but raeet the iraperious de mands of his patrons ? This is obtained by adulter ating the pure tea with a mixture of indigo and gyp sum, Avhich the most conscientious dealers are cora pelled to do. But we saw in one case Prussian blue used — this, however, was not in Messrs. Walsh, Hall & Co.'s — which is a rank poison, and I Avas told of ultraraarine being sometimes resorted to, a poi son still more deadly. These raore pernicious sub stances produce even a "prettier green" than the indigo and gypsura, and secure the preference of ig norant people. Moral— Stick to black tea and escape poison. For all of which inforraation, and raany kind attentions, I have to thank Mr. Walsh, our banker. One hears very often during the night in Japan a long, plaintive kind of whistle, which, upon inquiry, I found proceeded from blind men or woraen, call ed sharapooers, who are employed to rub or pinch those suffering from pain, and who cure restlessness by the same means. It is a favorite cure of the Japa nese, and some foreigners tell us they have called them in with success. I suppose, this climate being productive of rheumatism and kindred pains, the people are prone to fly to any thing that secures tem porary relief ; but it is a new idea, this, of being pinched to sleep. We live finely at the hotels here. Japan abounds in fish and game in great variety. Woodcock, snipe, hares, and venison are cheap, and all of excellent quality. The beef and rautton are also good, as are the vegetables. Turnips and carrots are enormous, owing, I suppose, to the 34 ROUND THE WORLD. depth and fineness of the soil. The forraer grow long like the latter. Vandy raeasured some of each, and reports : " Turnips, eighteen inches, and beau tifully white ; carrots, tAventy inches, and splendid." Wednesday, November 20. We started this morning from Yokohama for To kio, the great city of the Empire, which contains 1,030,000 inhabitants, according to a census taken last year. Until within a few years past Japan had two rulers — the Mikado, or spiritual, and the Tycoon, or secular ruler ; the seat of the former Avas at Kioto, a fine city near the centre of the island, Avhile the Ty coon resided at Tokio, or Yeddo, as it Avas then called. Many of the Tycoons married daughters of the Mi kado, so that the temporal and spiritual poAvers Avere connected. The Mikado was invisible, being the veritable veiled prophet, none but a privileged fcAv being ever permitted to gaze upon his divine person. A few years ago it was decided to combine the tAvo powers, and make Yeddo the only capital. The Mikado was carried to Yeddo closely veiled in triumphal procession, and the vast crowds asserabled at every point to see the cavalcade prostrated thera selves, and remained Avith eyes bent upon the ground as the sacred car approached. An eye witness describing the entry into Tokio says that few dared to look up as the Presence passed. Late ly, the same Mikado has made a royal progress through the country, meeting the principal raen in each district, and travelling, in view of the entire population, so rapidly have matters changed in Japan. When the Mikado was elevated to supreme ROUND THE WORLD. 35 poAver the feudal system Avhich had existed up to that time Avas abolished, and we see no more of the Samuri, or two-SAvorded men, or of the Daimios, the petty princes Avho formerly promenaded the streets in gorgeous dresses, accompanied by their railitary retainers. Instead of this we have now the soldiers, sailors, policemen, and all the offi cial classes dressed in European style. It is the reigning fashion to be European, and even furniture after our patterns is coraing into use. It is the same Avith the food. The hotel Avhere Ave are rejoices in a French cook, expressly imported, and every night Ave have parties of Avealthy Japanese dining at this Tokio Delmonico's. Last night we had a party of the raost celebrated actors enjoying a dinner upon the successful completion of a neAv piece which had enjoyed a great run. I amused myself, trying to se lect the Montagu, Gilbert, Becket, and Booth of the party, and succeeded well, as I afterwards heard. Actors are held in estimation here in the city, and these attracted great attention as they dined. Matters are much as with us, I fancy. Our inter preter, in his broken English, told us in regard to the tAvo young lovers, " Very high thought by much high ladies — oh, very high !" 1 do not think Euro pean dress improves the appearance of the Japanese gentleraen : they are very short, and, I regret to re port it, generally quite crooked in the legs, and their OAvn flowing costumes render thera dignified and graceful. We were fortunate in having as shipmates Cap tain Totaki, ofthe naA^y, and a young lady, Mdlle. Rio, who had been in Araerica for some years, and 36 ROUND THE WORLD. had acquired an English education. They were ex cessively kind to us during our entire stay, and rauch of the pleasure derived is due to thera. The Captain gave us an entertainraent at a fashionable tea-house one evening, and it was here we Avere in troduced to the celebrated singing and dancing girls of Japan, of which all have heard. We were shoAvn into a large room, the floor of which Avas covered with baraboo raatting laid upon sorae soft substance. Of course our shoes were laid aside at the door of the house. , There were neither chairs nor furniture of any kind, but subsequently chairs were found for us. The salutations on the part of the numerous women servants were most profound, each prostrating herself to the floor, and touching the raat with her forehead every time she entered or left the apartraent. Velvet raats were carried into the room by a servant, and placed around a brazier of charcoal. In a few minutes servant after ser vant enters, prostrating herself to the ground, and places before us some Japanese delicacy. One serves soup in small lacquer bowls, another fish, a third cakes, a fourth tea in very tiny cups, and others various things, and finally saki, the wine of the country, is produced, Avhich is served in small cups as the tea is. Then come the girls. Seven ap proach, each carrying a rausical instrument of queer construction ; these bow profoundly, but 1 noticed did not touch the mat with their foreheads, their rank being so much superior to that of the servants, and begin to play and sing. No entertainment is coraplete Avithout a troup of these Gahazi girls, and such en tertainments form about the only kind of social ROUND THE WORLD. 37 arauseraent the Japanese have. And now for the rau sic. Please understand that the Japanese scale is not like ours, and nothing like melody to our ears can be produced by it. They have a full tone be tween each first and second note, and a semi-tone between each third and fourth, and yet the sarae feelings are awakened in them by their music as in us by ours, so that harmony itself is siraply a raatter of education after all, and the glorious 5th Symphony itself, " My Nannie's Awa" or " Scots wha hae," played or sung as I have heard them, would convey no raore raeaning to these people than so rauch rat tling of cross-bones ; but imagine the 5th Symphony on any scale but ours. I cannot reconcile myself to the idea that we have not the only scale for such a therae, but one has to learn that there are different Avays for every thing. Owing to the change of scale, I suppose I missed the sentiment of every piece performed. When I thought they were giv ing us a wail for the dead it turned out to be a warra Avelcome, and an assurance on the part of those pretty maidens of their happiness in being perraitted the great honor of perforraing before such iUustrious visitors. Our companion, Mdlle. Rio, took one ot the instruments and played and sang a piece for us, but I was not more fortunate in my guess with her. It was a wedding chorus, Avhich I was willing to wager Avas the Japanese " Miserere," but this error may have its significance after all. To us, in short, the music was execrable. A falsetto, and a grinding, sing-song falsetto at that — the raost disagreeable sound 1 ever heard in music — is very comraon, and highly esteeraed. The instruraents resemble banjos. 38 ROUND THE WORLD. and there is a harsh kind of drum accompaniraent ; but there is one larger string instruraent, the Japan ese piano, upon Avhich much older women play, the younger girls not being sufficiently skilled to per form upon it. After a fcAv songs had been sung several of the girls laid down their banjos, and after obeisance prepared to dance. Instead of being a sprightly performance to lively rausic, "first ae caper syne anither," Japanese dancing is a very stately and measured performance, the body instead of the feet being most brought into requisition. With the aid of the indispensable fan the girls succeed in depicting raany different eraotiohs, and all Avith exquisite grace. It is the very poetry of motion. Each dance illustrates a story, and is as Avell known by name as is the " Highland Fling" or the " Sailor's Hornpipe." Piere there was no dif ficulty in following the story. Unlike music, acting is a universal language, and in its domain ' ' one touch of nature makes the Avhole world kin." There are no different scales for the expression of feeling. Love in sorae of its raanifold forras, as was to have been expected, is the theme of most of these dan cers. I redeemed my reputation here as a guesser, I think. I could give a very fair report to Mdlle. Rio of most that took place in the dances, and we enjoyed this portion of the entertainment highly. How stupid our people must appear to a Japanese, whirling round a room until fatigued or dizzy, all for the fun of the thing ! The dresses of the girls were of the richest and most fashionable description, and their raanners those of high-born Avomen. In deed, they set the fashions, and are educated and ac- ROUND THE WORLD. 39 complished beyond their sex. The parents educate them at great expense, and certain girls are sent for just as we would engage a band for our parties. They are highly respectable as a class, invariably reside with their parents, and we Avere told often make highly favorable marriages. The contrast be tween thera and their less accomplished sisters is so great as to strike even us, who have been here only a few days, and must be held ignorant of style. The most Avonderful sights of Tokio are the tem ples and the faraous tombs of the Tycoons. There is a great degree of similarity in the latter, but that of the Sixth Tycoon, at Shibba, is by far the most magnificent. It has been rendered familiar by pho tographs and engravings, and at any rate no de scription Avould convey a just idea of it. It is gor geous beyond iraagination in color, and the extreme delicacy of the gold is surprising. Upon this tomb there is found the finest known specimens of the old lacquer, but these tombs, as Avell as the temples, failed totally to irapress rae Avith any feeling akin to reverence ; indeed, nothing in Japan seeras calcu lated to do so — the odor of the toyshop pervades everything, even their temples. As for their religious belief, it is hard to tell Avhat it is, or Avhether they have any ; one thing is sure, the educated classes have discarded the faith of the multitude, if they ever really entertained it, and no longer worship the gods of old. The ignorant classes, however, are seen pouring into the teraples with their modest offerings, and asking for prayers in their behalf. As in Catholic countries sorae shrines are esteera ed beyond others. The Temple of the Foxes is the 40 ROUND THE WORLD. most popular in the Erapire. We found there statues of Master Reynard in various postures adorning the temple. His votaries are nuraerous, for the sagacit)- of the fox has passed into a proverb, and these people hope by prayers and gifts to move the fox-god to be stow upon them the shrewdness of the symbol. The fox raay be justly rated as the most successful preach er in Japan : he draws better than any other, and his congregation is the greatest in nurabers, but he has a rival not Avithout pretensions in the favorite god dess ' ' Eraraa. ' ' We found her to be a large, very fat woman, sitting in Japanese style, and surrounded by images of children. Babies cluster like cherubs around the principal figure, while an attendant sells ugly painted ones made out of clay for a cent apiece, many of Avhich had been placed by worshippers be fore the goddess. As we approached, a young woman— raarried, for her teeth were black, and re spectably but not richly dressed — was on her knees before the goddess so earnestly engaged in prayer ' that she seeraed wholly unconscious of our presence. There was no mistaking that this was sincere devo tion, a lifting up of the soul to sorae power considered higher than itself. I becarae raost anxious to know what sorrow could so raove her, and our interpreter afterAvards told us that she asked but one gift from the goddess. It was the prayer of old that a man- child should be born to her ; and, poor Avoraan ! Avhen one knows what her life raust be in this coun try should this prayer remain unanswered, it sad dens one to think of it. A living death, another installed in her place ! All that woman holds dear trembling in the balance. How I pitied her ! 1 ROUND THE WORLD. 4' also saAv men praying before other idols and work ing theraselves into states of frenzy. Indeed 1 saAv so rauch in the teraples to raake me unhappy that I wished I had never visited one of them. It gives one such desponding hopes of our race, of its present and of its future, when so many are so bound down to the lowest form of superstition. At one of the principal Shinto temples I saw the sacred dance Avith Avhich that great god is propitiated. In a small booth two stories high, which stands in front of the temple, a small stage is erected upon Avhich sit three old priests. One beats a drura, the second plays a flute, Avhile the third tunes a guitar. To this music a A'ery pretty young daughter of a priest, gorgeously arrayed in sacred robes, postures with a fan, keeping time to the music. This is all. But, like the tom-tom beating of the Buddhist Avhich we heard at the same raoraent from an oppo site temple, the dance is thought to dispose the gods to receive favorably the gifts and prayers of the devotees. We saAv at the same temple a large wooden figure Avhich is reputed able to cure all manner of diseases. So'much and so hard had this figure been rubbed by the poor sufferers that the nose is no longer there ; the face iS literally rubbed smooth. The ears are gone, and it is only a question of time Avhen al] traces of human forra will have vanished. Japan is being rapidly civilized. There is at pres ent a cry for representative governraent, and one need not be surprised to hear by and by of the Parlia ment of Japan. They are building war-ships at the arsenal, which are not only constructed but de signed by native genius. A standing army of about 42 ROUND THE WORLD. 50,000 men is maintained. Gas has been introduced in some places, and railroads and telegraphs are in operation ; and, not to be behind their neighbors, a pubUc debt and irredeemable currency (based upon the property of the nation of course) have been created. The currency is now at 22 per cent dis count as compared with gold, and further de preciation is ' apprehended. NotAvithstanding its wide " base" — in short, our greenbackers' " base" — it doesn't seera to Avork here any better than at horae. Saturday, November 23. Vandy and 1 Avalked to-day through the principal street of Tokio frora end to end, a distance of three railes. It is a fine, broad avenue, croAvded Avith people and vehicles drawn or pushed by raen, and there is also a line of small one-horse Avagons run ning as omnibuses on the street — a novel feature, and unknown anywhere else in the Empire. Our appearance attracted crowds to such an extent, Avhen ever we stopped at a shop, that the police had to come up and drive the gazers aAvay. The city is built upon a plain, and supplied Avith Avater only by Avells. Fires are of frequent occurrence. Japanese cities are piles of such combustible raaterial, I Avonder they exist at all. But this is possible, because fires in houses are so little used — only a brazier of charcoal noAv and then for cooking purposes ; and as raost of the people eat at cook-shops, there is never any fire at all in raany of the houses. Long ladders are erected as fire-toAvers, and upon these Avatchraen sit through the night to give the alarm. It is only by tearing down or blowing up surrounding houses ROUND THE WORLD. 43 that the progress of a fire can generally be stayed. There is no such thing as insurance in Japan, the risks being rauch too great. The Japanese go to the theatre early in the raorn ing and remain until five o'clock in the evening. Doors open at five a.m., but the rich classes do not appear before six or seven o'clock, at which hour the performance begins. Breakfast is served in the theatre about noon. The audience smokes, eats, sips tea, and enjoys itself as it chooses. No seats are provided, but a small mat is put doAvn for each person as he enters, and also a small box filled Avith sand, in the middle of Avhich are tAvo small pieces of lighted charcoal, at which pipes are lighted ; and, be it remerabered, ladies as well as gentlemen invariably sraoke in Japan. Every one carries a sraall pipe with a long stera, and a tobacco-pouch attached to it. At short intervals a little tobacco is put into the pipe — just enough to give tAvo whiffs of smoke — after which tbe tobacco is knocked out and the pipe again replenished. In no case have I ever seen more than two whiffs taken at one time. Even young ladies smoke in this manner, and to one who detests to bacco, as I instinctively do, it may be imagined this habit did not add to their attractiveness. A SAveet- heart who defiled her lips Avith tobacco ! " WhcAV !" Neither is it considered disrespectful in any degree to begin smoking in the presence of others : deferen tial as our servant is, or as the singing girls Avere, Avhen at leisure they lighted their pipes as a matter of course, wholly unconscious that they were taking liberty. The raarriage cereraony differs greatly frora ours. 44 ROUND THE WORLD. as the priests have nothing to do with it, nor is any religious cereraony adopted. The parents of a young raan, when he is about twenty years of age, select a proper wife for him, and manage the whole affair. They write to the young lady's parents, and if the match is a satisfactory one to them, writings are ex changed between the parents of the young couple, the day is appointed, and the bride and groom drink saki from the same cup ; feasting and rejoicings fol- loAv, sometimes continued for several days if the par ents are Avealthy, and the marriage is consummated. In all cases the bride goes to reside with the hus band's parents, to whom rauch raore than to the hus band it is necessary she should continue to be satis factory. Very often three generations live together, and an araount of deference is paid to the oldest such as we have no conception of. I have referred to the custom of blacking the teeth by raarried Avoraen, the raost revolting practice I have yet seen. I have been in the houses of fine people here, and seen woraen, otherwise fine-looking, who had only to open their lips to convert themselves into objects of disgust. I rejoice, therefore, to know that the fashion is set ting in against this abomination, and that some of the more recent brides have refused to conforra to it. One readily gets used to any thing, earthquakes in cluded, and Japan has raany of these unruly visitors. One night we had three shocks at Tokio, one suffi ciently strong to wake rae frora sleep. My bed shook violently, and the house threatened to fall upon us. The same night we had a large fire in the city, and a hundred shrill, tinkUng bells, Uke so many cows in the woods, were rung to give the alarm. ROUND THE WORLD. 45 The clapping of the night watchmen about our street assured me, however, that it was all right with us, and I lay still. The night watchmen here use two small square pieces of hard wood which they strike constantly against each other as they go the rounds as their " AU's weU" signal ; but I think strangers, as a rule, fail to appreciate the point in being aAvakened every now and then siraply to be assured that there is not the slightest occasion for their being awake at all. Monday, November 25. To-day we took a sraall stearaer and visited the arsenal upon the invitation of our friend. Captain Totaki, MdUe. Rio being of the party. It is finely situated on the bay about fifteen miles below Yoko hama, and is quite extensive, having good shops filled with modern tools. Several ships have already been built here, and two men-of-war are now upon the stocks, another evidence of so-called civili zation. Japan, you see, is arabitious. All the officials, foremen, and mechanics, are natives, and these have proved their ability in every department. The wages paid surprise us. All branches are about upon an equality. Painters, moulders, blacksmiths, carpenters, machinists, all get the sarae corapensa tion — from 25 to 40 cents per day, according to their respective value as workraen ; coramon labor, 18 cents outside ; shop labor, inside, 25 cents ; foreman of department, $80 per month. Work, nine hours per day, every tenth day being a day of rest corre sponding to our Sunday. In addition to the tAvo men-of-war under construction, the machinery for 4 46 ROUND THE WORLD. which is all designed and manufactured here, the Eraperor is having built a large side-wheel yacht, which promises to be raagnificent. The Captain being high in comraand, and this being his first visit to the arsenal since his return from a tour round the world, he was received by the officials with manifestations of delight. We had an other opportunity of seeing the bowing practice in its fullest developraent. The various foremen as they approached bowed three times alraost to the very ground, and in sorae cases they went first upon their knees and struck the floor three tiraes with their foreheads. We were afterwards informed that only a few years ago these would have added to the obeisance by extending the arras to their full length and placing the palms of the hands flat upon the ground ; now this is omitted, and I have no doubt, as intelligence spreads, there will be less and less of this deference shown. But up to this date it may safely be said Japan is in the condition of Sir Per tinax MacSycophant, who, it will be remerabered, adraitted that his success carae from " booing." " He never could stand strecht in the presence of a great man ;" no raore can the Japanese. My writing has just been interrupted by another earthquake shock. My chair began to trerable, then the house ; I could not write, and, looking up, I saw Vandy standing in araazement. For a few mo ments it seeraed as if we were rocking to pieces, and that the end of all things had come. I shall never forget the sensation. The motion of a ship rolling at sea transferred to land, where you have the solid earth and heavy stone walls surrounding- ROUND THE WORLD. 47 and threatening to fall upon you, is far frora agree able ; but it passed away, and old Mother Earth became steady once raore. The way to buy in Japan is not by visiting the shops for there nothing is displayed, and a stranger has infinite difficulty in learning where certain articles are to be found ; but just intiraate to your " boy" what you wish, and at your door in a fcAV rainutes stand not one or two raerchants, but five or six, all bowing as you pass in or out, and awaiting raaster's pleasure to examine their wares. They leave any articles you may wish to decide upon, and the result is one's rooms become perfect bazaars. The raost unpleasant feature con nected with purchasing is that every thing is a matter of bargain. A price is named, and you are expected to make an offer. Vandy is a great success at this garae, and seems to enjoy it. I am strictly prohibited from interfering, and so escape all trouble. Wednesday, November 27. We sail to-day for Shanghai, leaving Yokohama with sincere regret ; nor shall we soon forget the good, kind faces of those who have done so much to make our visit to Japan an agreeable one. Had it been possible to remain until Saturday I should have been greatly terapted to do so to accept an invita tion received to respond to a toast at St. Andrew's banquet. It would surely have stirred rae to hold forth on Scotland's glory to my fellow-country men in Japan, but this had to be foregone. At Kiobe the stearaer lay for tAventy-four hours, and this enabled us to run up by rail to Kioto, the for- 48 ROUND THE WORLD. raer residence of the Mikado, reputed to be the Paris of Japan. The city itself deserves this repu tation about as well as Cincinnati does that of our American Paris, which I see some one has called it. Kioto is only a raass of poor one-story buildings, but its situation is beautiful, and it cannot probably be equalled in the Empire, and this one can justly say of Cincinnati as well, while the beauty of Paris is of the city and not at all rural. The temples at Kioto are much inferior to those at Shibba. Our journey enabled us to see sorae seventy railes of the interior, and we were again impressed by the evi dences on every hand of a teeming population. Gangs of men and woraen were everywhere at work upon small patches of ground ; soraetiraes on less than one acre six or seven persons were all busily en gaged. It is not farraing ; there is in Japan scarce ly such a thing as farraing in our sense ; it is a sys tera of gardening as seen in the neighborhood of large cities. Compared with that prevalent through out the whole country, 1 have seen nothing equal to it in thoroughness, not even in Belgium. We are upon the old Costa Rica stearaer, now be longing to the Japanese Corapany, which recently purchased this and other boats from the Pacific Mail Company. Among our cargo is a large lot of live tur keys which some pushing Jap is taking over to Shang hai for Christmas ; and listen, you favored souls who revel in the famous bird at a dollar a head, your fellow- countrymen in China have to pay ten dollars for their Christmas turkey. It is said the Chinese cUraate is too damp for the noble bird, but it flourishes in Japan. I wish the exporter who thus develops the ROUND THE WORLD 49 resources of his country rauch profit on his venture. But it strikes me that, instead of the eagle, the more usefulgobbler has superior clairas to be voted the na tional bird of Araerica. " A turkey for a dollar !'' re peated the shipper as 1 told hira our price ; " a turkey for a dollar — what a country !" The cliraate of North ern China is not favorable for Europeans, and many take a run over to Japan to recuperate, a fact which argues much for the future of Japan. Although our ship belongs to the Japanese, the servants are gen erally Chinamen, and the agent explains this by in forming us that while the forraer do very well until they arrive at the age of manhood, they imbibe raore arabitious ideas rapidly and cannot be raan aged, while with the Chinese a " boy" (a servant throughout the East is called "boy") always is a boy, and is constantly onthe watch to serve his mas ter. Again, the Japs are pugnacious, a race of little game-cocks, always in for a fight, especially with a Chinaman. The captain told us the other day a great big Chinaman had complained to him that one of the Japs had abused him. Upon calling up the belligerent, he proved to be such a small speci raen the captain asked the sufferer why he hadn't picked him up and thrown hira overboard. The coraplaint was dismissed : served the big fellow right. But some raissionary should expound the civilized doctrine to him, which reads : ' ' When smitten on the one cheek, turn to the sraiter the other also, but if he sraites you on that, go for him. To-raorrow is to be one of the great days of our trip, for we shall enter the famous inland sea of Ja pan at daybreak. Will it be fine to-raorrow ? is the so ROUND THE WORLD. question with aU on board. The signs are earnestly discussed. The sun sets favorably, and I quote Shakespeare to them, which settles the question : ' ' The weary sun hath made a golden set — And by the bright track of his fiery car Gives token of a goodly day to-morrow. Let to-morrow be fair, whatever we raay raiss hereafter. This is the universal sentiment. Saturday, November 30. What a day this has been ! One raay forget raany rich experiences, raany days which seeraed grand enough never to fade frora the meraory, but one 1 defy any mortal living to lose track of. No one can ever pass through the inland sea of Japan on a fine day and cease to remember it till the day he dies. It deserves its reputation as the most beauti ful sail in the world ; at least I cannot conceive how, taking the elements of earth, water, and sky, any thing more exquisitely beautiful could be pro duced frora them. Entering the narrow sea at sun rise, we sail for three hundred and fifty miles through and around and among three thousand pretty isl ands, " Which seem to stand To sentinel enchanted land." These divide the water, making, not one, but a dozen, pretty lakes in vicAv at once. It is the Lakes of Killarney, or the EngUsh or Scotch lakes, multi plied a hundredfold ; but instead of the islands and mountains being in pasture, they are cultivated to their very tops, terraced in every form, in order to utilize every rod of ground. On the shores cluster ROUND THE WORLD. 51 villages, nestling in sheltered nooks, while the water swarms with the sails of tiny fishing-boats, giving a sense of warm, busy life throughout. These sail boats add raore to the beauty of the scene than can be iraagined. I counted at one tirae from the bow of our steamer, without looking back, ninety-seven vvrhite sails glistening in the sun, Avhile on the hills we saw everywhere gangs of people at work upon their little farm-gardens. It is a panorama of busy crowded life, but life under most beautiful surround ings, from end to end of the sail, and Ave all vote that never have we, in any day of our lives, seen so much of fairyland as upon this ever-meraorable day. We begin to see how the thirty odd millions of the Japa nese exist upon so sraall an area. The rivers and seas abound in fish, the hills and valleys under irri gation and constant labor grow their rice, millet, and vegetables. A few dollars per year supply all the clothing used, and a few dollars build their light wooden houses. Thus they have every thing they need, or consider necessary, and are happy as the day is long, certain of one established fact in nature, to wit, that there is no place like Japan ; and no doubt they daily and hourly thank their stars that their lines have fallen in pleasant places, and 'pity us — slaves to iraaginary Avants, who deny ourselves the present happiness they consider it wisdora to enjoy, in vain hopes of banqueting to surfeit at sorae future tirae, Avhich always comes too late. No sooner had we eraerged from this fairy scene than we encoun tered a gale upon the China Sea, for the few hours we were upon it, before getting into the last port of Japan, Nagasaki. It is here that the Dutch, two 52 ROUND THE WORLD. hundred years ago, secured a small island, from which they traded Avith Japan long before any other nation was permitted to do so. The Catholics also had their headquarters here, when they were so suc cessful in converting the natives that the govern ment became alarmed, and several thousand Chris tians were driA'en to the island and all massacred. This Avas in the sixteenth century ; but it is only a few years ago that seven thousand native Catholics were banished frora this region. To-day all is changed. These fugitives have been perraitted to return, and there is entire freedora of religious worship. Last raonth a return was raade of professing Christians (Catholics) in this district, and no less than thirty- five thousand were reported. So far Protestants are very few indeed. Monday, December 2. Vandy and 1 were off early this morning for the shore, and did not return to the ship until late in the afternoon, having walked over the high hills and down into the valleys beyond. We had a real tramp in the country. It is here just as elsewhere, ter race upon terrace, every foot of ground under culti vation ; water carried by raen in pails, or on the back of oxen, to the highest peaks, which it is irapos sible to irrigate, and every single plant, be it rice, millet, turnips, cabbages, or carrots, watered daily. What good Mother Earth can be induced to yield under such attention is a raarvel. The bountiful earth has another meaning when you see what she can be raade to bring forth. Although we are in December, the sun shines bright, and it is quite ROUND THE WORLD. S3 warm. I sat down several times under the hedge rows and heard the constant hum of insect life around rae. Butterflies flitted about, the bees gathered honey, and all looked and felt like a day in June. The houses of the people which we saAv were poor, and the total absence of glass causes thera to look like deserted hovels ; but closer inspection showed fine mats on the floors, and every thing scrupulously clean. I counted upon one hillside forty -seven ter races from the bottom to the top. These are di- A'ided vertically, so that 1 think tAventy-five feet square would be about the average size of each patch, and as the division of terraces is raade to suit the ground, and hence A'ery irregularly, the appearance of a hillside in Japan is something like that of a bedquilt of irregular pieces. The terrace- walls are overgrown with wild vines, ferns, etc., so that they really seem low green hedges, and this adds much to the beauty of the landscape. No won der the cultivators of these lovely spots never dreara of leaving them. We had an alarra of fire upon the Belgic, but this raorning we had the real article. I had just parted frora the captain at the stern of the ship, intending to go ashore, when, walking forward, I saw dense voluraes of sraoke issuing frora the walk- ing-beara pit, and in a few raoraents I heard the cry of fire frora below. All was in a bustle at once, but the crew got finely to work. Fortunately, although there was no steam in the raain boilers, the sraall donkey boiler was full, and the pumps were put to work. Meanwhile boats from the various men-of- war in the harbor with hand fire-engines came to our assistance. The stearaer is an old wooden craft. 54 ROUND THE WORLD. and I knew her cargo was combustible. ^Vere the sraoke ever to give place to flame, panic was bound to ensue, and not one of the small native boats that had until now been clustering around us could then be induced to approach ; indeed, they had already all rowed off. There was one lady on board, Mrs. McKenzie, a veritable Princess of Thule from the Island of Lewes, and I decided she had better be taken off with her sick child at once ; so, bribing a greedy native by the irarnense reward of a whole dollar (a large fee here, small as it seeras at horae) to come alongside, I grasped the baby and followed the raother down the gangway, and reraained at a safe distance until all danger was over. A few rainutes raore, and the Costa Rica would have fol lowed her sister ship, the Araerica, Avhich some years ago took fire under sirailar circurastances in the harbor of Yokohama, and was corapletely destroyed. Fortunately we are about done with wooden steam ships ; otherwise they should not be perraitted to run as passenger vessels. Tuesday, December 3. The turbulent China Sea has passed into a pro verb. The Channel passage in a gale, I suppose, coraes nearest to it. We started to cross this sea at daylight, and surely we have reason to be grateful. It is as sraooth as a rairror, the winds are hushed, and as I Avrite the shores of Japan fade peacefully frora view. I cannot help thinking how iraprobable that 1 shall ever see them again ; but however that may be, farewell for the present to Japan. Take a stranger's best wishes for your future. Our cargo ROUND THE WORLD. 55 shows something of the resources of Japan. It amounts to 800 tons, coraprising sea-weed — a special kind of which the Chinese are fond — ginseng, cara- phor, timber isinglass, Japan piece-goods, ingot copper, etc. Every week this line takes to China a similar cargo, and the trade is rapidly extending. This steamship company is worth noting as an evi dence of Avhat Japanese enterprise is doing. The principal owner, the Coraraodore Garrison of Japan, had a sraall beginning, but now runs some thirty- seven steamers between the various Japanese ports. Under the manageraent of Mr. Krebs, a remarkable Dane, this corapany beat off the Pacific Mail Com pany from the China trade, and actually purchased their ships. There are many things found on these vessels which our Atlantic corapanies might imi tate with advantage. I believe I mentioned that, not to be behind her civilized neighbors, Japan had created a public debt, but $250,000,000 of this was used in payment of the two hundred and sixty -.six daimios and their nuraerous retainers, when govern ment took over the land to itself. Each of these po tentates had vested rights in a certain proportion of the yield of the soil, and this was commuted by the government into so much in its bonds. Not less than three millions of the population shared in this opera tion. It must certainly prove a great reform— this consolidation of the supreme power in one strong government, even if it be an extravagant one. That Japan will succeed in her effort to establish a central government, under something like our ideas of free dora and law, and that she has such resources as will enable her to raaintain it and Educate her people, I 56 ' ROUND THE WORLD. am glad to be able to say I believe ; but much re mains to be done requiring the exercise of solid quali ties in the race, the possession of which I find sorae Europeans disposed to deny thera. They have travelled, perhaps, quite fast enough, and I look for a teraporary triuraph of the more conservative party. But the seed is sown and Japan will raove, upon the whole, in the direction of progress. And so, once raore, farewell, Japan ; and China, now alraost within sight, all hail ! In one respect at least pilgriras frora all lands must bow to the Empire we are about to Adsit. It is the oldest form of civilized government on earth. While the English raonarchy boasts its uninterrupted course of 800 years, and America has just celebrated its first century of existence, this remarkable people traces governraent substantially unchanged for 4000 long years. The first authenticated dynasty dates from 2345 years before Christ, and what is now China has been under one central governraent for nearly 2500 years. Even the Catholic religion, the raost venerable of existing institutions, is young cora pared to this. There was something in the reply of the mandarin to the boast of one of our people as to the superiority of our system? "Wait until it is tried ? ' ' To a Chinaman a thousand years or so seeras too short to prove any thing. Theirs alone has stood the test of ages. That the Chinese are a great race goes without saying. Four hundred raillions (one third of the entire human race) exist ing for thousands of years under one unchanging government, riding out the storms of change Avhich have overwhelraed all other nations ; nay, even ROUND THE WORLD. 