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 from Library of 
 Prof. C. Babenroth 
 
WITH THE WORLD'S 
 GREAT TRAVELLERS 
 
PRODIGAL'S RETURM 
 
 PAIt^TING BY Sf^ADA 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SUBJECT. AUTHOR. 
 
 New Dependencies of the United States . . . Oliver H. G. Leigh 
 Winter and Summer in New England .... Harriet Martineau 
 
 Niagara Falls and the Thousand Islands Charles Morris 
 
 From New York to Washington in 1866 Henry Latham 
 
 The Natural Bridge and Tunnel of Virginia . Edward A. Pollard 
 Plantation Life in War Times .... William Howard Russell 
 
 Among Florida Alligators S. C. Clarke 
 
 In the Mammoth Cave Therese Yelverton 
 
 Down the Ohio and Mississippi Thomas L. Nichols 
 
 From New Orleans to Red River .... Frederjck Law Olmsted 
 
 Winter on the Prairies G. W. Featherstonhaugh 
 
 A Hunter's Christmas Dinner . , J. S. Campion 
 
 A Colorado " Round-Up " Alfred Terry Bacon 
 
 Among the Cowboys Louis C. Bradford 
 
 Hunting the Buffalo Washington Irving 
 
 In the Country of the Sioux Meriwether Lewis 
 
 The Great Falls of the Missouri William Clarke 
 
 Hunting Scenes in Canadian Woods B. A. Watson 
 
 The Grand Falls of Labrador Henry G. Bryant 
 
 Life Among the Esquimaux William Edward Parry 
 
 Fugitives from the Arctic Seas Elisha Kent Kane 
 
 Rescued from Death W. S. Schley 
 
 The Muir Glacier Septima M. Collis 
 
 A Summer Trip to Alaska James A. Harrison 
 
 The Fort William Henry Massacre Jonathan Carver 
 
 The Gaucho and His Horse Thomas J. Hutchinson 
 
 Valparaiso and Its Vicinity Charles Darwin 
 
 An Escape from Captivity Benjamin F. Bourne 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 The Prodigal's Return .... Frontispiece 
 
 Patriotism ....... 18 
 
 The Catskills. Sunrise from South Mountain . . 26 
 
 New York and The Brooklyn Bridge ... 40 
 
 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington . . . .50 
 
 On the Coast of Florida ..... 76 
 
 Sunrise from the Summit of Pike's Peak . . .116 
 
 A Kansas Cyclone ...... 136 
 
 Shoshone Falls, Idaho ...... 170 
 
 MuiR Glacier, Alaska ..... 232 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Next to actual travel;, the reading of first-class travel 
 stories by men and women of genius is the finest aid to 
 the broadening of views and enlargement of useful knowl- 
 edge of men and the world's ways. It is the highest form 
 of intellectual recreation, with the advantage over fiction- 
 reading of satisfying the wholesome desire for facts. With 
 all our modern enthusiasm for long journeys and foreign 
 travel, now so easy of accomplishment, we see but very 
 little of the great world. The fact that ocean voyages are 
 now called mere "trips" has not made us over-familiar 
 with even our own kinsfolk in our new dependencies. For- 
 eign peoples and lands are still strange to us. Tropic and 
 Arctic lands are as far apart in condition as ever; Europe 
 differs from Asia, America from Africa, as markedly as 
 ever. Man still presents every grade of development, from 
 the lowest savagery to the highest civilization, and our 
 interest in the marvels of nature and art, the variety of 
 plant and animal life, and the widely varied habits and 
 conditions, modes of thought and action, of mankind, is in 
 no danger of losing its zest. 
 
 These considerations have guided us in our endeavor 
 to tell the story of the world, alike of its familiar and un- 
 familiar localities, as displayed in the narratives of those 
 who have seen its every part. Special interest attaches to 
 the stories of those travellers who first gazed upon the won- 
 ders and observed the inhabitants of previously unknown 
 lands, and whose descriptions are therefore those of dis- 
 coverers. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 One indisputable advantage belongs to this work over 
 the average record of travel: the reader is not tied down 
 to the perusal of a one-man book. He has the privilege 
 of calling at pleasure upon any one of these eminent travel- 
 lers to recount liis or her exploit, with the certainty of find- 
 ing they are all in their happiest vein and tell their best 
 Btories. 
 
 The adventures and discoveries here described are gath- 
 ered from the four quarters of the globe, and include the 
 famous stories of men no longer living, as well as those 
 of present activity. Many of the articles were formerly 
 published in the exhaustive work entitled, "The World's 
 Library of Literature, History and Travel'' [The J. B. 
 Lippincott Co., Philadelphia]. 
 
 For the rich variety and quality of our material we are 
 indebted to many travellers of note, and to the courtesy of 
 numerous publishers and authors. Among these it is de- 
 sired to acknowledge particularly indebtedness to the fol- 
 lowing publishers and works: To Harper and Brothers, 
 for selections from Stanley's "Through the Dark Conti- 
 nent," Du Chaillu's "Equatorial Africa," Prime's "Tent- 
 Life in the Holy Land," Orton's "The Andes and the Ama- 
 zon," and Browne's "An American Family in Germany." 
 To Charles Scribner's Sons : Stanley's "In Darkest Africa," 
 Field's "The Greek Islands," and Schley's "The Rescue of 
 Greely." To G. P. Putnam's Sons : De Amicis's "Holland 
 and its People," Taylor's "Lands of the Saracens," and 
 Brace's "The New West." To Houghton, Mifflin and Co. : 
 Melville's "In the Lena Delta," and Hawthorne's "Our 
 Old Home." To Roberts Brothers : Hunt's "Bits of Travel 
 at Home." To H. C. Coates and Co. : Leonowen's "Life 
 and Travel in India." Equal tribute is offered to the au- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 thors who have courteously permitted the use of their ma- 
 terial, and in these acknowledgments we include Charles 
 Morris, editor of the above work, and Oliver H. Gr. Leigh, 
 whose pen has won honors in various fields, for their special 
 contributions to this edition. 
 
WITH THE WORLD'S 
 GREAT TRAVELLERS. 
 
 NEW DEPENDENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 OLIVEE H. G LEIGH. 
 
 [The trend of events makes it certain that our geographical 
 knowledge is going to be enlarged by personal investigation. The 
 boom of Dewey's big guns sent us to our school-books with mixed 
 feelings as to the practical value of much of our alleged learning. 
 The world suddenly broadened as we gazed in surprise. Hawaii 
 invited itself into the circle of new relations. The near West 
 Indies and the remote Philippines craved peculiar attentions. 
 Whether moved by commercial zeal, official duty or the profit- 
 able curiosity of pleasure or scientific investigation, he is in 
 the highest sense a patriotic benefactor of his own country and 
 the land he visits, who devotes his energies to making Ameri- 
 cans more intimately acquainted with the communities now 
 linked with the most powerful of nations.] 
 
 The scope of holiday travel, or tours of profitable inves- 
 tigation, has been widely extended by the new relationship 
 between the United States and Hawaii, now included in 
 its possessions, and the former Spanish islands over which 
 it exercises a kindly protectorate. Through the usual chan- 
 nels public sentiment is being formed upon the resources 
 and responsibilities of the new dependencies. Many will 
 be attracted to Cuba, Porto Eico, Hawaii, and even to the 
 remote Philippines, by considerations of a practical kind. 
 No truer patriotic motive can inspire the American trav- 
 eller than the desire to develop the natural resources, and, 
 by consequence, the social welfare of a dependent com- 
 
 9 
 
10 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Leigh 
 
 munity. Whether bent on business, pleasure, or official 
 duty in the service of the United States the prospective 
 voyager, and the friends he leaves behind him, will profit 
 by these gatherings from the impressions and experiences 
 of former travellers. 
 
 The approach to Havana at daybreak overwhelms the 
 senses with the gorgeous beauties of the sky and landscape. 
 Foul as the harbor may be with city drainage it seems a 
 silvery lake encircled with the charms of Paradise and 
 over-arched with indescribable glories of celestial forms 
 and hues and ever-changing witcheries wrought by the 
 frolicsome sun in his ecstasy of morning release. Strange 
 that where nature most lavishes her wealth of charms and 
 favors, the listlessness of perverse man responds in un- 
 grateful contrasts rather than in harmonies. Havana has 
 the interest of age, with the drawbacks incident to hered- 
 itary indifference to progressive change. As in all im- 
 portant cities there are sharp contrasts in its quarters. 
 With long avenues of stately mansions, marble-like and 
 colonnaded, and exquisitely designed courtyards, there are 
 unpaved thoroughfares with an open sewer in the mid- 
 roadway, flanked by tenement houses with a family in 
 each room. Most of Havana's two hundred thousand citi- 
 zens live in one-story buildings, lacking conveniences which 
 the poorest American considers necessities. The older 
 streets are mere alleys, about twenty feet wide, of which 
 the sidewalks take up seven. Light and ample ventila- 
 tion are obtained by grated window-openings without 
 frames or glass. The dwellings and public buildings 
 throughout Cuba are planned to give free passage to every 
 zephyr that wafts relief from the oppressive heat. This is 
 not because the thermometer mounts much higher than it 
 does in the United States, for it never touches the records 
 of our great cities, where a hundred in the shade is not 
 
Leigh] :NEW DEPENDENCIES OF THE U. 8. 11 
 
 unknown. From 80 to 50 degrees is the year's average, 
 and it is this steady continuance of warmth that tries 
 strength and temper. 
 
 In the better districts of Havana the driveways are 
 twenty-three feet and the sidewalks about ten feet wide. 
 Politeness keeps native and foreign men hopping up and 
 down the foot deep curb to allow ladies a fair share of 
 elbow-room on the pavements. Your guest-chamber in 
 a well-to-do family residence has probably a window twenty 
 by eight feet, sashless, but with several lace curtains and 
 shutters to suit the weather. The walls are tinted with 
 the Spaniard's eye for rich color display, the massive fur- 
 niture is solid carved old mahogany, and the graceful mos- 
 quito curtains suggest experiences better left untold. 
 House-rent is high, owing to the heavy taxation, which will 
 doubtless be modified after American administration has 
 put the city in a sanitary condition. Flour used to cost 
 the poorer classes from two to three times its price in the 
 United States. 
 
 Before we leave the capital for the interior we must 
 note two or three of the time-mellowed edifices, which 
 give the flavor of old-world medisevalism to the island. 
 The gloomy Morro Castle is familiar in the chronicles of 
 the war. It stands guard at the water-gate of the city, 
 a grim-visaged dungeon that echoes with the despairing 
 groans of more victims of cruel oppression than can ever 
 be counted. A more cheerful landmark is the old Cathedral, 
 looking as if it dates further back than 1724, cooped up 
 in its crowded quarter. Here rest the ashes of Colum- 
 bus, say the faithful, and they are probably right. He 
 died in Spain May 20, 1506. In 1856 his bones were 
 brought to San Domingo and from there were transferred 
 in January, 1796, to this Cathedral, where they rest in 
 the wall behind the bust and tablet to his memory. The 
 
12 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Leigh 
 
 elaborate monument under the dome is a splendid work 
 of art. Four life-size sculptured ecclesiastics bear a sar- 
 cophagus on their shoulders. There is also a supposed por- 
 trait bust on a mural tablet. 
 
 The Spanish element in the city is popularly said to 
 be an exaggeration of the old country quality. The Tacon 
 theatre holds three thousand people. Cafes and restau- 
 rants abound, and never lack customers. Some day Ha- 
 vana may be transformed into a nearer Paris, with a larger 
 American colony than haunts the dearer city across the 
 sea. Cuba has nearly the same area as England. The 
 Province of Havana has a population of 452,000, of whom 
 107,500 are black. Large tracts of the island have not 
 yet been explored. The long years of intermittent bat- 
 tling between the Cubans and Spaniards have grievously 
 hindered progress in all directions. Xature is bountiful 
 beyond belief, yet her overtures have been scorned, partly 
 because of native inertia, but mainly through dread of loss. 
 Both sides have been guilty of laying waste vast areas 
 of cultivated land, ruining its husbandmen, capitalists and 
 laborers alike. The millennium bids fair to come before 
 long. Peace is restoring confidence. The reign of justice 
 will bring capital and labor back to the soil and tempt 
 American migration to the cities and towns, where life 
 can be lived so enjoyably by those who bring modern meth- 
 ods and ideas to bear in the task of converting a man- 
 made wilderness into an alluring paradise. Not long ago 
 an American bought seventy acres of ground in Trinidad 
 valley, which he cleared and planted at a cost of $3,070 
 for the first year. The second year's cultivation cost 
 $1,120. He made it a banana orchard. At the end of 
 the second year he had realized $30,680 net profit by 
 the sale of his crop of 54,000 bunches. 
 
Leigh] NEW DEPENDENCIES OF THE U. S. 13 
 
 Havana has the cosmopolitan air. Clubs, cafes, and en- 
 tertainments abound and flourish. Its suburbs and near- 
 by towns afford all the allurements the modern city-man 
 seeks in country life. The rural charms of Marianao are 
 unsurpassed in any land. Ornately simple architecture 
 marks the columned houses of its best street. Around it 
 are the cosy cottages in their luxuriant gardens, and beyond 
 these the open country, a veritable Eden of foliage, flow- 
 ers and fruit. In one spot a famous old banyan tree 
 has thrown out its limbs, thrusting them deep into the soil 
 till they have sprouted and spread over a five-acre field. 
 
 As we traverse the garden landscape in any settled part 
 of the island, and in Porto Eico, we note the habits of 
 the rustic native in his interesting simplicity. Poor 
 enough in all conscience, but wonderfully contented with 
 his crust of bread, his cigarette, the family pig, bananas 
 for the pickaninnies' staple fare, and the frequent sips 
 of rum which are to the West Indian laborer what 
 beefsteak is to the American toiler. He is by no means 
 a drunkard, and if he lacks book-learning he excels in 
 some civic virtues of the homelier kind, and is not extrava- 
 gant in his tailor-bills. The children's costume is usually 
 that of Eve before the fall, and the apparel of a goodly 
 family might be bought for the price of a dude's red vest. 
 
 Cock-fighting is the favorite native sport. It is en- 
 countered at any hour, anywhere. There are other sports, 
 such as boar hunts, spearing fish, not to mention that of 
 killing tarantulas, sand-flies, land-crabs, and the gentle 
 crocodile. The thousand miles of steam railway in Cuba 
 are unevenly distributed. From Havana the trip through 
 Pinar del Eio gives an astounding revelation of the wealth 
 of forest and soil and mines. Devastated as so much of 
 this country was during the long years of dragging war. 
 
14 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Leigh 
 
 its charms of scenery and possibilities of development will 
 work its speedy salvation. A single acre of choice land 
 has produced $3,000 worth of tobacco. 
 
 Two crops of corn and two of strawberries grow each 
 year, vegetables and many fruits are superabundant, yet 
 wheat and flour aye imported, and cotton, besides other 
 important staples, can be successfully cultivated. 
 
 Journeying to the charming Isle of Pines, and then 
 south and east through Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Puerto 
 Principe to Santiago, there is the same invitation of Na- 
 ture to come and enjoy all that makes earth lovely. The 
 island is dotted with towns large and small having much 
 the same characteristics as Havana. Her virgin forests 
 have some of the richest woods known to commerce. Her 
 hills hold stores of iron, copper, coal and other minerals. 
 Her soil is ready to peld many-fold to the courageous cul- 
 tivator. When the swords have been turned into plough- 
 shares and the spears to j)runing-hooks, there will come a 
 new day for the native Cuban. He will feel himself lib- 
 erated from the hindering rancors and jealousies, inevit- 
 able in the light of recent history, which alone now stand 
 between his beautiful island and the prosperity that hov- 
 ers, waiting his encouragement to alight. Then the trav- 
 eller will return with reports of Havana rejuvenated, her 
 harbor dredged and purified, her highways paved, homes 
 made healthy and the whole island lifted to the higher 
 and happier plane that will give the Pearl of the Antilles 
 its rightful setting among the other gems of God's earth. 
 
 Porto Eico, the "rich port," so named by Columbus, 
 came gladly under the American flag. Its population of 
 about 900,000 has had a sorrv time for three hundred vears. 
 They have been steeped in spiritless poverty from first to 
 last, so used to the oppressors yoke that ambition seems 
 to have been crushed. Yet their island is an earthly para- 
 
LeighI 2fEW DEPENDENCIES OF THE U. S. 15 
 
 dise, save for its rain-storms and occasional droughts. 
 It is rich in undeveloped mineral deposits and splendid 
 forests. Nature has helped to discourage native effort 
 by providing the means of sustenance over-lavishly, in 
 one sense. The people scattered through the interior find 
 everything ready grown to hand. The bulk of the popula- 
 tion throng the shore areas and are as listlessly happy 
 with the minimum of life's necessaries as are the animals. 
 
 Spain has left its mark upon the island, a mark rep- 
 resenting a civilization not to be sneered at, though not 
 of the modern stamp. Eange through the island's lovely 
 valleys, struggle up its mountain slopes to isolated ham- 
 lets where primitive life lingers in all its bewildering un- 
 loveliness; thread the rude thoroughfare of its picturesque 
 towns, and you will come upon replicas of the familiar 
 Spanish church, the symbol and centre of an ever potent 
 influence for good. With all its faults, this local haven of 
 peace and good cheer has tempered the lot of generations 
 that never fully realized the hopelessness of their fate. 
 A venerable church peeping out of a leafy glade gives a 
 touch of poetic grace to the landscape. It is something, 
 perhaps, though not very much, that sectarian animosities 
 do not embitter the easy minds of these peasants, who dwell 
 together in enviable fraternity. 
 
 Porto Rico is only one of some thirteen hundred islands 
 in the "West Indies that are now in the American fold. 
 It has several large towns that will intensely interest the 
 traveller. San Juan, with twenty-five 'thousand inhabi- 
 tants, is the principal city. A fine old military road runs 
 from it across the mountains to Ponce, on the south shore. 
 It is twenty feet wide, hard and dustless, winds along 
 through eighty miles of scenery unsurpassed in any coun- 
 try, though the island is only forty miles directly across. 
 
16 WORLD'S ORE AT TRAVELLERS. [Leigh 
 
 Every considerable town has its cathedral. That at 
 Sabana Grande was built in 1610. Some of them have 
 gorgeous altars and precious paintings. In one little 
 church the figure of the Blessed Virgin is of pure gold. 
 Another has an altar of silver. 
 
 The retail stores in the cities make little or no front 
 display. The store is virtually a sample room, with ex- 
 tensive warehouses in the rear. Town life is, in its way, 
 Parisian. The cathedral stands in a square or park, the 
 promenade and gossiping ground for both sexes. The 
 midday siesta is the rule, a two hours' cessation from the 
 round of toil. The evenings are given to music and 
 dancing, or the merry chatter of groups as they enjoy the 
 strains of the band. The lacy mantilla adds grace to the 
 generally captivating beauty of the women, as they cun- 
 ningly drape it over their heads to take the place of hats. 
 The palms and cocoa-nut trees, the clusters of coffee-trees, 
 the sugar-cane, the groves of oranges, lemons, bananas, and 
 other fruits lend great beauty to the landscape. Tobacco 
 is largely cultivated, with plenty of inducements for a 
 more systematic treatment of a commodity which ought 
 greatly to increase the wealth of the island. 
 
 Since it has come under American influence many 
 improvements have been effected. The cities are treated 
 to the modern system of drainage, and roads have been 
 constructed which will make traffic between the towns 
 easier and thus encourage trade. 
 
 Exceptionally fierce hurricanes and floods wrought havoc 
 with many plantations soon after the war. Other mis- 
 fortunes plunged the always poor laboring class into abso- 
 lute starvation, many of the well-to-do were ruined, and 
 business has been severely hampered by questions of tariff 
 arising out of the change in political status. The United 
 
Leigh] NEW DEPENDENCIES OF TEE U. 8. 11 
 
 States government has done much and will continue its 
 kindly endeavors to ameliorate the condition of these peo- 
 ple. With the speedy return of good times there ought 
 to be a growing stream of pleasure as well as business 
 traffic to an island so exceptionally rich in the natural 
 features which give fresh delight to the travelled eye and 
 unfold a new world of charm to the fortunate ©nes who 
 go abroad for the first time. 
 
 Honolulu, the capital of the Hawaiian group, has long 
 been an American city in all but name. The geographical 
 position of the islands destined them to come within the 
 pale of our civilization. Within a century the natives 
 have been transformed from a state of animalism into a 
 self-respecting, progressive people. While the aborigines 
 have been rapidly dying out there has been a steady 
 influx of new blood from various sources. The popula- 
 tion is about 120,000, immigrants from Japan and Portu- 
 gal forming a considerable proportion of the laboring 
 class. Chinese immigration has been restricted. 
 
 The traveller might almost imagine himself in some 
 New England or Pennsylvania town as he drives through 
 the streets of Honolulu. The capital is laid out on the 
 American plan, the churches and houses might have been 
 transplanted by a cyclone, and the very attire of the peo- 
 ple in general keeps up the illusion of being at home 
 from home. The palace of the last king and queen bears 
 as little relation to the hut of their great predecessor, 
 Kamehameha the First, as do the New York tailor-made 
 suits and dresses of the citizens of Honolulu to the scanty 
 loin-cloth which their grandparents considered the height 
 of Sandwich Islands fashion. 
 
 More and more will these lovely isles become the pleas- 
 ure-grounds for our people and for all world-tourists. The 
 
 Vol. 1—2 
 
18 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Leigh 
 
 important practical value of their annexation will be bet- 
 ter understood if it ever becomes necessary to back up the 
 essential principle of the Monroe Doctrine against foreign 
 foes. As a grovt'ing metropolis Honolulu has charms of 
 its own independent of the ideal climate and luxuriant 
 flora of the twelve islands. 
 
 The narratives of the first travellers to Owhyee, as 
 they styled it, glowed with descriptions of the voluptuous 
 charms of the natives, whose life was a round of pleas- 
 ure, untempered by the wholesome necessity for hard toil. 
 li was a lotos land for all who sojourned there. The 
 harmful consequences of unwholesome ease are not yet 
 eradicated. Christianity has achieved almost miraculous 
 triumphs, and the conditions of modern life in crowded 
 communities are helping to harden the native tempera- 
 ment. The leper colony in Molokai is one of several sad 
 sights which are, perhaps, better left unseen. Also the 
 clandestine Saturnalia still kept up on the old lines, with 
 some winking or dozing on the part of natives in authority. 
 
 Trips can be made to the surrounding islands, famous 
 for their volcanic mountains and tropical verdure. The 
 largest active crater in the world is that of Kilauea, being 
 nine miles in circumference, with vertical sides about one 
 thousand feet deep and at the bottom a lake of molten lava, 
 boiling furiously in some parts and throwing off fibres like 
 spun silk which float in the air. These craters are apt 
 to break into activity without warning. 
 
 City life in Honolulu, as already remarked, can almost 
 delude a fSoutherner into fancying himself at home. It 
 is quite cosmopolitan in its degree. There are well- 
 equipped hotels, an English library, street railways, elec- 
 tric lights, telephones, insurance offices, colonies and clubs 
 of American and British lawyers, business men, physicians 
 and journalists. Modern progress is strikingly impressed 
 
PAT-RIO-riSM 
 
 A photogravure reproductimt of one of a series of eight panels in 
 the Librajy of Congress at Washington, representing '•*• The Vir- 
 tues'*'* — Fortitude, Justice, Patriotism, Courage, Temperance, Pru- 
 dence, Industry and Concord. << Patriotism ** is here represented 
 as feeding an eagle, the emblem of America, from a golden bowl, 
 symbolizing the nourishment given by this Virtue to the spirit ef 
 the nation. 
 
Leigh] ^EW DEPENDENCIES OF TEE V. S. 19 
 
 on the visitor who draws his own picture of the primitive 
 semi-savages he expects to see, when he hears the familiar 
 hum of mills and factories, the roar and pounding noises 
 of foundries, and the imposing array of wharves and ves- 
 sels. Hawaii is a natural hub of the wheel of world- 
 trafhc. From its ports there is a large and fast-growing 
 steamship trade with the principal commercial centres 
 all over the globe. We shall pass from Honolulu round 
 to the Philippines in the easiest fashion. One is sur- 
 prised at the number of Chinese and Japanese laborers in 
 Hawaii, some of whom have prospered and own large 
 business establishments. The foreign element in the labor 
 field has been a source of mild trouble but is now in a 
 fair way to solve itself. A gratifying feature is the public 
 school system. Everywhere are centres of light and learn- 
 ing, promising a grand future for the island population. 
 The abundant yield of rice, sugar, coffee, bananas, and 
 other foodstuffs is mostly bought for the American people. 
 
 The pleasures and pains of the voyage to the Philippines 
 have been the subject of too many public letters since the 
 war to need re-telling. The two thousand islands which, 
 form the little-known archipelago are the homes of a 
 number of mixed tribes, with whom the traveller will 
 not crave intimate acquaintance for some time. In Luzon, 
 the chief island, we may feel fairly at home, now that 
 its all but pathless wilds, as well as its long-settled towns 
 and hamlets, are sprinkled with American soldiers. In 
 time, doubtless, scientific exploration will approximately 
 fix the value of the mineral and arable fields of the archi- 
 pelago. Until knowledge increases in this direction there 
 will not be much inducement to roam among peoples with 
 questionable manners, strange religions and outlandish 
 dialects. The Tagal folk has reached, as regards the more 
 
20 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Leigh 
 
 favored class, a high degree of civilization. The Malay 
 blood has peculiarities of its own. Under long-continued 
 Spanish rule the Luzon native has developed intellectually 
 and nurtured an ambition for self-government. This half- 
 amicable, half-hostile relationship between the Spanish 
 friars, who have been the spiritual, and perhaps still more 
 the civic, trainers and masters of the natives, is a most 
 interesting study for the newly arrived visitor. 
 
 Landing at Manila, the commercial centre and capital 
 of the islands, we find ourselves in a city blending the 
 characteristics of an old-fashioned Spanish town with the 
 mild business air of a third-rate western port. The build- 
 ings speak of the tropical perils to be encountered. Dew- 
 ey's bombardment was more generous than the earthquakes 
 and gales that smote the Cathedral. These visitations come 
 oftener than those of angels. Houses are built low and 
 massively on the ground floor, to insure that a one-story 
 home shall remain when the upstairs section flies away. 
 Terrific gales come unannounced and life is temporarily 
 suspended until it is possible to swim into the streets 
 and rake in the flotsam and jetsam that once lodged within 
 your walls. Periodical rains lend variety to the novice's 
 experience. They descend in Niagaras, giving free and 
 wholesome baths to the many who need them and to those 
 ■who need them not, and give the mud lanes that serve 
 for streets a timely cleaning up. The rainfall record 
 lias shown as much as 114 inches in a year. 
 
 Your hotel will be the perfection of cleanliness, but the 
 window openings are vast and glass-panes are unknown. 
 The mahogany bedstead is bedless, a mat of woven cane 
 strips, bare of everything that can encourage warmth or 
 harbor little neighbors, but winged visitors float in to 
 remind the sleeper he is not in the Waldorf-Astoria, and 
 then depart, perhaps. By day life can be very enjoyable. 
 
Leigh] NEW DEPENDENCIES OP THE U. 8. 21 
 
 Churches, which are largely art-galleries also, fine squares 
 and promenades, fashionable drives, town clubs and coun- 
 try clubs, shared by the American, English, and Germaa 
 business men, these and other aids to happiness flourish 
 in Manila and suburbs. 
 
 The general aspect of Philippine scenery to the untu- 
 tored eye of a stranger resembles the tropical views already 
 described, allowance being made for differing conditions. 
 When the fortunes of war brought the islands within our 
 ken the principal trade was divided between Spain and 
 outside countries. The treaty of 1898 brought the archi- 
 pelago into closer trade relations, with mutual advantages. 
 When Aguinaldo, the Tagal leader, declared his allegiance 
 to the United States, the fact assured the establisliment 
 of a friendly arrangement which in time will bring high 
 prosperity to the islands and civilization to their people. 
 The two hundred thousand who live in and around Manila 
 are mainly Christians. 
 
 Generally the natives with whom we are in closest con- 
 tact are a civil and good-tempered people. Picturesque in 
 costume, or the lack of it, they share with the scenery 
 around the characteristic freedom from commonplace. 
 Prolonged familiarity with modern methods of culture 
 will take much of the charm out of life in the Philip- 
 pines, replacing it, no douht, with the practical methods 
 which conduce to progress. A voyage to these distant 
 islands affords a rare opportunity to trace the process of 
 evolution from the simple and natural to the complex 
 machinery which is grinding organized society into drab- 
 tinted duplications of a rather uninteresting original. 
 
22 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Martinbati 
 
 WINTER AND SUMMER IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 HARRIET MARTINEAU. 
 
 [The "Society in America" and the "Retrospect of Western 
 Travel," by Harriet Martineau, contain many interesting pictures of 
 life and scenery in the United States. Of the descriptive passages of 
 the latter work we select that detailing her experience of winter weather 
 in Boston, which she seems to have looked upon with true English 
 €yes, and not with the vision of one " to the manner born."] 
 
 I BELIEVE no one attempts to praise the climate of New 
 England. The very low average of health there, the prev- 
 alence of consumption and of decay of the teeth, are evi- 
 dences of an unwholesome climate which I believe are 
 universally received as such. The mortality among chil- 
 dren throughout the whole country is a dark feature of 
 life in the United States. . . . Wherever we went in the 
 i^orth we heard of the " lung fever" as a common com- 
 plaint, and children seemed to be as liable to it as grown 
 persons. 
 
 The climate is doubtless chiefly to bTame for all this, and 
 I do not see how anv degree of care could obviate much 
 of the evil. The children must be kept warm within- 
 doors ; and the only way of affording them the range of 
 the house is by warming the whole, from the cellar to the 
 garret, by means of a furnace in the hall. This makes all 
 ■comfortable within ; but, then, the risk of going out is very 
 ^reat. There is far less fog and damp than in England, 
 and the perfectly calm, sunny days of midwinter are en- 
 durable ; but the least breath of wind seems to chill one's 
 very life. I had no idea what the suffering from extreme 
 cold amounted to till one day, in Boston, I walked the 
 
Martineau] winter AND SUMMER. 23 
 
 length of the city and back again in a wind, with the ther- 
 mometer seven degrees and a half below zero. I had been 
 warned of the cold, but was anxious to keep an appoint- 
 ment to attend a meeting. We put on all the merinoes and 
 furs we could muster, but we were insensible of them from 
 the moment the wind reached us. My muff seemed to be 
 made of ice ; I almost fancied I should have been warmer 
 without it. "We managed getting to the meeting pretty 
 well, the stock of warmth we had brought out with us last- 
 ing till then. But we set out cold on our return, and by 
 the time I got home I did not very well know where I was 
 and what I was about. The stupefaction from cold is par- 
 ticularly disagreeable, the sense of pain remaining through 
 it, and I determined not to expose myself to it again. All 
 this must be dangerous to children ; and if, to avoid it, they 
 are shut up through the winter, there remains the danger 
 of encountering the ungenial spring. . . . 
 
 Every season, however, has its peculiar pleasures, and 
 in the retrospect these shine out brightly, while the evils 
 disappear. 
 
 On a December morning you are awakened by the 
 domestic scraping at your hearth. Your anthracite fire 
 has been in all night ; and now the ashes are carried away, 
 more coal is put on, and the blower hides the kindly red 
 from you for a time. In half an hour the fire is intense, 
 though, at the other end of the room, everything you touch 
 seems to blister your fingers with cold. If you happen to 
 turn up a corner of the carpet with your foot, it gives out 
 a flash, and your hair crackles as you brush it. Breakfast 
 is always hot, be the weather what it may. The coffee is 
 scalding, and the buckwheat cakes steam when the cover is 
 taken off. Your host's little boy asks whether he may go 
 coasting to-day, and his sisters tell you what days the 
 schools will all go sleighing. You may see boys coasting on 
 
24 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Martineait 
 
 Boston Common all the winter day through, and too many 
 in the streets, where it is not so safe. 
 
 To coast is to ride on a board down a frozen slope, and 
 many children do this in the steep streets which lead down 
 to the Common, as well as on the snowy slopes within the 
 enclosure where no carriages go. Some sit on their heels 
 on the board, some on their crossed legs. Some strike 
 their legs out, put their arms akimbo, and so assume an air 
 of defiance amid their velocity. Others prefer lying on 
 their stomachs, and so going headforemost, an attitude 
 whose comfort I could never enter into. Coasting is a 
 wholesome exercise for hardy boys. Of course, they have 
 to walk up the ascent, carrying their boards between every 
 feat of coasting; and this affords them more exercise than 
 they are at all aware of taking. 
 
 As for the sleighing, I heard much more than I experi- 
 enced of its charms. No doubt early association has some- 
 thing to do with the American fondness for this mode of 
 locomotion, and much of the affection which is borne to 
 music, dancing, supping, and all kinds of frolic is trans- 
 ferred to the vehicle in which the frolicking parties are 
 transported. It must be so, I think, or no one would be 
 found to prefer a carriage on runners to a carriage on 
 wheels, except on an untrodden expanse of snow. On a 
 perfectly level and crisp surface I can fancy the smooth, 
 rapid motion to be exceedingly pleasant ; but such surfaces 
 are rare in the neighborhood of populous cities. The un- 
 certain, rough motion in streets hillocky with snow, or on 
 roads consisting for the season of a ridge of snow with 
 holes in it, is disagreeable and provocative of headache. I 
 am no rule for others as to liking the bells; but to me 
 their incessant jangle was a great annoyance. Add to this 
 the sitting, without exercise, in a wind caused by the rapid- 
 ity of the motion, and the list of desagremens is complete. 
 
Martinkau] winter and SUMMER. 25 
 
 I do not know the author of a description of sleighing 
 which was quoted to me, but I admire it for its fidelity. 
 " Do you want to know what sleighing is Uke ? You can 
 soon try. Set your chair on a spring-board out on the 
 porch on Christmas-day; put your feet in a pailful of 
 powdered ice ; have somebody to jingle a bell in one ear, 
 and somebody else to blow into the other with the bellows, 
 and you will have an exact idea of sleighing." 
 
 [This quotation would appear to be a variant of Dr. Franklin's 
 recipe for sleighing. As for Miss Martineau's experience " behind the 
 bells," it seems to have been very unfortunate.] 
 
 If the morning be fine, you have calls to make, or shop- 
 ping to do, or some meeting to attend. If the streets be 
 coated with ice, you put on your India-rubber shoes — un- 
 soled — to guard you from slipping. If not, you are pretty 
 sure to measure your length on the pavement before your 
 own door. Some of the handsomest houses in Boston, 
 those which boast the finest flights of steps, have planks 
 laid on the steps during the season of frost, the wood being 
 less slippery than stone. If, as sometimes happens, a warm 
 wind should be suddenly breathing over the snow, you go 
 back to change your shoes, India-rubbers being as slippery 
 in wet as leather soles are on ice. [It must be borne in 
 mind that the writer is speaking of the rubber shoes of 
 sixty years ago.] Nothing is seen in England like the 
 streets of Boston and New York at the end of the season, 
 while the thaw is proceeding. The area of the street had 
 been so raised that passengers could look over the blinds 
 of your ground-floor rooms ; when the sidewalks become 
 full of holes and puddles they are cleared, and the pas- 
 sengers are reduced to their proper level ; but the middle 
 of the street remains exalted, and the carriages drive along 
 a ridge. Of course, this soon becomes too dangerous, and 
 
26 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Martiwbau 
 
 for a season ladies and gentlemen walk ; carts tumble, slip, 
 and slide, and get on as they can ; while the mass, now 
 dirty, not only with thaw, but with quantities of refuse 
 vegetables, sweepings of the poor people's houses, and other 
 rubbish which it was difficult to know what to do with 
 while every place was frozen up, daily sinks and dissolves 
 into a composite mud. It was in New York and some of 
 the inferior streets of Boston that I saw this process in its 
 completeness. 
 
 If the morning drives are extended beyond the city there 
 is much to delight the eye. The trees are cased in ice ; and 
 when the sun shines out suddenly the whole scene looks 
 like one diffused rainbow, dressed in a brilliancy which can 
 hardly be conceived of in England. On days less bright, 
 the blue harbor spreads in strong contrast with the sheeted 
 snow which extends to its very brink. . . . 
 
 The skysights of the colder regions of the United States 
 are resplendent in winter. I saw more of the aurora 
 borealis, more falling stars and other meteors, during my 
 stay in New England than in the whole course of my life 
 before. Every one knows that splendid and mysterious 
 exhibitions have taken place in all the Novembers of the 
 last four years, furnishing interest and business to the 
 astronomical world. The most remarkable exhibitions 
 were in the Novembers of 1833 and 1835, the last of which 
 I saw. . . . 
 
 On the 17th of November in question, that of 1835, I 
 was staying in the house of one of the professors of Har- 
 vard University at Cambridge. The professor and his son 
 John came in from a lecture at nine o'clock, and told us 
 that it was nearly as light as day, though there was no 
 moon. The sky presented as yet no remarkable appear- 
 ance, but the fact set us telling stories of skysights. A 
 venerable professor told us of a blood-red heaven which 
 
CATSKIl-LS — SUMRISE RRO M SOUTH 
 MOU MTAI N 
 
 From a Steeu Ri-ate: 
 
Martinkau] winter AND SUMMER. 27 
 
 shone down on a night of the year 1789, when an old lady 
 interpreted the whole French Eevolution from what she 
 saw. None of us had any call to prophesying this night. 
 John looked out from time to time while we were about the 
 piano, but our singing had come to a conclusion before he 
 brought us news of a very strange sky. It was now near 
 eleven. We put cloaks and shawls over our heads, and 
 hurried into the garden. It was a mild night, and about 
 as light as with half a moon. There was a beautiful rose- 
 colored flush across the entire heavens, from southeast to 
 northwest. This was every moment brightening, contract- 
 ing in length, and dilating in breadth. 
 
 My host ran off without his hat to call the Natural His- 
 tory professor. On the way he passed a gentleman who 
 was trudging along, pondering the ground. " A remark- 
 able night, sir," cried my host. " Sir I how, sir ?" replied the 
 pedestrian. " Why, look above your head !" The startled 
 walker ran back to the house he had left to make every- 
 body gaze. There was some debate about ringing the 
 college-bell, but it was agreed that it would cause too much 
 alarm. 
 
 The Natural Philosophy professor came forth in curious 
 trim, and his household and ours joined in the road. One 
 lady was in her nightcap, another with a handkerchief 
 tied over her head, while we were cowled in cloaks. The 
 sky was now resplendent. It was like a blood-red dome, a 
 good deal pointed. Streams of a greenish-white light radi- 
 ated from the centre in all directions. The colors were so 
 deep, especially the red, as to give an opaque appearance 
 to the canopy , and as Orion and the Pleiades and many 
 more stars could be distinctly seen, the whole looked like 
 a vast dome inlaid with constellations. These skysights 
 make one shiver, so new are they, so splendid, so mys- 
 terious. We saw the heavens grow pale, and before mid- 
 
28 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Mabtinkaxj 
 
 night believed that the mighty show was over ; but we had 
 the mortification of hearing afterwards that at one o'clock 
 it was brighter than ever, and as light as day. 
 
 Such are some of the wintry characteristics of New 
 England. 
 
 If I lived in Massachusetts, my residence during the hot 
 months should be beside one of its ponds. These ponds 
 are a peculiarity in New England scenery very striking to 
 the traveller. Geologists tell us of the time when the 
 valleys were chains of lakes ; and in many parts the eye 
 of the observer would detect this without the aid of science. 
 There are many fields and clusters of fields of remarkable 
 fertility, lying in basins, the sides of which have much the 
 appearance of the greener and smoother of the dykes of 
 Holland. These suggest the idea of their having been 
 ponds at the first glance. Many remain filled with clear 
 water, the prettiest meres in the world. A cottage on 
 Jamaica Pond, for instance, within an easy ride of Boston, 
 is a luxurious summer abode. I know of one unequalled in 
 its attractions, Avith its flower-garden, its lawn, with banks 
 shelving down to the mere, — banks dark with nestling pines, 
 from under whose shade the bright track of the moon may 
 be seen, lying cool on the rippling waters. A boat is 
 moored in the cove at hand. The cottage itself is built for 
 coolness, and the broad piazza is draperied with vines, 
 which keep out the sun from the shaded parlor. 
 
 The way to make the most of a summer's day in a place 
 like this is to rise at four, mount your horse and ride 
 through the lanes for two' hours, finding breakfast ready 
 on your retuim. If you do not ride, you slip down to the 
 bathing-house on the creek ; and, once having closed the 
 door, have the shallow water completely to yourself, care- 
 fully avoiding going beyond the deep-water mark, where 
 no one knows how deep the mere may be. After break- 
 
Marti WE Au} WINTER AND SUMMER. 29 
 
 fast you should dress your flowers, before those you gather 
 have quite lost the morning dew. The business of the 
 day, be it what it may, housekeeping, study, teaching, 
 authorship, or charity, will occupy you till dinner at two. 
 You have your dessert carried into the piazza, where, 
 catching glimpses of the mere through the wood on the 
 banks, your watermelon tastes cooler than within, and 
 you have a better chance of a visit from a pair of hum- 
 ming-birds. 
 
 You retire to your room, all shaded with green blinds, lie 
 down with a book in your hands, and sleep Roundly for two 
 hours at least. When you wake and look out, the shadows 
 are lengthening on the lawn, and the hot haze has melted 
 away. You hear a carriage behind the fence, and conclude 
 that friends from the city are coming to spend the evening 
 with you. They sit within till after tea, telling you that 
 you are living in the sweetest place in the world. When 
 the sun sets you all walk out, dispersing in the shrubbery 
 or on the banks. When the moon shows herself above the 
 opposite woods, the merry voices of the young people are 
 heard from the cove, where the boys are getting out the 
 boat. You stand, with a companion or two, under the 
 pines, watching the progress of the skiff and the receding 
 splash of the oars. If you have any one, as I had, to sing 
 German popular songs to you, the enchantment is all the 
 greater. Y'ou are capriciously lighted home by fireflies, 
 and there is your table covered with fruit and iced lemonade. 
 When your friends have left you you would fain forget it 
 is time to rest, and your last act before you sleep is to look 
 out once more from your balcony upon the silvery mere 
 and moonlit lawn. 
 
 The only times when I felt disposed to quarrel with the 
 inexhaustible American mirth was on the hottest days of 
 summer. I liked it as well as ever ; but European strength 
 
30 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Martineau 
 
 will not stand more than an hour or two of laughter in 
 Buch seasons. I remember one day when the American 
 part of the company was as much exhausted as the Eng- 
 lish. We had gone, a party of six, to spend a long day 
 with a merry household in a country village, and, to avoid 
 the heat, had performed the journey of sixteen miles before 
 ten o'clock. For three hours after our arrival the wit was 
 in full flow ; by which time we were all begging for mercy, 
 for we could laugh no longer with any safety. Still, a little 
 more fun was dropped all round, till we found that the 
 only way was to separate, and we all turned out of doors. 
 I cannot conceive how it is that so little has been heard 
 in England of the mirth of the Americans ; for certainly 
 nothing in their manner struck and pleased me more. One 
 of the rarest characters among them, and a great treasure 
 to all his sportive neighbors, is a man who cannot take a 
 joke. 
 
 The prettiest playthings of summer are the humming- 
 birds. I call them playthings because they are easily tamed, 
 and are not very difficult to take care of for a time. It is 
 impossible to attend to book, work, or conversation while 
 there is a humming-bird in sight, its exercises and vagaries 
 are so rapid and beautiful. Its prettiest attitude is vi- 
 brating before a blossom which is tossed in the wind. Its 
 long beak is inserted in the flower, and the bird rises and 
 falls with it, quivering its burnished wings with dazzling 
 
 rapidity. My friend E told me how she had succeeded 
 
 in taming a pair. One flew into the parlor where she was 
 
 sitting, and perched. E 's sister stepped out for a branch 
 
 of honeysuckle, which she stuck up over the mirror. The 
 other bird followed, and the pair alighted on the branch, 
 
 flew off, and returned to it. E procured another branch, 
 
 and held it on the top of her head ; and thither also the 
 little creatures came without fear. She next held it in her 
 
Morris] NIAGARA AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 31 
 
 hand, and still they hovered and settled. They bore being 
 shut in for the night, a nest of cotton-wool being provided. 
 Of course, it was impossible to furnish them with honey- 
 suckles enough for food ; and sugar-and-water was tried, 
 which they seemed to relish very well. 
 
 One day, however, when E was out of the room, one 
 
 of the little creatures was too greedy in the saucer; and, 
 
 when E returned, she found it lying on its side, with its 
 
 wings stuck to its body and its whole little person clammy 
 
 with sugar. E tried a sponge and warm water : it was 
 
 too harsh ; she tried old linen, but it was not soft enough ; 
 it then occurred to her that the softest of all substances is 
 the human tongue. In her love for her little companion 
 she thus cleansed it, and succeeded perfectly, so far as the 
 outward bird was concerned. But though it attempted to 
 fly a little, it never recovered, but soon died of its surfeit. 
 Its mate was, of course, allowed to fly away. 
 
 NIAGARA FALLS AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 
 
 CHARLES MORRIS. 
 
 [Among travellers' descriptions of the natural marvels of this con- 
 tinent, much has been written of perhaps the greatest of them all, the 
 celebrated cataract of the Niagara River. The Thousand Islands have 
 also excited much admiration. Fortunately, these two scenic wonders 
 are sufficiently contiguous to be dealt with in one record, and the 
 compiler of the present work ventures to give his own impressions 
 of them, from a printed statement made some twenty-five years ago.] 
 
 Who has not read in story and seen in picture, countless 
 times, how the water goes over at Niagara ? I came here 
 expecting to find every curve and plunge of the river ap- 
 pealing like a household thing to my memory. So in 
 
32 IVORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Morrio 
 
 great measure it proved, yet travellers never succeed in 
 exhausting a situation in their narratives ; something of 
 the unexpected always remains to freshen the sated appe- 
 tite of new-comers. 
 
 Tourists are apt to be disappointed at first sight of the 
 cataract. Their expectations have been overwhetted ; and, 
 moreover, the first glance is usually obtained from the 
 American shore, an edgewise view that gives but an ink- 
 ling of the full majesty of the scene. Yet even from this 
 point of view we behold the river, almost at our feet, rush- 
 ing with concentrated energy to the brink of the precipice, 
 and pouring headlong, in an agony of froth and foam, into 
 a fearful void, from which forever rises a rainbow-crowned 
 mist. To stand on the brink and gaze into this terrible 
 abyss, with the foaming waters plunging in a white wall 
 downward, is apt to rouse an undefined desire to east 
 one's self after the torrent, while minute by minute the 
 mind grows into a realization of the sublimity of Niagara. 
 
 But to behold the cataract in the fulness of its might 
 and glory one must cross to the Canadian shore, and make 
 his way on foot from the bridge westward. Carriages will 
 be found in abundance, manned by drivers more importu- 
 nate than mellifluous ; but if the tourist would see the 
 Falls at leisure and from every point of view, he must be 
 obdurate, and resolutely foot his way along the river's pre- 
 cipitous bank. 
 
 First, arriving opposite the American Fall, we seat our- 
 selves under a tree, and gaze with admiration on this mag- 
 nificent water front, spread before us in one broad, straight 
 sheet of milk-white foam, swooping ever downward with 
 graceful undulations, until beaten into mist on the rocks 
 below. 
 
 Passing onward, we approach that grand curved reach 
 of falling water, whose sublime aspect has been a fruitful 
 
Morris] NIAGARA AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 33 
 
 theme for poet and artist since America has had poetry 
 and art. The Horseshoe Fall is the paragon of cataracts. 
 Sitting on what remains of Table-Rock, and gazing on the 
 tumbling, heaving, foaming world of waters, which seem 
 to fill the whole horizon of vision, the mind becomes op- 
 pressed with a feeling of awe, and realizes to its full extent 
 nature's grandest vision. 
 
 With one vast leap the broad river shoots headlong into 
 an abyss whose real depth we are left to imagine, since the 
 feet of the cataract are forever hidden in a white cloud of 
 mist, shrouded in a dense veil which no eye can penetrate. 
 At the centre of the curve, where the water is deepest, the 
 creamy whiteness of the remainder of the cataract is re- 
 placed by a hue of deep green. It seems one vast sheet of 
 hquid emerald, curving gracefully over the edge of the 
 precipice, and swooping downward with endless change 
 yet endless stability, its green tinge relieved with countless 
 flecks of white foam. 
 
 The mind cannot long maintain its high level of appre- 
 ciation of so grand a scene. The mighty monotony of the 
 view soon loses its absorbing hold on the senses, and from 
 sheer reaction one perforce passes to prosaic conceptions 
 of the situation. For our part, we found ourselves pur- 
 chasing popped corn from a peripatetic merchant who 
 ludicrously misplaced the h's in his conversation, and, 
 taking a seat above the Falls, where the edge of the rapids 
 swerved in and broke in mimic billows at our feet, we 
 enjoyed mental and creature comforts together. 
 
 One need but return to the American side, and cross to 
 the islands which partly fill the river above the Falls, to 
 obtain rest for his overstrained brain among quieter aspects 
 of nature. Goat Island one cannot appreciate without a 
 Yisit. Travellers, absorbed in the wilder scenery, rarely do 
 
 justice to its peculiar charm. Instead of the contracted 
 
 Vol. 1—3 
 
34 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Morris 
 
 space one is apt to expect, he finds himself in an area of 
 many acres in extent, probably a mile in circumference, its 
 whole surface to the water's edge covered with dense forest. 
 Passing inward from its shore, scarce twenty steps are 
 taken before every vestige of the river is lost to sight, and 
 on reaching its centre we find ourselves, to all appearance, 
 in the heart of a primeval forest, — only the subdued roar 
 of the rapids reminding us of the grand scene surround- 
 ing. On all sides rise huge trunks of oaks and beeches, 
 straight, magnificent trees, many of the beeches seem- 
 ingly from six to eight feet in circumference, their once 
 smooth bark covered inch by inch with a directory of the 
 names of notoriety-loving visitors. At our feet wild flow- 
 ers bloom, the twittering of birds is heard overhead, nim- 
 ble ground-squirrels fearlessly cross our path, soft mosses 
 and thick grass form a verdant carpet, and on all sides 
 nature presents us one of her most charming phases, a 
 picture from Arcadia framed in the heart of a scene of 
 hurry and turmoil undescribable. 
 
 Near the edge of the Falls a rickety bridge leads to a 
 small island on which stands Terrapin Tower, which yields 
 a fine outlook upon the Horseshoe Fall, with its mists and 
 rainbows. From the opposite side of Goat Island we pass 
 to the charming little Luna Teiland, from whose brink one 
 may lave his hand in the edge of the American Fall. From 
 the upper end of Goat Island bridges lead to the Three 
 Sisters. These are small, thickly-timbered islands, stand- 
 ing in the stream far back from the edge of the precipice, 
 but in the very foam and fume of the rapids, the con- 
 tracted stream dashing under their graceful suspension 
 bridges with frightful speed and roar. 
 
 From the bridge joining the tAvo outer islands one may 
 see the rapids in their wildest aspect. Here the river, 
 dashing fiercely onward, plunges over a shelf of rock six 
 
Morris] NIAGARA AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 35 
 
 or eight feet deep, and is tossed upward in so tumultuous 
 a turmoil of foam that the heart involuntarily stops beat- 
 ing and the teeth set hard, as if one were preparing for 
 a desperate conflict with the fierce power beneath him. 
 From every point on the shore of the outer island the 
 rapids are seen heaving and tossing as far as the sight can 
 reach, like the waves of a sea fretted by contrary winds, 
 here tossed many feet into the air, there sweeping fiercely 
 over a long ledge of rocks, and ever hurrying forward with 
 eager speed to where in the distance we see a long, curved, 
 liquid edge, with a light mist floating upward and hovering^ 
 in the air beyond it. Here one hears only the roar of the 
 rapids. Indeed, anywhere in the nearer vicinity, the sound 
 of the rapids is chiefly heard, the voice of the cataract 
 itself predominating only on the Canadian side near the 
 Horseshoe Fall. 
 
 Here, on this outreaching island, I sat for hours on the 
 gnarled trunk of a fallen tree that overhung the water, 
 drinking in the grandeur and glory of Niagara with a 
 mental thirst that seemed unquenchable, and feeling in my 
 soul that I could willingly stretch the hours into days and 
 the days into weeks, and still descend with regret from 
 the poetry of life into its prose. 
 
 Leaving Niagara, I took car for Lewistown, the railroad 
 running for its whole length in full view of the river, 
 whose lofty and rigidly-erect walls, stretching in unbroken 
 lines for miles below the cataract, give striking evidence 
 of the vast work performed by the stream in cutting its 
 way, century after century, through the ridge of solid lime- 
 stone that separates the lakes. Far down below the level 
 of the railroad the water is seen, placidly winding through 
 the deep gorge, or speeding onward in rapids, its hue in- 
 tensely green, its banks as lofty and precipitous as the Pal- 
 isades of the Hudson. 
 
36 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Morbis 
 
 Before Lewistown is reached the ridge sinlis to the river 
 level. At this point the cataract began its long career, 
 inch by inch eating its way backward through the former 
 rapids, until they were converted into one mighty ver- 
 tical downfall. At Lewistown boat is taken for Toronto, 
 — of which city only a lake view of warehouses and 
 church steeples is seen as we change boats for the lake 
 journey. 
 
 For the rest of the day and evening we steamed along 
 in full view of the Canadian shore, an ever-changing pano- 
 rama of farm lands, sandy bluffs, occasional hamlets, and 
 several towns of some pretensions to size and beauty. 
 Kingston, a city at the head of the lake, is reached at four 
 o'clock in the morning. Immediately after leaving this 
 thriving town the state-rooms begin to disgorge their occu- 
 pants, for we now enter the broad throat of the St. Law- 
 rence Eiver, and here the Thousand Islands begin. Who 
 that has a soul beyond cakes and ale would let the desire 
 to indulge in his own dreams cheat him from enjoying one 
 of nature's loveliest visions ? 
 
 For some four hours thereafter the boat runs through 
 an uninterrupted succession of the most beautiful island 
 scenery. These islands number, in fact, more than eighteen 
 hundred, and are of every conceivable size and shape ; some 
 so minute that they seem but rock pediments to the single 
 tree that is rooted upon their surface, while the rocky 
 shores of others stretch for a mile or more along the chan- 
 nel. They are all heavily wooded, with here and there a 
 light-house, or a rude hovel, as the only indication of man's 
 contest with primitive nature. 
 
 [This description, it may be said, does not apply to the present time, 
 when mansions and hotels have taken possession of many of these 
 islands, and evidences of man's occupancy are somewhat too numer- 
 ous.] 
 
Morris] NIAGARA AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 37 
 
 Every few turns of the wheel reveal some new feature of 
 the scene, unexpected channels cutting through the centre 
 of a long, wooded reach, broad open spaces studded with 
 islets, narrow creek-like channels between rocky island 
 shores, in which the whole river seems contracted to a 
 slender stream, while farther on the channel expands to a 
 mile in width, and glimpses of other channels open behind 
 distant islands. Quick turns in our course plunge us into 
 archipelagoes, through which a dozen channels run and wind 
 in every direction. Sudden openings in the wooded shore 
 along which we are swiftly gliding yield glimpses of charm- 
 ing islands, here closing the view, there cut by narrow 
 channels which reveal more distant wooded shores, and 
 lead the imagination suggestively onward till we fancy 
 that scenes of fairy-like beauty lie hidden beyond those 
 leafy coverts, enviously torn from our sight by the remorse- 
 less onward flight of the boat. For hours we sit in rapt 
 delight, drinking in new beauty at every turn, and heed- 
 less of the fact that the breakfast gong has long since 
 sounded, and the more prosaic of the passengers have 
 allowed their physical to overcome their mental hunger. 
 
 One tall, long-whiskered old devotee of " cakes and ale," 
 hailing from somewhere in Ohio, shaped somewhat like a 
 note of interrogation, and sustaining his character by ask- 
 ing everybody all sorts of questions, did not, I am positive, 
 digest his breakfast well, for I took a wicked pleasure in 
 assuring him that we had passed far the most beautiful 
 portions of the scenery while he was engaged in absorbing 
 creature comforts, and that the world beside had nothing 
 to compare with the fairy visions he had lost. Old Buckeye, 
 as I had irreverently christened him, wished his breakfast 
 was in Hades, and at once set out on a tour of interrogation 
 to learn if he could not return by the same route and pick 
 up the lost threads of beauty he had so idly dropped. 
 
38 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Morris 
 
 Another of our fellow-passengers was an English gentle- 
 man of perfect Lord Dundreary pattern, his every move- 
 ment being so suggestive of those of his stage counterpart 
 as to furnish us an unfailing source of amusement. At 
 Prescott, Canada, a New England college boat-club came 
 on board with their boat, and highly amused the passengers 
 during the remainder of the journey with a long succession 
 of comical songs. Three of them were sons of one of our 
 venerable New England professors, one an unvenerable 
 professor himself, yet their tanned faces, worn habiliments, 
 and wild songs bore so strong a flavor of the backwoods 
 that it was hard mentally to locate them within college 
 ■walls. 
 
 We were roused from dinner by the announcement that 
 the Long Sault Rapid was at hand, and gladly deserted 
 one of the meanest tables we had ever encountered to par- 
 take of one of nature's rarest banquets. 
 
 The boat was entering what seemed a heaving sea, the 
 waters lifting into dangerous billows, and tossing our craft 
 with unmitigated rudeness, until it became almost im- 
 possible to retain a level footing. But the appearance of 
 these rapids was different from what we had been led to 
 expect. The frightful aspect of danger, the rapid down- 
 hill plunge of the boat, and all the fear-inspiring adorn- 
 ments of the guide-books, while they might be visible from 
 the shore, did not appear to those on the deck. Apparently 
 the boat was fixed in the heart of a watery turmoil, her 
 onward motion lost in her various upward and sidelong 
 movements, while as for fear, its only evidence lay in little 
 shrieks full of laughter, as the equilibrium of the craft 
 was suddenly destroyed. 
 
 Five minutes or so of this experience carried us through 
 the perilous portion of the great rapid, and brought us 
 into safe waters again. The St. Lawrence has various 
 
Latham] FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON, 1866. 39 
 
 other rapids between the Long Sault and Montreal, diifer- 
 ing in appearance, some of them being, as far as the eye can 
 reach, a succession of crossing and tumbling waves, which 
 give the boat unexpected little heaves, and appear like the 
 ■waves of a tossing sea. Here the water plunges rapidly- 
 down a narrow throat between two islands, there it curves 
 round a rocky shore, on which it breaks in ocean-like 
 billows. But the only point where danger becomes ap- 
 parent to untrained eyes is at the La Chine Eapids, near 
 Montreal, where the river runs through a narrow foaming 
 channel between two long ridges of rock, over which the 
 water tumbles with a terrible suggestion of peril. 
 
 The peak of Montreal mountain has been long visible, 
 and now we rapidly approach the long line of Victoria 
 bridge, the great pride of Canadian engineering. Under 
 this we glide with a gymnast at the mast-head, whose 
 erected feet seem nearly to touch the bridge ; and in a 
 short time we round in to the wharf and are ashore in the 
 largest city of Canada. 
 
 FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON IN 1866. 
 
 HENRY LATHAM. 
 
 [It is not our purpose to enter into descriptions of the cities of the 
 United States. They are suflBciently familiar already to our readers. 
 But Mr. Latham has given so graphic a picture of the outward aspect 
 of the two leading coast cities and the capital of this country during 
 a past generation that we have been tempted to quote it. It need 
 scarcely be said that this account represents only in embryo these cities 
 as they appear to-day.] 
 
 Safe arrived last night, after spending twelve days of 
 my life at sea. I say last night, as it look us so long to 
 
40 WORLD'H GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Latham 
 
 land and get through the custom-house that it was dark 
 before we reached the Fifth Avenue Hotel. But it was 
 bright daylight and sunshine as we steamed up the splendid 
 harbor of New York, a view which I should have been 
 sorry to have missed. As far as our personal experiences 
 go, the custom-house officers of New York are not half so 
 troublesome as they are said to be. We had nothing to 
 smuggle, but there was a vast amount of smuggling done 
 by some of our fellow-passengers. One man landed with 
 his pocket full of French watches, and another with a 
 splendid Cashmere shawl round his neck. The custom- 
 house officer, searching the next luggage to mine, un- 
 earthed two boxes of cigars ; of course these were contra- 
 band. He spoke as follows : " Which are the best ?" Opens 
 box. "Have you a light? I forgot; we must not smoke 
 here. Well, I will take a few to smoke after my supper." 
 Takes twenty cigars, and passes the rest. 
 
 December H, 1866. — I have been on my feet all day, 
 delivering letters of introduction. These are plants that 
 require to be put in early, or they are apt to flower after 
 the sower has quitted the country. The stores of the 
 Broadwa}'' are the most wonderfully glorified shops ever 
 seen. Something between a Manchester warehouse and a 
 London club-house. 
 
 I have spent all my day in going to and fro in Broad- 
 way, the wonderful street of New York ; in ten years' 
 time the finest street in the world. At present there are 
 Btill so many small old houses standing in line with the 
 enormous stores, that the effect is somewhat spoiled, by 
 reason of the ranks not being well dressed. Broadway 
 is now much in the condition of a child's mouth when cut- 
 ting its second set of teeth, — slightly gappy. The enor- 
 mous stores look even larger now than they will do when 
 the intervals are filled up. The external splendor of the 
 
NEW YORK AMD -^^ 
 
 BF700t<l_VtM BRIOGE 
 
Latham] FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON, 1866. 41 
 
 shops is chiefly architectural ; they make no great display 
 of goods in the windows ; but the large size of the rooms 
 within enables them to set out and exhibit many times the 
 amount of goods that an English shop-keeper shows. 
 
