Foot-prints of Travel, Maturin Murray Ballou [best romantic books to read .txt] 📗

PREFACE.

In these notes of foreign travel the object has been to cover a broad field without making a cumbersome volume, to do which, conciseness has necessarily been observed. In previous books the author has described much more in detail some of the countries here briefly spoken of. The volumes referred to are "Due-West; or, Round the World in Ten Months," and "Due-South; or, Cuba Past and Present," which were published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., of Boston. Two other volumes, namely, "Due-North; or, Glimpses of Scandinavia and Russia," and "Under the Southern Cross; or, Travels in Australia and New Zealand," were issued by Ticknor & Co., of the same city. By the kind permission of both publishers, the author has felt at liberty to use his original notes in the preparation of these pages. It should be understood, however, that about one-half of the countries through which the reader is conducted in the present work are not mentioned in the volumes above referred to. The purpose has been to prepare a series of chapters adapted for youth, which, while affording pleasing entertainment, should also impart valuable information. The free use of good maps while reading these Foot-prints of Travel, will be of great advantage, increasing the student's interest and also impressing upon his mind a degree of geographical knowledge which could not in any other way be so easily or pleasantly acquired.

M. M. B.


CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.


Crossing the American Continent.--Niagara Falls.--Utah.-- Representatives of Native Indian Tribes.--City of San Francisco.--Sea Lions.--The Yosemite Valley.--An Indian Hiding-Place.--The Mariposa Grove of Big Trees.--Chinatown in San Francisco.--Through the Golden Gate.--Navigating the Pacific.--Products of the Ocean.--Sea Gulls.--Harbor and City of Honolulu.


CHAPTER II.


Discoveries of Captain Cook.--Vegetation.--Hawaiian Women on Horse-back.--The Nuuanu Valley.--The Native Staff of Life.--The Several Islands of the Group.--Resident Chinamen.--Raising Sugar-Cane.--On the Ocean.--Yokohama, Japan.--Habits of the People.--A Remarkable Idol.--Tokio, the Political Capital.--The Famous Inland Sea of Japan.--Nagasaki.--Products and Progress of Japan.


CHAPTER III.


Through the Yellow and Chinese Seas.--Hong Kong.-- Peculiarities of the Chinese at Home.--Native Women.--City of Canton.--Charitable Organizations.--Chinese Culture.--National Characteristics.--Sail for Singapore.--A Water-spout.--A Tropical Island.--Local Pen-Pictures.--The Island of Penang.--An Indolent Native Race.--The Cocoanut Tree.--Palm Wine.--Tropical Fruits.


CHAPTER IV.


Crossing the Indian Ocean.--The Island of Ceylon.--Harbor of Colombo.--The Equatorial Forest.--Native Costumes.-- Vegetation of Ceylon.--Prehistoric Monuments.--Departure for Australia.--The Stars at Sea.--The Great Island-Continent.--The Gold Product--Divisions of the Country.--City of Adelaide.--Public Garden.--West Australia.--Melbourne, Capital of Victoria.--Street Scenes.--Chinese Quarter.


CHAPTER V.


Gold-fields of Australia.--Kangaroos.--Big Gum Trees.-- Largest Trees in the World.--Wild Bird Life.-- Gold-seeking.--City of Sydney.--Botanical Garden.--Public Institutions.--Sheep-raising.--Brisbane, Capital of Queensland.--The Aboriginal Race.--Native Legends.--The Boomerang.--Island of Tasmania.--How named.--Launceston.-- Hobart, the Capital.--Local Scenes.--A Prosperous Country.


CHAPTER VI.


Embark for New Zealand.--The Albatross.--Experiments with Sea Water.--Oil upon the Waves.--Geography of New Zealand.--Mineral Wealth.--City of Dunedin.--Public Schools.--Native Cannibals.--Christchurch.--A Wonderful Bird.--Wellington, Capital of New Zealand.--Habits of the Natives.--The Race of Maori Indians.--Liability to Earthquakes.--A Submerged Volcano in Cook's Strait.


CHAPTER VII.