57 absorbing into themselves the Tartar hordes, who came as conquerors, and raaking Chinese out of thera against their avUI. Such a record tells a story in deed ! At a date so remote that Egypt and Assyria were the great Western powers, when Athens and Troy had just been founded, and Rome was not even in existence, these people were governed much as they are now, and since A.D. d"] have published a daily Peking Gazette, of Avhich (thanks to our intelli gent " host of the Garter," Mr. Janssen) we have secured a copy. We are all but of yesterday com pared to the Heathen Chinee, and it is impossible to sit down and scribble glibly of such a people. In Japan there is no record. It is a new race appear ing alraost for the first time among civilized nations. It has given the world nothing, but how widely different here ! It is to China the world owes the corapass, gunpowder, porcelain, and even the art of printing, and to her also alone the spectacle of a people ruled by a code of laws and raorals em bracing the most minute particulars, written 2400 years ago, and up to this day taught in the schools as the rules of life. It is an old and true saying that almost any system of religion would make one good enough if properly obeyed ; certainly Confu cianism would do so. I have been deeply impressed with his greatness and purity. Dr. Davis writes in his work on China: "Confucius embodied in sententious raaxiras the first principles of morals and of government, and the purity and excellence of sorae of his precepts will bear coraparison with even those of the Gospel. " In Thornton's History of China I find this noteworthy passage : " It may ex- 5 8 ROUND THE WORLD. cite surprise, and even incredulity, to state that the golden rule of our Saviour had been inculcated by Confucius five centuries before alraost in the same words." If any of you wish a rare treat, I advise you to add at least the first volurae of the Rev. Dr. Legge's Life of Confucius to your library iraraedi ately, and do not run away with the idea that the sage was a heathen or an unbelicA^er ; far, very far frora that, for one of his most memorable passages explains that all worship belongs to Shangti (the Supreme Ruler) ; no matter what forras or syrabols are used, the great God alone being the only true object of worship. But I must resist this fit of Con fucianism, reserving, however, the privilege of re galing some of you with more of it by and by, for really it is too good not to be scattered araong you. Thursday, December 5. We reached Shanghai Thursday raorning, and found excellent accoramodations at the Astor House in the American settlement. You may know that the Chinese Government has set apart a strip of land fronting the river for about six miles, and about one mile in width. This is divided among the English, French, and Araericans. During the Taeping rebel lion a few years ago, thousands of natives flocked into this territory and found a refuge under the for eign flags. To-day it contains about 50,000 Chinese, who do raost of the retail business of the city. The streets are broad, and as well cared for as if it were an English town. It is lighted with gas, has a fine steara fire organization, and is thoroughly drained. It is here the natives are learning their first lesson of ROUND THE WORLD. 59 Western civilization, and at length some irapression has been raade upon this hitherto immovable mass. Mandarins corae frora the country to enjoy a drive on the streets, for, be it not forgotten, there is not a street or road here Avhich a horse can travel ; only footpaths, where a wheelbarrow pushed by a raan is the only possible vehicle. Now several wealthy natives have set up their carriages ; and may be seen driving in all directions ; and I learn from many that where natives are corapelled to visit their forraer residences elsewhere, they return to Shanghai declaring that they could not live any longer in the old style, and it is agreed on all hands that at least the huge mass begins to move. But think of one third of the race at this late day living without a mile of railroad or of telegraph, or CA^en of macaderaized roads. Communication in China is solely by means of the rivers, canals, and small branches which have been led frora the main channels to every acre of ground for irrigation purposes. Between the fields narrow footpaths exist, upon which, as before stated, wheelbarrows are used. But some of us will live to see this changed. I saw in a newspaper an oEcial notice permitting the first telegraph line to be built. True, it is only to be a few miles in length, extending frora the sea to the port of Peking (Tien-Tsin), but this is of course only a be ginning. The question of railroads is raore serious, and what think you is the one obstacle to their intro duction? Graves — the "tombs of our ancestors." China is one vast cemetery. Go where you will, in every direction, intruding themselves upon you at every step, you see the raounds of the dead. 6o ROUND THE WORLD. There are no cemeteries or spots set apart for this purpose ; On the contrary, the Chinaraan seeras to prefer having his dead buried on his own land, and as near to hira as practicable. In this neighborhood their mode of burial is revolting. The coffins are generally covered with a fcAv inches of earth, being first laid upon the surface of the ground and not in a grave at all ; but it is not at all uncoramon for the bare wooden coffin to be wholly exposed, not a shred nor particle of earth over it. Simply laid out in the fields, and so close to the roadside — I mean to the main roads built by Europeans, near their settle ments — that you can sometimes alraost touch the coffins with the end of your walking-stick as you pass. It is a curious fact that at the rifle range the stench frora such coffins became so offensive last year that the European authorities had to enter com plaint to the Chinese Mandarin. I was, like all others, at first rauch shocked at the sight of these coffins. One day 1 stood and counted 134 different mounds and exposed coffins within sight. I am glad to say that in other parts of China this custom does not prevail, the dead being buried in graves and Avails built above them in the shape of a horseshoe. As is well known, the Chinese worship their ancestors, and believe that much of their own happiness de pends upon the respect shoAvn to those to Avhom they owe their lives. Cases have been known Avhere successive afflictions have been attributed to some defect in the resting-places of the dead ; their ances tors " after life's fitful fever" were not sleeping well, and at great expense the bones have been removed to another place ; but this is an extreme case when ROUND THE WORLD. 6i they venture to disturb the dead. Every true son of the Empire of the Sun echoes the anathema of Shake speare, " and curst be he who moves my bones." Friday, December 6. In our stroll to-day Vandy and I came upon one of the gates of the old city, and entered. It con tains 300,000 people. We Avalked for some distance through its filthy, narrow alleys, and saAv the poor wretches in their dens working at all kinds of trades, from the forging of iron to the production of Joss raoney, but the villainous smells soon OA^erpowered rae, and I had to get Vandy to escort rae out. He can go through any thing of this kind without flinch ing, and means to return ; but as for me, I have seen enough of this, and am only sorry that human beings exist under such conditions. The Chinese have no currency except a small bronze coin worth one tenth of a cent, called " cash." It has a hole in the centre, and Avhen a native goes to raarket he puts several lots of thera on strings, 50 or 100 on each string, throAvs them round his neck, and goes forth ; think of it, one thousand pieces, ten strings of one hundred each, round one's neck to make a dollar ! Sometimes they are carried in the market-basket. In larger operations Mexican and American-made dollars are used, but away from the coast people decline to take even these, insisting upon silver cast in the form of a shoe and called "sice." This silver is hoarded here, and also in India, and were it not for this its value would probably fall to a point which would rule it out of the Ust of precious metals altogether. 62 ROUND THE WORLD. The evils of a silver currency are obvious to all here. Its value has changed three tiraes in one day since we have been in the country. Business is seriously dis turbed, and suffers frora this cause, and it is to such a plight our misled silverites at horae would reduce us. There are no banks in China, and therefore no extended credits. Saturday, December 7. To-day we walked through the fish and vegetable raarkets. It Avas funny to see the people raaking their purchases. Each one carries a small stick with a AV eight attached to it. This serves as a weighing - beara, and not a duck, fish, or turnip but is care fully weighed by the customer. No cheating, by the seller, of a brother Celestial. We pass noAv and then a shop where nothing is dealt in but Joss money ; hun dreds in every place are engaged in its manufacture. It is made out of thin paper, gold and silver color, in the horseshoe ingot forra of genuine "sice." I bought a box containing eight pieces for thirty cents. Sorae of it is also made in iraitation of silver dollars. This bogus raoney is laid upon the altars of the tera ples as offerings to the gods, Avho are supposed to find as rauch use for it as if it were genuine, and no doubt this is the case. It would therefore be a great pity, says the Heathen Chinee, to waste the real article, although 1 dare say the priests Avould infinitely prefer it. We attended a "paper hunt" this afternoon. Between forty and fifty riders, all Eu ropeans, on small horses, started across country, the route having been previously laid down by means of small pieces of white paper scattered at every point ROUND THE WORLD. 63 Avhere one of the innumerable little creeks was to be crossed. The finish was a rare sight. The banks of the creeks are very muddy, falls are numerous, and several of the riders came in besmirched from head to foot. Europeans take to horses here, and a race course is maintained. The animals are a breed of sraall horses from the north and uoav known as Shanghai ponies. I did not think I could enjoy the sport of paper-hunting here. These confounded coffins and graves one has to gallop over from end to end of the hunt are not calculated to enhance one's pleasure ; but perhaps one would in time get used even to these, though I doubt it. Monday, December 9. We visited the shipyard of Messrs. Boyd & Co., and found nothing but native workmen. Black smiths receive about $5 per week, machinists a dollar raore ; carpenters, sixty to sixty-five cents per day. But this concern pays its men high wages, and requires them to equal Europeans, which I am told they do. The common gang labor is contracted for Avith a head raan, who engages to supply day by day the number of coolies wanted at twenty cents per day per raan. Mr. Grant, the senior partner, told me he was buying Belgian iron in large lots, assorted sizes, for £a^ \os. per gross ton, just about one cent per pound ; ship plates at £6, equal to $29 per gross ton, free on ship at Antwerp. Such figures prove the severity of the struggle for existence among the iron raanufacturers of Europe. The servants at the hotel here pay a contractor $2 per month for their food. A coolie's board costs about five cents per day. For this they 64 ROUND THE WORLD. get an abundance of coarse rice and cabbage spiced Avith pieces of dried fish and pickles, and upon such a diet they live from year to year. Their clothing is estimated to cost $2 to $3 per year. This is the country of low prices, you see, where one eschews luxuries and coraes down to first principles. Cab fare is five cents per mile for gin-rik-shaws which have been introduced from Japan, and are generally used in Shanghai. At Tioko I reraeraber cab fare was even cheaper. We paid only eight cents per hour for a raan and his carriage, or seventy -five cents for the entire day. European society here is pleasant, quite extensive, and very hospitable. We are in debted to kind friends for numerous attentions. As General Bailey, our worthy Consul-General, is a public official, I may be permitted to express to hira ray special thanks. He was unremitting in his efforts to render our visit agreeable. It is from such men America is to draw its trained diplomatists Avhen Civil Service Reform has done its needed work. We attended last night a very good amateur the atrical performance. Shanghai society was present in force and in full evening dress. The preponder ance of fine-looking young men, and the almost total absence of young ladies, was most raarked. The number of married ladies was not great. In answer to my inquiry where the young ladies were, I was informed that there were but few in town. One was pointed out, but as she was engaged she scarcely counted. If ladies Avill only be contented with unremitting attention frora a perfect crowd of handsome beaux, this is their paradise ; but, as our lady friend explained, none of these fine felloAvs ROUND THE WORLD. 65 can afford to marry : they are clerks and assistants in the European houses, the partners of which are unfortunately married already. I think it but fair to raention this for the benefit of any of my fair young friends who might otherwise think of visit ing the East. The absence of young ladies neces sitates the female parts being taken by the opposite sex. K splendid " singing chamberraaid" of this kind, dressed and looking the part to perfection, caused peals of laughter every tirae he spoke, having a deep bass voice ; but during the evening there was a song cleverly introduced and sung by a brawny Scot — a parody upon " May I Like a Soldier Fall," beginning, " Oh, may I like a Scotchman fall upon St. Andrew's Day." It appears the Scotch residents had just been celebrating that memorable night, hav ing brought up frora Hong Kong no less a personage than the head piper of the 48th Highlanders to grace the festival. But the pipes proved too rauch for the raore enthusiastic of the party, and capturing the piper about three o'clock in the morning, they corapelled. hira to raarch at their head playing through the town. It raay be readily surraised that "if no fou, they just had plenty." As long, however, as the raartial strains continued, they managed, arm in arm, to keep upright and together, but, unfortu nately, from sorae cause or other not clearly ex plained, at the turn of the street Donald hiraself lost his footing, the bagpipes ceased, and then, surg ing one against the other, without the music to keep them in step, the raass was laid low, yelling to the last, however, the " March of the Cameron Men." " Oh, what a fall was there, my countryraen !" The 66 ROUND THE WORLD. Central Hotel was fortunately not far off, and^by the aid of wheelbarrows they were safely conveyed thither and taken care of until morning. Ah, well ! let the censorious take note. This is not the first tirae, as the world knows, when the sound of the pibroch has kept Scotchmen shoulder to shoulder, " one stepping where the other fell," when upon them lay the issue of the fight, nor shall it be the last. Burke par doned something to the spirit of liberty, and shall Ave do less to the august shade of St. Andrew ? Heaven forbid ! While bemoaning the absence of foreign young ladies here and in Japan, I may as well tell those at home something ofthe marriage customs of the East, for Japan, China, and India all have much in com raon here. First and foremost, then, please under stand that the couple about to be married have noth ing whatever to do with it. The raatch has been raade by the parents, and as a rule neither has seen the other until after the contract has been closed ; and in many cases it is thought advisable they should raeet for the first time when the cereraony begins. It is considered one of the most important duties of a mother to select a wife for each of her sons as they arrive at maturity, as a failure to do this might in volve the fearful catastrophe of a break in the wor ship of the family's ancestors, and, indeed, of her OAvn and her husband's ashes, being without raen to perforra the sacred rites over them. Since Vandy and I have been duly enlightened upon this duty of mothers, I regret to say there has been sorae dispo sition to call ours to account as having been strongly dereUct in this matter. At all events, it does not ROUND THE WORLD. 67 seem to be our own fault entirely that Ave are bache lors. The parents of the young men take the initiative, but how to propose is said to be even more embarrassing than it Avould be to the son himself, as a refusal implies that the lady's parents consider the proposal much beneath them. A class of "raarriage brokers," therefore, exists, who are ahvays applied to. They keep informed of the eligi ble sons and daughters in their circle, and can sound the parents, and suggest and finally bring about a satisfactory alliance. The Chinese are very super stitious, and no union takes place without the astrolo ger's sanction. He must consult the stars and see that there is proper conjunction. If all is favorable, the raarriage takes place. But now, ray lady friends, don't iraagine that the happy pair set up a separate establishraent, as you expect to do when you raarry. No ; the wife goes in every case to reside with her raother-in-law, to whora, as also to her husband's father, she renders implicit obedience. This obedience to parents is the raost conspicuous duty in their religion. Should the daughter-in-law be disrespectful, even to her husband's parents, these would be upheld in putting her away, even against the wish of her husband ; and unless the son happened to have an independent in corae or raeans of support, which is very rarely the case, his parents would select another wife for hira who knows her duty better. The deference exacted and bestowed not only by children to parents, but by grown raen and woraen to their parents, is wholly inconceivable by Americans ; but reraeraber their rehgion teaches thera that those frora whora they 68 ROUND THE WORLD. derive existence are entitled to their worship. No priest is required at a raarriage. The cereraony always takes place at the raan's house, the bride cora ing frora her parents in grand procession through the streets in a sedan chair with its blinds closely drawn, the presents being ostentatiously displayed by raen carrying them in front. 1 cannot give a tithe of all the custoras observed ; they would fill pages ; but one is significant : the bride is required to kneel before his faraily tablet and to worship his an cestors, her own being frora that raoment apparently of no account to her, and her father gives her, as his parting injunction, the coraraand to yield hereafter to her ncAv parents the obedience and reverence hitherto his due. When the entire day has been spent in the cere monies required, dinner for the couple is announced, and they are for the first time in their lives alone with each other ; but of the feast she raay not par take one raorsel, and, harder still, perhaps, not one syllable must she speak. Etiquette deraands that she "sit in silence, grave and dignified." Indeed, she cannot break fast upon her wedding day. B}- many such curious customs is secured the entire absorp tion of the woraan, her total eclipse as a separate individuality ; there is nothing left of her as far as law and usage can destroy her rights. This is the Eastern idea. But she has her triuraph later. As a wife she knows there is little for her, but when, in the language of Scripture " a raan-child is born," presto change ! she is a raother, suprerae, invested with a halo of sanctity which secures rank and reverence from all. She becoraes by this the equal of her lord. ROUND THE WORLD. 69 and raust be like him, and jointly with him, worship ped by succeeding generations, for Confucius enjoins upon every son the erection of the family tablets, to father and raother alike. Nor is her rule confined to her own children, but, as before stated, to their children as Avell to the latest day of her Ufe, and the older she becomes the more she is reverenced as be ing nearer to heaven, dearer to the gods ; and it is considered of much raoraent to any family to be able to boast a great-great-grandmother living. The position of woraan Avould seera, therefore, to be almost entirely different from what it is with us : in youth she is nothing there, in old age every thing ; Avith us, it is the opposite. The "just mean" be tween the two would probably yield better results than either. In China a raan can raarry raore than one wife, but the first only is recognized as his legal wife ; all others are her servants, and bound to wait upon and obey her, and should there be children, these are considered as children of the only legal Avife, and it is her they raust worship, and not their real raother. Araong the masses wives are invariably bought frora the parents, about ninety dollars being a fair raarket price araong poor people. This sura is supposed to recorapense thera for the outlay in volved in rearing the young girl. But this custom is valuable in this, that the possession of so large a sura by a young workingraan is the best possible guarantee that the son-in-law has acquired steady habits, and is competent to provide for his family. If a test of this nature could be applied with us, I think paterfamilias would not regard it as the worst 70 ROUND THE WORLD. of institutions. These Chinese have ideas that are soraetimes worth thinking over. Friday, December 13. Our intended trip up the Yanktse has been interfered with by a storm of rain and dense fog, but the days never seem long. We get a little time to read up. Our book table shows seven iraportant works on China and its people — all interesting. To day is marked by a notable invitation to dinner ex tended to us through General Bailey. We are to have the honor, one not often bestowed upon globe trotters, of dining with the Mandarin. The dinner lasted raore than three hours, and Avas composed of I don't know how many courses. I depended upon Vandy to keep count, but he found so rauch to wonder at that he lost the run when in the teens. Frora birds'-nest soup, which, by the way, is insipid, to sharks' fins and bamboo shoots in rapid succession, we had it all. I thought each course would surely be the last, but finally we did get to sweet dishes, and I knew we were approaching the end. Then came the bowl of rice and tea, which are supposed to be able to neutralize the raess which has gone before. Our host pressed all to drink fre quently of a celebrated native wine, the charapagne of China, groAvn in his district, of the quality of which he seemed very proud. Whenever he showed the bottom of his cup, guests were expected to empty and replenish theirs. I did the best I could, both as to tasting the compounds and drinking the wine, but I fear I was voted not a great success in either. The mandarins are hilarious at dinner, and smoke at inter- ROUND THE WORLD. 1i A'als during the feast. They played the ancient game of digits like Roraans, and also a Japanese garae with the hands and arras, the loser in every case being corapelled to drain his cup. When tea was served, the Mandarin, through his interpreter, addressed General Bailey as the principal dignitary present, thanking him for the great honor conferred upon his humble self by those present having condescended to sit at his table. The general's reply was equally polite and very happy, and appeared to please our host greatly, who then hoped that the illustrious travellers from America would be pleased with China and return safely to their great country frora their journey round the world, adding that, having now got the telegraph, America and China and all coun tries Avere brought nearer to one another, and would knoAV each other better. I replied that this was hap pily true, and ventured to express the belief that as we grcAv to know each other better we should also like each other more, and that as we, and all mod ern nations, had learnt so rauch from his country in the past, 1 hoped that in return we might be able to some extent to repay that debt by perhaps showing China sorae things Avhich she could adopt with ad vantage. To this sentiraent there was a raost cor dial response. Before rising frora table the photograph of the host was presented to each guest. I requested that his autograph be put upon ours, that we could insert it in our alburas araong the eminent men we should meet. He replied that his raust then go at the very end, because he had not on his mandarin hat, but I asked the interpreter to assure him that we in 72 ROUND THE WORLD. Araerica did not care about the hat ; " it was the head that was in it" which had raised hira so high.. This appeared to please the corapany inordinately, and we got the autograph, and so ended our first, and, in all probability, our last mandarin dinner. Vandy ate and drank of every thing offered him, and this morn ing, when I fully expected hira to be as sick as a dog, and with a head like to split, he surprised rae by reporting himself as all right, and telling me that in some respects raandarin cooking beats the world. I should mention that the politeness of our host was overpoAvering. The first course he served himself, ("and I myself shall be your servant, sir"), and upon entering, as well as upon retiring, he stood in the open court outside of his threshold to welcome and to bid farewell. The shaking of one's own hands instead of grasping that of your friends' is soon learnt, but what a world of pleasure the China man raisses by his mode ! Of course we saw none of the ladies of the house hold, nor were they inquired for or referred to by any of us. If a Chinese gentleman were asked how raany children he had he Avould probably not count the girls at all, but at all events he would dis tinguish thus : two children and a girl. When a boy is born the father is overwhelraed Avith congratula tions, presents are sent, and rejoicing takes place. If the little stranger happen to be a girl, the event is hushed up. No reference is ever raade to the great misfortune which has befaUen the expectant father. Friends are apprised of the result by adver tisements carried through the streets. Yellow strips of paper are used if the child is a boy ; any ROUND THE WORLD. 73 other color means a girl. Among the poorer classes girl babies are frequently drowned. Sorae esti raate that in the Shanghai district one third are so destroyed ; the excuse given by the parents is that they cannot afford to rear a girl. Men raonopolize raost of the occupations here, and a woman can earn little or nothing ; besides, a husband for every girl raust be provided for upon some terms. After a cer tain age an unmarried Avoraan Avould be regarded as disreputable, entailing soraething of disgrace upon her family, and so China lacks that most useful, and, as far as my experience goes, most unjustly raaligned class — old maids. Our first Avord from home was flashed to us here, and gave the first bitter pang since our journey be gan. While Ave were in the midst of all our enjoy ment death had invaded the circle at home. Mr. Coleman had passed away. I could not realize for a time that I was to miss upon ray return one of my oldest, best, and dearest friends — one who had been a friend in boyhood to me, when the aid of such a man counted for so much. Why did I not appreciate hira sufficiently Avhile he lived ? But Ave never do. The finest characteristics of our friends seera only to shine Avith the brightest lustre when we are de nied their presence on earth. Looking back and raourning over the past — gone, alas ! forever — the richness of my dear friend's character is seen in all its fulness. Generous and invariably mindful of others, firm and devoted in his friendships, a noble scorner of ostentation or pretence, he was a splen didly honest raan. Nor have I ever known one of equal ability who was so modest and retiring. His 74 ROUND THE WORLD. was one of the raost suggestive of rainds, and rauch do I owe — and all our party shares the debt — to the originality of his genius ; but his intellectual gifts, great as they were, seera as naught to-day. It is to the rich and warra pulsations of his heart I turn. Few beyond his own relatives knew hira as I did : his excessive raodesty of nature prevented the raul titude frora ever suspecting what a heart was here. A man who would not put a servant to the slightest trouble, even when his own corafort was seriously involved, and who, I have since learnt, without sur prise, passed away assuring the doctor that he knew he had done all that was possible for hira. In this feature of his character I never knew any raan ap proach Mr. Coleman. Is it any wonder that those who kncAv such a man best loved hira raost, and re alized neither the grandeur of his character nor the extent of their loss until he had passed away forever ? Shanghai, Saturday, December 14. We leave for Hong-Kong, 800 railes south, by the raail steamer which sails at daylight. Our usual good fortune attends us. The monsoon blcAV us to port one night sooner than we expected. A night saved was quite an object, as the Geelong is a small craft, and her rocking raeans soraething. Vandy was very ill, but I raanaged to report regularly at table as usual. We slept on shore Tuesday night, and the raorning revealed one of the prettiest spots we have ever seen in the East. Hong Kong is an island about nine miles in circumference and one raile from the raainland of China, and just at the mouth of the river leading to Canton. There is ROUND THE WORLD. 75 scarcely one acre of level ground upon it except one little spot which does duty as a race course, and is not level either, by any raeans. A narrow strip fronting the water is occupied by Avarehouses which extend about two railes, but back of this the ground rises rapidly, and houses cluster upon the steep sides of the raountain. Nevertheless, public gardens have been laid out with exquisite taste and skill upon the hillside, and exceUent walks reach to the very tops of the peak, more than 1800 feet high. So closely does this crag overhang the town below that a stone could be dropped into the settlement from its crest. It is the thing in Hong Kong to do the peak, of course, and we did it, but not in a manner very creditable to our staying poAvers I fear. The fact is, we had been tossed for sorae days upon a sraall ship. It was very warm. We were very tired (conscience suggested another Avord for tired) — in short, there were a dozen reasons^ — good, bad, and indifferent — Avhy tAvo strong, lusty fellows should be carried up under the circurastances instead of attacking the peak on foot, and so each of us, in a sedan chair, carried by four strong coolies, managed to get to the top and enjoy the splendid view, coming down in the sarae novel raanner. It was surprising after we had returned that so decided a raisunderstanding had arisen. I had not pressed walking up on Vandy's account, while he had only denied hiraself that wished-for pleasure in deference to ray supposed inability. You see, had this point been made clearer before we started, we might have had the walk after all. As it is, the credit of both is fairly raaintained, and I do think neither of us regrets the unfortunate 76 ROUND THE WORLD. misunderstanding ; one gets so lazy in these lati tudes. More than a hundred thousand Chinese have corae to reside in Hong Kong and enjoy the benefits of British rule. So the good work of reforraing China goes forward. Thursday, December 19. We took the stearaer for the Paris of the East, the far-faraed Canton, distant ninety -five miles. The steamer is just an American river boat, and Ave en- joved the trip very highly. And here let me note two strange customs which prevail in China. First, your passage money generally embraces all the liquor, beer, or wine you choose to consurae on the trip. Such Avas the case to-day, and passengers were free to call for any thing they wished to drink at any tirae (charapagne excepted). The other custora is universal. There is no coin in circulation but sil ver, and it is so heavy that Europeans have adopted the habit of carrying none, giving for any debt in curred I. O. U.s, called "chits," which are sent in at the end of each raonth for payraent ; a vicious custora which leads to deplorable excesses, es pecially in drinking and in garabling. Men drink and gamble raore freely Avhen imraediate payment is not required, or Avhen the chances of a lucky turn may recoup their losses ; besides, many incur debts who have no means to pay. Indeed, so many cases of this kind have happened since " hard times set in" that I am encouraged to hope the end of " chits" approaches. Canton Avas reached by four in the afternoon, and such a SAvarra of sraall boats ROUND THE WORLD. 11 surrounded us as was never seen elscAvhere. When we were a full mile from the wharf I saAV the mass begin to stir, and such a stir ! and all rowed by, women yelling and striving, dashing one boat against another, in their efforts to be first. One of the raost active scrarabled up the guards and reached us on the upper deck alraost before the boat had stopped, and secured us as her spoil. How she and a young girl handled our trunks, carrying thera over intervening boats and then coming back for us, giv ing us her hand to convey us to her craft ! No mis taking her business capacity, nor her ability to cope with the strongest and raost active man and capture two passengers to his one. John is no match for a Canton boat woman on water, whatever he may be on land. Canton, Friday, December 20. We have just returned from our first stroll through the narrow crowded alleys of Canton. Pictures and descriptions had prepared us for what we were to see, but, as is usual in the East, we knew nothing until we had seen for ourselves. But isn't it so everywhere, and haven't you found that in most cases the mo^ife you read or hear the raore you are confused ? He was a traveller who first said, ' ' The eye and the ear are close together, but what a distance between hearing and seeing !" This recurs torae constantly. But to revert to Canton. We decided to walk instead of following the custom of Europeans, Avho universally take sedan chairs and, dash through, seeing nothing in detail. We cross the river by one of the innu merable boats rowed by women, and are in the city. 6 78 ROUND THE WORLD. For five hours we are guided through streets vary ing from six to ten feet in width, through one con tinual mass of Chinaraen. As for China women, they are rarely or never seen. A few men are in silks, nurabers of coolies, with loads, alraost naked, but raore of slightly higher order in rags, for the Chi nese, unlike their scrupulously clean brethren of Japan, seera to pile on one tattered, greasy cloth rag over another until they are a bundle of filth, against which you fear you will be brushed at every step. The shops or booths on each side of the narrow streets are resplendent just now, preparatory to the New Year celebrations, and such as deal in teraple decorations as a specialty are brilliant in the ex treme. As every shop, house, or boat contains an altar which raust be freshly decorated at the be ginning of every year, as well as the public teraples, tbe extent of this trade is surprising, and all that tinsel can do with the raost gorgeous coloring iraagin able is seen in this branch to perfection. One thing is very strange : even in the principal streets the raanufacture of various articles goes on, the work raen being so close you could touch them from the paveraent with your cane. Carried on in this raan ner, Ave saw to-day the raaking of glass in a space not raore than fifteen feet square, the forging and shaping of iron, the weaving of cloth, the raaking of coffins (such massive affairs these are, too, in China!), of Joss sticks and Joss raoney, firecrackers, and many other articles. The front part of the building is usually occupied by the shop for the sale of the product, the ornamental shrine serving as a kind of screen to shut off the manufacturing departraent ; ROUND THE WORLD. 79 but, by stepping behind, crowds of almost nude work raen in sraall spaces are seen hard at work, making by hand and the aid of the rudest appliances alraost every article known. The wages of a tradesman, a carpenter for instance, are fifteen cents per day ; in addition the raaster has to give him his rice, etc., three times per day, estimated to cost six to eight cents raore. The workmen are invariably fed by the employer, and allowed to sleep in and about the premises soraewhere or soraehoAv. We saAv freely exposed for sale dogs, rats, and raice, all nicely dressed and hanging upon spits to tempt the hungry passers-by, while above a large pot frora which the steam was issuing was a card, which, being translated by our guide, read, ' ' A big black cat within, ready soon." The dogs which are eaten are especiaUy fed for the purpose, and are hung up in state with labels setting forth their superior mer its ; as far as I should have known they might have passed for delicious young roasting pigs, delicate enough in flavor to have satisfied gentle EUa him self. '•; Our guide, in answer to nuraerous questions upon the subject, informed us that some of his coun trymen had acquired a taste for dogs, while others had succumbed to the sweeter attractions of cats ; others again found rats their favorite morsel, but in all cases these penchants are indulged on the sly. Upon no account would a Chinaraan think of taking either of these peculiar delicacies horae. It appears, rauch to their credit, that Mesdaraes have serious objections to their use : they draAV the line here, and the husband raust confine the indulgence of his uncanny long- 8o ROUND THE WORLD. ings to restaurants, and say nothing about it, or his lady friends might raark hira as one of whom " 'twas said he ate strange flesh. ' ' Contrary to the statement of traveUers, I find this food is not confined to the poorer classes. The price of it is about the same as that of pork, and far beyond that of hare or deer. How strange these people are ! The price of a black dog or cat is fully double that of a Avhite one, the superstition being that the forraer raakes blood rauch faster than the other, while rats are supposed to make the hair grow. We returned to our hotel in time for lunch, and in the afternoon called upon Colonel Lincoln, the United States Consul, to whora General Bailey had given us letters, which secured us a cordial reception. The European settlement at Canton is very pretty, with its broad, Avell-shaded avenues, ex quisite flower garden, and lawn tennis and croquet grounds. Its club-house is a gera, coraprising a sraall theatre, billiard-room, boAvUng-alley — every thing coraplete. The Colonel took us for a stroll about the settleraent, and pressed us to join a party he was just about taking over the river to visit the best flower gardens of the city. We could not de cline such a treat, and this gave us the pleasure of raeeting Mrs. Lincoln, who is so well known in China as to be regarded soraewhat in the light of an historical character. Her collection of tea-pots proraises to render her famous. She boasts already of raore than two hundred, no two alike in forrri, and the record groAvs day by day ; and the melancholy feature is that there is no end for the passion save in death — a mania for " a bit of the blue, " as is thor- ROUND THE WORLD. 8 1 oughly Avell known, ranking first in the list for which materia medica boasts no antidote. Saturday, December 2i. To-day has been devoted, like yesterday, to Can ton sights ; but as we had several distant places to visit, sedan chairs were taken, and we Avent shout ing along, three coolies each, Indian file, through the town, forraing quite a cavalcade, with our guide in front. It Avas the same interrainable raaze of narrow croAvded thoroughfares, crararaed with human beings, that we had seen for the first tirae yesterday. A great coraraotion was seen ahead at one place, foUoAv- ed by the appearance of men in crimson robes, bear ing banners, clearing the way and shouting out the name and dignities of a mandarin who was approach ing. An ornamental chair is seen, borne aloft, on Avhich his lordship sits in state, and an official of the third or fourth button passes, followed by tAvo ser- A^ants on ponies, the only species of horseflesh ever seen in Canton. It is with considerable difficulty that even these sraall aniraals get through, and their use is confined to escorting high officials. At alraost every corner Ave pass crowds of poor wretches gambling in various modes, from fantan down to dice and dominoes. Children participate, and stake their " cash" with their elders : indeed, a young Celestial rarely spends his stray coppers in candy without tossing with the stall-keeper, double or quits ; the little scaraps begin early, and at every counter we noticed the dice lying ready to facili tate the operation. Is it any wonder that the vice of garabling seeras inherent in the Chinese char- 02 ROUND THE WORLD. acter ? We saw rather a funny illustration of this practice, at which we couldn't help laughing. A class of venders keep a large pot boiling on the paveraent in sorae partially secluded place, in which is an assortraent of odds and ends ; such a raess of tit bits, pieces of liver, chicken, kidneys, beef, every con ceivable thing ! these the owner stirs up, taking care, I thought, to bring the largest bits adroitly to the sur face. You should see the longing faces of the hungry beggars around. DoAvn goes a cash (one tenth of a cent), a rattle of the dice — the custoraer has Avon. The fork is handed to hira, and he has tAvo dabs in the pot. What a prize ! Down go the bon mouches one after the other, and back goes the fork to the pot-boiler, who again uses it to stir up in the pot prizes to tempt the lucky owner of funds sufficient for the in dulgence of this piece of extravagance. I really be lieve the poor, miserable, hungry Avretches lounging around the pot derive satisfaction from the odor erait- ted ; and as the lucky garaester gobbled his prizes, I iraagined every one around went through the rao tion of smacking his lips involuntarily, as if he shared in the inward satisfaction of his lucky neighbor. Vandy almost overwhelmed one of these people by handing him a cash to try his fortune, but he thinks his man Avas too hungry to risk the dice, and took the sure thing. He probably considered one bite in the mouth worth two in the pot ; but he Avasn't a repre sentative Chinaman by any raeans. At one point our guide in advance called a halt, and upon our disraounting he led us into a Availed enclosure and startled us by informing us that Ave were now in the execution grounds. He pointed out ROUND THE WORLD. 