i>i>wo>»iLm> M' -:*«\ carried over the shoulder — all single loads are so carried — and there goes a water-carrier, carrying his stoups in the same manner, while over his shoul ders he has flung a coat that would make the repu tation of a clown in the circus. The dress of the women is not so varied, but their painted lips and whitened necks, and, in the case of the married women, their blackened teeth, afford us much cause for staring, although I cannot bear to look for one instant upon these hideous-looking wretches when they smile ; I have to turn my eyes away. How women can be induced to make such disgusting frights of themselves I cannot conceive, but fashion — fashion does any thing. The appearance of the children is comical in the extreme. They are so thickly padded with dress upon dress as to give them the look of little fat Esquimaux. The women invariably carry them on their backs, Indian fashion. Here are two Japs meeting in the middle of the street. They bow three times, each inclination lower and more profound than the preceding one, infinite care being taken to drop the proper number of inches befitting their respective ranks. They then shake their own hands in token of their joy, and so on we go. We are now in the region of the shops. These are small booths, and squat on the floor sit four or five men and women around a bra zier, warming their hands while they smoke. All the shops are of wood, but a small part is con structed of mud, and is said to be fire-proof. In this the valuables are instantly thrown when one of the very frequent fires occur. The floors are matted, and kept scrupulously clean. No one thinks 32 ROUND THE WORLD. of entering without first taking his shoes off. The shop floors are raised about eighteen inches above the street, and on the edges purchasers sit sideways and make their bargains. The entire street is a pave ment, as no horses are to be provided for. We visited the tea factories at Yokohama, Japan having of late years become an exporter of tea to America. Last year no less than 5000 tons were shipped. Tea when first gathered is tasteless, but after being exposed to the sun it ferments like hay. It is then curled, twisted, baked, and brought to the dealers, who again pick it carefully over and roll it into the form in which it reaches us. We saw raany hundreds of women and girls in the establishment of Messrs. Walsh, Hall & Co. roUing rapidly about with their hands a quantity of the leaves in large round pots under which a small charcoal fire was burning. And now, for the benefit of my lady friends, let me explain that the difference between black and green tea is simply this : the former is al lowed to. cure or ferment in the sun about fifty min utes longer than the latter, and during this extra fifty minutes certain elements pass off which are thought to affect the nervous system ; hence green tea has a greater effect upon weak nerves than the black, but you see the same leaf makes either kind, as the owner elects. But here comes in a strange prejudice. Green tea of the natural color could not be sold in the American market. No, we insist upon having a "prettier green," and we are accommodated, of course. What is a dealer to do but meet the imperi ous demands of his patrons ? This is obtained by adulterating the pure tea with a mixture of indigo ROUND THE WORLD. 33 and gypsum, which the most conscientious dealers are compelled to do. But we saw used in one case Prussian blue — this, however, was not in Messrs. Walsh, Hall & Co.'s — which is a rank poison, and I was told of ultra-marine being sometimes resorted to, a poison still more deadly. These more pernicious substances produce even a "prettier green" than the indigo and gypsum, and secure the preference of ignorant people. Moral— Stick to black tea and escape poison. For all of which information, and many kind attentions, I have to thank Mr. Walsh, our banker. One hears very often during the night in Japan a long, plaintive kind of whistle, which, upon inquiry, I found proceeded from blind men or women, called shampooers, who are employed to rub or pinch those suffering from pain, and who cure restlessness by the same means. It is a favorite cure of the Japa nese, and some foreigners tell us they have called them in with success. I suppose, this climate being productive of rheumatism and kindred pains, the people are prone to fly to any thing that secures temporary rehef ; but it is a new idea, this, of being pinched to sleep. We live well at the hotels here. Japan abounds in fish and game in great variety. Woodcock, snipe, hares, and venison are cheap, and all of excellent quality. The beef and mutton are also good, as are the vegetables. Turnips and car rots are enormous, owing, I suppose, to the depth and fineness of the soil. The former grow long Uke the latter. Vandy measured some of each, and re ports : " Turnips, eighteen inches, and beautifully white ; carrots, twenty inches, and splendid." 34 ROUND THE WORLD. Wednesday, November 20. We started this morning from Yokoharaa for Tokio, the great city of the Empire, which contains 1,030,000 inhabitants, according to a census taken last year. Until within a few years past Japan had two rulers — the Mikado, or spiritual, and the Ty coon, or secular ruler ; the seat of the former was at Kioto, a fine city near the centre of the island, while the Tycoon resided at Tokio, or Yeddo, as it was then called. Many of the Tycoons married daughters of the Mikado, so that the temporal and spiritual powers were connected. The Mikado was invisible, being the veritable veiled prophet, none but a privileged few being ever permitted to gaze upon his divine person. A few years ago it was de cided to combine the two powers, and make Yeddo the only capital. The Mikado was carried to Yeddo closely veiled in triumphal procession, and the vast crowds assembled at every point to see the cavalcade prostrated themselves, and remained with eyes bent upon the ground as the sacred car approached. An eye-witness describing the entry into Tokio says that few dared to look up as the Presence passed. Lately, the same Mikado has made a royal progress through the country, meeting the principal men in each district, and travelling in view of the entire population, so rapidly have matters changed in Japan. When the Mikado was elevated to supreme power the feudal system which had existed up to that time was abolished, and we see no more of the Samuri, or two-sworded men, or of the Daimios, the petty princes who formerly promenaded the streets in gorgeous dresses, accompanied by their military re- ROUND THE WORLD. 3S tainers. Instead of this we have now the soldiers, sailors, policemen, and all the official classes dressed in European style. It is the reigning fashion to be European, and even furniture after our patterns is coming into use. Itis the same with the food. The hotel where we are rejoices in a French cook, ex pressly imported, and every night we have parties of wealthy Japanese dining at this Tokio Del monico's. Last night we had a party of the most celebrated actors enjoying a dinner upon the success ful completion of a new piece which had enjoyed a great run. 1 amused myself trying to select the. _ Montagu, Gilbert, Becket, and Booth of the party, and succeeded well, as I afterward heard. Actors are held in estimation here in the city, and these at tracted great attention as they dined. Matters are much as with us, I fancy. Our interpreter, in his broken English, told us in regard to the two young lovers, " Very high thought by much high ladies — oh, very high !" I do not think European dress im proves the appearance of the Japanese gentlemen ; they are very short, and, I regret to report it, gener ally quite crooked in the legs, and their own flowing costumes render them dignified and graceful. We were fortunate in having as shipmates Cap tain Totaki, of the navy, and a young lady, Mdlle. Rio, who had been in America for some years, and had acquired an English education. They were ex cessively kind to us during our entire stay, and much of the pleasure derived is due to them. The Captain gave us an entertainment at a fashionable tea-house one evening, and it was here we were introduced to the celebrated singing and dancing girls of Japan, of 36 ROUND THE WORLD. whom all have heard. We were shown into a large room, the floor of which was covered with bamboo matting laid upon some soft substance. Of course our shoes were laid aside at the door~of the house. There were neither chairs nor furniture of any kind, but subsequently chairs were found for us. The salutations on the part of the numerous women ser vants were most profound, each prostrating herself to the floor, and touching the mat with her forehead every time she entered or left the apartment. Vel vet mats were carried into the room by a servant and placed around a brazier of charcoal. In a few minutes servant after servant enters, prostrating her- , self to the ground, and places before us some Japanese delicacy. One serves soup in small lacquer bowls, another fish, a third cakes, a fourth tea in very tiny cups, and others various things, and finally saki, the wine of the country, is produced, which is served in small cups as the tea is. Then come the girls. Seven approach, each carrying a musical instrument of queer construction ; these bow profoundly, but I noticed did not touch the mat with their foreheads, their rank being so much superior to that of the ser vants, and begin to play and sing. No entertain ment is complete without a troop of these Gahazi girls, and such entertainments form about the only kind of social amusement the Japanese have. And now for the music. Please understand that the Japa nese scale is not like ours, and nothing like melody to our ears can be produced by it. They have a full tone between each first and second note, and a semi tone between each third and fourth, and yet the same feelings are awakened in them by their music as in ROUND THE WORLD. 37 us by ours, so that harmony itself is simply a matter of education after all, and the glorious 5th Symphony itself, " My Nannie's Awa'," or " Scots wha hae," played or sung aS I have heard them, would convey no more meaning to these people than so much rat tling of cross-bones ; but imagine the 5 th Symphony on any scale but ours. 1 cannot reconcile myself to the idea that we have not the only scale for such a theme, but one has to learn that there are different ways for every thing. Owing to the change of scale, I suppose I missed the sentiment of every piece performed. When I thought they were giving us a wail for the dead it turned out to be a warm welcorae, and an assurance on the part of those pretty maidens of their happiness in being perraitted the great honor of performing before such illustrious visitors. Our companion, Mdlle. Rio, took one of the instruments and played and sang a piece for us, but I was not more fortunate in my guess with her. It was a wed ding chorus, which I was willing to wager was the Japanese " Miserere ;" but this error may have its significance after all. To us, in short, the music was execrable. A falsetto, and a grinding, sing-song fa:l- setto at that — the most disagreeable sound I ever heard in music — is very common, and highly es teemed. The instruments resemble banjos, and there is a harsh kind of drum accompaniment ; but there is one larger string instrument, the Japanese piano, upon which much older women play, the younger'girls not being suflSciently skilled to perform upon it. After a few songs had been sung, several of the girls laid down their banjos, and after obeisance prepared to dance. Instead of being a sprightly 38 ROUND THE WORLD. performance to Uvely music, ' ' first ae caper syne anither," Japanese dancing is a very stately and measured performance, the body instead of the feet being most brought into requisition. With the aid of the indispensable fan the girls succeed in depicting many different emotions, and all with exquisite grace. It is the very poetry of motion. Each dance illus trates a story, and is as well known by name as is the " Highland Fling" or the " Sailor's Hornpipe." Here there was no difficulty in following the story. Unlike music, acting is a universal language, and in its domain " one touch of nature makes the whole world kin." There are no different scales for the expression of feeling. Love, in some of its raanifold forms, as was to have been expected, is the theme of most of these dances. 1 redeemed my reputation here as a guesser, I think. I could give a very fair report to Mdlle. Rio of most that took place in the dances, and we enjoyed this portion of the entertain ment highly. How stupid our people must appear to a Japanese, whirling round a room until fatigued or dizzy, all for the fun of the thing ! The dresses of the girls were of the richest and most fashionable description, and their manners those of high-born women. Indeed, they set the fashions, and are educated and accomplished beyond their sex. Their parents educate them at great expense, and certain girls are sent for to furnish entertainment for an evening just as we would engage a band for our parties. They are highly respectable as a class, in variably reside with their parents, and we were told often make very favorable marriages. The contrast between them and their less accomplished sisters is ROUND THE WORLD. 39 SO great as to strike even us, who have been here only a few days, and must be held ignorant of style. The most wonderful sights of Tokio are the tem ples and the famous tombs of the Tycoons. There is a great degree of similarity in the latter, but that of the sixth Tycoon, at Shibba, is by far the most magnificent. It has been rendered familiar by pho tographs and engravings, and at any rate no descrip tion would convey a just idea of it. It is gorgeous bevond imagination in color, and the extreme deli cacy of the gold is surprising. Upon this tomb are found the finest known specimens of the old lacquer, but these tombs, as well as the temples, totally failed to impress me with any feeling akin to reverence ; indeed, nothing in Japan seems calculated to do so — the odor of the toyshop pervades every thing, even their temples. As for their religious belief, it is hard to tell what it is, or whether they have any. One thing is sure, the educated classes have discarded the faith of the multitude, if they ever really enter tained it, and no longer worship the gods of old. The ignorant classes, however, are seen pouring into the temples with their modest offerings, and asking for prayers in their behalf. As in Catholic countries, some shrines are es teemed more than others. The Temple of the Poxes is the most popular in the Empire. It is adorned with statues of Master Reynard in various postures. His votaries are numerous, for the sagacity of the fox has passed into a proverb, and these people hope by prayers and gifts to move the fox-god to bestow upon them the shrewdness of the symbol. The fox may be justly rated as the most successful preacher 40 ROUND THE WORLD. in Japan : he draws better than any other, and his congregation is the greatest in numbers ; but he has a rival not without pretensions in the favorite god dess "Emma." We found her to be a large, very fat woman, sitting in Japanese style, and surrounded by images of children. Babies cluster like cherubs around the principal figure, while an attendant sells ugly painted ones made out of clay for a cent apiece, many of which have been placed by worshippers be fore the goddess. As we approached, a young wom an — married, for her teeth were black, and respect ably but not richly dressed— was on her knees before the goddess so earnestly engaged in prayer that she seemed wholly unconscious of our presence. There was no mistaking'that this was sincere devotion, a lifting up of the -soul to some power considered higher thari itself. I became most anxious to know what sorrow could so move her, and our interpreter afterward told us that she asked but one gift from the goddess. It was the prayer of old that a man- child should be born to her ; and, poor woman ! when one knows what her life must be in this coun try should this prayer remain unanswered, it saddens one to think of it. A living death, another instaUed in her place ! All that woman holds dear trembling in the balance. How I pitied her ! I also saw men praying before other idols and Working themselves into states of frenzy. Indeed I saw so much in the temples to make me unhappy that I wished I had never visited any of them. It gives one such despond ing hopes of our race, of its present and of its future, when so many are so bound down to the lowest form of superstition. ROUND THE WORLD. 41 At one of the principal Shinto temples I saw the sacred dance with which that great god is propiti ated. In a small booth two stories high, which stands in front of the temple, a small stage is erected upon which sit three old priests. One beats a drum, the second plays a flute, while the third tunes a guitar. To this music a very pretty young daughter of a priest, gorgeously arrayed in sacred robes, pos tures with a fan, keeping time to the music. This is all. But, like the tom-tom beating of the Buddhist which we heard at the same moment from an oppo site temple, the dance is thought to dispose the gods to receive favorably the gifts and prayers of the devotees. We saw at the same temple a large wooden figure which is reputed able to cure all man ner of diseases. So much and so hard had this figure been rubbed by the poor sufferers that the nose is no longer there ; the face is literally rubbed smooth. The ears are gone, and it is only a question of time when all traces of human form will have vanished. Japan is being rapidly civilized. There is at pres ent a cry for representative government, and one need not be surprised to hear by and by of the Par liament of Japan. They are building war-ships at the arsenal, which are not only constructed but de signed by native genius. A standing army of about 50,000 men is maintained. Gas has been introduced in some places, and railroads and telegraphs are in operation ; and, not to be behind their neighbors, a public debt and irredeemable currency (based upon the property of the nation of course) have been created. The currency is now at 22 per cent dis count as compared with gold, and further deprecia- 42 ROUND THE WORLD. tion is apprehended. Notwithstanding its wide " base"— in short, our greenbackers' "base" — it doesn't seera to work here any better than at horae. Saturday, November 23. Vandy and I walked to-day through the princi pal street of Tokio from end to end, a distance of three miles. It is a fine, broad avenue, crowded with people and vehicles drawn or pushed by men, and there is also a line of small one-horse wagons running as omnibuses on the street — a novel feature, and unknown anywhere else in the Empire. Our appearance attracted crowds to such an extent, whenever we stopped at a shop, that the police had to come up and drive the gazers away. The city is built upon a plain, and supplied with water onl}^ by wells. Fires are of frequent occurrence. Japanese cities are piles of such combustible material I won der they exist at all. But this is possible, because flres in houses are so little used — only a brazier of charcoal now and then for cooking purposes ; and as most of the people eat at cook-shops, there is never any fire at all in many of the houses. Long ladders are erected as fire-towers, and upon these watchmen sit through the night to give the alarm. It is only by tearing down or blowing up surrounding houses that the progress of a fire can generally be stayed. There is no such thing as insurance in Japan, the risks being much too great. The Japanese go to the theatre early in the morn ing and remain until five o'clock in the evening. Doors open at five a.m., but the rich classes do not appear before six or seven o'clock, at which hour the ROUND THE WORLD. 43 performance begins. Breakfast is served in the theatre about noon. The audience smokes, eats, sips tea, and enjoys itself as it chooses. No seats are provided, but a sraall mat is put down for each person as he enters, and also a small box fiUed with sand, in the middle of which are two smaU pieces of Ughted charcoal, at which pipes are Ughted ; and, be it remembered, ladies as well as gentlemen invari ably smoke in Japan.. Every one carries a small pipe with a long stera, and a tobacco-pouch attached to it. At short intervals a little tobacco is put into the pipe — just enough to give two whiffs of smoke — after which the tobacco is knocked out and the pipe again replenished. In no casehave I ever seen more than two whiffs taken at one time. Even young ladies smoke in this manner, and to one who detests tobacco, as I instinctively do, it may be ira agined this habit did not add to their attractive ness. A sweetheart who defiled her lips with to bacco ! " Whew !" Neither is it considered disre spectful in any degree to begin smoking in the pres ence of others. Deferential as our servant is, or as the singing girls were, when at leisure they lighted their pipes as a matter of course, wholly unconscious that they were taking liberty. The marriage ceremony differs greatly from ours, as the priests have nothing to do with it, nor is any religious ceremony adopted. The parents of a young man select a proper wife for him when he is about twenty years of age, and manage the whole affair. They write to the young lady's parents, and if the match is a satisfactory one to them, writings are exchanged between the parents of the young 44 ROUND THE WORLD. couple, the day is appointed, and the bride and groom drink saki frora the same cup ; feasting and rejoicings follow, sometimes continued for several days if the parents are wealthy, and the marriage is consummated. In all cases the bride goes to reside with the husband's parents, to whom much more than to the husband it is necessary she should con tinue to be satisfactory. Very often three genera tions live together, and an amount of deference is paid to the oldest such as we have no conception of. I have referred to the custom of blacking the teeth by married women, the most revolting practice I have yet seen. I have been in the houses of fine people here, and seen women, otherwise good-look ing, who had only to open their lips to convert them selves into objects of disgust. I rejoice, therefore, to know that fashion is setting in against this abomi nation, and that some of the more recent brides have refused to conform to it. One readily gets used to any thing, earthquakes included, and Japan has many of these unruly visit ors. One night we had three shocks at Tokio, one sufficiently strong to wake me from sleep. My bed shook violently, and the house threatened to fall upon us. The same night we had a large fire in the city, and a hundred shrill, tinkling bells, like so many cows in the woods, were rung to give the alarra. The clapping of the night watchraen about our street assured me, however, that it was all right with us, and I lay still. The night watchmen here use two small square pieces of hard wood which they strike constantly against each other as they go the rounds as their " All's well " signal ; but 1 think strangers. ROUND THE WORLD. 45 as a rule, fail to appreciate the point in being awak ened every now and then simpl}- to be assured that there is not the sUghtest occasion for their being awake at all. Monday, November 25. To-day we took a small steamer and visited the arsenal upon the invitation of our friend. Captain Totaki, Mdlle. Rio being of the party. It is finely situated on the bay about fifteen miles below Yoko hama, and is quite extensive, having good shops filled with modern tools. Several ships have already been built here, and two men-of-war are now upon the stocks, another evidence of so-called civilization. Japan, you see, is ambitious. All the officials, fore men, and mechanics, are natives, and these have proved their ability in every department. The wages paid surprise us. All branches are about upon an equality. Painters, moulders, blacksraiths, carpen ters, raachinists, all get the same compensation — from 25 to 40 cents per day, according to their respective value as workmen ; coramon labor, outside, 18 cents ; shop labor, inside, 25 cents ; foreman of de partment, $80 per month. Work, nine hours per day, every tenth day being a day of rest corre sponding to our Sunday. In addition to the two men-of-war under construction, the raachinery for which is all designed and raanufactured here, the Eraperor is having built a large side-wheel yacht, which proraises to be magnificent. The Captain being high in comraand, and this be ing his first visit to the arsenal since his return from a tour round the world, he was received by the offi- 4 46 ROUND THE WORLD. cials with manifestations of delight. We had an other opportunity of seeing the bowing practice in its fullest development. The various foremen as they approached bowed three times almost to the very ground, and in some cases they went first upon their knees and struck the floor three times with their foreheads. We were afterward informed that only a few years ago these would have added to the obeisance by extending the arms to their full length and placing the palms of the hands flat upon the ground ; now this is omitted, and I have no doubt, as intelligence spreads, there will be less and less of this deference shown. But up to this date it may safely be said Japan is in the condition of Sir Pertinax MacSycophant, who, it will be re - membered, adraitted that his success came from "booing." " He never could stand strecht in the presence of a great man ;" no raore can a Japanese. My writing has just been interrupted by another earthquake shock. My chair began to tremble, then the house ; I could not write, and looking up I saw Vandy standing in amazement. For a few moments it seemed as if we were rocking to pieces, and that the end of all things had come. I shall never forget the sensation. The motion of a ship rolling at sea transferred to land, where you have the solid earth and heavy stone walls surrounding and threatening to fall upon you, is far from agreeable ; but it passed away, and old Mother Earth became steady once more. , The way to buy in Japan is not by visiting the shops, for there nothing is displayed, and a stranger has infinite difficulty in learning where certain arti- ROUND THE WORLD. 47 cles are to be found ; but just intimate to your ' ' boy" what you wish, and at your door in a few minutes stand not one or two merchants, but five or six, all bowing as you pass in or out, and awaiting master's pleasure to examine their wares. They leave any articles you raay wish to decide upon, and the result is that one's rooms become perfect bazaars. The most unpleasant feature connected with purchasing is that every thing is a matter of bargain. A price is naraed, and you are expected to make an offer. Vandy is a great success at this garae, and seems to enjoy it. 1 am strictly prohibited from interfering, and so escape all trouble. Wednesday, November 27. We sail to-day for Shanghai, leaving Yokohama with sincere regret ; nor shall we soon forget the good, kind faces of those who have done so much to make our visit to Japan an agreeable one. Had it been possible to remain until Saturday I should have been greatly tempted to do so to accept an invitation received to respond to a toast at St. Andrew's ban quet. It would surely have stirred me to hold forth on Scotland's glory to my fellow-countrymen in Ja pan, but this had to be foregone. At Kiobe the steamer lay for twenty -four hours, and this enabled us to run up by raU to Kioto, the former residence of the Mikado, reputed to be the Paris of Japan. The city itself deserves this reputation about as well as Cincinnati does that of our American Paris, which I see some one has caUed it. Kioto is only a mass of poor one-story buildings, but its situation is beau tiful and cannot probably be equaUed in the Empire, 48 ROUND THE WORLD. and this one can justly say of Cincinnati as well, » while the beauty of Paris is of the city and not at all rural. The temples at Kioto are much inferior to those at Shibba. Our journey enabled us to see about seventy miles of the interior, and we were again im pressed by the evidences on every hand of a teeraing population. Gangs of men and women were every where at work upon small patches of ground, six or seven persons being busily engaged soraetimes on less than one acre. It is not farming ; there is in Japan scarcely such a thing as farming in our sense ; it is a system of gardening as seen in the neighbor hood of large cities. Compared with that prevalent throughout the whole country, I have seen nothing equal to it in thoroughness, not even in Belgium. We are upon the old steamer Costa Rica, now belonging to the Japanese Company, which recently purchased this and other boats from the Pacific Mail Company. Among our cargo is a large lot of live turkeys which some pushing Jap is taking over to Shanghai for Christmas ; and listen, you favored souls who revel in the famous bird at a dollar a head, your fellow-countrymen in China have to pay ten dollars for their Christraas turkey. It is said the Chinese climate is too damp for the noble bird ; but it flourishes in Japan. I wish the exporter who thus develops the resources of his country much profit on his venture. But it strikes rae that, instead of the eagle, the more useful gobbler has superior clairas to be voted the national bird of Araerica. ' ' A turkej'- for a dollar !" repeated the shipper as I told him our price ; "a turkey for a dollar — what a country ! ' ' The climate of Northern China is not favorable for ROUND THE WORLD. 49 Europeans, and many take a run over to Japan to recuperate, a fact which argues much for the future of Japan. Although our ship belongs to the Japa nese, the servants are generally Chinamen, and the agent explains this by informing us that whUe the former do very well until they arrive at the age of manhood, they imbibe more ambitious ideas rapidly, and cannot be raanaged, while with the Chinese a "boy" (a servant throughout the East is called "boy") always is a boy, and is constantly on the watch to serve his master. Again, the Japs are pug nacious, a race of little game-cocks, always in for a fight, especially with a Chinaman. The Captain told us the other day a great big Chinaman had com plained to him that one of the Japs had abused him. Upon calling up the belligerent, he proved to be such a small specimen the Captain asked the sufferer why he hadn't picked him up and thrown him over board. The complaint was dismissed : served the big fellow right. But some missionary should ex pound the civilized doctrine to him, which reads : " When smitten on the one cheek, turn to the smiter the other also, but if he smites you on that, go for him. ' ' To-morrow is to be One of the great days of our trip, for we shall enter the famous inland sea of Japan at daybreak. Will it be fine to-morrow? is the question with all on board. The signs are ear nestly discussed. The sun sets favorably, and I quote Shakespeare to them, which settles the ques tion : ' ' The weary sun hath made a golden set. And by the bright track of his fiery car Gives token of a goodly day to-morrow." so ROUND THE WORLD. Let to-morrow be fair, whatever we raay miss hereafter. This is the universal sentiment. Saturday, November 30. What a day this has been ! One may forget many rich experiences, many days which seemed grand enough never to fade from the memory, but one 1 defy any mortal living to lose track of. No one can ever pass through the inland sea of Japan on a fine day and cease to remember it till the day he dies. It deserves its reputation as the most beau tiful sail in the world ; at least I cannot conceive how, taking the elements of earth, water, and sky, any thing more exquisitely beautiful could be pro duced from them. Entering the narrow sea at sun rise, we sail for three hundred and fifty miles through three thousand pretty islands, ' ' Which seem to stand To sentinel enchanted land." These divide the water, raaking, not one, but a dozen, pretty lakes in view at once. It is the Lakes of Killarney, or the English or Scotch lakes, multi plied a hundredfold ; but instead of the islands and mountains being in pasture, they are cultivated to their very tops, terraced in every form, in order to utilize every rod of ground. On the shores cluster villages, nestling in sheltered nooks, while the water swarms with the sails of tiny fishing boats, giving a sense of warm, busy life throughout. These sail boats add greatly to the beauty of the scene. I counted at one time from the bow of our steamer, without looking back, ninety-seven sails glistening in the sun, while on the hills were seen everywhere ROUND THE WORLD. Si gangs of people at work upon their little farm-gar dens. It is a panorama of busy crowded Ufe, but life under most beautiful surroundings, from end to end of the sail, and we all vote that never before have we, in a like space of time, seen so much of fairy land as upon this ever-memorable day. We begin to see how the thirty odd raillions of the Japanese exist upon so small an area. The rivers and seas abound in fish, the hills and valleys under irrigation and constant labor grow their rice, millet, and vege tables. A few dollars per year supply all the cloth ing needed, and a few dollars build their light wooden houses. Thus they have every thing they need, or consider necessary, and are happy as the day is long, certain of one established fact in nature, to wit, that there is no place like Japan ; and no doubt they daily and hourly thank their stars that their lines have fallen in pleasant places, and pity us — slaves to imaginary wants — who deny ourselves the present happiness they consider it wisdom to enjoy, in vain hopes of banqueting to surfeit at some future tirae, which always coraes too late. No sooner had we emerged from this fairy scene than we encoun tered a gale upon the China Sea, for the few hours we were upon it before getting into Nagasaki, the last port of Japan. It it here that the Dutch, two hundred years ago, secured a small island, from which they traded wath Japan long before any other nation was permitted to do so. The Catholics also had their headquarters here, when they were so successful in converting the natives that the govern ment became alarraed, and several thousand Chris tians were driven to the island and all massacred. 52 ROUND THE WORLD. This was in the sixteenth century ; but it is only a few years ago that seven thousand native Catholics were banished from this region. To-day all- is changed. These fugitives have been permitted to return, and there is entire freedom of religious wor ship. Last month a return was made of professing Christians (Catholics) in this district, and no less than thirty-five thousand were reported. So far Protes tants are very few indeed. Monday, December 2. Vandy and I were off early this morning for the shore, and did not return to the ship until late in the afternoon, having walked over the high hills and down into the valleys beyond. We had a real tramp in the country. It is here just as elsewhere, terrace upon terrace, every foot of ground under cultiva tion ; water carried by men in pails, or on the backs of oxen, to the highest peaks, which it is impossible to irrigate, and every single plant, be it rice, millet, turnip, cabbage, or carrot, watered daily. What good Mother Earth can be induced to yield under such attention is a marvel. The bountiful earth has another meaning when you see what she can be made to bring forth. Although we are in Decem ber, the sun shines bright; and it is quite warm. I sat down several times under the hedge-rows, and heard the constant hum of insect life around me. Butterflies flitted about, the bees gathered honey, and all looked and felt like a day in June. The houses of the people which we saw were poor, and the total absence of glass causes thera to look like deserted hovels ; but closer inspection showed fine ROUND THE WORLD. . 53 mats on the floors, and every thing scrupulously clean. I counted upon one hillside forty-seven ter races from the bottom to the top. These are divided vertically, so that I think twenty-five feet square would be about the average size of each patch, and as the division of terraces is made to suit the ground, and hence very irregularly, the appearance of a hillside in Japan is something like that of a bedquilt of irregular pieces. The terrace-walls are over grown with vines, ferns, etc., so that they appear like low green hedges ; and this adds much to the beauty of the landscape. No wonder the cultivators of these lovely spots never dream of leaving them. We had an alarm of fire on the Belgic, but this morning we had the real article. I had just parted from the captain at the stern of the ship, in tending to go ashore, when, walking forward, I saw dense volumes of smoke issuing from the walking- beam pit, and in a few moments I heard the cry of fire from below. All was in a bustle at once, but the crew got finely to work. Fortunately, although there was no steam in the main boilers, the small donkey boiler was full, and the pumps were put to work. Meanwhile boats from the various men-of- war in the harbor with hand fire-engines came to our assistance. The steamer is an old wooden craft, and I knew her cargo was combustible. Were the smoke ever to give place to flame, panic was sure to ensue, and not one of the small native boats that had until now been clustering around us could then be induced to approach ; indeed, they had already all rowed off. There was one lady on board, Mrs. McKenzie, a veritable Princess of Thule from the 54 • ROUND THE WORLD. Island of Lewes, and I decided that she had better be taken off with her sick child at once ; so, bribing a greedy native by the immense reward of a whole dollar (a large fee here, small as it seems at home) to come alongside, I grasped the baby and followed the mother down the gangway, and remained at a safe distance until the danger was over. A few minutes more, and the Costa Rica would have fol lowed her sister ship, the America, which some years ago took fire under similar circurastances in the har bor of Yokohama, and was completely destroyed. Fortunately we are about done with wooden steara ships ; otherwise they should not be perraitted to run as passenger vessels. Tuesday, December 3. The turbulent China Sea has passed into a prov erb. The Channel passage in a gale, I suppose, comes nearest to it. We started to cross this sea at daylight, and surely we have reason to be grateful. It is as smooth as a mriror, the winds are hushed, and as I write the shores of Japan fade peacefully from view. I cannot help thinking how improbable that I shall ever see thera again ; but however that raay be, farewell for the present to Japan. Take a stranger's best wishes for your future. Our cargo shows something of the resources of Japan. It amounts to 800 tons, comprising sea-weed — a special kind of which the Chinese are fond — ginseng, cam phor, timber, isinglass, Japan piece-goods, ingot cop per, etc. Every week this line takes to China a simi lar cargo, and the trade is rapidly extending. This steamship company is worth noting as an evidence ROUND THE WORLD. 55 of what Japanese enterprise is doing. The principal owner, the Comraodore Garrison of Japan, had a small beginning, but now runs sorae thirty-seven steamers between the various Japanese ports. Under the management of Mr. Krebs, a reraarkable Dane, this company beat off the Pacific Mail Company from the China trade, and actually purchased their ships. There are many things found on these ves sels which our Atlantic companies might iraitate with advantage. 