nd Balloons
at Bordeaux.--On to Paris.--Antwerp and its Art Treasures.--Embarking
for America.--End of the Long Journey 365

DUE WEST.

CHAPTER I.

Synopsis of the Journey.--Crossing the Continent.--A Great Midland
City.--Utah and the Mormons.--The Sierra Nevada.--San Francisco.--A
Herd of Sea-Lions.--Possibilities of California.--The Love of
Flowers.--Public School System.--Excursion to the Yosemite.--An
Indian Stronghold.--Description of the Valley.--Passage of the
Mountains.--Caught in a Snow-Storm.--A Forest of Feathers.--The
Mammoth Trees of California.--Passing the Golden Gate.--Voyage
across the Pacific.--A Lost Day.

On the morning of September 16, 1882, four individuals, two of whom were
ladies and two gentlemen, comparative strangers to each other, met at
the Fitchburg depot in Boston, drawn together by the common purpose of a
trip round the world. Adding the conductor, Mr. Gno. Dattari, an
intelligent and experienced courier, the little party numbered five
persons. The latter individual is attached to the traveling agency of
Thomas Cook & Son, London, the house undertaking, for the sum of two
thousand dollars each, to pay all transportation and board bills in
accordance with a very comprehensive itinerary. This embraced the
passage across the continent of America and the Pacific Ocean to Japan,
with a month of residence and travel in that country; thence to China
and up the Pearl River to Canton; a week in Hong Kong; a thousand-mile
voyage down the China Sea to the chief ports of the Malacca Straits;
across the Indian Ocean to the Island of Ceylon, with a week for
excursions therein; thence to India, with a liberal exploration of its
principal cities, including a visit to the Himalayas in the extreme
north; through the Sea of Arabia, the Straits of Babelmandeb, and the
Red Sea to Egypt, Cairo, and Alexandria; through the Suez Canal and the
Mediterranean to Italy, Malta, Gibraltar, France, and England. A
reasonable length of time was allowed for each section of the route,
including a voyage across the Atlantic to the starting-point.

Any divergence from the prescribed route was to be at an additional
charge, according to expenses incurred. The money was paid at the
outset, and the agreement on both sides fulfilled to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned. Thus much it has seemed well to premise
for the information of t