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DUE WEST
Or
Round the World in Ten Months
by
MATURIN M. BALLOU
Plus je vis l'etranger, plus j'aimai ma patrie.
DE BELLOY
Third Edition.
[Illustration: Logo]
Boston
Houghton, Mifflin and Company
New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1885
Copyright, 1884,
by Maturin M. Ballou.
All rights reserved.
Riverside, Cambridge:
Electrotyped and Printed by
H. O. Houghton and Company.
_I rather would entreat thy company
To see the wonders of the world abroad,
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness._--
Two Gentlemen of Verona.
PREFACE.
To circumnavigate the globe in our day is only a question of time and
money, the facilities being ample, and the inducements abundant.
Intelligently and successfully to consummate such a purpose is an
education in itself. The tourist will find all previous study enhanced
in value by ocular demonstration, which imparts life and warmth to the
cold facts of the chroniclers, besides which a vast store-house of
positive information is created which time cannot exhaust. Perhaps the
majority of travelers see only that which comes clearly before them; but
this they do most faithfully, being possessed of a stronger sense of
duty than of imagination. The clear, direct vision of such people has
its merit. There are others who both see and feel, to whom the simplest
object in its suggestiveness may be full of beauty. It is the latter who
pluck delightful mysteries out of travel; and who, after viewing nature,
it may be in her calmest moods, bring away with them upon the tablets of
memory a Claude Lorraine. The eyes will operate automatically, but it is
of little avail unless one exercises the observing power; then they
become luminous. You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some
with you, says Joubert. If the author succeeds in imparting to the
reader but a share of the great and varied pleasure he realized in the
ten months of travel herein recorded, his object in transcribing these
experiences will have been fully consummated.
M. M. B.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Synopsis of the Journey.--Crossing the Continent.--A Great
Midland City.--Utah and the Mormons.--The Sierra Nevada.--San
Francisco.--A Herd of Sea-Lions.--Possibilities
of California.--The Love of Flowers.--Public School
System.--Excursion to the Yosemite.--An Indian Stronghold.--Description
of the Valley.--Passage of the Mountains.--Caught
in a Snow-Storm.--A Forest of Feathers.--The
Mammoth Trees of California.--Passing the Golden Gate.--Voyage
across the Pacific.--A Lost Day 1
CHAPTER II.
Landing in Japan.--Characteristic Street Scenes.--Native Bazars.--Women
of Yokohama.--Excursion into the Country.--Visit
to Kamakura.--Peculiar Scenes on the Road.--A
Wonderful Bronze Statue.--Popular Religions of the Country.--The
Hakone Pass.--A Youthful Mother.--Native
Jugglers.--Temple of Shiba.--Review of the Soldiery.--Ludicrous
Sights.--A Native Fair at Tokio.--A Poor Japanese Woman's Prayer 30
CHAPTER III.
Foreign Influence in Japan.--Progress of the People.--Traveling
Inland.--Fertility of the Soil.--Grand Temples and
Shrines at Nikko.--The Left-Handed Artist.--Japanese Art.--City
of Kobe.--Kioto and its Temples.--Idol Worship.--Native
Amusements.--Morals in Japan.--Lake Biwa.--Osaka
on a Gala Day.--The Inland Sea.--Island of Pappenburg.--The
Tarpeian Rock of Japan.--Nagasaki.--Girls
Coaling a Ship.--National Products 55
CHAPTER IV.
Sail for Hong Kong.--Ocean Storms.--Sunset at Sea.--A
Water-Spout.--Arrival in China.--Typhoon Bay.--Manners
and Customs.--In and about Hong Kong.--Public Buildings.--Voyage
up the Pearl River.--City of Canton.--Strangest
of Strange Cities.--Opium Dens.--Temple of
Honan.--The Worship of Swine.--Praying with a Fan.--Local
Peculiarities.--Half Round the World.--Singapore.--A
Tiger Hunt.--Burial at Sea.--Penang.--The Wonderful Palm 81
CHAPTER V.
Sailing Due West.--The Indian Ocean.--Strange Sights at
Sea.--Island of Ceylon.--Singhalese Canoes.--Colombo.--A
Land of Slaves.--Native Town.--Singhalese Women.--Fantastic
Nurses.--Local Pictures.--Cinnamon Gardens.--Wild
Elephants.--Lavishness of Tropical Nature.--Curious
Birds and their Nests.--Ancient Kandy.--Temple of Maligawan.--Religious
Ceremonies.--Life of the Natives.--Inland
Scenery.--Fruits.--Precious Stones.--Coffee Plantations.--Great
Antiquity of Ceylon 125
CHAPTER VI.
Arrival in India.--Tuticorin.--Madura.--Bungalows.--Reptiles
and Insects.--Wonderful Pagoda.--Sacred Elephants.--Trichinopoly
and its Temples.--Bishop Heber.--Native
Silversmiths.--Tanjore.--The Rajah's Palace.--Pagoda and
an Immense Stone Idol.--Southern India.--City of Madras.--Want
of a Harbor.--In and about the Capital.--Voyage
through the Bay of Bengal.--The Hoogly River.--Political
Capital of India.--A Crazy King.--The Himalayas.--Sunset
and Sunrise at Darjeeling 150
CHAPTER VII.
From Calcutta to Benares.--Miles of Poppy Fields.--Ruined
Temples.--The Mecca of Hindostan.--Banks of the Sacred
Ganges.--Idolatry at its Height.--Monkey Temple.--The
Famous River Front of the Holy City.--Fanaticism.--Cremating
the Dead.--A Pestilential City.--Visit to a Native
Palace.--From Benares to Cawnpore.--A Beautiful Statue.--English
Rule in India.--Delhi.--The Mogul Dynasty.--Lahore.--Umritsar.--Agra.--
The Taj Mahal.--Royal Palace and Fort.--The Famous Pearl Mosque 187
CHAPTER VIII.
From Agra to Jeypore.--An Independent Province.--A Unique
Indian City.--Wild Animals.--Elephant Traveling.--Trapping
Tigers.--A Royal Palace.--The Harem.--Native Rule.--Wild
Monkeys and Peacocks.--Long Journey across Country.--Bombay.--The
Rival of Calcutta.--The Parsees.--Towers
of Silence.--Feeding the Vultures.--A Remarkable
Institution.--Island of Elephanta.--Street Jugglers.--Crossing
the Sea of Arabia.--The Southern Cross.--Aden.--Passage
up the Red Sea.--Landing at Suez.--Traveling in Egypt 223
CHAPTER IX.
