Around The World In Seven Months - free ebook by Charles J. Gillis

AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN MONTHS

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...

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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 &amp; 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 deta

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CHAPTER II. YOKOHAMA.

Yokohama , Oct. 12, 1889. THE Grand Hotel, where I am located, is very large and first-class in all respects. It is two hundred feet long, fronting the matchless bay, with an extension along a canal of two hundred feet. From the room I occupy, I look down upon the canal and a fine bridge which spans it. Across this bridge goes a constant procession of men, women, and children, some horses and carriages, and occasionally a single ox drawing a cart. But every thing looks so different, and is manag

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CHAPTER III. TOKIO.

Tokio, Japan , Oct. 15, 1889. AFTER being entertained at Yokohama, on the morning of the 14th instant, with a slight earthquake, we left for this, the capital city of the Empire, on a finely built and equipped, narrow-gauge (3 ft. 6 in.) railroad. Every square yard of the country we traversed was cultivated in the highest degree—Distance eighteen miles, time one hour. I noticed that the locomotives, cars, and all the equipments about the railroad were of English manufacture from Manchester and B

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CHAPTER IV. NIKKO.

Nikko, Japan , Oct. 20, 1889. WE left Tokio on the 17th, at 6.46 A.M. , for a station called Utsumorama, ninety-three miles. Arrived at noon, and, after an excellent lunch, started in jinrickishas for this place, and a most extraordinary and unique trip it proved to be. The road was built hundreds of years ago by a Shinto king, and is an admirable example of engineering; well drained, and with an excellent foundation of small stones, which needed only a top-dressing and a steam roller to make it

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CHAPTER V. MIYNOSKITA.

Miynoskita, Japan , Oct. 24, 1889. YESTERDAY at 10 A.M. we left Yokohama, arrived at the railroad station at twelve, and reached this favorite watering-place, among the mountains, in four hours by jinrickishas . Our rooms had been engaged in an excellent hotel, called Fujiya, and soon after our arrival a fine dinner was served of soup, fish, roast beef, sago pudding, and other delicacies, to which we did ample justice. The waitresses were all pretty native girls, dressed in their native costumes

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CHAPTER VI. KOBÉ.

Kobé, Japan , Nov. 7, 1889. ON the 2d inst. we left Yokohama by the Japanese steamer Omi Mars , Captain Island Vrise. During the afternoon we passed an island on which is a volcano in eruption. It is 2,550 feet high, and was a pretty sight as seen from the steamer. We arrived at this fine city at 5 P.M. , and were soon in comfortable quarters at an excellent hotel, and, as it was very cold, I had a grate fire in my room, which I enjoyed very much. The city is beautifully situated near the shore

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CHAPTER VII. OSAKA.

Osaka , Nov. 8, 1889. WE left Kioto at 10 A.M. this morning by rail, and arrived in this remarkable city at 11.15. It is a most interesting place, having a large number of canals and bridges, in which respect it resembles Venice more than any other city. It is the second city in size and importance in the Empire, having about a million and a half of inhabitants, and numerous industries, such as cotton factories, etc.; also the imperial mint, which we visited. The machinery of this mint was all m

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CHAPTER VIII. HONG-KONG.

Hong-Kong , Nov. 18, 1889. LEAVING Kobé on the evening of the 8th, by the Peninsular and Oriental steamer Ancona , we arrived here at seven this evening. This line of steamers has the contract for transporting the English mails all over the Eastern waters, including Australia, Japan, and China, and has in commission fifty-four vessels, some of them of 6,000 tons, representing 7,000 horse-power. On the 14th and 15th we were steaming through the famous inland sea, the beauty of which could hardly

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CHAPTER IX. CANTON.

Canton, China , Nov. 21, 1889. FROM Hong-Kong we sailed on the 21st inst. at 8 A.M. , for this city, by the fine English steamer Hankow , Captain Lloyd, and arrived at 2.30 P.M. There being but one hotel here, the Oriental, and that a very poor one at that, we made use of the English passenger boats as hotels during our stay, and found them excellent in all ways; large, clean rooms and table very fine, including all kinds of wines and beer furnished gratis, and wood-cock, and snipe every day. Le

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CHAPTER X. HONG-KONG.