 The city of New York is on the southern point of Man- 
 hattan Island, having the East River running along one 
 side, and the North River or Hudson along the other. 
 Some day far in the future, when the present municipality 
 is purged or swept away, and the splendor of the Thames 
 Embankment scheme has been realized, New York will 
 probably have two lines of quays, planted with trees and 
 edged with warehouses, which will make it one of the 
 finest cities in the world. The business quarter is at the 
 point of the peninsula. The fashionable quarter is to the 
 north, reaching every year farther inland. As the city in- 
 creases, the stores keep moving northward, taking posses- 
 sion of the houses, and driving the residents farther back. 
 The land is not yet built over up to Central Park, said to 
 be called so because it will be the future centre of the city 
 that is to be. 
 
 The concentrated crowd that passes along Broadway in 
 the morning " down-town" to its business, and back in the 
 evening " up-town" to its homes, is enormous ; but the 
 pavements are bad for men and abominable for horses : to- 
 day I saw five horses down, and two Ij'ing dead. At the 
 same time, allowance must bo made for the fact that it has 
 been snowing and thawing and freezing again ; but as this 
 is no uncommon state of things in this climate, why pave 
 the streets with flat stones that give no foothold ? The 
 "street-cars" are the universal means of conveyance. 
 These are omnibuses running on tramways, but the name 
 of omnibus is unknown : if you speak of a " bus'' you are 
 stared at. A young New Yorker, recently returned from 
 London, was escorting his cousin home one evening; as 
 
42 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Latham 
 
 the way was long, he stopped and said, " Hold on, Mary, 
 and let's take a bus." " No, George, not here in the street," 
 the coy damsel replied. . . . 
 
 We went to-day to the top of Trinity Church tower; a 
 beautiful panorama, with the bay of New York to the 
 south, the city stretching away northward, and a great 
 river on either side. But it was bitterly cold at the top, as 
 we had heavy snow yesterday, and the wind was blowing 
 keenly. We went also to the Gold Exchange, and gold 
 happened to be "very sensitive" this morning, in conse- 
 quence of some rumors from Mexico which made it pos- 
 sible that the time for United States interference was 
 nearer than had been supposed. The noise was deafening ; 
 neither the Stock Exchange nor the ring at Epsom at all 
 approach it. All the men engaged in a business which one 
 would suppose required more experience than any other, 
 the buying and selling of gold, seemed to be under twenty- 
 five years of age ; most of them much younger, some quite 
 boys. The reason given me was that older heads could not 
 stand the tumult, all gesticulating, all vociferating, every 
 man with a note-book and pencil, crowded round a ring 
 in the centre of the hall like a little cock-pit, to which you 
 descend by steps. Every now and then a man rushes out 
 of the telegraph corner with some news, which oozes out 
 and makes the crowd howl and seethe again. The hands 
 of a big dial on the wall are moved on from time to time, 
 marking the hour of the day and the price of gold. This 
 is the dial of the barometer of national prosperity, marked 
 by gold instead of mercury. . . . 
 
 A huge sum of money has been laid out on Central Park, 
 the Bois de Boulogne of New York. When the timber has 
 grown larger it will be very pretty. The ground is rocky, 
 with little depth of soil in it; this makes it difficult to get 
 the trees to grow, but, on the other hand, gives the place a 
 
Latham] FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON, 1S66. 43 
 
 feature not to be found in our parks or at the Bois, in the 
 large masses of brown sandstone cropping up through the 
 turf here and there, and in the rocky shores of the little 
 lakes. 
 
 In the evening we went, by invitation of our courteous 
 banker, to the Assembly at Delmonico's rooms. In this we 
 consider ourselves highly honored and introduced to the 
 best society of New York. The toilets and the diamonds 
 were resplendent, and one figure of the " German" (cotil- 
 lon), in which the ladies formed two groups in the centre, 
 facing inward with their bright trains spread out behind 
 them, was a splendid piece of color and costume. Prince 
 Doria was there, and most of the magnates of the city 
 looked in. Some of the wealthiest people in the room 
 were pointed out to me as the present representatives of 
 the families of the old Dutch settlers ; those are the pedi- 
 grees respected here. 
 
 December 20, 1866. — We left New York, having stayed 
 exactly a week, and meaning to return again. By rail to 
 Philadelphia, ninety-two miles, through a flat, snow-covered 
 country, which, under the circumstances, looked as dismal 
 as might be. The latter part of our journey lay along the 
 left bank of the Delaware, which we crossed by a long 
 wooden bridge, and arrived at the Continental Hotel just 
 at dusk. It is evident we are moving South. The waiters 
 at this hotel are all darkies. 
 
 December 21, 1S66. — Philadelphia is a most difficult town 
 just now for pedestrians, the door-steps being all of white 
 marble glazed with ice, and sliding on the pavement may 
 be had in perfection. Spent the best part of the day in 
 slipping about, trying to deliver letters of introduction. 
 The system of naming the streets of Philadelphia and of 
 numbering the houses is extremely ingenious, and answers 
 perfectly when you have made yourself acquainted with 
 
44 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Latham 
 
 it J but as it takes an ordinary mind a week to find it out, 
 the stranger who stops four or five days is apt to execrate 
 it. All the streets run at right angles to one another, so 
 that a short cut, the joy of the accomplished Londoner, is 
 impossible. It is a chess-board on which the bishop's 
 move is unknown. Nothing diagonal can be done. The 
 city is ruled like the page of a ledger, from top to bottom 
 with streets, from side to side with avenues. It is all divided 
 into squares. When you are first told this, a vision arises 
 of the possibility of cutting across these squares from 
 corner to corner. Not a bit of it : a square at Philadelphia 
 means a solid block of houses, not an open space enclosed 
 by buildings. "When you have wandered about for some 
 time, the idea suggests itself that every house is exactly 
 like the house next to it; although the inhabitants have 
 given up the old uniformity of costume, the houses have 
 not ; and without this elaborate system of numbering, the 
 inhabitants of Philadelphia would never be able to find 
 their way home. 
 
 Nevertheless, if that is the finest town in which its in- 
 habitants are best lodged, Philadelphia is the finest town 
 in the world. It lodges a much smaller population than 
 that of New York in more houses. In no other large 
 town are rents comparatively so cheap. Every decent 
 workingman can afford to have his separate house, with 
 gas and water laid on, and fitted with a bath. 
 
 We have been making a study of the negro waiters. 
 Perhaps cold weather affects them ; but the first thing 
 about them that strikes you is the apathetic infantine 
 feeble-minded ness of the "colored persons" lately called 
 niggers. I say nothing of the seven colored persons, of 
 various shades, who always sit in a row on a bench in the 
 hall, each with a little clothes-brush in his hand, and never 
 attempt to do anything; I allude to those who minister to 
 
Latham] FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON, 1866. 45 
 
 mywants in the coffee-room with utterly unknown dishes. 
 I breakfasted yesterday off dunfish and cream, Indian 
 pudding, and dipped toast ; for dinner I had a baked black- 
 fish with soho sauce, and stewed venison with port wine ; 
 for vegetables, marrow, squash, and stewed tomatoes ; and 
 for pudding, "floating island." 
 
 You see there is something exciting about dinner. After 
 you have ordered four courses of the unknown, and your 
 colored person has gone in the direction of the kitchen, 
 you sit with the' mouth of expectation wide open. Some- 
 times you get grossly deceived. Yesterday F ordered 
 
 " jole," and was sitting in a state of placid doubt, when his 
 colored person returned with a plate of pickled pork. At 
 present I am quite of the opinion of the wise man who 
 discovered that colored persons are born and grow in ex- 
 actly the same way as uncolored persons up to the age of 
 thirteen, and that they then cease to develop their skulls 
 and their intelligence. All the waiters in this hotel appear 
 to be just about the age of thirteen. There are two who 
 in wisdom are nearly twelve, and one gray-headed old 
 fellow who is just over fourteen. 
 
 [Our traveller contented himself in the way of sight-seeing by fol- 
 lowing Charles Dickens's path to the Penitentiary, and afterwards 
 visited Girard College. He concludes as follows :] 
 
 Even in this city of Penn the distinctive marks of 
 Quakerism are dying out. The Quaker dress does not seem 
 much more common in Philadelphia than in any other 
 city, nor do they use the "thee" and "thou" in the streets; 
 but at their own firesides, where the old people sit, they 
 still speak the old language. A Quaker in the streets is 
 not to be distinguished from other Philadelphians. I was 
 talking to Mr. C about this, and he said, " Let me in- 
 troduce you to a Quaker ; I am a member of the church 
 
46 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Latham 
 
 myself." L was not quite clear whether he was a 
 
 Quaker or not. His parents had been ; his sons certainly 
 were not. Some of the best of the Southern soldiers came 
 from the city of the Quakers. There is a story of a Quaker 
 girl, who was exchanging rings with her lover as he set 
 off to join the army ; when they parted she said, " Thee 
 must not wear it on thy trigger-finger, George." 
 
 Dined with Mr. L , the publisher. He showed us 
 
 over his enormous store, which seemed to be a model of 
 discipline and organization, and described the book-market 
 of America as being, like the Union, one and indivisible, 
 and opened his ledger, in which were the names of cus- 
 tomers in every State in the Union. He told us that he 
 had about five thousand open accounts with different 
 American booksellers. His policy is to keep in stock 
 everything that a country bookseller requires, fi-om a Bible 
 to a stick of sealing-wax, so that when their stores get low 
 they are able to write to him for everything they want. 
 He contends, as other Philadelphians do, that New York is 
 not the capital of America, but only its chief port of im- 
 port, and that Philadelphia is the chief centre for distribu- 
 tion. Mr. Hepworth Dixon had been here not long before, 
 and, as was right and fitting in the city of Quakers, a high 
 banquet had been held in honor of the vindicator of William 
 Penn. 
 
 [Thence Mr. Latham went to Baltimore, of which he describes the 
 following old-time experience: "When an American train reaches 
 a town it does not dream of pulling up short in a suburb, but advances 
 slowly through the streets ; the driver on the engine rings a large bell, 
 and a man on horseback rides in front to clear the way. Thus we 
 entered Baltimore, arrived at the terminus and uncoupled the engine ; 
 and then, still sitting in the railway-car, were drawn by a team of 
 horses along the street-rails to the terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Eailway on the other side of the town. " He is talking of antediluvian 
 days. We have reformed all that. After some experience in duck 
 
Latham] FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON, 1866. 4Y 
 
 and partridge shooting, and a taste of terrapin soup, he proceeded to 
 "Washington. Of his varied experience there we can give but a single 
 out-door example.] 
 
 We went this morning over the Capitol, an enormous 
 edifice still in progress ; parts of it are continually built on 
 to, and rebuilt, to meet the wants of the legislature. The 
 two new white marble wings are very beautiful and nearly 
 complete, and the dome is on the same scale with them, 
 and of the same material. The centre is now out of pro- 
 portion since the wings were built, and is of stone, painted 
 white to match the rest in color and preserve it from the 
 frost. If the South had succeeded in seceding it might 
 have sufficed ; but now it is bound to grow, and Congress 
 are going to vote the amount of dollars necessary to make 
 the Capitol complete. When completed it will be magnifi- 
 cent. 
 
 We are very unlucky in seeing these great marble palaces 
 (for several of the public buildings of Washington are of 
 this material) with the snow upon the ground. Against 
 the pure white snow they appear dingy ; under a summer 
 sun they must show to far greater advantage. What 
 ancient Athens appeared like, surrounding its marble 
 temples, I can hardly realize ; but the effect of the splen- 
 did public buildings in Washington is very much detracted 
 from by the sheds and shanties which are near them. The 
 builders of Washington determined that it should be a 
 great city, and staked out its streets accordingly twice the 
 width and length of any other streets : rightly is it named 
 the city of magnificent distances. But although the 
 Potomac is certainly wide enough, and apparently deep 
 enough, to justify a certain amount of trade, and its situa- 
 tion is more central than that of Philadelphia, the town 
 has never grown to fill the outlines traced for it. 
 
 To make a Washington street, take one marble temple or 
 
48 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Latham 
 
 public office, a dozen good houses of brick, and a dozen of 
 wood, and fill in with sheds and fields. Some blight seems 
 to have fallen upon the city. It is the only place we have 
 seen which is not full of growth and vitality. I have even 
 heard its inhabitants tell stories of nightly pig-hunts in the 
 streets, and of the danger of tumbling over a cow on the 
 pavement on a dark night ; but this must refer to by -gone 
 times. 
 
 One of the most curious and characteristic of the great 
 public buildings of Washington is the Patent Office, in 
 which a working model is deposited of every patent taken 
 out in the United States for the improvement of machinery. 
 
 This assemblage of specimens is an exhibition of which 
 all Americans are proud, as a proof of the activity of 
 American ingenuity working in every direction. Capacity 
 to take out a patent is a quality necessary to make up the 
 character of the perfect citizen. Labor is honorable, but the 
 man who can invent a labor-saving machine is more honor- 
 able ; he has gained a step in the great struggle with the 
 powers of nature. An American who has utilized a water- 
 power feels, I take it, two distinct and separate pleasures : 
 first, in that dollars and cents drip off his water-wheel, and, 
 secondly, in that he has inveigled the water-sprites into 
 doing his work. If you tell an American that you are 
 going to Washington, his first remark is not, " Then you 
 will see Congress sitting," but, " Mind you go and see 
 the Patent Office." 
 
Pollard] THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. 49 
 
 THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 EDWARD A. POLLARD. 
 
 [The Old Dominion — to give Virginia its home title — is full of 
 natural wonders, some of them unsurpassed in beauty and attractive- 
 ness elsewhere in the world. In number and variety of mineral 
 springs it stands unequalled ; its caverns, Luray and Weyer's, are 
 rich in charms of subterranean scenery ; and its two remarkable ex- 
 amples of nature's grandeur, the Natural Bridge and Natural Tunnel, 
 are unique in their peculiar characteristics. Edward A. Pollard, in 
 his "Virginia Tourist," has ably described the various attractions of 
 the Old Dominion, and we select from this work his word picture of 
 the Natural Bridge. He made his way thither from Lynchburg, via 
 the James Kiver Canal.] 
 
 As the traveller enters the gap of the Blue Eidge from 
 the east, the winding courses of the stage-coach carry him 
 up the mountain's side until he has gained an elevation of 
 hundreds of feet above the James Eiver, over the waters 
 of which the zigzag and rotten road hangs fearfully. On 
 every side are gigantic mountains hemming him in ; there 
 are black ravines in the great prison-house ; and the length- 
 ened arms of the winds smite the strained ear with the 
 sounds of the rapids below. While he looks at the dis- 
 tance, a mountain rivulet, slight and glittering from amid 
 the primeval forest, dashes across his path, and, leaping 
 from rock to rock, goes joyously on its way. 
 
 On the North River the scenes are quieter. Emersrinor 
 
 here, the traveller sees a beautiful and fertile country 
 
 opening before him, while still westward the blue outlines 
 
 of distant mountains in Eockbridge bound his vision. The 
 
 water landscape is beautiful. Lovely valleys debouch 
 
 upon the stream ; there are peaceful shadows in the steel- 
 Vol. I— .1 
 
50 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Pollard 
 
 blue waters, and on the broad shoulders of the cattle on 
 the banks we sec the drapery of the shadows of the trees 
 beneath which they rest. The fisherman standing leg-deep 
 in the water can see his face as in a mirror. 
 
 But at present our way does not lie through these scenes. 
 The canal-boat is taking us along the James in the moon- 
 lit night, and by the time the day has broken we are within 
 two miles of the Natural Bridge. A rickety team awaits 
 us at the lock-house where we disembark. Through an 
 air filled with golden vapor, and with the mists of the 
 morning yet hanging in the trees by the wayside, we pro- 
 ceed on our journey. The old stage-coach lumbers along 
 under the thick, overhanging boughs of the forest pines, 
 which ever and anon scrape its top or strike in through 
 the windows, scattering the dew-drops in the very faces of 
 the passengers, or perhaps smiting their cheeks with their 
 sharp-pointed leaves. 
 
 The first view of the bridge is obtained half a mile from 
 it at a turn on the stage-road. It is revealed with the sud- 
 denness of an apparition. Eaised a hundred feet above the 
 highest trees of the forest, and relieved against the purple 
 side of a distant mountain, a whitish-gray arch is seen, in 
 the eflfect of distance as perfect and clean-cut an arch as 
 its Egyptian inventor could have defined. The tops of 
 trees are waving in the interval, the upper half of which 
 we only see, and the stupendous arch that spans the upper 
 air is relieved from the first impression that it is man's 
 masonry, the work of art, by the fifteen or twenty feet of 
 soil that it supports, in which trees and shrubbery are firmly 
 embedded, — the verdant crown and testimony of nature's 
 great work. And here we are divested of an imagination 
 which we believe is popular, that the bridge is merely a 
 huge slab of rock thrown across a chasm, or some such 
 hasty and violent arrangement. It is no such thing. The 
 
PEINJ l\JSYI_VAN I A AVEINJUE, WAS M I rvj C3TO (SI 
 
Pollard] THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. 51 
 
 arch and whole interval are contained in one solid rock ; 
 the average width of that which makes the bridge is eighty 
 feet, and beyond this the rock extends for a hundred feet or 
 so in mural precipices, divided by only a single fissure, that 
 makes a natural pier on the upper side of the bridge, and 
 up which climb the hardy firs, ascending step by step on 
 the noble rock- work till they overshadow you. 
 
 This mighty rock, a single mass sunk in the earth's side, 
 of which even what appears is stupendous, is of the same 
 geological character, — of limestone covered to the depth of 
 from four to six feet with alluvial and clayey earth. The 
 span of the arch runs from forty-five to sixty feet wide, 
 and its height to the under line is one hundred and ninety- 
 six feet, and to the head two hundred and fifteen feet. 
 The form of the arch approaches to the elliptical ; the 
 stage-road which passes over the bridge runs from north 
 to south, with an acclivity of thirty-five degrees, and the 
 arch is carried over on a diagonal line, — the very line of 
 all others the most difficult for the architect to realize, 
 and the one best calculated for picturesque effects. It is 
 the proportions of art in this wild, strange work of nature, 
 its adjustment in the very perfection of mechanical skill, 
 its apparently deliberate purpose, that create an interest 
 the most curious and thoughtful. The deep ravine over 
 which it sweeps, and through which traverses the beautiful 
 Cedar Creek, is not otherwise easily passed for several 
 miles, either above or below the bridge. It is needful to 
 the spot, and yet so little likely to have survived the great 
 fracture, the evidences of which are visible around, and 
 which has made a fissure of about ninety feet through the 
 breadth of a rock-ribbed hill, that we are at first disposed 
 to reflect upon it as the work of man. It is only when 
 we contemplate its full measure of grandeur that we are 
 assured it is the work of God. We have the pier, the arch, 
 
52 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Pollakd 
 
 the studied angle of ascent ; and that nothing Ki.ght be 
 wanted in the evidences of design, the bridge is guai-ded 
 by a parapet of rocks, uo covered with fine shrubs and 
 trees that a person traveUing the stage-road running over 
 it would, if not informed of the curiosity, pass it unnoticed. 
 
 But let him approach through the foliage to the side. 
 More than two hundred feet below is the creek, apparently 
 motionless, except where it flashes with light as it breaks 
 on an obstruction in the channel ; there are trees, attain- 
 ing to grander heights as they ascend the face of the pier ; 
 and far below this bed of verdure the majestic rock rises 
 with the decision of a wall, and the spectator shrinks from 
 contemplating the grand but cruel depths, and turns away 
 with dizzy sensations. But the most effective view is from 
 the base of the bridge, where you descend by a circuitous 
 and romantic path. Even to escape from the hot sun into 
 these verdant and cool bottoms is of itself a luxury, and it 
 prepares you for the deliberate enjoyment of the scene. 
 Everything reposes in the most delightful shade, set oflT by 
 the streaming rays of the sun, which shoot across the 
 head of the picture far above you, and sweeten with softer 
 touches the solitude below. 
 
 Standing by the rippling, gushing waters of the creek, 
 and raising your eyes to the arch, massive and yet light 
 and beautiful from its height, its elevation apparently in- 
 creased by the narrowness of its piers and by its projection 
 on the blue sky, you gaze on the great work of nature in 
 wonder and astonishment. Yet a hundred beauties beckon 
 you from the severe emotion of the sublime. When you 
 have sustained this view of the arch raised against the sky, 
 its black patches here and there shaped by imagination 
 into grand and weird figures, — among them the eagle, the 
 lion's head, and the heroic countenance of Washington ; 
 when you have taken in the proportions and circumstances 
 
Pollard] THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. 53 
 
 of this elevated and wide span of rock, — so wide that the 
 ekies seem to slope from it to the horizon, — you are called 
 to investigate other parts of the scene which strain the 
 emotions less, and are distributed around in almost endless 
 variety. 
 
 Looking through the arch, the eye is engaged with a 
 various vista. Just beyond rises the frayed, unseamed 
 wall of rock ; the purple mountains stand out in the back- 
 ground ; beneath them is a rank of hills and matted woods 
 enclosing the dell below, while the creek coursing away 
 from them appears to have been fed in their recesses. A 
 few feet above the bridge the stream deflects, and invites 
 to a point of view of the most curious effect. Taking 
 a few steps backward, moving diagonally on the course of 
 the stream, we see the interval of sky between the great 
 abutments gradually shut out; thus apparently joined or 
 lapped over, they give the effect of the face of a rock, 
 with a straight seam running down it, and the imagination 
 seizes the picture as of mighty gates closed upon us. We 
 are shut in a wild and perturbed scene by these gates of 
 hell ; behind and around us is the contracted and high 
 boundary of mountains and hills, and in this close and 
 vexed scene we are for a moment prisoners. 
 
 Now let us move across, step by step, to a position front- 
 ing where these gates apparently close. Slowly they seem 
 to swing open on unseen and noiseless hinges ; wider and 
 wider grows the happy interval of sky, until at last wide 
 open stands the gate-way raised above the forest, resting as 
 it were on the brow of heaven, — a world lying beyond it, 
 its rivers and its hills expanding themselves to the light 
 and splendor of the unshadowed day. 
 
 To an observer of both places a comparison is naturally 
 suggested between the Natural Bridge and Niagara Falls 
 in respect of the sublime and the beautiful ; and, indeed, 
 
54 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Pollard 
 
 as in this respect the two greatest works of nature on this 
 continent, they may well be used as illustrations in our 
 American schools of aesthetics. The first is unique in its 
 aspects of nature like art ; it is nature with the propor- 
 tions of art. In its expressions of power, in its concentra- 
 tion of emotion, as when we look at it distinct or complete, 
 it is truly sublime ; and its effect is alleviated (for it is a 
 maxim in aesthetics that the sublime cannot be long siis- 
 tained) by the picturesque scenery which surrounds it. It 
 is a greater natural curiosity and more wonderful than 
 Niagara, although it lacks the elements of sublimity which 
 the other has in sound, and of the visible, actual struggle 
 in which it displays the powers of nature. Niagara is a 
 living thing, while the Natural Bridge is monumental. The 
 first represents the sublime as allied to the terrific, — in con- 
 templating it we are overwhelmed with a sense of our in- 
 significance ; while the Natural Bridge associates the sub- 
 lime with the pleasing and curious, and, not transporting 
 us as violently as Niagara, entertains us more equably, and 
 dismisses us, we think, with more distinct and fruitful per- 
 ceptions of the grandeur and beneficence and variety of 
 nature which have been distributed in the picture. 
 
 [Washington, a century and a half ago, carved his name at a high 
 elevation on the rock walls of the ahyss. In 1818 these walls were 
 climbed to the top by James H. Piper, a student of Washington Col- 
 lege, Virginia. The narrative here given of this daring feat is from 
 the pen of William A. Caruthers.] 
 
 Mr. Piper, the hero of the occasion, commenced climbing 
 on the opposite side of the creek from the one by which 
 the pathway ascends the ravine. He began down on the 
 banks of the brook so far that we did not know where he 
 had gone, and were only apprised of his whereabouts by 
 his shouting above our heads. When we looked up, he waa 
 
Pollard] THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. 55 
 
 Btanding apparently right under the arch, I suppose a hun- 
 dred feet from the bottom, and that on the smooth side, 
 which is generally considered inaccessible without a ladder. 
 He was standing far above the spot where General Wash- 
 ington is said to have inscribed his name when a youth. 
 The ledge of the rock by which he ascended to this peril- 
 ous height does not appear from below to be three inches 
 wide, and runs almost at right angles to the abutment of 
 the bridge. . . . 
 
 The ledge of rock on which he was standing appeared so 
 narrow to us below as to make us believe his position a 
 very perilous one, and we earnestly entreated him to come 
 down. He answered us with loud shouts of derision. . . . 
 
 He soon after descended from that side, crossed the 
 brook, and commenced climbing on the side by which all 
 visitors ascend the ravine. He first mounted the rocks on 
 this side, as he had done on the other, far down the 
 abutment, but not so far as on the opposite side. The pro- 
 jecting ledge may be distinctly seen by any visitor. It 
 commences four or five feet from the pathway on the lower 
 side, and winds round, gradually ascending, until it meets 
 the cleft of rock over which the celebrated cedar stump 
 hangs. Following this ledge to its termination, it brought 
 him thirty or forty feet from the ground, and placed him 
 between two deep fissures, one on each side of the gigantic 
 column of rock on which the aforementioned cedar stump 
 stands. 
 
 This column stands out from the bridge, as separate and 
 distinct as if placed there by nature on purpose for an ob- 
 servatory to the wonderful arch and ravine which it over- 
 looks. A huge crack or fissure extends from its base to the 
 summit ; indeed, it is cracked on both sides, but much more 
 perceptibly on one side than the other. Both of these 
 fissures are thickly overgrown with bushes, and numerous 
 
56 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Pollard 
 
 roots project into them from trees growing on the precipice. 
 It was between these that the aforementioned ledge con- 
 ducted him. Here he stopped, pulled off his coat and shoes 
 and threw them down to me. And this, in my opinion, is 
 a sufficient refutation of the story so often told, that he 
 went up to inscribe his name, and ascended so high that he 
 found it more difficult to return than to go forward. He 
 could have returned easily from the point where he disen- 
 cumbered himself, but the fact that he did thus prepare so 
 early, and so near the ground, and after he had ascended 
 more than double that height on the other side, is clear 
 proof that to inscribe his name was not, and to climb the 
 bridge was, his object. He had already inscribed his name 
 above Washington himself more than fifty feet. 
 
 Around the face of this huge column, and between the 
 clefts, he now moved backward and forward, still ascending 
 as he found convenient foothold. When he had ascended 
 about one hundred and seventy feet from the earth, and 
 had reached the point where the pillar overhangs the 
 ravine, his heart seemed to fail him. He stopped, and 
 seemed to us to be balancing midway between heaven and 
 earth. We were in dread suspense, expecting every mo- 
 ment to see him dashed in atoms at our feet. We had 
 already exhausted our powers of entreat}^ in persuading 
 him to return, but all to no purpose. Now it was perilous 
 even to speak to him, and very difficult to carry on con- 
 versation at all, from the immense height to which he had 
 ascended, and the noise made by the bubbling of the little 
 brook as it tumbled in tiny cascades over its rocky bed at 
 our feet. At length he seemed to discover that one of the 
 clefts before mentioned retreated backward from the over- 
 hanging position of the pillar. Into this he sprang at 
 once, and was soon out of sight and out of danger. 
 
 There is not a word of truth in all that story about our 
 
Pollard] THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. 67 
 
 hauling him up with ropes, and his fainting away so soon 
 as he landed on the summit. Those acquainted with the 
 localities will at once perceive its absurdity ; for we were 
 beneath the arch, and it is half a mile round to the top, 
 and for the most part up a rugged mountain. Instead of 
 fainting away, Mr. Piper proceeded down the hill to meet 
 us and obtain his hat and shoes. We met about half-way, 
 and then he lay down for a few moments to recover him- 
 self of his fatigue. 
 
 [Virginia possesses another marvel of nature's handiwork of the 
 same general character as the Natural Bridge, and of which Mr. Pol- 
 lard's description may here fitly be given.] 
 
 After progressing about three miles from the ford of the 
 Clinch Eiver, and after having repeatedly crossed its 
 crooked tributary. Stock Creek, we come to a small moun- 
 tain or globular hill Avbich is our wondrous destination, for 
 here is the Natural Tunnel. There is nothing which ad- 
 vertises in advance this great wonder, or in any way 
 excites the expectations of the traveller. There is a 
 common road, from which we depart a few hundred yards 
 to make a half circuit of the base of the mountain, that 
 goes clean over the ridge, leading to a settlement some 
 miles farther, called Ej^e Cove, and which was once the 
 abode of a fierce Indian tribe. This main road goes over 
 the arch of the tunnel, furnishing a curious convenience 
 to the traveller, of which he would be unaware, seeing 
 nothing through the foliage but glimpses of the mural 
 rocks that guard and sustain the termination of the secret 
 passage-way many hundred feet below him. It is from 
 this convenience that the neighboring people name the 
 gigantic work of nature we are proceeding to explore a 
 natural bridge. But this name is certainly insufficient and 
 paltry for a rock-work that on one flank at least extends 
 
58 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Pollard 
 
 Bome eight hundred feet, and which, if regarded with refer- 
 ence to the breadth of the interval it spans, is, in fact, a 
 complication of bridges, arranged, as we shall presently 
 see, in one single massive spectacle. 
 
 The western face of the tunnel, near which we dismount, 
 continues partly concealed from view, or is imperfectly ex- 
 posed, until we nearly approach it, the immense rock 
 which is perforated being here dressed with the thick 
 foliage of the spruce-pine, and the harsh surface adorned 
 with a beautiful tracery of vines and creepers. At last is 
 seen the entrance of what appears to be a huge subter- 
 raneous cavern or grotto, into which the stream disappears ; 
 a towering rock rising here about two hundred feet 
 above the surface of the stream, and a rude entrance 
 gouged into it, varying in width, as far as the eye can 
 reach, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, and 
 rising in a clear vault from seventy to eighty feet above 
 the floor. The view here terminates in the very blackness 
 of darkness ; it is broken on the first curve of the tunnel. 
 The bed of the stream, from which the water has dis- 
 appeared on account of the drouth, the reduced currents 
 sinking to lower subterranean channels, is piled with great 
 irregular rocks, on the sharp points of which we stumble 
 and cut our hands : there is no foothold but on rocks, and 
 it is only when we have struggled through the awful, cruel 
 darkness, holding up some feeble lights in it, and issued 
 into the broad sunshine, that we find we have travelled 
 nearly two hundred yards (or say, more exactly, five hun- 
 dred feet) through one solid rock, in which there is not an 
 inch of soil, not a seam, not a cleft, and which, even beyond 
 the debouchure of the tunnel, yet runs away a hundred 
 yards in a wall five hundred feet high, as clean and whetted 
 as the work of the mason. 
 
 But we must not anticipate this majestical scene, " won- 
 
Pollard] THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. 59 
 
 derful beyond all wondrous measure." Happily, in enter- 
 ing the tunnel from the western side we have adopted the 
 course of exploration which affords a gradual ascent of 
 the emotions, until at last they tower to the standard of 
 a perfect sublimity. The course of the tunnel may be 
 described as a continuous curve: it resembles, indeed, a 
 prostrate w. For a distance of twenty yards midway of 
 this course we are excluded from a view of either entrance, 
 and the darkness is about that of a night with one quarter 
 of the moon. The vault becomes lower here — in some 
 places scarcely more than thirty feet high— and springs 
 immediately from the floor. The situation is awful and 
 oppressive: the voice sounds unnatural, and rumbles 
 strangely and fearfully along the arch of stone. We are 
 encoffined in the solid rock : there is a strange pang in the 
 beating heart in its imprisonment, so impenetrable, black, 
 hopeless, and we hurry to meet the light of day. In that 
 light we are disentombed : we cast off the confinements of 
 the black space through which we have passed, and we are 
 instantly introduced to a scene so luminous and majestic 
 that in a moment our trembling eyes are captivated and 
 our hearts lifted in unutterable worship of the Creator's 
 works. 
 
 It is that sheer wall of rock which we have already 
 mentioned, where the arch and other side of the tunnel 
 break away into the mountain slope ; a high wall, slightly 
 impending ; an amphitheatre, extending one hundred yards, 
 of awful precipices ; a clean battlement, without a joint in 
 it, five hundred feet high. And this splendid height and 
 breadth of stone, that a thousand storms have polished, 
 leaving not a cleft of soil in it, — this huge, unjointed 
 masonry raised against the sky, gray and weather-stained, 
 with glittering patches of light on it, — is yet part of the 
 same huge rock which towered at the farther end of the 
 
60 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Pollard. 
 
 tunnel, and through whose seamless cavity we have 
 travelled two hundred yards. It is in this view that the 
 mystery of the scene seizes the mind, and the last element 
 of sublimity is added to it. It is in this view that the 
 Natural Tunnel we had come to see as a mere "curiosity" 
 takes rank among the greatest wonders of the world. 
 What power, what possible imaginable agency of nature, 
 could have worked out this stupendous scene? . . . 
 
 Turning our eyes away from the battlement of rock to 
 the opposite side of the ravine, a new revelation of the 
 grand and picturesque awaits us. Here a gigantic cliif, but 
 one broken with rock and soil, and threaded to its summit 
 by a sapling growth of the buckeye, the linden, and the 
 pine, rises almost perpendicularly from the water's edge to 
 a height almost equal to that of the opposite wall of rock. 
 A natural platform is seen to project over it, and yet a few 
 yards further there is an insulated cliff, a Cyclopean chim- 
 ney, so to speak, scarcely more than a foot square at its 
 top, rising in the form of a turret at least sixty feet above 
 its basement, which is a portion of the imposing cliff we 
 have mentioned. It is at once perceived that here are two 
 points of view that will give us new and perhaps the most 
 imposing aspects of the scene. To attain these points, 
 however, it is necessary to make a circuit of half a mile ; 
 and the sinking sun admonishes us to defer this new 
 interest of the scene until to-morrow. . . . 
 
 We remounted for the tunnel in the early morning, and 
 were soon to find that the rising sun was to give a new and 
 unexpected g^ory to the scene. This time we ascend the 
 mountain instead of deflecting as before. The road is easy ; 
 there are no difficulties of access to the points of view from 
 the top of the tunnel, and they are undoubtedly the grandest. 
 W^e pass to the platform before described by a few steps from 
 the main road. It is a slab of rock projecting from an 
 
Pollard] THE NATURAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. 61 
 
 open patch of ground ; a dead cedar-tree is standing at its 
 edge, throwing its gnarled and twisted arras, as in wild 
 and widowed sorrow, over the awful scene below. We 
 now see the great opposite amphitheatre of rock in added 
 grandeur, for we see it from above, — we see it across a 
 chasm nine hundred feet Avide and five hundred feet deep, 
 and the exposure being almost exactly eastern, the long 
 spears of the rising sun are being shattered on it. The 
 effect is inexpressibly grand. But there is one more cir- 
 cumstance to be added to the scene ; we do not see from 
 this observatory the arch, the entrance of the tunnel. A 
 few yards farther the fearful chimney-shaped rock invites 
 to a more commanding view, but the ascent is dangerous ; 
 the stone on top is loose, and so narrow that two persons 
 can scarcely stand on it. A single misstep, a moment's 
 loss of balance, and we would fall into eternity. But now 
 the sense of peril is lost, or is rather mingled, in the gran- 
 deur of the scene. It is a panoramic view. We have now 
 the whole sweep of the mural precipice opposite ; the sun's 
 glitter is incessant on the polished stone ; the trees which 
 fringe the bottom appear now scarcely more than shrubs ; 
 the entrance of the tunnel has now come into view, and 
 that which yesterday we thought so high and wide, now 
 appears, from our amazing height, as a stooped door-way. 
 We imagine the gloomy entrance into a cave of Erebus 
 and Death, the broken rocks lying within which look like 
 black and mangled entrails. It is a fearful picture, — it is 
 that of a supernatural abode. 
 
 [This marvel of nature is not without its tradition, — one of Indian 
 origin, — in which is repeated, with suitable variations, the familiar 
 Lover's Leap narrative. A more prosaic and modern interest attaches 
 to it, in its having been chosen as the route of a railroad, nature's con- 
 tribution of a passage through a difScult mountain wall.] 
 
62 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Kusssll 
 
 PLANTATION LIFE IN WAR TIMES. 
 
 WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL. 
 
 [Kussell, of former celebrity as war correspondent of The T^mes, 
 visited the seceded States during the early period of the American 
 Civil War. His letters thence, published later as "Pictures of 
 Southern Life," are full of graphic descriptions of scenes and feelings 
 in the Confederate States during the era of enthusiasm and hopeful- 
 ness, before the war had borne its harvest of doubt and misery. It is 
 not our purpose, however, to give his experiences in this special field. 
 It is travel, not war, with which we are concerned, and we confine 
 ourself to an account of a visit to a plantation in the vicinity of 
 Charleston. A short preliminary sketch of the ebb and flow of rumor 
 in war times, however, may be of interest.] 
 
 The rolling fire of the revolution is fast sweeping over 
 the prairie, and one must fly before it or burn. I am 
 obliged to see all that can be seen of the South at once, 
 and then, armed with such safeguards as I can procure, to 
 make an effort to recover my communications. Bridges 
 broken, rails torn up, telegraphs pulled down, — I am quite 
 in the air, and air charged with powder and fire. One of 
 the most extraordinary books in the world could be made 
 out of the cuttings and parings of the newspapers which 
 have been published within the last few days. The judg- 
 ments, statements, asseverations of the press, everywhere 
 necessarily hasty, ill-sifted, and off-hand, do not aspire to 
 even an ephemeral existence here. They are of use if they 
 serve the purpose of the moment, and of the little boys 
 who commence their childhood in deceit, and continue to 
 adolescence in iniquity, by giving vocal utterance to the 
 "sensation" headings of the journals they retail so sharply 
 and so curtly. 
 
Russell] PLANTATION LIFE IN WAR TIMES. 63 
 
 Talk of the superstition of the Middle Ages, or of the 
 credulity of the more advanced period of rural life ; laugh 
 at the Holy Coat of Treves, or groan over the Lady of 
 Salette ; deplore the faith in winking pictures, or in a com- 
 munique of the Moniteur; moralize on the superstition 
 which discovers more in the liquefaction of the ichor of 
 St. Gennaro than a chemical trick ; but if you desire to 
 understand how far faith can see and trust among the 
 people who consider themselves the most civilized and in- 
 telligent in the world, you will study the American jour- 
 nals, and read the telegrams which appear in them. 
 
 One day the Seventh New York Eegiment is destroyed 
 for the edification of the South, and is cut up into such 
 small pieces that none of it is ever seen afterwards. The 
 next day it marches into Washington or Annapolis, all the 
 better for the process. Another, in order to encourage the 
 North, it is said that hecatombs of dead were carried out 
 of Fort Moultrie, packed up, for easy travelling, in boxes. 
 Again, to irritate both, it is credibly stated that Lord 
 Lyons is going to interfere, or that an Anglo-French fleet 
 is coming to watch the ports ; and so on, through a wild 
 play of fancy, inexact in line, as though the batteries were 
 charged with the aurora borealis or summer lightning, in- 
 stead of the respectable, steady, manageable offspring of 
 acid and metal. . . . 
 
 I am now, however, dealing with South Carolina, which 
 has been the fons et origo of the secession doctrines and 
 their development into the full life of the Confederate 
 States. The whole foundation on which South Carolina 
 rests is cotton and a certain amount of rice ; or rather she 
 bases her whole fabric on the necessity which exists in 
 Europe for those products of her soil, believing and as- 
 serting, as she does, that England and France cannot and 
 will not do without them. Cotton, without a market, is so 
 
64 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Russell 
 
 much flocculent matter encumbering the ground. Eice, 
 "without demand for it, is unsalable grain in store and on 
 the field. Cotton at ten cents a pound is boundless pros- 
 perity, empire, and superiority, and rice and grain need no 
 longer be regarded. 
 
 In the matter of slave labor, South Carolina argues 
 pretty much in this way: England and France require 
 our products. In order to meet their wants we must cul- 
 tivate our soil. There is only one way of doing so. The 
 white man cannot live on our land at certain seasons of 
 the year ; he cannot work in the manner required by the 
 crops. He must, therefore, employ a race suited to the 
 labor, and that is a race which will only woi-k when it is 
 obliged to do so. 
 
 [And so on throughout the old argument, which, fortunately, the 
 logic of time has in great measure disproved. But, leaving this phase 
 of the subject, we shall accompany our traveller on a visit to the land 
 of rice and slave labor. ] 
 
 Earlj'' one morning I started in a steamer to visit a 
 plantation in the Pedee and Maccamaw district, in the 
 island coast of the State, north of Charleston. Passing 
 Sumter, on which men are busily engaged, under the Con- 
 federate flag, in making good damages and mounting guns, 
 we put out a few miles to sea, and with the low sandy 
 shore, dotted with soldiers and guard-houses and clumps 
 of ti-ees, on our left, in a few hours pass the Santee Eivei', 
 and enter an estuary into which the Pedee and Maccamaw 
 run a few miles farther to the northwest. 
 
 The steamer ran alongside a jetty and pier, which was 
 crowded by men in uniform, waiting for the news and for 
 supplies of creature comforts. Ladies were cantering along 
 the fine hard beach, and some gigs and tax-carts, fully 
 laden, rolled along very much as one sees them at Scar- 
 
BussELL] PLANTATION LIFE IN WAR TIMES. 65 
 
 borough. The soldiers on the pier were all gentlemen of the 
 county. Some, dressed in gray tunics and yellow facings, in 
 high felt-hats and plumes and jack-boots, would have done 
 no discredit in face, figure, and bearing to the gayest cav- 
 aliers who ever thundered at the heels of Prince Rupert. 
 Their horses, full of Carolinian fire and mettle, stood pick- 
 eted under the trees along the margin of the beach. 
 Among these men, who had been doing the duty of com- 
 mon troopers in patrolling the sea-coast, were gentlemen 
 possessed of large estates and princely fortunes ; and one 
 who stood among them was pointed out to me as captain 
 of a company, for whose use his liberality provided un- 
 bounded daily libations of champagne, and the best luxu- 
 ries which French ingenuity can safely imprison in those 
 well-known caskets with which Crimean warriors were not 
 unacquainted at the close of the campaign. 
 
 They wei-e eager for news, which was shouted out to 
 them by their friends in the steamer, and one was struck 
 by the intimate personal cordiality and familiar acquaint- 
 ance which existed among them. Three heavy guns, 
 mounted in an earthwork defended by palisades, covered 
 the beach and the landing-place, and the garrison was to 
 have been reinforced by a regiment from Charleston, 
 which, however, had not got in readiness to go up on 
 our steamer, owing to some little difficulties between the 
 volunteers, their officers, and the quartermaster-general's 
 department. 
 
 As the " Nina" approaches the tumble-down wharf, two 
 or three citizens advance from the shade of shaky sheds to 
 welcome us, and a few country vehicles and light phaetons 
 are drawn forth from the same shelter to receive the pas- 
 sengers, while the negro boys and girls who have been 
 playing upon the bales of cotton and barrels of rice, which 
 represent the trade of the place on the wharf, take up 
 
 Vol. I — q 
 
66 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Russell 
 
 commanding positions for the better observation of our 
 proceedings. There is an air of quaint simplicity and old- 
 fashioned quiet about Georgetown, refreshingly antago- 
 nistic to the bustle and tumult of most American cities. 
 While waiting for our vehicle we enjoyed the hospitality 
 of one of our friends, who took us into an old-fashioned 
 angular wooden mansion, more than a century old, still 
 sound in every timber, and testifying in its quaint wains- 
 cotings, and the rigid framework of door and window, to 
 the durability of its cypress timbers and the preservative 
 character of the atmosphere. In early days it was the 
 crack house of the old settlement, and the residence of 
 the founder of the female branch of the family of our host, 
 who now only makes it his halting-place when passing to 
 and fro between Charleston and his plantation, leaving it 
 the year round in charge of an old servant and her grand- 
 child. Rose-trees and flowering shrubs clustered before 
 the porch and filled the garden in front, and the establish- 
 ment gave me a good idea of a London merchant's retreat 
 about Chelsea a hundred and fifty years ago. 
 
 At length we were ready for our journey, and, mounted 
 in two light covered vehicles, proceeded along the sandy 
 track, which, after a while, led us to a deep cut in the 
 bosom of the woods, where silence was only broken by the 
 cry of a woodpecker, the boom of a crane, or the sharp 
 challenge of the jay. For miles we passed through the 
 shadow of this forest, meeting only two or three vehicles, 
 containing female planterdom on little excursions of pleas- 
 ure or business, who smiled their welcome as we passed. 
 Arrived at a deep chocolate-colored stream, called Black 
 River, full offish and alligators, we find a flat large enough to 
 accommodate vehicles and passengers, and propelled by two 
 negroes pulling upon a stretched rope, in the manner usual 
 in the ferry-boats of Switzerland, ready for our reception. 
 
Russell] PLANTATION LIFE IN WAR TIMES. 67 
 
 Another drive through a more open country, and we 
 reach a fine grove of pine and Hve-oak, which melts away 
 into a shrubbery, guarded by a rustic gate-way, passing 
 through which, we are brought by a sudden turn into the 
 planter's house, buried in trees, which dispute with the 
 greensward and with wild flower-beds every yard of the 
 space which lies between the hall-door and the waters of 
 the Pedee ; and in a few minutes, as we gaze over the ex- 
 panse of fields just tinged with green by the first life of the 
 early rice crops, marked by the deep water cuts, and 
 bounded by a fringe of unceasing forest, the chimneys of 
 the steamer we had left at Georgetown gliding as it were 
 through the fields indicate the existence of another navi- 
 gable river still beyond. 
 
 Leaving with regret the veranda which commanded so 
 charming a foreground, we enter the house, and are re- 
 minded by its low-browed, old-fashioned rooms, of the 
 country houses yet to be found in parts of Ireland or on 
 the Scottish border, with additions, made by the luxury and 
 love of foreign travel, of more than one generation of 
 educated Southern planters. Paintings from Italy illustrate 
 the walls, in juxtaposition with interesting portraits of early 
 colonial governors and their lovely womankind, limned with 
 no uncertain hand, and full of the vigor of touch and nat- 
 uralness of drapery of which Copley has left us too few 
 exemplars ; and one portrait of Benjamin West claims for 
 itself such honor as his own pencil can give. An excel- 
 lent library — filled with collections of French and English 
 classics, and with those ponderous editions of Voltaire, 
 Bousseau, the memoires pour servir, books of travel and 
 history such as delighted our forefathers in the last cen- 
 tury, and many works of American and general history — ■ 
 affords ample occupation for a rainy day. 
 
 But, alas ! these, and all things good which else the house 
 
68 ^'ORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Russell 
 
 affords, can be enjoyed but for a brief season. Just as 
 nature has expanded every charm, developed every grace, 
 and clothed the scene with all the beauty of opened flower, 
 of ripening grain, and of mature vegetation, on the wings 
 of the wind the poisoned breath comes, borne to the home 
 of the white man, and he must fly before it or perish. The 
 books lie unopened on their shelves, the flower blooms and 
 dies unheeded, and, pity 'tis true, the old Madeira garnered 
 'neath the roof settles down for a fresh lease of life, and 
 sets about its solitary task of acquiring a finer flavor for 
 the infrequent lips of its banished master and his welcome 
 visitors. This is the story, at least, that we hear on all sides, 
 and such is the tale repeated to us beneath the porch, when 
 the moon enhances while softening the loveliness of the 
 scene, and the rich melody of mocking-birds fills the grove. 
 "Within these hospitable doors Horace might banquet 
 better than he did with Nasidienus, and drink such wine 
 as can only be found among the descendants of the an- 
 cestry who, improvident enough in all else, learnt the wis- 
 dom of bottling up choice old Bual and Sercial ere the 
 demon of oidium had dried up their generous sources for- 
 ever. To these must be added excellent bread, ingenious 
 vai-ieties of the galette, compounded now of rice and now 
 of Indian meal, delicious butter and fruits, all good of their 
 kind. And is there anything bitter rising up from the 
 bottom of the social bowl? My black friends who attend 
 on me are grave as Mussulman Khitmutgars. They are 
 attired in liveries, and wear white cravats and Berlin 
 gloves. At night when we retire, off they go to their 
 outer darkness in the small settlement of negrohood, which 
 is separated from our house by a wooden palisade. Their 
 fidelity is undoubted. The house breathes an air of security. 
 The doors and windows are unlocked. There is but one 
 gun, a fowling-piece, on the premises. No planter here- 
 
Russell] PLANTATION LIFE IN WAR TIMES. 69 
 
 abouts has any dread of his slaves. But I have seen, 
 within the short time I have been in this part of the world, 
 several dreadful accounts of murder and violence, in which 
 masters suffered at the hands of their slaves. There is 
 something suspicious in the constant, never-ending state< 
 ment that " we are not afraid of our slaves." The curfew 
 and the night patrol in the streets, the prisons and watch- 
 houses, and the police regulations, prove that strict super- 
 vision, at all events, is needed and necessary. My host is a 
 kind man and a good master. If slaves are happy any- 
 where, they should be so with him. 
 
 These people are fed by their master. They have up. 
 ward of half a pound per diem of fat pork, and corn in 
 abundance. They rear poultry and sell their chickens and 
 eggs to the house. They are clothed by their master. He 
 keeps them in sickness as in health. Now and then there 
 are gifts of tobacco and molasses for the deserving. There 
 was little labor going on in the fields, for the rice has been 
 just exerting itself to get its head above water. These 
 fields yield plentifully ; for the waters of the river are fat, 
 and they are let in whenever the planter requires it, by 
 means of floodgates and small canals, through which the 
 flats can carry their loads of grain to the river for loading 
 the steamers. 
 
 [Following our traveller la his peregrinations through the South, we 
 next take him up on a sugar plantation on the Mississippi. The part 
 of his journey in which we now find him is to be taken by boat.] 
 
 Charon pushed his skiff into the water — there was a 
 good deal of rain in it — in shape of snuffer-dish, some ten 
 feet long and a foot deep. I got in, and the conscious 
 waters immediately began vigorously spurting through the 
 cotton wadding wherewith the craft was calked. Had we 
 got out into the stream we should have had a swim for it, 
 
70 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Russell 
 
 and they do say the Mississippi is the most dangerous river 
 for that healthful exercise in the known world. 
 
 " Why I deuce take you" (I said at least that, in my 
 wrath), " don't you see the boat is leaky ?" 
 
 " See it now for true, massa. Nobody able to tell dat 
 till massa get in, tho'." 
 
 Another skiff proved to be stanch. I bade good-by to 
 my friend, and sat down in my boat, which was soon forced 
 along up-stream close to the bank, in order to get a good 
 start across to the other side. The view, from my lonely 
 position, was curious, but not at all picturesque. The land- 
 scape had disappeared at once. The world was bounded 
 on both sides by a high bank, and was constituted by a 
 broad river, — just as if one were sailing down an open sewer 
 of enormous length and breadth. Above the bank rose, 
 however, the tops of tall trees and the chimnej's of sugar- 
 houses. A row of a quarter of an hour brought us to tho 
 levee on the other side. 1 ascended the bank, and directly 
 in front of me, across the road, appeared a carriage gate- 
 way and wickets of wood, painted white, in a line of park 
 palings of the same material, which extended up and 
 down the road far as the eye could follow, and guarded 
 wide-spread fields of maize and sugar-cane. An avenue of 
 trees, with branches close set, drooping and overarching a 
 walk paved with red brick, led to the house, the porch of 
 which was just visible at the extremity of the lawn, with 
 clustering flowers, rose, jasmine, and creepers clinging to 
 the pillars supporting the veranda. 
 
 The proprietor, who had espied my approach, issued 
 forth with a section of sable attendants in his rear, and 
 gave me a hearty welcome. The house was larger and 
 better than the residences even of the richest planters, 
 though it was in need of some little repair, and had been 
 built perhaps fifty years ago, in the old Irish fashion, who 
 
Russell] PLANTATION LIFE IN WAR TIMES. 71 
 
 built well, ate well, drank well, and, finally, paid very 
 well. The view from the belvedere was one of the most 
 striking of its kind in the world. If an English agricul- 
 turist could see six thousand acres of the finest land in one 
 field, unbroken by hedge or boundary, and covered with 
 the most magnificent crops of tasselling Indian corn and 
 sprouting sugar-cane, as level as a billiard-table, he would 
 surely doubt his senses. But here is literally such a sight. 
 Six thousand acres, better tilled than the finest patch in 
 all the Lothians, green as Meath pastures, which can be 
 cultivated for a hundred years to come without requiring 
 manure, of depth practically unlimited, and yielding an 
 annual profit on what is sold off it of at least twenty pounds 
 an acre at the old prices and usual yield of sugar. Eising 
 up in the midst of the verdure are the white lines of the 
 negro cottages and the plantation ofiices and sugar-bouses, 
 which look like large public edifices in the distance. And 
 who is the lord of all this fair domain ? The proprietor of 
 Houmas and Orange grove is a man, a self-made one, who 
 has attained his apogee on the bright side of half a century, 
 after twenty-five years of successful business. 
 
 When my eyes " uncurtained the early morning," I might 
 liave imagined myself in the magic garden of Cherry and 
 Fair Star, so incessant and multifarious were the carols of 
 the birds, which were the only happy colored people I saw 
 in my Southern tour, notwithstanding the assurances of 
 the many ingenious and candid gentlemen who attempted 
 to prove to me that the palm of terrestrial felicity must be 
 awarded to their negroes. As I stepped through my win- 
 dow upon the veranda, a shai'p chirp called my attention 
 to a mocking-bird perched upon a rose-bush beneath, whom 
 my presence seemed to annoy to such a degree that I re- 
 treated behind my curtain, whence I observed her flight to 
 a nest, cunningly hid in a creeping rose trailed around 
 
72 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Russell 
 
 a neighboring column of the house, where she imparted a 
 breakfast of spiders and grasshoppers to her gaping and 
 clamorous offspring. While I was admiring the motherly 
 grace of this melodious fly-catcher, a servant brought cof- 
 fee, and announced that the horses were ready, and. that I 
 might have a three hours ride before breakfast. 
 
 If I regretted the absence of the English agriculturist 
 when I beheld the six thousand acres of cane and sixteen 
 hundred of maize unfolded, from the belvedere the day pre- 
 vious, I longed for his presence still more when I saw those 
 evidences of luxuriant fertility attained without the use of 
 phosphates or guano. The rich Mississippi bottoms need 
 no manure ; a rotation of maize with cane affords them the 
 necessary recuperative action. The cane of last yeai-'s 
 plant is left in stubble, and renews its growth this spring 
 under the title of ratoons. When the maize is in tassel, 
 cow-peas are dropped between the rows, and when the 
 lordly stalk, of which I measured many twelve or even 
 fifteen feet in heijrht, bearinf; three and sometimes four 
 ears, is topped to admit the ripening sun, the pea-vine 
 twines itself around the trunk with a profusion of leaf 
 and tendril that supplies the planter with the most desira- 
 ble fodder for his mules in "rolling-time," which is their 
 season of trial. Besides this, the corn-blades are culled 
 and cured. These are the best meals of the Southern race- 
 horse, and constitute nutritious hay without dust. . . . 
 
 As we ride through the wagon-roads, — of which there 
 are not less than thirty miles in this confederation of four 
 plantations held together by the purse and the life of our 
 host, — the unwavering exactitude of the rows of cane, 
 which run without deviation at right angles with the river 
 down to the cane-brake, two miles oft", proves that the 
 negro would be a formidable rival in a ploughing-match. 
 The cane has been " laid by ;" that is, it requires no more 
 
Russell] PLANTATION LIFE IN WAR TIMES. 73 
 
 labor, and will soon " lap," or close up, though the rows 
 are seven feet apart. It feathers like a palm top : a stalk 
 which was cut measured six feet, although from the ridcres 
 it was but waist-high. On dissecting it near the root we 
 find five nascent joints not a quarter of an inch apart. In 
 a few weeks more these will shoot up like a spy-glass 
 pulled out to its focus. . . . 
 
 In the rear of this great plantation there are eighteen 
 thousand additional acres of cane-brake which are being 
 slowly reclaimed. . . . We extended our ride into this 
 jungle, on the borders of which, in the unfinished clearing, 
 I saw plantations of " negro corn," the sable cultivators of 
 which seem to have disregarded the symmetry practised in 
 the fields of their master, who allows them from Saturday 
 noon until Monday's cockcrow for the care of their private 
 interests. . . . 
 
 Corn, chicken, and eggs are, from time immemorial, the 
 perquisites of the negro, who has the monopoly of the two 
 last-named articles in all well-ordered Louisiana planta- 
 tions. Indeed, the white man cannot compote with them 
 in raising poultry, and our host was evidently delighted 
 when one of his negroes, who had brought a dozen Mus- 
 covy ducks to the mansion, refused to sell them to him 
 except for cash. " But, Louis, won't you trust me ? Am I 
 not good for three dollars?" "Good enough, massa ; but 
 dis nigger want de money to buy flour and coffee for him 
 young family. Folks at Donaldsonville will trust massa, — 
 won't trust nigger." The money was paid, and, as the 
 negro left us, his master observed, with a sly, humorous 
 twinkle, " That fellow sold forty dollars' worth of corn last 
 year, and all of them feed their chickens with my corn, 
 and sell their own." 
 
WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS.' [Clarkb 
 
 AMONG FLORIDA ALLIGATORS. 
 
 S. C. CLARKB, 
 
 [To the several stories of hunting life which we have introduced 
 into these pages we may add one description of the large game of the 
 streams and lakes of Florida, the bone-clad alligator. With it is given 
 a sketch of the Everglade region which may be of interest.] 
 
 Having organized an expedition to the great Lake Oke- 
 chobee, some thirty miles due west from the Indian Eiver 
 Inlet, we hired a wagon and pair of mules to carry our 
 tents and necessary baggage, but, no other animals being 
 attainable, only those of us who were fit for a tramp of 
 nearly a hundred miles could go. Colonel Vincent, Mac- 
 leod and Herbert of the " Victoria," Captain Morris, Eob- 
 erts, and myself, with the two pilots, Pecetti and Weldon, 
 as guides, and Tom and a negro w^hom we picked up at 
 Capron for cooks, — ten men in all, well-armed, — we were 
 strong enough to insure respect from any roving party of 
 Seminoles who might have been tempted to rob a weaker 
 party. There are at this time, it is supposed, two or three 
 hundred of these Indians in the region between Lake Oke- 
 chobee and the Keys, descendants of a few Seminoles who 
 concealed themselves in these inaccessible fastnesses when 
 the greater part of their nation was sent West in 1842. 
 They plant some corn on the islands of the Everglades, 
 but live principally by the chase. Hitherto they have not 
 been hostile to the whites, but as they increase in numbers 
 faster than the white settlers, it is not impossible that they 
 may reoccupy Southern Florida sooner or later, it being, in 
 fact, a region suited only to the roving hunter, , , . 
 
 The first day we made about twenty miles through a 
 
Clarkk] among FLORIDA ALLIGATORS. 75 
 
 forest of yellow pine, such as stretches along the Southern 
 coast from Virginia to Alabama, the trees standing thirty 
 or forty feet apart, with little underbrush. Here and there 
 we came upon a hummock of good soil, covered with the 
 live-oak, magnolia, and cabbage-palm, all interlaced with 
 vines and creepers, so as to form an almost impassable 
 jungle. Now the I'oad would lead into a wide savanna or 
 meadow, waving with grass and browsed by herds of wild 
 cattle and deer. In these meadows were set bright, mirror- 
 like lakes, the abodes of water-fowl and wading birds, black 
 bass, and the grim alligator, which in these solitudes, not 
 being impressed with the fear of man, will hardly trouble 
 himself to move out of the waj'. March in this region 
 corresponding to May in the Middle States, the birds wei'e 
 in full spring song in every thicket, — the cardinal, the non- 
 pareil, the mocking-bird, and our old familiar robin, whoso 
 cheerful note greets the traveller all over North America. 
 Up and down the great pine trunks ran the red and gray 
 squirrels, the little brown hare scudded through the pal- 
 metto sci'ub, and the turkey-buzzards floated above our 
 heads in long easy circles. 
 
 So we fared on our way till about four p.m., when we 
 made our camp on a clear branch or creek which issued 
 from a lake near by, and while some of the party went to 
 look for a deer. Captain Herbert and I took our rods and 
 went up the creek towards the lake. Casting our spoons 
 into a deep hole, we soon took a mess of bass and pike, 
 which were very abundant and eager to be caught, when, as 
 we were preparing to return to camp, we suddenly saw an 
 alligator about eight feet long quietly stealing towards us. 
 I seized a young pine-tree about as thick as my arm, and 
 made for him. Not at all alarmed, the beast opened his 
 jaws and advanced, hissing loudlj''. I brought down my 
 club with full force upon his head, but it seemed to produce 
 
76 WORLD'8 GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clarke 
 
 DO impression ; he still advanced as I retreated battering 
 his skull. 
 
 " What is that brute's head made of?" inquired Herbert, 
 as he came to ray assistance with another club ; and be- 
 tween us we managed to stun the hard-lived reptile, and 
 left him on the ground. 
 
 The hunters brought in a young buck and two turkeys, 
 so that we had a plentiful supper after our tramp. . . . 
 