83 spots still damp with the blood of criminals, and sev eral jars containing the heads of victiras, the protrud ing hair raatted Avith the lirae used to decorapose the flesh raore rapidly, and a rude cross still reraain ing, upon which a woraan had recently been crucified and cut to pieces while alive. Her crirae was the gravest known to Chinese law ; she had raurdered her husband. Poor Avretch ! probably he had not illy deserved his fate Avere the whole story known, for the provocation which would nerve a woraan in China to rise against her husband and owner raust be beyond huraan endurance. Instead of this spot being set apart and shunned by raan, Avoraan, and child, as defiled by the horrors enacted within its walls, the area Avas filled with large clay jars, used as stoves, the product of a manufactory adjoining, set out there in rows to dry. Men moved in and around thera unconcernedly, and at the entrance, and Avithin the enclosure, there was a terapor9,ry fantan gambling shop, composed of baraboo poles and raats, in full operation, surrounded by crowds of people. Of a surety the Heathen Chinee is peculiar. The grounds are of course cleared of every thing upon " execution days," and I suppose the swarming raasses of Canton see no reason why even this acre of notorious ground should be perraitted to lie use less several days in succession. There is nothing without its use in China. Our next visit was raore to our taste : it was to the place of the literary exarainations, which take place every third year. Here the grounds are kept in good order, and exclusively devoted to this noble use. It is well known that each province in China 84 ROUND THE WORLD. has public exarainations for its students. Those who are successful becorae eligible for the higher exara inations, which are held at Canton and at two or three of the other great cities. Candidates who pass at these are perraitted to enter for the final struggle at Peking, where success brings rank, hon or, and fortune. At Canton the ten acres of grounds are covered with long rows of brick sheds, divided into stalls about six by four feet, with neither door nor window, and open at the back ; a narrow foot way perraits entrance, and a blank wall forras the front of the succeeding row, and so on. The stalls contain no furniture, but a board extending from the front, half the length of the stall, and working back ward and forward in grooves in the wall, is used as a seat ; a smaller one higher up at the foot of the stall raakes a writing table, and these combined make a bed. A sraall lamp is furnished, and the aspirant reraains for three days and nights writing upon subjects given to hira after he has entered the stall. No chance for crararaing here. Out of 10,600 who corapeted last year only eighty-tAvo were found worthy to appear at Peking. I believe only a certain number can succeed throughout the whole Empire, and therefore the standard is kept at the highest possible point. Amid much which causes one to mourn for the backwardness of this country, here is the bright jewel in her crown. China is, as far as I know, the only nation which has advanced beyond the so-called heroic age when the soldier clairas precedence. England and Araerica raust be content to claira that "peace hath her victories not less renowned than . ROUND THE WORLD. 85 Avar," while here the triuraphs of peace are held in chief esteera. No general, no conqueror, be his victories what they raay, can ever reach in China to the highest rank. That is held only by successful scholars who have shoAvn the possession of literary talent. When the news reaches a town or village that a natiA^e has been victorious at Peking, a general rejoicing takes place, and triuraphal arches are built in his honor to witness for centuries hoAv deeply they appreciate the honor conferred upon the town by their illustrious fellow-citizen. Upon his return the whole population turns out to raeet and Avelcorae him, and his career inspires other young men to emulate his virtues. Henceforth his life is one of honor, for from this class the rulers of China are taken. These are the mandarins, and there is no other aristocracy in China. Nor are his honors hereditary. His sons, if they Avould be ennobled, must outstrip their fellows in knowledge, as their father did before them. An aristocracy founded upon learning, and coraposed of those who knoAV the raost, is an institution with which we have no serious quarrel. Our trip to-day had another surprise for us. We were taken to the City Court and Prison. A poor naked wretch was on his knees, as we entered, his back a raass of blood caused by the blows that had just been inflicted by the bamboo which an officer, standing close behind, still held over the victim, ready to use again at a word frora the judge. What a quivering, raiserable spectacle the culprit was ! As I write this I can see him tremble. His reputed crime was steaUng, but he had denied it, and the 86 ROUND THE WORLD. judge, not being satisfied with the story he told, had ordered the baraboo to be applied. Another poor soul sat under torture, laced by ropes against a large flat board in sorae diabolical raanner so that his features were distorted by pain, while at a short dis tance frora the door raany hardened-looking crirainals, all chained to large balls of iron, awaited trial and sen tence. The raost enlightened of the judges here still urge that it would be impossible to administer jus tice without torture or physical punishraent in order to force replies frora the accused. If you can com pel a culprit to ansAver every question which a trained examiner is allowed to put, it is not difficult to convict the guilty. With us we forego that ad vantage by requiring no man to convict himself. Here he has to prove his innocence in a measure ; at least he raust tell a straight story ; and this he would never do, it is said, in China, unless he was held in fear of bodily chastiseraent or torture. It is an effectual raode of getting answers, as I can testify. The judge asks a question which goes to the very root of the matter. The wretch hesitates an instant. I thought I could see frora his supplicating gesture that he felt the true answer would expose his guilt. ' ' Bara boo, attend — ready ! ' ' Another instant, and the bloAv descends, the trembling man stamraers out his reply, and his sentence is pronounced. Another, who has been cleverly allowed to witness the raanner in which recusant parties are dealt with, is dragged be fore the judge, his back bared, and he falls on his knees to make answer. No skilful lawyers here to defend and throw around the prisoner the safe guards of the law, but neither is there any upon the ROUND THE WORLD. 87 side of the prosecution. The accused has only to satisfy the judge by giving a true account of hiraself and his doings. I should say an innocent raan Avould prefer this raode, a guilty one detest it, and this seems a strong argument in its favor. Monday, December 23. My roora fronts on the river, and is upon the second story of this strange little hotel. This gives rae fine vicAvs of the unceasing traffic of the streara, but it is not without its disadvantages as a place of rest at night. The Chinese gods, or devils rather, have a strong fondness for fire-crackers, and these are set off at all hours of the night by the more de- A'out of the boat women right under my Avindows. I waken with a start every uoav and then, as an un usually large bunch is fired. It occurred to me last night that sorae of the extra fees bestowed upon our woraan and her bright little sister raay be responsi ble for part of this species of devotion. It is very likely that sorae part of their extra earnings are con sidered due to their gods. I write this at nine in the raorning, and there are two boats busily en gaged in their prayers just now, one battery of crack ers responding to the other. One Avould alraost think a naval Avar upon a small scale was raging. I raust plead ignorance till now of this strange raan ner of propitiating the supernatural powers. If I ever read of it, like a thousand things one reads of, it has passed away and been forgotten. Another cus tora which interferes with sluraber is the noise raade by the night watchraan, who walks backward and forward beating a tenor gong with a hard stick. One, 88 ROUND THE WORLD. two, three, slowly, followed by tAvo quick taps, is the signal that all is well. Extraordinary precautions have to be taken in the cities against theft. Alraost every block has its watchraan, and gates short dis tances apart are shut at nine o'clock, and only those alloAved to pass who are knoAvn to the watchraan. One provision struck rae as putting an effectual check upon raischief of all kinds. No one is allowed to Avalk after night without carrying a light. Every one has a lantern in his hand, and one found disre garding this law would be held "suspect." Our landlord told rae that in case of robbery the Avatch- raan would be sternly dealt with, as he is held re sponsible for the safety of his block. The boat population of Canton is faraous as being something unique, but it exceeds all idea I had formed of it. It is said that 300,000 people live in boats ranging from the size of a skiff to that of a yaAvl. I have seen a family of six huddled together in one of the former size, but these were the poorest of the poor. The usual size of a passenger-boat is twenty feet in length by four and a half in width. This is the size of the hotel boats Ave use. We got into one this raorning, and as the crackers were going off frora numerous boats on all sides, our Avoraan explained that the unusually vigorous fusilade was OAving to this being "Joss day." " All people go Jossee Temple this day. " " Do you go ?" " No ; have got Jossee here on boatee." " Where ? ShoAv us." With that one of the girls at the stern pushed aside two small sliding-doors in the extreme end of the boat, and revealed a little shrine Avith a larap ever burning, and Joss sticks in the incense boAvl. The entire ROUND THE WORLD. 89 faraily burst into laughter at our surprise, evidently tickled with the idea that.it was a decidedly cute thing to have their Joss cooped up "Jack-in-the- box" style. Yesterday the Eraperor, at Peking, after fasting all the previous day, Avould ascend into the Teraple of HeaA^en, accorapanied by tAvo thou sand of his highest officials, and worship. His sub jects, coraprising about one third of the huraan race, celebrate the event by this fire-cracker carnival. I was curious to see how a sraall yawl could be the residence of a faraily, and exarained several of thera. The centre of the extrerae stern is occupied by the Joss teraple, on either side of which small dishes, cans, etc., are arranged ; then comes an open space extending across the boat, about four feet long, over which is throAvn a Ught board about six inches wide, upon Avhich stands the woraan who sculls and steers the craft. A perraanent baraboo roof is thrown over about the next six feet of the boat, and around the walls are hung a few ornaments, gen erally old-fashioned plates and cheap prints frora the English illustrated papers, while on a shelf are those indispensable articles, the sraoking pipes of the farai ly — large and curious affairs, with richly ornaraented square brass , bowls about 4^ by 2 inches in size. A tiny china tea-set and various little "curios" are found in the best boats. The next portion, where passengers sit, is forraed by boards running across the boat and on each side as well, and is also covered by the roof, so that in this way we are provided with nicely cushioned seats. Next to the bow is a platform three feet deep, and upon this stands the second Avoraan, Avho rows or poles the 90 ROUND THE WORLD. boat, as may be necessary. Under her feet is the kitchen, and she has only to' lift a board to show you a small square covered with clay, upon Avhich a fire can be built. Pots and pans are seen snugly stowed away around this, so that you see by raeans of mova ble platforms, trap-doors, etc., the entire boat is rendered available to its very keel. At night, when tbe business of carrying passengers is over, all the boards are made into a fine flush deck, which is divided into sleeping apartments by means of bam boo poles and raats, in a very few rainutes. And so it coraes to pass that what I was before disposed to believe alraost impossible is actually accora plished with a degree of comfort quite surprising. These boat people live for less than ten cents a day. Rent there is none ; food costs about five cents per day for each person ; clothing does not cost two. From the child of eight to the great-grandmother, all do something. When not otherAvise engaged they SCAV, make Joss sticks, slit bamboo, or something or other, the baby being strapped on the raother's back, that her capacity for work raay not be inter fered with : and her stepping backward and forward as she sculls raust be a soothing lullaby, for we haven't heard a child crying yet in China. Upon such boats as I have here atterapted to describe, and many far smaller and destitute of every vestige' of ornaraent, raillions of the people of China live, raove, and have their being. In Canton alone, as I have said, their nuraber is estiraated at 300,000. Children are born, old raen die, upon these boats, and many thousands have never in their lives slept a night upon shore. ROUND THE WORLD. 91 I Avas surprised to hear that there is no theatre at Canton ; the governraent had to prohibit night per- forraances sorae tirae ago, as they were constantly the scenes of disorder. The only arauseraent is fur nished upon large gayly decorated boats, Avhere feasts are given, at Avhich girls belonging ¦ to the boats appear and sing. We saw one of these, but it Avas a poor perforraance after our experience in Japan. Sunday, December 22. We allowed our guide to leave us for to-day, and strolled about ourselves. In the early part of our Avalk we heard strains of rausic — a harraoniura and a well-known old hymn tune. We entered and found Rev. Dr. Hopper preaching in Chinese. We had entered at the wrong door, and Avere araong the woraen — a high solid wall divides thera frora the men — but Mrs. Hopper rose and conducted us to the other side, and after service the Doctor came and greeted us cordially. We spent an hour in their house, and were surprised to hear that both Avere old Pittsburghers. I remerabered I had a letter to hira frora friend Allison, of the Presbyterian Banner, but it Avas couched in such flattering terras that 1 had laid it aside as too rauch for a modest man like rayself to present. There were about thirty Chinaraen, all of the poorer classes, at church that morning, principally the servants and dependents of Europeans, who please their eraployers, I was told, by attending. In the afternoon we stumbled upon the large Catholic cathedral which is now almost ready for use. It is a magnificent granite structure, 92 ROUND THE WORLD. three hundred feet long and eighty-eight Avide. Ii anything can irapress the Chinese raind it must be grand mass in such a temple, with its vaulted roof, stained Avindows, the SAvelling organ, and all the "pride, porap, and circurastance" of Catholic wor ship. As we stood adrairing, the saintly bishop ap proached and greeted us with exquisite grace. He could not speak English, but his French was the easi est of any to understand I ever listened to, and ray little knowledge of the language enabled us to carry on an interesting conversation. When I told hira I had been in St. Peter's at Rorae, and had seen the Pope when the asserabled thousands fell prostrate before hira as he advanced up the aisle, carried upon his palanquin, he seeraed rauch affected, and pressed us to visit his quarters, apologizing, as he showed us into a poor one-story building, forthe poverty of his apartraents, but adding that the true pritre Catho lique raust needs dwell in poverty among the poor of the earth. I asked if he did not expect to return to France to die ; but, laying his hand upon his heart, he ansAvered that he must not allow himself to think of France since it had pleased God to place him here. For thirty years he had labored araong these peo ple, and among them he raust die ; it Avas the will of God. There was nothing beyond a table and a few chairs in this bishop's palace, not even a raat or carpet on the floor ; but he ordered a servant to bring wine, of Avhich he only tasted, while we drank " sa sante." He subsequently took us to the orphanage, where Ave saw eighty boys being educated. About an equal nuraber of little girls are in a separate building. If the Chinese are ever to be reforraed, this is the ROUND THE WORLD. 93 way to do it — get control of the young, and teach them. As for the older generation, I fear it is too late to do much Avith it. There are about 5,000 Chinese Catholics in and around Canton, mostly re cruited, I understand, frora araong the young, taken by these sagacious Avorkers into their schools and orphanages and other institutions, and educated as Christians frora their youth up. Monday, December 23. Now for a frank confession. Like Mark Twain's preacher with the car rhyme, " I have got it, got it bad" — the " curio" raalady in one of its raost viru lent types. Ever since we were dropped upon that uncanny land of Japan the syraptoras of forthcora ing disorder have not been wanting. I had to suc cumb occasionally, but rallied in time to preserve a tolerably clean bill of health. But if there's one weak ness I have more than another, it's for the harraony of sweet sounds, and this the terapter knew right well. It Avas in the celebrated Teraple of Hoonan where I fell. In that is the raost celebrated "gong" in China. I struck it, and listened. For raore than one full rainute, I believe, that bowl A\^as a quiver ing raass of delicious sound. I thought it would never cease to vibrate. I had counted one sound in Japan fifty seconds, and its rausic rang in my ears for days. I asked "Ah-Cum" why the temple wouldn't- sell this gong and buy another far cheap er ; for my opinion is, and ray experience too, that there isn't anything that raoney won't buy in China. However, this was an exception. Well, does the priest know where there are any teraple 7 94 ROUND THE WORLD. gongs that can be bought ? Yes, three that belonged to a temple destroyed by the rebels some years ago, and which were still in the hands of curio dealers. The address was obtained, and off we set to see thera. I wish I could describe the places we visited in our search, the collections of curios we saw ! No antiquary outside of Canton ever saw a tithe of the strange old things we exarained. One raight sturable upon a raagic mirror, or an Aladdin's lamp, in some of these recesses, and scarcely wonder at it ; all is so strange. But to the gongs. There is a little bit of history connected with one of them which is significant. We found we had to get frora one of the priests a certain ticket before the article could be delivered. I thought a moment, and then, " oh, my prophetic soul, my uncle I''' It was even so. The priest had seen " his uncle," the curio dealer, and in sorae raoraent of want or dire temptation he had pledged the gong of the temple for an advance. I got the others, Avhich had a fairer record, and told our guide I wanted raore if he could get them ; but this was irapossible. Judge of my surprise, however, when that identical gong reached me at Hong Kong ; I have it, with the pawn mark fortunately only partially obliterated, but so that the name of the guilty priest is no longer legible. Ah-Cum raust have bargained for that ticket, the rogue ! knowing I would pay the price ; but really, had that gong reached rae while in Canton, and had it been possible for rae to return it to the right temple, I should not have thought of carrying it off under the circumstances. It seems as if I were in sorae degree a receiver of stolen goods ; but as it only carae to rae after we had ROUND THE WORLD. 95 reached Hong Kong, and I kncAv neither priest nor temple, what could I do but decide to hold it myself until claimed by the rightful OAvners ? Therefore, my friends, one and all of you, please take notice : whatever you may take a fancy to among ray curios, don't ask me for that gong. I don't feel my title quite as clean and SAveet as I could wish it, but I shall ease my conscience by agreeing with rayself to act as teraporary custodian — only that and nothing raore. There are others besides teraple gongs, and I have to confess to several (genuine sous chows, all of thera). Indeed, to-day was throughout the curio day. I cannot give you even a partial record of the spoils as our procession raarched hotelward in the evening. I burst out into loud laughter as I eyed our party. In the advance was Ah-Cura, the guide, bearing aloft a fearful idol, ' ' the ugliest I could find in China," this being Sister Lucy's characteristic commission ; Vandy followed with his pockets stuffed Avith "birds' nests," "Joss-sticks," "temple raoney," and etceteras too nuraerous to raention ; then carae two coolies, one after the other, naked as Adara after he donned the fig-leaf, each carrying on his shoulders the gongs already spoken of, while I brought up the rear burdened with fans, vials, ivory carvings, and what not. I cannot tell what part of this raaze of shops we had been in, but the curio shops were so far from our hotel that not a raan about thera knew where it was, although there is but one European hotel in the city, consequently the coolies had to follow us. Vandy just reports that it will take nine boxes to hold our spoils frora here. And I say, Vandy, for goodness' sake let us get out of this iraraediately 96 ROUND THE WORLD. and try to regain our good, hard comraon-sense, and be sound, practical raen once raore. Give me a Pittsburg Commercial and let me see the price of pig raetal, and Avhat is said of steel rails and coke and manufactured iron, and all the rest of it ; and that monthly report of the Lucy Furnaces and of the Edgar Thomson, both the largest upon record. Thanks ! Ah ! now I feel better. Hoav is it with thee, my friend ? Fortunately Vandy felt the neces sity for keeping an eye upon me, and he never was in such danger himself. But if any one can pass through Canton and escape a touch of the Toodleian malady which prompts one to buy every thing one. sees, I warrant him sound to the core. While telling you about the gracious French Bishop I forgot to raen tion that when I told hira we spent our suraraers at Cresson, very near Loretto, and often drove to Count Gallitzin's tomb, he grasped my hand and gave me his benediction. Oh, blessed raan ! a grand Catholic, Father Gallitzin ! Hong Kong, Christmas Eve. We returned this afternoon frora Canton. After retiring I heard a well-knoAvn sound — the ubiquitous mosquito. It was rather odd to be compelled to rise and ring for our " boy" to put up mosquito bars on Christmas evening, but it had to be done. We talked till late of horae, and speculated upon what you would all be about away up there alraost above our heads — " topside," as John Chinaraan always expresses it. So far Ave have only one paper frora home ; no let ters, these having been missed at Shanghai. The ncAvs of the triuraph of hard raoney views rejoiced ROUND THE WORLD. 97 US greatly, as proving once raore that in grave eraer- gencies the good sense of the people can always be depended vipon. One has only to visit the East to see what evils the silver basis entails upon a nation. The closeness of all things in China is striking. A sweet potato is sold in halves, or even in quarters, if required ; ferriage across the river in a ,boat — a stream as Avide as the Ohio at Pittsburg— costs one fifth of a cent, and you can engage an entire boat for yourself for a cent if you wish to be extravagant ; poultry is sold by the piece, as we sell a sheep ; the wings, breast, legs, all have their price, and even the very feet of a chicken are sold for soup. Com raon iron nails are laid out in lots of six each ; these have been used and used again, no one knows how often ; we see the people at work straightening old nails at every turn. You can buy one tenth of a cent's worth (i cash) of either fish,. soup, or rice. Verily, things are doAvn to a fine point here ! In one of our strolls we came upon a string of ten blind beggars moving through the narrow crowded street, the hands of each upon the shoulders of the one in advance, the leader beating with his cane upon the stone paveraent, and all beseeching alms. It was a strange sight. The Chinese Governraent gives to every blind person a sraall raonthly pittance, and passers-by, I observed, generally bestowed a cash upon the gang. I have not said rauch about the temples of Can ton or of China, as they are poor affairs corapared with those of Japan ; besides, one becomes sated with temples which are for the raost part copies of one another ; the pagodas are rauch raore picturesque 98 ROUND THE WORLD. at a distance than when closely inspected. The Chi nese actually prefer all their places to smack of age, and repair thera reluctantly, so that all have a dilapi dated air, which gives a very unfavorable irapression •to a stranger. At best, Chi-na has nothing what ever to boast of in the way of architecture. Christmas Day. Yesterday's papers announced that the Hallelujah Chorus was to be performed in the English Cathedral this morning at 8 o'clock. I had been so long out of the region of rausic that I rose early and Avent to church. The Japanese and Chinese rausic grated so on ray ears, I longed to hear an organ once raore. I enjoyed the service very rauch. The rausic was well perforraed, and as for the serraon — I had to be back for breakfast, you know. It was specially pleasing to see the detachraent of British soldiers at church, the raore so as they were Highlanders. My heart will warra to the tartan, you see. One strange feature I shall not soon forget. Several soldiers in their scarlet uniforras sang in the choir. I scarcely ever see soldiers Avithout being saddened by the thought that the civilization of the race is yet little better than a name Avhen so much raust still be done to teach millions of men the surest way to destroy their fellows ; but I take hope frora this oraen^ — these raighty raen of war engaged this raorning chanting the seraphic strains which proclaira the coraing of the bet ter day where there shall reign " on earth peace, good-will toward men. ' ' Young China is progressing, whatever old China raay be doing, for I saAv in the park this raorning ROUND THE WORLD. 99 several youthful Celestials, Avith their pigtails se curely tied and out of the way, hard at cricket and baseball. Nor were they duffers either, although our wee Willie and his nine could no doubt, in the Avay of a "friendly" inning or two, show the lads a sweet thing, especially in the " underthroAv," for which ray little nephew, I hear, is faraous. We are all creatures of prejudice, of course, but I could not help being at first somewhat shocked on Sunday as I strolled about the Cathedral, to see some thirty odd sedan chairs on the one side, and I suppose as raany on the other, each with two, three, and sorae with four coolies in attendance in gorgeous liveries, all waiting the closing of prayers, and while waiting, lying in the shade, and sorae of thera iraproving the opportunity to enjoy a quiet gamble this fine Sunday morning. It didn't strike me for a few moraents as being quite consistent for some of my Scotch friends who stand so stoutly for Sabbath observance to keep so many huraan beings on duty, say three for one who worshipped, just to save thera frora walking a few short squares to and frora church, for the town is small and compact. But see how rauch custom has to do with one's preju dices. After all, how is this worse than to roll in one's carriage to our Fifth Avenue teraples ? Yet this never struck rae as out of the way before, and I think, unless the future Mrs. C. overrules, we shall walk to church as a rule, when we go. Really, three men kept at work that one may pray seems just a shade out of proportion. I astonished Vandy this morning by getting up early ; but I didn't care to explain the reason for IOO ROUND THE WORLD. this phenoraenon, which was that I had to catch the Canton boat to send a note back to Ah-Cura, asking hira to get rae certain curios after all. While at Can ton I had raanfuUy resisted the teraptation, but the thought of leaving China without the treasures proved overwhelming, and now ray only fear is lest Ah-Cura should fail rae. I confessed to Vandy, after we had had a glass of good wine at tiffin, and I shall not soon forget his quiet sraile. "You've got it bad, haven't you?" These were his words. 'Twas all he said, but you should have heard the touch of infinite pity in his tone. Yes, I have got it bad, I know, but to-raorrow we escape frora this old curiosity-shop forever. The fire-bell rang just after we retired, and frora eleven o'clock until now, two this afternoon — fif teen hours — a disastrous conflagration has raged, often threatening to consurae the entire settle raent ; indeed, nothing could have saved it but the splendid conduct of the 74th Highlanders. They were everywhere, and fought the flaraes the whole night long. The singers of the raorning were the intrepid fireraen of that terapestuous night. Had equal pluck been shoAvn on the field of battle, the flag of that splendid regiraent would have blazoned with another war-cry. Let them place this record on their banners, instead of a city destroyed : December 25th, 1878, Hong Kong Saved ! They have no prouder triumph to coraraeraorate even in their glorious history. I have not yet raentioned that slavery, in its raildest forra, exists in China ; but the children of a slave are free, and custora, which is all-powerful in ROUND THE WORLD. loi China, requires a raaster in all cases to give up his servant if he can repay the araount originally paid for him'; and in the case of women-servants, the peo ple who OAvn a woman are expected to provide a husband for her when she becomes of age. The purchase of boys and girls is, as a rule, confined to those who wish in this way to be provided with ser vants who shall becorae part of the household and can be relied upon. In no case can a raaster or rais tress require a slave to engage in any disreputable calling unless the purpose for Avhich the sale is raade is clearly set forth, in which event the cost is fully doubled. Without special provisions in the paper of sale, it is understood that the servant is to per forra a servant's ordinary duties and be fairly treated, and to be required to do no Avrong thing. The firing of fire-crackers caused rae to speak to our boatraan one day, as I was annoyed by the noise, having always had a dislike for sudden explo sions. " Why don't you worship soraething good and beautiful, ' ' I said, ' ' sorae god that would detest such things as fire-crackers ?" "So we do," said he, " in our hearts, but this is not worship ; it is sacrifice to the bad gods, so they will be pleased and do one no harra. " " But won't the good god be displeased and do you harm?" "No, the good god would never harra any one. ' ' His words Avere, as near as I can recollect thera, " He no do badee ; no can ; always likee he ; rauch goodee ; by-by kill bad Jossee raay be;" and so they go, good lord, good devil; no saying into whose hands one raay fall, as the sailor had it. I gave it up, as the business woraan carae on board and took command, the husband going off to 102 ROUND THE WORLD. his work elsewhere. This woman Susan — Black-eyed Susan, as Ave have dubbed her — and her bright young sister-in-laAV, continue to interest us more and raore, they are such active, intelligent characters. The girl is ornamented Avith bangles and heavy anklets, and her ear-rings are of blue-bird feathers ; her hair is banged, and every thing about her evinces the care of really good, respectable people. I told Susan if I were a boatman I should try hard to save raoney enough to buy her sister-in-law, and asked her price. "No sellee you ; sellee goodee Chinaraan two hundred dollars." This was said as a great boast, as the or dinary price for one in her station is only ninety dollars. Our guide turned up his lip in scorn and whispered to rae, " She talkee with mouthee too muchee ; ninety dollar plenty." Perhaps he had his eye upon the raaid. for his son. If so, I put in a good word for her, telling hira I was reputed one of the best judges of young ladies in America, that I could tell their qualities at a glance, and that it was certain she Avould be a grand wife ; and, what I thought would weigh as rauch with hira, I added that for a business woraan who could please travel lers and get lots of raoney I did not believe she had her equal in Canton. One always likes to help on a raatch Avhen he can, you know, and soraething raay corae of this : who knows ? I wish to bear ray testiraony to the grand work which is going forward at various places in China by raeans of the raedical departraents of raissions. There are fourteen hospitals of this kind in the country, and patients frora all parts flock to them. In diseases of the eye unusual success seems to ROUND THE WORLD. 103 have been achieved, and stories are told of raan darins alraost blind who have been restored to sight ; and in dealing with cutaneous disorders, which are very coramon, the doctors have also done won ders. A small raission hospital estabUshed in the Island of Forraosa only a few years ago has al ready treated ten thousand patients, and 1 ara in forraed that the Canton establishraent nurabers its beneficiaries by the hundred thousand. Whatever objection the people make to missionaries, doctors are ever welcome, and regarded as benefactors. Nor raust Ave forget that to those Avho considered it a sa cred duty to endeavor to force their religious views upon the consideration of the Chinese the entire credit of this indisputably grand work is wholly due. One can hardly find terras strong enough to speak fitly of the good raissions are performing in this de partment of their labors, and while upon this sub ject we should remeraber that it is also to mission aries alone we owe almost all we know of China and its literature. Even Confucius was given to the Avorld in English by a raissionary. I take special pleasure in saying all I justly can for those who are so universally decried throughout the East. With scarcely an exception — indeed I do not remeraber one^every European or Araerican engaged in the East speaks disparagingly of raissionaries and their labors. I believe rayself that trying to force re ligious views upon those who only tolerate them be cause the cannon stands behind ready to support the preaching is not the better way, and that many raore converts would be made by "the word spoken in season" by rainisters of the European congregations I04 ROUND THE WORLD. noAv scattered throughout the East, and by doctors and others Avith whora the natives are daily brought in contact, if the paid propaganda were withdrawn ; but this should not prevent us from crediting the mis sionaries Avith the collateral advantages which are now floAving from another branch of their efforts. They are on the right track now : the M.D. is the best pioneer of the D.D. There is another powerful lever at work in the Herald, a weekly paper pub lished in Shanghai and distributed throughout the Erapire. It is obtaining an iraraense circulation. It gives each week an epitorae of the raost iraportant events occurring in every country, and Araerica, I saw, headed the list. A Mr. Allen, forraerly con nected Avith missions, is the publisher, and he is probably doing raore to revolutionise China than all others combined. China, you knoAv, grows a great deal of tea, but do you knoAV how great a proportion of this indis pensable article she does groAV, and how rauch she uses of it herself ? Here are the figures I see printed : Total production of the world, 1,300,000 net tons ; China's portion, i , 1 50,000 tons, being about nine tiraes raore than all the Avorld besides. But what is raore wonderful is that China uses 1,000,000 tons per an num, and exports only 1 50,000 tons. But every one in China, upon all occasions, partakes of the cup which cheers and does not inebriate. It is popularly supposed that a small-footed woraan raust be one of rank, but this is an error. It is a matter of family ambition, even among the poor, to have in the family at least one "such deformity. Gentlemen raarry only sraall-footed ROUND THE WORLD. 105 Avomen, and their child raight make a good match. If large-footed, this would be impossible ; but such hopes are sometimes doomed to disappointment, or after marriage reverses raay ensue ; and so it happens that many sraall feet starap about in poA'crty and try to eke out a living under disadvan tages frora Avhich her less genteel neighbors are free. The most remarkable feature in the streets is the total absence of woraen of any kind except such as drudge alongside of men, and even these are not nu merous, for man appears to raonopolize most of the work, at least in the cities. Occasionally we pass a sedan chair, or one passes us closely covered up, Avhich no doubt contains a lady of position com pelled to visit sorae temple or relative ; but I do not recall one woman seen in China dressed beyond a Avorker, so jealously do Chinamen sentence their ladies to seclusion. The only temple I saw in any part of China Avhich is worthy of mention is that of the Sages. Here we saw tolerably good busts of five hundred of the most faraous characters known to Chinese history — all the Avriters, statesmen, and rulers who have distinguished themselves for thousands of years. Araong them, curiously enough, Marco Polo has by sorae raeans found a place. Corapared with the hideous raonsters worshipped in other teraples, I regarded this deification of the illustrious dead with sincere satisfaction. I have before reraarked that the buildings of China are scarcely worthy of notice, and, by the way, no raan can erect a house except such as his rank or station in life justifies. A public officer prescribes the limit of expenditure. This isn't Io6 ROUND THE WORLD. ' ' liberty, ' ' but I suspect several of ray friends who have gone in for palatial structures of late years have seen reason to wish that such a safeguard had existed when they began to build. Our visit to the Celestial Erapire is now at an end : we sail at noon by the French mail steamer Pie Ho for Singapore, fourteen hundred miles south. The more we see of China the greater it grows. A country much larger than the United States, with ten tiraes the popu lation, and not one raile of telegraph or railroad in it, not even one mile of public road in raany districts, broad enough for any thing beyond a Avheelbarrow — and yet a reading and writing people, a race of ac knowledged raental power, with a forra of settled governraent the oldest in the world — how incon sistent all this seeras to us ! But the reason for this paradoxical condition of affairs is, I think, that the unequalled resources of the country, which give to the people every necessary of life and alraost every luxury, encouraged thera to eschew intercourse Avith the poorer lands around thera, and then their clairas of superiority as a race to all their neigh bors led them quite justifiably to conclude that all beyond were outside barbarians. They rested content with the position attained, and as each suc cessive generation copied the past, change becarae foreign to their Avhole nature, and in this path they have stubbornly persisted until the once inferior races of the West have far outstripped them ; and araong these outside barbarians raust be ranked our noble selves, for it isn't one thousand years, let alone two, since our ancestors Avere running about dressed in skins and eating raw flesh — perhaps eating ROUND THE WORLD. 