IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) k / <' ^4 / (/. III 1.0 I.I ■ 5 ™'^^ !!f li^ ^ 1^ 1^ 12.0 IM 2.2 11.25 JA mil 1.6 c>% Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 «^\ A iV \ c\ -'''^ "^"T^ ^ '• of the day. (In ^tn.) -;,^v^^ T^HE NORMAL REVIEW SV^l WRITING. ri'itr'V ^ Bf D. tf. FAgiiejf, Pnif. (if PenmanMip in Stalt tftrmal SclkM ^ Trtntait, and W. B. ^VffJflSQJf^ Prin. of PtMit School No,/i^i rth of long special experMec''' ^ Jiu .«[|Mkoae in Rtgiilar SekmHiM%^ This system of wr''''xtf is t)ie combiaod Wi^^-l;|tge ] THE ¥mmQ^LlCS^ I^IMRARYm Edited h LAKltm DVIfTOtr, U.-D^ .U^||i^«IS^ A choice jiiiries of volume* for tmy^itniifttttt li^jmm, ^tt^Ki al|M,^m#^M. . 'ii'-HiiUM- ,in, .!■ .iinniiiti'' tt'i'i."'.'^" ''jsi ^lO/ERnURDETT1& CO • FU©L) '■•Nu^ YOPK- . -BOSTON-- ;^?:CHI( ■^r*c: ■# M lii' THE Young Folks' Library FOR SCHOOL AND HOME. EDITED BY LARKIN DUNTON, LL.D., UBAD MASTER OP THK BOSTON NORMAL SCUOOL. Volume vm. THE Young Folks' Library, Edited by LARKIN DUNTON, LL.D., HEAD MASTER OF THE UOSTON NORMAL SCHOOU T^ESIGNEU to supplement the ordinary school reading-books with valu- •»--' able practice in reading, and at the same time to reiinforce the instruc- tion in special lines of school study with useful information and choice selections from the best literature. Stories of Child Life. y so care- fiiUy st'lt'ctfd and so jndicionsly graded, that the various volumes will be adapted to tho needs and capacities of all for whom they aro designed; while their literary merit, it is hoped, will ho suHicicnt to make them de- Kcrvo a i)laco upon tho sholvos of any well selected collection of juvenile works. Each V(dumo of tho Yoi \ a develop wmtm so ciirt'- ' various cities of literary sliein de- selected will be )r youiiK' An Duii- 1 School. at once nd these and all ting the ' & CO. PR K FACE. This book is designed to be read, either at school or at home, in connection witli the systematic stiuly of America. It may be used as a preparation for such study, as a means of reenforcing the instruction wliile it is going on, or as a m((ans of creating clearer knowledge of and deeper interest in the countries already studied. When pupils have become fairly familiar with the geog- raphy of the United States, their attention should be directed to the homes of our American neighbors, — Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America. The study of these countries should constitute the intro- duction to the study of foreign geography. Even in these countries, the plants, animals, people, and the characteristics of life, both rural and in the city, are all new. Hence, surprise and delight should attend the reading of the first book i)ertaining to these countries. This, it is hoped, will be the result of reading this little book. Great pains has been taken to secure accuracy of state- ment in regard to matters of fact, and, at the same time, 7 8 PREFACE. to make the word pictures so vivid as to kindle the imagination of the pnpil, and thus to put him into syni- patliy with the people of whom lie reads. The hook deals with live men more than with the dead earth. Teachers and parents are advised to insist upon having the children read with a large wall map or an atlas con- stantly hefore them. The pictures of life and places, which are formed, will then be connected with the coun- tries Avhcre the life really exists. By this means a beginning will be made in forming a conception of the world as it is. LAKKIN DUNTON. UosTON, June 30, 1891. mmrnt. J kindle the iiii into sym- The book id earth. npon liaving an athis con- and places, ith the coun- lis means a ption of the N DUNTON. CONTENTS. CANADA^ CHAPTER 1. A Bird's-eye View of Canada .... 13 II. The Fisherman's Life 15 III. Pictures of ^STew Brunswick ani> Nova Scotia 25 IV. The Island City of Canada 3.5 V. Winter in Canada 49 VI. Through the Great Lakes C8 VII. Down the St. Lawrence 83 VIII. Quaint Old Quebec 93 IX. French C.vnadian Farm Life .... 108 X. The Lumberman's Life 120 XI. The Canadian Prairie 131 XIL Beyond the Kocky Mountains .... 143 MEXICO. XIII. A Bird's-Eye View of Mexico .... 151 XIV. By Rail to the City of Mexico . . . 154 XV. In the Capital jgg XVI. Down into the Hot Lands 181 CENTRAL AMERICA. XVIL The Tiny Republics op North America . 197 SOUTH AMERICA. -XVIII. A Bird's-Eye View of South America . 219 XIX. The Great Republic of the South . . 222 9 10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. CUAPTBR XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. FAOK In the Vallky of tiik La Plata . . . -4U Hkyond tiik Anuks ii ma CHAPTER I. A BIRD'8-KYE VIEW 01-' CANADA. North of the United States li(*s a country very nearly as hirge as our own. It belongs to Great Britain, and is known as the Dominion of Canada. It extends from the northern boundary of the United States northward to the Arctic Ocean, and stretches, in an easterly and westerly direction, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. The Atlantic coast of Canada is so far from the Pacific coast, that when the children in Halifax are rushing out of school .at twelve o'clock, the children of New Westminster, in British Columbia, are eating their early seven o'clock breakfast. The coast of Canada is much indented, and is bordered with many islands. With the exception of the western coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, every coast of Canada is bare and thinly settled. Hudson Bay is the largest indentation, and may be said to divide the country into two regions, — the older and more thickly settled region lying to the east, and tlic; newer and more thinly settled region lying to the west. 13 14 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The greater part of the Dominion of Canada consists of a VJist, level plain, which lies hetween two boidering ranges of mountains. The Laurentian Mountains, very little more than five thousand feet in lieight, are on the east. A plateau f(mr tliousaiul feet in height, across whicli the Rocky Mountains aiul other parallel ranges run from north to south, is the western boundary of the plain. The central plain of Canada has two slopes, — one toward the Arctic Ocean and the other toward Hudson Bay. The Arctic slope occupies the northern half of the i)lain, and the Hudson Bay slope the southern and. eastern sections. The* Mackenzie River, with its bare and desolate shores, drains the Arctic slope. The Sas- katchewan River, with its continuation, the Nelson, is the largest river in the Hudson Bay system. Down the eastward slopes of the Laurentian" Moun- tains flow the smaller rivers of the St. Lawrence system. West of the Rocky Mountains are the rivers of the Pacific slope. If we should follow the forty-ninth parallel of latitude from the Atlantic to the Pacific, we should pass through five regions of the country. First, would come the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where fishing smacks ride at anchor in the harbors, and where fish and nets are seen drying along the beaches. This is the great fishing district of the country. Then fol- lows the farming district, along the lower part of the river St. Lawrence. Thirdly, we enter the great forests of Canada, which extend westerly for a thousand miles. Formerly there i OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 16 la consists boi'dering tains, very are on the jht, across liel ranges lundary of pes, — one •d Hudson rn half of ithern and ;h its bare The Sas- Nelson, is ian" Moun- ce system, srs of the of latitude ss through come the tia, where and where hes. This Then fol- lart of the fida, which lerly there was no sound of liuman labor to be hoard in this vast solitude, but now the perfect hush is broken in all direc- tions by tiie blows of the lunibernmn's axe and the buzz of his saw. Succeeding the forest is the prairie, a great expanse of level and rolling land, strctdiiiig lifteen hundred nules away to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Last of all comes a stretch of six hundred miles of mountains and plateaus, which make up the greater part of British Columbia. The most important cities of Canada are on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Tliey are nearly all situated in the large V-like peninsula which Canada thrusts southward into the United States. Labrador and that part of the Northwest Territory which lies north of Peace River are cold and dreary regions with scanty vegetation. Fur-bearing animals abound ; and the single production is fui-s, which are collected by the trappers with great toil and patience. CHAPTER IL THE FISHERMAN'S LIFE. Newfoundland may be called the province of the fish- erman ; because the census showed some years ago that fully one-half of the population was engaged in catching fish, and in salting or otherwise preparing them for the market. The fisheries form a chief source of wealth to 16 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. the other provinces of Canada on tlie Atlantic const,— to New Biunawick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, and Prince Edward Island. The fisheries of these provinces may Ik) divided into the in-shoro fisheries and the deepsea fisheries. The shore fisherman leads a very easy, safe life, when com- pared with the deep-sea fisherman. lie rarely sails his two-masted little schooner more than three miles from shore. He is always within easy reach of the harbors ; and if one of those sudden storms should arise, wUich are very frequent in this part of the Atlantic, he can quickly find a place of safety. Cod and herring are most abundant in the in-shore waters. Formerly mackerel were plentiful; but fifty yearu ago they left the Dominion seas, and have not since returned. Probably they found better feeding grounds somewhere else. You see these -fish are very intelligent. Where the little fish upon which they feed go, there they follow. Sometimes the cod are most abundant on the esist coast of Newfoundland, sometimes on the west. For these great shoals of cod are swayed from east to west by the movements of a beautiful little fish no larger than your hand. This is the caplin. Early in June shoals of caplin begin to enter the har- bors and rivers of Newfoundland and the other prov- inces. The cod leave the colder watei-s of the deep sea, and follow the caplin to the shallow, warmer water of the shore. Then for the next five months the fishermen are busy. During June and July the caplin are used for bait ; but when they have returned to the sea, the fishermen i^m OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 17 .tlantiC const, — Breton Island, l)e divided into fisheries. The life, when com- rarely sails his hree miles from of the harbors; nld arise, which Atlantic, he can i in the in-shore itiful ; but fifty 8, and have not I better feeding !8e iish are very which they feed le cod are most Hand, sometimes cod are swayed a beautiful little the caplin. to enter the har- . the other prov- i of the deep sea, warmer water of ths the fishermen re used for bait; ea, the fishermen are at no loss, for slioiils of K([nid have come to take tlio pliice of the ciipliii. You riMiu'uiber the squid, do you not? Hc! is an ugly, spotted creature, with many loiifr, S(piirniin,L,f urnis, and great, horriltle, staring »'s. He is a choice morsel to the cod, liowever, wiiich feasts as greedily upon liiiu as lie did a moiitli before upon the graceful little caitliii. When the sipiid fail tosni)ply bait, the lierring are used; and llieii, with their leturn to the ocean at the end of October, the in-shorc cod lishiug closes. The deep-sea fisherman ratlicr despises the shore fish- erman. He looks down upon his easy, suuniier work ; for he hiuiscir, in tiie depths of winter, iislies for cod and halibut i'nr away on the Banks of Newfoundland. The Banks, as they are called, are shallow places in the oce;in wh"re the bed of the sea rises, in places, to within ninety feet of its surface. They have been huudicds and probably thousands of years in forming. Two mighty agents, the Arctic Cur- rent and the (Julf Stream, liave united to construct these Banks, which have really become the treasury of the Canadian fisherman. The Arctic Current flows down from icy BaBin's Bay, past the chilly shores of Labrador and the east coast of Newfoundland. South- east of Newfoundland it meets the warm Gulf Stream, whose sparkling blue waters come dancing up from the far south, — from the tropical Gulf of Mexico and the shores of balmy Florida. The Gulf Stream bears along, in solution, innumer- able tiny atoms of nuul, which the Mississippi River has carried into the Gulf of Mexico. In the chill shock ■***,? 18 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. of meeting the Arctic Curront, this fine nnul is deposited on the oeean bed; for it is only a waini current which can .tarry ahmg much matter in sohition, and the Clulf Stream is now many degrees cohler tlian when it set out from the sunny (Julf on its nortiiward jt)urnoy. Icebergs (hift soutlnvard on the Arctic; Current. An iceberg is a huge mass, consisting not only of ice, but also of fragments of earth and stone. The (Julf Stream iiults tho icebergs, and the earthy matter sinks into the de[)th of the sea. Millions of tiny, shelled animals float in the two currents ; and when these little animals die, their shcdls sink and help to build up the rising bed of the oeean. Ages and ages of such depositions have raised the ocean bed in this place, until now it is only from one hundred to five hundred feet below the level of tlu; sea. Thou hosta of purple jellyfish, scaly sUirlish, delicate sea anemones, and clumsy mussels, clams, and oysters come to make their home on the rocks in this shallow part of tho sea. Their presence attracts the cod, hali- but, and other fish; diving birds are drawn to the spot to feast upon the iish ; and linally, Canadian, American, and French fishermen come to contest the ground with the wild birds. Thus the Banks have become what they are at the present day. They stretch three hundred miles southeasterly into the open Atlantic, and are known by different names. Grand Bank and Georges Bank are perhaps the most important. Others are Sable Island Bank, Green Bank, and Saint Peter's Bank. The vessel of the deep-sea fisherman, or banker, as ''^'^1^ is (k'liositod noiit which id the Ciulf !U it set out irrcnt. An ,' of ice, hut lulf Stroani nks into the in the two , their ahMa Aid ocean. i raised the ly from one ;! of the sea. iish, delicate and oysters this shallow -he cod, hali- i to the spot 1, American, ground with lecome what easterly into arent names, ips the most Green Bank, »r banker, as OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 19 lie is culled, dilTcrs from the vessel of the in-shore fisher- man in having,' a deck. Often the vessel is built in three compartments. The central com[»artment is called the well, because it is nearly filled with water, which enters thiongh auger-holes in the bottom of the schooner. The Iish which are caught and seem likely to live, are placed ill this well and rc-maiii there swimming about in their dark, cool, watery prison all the time that the vessel is on the Manks. The little craft is well supplied with ice, bait, and the best provisions the market affords. Many tons of ice are necessary even in winter; for, at the close of the day, all the fish not placed in the well on being taken from the water must be packed in ice in order to preserve them. Sometimes " salt-trips " are made, and then salt is carried in the place of ice, and the fish aie salted down, or cured, as the men say. The usual bait is whelks, or snails. One smack carries about eight hundred gal- lons of bait. The whelks are kept in nets in the well until wanted. Then they are drawn out, the hard shells are broken, and the hooks baited with the tough, tleshy animals. You know, on board a man-of-war or a merchantman, the captain is king. lie is an absolute monarch, a Czar. lie has his cabin in the best part of the ship, and none of the crew dare address him without permission. But it is very different on a fishing vessel. This little float- ing world is a republic of the kind that the French strove for, when they chose, as their watchwords, liberty, fraternity, and equality. The captain and his crew are 20 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. very frii-iKlly. Tlii-y bunk l()j,'other in tho sivnio ciihin; tlicy witik loi^a-lliiT ill tlio liiind lines or lon^r lines; iintl tluiy nil hliiiro in tlio profits. 'I'lu! cil'sv nccivu liiilf the priee of the lisli tliey catch; the (■iii)tain, a hirj,'er share than any of Ihi; erew. Thus a connnon interiist hinds llieni t()j,'etlier and forces them to maintain good distijiline on hoard. Next to tlie caittain or skipi)^', the most important man is the cook, or (hxitor, as he is called, lie luw to prepare the four or live meals reiiuired by the men; and, next to the ciiptain, he receives the largest share of the i)rolits. Oflriitimes many relations will ship together for the IJanks ; and, in such circumstances, if the vessel is lost, great sorrow and suffering are brought to the family, as all the strong and able-bodied men have been taken from its suiJport. When a schooner reaches the IJanks, the crew must begin work at once, if the weather is at all suitable. The reason for this haste is that the bait will keei) fresh for only ten or twelve days. After that time the lisli will refuse it. First the anchors are thrown overboard, and then the crew bait the hooks and play out the hand lines. In hand fishing, each man keeps an account of the number of (ish he catches by cutting out the tongues. At the close of the day ho presents these tongues to the skipper, who credits him with the proper number of fish. There is a strong spirit of rivalry among the vessels of the fishing fleet. Each vessel tries to outdo the others by catching the greatest number of lish, and so to win for its captaiu the title of " high-line." I think ---"Mil ino ciiliiii ; lines ; iiiitl ci'ivu liiilt' I, a liirj^or 11 intcruHt I tain good important Ilu luiH to tliu men ; jfost Hliaro will whip istanoes, if 10 brought dcUl'iI nion crew must II biiitable. kcei) fresh no the fish overboard, it the hand account of lie tongues, gues to the number of the vessels outdo the ish, and so " I think OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 21 many of those rough men would rather giiiii that hon- ored title tliaii hetiome govcMiior general of Canada. Some years ago the "high-line" of the hadihick fleet, in four months hiiided eight hundred thousand lish, valued at twenty-four thousand dollars. After all exiteiises had been paid, his fourteen l)iave men, who had dared almost untold dangers, received a little over three hun- dred dollars apiece. Sometimes many of the fleet are able to weigh anchor f«)r home at the same time. It is a pretty sight to see so many vesstds under a fi(!shening breeze plmigliing away to the northward. Tin; Iumi ts of the men are glad, both because they have escaped the many perils of the Hanks, and because they have been unusually suecHissful, as their plentiful store of cod and halibut in the well bears testimony. Ah they enter the harbor, one of the crow descends into the well and Ijcgins throwing the cod u[ioii deck. They are very hard to (tatcih. They seem to guess wliat awaits them on deck, and struggle, and slip, and glide through the man's clutching hands. However, they are all in turn delivered to the executioner, who grasps each cod back of the head, and, by a few well-directed blows witli a short club, kills the fish at once. They are then packed and sent to market, where they bring a high price as "live cod." They are so called, l)ecau8e they are brought liome a'uve ; and they are much fresher than the cod which the lishermen themselves pack on ice out on the Banks. If it only were possible to give you an idea of the perils of this kind of life ! The Hanks are the part of ^«fe\ "-^^tei ni* .t| a 22 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, I ! ' the North Atlantic most dangerous to the great ocean steamers. How niuch more dangerous to the little fish- ing boat, and to the frail dory ! The two great ocean currents, the warm and the cold, produce fogs by their meeti.g. These fogs arise sud- denly, sometimes with scarcely a moment's warning. Then, for days and weeks, there are violent gales of wind, which cause the high seas for which this part of the ocean is ecjually famed and dreaded. One of the vessels of the fleet discovers a large shoal of fish. The other boats anchor close by, although it is not safe for many vessels to be near one another. If a sudden gale arises, each boat plays out more of its hawser, hoping, praying, that the anchor may hold. If not, the result is certain destruction to them, and to the vessels to leeward; as the wind would hurl the drifting vessel against the others near by, and all would sink together. Perhaps the icy wind blows sever; "f the smacks over on their sides, and the men, clinging in the tattered rigging, ride out the gale. Each wave that breaks over the icy deck carries away a man. With frozen hands, some of the crew feebly cling to the ropes; the next swell of the sea plunges them into the depths of the ocean. A brother, a father, or a son drowns l)efore the faces of his kindred, separated from them by only a few yards. Hut alas, those yards are made up of white, mountainous billows, and green, yawning gulfs! And there is no hand to save. One way in which the cod are taken is by the long line, or trawl. The trawl consists of a line from six to • t -^M great ocean he little fish- aiul the cold, gs arise suJ- it's warning, lent gales of this part of a large shoal , although it another. If t more of its nay hold. If in, and to the 1 the drifting 1 would sink f the smacks 1 the tattered t breaks over frozen hands, )es ; the next iepths of the ns l)efore the by only a few up of white, gulfs ! And 5 by the long e from six to I ■ ; OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 23 twelve thousand feet in length, with lines hanging from it from three to six feet long and three feet apart. So, as each of these short lines bears a hook, there are, on an average, three thousand hooks which must be baited before the trawl can be set up. In the cod fishery, six trawls are generally set at once one at the bow, one at the stern, two on the starboard or right side of the vessel, and two on her port or left side. The trawl is kept in position by buoys. When the trawl is to be hauled, or brought back to the vessel, two men are sent out in a dory to gather up the line and collect the fish. Dories are sent out in all degrees of bad weather, and, owing to the sudden fogs and storms, often are never heard of again. Yet the men who are detailed for this dangerous service, never refuse nor complain. They realize that they must take their chances for life or death with the rest. Frequently two men will be hauling in the trawl and rejoicing over the quantity of cod taken, when suddenly the fog shuts down around them, and the familiar schooner, their ocean home, is out of sight. They do not fear, for they have a compass. They know the ves- sel was east of them, and so, with high hopes, they pull hard to the eastward, each moment expecting to see the tall masts rising through the mist. But, poor men ! the harder they pull, the faster they are going away from safety and from all hopes of seeing home and children again; for, unknown to them, the wind and current have changed, and instead of the vessel lying to the east, she is far to the west, and every stroke is taking them farther away from her. ■'It^-^tSftH,:: 24 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. If they could only hear her fog bell ! But the cruel wind bears its sound away from them. They would stand more chance of riding out the gale, if they woiild throw the lieavy trawl aiid fish overboard. But the true Banker rarely does this. And now a heavy sea overturns the boat; the precious fish and valuable trawl are lost ; and the poor fishcmen can only cling to the life line on the bottom of the float- ing dory, and wait for the fog to lift. Sometimes the fofifs last for weeks, and then the condition of the men is hopeless. Death is a mercy when it comes. A third danger to which the fishermen are exposed is that of Ixjing run down by ocean ships and stenmers. The Banks lie directly in their path, and, althougu the schooner may have her red port light and her green starboard light trimmed and burning brightly, and may have her mournful fog horn sounding steadily, yet, so dense are the fogs, and so shrill is the whistle of the wind on these terrible Banks, that the little craft may be cut through by the steel prows of a steamer, while those on board the larger vessel are all unconscious of the disaster. Passengers in the steamer sleep quietly, while the crew of the fishing smack are battling witli and sinking in the great Avaves, which only rock the passengers themselves into deeper slumber. The ocean steamers are required by law to run at half speed during foggy weather; but, owing to the ambi- tion of the captains to cross the Atlantic in the fewest number of days possible, this law is not always oljcyed. Often the ship pauses in her course and sends out a boat to pick up the struggling men ; but sometimes she speeds away, leaving them to their fate. HRaHH A tlie cruel !y would By would . the true precious ishcmen the float- iines the the men exposed stenmers. ougii the icr green and may 7, yet, so ie of the n-aft may ler, while iscious of ) quietly, ling with rock the in at half the ambi- lie fewest s obeyed, ids out a times she OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 25 These dangtn-s have made the Rankers what they are — brave, hardy, and daring. And yet the spirit of the men is wonderfully cheerful and i)atient. They do not regard the sea as a dreadful foe; she is, in their minds, a friend, who furiiislies them with a sourro of liveliliood, and who, in all her as[)ects, is marvellously fascinating and l)ea»itiful. They love their hard life and would not exchange it for an "easy berth ashore." Thousands of them are lost every year. An aged fislierman is a rare sight; tlie majority die btifore reaching miihlle age; Imt still, so attractive is tlie sea, that the ranks of the lisher- man never lack recruits. CHAPTER III. PICTURES OF NEW BRUNSWICK AND NOVA SCOTIA. New BrunsAvick, one of the provinces of the Domin- ion of Canada, is sniaUer than eitlier Quebec or Ontario, and larger than eitlier Nova Scotia or tlie little prov- ince of Pr'nce Edward Island. It is shai)cd like the state of Maine, and has the same rocky, indented coast. The northern and northwestern part of New lirunswick is quite mountainous, and many rivers, taking their start amongst these mountains, flow in a southerly or southeasterly directiori. The largest river is the St. John, which empties into the Bay of Fundy. At its mouth is the city of St. John, which is five times as large as any other city in the province. Just at this point our series of pictures begins. 26 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. I want fu-st to show you St. John Harbor. On uur right hand, as we sail slowly up the river St. John, we see low, steep hills. On these hills is built the city of St. John. The houses are of gray stone, red brick, or wood painted a dark brown. Often a thick, gray mist hangs over the town, blotting houses and streets from sight ; but to-tlay the sunshine has burned away the mist, and you can plainly see the colors of the houses, the straight streets running up and down the hills, the jingling street cars, and the busy people. Down by the wb.arves the city is busiest. Great steamers from all parts of the world lie near the wharves to take in their cargoes of lumber. The oppo- site bank of the river is bordered with sawmills, whose shrill sound can be plainly heard. The harbor is filled with craft of every description. Sailing vessels are on all sides of us; some moored, with their masts rising naked and We ; othere, under clouds of white or yellow canvas, scudding hither and thither. Here is a graceful yacht racing before the breeze, there a clumsy wood boat pushing obstinately on its way. Noisy red and white tugs rush madly about, pulling great steamera or heavy black scows after them. Drawing nearer to the wharves, we see that they are covered with open cars laden with fragrant planks. Bundles of these are raised on derricks, and swung down into the hold of a great red steamer lying close at hand. You look at the name of the vessel : " The Cadiz." Black-haired, swarthy men are busy on her deck. She has come all the way from distant Spain, where the woods have been ruthlessly destroyed, to the rich forest On uur folin, we B city of brick, or ;ray mist lets from the mist, uses, the iills, the ;. Great near the ?he oppo- Is, whose scription. I moored, 51-s, under lither and efore the nately on lly about, Eter them, t they are ,t pLanks. id swung ig close at lie Cadiz." eck. She where the rich forest OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 27 lamls of New Brunswick. Two scows, clinging to the side of a neighboring steamer, are shooting the lumber in with great rapidity. With this scene before you, and with a remembrance of the line of sawmills on the north shore of the harbor, you can readily tell wliat tv/o of the chief industries of St. Jolui are. They are the sawing and the shipping of lumber. The lumber comes by river from the forests of the upper St. John. When the tide goes out, the vessels in the slip, as the space between the wharves is called, are aground on thick, black mud. They appear very dejected as they lean far to one side, their ropes hanging dark and wet, and their canvas drooping in a melancholy way. Under any circumstances, the slip is a very picturesque place at low tide ; but if a mist has arisen, the scene is even ghostly. The black hulks of the vessels rise dimly through the cloud, and the rigging is very indistinct and shadowy. The noisy streets above are hidden in fog, and a deep silence rests upon the slip. Much time in St. John is passed in going up and down hill. There are two or three streets that may be called level, but most of them rise at quite an angle from the water's edge. The horse cars toil peisever- ingly up these streets, and the citizens patiently submit to their daily joltings. It is said that one sure mark of the citizen of St. John is his excellent digestion. For this, people say, he has to thank the horse cara. The sail up the St. John River will take us through the centre of the province, and show us something of the farms of New Brunswick. 28 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The stoamcr loaves St. .lolin in the early dawn, in order to pass tlie falls above the city at a certain point in the tide. These falls are remarkable for being re- versible ; that is, the water Hows in one direction one- half the day, and in the opposite direction during the remainder of the day. AVhen the tide ebbs, the river conies over the falls. When tlood tide conies, the ocean rises, covei-s the falls, and flows up stream. Just l)c- tween the two tides is the time that vessels seize to go up and down the river. The falls safely passed, we enter that part of St. John Uiver called the Narrows^ because, as you might suppose from the name, the precipitous banks draAv close to each other, making the stream very narrow. Far up on both sides of the cliffs miners are at work. A sudden puff of smoke is seen, a dull boom is heard, and then frag- ments of rook begin to rattle down into the river. "The men are blasting. Presently the hills retreat, and the river valley broad- ens during the rest of the way to Fredericton. The land is very fertile, because the river floods all the low lands in the spring. The farmer sets his nets in the meadows; and when the river returns to its bed, it leaves liehind large quantities of silvery fish, which fill the nets to bursting. A few weeks later, the fields, over which but recently the waters rolled, are being ploughed and planted. So the farmer's field on the St. John yields two crops — one crop of fish, the other crop of grain and vege- tables. When such are the advantages of farm life on the river, it is no wonder that every hillock is crowned OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 29 iwn, m II point •iiig re- on ono- iiig the le river e ocean Fust bc- 50 to go It. John suppose to each on both ien puff nn frag- r. -The y broad- II. The the low 3 in the bed, it 'hich till recently ed. 1^0 crops id vege- n life on crowned with a white fann-lmuse, nestled amid gnarled old apple- trees, with the sweeping boughs of an elm shading the roof. Further iip the river, wo notice that the shores arc edged with willov/s. Their roots protect the soft banks of the river, and prevent the current fronr washing them away. Here the spring freshets are so strong that the region is flooded. It becomes a Canadian Venice. Fannei-s go from th(!ir houses to their bai'iis in rowboats. Teachers and children row to school across the meadows. It is gay times then for the little folks, as they float about over the water. S;uidays, idso, are enlivened by a watery pilgrimage to church. And now, gazing across the breezy waters, we catch sight of a few church-spires rising tall above the many elms surrounding them. Fredericton, the capital of the province, is at hand. The water-front is lined with beautiful elms. Most of the principal buildings of the city do not face the river, but we can, from our boat, form a general idea of their appearance and surround- ings. Tlie Normal School building is very line ; and so is the new Parliament House, of freestone and gray granite. Fredericton is a very ambitious city. Although one- fifth as large as St. John, she longs to rival her big neighbor in commercial importance. She is the centre of the lumbering district, and is anxious to be the centre of the agricultural, fishing, and mining regions on the north shore. But as yet her latest ambitions have not been accomplished. 30 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. About ono hundred and forty miles above Fredericton are the Grand Falls. Although only half as liigh as Niagara, they are quite as overwhelming. This is be- cause their surroundings are so dark and gloomy that Niagara, by contrast, appeare bright and joyous. The St. John Kiver narrows at this point from one quarter of a mile to three hundred feet, and then plunges eighty feet into a dark gorge. A suspension bridge hangs above the river a few feet below the cataract, and there on moonlight nights the view is beautiful. Many legends cluster round the Grand Falls ; but the most interesting story of all has an Indian girl for the heroine. She was of the tribe of the Melicites, who lived in the region of the upper St. John. From a child she had known all the windings of the river, and its falls and cataracts, as well as you know your way home from school. She could steer and paddle a canoe almost as well as a young Indian brave. The Mohawks were the deadly enemies of the Meli- cites. The two tribes hated each other with strong, undying, Indian hatred. Once our Indian girl was with a small party on the upper St. John. They had left her home, the chief village of the Melicites, had carried their canoes around the Grand Falls, and were well on their way up the river, when they were captured by a party of fierce Mohawks. All the Melicites were put to death except our hero- ine. She was placed in the first canoe and ordered to conduct the captors to a safe landing-place above Grnnd Falls. In the morning they would carry tb' . es round the falls and continue their journey. «r OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 81 lericton liigh as 8 is be- tny that 8. The larter of 1 eighty 3 hangs id there but the I for the :es, who I a child and its [vy home e almost he Meli- strong, ivas with left her . carried I well on red by a 3ur hero- dered to re Grnnd That was all they told htr, but she could guess the rest. They were dressed as warrioi's on the wari)ath, and their destination was her native village. There they would give no quarter. Her nearest kin would bo surprised and butchered by the wily enemies of their tribe. What sad thoughts passed through her mind, as she bent to her work ! How fast the river banks flew by ! Soon they would be at the falls ! The falls ! Ah ! there lay the way by vvhicli she could save her tribe from mas- sacre. But herself? She would be lost too. Well, what mattered it, if the others were saved. And so the dauntless girl steered straight for the Grand Falls. The Mohawks were half asleep, trusting implicitly in the girl whose life was in their power. They were awakened by the roar of the cataract, just too late to save themselves. The paddles were seized and plied desperately for a moment, and then they gave them- selves ui) to their dreadful fate with the grim silence of the Indian brave. Mohawks, canoes, and Melicite girl, all were dashed to pieces over the falls ; but never again was there a Mohawk invasion into Melicite territory. By means of tributaries we can pass from the head- waters of the St. John to the head waters of the Resti- gouche, a river which forms pari, of the northern bound- ary of New Brunswick. The natural charm of the river is great, but to a fisherman the Restigouche is most dear, because of the large salmon that throng its waters. Spearing salmon by torchlight is a very exciting night's fishing. A windless night is best for this sport, as then the 82 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. 1 water \h unnillli)tl aiul cloivr. TIio (Islit'inuin stands in the bow of till! bout K'i'''"K' »-'arni'stly down ujion tlie rivt'i-bed. If lie scch a li.' ' , be tbiiist.s liis forked spear into it, and binds it in tbu l)oat. Tlio work is siU'iit but intensely exuitinjj. Every objeet on tbu sboro is illu- minated by tbe toreb ; tbat nigbt bird, tbe owl, boots dismally overboad; tbe paddle dii)S silently into tbo water; and tbe lisberman, bis si)ear poised earefully, keenly watebes tbe j,deaming river bed. Suddenly tbere is a dart, and a glittering salmon is tixed and beld tigbtly by tbe inuel jaws of tbe spear. He weigbs at least eigbt pounds, and wben cooked will make a delicious meal. Half an hour's inaction on tbe part of tbe fisberman follows ; tben comes a quick dart, succeeded by an im- patient exclamation. Tbe fish bas taken alarm. A few imic moments of silence, and tben a line wbitefisb is brougbt up. So tbe spoit goes on, and, after tbo return to tbe camp, tbe fisberman iinds it almost imi)0S8ible to sleep, tbe still excitement of tbe fisbing was so great. Perhaps, far away in tbe forests, is heard a low, melan- choly cry, repeated again and again. No one knows what it "is ; but the Indians say that the hunting dogs of their beloved hero. Cote Scaurp, are wandering round the world hunting for their master. He was once ruler over men and beasts in the happy past. But they began to grow quarrelsome, and at last Cote Scaurp could bear it no longer. He sailed away over the great lake toward the setting sun. And then, as the Indians say, " a very strange thing came to pass. The beasts, which until now had spoken one tongue, were no more OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 88 Htanda in upon the kud siK'iir sili'nt but I'o is illn- \vl, lionts into tliu ciuofully, salmon is tho Hpeiir. )oked will fishennan by an ini- n. A few liitefisli is the return l)0S8ible to o great, ow, nielan- •ne knows nting dogs ring round once ruler But they )te Scaurp r the great the Indians rhe beasts, re no more able to understand one another. And they tied apart, each his own way, and never again have they met to- gether in council." Having returned to St. John, let us, in imagination, cross the bay to the opposite blue line which marks the Nova Scotia coiist. Tiie Hay of Kundy stretches two great arms into Nova Scotia. One is Annajiolis Hasin, and the other is Minas Hasin. Annapolis Hasin is a wonderfully sunny, cheerful si>ot. Here is the paradise of cherries. l*eoj)le come from far and near, from St. John, from I'ortland, and even fnmi Boston, to gather and enjoy the bhujkhearts and the whitehearts. Hotii the cherry and the apple or- chards are beautiful in spring; and the cottages, em- bowered in the orchards, must be lovely homes in June, when the delicately tinted, sweet blossoms are nodding at the eaves and peeping in at the windows. There is a growing trade in apples. Nova Scotia apples are in great demand in England ; and red, green, and golden fruit are exported from here in English ships. Minas Bivsin is remarkable for its high tides. It is one of the forks or throats at the upper end of the Bay of Fundy, into which is driven all the water that enters at the wide mouth of the bay. The waters pile up tis the tide rushes in, and here in Minas liasin the tide often rises to the height of sixty feet. At Halifax, on the oppos'te coivst of Nova Scotia, the tide rises only seven or eight feet. It is a curious and interesting sight to watch the rise and fall of the tides. At ebb tide the great ships lie 84 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Iii^li luul dry at Oio whiirvcH iioiir thu mouth nf Honio river. Tho rivur itsell' is ii luure trickliiijj Htruiviii. Suddenly it roaring hoihkI is iu-ard ; thu tidu tuniH and rushes with niij,'hty iuipulso towards tho shoro. 'I'im foaniiiig water hurrieH around a l)end and enters thu harbor. Soon the great ships l)egiii to rise, and pres- ently they are afhiat ; while thu stronjj sea breeze rocks theni to and fro, and wiiistles tlnoujfh their rij,'j,Miig. Tlio ebb of the tide is just as sudden. In a few mo- ments after thu turn takes place, a great bare spot of sand appears in thu harbor, which constantly grows larger. Many cattle have been drowned in this region, and lK)ys who were guarding them have been swept away by the relentless sea. Fifty miles south of Minas Basin, on tho Atlantic coast, is Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia. The har- bor can shelter a thousand sliips, and is well defended by forts. They frown down from the heights on the shores of the harbor, and from many of the islands. If a war-ship could, by hof)k or by crook, slip ])ast the forts up to the city, she could be instantly blov i to pieces by cannon from Fort St. George on Citadel hill. Tho hill, a low one, only about two hundred and fifty feet in height, rises back of the city. It is crowned by a high, rectangular, grassy mound on whose summit floats the red and blue flag of England, with tho Union Jack. It is after you have entered the fort that its true strength becomes known to you. Beneath the grass work are the real walls of the fort, built of stone and masonry, and exceedingly thick. Tho fort contains many lofty, echoing passages and spacious chambers. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 85 of Honio r struiim. tuniH 1111(1 jro. The llU'lS till! lllld plH'S- iii/M rocks a few mo- re s[i"t of tly j^rows lis rofjion, ecu swept e Atlantic The har- 1 defended hts on the slands. If it the forts o pieces by hI and fifty jrovvned by )8e summit , with the he fort that ieneath the ilt of stone ort contains larabers. Have yoti ever seen an ant's nest in the pasture? Ft is a fjreat, f^rassy inoiind, on tiie siirfafc;, i)iil within, if you should open it l)y nuums of a walkiiij,' stick, you would liiid inniiinoral)K', f^allcried chambers, the scene of much i)nsy life. It is just so with tlicsi! forts. Tiiey arc f,'rcat, silent mounds; but witliin arc! many chainhcrs, tlirou},di which echo and re-echo the busy steps and voices of active soldiers. Halifax is the chief English naval station on tlie Atlantic! seacoast of North Ain(!rica. As we have seen, it is well defended by forts, and men-of-war are continu- ally hovering about the harbor. It is to Halifax that vessels turn if any accident Ixjfalls them on the i)asHago between the New and the Old World. CHAPTER IV. THK ISLAND CITY OF CANADA. Montreal, the largest city of the province of Quel)ec, is finely situated. It is built on an Island in the St. Lawrence, thirty miles long by seven miles wide ; and is the point at which ocean navigation ceases, and river and lake navigation begins. The large ocean steamers puff their way up the St. Lawrence River a thousand miles to unload their goods at Montreal ; while numer- ous small sailing vessels and steamers, on their way down the great river, stoi) at Montreal. It is not sur- prising then that Montreal, owing to its fine natural OMk 36 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. i : position, sliould have become tlie largest city of all British America. A Ixiautiful view of Montreal is obtained by descend- ing the St. Lawrence in a steamboat. There are numer- ous rapids above the city which steamboats are obliged to " shoot." Tliis is dangerous work. Wliite, foaming waves strike the bows, and whirl away to the stern. The vessel swerves shar^ily from the dangerous rocks. The thunder of the rapids mingles with the laughter and glee of the passengers. They know no danger ; but the captain looks sober and anxious. The Lachine Rapids are the most perilous to pass. As the boat approaches them, an Indian pilot, from the village on shore, is taken on board. The captixin ordei-s every one to remain in his place, in order that the l)oat may be perfectly balanced while running this last and most Uirrible gauntlet. The pilot grasps the wheel strongly ; and down the narrow, shallow cliannel she tlies, sharply turning from the dark, jagged rocks. Tlie lips and cheeks of many a stalwart passenger are Avhite, but the pilot, in whose hands are so many lives, stands unmoved, with his eyes fixed upon the curves ol the shore. If he should once turn his eyes away, and look at the rapids themselves, he would lose his bearings, and the steamer would be destroyed. In a few moments the rapids are passed. There is now nothing to disturb one's enjoy- ment of the beautiful approach to Montreal. Far away from our entrance to the bay, is the Victoria Bridge, which linked the shores of the St. Lawrence to- gether thirty years ago. The river L a mile and three- quarters wide where it is spanned by this bridge. On f^^?i-c ■rt*Brf^A^*^-.1"' p■-^iW¥l!9.i»«es*«&a:^I«3»**■"a:^5i- *W OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 37 city of all jy descend- aie 11 lime r- iie obliged te, foaming the stern, rolls rocks, le laughter langer ; but us to pass. it, from the itiiin ordei-s he boat may ;t and most A strongly; lies, sharply le lips and lite, but the Is unmoved, lore. If he t the rapids the steamer B rapids are one's enjoy- the Victoria ..awrence to- e and three- bridge. On 3 O z H 3 m »*i»iPKI*JKlSt«&aS««fc*J*a^i."^ '^JtM^^^ 38 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. account of its great length the bridge appears so low, that traveler often ask if the funnel of the steamboat is not to be lowered on passing under. Drawing nearer, and seeing the great height of the structure, they smile at their error in judgment. Entering the harbor, the city lies spread out before us, with its fine docks and warehouses, and the spires of its many churches ; and, in the background, is pine-clad Mount Royal, the stately mountain that gives its name to the noble city at its feet. Tlie twin towera of Notre Dame Cathedral rise conspicuous above the lesser land- marks. Other beautiful views of the city can be obtained from the towers of Notre Dame, and from the summit of Mount Royal. This mountain, which forms the western boundary of the town, is seven hundred feet high. There are two ways of ascent. One is the road which starts at the southeastern side, and winds upward in a corkscrew fashion to the summit. The other way is by means of numerous flights of very steep, wooden steps. Those who take this climb arrive at the top with panting breath and shaking knees. But the view fully repays them. On all sides stretches an immense plain, through which the majestic St. Lawrence rolls its blue flood. Many green islands lie, like fallen leaves, upon its watery surface. To the southwest is the valley of the Ottawa, whose yellow, turbid stream joins the St. Law- rence several miles above Montreal. Far away are blue ranges of mountains. The Lau- rentian Mountains skirt the northern horizon ; the (ireen ;;■ frF«^»Ea''**ft^J'^^«W«J-^*W"W^**' !%K^CW*l^ill4.