Travels in three continents. Europe, Africa, Asia

Front matter

Shelf JlS^

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WORKS OF J. M. BUCKLEY, LL.D.

Prefatory Note

In reading accounts of the same regions by different travelers, I have often been struck with the dissimilarities resulting from the personal equation. Each sees what he takes with him, so that several views are more illuminating than one. Because of this I hope that there will be a place for another record of travel in many of the most interesting parts of the world.

Learning by experience, in protracted tours, that a certain amount of information is necessary to the interpretation of what one sees and hears, I have endeavored to interweave such knowledge with the narrative without impeding the natural flow of description. Thus I desire to aid those who contemplate this journey to prepare for it ; to refresh the recollection of those who have preceded me ; and enable those who do not expect to cross the ocean to see, "while looking through my eyes," almost "as well as with their own." J. M. B.

CHAPTER I. From New York to the Frontier of Spain

To London — In Paris — Anniversary of the Coup d'etat — Glimpse of Bordeaux — The Grotto of Lourdes — Pau and the Pyrenees — Bayonne and Biarritz 1-9

CHAPTER II. " I Take my Journey into Spain."

Entering Spain — Scenes on the Frontier — San Sebastian — Protestant Missions — The Infant King — Reminiscences of Lafayette — Burgos — Carthusian Monastery — Tombs of the Parents of Queen Isabella — The Convent — Legends of the Cid — The Cathedral and Castle 10-18

CHAPTER III. The Spanish Capital

Location of the Capital — Climate — Puerta del Sol — Royal Palace — Review of Troops — Picture Gallery — Visit to the Cortes — Spanish Orators and Statesmen — The Virgin's Sandal — Protestant Missions — Spanish Horsemen. . . 19-29

CHAPTER IV. The Eseorial, Toledo, and Cordova

Situation of the Eseorial — Character of Philip — Interior of the Eseorial — Description of Toledo — Its Cathedral — Picturesque Gates — Ruined Walls — Ancient Churches — The Alcazar — Journey to Cordova — Cathedral and Great Mosque.

30-42 CHAPTER V.

" Proud Seville. ' '

General Description of Seville — Tobacco and Porcelain Factories — The Hospital — Picture Gallery — The Colombina Library — The Cathedral — Tomb of the Son of Columbus 43-49

CHAPTER VI. The Alhambra

Approaching Granada — Not Disappointed in the Alhambra — Description — History — Purpose — Splendor — Iconoclasm of the Christians — Ravages of the French under Napoleon — Mystery and Magic of the Alhambra 50-57 viii Contents.

Chapter VII

Granada and. Malaga.

The Cartujan Convent — Its Beautiful Church — Cathedral and the Sepulchers and Graves of Ferdinand and Isabella — Gypsies — Malaga— Its Fruit, Superb Scenery — Beggars — Visitors — Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve — Suburbs 58-65

CHAPTER XVI. Algiers and the Atlas Mountains

The Black Virgin— Strange Ceremony — Interview with a Moor — Algerine Pirates — Arab Cemetery — Bearded Priests — Power of the Jews — Sir Peter Coates — Tour to the Atlas Mountains — French Engineering — Apes — Wild Animals. 126-136

CHAPTER XVI.

Marseilles and the French Riviera.

Harbor — Cathedral — Church of Notre Dame de la Garde — Cannes— Nice— Monaco and Monte Carlo— Tragic Incidents — Mentone — Mr. Spurgeon 137-142

CHAPTER XVIII. Genoa and Milan

Statue of Columbus — Description of City — Cathedral of San Lorenzo — History — The Conservatorii — Via di Circotivallazione — Campo Santo — Situation of Milan — Cathedral — The Roof — View from the Tower — Church of San Ambrogio — Gallery of Victor Emmanuel — Cemetery — Parade Ground — Triumphal Arch 1 43-1 57

CHAPTER XIX. Venice — The Enchanted City

History — Situation — Piazza and Church of San Marco — Tomb of St. Mark — Palace of the Doges — Roman Catholic Mission Church — Grand Canal — Campanile — View from the Top of the Tower 158-166