Hong-Kong , Dec. 3, 1889. WE have been detained here ten days, awaiting the arrival of a P. and O. steamer, for which we were booked, but have passed the time in a very delightful manner. I went nearly every day to the park and public gardens, of about twenty acres, situated several hundred feet above the main street, laid out in the best manner, and containing a great variety of trees and flowers, such as grow only in tropical climates. On one occasion a friend and myself were sitting on a benc

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CHAPTER XI. SINGAPORE.

Singapore , Dec. 9, 1889. ON the 4th instant we left the beautiful island of Hong-Kong and the city of Victoria by the steamer Kaisar-i-Hind (Empress of India). The accommodations and appointments of the steamer were first-class—electric lights, plenty of ice, and every convenience. On Sunday morning the English service was read from the prayer-book by the captain to a congregation consisting of all of the officers and most of the passengers. Before this there was a parade of the crew and servan

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CHAPTER XII. ON BOARD THE "KAISAR-I-HIND."

Steamer "Kaisar-i-Hind," off Sumatra, Dec. 13, 1889. AFTER mailing letters on the 10th instant at Singapore we went on board the steamer at 4 P.M. , and started again on our voyage. We were then only forty-five miles from the equator, and though the thermometer recorded only eighty degrees, it seemed much as if it were over a hundred. However, as soon as the steamer got under way it was quite comfortable. After a day and two nights we arrived at Penang, and at 9 A.M. went ashore, and all took ca

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CHAPTER XIII. COLOMBO.

Colombo, Ceylon , Dec. 18, 1889. SIX days from Singapore, we arrived here on the evening of the 16th instant, and at once went to our rooms at the Grand Oriental Hotel, which had been engaged some weeks in advance. Colombo is the capital of Ceylon, and has a population of one hundred and twenty thousand, and many large and handsome buildings. As we passed along the coast last evening immense groves of cocoa-nut trees were seen from the vessel, extending along the shore for thirty miles or so. It

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CHAPTER XIV. NEWAVA ELIYA.

Newava Eliya, Ceylon, Dec. 20, 1889. THIS is the sanitarium of Ceylon, 133 miles from Colombo and 6,200 feet above the sea level; a cool and delightful valley of a thousand acres or so, surrounded by high mountains, with a lake in the middle,—a very ideal place for a sanitarium. The thermometer averages seventy degrees. We left Colombo at 9 A.M. on the 19th instant, in a first-class car engaged for the party, and passed over a six-feet-gauge road, built in the most substantial manner, with an ex

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CHAPTER XV. ON BOARD THE "ROHILLA."

Steamer "Rohilla," near Madras , Dec. 27, 1889. CHRISTMAS was a fearfully hot day in Columbo, ninety degrees or more, and I did not go out in the morning, except to look into an Episcopal church, which was handsomely decorated with flowers, the air being kept cool by fans propelled by natives standing outside. After lunch, accompanied by two friends, I drove around the city and some miles into the country, over splendid roads. On the road we bought three cocoa-nuts for five cents, and opening on

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CHAPTER XVI. CALCUTTA.

Calcutta, India , Jan. 1, 1890. WE arrived here yesterday, after a delightful trip from Madras, and at once went to our rooms at a first-class hotel, engaged some time ago. Mine happens to be a wooden barn-like structure built on the roof of a six-story building, which gives me a chance to look down upon the famous city of palaces and immense parks—a great show, particularly at night, when the streets are illuminated by gas and electricity. We were told that Calcutta was a dreadfully hot place,

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CHAPTER XVII. DARJEELING.

Darjeeling, India , Jan. 4, 1890. AT 4 P.M. yesterday we left Calcutta, passing through the city, which was everywhere decorated for Prince Victor, who will be a king of England, if he lives, and who was to arrive at the same hour we left. We took possession of the car engaged for us, and I noticed that the next one was engaged by two Indian princes, their names being on the car. Presently they appeared, handsomely dressed in long colored robes and turbans, and soon after there arrived two palan

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CHAPTER XVIII. BENARES.

