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AWE UNIVERS/A . _ o clOSANCElfj-^ O »— — - ^OFCAIIFO%, ^OFCAIIFO% o "^^OAavaaiii^^ '^OAavaaiii'^ '^J313dnvsoi^ %a3AiNn]WV^ '^^OAavaaii-i^ '^OAavaan-^ • AWEUNIVERS/a o "^AaaAiNdJWV ^^lllBRARYQc '^aojiivDJo'*^ . AWE UNIVERJ/A 5 iA ^ o ^lllBRARYQr ^tfOJIlVDJO't^ ^&AHvaan# ^OAavaani^ .AWEUNIVERVa ■ A^ILIBRARYQ^ ^^VllBRARYO/^ '^(!/0JnV3JC)'^ ^OFCALIFOP^ ^OF CAllFOft|>^ AWE UNIVERy/A ^vvlOSANCflfj> o &Aav8aiiiv> ^fj ^.. ^:^l•llBRARYO/: ^IIIBRARYQ/: '♦'tfOJIlVJjO^' '^.iOJIlVJJO^' , AWE INIVERJ/A o ' '*' AWE UNIVERJ/A -" o Kl t 1 ;r =1 on Cfl in-] iCEl L 5 r )iaii t V:, u' f < INi' m I RA I 11V AS( 4 t • ENTRANCE TO THE TOWER DE LAS INFANTAS, IN THE ALHAMBRA. ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS: A RECORD OF Discovery^ Geography^ and Adventure. EDITED BY H. W. BATES, ASSISTANT-SECRETARY OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. WITH ENGRAVINGS FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY CELEBRATED ARTISTS. C A S S E L L P E T T E R c^ (; A L P I N : LONDON. PARIS & NEW YORK. no CONTENTS. Abyssinian Plateau, The Country East of Africa, South, Gold Fields of Alaska (formerly Russian America), A Journey in. By Frederick Whymper Amoor River, A Summer Trip up the. By Ronald Bridgett Arizona and New Mexico Arizona, Southern, Ten Days' Journey in. By W. A. Bell, B.A., M.B., F.R.G.S. Balearic Islands, Seven Months in the. By E. G. Bartholomew, C.E., M.S.E. California and its Prospects. By Frederick Whvmper California, Lower Camargue, A Few Days in. By D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.G.S Cj\.mbodia to the Yang-tsze-Kiang, French Expedition from Easter Island Forest Trees in South America, Height of Gaboon, The. From the French of Dr. Griffon Du Bellay, Surgeon in the French Navy Himalayas, Exploration of the Himalaya, Route Across the Hyrcanian Desert, and the Principal Roads Across it. By Professor Arminius Vambery Indo-China, French Exploring Expedition in Japan, A European Sojourn in. From the French of M. Ami Humbert 136, 184, 216, 225, Jebel Nakus, the Bell-Sounding Mountain Kuriyan Muriyan Islands Limpopo River, Discovery of the Mouth of Livingstone, Progress of Madagascar, A Bird's-eye View of. From the French of M. D. Charnay Manchuria Mandalay, English Mission to, and Tre.\ty with Burmah. By Henry Woodward Mesopotamia, Journeyings in. By Lieut. C. R. Low (late Indian Navy) Nile Expedition, Sir Samuel Baker's North Polar Discovery. By J. E. Davis, Staff Commander R.N., F.R.G.S Orinoco, A Journey up the. By C. Le Neve Foster, B.A., D.Sc, F.G.S Overland Route to the Pacific through British America Paraguay, A Visit to, during the War. By Thomas J. Hutchinson, F.R.G.S.... Pass.\ge of the Great Canon of the Colorado. By Major A. R. Calhoun Report ofanother Great Lake in Equatorial Africa Reunion, Isl-^nd of Shir£ River, Captain Faulkner's Expedition up the Siberia, Northern, New Russian Expedition to the Coast of Soudan and Western Abyssinia, A Journey through. By Lieut. W. F. Prideaux, F.R.G.S. i, 57, 88, 1 10, 152 South Polar Lands and the Transit of Venus Spain, Notes on Survey of Sinai Vancouver Island, The First Journey of Exploration Across. By Robert Brown, F.R.G.S. Crofton, M.A. ... 161, 205, 2J9, 192 30 46 245 256 142 266, 312, 338, 36S 103 64 77 160 128 320 2S9, 321, 353 30 117 263 288 277, 305, 344, 371 256 160 96 32 22, 49, Si ... 30 178,212,234 26S, 316, 341, 366 224 149, 168, 199 257, 297, 335, 376 134 ... 41,71,97 8 95 352 320 192 ,171,193,248,282 128 5, 33, 65, 120, 129 64 254, 274, 302, 349 8C5858 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Abyssinia, A Journey through— Samhar Peasant at a Well Dervish and Peasant Woman Mangroves near Gherar Young Bedaween Girl Beni-'amir Arab Young Girls oi" Taka Kassala Takrooree Soldier Woman oe Kassala carrying Water River Gash in the Rainy Season Singing the War Song Royal Palace at Gondar View near Tchelga, Abyssinian Plateau UouM Palm, of the Soudan Abyssinian Fusileer View on the Brantee Junction ok the Kiltee with the Brantee Abyssinian Wild Flowers Methonica Superba View on the River Abai Army of Theodore overtaken by a Flood River Berhan, Abyssinian Plateau View on the Bashilo Punished by order of the King An Abyssinian Horseman Abyssinian Warfare Abyssinian Tailor Boat of Bullock's-hide on Lake Tsana Falls of Davezout, Abyssinian Plateau Arizona, Southern, Ten Days' Journey in— Fort Bowie, Arizona; Scene of the Apache Attack... California and its Prospects — The Grand Cascade of Yosemite ; The Father of the Forest Colorado, Passage of the Great Canon of the— The Exultant Indians Mutilate the Dead Body The Raft Precipitated over a Cataract Gaboon, The— Bird's-eye View of the Gaboon Settlement Charcoal Stores at the Gaboon King Denis of the Gaboon, and his Principal Wife ... The Daughters of King Louis English Trading Setilement on the Gaboon Mission House of the Catholics at the Gaboon AKfiRA, a Young Girl of the Gaboon ' The Chief Kringer, and his Family A Village on the Gaboon ... '.' Trunk of the Ovounchua, a Species of Ficus ... ... Bakalai Woman and Children Village on the Gaboon Vmiouis Warriors .., \[\ '' The Sacred Isles of Lake Jonanga .!! ... ... The Young Fetichist of Lake Jonanga ... Pahouin Village Fetiche Banana Trees [ "' \'_\ Hyrcanian Desert, and the Principal Ro.\ds across A Turkoman Well in the Hyrcanian Desert ... ... ..'. \[[ Japan, A European Sojourn in— A Japanese Governor Japanese Grooms (Betos) ... ,[. \\[ To, M. Humbert's Valet-de-Chambre Bonzes Praying Japanese Wo.men going on a Visit ... ... \ Japanese School \\\ Japanese Citizen in Winter Costume " Japanese Peasant in Winter Costume ... Rice Cultivation Japanese in the Rice Field ... '." ..'. Tori, or Holy Gate '" ZiN.MU [ ''[ ■■■ Civil and Military Officials returning from Duty Buddhist Temple at Nagasaki Birds of Japan ' Entrance into the Harbour of Kanasawa Japanese Pilgrims [" Actors and Ballet-Girls of the Mikado's'court Mendicant Priest '"' Kanasawa : the Tea-house and the Sacred Isle" Webster and Sivosi.ma Islands Temple of Hatchi.man, at Kajiakura ... ..'. PAGE I 4 5 7 6o (•3 89 91 92 93 112 113 116 153 156 157 159 172 173 176 ■77 193 196 197 248 249 252 253 28s 145 105 109 9 13 2S9 292 293 296 321 324 325 328 329 332 333 353 356 357 360 361 365 it — 264 265 ■36 '37 140 141 1S4 i8S 188 189 191 191 216 217 220 221 223 225 228 229 232 233 277 2S0 Japan, A European Sojourn in — Continued. Japanese Warriors of the Thirteenth Century Fusi-Ya.ma, the Sacred Mountain of Japan Buddhist High Priest and his Subordinates Panorama of Benten Refectory of a Buddhist Monastery Funeral Cere.monies Cemetery of Nagasaki Faxiba, afterwards Fide-Yosi Laying out the Dead Reception by the Mikado, in former times Visit of the Tycoon to the Mikado, at Kioto... Maids of Court Ladies at kioto .. Madagascar, Bird's-eye View of — Travelling in Madagascar — The Tacon Ravenal Trees A Madegasse Widow The Vacoa, or Screw-pine of Madagascar Rice Pounding A Madegasse Woman and her Children M.vdagascar Dwarf Palms Governor of Tamatave Nossi-BE, Madagascar Tree-Fern, Madagascar Queen of Mohilla, and her Attendants Spies of the Queen of Madagascar Mandalay, English Mission to — Thapinyu Pagoda, at Pagan Mesopotamia, Journeyings in — Persians of Bussorah Kelek, or Raft of Inflated Skins, on the Tigris Milk-woman and Arabs crossing the Tigris Jew of Bussorah Jewess of Bussorah Arabs bringing Skins to market Girl of Baghdad Kara Fatima, the Kurdish Princess, and her Suite. Lady of Baghdad Jews of Mesopotamia Tauk Kesra View on the Shores of the Tigris The Tigris, near Hamrin View on the Tigrls, near Djebar Orinoco, a Journey up the, to the Caratal Gold Fi View in the Delta of the Orinoco Jaguar Fishing on the Banks of the Orinoco Map of Lower Orinoco Steamboat Travelling on the Orinoco First Steambo.\t on the Orinoco Paraguay, a Visit during the War- Indian Girl, Paraguay Market People— on the Parana Indians of the Gran Chaco Indian of Paraguay Sergeant Gonzales, Paraguayan Soldier Naval Warfare in Paraguay — Destruction of a Bra- zilian Gunboat by a Torpedo Details of Jesuit Architecture in Paraguay Paraguayan Sentinel — "No Tengo Ordinfs " Ruins of a Jesuit Mission Church in Paraguay Polar, North, Discovery- Map of the North Polar Regions Spain, Notes on— A Diligence on the Road to Granada Postillions Interior of Third Class Railway Carriage in Spain!!! La Rambla— at Barcelona Peasant of Orihuela Toilet of Gipsy Girl at Diezma !!! At Alicante Beggars in Cathedral of Barcelona ... !!! !!! Duel with the Navaja The Navaja '_ \" "' How a Spaniard Drinks !!! !!! Company in a Spanish Inn ... ,!! !!! !!! !!! The Espada ' '_ Boys Playing at Bull Fighting !!! !!! The Banderillero in the Chair ".'. ... The Bull Leaping the Barrier The Gate of the Alhambra ... ° Alicante ... Palm Groves of Elche, near !alicante ... ... PACE 281 305 308 309 311 344 345 348 349 372 373 375 22 25 28 29 49 52 53 56 81 84 85 S7 181 161 164 165 205 208 209 240 241 244 269 272 273 316 317 ELDS — 257 260 261 300 337 42 44 45 72 73 76 97 100 lOI 17 20 21 33 36 37 31 40 65 67 68 69 120 121 124 125 129 132 133 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS, A RECORD OF DISCOVERY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ADVENTURE. SA.MH,\k ri-.A-iA.M Al A WiiLL. A youriiey ihyoiigh the Soudan and IVcstcrn Abyssinia, 7i>iih Reminiscences of Captivity. EY LIEUTENANT \V. F. PRIDEAUX, F.R.G.S.. BOMKAY STAFF CORPS. I. Introductory. The story of the late Abyssinian expedition, and of the over's which led to it, fulfils, in its thorough completeness, all the conditions of the ancient Greek epos. Moreover, around the country itself there was a kind of romantic halo, which was heightened, rather than dispelled, by the few accounts we had had of it from modern travellers. At the beginning of the present century people looked upon the nan-ative of Bruce as if it had been composed of pages torn out of Sinbad the Sailor or Gulliver ; and yet there is scarcely a statement in his work which cannot be corroborated by the evidence of Liter writers. The best and most tnistworthy of these, such as Riippell and Lefebvre, in consequence of no translation having been made VUL. \. of their works, are scarcely knowTi in England. Had they been, there would certainly not have been shown the amount of ignorance concerning the country that was exhibited when the subject of the expedition was first seriously mooted. Whatever twaddle, however, may have been talked in the newspapers, it is due to the War Office authorities to allow that by the evidence of their published report on the routes in Abyssinia, they had thoroughly sifted the subject, and from varying and often contradictory statements were able to arrive at just conclusions, or, at all events, to afford the Commander- in-Chief the opportunity of doing so. There is no doubt tliai the route taken by the army under Lord Napier was not merely the most practicable, but the only one which could have ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. been followed with a view to a successful issue. All available scientific means have been taken to map this route correctly, and thus a great step has been made in the progress of Abys- sinian geography, though it is much to be regretted that owing to political reasons, it was impossible to pursue the investiga- tions into the western part of the country, and make some attempt at determining that geographical desideratum, the shape and area of the Tsana Sea, and at the exploration of the beautiful and fertile districts surrounding it. The route whicli was followed by Mr. Rassam and his party, and of which an attempt at description will.be made in the fol- lowing pages, is still less known to the ordinary reader. The desolate wastes of the Samhar, the oasis of the Anseba, the plains of Bdraka and Taka, and the savannas which stretch for many a league around Kediiref, are little else than tenxc incogiiihr. The same may be said of all the countrj' to the westward of Tsana, of which Bruce has given the most graphic, if not the only description. Since Burckhardt's time these regions have l)een visited but by few. Among the U-avellers in the Egyptian Soudan have been Didier, Lejean, and Munzinger, all men of talent. The narrative of the former is almost as readable as Ev/.'icn. ']"hc causes which led to the dispatch of Mr. Rassam's mission are so well known that it is almost needless to recapitu- late them here. The barbarous monarch of a far-distant country had ventured to ill-treat and imprison a Consul, and, in the person of her representative, to insult the Queen of England. So much was certain, but the course which Her Majesty's Go\'ernment had to jiursue under these embarrassing circum- stances was not equally clear. A line in a short note, which the Consul contrived to send to Massawa, affirmed, by implica- tion, that it was on account of the non-an-ival of an answer to a letter which King Theodore had, some fifteen months before, forwarded to the Queen, that, the present contretemps had occurred. The line ran, " No release till civil answer to King's letter comes." Acting on this hint, after due deliberation, the Foreign Office determined to dispatch an accredited envoy to the court of King Theodore, with an autograph letter from Her Majesty, and for this duty they selected Mr. Rassam. Mr. llormuzd Rassam is a native of Mosul, in Mesopo- tamia, where he was born about the year 1826. His brother, Mr. Christian Rassam, had filled the post of interpreter to Colonel Chesjiey during the Euphrates expedition, and, in re- ward for his valuable services, had been appointed British Vice- Consul at his native town. During Mr. Layard's explorations in the neighbouring ruins of Nine\eh, he found the services of Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, then quite a young man, so useful that on his return to England he had no hesitation in recommending him to the authorities at the British Museum as entirely fit to take charge of the works during his absence. Mr. Rassam subsequently visited England, and through the influence of Sir James Outram and Captain W. J. Eastwick, of the Board of Directors, he was appointed interpreter at Aden, where, in the course of a few years, he had shown such zeal and ability in various negotiations, and had so far gained the confidence of his superiors, that at the beginning of 1863 he had risen to the post of First Assistant to the I'olitical Resident. Mr. Rassam, accompanied by Dr. Blanc, of the Bombay .Medical Service, arrived at Massdwa in July, 1S64. He lost no tune in dispatching a messenger to King Theodore, who Was then at Gondar, with a note in which he requested per- mission to enter the country and present to His Muijesty the letter of which he was the bearer. The two months which were considered sufficient time for the receipt of the note and its acknowledgment elapsed, and yet no answer arrived. The same result attended the dispatch of another letter, which was forwarded some time later. At length Earl Russell, who attributed Mr. Rassam's ill success to the mission not being on a sufficient scale, directed that a military officer should be associated with the envoy, and the present writer was selected by Colonel Merewether, the Political Resident at Aden, for this duty. I arrived at ALissawa on the evening of the 29th of March, 1865^, and immediately proceeded to MonkuUii, where Mr. Rassam was then staying. Monlailiii, or more correctly, 'M-kiilhi, " the mother of all," is a hamlet about four miles to the N.'W'. of Massdwa, and is apparently the mother-village of a cluster of krasls which lie within an area of about one square mile. The other hamlets are called Haitiimlii and Zaga ; the houses are simply built of dried grass bound \\'\\\\ withs, and are generally of a bee-hive shape, square houses being very rare, and the possession of one an evidence of great respectability. I only saw one stone-built house on shore. The house in which Mr. Rassam had taken up his quarters was built by Consul Plowden as a kind of country residence, and being in possession of a well of tolerable water, he had been able to plant a grove of trees around it, which ga\c it quite a rural appearance in the surrounding e.xpan.se of land, in which merely a few mimosas and cacti had a bare struggle for existence. The inhabitants of these villages are half-reclaimed Bedaween from the interior, and differ little, physically, from the " Oulad Baze," or inhabitants of the island. The men are tall, wiry fellows, inoflensi\e and harmless in disposition, and gain a scanty livelihood by acting as came!-dri\ers or porters. Their dress consists merely of a ragged cloth thrown loosely about their persons. The women, like all Africans, in old age are hideous, but the young girls are often extremely pretty, with an expression of great softness in their brown eyes, and with beautiful figures, until age and toil ha\'e destroyed their rounded contours. They are especially careful about their hair, which is dressed in an infinite number of small plaits, with tiny ringlets hanging round their faces; and e-v'ery one adheres to the singular custom of piercing the right nostril, and inserting a plug of wood, or dearer prize still, a mother-'o-pearl shirt-button; amongst the married women of the better class this is usually replaced by a silver stud. A white cotton petticoat or " fota," and a checked cloth thrown over the head like a veil when out of doors, complete their costume. Although unsophisticated as the gazelles which share the desert with them, they are rarely or never immodest in their beha^■iour, and the open and degraded licentiousness in which their Christian sisters of Abyssinia indulge is quite unheard of here. T suppose that, considering its size and importance, scarcely an island in the world has been so often described as Massawa. It is simjjly a low level rock, two-thirds covered with houses, th.ose of the better sort built of stone or madrepore coral, while the humbler classes are content to dwell in huts of bent-grass ; consequently fires occur often enough, and as the inhabitants possess no means of putting them out beyond pulling do«n a few of the adjacent houses, they usually commit great dejireda- tions. Happily, the actual loss of property is small, and, in a hygienic point of view, doubdess these conflagrations act a A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN. highly desirable part. The nortliern portion of the island is used as a cemetery, and amongst the tombs are foimd various cisterns which serve as receptacles for the rain which so seldom falls in these arid spots. As a rule, Massdwa is usually supplied with water either by the girls of Monkillhi and Haitiimlu, who daily convey it in "girbas" or leathern skins, or by boat from Harkeeko, at the other end of the bay ; that of the latter place is brackish, and proportionately cheap. At the extreme end of the island stands, or stood, a small dilapidated fort, with a few rusty honeycombed guns, which look as if they were war- ranted to burst at the first discharge, and the Roman Catholic chapel and mission-house, at that time presided over by Father Delmonte, a Lazarist priest, who had for many years resided at Massawa and its vicinity. This gentleman, and M. 'Werner Munzinger, since so fa\'ourably known in connection A\ith his services during the late campaign, but who was then acting as agent to an Egyptian mercantile house, and endea\ouring to extend commerce amongst the tribes of the Soudan, were the only European inhabitants of the place. The Government of Massawa and the neighbouring main- land has been, since the days of Sultan Selim, in the hands of the Turks, with the exception of a few years, during which the late Mohammed Ali, of Egypt, ruled over the Pashalic of the Hedjaz, of which Massawa, with, theoretically, all Abyssinia, is a dependency. But their rule was for centuries passi\'e rather than active, and the real power lay in the hands of the Naibs of Harkeeko, a family of Tigre origin, whose tyrannical exac- tions, which used to place such obstacles in the way of travellers to Abyssinia, must be fresh in the memor}' of every reader of Bruce and Salt. But those days are long since past, and they are now a very harmless and easy-going set of people, whose ])rincipal function appears to be the collection of tribute from the surrounding Bedaween. Harkeeko, or Dohono, as the Abyssinians call it, is a village some few miles towards the southern extremity of the bay, and bears ail the appearances of having once seen better da)s. The Naib's house is the only decent one in the place, and as the landing is so bad that, to avoid getting wet, it is necessary to be carried at least a hundred yards from the boat to the shore, it seems destined to be blotted out altogether from the map in a few years, espe- cially as the Egyptians, who have again taken over the go\'ern- ment of Massdwa, are likely to restrict the powers of the Naib more than e\-er. Shortly after my anixal, Dr. Blanc, who was suffering much from ophthalmia, was obliged to return to Aden for a short time, and, as the thermometer began to average between 95' and 100° Fahr. at two p.m., in the shadiest and coolest part of the house, Mr. Rassam and I determined to try what a trip a few miles inland might effect for us. Mr. Rassam had had time to strike up an acquaintance with most of the neighbouring chiefs, which was fortunate, as it is always necessary to ha\e their assistance and co-operation on occasions like this. The two principal were the Naib and the Mudeer. The former was at this tivue engaged in collecting ta.xes through his nominal territories, but the latter, who governs the lowland country between Harkeeko and the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, was at Massawa. The reason of his \isit was to convey to the Kaim- Mak-im, or Turkish governor, a rebel Dankali chief, who had been committing great atrocities in the neighbourhood of Zulla, especially in torturing and mutilating both men and women. This chief, whose arrival at Massawa was welcomed with .1 salute, £0 an.xious had the Turks been to get hold of him, was kept in durance in the open air, in the large square before the Kaim-Makam's house, and was fastened to the ground by a ver)' heavy chain round his neck, just like a wild beast. It was considered quite ai ir^/e for every man, woman, or child who passed that way to spit on the wretched captive. I do not know what became of him, as the final orders regarding his disposal had to come from Djidda, and must have arrived after our departure, but he fully deserved everything he w.:ts likely to get. We started on our very pleasant little journey on the ist of May, intending to make our first halt at Assous, a village about thirty miles to the westward. Our baggage had gone on an hour before we started. Every one knows \^•hat tra\-elling iy these regions is, and we found we could not manage with less »than eight camels, and as we had with us three Turkish Irregular soldiers, who were natives of the country, and a lot of ser\'ants, we formed quite a large party. Our mules soon o\'ertook the camels, and we journeyed on for five hours, from four in the afternoon till nine, when we arri\'ed at a small watering-place called Gabza, where we detennined to wait until our baggage should come up. The country o\-er which w-e had passed for twenty miles did not vary much from that in the neighbourhood of Monkiillu. There was, perhaps, a little more sand, a little more scrub, and a good deal more stone. Gabza, however, is situated in a 7C'n(fi, or water-course, on each side of which are precipitous clifls. We had not been there long before we dis- covered that we had not the right of prior occupation, and by the shadowy light of the new moon we could discern that the sides of the rock were covered with countless baboons,* and judging from those which stood in rehef against the sky, they must have been from four to fi\e feet in height. They evi- dently regarded us as intruders, and kept up a ceaseless jab- bering, till I fired off a barrel of my revoh-er, when the fear and anger they felt was expressed by every note they were capable of giving vent to, from the deep roar of the patriarch of the herd, down to the tiny squeak of the b.aby in arms. However, with the exception of a few, they all scampered oft", evidently considering us dangerous characters. Shortly after- wards, the camels came up, and as both they and their dri\'ers were weary, we detennined to go on a little further, to a spot called Alldgemdt, where the water was rather better, and there pass the night. -After a cup 'of tea, we turned in sidi clivo. Wq had scarcely slept a couple of hours, when we were awakened by a great hubbub, and found that a leopard had had the pre- sumption to walk into the midst of us, and was quietly feeding off one of the sheep, which for security we had placed in the centre of the circle we formed. Although driven off, he came again and again, until at last we were thoroughly roused up by his springing over a couple of our men who were lying nearest to the jungle, and then, frightened by the noise all the natives made, he dashed over the foot of my bed and got safely off. In the darkness it was impossible to send a bullet after him. It was then nearly three o'clock, and in another half-hour we resumed our march. ^Ve were now at the foot of the first range of hills, of which there arc three to cross before arri\ing at the highland country of Abyssinia. Crossing this one was no joke. We were soon obliged to dismount from our mules, sure-footed as they are, and to pick our way on foot over the immense masses of stone and rt'f'/'/Vi- brought down by successive * Cynoccplialus Hamadryas. TTT.rSTRATF.D TRAVELS. rains, and this in the uncertain light was very difficult. After j a still more toilsome descent, we arrived at the plain of Assous, when we were able to remount our mules. Scrub and sand formed the general characteristics of this plain also, but a clump of trees here and there betokened that we were ] approaching a more favoured district. A couple of hours' ride brought us to the village of Assous, but we preferred turning ofl' to the well which supplies the hamlet, and which is three miles distant. It is a curious cha- till we returned to Assous. He is a tall, gaunt fellow, not bad- looking, taciturn in disposition, and a scrupulous Mussulman, but so dirty in liis habits that a close intimacy with him is anvthing but desirable. We had, however, to spend that and many succeeding days witli iiini. \\'e thought ourselves for- tunate in finding a grove of trees under which we could pitch our tents, but by noon the heat exceeded that of Monkiilki. Assous is a great place for wild boars* ; one magnificent fellow, with tushes about two feet long, walked up coolly to within a UliKVISll AND rE.\SA.\T WO.MAN. racteristic of these desert-folk that they almost invariably erect their villages at some distance from water, but whether the)- have some really good reason for it, or whether througji natural perversity, I cannot say. Our ride over the ])lain was \erv pleasant ; it was deliciously cool, the thermometer only showing 68', and though vegetation was not abundant, still there was a little, while a herd of a^'usen antelopes* always hovering in the distance gave animation to the scene. We arrived at Abhan, the place at which the well is situated, at si.x A.M., and were received by Abd-ul-Kereem, the brother of the Naib of Harkeeko, who was to be our fellow-traveller * The Koodoo of South .Xfrici. hundred yards of our tents; Dut although attempts were made against liis life, he got oft" scot-free. A little later, my com- panion was firing into a herd of five, by which he was sur- rounded, and mistook the direction in which the tents were situated, as they were concealed by a clump of trees ; I was within mine, u hen I was disagreeably roused from my quiet by the whiz of a bullet close to my right ear. Tlie night was again very cool, and we were able to start again before daybreak, quite refreshed. Abd-ul-Kereem had with him his nephew, eight or nine more Irregulars, and some servants, so we now formed quite an imposing cavalcade. Our road took a south- * Phacochoeras Africanus. iiF^':«;": ' o -A u y. < ILLUSTRATED TRAVEI^, westerly direction, and on getting out of the plain we entered a dense jungle, composed, as is usually the case in Abyssinia, of the most thorny j^lants in existence. These rather retarded our [jrogress, but at length we emerged into a water-course, and at about eight a.m. arrived at Dagree, our halting-place for the day. This presented quite a difterent aspect from our camping- ground of the pre\-ious day; the sand and scrub had disappeared, and in their stead were green turf, and magnificent sycamores and other forest trees. It was delicious to throw oneself down under tlie shade of a splendid acacia, and listen to the murmur of a little spring, which bubbled from the 'icadi dose at hand. We found, howe\'er, by mid-day that there was no coolness to be found even here. It was even hotter than at Assous, 109° being the register of the thennometer in the shade ; but the coolness of the night and early morning counterbalances this disadvantage, and one awakes' invigorated and prepared to bear the heat of the day. We did not start again till the afternoon of the following da)', when we shaped our course to the north- east, and after a twelve miles' journey, and after crossing another range of hills, equally ])recipitous as the first, we arrived at Sheesharoo. Sheesharoo possesses greater natural adxantages than Dagree. It is situated beside a running stream, and is sur- rounded by fine trees. Hills, clothed to the summit with thick foliage, look down on it from e\eiy side, and are infe5;ted with baboons of the same species as those of Gabza. I was, to my great regret, prevented from exploring the neighbourhood, having sev^ely sprained my ankle in climbing the last range of mountains. Political reasons decided us not to extend our rambles further, and cross over the next range of hills into Hamasen, as we were ignorant how Hailu, surnamed the One- eyed, the Dedj-azmatch of that province, and a devoted adhe- rent of King Theodore, might be inclined to treat us. We therefore turned back, and crossing the mountains by a difterent route, arrived at Assous late on the evening of the 6th. The following day we regained our home at Alonkullii. The district through which we had been travelling is called Mensa, and is almost entirely inhabited by a nomad population of Bedaween, who in their general characteristics much resemble the Hibab, of whom I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. Assous was the only place we saw deserving the name of a settlement; it is simply composed of grass-built huts, but unlike those further inland, of a square or oblong shape. We often fell in v.ith parlies of the Bedaween, travelling like the Erinjaris of India, and driving heavily-laden bullocks before them. While, however, the cattle of the Brinjaris carry grain from one part of the country to another, those of the Bedaween are burdened with their masters' houses. These are merely roughly- tanned hides, fastened on sticks, and when a convenient place is reached, they are stretched until they assume a semi- s])heroidal appearance, like large bee-hives. Both sexes are etpially dirty in dress and person, and appear to have retained all the ancient prejudices of their Christian ancestors against the use of water. Indeed, tliey appear to be but Muslims in name, for so recent is their conversion, that the old Shevkh, who was the principal instrument in bringing it about, is said to be still alive, an object of superstitious veneration to all the neighbouring tribes. While the churches, which were once numerous in these parts, ha\e all fallen into ruins, and vestiges of them are becoming rarer every day, . not a single mosque has been erected in their place, and I am doub!iul whether one Moolla can be found between Massawa and Hamasen. The diet of these simple pastoral races consists chiefly of milk and its preparations ; now and then a cow may be slaughtered with the orthodox Bismillah ; but farinaceous food is seldom seen at their feasts, if such they may be called, an occasional cake of juari, a kind of millet {Holms sorg/iiaii,) being the only luxury they can indulge in of this description. Dr. Blanc returned to Massawa towards the end of May, and as it began to grow unbearably hot at Monkiillii, we took/ up our quarters in tents at Djerar, or Gherar, as the Bedaween term it. This was on the brink of the sea, just opposite to the town of Massawa, and close to the bunder, or landing-place. The natives told us that we should find it so hot in tents during the summer, that it would be iinpossible to remain in them ; but the event falsified their prediction, as they formed our only residence during the rest of our stay on the coast. It is tnie we were often much put out by sand stonns, which would some- times sweep like a tornado over the plain, and render the air so dark that it was impossible to see more than a )'ard in front of one, but the sea-breeze, which usually set in about 10 a.m., made up for this, and, added to a little philosophy, enabled us to endure our monotonous existence with tolerable resigna- tion. In the middle of June we took a trip to sea in the steamer Viclcria, for the benefit of our health, and determined to ha\e a look at all the remains of Adulis, which had been unvisited for several centuries, the expedition sent thither by Mr. Salt in 1810 being unable to reach the niins. Nor were we much more successful. As intimation had been sent by the Kaim-Makam of Massawa to the Sheykh of ZuUa, the modern xillage, on landing we found >i coujile of mules awaiting our arri\al, and the same number of wild-looking Shiho in attendance. \\"e had scarcely gone a couple of miles, when we made the discovery that, through some oversight, we had only brought about a c]uart of water with us. The day was terribly hot, and the sand atrociously heavy, but although our enthusiasm was considerably slackened, we still tramped on with great determination. 'We could not all ride, as our party was about a dozen in number, including some sailors and Lascars. Our antiquarian ardour had almost evaporated when we arrived at the ruins, where we could only see a few plinths of columns, composed of a black volcanic stone, and after a very brief inspection, we directed all our energies to- wards getting back to the ship. Little did we think, as we trudged over that burning plain, that in scarcely two years and a half afterwards more than two hundred vessels would be riding at anchor in that harbour, and a busy colony have sprung up on that arid shore, with a railway stretching fifteen miles into the desert. We steamed to the eastern side of the bay on the following morning, in order to obtain some live- stock, which we found no difticulty in purchasing from the savage Danakil of the coast, and towards evening shaped our course again to the south-west, and landed in order to examine a hot spring, called Asfat, about half a mile from the shore. It bubbles into a small circular pool, with a bottom of black mud, but its exact dejjth we were unable to ascertain. The temperature of the water is only iii" Fahr., and as we had no means of making an analysis of it on the spot, some of it was sent to Bombay for that purpose. M)riads of -.ild birds flock to this spring to quench their thirst, and all around it were unmistakable signs of elephants, but, greatly to our i-egi'et, they woukl not " show " while we were there. This country formed I A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN, the stronghold of the robber-chief I have spoken of above, and within a stone's throw of AduHs we came across a village which had been lately sacked by him, and in which there is now not a singh living soul. We left th2 bay with some hopes of being able to pay a visit to Dhalak, the largest island in the Red Sea, but unfortu- nately, on approaching it, could find no anchorage. There is, however, I believe, nothing of any interest to be seen there. return to the evening of my first arrival at Monkiillu. I then found Mr. Rassam in conversation widi a Shiho called Ibra- heem, whose only claim to consideration appeared to consist in the fact that he was a cousin of A)-to Samuel, a person who was then attached to the King's Court as Chief Steward,* and was naturally supposed to have much influence with his Majesty. Mr. Rassam, therefore, considered himself fortunate in being able to secure the services of his relative, who, en his YOUNG BEDAWEE.N GIKL. U'ild goats and antelopes form the majority of its inhabitants, and beyond these there are but a few fishermen, who speak no known language. On the following day we returned to Massawa, ha\ing much enjoyed our trip, in spite of the great heat of the weath::-. In a trip which we shortly afterwards made to Af-Abad, in the Ad-Temariam countrv, we covered so mucli of the ground passed over in our subsequent journey, that I shall reserve my description of it till the following chapter. It was, however, - i :.\e Sth of August, on our way back to Massawa, that an event occurred which considerably influ- enced our future fortunes— I mean the receipt of a letter from King Theodore. In order to be fully understood, I must part, volunteered to convey another letter to Theodore, and pledged himself to bring back an answer. His terms weic acceded to, and after an interval of four months, a reply reached us, conveyed by Ibraheem, who so far had plajed his brief part in the drama well, and by another of the same family, named Mohammed. The letter was couched in anything but courteous terms ; it bore no seal, that necessary evidence of authenticity in the East ; and after a vevy brief preamble, directed Mr. Rass:'0- to enter the countiy by way of Matemma, should he .•^till wish to visit the Royal Court. To supplement • Ayto Sanmcl's piiiKip.il duty consisted in dis])cnslni; the bread ai.il Mj\ or mead, to tlie King's household, and in superintendini; the pag2S and personal servantb of his Majesty. ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. this Mohammed, the Shiho informed us, with every appearance of truth, that Consul Cameron had been released from his fetters, and was a prisoner at large, but that there was no doubt that when Mr. Rassam saw the king, all the captives, excepting, jierhaps, the missionaries, would be freed, and all would go on their way rejoicing. \\'hile this news was quite fresh, the Victoria arrived from Aden. She brought intelligence that Mr. W. G. Palgra\e, the Arabian traveller, had been commissioned by Government to proceed to Abyssinia, and endeavour to effect the release of the prisoners. This news made Rassam eager to proceed to Egypt at once, as were the two missions to clash, disagreeable results might have been apprehended. We accordingly left Massawa on the 25th of August, and after having been obliged, through scarcity of coal, to run into that most Oriental of all Oriental cities, Djidda, arrived at Suez on the 5th of the fol- lowing month. Telegraphic instructions were received at Alexandria, to the effect that Mr. Rassam should proceed "lat once ; and after laying in a stock of provisions, and purchasing several articles as presents on the part of Her Majesty to the King of Abyssinia, we returned to Aden, to complete our preparations and outfit. On arri\al there, we found that we had been most egre- giously duped by our doubtless well-meaning friend, Mo- hammed. It appeared from Cameron's letter, which had reached Colonel Merewether during our absence, that so far from being released, he was more a prisoner than before, having been chained by the hands in addition to the feet. He begged us earnestly to come up, as the only chance of saving their lives. It has never been ascertained who were the persons actually at the bottom of this deception, but there is strong presumption that his Abyssinian Majesty, aided by Samuel, the relative of Mohammed, had a hand in it. At all events, it had the efiect of bringing us into the country, to add to the list of Theodore's victims. We returned to Massawa on the Sth of October, and passed a week in collecting camels, packing up baggage, and the like. In order not to be dependent on the produce of the country, we had taken care to provide ourselves with a very large quantity — si.\ months' supply, at the very least — of preserved meats and vegetables, and what are usually termed in India " Europe stores."' As a hint to travellers, I may say that good living, a tolerable amount of brandy and beer, and a daily dose of quinine, ought to see any one safely through the most deadly countries. Many a night did we bivouac in spots which were the most favoured haunts of malaria, and, thanks to our precautions, passed onwards unscathed. On the 15th we began our journey, a journey whose limits have been defined by Milton, our starting-place being close to that " utmost port, Ercoco," * and, unforeseen then by us, never ending until we had reached the spot " Where Abassin kinys their issue'guard, Mount Amara." t And we began it in buoyant spirits, and in high hopes that ere the lapse of many months we should be retracing our steps in company with our countrymen, before in prison, now in freedom. D'ls alitcr visum. But, at all events, misgi%ing's shadow but ver)' sligiitly obscured our way, as we commenced our wanderings over the rarely-trodden paths of the desert. \To be cotttiuued.) * riarkeeko, near Massawa. — Paradise Lost, xi. 397. t Miltun (raratiise Lost, iv. 280) refers to Amba Geshen, in the Am- hara country, when, after the restoration of the line of Solomon, it was the custom to immure descendants of the royal family. It is about six liours' journey from Magdala. Passage of the Great Canon of the Colorado. CV MAJOR ..>. When we consider the country through which flows the river Colorado, to the west of the Rocky Mountains in North America, we are not surprised that so little is known of its course, its wonderful caiions or precipitous chasms, and the 300,000 square miles of desert tab'ie-land which it drains. Yet when we read the marvellous accounts of the early Spanish explorers, who visited the Colorado a few years after the conquest of Mexico, we are astonished that the interest thus i. CALHOUN. ravines, till they join that stupendous chasm, the \'alley of the Colorado, where the river, for 600 miles, flows in a bed depressed on an average 3,000 feet below the general surface of the country. The plains stretching on either hand from the sur- face of the chasms show decided indications of erosion, leading to the belief that the waters of the Colorado and its tributaries once flowed, as most other rivers do, over the surface of the country, fertilising the now dry expanse, and that they have early excited has not resulted in a thorough exploration of thi.s, \ gradually worn their way down to the depth at which they the most wonderfiil river of which we have any knowledge, The Rio Colorado of the west rises in Idaho territory, near the centre of the North American continent, and flows', with an irregular course, towards the south, finally discharging itself in the Gulf of California. It drains the great elevated plateau basin lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, south of latitude 40°. The mountain ranges east and west of the plains intercciit all the moisture drifted towards th'-m from the Atlantic and the Tacilk Oceans, so that the p -ak-covered plateau is comparatively arid, save where the snow-fed streams cleave their way through it. As they cross this elevated region, tlie beds of the ^•arious rivers "xd.- duaily deepen, and the water flows through caiions, or narrow now run. The Great Canon of this river is a narrow winding part of the chasm, where the waters seem to disa])i)ear in the bowels of the earth, for a distance of more than 300 miles. After leaving the threat Canon, the Colorado flows south for nearly 600 miles, to the gulf, receiving during that distance but two small tributaries, the " Bill Williams " and the Gila. Occasionally the gravelly "mesas," or perpendicular water- worn walls of rock, devoid of vegetation, infringe on the river, leaving no bottom land ; but for the greater part of the dis- tance above stated, the alluvial bottom spreads out into valleys, varying from four to twenty miles in width, bordered by these precipices. These valleys are named after the tribes of Indians living in them, as the Mojaves (Mohavees),theCheme- PASSAGE OF THE GREAT CANON OF THE COLORADO. THE EXULTANT INDIANS MUTILATE THE DEAD nODY.— /. II. huevis, and Yumas. In the month of May the valleys are | inundated to a depth of two feet or more, after which the Indians plant maize, w^heat, melons, beans, and onions, all of which grow well in the rich alKuial soil. The lied of the ri\cr, ^ where not confined by rocky banks, is continually shifting, thus | rendering navigation difficult, and frequently washing over, or through, the best portions of the valleys. The water, as the name "Colorado" indicates, is red, owing to the large quantities of protoxide of iron which it holds in solution. The immense amount o{ debris carried down annually to the Gulf of California, and deposited in the delta of the river, is having a perceptible effect in silting up the head of the gulf; indeed, there can be no doubt that at no very distant day the gulf extended to Fort Yuma, thirty miles inland. North of Fort Yuma the valley on either side of the river is bounded by serrated hills and moun- VOL. I, tains, of the most fantastic shapes, devoid of vegetation, save an occasional cactus. The whole landscape has a wild, weird appearance, heightened by the clear, dry atmosjihere, through which objects that would not be perceptible at such a dis- tance in moistcr climates, here stand out with a wonderful distinctness. Although so remote, and to a great extent barren, yet the valley of the Colorado was visited by the Spaniards before De Soto discovered the Mississippi, and long prior to the first Ent;lish colonics on the Atlantic coast. Don Joseph de Basconzeles, early in the spring of 1526, crossed Central Arizona towards the Great Canon ; this was ninety-four years before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England, and but thirty-four years after the shores of St. Salvador greeted the eyes of Columbus. The adventurous Spaniard and his fol- 2 10 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. lowers were no doubt in search of an EI Dorado, but they ne\er returned to tell of the mysterious land. They were slain by some of the fierce tribes that still infest that countr)', or, equally sad, may have perished amidst the labyrinth of chasms to the north, across which nought living but the bird can successfully pass. In 1539 the Viceroy of New Spain sent a priest. Father Marco de Ne^a, into the region now known as Arizona, to examine the countr)', and see what could be done to convert the natives. Father Nega has left a curious narrative of his expedition, and a highly-coloured picture of the country he traversed. His companions were Friar Honoratus, a negro named Stephen, and a few Indians from the province of Culiacan. This strange party passed up the Gila, and relate wonderful stories of the wealth and liberality of the "king- doms" they travelled through. Friar Honoratus went west as far as the Colorado Chiquito, and Father Xc(^a went to the Indian settlements of Zuiii, 200 miles to the east. The good fatlier beat a hasty retreat from what he tenned " the chief city in the kingdom of Cebola." He says, quaintly, " I left it with more fear than victuals, though it be a good city, and the houses builded in order, and the people somewhat white, all of whom do lie in beds. Their weapons are bows. They have emeralds and other jewels. Their apparel is of cotton and ox-hides, and they have vessels of gold and silver." The Spaniards liked to Christianise people who had "jewels" and " silver and gold." So excited were they by the wonderful stories of the priest, that the Captain-General of New Spain sent to Arizona, in the following year, 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. He visited Zuiii and the Colorado Chiquito (litde Colorado), but was, of course, disappointed. He had a fight with the Indians, in which he was twice wounded, and afterwards returned to New Spain. While Coronado went to Zuiii, two of his captains, Diaz and Cardinas, each with twenty-five men, separated, and accord- ing to the orders they had received, travelled, the first due west, the other north-west. Diaz discovered the Great Colo- rado and followed it to its mouth, and his description would be applicable to the river in the present day. Cardinas reached the pueblas or hill-villages of the Moquis Indians, and detaining guides he marched for many dajs across a desert furrowed by deep chasms, finally reaching a river, the banks of which were so high, that " they seemed to be three or four leagues in the air." Some of the part)' attempted to descend to the water, but after a da;' spent in clambering down the rocks they returned, saying that "great difficulties stopped them." This was the first, and, for three hundred years, nearly all the infonnation we had about the great Canon of the Colorado. After the purchase and annexation of Arizona and New Mexico by the United States, and the subsequent discovery of gold in California, a wagon-road was opened up through southern Arizona, hundreds of miles below the Canon country. Lieutenants Whipple and Sitgreaves, of the Topographical Engineers, who commanded expeditions sent out by the Govern- ment in 1851 and 1S54 to examine the region benveen the Mississippi and Pacific, on certain latitudes, threw much light on this country. Subsequently, in 1S57, Lieutenant Ives made a careful examination of the Colorado below the Canon, in a small steamer, and since then light-draught boats have been success- fully navigating its lower portion. The upper source of the river and its tributaries were also carefully examined, still there was a terra incognita of hundreds of vniles, about which we cotild only surmise. The Great Caiion remained a myth ; its actual length, the character of the stream, the nature of its banks, and the depth of its vertical walls were subjects for speculation, and afforded a fine field for exaggerated description, in which writers called on their imaginations to supply natural bridges, cavernous tunnels, and fearful cataracts, as the prominent and natural adjuncts of this mysterious region. In 1867-8 the present writer was a member of an exploring expedition sent by the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company to survey a feasible route from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, along the 3Sth parallel. His connection with this expe- dition afibrded him many opportunities for acquiring geo- graphical knowledge of the unexplored regions of the far West, from original sources not accessible to ordinary map-compilers. Twenty years ago the trapper and the hunter were the romantic characters of the far ^\'est. They still figure in fiction, and there is a fascination about their daring deeds which, in America, makes "Boone" a household name, and throws an air of chivalry around the exploits of such men as Carson, Crockett, and Williams. Nor is the admiration for these hardy men undeserved ; they have trapped on every western stream and hunted on every mountain side, despite the opposition of the Indian and the barrier of winter sno^^s. They ha\e formed the skirmish line of the great anny of occupation which is daily pushing westward, and they have taught the sa\age to respect the white man's courage and to fear the white man's power. While the field for the trapper and hunter has been gradually growing less, another class of adventurers has come into exist- ence — the "prospectors" in search of precious metals. Within the last nineteen years these men have traversed every mountain slope, from the rugged peaks of British Columbia to the rich plateaus of Old Mexico, and have searched the sands of ever)' stream from the Mississippi to the shores of the Pacific, stimu- lated by the same hope of re\\'ard that led the early Spaniards to explore inhospitable wilds in their search for an " El Dorado." Could the varied and ad\enturous experience of these searchers for gold be written, we should ha\-e a record of daring and peril that no fiction could approach, and the very sight of gold would suggest to our minds some story of hair- breadth escape. Could we but gather and set down in proper form the geographical knowledge possessed by these men, we should know as much of the 'Western wilds, as we now do of the long-settled portions of the American continent. It has fallen to the lot of one of these "pro.spectors" to be the hero of an ad\'enture more thrilling than any heretofore recorded, while at the same time he has solved a geographical problem which has long attracted the attention of the learned at home and abroad, who could but theorise, before his journey, as to the length and nature of the stupendous chasms or canons through which the Colorado cleaves its central course, ^^"hile on the sur-\-ey before refeiTed to, and while stopping for a few days at Fort Mojave, Dr. W. A. Bell, Dr. C. C. Parr)', and myself, met this man, whose name is James ^^'hite, and from his lips, the only living man who had actually traversed its formidable depths, we learned the story of the Great Canon. James White now lives at Callville, Arizona territor)-, the present head of na\igation on the Colorado River. He is thirty-two years of age, and in person is a good type of the Saxon, being of medium height and heavy build, with light hair and blue eyes. He is a man of average intelligence, PASSAGE OF THE GREAT CANON OF THE COLORADO. simple and unassuming in his manner and address, and with- out any of the swagger or bravado peculiar to the majority of frontier men. Like tliousands of our young men, well enough off at home, he grew weary of the slow but certain method of earning his bread by regular employment at a stated salary. He had heard of men leaping into wealth at a single bound in the Western gold fields, and for years he yearned to go to the land where Fortune was so lavish of her favours. He readily consented then to be one of a party from his neighbourhood who, in the spring of 1S67, started for the plains and the gold fields beyond. When they left Fort Dodger, on the Arkansas River, April 13th, 1867, the party consisted of four men, of whom Captain Baker, an old miner and ex-officer in the Con- federate army, was the acknowledged leader. The destination of this little jiarty was the San Juan Valley, west of the Rocky Mountains, about the gold fields of which prospectors spoke in the most extravagant terms, stating that they were deterred from working the rich placers of the San Juan only by fear of the Indians. Baker and his companions reached Colorado '•' city," at the foot of Pike's Peak, in safety. This place was, and is still, the depot for supplying the miners who work the diggings scattered through the South Park, and is the more important from being situated at the entrance to the L'te Pass, tlirough which there is a wagon-road crossing the Rocky Mountains, and descending to the plateau beyond. The people of Colorado "city" tried to dissuade Baker from what they considered a rash project, but he was determined to carry out his original plan. These representations, however, affected one of the party so much that he left, and the others. Captain Baker, James White, and Henry Strole, completed their outfit for the prosjiecting tour. The journey w^as undertaken on foot, with two jjack mules to carry the provisions, mining tools, and the blankets they considered neces.sary for the expedition. On the 25th of ALiy they left Colorado city, and crossing the Rocky Moun- tains, through the Ute pass, entered South Park, being still on the Atlantic slope of the continent. After travelling ninety miles across the Park they reached the Upper Arkansas, near the 'I'win Lakes. They then crossed the Snowy Range, or Sierra Madre, and descended towards the west. Turn- ing southerly, they passed around the head waters of the Rio Grande del Norte, and after a journey of 400 miles from Colorado " city," they reached the " Animas " branch of the San Juan River, which flows into the Great Colorado from tile east. They were now in the land where their hopes centred, and to reach which they had crossed plains and mountains, and forded rai)id streams, leaving the nearest abodes of the white man hundreds of miles to the east. Their work of prospecting for gold began in the .