A WORD TO TOURISTS.
The articles of this series, taken in connection with the articles
written during a former visit to Europe, cover all of the countries
which I have visited, and nothing is left but to offer some
generalizations covering the more important questions discussed in
the course of these articles. First, as to routes of travel. We have
found the trip around the globe far more instructive than we had
expected, and it was entered upon for educational reasons. There is
so much to see and learn that one can occupy an indefinite time in
travel. We set apart a year for the trip and reached home sixteen
days within the limit. Those who have followed these letters will
admit, I think, that we have covered a great deal of ground and
seen a great deal of the world. If we were repeating the trip, I
hardly know of any country that we could afford to leave out, and I
am satisfied that it is better to start from the Pacific coast than
from the Atlantic. One could make the trip in half the time that we
spent and see a great deal, but he can see more if he has a year or
two to spare for the journey.
If one desires to make the trip in six months, he should set apart
about two months for ocean travel. He could then devote two weeks to
Japan, ten days to China, a week to Manila, three weeks to India,
a week to Egypt, two weeks to the Holy Land, a week to Greece and
Constantinople, and the rest of the time to Europe. To go through
Korea would require ten days or two weeks more, but the Hermit
Kingdom is different from any other country, and its queer people
are worth seeing. Very few of the tourists have visited Pekin, and
yet, it is in some respects the most interesting of the Chinese
cities. The Manchu element of the Chinese population--the ruling
element--can only be seen at Pekin or in the northern districts. The
Great Wall is near Pekin, and the wall around the city of Pekin is
even more imposing than the great wall itself. The Altar of Heaven,
the most beautiful and elaborate sacrificial altar on earth, is
in the suburbs of the Chinese capital and in itself well repays a
visit.
Until recently Pekin could only be entered from the sea via
Tientsin. The railroad, however, from Pekin to Hankow was about
completed when we were there, and this greatly facilitates travel
through the interior. If one goes on through Korea, it is best to go
on to Pekin by water and then go on the railroad to Hankow and down
the Yangtse river to Shanghai.
Every American who visits the Orient should spend some days in the
Philippine Islands. He owes it to his country to do so. If he will
visit the schools, he will be convinced that there is increasing
intelligence in the islands, and he will not doubt that the people
want independence. An inspection of the factories will prove that
the Filipinos are industrious as well as intelligent.
It takes about two weeks to go from Singapore to Java and return,
but we remember that visit as one of the most delightful parts of
the trip. The ruined temple at Boro Boedoer, the delicious fruits,
the terraced hills, the far reaching rice fields and the shady
drives linger in one's memory.
To visit Ceylon, Burma and India requires a good deal of travel upon
the Bay of Bengal. We went to Ceylon, then back to Burma, then on to
Calcutta. Some go to Burma and then to India and return to Ceylon
from Bombay, but all three of these countries are interesting, and
one can hardly afford to pass by any of them. Burma is the home of
Buddhism, and one can learn more of the worship of Buddha here than
anywhere else. The yellow-robed priest with his begging-bowl is
everywhere present.
I have already discussed India and Egypt somewhat in detail, and no
traveler need be urged to visit these countries. Palestine, however,
is skipped by so many travelers that I may be pardoned a word of
advice. Of all the countries which we visited none interested us
more than the Holy Land, and no member of a Christian church can
afford to visit southern Europe or pass through the Suez canal
without seeing that portion of Asia which is immortalized by Bible
history. The ruins at Baalbek, in some respects the most remarkable
in the world, attract many to Beyrout, Damascus and the Lebanons,
but the Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem and the Jordan have lessons for
the tourist of far greater importance than can be derived from the
ruins of heathen temples.
If the reader lacks either time, inclination or means for a trip
around the world, he will find one of the shorter trips to Europe
only second in interest and value. The Mediterranean trip is a very
popular one. This, according to its length, permits a visit to
Gibraltar, Alexandria, Cairo, Palestine, Constantinople, Greece and
Italy. From Gibraltar it is a short trip to Granada, Cordova and
Madrid, and our own experience leads me to commend this trip to the
traveler. At Cairo and Constantinople the Orient comes nearest to
Europe and America, and the difference between the Orient and the
western world is so striking that no one visiting southern Europe
should miss the Nile and Bosphorus. One can spend weeks, and even
months, about the shores of the Mediterranean; Africa, Asia Minor
and Europe all touch upon this great inland sea. Without leaving its
shores one can study the most opposite types which the human race
has produced and at the same time study the history of the oldest
periods known to man. Egypt should be visited before the end of
March, while April is the best month for a trip to Palestine.
[Illustration: VESUVIUS AS SEEN FROM NAPLES.]
In Italy alone one could occupy a winter. Rome, the center of the
Catholic world and the home of the Cæsars, is a most fascinating
city. There are no mosaics like those of St. Peters and few
galleries equal those of the Vatican, while masterpieces of
sculptors and painters are to be found on every hand. The old Roman
forum is the Mecca of the student, and the Coliseum is still a
wonder, defying as it has the storms of nearly two thousand years.
At Naples one sees Vesuvius and lava beds formed but a few months
ago. At one place the stream of lava poured through an archway and
hardened as it cooled. When we were there the lava was like stone
and could with difficulty be broken. At Florence one sees the best
specimens of modern sculpture, and at Milan he visits one of the
most famous of the European cathedrals.
