ATRIP it> THE WORLD Mil H Mill HiMUlim flffl H '''Ml' H HI 'I! 1 1 ' If! I ■ Hi In, 1 !:' ■ Nil linn iniiiii UM HARWOOD lUMBMlffliBlllllllll Class Book Copyright H?._ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/triparoundworldOOharw m I . A JAPANESE FARMER A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD BY NAHUM HARWOOD WITH ILLUSTRATIONS ^h*> m ■ in Leominster, Mass. 1906 LIBRARY of C0N6RESS Two Cooles Received JAN 26 1906 . CoDyrierht Entry fcLASS CX. XXc. No A / 1 4 4 7 6" COPY B. V COPYRIGHT I906 BY NAHUM HARWOOD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE These papers were first printed in the " Leomin- ster Daily Enterprise." At the request of many who read them, I have endeavored to put them in more compact and attractive form. I have made no pretense of literary excellence, or of a deep insight into the history, religion, nature, or habits of the people of the countries through which I have traveled. It would take years of observa- tion and studv to attain to that, and volumes to record the results. I have endeavored to give only a very imperfect pen-and-ink sketch of what I saw, heard, and felt. If there are any who have the patience to follow me around the world, from Leominster to Leominster, and if I shall afford them but a small part of the benefit, instruction, and plea- sure that the trip has afforded me, then I shall have been amply repaid for the writing. Nahum Harwood. CONTEXTS I. England i II, France 13 III. Italy 25 IV, Egypt 47 V. India 62 VI. Ceylon and Singapore .... 87 VII. China 103 VIII. Japan . . . . . . . .120 IX. The Pacific Ocean and Honolulu . .150 X. The Home Stretch 160 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE A Japanese Farmer .... Frontispiece Gondola, Venice 26 Small Canal, Venice 28 - Bridge of Sighs, Venice 32 Dying Gladiator 42 Sakkiyah (Water-wheel), Egypt . . . . 50 - The Great Pyramid and Sphinx . . . 54 Arab Boy and Donkey 58 Native Hut, Bombay 64 Bullock Cart, Bombay 68 Bullock Team, Bombay 72 Burning Ghat, Benares 76 Great Banyan Tree, Calcutta . . . . 80 Abdul . 84 Tree Ferns, Kandy, Ceylon . . . . 90 • Elephant and Keeper, Ceylon . . . .94. Botanical Gardens, Kandy, Ceylon . . . 98 Sedan Chair, Hong Kong 108 Arched Bridge, Japan 122 Great Bell, Nara, Japan 130 jlnrikishas and cherry blossoms, yokohama park 138 One of the Parks, Kyoto 148 - /■ A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD CHAPTER I ENGLAND As the four tugs fastened on to the huge steamer Ivernia like wasps, and, turning her, slowly steamed down Boston harbor, the last thing we could distinguish among our friends at the end of the wharf, as the dresses and waving handkerchiefs faded into one indistinct mass, was the red dress of Rena. Arrived at Queenstown, Sunday morn- ing at 2 a. m., we saw only the " lighter " taking off passengers, baggage, and mail. Arrived at the landing in Liverpool, Sunday, October 2 7, 1 901, we met Cook's man, who had our trunks inspected, secured a hack, and went with us to the Adelphi Hotel, where he met us again Monday morning, checked our trunks to London, gave us tickets to that city via Chester, Leamington, and Oxford, and in other ways proved of great assistance. Took a car on an elevated road Monday after- noon, and rode the whole length of the great Liverpool docks and back to the end of the road ; then took seats on top of an electric car and rode to the Adelphi Hotel, going through some 2 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD of the principal streets of Liverpool. At the hotel I first saw a head porter in full uniform ; he wore a dress-suit trimmed with heavy gold lace and brass buttons, a red vest, and yellow tights. I was frightened, for I thought I beheld a real live duke, — the Duke of Adelphi (Hotel). I made a low bow, and then asked if that was the Duke of Adelphi. " No," replied my informant, " that is the head porter of the hotel, and you must give him two shillings when you leave." Left Liverpool at 4 p. m., October 28, and after an hour's ride arrived at Chester. Went to Westminster Hotel, an old-fashioned, quaint place, fire burning in the open fireplaces in many of the rooms, and everything neat and food good. Tuesday we walked around the " old wall " and went into the Chester Cathedral. It is a magnifi- cent and interesting structure, built in 968. Saw the King Charles Tower on the " old wall," where he stood and witnessed the defeat of his army. There is a piece of the " old wall " built by the Romans. Rode out to Eaton Hall, the country seat of the Duke of Westminster, covering five miles square. We rode for a distance of two and a half miles, and came to the residence and a magnificent set of buildings, including a chapel, stables, and agent's and private secretary's resi- dences. In the park were thousands of deer, pheasants, rabbits, and squirrels, all tame. We ENGLAND rode up to the costly gilded gates, where only royalty are admitted. We could not go over the residence, as the duke (a young man of twenty- three) was residing there at the time. Most of the fifteen thousand acres of this vast estate is leased to farmers, who live in small stone or brick houses on the land, making most of it productive, and leaving only a small part for animals, hunting, and lawns. On our return to Chester we saw the old house once occupied by Lord Derby ; also an old house which was the only one spared by the plague, and is called "God's Providence House," this name being across the front in large letters. Chester Cathedral contains some magnificent stained glass and the finest carved woodwork in England. Chester Castle is one of the sights, and is beauti- fully situated on the River Dee. We left for Leamington on the 3 p. m. train, and stopped at the Bath Hotel, which is old fashioned and quaint, like the Westminster at Chester. Have not seen a wooden building yet, all of them being constructed of brick or stone. All the farms are like gardens. On Wednesday, October 30, we rode two miles in the train to Warwick Castle, a magnificent and extensive building, surrounded by a moat, inclosing a square of 304 acres; there is a fine clock tower. The guard at the gate showed us 4 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD around, inside and out. The gallery of paintings is beyond price, — some by Rubens, Rembrandt, Reynolds. There are two portraits of the present Countess of Warwick, a beautiful woman of about thirty-five ; portraits of the ancestors of the Earl of Warwick; of past kings, by great painters; one of Queen Elizabeth and the original bed used by her. There is also a cast from the face of Oliver Cromwell made after his death. The present earl and his family were occupying a part of the huge building, which contains some forty-five rooms. The guard opened the door, and we had a peep into one of the rooms used and could hear the family moving around. One room contained no- thing but ancient armor. The castle overlooks the river, and the views in all directions are charming. From Warwick we took a train for St ratio rd- on-Avon, arriving at 1 1 a. m. Here we inspected Shakespeare's birthplace, and saw the record of his birth and the first volume of his plays ever printed, the room where he was born, his father's room, where he dealt in wool, and his garden, where are now growing all the plants and flowers mentioned in his plays. Then we went to the church where he is buried, and saw the records of his marriage and death. It is the same old church that Shakespeare attended, but a far better and costlier one than Leominster can boast. We saw the White Horse Inn, where he had meals and ENGLAND drank ale. To be in the same room and garden where he played when a boy, to sit in the same church, and to gaze on the same scenery — the hills and valleys and the river Avon — is won- derfully impressive. The walls and ceilings in the room where the great writer was born are com- pletely covered with signatures, and the glass in the windows is scratched with diamonds, — Wal- ter Scott, Byron, Tennyson, Irving, and many others equally distinguished, from all parts of the world. A shilling apiece was charged, which in time must have amounted to thousands of dollars. This is not allowed now. Notices are posted that no tips be given. We told the voluble guides that we were anxious to give them dollars and dollars, but we could not break the rules. There seemed to be a pained and disappointed look upon their faces. A few miles from Leamington is the town of Leominster, which I greatly wanted to see, but time would not admit of our visiting that town with its familiar sounding name. Leaving Leamington at 5.30 p.m., Wednes- day, October 30, we arrived at Oxford about 6 o'clock. The ticket we purchased in Liverpool seems a regular pass to everywhere, as it has already taken us to Chester, Leamington, Strat- ford-on-Avon, and Oxford, all off the regular line, and will yet carry us to London. At Oxford we 6 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD put up at the Mitre Hotel, which is old-fashioned, irregular, cosy, comfortable, and neat, the same as all the hotels we have stopped at so far. It was built in the year 1400, and has large beams across the ceilings. During our stay in this town we visited nearly all the colleges and many other points of interest. We went over New College, built in the fourteenth century; Trinity College and the Lime Walk; Magdalen College and the Addison Walk; Christ Cathedral, founded in 730; the large dining-hall in Christ Church, containing portraits of some of the celebrated men who have been students of this college, including Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey, and hundreds of others, — life-size. At Keble College we saw Hunt's fa- mous painting, " The Light of the World," which represents a figure of Christ holding a lantern. At Exeter College we saw the Gobelin tapestry, 8x12 feet, with a life-size picture of Mary and the Christ-child ; it is of priceless value. Friday, November 1, we took the train leaving Oxford at 1040 a. m., and at the station saw the Duchess of Marlboro (Consuelo Vanderbilt), who rode in the next compartment to us. She was very tall and slender, about twenty-three years old, and had a good, clear complexion and a sort of " don't care " expression. The guard said that she would sit down on a barrel or anywhere. She wore a Rembrandt hat, carried herself gracefully, ENGLAND and, being so tall, rather queenly. We arrived in the great city of London at 12.30 o'clock, and were driven a distance of two miles to the Cran- ston Waverly Hotel, Southampton Row. On the following day we rode in a bus to old London Bridge, walked across and back, and then went all over the famous Tower of London, which was built by William the Conqueror ; saw the crown jewels, including all the crowns, solid gold staves, etc. In order to reach the Tower we had to cross the old moat, 100 feet wide, which was once filled with water. There were soldiers, guards, and warders everywhere, dressed in uniforms accord- ing to the styles worn ten centuries ago. We first came to the Bloody Tower, where the two young princes were murdered by Richard III, and the stairway under which they were buried ; the torture-room came next, well filled with vari- ous instruments for inflicting pain, — the block and axe used to behead Lady Jane Grey, Queen Anne Boleyn, Cromwell (not Oliver), and many hundreds of others who met their