 About two o'clock that night we were disturbed by the 
 mules, which had been staked out to graze hard b}", and 
 which retreated towards the camp to the end of their 
 ropes, snorting with terror. The dogs rushed to the scene 
 of disturbance, and appeared to have a fight with some 
 animal which escaped in the woods. Our guides thought 
 it was a panther, and at daylight they started, with Morris 
 and myself and all the dogs, to hunt for it. The hounds 
 soon hit the trail, which we followed into a cypress swamp 
 about half a mile from the camp, in the midst of which 
 they started a large panther, which, being hotl}'- pressed by 
 the hounds, treed in a big live-oak on the farther side of 
 the swamp. When we came up we plainly' saw the beast 
 lying out on a branch which stretched horizontally from 
 the trunk about twenty-five feet from the ground. 
 
 " Now," said Pecetti, " you two fire first, and if you don't 
 kill, Weldon and I will be ready. Aim at the heart." 
 
 Morris and I fired, and the panther sprang from the tree 
 among the dogs, which all piled on him at once. There 
 was a confused mass of fur rolUng on the ground, snarling, 
 and snapping, for half a minute ; then the panther broke 
 loose, and was making off, when Weldon put half a dozen 
 buckshot in his head, and he rolled over and over, so nearly 
 dead that when the dogs mounted him again he could do 
 no mischief He had badly cut both the deer-hounds, how- 
 ever, which had been the first to seize him : Weldon's fox. 
 
^^ -PH£ OOAS-r O,^ ..UORIOA 
 
 From a !=.tee;i- .- 
 
Clarkk] among FLORIDA ALLIGATORS. 77 
 
 hounds, having more experience with this sort of game, 
 had kept clear of his claws. It was a fine male, measuring 
 eight feet from the nose to the tip of the tail, and we took 
 the skin for a trophy. The tenacitj of life in these large 
 cats is very great. One of our balls had penetrated the 
 chest, and the other had broken the fore leg, but he was 
 still able to shake off the dogs, and would probably have 
 escaped but for Weldon's shot. . . . 
 
 The next morning, March 13, we breakfasted upon a 
 couple of gophers or land-tortoises which the men had 
 found the day before in the pine-woods. These creatures 
 are about eighteen inches long, and weigh twelve or fifteen 
 pounds. A stew of the gopher and the terminal buds of 
 the cabbage-palm is a favorite Florida dish. About noon 
 we came suddenly upon the shore of the great lake Oke- 
 chobee, which extends away to the west and south as far 
 as the eye can reach : in fact, the shores are so low as 
 to be invisible at any distance. This is by far the largest 
 sheet of water in the State, being about forty miles long 
 and thirty wide, but it is not deep. It contains on the 
 western side several islands, which are occupied by the 
 Seminoles. To the south and east of this lake are the 
 Everglades, or Grassy Lakes, a region where land and 
 water are mingled, — rivers, lakes, dry islands, and wet 
 marshes all jumbled together in confusion, and extending 
 over many hundred square miles, the chosen abode of the 
 alligator, the gar-fish, the snapping-turtle, the moccasin 
 snake, and other hideous and ferocious creatures more or 
 less mythical, and recalling those earlier periods in the 
 earth's history when the great monsters, the Ichthyosauri 
 and the Plesiosauri, wallowed and crawled over the conti- 
 nents. 
 
 We made our camp in a grove near the lake, almost on 
 the spot where Taylor fought his battle in 1838. As soon 
 
78 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clarkb 
 
 as this was done the pilots went in search of a tree to 
 make canoes. They found not far off a large cypress 
 which served, and by the next night they had completed 
 two canoes, each about twelve feet long and eighteen 
 inches wide, suitable for navigating the lake and able to 
 carry four men each. In the mean time we had commenced 
 hostilities against the alligators, which were here very 
 large, bold, and numerous. They lay basking in the sun 
 upon the beach in front of our camp, some of them fifteen 
 feet long, and it became necessary to drive them away, 
 lest they should devour our dogs, or even our mules, for 
 some of these monsters looked able to do it. We opened 
 fire upon them with repeating rifles, and if any Indians 
 were within hearing they must have supposed that General 
 Taylor had come back again, such was the rapidity of our 
 fusillade. The brain of the alligator is small, and developed 
 chiefly in the region of destructiveness ; but after a dozen 
 were killed and many more wounded, it seemed to dawn 
 upon their perceptions that this part of the lake was un- 
 safe, and they gradually took themselves away. I disap- 
 prove of killing animals for mere sport, and destroy not 
 deliberately except when I wish to use them for food ; but 
 the alligator is the enemy of all living creatures, the 
 tyrant of the waters, and the death of one saves the lives 
 of hundreds of other animals. So blaze away at the 
 'gators, O ye Florida tourists ! — you will not kill many of 
 them, anyway : their shells are too thick, — but spare the 
 pelicans, who are a harmless race of fisherfolk, like our- 
 selves. 
 
 There were great numbers of large turtles in the lake, 
 Chelonura and Trionyx, from two to three feet long ; gar- 
 fish also, almost as big as the alligators. These mailed 
 warriors, like the knights of old, exercise their prowess 
 chiefly upon the defenceless multitudes of the fresh waters, 
 
Clarke] AMONG FLORIDA ALLIGATORS. 79 
 
 but I have heard of half a large alligator being found in 
 the stomach of a shark at a river mouth. In Bpite of all 
 these destroyers, the lake swarmed with fish. Pecetti 
 could generally get enough black bass, pike, or perch at 
 one or two casts of his net to feed' our whole party if at 
 any time it happened that they would not bite at the 
 hook. 
 
 A curious feature of the lake and river scenery is the 
 floating island. This is principally formed of the water- 
 lettuce, or Fistia, an aquatic plant with long roots which 
 descend to the bottom. These beds of Pistia become 
 matted together with grass and weeds, so as to be thick 
 enough to bear the weight of small animals, and even 
 sometimes of man. In strong winds these islands break 
 loose from their anchorage and float away for miles, till 
 they bring up in some quiet bay, where the plants again 
 take root. Lake Okechobee contains many of these float- 
 ing meadows, which are a great resort for ducks and water- 
 fowl. In fact, one would think that all the ducks, divers, 
 herons, curlews, ibises, cranes, and waders generally had 
 assembled here in mass-meeting. Among them are those 
 rare and beautiful species, the scarlet ibis, roseate spoon- 
 bill, and black-necked stilt. The ducks, being birds of pas- 
 sage, spending their summers up North, are acquainted 
 with men and their arts, and are comparatively shy, 
 but the native birds are very tame and can easily be ap- 
 proached. 
 
 I was awakened the next morning at sunrise by sounds 
 from the woods as of a gang of ship-carpenters or calkers 
 at work. It was the great ivory-billed woodpecker {Picus 
 principalis) tearing off the bark and probing the dead trees 
 for insects and grubs, and making a noise which could 
 plainly be heard half a mile in the still morning air. 
 Another sound of a different character now made itself 
 
80 WORLD'l^l GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clabkk 
 
 heard from the swamps. It was something like the bel- 
 lowing of bulls, and proceeded from the old male alligators 
 calling to their mates. This indicates the coming of spring, 
 the breeding-season of these creatures. William Bartram, 
 who travelled in East Florida a hundred years ago, gives 
 a thrilling account of the terrible combats which he wit- 
 nessed in the St. John's Eiver between these rival cham- 
 pions, who did not hesitate to attack him in his boat. 
 
 The next day, March 15, being in want of meat. Colonel 
 Vincent, Dr. Macleod, Morris, and I started for a hunt, 
 taking Peeetti for guide, since nothing is easier than to 
 get lost in this wilderness. We kept up the lake-shore to 
 the north on the sandy beach, towards the mouth of the 
 Kissimmee Eiver, which here enters the lake. This is a 
 deep and rapid stream, which drains the great wet prairies 
 to the north, and in the rainy season must carry a large 
 volume of water. Like the lake, it has great patches of 
 water-lettuce, which in some places almost bridge the 
 channel. Much of its course is through swamps, though 
 in some places the pine barrens and live-oak hummocks 
 approach its banks. It contains immense quantities of fish, 
 — pike, bass, and perch. 
 
 In the first hummock which we reached the colonel shot 
 a buck, and I got two young turkeys from a flock. As we 
 emerged from this hummock the guide spied a herd of wild 
 cattle feeding on the prairie about half a mile off, and 
 by his direction we crept through the scrub as far as it 
 afforded cover, and then trusted to the high grass for con- 
 cealment till we got within a hundred yards of the herd, 
 which consisted of about twenty cows and calves, with a 
 couple of bulls. The doctor and colonel fired together and 
 brought down a heifer. A big bull immediately charged 
 towards the smoke and report of the guns, for he could 
 not see us. On he came, head down and tail erect, bellow- 
 
Clarke] AMONG FLORIDA ALLIGATORS. 81 
 
 ing with rage, — a magnificent animal of brindled color, 
 with an immensely heavy neck and shoulder, like a bison, 
 but without the mane. When within fifty yards I fired at 
 his head : the ball struck him full in the forehead and 
 staggered him, but he shook his head and kept straight for 
 us. I gave him another shot, which struck him in the 
 chest and turned him, when Pecetti gave him sixteen buck- 
 shot in the shoulder from his big double-barrel, which 
 brought him down, dying bravely in defence of his family. 
 
 " His carcass is too old and tough to be of any good," 
 said the guide, " but I'll take off his hide : the heifer will 
 give us meat enough." 
 
 While he was butchering, Morris returned to the camp 
 and sent out Tom with the wagon to bring in the beef and 
 venison. It was not long before a flock of turkey-buzzards 
 appeared in sight and floated in circles above our heads, 
 waiting for our departure to begin their feast. It was 
 formerly the opinion of naturalists that these birds were 
 guided by scent in the discovery of the dead animals upon 
 which they feed, but later investigations show that they 
 are led by their acute vision ; and my own experience con- 
 vinces me that this is the fact. As we were returning to 
 camp through the hummock, Pecetti killed a large rattle- 
 snake : it was over five feet long, and as thick as the calf 
 of a man's leg. . . . 
 
 On the morning of March 20, Captain Herbert, Pecetti 
 and I went on a fishing excursion up the lake in a canoe. 
 A few casts of the net near the shore procured a supply of 
 small fish of the mullet species for bait, and we paddled up 
 near to the inlet of the Kissimmee. Here we found the alli- 
 gators and gars too numerous, they having collected prob- 
 ably to prey upon the fish which there enter the lake. In 
 a quiet bay near the fringe of Pistia and water-lilies, where 
 
 the water was five or six feet deep, we trolled with a spoon 
 Vol. 1—6 
 
82 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clarke 
 
 for black bass, and took some of ver}^ large size, — eight, ten 
 and twelve pounds. . . . 
 
 What adds much to the interest of fishing in strange 
 waters is the uncertainty of the sport and the variety of 
 species ; and in this lake we could not tell whether the 
 next offer would be from a peaceful perch, a bounding bass, 
 a piratical pike, or a gigantic gar, I put a chub, or a fish 
 resembling it, eight or nine inches long upon a gang of 
 large hooks, and cast it astern with a hand-line. Presently 
 I saw a great roll towards it from out the weeds, and my 
 line stopped short. I had something very heavy, which, 
 however, played in the sluggish fashion of the pike family, 
 and in ten minutes, without much resistance, I had it along- 
 side the canoe, and it was gaffed by Pecetti. It was a huge 
 pike, four feet four inches long, and weighed, when we got 
 to camp, thirty-four pounds. Pecetti called it the striped 
 pike, and said he had seen them six feet long in some of 
 the lakes : perhaps Esox vittatus (Eafinesque) of the Mis- 
 sissippi Basin. 
 
 By this time the gars had collected about us in such 
 numbers that the other fish were driven away: we found 
 it impossible to get a hook into their bony jaws or bills, 
 and only succeeded in capturing one of small size by slip- 
 ping a noose over its head as it followed the bait. This 
 gar-fish is useless as food, but we wanted a few specimens 
 for Dr. White, it being in demand for museums, particu- 
 larly in foreign countries, as it belongs to a species exclu- 
 sively American, and represents an order of fishes (the 
 ganoids) of which few families at present exist. This one, 
 Lepidosteus, has a wide range in America, being found from 
 Florida to Wisconsin. Another American ganoid is Amia 
 calva, the dog-fish or bow-fin, which is very numerous in 
 Western rivers. Both are voracious, but unfit for food. 
 They are described by Agassiz as being of an old-fashioned 
 
Telverton] in the MAMMOTH CAVE. 83 
 
 type, such as were common in the earlier geologic periods, 
 and this is one among many proofs that North America 
 is the oldest of the continents. 
 
 Morris, Vincent, and the other hunters brought in to-day 
 a large supply of game, — deer, turkeys, and ducks, — but 
 sustained the loss of one of Morris's deer-hounds, which 
 they supposed to have been taken by an alligator while 
 swimming a lake in pursuit of a deer. They were some 
 miles south of the camp when this occurred. They did 
 not see the alligator, but the dog suddenly disappeared, 
 and was not to be found after a long search. Morris felt 
 BO much disgusted by the loss of this valuable dog that he 
 wished to return to the yacht and go down towards the 
 Keys. So we started the next morning, and arrived at 
 the inlet on the 23d. The weather had been delightful, as 
 is usually the case in Florida in winter, but the day we 
 arrived at the inlet we encountered the beginning of the 
 equinoctial storm, which lasted two days and was very 
 violent. 
 
 IN THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 
 
 THERESE YELVERTON. 
 
 [Among the many marvels of nature in the United States the 
 Mammoth Cave holds a prominent position, and we feel it incumbent 
 on us to accompany some of our company of travellers into its depths. 
 The " Teresina in America" of Therese Yelverton (Viscountess Avon- 
 more) affords us the opportunity, of which we avail ourselves in the 
 following selection.] 
 
 We arrived at the Mammoth Cave on one of those 
 heavenly days which earthly words fail to depict. It 
 was the second week in November, the " Indian summer," 
 
84 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Yeltkrtoit 
 
 the most charming season in America. If anything were 
 necessary to convince me that a future beatitude is no 
 fiction, it would be this foretaste of bliss in such days 
 as these, when the whole being — mind and body — seems 
 lapped in a state of peace and beatitude combined. 
 Anxieties and worldly cares seem to float away into the 
 dim distance ; our love is free from feverish excitement, 
 and hate has lost its gall and sting. The golden light 
 which floats around mellows our soul to repose. There is 
 that exhilarating, yet balmy nourishment in the atmos- 
 phere which lifts the weary spirit from its damp and 
 earthly coil, and makes it glad, and light, and gleesome. 
 The heavy "heart bowed down by weight of woe" sud- 
 denly imbibes some of the joyous elasticity which fills the 
 insect tribe, — the bees and grasshoppers, the golden fly, 
 glittering and humming in pure ecstasies, and the merry 
 little beetles revelling in one continuous contra-dance. 
 Earely, indeed, can we overcharged human beings feel as 
 blithesome as the insect world ; we seek to taste the apples 
 of delight which turn to ashes in our mouth, and neglect 
 to sip with them the nectar in the breeze. What can we 
 do? these breezes come so seldom. The insect sparkles to- 
 day in the sunshine and to-morrow it dies. We of the 
 superior race have to live and labor through sunshine and 
 shade, and can only catch these rosy minutes as they fly. 
 
 Some of these halcyon moments we enjoyed on that for- 
 tunate day we arrived at the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. 
 The earth was covered with its autumn carpet of dry dark 
 leaves, — brown and glossy on one side, deep violet on the 
 other, — and crinkling and crushing beneath our tread, 
 they kept up a staccato treble to the dulcet sighing of 
 the wind through the yellow leaves still lingering on the 
 trees. A delicious concert of sweet sounds, and one that 
 Mozart and Mendelssohn must have studied well and care- 
 
Tklverton] in the MAMMOTH CAVE. 85 
 
 fully. The atmosphere was bright and clear as under a 
 summer sun, but without the heat; the air as fine and 
 bracing as winter, but without the cold. We lost sight 
 entirely of the two great tormentors, heat and cold, and 
 for the few days of our stay forgot their very existence. 
 
 I have heard of persons feeling, under the effect of 
 laughter, as light and buoyant as if floating in ambient 
 air. The atmosphere during their " Indian summer" must, 
 doubtless, be strongly impregnated with oxygen, for we 
 experienced a similar sensation ; which was probably 
 deepened by the fact of our having come from Louisville, 
 where those hotel stairs had seemed a perfect toil to us. 
 
 The country around the caves, for eight or ten miles, 
 was a series of deep ravines, studded with projecting cliffs 
 and rocks, and covered with oak— principally the English 
 oak — and another gigantic species, with leaves from a 
 quarter to half a yard long, but of the same form as the 
 ordinary oak-leaf Up and down the ravines we scrambled 
 and roamed, as happy as goats or wild chamois. These 
 ravines, or glens, have no doubt been the beds of some 
 ancient river, now, perhaps, flowing through the bowels of 
 the earth ; for this part of the country is intersected by 
 underground rivers, a stream often suddenly appearing, 
 which, after flowing on for a few miles, plunges rapidly into 
 the earth and is lost to sight. 
 
 An anecdote is told of two millers who had their mills 
 on two different rivers, thirty miles apart. There had 
 been a long drought, and neither mill had been working; 
 but one day miller No. 1 heard his wheel going round at 
 a tremendous pace, and going to examine it perceived a 
 quantity of water, although there had not been a drop of 
 rain for some time. He went over to communicate his 
 good luck to his neighbor. 
 
 " Oh 1" exclaimed miller No. 2, " you're gettin' my water 
 
86 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Yklverton 
 
 unbeknownst, for a cloud burst over us the other night and 
 nearly drowned us all." 
 
 It was evident the millers were working the same stream, 
 which ran for thirty miles underground, similar to the 
 lakes in Florida, called sinks (for Americans call every- 
 thing by gross-sounding names), which suddenly disappear, 
 leaving all the fish stranded. Sometimes the water re- 
 turns, sometimes not. . . . 
 
 Independent of the caves, the scenery around, to a lover 
 of nature, is well worthy of a visit, and for a summer 
 resort is unsurpassed ; shady, romantic walks through the 
 woods ; a delicious air breathed from the gigantic mouth 
 of the cavern, whence, in the hot months, it blows cool and 
 refreshing ; in the cold ones soft and warm ; the actual 
 temperature of the cave never varying. The sensations of 
 heat and cold are produced by comparison with the outer 
 air. 
 
 It occurred to a medical man some years ago that the 
 uniform atmosphere of this cave might be a specific for 
 consumption. 
 
 Possessed with this theory, the doctor had a dozen small 
 houses constructed in the cavern, about a mile or two from 
 its mouth, and to these he conveyed his patients. From 
 the appearance of these places of abode, the only wonder 
 is that the poor invalids did not expire after twenty-four 
 hours of residence in them. They, however, contrived to 
 exist there about three months, most of them being carried 
 out in extremis. The houses consisted of a single room, 
 built of the rough stone of the cavern, — which, in this part, 
 bears all the appearance of a stone-quarry, — and without 
 one particle of comfort beyond a boarded floor, the small 
 dwelling being constructed entirely on the model of a 
 lock-up, or " stone-jug." The cells of a modern prison are 
 quite palatial in comparison with them. The darkness ia 
 
Yblvkbton] in the MAMMOTH CAVE. 87 
 
 such as might be felt ; and it is impossible to realize what 
 darkness actually is until experienced in some place where 
 a ray of sunlight has never penetrated. 
 
 From the mouth of the cavern to, that part where the 
 doctor's houses were built was a continual, though gradual, 
 descent, and at that spot there was a solid roof of a hun- 
 dred and fifty feet of earth. The houses — or rather de- 
 tached stone boxes — were so small that without vitiating 
 the air only one person could remain in them at one time; 
 so that, besides the darkness, — in case of any accident to 
 their lamps, — these poor creatures must have endured utter 
 solitude. Their food was brought from the hotel, two or 
 three miles away, on the hill, and consequently must have 
 been cold and comfortless. They were kept prisoners 
 within their narrow cells, for the rough rocks and stones 
 everywhere abounding rendered a promenade for invalids 
 quite impracticable. The deprivation of sunlight, fresh 
 air, and all the beauties of the earth must have been the 
 direst punishment imaginable. No wonder these poor 
 creatures were carried out one by one to die. 
 
 The last one having become so weak that it was deemed 
 unsafe to move him, his friends resolved to stay with him in 
 the cavern till the last. What transpired is now beyond 
 investigation. Whether some effect of light, which in this 
 cavern has a most mysterious and awful appearance, or 
 whether the death-bed was one of terrors, owing to some 
 imp of mischief having laid a plan to " scare" them, as they 
 say in this country, is not known ; but they rushed terror- 
 stricken from the cave, and on reaching the hotel fell 
 down insensible. Subsequently they declared they had 
 seen spirits carrying away their friend. Mustering a 
 strong force, the people from terra Jirma, with the guides 
 and plenty of torches, sallied down to the lower and sup- 
 posed infernal regions. The spirits, however, had fled, 
 
88 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Yelvkrton 
 
 leaving nothing but the stiffening corpse of the poor con- 
 sumptive. This ended all hope of the cavern as a cure for 
 consumption. 
 
 The Mammoth Cave is perhaps the most extensively 
 explored cavern known. It extends for nine continuous 
 miles, 80 that it would be possible to walk fifty miles in 
 and out by different roads. The cavern consists of various 
 large chambers and lofty domes, averaging from twenty 
 to one hundred feet in height. Some of the chambers ex- 
 actly resemble the tombs of the kings of Egypt, and the 
 narrow tortuous defiles through the rocks are also very 
 like the roads into the Pyramids. Most of these chambers 
 are merely natural excavations in the solid rock. One of 
 the white-domed ceilings is covered with a thick scroll- 
 pattern traced in black, and consists entirely of bats, which 
 take up their winter quarters in these caverns, and fare 
 better in them apparently than the consumptives. It is 
 curious how these sightless creatures, from various parts 
 of the country, find out the caves, so impervious to light 
 and cold, and where, from the noise they make, they seem 
 to have a merry time of it. Not so, however, the visitors 
 passing through this part of the cave ; for the bats are apt 
 to fly right in one's face, or stick against one's clothes, and 
 bite furiously at any attempt to dislodge them. 
 
 Still farther on there is a vast vault, upward of eighty 
 feet high, formed of gypsum with some sort of crystals 
 embedded in it. When you sit and gaze on it for some 
 time, by the dim light of the lamps, the vault seems to 
 recede into azure space. A bright sparkling veil hangs 
 over it like the milky way, seen dimly between the shelv- 
 ing rocks, which bulge out in round soft layers, of a whitish- 
 gray cast, and look exactly like petrified clouds. By a 
 judicious movement of the light of the lamps a most 
 beautiful phenomenon of cloud-scenery is effected, and by 
 
Yelverton] in the MAMMOTH CAVE. 89 
 
 their gradual extinction a Stygian darkness seems to wrap 
 all in perfect horror. This, the "Star Chamber," is one of 
 the finest effects in the Mammoth Cave, and it might be 
 enhanced to the wildest magnificer^ce by an artistic ar- 
 rangement of variouslj^ colored lights. The cave would be 
 a fine place in which to read Dante's Inferno. 
 
 Here and there through the cave there are immense pits 
 or chasms, only some few yards in circumference, but from 
 two to three hundred feet in depth. A piece of paper sat- 
 urated in oil is thrown down and displays the fearful gulf, 
 the bottom of which appears to have the same formation 
 of rock and clay as the top. Sometimes we ascended ten 
 or twenty feet by ladders and occasionally descended. We 
 traversed about a mile of passage where the ceiling, six 
 feet high, was as smooth and white as plaster could have 
 made it. It was literally covered with the names of former 
 visitors. In some places there were hundreds of cards on 
 the floor, left by guests, — so it is not only English people 
 who have a mania for inscribing their names. Indeed, as 
 to that, it is common to most nations, for I had a secretary 
 named Van Kenkle, who wrote his name upon ever}'- arti- 
 cle belonging to me. 
 
 For eight or nine miles we continued to traverse pas- 
 sages and chambers, sometimes over rough pieces of rock, 
 sometimes through the thick dust of ages, sometimes 
 through the tortuous gorges, — mere slits between the rocks 
 through which we had to creep, — sometimes coming upon 
 a well or spring of sweet water. At about three or four 
 miles from the mouth we came to the chamber called "The 
 Church," from its resemblance to the ancient cathedral 
 vault, frequently to be seen on the European continent 
 under churches or monasteries, and called the crypt. 
 
 This church of the Mammoth Cave is a singular phe- 
 nomenon. The roof, which is not lofty, is supported by a 
 
90 WORLD'H GREAT TRAVELLERS. [yELVKRTOW 
 
 number of pillars, in many places forming Gothic arches, 
 and running at somewhat regular distances, dividing the 
 church into aisles. These columns are actually enormous 
 stalactites, and the fresco of petrified water upon them has 
 all the appearance of the most rich and elaborate carving. 
 In some places the pillars of stone have not quite reached 
 the ground, and remain suspended from the roof. Other 
 and smaller condensed stalactites resembled the drooping 
 rosettes which unite the spring of Gothic arches. In one 
 portion of the church is an enormous stone, carved out 
 exactly like the bishop's chair, or throne, usually seen on 
 the high altar. The altar itself is verj' like those primitive 
 stone edifices sculptured by the early Christians, when 
 driven to celebrate their worship in the catacombs of 
 Eome. 
 
 This chamber is a marvellous freak of nature imitating 
 art, for the hand of man has never touched it or worked it 
 into shape ; yet if any one were transported here uncon- 
 sciously, he would, on looking round, imagine himself in 
 the chancel crypt of some old cathedral of the ninth or 
 tenth century. Some romantic lovers, evidently influenced 
 by this idea, had actually, a few weeks before our visit, ar- 
 rived at the cave, accompanied by their friends and the 
 clergyman, and caused the marriage ceremony to be per- 
 formed in that very church. It was a whimsical idea, 
 and must have been a cold, comfortless, clammy affair ; but 
 the feelings and sentiment about weddings totally differ in 
 America from our European notions on the subject, — rarely 
 is it a joyous merry-making, rather the reverse, as I have 
 mentioned in a former chapter. 
 
 A few miles forther on, we came to the great natural 
 marvel, the subterranean river, with its buried water and 
 eyeless fish, its beautiful parterres of stone flowers and 
 shrubs, like a garden covered with morning hoar-frost. 
 
Yblvkrton] in the MAMMOTH CAVE. 91 
 
 On this dismal river we were launched in a little skiff, not 
 the most seaworthy in the world, — and I must confess to 
 having experienced a feeling of dread of being upset on 
 that mysterious stream, whose outlet might be, for all we 
 knew, in a region we did not care to visit, or even to con- 
 template the possibility of visiting. The echo had a thrill 
 of awe that made one's flesh creep and hair stand on end. 
 If one called spirits there from the vasty deep, and they 
 did not come, yet they certainly answered from the dark 
 shadows of the rocks falling around the lurid glare of the 
 torches, — the only light on the river of Erebus. It was 
 quite easy to believe there were myriads of spirits flitting 
 around, and stretching out their weird arms to carry us 
 down to bottomless Hades. 
 
 There is another very interesting cave, which is not so 
 frequently visited by travellers, who when they have seen 
 the big thing, are only anxious to rush away again. It is 
 not 80 extensive as the Mammoth, but infinitely more beau- 
 tiful and more inaccessible, the descent having to be accom- 
 plished by ladders ; but once down, it is a fairy-land, a 
 continuous scene of rapturous enchantment. The stalac- 
 tites simulate the most exquisite parterre of flowers, the 
 most magnificent forest of crystallized trees, the most 
 •wondrous marble carving, even to that perfection of art 
 which shrouds the figure in transparent drapery, like " the 
 statue of the Dead Christ" at Naples ; nor was Apollo's 
 charm unknown there. Our guide tapped upon these 
 magic crystals, and produced the sweetest harmony ear 
 ever heard, or at least it sounded so. 
 
 The walls of the chambers and passages were encrusted 
 with the stalactite flowers. They could be broken off their 
 stems, and as so few visitors ventured down, the guide al- 
 lowed me to take one. One chamber was absolutely cur- 
 tained with this marvellous formation of petrified water, 
 
92 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Yeltertok 
 
 and when the guide held the light behind the scene, it 
 produced the effect of being draped in the purest amber. 
 These drooping curtains, some fifty feet in height, emitted 
 the most musical tones when struck. If the physician had 
 brought his patients to these fairy bowers, he might, I 
 think, have succeeded in sending them home quite cured, 
 but I believe the cave had not been discovered then. 
 
 With a brilliant light the spot was perfectly lovely, and 
 the atmosphere was that of constant, unchanged temper- 
 ature, which puts the human lungs in a state of beatitude. 
 I should not in the least object to live in that paradise of 
 crystal flowers and adamantine forms, the most beautiful 
 that the imagination of man has ever conceived to be cur- 
 tained in living amber, and pillowed — well, I must admit 
 that — in dust ; but it was such clean dust. , . . The texture 
 of these stalactites, when examined by daylight, resembles 
 alabaster, thus the leaves, flowers, sprigs, are perfectly 
 beautiful. Nor are these caves without their incidents of 
 life's drama. The grave and the gay have been enacted 
 here as elsewhere. The episode of the physician and his 
 patients was sad enough, but a more terrible tragedy re- 
 sulted from a wager. 
 
 The guides are particular on entering the caves with a 
 large party to beg them to keep together, as it would be 
 impossible for a person to find his own way out of the 
 labyrinth of passages, chambers, etc. Two gentlemen of 
 a party made a bet that they would accomplish the feat, 
 and, taking their opportunity, slipped away from their 
 party, without the guides being aware of their absence, 
 and it was not until late in the evening that the other 
 party to the wager remarked that those two foolhardy 
 fellows had not found their way out of the cavern. This 
 coming to the ears of the guide, he exclaimed, " Then they 
 are dead men !" Nevertheless they went in full force to 
 
Yblverton] in the MAMMOTH CAVE. 93 
 
 do everything that was possible to find them, but spent 
 the night in vain searches. Sometimes they came upon 
 their track in the soft dust, then lost it again. 
 
 On the following day the search was renewed by the 
 guide who had escorted the party, and his description of 
 the finding of one of the gentlemen was truly horrible : 
 " It was the most tarnation cutting up job I ever had in 
 my life," said the guide. *' We are not much of cowards, 
 we guides, — we get accustomed to awfulness down in the 
 bowels of the earth ; but when that critter's shrieks first 
 came to my ear, I just shivered all over and my feet rooted 
 to the ground, — not that I did not wish to save him, the 
 poor devil, but I got an idea that that shriek came right 
 straight from hell and no mistake, and I had no fancy to go 
 there before I was sent for! Wall, when I had wiped my 
 brow and taken a drink, I went on in the direction of the 
 sound, for it came every now and again, the echoes making 
 like fifty devils instead of one. I found him sooner than I 
 expected ; he was a sight to behold ; he flew at me like a 
 tiger ; he clutched me, and pulled me, and wrestled with me, 
 yelling and howling like a wild beast. I thought he would 
 have torn me to pieces. I should not have known him 
 again for the same gentleman. His eyes glared, his mouth 
 was foaming, and his hair on end, his clothes all torn and 
 covered with dust. He was a real raving maniac, and so 
 he remained, as far as I know. The work I had to get 
 him out of that cave! He would stand stock still and 
 shake all over, then suddenly clutch at me again. I was 
 the stronger man of the two, and he was weak from long 
 fasting, or I never should have got him out. The doctor 
 said he was fright-stricken." 
 
 And this was the case, as they thought, with the other 
 poor fellow, who was not found for weeks, it having been 
 conjectured that he had fallen down a hole. One of the 
 
94 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Nichols 
 
 guides making some new exploration, discovered him sit- 
 ting down, no sign of decomposition having taken place, 
 and no sign of his having died of starvation, for a piece 
 of biscuit was found in his pocket. He was supposed to 
 have died of terror, the terrible darkness working upon 
 the nervous system, and the hopelessness of penetrating 
 it making the minutes appear hours. A guide who had 
 once been lost there himself for some twenty hours, said 
 he never could believe he had not been there for several 
 days. 
 
 DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 THOMAS L. NICHOLS. 
 
 [" Forty Tears of American Life," by Dr. Thomas L. Nichols, is 
 the source of the following selection, which gives a graphic and inter- 
 esting picture of steamboat life on the great rivers of the West in the 
 days before the war. It needs only one thing to complete the story, 
 the race and the explosion, which was no uncommon incident at that 
 period, but an example of which, fortunately for our author, was 
 not among his experiences.] 
 
 "We embarked on a little steamboat which drew twelve 
 inches of water, and whose single wide paddle-wheel was 
 at the stern, and extended the whole width of the hull. A 
 succession of dams made the river navigable at that season 
 of low water, and at each dam we were let down by a lock 
 to a lower level. At the high stage of water dams and 
 locks are all buried deep beneath the surface, and larger 
 steamboats go careering over them. 
 
 What I best remember, in crossing the AUeghanies and 
 descending this river, were the beds of coal. It seemed to 
 be everywhere just below the surface. We saw it along the 
 
Nichols] DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI. 95 
 
 Toute, where the people dug the fuel for their fires out of a 
 hole in the yard, ten feet from the door. Along the high 
 perpendicular banks of the river there were strata of coal 
 ten or twelve feet thick. Men were digging it down with 
 picks and sliding it into flat-boats, which, when the river 
 rose, would float down with the current to Cincinnati, 
 Louisville, Memphis, and New Orleans. These frail boats 
 — long boxes made of deal boards nailed together, and 
 loaded nearly to the top — would many of them be lost. 
 The swell of a passing steamboat, or a snag or a sawyer 
 in the river, would sink them. They would ground on 
 sand-bars. A sudden hurricane sometimes sinks a hundred 
 of them. Perhaps a third of the whole number are lost, 
 but the coal costs almost nothing — three halfpence a bushel 
 — and brings a price proportional to the distance which it 
 floats in safety. 
 
 At Pittsburg, a city of coal and iron, smoky and grimy as 
 Newcastle or Birmingham, we took a larger boat, but still 
 a small one, for Cincinnati. The Ohio was very low. We 
 passed slowly down, getting pleasant glimpses of the towns 
 upon its banks, and especially of the flourishing cities of 
 Cincinnati and Louisville. 
 
 I was disappointed with the Ohio for a few hundred miles 
 from its source, most unreasonable tourist that I was. I 
 recall whatever I may have said to its disparagement. The 
 Ohio, charming in all its course of a thousand miles, be- 
 comes grandly beautiful below Louisville for the lower 
 half of its course. Were it but deep as well as broad and 
 splendid in its great reaches and graceful curves and pic- 
 turesque banks, nothing would be wanting to its pleasing 
 souvenirs. But I have tried its current at an unfortunate 
 period, — the river at its lowest point. At its highest it 
 would be fifty feet deeper, — a great torrent pouring onward 
 towards the sea. 
 
96 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Nichols 
 
 We were all of us in high spirits on the " Fort Wayne." 
 The crew was firing up, and singing merrily below ; and in 
 the cabin we were sitting round our good coal-fire, chat- 
 ting, reading, and some playing poker, calculating the next 
 morning but one to wake upon the Mississippi. So passed 
 we down merrily, until, sunk upon a bar, we saw the wreck 
 of the steamboat " Plymouth," which two nights before had 
 been run into by another boat, which sunk her instantly, 
 and her deck-passengers woke up under the waters of the 
 Ohio. Twenty unfortunates were drowned ; and our pas- 
 sengers, accustomed to the river, spoke of it with perfect 
 indifference, as a very common aflPair. 
 
 We passed this bar safely, touching bottom indeed, as 
 we often did ; but in passing over the next we grounded 
 firm and fast. The engines were worked at their greatest 
 power, but in vain. Efforts were made all day to get the 
 boat off, but without moving her, and older voyagers began 
 to tell pleasant stories of boats lying for three weeks on a 
 sand-bar, and getting out of provisions and wood. For us 
 passengers there was but patience, but for captain and crew 
 there was a hard night's work in a cold November rain. 
 They went at it heartily, and when we woke up in the 
 morning the steamboat was afloat, and as soon as she had 
 got in a fresh supply of wood we went merrily down the 
 Ohio again, putting off by a day our arrival at the Father 
 of Waters. So we went, talking on morals and politics, 
 reading the "Wandering Jew," and playing poker, until 
 dinner came ; and just after dinner we came to another bar, 
 on which we ran as before, giving our crew a second night 
 of hardship and toil, and us a more thorough disgust of 
 low-water navigation. We got off by morning as before, 
 by great exertion and the steady use of effective ma- 
 chinery, the boat being hoisted over the bar inch by inch 
 by the aid of great spars, blocks, and windlass. 
 
Nichols] DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI. 97 
 
 There was still, but a short distance below this spot, the 
 worst bar of all to pass. . . . Having been twice aground 
 and lost nearly two days, our captain determined to take 
 every precaution. He hired a flat-boat, into which were 
 discharged many tons of whiskey and butter, and which 
 was lashed alongside. A boat was sent down to sound the 
 channel and lay buoj^s. This done, just as breakfast was 
 ready, all the male passengers were summoned to go on 
 board the flat-boat, fastened alongside, with the butter and 
 whiskey, so as to lighten the steamer as much as possible, 
 and when we were all aboard we started down. As luck 
 would have it, the current carried the boat a few feet out 
 of her proper course, and she stuck fast again. The wheels 
 could not move her, and we jumped on board again to eat 
 our breakfast, now grown cold from waiting. 
 
 This despatched, we went out on the promenade deck, 
 and to our chagrin saw the " Louis Philippe," which left 
 Louisville one day behind us, coming down, looking light 
 and lofty, with a flat-boat alongside. She came down 
 rapidly, and passed close by us, her passengers laughing in 
 triumph at our predicament. The " Louis Philippe" had 
 not got her length below us before she too stuck fast and 
 swung roimd into a more difiicult position, lying broadside 
 upon the bar, with the strong current full against her. 
 The laugh was now on our side, and the "Louis Philippe" 
 gave rise to the more jokes, because her hurricane-deck 
 was entirely covered with cabbages, with their stumps 
 sticking up, giving her a droll appearance, while our hur- 
 ricane-deck was filled with chicken-coops. It was time 
 now to go to work in eaimest. More freight was dis- 
 charged into our lighter, and all the passengers, except the 
 women and children, were sent on board her. We thickly 
 covered the barrels of whiskey and kegs of butter, and the 
 
 captain, to keep us off the steamer, east us loose, and we 
 Vol. 1—7 
 
98 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Nicholb 
 
 floated off with the current, and were safely blown ashore 
 on the Kentucky side, about a mile below, leaving the two 
 steamers above to get off as soon as they were able. 
 
 When our flat-boat touched the Kentucky bank of the 
 river, her ninety passengers jumped joyfully ashore, and 
 with noisy hilarity scattered along the beach. The morn- 
 ing was beautiful. The clear sunlight glittered upon the 
 river and lighted up the forest with golden radiance. The 
 sky was blue, and the air cool and bracing. The land was 
 high, well wooded, and fertile. Seeing a substantial- 
 looking double log house a short distance from the river, 
 about a dozen of us went up to warm our fingers at its 
 fire. . . . 
 
 In a few moments our lucky boat swung round and 
 came down for us, leaving the less fortunate " Louis Phi- 
 lippe" to get off as she could, and her passengers to learn 
 not to halloo before they got out of the wood. And now — 
 now, by the first light of the morning for this grand, this 
 terrible Mississippi! 
 
 It was a misty moonlight night when we came to the 
 confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi. We had come 
 down a tedious, and in some degree a perilous, course of 
 one thousand miles ; we had still a thousand miles to go 
 before arriving at New Orleans, which is the next stage of 
 our Southern journey. 
 
 The Mississippi and the Ohio come together at an acute 
 angle, and their waters flow down in unmingled currents, 
 differing in color, for a long distance. Even at night we 
 could distinguish the line which divides them. The Ohio 
 water is filled with fine sand and loam ; the Mississippi is 
 discolored with clay besides, and the water looks like a tub 
 of soapsuds after a hard day's washing. 
 
 Whoever looks upon the map with a utilitarian eye sees 
 at the confluence of these great rivers a favorable point 
 
Nichols] DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI. 99 
 
 for a great city. A few years since an English company 
 took possession of or purchased this site, and, with a capital 
 of nearly a million of pounds sterling, commenced opera- 
 tions. They lithographed plans of the city and views of 
 the public buildings. There were domes, spires, and cupo- 
 las, hotels, warehouses, and lines of steamboats along both 
 rivers. How fair, how magnificent it all looked on the 
 India paper ! You should see the result as I saw it in the 
 misty miasma, by the pale moonlight. Cairo is a swamp, 
 overflowed by every rise of either river. The large hotel, 
 one of the two buildings erected, is slowly sinking beneath 
 the surface. Piles will not stand up, and, however deep 
 they are driven, sink still deeper. The present business 
 of the place, consisting of selling supplies to steamboats, 
 and transferring passengers from the down- to the up-river 
 boats, is done on floating store-boats, made fast to the 
 shore. Cairo has since been built into a considerable town 
 by dyking out the rivers, and was an important naval and 
 military point during the Civil War. . . . 
 
 This is my thirteenth day of steamboating, — the usual 
 time across the Atlantic, — and I have four days more at 
 least. You may well suppose that a hundred passengers 
 are put to their trumps for amusement. The " Wandering 
 Jew" did very well as long as it lasted. Some keep on 
 reading novels, having laid in a stock or exchanged with 
 other passengers, but cards are the resource of the ma- 
 jority. The centre-tables, as soon as breakfast is over, 
 are occupied with parties playing poker or loo, and are cov- 
 ered with bank-notes and silver. Many who do not play 
 look on to see the frolics of fortune. Several of these 
 players are professional gamesters, and quite cool, as men 
 who hope to win by chance or skill ought to be. Others, 
 in their flushing cheeks and trembling hands and voices, 
 show how the passion is fastening upon them. These are 
 
100 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Nichols 
 
 driven by weariness and tempted by the smallness of the 
 game to commence playing. The passion increases day 
 b}' day, and so do the stakes, until, before reaching New- 
 Orleans, the vei'dant ones have lost all their money, and 
 with it their self-respect and their confidence in the future. 
 Depressed by shame, disheartened at being in a strange 
 city without money, they are in a miserable condition, and 
 ready to throw themselves away. They become dependent 
 upon the blacklegs who have led them on, are instructed 
 in their evil courses, made their tools and catspaws, and 
 perhaps induced to enter upon courses of crime of a more 
 dangerous character. All this comes of playing cards to 
 kill time on the Mississippi. 
 
 While those who need the excitement of betting play at 
 games of bluff and poker, some amuse themselves with 
 whist, and old-fashioned fellows get into a corner and have 
 a bout at old sledge ; and now at eleven o'clock the great 
 cabin of our boat presents a curious appearance. Playing 
 around the tables, with noisy, joyous laughter, are half a 
 dozen merry little boys and girls. These have all got well 
 acquainted with each other, and seem to enjoy themselves 
 thoroughly. 
 
 I can give you little idea of this portion of the Missis- 
 sippi. The river is very low, and does not seem large 
 enough to be the outlet of the thousand streams above ; 
 for the waters on which we float come not only from the 
 melting snows of the Rocky Mountains, but there are 
 mingled with them the bright springs of Western New 
 York, a large part of Pennsylvania, part of Maryland, Vir- 
 ginia, North Carolina, and a large portion of the Western 
 States. Yet, with all the waters of this vast area, our boat 
 can sometimes scarcely keep the channel. Last night, 
 running at her full speed, she went crashing into a snag, 
 with a concussion and scraping which woke us all up, and 
 
Nichols] DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI. 101 
 
 made the timid ones spring out of their berths. Our 
 safety was in our going down-stream instead of up, — the 
 diiference of rubbing the back of a hedgehog the right and 
 the wrong way. These snags are gr6at trees which cave 
 off and ai-e washed down the current ; the roots become 
 embedded in the bottom ; and the stem and branches, 
 pointing down-stream, and half or wholly covered with 
 water, form a terrible steamboat de frise, which tears an 
 ascending steamboat to pieces, but generally allows those 
 going with the current to pass over or through them with 
 safety. 
 
 The river is full of islands, so that you often see but 
 a small portion of its waters ; it winds along in so many 
 convolutions that you must steam a hundi'ed miles often 
 to make twenty in a straight line. Many of these bends 
 may be avoided at high water by taking the cross cuts, 
 called " running a chute,''' when the whole country for 
 twenty miles on each side is submerged. 
 
 Usuall}^, on one side or the other, there is a perpendicular 
 bank of clay and loam some thirty feet high, and here and 
 there are small plantations. The river gradually wears 
 them off, carrying down whole aci'es in a season. From 
 this bank the land descends back to the swamps which 
 skirt nearly the whole length of the river. These in very- 
 low water are comparatively dry, but as the river rises, 
 they fill up, and the whole country is like a great lake^ 
 filled with a dense growth of timber. These curving banks, 
 the rude and solitary huts of the wood-cutters, the vast 
 bars of sand, covered gradually with canebrake, and the 
 range of impenetrable forest for hundreds of miles, com- 
 prise a vast gloomy landscape, which must be seen to be 
 realized. , . . 
 
 While the scene is fresh in my memory let me describe 
 to you my last morning upon the Mississippi. But why do 
 
102 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Nichols 
 
 I speak thus of a scene which can never fade from my 
 remembrance, but in all future years will glow the bright- 
 est picture which nature and civilization have daguerreo- 
 typed upon my heart ? 
 
 I rose before the sun, while all the east was glowing with 
 his refracted light. The steamboat had made excellent 
 progress all night, not being obliged to stop by fog, and was 
 only detained a short time by running plump into the mud 
 on the river's bank ; but she soon backed out of that scrape. 
 
 We had here, fifty miles above New Orleans, an almost 
 tropical sunrise. The Mississippi, as if tired of its irregu- 
 larities, flowed on an even current between its low banks, 
 along which on each side are raised embankments of earth 
 from four to ten feet in height, — the levee, which extends 
 for hundreds of miles along the river, defending the planta- 
 tions from being overflowed at high water. 
 
 As I gained the hurricane-deck the scene was enchant- 
 ing, and, alas ! I fear indescribable. On each side, as far 
 as the eye could reach, were scattered the beautiful houses 
 of the planters, flanked on each side by the huts of their 
 negroes, with trees, shrubbery, and gardens. For miles 
 away, up and down the river, extended the bright green 
 fields of sugar-cane, looking more like great fields of In- 
 dian corn than any crop to which a Northern eye is fa- 
 miliar, but surpassing that in vividness of the tints and 
 density of growth, the cane growing ten feet high, and the 
 leaves at the top covering the whole surface. Back of 
 these immense fields of bright green were seen the darker 
 shades of the cypress swamp, and, to give the most pic- 
 turesque effect to the landscape, on every side, in the midst 
 of each great plantation, rose the tall white towers of the 
 sugar-mills, throwing up graceful columns of smoke and 
 clouds of steam. The sugar-making process was in full 
 operation. 
 
Nichols] DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI. 103 
 
 After the wild desolation of the Mississippi, for more 
 than half its course below the Ohio, you will not wonder 
 that I gazed upon this scene of wealth and beauty in a sort 
 of ecstasy. Oh ! how unlike our November in the far, 
 bleak north was this scene of life in Louisiana ! The earth 
 seemed a paradise of fertility and loveliness. The sun rose 
 and lighted up with a brighter radiance a landscape of 
 which I had not imagined half its beauty. 
 • The steamer stopped to wood, and I sprang on shore. 
 Well, the air was as soft and delicious as our last days in 
 June, — the gardens were filled with flowers ; yes, bushels 
 of roses were blooming for those who chose to pluck them ; 
 while oranges were turning their green to gold, and figs 
 were ripening in the sun. It was a Creole plantation, — 
 French the only language heard. A procession of carts, 
 each drawn by a pair of mules, and driven by a fat and 
 happy negro, who seemed to joke with every motion and 
 laugh all over from head to foot, came from the sugar- 
 house to get wood, of which an immense quantity was 
 lying upon the banks of the river, saved from the vast 
 mass of forest trees washed down at every freshet. 
 
 I cannot describe the appropriateness of everything on 
 these plantations. These Creole planters look as if nature 
 had formed them for good masters ; in any other sphere 
 they are out of their element, — here most decidedly at 
 home. The negroes, male and female, seem made on pur- 
 pose for their masters, and the mules were certainly made 
 on purpose for the negroes. Any imaginable change would 
 destroy this harmonious relation. Do they not all enjoy 
 alike this paradise, — this scene of plenty and enchantment? 
 The negroes work and are all the better for such beneficial 
 exercise, as they would be all the worse without it. They 
 have their feasts, their holidays, — more liberty than thou- 
 sands of New York mechanics enjoy in their lifetimes, and 
 
104 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Olmsted 
 
 a freedom from care and anxiety which a poor white man 
 never knows. I begin to think that Paradise is on the 
 banks of the Mississippi, and that the nearest approach to 
 the realization of the schemes of Fourier is on our Southern 
 plantations. 
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO RED RIVER. 
 
 FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED. 
 
 [We have given a descriptive sketch of steamboat travel down the 
 Ohio and Mississippi in the first half of the century, in what we may 
 almost call the days of the barbarians. It is here followed by a sketch 
 of steamboating, from New Orleans to and up the Red River, in the 
 ante- war period, in which will be found methods as unprogressive 
 and people as uncivilized as in any period of modern travel. The get- 
 ting off was a marvel of procrastination, worthy of the most primitive 
 days of American travel.] 
 
 On a certain Saturday morning, when I had determined 
 on the trip, I found that two boats, the " Swamp Fox" and 
 the " St. Charles," were advertised to leave the same evening 
 for the Eed Eiver. I went to the levee, and finding the " St. 
 Charles" to be the better of the two, I asked her clerk if I 
 could engage a state-room. There was just one state-room 
 berth left unengaged ; I was requested to place my name 
 against its number on the passenger book ; and did so, 
 understanding that it was thus secured for me. 
 
 Having taken leave of my friends, I had my luggage 
 brought down, and went on board at half-past three, — the 
 boat being advertised to sail at four. Four o'clock passed, 
 and freight was still being taken on,— a fire had been made 
 in the furnace, and the boat's big bell was rung. I noticed 
 that the " Swamp Fox" was also firing up, and that her bell 
 
Olmsted] FROM NEW ORLEANS TO RED RIVER. 105 
 
 rang whenever ours did, — though she was not advertised to 
 sail till five. At length, when five o'clock came, the clerk 
 told me he thought, perhaps, they would not be able to get 
 off at all that night, — there was so much freight still to 
 come on board. Six o'clock arrived, and he felt certain 
 that, if they aid get off that night, it would not be till very 
 late. At half-past six he said the captain had not come on 
 board yet, and he was quite sure they would not be able to 
 get off that night. I prepared to return to the hotel, and 
 asked if they would leave in the morning. He thought 
 not. He was confident they would not. He was positive 
 they could not leave now before Monday, — Monday noon. 
 Monday at twelve o'clock, — I might rely upon it. 
 
 Monday morning the Picayune stated, editorially, that 
 the floating palace, the " St. Charles," would leave for Shreve- 
 port at five o'clock, and if anybody wanted to make a 
 quick and luxurious trip up Eed Eiver with a jolly good 
 soul, Captain Lickup was in command. It also stated, in 
 another paragraph, that if any of its friends had any 
 business up Red River, Captain Pitchup was a whole- 
 souled veteran in that trade, and was going up with 
 that remarkably low-draught favorite, the " Swamp Fox," 
 to leave at four o'clock that evening. Both boats were 
 also announced, in the advertising columns, to leave at 
 four o'clock. 
 
 As the clerk had said noon, however, I thought there 
 might have been a misprint in the newspaper announce- 
 ments, and so went on board the " St. Chai'les" again before 
 twelve. The clerk informed me that the newspaper was 
 right, — they had finally concluded not to sail until four 
 o'clock. Before four I returned again, and the boat again 
 fired up, and rung her bell. So did the " Swamp Fox." 
 Neither, however, was quite ready to leave at four o'clock. 
 Not quite ready at five. Even at six — not yet quite ready. 
 
106 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Olmstid 
 
 At seven, the fires having burned out in the furnace, and 
 the stevedores having gone away, leaving a quantity 
 of freight yet on the dock, without advising this time 
 with the clerk, I had my baggage re-transferred to the 
 hotel. 
 
 A similar performance was repeated on Tuesday. 
 On Wednesday I found the berth I had engaged occu- 
 pied by a very strong man, who was not very polite when 
 I informed him that I believed there was some mistake, — 
 that the berth he was using had been engaged to me. I 
 went to the clerk, who said that he was sorry, but that, as 
 I had not stayed on board that night, and had not paid for 
 the berth, he had not been sure that I should go, and he 
 had, therefore, given it to the gentleman who now had it 
 in possession, and whom, he thought, it would not be best 
 to try to reason out of it. He was very busy, he observed, 
 because the boat was going to start at four o'clock ; if 
 I would now pay him the price of passage, he would do 
 the best he could for me. When he had time to examine, 
 he would probably put me in some other state-room, per- 
 haps quite as good a one as that I had lost. Meanwhile, 
 he kindly offered me the temporary use of his private 
 state-room. I inquired if it was quite certain that the 
 boat would get off at four; for I had been asked to dine 
 with a friend at three o'clock. There was not the smallest 
 doubt of it, — at four they would leave. They were all 
 ready at that moment, and only waited till four because 
 the agent had advertised that they would, — merely a tech- 
 nical point of honor. 
 
 But, by some error of calculation, I suppose, she didn't 
 go at four. Nor at five. Nor at six. 
 
 At seven o'clock the " Swamp Fox" and the " St. Charles" 
 were both discharging dense smoke from their chimneys, 
 blowing steam, and ringing bells. It was obvious that 
 
Olmsted] FROM NEW ORLEANS TO RED RIVER. 107 
 
 each was making every exertion to get oflF before the 
 other. The captains of both boats stood at the break of 
 the hurricane-deck, apparently waiting in great impatience 
 for the mails to come on board. 
 
 The " St. Charles" was crowded with passengers, and her 
 decks were piled high with freight. Bumboatmen, about 
 the bows, were offering shells, and oranges, and bananas ; 
 and newsboys, and peddlers, and tract distributors were 
 squeezing about with their wares among the passengers. 
 I had confidence in their instinct; there had been no such 
 numbers of them the previous evenings, and I made up my 
 mind, although past seven o'clock, that the " St. Charles" 
 would not let her fires go down again. 
 
 Among the peddlers there were two of cheap " litera- 
 ture," and among their yellow covers each had two or 
 three copies of the cheap edition (pamphlet) of " Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin." They did not cry it out as they did the 
 other books they had, but held it forth among others, so 
 that its title could be seen. One of them told me he car- 
 ried it because gentlemen often inquired for it, and he sold 
 a good many ; at least three copies were sold to passengei's 
 on the boat. . . . 
 
 It was twenty minutes after seven when the captain 
 observed, — scanning the levee in every direction to see if 
 there was another cart or carriage coming towards us, — 
 " No use waiting any longer, I reckon : throw off, Mr. 
 Heady." (The " Swamp Fox" did not leave, I afterwards 
 heard, till the following Saturday.) 
 
 We backed out, winded round head up, and as we began 
 to breast the current, a dozen of the negro boat-hands, 
 standing on the freight piled up on the low forecastle, 
 began to sing, waving hats and handkerchiefs, and shirts 
 lashed to poles, towards the people who stood on the sterna 
 of the steamboats at the levee. 
 
108 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Olmsted- 
 
 After losing a few lines, I copied literally into my note- 
 book : 
 
 ' ' Ye see dem boat way dah ahead. 
 
 Chorus. — Oahoiohieu. 
 De San Charles is arter 'em, dey mus' go behine. 
 
 Oahoiohieu. 
 So stir up dah, my livelies, stir her up. 
 
 Oahoiohieu. 
 Dey's burnin' not'n but fat and rosum. 
 
 Oahoiohieu. 
 Oh, we is gwine up de Red River, oh ! 
 
 Oahoiohieu. 
 Oh, we mus' part from you dah asho'. 
 
 Oahoiohieu. 
 Gib my lub to Dinah, oh ! 
 
 Oahoiohieu." . . . 
 
 The wit introduced into these songs has, I suspect, been 
 rather over-estimated. 
 
 As soon as the song was ended, I went into the cabin to 
 remind the clerk to obtain a berth for me. I found two 
 brilliant supper-tables reaching the whole length of the 
 long cabin, and a file of men standing on each side of both 
 of them, ready to take seats as soon as the signal was given. 
 
 The clerk was in his room, with two other men, and 
 appeared to be more occupied than ever. His manner 
 was, I thought, now rather cool, not to say rude ; and he 
 very distinctly informed me that every berth was occupied, 
 and he didn't know where I was to sleep. He judged I 
 was able to take care of myself; and if I was not, he was 
 quite sure he had too much to do to give all his time to 
 my surveillance. I then went to the commander, and told 
 him that I thought myself entitled to a berth. I had paid 
 for one, and should not have taken passage in the boat if 
 it had not been promised me. I was not disposed to fight: 
 for it, particularly as the gentleman occupying the berth 
 engaged to me was a deal bigger fellow than I, and alsa- 
 
Olmsted] FROM NEW ORLEANS TO RED RIVER. 109 
 
 carried a bigger knife, but I thought the clerk was account- 
 able to me for a berth, and I begged that he would inform 
 him so. He replied that the clerk probably knew his 
 business; he had nothing to do with it; and walked away 
 from me. I then addressed myself to a second clerk, or 
 sub-officer of some denomination, who more good-naturedly 
 informed me that half the company were in the same con- 
 dition as myself, and I needn't be alarmed, cots would be 
 provided for us. 
 
 As I saw that the supper-table was likely to be crowded, 
 I asked if there would be a second table. " Yes, they'll keep 
 on eating till they all get through." I walked the deck 
 till I saw those who had been first seated at the table 
 coming out ; then, going in, I found the table still crowded, 
 while many stood waiting to take seats as fast as any were 
 vacated. I obtained one for myself at length, and had no 
 sooner occupied it than two half-intoxicated and garrulous 
 men took the adjoining stools. 
 
 It was near nine o'clock before the tables were cleared 
 away, and immediately afterwards the waiters began to 
 rig a framework for sleeping-cots in their place. These 
 cots were simply canvas shelves, five feet and a half long, 
 two wide, and less than two feet aj^art, perpendicularly. 
 A waiter, whose good will I had purchased at the supper- 
 table, gave me a hint to secure one of them for myself, as 
 soon as they were erected, by putting my hat in it. I did 
 so, and saw that others did the same. I chose a cot as 
 near as possible to the midship door of the cabin, perceiving 
 that there was not likely to be the best possible air, after 
 all the passengers were laid up for the night in this com- 
 pact manner. 
 
 Nearly as fast as the cots were ready they were occu- 
 pied. To make sure that mine was not stolen from me, I 
 also, without much undressing, laid myself away. A single 
 
no WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Olmsted 
 
 blanket was the only bedclothing provided. I had not 
 lain long before I was driven, by an exceedingly offensive 
 Bmell, to search for a cleaner neighborhood ; but I found 
 all the cots, fore and aft, were either occupied or engaged. 
 I immediately returned, and that I might have a dernier 
 ressort, left my shawl in that I had first obtained. 
 
 In the forward part of the cabin there was a bar, a 
 stove, a table, and a placard of rules, forbidding smoking, 
 gambling, or swearing in the cabin, and a close company 
 of drinkers, smokers, card-players, and constant swearers. 
 I went out, and stepped down to the boiler-deck. The 
 boat had been provided with very poor wood, and the fire- 
 men were crowding it into the furnaces whenever they 
 could find room for it, driving smaller sticks between the 
 larger ones at the top by a battering-ram method. 
 
 Most of the firemen were Irish born ; one with whom I 
 conversed was English. He said they were divided into 
 three watches, each working four hours at a time, and all 
 hands liable to be called, when wooding, or landing, or 
 taking on freight, to assist the deck-hands. They were 
 paid BOW but thirty dollars a month— ordinarily forty, and 
 sometimes sixty — and board. He was a sailor bred. This 
 boat-life was harder than seafaring, but the pay was better, 
 and the trips were short. The regular thing was to make 
 two trips, and then lay up for a spree. It would be too 
 hard on a man, he thought, to pursue it regularly; two 
 trips " on end" was as much as a man could stand. He 
 must then take a " refreshment." Working this way for 
 three weeks, and then refreshing for about one, he did not 
 think it was unhealthy, no more than ordinary seafaring. 
 He concluded by informing me that the most striking 
 peculiarity of the business was that it kept a man, not- 
 withstanding wholesale periodical refreshment, very dry. 
 He was of opinion that after the information I had ob- 
 
Olmsted] FROM NEW ORLEANS TO RED RIVER. Ill 
 
 tained, if I gave him at least the price of a single drink 
 and some tobacco, it would be characteristic of a gentle- 
 man. 
 
 Going round behind the furnace, I found a large quantity 
 of freight: hogsheads, barrels, cases, bales, boxes, nail- 
 rods, rolls of leather, ploughs, cotton, bale-rope, and fire- 
 wood, all thrown together in the most confused manner, 
 with hot steam-pipes and parts of the engine crossing 
 through it. As I explored farther aft, I found negroes 
 lying asleep in all postures upon the freight. A single 
 group only, of five or six, appeared to be awake, and as I 
 drew near they commenced to sing a Methodist hymn, not 
 loudly, as negroes generally do, but, as it seemed to me, 
 with a good deal of tenderness and feeling ; a few white 
 people — rnen, women, and children — were lying here and 
 there among the negroes. Altogether, I learned we had 
 two hundred of these deck passengers, black and white. 
 A stove, by which they could fry bacon, was the only fur- 
 niture provided for them by the boat. They carried with 
 them their provisions for the voyage, and had their choice 
 of the freight for beds. 
 