\nimas, and though they were partially successful, the result did not by any means answer their expectations. They therefore moved still further to the west, crossing the Dolores branch of Grand River to the Mancos branch of the San Juan. I'dllnw ing the Mancos to its mouth, they crossed to the left bank of the San Juan, and began their search in the sands. There was gold there, but not in the quantity they expected ; so they gradually moved west, along the beautiful valley for 200 miles, when they found the San Juan disappeared between the lofty walls of a deep and gloomy canon. To avoid this, they again forded the river to the right bank, and struck across a rough, timbered country, directing their course towards the Great Colorado. Having travelled through this rough country for a distance estimated at fifty miles, they reached Grand River, being still above the junction of Green River, the united waters of which two streams form the Colorado proper. At the point where they struck the river, the banks were masses of jierpendicular rock, down which they could gaze at the co\eted water, dashing and foaming like an agitated white band, 2,000 feet below. Men and animals were now suffering for water ; so they pushed u}) the stream, along the une\en edge of the chasm, hoping to find a place where they could descend to the ri%-er. After a day spent in clambering over and around the huge rocks that impeded their advance, they came ujjon a side canon, where a tributary joined the main stream, to which they succeeded in descending with their animals, and thus obtained the water of which all stood so much in need. The night of the 23rd of August they encamped at the bottom of the canon, where they found plenty of fuel, and grass in abundance for their animals. So they .sat around the camp fire, lamenting their failure in the San Juan countiy, and Strole began to regi'et that they had undertaken the expedition. But Baker, who was a brave, sanguine fellow, spoke of placers up the river about ^\■hich he had heard, and promised his companions that all their hopes should be realised, and that they would return to their homes to enjoy the gains and laugh at the trials of their trij). So glowingly did he picture the future, that his companions even speculated as to how they should spend their princely fortunes when they returned to the " States." Baker Sang songs of home and hope, and the others lent their voices to the chorus, till far in the night, \\hen, unguarded, they sank to sleep, to dream of coming opulence and to rise refreshed for the morrow's journey. Early next morning they breakfasted, and began the ascent of the side canon, up the bank opposite to that by which they had entered it. Baker \\as in advance, with his rif.e slung at his back, gaily springing up the rocks, towards the table land above. Behind him came White, and Strole with the mules brought up the rear. Nothing disturbed the stillness of the beautiful summer morning, but the tramijing of the mules, and the short, hea\y breathing of the climbers. They had ascended about half the distance to the toj), when stopping for a moment to rest, suddenly the war-whoop of a band of savages rang out, sounding as if every rock had a demon's voice. Simultaneously, with the first whoop, a shower of arrows and bullets \Vas poured into the little party. With the first fire Baker fell ag,:.inst a rock, but, rallying for a moment, he unslung his rille and fired at the Indians, who now began to show themselves in large numbers, and then, with the blood flowing from his mouth, he fell to the grounil. White, firing at the Indians as he advanced, and followed by Strole, hurried to the aid of his wounded leader. Baker, with an ellbrt, turned to his comrades, and in a \(>i(e still strong, said, "Back, boys, back! save yourselves, I am dying." To the credit of White and Strole, be it said, they fiiced the savages and fought, till the last tremor of the powerful frame told that the gallant Baker was dead. Then slowly they began to retreat, followed by the exultant Indians, who stopjiing to strip and mutilate the dead body in their path, ga\e the white men a chance to secure their animals, an.\, OR SCREW-riNE, OF MADAG.\SCAR. and their stores of clothing and provisions taken from them, so that at last they have given themselves up to a gloomy despair, and no longer attempt to provide themsehes with anything beyond the necessaries of life. The climate of the coast of Madagascar near Tamatave is by no means pleasant. The country does not deserve the eulogiums which have been lavished on its temperature and colonist or tourist, we must confess xnat in our frequent excursions, alternately exposed to the sun and rain, and often wet to the skin, none of us ever experienced the least s)'mptom of it. Encu at Tamata^•e, where there are upwards of three hundred European inhabitants, we ^^■ere assured there had not been a single fotal case within the last two years. 3° ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. Gold-Fields of South Africa. The discovery, or rather the rediscovery-, of gold-diggings in the interior of Southern Africa is likely to produce the effect of adding greatly to our knowledge of a part of the continent hitherto very little known. Already numerous parties have left England — adventurous young men, anxious to try their fortune, and ready to battle with the enormous difficulties of a long march, over mountain and desert, to the remote spot where the precious metal has been seen for miles glittering in the quartz rock. The locality of the gold is the interior region lying between the Zambesi, west of Tete, and the middle course of the Limpopo River ; the distance of the nearest point, by road from Xatal, being about 700 miles, and from the Portuguese settlement of Sofala about 350 miles. Port Elizabeth, in Cape Colony, is spoken of also as a good starting-point, but the distance from this place is about 900 miles, and the road lies through desert tracts scantily supplied with grass and water. The discovery of gold was made on the 27th July, 1S66, by Mr. Hartley, an elephant hunter, and Mr. Carl ^Liuch, a German scientific traveller, who was journeying in company with Mr. Hartley, and under his protection. These gentlemen, when hunting elephants a little beyond the north-western bend of the Limpopo, accidentally came upon a number of holes artificially excavated in a mass of quartz rock, and containing broken imj)lements of a rude description, used by former un- known miners. Belts of glistening white quartz rock extended over the desolate table-land, and j\Liuch, with his geological hammer, detached pieces of stone from the mass, impregnated with the precious metal. The sandy margins of rivulets flow- ing through the region were also found to contain particles of gold. The journey was afterwards extended, in a north- easterly direction, to a point about 160 miles distant from the Portuguese settlement of Tete on the Zambesi, gold-bearing quartz being occasionally found cropping up from the surface along their line of march. The travellers then returned to Potchefstrom, in the territory of the Trans- Vaal Republic ; and Mauch subsequently ijroceeded to Natal and exhibited his specimens. The country in which the gold is found is an elevated table-land, rising in its highest part to the height of 7,000 feet above the sea-level ; and is chiefly occupied by the Matabele section of the Caffres, a warlike tribe, governed by the redoubtable chief Mosilikatse ; but the most southern gold- held lies out of his territory, and very near to the north-western frontier of the Trans-Vaal Republic. The high land of the interior in south-eastern Africa ends for the most part ab- ruptly, at a short distance from the shores of the Indian Ocean, lea\ing a tract of lower land clothed with rank vegeta- tion, and having a humid climate. On this account it is doubtful if Sofala (the nearest point on the coast) can be made available as a starting-point to the gold-fields, owing to the un- healthiness of the coast-land and the difticulties of land-travel. Some eminent authorities believe that the Ophir of Solomon has been at length found in the country of these re-discovered gold-mines ; and the opinion is confirmed by accounts given by the natives of the unexplored tract along the lov.er Lim- popo, of the ruins of an ancient city still existing near the banks of this river, with colossal stone walls, columns, and sphinxes. A tradition of a great city existed on the coast when first visited by the Portuguese at the end of the fifteenth century. It seems probable, however, that the mines discovered by Hartley and Mauch were those known to the Portuguese as long ago as the seventeenth century, and since abandoned. News has been lately received of the return, from the southern field, of the first party of pioneers, with a waggon-load of gold- bearing quartz. Exploration of the Himalayas. A PROJECT has been set on foot in India for the establishment of an association to be called the Himalayan Society, the objects of which are the exploration of the vast mountain chain stretching from Assam on the east, to the frontiers of Persia on the west. The society is to be something more than an Alpine club, for, besides the ascent of peaks, it pro- poses to investigate the geology, zoology, botany, and ethnology of the Himalayan region ; enlisting in its service the hundreds of Indian officers who, with their rifles and sketch-books, visit every summer tlie upper valleys and passes of Kashmir and Thibet, bringing back their quotas of informa- tion, which, for want of facilities of publication, at present remain unknown to the world. The task before the society is a prodigious one, and the field of investigation its organisers have chosen may be said to be inexhaustible. The range of the Himalaya, with its parallel or branching chains of the Karakorum and the Kuen-lun, is 400 miles broad in its nar- rowest part, and the space includes ever)' conceivable variety of mountain scener)- — snowy peaks nearly twice the height of Mont Blanc ; jjlateaus stretching for several days' journey, at an average elevation of 15,000 feet above the sea-level ; and glaciers fifty miles in length, giving birth, from huge ice- caverns at their extremities, to the mountain torrents which flow through precipitous valleys on their course to the Indus and the Ganges. The prospectus of the society calls atten- tion to the discoveries that may be expected to be made in ethnology and philology in this region, which contains, jjcrhaps, the key to some of the most absorbing and difticult questions of the day. Here, in the extreme north-west of the Himalayas, the great Aryan race, the common ancestors of the nations of Western Europe, Greece, Persia, and India, had probably its origin ; and among these valleys, where the Katoch Rajpoots recount the succession of 470 kings, may yet be found the remains of the primitive tongue from which Sanskrit and its sister languages have alike descended. Manchuria. This remote part of Asia, the original seat of the dynasty which at present rules the Chinese empire, has been recently traversed, for the first time, by an English traveller, an outline only of whose narrative has at present reached England. The traveller is the Rev. Alexander Williamson, who is stated to be an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and to be still occupied in China in prosecution of his mission. His account, which was read at a recent meeting of the Royal Geo- graphical Society, and excited much interest, shows him to be an intelligent observer, intent on gaining infomiation of various kinds, relating to the country he has had the courage and good fortune to explore, for the benefit of the \\orld in general. MANCHURIA, 3« Manchuria is described as situated, with regard to China, in a similar way to Canada with regard to the United States of America. I ts climate resembles that of Canada in the contrasts of temperature offered in the different seasons : the summer heat being almost tropical, varying from 70° to 80° of Fahren- heit, and the winter cold, generally severe, ranging from 45° above, to 10° below, zero. The country lies to the north-east of China Proper, between 39° and 49° of latitude ; its position, therefore, coincides with that of the finest portions of Europe, from Southern Italy, or the centre of Spain, to the north of France ; but being on the eastern side of the continent, and «lci)rived of the moderating influence of warm currents from the south on its coasts, the climate is much more rigorous than its geographical position would indicate — the eastern coasts of Asia being similarly situated in this respect to the eastern coasts of North America, which, as is well known, ha\e a much severer climate than the countries of western Europe, in corresponding latitudes. Grand mountain chains traverse the region from south to north, jjarticularly the Shan- Alin range on its eastern side, whose peaks rise to a height of 12,000 feet, and are covered with perpetual snow. The hilly country is e.xtremely picturesque — ever-changing views, bounding torrents, fountains bubbling forth from the mountain- sides, and a luxuriant vegetation delight the eyes of the tnneller. The slope of the country is towards the west and north ; in this latter direction flow the two great navigable rivers of the region, the Usuri and the Sungari, both tributaries of the Amur, which latter stream forms the northern boundary ol' the country, separating it from Eastern Siberia. In the s(Hithern jjart there is also a tract of level country, round the head of the Gulf of Liau-tung. Here, at the mouth of tlie I,iau-ho River, is a flourishing sea-port where there is a foreign settlement. The rivers and ports on the coast of the gulf, which forms the northern arm of the Gulf of Pechili, enjoy a milder climate, and are open to vessels all the year round. The whole country extends about 800 miles in length XE. to SW., and 500 miles in breadth. Notwithstanding the coldness of the winter, its climate, according to Mr. Williamson, is most enjoyable, especially in spring and autumn ; a glorious, clear blue sky extends overhead ; the valleys are well cul- tivated ; and large villages, with their clusters of trees and busy jjopulation, everywhere enliven the scene. Under the genial summer sun the crops rapidly rijjcn, and by the end of October every kind of produce is safely housed. The population of the whole country is estimated at about 15,000,000. So desirable a country, extending towards the sunny South from the bleak domain of Siberia, has not escaped the attention of the Russians, ever striving to extend their frontier in the direction of more genial climes. The possession of the Amur river, one of the great streams of the earth, having a course of ujiwards of 2,000 miles through a varied region, was of little advantage to them so long as they had no outlet to the seas of China ajid Japan. F'or the fact of its trending north- ^^ ard, after a long southern bend to the confines of Manchuria, and opening to the sea in a latitude so far north that the na\igation is closed by ice for five months in the year, was fotal to 'its utility as a means of communication between the Russian empire and the outer world. The port of Nicolayevsk, at the mouth of the Amur, has made but very little progress since its establishment, chiefly on account of the se\erity of the climate — all ships having to quit the harbour before the end of October, on pain of being frozen up until the following April. The diplomacy of the Russians, exercised during many years, was rewarded with success at the conclusion of the last Chinese war, when they obtained a slice of the Manchurian coast to the south of the Amur, and entered in possession of it after the treaty of Tien-Tsin, in 1858. The tract of country thus acquired extends just so far southward as to include a liarbour that is open to vessels all the year round. This lies in latitude 42° 40', within a deep indentation of the coast now called Possiette Bay. A little further up the coast, in Victoria Bay, a second town has been built, named Vla- divostock. Further north there are very few harbours on the coast, and none that is not frozen up for a longer or shorter period during the winter. The width of the strip of territory thus gained at the expense of Manchuria, is, on the average, a hundred and fifty miles — its western boundary being the river Usuri, which runs from south to north. It is creditable to the enterprise of the Russians that the electric telegraph has already been extended from the Siberian settlements to the southernmost point in their Manchurian possessions, and that they have established steamboat navigation on the Usuri, from the Amur to Lake Khinka — a large lake connected by another river, and a short portage, with the sea-port Vla- divostock. Mr. Williamson does not record that he met with any obstacles either from the government or natives during liis many journeys in the country, and he appears to have frei:ly disseminated copies of the Scriptures and other books, trans- lated into Chinese, among the people. His first journey was in 1864, and his last and longest during the early part of the present year. In his first journey he travelled all round the shores of the Liau-tung Gulf, and along the coast as far as the frontier of Korea. In subsequent excursions he visited the city of Moukden, and in the present year set out on his more important and longer journey northward, in which he reached San-Sing, on the Sungari River, the last town of the Chinese towards the north, and on his way passed o\er the western frontier of Mancluiria into Mongolia. He ajipears to have found no difficulty in getting along, wherever there were l^racticable roads and modes of conveyance. Most of the large towns he describes as well-built, and wearmg an air of comfort and cleanliness which attract the traveller. Moukden, the capital, is a fine city, with streets full of good shojis, and thronged with a well-to-do population. Fur shops, full of fine furs, were found in great numbers in " Great East Street " and "West Street." There were also several large booksellers' shops, speaking well for the literary tastes of the people. Kirin, the chief town of Central Manchuria, is most beautifully situated on the banks of the Sungari, here flowing as a majestic stream nearly 600 miles distant from its junction with the Amur. The town lies at the foot of a range of pictures"vvhere through the north - western provinces, and even in Madrid they may be occasionally seen about those busy, old- fashioned streets in the neighbourhood of the Plaza Mayor. They are obviously, on the whole, a well-to-do people. In some instances they attain to very considerable wealth ; and they probably stand by one another in distress, as members of small and distinct communities do, for no one ever saw a Maragato in rags or begging. In appearance the Maragatos able for the number of distinct peoples to be found within its | certainly encourage the Gothic theory as to their origin, limits, living apart, neither marrj-ing nor mixing to any extent ' Of all the peoples of Spain, they are the most intensely TOILET Of GIPSY GIKL AT UIEZMA. 38 ITJA'STRATKD IRAVEI.S. Teutonic in fonn and feature. 'J'hey arc generally tall, squarely and powerfully built, with broad, massive, and rather heavy features, and an expression that gives an idea of slowness, determination, and honesty. Their costume is in keeping with their general bearing. Borrow, indeed, detects in it many traces of Moorish influence ; but to most eyes, we imagine, it would rather suggest ideas of northern Europe. Indeed, ^\'e venture to say that most people put before a faithful portrait of a Maragato in full costume, and called upon to specify the nationality of the original, would unhesitatingly say, "Dutch, of course." It consists of a black cloth jacket reaching to the hips : \ery wide, baggy black breeches gathered in at the knee ; gaiters ; a broad black leather belt, sometimes curiously ornamented with silver ; and a low-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, ver)' much like that which appears in the portraits of the Puritan worthies of the seventeenth century. On the whole, however, a Maragato in full dress resembles more closely than anything else a Dutcliman as he used to be represented in caricatures and in the old-fashioned geo- graphies. There is in Spain one other peoijle to be noticed before we quit the subject of peculiar peoples and costumes. A people which, although having its own peculiar manners and customs, does not by any means keep aloof from or avoid the rest of society, but, on the contrar)', always endea-\-ours to cultivate the acquaintance of its neighbours, and is always most perse- vering in its efibrts to encourage liberality of feeling ; a people, moreover, whose claims to the possession of a distinctive costume, or indeed to any costume at all, are of the veiy slightest nature, but ^^•hich, nevertheless, has always had the strongest attractions for the painter and lover of the pic- turesque. The beggars are indeed one of the peoples of Spain. Spain is perhaps the last stronghold in Europe of the regular old traditional beggar, the typical beggar of song, tale, and ballad ; the beggar who is a beggar pure and simple, and stands upon unadulterated mendicancy, without a claim, pro- spective or retrospective, to any other position in society ; who has not been reduced by any unmerited misfortunes, who has never had any "litde all" to lose by any unforeseen calamity, and who makes no pretence whatever of desiring to earn his bread honesdy by any other calling than that of begging ; who begs without any explanation, excuse, or apology, but simply as one exercising his mHicr, and a member of an established, recognised, and on the whole honourable frater- nity. Hitherto this sort of beggar has abounded and flourished in Spain. The church has always been distinctly on his side, and, as a matter of fact, he is always to be found on the side of the church — that side especially which is the sunniest, and in which the most frequented entrance is situated. He is also favoured by the climate, by the abundance of the common necessaries of life, by the natural kindly disposition of tlie people — "El dar limosna nunca mengua la bolsa:" " To give alms never lightens the purse," says the pro\erb— but, more than all, by that peculiar species of social equality which is the offspring of the old-fashioned Spanish courtesy. Bego-ar as he is, he is none the less a recognised member of society, and his right to the common courtesies of life is as freely admitted as that of the most unmistakable hidalgo. E\-en railway porters, curtest and gruffest (when untipped) of man- kind, do not call upon him to "get out of that." If he is blocking up the way he is requested to give place with a " con su licencia, caballero," like any other gentle- man. A good deal, no doubt, is owing to the broad and somewhat sympatlietic \'iew which is naturally taken of his calling. In a country like Spain, where the moral dignity of labour, however earnestly it may be preached in the press, is not much appreciated in practice, there is no ;iecessary stigma attached to the profession of mendicancy. There is no wide gulf fi.xed between him and the industrial classes, as in countries where severer principles of political economy influence public opinion. Hence, in Spain, the regular professional beggar has a dignity and a bearing rarely seen elsewhere. He never whines or cringes, or condescends to such artifices as moaning or shivering. He simply begs — " Una limosnita, caballero, por Dios" — "A little alms, for the sake of Clod." If you put him oft" with the customary form, "Let your worship excuse me, for God's sake," his strong sense of professional etiquette, and the dignity of his calling, will not allow him to make a further ap- plication. If you bestow the alms, you will obsen-e he does not thank you. "Dios lo te pagara" — "God will repay thee," is all he says. He gives you a quittance. You have met a claim, and you ha\e your voucher — to be acknowledged in the proper quarter and at tlie proper time. Not that there are not in Spain plenty of the more painful sort of beggars^-the maimed, the halt, and the blind. Horrible objects, afflicted with every sort of sore and every kind of deformity ; cripples crawling on their knees and elbows, muti- lated trunks that roll along the pavement, creatures with limbs like the branches of writhen trees, swarm in every market- place, on every church-step, at every inn-door — where\-er there is a chance of extracting a few cuartos from pity or loathing. Blindness, loo, is sadly common in Spain. The fierce heats, the sharp winds, the dust, and the glare of a treeless, grass- less landscape, naturally have their results in ophthalmia and other affections of the eye. It is wonderful the number of "tuertos" — one-eyed people — one meets in Spain; and of the totally blind the proportion certainly seems to be far in excess of that in most other populations. Spain is not rich in blind as)-lums, or industrial refuges for 'the blind, and all that is left to them — the sole resource open to them — " Is only for to b:.>g." On all these poor creatures Progi^ess, the rapid improve- ment of the country, the development of her internal resources, and all the other favourable jjlienomena observable in modern Spain, bear hardl)\ No member of the guild, probably, is so well known in Spain and out of it as " The blind woman of Manzanares." She is that " Manchegan prophetess" met just thirty years ago b)' Borrow, who, in " The Bible in Spain," gives one of his own peculiarly graphic descriistions of her appearance, and his conversation with her, first in Gitano and then in Latin — "truly excellent Latin." Another accom- plishment she has, of which she does not appear to have gi\en him a sample, but to which Mr. Clark, the author of " Gazpacho," and M. Theophile Gautier bear testimony. She is an improvisatrice of no mean ability, and can carry on, on any topic, and apparently to any length, in a strain which i; not exactly poetrj- perhaps, but v.-hich, with the facilities afforded by Spanish assonance, is something better than mere doggerel. In the old diligence days she was a well-known character on the Great South Road. La Ciega de Manzanares was an institution, and at the coach-door or in the eating-room of the parador, she spouted her Latin, or strung her verses, NOTES ON SPAIN. 39 sure of a response in applause and reals. But the railway came, and the diligence went, and since then, La Ciega, poor soul, has been dri\en from post to pillar. For some time the rail stopped short at Venta de Cardenas, at the foot of the Sierra Morena, and travellers bound to Andalusia took diligence there for Cordova or Granada. Tt) meet their requirements an hotel and restaurant of shingle, and of that order of archi- tecture which seems to have pre\-ailed at Ballarat and San through the Despena-pen'ors pass was opened, and the train took to passing Venta de Cardenas with no further recognition than a snort, a minute's halt, and a whistle. The last time we saw the blind woman of Manzanares it was on the platform at Manzanares station. All places had become alike to her now, as far as concerned her poor vocation, and she had come home. The train was late, the whole station was in a fuss, and she was in everybody's way. Hurried porters, with trucks and trunks, lip .; • r^^^?i<^i.^^.jn^;/-A'''"''''''iri^'--3 :«- #?,r.« •VNK-J"^ AT ALIC.V.NTE. Francisco in the earlv digging days, was erected on a bank adjoining the railway-statio.i. The hostelry and its accommo- dations are mentioned in the book of the Lamentations of Miss Eyre. Here, for a while, the blind woman tried to set up her Latin and her rhymes ; but the house, thougli friendly, was not like the honest old coaching-house up the road, nor were the customers altogether the same as the diligence passengers of yore, who ne\-er were so jiressed for time that they could not find a couple of reals more for another coujilet. But even thi.s, make- shift as it w; s, did not last. In the autumn of 1866, the bridges and tunnelh being at last finished, the long-expected line ran against her; thirsty passengers, rushmg after refresh- ments,^ jostled her; ner\-ous passengers, fearful of losing their seats, ran foul of her. She might just as well have tried to address recitations to a storming-party mounting a breach. Her little guide— a girl of nine or ten— was just as much stupefied bv the bustle and confusion as she was. >Vhat a mystery it 'must be to her-that engine, that inexplicable enemy of hers that has come shrieking and tlmndering across her life and broken it up, scattering her old friends, sweeping away the friendly old inn and its kindly ways, and leaving all behind it a muddle ! u a: < A VISIT TO PARAGUAY DIJRING THE WAR. 41 A Visit to Paraguay during the War EY THOMAS J. HUTCHINSOX, I.R.G.S., ETC. CHAPTER I. THE RIO DE LA PLATA — THE PARANA — SEASONS AT ROSARIO — MOS(JUITOES— SANTA FE— THE GRAN CHACO— AKKIVAL AT COR- RIENTES. The voyage to South America can be so easily accomplished now a-days on board any of the fast and commodious steamers plying thither from many parts of Europe, that such a journey necessarily loses much of the romance which accompanied the explorations of our early geographers. When Don Juan de Solis, in a.d. 1515, entered a large basin of muddy water on the south-eastern coast of this conti- nent, he gave to it his own name, and ordered the anchors of his three caravels to be cast contiguous to the northern point cf what is now know-n as Maldonado. Down to the bank came the Churrua Indiam in thousands, no doubt surprised at the sight of his ships. The savages coaxed him ashore by leaving their presents on the beach and returning to the woods. To reciprocate the confidence, De Solis proceeded to land with a single boat, and unarmed. He had not been many minutes on the ne\ 'ly-discovered territory when he w as fallen upon by the Indians, in sight of his companions on board the vessels, murdered, and, as some historians .say, eaten. Twelve years afterwards, or in a.d. 1527, came Sebastian Cabot to the bay of fresh water discovered by De Solis. He proceeded up the river, and met with some Guarani Indians, to whom he administered a sound thrashing. On account of the massive silver ornaments worn by several of these people was given the name, which the river basin holds to the present day, the Rio de la Plata — river of silver, or river Plate. It is very difiicult for the stranger, who enters these waters for the first time, to realise the idea of a river at the estuary of La Plata. From the northern shore at this point, called Santa Maria, to the southern, at San Antonio, the breadth of the stream is 150 miles. Land is rarely visible in the usual channel until you approach Maldonado, distant thirty miles from the Uruguayan tcrritor)- is an apparently boundless expanse of water. Eighteen miles above Buenos Ayres, when bound for the interior apd the inland state of Paraguay, you enter the delta of the Parana, described by Captain Page, the American naval surveyor, as extending to an apex at Diamante, which gives a length of 1 78 miles, and by river course 242 miles. The breadth of its base is fifty miles. The delta is, therefore, one of the largest in the world, the length cf the Nile delta being about 80 geographical miles, and that of the Mississippi 1 80. Ascending by either of three mouths — the Parand Guazu, Parand de las Palmas, or the Lujan — the traveller finds himself amid a labyrinth of islands and channels. These were all inhabited by the Guarani Indians in ancient times, and were subsequently cultivated by the Jesuits. Several of the islands are of recent formation — accumulations of the detritus washed down by the great stream. To the present day the market gardeners of Buenos Ayres, who have their establishments in these fertile spots, make use of Guarani words to designate the plants and animals of the neighbourhood. Not a few islands have litde or no vegetation save rushes or sedgy grass, and many of them are overflown at high tides; but the greater number, to a distance of forty miles above Buenos Ayres, support groves of orange, pear, apple, pomegranate, and acacia trees. Skirting along the province of Buenos Ayres, if the steamer ascends by the Palmas channel, or keeping near the centre of the delta, if the Guazu be chosen, there is little or no variety noticed in the landscape. In the voyage up- wards, past Zarate, San Pedro, Los Dos Hermanos, San Nicholas, and Puerto de las Piedras, to the city of Rosario, two classes of scenery present themselves : One, characteristic of the shores of the mainland, along the western channel, where a clift" about 150 feet high extends for miles, pre- senting an escarped face of red clay to the river ; the other peculiar to the low islands of the delta, where alluvial land, generally wooded, accompanies the tedious journey proper embouchure, the first tract of /(V7-(r7f;7«(7 which is sighted along the winding channels. Approachmg Rosario the trees being the island of Lobos, at a distance of fourteen miles from the mainland. On this island stood a lighdiouse until 1849, when it was removed to Maldonado Point by a decree of the Government, in consequence of its being supposed to have done material injury to a valuable seal fishery in the neighbourhood. In the vicinity of Lobos the pilot comes on board the in- ward bound vessel. The channel hence to Monte Video — a course of 100 miles — lies within sight of the Banda Oriental, the eastern or Uruguayan shore, which stretches to the light, as the vessel proceeds ; but in all this passage no land is to be seen on the opposite or western side. The Oriental coast appears as a series of bluft" headlands, alternating with large patches of sandy beach, and this appearance it preserves as far as Monte Video. From this city, a voyage uji the river and to the opposite side brings you, after eighty miles steaming, to Buenos Ayres, the capital of the Argentine Republic. When anchored in this port, the view across the river towaras the VOL. I. on the islands become scarcer, and the traveller is con- scious of a change in the climate from the cooler latitude of the La Plata estuary. The temperature indeed at Rosaric may be said to vary only from cool to warm in the winter time, and from hot to stifling in summer. If the traveller arrive here in the last-mentioned season, it is more than pro- bable his first acquaintance will be with the mosquitoes— the great drawback to the pleasure of a cruise on the Parand. The width of the bed occupied by channels and alluvial islands between Rosario and Entre Rios is not less than thirty miles — a capacious nursery for these terrible pests. Sydney Smith, in one of his essays— namely, the " Review of Waterton's Wanderings in South America," thus writes :— " Insects are the curse of tropical climates. The b'ck rouge lays the foundation of a tremendous ulcer. In a moment you are covered with ticks ; chigoes bury themselves in your flesh, and hatch a large colony of young chigoes in a few minutes. They will not live together, but every chigoe sets up a sepaiatc 6 42 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. ulcer, and has his own private portion of pus. Flics get cntr)- into your mouth, into jour eyes, into your nose ; you eat flies, drink flies, and breathe flies. Lizards, cockroaches, and snakes get into the bed : ants eat up the books ; scorpions sting you in the foot. Everything bites, stings, or bruises. Ever)' second of )our existence you are wounded by some piece of animal life that nobody has ever seen before, except Suammerdam or Merian. An insect with eleven legs is swimming in your tea-cuj) ; a caterpillar, with several dozen eyes in his belly, is hastening over your bread and butter. All nature is alive, and seems to be gathering all her entomological hosts to eat you up, as you are standing, out of your coat, waistcoat, and breeches. Such are the tropics. All this recon- ciles us to our dews, fogs, vapours, and drizzles ; to our apothecaries rushing about with tinctures and gargles ; to our old British constitu- tional couglis, sore throats, and swelled faces." Now, although we in the Argentine Republic are from eight to ten degrees outside the Tropic of Capri- corn, and, therefore, in a temperate climate, we have satis siiperqite of such delec- tabilities as the foregoing. But they are all cast in the shade by mosquitoes, of which, by the way, the sati- rist says nothing. I suffered most severely from this plague on the first night of my voyage to the seat of war in Paraguay, on board the fast and commo- dious steamer, Whitcinch, of Glasgow, on which I em- barked, at Rosario, on the 23rd of March, 1866. We had before us a river voyage of more than 600 miles, nearly due north, from the temperate towards the tropical zone, to reach the head-quarters of the allied armies, at the junction of the Paraguay river. At our first halting-place the steamer was anchored near the convent of San Lorenzo, and the whole night was spent by crew and jxassengers in walking to and fro on the deck ; for sleep was impossible. A pig, whicH lay in a small house forward, passed the hours granting most piteously, from the torture of the insatiable blood-suckers ; a young dog belonging to the wife of the commander kept up one dismal howl the night long ; whilst the fowls in the coops betrayed, by clutter- ing and incessant fidgets, a like consciousness of their proper roosting-time being intruded on by a remorseless enemy. But in justice to the Parana and its pretty river scener\' I must acknowledge that mosquito monster meetings of this kind do not take place here oftener than from about twelve to fifteen nights during the year. From the end of April to September — being our winter months — we have little or none of them. INDIAN GIRL— In the course of our voyage up the river we made a short stay at each of the two cities of Parana and Santa Fe. The former, in the province of Entre Rios, on the left side of the ri^cr, from which it takes its name, enjoyed the honour, from 1S54 to i86t, of being the capital of the Argentine Confedera- tion. Santa Fe is the chief town and seat of Government of the province of the same name, and is situated at a distance of about five leagues from Parana, but on the opposite side of ;he stream. The bank of the river near Parana is fonned by a line of calcareous cliffs, composed of masses of oyster shells, along which we sail in passing into the roadstead. From these clifl's lime is made for domestic purposes, and this is the only manufacture the place boasts of The clifTs are a marine formation of probably recent geological age. On entering the city the want of anima- tion and absence of all signs of a busy community at once strike the observer. The road leading up to the city is as rugged as an Alpine pass, being tra\'erscd by large gullies, and encumbered with huge paving-stones, lying all loose in admirable disorder. About midway on the road, or say half a mile from the beach, stands a great square pile of walls, with a dome at one end, but no roof save the covering of a small cupola, and vacant spaces for about thirty large win- dows ; the unfinished edifice was intended at some former period for the church of San Pablo (St. Paul). In the city another monument of former greatness and present decline is seen in the theatre, a large edifice in which there Iws been no performance for many years past. A really elegant suite of buildings, in the principal square, constitutes the Go\ernment house, ha\-ing the melancholy aspect of a deserted mansion ; a well-con- structed and neatly-fitted " Camara," or Parliament Hall, wherein the Senators and Deputies held alternate sittings whilst the National Government was here ; a president's palace, opposite the Government house, now occupied by the bishop of the diocese ; three churches, a well-kept cemetery in the suburbs; these constitute the principal features of the place. I must, however, not forget that there is a marketplace, in which excellent beef and mutton can be bought at from three-farthings to a penny per pound. The few people whom one meets have on their faces a lack of expression, and a lazy sauntering manner which betoken the inanity of existence in this drear}- place. By law all the offices in Santa Fe, as well as shops for the sale o'i merchandise, are ordered to be opened from eleven A.M. to three p.m., yet from half-past eleven to one o'clock is, A VISIT TO PARAGUAY DURING THE WAR. 43 in fact, the only time of day in which access to them is other than problei/iatical. If your business be with a notary public, and nothing more than his signature is required, ten chances to one he will gaze at you over his Mate cup, from which he is sucking Verba tea, and tell you to call " manana" (to-morrow). Stopping at an hotel, no surprise will be felt or expressed at your coming in during any hour of the night, or up to five o'clock in the morning. But if you leave )Our bed between six and seven a.m., with the intention of taking a morning walk, you are set down as a madman. .\nd this, too, notwithstanding that the time of day just mentioned is the most salutary as well as agreeable for out-of-door exercise. As early as half-past seven o'clock the Indian and negro servants, with the washerwomen, go to mass to the Jesuits' chapel. h. like ceremonial at nine, in the same place of worship, is attended by the more indolent and aristocratic, chiefl/ the female portion of the community. Breakfast continues from ten to eleven a.m., or a little after, when something almost too dreamy to be called business is begun. This is terminated at one o'clock, when, after a " Mate'," every person takes siesta. During this period, which lasts from one till four p.m., no one is supposed to be out in the sun. Siesta time being over, in summer especially, nearly half the city's population go to bathe in a pellucid branch of the Parana, having a sandy bottom, that flows at the distance of about 300 yards from the principal plaza. At live o'clock comes dinner-time, and at seven p.m. another service in the Jesuits' chapel. To this succeed lotteries, tertulias (dancing parties), more imbibing from a niate'-c'.tp, cigarrita smoking, with, perhaps, a little strolling about for visiting purposes. The dancing parties are often kept up until daybreak, and these may be said to constitute the chief features of Parana liveliness. Even the clock of the m.itriz (parish) church partakes of the general somnolence, for when it comes to the meridian or midnight, from five to ten minutes seem to the unaccustomed ear as being occupied in striking out the hour. Re-embarking in the steamer, and ascending the ri\er, the appearance of San Pablo church, as viewed from the deck, is somewhat imposing — its pillared portico and dome having quite an attractive aspect. We coast along by high cliffs, pass the Saladero (beef-salting station) of Senor Carbo, and skirt the mouth of Las Conchas river, which fiills into the Parana at a distance of about five leagues above our starting point this morning. Then we pass more high cliffs, on the level ground adjacent to which I recognise some houses of the residents in the German colony of Villa de Urquiza. A remarkable difference in the scenery of the river banks is observed as we go along. In Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe provinces, where we ha\e lofty banks, they are in\ariabl)- ])er- pendicular ; whereas in Entre Rios, by which we are now passing, they are bluff, sloping, and furrowed by ravines. As we proceed, the country, where visible behind the declivities, is glistening with verdant plains, alternating with luxuriant woods. But no sign of humanity, of cows, horses, sheep, or other living thing, biped or quadruped, is present anywhere. Ten leagues above Parana city we come to a small bight in the river, and hence can be seen the house (a large whitewashed one) on an estancia, called " El Cerrito (the little hill)." This is a fami of thirty-six leagues in extent, which belonged to some Englishman, of whose name I am ignorant, who died a few years ago in Monte Video. The distiict of Antonio Thomas is jiassed at eighteen leagues from Parana. Plenty of cattle are here seen on the plains ; for we are now entering the milk and cheese districts. Washed clothes, dicing on shrubs near the few houses, give evidence of our being still within the boimds of civilisation ; for the institution of wash- ing is not yet appreciated by the Indian or Gaucho population on the banks of the Parana. To-day (25th March) we met and passed one of the floating rafts of timber, called in Spanish balsas, and in the Guarani language aiigiuia, \\\\.\\ a family of men, women, children, and dogs on board. These rafts consist chiefly of timber destined for corrals, or cattle enclosures, and firewood — being sold at Parana, Rosario, San Nicholas, and other towns lower down the river. At three leagues south of La Paz there is a small stream, Arroyo Seco (the dry rivulet), which at this point debouches into the Parana. No variety of vegetation or of landscape features can be seen as we ascend ; but autumn- tints are everywhere. La Paz has the appearance of a good- sized comfortable town, as we approach. It is built on a slope, the summit of which, in the background, is about 200 feet above the level of the river. The first thing that attracts one's notice here, is a large, square, walled-in cemetery. As there were neither ship.s, steamers, nor boats in the roadstead when we passed, oile must infer that the trade of this district is rather limited. One league higher up is a small island, dotted over with crosses, that mark the gra\-es of many Brazilian soldiers and sailors who died and were buried here about six months pre- viously, when their scjuadron, then on its way to fight the Paraguayans, was aiichored near it. Further on we pass many sailing vessels, the majority of them aground, laden with coals and other supplies for the allied armies at the seat of war. We found the river here unusually low for this .season of the year. Steaming along, we pass by the Esi)inillo, or Guaiquiraro river, that separates the province of Entre Rios from that of Corrientes. At the mouth of this stream is an island named after Garibaldi, who, some thirty years ago, had a great fight near the spot, with the celebrated Admiral Brown. The Admiral, although an Irishman, was at the time in the service of Buenos Ayres. Garibaldi's schooner was aground, when he was attacked by Brown with three vessels, and although having but one ship against such unequal odds, he fought during the best part of a day, cutting u)) his chains for shot, when this latter was expended ; but all his ammunition becoming exhausted, he could no longer continue the fight. .\s night came on, therefore, he, with all his crew, retreated to the town of Esijuina, in Corrientes ])rovince, and about ten leagues above the embouchure of the Guaiquiraro. On the evening of the day that we passed Garibaldi's island, our steamer was anchored opposite Esijuina. All communica- tion from the Parana to the town, a league distant, is made l)y the river Corrientes, which here enters the main stream, after a long course through the province from its fountain-head in the great lake Vbera. At the lower angle of the Cor- rientes there is a small wooden house, erected on wooden piles, which serves as a waiting-room for passengers bound to or from Escjuina, and up or down the river by packet steamers. Every night since we started the mosquito plague comes on as regularly as the sun goes down. I am told by Captain Labkuhe, the commander of the vessel, that up this river there 44 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. is a species of bat or nocturnal bird, called the mosquito hawk, which often comes in liundreds round a ship to feed on these tormenting insects. How I should welcome a countless amiy of those deli\-erers now I Li several of the river craft, either at anchor or fastened to trees on the islands, I can see the sailors sleeping for protection in extemporised hammocks up in the rigging, tied by arms and legs to the cross-trees of their vessels, for in no other way can they escape the buzzing serenade and torment of these incurable plagues. From La Paz to Goya, a distance of 135 miles, our voyage at us from the bank of some islet, as the sound of our paddle- wheels disturbs his slumbers ; whilst a screaming parrot, a crane, or a carancha,* is the only sign of bird life that is visible. And these few manifestations of life serve but to make the solitude more oppressive. The sun pours down its fiercest rays on the muddy waters, unruffled, save by the steamer's motion. On several of the islands are skeleton trees, stripped of their leaves, bark, and branches, by the fetid ejectameiita of a bird called the bigma,+ which roosts on them at night Bunches of tall guinea-grass seem at a dibta.ice to resemble M.\RKET rnOPLE— uN- THE r.\R.\N.