107 each other, as sorae allege- — as ignorant of their A B C's as of the theory of evolution or the nebular hypothesis, Avhen these Chinese were publishing a daily paper and sailing ships by the corapass. Re cent events have undoubtedly awakened the foreraost rainds of China to the fact that they have been asleep, like our Rip, not twenty years only, but twenty generations. They have recently begun to build stearaships ; a line of telegraph is authorized frora Tien Tsin to Peking — a fcAV railes only, but it is a be ginning ; postage-staraps are being printed, and, best of all for our corafort, at the principal cities there is generally at least one dealer who adheres to fixed prices for his goods. A daily paper is uoav pub lished in Chinese at Shanghai, and the English school there is Avell patronized. All these things convince rae that at last Western civilization is raaking an impression. The inert raass begins to raoA'e, and China will raarch forward ere long. But without railroads, the country can never be thoroughly developed. I fear this will be the last feature of our civilization which China will accept, although the raost iraportant for her prog ress, and, of all the reasons in the world, Avhat is strange is that it is not so much on account of the living as of the dead that railroads are so stoutly resisted. The sacred graves of ancestors lie scat tered everywhere in the Flowery Land. A railway cannot be built without desecrating thera by the thousands, and no true Chinaraan but fervently re peats the Shakespearian anatheraa, "And curst be he who raoves ray bones !" The people attach the greatest iraportance to the site selected for graves. lo8 ROUND THE WORLD. Soothsayers are consulted, who pass upon the desira bility of these sacred spots. If an ancestor be not properly and luckily interred, the heirs can hope for no good fortune. In cases where numerous deaths or disasters have occurred, Chinaraen have been known to purchase new ground at great expense, and reraove the dead, attributing their raisfortunes to sorae injurious characteristic of the ground occu pied before, in which the perturbed spirit could not rest. Our guide, although a reraarkably intelligent man, and favorable to improvements of all kinds, took his stand here, inflexibly opposing the introduc tion of raihvays. No raatter what raaterial advan tages raight accrue, nor hoAv rauch raoney he raight be offered, no earthly consideration would induce him to touch his ancestors. Who lie in one place in uninterrupted succession for nearly seven hundred years. If my friends Messrs. Garrison, Field, and Pullman, Avho have so skilfully raanaged to give us elevated railroads without disturbing proprietary rights below, wish to enhance their fame, let them ask a concession in the Celestial Empire for railroads ' ' topside, ' ' guaranteed to dodge every grave, and I do not doubt their success. Such inborn superstition as is here depicted dies hard, but it must pass away with the spread of knowledge ; it will, however, take tirae. Nevertheless, China has a great future before it, as it has had a great past, and instead of having passed her cliraacteric, I predict that she is destined to reach a position of paramount irapor tance in the Eastern world. ROUND THE WORLD. 109 Tuesday, December 26. The Pie Ho is a magnificent ship, and we are delighted at getting under the auspices of a French cook once raore, after the experiences we have had in Chinese cookery. We are scudding along be fore the raonsoon, the temperature that of June, an agreeable change from Hong Kong, Avhere the nights have been chilly. We are out of the region of cold weather uoav for the remainder of our travels. We reached Saigon, the capital of the French settlement in Cochin China, at six this raorning, after sailing up a branch of the Cambodia for forty railes. Lower Cochin China belongs to France, and is under the rule of a colonial governor, French troops being scattered through the provinces. It is a low-lying district, celebrated only for growing more rice than any other part of the Avorld. Our ship took on large quantities of it for France, but this is ex ceptional, the scarcity of freights being everywhere so great that stearaers are glad to get any thing to carry. The Saigonites are the lowest speciraens of huraanity yet seen, miserable, sickly -looking crea tures, and without the faintest regard for cleanliness. Their long, coarse, black hair hangs over their shoul ders in thick, tangled masses which have never appar ently known a comb. Every one chews the betel nut without intermission, young and old alike, and this so discolors their teeth and mouth as to render them extremely disgusting. We drove about the toAvn for a few hours, but it was so hot that we were cora pelled to return to the ship. We have on board several English merchants and one American who are taking a run horae for a 8 no .ROUND THE WORLD. visit. The latter regrets that his countryraen should be induced to drink green tea aborainations, and I console him by stating that a reform is surely near at hand. These gentleraen agree that the Araerican cotton goods are taking the raarket and driving the adulterated English goods out : the trade is increasing so fast that it Avas welcorae in telligence for thera to be advised by the last raail that another large raill in Massachusetts was being changed to run exclusively upon these Chinese goods. I congratulate my friend Edward Atkinson upon this result. But is this new business to be per manent ? I think not. The day is far distant, I hope, Avhen either labor or capital in America Avill have to be content with the return given in a populous country like Britain, and unless we have superior natural ad vantages we cannot hope to compete with her. In cotton raanufactures for the East we have not any ad vantage, as I find that the cheapest way of reaching China is to ship via London frora New York. England can bring the raw cotton frora New Orleans or Ncav York and send the raanufactured goods to raarket for certainly not raore than the cost of transportation frora the Araerican raills to market, and therefore England can retain that trade whenever she adopts the latest iraproveraents in raode of raanufacture, and this she is as certain to do (and probably to iraprove upon thera) as the sun shines. The night we spent at Saigon the French governor gave a grand ball ; five hundred invitations ; but out of all this nuraber how many ladies, think you ? Society here musters but thirty-five, raararaas and grandraamraas included, and only three young ladies. Think of it, ye belles of ROUND THE WORLD. in Cresson, NcAvport, and Saratoga (Cresson first, Mr. Printer, is quite correct) ! fifteen officers in dazzling uniforms for every lady ! Wednesday, January i, 1879. The clock strikes twelve. Good-by, 1878; and you, 1879, ^11 hail ! Be as kind to us as the de parted, and Ave shall in turn bless your meraory. This midnight hour of all the hours of the year is re puted the best for fraraing good resolutions, but soraehow those I have tried at this season hitherto have not been exceptionally fortunate in bearing good fruit. However, I have never " resolved" on a New Years night before while suffering from heat and raosquitoes. I conclude to hazard one, so here goes antipodal resolution No. i : See AAihat you are good for. I record it that it raay be the raore deeply impressed upon my mind, and, if a failure, that it may in print sternly stare me in the face, and not " doAvn at my bidding." To-day Ave make our first acquaintance Avith pun kas ; they extend throughout the cabin, orainous of hot weather, which I detest ; Vandy, on the other hand, revels in it, and it is his turn now. ' Vandy handed rae to-day a string of Cambodia coin, sixty pieces, which cost only two cents, showing to "what fractions they reduce exchanges in Cochin China. I do not think I have before mentioned. that I have been engaged gathering coins in every: place visited. Sock No. I is noAv full, and I have had;to start bag No. 2. Araong those obtained I have sorae rare specimens : of Japan the set is complete, frora the gold cobang, a coin worth $115, of oblong shape, 112 ROUND THE WORLD. five inches long, and about three wide. I have sorae Chinese coins shaped like a St. Andrew's, Cross, dating before Christ ; and, in short, the mania of a coin collector is another inherent tendency the presence of Avhich in my disposition has probably never been suspected. But then, collecting the coin of the realra, Avhen one thinks of it, isn't at all for eign to ray tastes. The forra of raanifestation is dif ferent, that's all — old coin for new — the ' 'ruling love, to use a Swedenborgianism, being the same, and the ruling love raust be acted out, so Aunt tells rae, CA'^en in heaven. " Oh," said L., when she heard this, " 1 wonder what they'll get for Mr.^ to do in the other world ; there are no dollars and cents there ; but there Avill be \ki& golden harps, and I suppose he can trim and weigh." So he would still handle the siller, and be in his eleraent. Singapore, Saturday, January 4. We reached here at dusk. The drive through the town was a curious one. Nowhere is there such a raixture of races as in Singapore, and each race was enjoying itself in its own peculiar fashion, all except the Chinese ; they were as usual hard at work in their little dens as we drove past. No recreation for this people. Work, Avork, work ! They never play, never sraile, but plod aAvay, frora early morn ing until late at night. We see here our first lot of Hindoos Avho move about the streets like ghosts, Avrapped as they are in webs of thin white cotton cloth, which neither scissors nor needle nor thread has ever defiled. The cloth must remain just as it carae frora the loora ; no hat, no shoes, their foreheads ROUND THE WORLD. 113 chalked, or painted in red, with the starap of the god they Avorship and the caste to which they belong. They are a small, slight race, with very fine, delicate features. I Avent out for a stroll before retiring, and hear- irig ^ great noise, I foUoAved, and came up with a Hindoo procession. The god was being paraded through the Hindoo portion of the tOAvn araid the beating of druras and blowing of squeaking trura pets. The idol was seated in a finely decorated teraple upon Avheels, raaking altogether a very gor geous display. Priests stood at each side performing mysterious rites as the cortege proceeded, which, by the Avay, was drawn by devotees, many dancing Avildly around the idol, while others bore torches aloft, the flickering beams of which illuminated the temple. It was ray first sight of an idolatrous proces sion, and it raade a deep impression upon me, carrying me back to Sunday-school days, and the terrible car of Juggernaut and all its horrors. We have had raany experiences in beds, frora the generous feather cover of the Gerraans to the canopy of State couch of England, but our beds to-night Avere minus covering of any kind. Calling to Vandy, I found he was in the same fix, but each had a long, stiff bolster lying in the raiddle, lengthwise of the bed, the use of which neither of us could make out. We soon found, however, that there Avas no need of covering here at the Equator ; its absence Avas all right ; but this bolster must have sorae use, if we could only find it. Upon inquiring next day we ascertained that it was coraposed of sorae kind of pith which keeps cool, and that it was the 114 ROUND THE WORLD. greatest relief in hot nights to cultivate the closest possible acquaintance with this strange bed-fellow ; in fact, in Singapore " no faraily should be without it," and none are. The island of Singapore is about 30 railes in circuraference, belongs to England, and boasts a population of 300,000, one third of which is Chinese, the reraainder Malays, Klings, Javanese, Hindoos, and every otherEastern race under the sun, I believe, for nowhere is such a raixture seen, and a . fcAv Europeans. Here the "survival of the fittest" is being fought out under the protection of the Brit ish flag, which ensures peace and order wherever it floats. In this struggle we have no hesitation in backing the Heathen Chinee against the field. A perraanent occupation by any Western race is of course out of the question : an Englishraan would inevitably cease to be an Englishraan in a fcAV, a very few, generations, and it is therefore only a ques tion of tirae when the Chinese avUI drive every other race to the Avail. No race can possibly stand against thera anyAvhere in the East. On Sunday Major Studer, United States Consul, and his accora plished daughter, drove us to the house and gardens of the leading Chinese raerchant of this region, Mr. Warapoo, Avho received and entertained us with great cordiaUty. His residence is extensive and filled with curios in every part, but it is his gardens Avhich are most celebrated, as they far surpass any thing of the kind here. His collection of Victoria Regina plants is said to be the best in the world. Unfortu nately none were in bloora, but a flower Avas due, I understood, in about ten years ! ROUND THE WORLD. nS The newspapers here soraetiraes give strange local iteras. Here is one frora yesterday's Times : " Tigers must be increasing on the island ; a fine big male one was caught in a pit on Christraas eve at the water works. ' ' The f elloAv was probably on the track of a Christraas dinner, and ventured to the very suburbs of the town. We were driven to a tapioca plantation one day by the Major and Miss Studer, sorae ten or twelve miles in the interior, passing through groves of cocoa and betel nut trees, both in full bearing, and saw raany trees and plants new to us — the fan and sago palms and many other varieties, bananas, nutmeg trees, bread fruit, durion, gutta percha trees, and others. We also saw; the indigo plant under cul tivation, and passed through fields of the sensitive plant as we walked about, while pineapples were everywhere. We are in a new world of vegetation here, Avithin a degree of the Equator ; but, rich as it is, there is still a feeling of disappointment because it is all green — no bright hues, no coloring, such as gives Florida its charra, or lends to an Araerican forest in auturan its unrivalled glory ! It is always suraraer, and the raoisture of the tropics keeps every thing green. There is another cause of disappoint raent to one aeeustoraed to the priraeval forest and its raajestic trees : these raonarchs cannot develop themselves in the tropics, and in their stead we have only underbrush, the "jungle" of the tiger, which doesn't at all corae up to one's expectations. About orje thousand raen and woraen are eraployed upon the tapioca plantation referred to. Married Hin doos get twenty cents per day, but the greater nuraber Il6 ROUND THE WORLD. are Javanese unraarried men, who get only sixteen cents ; both find themselves. The Javanese are Mo hamraedans frora Java en route to Mecca as a religious duty. They corae here and Avork and save for tAvo years to get sufficient to pay their passage and return to this point, when they work a year raore for funds to carry thera horae. How vital the creed is Avhich brings its adherents to such sacrifice as is here involv ed ! This drive gave us an excellent opportunity of seeing just hoAV the people live in the country. As for dress, it is confined to the sraall rag Avorn about the loins, except that the women wear in addition a sraall cloth over their shoulders. The children wear nothing Avhalever, but Ave saw none that were not ornamented by cheap jewelry in the most extraordi nary manner. Here is a description of a woman's jewelry, as taken from life by Vandy : Lobes of ears pierced with holes large enough to alloAV one's thurab to be inserted ; above these holes two small gold-color rivets in each ear ; in each nostril tAvo gold pendants, inserted by screwing in ; through the centre of the nose a large silver ring ; on each Avrist four brace lets ; higher up the arm more rings ; around her neck a necklace was worn ; around each ankle a large silver ring ; around her big toe and the next, on both feet, were rings. The smallest chil dren sported many similar jewels. Upon these every penny they can save is squandered, and to secure these they are content to live on a little boiled rice and fish — a baraboo hut of one apart raent their only horae, and a piece of cotton cloth their wardrobe. ROUND THE WORLD. ii7 We had the pleasure of raeeting, at Major Studer's, Mr. Hornaday — a young gentleraan who travels for Professor Ward, of Rochester, New York, whose museura is well known the world over. Mr. Hornaday 's departraent is to keep the Professor's collections coraplete, and if there be a rare bird, beast, or reptile on the globe, he is bound to capture speciraens. He had just returned from spending four months araong the savages of Borneo, where only a supply of orang-outangs could be. obtained. He returned with forty-two of these links, mostly shot by hiraself. He carae one day upon tAvo very young ones, and these he has brought here alive. They are suggestively huraan in their ways, and two better-behaved, raore affectionate babies are rarely to be met with. Let no anti-Dar winian study young orang-outangs if he wishes to retain his present notions. The museum, Mr. H. is advised, is now short of dugongs, and he is off for Australia next steamer to lay in a supply. The re cital of his adventures are extremely interesting, and I predict that sorae day a book from him will have a great run. In the absence of other coramercial intelligence, I may quote the market in his line. Tigers are still reported "lively;" orang-outangs "looking up ;" pythons show but little animation at this season of the year ; proboscis monkeys, on the other hand, continue scarce ; there is quite a run on lions, and kangaroos are juraped at with avidity ; ele phants heavy ; birds of paradise drooping ; croco diles are snapped up as offered, while dugongs bring large prices. What is pig raetal to this ? Il8 ROUND THE WORLD. The cliraate of Singapore, as of all places so near the Equator, would be intolerable but for the dense clouds which obscure the sun and save us frora its fierce rays ; but occasionally it breaks through for a fcAv minutes, and we are in a bath of perspiration before we know it. No one can estiraate the differ ence in the poAver of the sun here as compared with it in New York : straAV hats afford no protection whatever ; we are corapelled to wear thick Avhite helraets of pith, and a white urabrella lined Avith green cloth, and yet can only walk a few steps when the sun is hid without feeling that we must seek the shade. The horses are unable to go more than ten miles in twenty-four hours, and our carriage and pair are hired Avith the understanding that this is not to be exceeded. Nothing could exist near the line if the intense heat did not cause evaporation upon a gigantic scale. The clouds so formed are driven upward by the streams ot colder air from both sides, expanding condensation takes place, and showers fall every few hours in the region of Singapore. One is not only in a ncAv earth here, but he has a new sky as well. As the tropics do not corapare with our raore brilliant colors in the vegetable world, neither does the southern sky equal ours. Indeed, Avith the exception of the four stars in the Southern Cross, two in the Centaur, and tAvo or three others, there is no star of the first raagnitude to be seen, and the constellations are poor corapared to those of our splendid northern skies. Shakespeare's line, "fretted with platines of bright gold," raust seera hyperbole to the Australian. I saw the Southern Cross raany nights while at sea, and it is ROUND THE WORLD. 119 certainly very fine. These long ocean trips furnish the best opportunity for observing the stars, and I have rubbed up ray early knowledge on the subject so far as to be able to point out all the constellations and many of the principal stars ; but away down here the North Star even is not to be seen, and we have to steer by Orion's belt if the compass should vary. Tuesday, January 14. We left Singapore to-day at three p.m. by the English mail steamer Teheran, parting Avith very sin cere regret frora Major and Miss Studer, to whora Ave had been so rauch indebted for our week's happi ness. These partings frora kind friends on our Avay round the Avorld arc the sad incidents of the trip. People are so kind, and they do so much to render our stay agreeable, that we becorae warraly at tached, and have raany excursions planned, when sorae raorning up goes the flag, boora goes the signal gun, " Mail stearaer arrived !" all aboard at sunset ! and farewell, friends ! We see thera linger on the pier as we sail aAvay, good-bys are waved, and we fade from each other's sight ; but it will be long ere raany faces vanish frora our meraory. While still gazing Singaporeward I ara recalled to the stern duties of life. These tAvo baby orang outangs I told you of are going to a naturalist in Ma dras. What a present ! and Vandy and I have prora ised to do Avhat we can in the Avay of attendance upon thera. The butcher coraes to ask rae Avhen they are to be fed, and how, and what. This is a poser. I ara not up in the managem.ent of orang-outangs, but Vandy has skill in alraost every thing of this kind ; at 120 ROUND THE WORLD. least he is safer than I, and I search for hira in this eraergency. The fact is, while I have had varied ex periences in the matter of delicate charges of many kinds, these have generally been of our own species — a youngster to be taken horae to his parents, a dowager lady afraid of the cars — even a blushing darasel to be transported across the Atlantic to the arras of her fianc^ has been entrusted to rae before this, but this charge is decidedly out of ray line. We called at Penang, an island on the western shore of the Peninsula, belonging to England, and had time to drive around the settlement. The place is not to be compared to Singapore in size, but we found vegetation even raore luxuriant. It was very hot, and we enA'ied the governor his residence on a mountain peak 1800 feet above the sea, Avhere, it Avas reported, they actually require fires at sorae seasons night and raorning. Penang exports large quantities of tin, and we took on a lot for New York. This valuable production seeras about the only metal America has now to iraport, but sorae lucky explorer is no doubt destined to find it in iraraense quanti ties by and by. Having got every thing else, it doesn't stand to reason that Araerica should not be favored Avith this also. Nothing unusual occurred upon our run across the Bay of Bengal. It was smooth and quiet stearaing all the way to Ceylon. I had been huraraing " Greenland's Icy Mountains" for several days previously, all that I knew about Ceylon's isle being contained in one of the verses of that hyran, which I used to sing at raissionary raeetings, when a rainister who had seen the heathen was stared at as a prodigy. ROUND THE WORLD. 121 And indeed the "spicy breezes blcAv soft o'er Ceylon's isle" as Ave approached it in the raoon light. We found Galle quite a pretty, quaint little port, and reraained there one night, taking the coach next raorning for Colorabo, the capi tal. The drive ot sixty railes to the railway Avhich extends to Colombo, seventeen railes beyond, is one ot the best treats we have yet had : the road is equal to one of our best park avenues, as indeed are all the roads we saw in Ceylon ; from end to end it skirts the rocky shores and passes through end less groves of cocoa and betel nut trees, and on each side are the huts of natives at work at some branch of the cocoanut business. Every part of the nut is util ized : ropes and raats are made from the covering of the shell, oil frora the kernel, and the railk is drank fresh at every meal. These trees do not thrive except near the coast, the salt air laden with moisture being essential for their growth, but they grow quite down to the A'-ery edge of the sea, and the road is delightfully shaded by rows of thera the entire distance. The natives have been attracted to this raain road, and from Galle to Colorabo it is alraost one continuous village ; there is no prettier sea-shore in the world, nor a raore beautiful surf. Every few railes Ave corae upon large nurabers of fishermen drawing in their nets, which are exces sively long and take in several acres of sea in their SAveep. An artist who would corae to Ceylon and devote himself to depicting " the fishers of Cey lon's isle" (hoAv well that sounds ! and a good title is half the battle) Avould make a reputation and a for tune. I ara quite sure there is no raore picturesque 122 ROUND THE WORLD. sight than the drawing of their nets, several hun dred raen being engaged in the labor, Avhile the beach is alive Avith woraen and children in bright colors anxiously watching the result. The dress of the Ceylonese Avomen is really pretty : a skirt closely fitting the figure, and a tight- fitting jacket over the shoulders — all of fine, pure Avhite cotton cloth or muslin. Necklaces and ear rings are Avorn, but I am glad to say the nose seems to be preserved frora the indignity of rings. The raen's dress is of course scanty, their weakness being a large tortoise-shell comb, which eA'cry one wears ; it reaches from ear to ear, and the hair is corabed straight back and confined by it. Woraen are de nied this croAvning ornament, and must content them selves with a pin in the hair, the head of which, however, is highly ornamented. The Buddhist priests form a strange contrast in their dress, which consists of a yellow plaid, generally of silk, wrapped around the body and over the shoulders. Ceylon is a little sraaller than Ireland, and the population is a little raore than three raillions, which is rapidly increasing, as are its exports and imports. It is of all the places visited the one Avhich seems to have suffered the least frora the wave of depression Avhich has recently swept OA^er the Avorld. This is undoubtedly owing to the fact that the spicy isle enjoys soraething of a raonopoly in coffee and sorae of the spices, cinnamon especially. Java coffee is generally used, I think, in Araerica, but it is deemed here an inferior article ; Mocha, in Arabia, furnishes the best, but rauch that is called Mocha is really groAvn here. In the coffee plantations men are paid ROUND THE WORLD. 123 eighteen cents per day, woraen fourteen cents. A disease has raged araong the plants for two years past akin to that Avhich attacked the vines in France sorae years ago ; it proraises this year to be less destructive, although no effectual cure has yet been discovered. Kandy. A railway has been built frora Colorabo, the ship ping port, through the mountains to the coffee-grow ing districts, a distance of seventy miles, and this enabled us to visit Kandy, more than 1600 feet above the sea, and the suraraer capital to which the govern raent repairs in hot weather. It is a beautiful little town, and gave us the first breath of air with "ozone" in it that we had enjoyed since we were on the Sierras. Our hotel fronts upon the square, and is opposite the Buddhist Teraple, celebrated as the receptacle of that precious relic, " the sacred tooth of Buddha." A forraer king of Ceylon is re puted to have paid an iraraense sum forthis meraento of the departed. We were too near the teraple for comfort : the toratora has to be beaten five tiraes each day, and as one of these is at sunrise, I had occasion to wish the priest and tooth both far enough away. I wonder the Europeans don't indict this toratoraing at unseasonable hours as a nuisance. The Botanical Gardens here are only rivalled in the tropics by those in Java, and upon seeing the dis play of tropical vegetation here, we fully understood how it had acquired its celebrity; but still all is green. The great variety of palras, the bread-fruit, banyan, jack-fruit, and others sustain this reputation. 124 ROUND THE WORLD. The chocolate tree was the raost curious to us ; it has recently been introduced in the island, and proraises to add one raore to the list of articles de luxe for which Ceylon is faraous. A fine evidence of the intelli gence of the Ceylon planters is seen in the fact that the association eraploys a cheraist to investigate and report upon the various soils and what they are probably capable of producing ; under his super vision various articles are always under trial. Re cently Liberian coffee has been found to thrive in low latitudes unsuited for the Arabian variety, which requires a higher district, thus rendering a large area available for this plant which has hitherto been necessarily devoted to less profitable uses. Nothing nowadays can be thoroughly developed without the cheraist's aid, and the day is not far dis tant when our farraing Avill be conducted under his instructions as corapletely as our steel raanufacture now is. Ceylon is noted for its pearl fisheries and its sup ply of rubies, sapphires, and cats'-eyes as rauch as for its spices, and frora the hour one lands until the stearaer carries hira off he is beset with dealers offer ing precious stones, worth hundreds of dollars in London or New York, for a few rupees; but those Avho purchase no doubt find their fate in the story of the innocent who bought his gold cheap. The govern raent keeps the pearl fishery grounds under proper regulations, and allows divers one half of all they find, the other half going to the State Treasury. I was told the value of the pearls found last year araounted to $400,000. ROUND THE WORLD. 1.25 Galle, Wednesday, January 22. We reached here last night upon our return, stopping one night at Colorabo. Future travellers will soon raiss one of the rarest treats in Ceylon. The raihvay will soon be completed frora Colorabo to Galle, and the days of coaching cease forever. We congratulate ourselves that our visit was before this passed aAvay, as we know of no drive equal to that we have now enjoyed tAvice, and the last time even more than the first. During our trip down yesterday I counted in forty railes no less than eleven schools filled with young Ceylonese. English is generally taught in thera, and although attendance is not compulsory, great inducements are held out to parents to send their children. The advantages of knowing the English language are so decided that I am told par ents generally are most, anxious to have their chil dren taught. The school-houses are siraple affairs, consisting only of white plastered Avails about five feet high, with spaces for entrance. On this wall rest the slight wooden standards which support the roof of palra leaves, so that all is open to our view as we drive past. We were equally delighted to see nuraerous raedical dispensaries scattered through the country, Avhere the afflicted natives can obtain advice and raedicine free of charge. On several huts we saw large placards denoting the presence of conta gious disease within. It is a great work that is going forward here, you see, under Engli^i rule. By such means England proves her ability to gOAJ^ern, and best confirms her sway against domestic revolt or foreign intrigues. The blessings of good governraent, the 9 126 ROUND THE WORLD. education of the people, and careful attention to their health and comfort — these Avill be found the most effective Aveapons with which to combat mutiny within, or Russian or any other aggression from abroad. Saturday, January 25. At ten to-night we sailed for Madras and Cal cutta by the English mail stearaer Hindostan, and were lighted out of the intricate harbor by flaming torches displayed by lines of natives stationed at the buoys. The last sight of Ceylon's isle revealed the fine spires of the Catholic Cathedral, which tower above the pretty harbor of Galle. Madras, Tuesday, January 28. We arose to find ourselves at anchor in the open sea opposite Madras. There is not a har bor upon the whole coast of Hindostan. Gov ernment is engaged in constructing one here, but it is slow work, as the immense blocks of concrete used can be handled and laid only in sraooth seas, which seldora exist here. Soraetiraes the raail stearaers find it irapossible to land passengers or cargo, and are corapelled to carry both to Calcutta. The surf often sAveeps over the top of the iron pier, which is certainly twenty feet high. Passengers are taken ashore in native boats twenty feet long and five feet deep. Across the boat, on small round poles, sit ten rowers, five on each side ; another raan steers, and in the bow stand tAvo boys prepared to bail out the waters which sweep in as we plunge through the surf. Fortunately the sea was unusually calm. ROUND THE WORLD. 127 and Ave had no difficulty in reaching dry land. When the surf is too strong for even these boats to encounter it, natives communicate with ships by ty ing three small logs together, upon which they man age to sit and paddle about, carrying letters in bags fastened upon their heads. As the solid logs can't sink, they are safe as long as they can cling to them, and as for an upset, they think nothing of that Avhatever. We saAv many of these curious contriv ances, but one raust have a good deal of the amphi bious in his nature, or full faith that he wasn't born to be drowned, in order to trust hiraself upon them through the Madras surf. India at last ! How strange every thing looks ! Brahmins, Cullrees, and Banians, devotees of the three different gods, with foreheads marked to de note their status—our first glimpse of caste, of Avhich these are the three main divisions — to one of Avhich all persons must belong,- or be of the lowest order, the residuum, Avho are- cOolies. There are many subdivisions of these, arid- indeed evefy trade or calling constitutes a different order, the raembers of which do not interraarry or associate or even eat with one another. JGenerations pursuing the sarae calling, and only raafrying within theraselves, acquire a peculiar appearance, and this effectually creates a caste. Carpenters, masons, raerchants, each are distinct, and the occupation of a raan can readily be known by his dress or raanner. Our friend in Madras gave us arare treat by driv ing us out to see the celebrated Madras tigers, for noAvhere else in the world are such tigers kept as here, and indeed I go so far as to declare that until one has 128 ROUND THE WORLD. seen these grand aniraals he has no adequate idea of what a tiger is. AU that I have seen hitherto, and I do not forget the " Zoo," in London, are but tarae raockeries of the genuine raonster. I walked up to a large cage, but was startled by such a fright— a tiger, was in an instant flat against the cage, with only a fcAV small iron rods between rae and it, Avhich rattled, like reeds as he struck thera. I thought the whole cage Avas in pieces and that beast upon rae. ' Such glar ing eyes, burning like iraraense topazes in his head ; and then Avhen he found hiraself, unable to get at his prey, such a yell ! but I Avas raany feet frora hira ere this carae, I assure you. He had sprung from the back of his cage against the bars, a distance of at least .fifteen or eighteen feet, the moment he saw me, and no doubt hurt himself as he dashed against them. The keeper told us this one had only been caught a fcAv months ago. His stripes were glossy black, and his coat not that sickly tawny color we are so farailiar with, but a light fiery- brown. Corapared, with the tiger it is irapossible but that even the no blest lion raust seera tame and inert. We took, no. interest in thera, although there were . sorae fine specimens. In the evening Ave enjoyed hearing the Governor's band performing on the beach and see-, ing Madras society congregated there, and for the first time since we left America saw full sized horses again. Several Avere riding aniraals that Avould pass rauster in the Park. Thus far we have found only little ponies in use. To-day our Sunday-school recollections were again aroused by a sight of the terrible car of Jug gernaut. It is really an iraraense affair, elaborately ROUND THE WORLD. 129 carved in bold relief, and on the top is a platforra for the priests. I should say the car is 25 feet high and about 8 x 12 at the base ; it has six wheels, four out side and two in the centre, the forraer nine feet in diaraeter and the latter six, and all at least two feet ' in Avidth of tread, all solid wood clamped together with iron bands. Such a mass drawn through the streets, by elephants and accorapanied by excited dev otees, its hundred bells jangling as it ro.Ued along where there Avas not another vehicle of any kind with Avhich to corapare it, or a house raore than one sraall story high, raust have appeared to the ignorant na tives soraething akin to the supernatural, and I can now well understand how wretches working thera selves into a state of frenzy should have felt them selves irapelled to dash under its wheels. It is still paraded upon certain festival days, invariably sur rounded, hoAvever, by policeraen, who keep the natives clear of the wheels, for even to-day, if they were not prevented, its victiras would be as nuraerous as ever. Iraagine, if you can, Avith what feelings we stood and gazed upon this car, which has crushed under its ponderous wheels religious enthu siasts by ¦ the thousand, and which still retains its fascination over raen anxious to be allowed the glory of such self-iraraolation. We left Madras on Wednesday raorning, and had a fine sraooth sail across the Bay of Bengal to Calcutta, the City of Palaces, and centre of the Brit ish power in India. Coraing up the river we pass the shipping in review, and never have we seen so many large, magnificent sailing ships in one port before, not even in Liverpool or London. The trade requires 130 ROUND THE WORLD. large clippers, and not one sraall ship is to be seen. These splendid vessels lie four and five deep for tAvo railes along the river, all in fine trira, flags flying and looking their best. We pass the palace of the old King of Oude, who was brought here Avhen deposed for his raisdeeds. He is allowed a pension of $50,000 per month, which seeras a great waste of raoney, as it is squandered in great part by the old reprobate. His collection of birds and beasts is a Avonderful one ; he pays any price for aniraals ; last raonth he paid $12, 500 for two grand tigers, but they escaped a few days afterwards and swara across the river. The first queer thing that strikes you at your hotel is that two natives appear to take you in custody Avith out even saying by your leave, and never while you are in Calcutta Avill you be able to get out of sight of one or the other of these officers. One attends to your roora in person, brings you your tea and toast at six, prepares your bath, fakes your shoes to the proper " caste" raan beloAv (he wouldn't black thera for the world, bless you), and plays the valet while you dress. At night you find hira stretched out across your door, lying like a dog on the watch, and there he lies all night, subject to master's call. I hurt my raan's feel ings very keenly one night by gently stepping over his prostrate forra and quietly getting into ray roora and going to bed without his aid. I turned the key the raoraent I got inside, and it was not many mo ments after before I heard hira raove. Missing the key, he suspected something Avas wrong, and tried the door several tiraes, but as he raet with no response he finally gave it over, and lay down to sleep. The other attendant is our waiter at table and out-door ROUND THE WORLD. I31 servant. You find these people curled up and lying at every step through the halls, and are in con stant danger of stumbling over thera. Every guest has two as a rule, and this, although the hotel pro fesses to keep an efficient staff of its own. The stories we hear of servants in India are arausing in the extrerae, their duties being so strictly defined by caste, one raust be kept for every trifling duty. Our friend the Major tells us, for instance, that upon a recent occasion his Avife wished to send a note to hira at the Fort, a very short distance frora his resi dence. The proper raessenger happened to have been sent elsewhere, but as the coachraan was not engaged she asked hira to please take it to raaster, but he explained how irapossible it would be for him to comply, rauch as he wished to do so. Persuasion was useless, but Madarae thought of a reraedy — order the carriage. This was done ; the grooras pre pare and harness the horses, the coachraan raounts the box and appears at the door. " Now drive to raas ter's ; and, attendant, deliver this note." All right ; this brought it within the sphere of his caste. He is bound to obey all orders connected with the carriage. The incidents of this nature are too nuraerous to re count. It is in India that practical econoraists can best study the division of labor in its most advanced stage of developraent. My friend Mrs. King kindly gave rae her list of servants and their various duties. They nurabered twenty-two, although Mr. King's establishment is a moderate one. Our letters and a telegrara awaited us upon our arrival at Calcutta, and Sunday afternoon was spent enjoying thera, but the papers bring us news again of 132 ROUND THE WORLD. death among our circle of acquaintance, that of Mr. Reeves, of Philadelphia, being specially regrettable to rae. He was one all raen liked and respected, another victira, I fear, of overwork. Hoav unwise Ave are to give up everything in life to the demands of business, when experience teaches us every day that the brain, the most delicately constituted of all our parts, requires rest and change at short inter vals. Until Americans learn to pursue with keen in terest sorae pursuit wholly disconnected with their business and solely for the love of it, anything frora a collection of butterflies to araateur astronomy, we shall see our most enterprising men break down when they should be in their prime. Another para graph causes rae profound regret — Mr. Thoraas A. Scott struck with paralysis and taken to Europe. There cannot be any doubt as to the real cause of this raelancholy event. It was so sure to occur that it has been raore than once predicted. The wonder is that it did not happen long ago. No huraan constitution could long endure the tension under Avhich that man existed from month to raonth and frora year to year. If anything could have done so, it Avas that quick, sensitive, raobile, and elastic brain, which seeraed to grasp a subject intuitively, scorning the slower process of reasoning which liraped along in vain efforts to keep pace with the flashes of light Avhich staraped hira as a genius. But even a brain that works as easily as his did needs what his never received, and now the stroke falls ! We find the Zoological Gardens A'ery interest ing. Here we saw raonkeys for the first tirae running about unfettered among the trees, and a lion chained ROUND THE WORLD. 