-.3- . ^sfifip OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 89 i so low, teamboat g nearer, ley smile it before spires of pine-clad its name of Notre iser land- ned from immit of mdary of are two ts at the orkscrew iieans of . Those ig breath them, through ue flood, upon its sy of the St. Law- rhe Lau- lie Green Mountains, shadowy and cloudlike, lie to the south. Lake Champlain is visible in the distance. Fleecy clouds float in the sky ; the fresh wind fans your cheek ; and, looking downward, you see the city at your foet, lying between the mountain and the river. It extends five miles along the shore, and two miles inland to the foot of Mount Royal, and occupies a space of about eight square miles. It is built upon terraces, which mark the former channels of the river. The northern rnd southern ends of the city are the poorer quarters. Here are factories, mills, workshops, and the houses of the working men, mostly built of wood or brick. In the centre, near the river, stand the stately blocks of w.arehouses, business houses, and public buildings. The homes of the wealthy men are in the western part of the city, on the lower spurs of Mount Royal. The top of the mountain is laid out in a fine park, which cost the city three millions of dollars. Moun- tain Park, as it is called, .abounds in beautiful trees and shady drives, which are a favorite afternoon resort. T)ie park is still incomplete. It is intended to lay out some of the grounds as gardens, and leave the rest in its natural wild state. There are to l)e preserves for game and wild animals. On the northern side of the mountain are quarries of limestone, the building stone of the city. Public build- ings, warehouses, and private residences, all are built of this beautiful gray stone, which resists the attacks of the weather wonderfully. About one-third of the way up the mountain, on the «tb> 40 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. eastern side, is the reservoir. Water is brought in an open canal from the St. Lawrence, five miles above the city, to this great artificial pond, which has been cut from the solid rock at considerable pains and cost. The Catholic and Protestant cemeteries occupy the western slopes of Mount Royal. The Catholic ceme- tery is a very interesting place to visit. Here and there, throughout the grounds of the cemetery, are small chapels or little grottos, that, followed in a defi- nite order, lead to a small hill on which are placed three crosses. Hence they form what is known as the Way of the Crosses. On certain fefist days the chapels are open, and the black-robed priest leads the people from one to another. On the inner wall of each chapel is a raised carving, which is brightly colored, and which represents some scene from the Bible. The priest explains each picture to the listening throng, and at last leads them to the little hill of the three crosses, before which they pros- trate themselves. The grfives of the dead are tenderly cared for. Here and there may be seen, on a green, turfy mound, a plas- ter cast of a saint, a photograph of the dead friend, or an altar with tiny candles under a glass shade. Have you a clear picture of Mount Royal in your mind ? Think once more of the green hill, with the shady park on its summit ; the limestone quarry on its northern slope ; the graveyards on its western slope ; the reservoir of clear, pure watrr on its eastern slope ; the city at its feet. If it is all plain before you, we will next seek the shore of the river. flit in an bove the been cut )8t. 3upy the ic ceme- [ere and :ery, are in a defi- )ed three the Way and the another, carving, its some 1 picture a to the ley pros- •. Here 1, a plas- riend, or in your vith the •y on its 1 slope ; n slope; I we will OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 41 Generally that is the most disagreeable part of a city. Narrow, filthy streets lead between dilapidated ware- houses to the decaying wooden piers of the harbor, and these regions are frequented by the roughest class of people. But it is not so in Montreal. She stands, as one writer has said, "clean to her very feet." Her wharves, extending three miles along the river, are next to the wharves of Liverpool in size. They are built of limestone, and in their general plan and solidity they resemble the beautiful quays of Paris. A truck railroad runs filong the edge of the wharves, and Montreal is able to load and luiload a vessel in less time than any other city in the country. The street bordering the river is separated from the wharves by a stone wall, which protects it during the spring freshets. One side of the street is lined with solid limestone ware- houses and business blocks. Bonsecours Church, Bonse- cours Market, and the Custom House stand on this street. The harbor is a forest of masts and funnels. Here are seen great, black ocean steamers ; smaller lake steam- ers, painted white ; and foreign ships with tall and taper- ing masts. The most pictures(|ue vessel is that of the Canadian farmer. This is a somewhat clumsy barge for carrying hay and wood to market. It is a flat-bottomed boat with a square bow and stern. It has but one mast, and is I'igged with large square sails. The farmer unloads a I'iirt of his cargo on the wharves, and stands patiently hy until a customer is attracted, who tiikes either the whole load or such a portion as he may point out. A few yeai-s ago these barges were found 42 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. unloading at the centml wharves of the liarbor, bat in- creasing business has now pushed them fartlier down the river. The people of Montreal are justly proud of Victoria Bridge. It is one of the longest bridges in the world, and, on that account, has been called the eighth wonder of the world. It consists of a tube or square box of iron twenty-two feet high, sixteen feet wide, and a mile and three-quartei-s long. The tube is supported on twenty-four piei-s of solid masonry. On the side of each pier facing up the river, is a projection of stone shaped like a wedge. When the ice breaks up in the spring, the cakes of ice from the Great Lakes as well as from the upper St. Law- rence pass this bridge. The river bed is very steep at Montreal, and the downward rush of the numerous cakes of ice causes them to press with enormous force against any obstacle in their path. On this account, tlie Victoria Bridge was built with strong wedges to the buttresses. The object of the wedges is to protect the piei-s, by meeting the first shock of the descending ice, and by dividing the cakes. The bridge is designed only for railway trains, which pass through the long, black tube in six minutes. The passage is so dull and cheerless that it seems to the traveller to occupy a much longer time. The season of the spring floods is a period of great anxiety to the people of Montreal. The sun and rain melt the ice, which has long kept the river silent from shore to shore. The cakes of ice are carried down stream until they run aground on some island. More )or, bat in- ther clown >f Victoria the world, ith wonder ire box of and a mile iported on lie side of II of stone akes of ice 3r St. Law- ry steep at numerous nous force s account, Iges to the )rotect the nding ice, ins, which ites. The ms to the I of great 1 and rain ilent from •ied down id. More OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 43 cakes are carried down and piled above the first, until what is known as an ice shove is formed. This is noth- ing more than a jumble of blocks of ice, forming a huge embankment. The water, being dammed by the ice shove, floods the lower part of the city, often causing considerable loss to the merchants of Montreal. It is on account of these spring freshets that the wharves are of such solid construction, that the river street is fortified on one side by a stone wall, and that the freight sheds and other buildings upon the wharves are all movable. Sometimes, during the freshets, venturesome men cross the St. Lawrence with a boat. In the open por- tions of the river they row, but in crossing the shove, they spring from the boat, and draw it over the mass of ice. If the ice gives way beneath them, they save them- selves by springing into the boat. Bonsecoure Market looks out on the river street. It is a great parallelogram two stories high, built of cut stone, and surmounted with a noticeable dome and cupola. The provision dealers have their stalls on the first floor ; and. in the basement, kitchen utensils, hard- ware, tin, wooden and glass wares can be found. Tues- days and Fridays are the best days for paying a visit to the market, for then the square is thronged with country peasants bringing their wares to the city for sale. On the sidewalk, beneath the shadow of the market building itself, are small booths and stalls, supported by its stone walls. On the outer edge of the walk is an apparently endless line of wagons, laden with farm pro- duce. Such very queer wagons as they are ! Heavy, 44 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. unwieldy, and with can enormous quantity of woodwork about tlieni, they resemble the ancient hay cart. The hoi-ses, with their noses in the heaps of hay spread liefore them for tlieir refreshment, munch drowsily, while their ownei's quietly scan the passing people for a customer. Chickens, butter, and eggs are temptingly displayed on this brightly painted cart at our right. Opposite, sits a fat old country woman in a broad-brimmed straw hat. She has a store of scarfs, kerchiefs, and colored yarns on her small counter. Here is a handsome girl with dark liair and eyes, selling cherries. Close beside her is a withered old crone, with a cartload of onions, radishes, beets, and potatoes. A whole family preside over another battered old wagon, wherein are disi)layed stacks of brown bread and curiously carved cakes of maple sugar. Although the market place is the scene of so much life and action, it is very (juiet. Here is seen the French gesture and the Frencli shrug, but the high-pitched French voice is wanting. The French Canadian peas- ants murmur softly over their bargaining. The ownei-a Imve no fixed price for anything. They genemlly begin by asking just twice the sum they expect to receive for tile article to l)e sold, while the purchaser as regularly offers one-half the owner's first price. So they haggle in their soft, dreamy voices, each party seeking advan- tage over the other, and each enjoying the bargaining without thinking of the loss of time. Instead of the rush of an American place of business, the market has an air of repose and cheerful friendliness, delightful to see. '^tSfe. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 45 woodwork jart. Tlie eatl l)ef()rc vhile tlieir ustomor. displayed Opposite, lied straw id colored Isoiiic girl ose beside of onions, ly preside displayed I cakes of ■) much life lie French gh-pitched dian peas- 'he ownera •ally begin i-eceive for regularly ley haggle ng advan- liargaining jad of the iiarket has delightful Close by llonsecours Maikct is llonsccoui's Church, into which the jicasaiit often steals during market hours, to pray before the shrine of some saint. Jt is a very plain little structun^ and is over two hundred years old. A number of small, shabby booths and restaurants are bolstered up by the walls of the church. 'J'hey (ding to the venerable building as barnacles to a ship. The interior of the church, with its colored bas-reliefs, sculp- tures, altar, and quaint pulpit, is like the interior of the ancient churches in Northern Fi-ance. One or two facts of history must now lie given that you may understand the state of society in the jirovince of Quebec. This region was first settled by the French, who built many churches, monasteries, and convents, and lived here u'.aistuibed for over one hundred yeai-s. Then, in a g''jat war between France and England, the English colonists living in the region which is now the United States, came against Canada, and coiujuered it for the English crown. After peace was declared, the whole of Canada was open to English settlei-s, who came flocking in from the British Isles. So it has come to pass that, at the present day, there are living side by side in Montreal, Protestant Englishmen and Catholic Frenchmen. The city is divided into the French and English quarters, the east and the west ends. There is a spirit of rivalry between the two races, "\\ Inch is shown very plainly in the erection of churches and buildings for charitable pui-poses. The French endow a school for Catholics, the English one for Protestants; the French establish a Catholic hospital, the English follow I I 46 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. I ' I! with its rival. All over tlio city rise tlu; doniL's of Ciitliolit! ciitliiMlrals and tiie H[)iies of Ku^rjisli churches; HO that Montreal comes fairly by its name of tlie "City of Churches." Notre Dame, with the exception of the catliedral in Mexi{!o, is the largest clnucii of America. It can seat ten thousand; and, on unusual occasions, when chairs are placed in the aisles, fifteen thousand can 1h3 accom- modated. The cliurch resembles its great namesake, the Notre Dame of I'aris, and its tall twin tcAvers are one of the notable huubnarks of the city. They are over two hundred feet high, and contain a peal of eleven bells, the most sweet-toned chimes on this continent. The largest bell weighs over twelve tons, and is, in weight, the fifth bell in the world. Any day, on going into the vast cathedral, you may see pciusant gills and women kneeling l>efoi'e the high altar or beforb some shrine. An Indian worshiper telling his beads is no rare siglit. The Catholics of Montreal are not wealthy, yet they undertake and accomplish veiy ambitious feats in archi- tecture. Not quite forty years ago, an architecrt Wivs sent to Rome to take the measurements of the church of St. Peter's, the largest church in the world. He was commissioned to erect, on Dominion Square in Montreal, a churcli one-third the size of St. Peter's. With the single exception of the roof, which must be pointed to shed the snow easily, it was to be an exact copy of the great original. With its mighty dome and elegant front, the Canadian St. Peter's is a great orna- ment to Montreal. -m mm OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 47 (lolllL'S of cliurcilicH; the " City itliedml ill It ciiii Heat lu'ii chaii's iiesaku, the jis are one y are over of eleven continent, and is, in % on goinjT b gills and L'forb some eads is no r, yet they ts in archi- hitecrt was the church I. ion Square 5t. Peter's, h must be )e an exact ' dome and great orna- ("iirisl Chnrch Cathedral, tlu- chief ''rotcstant church, is built ol gray stone, with triniiiiinj^H (»f line, eream- colored sandstone. It in ver)' much like ati Knj,dish ciiiuch, witii its pointed spire, its tablets set in the walls, and its jjforgeons pew for the ci'ief ollicial of tlie city. The tablets bear tlie honored names and in some cases the titled names of Hnglislimen who have served their Queeii faithfully in the jrovernment of her great Ameri- can proviiice of Canada. In one part of the ehunOi is eonspieiiously displayed a twittered banner which was lK)rne through the Crimean War with honor by Her Majesty's Canadian Volunteei-s. It was luuig in the church on the occasion of the Prince of Wales present- ing a iU!W banner to the regiment. Massive monasteries t'ud the high vv^alls of convents are seen on nearly every street. Perhaps the most noted convent is that of tiie (J ray Sisters, who are aided in their good work by both ('atholics and Protestants. They care for the orphans, the ag. ;l, and the iuHrm, and take charge of various asylums and schools in different parts of the city. It is customary for the traveler to visit their hospitiil at noon, when he sees the sisters at nudoii('o. Till' liuly HUiiciior IkiMh a liyinii l»o(tk with wliidi .slu3 lends tliciii in llii-ir ilcvotions. 'I'lii- rliipliiiijf tojfi'tlu!!' of tlio iM)verH of the book is tho Higiial for them to kneel and to rise. 'I'ho French of Montreal are the elass which clini,' most closely to the ways of the past. 'Die I'Jiglisli are the enteri)risinj( class who ait! heiit on dcvelopinjf all the possiiiilitics of the city. They constitute the ciommereial and maiuifactnring element. They widen the streets, plan tlu; sipiares, and lay out the pid)lie parks ; and, with the excciitioii of the churches, erect most of the puhlie l)uildinj,'s. There are, in the western part of the city, line l)road streets, shaded witli large trees, and lined witii handsome stone dwelling houses. Many of these houses stand in the midst of line grounds. in the French quarter there are narrow little street**, in which often nothing is seen to remind one that he is in an American eity belonging to I'^nglaiid. All is purely French in api)earance. The house is one story or one story and a half high, and opens directly ui)on the street pavement. Within is disclosed the living room, scrupulously neat, with brilliantly colored prints of the Pope, or of some favorite saint, upon the wall. Madame, large, tall, and fat, bends over the cooking stove. Monsieur, thin and gray, read.-t his paper in the sunny window, while the black-eyed babies toddle and creep over the spotless lloor. Every aspect of the city beai-s testimony to the two- fold nature of its inhabitants. 'J'he hotels, kept in the English style, have French waitei-s and French cooks. The goods in the shops are Fhiglish, but they are sold OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS, hymn luictk ions, 'I'lm s tlu! Mij;iial vliich cliiii; ICn^lLsli iiru piii^ all thu (;oiniiuM'(tiiil the HtriietH, I ; and, with thu pui)lic A the city, , and linud iiy of tlicso ttlo Htreets, ' (hat he in .1. All Is I half high, it. Within neat, with •n»o favorite d fat, bends gray, reads black-eyed r. to the two- kept in the 3nch cook.s. ey are sold by French clerks. Through the quaint streets, which have Imjcii piously nanied for sonio old saints, tinkle the American hoi-se cars. In and out amongst the motley crowd of prosperous Knglish merchants, (anions Yankee tourists, and pushing Irish cabmen, glide the sond)ro priest and the gray nun with her pale and downcast face. There is plaiidy an un-American, not to say for- eign, air about Montreal. Like many of the towns of Normandy and Hrittany, Montreal was asleep for over one hinidred years. Hut the middle of this eentury witnes.sed the late awakening of this city of the North. A place nnist bo indeed dead, in which no hidden life could be aroused by such evciiti as the opening of the St. Lawrence sys- tem ot canals, the erection of the Victoria Hridge, the building of the (J rand Trunk Uailroad, and the establish- ment of a line of ocean steamei-s l)etween Montreal and Kurope. Montreal has taken immense strides forward commercially in the last twenty-five years, and the future alone can show to what vast importance she may attain. CHAPTER V. WINTER IN CANADA. Canada is so far north of our country that you might think of the winter as exceedingly cold and severe, and picture the Canadians shivering before great logs blaz- ing in their open fireplaces. But such is not the case. ''m 60 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. It is true the weather is at times intensely cold ; the theimometer falls to points so far below zero, as almost to frighten a citizen of the U:.ited States. But the skies are clear and blue ; the air is dry ; and the cold is so bracing that one is inspired to unusual outdoor exertions. Here tliere are no fogs, sleet, slush, or east winds, such as make winter in some regions of the United States very unpleasant. There are rarely any sudden changes of weather. \V hen the snow comes, it comes to stay ; and the Canadian boy, looking out at the first shining snowstorm of the season, realizes th.at three de- lightful months of uninterrupted pleasure lie before him. Winter in Canada begins in December. Christmas Day always finds the earth clad in its mantle of snow. The most intense winter days come in January. By the end of March, the winter is over in Ontario, and spring ploughing and planting begin with tlw coming of the v>arra April days. Spring is three weeks later in the more northern province of Quebec. The Canadian rejoices in his winter. He would not change it for the sunny, flower-scented winters of Flor- ida or of Spain. These three months are the crown of the year to him, for they are filled with most delightful and healthful pastimes, — with skating, sleighing, snow- shoeing, tobogganing, and ice boating. Young and old are wild with excitement at the firat snowstorm. The grandfather becomes as youthful as the grandchild, and joins as eagerly as any one in the sports of the hour. Canada is the land where King Winter holds high court. In 1883 the first winter Carnival was held in OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 61 y cold ; the o, as almost i. But the ,iid the cold ual outdoor east winds, the United any sudden les, it comes , at the first >at three de- } hefore him. Christmas tie of snow. vnuary. By 3utario, and th«. coming weeks later e would not iters of Flor- ;he crown of »st delightful ghing, snow- )ung and old storm. The mdchild, and the hour, r holds high was held in Montreal, and it was such a success that almost every year since, a similar Carnival has taken place. We will supjjose that you are a bright, intelligent, sclioolboy from the United States, who is spending Car- nival week in Montred. What are some of the inter- esting sights you would see, and what are some of the pleasant s])orts you would enjoy? You, like many of your countrymen, have imagined that life in Canada during winter was a dead-and-alive sort of existence. So you are very much surprised by the glimpses of the city of Montreal that you catch on driving to your hotel. Every one seems to be outdoors and enjoying himself. Skaters are on the river, gliding to and fro ; graceful sleighs, furnished with buffalo robea, and carrying bright, rosy faces, speed past you ; jingiin^' bells and snatches of song and laughter are the sounds that greet yovir ears. Every one seems to be having a thoroughly jolly time. On Monday evening, the fu*st night of the Carnival, the whole city goes to Dominion S(piare to see the illumination of the Ice Palace. This is a great build- ing which is made entirely of ice and snow. The blocks of ice used in making it are four feet long by two v/ide. They are cemented together by snow, and then water is pumped over the whole, so that the palace is frozen into a firm, compact structure. If any one wished to separate the ice into blocks again, he would have to saw them apart. The palace is square, with square towers at each corner, and a larger tower, one hundred feet high, in the centre. Ti 1 62 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, In the sunlight or the moonlight, the Ice Palace is a wonderfully dazzling sight. And now, on this in- auguration night, illuminated by electricity, it is mar- velously Iwautiful. It seems to you like a fairy palace, which the wand of some powerful magician has called into being. I'uritle, green, crimson, and gold lights are burned within, and in their radiance the palace looks like glass. It is like a brilliant bubble or a rain- li-i THE ICE PALACE. bow ; and, almost unconsciously, you hold your breath for fear the slightest motion of the air will cause the magic structure to vanish. The snow begins to fall, but the crowd still linger in front of the Ice Palace, as if expecting something. You decide to wait, too, and sooii from far away you hear tlie tram[), tramp, tramp, of human feet. The steady sound is like the march of an army. Presently ' is OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 53 Palace is 1 this in- it is mar- ry palace, has called )ld lights lie palace or a rain- )ur breath cause the itill linger iomethiiig. away you eet. The Presently Rfteen hundred men on sn.)wshoes march into tlie square, each carrying a torch in one hand and a Roman candle, shooting oil" brilliant lights, in the other. It is a procession of snowshoc clubs. Each company has a differently colored dress, which forms the badge of the club. Fiiwt, marches the oldest club of all, the Montreal, known by the blue cap. The fit. (k'orge follows; then come the Emerald, St. Andrews, Prince of Wales RiHes, Mount Royal, and the representatives of the suowshoe clubs at Ottawa and Quebec. The costume of the snowshoers consists of a blanket coat, reaching halfway to the knees, and short blanket trousers. Ulie blankets are white, bordered with stripes of various bright colore. They are made up with the stripes edging the coat. A sash is wound around the waist many times and knotted over the hips. A hood, very mv:L like the hootls worn by the monks of the Middle Ages, hangs midway down the back of the coat, That is merely for ornament, as the real covering for the head is a conical, knit cap, ornamented with a tassel at the top. It is worn lf)w over the ears, and is allowed to droop on one side. Thick gloves or mittens, long stockings, and moccasins, together with the snow- shoes, complete the suit. The t^ostumes of the various clulxs differ from one another merely in the coku-s chosen. The dress is always of the same material and make. The purple and white costume of the St. George Club is very pretty. The stripes on the coat and hood, the sash, stockings, and mittens are purple. The remainder -f!l •I it 'I 1 :■» 54 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. of the suit is white. The cap has wide purple and white stiipes, with a purple tassel. A purple St. George's cross adorns the chest. The snowshoer's costume is very warm and conven- ient, and is the dress worn by tobogganers as well. Ladies are often members of these clubs. Their dre.ss is like that of the men, except that their coat is a long ulster reaching to the ankles. All this time the procession has been winduig around and through the palace, which, by tlie light of torches and iireworks, appears more splendid than ever. Now, followed by a portion of the crowd, it leaves the city, and winds away tlirough dark, quiet roads to pine-clad Mount Royal. The procession resembles a fiery ser- pent, as it curves in and out among the trees; now pausing to wait for the stragglers, and now pressing on again sturdily. At last it reaches the sunmiit, and, wav- ing its lights to signal good by to those watching far below, it vanishes on the other side of the mountain. You gaze upward fascinated, long after the lights have gone. You still hear the hoo-oo-oo of the snowshoers, and the crunch of the wet snow under the feet of the sturdy Canadians. What fine, strong, atliletic fellows they are ! You admire them vith your whole soul, and resolve that, if you can, you will learn to use snow- shoes, and will join them on their next tramp over the country. You obtain a pair of snowshoes, and wisely spend an hour in studying them before attempting to use them. Roughly speaking, their shape is like that of a tennis racket. They are about four feet long. -m OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 55 nd white George's conven- as well. leir dress is a long g around f torches Now, the city, pine-clad liery scr- ees; now easing on and, wav- iching far ntain. ghts have owshoers, set of the ic fellows soul, and use snow- > over the spend an use them. E a tennis A strip of to'igh ash, alxiut three-quarters of an inch thick, is bent to form an oval, and the ends are strongly bound together. These ends form the heel of the snowshoc. The shape of the shoe is kept by means of two crosspieces, one near the front of the shoe, the other near the heel. The whole interior is then covered by j8 a strong network of raw hide. Just back of the tii-st crosspiece is an open space about three or four inches square. This is where the toes come when the shoe is on, and, owing to the absencie of the network, they can move up and down as freely as in ordinary walking. The shoe is fastened to the foot by straps of deerskin. The snow most common in the United States is veiy moist. It is the kind useful in making snowballs and snow forts, and is called l)y scloolboys, sticky snow. Although this kind of snow sometimes does fall in Can- ada, yet the kind with which the people are most familiar differs very much from this. It is dry, hard, and gritty. Roll in it, and, on rising, it can be shaken off as easily as grains of sand. When your mother sweeps a room, she sometimes sprinkles wet tea leaves on the carpet. The dust clings to the leaves, and both are brushed up together. In Canada, they use snow instead of tea leaves, when sweeping rooms. It can be brushed up as easily as sand. However convenient this kind of snow may be at times, it is very difficult to walk upon, as it rarely forms a crust. It is so very mealy and yielding that it cannot support the weight of a man. The Indians, forced to hunt for food in all seasons, invented the snowshoe, by means of which the weight is thrown ^g'^mmr. I Ml i'^ : ( II 56 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. upon and supported by a larger surface than it is in the ordinary walking boot. Tlie Canadians have adopted it, and it now makes walking after a heavy snowstorm a delightful possibility. In attempting to use snowshoes you i.iake the usual mistake of keeping the feet too far apart, and of walk- ing with unnatural movements. But after several tum- bles into snowdrifts, you learn to move the feet just as in ordinary walking, merely lifting one snowshoe up and over the other. A few hours' practice enables you to feel fairly con- fident in your powers, and arouses an eager longing for the day of the tramp of the St. George Club, which you have been asked to join. At three o'clock on the appointed day, you find a throng of eager fellows in the McGill College grounds. Some are chatting gaily, some are examining the straps of their snowshoes, others are studying the weather, and consulting about the prospects of a storm before night. At length the captain gives the signal, and they march out of the city. Wlien they have arrived at the crossroads, where the deeper snow is found, a lialt is ordered. Here the snow- shoes, which have been slung on the backs, are put on, and in single file the procession moves on again. And now, with shouts and halloos, the club breaks into a wild run across the country. You and a few others, who are taking a first run to- day, are left far in the rear. An officer called the "whipper-in," whose duty it is to assist the laggards, keeps near by to encourage you. '«)» OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 57 it is in I adopted owstorm lie usual of walk- jral tuni- feet just vshoe up lirly con- iging for hich you II find a grounds, lie straps weather, m before and they vheve the ;he snow- e put on, in. And ito a wild st run to- illed the laggards, There are scores of fences to be climbed in the course of the tramp. The freshest of the club vault the fence at a run ; some climb pantingly over; while a few catch their shoes in the bars and fall headlong into the deep drifts. Then what shouts of good-natured laughter arise, as the poor fellows are drawn out by the heels ! The coui-se is now over a level plain. The captixin ordera the company to charge it ; and with a wild liur- rah, away they go, as fleet as the Avind. They seem to be beside themselves with excitement and delight in the snow. Gray-haired men leap fences like boys, while others attempt a race with a locomotive. The hoi-scs on the road are frightened by their shouts, but the snow- shoers are lost to everything but their own pleasure. At last, in the gray January twilight, they arrive at the little inn where tliey are to rest and take supper, before returning. Snowshoes are thrown off ; snowy coais and caps are beaten and piled in corners ; the icicles hanging from beards and mustaches are melted ; and all due prepara- tion for supper is made. What an appetite every one has ! The hot joints of meat are soon disposed of, and the weary snowshoers throw themselves down to rest — a few on sofas and chaii-s, but the majority on the floor before the blazing fire. Then a curious entertainment begins. The whole party sing one of their choruses, and then different members of the club are called upon to sing, dance, and tell stories. And now they proceed to " bounce " you and the other newcomers. Two lines are formed, and those at -Ttll'! H ii ! I 58 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. the top take a firm grip of your clothes, telling you to " hold yourself ivs rigid as possible." You are a little frightened, and close your eyes, as you find youi-self jerked down the line, aiid caught in the arms of those at the end. Then you are sent hack in the same man- ner; and when, very uiuc'' huwildered, y»»u are set \ipon your itib': again, you conclude that, after all, "bounc- ing " wiiS pretty good fun. Finally there is a considtation of watches, and all rise to sing " God save the Queen," the national song which always closes an evening's enteuainment. Coats and snowshoes are slipped on : and, with a ringing cheer to the little in and its hospitulAe keeper, the club troop homeward under the clear, blue sky and brilliant stars. However popular snowshoeing may be, skating i& truly the national sport of Canada. This will not seem strange to any one who thinks of the great frozen sur- faces of the country, — the St. Lawrence and its five Great Lakes. Duiing the Carnival, races and skating contests take place on the river. The spectators stixnd about on the ice, just beyond the coui-se marked for the skaters. First comes a two-mile race on skates, followed by a quarter-mile backward race ; then a hurdle race ; and thei a barrel race. A hurdle is something lil:e a baned gate, with all the bars except the top one i-enoved. The hurdles are placed along the course, and the skaters are obliged to leap them in the race, iou svould suppose tlia.;, with skates upon their feet> they could never be successful, ■ "> I" i"¥A«SUUWl' I OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 59 g you to a little youi-self of those mie mail- set upon , "boiiiic- 1, ami all )nal song t. Coats iiig cheer the club brilliant katiiig is not seem ozen sur- d its five tests take jfc on the 3 skaters, wed by a ace ; and , with all irdles are bliged to thai/, with uccessiul, or, if they cleared the hurdle at all, they would fall in a heai) uiKHi the other side. Hut many of the skaters are wonderfully proficient in this art. They skate along at full speed, leap the hurdle, alight on their skates, and move along as swiftly as liefore. Many of them look very funny as they jump. Some double up with their head and knees together, while others lean so far to one side as to seem to have lo.^t their balance. The barrel race for boys is still more amusing. Com- mon barrels with the heads removed are placed on the ice, at certain distances apart, along the race course, for a (luarter of a mile. Then, at a given signal, all the boys skate for the first barrel. Many reach it together, and there is considerable of a scramble to get through the barrel. A skater has to pass through every barrel on the ice to win the race. Sometimes a barrel turns around while a boy is working his way through it. The boy is confused on coming out, and skates away in just the wrong direction, until, through the laughter of the spectatoi-s, he discovers his blunder. How the Iwys and the barrels bob about while the race is going on ! There are two kinds of skating rinks, — the covered and the open. The open skating rink has no roof. On clear, bright nights it is much more thronged than the covered rink. How teautiful the sight as you look up and see the dark blue sky and the bright, twinkling stsirs overhead! The skating rinks inclose acres of clear, level ice, and are illuminated with electric lights. Seats are arranged for spectator around the sides of the building, fountains sparkle here and there, and the changing throng of skaters is a. fascinating picture. I; It 60 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Tho Victoria Skatiiij^ Kink in IMontrciil in tho larjijest covered skatiiij^ link in Canada. On the oveniiijif after tlie iiiaugnration of the lee I'ala'^e, you and your friends attend the niius(juerado given there. On entering the rink you are dazzled hy the great expanse of smooth, carefully scraped ice. Several acres of ice are inclosed hy the great walls of the rink. In the centre is huilt a small copy of the Fee Palace in Dominion S(Hiare. It is lit by electric and coh»red lights, and fountains play within its walls. Tiie specita- toi-s' seats are crowded, and it is with dilliculty that you secure a i)lace. Presently the hand begins to play, and throngs of skatera glide from the cosey dressing rooms out uiuin the ice. Every one wears a mask, and is arrayed in some fancy dress, grotescjue, interesting, or l)eautiful. Here are charactei's illustrating the early history of Canada, — Jactjues Cartier, Champlain, Mcmtcalm, and many othei-s. Steel-clad warriors, countesses in silk and satin, and Indians in paint and wampum, mingle with delicate fairies, fiends clad in red jeiiieys and armed with frightful horns, and animals from fairyland. Here is our friend Bruin in shaggy fur, skating away as if that were the usual means by which beai-s journeyed across the country. Here is lied Riding-Hood hand in hand with the wolf. See that child in quaint Highland dress. The jilaid stockings are as becoming to the sturdy legs as is the Scotch cap and feather to the curly hair. Queen Elizabeth passes, arm in arm with a humble shepherdess. Fascinated by the pretty sight, you gaze long at the OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 61 10 larpfest iiijjf after ir trio nils the great iral acres link. In 'alace in I colored le spetita- that yon irongs of ont iii)on •rayed in ntiful. listory of 3alm, and 1 silk and iigle with mod with Here is IS if that ed across . in hand Highland ig to the er to the m with a ig at the shifting scene, which is rendered more beautiful by its perfect reflection in the mirror of ice IxjIow. What is it that comes lumbering this way? It is an elephant. It is the immortal .lumbo! Two tine skaters are represent- ing him. Their disguise is capital ; for -IuuiIh) appeal's OH natural as life, and seems (piite at home on the ice. Now the music changes to a lively valtz, and the skatei-s take part in the dance with ptfect ease and grace. A s(iuare dance follows. Some of the skaters give an exhibition of fancy skating in a less crowded corner of the rink. • While watching them, you wonder if anywhere in the world there are their etpials. You doubt it. A maypole, decked with colored ribbons, is set up on the ice. A dozen of the best skateiw seize the ends of the ribbons, and waltz about the pole to the sound of music, until all the ribbons have been wound around it. At nine o'clock the masks are removed, and the merry, laughing faces of the skaters are revealed. Prizes are then awarded to those wearing the most historically correct or most ideally beautiful costumes. When the band plays "God save the Queen," at the close of the entertainment, you realize that one of the most enjoyable of the Carnival evenings is at an end. But there are plenty of other joys remaining, among them the sleighing. The Russians are the people most devoted to sleighing in the Old World, and the Canadians in the New. The Canadian roads are hard and perfectly adapted to sleighing throughout the winter. There are no sudden changes of weather, which make runners necessary one day and wheels the P^'*4lHP^ito« - 62 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, next. Tlie ordinary Hleiph, or cutter, in a very pretty vuhiflo. It hu« Hh'iuler, delicatt'ly curvtul ruimei'H, and a Iwautifully Hliai»ud, yet ttoiiiuiodioiw body. All afti'viiooii rido in HivmI St. James Street, during Carnival time, in thontu^'hly enj«»yal)li'. All thii tine oiiuipages are out, and everywhere! are seen liandaonio sleighs, prancing horses, and line liveries. There are sleighing clubs in Mt)ntreal and other cities of Canada. These elul)s, like the snowshoeing cluks, have their meeting plaees, their exeui-sions into the open country, their jolly supi)ers or dinners at some distant lit tie inn, and their gay moonlight returns to the city. The Tandem (Uub is on« of the most noted of the sleighing clubs of Montreal. The Canadian is indebted to the Indian, not only for the snowshoe, but also for the toboggan. On snow- shoes the Indian is able to follow the deer into its deepest forest retreats, and, after he has brought down his prey, to draw it home on his toboggan. This is a kind of sled, built so that it can move over the lightest and most powdery snow without sinking. In making the toboggan, two pieces of basswood six feet long and two feet wide are planed down to one- quarter of an inch in thickness ; they are steamed to make them flexible ; and then they are fastened together by four or five bars of wood. One end is curved upward aiul backward like the dashboard of a sleigh, and is held in this position by wires. Two thin strips of wood are fastened along the sides, and the toboggan is com[)lete, so far as its Indian maker is concerned. The Canadian purchaser adtls a cushion. I '■>IH '-W*!^ I OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 08 ery pretty iiuei'u, utul !Ct, (luring I tlui fnuj liaiitUoiiio and other ownhooing ■sioiiH into linncrs at lit returns the most )t only for On Hnow- •r into its light down Tliis is a he lightest 98\vood six vvn to one- iteanied to id together is curved )f a sleigh, thin strips e toboggan concerned. The tohoggftn can he used on any hillside; but as there are ai)t to Ihj inetiualities in the surface of a hill, artificial ulides are also built. The tolM.ggan slide on Mount Uoyal, which is throiigt^d (hiring Carnival time, is artilicial. It consists of a stcop inclined i-laiio, built of h.gs and planks and covered with ice. Up one side of the slide, stci.s are cut for the tobogganers to climb while drawing their t..b<)ggans after them. There is a small platform at the top, where one can place his toboggan in position, and .seat himself before taking the desperate plunge. A Canadian boy has asked you to go tobogganinjj this evening. The slide is a cheerful sight. Torcl es are stuck in the snow on eacdi side of the slide ; while here and there are huge lM)ntire.s, ab(mt which gather gay groups of young men and women. Most of them are attired in the blanket suits of the snowshoers. As you climb upward, and see the tolK.ggans dash- ing down the perilous incline, yon almost repent of y„ur promise to your friend. It seems as if every one was going to destruction. Here and there are seen the pale, frightened faces of visitors who are taking their first slide ; and you are sure that they will never l)e seen or heard of again. But in a few moments they appear, climbing up to the top, eager to try it again. This encourages you. Your friend invit«s you to take the front seat, carefully looks to see that there is no dragging end of a coat or sash, gives the toboggan a short, strong push, leaps on, and you are off. Now you are falling into space! Your breath is whisked from your bodyl Fragments of snow and ice r;. i! |i v |:i i: f i I 64 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. dash themselves against you; you are forced to hide your face behind your knees. Then you look up. V/hat are those black objects flying by like rockets on one side? They must be tobogganei-s climbing up to the top of tlie slide. Then you are still on the slide after all. No, not on the slide, but at the bottom; for, in another second, with a long, slow, creeking glide, the toboggan comes to a standstill. You catch your breath, rise, and look about you. Far away up in the air stand tiny, black figures. They are the people ac the top of the slide, whom you left just half a minute ago. Your friend still holds the two imall "steering sticks." By sticiving their metal points into the snow from time to time, he has directed your mad flight. He turns, and asks if you are ready for one more 'ide. You give a relieved smile. " One more ! A" dozen, if you please," you say, and, seizing the toboggan ro])e, you hurry up the hill, only too eager, now that the first desperate plunge has been taken safely, to enjoy the delightful sport for houi-s. " Oh, yes ! it is very fair fiui," says your friend, in answer to your enthusiastic praises of the sport. " Very fair indeed! But you should try a real hill to know what tobogganing is ! Here there are no hollows in the slide to give the toboggan desperate jounces and leaps into the air. Those we find on the C8te St. An- toine Slide. That has a descent of two thousand feet, and then a glide across the lowlanils at the foot of the hill of several hundred yards. " But after all, the very finest toboggan slide I ever I Jsam^m reed to hide k up. V/hat cets on one g up to the e slide after toni ; foi", in ig glide, the your breath, lack figures. B, whom you ill holds the their metal has directed ju are ready ! A" dozen, boggan ro])e, tliat the first to enjoy the lur friend, in port. " Very hill to know 3 hollows in jounces and C8te St. An- lousand feet, le foot of the I slide I ever I OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 65 saw was at MontmoreiU'y Falls, iicar (^iK'l)ec. You see, the spray, dashing upward from the focjt of the i^Mm^Mm^m^ TOBOGGAN SPILL. falls, freezes in winter into a perfect cone over eighty feet high. Then the slide is not only down the cone. n 5 s !f i !; ■t 06 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. but across the St. Lawrence as well. Tliat is toboggan- iiig indeed." The newest of the sports of Caiiiida is ice boating. IJut if yon wish to see this in its perfection, yon nnist leave INIontreal and its gay Carnival doings, and journey to one of the towns of Southern or Western Ontario. The frosts in this region are ver}' sharp and keen. The ice formed on lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario stretches outwai'd fioin the shore for some miles. On this shore icP;, and on the frozen rivers, ice boating is pursued. The ice boat consists of a triangular framework of wood, lield in shape by several crosspieces. A small box, constituting a kind of cabin to this novel yacht, is fastened upon the framework. A mast, for the suj)- port of a few sails, is set well forward. Each of the three points of the triangular ice boat is set upofi a steel runner, something like the blade of a skate ; and, pio- pelled by the winds that blow against its canvas, the ice boat skates along over its glassy way. There is a small metal rudder for steering, which acts upon the ice something like a biake. Next to a balloon or a railroad train, the ice boat is the swiftest^ means of traveling. Indeed, under favor- able circumstances it can hold its own for a short time with a railroad train. Its average rate of speed is from twenty to twenty -live miles an hour. Whirled along at this speed, you feel yourself grow colder and colder. You are curled up in the little box, with warm fur robes piled above you ; but they afford ' slight protection. The keen wind cuts through every -mm^* tobnggau- B boating, you must 1(1 jf)uruey Ontario, [vucl keeu. (I Ontario niles. Oil boating is mework of A small i\ yaclit, is )!• the su^)- iioh of the ipofi a steel 3 ; and, pro- canvas, the Tliere is a ipou the ice B ice boat is nuler favor- i short time peed is from )urself grow le little box, b they afford irough every I OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 67 wrap like a knife. The boat speeds on. It is charm- ing to watch her as she moves, lirst with one blade in the air, and then with two. Rarely are all three blades moving upon the ice at once. Under any but very skilful pilotage, the boat would come to grief. An incautious movement of the rudder, the spreading of an unnecessary sail, or the catching of a runner in a rough bit of ice, would be apt to wreck the unstable little craft. It needs a iiuick eye and a steady liand to pilot her safely on her course. But it is with ice boating as it is with tobogganing, the very dangers which are involved in it are its chief recom- mendation. Thes^ sports are pursued by young and old all through the keen, but profoundly enjoyed winter. As a result of all these hardy exercises, the Canadians are a robust, happy, healthful people. Care does not seem to make the fathers of families grow old as early in life as in our own coiuitry. Boys who take prizes in the snowshoeing or skating contests oft jn please their par- ents (luite as much as if they had won a prize for good scholarship. The girls are strong, healthy creatures, quite as much interested in outdoor sports as the boys. They steer toboggans, skate, and go on long snowshoe tramps Avith a right good will. Nervous in-alids from our country and Europe find themselves cured on parsing an active winter in Canada. And, in short, all who have been there in Carnival time will say that Canada is the winter paradise of the world. 68 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. CHAPTER VI. THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES. The largest and best known river of Canada is the St. Lawrence, wliich bears down to the sea volumes of fresh water poured into it by live lakes, — the largest fresh water lakes in the world. They are Lakes Supe- rior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. We can go on a steamer from Lake Superior, the most western of the lakes, down through the other lakes and the rivers wliich drain them, to the sea. Fifty years ago such a journey would have been impossible, b(!cause there were thru impassable rapids in the way. But the raj^ids are now passed by canals, and a water way of two thousand one hundred miles has been thrown open to commerce and to travel. We will begin our journey by starting from Duluth, a flourishing city of the United Stsvtes, situated at the western end of Lake Superior. It is a beautiful day for a sail. Fleecy clouds pass swiftly overhead and draw dark purple shadows in the blue waters of the lake. The water is churned by the paddle wheel of the steamer into a creamy, yellow froth, tinged here and there with emerald or turquoise. The fresh breeze fans our cheeks, and, as we come more into the open stretch of the lake, the waves mount higher and higher, until they are almost equal to ocean billows. The motion of the steamer is so great that many of the passengers have retired to their staterooms, where OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 69 nada is the volumes of the largest iakes Supe- We can go ; western of 1 the rivers ago such a ! there were 3 rapids are ,vo thousand ;o commerce lom Duluth, iiated at the itif ul day for id and draw of the lake, f the steamer d there with IS our cheeks, 1 of the lake, itil they are that many of jrooms, where they will remain until calmer watei-s are reached. The passengers who are on deck at abcnit dinner time, notice flocks of gulls following the steamer. They seem to know hy instinct when meal-time approaches, and follow the -essel closely to pick up the crumbs thrown to them by the steward. The captain produces a gun, takes careful aim at one gull, and shoots. The bird, with a sudden movement, dexterously avoids the shot, and follows the steamer <.o pei-sistently as ever. These birds, on account of their sudden, quick movements, are difficult to shoot. The ladies on board beg crumbs of the steward, and throw them to the great white-winged birds. It is a pretty sight to watch a gull flying down in a swift curve, catching the floating bits of bread while in rapid flight, and speeding on in his uninterrupted course. We are coasting along the northern or Canadian shore of Lake Superior. This shore is bold and rocky, and is bordered by many steep cliff's and gloomy preci- pices. The valleys of the small streams which flow into the lake have high and narrow walls, and indeed form small canyons, or gorges. The northern shore presents a strong contrast to the southern or American shore, which is low and sandy. Many islands skirt the edge of the lake. Some are mere crags rising from the water like the battlemented walls of a castle; others are low, with white, sandy beaches, and a scanty crop of evergreen sVrubs. On many of these islands thousands of birds lay their eg'^gs, and, at any time in the summer, enough may be gath- ered to make a delicious meal. 70 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. We are now at the entrance of Thunder Bay. The Maniuis of Lome, kite governor of Canada, gave this bay the pretty name of " The Silver Gate of Lake Supe- rior." It was 80 called because silver was found in great quantities on the eastern side of the bay. The " Silver Gate " is guarded eternally by two mighty war- tlens, — Thunder Cape and McKay's Mountain. If we should sail into Thunder Bay, we should find two flourishing towns on its western shore. One is Fort William, and the other Prince Arthur's Landing. Fort William is the older of the two. It was once the busy headquartei's of a large company of fur traders, known as the Northwest Company. Once a year the chief men of the company would proceed from Mcmtreal and Quebec to the remote little post of Foit William to meet their officei-s who had been stationed in the West. The progress of the leaders of the company was al- most like a triumphal march. They brought with them canoes laden with rich foods and choice wines. French cooks and bakers accompanied them; and Canadian oarsmen, as obedient as galley slaves, rowed their canoes. Imagine their slow, stately progress across wild Lake Superior and through the noble gateway of Thun- der Bay, with Thunder Cape and McKay's Mountain waving their giant pines in salute. At Fort William the partners of the company who came from the trading posts in the far West also assem- bled.. Tiies ^-ere men who had spent their lives in the Ivack woods, Ii.r'. who, for their faithful services, had been made partners i" the company. How proud they OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 71 lay. The gave thiH ake Supe- found in )ay. The ghty war- 1. lould find lie is Fort ng. was once Lir traders, , year the 1 Montreal t William ed in the ny was al- with them 1. French Canadian wed their icross wild f of Thun- Mountain ipany who also assem- ives in the fvices, had :)roud they were to receive a .summons to the council chainkT and the sumptuous board at Fort William! Many of them were Scotchmen, who d(!cked themselves and the ad- miriin'- rctaineis who accompanied them, as hiavcly as if tliey were going to a gathering of the clans in the Scotch Highlands. Tlie meeting took place in an enormou'. chamber, whose rough walls were hung with Indian tomahawks and clubs, and with the skins of fur-l)eariiig animals. First was lield the great council, whicih was conducted with all the pomp and seriousness of a true parliament. The accounts of the year just closed were made up ; the officers from the remote posts made their reports ; and new plans for the coming year were discussed. Then came the banquet, the great occasion of the year. The tables groaned under the good (^heer. Here were venison from the forest, and fish from the lake, with the unusual luxuries of buffaloes' tongues and beavers' tails. Then it was that the grand seigniors from Montreal unl)ent, and joked and laughed with a right good will. Such thrilling stories of adventure as were told around that festive board ! The rousing songs and resounding cheers that arose seemed almost to crack the rafters. What a picture the flickering fire light shone upon, as it lighted the grizzly, sunburnt countenances of the rough hunters, and the pale, refined faces of the tradei's from Montreal ! The muscular, brown hands of the forests raised the bumpers together with delicate, white hands from the city. All was brightness, warmth, and hearty good cheer, as those ohl fellows told their wonderful stories and roared over their jokes like boys. wm 72 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. But the palmy days of tlui old fur traders are goue from the town of Fort Williuiu. As for tlio fort itself, it is uow err bliug *.' k-c y, while weeds flourish iu the 3iU'Pt rad d« ■ ' ie'J ■ i.'