Chapter I: Preface

"I am a part of all that I have seen," says Tennyson, a sentiment which every one of large experience will heartily indorse. With the extraordinary facilities for travel available in modern times, it is a serious mistake in those who possess the means, not to become familiar with the various sections of the globe. Vivid descriptions and excellent photographs give us a certain knowledge of the great monuments of the world, both natural and artificial, but the traveler always finds the reality a new revelation, whether it be the marvels of a Yellowstone Park, a vast oriental temple, Alaskan glaciers, or the Pyramids of Ghiza. The latter, for instance, do not differ from the statistics which we have so often seen recorded, their great, dominating outlines are the same as pictorially delineated, but when we actually stand before them, they are touched by the wand of enchantment, and spring into visible life. Heretofore they have been shadows, henceforth they are tangible and real. The best descriptions fail to inspire us, experience alone can do that. What words can adequately depict the confused grandeur of the Falls of Schaffhausen; the magnificence of the Himalayan range,--roof-tree of the world; the thrilling beauty of the Yosemite Valley; the architectural loveliness of the Taj Mahal, of India; the starry splendor of equatorial nights; the maritime charms of the Bay of Naples; or the marvel of the Midnight Sun at the North Cape? It is personal observation alone which truly satisfies, educating the eye and enriching the understanding. If we can succeed in imparting, a portion of our enjoyment to others, we enhance our own pleasure, and therefore these notes of travel are given to the public.

M. M. B.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Commencement of a Long Journey.--The Gulf
Stream.--Hayti.--Sighting St. Thomas.--Ship
Rock.--Expert Divers.--Fidgety Old Lady.--An
Important Island.--The Old
Slaver.--Aborigines.--St. Thomas
Cigars.--Population.--Tri-Mountain.--The
Negro Paradise.--Hurricanes.--Variety of
Fish.--Coaling Ship.--The Firefly Dance.--A
Weird Scene.--An Antique Anchor 1

CHAPTER II.

Curious Seaweed.--Professor Agassiz.--Myth of
a Lost Continent.--Island of Martinique.--An
Attractive Place.--Statue of the Empress
Josephine.--Birthplace of Madame de
Maintenon.--City of St. Pierre.--Mont
Pelee.--High Flavored Specialty.--Grisettes
of Maritinque.--A Botanical
Garden.--Defective Drainage.--A Fatal
Enemy.--A Cannibal Snake.--The Climate 33

CHAPTER III.

English Island of Barbadoes.--Bridgetown the
Capital.--The Manufacture of Rum.--A
Geographical Expert.--Very English.--A Pest
of Ants.--Exports.--The Ice House.--A Dense
Population.--Educational.--Marine
Hotel.--Habits of
Gambling.--Hurricanes.--Curious
Antiquities.--The Barbadoes Leg.--Wakeful
Dreams.--Absence of Twilight.--Departure from
the Island 51

CHAPTER IV.

Curious Ocean Experiences.--The Delicate
Nautilus.--Flying-Fish.--The Southern
Cross.--Speaking a Ship at Sea.--Scientific
Navigation.--South America as a Whole.--Fauna
and Flora.--Natural Resources of a Wonderful
Land.--Rivers, Plains, and Mountain
Ranges.--Aboriginal
Tribes.--Population.--Political
Divisions.--Civil Wars.--Weakness of South
American States 68

CHAPTER V.

City of Para.--The Equatorial Line.--Spanish
History.--The King of Waters.--Private
Gardens.--Domestic Life in Northern
Brazil.--Delicious Pineapples.--Family
Pets.--Opera House.--Mendicants.--A Grand
Avenue.--Botanical Garden.--India-Rubber
Tree.--Gathering the Raw
Material.--Monkeys.--The Royal
Palm.--Splendor of Equatorial Nights 94

CHAPTER VI.

Island of Marajo.--Rare and Beautiful
Birds.--Original Mode of Securing
Humming-Birds.--Maranhao.--Educational.--
Value of Native
Forests.--Pernambuco.--Difficulty of
Landing.--An Ill-Chosen Name.--Local
Scenes.--Uncleanly Habits of the
People.--Great Sugar Mart.--Native Houses.--A
Quaint Hostelry.--Catamarans.--A Natural
Breakwater.--Sailing down the Coast 115

CHAPTER VII.

Port of Bahia.--A Quaint Old City.--Former
Capital of Brazil.--Whaling
Interests.--Beautiful
Panorama.--Tramways.--No Color Line
Here.--The Sedan Chair.--Feather Flowers.--A
Great Orange Mart.--Passion Flower
Fruit.--Coffee, Sugar, and Tobacco.--A Coffee
Plantation.--Something about
Diamonds.--Health of the City.--Curious
Tropical Street Scenes 138

CHAPTER VIII.