City of Auckland, New Zealand.--A Land of Volcanoes.-- Suburbs of the Northern Metropolis.--The Kauri-Tree.-- Native Flowers.--The Hot Lake District.--A New Zealand Forest.--A Vegetable Boa-constrictor.--Sulphurous Hot Springs.--Fiery Caldrons.--Indian town of Ohinemutu.-- Typical Home of the Natives.--Maori Manners and Customs.--The Favorable Position of New Zealand.--Its Probable Future.


CHAPTER VIII.


Arrival in India.--Insect and Reptile Life.--Madura.-- City of Trichinopoly.--Car of Juggernaut.--Temple of Tanjore.--Travelling in India.--Madras.--Street Dancing Girls.--Arrival at Calcutta.--Cremating the Dead.--A Fashionable Driveway.--The Himalayan Mountains.--Apex of the Globe.--Tea Gardens of India.--A Wretched Peasantry.--Ancient Ruins.--City of Benares.--Worship of Animals.--Cawnpore.--Delhi.--Agra.--A Splendid Tomb.


CHAPTER IX.


Native City of Jeypore.--Poppy and Opium-raising.-- Bombay.--The Parsees.--The Towers of Silence.--Historical View of India.--Voyage to the Red Sea.--Cairo, Capital of Egypt.--Local Scenes.--The Turkish Bazaars.--Pyramids of Gizeh.--The Sphinx.--The Desert.--Egypt, Past and Present.--Voyage to Malta.--City of Valetta.--Church of St. John.--Gibraltar.--View from the Signal Station.--English Outposts.


CHAPTER X.


Tangier, Capital of Morocco.--An Oriental City.--Slave Market.--Characteristic Street Scenes.--Malaga, Spain.--A Neglected Country.--Grenada.--The Alhambra.--The Banished Moors.--Cordova and its Cathedral-Mosque.--Madrid, Capital of Spain.--Museo Art Gallery.--Sunday in the Metropolis.-- Toledo.--The Escurial.--Burgos.--San Sebastian.-- Bayonne.--Spain, Past and Present.--Bordeaux.--Rural Scenery in France.


CHAPTER XI.


City of Paris.--Sunday in the French Capital.--The Flower Market.--Notre Dame.--The Morgue.--Pere la Chaise.--The Story of Joan of Arc.--Educational Advantages.--City of Lyons.--Marseilles.--Nice.--Cimies.--Mentone.--The Principality of Monaco.--A Gambling Resort.--Mediterranean Scenes.--Over the Corniche Road.--City of Genoa.--Marble Palaces.--Italian Navigation.--The Campo Santo or Burial Ground.


CHAPTER XII.


Port of Leghorn.--Ancient City of Pisa.--Remarkable Monuments.--The Bay of Naples.--Neapolitan Beggars.--A Favorite Drive.--Out-of-door Life.--Vesuvius.--Art Treasures of the Museum.--Pompeii.--Environs of Naples.--Rome, the "Eternal City."--Local Scenes.--Artists' Models.--Favorite Promenade.--The Coliseum.--St. Peter's.--Florence and its Environs.--Art Treasures.--Home of Dante and Michael Angelo.



CHAPTER XIII.


Venice.--The Gondola.--On the Grand Canal.--Venetian History.--Piazza of St. Mark.--Cathedral of San Marco.--The Campanile.--Academy of Fine Arts.--Doge's Palace.--Tombs of Titian and Canova.--Milan.--The Wonderful Cathedral.-- Original Picture of the Last Supper.--Olden City of Pavia.--Innspruck, Capital of the Tyrol.--Among the Alps.--Salzburg, Birthplace of Mozart.--Industries of German Women.


CHAPTER XIV.


Vienna, the Northern Paris.--Art Galleries and Museum.-- Prague, Capital of Bohemia.--Ancient Dungeons.--Historic Mention.--Dresden, Capital of Saxony.--The Green Vaults.--Berlin, Capital of Prussia.--Hamburg.--Copenhagen, Capital of Denmark.--The Baltic Sea.--Danish Progress.-- Thorwaldsen.--Educational.--Palace of Rosenborg.--The Round Tower.--Elsinore and Shakespeare's Hamlet.