-i; id. t opper is f ■!.*( v\ reat quau titles on an island in the easteii par ; U. 1 . Sui)erior. Tlie mines are now worked by an English cot;. My, but centuries ago they were mined by an ancient i)eople of whom very little is known. They built large, eaithen mounds, shaped like 8eri)ents, beasts, and men ; and on this account are known as the Mound Huildei's. Their shaft, in which a large mass of c()p[)er hangs suspended, and their rude mining tools, can still be seen on the island. Rich mines of copper and iron ara found in the United States on the shore of Jjake Superior. The bed of the lake is inlaid with many precious stones, which the waves are continually bringing to the shore. Imagine yourself walking along one of Lake Superior's white beaches and seeing a retreating wave leave an opal at your feet, — a lovely^ clear stone, with red, blue, green, and violet lights shooting through it, A party in a canoe will often go hunting for amethysts, just as a New England i)arty might start off on a search for checkorberries. Green jasper, many-colored car- nelian, and .agate can be found. The stones are small, but sometimes a large one rewards patient search. The water of Lake Supeiior is as clear as crystal. On calm days, an anchor painted white can be seen at a depth of ninety fathoms. The water is also intensely cold. If a vessel were wrecked very far from land, the stoutest swimmer could hardly save himself. The cold o V t n c ■■"*Sji OUR AMERIC'N NtlGHBORS. 78 are gone Dit itsulf, ish ill tlio island in ; are now ago they y little is aped like iount are in which heir rude ich mines tes on the precious ng to the I of Lake ing wave one, with ough it. -raethysts, 1 a search ored car- ire small, •ch. ystal. On seen at a intensely land, the The cold of the 'ater ,.ould, in time, Ixjnumb him so that he wouh'. Deconie unable to take a single stroke. This hke coines in 'ly 1^ its name, for it is sui)erior to all the other Great Lakes in its Hize, in tlie clearness and coldness of its water, in the healthfulness of its climate, and in its mineral wealth. Violent storms have often occurred on Lake Superior, in which many lives have been lost. The waves of the lake, under a sweeping wind, can be raised into tremen- dous billows; and there are certain walls of cliffs on the north shore, which a canoe never ventures past in uncer- tain weather. Lake Superior flows into Lake Huron by the St. Mary's River, at the head of which are the St. Mary's Rap"ds. The rapids can be descended in a canoe, but steamers and other vessels pass through the canal. There is no steep fall in any part of the ra^jids, but instead, a gradual flow of the river over a descent of eighteen fet^t in three-quartei-s of a mile. Many small islands lie in the midst of the stream, making numerous channels among the rapids. De- scending the rapids in a canoe is called "dancing among the waters." Many toilrists, among them ladies, enjoy this somewhat dangerous pastime exceedingly. Indians in canoes may be seen fishing at all hours. Fine wbitefish are caught at the foot of the rapids. Two Indians take their canoe into the most turbulent part of the channel below the rapids. One site in the stern, and, with liis single oar, holds the canoe in place for hours, as steadily as if it were anchored. The other is the fisherman. lie stands in the bow ^**«te m^A- . 74 THE WORLD AND ITS PtOPLE. with a large scoop net over three feet in diameter. As a whitetish attempts to swim up the rapids, ho throws tlie net over liis nose, and, with a dexterous turn of the wrist, the net is closed and the prize hauled on boartl. This kind of lishing is very exciting ana pays well. , 1 c i.1 Now we enter Lake Huron. This is the third of the (ireat Lakes in size,— Lake Michigan, which helongs wholly to the United States, being the next largest to Superior. The southwestern shores of Lake Huron are ncli m mines of salt and brine. Tliey were discovered by a man who was boring for oil. He had pierced to the depth of one thousand feet, when he came to an undei-- ground pool of brine, which is salt dissolved in water. Examining further, he discovered many more pools of brine, separated by beds of salt crystals. The pools of brine had once been beds of crystals; but rain water had penetrated to the layei-s of salt crystals, had melted them, and had thus formed brine. There are manv salt factories in this region, where tlie salt is mined, partially purified, packed, and shipped to distant places. The tall, tapering chimneys, which cover the openings into the mines, are common sights on the shores of Lake Huron. Many of the Canadian villages and towns have a Heet of fishing boats, or wherries, which sail, in the early dawn, to the fishing grounds, twenty miles away. The crew of the wherry consist^s of four men, often grim and silent Scotchmen. The ordinary catcdi is from one thousand to two «Ml«»d!tetM^ OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 75 ictcr. Aa lio throws IH Uiiii of imvilod on ana pays inl of tlu! ■h kilongs largest to iro rich in o.red hy a ced to tho an undei'- iii water, nnre pools The pools rain water had melted rion, where ind shipped loys, which mon sights have a fleet 1 the early iway. Tlie often grim find to two thousand pounds, mfistly ohtained by net. Tho fish usually caught are the salmon trout, often as large and heavy as a child of three years; tho whitetish, which is delicious eating ; and the lake herring, some- what like the salt water herring. The lish are cleaned on board, as the wherry is returning to the shore, which it reaches about noon. The cargo is then bought by a firm of fish dealers, who either pickle the lish or send them, [)acked in ice, to the markets in Canada and the United States. The waters of Lake Huron vary in color. Near the shore they are of a brownish yellow ; then the yellow shades into green ; next is a patch of pure green ; and in the centre, the lake is a bright blue. Under the sunset, bands of purple, violet, and all the colors of the rain- bow blend with the blue of the lake. The three links that bind Lake Huron to Lake Erie are the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River. All these are on the same level, and navigation can be easily carried on through them. No canals are necessary. The only obstacle in the past was the shal- lowness of Lake St. Clair. But lately a deep channel has been dredged through the middle of the lake at considerable cost. The largest steamers can now pass through the channel, which is bordered on each side by broad dikes, on whose tops lighthouses and cottages may be seen. The St. Clair River in past ages brought down so much fine mud that a delta of forty acres was formed at its mouth. The delta contains many small lakes and grassy islands, and is known as the St. Clair Flats. II 1 1 76 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. llusheH and sedfjoH prow from tl.e water, and in somo places choko up the small chaiinels so that it is dilVicult to push a lM)at through the dense growth, danie is very plentiful on the St. Clair Flats. Some acres have Ixjen hired by sportsmen, who liave erected eluhhouses, and who come to the flats about the twelfth of August for a few days' shooting. There are innumerahle stories that might he told of the Detroit River, — Indian stories, and stories of the Jesuits, the devoted men who braved the dangers of the sea and the forest, hoping to teach the Indians Chris- tianity. One story we will listen to, which has for a hero an old French priest, TcMc (ialinde. He and his followers had started to explore the Detroit lliver and to establish there a mission to the Indians. The journey was one chapter of accidents. It seemed to the priests as if Satan had control of the weatlier, the winds, and the waves, and was using all his power to prevent them from reaching their journey's end. They had found Lake Erie in its stormiest mood. Once a high surf arose and carried off their canoe; again, as they were thoroughly wearied out by a tramp of sixty miles and were sleeping on its shores, a violent wind sprang up and the rising waters of the lake swept away their baggage, provisions, and, woret loss of all, the altar service, which was to them the most impor- tant sign of the faith for which they were working. This was a great blow. Proceeding to the Detroit River, they found on its shore a camp ground, sacred to tlu; Indian god who ruled the waters of Lake Erie. The god, a great stone fsmaS^i^t^. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 77 I ill Homo IS (lilVu'ult (ianic Ih ici'i's liivve liihhoiiHes, i)f August Ik) told of •ies of the revs of tlie HUH ('hris- hoH for a [e and his River and It seemed eatlier, the I power to nd. iest mood, eir canoe ; l)y a tramp s, a violent lake swept loss of all, iiost impor- e working. mnd on its II god who great stone idol with rudely painted features, stor I in the centre of the (^aiMji ground, surroundiid l)y a circle of lodges. Whencv(!r the Indians ventured in their canoes upoit atormy liidii; Krie, they were ac(!Ustonie(l to offer up sacriliiics of furs and game to this god, j»raying him to guide thcMi safely on tlicir way. Tiie Indians advised (he missionaries to ih) this also. I'tiro (Jalinde was Idled with indignation hy this advice. Seizing an axe, he attacked tlie idol, and, in sight of the awe-struck Indians, lu'wed it into many pieces. The largest fragment he placed upon a canoe, rowed into the middle of Detroit River, and hurled it o' erhoard. For all we know, it is resting in the depths of the river at the [H-esent day. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, and, on this account, is the most stormy. A strong wind can, at any time, whip up large waves on thi! lake ; and if it comes from the southwest, the waves hccome foamy hillows, racing in upon the beach as great breakers. Sometimes peninsulas, stretching out into the lake, are cut through by the force of the waves and carried away. Great danger always calls forth heroes, and the heroes of Lake Erie are legion. Every one has heard of John Maynard, the pilot who steered the burning steamer safe to shore, while he himself was slowly burning to death at his post. As the vessel Uniched the land, and a glad cry of thankfulness arose from the passengei-s whose lives he had saved, Maynard's blackened corpse fell into the quiet bosom "f the lake. The heroine of Lake i ie is a Mi-s. Becker. She lived with her husband and little children on a low 1 I '^I 78 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, saiuly island, whose only otlior inhabitant was the litrht- house keeper. One night there came on a terrible storm, which shook the small shanty and awoke INIis. Becker from sound sleep. Her liusband was away selling furs on the mainland, and there was no one to comfort her frightened little ones but lierself. On looking out at daybreak, she found fragments of the boat of a vessel at her door. Hastening instantly to the shore, she peered into the gray gloom. At length she distinguished the mtists of a schooner, and, clinging to them, dark objects that must be the crew. Back to her cottage she rushen for matches and a teakettle, and then hurried barefooted through the pitiless winter storm for two miles along the shore. Soon a lire of driftwood was blazing high. Tliis was a beacon to the shipwrecked sailors; and, to cheer them with the sight of the presence of some human being, Mrs. Becker spent all day upon the shore, pacing up and down before the fire. She had hoped that the sailors might attempt to swim to land ; but the gray winter twilight was coming on, and no one had ventured. The wind arose. Evidently another dreadful night was at hand. The case was desperate. Mrs. Becker waded into the icy water until it was up to her arms ; then, as near to the drowning men as she could go, she flung her arms above her head, and with wild, desperate gestures strove to make them iinderstand that there was no boat to send out and that their only hope was to swim to shore. The captain decided to make the dangerous attempt. If he reached land in safety, the crew would follow. i I aasg- '•%, OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 79 IS the litrht- I a terrible iwoke Mrs. was away i^as no one ^elf. agnients of ig instantly At length id, clinging \ Back to X teakettle, iless winter 111 a lire of jacon to the h the sight ecker spent before the , attempt to was coming adful night il it was up men as she id, and with understand t their only )us attempt. Kild follow. He was a strong, expert swimmer ; but just as he rose on his feet close to the shoi-e, the treacherous undertow flung him down and was hur'ying him back to death. But no I Mrs. liecker rushed into the surf, seized him, and dragged him upon the shore. One of the crew followed. The captain plunged into the surf to aid his failing strength ; and once more the undertow clutched them both, and would have drowned them if Mrs. liecker had not again rushed to the rescue. At last all the men from the wreck were safe on shore. They warmed their half-frozen bodies at the driftwood fire, and were filled with new vigor by draug'its from the teakettle. The next day a passing vessel took them away. But they did not forget Mrs. Becker. Everywhere, through- out both Cr.uada and the United States, the story of her brave action is still told. The Canadian (Government gave her a farm of one hundr''d acres looking out upon the scene of the rescue. The merchants and shii)Owners of Buffalo contributed one thousand dollars towards stocking her farm. The Life-Saving Association of New York sent her a gold medal. The simple-minded woman was overcome by all these blessings, and constantly declared thai " she did no more 'n she 'd ought to, no more 'n she 'd do again." Leaving Lake Erie, Ave pass into the Niagara River, and approach the most celebrated spot in our whole trip through the Great Lakes, — Niagara Falls, renowned throughout the world. Long ago, some Indian hunters, traveling through the pathless fcrests, heard a muffled, swelling murmur. "'**. 80 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. i ...: Tinning toward it, they came upon a sight of unutter- able grandeur. The falls then were in the midst of forests, and pines and cedai-s balaiu-jd their slender stems on the very verge of the gulf. With the sight nearly blinding them, and the sound deafening them, what wonder that to the Indians Niagara seemed to be a powerful god whose favor must be humbly sought. Every year they offered a saerifice to the spirit of the falls. A beautiful young girl was bound in a canoe and set adrift above the cataract. Music was played to drown her cries, while she passed over the edge of the falls to her frightful death below. Though such hor- rible customs are past now, yet it is said that Niagara still claims its annual sacrifice, and that some one is dashed over the falls each year. The French explorei-s and priests gazed with awe and admiration on this wonder of the New World." They greatly e.aggcrated its height, stating in their records that it was six hundred or seven hundred feet high. In reali^" it is one hundred and fifty feet. Near the middle of the upper edge of the fulls is a wooded island. This is Goat Island, which separates the American from the Canadian side, — the Horseshoe Fall from the American Fall. Perhaps the best idea of Niagara can be gained by the view from Table Island, a small ledge of rock near the edge of the Hoi-seshoe Fall. Here the rush of the rapids above the falls, the falls themselves, and the abyss below, into which the water flings itself, can all be seeu. Half a .Ule above the cataract, the river bed slopes OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 81 ' unutter- midst of 1- slender the sight ing thein, med to be ought, irit of the canoe and phiyed to Ige of tlie such hor- it Niagara line one is ih awe and fid." They sir records feet high. 3 falls is a 1 separates Horseshoe gained by : rock near rush of the H, and the self, can all • bed slopes steeply, and here the (Iraud lla^vids begin tiieir wild course. The river is a seething mass of tossing, foam- ing water. Here is the rusliiiig of water over sunken rocks ; there the dangerous eddy of a whirlpool. (Jreat curves of clear green water and crescents of glittering white foam all rush wildly on in apparent confusion, but in real order and succession, down to the terrible verge over which they madly plunge. The Horseshoe is the larger fall. It is twice as wide as the American Fall, and a nuu;li larger volume of water passes over it. The volume of water passing over the Horseshoe Fall is so immense that it is not immediately broken into spray wliile descending, but fv)r some distance down the fall retains its perfect smootluiess. In great knots anrl masses of crystalline green, it roai-s into the gulf beneath, where it lies smothered by it« own weight, with only a quivering motion upon the surface to tell of the mighty currents wrestling beneath. The cauldron at the foot of tlie falls is a mass of foam, with jets of water and spurts of spray steaming upward from the very centre of the conflicting undercurrents. The American Fall is not so grand and majestic as its neighbor, but it possesses a beauty or its own. The fall- ing water is dashed at once into spray, wliich bathes the whole cataract. A liglit veil of mist hangs continu- ally about it, and, in the sunshine, rainbow colore are reflected from thousands of bright, falling waterdrops. A fine view of Niagara could once be had from the Suspension Bridge, which is a slender arch of iron, spanning the river below the falls. But recently this I • • ! ■ ! Hi. 82 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. view has been cut off by a railroad bridge wliich has been built across the river above the Suspension Bridge. The Indian name of Niagara, which means "thunder of waters," Wius a hai)py choice. The noise of the falling water is so full, so complete, that one is hai'dly aware of its volume, until ha sees the'moving lips of his compan- ions and realizes that he can hear no sound save the deep thunder of tiie cataract. In fact, both the sense of sight find the sense of hearing ai'c overpowered. They refuse to act at the same time. When one sees, he cannot hear. When he hears, he cannot see. It is a rest and a relief at last to turn away from the tremendous roar of Niagara. In winter Niagara is a fairy scene. Every fence, tree, shrub, and blade of grass upon which its spray falls, is covered with a thin crust which sjjarkles and glistens in the sunshine like mother-of-[)earl. " From the tips of the branches of the evergreen trees hang ice balls, which the children call ice apples. The brow of every cliff is crowned with snowy wreaths, and many- tinted icicles hang from its face. A thin, silvery sheet of water pours over the Ameri- can Fall, but half way down it is frjzjn into a thick mist. The wave of the Horsesi.<)t Fall, contrasted with its snow-white surroundings, looks greener than ever, as it crashes its way through the frost and ice that would strive to bind it. The most beautiful rain- bows span the fall from top to bottom. They never remain the same, but break and again foim their grace- ful curves. With the roar of Niagara dying in our ears, we de- 'tssm '^- OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 88 i'hicli has 111 Bridge. " tluuKler lie falling ' aware of s compan- e the deep ^e of sight hey refuse he cannot a rest and idous roar ery fence, I its spray irkles and ,il. ■ From 3s hang ice lie brow of and many- tlie Ameri- ito a thick contrasted •eener than )st and ice .utiful raiu- rhey never their grace- ears, we de- scend the Niagara River and enter Ontario, the small- est of the Great Lakes. Its shores are low and fertile, and many farms slope gently downward to its quiet waters. The scenes on either hand are very peaceful and restful, as we plough our way across the lake to Kingston, a great graiii- sliipping centre at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River. Mere our trip througli the Great Lakes ceases, and our river joiu*ne3' begins. CHAPTER VII. DOWN THE ST. L,VWRKNCK. Are you thoroughly rested after your journey through the Lakes ? Do you Ava.it another long sail? This time we will follow the course of tho river St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario to the sea, perlitips stopping here and there for a glance up one or two ci its larger tril> utaries. Taking the beautiful white steamer at Kingston, we steam away eastwardly over as blue Avaters and under as fair a sky as heart could desire. Presently we enter the Lake of the Thousand Islands. That is the name {riven to the river for the first forty miles of its course after leaving Lake Ontario. It is so called because its surface is studded every- where with islands, — some a mere bit of rock or tuft of grass, others much larger. They are called the U'< 84 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Thousand Islands ; but in reality there are sixteen hundred of them. 'J hey aie very beautiful in the clear sunshine. Some of the islands have high, rocky faces, covered with the pale green and gray of clinging lichens, and crowned with plumy masses of evergreens. Others are lower, with small, white, sandy beaches, and with maples and birches trailing their lowest branches in the calm watere, upon which float great white and gold pond lilies. The steamer follows its winding course, avoiding those isl- ands from which beils of rushes and sedges spread out toward the middle of the stream. Everj- turn in the coui'se reveals some charming vista. It occui-s to you that these narrow channels, winding among myriads of islands, all so much alike, would be a capital place for a game of hide-and-seek. With a boat, a man who knew this region could hide himself from any one. So thought Bill Johnson, who, with other outlaws, had burned the ship " Sir Robert Peel." He was rowed in a canoe from island to island by his daughter Kate, a brave girl who kept her father hidden and supplied with food for some time. Leaving the Thousand Islands, the St. Lawrence broadens and forms Lake St. Francis, the first of a series of lakes named for the old French saints by the early explorers. The shores of Lake St. Francis are covered with woods and fiirms. The very quiet and peaceful view is bo\uided by a distant range of blue mountains, which are the Adirondacks of New York. The St. Lawrence now contracts into two distinct series of ra})ids, — the Cedar Rapids and the Cascade. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 85 sixteen i. Some with the crowned re k)wev, iples and ni watei-s, ies. The those isl- ipread out .rn in the J, winding , would be . With a le himself who, with bert Peel." and by his her hidden Lawrence t of a series ly the early are covered id peaceful mountains, wo distinct he Cascade. After the excdtement of shooting these rapids is over, we find oiu'selves on another expansion of the St. Law- rence, called Lake St. LouLs. The island of INIoutreal lies to tlic northeast and the Ottawa Riv(!r to tlie west. This river is the largest tril)utary of the St. Lawrence. It tlows from the great forest regions in Northern Ontario and beai-s downward to the St. Lawrence the logs, cribs, and large rafts which are prepared by the lum- bermen. Its yellowish brown current hardly seems to mingle with the blue waters of the St. Lawrence. Just at this point a cross has been erected upon a high mound on the eastern shore. It has been placed there for mariners to look to in times of peril, and reminds one that, before mooring in safety in tlie harbor of Montreal, the Lachine Rapids are to bo passed. As we pass a bend in the river, a mass of breakers come in sight, liathing with flying spray two small islands in their midst. The rush of the river beai-s us onward, and now we are in the breakers, turning in one direction, reeling in the opposite direction, and being generally tossed and rocked about. The Indian pilot, firm as a rock, stands at the wheel with his eyes fixed upon the shore. Soon calmer water is reached ; and at length we enter the fine harbor of Montreal, recognizing with a thrill of pleasure the old landmarks, Bonsecours Church and Notre Dame. One night is to be passed in the city, and, while we travelers are resting, I shall improve the opportunity uy telling you something of the capital of the Dominion of Canafla. nf'l 86 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. ■IM If we had followcsl that brown river, tlie Ottawa, from where it joined tlie oliu; St. Lawrence np among the hills and Forests, we should Jiave i;onie to a city perched on the river Idnflfs close hy two large falls. This is Ottawa, the ca[»ital of Canada. About thirty years ago Kingston, Toronto, and Qne- bec were all (piarreling as to wliieh of them should he the capital of the new goviuiiment. Finally the (pieen was ap])eale(l to ; and, passing over all the older, jn-oniler cities, she selected a small, half savage place called IJytown and named it Ottawa. Ottawa is the centre of the hnnher region, and its wonderful water power is iised to turn innumerable mills. There are mills for making i)ails and matches, and sawmills where the buzz and hiss of saws cutting through logs is heard day and night. lUit however proud Ottawa may be of her wealth in hunber, she is proudest of ;ill of the two buildings which mark her as th<> firat city in the land, — the Parliament House and ivt oau Hall. i iio Parliament buildings are situated on a hill, and their towers can l)e seen from all parts of the city. With their extensive grounds they cover four acres and have cost five millions of dollai-s. They form three sides of a huge square, which is covered witli beautifully kei>t grass crossed by broad gravel walks. The buildings are of cream-colored sandstone, with trimmings of warm red sandstone. The combination of the cream and the red is very pleasing to the eye. The chambers for the senate and for the commons are in the central building, at the head of the square. The iirsaajasiir>4;#:fta'?*«'.?s«»-roofed eliureh with its glit- tering tin spire. Presently lofty Cape Diamond, crowned witli the gray walls of Quebec, appears, and we glide slowly by the city, getting many a glimpse of the busy life in the market place and on the wharves. That white streak on tlie left, in the midst of purple shadows and dense trees, is Montmorency Falls. The Isle of Orleans with its green and fertile farms is just ahead. At this point the river suddenly broadens, and Hows steadily onward to the sea. It is here that the first swell of the ocean tides is felt ; but the salt taste of sea water is not found in the St. Lawrence for one hundred miles more. The mountains now approach the north shore, where they tower up dark and lonely, clothed with evergreens and with oaks, poplars, and birches. Here and there they are parted by a swift stream or river, and a glimpse into the heart of the liills is obtained that is really depressing; such a bleak, de.solate, awfully grand region does it disclose. I: I is' I ■■- ^^s^r"^tg^^)K«fa^*^^^'^^^**''*^^^ -T - -■-Kii'»^.*^---^t>^Mr-^h6,£,vi4>^)^.9:!Ci^>i^^^i^ ^^> "fe* ^%.. ^> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) £>. «?. 1.0 I.I 1.25 |5 IM 2.2 1.4 2.0 1.8 1.6 1^. P^ # % ■^i ^^ s-f Photographic ^Sciences Corporation 4- V ^ <> 'i. '^q\ .*5^ '^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 * . ,■:*■ --s;';, S> '*a?V«Sr?« J ^ «:•»-. .; ■ai«-*S<^' ,.«,-.vo,»w.«* ^.^- «. . . •fl >-".»ni. * / o ^ '<^ij.. , CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques ll fl l I i» H iiil iln* li . ii i mi l II •MMMMkaiMkflWilMlMawnH 90 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The mountiiins on tlie southern shore of the St. Lawrence (h> not approach as near to the river bank as do those on the northern shore, 'i'lie rivers rising here are slow and winding, and dark with the rich soil which they carry ah)ng. The shore is thickly settled. Farmhouses, villages, and now and then a populous town, succeed one another in an endless procession. Here are the popular summer resorts of the Cana- dians, — St. Paul Bay and Murray Hay on the northern shore, and Cacouna on the southern. On the north shore, opposite Cacouna, is the mouth of the Saguenay River. This is a great, deep river, that rises among dark and lonesome hills, and, flowing through most grand and awful sceneiy, silently pours its inky waters into tlie sparkling St. Lawrence. The steamer pauses for a few hours at Tadoussac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, and there is time -for a stroll about the town. It is built on wooded heights sloping down to a semicircular bay, which is so small that only ten or twelve ships at a time can anchor there in safety. From the hills covered with spruces, back of the town, a magnificent view is obtained. The full breadth of the St. T^awrence lies before you, smooth as glass ; and, gazing past the numerous islaiuls lying peacefully on its calm surface, you can faintly distinguish a light blue line. It is the south shore twenty-five miles away, which can be seen only on clear, bright days. Lord Dufferin used to spend his vacations at Ta- doussac. It had many advantages for a summer resi- dence. Steamers passed there daily, so the governor '«»si^0!%a«S«^S§8Sl^^J<;;*#"et.*aSai4 I ■ the St. ver bank ivs rising rich soil y sottlod. populous sion. he Ciina- northeni le mouth ;ep river, I, rtowing tly pours oussac, at me -for a tl heights so small :hor there ices, back fore you, us islands ,n faintly nth shore r on clear, IS at Ta- nner resi- governor OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 91 could kei'i) i)osted as to the daily news ; tlien tlie nat- ural attractions of Tadoussac were great. It was in the midst of beautiful scenery, and still grander scenery could be easily reached by taking a steamer up the Saguenay. There was also fine fisliing and hunting in the neighborliood. Tadoussac; is connected with the past by no less than three interesting relics. Here can be seen the liattery of Jacques Cartier, tlie early exi)lorer of Canada; the old, weather-worn hut tliat once belonged to the Hudson Bay Company ; and last and greatest attraction of all, a little Jesuit church, which is two bundled and fifty years old. Next to the church in St. Augustine, in Florida, it is the oldest in America. Once more tlie steamer is sailing up tlie Saguenay. On eaph side it is walled in by cliffs over a thousand feet high, whicli rise directly from the water's edge. Beneath them the dark river flows sluggishly along. The further any one sails on this strange river, tlfe more awtul and impressive does it become. The loneliness of the scene is overwlielming. The gleam of the white fins of a p()ri)oise, tlie whirl of a gull overhead, and the distant flash of a sail only make one realize more fully the great silence and the absence of Imman life. The scream of tlie loon is startling. The story that a party of early French explorere sailed up the Saguenay and were never seen again, seems quite in harmony with the impression the river has left upon the mind. A vessel might sink in these mysterious, dark waters, and the cliffs might echo and reecho with the despairing cries of drowning men, and "'''^m''U:M' I! i:L„ 92 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. ■ ji i t the groat, busy world Ik; never the wiser. The Sague- iiay keeps its own rounscl. 'J'he passengers are now arranging tlieniselves on one side of thf steamer so" as best to see Cape Eternity. This is a perpendicnhir shaft of rock rising from the river. The eVe foUows tlie clear reileetion down into the water, and then, returning to the cliff itself, moves up and u[) its towering heights of fifteen hundred feet to the very cloiuls. The top of the cliff, crowned with bushy pines, leans forward and seems about to totter and fall. As the steamer moves beneath its shadow, many a passenger feels the same dizzy sensation that often over- takes one while standing on the edge of a precipice. The water at the bi\.se of Cape Eternity is of unknown depth. The face of the cliff is weather-stained, and here and there a spring of water trickles down. - Cape Trinity is a little farther up tlie river on the same side. Though three hundred feet higher than its sister cliff. Cape Trinity does not seem so terrible as Cape Eternity. It slopes gently backward from the river, and is clothed to the summit with dense ranks of tall pines. The cliff has been rent by the mighty force of fire or eartlupiake into three divisions, and so has been named Trinity. Sixty miles more of bleak and rugged hills bring us to Ha Ha Bay. This bay was first entered by a gay party of French explorei-s who thought they were follow- ing the river. Discovering their blunder, they burst into peals of laughter, ancj named the bay that had so deceived them. Ha Ha. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 93 le Sague- es on one Eternity. from the lown into elf, moves idred feet vneil with to totter \r^ many a jften over- precipice, unknown [lined, and n. - fQv on the er than its terrible as from the se ranks of ighty force md so has Is bring us [ by a gay 'ere foUow- they l)urst that had so It is a groat relief to find this cheerful little nook nestled among the solenui hills. I'eople are cutting down trees, running mills, and picking berries. The common everyday matters of life are going on, even though the place is near the gloomy and awful Saguenay. But wc must tarry no longer on this tributary of the St. Lawrence, however beautiful it may l)e, but hasten back to the main stream. Past the Saguenay Uiver, the shores of the St. Lawrence recede very rapidly from each other. Presently the farther sliore seems but a faint mist cm tlie horizon line. And now the salt breeze blows in our faces ; the swell of the river be- comes that of the sea ; and linally the St. Lawrence, its long task of draining a continent over, joyously, leaps into the sea. » , CHAPTER VIII. QUAINT OLD QUKBEC. Over three hundred yeai-s ago the King of Fro nee gave three vessels to a brave and good navigator named Jacques Cartier. He was instructed to follow the river St. Lawrence, whose entrance he had discovered a year before, and see if he could not reach Lidia. Even the wisest men in those days did not know so much geography as a boy of ten does to-day. But the mistaken idea was a good one on some accounts, for it led to the thorough exploration of many of our large 94 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. rivei-s on the Atlaiitiu coast. The James auil Iliulcion were taken tor routes to India, as well as tlie St. Law- rence. Cartier was to take ptjssession of all the land for fair France, and to bring back to liis gracious sovereign yel- low gold and line pearls from India. His stanch little vessels breasted the Atlantic surges, and came Huttering up the river, looking to the astonished Indians like great, white-winged waterfowl from some unknown country across the sea. They sailed on and on up this mighty river, which was almost broad enough for a sea. After they had followed its course for three hundred miles, they saw before them a great red rock projecting into the stream. A green bluff on the opposite shore stretched towards the rock ; and thus the bed of tlie river was narrowed at this point to oidy three-(iuarters of a mile. Cartier landed, climbed the rock, and looked around him. Over three hundred feet below rolled the great river. He could have dropped a stone into its waters as they lapjied the foot of the rock. From both shores vast plains stretched away. The green turf and ancient forests bore testimony to the fertility of the soil. Blue mountain peaks forty miles distant formed an appropri- ate setting for this l)eautiful view. Did Cartier see in a vision the city that was to be ? Did he see the river, so clearly marked out as one of the great water ways of the world, alive with craft of every description? Did he picture great ships from all over the world riding at anchor in the harbor ? Something of this he undoubtedly saw; for a man ■<'«s-WMai'«^i^«w«i*^^^^ Hudson St. Law- l for fair eign yel- it'li little lutteriug ke great, country er, which they had they saw e stream. . towards narrowed d around the great its waters (th shores id ancient il. Blue appropri- as to he? one of the t of every m all over or a man OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 95 of his experience could hut realize that this was the commanding point of the river, the key of the country. His heart swelled with hope and trust in what wius to he. All this heautiful region lie gave to God, to France, and to his king. Fifty years afterward, Cliamplain founded the city of Quehec. The name whicli lie gave it means narrow- ing, and refers to the narrowing of the St. Jvawrence at this point. Cliamplain was a great explorer. He discovered the Richelieu River and Lake Cliamplain. He sailed up the Ottawa, visited Lake Ontario for the fii-st time, and founded Montreal. Cliamplain was devoted to the interests of his little colony. Twenty times he crossed the ocean to inter- cede, in her helialf, with the home government. And crossing the ocean in those days was a much longer and a much more dangerous undertaking than it is now. His treaties Avith the Indians were never hroken. With the single exception of the Iroquois, he won all the Indians for his firm friends ; and the influence of the French over them was still more increased hy the arrival of Jesuit priests. Cham2)lain was an ardently religious man. He first gave Quehec that strong religious hent which it has kept to the present day. There are now five times the numher of churches needed for the population, and it was relatively so in the seventeenth century. One of the chief ohjects of the French in settling Quehec was to Christianize the Indians; and early in the history of the settlement a hand of Jesuits arrived for this purpose. They were hrave, devoted men wlio Otf m ''I. 96 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPlF.. r !' wore williiiir to suftVr all inamuTof piivations to actom- l.lisli their ends. Many of them lived for years in the wiKwams of Indian families, wandering where they wan- dered, hunting, lH-arinj."l>'irdens, suiferinjr f,„in cold and Imiiger — all to gain the love of the savage people. So it naturally came to pass that the Indians were devoted to the Freneh anit,di(s of Alniiham, dra^-, Dufferin OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. ltl> Terrace. This is a niiigiiilicciit i)ronu'nail(; hiid out on the edge of the clilf two Inuiihvd feet aiiuve the water. The platform, as we might, call it, is two hinidred feet wide, 'i'he [(cople wiio imve been criimi.fd in ihc niir- row, crooked streets all d;iy, come in the evening to this wide, free, i)ree/,y spiice, and walk, talk, and gaze upon the view to their heart's content. Here and tlieii! on the edge of the terrace summer- houses or pavilions liave been erected wherever the i)ros- pect is linest. And indeed the outlook is a magnilicent one. The last rays of the setting sun linger on the steei) tin roofs of the houses of the lower town, making them appear lik' molten gold. The river rolls on its tran- (juil way hetween the green shores and the naiiow, regular farms which run like ribbons from the river to the I'oad. As the evening wears on, the promenadcrs increase. There are a few young Englislunen, and some American travelers; but the majority of the i)co[>lo are French of the middle class. Here is the grave lawyer, tall and thin, with his profession unmistakably carved in the severe linos on liis face. Many grou[)s of young people are seen. The girls are pretty, and are dressed in old- fashioned style. The young men are dressed more gayly. They wear bright-colored ties and gay scarfs, with perhaps a few superfluous rings. Now it is deep twiliglit. The huge bulk of the cita- del rises to the right. The street,s of the lower town begin to be defined Iiy dotted lines of light, as tho lamp- lighter goes on his rounds. Lights swarm up the oppo- m "^mm^!'' i 111 100 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, ll M Hito slope! of Point Levi, Jiiid trustor lliii^Uly in tlic liiu- bor wluMi! till! sliijiiiiii^f lies. Suddenly a .slriiiijfi!, ifuw hii^ditiicss iippcius in the IiL'iivuns. A j^'lowinj,' arch si»iiM.s tlio nortlicrn sky, iind (piivi'iinif (liirts of pale violi't and dclicatr crimson slioot from it to llic zcnitli. It is llio aurora borcalis, tlic wonder of llio nctitli ! Only too soon tlu" sky is dark aj^ain, and, wariUMl of till! lateness of tla! lionr l)y a det'i) hoom from tlio cita- del j^uii, wo leave the teirii"e, carrying' with us as one of tlie richest of our C^uehoc exitcriences, this vision from DulTcrin Terrace. 15y day the terrace is almost deserted. Only a few nurseniaiils with their ehar,L(cs visit the (juiet, sunny s[iot. 'l"he children play aiound tlie ohl {,nni carria^'cs and the piles of cannon-balls which are stacked on the terrace. liack of Dufl'erin Terrace is the Governor's Garden. This was a much freiiucnted s[)ot in earlier days, but now it is somewhat neglected. Very few persons are seen walkiuj^' down the shady paths, where formerly thronged tlu! nobility and wealth of the city. Its chief attraction is a stati'ly monument to Mont- calm and Wolfe. The obelisk, sixty-live feet high, bears a Latin inscription to the two heroes. It was a happy thought to unite by a common monument "the memory of those who fell in. fight against each other, as closely as if they had both died for the same cause." From the western end of Dufferin Terrace a flight of several hundred steps leads to the top of the grassy 1 'I '■'^^i^ies^sii^^g&i mt:K "^"^^jiSi OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS 101 tlic lllll- . ill tlu; 'ti»a?s.:..- 104 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. X U t light. While you are gazing at tlie building, a door opous and a orowd of biown-eyed little giils liasten into the street. Sidonie, Marie, Therese, — these are the names they are calling to one another. They are the modern little maidens who have succeeded the dark Huron girls in the convent. The efforts of the Ursuline nuns to convert the daughters of the Indians were not very successful, and as tlieie are now very few Hurons alive, the nuns teach the Catholic girls of Qnebec. Back of the convent, surrounded by a high stone wall, is a large and beautiful garden. A large ash, under which Madame de la lY'ltrie was accustomed to teach the Indian girls, stood in the centre of the garden until, a few years ago, it was blown down in a storm. Now the spot is marked by a large black cross. Around tile cross a munber of paths wind and turn in all di- rections between clumps of fragrant lilacs and rows of slender lu)llyhocks. Here the nuns often walk with their pupils; and their sweet voices and the joyous laughter of the girls are sometimes faintly heard in the neiglil){)ring street. The dress of the Ui-suline nuns is l)lack, with a black veil falling down from the back of the head. The face is surrounded with white linen, and a kind of kerchief of the same material covers the shoulders and reaches to (lie waist. Montcalm died in this convent, and was burie.l in the garden where a cannc.n ball struck. On the walls of tlie (-hapcl is a tablet to his mcmorv, on which is written in French, "Honor to Montcalm: Destiny 'is^Ss Si"s.*t^.'a,i>i«,jt..«*jKi re tt .v«l»*l«B».W-iK' OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 118 >ii ii |)!iir 'lu! (IXCII linrsc is I'll an i^Hi. and ■okcii ui) a ^nvat y oxi'ii, I't'ds can [ Uy tlui i-s hiinjf it'd into ^(■d. As iidFul of rtith till! II be the rain, is takes li. The iihildrcn laehines iwivncc. u hrowii scythe. lUd turn r. The wooden igaiu in reaping, iuid with their short, hlue, honiosptin skirts and hroad shade hats, they are |)ietnres(inu sights as they wield the sickU's. S(»nie kneel to their work ; others cronch or hcnd low. Aided l»y the childri'n, they sjiriNid the grain over the gronnd to dry, turn it, and linally hind it into sheaves. They are so careful and economical that not a head of grain is left upon the ground at the eloso of the harvesting. In some regions of Canada this busiest of seasons M closed hy a merrymaking called the "Festival of the Big Sheaf." On the last load of grain is laid one sheaf of unusual size, known as the Big Sheaf. This is an emblem of abmidance. The youths and maidens, deco- rated with heads of grain, walk on each side of the cart, singing national airs. When they arrive at the owner's house, the eldest son, followed by the rest of the merrymakei-s, enteiy the chief room, where the farmer himself sits in his large armchair. In one hand the son carries a sheaf decorated with ribbons; in the other, a decanter and a gliuss. He advances to his father, congratuhites him on his good harvest, wishes him as successful a one each year, and ofi'ers him a glass of brandy. The rest of the company are then served with brandy, after which they l)ass into an adjoining room, where a bountiful supi)er of mutton, milk, and i)ancakes with maple syrup, is served. The old-fashioned Hail is generally used for thrashing. Some farmers, with a little tolerance for modern im- provements, use a thrashing machine, driven either by a rough water mill or by a patient little pony. The pony toils away while his master sits idly by on the fence. 114 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. M Till' wiiiiinwiii^ (tl" tlio j^niiii, l)y wliicli llio kciiiols arc H('|iiiniti'(l from tlu' cluilT, is duiu' witli a larj,M' Ian, on wliicli the ^'iiiiii is losscd nj) and (l(»\vn until tlie cliatY, wliioh i« tliu li^lit Imsk covi'iiuj,' tlu! kcrnrl, is blown away. One twenty sixth of tlif pun; j,'rain is ^riven to till' piii'si. This is llio way the peasants pay thoir cliuiili dues. The {,'min is next jjround into Hour. When bread is beinj,' made from the tlour, the farmer's wife prays that the yeast may rise, ami, last of all, ujion the hjaf she marks a cross. Thus the Canadian peasants are contin- ually reminded, in the midst t)f their toil for food, that after all it is (fod who ^ives them their daily bread. In the winter time many of tlie farmeis join the lum- bermen in their work. Lumberinf,' is paid for in ready money, which is very welcome to the farmer. Winter is the slack season on the farm; and, as the y-oke of oxen or span f)f horses he may take with him to the hnnbcrinj,' camp is well paid for, three months in the woods are always prolitabh;. It is said that, hard as a farmer is oblijjfed to work in the United States, his wife always works harder. And this is equally true in Canada. The women toil from four o'clock in the morninjr till eight at night. The care of their houses gives theuj very little trouble. The houses are so small and simply furni-shed that sweeping and dusting are very ea.sy mattei-s. The broom is a bunch of cedar boughs, and the scrubbing l)ru.sh a bunch of spruce. The meals, too, are simply prepared, and very few dishes are used. The women, when they are not in the fields haying ■■■'•• — • ..'r.wi'iJ »dVi ><>^v'SHSfii'.i.W;>it^ 1 OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 115 I! kt'i'iiols lUjfC filll, until tliu kt'ini'l, is ^niiii in Hiiiits pay Ini'iul is iniys that loaf she re coiitiii- food, that )rt!a(l. 1 the luin- iii ready Winter 3 y-()kt' of iin to till) lis in the 1 work in ler. And toil from ery little furnislii'd el's. The scrubbing ire simply ds haying or harvesting, are occupied in spinning wool, weaving cl(itli,anil making ciutiics for their huge families. They knit stockings, make tlie iiomespnn suits worn by the men and women, coblde rough hut serviceable shoes from hides, and braid hats of the straw which they tiiemselves have chosen and prepared. All the artieles that are not needed by the family they carry to market. 