d face to face with the dead
of antiquity, children of the cool North in the sunny South. What a
wonderful world this is, to be sure!

The 17th of September I embarked on board the steamer La Seyne, destined
for Alexandria in Egypt. The warm, Italian noonday sun poured down its
dazzling rays; we were surrounded on all sides by ships and steamers
carrying the flags of all nations; hundreds of fishing crafts were
sailing out of the harbor, and in the distance the mighty volcano
Vesuvius towered in imposing majesty above the vine-clad hills. There
was a life and a traffic which it is difficult to describe. While La
Seyne was lying at anchor for several hours out in the bay, Italian
singers in their boats swarmed around the ship and entertained the
passengers with music. Other boats contained three or four men each, who
begged the passengers to throw coins into the water. As soon as a coin
was thrown, down dived one of the men to the bottom, and invariably
returned with the coin in his mouth although the water was very deep,
perhaps from seventy-five to one hundred feet. The voyage across the
Mediterranean was very pleasant, especially in the vicinity of the
island of Sicily. The deep blue sky, the orange groves and vineyards on
the island, and the neat, white cottages,--all gave an impression of
indescribable tranquility and happiness.

On this voyage, which lasted three days, I became acquainted with
several interesting persons, among others with a Professor Santamaria,
professor in an university in Egypt, and his family, and with a Jesuit
priest, Miechen by name. By birth a French nobleman of a very old and
rich family, he had been educated for a military life, and had served in
the army with distinction, and in the late Franco-German war he had been
advanced to the rank of major, although he was only thirty years of age.
But suddenly he had been seized with religious enthusiasm, and had given
up his illustrious family name, renounced his fortune, his honors, and
the brilliant military career which lay open to him, in order to become
a priest. After two years of theological studies he was ordained a
priest, and admitted into the Jesuit order.

He had now been ordered to supply himself with a full set of certain
scientific instruments, and with them to repair to Cairo, Egypt, where
he would receive further orders. I talked a great deal with this man. He
spoke English fluently, and was equally familiar with nearly all th