death in this way. The Tower was erected in 1079, an d its walls are from 10 to 15 feet thick. It covers many acres, and consists of long blocks of stone buildings, connected at the corners by towers, each having many portholes to shoot from. It has been used as a palace and a prison, and Queen Elizabeth was confined there once for a short time. 8 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD We went to the Bank of England, commonly called " The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street," a long, low stone building, and the money centre of the world ; then to St. Paul's Cathedral in the heart of the city, — beautiful and magnificent, especially the dome, — in which are many statues in memory of some of the soldiers, sailors, and statesmen of Great Britain, — Nelson, Welling- ton, Gordon, etc. The architectural work was done by Christopher Wren in 1675, and it ranks next to St. Peter's at Rome. Sunday, November 3, we passed at Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens, the former contain- ing 388 acres in the heart of London. We walked down the famous drive, Rotten Row. Inside the park and near the entrance were many speak- ers haranguing the different crowds on religion, temperance, politics, and other subjects. The fog was very thick that day, and, mixed with the smoke, made it at times impossible to distin- guish objects more than fifty feet away. It gets into the houses, makes the eyes smart like smoke, fills the lungs and nose, interferes with business, and is very disagreeable. The papers say that that evening the people went about with lanterns. No money, office, or kingly station would induce me to live here if this state of fog were prevalent. November 4. We walked to the British Mu- seum, and passed three hours in looking over this ENGLAND immense affair. It would take a volume to enu- merate the world-famous treasures of priceless value which it contains. Out of the thousands I will mention but two : In the Etruscan room was the mummy of a young woman. The body was wrapped in cloth bandages, and strips of cloth were fastened with gold-headed nails ; the feet were encased in gold shoes ; — all this like an or- dinary mummy, but on the face was a portrait, finely colored and life-like, painted in encaustic on panel, of a beautiful young lady, with fine features, beautiful nose, and full red lips, dark, round, pretty eyes, dark, arched eyebrows, and hair worn pompadour style. If the young women of three or four thousand years ago were anything like her, they must have been strikingly beautiful, and equal to anything of to-day in intelligence or beauty. Also in this room were portraits and medallions, engraved or cut on precious stones, — one of Emperor Augustus, with eyes cut out of sardonyx, a beautiful thing, 5x3 inches, with a band of precious stones around the head, and the finest face of a man I ever saw. The stones were so cut that the coloring in them gave the proper coloring to the face. Leaving the museum, we enjoyed a cab ride for the next two hours, passing during that time Somerset House, Houses of Parliament, Marl- borough House, where the king is now living, io A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD and Buckingham Palace, which is being fitted up for the future residence of the king. We also passed St. James's Palace and Park, and went to Westminster Abbey, immense and grand, filled with the monuments of past royalty, including Alfred the Great, historians, philosophers, actors. The only bust of an American I saw was that of Longfellow. There were marble statues of Dick- ens, Tennyson, Garrick, Gladstone and wife, and thousands of others. In going around through the different inclosures and chapels, filled with costly sculptures and figures, — life-size, — in- tended to show the features of the ones long ago buried here, all silent and intimating only death, one is filled with sadness and longs to go out into the open day and sunlight; but, alas! it is not possible in such a suicidal fog and smoke as London is having to-day. Tuesday we saw the " Old Bailey " court-house, where so many celebrated criminals have been tried in olden times. It is still used, and in connection with it is Newgate prison, where at present there is but one prisoner, and he will be hanged in two weeks. We passed through St. John's Gate, an archway over a street, and a part of the original wall of the city. Wednesday, November 6. We hunted around and found the original of Dickens's " Old Curios- ity Shop," which we entered and there bought ENGLAND n some souvenirs. The neighborhood is rich in old houses, law offices, and streets connected with the famous English writer and mentioned in his novels. The original " Bleak House " is some distance away, overlooking the Thames. Dickens, when a boy, was employed not far from this spot, making bootblacking, and his father was the ori- ginal " Micawber," always in debt and often in jail, but always hopeful and looking forward to better times, which never came. A Mr. Poole now carries on a waste-paper business in this old shop, and incidentally sells souvenirs and trinkets, from whom I purchased a picture of the place. His daughter, who lives with him, might well be " Little Nell " back to life. From here we went down to have a closer view of the Parliament Houses, which are very extensive, with many fine towers, but the buildings as a whole are not equal to the Capitol at Washington, lack- ing its grandeur and noble proportions, and its grand dome. We passed by Trafalgar Square, where is the finest of the many monuments erected to the memory of Admiral Nelson, along the Thames embankment, bordered on one side by many fine residences, hotels, and club-houses, and along Regent Street, which is one of the most popular shopping-places. Friday, after taking lunch with some friends, we walked about the city, seeing Guildhall, the 12 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD residence of the lord mayor, and a small church designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and called a finer piece of architecture than St. Paul's, which he wanted built on the same plans as this one, but there was not money enough to do it. CHAPTER II FRANCE Saturday, November 9. We left in the forenoon at 10 o'clock for Paris, arriving at 7 p. m. I was slightly ill during the next few days, and was visited Tuesday by a French doctor, who could speak a little English, and who left some medi- cine for me to take. He came again Wednes- day, and when I paid him for his two visits, his bill, which was eight dollars, started my pulse and the coating from my tongue, and gave my system a much-needed shock. Friday I took a cab and visited the following places : The Bourse (the stock exchange), the financial centre of France ; the Grand Opera House ; the Louvre Picture Gallery ; what is left of the Bastile, the old French prison, which was demolished by the revolutionists; the Palais Royal ; the equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, in one of the principal squares ; the Tuileries ; the Place Vendome, with its high column; the The- atre Francais ; and Napoleon's tomb, if tomb it can be called, the most magnificent and royal sepulchre that money could build. A large courtyard with buildings on each side, contain- i 4 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD ing historical paintings and statues, leads to the principal building, into which we entered with uncovered heads. On each side of the lofty hall are the torn and battle-scarred flags of Napo- leon's wars, covering the walls high up. Back of this a golden light from the stained glass dome above lights up the spot beneath which the bones of France's adored hero lie. We do not look directly at the tomb itself, only upon a flood of golden light that seems ever to play around and above the hallowed spot ; it is the perfection of art. From here we go to the Arc de Triomphe in the Champs filysees, by the river Seine. This is a glorious monument of military achievements, a magnificent structure in every sense of the word, covered with beautiful designs in bronze. Then we visited the Eiffel Tower, a stupendous structure, finely situated, which does not look more than twice as high as the Washington mon- ument. Across the Seine there are several fine bridges; one finished in 1900 is a fine piece of work, being ornamented at each end with magni- ficent bronze figures. The broad boulevards on each side of the Seine are like parks, and far better than the lonely parks of London. They are seven hundred feet wide, or over, and are full of life and moving humanity, and fine equipages. Sunday, November 17. Went to the Louvre Gallery, where room after room, halls, and gal- FRANCE 15 leries are filled with priceless paintings. We spent three hours there, with a guide named Louis Pons, a Frenchman, who spoke English and several other languages, and was a very in- telligent and interesting man. This gallery is one of the world's greatest treasure-houses of ancient art. There are paintings by Raphael, Titian, Rem- brandt, Rubens, Correggio, Velasquez, etc. ; also the original Venus de Milo, the model of all art- ists for female beauty, part of the arms of which are gone; and though since it was dug up on the island of Milo, Greece, the best sculptors have tried to replace them, they cannot do it, and have them compare at all with the rest of the statue. Here also is the original Gladiator, found in Greece, which is the ideal of manly strength and beauty, — full of nerve and muscle, and having a graceful poise. There was part of a fresco by Michael Angelo, removed from Rome. I saw the wonderful Regent diamond, belonging to the French nation and valued at two million dollars ; went into the room where Napoleon married Maria Louisa, saw Marie Antoinette's bed, and a number of rooms furnished with the furniture of different epochs, — Francis I, and Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. Paris is a beautiful city, full of life, sunshine, paintings, statues, art, grand boulevards, and ap- parently a very happy people. In one of the 16 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD principal squares was a large bronze statue of George Washington. I walked up one thorough- fare, part way, which is one of the finest shop- ping avenues in the city, and includes the Boule- vards de la Madeleine, des Capucines, des Italiens, Montmartre, Poissonniere, Bonne-Nouvelle, St. Denis, and St. Martin, — all these being one street with different names. I walked for over an hour up one side and back on the other. The sidewalks are 30 to 33 feet wide, with rows of large trees on the outside of each, which in the summer must completely shade the walks. In many places one half the sidewalk is taken up with small tables and chairs, used in eating and drinking. We did not go far enough to see the end of the street, but as far as we did go, from the Place de l'Opera, it was lined with large retail stores of jewelry, furs, silks, glass, etc. ; the finest street for stores I ever saw. Broadway, New York, does not compare with it, or any street in London. It has extremely wide sidewalks, lined with a continuous row of large, flourishing trees. The fine show of goods in the windows, its bril- liant appearance under electric and gas light, distinguish this boulevard from any other I have ever seen. Tuesday, the 19th. Went to Notre Dame Cathedral, the