'i'he garret is the workroom of the farmer's wife. Kvery material and tool that she needs in performing her dillicult tasks of tailor, shoemaker, and hatter is found here. Skeins of yarn, sides of leather, and liuu- dles of straw lie about in dusky corners, ihith linen and woollen sheets are piled away in a few old chests. Some of the sheets are fully one hundred years ohl. Two or three spinning wheels and a htoni complete the furnishings. The room is lighted by one small window in the roof; and with tht; rich brown shadows lurking in the corners and playing upcm its (luaiiit furnishings, it is a charming plac(!. Let us watidi a French Canadian family at supper. Twelve per-ons gather about a tabh^ small enough for four. A scpiare of oil eloth serves for a tablecloth, and in the centre of the table stands a tin pan lilled with pea soup and small pieces of bread. Kacdi member of the family sits sideways at the table, with one arm and shoulder free to move above it. Spoons are distributed, and then the meal beirins. Each one tills his spoon from the central dish, draws it across the edge of the pan, and carries it to his mouth. • It is a curious sight to see the advance Jind retreat of those dozen arms around the pan. After the souj) has "^m I iii i m- mi 116 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. been finishes anion jT ler trees, s. They la, which )tta\va to ce at the that for 3ontinued liis region t life was )ring and liere were leaves of 3 delicate ivy snow any ever- 1 iir. Mountain streams roared past the roots of the fjiiint pines on their Imnks. Lukes mirrored the slender birches in their unriillied waters. IMnes risincr tier iibove tier marshalled their ranks al)i)nt mountains wliic'h no man's foot had even- crossed. 'I'lie woodland silence was only occasionally broken by the stealthy tread of the black bear and tin; scream of the eatrle. Hut to-day these woods are the scene of busy, active life, and are the means by which large sums of gold are brought into the coffers of the nation. The foivsts in the Northeast and Northwest Territories arc controlled by the Dominion government; tho.se in the provinces by the provincial governments. The forests are divided into what are called timber limits. Each of these is ten miles sijuarc. The owners of sawmills and speculators hire timber limits for the season. TJiey pay the government, whetlier general or provincial, a certain sum of money, and agiee, in addi- tion, to pay duty on every log that is cut. After the timber limit is secured, a band of five or six men are sent to ascertain the amount and value of the timber of the limit, to choose the place for the camp, and to exi)lore the whole limit, particularly noting the ])osition and availability of the lakes and streams. Such a ta,sk is called prosi)ecting. The exi)lorers pass through the timber limit, blazing the trees to mark out the future roads. They indicate the places for the future cam[)s and rollways, and, in short, lay out the plan for the winter campaign. Their work is exceedingly inipoitant, and they are well paid for their services. They carry guns, and the rough 122 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. \ h picnic life with its opportunitios for hunting is thor- oughly enjoyed. The dillicnlt part of their enterprise is to find spots whence an. extensive observation may he obtained. Whenever it is possible, one of tlie party climbs a tall pine on a hillside and surveys tlie country. In the fall tlie lumbermen, with tlieir horses, oxen, sleighs, wagons, and provisions, set out for the timber limit. The depots and various stations on the route are thoroughly alive. Everywhere is seen the sun-browned young lumber- man, tall and graceful as an Intlian, and gay and talka- tive as a Frenchman. Tie has usually several bright touches to his costume, and i< very fond of red. Now he wears a red scarf, now a red vest, and now boots with red tops, which with a white kerchief tied about his sunburned throat, gives him a very gallant appearance. The fii'st thing to be done after reacliing the timber limit is to erect the shanty, or camp, for the men and the stixble for the horses. The shanty is a large, oblong building with walls and low-pitched roof made of logs. In one side a doorway is cut, and a door of heavy tim- ber is hung in place. All crevices are carefully stuffed with moss or hay, to make tlie shanty tight against the cold winds of winter. The floor is of l)oards. Near the centre of the shanty are four posts which support the roof. On the ground between these posts, the great camp fire is built. There is no chimney, but the smoke passes out through a large, square opening cut in the roof directly over the fire- place, which is compactly built of earth and stones. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 123 r is tlior- ind s))ots obtained, ubs a tall 3es, oxen, le timber the route g luinbor- iiul talka- •al bright n\. Now )0()ts with about his learance. lie timber men and re, olilong le of logs, leavy tim- lly stuffed gainst the ;he shanty le ground it. There gh a large, r the fire- tones. Tlie furniture is of the seantiest. On three sides of the room the bunks are arranged in rows, one above the other; on the fourth side is the cook's table. Two strong wooden cranes from which are suspended the pots and kettles of the camp, stand at two corners of the fireplace. Next a rollway is prepared. Some hillside close by a river or lake is selected. Its surface is thoi-oughly examined, and all obstacles or obstructions which mitrht ])revent any object from rolling easily down the slope are removed. Here the logs are to be stored until the time of the spring freshet, when the river carries them down to the sawmill. When these preliminaries are settled, the actual work begins. Before dawn the uien, anywhere in number from twenty to eiglity, are called by the foreman. They feed the cattle, and, after a warm breakfast, harness tlie horses and yoke the oxen, and set off for the scene of the day's labor. Here stands a giant pine. Two men attack it with their axes on opposite sides, and the great chips begin to fly. The accuracy of the men is wonderful. Rarely does each successive stroke vary a hair's breadth from the first. Sharp and clear sounds every death-blow dealt to the patriarch of the forest. The trunk is nearly severed ; the tree bends and rocks ; the axmeu spring aside ; and now, with a mighty crash, carrying with it in its fall (luantitles of lesser growth which for yeai's it has sheltered under its branches, the monarch tree is down. The life of cen- turies is destroyed in an hour. 124 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Ill The branclics are ivinovrd, iuul tlitiii tlio trunk is cut into logs l)y tlio siiwyors. Next it is liaiiliMl to tins rollway. (lencrally one \o^ is (''non<,'li for a sled, l)ut sometimes two or tliree are ciiained to it. A very large jtieee is drawn hy eij^lit or ten horses i'asteneil to a douhle sled. Sometimes onl}' one sled is used, and then part of the loi; is draiTLTt'd on the snow. Often the road to the landing is far from level. In this ease what is called a gallery road is eonstrueted. Logs iiiv driven lirndy into the hillside, and are covered solidly with earth and stones. Thus an artitieial road is made over which the teamster drives, in easy curves, securely down the slope, although the steep hill rises upon one side, and the precipice yawns on the other. When the road is exceedingly abrupt in its descent, another method is resorted to. A strong rope is fastened to the sli'd. and also to a sturdy tree on the summit of the hill. As the team descends the hillside, the rope is let out from above until horses, log, and driver reach the bottom in safety. When the logs are unloaded at the rollway, they receive two marks, — one, the mark of the owner, the other, the mark of their value. The logs which are to become square timber gc through a further prf)cess in the woods. After the saw- yers have finished their task, the logs are handed over to the hewers, who, with their broadaxcs, s([uare the luige sticks. IJeams for building purposes are made in this way. The square timber is not carried to the roll- way. h A a e d n r( '1 n si n h SI b si b a a P fi tl 1' OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 125 ink is out mI to tho lonu'timos ^ [iie(!i! is ul>lo sIcmI. lit of the level. In iistnicted. V covered iciiil road •*y (jurves, hill rises other. ! descent, s fastened lunnnit of lie rope is ver reach vay, they wner, the iniber go r the saw- ided over [uare the 3 made in 1 the roll- The work of the day is broken by the noon ineal, whi(di is carried to tiie spot where tlie men are at work. A large lire is l)niU, over whicii the ti'a is made. Tiie UunbcrnK!!! eare for neither sngar nor milk with tea. All that they desire is that this, their sole beverage, shonld be v(M'y strong and hot. After th(! meal a little time is allowed for smoking, and then the men resume their work with renewed energy. Their guns are near at liand, and often a stray deer is brought (U»wn to give variety to their monoto- nous bill of fare. At sundown the men return to the shanty. That rough liut is a welcome sight to the weary laljorei-s. They (piicken their steps on coming in sight of its rugged walls. 'I'iie snow is piled deep about the shanty, and the wind howls around its corners. Dark mountain pines stand grindy in the background, but tlie house itself looks light and warm, wl.lle a eolunni of smoke rises from the roof. Plainly a hot supper is being prepared. After a hasty wash the men enter the hut to beludd a sight which gladdens every luuigry heart. A huge boiler iilled with tea, and a large pan of fried fat pork are placed close to tlie tire. On the cook's table stands a dish of cold pork, a freshly baked loaf of bread, and a pile of basins. Each man helps himself to a basin, which is promptly filled with tea; and then, seated on a rude bench by the fire, he forgets cold and hunger in the delightful present. After Slipper, some sharpen their axes, while others liiU THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. tell stories of adventure, siiij^', or (lance. Meiui\sliilo the nioecasins and mittens, hung up to dry hy the lire, cast curious shadows on the walls of the hut. The outdoor exercise, fojlowi'd l)y the liearty supper and tiie warmth of the eamplire, ci''ses sleepiness. The group around the lire hroaks up, and, dressed as they are, the men seek their hunks. Kaeh wraps a hlanket ahout him aiul lies (h)wn, with head to tiie wall and feet to the lire, to lose himself in dreandess sleep on his soft, elastic hed of pine houghs. Truly "the sleep of the lahoring man is sweet." Such is the daily routine, only Vcaried hy the visits of the hush superintendent and of the Catholic priest. With the coming of sjjring the teamsters return to their lumies. The logs, the result of their winter's lahor, are henceforth in charge of that class of Uunhermen known as river drivers. The ice hreaks ui), the water of the rivers is free, and the sprin, freshets hegin. In some eases the logs liave Ixicn piled uiion the frozen river, and, with the breaking up of the ice, they fall at once into the swift eurrent, and are carried rajjidly downstream. Hut oftener they are piled upon a rollway. When the rollway is erected upon a hillside, the drivers slowly and cautiously impel the logs at the foot of the rollway toward the river. 1'he upper logs pres- ently partake of the motion, and soon an avalanche takes place. Carefully pi-epared as the rollway may be, oftentimes some unforeseen okstruotion prevents a great luunber of the logs from rolling into the river. A stump or a s e u o a ii OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 127 Iinin\\liilo y tliu lire, ty suiipcr loss. The il as they a hhiiiket I iiud foet II his soft, i[) of the visits of ic priest, n to tlieir hihor, are sn known "8 is free, the logs with the the swift iin. Hut Iside, the t the foot logs pres- avahmclie )ftentimea lumber of imp or a single log may prevent the ih'sircd movement. 'I'hen eomes tiie danger; lor one of the river diivers must undertake the hazardous enterprise of cutting away the ohstaele. When it is lemoved, the logs rusli (h)wn, and the man has a eiianee for his life only by diving into the depths of the stream. After till' logs are launehed, the drivers must follow them; for their responsiliilily is not over until the tim- ber is delivered at it,s linal destination, the sawmill. Sometimes they follow the river banks, pushing off with their long poles the logs whieh may have stranded on the banks or in the middle of the stream. Hut oftener the men follow in light, tlat-botlomed boats. A number of small i)oats are aceompaided, when j)raetieable, by a large, covered, floating scow, whieh serves all the purposes of the shanty. The greatest danger in tliis phase of lundiering is from the logs lodging in the middle of the stream and form- ing a jam. Under such eireumstanees, the drivere show wonderful skill in seleeting and removing the log whieh has eaused the jam, and in avoiding the downward rush of the logs. They spring like deer from log to log, and balance themselves as accurately as circus riders. In shallow streams a system of dams is constructed with piles driven deep into the bed of the stream, and with gates arranged so as to regulate the amount of water passing through. The dam accumulates water sufficient to float logs down to it, and then, by means of the gate, or sluice, the logs are sufl'ered to pass, to- gether with water enough to carry them with a rush some distance on their course. i 128 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, If iht' Htrt'iim is very (luick iiiid (liiiimMdUs, tlu; lo^a art! liiuiicliftl ii|)f It'll until sttiuo stri»iij,'er spiiiii,' fit'slu-t may lit'ar tlii'in (lowii ; imt most of tliom puss all llm tlan^'urs willioiil injury, ami llont down to llif sawmill. Tliis is a larj^e woodt-n stfUftiiro tdoso tt) tlio rivt-r. Till! lo]i,'s aiv follei'ted abovo tlif mill. Wlii-ii tin; mill is WDikiii^, a car, runnint,' up antl down a jtlanti int'liut-tl tt» tlif iMl<;t' of till! slit'am, lanit's the loi,'s two l)y twt) into till! mill. 'I'lioy art! plaffd undt-r rows of saws, wliith fut (itiit'kly tliroti^di tliem from cntl to mid. If till' mill is run i)y steam, tlii! sawdust is used to feed tlif furnati's in the en<,nne room. Thus every frag- ment of the loj,' is of use. The square tiiiii)i'r is too valuahle to he eurrietl in this rou^di wav to its linal tlestiuation, the eity of Quebee. Wherever there are ealaraets on tlit! rivers down whieh the stinare timbers are to be brou^dit, slitles, leailinj? from the river above to the waters below, have been eonstnietetl. At the side of the fall is an artilieial ehaimel with smtioth timber walls and a floor of wood and stone, into whieh the water is admitted by a fjate, and down which the square timber is pav-scU, either in sinj,de pieces or in cribs. The crib is a kiutl of raft, twenty-four feet wide, with its length varying with the length of the timber used in its construction. Its base consists of twenty pieces bonntl together by shorter pieces called transverses. Above these are set^nred four broatl i)ieces of timber, ftn-ming the floor of the improvisetl raft. A frame 1.'^ n ir e^ ill la cl bi III ill iui he it th: Wll foi wi nil by ini of ] exi aiK raf OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. tlic lo^'S [lids. A ided, and ilift miiy ! dimmers lu" liver. tilt! mill I inclined I) l)y two of saws, nd. I used to /ery hug- m'y'waX ill ; city of lie livers bron^dit, ira below, tall is iin id a floor iiitted by s pafscu, r'ido, with !!• used in ty pieces vnsverses. if timber, A frame 120 liouse i.s built upon the crib for tlie raftsmen. The crib is propeUed by lunj; oars and by sail. Oftentimes travelers are taken down a slide by the raftsmen. The sensation is a new one, and very excit- ing. It is a kind of water toboMtraiiing. The guests are Imhlen to seat themselves on the high- est bit of tinil)er in the rear, and to hold to a pole drivx'U into the lowest limbers of the raft. The ladies — f(,r hidies enjoy making this (h-seeiit — draw their dresses closely around them. The slince gates are opened; and iH'fore them aiipears a narrow channel a .piarter of ii mile in length, down which a shallow stream is sweej)- iiig. Here and there the boarded bed ..f the channel lias a fall, or drop, of from live to eight feet. The eiib is carefully guided through the gateway, but hesitates ..ii the brink. Soon the waters rise around it; itHoats; and then, with a suchlen rush, plunges (h)wn the incline. As the crib goes over the drops, jets of water spurt up between the timbers. And now the foaming, tossing water just ahead shows that the erib will s(.on be on the rough river again. There i.s one moredn.p; and then the moving crib is neatly caught by a lloating raft of timber, Avhicli prevents the .juiek impetus it has aecpiired from sending it to the botti.m of the stream. Every one is well 8i)lashed, but he does not care. The excitement of the swift rush fully compensates for wet and clinging clothes. The single cribs proceed to the "banding ground." There they are fastened, or banded together, into rafts by pieces of twisted sapling. One raft contains • i-i 130 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. from ninety to one hundred cribs. The method by which they are fastened aUows each crib some freedom of motion up and down, and so lessens the strain on the raft as a whole. When a raft arrives at a rapid or a waterfall, it is sep- arated into cribs. 'J'hese pass down the slide in turn, and arc made into a raft a,^•ain below. Tlie raft looks like a floating village. On nearly every crib is a tiny hut in which the raftsman lives, and sometimes his wife and children. Such a raft is a very pictures(iue sight, with its many fires blazing brightly, its many sails swelling in the breeze, and its oars plied by muscular, brown-armed raftsmen. On arriving at Quebec, the raft is broken up and its timber dispersed among tlie acres of timber floating in the coves near the harbor. From these mighty stores of lumber many of the out- going shii)S are filled. Men dart about over the loose timbers, selecting the cargo with their pike poles. The beams arc raised by chains and passed into the great receiving ports in the bows of the ships. As a vessel becomes more heavily laden, the lowest porthole, through wbi.li the loading has been carried on, sinks to the water's edge. This porthole is then closed, and the loading continues through one ahove. Nearly one-half of the timber exported goes to Great Britain. The United States also imports large stores. The products of the forest exports during the la&t ten years have averaged twenty million dollai-s a year. Her forests form part of the present capital of Canada, and, properly cared for, would be a permanent source of m.i ^^m%M OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 181 he mcthoti by some freedom le strain on the terfiill, it is sep- 3 slide in turn, re. On nearly Lsman lives, and a raft is a very lazing brightly, d its oars plied )ken up and its mber floating in nany of the out- it over the loose )ike poles. The 1 into the great aden, the lowest las been carried porthole is then ch one above. ,ed goes to Great Drts large stores, ring the la&t ten llai-s a year, apital of Canada, •manent source of wealth ; but of late years they have been so recklessly consumed that there is danger of the supply becoming exhausted. Wlien houses, bridges, and fences are built of wood, when country roads are laid over logs of wood, and when cities are paved with wood, it seems as if the waste of wood was wrong. The forests are also being tliijined by fires. Picnic parties neglect to extinguish the fires tliey build, and farmers, while clearing land, often start fires which get beyond their control and destroy large tracts of forest land. The lumberman is the great pioneer of civilization. His shanty is the centre from which may grow a town or city spreading over a large area. Farmers, finding a 'market for their produce in the lumbering camp, clear farms near by. lilacksmiths and wheelwrights follow the farmer ; and then, if a sawmill is established on the nearest stream, the settlement of tlie place is secured. In this way Canada owes more than she can estimate to the simple, hard-working lumberman living his toil- some yet happy life. CHAPTER XI. THE CANADIAN PBAIRIE. Canada is rich in forests, rich in mines, but richest of all in her prairie land. The Canadian Pacific Railroad, which binds with its steel links the Great Lakes to the Pacific coast, passes through a thousand miles of forests and a thousand miles of prairie. We have gone together 182 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. into the forests ; have ga/ed at the handsome pines and oalvs; and have seen tlie strong lumbermen eiitting, hew- ing, and hauling logs. Now let us visit the prairies, and see what kind of life is fouud upon them. Perhaps you may remember your tirst sight of the sea, when you stood silent with parted lips and with eyes fixed intentlv t)n the blue wonder of the tossing waves. You have long treasured the feeling of awe and delight whieh the scene called into your mind. The first sight of the ))rairie is just as wonderful as the fii-st view of the ocean. There is the same v/ide outlook, the same sweeping breeze, and the same rounded billows. But the billows in the case of the prairie are always motionless. The prairie looks like a frozen sea. Grassy hillocks, precisely like the green waves of the ocean, roll away in long, wavy lines a thousand miles westward to" the Rocky Mountains and seven hundred miles northward to the Peace liiver. All of this land, except the tiny sciuare of Manitoba, is the Northwest Territory of the Dominion of Canada. One canriot say in which reason the prairies are most beautiful. After the firat mild days have come in spring, the prairie anemone, a small flower of a delicate blue, is found half-hidden by the withered and whitened leaves of the previous year. Sometimes the anemone is white, and then again it is purple; but the flower, like the Plymouth mayflower, blossoms before the leaves unfold, and is the fii-st sign of spiing. In the month of June the prairies are smothered with wild roses. The horse of the traveler crashes them OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORiJ. 138 pines and tting, licw- •airics, and ^ht of the and with lie tossing ng of awe 'our mind. ;iful as the lie outlook, led hillows. are always sy hillocks, oil away in xvd to" the northward pt the tiny tory of the es are most e in spring, ■ate blue, is ened leaves ne is white, 3r, like the ives unfold, thered with ashes them beneath his feet by day, and at night the traveler's blanket is spread above their tender i)ink and white blossoms. In early summer the grass is a bright green, but the autunui frosts turn the sedges and grasses to many coloi-s, — to pale lemon yellow, blue, dark red, saffron, and brown. These, with purple asters and golden core- opsis, make the i)rairies a glory of splendid color in the fall. As the frosts grow keener, the grasses are bleached to a yellow so pale as to seem almost white. Then, just as the first snow flurry of the year might be expected, the sun appears to rise higher in the sky ; a yellow haze settles over the horizon ; and it seems as if sununer had returned, the days are so warm and beau- tiful. It has returned indeed, for this is the Indian summer. After six weeks, the soft yellow smoke fades away, and then a kind of melancholy waiting seems to settle over the pale prairie. It is waiting for the blizzard from the northwest. Terrible and destructive as the blizzards, or s-.iow squalls, are in the cities, tliey are more to be dreaded on the prairie. The farmer is working in some field remote from his house. He is so much interested in his work that he does not notice the sky, which a few houi-s ago was fair. But great clouds have rolled up- ward from the west, and suddenly the blizzard is upon him. He flies for protection to the nearest bluff or grove. The keen wind drives the snowflakes scpiarely into his face. They blind his eyes and cut hi,j cheeks. At 134 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. »i length he gains the shelter of the wood, and gives one backward glance over his shoulder. Houses, barns, fences, tields are blotted, fron^ his sight. Prairie and sky are lost, and all that is left is a white sheet of whistling, driving snow. The cold is intense ; but a roaring fire of branches is soon Iniilt, and the farmer seats himself near by to wait for the storm to pass. The usual duration of a blizzard is twelve houi-s, but one sometimes lasts for days. In that case our farmer is lost. If hunger drives him to attempt to reach his home, he will probably lose his way and perish with cold on the open prairie. In tiie cities the blocks of houses afford some protec- tion. Hut in the streets open to the wind, nothing is seen but a wild, white whirl in which shingles, boards, and bricks fly al)out, and through which men fight their way. The lighted windows of the stores and houses cauJe the dark fury of the tempest to appear all the stronger and more terrible. Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, is a purely west- ern town. A few years ago a lot in the centre of Winnipeg could be bought for a trifle, but now it would cost more than a similar lot in Toronto. People from all parts of the world are thronging into this new city. Ask a man the way to a street, and very likely he will say that he has only arrived in the city that day. Winnipeg presents strong contrasts of magnificence and poverty. Fine stone blocks stand opposite wretched shanties ; spirited horses and elegant ca-riages dash by lumbering ox carts; graduates from the eastern univer- sities pass Icelandei-s and Indians on the streets. ^4ifc ,res one barns, He and heet of ranches r by to on of a asts for r drives bly lose ! protec- itbing is , boards, rht their [ houses • all the ily wesfc- entre of now it People this new likely he it day. ;nifi(;ence wretched 4 dash by n univer- : yy '-Wit '-- -^' THE CITY HALL. WINNIPEG. ■^Siiftth' r ' m I 1 , . !-. n^ 11 h I: ' $• t 136 THE. WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Winnipeg is a good starting point for expeditions to the north and to the west, liy means of l)oat or eanoe one can reach Hudson Hay hy following the valley of the Nelson. The two great rivers flowing into Hudson Bay from the west are the Churchill and the Nelson. The Churchill is a beautiful river, larger than the Rhine. Its water, which is clearer than the St. Law- rence, flows between low, rolling hanks. The Churchill, although a wide river, is swift and deep, and can be navigated for some distance from its mouth. The upper course of the Nelson, like the upper coui-se of the Churchill, consists of a chain of small lakes, con- nected by short streams. The Nelson, on account of falls, is not navigable as far as the Churchill, and the harbor at its mouth is not so good. Its valley is as large as that of the St. Lawrence, and it carries four tinges as much water to Hudson Bay as the Ottawa pours into the St. Lawrence. So you see that here in the backwoods of Canada is one of the great rivers of tlie world. York Factory, at the mouth of the Churchill, is a depot for collecting and shipping furs. Once a year a ship from England brings the people their stores, and returns with a cargo of furs. The ship is eagerly watched for ; and when, at last, her sails appear upon the cold gray waters of Hudson Bay, tears rise in the eyes of English and Scotch emigrants at thoughts of home. As the ship sails into the harbor, the battery of Fort York salutes the Union Jack, and just before the vessel drops her anchor, she answers the fort. Then there are busy times. Every one owning a boat litions to or canoe valley of I Hudson elson. than the St. Law- 'hurchill, (1 can be ler coui-se ikes, con- 3count of 1, and the Hey is as rries four e Ottawa \t here in t rivers of chill, is a J a year a itores, and is eagerly pear upon ise in the loughts of battery of before the ling a boat OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 137 pushes out to the ship to see the new comers and to help unload. Indians in their canoes i)a(ldle about as eagerly as their Avhite neighbors. Tlie vessel is rapidly un- loaded, and with the next high tide she is off on her return trip. Those on the shore watch her till she is out of sight, and then turn sadly away, realizing that a dreary winter lies before them. It takes a sailing vessel about one month to make the voyage between York Factory and Liverpool. It may suri)rise you to learn that this little town of York Factory is no farther from England llian is Mon- treal. Some day, when the prairies are thickly settled, and when railroads connect the valleys of tlie Peace and the Saskatchewan Rivers with Hudson Bay, York Factory may become a large and important commercial I)ort. There is talk about having a line of steamere running between the British Isles and Hudson Bay. When that day comes, this region will draw much trade from Mon- treal ; populous cities will arise at the mouths of the Churchill and the Hudson Rivers, and Hudson Bay, ceasing to be the remote, unfamiliar sea that it now is, will become a busy highway for ships and steamers. The little child may see all these wonderful changes before he grows gray-haired. The life of the Indian trapper is a hard one. Three Indians will perhaps hunt together. Leaving Fort York, to which they have just carried a hard-earned stock of furs, they set out for their Inuiting ground. A walk of a hundi-ed and fifty miles lies before them. 138 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. •.1 .1 It is in the (load of winter. Deep snows cover tac ground, and a frost is in the air so keen and cokl tliat even the hardy warrior draws his blanket closer about him. Each Indian carries upon his l)a(k a bundle contain- ing dried meat, tea, tobacco, and the blanket in which he wraiMS himself at night. Tbey take turns in drawing a sled, upon which are stra[)pe(l the camp kettles, traps, and furs which they have taken. After a walk of fifty miles, they scoop out, with their snowshoes, a hollow in the snow, in which they spend the night. On arriving at the hunting grounds, the first care of the trapper is to pitch the wigwam. He next turns liis attention to setting the traps. Each Indian starts in a different direction, blazing his path through the woods as he goes. He makes a large circuit, or loop, whicli takes him several days to com- plete, and which ends in the camp. Near this line he sets his traps ; and every few days he goes over the circuit to see that the traps are set and in order, and to collect the bodies of the animals ca)ight. If a hunting ground proves to be unprofitable, they pack up their goods and patiently trudge one hundred or two hundred miles further on. The trapper toils early and late, with very little pay for his labor. Now let us turn our faces westward from Winnipeg. Perhaps the best way to cross the prairies is on horae- back, with tent and provisions packed in a light cart. The only road is the trail, which stretches like a hard, black line across the level, green plain. It is delightful to ride over in fine weather. But let the rain fall for a fe ai a N el fa St. U! W a1 N S o o u si si d a S( n tl V 'I 8 OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 139 /^cr tlio Id lliiit f about ;oiitain- whicli Irawing i, traps, of nfty illow in care of irns his 'Ang his a hirge to corn- he sets circuit collect le, they lundred er toils nnipeg. I hoi-se- cart. a hard, litrhtful ill for a few momeuts, and the trail becomes exceedingly nuiddy and disagreeal)U'. ( )ne is forced to turn luside and seek a new trail i"*)r himself. How delightful is life on the i)rairie in summer! Nowliere else is tlie sky so high and so blue. Nowhere else are tlie clouds so purely white. The breeze that fans the cheek is fresh, cool, and invigorating. The air seems newly created, and, in its turn, seems to awaken us to new life. Hunger is no word for the intense sensation with whii^h, after our dash over the prairies, we disnunmt at our first resting place for the iiigld. Hot coffee I Never before was its aroma so fragrant, nor its taste so grateful. The full moon rises slowly, and casts a silvery tinge over the grassy waves of th'- prairie. The stars shine out brightly. Kolling yourself in a blanket, you gaze ui)ward for hours, as cm by one the constellations wheel slowly toward the western horizon, and vanish out of sight. The light of dawn awakens you to another beautiful day. The rising sun throws a rosy light over the plain, and is dazzlingly reflected from millions of crystal drops on the grass. The prairie at all hours presents an ever changing scene of beauty. At noon, mirages are often seen. A mirage is a picture of some object, greatly magnified and thrown upon the sky. For example, there might be a willow tree so far away that a traveler could not see it. The noon light might cause this willow to appear as a grove of trees to him. In this same way, a clump of 140 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. m trees seems to he a forest, and a few bushes on the l)anl\S of a hrook hi'coine tall, overshadowiiijf trees. Sometimes at ni^dit, a hrilliaiit coppery red lijrht glows in tlie northern horizon, whiles forked llames shoot into the sky. It is eausetl by a jaairie fire forty, sixty, or even eighty miles away. Owinjf to the careless- ness of liidians and emiifrants, camp lires are often left smonlderi)ioplar logs laii//.le to the fanner, how hi! shall chanfjo his eroi»s to the hest advantaj,'(!. The prairie soil, havinj,' never Iteen enltivated, is so rich that for sixty yeai's wheat has heen raised in the same lields without any du'ssing or other enrichmc^nt of the land. Here, too, the wheat reaches its perfection. There are thret! ^naiiis in the kei'nel, while farther south in tlie wheat lields of Minnesota and Dakota, there art! hut two. So thirty Imshels of wheat can Iw harveste'd from an aero in Canada, wlu'U only twenty can he produced on an acre in the United States. Some stalks of wheat have Imh'U fouufl in the Peace valley with five grains to a kernel. This shows that even more than thirty hushels to the acre can he raised in this section of the Northwest. The grasshopper, the farmers' pest, is luikiiown near Peace River. And now, following in a general way the South Sas- katchewan River, we enter the loneliest region as yet crossed. For days and days the traveler gallops on, and still the same desolation and sileJiee is ahout him. The horizon ajipcars always the same, and always as far from him as at lirst. No living thing can be seen or heard. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. t:t from tilt) iis|i)niil it, ivi'. 'riiis pliicu. Miuiu) way, •use, j^'i'ow- It is (|iiit(! 111! cliaiigu iit<'(l, is so sfd in till! icliuu^iit of in. There r sontli in LTd ;uv \nii t'stt'"(l from ! produced Tlio spirits of tlic ^'iiyt'st tiiivclcr sinli liciiciitli tlit) awful loiiciiiifss of tlic |ila«'c. It sci-iiis us if one mi^'lit jr,, (in for fvi-r iind ever, wilii no cluiu},'!! in liis sur- rounding's. Hut at last \v(> draw near tlic foothills of (he Rocky Mountains, wlicrc wc arc to enjoy hiintinj,' the j;''''''')' hear and the IxitTalo. The hnlTaloes used to riviiK" tlio prairie, hiil, since the settlers have eomc tlockiiij,' in, tlio few which remain alive have retreated to the mountains. The Rocky Monnlains are as },'rand, in their way, as the Alps. Tlu'y look like jrreat tents tiitfied with white, and, in the sunset li^ht, },deam heautifully with rose and fjold. The Indian calle.l ihcni "The (late of the Worhl." Me helieved that the "happy hiintiiifr frround" lay just heyond them. The Indian of the phiin w ild have heeii dcli<,dited to follow where we are goiu},' now, and to explore the land which lies heyond the "CJate of the Worhl," — the eountry of Hritish Columhia. the Peace diows that I he raised lojUier, the South Sas- ;ion as yet rallops on, about him. always as be seen or CHAPTER XII. nEYONl) TlIK U()t;KY MOUNTAINS. The Atlantic coast of Cn lada has several provinces, but the Pac.ilic coast has only one. That is the province of British Columbia, which includes not only the main- land but also Vancouver Island. Over thirty years ago, when the country was unset- tled ajxl ivlmost unknown, the news spread like Avild- ->'^.4^}Vr 144 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. iire through Caniula and the United States that gold had ])een found in the hed of the Fraser River. In- stantly a great tide of immigration swept towards Brit- ish Columbia, and soon,"on every sand bar .u the Fraser, might l)e seen crowds of eager men bending over their rude eontrivaiH;es for washing nuggets of gohl from the sand of tlie river l)ed. Tlie most benelieial result of the rush for gold was that the country began to be settled, and o])ene(l up for settlement. Farmers came in the midst of the gold fever, not to wasli out the golih but to plant the tields. The miners needed food, and so there was need of the farmers. Many of the farmers and minei's remained after the mining excitement was ov(n-, and so British Columbia came to ])e settled. There; arc live parallel nuiges of mountains crossing British Columbia from north to south. Beginning with the east, they are the Rocky Mountains, the Selkirk Range, the Cold Range, the Cascade ^Mountains, and the mountains of \'ancouver and Queen Charlotte's Islands. This last range belongs to an ancient moun- tain system of whlcli a part has sunk below the sea. It protects the mainland from the chilly ocean winds. The rain clouds from the Pacific Ocean let some of their contents fall on Vancouver Island and the Cascade Mountains. Then, rising higher in the air because of their lightness, they float across the great plain, and, meeting tlie cold, lofty summits of the Gold and Selkirk Ranges, all the rain they carry falls upon these moun- tains. Conse()uently, he?'e is found tie richest and most luxuriant vegetation. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 146 tes that gold !!• River- In- towards Brit- ,)i the Fraser, iig over their gold from the for gold was opened iq) for t of the gold ant the fields. s need of the lers remained md so British I tains crossing U'ginning with s, the Selkirk lountains, and en Charlotte's ancient monn- helow the sea. )cean winds, im let some of nd the Cascade air because of eat plain, and, )ld and Selkirk m these moun- lehest and most Great forests of pine, spruce, hemlock, and cedar cover the slopes of the mountains. The ground, the rucks, and the trees, all have a coat of deep green moss, thick and soft as plush. Garlands of moss hang from the trees. It is beautiful to look at, but to penetrate one of these dense forests of t'le upper Selki.k is an exceedingly diflicult undertaking. Very litt'e of Britislj Columbia is as fertile as these mountains, where rain or snow falls nearly every day. The great plateau between the Cascade Mountains and the (loTd Range is dry and barren throughout, except in the valley of the Fraser River. Low, rounded, brown hills rise in all directions, and the only natural growths are the coarse bunch grass and the cactus kiH)wn as the prickly pear. Enterprising farmers, by means of canals with which to draw water from the few streams, have made farms for themselves, upon which they have been able to raise fruits and grains. An acre of this land will produce from forty to seventy bushels of wheat. The Fraser River, besides being the centre of the agricnlMual region, is also the chief means by which the iidand towns communicate with the coast. Twice a week steamboats ascend the river for two hundred miles, while canoes can ascend three hundred miles farther. The Gulf of Georgia, which separates Vancouver Island from the mainland, has been called the Mediter- ranean of America, A vessel could sail for a whole week through the Gulf, threading the narrow channels between the many small islands. The idgion is most ■■■rrjr I ; I ^ I I ; If If \i 146 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. THE DOUGLAS !INE. solitary. There is no sign of human life ; nothing but lonely mountain peal's, gla- ciers, and deep forests. Far to the north lie Queen Charlotte's Islands, where a little farming is done. To the west stretches the wooded shore of \ an- couver Island. Only the shores of this island are known. The interior has been but little explored. It is linown, howevef, that there are many moun- taiiis and vast forests of the Douglas pine in the centre of the island. Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is situated on the south- ern end of Vancouver Island. It has a small, deep harbor, which is shaped like the letter T. Its narrow, chan- nel-like entrance forms the stem of the letter, # OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 147 re IS no vn life ; lonely l-s, gla- ) forests, loitli lie irlotte's ! a little Mie. 1 o clies the of \ au- ;hores of e known, lias been iured. It evef , that iiy mon li- st forests lis pine in ;he island. lie capital ilunibia, is the south- Vancouver [vs a small, which is the I'jtter low, chan- vnce forms the letter, and, in the wider part of the liarlx)r, all but the very largest ships can anclior safely. Victoria i.s a clianning place, which seems more like an English town than an American city. The houses are not oowded closely together, but stretch along the streets in a leisurely, neighborly fashion, with laige, pleasant dooryards and gardens. The modern improve- menl.5 of gasliglit and tele[)hones have found their way to this remote ^t)ot, so that the astonished cornfields are illuminated and telephone messages fly across the vege- tiiljle gardens. TliG climate is almost perfect. Instead of being the cold, bleak place we should expect it to be in winter, Victoria is very mild and pleasant. Tlie thermometer seldom falls below twenty-three degrees in winter, or rises above seventy -two degrees in summer. The sum- mer lasts from May to September. Early May is enchanting. The sky is a beautiful blue; the Avarm s.'tishine begins to open the delicately tinted buds ; the meadows are dotted with buttercups and daisies, and tall, scarlet lilies rise from the fields. Mild southerly winds prevail during eight months of the year, and altogether the climate of Victoria is won- derfully adapted to invalids. The Indians are the laborers in British Columbia. They take the place and perform the general duties of the negroes at the South. They are the " hands " of the sawmills, the "crew" on the steamboats, and the "long- shoremen" on the vharves. They act as teamsters and coa(;limen, while the women are employed as house ser- vants. a^STSr :f\ 148 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The Indians of Vancouver Island are called Flatheads. They are so named because each Indian has a flattened brow, caused l)y his parents binding a board across his skull during infancy. , The houses in the Indian villages are not wigwams, but square or oblong hut. with flat roofs The walls and ceilings are of cedar planks, while the floors are of earth Often several families occupy one house. 1 he hut is then about eighty feet long and twenty feet wide. There are no partitions, but each famil, luvs its own hre- side, around which it draws its few goods and about which its poor home life centres. Many of the Indians of these villages are engaged in the seal fishery. The seals enter the Gulf of Georgia in March, and all through the spring the Indians are busy catching them, and the women are engaged in trying out the blubber. . The Indians formerly went to the sealing grounds in their canoes, starting at early dawn from the shoi-e. Now schooners are chartered which transport both In- dians and canoes to the scene of action. A few yeai-s aero two hundred thousand seals were captured, whose skins were valued at an average of one hundred dollai-s apiece. The schooners receive one-third of the seals taken by the Indians. British Columbia has a great future before her. Al- though not an agricultural state, her forests and hsheries are unsurpassed. As for the mineral wealth, she has but to open one of her rich mines of gold, and men from the ends of the earth flock to her borders to build towns and cities and otherwise benefit her territory. vtheads. latteiied ross his igwams, lie walls s are of le. The jet wide, own fire- id ahout gaged in Georgia lians are jaged in •ounds in le shore, both In- few yeara 3d, whose id dollai-s the seals OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. MEXICO. her. Al- d fisheries I, she has men from lild towns It ii 1.50 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. I> fti ;i i u 2 2 < < u 2 2 H Z 3 O s OUR AMERICA]V[ NETGIIBOKS. MEXICO. CHAPTER XIII. A BIRD'S-EYK VIKVV OF MEXICO. A part of tlie sonthorn boundary of our country i.s the Rio GraKcle. Standing on the low, .sandy shores of this great river and looking across its sluggish waters, you may see, high up on the opi)Osite hillside, a white monument. This is a sign that all the land on the fur- ther side of the river belongs no longer to the United States, but to our American neighbor of the south, — to Mexico. Mexico is about one-fifth as large as our own country. It lies between the great United States on the north, and the little states of Central America on the south. Its eastern shores are washed by the sparkling blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico ; against its western shores roll the solemn surges of the Pacific^ Ocean. Almost the whole of Mexico consists of a great table- land, shaped like a cornucopia. Its average height is about five thousand feet, and aci'oss it from north to south run many ranges of mountains. The principal 151 162 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. 1!> ra»co is failed the Sierra IVIa.lro. Single peaks ..f these m..untains are lifteen thousand to eighteen th..«sand feet high, and snow rests ui-..n their summits all the year round. There are valleys between these nu)un- tains which are sometimes green and fertile, hut more often dry and dusty. Toward the south two parall'd range cross the pla- teau from east 'o v>-ii:t, at right angles with tlit Sierra Madre. Many o^ t^iese mountains are shaped hke cones, and have deep hoUows in their summits. They are vol- canoes, and some of theui are still active. The City ot Mexico is situated close by the more uonhern of these parallel ranges of volcanoes. The plateau is not alwavs of the same height through- out the country. It rises and falls, sometimes in a series of gradual slopes, sometimes in a number of abrupt terraces. From the United States boundary the plateau rises in easy stages to the City of Mexico. Roughly .peaking, it may be said to rise about one thousand feet to each of the states between the northern border and the capital. The central plateau of Mexico approaches close to the Pacific coast, to which it descends in steep, rocky ter- races. From the nature of the shore one might expect to iind many good harbors on this coast, but there are only two. The plateau stretches eastvvard until within torty miles of the Gulf, where it stops abruptly. Conse- que^^tly a railroad train going from the coast to the City of Mexico has to climb this immens;e cliff, eigh; thousand feet in height. The coa.t bcrdering on the )f these lousiiml all the I nioun- it more the pla- c Sierra :e cones, are vol- City of (»f these through- 1 a series f ahrupt i plateau Roughly sand feet rder and )se to the ocky ter- it expect there are hin forty Conse- st to the !liff, eigh: ig on the OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS, 153 Gulf is very low and sandy. There are no good harhoi-s, hecanse sand hars, marshes, and salt water lakes line the whole shore. Hecanse of the hilly nature of the country, the rivers are short and navigal)lc only a little distance from their mouths. There are two systems of rivers, — those of the (lulf of Mexico and those of the Pacitic sIojjc Most oi the rivers of the Pacific slope arc scarcely more than streams or hrooks, and come leaping and l)ou. (ling down the rocky terraces to the sea. Some have cut down into the plateau at least live hundred feet to make a channel for themselves. Far helow, their waters can be heard roaring and dialing in their narrow beds. The streams that flow into the Gulf of Mexico run slowly and sluggishly, and often seem to lose them- selves in the sand. The Uio Grande is the largest river of this system, but it is like the others in being navi- gable oidy a few miles from its mouth. It has been said " to flow under its bed," because of the many sand bars and quicksands that appear on its watei-s. There are but a few lakes in Mexico, and these are situated on the plateau between the mountains. Some are drained by rivers; but many have no outlet, and so become salt and continually diminish in size. There are several beautiful little lakes al)out the City of Mexico, which, by reflecting the snowy mountain peaks annuid them in their clear waters, greatly increase the beauty of the region. The many states of Mexico may be divided into five groups. There are the northern states, where the dry. 