1 believe I mentioned that, not to be behind her civilized neighbors, Japan had created a public debt, but $250,000,000 of this was used in payraent of the two hundred and sixty-six daimios and their nuraerous retainers, when government took over the land to itself. Each of these potentates had vested rights in a certain proportion of the yield of the soil, and this was commuted by the government into so much in its bonds. Not less than three mil lions of the population shared in this operation. It must certainly prove a great reform — this consolida tion of the supreme power in one strong government, even if it be an extravagant one. That Japan will succeed in her effort to establish a central govern ment, under something like our ideas of freedom and law, and that she has such resources as will enable her to raaintain it and educate her people, I am glad to be able to say I believe ; but much remains to be done requiring the exercise of solid qualities in the race, the possession of which I find some Europeans disposed to deny them. They have travelled, per haps, quite fast enough, and I look for a temporary triumph of the more conservative party. But the seed is sown, and Japan will move, upon the whole, S6 ROUND THE WORLD. in the direction of progress. And so, once more, farewell, Japan ; and China, now almost within sight, all hail ! In one respect at least pilgriras frora all lands must bow to the Empire we are about to visit. ¦ It is the oldest forra of civilized governraent on earth. While the English raonarchy boasts its uninterrupted course of 800 years, and America has just celebrated its first century of existence, this remarkable people live under a government which has been substantially unchanged for 4000 long years. The first authenti cated dynasty dates from 2345 A^ears before Christ, and what is now China has been under one central government for nearly 2500 years. Even the Catho lic religion, the most venerable of existing institu tions, is young compared to this. There was some thing in the reply of the mandarin to the boast of one of our people as to the superiority of our system, " Wait. until it is tried !" To a Chinaman a thousand years or so seems too short to prove any thing. Theirs alone has stood the test of ages. That the Chinese are a great race goes without say ing. Four hundred millions (one third of the entire human race) existing for thousands of years under one unchanging government, riding out the storms which have overwhelmed all other nations ; nay, even absorbing into themselves the Tartar hordes, who came as conquerors, and making them Chinese against their will. Such a record tells a story in deed ! At a date so remote that Egypt and Ass}-ria were the great Western powers, when Athens and Troy had just been founded, and Rome was not even thought of, these people were governed much ROUND THE WORLD. 57 as they are now, and since A.D. 67 have published a daily Peking Gazette, of which (thanks to our intelli gent "host of the Garter," Mr. Janssen) we have secured a copy. We are all but of yesterday com pared to the Heathen Chinee, and it is impossible to sit down and scribble glibly of such a people. In Japan there is no record. It is a new race appearing almost for the first time among civilized nations. It has given the world nothing, but how widely different here ! It is to China the world owes the compass, gunpowder, porcelain, and even the art of printing, and to her also alone the spectacle of a people ruled by a code of laws and raorals embrac ing the most minute particulars, written 2400 years ago-, and taught to this day in the schools as the rules of life. It is an old and true saying that almost any system of religion would make one good enough if it were properly obeyed ; certainly Confucianism would do so. I have been deeply impressed with his greatness and purity. Dr. Davis writes in his work on China : ' ' Confucius embodied in sententious maxims the first principles of morals and of govern ment, and the purity and excellence of some of his precepts will bear comparison with even those of the Gospel." In Thornton's History of China I find this noteworthy passage : " It may excite surprise, and even incredulity, to state that the golden rule of our Saviour had been inculcated by Confucius five centuries before almost in the same words. ' ' If any of you wish a rare treat, I advise you to add at least the first volume of the Rev. Dr. Legge's Life of Confucius to your library immediately, and do not run away with the idea that the sage was a heathen 5 8 ROUND THE WORLD. or an unbeliever ; far, very far from that, for one of his most memorable passages explains that all wor ship belongs to Shangti (the Supreme Ruler) ; no matter what forms or symbols are used, the great God alone being the only true object of worship. But I must resist this fit of Confucianism, reserving, however, the privilege of regaling some of you with more of it by and by, for really it is too good not to be scattered among you. Thursday, December 5. We reached Shanghai Thursday morning, and found exceUent accommodations at the Astor House in the American settlement. You may know that the Chinese Government has set apart a strip of land fronting the river for about six miles, and about one mile in width. This is divided among the English, French, and Americans. During the Taeping re bellion a few years ago, thousands of natives flocked into this territory and found a refuge under the for eign flags. To-day it contains about 50,000 Chinese, who do raost of the retail business of the city. The streets are broad, and as well cared for as if it were an EngUsh town. It is lighted with gas, has a fine steam fire organization, and is thoroughly drained. It is here the natives are learning their first lesson of Western civilization, and at length some impression has been made upon this hitherto immovable mass. Mandarins come from the country to enjoy a drive on the streets, for, be it not forgotten, there is not a street or road in the city which a horse can travel ; only footpaths, where a wheelbarrow pushed by a man is the only possible vehicle. Now several ROUND THE WORLD. 59 wealthy natives have set up their carriages, and may be seen driving frequently ; and I learn from many that when natives are compelled to visit their forraer residences elsewhere, they return to Shanghai de claring that they could not live any longer in the old style, and it is agreed on all hands that at last the huge mass begins to move. But think of one third of the race at this late day living without a mile of railroad or of telegraph, or even of macademized roads. Coraraunication in China is solely by raeans of the rivers, canals, and sraall branches which have been led trom the main channels to every acre of ground for irrigation purposes. Between the fields narrow footpaths exist, upon which, as before stated, wheelbarrows are used. But some of us will live to see this changed. I saw in a newspaper an official notice perraitting the first telegraph line to be built. True, it is only to be a few miles in length, extend ing from the sea to the port of Peking (Tien-Tsin), but this is of course only a beginning. The question of railroads is more serious, and what think you is the one obstacle to their introduction ? Graves — the " tombs of our ancestors." China is one vast cemetery. Go where you will, in any direction, the mounds of the dead intrude themselves upon you at every step. There are no cemeteries nor spots set apart for this purpose ; on the contrary, the China man seems to prefer having his dead buried on his own land, and as near to him as practicable. In this neighborhood their mode of burial is revolting. The coffins are generally covered with a few inches of earth, being first laid upon the surface of the ground and not in a grave at all ; but it is not at all uncom- 6o ROUND THE WORLD. mon for the bare wooden coffin to be wholly ex posed, without a shred or particle of earth over it. Simply laid out in the fields, and so close to the roadside — I mean to the main roads built by Euro peans, near their settlements— that you can some times almost touch the coffins with the end of your walking-stick as you pass. It is a curious fact that at the rifle range the stench from such coffins becarae so offensive last year that the European authorities had to enter complaint to the Chinese Mandarin. I was, like all others, at first much shocked at the sight of these evidences of mortality. One day I stood and counted 1 34 different mounds and exposed coffins within sight. I am glad to say that in other parts of China this custom does not prevail, the dead being buried in graves and walls built above them in the shape of a horseshoe. As is well known, the Chinese worship their ancestors, and believe that much of their own happiness depends upon the re spect shown to those to whom they owe their lives. Cases have been known where successive afflictions have been attributed to some defect in the resting- places of the dead; their ancestors "after life's fitful fever" were not sleeping well, and at great ex pense the bones have been removed to another place ; but it is an extreme case when they venture to disturb the dead. Every true son of the Empire of the Sun echoes the anathema of Shakespeare, " And curst be he who moves my bones." Friday, December 6. In our stroll to-day Vandy and I came upon one of the gates of the old city, and entered. It contains ROUND THE WORLD. 6i 300,000 people. We walked some distance through its filthy, narrow alleys, and saw the poor wretches in their dens working at all kinds of trades, from the forging of iron to the production of Joss money, but the villainous smells soon overpowered me, and I had to get Vandy to escort me out. He can go through any thing of this kind without flinching, and means to return ; but I have seen enough of this, and am only sorry that human beings exist under such conditions. The Chinese have no cur rency except a small bronze coin worth one tenth of a cent, called " cash." It has a hole in the centre, and when a native goes to market he puts several lots of them on strings, 50 or 100 on each string, and throws them round his neck ; think of it, one thou sand pieces, ten strings of one hundred each, to make a dollar ! Soraetiraes they are carried in the market-basket. In larger operations Mexican and American dollars are used, but away from the coast people decline to take even these, insisting upon silver cast in the form of a horseshoe and called "sice." This silver is hoarded here, and also in India, and were it not for this its value would proba bly fall to a point which would rule it out of the list of precious metals. The evils of a silver currency are obvious to all here. Its value has changed three times in one day since we have been in the country. Business is seriously disturbed, and suffers from this cause, and it is to such a plight that our misled sil- verites at home would reduce us. There are no banks in China, and therefore no extended credits. 5 62 ROUND THE WORLD. \ Saturday, December 7. To-day we walked through the fish and vegetable markets. It was funny to see the people making their purchases. Each one carries a small stick with a weight attached to it. This serves as a weighing- beam, and not a duck, fish, or turnip but is carefully weighed by the customer. No cheating by the seller of a brother Celestial. We pass now and then a shop where nothing is dealt in but Joss money ; hundreds in every place are engaged in its raanufac ture. It is made out of thin paper, gold and silver color, in the horseshoe ingot form of genuine " sice. " I bought a box containing eight pieces for thirty cents. Some of it also is made in iraitation of silver dollars. This bogus raoney is laid upon the altars of the teraples as offerings to the gods, who are sup posed to find as rauch use for it as if it were genu ine ; and no doubt this is the case. It would there fore be a great pity, says the Heathen Chinee, to waste the real article, although I dare say the priests would infinitely prefer it. We attended a "paper hunt' ' this afternoon. Between forty and fifty riders, all Europeans, on sraall horses, started across coun try, the route having been previously laid down by means of small pieces of white paper scattered at every point where one of the innumerable little creeks was to be crossed. The finish was a rare sight. The banks of the creeks are very muddy, falls were nuraer ous, and several of the riders came in besfnirched from head to foot. Europeans take to horses here, and a race-course is maintained. The animals are a small breed frora the north which are now known as Shanghai ponies. I did not think I could ROUND THE WORLD. dl enjoy the sport of paper-hunting here. The con founded coffins and graves one has to gallop over frora end to end of the hunt are not calculated to enhance one's pleasure ; but perhaps one would in tirae get used even to them, though I doubt it. Monday, December g. We visited the ship-yard of Messrs. Boyd & Co., and found nothing but native workmen. Black smiths receive about $5 per week, machinists a dollar more ; carpenters, sixty to sixty-five cents per day. But this concern paj^s its men high wages, and re quires them to equal Europeans, which I am told they do. The common gang labor is contracted for with a head raan, who engages to supply day by day the number of coolies wanted at twenty cents a day per man. Mr. Grant, the senior partner, told me he was buying Belgian iron in large lots, assorted sizes, for £\ xos. per gross ton, just about one cent per pound ; ship plates at £6, equal to $29 per gross ton, free on ship at Antwerp. Such figures prove the severity of the struggle for existence among the iron manufacturers of Europe. The servants at the hotel here pay a contractor $2 per month for their food. A coolie's board costs about five cents per day. For this he gets an abundance of coarse rice and cabbage spiced with pieces of dried fish and pickles, and upon such a diet lives from year to year. Clothing is estimated to cost $2 to $3 per year. This is the country of low prices, you see, where one eschews luxuries and comes down to first principles. Cab fare is five cents per mile for ginrik- shaws, which have been introduced from Japan, and 64 ROUND THE WORLD. are generally used in Shanghai. At Tokio I re member cab fare was even cheaper. We paid only eight cents per hour for a raan and his carriage, or seventy-five cents for the entire day. European society here is quite extensive, and very pleasant and hospitable. We are indebted to kind friends for numerous attentions. As General ¦ Bailey, our worthy Consul-General, is a public official, I may be permitted to express to him ray special thanks. He was unreraitting in his efforts to render our visit agreeable. It is frora such men that America is to draw its trained diplomatists when Civil-Service Reform has done its needed work. We attended last night a very good araateur theatrical performance. Shanghai society was pres ent in force, and in full evening dress. The pre ponderance of fine-looking young men, and the al most total absence of young ladies, was raost marked. The number of married ladies was not great. In answer to my inquiry where the young ladies were, I was informed that there were but few in town. One was pointed out, but as she was engaged she scarcely counted. If ladies will only be contented with unremitting attention from a perfect crowd of handsome beaux, this is their paradise ; but, as our lady friend explained, none of these fine fellows can afford to marry : they are clerks and assistants in the European houses, the partners of which are un fortunately married already. I think it but fair to mention this for the benefit of any of my fair young friends who might otherwise think of visiting the East. The absence of young ladies renders the tak ing of female parts by the opposite sex a necessity. ROUND THE WORLD. 65 A splendid "singing chambermaid" of this kind, dressed and looking the part to perfection, but Avith a deep bass voice, caused peals of laughter every time he spoke. During the evening there was a song cleverly introduced and sung by a brawny Scot — a parody upon " May I Like a Soldier FaU," beginning, " Oh ! raay I like a Scotchman fall upon St. Andrew's Day." It appears the Scotch resi dents had just been celebrating that memorable night, having brought up from Hong Kong no less a personage than the head piper of the 48th High landers to grace the festival. But the pipes proved too much for the more enthusiastic of the party, and capturing the piper about three o'clock in the raorn ing, they compelled him to march at their head play ing through the town. It may be readily surmised that "if no fou, they just had plenty." As long, however, as the martial strains continued, they man aged, arm in arm, to keep upright and together, but, unfortunately, from some cause or other not clearly explained, at the turn of the street Donald himself lost his footing, the bagpipes ceased, and then, surg ing one against the other, without the music to keep thera in step, the raass was laid low, yelling to the last, however, the " March of the Cameron Men." " Oh, what a fall was there, my countrymen !" The Central Hotel was fortunately not far off, and by the aid qf wheelbarrows they were safely con veyed thither and taken care of until morning. Ah, well ! let the censorious take note. This is not the first time, as the world knows, when the sound of the pibroch has kept Scotchmen shoulder to shoul der, "one stepping where the other fell," when 66 ROUND THE WORLD. upon them lay the issue of the fight ; nor shall it be the last. Burke pardoned something to the spirit of liberty, and shall we do less to the august shade of St. Andrew ? Heaven forbid ! While bemoaning the absence of foreign young ladies here and in Japan, I may as well tell those at home something of the marriage customs of the East, for Japan, China, and India all have much in common here. First and foremost, then, please un derstand that the couple about to be raarried have nothing whatever to do with the affair. The match has been made by the parents, and as a rule neither has seen the other until after the contract has been closed ; and in many cases it is thought advisable that they should meet for the first time when the ceremony begins. It is considered one of the most important duties of a mother to select a wife for each of her sons as they arrive at maturity, as a failure to do this might involve the fearful catastrophe of a break in the worship of the family's ancestors, and indeed of her own and her husband's ashes, for there might be no men to perform the sacred rites over them. Since Vandy and I have been duly enlight ened upon this duty of mothers, I regret to say there has been some disposition to call ours to account as having been strongly derelict in this matter. At all events, it does not seem to be our own fault entirely that we are bachelors. The parents of the young men take the initiative, but how to propose is said to be even more embarrassing than it would be to the son himself, as a refusal implies that the lady's pa rents consider the proposal much beneath them. A class of " marriage brokers," therefore, exists, who ROUND THE WORLD. 67 are always applied to. They keep informed of the eligible sons and daughters in their circle, and can sound the parents, and suggest and finally bring about a satisfactory alliance. The Chinese are very superstitious, and no union takes place without the astrologer's sanction. He must consult the stars and see that there is proper conjunction. If all is favor able, the raarriage takes place. But now, my lady friends, don't imagine that the happy pair set up a separate establishraent, as you expect to do when you raarry. No ; the wife goes in every case to reside with her raother-in-law, to whom, as also to her husband's father, she renders implicit obedience. This obedience to parents is the most conspicuous duty in their religion. Should the daughter-in-law be disrespectful, even to her hus band's parents, these would be upheld in putting her away, even against the wish of her husband ; and unless the son happened to have an independent in come or means of support, which is very rarely the case, his parents would select another wife for him who knows her duty better. The deference exacted and bestowed not only by children to parents, but by grown raen and women to their parents, is wholly inconceivable by Americans ; but remember their reUgion teaches them that those from whom they derive existence are entitled to their worship. No priest is required at a marriage. The ceremony al ways takes place at the man's house, the bride coraing from her parents in grand procession through the streets in a sedan chair with its blinds closely drawn, the presents being ostentatiously displayed by men carrying them in front. I cannot give a tithe of all 68 ROUND THE WORLD. the customs observed ; they would fill pages. But one is significant ; the bride is required to kneel before the husband's faraily tablet, and to worship his ancestors, her own being from that moraent ap parently of no account to her, and her father gives her, as his parting injunction, the coramand to yield hereafter to her new parents the obedience and reverence hitherto his due. When the entire day has been spent in the cere monies required, dinner for the couple is announced, and they are for the first tirae in their lives alone with each other ; but of the feast she raay not par take one morsel, and, harder still, perhaps, not one syUable must she speak. Etiquette deraands that she " sit in silence, grave and dignified." Indeed, she cannot break fast upon her wedding day. By many such curious customs is secured the entire absorption of the woman, her total eclipse as a sepa rate individuality ; there is nothing left of her as far as law and usage can destroy her rights. This is the Eastern idea. But she has her triumph later. As a wife she knows there is little for her, but when, in the language of Scripture, " a man-child is born" — presto change ! she is a mother, supreme, invested with a halo of sanctity which secures rank and rever ence from all. She becomes by this the equal of her lord, and must be like him, and jointly with him, worshipped by succeeding generations, for Confu cius enjoins upon every son the erection of the family tablets, to father and mother alike. Nor is her rule confined to her own children, but, as before stated, to their children as well to the latest day of her life, and the older she becomes the raore she is reverenced ROUND THE WORLD. 69 as being nearer to heaven, dearer to the gods ; and it is considered of much moment to any family to be able to boast a great-great-grandmother living. The position of woraan would seem, therefore, to be almost entirel}- different from what it is with us : in youth she is nothing there, in old age every thing ; with us it is the opposite. The " just mean" between the two would probably yield better results than either. In China a man can marry more than one woman, but the first only is recognized as his legal wife ; all others are her servants, and bound to wait upon and obey her ; and should there be children, these are considered as children of the only legal wife, and it is her they raust worship, and not their real raother. Among the masses wives are invari ably bought from the parents, about ninety dollars being a fair market price among poor people. This sura is supposed to recompense them for the outlay involved in rearing the young girl. But this custom is valuable in this, that the possession of so large a sum by a young workingman is the best possible guarantee that the son-in-law has acquired steady habits, and is corapetent to provide for his faraily. If a test of this nature could be appUed with us, I think paterfarailias would not regard it as the worst of institutions. These Chinese have ideas that are soraetiraes worth thinking over. Friday, December 13. Our intended trip up the Yang-tse has been inter fered with by a storm of rain and dense fog, but the days never seem long. We get a Uttle time to read up. Our book-table shows seven important works 70 ROUND THE WORLD. on China and its people — all interesting. To-day is raarked by a notable invitation to dinner extended to us through General Bailey. We are to have the honor — one not often bestowed upon globe trotters — of dining with the Mandarin. The dinner lasted more than three hours, and was composed of I don't know how many courses. I depended upon Vandy to keep count, but he found so much to wonder at that he lost the run when in the teens. From birds' -nest soup, which, by the way, is insipid, to sharks' fins and baraboo shoots in rapid succession, we had it all. I thought each course would surely be the last ; but finaUy we did get to sweet dishes, and I knew we were approach ing the end. Then carae the bowl of rice and tea, which are supposed to be able to neutralize the mess which has gone before. Our host pressed all to drink frequently of a celebrated native wine, the champagne of China, grown in his district, of the quality of which he seeraed very proud. Whenever he showed the bottora of his cup, guests were ex pected to empty and replenish theirs. I did the best I could, both as to tasting the corapounds and drink ing the wine, but I fear I was voted not a great suc cess in either. The natives were hilarious at din ner, and sraoked at intervals during the feast. They played the ancient game of digits like Romans, and also a Japanese game with the hands and arms, the loser in every case being compeUed to drain his cup. When tea was served, the Mandarin, through his interpreter, addressed General Bailey as the princi pal dignitary present, thanking him for the great honor conferred upon his humble self by those pres- ROUND THE WORLD. 71 ent having condescended to sit at his table. The general's reply was equally polite and very happy, and appeared to please our host greatly, who then hoped that the illustrious travellers from America would be pleased with China and return safely to their great country from their journey round the world, adding that, having now got the telegraph, America and China and all countries were brought nearer to one another, and would know each other better. I replied that this was happily true, and ventured to express the belief that as we grew to know each other better we should also like each other more, and that as we, and all modern nations, had learned so much from his country in the past, I hoped that in return we raight be able, to sorae ex tent, to repay that debt by perhaps showing China some things which she could adopt with advantage. To this sentiraent there was a raost cordial response. Before rising from table the photograph of the host was presented to each guest. I requested that his autograph be put upon ours, that we could insert it in our albums among the eminent raen we should meet. He replied that his must then go at the very end, because he had not on his Mandarin hat. But I asked the interpreter to assure him that we in Araerica did not care about the hat; "it was the head that was in it" which had raised hira so high. This appeared to please the corapany inordinately, and we got the autograph, and so ended our first, and, in all probability, our last Mandarin dinner. Vandy ate and drank of every thing offered him, and this raorning, when I fully expected him to be as sick as a dog, and with a head Uke to split, he surprised 72 ROUND THE WORLD. me by reporting himself as all right, and telling rae that in some respects Mandarin cooking beats the world. I should raention that the politeness of our host was overpowering. The first course he served hiraself (" and I rayself shall be your servant, sir"), and upon entering, as well as upon retiring, he stood in the open court outside of his threshold to welcorae and to bid farewell. The shaking of one's own hands instead of grasping that of your friends' is soon learned ; but what a world of pleasure the Chinaraan raisses by his raode ! Of course we saw none of the ladies of the house hold, nor were they inquired for or referred to by any of us. If a Chinese gentleraan were asked how raany children he had he would probably not count the girls at all, but at all events he would distinguish thus : two children and a girl. When a boy is born the father is overwhelraed with congratulations, pres ents are sent, and rejoicing takes place. If the little stranger happens to be a girl, the event is hushed up. No reference is ever made to the great misfortune which has befallen the expectant father. Friends are apprised of the result by advertisements carried through the streets. Yellow strips of paper are used if the child is a boy ; any other color means a girl. Among the poorer classes girl babies are frequently drowned. Some estimate that in the Shanghai dis trict one third are so destro)'ed ; the excuse given by the parents is that they cannot afford to rear a girl. Men monopohze most of the occupations here, and a woman can earn little or nothing ; besides, a hus band for every girl raust be provided for upon sorae terras. After a certain age an unmarried woman ROUND THE WORLD. 73 would be regarded as disreputable, entaiUng some thing of disgrace upon her family, and so China lacks that most useful, and, as far as my experience goes, most unjustly maligned class — old maids. Our first word from home was flashed to us here, and gave the first bitter pang since our journey be gan. While we were in the midst of all our enjoy ment death had invaded the circle at home Mr. Coleman had passed away. I could not realize for a tirae that I was to raiss upon my return one of my oldest, best, and dearest friends — one who had been a friend in boyhood to rae, when the aid of such a man counted for so much. Why did I not appreciate him sufficiently while he lived ? The finest charac teristics of our friends seem only to shine with the brightest lustre when we are denied their presence on earth. Looking back and mourning over the past — gone, alas ! forever — the richness of my dear friend's character is seen in all its fulness. Gener ous and invariably mindful of others, firm and de voted in his friendships, a noble scorner of ostenta tion or pretence, he was a splendidly honest man. Nor have 1 ever known one of equal ability who was so modest and retiring. His was one of the most suggestive of minds, and much do I owe — and all our party shares the debt — to the originality of his genius ; but his intellectual gifts, great as they were, seera as naught to-day. It is to the rich and warra pulsations of his heart I turn. Few beyond his own relatives knew him as I did ; his excessive modesty of nature prevented the multitude from ever suspiect- ing what a heart was there. A man who would not put a servant to the sUghtest trouble, even when 74 ROUND THE WORLD. his own comfort was seriously involved, and who, 1 have since learned, without surprise, passed away as suring the doctor that he knew he had done all that was possible for him. In this feature of his character no other raan of ray acquaintance ever approached Mr. Coleman. Is it any wonder that those who knew him best loved hira raost, and realized neither the grandeur of his character nor the extent of their loss until he had passed away forever ? Shanghai, Saturday, December 14. We leave for Hong Kong, 800 railes south, by the mail steamer which saUs at daylight. Our usual good fortune attends us. The raonsoon blew us to port one night sooner than we expected. A night saved was quite an- object, as the Geelong is a small craft, and her rocking means something. Vandy was very ill, but I managed to report regularly at table as usual. We slept on shore Tuesday night, and the morning revealed one of the prettiest spots we have ever seen in the East. Hong Kong is an island about nine miles in circuraference and one raile from the raainland of China, and just at the mouth of the river leading to Canton. There is scarcely one acre of level ground upon it except one little spot which does duty as a race-course, and is not level either, by any means. A narrow strip fronting the water is occupied by warehouses which extend about two railes, but back of this the ground rises rapidly, and houses cluster upon the steep sides of the moun tain. Nevertheless, public gardens have been laid out with exquisite taste and skill upon the hillside, and excellent walks reach to the very top of the ROUND THE WORLD. 75 peak, raore than 1800 feet high. So closely does this crag overhang the town below that a stone could be dropped into the settleraent frora its crest. It is the thing in Hong Kong to do the peak, of course ; and we did it, but not in a manner very creditable to our staying powers, 1 fear. The fact is, we had been tossed for some da)'s upon a sraall ship. It was very warm. We were ver}- tired (conscience suggested another word for tired) ; in short, there were a dozen reasons — good, bad, and indifferent — why two strong, lusty fellows should, under the circum stances, be carried up instead of attacking the peak on foot ; and so each of us, in a sedan chair, borne by four strong coolies, managed to get to the top and enjoy the splendid view, coming down in the same novel raanner. It was surprising, after we had re turned, to find how decided a misunderstanding had arisen between us on the subject. I had not pressed walking up on Vandy's account, while he had only denied himself that wished-for pleasure in deference to ray supposed inability. You see, had this point been made clearer before we started, we raight have had the walk after all. As it is, the credit of both is fairly raaintained, and I do think that neither of us regrets the unfortunate misunderstanding ; one gets so lazy in these latitudes. More than a hundred thousand Chinese have come to reside in Hong Kong and enjoy the benefits of British rule. So the good work of reforming China goes forward. Thursday, December ig. We took the steamer for the Paris of the East, the far-famed Canton, distant ninety-five railes. The 76 ROUND 7HE WORLD. stearaer is just an American river boat, and we en joyed the trip very highly. And here let me note two strange customs which prevail ih China. First, your passage money generally erabraces all the liquor, beer, or wine you choose to consurae on the trip. Such was the case to-day, and passengers were free to call for any thing they wished to drink at any tirae (charapagne excepted). The other custora is universal. There is no coin in circulation but silver, and it is so heavy that Europeans have adopted the habit of carrying none, giving for any debt incurred 1. O. U. 's, called " chits," which are sent in at the end of each raonth for payraent ; a vicious custom, which leads to deplorable excesses, especially in drinking and in gambling. Men drink and gamble more freely when immediate payment is not required, or when the chances of a lucky turn may recoup their losses ; besides, many incur debts who have no means to pay. Indeed, so many cases of this kind have happened since " hard times set in" that I ara encouraged to hope the end of " chits" ap proaches. Canton was reached by four in the after noon, and such a swarm of small boats surrounded us as was never seen elsewhere. When we were a full mile frora the wharf I saw the raass begin to stir, and such a stir ! and all rowed by woraen, yelling and striving, and dashing one boat against another, in their efforts to be first. One of the raost active scrambled up the guards and reached us on the upper deck almost before the boat had stopped, and se cured us as her spoil. How she and a young girl handled our trunks, carrying them over intervening boats and then coraing back for us, giving us her ROUND THE WORLD. 11 hand to conve}- us to her craft ! No mistaking her business capacity, nor her ability to cope with the strongest and most active man and capture two pas sengers to his one. John is no match for a Canton boatwoman on water, whatever he raay be on land. Canton, Friday, December 20. We have just returned frora our first stroll through the narrow crowded alleys of Canton. Pic tures and descriptions had prepared us for what we were to see, but, as is usual in the East, we knew nothing until we had seen for ourselves. But isn't it so everywhere, and haven't you found that in most cases the raore you read or hear the raore you are confused ? He was a traveller who first said, " The eye and the ear are close together, but what a distance between hearing and seeing !" This re curs to rae constantly. But to revert to Canton. We decided to walk instead of following the custom of Europeans, who generally take sedan chairs and dash through, seeing nothing in detail. We cross the river by one of the innumerable boats rowed by women, and are in the city. For five hours we are guided through streets varying frora six to ten feet in width through one continual raass of Chinamen. As for China women, they are rarely or never seen. A few men are in silks, numbers of coolies, with loads, are alraost naked, but raore, of slightly higher order, are in rags, for the Chinese, unlike their scrupu lously clean brethren of Japan, seem to pile on one tattered, greasy cloth rag over another until they are a bundle of filth, against which you fear you will be brushed at every step. The shops or booths on 78 ROUND THE WORLD. each side of the narrow streets are resplendent just now, preparatory to the New Year celebrations, and such as deal in temple decorations as a specialty are brilUant in the extrerae. As every shop, house, or boat contains an altar which must be freshly deco rated at the beginning of every year, as well as the public temples, the extent of this trade is surprising, and all that tinsel can do with the most gorgeous coloring imaginable is seen in this branch to perfec tion. One thing is very strange : even in the prin cipal streets the manufacture of various articles goes on, the workmen being so close that you could touch them from the paveraent with your cane. Carried on in this raanner, we saw to-day the raaking of glass in a space not more than fifteen feet square, the forging and shaping of iron, the weaving of cloth, the making of coffins (such massive affairs these are, too, in China !), of Joss-sticks and Joss money, fire-crackers, and many other articles. The front part of the building is usually occupied by the shop for the sale of the product, the ornamental shrine serving as a kind of screen to shut off the manufacturing department ; but, by stepping be hind, crowds of alraost nude workmen in small spaces are seen hard at work, making by hand and the aid of the rudest appliances almost every article known. The wages of a tradesman — a carpenter, for instance — are fifteenf cents per day ; in addition the raaster has to give hira his rice, etc. , three times per day, estimated to cost six to eight cents more. The workmen are invariably fed by the eraployer, and allowed to sleep in and about the premises some where or somehow. We saw freely exposed for sale ROUND THE WORLD. 79 dogs, rats, and mice, all nicely dressed and hanging upori spits to tempt the hungry passers-by, while above a large pot from which the steam was issuing was a card, which, being translated by our guide, read, " A big black tat within ; ready soon." The dogs which are eaten are especiaUy fed for the pur pose, and are hung up in state with labels setting forth their superior merits ; as far as I should have known, they might have passed for delicious young roasting pigs, deUcate enough in flavor to have satis fied gentle Elia himself. Our guide, in answer to numerous questions upon the subject, informed us that some of his coun trymen had acquired a taste for dogs, while others had succumbed to the sweeter attractions of cats ; others again found rats their favorite morsel, but in all cases these penchants are indulged on the sly. Upon no account would a Chinaraan think of taking either of these peculiar delicacies horae. It appears, much to their credit, that mesdames have serious ob jections to their use. They draw the Une here, and the husband must confine the indulgence of his un canny longings to restaurants, and say nothing about it, or his lady friends might mark him as dne of whom " 'twas said he ate strange flesh." Contrary to the statement of travellers, I find this food is not confined to the poorer classes. The price of it is about the sarae as that of pork, and far beyond that of hare or deer. How strange these people are ! The price of a black dog or cat is fully double that of a white one, the superstition being that the former makes blood much faster than the other, while rats are supposed to make the hair grow. So ROUND THE WORLD. We returned to our hotel in time for lunch, and in the afternoon called upon Colonel Lincoln, the United States Consul, to whom General Bailey had given us letters which secured us a cordial recep tion. The European settlement at Canton is very pretty, with its broad, well-shaded avenues, exquisite flower-garden, and lawn tennis and croquet grounds. Its club-house is a gem, coraprising a sraall theatre, billiard-room, bowling-alley — every thing coraplete. The Colonel took us for a stroll about the settle ment, and pressed us to join a party he was just about taking over the river to visit the best flower- gardens of the city. We could not decline such a treat, and this gave us the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Lincoln, who is so well known in China as to be re garded somewhat in the light of an historical char acter. Her collection of teapots promises to ren der her famous. She boasts already of more than two hundred, no two alike in form, and the record grows day by day ; and the melancholy feature is that there is no end for the passion save in death, a mania for ' ' a bit of the blue, " as is thoroughly well known, ranking first in the list for which materia medica boasts no antidote. Saturday, December 21. To-day has been devoted, like yesterday, to Can ton sights ; but as we had several distant places to visit, sedan chairs were taken, and we went shouting along, three coolies each, Indian file, through the town, forming quite a cavalcade, with our guide in front. It was the same interminable maze of narrow crowded thoroughfares, crammed with human be- ROUND THE WORLD. 