\. is continued amongst low marshy islands, on some of which, however, lofty trees aboimd. Ikit the silence and desolation of these places are ajipalling. X.j noise of bird, or beast, or living thing; so ihat the war scream of a wild Indian,' or the howl of a tiger, would be almost a relief to the opjiressive listlessness of the long day. Bright yellow and scarlet flowers are frequently seen, glittering, as it were, on the vivid green network of climbing convolvuli that clothe the tree trunks. Now and then a lazy carpincha," a sort of colossal amphi- bious guinea-pig, with coarse bristly hair, casts a sleepy c^lance • The carpiiiclu ui ciliiai, ii the I/y.li oc/ucruj aipjhiia of Liniutus. white houses ; but as we ai)proach and recognise « hat they are, we have in the disajipointment a culmination of the dis- tressing influences which the whole scenery is calculated to produce. On the night of the 27th of IVfarch our steamer anchored opposite the lower mouth of the San CJeronimo branch of the Parand, and close to the Yaguarate district of the Gran Chaco. A few years ago I had occasion to travel some Inmdred miles through the solitudes of this vast unreclaimed tract of • The vulture liawk, or Fa/co Braziliaisis. t This is some kind of rarriou crow, or turkey buzzard. A VISIT TO PARAGUAY DURING THE WAR. 45 Argentine territory. The Gran Chaco lies to the west of the Parana and Paraguay rivers, and is nearly twice the size of France. Its surface consists of woods, alternating with plains and dry river-beds, with occasional salt lakes. The Indian in his wild state is as yet its only human inhabitant, but so little able is he to profit by his splendid domain that his numbers have gradually decreased under the influence of wars and the bravest cannot divest himself, that at any time in the day or night he may hear the Indian war-whoop, and be scalped by those merciless savages before he has time to defend himself. Everything speaks of the savagery of the place, and tends to scare one. The relics of toldas — Indian huts — seen here, there, and everywhere; the troops of wild horses ; the frequent flitting by of flocks of American ostriches {Rhea Americana) ; INDIANS OF THE GRAN CHACO. famme, and several tribes have disappeared since the country has been known. I was told by tieneral lion .Vntonio Taboada, that the fighting Indians of the Gran Chaco do not now exceed 300 in number, and that these are gradually sinking under misery and disease. Although no striking scenes of picturesque beauty are to be j met with in the Gran Chaco, still there are associations i on- [ nected with my visit thereto that will make it live in my memory. First, is the feeling of being an intruder on the territory of wild Indians, and with it a consciousness, whereof the screams of the parrot and the carancha ; the nocturnal chirping of millions of insects ; the glaring ap]jearance of its large white plains of salt or saltpetre, deposited by water that has evaporated under long-continued drought, or the diversion of the river-beds ; and the absence of anything like a purling stream — these are its chief noticeable characteristics. One of the old Spanish writers, describing the Indians of the Gran Chaco, gives a very curious account of the marriage ceremonies and marriage laws obser\-ed by the Moco\i tribe, whose head-quarters are not far from Yaguarate, 46 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. The ])rcliminary business in the important event of a wed- ding is very simple. The young Indian being smitten, i)ro- poses to the father of his charmer — for she has no voice or will in the matter. If he be accepted, the suitor is invited to stop during the night succeeding the asking at the house of his intended bride. Next morning he is sent off to kill or catch alive a deer, ostrich, or wild pig, which he is to bring to his lady love, as a proof that he is expert ni the chase, and as an assurance that he is capable of providing for the material wants of his future household. On his return with the game, the mother of his charmer takes the bridle and recado (saddle) from his horse, and deposits them on the spot where he is expected to construct his rancho (dwelling), and the marriage settlement is concluded. On the first night the newly-wedded pair sleep on a horse's or mare's skin, with their heads towards the west ; and the marriage is not considered as perfectly ratified until the sun shines on their feet the following morning. Cases, however, will present themselves, even in unsophisti- cated Indian life, where the marriage tie becomes irksome. After regrets, incompatibility of temper, and other causes, lead to coolness and inconstancy, and the faithless husband goes wooing elsewhere. Hence arises the necessity of a divorce court and laws to meet the contingency. The problem is solved by the Indian with originality and extreme simplicity. The restoration of nujjtial harmony with the original wife being difficult, the jieccant swain is admitted as a member of his new father-in-law's family, and security is required that he abandons his first wife altogether, to obviate the continuance of the double bond. This proposal is looked upon as a declaration of war between the families of the two ladies. A council of Caciques is summoned, but only to legalise the form of giving their august sanction to a single combat between the two women. The truant who is the cause of all stands by as a spectator, with folded amis, and is obliged, according to the established law, to take for his wife ever after whomso- ever becomes the victor. All the women amongst the Chaco Indians ride horses straddle-leg fashion as men do, and carry behind them a large plume of ostrich feathers, fastened round the loins. This presents a curious appearance when their horses are at full gallop over the breezy plains. Some of the islands past wb.ich we steam on the fifth day of our voyage (March 28th) are perfect masses of arborescence. As we are now rapidly apjiroaching the trojiic of Capricorn vegetation becomes more luxuriant, and palm trees are noticeable amongst the rounded outlines of the forest. The mosquitoes have been entirely absent for the last two nights, but in their stead we have in abundance a species of fly with dark green body and small black head, which settles upon any exposed part of one's body, and if undisturbed, drives its sucking apparatus into the flesh and imbibes its fill. Their heads are bent down to the task, whilst their tails are elevated, and they are thoroughly absorbed in their work. They have no further resemblance to mosquitoes, and belong to the species classed by naturalists under the genus SimuUitm. On one of the islands in this passage the trees are filled with the nests of a species of troupial, a gregarious bird, which resembles in its liabits our familiar rooks at home. As Ave sailed past I fancied myself back again amongst boy- hood's scenes, with crows cawing and caracolling over some old rookery. Thus, reminiscences and associations connected with the distant northern land are unexpectedly stirred up in one's mind in the remote streams of South .America ! A yoiirncy in Alaska, foFiueyly Russian America. BY FREDERICK WHV.Ml'ER. The rajiid i)rogress of the Pacific coasts of .\merica is one I trading expeditions, and, in "ten years,'' says Coxe, their of the events of our time. Only the other day the United States Government purchased from the Russians a semi-arctic country, for which it would have been nearly impossible to obtain a bid ten years ago. Yet " Alaska "—as Russian America is in future to be entitled— will, in the hands of its new and more energetic owners, adtl one more resource of importance to the many which are fast building up San Francisco as the " metropolis of the Pacific." Less than a hundred years ago, so little was known of the coast of Alaska that the long peninsula (.Vliaska) from which it derives its name was laid down on published maps as an island. Yet its history goes back earlier in some respects than does that of the neighbouring British and American territories. There was a Russian settlement on Kodiak four years before there were any whites on Van- couver Island ; and Sitka, the present capital, was founded nearly a dozen years before Astoria. Immediately after the -oyages of the unfortunate Behring and his companions— ■who, by-the-by, showed no great desire to remain in Russian America — many Russian merchants of Siberia fitted out historian, " more imjjortant discoAeries were made by these individuals, at their own pri\ate cost, than had been hitherto effected by all tlie expensive efforts of the Crown." Our naval explorers — from Cook and Vancouver to Moore, Kellet, Collinson, and McClure — ha\e all done more or less towards the exploration of its coasts ; while Zagoskin, of the Russian Imperial navy, Lisiansky, Kotzebue, and l.iitke, have all assisted in clearing awa}' the mists which encompassed the country. Russia, in fact, cared little for her colony, and virtually gave it into the hands of the Russian American Fur Company, who held it precisely as our Hudson's Bay Com- pany held their vast territories. The announcement of the recent transfer of Alaska to the United States Government gave rise to almost as much surprise among the American people as it did in Europe, and it met with much opposition and ridicule. Still, there is a large and growing belief in the United States that, sooner or later, the northern continent must become one vast republic, and the purchase eventually ac(iuired some favour as seen from that point of view. The comic journals, A JOURNEV IN ALASKA, FORMERLY RUSSIAN AMERICA. 47 and, indeed, the daily newspapers, would not for a long time let it alone. Such illustrations as Mr. " E.xcelsior," with the national banner " Still clinging to his hand of ice," and mounting the North Pole, a white bear waiting at the bottom of it for that enthusiastic explorer ; allusions to the possibility of deriving some benefit from the purchase, by towing ice-bergs to San Francisco ! mock ad\'ertisements, purporting to come from the Secretary of State, offering the highest price for "waste lands and worn-out colonies," '-sub- merged and undiscovered islands," " polar bears, volcanoes, and earthciuakes— provided they should not shake the con- fidence of the State Department "—were common enough for some time. The country was often styled " Walrus -sia— the Fur Nor'-M'est." But much of this has passed away ; and the Americans have already commenced to de\-elope the resources of the country. The fur trade, of course, falls into their hands; and, as the purchase includes all the Aleutian Islands, and particularly the Island of St. Paul's, in Behring Sea, which, latterly, was more profitable to the Fur Company than any other part of their possessions, they have at once something definite for their money. Kodiak, to the south- east of the Peninsula of Aliaska, which yields the ice used in California and adjacent coasts, is a part of the acquisition. The cod fishery banks oft" the Aleutian Isles, the salmon of all its rivers, and the coal known to exist, are all thrown into the bargain. Sitka, or New Archangel — formerly the head-quarters of the Russian American Fur Company — is the present capital, and in truth is the only town in the country. It is situated on the thickly-wooded, mountainous Baranoff Island, and has a fairly sheltered harbour. The (late) governor's house is on a rocky height overlooking the town, and the antiquated wooden buildings, the oriental style of the Greek church, and the old hulks, used as magazines, propped up by the rocks on the bay, combine to give it an original and picturesque appearance. On an island facing Sitka is a large extinct volcano — Mount Edgcumbe — a prominent landmark for the port. Sitka has a terrible climate. " Rain ceases only when tliere is a good prospect of snow." But the thermometer rarely falls below 20" Fahrenheit at this southern part of the coast. The larger part of the territor)' boasts a truly arctic climate. The grand natural highway — the main artery for the whole of Alaska- — is the Yukon River, a stream upwards of 2,000 miles in length. If the reader will glance at any good recent map of North America, he will observe in its north-west corner a large river, indicated and known as the Kwichpak, which, by means of many straggling, wide-spread mouths, falls into Behring Sea. Furthei- in the interior he will find a stream marked as the Pell}', or Yukon, one which, not so very long ago, was believed to fall into the Arctic Ocean : and again, bet\vcen the former and the latter, he will probably discover, laid down in dotted lines, " Supposed course of the Yukon." The Russo- American Telegraph Expedition, on which the writer recently served, made some important exjilorations in that district, and he was enabled to travel over 1,200 miles of its course, besides visiting a part of the neighbouring territor)'. It is necessary to be thus particular in indicating its locality, as some have supposed the Yukon was, from its name, a Chinese river. AVe were landed from our vessels on the 30th of September, 1866, at the Russian post of St. Michael's (situated on an island of volcanic origin in Norton Sound, Behring Sea), and imme- diately proceeded by sea to a second post in the same locality, and about sixty miles north of the former. From the latter there is a kmd route direct to the Yukon. Over this we travelled with dog-sledges, walking ourselves on snow-shoes, and having much trouble with the sledges on the recently- fallen snow. Although the temperature was frequently below zero, we managed to make ourselves fairly comfortable in our evening camps, where, after clearing a space in the snow, we spread a layer of fragrant fir-bnish, and raised an immense log fire. The whole of this portion of Alaska, excepting only the coasts, is more or less wooded with spruce, birch, or willow. On many occasions we camped in the natives' underground houses, and were several times glad of their shelter, in spite of their dirt, smoke, and unpleasant odours. AVe reached the A'ukon on the 9th of November. About noon on that day we could see, from a slight eminence- — where we had halted to give our dogs and selves breathing- time — a streak of blue over the forest, in advance of us. We travelled hard to reach it, and, just as the sun was sinking below the horizon — bathing even that frigid scene in a flood of glory — we emerged frcm the woods, shot down a bank, and found ourselves standing on an immense snow-clad field of ice — the mighty Yukon ! Hardly a patch of clear ice was to be seen ; all was covered by a spotless wintry mantle, and only an occasional short space of water still open showed us that it r.';7j- a river at all. Here and there fields of hummocks, forced on the surface before the stream had become so fixedly frozen, were strewed wildly and irregularly around. So large a river is the Yukon that we instinctively compared it vith the Mississippi. At that moment it was a great, unbroken high- way of ice and snow for 2,000 miles. At the point where we first saw it it was not less than a mile wide from bank to bank; while, as we afterwards discovered, it opens out into lagoons four or five miles in width. Its tributaries would be large rivers in Europe ; and there is some excuse for the proud boast of a native of its banks, speaking of his people — " Wc are not savage.s, we are Yukon Indians." At Nulato, the most northern and interior of all the Russian posts, we spent the remainder of the winter. During our stay there the thennometer registered as low as viiiiits 58° Fahn, or niihty drgires Mini' freezing. Yet at that time nature was in perfect repose ; no wind blew nor snow fell. We did not feel the cold so much as on other occasions. The wind, when accompanied by great cold, is man's worst enemy in all arctic climates. The Russians at .St. Michael's, once, during the prevalence of a terrible wind stoim, were horrified at the arrival of a dead Indian sitting erect on his sledge. Unable to stop his dogs, the i)oor fellow had evidently jumped on, and had probably become frozen to death in a few minutes. Such incidents are rare, though we met many Indians with faces badly seared, and minus ])arts of their ears and noses. An ingenious mode of fisiiing is adopted on the Yukon. Fish-traps are let down under the ice, through holes in the frozen surface of the river, kept open by frequent breaking. It is also a common thing to see the Indians, early in the season, seated by a small hole on the ite, pulling up the fish by dozens with a line and hook. The duration of winter in Northern Alaska is about two- thirds of the year, if one counts the period during whi< h the rivers arc frozen up and the ground is snow-covered. Yet, 48 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. early in April, the thermometer rose above freezing-pomt, and, of course, the snow commenced to thaw. Later, it again got colder. The Yukon did not break up till late in May. Its smaller tributaries were the first to move, and some of them ran out on the icy surface of the greater ri\er. On the 19th of May the first real break-up of the Yukon commenced, and for days afterwards we could see and hear from our station the ice grinding and crashing on its way; now piling up into mountains as it met with some obstacle : now breaking all bounds, earning trees and banks before it, on its passage to the sea. The river rose some fourteen feet above its winter level. On the 26th of May, Mr. Dall — m)' companion for this journey — and myself started, with some Indians, to ascend the stream. We were accompanied, for part of the trip, by the Russian traders of Xulato. Our crafts were two "bai- darres," or skin canoes. The river was still full of floating ice and logs, and we soon found that we had embarked on a dangerous enterprise. It was specially difficult to get round the bends and angles of the river : great natural rafts, of trees, branches, ice, and debris, came whirling and sweep- ing along at six or seven knots an hour, nor could we ever reckon on their course. One man of our number always stood in the bows of the ranoe, armed with a pole, to push oft" these floating masses. 'We saic large trees pass under tlic Russians' canoe, and lift it momentarily out of the water ; we felt the same under our own. It was not "a plank" between us and destruction, but simply a piece of seal-skin. The Russians once gave in, completely beaten. We, how- ever, steered through the cumbersome masses of ice and logs, now having to paddle for dear life, now stopping and drifting down, to let some floating tangle of trees, with their long roots sticking up in the air, pass on their way. But, though w-e had many a close shave, we were enabled to cross the stream, where it was at least a mile wide, and get into quieter water. Our Muscovite friends would not attempt it that day at all. The Yukon might fairly be called the " River of a thou- sand islands." Some of the smaller ones were at this early season entirely submerged ; we floated over some of the lesser tree-tops. The lo«er part of the river abounds in low islands, sand-banks, and long stretches of flat countn,-; the upper Yukon passes through gorges with castellated crags and rocky blufts. There the stream is much more narrow, is deeper, and more rapid. As soon as the water had fallen suflSciently, we " tracked " from the banks, or even froin the shallow water, making our Indians act as tow-horses. Occa- sionally we were enabled to sail, but it took a decided breeze to give us any advantage against the strong downward current. Our journey from Nulato to Fort Yukon— a distance of 600 miles — occupied us twenty-six days, ascending the stream. We returned down the same part of the river in less than a fourth of that time ; and our trip from Fort Yukon down the entire length of the river to its mouths, and round by the sea-coast to St. Michael's — a distance of nearly 1,300 miles — was made by us in fifteen days and a half The Indians of the Yukon are, perhaps, the most un- sophisticated of any yet remaining on the globe. They paint their faces in stripes and patterns, wear elaborately worked belts, fire-bags, &c., and verj' commonly adopt a garment with a double tail, one hanging down in front of the belly, the other —where a tail ought to be ! Long ornaments, made of the "hya-qua" shell, worn running through the nose, are fre- quently seen. On the lower part of the river the women use such ; on the Vj^per Yukon it is the men exclusively who follow the same mode. Among the natives of the Tanana (a tributary of the Yukon) it is very fashionable to wear large patches of clay covered with small fluflfy feathers, at the back of their long matted hair, and a large feather is frequently stuck in the same. The larger part of the Yukon tribes difi"er very considerably from the coast peoples of North Alaska. The latter may be briefly described as "large Esquimaux." •■ Medicine-making " is practised among the fonner tribes. At Newicargut, an Indian village on the great river, we had an opportunity of seeing it performed o\er a sick man. A circle of natives surrounded the invalid, and kept up a monotonous chorus, while the operator himself, singing a kind of weird, unearthly recitative, attitudinised, gesticulated, groaned, and frothed at the mouth. Now he appeared to draw the t\\\ spirit from the sick man, and wrestling with it throw it violently on a fire, which burnt on the ground in the centre of the group ; now it had possession of him, and he ran wildly about, as though but recently escaped from a lunatic asylum. But he had chosen a good time for his exhibition ; it was twilight ; the overhanging trees, the solemn chorus, the dim fire, and the f^intastic forms of the savages thrown out into deep shade on one side, with the fitful reflections from the flames on their painted animal faces on the other, made a thoroughly sensational att'air of what would, otherwise, have appeared a farce. At length the chorus grew louder and livelier, the performance generally assumed a gayer tinge ; the man was supposed to be dispossessed, and he hobbled from the scene. We found by experience that night and early morning were the best times to travel during the brief but very warm summer of these latitudes. We had the thermometer ranging as high as 80° Fahr. in the shade, on the Yukon, and mosquitoes — a greater curse than the cold of winter — were out in full force ; even the natives have to keep small fires burning in all directions round their camps, and commonly take bowls full of smouldering ashes or smoking sticks in their canoes to ke^^n them off. There is, however, one compensating advantage. The moose-deer, an animal abundant on the river, unable to stand the mosquitoes' inflictions, flies from the woods, plunges into the rivers, where it can keep little but its nose out of water — and not alwa\s that — and becomes consequently a prey to the first hunter who appears upon the scene. The natives often manage to stab moose in the water from their birch bark canoes. We shot several. The nose of a moose, when cleaned and gently stewed, is most delicious. The limits of this article will not permit of any allusion to the Russian and Hudson's Bay Company's posts-, the fur trade, and many kindred stibjects. But this is of small con- sequence ; any account of such would only appear a repetition of an oft-told tale. I live in hopes that the Yukon, and many other large rivers of Russian America, may receive a complete investigation at the hands of the United States Govemment. The interior of Russian America is a new and a fresh field for the geographer, naturalist, and ethnologist, and on thorough exploration it will verv' likely be found that the country is not inferior to the neighbouring territorj' of British Columbia in mineral wealth. A BIRD'J-EYE VIEW OF iMADAGAiCAR. 40 RICE-rOUNDING. A Binfs-eyc Vicio of Madagascar. FROM THE FREXCH OF M. D. CHARNAV. CHAPTER IV. LAKE NOSSI-BE — NOSSI-MALAZA — TIIK VII.LAC.E CHIEF AND HIS FAMILY — A MADEGASSE INTERIOR— MANNERS OF THE INHABITANTS. 'Lake No.ssi-Be, which we had now to cross, is from six to eight miles in length, but somewhat less in breadth, so that both sides are in sight when travelling along it. The fresh south-east wind raises a heavy sea on its surface, and the passage in canoes is not without risk. The native often sees his light skiff, with its cargo of rice, sink to the bottom, while he is fortunate if he can escape the jaws of the crocodile, and swim safely to land. The size of our boats prevented our feeling any danger, but our journey across was most disagree- able, and we were drenched with rain, and in a miserable plight, when we reached the island of Nossi-Malaza (the Island of Delight). This island is near the soutlurn extremity of the lake, and at about equal distance from e'.ther bank. It is not for from twelve hundred yards in length, and several hundred feet in width. The village stands in the centre. To the north of it there is a large tract of meadow land, at the end of which lies the burial-jilace of the inhabitants. The south-east part of the island is beautifully wooded. Our reception here was similar to that at Ambavarano, the same simple ceremonies, Ine kabar, the interchange of presents, and the speeches. But VOL I. tlie huts are larger and better, the women much handsomer and more graceful, and the general appearance of comfort and ease formed an agreeable contrast to the wretched picture we had seen on the previous evening. A\'e will now give our readers some idea of tlie manners and mode of life of the natives. The Madegasse of the coast is of a gentle and timid di.sposition, faithful and devoted. As a matter of course, he acknowledges the superiority of the white man — the Vasa appears to him as a master who is entitled to obedience. Full of admiration as they are of our knowledge and power, we cannot Init feel surjiriscd that wc have made so little progress amongst a people so well disposed to receive us. The Madegasse willingly accepts the yoke of .servitude. The varied and light tasks of domestic life suit his tastes, and he is very grateful for the little favours whii h he receives from his master in their daily intercourse. Delighting in active life, and indefatigable in any employment that suits him, he will paddle a canoe the whole day, in sunshine or rain, with- out apparent fatigue ; he particularly enjoys the motion of the tacon, and will carry you from daybreak till evening, and then, forgetting his fatigue, will join his companions in choruses, when the wild music of their bamboo instruments seems to invigorate his bronzed frame. But he cannot endure regular labour, accustomed as he is to supply his simple wants .vithout forethought or difficulty. The Madegasse is gracefully and 5^ ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. almost femininely formed, his face is beardless, and he wears his long hair in braids, like the women, and when seated basking in the sun, clad in his lamba, it is difficult to distin- guish him from a woman. The women, ^\•ithout possessing absolute beauty, which is rare ever>'where, have a pleasing physiognomy, and are generally well-made. We give an illus- tration on page 52 of a woman of Tamatave with her children •^hich may be considered a fair representation of the ladies of the place. The Madegasse women all dress in mucli the same way. The hair is divided into regular squares, and care- fully plaited, which gives a very neat appearance to the head, very unlike its natural condition of a great tuft of frizzled hair. The petticoat or skirt worn by the rich is of muslin — amongst the poorer class it is of common cloth ; the bod)', which is of ditferent material, is called a canezou — a nati\e term — and the loose drapery wrapped round the shoulders is called the simboii, which is of cotton or silk, according to the social position of the wearer. The older children wear trousers, in imitation of the European custom ; the younger wear only the lamba, a kind of cotton shawl, with a coloured fringe, which is the usual dress of the men. When travelling, the native takes off this garment, which he carries in a bundle, and wears only the laiigoiiti, which is merely a small piece of stuff fastened round the loins. The manufactures of Madagascar are of a very simple character. The natives weave various kinds of stuffs from palm leaves ; the coarsest is used for making bags, packages, &c. ; the finest, which is really a superior material is worn by the women, and makes e.xcellent hats, but it is only to be seen in small quantities. They plait mats of rushes, with which they carpet their rooms. A few of these, ornamented with elegant patterns, are exported as curiosities. With regard to agriculture, the Madegasse understands nothing but the cultivation of rice; and in spite of his laziness and the little encouragement which he meets with, the east coast, within a distance of a hundred leagues, from Mananzari in the south to Maranzet in the north, annually exports 4,300 tons of rice. When we come to the subject of the Hovas, We shall describe the native produce of Madagascar adapted to commerce. As regards morals, the Madegasses have really none. Being under no civil regulations, and their religion being confined to a few peculiar superstitions, we can scarcely apply the name of marriage to their unions, which are unauthorised by either Churcli or State, and are fonned and broken at pleasure. In the north there are some traces of Arab customs, and a more developed religious system. Amongst these islanders plurality Of wives is a rule. Each chief has at least three— first, the Vadc-be, the legitimate wife, whose children are his heirs • second, the vade-massaye, whom the husband repudiates when she is past the prime of her youth and beauty; and the vade-sindraiigiioii, a slave, who receives her freedom when she becomes a mother. The younger sisters of these three wives also belong to the husband until they are themselves married. \\'hcn a woman passes to another home, she leaves her chil- dren, who are treated by her successor with the same affection as her own. This seems natural in a country where adoption often takes the place of paternity. Jealousy is unknown, and though they have not the same degree of paternal affec- tion usual amongst us, still family ties are strongly felt by them. I have seen a woman in violent paroxysms of grief because her adopted daughter had been poisoned by taiighin fruit, and attempt to seize some of it herself, exclaiming that she wished to die with her child. If one of the members of a family fall ill, all work for the time is suspended. Every one busies himself— some in seeking for herbs, others in looking into the nature and cause of the malady, and endeavouring to effect a cure ; and, in the meantime, the friends occupy themselves in attending to the household affairs. If the invalid becomes worse, the relatives and friends come to condole with the family. This display of affectionate grief extends even to the slaves, who consider themselves as children of the house. They eat at the same table, and are treated in every respect as members of the family ; it is even difficult for a stranger to distinguish between them, as in their langiiage they call the master and mistress of the house "father" and "mother." Here, as in all other parts of the world, sterility in a woman is looked upon as a reproach to her, and it appears to me to be very common amongst the Madegasses, no doubt on account of the prevalence of polygamy. If a woman wishes for children, and is afraid of not having any, she consults .sorcerers, invokes spirits, or has recourse to the following superstition : — She chooses a stone of a peculiar shape, which can be easily dis- tinguished from others, and places it on the road to the village, in some spot favoured by the spirits. If this stone, after a fixed time, is found in the same spot and position in which it was placed by the inquirer, it is considered a sign that her wishes have been favourably answered. This innocent practice is constantly followed in Madagascar, and one sometimes meets with great piles of these stones. The occasional cruel treatment of their offspring forms a frightful contrast to the quiet and gentle manners of the Madegasses, and, above all, to this craving after maternity. V.'hen children are born under a bad influence, they are aban- doned ; or, in order to redeem their lives, as it is thought, they must submit to such frightful ordeals as in nearly all cases prove fatal. Circumcision is practised at Madagascar, but wa3 originally borrowed from the Arabs. The date of this impor- tant ceremony is perpetuated by the Madegasses by means of a wooden stake, suraiounted by a number of ox-skulls, furnished with horns. Nearly every village possesses one of these monu- ments. Each skull commemorates a fete. It is the custom to kill an ox on the circumcision-day, and, as the people are poor, and an ox for each operation would be a heavy expense, they wait till several children have attained the necessary age, in order to circumcise a batch of young Madegasses. The ox is considered the animal of animals in Madagascar. It is the most highly esteemed present amongst friends, and is the kind of property most easily turned into money. The flesh, at least by some persons, is considered sacred. The king and the nobles alone have the right to eat the tail. The hump, an equally choice morsel, enjoys a proverbial reputation, and is, in polite language, employed as one of the most earnest tokens of friendship. A Madegasse will often say, " I wish you may always have an ox-hump in your mouth." The ox fonns a necessary part of all fetes — on the occasion of a death as well as of a birth in the household; his head falls in sign of sorrow- ing or rejoicing, and if it be mourning for a noble, the sacrifices become hecatombs. It is said that at the death of M. De- lastelle, a French merchant in favour at the Hova Court, eighv hundred oxen were slaughtered ; and at the death of one of the kings upwards of three thousand were immolated, the ground A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MADAGASCAR. 51 from the palace to the queen's tomb being literally covered with carcasses, which it was impossible to avoid walking upon. The worship of the dead appears to be the most characteristic trait in the Madegasse religion, ^^'hen a man dies, the women make frightful lamentation. They shriek and tear their hair, and roll about as in an agony of despair, while the men remain calm. There is a funeral dance appropriate to the occasion, and the ceremony, begun in tears, soon degenerates (thanks to fermented liquors) into a sacrilegious orgie. The corpse, how- ever, is carried with every sign of respect to its last home. At Nossi Malaza, the cemeter}' occupies the northern portion of the island. The sepulchre of the chiefs is separated from that of the common people. They all consist of the bark of a tree, in which the body of the deceased is enveloped, after which the whole is enclosed in a trunk of hard wood, cut in the form of a coffin. The pious afiection of the survivors places before each tomb expiator}- offerings, consisting of a plate of rice, a cup of betzabetza, chickens' feet, or the feathers of birds. It appears from this, that the Madegasses believe in the existence of the soul. However, the grief of the Aladegasses, though very violent, is not of long duration. They consider death as an inevitable fate, and therefore forget quickly, judging tears to be useless since the evil is without remedy. Relations, never- theless, rigorously go into mourning for the dead, from which they can only be released by a public ceremony. This mourning lasts a month or more, according to the grief of the family. It consists in letting the hair grow. During the time of mourning, women neither dress nor comb their hair, while men abstain alike from shaving and washing themselves. Both sexes present in this state anything but an attractive appearance. In the north, in the district of Vohemaro, the Antan- karas add to a great respect for the dead a belief in metempsychosis. According to this creed, the souls of the chiefs pass into the bodies of crocodiles, while those of ordinary mortals are transferred to bats. This superstition explains the incredible number of crocodiles, which certainly multiply in the places where this belief is prevalent. In these localities the rivers swarm with them, and it is dangerous to frequent the banks towards evening. At night the inhabitants are frequently obliged to barricade their huts to guard against the attacks of these monsters. Lik? the Betsimsarakas, they have a mi.vture of revelling and lamentation at their funerals, but they do not at once inter the corpse. Placing it upon a wooden bench, they preserve it by means of aromatics and charcoal, frequently renewed. After several days of this treat- ment, the decomposition of the Pesh produces a putrescent liquid, which they carefully gather into vases placed beneath the bench ; and each person present, in memory of the dead, rubs himself over with this liquid. When the body is dried up, the relatives wrap it round with bandages, and then carry it to the place of sepulture. This disgusting custom engenders terrible skin diseases, such as the itch, leprosy, and other filthy disorders. It is with difficulty, however, that the inter- vention of Europeans has in some measure induced them to give up this horrible practice. The Madegasse is clever by nature, and has very re- markable literar)' instincts, or rather, I should say he had formerly, for the Hova conquest, like all tyrannies, has left nothing but debasement a^id desolation. The Betsimsarakas are passionately fond of talking, dancing, and singing. Their dances are wild, without fixed rule, and apparently guided by the inspiration of the moment ; the rice dance, of which I have already spoken, being the only one of definite character. Their music is poor, and their instruments primitive. There is first the bamboo, which they strike with small sticks, and accom- pany with clapping of the hands. The dze-dze is an instrument which has but a single chord, and yields a monotonous sound, but the valia, in skilful hands, produces a pretty effect. The valia is made of bamboo, the outer fibres of the hard tube being separated from the wood, and stretched over bridges of bark ; it is, in fact, a sort of circular guitar, ascending from the lowest to the highest notes. As for their songs, the first subject which enters their minds answers the purpose. They take a word or phrase, and repeat it to a wearisome extent, with an improvised chorus. Their chief delight is in chatting together. They will talk for ever so long on the most fri- volous subject, and at a pinch utter the purest nonsense. An orator of any talent, however, is sure to find a delighted audience. AVhen tired of this, they ungraciously start an enigma, or a charade. An example of one such will explain the nature of the performance better than any description. " Three men, one carrying white rice, another some fire-wood, and the third a porridge-pot, all coming from different directions, meet near a fountain in a barren spot, remote from any habitation. It is noon, and none of them having yet eaten anything, each is desirous of preparing a meal, but they know not how to accomplish it, since the owner of the rice is not owner of the wood, nor could he claim the use of the porridge-pot. However, they each contributed their share, and the rice was soon boiled. But, the moment the repast was ready, each claimed the entire breakfast for himself Which of them had the best right to the boiled rice ? " 1 he Madegasse auditors are undecided, each of the three appearing to have an equal claim to the breakfast. Here then is a fine theme for talk. They call these discussions or disputes faka-faka, and each speaker has on such occasions a fair opportunity for displaying his oratorical talents. The native traditions abound with fables, tales (angaiio), proverbs (ohaboian.i), charades and enigmas (fa mantatra), sonnets and love-songs (rahamilaJiatra). Their tales are generally intermingled with songs, and each successive narrator adds a little of his own. Children invariably commence with the following prologue : — " Tsikotoneniiieny, tsy zaiw mviift:.yja olombe taloha nametzy, taiiiiy iiia/iy, k\uiil>a filsiako kosa anao " (" I do not wish to tell lies, but since grown persons have told lies to me, allow me also to tell lies to you.") Some of these fables are connected with their religicu3 beliefs. The following may serve as fair exanqiles of liiC different kinds. The Fir-st Man and the First Woman. " God formed a man and a woman, and let them fall from heaven all complete. The woman tempted the man and brought forth a child. " God then appeared to them, and said, ' Hitherto you have been fed only upon herbs and fruits, like the wild beasts ; but, if you will let me kill your child, I will create with his blood a plant from which you will gain more strength.' " The man and woman spent the night weeping and con- sulting. The woman said to her husband, ' I would rather S3 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. A MADEJASSE WOMAN AND HIiR CHILDREN. God took my life tlian that of my child.' The man was ' heart, returned it to the mother, and, kneeling with his breast gloomy an.l absorbed, and said nothing. uncovered, said to God, ' Kill me, but let my child live.' "When morning ramc, God appeare.l with a very sharp ' "Then God. to prove him, brandished the knife which he knife, and asked what was their decision. "The woman, seeing this formidable weapon, sharp as a new sai^iiiif, and brilliant as a flash of lightning, e.xclaimed, 'Oh, God, take my child.' held in his hand, and said to the man, ' You are going to die. Reflect, then, before I strike.' 'Strike,' replied the man; and he neither murmured nor trembled while God flashed the poniard in his eyes ; but he only gave him a slight wound on ■■ But tlie m-m, on the contrarj-. pressed liis child to his the neck, which drew a few drops of blood 1 MADAGASCAR DWARF TALMS. 54 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. " God took this blood, and scattered it on tlie ground, whicli caused rice to grow. He then told the man to weed it three times before it arri\ed at maturity, to gather only the ears, and to dr)' them in the sun and preserve them in granaries; to thresh them, in order to shake out the grains ; to peel them, in order to get rid of the husks; and to eat only the grain, and give the husks to the domestic animals. He then further taught him how to cook and eat it. " Then God said to the woman, ' The man shall be the master of the child, because he preferred the life of the child to his own, and thou must submit to him.' " This is the way that the father became the head of the family, and men learned to eat rice." We may probably recognise in tliis the Arab influence, and a remembrance of the sacrifice of Abraham. The name of Nossi-Ibrahim, or isle of Abraham, given to the little island of Sainte-Marie, affords some foundation for this hypothesis. Here is another fable : The Wild Boar and the Cayman. "A wild boar was exploring the steep banks of a river, where an enonnous alligator amused himself searching for prey. Warned by the grunting of the boar, the alligator moved quickly towards him. " ' Good morning,' said he to him. " ' Finaritria I Finaritria ! ' answered the boar. " ' Is it you of whom they speak so much en the land ? ' asked the alligator. " ' I am he,' replied the boar. ' And is it you who devastate these peaceful shores ? ' " ' It is I,' said the alligator. " ' I should like to try your strength.' " ' At your pleasure. Immediately, if you wish.' " ' You will not stand long against my tusks.' " ' Beware of my long teeth.' " ' But, tell me,' said the alligator, ' what is it they call you ? ' "'I call myself the father of those who strike without a hatchet and dig without spades ; the prince of destruction. And you, can you tell me what is your name ? ' " ' I am one who swells not in the water, eat if I am given anything, and, if not, eat all the same.' " ' Very well. But which of us is the elder ? ' " ' I am,' said the alligator, ' because I am the biggest and the strongest." " ' Wait ; we shall see that.' Saying these words, the boar, with a sudden stroke of his tusks, hurled an enonnous piece of earth at the head of the alligator, who was stunned by the blow. " ' Vou are strong,' said he, as soon as he recovered. ' But take that in return.' And, flinging a «ater-spout at the wild boar, who was taken by surprise, sent him staggering far from the river. " ' I admit you to be my senior,' said the boar, getting up again ; ' and I burn with impatience to measure my strength with yours.' " ' Come down, then,' said the alligator. " ' Come up a little, and I will come down.' '"Very well.' " By common consent, they proceeded to a promontory of land, where there was only water enough to cover half die alli- gator's body. Tlie wild boar then gave a bound, turned round opened his formidable jaws, and, seizing a favourable moment, opened his enemy's belly from head to tail. The alligator, gathering all his strength for one great effort, and profiting by the moment when the wild boar passed before his gaping mouth, seized him by the neck, held him fast by his teeth, and strangled him. So they both died, leaving undecided the question of their comparative strength. It was from a bat, who was present at the combat, that these details have been obtained." Another story reminds one, in some degree, of " The Fo.\ and the Crow." It is entitled — The Adder and the Frog. "A frog was surprised in his frolics by his enemy the adder, who seized him by the legs. '• ' Are you content ? ' asked the frog. " ' Quite content,' replied the adder, closing his teeth. " ' But when one is content, one opens the mouth, thus, and says, " Content " ' (in Madegasse, karo). " ' Content,' cried the adder, opening his mouth. " The frog, finding himself free, took flight." The moral is, that by j^resence of mind one can escape danger. A\'e have said that the village of Nossi-Malaza lies at some distance from the road to Tananarivo, and, being farther from the reach of the Hovas, enjoys a certain degree of prosperity. The men have a well-to-do air which delighted me, and when I visited the hut of the chief I was astonished at the abundance which reigned there. The hut contained a bed, furnished with fine mats. On one side of it were piles of clothes, and pieces of stuffs for mending them ; and, on the other, a large store of rice for the use of the family. The hearth, and the various cooking utensils, were all in one corner. I remained three days with these amiable people, surrounded by every care and attention. We were soon on the most aftec- tionate terms, and when I left they all accompanied me to the shore. The oldest woman of the tribe, the wife of the old chief, blessed me, and, as the rising waves threatened my poor canoe, she extended her arms like a prophetess, praying Heaven to appease the winds, and to bring the 'rasa in safety to his countiy and his home. This was no got-up scene. It was an unrehearsed farewell. The touching invocation of the old woman, her prayers and vows, pro\'ed that she spoke from her heart ; and mine responded. The recollection of that scene will ne\-ei' be eliaced from my memory. CHAPTER V. THE MONEV-nOX OF THE GIANT ARAFIK— FERDINAND FICHE AND THE IIOVA supper — A NIGHT IN THE n.ANTATION— THE SLAVES. Quitting Nossi-Malaza, we traversed several channels, some of \\hich were so narrow that one could with difficulty pass through them, whilst others were as broad as a river ; all were barred by hurdles composed of reeds, forming fish preser\-es for the sustenance of the inhabitants. We visited the islands dispersed here and there. Some of them were co\'ered with evergreen mango-trees, .surrounding the countrj'-houses of the rich inhabi- tants of Tamatave. In one of these islands, Ferdinand showed us the money-box of the giant Arafif This money-box is of a A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MADAGASCAR. 