CHAPTER XV.


Gottenburg, Sweden.--Intelligence of the People.--The Gotha Canal.--Troellhatta Falls.--Christiania, Capital of Norway.--Legal Code.--Public Buildings.--Ancient Viking Ship.--Brief Summers.--Swedish Women in the Field.--Flowers in Arctic Regions.--Norwegian Lakes.--Animals of the North.--Mountains and Glaciers.--A Land of Fjords, Cascades, and Lakes.--Dwellings situated like Eagles' Nests.


CHAPTER XVI.


Bergen, Norway.--Local Products and Scenes.--Environs of Bergen.--The Angler's Paradise.--Troendhjem.--Story of King Olaf.--A Cruel Imprisonment.--Journey Northward.--Night turned into Day.--Coast of Norway.--Education.--The Arctic Circle.--Bodoee.--The Lofoden Islands.--The Maelstroem.--Hardy Arctic Fishermen.--The Polar Sea.--Varied Attractions of Norway to Travellers and Artists.


CHAPTER XVII.


Peculiar Sleeplessness.--Tromsoee.--The Aurora Borealis.-- Short-lived Summer.--Flowers.--Trees.--Laplanders and their Possessions.--Reindeers.--Customs of the Lapps.-- Search for Whales.--Arctic Birds.--Influence of the Gulf Stream.--Hammerfest.--The Far North Cape and the Polar Ocean.--The Midnight Sun.--Stockholm, Capital of Sweden.-- Royal Palace.--Historic Upsala.--Linnaeus, the Naturalist.--Crossing the Baltic and Gulf of Finland.


CHAPTER XVIII.


Abo.--Helsingfors, Capital of Finland.--Remarkable Fortress of Sweaborg.--Fortifications of Cronstadt.--Up the Neva to St. Petersburg.--Grandest City of Northern Europe.--Street Scenes in Russia.--Occupations of the Sabbath.--The Drosky.--Royal Palaces of the Tzar.--Noble Art Gallery.-- Celebrated Library.--Public Monuments.--Winter Season.


CHAPTER XIX.


Palace of Petershoff.--Peter the Great.--Religious Denominations.--On the Way to Moscow.--Through the Forests.--City of Tver.--The Volga.--Water-ways of Russia.--Picturesque Moscow.--The Kremlin.--Churches.-- Cathedral of St. Basil.--Treasury of the Kremlin.--Royal Robes and Crowns.--A Page from History.--University of Moscow.--Sacred Pigeons.--Prevalence of Beggary in the Oriental Capital.


CHAPTER XX.


Nijni-Novgorod.--Valley of the Volga.--One of the Great Rivers of the World.--Famous Annual Fair-Ground.--Variety of Merchandise.--A Conglomerate of Races.--A Large Temporary City.--From Moscow to Warsaw.--Wolves.--The Granary of Europe.--Polish Peasants.--City of Warsaw.-- Topography of the Capital.--Royal Residences.--Botanical Gardens.--Political Condition of Poland.--Commercial Prosperity.--Shameful Despotism.


CHAPTER XXI.


Munich, Capital of Bavaria.--Trying Employments of the Women.--A Beer-Drinking Community.--Frankfort-on-the-Main.-- Luther's Home.--Goethe's Birthplace.--Cologne on the Rhine.-- The Grand Cathedral.--Antwerp, Belgium.--Rubens' Burial Place.--Art Treasures in the Cathedral.--Switzerland.-- Bale.--Lausanne.--Geneva.--Lake Leman.--Vevay.--Berne, Capital of Switzerland.--Lucerne.--Zurich.--Schaffhausen.


CHAPTER XXII.


London, the Metropolis of the World.--Some of its Institutions.--The Tower of London.--Statistics of the Great City.--Ancient Chester.--Rural England.--Stratford-on-Avon.-- Edinburgh, Scotland.--Remarkable Monuments.--Abbotsford.-- Rural Scotland.--Glasgow.--Greenock.--Across the Irish Sea to Belfast.--Queen's College.--Dublin, the Capital of Ireland.--Grand Public Buildings.