81 ings, that we had seen for the first tirae yesterday. A great commotion was seen ahead at one place, followed by the appearance of raen in crirason robes, bearing banners, clearing the way and shouting out the name and dignities of a Mandarin who was ap proaching. An ornamental chair is seen, borne aloft, on which his lordship sits in state, and an official of the third or fourth button passes, followed by two servants on ponies, the only species of horseflesh ever seen in Canton. It is with considerable difficulty that even these small animals get through, and their use is confined to escorting high officials. At almost every corner we pass crowds of poor wretches gambling in various modes, from fantan down to dice and dominoes. Children participate, and stake their "cash" with their elders; indeed, a young Celestial rarely spends his stray coppers in candy without tossing with the stall-keeper, double or quits ; the little scamps begin early, and at every counter we noticed the dice lying ready to faciUtate the operation. Is it any wonder that the vice of gambling seems inherent in the Chinese character ? We saw rather a funny illustration of this practice, at which we couldn't help laughing. A class of ven ders keep a large pot boiling on the pavement in some partially secluded place, in which is an assortment of odds and ends. Such a mess of titbits— pieces of Uver, chicken, kidneys, beef, every conceivable thing! These the owner stirs up, taking care, I thought, to bring the largest bits adroitly to the surface. You should see the longing faces of the hungry beggars around. Down goes a cash (one tenth of a cent), a rattle of the dice— the customer has won. The fork 82 ROUND THE WORLD. is handed to him, and he has two dabs in the pot. What a prize ! Down go the bonnes mouches one after the other, and back goes the fork to the pot-boiler, who again uses it to stir up in the pot prizes to tempt the lucky owner of funds sufficient for the indulgence of this piece of extravagance. I really believe the poor,, miserable, hungry wretches lounging around the pot derive satisfaction frora the odor emitted. And as the lucky gamester gobbled his prizes, I im agined every one around went through the motion of smacking his lips involuntarily, as if he shared in the inward satisfaction of his lucky neighbor. Vandy alraost overwhelmed one of these people by handing him a cash to try his fortune ; but he thinks his man was too hungry to risk the dice, and took the sure thing. He probably considered one bite in the mouth worth two in the pot ; but he wasn't a repre sentative Chinaman by any means. At one point our guide in advance called a halt, and upon our disraounting he led us into a walled inclosure, and startled us with the inforraation that we were in the execution grounds. He pointed out spots still damp with the blood of criminals, several jars containing the heads of victiras, the protruding hair matted with the Ume used to decompose the flesh more rapidly, and a rude cross still remaining upon which a woman had recently been crucified and cut to pieces while alive. Her crime was the gravest known to Chinese law ; she had murdered her husband. Poor wretch ! probably he had not illy deserved his fate were the whole story known, for the provocation which would nerve a woman in China to rise against her husband and owner must ROUND THE WORLD. 83 be beyond human endurance. Instead of this spot being set apart and shunned by man, woman, and child, as defiled by the horrors enacted within its walls, the area was filled with large clay jars, used as stoves, the product of a manufactory adjoining, set out there in rows to dry. Men moved in and around thera unconcernedly, and at the entrance, and within the inclosure, there was a teraporary fantan gambling shop, composed of bamboo poles and mats, in full operation, surrounded by crowds of people. Of a surety the Heathen Chinee is pe culiar. The grounds are of course cleared of every thing upon "execution days," and I suppose the swarming masses of Canton see no reason why even this acre of notorious ground should be permitted to lie useless several days in succession. There is noth ing without its use in China. Our next visit was more to our taste ; it was to the place of the literary exarainations, which are held every third year. Here the grounds are kept in good order, and exclusively devoted to this noble use. It is well known that each province in Chiria has public examinations for its students. Those who are successful become eligible for the higher exarai nations, which are held at Canton arid at two or three of the other great cities. Candidates who pass at these are perraitted to enter for the final struggle at Peking, where success brings rank, honor, and for tune. At Canton the ten acres of grounds are covered with long rows of brick sheds, divided into stalls about six by four feet, with neither door nor win dow, and open at the back ; a narrow footway per- raits entrance, and a blank wall forras the front of the 84 ROUND THE WORLD. succeeding row, and so on. The stalls contain no furniture, but a board extending from the front, half the length of the stall, and working backward and forward in grooves in the wall, is used as a seat ; a smaller one higher up at the foot of the stall makes a writing table, and these combined made a bed. A small lamp is furnished, and the aspirant remains for three days and nights writing upon subjects given to him after he has entered the stall. No chance for cramming here. Out of 10,600 who competed last year only eighty-two were found worthy to appear at Peking. I believe only a certain number can suc ceed throughout the whole Empire, and therefore the standard is kept at the highest possible point. Amid much which causes one to mourn for the backwardness of this country here is the bright jewel in her crown. China is, as far as I know, the only nation which has advanced beyond the so-called heroic age vvhen the soldier claims precedence. Eng land and America must be content to claira that " peace hath her victories not less renowned than war," while here the triuraphs of peace are held in chief esteem. No general, no conqueror, be his vic tories what they may, can ever reach in China to the highest rank. That is held only by successful scholars who have shown the possession of literary talent. When the news reaches a town or village that a native has been victorious at Peking, a general rejoicing takes place, and triumphal arches are built in his honor to witness for centuries how deeply they appreciate the honor conferred upon the town by their illustrious fellow-citizen. Upon his return the whole population turns out to meet and welcome ROUND THE WORLD. 85 him, and his career ii^spires other young men to emulate his virtues. Henceforth his life is one of honor, for from this class the rulers of China are taken. These are the Mandarins, and there is no other aristocracy in China. Nor are his honors hereditary. His sons, if they would be ennobled, must outstrip their fellows in knowledge, as their father did before them. An aristocracy founded upon learning, and composed of those who know the most, is an institution w-ith which we have no serious quarrel. Our trip to-day had another surprise for us. We were taken to the City Court and Prison. A poor naked wretch was on his knees as we entered, his back a raass of blood caused by the blows that had just been inflicted by the baraboo which an officer, standing close behind, still held over the victim, ready to use again at a word from the judge. What a quivering, miserable spectacle the culprit was ! As I v/rite this 1 can see him tremble. His reputed crirae was stealing, but he had denied it, and the judge, not being satisfied with the story he told, had ordered the baraboo to be appUed. Another poor soul sat under torture, laced by ropes against a large flat board in some diabolical raanner so that his fea tures were distorted by pain, while at a short dis tance frora the door raany hardened-looking crimi nals, all chained to large balls of iron, awaited trial and sentence. The most enhghtened of the judges here stiU urge that it would be impossible to admin ister justice without torture or physical punishment in order to force replies frora the accused. If you can compel a culprit to answer every question which 86 ROUND THE WORLD. a trained exarainer is allowed to put, it is not difficult to convict the guilty. With us we forego that ad vantage by requiring no raan to convict himself. Here he has to prove his innocence in a measure ; at least he must tell a straight story ; and this he would never do, it is said, in China, unless he was held in fear of bodily chastisement or torture. It is an effectual mode of getting answers, as I can testify. The judge asks a question which goes to the very root of the matter. The wretch hesitates an instant. I thought I could see from his supplicating gesture that he felt the true answer would expose his guilt. " Bamboo, attend — ready !" Another instant, and the blow descends, the trembling man stammers out his reply, and his sentence is pronounced. Another, who has been cleverly allowed to witness the man ner in which recusant parties are dealt with, is dragged before the judge, his back bared, and he falls on his knees to raake answer. No skilful law yers here to defend and throw around the prisoner the safeguards of the law, but neither is there any upon the side of the prosecution. The accused has only to satisfy the judge by giving a true account of himself and his doings. I should say an innocent raan would prefer this raode, a guilty one detest it ; and this seeras a strong arguraent in its favor. My room fronts on the river, and is upon the second story of this strange Uttle hotel. This gives me fine views of the unceasing traffic of the streara, but it is not without its disadvantages as a place of rest at night. The Chinese gods, or devils rather, have a strong fondness for fire-crackers, and these are set off at all hours of the night by the raore de- ROUND THE WORLD. 87 vout of the boatwomen right under my windows. I waken with a start every now and then, as an un usually large bunch is fired. It occurred to me last night that sorae of the extra fees bestowed upon our woman and her bright little sister may be responsi ble for part of this species of devotion. It is very likely that some part of their extra earnings are con sidered due to their gods. I write this at nine in the morning, and there are two boats busily engaged in their prayers just now, one battery of crackers re sponding to the other. One would almost think a naval war upon a small scale was raging. 1 must plead ignorance till now of this strange manner of propitiating the supernatural powers. If I ever read of it, like a thousand things one reads of, it has passed away and been forgotten. Another custom which interferes with slumber is the noise made by the night watchman, who walks backward and forward beating a tenor gong with a hard stick. One, two, three, slowly, followed by two quick taps, is the signal that all is well. Extraordinary precautions have to be taken in the cities against theft. Almost every block has its watchman, and gates short dis tances apart are shut at nine o'clock, and only those allowed to pass who are known to the watchman. One provision struck me as putting an effectual check upon mischief of all kinds. No one is allowed to walk after night without carrying a light. Every one has a.laritern in his hand, and one found disre garding this law would be held "suspect." Our landlord told me that in case of robbery the watch man would be sternly dealt with, as he is held re sponsible for the safety of his block. 88 ROUND THE WORLD. The boat population of Canton is faraous as being something unique, but it exceeds all idea I had formed of it. It is said that 300,000 people live in boats ranging from the size of a skiff to that of a yawl. I have seen a family of six huddled together in one of the former size, but these were the poorest of the poor. The usual size of a passenger-boat is twenty feet in length by four and a half in width. This is the size of the hotel boats we use. We got into one this morning, and as the crackers were go ing off from numerous boats on all sides, our woman explained that the unusually vigorous fusillade was owing to this being "Joss day." "All people go Jossee Temple this day." " Do you go?'' " No ; have got Jossee here on boatee. " " Where ? Show us." With that one of the girls at the stern pushed aside two sraall sliding-doors in the extreme end of the boat, and revealed a little shrine with a lamp ever burning, and Joss-sticks in the incense bowl. The entire faraily burst into laughter at our surprise, evi dently tickled with the idea that it was a decidedly cute thing to have their Joss cooped up "Jack-in- the-box" style. Yesterday the Eraperor, at Peking, after fasting all the previous day, would ascend into the Temple of Heaven, accorapanied by two thousand of his highest officials, and worship. His subjects, coraprising about one third of the human race, celebrate the event by this fire-cracker carnival. I was curious to see how a small yawl 'could be the residence of a family, and examined several of them. The centre of the extreme stern is occupied by the Joss teraple, on either side of which small dishes, cans, etc., are arranged ; then comes an open ROUND THE WORLD. 89 space extending across the boat, about four feet long, over which is thrown a light board about six inches wide, upon which stands the woman who sculls and steers the craft. A permanent bamboo roof is thrown over about the next six feet of the boat, and around the walls are hung a few orna ments, generally old-fashioned plates and cheap prints from the English illustrated papers, while on a shelf are those indispensable articles, the smoking pipes of the family — large and curious affairs, with rich ly ornamented square brass bowls about 4^ by 2 inches in size. A tiny china tea-set and various little " curios" are found in the best boats. The next portion, where passengers sit, is formed by boards running across the boat, and on each side as well, and is also covered by the roof, so that in this way we are provided with nicely cushioned seats. Next to the bow is a platform three feet deep, and upon this stands the second woman, who rows or poles the boat, as may be' necessary. Under her feet is the kitchen, and she has only to lift a board to show you a small square covered with clay, upon which a fire can be built. Pots and pans are seen snugly stowed away around this, so that, by means of movable plat forms, trap-doors, etc., the entire boat is rendered available to its very keel. At night, when the busi ness of carrying passengers is over, all the boards are made into a fine flush deck, which is divided, in a very few minutes, into sleeping apartments by means of bamboo poles and raats ; and so it comes to pass that what I was before disposed to beUeve alraost irapossible is accorapUshed with a degree of •corafort quite surprising. These boat people Uve 90 ROUND THE WORLD. for less than ten cents a day. Rent there is none ; food costs about five cents per day for each person ; clothing does not cost two. Frora the child of eight to the great-grandmother, all do soraething. When not otherwise engaged they sew, raake Joss-sticks, slit baraboo, or soraething or other, the baby being strapped on the mother's back, that her capacity for work raay not be interfered with : and her stepping backward and forward as she sculls raust be a sooth ing lullaby, for we haven't heard a child crying yet in China. Upon such boats as I have here atterapted to describe, and raany far smaller and destitute of ornament, millions of the people of China live, raove, and have their being. In Canton alone, as I have said, their nuraber is estimated at 300,000. Children are born, old men die, upon these boats, and many thousands have never in their lives slept a night upon shore. I was surprised to hear that there is no theatre at Canton. The government had to prohibit night per formances some time ago, as they were constantly the scenes of disorder. The only amusement is fur nished upon large gayly decorated boats, where feasts are given, at which girls belonging to the boats ap pear and sing. We saw one of these, but it was a poor performance compared with our experience in Japan. Sunday, December 22. We allowed our guide to leave us for to-day, and strolled about ourselves. In the early part of our walk we heard music — a harmonium and a well- known old hymn tune — and on entering a building ROUAND THE WORLD. 91 found Rev. Dr. Hopper preaching in Chinese. We had entered at the wrong door, and were among the women — a high solid wall divides thera frora the raen — but' Mrs. Hopper rose and conducted us to the other side, and after service the Doctor came and greeted us cordially. We spent an hour in their house, and were surprised to hear that both were old Pittsburghers. I remerabered I had a letter to hira frora friend Allison, of the Presbyterian Banner, but it was couched in such flattering terms that I had laid it aside as too much for a raodest raan like • myself to present. There were about thirty China men, all of the poorer classes, at church that raorn ing, principally the servants and dependents of Europeans, who please their eraployers, I was told, by attending. In the afternoon we stumbled upon the large Catholic cathedral which is now almost ready for use. It is a raagnificent granite structure, three hundred feet long and eighty-eight feet wide. If any thing can irapress the Chinese mind it must be grand mass in such a temple, with its vaulted roof, stained windows, the sweUing organ, and all the " pride, pomp, and circurastance" of Catholic wor ship. As we stood admiring, the saintly bishop ap proached and greeted us with exquisite grace. He could not speak EngUsh, but his French was the easiest of any to understand I ever listened to, and my Uttle knowledge of the language enabled us to carry on an interesting conversation. When I told him I had been in St. Peter's at Rome, and had seen the Pope when the assembled thousands fell pros trate before hira as he advanced up the aisle, carried upon his palanquin, he seeraed much affected, and g2 ROUND THE WORLD. pressed us to visit his quarters, apologizing, as he showed us into a poor one-story building, for the poverty of his apartments, but adding that the true pritre Catholique must needs dwell in poverty among the poor of the earth. 1 asked if he did not expect to return to France to die ; but, laying his hand upon his heart, he answered that he must not allow himself to think of France, since it had pleased God to place him here. For thirty years he had labored among these people, and among them he must die ; it was the will of God. There was nothing beyond a table and a few chairs in this bishop's palace, not even a mat or carpet on the floor ; but he ordered a servant to bring wine, of which he only tasted, while we drank " sa santL" He subsequently took us to the orphanage, where we saw eighty boys being educated. About an equal number of little girls are in a separate building. If the Chinese are ever to be reformed, this is the way to do it — get control of the young, and teach them. As for the older gen eration, I fear it is too late to do much with it. There are about 5000 Chinese Catholics in and around Canton, mostly recruited, I understand, frora araong the young, taken by these sagacious workers into their schools and orphanages and other institutions, and educated as Christians from their youth up. Monday, December 23. Now for a frank confession. Like Mark Twain's preacher with the car rhyme, " I have got it, got it bad" — the " curio" malady in one of its most viru lent types. Ever since we were dropped upon that uncanny land of Japan the symptoras of forthcoraing ROUND THE WORLD. 93 disorder have not been wanting. I had to succurab occasionally, but i-allied in tirae to preserve a tolera bly clean bill of health. But if there's one weak ness I have more than another, it's for the harmony of sweet sounds, and this the tempter knew right well. It was in the celebrated Temple of Hoonan where I fell. In that is the raost celebrated " gong" in China. I struck it, and listened. For more than one full minute, 1 believe, that bowl was a quivering mass of delicious sound. I thought it would never cease to vibrate. In Japan 1 had counted one that sounded fifty seconds, and its music rang in my ears for days. I asked " Ah-Cum" why the temple wouldn't sell this gong and buy another far cheaper ; for my opinion is, and my experience too, that there isn't any thing that raoney won't buy in China. However, this was an exception. Well, does the priest know where there are any temple gongs that can be bought ? Yes, three that belonged to a tem ple destroyed by the rebels some years ago, and which were still in the hands of curio dealers. The address was obtained, and off we set to see thera. I wish I could describe the places we visited in our search, the coUections of curios we saw ! No anti quary outside of Canton ever saw a tithe of the strange old things we exarained. One might stum ble upon a magic mirror, or an Aladdin's lamp, in some of these recesses, and scarcely wonder at it ; aU is so strange. But to the gongs. There is a Uttle bit of history connected with one of them which is significant. We found we had to get frora one of the priests a certain ticket before the article could be deUvered. I thought a moment, and then — "oh, 7 94 ROUND THE WORLD. my prophetic soul, my uncle !" It was even so. The priest had seen " his uncle," the curio dealer, and in some moment of want or dire temptation he had pledged the gong of the temple for an advance. 1 got the others, which had a fairer record, and told our guide 1 wanted more if he could get them ; but this was irapossible. Judge of ray surprise, how ever, when the identical gong reached me at Hong Kong. I have it, with the pawn mark fortunately only partiaUy obliterated, but so that the name of the guilty priest is no longer legible. Ah-Cum must have bargained for that ticket, the rogue ! knowing I would pay the price ; but really, had that gong reached me while in Canton, and had it been possible for me to return it to the right temple, I should not have thought of carrying it off under the circum stances. It seems as if I were in some degree a re ceiver of stolen goods ; but as it only came to me after we had reached Hong Kong, and 1 knew neither priest nor temple, what could I do but decide to hold it myself until claimed by the rightful owners ? Therefore, my friends, one and all of you, please take notice : whatever you may take a fancy to among my curios, don't ask me for that gong. 1 don't feel my title quite as clear as I could wish it, but I shall ease my conscience by agreeing with my self to act as temporary custodian — only that and nothing more. There are others besides temple gongs, and I have to confess to several (genuine sous chows, all of them). Indeed to-day was throughout the curio day. I cannot give you even a partial record of the spoils as our procession raarched hotelward in the evening. I burst into loud laughter as I eyed ROUND THE WORLD. 95 our party. In the advance was Ah-Cum, the guide, bearing aloft a fearful idol, " the ugliest I could find in China," this being Sister Lucy's characteristic commission ; Vandy followed with his pockets stuffed with ' ' birds' nests, " " J oss-sticks, " " temple money, ' ' and etceteras too nuraerous to mention ; then came two coolies, one after the other, naked as Adam after he donned the fig-leaf, each carrying on his shoulders the gongs already spoken of, while I brought up the rear burdened with fans, vials, ivory carvings, and what not. 1 cannot tell what part of this maze of shops we had been in, but the curio shops were so far frora our hotel that not a man about them knew where it was, although there is but one European hotel in the city, consequently the coolies had to follow us. Vandy just reports that it will take nine boxes to hold our spoils from here. And I say, Vandy, for goodness' sake let us get out of this ira mediately and try to regain our good, hard common- sense, and be sound, practical men once more. Give me a Pittsburgh Commercial and let me see the price of pig raetal, and what is said of steel rails and coke and raanufactured iron, and all the rest of it ; and that raonthly report of the Lucy Furnaces and of the Edgar Thomson, both the largest upon record. Thanks ! Ah ! now I feel better. How is it with thee, ray friend ? Fortunately Vandy felt the neces sity for keeping an eye upon rae, and he never was in such danger himself. But if any one can pass through Canton and escape a touch of the Toodleian malady which prompts one to buy every thing one sees, I warrant him sound to the core. While tell ing you about the gracious French Bishop, I forgot 96 ROUND THE WORLD. to mention that when I told him we spent our sum mers at Cresson, very near Loretto, and often drove to Count Gallitzin's tomb, he grasped ray hand and gave me his benediction. Oh, blessed man ! a grand Catholic, Father Gallitzin ! Hong Kong, Christmas Eve. We returned this afternoon from Canton. After retiring I heard a well-known sound — the ubiquitous mosquito. It was rather odd to be compelled to rise and ring for our " boy" to put up mosquito bars on Christmas evening, but it had to be done. We talked till late of home, and speculated upon what you would all be about away up there alraost above our heads — "topside," as John Chinaraan always expresses it. So far we have only one paper from home ; no letters, these having been missed at Shanghai. The news of the triumph of hard money views rejoiced us greatly, as proving once more that in grave emergencies the good sense of the people can always be depended upon. One has only to visit the East to see what evils the silver basis entails upon a nation. The closeness of all things in China is striking. A sweet potato is sold in halves, or even in quarters, if required ; ferriage across the river in a boat — a stream as wide as the Ohio at Pittsburgh — costs one fifth of a cent, and you can engage an entire boat for yourself for a cent if you wish to be extravagant ; poultry is sold by the piece, as we sell a sheep ; the wings, breast, legs, all have their price, and even the very feet of a chicken are sold for soup. Com mon iron nails are laid out in lots of six each ; these ROUND THE WORLD. y7 have been used and used again, no one knows how often ; we see the people at work straightening old nails at every turn. You can buy one tenth of a cent's worth (i cash) of either fish, soup, or rice. Verily, things are down to a fine point here ! In one of our strolls we came upon a string of ten blind beggars moving through the narrow crowded street, the hands of each upon the shoulders of the one in advance, the leader beating with his cane upon the stone paveraent, and all beseeching alras. It was a strange sight. The Chinese Government gives to every blind person a small monthly pittance, and passers-by, I observed, generally bestowed a cash upon the gang. I have not said much about the temples of Canton or of China, as they are poor affairs corapared with those of Japan ; besides, one becoraes sated with temples which are for the most part copies of one another ; the pagodas are much more picturesque at a distance than when closely inspected. The Chinese actually prefer all their places to smack of age, and repair them reluctantly, so that all have a dilapidated air, which gives a very unfavorable impression to a stranger. At best, China has nothing whatever to boast of in the way of architecture. Christmas Day. Yesterday's papers announced that the Halle lujah Chorus was to be perforraed in the EngUsh Cathedral this raorning at eight o'clock. I had been so long out of the region of music that I rose early and went to church. The Japanese and Chinese music grated so on ray ears, I longed to hear an organ once 98 ROUND THE WORLD. more. I enjoyed the service very much. The music was well performed, and as for the sermon — I had to be back for breakfast, you know. It was speciaUy pleasing to see the detachment of British soldiers at church, the raore so as they were Highlanders. My heart will warm to the tartan, you see. One strange feature I shall not soon forget. Several soldiers in their scarlet uniforms sang in the choir. I scarcely ever see soldiers without being saddened by the thought that the civilization of the race is yet little better than a name when so much raust still be done to teach millions of men the surest way to destroy their fellows ; but 1 take hope from this omen — these raighty men of war engaged this morning chanting the seraphic strains which proclaira the coming of the better day when there shall reign " on earth peace, good-will toward men." Young China is progressing, whatever old China may be doing, for I saw in the park this morning several youthful Celestials, with their pigtails se curely tied and out of the way, hard at cricket and baseball. Nor were they duffers either, although our wee Willie and his nine could no doubt, in the way of a " friendly" inning or two, show the lads a sweet thing, especially in the " underthrow," for which my little nephew, I hear, is famous. We arr/ all creatures of prejudice, of course, but I could not help being at first soraewhat shocked on Sunday, , as I strolled about the Cathedral, to see some thirty odd sedan chairs on the one side, and 1 suppose as many on the other, each with two, three, and some with four coolies in attendance in gorgeous liveries, all waiting the closing of prayers, and while ROUND THE WORLD, 99 waiting, lying in the shade, and some of thera im proving the opportunity to enjoy a quiet garable this fine Sunday morning. It didn't strike me for a few moments as being quite consistent for some of my Scotch friends who stand so stoutly for Sabbath ob servance to keep so many human beings on duty, say three for one who worshipped, just to save them frora walking a few short squares to and from church, for the town is sraall and corapact. But see how rauch custom has to do with one's preju dices. After all, how is this worse than to roll in one's carriage to our Fifth Avenue temples ? Yet this never struck me as out of the way before, and 1 think, unless the future Mrs. C. seriously objects, we shall walk to church as a rule — when we go. Really, three men kept at work that one may pray seems just a shade out of proportion. 1 astonished Vandy this raorning by getting up early ; but I didn't care to explain the reason for this phenomenon, which was that I had to catch the Canton boat to send a note back to Ah-Cum asking hira to get rae certain curios after all. While at Canton I had manfully resisted the temptation, but the thought of leaving China without the treasures proved overwhelming, and now ray only fear is lest Ah-Cum should fail me. I confessed to Vandy, after we had had a glass of good wine at tiffin, and 1 shall not soon forget his quiet smile. " You've got it bad, haven't you?" These were his words. 'Twas aU he said, but you should have heard the touch of in finite pity in his tone. Yes, I have got it bad, I know, but to-raorrow we escape frora this old curiosity shop forever. IOO ROUND THE WORLD. The fire-bell rang just after we retired, and from eleven o'clock until now, two this afternoon — fifteen hours — a disastrous conflagration has raged, often threatening to consurae the entire settlement ; indeed, nothing could have saved it but the splendid conduct of the 74th Highlanders. They were everywhere, and fought the flames the whole night long. The singers of the morning were the intrepid firemen of that tempestuous night. Had equal pluck been shown on the field of battle, the flag of that splendid regiraent would have blazoned with another war-cry. Let them place this record on their banners, instead of a city destroyed : December 25th, 1878, Hong Kong Saved! They have no prouder triuraph to coraraeraorate even in their glorious history. I have not yet raentioned that slavery, in its raildest form, exists in China ; but the childi-en of a slave are free, and custom, which is all-powerful in China, requires a raaster to give up his servant if he can repay the amount originally paid for him ; and in the case of women- servants, the people who own a woman are expected to provide a husband for her when she becomes of age. The purchase of boys and girls is, as a rule, confined to those who wish in this way to be provided with servants who shall be come part of the household and can be relied upon. In no case can a master or raistress require a slave to engage in any disreputable calling unless the pur pose for which the sale is raade is clearly set forth, in which event the cost is fully doubled. Without special provisions in the paper of sale, it is under stood that the servant is to perforra a servant's ordi nary duties and be fairly treated, and to be required to do no wrong thing. ROUND THE WORLD. loi The firing of firecrackers caused rae to speak to our boatman one day, as I was annoyed by the noise, having always had a dislike for sudden explo sions. " Why don't you worship soraething good and beautiful," I said, " sorae god that would detest such things as firecrackers ?" " So we do," said he, " in our hearts, but this is not worship ; it is sacrifice to the bad gods, so they will be pleased and do one no harra." " But won't the good god be displeased and do you harm?" "No, the good god would never harra any one." His words were, as near as I can recollect thera, " He no do badee ; no can ; always likee he ; much goodee ; by-by kill bad Jossee raay be ;" and so they go, good lord, good devil ; no saying into whose hands one may fall, as the sailor had it. I gave it up, as the business woman came on board and took comraand, the husband going off to his work elsewhere. This woman Susan — Black- eyed Susan, as we have dubbed her — and her bright young sister-in-law continue to interest us more and more, they are such active, intelligent characters. The girl is ornamented with bangles and heavy ank lets, and her ear-rings are of blue-bird feathers ; her hair is banged, and every thing about her evinces the care of really good, respectable people. 1 told Susan if I were a boatman I should try hard to save money enough to buy her sister-in-law, and asked her' price. " No sellee you ; seUee goodee Chinaman two hundred dollars. ' ' This was said as a great boast, as the ordinary price for one in her station is only ninety dollars. Our guide turned up his lip in scorn and whispered to me, " She talkee with mouthee too muchee; ninety dollar plenty." Perhaps he had l°2 ROUND THE WORLD. his eye upon the raaid for his son. If so, I put in a good word for her, teUing hira I was reputed one of the best judges of young ladies in America, that I could tell their qualities at a glance, and that it was certain she would be a grand wife ; and, what I thought would weigh as rauch with him, I added that for a business woraan who could please trav ellers and get lots of raoney I did not believe she had her equal in Canton. One always likes to help on a raatch when he can, and something may corae of this ; who knows ? I wish to bear ray testiraony to the grand work which is going forward at various places in China by means of the medical departments of missions. There are fourteen hospitals of this kind in the coun try, and patients frora all parts flock to thera. In diseases of the eye unusual success seeras to have been achieved, and stories are told of mandarins al most blind who have been restored to sight ; and in dealing with cutaneous disorders, which are very common, the doctors have also done wonders. A small mission hospital established in the Island of Formosa only a few years ago has already treated ten thousand patients, and I am informed that the Canton establishment numbers its beneficiaries by the hundred thousand. Whatever objection the people make to missionaries, doctors are ever welcorae, and regarded as benefactors. Nor raust we forget that the entire credit of this indisputably grand work is wholly due to those who consider it a sacred duty to endeavor to force their religious views upon the consideration of the Chinese. One can hardly find terms strong enough to speak fitly of the good ROUND THE WORLD. 103 missions are perforraing in this departraent of their labors ; and while upon this subject we should re member that it is also to missionaries alone we owe almost all we know of China and its literature. Even Confucius was given to the world in English by a missionary. I take special pleasure in saying all I justly can for those who are so universally decried throughout the East. With scarcely an exception — indeed I do not reraeraber one — every European or Araerican engaged in the East speaks disparagingly of missionaries and their labors. I beUeve myself that trying to force reUgious views upon those who only tolerate thera because the cannon stands behind ready to support the preaching is not the better way, and that raany more converts would be made by "the word spoken in season" by ministers of the European congregations now scattered throughout the East, and by doctors and others with whom the natives are daily brought in contact, if the paid propaganda were withdrawn ; but this should not prevent us frora crediting the raissionaries with the collateral advantages which are now flowing frora an other branch of their efforts. They are on the right track now ; the M.D. is the best pioneer of the D.D. There is another powerful lever at work in the Herald, a weekly paper published in Shanghai and distributed throughout the Empire. It is obtaining an iraraense circulation. It gives each week an epitorae of the raost important events occurring in every country, and Araerica, I saw, headed the Ust. A Mr. AUen, forraerly connected with raissions, is the publisher, and he is probably doing more to revolu tionize China than aU others combined. 104 ROUND THE WORLD. China, you know, grows a great deal of tea, but do you know how great a proportion of this indis pensable article she does grow, and how rauch she uses of it herself ? Here are the figures I see printed : Total production of the world, 1,300,000 net tons; China's portion, 1,150,000 tons, being about nine tiraes raore than all the world besides. But what is raore wonderful is that China uses 1,000,- 000 tons per annura, and exports only 150,000 tons. But every one in China, upon all occasions, partakes of the cup which cheers and does not inebriate. It is popularly supposed that a sraall-footed woraan must be one of rank, but this is an error. It is a matter of family ambition, even among the poor,, to have in the family at least one such deformity. Gentlemen marry only small-footed women, and their child might make a good raatch. If large- footed, this would be irapossible ; but such hopes are sometimes doomed to disappointraent, or after marriage reverses may ensue ; and so it happens that raany sraall feet stamp about in poverty and try to eke out a living under disadvantages from which her less genteel neighbors are free. The most re markable feature in the streets is the total absence of women of any class except such as drudge alongside of men, and even these are not nuraerous, for raan appears to monopolize most of the work, at least in the cities. Occasionally we pass a sedan chair, or one passes us closely covered up, which no doubt contains a lady of position compelled to visit some temple or relative ; but I do not recall one woman seen in China dressed beyond a worker, so jealously do Chinamen sentence their ladies to seclusion. ROUND THE WORLD. 