133 to a dog kennel doing watch duty like a raastiff. Never before had Ave seen an entire house devoted to the display of pheasants ; here there is one, and these birds raake a fine collection. There are nuraerous varieties, and sorae exceedingly beautiful. There are tAvo fuU-grOAvn orang-outangs here and one child, the forraer even more human than the pets we had recently been in charge of. The huge crocodile in a large pond failed to raake his appearance yester day, and Avhile Ave were there five natives Avith long poles and tAvo in a sraall boat were detailed to stir hira up and see what was the raatter. You should have seen these naked attendants as they waded in a few feet and poked about, ready to jurap back at every raoveraent of the water, and soraetiraes frightened at each other's strokes ; but you will agree with me this business of stirring up crocodiles at twenty cents per day yields no fair corapensation for the obvious risks involved. There are good tigers here also, but having seen the tiger of the world at Madras, all others were but as shadows. It is the sarae now with peacocks, which are in these latitudes far su perior to those with us, but the peacock is at Saigon, in Cochin China, and we never see one without say ing, one to the other, "How poor ! ' ' We are in a few days to see the Taj, and I suppose it will be the sarae as to buildings hereafter : even Walter Scott's raonuraent at Edinburgh^-ray favorite piece of stone and lime— must be put down by this raarvel of per fection. I have been considering whether it is raore productive of pleasure really to have seen or heard the adraitted best of everything, beyond Avhich you 134 ROUND THE WORLD. can never expect to go, but as corapared with which you raust actually hereafter be content invariably to raeet the inferior, or whether one had better, for the retention of future interest in things, not see the very topraost and unrivalled of each. I have raet people whose ears, for instance, were so cultiA^ated as to render it painful for thera to listen even to the grandest music if indifferently performed ; sorae who had "atraosphere" and " chiaro-oscuro" so fully developed that copies of even the Madonna San Sisto Avere only daubs offensive to the eye ; others who, having seen Macready in Macbeth, find the tragedy stale in others' hands. Now I don't believe this ensues where the love of the art itself is genuine, and I rejoice to say that having once listened to an oratorio at the Handel Festival with four thousand selected perforraers, that oratorio be coraes forever a source of exquisite enjoyraent, per forraed Avhere or hoAv it raay be. If poorly done, the raind floats upwards to the region, if it does not attain quite to the sarae height, where it soared at the perfect recital ; the distinct images then seen, which Confucius justly gives rausic the power of crea ting, corae vividly again as the notes swell forth. The priests who call are different, indeed, but the gods Avho respond are one and the sarae. So having seen Janauschek in Lady Macbeth, all other Lady Macbeths participate in her quality. Having alraost worshipped Raphael's Madonna, all other Madonnas have a touch of her poAver. It is of the very essence of genius that it educates one to find beauty and harmony where before he would only have trodden over barren sands, and the grand and ROUND THE WORLD. i35 poor perforraances of any raasterpiece are not a con trast to the truly receptive, but are as steps leading frora the loAvest to the highest in the same teraple. Because one has been aAve-stricken by Niagara's tor rent, are the Avaterfalls of the world to be uninter esting ? No ; every tiny stream that turables doAvn in foam hereafter is related to the greater wonder, partaking to some extent of its beauty and grandeur, to the raan whose soul has really been irapressed. Having seen the Hiraalayas, are the more modest but not less dear AUeghanies to lose their charra and poAver? NcA'er. Let rae go forward then and revel without raisgivings in the highest of huraan and di vine creations, as I raay be privileged to see or hear or know them. I do not fear that I shall ever be come a raeraber of the extensive band we raeet in our travels who have become incapable of enjoying anything but the best. We paid a visit to the river one morning to see the Hindoos perforraing the sacred rite of bathing, which their religion deraands. Crowds of raen and Avomen enter the AA'ater promiscuously and pray to gether. What a raercy that Brahraa thought of ele vating personal cleanliness to the rank of the virtues ! What thousands are saved every year in conse quence ! What this crowded hive of huraan be ings in hot India would becorae without this custora, it is fearful to contemplate. I find our friends all regretting that Mohammed was less im perative upon this point. His followers take rather to sprinkling than imraersion, and both are not equally efficacious in the tropics, hoAvever it raay prove with us of colder latitudes. 136 ROUND THE WORLD. One day we visited the temple sacred to the bloody goddess "KaU," from Avhora Calcutta de rives its name.' She took her rise, as many gods have done, from her insatiable thirst for human blood. One poAverful giant alone Avas able for raany years to Avithstand her arts, being secretly informed by a spirit that Avhen she pursued he had only to stand in water, and, if one drop of his blood was spilt, other giants would spring forth and devour ' ' Kali ' ' her self. This secret she divined, however, and one day attacked him even in the water, strangling hira and sucking every drop of his blood Avithout spilling one drop. But her tongue grew so large and red that never afterwards was she able to get it back into her mouth, and now she is transfixed in this temple, the big red tongue hanging out, a most revolting sight. So powerful is she esteeraed that pilgriras to her shrine are sometimes seen passing through the by-lanes of Calcutta Avho have spent years in coming hundreds of miles by raeasuring their bodies upon the dusty ground. Lying flat they mark their length, rise, and, lying down at this mark, go on this way, never leaving the raark day or night, and begging enough of food and water as they proceed. I was told of one raan who traveled 800 railes in this raanner. Imagine the strength of the superstition which can so bind its dupes. But even this is nothing com pared Avith the self-inflicted torture practised by many ' ' who seek to raerit heaven by raaking earth a hell. " It is not rare for fakirs to stand in postures that cripple thera for life. One elects to stand on one foot until it becomes irapossible for hira ever to put the other to the ground. Another deterraines to raise ROUND THE WORLD. 137 his arras to heaven, never taking thera doAvn. In a short tirae, but after excruciating pain, the joints so stiffen as to render any change impossible. Sorae let their nails grow into their flesh forever. In short, the forras of these penances are innumerable ; and those Avho undergo thera are regarded as holy men and are worshipped and supported by their less religious fellows. Kali raust still have her daily rivers of blood, and hundreds of kids, goats, buffaloes, etc., are sacrificed daily at her shrine. We saAv the bloody work going forAvard. Crowds of pilgriras, nurabering at least three hundred, during our short stay, carae in bands frora the country to propitiate the goddess. Each one presents an offering as the idol is shown. It is the raost disgusting object I have ever seen, and a sight of it Avould, I ara sure, frighten children into crying. The business is skilfully raanaged : a sraall dark hall, capable of holding about twenty -five Avor shippers, occupies the space before the idol. "This is filled with people and the doors closed ; then araid the raurmurs of priests and beating of gongs, tAvo sliding- doors are drawn aside, and the horrible she-demon, Avith swollen blood-red tongue, coraes into view for a moraent only, and the gifts are thrown at her. The crowd is excited by fear and awe, but ere the figure can be closely scrutinized the doors close, and the poor ignorant wretches seem stupefied with what has been revealed. They pass slowly out, looking as if they had been almost blinded with a glirapse of the forbidden raysteries, and another batch croAvds in to be sirailarly worked upon. We saw other forras and figures of worship too gross to speak of. Nothing yet seen can be called idolatry corapared Avith this, and 138 ROUNii THE WORLD. I felt like giving up all hope of iraproveraent in these people ; but then when one sees the extent and char acter of the superstitions of the East he cannot help having doubts of the advanceraent or elevation of the species. General Litchfield, United States Con sul, fortunately accompanied us upon this visit, and he knew two of the officiating priests who spoke English perfectly. These escorted us round and told us about everything. The history of these two na tives is most suggestive. They were educated by the governraent in one of its colleges, and very soon saAv the falsity of their religious tenets, but failing to get suitable eraployraent they had to return to their family, Avho owned a share in the Kali Teraple, which is still profitable property, and is held by a faraily like any other building. The revenues are noAV divided araong a hundred priests, and maintain these and their families, all of which are of the same faraily. Should another son marry he becoraes en titled to a certain share, and so on. They carry this imposture on siraply as a raatter of business, and laughed to us when we said they kncAv it was all hurabug. If it be true that no religion can long retain vital force after its priests knoAv it to be false, then there is hope for the speedy fall of idolatry in India ; but I fear there will be no lack of raen who will, like these hypocrites, continue to preach Avhat they know better than to believe, as long as rich livings are at stake. In one of our drives General Litchfield pointed out the house where Macaulay Avrote sorae of his essays while here laying the foundations of the law code Avhich has proved such a boon to India. I ROUND THE WORLD. 139 see one great tribute paid to this raonuraent of his genius : the codification of the law in England is urged forward by pointing to the indisputable suc cess of the Indian code. There are very tew really successful equestrian statues in the world, but Calcutta boasts one of these, Noble's statue of General Outrara. The art ist has taken a bold departure, and instead of the tra ditional eagle glance of the hero, the General is rep resented as just checking his irapetuous steed and casting a look behind ; the body turned round, and one hand resting on the horse's flank, while the other reins in the horse ; his head bare, as if in the attack he had outrun his troops, lost his helraet, and was stopping a moraent for thera to overtake hira. I liked this statue rauch, and wished that soine others of which I wot partook of its raerits. We attended the Viceroy's ball on Wednesday evening, and enjoyed the brilliant scene. The uni forras of British officers as well as those of the Civil Service are gorgeous and set off a ball-roora effect ively. We saw raore ladies here than upon all other occasions corabined during our travels, and their general appearance was certainly better than elsewhere, showing the cliraate to be less severe upon thera. Lord Lytton is a sraall raan of unira- posing appearance, and entirely destitute of style, Avhile the Coraraander-in-Chief, General Haines, seeras every inch a soldier, as do many of his subor dinate oflicers. Native princes were formerly in vited to these balls, and their presence, attended by their suites in Oriental costumes, added much to the brilliancy of the scene, but it was found desirable to I40 ROUND THE WORLD. discontinue the practice ; they could not partake of European refreshraents nor understand the appear ance of woraen in public, and especially their danc ing, nor, I fancy, could they look upon dignitaries so engaged with becoming gravity, as they employ people to do their dancing. I confess it struck me as bordering upon the farcical to see Lord Lytton, charged with the government of two hundred millions, and General • Haines, Comraander-in-Chief, with an actiA^e carapaign on his hands. Her. Majesty's Am bassador to China, Sir Thomas Wade, and the Lieu tenant-General, all dressed in uniform, and the two forraer in knee-breeches, "all of the olden tirae," doing " forward four and turn your partner " in the sarae quadrille. Iraagine President Lincoln, Secre taries Seward and Stanton, and General Grant so engaged. Of course Ave did not fail to visit the famous banyan tree of Calcutta, by far the largest in the world. Vandy and I started and paced it around until we met, counting 313 steps, or say 300 yards ; the raain trunk is probably about 30 feet in circumference, but frora each raain branch roots have descended to the earth and become supporters of these branches, allowing therato extend still fur ther. In this way a branch raay have in its course three or four supporters at intervals of 20 or 30 feet ; the leaves are thick, and rauch reserable those of the rubber tree in size and character. We see nuraerous native barbers engaged in shav ing the people. Victira and operator squat down in a corner on their hunkers, facing each other, and the operation then begins, the utensils being laid out ROUND THE WORLD. 141 upon a rag on the ground. It seeras the raost un natural posture in the Avorld for shaving or hair-dress ing, but as it is the custom there must be some ad vantages in it ol Avhich Ave cannot even guess. One morning Ave drove to the burning ghat, and from personal examination of cremation, I am able to express my preference for Christian burial, and sav Avith Hamlet, " O'er her graA'e raay violets spring." The business of burning the dead, for in India it is a business like any other, and belongs to a caste, is car ried on in the raost heartless raanner. A building is erected about 100 feet in length and 25 feet in width upon the river bank, and open on the side to- Avard the river. The dead are brought there upon stretchers Avrapped in a little cloth, and are first shaved by the attendants, who open the raouth and pour doAvn a vial of the Avater of the sacred Ganges. The body is then bent into a sitting posture, carried out to the raiddle of the building, and Avood built around it. We saw the erabers of several piles which had just done their work, and one pile blazing through the interstices of Avhich parts of the body Avere plainly visible. It was all horrible to me as con ducted here, but I can conceive of the grand funeral piles of the high priests being raade raost impres sive ; and so I ara told they are, but the creraation of the poor lacks every eleraent of this nature. My heart bled for a poor widow Avhose husband had just been taken to the pile. She was of a very low caste, but her grief Avas heart-rending ; not loud, but I thought I could taste the saltness of her tears, they seeraed so bitter ; but she has this consolation to comfort her after the outburst, that she ensured the 142 ROUND THE WORLD. eternal happiness of her mate by having his ashes raingle with the sacred river of God. No one will touch or associate with - the caste who dress and burn the dead, nor could any one be induced, save one branch of this caste, to furnish the fire which lights the funeral pile, for which soraetiraes large suras are exacted, in case the relatives of the dead are wealthy. The absence of woraen, other than coolies, Avliich has struck us everywhere in the East, is if anything even more marked here in India, where, so far, Ave have scarcely seen one woraan of high caste. The Mohararaedans do not permit their ladies ever to leave the house, and upon rare occa sions, when temples raust be visited, they are closely concealed from view and driven in a close car riage or carried in a sedan chair. The Hindoos are not quite so strict, and Ave haAJ^e seen a few in se cluded streets going a few steps, but closely muffled up and Avith the faces covered. Thursday, February 6. We left Calcutta for the Hindoo Mecca, Benares, to-night, and had our first experience of Indian rail- Avay travel, Avhich proved to be very corafortable. We had all to ourselves a first-class carriage com partraent containing two sofas lengtii Avise of the car and one across ; above these were three upper berths, to be let doAvn, if necessary, and used as beds. A sraaller corapartraent contained dressing-roora, etc., for all of which there is no extra charge. Evidently there is no field here for my enterprising friend Mr. Pullman. Our route lay through the opium-grow- ROUND THE WORLD. i43 ing district, and the Avhite poppies were just be ginning to bloom. I did not know that only the Avhite variety Avas groAvn, but so it is ; curiously enough, it is found that the red flower is not nearly so productive. This set us to thinking that there may after all be soraething in the Chinaman's pref erence for a black dog to one of another color. We are in the dry season, and Avhere not irrigated the vast plains of India are parched. The soil is a light broAvn clay and turns readily to fine dust, Avhich seems to bloAv over everything and make all of one hue. Even the scanty muslin clothing of the people becomes of this dusty color. The houses are only mud huts one story high and roofed with coarse straAV ; an opening in one side serves as a door, but Avith this exception the hovel is closed ; neither Avin dow nor chiraney appears, and Avhen fires are raade Ave see the smoke escaping through all parts of the roof equally : in sorae cases, Avhen the roof is closer than usual, the sraoke seeks exit through the door. This dusty, dirty raud-color of soil, streets, houses, dress, and people giA'Cs one an irapression of a more squalid poA'erty even than that of the overcroAvded Chinese in Shanghai. These latter have more cloth ing and no dust, and their dirtiness seems a less ob jectionable forra of dirt. One reraarkable difference between these peo ple and the Chinese is that we ncA'cr see the for raer eating, Avhile the latter eat frequently. I am told that the Indians eat but twice a day, at noon and at eight in the evening, with a bite early in the morning. As is Avell known, the Hindoos are strict vegetarians, neither meat, fish, poultry, nor even 144 ROUND THE WORLD. eggs being allowed. The result of a vegetable diet, if they are to be taken as a fair exaraple, is not such as to favor its general adoption. The Mohararae dans, on the other hand, eat everything but pork ; like the Jews, they forbid this one article, and 1 am informed that the Mohamraedans are a far sturdier race than their neighbors the Hindoos ; but they should be superior, as the advance frora Hindooism, Avith its numerous gods and idolatrous Avorship, to Mohararaedanism, Avith its one god, is an iraraense one. The clairas Avhich Mohararaed has upon the gratitude of mankind rest upon a solid basis, for he it Avas who proclaimed to the East that there is but one God, and announced himself as his prophet only, in stead of demanding that he himself should be wor shipped as diAane ; but he perforraed another great service, for he abolished the aborainable systera of caste, and thus it comes that the raost popular religion in existence hails all its disciples, frora the peasant to the Sultan, as of one brotherhood, as Christianity does Avith hers. There are nearly fifty millions of Mohamraedans among the tAvo hundred millions of India's population, and it is to them Ave must chiefly look for the regeneration of the natiA'e races. As Ave pass through the country Ave are surprised at the croAvds of gayly dressed natives Avaiting at the crossings to pass the line, and at the stations to take the trains. All the colors of the rainboAV are to be seen in their Avraps. It is the season of idleness just now, their two months of rest in the country, and the entire population seems to be running about in holiday attire, forraing a striking contrast to their fellows in the toAvns, Avho sit in their hoA^els hard at ROr.VD THE WORLD. 145 Avork, one crowding another in his seat. Before England established free dispensaries for these masses the rate of mortality raust have been soraething in credible ; even uoav itis very high, although last year in the double province alone no fcAver than eleven hundred thousand patients were treated or prescribed for by these institutions, Avhich Ave rejoice to see scat tered throughout the country Avherever Ave go. Nor in all her illustrious record do we know a brighter page than that Avhich chronicles the rise and progress of these truly English organizations. Surely the peo ple raust groAv more and more devoted to a govern ment Avhich shoAvs such solicitude for their Avelfare, Manufactures in India are not profitable at present: during the scarcity of cotton, owing to the Araeri can Avar, large quantities were groAvn here and for tunes raade in the business ; eA'entually cotton mills Avere built in Bombay and also jute mills in Cal cutta, Avhich prospered for a tirae, but noAv that Araerica, under the systera of free labor, has dera 011- strated her ability to supply cheaper and better cot ton than India, these enterprises languish. I counted thirty-eight spinning and Aveaving corapanies in Bom bay, and tAventy-one cotton-press corapanies, the shares of which Avere quoted in the raarket, and found that on an average these would not coramand to-day one-half of the actual capital paid in. It is much the same Avith the seven Calcutta jute companies. Cot ton, both as to growth and raanufacture in India, I believe has no future, save one contingent upon the interruption of the Araerican supply, of which there does not appear rauch danger. But it must be borne in mind that the fall in the value of silver so far is a 146 ROUND THE .WORLD. direct gain to native productions. The planter and manufacturer alike pay in the debased currency and sell the product as far as it is exported for gold, upon Avhich they reaUze a handsome premium. America needs a continuance of Ioav rates for trans portation to counterbalance this advantage of her Indian rival. Benares, Saturday, February 8. We started frora our hotel early this raorning to see the Hindoos bathing in the sacred Avaters of the Ganges. Benares is to the pious Hindoo all that Mecca is to the good son of the Prophet, and rauch more besides, and he esteems himself happy if it is vouchsafed him to die in sight of this stream and this city. Pilgriras flock here frora all parts of In dia, and thousands are carried Avhile dying frora long distances, that their eyes raay behold, ere they die, the holy city of God. At the junction yesterday, six miles out, Ave came upon our first band of pilgriras, for they now patronize the rail freely, men and Avomen, each Avith the inevitable bundle of rags Avhich serves as their beds en route and as a change of clothing to be blessed by washing in the Ganges. It requires about a raonth to Avorship at every teraple and do all that the priests persuade these pilgriras to be essen tial for their salvation, every cereraony, of course, producing revenue for this class. Each Rajah of India has his teraple upon the bank of the river, and it is these handsorae structures, situated on the cliff Avhich overhangs the river that give to Benares its unparalleled beauty. In these teraples a priest is raaintained who prays constantly and bathes every ROUND THE WORLD. 147 raorning as a substitute for his raaster, the Rajah, but these corae in person also for one raonth each year to perform the sacred rites. We were fortu nate -this raorning in seeing the Rajah of Nepaul at his devotions. He has a sraall covered boat of his OAvn, and in front of it, gazing upon the sun, Ave found hira on his knees, as we pulled slowly past in our boat, his staff standing behind him in reveren tial attitudes. For one full month this intelligent ruler, Avho speaks EngUsh fluently and is well in formed of the vicAvs Europeans hold of his religious ideas, avUI. nevertheless work hard, visiting daily the temples, going through various exercises, and bathing every morning in the Ganges. One other Rajah is here, and others are shortly to come and do likewise. It seems so strange that these raen still reraain slaves to such superstitions, but how fcAv araong ourselves succeed in rising beyond what Ave may have happened to be taught in our child hood. It is very different with young India, I ara told, who have received English ideas in their youth at the governraent colleges. They raake quick work ofthe Hindoo idols, but so far everyone here agrees with Dr. Field Avhen he says, " It needs very little learning to convince the Hindoo that his sacred books are a raass of fable. But this does not raake him a Christian. It only lands him in infidelity and leaves hira there." The wife of the Rajah, we heard, had yesterday perforraed the raost sacred of all the cere monies under conditions of considerable popular ex citement. The sacred well, the. stairs leading from it to the river, and the bathing place at the river were all covered in : the croAvd could only see the sedan 148 ROUND THE WORLD. chair Avhich carried the queen to the well,' but the spectacle attracted great numbers. This well is sim ply a trench about 25 feet long and not raore than 3 feet Avide, but it must be 30 feet below the surface. Broad steps lead to it frora aU sides. In this Avell every Hindoo of good caste is permitted to wash, and there are always many in it. The water is dirty, foul, and offensive, yet such is its reputed sanctity that no sin can be committed so heinous that it can not be washed aAvay by it. The ceremony fortu nately is incomplete until one, rising from its stench, Avalks to the pure water of the Ganges and bathes there. I think the cereraony must typify raan before purification, foul with sin, and then cleansed by bathing in their pure Jordan afterwards ; but no one could give me any inforraation upon this point. At all events it Avas into this sink the Rajah's wife bravely immersed herself yesterday, and it is here, too, the Rajah himself raust come before he leaves — poor man ! The place Avhere the dead are burned Avas pointed out aswe drifted past in our boat, but itAvas unoccu pied then. As we returned, however, one body was in the hands of the attendants, who had taken it into the river and Avere just in the act of pouring the sa cred water doAvn the throat preparatory to the final scene. One woman alone sat Aveeping on the shore, and two sraall children at her side seeraed not to understand why. It was still early morning, and all was quiet. Our guide pointed out some Avho Avere evidently friends in conversation with men on a parapet above. They Avere bargaining for the sa cred fire to light the funeral pile, and the caste Avho ROUND THE WORLD. 149 alone supply it do not fail to exact as rauch for the service as they think the relatives can pay. Govern raent prohibits the burning of the forlorn Avidow wilh her husband's body, as was forraerly the custora, but it is said raany AvidoAvs Avish this privilege even yet, nor can I blarae thera much. I'm sure I don't see Avhy, beyond the raere instinct of self-preservation, they should have a Avish to live on. Those educated people araong us Avho commit suicide have prospects before thera Avhich raight be called blissful corapared Avith Avhat confronts poor AvidoAvs in India. We visited the principal teraples and shrines in succession, but I do not propose to rehearse their names and special virtues. There is a great same ness about them, but the Monkey Temple differs from the others in having sorae hundreds of raonkeys run ning over it in every direction. Like all the rest, this is owned by a certain nuraber of people, and its shares are raarketable .property. Dr. Lazarus, the chief of the raedical department here, tells us that the "river people," a terra erabracing those who OAvn the teraples on the streara — just as we Avould say the " steel rail " or the " pig raetal" people at horae — are very rauch depressed, coraplaining bitterly that the revenues have fallen aAvay. One owner in the Monkey Temple, probably the most prosperous of all, had sorae tirae ago asked what this trouble raeant. He was advised to sell his raonkey stock as soon as possible, but up to the present day he has found no one AvilUng to invest in the property. One of the high priests of another sacred shrine said to ray inforraant that he had seen in his day three ages — one of gold, one of silver, and now he had reached 15° ROUND THE WORLD. the age of copper, and was only thankful when he saAV a fcAv pieces of that. " The people still corae to wor ship, as of old, which costs nothing," he said, " but they don't pay the gods raore than a pittance : I Avon der Avhat we are coraing to ?" While great allowance has to be raade for the changed condition of affairs throughout the world, which has seriously affected the revenues of religious establishments everyAvhere, and Avhich India has had to share, aggravated by the loss of her cotton industry, still it can hardly be doubt ed that Hindooism as a vital force is crumbling sloAvly to pieces, and that the priests are losing their sway over the masses. Caste also goes slowly with the tide of change, and Brahmins are noAv occasionally found taking eraployraent below that of their caste ; and Avhile a high caste Hindoo some years ago would have considered hiraself defiled if even the garments of a low caste touched him, he hoav rushes into the sarae railway corapartraent araong the general crowd and struggles for a seat with vari ous castes, and says nothing about it. One stand the English Governraent took, in deference to Eng lish ideas as opposed to those of the native, which alone dooras caste, sooner or later, to extinction : it would not perrait different classes on the rail ways to be established for Hindoos or Mohararae dans or for castes of the forraer. Many residents in India feared that this Avould prcA'ent the natives from using the lines, but the result has wonderfully be lied these fears and vindicated the sagacity of those who ventured to inaugurate this system ; and noAV one sees Hindoos and Mohararaedans, high caste and Ioav caste, jostling each other in their efforts to ROUND THE WORLD. 151 get desirable seats in the third-class compartments, Avhere, by the Avay, they travel for less per raile than anywhere else in the Avorld, third-class fares in India being uniforraly one half of a cent per raile. First-class fares, with such sleeping-car luxuries as I have before described included, are jiist about our rates with sleeping cars not included — viz., three cents per raile. While Hindooisra is thus passing aAvay, but little progress is raade with Islam. The fifty mill ions of Mohamraedans stand to-day where they have stood for ages, and cry frora their mosques raorning and night, " There is but one God, and Mohararaed is his prophet." No idols, no drunkenness, no caste. The contrast betAveen their faith and that of Christians is therefore rauch less raarked, and our guide says to us with" evident pride, " Hindoos believe many gods, worship idols. / believe like you, one God, no idols." India is thus in a state of transition, her caste and religion both passing aAvay. The work before this generation and probably the next is to pull down • and destroy. It will remain for those Avho come after to begin the more difficult labor of building up. We met at Benares strings of water-carriers, carrying brass vessels on each end of a pole borne over the shoulder. These come here for hundreds of miles on foot, and take back to their customers in the country the sacred water of the blessed river. It is a regular business and furnishes eraployraent for thousands of raen. Upon no account must this Avater be carried by raihvay and deprived of its healing powers by being handled by unbelievers. It IS2 ROUND THE WORLD. raust come on foot carried by Hindoos of the proper caste, or it has no Anrtue. Benares has been faraous for centuries for its raanufacture of gold and silver erabroideries. I re raeraber that Macaulay speaks of thera in his essay on Warren Hastings as decorating alike the court of Versailles and the halls of St. Jaraes, and as workers in brass these people also excel. We Avent to the na tive village and saw the Avork carried on. How such exquisite fabrics corae frora the antiquated looras situated in mud hovels it is hard to under stand, but they do. We saw one raan who had no less than thirty-three different tiny spools to work frora in a piece not more than a yard wide. All of these he had in turn to introduce in the Aveb, and pass through a greater or lesser nuraber of threads, the one starting in where the other left the woof, before one single thread was coraplete frora end to end of the warp and could be driven into the pat tern. To-day Ave had a unique experience indeed, be ing carried through the principal streets of Benares on State elephants, kindly provided for us by the. Rajah of Benares at the kind instance of Dr. Laza rus. Mr. Hyde, of New York, Avhora Ave have met on his way round the world, and Vandy and I were the riders. We Avere driven to the palace, and found there tAVO huge animals, gayly caparisoned, awaiting our arrival, surrounded by servants in resplendent livery. The elephants very kindly got upon their knees, and rendered a short ladder only necessary for us to raount by. The raotion is decidedly pecu liar, and, until one becoraes used to it, I should think ROUND THE WORLD. 153 very fatiguing ; but Ave enjoyed our elephant ride greatly, and the Rajah has our hearty thanks. We are in the land of the cheapest labor in the world. It is doubtful if raen can be found anywhere else to do a day's Avork for as little as they are paid in India. Raihvay laborers and coolies of all kinds receive only four rupees per raonth, and find thera selves ; these are Avorth just hoav 40 cents each, or say $1.60 in gold for a month's service. Upon this a raan has to exist. Is it any Avonder that the raasses here are constantly upon the verge of starvation ? Woraen get somcAvhat less, and of course every raeraber of a faraily has to work and earn some thing. The comraon food is a pulse called gran ; the better classes indulge in a pea called daahl. Any thing beyond a vegetable diet is not dreamt of. Before leaving Benares I must speak of the -scene at the river, Avhich far excels any representation I haA'e seen of it or any description I have read. Pho tographs cannot be raade to convey a just idea of its picturesque beauty, because the view is enlivened by such raasses and corabinatlon of color as Turner alone could do justice to. Indeed, my first thought, as I saw the thousands on the ascending banks — one tier of resting-places above another, culminating in the grand teraples towering at the tops — was that I had seen soraething akin to this in a dazzling picture soraewhere. Need I say that it was in the Turner Gallery alone Avhere such color could be seen ? He should have painted the " Hindoo Bathers at Ben ares, ' ' and given the world one raore gem revealing what he alone, in his generation, fully saw in the mind's eye, " the light Avhich never shone on sea or 1 54 ROUND THE WORLD. shore." We have voted this scene at Benares the finest sight Ave have yet witnessed. Lucknow, Tuesday, February ii. We reached Lucknow at night. The raoon Avas not yet shining, but the stars shed their peaceful halo around this spot to Avhich the eyes of the civilized Avorld were so long directed during the dark days of the mutiny. At the hotel upon arrival a lady's voice Avas heard singing the universal refrain which near est touches all English hearts in India and expresses the ever dominant longing, " Horae, SAveet, SAveet Home." No trace here of the massacres which have made this region meraorable. But is the past to be repeated ? Who can assure us that these bronzed figures which surround us by millions may not again in one mad raoraent catch the fever of re volt ? This is the anxious question Avhich I find in trudes itself upon me every hour. Truly it is a dangerous garae, this, to undertake the permanent subjection of a conquered race, and I do not be lieve that after General Grant sees India he Avill regret that the foolish Santo Doraingo craze passed aAvay. If Araerica can learn one lesson frora Eng land, it is the folly of conquest, where conquest in volves the governraent of an alien race. Our first visit Avas to the ruins of the Residency, where for six long months Sir Henry Lawrence and his devoted band Avere shut up and surrounded by fifty thousand armed rebels. The grounds, Avhich I should say are about thirty acres in extent, Avere fortu nately encompassed by an earthen rampart six feet in height. You need not be told of the heroic resist- ROUND THE WORLD. 155 ance of the two regiments of British soldiers and one of natives, nor of the faraous rescue. Hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and raonth after raonth, the three hundred woraen and children shut in a cellar under ground Avatched and prayed for the sound of Havelock's bugles, but it carae not. Hope, Avearied out at last, had alraost given place to despair. Through the day the attacks of the in furiated mob could be seen and repelled, but who Avas to answer that as darkness fell the wall was not to be pierced at some Aveak point of the ex tended line ? One officer in coraraand of a critical point, failing — not to do his duty, there Avas never a fear of that — but failing to judge correctly of what the occasion deraanded, and the struggle was over. Death Avas the last of the fears of these poor women night after night as the days rolled slowly away. One night there was graver silence than usual in the roora ; all Avere despondent and lay resigned to their seeraingly impending fate. No rescue came, nor any tidings of relief. In the darkness one piercing scream was heard from the narrow window. A Highland nurse had clambered up to gaze through the bars and strain her ears once more. The cool ing breeze of night blcAV in her face and Avafted such rausic as she could not stay to hear. One spring to the ground, a clapping of hands above the head, and such a shriek as appalled her sisters who clus tered round ; but all she could say between the sobs — " The slogan — the slogan !" But few knew Avhat the slogan was. "Didna ye hear — didna ye hear?" cried the deraented girl, and then listening one rao ment, that she might not be deceived, she muttered. 156 ROUND THE WORLD. " It's the Macgregors gathering, the grandest o' them a'," and fell senseless to the ground. Truly, my lassie, the "grandest o' them a'," for ncA^er carae such strains before to raortal ears. And so Jessie of Lucknow takes her place in history as one of the finest themes for painter, dramatist, poet, or historian henceforth and forever. I have been hesi tating Avhether the next paragraph in my note-book should go doAvn here or be omitted. Probably it Avould be in better taste if quietly ignored, but then it Avould be so finely natural if put in. Well, I shall be natural or nothing, and recount that I could not help rejoicing that Jessie Avas Scotch, and that Scotchmen first broke the rebels' lines and reached the fort, and that the bagpipes led the way. That's all. I feel better now that this is also set doAvn. Lucknow, so rich in historical associations, is poA'^- erty itself in genuine architectural attractions, mag nificent as it appears at a distance. It is a modern cap ital. About three centuries ago a king of Oude, in a moment of caprice, I suppose, deterrained to remoA^e his capital from Fyzabad to Lucknow. Palaces on a great scale were hastily erected of coraraon bricks and covered Avith Avhite plaster. These look very fine at a distance, but closer inspection reveals the shara, and one is provoked because his adrairation has been unAvorthily excited. Successive kings fol lowed to the number of seven and carried on this iraposture, each building his palace and torab in this untruthful way. What could Ave expect frora kings content to lie in such torabs but Uves of disgust ing dissipation ? A siraple marble slab Avere surely better than these pretentious lies : anything so it be ROUND THE WORLD. 