 As I came to the bows again, and was about to ascend 
 to the cabin, two men came down, one of whom I recog- 
 nized to have been my cot neighbor. " Where's a bucket ?" 
 said he. " By thunder, this fellow was so strong I could 
 not sleep by him, so I stumped him to come down and 
 wash his feet." "I am much obliged to you," said I; 
 and I was, very much ; the man had been lying in the 
 cot beneath mine, to which I now returned, and soon fell 
 asleep. 
 
 I awoke about midnight. There was an unusual jar in 
 the boat, and an evident excitement among people whom I 
 could hear talking on deck. I rolled out of my cot and 
 stepped out on the gallery. The steamboat " Kimball" 
 
112 WORLD' fi GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Olmsted 
 
 was running hcad-and-head with us, and so close that one 
 might have jumped easily from our paddle-box on to her 
 guards. A few other passengers had turned out besides 
 myself, and most of the waiters were leaning on the rail 
 of the gallery. 
 
 Occasionally a few words of banter passed between them 
 and the waiters of the " Kimball ;" below, the firemen were 
 shouting as they crowded the furnaces, and some one could 
 be heard cheering them : " Shove her up, boys ! Shove her 
 up ! Give her hell !" " She's got to hold a conversation with 
 us before she gets by, anyhow," said one of the negroes. 
 " Ye har that ar' whistlin' ?" said a white man ; " tell ye 
 thar ain't any too much water in her bilers when ye har 
 that." I laughed silently, but was not without a slight 
 expectant sensation, which Burke would perhaps have 
 called subhme. At length the "Kimball" drew slowly 
 ahead, crossed our bow, and the contest was given up. 
 " De ole lady too heavy," said a waiter ; " if I could pitch a 
 few ton of dat ar freight off her bow, I bet de ' Kimball' 
 would be askin' her to show de way mighty quick." 
 
 [Our traveller missed the experience which in former days made 
 travel now and then very lively upon the Mississippi, — a blow up of one 
 or other of the racing boats. A bell was rung to rouse the cot-sleepers 
 at half-past four, and the rest of the day was taken up in preparations 
 for and eating the three meals.] 
 
 Every part of the boat, except the black hurricane-deck, 
 was crowded ; and so large a number of equally uncom- 
 fortable and disagreeable men I think I never saw elsewhere 
 together. We made very slow progress, landing, it seems 
 to me, after we entered Red Eiver, at every " bend," " bot- 
 tom," "bayou," "point," and "plantation" that came in 
 sight ; often for no other object than to roll out a barrel of 
 flour or a keg of nails ; sometimes merely to furnish news* 
 
Olmsted] FJtOM NEW ORLEANS TO RED RIVER. 113 
 
 papers to a wealtliy planter, who had mucli cotton to send 
 to market, and whom it was therefore desirable to please. 
 
 I was sitting one day on the forward gallery, watching a 
 pair of ducks, that were alternately floating on the river 
 and flying fai-ther ahead as the steamer approached them. 
 A man standing near me drew a long-barrelled and very 
 finely-finished pistol from his coat-pocket, and, resting it 
 against a stanchion, took aim at them. They were, I 
 judged, fully the boat's own length — not less than two 
 hundred feet — from us, and were just raising their wings 
 to fly when he fired. One of them only rose ; the other 
 flapped round and round, and when within ten yards of the 
 boat dived. The bullet had broken its wing. So remark- 
 able a shot excited, of course, not a little admiration and 
 conversation. Half a dozen other men standing near me 
 at once drew pistols or revolvers from under their clothing, 
 and several were firing at floating chips or objects on the 
 shore. I saw no more remarkable shooting, however; and 
 that the duck should have been hit at such a distance was 
 generally considered a piece of luck. A man who had 
 been in the " Eangers" said that all his company could put 
 a ball into a tree, the size of a man's body, at sixty paces, 
 at every shot, with Colt's army revolver, not taking steady 
 aim, but firing at the jerk of the arm. 
 
 This pistol episode was almost the only entertainment 
 in which the passengers engaged themselves, except eating, 
 drinking, smoking, conversation, and card-playing. Gam- 
 bling was constantly going on, day and night. I don't 
 think there was an interruption to it of fifteen minutes in 
 three days. The conversation was almost exclusively con- 
 fined to the topics of steamboats, liquors, cards, black-land, 
 red-land, bottom-land, timber-land, warrants, and locations, 
 sugar, cotton, corn, and negroes. 
 
 After the first night I preferred to sleep on the trunks 
 
 Vol. 1—8 
 
114 WORLD' fi GREAT TRAVELLERS. rEATHKRSTONHATTQH 
 
 in the social hall [the lobby which contained the passengers' 
 baggage] rather than among the cots in the crowded 
 cabin, and several others did the same. There were, in 
 fact, not cots enough for all the passengers excluded from 
 the state-rooms. I found that some, and I presume most, 
 of the passengers, by making the clerk believe that they 
 would otherwise take the " Swamp Fox," had obtained their 
 passage at considerably less price than I had paid. 
 
 [The above are the principal events of this description of steamboat 
 life before the war. Our passenger's journey ended at Natchitoches, on 
 the Red River, whence he started on a vagrant trip through Texas, in 
 •which we need not follow him.] 
 
 WINTER ON THE PRAIRIES. 
 
 G. W. FEATHERSTONHAUQH. 
 
 [Of the earlier records of English travel in America one of the most 
 interesting and informing works is Featherstonhaugh's "A Canoe 
 Voyage up the Minnay Sotor," a journey made by the author in 1835, 
 and yielding much useful information on what is now the ancient his- 
 tory of the great West. The selection given is devoted to some of his 
 prairie experiences during his journey through the Sioux country 
 from Lac qui Parle to Lake Travers.] 
 
 Renville had procured me a charette, or cart, to carry 
 the tent, baggage, and provisions. I was to ride an old 
 gray mare, with a foal running alongside ; one of the 
 Canadians was to drive the charette, and Miler and the rest 
 were to walk. The morning was exceeding cold, and our 
 road was along the prairie parallel with the lake. All the 
 country in every direction, having been burnt over, was 
 perfectly black, and a disagreeable sooty odor filled the 
 
Featherstonhauoh] winter ON THE PRAIRIES. 115 
 
 atmosphere. At the end of five hours of a very tedious 
 march vs^e reached a stream called Wahboptah, which may 
 be translated Ground-nut river, the savages being in the 
 habit of digging up the Psoralea esculenta, a nutritive 
 bulbous root which grows here. The stream was about 
 thirty feet wide, and had some trees growing on its banks. 
 Having built up a good fire, the men proceeded to cook 
 their dinner, while I strolled up the stream and collected 
 some very fine unios, although I found it bitterly cold 
 wading in the shallow water to procure them. 
 
 Having fed our horses on the grass near the stream 
 which had not been burnt over, we started again for Les 
 Grosses Isles, which we were instructed were distant about 
 seven leagues, at the foot of Big Stone Lake. During the 
 first two leagues the strong sooty smell of the country 
 gave me a severe headache, and the weather became so 
 cold that I was very uncomfortable ; the fire, however, had 
 not extended beyond this distance, for in about an hour 
 and a half from our departure we came to the grass again, 
 and I fortunately got rid of my headache. Our cavalry 
 was exceedingly pleased by the change, the horses re- 
 peatedly winnowing to each other, as if to express their 
 satisfaction. I here perceived a live gopher, or geomys, 
 feebly running in the grass, and, dismounting, caught it. It 
 apparently had strayed from its burrow, and had suffered 
 from the weather. After examining it I let it go again, as 
 it was impossible to take care of it, and I did not like to 
 consign it to the men, as I knew they would kill and eat it, 
 for they spared nothing. 
 
 As the evening advanced it became excessively cold, and 
 a sharp wind, accompanied with frozen sleet, set in from 
 the noi'theast: this soon became so thick that I could 
 scarcely look up, much more see anything in the direction 
 in which I was proceeding. Securing my person and ears 
 
116 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Feathbrstonhaitoh 
 
 as well as I could with my blanket coat, I left it to the 
 mare — who Eenville told me had been more than once to 
 Lake Travers — to take her own course. At length the 
 sleet became so dense that I lost sight of everybody ex- 
 cept the little foal, which, generally lagging behind in the 
 wake of its dam, occasionally trotted up to her when in 
 her great anxiety she called for it. I never saw greater 
 marks of maternal feeling in an animal than in this poor 
 creature to her young one. 
 
 As we advanced my situation became exceedingly pain- 
 ful : the frozen sleet came in streams upon my face and 
 eyes when I looked up ; my feet and hands were so cold 
 that I had scarcely any power over them ; my whole ex- 
 terior, as well as the head and neck of the mare, was 
 covered with a glazing of ice ; night was advancing, and 
 we were without a guide, upon a dreary and shelterless 
 moor of very great extent, and far beyond our present 
 day's journey, with no prospect of an abatement of the 
 storm. In the course of a somewhat adventurous life I 
 have occasionally had to meet with serious privations and 
 to look danger rather steadily in the face, but I had never 
 been where there was so slight a chance of any favorable 
 ohange. I had not even the comfort before me that every 
 bleak moor in England offers under similar circumstances 
 to the imagination, — some kind of shelter to receive us at 
 last, if we were not overpowered by the inclemency of the 
 weather. It became absolutely necessary to consider what 
 it was best to do, if overtaken before dark by a deep 
 enow. 
 
 Mj' first thought was not to separate myself from my 
 part}'-, which I had not seen for some time, for they had 
 the cart, the tent, and the provisions ; and if we failed in 
 our attempt to reach the few trees that grew near Grosses 
 Isles, — the only chance we had of finding materials to make 
 
sunrise: f=-ROM THE SUMMIT OF RIKE'S 
 
 PEAK 
 
FEATHKRSTONHAtTGH] WINTER ON THE PRAIRIES. 117 
 
 fire, — we could at any rate burn the charette, eat something, 
 and cover ourselves as well as we could with the tent. 
 This we inevitably should have to do if we missed the 
 station we were aiming at, and of which there was immi- 
 nent danger, as it was too thick for us to discern any trees 
 at a distance. I therefore stopped the mare for a while and 
 turned our backs to the storm, which seemed to be a great 
 relief to us both. I had not heard the voices of the men 
 for some time, but I knew the cart was slowly following 
 me, and I thought it best to wait awhile ere I advanced 
 towards them, as it was quite possible that I might deviate 
 from the direction they were advancing in and separate 
 myself from them altogether. 
 
 In about a quarter of an hour the voices of the men 
 answered to the shouts I had from time to time made, and 
 soon after they joined me, all of them covered with ice and 
 icicles. The men were afraid we had got into the wrong 
 track, having passed one or two that forked different ways, 
 and this would have been a most serious misfortune. Upon 
 appealing to Miler, who was covered with ice, his answer 
 was, "N'ayez pas peur, monsieur; n'ayez pas peur," I 
 was well aware that this opinion of a sagacious guide like 
 himself, trained to all the difficulties and incidents of 
 Indian life, was better than that of the others, and I had 
 more confidence in his prudence and in his conduct than I 
 had in them ; but still I was not without fear that darkness 
 would overtake us ; and if it had been left to myself, should 
 have been inclined to attempt to set up the tent while it 
 was daylight. 
 
 But Miler kept walking on before the charette, acting up 
 to his character of guide in the most thorough manner. I 
 determined, therefore, to be governed altogether by him, 
 and taking my place in the rear of the charette, thought 
 that, as I had now joined my party, I would alight, and 
 
118 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Feathebstonhaugh 
 
 endeavor, by running a little, to restore the circulation of 
 my limbs ; but my feet and hands were so benumbed that 
 I found it even diflScult to dismount, or to stand when I 
 reached the ground. As to the poor mare, she had icicles 
 depending from her nose six or eight inches long, which I 
 broke off; and holding the bridle under my right arm, and 
 averting my face a little from the storm, I tried to run and 
 draw her into a gentle trot, but it was all in vain ; she was 
 too anxious about her foal, which was tired and becoming 
 weak, and could scarce come up to her when she called it. 
 Full of anxiety as I was about myself, I could not but 
 admire the solicitude of this good mother for her young, 
 so earnestly does the voice of nature plead even with the 
 inferior animals ; that voice which God has planted in our- 
 selves, no less for the safety of the species we are bound 
 to protect than to express the intensity of the love we 
 bear to our offspring. 
 
 After trying in vain to get the mare out of her snail's 
 pace without at all improving my own situation, I per- 
 ceived that I must be making leeway, for I had lost sight 
 of the charette, so I determined to mount again and push 
 her into a trot ; we had got up a quasi-trot in the morning, 
 and I hoped I might succeed in doing it again, but it took 
 me a long time to do it. I was so benumbed that I could 
 not regain my seat in the saddle until I had made several 
 efforts, and then the adjusting my blanket-coat, and the 
 covering my face to protect it from the cutting sleet, lost 
 me so much time, that I was in a worse situation than 
 ever, — separated from my party, night approaching, and 
 somewhat apprehensive that in the gray light that was be- 
 ginning to prevail I might wander from them and be un- 
 able to rejoin them. Being already half frozen, and feeling 
 rather faint at my stomach, it was clear to me that in that 
 case I should certainly be frozen to death. 
 
Feathkrstonhaugh] winter ON THE PRAIRIES. 119 
 
 Getting on as well as I could, and ruminating very un- 
 satisfactorily upon these possible consequences, the storm 
 began to abate, and the wind veered to the northwest ; the 
 mare knew this, and gave immediate signs of it by im- 
 proving her pace. As we went on the weather began to 
 clear up, and as I was straining my eyes to look for the 
 charette, I heard the horse which drew it neigh several 
 times ; to this the mare immediately answered, and soon 
 after came a cheer from the men. Miler was soon seen 
 advancing to meet me, with the joyful intelligence that 
 the trees at Grosses Isles were in sight. He said the horse 
 in the charette was the first to see them and to announce 
 the discovery by neighing ; so that, although horses have 
 not yet reached the art, as some asses have done, of making 
 long speeches, yet the epithet of dumb animals is not alto- 
 gether appropriate to them. 
 
 All our anxieties were now at an end, and we soon ter- 
 minated this distressing ride, and reached a spot near a 
 marsh, where three or four trees were standing. Fortu- 
 nately for us, there was some dead wood on the ground, 
 and some wild grass for the horses, which we immediately 
 proceeded to tether and turn loose, that they might choose 
 their own bite, for the night was too cold for them to stray 
 far. Whilst the men were collecting wood and pitching 
 the tent, I endeavored to produce a light, but my fingers 
 were so benumbed that, after breaking several matches, 1 
 gave up the attempt, and began to run backward and for- 
 ward, and strike my hands together, to restore my natural 
 warmth. The sickness at my stomach from exposure and 
 inanition now increased upon me, and I felt persuaded 
 that I should have perished if I had been obliged to lie out 
 on the prairie without a fire. At length, the men having 
 got a fire up, I gradually recovered from my indisposition, 
 and having eaten part of a biscuit felt much better. I 
 
120 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Fbatherstonhatjgh 
 
 was sorry, however, to receive bad accounts from the men 
 about the water, which we so much wanted to make soup 
 for themselves and for my tea. It appeared that the only 
 water that was to be obtained was from a hole in the swamp, 
 and that it was as black as ink. On inspecting it, it was 
 80 thick and disgusting that I thought it impossible to use 
 it, but remembering the saying of an old French fellow- 
 traveller, " Que tout est bon, quand il n'y a pas de choix," 
 and knowing that nothing but a cup of tea would thoroughly 
 revive me, and unwilling to send Miler a mile in the dark 
 to Big Stone Lake to obtain clear water, I determined to 
 make the best I could of it. 
 
 I had a large pot therefore filled, and boiled it, skim- 
 ming it as the black scum came in immense quantities to 
 the top, and having exhausted it of everything of that 
 kind that it would yield, the very notable idea struck me 
 to put a quantity of it into my kettle with some black tea 
 and boil it over again, which I did, and really, when I 
 poured it out it looked so like strong black tea, and was so 
 good and refreshing, that I soon forgot everything about 
 it except that it had restored me to life and animation. 
 How many dead newts and other animals that had perished 
 in the desiccation of the swamp that had attended the late 
 drought went to form this tea-broth would not be easily 
 calculated, but I forgave them and the sires that begot 
 them. 
 
 Whilst we were at our meal, a half-perished Nahcotah 
 Indian came to our tire, whom I saw at the dance of the 
 braves the day before. I remembered him the moment he 
 came up, from his having attracted my attention during 
 the dance by firing his gun over the heads of the dancers, 
 and then presenting it to one of the braves. Miler had in- 
 formed me that it was not unusual upon such occasions for 
 savages who look on to become so excited as to give every- 
 
Featherstonhaugh] winter ON THE PRAIRIES. 121 
 
 thing away that they have. This was what this poor devil 
 had done; he had parted with his gun and all his little prop- 
 erty, and was now going a journey of six or eight days to 
 the Cheyenne River to kill buffalo, without any arms, and 
 without anything to eat by the way. Some one had given 
 him an old pistol without a lock to it, and seating himself 
 by the fire without saying a word, he after a while pulled 
 it out, and asked Miler if I would repair it, and give him 
 some powder and ball ? I told Miler to inform him that 
 people could not make locks for pistols when they were 
 travelling on the prairie in such stormy weather, but that 
 I would give him something to eat, and directed the men 
 to give him some of the pork and biscuit out of their pot, 
 which he seemed to enjoy very much. 
 
 Feeling once more comfortable after a hearty supper, I 
 entered my tent, and remained there to a late hour bring- 
 ing up my notes, which I had few opportunities of doing 
 at Lac qui Parle. Before I lay down I could not help con- 
 trasting the cheerless prospect before me at sunset and the 
 suffering I experienced with the cheerful state of mind and 
 body I had now returned to, and for which I trust I was 
 most sincerely grateful to God, who had preserved me in 
 continued health and safety. I felt completely wound up 
 again, and ready to go on for any length of time, especially 
 with the reasonable prospect of a good night's rest before 
 me. 
 
 Such are the agreeable excitements attending this kind 
 of life, to those who can enter without prejudice into the 
 spirit of it. Certainly, whilst your progress is successful, 
 it is delightful. You have plenty to eat, and you enjoy 
 what you eat ; j'ou are amused and instructed ; it is true it 
 is often cold, but then it is not always so. You encamp 
 when you please ; you cut down as large a tree as you 
 please, and you make as large a fire of it as you please, 
 
122 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Feathkrstonhaugh 
 
 without fearing an action of trespass. You kill deer out of 
 any park you are passing through without being questioned, 
 and you have the rare privilege of leaving your night's 
 lodging without calling for the landlord's bill. All law 
 and government proceed from yourself; and the great 
 point upon which everything turns is the successful man- 
 agement of the party you are the head of Prudence, 
 consistency, firmness, and a little generosity now and then 
 by way of condiment, will carry such a traveller through 
 everything. 
 
 But there is a reverse to the picture. Days and nights 
 exposed to cold, soaking rains ; want of food and water ; 
 unavoidable exaggeration of danger; painful solicitude for 
 those dear to and absent from you, and most anxious 
 moments when you occasionally feel that prudence is 
 scarcely suflScient to insure your safety. Even the intense 
 and curious impatience to push on in the face of apparent 
 danger makes you at times feel a remorse on account of 
 those you are leading into it. Such are the contrasts of 
 feeling by which the wanderer in these distant regions, 
 still unvisited by a ray of civilization, is frequently agi- 
 tated. 
 
 [Reaching Lake Travers, one of the sources of the Red River of 
 the North, he found quarters with Mr. Brown, the resident factor of 
 the American Fur Company.] 
 
 After breakfast Mr. Brown showed me some very rare 
 furs he possessed, — several very fine grizzly bear-skins ( Ur- 
 susferox), one of which was a bright yellow, a rare variety. 
 He had also an exceedingly large and rich otter-skin, 
 which, with many other things, I purchased of him. But 
 my most valuable acquisition here was made from an As- 
 siniboin chief, who came in about an hour before I departed. 
 This was a fine bow, made of bone and wood, with a cord 
 
Featherstonhauqh] winter ON THE PRAIRIES. 123 
 
 of very strong sinew. The chief had performed a feat with 
 it for which Wanetah, a Nahcotah chief, had been cele- 
 brated. He had killed two buffaloes that were galloping 
 on a parallel with his own horse at onB draft of his arrow, 
 it having passed through the first and inflicted a mortal 
 wound upon the second. 
 
 The chief was very unwilling to part with it. We tried 
 him several times in vain, and at length I offered him five 
 gold-pieces, or twenty-five dollars. '■^ Mdhzdzhee ! Heeyah!" 
 " Yellow iron ! No !" he replied. At last Mr. Brown pro- 
 duced some brilliant scarlet cloth. The sight of it over- 
 came his reluctance ; it would make such beautiful leggings, 
 and his squaws would be so delighted with it ! So I gave 
 him three yards of the cloth, and he delivered me the bow, 
 a quiver of arrows, and a skin case, which contained it. 
 Mr. Brown, of course, got his share of the amount, though 
 he acted very fairly with me. Money is unknown to these 
 savages, and they place no value upon it. He would not 
 have taken twenty of these gold-pieces for his bow, but 
 thought he had made a good bargain with it for the cloth, 
 although I have no doubt Mr. Brown would have sold it to 
 any one for ten dollars. It was an affair of barter, where 
 both parties were satisfied, which, under similar circum- 
 stances, is perhaps the best definition of value. 
 
124 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Campion 
 
 A HUNTER'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 J. S. CAMPION. 
 
 [Campion's " On the Frontier : Reminiscences of Wild Sports, Per- 
 sonal Adventure, and Strange Scenes," a work full of vitality, is the 
 source of our present selection. Some of the author's adventures with 
 hostile Indians are very interesting, but the following account of how 
 the author won his Christmas dinner is likely to prove more attractive 
 reading.] 
 
 On the evening of December 23 word was brought into 
 camp by one of the hands, who had been looking up the 
 mules, that he had come across the tracks of some twenty- 
 five turkeys, within five or six miles of camp. This was 
 indeed great news. Hope dawned upon us. We should 
 have the fat turkey for Christmas, at all events. 
 
 At daylight the next day we started for the spot where 
 the turkey-tracks had been seen ; the snow was melted off 
 the low ground, but still lay thick on the cedar and piiion 
 ridges, and in patches on the bottoms. 
 
 On arriving at the place we took the trail, and soon ran 
 it to a ridge-top, covered with piiion-trees, on the nuts of 
 which the turkeys had been feeding. Here the tracks 
 spread in all directions, since the turkeys had wandered 
 about, each on his own hook, searching for nuts, and, to 
 double the chances of finding them, we also separated, one 
 going up, the other down, the ridge, — going, too, very care- 
 fully, for wild turkeys are the most wary of all birds, and 
 require to be hunted with, if possible, more caution than 
 do deer. And we knew not the moment when we might 
 come upon our game, as it was highly probable they were 
 close at hand ; for turkeys, if unmolested, daily frequent 
 
Campion] A HUNTER'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 125 
 
 the same range of feeding-ground, until it is exhausted of 
 food. By and by I came to where eight of the straggling 
 birds had come together and started oif again in company. 
 The drove had evidently separated into two or more lots, 
 and I followed the eight turkeys for many miles and for 
 many hours without seeing fresh sign, until at length I 
 came to the edge of a precipitous cliff overlooking a wide 
 part of the valley, the river flowing just below me, and a 
 large grove of big cottonwood-trees in a bottom not far 
 away. 
 
 Evidently I was at the place from which the turkeys had 
 flown off the night before to go to roost. I quickly de- 
 scended, and, going under the cottonwood-trees, searched 
 in the tangle and jungle for sign of their having roosted 
 above, and soon satisfied myself that they had done so. 
 The next step necessary was to discover where the turkeys 
 had alighted in the morning; but this might entail a long 
 search, and, as it was already past noon, I sat down to 
 rest, eat the luncheon I had provided myself with, and 
 come to some conclusion as to which direction I had best 
 choose to make my first cast in. 
 
 I had not proceeded far on my way again, when I came 
 suddenly upon a "sign" that arrested my attention and 
 raised hope in my breast, — the tracks of a big fat buck ! 
 He had crossed the river-bottom diagonally, and his trail 
 plainly told me all about him : the great width of and the 
 distance between his tracks proclaimed his sex and size, and 
 their depth in the ground his weight. He had been going 
 at an easy trot ; the glaze on them was bright, their edges 
 unbroken ; not a speck of drifted dust was on them ; they 
 were as fresh as new paint. They were not an hour old. 
 
 In imagination I smelt roasted venison, and instantly 
 started in pursuit. I followed on the tracks until within 
 an hour of sunset, but never got even a glimpse of the 
 
126 WORLD'f^ GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Campion 
 
 deer ; and by that time his trail had brought me to the 
 bank of a stream flowing down one of the side valleys. 
 The buck browsing here and there, but never stopping long 
 in one place, had led me a wide circuit through and over 
 valley and ridges. He had not seen or smelled me, how- 
 ever, since none of his movements showed that he had been 
 alarmed. 
 
 The stream, at the place where the deer's track led to 
 it, was unusually wide, consequently slack in current, and 
 therefore frozen over. The snow still lay on the ice, and 
 the buck's track, where he had crossed, looked but just 
 made. The ice seemed firm, and I started to cross the 
 creek. About ten feet from shore, bang through I went, 
 waist deep, into the cold water, and broke and scrambled 
 my way back with great difficulty, and with noise enough 
 to frighten into a gallop any wild animal that might be 
 within a quarter of a mile of me. 
 
 It was very disagreeable, very annoying, and very cold ; 
 and my clothes beginning to freeze on me, I started for 
 camp at a brisk walk. 
 
 Just as the sun was going down I passed near to where 
 the turkeys had flown off" to roost. It struck me that by 
 watching there a short time I might see them return to 
 the same or a neighboring roost, knowing they often do 
 so. This, however, was very cold work, my clothes being 
 in a half-dried, half-frozen condition ; and I was just going 
 to give it up, when I heard the faint distant report of a 
 rifle. The sound redoubled my attention, since I supposed 
 that game was stirring. 
 
 In a few minutes I heard the quick sharp alarm call of the 
 turkey, the unmistakable pit-pit, and saw four of them sail 
 ofl" from the edge of the cliff, at about sixty yards' distance 
 from me, into the top branches of the trees forming one of 
 the groups in the valley below. Drawing gently back, and 
 
Campion] A HUNTER'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 127 
 
 keeping as much as possible under cover, I made my way 
 down into the valley, and started in the direction of the 
 grove of trees in which the turkeys had settled. 
 
 It was getting dark, and I had gone but a short way, 
 when, at a distance of about two hundred yards in front, a 
 most extraordinary-looking object presented itself to my 
 view. It looked like a haycock on legs with the handle of 
 a pitchfork sticking out of it ; it was steadily advancing 
 through the gloom to where I stood, and arrived quite 
 close to me before I could quite make out what it was. It 
 proved to be my companion, with two turkeys tied together 
 by the legs and slung over his shoulder across his rifle. 
 The wind coming up the valley and blowing the feathers 
 out in all directions had given the turkeys in the gloaming 
 the extraordinary appearance that had astonished me so 
 much. I gave a low whistle, and he joined me ; I pointed 
 to the turkeys in the trees. He dropped those he already 
 had, hung them up out of wolf reach, and together we 
 cautiously crept under the four roosting turkeys. 
 
 The light was very bad for rifle-shooting, but our front 
 sights were of ivory, and our birds were skyed ; so draw- 
 ing the best beads we could, we fired simultaneously, and 
 with great success, two fine birds dropping dead at our feet, 
 — the others making off. 
 
 We congratulated each other, and stai'ted for camp with 
 four fat turkeys, — and fat indeed they were, for they had 
 been feeding all autumn on walnuts, hickory-nuts, grapes, 
 sweet acorns, and pinons, at — or rather I suspect without 
 — discretion. 
 
 We had a long trudge home, the turkeys getting ap- 
 parently heavier every mile. As we tramped along my 
 companion related his day's experience. About noon he 
 had come upon the fresh tracks of some turnkeys feeding 
 along one of the ridges, and had followed the birds until 
 
128 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Campion 
 
 within about three hours of sunset, when, on peeping 
 into an open glade, he saw fourteen of them scattered 
 over it, picking up seeds and strutting about. As the 
 turkeys seemed to be approaching him, he lay quite still, 
 watehinir them throuo^h the thicket which concealed him. 
 Ultimately they got quite close, giving many fair oppor- 
 tunities to shoot one. But he was determined not to fire 
 unless necessary, preferring to wait for an occasion to 
 present itself enabling him to kill two at one shot, — a very 
 rare chance to obtain. He said it was most interesting 
 to lie there at his ease and watch the motions and move- 
 ments of the birds as they fed about and spread themselves 
 in fancied security. At last his opportunity came, and 
 firing without a moment's delay, he floored his birds, 
 taking the head of the nearest clean off, and shooting the 
 farther one through the body at the butt of his wings. 
 This was the shot I had heard. I then told him what I 
 had seen, and what had befallen me, and we got home 
 quite done up, but rejoicing at our good luck. 
 
 Supper was waiting, and this meal, a blazing fire, and 
 the pipe of peace, recruited us after our fatigues. 
 
 We had been very careful and sparing in the use of our 
 spirits, not knowing how long it might be before we should 
 be able to get a fresh supply, or what necessity might arise 
 for their use ; but this was considered an occasion when 
 the flowing bowl ought to be indulged in, so grogs all 
 round were mixed and our success celebrated. When this 
 interesting ceremony had been concluded, my companion 
 remarked to me, " Our luck has evidently turned, and, as 
 gamblers always do, we ought to press our good fortune 
 while it lasts. We have got our Christmas turkeys ; no 
 doubt the buck you followed is destined to grace our 
 Christmas dinner. I am the man to kill it. Daylight 
 shall see me on his track. You will behold my face no 
 
Campion] A HUNTER'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 129 
 
 more until I return with the haunches of the big buck." 
 Then he turned in and I quickly followed his example. At 
 the time I had not the remotest idea that my comrade 
 really intended to put his threat into execution ; I thought 
 he was "gassing," and put it down to the credit of the 
 flowing bowl. 
 
 Next morning I awoke at my usual time, — daybreak, — 
 got out of my blankets, arose, stirred the fire into a great 
 blaze and turned my back to it to get a good warm. I 
 looked for my companion, — his blankets were empty ; I 
 glanced towards the arms, — his rifle and belt were gone ; I 
 felt his blankets, — they were cold. He had consequently 
 been gone for some time. 
 
 I made a cast round, and struck his fresh tracks going 
 in the direction of our last day's tramp. He had " gone 
 for" the big buck. For my part, I was too tired to stir 
 that day. Though then as hard as nails, and in first-rate 
 condition and training, I was thoroughly done up and quite 
 stiff — " played out" — with the previous day's wetting and 
 walking, so remained in camp, and spent the time in help- 
 ing to make the plum-pudding, dress and stuff the turkeys, 
 and in resting, — principally in resting. 
 
 ISTight came, but not my comrade. I was not exactly 
 uneasy about him, for he was a first-rate hunter and moun- 
 taineer ; but many are the unexpected accidents that may 
 happen to a lone wanderer in the wilderness. 
 
 I piled the wood on the fire and sat waiting for him until 
 near midnight. Then I began to think I was foolish to do 
 so, and had better go to sleep. Just as I was turning in 
 the dogs ran out, frisking and capering, into the darkness. 
 I heard the whistle of my comrade, and he strode into the 
 light of the camp-fire. On his back, in a sling extempo- 
 rized out of the skin of the deer, were the hind-quarters of 
 
 a big buck. It was not yet twelve, and though a close 
 
 Vol. I — 'J I 
 
130 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Campiok 
 
 Bhave on being Christmas-day, our bill of fare was filled. 
 Some more flowing bowl. 
 
 At breakfast the following day my companion narrated 
 to us the story of his late hunt, as nearly as may be, in the 
 following words ; 
 
 He said, "By daylight I was where you came to grief 
 by breaking through the ice, with this difference, that I 
 was upon the other side of the creek, having crossed it 
 higher up by means of a beaver dam. Being a cold trail, I 
 pushed ahead sharply, keeping a good lookout, and in a 
 little over two hours came to where the buck had lain 
 down to pass the dark of the night. There being no 
 morning moon, I knew he had not stirred before sunrise, 
 and might, therefore, be browsing, or standing under some 
 tree quite near ; so continued my way most cautiously, 
 never following the tracks when they crossed an open, un- 
 less obliged to do so on account of the ground being frozen 
 hard, so that it often took me a long time to get his trail 
 again after leaving it; but I knew, if the buck once saw or 
 got a snitf of me, he might run ten miles without stopping. 
 
 "About eleven o'clock I sighted him. I was peeping 
 cautiously out of a thicket, at whose edge I had just ar- 
 rived, into a large park-like glade, and saw him under a 
 big white-oak-tree, eating the acorns. There was no cover 
 between me and where the buck stood, so I could not risk 
 trpng to get nearer to him except by making a long de- 
 tour, and the nearest edge of the timber I was in was too 
 far off him to risk a shot from. There was, therefore, 
 nothing for it but to sit down and wait until he pleased to 
 move on or lie down, and so give me a chance to get 
 nearer. Being hungry, I utilized the time by eating my 
 luncheon, and then fell to smoking. Well, he kept me 
 there over an hour, and then started off in a straight line 
 in a trot. As he took a bee-line for the river, I knew what 
 
Campion] A HUNTER'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 131 
 
 he was after : he was going to take his ' little drink.' I, 
 too, should have liked to indulge in a httle drink, to wash 
 down my luncheon. 
 
 " As soon as the buck was well oinder way I started at 
 the double, on a parallel course, hoping to get a shot at 
 him in the river's bottom. I crossed the open ground of a 
 valley in a bend that was above and out of sight of the 
 course he was taking, got into the cover along the river's 
 bank, and followed it down, but saw nothing of him. By 
 and by I came to where the buck had drunk. He had 
 there crossed the river and gone straight on at a long easy 
 trot towards the Sierra Verde. 
 
 "Should he intend going up the mountain my chance 
 of seeing him again that day was over; if he was going 
 to feed in the piilon ridges, then careful stalking and the 
 avoidance of all mistakes would make him my meat. I 
 could not afford to lose time by going to a beaver dam to 
 cross, so at once peeled and waded over. 
 
 " After going about two miles, the buck's tracks showed 
 he had subsided into a walk, and then almost immediately 
 turned, to my great satisfaction, into the pinon-ridge 
 country, in which, after about an hour's careful stalking, 1 
 sighted him again. He was strolling along, feeding; but 
 it was getting pretty well on towards sunset before I was 
 able to approach close enough to him to care to fire a shot, 
 for I had taken so much trouble that I was determined to 
 incur no risk I could avoid, but have patience until I had a 
 certainty of killing him in his tracks. At last he stopped 
 to browse in a little open, oval table-land, on the summit 
 of a cedar ridge. 
 
 "The ridge-top was nowhere over a hundred yards 
 across, and was sui-rounded with a thick fringe of dwarf 
 cedars. Peeping through one of these dwarf cedars, I 
 could see the deer's broad fat quarters about forty yards 
 
132 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Campion 
 
 in front of me. The buck was slowly walking from where 
 I stood concealed. I put my cap in a fork of the cedar, 
 laid my rifle-barrel on it, brought its stock to ray shoulder, 
 and bleated like a doe. 
 
 " The big buck stopped, turned his body half round, his 
 head wholly so, and looked straight towards me with his 
 head down. 
 
 " I drew a careful bead between his eyes, and dropped 
 him — stone-dead ! 
 
 "I ran up to bleed him, feeling quite relieved and glad 
 at so successful a termination of ten hours' difficult hunt- 
 ing. I had not noticed it while engrossed by the interest 
 of pursuit, but now found I was very hungry, and so lit a 
 fire at once, that there might be roasting-coals ready by 
 the time I had skinned my deer. 
 
 " I was soon enjoying a jolly rib-roast, making a tremen- 
 dous meal, and recruiting myself for the tramp of from 
 twelve to fifteen miles lying between me and the camp." 
 
 So, after all, we had our Christmas dinner according to 
 programme, and a capital one it was, too. 
 
 The turkeys were d merveille, the venison delicious ; for 
 the big buck — he was nearly as big as a Mexican burro- 
 deer — was very fat indeed. It is only the man who has 
 eaten really fat wild venison who knows what good ven- 
 ison really is. The kidneys were completely covered with 
 tallow, and my companion assured us that the buck cut 
 nearly an inch of fat on the brisket. The quarters had 
 been hung out to freeze all night, and were thawed in 
 melted snow-water before being cooked, and so were quite 
 tender. 
 
 The plum-pudding was over a foot in diameter; we could 
 hardly pull it out of the pot. It was as good as possible, 
 and followed by a bowl of punch, our punch-bowl being for 
 the nonce a tin bucket ; not to mince matters, it was our 
 
Bacon] A COLORADO "ROUND-UP." 133 
 
 horses' watering-bucket, which, though not elegant, was 
 capacious, and the only utensil we had capable of holding 
 the amount of purjch the occasion called for. 
 
 No holly grew in the country, but the bright red berries 
 of the Indian arrow-wood and of the bearberry-bush made 
 beautiful substitutes, and there were more evergreens in 
 sight than entire Christendom could have made use of, so 
 our camp was profusely and gayly decorated. Altogether 
 the day was well and duly celebrated, and it is marked 
 with a white stone in the calendar of my memory. 
 
 A COLORADO "ROUND-UP." 
 
 ALFRED TERRY BACON, 
 
 [Among picturesque scenes of American life there are few to sur- 
 pass those to be seen on the cattle ranges of the West, the home of the 
 cow-boy, and of a mode of life widely removed from the quiet con- 
 ditions of ordinary civilization. We append a description of daily 
 scenes during a cattle " drive."] 
 
 By a fortunate circumstance I first saw that pastoral 
 pageant known in the West as a " round-up" among the 
 most picturesque surroundings that could have been chosen 
 for it even in Colorado. In the northern counties the 
 abrupt line of the Eocky Mountain foot-hills has nearly 
 a north-and-south direction. From their base the grass- 
 country rolls away in great brown undulations with a gen- 
 eral downward slope towards the east for twenty miles, 
 to the depression in the Plains through which the South 
 Platte flows northward. Beyond the river the land rises 
 again with an easy slope for several miles. It is from the 
 side of this rise of ground that the superb panoramic view 
 
134 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bacon 
 
 of the Eocky Mountain range is seen in perfection. More 
 than two hundred miles it stretches in sight, from the 
 masses vaguely seen beyond the snowy shoulders of Pike's 
 Peak to the lower mountains across the border of Wyo- 
 ming. 
 
 At a considerable height on this slope runs a canal for 
 irrigation, led out from the swiftly-descending Platte some 
 miles above. One brilliant evening in July, a procession 
 of wagons, each with its arched covering of canvas tinted 
 by the sunset light, moved up the ascent to the bank of the 
 ditch. The wagons were drawn up in line, about a hun- 
 dred feet apart, and in five minutes each driver had un- 
 harnessed and "hobbled" his horses and a bright row of 
 camp-fires were dancing in the twilight. Tl;ie wagons 
 were late in making a camp. Usually they precede the 
 herd by several hours; but now close following is heard 
 the lowing of the cattle, a slowly swelling volume of sound, 
 as the drove approaches. At a spot a quarter of a mile 
 from camp, where a level interrupts the general slope, the 
 herd is massed together, or, in technical phrase, " bunched," 
 and with the approach of darkness gradually all lie down 
 for the night. One by one the herders drop away to camp 
 as the cattle grow quiet, till but two are left riding in 
 opposite directions about the sleeping herd, each singing 
 vigorously, for the double purpose of warding off sleep 
 and keeping the herd aware of their guard. The songs 
 are continued by the successive watches till dawn, each 
 singer pursuing his tune with a glorious independence of 
 harmony with his mate; yet in the distance, as we sit 
 beside the camp-fire or in waking moments at night, it is a 
 cheerful, vigilant sound. In the cow-boy's dialect, "sing- 
 ing to 'em" has become a synonymous expression for night- 
 herding. 
 
 Before the day's work is finished, there is a cry heard 
 
Bacon] A COLORADO ''ROUND-UP." 135 
 
 not far away, " Ropes ! ropes !" Two men start up from 
 the resting groups and form a sort of temporary corral 
 by stretching ropes from a wagon, and into it is driven 
 the great herd of saddle-horses, to be " hobbled" for the 
 night. Then the supper is served, — hastily cooked and 
 hastily eaten. There is little comfort about it. A kind of 
 lengthened tail-board is let down at the end of each wagon 
 and supported by props. All the men of an " outfit" — that 
 is, those banded to work together and share the use of one 
 wagon — ^gather about this rude table and devour the meal, 
 as they stand, with the lion's appetite which only a wholly 
 out-door life can give. 
 
 Each " outfit" carries its tent, for use in bad weather ; 
 but with a dewless night and a dry soil no one cares to 
 stake a tent after fourteen hours of hard riding. As soon 
 as darkness has fairly settled over the earth, we are all 
 rolled in our blankets side by side on the ground as peace- 
 ful as a row of mummies. Over us the heaven seems to 
 glitter with a million stars not seen in lower countries, and 
 sleep soon comes to the eyes turned upward towards its in- 
 finite calm. At intervals through the night the second, 
 third, and " cocktail" reliefs will be called to go on duty : 
 all hands must take their turns at night-herding. 
 
 With the first intimation of daylight the camp-fires are 
 again dancing in line. By each a cook begins his breakfast 
 preparations. Long before the appearance of the sun all 
 the camp is astir ; bedding is rolled and packed away ready 
 for transportation. In the universal freshness of dawn the 
 view westward from the hill is glorious. Through the 
 meadows just below us winds the Platte, shaded by noble 
 groves of cottonwood, the home of ten thousand meadow- 
 larks, and already in the starry twilight they have begun 
 a choral symphony of innumerable voices. . . . 
 
 But the light of the sun has hardly crept down the hill 
 
136 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bacon 
 
 to touch the tree-tops, still ringing with the morning song, 
 before the hurried standing breakfast at the camp is over 
 and each man has been appointed to his work by the 
 captain of the " round-up." Three or four are named to 
 guard the herd already gathered ; some will have special 
 care of the horses ; all others, except the men in charge of 
 wagons, are appointed to go " out on circle." Then follows 
 a general saddling of horses, and, while the shadows still 
 lie long across the plain, knots of horsemen, three or four 
 abreast, strike out across the prairie on lines radiating in 
 all directions from the camp. They will ride out on their 
 courses for about five miles, except where the space is 
 limited on the west by the river, and then, turning back, 
 will drive in towards the centre, or, as they say, will " circle 
 in," or " round up," all the cattle found in that district, a 
 space with a diameter of ten miles. It is this operation 
 carried on day after day over many thousand square miles 
 of country which gives the name " round-up" to the annual 
 gathering of the cattle on the Plains. ... 
 
 The long, hot morning wastes away, unvaried by any 
 event but the changing phases of the mirage and the 
 gathering of cloud-puffs over the mountains. But when 
 the sun has climbed within an hour or two of the merid- 
 ian, some one less drowsy than the rest shouts, "They're 
 coming!" Across the prairie where he points there is no 
 living thing in sight, but beyond the most distant ridge 
 a great dust-column seems to touch the sky and stand 
 motionless. Then on the opposite horizon we catch sight 
 of another cloud of dust, then another, and another 
 appears, till the circle of approaching herds is complete. 
 Presently the leaders of a procession mount the ridge. 
 The long line of cattle comes steadily on. Half are lost to 
 sight in the hollows of the prairie, half are seen on the 
 crests of the swelling ground. Up and down the line 
 
A KAIMSA6 CN'CLOIME 
 
 From the omuv Successful Photograph ever 
 
 TAKEM 
 
Bacon] A COLORADO ''ROUND-UP." 137 
 
 gallop the horsemen, urging and guiding the cattle. When 
 the first sound from the herd reaches the ear, it is like a 
 long trumpet-blast. Among the multitudes that are ap- 
 proaching there is not one but utters some sound of protest 
 at this sudden infringement of the liberties of his wild life. 
 The bellowing of the bulls, the lowing of the cows, the 
 bleating of the calves, all are blended into a musical 
 murmur in which no single voice can be distinguished. 
 
 With the advance of the cattle the deep note grows 
 louder by almost imperceptible degrees, but at last, when 
 the lines begin to be driven together at the centre, it has 
 increased to a deafening uproar. Conversation is im- 
 possible ; orders are shouted as in a storm at sea. When 
 the converging processions have come so near that the 
 animals can be distinguished, it is interesting to look 
 closely at the passing lines, in which every breed and size 
 and color of cattle is represented, from the small tawny 
 Texas cow, as wild as a deer, to the large high-bred Dur- 
 ham bull that paces heavily along nodding his head at every 
 step with an aristocratic air of self-satisfaction. The leaders 
 of a herd are always the strong, fat steers, walking with a 
 quick step, carrying their heads erect, and glancing about 
 with restless eyes, — powerful, swift animals, ready when 
 anything startles them to break into a stampede that will 
 try the mettle of the best horses in the effort to stop them. 
 
 To one who has only known cattle in the Eastern States 
 from watching working-oxen crawling along a road a mile 
 and a half in an hour, or mild old dairy- cows loafing home 
 from pasture at night, these spirited wild cattle seem a 
 different race of animals. A new-comer to the plains can 
 hardly believe that cattle are capable of great speed ; but 
 let him help jn driving a herd for a few days, and his 
 opinion is changed. A small calf lagging in the rear of a 
 herd is sometimes seized with an insane notion that his 
 
138 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bacok 
 
 mother has been left behind if he loses sight of her for a 
 moment. He starts backward on the trail, " like a streak 
 of greased lightning," his pursuer would say. An accom- 
 plished cow-boy is often baffled for some time in such a 
 chase. His horse, of course, will outstrip a calf in a long 
 run ; but just when he has headed him off, the exasperating 
 little brute will dodge like a hare, and, while the horse is 
 carried on by his impetus, the calf is off again as fast as 
 ever in search of his forsaken parent. I have known a 
 " tender-foot" to disappear over the bluffs on such a chase in 
 the middle of the afternoon and return at night crestfallen, 
 to acknowledge himself vanquished by a most insignificant 
 little calf. 
 
 After the leaders of the herd generally follow the young 
 stock, — the yearlings and two-year-olds, — with the fat dry 
 cows scattered along the line ; then the multitude of cows 
 followed by calves ; and last the lagging new-born calves, 
 attended and coaxed along by fussy old mothers. 
 
 After the men have rushed into camp to swallow the 
 noonday meal and have hurried back to the herd, the hard- 
 est and most interesting part of the day's work begins, — 
 that is, the " cutting out," or sorting, the cattle of those 
 brands which it is desired to separate from the promiscuous 
 multitude. In the " general round-up" of the early summer 
 the branding of the young stock is the chief business ; 
 but in this gathering the object is to separate certain cattle 
 to be driven away to new grazing-grounds in the northern 
 Territories. As we are riding out with the herders return- 
 ing to their work, suddenly the body from head to foot is 
 suffused with a sense of relief and refreshment, as when 
 water touches a parched throat ; for, after eight hours of 
 scorching heat, a cloud has drifted across the sun as he 
 begins his descent. It is only in such an arid, shadeless 
 region that the scriptural metaphor of a "shadow in a 
 
Bacon] A COLORADO ''ROUND-UP." 139 
 
 weary land" can have the full force which it had to its 
 Asiatic author. 
 
 But now, as we came to the herd and turned to circle 
 about it, the westward view was wonderfully changed. 
 The background of mountains which in the morning had 
 been so shadeless was now almost wholly in shadow. The 
 cloud-puifs of an hour ago had spread and united into black 
 canopies of storm-cloud. The range had assumed its dark- 
 est and most sublime aspect. As the eye runs up and down 
 the long sweep of vision, here and there a white peak, 
 flooded with sunshine from an unseen space between the 
 storms, shines with an unearthly brightness amid the gen- 
 eral blackness. Here and there the snowy head of a 
 mountain looks out cold and wan through a transparent 
 veil of showers. Every moment at some point along the 
 rank of mountains a thunderbolt leaps across from cloud 
 to peak with a quick shiver. A portentous darkness settles 
 over the Great Divide. The pine-clad slopes are as black 
 as night ; the snowy summits leaden. 
 
 In contrast with the dark majesty of the background is 
 the intense animation of the scene close at hand. Back 
 and forth and round and round patrol the horsemen ap- 
 pointed to hold the cattle within certain boundaries. Men 
 representing the owners of brands ride into the crowd of 
 cattle, and, moving slowly about, observe the brand on 
 every animal they pass. Usually a rider represents several 
 owners. Catching sight of the brands for which they are 
 looking, each man follows close at the heels of the cow he 
 has selected, and, when she is near the edge of the herd, 
 with a quick jump of his horse he tries to drive her beyond 
 the boundaries. But commonly she detects his purpose, 
 her gregarious instinct rebels, and with a quicker jump 
 she is back again among her friends in the midst of the 
 herd. 
 
140 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bacon 
 
 Then follows a hard chase around among the frightened 
 cattle. Fifteen or twenty riders are soon in hot pursuit of 
 their several brands. The whole herd is in commotion, 
 with a general wheeling movement like a slow Maelstrom. 
 The cattle are "ginning around," they say. The din of a 
 thousand bellowing voices grows more thunderous as the 
 herd grows more uneasy. To watch this tossing sea of 
 animal life is exciting in the highest degree. The horses, 
 trained by long experience in the work, dash into it with 
 the fire of a war-horse going to battle. They take evident 
 pleasure in their superiority over the inferior intelligence 
 of the cattle. The showy, barbaric costumes of the cow- 
 boys, the exquisite feats of horsemanship, the excitement 
 of the horses warming to their work, the occasional dex- 
 terous use of the lasso in subduing some animal at bay, all 
 the rush and tumult, the roar and shouting, the grace of 
 muscular men and animals in swift motion, make up a 
 spectacle so stirring and picturesque that all other exhibi- 
 tions of equestrian skill seem tame in comparison. 
 
 As the cattle one by one are " cut out," they are taken 
 in charge by the outside riders and driven away to swell 
 the herd of those already gathered, which is grazing less 
 than a mile away. After two hours of work, while the 
 commotion seems still as violent as ever, the captain sud- 
 denly shouts the order, " Turn 'em loose !" The cry passes 
 along, the guards draw to one side, the liberated cattle 
 move quickly away, first in a body, then in a long scatter- 
 ing line, and the stillness of the desert succeeds the uproar. 
 In the mean time, the camp has been broken up and the 
 train of wagons has moved up the river eight or ten miles 
 to fix a centre for the next day's work. There is httle 
 difference between one day and another. The same opera- 
 tion of " circling in" and " cutting out" will be repeated 
 till every acre of ground in the allotted district has been 
 
Bradfobd] among the COW-BOYS. 141 
 
 traversed. In the "general round-ups" of the spring each 
 district contains several thousand square miles, and the 
 work continues for six weeks or more. In this way a belt 
 of country equal in length to the distance from Portland 
 to Savannah is swept over by the " round-ups" every year. 
 Before this nomadic life of the Plains has been drained 
 of its picturesque elements by the advance of civilization, 
 I hope that some painter may arise who can grasp and 
 worthily fix on canvas this most picturesque scene of 
 American life, — one with the skill of a Church to paint the 
 mountains and the genius of a Bonheur to catch the beauty 
 of free animal existence. It should be a great picture, for 
 in its distance would stand the continent's mountainous 
 head crowned with its shining diadem, while in the nearer 
 view there would be every attitude of bold horsemanship, 
 every phase of intense muscular activity, brilliancy of cos- 
 tumes, the charm of wild life, the beauty of freedom. 
 
 AMONG THE COW-BOYS. 
 
 LOUIS C. BRADFORD. 
 
 [The preceding selection may be fitly followed by the following 
 description of life among the cow-boys, those wild and wilful cattle- 
 guards of the West, whose escapades form an interesting part of the 
 romance of modern times.] 
 
 There is a peculiar fascination in the wild life of the 
 cow-boys which tempts many young men of culture and 
 refinement, reared in the enjojmient of everj^ luxury in the 
 East, but of adventui'ous dispositions, to come and live 
 with these rude spirits on the frontier. Often for thirty- 
 six hours continuously in the saddle, the hardships of their 
 
142 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bradford 
 
 lot are apparent. Cold black coffee, without sugar, drunk 
 whenever the opportunity offers, is the sole luxury of the 
 cow-boy. With a piece of bread in one hand and some 
 jerked beef in the other, he will ride around a stampeded 
 herd, eating as he goes, and as happy as a king on his 
 throne. When night comes, provided his cattle are quiet, 
 he will tie his horse to his leg, and, "covered with his hat," 
 with a hummock of grass for his pillow, will sleep peace- 
 fully on the broad prairie, and dream perchance of his 
 sweetheart far back in " God's country." 
 
 Perhaps his dreams will be rudely disturbed by the 
 thunder of a thousand hoofs, as his cattle, becoming fright- 
 ened at some noise, have stampeded, and the grass fairly 
 pops beneath their cloven feet. Then it is he does his 
 tallest riding, and, circling around his cows, brings them 
 back to where they started. If a wild bull becomes ob- 
 streperous and unruly, a rider dashes past him, and, seizing 
 his tail as he goes by, gives it a twist around the horn of 
 his saddle, and in a trice the bull is fairly slung heels over 
 head on his back. Two or three applications of this dis- 
 cipline will generally reduce the stiffening in a bull's tail 
 to a minimum and render him as docile as a calf. An ex- 
 pert cow-boy can rope, throw down, and tie up a cow in 
 just one minute from the time he rides up to her. 
 
 But a man knows nothing of " punching the heifers" 
 who has not been through on the "trail" to Kansas. Going 
 for days together without eating, never out of the saddle, 
 mountinc; a fresh horse as fast as one is broken down, the 
 limit of endurance is reached, and one who has stood the 
 test, and can boast of having " busted the Indian Nation 
 square open," attains respect in the cow-boy's eyes, and is 
 considered to have taken his degree. 
 
 In 1874 the largest drive to Kansas ever recorded took 
 place, when half a million beeves were driven through. 
 
Bradford] AMONG THE COW-BOYS. 143 
 
 The trail was beaten into a broad path a mile wide and 
 extending fifteen hundred miles in length. For miles and 
 miles the string of lowing herds stretched along, while the 
 keen riders darted hither and thitber, keeping them well 
 on the trail. At night the voices of the men singing to 
 their sleeping cattle could be heard all along the line, while 
 the long string of camp-fires, throwing their lurid glare 
 against the black vault overhead, called back to the minds 
 of many old gray-bearded cow-boys the stormy times when 
 similar lines of light glimmered along the Rappahannock, 
 and pierced the murky gloom of some Virginia night. 
 Sometimes the music of a violin, sounding strangely shrill 
 in the calm night air, would mingle with the deep tones of 
 voices singing " The Maid of Monterey," or " Shamus 
 O'Brien," the cow-boy's favorite tunes. 
 
 In passing through the Indian Nation it is no uncommon 
 thing for a band of Indians, all painted and varnished up, 
 to ride down on a beef-herd, and, singling out the finest 
 cattle in the bunch, compel the white owners of the stock 
 to cut them out in a separate flock, when the Indians will 
 gather around them and run them off". Some years ago a 
 party of five Indians came riding down on a herd which 
 was resting on the banks of a small creek, and demanded 
 of the boss herdsman ten of the fattest steers he had. The 
 boss was a bold man, and, looking around on his fifteen 
 stalwart cow-boys, swore that no five Indians should take 
 his beeves from him, and, using the polite phraseology of 
 the Plains, told his redskin visitors to "go to hell." The 
 baffled five retired into the forest, but soon returned with 
 an increased force of fifty men, who charged down on the 
 defiant herdsman, whom they nearly beat to death with 
 his own ramrod, stampeded his cattle, and ran off two 
 hundred of them into the woods. 
 
 It is a wild, rough set of men that camp around the 
 
144 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bradford 
 
 herds after they have been driven through the Nation and 
 are resting on the grassy plains of Kansas. Clad in the 
 soiled and dusty jeans of the trail, for weeks in succession 
 no water has touched their hands or faces, and, unshaven 
 and unshorn, they give free rein to their exuberant spirits, 
 taking some quiet Kansas village by storm, setting the tame 
 local laws at defiance, and compelling the authorities to 
 acknowledge the sovereignty of their native State. 
 
 The wages earned by these cow-boys are twenty-five 
 dollars a month while they are herding on Texan ranges; 
 but, as the toil and hardship encountered on the trail are 
 so great, they are paid thirty-five dollars a month during 
 the drive, and each man furnished with eight ponies to 
 ride. Some of them return home by rail, visiting the cities 
 of St. Louis and New Orleans, and managing to be de- 
 spoiled of all their hard-earned monej' during their brief 
 sojourn in " God's country ;" but the greater number 
 straddle their wiry little ponies and ride back through the 
 Nation to Texas. 
 
 Not every one that started out to go up the trail lives to 
 get back, and the nameless mounds that dot the sides of 
 that broad path bear mute but powerful testimony to the 
 danger that every hour surrounds the cow-boy. Whether 
 they fall by a shot from some hostile savage lurking in 
 a ravine near by, or are dropped by a six-shooter in the 
 hands cff a fellow-herder, they are hastily buried and soon 
 forgotten. Entirely free from the restraining power of 
 the law, men give free rein to their passions, and the six- 
 shooter or Winchester rifle — the inseparable companions 
 of the stock-drivers — is freely resorted to to settle disputed 
 questions. It is very common for two bosses having charge 
 of different herds to jump down from their horses and pro- 
 ceed to crack away at each other until one has bitten the 
 dust. 
 
Bradford] AMONG THE COW-BOFS. 145 
 
 "When a violent storm, accompanied by thunder and 
 lightning, stampedes the cattle, they will probably get 
 mixed up with two or three other herds, and much labor 
 and confusion results, and a considerable amount of tall 
 swearing and fighting takes place before they can be sep- 
 arated and each herd gotten to itself. Every animal, be- 
 sides the regular brand of the owner, has his tail bobbed 
 and a " road-mark" put upon him during the drive, and in 
 a mixed herd the rider goes in and "cuts out" all the 
 cattle that bear his brand and runs them into a separate 
 flock. 
 
 When cattle are sleeping it requires very little to stam- 
 pede them. A loud breath, the clank of a chain tied to 
 the leg of a wagon-mule, or the galloping of a horse will 
 sometimes cause them to be up and gone in the twinkling 
 of an eye. They will run over whatever is in their path, 
 and the only way to stop them is to get them to "milling," 
 or travelling in a circle, when they will wind themselves 
 up like a ball and stop. It is instinctive with them to run 
 when anything else is running, and away they go at the 
 slightest noise, with the cow-boys in wild pursuit after 
 them. 
 
 Living on Stinking Creek, in the Indian Territory, just 
 off the great trail, is an Irishman named Fitzpatrick, who 
 came to this country not many years ago, a common speci- 
 men of the bog-trotting Tipperary Paddy. Floating on 
 the tide of emigration westward, he finally went into the 
 Indian Nation, and, building a cabin in the timber where 
 the trail crossed Stinking Creek, he proceeded to gather 
 up the cattle that dropped from the great herds going 
 through or were lost in some big stampede. His business 
 throve, and in time he married a Choctaw wife and went 
 to housekeeping, and to day he is the owner of many thou- 
 sand beeves, and is regarded as a rising stock-man. He 
 
 Vol. I — lo 
 
146 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bbadford 
 
 etill collects the stampeded cattle in the creek timber, — a 
 striking example of the strange ways in which men become 
 rich. More than one big stock-man in Texas began his 
 career by branding the mavericks, or wild unbranded and 
 unclaimed heifers, found in the river timber. As an in- 
 stance of the manner in which they worked up a herd, it 
 is related of a successful stock-man that he started with a 
 solitary steer, which he turned loose on the prairie, and 
 the first year he branded forty calves ! . . . 
 
 It was with a feeling of sincere regret that the writer 
 of these lines, meeting with a severe accident, prepared to 
 return to where his home nestled in the Alleghanies, after 
 a sojourn of eighteen months with these wild riders of the 
 plains. Lest the impression be conveyed that these are 
 irreligious and godless men, let the reader fancy a group 
 of men, belted and spurred, seated in a rude arbor, listening 
 reverently to a tall cow-boy who has been selected by 
 unanimous choice to read the Scriptures, and he can form 
 an idea of the last Sunday I spent with the cow-boys. 
 With slow and deliberate utterance, Phil Claiborne read 
 out the words of the golden rule, " As ye would that men 
 should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Then he 
 proceeded : " These, my hearers, were the words of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke as no man ever spoke ; and 
 I pledge you my word, gentlemen, the Bible is a good Qgg'^ 
 Profound attention greeted the speaker, and continuing, he 
 said, "Whatsoever is earthly can be soon replaced, but that 
 which is on yon side of the grave is eternal. If you lose 
 your property, you may acquire more ; if you lose your 
 wife, you may marry again ; if you lose your children, you 
 may have more ; but if you lose your immortal soul, then 
 up the spout you go." 
 
lavwc-J HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 147 
 
 HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 
 
 WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 [Washington Irving's experiences were not confined to the banks 
 of the Hudson, the ruins of the Alhambra, and the rural scenes of 
 English life, but were extended to embrace the far western region of 
 his own country, a region at that time still the domain of savage 
 nature. In 1832, the year embraced in his ' ' Tour on the Prairies, ' ' the 
 buffalo, or bison, now nearly extinct, roamed in vast herds over the 
 treeless plains, and wild horses were little less abundant in the same 
 broad region. The work in question is principally devoted to incidents 
 of a hunter's life in pursuit of these two animals. The scene lies in 
 the vicinity of the upper waters of the Ked Kiver.] 
 