5? round shape, thirty-six inches in diameter, furnished with a small opening, and was left (the legend says) in this place by the giant Aafif, a powerful king of the North, to whom is attri- buted a multitude of mighty deeds. It is very old, and was • probably left on these shores by pirates. Be that as it may, the credulity of the natives has converted a venerable relic into an object of sanctity, and the spot where it lies has become a place of pilgrimage. Every person passing in the neighbour- hood used to go out of his way in order to place an offering in the sacred money-box. The treasure thus gradually increased, and when the fetish contained within its sides a tolerable sum of money, the sacrilegious Hovas broke open the box and took possession of its contents. At the present day it lies disembowelled, like a dried pumpkin. The faithful still come, however, on pilgrimage, lavishing upon their violated fetish newer and more innocent offerings. The ground all around is strewed with the feet of fowls, the horns of oxen, little morsels of cloth, and joints of reeds full of betzabetza. These valueless offerings are not of sufficient worth to tempt the cupidity of unbelievers, and so lie scattered about near the money-boy, imparting to the spot an air of desolation. We piously picked up one of these offerings, to keep as a remem- brance of the inconstancy of man, and the frailty of their belief From the isle of Papay, where we found the money-box, we passed into the river Yvondrou, which we had quitted some days before, and which it was necessary to ascend again in order to reach Soamandrakisai. The banks of this river are flat, and devoid of vegetation. The heat was oppressive. A five days' journey quite exhausted us, and we arrived eager for rest Soamandrakisai is a large establishment for the manu- facture of aguardiente, originally established by M. Delastelle, and of which Ferdinand Fiche is now the director. As by the Hova laws, and the decree of Ranavalo, no stranger can possess any land in Madagascar, the business was made a sort of partnership between M. Delastelle and the Queen. The Queen found the ground, fi^•e hundred slaves, and the mate- rials ; M. Delastelle gave his time and labour. The manu- factory is jjrotected by a militaiy station, commanded by a Hova officer styled a "twelfth honour," who keeps a watch over the sale of the products, and the conduct of the manager. The unfortunate Ferdinand, owing to the incessant interference with his smallest actions, is, in fact, more a slave than any of his o\\Ti subordinates. The establishment, situated at the foot of the first range of hills, extends from the high grounds to the banks of the river. It is composed of a steam distillery, with large sheds for making casks, carpenters' and locksmiths' workshops, and a beautiful house, with numerous smaller dependencies. The slaves inhabit a village near the distillery, and the huts of the Hovas are so close that nothing can escape their jealous eyes. Ferdinand conducted us to the neighbouring height, where we saw the tomb of M. Delastelle, which had been erected to his memory by his friend Juliette Fiche. He rests under the shade of orange and citron trees, on the soil of a country which he tried to civilise, and which he endowed with several commercial establishments and three prosperous manufactories. The scenery around us was wild and bold. On the east, the sea broke in white foam on the sands ; to the south, the lakes shone like mirrors ; and, following with the eye the winding course of the Yvondrou, we could discern on the horizon the mountains of Tananarive, far in the interior. On the north the hills, stripped by fire of their natural mantle of forests, allowed the eye to wander over an undulating country of a bright green hue, in the midst of which appeared, here and there a few skeletons of trees, blackened by the fire, the last traces of the vegetation which formerly covered its surface ; whilst at our feet extended one of those immense morasses which are indescribably picturesque and sad. The vegetation here is wonderfully luxuriant ; gigantic salvias, ravenals, and dwarf palm-trees mingle their strange foliage, and the great crowns of die Vacoa, resembling our funereal cypress, give to the place the appearance of a deserted burying-ground. These marshes are infested with serpents and crocodiles, to the great terror of the neighbouring inhabi- tants, who are obliged to cross the little streams of water, with which they are intersected. Domestic animals have a very remarkable instinct in guarding against the attacks of the crocodiles. Dogs, for instance, make use of a very suc- cessful stratagem, so ingenious that instinct is scarcely sufficient to explain it. A\'hen a dog wants to cross a river to look for his master, or in search of prey, he stops on the bank of the river, moans, barks, and howls with all his might. The reason is very simple ; he thinks that on hearing this noise the crocodile will hasten towards the spot from which the sound proceeds, and that others at a great distance will leave their retreat, and endeavour to seize the silly animal. The dog con- tinues to bark and howl, and the comedy lasts as long as he thinks it necessary to draw together his enemies ; then, when they are all collected in the thickets close by, anticipating a delicious morsel, the dog darts off like an arrow, passes the river quite safely a quarter of a mile off, and goes on his way barking with joy and defiance. On our arrival at the house, Ferdinand had prepared a surprise for us. He had arranged a dinner-party, to which two Hova chiefs of the place were invited. It was not for the honour of their company, but for the opportunity of studying their singular manners, that we thanked our host. The Hovas, whatever else they may be, are very fond of eating and drink- ing, so that our two chiefs did not require much pressing to accept Ferdinand's invitation. They kept us waiting, however, some time before they appeared; but this was excusable, in consideration of their having to dress themselves in the Euro- pean style. They would not for the world have appeared at this dinner, to which our presence imparted in their eyes an official character, clothed in their national costume. The wife of the Hova Commandant was to accompany her husband, and I suppose that there was in the household a great discussion on the subject of fashions and all the et-ceteras which, in Madagascar as well as in other parts of the world, constitute the toilette of a woman. It was eight o'clock when the company arrived. They were prei:eded by his Excellency's band, consisting of a frightful trumpet and a tambourine — and accompanied by a squad of five privates and a corporal, the whole strengtli of the garrison. They all marched in militar>' step, with a comic gravity which reminded one of the marching of mock soldiers on the stage. The corporal, who was very proud of his men, commanded in a loud voice their manceuvres ; and, when at last they stopped, under the verandah, they all uttered the most hideous cries, which, we were told, formed some salutation in honour of us. S6 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. The Commandant and his aide-de-camp were tall, thin on the stomach, which attention, I was assured, was highly personages, but with intelligent faces. The Commantlant endeavoured to look grave, as became a man of his impor- tance. The other, less burdened by a sense of his honours, gave the rein to his fancy, and he and I soon became good friends. Both of them watched us with close attention, copying our manners and gestures, apparently in the belief that, if they followed our example, they would quite surpass in polite ceremonial all their ac- quaintances. They wore full- dress suits : black coats — rather old-fashioned, it is true — ante- diluvian waistcoats, and trousers of a wonderful greyish black, which betrayed their ancient origin. They managed their pocket-handkerchiefs with the skill of a dandy, at first flourish- ing them with a seductive grace, and then, quite at a loss to know what to do with tliem, sitting down upon them, being ignorant of the use of a pocket. Madame la Commandante, who sat next to me, was a large woman, of the colour of a withered apple, and looking awkward in her ill-fitting dress. Her manners did not encourage me much, for she responded to my advances by a stupid look, which meant nothing, and con- tented herself with emptying her plate methodically, which I re- filled at each course. Ferdinand explained that I had offended against ALidegasse etiquette in helping madame first ; and that it was my other neighbour to whom I should liave first ad- dressed myself, Madegasse polite- ness requiring the men to be helped first. Women are thought nothing of, being regarded as inferior creatures. Whereupon I devoted myself to the " twelfth honour," who sat on the other side, and who, on his part, spared no pains to make himself agreeable. He copied me with such persistence that his fork kept time with mine ; when I ate, he ate, when I drank, he drank, and when I stopped, he stopped. Certainly, this man was endowed with a rare talent of imitation, and had it not been for the gravity of the occasion, I should have tried putting my fork to my ear, to see if he would do the same. My neighbour drank his wine undiluted, but he tliought wine insipid, and preferred vermuth with a very strong flavour, which he took in glassfuls, so that in a few minutes he became on the most touchingly fiimiliar terms with me. On the slightest occasion, he would slap me GOVERNOR OF TAMATAVE. flattering ; he swore that he was my friend, as I well deserved to be ; and finally plunged his hands into my plate, in the idea that two such friends ought to have everj'thing in common. At this new mark of favour I coloured at first, and then took a fit of laughing, which delighted him. I then left him the remainder of the plateful he had touched, giving him to under- stand that so it would be done in the best society of Europe. The gentlemen continued their pleasantries (which for some time had become rather tiresome) till a late hour. Although they bore the wine \eiy well, they began to be rather incoherent in their conversation. We therefore rose, but as no Madegasse dinner ever temiinates without toasts, we were obliged to re-seat ourselves. Their custom is to drink the health of each guest, beginning with the humblest ii] rank and finishing off with the Queen. Enthusiastic individuals drink also to the relatives of their hosts, their children, and grand- children, &c. Fancy our posi- tion I We commenced. A\hen it came to the Queen, a manoeuvre was executed under the verandah by the garrison, the voice of the corporal sounding like thunder. Our guests staggered to their feet, and, turning their faces in the direction of Tananarive, the capital, drained their goblets to the incomparable gloiy of Rasua- herina pangaka ny Madagascar. When it came to our turn to propose the health of the Emjieror, the anxiety of the Hovas was great. They gave the signal for the manoeuvre to be repeated outside ; but, as they did not know where Paris lay, they hesitated as to the point of the horizon. They tried turning to the north; but the difficulty increased when they came to pronounce the name of Napoleon II L, and it was only after numerous false starts that they succeeded in drinking this last toast. AVe then dis- missed them, and it was quite time to do so, for it may be well imagined that we were feeling rather the worse for drinking so many healths. We had a horrible night, tormented with bugs, enormous rats, and mosquitoes. We had hardly closed our eyes, when the sound of a cracked bell, like a death knell, made us sit up in our beds. We were asking each other what meant these lugubrious sounds, when a noise of chains heavily dragged along increased our alarm. Were we, then, in some haunted A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN. 57 h bitalion ? I could endure it no longer, and rushing out, witnessed a horrible spectacle. The doleful bell was an enormous old saucepan, which was struck with a steel bar, to call the slaves to work. In the middle of the court was a long column of slaves, chained in couples, their legs bound with heavy rings, causing them to move with pain. In walking they had to turn them, so that each step they took was only the length of their feet. These poor creatures were covered with hideous rags — some of them had nothing but a piece of matting, black with filth. Their faces, brutalised by suffering, had lost the appearance of human beings. I had often seen slaves, but never had I witnessed a spectacle of such abject misery and dejection. I'hese, then, thought I, are the slaves belonging to the Queen ! How different from the patriarchal form of servitude which I had witnessed in other parts of the island, in the houses of the wealthier natives ! Ferdinand ex- plained to me that these slaves were rebels and fugitives, and that this horrible cruelty was inflicted upon them as a punishment. Some of these wretches had been lingering in this way for months, some of them for sc\-eral years. We asked our host, as a favour, and as a remembrance of our sojourn in his house, to pardon one of them. He granted our request, and the poor creature, who was immediaiely set at liberty, came trembling to thank us. Towards noon we took leave of T^rdinand, and set out for Tamatave. On our return to the coast we found a note, couched in the highest terms of Hova courtesy, addressed to us by the governor of the province, and inviting us to be present at the ceremony of the coronation of the new Queen, which was to take place in the interior of the fort of Tamatave. We were to share the honour of being present at the spectacle with the whole population of the sea-port, for they had all been invited. I cannot say that I anticipated any pleasure in taking part in more of these Hova festivities ; for all I had seen in Mada- gascar had given me cause to dislike the dominant race for their acts of oppression, their cruelty, and their empty show of civilisation. We accepted, however, the invitation, in the hope of learning something more of the customs of the people. A yourney tliroitgJi the Soudan and IVestern Abyssinia, ivith Reminiscences cf Captivity. DY LIIJUTEN.ANT V/. F, PRIDEAUX, F.R.G.S., EOMD.W STAFF CORPS II. — From MassAv/a to Kassala. On the 15th of October, 1865, we considered that we had completed all our preparations for our onward march. The farewell dinner was eaten on board the VUtori.j, the last adieux were spoken, and we leapt ashore from the boat, hoping to exchange, that night, the stifling atmosphere, the never-ceasing chaffering and huckstering, of the Massawa pier, for the free and open air of the desert. Circumstances, however, de- cided differently, for we had no sooner landed, and made our way to the place where our camels were assembled, all kneeling and roaring at the prospect of being loaded, througli every note of their pitiful gamut, than we discovered that the drivers had come totally unprovided with ropes to tie the baggage on their beasts, and we were consequently obliged to stop at MonkuUii till the necessary gear was obtained. Cholera at this time was raging at Massawa and its neiglibour- hood, and the next morning one of our muleteers was attacked with it in its severest form. Dr. Blanc used all his skill on behalf of the man, and although, at the time we left him, he was hovering between life and death, we heard that he subse- quendy recovered. While waiting till the cool of the evening will enable us to make our start, we have leisure to become acquainted with our compagnous tie voyage. M. Michael Marcopoli deserves the first place, I think. Sciote by birth, but cosmopolitan by tastes, he had come to Massdwa, a few months previously, as a kind of sub-agent to the mercantile house to which M. Munzinger was attached, and he proved a most valuable addition to our narrow circle of acquaintances. He boasted of Italian ancestry, and had such a contempt for the majority of his fellow-subjects, that beyond the epithet, " tm vrai Grcc" his force of vituperation could no VOL. I. further go. He was a most pleasant and accommodating companion, and it was with much pleasure that we acceded to his request to be permitted to take advantage of our escort as far as Matamma, whither he was bound on high commercial emprise. \\'e were fortunate in having with us two capital interpreters, who had been with Mr. Rassam nearly the whole of his stay at Massawa. The eldest, Omar Ali, was but a mere youth, but, with the natural linguistic facility of the African, he had already acquired several langur.ges, and had a fair know- ledge of French, with the exception that he had never been able to master the intricacies of gender, and, with much lack of courtesy, invariably gave the preference to the masculine, whatever might be the object to which his remarks referred. As he had accompanied a French gentleman as far as Berber, on the Nile, he had some claim to be considered a traveller. The second lad, Dasta, was the son of a mighty hunter of \ Tigre', called Glabra Georgis, who was well known to many European travellers in the country, being able, unlike most of his compatriots, to handle a rifle wilh considerable skill. The boy, his son, was a marvel of pride and precocity, and a most acute and intelligent interpreter in at least four languages. The rest of the cavalcade was made up of our personal servants, muleteers, and camel-drivers, while our old friend. 'Abd-ul-Kereem, with his nephew, Ahmed, and a score of ruffianly fellows with worn-out matchlocks, considered it con- ducive eitlier to his own dignity or to ours to accompany us — to what good end I carinot sa)-. At last everything was really ready. The camels had ceased their roaring, and the drivers their cursing, and the cry of " Yallah ! yallah !" was no longer to be heard. At 4 p.m. the long train emerged finally from tiie compound of the houre 8 58 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. we were so glad to get away from, and took a north-westerl)- course, we following at our leisure. The road as far as Dissyet, where we arrived after three hours' march, led us through a country exactly similar to that in the vicinity of Monkiillil, almost a dead level of sand, with a stunted mimosa here and there, and occasionally a hillock of volcanic stone. Dissyet, which, in the Amharic language, signifies "an island," is a narrow strip lying between two icuu/is, and possesses a few trees of larger growth than we had hitherto met with. A stony plain brought us to Amba, where we arri\ed at half-past nine, in capital time to have a comfortable supper and rest. The first care of a traveller in these regions is about his water : we were fortunate enough to find a good supply in a stream which ran close to our encampment. I looked about every^vhere for the conical, flat-topped hill from which Amba should derive its name, but, although it has been spoken of by a modern French traveller, could nowhere discover it. The wadi does, however, run through an amjihitheatre of low hills, some of which have a castellated appearance ; and as " Amba " signifies any forti- fied height, the derivation of its name may come from these. It is a scorching place ; a hot, dry wind seems to blow from every direction, and at this and the next station we could only stave off its effects by keeping our heads constantly bound up in cloths, which we continually moistened in the water of the brook. At a quarter past four we resumed our march, and after passing another icAdi four miles distant, called Kamfor, where, though water was obtainable by digging in the .sandy bottom of the dried-up stream, it was found to be of an in- difierent description, we entered the desert of .Sha'ab, which extends as far as 'Ain. Until it became dark, nothing but a sea of sand was visible around us, without a sign of vegetation ; and we travelled on till nightfall, when we bivouacked beneath Mount Ghehenab, which stands like a monument to solitude in the midst of the waste. There is nought of human interest here. ICven the roving Bedaween fear this thirsty wilderness ; and beyond the cry of the leopard, as he jarowls amidst the brushwood at the foot of the hill, not a sound breaks the stillness of the night. We started refreshed, at half-past four the following morning, and came to a place called Noor Habebai, where the sand gives place to volcanic debris. The country was so flat, that we had a prospect for miles around us, and, turning round, we could see flashing, where two rocks parted like half-opened lips, the amipLeixop yeXaa-fxa (to use the words of old /Eschylus, for I know none better) of the far-away Erythrajan. Shortly after passing a large cemetery called Zara, near which was encamped a kraal of Bedaween sliepherds, we arrived at the green and lovely valley of '.\in, through v.'hich the Lebka runs. It was necessary to go a .short way up the stream before a suitable halting-iilace could be found, as the banks are so thickly wooded that it is hard to find an open space. This is one of those oases that remain green as them- selves in the mind of the traveller long accustomed, as we had been, to sand and sea alone. The Lebka, which waters this beautiful vale, debouches into the Red Sea, a little above the sixteenth degree of north latitude, and rises among the hills of Ad-Temariam, although it appears to be connected by affluents with the much larger river Anseba. Up to this time we had been pursuing a north-westerly course, but on starting the following afternoon, we took the stream, which flows nearly due west and east, as our road, and tra\-elled for three hours to the westward, having found the predictions of our guides, with regard to the shifting nature of the sand so soon after the rainy season, perfectly fallacious. The Lebka, when flooded, is a most picturesque stream. For a considerable part of its course it flows between tall rocks of columnar basalt, fringed with various shrubs, with here and there an acacia or tamarind- tree lending a richer green to the scene. At one part I went ' over a low hill by its side, where I found an ancient cemetery called Momba Arad, where two sheikhs of distinguished piety repose within large stone-built tombs. At a quarter to nine in the evening, we arrived at a spot called Gadarait, where the main road to the Hibab country branches off" from the Lebka. It may not be out of place here to give some notes of a \ery short trip made in the previous summer to this country, which is undoubtedly the seat of a most ancient Christian community, now utterly perverted through the apathy and indifference of their own proper teachers, and the proselytising zeal of their Muslim neighbours. Leaving the Lebka, a north-westerly route was followed until, after crossing a low but precipitous hill, which severely taxed the strength and sure - footedness of our camels, we reached a valley called Maga Maiatat {Between the Waters) — a most palpable misnomer, as water, and that of a bad quality, is only found at one spring. AVe arrived here at noon on the 29th of July, and found already encamped a large clan of Bedaween, whose sheikh soon paid us a visit, and complained most bitterly of his Christian neighbours, who last year had appropriated three hundred out of his herd of cattle, whicli altogether only numbered five hundred head. The houses these people were living in were wonderful to behold. A cabin scarcely larger than a moderate-sized beehive, and averaging three feet in heiglit and ten or twelve in circum- ference, sufficed for a whole family. Maga Maiatat is situated within a gorge of portentous darkness, and has a renown for lions. The very night we were there the whole camp was thrown into confusion by one of these animals, who made an onslaught, and almost walked off" with our Portuguese cook, who had incautiously slept at too great a distance from the fires. The next morning (30th) we started at half-past five, and after crossing another hill, came to a beautiful valley abounding in guinea-fowl and bustard. We then passed another village called Aide', and three hours after beginning our march, arrived at a shady spot called Raroo, where we halted and breakfasted, pic-nic fashion, under a tree. Re- suming our progress at a quarter -past nine, half an hour brought us to the large village of Af - Abad, which we had decided on as the limit of our journey. According, however, to the incomprehensible custom of these people, no water was to be obtained near the village, and we had to go on three miles farther, to a watercourse called Hauzat, \\hich we found nearly ilr)-. It was near eleven o'clock when we arrived, and we had scarcely selected a suitable place for encamping, and begun to pitch our tents, when down came the rain, the first that had fallen for many days. We remained at .'\f--\bad, the capital of the Ad - Temariam district, for three days ; and though the weather was certainly nice and cool, rain fell every day, and made the ground surrounding our tents marshy and malarious, and I believe it was only our daily dose of quinine and sherry that preserved us from bad fevers. Game is far from numerous in the neighbourhood, and consists of guinea- fowl, another sort of fowl (very gamey) called b)- the Arabs A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN. 59 "the cock of the valley," gazelles {Beni Az-rai/), antelopes (Bo/iur), and wild pig, but none in large numbers. Elephants are numerous here in the cold season, but had at this time of the year gone to the higher ranges of hills. Tiie larger/iVic of course abound. I think only one night passed that we had not a visit from a lion, and we lost one of our camels in this way. Leopards and hyenas are found, of course, everywhere, and the latter are especially very annoying. I forgot to mention hares and bustards, which are found in small numbers. The latter bird is as good as turkey, and very similar to it. Af-Abad was found, by barometric measurement, to be 2,529 feet above the sea-level; so, in December or January, it would doubtless be a delightful retreat, but in the summer we found the mercury rise even higher than at IMonkuUu. The country above 'Ain is called by the natives Sihe ; it is bounded on the south by the Lebka, and on the east by the Red Sea : the other boundaries vary much, as the population are chiefly nomads. Tradition tells us that it was first colonised by a refugee Tigre' chief, named Asgaddee, and that he pitched his tent on a hill further to the northward, which is called Asgaddee-Bakla, or " The Mule of Asgaddee," to this day. To this patriarch were born three sons, the heroes epoiiyiiii of the Hibab tribes. The Ad-Temariam,* within whose confines Af-Abad is situated, inhabit the southern district ; the Ad- Tekles, the western ; and the Ad-Hibdes, the northern. In outward appearance the three tribes are indistinguishable one from another ; the same dress (or rather, want of it), the same heavy curls, and the same, generally speaking, handsome European features characterise them all. Like all the tribes to the north and west of Abyssinia, they are armed with a straight two-edged cross-handled sword — a singular contrast to the curved reaping-hooks of their Christian neighbours. Their language is the Lower Tigre, a kind of mixture of .Arabic and Geez, with a sprinkling of Amharic. I have heard that, with the exception of the dialect of Guarague, in the south of Abyssinia, it is more like the ancient Ethiopic than any other tongue spoken in those regions. The chief of the Ad- Temariam, Sheikh Shookr, was at Af-Abad at the time of our visit. I cannot give him a good character. From his very limited knowledge of Europeans, he evidently placed us in the same category with the Turkish soldiers whom he is accustomed to see collecting revenue, and he was extremely averse to letting us have any sheep or provision.s, evidently distrusting either our inclination or [jower to pay him. The only wealth of these people consists in their flocks and herds, and they are pillaged on one side by the Massiwa, or Har- keeko, authorities, under the name of revenue collections, and on the other by the neighbouring Abyssinian.s. Ever since they renounced Christianity (towards the end of last century) they have been subject to the Nayib of Harkeeko, who is answerable for the revenue to the Turkish Government, keeping ten per cent, for himself Sheikh Shookr pays 2,000 dollars annually for Ad-Temariam. Resuming the route to Kassala, on the 20th of October, at half-past four in the morning, we had to follow the course of the Lebka, and after passing a most difficult defile, in which all the powers of our camels were put to the test, we arrived at IVLahaber at a quarter-past nine. The Lebka had assumed, after the pass, cjuite a difterent appearance. Instead of the basaltic rocks with which it had been walled in lower * ^(/bignifie^ "country,'' or "tribe,'' in Lower Tigre. down, we saw on each side of us extensive plains, except in one spot, where, on a craggy eminence, legions of baboons seemed inclined to dispute the way with us. The bed of the river was nearly dry ; in fact, only a pool here and there was to be found, the rest of the road being through heavy sand. \N'e were obliged to stop three days at Mahaber, in conse- quence of finding no camels there. Sheikh Shookr, of the Ad-Temariam, had, a fortnight before, been informed of our wish for a change of cattle at this place ; but whether his influence was not commensurate with his wishes, or what not, we could not obtain them till after a deal of palavering. I can see the old fellow before me now, with his bushy locks floating behind him like a wig of the Charles II. era, brandishing his spear as he tramps down the road, and vows by his prophet that he has not another camel to spare, and when this is found, there is not another saddle, and so on ad nauseam. How- ever, at length we did obtain everything we required, and at half-past three on the afternoon of the 23rd we started, and after a pleasant ride for three hours along the sandy course of the Lebka, arrived at Kelamet This, unfortunately, we found to be a marsh, and Dr. Blanc and I, since we had not time to pitch our tents, carried our bedsteads up to a neighbouring eminence, above, as we hojjed, the reach of the miasmata. That, however, we had undesirable neighbours, was proved shortly before daybreak, for, our fire being out, and a pipe and a nip of brandy (to keep out the malaria) just finished, within a hundred yards or so a lion sung out in a way calculated to alarm the strongest nerves. This was doubtless the oppor- tunity for displaying their prowess for which 'Abd-ul-Kereem and his brave soldiers had b'.'cn waiting so long. Keeping at a safe distance down below, they fired off their pieces, and taking especial care to hit nothing, they managed to send off the unwelcome visitor, whose discontented grumblings at his extrusion from a valley of which he evidently considered himself sole proprietor, we heard for a long time in the distance. At half past .seven we were off again, and passing along a tributary of the Lebka to the south-west, arrived at Kudbat at ten, where we took an alfresco breakfast amongst the tangled glades of a wood. Mounting again at four, we passed along watercourses, still ofi'shoots of the Lebka, and fell in with numerous herds of large and beautiful antelopes at Kokai, where the surrounding hills are covered with thick foliage. to their summits. Here we stopped for a few minutes, and after three hours' most difticult marching, up hill and down dale, arrived at a large meadow, with beautiful hay in it averaging a foot in height, and here we passed the night. The next morning we were early up, and after a longer time than usual passed in loading those troublesome beasts, camels, who are only too demonstrative in telling us their griefs, started off at seven. We soon came to an 'akaba, or pass, the crossing ol which occupied a good hour, and in which every moment I dreaded a disastrous end to some of our cherished packages. However, all crossed without an accident, except a few bottles broken. On arriving at the foot of this pass we left Ad- Temariam, in which we had been journeying from 'Ain, and entered the district of Anseba, or Beit-Takue, as it is marked on some maps. For the first time in this country I saw fields of juwarri,* and other signs of a higher state of civilisation; but the fact is that this district is tributary to Hailu the One-eyed, • Holais sorghum. 6o ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. Dedj-azniatch of Hamasain, and is therefore a portion of Abyssinia. Passing the juwarri fields, which are at Mas-haleet, we arri'.ed at the banks of the Anseba in good time for break- fast, aaJ settled ourselves under a large mulberry-tree. A heavy shower of rain in the afternoon made it rather problem- atical if we should be able to proceed on our journey ; but, fortunately, it cleared up. and at half-past four we were in our tlie wet sand, which rendered the road so heavy that tiic mulea sunk fetlock deep at every step they took. It enabled us, howe\er, to see that we were in hot chase of a herd of elephants, who had passed a few hours back, but we were not fortunate enough to fall in with them. At half-past seven wc arrived at our halting-place, Heboob, where we pitched cur camp on a commanding spot, as far removed as possible from Bli.Nl'.SMUi .\UAU, saddles again, and down the Anseba, a beautiful river, thougli dry, or nearly so, at that time. Fringed on each side widi spreading trees in full foliage, with here and there a stretch of greensward extending into the dark depths of the jungle beyond, in the general features of its scenery it bore a strong resemblance to the river Dart, in Devonshire. It is, however, not mors than an eiglith of the width, and was thus, perhaps, all the better adapted for gratifying us with those lovely peeps into natural beauty which a break in the foliage often dis- play3d. The great drawback to unalloyed pleasure was the depth of the vapours of the Biyan, the tributary of the Anseba, near which we were. Our friend, M. Marcopoli, had left us at Mahaber, to go to Keren, in Bogos, on some business, and as our own road was shorter, we were the first to arrive at Heboob. He returned the morning following our arrival, accompanied by an Abys- sinian chief and his suite, who had caused him much trouble of mind by their antics on the road. From .he chief we learnt that, had we gone to Keren, as was our first intention, wc should have been received in style by the Abyssinian autho- rities. Two hundred soldiers were to meet us, and hecatombs A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN. 6i of beeves were to have been slain in our honour, while cattle were provided for us along the road. This, at all events, implied that, as gaests of the king, it was the wish of his subjects to show us respect. The chief, after having succeeded in selling; us an excessively bad mule, received some presents on his side, and went on his way rejoicing. We left Heboob at 7.20 a.m., on the 27th, our road leading us for the first two hours through a sort of tangled brake, through which it was at times most difficult to force our way. At the expiration of that time we arrived at the top of the pass of Gebei Likoom, which separates the Anseba district from that of Baraka, or " Robber Land." The two hours and a half which the camels occupied in going down were passed by us in the discussion of our breakfast, until at noon news was brought that the descent had been safely accomplished, and we then began it ourselves. To us who followed after, it was matter of great wonderment that animals such as camels, formed by nature for travelling on soft sandy ground, should have achieved such a feat as descending in perfect safety, and without a single smash, such a precipitous pass as the one in question, which, at a rough guess, measures about 1,500 feet. We had then a long ride through the sun along a succes- sion of stony 7a(hf/s until we arrived at our halting- place, Medjlel, on a watercourse called Shelab. We reached this spot at half-past four in the afternoon, having been on the march more than nine hours. The shrubs, grass, and underwood were so thick on all sides that we were obliged to pitch in the jc'diii itself. Our friends the elephants were of great service to us here. We had often availed ourselves of their skill in road-making, but on this occasion they saved us a great deal of trouble by providing us with quantities of water. Scarcity of this most necessary element is the great bane of African travelling, and when found it is often half composed of mineral or vegetable organic matter. At 'Ain, for instance, we placed a few grains of alum in a bottle of water, and the precipitate that it formed took up fully half of the vessel. In these 7vadis, generally speaking, it is necessary to dig a few feet beneath the sand for water, but here the elephants, by the exercise of their own sagacity, saved us a good deal of hard labour. By working their trunks round, in fact screwing into the sand, they manage to burrow a hole, and at the bottom bsautifuUy clear water is found ; for they are the daintiest animals alive, and will only drink of the best, spurning some running water a little further up. Two paid us a visit that evening, doubtless to receive our thanks. At Medjlel we passed a terribly hot day, the mercury rising to 106 degrees (Fahr.) in our small tent. However, at 4 p.m., we were again on the move, and marched without ceasing (so far as the camels were concerned) for more than eight hours, till we arrived at a broad watercourse called Adertee. We were thoroughly worn out, and too tired even to pitch our tents. Our road, too, offered nothing to interest us. First of all the Shelab, then an interminable plain, covered with dry, prickly grass and thorny shrubs, and then the .\dertee, here about 150 yards in width. The country, at the time we passed through it, was overgrown with luxuriant grass, owing to a feud existing between the Abyssinians, the Hibab and the Bdraka tribes, to whom ordinarily it forms a common pasture ground. The Christians, so far as plundering is concerned, arc not a whit better than their Muslim and barbarous neighbours. Every day we heard stories of young girls and women being seized and sold into slavery, and the Christians seem to be quite as expert at this game as the others. This, of course, leads to retaliation, and the consequence is, that a country of the highest natural fertility is abandoned, and where there might be peaceful homesteads and smiling fields of corn, nothing is to be seen but a desolate jungle. We left Ba'at, as our station on the Riwr Adertee was called, at a quarter to four on the evening of the 29th, and pursued a road leading through the wAdi till we arrived at Kar-Obel. There was nothing interesting to note along the road, except that we found ourselves gradually leaving the hills behind us, and approaching a more level country. We got to Kar-Obel at 9.10 p.m., and slept in the middle of the watercourse, which was perfectly dry, till dawn saw us again on our road. It was just sunrise when we emerged from the ivadi on to a broad and undulating savanna, covered with short grass, with an occasional dwarfish tree breaking the monotony of the scene. As we proceeded, however, these increased in size and number, and in some places we passed through thick groves, in which the doom-palm formed a graceful and pro- minent feature. Crossing another watercourse, we found ourselves at eight o'clock on the banks of a large sedgy lake, or rather marsh, as the water probably did not in any part e-xceed the depth of a foot or two. Surrounded with dense underwood, and with its surface covered with large water-lilies in full flower, this piece of water presented a picturesque appearance ; but aware as we were of the danger of encamping too near these beautiful but treacherous spots, we pitched our tents at a considerable distance. The name of the place is Jagee, and here we stayed till evening, passing an intensely hot day. Five o'clock saw us on our way again, and we tra\'elled across country, through a plain abounding in thorny shrubs and a terribly annoying species of barbed grass, till we came to another wadi at 9 p.m. All these watercourses formed part of a large river called the Baraka or Barka, but it is the custom to name every few miles of the stream differently, thereby perplexing travellers to no small extent. From the spot where we entered the nullah to our halting-place was called Soleeb ; we then entered on the strip called Takrureet ; here we slept.* We were now in the territory occujjied by a very large and powerful tribe, called the Beni 'Amir. They possess the whole of Baraka, and a considerable strip of country stretching towards Souakin. An encampment belonging to a subdivision of the tribe, the Ali Bakeet, was stationed close to us at Takrureet, and during the day two of the chiefs paid us a visit. They did not, however, seem inclined to afford us any assistance in the way of getting camels, a fresh supply of which we stood much in need of In other respects they were courteous and obliging enough. At 5.40 P.M. we started for Zaga, at the present time the head-quarters of the tribe. Hearing that there was a better route across country, we left the camels to follow the course of the nullah where the sand was too heavy for th: mules, and pursued a path which led us through a beautifiil country, very much resembling the scenery of an English park. An * I only mention these names, which possess no interest, in case the re.nler sliouM wisli to follow our route upon a map. The only one which gives any idea of the country is by M. Werner Munzinger, in his Ost- Afrkanische SluJicn : Scliajfhauscn, 1864. 62 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. hour's ride brought us to a temporary village of the Ali Bakeet, where we stayed for some time, and refreshed ourselves with the milk that the hospitality of the sheikh provided for us. From this place, Aher, we travelled on through extensive and level plains covered with short grass scorched to a hay tint by the fervid rays of the sun, but grateful to the feet after the heavy sand of the watercourse. Beyond five or six villages, of a similar character to the first, we saw nothing and met no one, though the roars which resounded around us made an encounter with one of the lords of the forest no improbable occurrence. We did not reach our destination till a quarter to four the following morning, and finding our camels had not yet arrived, we spread out the dressed hides, with which we were never unpro\'ided, on the ground, and with the growls of a couple of lions which were drinking at a pool a short distance off for our lulkib}-, we endeavoured to snatch sleej) for an hour or two. Day broke, but brought witji it no signs of the camels. Having fixed on an eligible site for our cam]i, on an elevated spot within a reasonalile distance from the river-bed, Blanc, Marcopoli, and myself took a stroll in the direction of the village. Passing by the well, where, by our doubtless un- canny aspect, we were the objects of mingled interest and alarm to several damsels who were employed in drawing water, we clambered over a slight eminence, and found our- selves close to the metropolis. We found it very extensive, and occupied by about 50,000 camels, but, unfortunately, nearly all of them females and young ones. Words cannot give an idea of the number of horned cattle in possession of this tribe, it being entirely a pastoral one, and, I believe, not cultivating an inch of the extensive territory which belongs to it. Nearly every house of the village was built of mats, and in the same beehive style of architecture as those of the Hibab, to whom these people bear a considerable resem- blance. All the tribes in these parts assert that they are descended from Arabs of the Hedjaz, disclaiming any con- nection in blood with the children of Ham ; and their physiognomy does not belie their pretensions. The chiefs and upper classes shave their head.s, and wear a skull-cap or turban, and generally rejoice in a gaudily-embroidered silk smianryah, or vest, of Egyptian manufivcture ; but the comnon iieople wear only a dirty rag, and delight in allow- ing their locks to fall in thick ringlets of considerable length, well smeared with mutton-tallow, and kept in order with a short, pointed, and often beautifully-carved stick, which is fastened at all times to the hair, and answers the purposes of a comb. The females, young and old, have usually little beyond a leathern petticoat and a necklace of beads to set off their dusky charms. As we were passing one of the very few grass-built huts in the place, a person whom we judged, from his air, to be of some importance, came out to meet us, and invited us inside his ihvelling, where we were regaled with the usual coffee, served in very tolerable style for the desert. We afterwards found out that this was Sheikh Ahmed, chief of the Beni 'Amir, and one of the most powerful vassals dependent on the Egyptian Government, as at any time he can bring 10,000 horsemen into the field. In the course of the day he returned our visit, with several of his relatives and re- tainers. We found him a very gentlemanly fellow, and more civilised than any of the chiefs we had fallen in ^\^th. Together wirii all his following, he took the greatest interest in Blanc's small galvanic battery, and showed much pluck in enduring the unexpected shocks, which, of course, he set down to our having a most powerful Sheitan in our possession. He could, however, afford us no assistance towards solving the camel difficulty, and so we had to proceed as we were. We found the day intensely hot, the thermometer showing 107 degrees at one time. The night, however, was pleasant and cool, and our slumbers were only broken by the lions, which insisted on thrusting their unwelcome presence every- where. Trt-o of the villagers had been carried off the previous night, when we had been sleeping outside ; and the people here, with the hospitality of their forefathers, anxious that no harm should happen to us during our sojourn amongst them, wanted us all to pass the night in one tent, surrounded by a cordon of soldiers. This did not exactly meet our views, although I have no doubt that we were carefully looked after through the night. ^\'e had intended leaving Zaga early in the afternoon the next day, but our camel-drivers had — purjjosely, as we were all convinced — allowed their charges to stray too far, and they were not loaded and ready to start till past eight o'clock. It was, fortunately, a lovely moonlight night, and our road lay through a tract of country exhibiting the same park-like scenery I ha\'e before noticed. As, with our large cavalcade, it was impossible for us to carry sufficient water for our requirements, we were forced to push on until we found some, and in doing so the whole night was consumed. It was not till past sun- rise the following morning that we reached our halting-place, on the banks of a water-course called Howdshait, and here we selected a cool spot for encamping, beneath the shade of some fine trees. At 4 p.m. we were obliged to be off again, and marched on for nearly five hours, when we thought it ad\isable to rest for the night, men and beasts being both terribly fatigued. The moon, however, had not yet sunk the follow- ing morning when we were again on our journey, and we had to proceed for four hours before the stage was finished. Owing to a scarcity of water on the direct route, we had to make rather a detour, and halt at a place called Idrees-Dar, at the time occupied by a party belonging to a large tribe called Hadendoa, which extends from here as far as Souakin. Of similar origin to the Beni 'Amir, they exhibit the same external characteristics, and are notorious for being great freebooters ; but being amied with swords and spears only, they did not venture to molest us. Bad water and an intensely hot sun did not tempt us to remain here long, and towards evening we resumed our march. The countr}' we now entered, Taka, is of a more hilly character than Baraka, but the general nature of the soil and vegetation undergoes little change. Nine hours' marching led us into a wadi, at the entrance of which the leading camels of the caravan were attacked by lions ; but the matchlocks of the gallant escort were sufficient to drive off the invaders, who are anything but the noble, courageous beasts romance has pictured them. W't ourselves had ridden some way ahead, \\\i a gorge, situated between two precij^itous cliffs, which, narrowing as we advanced, conducted us to several wells, dug deeply in the sand. On arrival here, we were saluted by the barking of hundreds of dogs, which seemed to issue forth from every part of the rugged heights by which we were surrounded ; but it \\as two o'clock in the morning, and so dark, that it was impossible to discover A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN. 63 anything but a soft spot to lay our bedding on. On awaking, we found we were between a couple of villages, whicli clustered up the sides of the hills like cells in a beehive ; in fact, there was not a projecting slab of lock which did not serve as the ground, or rather, only floor of a tiny cabin. Although small, the houses were of a much superior character to those we had hitherto fallen in with. They were all circular in shape, and built of rubble, with well-thatched roofs. As for ourselves, we found a pleasant grove of date-trees to rest under during tlie day, and in the cool of the evening climbed up to the eyries of the inhabitants, who received us hospitabl)'. The name of these people and their villages is Sabderat. was seized and carried to Kdssala, and after a trial, sentenced to death. Pardon could only be accorded on one condition. The daughter must forgive the murder of her father, and intercede for his assassin. This she refused to do, and he was hanged. The valley was split into two rival factions ; the descendants of murdered and murderer rule each one side, and it is no matter of surprise if they are on something less than speaking terms with each other. We left Sabderat at fi\-e o'clock in the evening, and arriving at a convenient spot in the desert, passed the night there. From our last halting-place Mr. Rassam had sent on .\hmed of Harkeeko with letters for the Mudeer, or Governor of YOUNG GIRLS OF TAKA. One hamlet is only a stone's-throw from the other, and yet there is a blood-feud between them. It appears that .some years ago the whole valley was ruled by an ancient sheikh, who died leaving several sons, the eldest of whom succeeded in due course to the chiefdom. These secluded spots, it seems, fomi no exception to the rest of the world, and the Worst of human passions rage as strongly in them as in the most crowded haunts of men. Jealousy entered the heart of one of the younger brothers, who inveigled the sheikh to a lonely place, and then stabbed him to the heart. He did not, however, live to profi'; by his treachery long. Rumour, with its thousand tongues, soon brought the news of the assassination to the ears of the daughter of the murdered man, who denounced her uncle to the Egyptian authorities. He Kdssala, and for M. Yanni Kotzika, a well-known Greek merchant of the town, who had always shown much hospitality to Europeans journeying in these remote regions. We were up betimes the next morning, and soon found that the autho- rities of Kassala were determined to do us honour. A couple of hundred Bashi-Razouks and a regiment of Nizam infantry met us at the distance cf a mile from the town, and we entered the gates amitl much flourish of trumpets and beating of kettle-drums. M. Yanni was absent, but we were received most kindly by his brother, M. Panayoti Kotzika, and his partner, Achilles Kassisoglou, and beneath their hospitable roof, in the enjoyment of a bath and a breakfast, soon forgot the hardships attendant on our long and tedious journey. 64' ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. Lower California. When the United States obtained the cession of a large sHce of North Mexican territory, after the conclusion of the Mexican war, the boundary line was drawn about fifty miles to the northward of the head of the Gulf of California, thus leaving the whole of that remarkable prolongation of land, the Californian peninsula, or Lower California, in the hands of its former owners. Since then. Upper California, as a State of the American Union, has risen to the position of one of the most prosjjerous countries in the world ; whilst the contiguous southern territory, although so full of promise from its geogra- phical position aad climate, has remained in the same neglected condition in which the whole of this magnificent region had lain for centuries. The inhabitants of the peninsula are estimated at present to number not more than 6,000, the entire population of a tract of land 540 miles in length, by 50 in average breadth. They are chiefly half-castes, in whom Indian blood predominates. Mines of silver have long been worked near the southern end of the peninsula ; but with regard to the resources, mineral or other^vise, of the remainder of the country, nothing was known until very recently. The peninsula — at least, all except its northern and southern extremities — is now the property of a trading com- pany, which has its central offices in New York. It was purchased of the republican chief, Juarez, in 1866, during the time the Mexican Empire was nominally under the sway of the unfortunate Maximilian ; and the enterprise of the Anglo-Saxon has done more in a few months for the exploration of the country than Spanish-Americans accomplished during the cen- turies it was in their possession. On the completion of the bargain, the first step taken was the despatch of a scientific expedition to explore the territory throughout its whole length, to map its topographical features, and examine its geological structure and natural productions. The exploring party con- sisted of Mr. J. Ross Brown, Mr. W. M. Gabb, and Dr. Ferdinand Loehr — all men of reputation on the Pacific coast as mineralogists and geographers— and the work was com- menced early in the year 1867. One of the most interesting results of the investigations of these gentlemen, has been to modify the generally received notion as to the physical conformation of the peninsula. On all maps, a chain of hills or mountains is represented as running along the centre, forming, as it were, its back-bone, and ap- pearing to be a continuation of the coast range of Upper California. Such a mountain range does not exist ; the land gradually slopes, or forms a succession of plateaus, from the shores of the Pacific to within a few miles of the eastern coast, where it tcmiinates in abrupt i)recipices, from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in height, facing the Gulf of California. This singular conformation suggests the idea that the peninsula forms only the half of a mountain range, divided longitudinally, of which the corresponding or eastern half has disappeared along the depression, where now roll the waters of the gulf The narrow tract between the foot cf the high escarpment and the shores of the gulf i: broken into ridges and valleys, formino- a kind of " undercli.'i,' and clothed with a luxuriant semi-tropical vegeta- tion. A fertile soil, yielding, with but little labour, most of the vegetable productions of warm climates, lies here at the service of the hajipy communities which will soon be estab- lished on the shores of the harbours and streams. The rocks which form the slope of this long mountain ridge are of modern geological date, being of the tertiary period, here and there overlaid by thinner strata of still more recent formation. This is the condition of the central, and by far the greater part of the peninsula ; the southern and northern portions are differently constituted, the slope and escarpment disappearing, and a chain of granitic mountains taking their place. In the south the Peak of St. Lazaro rises to an elevation of about 6,000 feet, being the highest point. Most of the central part is bare of trees ; the fertile districts lying in the narrow valleys of the small rivers, which flow deep below the general surface of the land in their course to the Pacific. Towards the southern end of the territory belonging to the American Company, and on the Pacific coast, is a noble harbour, called Magdalena Bay, said to be equal to the bay of San Francisco in its accommodation for vessels. One half the population of the peninsula is concentrated in the picturesque valleys of the granitic range in the south, where the flourishing silver mines of Triumfo are situated. There are here three or four small towns ; but in the rest of the territory only small scattered villages and mission stations are to be met with. Survey of Sinai. The survey of the Sinaitic peninsula, which is now in opera- tion, has been undertaken chiefly with a view to establish a firm basis^by mapping out the topography of the intricate mountain system and labyrinth of valleys- — for setting at re.';t the much debated question of the route of the Israelites and the events of sacred histor)' connected with it. 7 he project was set on foot by the Rev. Pierce Butler, who intended to have accompanied the expedition, but died before his cherished object was realised. At his death the subject was taken up by Sir Henry James, Director of the Ordnance Survey, and other gentlemen, by whose exertions the necessary funds were obtained, the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society each contributing ^^50, on the ground of the scientific results expected to accrue from an accurate survey. The expenses being thus provided for, the authorities of the War Office granted permission for the detachment on this duty of a party of officers and men of the Royal Engineers, and they proceeded on their mission in October last. A valuable accession to the party was obtained in the Rev. F. W. Hol- land, a gentleman who had already made three journeys in Sinai, and travelled on foot over hill and valley for weeks together, accompanied by an Arab guide, endeavouring to clear up the difficulties of its history and topography. As an example of the uncertainties attaching to these points may be mentioned the fact that Mr. Holland has found reason for doubting the hitherto accepted identification of Mount Sinai itself; he finds another mountain, called Jebel Um Alowee, a few miles north-east of the present Mount Sin.ii, to meet the requirements of the biblical narrati\e much more satis- factorily. It may be added that whilst investigating the topography of the country other branches of science will not be neglected ; archteology, geology, natural history, and me- teorology are entered on the programme of the expedition. According to the last accounts from Captain Palmer, the leader of the party, they were, on the 26th November, iSOS. encamped at the foot of Jebel Musa, all in excellent health and spirits, and proceeding with their work. NOTES ON SPAIN. 