Cairo and the Arabian Nights.--Street Scenes and Cries.--Camels
and Donkeys.--Turkish Bazars in Old Cairo.--Water-Carriers.--The
Pyramids of Gizeh.--The Sphinx.--Interesting
Visit to a Native House.--Mosque of Mehemet
Ali.--The Rotten Row of Cairo.--The Khedive's Palace.--Egyptian
Museum.--Mosque of Amer.--Whirling and Howling
Dervishes.--Suez Canal.--Ismailia and Port Said.--Island of
Malta.--City of Valetta.--Palace of the Knights.--Bird's-eye View 259
CHAPTER X.
Voyage through the Mediterranean.--Gibraltar on Sunday.--Beautiful
Alameda.--Visit to the Famous Fortress.--Wild
Monkeys.--Cannon and Flowers.--Tangier.--Morocco.--Straits
of Gibraltar.--A Moorish City of To-day.--Local
Scenes.--A Private Museum.--The Governor's Palace.--Rusty
Keys.--The Typical Moor.--The Slave Market.--Oriental
Tableaux.--Visit to Washington Mount.--A Cup
of Moorish Coffee.--From Gibraltar to Malaga.--Spain.--The
City of Raisins and Sweet Wine 288
CHAPTER XI.
From Malaga to Granada.--Military Escort--A Beautiful
Valley.--A Dream Realized in the Alhambra.--The Moor
in his Glory.--Tangible Poetry.--A Brief Legend.--The
Generalife.--The Moor's Seat.--The Home of the Gypsies.--A
Gold Bearing River.--A Beautiful Residence.--Early
Home of the Ex-Empress Eugenie.--City of Granada.--Spanish
Beggars.--The Remarkable Tomb of Ferdinand and
Isabella.--French Vandals.--The Cathedral.--Precious
Relic.--The Cartuja.--Love of Music 311
CHAPTER XII.
Granada to Cordova.--An Antique City.--The Guadalquivir.--Old
Roman Bridge.--The Grand Mosque-Cathedral of
Cordova.--Court of Orange-Trees.--Army of Beggars.--From
Cordova to Madrid.--Local Characteristics of the Capital.--The
Gate of the Sun.--The King and Queen in Public.--The
Royal Palace.--Spanish Ladies and Gentlemen.--The
Fan.--The Picture-Gallery of Madrid.--National Sport
of the Bull-Fight.--Cowardice!--Interesting Visit to the
City of Toledo.--The Escurial 331
CHAPTER XIII.
From Madrid to Burgos.--Through a Barren Country.--The
Cathedral of Burgos.--Monastery of Miraflores.--Local Pictures.--A
Spanish Inn.--Convent of Las Huelgas.--From Burgos to San
Sebastian.--Northern Spain.--A Spanish Watering
Place.--Bayonne.--Lower Pyrenees.--Biarritz.--A Basque
Postilion.--A Pleasant Drive.--On Leaving Spain.--Sunday and Balloons
at Bordeaux.--On to Paris.--Antwerp and its Art Treasures.--Embarking
for America.--End of the Long Journey 365
DUE WEST.
CHAPTER I.
Synopsis of the Journey.--Crossing the Continent.--A Great Midland
City.--Utah and the Mormons.--The Sierra Nevada.--San Francisco.--A
Herd of Sea-Lions.--Possibilities of California.--The Love of
Flowers.--Public School System.--Excursion to the Yosemite.--An
Indian Stronghold.--Description of the Valley.--Passage of the
Mountains.--Caught in a Snow-Storm.--A Forest of Feathers.--The
Mammoth Trees of California.--Passing the Golden Gate.--Voyage
across the Pacific.--A Lost Day.
On the morning of September 16, 1882, four individuals, two of whom were
ladies and two gentlemen, comparative strangers to each other, met at
the Fitchburg depot in Boston, drawn together by the common purpose of a
trip round the world. Adding the conductor, Mr. Gno. Dattari, an
intelligent and experienced courier, the little party numbered five
persons. The latter individual is attached to the traveling agency of
Thomas Cook & Son, London, the house undertaking, for the sum of two
thousand dollars each, to pay all transportation and board bills in
accordance with a very comprehensive itinerary. This embraced the
passage across the continent of America and the Pacific Ocean to Japan,
with a month of residence and travel in that country; thence to China
and up the Pearl River to Canton; a week in Hong Kong; a thousand-mile
voyage down the China Sea to the chief ports of the Malacca Straits;
across the Indian Ocean to the Island of Ceylon, with a week for
excursions therein; thence to India, with a liberal exploration of its
principal cities, including a visit to the Himalayas in the extreme
north; through the Sea of Arabia, the Straits of Babelmandeb, and the
Red Sea to Egypt, Cairo, and Alexandria; through the Suez Canal and the
Mediterranean to Italy, Malta, Gibraltar, France, and England. A
reasonable length of time was allowed for each section of the route,
including a voyage across the Atlantic to the starting-point.
Any divergence from the prescribed route was to be at an additional
charge, according to expenses incurred. The money was paid at the
outset, and the agreement on both sides fulfilled to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned. Thus much it has seemed well to premise
for the information of the reader who proposes to follow our course due
west, as presented in these pen-and-ink sketches of many lands. It
should also be mentioned that the season of the year had been
judiciously chosen, so as to bring us into each country at the most
favorable period for its healthful and agreeable enjoyment, a
calculation which is imperative for any one contemplating a journey of
this character. Otherwise, the intense heat of the tropics, as well as
the Arctic chills of the north, may render such a trip a hardship rather
than a season of pleasure.
The first day's experience served to acquaint the little party with each
other, and no possible association can effect this so rapidly as
traveling together, where individuals necessarily become inseparable,
and where fixed traits of character must inevitably exhibit themselves.