Notre Dame of the world, with its two square towers, fine stained glass windows, its FRANCE 17 fluted columns, and massive arches of stone. The dining-room at Pension Glatz, where we take our meals, was once a part of the residence of Victor Hugo. Wednesday, November 20. We concluded our visit in Paris and left on the 9.30 a. m. train for Marseilles, which we reached after a ride of thir- teen hours through the wine and sugar district where the champagne is made. The ride was full of interest to us, — the quaint old villages, the houses all of stone, with roofs of brick, or tiled, or covered with flat stones. In the compartment with us on the train there were only an old lady and her German maid, and by means of a tag on a package we found, after they had left the train, that the old lady was the Countess Po- lignon. She could speak some English, and was very pleasant, giving us the London " Graphic " to read, while I returned the favor with the Paris edition of the New York " Herald." In the next compartment was an American lady, Mrs. Washburn (and her French maid), with whom I accidentally scraped an acquaintance. I was en- deavoring to make a fruit vender understand that I wanted some grapes, and she translated my speech into French and I obtained the fruit. She also helped us to procure coffee in the same way, and advised us not to stop at Lyons, but to continue through to Marseilles, where she re- 18 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD commended a hotel that was near the station. Following her to the hotel, we found it quite crowded and impossible for us to get rooms ; but Mrs. Washburn had telegraphed ahead for two rooms, for herself and maid, and she volunteered to give one of them up to us. H. and I thought she was very kind. We left Marseilles Thursday morning at 10 o'clock for Nice, and as it happened we had the same compartment in the car on the train with Mrs. Washburn. She is about forty-five years old, and is a niece of the late Hon. Edward Avery of Boston. Her home is in New York, and she has spent fourteen winters in the Riviera, crossing the Atlantic twenty-seven times. When in New York she lives on Fifth Avenue. She has given us some very good advice about Italy, as to our purchases, where to stop, and what to see, and her advice as to this hotel at Nice, the Beau Rivage, turned out to be good. The best part of our journey seems to have just commenced. We reached Nice after a ride of four and one half hours, and such a ride, — mountains to the west, glimpses of the Mediter- ranean to the east, while at our feet on each side were vineyards and groves of oranges, figs, olives, etc., villages and chateaux. It was a wonderful two hundred miles of lovely scenery. We arrived at Nice at 2.20 p. m., and went FRANCE 19 to the Hotel Beau Rivage, on the Quai du Midi. It is the best one we have stopped at yet ; clean, good cooking; rates $2.30 per day; magnificent location ; room 18 x 20 feet, 18 feet high, two beds, thick, nice carpet; elevator, electric lights, and first-class in every way. After lunch we took a look. The Quai du Midi is a promenade, three miles long, one hundred feet wide, and on the edge of the sea. The sidewalk on the grand promenade is fifty feet wide and made of cement stone. In all directions, a delightful view is ob- tained of city, mountains, and sea. It seems to H. and me like a bit of paradise after being lost in London fog, cooped up in a pension in Paris, and jostled in the hubbub of great cities with the danger of crossing the streets, — it is so quiet, so calm, in the interesting city, with the gentle sea at our feet. Saturday, November 23, we rode to Mentone, going by way of the hills and mountains, and com- ing back by the sea. There were five in the party — two Germans, two Americans, and one Eng- lishman — and a French driver. I never expect to see anything again that will equal this drive. Going, we rose to an elevation of fifteen hundred feet above the sea, and such magnificent views ! Glimpses of blue sea on the right, on the left the snow-clad Alps, under our feet the picturesque cottages and vineyards of the peasants. The road 2o A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD is finely built, as smooth and hard as marble, and no state road in our own country compares with it. On the downhill side the walls are of cut stone laid in cement. We rode around preci- pices of rock rising vertically over our heads a thousand feet or more. We arrived at Mentone at 12.30, after a ride of three and one-half hours, and after lunch we strolled around among the quaint old places in the town, and walked the en- tire length of the stone wall inclosing and form- ing the harbor. Mentone is beautifully situated near the gentle blue sea, and is sheltered from north and west winds by high hills and mountains directly back of the town. We started on our return trip at about 2.30 o'clock, taking the road that follows the windings of the sea and not far above it, — the same magnificently built road, passing through tunnels in the rock like a railroad. We passed through Monte Carlo, and reached Nice at 5.30 o'clock. The distance was twenty-three miles going and seventeen miles returning, and such a forty miles of scenery! There is no match for it on this earth. The cost of the trip was two dol- lars each. The Riviera is a strip bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, two hundred miles long, and is the great winter resort of Europe. The best part of this — the very cream — is the twenty miles from Nice to Monte Carlo and Mentone. FRANCE 21 The road rises to an elevation of fifteen hundred feet, and was built by Napoleon. November 25. Left Hotel Beau Rivage, Nice, at 10 a. m. for Monte Carlo. Bill for four days, including wine and water and conveyance to and from depot, $10.25 each. Arrived at Monte Carlo at 1 1 a. m., and went to the Windsor Hotel, which was recommended to us by Mrs. Washburn, and found it, if anything, much better than she said. We have a large room on the second floor, with frescoed ceiling, two clothes-presses, two large mirrors, easy chair, lounge, marble mantel and fireplace, large French clock, thick carpet, and two windows that open out on the veranda, from which we can look out over a garden of oranges, palms, and flowers, to the sea. We are well up, overlooking the lower village and casino, while the street runs up towards a high mountain of rock. The place is one of beautiful hotels, with lawns and gardens filled with palms and tropical trees. The streets are as clean as a marble floor, and it seems the ideal place to live in during the winter. We took a look at the Casino, which is a beautiful building overlooking the sea, which is of the most varied colors from dark blue to pea green. We had the best meal at lunch since leav- ing home. After dinner we sat in the parlor, and Mrs. Washburn introduced us to a countess who was of the court of Eugenie, a fine old lady, with 22 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD a beautiful face, who could talk English. Her name was Comtesse M. de Seilern. Tuesday the 26th, at 1 1 a. m., Mrs. Washburn escorted us to the far-famed gambling-place, the Casino of Monte Carlo. She showed us how to get tickets of admission good for the day and evening. There were some three or four tables going, and twenty-five or more persons at each table ; a little later there will be a great crowd. Upon entering the Casino gambling-rooms we had to show our tickets and give our names to the doorkeepers. They could not seem to under- stand H.'s name, as their French tongues could not get around it, and there was quite a delay. Finally, pointing to H., I said " Count Mulli- kano," when, with a polite bow, the doorkeeper ushered us in. At the tables we saw a dapper little man, dressed as though he had just come out of the bandbox, with spotless white kids on, gambling and losing thousands of dollars with seeming in- difference. He seemed to be superstitious, for he would change his place at the tables and then change tables, but to no advantage, for while we were there he was a continual loser, losing prob- ably $10,000. I think he took H. for his "hoodoo," for when he saw him near he would change tables and even go into another room. I saw old and young men, beautiful girls and FRANCE 23 old ladies, winning and losing tens and hundreds of dollars, apparently unconcerned. One old man lost $200 in a few minutes, then hesitated, put on $30 more, lost, got up, and left the place. The rooms are like a palace, and there is nothing equal to them at Waldorf-Astoria. Many ladies and gentlemen with plenty of money gamble a few dollars each day to pass away the time and break the monotony, while many others have a passion for it and gamble steadily and recklessly. Everything is kept in the best of order, and any disorderly man or woman, or any person of bad character, is sent out of town. There are no taxes to be paid, as all expenses are borne by the Casino company, and if one must gamble, it is a safer place than Wall Street, as the house gets but two per cent of the stakes. We were perfectly delighted with the whole place, — the hotel, the people, the buildings, the sea, the mountains, the sunshine, the air, the oranges, palms, figs, flowers. This must be the culmination of our trip. The afternoon of Tuesday we went through the palace of the Prince of Monaco, at Monaco. He is at the head of the company that owns and rules the city of Monte Carlo. The palace of Monaco is on a rocky hill about two miles from the Casino, and was once a fortified place. Some old cannon are still mounted on battlements of the Middle Ages, pointing seaward, perfectly use- 24 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD less, — ■ only ornamental. The rocky promontory juts out into the sea, and we get a fine view from it of Monte Carlo, the mountains in the rear, and the water of wonderful blue and green. The interior of the old palace is a marvel of furniture and pictures, and one room has more gold leaf in it than there is on the dome of the State House in Boston. CHAPTER III ITALY November 27, 1901. We left Monte Carlo on 10.50 a. m. train for Genoa, Italy, where we ar- rived at 7 p.m., and went to the Hotel des Londres. Genoa is the second commercial city on the Medi- terranean, Marseilles being the first. Thursday, the 28th, Thanksgiving Day in the United States. With a guide we went over a very old church, very finely decorated with heavy gilding ; then to the palace formerly belonging to one of the old ducal families, where Napoleon lived after the battle of Marengo. Also here lived at one time the great artists Rembrandt and Rubens, while painting portraits of the members of the family. Many of these portraits we saw, as well as paintings by Titian and other great artists. After lunch we rode out to the world- famous cemetery, the Campo Santo, full of mar- ble statues and groups of life-size figures, some of which are very beautiful. There are several covered colonnades one thousand feet in length, one side filled with these marble statues, marking the burial-place of those who passed away possi- bly centuries ago. From here we rode back to 26 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD the city and to the place where Columbus was born, and stood in front of the very house in which he first saw the light of day; a high, narrow building not over sixteen feet wide, and