105 The only temple I saw in any part of China which is worthy of mention is that of the Sages. Here we saw tolerably good busts of five hundred of the raost faraous characters known to Chinese history— all the writers, statesraen, and rulers who have distinguished themselves for thousands of years. Among them, curiously enough, Marco Polo has by some means found a place. Corapared with the hideous monsters worshipped in other temples, I regarded this deifica tion of the illustrious dead with sincere satisfaction. I have before remarked that the buildings of China are scarcely worthy of notice, and, by the way, no man can erect a house except such as his rank or station in life justifies. A public officer prescribes the lirait of expenditure. This isn't " Uberty," but I suspect several of ray friends who have gone in for palatial structures of late years have seen reason to wish that such a safeguard had existed when they began to build. Our visit to the Celestial Erapire is now at an end. We sail at noon by the French mail steamer Pie Ho for Singapore, fourteen hundred miles south. The more we see of China the greater it grows. A country much larger than the United States, with ten tiraes the population, and not one mile of tele graph or railroad in it, not even one mile of public road in many districts broad enough for any thing beyond a wheelbarrow— and yet a reading and writ ing people, a race of acknowledged mental power, with a form of settled government the oldest in the world — how inconsistent aU this seeras to us ! But the reason for this paradoxical condition of affairs is, I think, that the unequalled resources of the country. lo6 ROUND THE WORLD. which give to the people every necessary of life and alraost every luxury, encouraged thera to eschew in tercourse with the poorer lands around thera, and th.en their claims of superiority as a race to all their neighbors led thera quite justifiably to conclude that all beyond were outside barbarians. They rested content with the position attained, and as each suc cessive generation copied the past, change became foreign to their whole nature, and in this path they have stubbornly persisted until the once inferior races of the West have far outstripped them ; and among these outside barbarians raust be ranked our noble selves, for it isn't one thousand years, let alone two, since our ancestors were running about dressed in skins and eating raw flesh — perhaps eat ing each other, as some allege — as ignorant of their A B C's as of the theory of evolution or the nebular hypothesis, when these Chinese were publishing a daily paper and sailing ships by the compass. Re cent events have undoubtedly awakened the fore most minds of China to the fact that they have been asleep, like our Rip, not twenty years only, but twenty generations. They have recently begun to build steamships, a line of telegraph is authorized, postage-stamps are being printed, and, best of all, for our comfort, at the principal cities there is generally at least one dealer who adheres to fixed prices for his goods. A daily paper is now published in Chinese at Shanghai, and the English school there is well patronized. All these things convince me that at last Western civilization is making an impression. The inert raass begins to move, and China will march forward ere long. ROUND THE WORLD. 107 But without railroads the country can never be thoroughly developed. I fear this will be the last feature of our civiUzation which China will accept, although the raost iraportant for her progress, be cause, as before mentioned, a railway cannot be built without desecrating graves by the thousand, and this every true Chinaman would view with horror. Our guide, although a reraarkably inteUi gent man, and favorable to improvements of all kinds, took his stand here, inflexibly opposing the introduction of railways. No matter what material advantages might accrue, nor how much money he might be offered, no earthly consideration would in duce hira to touch his ancestors, who lie in one place in uninterrupted succession for nearly seven hundred years. If my friends, Messrs. Garrison, Field, and Pullman, who have so skilfully managed to give us elevated railroads without disturbing proprietary rights below, wish to enhance their fame, let thera ask a concession in the Celestial Empire for railroads " topside," guaranteed to dodge every grave, and I do not doubt their success. Such inborn superstition as is here depicted dies hard, but it must pass away with the spread of knowledge ; it will, however, take tirae. Nevertheless, China has a great future before it, as it has had a great past, and instead of having passed her cliraacteric, I predict that she is destined to reach a position of pararaount importance in the Eastern world. Tuesday, December 26. The Pie Ho is a magnificent ship, and we are de lighted at getting under the auspices of a French io8 ROUND THE WORLD. cook once more, after the experiences we have had in Chinese cookery. We are scudding along before the raonsoon, the teraperature that of June, an agreeable change from Hong Kong, where the nights have been chilly. We are out oi the region of cold weather now for the reraainder of our travels. We reached Saigon, the capital of the French settle ment in Cochin China, at six this raorning, after sail ing up a branch of the Carabodia for forty railes. Lower Cochin China belongs to France, and is under the rule of a colonial governor, French troops being scattered through the provinces. It is a low-lying district, celebrated only for growing raore rice than any other part of the world. Our ship took on large quantities of it for France, but this is exceptional, the scarcity of freights being everywhere so great that steamers are glad to get any thing to carry. The Saigonites are the lowest specimens of humanity we have yet seen — raiserable, sickly-looking creatures, and without the faintest regard for cleanliness. Their long, coarse, black hair hangs over their shoulders in thick, tangled masses which have never apparently known a comb. Every one chews the betel nut without intermission, young and old alike, and this so discolors the teeth and mouth as to render them extremely disgusting. We drove about the town for a few hours, but it was so hot that we were compeUed to return to the ship. We have on board several English merchants and one American, who are taking a run home for a visit. The latter regrets that his countrymen should be in duced to drink green tea abominations, and 1 console hira by stating that a reform is surely near at hand. ROUND THE WORLD. 109 These gentlemen agree that the American cotton goods are taking the market and driving the adul terated English goods out. The trade is increasing so fast that it was welcome intelligence for them to be advised by the last mail that another large mill in Massachusetts was being changed to run exclusively upon these Chinese goods. I congratulate my friend Edward Atkinson upon this result. But is this new business to be permanent ? I think not. The day is far distant, I hope, when either labor or capital in America will have to be content with the return given in a populous country like Britain ; and unless we haA-e superior natural advantages we cannot hope to compete with her. In cotton manufactures for the East we have not any advantage, as I find that the cheapest way of reaching China is to ship via London frora New York. England can bring the raw cotton frora New Orleans or New York, and send the raanu factured goods to raarket for certainly not raore than the cost of transportation from the American mills to market, and therefore England can retain that trade whenever she adopts the latest improve ments in mode of manufacture ; and this she is as certain to do (and probably to iraprove upon them) as the sun shines. The night we spent at Saigon the French governor gave a grand ball ; five hundred invitations ; but out of all this number how many ladies, think you ? Society here musters but thirty- five, mammas and grandmaramas included, and only three young ladies. Think of it, ye belles of Cresson, Newport, and Saratoga (Cresson first, Mr. Printer, is quite correct) ! fifteen officers in dazzling uniforras for every lady ! IIO ROUND THE WORLD. Wednesday, January i, i87g. The clock strikes twelve. Good-by, 1878 ; and you, 1879, ^ '^^il ' ^^ ^^ kind to us as the de parted, and w-e shall in turn bless your meraory. This midnight hour of all the hours of the year is reputed the best for framing good resolutions, but somehow those I have tried at this season hitherto have not been exceptionally fortunate in bearing good fruit. However, I have never " resolved " on a New Year's night before while suffering from heat and mosquitoes. 1 conclude to hazard one, so here goes antipodal resolution No. i. See what you are good for. I record it that it may be the more deeply impressed upon my mind, and, if a failure, that it may in print sternly stare me in the face, and not " down at my bidding." To-day we make our first acquaintance with punkas. They extend throughout the cabin, ominous of hot weather, which I detest ; Vandy, on the other hand, revels in it, and it is his turn now. Vandy handed me to-day a string of Cambodia coin, sixty pieces, which cost only two cents, showing to what fractions they reduce exchanges in Cochin China. I do not think I have before mentioned that I have been engaged gathering coins in every place visited. Sock No. I is now full, and I have had to start bag No. 2. Among those obtained I have some rare speci mens ; of Japan the set is complete, frora the gold cobang, a coin worth $115, of oblong shape, five inches long, and about three wide. I have sorae Chinese coins shaped like a St. Andrew's Cross, dat ing before Christ ; and, in short, the raania of a coin collector is another inherent tendency the presence ROUND THE WORLD. iil of which in my disposition has probably never been suspected. But then, collecting the coin of the realm, when one thinks of it, isn't at all foreign to my tastes. The form of manifestation is different, that's all — old coin for new — the " ruling love," to use a Swedenborgianism, being the same ; and the ruling love must be acted out, so Aunt tells me, even in heaven. " Oh !" said L., when she heard this, " I wonder what they'll get for Mr. to do in the other world ; there are no dollars and cents there ; but there will be the golden harps, and 1 suppose he can trim and weigh." So he -\vould still handle the siller, and be in his eleraent. Singapore, Saturday, January 4. We reached here at dusk. The drive through the town was a curious one. Nowhere is there such a raixture of races as in Singapore, and each race was enjoying itself in its own peculiar fashion — all except the Chinese ; they were, as usual, hard at work in their little dens as we drove past. No rec reation for this people. Work, work, work ! They never play, never sraile, but plod away, from early morning until late at night. We see here our first lot of Hindoos, who move about the streets like ghosts, wrapped in webs of thin white cotton cloth, which neither scissors nor needle nor thread has ever defiled. The cloth raust reraain just as it carae frora the loom ; no hat, no shoes, their foreheads chalked, or painted in red, with the stamp of the god they worship and the caste to which they belong. They are a small, sUght race, with very fine, delicate fea tures. 112 ROUND THE WORLD. I went out for a stroll before retiring, and hear ing a great noise I followed, and came up with a Hindoo procession. The god was being paraded through the Hindoo portion of the town araid the beating of dru ras and blowing of squeaking trurapets. The idol was seated in a finely-decorated temple upon wheels, making altogether a very gorgeous dis play. Priests stood at each side performing myste rious rites as the cortege proceeded, which, by the way, was drawn by devotees, many dancing wildly around the idol, while others bore torches aloft, the flickering beams of which illuminated the temple. It was my first sight of an idolatrous procession, and it made a deep impression upon rae, carrying me back to Sunday-school days, and the terrible car of Juggernaut and all its horrors. We have had raany experiences in beds, from the generous feather cover of the Germans to the canopy of state couch of England, but our beds to-night were minus covering of any kind. Calling to Vandy, I found he was in the same fix, but each had a long stiff bolster lying in the middle, lengthwise, of the bed, the use of which neither of us could raake out. We soon found, however, that there was no need of covering here at the Equator ; its absence was all right ; but this bolster must have sorae use, if we could only find it. Upon inquiring next day we ascertained that it was composed of some kind of pith which keeps cool, and that it was the greatest relief in hot nights to cultivate the closest possible acquaintance with this strange bed-fellow ; in fact, in Singapore ' ' no faraily should be without it. ' ' The island of Singapore is about 30 miles in cir- ROUND THE WORLD. 113 cumference, belongs to England, and boasts a popu lation of 300,000, one third of which is Chinese, the remainder Malays, KUngs, Javanese, Hindoos, and every other Eastern race under the sun, I believe — for nowhere else is such a raixture seen — and a few Europeans. Here the " survival of the fittest" is being fought out under the protection of the British flag, which insures peace and order wherever it floats. In this struggle we have no hesitation in backing the Heathen Chinee against the field. A perraanent occupation by any Western race is of course out of the question. An Englishraan would inevitably cease to be an Englishraan in a few, a very few, generations, and it is therefore only a question of tirae when the Chinese will drive every other race to the wall. No race can possibly stand against thera anywhere in the East. On Sunday Major Studer, United States Consul, and his accoraplished daughter, drove us to the house and gardens of the leading Chinese raerchant of this region, Mr. Wara- poo, who received and entertained us with great cordiality. His residence is extensive, and filled with curios in every part ; but his gardens are raost cele brated, as they far surpass any thing of the kind here. His collection of Victoria Regia plants is said to be the best in the world. Unfortunately none were in bloora, but a flower was due, 1 understood, in about ten years ! The newspapers here soraetiraes give strange local iteras. Here is one frora yesterday's Times : " Tigers must be increasing on the island ; a fine big male one was caught in a pit on Christraas eve at the water works. ' ' The fellow was probably on the track of 114 ROUND THE WORLD. a Christmas dinner, and ventured to the very suburbs of the town. We were driven one day, by the Major and Miss Studer, to a tapioca plantation some ten or twelve miles in the interior, passing through groves of cocoa and betel nut trees, both in full bearing, and saw many trees and plants new to us — the fan and sago palras and raany other varieties, bananas, nutmeg trees, bread fruit, durion, gutta-percha trees, and others. We also saw the indigo plant under cultiva tion, and passed through fields of the sensitive plant as we walked about, while pineapples were every where. We are in a new world of vegetation here, within a degree of the Equator ; but, rich as it is, there is still a feeling of disappointment because it is all green — no bright hues, no coloring, such as gives Florida its charm, or lends to an American forest in autumn its unrivalled glory ! It is always summer, and the moisture of the tropics keeps every thing green. There is another cause of disappointment to one accustomed to the primeval forest and its majes tic trees. These monarchs cannot develop themselves in the tropics, and in their stead we have only under brush, the "jungle" of the tiger, which doesn't at all come up to one's expectations. About one thousand men and women are em ployed upon the tapioca plantation referred to. Married Hindoos get twenty' cents per day, but the greater number are Javanese unmarried men, who get only sixteen cents ; both find themselves. The Javanese are Mohararaedans frora Java en route to Mecca as a religious duty. They corae here and work and save for two years to get sufficient to pay ROUND THE WORLD. 115 their passage and return to this point, when they work a year more for funds to carry thera home. How vital the creed is which brings its adherents to such sacrifice as is here involved ! This drive gave us an excellent opportunity of seeing just how the people live in the country. As for dress, it is con fined to the small rag worn about the loins, except that the women wear in addition a small cloth over their shoulders. The children wear nothing what ever, but we saw none that were not ornamented by cheap jewelry in the most extraordinary manner. Here is a description of a woman's jewelry, as taken frora life by Vandy : Lobes of ears pierced with holes large enough to allow one's thurab to be inserted ; above these holes two small gold-color rivets in each ear ; in each nostril two gold pendants, inserted by screwing in ; through the centre of the nose a large silver .ring ; on each wrist four brace lets ; higher up the arra raore rings ; around her neck a necklace ; around each ankle a large silver ring ; and around her big toe and the next, on both feet, were rings. The sraaUest children sported many sirailar jewels. Upon these every penny they can save is squandered, and to secure them they are content to live on a little boiled rice and fish — a bamboo hut of one apartment their only home, and a piece of cotton cloth their wardrobe. We had the pleasure of raeeting, at Major Studer's, Mr. Hornaday, a young gentleraan who travels for Professor Ward, of Rochester, New York, whose rauseura is well known the world over. Mr. Horna- day's departraent is to keep the Professor's collec tions coraplete, and if there be a, rare bird, beast, or ii6 ROUND THE WORLD. reptile on the globe, he is bound to capture speci raens. He had just returned from spending four months among the savages of Borneo, where only a supply of orang-outangs could be obtained. He re turned with forty -two of these links, mostly shot by himself. He came one day upon two very young ones, and these he has brought here alive. They are suggestively huraan in their ways, and two better-behaved, more affectionate babies are rarely to be met with. Let no anti-Darwinian study young orang-outangs if he wishes to retain his present no tions. The museum, Mr. H. is advised, is now short of dugongs, and he is off for Australia next steamer to lay in a supply. The recital of his adven tures are extremely interesting, and I predict that some day a book from him will have a great run. In the absence of other commercial intelligence, 1 may quote the market in his line. Tigers are still reported " lively ;" orang-outangs " looking up ;" pythons show but Uttle animation at this season of the year ; proboscis monkeys, on the other hand, continue scarce ; there is quite a run on lions, and kangaroos are jumped at with avidity ; elephants heavy ; birds of paradise drooping ; crocodiles are snapped up as offered, while dugongs bring large prices. What is pig metal to this ? The climate of Singapore, as of all places so near the Equator, would be intolerable but for the dense clouds which obscure the sun and save us from its fierce rays ; but occasionally it breaks through for a few minutes, and we are in a bath of perspiration before we know it. No one can estimate the differ ence in the power of the sun here as compared with ROUND THE WORLD. UJ it in New York. Straw hats afford no protection whatever ; we are corapelled to wear thick white helmets of pith, and a white umbrella lined with green cloth, and yet can only walk a few steps when the sun is hid without feeling that w-e must seek the shade. The horses are unable to go raore than ten miles in twenty-four hours, and our carriage and pair are hired with the understanding that this is not to be exceeded. Nothing could exist near the line if the intense heat did not cause evaporation upon a gigantic scale. The clouds so formed are driven up ward by the streams of colder air from both sides, expanding condensation takes place, and showers fall every few hours in the region of Singapore. One is not only in a new earth here, but he has a new sky as well. As the tropics do not compare with our more brilliant colors in the vegetable world, neither does the southern sky equal ours. Indeed, with the exception of the four stars in the Southern Cross, two in the Centaur, and two or three others, there is no star of the first magnitude to be seen, and the constellations are poor compared to those of our splendid northern skies. Shake speare's line, " fretted with platines of bright gold," raust seera hyperbole to the Australian. I saw the Southern Cross raany nights while at sea, and it is certainly very fine. These long ocean trips furnish the best opportunity for observing the stars, and I have rubbed up ray early knowledge on the subject so far as to be able to point out all the constellations and raany of the principal stars ; but away down here the North Star even is not to be seen, and we have to steer by Orion's belt if the corapass should vary. Il8 ROUND THE WORLD. Tuesday, January 14. We left Singapore to-day at three P.M. by the English mail steamer Teheran, parting with very sin cere regret frora Major and Miss Studer, to whora we had been so rauch indebted for our week's hap piness. These partings frora kind friends on our way round the world are the sad incidents of the trip. People are so kind, and they do so much to ren der our stay agreeable, that we become warraly at tached, and have many excursions planned, when some morning up goes the flag, boom goes the signal gun, " Mail stearaer arrived !" all aboard at sunset ! and farewell, fiiends ! We see them linger on the pier as we sail away, good-bys are waved, and we fade from each other's sight ; but it will be long ere many faces vanish from our memory. While still gazing Singaporeward I am recalled to the stern duties of life. These two baby orang outangs I told you of are going to a naturalist in Madras. What a present ! and Vandy and I have proraised to do what we can in the way of attendance upon thera. The butcher comes to ask me when they are to be fed, and how, and what. This is a poser. I am not up in the management of orang outangs, but Vandy has skill in alraost every thing of this kind ; at least he is safer than I, and I search for him in this emergency. The fact is, while I have had varied experiences in the raatter of delicate charges of raany kinds, these have generally been of our own species — a youngster to be taken home to his parents, a dowager lady afraid of the cars — even a blushing damsel to be transported across the At lantic to the arms of her fiance' has been intrusted to ROUND THE WORLD. 119 me before this, but this charge is decidedly out of my line. We called at Penang, an island on the western shore of the Peninsula, belonging to England, and had time to drive around the settlement. The place is not to be compared to Singapore in size, but we found vegetation even more luxuriant. It was very hot, and we envied the governor his residence on a raountain peak 1800 feet above the sea, where, it was reported, fires are actually required at some seasons night and morning. Penang exports large quantities of tin, and we took on a lot for New York. This valuable production seems about the only raetal Araerica has now to iraport, but sorae lucky explorer is no doubt destined to find it in iraraense quantities by and by. Having got every thing else, it doesn't stand to reason that America should not be favored with this also. Nothing unusual occurred upon our run across the Bay of Bengal. It was smooth and quiet stearaing all the way to Ceylon. I had been huraraing " Greenland's Icy Mountains" for several days previously, all that I knew about Ceylon's isle being contained in one of the verses of that hyran, which I used to sing at missionary meet ings, when a minister who had seen the heathen was stared at as a prodigy. x\nd indeed the "spicy breezes blew soft o'er Ceylon's isle" as we approached it in the moonlight. We found GaUe quite a pretty, quaint Uttle port, and reraained there one night, taking the coach next morning for Colombo, the capital. The drive of sixty miles to the railway which extends to Colombo, seventeen miles beyond, is one of the best treats we I20 ROUND THE WORLD. have yet had. The road is equal to one of our best park avenues, as indeed are all the roads we saw in Ceylon ; from end to end it skirts the rocky shores and passes through groves of cocoa and betel nut trees, and on each side are the huts of natives at work at some branch of the cocoanut business. Every part of the nut is utilized ; ropes and raats are raade from the covering of the shell, oil from the kernel, and the milk is drank fresh at every meal. These trees do not thrive except near the coast, the salt air laden with moisture being essential for their growth, but they grow quite down to the very edge of the sea. The natives have been attracted to this main road, and from Galle to Colombo it is almost one continuous village ; there is no prettier sea-shore in the world, nor a raore beautiful surf. Every few railes we corae upon large numbers of fishermen drawing in their nets, which are excessively long and take in several acres of sea in their sweep. An artist who would come to Ceylon and devote hiraself to depict ing " the fishers of Ceylon's isle" (how well that sounds ! and a good title is half the battle) would make a reputation and a fortune. I ara quite sure there is no raore picturesque sight than the drawing of their nets, several hundred raen being engaged in the labor, while the beach is alive with woraen and children in bright colors anxiously watching the result. The dress of the Ceylonese women is really pretty : a skirt closely fitting the figure, and a tight- fitting jacket over the shoulders — -all of fine, pure white cotton cloth or muslin. Necklaces and ear rings are worn, but I am glad to say the nose seems ROUND THE WORLD. 121 to be preserved from the indignity of rings. The men's dress is of course scanty, their weakness being a large tortoise-shell comb, which every one wears ; it reaches trom ear to ear, and the hair is corabed straight back and confined by it. Women are denied this crowning ornament, and raust content theraselves with a pin in the hair, the head of which, however, is highly ornaraented. The Buddhist priests form a strange contrast in their dress, which consists of a yellow plaid, generally of silk, wrapped around the body and over the shoulders. Ceylon is a little smaller than Ireland, and the population is a Uttle more than three raillions, which is rapidly increasing, as are its exports and imports. It is of all the places visited the one which seems to have suffered the least from the wave of depression which has recently swept over the world. This is undoubtedly owing to the fact that the spicy isle en joys something of a monopoly in coffee and some of the spices, cinnamon especially. Java coffee is gen erally used, I think, in America, but it is deemed here an inferior article ; Mocha, in Arabia, furnishes the best, but much that is called Mocha is really grown here. In the coffee plantations men are paid eighteen cents per day, woraen fourteen cents. A disease has raged among the plants for two years past akin to that which attacked the vines in France some years ago ; it promises this year to be less de structive, although no effectual cure has yet been dis covered. Kandy. A railway has been built from Colombo, the ship ping port, through the raountains to the coffee-grow- 122 ROUND THE WORLD. ing districts, a distance of seventy railes, and this enabled us to visit Kandy, raore than 1600 feet above the sea, and the suramer capital to which the gov ernraent repairs in hot weather. It is a beautiful little town, and gave us the first breath of air with " ozone" in it that we had enjoyed since we were on the Sierras. Our hotel fronts upon the square, and is opposite the Buddhist Teraple, celebrated as the receptacle of that precious relic, ' ' the sacred tooth of Buddha." A forraer king of Ceylon is reputed to have paid an iraraense sura for this raeraento of the departed. We were too near the teraple for comfort. The tomtom has to be beaten five times each day, and as one of these is at sunrise, I had occasion to wish the priest and tooth both far enough away. I wonder the Europeans don't indict this tomtoming at unseasonable hours as a nuisance. The Botanical Gardens here are only rivalled in the tropics by those in Java, and upon seeing the display of tropical vegetation here, we fully under stood how it had acquired its celebrity ; but still all is green. The great variety of palras, the bread fruit, banyan, jack-fruit, and others sustain this repu tation. The chocolate tree was the raost curious to us ; it has recently been introduced in the island, and proraises to add one raore to the list of articles de luxe for which Ceylon is famous. A fine evidence of the intelligence of the Ceylon planters is seen in the fact that the association employs a chemist to investigate and report upon the different soils and what they are probably capable of producing ; under his supervision various articles are always under trial. Recently Liberian coffee has been found to thrive in low lati- ROUND THE WORLD. 123 tudes unsuited for the Arabian variety, which re quires a higher district, thus rendering a large area available for this plant which has hitherto been nec essarily devoted to less profitable uses. Nothing nowadays can be thoroughly developed without the cheraist's aid, and the day is not far distant when our farming will be conducted under his instructions as completely as our steel manufacture now is. Ceylon is noted for its pearl fisheries and its sup ply of rubies, sapphires, and cats'-eyes as much as for its spices ; and frora the hour the traveller lands until the steamer carries hira off he is beset with dealers offering precious stones, worth hundreds of dollars in London or New York, for a few rupees ; but those who purchase no doubt find their fate, in the story of the innocent who bought his gold cheap. The government keeps the pearl fishery grounds under proper regulations, and allows divers one half of all they find, the other half going to the State Treasury. I was told the value of the pearls found last year amounted to $400,000. Galle, Wednesday, January 22. We reached here last night upon our return, stopping one night at Colorabo. Future travellers will soon raiss one of the rarest, treats in Ceylon. The railway will soon be corapleted frora Colombo to Galle, and the days of. coaching cease forever. We congratulate ourselves that our visit was before this passed away, as we know of no drive equal to that we have now enjoyed twice, and the last time even more than the first. During our trip down yesterday I counted in 124 ROUND THE WORLD. forty miles no fewer than eleven schools filled with young Ceylonese. EngUsh is generally taught in them, and although attendance is not compulsory, great inducements are held out to parents to send their children. The advantages of knowing the English language are so decided that I am told pa rents generally are most anxious to have their chil dren taught. The school-houses are siraple affairs, consisting only of white plastered walls about five feet high, -with spaces for entrance. On this wall rest the slight wooden standards which support the roof of palm-leaves, so that all is open to our view as we drive past. We were equaUy delighted to see nuraerous medical dispensaries, where the afflicted natives can obtain advice and medicine free of charge. On several huts we saw large placards de noting the presence of contagious disease within. It is a great work that is going forward here under English rule. By such raeans England proves her ability to govern, and best confirms her sway against domestic revolt or foreign intrigues. The blessings of good government, the education of the people, and careful attention to their health and corafort — these will be found the raost effective weapons with Avhich to corabat mutiny within, or Russian or any other aggression from abroad. Saturday, January 25. At ten to-night we sailed for Madras and Cal cutta by the English mail steamer Hindostan, and were lighted out of the intricate harbor by flaming torches displayed by lines of natives stationed at the Jauoys. The last sight of Ceylon's isle revealed the ROUND THE WORLD. 1 25 fine spires of the CathoUc Cathedral, which tower above the pretty harbor of Galle. Madras, Tuesday, January 28. We arose to find ourselves at anchor in the open sea opposite Madras. There is not a harbor upon the whole coast of Hindostan. Governraent is en gaged in constructing one here, but it is slow work, as the iraraense blocks of concrete used can be handled and laid only in smooth seas, which seldom exist here. Soraetiraes the raail stearaers find it ira possible to land passengers or cargo, and are cora pelled to carry both to Calcutta. The surf often sweeps over the top of the iron pier, which is cer tainly twenty feet high. Passengers are taken ashore in native boats twenty feet long and five feet deep. Across the boat, on sraall round poles, sit ten rowers, five on each side ; another man steers, and in the bow stand two boys prepared to bail out the water which S'weeps in as we plunge through the surf. For tunately the sea was unusuaUy calm, and we had no difficiilty in reaching dry land. When the surf is too strong for even these boats to encounter, natives communicate with ships by tying three small logs together, upon which they manage to sit and paddle about, carrying letters in bags fastened upon their heads. As the solid logs can't sink, they are safe as long as they can cling to them, and as for an upset, they think nothing of that whatever. We saw many of these curious contrivances, but one must have a good deal of the amphibious in his nature, or full faith that he wasn't born to be drowned, in order to trust hiraself upon thera through the Madras surf. 9 126 ROUND THE WORLD. India at last ! How strange every thing looks ! Brahmins, Cullrees, and Banians, devotees of the three different gods, with foreheads marked to de note their status. Our first glimpse of caste, of which these are the three main divisions, to one of which all persons raust belong, or be of the lowest order, the residuum, who are coolies. There are many subdivisions of these, and indeed every trade or call ing constitutes a different order, the members of which do not intermarry, or associate, or even eat with one another. Generations pursuing the same calling, and only marrying within themselves, acquire a peculiar appearance, and this effectually creates a caste. Carpenters, masons, merchants, each are dis tinct, and the occupation of a raan can readily be known by his dress or manner. Our friend in Madras gave us a rare treat by driving us out to see the celebrated Madras tigers, for nowhere else in the world are such tigers kept as here, and indeed I go so far as to declare that until one has seen these grand animals he has no adequate idea of what a tiger is. All that I have seen hith erto — and I do not forget the " Zoo" in London — are but tame mockeries of the genuine raonster. I walked up to a large cage, but was startled by such a fright. A tiger was in an instant flat against the cage, with only a few small iron rods between me and it, which rattled like reeds as he struck them. I thought the whole cage was in pieces, and that beast upon me. Such glaring eyes, burning like iraraense topazes in his head ! and then when he found himself unable to get at his prey, such a yell ! but I was many feet from him ere this came, I assure ROUND THE WORLD 127 you. He had sprung frora the back of his cage against the bars, a distance of at least fifteen or eighteen feet, the raoraent he saw me, and no doubt hurt himself as he dashed against them. The keeper told us this one had only been caught a few months ago. His stripes were glossy black, and his coat not that sickly tawny color we are so familiar with, but a light fiery brown. Compared with the tiger, it is im possible but that even the noblest Uon must seem tame and inert. We took no interest in them, although there were some fine speciraens. In the evening we enjoyed hearing the Governor's band performing on the beach and seeing Madras society congregated there, and for the first time since we left America saw full-sized horses again. Several were riding aniraals that would pass muster in the Park. Thus far we have found only little ponies in use. To-day our Sunday-school recollections were again aroused by a sight of the terrible car of Jug gernaut. It is really an iraraense affair, elaborately carved in bold relief, and on the top is a platform for the priests. I should say the car is 25 feet high and about 8 X 12 at the base ; it has six wheels, four out side and two in the centre, the forraer nine feet in diameter and the latter six, and all at least two feet in width of tread, all solid wood clamped together with iron bands. Such a mass, drawn through the streets by elephants and accompanied by excited devotees, its hundred bells jangling as it rolled along where there was not another vehicle of any kind with which to compare it, or a house more than one small story high, raust have appeared to the ignorant na tives soraething akin to the supernatural, and I can 128 ROUND THE WORLD. now well understand how wretches, working thera selves into a state of frenzy, should have felt impelled to dash under its wheels. It is still paraded upon certain festival days, invariably surrounded, how ever, by policemen, who keep the natives clear of the wheels, for even to-day, if they were not pre vented, its victiras would be as nuraerous as ever. Iraagine, if you can, with what feelings we stood and gazed upon this car, which has crushed under its pon derous wheels religious enthusiasts by the thousand, and which still retains its fascination over men anxious to be allowed the glory of such self-imraolation. We left Madras on Wednesday raorning, and had a fine sraooth sail across the Bay of Bengal to Cal cutta, the City of Palaces, and centre of the British power in India. Coraing up the river we pass the shipping in review, and never have we seen so raany large, magnificent sailing ships in one port before, not even in Liverpool or London. The trade re quires large clippers, and not one sraall ship is to be seen. These splendid vessels lie four and five deep for two miles along the river, all in fine trim, flags flying, and looking their best. We pass the palace of the old King of Oude, who was brought here when deposed for his misdeeds. He is allowed a pension of $50,000 per month, which seems a great waste of money, as it is squandered in great part by the old reprobate. His collection of birds and beasts is a wonderful one ; he pays any price for animals ; last month he paid $12,500 for two grand tigers, but they escaped a few days afterward and swam across the river. The first queer thing that strikes you at your ROUND THE WORLD. 129 hotel is that two natives appear to take you in cus tody without even saying by your leave, and never while you are in Calcutta will you be able to get out of sight of one or the other of these officers. One attends to your roora in person, brings you your tea and toast at six, prepares your bath, takes your shoes to the proper " caste" man below (he wouldn't black them for the world, bless you !), and plays the valet while you dress. At night you find him stretched out across your door, lying like a dog on the watch, and there he lies all night, subject to mas ter's call. I hurt ray raan's feelings very keenly one night by gently stepping over his prostrate form and quietly getting into ray room and going to bed with out his aid. I turned the key the raoment I got in side, and it was not raany moraents after before I heard hira move. Missing the key, he suspected soraething was wrong, and tried the door several tiraes ; but as he raet with no response he finally gave it over, and lay down to sleep. The other attendant is our waiter at table and out-door servant. You find these people curled up and lying at every step through the halls, and are. in constant danger of stumbling over them. Every guest has two as a rule, and this, although the hotel professes to keep an efficient staff of its own. The stories we hear of servants in India are amusing in the extreme, their duties being so strictly defined by caste that one must be kept for every trifling duty. Our friend the Major tells us, for instance, that upon a recent oc casion his wife wished to send a note to him at the Fort, a very short distance frora his residence. The proper raessenger happened to have been sent else- 130 ROUND THE WORLD. where, but as the coachraan was not engaged she asked him to please take it to raaster, but he ex plained how irapossible it would be for him to com ply, much as he wished to do so. Persuasion was useless ; but madame thought of a remedy — order the carriage. This was done ; the grooms prepare and harness the horses, the coachraan raounts the box and appears at the door. " Now drive to raas ter's, and, attendant, deliver this note." All right. This brought it within the sphere of his caste. He is bound to obey all orders connected with the car riage. The incidents of this nature are too nuraer ous to recount. It is in India that practical econo mists can best study the division of labor in its most advanced stage of development. My friend Mrs. King kindly gave me her list of servants and their various duties. They numbered twenty-two, al though Mr. King's establishment is a raoderate one. Our letters and a telegram awaited us upon our arrival at Calcutta, and Sunday afternoon was spent enjoying them ; but the papers bring us news again of death among our circle of acquaintance, that of Mr. Reeves, of Philadelphia, being specially regret table to me. He was one all men liked and re spected ; another victim, I fear, of overwork. How unwise we are to give up every thing in life to the demands of business, when experience teaches us every day that the brain, the most delicately-consti tuted of all our parts, requires rest and change at short intervals ! Until Araericans learn to follow with keen interest some pursuit wholly unconnected with their business and solely for the love of it, any ROUND THE WORLD. 