CHAPTER XX. Florence — Shrine of Art, Science, Literature

Famous Artists and Scientists — Situation of Florence— Cathedral — Church of Santa Croce— Monastery of St. Mark — Fiesole — Ruins and Views — Galileo's Tower — The " Golden Book " 167-173

CHAPTER XXI. Rome— The Encyclopedic City

Glance at Rome's History — Seven Hills — Tiber — Pantheon— Column of Marcus Aurelius — Grand Circus — Forum — Arch of Constantine — Appian Way — ■ Mamertine Prison — Catacombs— Augustinian Monastery — Capucine Cemetery —St. Peter's — Palace of the Vatican — Sistine Chapel — St. Paul Without the Walls — New Rome 174-186 x Contents.

CHAPTER XXII. Naples — The Wanton Beauty

Noted Residents of and Visitors to Naples— Beauty of Situation— Cathedral — Miracle of Liquefaction — National Museum — Aquarium — Neapolitan Peculiarities and Morals — Corso Garibaldi and Corso Vittorio Ema7inele — Improvements 187-192

CHAPTER XXIII. Vesuvius and Pompeii

Ascent of Vesuvius — At the Summit — History of the Volcano — Edge of the Crater — The Descent — Pompeii — Streets — Houses — Baths — Theater — Pathetic Discoveries 193-199

CHAPTER XXIV. The Italian People

Excitability — Vanity — Superstition — Patience— Simplicity — Improvement — Ignorance — Loretto — Religious Relics and Alleged Miracles— Work of Protestants — Opposition Encountered 200-204

CHAPTER XXV. Going Down to Egypt

Brindisi — Coast of Greece — Candia — Gaudo — Coast of Egypt — Arriving in Alexandria — Pharos — View of City and Harbor from the Base of Pompey's Pillar — Site of Cleopatra's Needles — Journey to Cairo 205-209

Chapter XXVI

Cairo — The " Mother of the World," and Heliopohs.

Strange Scenes — Citadel and Mosque of Mohammed Ali — Mosque of Sultan Hassan ■ — Mosque of Amer at Old Cairo — Island of Roda — Nilometer — Palace of Gezireh and of the Khedive — The Only Egyptian Lunatic Asylum — Virgin's Tree — Heliopolis — Ostrich Farm 210-220

CHAPTER XXVII. The Pyramids and the Sphinx

Road to Pyramids, and Scenes upon It — Traveling Bedouins — Ascent of Great Pyramid— View from Summit — Interior of Cheops — " King's Chamber."

221-228 CHAPTER XXVIII.

The Pyramids and the Sphinx. — (Continued.)

History of Pyramids and Reasons Why They Were Built — Description of the Sphinx — Antiquity — Campbell's Tomb — Extraordinary Agility of a Bedouin — Incidents of the Trip 229-237

Contents. xi

CHAPTER XXIX. On the Nile

Importance of the Nile— Cause of Annual Overflow — Influence upon Intellectual Character of Egyptians — Way of Traveling on the Nile before Steamboats Were Introduced — Passengers on the Prince Abbas 238-242

CHAPTER XXX. Memphis and Sakkara

Scene at Starting — The Khedive's Steam Yacht — Scenery — Scramble of Donkey Boys for Riders — The Greatest Capital of Egypt — Colossal Statue of Rameses II — Sakkara — The Step Pyramid and Serapeum — Description of Interior of Step Pyramid — Account of Discovery of Serapeum by Mariette Bey.. 243-24S

Chapter XXXI

The Tomb of Tih, and the Voyage and Visit to Beni-Hassan.