Benares, India , Jan. 12, 1890. ON the evening of the 10th we left Calcutta, travelled all night, and reached here at 1.30 P.M. yesterday. The railroads in India are mostly six-feet gauge, substantially built, but very slow, twenty-five miles an hour being the usual speed. We brought along our own bedding, and stopped at stations for meals, every thing being very primitive compared with accommodations found in America or Europe. We passed through a country thickly populated, the fields being hig

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CHAPTER XIX. LUCKNOW.

Lucknow , January 13, 1890. WE arrived here at twelve last night, after a tedious ride by rail, and I was up at seven this morning, and have been all day seeing the wonders of the city. Since a visit to the field on which the battle of Waterloo was fought, I have never spent a day of such absorbing interest as this, for here Lawrence, with one thousand eight hundred men, held the fort against fifty thousand rebels for six months, and up the road we saw came Sir Colin Campbell and Havelock's army

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CHAPTER XX. CAWNPORE.

Cawnpore , January 14, 1890. AT ten this morning we arrived here, and have seen all the places where such frightful massacres took place during the Sepoy rebellion of 1857. Mr. Lee, who now keeps a hotel here, acted as our guide, and pointed out the various localities. He was a non-commissioned officer, and accompanied General Havelock's army, which arrived two days after the massacre, and inflicted upon the rebels the terrible retribution of fastening several hundred of them in front of the big

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CHAPTER XXI. AGRA.

Agra , January 17, 1890. WE left Cawnpore at five o'clock on the morning of the 15th. The train was delayed, and I wandered about the chilly depot and caught a bad cold. We were several hours on the train looking out upon the Oriental scenery, the people, and the wild and domestic animals near by, and at a distance we saw elephants, camels, droves of small donkeys, big black goats, and long-legged pigs, flocks of paroquets and green parrots, now and then a deer or antelope, and the usual remarka

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CHAPTER XXII. DELHI.

Delhi , January 21, 1890. YESTERDAY at noon we left Agra, passing over the river by a fine iron bridge, from which we had another view of the beautiful Tâj, which was lovely beyond expression. We had an English compartment car to ourselves, and were very comfortable. Highly cultivated fields and frequent great barren plains, with now and then an elephant, were to be seen, and once a long caravan of camels. Monkeys were in the woods, and flocks of parrots flying about, and often the beautiful pea

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CHAPTER XXIII. JEYPORE.

Jeypore , January 25, 1890. OUR party arrived here on the 23d instant, and permission was obtained from the Rajah, who has the reputation of being the most enlightened ruler in India, to visit his palaces and grounds; and very magnificent we found them. The palace was very large, and fitted up in a costly manner. We were admitted everywhere, except to a big building occupied by his three hundred wives. We then went to see fifty elephants in different places, each tied by the legs; and then we vi

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CHAPTER XXIV. BOMBAY.

Bombay , January 27, 1890. LEAVING delightful Jeypore by the evening train, we were two nights and one day on the road. It was very cold after dark, so much so that I had to get up in the middle of the night and put on my overcoat and shoes. The train went at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour, stopping at stations for meals, which were quite good, but the native waiters were of the worst, and all the arrangements very primitive compared with the splendid vestibule trains running on the Centra

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CHAPTER XXV. ON BOARD "THE KHEDIVE."

Steamer "Khedive," Red Sea, Near Suez , February 10, 1890. THE morning of the 31st of January was very hot at Bombay, as usual, and I only went out to make a few calls, and some purchases, and at 3 P.M. we went on a tender to this steamer, passing two large English troop ships just arrived, and several ironclad men-of-war, and looked at the great forts on the land where we had before seen two 120-ton Armstrong guns with piles of conical balls, each ball weighing half a ton. The harbor is large a

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CHAPTER XXVI. THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL.

Cairo , February 12, 1890. AT 9 P.M. , on the 10th instant, the big steamer Khedive anchored at Suez, the Red Sea entrance to the canal; and I was much interested in watching the engineers making steam connections to a large dynamo on deck. The connections were made by copper pipes and flange joints. In half an hour they were ready. Captain Loggin gave the signal, and the stately vessel moved on at the rate of six miles an hour towards Port Said on the Mediterranean. The canal is 87 miles long,

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CHAPTER XXVII. CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS.