Mr. M---- and his daughter, as also the author of these notes, were
Bostonians; the fourth person being a Miss D----, of Yorkshire, England,
who came hither to make the long circuit of the globe. Even American
parlor-cars, which embrace as much of domestic comfort as is compatible
with their legitimate purpose, could not prevent our being somewhat
fatigued by an unbroken journey of over five hundred miles, when we
reached Niagara Falls at two o'clock in the morning. And yet the day
seemed short by reason of the varied and beautiful scenery of the Hoosac
Tunnel route, particularly in the region of the Deerfield Valley, and
also west of the Massachusetts state line. The abundant foliage was in
its autumnal prime, not yet having been touched by the wand of the Frost
King, while the teeming fields gave evidence both of fertility of soil
and skilled cultivation. The neat farm-houses were ornamented by
creeping vines, and tiny flower-gardens in their fronts. Tall conical
haystacks flanked the spacious, well-filled barns; big yellow pumpkins
dotted the half-cleared cornfields; and handsome groups of cattle
quietly ruminated in the pastures. A picturesque line of beehives, half
a dozen happy children at play before the house door, and the sturdy
master of the thrifty scene, leaning over the fence to exchange pleasant
words with a passing neighbor on horseback, were frequent rural
pictures, which were afterwards contrasted with those of other
countries.
A quiet Sabbath was passed at the Clifton House, on the Canada side,
where an excellent opportunity is afforded for viewing the falls in
their various aspects. It was a still, clear day, bright and sunny. A
column of vapor rose many hundred feet above the falls, white as snow
where it was absorbed into the skies, and iridescent at the base, which
was wreathed in ceaseless rainbows. A practical eye could not fail to
observe that a portion of the enormous force here running to waste has
been utilized by means of a canal, dug from a point above the falls to a
plateau two miles below them, whereby some large grist-mills and
paper-manufacturing establishments are operated with never-failing
power. The usual round of sightseeing was performed on the following
day. When we remember that there is conclusive evidence of these falls
having been at a former period fully six miles nearer to Lake Ontario,
and consequently that there is a daily though infinitesimal wear going
on, it leads one to speculate as to what will be the probable result
when the great falls shall have receded so far as to open, at one
terrific plunge, the eastern end of Lake Erie.
Another day and night in the cars over the Great Western and Michigan
Railroad brought us to Chicago. Fifty years ago only a scattered tribe
of the Pottawatomies inhabited this spot on the shore of Lake Michigan,
where is now located the most important capital of the Northwestern
States. The commercial growth of Chicago is the natural sequence of its
situation at the head of the great chain of lakes, which form a medium
of unequaled inland navigation, supplemented by a railroad system of
nearly a score of trunk lines which centre within its limits. A drive
about the town served to impress us with a due appreciation of its
business enterprise and rapid growth in all the departments of education
and of art, which characterize a prosperous American community;
especially was a spirit of intense activity observable, entering into
every element of trade and business. The private houses of wealthy
merchants adorn the environs, while Lincoln and South Park, lying on
either side of the city, rival anything of the kind in Europe or
America. Chicago is the natural centre of the grain trade of our
continent, and we had almost said of the food-supply of the world, a
statement exemplified in the fact that, during the last year, one
hundred and fifty millions of bushels of grain passed through its
elevators.
The next objective point was Salt Lake City, the distance being over
sixteen hundred miles, to accomplish which we passed four days and
nights in sleeping-cars. Two days' rest at this point afforded an
opportunity to look about us, and to gather some information touching
the singular people who make it their home. The capital of Utah, so well
chosen for its special purpose, was an unbroken wilderness forty years
ago, but can now boast a population of twenty-five thousand. Under the
hands of its present occupants, the whole surrounding valley has been
cultivated to a degree of fertility scarcely equaled by the same number
of square miles on the continent. The city proper is laid out in broad
streets intersecting each other at right angles, and which are bordered
with cottonwood trees, forming a pleasant shade; while in every gutter a
stream of water runs swiftly along, with a rippling sound, fresh from
the neighboring mountains. Great attention has evidently been paid to
sanitary matters, and everything looks neat and clean. The visible
marvel of the city is the great Mormon temple, or Tabernacle, a building
capable of holding and seating over twelve thousand people, the roof of
which is self-supporting, and is believed to be the largest one of its
character extant. The acoustic properties of this immense structure are
also remarkably perfect, which was proven to us by some curious
experiments. As to general effect, however, there is no more
architectural character to the Mormon Tabernacle than to a prairie dog's
hole. Its roof resembles nothing so much as a huge metallic dish cover,
forming an awkward and prominent feature of the city.
It is not within our province to discuss in detail the peculiar and
abhorrent domestic life of this people, no visible evidence of which
meets the eye of the casual visitor; though in scanning the features of
the large audience assembled in the Tabernacle on Sunday, the obvious
want of intelligence in the faces of the women, compared with the men,
was certainly striking. One seemed also to read a spirit of discontent
or of calloused resignation in some of the better female countenances.
Of the thrift, industry, and material success of this community there
can be but one opinion. An important statistical item occurs to us in
this connection which is highly significant. It appears that while
Colorado and Kansas spend each one dollar and a tenth, and Nebraska two
dollars and a tenth per head on the education of their school
population, Utah expends but nine-tenths of a dollar for the same
purpose. Upon inquiry it was discovered that polygamy did not at first
form any part of the faith of Mormonism. The originator of the creed,
Joseph Smith, never promulgated such doctrine, and possessed but one
wife. The "celestial marriage" humbug was first preached by Brigham
Young, in 1852, when he produced a document bearing the above title,
pretending that it was revealed to Joseph Smith a year before his death.
Smith's widow and son, both surviving, pronounced this to be a
falsehood, a pure invention, but Young was too strongly seated in his
chair of authority not to be able to carry his point. This "revelation"
was incorporated into the Mormon faith by a meeting of the assembled
deacons of the church, and has since become its most prominent feature.
Mormon missionaries seek proselytes mostly in Brittany, Scandinavia,
Denmark, and Wales, addressing themselves to the most ignorant classes.