'n^-r> ffft 154 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. % I (lusty plains arc ovei<,'i()wn with cactusoH, and wIk-io the (uittle and tlic c..wh..ys ian<,n- iit will ; tlu'io an- the rii'li, silvei-uiining states in the eentre of the eountry, elusteiing alK)Ut Zaeateeas and San I>.)uis IN.tosi ; thirdly, there arc the states groni.ed ahout the City of Mexico, which produce niaKuey ; fourthly, to the east of the eapitJil there are the tohacco states on the (iulf ; and lastly, to the southwest, the coffee and cocoa states. With this general grouping clear in the mind, let ua turn to a more particular study of Mexico. CHAPTER XIV. BY RAIL TO THK CITY OF MEXICO. To an American boy, the passing of a railroad train is as common a sight as the floating cloud in the sky. He has been so accustomed to its whirl, rattle, and swiftness, that he almost forgets that there ever was a time when the steam engine was a new and wonderful sight, lo the Mexican, the engine is still a marvel ; for it is only within a few years that the useful " iron horse " crossed the Rio Grande. The common people were much opposed to its com- ing They even appealed to their gods to protect them against it. In one village, they bore their great stone idol to the track, and placed him between the shining steel rails, with his face turned forbiddingly m the direction of the coming train. They believed that he 1 wlu'io I are tlie LH)untry, I'ntosi ; City of the east ;»u (lulf ; )a states, d, let us ,tl train is sky. He swiftness, inie when ight. To it is only " crossed ) its com- itect them reat stone le shining ly in the id that he OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. Ifiiy would turn hack their foe, and with shouUs of praise they waitcMJ to see the engine (iiushed. At length the train ai>i)eared in the distance, and hreathlessly they watched its approach. To tlieir auiaze- nient, it thniuh'rcd l)y unliurt, and th.eir idol, who was to have saved tlieni from this suKtky monster, lay shat- tered in a hundred pieces on the track. This story shows what tlie steam engine is to do for Mexico. It is to overthrow all the narrow, anti( lated customs that she has held for centuries. Her gales have heen lirmly closed to foreigners and foreign im- provements, and only recently have they Ijeen slowly swinging open for the entrance of the steam engine, the telegraph, the electric light, and the other hlessings of our day. Mexico is at last waking up, and it is the ringing of the engine hell that has been her sununons to arise. Railroads now form a dense network throughout Mexico. All the large cities are reached by one or more lines of railroad. The Mexican Central runs from the Rio Grande to the City of Mexico. Let us see what impressions of the country we may obtain, Iwith from the car windows, and by stopping for a short time in one or another of the large cities on our way. During the first few bundled miles, the landscape is somewhat dull and monotonous. Dark brown or gray- ish plains stretch away on either hand. Here and there may be seen tufts of coarse, green grass, or fleshy cactuses. A whirling sandspout is no uncommon sight. The distant mountains furnish the only bit of color in this dreary spot, and they glow with rich tint*! of >-tTg" ^gU-"^° ■ • fclp till f I'j; 156 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. yollow 1X11(1 purplo. If wt' wcn> to pass hero in the niiiiy season, whidi lasts from May to OctolKT, tho plain woiiia Ik; covfircl with coarsi' ^nass ; hut now the only feililo ii'<;ions aiv wlu'io llu; water from somo little Inook is used for iirigation. Nowhere does the railroad i>ass direetly thron},di a town or city, 'rhe town is always a mile away, and is reached hy horse cars across the plain. Often, in the uarly sunrise aiul in the late s\uiset the towers and donies of the churches and the walls of the low stone houses are bright with pink and purple, or yellow and blue. Abmy of the lonunon [leople are seen clustering about the railroad station, lloth the men and the women are excee(hngly dark and plain. They have straight, \it the head and shoul- ders. Wlicn a woman cariics her baby, the scarf is arranjjed s(» as to form a kind nf homl in wiiirb tlie l)id)y is slnn^' at ihf side, and partially supportt'd on tlie hip. The little one looks very pretty, as it peeps with its bright eyes from the fohls of blue drapery. Often the woman earritis upon her shoulder at the same time a water jar of dark red i)ottery. One would think the two burdens would causc! her to bend and swav in her walk. Hut it is not so. She steps as freely and gracefidly as if she Ixire no weight at all. The little children, — how jaetty they are I They have dark, lustrous eyes, rosy cheeks, and line white teeth that gleam roguishly through the parting red lips. Dirty and poorly clad though they may be, they seem the joUicst, hajjpiest, little people imaginable. Now we are entering a more fertile region. Many tine plantations skirt the track. Kaeh plantation con- sists of several ranches, all ruled over by one wealthy man. They sometimes contain more than two hundred sipiare miles, and include hills, valleys, i)lains, and rivers. Small villages arise within the plantations; schools, churches, and sometinu'S hospitals, are built by the owner for the beneiit of the workmen and their families. As we whiz past the i)laiitations, interesting glimpses are obtained of fields of waving Avheat; Hocks of silky white goats, driven by goatherds; and herds of sturdy cattle, foUowed by spirited horsemen, known as cow- boys. The ranches are of two kinds, — fenced and luifenced. When they are fenced, except at branding and driving 168 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, 11 ;1 times, the work of tlie cowboy is not hard. Each has to take his turn at line riding, tliat is, he has to r- 'v/ along the line of tlie fen(,'e every few days, to see that it is in rei)air. In tliese great ranches it is a work of days ; and the cowboy, rolling himself in his blanket, camjis at night whore the twilight happens to overtake him. He sleejjs under the open, starry sky, with his horse quietly grazing near. When the ranches are not enclosed, the cowboys have to be continually alert that the tliousands of cattle do not stray away. The cowboy is a wonderfully fine rider. lie and his horse are inseparable. The latter loves his mas'^i^ir and obeys his slightest word. The life of the cowboy is a free, happy, outdoor existence ; and he himself, mounted on horsel)ack, in l)uckskin trousers, fine riding boots, and with a broad sond)rero shading his dark face, makes a memorable picture. Long lines of mountains, stained purple, gray, and yellow by the minerals upon their surface, have been running narallel to the track, although at a distance from it, so far during the journey. Now the mountains close around us, and we find ourselves moving in zigzag lines up their heights to the city of Zacatecas. The great yawning mines and the small granite or marble posts which mark the limits of claims, all bear testimony to th'i fact that one of the great mining cen- tres is close at hand. Mexico is very truly said to have a backbone of silvei", with ribs of gold. The Sierra Madre contains rich mines of silver through the greater part of its length. OUR AMERICAS NEIGHBORS. 159 I. Eacli has e has to i" -- to see that it voik of (lays ; anket, camps ivertake him. ith his horse cowboys have s of cattle do lie and his lis mas'^in' and e cotvboy is a iself, mounted [incj boots, and face, makes a pie, gray, and ,ce, have been at a distance the mountains iving in zigzag :ecas. iiall granite or daims, all bear at mining cen- kbone of silver, tains rich mines ength. A party of convicts hiding from justice were the first to discover this hidden wealth. They kindled a lire upon some boulders wli'ijh they had used for making a rude lireplace. The iire so heated the rocks that gleam- ing veins of silver were revealed to them. Witli great joy they informed the government of their discovery, were pardoned, and made their fortunes. From that time, mining has been one of the chief sources of wealth to the country. Suddenly the train stops on the summit of a hill; and, on tlie slopes of the opposite hillside, eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, w^e behold the city or Zacatecas. The sunset bght reveals its narrow, straight streets, bordered by low houses of but one story. The walls are of plaster, tinted bright blue, red, green, I ^.nd yellow. The general effect of the streets, sc far as color is concerned, is cheerful ; but as the houses have no windows looking out ui)on the street, the blank wall, however brilliantly colored, becomes in time extrejnely monotonous and wearisome. Above all the city towers the great cathedral, and high on a neighboring hill a cross is planted. Those who know, say that Zacatecas is very much like cities in the Holy Land. All about the hills and valleys may be seen proofs of the great industry of the city. Mines open in the hill- sides, and the tall, smoking chimneys of refining works lower into the sky. The refining works are well forti- fied, and capable of withstanding attacks of mountain robbers eager to reach the silver prize within. As the night darkens, men laden with ore, and trains 160 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. of little donkeys bearing the same precious metal, pass by on their way to the eity. Donkeys, or burros, as they are called in Mexico, are tiny little animals vary- ing from the size of a Newfoundland dog to that of a heifer three years old. They have long ears and mild, patient faces. Everywhere in Mexico they may be seen carrying enormous burdens ; and, indeed, tliey are often so hidden under their load that only four tiny, trotting hoofs and the tips of two ears aie visible. As we wander through the streets of Zacatecas, glimpses of beautiful gardens can sometimes be ob- tained through half-opened doors. Tlie Mexican houses turn their most charming side inward. They are built in the form of a hollow square. In the centre, and protected by the encircling walls -of the house, is the court- yard, upon which the windows look and the doors open. This courtyard is a beautiful spot. It is thickly carpeted with green turf, with pretty paved walks encircling and crossing it. In the centre is tfie well, with a broad stone coping. Shrubs and brilliant flowers are to be seen everywhere, and the rippling of the fountain adds its charm to the lovely spot. Gorgeous parrots and sweet-voiced mocking birds hang in gilded cages amongst the foliage or against the gi'ay wall of the Mm- A PATIENT BURRO. I "»«««»«aia(*»'' letal, pass Ijinros, as iials vary- that of a ind mild, ,y be seen are often •, trotting iacatecas, L>s be ob- an houses are built : a hollow lie centre, d by the ,11s -of the le eourfc- vhich the i. and the ;yard is a >t. It is eted with cling and 1 a broad are to be fountain us parrots ded cages ill of the T 1 Mpf. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. IGl house; vain peacocks strut about; and a Hock of gray doves now Huttci' ovcrlicad, and now swing slowly down to tlie pavement. Children [irattlc und run about; and the dark-eyed, languid women of tlie liouseiio'd either doze in the hammocks swung between tlie stone posts of the liouse, or busy themselves with their won- derful lacework, line as a cobwelj. The next large city on the route to Mexico is Aguas C'alientes, wliich means in Knglisli, hot springs. Tlie hot si)rings for which tiie city is named and noted lie in the midst of a rich plain. Uath houses are built over the s[)rings, and contain rooms littcd up for sponge, douche, and swimming baths. The bather cliooses the kind of a bath tliat he will take ; and tluii lie is shown into an a[)artment with higli, stone walls, open overhead +o the deep blue sky. The tank is often S(piare, and is reached l)y descending a few stone steps. The dc[)th and tcm[)ei-ature of the water is arranged according to the wisli of the bather. Tlie water, as it escapes from the bath house, runs through a walled ditch by the side of the road. 'J'he water in the ditch is about three feet deep ; and here, at all times, may be seen crowds of men, women, and children enthusiastically washing their clothes. After they spi-ead these on the gmss to dry, they bathe them- selves. No one who has ever seen this busy scrubbing crowd could believe that th'- natural tendency of the Mexican was not toward cleanliness. Tlie reason why his gar- ments and himself are generally dirty is that water in most of the cities of INIexico is not easily obtained. He ^^SfttlR 162 THE WORLD AND ITS PECPLE. has either to wait, hours at the puhUc fountain for a chance to fill his water jar or to buy water from the water carrier. The poorer Mexican cannot afford to patronize the water carrier, and so goes unwashed. But wherever water is abundant and free, as in the city of Aguas Calientes, there the Mexican is scrupulously clean. Guanajuato, one of the quaintest, most old-fivshioned cities in the world, must not be passed by. It is one of the many mining cities of Mexico, and is situated in a ravine between lofty, upright cliffs. The houses are built on the sides of the cliffs, and cling to their faces, as frightened birds cling to the perpendicular bars of their cages. One is almost afraid to breathe lest the delicately balanced buildings should tumble into the valley below, a mass of ruins. The streets are nari-ow, some of them not more than a yard wide. In some cases the people ascend from terrace to terrace by llight« of staira. The lumses of the poorer class are built of coarse clay, and huddle closely together in the lower part of the town. The better class of houses are built of a kind of variegated stone which is found in the neighborhood, and are of many colors. Some are red, some green, othera blue, and still others the color of ciiocolate. This is the only city in Mexico where the houses are more than one or two stories in height. Here they are of four stories, Avith a great court on the flat roof con- taining fountains and flowers. The effect of these lofty courts, or sky parlors, as they might be called, is unusual and very pretty. -■•""•s^KfaBiMaujj^-t" OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 163 iiui for a I'loiii the oiiize the wherever )£ Aguiis eiui. fashioned is one of lilted in a ouses are leir faees, ir bars of e lest the into the more than lend from htmses of id huddle iwn. The variegated Liid are of -hera blue, houses are re they are t roof con- these lofty called, is In Guanajuato one is always climbing up or going down hill. Such interesting glimpses into the life of the city as may be obtained from ditfercnt parts of the hillside! To the left is the courtyard of a i)ottery manufactory, where the graceful vessels of reddish clay glitter in die sunlight like rubies; directly below lies the green s(piare of the central courtyard of the city, the plaza, as it is called, surrounded by the church and other important buildings; to the right a most curious sight awaits our attention. In an open court- yard many mules and Indians are marching about in reguLir order, trampling down a mass of clay two feet in depth. What is the object of this sic,/, painful labor? It is to separate the silver from the clay. For three hundred years the work lias been carried on in just this way. An attempt has been made to use steam power for this work, but it is so expensive and Indian labor is so cheap that the old-fashioned way is still followed. Week after week, year after year, the Indian toils on, with no more animation than if lie were a machine, or tlie patient mule, his fellow laborei-. He works until he dies, after a life shortened by his unhealthy toil. The hills about Guanajuato, like those about Zacateca.s and the other mining cities of Mexico, are tunneled by mines and capped by silver refineries. The mines can be visited, but it is a very tedious and dangerous under- taking. Some workmen spend twelve hours a day in the mines — six hours in working and six in going down into the mines and returning. The vein in which the »>»«'«B(BuB;jii**t» " 104 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. men are at work is a throe hours' journey from the clear sunlight and the fresh air. Terrible dangers attend their daily descent. Shrouded in thick (hirkness, they move along on the edge of hor- rible i)recipices, scale rickety ladders which are not fastened to the terraces that they connect, and go through passages as narrow as the grave, — all witli the knowledge that a false step means a fall of hundreds of feet, with certain death at the bottom. We return to Guanajuato in a horse car drawn by mules. The driver is armed with a iish horn, with which he warns Avagons and people off the track. Sometimes the blasts of the horn are very frequent, as the road from the mines is blocked with burros, carrying their usual miscellaneous burdens. One is laden with leathern bags of silver ore ; another carries nets of large oranges to be sold in the city at the rate of one hundred for seventy-five cents ; a third l)ears a crate of live turkeys ; a fourth, bags of charcoal ; and, funniest of all, a fifth small burro carries, strapped on his back, an innnense black pig, which keeps up a continuous squealing and grunting. The burro, how- ever, does not seem to mind the antics of his animated burden, but, with hanging head, keeps doggedly on his way. The fields around Guanajuato are fenced with the organ-pipe cactus. This prickly^ plant grows in long, close stalks which do, indeed, resemble the upright pipes of an organ. They are two or three inches thick, and, growing as they do from twenty to thirty feet high, they form a hedge so close and compact that one must Nk?. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 165 lie clear iroiidcd of lior- xre not and go nth the Ireds of awn by h which inetimes lio road ig their another ! city at a third harcoal ; strapped ps up a ro, how- jiiniated y on his vith the in long, jht pipes ick, and, ;ct high, ine must grow wings to pass the boundary at any spot, other than tlie gate itself. The i)roduct*) of the different towns are offered for sale at the various stations on the road. In one place beautiful roses can l)e purchased at the rate of six cents for a bunch as large as the head. Pretty Indian bas- kets of grass, full of strawberries, are offered for sale at twenty-five cents apiece. But, alas, one finds thac the Mexicans are frauds, so far as the trick of heaping the ri])e berries temptingly on the top is concerned ! Fully one-half of the basket is filled with cabbage leaves; then comes a layer of green berries; and, lastly, there are about twenty-five sweet, red, delicious berries, most art- fully arranged. At (^ueretaro the tourist buys opals. Ilandfuls of the uncut stones are passed in at the car window. Ex- clamatitms of wonder and delight follow; and, as the shining gems are shifted from hand to hand, taking lovely colors in the sunshine, tlic traveler's heart and purse are won, and he buys scores for a very small sum. The opals are alwut the size of one's thumb nail, and are yellow, green, and red in color. They are mostly of inferior quality, and would nirely pay for cutting. Occasionally, however, a gem of value is discovered. And now certain changes in the landscape show that the capital is near. The roads widen, the fields are greener and show a more careful cultivation, the vil- lages and towns become more numerous, and the people crowd the streets more densely. Those great stone arches, riuining [jarallel Avith the track, are the aque- sssBSUksiitii^ii*' -^jbllW .. """"" ^"^■ri. 16G THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. ducts which supply the city with water from the neigh- boring hills. Are tliose clouds high in the air? No ; they are not clouds. They are su(. '-coverer mnntains, the great volmnof^sof Popcatai. *i a^^. i !i.o ihuatl; nadlwUn them, with its ilomes, tvu - ;j. : . "vos, aud the white walls of it« many houses, 'lin.^ ■ n. 'h-, southern sunlight, lies the very heart of all the uountr^,, ;^ City of Mexico. CHAPTER XV. IN THE CAPITAL. The City of Mexico is situated in the midst of a cir- cular plain, thirty-five miles in diameter. The plain is surrounded by lofty mountains, the most conspicuous of which are Popocatapetl and Iztaccihuatl, the white volcanoes which lie to the southeast. On the surface of the plain of Mexico are several lakes, among which, in the very lowest and most marshy spot, is built the city itself. The foundations of many of the houses are covered with water. As there is practically no drainage and very little knowledge of the laws of health, there would be many more deaths than there are, if it were not for the perfect climate and the healthful elevation of the city. Lake Chalco, the fresh water lake from which Mexico is supplied with water by aqueducts, lies to the south ; and Lake Tuzcoca, a brackish pond with white, chalky shores, to the east. - <•- •~>v..i«i^,,aj^jjjj,^jj^*. :rrT~ ¥'^ UR AMERICAN NEKjHBOR?. 1G7 1 neigh- are not 3 great X l)elo\ tc walls unlight, Mexico. of a cir- plain is spicuous le white surface g which, iuilt the covered age and re would e not for n of the m whidi es to the th white, Mexico is hu.t in the form of a square, three nii'ics on a side. Ti streen are all very straight, ai.d run f'-oni north t" south and from east to west. They are broad, well paved, aiw' ligl'tctt by gas. Often tlie vista of a street seems to he tilled by a groat mountain, whicli appears close at hand, but is, in realit}', miles distant. Tlie houses bordering the streets are generally of two stories, enclosing a courtyard. Tiiey have the usual pretty tints of red, pink, yellow, and cream color; l)ut are unlike the houses we have noticed lun'etofore, in having a few windows witli small balconies looking upon the street. On festive occasions the.se bidcoiiics, when filled with the brightly dressed women of llie household, add much beauty to the monotonous street. The ladies of the higher class do not wear the re.hoza, which is cidy for the lower class of women. They throw over their heads and draw over the lower part of their faces, up to their eyes, elegant Spanisli lace scarfs. The young girls are charmingly pretty, with their slen- der oval faces, olive skins, dark eyes, delicate features, and little hands and feet. Any of the i)rincipal streets will bring us into the Great Plaza. This is a large square garden, about which stand the Cathedral, the National Palace, and other important public buildings. The plaza is very beautiful with shady walks, brilliant flower beds, and stone seats where one may rest and enjoy the beautiful view before him. The plaza is al .vays a lively spot. The common peo- ple have many stalls here at which they offer for sale fruits, flowers, small sugar cakes, and the various hot W Y'^"-—iK«. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 160 shape of a Greek cross. Its length, its greatest dimen- sion, is over four Imndred feet. The cathedral was over one hundred yeai-s in huilding. We can easily helieve that faet when we notice its great magnilicenee hoth within and without. 'Die walls alone cost two million dollars. 'I'hey are of granite, much carved and otherwise ornamented. Within this great shell there art! many chapels. Three of them are so large that wiusn the hron/.e doors connecting them with the main catliedral are closed, three large churches an; formed in which services are sometimes held at the same time. The dome is gorgeously painted with great figures illustrating Hihle stories ; the piUars of the altars are of clear, green stone, resend)ling malarhite in color, while the altars themselves are one blaze of gold and silver. The ladings leading to the princii)al altar and sur- ronnding it, are a very rich alloy of gold, silver, and coi)per. An offer has been made to exchange this rail- ing for one of solid silver; but so rich is the present railing in gold, that those in authority have always refused th(! oft'er. Everything about the cathedral bears testimony to its asre and wealth. The iiriests have robes so ricdi and heavy in ornaments, so enduoidercd in gold and adoined with gems, that they can scarcely be* worn. Everywhere are large and brilliant paintings, and the books are cov- ered with fine vellum. Without the church, at the foot of the western tower, half hidden under flowering vines, lies a heap of broken columns and curiously carved stones. Ovi-r them is 170 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. this inscription: "Stones iVoni (lie Moody iiltur of Hiiil/ili»[iol/.tli." Nt'iirly four iiundrcd yours ii^'o, wlicii ihc early Span- ish discoverer, Corte/., came to Mexico, lu! found a heatiien altar to the jfod of the Aztecs, where the Mexican eathc(hal now stands. 'I'lu; temple was eone- sliajK'd, and ahont it wound a staircase l.'iidinj^ to the altar at the summit. Up this stairway on },Meat relig- ious feast days wound long trains of ca[»tive.s taken in war. The priests received them, and, laying then> one by one on the great sacriticial stone, tore out their liearts and held them high in the air as an offering to the stern god. This sucriiieial stone can he seen at the National Museum with many other reli(%s of that ancient time. Here are the old itlols. either whole or in fragments; and here is also the ( 'alendar Stone of the Aztecs. ' This is a large, circular stone covered with cliaraeteix so strange that, although many learned men have tried to deei|)her them, none have succeeded. The eastern end of the plaza is occupied by the Na- tional I'alace. This is a very hing, low structure with many rows ui windows. A i)art of the palace (U)ntains the private home of the President, and the rest is taken up hy government ollices. An ohservatory and the oilice of the weather bureau is also located in this buihiing. it is Sundiiy morning in the city of jNIexico. From early dawn the i;hurch bells have been ringing. The Mexiciin I)eU ringers lU'ver move the bells themselves; they merely move the tongues. ConseipuMitly, the sound of the bell is not a deep, mellow roll as it is in '•i*4«tertij^i** ' -^f. iiltiir of •ly Span- I'diiikI il I It* 10 tlio k'llS COIU!- IX ti) tlio lat I'L'lig- tiikcn ill liciu Olio lit tlioir I'oring to Niitioiial •lit time, IjrllU'lltS ; ;h. • This ilCtOl-S HO ) tiioil to { tlie Na- turo with contains , is taken tho ollico ihiiiifj. ). From ipf. Tho insolves ; itly, tho ,s it is ill \ . OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 171 tho riiitod States, liiit a Icehlc little note very apt to ho enieked. Tho (liseordant sounds of llu! niaiiy hoUs inijrjit ulinost (hstraet tho traveler il' it were not that the iiioriiiii^f itself is heautiful eiioiii^h to drive all adverse critieisin away, 'i'ho sky is clear hiue, the sun hri^dit, tiu; trei'S and gi'iiss a vivid >,M'eeii, and tho eoniin(»ii people, on THE NATIONAL PALACE, MEXICO. thoii- way to morninj,' mass, look very elean in their frosldy starohod jrannents. Mass is said in tho oatluidral every hour. All throuj,'h tho morning the j^ioat doors are opening and shutting after the entering and depai'ting crowds. After ehureh many of tho i)eoplo prooeod to do their marketing. South of tho plaza is one of tho principal markets of tho I'ity. We will l\ i\v the throng and see what a IMo'xieaii market is like. .- ■.^,«i-ia*wi^j^K!?#''' ■isll^'" 172 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Befoi-o i^s is a great, square, stone laiilding entered by four doors, one in tlie centre of eacli side. Within is a large courtyard, only part of winch is roofed. Open booths stand beneath tlie covered part of the courtyard ; while those booths which are in the uncovered part, are protected by means of oblong pieces of matting, sup- ported on pcles. Beneath the mattings, the women and children sit on the ground and display their goods. Here housekeepera can purchase all the vegistables, fruits, and meats necessary for an excellent dinner. Potatoes the size of walnuts, chile peppers, beans of every imaginable siz3 and shape, gigantic sfpiashes, tiny carrots and onions, all are arranged in tempting heaps on the ground. Luscious oranges and great sweet mel- ons are piled up on every side. ]\Ien with fowls in hencoops wander about the market, looking for a customer. A young Indian girl offers you a pair of live chickens, wliieh she liolds by the legs. Some cooking goes on behind these stalls. The uni- versal fortlUu, botli fried and baked, can be bought here. The silent, busy Mexican woman rolls and beats the flour into a circular shape upon a large, flat stone ; then she drops it into a frying pan, occasionally dusting it with an herby powder, and dipping the fat over it. After a few moments it is cooked, and handed to the customer. Fowls stewed with chile beans, and beans cooked in various other ways, are also offered for sale. The dec}) red iNIexiean pottery is displayed in a few stalls. The shapes are very graceful, and the ware appears strong; but it is, in reality, very frail and deli- cate. Iler'i, also, the most beautiful flowera can be ^SfJ ding entered ;ide. Within 3ofed. Open :ie courtyard ; ered part, are matting, sup- le women and ir goods. le vegetables, >llent dinner. )er>s, beans of 5(|uasbes, tiny nipting heaps iat sweet mel- it the market, ^irl offers you ■ the legs. [Is. The uni- 3 bought here. md beats the it stone ; then Uy dusting it ;3 fat over it. landed to the ns, and beans vered for sale, iiyed in a few and the ware frail and deli- iowei"s can be \'. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 173 bought for a few pennies. We see roses, pansics, helio- trope, and cajni'lias of the most excpiisile coloring. The Mexican ilowers are remarivable for tlic dei)th and intensify of their tints. The red is more vivid, the pink more dainty, the white purer, the yellow more glowing, tlian can be seen elsewhere. Tlicn tlie tlowers are remarkable for tlieir size. The pansy is as lai'ge as a dollar, and a pop[)y would cover a dinner plate. The growing ])lants are large in proportion. Think of geraniums the height of a tall man, and rhododen- drons twenty feet high! Tliese are not unusual cases, but customary sights ; for the lovely Ilowers lavish their beauty all over this regif)n, — calla lilies lifting their fail-, stately heads from the ditch at the roadsid", and p.ippies ilourisliing in neglected corners of the Held. After laying in a store of the various good tlungs which the market affords, the iNIexicans return to tluur homes, partake of a liglit noonday meal, and rest during the heat of the day. Five o'clock iinds nearly every one in the fashionable drive of the city. This is a broad road, tbree miles in length, leading southward to the Castle of C'liapultepec. At regular interval'^ in the road, circular flower beds are tastefully i)lanted. It is the intention of the govern- ment to place a statue of some national hero in the centre of each flower bed, but as yet only three of the plots are thus adorned. The broad drive, winding about these eight circles, shaded by large trees and boidered by lawns and shrubbery, is a very attractive spot. On Sundays the people of wealth and fashion drive here, while the po )rer classes either walk in the park. fSv, i;.l .i.|^iin»ip..~- 174 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. or rest on the benehes beside; the road. Most of the carriages are elegant; the horses are hne, spirited erea- tures; and servants in livery attend the beautiful dark- eyed ladies, who are wrapi)ed in laee mantillas. Horse- men eurvet and prance along the drive, bowing low to the friends they meet. Some of the horses have trappings fit for the steed ot a prince. The saddlecloth is embroidered with silver, and edged with silver fringe. The saddle and bridle are heavily inlaid with silver; while the riding coat and sombrero of the horseman are richly ornamented with fringe, buttons, and cords of the same metal. Three miles south of Mexico, at the end of the avenue, a mass of rock about two hundred feet high lises abruptly. On the summit of this gray rock is built the Castle of Chapultepec, which is reached by a road winding through the cypress grove at the base of the cliff up to its top. This cypress wood is very ancient. One tree, called Montezuma's tree, iS over forty feet in circumference, and must be ai least three centuries old. Clambering about the giant f aiiks, festooning the boughs, and link- ing cypress with cypress grows the gray Spanish moss. The drive through the shadowy wood up to the small, open hilltop is charming. The Castle of Chapultepec is used by the president ot Mexico as a summer residence. It has been redecorated and refurnished iu the most exquisite taste. A part of the building is occupied by the Mexican military acad- emy. There are three hundred boys at school here learning the art of war. These slender, dark-eyed soldier boys show you a ---'■■'■f--s.v^.:t',}^Z^,Si -mm^^<^ it of the ted crea- fiil (laik- Ilorse- [g low to steed of th silver, nd bridle coat and ited with le avenue, 1 abruptly. Castle of g through its top. ree, called imference, lambering , and link- iiish moss, the small, resident of edecorated A part of itary acad- chool here low you a N-1. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 175 tablet erected to the memory of tlie ciidets who fell lighting against the United States troojjs, in tlie l)attle, during the ^Mexican War, that occurred at the foot of C'liapultepec. The young soldiers bcu'e themselves like heroes; and their successors at tlie present day say, witli flashing eyes, tliat ii" tlie legnlar troops had e(|ualled these THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC. young voliuiteere in bravery, the United Sts'tes ^v'ould never have taken the capital. The view from Chapultepec is one of the widest and most beautiful in Mexico. The whole circular valley is seen belo\v, with its lakes, its richly cultivated fields, its canals, its stone-arched aqueducts, and the city itself at its centre. All around stand the mountains, with Popo- catapetl and Iztaccihuatl highest of them all. iJ**fe^^JK«S#-" batiW^. 176 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. IztiU'ciliUiitl incaiis " Snowy Maidon," and, from some points ot" the compass, the snow upon her sunnnit and the g'hic'iei"s on her sides eoml)ine to h)ok precisely as it" a maiden, witli ehis[)C'd liands and eh)sed eyes, were lying there in deathlike sUunher. I'opoeatapetl means " Smoky Mountain," and he, the Mexicans say, looks on in grim sorrow at the eternal slumber of the "Suowy Maiden." If you ask, they will tell you a little romance which has the two mountains for the hero and the heroine. Sunday evening is spent l)y high and low in the plaza. The l)and plays sweet nuisic, and the Mexicans stroll through the avenues, lighted by the moon, amid fragrant flowers and singing birds. Thus the day pleasantly ends. Sunday in Mexico is In fact a gala day. One pleasant excursion from Mexico is up the Viga canal to the floating gardens of I^ake Chalco." This canal connects Lake Chalco with the City of Mexico, and forms the highway down which the vegetables raised on the floating gardens are brought to the markets. It is not a very agreeable section of the city where we einl)ark. But our flat-bottomed boat is soon speed- ing over the water, propelled by the brawny arms of the Indian boatman. He is dressed in white cottoji ; and, squatting on the floor of the boat, shoving txith the pole, now on one side, now on the other, he gi ^es the boat a swaying movement which soon becomes very agreeable. We pass many market boats piled with pale green cabbages, scarlet tomatoes, beets, and onions. Other boats are covered with the loveliest flowers. Poppies, "-^-jjiMftil'fi.s^'jil^*-- y?-. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 177 3111 SDllie unit and icisely as ,'es, were 1 he, the a eternal they will lountains the plaza, ms stroll I fragrant )leasantly the Viga CO." This f Mexico, jles raised i-kets. ity where )oii speed- rms of the ttoii ; and, ->\ith the gi /es the omes very lale green lis. Other Poppies, roses, and peonies lie aljont in light, sweet masses. The tinkle of a guitar conies softly over the water ; a Mexi- can horseman gallops along the edge of tlie canal like a flash of silver ; cliildren of all ages and sizes, with dark eyes set in most serious faces, peer after us from the doorways of their rough clay cottages. After a thor- oughly enjoyahle row, we reach the floating gardens. The ancient accounts say that these islands floated ahout the lake as freely as a lioat that has ship{)cd its anclior. That can hardly, in the nature of things, be true. But wliatever the gardens did in tlie way of floating long ago, it is certain that to-day they are as firmly fixed as if they had dry land for their foundation. Their foundation is in reality marsli land. On every tuft of land tliroughout tlie marsh, earthy matter from the water has been piled u}), and fastened in place by means of withes, and long poles which are driven down, througli the mud and water, into the solid ground be- neath the swamp. Thus numberless little patches of garden have been made, wliicli are interlaced by a network of small canals. The gardens are kept green and fertile by water from the canals, which is dipped up in long-handled buckets. They are like a dream of the Thousand Islands f)f the St. Lawrence. These islands are as small and green as those of the North ; but here every result is due to the art of man, Avliile there, everything is the work of nature. Such minute and careful gardening as is seen here ! Every square foot is made to do its utmost. The gar- deners are constantly in their boats, journeying from I 178 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. island to island, planting, tending, gatliering their crops, and then taking them down the Viga canal to the city markets. Mexico is one of the best Imilt cities in America. Perhaps to the newcomer the houses have a sameness and monotony at first ; but the longer he stays, the better he likes the Mexican style of building. The stjuare, low houses seem made to last for genera- tions. The walls of some of the houses are covered with brightly colored plaster, but most of them are of stone. On passing througli the high-arched door, the court- yard is entered, with itii flowers, founUiins, and singing birdjj. A stone staircase leads up to a gallery which runs around the second story of the house. Both staircase and gallery are covered and overhung with climbing vines. The rooms on the second story have glass doora opening upon the gallery. lioth parlors and Ijedrooms are often upon this second floor. The lower floor of the house is used for the stables, kitchen, and servants' appartments. The parlor of a Mexican house is large and lofty. The walls are frescoed, while the ceiling is simply a piece of cotton cloth, stretched very tightly from wall to wall and painted as if it were plaster. The floor has a handsome, thick carpet, and the furniture consists of the usual covered drawing-room set, consisting of a sofa, two armchairs, aiid six smaller chairs. These are arrang'^d with great exactness about the sides of the room. The sofa, which is the seat of honor and is ornamented with two large pillows, is placed at the OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 179 cir crops, ) the city America, sameness stays, the Dr genera- 'ered with I of stone, the court- id singing ^hich runs I staircase 1 climbing rhiss dooi-8 bedrooms er floor of d servants' and lofty, s simply a from wall he floor has consists of ig of a sofa, 3 about the eat of honor )laced at the upper end of the room. At eacli end of the sofa stands an armchair, and the remaining chaii's are arranged oppo- site one anotlier at the sides of the room and cdosely l)uslied against tlie wall. Americans miss the pictures and small ornament« which make our houses so attrac- tive and homelike. The kitchen is the only room which has a fireplace, although the evenings and nights are exceedingly cold. You w^oidd hardly recognize the stove when you saw it. Imagine a square stone platform about four feet high, running across one end of the kitchen, and having large circular holes cut at intervals in the upper surface. This is a Mexican cooking stove, and into those circular lioles the kettles are set. Sometimes the cooking stove is only a foot or two high, and circular. When using this, the cook sits on the floor beside it ; but when using the other kind, she stands. The cooking utensils are very few and very simple. A large curving board or stone, on which the corn is rolled or pounded into meal, is the utensil most needed by the Mexican cook. Think of a broom being a rare article ! One American woman says that she was obliged to wait six months before purchasing one. There were no stores in which one could be bought; they were to be procured only when the broom peddler went his irregular rounds. Meanwhile she had to bor- row of her neighbors. To look from one" of tlie barred windows upon the street is always interesting. Horse cars drawn by mules, with dark-skinned drivers lustily blowing their 180 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. horns, dasli by at intL'ivals. The cars painted yellow are lii-st class ; tliose painte'l ^';reen are second class. Now and then a (!al) -iippcais in sight hearing a hlne, re '■ white ling. The blue Hag means that it is a first oliu- il), for which one dollar i)er hour is paid. The red ilag means a second class cah, which costs seventy- five cents an hour. The white Hag shows the third class, and costs iifty cents an hour. Occasionally a train of loaded burros piisses slowly up the street. You would scarcely know donkeys were there, so completely are they hidden by their loads of liay and wood. A water carrier conies along beneath our window. He is clad almost entirely in leather, and by means of a rubber band about the forehead, carries two great water jars, one before and one behind. They are so heavy that if, by any mischance, the leather supporting one of the jai's, should be cut, he would be thrown to the ground by the weight of the other jar, falling either backward ' r forward as the case might be. When both are in jAa -i they balance each other so perfectly that the man is ii.!:Ul in an upright position. He makes his living by selling water from house to house. Ice is purchased from Indians, who make frequent pilgrimages for it to the snowy mountains which sur- round the valley of Mexico. Here are a group of little children. They are poorly but cleanly dressed in cot- ton. The little brown arms and legs are bare ; for, in most cases, the sleeves do not reach the elbow, and the skirts or trousei-s stop at the knee. Sometimes, how- ever, long, narrow pantelets are worn, coming down to ^'''"*«^*«»teit8^> ■Hi- ll yellow lass. g 11 bluo, is a lU'st ill. Tho ; seviMity- thc third es slowly vcys were • loads of window, leans of a reat water so heavy ing one of vn to the ing either iVhen both ■fectly that makes his e frequent which sur- al) of little sed in cot- are ; for, in 3\v, and the bimes, how- ig down to M^'^^ OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 181 the tin}, brown feet. They chatter, laugli, and a])[)car to be as wide-awake to all that surrounds thoni as a .similar group of United Slates children might be. It is only as they grow older that the Spanish in(HtTerence is apt to steal over them. The Mexicans are very courteous and kind to one another in their homes, and tlieir manner to strangers is perfect. Tlnsy cannot be said to be an intemperate people ; for, though the corner drinking shops are seen throughout the cities and are nuich frequented, travel- ers liave again and again testified that they have never seen more than one or two Mexicans intoxicated. And now, witli a parting glance at the curious sight of a Mexican laborer carrying a piano through the streets with easy indin'erence, we must tuiii away and prepare for our journey from the city of Mexico into the hot regions of the country. CHAPTER XVI. DOWN INTO THE HOT LANDS. Do you remember the five classes of Mexican states that were spoken of in the chapter called " A Bird's-li^ye View of Mexico " ? The third chiss of states were those around the City of Mexico, which produced maguey. What is maguey? It is wliat is known in the United States as a century plant. To the north, south, east, and west of the capital are acres and acres, and even 182 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. miieH and milns of luajfiiey i)laiitali()ns. Think of long, 8trai{,flit liiu's of (iiuitury [ilauls, stretching away in all directions to the horizon.. Tlio plants have leaves grow- ing with such ret,nilarity from (iio short, strong stems, that they look as if carved fiom clear, green niarhle. 8t)mo of the phinUs are full-grown, being eight or ten feet high ; othei-s are tiny plants, but two feet tall. Now close your eyes and see if you can picture a maguey plantation to yourself. Take the one plant you have seen here in the United States, and nudtiply it hundreds of times, setting out the plants in a straight line till the farther ones vanish o\it of sight. Then plai;e other rows beside the first row, and multiply them till the farthest of these too disappear. (Jlance your eyes over the whole and then you will have an idea of a Mexican maguey plantation. The chief use of the maguey is to make pulque, a mildly intoxicating li({Uor which is drank as freely in Mexico as milk is in our country. The maguey is first set out as a tiny slip. It does not require much care, but grows quietly along from year to year, until, at the end of the seventh year, it is recognized as a full-grown plant, whose value is twelve doUai's. In the spriiig, between the closely growing leaves of the mature plant is seen a large fleshy cone. This con- tains the flower stalk and flowers. The Mexican planter cuts it out with his sharp knife, leaving a hollow, shaped like a bowl, in the heart of the i)lant. The sap fills this hollow so quickly that the juice has to be drawn out two or three times a day. A narrow tube-shaped gourd is '•»a8iiifetietl into vats lined with oxen's hides, the coarse hair being turned inward. After the honey water has remained from ten to four- teen days in the vats, it l>ecomes fermented and is changed to puhiue. The Mexicans are extremely fond of this drink. Ten thousand barrels are consumed daily in the city of Mexico. Under these circumstances it is remarka- ble that an intoxicated person is a very rare sight. The corner puhjue shops are closed by law at six every evening, and at this early hour the drinkers go homo to sleep oft' the ill effects. The maguey plant has been said to give health, wealtii, and happiness to the Mexican people. It is, in fact, as useful to tlunu as the date palm is to the Arab, and the cocoa palm to the South Sea Islander. It is food, shelter, and fire. The wlK)le plant is used for fuel. The roots are boiled and form a healthful food. The leaves, when dried, are used to shingle the houses. They also are made into troughs into which water is poured to be frozen into ice. The evaporation of the oil from the cut leaves cools the water down to the freezing point. The fibre of the maguey leaf is perhaps more useful than any other part of the plant. It forms a coarae thread from which cloth, twine, and an excellent rope lAAAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ■- IIIM til 140 ■■n IM 1.8 1.25 1.4 lA ., 6" ► % .4, i '4 II ■7 <^ /}. % c^^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ ra iK=.£S«jR;as»*^«M»«»«««*^^'™''^'**^"'''^ .^ 4 ^ i4 CIHM/ICIVIH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques .■ij.ini..i I mil II -- linrr rr li'iii-""- ^— ——— ————..-.— ^—-j.-ii^...j.^ 184 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, are made. The rope is braided into largo, coarse mais, wliieli are used in the liomes of the jjoorer jNlexicans as cliairs by day and beds at night. Tliese mats are carried to market, where tliey can l)e seen at any time, either carpeting the rough courtyard strewn with delicious fruits and vegetables, or uplield by slendei- poles to form a shelter for the merchant and his goods. Paper is also made from the fibre. The prickly thorns edging the fleshy leaves make ex- cellent nails and needles. Sometimes a thorn is torn off the leaf with a long fibre attached to it. What does that make ? A needle already threaded, of course. The saj), by a curious i)rocess, is made into puh^ue, iis we have seen already. Hot pulque is thought to be an excellent medicine for coughs and lung troubles of all kinds. A large white caterj)illar often inhabits the i)hint. When cooked, the poor Mexican considers him as great a luxury as the Frenchman does a snail. About six lioui-s' journey in a southeasterly direction from the city of Mexico, is the city of Pueljla, which is next to the capital in size. Many kinds of grain are raised in the neighborhood of Puebla, and the corn cribs and hayiicks are built to represent small churches with spires and crosses most ingeniously formed. Puebla is built of gianite ; but it might have been built of glittering marl)le, for near the city aie two great mountains of the beautiful kind of marble called Mexican onyx. There is enough material in these marble mountains to have built London, Pekin, Paris, Vienna, and a hundred more cities of their size. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 185 se macs, icans as carried :;, either lelicioiis )()les to I'aper lake ex- is torn lat does se. Ic^ue, as to be an ;s of all B pkint. as great iirection diich is rain are rn cril)S les with ve heen lie two B called n these 1, Paris, Much of this marble has been nsed for the interior decorations of the I'uebla eatliedral. This is a very beantiful building standing on the soutliern side of the principal plaza. Tlie story is. that when the workmen paused in their work on the cathedral at the close of the day, the angels continued building throngli tlic night. This tradition gives the name of "• the city of the angels *' to Puebla. Many consider tliis cathedral more beautiful than the Mexican cathedral itself. It is built of granite, and lias a fine dome and a j)air of towers. Within, the subdued light gleams on onyx pillars richly decorated with gold and gems, and on altars decorated with onj-x. At the foot of eacli altar is a large glass case in wiiich I'csts a waxen image of some saint of the church, ri(!hly dra[)cd in gorgeous silks decorated with emeralds and diamonds. Tlie bones of martyrs are said to be within the waxen images. Ele- gant carvings, fine porti'aits, and magnificent tapestiy hangings can be seen in various chajjcls and lialls of the cathedral ; while on all sides aie ex([uisite onyx decora- tions, which, in beauty and richness of coloring, cannot be anywhere surpassed. Puebla has another name beside the "city of the angels." On .account of its numerous manufactories, it lias been compared with one of our important mainifac- tu'ing towns, and called the Lowell of Mexico. Cotton thread, blankets, tiles, crockery, glass, soap, and matclies are all made here. The city is full of churches, schools, hospitals, and asylums. It is one of the cleanest cities in the world. 