Cairo , February 17, 1890. ON the 13th at 1 P.M. we took the train at Ismaïlia, had a first-class carriage and agreeable company. For half the distance we passed through a sandy desert, but when we came to the station Tel-el-Kebir, near which Wolseley routed the Egyptian army, the country improved, great fields of sugar-cane, lentils, grain, and grass were to be seen; men were ploughing, and others gathering the crops, assisted by camels, bullocks, and donkeys. In one instance, a camel was harne

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CHAPTER XXVIII. JAFFA.

Jaffa, Palestine , Feb. 21, 1890. OUR party left Cairo on the 19th, going by rail one hundred and fifty miles to Alexandria, and leaving there at 10 A.M. the following day, arrived here by steamer this morning. The landing from the steamer was made in boats, and was rather rough, the sea running high and there being no breakwater. This is said to be the oldest town in the world, and is certainly the dirtiest one I ever saw. We drove all about, going first to the house of Simon the Tanner, situat

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CHAPTER XXIX. RAMLEH.

Reinhard's Hotel, Ramleh , February 21, 1890. WE left Jaffa at 3 P.M. , in as fine a landau as you would see in Hyde Park, with three horses and a dragoman, and drove along a splendid macadam road, meeting and constantly passing camels, donkeys, and strange-looking Turks. Soon we came to the Plains of Sharon, perfectly level, and stretching off for ten or twenty miles each way, covered with red, blue, and yellow flowers. They are said to be the "roses of Sharon" mentioned in the Scriptures, but

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CHAPTER XXX. JERUSALEM.

Jerusalem , February 23, 1890. THE rest overnight at Ramleh, at the hotel there, kept by a German, formerly of Buffalo, N. Y., proved very refreshing, and in the morning we took our fine carriage, and driving rapidly over the excellent road, reached here at 5 P.M. , having had a very enjoyable trip. Coming near the Jaffa gate our driver ran against a heavy-loaded camel, and caused him to tumble almost into our carriage, but he fell partly under it, and the wheels ran over one of his legs and bro

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CHAPTER XXXI. JAFFA.

Jaffa , January 26, 1890. HAVING spent two days in Jerusalem industriously sight-seeing, one noon-day I took a seat in the fine carriage provided, my only companion being a dragoman, and we were soon bowling along over the fine road to Jaffa. The engineers are surveying for a railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem and the people expect that it will be completed in a year. The journey may then be made in an hour. The moon came up at 6 P.M. , and as we passed along the road through the mountains I saw s

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CHAPTER XXXII. ON BOARD THE "POCCIR."

Steamer "Poccir," March 4, 1890. THE steward gave me a very poor state-room below with another man, but I handed him a fee, and in the morning he put me in a beautiful cabin on deck, a large room, lined with handsome polished wood with two large looking-glasses, and fit for a prince or an American to occupy. I could not find a man on the ship who spoke a word of English, but I rather enjoyed the novel situation, and got along very nicely. On the 28th instant, in the morning, I came on deck, and

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CHAPTER XXXIII. CONSTANTINOPLE.

Constantinople , March 9, 1890. THE harbor appears to be about a mile wide and two miles long, surrounded by steep hills, on which the city is built, largely in terraces, with many great palaces, mosques, and public buildings, the Mosque of St. Sophia being very prominent. I took a guide at the ship and went ashore in his boat. I had been often informed of the annoyances by custom-house officials to which travellers are often obliged to submit on their arrival in the Turkish dominions, and was a

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CHAPTER XXXIV. CONCLUSION.

ON the afternoon of the 10th of March, I took a walk down to the great bridge, and had a last and lingering look at the splendid harbor, the Golden Horn, and the Bosphorus. At 6 P.M. , I took a carriage and a guide to the depot at Stamboul, from which leaves, twice a week, the Oriental Express for Vienna and Paris. After an examination of my passport and baggage, and considerable delay, I got on the train, composed exclusively of Mann boudoir cars, lighted by gas, including dining-car; and every

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