in a street so narrow no teams are allowed in it; the buildings are so high that hardly any light reaches the street, which is built up solid from one end to the other. In this little old house he was born, and in this narrow street, that would be a disgrace to the North End of Boston, he played when a boy. Genoa is the second seaport on the Mediterra- nean, and here Columbus imbibed his first ideas of the sea, and that the world was really larger than what was known or believed at that time. He tried to interest the moneyed men of Genoa to build him ships, but they took no stock in his ideas or in him, whom they had known as a poor boy living in one of the poorest streets. So he went to Venice and tried to interest the great capitalists of that city, then the mistress of the seas and the commercial metropolis of the then known world. While in Venice he studied a large map of the world made by a monk. (This map is now in the Doge's palace, and when in Venice I intend to see it.) Then he went to Spain, and there King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ad- vanced the money, Isabella selling her jewels, and Columbus sailed out over an unknown sea ITALY 27 in quest of an unknown land, with sublime cour- age, to prove his faith in a western continent. If Columbus had not had the courage of his con- victions, what a difference it would have made to the United States and its people, and in fact to the whole world ! Friday, November 29. We left Genoa by train at 3 a. if. for Venice, by way of Milan and Verona, — Shakespeare's " Two Gentlemen of Verona." Between Genoa and Milan is a range of mount- ains crossed by means of many tunnels, one of which is about four miles long. After leaving the hilly region we came out into a level coun- try where every bit of land was cultivated. The hills and mountains are terraced as far up as it is possible to obtain a foothold, and in some of the most barren places soil is brought and placed on the terraces and vineyards, and groves of olives are seen growing in places that originally were nothing but barren rock and sand. From Milan to Venice we passed through a fine farming country, level and fertile; on the train we had a first class compartment all to ourselves. Around Verona there seemed to be a lot of old fortifications. We arrived at Venice at 7 p. m., after dark, and alighting from the train we, as usual, followed the crowd, showed our tickets, and passed out by a long row of what we should call hackmen in 28 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD America. They had the names of the different hotels they represented on their hats, but they were all boatmen — gondoliers. We walked down a long flight of stone steps, following the boat- man that represented the hotel we were going to, the Aurora, and there at the foot of the steps was a long row of gondolas. We stepped into one and silently moved away. We were under a little cover like a chaise-top, just room enough for two. No one else was on the boat except the gondolier at the stern end, out of sight of us, and we started on the most forlorn, gloomy ride I ever had. It was cold, damp, cheerless, and dark, as for nearly an hour we glided along the Grand Canal, then into a narrow, crooked canal, with no sounds except the warnings of the boatmen as they came to turns in the canal; dark except for an occasional glimmer of light from some grated window in a stone house. Lonesome stone steps led into the dark water, the depth of which we did not know. I asked H. if he had on his rubber boots, as it seemed so damp under foot. The smells that came out of this dark, stagnant water were anything but agreeable, and our first impressions of Venice were not pleasant or en- couraging. At last we came out into the large lagoon; we should call it a lake. By this lagoon many of the principal buildings are situated, and it is a harbor for the shipping and war-ships. We SMALL CAXAL, VENICE ITALY 29 came to the landing in front of our hotel, and the next morning the sun shone brilliantly into our room as we looked out onto the broad prome- nade in front that faces the lagoon, with its mov- ing crowd of people, and the lagoon filled with shipping and gondolas with gay colored sails, and we changed our opinion of Venice formed the night before. After breakfast we engaged a guide and walked around St. Mark's Square under the long, broad colonnades lined with stores, then by St. Mark's tower, the Campa- nile, 323 feet in height, surmounted by a colossal bronze angel, to St. Mark's Cathedral, built in the ninth century to receive the bones of St. Mark, which are believed to rest here. It is of Byzantine style of architecture. Here are fine mosaics. The vestibule is entered by means of bronze doors of magnificent workmanship, and the ceiling of mosaic, by Titian, Tintoretto, and others, is said to be the finest in the world. On the exterior are some five hundred columns of marble, said to have been brought by the Crusaders from Palestine. Near the church is the famous clock tower, with its gorgeous dial plate of blue and gold and the bronze figures whose iron hammers have marked the hours for ages. After leaving the church we passed directly into an establishment for making lace, some three hundred girls being at work making the 3 o A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD finest lace. Some were using a microscope. This is one of many establishments under one organ- ization to give employment to poor girls, the Queen of Italy being the president. The Doge's Palace. We went all over this wonderful old palace. Its construction was com- menced in 809. The first room we entered, the senate chamber, is a magnificent hall, covered with paintings and frescoes by celebrated mas- ters. Here can still be seen the original seats once occupied by the senators. The most impor- tant acts of the Republic depended on the Senate. This room was completed in 1301. We next entered the Hall of the Council of Ten ; this council was really composed of seventeen, as the doge and his six councilors also were members. This council judged traitors, false coiners, etc., and in the walls of this room are secret openings used to convey information to the Council of Ten. Also on the wall are two of the so-called " Lions' Mouths," or little boxes for the reception of pa- pers denouncing law-breakers, traitors, etc. From this room we entered that of the Grand Coun- cil, the largest and most magnificent of all. Around the ceiling are the portraits of seventy- six doges. The portrait of one doge, Marino Faliero, was taken away, and in place of it was an inscription stating that he was beheaded for his crimes in 1355. In one of the rooms is a ITALY 31 large map of the world, made in 1457 by a monk, showing the world as they then understood it. Asia and Africa are joined together in a curious way. Columbus studied this map before his dis- covery of America. The walls of the Grand Council room are cov- ered with the masterpieces of such painters as Titian and Tintoretto. Underneath all this mag- nificence are dungeons filled with . .cells lighted only by an opening in the door six inches in di- ameter, with stone floors, walls, and ceilings, no beds, nothing but a hard table — many below the level of the water in the canals. In one of these cells the Doge Marino Faliero was confined pre- vious to his execution. They are horrible, dismal places. We passed over the Bridge of Sighs, connecting the magnificent and luxurious Doge's Palace with the prison. The prisoners after being sentenced in the palace, perhaps by the secret Council of Ten, were taken across this bridge to the prison, to imprisonment or execution, or to horrible torture. We can say with Byron : — " We stood in Venice on the bridge of sighs, A palace and a prison on each hand : We saw from out the wave her structure rise As by the stroke of the enchanter's wand." The great square of St. Mark's, with the column of St. Mark near the centre and the Winged Lions of Venice guarding the entrance, sur- 32 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD rounded by great buildings, broad colonnades, where are the principal retail stores, the Doge's Palace, and the Cathedral on one side, opening out into the great blue lagoon covered with boats with gay colored sails, gondolas, steamers, and war vessels of Italy, is a wonderful sight seen no- where else in the world. In Venice are no horses, oxen, mules, or dogs, no carriages, wagons, or trucks, no street cars, no omnibuses, bicycles, or automobiles. The only means of locomotion are boats that glide about everywhere noiselessly; it is a capital place to sleep. Around the grand square of St. Mark's and along the Promenade, perhaps a mile long, and one hundred and fifty feet wide, is solid ground, well paved, and there are also narrow ways in other directions where one can walk. Venice is built on piles on one hundred islands, and the canals are cut in all directions and are crossed by means of three hundred and sixty-seven bridges. Monday, December 2, 1901. We left Venice on the 9.50 morning train for Florence, where we arrived at 7 p. m., after dark. In our compartment on the train was an Italian lady who could speak a little English, and H. and I have learned to make acquaintance with any one who can do that. She helped us out with the BRIDGE OF SIGHS, VENICE ITALY 33 train hands and with information we wanted. She was a native of Florence, so we procured from her the name of a good hotel, which she wrote for us on a slip of paper. We engaged a carriage and, giving the address to the driver, started out on a seemingly endless drive, and began to have misgivings as to the kind of a house we were going to ; but at last we brought up in front of a good-looking house in a good part of the city. The lady of the house and her son came out and met us on the sidewalk, and they seemed sur- prised to see us. They could speak but a very few words of English, and I soon found it was not a public hotel but a " pension " (a sort of private boarding-house). I held up one finger and pointed to the upper story of the house, which meant we wanted one room. Then I held up two ringers, which meant I wanted two beds in that room. They desired to know who sent us, and when I showed them the paper, they recognized the handwriting and we were at once taken in. It proved to be one of the very best and cheapest places we had so far stopped at. There were the proprietor, his wife and son, two elderly ladies, and a young man, all Italians. One of the elderly ladies was a member of one of the noble but im- poverished families of Italy. Then there was a young lady who proved the next day to be an American girl from Iowa, studying vocal music. 