186 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Every day the streets are swept and cleansed in the most thorough manner. The streets look very queer to one from more northern countries. The gutter runs through the centre, and the street on each side sloi)es toward it. Wlien one street entere another, there arises the problem as to how the gut- ter is to be crossed by foot passengers. For answer, little bridges are built ; but, as these are always in the side street, the careless traveler is apt to step into the gut- ter on the main street, forgetting to turn toward the Ijridge. In South America we see many streets whose general plan is like tliese of Puebla. About seven miles from Puebla is the pyramid of Cholula, a relic of the days of the T'oltecs. The Toltecs were Indian tribes that inhabited this region before the Spaniards settled liere. Tlie pyramid looks like an ordinary hill, covered with the usual growth of shnibs and grasses, and capped by a small chapel. You would never think of calling it a pyramid, and yet it is. Centuries ago, the Toltecs forced the captives they had taken in war to pile up brick after brick by hand, until they had made this pyramid, forty-four acres square at the base, one acre square at the summit, and about two hundred feet in height. Tlic pyramid was built in layers ; first a layer of sunburned brick, and then a layer of claj^, and so on. The whole was sheathed in adobe, or clay. Time wore away the covering of clay ; plants crept over the face of the pyramid ; a layer of soil was formed; and soon Cliolula became to all ajjpearances an ordinary hill, studded with trees, cov- ered with grass, and strewn with flowers. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 187 ill till) )rtheru iiul the ! street he gut- ir, little 16 side lie gut- ird the I whose mid of Toltecs jre the ike ail shrubs would ;s they ^ hand, p acres lit, caiul lid was k, and leathed 'ing of a layer to all !S, cov- The traveler climbs the winding path to the summit, and tiiids a beautiful view awaiting him. Four moun- tain peaks rise into the blue sky, — Popocatapetl and Iztaccihuatl in the northwest, Maliiiche in the north- east, and the volcano of Oriziba in the direct east. The view of Popocatapetl and Iztaccihuatl is more satisfac- tory from Cholula than it is from the City of Mexico. The plainest likeness of Iztaccihuatl to a sleeping maiden is seen here. Malinche, or Cortcz's Mountain, is a dark, grim height on which not a tree, shrub, nor blade of grass will grow. Oriziba has the cup-shaped summit which always denotes the crater of a volcano, and is covered with snow. All about the base of Cholula, and stretching far away, are green fields ot grain, dotted here and there with villages and church spires. Perhaps it was the view from Cholula. that first suggested the idea that it might have been built as a fortress or place of refuge for a community of farmers. In time of war, what place in all the country round could be so easily de- fended as this single elevation ? Some wise men hold this opinion ; others believe that the pyramid was erected in honor of the Toltec god of the air. A little Spanish chapel which, though old, is kept in perfect repair, is situated on the level space at the top of the pyramid. The railroad trip from Pnebla to Vera Cruz is one of the most remarkable journeys in the world. The great central plateau of Mexico descends very abruptly to the lowlands of the Gulf. Within a very few miles, the railroad drops from an elevation of five thousand or six 188 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. thousand feet to an elevation of but a few hundred feet. In making this descent, two engines are used, one at the front, the other at the back of the train. The track winds ah)ng the edges of fearful precipices, and crosses yawning guUcys by means of railroad bridges. And so the engine seems to climb up and down the faces of the steepest cliffs, like a fly on a wall. It makes one giddy to glance from the window; and yet the wondeiful beauty and the terrible danger fas- cinate the traveler and compel him to look. These upright walls to which the train is (flinging desperately are covered with tlie most luxuriant growths and the fairest flowers. Tall rhododendrons almost strangled by ivy, jungles of ferns, and tangles of morning-glory blossoms appear. There are many beautiful plants on all sides that we have never seen before. Here, is a tall shrub, like a lilac, with trumpet-shaped white flowei-s ; there, is a clump of brilliant scarlet flowers lined with a soft pink. And look, look at the edge of the cliff! Delicate orchids with bright scarlet blossoms a foot long, are nodding at us. They are so near that we could almost pluck them, if the train would only go more slowly. But it speeds along at its own sweet will, which happens, in this case, to be a smart pace, and brings us safely down into the hot, moist air of the lowlands. There are three regions in Mexico, — the cold region on the tops of the mountains, the temperate region on the great central plateau, and the hot region on the lowlands beside the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific coast. ■« OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 189 lundred , one at le track crosses And so s of the Av; and ger fas- These [)erately and the trangled iig-glory that we e a lilac, a clump i. And orchids dding at ck them, t speeds his case, into the d region 3gion on 1 on the .fie coast. So far, all our journeying has been in the temperate region. We are now entering tlie hot region for the first time. The air is hot, soft, and damp. A light haze softens the outlines of the hills, which are (iultivated to their very sunnuits. The sky is generally overcast, and rains are very frec^uent. A spicy smell of sandalwood is in the warm air. The thermometer, which stood at thirty-two on the plateau in the morning, registers one hundred and twenty-five degrees at night. Through the warmest weather the workman toils unflaggingly in the fields. The Mexican is not by nature idle. He only lounges about when he has no employment. When he hsis work to do, he labors with the utmost devotion, never stopping to lift his head or turn his eyes from the task before him. The lowlands are rich with large valuable trees, and beautiful with clustering vines and mosses. Bananas grow twenty-five feet high. Mango trees are commonly thirty to forty feet in height, and are covered with wis- teria. The purple blossoms of the vines mingle prettily with the glossy leaves of the trees. Pepper trees wave their feathery foliage, and droop their bright red and pink blossoms above the canals. Orchids raise their delicate heads from the branches of trees. Morning-glories and yellow jasmines in full bloom festoon the trees and shrubs near them. Ferns grow tall, as a tall man, and rose trees are twelve feet high, with stems five inches in diameter. The huts are frail, slight affaii-s, suited to the warm •^T-|r:-,-i'¥r'-.^^^r 190 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. climate. They are built either of haiiihoo sticks or of reeds, and are thatched with i)alm leaves or cornstalks. Tlie roofs are cone-shaped in order to shed the rain which falls so abundantly thioufrhnut this region. IJefore the cottaj^e door, pigs, turkeys, chickens, and children phiy together. Men, wotnen, and children are dressed in white cotton, and wear wide-brinuned shade hats. A NATIVE RESIDENCE IN THE HOT COUNTRY. The country about Vera Cruz is filled with coffee plantations. The coffee plant is from ten to fifteen feet tall. It has small, glossy, green leaves like the holly, and bears a bright red berry resembling the cranberry. The coffee plant needs plenty of heat, shade, and moisture. To secure the necessary shade, the young plants are set out between rows of banana trees. After the plants are five or six yeare old, they begin to bear fruit. The fruit is the size of a cherry. In the pulp are set two seeds. cs or of iistalks. 1 wliich ore the en i»liiy ssed in I coffee sen feet lly, and r. le, and young y begin In the OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. lyi The borries are gathered and phiceil on trays or mats, which are left in tlie open air for a number of days. After that, tlie seeds are separated by machinery from the berry, which has changed from a pulpy mass to a dry pod. The thin, membranous coating of tlie seeds is next removed, and then the coft'ee is ready for market. Some coffee is superior to other coffee of the same kind, on account of a more fragrant aroma. This is because it has received nunc careful sorting and drying. If the Mexicans were more particular in their prejjaration of the coffee bean, the Mexican coft'ee woukl be inferior to none in the worUl. At last we have reached Vera Cruz, where our jour- ney ends. This city is situated on the sandy shores of the Gulf of Mexico, among marshes and fever swamps. It has the name of liaving more horrible odora than any other city in Mexico, and that is saying much. Also, it is said to be the stronghold of the yellow fever and other kindred tropical diseases. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, many trav- elers enjoy Vera Cruz, and spend the summer months there for the sea bathing. The summer is the time of year when " Yellow Jack," as the yellow fever is called, is least prevalent. The city is very much like other cities of Mexico in its general ])lan and style of architecture. The houses have flat roofs, with courtyards and stuccoed walls. The cathedral on the central plaza is haunted by vul- tures. Because they act as city scavengers, they are protected by law. It is a curious sight to see them perched on a lofty tower of the cathedral, with their 192 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. shiulowy forms outlined ii]L,'iiiiist llio I'iiiiitly tiiitod sky of the tropU'iil nijjflit. Tlieir lioiirsc croiik, as it is borne ou the evening breeze ueross the pluzii, has a ghostly sonnd. The (Julf of Mexico is a beautiful sight in the vwn- ing, especially when lighted by a full moon. 'I'lie waves rolling towards the shore look like molten silver. is -77 ..ill iTtiT '■■iJ^jii.Ti.r-^-f A:^rJ^ THE CITY OF VERA CRUZ. iind every sailing vessel and little boat gleams with a new and marvelous radiance. The best view of Vera Cruz is obtained while enter- ing its wretched little harbor, 'i'he city looks very long and low a.s it stretches along the shore. It has almost a flattened appearance, as if some mighty force had pressed it downward into the sand. Much of the stucco work of the houses is of a bright pink color, ed sky s homo t^liostly u evou- Thc silvt'i,, H with ii e enter- ly lollfr ahnost ■ce had of tlie c color, OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 108 1111(1 tliis hu.ks very pictiircsciiK. iijriiiust tho yellow siind c-litt'8 hack of VfiaCniz. 'Ihc olloca of the i)iiik and yellow eity spanned hy tlie cloudless hliie sky is daz- zling. Tlie eye aches after looking awhile at tlie glar- ing tro|)ical colors. There are numerous delightful places lliat we might visit in Mexico. There are the tohacco and cotton I)lantatioiis to the east and south ; there is the town of (luadalajara, where they make pottery and feather work ; and, lastly and most curious of all, there is that (iiieer, unknown region of Yucatan where are strange, elahorate huildings, laiilt hy an ancient people of whoso language and customs we know almost nothing. Central America is a kindred country to Mexico, and there we shall douhtless find many customs and sights that will pleasantly remind us of our stay in Mexico. w OUR AMERICAN NE1G1I150RS. CE.yriidL AMEllWA. IJIJJ U I Ml ' JU it li Pg 196 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, OUR AMEUICAIS^ JSTEIGHBORS. CEXTJIAL AMERICA. CHAPTER XVII. THE TINY RKrUlJLICH OF NORTH AMERICA. Southeast of Mexico, and occupying the narrowest portion of North America, are five small republics, — Ciui;temala, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. These, with the English colony of Rritish Honduras, form what is known as Central America. With the single exception of San Salvador, each of the republics stretches from ocean to ocean. Each has therefore two coasts, one bordering on the Atlantic and the other on the Pacific. On neither coast are there remarkably good harbors. The Atlantic shore is low aiul sandy. One might expect to find liarbors at the mouths of the rivers. But the rivers, flowing through sandy districts, usually form deltas ; and their mouths, one by one, become choked with sand bars. One of the few harbors on the Atlantic seaboard is at Grcytown, at the mouth of the Sail Juan River. The Pacific coast f)f Central America, like the Pacific 197 198 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. coast of Mexico, is bold ami rocky. There are no good liarbors, but only a few sheltered bays ; and even these are uidike the many deep, sheltered havens on our own Pacific coast. The greater part of the surface of Central America consists of table-land crossed, in many directions, by ranges of mountains. This is one of the chief volcanic regions on the earth. Active volcanoes are found in all the republics, but they are particularly numerous in Nicaragua. Most of the western third of this state consists of a deep depression, which is filled by Lakes Managua and Nicaragna, and is of volcanic forma- tion. Volcanoes lift their cone-shaped heights along the shores and from the centres of these lakes, while plains of ashes, lava, and pumice lie at the feet of the mountains. The rivers may be divided into two chusses, — those of the Atlantic and those of the Pacific slope. The first class are long and sluggish, often seeming to lose themselves in the sand. The second class are short and rapid. The two most important rivers are the Segovia and the San Juan. Both of these rivei-s v»ork their way through the jungles of a genuine tropical forest. In climate, productions, and people. Central America closely resembles Mexico. The two conntries are own cousins. Both were inhabited by Indians and settled by Sjianiards ; and the similarity of the climate and soil have produced much the same results in the charac- ter of the cities and the customs of the people. We are now ai)proaehing the Pacific coast of Guate- mala. The ship which carries us anchors presently OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 199 10 good 1 these ur own imenca nns, by olcimic luiul in irous in 8 state ,' Lakes forma- i along i, while ', of the — those !. The to lose ort and Segovia k their rest. America re own settled ite and charac- Guate- -esently abont two miles from the shore. The coast consists of high bluffs, with a very narrow strip of sand at their base. The sliore shelves so gradually that no ships dare approach within two miles of the land for fear of getting aground. Tlie cargo and the passengera have to be taken ashore in large boats called lighters. The sea has many cross currents and eddies, and the lighter often drifts from its course ; but at last it reaches the base of a huge iron pier in safety. We strain our necks back- ward, and gaze at the top of the lofty pier. How are we ever to ascend it ? For answer, an iron cage is swung over the side of the pier and descends into the boat. We enter with the other passengers. The signal is given; the cage gives a tremendous lurch ; every one shuts his eyes and clings with all his might to the bars of the cage. A few more terrible bumps, and then, to the great relief of all, the cage lands safely on the wharf. We are fairly in Guatemala. The pier is crowded with boxes and barrels of mer- chandise, which have been brought by tramway from the city out to the far edge of the pier for exporta- tion. Horses and cattle are also waiting here to be exported. A derrick worked by a small steam engine is the means by which the loading is accomplished. The boxes and barrels are slung into a large bag made of rope, and are lowered into the boat. The oxen have a network of ropes fastened to their horns. It is a strange sight to see a kicking, struggling steer, swinging loose from the '»'«»I SfW«K^ - ^.^j.'-b^-'--^; 'S^. • 200 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. side of the pier into the air. Horses are lowered more carefully in a kind of leather belt, which is fastened about the body. The city of Guatemala is situated on the table-land some fifty miles from the coast. There are very few railroads in Central America, and, as many of the roads are narrow and poor, much of the journeying is on don- keys. The road to Guatemala is a fairly good one, however, and is generally traversed by stage. The stage is drawn by two mules and live burros. The time oi our trip is in the rainy season, and the roads are exceedingly muddy. Frequently the stage sticks in the mud and comes to a sudden standstill, to the extreme annoyance of both driver and mules. In the dry season the traveler is choked with dust. Often we pause while a train of carts, coming down from the interior, passes by. These trains of ox carts are sometimes three-quarters of a mile long. The cart is made of very solid and heavy timbers. The wheels are rough sections of the trunks of mahogany trees, which are shaped by the ax to as perfect a circle as possible. They are five feet in diameter and seven or eight inches thick. The oxen wear no yoke, but have the tongue of the cart fastened by str> ps to their horns. The drivers are dressed in cotton shuts and trousera. The shirts com- plete their dress suits. They put them on as they ap- proach a town, but in the open country they wear simply the trousei-s. Sending goods in this way is slow but safe. It is slow, because the drivers will not start on their journey red more fastened able-land very few the roads s on don- ood one, fe. The , and the he stage idstill, to ules. In ng down ox carts The cart le wheels ny trees, circle as seven or le of the rivers are lirts com- 1 they ap- lar simply fe. It is r journey OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 201 after a night's rest until all are ready. If one meets with an aocident, tlie others wait until he is able to go on again. It is safe, because the drivers are exceediiKdv trustworthy. They always account for every ounce or pint that is intrusted to tlieir care. There is a i)lanter who receives thirty thousand silver coins over the road every week during the coffee season. He says it is safer than if he cariied it himself. There have been, in all, three cities of Guatemala. The fiist was destroyed by ilood, and the second, La Antigua Guatemala, by earthquake. This was one of the first cities on this continent two Inmdred years ago. When Boston and New York were small villages. La Antigua Guatemala was the seat of many schools and colleges. It was only sur- passed in riches and prosperity by two American cities, Mexico, and Lima in Peru. The plains about Guatemala Avere once given up to the culture of cochineal. The cochineal is a tiny insect which feeds on a kind of cactus, called nopal. Just be- fore the rainy season begins, the leaves of the noi)al are cut close to the ground, and are hung up under a shed for protection from the rain. The insects are brushed off the nopal leaves with a dull knife, and are killed either by boiling or by baking. Crimson dyes are obtained by boiling ; blue and pur- ple dyes by baking. The insects, when dried, look like a coai-se powder. Though the culture of cochineal was once a chief industry of the state of Guatemala, of late years the cheaper aniline dyes have diiven the cochi- neal out of the market. 1 "^i^s^mm^ 202 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The modern city of Guatemala is situated on a wide table-land. It is laid out with niucii vcffulaiity, and, as the houses are low, with central eourlyards, it stretches over considerable space. Each street is paved, and slopes towards a gutter running through the centre. On each side is a Jjroad sidewalk of flagstones. All the streets are very clean. Fine aqueducts, built by the old Spaniards, keep the fountains supplied with water from the neighboring hills. In many of the Central American cities there are public laundries, whore women and girls may be seen at all houre of the day washing clothes and chat- ting hapi)ily together. Guatemala has the usual plaza, with a fine cathedral forming one si'de of the stjuare. Here the band plays and the people promenade on Sundays, just as in Mex- ico, although Sunday is kept more strictly as a day of rest in Guatemala. The stores might almost be called variety stores, on account of the many kinds of merchandise that they contain. At the same place one can buy almost every article of clothing and of food. Dry goods, hardware, glassware, canned goods, boots and slioes, all are to be obtained in one of these little corner shops. The shopkeeper arrives at about eight in the morn- ing. He opens the shop and takes down the shutters, which signifies that he is ready for trade. Toward the close of the rainy season, the rain comes in the daytime from eleven to one. Promptly at eleven, the shopman closes his store and goes home for a noonday nap. At one he returns, and the shop is open until four. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 203 on a wide y, and, as stretchos ived, and le centre. All the keep the ijjhboring ties there Si may be and chat- cathedral md plays s in Mex- a day of stores, on that they ost every lardware, xre to be lie morn- shutters, ward the I daytime shopman nap. At Guatemala and San Salvador are the most prosperous states of Central America. The presidents have intro- duced many modern imi)rovement« into tiie city of (iuatemala, and, as the people still cling to many t)f the old customs, the new and the old ways are often closely contrasted. The telegraph and the telephone, the swift niessengei-s of thought, pass through the same street as the laden Indian peasants, whose race has been used as beasts of burden for hundreds of years. The Indian carries his load on his back in a pannier, whiclj is held in place by a leather strap passing around his head. The Indian woman carries her load on her liead. Some shrewd business men, in buying hay or wood, always purchase a man's load rather than a don- key's load. They usually find that they receive more by so doing. Besides carrying a heavier load than a donkey or mule, the peasant accomplishes his journey in less time. He becomes so accustomed to walking under a heavy weight that, on returning home after having delivered his goods in the city, he often places a stone of some hundred pounds or so in his pannier, and trots off as briskly as if he felt no weight at all. The peasant woman comes to market carrying one hundred pounds of vegetables or fruits upon her head, and a baby slung in a rehoza upon her hip. Several children, varying from six to a dozen years of age, accompany her, carrying, as a matter of course, weights which a citizen of our own country would stagger under. Honduras is the largest of the Central American "^'jsStS^^^ '204 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. i • '1 States, l)ut it is llio most tliinly settled. It lias a popu- lation one tliiitl that of Guateiiuila. 'I'lu; state is rich ill j,'ol(l ai.d silver mines, and has a greater variety of medicinal i)lants than any other country in the world. Why is it then that Honduras is a poor, bankrupt state? 8im[)ly beeause the people have not the energy to build roads. There are oidy a few uiiles of carriage road in the country. All the goods which are broii'^Iit into the interior are carried on the backs of mules or Indians. Cariiages are unknowu. They are classed with over- coats and chinuieys as unnecessary articles. There was a plan uiade once to build a railroad through a natural valley in western Honduras which two rivtrs had formed, one running north from (!omaya- gua, iinil the other south. Work was begun on the line, but it soon ceased for want of funds. The people of Central America lack business exact- ness. Rich men from abroad lend the country money to build a certain railroad. They begin to build with the best i)itentions in the world, when suddenly all their plans are changed. 'J'here arises a quarrel with a neigh- boring state or a revolution within their own borders, and the loaned money is taken to pay the expenses of the war. Such measures, frequently repeated, have caused business men both in Europe and in America to distrust Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and to regard business investments in those countries as unsafe. If the inhabitants would only build roads, so that machin- ery could be brought into the interior, the valuable mines y 1 las a pojm- iito is rich variety of 10 world. , 1)aiikrupt tlio energy )a(l in the . into the >r IndianH. with over- a railroad uas which u Comaya- n the line, less exact- try money Ijnild with ly all their th a neigh- n borders, xpenses of VG caused to distrust to regard nisafe. If it machin- able mines OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. iio; might be opened iip and tlic coinitry wonhl prosjier. lint as none are built, industry is at a standstill. Coniayagua is the ca[tital of Honduras, and is reached by a twelve days' lide over tlr mountains on mules. Tegn('igal})a is the largest and most prosperous city. It always has a briglit and eheerful appearance. This is because the lionses are i)ainted while, gretui, pink, and red. Grass grows in the streets ; and, although every street has a gutter through which water might pass to all the liousi's of the (.-ity, they are always empty, and the water is brought in jars from the valley one hundred feet below. San Salvador, although the smallest of the states, is the most pros])erous and the most thickly settled. The people of San Salva(h)r are very industrious. They would be rich, if it were not for frequent outbreaks from the volcanoes. Most of San Scalvador is a plateau, two thousand feet liigh, with volcanoes scattered over it in clumps. Many of them are active, and iields of lava, ashes, and pumice stone are usual sights in the republic. The city of San Salvador is surrounded by volcanoes on all sides but the south. There is one volcano ch casts out smoke ami fire every seven minutes. It has done so for over one hundred and twenty yeai-s, in fact ever since it appeared. There was once a flourishing plantation where this vol- cano now stands. The owner had been away for a few months, and on his return he fomid, to his amazement, that he was the owner of a great volcano. His planta- tion had entirely disappeared. His servants told him a 20(; THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. inarvt'llouH story of tlu! .stiiiii^'t! rumhliiifrs and (|Uiik- iiij,'s tlit-y had heard and ftdt ; (if thu fulling' (h)\vn of the farm lmildinj,'s; of tho fhj,dit of many of the, Hcr- vaiits ; and, histly, of the \von(h'iful rise, which the hnivcst of them liad witnessed, of an active volcano four tlionsand feet liij,di. The saihirs call this volcano the "Lighthouse of Salvador," for always, by night and by day, volumes of smoko and tlamt; are jiouring from the mountain. Throughout San Salvador tho buildings are low and unornam(!nt(;d. This is because they are fre(iuently destroyed by eartlKjuakes or other volcanic disturbancses. The capital, San Salvador, has been rebuilt several times within the last few hundred years. With volcanoes [lopping up at a moment's notice in the centre of lakes or coffee jilantations, tlie inhabitants do not have that trust in the permanency of their labor, which would lead them to spend large sums on the decorations of churches and other public buildings. San Salvador is the only country in the world that produces balsam. The balsam trees grow along the northern part of the coast, which is called, in conse- quence, the balsam coast. Balsam is a kind of resin, which is used in making perfumery aiul some medicines. Other exports are coffee, indigo, tobacco, sai-saparilla, iiidia rubber, and sugar. The indigo of San Salvador yields a more delicate dye than that raised in Guate- mala or in Bengal. It is therefore the finest in the world. For the last sixty yeai-s Nicaragua has been going backward in wealth and population. Its commerce was «Mai*«(Wju":*,i::ri*' I and (juiik- l^ (IdWIl of of the Hor- wliich the olcaiio four 'olciino thu jilt and by ij from the le low and frequently sturbances. veral times I volcanoea re of lakes have that licK would 3rations of world that along the , in ccmse- 1 of resin, medicines, ii-saparilla, I Salvador in Guate- est in the •een going merce was OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS, greater iit the beginning of the ccnlury than it is at its tlosf. And yet the roimtry ilsvU' is natu very rich. If the country is divided into three nearly equal parts, each part will have a fairly ilislinct eharaetei' of its own. The western thir •JOH THE WORID AND ITS PEOPLE. (if ( '(t8('j,MiiMii, u vnlciiii(» in till! iiortliwt'Ht, was om- <»l' tlu! iiicisl rciiiiii'kiiMn tlio world Iium rvor Meoii. Fur I'liur tliiys cIoikIh of liiva iind ii.slics wcrtt ciiHt fioiii tlio vtilciiiio ii|i(iii all till' ('oiiiiliy idiinil. SlMUVcrs ol' iislics Fell ill linLfotii, lil'li'fii liiiiiad, on tlie way to Managua. Tliis city has only of late years had the honor of heing tlie capital. I.th is one hundred and fifty feet. It is over three hundred feet deep at its mouth. Part of the Amazon Valley is covered with forests. The name selvas is a])plied to this wooded section of the Amazon Valley, which is fifteen hundred miles long and one thousand miles broad. But these figui-es mean little. If you could only Ijo transported to the very centre of the encircling forest, and stand on the shore of the mighty river, and gaze I 'T^mtfiti^m^i^i, 224 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. iiiul tliink until, in some little measme, you niiglit begin dimly to comin-eliund its greatness and its miglit! Yon have stood on the seashore and looked off across the waters in the direetion whei'e they appear to be unbounded by land. You have the same wide view from tlie bank of the Amazon, only the waters rolling by are ot a yellowish color instead of the blue of the sea. Shade your eyes with your hand. What is that dim line on the very edge of the horizon^ Perhaps it is the further shore of the river. No, indeed, it is but an island in the middle of the stream. The rivei' readies as far beyond your sight as that island is distant from you now. The width of the Amazon at this spot is twice as far as the eye can see. This mighty inland sea extends a thousand miles westward to the base of the Andes, and a thousand miles eastward to where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. All about you is the wonderful tropical forest, reaching seven hundred miles to the north and seven hundred miles to the south, five hundred miles easterly and five hundred miles westerly. There are forests in Central America, but tliey are nothing when compared with the selvas. The Amazon, you will notice on the map, runs very nearly on the line of the equator. Ro day after day tlie great red sun pours its rays downward fiom the zenith, while columns of moisture rise from the river. This excessive heat and moisture lead to a luxuriance of vegetation such as is seen in no other region of the world. In the eastern part of Brazil, wood that has been split and used for making fences shoots forth green "1 "^■1 !"llJIV'''P!W«WFiP"B"N«'' \ OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 225 might begin niglit! :e(l off across ippoiir to be e wide view aters rolling blue of the Vhat is that Peihaps it ed, it is but rivei' reaches distant from this spot is usand miles )usand miles iitie Ocean. 3st, reaching en hundred 3rly and five mt they are 'he Amazon, jarly on the reat red sun lile columns I luxuriance 3gion of the od that has forth green buds and leaves, (irass and cree[)ing plants often spread from the edge cf a jkxiI, and so cover its surface that the traveler walks upon it as if it were solid ground, and is only warned of his blunder by seeing the ugly jaws of a crocodile rising through the green turf before him. Under such conditions of growth, it is not remarkable that the trees and the shrubs should be giants of their kind. Enter the green gloom of the selvas and look about you. You are able to see but a few feet in any direc- tion, so densely do the trees and vines grow on all sides. Unlike our northern forests, which open up a series of avenues or pathways to tlie feet of the tniveler, tiiis forest presents a ])lank wall to his eye, and clogs his footsteps with clinging vines and undergrowth. It is a labyrinth, a wilderness, a vast tangle. Most of the trees are over one hundred feet tall. Many are twice that height. Here are sturdy giants forty and even fifty feet in circumference, and then again tender saplings that you can enclose with your hands. The trunks of the trees are what the traveler gener- ally sees, for the foliage is always far above and turned away from him, turned upward and outward to catch the sunlight. It is an upward struggle to reach the light on the part of all. A young tree stands no chance wh.'itever in the forest twilight near the ground. Its oidy chance is to crowd its stem upward l)etween the great trunks that have worked their way up before it. The young sapling has to struggle with and perhaps -»5f-:r-R«w^3!SS&».*«B^iM"~- 226 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. ! push back and destroy a dozen other younj,' trees. At hist it penetrates tlie j,neat roof of verdure that shuts iji the lower forest, catches the lii-st <,d()rious burst of sun- shine, and puts forth a shower of green leaves in answer to the light This upi)er world is a true paradise. Billows of green stretc;h away for miles ; brilliant red, purple, and yellow flowers relieve the green; and birds, butterflies, and bees, riot in the sunshine, the fresh air, and the beauty. No one can know what the top of the Amazon forest is, unless he takes a balloou and sails above this wonder- ful upper world. But as that excui-sion is hardly possible, the traveler must content himself with a study of tree trunks. Some grow smaller as they lise, some larger ; some are girt with creepers so that they resemble a maypole adorned with ribbons ; others are smooth as a polished floor. They A^ary in color from black, brown, and red, to yel- low, gray, and white. The parasitic creepere and vines run to and fro from tree to tree, looking like the cordage of a ship. They are so many and form so close a network that they might be said to resemble a cobweb. Some are as thick as .small trees, and their winding, twisting growth makes them appear like snakes. Hie trees here are covered with the most beautiful orchids, which grow on their trunks and branches. The colors of these orchids are not so delicate as they are brilliant. This is true of all South American flowers and birds. Some one has said that the whole country looks as if it were painted red and yellow. 'i\r I OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. >27 f,' trees. At that shuts ill jurst of sun- res in answer lows of green I!, and yellow tterllies, and I the beauty, zon forest is, tliis wonder- , the traveler links. Some ijine are girt pole adorned olished floor. 1 red, to yel- and fro from ship. They k that they ■iome are as sting growth ost beautiful lid branches, icate as they h American lit the whole yellow. The loaves of the trees vary in color from a pale green to alnuist a black, 'i'lic ground in the forest is carpeted deeply with grasses, ferns, and matted vines. The value of the vegetation of the selvas is untold. Here is found mahogany, rosewood, and tortoise shell wood, for the cabinetmaker; Ihazil wood for the dyer; sai'sapi'.i'illa and cinchona for the doctor; the cow tree for the Indian ; and the India rubber tree for nearly every artist and tradesman. There are as many different kinds of animals in the forests of the Amazon as there are ditt'eient kinds of plants. Playful monkeys .swing from tree to tree, chat- tering and grimacing. One kind of monkey uses his tail cas an extra paw. He fastens it about a branch and swings by it, or uses it for clutching branches while passing from tree to tree. The howling monkey is a very ugly animal. It is often heard in the forests at night, shrieking in a most unmusical manner. It is startling to hear a migrating colony of these monkeys give their cry. Other strange sounds often echo through the forest. The jaguar roars, the wildcat yells, and then the whole woodland orchestra begins. The chatter of the parrots is heard continually, and their bright i)lumage seems like sunshine in the shades of the forest. They and the humming birds, those gor- geous specks, are of all the eoloi-s of the rainbow. The toucans are interesting and curious birds. They are afflicted with so huge a bill that thdy cannot build nests. So they lelect a convenient knot hole in a tree, I 228 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. and there proceed to make a home for themselves and tlieir little ones. As you might suppose, the forests swarm with insects. Tliere are large, lovely huttertlies of the most heautiful tints, — such as pale blue and scarlet. But most of the insects are not as harmless as the butterfly. Many are poisonous and dangerous. There are the flies, the ticks, — little creatures that bury them- selves in the flesh of the traveler, — armies of stinging ants, and millions of mosc^uitoes. The mos(]uitoes are the pest of tlie upper Amazon. The traveler has to protect himself by wearing mos- quito netting over his head in the daytime. The poor Indian is driven nearly wild by them, and resorts to the most desperate measures to defend himself against his tiny foes. lie buries himself up to the neck in mud, .and then winds wet cloths about his head. Sometimes he builds fires close to his tent and tries to smoke tlie mosquitoes out. TJut the smoke is almost as injurious to the Indian as it is to the mosquito. Besides the selvas, through which we have been wan- dering, there are submerged forests. To examine them a canoe and a guide would be very necessary. There are many channels parallel with the Amazon. Some are large enough to appear to be the main stream and to mislead inexperienced boatmen. In the rainy season, when the Amazon rises, and all the main ch!.nnels and tributaries share in its rise, the forests on its banks are flooded ; and for several months only the tops of the trees appear above the surface of the river. As the boatmen steer by the banks, it is at %lV ■' ,yS!SW3i^W^- . ! leni selves and n with insects, nost beautiful irniless as the ei'ou.s. There lat bury them- es of stinging [)per Amazon. wealing nios- iie. The poor resorts to the ilf against his neck in mud, Sometimes to smoke tlie st as injurious ave been wan- Bxamine them ssary. There nazon. Some in stream and rises, and all in ifs rise, the eveval months the surface of banks, it is at OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 229 such times more diiTicult tlian usual to select the main stream. Small sailing vessels have sometimes left it and wandered for weeks amid the confusing lanes and avenues of the forest itself. The Amazon has four large tributaries from the ' south. The Madeira is the largest. Its waters are yellower than those of tl»e Amazon, because it carries more fine mud in solution. Travelers often sail down the western coast of South America, and cross the Andes in the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. The head waters of the Madeira rise in this region, and tourists fre(piently take canoes and Indian guides and float down this river to the Amazon. The great obstruction to the peaceful sail is the falls of the Madeira. I'here are nineteen falls within two hundred and thirty miles. A few can be descended in the canoe, but in nearly every case, the cargo, and very often the canoe itself, lias to be carried around the falls. Think how tedious it must be for a party to be obliged to move half a dozen canoes upon rollers, through a dense forest swarming with mosquitoes and other tor- ments. A single railroad of two hundred miles around the frills would be a great blessing. Several attempt^s have been made to construct such a road, but tiic place is so unliealthful that the English and German engineers and wo ^men die of malaria soon after entering upon their work« There are many stagui.nt pools in the neighborhood of the falls, and malarial gases and vapors are always 230 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. rising from their surfaces. Tlie workmen hii\e endeav- ored to remove these pools* by blasting rocks, but all to no purpose. The leading men sicken and die ; then the remainder of the party lose hope and abandon the under- taking. (Certain tribes of Indians could work here safely; but they are too lazy, and prefer their occupa- * tion of boatman to that of common laborer. The valley of the Madeira is one of the chief rubber regions of the Amazon. The rude huts of the rubl)er gatherers stand in many places along the sliores of the river. They are built of bamboo and thatched with palm leaves, or else they are made of mud. There are two particulars in which rubber making in Brazil differs from rubber making in C!cnti'al America. Fii-st, the sap is collected in small clay cups, one of whicii is placed beneath every cut in the trunk of the tree; and, secondly, the hardening of the rubber is effected by a different and curious process. After having collected a large amount of sap in a great turtle shell, the rubber maker, witli his pipe in his mouth and his turtle shell by his side, sits down before what looks like a large lamp chimney. It is really a small clay stove. The smoke coming from the top shows that there is a fire within. Tlie Indian takes a light wooden shovel, dips up some of the caoutchouc, and holds it over the cliimney. The smoke and the heat harden the sap to rubber. Tlie rubber is at first of a milk white color, but the smoke blackens it after a while. When the first layer is hardened, the Indian dips up more sap and hardens that over the firet layer; and so ■1' m jiimi wi OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 231 ill hii\e eiideav- Dcks, but all to il die ; then the idon the iiiuler- uld work here !!• their occupa- ' er. lie chief rubber i of the rubber e sliores of the thatched with d. )ber making in iuti'al America. f cups, one of e trunk of the the rubber is 13SS. it of sap in a til his pipe in ide, sits down himney. It is lining from the L dips up some ;himney. The rubber. Tlie but the smoke Fndian dips up hvyer ; and so on, until the rubber cake which he is making comes to the desired thickness. Tlie rubber shoes that were worn forty years ago were made by the Indians of tlic ^laihiira. Tliey nuule clay moulds of the desired shape and size, di^ipcd tiiem repeatedly in the sap, and liardened them over the chim- ney. At bust rubber shoes Avere made. But some one may ask who could ever wear them, filled as they were with clay. The Indians managed that. They soaked the shoes in water until the clay softened and could be easily removed. The largest tributary of the Amazon from the north is the Rio Negro. The waters of this river are of inky blackness, and can be distinguished fiom the yellow tide of the Amazon for some distance below the mouth of the Rio Negro. There is one very singular fact concerning the Cassi- quiare, a river north of the Rio Negro. Some months it flows into the Rio Negro, and is thus a tributary of the Amazon ; and some montlis it flows into the Orinoco. The direction of its flow depends upon the rising or fall- ing of the Amazon. The rainy season south of the equator is from March till September. The largest tributaries of tlie Amazon come from south of the equator, and are much swollen during these months. Consequently the Amazon itself reaches its greatest height at this time. Its surface is higher then than that of the Rio Negro, which at that time is lower than usual, because of the dry season prevailing in that part of South America north of the equator. The waters of the Rio Negro are •w ,.-"^ 232 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. I'll Ml! ' I 1 I . ' ! dammed back slightly l)y tin; flooded Amazon, and tlie waters of the C'lvssiciuiare arc so licld back tliat tliey are even turned into the channel of the Orinoco. When the rainy season prevails north of the efjuator, the Cassiquiare flows into tlie Amazon through the Rio Negro. At the mouth of the Kio Negro lies the town of Manaos. This is not a celebrated or well known city as yet, but before long it will be Para, by reason of its position at t])(! month of the Amazon and its greater nearness to luiroi)e and the United States, will sooner or later surpass Rio Janeiro; and the prophets also say that Manaos is destined to surpass Para. Lafge steameis will then ascend the Amazon to the mouth of the Rio Negro, and be laden with the i)roduets that formerly were shipped to Para. Manaos is the centre of the Amazon Valley, as St. Louis is the centre of the Mississij)pi Valley. It has rather a forlorn look at present. Most of the houses are dila[)i(lated buildings of one story. Flocks of tur- key buzzards perch on the ridges of the houses so con- stantly that the traveler often takes them for wooden ornaments. There are one or two fine public; buildings. There is a market house of zinc i)la(>ed ciommandiiigly upon a bluff. And tliere is the foundation of a grand oj)era house of red sandstone, finer even than the one at Para. The stru(;ture is oidy ten feet high ; for they have ceased working upon it, because the money hiis given out. In all the business streets there is a. constant smell '-i^u^ iizoii, aiul tlio uk tluit they iuoco. till! e(}uator, )tigli tlie Rio the town of . Tho common people can always Im; seen in the market. The market luuise in I'ara is built of stone, and is only partially roofed oyer. 'I'he stalls nw. loaded with flow-' ers, fruits, vegetables, fowls, aiul fish. a^s i,.. 3tgr ' S^*..'^-~- ' '^^-''J- ! - arH»T.T»s«E'«!?ss;is(»as>»w.i*¥4i%fi{.i 'flsaaaWi.'iiasdsKwsw-^ OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 'j;i7 Tilt' tlioiitn; i(K's, uiiy foi- rt UOn tllO IK.'tH 111 tiill a strong' contrast to tlii! hrd- liantly dressed .\nnt Dinahs and Chloes, as he passes throu akinj.j kind words, Ixith to them and to the silent Indians. The ('oast from Para to Pernamlmco is very low, sandy, and monotonous. I'ernanihnco is the third com- mercial city of Hra/.il. It is called the "City of the lleef," because live liundred feet from the shore, extend- ing' for several miles north and south from I'ernamlmco, is a fj;reat reef. This reef is nearly covered at lii^di tide. A solid sea wall, five feet lii<,di and ten feet hroad, has been built ujitm it. Against this liie breakers rage without dis- turbing the (juict harb,)r Avithin. The vessels in the harbor are drawn up in two lines, one by the reef and the other opposite, near the water front of the city, which is faced Avith fine cut stone. Ships too large to enter the harbor anchor outside the reef. Pernf.'iubu(!o is tlie great sugar market of Brazil. It docs not take long for the traveler to discover that fact. i THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The vessels in the harlx)!' are being laden witli sngar; Ihe 2)()itcrs in the Avavehousos are tossing bags of sugar about; the oxe- in the streets are drawing sugar; the mules and donkeys eoniing fron. the interior plantations to the eity have panniers of sugar stra[)ped u[)on their backs. The city streets smell of sugar, ami the pave- ments are slippery with molasses. Pernambuco would be a pi'rfect paradise to those little boys and girls who wish that the world was made of sugar, so that ihey might nibble the npjier crust. They would be hai)])y indeed in this sugar city. South of I'ernauibuco the coast becomes bold and rock}'. Mountains begin to rise u[)on the [ilateau and to draw their faint blue lines along the far horizon. Lying on the eastern side of the deep sheltered Bay of All Saints we iind the city of Bahia. If it were not that the bay forms a jjcrfect harb ir, we slioidd find no city liere. Bluffs two hundred feet high skirt the bay, sometimes approaching to within two hundred feet of the sliore, .and then retreating ten hundred feet from it. The resulting beach is very irregidar. Bahia, like the distant eity of Quebec, consists of an upper town on the bluffs and a lower town on the shoi'e. The business (juarter of the city is, of course, the lower town. One long street runs north and south beside the wharves, .and between it and the bluff are as many more streets as can be crowded into the scanty space. Some of the streets are wide and well lighted ; others are only tv,o feet Avider than the street cars which pass through them. The people who walk in these streets have to step into doorways to allow the ear to pass. ."..sjfiRX-i-iy :-*iS!;fes j'ssspsSiSftiSiM^SBitfiSiioiris ■ ■» m witli sugar; bags of sugar ug sugar ; the ior ])laiitatious cd U[)()ii their and the >)ave- idiso to tliose t)rhl was made ! u[)[)c'r crust, n^ar city. nu!s bohl and 10 [ihiLcau and r horizon, sladterc'd Bay If it were not dioidd find no skirt tlie bay, nidred feet of d feet fronv it. consists of an 1 on the shore, irse, tlie h)wer uth beside the as many more s})ace. ghted ; others irs which pass these streets ir to pass. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 239 The warehouses are many stories liigli ; the walls are painted wliite and yellow, and the roofs red. There are hut few line public l)uildings in Jiahia, so that the view of the city from the harboi', though cheerful, is some- what monotonous. Tlu merchants arc chielly interested in the exporta- tion oi coffee, tohacjo, sugar, and diamonds. They dress LANDING STEPS AT BAHIA. in white, and cany umijrellas to protect themselves from the scorching rays o!' the sun. The upper town, which contains most of the resi- dences, is I'eached by several steep streets ; by one wide, fine street with a gentle ascent for carriages ; and by a steam elevator. The old-fashioned sedan chair is used by ladies in Bahia. A lady takes her seat in the chair and the curtain is dropped ; then the servants seize the poles, or handles, of the chair, and in a very short time f/^mmsiUM^/mmi'^nu 240 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. tliey liiivo clinihetl the steep street iiiul liave gained the ui)i)er town. This section of Hahia contains the i)uhlic luiihhngs. Tiie chniches of liahia are snperior to many of the c'hurt'lies in the other cities of Brazil. They have heaulifully frescoed ceilings, dclic-ate wood carving, and inarhle floors. There is one chnrch huilt of stone hronght from the United States, as hallast, in ships that came to he freighted with Hrazilian products. On the edge of the .iliiffs is a large, neglected puhlic garden. The avenues of palms and mango trees are exceedingly fine. Ui-ns and statues are scattered ahout, and there is a hroad promenade on the edge of the hluff, protected hy a marhle railing. The sunset view of the harhor is very heautiful ; and, in the early even- ing, many peoi)le can be seen walking thiough this ave- nue, or resting on seats c( ered with tiles an"d decorated with si. oils, while the rosy, western light falls full upon their dark, sallow faces. Bahia is the commercial city of the second region of Brazil, which is tlie region of the gold and diamond I. lines. Therefore it is only natural that the finest Bra- zilian diamond, the " Star of the South," should have been exjiorted from Bahia. The city also exports a superior kind of tobacco, which is (^uite as good as the tobacco of Havana in Cuba. On that account, cigars made from it are called Havana cigars. Travelers always purchase feather flowers in Bahia. They are made by nuns in the convent, and are very beautiful. The brilliant or delicate tints of every flower yi^ 5)»«'.