These poor, half-starved creatures are helped pecuniarily to emigrate,
believing that they are coming to a land flowing with milk and honey. In
most cases any change with them would be for the better; and so the
ranks of Mormonism are numerically recruited, not from any religious
impulse in the new disciples, but through the simple desire to better
their physical condition in life. No portrait of Mormonism will prove to
be a true likeness which does not depict its twofold features, its
iniquity and its thrift. The conclusion forces itself upon the visitor
that railroads and contact with the world will gradually obliterate the
institution of polygamy.
Two days and one night of additional travel brought us to San Francisco,
a distance of six hundred miles. We passed through the grandest portion
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains between midnight and dawn, but the moon
was near its full, and the sky radiant with starlight; so that, by
placing seats upon the platform of the cars, a fine view of this
remarkable passage was obtained, characterized by deep canyons, wild
gorges, lofty wooded peaks, and precipitous declivities, under a most
impressive aspect. A few specimens of native Indians were seen at Salt
Lake City, who had come in from the hills to purchase trifles; but after
leaving Ogden more or less of the Shoshones and Piute tribes were to be
seen lounging in picturesque groups at nearly every railroad station. A
few also traveled with us short distances in the baggage car, which is
made free to them. The men were dirty, uncouth specimens of humanity,
besmeared with yellow ochre and vermilion, dressed in red blankets, and
bearing a hatchet in their hands, their only visible weapon. The women
were dressed in tawdry colors,--striped government blankets and red
flannel leggins, with a profusion of colored beads about their necks,
and cheap jewelry on fingers and wrists; each one with an infant
strapped in a flat basket to her back. They did not beg ostensibly, but
were ready to receive trinkets, tobacco, pennies, or food. The women
were very uncleanly in their appearance, their coarse long hair entirely
uncared for, but they were good-natured and smiling, while the men wore
a morose and frowning expression upon their countenances. War, whiskey,
and exposure are gradually but surely blotting out the aborigines.
We were thus, without any special haste, but twelve days in crossing the
American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on about the
fortieth parallel of latitude, the trip having afforded us much quiet
enjoyment and a great variety of bold and beautiful scenery, too near
home and too familiar to our readers to dilate upon in these pages.
San Francisco, with its population of three hundred thousand, is a city
of great commercial wealth, much architectural pretension, and
progressive ideas, affording the traveler the best and cheapest hotel
accommodations in the world. As is well known, it owes its early impetus
to the discovery of gold in 1848, but the product of the precious metal
has long since been exceeded more than tenfold in intrinsic value by the
agricultural development of the great Pacific region, which finds its
shipping point through the Golden Gate. Though California still produces
and sends out into the world at large an average of two millions of gold
each month, still the shining ore is but a secondary consideration in
her productiveness, and is also surpassed by her export of wine and
fruit. Men who came here with the gold fever, between twenty and thirty
years ago, gradually recovered from their unwholesome Aladdin-like
dreams, and settled down to reap from agriculture and legitimate
business surer and more permanent fortunes. The population which sought
its gains in wild and lawless adventure, characterized by all the
objectionable features of rude pioneer life, has gradually given place
to one of a more stable nature, governed by a respect for the laws and
the wise conventionalities of society. There lies a brilliant future
before this section of the country, which in grand possibilities defies
calculation; it has passed through its baptism of fire, and, let it be
hoped, has burned out the dross which is incident to the too rapid
growth of large communities.
The territorial importance of California will be most readily presented
by a statement of the facts that, if it lay on the Atlantic shore, it
would extend from Massachusetts to South Carolina; that it is about five
times as large as the combined New England States; and that it
absolutely teems with gardens, vineyards, orange, apple, pear, and peach
orchards, and vast grain fields. The climate presents most of the
advantages of the tropics, with few of the drawbacks. Hot-houses for
delicate plants are hardly needed in winter, and the fan-palm flourishes
as it does at Singapore.
A visit to that part of San Francisco known as China Town revealed the
fact that twenty thousand Chinese were here living in tenements which
would be insufficient for three or four thousand Americans. They are
clearly actuated by the same purpose as that indicated by the motto of
the home Spaniard who leaves Madrid for Cuba: "Seven years of starvation
and a fortune." The Chinaman hoards nearly all he receives, and in four
or five years can return to his native land with a sum of money which,
to him, is an assured independence. They are extremely unpopular with
the citizens of all classes, and not without some good reasons, being
naturally a filthy race, and in many ways specially offensive. It must
not be understood that there are only Chinese washermen, laborers, and
artisans in the city; there are also responsible merchants, brokers, and
manufacturers belonging to that nationality, wielding considerable
influence, both among their own people and the citizens at large. Every
street in China Town has its joss-house or temple, and however low these
Mongols are as a race, they never fail to give heed to their professed
religion and its various forms. It is also a fact that crime is less
frequent in China Town than it is in other parts of the city; and
drunkenness, except insensibility from opium, is scarcely known among
the Chinese in California.
Driving in and about the city, one is impressed by the manifest love of
flowers exhibited in the front yards of the dwelling-houses, and in the
pleasant gardens attached to suburban villas, as well as by the blooming
plants displayed on the window-sills of the homes of all classes. The
admirably chosen spot for a cemetery, on the rising ground behind the
city, is also finely ornamented with choice trees and flowering shrubs,
among which are pines, cypresses, Australian gum trees (evergreen),
mimosas, and many other blooming plants, well arranged for good effect.
The scarlet geranium here grows six and eight feet high, producing with
its brilliant bloom a dazzling effect. The same drive which conducts to
the cemetery, a little further on brought us to a most delightful public
garden and park combined. Here were broad roads, as smooth and perfect
as roads can be made; footpaths leading into inviting groves, beautiful
lawns relieved by groups of graceful trees, lakes, and fountains, with
several large ornamental conservatories for the most delicate exotics.
The whole formed an exposition of landscape gardening of which any city
might be proud.
A couple of miles beyond this noble park brought us to the Cliff House,
a favorite resort of the people, situated on a high bluff of the Pacific
coast and affording an ocean view only limited by the powers of the
human vision. Looking due west, no land intervenes between this shore
and the far-off coast of Japan, a distance of five thousand miles, which
we were destined soon to traverse. Two hundred yards off the shore, just
opposite the Cliff, a large rock rises from the sea some hundred feet or
more, upon which scores of sea-lions come out of the water at all hours
of the day to sun themselves, affording a very peculiar and amusing
sight. They are of all sizes, weighing from fifty to one thousand
pounds, some of the old ones even exceeding this estimate, yet
possessing a muscular power which enables them easily to climb the rough
side of the precipitous rock. The half roar, half bark of the herd comes
with harsh discordance upon the ear of the listener at the Cliff. The
law of the State protects these sea-lions from all sorts of molestation;
so here they quarrel among themselves furiously, suckle their young,
tumble into the sea, and thrive and multiply.