157 However, retribution came and the dy nasty is extinct, the present king living as a prisoner in Calcutta. The bazaars of LucknoAv are Avell Avorth seeing, Avith their native jcAvelers, brass-workers, etc., working in spaces not more than six feet square. We begin to see persons and modes which remind us of scriptural expressions — ^the water-carrier with the goat-skin filled, " the hewers of wood and draw ers of Avater :" the latter usually working in gangs of five. An earthen incline is built, leading up to the top of the wall Avhich surrounds the well ; the well- rope passes over the shoulders of thedraAvers, and in marching down the incUne they raise the bucket. We carae to-day upon a lot of Avoraen grinding the coarse daahl. Two Avork at each raill, sitting opposite one another, pushing around the upper stone by raeans of upright handles fastened into it. " And two Avoraen shall be grinding at the raill, and one shall be taken and the other left," saith the Scriptures of old, but our coraing revised and corrected edition — I could not help hoping to-day, as I saw this picture for the first time — Avill note an error, or at least in timate a doubt of the correct translation of this -pas sage, or if not the age raay require sorae coraraenta- tor " raore poAverful than the rest" to console us with the hope that while at the first call one was in deed left, there would be a second, yea, and a third, a seventh, and a seventy tiraes seventh call, in one of which even she would participate. We have been this afternoon araong the torabs of heroes — Lawrence and Havelock, Banks and McNeil, Hodson and Arthur — men who fell in the days of the rs8 ROUND THE WORLD. mutiny. Lawrence's torab is most touching frora its siraplicity — a short record, no eulogy, only "Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his duty. " "I have tried to do my duty," he said, as he breathed his last, and this is all his tomb has to say of him, but isn't it enough ? One day in our drive we carae upon our first elephant and our first carael camp, hundreds of the latter and nearly two hundred of the forraer be ing attached to the transportation departraent of the army. They are said to perform work Avhich could never be done by other animals in this climate. Bullocks are the third class used as carriers : these are taught to trot and do trot Avell. I remeraber one day in Ceylon one of thera in a hackery gave us in the mail coach quite a spirited race for a short distance, but it was only to-day that I learnt that caraels are also so trained and used as mail or dispatch bearers Avhere speed is necessary, and the gait of a really good trained camel is said to be quite easy. If develop ment goes forward in this line, our posterity raay be using the carael in trotting matches with the horse. He would possess the advantage over that favorite animal which the Chinaraan has over the European : he could go longer betAveen drinks, and that counts for much. The quarters for troops at LucknoAv are models ; the officers' quarters are surrounded and in sorae cases almost embowered by vines and floAvers ; lawn tennis courts, cricket grounds, ball courts, and a gym nasium are all provided here forthe private soldiers, and are finer than Ave have seen elsewhere, and serve to make Lucknow, Avith its beautiful gardens and long ROUND THE WORLD. 159 shady avenues, the one really pretty spot we have seen in India. Wednesday, February 12. We are on our Avay to Agra, and expect to arrive in time to drive out and see the Taj by moonlight. 1 have been reading raore carefully than before some descriptions of it, and keep wondering whether this gera of the Avorld is to prove disappointing or not. Most things Avhich have been heralded like the Taj fail to fulfil expectations at first, and how can stone and lime be so formed as to. justify such fulsome praises as have been bestoAved upon this tomb ? One Avriter, for instance, exclaims, ' There is no raystery, no sense of partial failure about the Taj. A thing of. perfect beauty and of absolute finish in every detail, it raight pass for the work of genii, Avho knew nought of the weakness and ills with which mankind were afflicted." The exact and prosaic Bernier had to express doubts Avhether " I may not be some what infected Avith ' Indianisme,' but I must needs say I believe it ought to be reckoned araongst the Avonders of the world." Bayard Taylor exhausted eulogy upon the Pearl Mosque, calling it " a sanc tuary so pure and stainless, revealing so exalted a spirit of worship, that I felt hurabled as a Christian that our noble religion had never inspired its archi tects to surpass this teraple to God and Mohara raed," but when he coraes to the Taj itself he is lost in rapture. There is nothing, however, which the critics — those raen who have failed in literature and art — will not venture to attack, and I thought it ad- i6o ROUND THE WORLD. visable to tone down my expectations by taking a dose of carping criticisra. Unfortunately for rae, hoAV- ever, Avhen I had got fairly in with a writer Avho assures me "the design is weak and feeble," "the shadoAvs are rauch too thin," this raisleader left me in a worse condition than CA'er, for succumbing at last to the SAveet overpoAvering charras of the struc ture as a Avhole, and apparently asharaed of himself for ever having dared to say one word against its per fections, "but," he adds — ^just after he had bravely done the " design" and the " shadows " — " the Taj is like a lovely woman : abuse her as you please, the moraent you come into her presence you sub mit to her fascinations." Pretty criticism this, for one who wishes the faults of this beauty clearly set forth. I put this lover of the Taj aside at once and try another Avriter, Avho does indeed give me a page of preventive, well suited to one in ray condition, but upon turning over the page he too falls sadly away, for here is his last line : " The rare genius- of the calm building finds its Avay un- chaUenged to the heart." Well, then, gentlemen, if all this be so, what's the use of your petty criti cism? If this raarvel, before Avhose spell all raen, even you yourselves, raust boAv, has a "rigidity of outUne," an " air of littleness and luxury," a " pov erty of reUef , ' ' and if ' ' the inlaid Avork has been vul garly employed," and the patterns are " ra eagre in the extreme, " Avasn't it the highest aim that its builder could probably have had in vicAV, to entrance the Avorld and give to it a thing of beauty Avhich is indeed a joy forever? and doesn't the Taj do this so far be yond all other human structures that no one thinks ROUND THE WORLD. l6l of naming another in comparison ? And should not this incontrovertible fact teach you a lesson— just a little bit of raodesty ? No, gentleraen ; it isn't the Taj that raust be changed, either in its outline or shadows, to conforra to your canons of criticisra, but your canons of art changed to erabrace the Taj, or rather to set it apart as a stroke of original genius, and consequently above and beyond the doraain of criticisra ; for criticisra, hke science, Avorks solidly only upon Avhat is absolutely known, for- raulating' its fixed decrees upon the past. All great geniuses have encountered the critics of their day. Hoav Shakespeare violated the unities ! and didn't Napoleon Avin battles which he should have lost ? Let these people then be silent, and knoAv that when a transcendent exhibition of original ge nius Avins success beyond the reach of raeasureraent by their plurab and line and square and compass, the higher laAv governing the seeming rairacle Avill be duly revealed : and the Taj is just such a miracle, frora all I can learn of its power. The evidences of the intense suraraer heat are seen CA'cryAvhere. The railway carriages have false tops, leaving an a^r space of a foot between the roof and the cover. AAvnings cover the windows outside, and there are posted up directions for the use of the cool ing apparatus applied to each first-class compart raent ; the fraraes for punkas are seen in the raihvay Avaiting-rooras, and Ave notice in the array regula tions that during the hot season soldiers are re quired to stay indoors between the hours of elcA-en and three. We are told of revolving fans being used to cool rooras, and that it is very coramon l62 ROUND THE WORLD. to fill doors and Avindows Avith thick mats of scented grass which are kept constantly Avet ; the wind pass ing through these is cooled to about ninety degrees, and large banana leaves furnish a cool bed in ex treme cases, frora all of which " Good Lord, deliver us !" We thank our stars every day that Ave are do ing India when the heat, though great at raidday, is not unbearable. We are five hundred and fifty railes north of Calcutta, and find the teraperature rauch cooler. The people look stronger, and neces sarily wear raore clothing, Avhich raeans that another piece of coarse bagging is Avrapped around their shoulders. We are at the best hotel at Agra, and I notice as remarkable, in the printed list of prices, that a raan to pull the punka in one's bedroora all night can be obtained for the sura of 3 annas, or 6 cents in silver. Washing costs 2 cents per piece, but Avhile these strike us as cheap, the next itera tells ns that each guest during the hot season is chargeable with 20 cents per day for ice used at table, etc. It is very sparingly used, but yet the little bit of ice you see costs as rauch as the labor of three men all night. All the employees of the raihvays in India are required to join the volunteer forces, and to drill under the supervision of regular army officers, appointed by the government for this purpose : an excellent auxiliary force numbering raany thou sands is thus secured at trifling expense. One signif icant announcement posted at stations attracted ray attention, and gave rae an insight into one depart raent in which India is in advance of us. This pla card set forth that certain eraployds having been found under the influence of liquor Avhile on dutv. ROUND THE WORLD. 163 the district court had sentenced thera to six months' iraprisonraent. This betokens a decided step for- Avard, I take it, and one Avhich it Avould be advisable for us to folIoAv. I have been adrairing all through India three magnificent vines, now in fuU bloom. One, the Begonia, reserables our honeysuckle, but the floAver is larger and hangs in large clusters ; the second, called the BougauAdella, is purple in color, and like our raorning-glory : and the tAvo are often seen clarabering together up tall trees alraost to their very tops, and covering thera Avith a raass of flowers. The third favorite is a leaf of rich Magenta color (Poinsetta). These three are the special glories of India. Sorae of our oavu flowers do tolerably well in this region, and the inherent love of the English for floAvers and plants is seen in the nuraerous pretty plots and gardens. Life in India is only rendered tolerable by the opportunity people have to enjoy things which would be beyond their reach at horae without fortunes. All residences have grounds connected Avith them, more or less extensive, and laid out in fine gardens. Lawn tennis and croquet grounds are the rule. Horses and carriages, or at least a vehicle of sorae kind, are indispensable, and no one Avho strolls around the European quarters in early raorning and sees the large staff of servants lounging about the spacious verandas, awaiting the call of " Sahib" or " Mera Sahiba," can be at a loss to account for the disappointraent often experienced by those Avho after years of longing at last go home to enjoy themselves in their fancied Elysium. Alas ! ten 164 ROUND THE WORLD. tiraes the sum that supports them here in style Avould not suffice in England. Here Sahib awakes and draAvls out " Qui hi" (you of my people Avho are in Avaiting) ; there is a stir araong several servants who have lain the Avhole night long at his door, to be in readiness, and the raoaning reply coraes, ' ' S-a-h-i-b, ' ' and he is surrounded by those who rainister to his slightest Avish all day, leaving hira again at night only to repeat the perforraance on the raorroAV. When he drives his gig to tOAvn one servant stands at his back to wait upon hira, and Madarae appears in the afternoon upon the Mall in her grand equi page, tAVO on the box and two standing behind, as if she Avere a duchess. As a European walks the streets he is salaaraed by every native he chances to look at. He moves about, one of a superior race and rank.- As he approaches a crowd, to look at a passing sight, a clear lane is made for him, and if he steps into the post-office to ask for letters the natives instinctively fall back until Sahib is served. All this spoils aman for residence at home, where " one man is as good as another and a good deal better," unless a tremendous fortune is at one's back to purchase precedence, which nowadays is scarcely obtainable at any price : and so it falls out that many Avho have prayed for long years for the day to come for their return to England, find the coveted change but Dead Sea fruit when it is gained at last. A few even re turn to the land they had so long prayed to be al- loAved to leave, and take up their final abode among the hills. For these people I cannot help feeling deeply sorry. It is impossible that their Uves can befuU and rich to overflowing here. A tone of sad- ROUND THE WORLD. 165 ness, of vain regret, raust pervade the mind. The prize so ardently struggled for has been found un satisfactory, and at best their hves raust draw to a close tinged by a sense of partial failure. One raorning Ave drove to the jail, one of the sights of India, and were fortunate in raeeting the Inspector General, Mr. Walker, an authority on all matters relating to prison discipUne, and Dr. Tyler, the Chief for Agra. These officials kindly conducted us through the vast estabUshment. The prison labor is not, as generally Avith us, contracted out — a vicious plan, which necessitates the intercourse of outsiders AvIth the criminals, and invariably leads to bad results. Here the prisoners deal with none but their keepers ; but Avhat pleased me most was the adrairable systera of rewards and proraotions for good conduct Avhich has been established. Marks are given and worn upon the clothes which shorten one's sentence frora one day up to several, and it is possible for a prisoner in this way to acquire marks enough to take as rauch as one tenth frora his iraprisonraent. The best be haved of all can rise to the position of Avardens. Sev eral hundreds have reached this prize, and are distin guished by better clothing, and also by ornamental badges. These wardens are placed over the other malefactors, and there is no difficulty experienced in enforcing the strictest discipline through thera. Fore men of shops and of the various departraents are all ap pointed frora araong the prisoners theraselves, and, with the exception of one in charge of the coraphcated machinery, there are no others employed in such capacities. The arraed guards are, however, not of this class. In ordinary years the cost of mainte- l66 ROUND, THE WORLD. nance per person is one rupee a raonth (40 cents gold), clothing, 75 cents a year, including cost of supervision and all expenses of the jail department ; prisoners in India only cost about $14 per year each.. This prison raaintains itself by the labor of its in raates, and last year showed an actual profit of sorae $40,000. Twenty-three hundred prisoners Avere confined Avithin its walls when we were there. The total nuraber of inraates of the jails in this and the Northwest Province is just now 39,000 ; but last year, OAving to the faraine, the nuraber rose to 42,- 000. This seems a great number, but I am inforraed that, taking the population into -account, it is not quite up to the average in England. We saAV the prisoners working the celebrated Agra jail carpets and rugs, for which there is such deraand that or ders given to-day cannot be filled for many raonths. A new building has just been erected and filled with looms to increase the supply. Native dyes and ma terials alone are used, and one can thus rest assured that a carpet obtained here is genuine throughout. France takes the finest qualities, and we saAV some so fine that the day's task of men sitting as closely together as they could the entire width of the web Avas only one inch per day. These are really works of art, and cost here $10 gold per square yard, certainly not less than double that when retailed In Paris. Of the inmates about one hundred were woraen, their special crime being that of child-stealing, which is very coraraon in India, the ornaraents worn by the little ones being a strong teraptation. We saw tAVO young lads sentenced for life for this crirae. They had stolen and robbed a child, and afterAvards ROUND THE WORLD. 167 throAvn the body into a well. We left Messrs. Wal ker and Tyler strongly irabued AvIth the feeling that Ave had seen the raodel prison of the Avorld in Agra jail. The attractions of Agra are the palaces and torabs of the Great Moguls, and Ave have been busy araong thera day after day. This was the capital during the most brilliant period of that. extraordinary family's reign. The founder, Baber, lies buried at Cabool, which was the great place before the invaders pene trated further south. Six of these Moguls reigned, and no dynasty ever known has six consecutive names of equal power to boast. Hereditary genius has a strong support in the careers of these illustri ous raen ; besides, this Baber was a lineal descend ant of Taraerlane himself, on his father's side, and of a scarcely less able Tartar leader on his mother's side. So much for blood. The greatest of the six was Akbar, who proved to be that rare combination, soldier and statesraan in one. He dared to raarry a Hindoo princess, Mo hararaedan as he was by birth, as an exaraple for his people to follow, but which they have unfortunately failed to do. It is strange to remember that the Moguls Avere seated on their thrones only three hundred years ago, Akbar being contemporaneous with Henry VIIL, and ruling India when Shake speare Avas still on earth. I ara not going to particularize what is to be seen in Agra, having no notion of writing a guide book or of filling notes with long passages frora such sources, as I see raany Avriters have done ; but I 1 68 ROUND THE WORLD. raust speak of three or four structures Avhich have pleased rae raost. The " Fort" is a raost irapressive pile of raasonry, a Warwick Castle upon a large scale, the raraparts being one and a quarter railes in circuraference. This was Akbar's principal palace, or rather series of palaces, for It erabraces the Pearl Mosque, Public Audience Hall, and Jessaraine Tower, all of which are within its walls. The torab of her father, built by that rare woman, Sur Jehan, she who sleeps in the Taj — of whom more anon — is a marble structure of exquisite pro portions, and quite unlike others because of the great number and extent of the perforated screens of marble of which it is principally composed. Up to the time Ave had seen this, I think I liked it the best of any, but then Sur Jehan had built it for her father, and she has grown a great favorite Avith rae, and I Avas predisposed to like this proof of her filial devotion. Akbar's Torab araazes you by its gigantic size ; corapared Avith this all other torabs give Avay, for it completely dwarfs them all. The araount of inlaid Avork, coraposed of jasper, cornelian and other pre cious stones, seen'at every step, inclines one to believe that it cost the fabulous sura stated. It should be reraembered that it Avas the custom among the mon archs always to erect a palace during their lives in which great cereraonies took place while they lived, and which becarae their torab at their death. It Avas In this way that so raany splendid structures were built. But Akbar did not live to see this vast tomb completed. His son, hoAvever, carried on the work. ROUND THE WORLD. 169 The stern sirapUcit)'^ of Akbar's torab, Avhich is in the centre of the building and underground, pleased me. It is a plain solid block of raarble, Avithout one word upon it, or raark of any kind ; as if it would say to all tirae, what need to tell the Avorld that the great Akbar lies here. Speaking generally, the palaces and torabs of Agra are far finer than I had iraagined thera to be, and the relief experienced in getting away frora the plaster sharas of Lucknow — cheap raagnificence, to genuine grandeur at Agra — can be easily iraagined. Our train Avas delayed in reaching Agra, and we arrived too late to be driven to see the Taj by moonlight. In deference to the strong remonstrance of CA'cry one we have met here, Ave have not at tempted to see the wonder. " Oh, don't think, please don't think of seeing the Taj until the very last ; because, if you do, every thing else will seera so insignificant and so coarse," has been in substance the exclaraation of every friend ; but now we are through with all else, and Ave start, 2 o'clock p.m., February 14, 1879. Vandy has just corae to an nounce that our carriage is ready. Good-by. Ara I to be disappointed ? Of course I am. I have raade up my mind to that, and having just had tiffin, and drank a whole pint of bitter beer, I feel myself quite corapetent to criticize the Taj with the best of them, and especially well fitted just now to stand no non sense. We raet an Araerican who was travelling as a raatter of duty, and had found as far as travel was concerned, I suspect, that he belonged to the class represented by the grurabler in paradise, Avhose " halo didn't lit his head exactly." He had 170 ROUND THE WORLD. found nothing in India, he said, but a lot of rubbish. but checked hiraself at once, " Except the Taj. Now, that building — that is — perfectly satisfactory, ' ' as if he had ordered a suit of clothes frora his tai lor and found nothing to find fault with. On the other hand, I have just corae across a stateraent, "that stern raen, overpowered by the sight of it, have been known to burst into tears." It is this miracle of inanimate raatter we are now to see. But here coraes Vandy again. " Corae on, Andy ; every body waiting." I'm off — particulars in our next. Friday Night, February 14. We have seen it, but I ara without the slightest desire to burst into rapturous adjectives. Do not expect me to attempt a description of it, or to try to express my feeling. There are sorae subjects too sacred for analysis, or even for words, and I now know that there is a huraan structure so exquisitely fine, or unearthly, as to lift it into this holy doraain. Let ine say little about it, only tell you that lingering until the sun went down, Ave turned in the noble gatcAvay Avhich forras a frarae through which you see the Taj in the distance, with only the blue sky in the background, around and above it, and there took our last fond sad farewell, as the shades of night Avere wrapping the lovely jcAvel in their erabrace, as if it were a charge too sweetly precious not to be safely enveloped in its black mantle, till it could again shine forth at the daAvn in all its beauty to adorn the earth. Fully in its face we gazed. How kindly it seeraed to look upon us, and as one parts for the last tirae frora one Avhose eye gUstens at his glance, we ROUND- THE WORLD. 171 turned never to look upon the Taj again, hiding our eyes as the carriage rolled away, lest by any mis chance a partial Adew should intrude to mar the per fect image our raind has grasped to tarry with us for ever. We had been so deliciously sad and at the same time so thrillingly but yet so solemnly happy for hours, and uoav carae pain alone, the Inevitable finale to all our joys on earth, the parting for ever. But till the day I die, amid mountain streams or moon light strolls in the forest, wherever and whenever the mood coraes, Avhen all that is raost sacred, raost elevated, and raost pure recur to shed their radiance upon the tranquil raind, there AviU be found araong ray treasures the raeraory of that lovely charra, the Taj. We had engaged to raeet some friends at the club as Ave drove homeward, but was it any wonder that neither of us remerabered this until the stoppage of the carriage at our hotel awoke us from our rev eries ! What Avas to be done? Vandy's reply ex pressed our condition exactly. " Go out to enjoy myself when I feel that I Avant to go and put on raourning! I couldn't do it. " And we didn't. Our friends avIU please accept this intimation. Sunday, February 16. Delhi, at last — the Rome of Asia. This became the capital of sorae of the Moguls, because the sura raer heats of Agra were found to be insupportable. But it had before been the principal seat of the Pa thans. Akbar established his capital in Agra, 140 railes south, and therefore further into India, but his son returned to Delhi. There are ruins of palaces 172 ROUND THE WORLD. and forts here dating to one hundred years before Christ, and for eighteen hundred years Ave have the ruins of the structures of the kings of Delhi and their most noted subordinates, coraprising prime ministers, favorite slaves, barbers, architects, etc. For eleven railes along the Iraperial Way, on both sides, these ruins stretch, ending in the Kuttub Mi nar, the glory of Delhi, as the Taj is of Agra. This is a tower standing alone 230 feet in height, 50 feet in diaraeter at the base, and tapering to 9 feet at the top. But pictures and photographs have raade you farailiar Avith this superb monuraent of the Moguls. It and Huraayun's torab, the father of the great Akbar, alone remain vividly irapressed upon my raeraory. A ruin uoav and then Is acceptable, but eleven railes of thera In one or two days are rather erabarrassing, and it Is impossible to exaraine thera in detail and retain Interest in the Avork. It seeras to rae the entire population raust have been op pressed to the last degree, and every surplus penny secured in sorae way to be expended in the erection and raaintenance of these palaces and for the support of the classes who occupied thera. One raost iraportant departraent of Governraent in the raanageraent ofa conquered race is that of its po lice and intelligence bureau, and this is adrairably ad rainistered in India. A special departraent was organ ized years ago, and officers of the array specially gifted placed at its head. To the present chief. Major Hen derson, whose face Ave see in all the photographs of the Prince of Wales's party, Ave are deeply indebted for Indian iteras. This departraent has succeeded in alraost staraping out Thuggisra. It is very seldora; ROUND THE WORLD. \1^ raurders are now coraraitted by these religious fana tics. You knoAv their god deraanded blood, but he was fastidious, nothing but human blood would raeet his tastes, and so his devotees strangled and waylaid and shot the victiras raarked out for sacrifice. Some Thugs confessed to betAveen seventy and eighty murders, and one to the incredible nuraber of one hundred and ninety-tAvo (what saints they would make) ! Now the organization exerts itself only for plunder, but the Major's departraent has on its records the naraes and descriptions of raore than four thou sand of these people, and also of nearly nine thousand professional gang robbers. Murder has been done when the booty did not exceed six cents. But the systeraatic hunting down of these dangerous classes is fast ridding India of this curse. The fort at Agra reserables that of Delhi in its general features, but is faraous as having been the receptacle of the Peacock Throne, which was valued by a French jeweller at not less than six millions sterling, say thirty raillions of dollars. On such a precious pedestal as this the Moguls sat and ruled this land. The throne was plundered of its jewels by the Persians, but its frame is still shown in the local museura. The fort remains in an unusually good state of preservation, raaking it by far the raost satisfactory speciraen of the gorgeous resi dences of the Moguls that Ave have seen. The walls are of raarble inlaid in the interior Avith genuine precious stones of various colors worked into the forras of vines and flowers for a height of about six feet. The floors are sirailarly decorated. The upper portions of the walls have the sarae patterns. 1:74 ROUND THE WORLD. but these are painted, not Inlaid. Every part is igilded in the raost elaborate raanner, and, in short, if even one could fancy hiraself Avandering through the resplendent wonders of the Arabian Nights, it is possible -here alone of all places that I have seen. We see here how magnificently the Moguls lived. Of course Ave did not neglect the many places rendered historical by the mutiny. These are seen Xipon every side in this district, but none was more interesting to me than the Cashmere Gate. The rebels held the fort, and it was determined to assault it. Here is the record of the raen Avho volunteered to lay the train to the Gate : "Salkfied laid his bags, but Avas shot through the 'arra and leg, and fell back on the bridge, handing the portfire to Sergeant Burgess, bidding hira light the fuse. Burgess was instantly shot dead in the at tempt. Sergeant Carmichael then advanced, took up the portfire and succeeded In the atterapt, but Iramediately fell mortally wounded. Sergeant Sraith seeing hira fall advanced at a run, but finding that the fuse Avas already burning thrcAv hiraself into the ditch. ' ' The age of ralracles is adraittedly past, but it is certain that the age of heroes existed in 1857. The finest raosque in Agra, and one of the fin est in the Avorld, is the Juriiraa Musjid. We hap pened to visit it just as the priests Avere calling the faithful to prayer, which they do by ascending to the foot of the rainarets and turning tOAvard Mecca and there chanting the call. Nuraerous worshippers carae, and having washed in the pool, Avent to the Mosque and began their Avorship on their knees. ROUND THE WORLD. 175 Our guide was a Mohammedan, and I asked hira what a good raan was required to do daily, in the way of external worship. Here is the programme as he gave it to me : Five times each day he washes hands and feet and prays ; first, in the morning when he rises, and at i, 4, after sunset, and before he goes to bed. Repeating the prayer to Allah and sorae words frora the Koran, and touching the ground with his forehead no less than thirty-eight tiraes during the day. This must be done every day, Saturday and Sunday alike. The prayers are simple exclamations reciting the greatness of God and the insignificance of His servants, and ask for nothing. Saugor, Great Peninsular Railway, February 19. We are now en route to Bombay from Delhi, a distance of some thirteen hundred railes. We have been two nights in our sleeping-car, and shall spend the night on the line and reach Borabay in the raorning. General Grant just passed us going toward Calcutta, but there was no chance for us to get at him to shake hands in India. This is the Pacific Railway of India, connecting Calcutta and all the eastern portion with the western coast upon which Bombay is situated. The time between Cal cutta and England has been shortened alraost a whole week by its construction. The railways of India, of which there are at present about nine thousand railes in operation, were principally con structed under a guarantee of five per cent by the Indian Governraent, and sorae of thera yield raore 176 ROUND THE WORLD. than that already. In a short tirae there wiU be none that will reraain a charge upon the revenues. The Government retained the right at intervals of twenty or twenty-five years to acquire possession and ownership of these lines upon certain terras, and at no distant day will enjoy large rcA'^enues frora its railway property. If the days of guarantees and sub sidies be not hopelessly gone with us, here is an idea worth considering by the Governraent. Fancy what the ownership of the Union and Central Pacific lines would mean, as a recompense for the araounts ad vanced. The Governraent has established several model farras in different provinces with a view to test articles thought suitable for cultivation in India, and to diffuse araong the natives iraproved plans of agri culture. Such farms under able scientific raanageraent raust eventually bring to the country what it is best calculated to produce. The success attendant upon the growth of a substitute for cinchona is significant. India raust have quinine in large quantities as a pre ventive of malaria. Experiraents prove that while the genuine article did not thrive here, nevertheless that a kindred species possessing rauch of the sarae properties, although to a less degree, would grow well. This has been cultivated in large quantities, and I notice the medical chief orders that it be used in all dispensaries where quinine has hitherto been required, although the medical officers are per raitted in extrerae cases to order the dearer drug. The part we are now traversing is a level plain, and as this region was blessed with rain in season, It seeras rauch raore fertile than sorae other portions of the country we have seen ; but the poorest har- ROUND THE WORLD. 177 vests 1 ever saw in any part of favored America would be rated as abundant here. We have seen everywhere herds of buffaloes, bullocks, and sheep grazing in fields Avhich seemed to us entirely desti tute of every thing, not a green leaf of any kind to be seen, and we could not understand how aniraals could even get a raouthful of food in the brown parched lands. But I ara told they do nibble away at the short stalks and roots of corn or sugar-cane left in the ground when the crop was cut, and in this way they raanage to eke out a scanty existence. They are little but skin and bone at best. When it is raerely a question of keeping life in the body, man and beast alike prove it requires but little. There is one romantic and perfect love story re vealed in the annals of the Moguls. Akbar's son, the future ruler, fell desperately in love with a young lady, but for reasons of state she was not eligible, and the emperor quietly provided a husband for her in the person of one of his generals. The young heir only knew she was raarried and he conderaned to take to wife the woraan provided for him. Two years after he had become emperor the husband of his first love died, and although she was then a raiddle-aged woraan, he, the emperor, sought her out and not only raarried her (she could have been his slave) but raised her to the throne with hiraself, staraping her image with his own upon the coin of the realm. Such an unbounded influence did this capable and high-spirited woman acquire not only over her de voted husband but over the circle of the court, that she becarae the constant adviser in all iraportant affairs ; and that she might not be less thoroughly 178 ROUND THE WORLD.. feminine, I am glad to see it recorded that she intro duced improved modes of dress and raanners among her ladies. The eraperor told his priests one day that until he had raarried this paragon be had not known Avhat marriage raeant. But her grandest achieveraent is yet to be told. The emperor had previously been dissolute, probably from his first pure dream of love having been so cruelly dispelled — who knows ? — but Nur Jehan lifted hira into higher regions and raade hira a better man. She loved him fervently, and, on more than one occasion, when the eraperor was attacked she imperilled her own life to save him. As they grew old they becarae raore and more to each other, and at her death was it any wonder the emperor ordered that a tomb should rise excelling all previous tombs as rauch, if possible, as Nur Jehan excelled all other woraen. It is she who rests in the Taj. The emperor built no tomb for hiraself, as was custoraary, but as the kind fates- decreed he was placed side by side with her who- had been to hira so rauch, and they rest together, under the noblest canopy ever raade by huraan hands. Taking into account the degraded position- accorded to woraen, and reraerabering to what Nur Jehan raised herself, I think she raust be allowed tO' rank as the greatest woman who ever reigned. Bombay, Thursday, February 20. We reached this city on time this raorning, feeling not in the least fatigued by our three nights. in the train. In the evening we were fortunate enough to stroll down to the pier, where the band was playing. Nowhere have we seen so varied a ROUND THE WORLD. 