AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN MONTHS
BY CHARLES J. GILLIS
Printed for Private Distribution
COPYRIGHT, 1891 BY CHARLES J. GILLIS
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
Printed and Bound by G. P. Putnam's Sons
With the Compliments of the Author
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--YOKOHAMA 1
II.--YOKOHAMA 8
III.--TOKIO 14
IV.--NIKKO 19
V.--MIYNOSKITA 22
VI.--KOBÉ 27
VII.--OSAKA 31
VIII.--HONG-KONG 33
IX.--CANTON 39
X.--HONG-KONG 46
XI.--SINGAPORE 51
XII.--ON BOARD THE "KAISAR-I-HAND" 57
XIII.--COLOMBO 61
XIV.--NEWAVA ELIYA 66
XV.--ON BOARD THE "ROHILLA" 70
XVI.--CALCUTTA 76
XVII.--DARJEELING 81
XVIII.--BENARES 85
XIX.--LUCKNOW 90
XX.--CAWNPORE 93
XXI.--AGRA 95
XXII.--DELHI 99
XXIII.--JEYPORE 105
XXIV.--BOMBAY 111
XXV.--ON BOARD THE "KHEDIVE" 115
XXVI.--THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL 119
XXVII.--CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS 123
XXVIII.--JAFFA 132
XXIX.--RAMLEH 134
XXX.--JERUSALEM 136
XXXI.--JAFFA 140
XXXII.--ON BOARD THE "POCCIR" 142
XXXIII.--CONSTANTINOPLE 147
XXXIV.--CONCLUSION 154
DISTANCES TRAVELLED 158
AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN MONTHS.
CHAPTER I.
YOKOHAMA.
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN, Oct. 10, 1889.
At 9.50 A.M., on the morning of the 8th of September I went aboard the
vestibule train of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, at
Forty-second Street, New York; and having travelled on the principal
railroads around the world, I can truly say that no train which has ever
carried me has approached this one in luxurious ease, comfort, and
safety. The train rolled into the Chicago depot at 9.50 the next
morning--exactly twenty-four hours. I was detained in Chicago for two
days, and then left by the Rock Island route for San Francisco.
At Ogden, we were detained two days by the burning of a bridge built
over a ravine--one hundred feet long and about the same height. The
fire destroyed the massive snow-sheds and great trees for a long
distance. The fire took place Friday. Telegrams were sent to Sacramento,
and the next day word came that twenty-one car loads of material had
been sent with mechanics to erect a new bridge.
The new bridge was erected in four days. Our train was the first to pass
over it, and I remarked how substantially the new erection had been
constructed. We reached the summit at noon, and the Palace Hotel, San
Francisco, at midnight.
On the 21st of September we went aboard the steamer _Rio-de-Janeiro_,
built for the southern trade--370 feet long, 38 feet wide, 3,500
tons--six tubular boilers, each 13 feet diameter, 10-1/2 feet long. I
remarked what heavy consumers of coal such shaped boilers must be, and
the engineer said there was no room to put in any other kind.
I found myself the sole occupant of a large and well ventilated
state-room. At 3 P.M., Captain Ward, standing on the bridge, gave the
signal, and the voice of an officer sang out, "All ashore that's going."
Several hundreds of Chinese men and a dozen women, in showy dresses,
crowded the wharf. The friends of the missionaries on the wharf sang a
parting hymn. The big propeller started. A tug pulled the ship's bow
around, and away we went on our voyage of 4,700 miles across the
Pacific. We passed the Golden Gate and the Seal Islands--covered with
huge seals--and then on towards our destination.
I soon made the acquaintance of most of the passengers, forty-five in
number--including fourteen missionaries of the Presbyterian Board, nice
young people going out to their duties in China and Japan. I took my
seat at the dining-table, and found that I had at my right an agreeable
companion, a captain in the German army, and at the left a charming miss
of ten, Bessie, daughter of J. De Romero, secretary of the Spanish
Legation to China.