131 thing frora a coUection of butterflies to araateur as- tronoray, we shall see our raost enterprising men break down when they should be in their prime. Another paragraph causes me profound regret— Mr. Thoraas A. Scott struck with paralysis and taken to Europe. There cannot be any doubt as to the real cause of this raelancholy event. It was so sure to occur that it has been more than once predicted. The wonder is that it did not happen long ago. No human constitution could long endure the tension under which that man existed from month to raonth and frora year to year. If any thing could have done so, it was that quick, sensitive, raobile, and elastic brain, which seemed to grasp a subject intuitively, scorning the slower process of reasoning which limped along in vain efforts to keep pace with the flashes of Ught which stamped him as a genius. But even a brain that works as easily as his did needs what his never received, and now the stroke falls ! We find the Zoological Gardens very interesting. Here we saw monkeys for the first time running about unfettered araong the trees, and a lion chained to a dog-kennel doing watch duty like a raastiff. Never before had we seen an entire house devoted to the display of pheasants ; hei'e there is one, and these birds raake a fine collection. There are nu raerous varieties, and sorae exceedingly beautiful. There are two full-grown orang-outangs here and one child, the forraer even raore human than the pets we had recently been in charge of. The huge crocodile in a large pond failed to make his appear ance yesterday, and while we were there five natives with long poles and two in a small boat were de- 132 ROUND THE WORLD. tailed to stir hira up and see what was the matter. You should have seen these naked attendants as they waded in a few feet and poked about, ready to jurap back at every movement of the water, and sorae tiraes frightened at each other's strokes ; but you will agree with rae this business of stirring up croco diles at- twenty cents per day yields no fair cora- pensation for the obvious risks involved. There are good tigers here also, but having seen the tiger of the world at Madras, all others are but as shadows. It is the sarae now with peacocks, which are in these latitudes far superior to those with us, but the pea cock is at Saigon, in Cochin China, and we never see one without saying, one to the other, " How poor !" We are in a few days to see the Taj, and 1 suppose it will be the same as to buildings hereafter. Even Walter Scott's monuraent at Edinburgh — my favorite piece of stone and lirae — raust be put down by this marvel of perfection. I have been considering whether it is raore pro ductive of pleasure really to have seen or heard the admitted best of every thing, beyond which you can never expect to go, but as corapared with which you must actually hereafter be content invariably to meet the inferior, or whether one had better, for the re tention of future interest in things, not see the very topmost and unrivalled of each. I have raet people whose ears, for instance, were so cultivated as to render it painful for thera to listen even to the grandest music if indifferently performed ; sorae who had "atraosphere" and " chiaro-oscuro" so fully developed that copies of even the Madonna San Sisto were only daubs offensive to the eye ; others who. ROUND THE WORLD. 133 having seen Macready in Macbeth, find the tragedy stale in others' hands. Now I don't beUeve this ensues where the love of the art itself is genuine, and I rejoice to say that having once listened to an ora torio at the Handel Festival with four thousand se lected performers, that oratorio becoraes forever a source of exquisite enjoyraent, perforraed where or how it may be. If poorly done, the mind floats up ward to the region, if it does not attain, quite to the same height, where it soared at the perfect recital ; the distinct images then seen, which Confucius justly gives music the power of creating, come vividly again as the notes swell forth. The priests who call are different, indeed, but the gods who respond are one and the same. So having seen Janauschek in Lady Macbeth, all other Lady Macbeths participate in her quality. Having almost worshipped Raphael's Madonna, all other Madonnas have a touch of her power. It is of the very essence of genius that it educates one to find beauty and harmony where be fore he would only have trodden over barren sands, and the grand and poor performances of any master piece are not a contrast to the truly receptive, but are as steps leading from the lowest to the highest in the same temple. Because one has been awe- stricken by Niagara's torrent, are the waterfalls of the world to be uninteresting ? No ; every tiny stream that tumbles down in foam hereafter is re lated to the greater wonder, partaking to sorae ex- tent of its beauty and grandeur, to the raan whose soul has really been irapressed. Having seen the Himalayas, are the raore raodest but not less dear AUeghanies to lose their charra and power ? Never. 134 ROUND THE WORLD. Let rae go forward, then, and revel without misgiv ings in the highest of huraan and divine creations, as I raay be privileged to see or hear or know them. I do not fear that I shall ever become a member of the extensive band we raeet in our travels who have becorae incapable of enjoying any thing but the best. We paid a visit to the river one raorning to see the Hindoos perforraing the sacred rite of bathing, which their religion comraands. Crowds of raen and women enter the water promiscuously and pray together. What a mercy that Brahraa thought of elevating personal cleanliness to the rank of the vir tues ! What thousands are saved every year in con sequence ! What this crowded hive of huraan beings in hot India would becorae without this custom it is fearful to contemplate. I find our friends all regret ting that Mohammed was less imperative upon this point. His followers take rather to sprinkling than imraersion, and both are not equally efficacious in the tropics, however it raay prove with us of colder latitudes. One day we visited the teraple sacred to the bloody goddess " Kali," from whom Calcutta derives its name. She took her rise, as many gods have done, from her insatiable thirst for human blood. One powerful giant alone was able for many years to withstand her arts, being secretly informed by a spirit that when she pursued he had only to stand in water, and if one drop of his blood -was spilled, other giants would spring forth and devour " Kali" herself. This secret she divined, however, and one day at tacked hira even in the water, strangling him and sucking every drop of his blood without spilling ROUND THE WORLD. '35 one. But her tongue grew so large and red that never afterward was she able to get it back into her mouth, and now she is transfixed in this teraple, the big red tongue hanging out, a raost revolting sight. So powerful is she esteemed that pilgrims to her shrine are soraetiraes seen passing through the by-lanes of Calcutta who have spent years in coraing hundreds of miles by raeasuring their bodies upon the dusty ground. Lying flat, they raark their length, rise, and Ue down again at this raark, and go on this way, never leaving the raark day or night, and begging enough of food and water to sustain thera as they proceed. 1 was told of one raan who travelled 800 miles in this manner. Imagine the strength of the superstition which can so blind its dupes. But even this is nothing compared with the self-inflicted torture practised by raany " who seek to raerit heaven by making earth a hell. " It is not rare for fakirs to stand in postures that cripple them for life. One elects to stand on one foot until it be comes impossible for him ever to put the other to the ground. Another determines to raise his arms to heaven, never taking thera down. In a short time, but after excruciating pain, the joints so stiffen as to render any change impossible. Some let their nails grow into their flesh forever. In short, the forms of these penances are innumerable ; and those who undergo them are regarded as holy men and are worshipped and supported by their less reUgious feUows. Kali raust still have her blood, and hun dreds of kids, goats, buffaloes, and other aniraals are sacrificed daily at her shrine. We saw the bloodv -work going forward. Crowds of pilgrims. 136 ROUND THE WORLD. nurabering at least three hundred, during our short stay, came in bands from the country to propitiate the goddess. ,Each one presents an offering as the idol is shown. It is the most disgusting object I have ever seen, and a sight of it would, I am sure,. frighten children into crying. The business is skil fully managed. A small dark hall, capable of holding about twenty-five worshippers, occupies the space before the idol. This is filled with people and the doors closed ; then, araid the raurraurs of priests and beating of gongs, two sliding-doors are drawn aside,. and the horrible she-deraon, with swollen blood-red tongue, comes into view for a moraent only, and the gifts are thrown at her. The crowd is excited by fear and awe, but ere the figure can be closely scru tinized the doors close, and the poor ignorant wretches seem stupefied with what has been re vealed. They pass slowly out, looking as if they had been almost blinded with a glirapse of the for bidden mysteries, and another batch crowds in to be- similarly worked upon. We saw other forms and figures of worship too gross to speak of. Nothing yet seen can be called idolatry when compared with this, and 1 felt like giving up all hope of improve ment in these people ; but then when one sees the extent and character of the superstitions of the East he cannot help having doubts of the advancement or elevation of the species. General Litchfield, United States Consul, fortunately accorapanied us upon this visit, and he knew two of the officiating priests, who spoke English perfectly. These escorted us round and told us about every thing. The history of these two natives is most suggestive. They were edu- ROUND THE WORLD. 137 cated by the government in one of its colleges, and verv soon saw the falsity of their religious tenets, but failing to get suitable employment, they had to return to their family, who owned a share in the Kali Temple, which is still profitable property, and is held by a faraily like any other building. The revenues are now divided araong a hundred priests, and raaintain these and their farailies,, all of whom are of the same faraily. Should another son raarry he becoraes entitled to a certain share, and so on. They carry this iraposture on simply as a matter of business, and laughed at us when we said they knew it was all humbug. If it be true that no religion can long retain vital force after its priests know it to be false, then there is hope for the speedy fall of idol atry in India ; but I fear there will be no lack of men who will, like these hypocrites, continue to preach what they know better than to believe, as long as rich livings are at stake. In one of our drives General Litchfield pointed out the house where Macaulay wrote some of his essays while here laying the foui^dations of the law code which has proved such a boon to India. I see one great tribute paid to this monument of his genius : the codification of the law in England is urged forward by pointing to the indisputable suc cess of the Indian code. There are very few really successful equestrian statues in the world, but Calcutta boasts one of these, Noble's statue of General Outram. The artist has taken a bold departure, and instead of the traditional eagle glance of the hero, the General is represented as just checking his irapetuous steed and casting a 138 ROUND THE WORLD. look behind ; the body turned round, and one hand resting on the horse's flank, while the other reins in the horse ; his head bare, as if in the attack he had outrun his troops, lost his helmet, and was stopping a moraent for thera to overtake hira. I liked this statue rauch, and wished that sorae others of which 1 wot partook of its raerits. We attended the Viceroy's ball on Wednesday evening, and enjoyed the brilliant scene. The uni forms of British officers as well as those of the Civil Service are gorgeous, and set off a ball-roora effect ively. We saw more ladies here than upon all other occasions combined during our travels, and their general appearance was certainly better than else where, showing the climate to be less severe upon thera. Lord Lytton is a sraall raan of unimposing appearance, and entirely destitute of style, but the Commander-in-Chief, General Haines, seems every inch a soldier, as do raany of his subordinate officers. Native princes were forraerly invited to these balls, and their presence, attended by their suites in Ori ental costumes, added much to the brilliancy of the scene, but it was found desirable to discontinue the practice ; they could not partake of European re freshments nor understand the appearance of women in public, and especially their dancing, nor, I fancy, could they look upon dignitaries so engaged with becoming gravity, as they eraploy people to do their dancing. I confess it struck me as bordering upon the farcical to see Lord Lytton, charged with the government of two hundred millions, and General Haines, Coraraander-in-Chief, with an active cara- paign on his hands. Sir Thomas Wade, Her Majesty's ROUND THE WORLD. 139 Arabassador to China, and the Lieutenant-General, all dressed in uniforra, and the two- forraer in knee- breeches, "allot ye olden time," doing "forward four and turn your partner" in the sarae quadrille. Iraagine President Lincoln, Secretaries Seward and Stanton, and General Grant so engaged. Of course we did not fail to visit the faraous ban yan tree of Calcutta, by far the largest in the world. Vandy and I started and paced it around until we met, counting 313 steps, or, say, 300 yards ; the raain trunk is probably about 30 feet in circumference, but frora each main branch roots have descended to the earth and become supporters of these branches, al lowing them to extend still further. In this way a branch raay have in its course three or four sup porters at intervals of 20 or 30 feet ; the leaves are thick, and rauch reserable those of the rubber tree in size and character. We see numerous native barbers engaged in shav ing the people. Victim and operator squat down in a corner on their hunkers, facing each other, and the operation then begins, the utensils being laid out upon a rag on the ground. It seeras the most un natural posture in the world for shaving or hair- dressing, but as it is the custom there must be some advantages in it which we cannot even guess. One morning we drove to the burning ghat, and from personal exaraination of creraation, I ara able to express ray preference for Christian burial. The business of burning the dead — for in India it is a business like any other, and belongs to a caste — is carried on in the most heartless manner. A build ing is erected upon the river-bank, about 100 feet 140 ROUND THE WORLD. in length and 25 feet in width, and open on the side toward the river. The dead are brought there upon stretchers wrapped in a little cloth, and are first shaved by the attendants, who open the raouth and pour down a vial of the water of the sacred Ganges. The body is then bent into a sitting pos ture, carried out to the middle of the building, and wood built around it. We saw the embers of several piles which had just done their work, and one pile blazing through the interstices of which parts of the body were plainly visible. It was all horrible to m^e as conducted here, but I can conceive of the grand funeral piles of the high priests being raade raost impressive ; and so 1 am told they are, but the cre mation of the poor lacks every element of this nature. My heart bled for a poor widow whose husband had just been taken to the pile. She was of a very low caste, but her grief was heart-rending ; not loud, but I thought I could taste the saltness of her tears, they seemed so bitter ; but she has this consolation to corafort her after the outburst, that she insured the eternal happiness of her mate by having his ashes mingle with the sacred river of God. No one will touch or associate with the caste who dress and burn the dead, nor could any one be induced, save one branch of this caste, to furnish the fire which lights the funeral pile, for which soraetiraes large sums are exacted, in case the relatives of the dead are wealthy. The absence of women, other than coolies, which has struck us everywhere in the East, is if any thing even more marked here in India, where, so far, we have scarcely seen one woman of high caste. The -Mohamraedans do not perrait their ladies ever to ROUND THE WORLD. 141 leave the house, and upon rare occasions, when temples must be visited, they are closely concealed from view and driven in a close carriage or carried in a sedan chair. The Hindoos are not quite so strict, and we have seen a few in secluded streets going a few steps, but closely muffled up and with the faces covered. Thursday, February 6. We left Calcutta for the Hindoo Mecca, Benares, to-night, and had our first experience of Indian rail way travel, which proved to be very comfortable. We had all to ourselves a first-class carriage com partment containing two sofas lengthwise of the car and one across ; above these were three upper berths, to be let down, if necessary, and used as beds. A smaller compartment contained dressing-room, etc., tor all of which there is no extra charge. Evidently there is no field here for my enterprising friend Mr. Pullman. Our route lay through the opium-growing district, and the white poppies were just beginning to bloom. I did not know before that only the white variety is grown, but, curiously enough, it is found that the red flower is not nearly so .productive. This set us to thinking that there raay, after aU, be some thing in the Chinaman's preference for a black dog to one of another color. We are in the dry season, and where not irri gated the vast plains of India are parched. The soil is a Ught brown clay, and turns readily to fine dust, which seeras to blow over every thing and make all of one hue. Even the scanty muslin clothing of the people becomes of this dusty color. The houses are 142 ROUND THE WORLD. only mud huts one story high and roofed with coarse straw ; an opening in one side serves as a door, but with this exception the hovel is closed ; neither win dow nor chimney appears, and when fires are raade the smoke escapes through all parts of the roof, and when the roof, is closer than usual, through the door. This dusty, dirty mud-color of soil, streets, houses, dress, and people gives one an irapression of a raore squalid poverty even than that of the over crowded Chinese in Shanghai. These latter have more clothing and no dust, and their dirtiness seems a less objectionable form of dirt. One remarkable difference between these people and the Chinese is that we never see the former eat ing, while the latter eat frequently. I am told that the Indians have but two meals a day — at noon and at eight in the evening, with a bite early in the raorning. As is well known, the Hindoos are strict vegetarians, neither raeat, fish, poultry, nor even eggs being allowed. The result of a vegetable diet, if they are to be taken as a fair exaraple, is not such as to favor its general adoption. The Mohararae dans, on the other hand, eat every thing but pork ; like the Jews, they forbid this one article, and I ara informed that the Mohararaedans are a far sturdier race than their neighbors the Hindoos ; but they should be superior, as the advance from Hindouism, with its numerous gods and idolatrous worship, to Mohamraedanisra, with its one god, is an iraraense one. The clairas which Mohammed has upon the gratitude of mankind rest upon a solid basis, for he it was who proclairaed to the East that there is but one God, and announced himself as his prophet only, ROUND THE WORLD. 1 43 instead of demanding that he himself should be wor shipped as divine ; but he performed another great service, for he abolished the abominable system of caste, and thus it comes that the most popular re Ugion in existence hails all its disciples, from the peasant to the Sultan, as of one brotherhood, as Christianity does with hers. There are nearly fifty miUions of Mohamraedans among the two hundred millions of India's population, and it is to them we must chiefly look for the regeneration of the native races. As we pass through the country we are surprised at the crowds of gayly-dressed natives waiting at the crossings to pass the line, and at the stations to take the trains. All the colors of the rainbow are to be seen in their wraps. It is the season of idleness just now, their two months of rest in the country, and the entire population seera to be running about in holiday attire, forraing a striking contrast to their fellows in the towns, who sit in their hovels hard at work, one crowding another in his seat. Before Eng land established free dispensaries for these masses the rate of mortality must have been something in credible ; even now it is very high, although last year in the double province alone no fewer than eleven hundred thousand patients were treated or prescribed for by these institutions, which we rejoice to see scattered throughout the country wherever we go. Nor in all her iUustrious record do we know a brighter page than that which chronicles the rise and progress of these truly English organizations. Manufactures in India are not profitable at pres ent : during the scarcity of cotton, owing to the 144 ROUND THE WORLD. American war, large quantities were grown here and fortunes made in the business ; eventually cotton mills were built in, Borabay and jute raills in Cal cutta, which prospered for a tirae, but now that America, under the systera of free labor, has deraon- strated her ability to supply cheaper and better cot ton than India, these enterprises languish. 1 counted thirty-eight spinning and weaving companies in Bom bay, and twenty-one cotton-press companies, the shares of which were quoted in the raarket, and found that on an average these -would not coraraand to-day one half of the actual capital paid in. It is rauch the same with the seven Calcutta jute com panies. Cotton, both as to growth and manufacture, in India, I believe has no future, save one contingent upon the interruption of the American supply, of which there does not appear much danger. But it must be borne in mind that the fall in the value of silver so far is a direct gain to native productions. The planter and raanufacturer alike pay in the de based currency and sell the product as far as it is ex ported for gold, upon which they realize a handsome premiura. Araerica needs a continuance of low rates for transportation to counterbalance this ad vantage of her Indian rival. Benares, Saturday, February 8. We started frora our hotel early this raorning to see the Hindoos bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. Benares is to the pious Hindoo all that Mecca is to the good son of the Prophet, and much more besides, and he esteems himself happy if it is vouchsafed hira to die in sight of this streara and this ROUND THE WORLD. 14S city. Pilgrims flock here from all parts of India, and thousands are carried from long distances, while dying, that their eyes raay behold, ere they close, the holy city of God. At the junction yesterday, six miles out, we carae upon our first band of pil grims, for they now patronize the rail freely, men and women, each with the inevitable bundle of rags which serves as their beds en route and as a change of clothing to be blessed by washing in the Ganges. It requires about a raonth to worship at every tem ple and do all that the priests persuade these pil griras to be essential for their salvation, every cere raony, of course, producing revenue for this class. Each Rajah of India has his teraple upon the bank of the river, and it is these handsome structures, situated on the cliff which overhangs the river, that give to Benares its unparalleled beauty. In these temples a priest is maintained who prays constantly and bathes every morning as a substitute for his master, the Rajah, but the latter comes in person also for one month each year to perform the sacred rites. We were fortunate this morning in seeing the Rajah of Nepaul at his devotions. He has a small covered boat of his own, and in front of it, gaz ing upon the sun, we found him on his knees, as we pulled slowly past in our boat, his staff standing be hind hira in reverential attitudes. For one full raonth this intelligent ruler, who speaks EngUsh fluently and is well inforraed of the views Europeans hold of his religious ideas, wiU nevertheless work hard, visiting daily the teraples, going through various exercises, and bathing every raorning in the Ganges. One other Rajah is here, and others are shortly to l46 ROUND THE WORLD. come and do Ukewise. It seeras so strange that these men still remain slaves to such superstitions ; but how few among ourselves succeed in rising be yond what we happen to have been taught in our childhood ! It is very different, I ara told, with those who have received EngUsh ideas in their youth at the government colleges. They make quick work of the Hindoo idols ; but so far every one here agrees with Dr. Field when he says, " It needs very little learning to convince the Hindoo that his sacred books are a mass of fable. But this does not make him a Christian. It only lands hira in infidelity, and leaves hira there." The wife of the Rajah, we heard, had yesterday perforraed the raost sacred of all the cereraonies under conditions of considerable popular exciteraent. The sacred well, the stairs leading frora it to the river, and the bathing place at the river, were all covered in ; the crowd could only see the sedan chair which carried the queen to the well, but the spectacle attracted great num bers. This well is simply a trench about twenty- five feet long and not raore than three feet wide, but it raust be thirty feet below the surface. Broad steps lead to it from all sides. In this well every Hindoo of good caste is permitted to wash, and there are always raany in it. The water is foul and offensive, yet such is its reputed sanctity that no sin can be committed so heinous that it cannot be washed away by it. The cereraony, fortunate ly, is incomplete until one, rising frora its stench, walks to the pure water of the Ganges and bathes there. I think the cereraony raust typify raan be fore purification, foul with sin, and then cleansed ROUND THE WORLD. 147 by bathing in their pure Jordan afterward ; but no one could give me any information upon this point. At all events it was into this sink that the Rajah's wife bravely iraraersed herself yesterday, and it is here, too, the Rajah hiraself raust come before he leaves — poor man ! The place where the dead are burned was pointed out as we drifted past in our boat, but it was then unoccupied. As we returned, however, one body was in the hands of the attendants, who had taken it into the river and were just in the act of pouring the sacred water down the throat preparatory to the final scene. One Avoman alone sat weeping on the shore, and two sraall children at her side seeraed not to understand Avhy. It was still early raorning, and all was quiet. Our guide pointed out some who were evidently friends, in conversation with men on a parapet above. They were bargaining for the sacred fire to light the funeral pile. Governraent prohibits the burning of the forlorn widoAv with her husband's body, as was forraerly the custora, but it is said raany widows wish this privilege even yet, nor can I blarae them rauch. I'm sure I don't see why, beyond the mere instinct of self-preservation, they should have a wish to live on. Those educated people among us who coramit suicide have prospects before them which might be called bUssful corapared with what confronts poor widows in India. We visited the principal temples and shrines in succession, but I do not propose to rehearse their names and special virtues. There is a great same ness about them, but the Monkey Temple differs frora the others in having several hundred monkeys 14S ROUND THE WORLD. running over it in every direction. Like the rest, this is owned by a number of people, and its shares are raarketable property. Dr. Lazarus, the chief of the raedical departraent, teUs us that the "river people," a term embracing those who own the tera ples on the stream — just as w-e would say the " steel rail" or the " pig raetal" people at horae — are very rauch depressed, coraplaining bitterly that the reve nues have fallen away. One owner in the Monkey Teraple, probably the most prosperous of all, had some time ago asked what this trouble meant. He was advised to sell his monkey stock as soon as pos sible, but up to the present day he has found no one willing to invest in the property. One of the high priests of another sacred shrine said to my informant that he had seen in his day three ages^one of gold, one of silver, and now he had reached the age of copper, and was only thankful when he saw a few pieces of that. ' ' The people still come to worship as of old, which costs nothing," he said, " but they don't pay the gods more than a pittance. I wonder what we are coming to ?" While great allowance has to be made for the changed condition of affairs throughout the world, which has seriously affected the revenues of religious establishments everywhere, and which India has had to share, aggravated by the loss of her cotton industry, still it can hardly be doubted that Hindooism as a vital force is crumbling slowly to pieces, and that the priests are losing their sway over the masses. Caste also goes slowly Avith the tide of change, and Brahmins are now occasion ally found taking employment below that of their caste ; and while a high-caste Hindoo some years ago ROUND THE WORLD. 149 would have considered himself defiled if even the garments of a low-caste person touched hira, he now rushes into the same railway compartraent among the general crowd and struggles for a seat with various castes, and says nothing about it. One stand the English Government took, in deference to English ideas as opposed to those of the native, which alone dooms caste, sooner or later, to extinction : it would not perrait different classes on the railways to be es tablished for Hindoos or Mohararaedans, or for castes of the former. Many residents in India feared that this would prevent the natives from using the lines, but the result has wonderfully belied these fears. and vindicated the sagacity of those who ventured to inaugurate this systera ; and now one sees Hin doos and Mohararaedans, high caste and low caste, jostling each other in their efforts to get desirable seats in the third-class corapartraents, where, by the way, they travel for less per raile than anywhere else in the world, third-class fares in India being uni formly one half of a cent per raile. First-class fares, with such sleeping-car luxuries as 1 have before de scribed included, are just about our rates with sleep ing cars not included — viz., three cents per mile. While Hindooism is thus passing away, but little progress is made with Islam. The fifty raillions of Mohararaedans stand to-day where they have stood for ages, and cry from their mosques raorning and night, " There is but one God, and Mohararaed is his prophet." No idols, no drunkenness, no caste. The contrast between their faith and that of Christians is therefore much less raarked, and our guide says to us, with evident pride, " Hindoos believe many 150 ROUND THE WORLD. gods, worship idols. / believe like you, one God, no idols." India is thus in a state of transition, her caste and religion both passing away. The work before this generation and probably the next is to pull down and destroy. It will reraain for those who come after to begin the raore difficult labor of building up. ^Ve raet at Benares strings of water-carriers, car rying brass vessels on each end of a pole borne over the shoulder. These corae here for hundreds of railes on foot, and take back to their customers in the country the sacred water of the blessed river. ,lt is a regular business, and furnishes employment for thousands of men. Upon no account raust this water be carried by railway and deprived of its healing powers by being handled by unbelievers. It must come on foot, carried by Hindoos of the proper caste, or it has no virtue. •Benares has been famous for centuries for its manufacture of gold and silver embroideries. I remember that Macaulay speaks of them in his essay on Warren Hastings as decorating alike the court of Versailles and the halls of St. Jaraes. We went to the native village and saw the work carried on. How such exquisite fabrics corae from the antiquated looms situated in mud hovels it is hard to under stand, but they do. We saw one raan who had no less than thirty-three different tiny spools to work frora in a piece not more than a yard wide. All of these he had in turn to introduce in the web, and pass through a greater or lesser nuraber of threads, the one starting in where the other left the woof, before one single thread was complete frora end to ROUND THE WORLD. 151 end of the warp and could be driven into the pat tern. These people also excel as workers in brass. To-day we had a unique experience indeed, being carried through the principal streets of Benares on State elephants, kindly provided for us by the Rajah of Benares at the kind instance of Dr. Lazarus. Mr. Hyde, of New York, Avhom Ave have raet on his way round the world, and Vandy and 1 were the riders. AVe were driven to the palace, and found there two huge aniraals, gayly caparisoned, awaiting our arriA-al, surrounded by servants in resplendent liA-ery. The elephants A-ery kindly got upon their knees, and rendered a short ladder only necessary for us to mount by. The raotion is decidedly pecu liar, and, until one becoraes used to it, I should think very fatiguing ; but Ave enjoyed our elephant ride greatly, and the Rajah has our hearty thanks. We are in the land of the cheapest labor in the world. It is doubtful if men can be found anywhere else to do a days work for as little as they are paid in India. Railway laborers and coolies of all kinds receive only four rupees per raonth, and find them selves ; these are worth just now 40 cents each, or, say. Si. 60 in gold for a raonth's service. Upon this a raan has to exist. Is it any wonder that the raasses here are constantly upon the verge of starvation? Woraen get somewhat less, and of course very raem ber of a family has to work and earn something. The coraraon food is a pulse called gran ; the better classes indulge in a pea called daahl. Any thing be yond a vegetable diet is not dreamed of. Before leaving Benares I must speak again of the scene at the river, which far excels any representa- 152 ROUND THE WORLD. tion 1 have seen of it or any description I have read. Photographs cannot be raade to convey a just idea of its picturesque beauty, because the view is enliv ened by such raasses and corabinations of color as Turner alone could do justice to. Indeed, my first thought as I saw the thousands on the ascending banks — one tier of resting-places above another, cul minating in the grand temples towering at the tops — was that I had seen something akin to this in a dazzling picture someAvhere. Need I say that it is in the Turner Gallery alone where such color can be seen ? He should have painted the " Hindoo Bathers at Benares," and given the world one raore gem re vealing what he alone, in his generation, fully saw in the mind's eye, " the light which never shone on sea or shore." We have voted this scene at Benares the finest sight we have yet witnessed. Lucknow, Tuesday, February 11. We reached Lucknow at night. The moon was not yet shining, but the stars shed their peaceful halo around this spot, to which the eyes of the civilized world were so long directed during the dark days of the mutiny. At the hotel upon arrival a lady's voice was heard singing the universal refrain which nearest touches all English hearts in India and ex presses the ever dominant longing, " Horae, SAveet, Sweet Home." There is no trace here of the massacres which have made this region meraorable. But is the past to be repeated ? Who can assure us that these bronzed figures which surround us by raillions raay not again in sorae raad raoraent catch the fever of revolt ? ROUND THE WORLD. 153 This is the anxious question which I find intruding itself upon me every hour. Truly it is a dangerous garae, this, to undertake the permanent subjection of a conquered race ; and I do not believe that after General Grant sees India he Avill regret that the foolish Santo Doraingo craze passed away. If Amer ica can learn one lesson frora England, it is the folly of conquest, where conquest involves the govern raent of an alien race. Our first visit was to the ruins of the Residency, where for six long raonths Sir Henry Lawrence and his devoted band were shut up and surrounded by fifty thousand arraed rebels. The grounds, which I should say are about thirty acres in extent, were for tunately encorapassed by an earthen rampart six feet in height. You need not ^be told of the heroic re sistance of the two regiments of British soldiers and one of natiA-es, nor of the faraous rescue. Hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and month after month, the three hundred women and children, shut in a cellar under ground, watched and prayed for the sound of Havelock's bugles, but it came not. Hope, wearied out at last, had almost given place to despair. Through the day the attacks of the infuri ated mob could be seen and repelled, but who was to answer that when darkness fell the wall was not to be pierced at some weak point of the extended line ? One officer in comraand of a critical point failing — not to do his duty, there was never a fear of that — but faiUhg to judge correctly of what the occasion deraanded, and the struggle was over. Death was the last of the fears of these poor woraen night after night as the days rolled slowly away. One night 154 ROUND THE WORLD. there was graver silence than usual in the room ; all were despondent, and lay resigned to their seemingly irapending fate. No rescue carae, nor any tidings of relief. In the darkness one piercing screara was heard from the narrow window. A Highland nurse had clambered up to gaze through the bars and strain her ears once raore. The cooling breeze of night blew in her face and wafted such rausic as she could not stay to hear. One spring to the ground, a clap ping of hands above the head, and such a shriek as appalled her sisters who clustered round ; but all she could say between the sobs was " The slogan ¦ — the slogan !" But few knew what the slogan was. " Didna ye hear — didna ye hear?" cried the de mented girl, and then Ustening one moment, that she might not be deceived, she muttered, " It's the Macgregors gathering, the grandest o' them a'," and fell senseless to the ground. Truly, ray lassie, the "grandest o' thera a'," for never carae such strains before to raortal ears. And so Jessie of Lucknow takes her place in history as one of the finest themes for painter, dramatist, poet, or histo rian henceforth and forever. I have been hesitating whether the next paragraph in my note-book should go down here or be omitted. Probably it would be in better taste if quietly ignored, but then it would be so finely natural if put in. Weil, I shall be natural or nothing, and recount that I could not help rejoic ing that Jessie Avas Scotch, and that Scotchraen first broke the rebels' lines and reached the fort, and that the bagpipes led the way. That's all. I feel better now that this is also set down. Lucknow, so rich in historical associations, is ROUND THE WORLD. 