34 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD The first night at dinner, all except H. and I spoke in Italian ; we sat in silence, the proceed- ings did not interest us. The next morning, at breakfast, the Iowa girl spoke to us, and the rest of the time we remained in Florence she made it very agreeable for us. Through her acting as in- terpreter, we all of us became quite loquacious, even hilarious. Our bill at this " pension " for two days' board, including room, fires, lights, and wine, was three dollars each. Each morning our break- fast was served in our room (sometimes before we were ready to receive it) by a chamber maid, who H. says is the pleasantest one we have struck yet, which is saying a great deal in a country where all the servants are so polite and atten- tive. If we pass them in the hotel they will always stand and bow till we have passed by, and every one on the street takes off his hat to acquaint- ances. I even saw a motorman take his hand from the lever of his car and lift his hat to some one. If you speak to any official at a hotel or station, or to any one on the street, it is consid- ered impolite if you do not raise your hat. At Florence, with a guide, we went over the celebrated Uffizi Gallery, one of the great treasure- houses of the world for paintings and wonderful creations in marble. Here are paintings by Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, and Michael Angelo ; here is the original Wild Boar in mar- ITALY 35 ble, brought from Greece ; the Venus de Medici, rival to the Venus de Milo that we saw in Paris. Here is the David of Michael Angelo, in marble, of heroic size, and the masterpiece of sculpture ; the fine form, the poise, and the fine expression of the face representing the David of the Bible as conceived by one of the greatest artists that the world has produced. It is said that Michael Angelo was but twenty-one when he executed this work. One hall contains portraits of over one hun- dred and fifty celebrated painters, painted by themselves. Among these are portraits of Ra- phael, Rembrandt, Rubens, and Titian. At Santa Croce Church we saw the place where Michael Angelo and Dante are buried, marked by fine monuments of marble. There is also a monument to Galileo, but he was not buried here. All three were born in Florence. We saw the house in which Dante was born, and we were shown the celebrated bronze group made by Ben- venuto Cellini. In one of the squares of the city is a bronze plate marking the place where the monk Savonarola was hanged and the body burned, for writing and preaching against the Pope. The Pitti Palace, also rich in priceless works of art, is in Florence. We left Florence at 7 in the morning for Rome, which we reached at 1.20 p. m., going to the Pen- 36 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD sion Michel, which is a fine, large, new hotel. It has an elevator, and fine dining-rooms and par- lors. Our room was 18 x 24 feet, and 23 feet high, with fine beds, windows to the south, everything very neat, and good service, all for two dollars per day each — lights, soap, and heat extra. In the afternoon we walked over to the Coliseum, a vast ruin. It was begun in the year 72, and took the labor of thirty thousand slaves for eight years. This would build a railroad from Boston to San Francisco ; and this great amphitheatre was built only for the amusement of the emperors and great people of Rome ; it would seat eighty thousand people. The Leominster Town Hall will seat twelve hundred. The seats rose up tier on tier, and were in circular form, surrounding an arena on which the gladiators fought to the death. On this arena many of the early Christians were led to be torn in pieces by wild beasts, and many cruel scenes were here enacted for the amuse- ment of the Roman people. The dismal stone cells are to be seen from which the martyrs were led, through narrow passageways, to the arena, there to be torn and devoured by wild beasts for the diversion of cruel rulers like Nero. On the way to St. Peter's Cathedral we went into the Pantheon, noted for its beautiful facade and its noble dome, the full size of the building. Raphael is buried here. ITALY 37 St. Peter's is the most magnificent and largest church or cathedral in the world. As I ap- proached it, it did not impress me as much as I had supposed it would. But once inside and tak- ing time to appreciate its vast dimensions, one realizes slowly what sort of a place he is in. First, it is the best-lighted cathedral we have seen, all others being rather dark and gloomy ; this is the exact reverse. Its dimensions are about 750 feet by 400 feet, including the facade. The dome rises to a height above the pavement of 435 feet, and is 196 feet in diameter. According to tradi- tion, St. Peter suffered martyrdom on the site of the cathedral, and his remains rest under the high altar. This great building covers a space very nearly as large as the square bounded by Main, West, and School streets and Merriam Avenue in Leominster. The interior is filled with monuments and paintings by such great artists as Michael An- gelo, Raphael, Canova, and Thorwaldsen. In the centre, under the great dome, is the altar, at which only the Pope celebrates mass. Over all this magnificent interior the light is shed wonderfully from the great dome and the stained glass win- dows on the sides. As we came out, after spend- ing two hours, we realized that this was truly one of the few great wonders of the world. From St. Peter's we went to the ruins of the old Roman Forum, where the Roman people assembled for 38 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD meetings, to be addressed by their statesmen and orators and lawyers. Here Cicero swayed the peo- ple by his oratory. Next we visited the Quirinal, the home of the King and Queen of Italy, when in Rome. We were shown over the palace by one of the soldier guards. Like all the palaces we have seen, it is filled with costly works of art and covered with heavy gilding, but the rooms are finished and furnished in modern style. The throne-room, the ball-room, the conversation- room, the ante-rooms connected with the ball- room, are the most beautiful I have seen. Each room differs from the others in style and colors. In the ball-room are three magnificent glass chandeliers, suspended from the lofty arched ceil- ing ; the gallery for the orchestra is high up, so that the musicians are not visible. These rooms seem better adapted to living in than the rather gloomy ones in other palaces we have visited. Here the king who was lately assassinated made his home, with Queen Margherita, of whom there are here two beautiful full-length portraits. There are also portraits of the present and late kings of Italy. In the rear of the palace is a fine garden of orange-trees, palms, and hedges. Saturday, December 7. We made a second visit to St. Peter's, and we noticed some things we missed on our first visit. One was the bronze figure of St. Peter, full size. The great and little ITALY 39 toes of the right foot of this figure have been completely worn away by the kisses of devout Catholics, while on the other foot, which is back where it cannot be reached, the toes are intact. We saw several people kiss the foot as they passed along. It must have taken the kisses of many millions to have worn this bronze away, one of the hardest of metals. The dome and much of the main building of St. Peter's was de- signed by Michael Angelo — what a genius he was ! We have seen his " David " at Florence, his paintings and frescoes equaled by only a very few, and here his genius shows itself in pro- ducing the most wonderful building in the world. Sculptor, painter, architect, great in all. From St. Peter's we entered the Vatican, which joins the church. In the new part of the Vatican, or palace, lives the Pope, whom we did not see ; but we did see a red-gowned cardinal going through the door that opened into the rooms occupied by the Pope, who is too old and feeble to receive visitors. The old part of the Vatican is used as a gallery, or galleries, of paintings. Here are the " Madonna and Child " by Murillo, and the " Transfiguration " by Raphael, his last work, as he died at thirty- seven years of age. This is called his master- piece, and the greatest of all paintings. Here also is the " Madonna and Child," by Raphael, done when twenty-one. These are all frescoes. 40 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD Several rooms are entirely frescoed by Raphael. Here are also paintings by Murillo, Correggio, Titian, and many other celebrated artists. In the afternoon we rode out of the city to the old Claudian aqueduct, which was used by the old Romans to bring water from the hills, some ten miles distant. The present aqueduct is paral- lel to the old one and brings water from the same sources. On the way out of the city we stopped at the Catacombs, an ancient cemetery some fifty feet below the surface. It is in the grounds of the Trappist monks, one of whom showed us the tunnels and old vaults. Each of us bore a lighted candle. Except ten, these monks do not talk. Ten of the fifty are allowed to do the talk- ing for a certain length of time, then these ten stop talking and ten others take their place. We visited an old building in which Christian martyrs were tortured and killed while Nero looked on. On the walls are frescoes represent- ing the various modes of torture, such as pour- ing melted lead down throats, broiling alive, cut- ting off hands, etc. They show the crucifixion of St. Peter, and the torture and death of St. Cecilia. Adjoining this building is a convent of nuns, who also take turns in talking. December 8. We visited Capitol Hill, on which was the old Roman capitol, and from which she ruled the world. In the open square is the cele- ITALY 41 brated esquestrian statue in bronze of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. In the Capitol Museum we saw many paintings, statues, and bronzes of world-wide celebrity; one marble by Canova. Here is the original " Dying Gladiator," found in Greece, the sculptor unknown, the right arm an entire restoration by Michael Angelo. It is a wonderful piece of sculpture, which, once seen, can never be forgotten. It represents a gladiator who has fought in the arena. His sword lies broken at his feet, there is a wound in his breast ; he raises himself on one arm, and his eyes, fast losing their light, are fixed upon the ground, while his life-blood ebbs away. His short, curly hair shows that he represents a Gaul, from the then savage country now occupied by the French nation, many of whom were brought by the Ro- mans and made to train and fight in the arena for their amusement, as gladiators, killing or being killed. " I see before me the gladiator lie, He leans upon his hand, his manly brow Consents to death, but conquers agony, And his drooped head sinks gradually low, And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow, From the red gash fall heavy, one by one, Like the first of a thunder shower ; and now The arena swims around him — he is gone Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won. 42 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD He heard it, but he heeded not — his eyes Were with his heart, and that was far away. He reck'd not of the life he lost, nor prize, But where his rude hut by the Danube lay, There were his young barbarians all at play ; There was their Dacian mother, he their sire — Butchered to make a Roman holiday." Byron. At the Capitol Museum we saw the original bronze of a boy taking a thorn out of his foot — a masterpiece of Greek art. Here is the" Venus of the Capitol," one of the most precious statues in the world. Also here is the " Wolf of the Capitol," suck- ling the twins, one of whom, Romulus, founded Rome. From Rome we went to Naples, which is cele- brated the world over for its beautiful bay. But I do not think it equals the coast by Nice, Monte Carlo, and Mentone. We left Rome at 8.10 a. m. and arrived at Naples at 145 p. m. The principal places of interest to see near Naples are Pompeii and