In many respects San Francisco resembles a New England capital,--a very
natural result when we remember that a large percentage of her people
are natives of these Eastern States. She has copied the Boston school
system almost exactly, and there are few of our oldest cities so well
organized in this department of progress, though the city is but little
over twenty years of age, dating from the time when she first came
prominently into public notice. Girls and boys are not only afforded the
most excellent educational advantages, but a spirit of emulation is
successfully fostered among them, especially encouraging to the
observant visitor. There is a high school for boys and one for girls,
also a Normal school for the education of teachers. San Francisco has
from the outset established a fixed reputation, by employing and
liberally compensating the best pulpit talent to be had in the country.
Finding that the steamship in which we were to sail for Japan would be
detained for the period of ten days, it was resolved to improve the time
by a visit to the Yosemite Valley, involving a journey, in the round
trip, of over six hundred miles, a large portion of which is performed
by coach. The time, trouble, and expense were, however, abundantly
repaid by the experience gained among the wonderful developments of
nature, as exhibited in Alpine scenery and the grandeur of forests which
produce giant trees over three hundred feet in height and forty in
diameter, and which are proven to be over thirteen centuries old. The
cars took us to Madeira, a frontier station to which the broad grain
fields of California already extend. From here, early next morning, we
took a four-horse covered wagon to Coarse Gold Gulch to dine, and here
we passed the night on our return, it being a ranch kept by a worthy
German family. Though the accommodations were rather crude, ample
satisfaction was assured by the cheerful service rendered and the
cleanliness which characterized everything.
We reached Clark's Hotel, located at the foot of the mountains where the
abrupt ascent begins, on the evening of the second day after leaving San
Francisco. Early the next morning the journey was renewed, six horses
now taking the place of four, which number, with frequent changes, had
been quite sufficient on the previous day. The driver who now took us in
charge was a large, fine specimen of the mulatto race, and certainly a
very excellent whip, steady, and as strong as a Hercules. There are few
positions which require more skill and vigilance than to safely drive a
team of six horses and a coach full of passengers by the precipitous,
winding road over the mountains intervening between Clark's and the
level of the valley, to enter which a rise of over seven thousand feet
must be achieved. Scarcely had we fairly commenced the upward climb,
when it was observed that we had left all signs of human habitation
behind; and soon even fences disappeared, except about the coach
company's ranches, where we stopped to change horses, in groves of sugar
pine and yellow pine trees of great size and beauty. Here we were
literally surrounded by Nature, which some quaint writer denominates
God's Old Testament.
An austere and almost mournful air of loneliness surrounded us, as we
crept higher and higher towards that ethereal blue canopy which hung
over the loftiest peaks. All was silence save the rumbling noise of our
conveyance; and when, as was the case at a sudden angle of the winding
road, a large black bear was seen coolly sitting on his haunches, with
listless hanging paws, looking at the stage and its contents, it did not
seem at all strange, but quite in keeping with the solitary
surroundings, though some of our horses did exhibit a little
restlessness. The pistol-like crack of the driver's whip was an
intimation to Bruin which he understood, for he slowly dropped into the
thick brush and rolled awkwardly away from the roadside. The eye was
never weary in detecting the natural architecture of the mountain
acclivities, which, in the constantly varying scenery, formed
amphitheatres like old Roman circuses, and now square battlemented
crags, like crumbling castles on the Rhine, and again a deep, shady
ravine of unknown depth, where lonely mist-wreaths rested like
snowdrifts. In the far background were cliffs like oriental minarets,
and balled rocks capped like the dome of St. Peter's.
There were often seen nestling beside the road, struggling for a
precarious existence, frail wild flowers of delicate shades, surrounded
by vigorous ferns and creeping vines, showing that Nature has her poetic
moods even among these deserted regions. Now we came upon a crystal
stream of water, winding and fretting over a narrow bed of rocks on the
mountain side, sparkling in the sunshine, as it formed tiny cascades,
until presently it lost itself by an artificial culvert under the
roadway; but even then it could be heard leaping and tumbling down the
deep abyss on the other side. The horses were familiar with the road,
and had confidence in the stout hand that guided them, or they would not
have gone on at such a quiet, unconcerned, uniform gait, close beside
abrupt gorges that would have destroyed us all as instantly as a stroke
of lightning, were the wheels to diverge but a few inches from the
track.
It was interesting to observe the species of trees which characterized
the several elevations. At one thousand feet nut pines and oaks mingled
gracefully together, but at another thousand gradually disappeared,
giving place to the lofty yellow pines, added to which the sugar pine
was found at three thousand feet, that in turn dying out at seven
thousand feet. Next came the spruce, superbly developed, growing to a
height of two hundred feet; then the white pine, the silver fir, and the
arbor vitae, all thriving luxuriously after their kind. Birds almost
entirely disappeared at these altitudes, preferring the more genial
warmth and life of the plains; but now and then an eagle, with broad
spread pinions, swooped gracefully from the top of some lonely pine, and
sailed, without a flutter of his wings, far away across the depth of the
valley, and was soon lost to sight by the winding of the gorge. Even the
presence of this proud and peculiar bird but emphasized the loneliness
of these silent heights.
After hours of upward struggle the crowning point was reached. The
driver remarked, with a flourish of his whip: "It's all down hill from
here;" soon after which we emerged from the forest road and came to the
open plateau known to tourists as Inspiration Point. Here the first
comprehensive view of the valley is obtained. We paused briefly to
behold and to realize, as far as possible, such a scene as might never
again be afforded us. Though we were now at an elevation of over seven
thousand feet above the plains, the Yosemite Valley itself, from this
point, was but about three thousand five hundred feet below us, into
which we gazed with uninterrupted view. Running nearly due east and
west, it looked small and circumscribed from this great height, but was
really a gorge of about eight miles in length by two miles in width. On
either side rose vertical cliffs of granite, varying from four to five
thousand feet in height, the lofty gorges here and there discharging
waterfalls of transparent beauty.