155 poverty itself in genuine architectural attractions, magnificent as it appears at a distance. It is a mod ern capital. About three centuries ago a king of Oude, in a moment of caprice, I suppose, deterrained to remove his capital from Fyzabad to Lucknow. Palaces on a great scale were hastily erected of com mon bricks and covered Avith white plaster. These look very fine at a distance, but closer inspection reveals the sham, and one is provoked because his admiration has been unworthily excited. Seven suc cessive kings followed and carried on this imposture, each building his palace and tomb in this untruthful way. What could we expect from kings content to Ue in such tombs but lives of disgusting dissipation ? A siraple raarble slab were surely better than these pretentious lies : any thing so it be genuine. Hoav- ever, retribution carae, and the dynasty is extinct, the present king living as a prisoner in Calcutta. The bazaars of Lucknow are well worth seeing, Avith their native jewelers, brass-workers, and other artificers, working in spaces not raore than six feet square. We begin to see persons and modes which remind us of scriptural expressions — the water-car rier with the goat-skin filled, " the hewers of wood and drawers of water," the latter usually working in gangs of five. An earthen incline is built, leading up to the top of the wall which surrounds the well ; the well-rope passes over the shoulders of the drawers, and in raarching doAvn the incline they raise the bucket. We carae to-day upon a lot of woraen grinding the coarse daahl. Two work at each raill, sitting opposite one another, pushing around the upper stone by raeans of upright handles fastened T56 ROUND THE WORLD. into it. " And two women shall be grinding at the mill, and one shall be taken and the other left," saith the Scriptures of old, but our coming revised and corrected edition — I could not help hoping to-day, as I saw this picture for the first time — will note an error, or at least intimate a doubt of the correct translation of this passage ; or, if not, the age may require some commentator " raore powerful than the rest' ' to console us with the hope that while at the first call one was indeed left, there would be a sec ond, yea, and a third, a seventh, and a seventy tiraes seventh call, in one of which even she would par ticipate. We have been this afternoon araong the tombs of heroes — Lawrence and Havelock, Banks and Mc Neil, Hodson and Arthur — men who fell in the days of the mutiny. Lawrence's torab is raost touching from its simplicity — a short record, no eulogy, only " Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his duty." " 1 have tried to do my duty," he said as he breathed his last, and this is all his tomb has to say of him ; but isn't it enough ? One day in our drive we came upon our first ele phant and our first carael carap, hundreds of the lat ter and nearlv two hundred of the forraer being at tached to the transportation departraent of the array. They are said to perform work which could never be done by other animals in this climate. Bullocks are the third class used as carriers : these are taught to trot, and do trot well. I remeraber one day in Ceylon one of thera in a hackery gave us in the raail coach quite a spirited race for a short distance, but it was only to-day that 1 learned that camels are also ROUND THE WORLD. 157 so trained and used as mail or despatch bearers where speed is necessary, and the gait of a really good trained carael is said to be quite easy. If de velopment goes forward in this line, our posterity may be using the carael in trotting matches with the horse. He would possess the advantage over that favorite animal which the Chinaman has over the European ; he could go longer between drinks, and that counts for rauch. The quarters for troops at Lucknow are models ; the officers' quarters are surrounded and in some cases alraost erabowered by vines and flowers ; lawn tennis courts, cricket grounds, ball courts, and a gymnasium are provided for the private soldiers, and are finer than we have seen elsewhere, and serve to make Lucknow, with its beautiful gardens and long shady avenues, the one really pretty spot we have seen in India. Wednesday, February 12. We are on our way to Agra, and expect to arrive in time to drive out and see the Taj by moonlight. I have been reading more carefully than before some descriptions of it, and keep wondering whether this gem of the world is to prove a disappointraent or not. Most things which have been heralded like the Taj fail to fulfil expectations at first, and how can stone and lime be so formed as to justify such ful some praises as have been bestowed upon this tomb ? One writer, tor instance, exclaims, " There is no mystery, no sense of partial failure about the Taj. A thing of perfect beauty and of absolute finish in every detail, it might pass for the work of genii, who IS8 ROUND THE WORLD. knew nought of the weakness and iUs Avith Avhich mankind were afflicted." The exact and prosaic Bernier had to express doubts whether " I may not be somewhat infected with ' Indianisme,' but I must needs say I believe it ought to be reckoned amongst the wonders of the world. ' ' Bayard Taylor exhausts eulogy upon the Pearl Mosque, calling it " a sanc tuary so pure and stainless, revealing, so exalted a spirit of worship, that I felt humbled as a Christian that our noble religion had never inspired its architects to surpass this temple to God and Mo hammed ;" but when he comes to the Taj itself he is lost in rapture. There is nothing, however, Avhich the critics — those men who have failed in literature and art — will not venture to attack, and I thought it advisable to tone down my expectations by taking a dose of carping criticism. Unfortunately for me, however, when I had got fairly in with a writer who assures me "the design is weak and feeble," the " shadows are much too thin," this raisleader left rae in a worse condition than ever, for succumbing at last to the sweet overpowering charms of the struc ture as a whole, and apparently asharaed of hiraself for ever having dared to say one word against its perfections, he adds — just after he had bravely done the " design" and the " shadows"^" but the Taj is Uke a lovely woraan : abuse her as you please, the moraent you come into her presence you submit to her fascinations." Pretty criticism this for one who wishes the faults of this* beauty clearly set forth. I put this lover of the Taj aside at once and try another writer, who does indeed give me a page of preventive, well suited to one in my condi- ROUND THE WORLD iSy tion, but upon turning over the page he too falls sadly away, for here is his last line : " The rare genius of the. calm building finds its way unchallenged to the heart." Well, then, gentleraen, if all this be so, what's the use of your petty criticisra ? If this raarvel, before whose spell all raen, even you your selves, must bow, has a " rigidity of outline," an " air of littleness and luxury," a " poverty of relief," and if "the inlaid work has been vulgarly employed," and the patterns are " meagre in the extreme," wasn't it the highest aim that its builder could prob ably have had in view, to entrance the world and giA-e to it a thing of beauty which is indeed a joy forever ? and doesn't the Taj do this so far beyond all other human structures that no one thinks of nam ing another in coraparison ? And should not this incontrovertible fact teach you a lesson — just a little bit of modesty ? No, gentleraen ; it isn't the Taj that raust be changed, either in its outline or shad ows, to conform to your canons of criticism, but your canons of art that raust be changed to embrace the Taj, or rather to set it apart as a stroke of origi nal genius, and consequently above and beyond the doraain of criticisra ; for criticism, like science, works solidly only upon what is absolutely known, formulating its fixed decrees upon the past. All great geniuses have encountered the critics of their day. How Shakespeare violated the unities ! and didn't Napoleon win battles which he should have lost ? Let these people then be silent, and know that when a transcendent exhibition of original genius wins success beyond the reach of raeasureraent by their plurab and Une and square and corapass, the l6o ROUND THE WORLD. higher la->v governing the seeraing rairacle will be duly revealed : and the Taj is just such a rairacle, frora all I can learn of its power. The evidences of the intense sumraer heat are seen everywhere. The railway carriages have false tops, leaving an air space of a foot between the roof and the cover. Awnings cover the windows out side, and there are posted up directions for the use of the cooling apparatus applied to each first-class corapartment ; the frames for punkas are seen in the railway waiting-rooms, and we notice in the array regulations that during the hot season soldiers are required to stay indoors between the hours of eleven and three. We are told of revolving fans being used to cool rooms, and that it is very common to fill doors and Avindows with thick mats of scented grass which are kept constantly wet ; the wind, pass ing through these, is cooled to about ninety degrees, and large banana leaves furnish a cool bed in extreine cases, frora all of which, " Good Lord, deliver us !" We thank our stars every day that we are doing India when the heat, though great at raidday, is not unbearable. We are five hundred and fifty railes north of Calcutta, and find the teraperature rauch cooler. The people look stronger, and necessarily wear raore clothing, which means that another piece of coarse bagging is wrapped around their shoulders. We are at the best hotel in .Agra, and I notice as re markable, in the printed list of prices, that a man to pull the punka in one's bedroom all night can be ob tained for the sum of three annas, or six cents in sil v er. Washing costs tAvo cents per piece, but while these strike us as cheap, the. next item tells us that each ROUND THE WORLD. i6i guest during the hot season is chargeable with tAventy cents per day for ice used at table, etc. It is very sparingly used, but yet the little bit of ice you see costs as rauch as the labor of three raen all night. All the employees of the raihvays in India are re quired to join the volunteer forces, and to drill under the supervision of regular army officers, appointed by the governraent for this purpose. An excellent auxiliary force numbering raany thousands is thus secured at trifling expense. One significant an nouncement posted at stations attracted ray atten tion, and gave rae an insight into one department in which India is in advance of us. This placard set forth that certain employees having been found under the influence of liquor Avhile on duty, the district court had sentenced them to six months' iraprison raent. This betokens a decided step forward, I take it, and one which it would be advisable for us to follow. 1 haA-e been adrairing all through India three raagnificent vines, now in full bloora. One, the Be gonia, reserables our honeysuckle, but the fiower is larger and hangs in large clusters ; the second, called the Bouganviella, is purple in color, and Uke our morning-glory : and the two are often seen cUmbing together up taU trees almost to their very tops, and covering them with a mass of flo-wers. The third favorite is a leaf of rich raagenta color (Poinsetta). These three are the special glories of India. Sorae of our own flowers do tolerably weU in this region, and the inherent love of the EngUsh for flowers and plants is seen in the nuraerous pretty plots and gar dens. 1 62 ROUND THE WORLD. Life in India is only rendered tolerable by the op portunity people have to enjoy things which would be beyond their reach at horae without fortunes. All residences have grounds connected with thera, raore or less extensive, and laid out in fine gardens. Lawn tennis and croquet grounds are the rule. Horses and carriages, or at least a vehicle of some kind, are indispensable, and no one who strolls around the European quarters in early raorning and sees the large staff of servants lounging about the spacious verandas, awaiting the call of " Sahib" or " Mera Sahiba, ' ' can be at a loss to account for the disap pointraent often experienced by those who, after years of longing, at last go home to enjoy themselves in their fancied Elysium. Alas ! ten times the sura that supports them here in style would not suffice in England. Here Sahib awakes and drawls out, " Qui hi" (you of my people who are in waiting). There is a stir among several servants Avho have lain the whole night long at his door, to be in readiness, and the moaning reply comes, " S-a-h-i-b," and he is surrounded by those who rainister to his slightest wish all day, leaving him again at night only to re peat the performance on the morrow. When he drives his gig to town one servant stands at his back to wait upon him, and Madame appears in the after noon upon the Mall in her grand equipage, two on the box and two standing behind, as if she were a duchess. As a European walks the streets he is salaamed by every native he chances to look at. He raoves about, one of a superior race and rank. As he approaches a crowd, to look at a passing sight, a clear lane is made for hira ; and if he steps into the ROUND THE WORLD. 163 post-office to ask for letters, the natives instinctively fall back until Sahib is served. All this spoils a raan for residence at home, Avhere " one man is as good as another and a good good deal better, ' ' unless a tremendous fortune is at one's back to purchase precedence, Avhich noAvadays is scarcely obtainable at any price : and so it falls out that many who have prayed for long years for the day to come for their return to England, find the coveted change but Dead Sea fruit Avhen it is gained at last. A fcAv even re turn to the land they had so long prayed to be al lowed to leave, and take up their final abode among the hills. For these people I cannot help feeling deeply sorry. It is impossible that their lives can be full and rich to overflowing here. A tone of sadness, of A-ain regret, must pervade the mind. The prize so ardently struggled for has been found unsatisfactory, and at best their lives must draAv to a close, tinged by a sense of partial failure. One morning we drove to the jail, one of the sights of India, and were fortunate in meeting the Inspector-General, Mr. Walker, an authority on all raatters relating to prison discipline, and Dr. Tyler, the Chief for Agra. These officials kindly conducted us through the vast estabUshment. The prison labor is not, as generally with us, contracted out — a vicious plan, -which necessitates the intercourse of out siders with the criminals, and invariably leads to bad results. Here the prisoners deal with none but their keepers ; but what pleased rae most was the admirable system of rewards and promotions for good conduct which has been estabUshed. Marks are given and worn upon the clothes, which shorten 1 64 ROUND THE WORLD. one's sentence from one day up to several, and it is possible for a prisoner in this way to acquire marks enough to take as much as one tenth from his ira prisonraent. The best behaved of all can rise to the position of wardens. Several hundreds have reached this prize, and are distinguished by better clothing, and also by ornamental badges. These wardens are placed over the other malefactors, and there is no difficulty experienced in enforcing the strictest dis cipline through them. Foremen of shops and of the various departments are all appointed frora araong the prisoners themselves, and, with the exception ot one in charge of the complicated raachinery, there are no others eraployed in such capacities. The armed guards are, however, not of this class. In ordinary years the cost of maintenance per person is one rupee a month (40 cents gold) ; clothing, 75 cents a year, including cost of supervision and all expenses of the jail department ; prisoners in India thus cost only about $14 per year each. This prison maintains itself by the labor of its inmates, and last year showed an actual profit of about $40,000. Twenty-three hundred prisoners were confined within its walls when we were there. The total number of inmates of the jail in this and the Northwest Province is just now 39,000 ; but last year, owing to the famine, the number rose to 42,000. This seeras a great nuraber, but I am informed that, taking the population into account, it is not quite up to the average in England. We saw the prisoners working the celebrated Agra jail carpets and rugs, for Avhich there is such demand that orders given to-day cannot be filled for many raonths. A new building has just been erected and ROUND THE WORLD. 165. filled Avith looras to increase the supply. Native dves and raaterials alone are used, and one can thus rest assured that a carpet obtained here is genuine throughout. France takes the finest qualities, and Ave saw some so fine that the day's task of men sit ting as close as they could the entire width of the web was onh- one inch per day. These carpets, which are really works of art, cost here $10 gold per square yard, and certainly not less than double that when retailed in Paris. Of the inmates about one hundred were women, their special crime being that of child- stealing, which is very common in India, the orna ments worn by the little ones being a strong tempta tion. We saAv two young lads sentenced for life for this crirae. They had stolen and robbed a child, and afterward thrown the body into a Avell. We left Messrs. Walker and Tyler, strongly irabued with the feeling that we had seen the raodel prison of the world in Agra jail. Among the attractions of Agra are the palaces and tombs of the Great Moguls, and we have been busy visiting thera day after day. This was the capital during the most briUiant period of that ex traordinary family's reign. The founder, Baber, lies buried at Cabool, which was the chief place before the invaders penetrated farther south. Six of these Moguls reigned, and no dynasty in history has six consecutive names of equal power to boast. Heredi tary genius has a strong support in the careers of these illustrious men ; besides this, Baber was a Uneal descendant of Tamerlane himself, on his father's. , side, and of a scarcely less able Tartar leader on his mother's side. So much for blood 1 66 ROUND THE WORLD. The greatest of the six was Akbar, who proved to be that rare combination — soldier and statesman in one. He, Mohararaedan by birth, dared to marry a Hindoo princess as an example for his people to follow, but which, unfortunately, they have failed to do. It is strange to remeraber that the Moguls were seated on their thrones only three hundred years ago, Akbar being conteraporaneous with Henry Vlll., and ruling India when Shakespeare was still on earth. I ara not going to particularize what is to be seen in Agra, having no notion of writing a guide-book or of filling notes with long passages frora such sources, as I see many writers have done ; but I raust speak of three or four structures which have pleased me most. The " Fort" is a raost irapressive pile of masonry, a Warwick Castle upon a large scale, the ramparts being one and a quarter railes in circuraference. This was iVkbar's principal palace, or rather series of palaces, for it embraces the Pearl Mosque, Public Audience Hall, and Jessamine Tower, all of which are within its walls. The torab of her father, built by that rare woraan, Nur Jehan, she who sleeps in the Taj, is a marble structure of exquisite proportions, and quite unlike others because of the great number and extent of the perforated screens of marble of which it is principally composed. Up to the tirae we had seen this I think I liked it the best of any ; but then Nur Jehan had built it for her father, and I was predis posed to like this proof of her filial devotion. There is one romantic and perfect love story con- ¦ROUND THE WORLD. 167 cerning her in the annals of the Moguls. Akbar's son, the future ruler, fell desperately in love Avith a young lady, but for reasons of state she was not ehgible. and the emperor quietly provided a husband for her in the person of one his generals. The young heir only knew that she was raarried and he condemned to take to Avife the Avoman provided for him. Tavo years after he had become emperor the husband of his first love died, and although she was then a middle-aged woraan, he, the emperor, sought her out and not only married her (she could have been his slave), but raised her to the throne with him self, stamping her iraage Avith his own upon the coin of the realra. Such an unbounded influence did this capable and high-spirited woraan acquire over not only her devoted husband but the circle of the court, that she became the constant adviser in all important affairs ; and that she might not be less thoroughly feminine, I ara glad to see it recorded that she intro duced iraproved raodes of dress and raanners araong her ladies. The eraperor told his priests one day that until he had married this paragon he had not knoAvn Avhat raarriage meant. But her grandest achievement is yet to be told. The emperor had previously been dissolute, probably from his first pure dreara of love having been so cruelly dispelled — whoknoAvs ?— but Nur Jehan lifted hira into higher regions, and made hira a better man. She loved hira fervently, and, on more than one occasion, when the emperor was attacked, she imperilled her own life to save hira. As they greAV old they becarae more and more to each other, and at her death Avas it any wonder the eraperor ordered that a tomb 1 68 ROUND THE WORLD. should rise excelling all previous torabs as rauch, if possible, as Nur Jehan excelled all other woraen ? This tomb, the Taj Mabal (Diadem Tomb), is said to have cost raore than two raillions sterling, which is equal to an expenditure of fifty raillions of dollars with us to-day. Truly a costly raonuraent, you say. No doubt, but if it has given to mankind one proof that the loftiest ideal can be wrought out and real ized in practice, the Taj would be cheap even if its erection had emptied the Comstock lode ; and there are men — wise men too — who affirra that it performs this rairacle and inspires thera with the pleasing hope that in the far ages yet to corae the real and the ideal may grow closer together. The emperor built no tomb for himself, as was customary, but as the kind fates decreed, he was placed side by side with her Avho had been to him so much, and they rest to gether, under the noblest canopy ever made by hu man hands. Taking into account the degraded posi tion accorded to Avomen, and reraerabering to what Nur Jehan raised herself, I think she raust be allowed to rank as the greatest Avoman who ever reigned. Akbar's Tomb amazes you by its gigantic size. Compared with this all other tombs giA'e way, for it completely dwarfs them all. The amount of inlaid work, composed of jasper, carnelian, and other pre cious stones, seen at every step, inclines one to be lieve that it cost the fabulous sum stated. It should be remembered that it was the custom among the monarchs always to erect a palace during their lives in which great cereraonies took place while they lived, and which became their tomb at their death. It was in this way that so many splendid structures ROUND THE WORLD. 169 were built. Akbar did not live to see this vast build ing corapleted, but his son carried on the work. The stern simplicity of Akbar's tomb, which is in the centre of the building and underground, pleased me. It is a plain solid block of marble, without one word upon it, or mark of any kind ; as if it Avould say to all time. What need to tell the world that the great Akbar lies here ? Speaking generally, the palaces and tombs" of Agra are far finer than I had imagined them to be, and the relief experienced in getting away from the plaster shams of Lucknow — cheap magnificence, to genuine grandeur at Agra — can be easily iraagined. Our train having been delayed in reaching Agra, we had arrived too late to visit the Taj by raoon light ; and, in deference to the strong reraonstrance of every one we have met here, we have not yet attempted to see the wonder. " Oh ! don't think, please don't think of seeing the Taj until the very last, because, if you do, every thing else will seem so insignificant and so coarse," has been in substance the exclamation of every friend. But now we are through with all else, and we start, two o'clock p.m., February 14th, 1879. Vandy has just come to an nounce that our carriage is ready. Good-by. Am I to be disappointed ? Of course I am. I have made up ray raind to that, and having just had tiffin, and drank a whole pint of bitter beer, I feel myself •quite competent to criticise the Taj with the best of them, and especially well fitted just now to stand no nonsense. We met an Araerican who was travelling .as a' raatter of duty, and had found, as far as travel was concerned, I suspect, that he belonged to the 17° ROUND THE WORLD. class represented by the grumbler in paradise, whose " halo didn't fit his head exactly." He had found nothing in India, he said, but a lot of rubbish, but checked himself at once, " except the Taj. Now that building — thatis — perfectly satisfactory," as if he had ordered a suit of clothes from his tailor and found nothing to find fault with. On the other hand, 1 have just come across a statement, " that stern raen, overpowered by the sight of it, have been known to burst into tears." It is this miracle of in animate matter we are no'w to see. But here coraes Vandy again. " Corae on, Andy ; everybody wait ing." I'm off — particulars in our next. Friday Night, February 14. '~ We have seen it, but I am without the slightest desire to burst into rapturous adjectives. Do not expect me to attempt a description of it, or to try to express my feelings. There are some subjects too sacred for analysis, or even for words, and 1 now know that there is a human structure so exquisitely fine, or unearthly, as to lift it into this holy domain. Let me say Uttle about it ; only tell you that, linger ing until the sun went down, we turned in the noble gateway which forms a frame through which you see the Taj in the distance, with only the blue sky in the background, around and above it, and there took our last fond sad farewell, as the shades of night were wrapping the lovely jewel in their erabrace, as if it were a charge too sweetly precious not to be safely enveloped in its black raantle, till it could again shine forth at the dawn in all its beauty to adorn the earth. Full in its face we gazed. How ROUND THE WORLD. 1 71 kindly it seemed to look upon us ! and as one parts for the last time frora one Avhose eye glistens at his glance, we turned never to look upon the Taj again, hiding our eyes as the carriage rolled aAvay, lest by any raiscbance a partial view should intrude to mar the perfect image our mind has grasped to tarry Avith us forever. We had been so deliciously sad, and at the same time so thrillingly but yet so sol emnly happy for hours, and noAv carae pain alone, the inevitable finale to all our joys on ¦ earth — the parting forever. But till the day 1 die, araid raoun tain streams or raoonlight strolls in the forest, wherever and whenever the mood comes, when all that is raost sacred, raost elevated, and most pure recur to shed their radiance upon the tranquil mind, there will be found among ray treasures the raeraory of that lovely charm — the Taj. We had engaged to meet some friends at the club as we drove homeward, but was it any wonder that neither of us remerabered this until the stoppage of the carriage at our hotel awoke us from our reveries ! What was to be done? Vandy's reply expressed our condition exactly. " Go out to enjoy myself when I feel that I want to go and put on mourning ! I couldn't do it." And we didn't. Our friends will please accept this intimation. Sunday, February 16. Delhi at last — the Rome of Asia. This became the capital of some of the Moguls, because the sura raer heats of Agra were found to be insupportable. But it had before been the principal seat of the Pathans. Akbar established his capital in Agra, 140 172 ROUND THE WORLD. miles south, and therefore farther into India, but his son returned to Delhi. There are ruins of palaces and forts here dating to one hundred years before Christ, and for eighteen hundred years we have the ruins of the structures of the kings of Delhi and their raost noted subordinates, comprising prime rainis ters, favorite slaves, barbers, architects, etc. For eleven miles along the Iraperial Way, on both sides, these ruins stretch, ending in the Kuttub Minar, the glory of Delhi, as the Taj is of Agra. This is a tower standing alone 230 feet in height, fifty feet in diaraeter at the base, and tapering to nine feet at the top. But pictures and photographs have made you familiar Avith this "superb monument of the Moguls, It and the tomb of Humayun, father of the great Akbar, alone reraain vividly impressed upon ray raemory. A ruin now and then is acceptable, but eleven miles of them in one or two days are rather embarrassing, and it is irapossible to exaraine them in detail and retain interest in the work. It seems to me the entire population must have been oppressed to the last degree, and every surplus penny secured in some way to be expended in the erection and raaintenance of these palaces, and for the support of the classes who occupied thera. One raost important department of government in the manageraent of a conquered race is that of its police and intelligence bureau, and this is admirably adrainistered in India. A special departraent was organized years ago, and officers of the array special ly gifted placed at its head. To the present chief. Major Henderson, whose face we see in all the pho tographs of the Prince of Wales's party, we are ROUND THE WORLD. 173 deeply indebted for Indian items. This department has succeeded in almost stamping out Thuggism. It is very seldom that murders are uoav comraitted by these religious fanatics. You know their god de raanded blood, but he Avas fastidious ; nothing but huraan blood would meet his tastes, and so his devo tees strangled and Avaylaid and shot the victims marked out for sacrifice. Some Thugs confessed to betAveen seventy and eighty murders, and one to the incredible number of one hundred and ninety-two (what saints they Avould make !). Now the organi zation exerts itself only for plunder. The Major's department has on its records the names and descrip tions of more than four thousand of these people, and also of nearly nine thousand professional gang robbers. Murder has been done when the booty did not exceed six cents. But the systematic hunt ing down of these, dangerous classes is fast ridding India of this curse. The fort at Delhi resembles that of Agra in its general features, but is faraous as having been the receptacle of the Peacock Throne, which was valued by a French jeweler at not less than six rfiillions sterling, say thirty millions of dollars. On such a precious pedestal as this the Moguls sat and ruled this land. The throne was plundered of its jewels by the Persians, but its frarae is still shown in the local museura. The fort remains in an unusually good state of preservation, making it by far the most satisfactory specimen of the gorgeous residences of the Moguls that we have seen. The walls are of marble, inlaid in the interior with genuine precious stones of various colors worked into the forms of 174 ROUND THE WORLD. vines and flowers for a height of about six feet. The floors are similarly decorated. The upper portions of the -walls have the same patterns, but these are painted, not inlaid. Every part is gilded in the raost elaborate raanner, and, in short, one could fancy hiraself wandering through the resplendent wonders of the Arabian Nights here alone of all places that I have seen. Of course we did not neglect the many places rendered historical by the mutiny. These are seen upon every side in this district, but none was more interesting to me than the Cashmere Gate. The rebels held the fort, and it was determined to assault it. Here is the record of the men who volunteered to lay the train to the Gate : " Salkfied laid his bags, but was shot through the arm and leg, and fell back on the bridge, handing the portfire to Sergeant Burgess, bidding him light the fuse. Burgess was instantly shot dead in the attempt. Sergeant Carmichael then advanced, took up the portfire, and succeeded in the attempt, but immediately fell mortally wounded. Sergeant Smith, seeing him fall, advanced at a run, but finding that the fuse was already burning, threw himself into the ditch." The age of miracles is admittedly past, but it is certain that the age of heroes existed in 1857. The finest raosque in Delhi, and one of the finest in the world, is the Juraraa Musjid. We happened to Adsit it just as the priests were calling the faithful to prayer, which they do by ascending to the foot of the rainarets and turning toward Mecca and there chanting the call. Nuraerous worshippers carae, and ROUND THE WORLD. 175 having washed in the pool, went to the Mosque and began their Avorship on their knees. Our guide was a Mohararaedan, and I asked hira what a good raan is required to do daily in the way of external wor ship. Here is the programme as he gave it to me : Five times each day he washes hands and feet and prays ; first in the raorning when he rises, then at i, 4, after sunset, and before he goes to bed, repeating the prayer to Allah and sorae words from the Ko ran, and touching the ground Avith his forehead no less than thirty-eight times during the day. This must be done every day, Saturday and Sunday alike. The prayers are simple exclamations reciting the greatness of God and the insignificance of his ser vants, and ask for nothing. Saugor, Great Peninsular Railway, February ig. We are now en route to Bombay from Delhi, a distance of about thirteen hundred railes. We have been two nights in our sleeping-car, and shall spend the night on the line and reach Bombay in the morning. General Grant just passed us going to ward Calcutta, but there was no chance for us to get at him to shake hands in India. This is the Pacific Railway of India, connecting Calcutta and all the eastern portion with the western coast, upon which Bombay is situated. The tirae between Cal cutta and England has been shortened almost a whole week by its construction. The railways of India, of which there are at present about nine thousand miles in operation, Avere principally constructed under a guarantee of five per cent by the Indian Govern raent, and sorae of them yield more than that al- 176 ROUND THE WORLD. ready. In a short tirae there will be none that Avill reraain a charge upon the revenues. The govern raent retained the right, at interA'als of twenty or twenty-five years, to acquire possession and owner ship of these lines upon certain terras, and at no dis tant day will enjoy large revenues frora its railway property. If the days of guarantees and subsidies be not hopelessly gone with us, here is an idea worth considering by our governraent. Fancy what the ownership of the Union and Central Pacific lines would mean as a recompense for the araounts ad vanced. The government has established several raodel farras in different provinces; with a view to test articles thought suitable for cultivation in India, and to diffuse araong the natives iraproved plans of agriculture. Such farras under able scien tific manageraent must eventually bring to the country Avhat it is best calculated to produce. The success attendant upon the growth of a substitute for cinchona is significant. India must have quinine in large quantities as a preventiA^e of malaria. Ex periraents prove that while the genuine article does not thrive here, a kindred species, possessing nearly the sarae properties, although to a less degree, will groAV well. This has been cultivated in large quan tities, and I notice that the raedical chief orders it to be used in all dispensaries where quinine has hitherto been required, although the raedical officers are perraitted in extrerae cases to order the dearer drug. We are now traversing a level plain, and as this region was blessed with rain in season, it seeras rauch more fertile than sorae other portions of the ROUND THE WORLD. \11 country ; but the poorest harvests 1 ever saw in any part of favored America Avould be rated as abundant here. We have seen everywhere herds of buffaloes, bullocks, and sheep grazing in fields which seeraed to us entirely destitute of every thing ; not a green leaf of any kind to be seen, and we could not under stand how animals could even get a raouthful of food in the brown parched lands. But 1 ara told they do nibble aAvay at the short stalks and roots of corn or sugar-cane left in the ground when the crop was cut, and in this way raanage to eke out a scanty existence. They are little but skin and bone at best. When it is raerely a question of keeping life in the body, raan and beast alike prove that it requires but little. Bombay, Thursday, February 20. We reached this city on tirae this morning, feel ing not in the least fatigued by our three nights in the train. In the evening we were fortunate enough to stroll doAvn to the pier, where the band was play ing. Nowhere have Ave seen so varied a concourse of people. The drive at Calcutta has long been noted as excelling any other scene in the gorgeous ness of its oriental coloring, but this of the pier at Bombay surpasses by far what we saw there. Cal cutta has no rich native gentlemen Parsees to boast of. These attend here in large nurabers in fine equipages and Avith servants in livery, and the Parsee ladies especially are resplendent in jewels and color. The rich turbaned Mohararaedan adds to the va riety. The asserablage raoved to and fro among the carriages and along the edges of the broad pier chatting gayly, while the rausic seeraed to set every 178 ROUND THE WORLD. thing in motion. Native boatmen in their picturesque garb passed now and then plying their trade, carry ing a Sahib's portmanteau or a lady's bundle. I sat down and imagined rayself in the midst of all that I had seen of pretty seaports in grand opera, the ship scene in L'Africaine, the landing of Desdemona in the Isle of Cyprus, the fisherraen in Masaniello, and I thought I had never seen any thing of this descrip tion so pleasing. I lost Vandy in the crowd, and sat drinking it all in till dark. Certainly araong the fine things in the East is to be ranked the rausic upon the Apollo Bunder, Bombay. Friday, February 21. We rose early, and were off before breakfast for a drive to the "Tower of Silence." This is the mountain top where the Parsees give their dead to be torn by the vultures. We shudder at cremation, but the sarced fire of the funeral pile as it flames to heaven has something awe-inspiring about it. Man sprung from the dust mingles at last with the purer element of fire and " vanishes into air, into thin air," leaving no trace behind. But deliberately to throw our dead out to be torn in pieces and devoured by vultures, who can endure the thought ! And yet raany of the inhabitants here would be raost unhappy if denied the consolation of believing that their bodies were to be served in this manner. Nor are these poor and ignorant. On the contrary, next to the English they are the best educated and most exten sive merchants in the city. It is siraply that they have been taught in their youth that the earth must ROUND THE WORLD. 