6S DUEL WITH THE NAVAJA. Notes on S'f)ain. — ///. SPANISH INNS— THE POSADA AND VENTA — COOKERY — PUCHERO AND OLLA — THE NAVAJA. The "picturesque barbarisms" which pervade the land have always been a strong attraction and a favourite theme with travellers in Spain, and consequently they are the points on which the modern Spaniard — of the upper classes, at least — is sorest, for his highest ambition is to be undistinguishable from the rest of the civilised world. They are therefore assailed at once from within and from without, by native sensitiveness and by the importation of foreign ideas. Some there are, however, which promise to die hard. The inns of Spain have from time immemorial served as illustrations of the primitive simplicity which is the rule in the Peninsula, and they serve now equally well as illustrations of the mode in which the assimilating process works. Inns have always held a pro- minent place in Spanish literature and books relating to Spain, pjverj' reader of " Don Quixote" and " Gil Bias" knows what capital the authors make of the ways and humours, and motley company of the road-side inn ; and from the days of William Lithgow downwards, there is hardly a trans-Pyrenean traveller who has not had his fling at the discomforts and the deficiencies, the shortcomings and the short commons of the hostelries of Sjiain. Nor are these aspersions merely the ex- officio complaints of a class which always makes the most of its sufferings abroad in order to impress friends at home. Even Ford, with all his affection for and sympathy with every- thing Spanish, cannot bring himself to say a word in com- mendation of the Spanish inns. He divides them into three classes : the bad, the worse, and the worst ; the last class being by for the largest. From what has been already said V(1L. I. in these pages about Spanish travelling as it used to be, it will be seen that the wants and comforts of travellers were not very likely to be more carefully considered oft" the road than on it. But this was not all. The diligence, with all its in- conveniences, was still an improvement introduced into and adopted by Spain. In principle and design it was French ; in its discomforts and general uncouthness it was Spanish. But the inn was everj'where, from foundation to chimney-pot, an institution wholly and entirely Spanish, and therefore a thing unchanged and unchanging, jireserving unimpaired down to the nineteenth century the ways and habits, luxuries and comforts, of the time of King Wamba. The old Spanish inn was a fine example of the way in which the virtue of patience operates in Spain. The large infusion of patience present in the Spanish character is, indeed, the key to at least half of the anomalies included under the term cosas dc Espana. Every one who has ever travelled with Spaniards must have been struck by the uncomplaining resignation with which the Spaniard will endure annoyances and discomforts that would at once raise a spirit of revolt in any other man. It is not that he is insensible to them, nor is it wholly from an in- dolence which prevents him from taking any trouble to abate the nuisance. It is rather, one is led to fancy, that drop of Moorish blood which flows in Spanish veins, asserting itself in true Oriental fashion under circumstances of suflering. Where the imjjatient Northern would set himself to devise and en- force a remedy, the Sjjaniard quotes a proverb, and it must be a rare emergency which cannot be met by some aj)! and 9 6t ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. sententious scrap of current Spanish philosophy. If there is none sufficiently appropriate and conclusive, he rolls and lights a cigarette, which action is in itself a practical proverb at once philosophical and consolatorj'. It is this quality, joined with an inborn spirit of obedience and respect for authority, that has made the Spanish the easiest governed, and therefore the worst governed, nation in Europe. As every rider knows, it is better that the horse should bear a little on the bridle. A too easy mouth begets a careless hand, and then some day there comes a rough bit of road and a stumble, broken knees, an empty saddle, and a cracked < rown. In the matter of inns Spain would have continued to tolerate to the end of the nineteenth centuiy the sort of accommodation that prevailed in the seventeenth, had it not been for foreign influence, and it is remarkable how the march of improvement in this respect marks the track of the foreigner. The first establishments deserving the names of hotels were at the seaports, places like Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Cadiz, and date from the period when steamboat communica- tion began to operate along the coast ; the inland towns for a long time made no sign, with the exception, perhaps, of Seville, which is, after all, a sort of seaport. In 1855, in his last edition of the " Hand-book for Spain," Ford describes the Madrid hotels as among the worst in Europe, and only mentions one, and that with a recommendation which reads like a warning. The rapid spread of railways since that time has, however, made a great change ; now, not only at ^Madrid, but at almost every large town, there are hotels, not, perhaps, as well appointed as the best in Paris, but on the whole as good as thase in most civilised parts of Europe, and, at any rate, good enough to satisfy all but the extremely fastidious. Recent tourists have, indeed, in some instances inveighed bitterly against Spanish hotels, but it is impossible not to suspect that these complaints are due, not so much to experience, as to tourist tradition and guide-book instruction, according to which it is a principle that all hotels in Spain must be bad, and that it is the correct thing to abuse them. The fact is, that in nine cases out of ten the hotels to which tourists go in Spain are no more Spanish than Mi van's or Meurice's. It is one of the peculiarities of Spanish progress that the propelling power is generally foreign. The railways are in French hands, the mines in English, the literature is worked by the Germans, and the hotel department has been taken charge of by the Italians. To the Spaniard is left the jnrt of complacent proprietor, a part which he looks and acts to admiration. As he does not attach the idea of dignity to labour, though he is quite able to ajipreciate its effects, the sight of foreign industry on his behalf is pleasant to him. It is gratifying that he should have his bondmen " of the heathen that are round about him," and though the labour is theirs vet the soil they work on is his : cs sicmpre Es/xi/la; it belongs to Spain, and Spain belongs to him, and so he can regard the result with entire self-satisfaction. For the real Spanish inn it is necessary to go farther afield to leave the beaten tracks, or on the beaten tracks to try some unvisited town, such as Avila for instance, at which the foreigner does not stop because it is not the fashion to stop. There the curious in such matters will find the unadulterated national hostelry, whatever title it may assume for the nonce ; for it is to be noted that if Spain is above all countries naturally poor in inn accommodation, the Spanish language is the richest of all languages in words to express that idea. " Hotel " has been recently naturalised, and of indigenous terms there are " fonda," " parador," " meson," " posada," " hosteria," " venta," " ventorillo," " taberna ;" to which list may be added " hostal," which, however, is pure Catalan, and " casa de huespedes," and " casa de pupilos," though the last are more strictly the equivalents of " pension " or "boarding- house." This variety in nomenclature indicates, however, distinction rather than difference. The fonda (a title which is now adopted also by the buffets on the railways) is, or makes a pretence of being, the sort of thing which -would in other countries be called a hotel ; but as one recedes from the great highways the distinguishing features become fainter and fainter, until, in the very remote districts, the name, when it does appear, ceases to imj^ly any superiority or difference Avorth mentioning. The parador is the analogue of our old coaching inn; it is the ]Aa.cQ ihm tie para la diligencia — where the dili- gence stops — whether to dine, breakfast, sleep, or discharge its load. It varies' of course with the quantity and quality of the passenger traffic on the road, in some cases boasting a mesa rcdonda (table d'hote), and an attempt at a cuisine. The meson and the posada are both town inns, the chief differ- ence being that the former is rather a bigger and more bustling kind of establishment, and more properly a sort of house of call for carriers, arrieros, muleteers, and business travellers of that description, while the posada is the inn, pure and simple, of city, town, or village, the place, as the name implies, donde se /«;?— where one reposes : such, at lea.5t, is the theory. Hosteria is a vague term, which means anything, or very frequently nothing, in the way of entertain- ment for man and beast. The venta is the roadside inn, the caravanserai, far from the haunts of man, to \\hich the traveller looks forward as the place where he may break the weary journey between town and town, bait his steeds, cool his parched clay with a deep draught from the perspiring porous water-jar, and, if the house be one of good repute and large business, recruit himself with more substantial refreshment. The ventorillo is the diminutive of the venta, a half-way house, of bothie or " shebeen " order, just capable of supplying water for the mules, and fire-water — aguardiente — for their masters. This and the taberna are the lowest depths of Spanish entertainment. This latter is simply the wine-shop of the mountain hamlet, and has seldom much more to ofter the wanderer who is forced to seek its shelter than black bread, clean straws, and vino de fasto — not the light dry sherry- like wine which monopolises that name in this country, but simply the vin ordinaire of the district. The taberna is, how- ever, almost confined to the mountains of Gallicia, Leon, and the Asturias, where the un-Spanish practice of calling a spade a spade prevails to some extent. In grandiloquent Castile, or imaginative Andalusia, a house offering the same degree of accommodation would not have the least scruple in calling itself a posada. The posada and the venta are the two most tj-pical and characteristic of all these. They are, indeed, things of Spain, wholly peculiar to, and in every sense redolent of Spain. Of course they vary considerably ; some posadas there are which the traveller will always hold in gratefiil remembrance for their excellent, homely fare, cosy lodging, and kindly ways. Many, most perhaps, will have a place in his memory solely from their NOTES ON SPAIN. 67 discomforts and humours, and the semi-barbarous originahty pervading the entire estabhshment. To the traveller who, setting forth from Madrid or Seville, or some other ci\ilised starting-point, plunges into the uilds of Spain, as lie may do in most cases immediately on passing the gates of the city, his first posada affords nearly as complete a change as could be obtained by dropping from a balloon into the middle of Chinese Tartary. However jwsadas may diticr in internal arrangements and comforts, they always agree in one point, they are, externally, strictly honest ; they make no illusory outside promises about neat wines, beds, chops and steaks, or anything coiTesponding to those luxuries. They preserve an uncommuni- cative, unpromising, and even forbidding front, without a sign to guide the hungry pilgrim, or any in- dication of their calling except the name of the hostelry, Posada of the Sun, or of the Souls, or of Juan the Gallego, painted on the wall within a black border, like a mortuary in- scription, and, perhaps, a withered branch — that bush which good wine needs not, according to the pro- verb — hanging over the entrance. This last is usually a gateway, lofty and wide, for through it must pass all that seek the shelter of the house — men, horses, mules, or wagons, nside will generally be found a huge, barn -like apartment, with, at one end, an open liearth, or else a raised cooking altar, where some culinary rite or other seems to be .iluays in progress. At the other, a wooden stair- case, or rather, a ladder that has taken to a settled lite, leads to an upper re- gion, where are certain cells called quartos, which, on de- mand, will be furnished with a truckle-bed for the luxurious traveller. In posada etiquette, the securing of one of these chambers establishes beyond a ([uestion a right to the title caballero, which, otherwise, would be allowed only by courtesy. The muleteers, carriers, and general customers, unless very flush of cash, rarely avail themselves of such a luxury ; but, wrapped up in their mantas, stow themselves away under the carts, or in the stable, or on a sort of bench which, in well- found posadas and ventas, is built for their convenience round the lower chamber. A second archway — the counterpart of that opening on the street or road — leads to the yard, and to ranges of stables sufficient for a regiment of cavalry. This, or something of this sort, is the most common arrangement ; but there are endless differences in matters of detail. The front gateway is the regular post of " el amo," which must be trans- lated " landlord ;" though that tide, as we understand it, gives but a faint idea of the character. He is by no means the man to come out smirking and bowing to meet the guest that descends or dismounts at his door ; his demeanour is rather that of a prince permitting foreigners to enter his dominions. The stranger, new to posada ways, before he resents the unde- monstrati\-e dignity with which he is received, will do well to study the conduct of his fellow guests as they arrive. The arriero, as he comes up with his string of laden mules. Just nods to the amo, who, cigarette in mouth, sits lolling against the door-post, and without further ado passes in with his beasts, takes off and jjuts away the packs, and stables the animals like one who is quite at home and looks for no help. As he re-appears from the stables the amo rises, un- locks the store where the fodder is kept, gives out the necessary supplies, and returns to his seat and cigarette. The new-comer, having seen his beasts at their supper, proceeds to see about his own at the upper end, where th.e womankind and cookery reign, and ascertains when the olla, or puchero, or guisado, as the case may be, will be ready. Busi- ness being now finished, he makes a cigarette, takes a stool, and sits down in the gateway opposite the landlord, who then, for the first time, breaks silence witii "Que tal?" to which the guest replies with the latest "novidades" of the last town he has been in. This is the usual, and the best plan. Help yourself as far as you can ; take the good the gods provide, or in default thereof, such things as the cooks, and he who sends cooks, may have furnished, and refrain from making idle inquiries as to what you can have, or useless statements as to what you would like to have. As the c\ening wears on the group in the gateway grows larger and larger, until the shades and chills of night, aided by hunger, bring about an adjournment to the hearth inside, where it re-forms, and contemplates the simmering pans with a warm interest. Then sundry low tables, very straddle-legged, as ha\ ing to stand on a rough paved floor, are set out, forks and spoons are distributed, at least to any recognised caballeros THE N.VV.'\J.\. G8 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. (as for knives, every man is expected to produce his own — some ten or twelve inches of knife— out of his breeches pocket or the folds of his faja), and the glazed earthenware pans are trans- ferred, just as they are, from the hearth to the table, exactly as Cervantes describes : " trujo el huesped la olla asi como cstaba." By the way, the dialogue between Sancho and the host, in the beginning of that chapter of " Don Qukote " (Part IL, with his fork, and falling back on the use of the spoon for the broth and the garbanzos. The concession of a plate, however, will always be made to the weakness of a caballero and a foreigner, and a similar consideration for the uncivilised ways of the outer barbarian will perhaps be shown in granting him a tumbler, or drinking glass, as his awkwardness -will not permit him to drink in the correct way, by shooting a thin stream of now A SPANIARD DRINKS. chap, lix.) is to this day true to life, and illustrates what we have already .said about the usdessness of asking for or ordering anything in a posada or \enta. Now, as then, the gravity with which a landlord, who lias nothing in the house, and no chance of getting anything outside, will ask, " Que quiere usted ? " (What would your worship like ?) is amazing. Plates are not in vogue at a genuine posada or venta supper. Every one works away at the common dish, harpooning his food with the point of his knife, or, if a man of refinement, wine do^™ his throat from the leathern bota which passes round from hand to hand, or from the porron, a squat glass flask, vnth a long curved spout like a curlew's bill. The posada, its ways and scenes, company and surround- ings, have rather a Gil Bias flavour. The venta, on the other hand, reminds one more of Don Quixote. The venta is, indeed, "the inn" of Quixotic story, and one, at least, of those mentioned can be identified in the Venta de Quesada, a couple of leagues north of Manzanare.s, on the Madrid road. < < o •J 70 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. This is clearly the inn Cervantes had in his eye when he described the Don's first sally, and how he was dubbed a knight l)y the innkeeper. Tradition says it, and topography confirms it. The " great yard that lay neere unto one side of the inne," where the hero watched his armour, and the " cistern neer unto a well" on which he placed it, are still in existence, and have a positive historic value in the eyes of the Man- chegans. By the way, Shelton and his successors would have done better in translating "pila" literally by "trough," which would have been more consistent with fact, as well as with the spirit of incongruity which pervades the humour of the whole scene. There are better specimens, however, of the Don Quixote inn than the ^'enta de Quesada. On the long, straight, dreary roads of La l\Lancha and Andalusia may be seen, at intervals, the very counterpart of that fitmous inn, in which are laid so many of the scenes of the first part — a bare, staring, white-walled, red-roofed building, big enough, and self-assertive enough, at least, to pass for a castle. For leagues there is no other house " to mark the level waste, the rounding gray." All the features described by the novelist are there, even to the corral where they tossed poor Sancho in the blanket, and the huge skins of red wine with which the Don did battle. The company, too, is much the same as of yore. Officers of the Holy Brotherhood, ladies in disguise, and escaped capti\es from Barbary no longer travel the roads ; but the barber and the priest, cloth-workers of Segovia and needle-makers of Cor- dova, pedlars, arrieros, and caballeros may still be found grouped together, by the levelling influence of venta accommodation. Any remarks about ventas and posadas would be incom- plete without a word on the fare and cookery of the Spanish inn. In the civilised hotels and fondas of the large towns, the cuisine is simply continental — that is to .say, French, or (luasi-French. Spain asserts herself at the table only in a cer- tain leathery and pitchy twang in the wine, and in a feeble imitation of the puchero, which is one of the courses of every table d'hote. The parador, too, in tliese days very frequently shows signs of foreign influence ; but the meson, the posada, and the venta are true to Spanish cookery and Spanish dishes. About these there is a good deal of misconception. The olla and the puchero, for instance, are generally spoken of as if they were definite works of culinary art, and quite distinct one from the other. Practically they are the same, olla being the term in vogue in Andalusia and the south, puchero, in the Castiles and the north generally ; and each meaning, like our " dish," not the contents, but the receptacle— the brown glazed earthenware pan or bowl in which the mass is cooked and, generall}-, sen-ed. In each case the composition and ingre- dients depend entirely on the supplies within reach. They are, in fact, stews or messes, into which anything edible that is at hand may enter with propriety. There are, howe\ er, certain ingredients more or less necessary. As the proverbs say, "Olla sin tocino, sermon sin Agustino"— an olla withont bacon is as poor an affair as a sermon without a fla\-ouring from St. Augustine, and as flat as a " boda sin tamborino," a wedding without music ; and as bacon is about the one thing which is never wanting in Spain, bacon is always there to give an unctuous mellowness to the mass ; also there should be chorizos, the peculiar highly-spiced rusty-flavoured sausages of Spain, and likewise scraps of beef As a bed for these more solid in- gredients there should be plenty of cabbage, and garbanzos or chick-peas, to «hich may be added any fancy vegetable the season permits and the district produces. The same rule holds- good with respect to the meat element. The recognised members are those mentioned above ; but mutton, fowl, goat, or any chance game picked up on the road — hare, partridge, quail, rabbit, plo\-er, magpie, all are admissible ; and then, as the cookery-book would say, let the whole simmer gently over a slow fire, for "olla que mucho hierve sabor pierde" — the olla allowed to boil too much loses flavour. The guisado, also an eminent posada dish, is a stew of another sort, simpler as regards its composition, but more elaborate as regards its sauce. In the north-west of Spain, and where the potato flourishes, the guisado occasionally developes a family likeness to the " Irish stew," and when really well cooked, is a dish to set before a king, not to say a hungry traveller. Another favourite posada dish is chicken and rice, which is something like curried fowl, with the part of curry left out, or, to be more correct, undertaken by saftron. The tortilla and the gazpacho, sometimes alluded to in books about Spain, are not properly posada or venta dishes ;^ the former, a substantial kind of pancake with slices of potato embedded in it, being rather a merienda or luncheon refection, to be eaten /// Iransiiii ; the latter, a something between a soup and a salad consumed by the peasants and labradors in the fields. The true jaosada soup, or sopa, is simjjly bread saturated into a pulp with caldo — the water in which meat has been boiled. Condiments of various sorts are largely used in posada cookery. The commonest are tomato, pimientos or peppers, red and green, and saffron ; to which must be added those two bugbears of the foreign traveller, oil and garlic. As to the accusations brought against the former, a true bill must be found in most cases. It is generally execrable, so strong and rancid that " you shall nose it as you go up the stairs into- the lobby," but there is rather more fuss made about garlic than it deserves. The Spanish garlic, like the Spanish onion, is a much milder and less overpowering article than that produced further north. Every one who has mixed much in peasant society in Spain must have remarked tliat, although quite as much addicted to the use of garlic as that of the south of France, it is by no means so objectionable on the same score. It is even possible for a Northerner to become in time quite tolerant of garlic, but it is a terrible moment when hi first perceives that he has ceased to regard it with that ab'iorrence which a person of jsroperly constituted senses ought to feel. He becomes the victim of a horrible self- suspicion somewhat like that of a man thrown "among can- nibals, who found that their mode of dining was beginning to be less revolting to him than it had been at first. The dessert of a Spanish dinner ought, considering the climate, to be well furnished. But the Spaniards aie not, like the Moors, skilful and careful gardeners, and fruit in Spain is generally poor, the oranges, grapes, and, perhaps, the figs, ex- cepted. The smaller fniits have scarcely any existence. The strav.berry is all but imknown, except in a wild state. Melons, to be sure, are abimdant, and large enough for Gargantua's mouth, but they are rather insipid. The ajjples are sometimes fair to look at, but seldom worth further attention. The pears are very much like those stone fruits sold at bazaars for chim- ney ornaments, and about as soft and succulent; and as to tlie peaches, they are generally nothing better than pretentious- turnips in velvet jackets. ^\■hat has been already said about the ways of the posada will throw some light on one of die minor barbarisms with which. A VISIT TO PARAGUAY DURING THE WAR. 71 Spain is frequently charged. It has been urged as an ugly fact against the nation that every male, of the lower orders at least, should always carry about him such a murderous weapon as the '■ navaja," the Spanish knife about which so much has been written, and it is assumed that an instrument of that form can only be retained for homicidal purpose.s. The navaja is, indeed, the national weapon of the Spanish peasant, as the long Toledo blade was that of the hidalgo, and in that capacity it has many a time done effective service in the guerillas of Spain, as many a poor French picket has found to his cost. Very likely it would come into play again should an occasion arise ; but at present, and in these latter days, it is, appearances notwithstanding, nearly as harmless a tool as a courtsword. Those frightful combats and scenes of slashing and stabbing with which Spanish life is so generally accredited, are in reality of the very rarest occurrence, now at least, whatever they may have been. - There is not, perhaps, a less quarrelsome people naturally than the Spanish, nor are they by any means the fiery, hot-tempered set, prone to shed blood on the smallest provocation, that those who are fond of generalisation repre- sent them to be. A figlit of any sort, even in the back slums of the great cities, is the most uncommon of sights, and there are probably more of what are called " knife cases " in a week in England than in Spain in a twelvemonth. Better police regulations, too, have helped to make serious frays impossible. The professional bully, for instance, mentioned by Ford, and portrayed by M. Dore', cannot well levy black-mail on the card-players with the same impunity as in da}'s gone by. The navaja is carried more from force of habit than anything else. It is the old trusty companion of the Sjjaniard, a weapon abroad, a knife at board ; and, though fighting may have gone out, dining still remains in flishion, and he clings to the old tool. Still, however, it must be admitted, appearances are against the navaja, and, being so, every tourist will, of course, buy a specimen, to serve as an illustration of the manners and customs of Spain. With the traveller who means to put up at ventas and posadas it is, indeed, a matter of necessity. A knife of some sort he must have, as has been already shown, and he had better provide himself with one of those of the coimtr)', for if he produces a more civilised implement of foreign manufacture, he will find that its attractions as a curiosity are so great that it will be in any hands but his own at meal times. The Albacete cutlery is the most esteemed ; but Santa Cruz de Mudela, Saragossa, and one or two other towns, turn out business-like articles. Barbarous, indeed, in every way is the na\-aja. The blade, sharp at the point as a needle, varies from three inches to three feet in length. Knives of the latter dimensions are not, to be sure, generally carried in the breeches pocket, but they are to be seen in the cutlers' ^\■indows. From eight to ten inches is a con\enient length for general society, but twehe or fourteen is not considered ungenteel. Nothing can be ruder than the ornamentation, workmanship, and finish ; in fact, the whole affair rather looks like the uncouth weapon of some scalping, weasand-slitting, stomach-ripping savage, than the peaceful companion of a European Christian. Still, the elasticity of British manufacture, which on the one hand can surpass the blades of Damascus and Toledo, and on the other descend to meet the tastes of the Malay and the Red Indian in creeses and tomahawks, is equal to the task of producing a navaja which can compete successfully with the native article. There is a fomi of knife, bearing the name of a Sheffield firm, which is now becoming very popular in Andalusia on account of its durability, lightness, and cheapness, and it is curious to obser\e how the traditions and tastes of the country have been consulted in its construc- tion. It is certainly, in ajjpearance, a less bloodthirsty instru- ment than the original navaja, and inclines rather to cutting than to stabbing as the true province of a pocket-knite ; but it is studiously and carefully rough and rude in make, and, beside a common jack-knife, which does not cost half its price, it looks like tlie jiroduct of some savage workshop. This is the small end of the wedge ; it will be for some hardware Darwin of the future to trace the features of the old national na\aja in the improved cutlery of Spain. A Visit to Paraguay during the War. BY TH0iM.4S J. HUTCHINSON, T.R.G.S.. ETC. CHAPTER II. BATTLE OF RIACHUELO— NOISES I.N SOUTH AMERICAN TOWNS— CITY OF CORRIENTES— CIIACO INDIANS— BONPLAXD THE BOTANIST- MIRACLE OF THE CROSS — LAKE OF YBERA— FLOATING ISLANDS— THE VICTORIA REGIA— THE PARANA ABOVE CORRIENTES— ITAI'IRU FORT— THE BRAZILIAN FLEET— THE PARAGUAVAN CHATA. March 30///. — Passing the Sombrero and Sombrerito points, we enter the bay oiniosite the Riachuelo, where was fought the great naval battle, already alluded to, between the Para- guayan and Brazilian squadrons, on the nth of June, 1865. Vessels ascending the river and entering this harbour have to contend against a very rapid current sweeping round the ];oint ; and the Paraguayans, availing themselves of this advantage, erected a batter>' at the place to aid their fleet. Into the centre of the river bight flows the small river Riachuelo, and at the upjier end, as the only reminder of the battle, we see projecting out of the water the three masts of the large Brazilian iron steamer, the Jctjuiiiiilwnha, which grounded on a bank during the fight. I hope to be excused giving any details of this contest, when I state the fact that both sides claim the victoiy on the occasion, and that medals to commemorate it were struck respecti\ely at Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, and at Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil. Rounding the point of El Pelado (the treeless), and skirt- ing along the Isla de Palomeras (the i.sland of bleak i)oints), anchor is dropped in Corrientes roadstead at ten oVloik on Clood Friday morning. In nearly all South American towns the first noises which attract the attention of a stranger are the sounding of bugles and the ringing of bells. It occurs to me that the latter prac- tice may owe its origin to the dogmas of Frater Johannes Drabicius, who, in his book, " De Coelo et Ccelesti Statu," printed at Mentz in a.u. 17 18, employs 425 pages to prove 72 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. that the occupation of the blessed in the world to come will be the perpetual ringing of bells. Before sunrise bells and bugles are now vibrating at Corrientes, whilst during tlie whole day long the music of both is repeated at in- tervals—too often, I regret to say, in most distressing tones of discordance. , I had been informed, previous to my visit to this place, that there were some old ladies here whose notions of what Captain Maury calls the '•Geographyof the Sea" were ^^ so limited, that even after steamers began to ply in this direction, they believed the mail and passenger vessels came out from Eng- land in the same fashion as the river craft effected their voyages from Buenos A)Tes to Corrientes — namely, by lying every night alongside an island, to which their ship was made fast by a rope secured to a tre;. I was agreeably disap- pointed with my first view of Corrientes from th,- road- stead. Two venerable-look- ingchurches — the Matriz (or parish chapel) and ths San Francisco— with theMoDrish- looking tower of the Cabildo (town hall), first attracted my attention, producing a pleasant Old-World appear- ance. Then a number of brown sloping roofs — a very iiMUSual thing in Spanish South American towns, where all the house-tops arc flat — gave an air of quaintness to the place. On the beach, at the southern end, are half- a-dozen tanneries ; the leather whicli is manufactured here constituting one of the chief articles of export, together with dry and wet hides, tim- ber of various kinds, and oranges in their season. My earliest visit on shore was paid to His EAcellency the Governor. In the Government House are comprised the governor's and the minister's office, as well as the offices of the customs, the bank, and the war depart- ment. The building was originally erected as a college by the Jesuits. Its chief front faces Tucuman Street, and over the main door are the arms of the Argentine Republic. This block of buildings covers a square (a/atfra) of ground (150 yards on each side), and inside the quadrangle is a smooth greensward of the finest grass. Everywhere in the streets of Corrientes tliis herbage, styled gramil/a or ^asfo tierne, is seen growing. Between the offices and the grass, a corridor runs along on each side, clinging to the pillars of which grow scarlet and van-coloured convolvuli, inter- mingled with white and red roses. In two squares which adjoin we find the commissariat's offices, busy with the troops and stores now in daily preparation for the campaign in Paraguay. The ground on which the city is built is undulating like that of Parana. In the same street as the post-office, and nearly ojjposite to it, is tlie theatre, of which I saw little except broken win- dows, and observed that the light of heaven penetrated very distinctly through thc- greater part of its wooden roof. The streets in one respect bear a resemblance to those of the city of Cor- dova, in being sandy, which, is attended with this ad- vantage, that in wet weather there can be little or no mud. Occasionally we sec blocks of basalt cropping up in these sandy roads. Al- most every house has an orange -garden attached to it, and the fragrant odours of the blossoms and the golden fruit, when in season, make up for many defi- ciencies in the place in other respects. The pro- duce in oranges is so abundant that, as I have before said, they con- stitute part of the exports of the city. In the principal ^laza are situated the two churches of the Merced and Matriz, whilst between them and the river is the church of San Francisco. This square is very spacious, but the town-hall, a statue of Libert)' in the centre, and a few private houses, constitute all its architectural features. Opposite the Cabildo (or town-hall), and on the other side of the square is a large, gloomy, prison-looking residence, with a small entrance-door painted a very bright green, ^ where resides Doctor Santiago Derqui, who was president of the Argentine Confederation on the fall of Urquiza. A feu- palm-trees, not of very vigorous growth, are planted here and there. The statue of Liberty has at each corner of the base of the column, and overtopping the pediment, the figure of a homan bust. One of these represents Belgrano, another San Martin, a third Alvear, and the fourth Lavallol— all INDIAN OF PARAGU.W. A VISIT TO PARAGUAY DURING THE WAR. 73 ho-'Je? of the war of independence waged by the Argentines ajjaiiist Spain. In the Matriz there are some fine paintings by the old Spanish masters. The organ of this churcli was made by a priest, assisted by a .lative blacksmith. I mounted the tower of the Cabildo, in order to have a view of tlie city and surrounding country. This edifice, the town-hall of the place, was erected in 1812 by Deputy- Governor Lazuriage, and has always been used for offices by the judges of crimi- nal, of civil, and of commercial causes, as well as by the Gcfe Po- litico. This last-named functionary is, in all Argentine towns, equiva- lent to the mayor or chief magistrate. From the summit of tlie tower the eye ranges across the river to the illimit- able wilds of the Gran Chaco territory ; but the most attractive object is a very imposing church, with enormous dome, covered with blue and white porcelain tiles, situated in the north- eastern part of the city, at a distance of about a mile and a half from where we stood. This sacred building was de- dicated to our Lady of Rosario ; but, although commenced ten years ago, it is still unfinished, and surrounded by scaf- folding. Towards the borders of the town, on the south-east, we can see the chapel of EI Milagro de la Cruz (The Miracle of the Cross), and adjoining this lies the public cemetery. Seen from this height, Corrientes might be styled the " city of orange groves," so abundant are the orchards of this beautiful fruit. Descending from the Cabildo, I strollea up to the market- house, which is nothing but a gallon, or shed, resembling an African palaver-house, in being open at both ends. It is about fifty yards long. Among the articles offered for sale by the dark -skinned market-gardeners and costermongers were heaps of Indian corn, sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, melons, gourds, and a curious sort of lumpy saccharine confectionery that resembled too much the colour of the sellers to encourage me to try its flavour. As I walked through the town I was able to VOL. I. SERGEANT GONZALES — PARAGUAYAN SOLDIER, notice more attentively the brown roofs of the houses, which had so curious an appearance from the deck of our steamer. They are constructed of the trunks of palm-trees, the cylin- drical stems being split down the middle, and so arranged in juxtaposition as to have their convex sides upwards. Attached to the majority of houses with this style of roof, and facing the street, are wide verandahs, beneath which one can sit at any time of the day, and be protected from the scorching sun. Amongst the motlej- crowd of natives and foreigners to be met with here at this time, were occasional specimens of the Mo- covi and Guaicaru In- dians from the Gran Chaco. These people come across from their wild woods to sell grass for cattle, there being no alfalfi (South Ameri- can clover), on which horses are fed else- where in this country, cultivated ■ near Cor- rientes. The Chaco grass is extremely coarse, being almost as thick as wheat-straw. It is, ne- vertheless, said to be very nutritious, and the horses feed on it with great avidity. During our stay at Corrientes the crew of the steamer caught in the river a large quan- tity of fish, some of them resembling in taste the English salmon. Two of the kinds taken were the dorado and the pekare, both excellent eating. The latter is said, by its presence, to be the invariable pre- cursor of the water rising — a change very much needed at the time of my visit. 'I'he dorado, as its name in- dicates, is of a golden colour; whilst both species are plump and fat. These two kinds of fish are plentiful in all parts of the river, from Monte Video upwards. Whilst at Corrientes I made iiKiuiries respecting the dis- tinguished French botanist, M. Amadee Bonpland— a man wlio once enjoyed great fame as the companion and worthy fellow -labourer of the illustrious Humboldt, in his world- renowned journeys across the Cordilleras of the northern part of the South American continent. Bonpland died in 1858, at his estancia, or plantation, in the territory of Missiones, near a town called Mercedes, at the distance of about fifty leagues 10 74 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. east from Corrientcs city. To me it was a subject of sadden- iptr reflection to find tiiat the name of this celebrated savant was already almost forgotten in the country of his adoption. In spite of the splendid career which lay open to a man of his great attainments in Europe, after his travels, he left the centres of Old-World civilisation, and came to the banks of the Plata to do what he could towards the spread of enlightenment in the New ^Vorld. A grant of land, four leagues in extent, was given to him at the time that Don Juan Pujol was governor of this province in 1854. At this last-mentioned period, being then interested in the establishment of the agricultural colony of Santa Anna, where he temporarily resided, Bonpland was appointed by Governor Pujol to be director-in-chief of a museum of the natural products of the province of Corrientes, just created in the capital. His reply, accepting the post, seems to be worthy of being preserved. It is dated Santa Anna, the 27th of October, 1854, and is addressed to the governor in the following words : — " I should wish to be younger, as well as more worthy to fill the situation of director-in-chief of the museum, or perma- nent provincial exhibition, that your Excellency has deigned to offer me. Although I am now three months beyond eighty years of age, I accept with gratitude the honourable position placed at my disposal ; and I pledge myself to employ all my powers in fulfilling the numerous duties exacted by an institu- tion calculated to be so useful to the people of Corrientes, to whom, as well as to your E.xcellency, the honoured founder of this museum, I owe numberless obligations. "The chief riches of this province, as far as we know at present, consist in its vegetable productions. In the Argen- tine Republic, together with Paraguay and the Banda Oriental, I have collected a herbarium of more than three thousand species of plants, and I have studied their properties with the most careful attention. This work, in which I have been employed since 181 6, will be very useful when I come to arrange our vegetable collection ; and I hope in a short time to place in the museum of Corrientes a herbarium that will be as useful as your Excellency need desire, in encouraging in the minds of your fellow-citizens an ambition to study the natural products of their country. " As to the mineral kingdom, there is no doubt that with the advance of time our mines of silver and gold will be worked with much advantage, when we have a more numerous population, and labour is carried on according to better rules than those which now exist. Although quicksilver has been discovered, many years ago, in the neighbourhood of La Cruz, still the predecessors of your Excellency have neglected the glory of utilising this metal, which is so useful for amalgama- tion with gold and silver. It would seem expedient to me to explore as soon as possible the three small hills which overtop the town of La Cruz, for it is there that may be discovered the chief deposit of this quicksilver. If, as I hope, we can ascer- tain with accuracy the position of this mine, it will prove an invaluable treasure to serve for the amalgamation of the numerous ores of gold and silver, that are at the present time being worked with so much zeal all through the Argentine Republic. "The animal kingdom is well represented in the pro- vince, but as yet we have only a superficial knowledge of it. Therefore much interesting information can be elicited, as v.-ell as a good collection formed, by an assiduous study of this branch of knowledge. &c. &c. God bless your Excellency, " Amadee Bonpland." The statements in the foregoing letter, that the writer was eighty years and three months old when he accepted the post of director-in-chief of the Corrientes Museum, and that he had made a collection of more than three thousand species of plants, made me very anxious to know something of the result of his labours in this interior province. I found that his name is remembered, and that is all. No one in Corrientes of whom I inquired knew even where the museum had formerly stood, although it was only twelve years since it was established ; and of the whereabouts of Bonpland's botanical collection they were equally ignorant. Such is scientific fame in South America ! Young as these South American countries are, the city of Corrientes boasts a miraculous legend concerning its founda- tion. It is thus related by the historian. Dr. Vicente G. Quesada : — " In the year 158S, Don Juan Torres de Vera and Arragon was Adelant.ador, or Governor of Paraguay. He sent his nephew, Don Alonzo de Vera, with eighty soldiers, to found a city in some advantageous position, lower down the river than the capital of Asuncion. In the report of Don Alonzo on the place which he selected, he describes it as ' a beautiful situation, not only with a charming perspective, but possessing manifest advantages for agriculture and the rearing of cattle.' On the 3rd of April, 15 88, they mounted the banks, which in this place are not more than from ten to twelve feet above the water, and pitched their tents in a small bramble wood, called Arazatary. The custom of the Spaniards in those times was, in the first place, to make a cross, which they planted, as a signal of their having taken possession in the name of the Spanish sovereign. At this epoch the Guarani Indians in- habited this part of the country in large multitudes, and they knew, from sad experience, how dreadful was the tyranny of the white man, under whose bondage their brethren were then suffering in Paraguay; so that, at sight of tlie Spaniards, they prepared to defend their soil and their liberties against these invaders. The new-comers, having erected the cross, con- structed a wooden palisading, inside of which they placed themselves for defence against six thousand Guaranis, who came at once to attack them, and who were commanded by three famous caciques, named Canindeyu, Payaguari, and Aguara Coemba. The Guaranis poured in on the besieged a shower of arrows, against which the palisading was but a miserable defence. Previous to returning the assault with their arquebuses, although these were charged, the Sjjaniards knelt down before the cross, and offered up in loud voices the most fervent prayers to heaven for protection. The Indians, observing the curious cries and movements of those wlio had knelt down before the symbol of their faith, believed that it contained some charm which would prevent their overcoming such a handful of soldiers whilst it existed ; therefore, as the cross was placed at the entrance to the palisading, they piled around it a quantity of dry branches of wood, a quantity of scorched-up grass, and anything of a combustible nature which they could pick up. Then they set fire to the mass, amidst yelling and dancing, for they calculated on certain victory when the cross should be consumed. But their surprise was very great when, after an hour's burning, tlie sacred symbol A VISIT TO PARAGUAY DURING THE WAR. 75 was observed in the midst of the ashes perfectly uninjured. With chagiin and disappointment, they returned to apply fire again, when, as one of the Indians approached to stir up the smouldering embers, he was struck dead upon the spot. Some say this was done by a flash of lightning, sent down from heaven to punish his impiety; but others, less credulous, believe he received his death-blow by a shot from one of the Spanish arquebuses. The Indians, at all events, at sound of the detonation, and on seeing the dead body of their brother, took this as a signal mark of displeasure from above ; then the six thousand Guaranis, with their caciques, women, and children, bowed their heads to the yoke of their eighty Spanish conquerors." Having obtained a horse through the kindness of Dr. Newkirk, I rode out on one morning of my stay here to see the pillar which is erected on the spot where the cross was originally planted ; for, although a chapel was the first edifice built in Corrientes directly upon the place where stood the holy spnbol, that chapel, with its prized memorial, was recon- structed on the loth of March, 1736, and again rebuilt on the 30th of March, 180S, on the site where it now stands. The existing La Capilla de la Cruz is very near the town, whereas the first one was more than a mile distant. The column, which is erected about 500 yards from the river's bank, to commemorate " La Cruz de los Milagros " (The Cross of the Miracles), was completed, and its opening celebrated by a grand religious festival, on the 4th of May, 1828, "as a testimony of the people's veneration for their religious traditions." It is a simple stone pillar, plastered over with mortar ; and at the time of my \isit there was a bird's nest on the top of it. The height does not e.xceed fifteen feet, and it has about six feet square of metal railings at the base. On two sides of its base are inscriptions in Spanish, that nearest the river being, " The people of Corrientes erect this monument as a testimony of their gratitude to the sovereign Author of omens, with which His omnipotent right hand deigned to work in favour of their Fathers on the memo- rable 3rd of April, 1588;" whilst that on the side facing the city runs, " The same people of Corrientes, in homage of the memory of their twenty-eight illustrious ancestors, on the 3rd of April, 15 88." Although the first great miracle is believed to ha\'e occurred on the date just mentioned, its celebration was changed to the 3rd of May by the Bishop of Paragua}', Dr. Don Benito Line, when he visited the place (at that time fonning part of his diocese) in 1805. For a considerable number of years after this the Governor, the House of Representatives, the civil and military bodies, were accustomed to hold a grand festival in the neighbourhood of the column on the 3rtl of May. During the da)- all kinds of Gaucho games were cele- brated, and many features of carni\-al times were presented, whilst the night was passed in singing, dancing, and playing the guitar. But now there is little more in Corrientes than the desolation which war brings e\'erywhere. The city of Corrientes was named " Taragui " by the Guarani Indians. This word, in their language, signifies a "lizard," and they gave the appellative from the fiict of the walls, roofs, and patios (court-yards) of the houses abounding with these reptiles, shortly after the city was founded. The original tide given by ths Spanisli founders was " San Juan de las Siete Corrientes " (Saint John of the Seven Currents), from the circumstance that, a short distance above the city, the river Parana breaks on some points of rocks, which cause so many back-waters (i.e., seven), and consequent eddies, each ha\ing an opposite tendency. The coat of arms of the province represents seven points of land, with a cross in the middle enveloped in flames. Corrientes province is divided into twenty departments, including the capital. These are territorial divisions, somewhat after the style of parishes in England, for each possesses so many justices of peace, who are distributed more in proportion to the position and population of a department than to its extent of land. The boundaries of this province seem to be very difficult to be defined, as for many centuries there have been disputed limits bet^veen the Argentine Republic, Brazil, and Paraguay, chiefly in reference to the district of Missiones, which forms the north-eastern line between the Republics and the dominions of Brazil. The most remarkable natural feature in the province is the laguna, or lake of Ybera. According to Dean Funes, the Indian tribes of Caracaras, Capasalos, Mepenses, and Galquilaros inhabited many of the islands in this lake. We are told by M. De Moussy that the greater part of its im- mense extent of 700 square leagues is covered with wood and aquatic plants, and that it swarms with boa constrictors and alligator.s. Its waters rise and fall with the increase and lowering of the river Parana, altliough there is no visible communication between them, except by the channels ot Corrientes, Batel, Santa Lucia, Ambrosio, and San Lorenzo — all which run out of the lake, flow in a south-westerly direction, and empty themselves into the Parana. At the opposite side, the river Mirafiay touches it, and, following a south-easterly course, debouches into the river Uruguay. The last-named river divides the Brazilian pro\ince of Rio CJrande from the Republic of Banda Oriental. The Ybera lake presents great variety throughout its vast extent, being composed of clear waterpools, marshes, terra firma, bramble- beds, and quagmires. The last-named ha\e a ^•eIy decepti\-e appearance, and are sometimes difficult to be recognised, on account of the number of aquatic plants which cover the surface and impede the passage, the thick growth of aquatic vegetation rendering it often necessary to explore with canoes for several days in order to discover the navigable channels. To me it appears that the title, laguna (lake), is misapplied in the case of this basin ; for swamp or morass would seem a more appropriate name. A tnie bog is said by physical geographers to exist nowhere in so low a latitude, and in so warm a climate, as that in which lake Ybera lies, the rapid decomposition and volatilisation of vegetable matters in a countr)' of high temperature not admitting of the formation of bog, whii:h this lake-swamp seems to resemble. In parts of it there are large sheets of water traversed b)- float- ing islands, often changed in their position by strong winds. On these, as well as on other lakes in the i)rovince of Cor- rientes, we find growing the colossal water-lily, the Victoria Regia, with circular white flowers, four feet in diameter, lying flat on the surface of the water. By the native Guarani Indians it is called the "Irupe," which means "a large plate." The river, in ascending from Corrientes. for a few leagues presents a similar expanse of water, varied with thickly-wooded islands, to that we have noticed lower down. At about fo.ir o z o h U iiii:iiiii!iiii:ii:i;ii:jii!iiiiiiiiii!t:iiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiii:ii]iiiiii:iiciiii;iiiijii. i^i:^^*. S^Jii! ivi ,> .. jm nil 111 att^anuao iiililWiii iiliiiiil.ii!iiMllii l iliiillililiiiiltttfftiii A FEW DAYS IN THE CAMARGUE. 