The precipitous mountains which wall in the valley are composed of
seventeen distinctive formations, the loftiest of which is Mount Starr
King, 5,600 feet in height; but the Three Brothers, with an average
height of less than 4,000 feet, and Sentinel Dome, 4,500 feet, are quite
as prominent, so far as the ordinary power of vision goes; while El
Capitan, which is but 3,300 feet high, seems, from its special position,
more striking and effective than the other three. From the gorges above
and between the precipitous cliffs, eleven falls, of greater or less
magnitude, come tumbling into the valley, the loftiest of which is
Sentinel Fall, 3,000 feet high. To our taste, the fall known as the
Bridal Veil was the finest of them all in effect, though but a little
over 600 feet in height, or say four times as high as Niagara. The lofty
Yosemite Fall, over 2,600 feet, can be seen from the piazza of the hotel
to good effect, where one can sit and watch the current of air, which
sweeps up the valley, play fantastic tricks with the broad glittering
sheet of flying water. No pen can adequately describe this scene, and no
American who can possibly do so should fail to visit the spot. The
abundant moisture of the locality and the vertical rays of the sun
carpet the valley with a bright and uniform verdure, through the midst
of which winds the swift flowing Merced River, altogether forming a
scene of most entrancing beauty.
It was not until so late as 1851 that the feet of a white man ever trod
the valley, which for years had proven the secure hiding-place of
marauding Indians. In their early battles with the savages, the whites
were often nonplussed by the sudden disappearance of their foes, who
left no trace behind them, on which occasions, as was afterwards
discovered, they fled to the nearly inaccessible Yosemite Valley.
Betrayed at last by a treacherous Indian, the tribe was here surprised
and nearly all destroyed; the few remaining warriors were only too glad
to make terms at any sacrifice. The name Yosemite, in the native tongue,
signifies "Great Grizzly Bear." There are few residents in the valley,
except those connected with the stages that run hither during the summer
months, and with the hotel kept for the accommodation of visitors. The
vegetation is remarkable for its profuseness and almost tropical
luxuriance. A few domestic cattle find rich browsing and good winter
quarters, but provisions must be laid in before the fall is over, the
place being inaccessible in winter.
Our last view, on leaving the valley, was at the sheet of water already
mentioned as the Bridal Veil, falling from such an immense height that
it becomes in its course gauze-like, almost as thin as lace in
appearance, notwithstanding its large body, which is evident enough when
it reaches the rocky bed and joins the Merced, not far away. Around the
base of the cliffs, promoted by the constant moisture, there was an
abundant growth of vegetation and especially of ferns, of such size and
variety as is seldom seen out of the tropics. An encampment of native
Indians was located on the river's bank, under the shade of a grove of
trees, adding to the picturesqueness of the scene during our visit. The
fish and forest game close at hand afforded these aborigines ample food,
besides which they had stored for winter use the acorn crop about them,
which when ground makes good bread. They were sad looking creatures, far
worse than the Spanish gypsies we afterwards saw in Andalusia. The
Merced River, which winds through the valley, rises some twenty miles
away towards the north, fed by the Yosemite Fall, a cataract unsurpassed
in height by any other upon the globe. The vertical height of the fall
is set down at 2,550 feet, though it is not composed of one
perpendicular sheet of water. The reader will remember that the lands
coming under the general term of the Yosemite Valley have been ceded by
the National Government to the State of California, to be kept in its
present wild and natural condition for all time. It must not be
considered anticipatory, in the course of these notes, to say that in
no other part of the world have we seen the natural beauty and grandeur
of the Yosemite Valley surpassed.
When we commenced our return from the valley, early in the morning,
heavy clouds hung over the mountain tops, but there was no other
indication of bad weather; so we started off and struggled upwards with
a stout team of six horses, the gentlemen walking to lighten the load
and expedite the ascent. At the close of the first hour's progress a
chilliness in the atmosphere called for extra clothing for those who
remained in the coach, and presently a thin mist enshrouded us, cutting
off all distant view. Up, up we plodded, steadily but slowly, until the
mist turned to rain and then to hail, sharp and cutting. By the time we
had reached Inspiration Point we were in the midst of a lively
snow-storm. This was not only disagreeable, but dangerous, as it
rendered the road slippery and obliterated the wheel tracks; unless
these were carefully adhered to, we might at any moment be launched into
the ever-threatening abyss. It was late in the season to attempt the
passage, and our party was cautioned as to the risk which was connected
with the expedition. The regular stages having been taken off for the
season, ours was an extra, improvised for the occasion. Suddenly it
began to grow lighter; the dark clouds, like the Arabs, folded their
tents, and silently stole away. The sun, the warm, bright, morning sun,
shone forth in marvelous splendor.
What a scene then burst upon our vision!
Pine, and fir, and tall spruce, every tree and shrub, in place of
leaves, had assumed a dress of milk white feathers. How dazzling it was.
The eye could hardly bear the strong reflected light. A forest of
feathers! We had never seen this effect in such perfection before. And
now the sun, kissing these feathery sprays with warmth and burning
ardor, made them blush rosy red, like the cheeks of a young maiden
pressed by amorous lips. The feathery robe of the branches was as frail
as false modesty, and melted away like good resolutions under strong
temptation, so that in half an hour the snow had entirely disappeared
wherever the sun had discovered and visited it. The deep green of the
uncovered foliage only sparkled with the dewy moisture that was left, as
though dropping tears of shame at being thus denuded of their gauzy
veil. Never shall we forget the varied and beautiful appearance of the
foliage under these rapid changes. It was like a theatrical exhibition,
where a nearly transparent scene dissolves before the eyes of the
audience. The sky, before so dark and brooding, was now all smiles; the
sun, after its dalliance with the foliage, seemed to have taken new
life; and the atmosphere even became clear and transparent, as it had
hardly been when we came up the other side of the mountain to enter the
valley.