 After proceeding about two hours in a southerly 
 direction, we emerged towards mid-day from the dreary 
 belt of the Cross Timber, and to our infinite delight beheld 
 *' the great prairie," stretching to the right and left before 
 us. We could distinctly trace the meandering course of 
 the main Canadian and various smaller streams by the 
 strips of green forest that bordered them. The landscape 
 was vast and beautiful. There is always an expansion of 
 feeling in looking upon these boundless and fertile wastes ; 
 but I was doubly conscious of it after emerging from our 
 " close dungeon of innumerous boughs." 
 
 From a rising ground Beatte [an Indian member of the 
 party] pointed out the place where he and his comrades 
 had killed the buffaloes; and we beheld several black 
 objects moving in the distance which he said were part of 
 the herd. The captain determined to shape his course to 
 a woody bottom about a mile distant and to encamp there 
 for a day or two, by way of having a regular buffalo-hunt 
 and getting a supply of provisions. 
 
148 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [iRvms 
 
 As the troop defiled along the slope of the hill towards 
 the camping-ground, Beatte proposed to my messmates and 
 myself that we should put ourselves under his guidance, 
 promising to take us where we should have plenty of sport. 
 Leaving the line of march, therefore, we diverged towards 
 the prairie, traversing a small valley and ascending a 
 gentle swell of land. As we reached the summit we 
 beheld a gang of wild horses about a mile off. Beatte was 
 immediately on the alert, and no longer thought of buffalo- 
 hunting. He was mounted on his powerful half-wild 
 horse, with a lariat coiled at the saddle bow, and set off in 
 pursuit, while we remained on a rising ground watching 
 his manoeuvres with great solicitude. 
 
 Taking advantage of a strip of woodland, he stole 
 quietly along, so as to get close to them before he was 
 perceived. The moment they caught sight of him a grand 
 scamper took place. We watched him skirting along the 
 horizon like a privateer in full chase of a merchantman ; 
 at length he passed over the brow of a ridge and down 
 into a shallow valley ; in a few moments he was on the 
 opposite hill, and close upon one of the horses. He was 
 soon head and head, and appeared to be trying to noose his 
 prey ; but they both disappeared again below the hill, and 
 we saw no more of them. It turned out afterwards that 
 he had noosed a powerful horse, but could not hold him, 
 and had lost his lariat in the attempt. 
 
 While we were waiting for his return, we perceived two 
 buffalo bulls descending a slope towards a stream which 
 wound through a ravine fringed with trees. The young 
 count and myself endeavored to get near them under covert 
 of the trees. They discovered us while we were yet three 
 or four hundred yards off, and, turning about, retreated up 
 the rising ground. We urged our horses across the ravine 
 and gave chase. The immense weight of head and 
 
Irving] HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 149 
 
 shoulders causes the buffalo to labor heavily up-hill ; but 
 it accelerates his descent. We had the advantage, there- 
 fore, and gained rapidly upon the fugitives, though it vjslb 
 difficult to get our horses to approach them ; their very 
 scent inspired them with tei'ror. The count, who had a 
 double barrelled gun loaded with ball, fired, but missed. 
 The bulls now altered their course, and galloped down-hill 
 with headlong rapidity. As they ran in different direc- 
 tions, we each singled out one and separated. 
 
 I was provided with a brace of veteran brass-barrelled 
 pistols which I had borrowed at Fort Gibson, and which 
 had evidently seen some service. Pistols are very effective 
 in buffalo-hunting, as the hunter can ride up close to the 
 animal, and fire at it while at full speed ; whereas the long 
 heavy rifles used on the frontier cannot be easily managed 
 nor discharged with accurate aim from horseback. My 
 object, therefore, was to get within pistol-shot of the buffalo. 
 This was no very easy matter. I was well mounted on a 
 horse of excellent speed and bottom that seemed eager for 
 the chase, and soon overtook the game ; but the moment 
 he came nearly parallel, he would keep sheering off with 
 ears forked and pricked forward, and every symptom of 
 aversion and alarm. It was no wonder. Of all animals, a 
 buffalo, when close pressed by the hunter, has an aspect the 
 most diabolical. His two short black horns curve out of a 
 huge frontlet of shaggy hair; his eyes glow like coals; his 
 mouth is open, his tongue parched and drawn up into a 
 half crescent ; his tail is erect, and tufted and whisked 
 about in the air ; he is a perfect picture of mingled rage and 
 terror. 
 
 It was with difficulty I urged my horse sufficiently near, 
 when, taking aim, to my chagrin, both pistols missed fire. 
 Unfortunately, the locks of these veteran weapons were so 
 much worn that in the gallop the priming had been shaken 
 
150 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Irving 
 
 out of the pans. At the snapping of the last pistol I was 
 close upon the buffalo, when, in his despair, he turned 
 round with a sudden snort and rushed upon me. My 
 horse wheeled about as if on a pivot, made a convulsive 
 spring, and, as I had been leaning on one side with pistol 
 extended, I came near being thrown at the feet of the 
 buffalo. 
 
 Three or four bounds of the horse carried us out of the 
 reach of the enemy ; who, having merely turned in des- 
 perate self-defence, quickly resumed his flight. As soon as 
 I could gather in my panic-stricken horse and prime the 
 pistols afresh, I again spurred in pursuit of the buffalo, 
 who had slackened his speed to take breath. On my 
 approach he again set off full tilt, heaving himself forward 
 with a heavy rolling gallop, dashing with headlong precipi- 
 tation through brakes and ravines, while several deer and 
 wolves, startled from their coverts by his thundering 
 career, ran helter-skelter to right and left across the waste. 
 
 A gallop across the prairies in pursuit of game is by no 
 means so smooth a career as those may imagine who have 
 only the idea of an open level plain. It is true, the prairies 
 of the hunting-ground are not so much entangled with 
 flowering plants and long herbage as the lower prairies, 
 and are principally covered with short buflfalo-grass ; but 
 they are diversified by hill and dale, and where most level 
 are apt to be cut up by deep rifts and ravines, made by 
 torrents after rains ; and which, after yawning from an 
 even surface, are almost like pitfalls in the way of the 
 hunter, checking him suddenly when in full career, or 
 subjecting him to the risk of limb and life. The plains, 
 too, are beset by burrowing holes of small animals, in 
 which the horse is apt to sink to the fetlock, and throw 
 both himself and his rider. The late rain had covered 
 some parts of the prairie, where the ground was hard, with 
 
Irving] HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 151 
 
 a thin sheet of water, through which the horse had to 
 splash his way. In other parts there were innumerable 
 shallow hollows, eight or ten feet in diameter, made by the 
 buflFaloes, who wallow in sand and mud like swine. These 
 being filled with water, shone like mirrors, so that the 
 horse was continually leaping over them or springing on 
 one side. We had reached, too, a rough part of the prairie, 
 very much broken and cut up; the buflfalo, who was 
 running for life, took no heed to his course, plunging down 
 break-neck ravines, where it was necessary to skirt the 
 borders in search of a safer descent. At length we came 
 to where a winter stream had torn a deep chasm. across the 
 whole prairie, leaving open jagged rocks, and forming a 
 long glen bordered by steep crumbling cliffs of mingled 
 stone and clay. Down one of these the buffalo flung him- 
 self, half tumbling, half leaping, and then scuttled along 
 the bottom ; while I, seeing all further pursuit useless, 
 pulled up, and gazed quietly after him from the border of 
 the cliff, until he disappeared amidst the windings of the 
 ravine. 
 
 Nothing now remained but to turn my steed and rejoin 
 my companions. Here at first was some little difficulty. 
 The ardor of the chase had betrayed me into a long, 
 heedless gallop. I now found myself in the midst of a 
 lonely waste, in which the prospect was bounded by undu- 
 lating swells of land, naked and uniform, where, from the 
 deficiency of landmarks and distinct features, an inex- 
 perienced man may become bewildered, and lose his way 
 as readily as in the wastes of the ocean. The day, too, 
 was overcast, so that I could not guide myself by the sun ; 
 my only mode was to retrace the track my horse had made 
 in coming, though this I would often lose sight of, where 
 the ground was covered with parched herbage. 
 
 To one unaccustomed to it, there is something inex- 
 
152 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Ibving 
 
 pressibly lonely in the solitude of a prairie. The loneliness 
 of a forest seems nothing to it. There the view is shut in 
 by trees, and the imagination is left free to picture some 
 livelier scene beyond. But here we have an immense 
 extent of landscape without a sign of human existence. 
 We have the consciousness of being far, far beyond the 
 bounds of human habitation ; we feel as if moving in the 
 midst of a desert world. As my horse lagged slowly back 
 over the scenes of our late scamper, and the delirium of 
 the chase had passed away, I was peculiarly sensible to 
 these circumstances. The silence of the waste was now 
 and then broken by the cry of a distant flock of pelicans, 
 stalking like spectres about a shallow pool ; sometimes by 
 the sinister croaking of a raven in the air, while occasion- 
 ally a scoundrel wolf would scour oflf from before me, and, 
 having attained a safe distance, would sit down and howl 
 and whine with tones that gave a dreariness to the sur- 
 rounding solitude. 
 
 After pursuing my way for some time, I descried a horse- 
 man on the edge of a distant hill, and soon recognized him 
 to be the count. He had been equally unsuccessful with 
 myself; we were shortly afterwards rejoined by our worthy 
 comrade, the Virtuoso, who, with spectacles on nose, had 
 made two or three ineffectual shots from horseback. 
 
 We determined not to seek the camp until we had made 
 one more effort. Casting our eyes about the surrounding 
 waste, we descried a herd of buffalo about two miles dis- 
 tant, scattered apart, and quietly grazing near a small 
 strip of trees and bushes. It required but little stretch of 
 fancy to picture them as so many cattle grazing on the edge 
 of a common, and that the grove might shelter some lowly 
 farm-house. 
 
 We now formed our plan to circumvent the herd, and 
 by getting on the other side of them, to hunt them in the 
 
Irving] HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 153 
 
 direction where we knew our camp to be situated ; other- 
 wise, the pursuit might take us to such a distance as to 
 render it impossible for us to find our way back before 
 night-fall. Taking a wide circuit, therefore, we moved 
 slowly and cautiously, pausing occasionally when we saw 
 any of the herd desist from grazing. The wind fortunately 
 set from them, otherwise they might have scented us and 
 have taken the alarm. In this way we succeeded in 
 getting round the herd without disturbing it. It consisted 
 of about forty head, bulls, cows, and calves. 
 
 Separating to some distance from each other, we now 
 approached slowly in a parallel line, hoping by degrees to 
 steal near without exciting attention. They began, how- 
 ever, to move off quietly, stopping at every step or two to 
 graze, when suddenly a bull that, unobserved by us, had 
 been taking his siesta under a clump of trees to our left, 
 roused himself from his lair and hastened to join his 
 companions. We were still at a considerable distance, but 
 the game had taken the alarm. "We quickened our pace, 
 they broke into a gallop, and now commenced a full chase. 
 
 As the ground was level, they shouldered along with 
 great speed, following each other in a line ; two or three 
 bulls bringing up the rear, the last of whom, from his 
 enormous size and venerable frontlet, and beard of sun- 
 burnt hair, looked like the patriarch of the herd, and as 
 if he might long have reigned the monarch of the prairie. 
 
 There is a mixture of the awful and the comic in the 
 look of these huge animals, as they bear their great bulk 
 forward, with an up-and-down motion of the unwieldy 
 head and shoulders, their tail cocked up like the queue of 
 Pantaloon in a pantomime, the end whisking about in a 
 fierce yet whimsical style, and their eyes glaring venom- 
 ously with an expression of fright and fury. 
 
 For some time I kept parallel with the line without 
 
154 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [iBviNa 
 
 being able to force my horse within pistol-shot, so much 
 had he been alarmed by the assault of the buffalo in the 
 preceding chase. At length I succeeded, but was again 
 balked by my pistols missing fire. My companions, whose 
 horses were less fleet and more way-worn, could not 
 
 overtake the herd ; at length Mr. L , who was in the 
 
 rear of the line and losing ground, levelled his double- 
 barrelled gun and fired a long raking shot. It struck a 
 buffalo just above the loins, broke its backbone, and 
 brought it to the ground. He stopped and alighted to 
 despatch his prey, when, borrowing his gun, which had yet 
 a charge remaining in it, I put my horse to his speed, and 
 again overtook the herd, which was thundering along, pur- 
 sued by the count. With my present weapon there was 
 no need of urging my horse to such close quarters ; gallop- 
 ing along parallel, therefore, I singled out a buffalo, and by 
 a fortunate shot brought it down on the spot. The ball 
 had struck a vital part ; it would not move from the place 
 where it fell, but lay there struggling in mortal agony, 
 while the rest of the herd kept on their headlong career 
 across the prairie. 
 
 Dismounting, I now fettered my horse to prevent his 
 straying, and advanced to contemplate my victim. I am 
 nothing of a sportsman : I had been prompted to this un- 
 wonted exploit by the magnitude of the game and the 
 excitement of an adventurous chase. Now that the ex- 
 citement was over, I could but look with commiseration 
 upon the poor animal that lay struggling and bleeding at 
 my feet. His very size and importance, which had before 
 inspired me with eagerness, now increased my compunction. 
 It seemed as if I had inflicted pain in proportion to the 
 bulk of my victim, and as if there were a hundred-fold 
 greater waste of life than there would have been in the 
 destruction of an animal of inferior size. 
 
Irving] HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 15.5 
 
 To add to these after-qualms of conscience, the poor 
 animal lingered in his agony. He had evidently received 
 a mortal wound, but death might be long in coming. It 
 would not do to leave him here to be torn piecemeal, while 
 yet alive, by the wolves that had already snuffed his blood, 
 and were skulking and howling at a distance, and waiting 
 for my departure, and by the ravens that were flapping 
 about croaking dismally in the air. It became now an act 
 of mercy to give him his quietus and put him out of his 
 misery. I primed one of the pistols, therefore, and 
 advanced close up to the buffalo. To inflict a wound thus 
 in cool blood I found a totally different thing from firing 
 in the heat of the chase. Taking aim, however, just 
 behind the fore shoulder, my pistol for once proved true ; 
 the ball must have passed through the heart, for the animal 
 gave one convulsive throe and expired. 
 
 While I stood meditating and moralizing over the wreck 
 I had so wantonly produced, with my horse grazing near 
 me, I was rejoined by my fellow-sportsman the Virtuoso ; 
 who, being a man of universal adroitness, and withal, more 
 experienced and hardened in the gentle art of " venerie," 
 soon managed to carve out the tongue of the buffalo, and 
 deUvered it to me to bear back to the camp as a trophy. 
 
 Our solicitude was now awakened for the young count. 
 With his usual eagerness and impetuosity he had persisted 
 in urging his jaded horse in pursuit of the herd, unwilling 
 to return without having likewise killed a buffalo. In this 
 way he had kept on following them hither and thither, 
 and occasionally firing an ineffectual shot, until by degrees 
 horseman and herd became indistinct in the distance, and 
 at length swelling ground and strips of trees and thickets 
 hid them entirely from sight. 
 
 By the time my friend, the amateur, joined me, the 
 young count had been long lost to view. We held a con- 
 
156 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Irviktq 
 
 sultation on the matter. Evening was drawing on. "Were 
 we to pursue him, it would be dark before we should over- 
 take him, granting we did not entirely lose trace of him in 
 the gloom. We should then be too much bewildered to 
 find our way back to the encampment; even now our 
 return would be difficult. We determined, therefore, to 
 hasten to the camp as speedily as possible, and send out 
 our half-breeds and some of the veteran hunters, skilled 
 in cruising about the prairies, to search for our companion. 
 
 We accordingly set forward in what we supposed to be 
 the direction of the camp. Our weary horses could hardly 
 be urged beyond a walk. The twilight thickened upon us ; 
 the landscape grew gradually indistinct ; we tried in vain 
 to recognize various landmarks which we had noted in the 
 morning. The features of a prairie are so similar as to 
 baffle the eye of any but an Indian or a practised woods- 
 man. At length night closed in. We hoped to see the 
 distant glare of camp-fires ; we listened to catch the sound 
 of the bells about the necks of the grazing horses. Once 
 or twice we thought we distinguished them : we were mis- 
 taken. Nothing was to be heard but a monotonous con- 
 cert of insects, with now and then the dismal howl of 
 wolves mingling with the night breeze. We began to 
 think of halting for the night and bivouacking under the 
 lee of some thicket. We had implements to strike a light ; 
 there was plenty of firewood at hand, and the tongues of 
 our buffaloes would furnish us with a repast. 
 
 Just as we were preparing to dismount we heard the 
 report of a rifle, and shortly after the notes of the bugle, 
 calling up the night guard. Pushing forward in that 
 direction, the camp-fires soon broke on our sight, gleaming 
 at a distance from among the thick groves of an alluvial 
 bottom. 
 
 As we entered the camp, we found it a scene of rude 
 
Lewis] IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX. ' 157 
 
 hunters' revelry and wassail. There had been a grand 
 day's sport, in which all had taken a part. Eight buffaloes 
 had been killed ; roaring fires were blazing on every side ; 
 all hands were feasting upon roasted joints, broiled marrow 
 bones, and the juicy hump, far famed among the epicures 
 of the prairies. Eight glad were we to dismount and par- 
 take of the sturdy cheer, for we had been on our weary 
 horses since morning without tasting food. 
 
 [It may be said in conclusion that the count— a young Swiss who 
 accompanied the party — failed to return, and the next day a search for 
 him had to be made, in which the Indians displayed strikingly their 
 surprising skill in following a trail. The missing adventurer was at 
 length found. He had spent the night in a tree for fear of wolves, and 
 was heartily glad to see the face of his fellow-man again.] 
 
 IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX. 
 
 MERIWETHER LEWIS. 
 
 [The following selection, here attributed to Captain M. Lewis, is 
 taken from McVickar's abridgment of the journals of Lewis and 
 Clarke, the leaders of the celebrated expedition of 1804-6, sent out 
 by President Jefferson to explore the country which he had obtained 
 by treaty from France as part of the Louisiana purchase. The ex- 
 plorers passed across the plains and the Kocky Mountains while their 
 pristine conditions were as yet undisturbed by the " white man's foot," 
 and their story is of particular value from this fact. "We take up 
 their story in their journey through the Sioux country, on the Mis- 
 souri. They had just passed a village of the Poncara tribe.] 
 
 Twenty miles farther on [continues the narrative] we 
 reached and encamped at the foot of a round mountain on 
 the south, having passed two small islands. This moun- 
 tain, which is about three hundred feet at the base, forms 
 
158 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Lewis 
 
 a cone at the top, resembling a dome at a distance, and 
 seventy feet or more above the surrounding highlands. 
 As we descended from this dome, we arrived at a spot on 
 the gradual descent of the hill, nearly four acres in extent, 
 and covered with small holes ; these are the residence of a 
 little animal, called by the French petit chien (little dog), 
 which sit erect near the mouth, and make a whistling 
 noise, but, when alarmed, take refuge in their holes. In 
 order to bring them out, we poured into one of the holes 
 five barrels of water, without filling it, but we dislodged 
 and caught the owner. After digging down another of 
 the holes for six feet, we found, on running a pole into it, 
 that we had not yet dug half-way to the bottom ; we discov- 
 ered, however, two frogs in the hole, and near it we killed 
 a dark rattlesnake, which had swallowed a small prairie- 
 dog. "We were also informed, though we never witnessed 
 the fact, that a sort of lizard and a snake live habitually 
 with these animals. The petit chien are justly named, as 
 they resemble a small dog in some particulars, although they 
 have also some points of similarity to the squirrel. The 
 head resembles the squirrel in every respect, except that the 
 ear is shorter ; the tail like that of the ground-squirrel ; the 
 toe-nails are long, the fur is fine, and the long hair is gray. 
 
 The following days they saw large herds of buffalo, and 
 the copses of timber appeared to contain elk and deer. 
 Just below Cedar Island [adds the journal], on a hill to 
 the south, is the backbone of a fish, forty-five feet long, 
 tapering towards the tail, and in a perfect state of petri- 
 faction, fragments of vhich were collected and sent to 
 Washington. . . . 
 
 September 17. — While some of the party were engaged in 
 the same way as yesterday, others were employed in exam- 
 ining the surrounding country. About a quarter of a mile 
 beyond our camp, and at an elevation of twenty feet above 
 
Lewis] IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX. 159 
 
 it, a plain extends nearly three miles parallel to the river, 
 and about a mile back to the hills, towards which it grad- 
 ually ascends. Here we saw a grove of plum-trees, loaded 
 with fruit, now ripe, and differing in nothing from those 
 of the Atlantic States, except that the tree is smaller and 
 more thickly set. The ground of the plain is occupied by 
 the burrows of multitudes of barking squirrels, who entice 
 hither the wolves of a small kind, hawks, and polecats, all 
 of which animals we saw, and presumed that they fed on 
 the squirrel. This plain is intersected, nearly in its whole 
 extent, by deep ravines, and steep, irregular rising grounds, 
 from one to two hundred feet. On ascending the range of 
 hills which border the plain, we saw a second high level 
 plain, stretching to the south as far as the eye could reach. 
 To the westward a high range of hills, about twenty miles 
 distant, runs nearly north and south, but not to any great 
 extent, as their rise and termination is embraced by one 
 view, and they seemed covered with a verdure similar to 
 that of the plains. The same view extended over the 
 irregular hills which border the northern side of the Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 All around, the country had been recently burned, and a 
 young green grass about four inches high covered the 
 ground, which was enhvened by herds of antelopes and 
 buffalo, the last of which were in such multitudes that we 
 cannot exaggerate in saying that at a single glance we saw 
 three thousand of them before us. Of all the animals we 
 had seen, the antelope seems to possess the most wonderful 
 fleetness. Shy and timorous, they generally repose only on 
 the ridges, which command a view of all the approaches of 
 an enemy ; the acuteness of their sight distinguishes the 
 most distant danger ; the delicate sensibility of their smell 
 defeats the precautions of concealment ; and, when alarmed, 
 their rapid career seems more like the flight of birds than 
 
160 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Lewis 
 
 the movements of a quadruped. After many unsuccessful 
 attempts, Captain Lewis at last, by winding around the 
 ridges, approached a party of seven, which were on an 
 eminence towards which the wind was unfortunately 
 blowing. The only male of the party frequently encircled 
 the summit of the hill, as if to announce any danger to the 
 females, which formed a group at the top. Although they 
 did not see Captain Lewis, the smell alarmed them, and 
 they fled when he was at the distance of two hundred 
 yards; he immediately ran to the spot where they had 
 been; a ravine concealed them from him; but the next 
 moment they appeared on a second ridge, at a distance of 
 three miles. He doubted whether they could be the same ; 
 but their number, and the extreme rapidity with which 
 they continued their course, convinced him that they must 
 have gone with a speed equal to that of the most distin- 
 guished race-horse. Among our acquisitions to-day were 
 a mule deer, a magpie, a common deer, and a buffalo. 
 Captain Lewis also saw a hare, and killed a rattlesnake 
 near the burrows of the barking squirrels. 
 
 September 18. — Having everything in readiness, we pro- 
 ceeded, with the boat much lightened, but the wind being 
 from the northwest, we made but little way. At one mile 
 we reached an island in the middle of the river, nearly a 
 mile in length, and covered with red cedar ; at its extremity 
 a small creek comes in from the north. We then met 
 some sand-bars, and the wind being very high and ahead, 
 we encamped on the south, having made only seven miles. 
 In addition to the common deer, which were in great abun- 
 dance, we saw goats, elk, buffalo, and the black-tailed deer; 
 the large wolves, too, are very numerous, and have long 
 hair with coarse fur, and are of a light color. A small 
 species of wolf, about the size of a gray fox, was also killed, 
 and proved to be the animal which we had hitherto mis- 
 
Lkwis] in the country OF THE SIOUX. 161 
 
 taken for a fox. There are also many porcupines, rabbits, 
 and barking squirrels in the neighborhood. . . . 
 
 On the 20th they arrived at the Grand Detour, or Great 
 Bend, and two men were despatched with the only horse, 
 to hunt, and wait the arrival of the boats beyond it. After 
 proceeding twenty-seven and a half miles farther, they en- 
 camped on a sand-bar in the river. Captain Clarke 
 [continues the narrative], who early this morning had 
 crossed the neck of the bend, joined us in the evening. At 
 the narrowest part the gorge is composed of high and ir- 
 regular hills of about one hundred and eighty or one hun- 
 dred and ninety feet in elevation ; from this descends an 
 unbroken plain over the whole of the bend, and the country 
 is separated from it by this ridge. Great numbers of buf- 
 falo, elk, and goats are wandering over these plains, accom- 
 panied by grouse and larks. Captain Clarke saw a hare, 
 also, on the Great Bend. 
 
 Of the goats killed to-day, one is a female, differing from 
 the male in being smaller in size ; its horns, too, are smaller 
 and straighter, having one short prong, and no black about 
 the neck. None of these goats have any beard, but are 
 delicately formed and very beautiful. 
 
 Shortly after midnight the sleepers were startled by the 
 sergeant on guard crying out that the sand-bar was sink- 
 ing, and the alarm was given ; for scarcely had they got 
 off with the boats before the bank under which they had 
 been lying fell in ; and by the time the opposite shore was 
 reached the ground on which they had been encamped 
 sunk also. A man who was sent to step off the distance 
 across the head of the bend made it but two thousand 
 yards, while its circuit is thirty miles. On the 22d they 
 passed a creek and two islands, known by the name of 
 the Three Sisters, where a beautiful plain extended on 
 
 both sides of the river. This is followed by an island on 
 
 Vol. I— II 
 
162 IVORLD'8 GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Lewis 
 
 the north, called Cedar Island, about one mile and a half 
 in length, and the same distance in breadth, and deriving 
 its name from the quality of its timber. On the south side 
 of this island is a fort and a large trading-house, built by a 
 Mr. Loisel in order to trade with the Sioux, the remains of 
 whose camps are in great numbers about this place. The 
 establishment is sixty or seventy feet square, built with 
 red cedar, and picketed in with the same materials. 
 
 The next day, in the evening, three boys of the Sioux 
 nation swam across the river, and informed them that two 
 parties of Sioux were encamped on the next river, one con- 
 sisting of eighty and the second of sixty lodges, at some dis- 
 tance above. After treating them kindly, they sent them 
 back with a present of two carrots of tobacco to their chiefs, 
 whom they invited to a conference in the morning, 
 
 September 2Jf. — At an island a few miles above High- 
 water Creek they were joined by one of their hunters, 
 who [proceeds the narrative] procured four elk ; but while 
 he was in pursuit of the game the Indians had stolen his 
 horse. We left the island, and soon overtook five Indians 
 on the shore ; we anchored, and told them from the boat 
 we were friends, and wished to continue so, but were not 
 afraid of any Indians ; that some of their young men had 
 stolen the horse which their great father had sent for their 
 great chief, and that we could not treat with them until he 
 was restored. They said they knew nothing of the horse, 
 but if he had been taken he should be given up. We went 
 on, and at thirteen and a half miles we anchored one hun- 
 dred yards off the mouth of a river on the south side, where 
 we were joined by both the pirogues, and encamped ; two- 
 thirds of the party remained on board, and the rest went 
 as a guard on shore, with the cooks and one pirogue; we 
 have seen along the sides of the hills on the north a great 
 deal of stone ; besides the elk, we also observed a hare ; the 
 
Lewis] IN THE COUNTRY OF TEE SIOUX. 163 
 
 five Indians whom we had seen followed us, and slept with 
 the guard on shore. Finding one of them was a chief, we 
 smoked with him, and made him a present of tobacco. 
 This river is about seventy yards wide, and has a consider- 
 able current. As the tribe of the Sioux which inhabit it 
 are called Tetons, we gave it the name of Teton Eiver. 
 
 [On the 26th they met a party of Indians who threatened violence, 
 and attempted to detain them by force, but were induced to desist by 
 a threatening attitude on the part of the whites.] 
 
 September 26. — Our conduct yesterday seemed to have 
 inspired the Indians with fear of us ; and as we were de- 
 sirous of cultivating their acquaintance, we complied with 
 their wish that we should give them an opportunity of 
 treating us well, and also suifer their squaws and children 
 to see us and our boat, which would be perfectly new to 
 them. Accordingly, after passing, at one and a half miles, 
 a small willow island and several sand-bars, we came to on 
 the south side, where a crowd of men, women, and children 
 were waiting to receive us. Captain Lewis went on shore, 
 and remained several hours ; and observing that their dis- 
 position was friendly, we resolved to remain during the 
 night to a dance, which they were preparing for us. Cap- 
 tains Lewis and Clarke, who went on shore one after the 
 other, were met on landing by ten well-dressed young men, 
 who took them up in a robe, highly decorated, and carried 
 them to a large council-house, where they were placed on a 
 dressed buffalo-skin by the side of the grand chief The 
 hall, or council-room, was in the shape of three-quarters 
 of a circle, covered at the top and sides with skins well 
 dressed and sewed together. Under this shelter sat about 
 seventy men, forming a circle round the chief, before whom 
 were placed a Spanish flag and the one we had given them 
 yesterday. 
 
164 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Lewis 
 
 This left a vacant circle of about six feet in diameter, in 
 which the pipe of peace was raised on two forked sticks, 
 about six or eight inches from the ground, and under it the 
 down of the swan was scattered ; a large fire, in which 
 they were cooking provisions, stood near, and in the centre 
 about four hundred pounds of excellent buffalo-meat, as a 
 present for us. 
 
 As soon as we were seated an old man got up, and after 
 approving what we had done, begged us to take pity on 
 their unfortunate situation. To this we replied with as- 
 surances of protection. After he had ceased, the great 
 chief rose and delivered an harangue to the same effect ; 
 then, with great solemnity, took some of the most delicate 
 parts of the dog which was cooked for the festival, and 
 held it to the flag by way of sacrifice ; this done, he held 
 up the pipe of peace, and first pointed it towards the 
 heavens, then to the four quarters of the globe, and then 
 to the earth, made a short speech, lighted the pipe, and 
 presented it to us. We smoked, and he again harangued 
 his people, after which the repast was served up to us. It 
 consisted of the dog which they had just been cooking, 
 this being a great dish among the Sioux, and used on all 
 festivals; to this were added pemitigon, a dish made of 
 buffalo-meat, dried or jerked, and then pounded and mixed 
 raw with grease and a kind of ground potato, dressed like 
 the preparation of Indian corn called hommony, to which 
 it is little inferior. Of all these luxuries, which were placed 
 before us in platters with horn spoons, we took the pemiti- 
 gon and the potato, which wo found good, but we could as 
 yet partake but sparingly of the dog. 
 
 We ate and smoked for an hour, when it became dark ; 
 everything was then cleared away for the dance, a large 
 fire being made in the centre of the house, giving at once 
 light and warmth to the ball-room. The orchestra was 
 
Lewis] IN THE COUNTRY OF TEE SIOUX. 165 
 
 composed of about ten men, who played on a sort of tam- 
 bourine, formed of skin stretched across a hoop, and made 
 a jingling noise with a long stick to which the hoofs of deer 
 and goats were hung ; the third instrument was a email 
 skin bag with pebbles in it ; these, with five or six young 
 men for the vocal part, made up the band. The women 
 then came forward, highly decorated ; some with poles in 
 their hands, on which were hung the scalps of their ene- 
 mies ; others with guns, spears, or different trophies taken 
 in war by their husbands, brothers, or connections. 
 
 Having arranged themselves in two columns, one on each 
 side of the fire, as soon as the music began they danced 
 towards each other till they met in the centre, when the 
 rattles were shaken, and they all shouted and returned 
 back to their places. They have no step, but shuffle along 
 the ground; nor does the music appear to be anything 
 more than a confusion of noises, distinguished only by 
 hard or gentle blows upon the bufialo-skin ; the song is 
 perfectly extemporaneous. In the pauses of the dance 
 some man of the company comes forward and recites, in a 
 sort of low guttural tone, some little story or incident, 
 which is either martial or ludicrous, or, as was the case 
 this evening, voluptuous and indecent ; this is taken up by 
 the orchestra and the dancers, who repeat it in a higher 
 strain and dance to it. Sometimes they alternate, the 
 orchestra first jDerforraing, and when it ceases the women 
 raise their voices, and make a music more agreeable, that 
 is, less intolerable, than that of the musicians. 
 
 The dances of the men, which are always separate from 
 those of the women, are conducted very nearly in the same 
 way, except that the men jump up and down instead of 
 shuffling ; and in the war-dances the recitations are all of 
 a military cast. The harmony of the entertainment had 
 nearly been disturbed by one of the musicians, who, think- 
 
166 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Lewis 
 
 ing he had not received a due share of the tobacco we had 
 distributed during the evening, put himself into a passion, 
 broke one of the drums, threw two of them into the fire, 
 and left the band. They were taken out of the fire ; a buffalo 
 robe, held in one hand, and beaten with the other by sev- 
 eral of the company, supplied the place of the lost drum or 
 tambourine, and no notice was taken of the offensive con- 
 duct of the man. We stayed till twelve o'clock at night, 
 when we informed the chiefs that they must be fatigued 
 with all these attempts to amuse us, and retired, accompa- 
 nied by four chiefs, two of whom spent the night with 
 us on board. . . . 
 
 The tribe which we this day saw are a part of the great 
 Sioux nation, and are known by the name of the Teton 
 Okandandas : they are about two hundred men in number, 
 and their chief residence is on both sides of the Missouri, 
 between the Chayenne and Teton Elvers. In their persons 
 they are rather ugly and ill made, their legs and arms 
 being too small, their cheek-bones high, and their eyes 
 projecting. The females, with the same character of 
 form, are more handsome ; and both sexes appear cheerful 
 and sprightly ; but in our intercourse with them we dis- 
 covered that they were cunning and vicious. . . . 
 
 Their lodges are very neatly constructed, in the same 
 form as those of the Yanktons : they consist of about one 
 hundred cabins (made of white buffalo dressed hide), with 
 a larger one in the centre for holding councils and dances. 
 They are built round with poles, about fifteen or twenty 
 feet high, covered with white skins. These lodges may be 
 taken to pieces, packed up, and carried with the nation 
 wherever they go, by dogs which bear great burdens. 
 The women are chiefly employed in dressing buffalo-skins ; 
 they seem perfectly well disposed, but are addicted to 
 stealing anything which they can take without being ob- 
 
Lewis] IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX. 167 
 
 served. This nation, although it makes so many ravages 
 among its neighbors, is badly supplied with guns. The 
 water which they carry with them is contained chiefly in 
 the paunches of deer and other animals, and they make 
 use of wooden bowls. Some had their heads shaved, 
 which we found was a species of mourning for their 
 relations. Another usage on these occasions is to run 
 arrows through the flesh, both above and below the elbow. 
 While on shore to-day we witnessed a quarrel between 
 two squaws, which appeared to be growing every moment 
 more boisterous, when a man came forward, at whose 
 approach every one seemed terrified and ran. He took the 
 squaws, and without any ceremony whipped them severely. 
 On inquiring into the nature of such summary justice, 
 we learned that this man was an officer well known to this 
 and many other tribes. His duty is to keep the peace ; 
 and the whole interior police of the village is confided to 
 two or three of these officers, who are named by the chief, 
 and remain in power some days, at least till the chief 
 appoints a successor : they seem to be a sort of constable 
 or sentinel, since they are always on the watch to keep 
 tranquillity during the day, and guarding the camp in 
 the night. The short duration of their office is compen- 
 sated by its authority. Their power is supreme, and in the 
 suppression of any riot or disturbance no resistance to 
 them is suffered; their persons are sacred; and if, in the 
 execution of their duty, they strike even a chief of the 
 second class, they cannot be punished for this salutary 
 insolence. 
 
168 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clarke 
 
 THE GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSOURI 
 
 WILLIAM CLARKE. 
 
 [The journals of Lewis and Clarke, descriptive of their observations 
 in the western United States during their journey across the plains 
 and mountains to the Pacific, are full of interesting incident. They 
 were the first intelligent travellers through that vast region, and the 
 story of their journey must always possess a high value for this reason, 
 the aborigines and the animal life of that country being as yet undis- 
 turbed by the presence of the whites. They had now reached the upper 
 Missouri and were within view of the Kocky Mountains. "We quote 
 from McVickar's abridgment of their journals.] 
 
 On the north we passed a precipice about one hundred 
 and twenty feet high, under which lay scattered the remains 
 of at least one hundred carcasses of buffaloes, although the 
 water, which had washed away the lower part of the hill, 
 must have carried off many of the dead. 
 
 These buffaloes had been chased down the precipice in a 
 way very common on the Missouri, and by which vast herds 
 are destroyed in a moment. The mode of hunting is to 
 select one of the most active and fleet young men, who is 
 disguised by a buffalo-skin round his body ; the skin of the 
 head, with the ears and horns, being fastened on his own 
 in such a way as to deceive the animal. Thus dressed, he 
 fixes himself at a convenient distance between a herd of 
 buffaloes and any of the river precipices, which sometimes 
 extend for miles. His companions in the mean time get in 
 the rear and on the sides of the herd, and at a given 
 signal show themselves and advance towards them. The 
 buffaloes instantly take the alarm, and, finding the hunters 
 beside them, they run towards the disguised Indian or 
 decoy, who leads them on at full speed towards the river, 
 
Clarke] THE GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSOURL 169 
 
 "when, suddenly securing himself in some crevice of the 
 cliff which he had previously fixed on, the herd is left on 
 the brink of the precipice. It is then impossible for the 
 foremost to retreat, or even to stop ; they are pressed on 
 by the hindmost rank, which, seeing no danger but from 
 the hunters, goad on those before them, till the whole are 
 precipitated over the cliff, and the shore is strewed with 
 their dead bodies. 
 
 Sometimes, in this perilous seduction, the Indian himself 
 is either trodden underfoot by the rapid movements of 
 the buffaloes, or, missing his footing in the cliff, is urged 
 down the precipice by the falling herd. The Indians then 
 select as much meat as they wish, and the rest is abandoned 
 to the wolves, and creates a most dreadful stench. The 
 wolves which had been feasting on these carcasses were 
 very fat, and so gentle that one of them was killed with a 
 spontoon. 
 
 [They were now on the foot-hills of the mountains, in the country 
 of the Minnetarees. Their journey met with obstructions from pre- 
 cipitous cliffs.] 
 
 These hills and river cliffs exhibit a most extraordinary 
 and romantic appearance. They rise in most places nearly 
 perpendicular from the river to the height of between two 
 and three hundred feet, and are formed of very white 
 sandstone, so soft as to yield readily to the action of water, 
 but in the upper part of which lie embedded two or three 
 thin horizontal strata of white freestone unaffected by the 
 rain ; and on the top is a dark rich loam, which forms a 
 gradually ascending plain, from a mile to a mile and a half 
 in extent, when the hills again rise abruptly to the height 
 of about three hundred feet more. In trickling down the 
 cliffs the water has worn the soft sandstone into a thousand 
 grotesque figures, among which, with a little fancy, may 
 
170 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clarke 
 
 be discerned elegant ranges of freestone buildings, with 
 columns variously sculptured, and supporting long and 
 elegant galleries, while the parapets are adorned with 
 statuary. On a nearer approach they represent every 
 form of elegant ruins, columns, some with pedestals and 
 capitals entire, others mutilated and prostrate, and some 
 rising pyramidally over each other till they terminate in a 
 sharp point. These are varied by niches, alcoves, and the 
 customary appearances of desolated magnificence. The 
 delusion is increased by the number of martins which have 
 built their globular nest in the niches, and hover over these 
 columns as in our country they are accustomed to frequent 
 large stone structures. 
 
 As we advance there seems no end to the visionary en- 
 chantment that surrounds us. In the midst of this fan- 
 tastic scenery are vast ranges of walls, which seem the 
 productions of art, so regular is the workmanship. They 
 rise perpendicularly from the river, sometimes to the 
 height of one hundred feet, varying in thickness from one 
 to twelve feet, being equally broad at the top as below. 
 The stones of which they are formed are black, thick, and 
 durable, composed of a large portion of earth, intermixed 
 and cemented with a small quantity of sand, and a consid- 
 erable proportion of talc or quartz. These stones are 
 almost invariably parallelopipeds of unequal sizes in the 
 wall, but equally deep, and laid regularly in ranges over 
 each other like bricks, each breaking and covering the in- 
 terstice of the two on which it rests. But, though the 
 perpendicular interstice be destroyed, the horizontal one 
 extends entirely through the whole work. The stones, too, 
 are proportioned to the thickness of the wall in which 
 they are employed, being largest in the thickest walls. The 
 thinner walls are composed of a single depth of the paral- 
 lelepiped, while the thicker ones consist of two or more 
 
SMOSMOtME F^AL-US, IDAHO 
 
Clarke] THE ORE AT FALLS OF THE MISSOURL 171 
 
 depths. These walls pass the river at several places, rising 
 from the water's edge much above the sandstone bluffs, 
 which they seem to penetrate ; thence they cross in a 
 straight line, on either side of the river, the plains, over 
 which they tower to the height of from ten to seventy 
 feet, until they lose themselves in the second range of 
 hills. Sometimes they run parallel in several ranges near 
 to each other, sometimes intersect each other at right 
 angles, and have the appearance of walls of ancient houses 
 or gardens. 
 
 [After advancing some distance farther, the proper course to pursue 
 became doubtful, and Captains Lewis and Clarke set out in diflerent 
 directions with exploring parties. Lewis's journey proved an adven- 
 turous one.] 
 
 In passing along the side of a bluif at a narrow pass, 
 thirty yards in length. Captain Lewis slipped, and, but for 
 a fortunate recovery by means of his spontoon, would have 
 been precipitated into the river over a precipice of about 
 ninety feet. He had just reached a spot where, by the 
 assistance of his spontoon, he could stand with tolerable 
 safety, when he heard a voice behind him cry out, " Good 
 God, captain, what shall I do ?" He turned instantly, and 
 found it was Windsor, who had lost his foothold about the 
 middle of the narrow pass, and had slipped down to the 
 very verge of the precipice, where he lay on his belly, 
 with his right arm and leg over it, while with the other 
 leg and arm he was with diflSculty holding on, to keep him- 
 self from being dashed to pieces below. 
 
 His dreadful situation was instantly perceived by Cap- 
 tain Lewis, who, stifling his alarm, calmly told him that 
 he was in no danger ; that he should take his knife out 
 of his belt with the right hand, and dig a hole in the side 
 of the bluff to receive hia right foot. With great presence 
 
172 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clarke 
 
 of mind he did this, and then raised himself on his knees. 
 Captain Lewis then told him to take off his moccasins, and 
 come forward on his hands and knees, holding the knife 
 in one hand and his rifle in the other. He immediately 
 crawled in this way till he came to a secure spot. The 
 men who had not attempted this passage were ordered to 
 return, and wade the river at the foot of the bluff, where 
 they found the water breast-high. 
 
 This adventure taught them the danger of crossing the 
 slippery heights of the river ; but, as the plains were inter- 
 sected by deep ravines almost as difficult to pass, they con- 
 tinued down the stream, sometimes in the mud of the low 
 grounds, sometimes up to their arms in water, and, when 
 it became too deep to wade, they cut footholds with their 
 knives in the sides of the banks. In this way they trav- 
 elled through the rain, mud, and water, and, having made 
 only eighteen miles during the whole day, encamped in an 
 old Indian lodge of sticks, which afforded them a dry shelter. 
 Here they cooked part of six deer they had killed in the 
 course of the route, and, having eaten the only morsel they 
 had tasted during the whole day, slept comfortably on 
 some willow-boughs. 
 
 [A few days afterwards, Captain Lewis reached the Falls of the 
 Missouri, which he eloquently describes.] 
 
 To the southwest [says the journalist] there arose from 
 this plain two mountains of a singular appearance, and 
 more like rampai-ts of high fortifications than works of 
 nature. They are square figures, with sides rising per- 
 pendicularly to the height of two hundred and fifty feet, 
 formed of yellow clay, and the tops seemed to be level 
 plains. Finding that the river here bore considerably to 
 the south, and fearful of passing the falls before reaching 
 the Eocky Mountains, they now changed their course to 
 
Clarke] THE GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSOURI. 173 
 
 the south, and, leaving those insulated hills to the right, 
 proceeded across the plain. 
 
 In this direction Captain Lewis had gone about two 
 miles, when his ears were saluted with the agreeable 
 sound of a fall of water; and, as he advanced, a spray, 
 which seemed driven by the southwest wind, arose above 
 the plain like a column of smoke, and vanished in an in- 
 stant. Towards this point he directed his steps, and the 
 noise, increasing as he approached, soon became too tre- 
 mendous to be mistaken for anything but the Great Falls 
 of the Missouri. 
 
 Having travelled seven miles after first hearing the 
 sound, he reached the Falls about twelve o'clock. The 
 hills, as he approached, were diflBcult of access, and two 
 hundred feet high; down these he hurried with impatience, 
 and, seating himself on some rocks under the centre of 
 the Falls, enjoyed the sublime spectacle of this stupendous 
 object, which since the creation had been lavishing its 
 magnificence upon the desert, unknown to civilization. 
 
 The river, immediately at its cascade, is three hundred 
 yards wide, and is pressed by a perpendicular cliff on the 
 left, which rises to about one hundred feet, and extends up 
 the stream for a mile ; on the right the bluff is also perpen- 
 dicular for three hundred yards above the fall. For ninety 
 or a hundred feet from the left cliff the water falls in one 
 smooth, even sheet over a precipice of at least eighty feet. 
 The remaining part of the river precipitates itself with a 
 more rapid current, and, being received as it falls by the 
 irregular and somewhat projecting rocks below, forms a 
 splendid spectacle of perfectly white foam, two hundred 
 yards in length and eighty in perpendicular elevation. 
 This spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, sometimes 
 flying up in columns of fifteen or twenty feet, which are 
 then oppressed by larger masses of the white foam, on all 
 
1T4 WORLD'S GREAT TRATELLERS. [Clarkb 
 
 which the sun impresses the brightest colors of the rain- 
 bow. 
 
 Below the fall the water beats with fury against a 
 ledge of rocks, which extends across the river at one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards from the precipice. From the per- 
 pendicular cliff on the north to the distance of one hundred 
 and twenty yards the rocks are only a few feet above the 
 water, and, when the river is high, the stream finds a 
 channel across them forty yards wide, and near the higher 
 parts of the ledge, which rise about twenty feet, and ter- 
 minate abruptly within eighty or ninety yards of the 
 southern side. Between them and the perpendicular cliff 
 on the south the whole body of water runs with great 
 swiftness. 
 
 A few small cedars grow near this ridge of rocks, which 
 serves as a barrier to defend a small plain of about three 
 acres, shaded with cottonwood ; at the lower extremity of 
 which is a grove of the same trees, where are several 
 Indian cabins of sticks ; below which the river is divided 
 by a large rock, several feet above the surface of the water, 
 and extending down the stream for twenty yards. At the 
 distance of three hundred yards from the same ridge is a 
 second abutment of solid perpendicular rock, about sixty 
 feet high, projecting at right angles from the small plain 
 on the north for one hundred and thirty-four yards into 
 the river. After leaving this the Missoiiri again spreads 
 itself to its previous breadth of three hundred yards, 
 though with more than its ordinary rapidity. . . . 
 
 June IJf. — This morning one of the men was sent to Cap- 
 tain Clarke with an account of the discovery of the Falls ; 
 and, after employing the rest in preserving the meat which 
 had been killed yesterday, Captain Lewis proceeded to ex- 
 amine the rapids above. From the Falls he directed his 
 course southwest up the river. After passing one con- 
 
Clarke] THE GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSOURL 175 
 
 tinued rapid and three cascades, each three or four feet 
 high, he reached, at a distance of five miles, a second fall. 
 The river is here about four hundred yards wide, and for 
 the distance of three hundred rushes down to the depth 
 of nineteen feet, and so irregularly that he gave it the 
 name of the Crooked Falls. From the southern shore it ex- 
 tends obliquely upward about one hundred and fifty yards, 
 and then forms an acute angle downward nearly to the 
 commencement of four small islands close to the northern 
 side. From the perpendicular pitch to these islands, a dis- 
 tance of more than one hundred yards, the water glides 
 down a sloping rock with a velocity almost equal to that 
 of its fall ; above this fall the river bends suddenly to the 
 northward. 
 
 While viewing this place. Captain Lewis heard a loud 
 roar above him, and, crossing the point of a hill a few 
 hundred yards, he saw one of the most beautiful objects in 
 nature : the whole Missouri is suddenly stopped by one 
 shelving rock, which, without a single niche, and with an 
 edge as straight and regular as if formed by art, stretches 
 itself from one side of the river to the other for at least a 
 quarter of a mile. Over this it precipitates itself in an 
 even, uninterrupted sheet, to the perpendicular depth of 
 fifty feet, whence, dashing against the rocky bottom, it 
 rushes rapidly down, leaving behind it a sheet of purest 
 foam across the river. The scene which it presented was 
 indeed singularly beautiful ; since, without any of the wild, 
 irregular sublimity of the lower falls, it combined all the 
 regular elegancies which the fancy of a painter would 
 select to form a beautiful waterfall. 
 
 The eye had scarcely been regaled with this charming 
 prospect, when, at the distance of half a mile. Captain 
 Lewis observed another of a similar kind. To this he im- 
 mediately hastened, and found a cascade stretching across 
 
176 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Clarke 
 
 the whole river for a quarter of a mile, with a descent of 
 fourteen feet, though the perpendicular pitch was only six 
 feet. This, too, in any other neighborhood, would have 
 been an object of great magnificence ; but after what he 
 had just seen, it became of secondary interest ; his curi- 
 osity being, however, awakened, he determined to go on, 
 even should night overtake him, to the head of the falls. 
 He therefore pursued the southwest course of the river, 
 which was one constant succession of rapids and small cas- 
 cades, at every one of which the bluffs grew lower, or the 
 bed of the river became more on a level with the plains. 
 At the distance of two and a half miles he arrived at 
 another cataract of twenty-six feet. The river is here six 
 hundred yards wide, but the descent is not immediately 
 perpendicular, though the river falls generally in a regular 
 and smooth sheet ; for about one-third of the descent a rock 
 protrudes to a small distance, receives the water in its pas- 
 sage, and gives it a curve. 
 
 On the south side is a beautiful plain, a few feet above 
 the level of the falls ; on the north the country is more 
 broken, and there is a hill not far from the river. Just 
 below the falls is a little island in the middle of the river 
 well covered with timber. Here, on a cottonwood-tree, an 
 eagle had fixed her nest, and seemed the undisputed mis- 
 tress of a spot to contest whose dominion neither man nor 
 beast would venture across the gulfs that surround it, and 
 which is further secured by the mist rising from the Falls. 
 This solitary bird could not escape the observation of the 
 Indians, who made the eagle's nest a part of their descrip- 
 tion of the Falls, and which now proves to be correct in 
 almost every particular, except that they did not do justice 
 to their height. Just above this is a cascade of about five 
 feet, beyond which, as far as could be discerned, the velocity 
 of the water seemed to abate. 
 
Clarke] THE GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSOURI. 177 
 
 Captain Lewis now ascended the hill which was behind 
 him, and saw from its top a delightful plain, extending 
 from the river to the base of the Snowy Mountains to the 
 south and southwest. Along this wide, level country the 
 Missouri pursued its winding course, filled with water to 
 its smooth, grassy banks, while about four miles above it 
 was joined by a large river flowing from the northwest, 
 through a valley three miles in width, and distinguished by 
 the timber which adorned its shores. The Missouri itself 
 stretches to the south in one unruffled stream of vpater, 
 as if unconscious of the roughness it must soon encounter, 
 and bearing on its bosom vast flocks of geese, while numer- 
 ous herds of buffaloes are feeding on the plains which sur- 
 round it. 
 
 Captain Lewis then descended the hill, and directed his 
 course towards the river, falling in from the west. He 
 soon met a herd of at least a thousand buffaloes, and, being 
 desirous of providing for supper, shot one of them. The 
 animal immediately began to bleed, and Captain Lewis, 
 who had forgotten to reload his rifle, was intently watch- 
 ing to see him fall, when he beheld a large brown bear 
 which was stealing on him unperceived, and was already 
 within twenty steps. In the first moment of surprise he 
 lifted his rifle, but remembering instantly that it was not 
 charged, and that ho had no time to reload, he felt there 
 was no safety but in flight. It was in the open, level 
 plain ; not a bush nor a tree within three hundred yards, 
 the bank of the river sloping, and not more than three 
 feet high, so that there was no possible mode of conceal- 
 ment. 
 
 Captain Lewis therefore thought of retreating with a 
 quick walk, as fast as the bear advanced, towards the near- 
 est tree ; but as soon as he turned, the bear rushed open- 
 mouthed and at full speed upon him. Caj)tain Lewis ran 
 
 Vol. I — 13 
 
178 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Watson 
 
 about eighty yards, but finding that the animal gained on 
 him fast, it flashed on his mind that by getting into the 
 water to such a depth that the bear would be obliged to 
 attack him swimming, there was still some chance for 
 his life ; he therefore turned short, plunged into the river 
 about waist-deep, and, facing about, presented the point of 
 his spontoon. The bear arrived at the water's edge within 
 twenty feet of him ; but as soon as he put himself in this 
 posture of defence he seemed frightened, and, wheeling 
 about, retreated with as much precipitation as he had ad- 
 vanced. 
 
 Very glad to be released from his danger. Captain Lewis 
 returned to the shore, and observed him run with great 
 speed, sometimes looking back, as if he expected to be pur- 
 sued, till ho reached the woods. He could not conceive 
 the cause of the sudden alarm of the bear, but congratu- 
 lated himself on his escape, when he saw his own track 
 torn to pieces by the furious animal ; and he learned from 
 the whole adventure never to suffer his rifle to be for a 
 moment unloaded. 
 
 HUNTING SCENES IN THE CANADIAN WOODS. 
 
 B. A. WATSON. 
 
 [As the literature of travel necessarily includes the deeds of the 
 hunter in the haunts of wild animals, we have included among our 
 selections a number of hunting scenes in different countries. The 
 following incidents from a hunter's experience are from a popular 
 work of sporting life, Watson's " The Sportsman's Paradise, or the 
 Lake Land of Canada. ' ' The following is an exciting story of a deer- 
 hunt on a Canadian lake. ] 
 
 The forenoon of the next day, October 7, was spent in 
 trout-fishing, grouse-shooting, and exploring the surround- 
 
Watson] HUNTING SCENES IN CANADIAN WOODS. 179 
 
 ing country. The captain conducted me about half a mile 
 up the side of a steep hill, which had its base on Long 
 Lake, to another lake situated at the top of this hill or 
 mountain. While I recognize the fact that all mountain 
 lakes occupy different planes or levels, some higher and 
 some lower, still it seemed very unusual to climb the face 
 of a steep hill, commencing at one lake, and find another 
 just where you had expected to reach the hill-top. This 
 lake was nearly round, and probably somewhat less than 
 one-half mile in diameter. We saw during our morning 
 peregrinations many old moose-tracks, and also many spots 
 in the woods where these animals had browsed ; while a 
 few of these moose indications were certainly of recent 
 origin. 
 
 The captain thought it wise to tarry in our present camp 
 several days, to kill deer and dry the venison, in order that 
 we might have a supply of meat while engaged in moose- 
 hunting, independent of that which we might be able to 
 kill during this period. 
 
 We had unanimously agreed that it was inexpedient to 
 take dogs with us on the moose-chase. In this particular 
 our experience fully confirmed the wisdom of our con- 
 elusion. The moose cannot be driven to water by deer- 
 bounds, or any other species of dog with which I am 
 familiar ; and, therefore, had we taken these animals with 
 us, they could only have served to announce our presence 
 to the game which we sought, without being able to render 
 any assistance. These facts will become more apparent to 
 the reader when he has read other portions of this book, 
 where the story of the moose-hunt has been told from 
 beginning to end. We are now entering on Nature's 
 grandest preserve, — we find here the " King of the Canadian 
 Forest," alias moose, deer, beaver, black bear, black wolf, 
 speckled and lake trout, duck, ruffled grouse, etc. Here is 
 
180 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Watson 
 
 abundance of sport for the true sportsman. During the 
 morning stroll we saw several beaver-houses which were 
 occupied, and examined a large amount of their fresh work. 
 These sights were highly interesting to me, but inasmuch 
 as they have been so frequently described by others I shall 
 omit them here. 
 
 It was already after twelve o'clock when we reached our 
 camp. The guides prepared our dinner, which was speedily 
 partaken of, and then we got off on a deer-hunt. The 
 captain started into the woods with the dogs. George Ross 
 and I entered a canoe, the former paddling across the lake 
 to a point that commanded a view of a large portion of 
 this water. We then stepped on dry land, and there 
 patiently awaited the coming developments. We carefully 
 scanned every visible portion of the lake. An hour passed 
 and still we were watching ; soon a grand splash was heard 
 near the shore on the opposite side of the lake ; the guide 
 caught sight of the water which was thrown high into the 
 air, but the head of the deer was scarcely visible to him 
 while the animal was swimming towards us. The deer, 
 which at first swam directly towards us, soon changed his 
 course, and headed towards the foot of the lake. This 
 change brought him plainly into view. A few minutes 
 later the dog was seen running from the woods where the 
 deer broke cover. The head and antlers of our game were 
 visible above the waters of the lake, while he was swimming 
 majestically without fear or even anxiety. We stood nearly 
 half an hour watching the movements of this deer, since 
 we could not safely move lest we should be discovered by 
 the game and give him an opportunity to return to his 
 forest home. 
 
 The reader should remember that this animal took to the 
 water from the shore nearly opposite to the point on which 
 we were standing, that the deer swam almost directly 
 
Watson] HUNTING SCENES IN CANADIAN WOODS. 181 
 
 towards us until he reached the middle of the stream, then 
 turned downward, which gave us, in due time, an opportu- 
 nity to come in unperceived behind him. Patiently we 
 awaited this opportune moment. When it arrived the 
 canoe, which had been drawn up on the shore near us, was 
 quietly shoved out upon the water. Boss gently stepped 
 to the stern with his paddle in hand, steadied our little 
 bark while I entered its bow, where I seated myself and 
 placed my rifle by my right side. Eoss carefully pushed 
 the little craft from its moorings, placed himself on his knees 
 in that part of the canoe which properly trimmed it, and 
 silently plied his paddle. 
 
 The little canoe moved noiselessly but rapidly forward, 
 every stroke of the paddle bringing us nearer to the game. 
 There was another paddle lying near my hand; I seized it 
 and gave a helping hand, greatly increasing the speed. 
 Forward, forward we went! We were unperceived, al- 
 though within ten rods of a beautiful buck, which was 
 swimming in the middle of the lake directly before us. 
 My paddle was changed for my rifle. Nearer, still nearer 
 we approached. The rifle was raised ; the bead was drawn, 
 just below the base of the animal's skull. We were six 
 rods distant from the deer. A little puff" of white smoke 
 covered the bow of our boat ; the crack of the rifle was 
 heard, and the lifeless body of the deer floated on the 
 water, which was slightly tinged with blood. 
 
 Thus ended this chase. The carcass was towed to shore 
 in front of our camp, and the captain met us there, hav- 
 ing returned from the woods, where he had gone to start 
 the dogs. The dog which followed the buck I had just 
 shot was also now in our camp, but the other was still 
 absent. 
 
 Nearly two hours had elapsed since the buck was shot. 
 Tbere were now on the shore, in front of our camp, the cap- 
 
182 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Watsok 
 
 tain, George Ross, and myself, while Mildenberger had gone 
 back into the forest in search of ruffled grouse. Suddenly 
 the captain sprang from the rock on which he had been 
 seated, placed his right hand on his forehead in such a 
 position as to shade his eyes, while he leaned slightly for- 
 ward and gazed steadily out over the surface of the lake a 
 few seconds without uttering a single word. This position 
 was one I had frequently seen him assume. I therefore 
 recognized the fact that he had sighted game, or was at 
 least swayed by this thought, and now endeavored to solve 
 the question. 
 
 Thus he had stood for a few seconds, when he simply ex- 
 claimed, " A deer in the lake .'" and instantly sprang forward 
 to the canoe. I had followed him closely with rifle in 
 hand, expecting to make the chase with him ; he quickly 
 pushed the frail bark into the water and hastily said, 
 " Doctor, let George go with me in the canoe ; it will be a 
 hard chase ; we will drive the deer to you." 
 
 A few seconds later the canoe was in the water, the cap- 
 tain in the bow, and George Eoss in the stern, each on their 
 knees with a paddle in their hands. The little birch bark 
 was rushing rapidly forward, propelled by the power of 
 four strong muscular arms. The sight was a grand one, 
 and called to mind the impetuous charge of a squadron of 
 cavalry in war times. The captain is most determined and 
 energetic when in the pursuit of game ; like the grandest 
 charger in the squadron, he is bound to take the lead, while 
 the others can only follow. 
 
 I had seated myself on a rock, soon after the departure 
 of the guides, to watch the deer, whose head was visible to 
 me in my position, although fully a mile away. I could 
 not, however, at so great a distance determine whether 
 the animal possessed antlers or not ; but the leisurely man- 
 ner in which it was swimming satisfied me its pursuers were 
 
Watson] HUNTING SCENES IN CANADIAN WOODS. 183 
 
 undiscovered until they had made at least three-fourths of 
 the whole distance. The animal, when first discovered, 
 was nearly opposite to our camp and within a few rods of 
 the farther shore. The guides, in order to succeed in the 
 accomplishment of their purpose, were compelled to make 
 a considerable detour to the rear of the animal, and finally 
 come up between it and the shore. Fortunately for us, 
 they had remained for a considerable time undiscovered, 
 and the animal, in the mean time, was gradually leaving the 
 shore while swimming down the lake. 
 