Vesuvius. At Pompeii we engaged a guide and went over the excavated city, which was buried nineteen hundred years ago by the ashes from the volcano Vesuvius. The air was so full of ashes and smoke that it shut out the light and left the city in total darkness, so the inhabitants could not escape. About one square mile of the city has been excavated, and o H < Q < O o z I — t > ITALY 43 at the entrance is the museum containing bodies of men, women, and children taken from the houses and streets just where they were buried nearly two thousand years ago. In this museum are many relics, such as cooking utensils, carpen- ters' and plumbers' tools, which were in use at that time. From the museum we entered the ruined city, going through street after street, into houses, halls, theatres, the Forum, the Coliseum, and places of business. Some of the houses showed that they had once been very fine resi- dences, having a central courtyard, or garden, surrounded with a colonnade; and frescoes with the colors as bright and fresh as if recently put on, instead of two thousand years ago. Here are to be seen bath-houses of marble, for taking hot and cold and plunge baths, with the lead water-pipes leading to the baths, — some ten or more pipes in a conduit, just as to-day they are placed underground. The very house is shown us from which the blind flower girl, Nydia, con- ducted her friend and benefactor out of the doomed city to a place of safety. In one place we saw a skeleton left just as it was found. The streets show deep indentations, worn by the chariot wheels of the wealthy, — the plumbers of Pompeii, judging from the number of bath-houses, all of which must have required the services of plumbers. At the thresholds of some of the 44 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD residences was the word "Ave," meaning wel- come. At the entrance of one residence, just inside the threshold, on the floor of the hall, was the picture of a dog, full size, and the warning " Cave canem ! " (Beware of the dog !) all done in mosaic. At 1 1.30 we left Pompeii by carriage for Vesu- vius, passing on the way many vineyards, where the celebrated wine called " Lachrimae Christi," or " Tears of Christ," is made. These vineyards cover the sides of the mountains up to the edge of the beds of lava, around and through which our road winds to the cable road that takes us up the cone. This cable road was built and is owned by Thomas Cook & Son. On the way up we enjoyed magnificent views of Naples and the bay. The cable road up the cone is like the one up Mt. Washington, and is a straight course, very steep. In a few minutes we reach the top, and on leaving the car a guide takes us in charge, puts a heavy overcoat on each of us over our own overcoat, and leads the way to the crater itself, which is some 150 feet higher up, by a path through ashes ankle-deep, some 400 feet. We notice near by and following us two assistants with ropes, and we soon find out what they are for. The guide sets a fast pace for such a track, and we stop to catch our breath. One of ITALY 45 the men says to me, " Take hold of the rope. I help you ; only two francs." I take hold of one, H. of the other, and they pull us up towards the top. Soon the guide has to come behind and do some pushing; this is two francs more. Not- withstanding all this pulling and pushing, H. and I stop. It seems impossible to take another step. Neither says anything, but each is in hopes the other will say, " Let 's quit." The guide says, " Only fifty feet farther," and we make a final effort and stand on the very top of Vesuvius, looking down into that boiling, seething mass of sulphur, smoke, and steam, which we could smell and of which we could feel the heat. We stop but a few minutes, for our hands are benumbed with cold, and we are enveloped in fog and clouds. About fifty feet down we stop and warm our hands at a hole in the side of a cone, from which steam issues. We are glad enough to reach the car, which we enter after escaping from the voracious guides, helpers, and hangers-on, who have us completely in their power. The sixty minutes on the car and going on foot to the crater was the worst experience of the kind I ever had ; the guides and helpers are no better than robbers. They hurry us at first and have us at a disadvantage; we are chilled, tired, and helpless. We reached our hotel at Naples at 6.30 p. m. 46 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD Smoke and steam from Vesuvius, on a clear day, is always plainly seen from Naples. We visited at Naples the National Museum, filled with relics from Pompeii, such as frescoes, marbles, bronzes ; but in other respects the museums seemed tame after what we had seen in London, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. Friday. We had a fine view of Vesuvius, it being a very clear day ; we saw plainly all day smoke and steam issuing from the crater, which is four thousand feet above tidewater. Saturday, December 14. We left Naples at 7.34 a.m. for Brindisi, having crossed Italy three times; arrived at Brindisi at 7 p. m. This is one of the oldest cities in Europe, in that respect ranking with the cities of Greece. CHAPTER IV EGYPT Sunday, December 15. Went aboard steamer Osiris and took possession of our cabin, which we had engaged before leaving Boston. The Osiris is a small steamer of 1 700 tons, and can steam over twenty knots an hour; she carries but few passengers. Her most important freight is the mails for India and China, and she sails on the arrival of the mail train, which was at 1 1 p. m. On board we make the acquaintance of Dr. and Mrs. Wyman of Detroit, Mich.; they are going to Egypt, India, China, and Japan, and home by way of San Francisco. We also meet Mr. and Mrs. Hirsch from Chicago, on their way around the world. These are all very pleasant people, and we congratulate ourselves that we shall have their company in Egypt and possibly in India. The passage across the Mediterranean from Brindisi to Port Said is usually very rough, especially on such a fast-going steamer as the Osiris, of small tonnage. On the way we saw Turkey, and on the south the Ionian Islands of Greece. Quite near, on the eastern side, we could see Greece herself, houses and fences plainly. 48 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD After a very uncomfortable passage of fifty-four hours, we arrived at Port Said, and if any one was ever glad to get ashore, it was H., as he had been seasick all the way over — fifty-four hours — in his berth all the time, neither eating nor sleeping. He had ejected everything he knew was in his stomach, and some things he did not know were there. As we came to anchor in the Suez Canal, at Port Said, the steamer was sur- rounded by boats in which were Arab boatmen, gesticulating and jabbering; we engaged one with the name of T. Cook & Son on his cap, got into his boat, and were soon landed at the station, where, after having passed through the formality of the custom-house, we took train for Cairo, running alongside of the canal to Ismailia, about sixty miles. Then the road leaves the canal and goes to Cairo, about seventy-five miles more. At Port Said and Ismailia we had our first experience with Egyptian guides, or dragomen, as they are called here. They insist on taking your hand baggage, and if they touch it, there is ten or twenty cents to pay. It is a regular fight with them. They will run on ahead and open a car door for you, whether you want them to or not; that is ten cents. They all look alike, and it is hard to tell which is the right one to pay, as they all claim something. They are so poor and have so little money that they think more of one- EGYPT 49 half piaster — two and one half cents — than the poorest man in Leominster would think of fifty cents. From Ismailia we pass through a land which is irrigated from the River Nile, and it is as fine as the best farms in Iowa or Nebraska in June. All kinds of vegetables are growing, as well as corn, wheat, and cotton — some crops being planted, some coming up, some being harvested; all done in the most old-fashioned, crude way imaginable. All the land that is cultivated has to be irrigated with water from the Nile, and long canals extend out from the river, costing millions of dollars. This cultivated strip is from two to ten miles wide each side of the river ; out- side this is pure desert. The contrast between the garden and the sandy desert is striking. All the rain that falls in Egypt is not over one inch in a year, while we have more than that in Leo- minster in one good shower. In Cairo it was a standing joke with us each morning whether we should need an umbrella or a rain coat. We no- ticed all kinds of ways of raising the water from the canals on to the land; old ways described in the Bible. Some people scooped it up ; some raised it by jugs hung on a revolving wheel; others threw it up with a pail, while others were shoveling it up. The air as we rode into Cairo was like a June morning, only dry; here all coughs 5 o A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD and colds disappear; no throat troubles, no ca- tarrh; they are all left behind, and we can count on a clear sky every day. We alighted from the train at Cairo at 5 p. m., and went direct to Shep- heard's Hotel, one of the noted hostelries of the world. We find the fellows who call themselves dragomen or guides very annoying in their persis- tent following of us, one on each side, one at rear, and often one in front, thrusting their cards and recommendations in our faces. It is as much as one's life is worth to step out of the hotel, as they hang around in swarms. A policeman in full uniform and sword asked me for backsheesh (money); he said he was looking out for my safety, although I was not aware of it before. I gave him four cents, and made him happy. The first day we walked out to the Nile and to the fine bridge which crosses the river, the only one at Cairo. It is a fine river of about one-third the average flow of water in our Mississippi, and about as muddy as the Missouri, but differs from the latter in that while the sediment of the Mis- souri is pure sand, the sediment of the Nile is vegetable matter and enriches the land which it overflows. Large warehouses of stone and brick come down to the river's edge on the Cairo side, and sailing vessels and steamers ply up and down. It presents a busy scene, more modern than I ex- pected to see. The one bridge across the Nile is SAKKIYAH (WATER-WHEEL), EGYPT EGYPT 51 a fine stone structure, and is all the time crowded to its fullest capacity with long strings of camels, and the ordinary two-wheeled carts of the natives mingled with the fine equipages of the nobility, with two black runners leading and clearing the way. One evening we joined a party made up at Shepheard's and visited a mosque and witnessed the performance of the howling and whirling dervishes, it being their religious service. There were about thirty performers ; two had green bands around their heads, and these were sup- posed to be descendants of the Prophet. The sheik wore a white band. There were four with very long hair ; these were the principal perform- ers, and they commenced with a sort of chant and gentle swaying of their bodies. This motion is gradually increased till it becomes violent. They make a noise with their mouths and throats, like the exhaust from a steam engine. This and the