For a brief time the views were grand and far-reaching as we sped
rapidly on our way, descending towards the plain. Undoubtedly it was
safe enough, since accidents seldom happen; but it looked a little
careless, to one not accustomed to the road, to come down its narrow
winding course, just clearing such frightful chasms, drawn by a team of
six horses at the full gallop. By degrees the weather changed again into
a sombre mood; the clouds gathered in close array, and began to pelt us,
first with hailstones, but, having apparently soon exhausted the
supply, were content to soak us with a deluge of water. But we only
laughed at this, for had we not accomplished the Yosemite in spite of
prognostications to the contrary, and the assurance that it was too late
in the season to attempt it? We were rejoiced now that we had not heeded
the stories about people who had, in former seasons, been "snowed in"
for weeks. It was nearly night when we reached Clark's, and we were in
just the condition to appreciate the big fireplace of the sitting-room
piled with unsawed cordwood, by which we dried our dripping clothes and
rehearsed our experiences.
It not only rained that night, but it poured so that on the following
morning, when we started for the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees, twelve
miles off our regular route, the query arose whether a boat or a wheeled
vehicle was the best conveyance for the purpose. We will not attempt to
give a detailed account of what has been so often and so well described.
Suffice it to say we visited the locality famous for its forest
monarchs, in a quiet glade, thousands of feet up the slopes of the
Sierra, and viewed those marvels with none the less interest because we
were already familiar with their actual measurement. Our entire team,
stage, driver, passengers, and horses, passed through the upright hollow
trunk of one of the mammoth trees, which, though sufficiently decayed to
admit of this, was still possessed of such vitality as to cause it to
bear leaves to the topmost branches, three hundred feet above the
ground. Our attention was called to the curious fact, that although
these are the largest known trees in the world, yet their cones are no
bigger than walnuts, and their seeds hardly a quarter of an inch in
length. There are trees lying upon the ground in the immediate
neighborhood, thrown down by tempests, which are believed to have been
growing on the spot long before Christ first came upon earth, and others
which are satisfactorily proven to have had thirteen hundred years'
growth, by their clearly defined annual rings. How immense must have
been the power required to uproot the huge trunks that lie here and
there, like prostrate giants fallen in a confused fight. There are
others, white with age, and bearing no leaves, but which still firmly
retain their upright position, with outstretched skeleton arms defying
the tempest.
We embarked on board the steamship Belgic, of the Occidental and
Oriental line, from San Francisco, October 10, in a heavy rain storm,
amid the usual bustle and commotion attendant upon the departure of a
large passenger ship for a long voyage. Everything looked very cold,
very dreary, and very damp, causing our spirits to partake of the same
nature, when we realized that for three weeks or more this was to be our
floating home. With space so circumscribed, ventilation was inadequate,
and the cook's galley pungent. Finally the United States mail was passed
on deck, the last loiterer was on board, the gangway was hauled on to
the wharf by the stevedores; the engine gave three distressing whistles,
not clear and sharp, but asthmatic ones, as though not having clearly
made up its mind to whistle at all; the pilot took his station on the
bridge, and the screw began to revolve. The bow-line was let go, so that
the ship might swing by her stern hawser well clear of the wharf, then
the order to let go the stern line was shouted, and we had literally
bidden good-by to America for many a long month.
Presently, when we passed through the narrow strait known as the Golden
Gate, and laid our course westward, we began to realize that five
thousand miles of ocean flowed between us and the shore towards which we
were steering. One is apt to have some serious reflections on such an
occasion. What lay before us in the many thousand miles of land and
ocean travel? What perils and experiences were to be encountered? Who
could say that we should all, or indeed any of us, live to return to our
several homes? At San Francisco our company was augmented by the
addition of an Englishman, Mr. D----, of London, a stranger to us, but
who came thither to join the party, making our number six in all.
Hundreds of large white sea-gulls hovered over and about the ship, as we
lay our course due west. The harbor of Sail Francisco swarms with these
marine birds, and a score of them followed the ship after the pilot left
us. As we were watching them, an officer of the Belgic remarked: "They
will follow us across the Pacific;" and certainly that number of
sea-gulls actually appeared to do so, though whether they were always
the same birds, it would be impossible to say. The flight of a sea-gull
at times exceeds twenty miles an hour, while the Belgic, at her maximum
speed, scarcely exceeded half that; and thus these swift-winged
creatures often flew far ahead of the ship, but soon settled back again
to watch our wake, from whence they got their food supply.
There were twenty-five cabin passengers, and about three hundred Chinese
in the steerage. The latter were returning home after some years of
labor and saving in this country, for few if any of them emigrate except
with a fixed purpose of returning to the Celestial Empire sooner or
later. The purser of the ship informed us that there was not one of them
who had not at least a thousand dollars in specie with him, and many had
three times that amount, which would be sufficient to support them for
life and without labor in their native land. The same authority assured
us that it did not cost over ten cents a day each to feed these men,
they being quite content with boiled rice, three times a day, seasoned
with a little dried fish or curry. Their passage money costs them
forty-five dollars each, including food, so there is a liberal margin
for profit to the ship. A careful estimate was made which showed that
these passengers were taking out of the country over half a million of
dollars in specie, though they had landed on our shores without a dollar
in their pockets, and the number returning by the Belgic was below the
general average. This proved the complaint of the people of San
Francisco to be correct so far as figures went, namely, that the Chinese
came to take away what they earned, and that they do not spend any of
their wages in this country, living on almost nothing and hoarding what
they receive. Still, there is another side to this case. We must
remember that they leave behind them the result of their labor at least,
which in fact represents just so much capital. It is Chinese labor which
has built the railroads of California, dug her canals, forwarded her
public works, erected the houses of San Francisco, discharged and loaded
her shipping, until she has grown up to her present high position in the
political and commercial world.
Six of our cabin passengers were missionaries, four ladies and two
gentlemen, bound to Japan and China; the rest were travelers intent upon
business or pleasure. Of these some were seriously prostrated by
seasickness, and especially the ladies; but this finally passed away,
the greatest sufferers being exempt from it during the last half of the
voyage. The inevitable monotony of our daily life was somewhat
oppressive, there being few events to vary it. Occasionally a whale was
sighted, throwing up a small column of water, as it rose at intervals to
the surface, and thus marking its course, leading the passengers to some
discussion as to the nature of this monster of the deep, whether it was
properly a fish at all. A whale can be as surely drowned in the water as
a man, but this cannot be said of a fish. A whale differs also in many
other respects from the finny tribe proper. They bring forth living
young, they breathe atmospheric air through their lungs, in place of
water through the gills, having a double heart and warm blood, like land
animals. Their blow-holes on the top of the head answer to the nostrils
of terrestrial animals. Many of these simple facts were quite new to
some of our intelligent companions.