CHAPTER XXIII.


Nassau, New Providence.--Trees, Flowers, and Fruits.--Curious Sea Gardens.--The Finny Tribes.--Fresh Water Supply.--Tropical Skies.--The Gulf Stream.--Santiago de Cuba.--Cienfuegos.--Sugar Plantations.--Cuban Fruits.--Peculiarities of the Banana.-- A Journey across the Island to Matanzas.--Inland Experiences.--Characteristic Scenes.--The Royal Palm.


CHAPTER XXIV.


Discovery of Cuba by Columbus.--The Native Race.--Historical Matters.--Headquarters of Spanish Military Operations in the West.--Invasion of Mexico by Cortez.--African Slave Trade.--Peculiarities of the Caribbean Sea.--Geography of the Island of Cuba.--City of Matanzas.--Havana, the Capital.--The Alameda.--The Cathedral.--Military Mass.--A Wonderfully Fertile Island.--Reflections.




FOOT-PRINTS OF TRAVEL;

OR,

JOURNEYINGS IN MANY LANDS.

CHAPTER I.

The title of the book in hand is sufficiently expressive of its purpose. We shall follow the course of the sun, but diverge wherever the peculiarities of different countries prove attractive. As the author will conduct his readers only among scenes and over routes which he himself has travelled, it is hoped that he may be able to impart a portion of the enjoyment experienced, and the knowledge gained in many foreign lands and on many distant seas.

Starting from the city of Boston by railway, we pass at express speed through the length of Massachusetts from east to west, until we arrive at Hoosac, where the famous tunnel of that name is situated. This remarkable excavation, five miles in length, was cut through the solid rock of Hoosac Mountain to facilitate transportation between Boston and the West, at a cost of twenty years of labor and sixteen millions of dollars; a sum, which, were it divided, would amount to over five dollars per head for every man, woman, and child in the State.

By a continuous day's journey from Boston, we reach Niagara late at night. The best view of the falls, which form the grandest cataract on the globe, is to be enjoyed from the Canada side of the Niagara River. In the midst of the falls is Goat Island, dividing them into two unequal parts, one of which forms the American, and the other the Horse Shoe Fall, so called from its shape, which is on the Canada side. As we gaze upon this remarkable exhibition of natural force, a column of vapor rises two hundred feet above the avalanche of waters, white as snow where it is absorbed into the skies, the base being wreathed with perpetual rainbows. A canal, starting from a convenient point above the falls and extending to a point below the rapids, utilizes for mill purposes an infinitesimal portion of the enormous power which is running to waste, night and day, just as it has been doing for hundreds of years. It is well known that many centuries ago these falls were six miles nearer to Lake Ontario than they now are, making it evident that a steady wearing away of the rock and soil is all the time progressing. The inference seems to be plain enough. After the lapse of ages these mammoth falls may have receded so far as to open with one terrific plunge the eastern end of Lake Erie. Long before the Falls are reached we hear the mighty roar which made the Indians call the cataract Niagara, or "the thunder of the waters." On leaving here, we cross the river by a suspension bridge, which, from a short distance, looks like a mere spider's web. Over this the cars move slowly, affording a superb view of the Falls and of the awful chasm below.

But let us not dwell too long upon so familiar a theme. After a day and night in the cars, travelling westward, Chicago, the capital of Illinois, is reached. About sixty years ago a scattered tribe of the Pottawatomies inhabited the spot on the shore of Lake Michigan, where is now situated the most important capital of the North Western States. In 1837 the city was formed with less than five thousand inhabitants; at this writing it has nearly a million. Such rapid growth has no parallel in America or elsewhere. This commercial increase is the natural result of its situation at the head of the great chain of lakes. In size it is a little over seven miles in length by five in width, giving it an area of about forty square miles. The city is now the centre of a railroad system embracing fifteen important trunk lines, forming the largest grain, lumber, and livestock market in the world. One hundred and sixty million bushels