77 miles distance we pass the Isla de la Mesa (Table Island), and half a league further on is a house on the beach, pointing out the position of a French agricultural colony, that was en- deavoured to be established in 1855 by Dr. Brougnes, and whicli turned out a signal failure. The celebrated French botanist, Bonpland, of whom I have already written, resided here for some time. The chief town was called Santa Anna. ' It was situated on the ruins of an old village, entitled Guacaras, from the name of the Indian tribe who dwelt there in former times. To its roadstead was given the long-winded epithet of San Juan-del-Puerto-de-Santa- Anna (Saint John of the port of Saint Anna). Half a league further on we pass the Itakay, one of the outlets of the river Paraguay, branching ofi", as our pilot tells me, about a league and a half below the Port of Curapaity. This channel of Itakay leaves between it and the Parana a large island having the same name. Two leagues above the Itakay outlet we reach the embouchure of the Paraguay, known as the Tres Bocas (Three Mouths), because two small islands, lying at the point of exit, cause its waters to be divided into three mouths. We were now arrived at the seat of war, and the sights and sounds of martial preparations, and din of thousands of armed men ashore and afloat, marred grimly the aspect of peaceful woodlands and the broad surface of the placid river. The -Paraguay river coming from the north forms an angle with the Parand, which here flows from the west ; the territory enclosed between the two rivers forming the republic of Paraguay, and the river Parana the frontier between the gallant little nation and the Argentine Republic. In tJie angle of land thus formed are the Paraguayan forts and entrenched camps, and on the opposite (southern) side of the Parana the camps of the allied army of Argentines and Brazilians. On the Paraguayan side of the Parand, and about five miles upwards from the mouth of the Paraguay, is the so-called Fort of Itapiru,* to which the allied armies, exceeding 60,000 men, are now preparing to cross as soon as all arrangements are completed for this important movement. To how many will this passage be like that over the fabled waters of Styx, whereof the exile was eternal ! Itapiru has no fort, properly speaking ; for it consists of a breastwork of clay about 30 yards long, a small rancho or hut, an open shed, two 48-pounders, two mortars for throwing shells, and a staff, on which the Paraguayan flag is hoisted. This banner resembles the Dutch in being composed of three • This, ill Guarani Indian, signifies "small stone." horizontal stripes of red, white, and blue, placed in juxtaposi- tion ; but directly opposite of that arrangement in which they are fixed to represent the ensign of Holland. The shores of the river between Itapiru and the Tres Bocas is clothed with a seemingly impenetrable jungle of bushes, and trees of moderate height. The fleet, seen from a short distance presents an im- posing appearance, consisting, as it does, of monitors, iron- clads, gunboats, and transport steamers, of whose numerical as well as cannonading strength I confess my ignorance. The greater portion of them are Brazilian. One day, after my arrival, I went on board a Paraguayan "chata," that lay alongside a Brazilian war-steamer, in order to examine its construction. It had been captured in the fight at Riachuelo, and in shape resembled one of our canal boats, except that it was more tapering at the ends, at each of which it was furnished with a rudder, similar to the ferry-boats on the Mersey plying between Liverpool and Woodside. The top of its bulwark was elevated only fourteen inches above the water. Being flat-bottomed, it had a very shallow draught. In the centre was a circular depression a foot deep, in which there was a brass swivel, so that its armament of a 48-pounder gun could be veered round to any point desired by the commander. The length was only eighteen feet; and there being no protection for the crew against the enemy's fire, they must fight on the deck till they conquered or died. During my stay at Paso de la Patria, one of these chatas boldly attacked two large Brazilian monitors. It was like a small terrier dog charging a pair of elephants. The chata had only ten men on board, yet they managed to send a 48- pounder shot through one of the port-holes of the monitor Tamandare, killing four officers and wounding ten or twelve men. One of the officers was cut right through the middle • in the words of my infonnant, the Brazilian Admiral, "as sharply as if he had been severed by a knife." The destruction by this single ball may be attributed to the fact that the port-hole by which it entered was blocked up with chains, and these, smashed by the collision into small pieces, acted as so much grape-shot in the deadly fray. The Paraguayans, indeed, in the early months of the war, displayed great courage and skill in carrj- ing on naval warfare, and caused many losses to the Brazilian fleet. Their torpedoes in the bed of the river were more effective against their enemies' vessels than were those of the Russians, planted in the approaches to Cronstadt, against the English fleet. A Few Days in the Camarguc. BY D. T. ANSTED, The road from London through Paris to Marseilles is often and very easily travelled, but it is certain that few of those who make the trip think, as they approach the shores of the Mediterranean, of the country a little removed from their line of travel, or dream that they are leaving behind them places of the greatest historical interest, deserted mediseval cities, scarcely changed from their mediaeval condition ; Roman constructions superior in condition and equal in interest to many of those bearing the highest reputation in Italy; mountains, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.G.S. ' valleys, and plateaux rarely visited, and little known ; and j large tracts of low, flat lands gained from the sea, having not only special and very characteristic plants and animals, but human inhabitants \\ho seldom emerge from their hidmg- places, and are as unfamiliar to tlic people of the towns as ' are the breeds of cattle running almost wild in the marshes ! on the coast to the quiet herds pasturing in the ricji meadows ] of Burgundy. The lower part of Die Rlionc abounds in objects and 7S ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. places of this kind, many of them no doubt often enough described, and fomihar enough to the tourist, but others almost unknown. Below Lyons, Vienne and ^'alence, Orange and Avignon, are passed but too rapidly, and at length we reach the fine old city of Aries, celebrated almost equally for its beautiful women and its Roman antiquities. At Aries the rail branches ; the main line runs southward and eastward to Marseilles, crossing the curious gravel plains and terraces of the Crau, and skirting the lagoons of Berre, while another line, recently opened towards the uest, skirts the northern extremity of low plain, of some three hundred square miles in extent, known as the Camargue. The appearance of this land from the railway is not attractive. The eye takes in only a monotonous expanse of dead level, varied here and there by a few marshes. The part near the railway is cultivated, but there are few fences of any kind, fewer trees, and fewest of all houses. The land is uniformly flat. Here and there are large establishments, where salt is manufactured on a gigantic scale. Here and there, also, are large forms, partly grazing and partly arable. There are few roads, but many marshes and canals. A little abo\e .^rles the Rhone is a noble and rapiil stream, at one season moving majestically with a steady current, and at other seasons rushing along as a torrent, carrying with it all kinds of de'bris washed down from the mountains. A little below Aries the principal part of this great ri\-er is converted into a some- what sluggish stream, muddy and tame, the rest being dis- tributed in other channels, partly to carry off the flood-waters to the sea, partly to swamp the flat lands seen at a distance from the railway. The river has now entered its delta, its course is checked, and it is beginning to unload and deposit the huge cargo it has been conveying from the upper countr)-. The delta of the Rhone is the island of the Camargue. I had long desired to penetrate into the interior of this rather unpromising country. I could find no very satisfactory account of it of recent date, and few who had even entered it. At the same time, I found that those whose occupation or interest led them to inhabit it, acquired for it a passion more like that which is felt by mountaineers, than any mere ordinary love of home could account for. It is unhealthy during part of the year, but there are instances of owners of property within the district wiio return to it )-ear after year, not called by any necessity, suffering each year from fever, but incapable of resisting the temptation to run one more risk. I was fortunate enough to make acquaintance with a family, consisting of a highly intelligent and enterprising father, a devoted and charming wife and daughters, elegant, well-informetl, and ac- complished to an unusual degree, who were pining in their comfortable and well-appointed house at Aries, and looking forward to the season when tire)- should return to their Camargue. There they could roam about on horseback, free and independent, over the wild sandy expanse covered with low juniper-bushes, tamarisks, and other shrubby plants, crossing at will the calm, shallow lagoons, and resting in the forests of umbrella pine, hardly disturbing the flamingo and the avocet in their wast solitudes, and listening to the moanintr of the sea, as it breaks lazily on the sandy shore at a distance. Beyond the line of the railway to the south of the branch from Aries, by St. Gilles to Lunel, there is no town but Aigues-Mortes in the whole of the Camargue. There are a few form-houses, at rather distant intervals, and a few houses belonging to the managers of salines, and other manufocturing establislnnents, and also a very few stations of custom-house officers appointed to watch the coast. At Les Saintes Maries, on the coast, there are a few houses. For some distance from Aries into the interior there are carriageable roads, but these gradually cease, and at length become mere paths on the sand. Before long, as we advance in this direction, all traces even of paths disappear, and it is only possible to travel with any comfort on horseback. Travelling in this way is, however, easy and pleasant enough ; and during summer and autumn there are no interruptions from water, all the lagoons and marshes having hard bottoms. It is only near the main branch of the Rhone, and between the river and the inner line of dykes, that the ground is soft and unpleasant to travel o\er. I left Aries in the early morning of a fine and warm October day, in a light carriage, with two pleasant companions, and we soon found ourselves crossing the fields and cultivated farms in the northern and higher part of the district. Much of this land has been recovered from the sea at no distant period, and, after being well washed by numerous sweepings of fresh water, it has become, like most recovered swamps, of mar- vellous richness, and admirably adapted both for grazing and corn crops. The corn of this part is celebrated, and fetches a higher price than any other French grain. Except a few trees close to the houses, the country is bare, and without hedges or walls, or any other mark to signify the boundaries of property. The farm-houses are large, low, comfortable-looking habita- tions, and, in some cases, adjoin a larger house belonging to lu the proprietor, who, for the most part, only appears at long H intervals. There is one small park in the heart of this wild district, but the inhabitants generally care little about shelter, and even less for ornament. The first few miles of travelling in the Camargue were unmarked by any incident. The road got gradually worse, the country more open, the cultivation less evident. But there was nowhere any appearance of swamp, in the ordinary sense of the word. Near Aries the \N'hole soil is gravelly, and the transported material brought down by tlie river is coarse. It soon becomes finer, however, and before long gives way to a fine sand, or mud, in which no pebble so large as a pea is to be seen. When we ha\e passed the farm-houses and cultivated lands, nothing so large as a pin's-head can we find of real stone. We then enter the actual living delta — the great broad tongue of land creeping onwards with a strange but calculable and almost visible motion, pushing itself into the sea, in spite of the ceaseless attacks of the waves on its extremity, gaining, year after year, a few yards in advance of its former position, but always retaining the same general appearance and the same external form. It is a strange, weird thing, this advancing and inisliing outwards of a point of land, and this growth by slow and imperceptible steps, causing the waters of the mighty ocean ''ptian commissioner, an aide-de-camp of the Pasha of Khartoom, named Ismail Bey, a man of some education, who had visited Paris, and who to the su[)pleness of the Oriental added the varnish of the Frank. Disease and famine were doing their work, and, excluding the Bashi-Bazouks, the town could not have contained more than a third of its former population. The streets were a picture of desolation ; the coffee-shops were nearly all closed ; and the gay Almehs, who formerly thronged the place, had all fled to the more congenial haunts of Khar- toom or Esneh. We were doomed to be the unwilling recipients of M. Kotzika's hospitality for four days. It took that time to collect a sufficient number of camels from the Shookeriyeh Arabs who inhabit the country between Kassala and Galabat. Time naturally hung heavy on our hands, and we found little amusement beyond a stroll to the Mudeer's menagerie, where we could spend an hour watching the gambols of his lion-cubs, the pets of the Albanian soldiery, or a saunter through the deserted plaza, which was usually left quietly in possession of a tall giraffe, who passed the day in leisurely browsing ya. the topmost leaflets of the few trees which could strike root in that arid soil. We received an addition to our party in the person of a renegade Greek, who, being at Djidda at the time of the massacre of the Europeans there, had cast off his religion as the only chance, as he thought, of saving his life, and with his new faith had assumed the name and style of Hassan Effendi. Engaged in the capacity of superintendent of the caravan, as might have been expected, he turned out to be of little use. The only two accomplishments our slight acquaintance enabled us to recognise in him were the faculty of smoking cigarettes ad infinitum, and a knack of blowing the trumpet of his em- ployers, the radiance of whose glory was, of course, in some measure reflected upon himself At length, on the loth of November, we found that we were provided with the full complement of camels. Bidding farewell to our kind entertainers, and to Marcopoli, who in- tended to proceed to Matemma in a more leisurely manner, and accompanied by a small escort of Turkish soldiers, under the command of the doughty Hassan Agha, we started en mite for the Bahr-el-Gash, where we had determined to encamp for the night. This river, the Astusaspes of the ancients, the Mareb of Abyssinia, rises in the highlands of Tigre, and flowing in nearly a north-westerly direction, meanders round the picturesque Djebel Kdssala, and, bathing the southern boundary of the town, falls into the Atbara, some miles to the northward. The spot at which w^e had determined to halt was situated just underneath the mountain, a tall, conical peak of bare granite, some 3,000 feet in height, the only l.mdmark for scores of miles around. It was easy to forecast a stormy night, from the heavy clouds overhead, and the distant rumble of thunder ; but we found it impossible to avoid encamping in the dry bed "of the river, as the banks on either side were so ' thickly overgrown with jungle. AA'e had scarcely pitched our . I I ll II I III lll'l l/'l I ll I ■',iV||iVi„ ll 1. 1' I 'I I ' ' I' I I I I 'll'hl I ll I II l,llll'll ll' ' I ll ll I 1 1 ill III I 'll I I ' I ll 1 1 III Lll lii|i ll I 'I lll'l I ! "'I'.'i' ll' 1 1 ' ii ii I 1 1 I I a at tlie time was more than two miles from the fort This morning I saw the Ba/iia, one of the iron- clads, with several holes in her chimney, the effects of Para- guayan cannon-shot, after she had been reconnoitring too near Itapiru. "April loth. — This morning a sally was made by the Para- guayans from Itapiru on a small island in front, that had been garrisoned and fortified by the Brazilians, chiefly with the object of inducing the Paraguayans to believe that at this point it was the intention of the allies to cross over. The Paraguayans attacking came at early dawn, or, in fact, before daybreak, many of them swimming the distance of half a mile, others coming in canoes, and all having, for clothing, no more than the usual fighting costume of their people — a red shirt. Of the number of the invaders or the killed in this bold attack, it was impossible to obtain a correct return. The Paraguayans, how- ever, did not succeed in holding the island. " Captain Romero (Paraguayan), whom I saw on board the Brazilian flag-ship, Apa, to-day, Ajiril 1 2th, had not been more than four hours a prisoner till he oft'cred to enlist as a Brazilian, doubtless with some ulterior design. This is the man who commanded the attack on the island a few days ago. He told me that President Lopez was getting very fat, and that he smoked incessantly. Romero was not more than five days on board the Apa, when he slipped over the ship's side one night, and escaped. The Paraguayans are almost amphibious." Whilst the Paraguayans were here in the neighbour- hood of Itapiru, it was well known that they were furnished with movable electric telegraphs, similar to those which were used in recent European campaigns, and whereby communica- tion was kept up, not only with the cajiital at Asuncion, but with the various divisions and forces all through the army. No more palpable proof of these people having been many years making preparations for this struggle, need be adduced than the facts of the existence of these telegraphs, as well as of the effectual manufacture of torpedoes, by which, as before related, they have done much damage to the Bra- zilian squadron. The arrangements that might have been made on the establishment of peace, if Lopez had succeeded, would have referred chiefly to the boundaries of these countries. The most melancholy feature of South American war has been, from time immemorial, this fighting about disputed boundaries, and claims to territories whicli none of the holders or claimers can turn to any practical account. So that, until we find South American nations — be they republics or monarchies — disposed to listen to' common sense, and turn their splendid soil and magnificent climate to practical account, they must be con- tent to remain as they are — distrusted by all mankind. It was from feelings of pride and ambition that the Brazilians resented the insult to national honour and dignity, which it was said Lopez had given to the empire. The Paraguayan Presi- dent, no doubt, considered himself equally justified to maintain what he founded his initiative of war upon — " the equilibrium of the River Plate," disturbed by the Brazilian interference in the Republic of Uniguay. General Mitre looked upon the Argentine national " honour and security as outraged," and called to their post " citizen soldiers, whose banners were always wreathed witli justice and victory." But it might have been no hann for the belligerents, at the end of three and a lialf years' fighting, to ask one another, " Have we not had enough of it ? and can we not establish some equilibrium that will be better for our mutual prosperity and comfort than this per- petual fighting ?" On my return from the Paso de la Patria to Corrientes, we had on board the Due de Saxe steamer, in which I came down, from thirty to forty wounded Brazilians and Paraguayans, who were on their way to the hospitals. As I believed the miseries of such a war as this could be best alleviated by attentions to such sufferers, it was a pleasure to me to comply with a promise I had given to the Brazilian admiral, Visconde Ta- mandare, to visit the hospitals when I returned to Corrientes. The principal Argentine hospital — there were two of these — was presided over by Dr. Almeyra, and was situated in the houses and square of what was formerly the Argentine College. Here Dr. Newkirk, a very excellent Canadian medical practitioner, was the active genius of the place. At the time of my visit there were very few wounded patients, although a month pre- viously there had been several hundreds. How well the sick and wounded are cared for may be imagined, when I state that the nurses were six French sisters of charity, whose angelic devotion to all in need of aid and consolation is well known. The other hospital was in an old batter)' near the river-side, and close to which took place a battle, on the 2Sth of May last, when the Argentines and Brazilians drove the Paraguayans from tlieir temporary occupation of Corrientes city. In these two hospitals there was space for from five hundred to six hundred jiatients. About six hundred yards further to the north was the Bra- zilian Marine Hospital. This consisted of three long wooden houses, and was capable of accommodating more than five hundred patients. In each house the boarded floor was raised two feet over the ground, and all the rooms were ventilated to perfection. Every bed occupied by a patient had a mosquito- curtain over it, and was supplied with a washstand and other necessaries. The chief medical man was Dr. Lourez Pinto ; besides him there were three other doctors. The dispensary- room was well stocked with medicines and surgical ap- pliances. In fact, the tout ensemble appeared to me as perfect in its arrangement as any of the hospitals I have visited in Dublin, London, or Paris. The same may be said of the chief military' hospital, which was about half a league south of the city. This was an immense range of buildings, and would be able to accommodate three thousand sick and wounded, ^^■hilst I was visiting here, the principal surgeon was engaged in some important operation, but I was conducted through the wards by the director. Major Seeker y Lima. This hospital consisted of seven long houses, similar in con- struction to the marine hospital. Each bed, when occupied, had a mosquito-curtain and the other conveniences, as in the last-named establishment. In one of the houses there was a considerable number of consumptive patients. Every sick man had a paper fastened at the head of his bed, on which was written his name, age, rank, class of constitution, diagnosis of < CALIFORNIA AND ITS PROSPECTS. 103 disease, temperament, date of entrance, and name of his birth- place. To these were supplemented columns, on which the attending physician or surgeon noted down every day the kind of external or internal treatment that had been prescribed, with the quality of the diet that was to be ordered for the invalid, and any other general observations that he might deem expedient to note. There was a third hospital, which was chiefly for medical cases, with accommodation for 1,500 beds, near the quinta of a Senor Abalos, and about half a mile interior to the military one. Altogether, these hospitals were admirably fitted up for the comfort of the sick and wounded ; and no expense was spared on the part of the Brazilian authorities to assuage the sufferings of their sailors and soldiers. The best medical men from Rio de Janeiro form the staff, under whose regulations these hospitals are managed. Connected with my memories of this cruise, there is another thing that gave me great pleasure to note. It was the custom which the Brazilian Government has of giving to its war vessels the names of men who have fallen in their service. There was a small steamer destroyed by the Paraguayans, whilst I was at Paso de la Patria, which had been entitled the Colonel Fiilclis, after an officer of that name who was killed at the battle of Yatay during the present war; and one of their war steamers, called the Enrique Martinez, derives this name from a young midshipman, so called, who was shot by the Paraguayans when defending his flag at the naval battle of Riachuelo. California and its Prospects. BY FREDERICK WHVMPER. A RECENT writer has told us that Californians believe empha- tically in a future state — that State being California ! And perhaps the inhabitants of no other country in the world have at the present time a better right for self-congratulation. The historians of its early days were, indeed, of a different opinion, and described the region as having very much of the nature of a desert — one strewed with gold, but so parched up in summer and deluged in winter, as to be altogether unfitted for agri- cultural pursuits. There must be few of our readers who do not remember the first tidings which reached home from this El Dorado of the Pacific. Conflicting as they were in regard to the country, all seemed to agree that its new population included a large proportion of rowdies, convicts from our penal settlements — " Sydney ducks " — runaway sailors, and loose fish generally. There was, unfortunately, a measure of truth in all this, which gave to the country for a time an unenviable reputation. But the reign of these undesirable setUers, never predominant, was soon over. Lynch law and the " Vigilance Committee " organised by the respectable citizens, soon settled all outstanding accounts, and banished a still larger number of these gentry into the outlying territories, where, repeating the same pranks, they usually ended their career, sooner or later, in a very sudden manner. San Francisco, and, indeed, California generally, has now an orderly and law-abiding as well as energetic and prosperous people. A lady may at the present day more safely venture out alone and unprotected in the streets of the capital than she can in London. When the writer first landed in San Francisco, in the autumn of 1862, he soon found that it was not the "Fr'isco" of his imaginings and readings, nor that of connnon belief He found himself in the heart of a highly-civilised community, where there were neither paupers, beggars, nor crossing- sweepers; where labourers smoked ten cent cigars, where servant girls still obtained wages of three to six pounds a month, and where there were all the evidences of general prosperity. Numbers of particularly well-dressed citizens — from merchants to mechanics — hurried about on their daily avocations; numbers of ladies — ladies blooming as the rose, and infinitely more like English mothers and sisters than are those of the Atlantic States — were out promenading and shopping in the principal streets, which themselves were quite gay and Parisian in character. Although, from the universal deference shown these dames in street, or store, or car, it was obvious that they reigned supreme, it was equally clear that they were not quite such rare curiosities as in those early days when a miner would walk twenty miles to catch a glimpse of a petticoat ; when the steamboat companies advertised " four lady passengers to-night " as a sure bait to travellers, or when a crowd was known to collect and dance round some relic — - a ribbon or a crinoline — (which was it?) which some one had found — the nearest approach to a female they had seen for a long time. High civilisation is not possible in the absence of the gentler sex : lovely woman and the Vigilance Committee did more for San Francisco in a few years than any other power brought to bear upon it. The capital, the " Queen City of the Pacific," has now no lack of imposing public buildings. Two cathedrals — Episcopal and Roman Catholic — churches and chapels, to say nothing of synagogues and Chinese temples ; schools innumerable ; theatres and other places of amusement ; government and municipal edifices ; an immense dry dock hewn from the solid rock, 450 feet in length by 120 feet in breadth ; other docks in progress ; a grand sea-wall now in course of construction, and a population of 140,000 people, are tolerable proofs that there is a wonderful vitality in the country, and that San Franciscans have some reason for belief in their future. Twenty years ago all this did not exist ; there was then but an embryo disorderly village of shanties and tents on the sand-hills and wastes now covered by handsome streets. And then those San Francisco hotels ! five or six stories high, kept ix rAmcricainc, fitted up with more than usual luxuri- ance, where the table-set affords a sufficient proof of the richness of the country. Things elsewhere lu.xuries on account of their rarity — game, from wild fowl to antelope and elk ; fish : salmon, sturgeon, and almost every other known variety; fruit : grapes, peaches, melons, and green figs— are in the market as cheap and plentiful as the commonest meats or fruits else- 104 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. where. As the WTiter has sho\vn in another place, " the carte at a first-class San Francisco hotel contains, in one harmo- nious whole, the deHcacies of London, Paris, New York, and New Orleans. The verdant foreigner can, till dyspepsia brings him back to sanity and plain living, revel in waffles, buck- wheat and flannel cakes, fried and boiled mush, hominy, corn- bread, French and Spanish omelettes, the national fish-ball, gumbo soup, terrapin stews, clam and cod-fish chowders, potato salad, sweet potatoes, oyster plants, green corn, elk meat, California quails, squash pie, floating island, ice creams, and rose candy (candies and sweetmeats often figure in the dessert of a dinner bill of fare)." Long before there were any gold " rushes " or excitement, long before the acquisition of the country had added one star more to the " spangled banner " of the United States, the precious metal was known to exist in California, and had been obtained by Indians and Mexicans. As early as 1842, a thousand dollars' worth (including some twenty ounces belong- ing to Mr. Stearns, of Los Angeles), had been dispatched for assay to the U.S. Mint at Philadelphia. The priests, too, at the old Spanish missions, of which settlements there were twenty-one at the date of Beechey's visit, in 1827, were well aware of all this, but discouraged even the Indians from searching for the metal, knowing that a miscellaneous immi- gration would ruin the objects of their religious zeal. It was not till the 19th of January, 1848, when Marshall, a man employed at the mill of Captain Sutter, an early pioneer, found gold in the stream hard by, that attention was called to the country. Californians, indeed, always date the rise of their state from '49, the epoch of the first great " rush " thither. At that date the news commenced to spread all over the globe. Ships from every port made for San Francisco, to be deserted almost invariably, by their crews on arrival ; some, indeed, being left without their captains and officers. Pro- visions rose to famine prices ; some of the commonest necessaries were unattainable. The ordinary conditions of life were reversed. Professional men yielded precedence to labourers. " Spades were trumps." " Doctors hauled sand, lawyers waited at restaurants," and the few delicately-nurtured women there, found that they must do their own house and laundry work. Washing was sixteen dollars (about ^3 6s. 6d.) a dozen. A lady writing thence at the time said, " A poor young man thinks it quite an economy to have a better half who is a good washer," but added, "this child is not to be caught." Servants then received 100 to 150 dollars per month, and must, indeed, have been nearly unmanageable, for in these days it is a standing joke to say in San Francisco that a domestic "engages" her mistress. Miss Saxon's* story, 'propos of that period, is but one version of a well-known Califomian yarn. A well-dressed gentleman addressed a shabby, seedy-looking man one day: — " I will give you a couple of dollars to carry my portman- teau as far as the Plaza." "You will?" said the man. " I will give you an ounce" (of gold) " to see you take it yourself" The gentleman immediately shouldered his baggage, and was rewarded according to promise, on arrival at his destina- tion, by the stranger, who thought he had the best of the joke. Miners in rags made night hideous and dangerous in their drunken frolics, and paid a dollar (4s. 2d.) for every dram of * " Five Years within the Golden Gate." " chain lightning " whisky that they managed to survive. So much fine gold was carelessly dropped in the stores and counting-houses of San Francisco, and swept into the streets, that it led to a belief that the city itself covered a rich gold deposit. When the news became at length credited in Europe, many fell into the mistake, natural enough at the time, that California was a grand gold mine, but little better. " As long as gold is found, this country will flourish, which may be for ages, as the metal seems to be inexhaustible," said one, writing home during the first flush of the excitement. This was, however, simply nonsense. But a few years elapsed, and the " placer " mines (surface " diggings," usually in the beds of streams) were for the most part abandoned to Chinamen. The quartz excitement led to the erection in 1858 of nearly 300 mills, with extensive machinery for crushing the auriferous rock, and in 1861 not over fifty of these were kept working.* California still yields some fifty or sixty million dollars' worth per annum of the precious metal, but she has other interests of greater importance, and of infinite promise, to which allusion will shortly be made. Still it is obvious that the gold discoveries were the means of calling attention to a valuable coast. A strip of land over 700 miles in length, having twice the area of Great Britain, was added to the domains of the Anglo-Saxon race. It becomes, then, an interesting question, " Who was the dis- coverer of California ?" One Ximenes, a Spaniard, usually gets the credit, but somewhat unjustly, as he only reached the island of Santa Cruz. When Cortes had subdued Mexico, he lusted for new conquests, and among other expeditions sent two vessels to the northward of Mexico, under the command of Diego Be- zerra de Mendoza. These vessels got separated in a storm. Bezerra and his pilot, Ximenes, quarrelled ; the latter killed the former when asleep, and took possession of his ship. Some Franciscan friars on board remonstrated. Ximenes, determined to get rid of all those disaftected towards himself, put them ashore on the island of Santa Cruz ; but landing himself, was killed by the natives " in view of those on board the ship."t So much for Ximenes, who deserved his fate. This annoyed Cortes, and he determined, in 1537, to go in person, with a number of Spanish colonists, to the island of Santa Cruz. This he did successfully, and remained there, while his vessels returned to Mexico to bring others, with stores and supplies. In this second voyage two of his fleet got stranded on the neighbouring coasts, and in consequence, Cortes and his companions were left " famishing upon this uncultivated island. Twenty-three of the soldiers died from absolute distress, and the rest were sinking every day, and cursing his expeditions and discoveries." Cortes, therefore, went (probably in some smaller vessel remaining there, but the narrative does not explain), and after a while found two of his vessels, got them off the rocks, and brought them to Santa Cruz. Having served out some provisions to his famished soldiers, " they eat thereof in such a manner that the half of them died." * See "Report of J. Ross Broxvne on the Mineral Resources of the States and Territories west of the Rocky Moantains." Washington, 1868. + "The true History of the Conquest of Mexico," by Captain Castillo, who describes himself as "one of the conquerors." This old work, written in Spanish in 1568, was translated, and published in London in iSoo. THE GRAND CASCADE OF VOSEMITE. 14. — Vol. 7. io6 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. Cortes embarked again, and "during this voyage fell in with the land of California. He was by this time as heartily tired of the business as any one, but he could not bear the thoughts of returning, after such extensive losses, without having effected something." IMeantime, the wife of Cortes, who was becoming anxious, dispatched Ulloa with two ships to search for her husband, who, falling in with him, induced him to return to Mexico. Cortes was undoubtedly the first discoverer of Cali- fornia. The discovery of San Francisco Bay, though a disputed point, may, we think, be attributed to Sir Francis Drake. The " fair and good baye " where he repaired his damaged vessel, which had then on board five million dollars pillaged from the Spaniards — a richer freight than has ever since entered or left the '" Golden Gate " — could never have been that slightly more northern cove, or rather open roadstead, to which Vancouver gave the name of " Drake's Bay." Twelve miles within the parallel of latitude named by Hakluyt would have brought him to the entrance of San Francisco Bay. Nor did he pretend to exact observations ; and in jjoint of fact the ])rcvalent fogs of that coast would sufficiently account for the lack of them. Drake was bent on a marauding, not on a scientific expedition. The topography of California may be ver)- easily indicated. "It is characterised by a grand simplicity. Two mountain chains — the coast range and the Sierra Nevada— outline the form of the state ; the one extending on the Pacific shore on its western side, the other along its eastern border," overlook- ing the great liasin of plains and prairies which might be properly named, if the title were not elsewhere appropriated. Central America. Both chains interlock north and south. Mount Shasta (14,400 feet) maybe taken to be the terminating peak of either range in the north. These mountains enclose the great, broad, fertile, now much cultivated valleys of the .Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and are fed by countless tributaries, which spring mainly from the snows, or the moun- tain tarns of the Sierras, where there are a hundred peaks of 13,000 feet in height, and one at least (Mount Whitney) of 15,000 feet. The coast range, averaging perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 feet, rarely rises above 6,000, and is seldom snow-tipped, while the Sierra Nevada is an essentially Alpine chain. Scores of volcanoes have in former days blazed along the crest of the latter, and have covered with lava an area of 20,000 square miles. "Sometimes this lava overlies, and at others underlies, the deposits of gold-bearing gravel wrought by the miner.''* In early days gold nuggets were often found that bore all the marks of fusion, lying amongst scorched jx'ljbles and other volcanic indication.s. The coast range is broken near its centre by the gap known poetically as the " Golden Gate," the entrance to the Bay of San Francisco. The cool afternoon wind, the " Key- hole breeze," which, while keeiiing the capital healthy, renders it a somewhat less j.leasant place of residence than the country generally, sweeps in by this entrance. Ten miles away, even on the bay itself, this wind is not felt at all, and at twenty miles from the city you may live in a steady warm climate of almost perpetual summer. » See an article by B. Avery, a well-known Cilifoniian writer, in the Cvoiand Monthly (San Francisco), Dec, 1S6S. In treating of points wliich have not come under my own observation, I have been much in- debted to th< 'J.orcs of information contained in this m.igazine. These mountain ranges ha\e their characteristic vegetation. The coast hills and mountains, though often treeless, are cele- brated for their red-wood cedars, from which, indeed, some derive the title of the country, Colofonia being Spanish for " resin." However this may be, the wood is extremely valu- able in California, which as a whole is, in general terms, rather deficient in timber. Varieties of the oak, interspersed witli the madrona. with its waxen leaves and curling bark, and immense stretches covered with wild oats, all distinguish the coast range. Magnificent pines, and the famous " big trees" {Sequoia gigantea, long known in England popularly as Welliugtoiiia, and in the United States as WasJiingtonia gigantea) are great features in the botany of the Sierras. 'I'he "groves" of these giants are now known not to be confined to one or two localities merely : their range has been found to be much more extended. Our readers will remember the bark of one of iiu\liiim size, long exhibited at the Sydenhair Palace, and not long ago destroyed by fire. The "original'" grove, in Calaveras county, contains ninety of these trees, forty to fifty feet in circumference, and ten of ninety feet round; while the fallen "Father of the Forest" measured no feet round at the butt, was 200 feet upwards to the first branch, and was estimated to have been, when standing, 450 feet in height. Five men spent twenty-two days in 1854 cutting down one which was ninety-two feet round and 300 feet high. The stump of the latter has been turned into the foundation and floor of a house in which dancing parties are sometimes held. There is abundance of room for several quadrilles. The place has become a great resort for holiday seekers, and there is a good hotel there now. In a second grove, in Mariposa county, there are six of these trees from ninety to one hundred feet round, while one giant has, at ninety feet from the ground, a branch six feet ■ in diameter. A section of that limb would be as large as a round table of very fair average size ! The age of these trees is a disputed point : it is (piestionable whether any date back before the Christian era. The\- seem to have grown \\ ith our modern civilisation. But perhaps, after the Sierra peaks themselves, the most interesting features of the mountains are those vast rock-girt valleys, one of which, the Vosemite, has now a world-wide reputation. It has been proved to be by no means unique in California, the land of wonders. Tiie members of the late Geological Survey of California disco\'ered at the sources of the Tuolumne river, and elsewhere, magnificent valleys of the same class. The Yo.semite (Indian for "grizzly bear") — said to have been named after a renowned chief boasting that ominous title — is an abnost level valle)-, in which there are pine and oak, willow, birch and ba\' woods, a wealth of fern, and flowers, among which one may find such English fa\ourites as the primrose, cowslip, and \ iulet. The Merced river winds its tortuous way through it ; now opening into silent pools, very temi)ting to the angler or bather, now dashing on its way with laughing impetuosity. The ^■alley is eight or nine miles long b)' half a mile to a mile in width, and is shut in by per- pendicular cliffs and craggy heights which tower grandly from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above its level. The highest rock — one rising to over a mile in height, some 6.000 feet — is in the form of a half dome, one side of which a])pears to ha\e been, in the transition days of our planet, wrecked Jn massive \ CALIFORNIA AND ITS PROSPECTS. 107 boulders about its base. Others, which now have a "name" as well as a " local habitation," and bear such titles as " the Sentinel," " the Three Brothers," and " the Cathedral Spires," have a more pyramidal form. But the very greatest attraction of the valley centres in the great Yosemite Fall. From the point from which it takes its sudden leap to the foam and spray-dashed jjool at its base, is 2,600 feet : twelve or fifteen times the height of Niagara. It is broken by projecting ledges in the granite cliff into three falls, but this perhaps only adds to its beauty. A second, the " Bridal Veil " Fall, is much smaller, but e\en more !o\ely. It derives its name from the delicate, scattered mist and sjira}-, which, floating and swaying in the breeze, half obscures the falling water. The Yosemite valley is one of nature's temples, reared to the glory of the Creator, where man feels utterly insignificant. It is easy to furni.sh measurements and hard facts ; photography can give us the outward form, without the spirit : nothing short of the highest poetry or noblest art can paint it truly, or even dimly shadow forth its grandeur. It is a pleasure for us to know that the United States goNcrnment, warned by the fate of Niagara, has decreed that this valley, as well as the nearest grove of giant trees, is to be held and protected for the public benefit exclusively. No settler can desecrate it, nor shear it of half its beauties ; no one can vulgarise it, nor turn it into a " show place" for the exa( tion of ])etty extortions. Probably there are but few of our readers aware that Cali- fornia has geysers as remarkable as those in Iceland. There is an inn hard by these, reached with ease from San Francisco Ijy steamer and stage, in the neighbourhood of which, in tlic summer, numerous visitors ramble, ride, angle, sketch, or pic- nic. Furthermore, there is a small house where one can take, over a jet of vajjour which issues from the ground, a natural steam-bath, finishing off with a .shower-bath from a streamlet which trickles over a neighbouring rock ; while from beneath the earth, terrible and ominous grumbling is heard, as though Dame Nature had been scandalised by Mich proceedings. There are innumerable hot and cold sitrings ; indeed, California boasts a large number of sulphur and other springs, one of which was used by the few scattered aborigines long before the " pale faces " had dreamt of its existence, in which a black sulphurous stream issues side by side with one of [jure water, which refiises to mingle with it. There is one hollow, the Witches' Cauldron, filled with water of a pitchy darkness, which boils and sputters so furiously that it is dangerous to approach it, especially in holiday costume. F.verywhere there is the escape of steam : a cloud o\-erhangs the caiion in which all this is going on, only dissipated on a very hot day by the sun's intensest rays. The "steam-boat geyser," the largest of these jets of vapour, issues from a hole two or three feet in diameter, and shoots up for in the air before it is visible at all, like steam blowing off from a boiler. The ground is of all shades and colours, porous and rotten, and on its surface may be gathered a complete druggist's shop of crystals — magnesia, soda, alum, or sulphur. It is the very laboratory of nature. M'hen visited by a recent author, this l)roperty, with the inn, was for sale. Who would like to invest in an estate with so shaky a title ? The geysers were discovered, in 1847, by W- B. Elliot, a hunter. When riding ahead of his companions, he came sud- denly on the north end of the gorge, known as the " Devil's Canon." He immediately reined uj), and turned his horse's head back to his friends, to whom, i)ale and breatiiless, he ex- claimed, '• Boys, boys, I've found — the nether regions !"* The lakes of California, even those of an alkaline nature, would alone fiiniish subject-matter for a longer article than the present.t Mono Lake is so highly charged with mineral salts that, like the Dead Sea, it is void of all life, .save the "countless larvre of a small fly." Owen's Lake is as brackish as an inland sea. Borax Lake is named from the principal feature of its w.ater and bed, now extensively utilised. Many Californians of these days — those blest with means and leisure — make up travelling parties, and enjoy a " picnic " of three or four months' duration among these wonders. They invariably take horses, almost always a light wagon or two, with tents and supplies ; and, eschewing all hotels, watering- places, steamboats, or railways, wander "fancy led," following the bent of their inclinations. Ladies often join such parties. Some cf course take servants ; others do all their own work, and these are they who derive the main benefits of such a life. He who can catch his own mountain trout, or shoot his own game r.nd cook it, groom and saddle his horse and make his own camp and log fire, is likely to enjoy his whole existence. And where, as in some cases, the members of such an expe- dition have varied gifts— one a flautist, who can wake echoes from the distant hills ; another a geologist or naturalist, finding beauty and interest in all he meets ; the third a " sketchist," able to perpetuate the varied grandeur or loveliness through which they pass— it is evident that sucli a Bohemian expedition might be most profitable as well as delightful. A Californian, speaking of one of these happy excursions, says : " Two or three attempts to sing ' Sweet Home ' by the camp fire on the first night w ere failures. At the time when the tears should have started, there was a break, and a laugh which echoed fltr up in the ravine. Nobody had lost a home, but five happy mortals had found one, the roof of which was of emerald, sup- ported by great pillars of red wood, which cast their shadows far out in the wilderness, as the flames shot up from the camp fire." Such an existence is possible in almost any part of that enjoyable land for nine months of the year. The winter in California is represented b)' a "rainy season," during which time the country roads are sometimes nearly nn- passable. The writer well remembers two \isits made by hun to the Valley of Sonoma, and the contrasts the route thither presented. In the first trip, made in winter, our steamer lelt us at the embryo settlement of Lakeville, on Petaluma "Creek," where the banks seemed almost as fluid as the ri\er, and where evervthing appeared so damp, swampy, and rheumatic as to recall ver>' forcibly that "Eden" whicli reciuired all the philo- sophy of a Mark Tapley to endure. The coimtry generally was in one of three conditions, mud, slough, or swamp ; and our stage- coach wheels were often up to their axletrees in slime. Logs and planks were, at some parts of the road, laid down to render some unusually bad place passable. Some one laughmgly » Miss .S.ixon's " Fivi; Years within the Golden Cite." t The naountain t.arns and lakes were the n>ain sources from which the nuning eon.,,anies derived the water so necessary in their operations. 1 here are 5,300 miles of " ditches "-artificial water can,als-ir. the St.ate, and after they have served their present purpose, there is no doubt that they wdl be utilised to irrigate large tracts of country more or less liable to droughts- io8 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. suggested that the flat-bottomed steamer we had just left, would have been more appropriate thaii the coach, if it could only have managed to go up-hill ! A few weeks later the writer re- visited the same spot in early spring, wlien everytliing was briglit and sunny, and the flowers gaily blooming. All the mud had dis- appeared—was baked iierfecti)- hard and dr)' ; the roads were dusty, but otherwise in tolerable condition ; and even ''Lakeville the lugubrious " smiled grimly. During the winter rainy season there are often long spells of delightful weather, and the face of nature is never so green and fresh in California as during that period. Sooth to si^y, in the summer time it has a very burnt-up look, and gives some excuse to a recent Californian writer, wlio poetically compares tlie hills round San Francisco to the '• knobs on an overdone meat pie !" . Every variety of climate is to be found in California — from severely temperate to semi-tropical. "Scored upon the pines of the mountains one may see what depths of snow fall every winter at the very time when, in the southern parts of the State, there are not only orange blossoms, but a wealth of ripe and perfect fruit." "The magnolia survives the winter out of doors, and the cc/tfury \>\a.nt blossoms in less than twenty years," thus upsetting jjopular notions respecting its tardy growth. At the extreme southern borders of the State, as at Fort Yuma, where the mean monthly temperature averages 56 degrees Fahr. in January, and 92 degrees in July, the heat is excessive, and fearful and wonderful stories are told of it. " In that part of the countiy — as yet veiy thinly settled — the inhabitants are said, but ?iot on the best authority, to read the morning papers (when they get them !) up to their necks in water — when they are lucky enough to find any. Towels are an Tmnecessary luxury, the heat of the sun causing immediate evapo- ration. If you hang up a string of candles, in a few hours the grease runs off them, and there is nothing left but the wicks, and they are always, therefore, kept in ice till required. Droughts are common, and whisky is .said to be clieaper than water, wliich, if true, may account for some of the other statements!" But the climate of tlie State as a whole is delightful. Warm as it is, there is an elasticity, a steady tone in the atmosphere, " like draughts of champagne, or subtle presence of iron. It invites to labour, and makes it possible."