Around the World in Seven Months (Illustrated)

AT 9.50 A.M., on the morning of the 8th of September I went aboard the vestibule train of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, at Forty-second Street, New York; and having travelled on the principal railroads around the world, I can truly say that no train which has ever carried me has approached this one in luxurious ease, comfort, and safety. The train rolled into the Chicago depot at 9.50 the next morning—exactly twenty-four hours. I was detained in Chicago for two days, and then left by the Rock Island route for San Francisco.
At Ogden, we were detained two days by the burning of a bridge built over a ravine—one hundred feet long and about the same[Pg 2] height. The fire destroyed the massive snow-sheds and great trees for a long distance. The fire took place Friday. Telegrams were sent to Sacramento, and the next day word came that twenty-one car loads of material had been sent with mechanics to erect a new bridge.
The new bridge was erected in four days. Our train was the first to pass over it, and I remarked how substantially the new erection had been constructed. We reached the summit at noon, and the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, at midnight.
On the 21st of September we went aboard the steamer Rio-de-Janeiro, built for the southern trade—370 feet long, 38 feet wide, 3,500 tons—six tubular boilers, each 13 feet diameter, 10½ feet long. I remarked what heavy consumers of coal such shaped boilers must be, and the engineer said there was no room to put in any other kind.
I found myself the sole occupant of a large and well ventilated state-room. At 3 P.M., Captain Ward, standing on the bridge, gave the signal, and the voice of an officer sang out, ""All ashore that's going."" Several hundreds of Chinese men and a dozen women, in showy dresses, crowded the[Pg 3] wharf. The friends of the missionaries on the wharf sang a parting hymn. The big propeller started. A tug pulled the ship's bow around, and away we went on our voyage of 4,700 miles across the Pacific. We passed the Golden Gate and the Seal Islands—covered with huge seals—and then on towards our destination.
I soon made the acquaintance of most of the passengers, forty-five in number—including fourteen missionaries of the Presbyterian Board, nice young people going out to their duties in China and Japan. I took my seat at the dining-table, and found that I had at my right an agreeable companion, a captain in the German army, and at the left a charming miss of ten, Bessie, daughter of J. De Romero, secretary of the Spanish Legation to China.
The first week out was a rough one. The weather was bad, and the ship rolled fearfully, so that we could not walk on deck. The waves were immense, and consequently nearly every one was sick. I felt a little nausea for a couple of days, but soon did duty regularly at the fine feast placed before us three times a day, the specialty being splendid California fruits—peaches, plums,[Pg 4] grapes, and oranges, any of which would bring a prize in an agricultural show.
Day after day the tireless engine drove the propeller. The splendid ship rushed on and on, not a moment's stop the entire distance. Not a sail or a steamer seen from port to port, and not even a whale. Once some porpoises and flying-fish, and once, when a thousand miles from land, a land-hawk lighted on the cross-trees, and proceeded leisurely to feast on a captured bird, and during the night flew away.
The never-ending water was very impressive in its desolation. Better weather came, the ship was steady, and we could walk on deck. My little friend and I romped along the deck from end to end in safety, but once a rude wave threw us down, and dashed us against the sides of the vessel, taking off some inches of skin from me, but the child was unhurt, and I did not mind a little thing like that.
I had early made the acquaintance of Mr. Mathews, the chief engineer, and once went into the hold and inspected the boilers and machinery of the huge ship. I spent a good deal of time in the chief engineer's room, listening to strange tales of ship and shore.
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On the 9th inst., as we were approaching our destination, I was shown an engrossed resolution complimenting the captain, beautifully illustrated with a pen-and-ink sketch of the ship by Señor Romero. After dinner, one of the passengers was selected to make the presentation address. He said:
""Ladies and gentlemen, fellow-passengers by the good ship Rio-de-Janeiro: I act with pleasure as chairman on this auspicious occasion, and congratulate you on the near termination of our long trip across the great Pacific Ocean, rendered safe by the skill of the navigators and pleasant by the efforts of the officers, one and all.