Cape Frio.--Rio Janeiro.--A Splendid
Harbor.--Various Mountains.--Botafogo
Bay.--The Hunchback.--Farewell to the
Vigilancia.--Tijuca.--Italian
Emigrants.--City Institutions.--Public
Amusements.--Street
Musicians.--Churches.--Narrow
Thoroughfares.--Merchants' Clerks.--Railroads
in Brazil.--Natural Advantages of the
City.--The Public Plazas.--Exports 155

CHAPTER IX.

Outdoor Scenes in Rio Janeiro.--The Little
Marmoset.--The Fish Market.--Secluded
Women.--The Romish Church.--Botanical
Garden.--Various Species of Trees.--Grand
Avenue of Royal Palms.--About
Humming-Birds.--Climate of Rio.--Surrounded
by Yellow Fever.--The Country
Inland.--Begging on the
Streets.--Flowers.--"Portuguese Joe."--Social
Distinctions 180

CHAPTER X.

Petropolis.--Summer Residence of the Citizens
of Rio.--Brief Sketch of the late Royal
Family.--Dom Pedro's Palace.--A Delightful
Mountain Sanitarium.--A Successful but
Bloodless Revolution.--Floral
Delights.--Mountain Scenery.--Heavy
Gambling.--A German
Settlement.--Cascatinha.--Remarkable
Orchids.--Local Types.--A Brazilian
Forest.--Compensation 201

CHAPTER XI.

Port of Santos.--Yellow Fever Scourge.--Down
the Coast to Montevideo.--The
Cathedral.--Pamperos.--Domestic
Architecture.--A Grand Thoroughfare.--City
Institutions.--Commercial Advantages.--The
Opera House.--The Bull-Fight.--Beggars on
Horseback.--City Shops.--A Typical
Character.--Intoxication.--The Campo
Santo.--Exports.--Rivers and Railways 217

CHAPTER XII.

Buenos Ayres.--Extent of the Argentine
Republic.--Population.--Narrow
Streets.--Large Public
Squares.--Basques.--Poor Harbor.--Railway
System.--River Navigation.--Tramways.--The
Cathedral.--Normal
Schools.--Newspapers.--Public
Buildings.--Calle Florida.--A Busy
City.--Mode of furnishing
Milk.--Environs.--Commercial and Political
Growth.--The New Capital 244

CHAPTER XIII.

City of Rosario.--Its Population.--A
Pretentious Church.--Ocean
Experiences.--Morbid Fancies.--Strait of
Magellan.--A Great Discoverer.--Local
Characteristics.--Patagonians and
Fuegians.--Giant Kelp.--Unique Mail
Box.--Punta Arenas.--An Ex-Penal Colony.--The
Albatross.--Natives.--A Naked
People.--Whales.--Sea-Birds.--Glaciers.--
Mount Sarmiento.--A Singular Story 271

CHAPTER XIV.

The Land of Fire.--Cape Horn.--In the Open
Pacific.--Fellow Passengers.--Large
Sea-Bird.--An Interesting Invalid.--A Weary
Captive.--A Broken-Hearted Mother.--Study of
the Heavens.--The Moon.--Chilian Civil
War.--Concepcion.--A Growing
City.--Commercial Importance.--Cultivating
City Gardens on a New Plan.--Important Coal
Mines.--Delicious Fruits 297

CHAPTER XV.

Valparaiso.--Principal South American Port of
the Pacific.--A Good Harbor.--Tallest
Mountain on this Continent.--The Newspaper
Press.--Warlike Aspect.--Girls as Car
Conductors.--Chilian Exports.--Foreign
Merchants.--Effects of Civil War.--Gambling
in Private Houses.--Immigration.--Culture of
the Grape.--Agriculture.--Island of Juan
Fernandez 315

CHAPTER XVI.

The Port of Callao.--A Submerged
City.--Peruvian Exports.--A Dirty and
Unwholesome Town.--Cinchona Bark.--The
Andes.--The Llama.--A National Dance.--City
of Lima.--An Old and Interesting
Capital.--Want of Rain.--Pizarro and His
Crimes.--A Grand Cathedral.--Chilian
Soldiers.--Costly Churches of Peru.--Roman
Catholic Influence.--Desecration of the
Sabbath 334

CHAPTER XVII.

A Grand Plaza.--Retribution.--The University
of Lima.--Significance of Ancient
Pottery.--Architecture.--Picturesque
Dwelling.--Domestic Scene.--Destructive
Earthquakes.--Spanish Sway.--Women of
Lima.--Street Costumes.--Ancient Bridge of
Lima.--Newspapers.--Pawnbrokers'
Shops.--Exports.--An Ancient Mecca.--Home by
Way of Europe. 355

EQUATORIAL AMERICA.