Venice is in a class by itself. No other city rivals it in
uniqueness. Its streets are canals, and gondolas are the vehicles in
which potentate, priest and plebeian ride. It draws visitors from
all over the world and sends them away, after a short visit, glad
that they came and equally glad to escape from the dampness of the
place.
If one desires a summer trip, he can find few journeys more
delightful than those through Switzerland and along the Rhine.
Lakes, rivers and mountains--these are to be found in abundance,
with cities enough to supply the population and hotels to
accommodate the the tourists. If one would combine pleasure with
instruction, he can profitably employ considerable time in visiting
the German universities at Heidelberg and Leipsic and the art
galleries at Dresden and Munich. The cathedral at Cologne, it may be
added, is by many preferred to the cathedral at Milan.
The northern portions of Europe are even more inviting to the
summer tourist than Switzerland or the Rhine. The lakes of Ireland
and Scotland and the seacoast resorts of England and Holland give
rest and recuperation to multitudes every year. If I were going to
suggest a summer trip, it would be as follows:
Leave New York early in June, land at Liverpool, cross over to
Newcastle and take a steamer for Bergen, Norway. A week can be spent
delightfully in the fjords and on the lakes in the neighborhood
of Bergen. Such a combination of deep water and rugged mountain
sides, rushing streams and crystal lakes is hard to find. Then let
the tourist proceed to Trondhjem, the ancient capital, where King
Haakon was recently crowned. From Trondhjem, the traveler can reach
the Arctic circle in a little more than a day. While a day's stay
is sufficient in the land of the midnight sun if the sky is clear,
it is better to allow one's self two or three days' leeway as it
is often cloudy in this latitude and at this time of the year. The
midnight sun must be seen to be appreciated. No description can
do it justice. To pass from day to day with no intervening night,
to watch the sun linger for a while in the north near the horizon
and then begin a new day's work without a moment's sleep gives one
a sensation not soon forgotten. A railroad across Norway brings
Christiania within a day's ride of Trondhjem, and from Christiania
to Stockholm is another day.
Stockholm is sure to charm the visitor. It is a beautiful town
beautifully situated; it stands where the waters of the lakes and
the ocean meet. Several days can be spent in Stockholm to advantage,
and then one is prepared for the boat ride to St. Petersburg, one of
the rarest experiences that one can find in travel. The boat wends
its way through islands almost the entire distance.
A week's stay in St. Petersburg will give an opportunity for an
inspection of the capital of the greatest of the nations measured
by territory, and one of the greatest measured by population. Here
one has a chance to learn something of the Greek Church with its
splendid cathedrals, rivaling the cathedrals of the Roman Catholic
Church. Moscow is even more distinctly Russian than St. Petersburg,
and the art gallery there surpasses the one at St. Petersburg in its
collection of the works of Russian artists. Tolstoy's summer home is
not far from Moscow, and many take advantage of the trip to see the
greatest of living philosophers.
The ride from St. Petersburg to Moscow and from Moscow to Warsaw
gives a very good view of the interior of Russia, and one can stop
off at most any place and learn something of the village life of the
Russian peasant. Several days can be occupied in Berlin, and other
points of interest can easily be reached from Germany's capital.
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is only half a day's ride
distant. Hanover, Hamburg, Brussels, Amsterdam and The Hague are
all within easy reach. In Germany one has an opportunity to learn
a great deal about forestry, agriculture and landscape gardening.
The parks, groves, shady drives and boulevards furnish the American
traveler with many suggestions while the battlefield of Waterloo and
the lowlands of Holland will ever be interesting to the student of
history.
The tour can be completed by a visit to Paris and London. The social
season in the latter ends early in August with the adjournment of
parliament. In three months' time one can make this northern trip
and return with a fund of information about the countries and their
peoples which could never be collected from books. It is not an
expensive trip even for first class travel, and the accommodations
furnished by the steamers and railroads for second class passengers
are such that one can reduce his expenses considerably without
discomfort.
But let me add, in conclusion, that one does not have to leave
America to find places of interest and that no one can justify a
trip abroad until he has become acquainted with his own country.
Europe has no summer resorts that surpass the cities on the
St. Lawrence, on our northern lakes and in the mountains of
the west. In America one can have every variety from salt-sea
bathing to mountain climbing, with fishing thrown in. In natural
scenery there is nothing in Europe which surpasses the Niagara,
Yellowstone Park, and the Yosemite Valley of California. There are
no agricultural views which surpass those in the valleys on the
Ohio, the Mississippi and the Missouri, and for a restful winter
trip Hawaii, Mexico and Cuba offer attractions that are unexcelled.
While the Western Hemisphere is not so old in its civilization,
the only advantage that the Orient and Europe can furnish is in
the variety of races, customs and religions. In natural scenery
America satisfies all expectations. Nothing but the Himalayas
offers more sublime heights, and the earth has no other chasm equal
to the Grand Canyon of Arizona. After one has seen the wonders of
America and the possibilities of its soil, its institutions and its
people, he can go abroad with the assurance that he will return,
more widely informed, it is true, but more intensely American than
before. There is no country like ours, whether it be measured by
the bountiful gifts of the Creator or by the works of man. In
all that goes to make a nation great materially, commercially,
intellectually, politically and morally, our country has no peer.
The American, returning to his own shores, feels like thanking Scott
for expressing so felicitously the traveler's sentiments:
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land;
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go, mark him well,
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim,--
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonor'd and unsung."