 The moment came, however, when the pursuers were 
 discovered, and the deer then made the most frantic efforts. 
 I could see it spring forward with all its power, raising its 
 head high in the air with each grand effort, but the guides 
 are pulling stronger than before on their paddles. They 
 seem, when viewed from my position, to be only a few rods 
 in the rear of the animal, but the deer is heading for the 
 shore, and seems about ready to bound into the forest. It 
 is now evident to me that the chase can only last a few 
 seconds. 
 
 I sprang from my seat ; I recalled the fact that the guides 
 had no gun in the boat ; I realized that if they had one they 
 could now easily kill the animal ; they were almost on it. 
 An instant later and the canoe is seen between the deer and the 
 shore. A loud shout is heard from the guides ; they wave 
 their hats ; they are victorious, and the disappointed deer 
 now turns and swims towards the middle of the lake. Its 
 grandest effort has been made ; fatigue and disappointment 
 slow down its movements. 
 
 It was now an easy task for the guides to direct the ani- 
 mal to any point on the lake. The canoe was kept in the 
 rear, and when it was brought forward towards the right 
 of the deer it would cause the animal to oblique to the left 
 and vice versa. In this manner they proceeded to cross tho 
 
184 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Watsok 
 
 lake, bringing the doe in front of the rock on which I was 
 seated ; but while she was still about six hundred yards 
 away they called on me to take a shot. I demurred against 
 their request, inasmuch as the portion of the animal now 
 visible did not much exceed the dimensions of a pint cup. 
 The first ball fired fell short about fifty yards, and then 
 ricochetted nearly across the lake. Another shot was fired 
 with no better result, and thus I continued for several 
 minutes, but not without making some improvement. The 
 shots were pronounced by the guides to be accurate, so far 
 as the line of the target was concerned, but the balls still 
 fell short of the mark. 
 
 The photographer, who was absent in the woods when I 
 commenced firing, now made his appearance, and, seizing 
 the Winchester rifle, began to compete with me. He was 
 able to fire two shots with the repeater while I could fire 
 one from the breech-loading Ballard. The contest between 
 us was now very lively, and we succeeded in persuading 
 the guides to bring the game nearer to us, so that the ani- 
 mal was not more than one hundred yards from the muz- 
 zles of our rifles. The bullets now fell in very close prox- 
 ity to the doe's head ; none were more than four or five 
 inches from its centre. Six or eight shots have been fired 
 with this degree of accuracy, when I send in one that 
 breaks the skin over the base of the animal's skull. She 
 dodges her head downward, but quickly brings it up again, 
 when a shot from Mildenberger ends this trial of skill. The 
 guides shout aloud and lustily cheer the photographer, 
 who proudly puts down his rifle and wipes the perspiration 
 from his brow. 
 
 [The author proceeds to give a series of interesting accounts of moose- 
 hunts, somewhat too extended for the space we can give him. "We shall 
 therefore close with an amusing incident, in which "Jim," one of the 
 guides, and his dog were the acting characters.] 
 
Watson] HUNTING SCENES IN CANADIAN WOODS. 185 
 
 The clouds have begun to disappear, the bright rays of 
 sunshine are now lighting up our pathway, while the gen- 
 tle zephyrs are moving the foliage of the forest-trees. The 
 prospects of a fine day's sport are brightening at this mo- 
 ment. "Jim" exclaims, "We will have a good day of it 
 yet!" while at the same time a partridge rises at the road- 
 side, an event which is announced to us by the barking of 
 the cocker-spaniel. This dog had taken his position at the 
 foot of a small tree, the branches of which even overhung 
 the roadway, and here continued to bark lustily, thus 
 keeping the attention of the bird until the lad sent up his 
 compliments, which she promptly acknowledged by tum- 
 bling to the ground. 
 
 The killing of this bird gave rise to a highly ludicrous 
 scene, which I fully appreciated at the time, and which I 
 can never readily forget. Jim had previously told me that 
 the old cocker-spaniel had a very bad habit, and would 
 " mouth" the birds whenever he could get hold of them, 
 while he entirely disregarded] the order to " bring dead 
 bird." The owner of this dog had, likewise, informed me 
 that the animal had never received any training, but natu- 
 rally hunted very well, and was a good " treer." The in- 
 stant the lad fired at this bird, Jim sprang into the woods 
 with the alacrity of a hound, in order to grab the falling 
 partridge before the old cocker could get hold of him. 
 
 The cocker, however, succeeded in getting the best of 
 Jim, grabbed the bird in his mouth, and started off at full 
 speed, while the guide followed him on the jump, as a fox- 
 hound might follow a hare, shouting, with every bound, 
 " Stop ! stop ! drop it ! drop it !" until the woods became 
 fairly resonant with these sounds. A few seconds later 
 the dog emerged from the woods, still clinging to the bird, 
 closely followed by the irate guide, who still yelled as 
 though his life depended on this effort. 
 
186 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Watsoit 
 
 Here the old dog made the fatal mistake which finally 
 cost him the prize he had attempted to steal. He started 
 down the road as rapidly as he could run, but Jim steadily 
 gained ground on him. Jim was wearing on this occasion 
 a pair of heavy leather brogans, which contained in the 
 soles about fifty steel spikes. These shoes, in fact, were 
 procured by him while he was engaged in that occupation 
 commonly designated as " river-driving," and these spikes 
 were intended to nail him firmly to the floating logs, and 
 thus prevent accident or injury from slipping. The road 
 on which this race between the old cocker and our guide 
 took place was nearly a mass of rocks, generally flat on the 
 upper surface, which formed the road-bed, although they 
 possessed many irregularities of surface, size, etc. The 
 moment the guide and dog emerged from the woods and 
 started off" on this road, they were in full view of both my 
 son and myself. The sparks eliminated by the contact of 
 the spikes in Jim's brogans with the rocks in his pathway 
 lighted up his trail, and added greatly to the ludicrousness 
 of the scene. The race may be fairly said to have been nip 
 and tuck, but the guide was slowly gaining on the cocker. 
 
 They had run about ten rods when Jim's brogans were 
 in close proximity to the old dog's tail. It seemed highly 
 probable at this moment that the guide's spiked shoes 
 would be used as a petard for the destruction of the fugi- 
 tive thief; but no, he has determined to capture him alive. 
 
 Behold them at this moment ! Jim has dropped, with 
 the intention of seizing the old rascal with his hands. The 
 old dog — as if anticipating this movement — has suddenly 
 jumped to one side, and instantly turned to retrace his 
 steps. Jim struck the ground with a heavy thud, but was 
 neither killed nor severely injured by this manoeuvre. The 
 dog, however, in the mean time, had been rapidly gaining 
 on the guide, and was well started on the homeward 
 
Watson] HUNTING SCENES IN CANADIAN WOODS. 187 
 
 stretch. He occasionally turned his head, in order to 
 catch a glimpse of his pursuer, but he did not halt, nor 
 even slacken his pace. 
 
 Jim was soon on his feet again, but not until the dog had 
 secured a good start. The guide was maddened by failure, 
 and resumed the race with a fierce determination to win. 
 Every second shortened the distance between the contest- 
 ants when Jim had fairly succeeded in getting under way. 
 The old dog seemed to fully comprehend the gravity of the 
 situation, and occasionally turned his head for the purpose 
 of discovering and estimating his danger. He had passed 
 safely one-half of the home-stretch, but was at this moment 
 compelled to drop the bird from his mouth. Jim was at 
 this moment close upon the dog's heels, but he heeded not 
 the dead bird, and was evidently determined to punish the 
 thief The old cocker showed at this time unmistakable 
 signs of exhaustion ind fear, and was unquestionably re- 
 pentant. Jim's brogans were once more at the dog's caudal 
 extremity, when he suddenly dodged aside and endeavored 
 to reach the cover of the woods ; but he was too completely 
 exhausted to accomplish this object. He dropped to the 
 ground and looked imploringly into Jim's eyes for mercy ; 
 but Jim heeded not the imploring looks and cringing atti- 
 tude of the old rascal. He had him by the nape of the 
 neck, and promptly administered the well-raerited punish- 
 ment. The old dog fairly yelled with pain, and Jim yelled 
 back to him, " Steal the boy's bird, will you ? I will teach 
 you honesty ! I will, you old rascal !" 
 
 The whole scene had been watched by the boy and my- 
 self The comical part played by the actors can be more 
 easily imagined than described. It caused peal after peal 
 of laughter from the boy and myself The boy finally 
 dropped down upon the ground before the race ended, 
 having been so convulsed with laughter as to be unable to 
 
188 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Watbon 
 
 Btand erect, while I only remained standing until the race 
 ended, and then followed my son's example, Jim having 
 administered the necessary chastisement to the dog, like- 
 wise sought rest on the bosom of mother-earth, while the 
 old cocker, after having sulked a few moments in the 
 woods, came sneakingly out and cautiously approached 
 the contestant in the race, licked affectionately his hand, 
 and then looked imploringly up into his eyes. The dog 
 having thus humbly acknowledged the justice of the pun- 
 ishment which had been inflicted on him, was then freely 
 forgiven by Jim, who patted him affectionately on the head 
 and back. 
 
 Thus there was perfect harmony between the guide and 
 the spaniel. The dog immediately reclined at Jim's side, 
 placed his head affectionately on his master, having as- 
 sumed a position which enabled him to look wistfully into 
 the latter's face. Our little mongrel dog had not remained 
 entirely inactive during these exciting events. In the race 
 he participated, though falling far behind both actors ; 
 nevertheless he barked and wagged his tail continuously, 
 thus showing the joy and interest which he felt in this part 
 of the proceedings, although when the chastisement com- 
 menced he drew his tail between his legs, suddenly disap- 
 peared in the woods, and only reappeared after the lapse 
 of an hour. 
 
 [Shortly after they started again the boy brought down another 
 bird, whose presence had been announced by the cocker-spaniel.] 
 
 The old dog made no attempt on this occasion to secure 
 the bird when it fell to the ground, but, on the contrary, 
 did not move from the spot where he was standing, and 
 allowed the guide to approach quietly the dead bird and to 
 pocket the same. In fact, it may be stated that we had no 
 further trouble with this dog during the remainder of the 
 
Bryant] THE GRAND FALLS OF LABRADOR. 189 
 
 hunt. He had previously shown much affection for Jim ; 
 but after the chase and the chastisement which he received 
 he was certainly doubly affectionate towards his master. 
 He had always hunted faithfully for us, but during the 
 balance of the day he seemed to be more than usually 
 active, and found many birds by the roadside. 
 
 THE GRAND FALLS OF LABRADOR. 
 
 HENRY G. BRYANT. 
 
 [The discovery of America has not yet been completed. Certainly 
 that of its Canadian section has not been. There are wide districts of 
 that great area on which human foot has never been set, and as late 
 as 1895 we were advised of the discovery of a great river, with its 
 head-waters near those of the Ottawa, but previously unsuspected. 
 Labrador has been but little traversed, and the Grand Falls had only 
 been seen by two white men previously to Mr. Bryant's visit in the 
 summer of 1891. "What we know of it, and of the course of the 
 Grand, or Hamilton River, we owe chiefly to him, since the only 
 earlier account is the imperfect one given by John McLean, describing 
 his visit in 1839. The enterprise was not an easy one, as will appear 
 from the description of the hardships of the journey. The party con- 
 sisted of Mr. Bryant, of Philadelphia, Professor Kenaston, of Wash- 
 ington, John Montague, a young Scotchman, and Geoifrey Ban, an 
 Eskimo, the last two hailing from Labrador. These four had to drag 
 a heavy boat against a swift current for many miles up the stream, in 
 the manner described below. ] 
 
 The usual method employed was what is technically 
 known as "tracking." That is, a strong rope, about the 
 thickness of a clothes-line, was tied to the gunwale of the 
 boat just aft of the bow. To the shore end of this broad 
 leather straps were attached. With these across their 
 shoulders, three of the party tugged away along the rocky 
 bank, while number four of our crew, with an oar lashed 
 
190 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bbtant 
 
 in the stern, steered a devious course among the rocks and 
 shallows of the river. The "tow-path" in this instance 
 was of the roughest and most diversified character. Sandy 
 terraces and extended reaches covered with glacial boul- 
 ders characterized the lower portion of the river, while 
 farther up-stream great numbers of smaller boulders, in- 
 securely lodged on the precipitous sandy banks, would 
 baffle us by the precarious footing they afforded. Where 
 a combination of this "rubble" and a troublesome rapid 
 occurred, it was only by the most violent exertion and no 
 end of slipping and sliding that the tension of the tow-line 
 could be maintained on the treacherous ground. Then, 
 again, stretches of steep rocky bank, where no tracking 
 was possible, would often compel us to scale the rugged 
 cliflfe and pass the line from one to another over various 
 obstacles. Wading through the water was frequently the 
 only resource. This was always the case when we reached 
 a place in the river where the spring freshets had under- 
 mined the banks, and where numbers of trees, stumps, and 
 underbrush littered the shore, forming chevaux-de-friseo£ 
 the most formidable character. 
 
 The long daylight of midsummer in this subarctic region 
 was a point in our favor, enabling us to work to the limit 
 of our strength. Here, indeed, we found that " Night and 
 day hold each other's hands upon the hill-tops. . . . No 
 sooner does the sun set north by west, than, like a giant 
 refreshed, it rises again north by east." 
 
 [At times they had to drag the boat up rapids, at times to unload 
 and transport it and its contents around falls by difficult portages. 
 Through much of the course the stream ran at about eight miles an 
 hour, but many rapids added to this speed.] 
 
 Judged by ordinary standards of travel, our advance up 
 the river was slow indeed ; but to those who are familiar 
 
Bryant] THE GRAND FALLS OF LABRADOR. 191 
 
 with canoe transportation on Canadian rivers, I am sure 
 our progress will appear respectable, when the unwieldy 
 character of our boat is taken into consideration. There 
 seems to be something positively personal and vindictive 
 in the resistance which rapids make to a traveller's ad- 
 vance into a wild and mountainous country. There was, 
 accordingly, a cumulative feeling of satisfaction as one 
 after another of these barriers of nature's making were 
 surmounted. In the swollen condition of the river, the 
 struggle with these wild rapids was often as savage and 
 exhilarating as one could desire. John and myself usually 
 took the lead on the tow-line, Geoffrey busying himself 
 with keeping the line clear of snags, while to Professor 
 Kenaston was assigned the steersman's part. Bending to 
 their work, the linemen would clamber along the bank, 
 dragging the slowly yielding mass up-stream. Ofttimes 
 the force of the current would carry out the boat far into 
 mid-stream, until the full length of line would be ex- 
 hausted. We could do nothing then but hang on like grim 
 death and watch our craft toss and roll amid the billows, 
 until, like a spirited horse, gradually yielding to the strain, 
 she would turn her head shoreward. Professor Kenaston, 
 meanwhile, with tense muscles, bending to the steering-oar, 
 skilfully guided his charge amid the encompassing rocks 
 and eddies, — the only quiet figure on the surging flood of 
 the river. . . . 
 
 Looking back on these days spent along the river, I 
 recall how each one was filled with incident and how all 
 were stimulated by the uncertainty of what lay before us. 
 It is the experience of many that, in recalling travels of 
 this kind, the pleasant features of the time are remembered 
 with more distinctness than the trying ones. So in the 
 retrospect of this journey, many of the incidents, unpleas- 
 ant at the time, are softened by time's perspective, while 
 
192 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Brtant 
 
 the bright ones stand out in bolder relief and recur to the 
 memory with pleasure. One awkward adventure, however, 
 which occurred on the first day on the Mouni Rapids, I 
 have not yet succeeded in relegating to the realm of forget- 
 fulness. We were approaching a rocky point, similar to 
 many others we had encountered, past which the water 
 dashed with angry violence. It was our custom, on reach- 
 ing such a place, to first detach the canoe, and then to shove 
 out the boat obliquely from the still water, to allow her 
 bow to fairly meet the swifter current. On this occasion, 
 while Montague and I, facing up-stream, were waiting 
 on the bank above for the signal to advance, the boat, 
 through some carelessness, was pushed out from the quiet 
 eddy squarely into the swift water. The full force of the 
 torrent struck her abeam, and away she swept down- 
 stream like a thing possessed. Taken unawares, no time 
 was given to throw off the leather straps from our shoul- 
 ders, and instantly we were thrown from our feet and 
 dragged over the rocks into the river by the merciless 
 strength of the flood. Most fortunately for me, the circu- 
 lar strap slipped over my head as I was being dragged 
 through the water. Montague's also released itself, and 
 the runaway sped down-stream a quarter of a mile before 
 stopping. On clambering up the bank I found Montague 
 stunned and bleeding from a scalp wound. Aside from 
 some abrasions of the skin, I was none the worse for the 
 shaking up, and after a brief delay Montague revived, and 
 we resumed our " tow-path" exercise. 
 
 [The climate did not prove as severe as was expected, the tempera- 
 ture being just low enough to be exhilarating and bracing. Grame and 
 fish were abundant, and two black bears were killed by the party.] 
 
 The declining sun of August 20 beheld our small craft 
 glide into the smooth waters of Lake Wanakopow. The 
 
Briant] the grand falls OF LABRADOR. 193 
 
 first view of the lake was beautiful, and most grateful to 
 our eyes after the long struggle with the rapids. Even 
 Geoffrey and John, usually indifferent to scenic effects, 
 could not conceal their admiration as we glided by tower- 
 ing cliffs and wooded headlands, and beheld at intervals 
 cascades leaping from the rocks into the lake, their silvery 
 outlines glistening in the sun and contrasting distinctly 
 with the environment of dark evergreen foliage. This 
 romantic sheet of water stretches in a northeasterly and 
 southwesterly direction a distance of about thirty-five 
 miles, and has an elevation above sea-level, according to 
 my aneroid observations, of four hundred and sixty-two 
 feet. Low mountains of granite and gneiss rise on both 
 sides, and the average width of the lake is less than one 
 mile, A sounding taken near the middle showed a depth 
 of four hundred and six feet. This narrow elevated basin 
 is probably of glacial origin, the presence of great numbers 
 of boulders and the rounded appearance of the hill sum- 
 mits pointing to a period of ice movement. 
 
 [They finally reached a point beyond the previously stated location 
 of the falls, and on August 27 attained the head of boat navigation 
 in a wide, shallow rapid.] 
 
 While at the Northwest River Post we had learned from 
 
 a reliable Indian that the old trail, long disused, led from 
 
 this point on the river to a chain of lakes on the table-land. 
 
 By following these lakes and crossing the intervening 
 
 " carries," the rapid water which extends for fifteen miles 
 
 below the Falls could be circumvented, and the traveller 
 
 brought finally to the waters of the Grand River, many 
 
 miles above the Grand Falls. Our plan was to follow this 
 
 old trail for several days, and then to leave the canoe 
 
 and strike across country in a direction which we hoped 
 
 would bring us again to the river in the vicinity of the Falls. 
 Vol. I — 13 
 
194 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bryant 
 
 It was deemed best to follow this circuitous canoe route 
 rather than to attempt to follow the banks of the river on 
 foot, in which case everything would have to be carried on 
 our backs through dense forests for many miles. 
 
 After a long search the old trail was found, and, leaving 
 Geoffrey in charge of the main camp on the river, the other 
 members of the party took the canoe and a week's pro- 
 visions, and began the ascent of the steep path which led 
 up to the edge of the elevated plateau, which here ap- 
 proaches the river. Making a " carry" of three miles to 
 the north along the old trail, we reached the first of the 
 chain of lakes, where we erected a rude shelter and camped 
 for the night. A violent storm arose during the night, and 
 next day we lost much time in seeking for the continua- 
 tion of the trail on the opposite side of the lake. Having 
 been disused for twenty-seven years, the path, where it 
 came out on the lake-shore, was distinguished by no 
 " blazes" on the trees, or recent choppings. This necessi- 
 tated a careful examination of the shores on all the lakes, 
 and caused considerable delay. 
 
 We were now on the great table-land of the Labrador 
 interior, and, wishing to get a good outlook, climbed a 
 conspicuous hill near by to scan the adjacent country. 
 A view truly strange and impressive was before us. As 
 far as the eye could reach extended an undulating country, 
 sparsely covered with stunted spruce-trees, among which 
 great weather-worn rocks gleamed, while on all sides 
 white patches of caribou moss gave a snowy effect to the 
 scene. A hundred shallow lakes reflected the fleeting 
 clouds above, their banks lined with boulders, and present- 
 ing a labyrinth of channels and island passages. Low 
 hills arose at intervals among the bogs and lakes, but the 
 general effect of the landscape was that of flatness and 
 bleak monotony. 
 
Bryant] THE GRAND FALLS OF LABRADOR. 195 
 
 The continuation of the old Nascopie trail remaining in- 
 visible, to escape the discomfort of another rainy night 
 on the plateau we returned to the shelter of the camp on 
 the river. On August 30 we returned to Geoffrey Lake, 
 where our patient search for the trail was at last suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 Next day we advanced along the trail, which led us over 
 four " carries" and across five lakes. For convenience of 
 reference, we applied names to some of these small sheets 
 of water. Thus, the third one of the chain was designated 
 " Gentian Lake," from finding the closed variety of the 
 blue gentian growing on its borders. The next day we 
 turned aside from the dim trail and paddled to the north- 
 western extremity of the sixth lake, where we drew the 
 canoe ashore and prepared for the tramp across country. 
 Arrayed in heavy marching order, and carrying nearly all 
 that remained of our provisions, we were soon advancing 
 westward on a course which we hoped would soon bring 
 us to the river in the vicinity of the Falls. The country 
 we were now passing through was of the most desolate 
 character, denuded of trees and the surface covered with 
 caribou moss, Labrador tea plants, blueberry-bushes, and 
 thousands of boulders. By keeping to the ridges fair 
 progress was made ; but when compelled to leave the higher 
 ground and skirt the borders of the lakes, dense thickets 
 of alders and willows were encountered, and these greatly 
 impeded our advance. Language seems inadequate to 
 describe the desolation of this upland landscape. No living 
 thing was encountered, and the silence of primordial time 
 reigned supreme. 
 
 Just before sunset we went into camp on a hill-side near 
 a large lake, and soon after, from the top of a high rock, 
 beheld a great column of mist rising like smoke against 
 the western sky. This we knew marked the position of 
 
196 WORLD'S ORE AT TRAVELLERS. [Bryant 
 
 the Falls, and, needless to say, our spirits rose — oblivious 
 of our bleak surroundings — as we contemplated the near 
 attainment of our journey's end. During the night the 
 thermometer registered a minimum temperature of forty- 
 one degrees, and we were treated to a superb display of 
 Northern Lights. 
 
 September 2 was a day memorable as marking the date 
 of our arrival at the Grand Falls. A rough march over 
 the rocks and bogs intervened, however, before we reached 
 this goal. As we approached the river, spruce- forests of a 
 heavier growth appeared, and, pressing on through these, 
 although we could no longer see the overhanging mist, the 
 deep roar of falling waters was borne to our ears with 
 growing distinctness. After what seemed an intolerable 
 length of time — so great was our eagerness — a space of 
 light in the trees ahead made known the presence of the 
 river. Quickening our steps, we pushed on, and with beat- 
 ing hearts emei'ged from the forest near the spot where 
 the river plunged into the chasm with a deafening roar. 
 
 A single glance showed us that we had before us one of the 
 greatest waterfalls in the world. Standing at the rocky 
 brink of the chasm, a wild and tumultuous scene lay before 
 us, a scene possessing elements of sublimity and with 
 details not to be apprehended in the first moments of 
 wondering contemplation. Far up-stream one beheld the 
 surging, fleecy waters and tempestuous billows, dashing 
 high their crests of foam, all forced onward with resistless 
 power towards the steep rock whence they took their wild 
 leap into the deep pool below. Turning to the very brink 
 and looking over, we gazed into a world of mists and mighty 
 reverberations. Here the exquisite colors of the rainbow 
 fascinated the eye, and majestic sounds of falling waters 
 continued the paean of the ages. Below and beyond the 
 seething caldron the river appeared, pursuing its turbulent 
 
Bryant] THE GRAND FALLS OF LABRADOR. 197 
 
 career, past frowning cliffs and over miles of rapids, where 
 it heard '' no sound save its own dashings." The babel of 
 waters made conversation a matter of difliculty, and after a 
 mute exchange of congratulations, we turned our attention 
 to examining the river in detail above and below the Falls. 
 
 A mile above the main leap the river is a noble stream 
 four hundred yards wide, already flowing at an accelerated 
 speed. Four rapids, marking successive depressions in the 
 river-bed, intervene between this point and the Falls. At 
 the first rapid the width of the stream is nsot more than one 
 hundred and seventy-five yards, and from thence rapidly 
 contracts until reaching a point above the escarpment 
 proper, where the entire column of fleecy water is com- 
 pressed within rocky banks not more than fifty yards apart. 
 
 Here the eff'ect of resistless power is extremely fine. 
 The maddened waters, sweeping downward with terrific 
 force, rise in great surging billows high above the encom- 
 passing banks ere they finally hurl themselves into the gulf 
 below. A great pillar of mist rises from the spot, and 
 numerous rainbows span the watery abyss, constantly 
 forming and disappearing amid the clouds of spray. An 
 immense volume of water precipitates itself over the 
 rocky ledge, and under favorable conditions the roar of the 
 cataract can be heard for twenty miles. Below the Falls, 
 the river, turning to the southeast, pursues its maddened 
 career for twenty-five miles shut in by vertical cliff's of 
 gneissic rock, w^hich rises in places to a height of four hun- 
 dred feet. The rocky banks above and below the Falls are 
 thickly wooded with firs and spruces, among which the 
 graceful form of the white birch appears in places. 
 
 [The Falls were photographed from several points of view, and care- 
 fully measured, the vertical descent proving to be over three hundred 
 feet, while the chute or rapid at their head made a farther descent of 
 thirty-two feet.] 
 
198 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bryant 
 
 The deep, incessant roar of the cataract that night was 
 our lullaby as, stretched out under a rough " barricade," 
 we glided into that realm of forgetfulness where even sur- 
 roundings strange as ours counted as naught. 
 
 By the morning light we again viewed the wonders of 
 the place, and sought for some sign of the presence of bird 
 or animal in the vicinity ; but not a track or the glint of a 
 bird's wing rewarded our quest, and this avoidance of the 
 place by the wild creatures of the forest seemed to add a 
 new element of severity to the eternal loneliness of the 
 spot. 
 
 The Grand Falls of Labrador, with their grim environ- 
 ment of time-worn, archaic rocks, are one of the scenic 
 wonders of this Western world, and if nearer civilization, 
 would be visited by thousands of travellers every year. 
 They are nearly twice as high as Niagara, and are only 
 inferior to that marvellous cataract in breadth and volume 
 of water. One of their most striking characteristics is the 
 astonishing leap into space which the torrent makes in dis- 
 charging itself over its rockj^ barrier. From the descrip- 
 tion given of the rapid drop in the river-bed and concident 
 narrowing of the channel, one can easily understand that 
 the cumulative energy expended in this final leap of the 
 pent-up waters is truly titanic. 
 
 If a substratum of softer rock existed here, as at Ni- 
 agara, a similar " Cave of the Winds" would enable one to 
 penetrate a considerable distance beneath the fall. The 
 uniform structure of the rock, however, prevents any un- 
 equal disintegration, and thus the overarching sheet of 
 water covers a nearly perpendicular wall, the base of which 
 is washed by the waters of the lower river. In spite of 
 the fact that no creature, except one with wings, could 
 hope to penetrate this subaqueous chamber, the place is 
 inhabited, if we are to believe the traditions of the Lab- 
 
Bbtant] the grand FALLS OF LABRADOR. 199 
 
 rador Indians. Many years ago, so runs the tale, two 
 Indian maidens, gathering firewood near the Falls, were 
 enticed to the brink and drawn over by the evil spirit of 
 the place. During the long years since then, these unfor- 
 tunates have been condemned to dwell beneath the fall 
 and forced to toil daily dressing deer-skins ; until now, uo 
 longer young and beautiful, they can be seen betimes 
 through the mist, trailing their white hair behind them 
 and stretching out shrivelled arms towards any mortal who 
 ventures to visit the confines of their mystic dwelling- 
 place. 
 
 The Indian name for the Grand Falls — Pat-ses-che-wan 
 — means "The Narrow Place where the Water Falls." 
 Like the native word Niagara, — " Thunder of Waters," — 
 this Indian designation contains a poetic and descriptive 
 quality which it would be hard to improve. 
 
 From the point where the river leaves the plateau and 
 plunges into the deep pool below the Falls, its course for 
 fifteen miles is through one of the most remarkable canons 
 in the world. From the appearance of the sides of this 
 gorge, and the zigzag line of the river, the indications are 
 that the stream has slowly forced its way through this 
 rocky chasm, cutting its way back, foot by foot, from the 
 edge of the plateau to the present position of the Falls. 
 Recent investigators estimate that a period of six thousand 
 years was required to form the gorge below Niagara Falls ; 
 or, in other words, that it has taken that time for the Falls 
 to recede from their former position at Queenstown Heights 
 to their present location. If it has taken this length of 
 time for the Niagara Falls to make their way back a dis- 
 tance of seven miles by the erosive power of the water 
 acting on a soft shale rock supporting a stratum of lime- 
 stone, the immensity of time involved by assuming that 
 the Grand Eiver canon was formed in the same way is so 
 
200 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Parry 
 
 great that the mind falters in contemplating it, especially 
 when it is recognized that the escarpment of the Labrador 
 Falls is of hard gneissic rock. And yet no other explana- 
 tion of the origin of this gorge is acceptable, unless, indeed, 
 we can assume that at some former time a fissure occurred 
 in the earth's crust as a result of igneous agencies, and 
 that this fissure ran in a line identical with the present 
 course of the river; in which case the drainage of the 
 table-land, collecting into the Grand Eiver, would follow 
 the line of least resistance, and in the course of time ex- 
 cavate the fissure into the present proportions of the gorge. 
 
 LIFE AMONG THE ESQUIMAUX. 
 
 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY, 
 
 [The attempt to find a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific, by which commerce might make its way round the continent 
 of North America, occupied the attention of navigators from the voy- 
 age of Henry Hudson, in 1610, to that of McClure, in 1850 ; the lat- 
 ter proving that such a passage existed, but that it was impracticable 
 for commerce. Among those engaged in this enterprise one of the 
 most notable was Captain Parry, from whose interesting journal of his 
 voyage (1821-25) the following selection is taken, descriptive of expe- 
 riences at Gore Bay, where the ships of the expedition had lain all 
 winter in the ice.] 
 
 On the 2d of April a thin sheet of bay-ice several miles 
 square had formed on the sea to the eastward and south- 
 ward, where for two or three days past there had been a 
 space of open water. This was occasioned more by the 
 wind remaining very moderate and the neap tides occur- 
 ring about this time than from any great degree of cold, 
 the thermometer seldom falling below — 6° or — 7°. The 
 
Parbt] life among THE ESQUIMAUX. 201 
 
 wind, however, settling in the southeast to-day, the main 
 body of ice, which had been scarcely visible in the offing, 
 soon began to move inshore, forcing before it the young 
 floe and squeezing it up into innumerable hummocks, 
 which presently, being cemented together by a fresh for- 
 mation in their interstices, constituted an example of one of 
 the ways in which these " hummocky floes" are produced, 
 of which I have before so often had occasion to speak. 
 We were always glad to see this squeezing process take 
 place while the ice was still thin enough to admit of it, as 
 it thus became compressed perhaps into one-fiftieth part of 
 the compass that it would otherwise have occupied, and 
 of course left so much the more open space upon the surface 
 of the sea. The temperature of the water at the bottom 
 in eight fathoms was to-day 28°, being the same as that of 
 the surface. 
 
 Early in the morning the Esquimaux had been observed 
 in motion at the huts, and several sledges drawn by dogs 
 and heavily laden went off to the westward. On going out 
 to the village, we found one-half of the people had quitted 
 their late habitations, taking with them every article of 
 their property, and had gone over the ice, we knew not 
 where, in quest of more abundant food. The wretched 
 appearance which the interior of the huts now presented 
 baffles all description. In each of the larger ones some of 
 the apartments were either wholly or in part deserted, the 
 very snow which composed the beds and fireplaces having 
 been turned up, so that no article might be left behind. 
 Even the bare walls, whose original color was scarcely per- 
 ceptible for black, blood, and other filth, were not left per- 
 fect, large holes having been made in the sides and roofs 
 for the convenience of handing out the goods and chattels. 
 The sight of a deserted habitation is at all times calculated 
 to excite in the mind a sensation of dreariness and desola- 
 
202 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Pabbt 
 
 tion, especially when we have lately seen it filled with 
 cheerful inhabitants ; but the feeling is even heightened 
 rather than diminished when a small portion of these in- 
 habitants remain behind to endure the wretchedness which 
 such a scene exhibits. This was now the case at the vil- 
 lage, where, though the remaining tenants of each hut had 
 combined to occupy one of the apartments, a great part 
 of the bed-places were still bare, with the wind and drift 
 blowing in through the holes which they had not yet taken 
 the trouble to stop up. The old man Hikkeeira and his 
 wife occupied a hut by themselves, without any lamp or a 
 single ounce of meat belonging to them, while three small 
 skins, on which the former was lying, were all that they 
 possessed in the way of blankets. Upon the whole, I 
 never ^beheld a more miserable spectacle, and it seemed 
 a charity to hope that a violent and constant cough with 
 which the old man was afflicted would speedily combine 
 with his age and infirmities to release him from his present 
 sufferings. Yet in the midst of all this he was even cheer- 
 ful, nor was there a gloomy countenance to be seen at the 
 village. 
 
 Almost all the men were out, and some of them had been 
 led so far to sea upon the floating and detached masses of 
 ice in pursuit of walruses that Captain Lyon, who observed 
 their situation from the ships, had it in contemplation, in 
 the course of the evening, to launch one of the small boats 
 to go to their assistance. They seemed, however, to enter- 
 tain no apprehension themselves, from confidence, perhaps, 
 that the southeast wind might be depended upon for keep- 
 ing the ice close home upon the shore. It is certain, not- 
 withstanding, that no degree of precaution, nor any knowl- 
 edge of the winds and tides, can render this otherwise than 
 a most perilous mode of obtaining subsistence ; and it was 
 impossible, therefore, not to admire the fearlessness as well 
 
Parry] LIFE AMONG THE ESQUIMAUX. 203 
 
 as dexterity with which the Esquimaux invariably pur- 
 sued it. 
 
 Having distributed some bread-dust among the women, 
 we told old Illumea and her daughter Togolat that we 
 proposed taking up our lodging in their hut for the night. 
 It is a remarkable trait in the character of these people that 
 they all always thank you heartily for this as well as for 
 eating any of their meat, but both board and lodging may 
 be given to them without receiving the slightest acknowl- 
 edgment either in word or deed. As it was late before the 
 men returned, I asked Togolat to get the rest of the women 
 to perform some of their games, with the hope of seeing 
 something that was new. I had scarcely time to make 
 the proposal when she darted out of the hut and quickly 
 brought every female that was left at the village, not ex- 
 cepting even the oldest of them, who joined in the per- 
 formance with the same alacrity as the rest. I could, how- 
 ever, only persuade them to go through a tedious song we 
 had often before heard, which was now indeed somewhat 
 modified by their insisting on our taking turns in the per- 
 formance, all which did not fail to create among them 
 never-ceasing merriment and laughter. Neither their want 
 of food and fuel, nor the uncertain prospect of obtaining 
 any that night, were suflBcient to deprive these poor crea- 
 tures of that cheerfulness and good humor which it seems 
 at all times their peculiar happiness to enjoy. 
 
 The night proved very thick with small snow, and as 
 disagreeable and dangerous for people adrift upon floating 
 ice as can well be imagined. If the women, however, gave 
 their husbands a thought or spoke of them to us, it was 
 only to express a very sincere hope that some good news 
 might shortly arrive of their success. Our singing party 
 had not long been broken up when it was suddenly an- 
 nounced by one of the children, the usual heralds on such 
 
204 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Parrt 
 
 occasions, that the men had killed something on the ice. 
 The only two men who were at home instantly scrambled 
 on their outer jackets, harnessed their dogs, and set off to 
 assist their companions in bringing home the game, while 
 the women remained for an hour in anxious suspense as to 
 the extent of their husbands' success. At length one of 
 the men arrived with the positive intelligence of two wal- 
 ruses having been taken, and brought with him a portion 
 of these huge animals as large as he could drag over the 
 snow. 
 
 If the women were only cheerful before, they were now 
 absolutely frantic. A general shout of joy instantly re- 
 echoed through the village ; they ran into each other's 
 huts to communicate the welcome intelligence, and actually 
 hugged one another in an ecstasy of delight by way of 
 congratulation. One of them, ArnalooS., a pretty young 
 woman of nineteen or twenty, knowing that a dog belong- 
 ing to her husband was still at the huts, and that there was 
 no man to take him down on the ice, ran out instantly to 
 perform that office ; and, with a hardiness not to be sur- 
 passed by any of the men, returned after two hours' ab- 
 sence, with her load of walrus-flesh, and without even the 
 hood thrown over her head to protect her from the in- 
 clemency of the weather. 
 
 When the first burst of joy had at length subsided, the 
 women crept one by one into the apartment where the first 
 portion of the sea-horses had been conveyed, and which is 
 always that of one of the men immediately concerned in 
 the killing of them. Here they obtained blubber enough 
 to set all their lamps alight, besides a few scraps of meat 
 for their children and themselves. From this time, which 
 was nine o'clock, till past midnight fresh cargoes were con- 
 tinually arriving, the principal part being brought in by 
 the dogs, and the rest by the men, who, tying the thong 
 
Parry] LIFE AMONG THE ESQUIMAUX. 205 
 
 which held it round their waist, dragged in each his sepa- 
 rate portion. Before the whole was brought in, however, 
 some of them went out three times to the scene of action, 
 though the distance was a mile anda half. 
 
 Every lamp now swimming with oil, the huts exhibited 
 a blaze of light, and never was there a scene of more joyous 
 festivity than while the operation of cutting up the wal- 
 ruses continued. I took the opportunity which their pres- 
 ent good humor afforded to obtain a perfect head and tusks 
 of one of these animals, which we had not been able to do 
 before ; and indeed, so much were their hearts opened by 
 the scene of abundance before them, that I believe they 
 would have given us anything we asked for. This dispo- 
 sition was considerably increased, also, by their taking it 
 into their heads that their success was in some way or 
 other connected with, or even owing to, our having taken 
 up our night's lodging at the huts. 
 
 After viewing all this festivity for some time, I felt 
 disposed to rest, and wrapping mj-self up in my fur coat, 
 lay down on one of the beds which Illumea had given 
 up for our accommodation, as well as her keipik, or large 
 deer-skin blanket, which she had rolled up for my pillow. 
 The poor old woman herself sat up by her lamp, and in 
 that posture seemed perfectly well satisfied to doze away 
 the night. The singularity of my night's lodging made 
 me awake several times, when I always found some of the 
 Esquimaux eating, though after we lay down they kept 
 quiet for fear of disturbing us. Mr. Halse, who was still 
 more wakeful, told me that some of them were incessantly 
 employed in this manner for more than three hours. In- 
 deed, the quantity of meat that they thus contrive to get 
 rid of is almost beyond belief. 
 
 Having at length enjoyed a sound nap, I found on 
 awaking about five o'clock that the men were already up, 
 
206 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Parrt 
 
 and had gone out to resume their labors on the ice, so that 
 several of them could not have rested more than two or 
 three hours. This circumstance served to correct a notion 
 we had entertained, that when once abundantly supplied 
 with food they took no pains to obtain more till want 
 began again to stare them in the face. It was now more 
 pleasing to be assured that, even in the midst of plenty, 
 they did not indolently give themselves up to repose, but 
 were willing to take advantage of every favorable oppor- 
 tunity of increasing their store. It is certain, indeed, that 
 were these people more provident (or, in other words, less 
 gluttonous, for they do not waste much), they might never 
 know what it is to want provisions, even during the most 
 inclement part of the year. The state of the ice was 
 to-day very unfavorable for their purpose, being broken 
 into pieces so small that they could scarcely venture to 
 walk upon it. . . . 
 
 The moi-ning of the 5th proved favorable for a journey 
 I had in contemplation to the distant huts, to which Ilig- 
 liuk, who had come to Winter Island the day before, prom- 
 ised to be my guide. At six o'clock I set out, accompa- 
 nied by Mr. Bushman and two of the men, carrying with 
 us a supply of bread-dust, besides our own provisions and 
 blankets. As the distance was too great for her son Siout- 
 kuk to walk, we were uncertain till the moment of setting 
 out how this was to be managed, there being no sledge at 
 hand for the purpose. We found, however, that a man, 
 whom we had observed for some time at work among the 
 hummocks of ice upon the beach, had been emploj^ed in 
 cutting out of that abundant material a neat and service- 
 able little sledge, hollowed like a bowl or tray out of a 
 Bolid block, and smoothly rounded at the bottom. The 
 thongs to which the dogs were attached were secured to a 
 groove cut around its upper edge; and the young seal- 
 
Parbt] life among THE ESQUIMAUX. 207 
 
 catcher, seated in this simple vehicle, was dragged along 
 with great convenience and comfort. 
 
 The ice over which we travelled was a level floe that had 
 never suffered disturbance since its -first formation in the 
 autumn, and with not more than an inch and a half of 
 snow upon it. The path being distinctly marked out by 
 the people, sledges, and dogs that had before travelled upon 
 it, one might, without any great stretch of the imagina- 
 tion, have almost fancied it a road leading over a level and 
 extensive heath towards a more civilized and substantial 
 village than that which we were now approaching. Ilig- 
 liuk walked as nimbly as the best of us ; and after two 
 hours and a half brisk travelling we arrived at the huts, 
 and were received by the women (for all the men were 
 absent) with every expression of kindness and welcome. 
 Each was desirous of affording us lodging, and we had 
 speedily arranged matters so as to put them to the least 
 possible inconvenience. 
 
 These huts, four in number, were in the mode of their 
 construction exact counterparts of those at Winter Island 
 on our first visit, but, being now new and clean, presented 
 a striking contrast with the latter, in their present disor- 
 dered and filthy state. What gave a peculiarity, as well 
 as beauty also, to the interior appearance of these habita- 
 tions, was their being situated on the ice, which, being 
 cleared of the snow, presented a flooring of that splendid 
 blue which is, perhaps, one of the richest colors that nature 
 affords. A seal or two having been lately procured, every 
 lamp was now blazing, and every ootkooseek smoking with 
 a hot mess which, together with the friendly reception we 
 experienced and a little warmth and fatigue from travel- 
 ling, combined in conveying to our minds an idea of com- 
 fort which we could scarcely believe an Esquimaux hut 
 capable of exciting. 
 
208 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Parrt 
 
 On the arrival of the men, who came in towards even- 
 ing, with two seals as the reward of their labor, we were 
 once more greeted and welcomed. Arnaneelia in particular, 
 who was a quiet, obliging, and even amiable, man, was de- 
 lighted to find that my quarters were to be in his apart- 
 ment, where Aneetka, his wife, a young woman of about 
 twenty-three, had already arranged everything for my ac- 
 commodation ; and both these poor people now vied with 
 each other in their attention to my comfort. The other 
 two apartments of the same hut were occupied by Kaoon- 
 gut and Okotook, with their respective wives and families, 
 it being the constant custom of these people thus to unite 
 in family groups whenever the nature of their habitations 
 will allow it. Mr. Bushman being established with Oko- 
 took, and the two men with Kaoongut, we were thus all 
 comfortably lodged under the same roof . . . 
 
 On the 22d a number of the Esquimaux came to the 
 ships with a sledge, and among the rest my late host Arna- 
 neelia and his wife, the latter having the front of her jacket 
 adorned with numberless strings of beads that we had 
 given her, arranged with exact uniformity, to which, in 
 the fashion of their dresses and the disposition of their or- 
 naments, these people always rigidly adhere. Aneetka had 
 scarcely reached the cabin when she produced a little ivory 
 comb and a pair of handsome mittens, which she presented 
 to Mr. Edwards, at the same time thanking him for the 
 attention he had shown her on an occasion when she had 
 been taken in a fit alongside the " Fury," from which she 
 was recovered by bleeding. This expression of gratitude, 
 in which she was heartily joined by her husband, was ex- 
 tremely gratifying to us, as it served in some degree to 
 redeem these people in our estimation from the imputa- 
 tion of ingratitude which is indeed one of their greatest 
 failings. 
 
rASRT] LIFE AMONG THE ESQUIMAUX. 209 
 
 They stated having seen two reindeer the preceding day 
 going over the ice to the mainland. They spoke of this 
 with great pleasure, and we were ourselves not displeased 
 with the prospect of changing our diet for a little venison. 
 They now became extremely urgent with us for wood to 
 make bows and arrows, most of their own having, with 
 the childishness that accompanied their first barterings, 
 been parted with to our officers and men. Having several 
 broken oars which could be turned to little or no account 
 on board, we were enabled, at a small expense of useful 
 stores, to furnish them veiy abundantly with wood for this 
 purpose. Arnaneelia also informed us that Okotook, who 
 had been unwell for some days, was now much worse, and 
 seemed, as he described it, to be laboring under a violent 
 pulmonary complaint. On the circumstance being men- 
 tioned to Mr. Skeoch, he kindly volunteered to go to the 
 village, and accordingly took his seat on the sledge, accom- 
 panied also by Mr. Sherer. They carried with them a 
 quantity of bread-dust to be disti'ibuted among the Esqui- 
 maux at the huts, their success in seal-catching having 
 lately been indifferent. , . . 
 
 In digging up the piece of ground for our garden, we 
 found an incredible quantity of bones scattered about and 
 concealed under the little soil there was. They were prin- 
 cipally those of walruses and seals, and had evidently been 
 left a long time before by Esquimaux, in the course of 
 their wandering visits to the island, being gi-adually cov- 
 ered by the vegetable mould formed upon the spot which 
 they helped to fertihze. Afterwards, when the land became 
 more clear of snow, this was found to be the case to a 
 much greater extent, every spot of ground upon the south- 
 east point, which was not absolutely a rock, being covered 
 with these relics. Some graves were also discovered, in 
 
 one of which were a human skull, apparently a hundred 
 Vol. I— 14 
 
210 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Kanb 
 
 years buried, and some pieces of wood that had probably 
 been parts of spears or arrows almost mouldered to dust. 
 Knowing as we do the antiseptic properties of this climate, 
 animal or vegetable substances in this state of decay convey 
 to the mind an idea of much greater age than they would 
 in any other part of the world. 
 
 [Escape from their winter quarters was not accomplished till the 
 1st of July, they having been for nine months frozen in the ice.] 
 
 FUGITIVES FROM THE ARCTIC SEAS. 
 
 ELISHA KENT KANE. 
 
 [Of all works of travel in the Arctic seas, none have attracted more 
 attention than Dr. Kane's "Arctic Explorations," an attractively 
 written journal of hardship and adventure that had the interest of a 
 romance to most readers. The expedition ended in the enforced aban- 
 donment of the ship and a long boat journey over the ice, in which 
 the adventurers experienced many perils and suffered much from 
 hunger. We give the concluding incidents of this journey.] 
 
 It was the 18th of July before the aspects of the ice 
 about us gave me the hope of progress. We had prepared 
 ourselves for the new encounter with the sea and its trials 
 by laying in a store of lumme [an Arctic bird], two hundred 
 and fifty of which had been duly skinned, spread open, and 
 dried on the rocks as the entremets of our bread-dust and 
 tallow. 
 
 My journal tells of disaster in its record of our setting 
 out. In launching the " Hope" from the frail and pei-ishing 
 ice- wharf on which we found our first refuge from the gale, 
 she was precipitated into the sludge below, carrying away 
 rail and bulwark, losing overboard our best shot-gun, Bon* 
 
Kane] FUGITIVES FROM THE ARCTIC SEAS. 211 
 
 Ball's favorite, and, worst of all, that universal favorite, our 
 kettle, — soup-kettle, paste-kettle, tea-kettle, water-kettle, in 
 one. I may mention before I pass that the kettle found its 
 substitute and successor in the remains of a tin can which a 
 good aunt of mine had filled with ginger-nuts two years 
 before, and which had long survived the condiments that 
 once gave it dignity. " Such are the uses of adversity." 
 
 Our descent to the coast followed the margin of the fast 
 ice. After passing the Crimson Cliffs of Sir John Eoss it 
 wore almost the dress of a holiday excursion, — a rude one, 
 perhaps, yet truly one in feeling. Our course, except 
 where a protruding glacier interfered with it, was nearly 
 parallel to the shore. The birds along it were rejoicing in 
 the young summer, and when we halted it was upon some 
 green-clothed cape near a stream of water from the ice- 
 fields above. Our sportsmen would clamber up the cliffs 
 and come back laden with little auks ; great generous fires 
 of turf, that cost nothing but the toil of gathering, blazed 
 merrily ; and our happy oarsmen, after a long day's work, 
 made easy by the promise ahead, would stretch themselves 
 in the sunshine and dream happily away till called to the 
 morning wash and prayers. We enjoyed it the more, for 
 we all of us knew that it could not last. 
 
 This coast must have been a favorite region at one time 
 with the natives, — a sort of Esquimaux Eden. We seldom 
 encamped without finding the ruins of their habitations, 
 for the most part overgrown with lichens, and exhibiting 
 every mark of antiquity. One of these, in latitude 76° 
 20', was once, no doubt, an extensive village. Cairns for 
 the safe deposit of meat stood in long lines, six or eight in 
 a group ; and the huts, built of large rocks, faced each 
 other, as if disposed on a street or avenue. 
 
 The same reasoning which deduces the subsidence of the 
 coast from the actual base of the Temple of Serapis, proves 
 
212 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Kanb 
 
 that the depression of the Greenland coast, which I had 
 detected as far north as Upernavik, is also going on up 
 here. Some of these huts were washed by the sea or torn 
 away by the ice that had descended with the tides. The 
 turf, too, a representative of very ancient growth, was cut 
 off even with the water's edge, giving sections two feet thick. 
 I had not noticed before such unmistakable evidence of the 
 depression of this coast : its converse elevation I had ob- 
 served to the north of Wostenholme Sound. The axis of 
 oscillation must be somewhere in the neighborhood of 
 latitude 77°. 
 
 We reached Cape York on the 2l8t, after a tortuous but 
 romantic travel through a misty atmosphere. Here the 
 land-leads ceased, with the exception of some small and 
 scarcely practicable openings near the shore, which were 
 evidently owing to the wind that prevailed for the time. 
 Everything bore proof of the late development of the 
 season. The red snow was a fortnight behind its time. A 
 fast floe extended with numerous tongues far out to the 
 south and east. The only question was between a new 
 rest, for the shore-ices to open, or a desertion of the coast 
 and a trial of the open water to the west. 
 
 [They had at this time but thirty-six pounds of food per man and 
 fuel enough to last them three weeks.] 
 
 I climbed the rocks a second time with Mr. McGary, 
 and took a careful survey of the ice with my glass. The 
 " fast," as the whalers call the immovable shore-ice, could 
 be seen in a nearly unbroken sweep, passing by Bushnell's 
 Island, and joining the coast not far from where I stood. 
 The outside floes were large, and had evidently been not 
 long broken ; but it cheered my heart to see that there was 
 one well defined lead which followed the main floe until it 
 lost itself to seaward. 
 
Kane] FUGITIVES FROM THE ARCTIC SEAS. 213 
 
 I called my oflScers together, explained to them the 
 motives which governed me, and prepared to re-embark. 
 The boats were hauled up, examined carefully, and, as far 
 as our means permitted, repaired. The "Eed Eric" was 
 stripped of her outfit and cargo, to be broken up for fuel 
 when the occasion should come. A large beacon-cairn was 
 built on an eminence, open to view from the south and west, 
 and a red flannel shirt, spared with some reluctance, was 
 hoisted as a pennant to draw attention to the spot. Here 
 I deposited a succinct record of our condition and purposes, 
 and then directed our course south by west into the ice- 
 fields. 
 
 By degrees the ice through which we were moving be- 
 came more and more impacted, and it sometimes required 
 all our ice-knowledge to determine whether a particular 
 lead was practicable or not. The irregularities of the sur- 
 face, broken by hummocks, and occasionally by larger 
 masses, made it difficult to see far ahead, besides which 
 we were often erabax'rassed by the fogs. I was awakened 
 one evening from a weary sleep in my fox-skins to dis- 
 cover that we had fairly lost our way. The officer at the 
 helm of the leading boat, misled by the irregular shape of 
 a large iceberg that crossed his track, had lost the main 
 lead some time before, and was steering shoreward, far out 
 of the true course. The little canal in which he had locked 
 us was hardly two boats' -lengths across, and lost itself not 
 far off in a feeble zigzag both behind and before us ; it was 
 evidently closing, and we could not retreat. 
 
 Without apprising the men of our misadventure, I or- 
 dered the boats hauled up, and, under pretence of drying 
 the clothing and stores, made a camp on the ice. A few 
 hours after the weather cleared enough for the first time 
 to allow a view of the distance, and McGary and mj-self 
 climbed a berg some three hundred feet high for the pur- 
 
214 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Kan a 
 
 pose. It wa8 truly fearful ; we were deep in the recesses 
 of the bay, surrounded on all sides by stupendous icebergs 
 and tangled floe-pieces. My sturdy second officer, not nat- 
 urally impressible, and long accustomed to the vicissitudes 
 of whaling life, shed tears at the prospect. 
 
 There was but one thing to be done : cost what it might, 
 we must harness our sledges again and retrace our way to the 
 westward. One sledge had been already used for firewood; 
 the " Eed Eric," to which it had belonged, was now cut up, 
 and her light cedar planking laid upon the floor of the 
 other boats, and we went to work with the rue-raddies as 
 in the olden time. It was not till the third toilsome day 
 was well spent that we reached the berg that had bewil- 
 dered our helmsman. We hauled over its tongue and joy- 
 ously embarked again upon a free lead, with a fine breeze 
 from the north. 
 
 Our little squadron was now reduced to two boats. The 
 land to the northward was no longer visible, and whenever 
 I left the margin of the fast to avoid its deep sinuosities, I 
 was obliged to trust entirely to the compass. We had at 
 least eight days' allowance of fuel on board ; but our pro- 
 visions were running very low, and we met few birds, and 
 failed to secure any larger game. We saw several large 
 seals upon the ice, but they were too watchful for us ; and 
 on two occasions we came upon the walrus sleeping, once 
 within actual lance-thrust ; but the animal charged in the 
 teeth of his assailant and made good his retreat. 
 
 On the 28th I instituted a quiet review of the state of 
 things before us. Our draft on the stores we had laid in 
 at Providence Halt had been limited for some days to three 
 raw eggs and two breasts of birds a day, but we had a 
 small ration of bread-dust besides ; and when we halted, as 
 we did regularly for meals, our fuel allowed us to indulge 
 lavishly in the great panacea of Arctic travel, tea. The 
 
Kane] FUGITIVES FROM THE ARCTIC SEAS. 215 
 
 men's strength was waning under this restricted diet, but 
 a careful reckoning up of our remaining supplies proved 
 to me now that even this was more than we could afford 
 ourselves without an undue reliance on the fortunes of the 
 hunt. Our next land was to be Cape Shackleton, one of 
 the most prolific bird-colonies of the coast, which we were 
 all looking to, much as sailors nearing home in their boats 
 after disaster and short allowance at sea. But, meting out 
 our stores through the number of days that must elapse 
 before we could expect to share its hospitable welcome, I 
 found that five ounces of bread-dust, four of tallow, and 
 three of bird-meat must from this time form our daily 
 ration. 
 
 So far we had generally coasted the fast ice ; it had given 
 us an occasional resting-place and refuge, and we were able 
 sometimes to reinforce our stores of provisions by our guns. 
 But it made our progress tediously slow, and our stock of 
 small shot was so nearly exhausted that I was convinced 
 our safety depended on increase of speed. I determined 
 to try the more open sea. 
 
 For the first two days the experiment was a failure. We 
 were surrounded by heavy fogs ; a southwest wind brought 
 the outside pack upon us, and obliged us to haul up on the 
 drifting ice. We were thus carried to the northward, and 
 lost about twenty miles. My party, much overworked, felt 
 despondingly the want of the protection of the land-floes. 
 
 Nevertheless, I held to my purpose, steering south-south- 
 west as nearly as the leads would admit, and looking con- 
 stantly for the thinning out of the pack that hangs around 
 the western water. 
 
 Although the low diet and exposure to wet had again 
 reduced our party, there was no apparent relaxation of 
 energy, and it was not until some days later that I found 
 their strength seriously giving way. 
 
216 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Kane 
 
 It is a little curious that the effect of a short allowance 
 of food does not show itself in hunger. The first symp- 
 tom is a loss of power, often so imperceptibly brought on 
 that it becomes evident only by an accident. I well re- 
 member our look of blank amazement as, one da}^, the 
 order being given to haul the " Hope" over a tongue of ice, 
 we found she would not budge. At first I thought it was 
 owing to the wetness of the snow-covered surface in which 
 her runners were ; but, as there was a heavy gale blowing 
 outside, and I was extremely anxious to get her on to a 
 larger floe to prevent being drifted off, I lightened her 
 cargo and set both crews upon her. In the land of prom- 
 ise off Crimson Cliffs such a force would have trundled 
 her like a wheelbarrow : we could almost have borne her 
 upon our backs. Now with incessant labor and standing 
 hauls she moved at a snail's pace. 
 
 The " Faith" was left behind and barely escaped destruc- 
 tion. The outside pressure cleft the floe asunder, and we 
 saw our best boat with all our stores drifting rapidly away 
 from us. The sight produced an almost hysterical im- 
 pression upon our party. Two days of want of bread, I 
 am sure, would have destroyed us ; and we had now left 
 us but eight pounds of shot in all. To launch the "Hope" 
 again, and rescue her comrade or share her fortunes, would 
 have been the instinct of other circumstances ; but it was 
 out of the question now. Happily, before we had time to 
 ponder our loss a flat cake of ice eddied round near the 
 floe we were upon ; McGary and myself sprang to it at 
 the moment, and succeeded in floating it across the chasm 
 in time to secure her. The rest of the crew rejoined her 
 only by scrambling over the crushed ice as we brought her 
 in at the hummock-lines. 
 
 Things grew worse and worse with us ; the old difficulty 
 of breathing came back again, and our feet swelled to such 
 
Kane] FUGITIVES FROM THE ARCTIC SEAS. 217 
 
 an extent that we were obliged to cut open our canvas 
 boots. But the symptom which gave me most uneasiness 
 was our inability to sleep. A form of low fever which 
 hung by us when at work had been kept down by the 
 thoroughness of our daily rest ; all my hopes of escape 
 were in the refreshing influences of the halt. 
 
 It must be remembered that we were now in the open 
 bay, in the full line of the great ice-drift to the Atlantic, 
 and in boats so frail and unseaworthy as to require con- 
 stant baling to keep them afloat. 
 
 It was at this crisis of our fortunes that we saw a large 
 seal floating — as is the custom of these animals — on a 
 small patch of ice, and seemingly asleep. It was an ussuk, 
 and so large that I at first mistook it for a walrus. Signal 
 was made for the " Hope" to follow astern, and, trembling 
 with anxiety, we prepared to crawl down upon him. 
 
 Petersen, with the large English rifle, was stationed in 
 the bow, and stockings were drawn over the oars as 
 mufilers. As we neared the animal our excitement became 
 so intense that the men could hardly keep stroke. I had 
 a set of signals for such occasions which spared us the 
 noise of the voice ; and when about three hundred yards 
 off the oars were taken in, and we moved in deep silence 
 with a single scull astern. 
 
 He was not asleep, for he reared his head when we were 
 almost within rifle-shot ; and to this day I can remember 
 the hard, careworn, almost desjjaii^ing expression of the 
 men's thin faces as they saw him move ; their lives 
 depended on his capture. 
 
 I depressed my hand nervously, as a signal for Petersen 
 to fire. McGary hung upon his oar, and the boat, slowly 
 but noiselessly sagging ahead, seemed to me within certain 
 range. Looking at Petersen, I saw that the poor fellow 
 was paralyzed by his anxiety, trying vainly to obtain a 
 
218 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Kan a 
 
 rest for his gun against the cut-water of the boat. The 
 seal rose on his fore-flippers, gazed at us for a moment with 
 frightened curiosity, and coiled himself for a plunge. At 
 that instant, simultaneously with the crack of our rifle, he 
 relaxed his long length on the ice, and, at the very brink 
 of the water, his head fell helpless to one side. 
 
 I would have ordered another shot, but no discipline 
 could have controlled the men. With a wild yell, each 
 vociferating according to his own impulse, they urged both 
 boats upon the floes. A crowd of hands seized the seal 
 and bore him up to safer ice. The men seemed half crazy ; 
 I had not realized how much we were reduced by absolute 
 famine. They ran over the floe crying and laughing and 
 brandishing their knives. It was not five minutes before 
 every man was sucking his bloody fingers or mouthing 
 long strips of raw blubber. 
 
 Not an ounce of this seal was lost. The intestines found 
 their way into the soup-kettles without any observances of 
 the preliminary home processes. The cartilaginous parts 
 of the fore-flippers were cut off in the melee and passed 
 round to be chewed upon ; and even the liver, warm and 
 raw as it was, bade fair to be eaten before it had seen the 
 pot. That night, on the large halting floe, to which, in 
 contempt of the dangers of drifting, we happy men had 
 hauled our boats, two entire planks of the " Eed Eric" were 
 devoted to a grand cooking-fire, and we enjoyed a rare and 
 savage feast. 
 