The first week out was a rough one. The weather was bad, and the ship
rolled fearfully, so that we could not walk on deck. The waves were
immense, and consequently nearly every one was sick. I felt a little
nausea for a couple of days, but soon did duty regularly at the fine
feast placed before us three times a day, the specialty being splendid
California fruits--peaches, plums, grapes, and oranges, any of which
would bring a prize in an agricultural show.
Day after day the tireless engine drove the propeller. The splendid ship
rushed on and on, not a moment's stop the entire distance. Not a sail or
a steamer seen from port to port, and not even a whale. Once some
porpoises and flying-fish, and once, when a thousand miles from land, a
land-hawk lighted on the cross-trees, and proceeded leisurely to feast
on a captured bird, and during the night flew away.
The never-ending water was very impressive in its desolation. Better
weather came, the ship was steady, and we could walk on deck. My little
friend and I romped along the deck from end to end in safety, but once a
rude wave threw us down, and dashed us against the sides of the vessel,
taking off some inches of skin from me, but the child was unhurt, and I
did not mind a little thing like that.
I had early made the acquaintance of Mr. Mathews, the chief engineer,
and once went into the hold and inspected the boilers and machinery of
the huge ship. I spent a good deal of time in the chief engineer's room,
listening to strange tales of ship and shore.
On the 9th inst., as we were approaching our destination, I was shown an
engrossed resolution complimenting the captain, beautifully illustrated
with a pen-and-ink sketch of the ship by Señor Romero. After dinner, one
of the passengers was selected to make the presentation address. He
said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow-passengers by the good ship
_Rio-de-Janeiro_: I act with pleasure as chairman on this auspicious
occasion, and congratulate you on the near termination of our long trip
across the great Pacific Ocean, rendered safe by the skill of the
navigators and pleasant by the efforts of the officers, one and all. I
have been many times across many seas, sometimes in magnificent floating
palaces, but never on one so neat and clean, and where every detail has
been so carefully attended to.
"'O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,
Our thoughts as boundless and our souls as free,
Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,
Survey our empire and behold our home.'
"Our only home indeed for a brief period of time. But who can fail to
remember the pleasant acquaintances made, even if we go around the
world? For 'they that go down to the sea in ships; that do business in
great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the
deep.' Even if we look upon the lofty Himalayas, the Alps, the
Apennines, and the Juras, and linger about gigantic Mont Blanc and her
white-robed sisters, or the beautiful Jungfrau, or sail along the
classic shores of the blue Mediterranean,--wherever we go, and whatever
we see, the scenes on this good ship will be photographed, as it were,
on our memories as long as we live--the romps on the deck, perchance
with a charming miss; or the tramp, tramp with military regularity with
those of mature age; the hours of looking upon the moonlit sea,
listening to the song and music of our missionary friends. God bless
them and their cause!
"The temporary annoyance of sea-sickness will be forgotten. And now,
fellow-passengers and friends, let us resolve that, like the
passion-flower of the wilderness, which always bears within its bosom
the true cross, we will bear within our bosom the true cross of 'enmity
towards none, charity and goodwill for all,' and thus we shall be an
honor to ourselves, the dear ones at home, the country we came from, and
our God.
"Captain Ward, by directions of the passengers on this ship, permit me
to present to you an engrossed resolution, signed by all of us, and
beautifully illustrated by Señor Romero, and expressing the hope--which
has been so often said before on like occasions--that your voyage
through life may be as safe and pleasant as you have made ours. I bid
you farewell."
The captain made a suitable reply, and the company all stood up and
drank his health.
One more night on the ship; and the next morning we sighted land and
passed along near it for forty miles. It was a rough country, evidently
of volcanic formation, and not so thickly populated as I expected to
see, considering that there are thirty-eight million people in Japan. At
last we cast anchor in the splendid harbor of Yokohama, one of the most
commodious and beautiful in the world, where a tug took us off the ship.
We were detained an hour or two at the custom-house, and then each took
a _jinrickisha_, a low, two-wheeled chaise with a man between the
shafts, who trotted up to the "Grand," the most perfect of hotels. We
went directly to our rooms, which had been previously engaged.