Painting in Tomb of Tih — Pyramid of Maydoom — Characteristic Scenes — Nile Fish — Palms — Cliffs of Gebel et Tayr — The " Mountain of the Bird," and its Legend — Origin of Fable of Charon and the River Styx — Tombs of Beni- Hassan 249-255

CHAPTER XXXII. A Diversified Journey

Village of Beni-Hassan — Methods Used by Beggars — Sugar Factory — Dom Palms — Asyoot— Oriental Market Scenes 256-262

CHAPTER XXXIII. Asyoot to the Temple of Denderah

Bazaars and Market Place — Starting Point of English Expedition to the Soudan — Ancient Lycopolis — Evidences of Roman Occupation — Mission of United Presbyterian Church — Ophthalmia Prevalent in Egypt — Scenes at Farshoot and Keneh — The Temple of Denderah 263-267

CHAPTER XXXIV. Denderah and Nile Experiences

Forgotten Credentials — Chapel of Isis — Stories of the Tentyrites — Inhabitants of Orubos — The Crocodile — The Shadoof and Sakeeyah — Silence in Egypt.

268-274

CHAPTER XXXV. Thebes

Approaching Thebes — Situation — History — Village of Luxor — Ruins and Village Life Contrasted — " Father Abraham's " Knowledge of Antiquities — "Antiquity Smith" — Avenue of Sphinxes — Karnak — Description of Great Temple — Weird Scene 275-283 xii Contents.

Chapter XXXVI

Temples and Tombs of Thebes, on the West Bank of the Nile.

Temple of Koornah — Approach to the Rameseum— Sculptures and Statue of Rameses— Ride through the Plains — Temple of Ptolemy Philopater — Belzoni's Tomb 284-292

CHAPTER XXXVII. Ascent of the Libyan Mountains

Barrenness of the Mountains — View from Summit — The Descent — Colossi — "Vocal Statue of Memnon " 293-298

CHAPTER XXXVIII. Life in Modern Thebes

Entertainment by the Consul at Thebes — An Oriental Dinner at the House of the British Consul — Wonderful Boy Gymnast — A Huge Monkey — Karnak by Moonlight — Varieties of Stone in Egypt 299-302

CHAPTER XXXIX. From Thebes to the First Cataract

Temple of Edfoo — Kom-ombos — Island of Elephantine — Camel Riding — Assouan — Nubian Boatmen's Song — Ride to Phils — Ancient Methods of Quarrying Stone — Description of Phila? — Temple of Isis — The First Cataract — Herodotus on the Sources of the Nile — Aquatic Feats at the Cataract — An Hour in the Desert — Experience of Foolhardy Tourists with Robbers — -Nubians — A Solitary Palm 303-314

CHAPTER XL. Down the River

Southern Cross — To Luxor — Meeting David Dudley Field — Aground Fifteen Times— An Alarming Illness — Arrival at Cairo — Kaiserswerth Hospital — ■ Boolak Museum 315-322

CHAPTER XLI. Mohammedanism in Egypt

Theories of Mohammed — Peculiarities of the Koran and its Teachings — Polygamy — Mohammedan Services — University to Educate Mohammedan Priests — Chapel of the Blind — Performance of Howling Dervishes — The Copts — Coptic Churches and Language — Greek Church — Protestant Missions 3 2 3~333

CHAPTER XLII. The Suez Canal, and the Last of Egypt

An Entertainment at the House of Dr. Grant Bey — Mr. Petrie — A Sandstorm — By Rail to the Suez Canal — Ismailia — History and Description of the Canal — Ride on the Canal to Port Said — Characteristics of the Place — Festivities at the Opening of the Canal — Leaving Africa 334-.33S

Contents. xiii

CHAPTER XLIII. Entering the Holy Land

Approaching the Turkish Empire — The Harbor at Jaffa — Landing — Ancient History — Modern Features — Fruit and Flowers — People — Incident of Napoleon Bonaparte 341-3.54

CHAPTER XLIV. " In the Way Going Up to Jerusalem."