179 concourse of people. The drive at Calcutta has long been noted as excelling any other scene in the gor geousness of its oriental coloring, but this of the pier at Bombay surpasses by far what we saw there. Cal cutta has no rich native gentlemen Parsees to boast of. These attend here in large numbers In fine equi pages and Avith servants in livery, and the Parsee ladies especially are resplendent In jewels and color. The rich turbanned Mohararaedan adds to the varie ty. The asserablage raoved to and fro araong the car riages and along the edges of the broad pier chatting gaily, while the rausic seeraed to set every thing in motion. Native boatmen in their picturesque garb passed now and then plying their trade, carrying a Sahib's portmanteau or a lady's bundle. I sat down and imagined myself in the midst of all that I had seen of pretty seaports in grand opera, the ship scene in L'Africaine, the landing of Desdemona in the Isle of Cyprus, the fishermen in Masaniello, and I thought I had never seen any thing of this descrip tion so pleasing. I lost Vandy in the crowd and sat drinking it all in till dark. Certainly among the fine things in the East Is to be ranked the rausic upon the Apollo Bunder, Borabay. Friday, February 21. We rose early, and were off before breakfast for a drive to the " ToAver of Silence." This is the raountain top where the Parsees give their dead to be torn by the vultures. We shudder at creraation, but the sacred fire of the funeral pile as it flaraes to heaven has soraething awe-inspiring about it. Man sprung frora the dust raingles at last Avith the purer l8o ROUND THE WORLD. element of fire and " vanishes Into air, into thin air," leaving no trace behind. But deliberately to throw our dead out to be torn in pieces and devoured by vultures, who can endure the thought ! And yet many of the inhabitants here would be most unhappy if denied the consolation of believing that their bodies were to be served in this manner. Nor are these poor and ignorant. On the contrary, next to the English, they are the best educated and most exten sive merchants In the city. It is simply that they have been taught in their youth that the earth raust not be defiled by contact with the dead. They cannot therefore bury, neither can they burn, be cause fire, one of the eleraents, is sacred ; neither can they cast their dead into the sea, for it, too, is holy. There seeras no way to thera except this, of getting the birds of the air to corae and take the flesh. We were received at the foot of the raound by a Parsee guide who conducted us through every part. The towers, of which there are five, are approached by long flights of easy stairs. We entered a door at the top, and the first objects which struck ray eyes were the vultures. They sat raotionless, as close together as possible, on top of the round wall of the tower, with their tails toAvard us and their beaks toward the centre of the tower where the bodies are placed. The wall is about twenty feet high and fifty feet in diaraeter. There did not ap pear to be roora for one raore bird upon it, every inch of It being occupied, the birds alraost touching each other. What a revolting coping they forraed to the otherwise plain round wall. Looking around I saw raore birds perched on trees, and on the other ROUND THE WORLD. i8i towers, and indeed, everyAvhere Ave looked, these disgusting objects raet our view. At ten o'clock every raorning the dead are taken frora the dead- house, rich and poor alike, being previously divested of clothing, and were we to revisit the spot at that hour, Ave are told the quiet stillness which pervaded the grove Avould be found no longer to exist. We inwardly congratulated ourselves that the dreaded heat of a Borabay sun had sent us to this place at so early an hour ere the repast began, and rapidly withdrcAV. It isn't rauch, but still I would not be robbed of it, such a disposition of our dead as would still render it possible for us to say with Haralet — "And o'er her grave may violets spring." Hard tiraes are everywhere, and produce sorae strange changes. I see the Banyan caste of Suerah has just resolved to abolish caste dinners after fune rals, but if a wealthy Hindoo still wishes to indulge in these affairs he is perraitted so to do after one year has elapsed. I fear raany of the dear departed will never be honored by the feast at this interval. At raarriages only one feast is hereafter to be given, instead of four, which were considered the thing. Retrenchraent is the word even where caste custoras of long standing are involved. I note that yesterday a native was fined ten ru pees for driving a larae horse. What a singular race he raust think these English ; before their day he could have done what he liked with horse or servant, raaie or female "because he bought thera," and 'now he can't even be the judge when to use his horse. The raore I see of the thoroughness 1 82 ROUND THE WORLD. of the English Governraent in the East, its attention to the minutest details, the exceptional ability of its officials as evinced in the excellence of the courts, jails, hospitals, dispensaries, schools, roads, railways, canals, etc., the more I ara araazed. I had before no Idea of what was implied by the Governraent of India. For any other people than the English to have undertaken it would have been raadness. Not that Ave have not In Araerica a class of raen of equal organizing power, but these haA^e careers at horae open to them and could not be induced to leave their own land. But even if this were not so, America requires an iraproved civil service to bring its ablest men forward. I am sure no such body of officials exist as that coraprising the civil service of India, whether judged by its purity or its ability. The British array has been reforraed of late years at every point in India beyond popular knowledge of the subject. We have stories of the great rautiny, and every one agrees in attributing its spread to the fact that there were at two or three critical points superannuated old veterans, unable to take the raost obvious raeasures for its suppression before it was too late. In short, it was here just as I saw it in Wash ington when the war began in America. I remeraber seeing the coraraander-in-chief, old General Scott, when Bull Run was lost, so old and infirra as to be carried or assisted frora his carriage across the pave raent to his office. There were others in charge of departraents scarcely less feeble. It was just so in India ; but noAV raark the change. No raan can retain the coraraand of a regiment in the British army more than five years, nor can generals serve ROUND THE WORLD. i8 J longer. These officers retire on pensions, and the next in seniority takes his turn, always provided he passes successfully the raost searching exaraination at each successive proraotion. I Avas told that upon a recent exaraination only tAvo officers passed out of thirteen. No favoritisra is shown, and I have raet young raen related to the highest officials to whora it has been kindly intimated another career than the array had better be sought. I have raet raany officers and the irapression raade upon rae is an exceeding ly favorable one. I do not believe that in case of war now the blunder of those in comraand would have to be atoned for by the superior fighting quali ties of the rank and file as was notoriously the case during the Criraean War. , Bombay is by far the finest city in the East, but it has been inflated raore than any other, and is now undergoing a severe contraction. Its public buildings would do credit to any European capital. Governraent concluded to sell the land fronting on the bay, which had been used as the site of an anti quated fort, and such was the rage for speculation at the tirae that five raillion dollars worth of land was disposed of and enough retained to give Borabay a beautiful little park and a long drive along the beach. Governraent took the raoney and erected on part of the land retained the magnificent buildings referred to. We met one gentleraan who had gone in for one hundred thousand dollars worth of the new lots for which he adraitted he could not get raore than twenty thousand doUars to-day. But Borabay is only learning the universal lesson which the world seems to need to be repeated every 184 ROUND THE WORLD. ten or twelve years. It [is fortunate that this city is our last in India, because it so far excels any other. Nowhere else is such oriental richness to be seen. The colors of the masses as they raove rapidly to and fro reraind you of the corabinations of the kaleidoscope. The native women of the lowest order work In gangs, and it is their dress which chiefly brightens the scene. A dark green tight-fitting jack et, a magenta mantle festooned about the body and legs in sorae very graceful raanner and reaching to the knees, the feet and legs bare to the knees, a purple veil on the head but thrown back over the shoulders, this is the dress as well as I can describe it. The habit of carrying loads upon the head makes them as straight as arrows, and as they raarch along with majestic stride they corapletely eclipse the poor- looking male, Avho seeras to have had his raanhood ground out of hira by generations of oppression, while his corapanion has passed through subjugation without losing her personal dignity. It seeras home-like to see street railways, of which there are several prosperous lines here. For this enter prise an Araerican gentleraan has to be thanked. All classes ride together, and caste in Borabay gets seri ous knocks in consequence. Frora Borabay as a centre civilization is destined to radiate ; a palpable breach has already been made in the solid walls which have hitherto shut India from the entrance of new ideas, and through this gate the assaulting columns must eventually gain possession, but it will not be Avithin the span of raen now living nor for several genera tions to corae. The Sailors' Horae and hospitals of the city are highly creditable, and among the chari- ROUND THE WORLD. 185 table institutions I raust not forget to class the Hindoo hospital for Avretched aniraals, Avhere sorae of each kind are tenderly cared for, to signify the reverence paid by this sect to all kinds of life, for the raeanest forra is sacred to thera. We had a curious illustration of this Avhile in Benares examin ing the richest specimens of the delicate erabroideries for which that city is celebrated. A little nasty in truder shoAved Itself on one of the finest, and a gen tleman Avith us involuntarily reached forth to kill it, but the three Hindoos caught his arm at once, and exhibited great anxiety to save the insect. One of thera did get it, and taking it to the window set It at liberty. It was Uncle Toby and the troublesorae fly over again, as iraraortalized by the genius of Sterne : " Get thee gone, poor devil, there is room enough in the Avorld for thee and for rae," quoth Uncle Toby. And does not Cowper say, ' ' I would not rank among my list of friends. Though graced with polished manners and fine sense. That man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm." Well, these Hindoos wouldn't do it either. Let thera be credited accordingly, heathen though they be. It begins to grow too hot here ; I could not live one season in India, that I ara convinced of. This tropical sun has no raercy. Thick pith helraet, white ura brella, it pierces through both and drives one into the house. We are getting out of this none too soon. This evening we were surprised to see, as we strolled along the beach, raore Parsees than ever before, and raore Parsee ladles richly dressed ; all 1 86 ROUND THE WORLD. seeraed wending their way to the sea. It was the first of the new m.oon, a period sacred to these wor shippers of the elements, and here on the shores of the ocean, as the sun was sinking in the sea, and the slender silver thread of the crescent moon was faintly shining in the horizon, they congregated to perform their religious rites. Fire was there in its grandest form — the sun — water, in the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, Avhich lay outstretched before thera. The earth was under their feet, and wafted across the sea the air carae laden with the perfuraes of ' ' Araby the blest. ' ' Surely no time, nor place could be more fitly chosen than this for lifting up the soul to the realms beyond sense. I could not but partici pate Avith these worshippers in what Avas so grandly beautiful. There was no music save the soleran rapan of the waves as they broke into foara on the beach, " With their ain eerie croon Working their appointed work. And never, never done." But where shall we find so raighty an organ, or so grand an anthem ? How inexpressibly sublirae the scene appeared to, me, and how Insignificant and unworthy of the Unknown seemed even our cathe drals, "raade with human hands," when compared to this, looking up through nature unto nature's God ! I stood and drank in the serene happiness which seemed to fill the air. I have seen raany raodes and forras of worship, sorae disgusting, others saddening, a few elevating when the organ pealed forth its tones, but all poor in coraparison to this. Nor do 1 ever expect in all my life to witness a ROUND THE IVORLD. 187 religious cereraony AvhIch avIU so powerfully affect me as that of the Parsees on the beach at Borabay. While I gazed upon the scene I stood only conscious that 1 was privileged to catch a glirapse of soraething that Avas not of the earth, but, as I sauntered slowly horaeward, WordsAvorth's lines carae to rae as the fittest expression of ray feelings. The passage is too long to quote at full length, besides I have to confess I cannot at this raoraent recall it all. But he tells first hoAv in his youth nature was all in all to him, " nor needed a raoral sense unborroAved frora the eye," but later the inner light carae, and hear hira in his raaturer years : ' ' I have learnt to look on nature Not as in my days of youth. But as ofttimes finding there The sad still music of humanity. Not harsh or grating, but with power To chasten and subdue — " "The sad still rausic of huraanity;" it was that I heard sounding In the prayers of those devout Parsees and in the raoan of that raighty sea. Sweet, refreshing it was, though tinged with sadness, as all our raore precious musings must be, ' ' since all we knoAv is, nothing can be knoAvn. In one of ray strolls along the beach I raet a Par- see gentleraan Avho spoke excellent EngUsh. Frora him I learned that the disciples of Zoroaster number only about 200,000, and of these no less than 50,000 are in Bombay. They were driven frora Persia by the Mohararaedans and settled here, where they have prospered. They do not interraarry with other sects, be- i88 ROUND THE WORLD. lieve in one God, and worship only the sun, raoon, earth, and stars, as being the visible angels of God, as he termed thera. In theraselves these are nothing, but are the best steps by which we can ascend to God. Good raen will be happy forever; bad raen will be unhappy for a long tirae after death, and very bad men will be severely punished. But I Avas delighted to be assured that no one will be punished forever, because all life is sacred to God because he has made It, and all life must event ually return to its Maker and be merged in Him. Parsees cannot burn the dead, because fire should not be prostituted to so vile a use. They cannot bury, because the earth should not be desecrated with the dead, neither should the sea ; and therefore God has provided vultures, which cannot be de filed, to absorb the flesh of the dead. I said to hira that the raere thought of violence offered to our dead caused us to shudder. " Then what do you think of the worras ?" he asked. This was certainly an effect ive estoppel. " It coraes to this," he continued, " a question of birds or AVorras." " You are right" (I had to adrait it), I said ; " after all, it's not worth dis puting about. ' ' When 1 had asked hira a great raany questions, I suppose he thought turn-about Avas fair play, and he began to cross-exaraine rae upon raany points of Christian doctrine, which I did ray best to put in the proper forra. We finally agreed that good raen and good Avoraen of any forra of religion could enter heaven and be happy forever, and upon this platforra we said good-by and parted. I looked around, to see that we had becorae the centre of quite a circle of Parsees who had been at- ROUND THE WORLD. 189 tracted by our conversation, their earnest, bronze faces so very close to raine, surraounted by the flara-- ing red turbans, and the gorgeous colors of their flowing robes, forraing a picture I shall not soon forget. They opened a way of egress at once, and Sahib passed out of the throng evidently an object of intense curiosity to the crowd. Our excursion to the Caves of Elephanta was very enjoyable. The caves are decidedly worth seeing. Here is the strongest contrast to the grand open-air worship of the Parsees ; for the Hindoos sought to hide their worship in caves which shut out the light of day, and to seek their gods in the dark recesses. The carved figures and colurans of the Teraple are fine, the principal idol being one of great size, a huge representation of the Hindoo Trinity of Brahraa, Vishnu, and Siva, which raake the three-headed god. The effect of such a raonster, seen diraly by the lighted torch, upon ignorant natures, could not but have been overpowering ; although when ex arained closely there is nothing repulsive in the faces. On the contrary the expression of all three is rather pleasing than otherwise, like that of Buddha. Bombay, Monday, Feb. 24. We sailed at six in the evening by the splendid P. and O. raail stearaer, Pekin. The city was bathed in the rays of a brilliant sunset as we stearaed slowly out of the harbor, and we bade farewell to India when it looked the fairest. And now for soraething on the great Indian ques tion, for it would never do for a traveller to visit In- 13 490 ROUND THE WORLD. -dia and not have his decided opinion upon raatters -and things there, and his clearly defined policy em bracing the manageraent of the most intricate prob lems involved in the government of two hundred millions of the most Ignorant races known, and all founded upon a few weeks' hurried travel amongst -them. There is, hoAvever, a much more extensive class who are even raore presuraptuous, for they have just as complete a policy upon this subject, although they have never seen -India at all. The vast country we knoAv as India, then, is held and governed, not as one country, but district by dis trict. One province, for instance, has a native ruler with whom England has nothing whatever to do ex cept that by right of treaty she sends a political agent to his court, supported in some cases, and in others not, by a certain nuraber of soldiers. This Resident is expected to confer Avith and advise the Rajah, and keep hira and his officials frora outrageous courses. Especially are th'ey prevented from war ring upon neighboring states. In extrerae cases, when counsel and reraonstrance avail not, the gov ernment has had either to depose the ruling Rajah and substitute another, as in the recent affair of the Rajah of Baroda, or to confiscate the Province and merge it in the Erapire, as in the case of the King of Oude. But what raust be borne in mind is that no two native rulers govern alike. LaAvs and customs prevailing In one province are wholly unknown in another. This land is held by one tenure in one place, and by an entirely different system in another. India is therefore not one nation, but a vast conglomeration ROUND THE WORLD. 191 of different races and principalities, each independent of the other, differing as rauch as France does frora Germany and much more than England does from America. Add to this the fact that, sub-divided again into distinct castes, even the people of any one district are not a homogeneous coraraunity, but sev eral coraraunities refusing to interraarry or CA^en to eat Avith one another, and a faint idea of the magni tude of this question of India avIU begin to dawn upon one. It is this raass which England has to rule and keep firmly in order with her 60,000 troops, and which constitutes the government of India the raost difficult problera with which, I believe, statesmen have to deal. The amount of knoAvledge, statesman ship, tact, temper, patience and resource absolutely put in requisition by the raen who rule India, I feel sure equals that required for the governraent of the whole of civihzed Europe corabined ; for It is always easy to govern a horaogeneous people, the rulers being of the people theraselves, having the good of their respective countries at heart. It seeras to rae an unnecessary eleraent of danger arises frora the fact that these Rajahs are perraitted to raaintain no less than 300,000 native troops, raainly to swell their iraportance ; the question of enforcing reductions in these arraaraents is now under consideration, I ob serve, but I should decidedly say with Hamlet, ' ' Oh, reform it altogether." I Avould not aUow a Rajah to keep raore than one hundred arraed troops, ex cept as a body-guard, beyond the nuraber actually required to enforce order. Upon this point it avIII be seen I have decided views. 192 ' ROUND THE WORLD. The existence of Rajahs is perhaps a necessary evil. They are maintained owing to a well-grounded reluctance on the part of the governraent to assurae the task of governing raore territory. It Is to be re gretted that it has been necessary to extend the sway so far already ; nevertheless, the day will corae when the petty courts raust be swept away, as they have been in Japan and Gerraany, and the whole country given the benefits of uniforra rule. It is estiraated that the Rajahs tax the people to an extent equal to the revenues of the governraent — about $300,000,000 per annura : of this rauch is squandered in upholding their state ; a grievous exaction frora so poor a coun try. This will soon be one of the burning questions of India. The Rajah of Jeypore exceeds $6,000,000 per an num, and one or two others exceed this sum. Poor fellow ! he had to raarry his tenth wife, the other day — a sister of two of his previous wives, for whora no suitable husband could be found. There Avere but two farailies in the realra, I believe, of the proper rank, and neither happened just then to have a nice young raan on hand. The disgrace of having an unraarried woraan in the faraily was not to be borne, and the old Rajah had to husband her, as he had her other sister sorae time ago. Although so well provided with wives, he has never been blessed with an heir, and at his death his first wife will adopt a son, who. will be his successor. What do I think of India, is asked rae every day, but I feel that one accustomed to the exceptional fertiUty and advantages of America — a land so wonderfuUv endoAved that It seems to rae raore ROUND THE WORLD. 193 and raore the special favorite of fortune— is very apt to underrate India, We see it after two years of bad harvests and a third coraing on, which is raost unproralsing. Judged frora what I see, I can only say that I find it irapossible to repress the wish that springs up at every turn, as a lover of Eng land, Would she Avere safely and honorably out of it ! Retiring now is out of the question ; she has abolished the native systera in large districts, and raust perforce continue the glorious task of giv ing to these millions the blessings of order. Her Avithdrawal would be the signal for interne cine strife and such a saturnalia of blood and rapine as the world has never known ; but were the ques tion Avhether Britain should to-day accept India as a gift, and I had the privilege of reply, then, " Declined with thanks ;" and yet it is the fashion just now to call India " the brightest jewel in the croAvn. " The glitter of that jewel may be red some day again. I have only heard two reasons advanced in favor of India as an English possession. First, it furnishes official station and employment for a large number who would otherwise have no field ; but I think there is yet plenty of unoccupied territory in which these gentlemen can find work if they can hold their own in the struggle for existence ; besides, the official class requires less protection, not greater than it has hitherto been favored with, if the true interest of England is to be considered. The second reason is a comraercial one, and it is pointed out that the trade of England is thereby ex tended ; to which it may be said in reply that the occupation of foreign countries and the subjection of 194 ROUND THE WORLD. foreign races are In no measure required by the de mands of trade. The possession of small islands at proper points secures all this. Hong Kong and a sraall strip at Shanghai, and one or two other ports, afford all the facilities required for England to obtain the trade. Penang on the west of the Malay Peninsu la, Singapore at the south end, do the sarae. All of these have the precious silver thread surrounding thera, and can be held easily by Britannia against the world Avithout and native races struggling within for independence, as they are bound to do sorae day. There is another view to be taken of this question by a well-wisher of Britain Avhich cannot be ignored. She, the mother of nations and champion of op pressed nationalities, necessarily occupies a false po ition in India — there she raust assurae the r61e of the conqueror. I do not speak of this to disapprove of it, or even of the Press Laws recently adopted ; to avert still greater evils she is corapelled to go to any length. Nevertheless, it is a false position — the stars in their courses fight against it, and sooner or later England will retire frora it. In short, the pole star of Indian policy is to bend every energy to the sowing of seed, which will produce a native class capable at first of participating in the government, and Avhich will eventually becorae such as can be trusted with entire control, so that England raay stand to India as she stands to-day to Canada and Australia. The business of colonizing, as a whole, does not appear to rae to pay. As a mission there Is none so- noble, or to be corapared Avith it, next to governing weU a horae ; but beyond this England's share of the ROUND THE WORLD. 195 material good looks small. If the colony is rich and prosperous it sets up for itself. If weak and unsuc cessful it becomes a Natal, and calls upon the gen erous-hearted mother for assistance. The gain to the colonies is obvious ; nothing could be finer for them, and if it be clearly understood that England elects to play the tender nurse and receive her re- Avard in the consciousness of doing good, all right. Let her continue ! But if it be thought that these dependencies enhance her oavu poAver and promote her prosperity, the sooner the books are balanced the better. Only one prayer. May heaven keep America from the colonizing craze — Cuba ! Santo Domingo ! avaunt, and quit our sight ! After six days' delightful sail we had our first glirapse of Arabia this raorning, and are now skirt ing the Arabian coast. Aden was reached Sunday raorning, and we drove out to the native town and saAV the tanks said to have been constructed thou sands of years ago. It rains only once in every year or two, and a supply of Avater is obtained by storing the torrents which then floAV from the hills. A raore desolate desert than Aden surely does not exist. Our trip on the Pekin was the raost delightful we ever had at sea ; even Vandy was well, and gained by the journey. We had very agreeable company on board, and Avere especially fortunate in our neighbors, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Glover, of Ed inburgh, at table. The ship Avas croAvded with officers and officers' wives and children returning from India to England, for children must be taken home out of the climate of India. Nothing can ex- 196 ROUND THE WORLD. ceed the discipline and general raanageraent of the P. and O. ships. Proraotion from the ranks is the rule, and they certainly are served by a class of raen which it would be difficult to equal elscAvhere. The Cunard line is probably the only counterpart of the P. and O. line in existence. India claims many victiras ; we had yesterday a young raan near us who had been in India only a short tirae, and who was returning invalided. Poor fellow ! He lay in the hatchway in his easy chair frora raorning until night, gazing wistfully over the sea toward his beloA^ed England. There he would soon get well. Only last night as I passed to bed I stopped to encourage him, telling him how finely we were dancing along homeward. At dawn I heard the pulsations of the engine cease for a few raoraents only, but in these raoments he had bsen cast into the sea. Scarcely any one kncAv of his death except the doctor and a few of the crew — not a soul on board knew any thing of him ; he was an entire stranger to all. But think of the raother and sisters who were to raeet hira on arrival and convey hira " to the green lanes of Sur rey ;" see thera hastening on board and casting anxious glances around. No one Avill know thera, but every one will suspect who they are, and what their errand, and instinctively avoid them — for who would be the messenger to strike a mother down with a word ! The death and burial were sad, sad enough ; but the real tragedy is yet to be played in Southampton, Avhen the living are to envy the fate of the dead who "after life's fitful fever" sleeps so well in the depths of the Indian Ocean. ROUND THE WORLD. 197 We reached Suez Friday at six o'clock in the raorning and anchored Avithin the bay ; an enterpris ing sail-boat captain carae alongside and offered to take us across the bay to the toAvn In tirae to catch the only train leaving for Cairo for twenty -four hours. It was two long hours' sail, but the breeze was strong and Vandy and I resolved to try it, bargain ing with the captain, however, upon the basis of no train, no pay. We raade it just in tirae and grasp ing a bottle of wine and sorae bread at the station — for we had had no breakfast — we were off for Cairo. The raih.vay runs paraUel to the Suez Canal, which, by the Avay, was a canal in the days of the Pharaohs, but, of course, rauch sraaller and only used for purposes of irrigation. We saw the top masts of several steamers above the sandy banks as they craAvled slowly through the desert. When past Ismailia, the line leaves the canal and runs westward through the land of Goshen. After the parched plains of India, it was refreshing once raore to look upon " deep waving fields and pas tures green." We were within the regions watered by the Nile, and the harvests reserabled those of the curse of Gourie. We reached Cairo on tirae and our first inquiries were about our friends, Mr. Hawk, Miss Nettie and party, who were expected there frora their three raonths' excursion upon the Nile. Fortunately we found their dalbeah was anchored In the streara, and we drove to it without delay. Sure enough, as we reached the bank, there lay the Nubia, that Uttle gera, with the stars and stripes floating above her. We were rowed on board only to find that our 198 ROUND THE WORLD. friends were In the city. However, we made our selves at home in the charming saloon, and awaited their return. Unfortunately, sorae sailor on shore had told them of two strangers going aboard, and there Avas not the entire surprise we had intended ; but if there Avas no surprise there Avas no lack of cordial welcome, and we realized to the fullest ex tent what a world of meaning lies in the quaint simile, " as the face of a friend in a far-off country." The reunion at Cairo was one of the fine incidents of our tour. Many months ago we had parted from Mr. Hawk and faraily, and half in jest appointed Cairo as our next meeting-place. They went in one direction, Ave in another, and without special ref erence to each other's movements it had so turned out that we caught them here, ft Avas a narrow hit, however, as they were to leave next day for Alexandria, and had we remained on the Pekin, as all the other passengers did, and not undertaken the sail across the bay, Ave should have missed thera. We grasped hands once raore and sat doAvn to din ner, the Nile gurgling past, — the pyramids, with their forty centuries, looking down upon us, and here was one more happy band to-night draAving more closely to each other since separated from friends at horae, enacting over again such scenes as the faraous river has witnessed upon its bosora for thou sands of years — one generation going and another coming, but the mysterious Nile reraaining to wel corae each succeeding host ; and thus, " Thro' plots and counterplots — Thro' gain and loss — thro' glory and disgrace — -*#-»*-» — gfiji jfig holy "Stream Of human happiness glides on ! " ROUND THE WORLD. 199 To-day sight-seeing Avas subordinated to the rare pleasure of enjoying the company of our friends, but Ave all drove through Cairo streets and saAV one meraorable sight : the great college of Is- lara, where 10,760 students are constantly under preparation as priests of the Prophet. We saAV thera in hundreds sitting on their mats in the ex tensive open courts, all busily engaged in learning to recite the Koran to raasters, or listening to pro fessors Avho expounded it. Their intense earnest ness soon irapresses you. Frora this centre radi ate every year thousands of these propagandists, scattering theraselves over Arabia and to the fur thest boundaries of Islara, and even beyond, warring upon idolatry and proclaiming that there is but one God. No one can fail, 1 think, to receive frora such a visit as we paid a rauch higher estimate of the vitality of Mohararaedanism, and having seen what it has to supplant we cannot refrain frora wishing these raissionaries God-speed. We visited several raosques, but they are such poor affairs corapared to those of India that Ave took little interest in thera. While the other countries we have so far Adsited in our course have all been stranger than expected, this is not so with Egypt. Every thing seeras to be just as I had iraagined it. We get to know too rauch about the land of the Pharaohs to be taken thoroughly by surprise. Per haps there is soraething in our having seen so much that our perceptions are no longer as keen as when we landed In Japan. The appetite for sight-seeing becomes sated, like any other, and I fear we are not as irapressionable as before. 200 ROUND THE WORLD. The crowds of squalid wretches Avho surround us at every turn, claraoring for backsheesh ; the raud hovels in which they raanage to live, and the coarse food upon which they exist ; the raass of greasy, un washed rags which hang loosely upon thera — such things no longer excite our wonder, or even our pity. We have seen so rauch of such raisery before, that I fear we begin to grow callous. Cairo, as a city, is raost picturesque, with its cora- manding citadel, its hundreds of raosques, their slen der spires and conspicuous rainarets ; while sur rounding all this in the desert lie the ruins of older cities and of torabs and raosques innuraerable. The desert of Sahara reaches to the very gates of the city on the east. The city lies betAveen that and the Nile ; then comes a narrow strip of green about ten miles in width, and after that the boundless Lybian desert. The Pyramids stand upon the very edge of this desert, so that it is sand, sand, sand ! everywhere around the city of the Caliphs, save and except this little green border along the Nile. But indeed the whole of Egypt is only a nar row green ribbon stretching along the river for some six hundred miles, and widening at the delta when the waters divide and reach the sea by various chan nels. All the rest is sand. Egypt has not raore cultivable soil than Belgium, and wouldn't make a moderately sized state with us. The present Khedive was determined to make Cairo a miniature Paris, and we see much that re calls Paris to us — the new boulevards, the Opera House, circus, caf6s, new hotel — all show how rauch has already been done in this direction ; but he is ROUND THE WORLD. 20I in hard straits just now, as is well known, and the cry there as elscAvhere is for retrenchment and re form. The new streets are Parisian, but It is in the old narrow streets of the city one sees oriental life distinctively Egyptian in its character. Indeed these are the sights of Cairo Avhich 1 enjoy most. Muffled ladies, reserabling nothing I can think of so much as big black bats, as they sit man-fashion on their donkeys, wrapped in black silk cloaks ; men in gorgeous silks, also on donkeys, while laden camels slowly pick their Avay through the crowd, and asses laden Avith large paniers of clover. Harera ladies (there is the weight which pulls Egypt down) in their covered carriages preceded by the running Lyces. I never saAv such a miscellaneous throng in any street before. The great event of a visit to Cairo is Pyramid day. The Pyraraids are eight miles distant, and an early start has to be made to insure return in season. Yesterday was our day. These Avonders do not Im press you at first — few really stupendous works ever do ; and even when at their base, .you think but meanly of their magnitude, so much so that you never hesitate as to whether you will ascend Cheops, the largest. Three Arabs are at once assigned to you by the Sheik, whose duty it is to assist you — two of these take your hands while the third stands behind to "boost" you up at the moraent the others pull. It is a hard cUmb even when so assisted, and raany Avho start are fain to content theraselves with getting up one third the distance. I think I rested three times in making the ascent, and each time I 202 ROUND THE WORLD. found my feeling of disappointraent growing beauti fuUy less ; while by the tirae the shout came frora ray Arabs announcing that they were on the top stone, I was filled with respectful admiration for Cheops, I assure you, and whatever one raay say about the equator, I feel sure no one will ever hear rae speak disrespectfully of the Pyraraids. They are Avithout doubt the greatest raasses ever built by raan. Cheops is 450 feet high and covers 13 acres at the base, tapering to the top, where one false step Avould be certain death, as, contrary to ray opinion at first, I saw that nobody could possibly rest on any of the layers of projecting stone. I do not like high places, and I felt, while on the top, I would give a handsorae sura just to be safely on level ground again. But I got down without rauch diffi culty, and after luncheon we went into the centre of the pile — a work of considerable trouble, and saw the sarcophagus. Attempts have been raade to invest the Pyramids AvIth some raysterious raeaning, but, I take it, there will be no raore of this, since an expla nation is noAV given Avhich raeets every objection. They are siraply the torabs of various kings, and differ in size because the kings ruled for different periods of tirae. The mode of procedure Avas this : when a king came to the throne he began to build his torab ; perhaps this Avas an excellent way of keeping before hira the fact that he also must surely die, and that ere long; successive courses of stone were built around the pile year after year, and when the king died the building ceased, his successor taking care to finish the course under progress at the death of his predecessor. The .great Pyraraid is either 6500 or 5000 years old ac- ROUND THE WORLD. 203 cording as you decide for one or the other mode of computation. Either date Avill, however, entitle It to the honors of a hoary old age. The old Arabian proverb, " That all things fear Time, but Time fears the Pyramids," holds good no longer, for " the tooth of Time" is slowly but surely scattering even these masses to the winds. The entire finishing course of huge stone blocks, frora top to bottom of Cheops, has already crumbled away, and lies in dust at the base. With the second in size this is also the case, except that a portion still clings around its top ; this Avill fall some day, and leave it stripped like its greater neighbor. The Sphinx — the mysterious Sphinx— which has baffled all inquisitive engineers for centuries without nuraber, lies in the sand, only a short distance frora Cheops — imagine, if you can, with what feelings one gazes upon that. It Is as old as the Pyramids and older, and there it still looks out upon the green and fertile banks of the Nile with the Lybian desert be hind. Its countenance has the same benignant cast, but it tells neither of sorrow nor of an,ger, neither of triuraph nor of defeat. It tells you of no human passion, and yet seems to tell you of all — the end of all — and yet it is not a sad face. It is every thing and yet nothing. I never was so utterly unable to vivify a stone with at least sorae iraaginings. It could be raade one thing or another, but no sooner had I thought it Indicated one sentiraent than a second look raade the idea seera absurd. Like so many count- le;S thousands before rae, I gave it up. You can not extract any thing frora that face. I thought the lesson raight be in its position, and I pleased myself with drawing one frora that. 204 ROUND THE WORLD. There this mystery stands, gazing only upon what is rich and fertile and instinct with llfe^the life- giving Nile rolling before it, and the fields of golden grain in vIcav. Its back turned resolutely to the dreary waste of death, the Lybian desert, behind ; and so it said to rae as plainly as if it could speak : This is your lesson : let the dead past bury its dead. It is upon the bright things of life we raust fix our gazC; if we would be of use in our day and genera tion—nor cast one lingering look behind. I needed this lesson, for since ray irreparable loss in the death of one of ray dearest friends, Mr. McCandless, of which I have only heard, the quiet hours have been bitter. Why should I hesitate to tell that Avhen ray father died, Avhen we were poor and I but a lad, that man, who knew but little of us, delicately intiraated to our relatives that we should want for nothing ; but this Avas of a piece Avith his character throughout. He was always doing such things. I believe he loved rae alraost like a son. I ha\'e never sailed without his sad farewell, nor returned with out his srailing Avelcorae, and now, what ara I to do ? Only this reraains : I ara to raiss hira forever, and the sunshine of life can never be again as bright to rae as if his genial sraile raingled Avith it as of old. When in Cairo we visited Avith deep interest the site of the faraous Alexandrian Library, in which lay stored the raost precious treasures of the world. Had it escaped destruction how raany questions Avhich have vexed scholars would never have arisen, and hoAv much ground which it has been necessary for genius to re-conquer would have corae to us as our heritage ! ROUND THE WORLD. 205 The Cleopatra's needle still in Alexandria, the counterpart of Avhich is noAV In London, tells its own story so plainly that there can be no dispute about it. Seventeen hundred years before Christ this huge raonolith Avas erected. It is cut out of solid rock, and was transported several hundred miles to its present site. It raeasures 68 feet in height, and Is not less than eight feet square at Its base, one solid shaft of granite ; but this is far exceeded by the one still standing at Thebes, which Is 100 feet high. It struck rae as a notable coincidence that the ingenious Frenchraan Avho first proved the truth of the sup posed hieroglyphic alphabet, should have done so by assuraing that the name upon a certain stone extolling the virtues of Ptoleray Soter, repeated so frequent ly, was that of the faraous Cleopatra, and so it proved ; thus this extraordinary AVoraan, who filled the world Avith her narae during her life, and for centuries after, once raore renews her tenure by hnking herself with the Avorld's history two thousand years after her death. The rauseura in Cairo is said to coraprise raore Egyptian antiquities than are possessed in the world besides. It is filled with rauraraies, sarcophagi, jewelry, coins, and statues ; one wooden statue shown being no less than 4600 years old. Any thing less than five thousand years of age one gets to consider rather too raodern to suit his taste. Upon some of the Uds of the tombs the inscriptions are as fresh as if cut yesterday. Egypt furnishes the earUest records of our race, because the sand of the deserts on each side of the NUe, blowing over the cities of the past 14 206 ROUND THE WORLD. until these Avere completely burled, hermetically seal- ¦ed them, and this preserved thera frora decay, and would have done so for ages yet to corae. Is it any wonder that this narrow strip, filled with buried -cities, should have given rise to a body of raen who devote themselves to the search for rich spoil of the past and to deciphering the inscriptions ? You raeet occasionally an Egyptologist and seera to know hira instinctively. But grand as Is Egypt's past, and varied as her fortunes have been, It raay surely be said that never during all her misfortunes has she occupied a position as deplorable as that Avhich saddens the traveller of to-day. \l any one wants to see what personal rule In its fullest developraent is capable of producing, let him s'isit Egypt. The condition of its finances is notorious, but Ave did not expect to witness such convincing proofs of insolvency. The Khedive has been maintaining a standing army of 60,000 raen, but It has not been paid for raore than two years. Retrenchraent having been insisted upon by England and France, it was re solved to reduce the force to sorae 8000, and orders of dismissal were accordingly issued. But about two hundred officers Avho Averein Cairo, and had not yet been paid, entered the Prince Minister's chara bers claraoring for payraent, and finally refused to leave until paid. Some slight violence Avas even used toward that functionary, and the English agent, who came raanfuUy to his assistance, was roughly pushed about. It Avas finally arranged to pay all disraissed soldiers two raonths of their arrears. The train upon Avhich we travelled frora Cairo carried ROUND THE WORLD. 