Flying-fish were frequently seen, queer little creatures with the nature
of a fish and the ambition of a bird. Dolphins sometimes played round
the ship for hours together, and a few hideous man-eating sharks kept in
our wake day after day, as if they hoped for a stray victim to tumble
from the decks and appease their cannibal appetites. The sea-gulls,
already mentioned, with tireless pinions followed the ship thousands of
miles to pick up the refuse from the cook's galley,--the mystery being
how they could sustain such continuous flight, for though they were seen
to light upon the water it was but for a moment, and they did not fail
to keep up with the Belgic in her steady headway. Save the objects
named there was nothing to engage the eye except the endless expanse of
waters, which seemed to typify infinite space. Our course did not lie in
the track of commerce, nor did we sight ship or land from the hour we
sank the shores of America until just three weeks later, when the
picturesque coast-line of Japan appeared upon the horizon. It was a
voyage of storms and calms combined, sometimes the ocean for days being
like a small inland lake, and then again in its rage tossing our ship
about as though she were a mere fishing skiff,--the waves often making a
clean breach over the hull, thoroughly drenching everything and
everybody who happened to be on deck.
Persons who have only witnessed a storm in narrow seas, or near the
coast, would be surprised to realize the difference in the waves on the
broad Pacific. The short, chopping sea is changed into long, heavy
swells, covering the expanse of waters with vast parallels separated by
deep valleys, the distance from crest to crest being from one hundred
and fifty to two hundred feet, when a heavy gale prevails. The height of
the waves is measured from the trough to the crest, and is of course
conjecture, but in a continuous storm which we realized on board the
Belgic was certainly some thirty feet. One aspect was to us an unsolved
problem: the storm being on our starboard quarter was so nearly aft as
to give us some idea of the velocity of the waves, which was clearly
much greater than that of the ship's progress, and yet they increased
the speed of the Belgic scarcely at all. That is to say, these waves
exercised little if any propelling force, but seemed to pass under our
keel, causing the hull to pitch and roll so that it was quite
impossible to stand without holding on to some substantial fixture. Old
George Herbert, in his quaint way, advises people to praise the sea, but
to keep on dry land.
Life on shipboard, as has been intimated, becomes a little trying after
a week or ten days' experience. Tedium and monotony have a tendency to
bring out the less amiable characteristics of passengers who are thus
crowded together under peculiar circumstances. Even the most equable
disposition is liable sometimes to exhibit weakness. Where there are
many passengers thorough agreement becomes hardly possible. Hasty
confidences and abrupt prejudices are both the outgrowth of such
enforced association. Reading is a great and intelligent resort at sea,
but do not let the student flatter himself that he will find time and
opportunity for study. Sea-life is antagonistic to such an idea, and the
best resolves in that direction will end in idleness and disappointment.
The crew, the waiters, and the cooks of the Belgic were all Chinamen,
and it must be admitted that in each capacity the service rendered was
excellent. It seems to be generally acknowledged that when a Chinaman
knows what is required of him, he will faithfully perform the duty, and,
entirely unlike most employees, does not need the watchful eye of a
master constantly over him. The ship was well officered by Englishmen,
was scrupulously neat and clean; there was no loud talk or reiterated
orders in its management; the effective arm of discipline was felt but
not seen. To observe the Chinese passengers was a source of some
amusement. In fine weather they crowded the forward and lower deck aft,
not being permitted to infringe upon the cabin-passengers' deck. They
squatted in picturesque groups round the hatchways much of the time,
playing cards and dominoes for very small stakes of money. John is by
nature a gambler, and cannot resist its fascination. The dull noxious
smell that permeated their quarters at all times, in spite of enforced
ventilation and the well-observed rules of the ship, was often wafted
unpleasantly towards our cabins and deck, telling a significant story of
the opium-pipe, and a certain uncleanliness of person peculiar to
Africans and Mongolians. When the sea became rough and the ship labored
with the storm, a visible anxiety was depicted on the Mongol faces as
they gathered in groups and gave up all attempts at amusement. On such
occasions they prepared pieces of joss-paper, bearing some Chinese
characters, and cast them overboard to appease the presumed anger of the
special gods who control the sea.
As we were losing one hour in each fifteen degrees of our course, or, to
state it perhaps more clearly, in each thousand miles of progress
westward, when half round the world from Greenwich twelve hours would be
lost. It is therefore customary to drop a day in mid-ocean, which we did
on crossing the hundred and eightieth degree of longitude west and east
of Greenwich. When the traveler shall have reached Greenwich again on
this course, the remaining twelve hours will be exhausted, and his time
will agree with that of the starting-point. During the voyage two of the
Chinese passengers died, and were embalmed by the surgeon of the ship.
It is a conviction of these people that their soul cannot rest in peace
unless their ashes be buried in their native land. When a Chinaman dies
in a foreign country, sooner or later his remains are carried home for
interment. If only the bones are left, they are finally dug up and thus
disposed of by surviving friends. This sort of cargo has formed no small
source of profit to ships sailing west from San Francisco, bones and
bodies being shipped like merchandise.
As we crept slowly at half speed into the harbor of Yokohama, among the
merchant shipping, surrounded by a myriad of little shore-boats,
steering in and out through the Russian, English, and Japanese
men-of-war, the twilight was gradually approaching; and when we rounded
to, three hundred yards from the shore, under the lee of the United
States sloop-of-war Richmond and let go our anchor, she fired her
evening gun. At the same moment her band, in recognition of the flag
that floated from our topmast head, as we carried the American mail,
poured forth the strains of the "Star-Spangled Banner" with a thrilling
spirit which caused a quick and hearty cheer fore and aft the Belgic.
Perhaps it is necessary for one to be thousands of miles from home, and
to have just arrived in a foreign port from a long sea voyage, to fully
appreciate this little incident.