* California has been mentioned as an e.xcellent home for retiring Anglo-Indians, and it is within the possibilities that some may be induced to spend their declining days there. It has all the advantages of a climate enjoyed by the South of France and the Mediterranean countries, with the addition of an Anglo-Saxon population. The fertility of the .soil is remarkable. It is easy to cite exceptional wonders — from giant trees to pears grown in the open air three or four pounds in weiglit, and cucumbers fifty inches long ! There is a vine in Santa Barbara county, planted in 1765, which yields three or four tons of grapes annually. But the following facts mean much more than all this : that, in spite of slovenly farming, wheat crops in California often average fifty to seventy bushels, anil more occasionally, eighty bushels to the acre. Again, one seeding is sufficient for tico crops. The " volunteer crop " of the second year, springing up from the dropped seed of the first one, yields less in quantity, but is nearly all profit. The long steady summer enables the farmer to thresh on the spot, in place of being obliged to cart it to his barns at a distance. Grain often remains on the ground in sliea\es, unthreshed and unliarmed, * Bowles, "Acioss the Continent." for weeks together. In early days, indeed, it was customary to enclose a corner of a field, where, after throwing in the sheaves, a band of wild "mustangs" (Mexican horses) were turned in, and they trampled out the grain. Now-a-days, improved machinery is employed. There is one machine, known as a " harvester," which reaps, threshes, and .sacks the grain in one operation, but its use is not common. There is no romance in a Californian harvest. " The sickle, the cradle, and the tlail, the reapers and the gleaners — Boaz and Ruth — all are gone. The picture now is a broad hazy plain, bounded by brown hills, which flicker and glimmer in the mirage : no trees, no running brooks, no green grass, but miles on miles of grain. Far away you descry clouds of yellow dust, atid as you come nearer you see the wagons drawn by horses coming in loaded with piles of grain, and returning empty ; and in the centre stands the huge machine, driven perhaps by steam, perhaps by a score of horses travelling in an endless circle, and fed by men dark as mulattoes with the sun and dust, perhaps with mouths and nostrils swathed to protect the lungs from the dust." Last season (1868) California raised 20,000,000 bushels — four times the quantity required for her own population ; yet it was only from the year 1859 that she commenced to have any stn-plus whatever, and twel\-e years ago she was looked upon as one of the best customers for the farmers of the Southern States. Now she helps to supply New York, Liverpool, her own immediately surrounding coasts, and sends, also, more or less to Australian and Chinese ports. California yielded wine long before she was known to possess gold-fields. Wilkes described it in 1841 as "miserable stuff', v.hich would scarcely be taken for the juice oi' the grape." Now tlie production of the State is 3,000,000 gallons. One firm alone, in New York, sells 250.000 dollars' worth per annum. There is hardly a bar-room in that city or in Boston where Californian burgundy, hock, port, sherry, champagne, and wine-brandy, are not to be obtained. The lighter wines are the better productions ; some of them will compare with ex- cellent French and Rhenish wines. There is one vai-iety of sweet wine prettily named " Angelica." If California can only induce her sister states to become wine instead of whisk}- drinking communities, she may be a good angel of temperance to them, accomplishing more than all the Maine liquor laws in the world. Raisin-dr>'ing, as well as that of figs, prunes, &c., has been commenced ; these products will some day be items of export. But California can do more than this. The fig-tree grows* everywhere ; in the south, it yields two crops a year. Oranges, lemons, limes, and citrons ; almonds, olives, and even dates and bananas, thrive in southern California, which is also the great stock-raising part of the state. There immense herds of cattle roam, li\-e, and die almost uncared for and untcnded. Wool, and, by consequence, woollen goods, are staple productions. In one mill at San Francisco, over 300 Chinamen are employed. And now, how large a population does the reader suppose this country has so far attracted to itself? Not more than 600,000 souls ! The vnitcd population of California, Oregon, Washington, and other outlying territories, is about one-third that of London. There is, then, an unbounded field for emigration on these northern Pacific shores. San Francisco will be the New York of the coast ; it is already its commercial centre. In front of it, says Mr. Dilke, * "Greater Britain," Vol. I. CALIFORNIA AND ITS PROSPECTS. log quoting Governor Gilpin, "are 745 millions of hungry' Asiatics, who liave spices to exchange for meat and grain," and already the increasing trade between California, China, and Japan has called into existence a line of first-class steamers. It is, moreover, the terminus to the great Pacific Railway. It is possible even now to reach the Pacific from the Atlantic, a distance of 3,400 miles across the continent, in twelve days. Less than 300 miles of that enterprise remains to be con- structed. The company speaks of its certain completion this summer. With these facts in view, and with the knowledge that the bay of San Francisco is the best harbour on the coast — anpvhere from Mexico to Vancouver Island, if not, in- deed, from Panama to Behring Straits — it is hardly too much to say that San Francisco has a more promising future than any other young city on the globe. And are tliere no drawbacks to a residence in this otherwise happy state ? There is but one of a serious nature : Cali- fornia has proved herself to be an earthquake countr)-. Earthquakes have been very common ever since the first settlement of the country : the writer has experienced several. But, until the late earthquake (21st October, 1868), no severe shocks had frightened the in- habitants, and it was believed that they would never seriously damage the prospects of the state. The writer, though ab- sent from San Francisco in the late earthquake, has received both private (written) and printed accounts from the country since the date of its occurrence. It created a great panic; nay, some have left California in consequence. At five minutes before eight o'clock on the morning of the 2 1st October, the earth- quake shook San Francisco to its very foundations. The walls reeled as if about to bury the entire population. Helpless infancy and decrepid age, frantic mothers and awe-struck men, THE FATUER nF IlIE FORL.i rushed out into the streets in crowds ; frightened horses trampled their way through them heedlessly; the entire city was aftected as it had never been before. Yet, in summing up the damage done to life and property, we find that not over six persons were killed, and that no buildings were ruined but those on the " made ground "—i.e., ground reclaimed from the bay, and loosely filled in, the houses, in hundreds of cases, standing on piles. There, walls fell in all directions; whole houses collapsed to their foundations ; " floors were crumpled between the better built walls of ad- joining houses, like cards in the hand of a child." No buildings were much damaged among those on the rocks and liills on which San Francisco is largely built ; and it is re- markable that the same was true of the great earthquake of Lisbon, which, in the space of a few minutes, destroyed 60,000 people. There, also, ^^ not a Imild'uig teas vijitrcd on the secondary limestone or I'asait." A\'ithout irreverence, San Franciscans should evi- dently remember the respective fates of the man who " built on the sand," and of him who jjlaced his dwelling " on a rock ;" and indeed the occur- rence has already awakened a very intelligent discussion in California. Anglo-Saxons will not allow even an earthquake to get the better of them, if, humanly speaking, the appli- cation of common sense may be able in any way to neu- tralise its power. There are important streets in San Francisco built on ground snatchetl from the ba)-, o\er which s/ii/'s anchored twenty )-ears ago, and where, as a recent Californian wTiter says, " they may anchor again ! Wheie the marble quay at Lisbon stood on the first morn- ing of November, 1755, a line of a hundred fathoms failed to reach it for ever afterwards." The same writer, besides alluding to the difterent results experienced on differeni 110 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. foundations, shows that some forms of building were much more "earthquake proof" than others; but the subject is too technical for readers who, happily, lia\'e no such occur- rences to fear. The State archives of Cahfornia record several important shocks. "The mission of San Juan Bautista (between Sin Jose and Monterey) was destroyed by an earthquake in the month of October, 1800." "The good fathers there were compelled to sleep in wagons to avoid the danger, since the houses were not habitable, and the ground opened into deep fissures." In i8o8 and 1812 there were several severe shocks. In the late earthquake, the old church at San Jose, which had lasted through so many vicissitudes, was shaken down, but the country generally was not affected severely, though the vibra- tion seems to have gone through the breadth and length of the land. Latest accounts show that all this is already forgotten. Without at all glossing over the facts connected with these convulsions of nature, there seems good reason to believe and hope that California will never experience any such earthquakes as those which have desolated many parts of South America, for the force of the earthquake wave seems to die out in its northward course. But who can tell ? There is nothing perfect : there are spots on the sun. Earthquakes are the spots on the otherwise tranquil course of Californian life. A yourney thyough the Soudan ami JVesteni Abyssinia, luitJi Reminiscences of Captivity. EV LIEUTENANT W. F. PRIDEAUX, IV. — Western Abyssinia : — Tchelga and Taccosa. The country we were about to enter was one which, viewed from either its religious or historical aspect, presented features of the | highest possible interest to the European traveller. As the field in which the missionaiy zeal of the great Alexandrian champion of the orthodox faith reaped its first-fruits; the land where the enthusiastic monachism of the fourth century, the contagion imported from the Thebaid, had produced the earliest version of Holy Writ, after the Septuagint and Vulgate ; the scene of those sanguinary conflicts between the followers of the old ' religion and the almost invincible zeal and energy of Rome, and in which the latter, though triumphant for a time, and aided by all the influence of king and court, had yet to succumb before the steadfast and unwearying adherence to their fathers' faith which distinguished the mountaineers in the rocky fastnesses of Lasta ; and lastly, as the one green spot in Northern Africa where Christianity, debased and rotten though it be, has still defied for hundreds of years the Koran and the sword on the one hand, and on the other the temptations of a sensual and soulless paganism; — Ethiopia is invested with peculiar interest, and there is much to lead us to the expecta- tion that prophecy may yet be fulfilled in her. In its ancient books we find fables based on history, and histories where the personages are fabulous : the Jewish king El-Hakeem, and the queen who came from the south with longing in her heart to hear the words of wisdom ; her son, who fled from Jerusalem with the ark as a trophy, and the greatest amongst the doctors, and scribes, and musicians as his companions ; and after that, Candace and the God-fearing eunuch ; and later still, the tale of Abraha and Atsbaha, the war of the Elephant, and the conquest of Yemen. Truth and myth mingled together, and hardly to be sifted now. In our own daj^s we have seen an old man, infirm and in his dotage, and yet with a genealogy which goes back to the era of Brute and Locrine, in the pa'^es of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Hatsc Yohannes, last of the de- scendants of Solomon. In its physical characteristics, also, Abyssinia affords much that is interesting to the student of geography. Starting from j the low-lying shores of the Red Sea, a few miles bring us to ! F.R.G.S., 1IOMBAY ..STAFF CORPS. two or three lofty ranges of mountains which can only be crossed by de\'ious routes and by passes, now hanging over the crest of a peak, now plunging into a rocky defile ; and which form the watershed of the rivers which irrigate the i)lains beyond. These once surmounted, we find there is a gradual dip of about one in one and two-thirds to the western provinces through which we took the journey now briefly to be sketched, and which, while deficient in the picturesque grandeur and sublimity which lend the highest charm to the eastern districts, enjoy, and deservedly, a more enviable reputation for fertility and material prosperity. The Abyssinians themselves make a general distinction between the Dagga, or highlands, and the Kwolla, or lowlands. The elevated plateaux of Shoa, the Wallo Galla country, and many parts of Tigre, may be taken as types of the former, Avhile the latter are well represented by the districts of Walkait and \\'aldubba on the north-west, and the deadly and dangerous valleys of the Tacazze and the Hawash. Beyond these there are the snow-covered heights of Seniyen, the tchokyc of the Amhara, which possesses such foscination in the mind of the soldier proceeding on the war-i)ath, that, with iiS\t ^KHXza, or thin tufts of grass, which ofter the only semblance of vegetation in those Alpine regions, it forms the burden to one of his most favourite battle-songs. The districts immediately to the westward of the Tsana Sea cannot properly be included in any of the abo\e divisions. Their average altitude may be estimated at 6,000 feet above the sea-level, and they thus possess neither the cold and bracing climate of the dagga, nor the hot and malarious atmosphere of the kwolla. Generally speaking, these provinces ma)' not be well adapted to a European constitution, but there can be no question that the natives of both sexes are strong, robust, anu handsome, if not so long-lived as the dwellers in more elevated districts. Herds of cattle abound in great numbers, sheep to a much less extent, while horses are generally imported from the higher countries of Shoa and Godjam. But it is time now to return to our own personal experiences and wanderings. Soon after crossing the narrow rivulet which divides the Galabat district from the debatable land beyond, we bade A A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAX. ferewell to the friends who had thus far accompanied us, and proceedeil on our way alone. It was the 28th of December, and thougli surrounded by scenes seldom associated with that kindly Christmas-time, it was impossible to prevent the mind banishing for the moment the rugged boulders and dwarf bamboos whicli fringed the path, and the crowds of dusky faces and uncouth forms wliich environed us, and reverting to pleasant retrospects of home ; and then perhaps the thought would arise, where should we be that time next year? A question easily put ; fortunately for us then, not so easily answered. Tiie e\ening was pretty far advanced when wc arrived at our halting-place. The local nomenclature is, as a rule, Arabic, until the Gandwa, the boundary of Abyssinia Proper, is crossed, and this place, only noticeable through the possession of a little water, was called Dakn-el-Feel {the Beard of the Elephant). Our beds were quickly spread in the open air, and we lay down to snatch a few hours' rest, while the servants lighted fires, and cowered aroimd them for warmth and com- panionshii). But the extreme cold prevented us from sleeping long, and before daybreak we arose, and joined our servants around the cheerful embers. Abyssinians are never at a loss for conversation ; while some are eloquent, all are gaiTulous ; and if, with our limited knowledge of the language, we could not chime in with the messengers, the Shiho Mohammed, or the TigrO Hailu, in the anecdotes they were doubtless relating about the court of the great king, we could still find something to chat about with the interpreters, Omar Ali, Dasta, or ^Valda Gabriel of Shoa, who, with his young wife, was accompanying us from Matemma. At break of day we resumed our march, and travelled on till breakfast-time, when we halted at Alaradib, the Abyssinians being regaled with their fixvourite '■brundo,"or raw meat, as a cow was slaughtered incontinently on our an-ival. The country is here more thickly wooded, and the shamboko. or bamboo, has increased in size ; but there is still a deficiency of what would be considered forest trees in England. Rumours had reached us that Tirsu Gobazye, the insurgent chieftain of Walkait, and the greater part of Xorth-western Abyssinia, was hovering in our neighbourhood witli a large gathering of his wild caterans, in the hope of intercejning the rich booty destined for Theodore, and tliis made us naturally anxious to push on as fast as possible. That night we crossed the Gandwa, a stream which, rising in the hills of Alafli, pursues a north-westerly course for about fifty miles, till it falls into the Atbara, not far from where we forded it. It was about thirty yards wide at that season of the year, and, as I said above, is usually considered to bound Christian Abyssinia. "We bivouacked for the night at Khor-el-Laila, and rising betimes, travelled over hill and dale till \\e reached Wahhnee, where, seeing no preparations made to receive us, we halted beneath the shade of a large sycamore, a little beyond the market-place, till our servants and baggage should arrive. Wahhnee, the first village in Abyssinia Proper, is in the district t)f Tcharkwa, or Tchargo, and as it is situated on the high road between the producing countries of Godjam, Agow Meder, and Dembea, and the great mart of Matemma, it is a place which boasts a considerable trade. We arrived while the weekly market was being held, but the real business of the day was nearly over, and conset[uently the jjeasantry who had come in- to, sell their wares, and those who had come to buy, together with the soldiers, priests, idlers, and general population of the place, who had no means of doing either, had plent)- of time to stare at and take stock of the new arrivals. We had ex- pected that we should have been met here liy the officers deputed b}' King Theodore to escort us ; but while we were still lying under the tree, and discussing whether it was worth while to pitch our tents, one of their servants came up in hot haste, and informed us that in consequence of the story relating to Tirsu Gobazye, mentioned above, their masters felt them- selves constrained to keep an eye on the rebel's movements, and they accordingly advised us to proceed forthwith to a place called Balweha, a few miles further on, and await their arri\al. The Shciom, or head man of the village, who probably had small desire to see us quartered on him as guests, recommended us also to follow this course. Then ensued a battle-royal between our Arab and Takrooree camel drivers and the Abyssinian followers of the Shoom. I do not wish it to be understood that any blood was shed, or even blows exchanged, but the strife of tongues was kept up with the greatest heat for upwards of an hour. The cameleers, who knew pretty well what the road between Wahhnee and Balwehil was like, and who were only engaged as far as the former place, vowed by their Projihet and his Koran diat nothing should induce them to kill their beasts by urging them up the rugged paths and stony defiles which lay before them, while the Christians were ecjually zealous in invoking the aid of St. Michael and all the saintly host in effecting what they wished. At length authority won the day ; the cameleers, whose animals had been seized, came in again by driblets ; harmoii)' was restored, and peace ratified by the promise of an additional bakhshcesli. The following afternoon, on the last day of 1865, we settled ourselves down at Balweha, and pitched our tents on a small plot of ground which had been cleared by nature, and was surrounded on all sides by thickly-wooded hills. The name Balweha* properly belongs to a small brooklet, which rippled close behind our encampment ; but either that appellation, or that of Ballatcha, is used indifterently for the neighbourhood. On arrival, we found that the Shoom, who had already received intimation of our approach, was ready to receive us, and although he was too poor to provide us with tedj (mead), the rich man's drink, he had done his best to fiu-nish us with as much taUa, or beer, as we could drink. Thirsty and tired as we were, Blanc and I imagined we had discovered a treasure when we descried the gombo or jar slung o\-er the shoulders of a stalwart maid-servant; but we had scarcely moistened our. lips with the sour but not uni^leasant liijuor it contained, wlien we discovered that we had acted quite contrary to all Abyssinian etiquette, which dictated that the offering should have been first laid at the feet of the chief of the party, or at any rate at those of his azAilj, or intendant — which oftire, in fault of a better, Walda Gabriel had assumed. Our fitult. however, in consideration of our ignorance, was condoned, and we promised thereafter to hearken attentively to the counsels of our Shoan '•guide, philosopher, ami friend." Later in the evening the Shoom dispatched on a visit to Mr. Rassam his better half, who came, according to the wont of Abyssinian dames, riding on a mule, enveloped, head and all, in the thick folds of her shaina, and attended by two black-eyed, laughing damsels. We found our time hang rather heavily on our hands here ; there was no game to speak of, and as the surrounding country * Wcha in Amiiaric signifies " water," .inil is often used as a suffix to Uic names of rivers, just as Mai is used as a prefix in Tigre. aI2 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. was thickly wooded and hilly, and the wild reivers of Tirsu Gobazye might be in any direction, it was not considered safe to stroll fiir beyond the precincts of the camp. One afternoon, I remember, we determined on ascending an inconsiderable, but rather steep, eminence hard by ; when, as we were returning, we found ourselves confronted by a man who only after much parleying, and then with but scant courtesy, allowed us to pas.s. We discovered that he was an officer in the employ of the Customs authorities, and that it was only in what he considered the discharge of his duty tliat he had stopped us, as, for aught he knew, we might have been smuggling merchandise along that unfrequented path. He must, however, have re- ceived a severe rebuke from his superiors, who were better aware of our position than himself, for, coming the next (lay with a heavy stone upon his neck, he prostrated himself before Mr. Rassam, and en- treated pardon in the abject manner usual to Abyssinians. This of course he received, and with a small present into the bargain he went away happy and contented. On the 4th of J^inuary we were infonned that the officers composing our escort had ar- rived, and we were instructed by our Mentor, Walda Gabriel, that if we wished to inspire them with suitable respect and awe for us we should re- main seated in the tent, and without offering to rise, merely regard tliem while they made their obeisances with that look of hauteur and con- scious superiority \;hich an Abyssinian noble always as- sumes before inferiors. This however we could not do. As soon as they were ushered in we felt constrained to rise, and welcomed them with an honest English shake of the hand. They were three, or rather five, in numljcr ; but the principals, who lield the rank of Basha, and had been invested with the silken shirt of honour, were youths scarcely arrived at manhood. Lidj* Tesamma and Lidj Shuroo were the sons of a chief who had formerly held large fiefs under Ras Ali ; his widow — for he had been dead some years — still resided at Wandige, a large district on the western border of the Tsana Sea, where his pos- sessions had principally lain ; and the eldest brother of these young men, Amare Hailu, had been appointed by Theodore to an important post in the government of his fortress of Magdala. * Z/V^', which means literally " child " ill Amharic, is used as a title before the names of youths of good family. SINGING THE WAR SONG. The third, Lidj Tashoo, was the son of a petty chief in the district of Tchelga, named Wasye ; a Kamant in religion for- merly, he had changed his faith at the behest of the king, and had also been rewarded with a share in the administration of the Amba. Wasye and Amare Hailu we shall meet hereafter. To keep these lads in order, I suppose, or at any rate to add tlie weight always attaching to age and soldiership in Abyssinia, there were associated with them, though in a much subordinate position, Walda INLaryam, an old and grey-headed counsellor, and Kasa, a native of Godjam, a man of middle age, but a tall and hardy warrior, and much trusted by Theodore for his %'alour and daring in the fight. We received them all cor- dially, as I have mentioned; and they then told us that they had been busily engaged in collecting bearers to convey our baggage, but that, as it was Christmas-tide, there had been necessarily some delay. LcJaf, or Christmas, fell this year on the 6th of January. Many a cow was killed and many a horn of beer was emptied on that day, «hich, ne.xt to Easter, ranks as the greatest festival of the Abys- sinian Church ; and we could scarcely expect that the pea- sants at that season would show much alacrity in coming forward to bear the strangers' burdens ; but the next day everything was declared to be ready, and we started for the high plateau of Tchelga. The bearers came, quite as many, perhaps, as were really necessary, l)ut not a quarter as many as they themseh'es de- clared there ought to be, and a scene of unexampled confusion ensued. Each man at once laid his hands upon the lightest and most portable articles he could discover, and they all walked off, leaving the heavier articles — such as bo.xes, medicine-chests, and the like — to their fate ; but at last the chiefs implored us to point out what were the articles abso- lutely indispensable for our comfort, and these could be carried off first, and relays would bring on the rest in a day or two. ]\Iaking a virtue of necessity, we complied, and started off, but did not make a march of more than three or four miles ; for the road was bad, passing over the brows of several hills ; and when we arrived at a stream with a beautiful pool of water m its rocky bed, called Sankweha, we halted and waited till all our baggage should arrive. \\'hen a considerable number of carriers had been collected < a z o o H < a u JS_voi.. I. 114 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. together, we started for the high country. This was on the 9th of January. The road was most rocky and precipitous, and it was with considerable difficulty that the mules managed to keep their footing in many places. Between the winding path that we took and the opposite range of hills, was a deep- indeed, almost fathomless — chasm ; but it was not so broad as to prevent us from casting our eyes across it, and seeing the green mountain-sides beyond, studded with picturesque little Falasha villages, and homesteads surrounded with cultivated fields. Ever before us rose in its giant majesty the natural fortress of Sar Amba {Grass Fort), a landmark impregnable to time and almost to man. Some years previously this had been the favourite state-prison for the wretched victims whom the revenge or caprice of Theodore had chosen to condemn to life-long captivity. One evening, advantage was taken of the negligence of the gaolers, who, trusting to the natural strength of the mountain, were slumbering in fancied security, and a determined attempt at escape was made by several of the prisoners. Before quitting the fortress, however, the fugitives had foolishly, in their exultation, set fire to several of the houses on the summit. An alarm was quickly raised, and they were all re-captured ; but this so aroused the jealous fears of Theodore, that he deemed it more prudent to dispatch them all to Magdala, which, thougli not so well fortified by nature, presented fewer facilities for escape, being within the borders of the Galla country; while Bar Amba is only a few- hours' ride from the north-western frontier, and this once crossed, no pursuit was to be feared. There is scarcely a district which does not possess one or more of these anibas, and they used to form the magazines, the arsenals, and rallying- points of the feudal lords of the country. From them did the De Montforts of Abyssinia sally out, vnth their vagabond retainers, to harry the fields tilled by peaceful peasantry, or to plunder the rich caravans laden with all the coveted produce of Enarea and Caffa. Theodore, by his high-handed policy — \\e cannot, in his case, call it justice — put a stop to the feudalism of Abyssinia. It received its death-blow from the system of enlisting and paying a regular soldiery instead of summoning the barons with their followers around their suzerain, on the outbreak of war. It was, doubtless, an advance in civilisation to keep the barons within the strict precincts of his court, or chained in a hill-fort, and to engage their vassals as solidarii by a fixed payment. But the strong hand is now relaxed, and the indomitable will is powerless, and it is highly probable that Abyssinia will again revert to a system which possesses many advantages in the eyes of the secondary, if not of the highest chiefs. We bivouacked that night in the most level and suitable place we could find, and early the next morning commenced a most difficult ascent. 'J'hree thousand feet brought us on to the plateau, where we found a completely different climate from any we had met with since we left Massdwa. The air was cool and elastic, the sun's rays less scorching, whilst the groves of dog-roses and jessamine amidst which we were riding at once recalled to our minds the shady lanes of the old country. We encamped not far from the edge of the platear, near a village called Sarabo, some four or five miles to the south-west of the town of Tchelga, the capital of the district of the same name, which w-e had now entered. Close to our camp there flowed a small brook, but we soon found diat the, inhabitants of the village made the most strenuous objections to our using any of its water. It turned out that they were all Kamants — a singular race, half Christian and half Pagan, who inhabit chiefly this district. Though nominally all converted to Christianity by the late king, they r.cill retain many of their old superstitions, and amongst them is a strong repugnance to eating meat or drinking water touched by those of other creeds. They had a like objection to our entering a small grove hard by, which to them possessed a character of peculiar sanctity, and it was only through the influence of the Shoom, and in his company, that we could do so. Per- sonally, the Kamants resemble other Abyssinians, and it is only within a few years that their females have left off the singular custom of piercing the lobes of their ears, and hanging to them heavy billets of wood, thereby bringing the huge flaps at last as far down as their shoulders. They are, unlike the Falashas or native Jews, so many of whom reside in these districts, unskilled in any mechanical arts, and are chiefly employed in supplying Gondar with wood. Their language is akin to the Falasha and Kuaragna, or that spoken by the natives of Kuara, the westernmost province of Abyssinia, but they generally understand the Amharic. We were forced to remain at Sarabo for three days, for want of a sufficient number of carriers, but at last 1,200 men were collected together. These gradually dwindled down to a third of the number, and by the time we reached the king's camp, our cavalcade presented comparatively quite a sorry appearance. The country was flat and uninteresting ; scarcely a village was to be seen, and the mark of the plunderer's hand was visible everywhere. We halted for half an hour at a ruined hamlet called Lesag, and should have liked to pay a visit to Gondar, which was distant about twenty miles E.N.E.; but our guides told us it was quite imi)ossible to do this, as there was no knowing whether it might not be in the hands of the rebel Gobazy6 at that very moment. About noon we encamped beneath a large and solitary sycamore tree at Tankal, at the south-western extremity of the large and formerly flourishing province of Dembea. The province of Dembea bears the highest reputation for fertility. Its broad and ample plains, sparsely covered with trees, and its rich black soil, are capable of producing with ease three crops within the year. Teff {Poa Ahyssinicn), barley, and mashela {Holcus sorghiiiii) are tlie fovourite cereals, and they are frequently raised in this order of rotation. In this district is situated Gondar, a stationary camp until the days of Hatse Fasil, in the latter half of the seventeenth century, and converted by that monarch, with the aid of the Jesuit-taught native artificers, into the capital. Dembea was doubtless selected as the head-quarters of a large and dis- tinguished court, on account of its extraordinary fecundity. Until within the last few years, when, as I remarked above, it has severely suffered from the marauding soldiers of King Theodore, it formed the granary of Northern and Western Abyssinia. The climate, unsuitable for horses, which are said to be attacked there by a disease analogous to glanders, is admirably adapted to the rearing of immense herds of cattle, which cover the wide-spread prairies, and are usually tended by the Zalan, a tribe of neatherds, who, \vith no peculiarities of race, are yet looked upon as a distinct caste by their fellow- countrymen. Zalan is used as a tenn of reproach ; I know not why. Mr. Isenberg asserts that they assume a descent from Jacob, one of the companions of Menilek in his exodus A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN. IIS from Jerusalem, and states that, in his opinion, in point of moraUty they are far in advance of other Abyssinians, and are usually content with one wife at a time. I am sorry to say that the truth of this last remark cannot be borne out by my own personal observation. One thing is certain, however : they can handle the long stick, with which they are always pro- vided, most deftly, and few soldiers, armed with spear and shield, care for an encounter with one of these doughty quarter-staff players. Their chief habitat is in the provinces of Dembea, Foggara, and Belessa. On the following day (January 14th) we left Tankal, and entered the district of Taccosa.* En route, at a spot called Amoos Gabea {T/itirsday market), we fell in with startling evidences of the sanguinary disposition of the monarch under whose protection and escort we were travelling. The ground for several roods around the large tree, beneath whose spread- ing branches the market was held, from which the place derives its nam;, was covered with bleached and grinning skulls, the trophies of the great king's vengeance over some rebels who had unfortunately succumbed to his power in that locality. Travelling on, we soon descried the rocky pro- montory of Gorgora, which juts out into the sea from the north-western corner of it, and it was not long before we could catch a glimpse of the blue still waters of Tsana, glinting beneath the noon-day sun. We halted at Wanzige, a village not far from the lake. The Shoom was absent with his sons in th; camp of Theodore ; but his wife, on hearing of our arrival, immediately sent a message of welcome to us. AVe went to pay our respects to her, and the worthy dame, anxious to show us all the hospitality in her power, insisted on pre- paring for us a dish of fitfit with her own hands. Emptying the contents of a gourd of curdled milk into a deep wooden basin, she added some crumbled /^ bread, and then, stripping up \\ix sleeve, shs vigorously stirred the whole with her hand for several minutes. Then, a judicious admixture of d'dlihh, or capsicum-chutnsy, and a renewal of the stirring process followed, and the mess was pronounced ready to be served. Soai; amDunt of courage was required before we could bring ourselves to attack a dish so unlike anything we could re- member in a European menu, but, unwilling to cast a slur on our hostess' hospitality, we at length boldly plunged in our hands; and notwithstanding the strange flavour afforded by this mslanrc of sour milk, sourer bread, and burning pepper, we contrived to do justice to the fare, and washed it down with a horn or two of rough beer, compared with which a Devonshire labourer's cider would seem quite sweet. We then bowed ourselves out, glad to exchange the smoky and stifling atmosphere of the small hut which formed tlie chatelaine's abode for the purer air outside. The following morning thereoccurred a regular strike amongst our many hundred porters. The Tchelga and Dembea men relused to carry our baggage through Taccosa and tl" ; regions beyond. But Lidj Tesamma's mothei, a fine old lady, who had joined us at Sarabo, mounted her mule, and gallantly riding forth amongst the malcontents, elo(]uently harangued * Tl>is n.ime should be properly spelt Talciiesa, but I prefer an ordiograpliy in unison with the pronunciation. I may mention here that the letter g is always hard in Amharic, and that in words ending with the fifth vowel form (e) the accent is nearly al-vays on the penultimate, as In Wandi'ge, Wanzi'ge, Tacaz'zfi, &c. Gn is nasal, and should be p-;onounced like a French^// (champagne), or Spanish n (Seuor). them, and, whether by appealing to their better feelings, or by bringing before their eyes the dread prospect of King Theodore's vengeance, or what not, reduced them at length to submission. Eventually, however, arrangements were come to by which a change was made at the frontier of each district. This proceeding, though involving considerable delay, was so obviously dictated by justice that we could make no com- plaints. ^Ve encamped the next day at Goja, on the very borders of the lake, and moved on the i6th to Belass. The country was deserted, the land untilled ; and it was but rarely that we came across a village with a single inhabitant in it. At Arrico, a small hamlet mentioned by Bruce, we rested for half an hour at the house of a worthy old man, a carpenter by trade, as, indeed, were nearly all the people in the jilace. Belass is a large marsh, full of teal and other wild fowl, but we did not see any hippopotami, although the lake was said to be full of them. Soon after passing Dengel-bar {Gate of the Virgin), the next day, we entered the district of Wandige, the hereditary property of Lidj Tesamma's family. On the road, we had turned aside from our path to examine an ancient church, dedicated to Kedoos Mikhail (St. Michael). Every one knows the style of architecture used for ecclesiastical edifices in Abyssinia. The inner circle, or holy of holies, in which the Tabot or Ark is deposited, and into which the priest is alone permitted to enter ; the outer ring, in which the worship of the laity is carried on, and the verandah beyond, which none may overstep save those possessing inward and outward purity, have been so repeatedly depicted by pen and pencil of late, that it is a work of supererogation to do more than glance at them here. The grotesque representations of saints, angels, and devils \vith which the walls are bedaubed, are never remarkable either for beauty or antiquity. The exploits of favourite princes of modern days are mingled with selections from ancient history, sacred and legendary. Next to the wise and valiant Sab'a Gadis, who is quietly transfixing with his lance an elephant, who appears to submit to this phle- botomising treatment with equal composin-e, may be seen Pharaoh crossing the Red Sea at the head of a compact phalanx of musketeers. In a thinly-wooded country, a church as it crowns some eminence, and its cross-surmounted roof jieeps oat from a grove of dark green cedars, may appear picturesque and imposing enough ; but a near approach soon dispels the first feelings of awe and veneration, and the only wonder is how there can be even a pretence of devotion amidst such gross and sacrilegious semblances of all that is usually held most holy, as look down on die worshipper from the walls. Such, at least, were my impressions at the moment. Time and experience have induced me to modify them to some extent ; still, in the present narrative, it has chiefly been my aim to record images just as they were stamped upon the retina of the mind, but, if it were required to comment upon them, to do so in the light of a more advanced knowledg.- of the people. In judging of the religious observances of the Abyssinians, the very complex character of the nation must always be borne in mind. Impulsive, yet calculating ; brave, and yet cowardly ; now a traitor, and now a very Abdiel : one man will exhibit all these traits, and his conduct will be guided accordingly by the ruling passion of die moment. It was from his perfect acquaintance with the character of his people that ii6 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. thu late king was able to keep his hold over them so long ; and it was probably from an equally intimate knowledge of the Ethiopian race that Athanasius found it an easy task to implant amongst them a religion that, in the midst of enemies, has flourished, with scarcely a change in its constitution, for fifteen centuries. The wann blood of the south has always demanded a more materialistic faith than the frigid north : more saints, more festivals, more pomp and bravery of and who after a short and miserable reign, died by an assassin's sword. But, while thus keenly affected by the contemplation of the avenging hand of Heaven stretched forth in wrath, the recollection does not deter the Abyssinians from the commission of crimes equal in enormity to that of the royal parricide. Many a soldier, without hesitation, and almost without compunction, slew his father or his brother at the bidding of King Theodore. One of our guards at VIEW NEAR TCIIELGA, ABYSSINIAN PLATEAU. sacerdotal attire, these have been the panem et circmses that Romans since the days of Constantine have cried for. But tlie Abyssinian requires more than this. To please him effectuall)', virtue must be visibly recompensed and vice as openly chastised. Reward and punishment, viewed as the result of Divine inter\-ention, touch him, and awaken his religious sympathies. I have seen a lad almost moved to tears as he recounted the tale of Takla Haimanot Ergoom {T/ic Accursed), the hue of whose complexion, after the xnurder of his father, Hatse Yasu'e, changed to a deep black. Magdala was notorious for having betrayed his nearcKt re- latives into the merciless hands of the king. He was em- phatically styled among us "The Murderer;" yet, after a day spent in treachery and crime, he would offer up his prayers with as much simplicity and earnestness as a guileless child. It is hard to judge these Africans by our northern canons. Before they can be enlightened and improved, their character must be fully understood, and that can only be done by men of wider sympathies and more catholic views than those who ha\-e hitherto attemj^ted the task. ROUTES ACROSS THE HIMALAYA. 117 Routes across the Himalaya. To the north of the broad valley of the Ganges stretches the vast range of the Himalaya, the highest, though not the longest, of the mountain chains of the world. A glance at the map of Asia will show that to the north-west of Hindostan there is a great mountain-knot, from which diverge four ranges of niountams : to the north the Bolor Tagh (the Cloudy Moun tains) to the west the Hindoo Koosh, to the south the Soli- maun, and to the east the Himalayan, ranges. The ranges of the Himalaya make a grand sweep of nearly eight degrees to the south-east, and then run eastward. A line from their most northern to their most southern declivities would traverse a distance which, due north and south, would measure about 560 miles. The Himalaya consists of no single line of peaks, but of many parallel chains. Seen from the plains of India, these chains seem to rise distinctly one behind another. The lower and middle hills appear of the blue grey tinge which distant mountains generally show, but above and beyond them rise the snow-covered peaks of the highest summits. At great distances — from 120 to 200 miles off — in the plains, the highest only of these mountains can be seen, just breaking the horizon-line. At a distance of from fifty to sixty miles from the mountains, the three clearly-marked parallel ranges are easily to be made out ; but, on a nearer approach, the lower of the mountain ranges hides from sight the more elevated and distant i)eaks. The apparent uniformity of outline disappears ; spurs with their dividing valleys become distinguishable ; and at last, when the traveller enters the hill region itself, one valley with its bounding mountains is all that he beholds. The average height of tlie Himalayas is 20,000 feet — more than 4,000 feet greater than the height of Mont Blanc — and the highest peak of all. Mount Everest, has an elevation of 29,002 feet above the level of the sea — a height almost as great as if two Mont Blancs were piled one on the other. Clotiied at their feet with the perpetual verdure of the tropics, the Himalayas rise into increasingly colder levels of the atmosphere, though the climate even of the higher valleys is milder than is found in other countries at similar elevations. Corn has been grown at a height of 18,000 feet; birch-trees with tall stems are found at a height of over 14,000 feet ; the vine flourishes in some of the high valleys ; and forests of the Deodar cedar are found almost up to the snow-line. - The snow- line occurs at elevations of from 15,500 to 18,000 feet ; and in the upper valleys of the mountains are found some of the largest glaciers in the world. As the northern part of the mountain system is approached, the remarkable dr}Tiess of the atmosphere is manifested in the fact that, even at elevations so great as that of the Karakorum Pass (18,200 feet above the sea level), a traveller in the month of August found only patches of snow. There are, however, so many lofty summits rising thousands of feet above even the highest snow-level, that the name applied to the range, Himalaya, " the dwelling of snow," has a striking applicability to these mountains. The ^■ast extent of the Himalaya is perhaps more easily realised by comparison with some elevations better known to most Europeans. At their smallest breadth the Himalayan range is 400 miles across — that is, farther than from London to Edinburgh. The Alps would take, it is calculated, at the outside, three days for a man to cross, and a good walker can go from a ^■illage on one side to a village on the other in a summer's day. But from any point in the Punjaub it takes a man, assisted by a pony, sixty-six days to cross the mountains ; even if a man tried his utmost, he could hardly do it under fifty-five days. For twenty-five marches, the road is never under an elevation of 15,000 feet ; and during forty-five marches, never descends below 9,000 feet. A native of India who traversed the Himalaya, in the service of the Great Indian Survey, by the Karakorum Pass, took twenty-five days to march from the last village south to the first village north of the pass. Distinctly defined as the ranges of the Himalaya appear to be when the mountains are viewed from the plain, it is found that, in traversing them, there are vast numbers of inter- mingling spurs which join one series of heights to another. From one valley, by means of a high pass, the traveller reaches another valley or small plain, higher than that which he has left ; and thus stage after stage he rises, the elevation attained being indicated not so much by the actual steepness of the ascents as by the changes in the vegetation, the presence of snow, and the greater rarity of the atmosphere. Long branches from the Himalaya cross the table-land of Tibet and join the Kuen-lun range ; indeed, though the Himalaya are sometimes spoken of as the southern, and the Kuen-lun as the northern boundary of Tibet, neither of them can be well separated from that lofty table-land, which has an elevation of from 15,000 to 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. Practically, it is difficult to define where the Himalayan ranges end, and those of the Kuen-lun begin. Beyond the range of the Kuen-lun, however, there opens out a wide, and in many places fertile, plain, known to geographers as the plain of Yarkand and Khotan. After crossing the Himalaya and Kuen-lun and arriving at Ilchi, the capital of Khotan, the traveller feels as if he had left the hills altogether, and as if he were in the plains of Hindostan. No hills are to be seen in any direction, except on a clear day, when the lower ranges of the Kuen-lun are visible. This plain is of considerable width, and is bounded on the north by the volcanic range of the Thian-Shan, whose singular forms have given rise to many legends of the influence of Shaitan in causing the contortions of the rocks. Westward stretches the Bolor Tagh, the western edge of the great central table-land of Asia, of which the Himalayas form the southern bountlary, and eastward the fertile Yarkand plain merges gradually into the sandy desert of Gobi. The slopes of the Kuen-lun, the Bolor Tagh, and Thian-Shan mountains, send streams down to water the plain. These, of which the ciiief are the Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, and Kiria, unite to form the Tarim, which loses itself in Lake Lop Nor, one of tlie numerous salt lakes wliich abound on the great table-land. The soil is generally sandy, and free from stones and rocks. It is very productive, and a fine dust, which is blown by the east wind from the desert over the fertile plain, is looked upon by the inhabitants as a kind of manure for the soil, without which no vegetation would thrive. Indian com, wheat, bariey of two kinds, buckwheat, and rice all grow in great perfection ; olives, pears, apples, peaches, apricots, mulberries, grapes, currants, and melons are produced -iiS ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. of large size and delicious flavour; cotton of valuable quality, and raw silk abound. There are forests of poplar, willow, and tamarisk, and abundance of good grass. Between the towns of Ivhotan and .Vksu there is for twelve marches a forest so dense that travellers are said to have lost themselves in it Minerals are found abundantly, especially in the Kuen-lun mountains; those that are known are gold, silver, iron, lead, copper, antimony, salt, saltpetre, sulphur, soda, and coal ; jade is also found in large quantities. Gold and precious stones abound in the beds of the streams which flow from the Kuen lun range, and it is said that more than 3,000 men are at work on the gold-fields. Gold is abundant, and is only about half the price in Khotan which it is in Kashmir, on the southern slopes of the Himalaya. The current coins are made of silver and copper; gold is not used for coin, but is sold in small packets of varying value. The wild animals are chiefly the Tibetian species of the goat, wolf, jackal, fox, and hare. In the great forest before mentioned, bears, tigers, and leopards roam at large. There are many wild birds, among them a species of hawk, which is kept by the natives for the purpose of hunting wolves, jackals, &c. Camels and asses are employed as beasts of burden, horses for riding and drawing wheeled conveyances. Most of the horses are imported. Goats are to be met with in large flocks, and they yield the material of which the fine shawls are made. Geese, ducks, and fowls are the domestic birds, and are very abundant. This fertile plain is not very thickly populated ; but in the great towns considerable numbers of people are collected to- gether. The town of Yarkand is said to have a population of 120,000; the inhabitants of Ilchi, the modern capital of Khotan, number 40,000 ; and there are other large cities, of which Kashgar and Aksu are two. Kashgar is an ancient city, one of those that have escaped the encroachment which the desert has from time to time made on the inhabited country. Not all of the towns of the plain have been so fortunate. The province of Khotan contains several of these buried cities, one of which is only a few miles distant from the present capital, Ilchi. The shifting sands of the Gobi /nove along in vast billows, overpowering everything, and they are said to have once buried 360 cities in the space of twenty- four hours. There is probably considerable exaggeration in this statement; but some of the buried cities are known, and from out of their ruins various articles are dug. In one of them large quantities of brick tea are found, which has a ready sale, now that trade with China is stopped. Gold coins, some of them weighing four pounds, and various other articles, have .also been discovered ; and it would seem as if the cities had been suddenly buried, so that the inhabitants had no time to remove their property. There is something weird in this modern utilisation of the things discovered in these old cities, of wliose name and date there remains no record known to us, and whose position, even, is a secret carefully kept by a few. The people are fine -looking, with a Tartar cast of features, and are well-dressed and cleanly. They are Mahom- medans, and are apparently very strict in the observance of their religious duties. The commerce and trade of the country is carried on in the cities by means of bazaars held periodically in each. Yarkand is the chief seat of what may be called the foreign trade, and to it are brought goods from Russia and Bokhara by means of caravans, which visit Yarkand twice a year, employing as many as a tliousand camels. British goods, up to the present time, have also reached Yarkand and other cities of Eastern Turkestan by means of a circuitous route, which brought them first to Bokhara, and then, along with other things, through the narrow passes of the Bolor Tagh, to the cities of Kashgar, Yarkand, and the rest. Into Yarkand are imported sugar-candy, loaf-sugar, clotii, wrought- iron, brass, iron vessels, horses, China tea, and silks. From China there are at present no direct imports. Ilchi is a great manufacturing town. Silks, felts, carpets bolli silk and woollen, and coarse cotton cloths, are made and sent all over the country. The bazaar of Ilchi, which takes place weekly, is frequented not only by natives, but by Kashmirees and Cabulees ; it is held chiefly in a long street, running east and west, which is covered in with a roof of reed matting. The bazaar presents a very lively scene, both men and women being anxious to buy and sell. Up to a recent time — not much more than five years ago — Eastern Turkestan, the fertile country which has just been described, formed an integral part of the Chinese Empire. Bat, as is well known, the Chinese government has been unable to retain power even in provinces nearer the capital than this, and it is therefore not surprising that the Klian of Khotan was able, in 1863, to raise a rebellion against the Chinese, which resulted in the massacre of many of these people, and the expulsion of the rest from Khotan. Yarkand, Kashgar, Aksu, and other cities, followed the example given ; aiad all direct communication with China was thus ended. This change of circumstances seems chiefly to have incon- venienced the inhabitants of Eastern Turkestan with regard to their supplies of tea. The readiness with which the brick tea from the buried cities was brought up is evidence of this ; and it is certain that, did safe routes exist from Hindostan to Eastern Turkestan over the Himalaya and Kuen-lun ranges, the bazaars of Ilchi, Yarkand, Sec, would afford excellent markets for the sale of Indian-grown teas. All the pejjjle of these districts are great tea-drinkers. Mr. W. H. Johnson says that, when he was at Ilchi, " all who visited him, rich or poor, asked for a cup of tea, which is drank with sugar, but without milk." .