 This was our last experience of the disagreeable efi^ects 
 of hunger. In the words of George Stephenson, " The 
 charm was broken, and the dogs were safe." The dogs I 
 have said little about, for none of us liked to think of them. 
 The poor creatures Toodla and Whitey had been taken 
 with us as last resources against starvation. They were, 
 as McGary worded it, " meat on the hoof," and " able to 
 
Kane] FUGITIVES FROM THE ARCTIC SEAS. 219 
 
 carry their own fat over the floes." Once, near Weary 
 Man's Eest, I had been on the point of killing them ; but 
 they had been the leaders of our winter's team, and we 
 could not bear the sacrifice. 
 
 I need not detail our journey any farther. Within a day 
 or two we shot another seal, and from that time forward 
 had a full supply of food. . . . Two days after this, a mist 
 had settled down upon the islands which embayed us, and 
 when it lifted we found ourselves rowing, in lazy time, 
 under the shadow of Karkamoot. Just then a familiar 
 sound came to us over the water. We had often listened 
 to the screeching of the gulls or the bark of the fox and 
 mistaken it for the " Huk" of the Esquimaux, but this had 
 about it an inflection not to be mistaken, for it died away 
 in the familiar cadence of an " halloo." 
 
 " Listen, Petersen ! Oars, men !" ''What is it ?" and he 
 listened quietly at first, and then, trembling, said in a half- 
 whisper, " Dannemarkers !" 
 
 I remember this, the first tone of Christian voice which 
 had greeted our return to the world. How we all stood 
 up and peered into the distant nooks ; and how the cry 
 came to us again, just as, having seen nothing, we were 
 doubting whether the whole was not a dream ; and then 
 how, with long sweeps, the white ash cracking under the 
 spring of the rowers, we stood for the cape that the sound 
 proceeded from, and how nervously we scanned the green 
 spots which our experience, grown now into instinct, told 
 us would be the likely camping-ground of wayfarers. 
 
 By and by — for we must have been pulling a good half- 
 hour — the single mast of a small shallop showed itself; 
 and Petersen, who had been very quiet and grave, burst 
 into an incoherent fit of crying, only relieved by broken 
 exclamations of mingled Danish and English. " 'Tis the 
 Upernavik oil-boat ! The ' Fraulein Flaischer !' Carlie 
 
220 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Schley 
 
 MosByn, the assistant cooper, must be on his road to Kin- 
 gatok for blubber. The ' Marian e' (the one annual ship) 
 
 has come, and Carlie Mossyn " and here he did it all 
 
 over again, gulping down his words and wringing his 
 hands. 
 
 It was Carlie Mossyn, sure enough. The quiet routine 
 of a Danish settlement is the same year after year, and 
 Petersen had hit upon the exact state of things. The 
 '' Mariane" was at Proven, and Carlie Mossyn had come 
 up in the " Friiulein Flaischer" to get the year's supply of 
 blubber from Kingatok. 
 
 RESCUED FROM DEATH. 
 
 W. S. SCHLEY. 
 
 [In the whole history of Arctic exploration there is no story more 
 replete with the elements of tragedy than that of Lieutenant A. W. 
 Greely and his hrave companions. Sailing to the far north in 1881 on 
 a scientific expedition, misfortune overtook the party, largely due to 
 the failure of the relief expeditions of 1882 and 1883 to reach them. 
 The imperilled navigators left their vessel and made their way down 
 the coast, suffering terribly from cold and hunger, and were in the 
 throes of starvation when finally rescued by the relief expedition of 
 1884. Many of them had alreadj' died, and but a perishing remnant 
 was left when they were at length discovered in their final place of 
 refuge. The story of their discovery and rescue, as told by Commander 
 W. S. Schley and Professor J. K. Soley, in their " Rescue of Greely," 
 is tragically dramatic, and we make it the subject of our present selec- 
 tion. The relief vessels, the " Thetis" and the " Bear," examining the 
 coast in the vicinity of Cape York, found that there was no trace of 
 the sufferers at Littleton Island. Thence they made their way to 
 Brevoort Island, near Cape Sabine, and from there sent out four 
 parties to examine the coast in different directions.] 
 
 It was intended that, as soon as a satisfactory exam- 
 ination had been made and a depot landed, the ships should 
 
Schley] RESCUED FROM DEATH. 221 
 
 advance without delay into Kane Sea. There was no ex- 
 pectation of finding that any one had been at the cape, or 
 that the cairns or caches had been disturbed, as it was clear 
 that if Greely had arrived he would .have been short of pro- 
 visions, and would therefore have sought to obtain those at 
 Littleton Island ; and nobody could have imagined for a 
 moment that with prospective starvation on one side of the 
 strait, and a provision depot (although a small one) twenty- 
 three miles off on the other, a party supplied with a boat 
 and oars would have preferred the former alternative. In 
 fact, at the time the cutter started, the crew of the " Bear" 
 were getting provisions on deck, to be in readiness for the 
 sledge journey that was to be made northward, after the 
 ships were stopped by the fast ice. As the cutter left the 
 ship, Colwell picked up a can of hard-tack and two one- 
 pound cans of pemmican, as he thought that his party 
 might be out all night, and a little of something to eat 
 would not go amiss. 
 
 Within half an hour after the first parties had left the 
 ship cheers were heard above the roaring of the wind. 
 At first it was impossible to tell from what quarter the 
 sound proceeded, but soon the cheering was heard a second 
 time more distinctly, in the direction of Brevoort Island. 
 Almost immediately after, Ensign Harlow was observed 
 signalling from Stalknecht Island. His message read, 
 " Have found Greely's record ; send five men." 
 
 Before this request could be carried out, Yewell was seen 
 running over the ice towards the ships, and a few minutes 
 later he came on board, almost out of breath, with the in- 
 formation that Lieutenant Taunt had found a message 
 from Greely in the cairn on Brevoort Island. Yewell 
 brought the papers with him, and called out, as he gave 
 them to the officer of the deck, that Greely's party were at 
 Cape Sabine, all well. The excitement of the moment was 
 
222 WORLD'f? GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Schlkt 
 
 intense, and it spread with the rapidity of lightning through 
 both the ships. It was decided instantly to go on to the 
 Cape, and a general recall was sounded by three long blasts 
 from the steam-whistle of the " Thetis." 
 
 The first thing to be done before taking definite action 
 was to go carefully over the papers that Taunt had found. 
 All the oflScers who had remained behind in the two ships 
 gathered around the wardroom table of the " Thetis," and 
 the records were hurriedly read aloud. As one paper after 
 another was quickly turned over, until the last was reached, 
 it was discovered with horror that the latest date borne by 
 any of them was October 21, 1883, and that but forty days' 
 complete rations were left to live upon. Eight months had 
 elapsed since then, and the belief was almost irresistible 
 that the whole party must have perished during this ter- 
 rible period of waiting and watching for relief. . . . 
 
 It was a wonderful story. It told how the expedition, 
 during its two years at Lady Franklin Bay, had marked 
 out the interior of Grinnell Land, and how Lockwood had 
 followed the northern shore of Greenland, and had re- 
 claimed for America the honor of "the farthest north." 
 But there was no time now to think of what the expe- 
 dition had accomplished ; that was already a matter of 
 history. The pressing question was, Where was Greely's 
 party now ? and to that question it was too probable that 
 there was but one answer. 
 
 The records had named the wreck-cache as the site of 
 Greely's camp, and preparations were made at once to go 
 there. The cutter, with Colwell and his party on board, 
 had not yet got away, having been stopped by the cries 
 from the shore, and she now steamed back under the stern 
 of the " Thetis." Colwell was directed to go to the site of 
 the cache and look for the explorers ; and if any were alive, 
 — of which the record gave little hope, — to tell them that 
 
SCHLBTJ RESCUED FROM DEATH. 223 
 
 relief was close at hand. As he was about to leave, he 
 called out for a boat-flag, and one was thrown to him from 
 the ship. This was bent on a boat-hook and set up in the 
 stern of the boat. 
 
 Before the cutter had disappeared to the northward the 
 commander of the expedition had gone on board the 
 " Bear," and the ship was under way, following the track 
 of the cutter around the cape. The detachment under 
 Harlow, which had found Greely's scientific records and 
 instruments on Stalknecht Island, and the other party 
 under Melville, some of whom had not yet returned, were 
 to come after in the " Thetis," which was left behind to 
 pick them up. The passage which the ships and the cut- 
 ter were to make was about six miles, although from Payer 
 Harbor to the wreck-cache, in a straight line, across the 
 rugged neck of intervening land, it was less than half that 
 distance. Fortunately, the southerly gale had set the ice 
 off shore into Kane Sea, leaving a clear passage around for 
 the vessels. 
 
 It was half-past eight o'clock in the evening as the cut- 
 ter steamed around the rocky bluif of Cape Sabine and 
 made her way to the cove, four miles farther on, which 
 Colwell remembered so well from his hurried landing with 
 the stores on the terrible night following the wreck of the 
 " Proteus." The storm, which had been raging with only 
 slight intervals since early the day before, still kept up, 
 and the wind was driving in bitter gusts through the open- 
 ings in the ridge that followed the coast to the westward. 
 Although the sky was overcast, it was broad daylight, — 
 the daylight of a dull winter afternoon, — and as the cutter 
 passed along, Colwell could recognize the familiar land- 
 marks of the year before ; the long sweep of the rocky 
 coast, with its ice-foot spanning every cove, the snow gath- 
 ered in the crevices, the projecting headlands, and the Une 
 
224 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Schlky 
 
 of the ice-pack which had ground up the "Proteus," dimly 
 seen in the mists to the north, across the tossing waters of 
 Kane Sea. At last the boat arrived at the site of the 
 wreck-cache, and the shore was eagerly scanned, but noth- 
 ing could be seen. Hounding the next point, the cutter 
 opened out the cove beyond. There, on the toj) of a little 
 ridge, fifty or sixty yards above the ice-foot, was plainly 
 outlined the figure of a man. Instantly the coxswain 
 caught up the boat-hook and waved his flag. The man on 
 the ridge had seen them, for he stooped, picked up a signal- 
 flag from the rock, and waved it in reply. Then he was 
 seen coming slowly and cautiously down the steep rocky 
 slope. Twice he fell down before he reached the foot. As 
 he approached, still walking feebly and with difficulty, 
 Colwell hailed him from the bow of the boat. 
 
 " Who all are there left ?" 
 
 " Seven left." 
 
 As the cutter struck the ice, Colwell jumped off and went 
 up to him. He was a ghastly sight. His cheeks were hol- 
 low, his eyes wild, his hair and beard long and matted. 
 His army blouse, covering several thicknesses of shirts and 
 jackets, was ragged and dirty. He wore a little fur cap 
 and rough moccasins of untanned leather tied around the 
 leg. As he spoke, his utterance was thick and mumbling, 
 and in his agitation his jaws worked in convulsive twitches. 
 As the two met, the man, with a sudden impulse, took off 
 his glove and shook Colwell's hand. 
 
 " Where are they ?" asked Colwell, briefly. 
 
 "In the tent," said the man, pointing over his shoulder; 
 " over the hill ; the tent is down." 
 , '-Is Mr. Greely alive?" 
 
 " Yes, Greely's alive." 
 
 " Any other officers ?" 
 
 " No." Then he repeated, absently, " The tent is down." 
 
ScHLKY] RESCUED FROM DEATH. 225 
 
 " Who are you ?" 
 
 " Long." 
 
 Before this colloquy was over Lowe and Norman had 
 started up the hill. Hastily filling his pockets with bread, 
 and taking the two cans of pemmican, Colwell told the cox- 
 swain to take Long into the cutter, and started after the 
 others with Ash. Beaching the crest of the ridge, and 
 looking southward, they saw spread out before them a des- 
 olate expanse of rocky ground, sloping gradually from a 
 ridge on the east to the ice-covered shore, which at the 
 west made in and formed a cove. Back of the level space 
 was a range of hills rising up eight hundred feet, with a 
 precipitous face, broken in two by a gorge, thi'ough which 
 the wind was blowing furiously. On a little elevation 
 directly in front was the tent. Hurrying on across the in- 
 tervening hollow, Colwell came up with Lowe and Norman 
 just as they were greeting a soldierly-looking man who 
 had come out from the tent. 
 
 As Colwell approached, Norman was saying to the man, — 
 
 "There is the lieutenant." 
 
 And he added to Colwell, — 
 
 " This is Sergeant Brainard." 
 
 Brainard immediately di'ew himself up to the position 
 of the soldier, and was about to salute when Colwell took 
 his hand. 
 
 At this moment there was a confused murmur within the 
 tent, and a voice said, — 
 
 " Who's there ?" 
 
 Norman answered, " It's Norman, — Norman who was 
 in the ' Proteus.' " 
 
 This was followed by cries of " Oh, it's Norman !" and a 
 sound like a feeble cheer. 
 
 Meanwhile, one of the relief party, who in his agitation 
 
 and excitement was crying like a child, was down on his 
 
 Vol. I— 15 
 
226 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Schley 
 
 hands and knees trying to roll away the stones that held 
 down the flapping tent cloth. The tent was a " tepik," or 
 wigwam tent, with a fly attached. The fly, with its posts 
 and ridge-pole, had been wrecked by the gale which had 
 been blowing for thirty-six hours, and the pole of the tepik 
 was toppling over, and only kept in place by the guy-ropes. 
 There was no entrance except under the flap opening, 
 which was held down by stones. Colwell called for a knife, 
 cut a slit in the tent-cover, and looked in. 
 
 It was a sight of horror. On one side, close to the open- 
 ing, with his head towards the outside, lay what was 
 apparently a dead man. His jaw had dropped, his eyes 
 were open, but fixed and glassy, his limbs were motionless. 
 On the opposite was a poor fellow, alive to be sure, but 
 without hands or feet, and with a spoon tied to the stump 
 of his right arm. Two others seated on the ground, in the 
 middle, had just got down a rubber bottle that hung on the 
 tent-pole, and were pouring from it into a tin can. Directly 
 opposite, on his hands and knees, was a dark man with a 
 long matted beard, in a dirty and tattered dressing-gown, 
 with a little red skull-cap on his head, and brilliant staring 
 eyes. As Colwell appeared, he raised himself a little, and 
 put on a pair of eye-glasses. 
 
 " Who are you ?" asked Colwell. 
 
 The man made no answer, staring at him vacantly. 
 
 " Who are you ?" again. 
 
 One of the men spoke up : " That's the major, — ^Major 
 Greely." 
 
 Colwell crawled in and took him by the hand, saying to 
 him, " Greely, is this you ?" 
 
 " Yes," said Greely in a faint broken voice, hesitating 
 and shuffling with his words, " yes — seven of us left — here 
 we are — dying — like men. Did what I came to do — beat 
 the best record." 
 
Schley] RESCUED FROM DEATH. 227 
 
 Then he fell back exhausted. 
 
 The four men in the tent with Greely were two sergeants, 
 Elison and Fredericks ; Bierderbick, the hospital steward ; 
 and Private Connell, who, with Brainard and Long, were 
 all that remained of the twenty-five members of the Lady 
 Franklin Bay Expedition. The scene, as Colwell looked 
 around, was one of misery and squalor. The rocky floor 
 was covered with cast-off clothes, and among them were 
 huddled together the sleeping-bags in which the party had 
 spent most of their time during the last few months. 
 There was no food left in the tent but two or three cans 
 of a thin, repulsive-looking jelly, made by boiling strips cut 
 from the seal-skin clothing. The bottle on the tent-pole 
 still held a few teaspoonfuls of brandy, but it was their 
 last, and they were sharing it as Colwell entered; it was 
 evident that most of them had not long to live. . . . 
 
 As soon as Colwell understood the condition of affairs, he 
 sent Chief-Engineer Lowe back to the cutter to put off to 
 the " Bear" with Long, to report what had happened, and 
 bring off the others with the surgeon and stimulants. 
 Fredericks and Bierderbick pi'esently got up and came out. 
 Colwell gave them, as well as Greely and Elison, a little of 
 the biscuit he had in his pocket, which they munched 
 slowly and deliberately. Then he gave them another bit, 
 while Norman opened one of the cans of pemmican. 
 Scraping off a little with a knife, Colwell fed them slowly 
 by turns. It was a pitiable sight. They could not stand 
 up, and had dropped down on their knees, and held out 
 their hands begging for more. After they had each been 
 fed twice, they were told that they had had enough, that 
 they could not eat more then without danger ; but their 
 hunger had now come back with full force, and they begged 
 piteously to be helped again, protesting that it could do 
 them no harm. Colwell was wisely deaf to their entreaties 
 
228 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Schlkt 
 
 and threw away the can. When Greely found that he was 
 refused he took out a can of the boiled seal-skin, which had 
 been carefully husbanded, and which he said he had a 
 right to eat, as it was his own. This was taken away 
 from him, but while Colwell was at work trying to raise 
 the tent, some one got the half-emptied can of pemmican, 
 and by the time it was discovered had eaten its contents. 
 
 The weaker ones were like children, petulant, rambling 
 and fitful in their talk, absent, and sometimes a little in- 
 coherent. While they were waiting for the return of the 
 boat, Colwell and the ice-masters did their best to cheer 
 them up by telling them that relief was at hand, and that 
 the others would soon arrive. They could not realize it, 
 and refused to believe it. So they were humored, and by 
 way of taking up their thoughts, Colwell told them some- 
 thing of what had been going on in the world during their 
 three years of exile. Curiously enough, there was much 
 that they knew already. It turned out that among the 
 stores from the " Proteus" were two boxes of lemons, and the 
 fruit had been wrapped up in scraps of English newspapers, 
 — " those lemons which j^our dear wife put up for us," as 
 one of them said to Colwell in a moment of wandering 
 fancy. The latter could only disclaim the imaginary ob- 
 ligation to an imaginary person, but the imjDression had 
 already faded. 
 
 As Greely complained of cold, Colwell gave him his 
 gloves, and persuaded him to go back to his sleeping-bag. 
 This was lying under the fallen tent-cloth, which the party 
 had been too weak or too discouraged to raise up and dis- 
 engage. Where the single remaining pole supported the 
 tent there was a clear 8j)ace of perhaps six feet, just 
 enough for a man to stand upright, but around it the can- 
 vas was lying on the ground. The bag, from which Greely 
 had hardly moved for a month, was found under the 
 
Schley] RESCUED FROM DEATH. 229 
 
 canvas, and by the united efforts of the three men the tent 
 was partly raised. 
 
 Meanwhile, the '• Bear" had arrived and Lowe had gone 
 off in the cutter, taking with him Sergeant Long. Long was 
 too weak to get on board Avithout assistance, and was lifted 
 over the side by some of the crew and taken to a chair in 
 the wardroom. In reply to questions about the j)arty and 
 their condition, Long, in a husky voice, told his story : that 
 all were dead except Greely and five others, who were on 
 shore in "sore distress — sore distress ;" that they had had 
 a hard winter, and " the wonder was how in God's name 
 they had pulled through." No words can describe the 
 pathos of this man's broken and enfeebled utterance as he 
 said, over and over, " a hard winter — a hard winter ;" and 
 the officers who were gathered about him in the wardroom 
 felt an emotion which most of them were at little pains to 
 conceal. The first sign of the relief expedition which had 
 reached the camp was the sound from the steam whistle of 
 the " Thetis," recalhng the shore parties at Payer Harbor. 
 Lieutenant Greely, lying on the ground in his tent, had 
 heard it, as it was borne faintly over the neck of laud, but 
 the others had not noticed it in the roaring wind, and 
 when he told them he had heard a steamer's whistle, they 
 thought it only the impression of his disturbed imagination. 
 Long crawled out of the tent and, bracing himself against 
 the wind, struggled up to the ridge ; but nothing could 
 be seen but the rocky coast, and the ice-foot, and the 
 chopping sea with the pack stretching off in the distance. 
 It was a bitter disappointment. Long went back dis- 
 heartened, but after waiting uneasily awhile longer, he 
 mounted the ridge a second time. Still there was nothing 
 to be seen but the same hopeless prospect, and ho was 
 about to return again when the cutter came into view 
 around the point above. After all these months of waiting 
 
230 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Collis 
 
 it was hard to believe that he was not dreaming, but when 
 he saw the coxswain wave the famiUar flag, he knew that 
 relief had come at last. 
 
 [The conclusion of the story is longer than we have space to give. 
 It will suffice to say that the survivors were gradually brought back to 
 life and health, and that the living and the bodies of the dead alike 
 were brought back to the United States ; and that in the robust- 
 appearing General Greely of to-day there is nothing to indicate the 
 terrible strain of that dread winter in the realm of ice. J 
 
 THE MUIR GLACIER. 
 
 SEPTIMA M. COLLIS. 
 
 ["No other country in the world possesses so many unique wonders 
 of nature as the United States. The Yosemite Valley, Yellowstone 
 Park, Mammoth Cave, Niagara Falls, and Sequoia Groves each stands 
 alone in its peculiar beauty or grandeur ; and to these we may add the 
 Muir Glacier in Alaska, before which the famous glaciers of the Alps 
 shrink into insignificance, and which has no rival outside the Arctic 
 zone. "A Woman's Trip to Alaska," by Mrs. Collis, gives a vivid 
 and picturesque description of this glacial wonder, which we here ap- 
 pend. The sketch given is preceded by a statistical one, in which we 
 are told that this glacier sheds from its front " one hundred and sixty 
 million cubic feet of ice every twenty-four hours."] 
 
 The previous chapter has briefly outlined the main facts 
 within my knowledge concerning the Muir Glacier which 
 I had gathered from my reading, and upon which I had 
 to create the image of what I expected to see. True, I had 
 seen photographs of it ; yes, and I had seen photographs 
 of the Canon of the Yellowstone, and of the Nevada 
 Falls, and of Niagara, just as I have seen paste diamonds ; 
 I knew their shapes, and that is all I ever gathered from 
 
Col lis] THE MUIR GLACIER. 231 
 
 their portraits. Neither the expression, nor the comjjlexion, 
 nor the sound of the voice of nature are to be found upon 
 the dull surface of the photograph ; you simply get the 
 general lines, some of the shadows, very ei'roneous perspec- 
 tive, and that is all. We had come to a stand-still while we 
 were at lunch. I had observed the slackening of speed ; 
 next the stoppage of the machinery; then the absolute 
 stillness of the ship ; and finally a darkening of the saloon. 
 We were evidently at a halt under the shadow of some im- 
 mense elevation. A passenger on tiptoe looked through 
 the port-hole, and uttered an exclamation of amazement ; 
 then we all rushed to similar apertures ; climbed on the 
 chairs ; looked over [the men's shoulders ; in fact, did all 
 kinds of unreasonable things, and at last stampeded up the 
 companion-way to the deck. 
 
 I pray heaven that neither age nor infirmity may ever 
 efface from my memory the sight and the sensation of that 
 moment. To say that I was transfixed, speechless, fasci- 
 nated to intoxication by the spell of this marvellous devel- 
 opment is no exaggeration. Those who reached the deck 
 first seemed paralyzed, halted, and thus blockaded the way 
 for those who wore to follow; others kept within the saloon 
 from choice, as though they dreaded some phenomenal 
 convulsion. I wedged my way as best I could, after the 
 first shock of amazement had subsided, up to the very bow 
 of the ship. 
 
 Upon each side of me, half a mile away, rose the same 
 old mountains which I had seen everywhere from Tacoma 
 north ; at my feet the same Pacific Ocean, but in front of 
 me, apparently so close that I could almost reach it with 
 my fingers, the perpendicular wall of a caiion, not of 
 rock, nor clay, nor grass, nor forest, but of ice, — a wall of 
 ice a mile in length ; and when I say a mile, I mean over 
 eighteen hundred yards of it ; and when I speak of ice, I do 
 
232 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Collis 
 
 not mean the sooty, porous stuff that lodges in the valleys 
 of the Alps ; I mean the veritable, pure, clear, crystal ice 
 of the ice-pitcher. A wall a hundred yards high, and in 
 some places towering up an additional fifty ; a wall ex- 
 tending down deeper in the ocean than it reaches from the 
 ocean to the sky ; hard as adamant, sharp and edged like 
 flint, aqua-marine in color, deepening towards the water 
 into indigo, tipped on the summits and projections with a 
 froth of snow. If I did not know that it was ice, I should 
 believe that it was glass. If I did not know that it was 
 the work of the Creator, I should believe that here had 
 assembled a convocation of architects, who in their collec- 
 tive ingenuity had reproduced a combination of the chefs- 
 d'cEuvre of their art; for here were the buttresses of the 
 English abbeys, and flying buttresses of ]!>fotre Dame, tur- 
 rets of the Normans, towers of the early English, spires 
 of the cathedral in Cologne, wonderful unoccupied niches, 
 pilasters of the purest white marble and green malachite, 
 and decorative carving and high polish worthy of Cellini. 
 
 It was a cloudy day, yet the front glistened with pris- 
 matic splendor. What will it be, I asked myself, if in the 
 afternoon the setting sun shall light it up ? But we are 
 too close to it for our own safety, we learn, and are slowly 
 moved back half a mile, where our anchor is dropped and 
 preparations are made to row us on shore to climb to the 
 top of the glacier. While we are moving a sharp detona- 
 tion rings out like the firing of a rifle, and one of the 
 beautiful spires on the crest of the very centre of the wall 
 is shivered into atoms, and its fragments fall with a splash 
 four hundred feet. Later there is a report as of a cannon, 
 but without result ; this, we are told, is the parting of the 
 sea of ice somewhere far back in its mountain home. 
 Presently two similar explosions, evidently right close to 
 us, followed by rumbling echoes, and over topples a huge 
 
MUIR GLACIER, ALASKA 
 
fe 
 
 ^r 
 
 •r 
 
Col lis] THE MUIR GLACIER. 233 
 
 mass weighing tons, which sinks so far that several seconds 
 elapse before it rises to the surface, swaying to and fro 
 until it finds its equilibrium, and then floats down the cur- 
 rent, one more turquoise gem added to the chain which 
 precedes it. 
 
 And this continued all day, sometimes at intervals of 
 seconds only, sometimes of half an hour, and when we re- 
 tired at night the explosion and the splash became as 
 monotonous and periodical as the tinkling of the street-car 
 bell or the footstep of the passer-by does at home. There 
 was one tremendous breaking-off towards evening; the 
 sun, as we had hoped, was out in full glory, and at the 
 distance from which we now viewed the glacier it was a 
 mountain of snow-covered ice chopped off in front. For 
 many miles we could see over and beyond the facade, as 
 though looking at a great river of snow ; yet the fagado 
 itself was a face of corrugated emerald, reflecting the sun's 
 rays at every imaginable angle, and changing and scintil- 
 lating with every movement of the ship. 
 
 Suddenly, near the centre, the top began to incline for- 
 ward, and the whole face of probably twenty yards in 
 width, from the top of the glacier to the bottom of the 
 bay, fell outward as a ladder would fall, without a break 
 anywhere. There was a tremendous upheaving of the 
 water, of course ; then the report of the invariable explo- 
 sion reached us, but no trace remained of the fallen ice, 
 save the swell in the water, which had almost reached and' 
 rocked the steamer. I do not know how much time 
 elapsed before the lovely thing rose to the surface, but it 
 seemed an age, and then it came in a dozen pieces, each of 
 the same exquisite diaphanous blue, which, as they ap- 
 proached us gradually, changed to a clear transparent 
 sapphire. 
 
 If it will help to serve the purpose of giving a just idea 
 
234 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Collis 
 
 of the colossal proportions of the scene I endeavor to de- 
 scribe, let me say that the Capitol at Washington, the City- 
 Hall in Philadelphia, the Cathedral, the Equitable, and the 
 Mills Buildings in New York, and all the mammoth news- 
 paper offices in the same city might be floated in front of 
 the Muir Grlaeier, and yet its emerald walls would overtop 
 and engulf them all. As a contrast to all that is pure and 
 chaste in the scene before us, there rushes out from the 
 eastern end of the glacier a subglacial stream of thick, 
 dirty water, much resembling, as it boils up from its cav- 
 ernous outlet, the mud geyser of the Yellowstone. This is 
 a perpetually flowing river, charged with sediment and 
 debris from the scouring process produced by the friction 
 of the moving ice along its bed of rock ; it gives the water 
 in the inlet a thick, gray color, utterly destroying the 
 charm of its otherwise transparent character. 
 
 If you are amiable enough to say that what I have 
 written gives a sufficiently correct idea of what you expect 
 to see, I beg to diff'er from you. No camera, no pencil, no 
 vocabulary, can do more than produce a desire to see for 
 one's self. I can only say that it has been my fortune to 
 behold much that is grand in nature and in art at home 
 and abroad, but the hours spent at Muir Glacier made the 
 great event of my life. If God spares me, I hope to see it 
 often. And fearing I might be accused of exaggeration, 
 which is far from my desire, for I am searching in vain for 
 superlatives which would do the subject justice, let me 
 quote from others who preceded me, and all of whom havo 
 established their reputation as authorities. 
 
 Miss Kate Field says, "In Switzerland a glacier is a 
 vast bed of dirty, air-holed ice that has fastened itself, like 
 a cold porous plaster, to the side of an Alp. Distance alone 
 lends enchantment to the view. In Alaska a glacier is a 
 wonderful torrent that seems to have been suddenly frozen 
 
CoLLis] THE MUIR GLACIER. 235 
 
 when about to plunge into the sea. . . . Think of Niagara 
 Falls frozen stiff, add thirty-six feet to its height, and you 
 have a slight idea of the terminus of Muir Glacier, in front 
 of which your steamer anchors ; piqture a background of 
 mountains fifteen thousand feet high, all snow-clad, and 
 then imagine a gorgeous sun lighting up the ice-crystals 
 with rainbow coloring. The face of the glacier takes on 
 the hue of aqua-marine, the hue of every bit of floating 
 ice, big and little, that surround the steamer and make 
 navigation serious. These dazzling serpents move at the 
 rate of sixty-four feet a day, tumbling headlong into the 
 sea, and, as they fall, the ear is startled by submarine 
 thunder, the echoes of which resound far and near. Down, 
 down, down goes the berg, and woe to the boat in its way 
 when it rises again to the surface." 
 
 Charles Hallock in " Our New Alaska," pp. 172-733 : " The 
 glacier wall overhung us with its mighty majesty, three 
 times the height of the steamer's mast or more, and we 
 seemed none too far away to escape the constantly cleaving 
 masses which dropped from its face with deafening deto- 
 nations. The foam which gathered from the impetus of 
 the plunges surged upward fully two-thirds of the height 
 of the cliff, and the resulting swell tossed the large steamer 
 like a toy, and rolled up in breakers of surf upon the beach. 
 . . . The glacier is by no means smooth, but is seamed and 
 riven in every part by clefts and fissures. It is hollowed 
 into caverns and grottos, hung with massive stalactites, 
 and fashioned into pinnacles and domes. Every section 
 and configuration has its heart of translucent blue or green, 
 interlaced or bordered by fretted frostwork of intensest 
 white, so that the appearance is at all times gnome-liko 
 and supernatural. . . . 
 
 " I cannot conceive how any one can sit by and contem- 
 plate without emotion the stupendous throes which give 
 
236 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Collis 
 
 birth to the icebergs, attended with detonations like explo- 
 sions of artillery, and reverberations of thunder across the 
 sky, and the mighty wreckage which follows each convul- 
 sion. Nevertheless, I have seen a lady loll with com- 
 plaisance in her steamer chair comfortably wrapped for 
 the chilly air, and observe the astounding scene with the 
 same languid contemplation that she would discuss her 
 social fixtures and appointments. Zounds! I believe that 
 such a human negation would calmly view the wrecks of 
 worlds and hear the crack of doom at the final renderincr, 
 if it did not affect her set. She could watch, at a suitable 
 distance, the agony of Christian martyrs, the carnage of 
 great battles, the sweep of cyclones, the diluvial sub- 
 mergence. Dynamite would not appall her, but to me it 
 would be the acme of satisfaction, ineffably supreme, to 
 startle such clods of inanition by a cry of mouse, and elec- 
 trify'- them into momentary emotion. No vinaigrette would 
 ever mitigate the shock." . . . 
 
 Mrs. E. E. Scidmore, in" Journeys in Alaska," says, " Ava- 
 lanches of crumbling snow and great pieces of the front 
 were continually falling with the roar and crash of artil- 
 lery, revealing new caverns and rifts of deeper blue light, 
 while the spray dashed high and the great waves rolled 
 along the icy wall, and, widening in their sweep, washed 
 the blocks of floating ice up on the beaches on either side. 
 . . . The nearer one approached the higher the ice-walls 
 seemed, and all along the front there were pinnacles and 
 spires weighing several tons, that seemed on the point of 
 toppling every moment. The great buttresses of ice that 
 rose first from the water and touched the moraine were as 
 solidly white as marble, veined and streaked with rocks 
 and mud, but farther on, as the pressure was greater, the 
 color slowly deepened to turquoise and sapphire blues." 
 
 Alexander Badlam, in his " Wonders of Alaska," p. 42, 
 
Col lis] THE MUIR GLACIER. 237 
 
 quotes Professor Muir himself as saying that the front 
 and brow of the glacier were " dashed and sculptured into 
 a maze of yawning chasm, ravines, canons, crevasses, and 
 a bewildering chaos of architectural forms, beautiful be- 
 yond the measure of description, and so bewildering in 
 their beauty as to almost make the spectator believe he 
 was revelling in a dream." " There were," he said, " great 
 clusters of glistening spires, gables, obelisks, monoliths, and 
 castles, standing out boldly against the sky, with bastion 
 and mural, surmounted by fretted cornice, and every inter- 
 stice and chasm reflecting a sheen of scintillating light and 
 deep-blue shadow, making a combination of color, dazzling, 
 startling, and enchanting." 
 
 The next sensation in store for the tourist is the climb to 
 the top of the glacier. All the row-boats were lowered, and 
 about a dozen passengers in each, armed with alpenstocks, 
 were ferried in successive groups from the ship to the east- 
 ern beach, a distance of perhaps half a mile, instructions 
 being given to each steersman to keep a sharp lookout for 
 falling icebergs. And here your trouble commences unless 
 you are well advised. The ascent is exceedingly difficult ; 
 what looks like a mountain of rock over which you must 
 wend your way to the ice-fields, is really a mountain of ice 
 covered by a layer of slimy mud, crusted with pieces of 
 flinty granite, standing up on end like broken bottle glass 
 on top of a wall. I wore India-rubber high boots when I 
 started, and I needed crutches before I finished. It may 
 be chilly as you leave the ship, according as the sun may 
 be out or in ; if chilly, get your escort to caiTy an extra 
 shawl for you to wrap yourself in when you row back to 
 the ship ; if the weather is bright and warm, clothe your- 
 self lightly, for it grows warmer with the glare from the ice 
 and the physical exertion. Be very careful where you step, 
 and if you are wise follow in the footsteps of others ; do not 
 
238 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Collis 
 
 undertake to lead, else one foot may be trying to ascertain 
 the depth of a quagmire and the other exploring a fissure. 
 
 After an ascent of perhaps two and a half miles, which 
 Beem more like ten, you will find yourself on the edge of 
 a frozen sea, frozen, as it were, while in the throes of a 
 tempest, a bay of storm-tossed waves solidified as by a 
 signal ; and this extends as far as the eye can reach up 
 into the mountains towards the north, and several miles 
 across to the hills upon the opposite shore. The ice is by 
 no means clear or brilliant, on the contrary, its color is 
 milky and its formation honey-combed, plastic, porous, and 
 yielding to the tread ; besides which it is besmeared with 
 sediment from mountain thaws which have traversed its 
 rifts, and disfigured by fallen logs and drift-wood. 
 
 I confess if I visited Muir Glacier a hundred times I 
 should always remain on deck and watch the pyrotechnics 
 of the fagade rather than undergo the thankless fatigue of 
 climbing to the top, which is infinitely more laborious than 
 the ascent of Vesuvius on foot through the lava, or any 
 work to be done on the trails of the Yoseraite. To those 
 who are willing to undertake it, however, I suggest that 
 when they have ascended the first mile, which will bring 
 them on a line with the top of the wall of the glacier, they 
 should look back at their little tiny ship, floating like the 
 " Maid of the Mist" beneath Niagara, to fully realize the 
 immense proportions of the glacier. 
 
 It is said that persons have been missed and never again 
 found who made this ascent, and I know that at least one 
 case is authentic, that of a young clergyman, who, straying 
 away from his companions, was never again seen, though 
 the most diligent search was made for him by his friends 
 and the ship's crew. A slip into one of those crevasses 
 which is covered by a thin coat of ice, means to be precip- 
 itated in an instant to a depth where no human aid can 
 
Harrison] A SUMMER TRIP TO ALASKA. 239 
 
 reach you. In fact, I would advise all who wish to preserve 
 the impression of Muir Glacier in its pure, idealized, un- 
 sullied grandeur, to stay aboard and gaze on its beautiful 
 face. 
 
 It is a Persian custom, after plucking the fruit, to tear it 
 asunder in the middle, hand the sunny side to the friend 
 and throw the other half away, the best portion being the 
 only part good enough for those they love. It is my duty 
 to present to you the better half of the glacier and to cast 
 away the other. Tired, footsore, and muddy, we were all 
 early in bed, and while dozing to sleep I was much im- 
 pressed with the awful stillness of the hour ; everybody 
 had retired, not even the tread of the man on watch was 
 heard, the very machinery was sleeping, but every now 
 and then there was a splash and a rejiort and an echo that 
 brought with them the proof that the forces of nature 
 were ever awake, and that what was, " is, and ever shall be, 
 world without end." 
 
 A SUMMER TRIP TO ALASKA. 
 
 JAMES A. HARRISON. 
 
 [Nature possesses no scenery more beautiful than that to be found 
 on the Pacific coast of Washington and in the island region leading to 
 north Alaska. And the description of it given below is well worth re- 
 production, for its poetic appreciation of this rich scenic route.] 
 
 The whole fourteen hundred — one might say two thou- 
 sand — miles of coast extending from Puget's Sound to 
 Behring's Strait is a succession of beautiful and picturesque 
 archipelagoes, consisting of hundreds, if not thousands, of 
 islands, through which there are countless water-caves^ 
 lakes, bays, inlets, as smooth as Lake George and the Hud- 
 
240 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Harbison 
 
 son, and far more lovely. The smoothness of the water is 
 such that life on the steamer is a luxurious rest, and the 
 stimulating coolness of the air in summer contributes to 
 pleasant days and delightful nights. Our summer trip 
 covered about two thousand five hundred miles from Port- 
 land and back, and we had ample opportunities to stop at 
 the various settlements, talk with the Indians, and collect 
 curiosities. 
 
 On leaving Port Townsend early in August, our ship 
 made for the Straits of Georgia, and for a long time fol- 
 lowed the aqueous boundary-line between the British and 
 American possessions. The fog dissolved, and we cauo-ht 
 views of Smith's Island, Bellingham Bay, and other points. 
 The scenery became river-like, the strait now opening into 
 waveless lakes, now contracting, like the neck of a bottle, 
 into channels where there were counter-currents and 
 chopped seas. 
 
 At Active Bay we could not tell which way we were 
 going, the passage seemed closed by lofty mountains, and 
 the sea appeared to flow against their bases ; but presently 
 the wall of rock split into a wooded gorge, through which 
 we shot with a graceful curve. 
 
 The long meandering line of Vancouver Island followed 
 for three hundred miles on the left, and we crossed the 
 Gulf of Georgia in water of enchanting tranquillity. 
 
 Our first days were spent in threading the wilderness of 
 islands ofi" Vancouver, and we were close enough to the 
 coast on the right to see it distinctly. There was the 
 continental coast range of the Cascade Mountains, vanish- 
 ing streaks of snow and silver on our eastern horizon, rising 
 from five hundred to two thousand five hundred feet above 
 the sea-level. Its peaks lay in every imaginable shape, 
 twisted, coiled, convoluted against the horizon-bar, now 
 running up into a perfect cone, like the Silberhorn of 
 
Harrison] A SUMMER TRIP TO ALASKA. 241 
 
 Switzerland, now elongating in rippling lines along the 
 east, now staining the sky with deep-blue masses of ultra- 
 marine flecked with pearly lines. 
 
 The smoke of the burning forests of "Washington Terri- 
 tory and British Columbia had filled the air for days, and 
 worried us not a little ; but one morning we awoke in per- 
 fect sunshine, and found an atmosphere impregnated with 
 frosty sparkles from the distant snow-peaks. Just before 
 nightfall, when we Avero about to cross Queen Charlotte's 
 Sound, a fog came u-p, and the pilot thought it advisable to 
 lie by for the night, more particularly as the coast is a dan- 
 gerous one and is strewn with reefs and rocks ; so, while we 
 were at dinner, the ship wheeled around, and we reversed 
 our course, going south until we reached Port Alexandria, 
 one of the most perfect little harbors conceivable. It is 
 a cove just like the foot of a stocking; a tiny, circle-shaped 
 island lies in its mouth, and richly-wooded heights throw 
 their green shimmer on the placid water. 
 
 Here we lay till morning, as " snug as a bug in a rug." 
 Just before entering the cove, which is only about two 
 hundred yards wide, we saw in the distance an Indian sea- 
 canoe, with its wet paddles flashing in the sun, and the 
 agreeable thought was suggested, Suppose we should be 
 surrounded and scalped in the night ! Nothing could have 
 been easier in this lonely neighborhood. 
 
 The perpetual wheeling of the vessel in her nautical 
 evolutions as she steamed through each successive archi- 
 pelago gave inse to ever-new comment on the new vistas 
 and island-combinations before us. The coast of Maine is 
 not to be mentioned in comparison with this, nor the island- 
 dusted Caribbean Sea. These inland-sweeping seas open 
 in long river reaches, beyond which, in sharp sunshine, 
 rise the everlasting peaks, burnished with ice. The shores 
 
 of British Columbia are densely clothed with diminutive 
 
 Vol. I — 16 
 
242 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Harribow 
 
 needle-wood, much of which is dead, so that the pale yellow- 
 green is toned with brown-gray. The water is intensely 
 salt, and is skimmed by wild duck and by low-flying, tufted 
 water-fowl. 
 
 As we were passing along one morning, an Indian crew 
 came dashing out in a canoe, with a deer for sale. There 
 were stunted-looking squaws in the boat, and all quacked 
 and gesticulated and grunted after the peculiar linguistic 
 fashion of the neighborhood. These Indians are wonder- 
 fully deft with their fingers, and weave bottle-cases, satchels, 
 baskets, and table-mats out of split and dyed grasses with 
 curious delicacy and skill. Their face-type is the homeliest 
 I have seen : enormous skulls, high-angled cheek-bones, 
 blinking black eyes, flattish noses, and shocks of horse- 
 hair. Evidently they are expert huntsmen and sportsmen : 
 often we saw their camp-fires, or a canoe stealing along 
 the silent water, filled with crouching forms. 
 
 Day after day there was a never-ending succession of 
 lake-scenery, — long, winding lanes of green water between 
 steep snow-streaked domes and precipices. The evenings 
 softened into singularly lovely nights, with close-hugging 
 shores, volumes of dark, iodine-hued water, lingering stars, 
 and phosphorescence. The light hung over the hyper- 
 borean landscape as if loath to leave. At ten o'clock one 
 evening we went out and found the ship steaming up a 
 lane of purple glass, — the water magically still, the air full 
 of soft, plaintive cries from the breeding gulls, the tinkle 
 of the parted sea around our bows, and the dim, spectral 
 water lighted up at the end of the long avenue by a haunt- 
 ing aurora. 
 
 Many a time the cabin door formed a delightful frame 
 for a forest-picture, — gliding water, pale-blue sky, a broken 
 shore, and, behind, long lines of brilliant snow-peaks, with 
 their chased and frozen silver. We would lie asleep for a 
 
Harrison] A SUMMER TRIP TO ALASKA. 243 
 
 few moments in the cool dark of the cabin-interior, and then 
 wake up with one of these perfect, swiftly-moving views in 
 the foregi'ound. Before we caught it, often it had gone, — 
 the pale, plenteous beauty of the fir-crowned shore, the 
 dancing islets, the sedgy strand-line, the many-colored 
 rocks, with their pools and fountain-basins of transparent 
 water caught from the deep and held in by their rocky 
 framework in a lightness and purity of crystal dew. 
 
 Then the ship ran dangerously near to the coast, or again 
 out into the open sound, with its mediterranean sprinkle 
 of islets, serrated walls of rocks, coves and island-mounds, 
 wherein nested shadows of amethyst or indigo. 
 
 The flow of life in some of these coves and estuary-like 
 indentations is marvellous, the fish coming in egg-laden, 
 and looking for streams of fresh water in which to deposit 
 their ova. We anchored in one of these inlets, and found 
 on the land luxuriant ferns and splendid clumps of yellow 
 cedar and hemlock, with snow-banks behind. Half a dozen 
 little bucks and half-breeds were tumbling about in the 
 water through the long afternoon light, which seemed to 
 have an amaranthine quality and to be unfading. The sun 
 did not set till after eight o'clock, and there was cold, 
 ghostly, green light up in the north till nearly midnight. 
 When darkness did come, it was of the genuine cuttle-fish 
 kind, — inky, — splashed with stars. There was now and 
 then a delicate shell of a moon incising the sky against a 
 mountain-side and lending the most fragile transfiguration 
 to its top. 
 
 As we approached Fort Wrangel, the ship's company 
 turned out in the sweet evening sunshine and found a glo- 
 rious panorama awaiting them. The sheen of a mighty 
 mass of embattled peaks and pinnacles and feathery float- 
 ing snow-points shone high up in the evening air, just mel- 
 lowing under a magnificent sunset. These mountains guard 
 
244 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Harrison 
 
 the entrance to the Stickeen Eiver and mount up the hori- 
 zon after the Duke of Clarence Strait has been traversed. 
 
 Wrangel itself is most memorably situated just on one 
 side of these sheeny peaks and glaciers, almost in the 
 shadow of the Devil's Thumb, which rises about four hun- 
 dred feet above its own mountain-cluster and forms one of 
 a throng of confused and radiant aiguilles overlooking the 
 Stickeen. The sunset had not entirely faded at nine 
 o'clock, when we touched shore and rejoiced our eyes with 
 a series of wonderful semi-arctic color-pictures, — coal black 
 islands, purple islands, lilac islands, islands in india-ink and 
 amber, Ijnng in glacier- water of pale green, and above and 
 beyond all the glorious flush of the sun stealing in be- 
 tween the white snow-needles and throwing them out and 
 up into luminous relief 
 
 Opposite the town is an island shaped like the cocked hat 
 of a gendarme, where it was said that the curious polygo- 
 nal garnets embedded in schist and peculiar to this region 
 are found. There were plenty of them as large as walnuts 
 for sale at twenty-five cents a dozen. Odd carved boxes, 
 too, made of an unknown wood and inlaid with shells, were 
 here in plenty ; cases of buckskin, containing the conjuring- 
 sticks or gambling-kits of the Thlinkit medicine-men ; loin- 
 cloths, ornamented with multitudes of rattling puffin-beaks; 
 head-dresses of defunct warriors ; fantastic and horrible 
 masks ; huge spoons carved out of the horns of the moun- 
 tain-ibex ; bead-work on leather ; robes of many-colored 
 skins quilted together ; images carved to resemble otters ; 
 fleecy robes of wild sheep and goat; pipes cut with nude 
 figures ; antlers ; stuffed animals ; white-breasted loons, and 
 the like. 
 
 After a short stop for landing the mails, the vessel was 
 soon traversing Wrangel Strait, just under some splendid 
 glaciers and snowy mountains, the water perfectly smooth, 
 
Harrison] A SUMMER TRIP TO ALASKA. 245 
 
 though full of small icebergs, which glittered in the sun- 
 shine and had broken off from the descending ice-mass. 
 Enormous rivers of ice flow down between these moun- 
 tains and debouch in the sea, their -current mysteriously 
 stayed by the low temperature. We were particularly for- 
 tunate in having fine, clear weather early in the morning, 
 especially at this point, where we could see the great Pat- 
 tison Glacier. The ship entered the enchanted region 
 through a narrow passage, which one of us christened the 
 " Silver Gates," the Beulah Mountains edging our Pilgrim's 
 Progress in passionless white as we zigzagged along the 
 course. 
 
 A little later, the scenery on Frederic Sound became 
 truly transcendent : grand mountains, forme that would be 
 awful but for the sunshine resting on their beads, the lake- 
 like sound, with its blue spits of land and cameo-like prom- 
 ontories profiled against the sky, motionless glace-de- Venise 
 water reflecting a thousand shades of azure and gray and 
 white, gulls resting on the water, with white bodies and 
 black tips, almost a complete circle of brilliant snow-banks 
 peeping above the clouds that hung to them amorously, 
 and far-away vistas of blue-white glaciers coming down to 
 meet the water-margin. 
 
 Schools of spouting whales played in the distance, and 
 the passengers sent balls out of their pistols hissing on the 
 water, but happily hitting nothing. During the last trip 
 two lovely antlered creatures came swimming along in 
 the water, trying to cross one of the channels to another 
 grazing-ground. They were taken on board, but one of 
 them died. 
 
 The next landing-place was Killimoo, a little Indian 
 village on an island surrounded by dim -green heights and 
 flickering, ever-changing mountain-views. It is a great 
 station for drying codfish, long lines of which lay spread 
 
246 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Harbison 
 
 out on the wharf in the sun to dry. As night fell the 
 squaws and Indian maidens gathered the rattling fish- 
 carcasses under little ai'k-like receptacles, where they lay 
 till morning out of the dew. 
 
 At Juneau some of the passengers walked or rowed off 
 to the gold-mines in the mountains, where they picked up 
 specimens of gold-quartz and some teacupfuls of sifted 
 gold-dust. One of these was said to be worth six hundred 
 dollars, another over twelve hundred dollars. One was re- 
 minded of the gold-dust story of Alkmaion in Herodotus. 
 
 Shortly after this the ship cast anchor at Chilkat and 
 Pyramid Harbor, our two highest points in Alaska waters, 
 about latitude 59° 12' north. We had but a poor glimpse of 
 the glaciers on the Chilkat side, — one a magnificent down- 
 flow of pale-blue ice, the other a frozen river caught and 
 compressed in between strangling hills. 
 
 The location of Pyramid Harbor is very beautiful, — a 
 ■wind-sheltered nook, a curving shore, covered with pebbles, 
 alder-clad heights just behind, and dimly-flashing ice-peaks 
 peeping out of the mist just over the shoulder of a huge 
 green rock-slope. A salmon-cannery in the foreground, 
 flanked by an Indian village, a semilune of pure green 
 water, nearly fresh, and a cui'ious pyramid-shaped knoll 
 rising from it, constituted other features of the environ- 
 ment. The lifting mists drew aside for a while, and re- 
 freshed the sight with views of the great sculpture-linea 
 of the surrounding mountains. 
 
 [We may pass the description of Sitka, and proceed.] 
 
 We were greatly favored when we left Sitka. Starting 
 off in a rain, in which everything lay in muddy eclipse, we 
 woke up next morning and found ourselves tracing the 
 outside route to the Muir Glacier in sparkling sunshine. 
 The transition was delightful, and, though most of the 
 
Harrisow] a summer TRIP TO ALASKA. 247 
 
 passengers were sick from the tossing of the ship on the 
 long outside ocean-swell, I believe thej all enjoyed the 
 sunshine as it flashed into their cabin windows, played on 
 the walls, and pricked and scattered the enormous vapor 
 masses that hung over the mountains on our right. There 
 were no longer the vaulted vapors of the preceding days, 
 the dense counterpane of nebulous gray that covered the 
 whole sky with its monotony. The heavy cloud-banks 
 clung to the mountains, leaving an exquisite arc of sky, 
 almost Italian in its sunny azure. 
 
 Nothing could be more superb than the deep, dark, 
 velvety tints of the crinkled and crumpled mountains as 
 they shelved to the sea and came in contact there with an 
 edging of foam from the blue Pacific. Huge jelly-fish 
 flapped about in the clear water, nebular patches of proto- 
 plasmic existence, capable, apparently, of no other func- 
 tions than sensation, motion, and self-propagation. Some 
 of them were richly streaked, long-tailed, delicately mar- 
 gined, with comet-like streamers, jelly-frills, and nuclei like 
 a wide-open sunflower. Their motion was so indolently 
 graceful that I could not help gazing at them. 
 
 Mount St. Elias ! Yes, there it was, they affirmed, on the 
 northeastern horizon, a vapory, unsubstantial cone, dancing 
 up and down in the refracting light. I looked and looked, 
 persuading myself that I saw the glorious vision nineteen 
 thousand five hundred feet high. Others persuaded them- 
 Belves of the same fact, being naturally ambitious of car- 
 rying away remembrances of the tallest mountain in all 
 America. But, after all, I fancy that nobody had a very 
 strong faith in his discovery, particularly as the reputed 
 mountain seemed to change its place, flit hither and thither 
 on the curve of the sky, and finally disappear. 
 
 But yonder! What is that? Clouds? Apparently. 
 But look again. What, that small speck just on the edge 
 
248 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Harrison 
 
 of the water? No, higher up — up— up. What a sight! 
 Certainly the grandest view we have had yet. A huge, 
 white, snow-tipped back, like a camel's hump, now loomed 
 apparently right out of the water's edge, — the mighty 
 range of Mount Fairweather, Mount Crillon, and eight or 
 ten other domes and peaks, the highest fifteen thousand 
 five hundred feet high, according to the measurement of 
 the United States Coast Survey. This is the finest moun- 
 tain-landscape we have ever seen, not even excepting the 
 Alps from Neufchatel. The peaks looked enormously high 
 as they shot up just behind the sea-edge, far above the 
 first stratum of cloud which ran along midway of the 
 mountain in deep slate-colored belts. Now and then the 
 vapor thinned to the fineness of tulle and Brousa gauze, 
 behind which the mountain-colors loomed in vague and yet 
 radiant purity. Gradually the ardent sun melted away the 
 misty striated belts of cloud, and the great peaks stood 
 out calmly and gloriously effulgent in the crystal August 
 air, a scene of exquisite loveliness and sublimity. At one 
 end a mighty glacier ran down to the sea, and at the other 
 the pygmy mountains (two or three thousand feet high) 
 we had been coasting lay like ebon carvings against the 
 white, a ripple of dark velvet against ermine. 
 
 For hours we steamed towards this splendid picture, 
 which, while growing more and more distinct, did not ap- 
 pear to be any nearer than when we first saw it. In the 
 afternoon we turned to the right of this range into icy 
 straits, and soon we were in the midst of a scene more 
 wonderful, perhaps, than that through which we had just 
 passed. On the light-green water lay literally hundreds 
 of icebergs, of all shapes and sizes, some a deep translucent 
 blue, the blue of cobalt, others green, others a pure white, 
 —serrated, castellated, crenellated, glittering,— from the 
 size of a tvu-een to that of a small church. We seemed on 
 
Carver] THE FORT WILLIAM HENRY MASSACRE. 249 
 
 the point of entering that ancient palaeocrystic sea of 
 which the geologists speak, — ice everywhere, our ship cut- 
 ting its way through impinging ice. 
 
 THE FORT WILLIAM HENRY MASSACRE. 
 
 JONATHAN CARVER. 
 
 [Carver's interesting " Travels througli the Interior Parts of North 
 America, in the years 1766, 1767, and 1768," is the source of the nar- 
 rative given below, relating to an event with which most of our read- 
 ers are probably familiar from historical reading, though few of them 
 have read the experience of an actual participant. Carver served as 
 a captain in the French and Indian "War, and tells this most thrill- 
 ing narrative of the American wars as an illustrative episode in his 
 subsequent work of travels. He is describing the cruel actions of the 
 Indians in war.] 
 
 I HAVE frequently been a spectator of them, and once 
 bore a part in a similar scene. But what added to the hor- 
 ror of it was that I had not the consolation of being able 
 to oppose their savage attacks. Every circumstance of the 
 adventure still dwells on my memory, and enables me to 
 describe with greater perspicuity the brutal fierceness of 
 the Indians when they have surprised or overpowered an 
 enemy. 
 
 As a detail of the massacre at Fort William Henry in 
 the year 1757, the scene to which 1 refer, cannot appear 
 foreign to the design of this publication, but will serve to 
 
250 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Carveb 
 
 give my readers a just idea of the ferocity of this people, I 
 shall take the liberty to insert it, apologizing at the same 
 time for the length of the digression and those egotisms 
 which the relation renders unavoidable. 
 
 General Webb, who commanded the English army in 
 North America, which was then encamped at Fort Ed- 
 ward, having intelligence that the French troops under 
 Mons. Montcalm were making some movements towards 
 Fort William Henry, he detached a corps of about fifteen 
 hundred men, consisting of English and provincials, to 
 strengthen the garrison. In this party I went as a volun- 
 teer among the latter. 
 
 The apprehensions of the English general were not with- 
 out foundation, for the day after our arrival we saw Lake 
 George (formerly Lake Sacrament), to which it lies con- 
 tiguous, covered with an immense number of boats, and in 
 a few hours we found our lines attacked by the French 
 general, who had just landed with eleven thousand regu- 
 lars and Canadians and two thousand Indians. Colonel 
 Munro, a brave oflScer, commanded in the fort, and had no 
 more than two thousand three hundred men with him, our 
 detachment included. 
 
 With these he made a brave defence, and probably would 
 have been able at last to preserve the fort had he been 
 properly supported and permitted to continue his efforts. 
 On every summons to surrender sent by the French gen- 
 eral, who offered the most honorable terms, his answer re- 
 peatedly was, that he found himself in a condition to repel 
 the most vigorous attacks his besiegers were able to make; 
 and if he thought his present force insufficient, he could 
 soon be supplied with a greater number from the adjacent 
 army. 
 
 But the colonel having acquainted General Webb with 
 his situation, and desired he would send him some fresh 
 
€i.rvb:r] the FORT WILLIAM HENRY MASSACRE. 251 
 
 troops, the general despatched a messenger to him with 
 a letter, wherein he informed him that it was not in his 
 power to assist him, and therefore gave him orders to sur- 
 render 'up the fort on the best terms he could procure. 
 This packet fell into the hands of the French general, who 
 immediately sent a flag of truce, desiring a conference with 
 the governor. 
 
 They accordingly met, attended only by a small guard, 
 in the centre between the lines, when Mons. Montcalm told 
 the colonel that he was come in person to demand posses- 
 sion of the fort, as it belonged to the king, his master. 
 The colonel replied that he knew not how that could be, 
 nor should he surrender it up while it was in his power to 
 defend it. 
 
 The French general rejoined, at the same time delivering 
 the packet into the colonel's hand, " By this authority do I 
 make the requisition." The brave governor had no sooner 
 read the contents of it, and was convinced that such were 
 the orders of the commander-in-chief, and not to be dis- 
 obeyed, than he hung his head in silence, and reluctantly 
 entered into a negotiation. 
 
 In consideration of the gallant defence the garrison had 
 made, they were to be permitted to march out with all the 
 honors of war, to be allowed covered wagons to transport 
 their baggage to Fort Edward, and a guard to protect 
 them from the fury of the savages. 
 
 The morning after the capitulation was signed, as soon 
 as day bi'oke, the whole garrison, now consisting of about 
 two thousand men, besides women and children, were 
 drawn up within the lines, and on the point of marching 
 off, when great numbers of the Indians gathered about and 
 began to plunder. "We were at first in hopes that this was 
 their only view, and suffered them to proceed without op- 
 position. Indeed, it was not in our power to make any, 
 
252 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [CARVKa 
 
 had we been so inclined, for, though we were permitted to 
 carry ofiF our arms, yet we were not allowed a single round 
 of ammunition. In these hopes, however, we were disap- 
 pointed ; for presently some of them began to attack the 
 sick and wounded, when such as were not able to crawl 
 into the ranks, notwithstanding they endeavored to avert 
 the fury of their enemies by their shrieks or groans, were 
 soon despatched. 
 
 Here we were fully in expectation that the disturbance 
 would have concluded, but in a short time we saw the same 
 division driven back, and discovered that we were entirely 
 encircled by the savages. We expected every moment 
 that the guard, which the French, by the articles of capit- 
 ulation, had agreed to allow us, would have arrived, and 
 put an end to our apprehensions, but none appeared. The 
 Indians now began to strip every one, without exception, 
 of their arms and clothes, and those who made the least 
 resistance felt the weight of their tomahawks. 
 
 I happened to be in the rear division, but it was not long 
 before I shared the fate of my companions. Three or four 
 of the savages laid hold of me, and whilst some held their 
 weapons over my head, the others soon disrobed me of my 
 coat, waistcoat, hat, and buckles, omitting not to take from 
 me what money I had in my pocket. As this was trans- 
 acted close by the passage that led from the lines on to 
 the plain, near which a French sentinel was posted, I ran 
 to him and claimed his protection, but he only called me 
 an English dog, and thrust me with violence back again 
 into the midst of the Indians. 
 
 I now endeavored to join a body of our troops that were 
 crowded together at some distance, but innumerable were 
 the blows that were made at me with different weapons as 
 I passed on ; luckily, however, the savages were so close 
 together that they could not strike at me without endan- 
 
Carver] THE FORT WILLIAM HENRY MASSACRE. 253 
 
 gering each other, notwithstanding which one of them 
 found means to make a thrust at me with a spear, which 
 grazed my side, and from another I received a wound with 
 the same kind of weapon on my ankle. At length I gained 
 the spot where my countrymen stood, and forced myself 
 into the midst of them. But before I got thus far out of 
 the hands of the Indians the collar and wristbands of my 
 shirt were all that remained of it, and my flesh was 
 scratched and torn in many places by their savage grips. 
 