207 many of these raen to their horaes. While the array is not paid, we see on every hand unraistakable proofs of the Khedive's reckless personal extravagance. Here lies his grand steara yacht rotting In the harbor. In the station Ave noticed the imperial cars stowed aAvay ; on the rlA^er his large suraraer boat ; and every reraarkably fine house in Cairo seemed to be one or the other of the Khedive's palaces or harems. The man does not seera to have had the faintest idea of Avhat was due to his country, or Avhat was, even worse, due to hiraself. One becoraes indignant with a people so supine as to endure such Avaste and oppression. Every thing is taxed, and the raass of the people ground down to the lowest stage corapatible with raere ani raal existence. England and France have been cora pelled recently to take strong raeasures in order to prevent irapending ruin. The Khedive not long since dismissed the only one of his rainisters who seeraed to coraprehend the state ot affairs, but I see the faint reraonstrance of these powers has sufficed to reinstate hira — in other words, the Khedive has been told he is a figurehead, to reign, not to govern — and we raay hope for an iraproveraent in conse quence. The population is only five raillions, and It is es tiraated that at least two railUons raore could be sup ported by the country, so it seeras that only good governraent is required to restore Egypt to pros perity. The cry frora the raoraent you set foot In Egypt until the stearaer sails, is, " Backsheesh, Back sheesh !" Give ! give ! give ! crowds surround you 2o8 ROUND THE WORLD. at every point, and frora child to Avithered eld it is am incessant chorus. If one Is weak enough to give a piastre he is done for, the crowd increases, and the roars of the beggars with it. There is no spot in Egypt which can be enjoyed, owing to this nuisance ; even on the top of the Pyramid the evil is unabated. Travellers must be to blarae for such an annoy ance. For our part we resolved never to give any thing to a beggar and adhered strictly to the rule, AvhIch preserved us frora raany a fierce attack, but the objects begging were soraetiraes piteous enough looking to haunt one. We arrived too late to get a run up the Nile as the boats had ceased to ply for the season. There reraained but Cairo and Alexandria to visit, and a few days spent at each place exhausts the sights, but we - concluded that nothing could be raore enjoyable than a three raonths' sail upon the Nile, in one's own boat, breathing the remarkably pure and dry air as it comes frora the desert, moving day by day from one to another scene of the far past, and at night enjoy ing the unequalled sunsets, when it seeras, as sorae one has beautifully said, " the day was slowly dying of its own glory. ' ' This is the trip of trips for an invalid, or for one overtaxed by work or oppressed with sorrow ; and I should say for a bridal tour, to give the lovers plen ty of time and opportunity to become thoroughly ac quainted Avith each other, it could be highly recora mended. We had a strange meeting at Cairo upon entering the breakfast roora the raorning after our arrivah Who should we be placed exactly opposite to but ray friend the Rev. Mr. Dunbar, of Dunferra- line — ray aunty's rainister, nae less ! ROUND THE WORLD. 209 He is en route to the Holy Land with his father- in-laAv ; but Ave had several days together at Cairo, and talked upon raany subjects frora theology to town affairs. I had received a telegrara, the day of his departure, Avhlch told rae ray raother was to sail that very day to join me in Scotland, as had been arranged, and we drank her health and wished her bon voyage, in good style. Alexandria, Friday, March 14. Off at nine this raorning for Naples, taking Sicily en route. The voyage was a sraooth one, and we landed at Catania upon the raorning of the fourth day. As Ave stepped ashore, we felt, in a moment, that Ave were once more within the bounds of civih zation. What a difference from the East ; and there froAvned Mt. Etna, 10,000 feet above the sea level, thirty railes distant, and yet seeraingly so near we thought we could alraost have Avalked over to its base after breakfast. We ascended a small hill in the centre of the city, Avhich, by the Avay, contains 83,000 people, and there lay Sicily spread out before us in all its wondrous beauty. Leraon and orange groves in full bearing, and fields of vines just bud ding ; and in the town clean paved streets and pave- raents, which are unknown in the East ; people with shoes and stockings on ; statues and fountains, and •a good old cathedral ; harps and violins, and the ¦chimes of church-going bells. Ah, civilization is not .a raistake, or a rayth, or a thing of doubtful value, .as we can testify. At least, so thought two happy 2 ID ROUND THE WORLD. travellers in Sicily this bright, balray raorning as they felt how blessed a thing it was to be once raore in a civilized country. The pretty island of Sicily (Sechlella, as the. Ital ians pronounce it) contains nearly three millions of people — almost as many as Scotland — and supports thera principally by the crops of oranges and leraons which go to all parts of the Avorld. An English gentleman told us he had bought oranges in the sea son for one cent per dozen. There is one item of export of rather peculiar character — sulphur — which is obtained from the volcano. We saw it drawn through the streets in large blocks. Only two hundred years ago an eruption took place, and 27,000 people were buried by the lava. We saAV where the stream had rushed down from the crater through part of the toAvn, and far into the sea — alraost a raile in width, and thirty railes frora its source, carrying destruction to every thing in its course, and yet to-day fine new houses stand upon the cold lava, and away up and along the sides of the volcano for railes are to be seen cottages cluster ing thickly together, the inraates busily engaged in cultivating their vineyards. It was only a few days ago the monster gave a warning and shook these houses ; but they still " sit under their vine" and sing the raerry songs of peace to all their neighbors. These raerry, light-hearted Sicilians ! as if they had Mount Etna under perfect control. The railway skirts the shores of the island for its entire distance — ^sorae fifty railes — and a raore beau tiful ride is not to be seen in all the world. It is a succession of fine old castles, in perfect ruin, upon ROUND THE WORLD. 2ii every petty proraontory, and we pass through noth ing but orange and leraon groves and vineyards. We pass at the base of Mount Etna ; but although all was smiling in the valleys below, its top was en veloped in dark clouds and busy with the thunder and the storm. Messina is a very quaint Italian city. The fune ral services of a distinguished lady Avere in progress when we stepped into the cathedral, which was il luminated AvIth hundreds, 1 think I raight alraost say a thousand candles, the Interior being one raass of light, which shone AvIth strange effect upon the rich black velvet AvIth Avhich the walls were draped. A lady in our party counted the carriages, as they passed, and told us there were fifty-three, raost of which Avould corapare favorably with those of New York or London. This will give you sorae idea of the richness of Messina, Avhich we had thought to be an uniraportant town. The scene of the Tempest, the enchanted isle, raust have been in the neighborhood of Sechlella, and surely no fitter region in all the world could be found ; indeed I found SAveet Sechleha so enchanting that I voted it the very spot, and selected ray Pros- pero's Cave within sight of Mount Etna. Thursday, March 20. Early raorning. Yes, my dear friends, it is round. Here stands Mount Vesuvius in full view this morning, raaking for itself pure white clouds of steara, which float in the otherwise clear, cloudless sky of Italy. No entering the crater now as we did 212 ROUND THE WORLD. before, for the volcano is no longer at rest. Vandy and I shake hands and recall our pledge raade in the crater years ago, and say, ' ' Well, that is now fulfilled, and may hfe only have for us in its unknown future another such five months of unalloyed happiness (save where the dark shades of death at home have sad dened the hours) as those we have just been so privileged to enjoy." It is never well to be without soraething to look forward to, and speculate upon, and by a happy chance Vandy and I have hit upon our next excur sion, when we shall have earned another vacation by useful work. And the very thought of it already brings us pleasure. And so, all hail sunny Italia ! What a picture this Bay of Naples is ! We sail past our forraer haunts, Capri and Sorrento, and are soon in our hotel at Naples, where Ave are de lighted to rejoin our friends. Before bidding farewell to the East, I wish to in dulge In just a few general reflections. Life there lacks two of its raost iraportant eleraents : the want of intelligent and refined woraen as the com panion of man, and a Sunday. It has been a strange experience to me to be for several raonths without the society of sorae of this class of woraen ; sorae times many weeks without even speaking to one ; and often a AVhole week without even seeing the face of an educated woman. And, bachelor as I am, let rae confess what a raiserable, dark, dreary, and insipid life this would be without their con stant companionship. This brings every thing that is good in its train, every thing that is bright and ele gant. I cannot satisfy myself as to what the man of ROUND THE WORLD. 213 the East has to struggle for, since he has dethroned woman and practically left her out of his life. To see a Avealthy Chinaman driving along in his car riage alone Avas pitiable. His efforts had been suc cessful, but for Avhat ? There was no joy in his world. The very soul of European civilization, its croAvn and special glory, lies in the elevation of woman to her present position (she will rise even higher yet Avith the coming years), and this favor she has repaid a thousand fold by raaking herself the fountain of all that Is best in raan. In life, Avith out her there is nothing. Much as the lot of wora an in the East is to be deplored, that of man is still raore deplorable. The revenge she takes is terrible, for she drags doAvn Avith her, in her debasement, the higher life of man. 1 had noted the absence ol rausic as one great want. Not an opera nor a con cert — not even a hand-organ. Scarcely a sweet sound in all our journey. When we found an Eng lish church or a regimental band, we rejoiced. I went to hear the organ upon every occasion, and was seldom absent when the band played ; but were woraen there as AvIth us, wouldn't rausic spring forth also ? so that even this want I ara disposed to attribute to the first cause. The absence of a regularly recurring day of rest ranks next in iraportance, I believe. In the list of causes which keep the East down In the scale of na tions. With few exceptions, the race is dooraed to a Ufe of unreraitting toil — from morning till night, and every day without respite. The prospect of one day of rest frequently intervening gives a toiler soraething bright to look forward to without which 214 ROUND THE WORLD. his life raust stretch before hira as one unceasing, unvarying drag. In this one blessed day his slavery ceases, the shackles fall. He is no longer a brute, fed and clothed solely because of his physical pow ers — his capacity to bear burdens — but a higher being with tastes, pleasures, friends. Life becoraes worth living for. The man puts on his best clothes — and there is rauch in this — the woraan gives her cottage an extra brushing up. Soraething extra is prepared for dinner — there is a great deal in this too — and, in short, the day is raarked by a hundred lit tle differences frora those of labor — a stroll in the fields, a visit to relatives, or a raeeting with neigh bors at church all in their best, and then the swell ing organ, and the choir — these things lie closely at the root of all Iraproveraents ; and if ever the race Is to be lifted to a higher platforra — and who shall dare doubt It ? — the weekly day of rest will prove itself an agency in the good work, only second to the eleva tion of woman. The best mode of improving its most precious hours for the toiling masses is therefore a question of infinite raoraent, apart altogether frora the ques tion of its divine character, and vieAved only as a huraan enactraent of the highest Avisdora. It would seera clear that to raake this only respite frora raan- ual labor, a day exclusively set apart for the raourn- ful duty of beraoaning our raanifold shortcoraings— which raust at best give ris.e to glooray thoughts — would defeat the purposes I have indicated. I want a coraproraise — church service in the raorning, with a sermon " leaning to the side of raercy" as Sidney Sraith suggested, Avhich raeant that it should not ROUND THE WORLD. 215. exceed twenty minutes — and then the fields' and strearas for the tollers Avho are cooped up In facto ries and workshops all the Aveek long, or a visit to picture galleries, museums, or to musical concerts of a high order ; to any thing that would tend to brighten their existence. I am now convinced that there is an important change to be taken in the mode of keeping our Sundays — the cessation of labor, as far as it is possible, to remain a cardinal point, but better facilities to be provided for cultivating the higher tastes of our poor workers, that the day may be to thera indeed " the golden jewel which clasps the circle of the week. ' ' One raore observation upon the East and I ara done : the work that England is doing there. You know that she has in one way or another obtained the keys to the East. Sorae islands she oavus ; sorae small strips of the mainland she also has acquired and governs ; at Shanghai, Hong Kong, and other points in China ; at Singapore, Penang, Ceylon, In dia, Aden, Malta, and indeed all through our jour ney, we stand now and then on British soil. And wherever the "meteor flag floats, there you find order, freedora, schools, churches, dispensaries, clean streets, hospitals, newspapers, justice ; and under that flag you will find thousands of Chinaraen and Malays, Indians, Ceylonese, Arabs, indeed raen of all races, settled and enjoying the blessings of good governraent. At Shanghai nearly fifty thousand Chinaraen have raoved within the two raUes of British territory. At Hong Kong, which is a sraall island, nearly two hundred thousand have congregated, and so on, wherever the standard is raised. No revolu- 2i6 ROUND THE WORLD. tion there, no slavery, no arbitrary arrest nor forced levy. As a natlA^e lawyer in India said to rae — he talked freely because of our Araerican look — " There is between natives under English rule per fect justice; "but," he added, "every one raust behave hiraself. There is no Avar nor plundering when one settles under them, for these English won't stand any nonsense, and they will have peace. " England therefore has planted throughout the East small models of perfectly governed states, en joying all the blessings of the highest civilization. Daily and hourly these teach their lesson to the na tive races, and when they do acquire this lesson — and who that believes in the progress of raankind can doubt but the day must corae — they will look westward with grateful hearts and say, " All this we owe to thee, noble England !" Frora this time forth it is irapossible but that a change raust occur in the character of these notes. There is a first tirae to every thing, and it is first ira pressions Avhich I have endeavored honestly to con vey ; but ray first irapressions of Europe were ob tained years ago. The gloss and enthusiasra of nov elty are wanting. The sober second thought is proverbial ; but there is a sober second sight as well, and it is this I ara about to take. Besides this, Europe is raore farailiar to you than the East. Many of you know it through personal experience, and I shall therefore content rayself with giving you the salient features of our horaeward progress frora this point. ROUND THE WORLD. 217 We find Naples, Sorrento, Capri, and all the pretty spots around the bay rauch iraproved since our last visit. The people seera to us to be reraark ably fine looking, but perhaps this is raainly owing to the raiserable races Ave have been seeing lately. The rauseura Avhich contains the principal treasures found at Pompeii and Herculaneum is greatly ira proved, and one has no difiiculty now in determin ing just hoAv the people of those cities lived. There are even models of the houses shown. The frescoes and sculptures are far finer than I had remerabered thera, and indeed there are so many articles of furniture and doraestic utensils that one cannot help adraitting that those who argue that raan traA'els in a circle just as the world goes round, and never advances, haA'e sorae ground for their theory In these remarkable productions of the first century. We are in the land of rausic, sure enough. Here is the list of operas to be perforraed to-night, apart frora nuraerous draraatic performances : Nor ma, Somnarabula, La Belle H61fene, Martha. You will please take It for granted that our nights here with few exceptions will be spent hearing one or an other opera. We were fortunate this tirae In getting into the Blue Grotto— the sea being quite sraooth. The re flections upon the rocky roof were not as fine as we expected ; but Miss Nettie pronounced the Avater "the prettiest blue that ever Avas," and she is an authority upon color. While at Capri we ascended to the villa of Tiberius, on the edge of a perpendicu lar cUff nearly 2000 feet high. It Avas frora this rock that ruler was wont to throw his victiras into the .2 1 8 ROUND THE WORLD. sea. He found they never troubled hira again. And now I write amid the orange groves of Sor- ¦ rento Avhere Ave have been spending a few days. We have just finished in company with our friends a three days' excursion to Psestum, embrac ing [the famous drive along the coast to Amalfi. Certainly I know nothing of the kind in the world equal to this road in grandeur, and if any of you CA^er visit Naples, I advise you to let nothing inter fere Avith your going to Amalfi. It is soraething to see the finest of any thing of its class in the world, and you have that in this splendid trip. At Sor rento we joined our friends Mr. Hawk and party, and our Windsor Hotel delegation was further and happily augraented by Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs and fara ily. Can you wonder that our daily excursions were .delightful ? April. Rorae once raore. What a change ! A rainia ture Paris has been added to old Rorae since we first saw it, and even old Rorae itself is raodernized corapletely. Much of the picturesque is lost, but well lost, since It brings us clean streets, iraproved dwell ings, and all the accompaniments of progress ; but, notwithstanding its now greater likeness to raodern cities, it is not with these Rorae vies. Her era pire is not of to-day, but over the raighty past she alone holds undisputed SAvay, and the spirit of ages gone still infuses itself into every thing in Rorae. I thought even raodern structures Avere unlike their fellows.elsewhere, as If the raere fact that they stood ROUND THE WORLD. 219 in Rorae invested thera with a pecuUar halo of classic dignity and iraportance. Then Rome still has to boast of so many of the best things which the world has to show. No other cathedral Is so grand as St. Peter's nor so beautiful as St. Paul's ; no other " bit of color" is equal to the Transfiguration ; no other heroic statue to be corapared Avith the Augustus ; noAvhere else is so SAveet a girl-face as the Cenci ; no other group is to be naraed with the Laocoon, no other fresco Avith the Aurora ; and where is there another Moses, or Apollo Belvidere, or Antinous, or Avhere is there vocal rausic so heavenly in its character as that of the Pope's choir? nowhere. And so it coraes that the world still flocks to Rorae and raust continue its pilgriraage hither to this Mecca for a thousand years to come, and artists by the score day after day multiply copies of these wonders of art, the recognized " best" in their vari ous classes Avhich man has yet brought forth. All these works and others unmentioned I returned to with enhanced pleasure. They all seeraed greater and finer to rae than when I saw thera before. I had not forgotten thera, while the raass of raediocre works had left no trace. It is thus that the true fire of genius vindicates its right to iraraortality. Generations raay corae and go, fashions and tastes raay change, but "a thing of beauty reraains a joy forever." While the statues and pictures of Rome, therefore, gave me far greater pleasure than before, I have to confess that the historical associations gave me much less. When in Rorae before, I was overflowing AvIth Shake speare, Byron, and Macaulay, and would wander 2 20 ROUND THE WORLD. away alone and recite to rayself on the appropriate sites the passages connected with them. This time I fear our friends proved too congenial. We dwelt too rauch in a happy present to give ourselves up to the historical past ; but I do not think one gets the sweetest juices out of Rorae unless he gives way to the raelancholy vein now and then, and "stalks apart in joyless reverie." Another reason for the difference suggests itself. One fresh frora Egypt, where he has been digging among the five thousand years B.C., and lost in amazement at what the race was even then produc ing, raust experience sorae difficulty in getting up a respectable araount of enthusiasra for structures so recent as the tirae of Christ — the ' ' rascally corapara tive" intrudes to chill it with its cold breath. There is a third reason perhaps — and reasons do seera as plenty as blackberries, now that I begin to write thera down — we are so near horae the echoes of business affairs begin to sound In our ears. We snuff the battle, as it were, afar off. It is irapossible to become so entirely absorbed in the story of the Cenci as to prevent the morning's telegrara frora in truding, especially when it inforras us that " Key stone has secured entire Mexican Exposition Build ings" (avc hadn't heard Mexico was in the way of expositions), or "that every thing is run ning day and night, ' ' etc. , and so it carae about that this tirae we did less moralizing than before. We were fortunate in being in Rome during Easter Aveek, which gave us an opportunity to hear the best rausic, and certainly there is no choir for vocal rausic which can rank with that of the Pope. It is ROUND THE WORLD. '2.1.\ the only choir I ever heard which I felt the finest organ would spoil. It produces a strange and pow erful effect, the rausic itself seeraing to be of a pecu liar order unlike any other. One of our young ladies, describing her feelings to a friend, said that at one tirae she felt she was really in heaven ; but when the "Miserere" broke forth, she knew she was only a poor sinner struggling to get there. We visited, Avith our friends, the various studios. In painting there does not appear to be a high stand ard of excellence. The Roraan school does not stand well, but in statuary it is better. A young Araerican artist, Mr. Harnisch, seeraed to rae to be doing the most creditable work. His busts have already given him reputation, and he has a figure now in plaster, Antigone, which I rate as the best classical statue in process of corapletion which we saw. This young artist Is not probably as good a raan ager as sorae of his raore pretentious countrymen, and, I fear, we are to Avait sorae tirae before a con gressional coraraittee can be induced to give hira a coraraission ; but in the opinion of real Italian sculp tors, he is an artist. There are those who have " adorned" our public edifices with huge Avorks to whom certainly no one outside of America would apply the name. We shall hear of Mr. Harnisch by- and-by ; he is young and can wait. I was highly gratified at making the acquaint ance of Dr. Srailes, author of " Self Help," and that favorite of raine, " The Scotch Naturalist," and other valued works. He is a most deUghtful com panion and a true Scotchraan, and hadn't we "a canty day thegether' ' at Tivoli ! IS 222 ROUND THE WORLD. Through him I raet Mr. WUUara Black (" Ad ventures of a Phaeton"), who is a small young man, with a face that lights up, and eyes that sparkle through his spectacles. Mr. Petty, R.A., and he Avere doing Italy together, and no doubt we are to see traces of their travels in their respective lines ere long. Florence, Wednesday, April 9. We spent a few days in Florence, but it rained almost continually as indeed it has done all winter. This has been the most disagreeable season ever known in Italy, we hear frora every quarter. Sight seeing requires sunshine ; but we nevertheless did the galleries and were delighted with the master pieces for Avhich the city Is famed. The statuary, hoAvever, is much inferior to that of Rorae. In the Avay of painting I was raost interested in coraparing the nuraerous raadonnas of Raphael, and seeing how he, at last, reached " the face of all the world" in the San Sisto. He seems to have held as loyaUy as a true knight to his first loA^e. His madonnas have all the sarae type of face. You could never hesitate about their authorship. Eraphatically they are one and all " Raphael's Madonnas," and very rauch alike — even the one which the Grand Duke loved so fond ly as to take it about AvIth hira wherever he trav elled, is only a little sweeter than the rest. It is a strange fact that it was not by painting madonnas at all the master obtained his inspiration. He painted a portrait of a lady which Is still seen in the Pitti palace, frora whose face he drew the lacking halo of ROUND THE WORLD. 223 awe and subliraity. He ideaUzed this Avoraan's face and the San Sisto carae to satisfy all one can iraag ine about the Madonna. But the face of Christ ? Who shall paint it satisfactorily ? No one. This is soraething beyond the region of art. A divine- huraan face cannot be depicted, and all the efforts I have seen are not only failures which one can la ment, but many are caricatures at Avhich one be coraes indignant. I Avas greatly pleased that a true artist (Leonardo da Vinci) realized this, and painted his Christ Avith averted head. Every great painter in older times seeras to have thought It incurabent upon hira to paint a Christ, and consequently you raeet thera everyAvhere. As for the " Fathers" {i.e., JehoA'ah) one sees, these seera to rae positively sac rilegious. I Avonder the arras of the raen who ven tured upon such sacred ground did not wither at their sides. To paint old raen with treraendous white flowing beards, a cross between Santa Claus and Blue Beard, and call thera God ! Here is raaterialisra for you Avith a A'engeance. These audacious raen forgot that He was not seen in the Avhirhvind, neither in the storra, but never seen at all, only heard In the still, sraall voice. Of course I visited Mrs. Browning's grave in Florence. I had the melancholy satisfaction of hear ing from one who knew her Intimately many details concerning her life here. Mr. Browning left Flor ence the day after she died, leaving the house, his books, papers, and even unfinished letters, as they were when he was called to her bedside the night before, and has never returned ; nor has he ever been known to raention her narae, or to refer to the blow -2 24 ROUND THE WORLD. which left hira alone in the world. He seems to have been worthy even of a love like hers. We stayed over two days at Milan to see friends, and while there ascended to see once raore the cele brated cathedral. It Is finer — I do not say grander — but rauch finer, especially as seen frora the roof, than any other building in Europe. Frora Milan we came to Turin and spent a day there, as we had never seen that city. It is prettily situated, very clean, with regular streets, but with out any special objects ol Interest. The splendid view of the snow-clad Alps, and the fertile valley of the Po, as seen frora the raonastery, fully repaid us for the day given to Turin. We leave Italy in the raorning. It is Impossible not to like the country and to be deeply interested In its future. While it has made considerable progress since the genius of Cavour made it once raore a nation, still its path is just noAV beset with dangers. A standing array of six hundred thousand and all the concoraitants of royalty to raaintain, and a large national debt upon which interest has to be paid — these require severe taxation, and even with this the revenues show a de ficit. That last resort, paper currency, has been sought, and uoav the circulating raediura, although " based on the entire property of the nation" — as our deraagogues phrase it— is at a discount of ten per cent, which threatens to increase. But the chief trouble arises frora the religious difficulty. The Pope and all strict Cathohcs stand coldly aloof frora the Governraent, ready to give trouble whenever opportunity offers. But I have faith in Italy. She will conquer her eneraies, and ROUND THE WORLD. 225 once again be a great power worthy of her glorious past. All her troubles however are not to seek. Now coraes soraewhat of a return to the raore prosaic side of life. We raade an excursion to the faraous iron and steel Avorks of the Schneider Com pany at Cruezot. What a concern this is, and how small Ave all are upon the other side of the Atlantic ! Fifteen thousand five hundred raen are eraployed here. We saw fifteen steara hamraers in one shop. The raill for rolling only, Is 1500 by 350 feet, filled with trains. The giant, howCA^er, is the 80-ton steam hararaer, with its huge appliances. Masses of steel 35 tons in weight are handled as readily as we raove a rail ingot. One ingot of steel weighing 120 tons was shown to us. This raonster hararaer is required only for arraor plate and guns — war material. The happier demands of peaceful industry are met with ordinary raachinery. Long raay it be, therefore, before Araerica can boast an engine of even half the size. Our visit to Cruezot Avas both interesting and in structive. Mr. Schneider and his officers were most cordial and attentive to us. Paris, Thursday, May i. We spend a few days in Paris. Even more than the other cities we have revisited, this shows the march of iraproveraent. It is farther beyond cora petition in its line than ever it was. I appreciate its attractions raore than I have done upon previous visits ; but one raust be exceptionally strong who 226 ROUND THE WORLD. can persist in leading an earnest and useful life here, where so rauch exists to persuade one that after all arauseraent is the principal thing to be sought for. Most of the Araerican residents here seera to rae to sink naturally to the level of thinking raost — or certainly talking raost — of the newest opera, or even the best ballet, or where is to be found the best table d'hote ; but, after all, what can a raan do who leaves his own country and the duties incurabent upon hira there, to becorae a raan about town here, with no work In the world to do. Good Araericans come here when they die, it is said, and I think it would be well for most of thera if they did postpone their journey until then. As we have travelled through France, bands of the " Reserves" have been constantly seen repairing to their caraps. Every Frenchraan now, without exception, raust serve as a soldier and drill at least one month every year. No substitutes are allowed. Soldiers ! soldiers everywhere ! Not a petty town at which we have stayed over night but has its bar racks — its troops who parade its streets every raorn ing. The entire raaie population is being trained so as raost skilfully to raurder such of their fellow Christians who raay happen to be called Gerraans, upon the first favorable opportunity, while in Ger many a sirailar state of affairs is rendered necessary to prevent the success of their " brothers" intention. You see there was a frontier that was not ' ' scien tific, " and It was "rectified" a fcAv years ago ; but these rectifications, of all things in the world, never reraain rectified, and so we are to awake sorae fine morning to find the " civilized" Christian (!) nations, ROUND ^ THE WORLD. 227 (save the raark !) nobly engaged in butchering each other, even if this is the nineteenth century, and Ave all Avorship Christ and have the sarae Father in heaven. In Italy it is much the same ; she has 600,000 men under arms, and Is drilling others, Avhile Russia has just ordered an addition to its hosts exceeding fiA'e-fold the entire American army. England's war expenditure this year exceeds that of only five years ago by $30,000,000, which is raore than America spends for her array altogether. And so the whole of Europe is arraed and arraing as if conscious that a storra is about to burst, or at least that such a stu pendous drain upon her productive resources has to be endured to insure safety. Happy Araerica ! she alone seeras to occupy a position free frora grave and irarainent dangers. Our next step brought us to raonster London, where we attended the interesting meeting of the British Iron and Steel Institute, and being called upon as the only representative of American iron and steel raanufacturers present, I had to venture a few reraarks. Whatever England raay be justly chargeable Avith in the past for her neglect of sci entific raethods and the iraproveraents of the day. It is evident she now occupies the van In these respects. No one could be present at these meetings with out being irapressed Avith the araount and thorough ness of the scientific knowledge now engaged in the iron and steel raanufacture of Great Britain. Not less reraarkable seeraed to me the willingness upon the part of all to report and explain every advance made in the various processes to their fellows. The 228 ROUND IHE WORLD. old Idea of trade secrets seeras thoroughly exploded, and a free Interchange of practice and theory is now seen to be the best for all. I cannot but believe that had the raanufacturers of America adopted this pohcy years ago, raany raillions squandered in the erection of works at unsuitable -locations would have been saved. It struck me as strange that no less a personage than Earl Granville, who has had charge of her Majesty's foreign affairs and been leader in the House of Lords, should have been in attendance and participated in these meetings. The company also had the attendance of two dukes, but these were Lord Granville's compeers only in title. All of the three, however, rightfully claira to rank with us as iron-raasters. The Bessemer medal was this year presented to Peter Cooper, of New York, rauch to the honor of the donors, I think. For one shilling any one curious to knoAv sorae thing of the sights of this London can do so by purchasing a good sized volurae, Dickens's Lon don. A look at it will soon satisfy one how true it is that corapared to London all other cities are but villages. It will very soon count four millions of people under its sway. Every year one hundred thousand are added to the raass and not even de pressed tiraes seera to lirait this increase. The rea son for this is patent : there is every thing here that there is elsewhere and rauch that can be found no where else ; in every department of life, for earnest work in any special line, or for arauseraent — for sight-seeing, study or fashion — ^it is here that the very best of every thing is concentrated ; the very cream ROUND THE WORLD. 229 of all the world is here, because no other place is large enough or rich enough to support it. An un usually large proportion of the population is of the wealthy classes, for the height of the average Bri ton's arabitionis, in addition to the essential estate in country, to be in possession of a raansion in London. After these are acquired, and his wife and daugh ters have been presented at court, any after success es raay be regarded as details which ornaraent the solid edifice of position attained ; and truly, as far as I have seen huraan life in any part of the world, I know of no state AvhIch in Itself seeras capable of affording so rauch pleasure — raere happiness de pendent upon external circurastances— as that which rewards the successful Britons when with their usual good sense they retire frora business. If the owner of a large estate in Britain with its hundreds of people who are, as it were, under his care, its pretty quaint villages and honeysuckled cottages, its running brooks, its hedge-rows and green fields, all giving hira scope for change and ira proveraent ; if such a raan is not happy and does not enjoy life, let hira seek for sorae more favorable conditions in some other planet than this, say I. I must not atterapt to foUoAv our steps through Eng land and Scotland, nor to teU you of the cordial wel comes and thousand kind attentions bestowed upon us. We spent a very, very happy month among dear kind friends, and never enjoyed Merrie Eng land more. My mother and Miss Franks joined us in London, and took care of us until we sailed for New York, which we did by the new Cunard steamer Gallia, June 14th, reaching New York on 230 ROUND THE WORLD. the 24th, exactly eight raonths frora the day we sailed out of the Golden Horn. And now, June 25th, I write these lines at Cresson, having reached our starting point and earned our right to felloAvship with the favored fraternity of globe-trotters. And now to sura up, the trip has been Avithout a single unpleasant incident. We have not raissed one connection, nor ever been beyond the reach of all the -comforts of life, nor have we had one unhappy or even lonely hour. Every day has brought some thing new or interesting, and sitting here in our quiet raountain horae this morning, I feel that there is scarcely a prize that could be offered for which I would exchange the knowledge obtained and the memories of things seen during ray trip. One of the great pleasures of travel in the East is the un bounded hospitality — excessive kindness everywhere raet with. Will the numerous kind friends to whora we are so deeply indebted — a host far too great to narae— please accept this general acknowl edgraent as at least a slight evidence that their goodness to us is not unappreciated ? At every stage of our travels I have been struck with the cheering thought, viz : that notwithstanding the in disputable fact that a vast araount of raisery seeras inseparable frora human life, still the general condi tion of mankind is a happy one. Even the Hindoo in India, or the Malay in the Archipelago, and these seem to exist under the worst conditions, each of these constantly sees cause to bless his good for tune and render thanks sincere, heartfelt thanks to a kind providence for casting his life in pleasant places, and not in darap, foggy England, or araid Araerican ROUND THE WORLD. 231 frosts and snows. We have their sincere syrapathy, I assure you. Nor is patriotisra a peculiarly west ern virtue. No raatter who or what he is, the raan of the East in his heart exalts his own country and his own race, and esteeras thera specially favored of the gods : and indeed it is Avith nations as with indi viduals, as none are entirely good, so none are en tirely bad ; the traveller finds much to coraraend in every country, and seeing this he grows tolerant and liberal, and able raore heartily to sing with Burns, " Then let us pray that come it may As come it will for a' that — That man to man the world o'er Shall brothers be, and a' that." In which hope I lay doAvn my pen and bring to a close these notes of my tour round the world. YALE UNIVERSITY UBRARY 3 9002 03097 7400