\s a mark of respect, a cup of tea was pre- sented by the Khan of Khotan himself, on Mr. Johnson's first interview with him. To ascertain the existence of routes across the Himalaya and Kuen-lun fit for use in trade is a matter which, within the last two years, has become of vast importance. Communi- cation with China being stopped, the inhabitants of Eastern Turkestan have become dependent for foreign sujiplies either upon caravans from Russia to the west, or upon goods sent from British India to the south. At present, goods passing from British India to Kashgar and Yarkand — and of late years large quantities have been sent — are forwarded up the Indus from the port of Kurrachee, or from other places, to Dera Ismael Khan, thence they are taken to Peshawur, and by the Khyber Pass to Cabul. From that place they pass to Bokhara, and thence by Khotan to Kashgar and Yarkand, where, even after so long and circuitous a journey, they have competed successfully with goods from Russia. This route is a long- established one, and there is comparatively little difficulty in carrying on trade by it ; but it has the dis- advantage of being extremely indirect. The direct route over the Himalayan range leads frofa ROUTES ACROSS THE HIMALAY.\. ii9> Umritsur, or one of the neighbouring towns in the Punjaiib, to Chuniba, and other places on the lower slopes of the Himalaya, where the living of a large class of the population depends on this trade. From these lower regions the road passes through various ranges of the Himalayas, rising gradually till it reaches the plains of Ladak, and arrives at the town of Leh, on the Indus, the capital of this province. The plains of Ladak are elevated about 15,000 feet above the sea-lcvcl. In itself, Leh is not an important place. It is the chief city of a thinly-peopled district ; and its only greatness arises from its being an entrepot of commerce between distant countries. But towns not more promising in them- selves have become great with even less trade than that of which Leh is the centre ; and the crowded state of its bazaars, and the piles of goods from Yarkand, Kashmir, and the Pun- jaub stored up in its houses and court}ards, show how active is the commerce caiTied on there. From Leh, the various routes over the Karakorum and Kuen-lun ranges diverge, some being more easy to traverse than others. One of these routes goes over the Karakorum Pass, and presents many difficulties. Among others, travellers ha\e to march for six days consecutively without finding a blade of grass for their cattle. This is the route which, up to the present time, has been chiefly used. It is so dangerous and difficult that traders are obliged to take three spare horses for every one laden, and it is calculated that a fourth of the animals die on the road. The road to this pass traverses some of the most desolate regions of Tibet. Everywhere barren precipices, heaps of rocks, and monotonous deserts, meet the eye. The pass itself is a rounded ridge (18,200 feet above the level of the sea), connecting two hills, which rise somewhat abruptly about 1,000 feet above it. There is no view to the north, for the hills which are not snow-covered close in about half a mile distant. To the south the mountains are round- to]5ped and covered with snow. Vegetation is entirely wanting at the top of the pass, and the rare atmosphere makes exertion fatiguing, and produces a dull headache. From the Kara- koram Pass, the road leads either north-east to Khotan (Ikhi), or north-west to Yarkand. The difficulties of the Karakorum route nave not hindered the development of trade ; it has even shown a tendency to increase, since the excessive duties which used to be le\ied by the rulers of Ladak — and which were the real obstacles to commerce — ha\-e been removed. In describing the second route from Leh to Ilchi — one that has only recently been opened for trade — it will be necessary to name two of the smaller streams which rise in the Himalaya, und the valleys of which will play an important part in en- abling intercourse to be carried on between the two cities. One of these rivers is the Changchenmo (a name suggestive of Chinese rather than Indian nomenclature), which rises on the southern face of one of the outlying spurs of the Himalaya, and, flowing westward, joins a tributary of the Indus. The other -stream is the Karakash, which, rising in the Kuen-lun, flows first west and then north-east to Ilchi and the Khotan river. This second route from Leh to Ilchi is to the east of that by the Karakorum Pass, and is called the Changchenmo foute, from its being partly in the valley of that river. From Leh the road nms eastward and then northward, into the Valley of the Changchenmo. On leaving that, it goes over a pass more than 19,000 feet above the sea; but taking it as a whole, this route is nothing more than passing over a series of vast undulations, which present no real obstacle to enter- prising traders. Grass, wood, and water, are found along this line, which, passing over the head-waters of the Karakash, crosses the Kuen-lun, and descends upon Ilchi. A modifi- cation of this route has been suggested and followed, which is that, instead of crossing the Kuen-lun, the traveller should proceed the whole way to Ilchi in the valley of the Karakash, after having once struck the course of that river. This change makes the road somewhat longer, but saves the ascent of a very high pass over the Kuen-lun, and shortens the journey by two days' march. This route has been opened for trade by a party of Punjaub traders with horse-loads of Kangra tea, which they were taking to Yarkand. When Mr. Johnson, who has been before mentioned, paid his visit to Ilchi, in 1865, he heard of an open road, which passes from that city, going round the end of the Kuen-lun mountains, by the Changthang plain, to the Changchenmo valley near Leh. This road is said to be available for wheeled carriages ; water, grass, and wood are found everj^vhere on the route ; but opposition may be expected from the shepherds who inhabit part of the Changtliang plain. Though this road would be of immense advantage, were it open and as passable as it is reported to be, little can be said about it, as no one has j'et explored it. The British Government has recently done much for the improvement of the i-oad from the Punjaub to Leh, by build- ing bridges and rendering steep ascents more easy ; and now that the exactions of Ladak are done away with, the trade over the Himalayas between Western India and Turkestan is likely greatly to increase. Another route is known to exist, which leads directly from • North-^\'estern India to Turkestan, and which is said to be practicable for laden carts all the way from India to Central Asia. This road passes from Jellalabad up the valley of the river, called the Chitral valley, to its source. From this point it proceeds by an easy road over the Hindoo Koosh into the valley of the Oxus. Of this route, however, we know at present but little, except from the itinerary of a native Yarkandi merchant ; another native report given of it states that " the trade through Chitral is confined to certain adventurous Afghans alone, and that natives of Yarkand seldom traverse this route." The road is subject to incursions by the Kafiristan tribes. It is for this reason, probably, that Yarkandi traders prefer either the longer route to India by Bokhara and Afghanistan, or the more difficult one over the Himalaya, through Ladak and Kashmir. It is possible that more detailed accounts of this route may be furnished by Mr. Hayward, a traveller who is now (lc\oting himself to explorations in the region between North-\\'cstern India and the upper valley of the Oxus. The opening of any new routes for trade is a matter not only of interest to the merchant, but of congratulations to all who see in the multiplication of commercial relations the surest guarantee for the advancement of nations, not only in material prosperity, but in civilisation, and in increased pro- babilities of peace. Our communications with Eastern Tur- kestan are as yet too much in their infancy for us to do more than hope for good to result from them. It is not to be denied that in Turkestan the advances of British commerce will come somewhat into contact, perhaps into collision, with those put forward by Russia. But, whilst it is not to be for- ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. gotten tliat Russia is advancing towards Eastern Turkestan, there are few who have read the descriptions of the roads which lead from that country to British India, that will fear the entrance of an army, either by the Karakorum Pass or the vallev of the Changchenmo. The routes that suffice for traders would be quite impossible to be traversed by armies ; and so long as the physical barriers of the Kuen-lun and Himalaya remain what they are, it is not from the direction of Eastern Turkestan that the approach of Russia need be feared. THK EbPAD.-i. Notes oil Spain. — IV. THE BCLL-FIGHT : THE N.\TIONAL SPORT OF SPAIN— LITERATURE OF THE RING— STARS OF THE PROFESSION— ROUTINE OF THE SPECTACLE-- BURLESQUE BULL-FIGHTS — CRUEL! V. In our last number we mentioned one or two of the things usually put in evidence to support the charge of barbarism against Spain. But the barbarism par cxal'lcncc, the heaviest item in the act of accusation, -is, of course, the bull-fight ; and, hackneyed as the subject may be, we must give it a place in our notes. It is not necessary, however, to enter into any very elaborate description of the spectacle, fcr, thanks to the per- sexerance of travellers, every reader is by this time tolerably familiar with the nature of the national pastime of Spain. There is, indeed, something amusing in the naivete with which tourists generally record their experiences and impressions in the matter of the bull-fight : in the anxiety they display to witness it, the haste to secure places on the first available opportunity, the gusto with which the scenes in the ring are described, and the inevitable homily on the moral degradation of a people who can find pleasure in witnessing so barbarous an exhibition. If they were always content with this form of protest, it would not matter much, but the viva voce expression of indignation frequently to be heard at Sunday tables-d' hote in Madrid or Seville during the bull-fighting season, must sound 3t least somewhat inconsistent to Spanish ears. The French tourist (as a general rule, tourists in Spain are either French or English) seldom takes up his parable against the bull-fight witli any degree of fervour. If he is not blinded by the merits of the spectacle to the demerits of the exhibition, at least he has too keen a sense of the ridiculous to stultify himself by de- nouncing as disgusting, and fit only for savages, a sight which he has taken considerable trouble to see, and sat out unflinch- ingly to the last ; nor does he condescend to plead that most transparent of excuses — pure philosophical desire to study national character, ^^'e, however, do not always display the same discretion. British virtue is very great, and we are justly proud of its r;catness ; but it has this peculiarity, that it must always be talking. It is by no means satisfied with a silent existence, and the bull-fight affords it a too tempting opportunity for declaring itself But may not Espanolismo fairly reply, " Why, O British ^•irtue ! if this sport of ours is so sickening and revolting and unendurable to any but a depraved taste, do you lend it your countenance, as you do, upon the whole, pretty regularly whenever you have a chance ? Every hotel- keeper knows that in general your first question is, whether there is a bull-fight to come off, and that, if anything wiU BOYS PLAYING AT BULL-FIGHTING. 16— VOL. I. ILLUSTRATED TR.W^ELS. induce you to stay, it is the i)rospect of a corrida on Sunday. We do not want your company at it any more than we want your lecture afterwards. You know perfectly well what it is like, and, indeed, as we ha\-e often remarked, you describe it %vith considerable vigour and circumstantialit)-. You cannot say you are entrapped into assisting at an entertainment of tlie nature of which you were ignorant. "Why not be honest, as well as o-reat ? AV^hy not admit tliat, lofty as you are, 3'ou have still the human weakness of curiosity, and that you cannot resist the temptation of a wild, semi-barbarous spectacle, only to be witnessed in this semi-civilised countrj-, as you kindly call it ? You needn't plead guilty to cruelty if you don't like, but pray be honest, and confess to the curiosity and lo\e of excitement which aftect us all more or less." But, apart from the inconsistency of the proceeding, it is scarcely courteous in a foreigner to rail in such good set terms at a national sport, and b)- implication therefore at the nation that indulges in it. For the bull-fight is unquestionably the national sport of Spain. It is only in a rare instance liere and there among the upper classes, as in the case of Prim, that Spaniards are sportsmen in our sense of the word. Hunting, shooting, and fishing are undreamt-of amusements. They have no turf, and no games, except perhaps a species of fives which is played a good deal in the northern provinces. For all these, and also to a certain extent for the stage and the opera, which ha\e no great hold on the affections of the Spanish people, the bull-fight is the one substitute. It is the sole vent for the .sporting instincts of the nation, and for that love of athletic display, skill, dexterity, and jjluck, whicli e\-ery nation possesses in a greater or less de;jree. It is at once to the Spaniards what the drama is to the French, a source of excitement and a field for criticism, and what the turf is to us, a sport, the enjoyment of which is open to all classes. There are, it is true, plent}- of Spaniards who regard the di\-ersion with anything but fiiNOur ; nor are these exclusively of the educated and cultivated classes, for we have many times heard peasants denounce the bull-fight in language as strong as any foreigner could use. But with the great mass of the people, and with the town populations in particular, the love of " Bull-feasts "^o-/- and broad peak covered with peri)etual snow. The sun soon rose on the horizon, and presented, through the sea fog, the appearance of the crimson globe, which, depicted on a wliitc ground, forms the national arms of Japan. Its first rays lighted up tlie jraint of Cajie Idsu, on the mainland of Nippon, on the larboard, while, on the north-east, we saw the smoke ascending from the two craters of tlie island of Ohosima. The town of Simoda, at the extremity of a little bay in the jjromontory of Idsu, is the first, but least important, of the seats of commerce which is met in ascending the Clulf of U.MI'.KRr, SWISS MINISTER IN JAPAN. Yeddo. The Americans obtained permission from the Govern- ment to form a settlement here in 1854. Subsequently the road- I stead was destroyed by an earthquake, and this town was not included in the treaty of 1858. Along the coast we perceived a number of fishing boats, and some larger vessels coming from Nippon and the surrounding islands. This animated picture presents a remarkable harmony of colouring ; the sky is of a dazzling azure, and the sea, no longer of that dark blue colour which shows a great depth of water, is of a green shade, and possesses that peculiar limpidity which characterises the rocky coasts of Japan. The islands clothed in the brilliant foliage of spring, the dark brown rocks brightened by streaks of ochre, contrasting with the white sails of the native vessels, the snows of Myake'sima, and the smoking crater of Ohosima, A EUROPEAN SOJOURN IN JAPAN. '37 combine to form a most charming picture. After passing the volcanic island, on which we observed wooded hills, and even some cultivated fields and villages, we doubled Cape Sagami and entered a nan-ow channel called the Uraga Canal. Uraga is the town which Commodore Perry visited with his squadron in 1853. The American envoy explained the object of his mission to the delegates of the Japanese government, and the western world. The recollection of this successful mission is preserved in the names of the various places which we passed. Above Uraga is Susquehanna Bay ; opposite, on the eastern coast, there is Cape Saratoga ; and higher up, on the western side, Mississippi Bay ; these three names being those of the principal vessels which formed the American sijuadron. Perry and Webster Islands, on the west coast, JAPANESE GROOMS (BETOS). .ind gave them a lettter for the Tycoon, with which the President of the United States had entrusted him, informing them at the same time that he would return for an answer the following year. On his second visit, in 1854, he resisted the attempts of the governor of Uraga to detain him before that port, and pressed on with his squadron towards Yeddo ; but not wishing to outrage the national susceptibilities, he cast anchor eight miles to the south of the capital. Six weeks later, on the 31st of March, 1854, he signed the treaty of Kanagawa, which inaugurated new relations between Japan VOL. I. perpetuate the fame of the commodore of the expedition and of the celebrated secretary of state who was its originator. Opposite Cape Saratoga there is a sand bank, which has been the cause of many disasters, and reduces the navigable channel to six miles in width. We soon entered the Bay of Yeddo, which gradually extends to the north-east and south-west until it is about thirty miles in length, and terminates in a semi- circle of twenty-two miles in diameter from east to west, on which is situated the immense capital of Japan. It was at Mississippi Bay that we first saw the summit of Fusi-Yama. 18 ijS ILLUSTRATED IRAVELS. "the unparalleled mountain," an extinct volcano which rises to the height of 12,450 feet above the sea. It is about fifty nautical miles from the western coast of the bay, and com- pletely isolated, with the exception of the chain of hills of Akoni at its base. It is almost impossible to describe the effect of this enormous, solitary pyramid, covered with snow. It gives an air of great solemnity to the landscapes of the Bay of Yeddo, which independently of this are of a sterner character than those of the gulf. This is caused by the closer proximity of the two shores, the slightly muddy ap- pearance of the water, and the number of cedars, pines, and other gloomy-looking trees which crest the hills along the banks. M last we doubled Treaty Point, a picturesque promon- tory, where the agreement was signed between Commodore Perry and tl\e Tycoon's deputies ; and then the town of Yokohama, extending along a marshy shore, and enclosed on the south and west by wooded hills, burst suddenly on our sight. About twenty ships of war and merchant vessels of various countries were riding in the harbour, nearly opposite the Frank quarter, which we recognised by its white houses and the flags of the various consulates. Some native junks . were anchored at a little distance from the pier head and custom-house stores. We steamed slowly past the Japanese city, the houses in which, w'ith the exception of some of the warehouses, are of wood, and appear to consist of only one storey above the ground-floor. When we arrived at the Benten quarter, situated at the end of the beach, and at the mouth of a large river, our vessel selected an anchorage near the Dutch legation, which was at that time the only European dwelling in that part of the native town. I disembarked the following morning, and my kind host, M. de Polsbroek, consul-general, installed me in the detached building which he occupied himself. The Dutch residence in Benten was built by the Japanese govern- ment, which took advantage of the opportunity to solve an interesting international problem, namely, the suitability of native architecture to the wants of a civilised people. The principal building forms a long square composed of two high walls, with gables on the east and west, and two long, low side-fronts on the north and south. They are built partly of bricks and partly of wood and clay. A spacious wooden verandah, like those of the Swiss chalets, surrounds the north, east, and west sides, and is intersected at each front by a graceful portico leading to the garden. Every room in the liouse opens on this verandah with glass folding -doors, which take the place of windows. There are four of these doors on the east side, which is entirely occupied by the sitting- room, and eight on the north. The principal entrance is on the west front. It opens into a wide, lofty corridor, leading to the sitting-room, and comnivmicating with the other apart- ments, which are all independent of each other, having each two doors, one opening into the corridor, and the other into the verandah. The south side contains the kitchen, pantry, cellar, and several bed-chambers and bath-rooms. The lofti- ness of the ceilings, and the size of the lobby and kitchen, secure a free circulation of air. The light is a good deal intercepted by the verandah; but this is remedied, to some extent, by the number of glass doors. Such was the ground- floor of our dwelling at Benten ; and, in fa< t. the whole of it, for the rest of the immense structure consisted of a com- plicated roof, the framework of which was quite liollow with- out garrets, attics, or skylights. The object of this style of architecture, peculiar to Japan, is to enable the largest build- ings, such as temples and palaces, to resist the .shocks of earthquakes. and the frightful hurricanes known by the name of typhoons. A zigzag staircase ascends the outside of the roof on the south side, and leads to the top of the building, on which there is a terrace. From this airy obser\-ator)- we have often watched the arrival of the packet with the European mail. And when the proverbial dilatoriness of the Japanese government has condemed us to whole months of inaction, we have ascended there, and imagined ourselves passengers on board a becalmed vessel. Yet, when we cast a glance upon the harbour, with its squadron of foreign .ships, and on the European city in course of construction, we felt that the great work of opening Japan to the world was making a real, if slow progress. The house which I have just described was inhabited by four persons only, the consul-general of the Netherlands, his chancellor, myself, and my Dutch secretary and inteqireier : but we were surrounded by a colony of domestics and officials, located in several small houses which were scattered about the thickets in the garden. In one of these, close to our western portico, and which was inhabited by the constable of the consulate, I had established our little photographic studio, and a guard-room for the marines belonging to the Dutch station. At a little distance behind this building, there is a fireproof store, hermetically closed by iron doors and shutters. The porter's lodge is by the side of the gate- way, in the strong fence which encloses the garden on all sides except that next the bay, where it is replaced b\' a bamboo-cane barrier, fixed horizontally above the water, and on a level with the terrace which extends along the ;hore. This gateway, which is painted black, the same as the fence, and ornamented with copper on the top of the principal pillars, contains three doors : a large double one in the centre, which is only opened for the master of the house and his guests and their \isitors, and a small one on each side for the purveyors, native shopkeepers, and domestics. These are open all day, but closed at sunset. The chief porter, a worthy man, and the father of a family, exercises a sort of patriarchal authority over the other servants, and even in the neighbourhood generally. His lodge, in which tea, pipes, and tobacco are alwa)'s ready, is the rendezvous for all the loungers and gossips in the Benten quarter. This does not interfere with their duties being performed with an accuracy with which we must be satisfied in the extreme East. The functions of the porters, or monbans, as they are called in Japan, are not confined to guarding, opening, and closing the entrances confided to their care ; they have to strike the hours, day and night, on gongs suspended at the door of their lodge ; by which means they also announce the rank of the person visiting the residence, one stroke being given for a merchant or a citizen of the Frank quarter, two for an ofticer or interpreter, three for a consul, commander of a vessel, or Japanese governor, and four for a minister or admiral. The distance from the entrance-gate to the house allows time enough to prepare for the suitable reception of the visitor. Finally, the monban has to imdertake the re- sponsibility, either in person or through his assistants, of the night rounds, which are made twice an hour, around the ^ A EUROPEAN SOJOURN IN JAPAN. 139 Iiouses and through the alleys of the enclosure. The man who goes the round gives notice that he is passing, by- striking three blows, one long and two sliort, with two square pieces of wood which he carries. In case of danger, he must give the alarm by striking raiiidly on the gong. Along the south side of the fence there is a succession of buildings and yards, carefully concealed behind thick trees. We first come to the laundry, which is managed by a Chinese laimdrymau ; then to the stables, opposite to which are the houses occupied by the grooms or betos, who are all Japanese. Each horse has his own beto, who never loses sight of him ; in fact, when any one goes out for a ride, no matter how long, the beto runs before him or at his side, so as always to be in readiness, if required, to take charge of the animal. Tiiese hardy attendants form a regular cor- poration, with their special jurisdiction, whose chief enjoys tile right of wearing a sword in the exercise of his office. 'J'hese betos are generally of middle size, but well jjro- l)ortioned. 'I'liey pass their lives in a state of almost entire nudity. ^V'hen they accompany their masters, howe\'er, they wear sandals and a blue jacket of slight material, and a head- dress composed of a handkerchief of the saine colour. One of our betos was married, and every morning at daybreak, seated beside the well, he threw pails of fresh water alternately over his wife, his children, his horse, and himself Next to the stables comes the kennel, tenanted by a couple of grey- hounds, a beagle, a watchdog, and a cur ; then the poultry- yard, stocked with cocks, hens, geese, and ducks of the native breed. At last we come to the dwellings of the cijuqirador, the cooks, and the koskeis. I'he first is what the Jap-inese call a Nankingsan — a man of Nankin, or merely, for siiortness, a Nankin — that is to say, a Chinese. Our Nankin wore his national costume, and a plait of hair, of which he was very proud, for it reached almost to his knees. The functions of the comprador are similar to those of a steward, and these duties are generally entrusted by Europeans in the extreme East to Chinese, who have a talent for the kitchen, the pantry, and the market, and, it must be added, know how to take care of their perquisites. Our cooks were natives, and, under our superintendence, practised an in- genious culinary eclecticism, borrowed from the scliools of lutrope, India, China, and Japan. We had as butlers two Japanese called respectively Siden and Sariden, and a little Chinese belonging to the sect of the Taipings, who wore his hair long, and cut at the back of the head in the Malay fashion. He answered to the name of Rebelle. The great rebellion of the Taipings against the Manchu dynasty has created a traffic (through the open ports of Ciiina) in young boys and girls who have been carried off by the imperial troops or their allies from the insurgent districts which were given up to the sword and fire. Thus it was that our little friend " Rebelle " passed from the hands of the Franco-Chinese legion into the market at Shanghai, antl from thence to Japan. It hapjiened one day ihat an express messenger from the French Legation, belonging to the African light infantry, was admitted to our dining-room to present a despatch. Immediately on seeing him Rebelle was seized with a fit of trembling, and quickly disappeared througii the verandah door. The poor boy retained but one recollection of his childhood, which thrilled him with horror whenever a chanc'i circumstance recalled it to his memory. It was that of being in the midst of burning houses, when a man in red trousers appeared, who seized him in his arms and carried him away from his home antl famil)-. The duties of valets-de-chambre are performeil by the koskeis, w-ho are all natives. Each inhabitant of the resi- dence had his own koskei ; mine was a young man of the name of To. Like most of the Japanese, he did not know his exact age, but it was evident that he still ranked amongst the youths, as the front of his head was not yet shaved to the t0|). To was gifted with considerable intelligence and lively humour ; he was not inferior to our other Japanese in the silence and quietness with which he performed his duties ; and he had the advantage of them in a superior education and a kind and lively disposition. It was from To that I received my first lesson in Japanese; he gave me the key to it in three words, and without his being at all aware of it. The method he made use of was quite philosophic. The operations of the mind may be resolved into three primary ones : enquiry, negation, and affirmation. As soon as one can express these three oi)erations, die remainder is merely a question of vocabulary, and it only remains to store the memory Avith a selection of common words to be drawn upon when the occasion requires. We commenced with the enquiry, and I first learnt how to express " is tiiere?" arimas/ai : then we passed on to negation, " there is not," ariiiiasi : and lastly affiniiation, " there is," arimas. Then we jjroceeded to the words which 1 was most likely to require, such as Nippo:i, Japan, Japanese ; tchi, fire ; tcha, tea ; ma, a horse ; misu, water ; fuut, a boat or ship ; kiiik-iva, war, &c. ; to which he added words which have become naturalised in the country, such as Hollandii. Dutch ; Iir^/is/i, English ; Frantz, French l mhiistro, minister ; admiral, admiral. I took every op])ortunity of practising my lesson. For instance, on my return from a walk, I ordered To to bring lea, saying, Tcha arimaska > he replied, Arimas, and immediately jjlaced the refreshing be- verage on the table. Hearing an alarm sounded on the gong, I in(iulred if there were a fire : Tchi arimaska i To answered, Arimas ; and a little while after, when the fire had been sub- dued, he returned with the agreeable information, Arimasi. In the same way I would give him orders to put the water on the fire or to the tea ; to call the beto, and have my horse saddled ; and on his part he would inform me whether it was the English mail which had just entered the harbour or a man-of-war, or if the Japanese ministers had gone on board the P'rench admiral's vessel, I learned some new words every day, and our conversations became gradually extended. I have now complete 1 the list of people in our service, with the exception of the crew belonging to the consular sloop, which consisted of four rowers and their commander, who wa-i as skilful in the use of the oars as his subalterns. The com- mander A\-as a married man, and lived in a cottage on the shore ; the rowers generally slept in the boat. These people form a distinct caste, and are called Sendos. This strange mixture of various classes and elements was not peculiar to our establishment, but is common in British India and the extreme east. In our age of freedom and industry we no longer attach countries to ourselves by mere visible force ; on the contrary, we unite them to us by the ties of self-interest, b\- the interciiange of commerce, or by rendering their labour remunerative. Too often, despite the principles professed by them, our rejiresentatives are guilty of acts equally unworthy with those permitted by the old system of slavery; still it. 14° ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. must be acknowledged that avarice and brutality have less share than formerly in the conquests of civilisation, and that never before has there been so much power and intelligence devoted to the cause of pure science, of social progress, and of Christian charity. To ignore this aspect of our contem- poraneous histor)', even in a simple narrative, would be to exclude the most pathetic and characteristic points of interest which it presents. 'J'hat portion of the Japanese town of Yokohama called Benten derives its name from a sea-goddess, who is wor- shipped in an island to the north-west of the Residence. Previous to the European settlement, ihis sacred locality was surrounded only by a stragglmg village, composed of fishermen's and labourers' huts, and separated by a marsh from the equally small village of Yokohama. Now, however, quays, streets, and modern buildings cover the en- tire space between the foot of the Treaty promontory and the river, from which we were sepa- rated only by a street of barracks and Japanese watch-houses. The island of Benten alone has not un- dergone any alteration. Situated at the extremity of a creek, which the river forms at a short dis- tance from its opening into the harbour, it is protected on all sides by a facing of blotks of granite, and communicates with the streets on the shore by a bridge, which is scarcely visible amongst the mass of shrubs, leeds, and bamboos, which, in that part, overrun the channel. But it was at another point, in the western direction, that we discovered an approach worthy of the sanctity of the place to which it leads. Amongst the streets connecting Benten with the chief market-place of the Japanese town of Yokohama there is one which appears to be shaded by a plantation of pines ; and after crossing the municipal barrier, which is closed at night, we found ourselves oiiposite a long avenue of pines, to which the entrance was through one of the sacred gateways called toris. These are formed of two pillars bent towards each other in such a way as to meet in an acute angle were they not terminated at a certain height by two cross-bars, the upper one being stronger than the other and having its ends slighdy bent upwards. The tori always denotes the vicinity of a temple, a chapel, or some other sacred i)lace. AV'hat we call natural curiosities, such as a grotto, a spring, a gigantic tree, a fantastic rock, are to the Japanese the objects of pious veneration or superstitious terror, according as their minds aie more or less influenced by the Buddhist demonologv-, and the bonza give expression to these i)oi)ular feelings by erecting a tori in the neighbourhood of any of these remarkable objects. Some- TO, M. HUMBERTS V.-tLET-DE-CHAMERE times they place a number of these toris at certain intervals along the avenue leading to a temple, thus reproducing, with rustic simplicity, the architectural idea which we see embodied in the Greek propylseum and the colonnade of St. Peter's at Rome. The trees in the avenue of Benten are very tall and slender, and, for the most part, bent in the same direction by the sea breezes. Long tranverse poles are fastened to them, here and there, to whch the houses suspend garlands, inscriptions, and banners, on festivals. At the end of the avenue there is a second tori, not so high as the first, in order to add to the effect of the perspective. On reaching it we were surprised to find that the avenue made a bend, and extended to the right. There the ground was covered with tall grass, and brushwood, and light silvery pines, with air)' branches ; on our left was a sheet of transparent water, and oppo- site us a steep and wide wooden bridge, constructed with simpl- elegance, and beyond this was a third tori, standing out against the dark foliage of a mass of large trees. 'I'here was an air of mystery about the whole scene calculated to inspire awe. It was by this bridge, the pillars of which are ornamented with copper, that we at last reached the sacred spot. The -third tori, v.hich is decorated at the top with an inscription in letters of gold on a black ground, is built entirely of fine white granite, as are also the various monuments placed along the left of the avenue. The temple was before us, but so much hidden by the foliage of the cedars and pines which surrounded it, that we could scarcely perceive the stair- cases on which the worshippers kneel when performing their de- votions before the altar of the goddess. If the temple is empty, they can summon one of the at- tendant bonzes by ringing, with a long cloth bell-pull, a cluster of little bells fastened to the door. The bonze immediately comes out of his lodging, and proceeds, according as he is required, to give advice, to distribute wax lights or amulets, or undertakes to say low masses or musical ones according to the sum paid. It is necessary for every Japanese to wash and dry his face and hands previous to presenting himself before the sanctuary. For this purpose a little chapel is placed at some distance to the right of the temple, containing a basin of holy water for these ablutions, and silk crape napkins hanging on a roller, like the towels in a sacristy. Two neighbouring chapels are used, one to protect the big drum, which is used instead of a bell, and the other to contain the votive offerings of the faithful. The bo»zes who ser\'e the temple at Benten did not appear rich ; their dress was generally slovenly and neglected, and the expression of their countenances stupid, sullen, and even A EUROPEAN SOJOURN IN JAPAN. 141 malignant to foreigners, so that we felt inclined to remain at a respectful distance. I never had an opportunity of seeing ihem officiate, except once in the procession of their patron saint. It appears that at ordinary times they confine them- selves during the day to holding conference, and I have seldom seen any one availing himself of their ministry, except country people, and fishermen's wives, and passing pilgrims. But more than once — at sunset, and even far on in the night — I have heard the sound of the tambourines, which form tlie nature ; and this is the reason that, as a matter of fact, iu appearance provokes, independently of the prejudices of our Christian education, an indescribable and instinctive feeling of repulsion. The indispensable accompaniments of Japanese temples are tea-houses, or restaurants, where they consume principally tea, and saki, an intoxicating drink made from fermented rice ; but also fruit, fish, and cakes made of rice or wheat. The passion for opium is unknown in Japan. They smoke very J'^^fe^^'^^x t^v BONZES PRAYING. entire on hcstra of the temple of Benten. The bonzes keep up an interminable beating on these monotonous instruments, always with the same rhythm ; for instance, four loud blows followed by four dull ones, repeated over and over again for whole hours, probably during the time necessary for dispersing malignant influences. Nothing can equal the melancholy im- pression produced by this dull, measured sound in the .silence of night, mingled only with the sighings of the cedar trees and the mumiur of the waves breaking on the shore. One can easily perceive that a religion whi( h finds expression in such customs must oppress the minds of the people, and is for from being a natural religion. Paganism is the enemy of human small metal pipes filled with tobacco chopped very small, but quite free from narcotic preparations. These establishments are always served by women, and generally with perfect propriety, but most of them have, notwithstanding, a very bad reputation. This is especially the case with regard to those of Benten. and may, perhaps, be traced ba( k to the period when the little island dedicated to the patroness of the sea still attracted a concourse of pilgrims. The shrine is now comparatively deserted, but the entire space between the island and our residence is occupied by the quarters of the military, or Vakonins, as they are called. They are the government officers em|jloyed in the custom-house ser\'ice in guarding the port and public 142 ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS. places, keeping a watch on the outlets of the Frank quarter, &c. They wear no disthiguishing dress, except a round, ])ointed hat of glazed i)asteboard, and two sabres on the left side of their belts, one of them large, with a double hilt, and the other small, for close fighting. There are several hundreds of these men, who are generally married ; they each have a separate lodging, and are all treated with perfect equality in this respect. The plan whicli the government of the Tycoon has adopted for the arrangement of these dwellings is so characteristic of their lo\e of exact military organisation that it is worth describing in detail. It consists of a group of wooden buildings built in the shape of a long parallelogram, showing to the street outside merely a high planked enclosure, with low doors at regular intervals. Each of these doors opens into a yard, which contains a small garden, a water-tank, a cooking-range, and other offices. At the bottom of the court, and on the same level, is a spacious chamber, which can be parted off into two or three rooms by means of sliding partitions. This yarel and chamber form the whole domestic accommodation of a family of Vakonins. Each of these parallelograms of which the streets of the quarter are com- posed, contains, on an average, a dozen of these dwellings, six in a row, and back to back. The roofs of the chambers are all of uniform height, and are covered with grey tiles. The Yakonin quarter is a triumph of the genius of pipe-clay and uniformity. The streets are generally deserted, for the men spend the greater part of the day at the custom-house or on guard, and during their absence each family keeps inside its own enclosure, the door of which is usually shut. This does not arise from any jealous feelings on the part of the men, but is rather the result of the social position which custom gives in Japan to the head of the famil)-. The woman looks on him as her lord and master ; in his superior presence she devotes herself to domestic affairs, without being distracted by the presence of a stranger, and during his absence she conducts herself with a reser\-e which may be attributed less to modesty than to the feeling of dependence and submission which marriage entails on her. Ten Days y on nicy in Southern Arizona. V,\ WILLIAM A. BELL, B. \v the reader will glance for a moment at a mai) of the western portion of the United States — I mean that which lies west of tiie Rocky Mountains — the two most southerly territories will be found to be New Mexico and Arizona. Across the southern portion of these regions a river, called the Rio Gila, will be seen, passing from east to west until it reaches the Rio Colorado. The district lying between this river and the present boundary line of old Mexico is often called the "Gadsden ten million purchase," because, in 1854, it was bought from Mexico by the United States for that number of dollars. The boundary line at first proposed, after the war of 184S, was to have been, for most of the distance between the Rio Grande del Norte on the east and the Rio Colorado on the west, the bed of the Rio Gila. But even as for back as this, the Americans were contemplating a transcontinental railway, and the explorations which had then been made tended to show that the only great depression in the centre of the continent, between the lofty chains of the Rocky Mountains and the still grander ranges of Central America, lay a little below the Rio Gila. It was said, and with perfect truth, that if the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were to rise to the height of 4,000 feet, they would meet about the 32nd parallel of latitude in the vast plateau, the Madre Tlateau, which lies south of the Rio Gila ; while the greater part of the continent to the northward, as well as the plateaus of Mexico to the south, would form two huge islands separated by this strait. In Colorado territor}-, the greater part of which averages from 8,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea, the Rocky Mountains bifurcate to the southward and gradually become less and less in height, until, on reaching the 36th parallel, they can no longer be said to e.\ist. Between these forks rises the Rio A., ^LE. CANI'AB., F.R.G.S. [ Grande del Norte, discovered by the Mexicans before Ue Soto saw the Mississippi, and called del Norte because it was to them the most northern river on the continent. It crosses { the Madre Plateau, and, in fact, separates it from the Llano Estacado and the plains of western Texas. The Madre Plateau, then, is a \-ast plain, extending from the Rio Grande on the east for three degrees westward, and separating the Rocky Mountains from those of Mexico. In the summer of 1867 I became a member of a very extensi\e surveying party, organised by that Pacific Railway Compan\- which is constructing a trans-continental railway from St. Louis, westwards through Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California to San Francisco, and it fell to my lot to cross this plateau in my wanderings in the Far \\'est. Two surveying parties were entrusted with the survey and examination of the districts south of the Gila river, each con- sisting thereabouts of the following : Twenty-five engineers, made up of levellers, transit-men, topograj^hers, draughtsmen, axe-men, flag-men, &c. ; thirty cavalry, furnished by the government as escort ; cooks, teamsters, strikers, &c. Seven wagons carried the pro\isions and baggage, and three moie were required by the escort, so that in all each party mustered about seventy men, including two or three native guides, ten wagons, sixty mules, and about forty horses ; we also found it most desirable to drive a small herd of cattle along with us, tn enable us to kill an ox once or twice a week, as occasion requiretl. One party was under the direction of a Mr. Runk, the other of Mr. Eicholtz, both capital fellows, anrl able men in their profession as engineers. I was attached to Mr. Eicholtz's party, and had at my disposal, in addition to a good riding horse, a four-mule ambulance, in which I carried my medical stores and photographic material, for I combined both the offices of doctor and photographer. TEN DAYS' JOURNEY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA. 143 Upon leaving the Rio Grande, and turning our course westward, our party occupied themselves in trying to find a practicable route as far to the north of the Madre Plateau as possible. Several mountain spurs extend down from the north into the plateau, and our object was to discover any short cuts through them, while Mr. Runk's party were running a continuous line in the more level country to the south of us. The first obstacle we encountered on leaving the Rio Grande was Cooke's range, and through tliis we discovered a fine pass ten miles long, with easy gradients and a good supply of water ; we then crossed a plain about forty miles wide, a continuation northwards of the " Great" Plateau. About half way across this plain is a large hot spring, called Ojo Calicnte, which issues from the top of a mound some thirty feet high. It is probably the crater of an extinct volcano. From this point the following narrative of ten days' travel begins. I may here add that a complete description of my wanderings in these territories and Northern Mexico will soon be published, and that Major Calhoun, the contributor of the thrilling adventure, " The Passage of the Great Canon, of the Colorado," which appeared in the first number of the •• Illustrated Travels," was one of my companions in this expedition, and did not exaggerate in any respect the almost incredible incidents there recorded. On Friday, October 25th, 1867, we left Ojo Caliente, and came, in less than three miles, to a very fine spring, which bubbled up vigorously from the ground in a little basin sur- rounded by lofty cotton-wood trees. The water, however, was hot, but not so hot as that we had left. Here we camped while a reconnaissance was made in advance to discover water and to direct the course of the survey ; for we had followed neither road nor trail since leaving the Rio Grande. In the evening the little party returned, and reported open country ahead, but no water, at least for twenty miles, the distance they had been. It was, however, determined to fill up the water-kegs, eight in number, each holding ten gallons, and to push forward to some willows and cotton-wood trees about eighteen miles distant, where we hoped by digging to find a spring. At sunrise next morning (Saturday) we started, traversing a slightly undulating plain, covered, as far as the eye could reach, with the most magnificent pasturage. For five miles, as we followed a dry valley or trough in the plain, our route passed through a continuous grove of cactus plants, averaging from ten to twenty feet in height. Here and there a Yucca plant, or " Spanish bayonet," shot up its lofty stems amongst the cacti, adding very much to the grotesqueness of this curious vege- tation. The cactus groves were as thickly stocked with the Gila " quail," a species of grouse, as a moor in Scotland with its feathered game of a similar kind. Enormous coveys of thirty or forty brace rose up" on each side as we passed, and ran along in front of our horses. On reaching the willows, all our digging failed to produce a drop of water; so after trying several places, both up and down the dry bed of a stream, we were obliged to put up with a dry camp. The poor horses, as usual in such a plight, looked the picture of misery after their du.sty march, and seemed to ask with their eyes, " Why are we forgotten ? " We chained up the mules with extra care, and let them kick away to their heart's content, and make the night hideous with a chorus from their sixty dry throats. Sunday, throughout the expedition, was generally kept as a day of rest ; but this was an anxious day to us, for, besides the mules, we had forty horses and five oxen, and scarcely water enough for cookiny and drinking puq^oses. I joined the water-hunters at day- break, and, amied with spades and picks, as well as our carbines and "si.x- shooters," we directed our course towards the Burro mountains, the next obstacle to the westward. A\'e had, in fact, nearly crossed the plain between Cooke's range and these mountains, and soon entered a ravine leading up to them. After ascending for seven miles, we were gladdened by the sight of a little water trickling over some rocks. The first glance satisfied me that all was right, and in a few minutes holes were dug in the dry bed, \\hich quickly filled with good spring water. The water question being thus satisfactorily arranged, a messenger was sent back for the whole party, while we con- tinued our ride, for the purpose of exploring the mountains, and of finding a canon* .supposed to cut through them near our point of junction. We had received verj- conflicting reports about this range (the Burro Mountains). At a distance of some twenty or thirty miles it does not appear an imposing obstacle, for it seems to consist of three mountain masses, united by two long low ridges; but on approaching these ridges they turned out really to be only long undulations of the plain, which hide from view very rough and fonnidal)le mountains behind them. Our first sui-prise occurred when, on reaching the top of the ridge, we found the real mountains still in front of us. ^\'e pressed on, however, and after a few more hours' riding the crest of the main range was gained, and one of the grandest of panoramas burst into view at our feet. To the south lay numerous isolated ranges and peaks, whose names we did not know, stretching far into old Mexico, and rising out of the great Madre Plateau, wliich lay between us and them, like lofty rock islands from a motionless sea. To the south-east the graceful Florida mountains retained their usual outline, while far beyond them the curious peaks of the Oregon range, whose fluted basaltic columns justly suggest the name, " organ mountains," were distinctly visible near the horizon, although situated cast of the Rio Grande, more than 100 miles distant from us. Due east of us lay the range we had left, with Cooke's Peak rising nobly from its centre, and the exit of our pass (Palmer's Pass) distinctly \isible. Still following the circle towards the north, the confused mass of the Miembres Mountains came into view ; then those of the Santa Rita and Pimos Altos, semi-detached portions of tin- same. Quite to the north, twenty or thirty miles distant, some very high snow-capped mountains were conspicuous, forming part of that great system of mountains — the Mogollon Ranges, north of the Rio Gila, the home of the bloodthirsty Apache — which has never yet been explored. The elevation upon which we stood was, in fact, the dividing ridge of the North American continent; the little watercourse at our feet was the first we had leached whi