The Road to Jerusalem — Plain of Sharon — Flowers — Road to Lydda — Tower of Ramleh — Gezer — Valley of Ajalon (Yalo) — Latrun — Amwas — Abou-Gosch — Mizpah — Jerusalem ! 345-35 1

CHAPTER XLV. Jerusalem

Situation — History — Population 35 2 -357

CHAPTER XLVI. Outside the Walls of Jerusalem

The Valleys of Gihon and Hinnom — Pool of Siloam — Fountain of the Virgin — Valley of the Kidron — Garden of Gethsemane — Tomb of the Virgin — Mount of Olives — View from the Summit — Tombs of the Kings — Tomb and Grotto of Jeremiah — Walls and Gates of the City 358-374

CHAPTER XLVII. The Sacred Places

The Haram EshSherif — Herod's Temple — Mosque of Omar — Mosque El-Aksa — Wailing Place of the Jews — Via Dolorosa— -Church of the Holy Sepulcher — Identity of Site , 377~394

CHAPTER XLVIII. Bethlehem and the Convent of Mar Saba

An Ancient Guide — "A Vain Thing for Safety "—Tomb of Rachel — Situation and History of Bethlehem — Birthplace of Christ — Church of the Nativity — Tomb of St. Jerome — The Weird Convent of Mar Saba — History — Rules of the Order of Monks 395-404

CHAPTER XLIX. The Dead Sea, The Jordan, Jericho, and Bethany

Wilderness of Engedi— Tomb of Moses — Beautiful Views — Peculiarities of the Dead Sea Explained — Pillars of Salt — The Jordan— Ancient Gilgal — Russian ■ Pilgrims — Bethany — Tomb of Lazarus — Tower of David in Jerusalem. 405-417 xiv Contents.

CHAPTER L. Peculiarities of Modern Palestine

Jews — Greek Church— Visit to the Patriarch — Russian Church and Pilgrims — Armenians — Copts— Abyssinians— Roman Catholics — Protestants — Places of Amusement — Society — Sect of the " German Temple " — Lunatics — The "American Colony " — Lepers and Leprosy 418-427

CHAPTER LI. Leaving Jerusalem

Description of the Caravan — Shafut — Ramallah — El-Bireh— Bethel — Ai — A Slave Lost — Robbers' Glen — Caravan of Camels— A Night of Storm and Terror at Sinjil 428-432

CHAPTER LII. From Shiloh to Gerizim

A Day in a Mohammedan Village — Children and Dogs — A Mohammedan Cemetery — Shiloh— Bible Events Connected with the Place -Jacob's Well — Discovery Ma r, e by Bishop Barclay — Climbing the " Mount of Blessing " — Formation of the Summit — Ruins Found There 433~437

CHAPTER LIII. Sheehem, Samaria, Jenin

Events of Sacred History Connected with Nabulus — The Modern Town — Samaritans — Samaritan Codex of the Pentateuch — Across the Valley of Samaria — Street of Columns — The Plain of Esdraelon — Jenin 438-441

Chapter LIV

Jezreel, Nain, and the Cave of the Witch of Endor.

Figs and Palms — Jezreel — A Bedouin Camp — Dogs in Palestine — Fountain of Gideon — The Beautiful Village of Shunem — Caravan Route — Nain — An Elderly Appearing Boy — Endor and its Tragic History — Cave of the Witch.

442-446

CHAPTER LV. Tabor and Nazareth

Views Ascending — From the Summit — Ruins — Vesper Music in the Russian Convent Chapel — Strange Flowerpots — Lost in a Forest — Nazareth — Population — Buildings — Mary's Well — Mounts of Precipitation — Reliques of the Clwist.

449-457 CHAPTER LVI.

From Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee by Way of Cana.

Kefr-Kenna — Mount of Beatitudes — First View of the Sea of Galilee — Tiberias — Description of the Sea — History of the Town — Grave of Maimonides — Two Protestant Services on Sunday — The Protestant Mission in Tiberias.. 458-466

Contents. xv

CHAPTER LVII. From the Sea of Galilee to Hermon

Four Hours upon Galilee — A Fishing Boat— Ruins of Capernaum — Vividness of Bible Narratives — Ain-et-Tin — Road to Banias — Encampment of Bedouins — Joseph's Well — Waters of Merom — Dan — Banias — Alleged Attempt at Robbery — Fountain of the Jordan — Probable Scene of the Transfiguration — Druses and Maronites — Ascending Hermon — Traditional Scene of Saul's Conversion 467-479

CHAPTER LVII1.