179 not be defiled by contact with the dead. They can not therefore bury, neither can they burn, because fire, one of the elements, is sacred ; neither can they cast their dead into the sea, for it too is holy. There seems to them no way but this — of getting the birds of the air to come and take the flesh. We were re- ceiA-ed at the foot of the mound by a Parsee guide, Avho conducted us through every part. The towers, of which there are five, are approached by long flights of easy stairs. We entered a door at the top, and the first objects which struck our eyes were the A-ultures. They sat motionless, as close together as possible, on top of the round Avail of the tower, with their tails tOAvard us and their beaks toward the cen tre of the tower where the bodies are placed. The wall is about twenty feet high and fifty feet in di araeter. There did not appear to be room for one more bird upon it, every inch of it being occupied, the birds almost touching each other. What a re volting coping they formed to the otherwise plain round wall. Looking around I saw more birds perched on trees, and on the other towers, and in deed everywhere we looked, these disgusting ob jects raet our view. At ten o'clock every raorning the dead are taken frora the dead-house, rich and poor ahke being previously divested of clothing ; and were we to revisit the spot at that hour,, we are told the quiet stiUness which pervaded the grove would be found no longer to exist. We inwardly congratulated ourselves that the dreaded heat of a Borabay sun had sent us to this place at so early an hour — ere the repast began — and rapidly withdrew. It isn't rauch, yet I would not be robbed of it— such l8o ROUND THE WORLD. a disposition of our dead as would still render it pos sible for us to say with Laertes, "Zajj/ her V the earth ; And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May violets spring." Hard times are everywhere, and produce some strange changes. I see the Banyan caste of Suerah has just resolved to abolish caste dinners after funer als, but if a wealthy Hindoo still wishes to indulge in these affairs he is permitted so to do after one year has elapsed. I fear many of the dear departed will never be honored by the feast at this interval. At marriages only one feast is hereafter to be given, in stead of four, which were considered the thing. Re trenchment is the word even where caste customs of long standing are involved. I note that yesterday a native was fined ten rupees for driving a lame horse. What a singular race he raust think these English ! Before their day he could have done what he liked with horse or servant, raaie or female, " because he bought thera," and now he can't even be the judge when to use his horse. The raore I see of the thoroughness of the English Gov ernment in the East — its attention to the minutest details, the exceptional ability of its officials as CAdnced in the excellence of the courts, jails, hos pitals, dispensaries, schools, roads, railways, canals, etc. — the more 1 ara amazed. I had before no idea of Avhat was implied by the Government of India. For any other people than the English to have under taken it would have been madness. Not that we have not in x\merica a class of raen of equal organiz ing power, but these have careers at home open to ROUND THE WORLD. l8i thera, and could not be induced to leave their own land. But even if this Avere not so, Araerica requires an iraproved civil service to bring its ablest raen for- Avard. I ara sure no such body of officials exist as that coraprising the civil service of India, whether judged by its purity or its abiUty. The British array has been reformed of late years at every point in India beyond popular knowledge of the subject. We have stories of the great mutiny, and every one agrees in attributing its spread to the fact that there were at tAvo or three critical points superannuated veterans, unable to take the raost obvious raeasures for its suppression before it was too late. In short, it Avas here just as I saw it in Washington when the war began in America. I remeraber seeing the coramander-in-chief General Scott, when Bull Run was lost, so old and infirra as to be carried or as sisted from his carriage across the pavement to his office. There were others in charge of departraents scarcely less feeble. It was just so in India ; but now raark the change. No man can retain the com raand of a regiment in the British army more than five years, nor can generals serve longer. These officers retire on pensions, and the next in seniority takes his turn, always provided he passes successfully the most searching examination at each successive promotion. I vvas told that upon a recent examina tion only two officers passed out of thirteen. No favoritism is shown, and 1 have raet young raen re lated to the highest officials to whom it has been kindly intiraated that another career than the array had better be sought. I have raet many officers, and the impression raade upon me is an exceedingly 102 ROUND THE WORLD. favorable one. I do not believe that in case of war now the blunder of those in coraraand would have to be atoned for by the superior fighting qualities of the rank and file, as was notoriously the case during the Crimean War. Bombay is by far the finest city in the East, but it has been inflated more than any other, and is now undergoing a severe contraction. Its public build ings would do credit to any European capital. Gov ernment concluded to sell the land fronting on the bay, which had been used as the site of an antiquated fort, and such was the rage for speculation at the time that five miUion dollars' worth of land was dis posed of and enough retained to give Borabay a beautiful little park and a long drive along the beach. Governraent took the money and erected on part of the land retained the raagnificent buildings referred to. We met one gentleman who had bought one hundred thousand dollars' Avorth of the new lots, for which he admitted he could not get to-day more than twenty thousand dollars. But Bombay is only learning the universal lesson which the world seems to need to have repeated every ten or twelve years. It is fortunate that this city is our last in India, be cause it so far excels any other. Nowhere else is such oriental richness to be seen. The colors of the masses as they move rapidly to and fro reraind you of the combinations of the kaleidoscope. The native Avomen of the lowest order work in gangs, and it is their dress which chiefly brightens the scene. A dark-green tight-fitting jacket, a raagenta mantle fes tooned about the body and legs in Some very graceful manner and reaching to the knees, the feet and legs ROUND THE WORLD. 183 bare to the knees, a purple veil on the head but thrown back over the shoulders — this is the dress as Avell as I can describe it. The habit of carrying loads upon the head makes them as straight as arrows, and as they march along with majestic stride they completely eclipse the poor-looking male, who seems to have had his manhood ground out of him by generations of oppression, while his corapanion has passed through subjugation without losing her per sonal dignity. It seeras homelike to see street railways, of which there are several prosperous lines here. For this enterprise an American gentleman has to be thanked. All classes ride together, and caste in Bombay gets serious knocks in consequence. From Bombay as a centre civilization is destined to radiate. A palpable breach has already been raade in the solid walls which have hitherto shut India from the entrance of new ideas, and through this gate the assaulting col umns must eventually gain possession ; but it will not be within the span of men now living, nor for several generations to come. The Sailors' Horae and the hospitals of the city are highly creditable, and araong the charitable institutions I raust not forget the Hindoo hospital for wretched aniraals, where some of each kind are tenderly cared for, to signify the reverence paid by this sect to all kinds of life, for the meanest form is sacred to them. We had a curious illustration of this while in Benares examining the richest specimens of the deUcate erabroideries for which that city is celebrated. A little nasty intruder showed itself on one of the finest, and a gentleman with us involuntarily reached forth to kill it, but the 1 84 ROUND THE WORLD. three Hindoos caught his arra at once, and exhibited great anxiety to save the insect. One of thera did get it, and taking it to the window set it at liberty. It was Uncle Toby and the troublesorae fly over again, as iraraortalized by the genius of Sterne : " Get thee gone, poor devil ; there is room enough in the world for thee and for me," quoth Uncle Toby. And does not Cowper say, " I Tvould not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polish'd manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm." Well, these Hindoos wouldn't do it either. Let them be credited accordingly, heathen though they be. It begins to grow too hot here ; I could not live one season in India, that I ara convinced of. The tropical sun has no mercy, piercing through thick pith helmet, white umbrella, and driving one into the house. We are to leave none too soon. This evening we were surprised to see, as we strolled along the beach, raore Parsees than ever before, and raore Parsee ladies richly dressed ; all seemed wend ing their way to the sea. It was the first of the new moon, a period sacred to these Avorshippers of the eleraents ; and here on the shores of the ocean, as the sun was sinking in the sea, and the slender silver thread of the crescent moon was faintly shining in the horizon, they congregated to perforra their re ligious rites. Fire was there in its grandest forra — the sun — and water in the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean outstretched before them. The earth was under their feet, and wafted across the sea the air came laden with the perfumes of "Araby the blest." ROUND THE WORLD. 185 Surely no time nor place could be raore fitly chosen than this for lifting up the soul to the realms beyond sense. I could not but participate with these Avor shippers in what Avas so grandly beautiful. There was no rausic save the solemn moan of the waves as they broke into foam on the beach, " With their ain eerie croon Working their appointed work. And never, never done." But where shall we find so mighty an organ, or so grand an anthem ? How inexpressibly sublime the scene appeared to me, and how insignificant and un worthy of the Unknown seemed even our cathedrals, " made Avith human hands," when compared to this looking up through Nature unto Nature's God ! I stood and drank in the serene happiness which seemed to fill the air. 1 have seen many modes and forms of worship, some disgusting, others sad dening, a few elevating when the organ pealed forth its tones, but all poor in comparison to this. Nor do I ever expect in all my life to witness a religious cereraony Avhich will so powerfully affect me as that of the Parsees on the beach at Bombay. While I gazed upon the scene I stood conscious only that I was privileged to catch a gUmpse of something that was not of the earth, but, as I sauntered homeward, WordsAvorth's lines came to rae as the fittest expres sion of ray feelings. The passage is too long to quote at length, besides I have to confess I can not at this moraent recall it all. But he teUs first how in his youth nature was all in all to hira, " nor needed a moral sense unborrowed frora the eye," but 1 86 ROUND THE WORLD. later the inner light came ; and hear hira in his raa turer years : ' ' I have learnt to look on Nature Not as in my days of youth. But as ofttimes finding there The sad still music of humanity, Not harsh or grating, but with power To chasten and subdue — " " The sad still rausic of huraanity !" it Avas that I heard sounding in the prayers of those devout Par- sees and in the moan of that mighty sea. Sweet, re freshing it was, though tinged Avith sadness, as all our more precious musings must be, " since all we Tcnow is, nothing can be known." In one of my strolls along the beach I met a Par- see gentleman who spoke excellent English. From him I learned that the disciples of Zoroaster number only about 200,000, and of these no fewer than 50,000 are in Bombay. They were driven" from Persia by the Mohamraedans and settled here, Avhere they have prospered. They do not interraarry Avith other sects, believe in one God, and worship the sun, raoon, earth, and stars only as being the visible angels of God, as he termed thera. In theraselves these are nothing, but are the best steps by which Ave can ascend to God. Good men will be happy forcA'^er ; bad raen will be unhappy for a long time after death, and very bad raen will be severely punished. But 1 was delighted to be assured that no one will be punished forever, all life being sacred to God because he raade it, and all life raust eventually return to its Maker and be merged in him. Parsees cannot burn the dead, be- ROUND THE WORLD. 187 cause fire should not be prostituted to so vile a use. They cannot bury, because the earth should not be desecrated Avith the dead, neither should the sea ; and therefore God has provided vultures, which cannot be defiled, to absorb the flesh of ithe dead. I said to him that the mere thought of violence offered to our dead caused us to shudder. " Then what do you think of the Avorras ?" he asked. This was cer tainly an effective estoppel. ' ' It coraes to this, ' ' he continued, " a question of birds or worms." " You are right" (I had to admit it), I said ; " after all, it's not Avorth disputing about." When I had asked him a great raany questions, I suppose he thought turn about Avas fair play, and he began to cross-exaraine rae upon many points of Christian doctrine, which I did my best to put in the proper form. We finally agreed that good men and good women of any forra of religion could enter heaven and be happy forever, and upon this platforra we said good-by and parted. I looked around, to see that we had become the centre of quite a circle of Parsees who had been at tracted by our conversation, their earnest, bronze faces, surmounted by the flaming red turbans, so very close to raine, and the gorgeous colors of their flowing robes, forming a picture I shall not soon forget. They opened a way of egress at once, and Sahib passed out of the throng, evidently an object of intense curiosity to the crowd. Our excursion to the Caves of Elephanta -was very enjoyable. They are decidedly worth seeing. Here is the strongest contrast to the grand open-air wor ship of the Parsees, for the Hindoos sought to hide their worship in caves -which shut out the light of 1 88 ROUND THE WORLD. day, and to seek their gods in the dark recesses. The carved figures and colurans of the Teraple are fine, the principal idol being one of great size, a huge representation of the Hindoo Trinity of Brahraa, Vishnu, and Siva, which make the three-headed god. The effect of such a monster, seen dimly by the lighted torch, upon ignorant natures, could not but have been overpowering ; although when exarained closely there is nothing repulsive in the faces. On the contrary, the expression of all three is rather pleasing than otherwise, like that of Buddha. Bombay, Monday, February 24. We sailed at six in the evening by the splendid Peninsula and Oriental mail stearaer Pekin. The city was bathed in the rays of a brilliant sunset as we steamed slowly out of the harbor, and we bade farewell to India when it looked the fairest. And now for soraething on the great Indian ques tion, for it would never do for a traveller to visit India and not have his decided opinion upon raatters and things there, and his clearly-defined policy era- bracing the raanageraent of the most intricate prob lems involved in the government of two hundred millions of the raost ignorant races known, and all founded upon a fcAV weeks' hurried travel araong thera. There is, however, a much raore extensive class who are even raore presuraptuous, for they have just as complete a policy upon this subject, although they have never seen India at all. The vast country we know as India, then, is held and governed, not as one country, but district by dis- ROUND THE WORLD. 189 trict. One province, for instance, has a native ruler with whom England has nothing whatever to do ex cept that, by right of treaty, she sends a political agent to his court, supported in some cases, and in others not, by a certain number of soldiers. This Resident is expected to confer with and advise the Rajah, and keep hira and his officials from outrageous courses. Especially are they prevented frora warring upon neighboring States. In extrerae cases, when counsel and reraonstrance avail not, the governraent has had either to depose the ruling Rajah and substi tute another, as in the recent affair of the Rajah of Baroda, or to confiscate the province and merge it in the Erapire, as in the case of the King of Oude. But what must be borne in mind is that no two native rulers govern alike. Laws and custoras prevailing in one province are unknown in another. Land is held by one tenure in one place, and by an entirely different systera in another. India is therefore not one nation, but a vast conglomeration of different races and principalities, each independent of the other, differ ing as much as France does frora Gerraany, and much more than England does from Araerica. Add to this the fact that the people of any one district are not a horaogeneous coraraunity, but subdivided into distinct castes, sorae of which refuse to interraarry or even to eat with one another, and a faint idea of the raagnitude of the Indian question will begin to dawn upon one. It is this mass which England has to rule and keep firmly in order with her 60,000 troops, and which constitutes the government of India the raost difficult problem with which, I believe, statesmen 13 190 ROUND THE WORLD. have to deal. The amount of knowledge, states manship, tact, teraper, patience, and resource abso lutely put in requisition by the raen who rule India equals, I feel sure, that required for the governraent of the whole of civilized Europe corabined ; for it is always easy to govern a homogeneous people, the rulers being of the people theraselves, and having the good of their respective countries at heart. It seems to rae that an unnecessary eleraent of danger arises frora the fact that these Rajahs are permitted to maintain no fewer than 300,000 native troops, mainly to swell their iraportance. The question of enforcing reductions in these arraaraents is now under consideration, I observe, but I should decid edly say with Hamlet, " Oh ! reform it altogether." I would not allow a Rajah to keep more than one hundred armed troops, except as a body-guard, be yond the nuraber actually required to enforce order. Upon this point I have decided views. The existence of Rajahs is perhaps a necessary evil. They are maintained in consequence of a well- grounded reluctance on the part of the governraent to assurae the task of governing more territory. It is to be regretted that it has been necessary to ex tend the sway so far already ; nevertheless, the day will come when the petty courts raust be swept away, as they have been in Japan and Germany, and the whole country given the benefits of uniform rule. It is estimated that the Rajahs tax the people to an extent equal to the revenues of the government — about $300,000,000 per annura : of this much is squan dered in upholding their state — a grievous exaction ROUND THE WORLD. 191 from so poor a country. This will soon be one of the burning questions of India. The Rajah of Jeypore draws from the people $6,000,000 per annum, and one or two others exceed this sum. Poor fellow ! the other day he had to raarry his tenth wife — a sister of two of his previous wives, for whora no suitable husband could be found. There were but two families in the realm, I beUeve, of the proper rank, and neither happened just then to have a nice young man on hand. The disgrace of having an unraarried woman in the family was not to be borne, and the old Rajah had to husband her, as he had her other sister sorae time ago. Al though so well provided with wives, he has never been blessed with an heir, and at his death his first wife Avill adopt a son, who will be his successor. What do I think of India ? is asked me every day ; but I feel that one accustomed to the exceptional fer tility and advantages of America — a land so wonder fully endowed that it seeras to me more and more the special favorite of fortune— ris very apt to under rate India. We see it after two years of bad har vests, and a third coming on which is raost unprom ising. Judged from what I see, I can only say that I find it irapossible to repress the wish that springs up at every turn, as a lover of England, Would she were safely and honorably out of it ! Retiring now is out of the question ; she has abolished the native system in large districts, and must perforce con tinue the glorious task of giving to these milhons the blessings of order. Her withdrawal would be the signal for inter necine strife, and such a saturnaUa of blood and ra- 192 ROUND THE WORLD. pine as the world has never known ; but were the question whether Britain should to-day accept India as a gift, and I had the privilege of reply, then, " Declined with thanks ;" and yet it is the fashion just now to call India "the brightest jewel inthe crown." The glitter of that jewel may be red again some day. I have heard only two reasons advanced in favor of India as an EngUsh possession. First, it furnishes official station and employment for a large number who would otherwise have no field ; but I think there is yet plenty of unoccupied territory in which these gentlemen can find work if they can hold their own in the struggle for existence. Besides, the official class requires less protection, not greater than it has hitherto been favored with, if the true interest of England is to be considered. The second reason is a commercial one, and it is pointed out that the trade of England is thereby ex tended ; to which it may be said in reply that the occupation of foreign countries and the subjugation of foreign races are in no measure required by the de mands of trade. The possession of sraall islands at proper points secures all this. Hong Kong and a small strip at Shanghai, and one or two other ports, afford all the facilities required for England to obtain the trade. Penang on the west of the Malay Penin sula, Singapore at the south end, do the same. All of these have the precious silver thread surrounding them, and can be held easily by Britannia against the world without and native races struggling within for independence, as they are bound to do sorae day. There is another view to be taken of this question ROUND THE WORLD. 193 by a well-wisher of Britain which cannot be ignored. She, the raother of nations and champion of op pressed nationalities, necessarily occupies a false position in India ; there she must assume the rdle of the conqueror. I do not speak of this to disapprove of it, or even of the Press Laws recently adopted ; to avert still greater evils she is compelled to go to any length. Nevertheless, it is a false position ; the stars in their courses fight against it, and sooner or later England will retire from it. In short, the pole- star of Indian policy is to bend every energy to the sowing of seed which will produce a native class capable at first of participating in the government, and which will eventually become such as can be trusted with entire control, so that England may stand to India as she stands to-day to Canada and Australia. The business of colonizing, as a whole, does not appear to me to pay. As a mission there is none so noble or to be compared with it, next to governing well at home ; but beyond this England's share of the material good looks small. If the colony is rich and prosperous it sets up for itself ; if weak and unsuc cessful, it becoraes a Natal, and calls upon the gener ous-hearted raother for assistance. The gain to the colonies is obvious ; nothing could be finer for them ; and if it be clearly understood that England elects to play the tender nurse and receive her reward in the consciousness of doing good — aU right. Let her continue ! But if it be thought that these depend encies enhance her own power and proraote her prosperity, the sooner the books are balanced the better. Only one prayer. May heaven keep America 194 ROUND THE WORLD. from the colonizing craze ! Cuba! Santo Domingo ! avaunt, and quit our sight ! After six days' delightful sail we had our first glirapse of Arabia this morning, and are now skirt ing the Arabian coast. Aden was reached Sunday morning, and we drove out to the native town and saw the tanks said to have, been constructed thou sands of years ago. It rains only once in every year or two, and a supply of water is obtained by storing the torrents which then flow frora the hills. A raore desolate desert than Aden surely does not exist. Our trip on the Pekin was the most delightful we ever had at sea ; even Vandy was w-ell, and gained by the journey. We had very agreeable com pany on board, and were especially fortunate in our neighbors, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Glover, of Edin burgh, at table. The ship was crowded with officers and officers' wives and children returning from India to England, for children must be taken home out of the cliraate of India. Nothing can exceed the disci pline and general raanageraent of the Peninsula and Oriental ships. Promotion from the ranks is the rule, and they certainly are served by a class of men which it would be difficult to equal elsewhere. The Cunard line is probably the only counterpart of the Peninsula and Oriental line in existence. India claims many victims. We had yesterday a young man near us who had been in India only a short time, and who was returning invalided. Poor fellow ! He lay in the hatchway in his easy-chair from morning until night, gazing wistfully over the sea toward his beloved England. There he would soon get well. Only last night as I passed to bed I ROUND THE WORLD. 195 stopped to encourage him, telling him how finely we Avere dancing along homeward. At dawn I heard the pulsations of the engine cease for a few moments only, but in those moments he had been cast into the sea. Scarcely any one knew of his death except the doctor and a few of the crew ; not a soul on board knew any thing of him ; he was an entire stranger to all. But think of the mother and sisters who were to meet him on arrival and convey hira " to the green lanes of Surrey !" see thera hastening on board and casting anxious glances around ! No one will know thera, but every one will suspect who they are, and what their errand, and instinctively avoid thera — for who would be the messenger to strike a raother down with a word ? The death and burial were sad — sad enough ; but the real tragedy is yet to be played in Southampton, when the living are to envy the fate of the dead, who, " after life's fitful fever," sleeps so well in the depths of the Indian Ocean. We reached Suez Friday at six o'clock in the morning and anchored within the bay. An enterpris ing sail-boat captain carae alongside and offered to take us across the bay to the town in tirae to catch the only train leaving for Cairo for twenty-four hours. It was two long hours' sail, but the breeze was strong, and Vandy and I resolved to try it, bargain ing with the captain, however, upon the basis of no train, no pay. We raade it just in time, and grasping a bottle of wine and some bread at the station— for we had had no breakfast— we were off for Cairo. The railway runs parallel to the Suez Canal, which, by the way, was a canal in the days of the 196 ROUND THE WORLD. Pharaohs, but, of course, much smaller and only used for irrigation. We saw the top-masts of several stearaers above the sandy banks as they crawled slowly through the desert. When past Ismailia, the line leaves the canal and runs westward through the land of Goshen. After the parched plains of India, it was refreshing once more to look upon ' ' deep waving fields and pas tures green." We were within the regions watered by the Nile, and the harvests resembled those of the curse of Gourie. We reached Cairo on time, and our first inquiries were about our friends, Mr. Hawk, Miss Nettie and party, who Avere expected there from their three months' excursion upon the Nile. Fortunately, Ave found their dalbeah anchored in the streara, and we drove to it without delay. Sure enough, as we reached the bank, there lay the Nubia, that little gera, with the stars and stripes floating above her. We were rowed on board only to find that our friends were in the city. However, Ave raade our selves at horae in the charming saloon, and awaited their return. Unfortunately, sorae sailor on shore had told thera of two strangers going aboard, and there -was not the entire surprise we had intended ; but if there was no surprise there was no lack of corT dial welcorae, and we realized to the fullest extent Avhat a world of raeaning lies in the quaint siraile, ' ' as the face of a friend in a far-off country. ' ' The reunion at Cairo was one of the fine incidents of our tour. Many raonths ago we had parted frora Mr. Hawk and faraily, and half in jest appointed Cairo as our next raeeting-place. They went in one ROUND THE WORLD. 197 direction, Ave in another, and without special refer ence to each other's raoveraents it had so turned out that we caught thera here. It was a narroAv hit, however, as they were to leave next day for Alex andria ; and had we reraained on the Pekin, as all the other passengers did, and not undertaken the sail across the bay, we should have missed them. We grasped hands once more and sat down to dinner, the Nile gurgling past — the pyramids, with their forty centuries, looking down upon us, and here was one raore happy band to-night drawing more closely to each other since separated from friends at home, enacting over again such scenes as the famous river has witnessed upon its bosom for thousands of years — one generation going and another coming, but the raysterious Nile reraaining to welcorae each succeeding host ; and thus, " Thro' plots and counterplots — Thro' gain and loss — thro' glory and disgrace — — still the holy stream Of human happiness glides on !" To-day sight-seeing Avas subordinated to the rare pleasure of enjoying the corapany of our friends, but we all drove through Cairo streets and saw one meraorable sight — the great college of Islam, where more than 10,000 students are constantly under preparation as priests of the Prophet. We saw thera in hundreds sitting on their mats in the extensive open courts, all busily engaged in learning to recite the Koran to raasters, or listening to professors who expounded it. Their intense earnestness soon ira- presses you. From this centre radiate every year thousands of these propagandists, scattering thera- 198 ROUND THE WORLD. selves over Arabia and to the farthest boundaries of Islam, and even beyond, warring upon idolatry and proclaiming that there is but one God. No one can fail, I think, to receive from such a visit as we paid a much higher estimate of the vitality of Mohararae danism, and having seen what it has to supplant, we cannot refrain frora Avishing these raissionaries God speed. We visited several raosques, but they are such poor affairs corapared to those of India that we took little interest in them. While the other countries we have so far visited in our course haA-e all been stranger than expected, this is not so with Egypt. Every thing seems to be just as I had imagined it. We get to know too rauch about the land of the Pharaohs to be taken thoroughly by surprise. Perhaps there is something in our having seen so rauch that our per ceptions are no longer as keen as when we landed in Japan. The appetite for sight-seeing becoraes sated, like any other, and I fear we are not as im pressionable as before. The crowds of squalid wretches who surround us at every turn, clamoring for backsheesh ; the mud hovels in which they manage to live, and the coarse food upon which they exist ; the mass of greasy, un washed rags which hang loosely upon them — such things no longer excite our wonder, or even our pity. We have seen so much of such misery before that I fear we begin to grow callous. Cairo, as a city, is most picturesque, with its comraanding citadel, and its hundreds of raosques with their slender spires and conspicuous minarets ; while surrounding all this in the desert lie the ruins ROUND THE WORLD. 199 of older cities and of tombs and teraples innumerable. The Desert of Sahara reaches to the A'ery gates of the city on the east. The city lies between that and the Nile ; then comes a narrow strip of green about ten miles in width, and after that the boundless Libyan Desert. The Pyramids stand upon the very edge of this desert, so that it is sand, sand, sand ! everywhere around the city of the Caliphs, save and except this little green border along the Nile. But indeed the whole of Egypt is only a narrow green ribbon stretching along the river for some six hun dred railes, and widening at the delta, where the wa ters divide and reach the sea by various channels. All the rest is sand. Egypt has not raore cultivable soil than Belgium, and wouldn't raake a raoderately sized State with us. The present Khedive was deterrained to raake Cairo a rainiature Paris, and we see much that recalls Paris to us. The new boulevards, the opera-house, circus, caf6s, new hotel — all show how much has already been done in this direction ; but he is in hard straits just now, as is well known, and the cry there, as elsewhere, is for retrenchment and reform. The new streets are Parisian, but it is in the old narrow streets of the city that one sees oriental life distinctively Egyptian in its character. Indeed these are the sights of Cairo which I enjoy most. Muffled ladies pass by, resembhng nothing I can think of so much as big black bats as they sit man- fashion on their donkeys, wrapped in black silk cloaks'; men in gorgeous silks, also on donkeys, ride along, while laden camels slowly pick their way through the crowd, and asses carrying large panniers 200 ROUND THE WORLD. of clover. Harem ladies, too (there is the weight which pulls Egypt down), in their covered carriages roll slowly by, preceded by the running Lyces. I never saw such a miscellaneous throng in any street before. The great event of a visit to Cairo is Pyramid day. The Pyramids are eight miles distant, and an early start has to be made to insure return in season. Yesterday was our day. These wonders do not im press you at first — few really stupendous works ever do ; and even when at their base you think but meanly of their magnitude, so rauch so that you never hesitate as to whether you will ascend Cheops, the largest. Three Arabs are at once assigned to you by the Sheik, whose duty it is to assist you ; two of these take your hands, while the third stands behind to " boost" you up at the moment the others pull. It is a hard climb even when so assisted, and many who start are fain to content themselves with getting up one third the distance. I think I rested three times in making the ascent, and each tirae I found my feeling of disappointment growing beautifully less ; while by the time the shout carae from my Arabs announcing that they were on the top stone, I was filled with respectful admiration for Cheops, I assure you, and Avhatever one may say about the equator, I feel sure no one will ever hear me speak disrespectfully of the Pyramids. They are Avithout doubt the greatest masses ever built by man. Cheops is 450 feet high, and covers thirteen acres at the base, tapering to the top, where one false step would be certain death, as, contrary to ROUND THE WORLD. 201 my opinion at first, 1 saAv that nobody in falling could possibly rest on any of the layers of projecting stone. I do not like high places, and I felt, while on the top, I Avould give a handsome sum just to be safe ly on level ground again. But 1 got down without much difficulty, and after luncheon we went into the centre of the pile — a work of considerable trouble — and saw the sarcophagus. Atterapts have been raade to invest the Pyramids with some raysterious mean ing, but, I take it, there Avill be no more of this, since an explanation is noAv given which meets every objection. They are simply the torabs of various kings, and differ in size because the kings ruled for different periods of tirae. The mode of procedure Avas this : When a king came to the throne he began to build^his^tomb ; perhaps this was an excellent way of keeping before hira the fact that he also raust surely die, and that ere long ; successive courses of stone were built around the pile year after year, and when the king died the building ceased, his suc cessor taking care to finish the course under pro gress at the death of his predecessor. The great Pyraraid is either 6500 or 5000 years old, according as you decide for one or the other raode of corapu- tation. Either date will, however, entitle it to the honors of a hoary old age. The old Arabian prov erb, " That all things fear Tirae, but Tirae fears the Pyraraids," holds good no longer, for " the tooth of Tirae" is slowly but surely scattering even these masses to the winds. The entire finishing course of huge stone blocks, from top to bottora of Cheops, has already crumbled away, and lies in dust at the base. With the second in size this is also the case, except 202 ROUND THE WORLD. that a portion still clings around its top ; this will fall sorae day, and leave it stripped like its greater neighbor. The Sphinx — the raysterious Sphinx — which has baffled all inquisitive inquirers for centuries without number, stands in the sand only a short distance from Cheops. Imagine, if you can, with what feel ings one gazes upon that. It is as old as the Pyra mids, and older, and there it still looks out upon the green and fertile banks of the Nile with the Libyan Desert behind. Its countenance has the same benig nant cast, but it tells neither of sorrow nor of anger, neither of triumph nor of defeat. It tells you of no human passion, and yet seems to tell you of all — the £nd of all — and yet it is not a sad face. It is every thing and yet nothing. I never -was so utterly un able to vivify a stone with at least sorae iraaginings. It could be made one thing or another, but no sooner had I thought it indicated one sentiment than a second look made the idea seem absurd. Like so many countless thousands before rae, I gave it up. You cannot extract any thing frora that fact. I thought the lesson raight be in its position, and I pleased rayself with drawing one frora that. There this mystery stands, gazing only upon what is rich and fertile and instinct with life, the life-giving Nile rolling before it, and the fields of golden grain in view. ' Its back turned resolutely to the dreary sandy waste of death behind ; and so it said to me as plainly as if it could speak, This is your lesson : let the dead past bury its dead. It is upon the bright things of life we must fix our gaze if we would be of use in our day, and gen- ROUND THE WORLD. 203 eration — nor cast one lingering look behind. I needed this lesson, for since ray irreparable loss in the death of one of my dearest friends, Mr. McCandless, of which 1 have only heard, the quiet hours have been bitter. Why should I hesitate to tell that when my father died — when we were poor and I but a lad — that man, Avho knew but little of us, delicately intimated to our relatives that we should Avant for nothing ? but this was of a piece with his character through out. He was always doing such things. I believe he loved me almost like a son. I have never sailed without his sad farewell, nor returned without his smiling welcome, and now — what am I to do ? Only this remains : I am to raiss hira forever, and the sunshine of life can never be again as bright to rae as if his genial smile raingled with it as of old. When in Alexandria we visited with deep interest the site of the faraous Alexandrian Library, in which lay stored the raost precious treasures of the world. Had it escaped destruction, how raany questions which have vexed scholars would never have arisen, and how much ground which it has been necessary for genius to reconquer would have come^to^us as our heritage ! The Cleopatra's Needle still in Alexandria, the counterpart of which is now in London, tells its own story so plainly that there can be no dispute about it. Seventeen hundred years before Christ this huge raonolith, which is cut out of solid rock, was erected at Heliopolis, and itwas transported thence several hun dred railes to its present site. It measures sixty-eight feet in height, and is not less than eight feet square at its base— one solid shaft of granite ; but this is far 204 ROUND THE WORLD. exceeded by the one still standing at Thebes, which is lOo feet high. It struck me as a notable coinci dence that the ingenious Frenchman who first proved the truth of the supposed hieroglyphic alphabet should have done so by assuming that the name upon a certain stone extolling the virtues of Ptolemy Soter, repeated so frequently, was that of the faraous Cleopatra, and so it proved. Thus this extraordinary woman, who filled the Avorld with her name during her life, and for centuries after, once raore renews her tenure by linking herself with the world's history two thousand years after her death. The rauseura in Cairo is said to comprise more Egyptian antiquities than are possessed in the world besides. It is filled with mumraies, sarcophagi, jewel lery, coins, and statues, one wooden statue shown being no less than 4600 years old. Any thing less than 5000 years of age one gets to consider rather too modern to suit his taste. Upon some of the lids of the tombs the inscriptions are as fresh as if cut yesterday. Egypt furnishes the earliest rec ords of our race, because the sand of the deserts on each side of the Nile, blowing over the cities of the past until these were completely buried, hermeti cally sealed them, and this preserved thera from de cay, and would have done so for ages yet to corae. Is it any wonder that this narrow strip, filled with buried cities, should have given rise to a body of men who devote themselves to the search for rich spoil of the past and to deciphering the inscriptions ? You raeet occasionally an Egyptologist, and seem to know him instinctively. But grand as is Egypt's past, and varied as her ROUND THE WORLD. 