 By this time the war-whoop was given, and the Indians 
 becran to murder those that were nearest to them without 
 distinction. It is not in the power of words to give any 
 tolerable idea of the horrid scene that now ensued ; men, 
 women, and children were despatched in the most wanton 
 and cruel manner, and immediately scalped. Many of the 
 savages drank the blood of their victims aa it flowed warm 
 from the fatal wound. 
 
 "Wo now perceived, though too late to avail us, that we 
 were to expect no relief from the French ; and that, con- 
 trary to the agreement they had so lately signed to allow 
 us a sufiicient force to protect us from these insults, they 
 tacitly permitted them ; for I could plainly perceive the 
 French ofiicers walking about at some distance, discoursing 
 together with aj^parent unconcern. For the honor of 
 human nature I would hope that this flagrant breach of 
 every sacred law proceeded rather from the savage dis- 
 position of the Indians, which I acknowledge it is some- 
 times almost impossible to control, and which might now 
 unexpectedly have arrived to a pitch not easily to be re- 
 strained, than from anj' premeditated design in the French 
 commander. An unprejudiced observer would, however, 
 be apt to conclude that a body of ten thousand Christian 
 troops, most Christian troops, had it in their power to pre • 
 vent the massacre from becoming so general. But what- 
 
254 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Carvsr 
 
 ever was the cause from which it arose, the consequences 
 of it were dreadful, and not to be paralleled in modern 
 history. 
 
 As the circle in which I stood enclosed by this time was 
 much thinned, and death seemed to be approaching with 
 hasty strides, it was proposed by some of the most resolute 
 to make one vigorous effort, and endeavor to force our way 
 through the savages, the only probable method of pre- 
 servino' our lives that now remained. This, however des- 
 perate, was resolved upon, and about twenty of us sprung 
 at once into the midst of them. 
 
 In a moment we were separated, and what was the fate 
 of my comrades 1 could not learn till some months after, 
 when I found that only five or six of them effected their 
 design. Intent only on my own hazardous situation, I en- 
 deavored to make my way through my savage enemies in 
 the best manner possible. And I have often been aston- 
 ished since, when I have recollected with what composure 
 I took, as I did, every necessary step for my preservation. 
 Some I overturned, being at that time young and athletic,, 
 and others 1 passed by, dexterously avoiding their weapons ;. 
 till at last two very stout chiefs, of the most savage tribes,. 
 as I could distinguish by their dress, whose strength I 
 could not resist, laid hold of me by each arm, and began to- 
 force me through the crowd. 
 
 1 now resigned myself to my fate, not doubting but that 
 they intended to despatch me, and then to satiate their 
 vengeance with my blood, as I found they were hurrying- 
 me towards a retired swamp that lay at some distance. 
 But before we had got many yards, an English gentleman- 
 of some distinction, as I could discover by his breeches, the: 
 only covering he had on, which were of fine scarlet velvet,, 
 rushed close by us. One of the Indians instantly relin- 
 quished his hold, and, springing on this new object, eQ>- 
 
Carver] THE FORT WILLIAM HENRY MASSACRE. 255 
 
 deavored to seize him as his prey; but the gentleman, 
 being strong, threw him on the ground, and would prob- 
 ably have got away, had not he who held my other arm 
 quitted me to assist his brother. I seized the opportunity, 
 and hastened away to join another party of English troops 
 that were yet unbroken, and stood in a body at some dis- 
 tance. But before I had taken many steps I hastily cast 
 my eye towards the gentleman, and saw the Indian's toma- 
 hawk gash into his back, and heard him utter his last 
 groan ; this added both to my speed and desperation. 
 
 I had left this shocking scene but a few yards when a 
 fine boy of about twelve years of age, that had hitherto 
 escaped, came up to me, and begged that I would let him 
 lay hold of me, so that he might stand some chance of 
 getting out of the hands of the savages. I told him that 
 I would give him every assistance in my power, and to 
 this purpose bid him lay hold ; but in a few moments he 
 was torn from my side, and by his shrieks I judge was 
 soon demolished. I could not help forgetting my own 
 cares for a minute to lament the fate of so young a 
 sufferer ; but it was utterly impossible for me to take any 
 methods to prevent it. 
 
 I now got once more into the midst of friends, but we 
 were unable to afford each other any succor. As this was. 
 the division that had advanced the farthest from the fort, 
 I thought there might be a possibility (though but a very 
 bare one) of my forcing a way through the outer ranks of 
 the Indians and getting to a neighboring wood, which I 
 perceived at some distance. I was still encouraged to hope 
 by the almost miraculous preservation I had already ex- 
 perienced. 
 
 Nor were my hopes vain or the efforts I made ineffectual. 
 Suffice to say that I reached the wood, but by the time I 
 had penetrated a little way into it my breath was so ex- 
 
256 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Carveb 
 
 hausted that I threw myself into a brake, and lay for 
 some minutes apparently at the last gasp. At length I 
 recovered power of respiration, but my apprehensions 
 returned with all their former force when I saw several 
 savages pass by, probably in pursuit of me, at no very great 
 distance. 
 
 In this situation I knew not whether it was better to 
 proceed or endeavor to conceal myself where I lay till 
 night came on. Fearing, however, that they would return 
 the same way, I thought it most prudent to get farther 
 from the dreadful scene of mj^ past distresses. Accordingly, 
 striking into another part of the wood, I hastened on as 
 fast as the briers and the loss of one of my shoes would 
 permit me, and, after a slow progress of some hours, 
 gained a hill that overlooked the plain which I had just left, 
 from whence I could discern that the bloody storm still 
 raged with unabated fury. 
 
 But not to tire my readers, I shall only add that after 
 passing three days without subsistence, and enduring the 
 severity of the cold dews for three nights, I at length 
 reached Fort Edward ; where with proper care my body 
 soon recovered its wonted strength and my mind, as far as 
 the recollection of the late melancholy events would per- 
 mit, its usual composure. 
 
 It was computed that fifteen hundred persons were 
 killed or made prisoners by these savages during this fatal 
 day. Many of the latter were carried off by them and 
 never returned. A few, through favorable accidents, found 
 their way back to their native country after having ex- 
 perienced a long and severe captivity. 
 
 The brave Colonel Munro had hastened away, soon after 
 the confusion began, to the French camp to endeavor to 
 procure the guard agreed by the stipulation ; but his 
 application proving ineffectual, he remained there till 
 
Cakver] the GAUCHO AND HIS HORSE. 257 
 
 General Webb sent a party of troops to demand and pro- 
 tect him back to Fort Edward. But these unhappy oc- 
 cui'rences, which would probably have been prevented had 
 he been left to pursue his own plans-, together with the 
 loss of so many brave fellows, murdered in cold blood, 
 to whose valor he had so lately been a witness, made such 
 an impression on his mind that he did not long survive. 
 He died in about three months of a broken heart, and with 
 truth might it be said that he was an honor to his country. 
 
 THE GAUCHO AND HIS HORSE. 
 
 THOMAS J. HUTCHINSON. 
 
 [Among the skilled horsemen of the earth the gaucho of the plains 
 of Argentina bears pre-eminence. The cow-bcy of our "Western plains 
 somewhat nearly approaches him, but the cow-boy is only a passing ac- 
 cident, not an institution, like the gaucho, who will still flourish on 
 his native soil when the cow-boy has ceased to be. Hutchinson's 
 "Buenos Ayres and Argentine Gleanings" gives us a well-limned 
 picture of this interesting individual, to which we owe the following 
 selection.] 
 
 I CAN hardly consider myself presumptuous in believing 
 that few travellers who have made an ascent of the Parana 
 for the first time have done so with a more agreeable im- 
 pression of its beauty than I experienced. The only draw- 
 back connected with this pleasure is the consciousness of 
 being unable fully to describe it. My readers will, how- 
 ever, be indulgent enough to give me credit for an effort to 
 do my best. 
 
 Our water-way in the little steamer " Dolorcitas," after 
 leaving Buenos Ayres, was through one of the narrow 
 
 Vol. I— 17 
 
258 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Hutchinson 
 
 passages that are the boundaries of islets, higher up than, 
 as well as parallel with, the island of Martin Garcia. As 
 we steam along and pass the estancias of wealthy farmers, 
 I observe on the banks hundreds of cows, large troops 
 of horses, and flocks of sheep, in numbei's sufficient to 
 puzzle even the calculating Pedder. There are very few 
 wild trees to be seen, except on the highlands an occasional 
 Bpecimen of the Ombu or Algaroba species. The resi- 
 dences are invariably surrounded by groves or shrubberies 
 of peach-trees. The physical aspect of the islands is quite 
 flat, and until we advance a few hundred miles there is no 
 elevation above a few feet close to the river's side. Now 
 and then — as, for example, when passing through the creek 
 called the " Baradero" — I catch a glimpse of high land, on 
 part of which there is a convent or chapel ; but the whole 
 country is uncultivated, except in isolated patches near the 
 compounds of the tillers. 
 
 Flocks of wild duck and snipe are seen in abundance ; 
 wild turkeys likewise, with occasionally a group of flamin- 
 goes, whose scarlet plumage forms a strikingly dazzling ob- 
 ject in the bright sunshine. Indeed, birds of various kinds 
 are about us everywhere. Passing through one of these 
 island passages, you see strewing the banks on the mainland 
 side the skeletons of cows and horses, while other poor 
 brutes are lying in the agonies of death ; for the mud at 
 the extreme edge of the water is too soft to support them ; 
 hence, when they go down to drink, they are swamped in 
 its sponginess, and must therefore remain to die. 
 
 Steaming on, we pass or meet several small river-craft 
 engaged in the coasting-trade between Montevideo, Buenos 
 Ayres, and the towns up the river, until we land at an 
 estancia, where cows, horses, and sheep are bred and nur- 
 tured : the cows and bullocks chiefly for the hides and 
 meat, disposed of as already described at a saladero ; sheep 
 
HuTCHiKsox] THE GAUCHO AND HIS HORSE. 259 
 
 for their wool ; while horses are reared for every possible 
 purpose, and are turned to use whether alive or dead. 
 
 Horses dead I Their skins are tanned ; the grease of the 
 mare's body is used for light, and for many oleaginous pur- 
 poses. Close to one of our towns is a rancho or hut be- 
 longing to a brick-maker, and there, between his door and 
 the kiln, is an immense pile — as high as an ordinary house 
 — of dead horses, whose bodies are to be used for burning 
 the bricks. Mares' tongues, preserved, are sold in the 
 market as luxuries ; hoofs, skulls, shank, thigh, and other 
 bones of the animal, as well as the hair of the mane and 
 tail, are exported hence to England, America, and other 
 places across the sea in large quantities. At the saladeros, 
 too, they slaughter mares in hundreds for their hides and 
 grease, the operation being conducted by crunching the 
 animal's skull with a mallet, after it has been brought to 
 the ground by means of a lasso thrown round the feet. 
 One can scarcely travel a mile through the camp without 
 seeing a dead horse somewhere. 
 
 Horses alive ! At many stations on the river they fish 
 on horseback, by riding into a considerable depth of water 
 and throwing a peculiar kind of net, which is drawn back 
 to the shore by the horse. Our letters are delivered at the 
 door by a rat-tat in regular English style from the post- 
 man, who is on horseback. The daily journal is brought to 
 us by a cavalier, who hands it in without dismounting ; even 
 a beggar-man rides up every Saturday to solicit Una limosna 
 por el amor de Dios, and he has a license from the police in 
 the shape of a piece of branded wood suspended round his 
 neck. The aristocracy of beggary is evident in this fellow, 
 too ; for on one occasion, being offered cold meat and bread 
 by my servant, he rode off, indignantly saying he wanted 
 money to buy cigarritos. 
 
 Horses making bricks 1 Ay, incredible as it may appear. 
 
260 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Hutchinsox 
 
 there ai'e the very animals which dragged the dead bodies 
 of their brethren to be made fuel of at the brick-kilna 
 before mentioned, now driven round and round in a circus, 
 tramping into malleable mud clay and water mixed to- 
 gether, and doing everything in the brick-making except 
 the moulding. 
 
 Horses threshing corn ! Here at our friend's estancia I 
 see another large circus, styled a hera, in which are placed 
 several sheaves of wheat, and into this are turned fifteen 
 to twenty horses ; a mounted man goes in also, and drives 
 these animals with whip and yell round the circus until 
 all the corn is threshed by their tramping. 
 
 Horses churning butter! A novel sort of thing it is to see 
 a bag made of hides, into which the milk is put when it is 
 turned suflficiently sour ; this bag, fastened to a long strip 
 of rope-hide, is attached at the other end to the leather 
 girth which is round the horse's body; the latter is then 
 mounted by a gaucho, and ridden at a hard pace over the 
 camp for a sufficient length of time to secure the making 
 of the butter, by bumping the milk-bag against the ground. 
 
 A gaucho without his steed is an impracticability. To 
 move his furniture, consisting of beds, chairs, tables, crock- 
 ery, or hardware, the horse's back is fitted to the burden. 
 Coffins are conveyed to the burying-ground by being 
 strapped transversely on a horse's loins ; and one would 
 scarcely be surprised to hear of a specimen of the semi- 
 centaur under consideration going asleep or cooking his 
 dinner on horseback, more especially with the picture be- 
 fore us of a dentist operating on a poor fellow's grinders, 
 the patient and his physician being both mounted. 
 
 No crusader of olden time could have borne himself 
 more proudly at the head of a gallant regiment bound to 
 the Holy Land than does the gaucho, who guides a troop 
 of twenty to thirty earretas, each drawn by six bullocks, 
 
Hutchinson] THE GAUCHO AND HIS HORSE. 261 
 
 across the Pampas to Cordova or Mendoza. On his saddle, 
 chiefly made of untanned horse-hide and sheep-skin, he sits 
 with the consciousness that he is the horse's master. In- 
 deed, it is rarely that the real gaucho puts his foot in a 
 stirrup, — for practical purposes of riding never, — as it is 
 only on state occasions that he uses them. Stirrups made 
 in this country are of a triangular form, of iron or silver, 
 with the base fabricated after the fashion of a filigree 
 cruet-stand, though on a diminutive scale. At the museum 
 in Buenos Ayres I saw some of these triangular stirrups 
 that were described as having been brought from Paraguay, 
 made from hard wood, so large, clumsy, and heavy as to 
 constitute in themselves a load for a horse. With such 
 heavy stirrups it may be imagined what a weight the 
 gaucho's horse has to bear, when we consider the compo- 
 nent parts of the saddle or recado. 
 
 [This saddle is a very complex affair, made up of layers of sheep- 
 skin, carpet, cow-hide, woollen cloth, etc., too intricate to be here de- 
 scribed. It consists in all of twelve separate parts. ] 
 
 The skill and endurance of the gaucho in the manage- 
 ment of horses is very remarkable. One of these men is 
 reported to have stood on the transverse bar, which crosses 
 over the gate of the corral, and dropped down upon the 
 back of a horse, while the animal, in company with sev- 
 eral others, without bridle or saddle, was at full gallop out 
 of the enclosure. What made the feat more adroit was 
 the fact of his having permitted a looker-on to select the 
 horse for him to bestride before the whole lot were driven 
 out. The endurance of the gaucho is also striking ; and I 
 have been told of a man, well known at Buenos Ayres, 
 having ridden a distance of seventy leagues — that is to 
 say, two hundred and ten miles — in one day to that city. 
 
 Sefior Don Carlos Hurtado, of Buenos Ayres, informs mo 
 
262 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Hutchinsok 
 
 that the great gaucho game, in which the famous Rosas 
 "was most proficient, was what is called el pialar, — that is, 
 catching horses by lassoing their feet (the ordinary mode 
 of doing this round the neck is called enlaser). Two lines 
 of horsemen, each from ten to twenty in number, are 
 placed at distances so far apart as to allow a mounted 
 gaucho to pass between them. This man is to gallop as 
 fast as he can from one end to the other, — in fact, to run 
 the gauntlet. Every horseman in the lines between which 
 he passes is furnished with a lasso. As he gallops up to 
 the end of the line the first lasso is thrown ; should it miss 
 him, the second is cast, and so on. The dexterity evidenced 
 by the watchfulness of men able to throw in such rapid 
 succession after a hoi'se which is galloping, whilst they are 
 standing, is truly expert. At length the horse is pinned, 
 and down he falls as if he were shot. And now the activity 
 of the gaucho is displayed, for he comes on his feet with- 
 out any injury, smoking his cigarette as coolly as when he 
 lighted it at the starting-post. 
 
 The original popularity of Eosas was founded on his 
 gaucho dexterity. 
 
 The game of el pato is performed by sewing a cooked 
 duck into a piece of hide, leaving a leather point at each 
 end for the hand to grasp. This play having been in 
 former times limited in its carousal to the feast of St. John 
 (or San Juan), a gaucho took it up. Whoever is the 
 smartest secures the duck, and gallops away to any house 
 where he knows a woman residing who bears the name of 
 Juana, — Joan I suppose she would be called in English. It 
 is an established rule that the lady of this name should 
 give a four-real piece (i.e., one shilling and sixpence), either 
 with the original duck returned or another equally complete. 
 Then away he gallops to another house where lives a 
 maiden of the name of Leonora, followed by a troop of 
 
Hutchinson] THE OAUCHO AND HIS HORSE. 263 
 
 his gaucho colleagues, trying to snap the duck-bag out of 
 his hand. With it, of course, must be delivered up the 
 four-real piece in the best of good humor. Falls and 
 broken legs have often been the result of this game. 
 
 Juego de la sortija is a class of sport played by having a 
 small finger-ring fastened under a gibbet, beneath which 
 a gaucho gallops, and tries to tilt off the ring with a skewer 
 which he holds in his hand. This is done for a prize. 
 
 The salutation between two gauchos — even though they 
 be the best of friends — who have not met for a long time 
 is prefixed by a pass of arms with their knives. The con- 
 duet of these men is in general marked by sobriety, but 
 when the " patron" pays them their wages they often buy 
 a dozen of brandy or of gin, and this is all drunk, or 
 spilled in di-inking, by one man at a single sitting. 
 
 It often happens in the gaucho communities that some 
 one gains a reputation for bravery. To prove his courage, 
 this hero goes to a pulperia, with a bottle in one hand and 
 a knife in the other, stands at the door, and turns out all 
 the occupants. One gaucho in the north and another in 
 the south hear of each other's bravery, obtain a meeting, 
 and, after returning compliments, draw out their knives 
 and fight to the death. 
 
 The gaucho dress is peculiar, — a poncho, which is placed 
 over the head by a hole in the centre, and which falls over 
 the body to the hips. This is often of a very gay pattern, 
 especially on Sundays and holidays. The lower garment 
 is a curious combination of bedgown and Turkish trousers, 
 named calzongillos ; it is bordered by a fringe, sometimes 
 of rich lace, from two to six inches in depth. Enormous 
 spurs form part of the toilette. I saw a pair on a gaucho 
 at the estancia of my friend Dr. Perez that measured 
 seven inches in diameter. These were of a larger size than 
 those mentioned by Mr. Darwin in his "Journal of 
 
264 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Hutchinson 
 
 Researches," describing the " Beagle's" voyage round the 
 world, and which he saw in Chile, measuring six inches in 
 the same direction as aforesaid. The boots for working 
 purposes are made of untanned hide, but those for holiday 
 dress are often of patent leather with bright scarlet tops. 
 
 Many of the gauchos wear purple or yellow handker- 
 chiefs over their heads, inside the sombrero, and others 
 have wide belts around their bodies, that are glistening 
 with silver dollars tacked on. The costume of a gaucho is, 
 however, only complete when he is on horseback with the 
 bolas, the lasso, and a knife at his girdle. The bolas consists 
 of two balls, which are fastened at the end of two short 
 leathern ropes, and thrown by means of another short 
 thong, — all three being secured together, — when they are 
 whirled round the head of the thrower before propulsion, 
 which is so efficaciously managed as to bring down at once 
 the horse or cow in whose legs they get entangled. 
 
 Mr. Prescott, in his admirable work on the " History and 
 Conquest of Peru," when alluding to the attack made by 
 the Peruvians on their ancient capital Cuzco, then (a.d. 
 1535) occupied by the Spanish invaders under Pizarro^ 
 writes thus of the lasso : " One weapon peculiar to South 
 American warfare was used to some effect by the Peruvians. 
 This was the lasso, — a long rope with a noose at the end, 
 which they adroitly threw over the rider, or entangled 
 with it the legs of his horse, so as to bring them both to 
 the ground. More than one family fell into the hands of 
 the enemy by this expedient." The knowledge of the 
 weapon was therefore, in all probability, derived from this 
 quarter. 
 
 The horse-riding of the Chaco Indians, even in our day, 
 surpasses that of the gaucho. Fancy a troop of horses, 
 apparently riderless, galloping at full speed, yet each of 
 these animals is managed by a man who, with one arm 
 
Darwin] VALPARAISO AND ITS VICINITY. 265 
 
 over the neck of his brute, and with his other hand guiding 
 a bridle as well as grasping a lance, supports the whole 
 weight of his body by the back of the feet near the toes, 
 clinging on the horse's spine above bis loins, — the rider's 
 body being thus extended, under cover of the steed's side. 
 As quick as thought he is up and standing on the horse's 
 back with a war-cry of defiance, — although, according to 
 Captain Page, U.S.N,, never flinging away his javelin, for 
 with him it must be a hand-to-hand fight, — whilst with 
 equal rapidity he is down again, so as to be protected by 
 the body of the horse, which is all the time in full gallop. 
 
 Mr. Coghlan, C.B., and now attached to the Buenos 
 Ayres government, writes of those whom he saw when 
 exploring the Salado del Norte: "The riding of the In- 
 dians is wonderful. The gauchos even give their horses 
 some preliminary training; but the Indian catches him 
 (of course with the lasso), throws him down, forces a 
 wooden bit into his mouth, with a piece of hide binds it 
 fast to the lower jaw, and rides him. I have seen a man at 
 the full gallop of his horse put his hand on the mane and 
 jump forward on his feet, letting the animal go on without 
 a check, merely to put his hand to something." 
 
 VALPARAISO AND ITS VICINITY. 
 
 CHARLES DARWIN. 
 
 [It is doubtful if there exists a more interesting work of scien- 
 tific travel than Darwin's " Journal of Researches into the Natural 
 History and Geology of the Countries visited during the Voyage 
 Round the World of H. M. S. Beagle." Nothing of scientific in- 
 terest and value seems to have missed the eyes of the indefatigable ex- 
 plorer, and he has described what he saw in so lucid and agreeable a 
 
266 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Darwik 
 
 style as to make his work a veritable classic of travel and research. 
 We give here his description of Valparaiso and the adjoining country.] 
 
 Juli/ 23. — The " Beagle" anchored late at night in the 
 bay of Valparaiso, the chief seaport of Chile. When 
 morning came everything appeared delightful. After 
 Tierra del Fuego the climate felt quite delicious, — the at- 
 mosphere 80 dry, and the heavens so clear and blue with 
 the sun shining brightly, that all nature seemed sparkling 
 with life. The view fi-om the anchorage is very pretty. 
 The town is built at the very foot of a range of hills, about 
 sixteen hundred feet high and rather steep. From its 
 position it consists of one long, straggling street, which 
 runs parallel to the beach, and wherever a ravine comes 
 down the houses are piled up on each side of it. The 
 rounded hills, being only partially protected by a very 
 scanty vegetation, are worn into numberless little gullies, 
 which expose a singularly bright red soil. From this 
 cause, and from the low whitewashed houses with tile 
 roofs, the view reminded me of St. Cruz in Teueriffe. 
 
 In a northeasterly direction there are some fine glimpses 
 of the Andes ; but these mountains appear much grander 
 when viewed from the neighboring hills ; the great distance 
 at which they are situated can then more readily be per- 
 ceived. The volcano of Aconcagua is particularly mag- 
 nificent. This huge and irregularly conical mass has an 
 elevation greater than that of Chimborazo; for, from 
 measurements made by oflScers of the "Beagle," its height 
 is no less than twenty-three thousand feet. The Cordillera, 
 however, viewed from this point, owe the greater part of 
 their beauty to the atmosphere through which they are 
 seen. When the sun was setting in the Pacific, it was 
 admirable to watch how clearly their rugged outlines could 
 be distinguished, yet how varied and how delicate were the 
 shades of their color. 
 
Dabwin] VALPARAISO AND ITS VICINITY. 267 
 
 The immediate neighborhood of Valparaiso is not very 
 productive to the naturaUst. During the long summer the 
 wind blows steadily from the southward, and a little oflf 
 shore, so that rain never falls ; during the three winter 
 months, however, it is sufficiently abundant. The vegeta- 
 tion in consequence is very scanty : except in some deep 
 valleys there are no trees, and only a little grass and a few 
 low bushes are scattered over the less steep parts of the 
 hills. When we reflect that at the distance of three hun- 
 dred and fifty miles to the south this side of the Andes is 
 completely hidden by one impenetrable forest, the contrast 
 is very remarkable. 
 
 I took several long walks while collecting objects of 
 natural history. The country is pleasant for exercise. 
 There are many very beautiful flowers; and, as in most 
 other dry climates, the plants and shrubs possess strong 
 and peculiar odors, — even one's clothes in brushing through 
 them became scented. I did not cease from wonder at 
 finding each succeeding day as fine as the foregoing. What 
 a difference does climate make in the enjoyment of life! 
 How opposite are the sensations when viewing black 
 mountains half enveloped in clouds, and seeing another 
 range through the light blue haze of a fine day! The 
 one for a time may be very sublime ; the other is all gayety 
 and happy life. 
 
 August 14- — I set out on a riding excursion, for the pur- 
 pose of geologizing the basal parts of the Andes, which 
 alone at this time of the year are not shut up by the winter 
 snow. Our first day's ride was northward along the sea- 
 coast. After dark we reached the Hacienda de Quintero, 
 the estate which formerly belonged to Lord Cochrane. 
 My object in coming here was to see the great beds of 
 shells which stand some yards above the level of the sea, 
 and are burnt for lime. The proofs of the elevation of this 
 w 
 
268 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Darwin 
 
 whole line of coast are unequivocal : at the height of a few- 
 hundred feet old-looking shells are numerous, and I found 
 some at thirteen hundred feet. These shells either lie loose 
 upon the surface or are embedded in a reddish-black vege- 
 table mould. 1 was very much surprised to find under 
 the microscope that this vegetable mould is really marine 
 mud, full of minute particles of organic bodies. 
 
 15th. — We returned towards the valley of Quillota. The 
 country was exceedingly pleasant, just such as poets 
 would call pastoral ; green open lawns, separated by small 
 valleys with rivulets, and the cottages, we may suppose of 
 the shepherds, scattered on the hill-sides. We were obliged 
 to cross the ridge of the Chihcauquen. At its base there 
 were many fine evergreen forest-trees, but these flourished 
 only in the ravines, where there was running water. Any 
 person who had seen only the country near Valparaiso 
 would never have imagined that there had been such pic- 
 turesque spots in Chile. 
 
 As soon as we reached the brow of the Sierra, the valley 
 of Quillota was immediately under our feet. The prospect 
 was one of remarkable artificial luxuriance. The valley is 
 very broad and quite flat, and is thus easily irrigated in all 
 parts. The little square gardens are crowded with orange- 
 and olive-trees and every sort of vegetable. On each side 
 huge bare mountains rise, and this from the contrast ren- 
 ders the patchwork valley the more pleasing. Whoever 
 called Valparaiso the " Valley of Paradise" must have been 
 thinking of Quillota. We crossed over to the Hacienda de 
 San Isidro, situated at the very foot of the Bell Mountain. 
 
 Chile, as may be seen in the maps, is a narrow strip of 
 land between the Cordillera and the Pacific ; and this strip 
 is itself traversed by several mountain-lines, which in this 
 part run parallel to the great range. Between these outer 
 lines and the main Cordillera a euccession of level basins,. 
 
Darwin] VALPARAISO AND ITS VICINITY. 269 
 
 generally opening into each other by narrow passages, ex- 
 tend far to the southward; in these the principal towns 
 are situated, as San Felipe, Santiago, San Fernando. These 
 basins or plains, together with the transverse flat valleys 
 (like that of Quillota) which connect them with the coast, 
 I have no doubt are the bottoms of ancient inlets and deep 
 bays, such as at the present day intersect every part of 
 Tierra del Fuego and the western coast. Chile must for- 
 merly have resembled the latter country in the configura- 
 tion of its land and water. The resemblance was occa- 
 sionally shown strikingly when a level fog-bank covered, 
 as with a mantle, all the lower parts of the country ; the 
 white vapor curling into the ravines beautifully repre- 
 sented little coves and bays, and here and there a solitary 
 hillock, peeping up, showed that it had formerly stood 
 there as an islet. The contrast of these flat valleys and 
 basins with the irregular mountains gave the scenery a 
 character which to me was new and very interesting. 
 
 From the natural slope to seaward of these plains they 
 are very easily irrigated, and in consequence singularly 
 fertile. Without this process the land would produce 
 scarcely anything, for during the whole summer the sky is 
 cloudless. The mountains and hills are dotted over with 
 bushes and low trees, and excepting these the vegetation 
 is very scanty. Each land-owner in the valley possesses a 
 certain portion of hill-country, where his half-wild cattle, 
 in considerable numbers, manage to find sufiicient pasture. 
 
 Once every year there is a grand rodeo, when all the 
 cattle are driven down, counted, and marked, and a certain 
 number separated to be fattened in the irrigated fields. 
 Wheat is extensively cultivated, and a good deal of Indian 
 corn ; a kind of bean is, however, the staple article of food 
 for the common laborers. The orchards produce an over- 
 flowing abundance of peaches, figs, and grapes. With all 
 
270 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Darwin 
 
 these advantages, the inhabitants of the country ought to 
 be much more prosperous than they are. 
 
 16th. — The major-domo of the hacienda was good enough 
 to give me a guide and fresh horses, and in the morning 
 we set out to ascend the Campana, or Bell Mountain, which 
 is six thousand four hundred feet high. The paths were 
 very bad, but both the geology and scenery amply repaid 
 the trouble. We reached, by the evening, a spring called 
 the Agua del Guanaco, which is situated at a great height. 
 This must be an old name, for it is very many j^ears since 
 a guanaco drank its waters. During the ascent I noticed 
 that nothing but bushes grew on the northern slope, 
 while on the southern slope there was a bamboo about 
 fifteen feet high. In a few places there were palms, and I 
 was surprised to see one at an elevation of at least four 
 thousand five hundred feet. These palms are, for their 
 family, ugly trees. Their stem is very large and of a 
 curious form, being thicker in the middle than at the base 
 or top. They are excessively numerous in some parts of 
 Chile, and valuable on account of a sort of treacle made 
 from the sap. 
 
 On one estate near Petorca they tried to count them, but 
 failed, after having numbered several hundred thousand. 
 Every year in the early spring, in August, very many are 
 cut down, and when the trunk is lying on the ground the 
 crown of leaves is lopped off. The sap then immediately 
 begins to flow from the upper end, and continues so doing 
 for some months ; it is, however, necessary that a thin slice 
 should be shaved off from that end every morning, so as to 
 expose a fresh surface. A good tree will give ninety gal- 
 lons, and all this must have been contained in the vessels 
 of the appai'ently dry trunk. It is said that the sap flows 
 much more quickly on those days when the sun is power- 
 ful, and likewise that it is absolutely necessary to take 
 
Darwin] VALPARAISO AND ITS VICINITY. 271 
 
 care, in cutting down the tree, that it should fall with its 
 head upward on the slope of the hill ; for if it falls down 
 the slope scarcely any sap will flow, although in that case 
 one would have thought that the action would have been 
 aided, instead of checked, by the force of gravity. The sap 
 is concentrated by boiling, and is then called treacle, which 
 it very much resembles in taste. 
 
 "We unsaddled our horses near the spring, and prepared 
 to pass the night. The evening was fine, and the atmos- 
 phere so clear that the masts of vessels at anchor in the 
 bay of Valparaiso, although no less than twenty-six geo- 
 graphical miles distant, could be distinguished clearly as 
 little black streaks. A ship doubling the point under sail 
 appeared as a bright white speck. Anson expresses much 
 surprise, in his voyage, at the distance at which his vessels 
 were detected from the coast ; but he did not sufficiently 
 allow for the height of the land and the great transparency 
 of the air. 
 
 The setting of the sun was glorious, the valleys being 
 black, whilst the snowy peaks of the Andes yet retained a 
 ruby tint. When it was dark we made a fire beneath a 
 little arbor of bamboos, fried our charqui (or dried slips of 
 beef), took our mate, and were quite comfortable. There 
 is an inexpressible charm in this living in the open air. 
 The evening was calm and still ; the shrill noise of the 
 mountain bizcacha and the faint cry of a goatsucker were 
 occasionally to be heard. Besides these, few birds, or even 
 insects, frequent these dry, parched mountains. 
 
 17th. — In the morning we climbed up the rough mass of 
 greenstone which crowns the summit. This rock, as fre- 
 quently happens, was much shattered and broken into 
 huge angular fragments. I observed, however, one re- 
 markable circumstance, — namely, that many of the sur- 
 iaces presented every degree of freshness, some appearing 
 
272 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Darwin 
 
 as if broken the day before, while on others lichens had 
 either just become, or had long grown, attached. I so 
 fully believed that this was owing to the frequent earth- 
 quakes, that I felt inclined to hurry from below each loose 
 pile. As one might very easily be deceived in a fact of 
 this kind, I doubted its accuracy, until ascending Mount 
 Wellington, in Van Dieraen's Land, where earthquakes do 
 not occur, and there I saw the summit of the mountain 
 similarly composed and similarly shattered, but all the 
 blocks appeared as if they had been hurled into their 
 present position thousands of years ago. 
 
 We spent the day on the summit, and I never enjoyed 
 one more thoroughly. Chile, bounded by the Andes and 
 the Pacific, was seen as in a map. The pleasure from the 
 scenery, in itself beautiful, was heightened by the many re- 
 flections which arose from the mere view of the Campana 
 range, with its lesser parallel ones, and of the broad valley 
 of Quillota directly intersecting them. Who can avoid 
 wondering at the force which has upheaved these moun- 
 tains, and even more so at the countless ages which it must 
 have required to have broken through, removed, and lev- 
 elled whole masses of them? It is well in this case to call 
 to mind the vast shingle and sedimentary beds of Pata- 
 gonia, which, if heaped on the Cordillera, would increase 
 its height by so many thousand feet. When in that 
 country I wondered how any mountain-chain could supply 
 such masses and not have been utterly obliterated. We 
 must not now reverse the wonder, and doubt whether all- 
 powerful time can grind down mountains — even the 
 gigantic Cordillera — into gravel and mud. 
 
 The appearance of the Andes was different from that 
 which I had expected. The lower line of the snow was of 
 course horizontal, and to this line the even summits of the 
 range seemed quite parallel. Only at long intervals a 
 
PARWIN] VALPARAISO AND ITS VICINITY. 273 
 
 group of points or a single cone showed where a volcano 
 had existed, or does now exist. Hence the range resem- 
 bled a great solid wall, surmounted here and there by a 
 tower, and making a most perfect barrier to the country. 
 
 Almost every part of the hill had been drilled by at- 
 tempts to open gold-mines; the rage for mining has left 
 scarcely a spot in Chile unexamined. I spent the evening 
 as before, talking round the fire with my two companions. 
 The guasos of Chile, who correspond to the gauehos of 
 the Pampas, are, however, a very different set of beings. 
 Chile is the more civilized of the two countries, and the in- 
 habitants, in consequence, have lost much individual char- 
 acter. Gradations in rank are much more strongly marked. 
 The guaso does not by any means consider every man his 
 equal, and I was quite surprised to find that my compan- 
 ions did not like to eat at the same time with myself. 
 
 This feeling of inequality is a necessary consequence of 
 the existence of an aristocracy of wealth. It is said that 
 some few of the greater land-owners possess from five to 
 ten thousand pounds sterling per annum, an inequality of 
 riches which I believe is not met with in any of the cattle- 
 breeding countries eastward of the Andes. A traveller 
 does not here meet that unbounded hospitality which re- 
 fuses all payment, but yet is so kindly offered that no 
 scruples can be raised in accepting it. Almost every house 
 in Chile will receive you for the night, but a trifle is ex- 
 pected to be given in the morning ; even a rich man will 
 accept two or three shillings. 
 
 The gaucho, though he may be a cut-throat, is a gen- 
 tleman ; the guaso is in few respects better, but at the 
 same time a vulgar, ordinary fellow. The two men, al- 
 though employed much in the same manner, are different 
 in their habits and attire, and the peculiarities of each are 
 
 universal in their respective countries. The gaucho seema 
 Vol. I— 18 
 
274 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [BouRNB 
 
 part of his horse, and scorns to exert himself excepting 
 when on its back ; the guaso may be hired to work as a 
 laborer in the fields. The former lives entirely on animal 
 food, the latter almost wholly on vegetable. We do not 
 here see the white boots, the broad drawers, and scarlet 
 chilipa, the picturesque costume of the Pampas. Here 
 common trousers are protected by black and green worsted 
 leggings. The poncho, however, is common to both. The 
 chief pride of the guaso lies in his spurs, which are ab- 
 surdly large. I measured one which was six inches in 
 the diameter of the rowel, and the rowel itself contained 
 upward of thirty points. The stirrups are on the same 
 scale, each consisting of a square carved block of wood, 
 hollowed out, yet weighing three or four pounds. The 
 guaso is perhaps more expert with the lazo than the 
 gaucho, but, from the nature of the country, he does not 
 know the use of the bolas. 
 
 AN ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. BOURNE. 
 
 [Benjamin Franklin Bourne, mate of a vessel that sailed, via the 
 Straits of Magellan, for California in 1849, during the intensity of the 
 gold fever, was taken prisoner by the Patagonians, having landed to 
 bring off some of the sailors. He remained in their hands for more 
 than three months, and in his "The Captive in Patagonia" gives 
 a detailed description of the character and customs of the natives of 
 that country. We extract from his work a good brief description of 
 the country and its people.] 
 
 Patagonia as it offered itself to my observation more 
 than answered the descriptions of geographers, — bleak, 
 barren, desolate, beyond description or conception, — only 
 
Bourne] AN ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 275 
 
 to be appreciated by being seen. Viewed from the Straits 
 of Magellan, it rises in gentle undulations or terraces. 
 Far as the eye can reach, in a westerly direction, it assumes 
 a more broken and hilly appearance, and long ranges of 
 mountains extending from north to south divide the eastern 
 from the western shore. The soil is of a light, sandy 
 character, and bears nothing worthy the name of a tree. 
 Low bushes, or underwood, are tolerably abundant, and in 
 the valleys a coarse wiry grass grows luxuriantly. Streams 
 of water are rare. The natives draw their supplies princi- 
 pally from springs or pools in the valleys, the water of 
 which is generally brackish and disagreeable. 
 
 The variety of animal is nearly as limited as that of 
 vegetable productions. The guanaco, a quadruped allied 
 to the lama and with some resemblance to the camelopard, 
 is found in considerable numbers. It is larger than the 
 red deer, fleet on the foot, usually found in large herds, 
 frequenting not only the plains, but found along the course 
 of the Andes. Its flesh is a principal article of food ; its 
 skin is dried with the hair on, in such a manner that, when 
 wet, it retains its pliability and softness. This process of 
 preserving skins seems to be peculiar to the Indian tribes^ 
 and is not unlike that by which buffalo-robes, bear-skins,, 
 buckskins, and other articles of luxury, and even necessity, 
 among us, are prepared by the North American Indians. 
 Guanaco-skins are cut into pieces of all sizes, and sewed 
 into a thousand fanciful patterns, every workman origi- 
 nating a style to suit himself. The hoofs are sometimes 
 turned to account by the natives as soles for shoes, when 
 they indulge in such a luxury, which is not often. 
 
 The enemy of the guanaco is the cougar, or " American 
 lion," smaller than its African namesake, and more resem- 
 bling the tiger in his character and habits, having a smooth, 
 sleek coat, of a brownish-yellow color, — altogether a very 
 
276 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bourne 
 
 beautiful but ferocious creature. His chase is a favorite. 
 
 though rare and dangerous, sport of the natives. Patago- 
 nia likewise boasts of the skunk, whose flesh is used for 
 food. There are also foxes, and innumerable mice. Of 
 birds, the only noticeable varieties are the condor, in the 
 Andes, and the cassowary, a species of ostrich, smaller 
 than that of Africa, on the plains ; its plumage is not 
 abundant, generally of a gray or dun color. Its flesh is 
 tender and sweet, and with the fat much prized by the 
 Indians. Like the African ostrich, it is exceedingly swift, 
 •only to be captured on horseback, and often fleet enough to 
 outrun the fastest racer. 
 
 The climate is severe ; the Rio Negro forms the northern 
 boundary, and nearly the whole country is south of the 
 parallel of 40° south latitude. At the time of my capture, 
 which was in the month of May, the weather corresponded 
 to that of November in the New England States. Its 
 chilliness, however, was greatly increased by the bleak 
 winds of that exposed locality. Along the Straits of 
 Magellan the weather is often exceedingly changeable. 
 Sudden and severe squalls, often amounting almost to a 
 hurricane, vex the navigation of the straits, and sweep 
 over the coast with fearful fury. 
 
 The habits of the Patagonians, or at least of the tribe 
 among whom I was cast, are migratory, wandering over 
 the country in quest of game, or as their caprice may 
 prompt them. They subsist altogether on the flesh of ani- 
 mals and birds. The guanaco furnishes most of their food, 
 and all their clothing. A mantle of skins, sewed with the 
 sinews of the ostrich, fitted closely about the neck and ex- 
 tending below the knee, is their only article of dress, except 
 in the coldest weather, when a kind of shoe, made of the 
 hind hoof and a portion of the skin above it, serves to 
 protect their inferior extremities. 
 
Bourne] AN ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 277 
 
 In person they are large; on first sight, they appear 
 absolutely gigantic. They are taller than any other race I 
 have seen, although it is impossible to give any accurate 
 description. The only standard of measurement I had was 
 my own height, which is about five feet ten inches. I 
 could stand very easily under the arms of many of them, 
 and all the men were at least a head taller than myself. 
 Their average height, I should think, is nearly six and a 
 half feet, and there were specimens that could have been 
 little less than seven feet high. They have broad shoulders, 
 full and well-developed chests, frames muscular and finely 
 proportioned, the whole figure and air making an impres- 
 sion like that which the first view of the sons of Anak is 
 recorded to have made on the children of Israel, They 
 exhibit enormous strength, whenever they are sufficiently 
 aroused to shake off their constitutional laziness and exert 
 it. 
 
 They have large heads, high cheek-bones, like the North 
 American Indians, whom they also resemble in their com- 
 plexion, though it is a shade or two darker. Their fore- 
 heads are broad, but low, the hair covering them nearly to 
 the eyes; eyes full, generally black, or of a dark brown, 
 and brilliant, though expressive of but little intelligence. 
 Thick, coarse, and stiff hair protects the head, its abundance 
 making any artificial covering superfluous. It is worn 
 long, generally divided at the neck, so as to hang in two 
 folds over the shoulders and back, but is sometimes bound 
 above the temples by a fillet, over which it flows in ample 
 luxuriance. Like more civilized people, the Patagonians 
 take great pride in the proper disposition and effective dis- 
 play of their hair. Their teeth are really beautiful, sound 
 and white, — about the only enviable feature of their per- 
 sons. Feet and hands are large, but not disproportionate 
 to their total bulk. They have deep, heavy voices and 
 
278 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bournh 
 
 speak in guttural tones, — the worst guttural I ever heard, 
 — with a muttering, indistinct articulation, much as if 
 their mouths were filled with hot pudding. 
 
 Their countenances are generally stupid, but, on closer 
 inspection, there is a gleam of low cunning that flashes 
 through this dull mask, and is increasingly discernible on 
 acquaintance with them ; when excited, or engaged in any 
 earnest business that calls their faculties into full exercise, 
 their features light up with unexpected intelligence and 
 animation. In fact, as one becomes familiar with them, he 
 will not fail to detect an habitual expression of " secretive- 
 ness" and duplicity, which he will wonder he did not 
 observe sooner. They are almost as imitative as monkeys, 
 and are all great liars ; falsehood is universal and inveter- 
 ate with men, women, and children. The youngest seem to 
 inherit the taint, and vie with the oldest in displaying it. 
 The detection of a falsehood gives them no shame or un- 
 easiness. To these traits should be added a thorough- 
 paced treachery, and, what might seem rather inconsistent 
 with their other qualities, a large share of vanity and an 
 immoderate love of praise. 
 
 [The author has much more to say in this same vein, and gives a 
 detailed and valuable account of their customs, which only his captivity 
 could have enabled him to offer. His adventures were the reverse of 
 pleasant, and he was fortunately successful in the end in inducing 
 them to visit the coast near an island inhabited by whites. Here he 
 made a bold stroke for freedom.] 
 
 Our horses' heads were now turned from the shore, and 
 we rode back about an eighth of a mile to a large clump 
 of bushes, unsaddled our beasts, and waited some time for 
 the rest of our company, who had fallen in the rear. They 
 came at last, our horses were turned adrift, fire was lighted, 
 and, as the day was far spent, supper was in order. Then 
 ensued a repetition — a final one, I trusted — of the grand 
 
BouRKB] AN ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 279 
 
 present to be levied on the Hollanders [as the natives 
 called the white settlers], and of the speech which was to 
 draw them out. The Indians arranged that I was to hoist 
 the English flag, — the colors of the unfortunate brig "Avon," 
 which they had brought along at my request, — and then 
 to walk the shore to attract the attention of the islanders. 
 On the approach of a boat, I was to be kept back from the 
 beach to prevent escape ; for I found that they were not, 
 after all, as well assured of my good faith as might have 
 been desirable. They thought, moreover, that when the 
 white men saw a prisoner with them, they would come 
 ashore to parley and oifer presents to effect his release ; in 
 that case there might be a chance, if the negotiation 
 proved unsatisfactory, to take bonds of fate in the form of 
 another captive or two. So, at least, there was ground to 
 suspect, — and some cause to fear that the rascals might 
 prove too shrewd for all of us ! 
 
 After talking till a late hour, the Indians threw them- 
 selves upon the ground, stuck their feet into the bushes 
 and were soon fast asleep. I consulted the chief as to tht 
 propriety of modifying this arrangement by placing our 
 heads, rather than our feet, under cover, since both could 
 not be accommodated. He declined any innovations, and 
 told me to go to sleep. I stretched myself on the ground, 
 but as to sleep that was out of question. I lay all night 
 thinking over every possible expedient for escape. We 
 had no materials for a boat or raft of any description, and 
 it was impossible to think of any plan that promised 
 success ; so that, after tossing in body and mind through 
 the weary hours of night, I could only resolve to wait the 
 course of events, and to take advantage of the first oppor- 
 tunity affording a reasonable hope of deliverance from this 
 horrid captivity. Snow, sleet, and rain fell during the 
 night; and I rose early, thoroughly chilled, every tooth 
 
280 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Botjrnk 
 
 chattering. A fire was kindled and the last morsel of 
 meat that remained to us was cooked and eaten. The 
 weather continued squally till the middle of the afternoon. 
 
 After breakfast the chief went with me to the shore, 
 bearing the flag. On the beach I found a strip of thick 
 board, to which I fastened the colors, and then planted it 
 in the sand. The bushes around, which have a kind of oily 
 leaf, and readily ignite, were set on fire. I then walked 
 to the beach, — but no boat came. When it cleared up 
 sufficiently to see, I observed little objects moving about 
 on the island. The day wore away with fruitless attempts 
 to attract their attention. "With an aching heart I returned, 
 at dark, to the camping-ground. On this island my hopes 
 had so long centred, — if they were now to be disappointed, 
 how could I endure it ? The Indians began to talk of re- 
 joining the tribe the following day ; I opposed the motion 
 with all the dissuasives at command, assuring them that at 
 sight of our flag the islanders would surely come over in a 
 boat, and that, if they would only wait a little, they could 
 go over to the island and enjoy themselves to their hearts' 
 content; representing the absolute necessity that I should 
 procure the rum, etc., we had talked of, and how embar- 
 rassing it would be to go back to the tribe empty-handed, 
 after all that had been said, to be ridiculed and reproached. 
 It would never do. 
 
 Our conversation was continued till quite late, when we 
 ranged ourselves, hungry and weary, for another night. 
 For hours I was unable to sleep. The uncertainties of my 
 situation oppressed me, and I lay restless, with anxiety in- 
 expressible, inconceivable by those whom Providence has 
 preserved from similar straits. It was a season of deep, 
 suppi'essed, silent misery, in which the heart found no 
 relief but in the mute supplication to Him who was alone 
 able to deliver. Towards morning, exhausted with the in- 
 
BouRNB] AN ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 281 
 
 tensity of emotion acting on an enfeebled body, I slept a 
 little, and woke at early dawn, to a fresh consciousness of 
 my critical position. 
 
 The weather had been fair during the night, but there 
 were now indications of another snow-storm. I waited 
 long and impatiently for my companions to awake, and at 
 last started off in quest of fuel, on returning' with which 
 they bestirred themselves and started a fire, which warmed 
 our half-benumbed limbs. There lay the little island, 
 beautiful to eyes that longed, like mine, for a habitation 
 of sympathizing men, about a mile and a half distant. It 
 almost seemed to recede while I gazed, so low had my 
 hopes sunken under the pressure of disappointment and 
 bitter uncertainty. A violent snow-storm soon setting in, 
 it was hidden from view ; everything seemed to be against 
 me. It slackened and partially cleared up ; then came an- 
 other gust, filling the air and shutting out the prospect. 
 
 In this way it continued till past noon ; at intervals, as 
 the sky lighted up, I took a firebrand and set fire to the 
 bushes on the beach, and then hoisted the flag again, walk- 
 ing wearily to and fro till the storm ceased and the sky 
 became clear. The chief concealed himself in a clump of 
 bushes, and sat watching with cat-like vigilance the move- 
 ments of the islanders. After some time he said a boat 
 was coming ; I scarcely durst look in the direction indi- 
 cated, lest I should experience a fresh disappointment ; but 
 I did look, and saw, to my great joy, a boat launched, with 
 four or five men on board, and pushing off the shore. On 
 they came ; the chief reported his discover j'-, and the rest 
 of the Indians came to the beach, where I was still walking 
 backward and forward. The boat approached, not directly 
 off where I was, but an eighth of a mile, perhaps, to the 
 windward, and there lay on her oars. 
 
 The Indians hereupon ordered me to return to th© 
 
282 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Botjrni 
 
 camping-ground, but, without heeding them, I set off at a 
 full run towards the boat. They hotly pursued, I occa- 
 sionally turning and telling them to come on, that I only 
 wanted to see the boat. "Stop! stop!" they bawled. 
 " Now, my legs," said I, " if ever you want to serve me, 
 this is the time." I had one advantage over my pursuers : 
 my shoes, though much the worse for wear, protected my 
 feet from the sharp stones, which cut theirs at every step ; 
 but, under all disadvantages, I found they made about 
 equal speed with myself. As I gained a point opposite the 
 boat, the Indians slackened their speed and looked uneasily 
 at me ; the man in the stern of the boat hailed me, inquiring 
 what Indians these were, what number of them, and how 
 I came among them. I replied in as few words as pos- 
 sible, and told him we wished to cross to the island. He 
 shook his head ; they were bad fellows, he said ; he could 
 not take me with the Indians. They began to pull away. 
 I made signs of distress and waved them to return, shout- 
 ing to them through my hands. The boat was again 
 backed within hailing distance. "Will you look out for 
 me if I come by myself?" " Yes," was the prompt reply. 
 
 The Indians all this time had kept within ten or fifteen 
 feet of me, with their hands on their knives, and reiter- 
 ating their commands to come back, at the same time 
 edging towards me in a threatening manner. " Yes, yes," 
 I told them, "in a moment; but I want to look at the 
 boat," — taking care, however, to make good my distance 
 from them. 
 
 At the instant of hearing the welcome assurance that I 
 should be cared for, I drew out the watch (which I had 
 brought, according to promise, to have a new crystal in- 
 serted at Holland), and threw it into the bushes ; the salt 
 water would spoil it, and, if I should be retaken, the spoil- 
 ing of that would be an aggravation which might prove 
 
BouBMBl AN ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 283 
 
 fatal. At the same moment I gave a plunge headlong into 
 the river; my clothes and shoes encumbered me, and the 
 surf, agitated by a high wind, rolled in heavy seas upon 
 the shore. The boat was forty or fifty yards off, and, as 
 the wind did not blow square in shore, drifted, so as to in- 
 crease the original distance, unless counteracted by the 
 crew. Whether the boat was backed up towards me I could 
 not determine; my head was a great part of the time 
 under water, my eyes blinded with the surf, and most 
 strenuous exertion was necessary to live in such a sea. 
 
 As I approached the boat I could see several guns, 
 pointed, apparently, at me. Perhaps we had misunder- 
 stood each other ; perhaps they viewed me as an enemy. 
 In fact, they were aimed to keep the Indians from follow- 
 ing me into the water, which they did not attempt. My 
 strength was fast failing me ; the man at the helm, per- 
 ceiving it, stretched out a rifle at arm's length. The 
 muzzle dropped into the water and arrested my feeble 
 vision. Summoning all my remaining energy, I grasped 
 it, and was drawn towards the boat ; a sense of relief shot 
 through and revived me, but revived, also, such a dread 
 lest the Indians should give chase, that I begged them to 
 pull away, I could hold on. The man reached down and 
 seized me by the collar, and ordered his men to ply their 
 oars. They had made but a few strokes when a simulta- 
 neous cry broke from their lips, " Pull the dear man in ! 
 Pull the dear man in !" They let fall their oars, laid hold 
 of me, and, in their effort to drag me over the side of their 
 whale-boat, I received some injury. I requested that they 
 would let me help myself, and, working my body up suffi- 
 ciently to get one knee over the gunwale, I gave a spring 
 with what strength was left me, and fell into the bottom 
 of the boat. 
 
 They kindly offered to strip me and put on dry clothing ; 
 
284 WORLD'S GREAT TRAVELLERS. [Bourne 
 
 but I told them, if they would only work the boat farther 
 from the shore, I would take care of myself They pulled 
 away, while I crawled forward, divested myself of my 
 coat, and put on one belonging to one of the crew. Con- 
 versation, which was attempted, was impossible. It was 
 one of the coldest days in a Patagonian winter. I was 
 chilled through, and could only articulate, " I ca-n't ta-lk 
 now ; I'll ta-lk by a-nd by." Some liquor, bread, and to- 
 bacco, which had been put on board for my ransom, on 
 supposition that this was what the signal meant, was pro- 
 duced for my refreshment. The sea was heavy, with a 
 strong head-wind, so that, though the men toiled vigor- 
 ously, our progress was slow. 1 was soon comfortably 
 warmed by the stimulants provided, and offered to lend a 
 hand at the oar, but the offer was declined. The shouts 
 and screams of the Indians, which had followed me into 
 the water, and rung hideously in my ears while struggling 
 for life in the surf, were kept up till distance made them 
 inaudible. Whether they found the watch, whose myste- 
 rious tick at once awed and delighted them, and restored it 
 to its place of state in the chief's lodge, or whether it still 
 lies rusting in the sands by the sea-shore, is a problem un- 
 solved. 
 
 The boat at last grounded on the northern shore of the 
 island. Mr. Hall, the gentleman who commanded the 
 party, supported my tottering frame in landing, and, as 
 we stepped upon the shore, welcomed me to their island. 
 I grasped his hand and stammered my thanks for this de- 
 liverance, and lifted a tearful eye to heaven in silent 
 gratitude to God. I was then pointed to a cabin near by, 
 where a comfortable fire was ready for me. "Now," I 
 heard Mr. Hall say, " let us fire a salute of welcome to the 
 stranger. Make ready! Present! Fire!" Off went all 
 their muskets, and a very cordial salute it appeared to be. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 A Hunter's Christmas Dinner . . J. S. Campion 124 
 
 Alaska, A Summer Trip to. . . . James A. Habrison 289 
 
 Alligators, Among Florida . . . . S. C. Clarke 74 
 
 Arctic Seas, Fugitives from the . Elishe Kent Kane 210 
 
 Bacon, Alfred Terry A Colorado "Round-Up" . . . 133 
 
 Bourne, Benjamin F An Escape from Captivity . . 274 
 
 Bradford, Louis C Among the Cowboys 141 
 
 Bryant, Henry G The Grand Falls of Labrador . 189 
 
 Buffalo, Hunting the ....... Washington Irving 147 
 
 Campion, J. S A Hunter's Christmas Dinner . 114 
 
 Canadian Woods, Hunting Scenes 
 
 in the B. A. Watson 178 
 
 Captivity, An Escape from. . . . Benjamin F. Bourne .... 274 
 Carver, Jonathan The Fort William Henry Mas- 
 sacre 249 
 
 Clarke, S. C Among Florida Alligators. . . 74 
 
 Clarke, William The Great Falls of the Missouri 168 
 
 CoLLis, Septima M The Muir Glacier 230 
 
 Colorado Round-TJp, A Alfred Terry Bacon .... 133 
 
 Country of the Sioux Meriwether Lewis 157 
 
 Cowboys. Among the Louis C. Bradford 141 
 
 Darwin, Charles Valparaiso and Its Vicinity . . 265 
 
 Death, Rescued from W. S. Schley 220 
 
 Down the Ohio and Mississippi. . Thomas L. Nichols 94 
 
 Escape, An, from Captivity . . . Benjamin F. Bourne .... 274 
 
 Esquimaux, Life Among the . . . William Edward Parrt . . . 200 
 
 Featherstonhaugh, G. W. . . . Winter on the Prairies. . . . 114 
 
 Florida Alligators, Among . . . . S. C. Clarke 74 
 
 Fort William Henry Massacre, The Jonathan Carver 249 
 
 Fugitives from the Arctic Seas. . Elisha Kent Kane 210 
 
 Gaucho, The and His Horse . . . Thomas J. Hutchinson . . . 257 
 
 Glacier, The Muir Septima M. Collis 230 
 
 Grand Falls of Labrador, The . . Henry G. Bryant 189 
 
 Great Falls of the Missouri . . . William Clarke 168 
 
 Harrison, James A A Summer Trip to Alaska . . 239 
 
 Horse, The Gaucho and His . . . Thomas J. Hutchinson . . . 257 
 
 Hunter's Christmas Dinner, A . . J. S. Campion 124 
 
 Hunting Scenes in the Canadian 
 
 Woods B. A. Watson 178 
 
 Hunting the Buffalo Washington Irving 147 
 
 Hutchinson, Thomas J The Gaucho and His Horse . . 257 
 
 In the Mammoth Cave Therese Telverton S3 
 
 Irving, Washington Hunting the Buffalo 147 
 
 Kane, Elisha Kent Fugitives from the Arctic Seas 210 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Labrador, the Grand Falls of . . Henkt C. Bryant 189 
 
 Latham, Hbnky From New York to Washington 
 
 in 1866 39 
 
 Leigh, Oliver H. G New Dependencies of the Unit- 
 ed States 9 
 
 Lewis, Meriwether In the Country of the Sioux . 157 
 
 Life Among the Esquimaux . . . William Edward Parky . . . 200 
 
 Mammoth Cave, In the Therese Yelverton 83 
 
 Massacre, The Fort William Henry Jonathan Carver 249 
 
 Mississippi, Down the Ohio and . Thomas L. Nichols 94 
 
 Missouri, The Great Falls of the . William Clarke 168 
 
 Muir Glacier, The Septima M. Collis 230 
 
 Natural Bridge and Tunnel of Vir- 
 ginia Edward A. Pollard 49 
 
 New Dependencies of the United 
 
 States Oliver H. G. Leigh 9 
 
 New England, Winter and Summer 
 
 in Harriet Martineau 22 
 
 New Orleans to Red River, From . Frederick Law Olmsted . . 104 
 
 New Yorls to Washington in 1866 . Henry Latham 89 
 
 Niagara Falls and the Thousand 
 
 Islands Charles Morris 81 
 
 Nichols, Thomas L Down the Ohio and Mississippi 94 
 
 Ohio and Mississippi, Down the . Thomas L. Nichols 94 
 
 Olmsted, Frederick Law. . . . From New Orleans to Red River 104 
 
 Parry, William Edward .... Life Among the Esquimaux. . 200 
 Plantation Life in War Times . . William Howard Russell. . 62 
 
 Pollard, Edward A Natural Bridge and Tunnel of 
 
 Virginia 49 
 
 Prairies, Winter on the G. W. Featherstonhaugh . . 114 
 
 Red River, From New Orleans to . Frederick Law Olmsted . . 104 
 
 Rescued from Death W. S. Schley 220 
 
 Round-Up, A Colorado Alfred Terry Bacon .... 133 
 
 Russell, William Howard . . . Plantation Life in War Times . 62 
 
 Schley, W. S Rescued from Death 220 
 
 Sioux, In the Country of the . . . Meriwether Lewis 157 
 
 Summer Trip to Alaslja, A. . . . James A. Harrison 239 
 
 Thousand Islands, The, and Niag- , 
 
 ara Falls Charles Morris .....__. 31 
 
 United States, New Dependencies 
 
 of the Oliver H. G. Leigh 9 
 
 Valparaiso and Its Vicinity . . . Charles Darwin 265 
 
 Virginia, Natural Bridge and Tun- 
 nel of Edward A. Pollard 49 
 
 War Times, Plantation Life in . . William Howard Russell . . 62 
 
 Washington in 1866, From New 
 
 York to Henry Latham 39 
 
 Watson, B. A Hunting Scenes in the Canadian 
 
 Woods 178 
 
 Winter and Summer in New Eng- 
 land Harriet Martineau 22 
 
 Winter on the Prairies G. W. Featherstonhaugh . . 114 
 
 Yelverton, Therese , In the Mammoth Cave .... 83 
 
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