swaying of the bodies is all in perfect time together. One stands in the centre on a raised platform, the others in a semicircle around; the one in the centre at times spins around rapidly and violently for five minutes or over, till exhausted. Friday, December 20, 1901. We rode out to the Pyramids and Sphinx on an electric car, one hour's ride, about eight miles ; we had heard a good deal about the guides out there, and had been advised 52 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD to get on a camel as soon as we left the car, but H. and I decided to engage the first good-looking guide who presented himself, on condition that he keep the others away. So we did that, and as it happened he proved a good one. His name was Farag Aly Suleiman. The way he laid his stick on the other fellows was a caution ; he kept them at a fairly good distance. He engaged two camels for us. They were made to kneel down, and we mounted them and ascended the hill to the great pyramid, Cheops, and to the Sphinx. We went down into the Temple of the Sphinx, which has been excavated, showing the great stones 15x5 feet square, brought a hundred miles from the quarry. The Sphinx, as is well known, is partly buried in the sand, and its face disfigured by the ravages of time. It resembles the pictures of it, and on the whole has a rather imposing appearance. The great pyramid, Cheops, is 470 feet in height and 760 feet square at the base, the sides facing the four points of the compass. We did not go to the top, only part way up. The covering stones have all been taken to Cairo in centuries past and used there to build mosques. It is estimated that it took the labor of one hundred thousand men for thirty years to build Cheops, the greatest single work of human hands. All the guides remember Mark Twain, not from his books, but because he went up to the top of EGYPT 53 Cheops without a guide or help, and then, to show what he could do, went up to the top of the smaller pyramid near by. The guides and beggars all followed us down to the car. Our guide tried to beat them off, but they, finding they could get no more money out of us, beset the guide for a commission on what he was getting, and just as the car started back for Cairo they pulled him off, and the last we saw he was fighting in the middle of an excited crowd of Arabs. Next day he came to our hotel for his pay, and said he and one other were arrested, but he was released and the other was put in jail, where he was when we left Cairo two weeks later. Taking donkeys to the Nile bridge, and from there a tram-car, we visited the Gizeh Museum, two miles from Cairo. This is an unrivaled mu- seum of Egyptian antiquities; it contains a great many mummies. Among these we saw those of Rameses I, II, and III. These all showed a family resemblance in having a very prominent hooked or Roman nose. Here is a stone boat of the same fashion as those now used, dovetailed and pinned together with wooden pins. Two boats are shown — thirty feet long, oars in the boat and rowlocks ; these boats were buried in the sand of the desert thousands of years ago. All of the antiquities in the museum are not less 54 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD than three to four thousand years old, and among them are many articles of gold of fine workman- ship. In the park connected with the museum is a zoological garden. December 22. At Cairo we took the train twenty miles to a station two miles from old Memphis. On the way we passed Gizeh, where Joseph's brothers went to buy corn. Arrived at station at 9 a. m. ; found the usual horde of guides and donkeys. After haggling as to price for three quarters of an hour, we each mounted a donkey, and, with the driver and a following of Arabs, we left for Memphis. We passed through a village, the walls of the houses of which were made of mud mixed with straw, about as dirty and uninteresting a village as one could imagine. We passed and met strings of camels loaded with produce and freight, and donkeys trotting along at an easy gait. The roads are all embank- ments, raised above the level of the annual inun- dations of the Nile. After a ride on donkeys of over two miles we came to the ruins of old Memphis, the site of the oldest city of Egypt, founded four thou- sand years before the Christian era. It is now but a mound or hill of debris, all overgrown by the date palm ; here and there is a faint outline of a street or lane. Here are two huge reclining fig- ures in marble, 35 feet long, which were exca- EGYPT 55 vated from the place where the temple stood, and which are in a good state of preservation. Returned to Cairo at 12 m. These Arabs and Egyptians do not understand the English language very well. They think they know a few words. When one of them gets too persistent and has followed us a quarter of a mile or more, and keeps right under our nose and pre- vents our seeing anything or conversing with each other, and we get all out of patience and tell him to " Get out," and threaten him with our canes, he will answer, "Thank you; see you to-morrow." At the station going to Memphis H. did put his cane onto one donkey boy that was trying to pull him off and make him take his donkey. The principal street in Cairo for retail business and small manufacturers is called the Muskee. Here and on streets leading from it are the bazaars, stores filled with a great variety of goods, costly rugs, carpets, and laces. Most of these streets are very narrow. The width of one was just twice the length of my cane, including sidewalks, and on each side were little stores and workshops, the people making and selling jewelry and trinkets, the street itself crowded with a mass of human- ity, gesticulating and noisy. This was a fair sample of most of the streets in this city of over six hundred thousand people, most of whom live and do business in such narrow quarters. Of 56 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD course, where the large hotels are and large busi- ness blocks, and in the vicinity of the parks, there are wide streets, well paved and well taken care of. With so large an area of cramped, dirty streets and quarters, we think it must be un- healthy. But about the time the microbes and germs which are in the soil and air of these un- healthy countries we visit find out that we have arrived in a city, and, getting us located, organ- ize and choose their committees to wait upon us, we are off to some other city or country, and thereby keep our health. Dr. Wyman tells us that many dead are found in the streets, that the city officers have them picked up each morn- ing. A great many of the people have no homes, and when sick, or when they die, they drop in the streets. We visited the Citadel, which is on a hill, where a fine view of Cairo and the Nile valley is had. Near the Citadel is the Alabaster Mosque, which we entered after having slippers put on over our shoes. At the Citadel is a wall 50 feet high, over which the Mameluke chief jumped his horse and escaped, when pursued by the soldiers of Napo- leon. Nearby we were shown the well which is said to have been made by Joseph. From here we drove to the tombs of the Caliphs and Mame- lukes ; we were shown the fine mausoleum of the father of the present khedive. Thence our EGYPT 57 route lay through a sandy plain, a portion of the desert, filled with pieces of old pottery and brick, which the guide said were remains from old Roman houses. We got a taste of the sandy desert here. The wind blew hard and filled the air with fine sand, which had the appearance of clouds or fog. We passed through old Cairo to the Island of Roda, where is the Nilometer used for centuries to mark the annual rise of the Nile ; as the height to which the water rose in the an- nual inundations meant and means to-day to the people of Egypt either plenty or famine. Near this Nilometer, and on the Island of Roda, tradi- tion has it that Moses was found in the bulrushes by the daughter of Pharaoh, and near here the battle of the Nile was fought by Napoleon. An odd sight was that of a man grinding corn with a set of stones about eighteen inches in diameter, by turning the upper stone by means of a handle. We passed an Egyptian funeral, the women wail- ing and with faces covered except the eyes. December 27. We rode a few miles out of Cairo to the obelisk of Heliopolis, the oldest in existence. It was looked upon by Moses, Plato, and Herodotus, and is about six feet square and 80 feet in height. The annual rise of the Nile has raised the ground so that the base is now ten feet below the general surface, and the ground has been excavated, showing the base, to which 58 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD steps lead. The column appears to be one stone, with inscriptions on four sides. Not far from here is the Virgin's tree, so-called because it is said that within its hollow trunk Mary and the child Jesus took refuge during the flight into Egypt. It is inclosed by a cement stone wall ; the trunk near the ground is about 30 feet in circumference; the whole tree has the appearance of great age ; the trunk and large limbs are covered with signa- tures. They say this is not the original tree, this having been planted about a thousand years ago in place of the original one. On the way back to Cairo we visited an ostrich farm contain- ing one thousand five hundred ostriches ; some were twenty-five years old ; they will live to the age of forty years. We noticed a few very large and tall ; they were at least ten feet tall in their stockings. One ostrich was sitting on eggs. In doing this work the males and females take turns of four hours each. The Arab keeper of this farm had one ostrich trained ; it would lie down and get up at his word of command, and would go through a performance in imitation of the howl- ing and whirling dervishes. We passed the palace and stables of the khedive, surrounded by exten- sive grounds. On the road we saw forty men pulling a steam road-roller. This is a hint to Jackson when Leominster gives him a steam roller to use on the roads. > O Q !x O pq pa < EGYPT 59 Arab guides and street fakirs are quick-witted and appreciate a joke. We were being pestered as we walked along a street in Cairo by several Arab bootblacks — real street Arabs. Pointing with my cane to the bare black feet of one, I asked him why he did not shine them ? " Oh," he says, " them 's finished." Then the whole crowd followed us a block, laughing and joking and asking us for backsheesh, as they will do if any notice is taken of them. The street in Cairo where Shepheard's Hotel is, presents a sight that cannot be matched anywhere else in the world. On the large veranda, roofed with iron and glass, we can sit contentedly for hours — no draught, no hot sun — and look at the fascinating sights in the street. Carriages of all kinds whirl by : a splendid barouche, perhaps, occupied by a dark- complexioned man, wearing the fez, and by his side a lady with face covered, except the eyes, by a thin gauze veil, two tall blacks in white running on in advance of the horses, barefoot, with staves in their hands to clear the way. They easily keep out of the way of the horses, though going a fast gait. It is said they can run fifty miles a day. Only the khedive or members of his family can have two; lesser members of the nobility can have one only; all others none. Then, in the con- tinuous procession by