««ISr'ifK^iWi^i ■ It*'* jkX; ix'Hl^Hl'if'^' lave gained the iblic luiildings. ) many of the They have wood carving, built of stone ;t, in ships tiiat lets. iglected public lingo trees are cattered about, le edge of the lie sunset view the early even- ough this ave- I an"d decorated falls full upon cond region of [ and diumond the finest Bra- should have id of tobacco, of Havana in nil it are called ivers in Rahia. ;, and are very of every flower OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 241 that grows in Brazil can be niatcli..'d exactly in birds' feathers. With real flowei-s before them as copies, the nuns make lovely hyacinths, orange blossoms, violets, and roses, both full-blown and in the bud. It is only by smelling, that the real flower can be distinguished from the artificial. Rio Janeiro is more Ijeautifully situated llian any other South American city. It is on the western side of the Bay of Rio Janeiro, which is large enougii to contain all the sliii)s in the world, and has been favorably compared with the most b3autiful bay in Europe, the Bay of Naples. BAY OF RIO JANEIRO. The entrance to Rio Janeiro harbor is very narrow. It is between two rocky bluffs, the western one being known as Sugra* Loaf on account of its conical shape. The waters of the bay are always as calm as an inland lake. With the exception of the narrow entrance, the harbor is surrounded by mountiiins. ■■^mmm:' sUs.rf^Sf^HSi. 242 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Tlie Organ Mnuntaiiis lie to the north, tl;e peaks of Coicovado and 'i'ijuca to the west, and Sugar Loaf to the south. The mountains are lofty, while their sides are very abrupt and steep. Their sharp lines and frowning heights form a strong contrast to the narrow green plain lying between them and the bay. Tlie view of the bay and the city, from a vessel ancliored in the harbor, is delightful. Many green islands dot the clear watei'. Some of them are large, and contain villages and faims ; others are tiny, and have only the gray roof of a chapel rising from the midst of a small grove of trees. The city of Kio Janeiro, like a long and narrow crescent, lies along the western shore. It is but half a mile wide, and is prevented by the mountains from growing any more in a westerly direction. It is nine or ten miles from north to south, and can still grow in those directions. From the harbor, Rio Janeiro appears, in the morning sunshine, like a city of alabaster. With its brilliant white walls, and its dreamily nodding palms mirrored in the level waters of the bay, it is like a city in the Ara- bian Nights. But all admiration vanishes on entering the city it'elf. Rio Janeiro is terribly dirty. A few of the streets are so narrow that no ray of sun- light entei-s them. They are hot and stifling. Foul odors and sickening gases arise from the open gutters which run through the middle of the streets. The slender trunk of a beautiful palm often stretches upward from a heap of decaying vegetables, seeming to bear its great green tuft of leaves up into a purer region than ■■--'««*»»«SjSjgy5H^ "Ki-i^-^'.if'-- ' »*vit,'»:u'>%vsii»aff>«a&&g«**§fi#*Si«£s;~ - OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS, 248 th, tl;e penks of igar Loaf to the their sides are js and frowning row green plain from a vessel Many green them are large, s are tiny, and ising from the ng and narrow It is but half a nountains from on. It is nine ill still grow in in the morning ith its brilliant 1ms mirrored in city in the Ara- les on entering irty. t no ray of sun- stifling. Foul le open gutters streets. The tretches upward ning to bear its irer region than I the filthy streets below. Sciualid beggara, and gaunt, wolflike dogs, are seen at the street corners. Kio Janeiro is a seiies of disappointments. Its sur- roundings are perfect ; but the city itself is unhealthy, situated as it is in the tropics, with but little attention paid to the most ordinary rules for city cleanliness. Yellow fever and smallpox hold possession for one- half the year, and all the rich jieople liave their sunnner homes among the mountains. Their houses which, if erected in the city, would form iine streets, are all in Petropolis or other mountain resorts. The public buildings are of an inferior architecture, and are certixinly in need of repair. But there is one place which never disa;)point,s the traveler. Hcturn to it as often iis he may, it seems always as graii*--v.t»«Bi, '*<»>w«S4tt^wi»,»j4fga5(!i««*w!»9aNiW^^ OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 245 ees in the gar- od for some dis- her by different varieties of the d in a thousand bit of tropical led in the wikl rasitic! cliinbcrs leir dainty little :fht as gems, are ing is an exact »n. tropical plants icre. Only the ion larger than fAl must fail to eak lies to the r two thousand walls are very dlway has been se upon Mount The single car, pen, so that an lie hour's ride, •rest; and when lying the ocean pon the graceful )rush the track. Half way u[) there is a iiiio hotel, wliere many mer- chants. Hying from the pestilent city, spend their niglits. I'eyond the hotel tlie ride becomes more dangerous, and, in i»l;iees, it is worse than any jKirt of the ascent of Mount Washington. If a rail sliould yield, a luiil give way, or a stone be upon the tiaek, ear and [teople would be dashed to atoms at the foot of the terril)le cliffs. At length the engine pauses. The remaining few hundred feet must be climbed by tlie passengia- himself. Hastening up the rocky stei)s, he finds liimsclf on a walled platfoiin, covered with an iron roof as a protec- tion against wind or rain. Spread out before him is tlie view, — one of the most wonderful that the earth affords. On a clear day, fifty square miles of ocean, bay, mountains, and jjlains are visible ; and the great city, which, from a distance, aji- peai's always so beautiful, lies at liis feet. The compass and tlie variety of the sight 5ire remark- able. It is no wonder that visitoi-s to Rio Janeiro climb tlie Corcovado again and again to learn the changes in cloud and in sunshine of this world-renowned view, and to impress more strongly upon their minds its various featui-es. Negro water carriers, fish mongers, and dealers in poultry are seen upon tlie o.Hy streets early in the day. The fish dealers announce their coming by sounding wooden clappers. The poultry is carried about in cov- ered straw biuskets ; and it is a funny siglit to see a sober black face shaded by such a basket, through whose crev- ices chickens pop their heads. The knowing birds cluck '«!a»(t:3~" " -™ I IT-' 240 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. anxiously, and gaze aruiuul as if suekiiig to discover what is to bct'ome of tlieiu. The In'of and imittou is iiniiorted from liuenos Ayres, and what do yousuppose is in^jorted from tlie United States? Not J ww«S6.*'5s««i«A«.«fi^fe m€mji'Mm^s^>' OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 247 iig to discover l)Uenos Ayres, om tlio United t Hiilt codfish. 1 to fresh fish trlauder would • it is pio^ ired, great (quantity the city of Rio lie rose witli 11, and a cup of !• to accomplish excessive heat 3 snn und)i-ella, ^n his arrival, dinner, except I. It consisted id, and cheese, 'ee, to he good, deatli." Most nd. As coffee y indulged in pie is marked. oel; keep still, always tw itch- coffee. ' jl lowing rested until four o'clock, and then he returned to his oflice. He remained there till eight, when dinner called him home. In the evening he either visited the theatre or proceeded to the gamhling table. The wife of this merchant passed her day very qui- etly. At six in the morning she attended mass, and at seven returned to her home, where she remained for the rest of the day. No Brazilian lady ever api)earcd on the street in -the daytime after lialf-past seven. Within doors she embroidered, dozed in lier hanunock, or peered through the blinds at the passers-by. Sometimes she did a little shopping. She sent a ser- vant to the stores for samples ; and, after she had ex- amined them and chosen what she desired, the servant returned the samples, and paid for what had been selected. The evening w.as the happiest time of day for the pool', imprisoned lady. She then made a grand toilet, and, accompanied by her husband, went to the theatre or to an ice cream saloon. Now all this is changed. The Brazilian merchants spend their days precisely as do the business men of New York and Boston. The women too are no longer close prisoners in their houses, but may be seen upon the streets in the daytime just as in our own country. On leaving the city of Rio Janeiro, let us take a pass- ing glance at the town of Petropolis. It is an hour's journey from the capital. The first half of the trip is upon a steamer, which crosses the beautiful bay to the northern side. There a very steep railroad takes the traveler right into the heart of the Organ Mountains. ■*'l^¥->%,r.5*¥?^^** :^^> .' ,.• 1^ 24fi THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. I'ctropolis is very niiicli like a Swis.s villa^'c. It is situated in a lofty valley, siinoumled l)y nioiiiitaiiis. 'I'liere are s'^vcral swift rivers wliicli nisli tliioii^'h its very striiets and are siianiicd at frciiuent iiilcrvals by wooden lnidges. The summer houses and hotels are all very hri^ditly and },'ayly painted. They have orna- mental woodwork and little l)aleonies and pia/zas. The palace and heautiful frroinids of the late empentr, Doni INfdro, can be seen here. The thiiti reji[ion of lira/il, the distriet lying between the twentieth and thirtieth parallels, iiieludes the val- leys of the Parana and Paraguay Rivers. It is well adapted to grazing. Large numbers of (tattle and hoi'ses are imported from the Argentine Iiei»ul)lie, and beef and mutton, hides and horn.s, will be among the future riehes of Brazil. Now, how does Brazil compare with our own country? Will it ever rival the United States in importance? It is quite its equal now, so far as natural wealth is con- cerned ; but it is, and probably ever will be, inferior to the Uinted States, so far as the people are concerned. The United States is a nation of workers. The Bra- zilians, on account of their climate, are obliged to rest during a good part of the day, and, even in their working hours, they often toil but languidly. Foreigner who come to this country soon lose their energy, and drop into the listless habits of the natives. One-half of lirazil is unsettled. Mo.st of the region about the Amazon is an unbroken wilderness. The hcalthfulness of the cities will be improved in time, but the climate of the country cannot be altered. "^^'^*9KM!f^ f^^^ ''- OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 240 villa^'o. It is ])y luomitaiiis, sli throii^'h its it iiiti'i'Viils by iiiid iiotcls ai'u u-y liiivi! oriia- l piazzas. Tiio eiupuror, Dom lying iKitweeu rludes the val- s. It is well ittlf and hoi'sus il)li(;, and beef ong the future • own country ? iportance ? It wealth is con- be, inferior to e concerned, ers. The Bra- obliged to rest 1 their working i'oreignei-s who ei'gy, and drop t of the region ness. )e improved in lot be altered. And so, as the greatest possililt! tflHciency in ii tropical (!ountry can never rival the greatest possible cniciency in a t('nip(frate country, I will venture to say tliat the Kepul)lif of Hrazil can never excel the Rci)ublic, of tlie Stars and Strijjes. CHAPTER XX. IN THK VALLIiV OK TIIK LA J'LATA. Next to the Amazon, the largest I'ivcr in South Amer- ica is the Kio de la I'lata. The name La IMata is only given to a very few miles of tlie river, — only to its very broad mouth, in fact. The Parana Hiver unites with the Uruguay River to form the La IMata almost within sight of the sea. The Parana is a line, long river, rising in the moun- tains near Rio Janeiro. Its principal tributary is the Paraguay River, which stretches its long arms nearly to the Madeira River, as if the Amazon and the La Plata wished to gi-ecit each other. The state of Paraguay is situated between the Parana and Paraguay Rivers ; while to the south, between the LTruguay River and the ocean, lies its sister state, Uru- guay. The third country included in the valley of the La Plata is the Ai'gentine Republic. The La Plata River has the widest mouth of any river in the world. Sailing across it is like sailing on a vast sea, so far as the distance of the shores is con- =«»i*j^r'"i!ai;.v 250 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. rcriu'd; l»ii*. tlir t'siiuuv of the l.;i I'liilii is not flccp likti tliu si'ii. It liiis niiiiiy sliiillow iilaccs, ainl stciiiiKMs itiid Hiiiliiij,' vcsHi'ls liavo to iiiako tlu'ir \vii> with t\w utmost carc!. Tlu' iiavi^'atioii of the La IMata, liko that of tlio Amazon, is fruo to all the woild. Steamers from every mition am seen npon its waters. In the harlior of Rosario, two hundred miles from tlw^ month of the Lii IMata, ships beaiinj,' the ilags of Miif^dand, Spain, Fnuieo, and (utrmany arc; hulen with hiiles, horns, and other products of the Ar^^ffutine Hepiddie. Tiiero aro two lines of steandxtats on the La IMata, wlii(di make a poor little attempt at luxuriance. The cahins have [)late mirrors, brass an-^/JMiii^iu<<^*!»-mfiVM(.nwi-!Vfi}i^^i^^ OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 261 not ^ I.' its last cent and given its last chop of hlooil in the cause of Lopez. The peojjle did lut love Lopez, hut it seemed to them to he their dwiy to defend J'araguay against its enemies. After six years Lojjcz was killed and the war closed. Nearly all the population liad heen destroyed hy war and famine. The sohliers that were left had scarcely any clothing, and shoes had been an exceptional luxury for years. This palace had been built just before the war, with money wrung from the raraguayans. The interior decoi'ations were gorgeous. J.,opez's c:hamber was lumg with priceless lace, hue as a cobweb, over red satin. The women of Paraguay are celebrated hir this particu- lar, delicate lace, and two hundred womoTi were kept busy for several years in making what I.opez demanded for a single room. This j)alaco and most of the build- ings in A uncion were either destroyed or mutilated in the war. After the war, the able men whom Lopez had ban- ished returi^ed to their country, and, by making laws favorable to settlers, induced many people from abroad to settle in Paraguay. Tlie counti'y is rich in forests and pasture lands. In its forests are found woods which are as rare and beau- tiful as those of distant Cluna and Japan. There is also timber so heavy that it sinks in water. Roth kinds of these rare woods will be of use to the world some day, wlien sawmills are clattering on the remote streams of Paraguay. Rut now the woodland silence is unbroken, except for the occasional step of a curious traveler. n£srKi«»saaaMs»iS5Eai^fty«A,*t^ ;s«3^g(l0i»; I •looil ill the ! Lopez, hut (1 J'araguay war closed. y id by war lacl scarcely ioiial luxury le war, with 'lie interior 3r was hung r red satin, this partieu- were kept /. demanded f the Imild- iiutilated in 3z had han- lakincf laws roni abroad ) lands. In i and beau- . There is Both kinds d some day, 3 streams of s Tinhroken, aveler. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 253 The most profitahle business in Paraguay is stock raising. The grfiss is fine and there are no frosts, as there are farther south in rruguay and the Argentine Republic ; so the cattle are finer and heavier here than in either r>f the other states. The expoits of the country are beef, mutton, wool, hides, and, last but riot least, mate, «t'?i5'##!«^*j fc OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 257 )ry bigh, while have Hat roofs, . Most of the ; Italians; and, sly follow their liouses. They ler tiiere in the the sea. The ttes tranquilly, ttiiile overhead 11 brilliantly, es in the world, veritable Arca- oi summer, and ores, moderates , it is October ; Montevideo is inds from the ipei'os, because, '.es, they blow ata. Tliey are ed everywhere. sities, catch up d fling them in the pamperos 1 the La Plata iccount. Even I captain wears an anxious face during this part of his voyage. He knows not what treachery the calmest skies may hide. Montevideo, owing to its activity and industry, ap- pears almost like a North American city ; but it has a few characteristics which seem (jueer to a foreigner. The policemen are soldiers of the army detailed to this office ; and, instead of clubs, they carry swords. The courtyards of many of the houses are paved with knuckle bones, which are arranged in ornamental de- signs. The knuckle bones belonged to sheep; but the citizens, as a standing jest, try to make the traveler believe that these are the bones of the people killed in the many wars of the state. Now let us turn to the most important state of the La Plata, — the Argentine Republic. Some years ago its southern boundary was the Rio Negro, and on the farther side of this river was a country called Pata- gonia. Recently Chile and the Argentine Republic divided Patagonia between them. The Andes were the dividing line. Chile took the territory to the west and a strip extending from west to east, just north of the Strait of Magellan. The Argentine Republic had the rest. Patagonia disappeared. With its increased territory, the Argentine Republic is about the size of Mexico. It consists mainly of the pampas, or Plains of the La Plata, although there are some fine forests within its boundaries. The pampas are covered with grass. One can ride for miles and miles without seeing a tree or even a bush. The grass when first springing up is of a clear, bright green; but as it grows taller, it changes to a ..«& •rsr^atg^gfir^ 2o8 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. 'i lighter, paler color. This is perhaps owing t.) the dust whieh settles thickly upon it at some seasons of the year. In the eastern part of the llepuhlic there is a rank growth of thistles. The thistles and clover spring up together; hut the thistles soon outgrow the clover and rise to a height of ten feet, offering a thick, close, ini- penetrahle harrier to any one trying to pass through. Later in the year they l)ecome thin and dry, and at last fall to the ground and die. Then conies the spring with the fresh clover and the new thistles, and the yearly round hegins again. Any one riding across the plains finds them very solitary at times. The oidy sound he hears is the occa- sional cry of a partridge or a hawk. The tiny mounds of the prairie dog dot the roadside here and there. Be- sides the dog, a solitary owl or a pair of owls gener- ally live in each of these underground houses. Some- times the owls are seen solemnly standing, one on each side of the doorw.ay, guarding the house of their little host and friend ; for the owl and the prairie dog really do form a warm friendship. Here is one of many stories that might he told illustrating that fact. A party of hunters and their dogs were drowning out a prairie dog's home, and had just killed the little beast himself. The owl, who had been hovering over their heads, and uttering pathetic cries, on the death of its friend nerved itself for action. With a furious shriek, it descended upon a terrier who had been most active in the hunt, and, perched upon its head, it flapped, its wings against the dog's face and pecked it with its beak. »» •-'l?f,"f,-^''!Sl!'!SI^? OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS 2r)9 iiig t.) the dust seasons of the there is ;i rank over spring up the clover and Lhiek, chwe, im- ) pass tlirough. hy, and at hist the spring with and the yearly ids them very sars is the occa- he tiny mounds and there. Be- o{ owls gener- houses. Some- ig, one on each 3 of their little airie dog really of many stories e drowning out [ the little beast ring over their he death of its furious shriek, sen most active 1, it flapped, its it with its beak. It was driven away; but iialf an hour later, while the hunters were in a distant part of the farm, the bird appeared and renewed its attack. It was wild with grief and anger at the death of its small friend. The plains of the Argentine Itepublic, like all the plaiiLs of the La Plata, are used for grazing. Millions and millions of horses, cattle, and sheep are herded here. The herdsm(;n who look after them are a sti'ange, wild set of men. They are most niaguHicent riders, and their horses are i)erfectly tiained. Once a eom[)any of circus riders came to Huenos Ayres, and, after they had performed their usual re- markable [)r()grannne, a i)arty of herdsmen lode into the ring. They put their horses through the same antics that the circus riders had i)eri'ormed, and exhibited other feats that far excelled any that the professionals had .shown. The discomfited company sailed away to Valparaiso, only to be again beaten on their own ground by C'hilean horsemen. The herdsman of the Argentine Republic, who corre- sponds to the American cowboy, is quite a picturesque figure. He wears lai'ge, loose, enil)roi(lered trousers, a wide sash wound several times about his waist, a broad- brimmed Panama hat, and a poncho. The poncho is a curious but very useful gafnient. It is a blanket of the usual size, with a hole in the centre through which the head is thrust. The folds of the blanket fall about the arms and the body down to the knees. The arms of the rider are left free to handle the reins. The poncho serves as a protection from the heat of summer, the cold of winter, and sudden rainstorms. I n 200 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. i i' i 'SI It 51 * ' . r TS.*9fe- The best ponchos iuo of a lif,'lit yellow color, ami are made of hair from an animal resembling the camel in K>\ -pe. They are as soft as vclvit and as Crui a& steel, . i Vii for generations Poxch are the ancient jjonclios; but to- prepares to throw his lasso. This is a long line of ru ■• hide with a noose at the end. The man gallops a.,jr the steer and, as he api)roaches, with unerring aim he throws the lasso, which instantly catches the fore ■ ^s of the beast and brings him to the ground. A sec ;.(), ranchman on the other side casts a lasso about the ani- mal's head, and it is then powerless to defciul itself. The hot iron is brought and forced against the shoul- der. The brand of th(! owner is so burnt into the skin that it remains upon the hide even after the animal has been slain. Sometimes an ox is lassoed by the horns or by the fore legs ; but whatever may be the aim of the hunter, he always hits the mark. The bolas is another instrument by which the herds- man brings down the cattle. It consists of two balls of iron or lead connected by a leather thong about eight feet in length. The bolas is swung round the head, and then launched at the horns or legs of the animal. It winds around him so that he is powerless to escape the ranchman. I ■ "»* ""Tr. I, u.L«w»i.i)iytsa-»yiBS5»'«i<,-.«.'3W»«^. ^^■^''■' rr I' i h it ,5^ |H 'i If 262 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. It is said that the hordsnieii of the La Pfatu are tlie fiiu'st horsenu'U in tlie woild. And they may well he sn, for (hey eat, sleep, and spend most of their lives in the saduilt niiUiy iiiiU-s of niilroiids; and, when studied hy distriets, it heaiy a curious resem- bhmce to the United States. The nortiiern distriets raise cotton, rice, corn, and sugar cane, like our Soutliern States. Wiieat and other grains can Ikj raised in the southern (hstriets, wliich cor- respond to our Dakotas and Minnesota. Altogether many close resemblances besides the form of government can be discovered. Huenos Ayres has one of the woi'st harbors in the world. It is so shallow that no vessels can sail near the town. They are obliged to anchor six miles from shore ; then large Iwats called lightera conio to transfer passengers and cargoes to the land. Sometimes the water is so shallow that even the lighters cannot approach the wharves. Tiien ck ciirts are driven out for a mile or so into the river to meet the lighters. There, while the water rises high about the wheels of the carts and the legs of the long-sufYcring animals, the cargo is transferred from boats to carts, and thus brought to shore. Occasionally indignant mules, pulling loaded carts to shore, are seen with all but their noses and eai-s covered with water. The depth of the harbor changes with the clianging of the wind. When the east wind blows, the harbor is flooded. When the pamperos come sweeping down from the Andes, the water of the harbor is blown out to sea. ,f. mfmmmmfi-mm^Mm^mimmmmm':w^&m' i^gt.; "'" tliu wliolo of I likened to our pii.siiij,' iiatioiia i!S ol" niilifHuls ; curious resem- rice, corn, and 'iu'ivt and other icts, wiiich cor- i. Altogether of government harhora in the » can Hail near six miles from imo to transfer that even the Tiien OK carts river to meet ises hif^h about ; long-sufYcrinpf ,ts to carts, and diffnant nudes, th sill but their the clianging of , the liarbor is nuff down from iwn out to sea. OUR AMERICAN NtlGHBORS. '2{\'> Largo Hhi[)H have to shift their anchorage with nearly every change of the weather vane. lint, once ashore, the traveler cannot fail to adniii'c Miieiios Ayres. The wide streets are parallel thmiigh- out tlic city, and are laid out at right angles with one anotliiM'. 'J'hen! are theatres, hospitals, churches, public libraries, and museums. 'i'he banks and many of the business buildings are truly magniticent. The banks are built of luarliie, and are adorned with great marble colunins, wliiili cause them to resemble palaces, rather than Ituildings for the transaction of business. All the modern improvements are here, such as the telephone and the elc(!tric light. Amcri(^an news[)a[>crs are readily obtained, and "Harper's Magazine" and "The Century" can be bought at any large bookstore. The citizen of Huenos Ayres prides himself on his knowledge of the United States, its growth, and its politics. You may travel the length and breadth of South America and find no city so much like a city t»f the United States as Huenos Ayres. Here the pcoph; are really in a hurry ; they seem to realize the value of time ; and busiiu!ss is actually transacted in IJuenos Ayres on the appointed day, instead of being put off through an endless succession of to-morrows. The Argentine Republic has two provinces that are not yet thoroughly explored, — one to the north, and the other t( he south. The northern province is Kl Gran Chaco, aiid the southern is the region formerly known as Patagonia. ,#''*«^it;,. " ■""'^"' t I 266 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. El Gran Chaco is a woiulorfully rich district, if all the reports of it are true. It abounds in rich forests and plains, and has valuable stores of gold, silver, and diamonds. Patagonia is a great contrast to El Gran Chaco. It was not worth the trouble that Chile and the Ai'gcntine Re- public took to secure it. Tlie northern part of Patagonia consists of grazing lands, but the southern part is a dreary desert, inhabited only by the ostrich and a queer little species of antelope wliich is hunted for its skin. The Patagonian Indians, before the division of their country between two civilized nations, often made I'aids into the Argentine Republic. They would drive their cattle northward as winter came on, and, leaving them feeding in tlie sheltered valleys of the Andes, would attack the rantdies, steal the cattle, and send the ranch- men Hying in terror to the capital. Year .by year they penetrated farther into the Republic. At last, the president resolved to bear this no longer. He had a wide, deep trench dug across the way by which they would return home. Then mounted ranch- men were sent to drive them back across the border. The poor Indians, riding at a gallop, fell into the trench and were killed or wounded. The few who escaped this terrible death were taken prisoners. So these border raids ceased. The Indians of Old Patagonia are of two classes, — the Patagonians, or Horse Indians, and tlie Canoe Indi- ans of Terra del Fuego. Tlie latter dwell in Chilean territory, and their many curious habits will be described in the next chanter. r^M -,--■>- ^i-- bstt ***-««;•- li district, if all I ill rich forests gold, silver, and n Chaco. It was 13 Argentine He- art of Patagonia tliern part is a •icli and a queer I for its skin, livision of their )ften made raids •nld drive their d, leaving them ) Andes, would send the ranch- ar .by year they this no longer. )ss the way by mounted ranoh- oss the border. , fell into the The few who prisoners. So two classes, — the Canoe Indi- well in Chilean 'ill be described OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 2G7 The ITorse Indians are very tall and strong. The old voyagers used to say that Patagonia was inhabited by "menne of that biggeness that it seemed the trees of the forests were uprooted and were moving away." This was exaggerated, of course, although nearly all the Indian braves are six feet in height. Their occu- pation consists in tendiiig their herds of cattle, and in hunting ostriches, sometimes for meat, but oftener for feathers. The South American ostrich, called the Rhea, differs from the African in a few points of anatomy and in having brown feathers tipped with white, while the African ostrich's feathers are gray. The Indians pursue them on horseback and catch them by using the bolas. They do not kill the birds iniless they need food, but merely pluck the valuable feathers. The eggs are always relished by the Indians. One egg contains as much meat as ten hen's eggs. Single eggs are often found upon the sand, but sometimes the Patagonian discovers an ostrich's nest, hidden beneath a bush, in a deep hollow of the sand. As it contains anywhere from ten to forty eggs, such a discovery is a fortunate one. Sometimes a nest of young ostriclies is lighted upon. The hunt n- is sure to kill them all, because the thirty tiny speckled breasts, when made into a soft, warm, beautiful rug, bring a good price in Punta Arenas, the only town in all this territory. Steamers ro/nding Cape Horn stop at Punta Arenas for coal, and the passengers are delighted to purchase these rugs as mementoes of the southernmost town in South America. ■"'.WvSS:- ■--•.—-I.- ,■ I i I J I 268 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The dress of the Patagoiiian is a siii*»■»'*.•■- r ri 274 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. t: » i I- !; I ■-1 steej) descent .and find ounsulves in the li*^tle Chilean town of San Uo.sa de lo8 Andes. From this place we may go by rail directly to Santiago, the capital of Chile, and thence to V'alparaiso, the chief seaport. The Cliileans say that they are the Yankees of South America. So to show their Yankee A RAILROAD BRIDGE IN CHILE. spirit of energy and acquisition, they recently engag«;d in a war with Peru and Bolivia. Peru was beaten, and the Chileans extended their narrow strip of territory several degrees northward, taking in all the coast of Bolivia and a little of the coast of Peru. Then, by a peaceable division of Patagonia with the Argentine Republic, Chile gained ail tlie teriitory west of the Andes, Tierra del Fuego, and a bit of land north m .-IJV, LE. OUK AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 275 lie liHle Chilean 111 this place we capital of Chile, lort. aiikees of South ecently engagt.'d was beaten, and ii'ip of territory all the coaKt of agonia with the le tenitory west ni of land north of the Strait of Magellan. It is said tliat Chile Avants to concpu'r tliat section of Bolivia and I'cru that will give her the control of the up[)(;r springs of the Aniazoii. But at present she wisidy remains cinitent with her late coiKincsts, as well she may. As some one has said, the map of Chile at present "looks like the leg of a tall man, very lean, with a very high instep and several conspicuous bunions." Chile is bounded on the cast by the Andes, and on the west by the PaciiHc Ocean. Her nortliern boundary runs well into the troj)ics, and her southern point, ('ape Horn, is covered with snow and ice the year round. On accoiuit of its extreme narrowness Chile is not usually considered a large country, but it is, in reality, larger than any nation in Europe except Russia. Chile has three regions, running more or less into one anotlier, and yet on tlie whole fairly distinct. Begin- nino- at the north, they lie as follows: the mineral region, the agricultural region, and the region of forests and fisheries. The soil of the old coast of Bolivia is rich in nitrates, and these with the guano of Peru are exported by Chile. They bring in quite an annual income, and the government is usiiig this money to build men-of-war. The agrieidtural district is included within a few degrees of latitude. Chile consists of a long, central valley lying between two parallel and lofty mountain ranges, the Andes and the Cordillera. The Cordillera skirts the coast closely in northern Chile ; but in south- ern Chile the range has been broken up into sections. The ocean has rushed in between these sections, and wo 1 1 it ■' !; ■.-.'ir.»i-.' viitfavi. [ -' 276 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. I ; I I, ' 16 find remnants of the cluiin in tlio continuous line of rocky islands that follow the coast. The ciMitnil valley of what is called agricultural Chile was once. a chain of lakes, such as is found he- twcen th(! niouiilain ranges of Kouthern C!hile at the present day. 'I'he water in the lakes to tlu" north has been drawn off by volcanic action, and the dei)osit which the streams have brought down from tlie hills to the lakes is exposed. This makes a few fertile places, but generally irrigation hius to be resorted to in order to improve the very poor natural soil of Chile. Irrigation is managed in this way. The farmers of a certain neighborhood have a canal built. All along the canal, sluiceways are made which let thirty-five cubic (lentimeters of water per second pa.ss off through 'hannels into the fields to the right or to the left. Each farmer subscri])es for one or more of these sluieewaj's. He has a rough dam, which turns aside the water from the channel that enters his iield, upon his land, at a par- ticular spot. When every inch of grouiul there has l)een carefully watered, the dam is moved to another place, and a second plot of ground is irrigated. Fine fruits, particularly grapes, are raised in abun- dance, and wines are made and exported. Some of the Chilean wines go to Europe, but most of them are con- sumed on the Pacific coast. The agricultural district is also the region of many . flourishing cities. There is space here to deserilie only two, — Santiago, the capital of Chile, and Valparaiso, its principal port. Santiago is situated in the central valley of Chile, at -Sttrn' 'ia^V8i®?.-.ai:lE®»3ft56'^«®l - .E. iitiiiuous line of led aj,ni('ultural as is found he- rn Chile at the to tlu! north has lie deposit vvhieii the hills to the utile places, hut . to in order to lile. riie farmers of a . All along the thirty-five cuhic hrough <;hainiels t. Each farmer ;e\va3's. e the water from is land, at a par- id there hiis heen lother place, and raised in ahun- d. Some of the if them are con- region of many to deserilio only and Valparaiso, ley of Chile, at OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 277 one end of a long, brown plain. Its climate is nearly perfect. It rains four mouths of tiie year, hut during the remaining eight months tlie sun shines steadily with a mild warmth that is very deliglitfnl. The sunrises and sunsids on the; mountains are won- derfully beautiful. At early dawn the rosy light begins to j)lay on the summits of the Andes; then step by 8te[) it creeiis down the side of tin; mountain into the valley, until the whole city and i)lain are bathed in the morning glow. The sunsets are even more beautiful ; fm- sometimes a rainbow eft'eet is produced, and lights of violet, blue, green, and red tint all the hills. The light seems to linger longest on the snowy crater of Aconcagua, the highest volcano, not only of the Andes, but of the Western Hemisphere. Aconcagua is two thousand feet higher than the famous Chimborazo. Its exact height is twenty-two thousand four hundred and fifteen feet. No one has ever explored the suniniit, which is covered with a perpetual coating of glaciei"s and avalanches. The city of Santiago is laid out as exactly as a checkerboard. The streets are the dividing lines, and the blocks of houses the squares. The houses are built low on account of the freipient earthquakes, and are seldom more than one or two stories in height. The first story is built of stone, and the second story, if there is one, is of cane, plastered with mud and stucco, and colored with various bright shades of rose, blue, Jind yellow. Some recent houses have been built of stone and brick, clamped together with iron braces. tf*»(. ^.^i.*^'.- .a*- «.^>*^-.-';-*^.'-Be<.'*^ ■>-»«' -i^.-^ut;*- i::A,VS«.S»« ii-V.b!«W>->4i ' isltHiife/i' -*«' ^.-irtliiii*!*!"!^'- ,.,«-,«;.««W,>: ..«>*.k«, Jte.:-»''i-''-^*«*'---»* ■ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. i/ . .■ A- 'as At f, 1.0 I.I t lis 2.5 12.2 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 •* 6" ► Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 Is: :S. f m. 6 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques mmmmmmmm l! f 1 } 1 B i 1 ■ 1*1 4 ■■'■■ \ ■I 1^ i\- :.'■!■ ■ ,&..£: 278 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The houses of the wealthy are in the Spanish style, be- ing built about siiuare courts o2ien to the sky. The poor live either in tumble-down hovels in the centre of the tqwn, or in cane huts on its outskirts. Tliey have nuul lloors and very little furniture in their houses, and live upon beans, bread, and onions. Water- melons, which can be bought very cheap, are their only luxury. Santiago might almost be called the city of watermelons, as people can be seen eating them in pub- lic daily, and the rinds are thrown everywhere. In the centre of the city is the plaza. This large, shady, grassy scjuare has a bron/x' fountain playing on the summit of a series of terraces covered with shade trees and flowers. This ornamental centre of the plaza is locked at night, so that the flowers may not be stolen by the street boys. Thieving is one of the chief sins of the nation, and the boys only follow the example which their elders set them. In the Peruvian war, the Chileans plundered the Peruvians most unmercifully. They sent off to their own country shiploads of statuary, bronze fountains and lamp-posts, marble seats, finely wrought silver railings, clocks, pianos, nnd furniture. And now the streets of Santiago are enriched by the very treasures which once adorned Lima and Callao. The plaza is the centre of the life of the city. It is surrounded by the Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, the City Hall, and a large number of shops and booths. Early in the morning, women wrapped in black veils can be seen hastening across the plaza to early mass. A poorer class of women are sweeping the crossings "JIIIB I IHA, 'tmmm^^ . ■j^*' "'»^:tV\ 'LE. "ipanis'i style, be- lie sky. vn hovels in the on its outskirts, uiniture in their onions. Water- p, are their only ailed the city of ing them in pub- rywhere. iza. This large, itain playing on .'ered with shade litre of the plaza lay not be stolen the chief sins of e example which 1 plundered the ient off to their ze fountains and t silver railings, w the streets of iures which once ' the city. It is op's Palace, the and booths, ed in black veils ii to early mass, g the crossings OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 279 with willow brooms. On every street an impatient crowd are gathered about the "cow stution." This is a platform on which a cow stands to be milked, at the request of any one who brings a cup or a bucket to be filled. At the time of morning mass large crowds ©f servants are gathered about these stations, waiting for the daily portion of milk for the families which they serve. When one cow can give no more milk, another is driven upon the platform. As the trade continues all day, the owner of the platform must make considerable money. Later in the morning cabmen stand by the plaza, in- specting all who pass, in hopes of a fare. Peasants from the country drive their heavy wooden carts through the street. TJiese carts are drawn either by oxen or horses, and are piled high with fruits and vegetables. The fruits are of two zones, owing to the proximity of Santiago to the mountains. One can buy strawber- ries, grapes, figs, peaches, pears, quinces, plums, cher- ries, oranges, lemons, and apples in the market place. And we must not forget to add watermelons. After the traveler has bought one, the market man or woman sometimes kindly allows him to eat it beneath the shade of the awning of the booth. Donkeys often pass through the plaza laden with clover which covers them completely, so that they resemble moving haystacks. The street cars also start here. The street cars have seats upon the roof as well as within the car itself. The seats on the roof are reached by a stair winding up from the back platform. They n n ■ tft 0t' (■■ ■"'^•■"" 1 ^\ ill ' t f i 4 \ l'^ If s U*. \ 280 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. command tlie view, of course, and are, niMreover, half the price of an inside seat. The full fare is live cents. The horse car conductor is, strange to say, a woman. All the conductors in Chile are women. They under- took this occu])ation when the men wei-e away fighting in Peru and have retained it ever since. The conductor wears a neat navy blue suit, a wide- brinnned straw hat, and a i)retty white apron with pockets for tickets and change. Above her stand, on the rear platform, hangs a bag containing her luneheon, extra tickets, and money. She fills her ofhce with much dignity and is, in every way, a success. At night the i)laza is liveliest of all. G«ntlemen and ladies promenade through the walks, the band plays, and the shops exhibit their most tempting goods. From eight to eleven in the evening is the time when most of the shopping is done. The wonien trip over from the plaza to inspect the stores and to buy beautiful laces, diamonds, and jewelry. The shops, which in the middle of the day are dull and slow, are now thoroughly awake and alive to trade. Santiago has a veiy fine avenue for riding or prome- nading. It is three miles long and six hundred feet wide. Through the very centre of the avenue is a wide walk, bordered with several rows of poplar trees, and with statues of famous men dotting it here and there. On each side of the central promenade is a. driveway one hundred feet wide. The poplar trees, which are seen throughout Santiago, and particularly in this avenue, did not originally grow in Chile, but were brought from the other side of the DPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 281 ire, moreover, lialf 1 flirt! is live cents. 3 to say, a woman, nen. They uiider- vei-e away fighting L'e. blue suit, a wide- wliite apron with x)ve lier stand, on ning lier luneheon, )r ottice witli much s. . Gentlemen and i, tile band plays, )ting goods, if is the time wlien women trip over d to buy beautiful lops, which in the re now thoroughly • riding or prome- six hundred feet the avenue is a s of poplar trees, tting it here and '. promenade is a . 3Ughout Santiago, t originally grow other side of the Andes. With them came, it is said, that strange disease, the goiter, in which the glands of the neck are very much swollen. Hefore the coming of the poi)lar, the goiter had never been known in Chile. A drive along this famous avenue is always pleasant. Many fine residences line it on either hand. Among the different styles of houses along the way, one singles out gilded i)alaccs, turrctcd Turkish residences, and gloomy Tudor buildings, that often look out of place in a land of frequent earthquakes. One can so easily im- agine all those splendid piles falling and becoming a heap of magnificence. The low, broad Spanish house looks more enduring, and therefore more suitable. At one end of tiie avenue is Santa Lucia. This is a great rock, which was once unutterably brown, barren, and unornamental. A wealthy citizen of Santiago spent liis private fortune in improving it, and now it is the most beautiful featuie of the prospect. It is laid out with gardens and walks, which wind up to the summit. Here and there balconies and summer houses are erected, commanding a pretty outlook ; while at the summit is a wide promenade and a small theatre and chapel. From this hilltoi), the view of the lighted city by night is one to be long remembered. The Horticultural and Zoological Gardens are situated at the other end of the drive. Chile brought an ele- phant and two lions from Peru, to add to her zoological collection. Rut the animals could not bear the change to a colder climate, and died. Two hundred years ago, pirates thronged the liigh seas, and frequent fights took place in the Spanish main I * * I i 282 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. i t 1 I M 1 between the high-decked galleons from Spain and mys- terions black crafts which displayed a skull and cross- bones on their Hags. In those days it used to be safest to build the capital city inland. That necessitated a secaport city for the capital, and so it came to pass that cities were built in pairs throughout South America. Examples of this are La Guayra and Bogata, Callao and Lima, Valparaiso and Santiago. Valparaiso resembles the city of Hahia in hc'mg a two storied town, one story being on the hills and the other on the narrow strip of seashore at their base. The harbor is large and deep, but is opened so widely towards the north that for two months of the year it is quite unsafe. If a breakwater could be built across the mouth of the bay, it would render it one of the most secure harbors on the Pacific coast. But such an under- taking is impossible, as the water is over six hundred feet deep. Within the sheltering ciirve of the hills, on the clear, blue waters of the Pacific, ships of every great nation, except the United States, float serenely at their anchors. The lighters and small boats of the harbor are very busy helloing load and unload the larger craft. The wharves are fine, and the warehouses are of stone and roughly decorated. A dark range of mountains follows closely the cres- cent outline of the bay. Many spurs, jutting from the range toward the bay, have their sides and summits thickly crowded with houses. The beach at the foot of the hills is, in places, so narrow that there is room for but one street. In other places the hills recede, leav- ^ftwwa^. .S,S'""&,S«S. [OPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 283 oni Spain and mys- a skull and cross- it used to be safest rhat necessitated a , came to pass that ut South America. Bogata, Callao and 5ahia in being a two hills and the other leir base. is opened so widely ^hs of the year it is I be built across the it one of the most But such an under- s over six hundred e hills, on the clear, every great nation, ely at their anchors. lie harbor are very larger craft. The !S are of stone and vvs closely the cres- rs, jutting from the sides and summits beach at the foot of t there is room for e hills recede, leav- ing space for tlu'oe or four streets. Tliis is, of course, the commercial part of the town. The homes of tlie people are on the liills, and are reached by steam elevators, by stairways cut in the solid rock, and by streets so stee[) and winding that one can THE PLAZA OF VALPARAISO. well believe the tradition which says that in laying them out, the goat pathways weie followed. One reaches the summits with panting breath, and in descending from them, an alpenstock seems neces- sary. When the wind IJows, pedestrians cling to the rocky sides of the way. Three horses are necessary to draw a carriage into the upper town. The houses upon three of the hills are pleasant and well built. The poorer classes live upon the other hills. Tf ' I i Iff ^: 'il I I; 284 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Their houses are mere makeshifts, as tlicy are huilt of driftwood, oil cans, sardine hoxes, and anything that the poor people ean find with which to patch up a dwelling. V^alparaiso, viewed from the hari)or, is very pictur- esque. The houses appear to be perched so insecurely upon the hills that a slight shock might throw them over. By moonlight or by electric light, the city is enchanting. The patches of light and shade are arranged fantasti- cally, and the lights of the vessels near the mouth of the harbor rise and fall with the motion of the dark water. You would feel quite at home in the city of Valpa- raiso, as English is spoken by nearly every one. Eng- lish merchants, booksellers, doctors, and grocers fill the city. There are several P^nglish newsi)apers. In fact, Valparaiso is, what the whole state of Chile is, an Eng- lish colony. The native of Chile is very proud of the leading place which his country holds among the other states of South America. He thinks the United States the only nation to compare with his. If you should tell him that it is the English who make Chile an enterprising nation, he would give you a terrible look out of his haughty, Spanish eyes, and perhaps draw that murder- ous Chilean knife, that he is only too ready to introduce into conversation on the slightest pretext. But it is only the truth that you have spoken. The Chilean is incapable of any sustained effort, and the persevering industry that has brought the country to her present stand among the nations, has come from the foreign elements of the English and the Germans. hi ■s^SBWSB?