205 fortunes have been, it may surely be said that never during all her misfortunes has she occupied a position as deplorable as that which saddens the traveller of to-day. If any one wants to see what personal rule in its fullest development is capable of producing, let him visit Egypt. The condition of its finances is notorious, but we did not expect to witness such convincing proofs of insolvency. The Khedive has been raaintaining a standing array of 60,000 men, but it has not been paid for more than two years. Retrenchment having been insisted upon by England and France, it was resolved to reduce the force to sorae 8000, and orders of dis- raissal were accordingly issued. But about two hundred officers who were in Cairo, and had not yet been paid, entered the Prince Minister's charabers clamoring for their dues, and finally refused to leave until paid. Some slight violence was even used to ward that functionary, and the English agent, who carae manfully to his assistance, was roughly pushed about. It was finally arranged to pay all dismissed soldiers two months' of their arrears. The train upon which we travelled from Cairo carried many of these men to their horaes. While the array is not paid, we see on every hand unmistakable proofs of the Khedive's reckless personal extravagance. Here lies his grand steam yacht rotting in the harbor. In the station we noticed the imperial cars stowed away ; on the river his large sumraer boat ; and every reraarkably fine house in Cairo seemed to be one or another of the Khedive's palaces or harems. The man does not seem to have had the faintest idea 14 2o6 ROUND THE WORLD. of what was due to his country, or, even worse, "what was due to hiraself. One becoraes indignant with a people so supine as to endure such waste and oppression. Every thing is taxed, and the masses of the people are ground down to the lowest stage compatible with raere aniraal existence. England and France have been corapelled recently to take strong measures in order -o prevent impending ruin. The Khedive not long since dismissed the only one of his rainisters who seemed to comprehend the state of affairs, but . I see the faint remonstrance of these powers has sufficed to reinstate him ; in other words, the Khedive has been told he is a figurehead, to reign not to govern, and we may hope for an iraproveraent in consequence. The population is only five millions, and it is esti raated that at least two raillions more could be sup ported by the country ; so it seeras that only good governraent is required to restore Egypt to pros perity. The cry frora the raoraent you set foot in Egypt until the stearaer sails is " Backsheesh ! Back sheesh !" Give! give! give! Crowds surround you at every place, and frora child to withered eld it is an incessant chorus. If one is weak enough to give a piastre he is done for ; the crowd increases, and the roars of the beggars with it. There is no place in Egypt which can be enjoyed owing to this nuisance ; even on the top of the Pyramid the evil is unabated. Travellers must be to blarae for such an annoyance. For our part we resolved never to give any thing to a beggar, and adhered strictly to the, rule, which preserved us frora raany a fierce attack ; but the ob- ROUND THE WORLD. 207 jects begging were sometimes piteous-looking enough to haunt one. We arrived too late to get a run up the Nile, as the boats had ceased to ply for the season. There remained but Cairo and Alexandria to visit, and a fcAv days spent at each place exhausts the sights ; but we concluded that nothing could be m.ore enjoyable than a three months' sail upon the Nile, in one's own boat, breathing the remarkably pure and dry air as it comes from the desert, moving day by day from one to another scene of the far past, and at night en joying the unequalled sunsets, when it seems, as some one has beautifully said, that " the day was sloAvly dying of its own glory." This is the trip of trips for an invalid, or for one overtaxed by work or oppressed with sorrow ; and for a bridal tour — to give the lovers plenty of tirae and opportunity to be come thoroughly acquainted with each other — it can be highly recomraended. We had a strange meeting at Cairo upon enter ing the breakfast-room the raorning after our arrival. Whora should we be placed opposite to but my friend the Rev. Mr. Dunbar, of Dunfermline, my aunty's rainister, nae less ! He was en route to the Holy Land with his father-in-law ; but we had sev eral days together at Cairo, and talked upon raany subjects frora theology to town affairs. I had re ceived a telegram the day of his departure which told me ray mother was to sail that very day to join rae in Scotland, as had been arranged, and we drank her health and wished her bon voyage in good style. 2o8 ROUND THE WORLD. Alexandria, Friday, March 14. Off at nine this morning for Naples, taking Sicily en route. The voyage was a sraooth one, and we landed at Catania upon the morning of the fourth day. As we stepped ashore we felt in a moment that we were once more within the bounds of civili zation. What a difference from the East ! And there frowned Mt. Etna, 10,000 feet above the sea level, thirty miles distant, and yet seemingly so near we thought that we could almost walk over to its base after breakfast. We ascended a small hill in the centre of the city, which, by the way, contains 83,000 people, and there lay Sicily spread out before us in all its wondrous beauty. Leraon and orange groves in full bearing, and fields of vines just bud ding ; and in the town clean paved streets and pave- raents, which are unknown in the East ; people with shoes and stockings on ; statues and fountains, and a good old cathedral ; harps and violins, and the Chiracs of church-going bells. Ah ! civilization is not a raistake, nor a rayth, nor a thing of doubtful value, as we can testify. At least so thought two happy travellers in Sicily that bright balmy morning as they felt how blessed a thing it was to be once more in a civilized country. The pretty island of Sicily (Sechelia, as the Ital ians pronounce it) contains nearly three millions of people — almost as many as Scotland — and supports them principally by the crops of oranges and lemons which go to all parts of the world. An English gen tleman told us he had bought oranges in the season for one cent per dozen. There is one itera of export ROUND THE WORLD. 209 of rather peculiar character — sulphur — which is ob tained from the volcano. We saw it drawn through the streets in large blocks. Only tAvo hundred years ago an eruption took place, and 27,000 people were buried by the lava. We saw Avhere the streara had rushed down from the crater through part of the town, and far into the sea — almost a mile in Avidth, and thirty railes from its source, tearing destruction to every thing in its course, and yet to-day fine new houses stand upon the cold lava, and away up and along the sides of the volcano for miles are to be seen cottages cluster ing thickly together, the inraates busily engaged in cultivating their vineyards. It was only a few days ago the raonster gave a warning and shook these houses ; but they still " sit under their vine" and sing the raerry songs of peace to all their neighbors — these merry, light-hearted Sicilians ! — as if they had Mount Etna under perfect control. The raihvay skirts the shores of the island for its entire distance — sorae fifty miles — and a more beau tiful ride is not to be seen in all the world. It is a succession of fine old castles, in perfect ruin, upon every petty promontory, and Ave go through noth ing but orange and leraon groves and vineyards. We pass at the base of Mount Etna ; but although aU was sraiUng in the vaUeys below, its top was en veloped in dark clouds and busy with the thunder and the storra. Messina is a very quaint ItaUan city. The funer al services of a distinguished lady were in progress when we stepped into the cathedral, which was illu rainated with hundreds of candles — I think I raight 2IO ROUND THE WORLD. almost say a thousand — the interior being one mass of light, which shone with strange effect upon the rich black velvet with which the walls were draped. A lady in our party counted the carriages as they passed, and told us there were fifty-three, raost of which would corapare favorably with those of New York or London. This will give you sorae idea of the richness of Messina, which we had thought to be an uniraportant town. The scene in the Tempest, the enchanted isle, raust have been in the neighborhood of Sechelia, and surely no fitter region in all the world could be found ; indeed I found sweet Sechelia so enchanting that I voted it the very spot, and selected ray Pros pero 's Cave within sight of Mount Etna. Thursday, March 20. Early morning. Yes, my dear friends, it is round. Here stands Mount Vesuvius in full view this raorn ing, making for itself pure white clouds of steam, which float in the otherwise clear, cloudless sky of Italy. No entering the crater now as we did before, for the volcano is no longer at rest. Vandy and I shake hands and recall our pledge made in the crater years ago, and say, " Well, that is now fulfilled, and may life only have for us in its unknown future an other such five raonths of unalloyed happiness (save where the dark shades of death at home have sad dened the hours) as those we have just been so privileged to enjoy." It is never well to be without something to look forward to, and speculate upon ; and by a'J^happy chance Vandy and I have hit upon our next excursion. ROUND THE WORLD. ' 211 when we shall have earned another vacation by use ful work. And the very thought of it already brings us pleasure. And so, all hail sunny Italia ! What a picture this Bay of Naples is ! We sail past our former haunts, Capri and Sorrento, and are soon in our hotel at Naples, where we are delighted to rejoin our friends. Before bidding farewell to the East, I wish to in dulge in just a fcAV general reflections. Life there lacks two of its raost iraportant eleraents — the want of intelligent and refined woraen as the companion of man, and a Sunday. It has been a strange experience to rae to be for several months without the society of sorae of this class of women — soraetiraes raany weeks without even speaking to one, and often a whole week without even seeing the facfe of an edu cated woraan. And, bachelor as I ara, let me con fess what a raiserable, dark, dreary, and insipid life this would be without their constant corapanionship ! This brings every thing that is good in its train, every thing that is bright and elegant. I cannot sat isfy rayself as to what the raan of the East has to struggle for, since he has dethroned woraan and practically left her out of his life. To see a wealthy Chinaraan driving along in his carriage alone was pitiable. His efforts had been successful, but for what ? There was no joy in his world. The very soul of European civilization, its crown and special glory, lies in the elevation of woman to her present position (she will rise even higher yet with the com ing years), and this favor she has repaid a thousand fold by raaking herself the fountain of all that is best in raan. In life, without her there is nothing. Much 212 ROUND THE WORLD. as the lot of Avoman in the East is to be deplored, that of man is still raore deplorable. The revenge she takes is terrible, for she drags down with her, in her debaseraent, the higher life of man. I had noted the absence of rausic as one great want. Not an opera nor a concert — not even a hand-organ. Scarcely a sweet sound in all our journey. When we found an English church or a regiraental band, we rejoiced. 1 went to hear the organ upon every occasion, and Avas seldom absent when the band played ; but were woraen there as with us, wouldn't rausic spring forth also ! so that even this want I ara disposed to attribute to the first cause. The absence of a regularly recurring day of rest ranks next in iraportance, I believe, in the list of causes which keep the East down in the scale of na tions. With few exceptions, the race is dooraed to a life of unremitting toil — from morning till night, and every day without respite. The prospect of one day of rest frequently intervening gives a toiler soraething bright to look forward to, without which his life raust stretch before him as one unceasing, unvarying drag. In this one blessed day his slavery ceases, the shackles fall. He is no longer a brute — fed and clothed solely because of his physical powers, his capacity to bear burdens — but a higher being with tastes, pleasures, friends. Life becoraes worth living for. The raan puts on his best clothes — and there is much in this — the woman gives her cottage an extra brushing up. Something extra is prepared for dinner — there is a great deal in this too — and, in short, the day is marked by a hundred little differ ences from those of labor — a stroll in the fields, a ROUND THE WORLD. 213 visit to relatives, or a meeting with neighbors at church all in their best ; and then the swelling organ, and the choir — these things lie closely at the root of all improvements ; and if ever the race is to be lifted to a higher platform — and who shall dare doubt it ? — the weekly day of rest will prove itself an agencv in the good work only second to the elevation of woman. The best mode of iraproving its most precious hours for the toiling masses is therefore a question of infinite raoment, apart altogether frora its divine character, and vicAved only as a huraan enactraent of the highest wisdom. It would seera clear that to raake this only respite from manual labor a day exclusively set apart for the mournful duty of bemoaning our mani fold shortcomings — which must at best give rise to glooray thoughts — would defeat the purposes I have indicated. I want a coraproraise — church service in the raorning, with a serraon " leaning to the side of raercy," as Sidney Sraith suggested, which raeant that it should not exceed twenty rainutes, and then the fields and strearas for the toilers who are cooped up in factories and workshops all the week long, or a visit to picture galleries, rauseuras, or to rausical concerts of a high order — to any thing that would tend to brighten their existence. I am now con vinced that there is an iraportant change to be taken in the raode of keeping our Sundays — the cessation of labor, as far as it is possible, to reraain a cardinal point, but better facihties to be provided for culti vating the higher tastes of our poor workers, that the day raay be to thera indeed " the golden jewel which clasps the circle of the week." 214 ROUND THE WORLD. One raore observation upon the East and I ara done : the work that England is doing there. You know that she has in one way or another obtained the keys to the East. Sorae islands she owns ; sorae small strips of the raainland she also has acquired and governs ; at Shanghai, Hong Kong, and other points in China ; at Singapore, Penang, Ceylon, India, Aden, Malta, and indeed ^all through our journey, we stand now and then on British soil. And wherever the meteor flag floats, there you find order, freedom, schools, churches, dispensaries, clean streets, hospitals, newspapers, justice ; and under that flag you will find thousands of Chinamen and Malays, Indians, Ceylonese, Arabs — indeed men of all races — settled and enjoying the blessings of good government. At Shanghai nearly fifty thou sand Chinamen haye moved within the two miles of British territory. At Hong Kong, which is a sraall island, nearly tAvo hundred thousand have congre gated, and so on, wherever the standard is raised. No revolution there, no slavery, no arbitrary arrest, nor forced levy. As a native lawyer in India said tO' me — he talked freely because of our American look — " There is between natives under EngUsh rule per fect justice ; but," he added, "every one must be have himself. There is no war nor plundering when one settles under them, for these EngUsh won't stand any nonsense, and they will have peace. ' ' England therefore has planted throughout the East small models of perfectly-governed States, en joying all the blessings of the highest civilization. Daily and hourly these teach their lesson to the na tive races, and when they do acquire this lesson — ROUND THE WORLD. 215 and who that believes in the progress of raankind can doubt but the daA- must corae — they will look westward with grateful hearts and say, " All this we OAve to thee, noble England !" From this time forth it is impossible but that a change must occur in the character of these notes. There is a first tirae to every thing, and it is first im pressions which I have endeavored honestly to con vey ; but ray first irapressions of Europe were ob tained years ago. The gloss and enthusiasra of novel ty are wanting. The sober second thought is prover bial ; but there is a sober second sight as well, and it is this I ara about to take. Besides this, Europe is raore familiar to you than the East. Many of you know it through personal experience, and I shall therefore content myself with giving you the salient features of our horaeward progress from this point. We find Naples, Sorrento, Capri, and all the pretty spots around the bay much improved since our last visit. The people seem to us to be reraark ably fine-looking, but perhaps this is mainly owing to the miserable races Ave have been seeing lately. The museum which contains the principal treasures found at Porapeii and Herculaneura is greatly ira proved, and one has no difficulty now in determining just how the people of those cities lived. There are even models of the houses shown. The frescoes and sculptures are far finer than I had reraerabered them, and indeed there are so raany articles of furniture and domestic utensils that one cannot help admitting that those who argue that man travels in a circle just as the world goes round, and never advances, have 2l6 ROUND THE WORLD. some ground for their theory in these reraarkable productions of the first century. We are in the land of rausic, sure enough. Here is the list of operas to be performed to-night, apart frora numerous dramatic performances : Norma, Sonnambula, La Belle Hdene, Martha. You will please take it for granted that our nights here, Avith few exceptions, will be spent hearing one or another opera. We were fortunate this time in getting into the Blue Grotto — the sea being quite smooth. The re flections upon the rocky roof were not as fine as we expected ; but Miss Nettie pronounced the water the prettiest blue that ever was, ' ' and she is an au thority upon color. While at Capri we ascended to the villa of Tiberius, on the edge of a perpendicular cliff nearly 2000 feet high. It was from this rock that ruler was wont to throw his Adctims into the sea. He found they never troubled him again. And now I Avrite amid the orange groves of Sorrento, where we have been spending a few days. We have just finished, in company with our friends, a three days' excursion to Psestum, erabrac ing the famous drive along the coast to Amalfi. Certainly I know nothing of the kind in the world equal to this road in grandeur, and if any of you ever visit Naples I advise you to let nothing inter fere with your going to Amalfi. At Sorrento we joined our friends, Mr. Hawk and party, and our Windsor Hotel delegation was further and happily augmented by Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs and family. Can you wonder that our daily excursions Avere de lightful ? ROUND THE WORLD. 217 April. Rome once more. What a change ! A minia ture Paris has been added to old Rome since we first saw it, and even old Rome itself is modernized com pletely. Much of the picturesque is lost, but well lost, since it brings tis clean streets, improved dwell ings, and all the accompaniments of progress ; but, notwithstanding its now greater likeness to modern cities, it is not with these Rome vies. Her empire is not of to-day, but over the raighty past she alone holds undisputed sway, and the spirit of ages gone still infuses itself into every thing in Rorae. 1 thought even modern structures were unlike their fellows elsewhere, as if the mere fact that they stood in Rome invested them with a peculiar halo of classic dignity and importance. Then Rorae still has to boast of so raany of the best things which the world has to show. No other cathedral is so grand as St. Peter's nor so beautiful as St. Paul's ; no other " bit of color" is equal to the Transfiguration ; no other heroic statue is to be compared with the Augustus ; nowhere else is so sweet a girl-face as the Cenci ; no other group is to be named with the Laocoon, no other fresco with the Aurora ; and where is there another Moses, or Apollo Belvedere, or Antinous, or where is there vocal music so heavenly as that of the Pope's choir ? Nowhere. And so it coraes that the world still flocks to Rome, and must continue its pilgriraage hither to this Mecca for a thousand years to come ; and artists by the score, day after day, multiply copies of these wonders of art, the recognized "best" in their various classes which man has yet brought forth. All these works, and others unmentioned, I 2l8 ROUND THE WORLD. returned to Avith enhanced pleasure. They all seeraed greater and finer to me than when I saw them before. I had not forgotten them, while the mass of mediocre works had left no trace. It is thus that the true fire of genius vindicates its right to imraortality. Generations raay corae and go, fashions and tastes may change, but " a thing of beauty remains a joy forever." While the statues and pictures of Rome, therefore, gave me far greater pleasure than before, I have to confess that the his torical associations gave rae rauch less. When in Rorae before I was overflowing with Shakespeare, Byron, and Macaulay, and would wander aAvay alone and recite to myself on the appropriate sites the passages connected with thera. This tirae I fear our friends proved too congenial. We dwelt too much in the happy present to give ourselves up to the historical past ; but I do not think one gets the sweetest juices out of Rome unless he gives way to the melancholy vein now and then, and "stalks apart in joyless reverie." Another reason for the difference suggests itself. One fresh from Egypt, where he has been digging araong the five thousand years B.C., and lost in araazement at what the race was even then produc ing, must experience some difficulty in getting up a respectable amount of enthusiasra for structures so recent as the tirae of Christ ; the ' ' rascally compara tive" intrudes to chill it with its cold breath. Thefe is a third reason, perhaps — and reasons do seem as plenty as blackberries, now that I begin to write them down — we are so near horae the echoes of business affairs begin to sound in our ears. . We ROUND THE WORLD. 219 snuff the battle, as it Avere, afar off. It is impossible to become so entirely absorbed in the story of the Cenci as to prevent the morning's telegram from in truding, especially Avhen it inforras us that " Key stone has secured entire Mexican Exposition Build ings" (we hadn't heard Mexico was in the way of ex positions), or " that every thing is running day and night," etc., and so it came about that this time we did less moralizing than before. We were fortunate in being in Rome during Easter week, which gave us an opportunity to hear the best music, and cer tainly there is no choir for vocal music Avhich can rank with that of the Pope. It is the only choir I ever heard which I felt the finest organ would spoil. It produces a strange and powerful effect, the music itself seeming to be of a peculiar order unlike any other. One of our young ladies, describing her feel ings to a friend, said that at one time she felt she was really in heaven ; but when the " Miserere" broke forth, she knew she was only a poor sinner strug gling to get there. We visited, with our friends, the various studios. In painting there does not appear to be a high stan dard of excellence. The Roraan school does not stand well, but in statuary it is better. A young Araerican artist, Mr. Harnisch, seeraed to rae to be doing the raost creditable work. His busts have al ready given him reputation, and he has a figure now in plaster, "Antigone," which I rate as the best clas sical statue in process of corapletion which we saAV. This young artist is not probably as good a raanager as some of his more pretentious countrymen, and, I iear, we are to wait some tirae before a congressional 220 ROUND THE WORLD. committee can be induced to give him a coraraission ; but in the opinion of real Italian sculptors he is an artist. There are those who have " adorned" our public edifices with huge works to whora certainly no one outside of America would apply the name. We shall hear of Mr. Harnisch by and by ; he is young, and can wait. I was highly gratified at making the acquaintance of Dr. Smiles, author of " Self-Help," and that favor ite of mine, " The Scotch Naturalist," and other A'alued works. He is a most delightful coraplanion and a true Scotchraan, and hadn't we " a canny day thegether" at Tivoli ! Through hira I met Mr. William Black ("Ad ventures of a Phaeton"), who is a small young raan, with a face that lights up, and eyes that sparkle through his spectacles. Mr. Petty, R.A., and he were doing Italy together, and no doubt we are to see traces of their travels in their respective lines ere long. Florence, Wednesday, April g. We spent a few days in Florence, but it rained almost continually, as indeed it has done all winter. This has been the most disagreeable season CA^er known in Italy, we hear from every quarter. Sight seeing requires sunshine ; but Ave nevertheless did the galleries, and were delighted with the master pieces for which the city is famed. The statuary, however, is much inferior to that of Rome. In the Avay of painting I was most interested in comparing the numerous madonnas of Raphael, and seeing how he, at last, reached " the face of all the world" in ROUND THE WORLD. 221 the San Sisto. He seeras to have held as loyally as a true knight to his first love. His raadonnas have all the same type of face. You could never hesitate about their authorship. Emphatically they are one and all " Raphael's madonnas," and very much alike .^even the one which the Grand Duke loved so fondly as to take it about with hira wherever he trav elled is only a little sweeter than the rest. It is a strange fact that it was not by painting raadonnas at all the raaster obtained his inspiration. He painted the portrait of a lady, which is still seen in the Pitti palace, frora Avhose face he drew the lacking halo of awe and sublimity. He idealized this woman's face, and the San Sisto came to satisfy all one can iraagine about the Madonna. But the face of Christ ! Who shall paint it satisfactorily ? No one. This is some thing beyond the region of art. A divine-human face cannot be depicted, and all the efforts I have seen are not only failures which one can lament, but many are caricatures at which one becoraes indig nant. I was greatly pleased that a true artist (Leon ardo da Vinci) realized this, and painted his Christ with averted head. Every great painter in older tiraes seeras to have thought it incumbent upon him to paint a Christ, and consequently you meet them everywhere. As for the " Fathers" {i.e., Jehovah) one sees, these seera to rae positively sacrilegious. I wonder the arms of the men who ventured upon such sacred ground did not wither at their sides. To paint old men with tremendous white flowing beards — a cross between Santa Claus and Blue Beard — and call thera God ! Here is raaterialisra for you with a vengeance. These audacious raen forgot 15 2 22 ROUND THE WORLD. that He was not seen in the whirlwind, neither in the storra, but never seen at all ; only heard, va. the still, sraall voice. Of .course I visited Mrs. Browning's grave in Florence. I had the melancholy satisfaction of hear ing, from one who knew her intiraately, many details concerning her life here. Mr. Browning left Flor ence the day after she died, leaving the house, his books, papers, and even unfinished letters, as they were when he Avas called to her bedside the night before, and has never returned ; nor has he ever been known to raention her name, or to refer to the blow which left him alone in the world. He seems to have been worthy even of a love like hers. We stayed over two days at Milan to see friends, and while there ascended to see once more the celebrated cathedral. It is finer — I do not say grander — but much finer, especially as seen from the roof, than any other building in Europe. From Milan we came to Turin, and spent a day there, as we had never seen that city. It is prettily situated, very clean, with regular streets, but with out any special objects of interest. The splendid view of the snow-clad Alps, and the fertile valley of the Po, as seen from the monastery, fully repaid us for the day given to Turin. We leave Italy in the morning. It is impossible not to like the country and to be deeply interested in its future. While it has made considerable progress since the genius of Cavour made it once more a nation, still its path is just now beset with dangers. A standing army of six hundred thousand and all the concomitants of royalty to maintain, and a large national debt upon ROUND THE WORLD. 223 which interest has to be paid — ^these require severe taxation, and even with this the revenues show a deficit. That last resort, paper currency, has been sought, and now the circulating medium — although based on the entire property of the nation, ' ' as our demagogues phrase it — is at a discount of ten per cent, which threatens to increase. But the chief trouble arises from the religious difficulty. The Pope and all strict Catholics stand coldly aloof from the governraent, read}- to give trouble whenever opportunity offers. But I have faith in Italy. She Avill conquer her enemies, and once again be a great power worthy of her glorious past. All her troubles, however, are not to seek. Now coraes somewhat of a return to the more prosaic side of life. We made an excursion to the famous iron and steel works of the Schneider Com pany at Creuzot. What a concern this is, and how small we all are upon the other side of the Atlantic ! Fifteen thousand five hundred men are employed here. We saw fifteen steam hamraers in one shop. The mill for rolling only is 1500 by 350 feet, filled with trains. The giant, however, is the 80-ton steam hammer, with its huge appliances. Masses of steel 35 tons in weight are handled as readily as we move a rail ingot. One ingot of steel weighing 120 tons was shown to us. This raonster hararaei;- is required only for armor plate and guns — war raaterial. The happier demands of peaceful industry are met with ordinary raachinery. Long raay it be, therefore, before America can boast an engine of even half the size. 224 ROUND THE WORLD. Our visit to Creuzot was both interesting and in structive. Mr. Schneider and his officers were most cordial and attentive to us. Paris, Thursday, May i. We spend a few days in Paris. Even more than the other cities we have revisited this shows the march of iraproveraent. It is farther beyond cora petition in its Une than ever it was. I appreciate its attractions more than I have done upon previous visits ; but one raust be exceptionally strong who can persist in leading an earnest and useful life here, where so much exists to persuade one that after all amusement is the principal thing to be sought for. Most of the American residents here seem to me to sink naturally to the level of thinking most — or cer tainly talking most— of the newest opera, or even the best ballet, or where is to be found the best table- d'hote ; but, after all, what can a man do who leaA^es his own country, and the duties incumbent upon him there, to become a man about town here, with no work in the world to do. Good Araericans corae here when they die, it is said, and I think it would be well for most of thera if they did postpone their journey until then. As we have travelled through France bands of the " Reserves" have been constantly seen repairing to their caraps. Every Frenchraan now, Avithout exception, raust serve as a soldier and drill at least one month every year. No substitutes are allowed. Soldiers ! soldiers everywhere ! Not a petty town at which we have stayed over night but has its bar racks — its troops who parade its streets every morn- ROUND THE WORLD. 225 ing*. The entire male population is being trained so as most skilfully to raurder such of their fellow- Christians Avho raay happen to be called Gerraans upon the first favorable opportunity, while in Ger raany a sirailar state of affairs is rendered necessary to prevent the success of their " brothers' " intention. You see there was a frontier that was not " scien tific," and it was " rectified" a few years ago.; but these rectifications, of all things in the world, never reraain rectified, and so Ave are to awake some fine morning to find the " civilized" Christian (!) nations (save the raark !) nobly engaged in butchering each other, CA-en if this is the nineteenth century and we all worship Christ and have the sarae Father in heaven In Italy it is rauch the sarae. She has 600,000 men under arms, and is drilling others, while Russia has just ordered an addition to its hosts .exceeding five fold the entire American array. England's war ex- , penditure this year exceeds that of only five years ago by $30,000,000, Avhich is more than America spends for her army altogether. And so the whole of Europe is arraed and arming, as if conscious that a storm is about to burst, or at least that such a stu pendous drain upon her productive resources has to be endured to insure safety. Happy Araerica ! she alone seeras to occupy a position free frora grave and irarainent'dangers. Our next step brought us to raonster London, where we attended the interesting meeting of the British Iron and Steel Institute, and being called upon as the only representative of Araerican iron and steel manufacturers present, I had to venture a few 2 26 ROUND THE WORLD. remarks. Whatever England may be justly charge able with in the past for her neglect of scientific methods and the improvements of the day, it is evi dent she now occupies the van in these respects. No one could be present at these raeetings with out being irapressed with the araount and thorough ness of the scientific knowledge now engaged in the iron and steel raanufacture of Great Britian. Not less reraarkable seemed to me the willingness upon the part of all to report and explain every advance made in the various processes to their fellows. The old idea of trade secrets seems thoroughly exploded, and a free interchange of practice and theory is now seen to be the best for all. I cannot but believe that had the raanufacturers of Araerica adopted this policy years ago many raillions squandered in the erection of works at unsuitable locations would have been saved. It struck rae as strange that no less a per sonage than Earl Granville, who has had charge of her Majesty's foreign affairs and been leader in the House of Lords, should have been in attendance and participated in these meetings. The company also had the attendance of two dukes ; but these were Lord Granville's compeers only in title. All of the three, however, rightfully claira to rank with us as iron-raasters. The Besseraer raedal was this year presented to Peter Cooper, of New York, rauch to the honor of the donors, 1 think. For one shilling any one curious to know sorae thing of the sights of this London can do so by pur chasing a good-sized volume — Dickens's London. A look at it will soon satisfy one how true it is that ROUND THE WORLD. 227 compared to London all other cities are but viUages. It will very soon count four miUions of people under its sway. Every year one hundred thousand are added to the raass, and not even depressed tiraes seem to limit this increase. The reason for this is patent : there is every thing here that there is else where, and rauch that can be found nowhere else ; in every departraent of life, for earnest work in any special line, or for arauseraent — for sight-seeing, study, or fashion — it is here that the very best of every thing is concentrated ; the very cream of all the world is here, because no other place is large enough or rich enough to support it. An unusually large proportion of the population is of the wealthy classes, for the height of the average Briton's ambi tion is, in addition to the essential estate in the- country, to be in possession of a mansion in London. After these are acquired, and his wife and daughters have been presented at court, any after-successes may be regarded as details which ornament the solid edifice of position attained ; and truly, as far as 1 have seen huraan life in any part of the world, I kno'w of no state which in itself seems capable of affording so much pleasure — were happiness depend ent upon external circumstances — as that which re- -wards the successful Britons when with their usual good sense they retire from business. If the owner of a large estate in Britain with its hundreds of people who are, as it were, under his care, its pretty quaint villages and honeysuckled cottages, its running brooks, its hedge-roAvs and green fields, all giving him scope for change and ira proveraent — if such a man is not happy and does not 228 ROUND THE WORLD. enjoy life, let hira seek for sorae more favorable con ditions in some other planet than this, say I. I must not attempt to follow our steps through England and Scotland, nor to tell you of the cordial Avelcomes and thousand kind attentions bestowed upon us. We spent a very, very happy month among dear kind friends, and never enjoyed Merrie England more. My mother and Miss Franks joined us in London, and took care of us until we sailed for New York, which we did by the new Cunard stearaer Gallia, June 14th, reaching New York on the 24th, exactly eight months from the day we sailed out of the Golden Horn. And now, June 25th, I Avrite these lines at Cresson, having reached our starting point and earned our right to fellowship with the favored fraternity of globe-trotters. To sum up, the trip has been without a single un pleasant incident. We have not raissed one connec tion, nor ever been beyond the reach of all the com forts of life, nor have we had one unhappy or even lonely hour. Everv day has brought something ncAv or interesting. And sitting here in our quiet mountain home this morning, I feel that there is scarcely a prize that could be offered for which I would exchange the knowledge obtained and the memories of things seen during my trip. One of the great pleasures of travel in the East is the un bounded hospitality — excessive kindness everywhere raet with. Will the nuraerous kind friends to whora Ave are so deeply indebted — a host far too great to name — please accept this general acknoAvledgment as at least a slight evidence that their goodness to us is not unappreciated ? At every stage of our travels ROUND THE WORLD. 229 I have been struck Avith the cheering thought, viz., that notAvithstanding the indisputable fact that a vast araount of raisery seems inseparable from human life, still the general condition of raankind is a happy one. Even the Hindoo in India, or the Malay in the Archipelago — and these seera to exist under the worst conditions — each of these constantly sees cause to bless his good fortune and render thanks — sincere, heartfelt thanks — to a kind Providence for casting his life in pleasant places, and not in darap, foggy England, or araid Araerican frosts and snows. We haA-e their sincere syrapathy, I assure you. Nor is patriotisra a peculiarly western virtue. No raatter Avho or what he is, the raan of the East in his heart exalts his own country and his oavu race, and esteems them specially favored of the gods. And indeed it is with nations as with individuals : as none are entirely good, so none are entirely bad. The traveller finds much to coraraend in every country, and seeing this he grows tolerant and liberal, and able more heartily to sing with Burns, " Then let us pray that come it may. As come it will, for a' that. That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth. May bear the gree, and a' that ; For a' that, and a' that. It's coming yet, and a' that, That man to man the warld o'er Shall brothers be, for a' that." In which hope I lay down my pen and bring to a close these notes of my tour round the world. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRAHY 3 9002 03097 7418 , iSSS»^