Shepheard's, comes an Arab leading a donkey hitched to a cart containing 60 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD four or five wives, each holding in her arms a baby. Arabs, Egyptians, peddlers, are mixed with travelers from all parts of the world. On the side- walk there may be a Hindoo juggler performing with a deadly cobra snake and monkey. It is an endless, fascinating, moving panorama. Carnage hire is very cheap in Cairo — twenty-five cents an hour for two persons. On our chamber door at Shepheard's the notice reads : — " Ring once for maid. " Ring twice for waiter. " Ring three times for Arab." And the Arab was the most serviceable, answering the bell at once, coming in noiselessly with bare feet, making no more noise about the room than would a cat. December 28. Went down the Nile on the Cook steamer about fifteen miles to the Barrage, a great dam built across the Nile at a cost of ten million dollars, by the Egyptian government, some sixty years ago, just above the Delta, where the numerous branches of the river branch off to the sea at Alexandria. This dam keeps the water high, so as better to fill the irrigating canals, two of which, of great size, leave the river just above the dam, one in the direction of Alexandria and one in the direction of Port Said. The water is never allowed to flow over the top of the dam, but is regulated by a great many gates. There is EGYPT 61 a narrow-gauge tram-road, owned by T. Cook & Son, which runs the whole length of the dam, over which the eleven in the party were pushed in three cars by Arabs, two to each car. There are two dams, one over the main river, and one over another channel. There is a fine govern- ment park connected with the dam on the island, between the two channels. The Nile, main river, is one third of a mile wide. Mr. Johnson, United States irrigation commis- sioner, stopping at Shepheard's, tells me that but one half to one inch of rain falls per annum in Egypt. CHAPTER V INDIA December 31, 1901, after a two weeks' stop, we left Cairo and Shepheard's Hotel for Port Said, to take P. & O. steamer Caledonia for Bombay. We had engaged our cabins for this steamer in Sep- tember, before leaving Boston, and she was due to arrive at Port Said from London for Bombay December 31, and to leave Port Said January 1, 1902. At the end of the first week at Shepheard's the bill for board was sent to our room, and as we looked at the footing we were dumfounded, — " 1300 piasters "! We began to reckon up how much money we had, and to wonder whether we had not better return if we should have money enough left to do so after paying this bill ; but when we found a piaster was only five cents, making sixty-five dollars for one week for both, we felt better and decided to continue our journey. As we got into the bus at Shepheard's to go to the train that was to take us to Port Said, in the crowd that always assembles on the veranda and on the sidewalk w r hen guests are leaving for their long journey, either to the east or the west, we saw our guide, Aly Suleiman, whom we had INDIA 63 employed many times. He waved us good-by with a sort of wistful look, as though he would like to go with us and in America better his condition ; in fact, he had asked us to take him with us. We left Cairo at 1 1 and arrived at Port Said at 5 p. m. We found the Caledonia had arrived, and went aboard. The steamer is 7080 tons, and we each have a stateroom on the hurricane deck, the best on the steamer, being cooler than those between decks. I can lie in my berth and see through the open door the sea go by, or the sun rise, or early in the morning the Hindoo deck- hands washing down decks, some of them with beards dyed a bright red, showing they have made the pilgrimage to Mecca. As we pass along the Suez Canal, Arab men and boys run along either bank, asking the pas- sengers for backsheesh ; if an orange is thrown and falls short they will off with the few clothes they wear and swim out and get it. Many of the passengers are English, in the government service in India. At our table we are placed with Eng- lish army officers and their families returning to India from their furloughs, and it is rather diffi- cult for us to understand them, their accent is so peculiarly English and they speak so rapidly. January 1. There are games on board ship, in which the sailors take part — potato races, etc. ; in the evening there are recitations, music, etc. 64 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD Passing down the Gulf of Suez, on one side we can plainly see Africa, on the other Asia, all a sandy, barren desert. Sahara on one side, on the other the Arabian desert. Each day the captain holds an inspection, at which time he requests all passengers who have any complaints to make to make them. This morning I found a dead cockroach in the apple sauce. I think I should not have said anything about it, but on the steamer from Brindisi to Port Said, same P. & O. line, I poured out of the wine bottle a very large, plump cockroach. The weather is fine, tempera- ture just right, a smooth sea. After passing through the Red Sea we reached Aden, Sunday, January 5, at 7 p. m. Here the steamer left and took on the mail that was to be transferred at this point. Aden is at the southern end of Arabia, not far from the coast of Africa, off Abyssinia, and many natives come in boats to the ship, which is anchored in the harbor, a mile from the landing. Some of the natives come on board, with ostrich feathers, baskets, necklaces, ostrich eggs, and many such things for sale. They seem to be a mixture of Arabs and negroes. They ask at first about four times the price they finally accept. Aden is only a coaling station, where the mails are transferred to other steamers. It must be a lonesome place to live in. Monday, January 6. We are passing out of INDIA 65 the Gulf of Aden into the Arabian Sea. The water is as smooth as glass; we could play bil- liards on the deck. We see dolphins, whales, fly- ing-fish. The days are perfect. Passengers while away the hours and days by playing games, read- ing, conversing, lounging, or walking the deck. One evening the first cabin passengers had a dance on the promenade deck, which was fes- tooned with flags and lighted by electric lan- terns. Refreshments were served, and they tried the American two-step waltz, but I noticed only one couple who could do it well. On one evening we were treated to a concert, given bv sailors of the British navy, many of whom are passengers on their way to India. Friday, January 10, about 12 m., we came in sight of land — India — and in one hour we came to anchor in the harbor of Bombav, one mile from the landing. It is a fine harbor, and in it and around it are many large islands. As soon as the ship was anchored she was surrounded by boats, and natives came on board ; among them was, as usual, a representative of T. Cook & Son with a bunch of letters, one of which was for me. It resembled a telegraph message ; for a few min- utes I was verv anxious, for no one likes to o*et a telegram so far away from home ; but on opening the envelope it proved to be a notice from the office of T. Cook & Son, in Bombay, that letters 66 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD were awaiting me there. This shows how well they look out for their customers. The list of passengers must have been telegraphed to them from Port Said or Aden. Their agent took charge of our baggage and later it was sent to our hotel ; it went through the customs with- out any trouble for us. T. Cook & Son have offices in all the large cities of the world on the main lines of travel, containing reading-rooms, a mailing department, money department, and an information bureau, all of which are at the service of their patrons. At Bombay we went to the Esplanade Hotel ; our room was a large one, looking out on two parks and wide streets, with a view of the sea; being on the north side, it was comparatively cool and airy; price $1.62 each per day, including everything; and this is one of the two best hotels in the city. Here we get our first real glimpse of tropical, Oriental life. Life on the street and in the hotel differs from anything we have before seen. At 9 p. m. the mercury in the hotel office stood at 84 de- grees. The first evening in our room we had many callers — first came a native in bare feet and bare legs, bringing up my trunk on his head three flights: it weighed over a hundred pounds; then another native wanted us to engage him as our servant while in India; then another appeared with a receipt for me to sign ; another to get INDIA 67 our laundry; one with a message which proved, fortunately, to be for some one else ; another came for half a rupee for something or other he had done for us; we never knew what it was. I was interrupted many times in finishing a letter to go on the next day's steamer. Servants of the hotel seem to be everywhere, all with bare feet, with the scantiest clothing, and slight, thin bodies ; in the evening we pass them making up their little beds on the edge of the sidewalks, as most of them sleep out of doors, for even in this, the coldest sea- son of the year, the mercury ranges from 70 to 85 degrees. A funny sight to us was the little bul- locks hitched to a two-wheeled cart, trotting along the streets, guided by a native with a stick. There is a hump on their shoulders, and their horns lie back on that hump. All the baggage was brought to the hotel by these bullocks. There seems to be the same old crowd in the streets as at Cairo — of guides, servants, peddlers, jugglers, snake- charmers. We found it so warm that we had to invest at once in thin clothing, and ordered a suit of all-wool thin cashmere at ten in the morning, made to order ; it was brought to our hotel at three in the afternoon of the same day — price eight dollars. January 12. We went in a small steamer to an island, some fifteen miles across the bay, where are the celebrated caves of Elephanta. These caves 68 A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD were dug out of the solid rock some thousands of years ago. Columns, figures of elephants, and of Hindoo deities have been carved out of the rock, and the whole shows signs of great age and is crumbling to pieces, the columns having to be strengthened by bands of iron. The excava- tion does not extend far enough to require arti- ficial light. There was nothing about these caves that seemed to me to warrant their celebrity ; their great age and the superstitious awe with which they are regarded by the natives are the main features of interest. In going from and re- turning to the boat we were beset by a horde of nearly naked beggars. We threw them a few small pieces of silver, and they fought for them as half- starved dogs would for a piece of meat, following the boat out as far as they could go in the mud and water. On our way to these caves we crossed the harbor or bay of Bombay, which is one of the best and largest in the world. One day we rode out to the Victoria Zoological gardens of Bombay, which are very fine. It being a holiday, there were great crowds of natives in brilliant costumes, groups of families, parents and children, all seeming to be having a good time, and happy — all with bare feet. A young fellow was our guide around the gardens, and he felt his importance immensely ; the way he would drive the natives away from the cages of the animals so >•