^ '" OPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. :i85 .s they are built of (I anything that the )at(h up a (hvelliiig. l)or, is very pictur- jrohcd so insecurely ;ht throw them over, e city is enchanting. i arranged fantasti- near the mouth of motion of the dark 1 the city of Valpa- ly every one. Kng- and grocers (ill the !\vsi)apers. In fact, if Chile is, an Eng- )ud of the leading y the other states of ited States the only 5U should tell him hile an enterprising )le look out of his diaw that murder- ) ready to introduce etext. have spoken. The ned effort, and the ght the country to , has come from the and the Germans. Everywliere, whetlier as sheep growers, owners of mines, or managei-s of large estates in the south, or as mer- chants and professional men in the cities, they are the leaders, and tiie ones wlio are moulding the nation. Tlie people of ("liilc are boastful and careless. Their shops are in utter confusion, and, in the large and valu- able public library, (he books are placed on the shelves with no attemi)t at classilication. They are very cruel by nature. They are most deadly foes on the battlefield ; but their extreme cruelty is most commonly seen in their treatment of their horses. A hoi-se is very cheap, it is true, but even that does not excuse his master for driving him until he drops dead. Although the climate of Chile is like that of Wash- ington, with many bleak and chilly days, a fire is never lighted in the homes of the people. They think it unhealthy. They go about thickly mulHed in robes and overcoats, and, in most of the rooms, there are kept large foot warmers of wool and silk, into which the ladies slip their feet when seatett. The Chileans have blue noses and chatterinjr teeth through several months of the year, but they seem to enjoy it. If they enter the parlor of a European, and find a blazing fire, they will leave the door open and create a draught in which they can sit and shiver. Leaving now the agricultural and thickly settled portion of Chile, we enter the third region. Here the central valley is broken up into many lakes and bays. Fish are consequently plentiful, and many forests of fine timber skirt the edges of the water and the foot of the hills. There is, besides, an abundance of coal. lli 1 I >t*^ : 1' k 286 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. 'J'lio isliuuls (if lUf coiist lire as yet niiexplorod, Imt ilmy aro iH-lit-vt-d to lie (if givat wcaltli. Seals timing the shore, and the seal lisliing is beginning to bo prolit- able. The Strait of Magellan is one of the most dreary and desolate phieos on the faee of the earth. Lofty, snow- covered mountains tower on all sides of the strait. Sonietinies tlit; glaciers and snowdrifts ran be plaiidy seen upon their sides; and then, again, dark clouds and mists hide them completely from sight. Sea cap- tains dread the passage of this strait exceedingly, on aee(mnt of its many cross currents and fretpient storms. There are one or two objects which show tu the pas.s- ing vessel that man has been here before. One is the post box. That is a tin box, lixed at a well known point of the northern coast, where letters, books, and papers, which have been read by the crew of .one ship, are left for those of another. Each passing .ship stoiis to leave mail for others and to get its own. Then, again, one sees a tree covered with wooden signs bearing the names of the vessels that have passed by. The Indians who live in Tierra del Fuego are among the lowest people on the face of the globe. They are repulsively ugly and have very little intelli- gence. Although their climate is exceedingly cold all the year round, they have very scanty clothing. They wear simply a blanket of otter skin, and their boots and leggings are made of the same material. They row out in their canoes to passing vessels, to trade skins for whiskey and glass triidiets. The good bishop of the Falkland Islands near by has ^^SBSi^W?'^^ . — — - I EOPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 287 yet \iii(!xi)l()nHl, Imt ■iiltli. Si'iils tlii'img j^iiiuiiig ti) bo prolit- tlie most dreary and earth. Lofty, snow- si, J'i II. !, ; 2HH THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Thoy wiTc 11 pciU't'fiil, iiitcllijjft'iit met', and tlit'ir rulo WUH HO t'xci'lh'iit tliiit it proiiiiHt'd to Ih^ {'ii(Iiiiiiij^. Hut suddenly tlii-rt; Itiust into tlu-ir |i('iici'l"iil viiUcys a liiind of jfiL'ody, l»looiUliiisty iiieii, who Hiiw, with stiullod eyes, tlio jjfreat wealth of tlu! Iiieas, uiid determined to possess it for theiuselvos. Tiieii came a tenihle time of roblxMy and murder. No one can estimate the wealth tliat I'izarro and his band found in I'eru alone. It is said that ho took ninety million dollars worth of silver and j,'old just from the temi)les. One of his lieutenants asked to have the silver luiils in a certain tt'mi»le they were pluuder- iiij,'. Ills retiuest was j^ranted, and he reeeived several hundred thousand dollars worth of silver. The ruling Inea was eaptured, aiul I'izarro told the Indians they mij>ht ransom him, if tlu^y would till a large room with gold. The faithful subjects did so; but the faithless Spaniard took their gold and killed their king. The story of this period in the history of Peru and Tiolivia is botli sad and terrible. I'eru was subject to Si)ain for nearly three hundred years. Then, in the fii-st quarter of the present century, she, with the other Spanisli colonies in South America, became independent. When the boundaries of the new nations were settled, General Bolivar, the George Washington of these colo- nies, founded a new state, which was named Bolivia in his honor. That this new state might have at least a small piece of the seacoast, Chile gave up a little of her territory to Bolivia. It seemed a Avorthless bit of desert land at the time, ] PEOPLE. t race, and their rulc^ o 1)0 eiidiiiiiij^. Hut lU'i'fiil viillcys a 1)1111(1 • saw, with starlK'd ,H, uiid dt'teniiiiKnl to ntlduMy and murder, that I'i/.arro and his i.s said that ho took silver and gold just tenants asked to have [i they were plunder- .1 ho ruceivod several ' silver. and IMzarro told the if they would till a liful suhjects did so ; ;lieir gold and killed history of Peru and I'eru was subject to years. Then, in the Y, she, with the other , became independent. V nations were settled, lington of these colo- ivas named Bolivia in might have at least a gave up a little of lier ert land at the time, OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 28U hut sixty years afterward vast deposits of nitrates, or milts, of great eonunereial value were discovered, 'riion Chile re[»ented her <,Mft. In ordt'r In get i»ack that territory, she niailc war on Bolivia. Bolivia called to i'eru for aid. I'eru responded, and for several years war was waged between Chile on one side, and Peru and Bolivia on the otiior. The Chileans were terriltle foes. They gave no (luartor and took no jirisoners; hut cut tho throats of the wounded, after the battle, with tho siiort, sharp knives that were always at their sides. The horror excited in tin? minds of the Peruvian and Bolivian soldiers by such ferocious deeds, led more than anything else to their dcd'eat. For they weie defeati-d at last, and Chile demanded that the coast of Bolivia, and all tho coast of Peru containing nitrate deposits, should be given to her. She also demanded the grnino islands olY tho coast of Poiu. This was outrageous. Guano had been exported as a fertilizer from Peru to the Old World for many years. On the income derived from this product, the Peruvians had boon enabled to live for generi+tions in perfect idle- ness and luxury. If tho guano and the nitrates were taken, all their means of support woidd be gone. Chile was robbing Peru and Bolivia of their ready money. This must not he, and both countries cried out against tho national robbery. But they were beaten. The Chilean was within their gates ; his knife was at their throats, and, with a despairing glance and cry for help to the indif- ferent and powerful nations looking on, they yielded. 290 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. And SO it comt's to pass that Peru is baiikrupt. First, she h)st the wealth of the Incus; then, when the guano was discovered, she felt so confident of a large assured incdnie, tliat, instead of wisely saving the money from this source, she most recklessly spent it all, and more, too. Lastly, the deposits of nitrates were discovered ; and then came war and the loss of every- thing. Peru to-day is overwhelmed. She sits in the midst of pillaged cities and ruined churches, helpless and hopeless. If Peru were a young and vigorous nation, she might brace herself to meet her present difliculties; but she is old, with none of the free and conlident assurance of a newborn country. Her people are luxurious and nnable to adapt themselves to their present condition. What Peru now needs is new capital and new energy. Bolivia is better off than Peru; for it is a young nation, and has no very large debt. By a recent contract, an English company is to com- plete the railroads which are unfinished, to build new railroads, to settle certain sections of the country, and to free Peru from her enormous debt. In return for this, the company is to receive the products of the mines to which the railroads are extended for a period of sixty- six years. Yon may not think this a good bargain for the English company; but it is likely to be an excellent oiae. When once the railroads reach the mountains, the mines will be opened and floods of silver and gold will come pouring into their treasury. But now let us study the Peru of to-day. It includes [OPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 291 Peru is baiikrupt. cas ; then, when the jonCulcnt of a huge wisely saving the recklessly spent it )sits of nitrates were il the loss of every- d. She sits in the 1 ehurehes, helpless us nation, she might difliculties ; but she infulent assurance of are luxurious and ir present condition, tal and new energy, it is a young nation, company is to com- lished, to build new of the country, and lebt. In return for )roducts of the mines for a period of sixty- lod bargain for the ' to be an excellent 3ach the mountains, is of silver and gold E to-day. It uicludes •i throe regions, — the barren lowlands of the coast, the mountains, and, beyond tliein, tlie table-lands where the U[)[)er streams of the Amazon rise. Tlie lowhmds of the coast consist almost entirely of a barren, reddish brown soil. Here and there by the shores of some stream there is a patcli of green ; but nearly all the land which is used for agriculture nmst be irrigated. Between the fertile regions stretch sandy deserts, fre- quently seventy miles in width. The sweeping winds wliirl up sand into the form of crescents at irregular distances over the desert. The crescents are twenty feet high, and are constantly shifting their positions as the wind changes. Sometimes the peoj)le in the villages bordering on the deserts hear distant music, strange and monotonous. It is the ceaseless sound that the particles of sand in constant motion make as they strike one against another. The streams that water the valleys of tlie coast are of two kinds, temporary and permanent. The temporary streams come from the Cordilleras, or coast mountains, and the permanent streams from the Andes. Hoth are fed by the melting of the snow on the sunnnits of the moiuitains. The Andes arc covered with snow all the year round, and so their streams are always full. The Cordilleras are lower mountains than the Andes. Their peaks do not reach into tlie region of eternal snow, and so, in the dry season, the streams flowing from the Cordilleras dis- jvppear. It scarcely ever rains in this region. It drizzles 292 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. 1 1 1 : i instead. The rainy season, so called, lasts from Juno to Soptendx'r, and during that time the sun is seldom seen. The days are damp and chilly, and the nights misty and drizzly. The rain that falls is really more like a dew, but a dew so heavy that the next morning the streets are muddy. You remember that, in the chapter on Chile, it was said that the Spanish cities were ai)t to be built in pairs — the capital being situated inland for safety, anil a smaller city being built on the coast to serve as its port. Lima, the ca[)ital of Peru, and Callao, its port, have been built in this way. Callao is a discouraged city. Since the war its com- merce and prosperity have flown to other places. The government of Peru has sold the harbor to a French company, who are making money by charging enormous dues on all vessels entering the liarlwr.- In consequence of this, very few vessels come to Callao now. Where once a hundred ships rode at anchor, now there are scarcely a dozen. Very little business is transacted on the wharves or near the empty warehouses. It is hard times indeed for Callao. There is a curious phenomenon connected with this harbor. Just before entering port, sailors are accus- tomed to make a special effort to polish up their vessels to an unusual degree of whiteness. Then, with pride in their hearts for their beautiful ship, they enter port. The next morning after a ship has anchored in Callao Harbor, the sailoi-s are amazed to find their spotless ship daubed from stem to stern, outside and inside, with a brown film. If this is not scraped off immediately, it EOPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS, Mt'O il, liisls from Juno to J sun is sokloni seen, the nights misty iind ily more like a dew, morning the streets ter on Chile, it was t to he huilt in pairs d for safety, and a . to serve as its port, allao, its port, have ice the war its com- ) other places. The harbor to a French y charging enormous jor.- In consequence L^allao now. Where chor, now there are isiness is transacted [)ty warehouses. It connected with this t, sailors are accus- olish up their vessels s. Then, with pride diip, they enter port. IS anchored in Callao nd their spotless ship [e and inside^ with a d off immediately, it ■ I 3 clings to the woodwork so tenaciously that it can with ditliculty he removed. Tliis strange accident, which befalls every sliip enter- ing the harboi', is known as ^ the (.'allao paintei." Who, or what is it? People used to believe that be- neath the sea was an active volcano that threw up ashes upon the vessels. Hut now it is known that the brown film is sulphuretted hydrogen, a gas which is given off from springs beneath the waters. Callao contains nothing that is esi)ecially interesting; so we will hasten to take the train, which, in half an hour's time, brings us to Lima. Do you know, my reader, I think you could describe this city in many points quite as well cas I couhl. From what you have read before of Spanish cities, you would know that in the centre of Lima is a large square, or plaza, and that about it are situate^mAm^'^^'fi PEOPLE, OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 2!tr) lie Cii'^a Vert, cir the the Spiuiisli gover- I'erii was ii colony, huihliiig. Tlie lower e, iuul till! iip[)er half ^co is painted to rep- Ihe careless observer ^ The cathedral is m a marble platform, carved front, is a very white and gold, and Is and shrines. Tlie red in the C'asa Vert, [ honses in Lima are 1. .This prevents the nilding. As it never swers very well. But lower! Tlie startled mud roofs and stucco , and peiha[)S washed ich runs through the serve as piazzas or of Lima have oblong 'hese balconies project I' distanc(!s that they most continuous roof, the marks of the Chil- :;-^-#>:.:,:,##^|^^^^ STREET SCENE IN LIMA. \ If .;• i, 290 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. eaii cannon balls. Even the eatliedml 'tself is badly marred. As for Casa Vert, that was regularly bom- barded. Most of the decorations of the streets and plaza were carried away by the Chileans. Iin»nze and marble foun- tains and statues, street lamps, trei's and shrubs, lions froiii the zoi>l(iiin .seems to be all of rock. is (liirkiiess. We are the rocky wall at an (1 money. I'resiMitly thousaiul feet helow wo have come. It is om the window, we Now the caix cross ron erection called a remembered, for the 3;reat ditliculties that ction of the road. I an unbrokv'ii wilder- e streams and rivei's. 1 growth there, that, ! wilderness, in two disappeared, choked riie only way to open jf men at work there ips a clearing might brt, for it is exceed- and coca trees, and tree are chewed by sy effect, like opium. ed, it may be that wn to the Peruvian Ama to La Paz, the OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 209 capital of Bolivia, is to take the steamer from Callao to MolleMd(». jNIoUeiulo is a lilth; seaport town which might be looked upon as the port of Are(iuipa. the sec- on(l city n I'eni. A railroad starts from Mollendo, passes through Arequipa, and terminates on the western shore of Lake Titicaca. The trip takes the traveler through deserts covered with saiul, pumice, and volcanic rock. Jlere and there along the way is a green patch of country that is un- speakably restful to eyes weary with the blazing white- ness of the desert sand. Areijuipa is pleasantly situated on a green and fertile plain. Its ruined streets and the large rents in the walls of many of the houses sliow how violent the eartluiuake shocks have been. The people of South America have several names for earthquakes, each a little stronger than the last. Thus they can express with accuracy the exact intensity of different shocks. Earthquakes vary from the merest tremble to the yawning of the earth and the swallowing of whole cities. Spanish America is full of terrible stories of houses destroyed without a moment's warn- ing, and churches full of peo niried in an instant. After leaving Arequipa, the xoad begins to climb the mountains. Here, as well as on the Oroya railroad from Lima, may be seen wonderful acliievements of engineering skill. Flocks of rough sheep and llamas appear on the plains stretching away from either side of the car. The llama is a curious animal about as large as a yearling colt. Like the camel, he can travel foi- days and weeks ^fT"" I ll It I i- ^ lioinit nl' liikf. Tlioy s!iy tliiit I'd from tlii« isliiiid y walked iiortliwiird y ruiulu'd a certain lie ^roldeii HtalY, and 1 their eajdlal eity in led. t' l.ake Titi('a(!a, wo I luca roads for l^a ion. TliL'io arc two I'liu first is dry and inrso any ono would fertile spot ; but no, valley, beeause some J geography of tho srunco to tho socond. II abrupt descont of rfiico of tho plateau vc driven, is broken I edgo of tho plateau tops of a city, when within miles, is sur- Ls not a chimney in )ften quite cold, the lOUses. The food is laid against •" wall cities in having but completed, but that is H(i iM'autifid that every obnerver regrets thai lack of funds have obliged the iloliviaus to leave it unltnishcd. Wlu'lher he is pausing in the plaza before tho cathe- dral, or visiting the market with its pih-s of Panama hats and ponchos, its fruits and vcgetabk's, the thoughts of the traveler conlinnally turn toward the remote golden age of tho Ineas, and tho early days of tho ecdony. That seems the real time, and these days of [)()verty the shadow. liisteu to this bil of history which sounds like a fairy talo. "InltiGl 1m I'alata, the viceroy, rode from tho palace to the cathedral on a horse every hair of whoso mane and tail was strung with pearls, whose hoofs were shod with shoes of solid gold, and whose path was paved with ingolN of solid .silver." Isn't that splendor? And it only happened about two hundred ami thirty years ago. Truly these days of pf)verty must seem very hard to poor, unlucky Peru and Bolivia, that still keep such proud recolleetions of their splendid [)ast. We can only, in leaving, wish them brighter days for tho future. CHAPTER XXIII. IN ECUADOR AND COLOMniA. We are (mce more in the heart of the Torrid Zone. The equator passes directly through Ecuador, and, on that account, the state was given the Spanish name for equator. 11 ; I \ I I "i\ * < 304 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. The coasts of Ijotli Ecuador and Oolombia arc low and sandy .r marshy. Tlic healthiest and most popu- lous regions are on the i)lateaus among the mountains. Even thougii the blazing sun shines directly overhead, the great height of the plateaus makes them cool. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and Hogota, the capital of Colombia, are situated on these table-lands, and there- fore have delightful climates. Guayaquil, situated on the Gulf of Guayaquil, is the seaport of Quito. 'J^hcre is nothing very new or un- usual about this city. The houses are of band)oo and stucco work, chiefly in white and yellow. The lower story of many of the houses is used" as a store, in which excellent articles are often displayed for sale. Quito is one hundred and lifty miles from Guayaquil. Some of the journey can be made by train, but much of the way must be travei-sed on mules. . Oh, that mountain trip ! If by any chance you cease pitying yourself, you straightway begin to pity the iimmal on which you ride. He stubbornly pushes on his way, wading mountain torrents, stepping cautiously along by the side of precipices, crossing bamboo bridges that tremble beneath his tread, scrambling through or sticking fast in marshes. The road, which consists of an endless succession of holes about one foot deep, into which and out of which the poor donkey steps painfully, now enters a forest,— a perfect South American jungle, such as we have often glanced into before. But the creepere in this forest on the road to Quito are something very unusual. They wave from tree top to the ground, they run in parallel PEOPLE, 111(1 Oolombia aro low thit'st iind most popu- ainoiig the nioiiiitains. lies directly overhead, LIS makes them cool, id Hogota, the capital tahle-laiids, and there- If of Guayaquil, is the liiijf very new or uii- Bs are of bamboo and I yellow. The lower 3(1 as a store, in which ed for sale, niles from Guayaquil, by train, but much of es. . any chance you cease y begin to pity the stubbornly pushes on s, stepping cautiously »ssi ng l)amboo bridges ^rambling through or endless succession of ich and out of which ow enters a forest, — uch as we have often jpei-s in this forest on very unusual* They they run in parallel OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 805 lines along the way, they braid and festoon the trees and bushes together. Then, here and there in the mass of green, is seen a beautiful red flower, an orciiid perhaps, with all the singularity of shape and delieaciy of color that orchids possess. Sometimes the journey to (^uito is made by coach. The coach is like the New England stagecoaeli, and is drawn by three pairs of mules. The native diivers are not satisfied unless they are kept at a full run. To accor.iplish this, the drivers are continually shouting, blowing their horns or bugles, and whipping the poor beasts. They carry two kinds of whips. There is a whip of ordinary length for the nearest pair, and a long-handled whip for the middle pair. The leaders are so far away that they cannot be reached with a whip. Instead, they are [h r ti * K t J 1 308 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. bii^rles arc added, pandemniiium is the lesult. With aeliin^ head, the traveler shakes off the dust of noisy Quito, and hies him northward to ('oh)nd)ia. The HepulJie of ('ok)mhia oceupies the northwestern corner of South America. It includes the Isthmus of Panama and the two seaports, Aspinwall and Panama. Hut these towns seem to helong to all the nations of the world, rather than to Colombia. The ports which are, as the children say, " its very own," are Cartagena and Barran(juilla. Both of these cities lie ui)on the Caribbean Sea. Car- tagena is very old, and Harrantiuilla (juite new. Carta- gena, and La (inayra in Venezuela were the i)orts from which all the wealth of the hills was transptn-ted to Spain. INIillions of dollars worth of gold and silver were brought from the mountains of the interior, down the Magdaleiia Hiver to Cartagena. The king of Si)ain was desirous of keeping his treas- ure safe from the many pirates and robbers of the Caril> bean Sea, and so he built a great wall around the city. Tlie wall was so strongly built that it is standing at the present day, as firm as ever. It is of dark stone, is twenty feet high, and is so broad that forty horses could walk abreast upon it. Cartagena stands on the eastern side of a large arm of the sea. During the greater part of this century it has declined in commercial importance, because the nearer entrance to its harbor has been choked up. As Cartagena declined, Barranquilla grew in impor- tance. Barranquilla is situated at the mouth of the Magdalena River. It was well placed for commerce, : OPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 309 I the result. With I the dust of noisy [)h)nihiii. t's the northwestern ides the Isthmus of iiwall and Panama. II the nations of the he ports which are, ' are Cartagena and 'aribl)ean Sea. Car- (juite new. Carta- were the i)orts from was transported to of gold and silver ■ the interior, down f keeping his treas- ■obbers of the Caril)- lU around the eity. it is standing at the is of dark stone, is it forty horses could side of a large arm I't of this century it rtance, because the 3n choked up. iiilla grew in impor- the mouth of the aced for commerce, ! "' ■j and offcnsd a line harbor for ships. Cartagena was well- nigh deserted for a while. Hut by and by a great sand bar was formed at the mouth of the Magdaleiia River, opposite Marraiuiuilla. So its day was over. It was obliged to build a small town on the sand bar itself, where passengeis and goods could be landed. Witliin the last few years the old town of Cartagena has revived in importance. The obstiu;l(;s to its trade have been removed, and once more it looks forward to prosi)erity in the near fiiture. Viewed from the sea, Cartagena is a pretty town, with its gray walls, yellow buildings, and near hills green with cocoa palms. The traveler will enjoy visiting many of the old buildings and subterranean passages of Spanish times, although his sentiment may be somewhat shocked to find palaces turned into tenement houses, and the Inquisition building become a tobacco factory. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, is situated in the interior of the state, hundreds of miles from any other important city. It is indeed far from the centres of news and trade, as it is seven hundred and fifty miles from the seacoast, and four days' journey from the Magdalena River. The usual way of reaching Bogota is by sailing up the Magdalena, and then following the trail to Bogota on mules. The Magdalena is the chief river of Colombia. Its water is yellow, like that of the Mississippi, owing, as you know, to the large amount of earthy matter that it carries on its way to the sea. Often this earthy matter am ) . ■'" 810 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. m 1 1 !; is deposited, and sand hars aic formed in many places wliieii choke up the course of the liver. I)nrinj( the thy season, navifjiition is impossible at iiit,dit. The 'hoatman is forced to anchoi' near the shore. But in tlie rainy season, wlien the river is swollen so that it tlo(»ds the whole country and buries d(!e[) the troublesome sand l»ars l)eneath its foaming Hood, steam- ers can, if there is a full moon, continue their course by nififht. In ascendinjif the Magdalena, its shores are lined with swam[)s for the lirst two hundred miles ; next, come three hundred miles of low, alluvial i)lains, where the old plantations once nourished. They formerly yielded the cimntry considerable profit; but when the slaves were freed, the plantations fell into decay. The sliores of the hnver Magdalena are lined on both sides with alligators. There they lie, basking in the sun, in ranks so ch)se that it seems possible to walk upon them for miles simply by stepping from back to back. After the steamboat trip comes the mule ride, over the trail, up among the Andes. The trail is laid out in a very eccentric fashion. It makes sudden curves when there is no need for curves, and then again darts point blank up and over a steep mountain that might as well have been ascended on an easier slope. Some of the road consists of steep stone steps cut in the side of the mountain at an angle of thirty-five degrees. Up these steps the patient mules toil laboriously. Through many climes and vegetations the traveler struggles, until at length he reaches his goal, the city ') <- EOPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 811 iiu'd ill niiany places vcr. oil is impossible at lelior near the shore. ! river is swollen so iind bnries (l(!c[) the 'oamin^ Hood, steani- tiniie their course hy shores are lined with miles ; next, come ial i)lains, where the hey formerly yielded lut when the slaves decay. Mia are lined on both ' lie, baskinp; in the ms possible to walk !pl)ing from back to the mule ride, over 'he trail is laid out lakes sudden curves ml then again darts luntain that might as sier slope. Some of eps cut in the side of ty-five degrees. Up iboiiously. stations the traveler les his goal, the city of Bogota, "half a mile nearer the stars than the top of Mt. Wasliington." In all diivctioiis over the wide plain on which Hogota is situated, are extensive views of mountains and lakes. The architecture of Bogota, with tlie narrow i)aved streets sloping towards the central gutter, and the achibc houses of one, two, or three stories with shops ui)on the lowest lloor, we are familiar with by this time. IMain as many of tiie buildings api)ear upon tlie outside, yet the furniture within is often sur[)iisiiigly good. Many of the houses have pianos, — pianos that have been biouglit over tiie trail for long distances on men's backs. How much do you suppose it costs to bring one from the coast to Rogoti? One thousand dollars. And yet pianos are very iilentiful here. Iloi-se cars imported from Piiiladelphia are used in the streets. They are brought from the coast in sections, which are carried over the mountains on the backs ol' Indians. A car wheel forms quite a load for one In- dian ; and he is so lazy and stoics to rest and sleep so often during the day, that it is frequentl} a month before the wheel appears in Bogota. Owing to such delays, it is some time before all the fractions of the car arrive ; but when once the street car is set up it becomes a very popular means of con- veyance. The fare is ten cents, and the cars are filled daily with dark gentlemen in white clothes and white straw hats, smoking cigarettes as they ride to their places of business. Sunday is the gala day of the week. After attending mass in the morning, the people give themselves up to \U ■j i :■ ■ :: I; i J: lit ':i m l^\ ili 312 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. eijjnyiuent for tlie lemiiiiKlcr of tlic day. They attend tlie niarkut, tlu; tlit'iitro, or tlie bull lijjiits, or proinoiiiulo ill tilt' plir/ii and watch their children liyinj,' kites. The [teoplv of Coloinhia, like all the South Aineri- caiiH, have a j^neat admiration for the Tnited States. They even j(o so far as to cehdmite o;ir Washington's liirthday and Kourth of July. The Isthmus of Panama is the narrowest part of the Western Continent. Vessels that sailed from Boston and New York to the gold coast of California in 1H49 went around Cajie Horn. That was the time when it was first proposed to cut a canal across the narrow part of the American Continent. Three different routes were suggested, — one atiross Mexico, a se(U)nd across Nicaragua, and a third across Colombia at the Isthmus of Panama. When the Suez Canal, connecting the Red and tlie Mediterranean Seas, was built by M. I.,es.seps, and the route to India was much shortened thereby, fresh inter- est and belief in the possibility of an American canal was aroused. Millions of dollars were raised to carry on the work, which was entrusted to M. Lesseps. The actual digging was begun in 1881, and Lesseps promised that the canal should ho, completed in 1885. Soon he extended the time to 1888. At the present day nearly all the money is gone, and only one-tenth of the canal is completed. The Isthmus, the cities of Aspinwall and Panama, and the stations along the route of the canal are in wild confusion. Machinery and tools lie about in all. direc- tions ; rough dormitories for the workmen are half com- 1 OPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 818 (lay. They attend ijjlits, or j)roineiia(le 1 liyiiijjf kites. till- South Aineri- tlie I'liited States. D our Washnigton's rrowest part of the saih^l from Hostoii California in 1H49 4 the time when it •OSS the narrow part Be different routes eo, a se(U)nd across hia at the Isthmus \f the Ued and the \l. Lesseps, and the thereby, fresh inter- an American canal ere raised to carry M. Lesseps. I 1881, and Lesseps completed in 1885. 8. At tlie i)resent d only one-tenth of iwall and Panama, le canal are in wild about in all.direc- kmen are half com- pleted ; and thousands of men of nearly every race and tonj,'ue throng the Isthmus. 'i'he whole scheme has broken down. At the rate that the work has Ikhmi progressing it will take over onct hundred years to linish it. It will cost (tne billion dol- lars and the ([uestion is, whether the (tanal will pay for the immense exi)ense of money, labor, and life. The region is unhealthy, and many of the workmen coming from the West Indies die at once. The African race endures the climate Iwist. Aspin\vall is a town built upon a small, low island on the Atlantic coast. It is connected with Panama on the Pacific coast by a railroad. The caucal across the istlnnus is the most gigantic fail- ure of the nineteenth century. Whether it will Iks one of the gigantic achievements of the twentieth century, time will show. In the meanwhile, an American com- pany has begun the proposed canal by way of Lake Nic- aragua, and, at the rate their work is progressing now, they seem in a fair way toward success. CHAPTER XXIV. VENEZUELA AND GUIANA. We have now reached the last state in South America that was settled by the Spaniards. This is Venezuela. The word Venezuela is the Spanish for "little Venice." How do you suppose Venezuela came by its name? TT?^ m ii'i '^•kiffiiii 814 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. Tlicro is, on tlu; iiDitlu'iii (M)ivst, ii lin|,'o lak(^ cuIUmI liiiko Miira«'iiyl)(). It is pcrliiiiw iiKirc of a marsh than a hi\i(i, and honscs ai»^ hiiilL in it, su|)|)ortctl on pihis driven into th(! IhmI of tht^ hiko. 'I'hc wiitcr chaMMcls runninj^ kitwoen thi! linrs of honscs, ivniiiidod some imaj^inativo poison of Venice ami its water avenues, and so the state was (InhlHfd Venezuchi. Vcnezuchi may he divided into three rcf,'ions, — tlio coast, the mountains, and tlie phiins of the Orinoeo. The mountains raisi; their l)rown, harren sunuuits so near the sea that the coast is but a narrow strip of marshes and swatnps. The mangrove is a most curious tiee, which slioots off branches to the ri^^jht and left that curve (h)wn to the groiuid and take root. This tree grows thickly through- out the swamps. Wherever the mangrove tree thrives, there is the home of fevers. And, in fact, these swamps on the coast of Venezuela form one of the most nn- healthy regions in all South Anuu-ica. The ranges of the Andes that run across the country to the south of the Caribbean Sea, are only one-half as high as the lofty ranges in Peru and Bolivia. South of the mountains lies the valley of the Orinoco. It consists of a perfectly flat stretch of country, as large as the New England States with New York and Penn- sylvania added. It is covered with strong, tall grass, and only here and there by the streams are there any trees whatever. These few trees are tall pf'lms, which wave their great fan like leaves dreamily in the breeze. In the dry season the sun shines ujjou the grivss until it becomes a dry powder, which is blown about by the EOPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. .SIT) ii liuj^o lake culled I'c III' ii lUiirHli than a ortctl DM [lilnH (Irivi'ii T cliamu'ls nniiiiiij,' j(l HOUR! inm^iiialivo lies, ami so tho state tlirco n'f^ioiis, — the ins of the Orinoco. 1 Ten snnunits so near i)\v strip of marshes tvoo, which shoots off curve down to the ows tiiickly throuf(li- ngrove tree thrives, n fact, these swamps ne of the most iin- a. 1 across the country [ire only one-half as 1 Bolivia. alley of the Orinoco. ; of country, as large Few York and Penn- h strong, tall gra.ss, reams are there any re tall pr'lms, which eamily in the breeze. ui)on the griuss until blown about by tbe wind. Chuids of dust whirl in all directions. 'I'he streams dry up. and many of the jioor cattle and horses of t!icse plains die of thirst. Then, as the Iieat and dust are at their worst, tliero cojues a liles.sed change. Clouds gathei' in the sky; soon the rain begins to fall, the brooks to gurgle, and the fresh gra.ss to grow. Then, f(»r a time, tlui wild creatures are hai»[»y indeed. But, as the weeks go I)y, tlus streams leave their channels and overflow the whole country. I'reseiitly there are several feet of water flooding the plain. There is, at one place, an elevation of a few feet in the plain, which forms the watershed between the; Orinoco and the streams flowing to the northwest. 'I'lm catth; and horses which have taken refuge on this slight ri.se are safe, but those which have not are drowned. At one season of the year the poor beasts have too nuich water, and at another season too little. After the Amazon and the La Plata, the Orinoco is the largest river in South America. You nuist trace its course on the map, and [ticture to yourselves the many streams that come dancing down the eastern slopes of the Andes to unite and flow across the level, grassy plains to the marshy coast and the open sea. The earthy matter that the Oi-inoco carries along with it chokes its mouth, and so a delta is formed there. The main stream, through which alone the large vessels can pass, is the southernmost channel. Boats that do not sink more than ten feet deep in the water can use the upper channels. The delta is covered with thick forests, something like those of the Amazon. The trees ur-y^r \i Hi Kir |if'' ".'■i n 1 ' I !:| ::' t, '4,1 816 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. art! (M)vei'eil, and woll nigh Hinotlicrcd, with uliintiiiig vincH. AftiM' the (h'ltft is j)assoe sea. Ita bay is so open that the great ocean swells make it one of the worst harbors on the Western Continent. Fjirther- more, thci bed of the sea, a few hundred feet from the shore, slopes so abruptly that anchors are of no use; and in places where anchors (h) hold, the sand is apt to shi" "o that they have to be raised and tlieir positions adjusted every ftiw hours. lia (Juayra was crowded in here on the hillside, and along the narrow (ioast, to servo as the port of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. J^a Cluayra resend)les Valparaiso and liahia in situa- tion, although its harbor is not so good as either of theirs. The business blocks which border the single street are from two to three stories in height. The houses which straggle up the barren hillsides are lower, and hav(! reddish brown roofs, which ire the exact color of the hills. :OPLE. •red, witli cliiiilniig 'iidiiig tlui Oiinoeo, iiKUiotonous upper "liciv iiiv vt'iy low a siiiliiijf vessel or uimi of fldino and imiii",' led and bril- I' wliicli tlie owners tliey burn the grass M) richer and better. V\'nezuehi, lias no ;. looks as if it were s into the sea. Its 1 swells make it one 'ontinent. Kurther- idred feet from the ors are of no use ; 1, the sand is apt to I and their positions on the hillside, and ho port of Caracas, and liahia in situa- I good as either of border the single es in height. The hillsides are lower, I .ire the exact color OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. :n7 The climate of La (inayra is exceedingly hot. It is HO situated thai it is sheltered from all but west winds, which are the warmest winds that blow. Still the climate is ln'althfid, and the yellow fever is not wunv. prevalent here than elsewhere. 'I'lie one great scourge of La (luayra is llcas. 'I'hose troublesome little iMse(!ts are everywhere^; and every pei-son, whether a native or a l'(U-eiguer, is their victim. There are three roads leading over the mountains to Caracas. Kirst, there is the old footpath; st-cond, the mule and wagon road; and third, the railroad, which has only been established of late years. An interesting little story is connected with tlu! lirst two ways. Over three hundred years ago when the ICnglish and Spaniards were bitter enemies in the Old World, their ahips useil to carry on war in the New. Whenever an Knglish cruiser fell in with a Spanish galleon ciuiy- ing treasures of gold and silver to Sjiain, she attacked and plundered it. Tlu' lOnglish have always been a nation of strong, line .sailors; and at this period there way, among them a wonderful company of nea i-ajitains, so bold that they were often (ialled sea kings. Sir Krancis Drake was the most adventurous of them all. He was really what we should call a pirate nowa- days; but then peoidc thought so differently that he seemed to the English nation one of their best and greatest men, and all his wicked deeds seemed heroic. It is apt to make a difference jn your opinion of a person whether he is acting for your side or against it. One very slight excuse for the lawless acts of the Kng- lish was that the Spaniards were acting in the same way, whenever they got the chance. Tnr I i < 318 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. On account of the Spanish and English pirates, the Caiihhean Sea, or tlie Spanish main, as it was called, was nuich dreaded hy all peaceful sailois. Such terrihle battles as were frequently waged in this legion ! The war spread to the mainland; and whenever they could, the English would land and rob and burn a Spanish town. La (luayia was often taken ; but the real wealth of Venezuela was not there, but in Caracas. Sir Francis Drake determined to attack the latter city. He heard that a great party of men were being fitted out in Caracas to come and meet him. Judging cor- rectly that they would come by the wagon road, he secured a guide, who led him and his men by the old Indian footpath to Caracas. All the able-bodied Spaniards were away, marching down the wagon road ; so the capital was defenceless. Drake's band burned, robbed, and killed, and finally returned by the same path to the seacoast, bearing im- mense loads of gold. The wily Englishman was more than a match for the Spaniards. The usual way of going to Caracas at the present time is by the railroad around and over the Andes. Recall the account of the railroads in Peru, and you will have an excellent idea of the difficulties and dan- gers of the way. The Caribbean Sea is in sight through most of the journey, and the views are all wide and interesting. Caracas is situated at the northern end of a narrow valley. Its climate is almost perfect. Though so near the etter adapted to Europeans tJian is that of (Juiana. The African convicts are still sent here. OPLfc. mil), andelahra are ind a line of book iguages which have ) been hitely Intro- lite and bhick races have shown them- ;o learn. one. It is a great lives, to be able to ther over the wires, lolite. It is almost to the incivility of lind a storekeeper goods, and bowing i)r not, with grace- and hapi)iness. ttlier states of South lies of three Kuro- nd France. There he coast and upon ipean and African \i to time, e or less restraint, r they are allowed allotted a tract of convicts have been the Pacific Ocean, ) Europeans tlian is i are still sent here. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 321 From the very nature of the sevei-al colonies, it fol- lows that men of all colors, nations, and tongues are found in Guiana. Fnglish, French, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, negroes, natives of Pales- tine, of India, of the West Indies, and of the Azores, all may be seen in the streets of Georgetown and Cay- enne. There have l)een also very many Ili/idoos here since the freeing of tlie slaves. Laborers have been difficult to hire, and the Hindoos have come to satisfy the demand. So it is not an unusual sight to see a great East Indiaman, carrying hundreds of coolies, entering Georgetown harbor. The coast of Guiana ])resents a great contrast to that of Venezuela; because, instead of shelving abrui)tly down, it slopes away so gradually into the ocean that the whole shore is lined by sand banks and marshes. The country is very flat. It is almost like another Holland. It has to be protected from the sea and t!ie rivers in many places by dikes ; and tall palms and the chimneys of sugar manufactories tower above the flat surface of the country, as the lofty windmills do on the level meadows of Holland. Indeed, Ijoth Paramaribo, the capital of Dutch Guiana, and Georgetown, which was once owned by the Hollanders, resemble the Dutch cities in many ways. The streets are prim and clean, and have canals run- ning through them. The houses are placed with their gable ends toward the street, are painted white, and have peaked roofs and queer little dormer windows. Georgetown is situ-^ted at the mouth of the Demarara River, close by the sea. The climate is so moist and 'Yfiff'''W i [| K ?!;;• §1 A 822 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. hot that it seems iis if one were in a perpetual Turkish bath. The Europeans wear the thinnest clothing, and live through the hot day in the hopes of a cool breeze at evening. . Ice is inii)orted from the United States. It is a great luxury, and costs two cents a [)ound. One of the most charming walks in Georgetown is along the sea wall. This is a broad dike separating the city from the sea. It is wide enough for seats to be placed upon it, and long enough to serve as a delightful promenade. A carriage road closely follows the sea wall, and, at one point in the driveway, a band plays on certain days in the week. No one who has not lived through an intense trppical day can realize how refreshing the evening breeze seems, how beautiful the stars look, or how soothing the music sounds to the European who is forced to stav day after dtiy in a climate so unnatural to him. One celebrated botanical curiosity can be seen near Georgetown. In an unused canal east of the capital grows the immense, rose-colored lily, called the Victoria regia. Its blossom is two feet across. Its leaf is four feet in diameter, and can support an Indian baby laid upon it. Sugar, rum, and molasses are the chief products of Guiana. Its coasts and rivers are bordered with sugar plantations, which, being situated in the lowest part of the country, are generally surrounded by dikes. A plantation forms a small kingdom by itself. It is not so very small a kingdom either ; for it fi-equently con- tains as many as two thousand acres, which are tilled, by vwelve hundred laborei-s. EOPLE. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. 323 a perpetual Turkish innest clothing, ami ipes of a cool breeze . the United States. ;ents a [)ound. :s in Georgetown is dike separating the ugh for seats to be serve as a delightful ely follows the sea my, a band plays on 1 an intense trppical keening breeze seems, r soothing the music 3d to stav day after I. by can be seen near east of the capital , called the Victoria ss. Its leaf is four m Indian baby laid e chief products of ^ordered with sugar 1 the lowest part of ided by dikes. A by itself. It is not r it frequently con- es, which are tilled. Paramaribo, the capital of Dutch Guiana, is situated ten miles from the mouth of one of tlie many turlnd streams of this province. It is a silent, sleepy place, that in some ways calls to mind Amsterdam or Leydeii. The houses have high pitched roofs covered with tiles, dormer windows, and old-fasliioned Dutch stoops, or porches, at the sides of the houses, where the family can gather to enjoy the refreshing breeze of the evening. The doors are painted green, and have bright brass knockers. The streets are quiet. There are no rattling horse cars, and but few hackney coach stands. A silent canal flows through the centre of the street; there are no sidewalks, and the road is paved with sand and bits of shells, which glitter dazzlingly in the brilliant sunshine. We might believe we were in dear old Holland, if it were not for the dense, tropical forest of waving cabbage and cocoa palms across the river, and the negroes in their cool, white clothes. The negro women carry great piles of dishes or jars upon their heads, with as much graceful ease as do the Indian women. Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, is built upon an island, only fifteen feet above the level of the sea. The houses are scarcely visible from the ocean on ac- count of the many shade trees of the city. The glory of Cayenne is Cabbage Palm Square. This is a group of palm trees, rivaling in grandeur and beauty Palm Tree Avenue in the Botanical Gardens of Rio Janeiro. There are five hundred palms of an average heigiit of eighty feet. They are planted in eight rows, about twenty feet apart. With their upright, straight Tpr 1 "i : ' %' ' ■ 5f 324 THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. trunks, they look like the reguhir piUa,^ in some m-eat hall, .such iLs the temple of Karnac at Theljes. Each trunk 1.S .jurmounted hy a i)erfeet crown of leaves. There is one tree which is the great curiosity of the s(iuare. It is a double palm tree. At alwnt twenty teet from the ground the trunk divides, and two per- fectly healthy shafts rise sixty feet in the air; each is topped by a fine crown. The tree is the wonder of all who see it. Whether whirling over the city streets, or perching in these palm trees, the vulture is the commonest object m the streets of Cayenne, unless we except the French soldier, who, in blue coat and white hat, daily fills the city with life and merriment. In the interior of Guiana some gold has [yeen found, and now that machinery has b«en introduced, the people are beginning to mine in earnest. No one can tell what buried wealth may be hidden in the unknown central districts. Perhaps there may be as much as ever Sir Francis Drake and other Englishmen took from the Spaniards in those fierce conflicts in the Spanish main. Who knows ? We must wait and see. °EOPLE. [lillare in some great vc at Thebes. Each i-own of leaves. H'eat curiosity of the !. At alK)ut twenty ivides, and two per- ' in the air; each is is tile wonder of all treets, or perching in le commonest object 3 except the French e hat, daily fills the )Id has l)een found, troduced, the people ^o one can tell what le unknown central 8 much as ever Sir len took from the I the Spanish main. le. w^m