Damascus.

Antiquity and Beauty of the City — History of the Great Mosque — Massacre of the Christians — The Street that is Called Straight — Improbable Legends — Protestant Mission — Grave of Henry Thomas Buckle — Salahiyeh 480-490

CHAPTER LIX. Damascus to Beirut

Varieties of Weather and Scenery — Through the Lebanon Pass — Unique Lunatic Asylum — Origin and Situation of Beirut — Syrian Protestant College — Other Christian Missions — Grave of Bishop Kingsley 491-496

CHAPTER LX. Cyprus and Noted Islands of the JE.gea.rx Sea

Cyprus — Lanarca — Greek Church of St. Lazarus — Rhodes — The Colossus — Symi — Kos, Birthplace of Apelles, Hippocrates, and Simonides — The Rock Island, Patmos — Classic Interest of Samos — Scio 497-503

CHAPTER LXI. Smyrna and Ephesus

Beauty of Smyrna — Figs, Drugs, and Rugs — Cosmopolitan Population — Languages — Wandering Tribes — Religions — Tomb of Polycarp — Importance of Ephesus — Ruins of the Stadium, Odeon, and Great Theater — Temple of Diana — Incidents in Paul's Life Connected with Ephesus — Legend of the Seven Sleepers 5°4-5 I 4

CHAPTER LXII. Athens

The Piraeus — Tomb of Themistocles — Modern History — The Olympieum and Stadium — Theater of Dionysus — Odeum — Propylasa — Parthenon — View from . the Acropolis — Mars' Hill — Hill of the Pnyx — Institutions of Athens — Mount Lykabettos 515-523 xvi Contents.

CHAPTER LXIII. Corinth

En route — Situation and Importance — History — The Modern Town — Ruins at Old Corinth — Kraneion, the Home of Diogenes — Prospect from Aero-Corinth — Characteristics of the Greek People 524-530

CHAPTER LXIV. Constantinople

Salonica — Mount Athos — The Dardanelles — Beauty of Constantinople Seen from the Sea of Marmora — The Golden Horn — Constantinople Made up of Three Dissimilar Cities — Disenchantment — Dr. Long — The Seraglio — Imperial Gate —Santa Sophia 53^-543

CHAPTER LXV. Constantinople.— (Continued.)

The Sultan's Forty-seventh Birthday — The Floating Bridge — Along the Shore of the Bosporus to the Black Sea — Ships and Boats — The Armenians — Head of the Greek Church — Support of Mosques — Muezzin — Philanthropies of the Mosque of Suliman — Spinning Dervishes — Robert College 544-555

CHAPTER LXVI. Constantinople. — (Concluded.)

Turkish Burying Grounds of Scutari — English Cemetery and Florence Nightingale's Hospital — American Bible House — Portraits of the Sultans — Rise and Fall of the Janizaries — The Turk — Column of the Three Serpents — Fountains — Censorship of the Press — A Translator Perforce — The Sultan and Laborer.

556-566

CHAPTER LXVI1.

Flight through Eastern Roumelia, Bulgaria, Servia, Hungary, and Vienna, to Paris and New York.

Adrianople — Philippopolis — Government of Eastern Roumelia — Convention of Protestant Mission Workers — Sofia — Bulgarian Church — Picturesque Costumes — Buda-Pesth — The National Museum — Vienna — Emperor Franz Josef — Paris Exposition 567-573

INDEX 575

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Dahabeah on the Nile Frontispiece

Page

Characteristic View of Lourdes 5

High Altar in the Cathedral of Burgos 15

Exterior View of the Cross of Cathedral of Burgos 17

La Plaza Major 21

Facsimile of the Sandal of the Holy Virgin 27

Street of St. Thomas in Toledo 30

The Escorial 31

Cathedral of Toledo 37

Vista of Interior of Cathedral of Cordova 41

Cathedral of Seville 47

Temple of the East of the Court of Lions 53

Court of the Myrtles 56

Granada and the Alhambra 59

Gypsy Quarters in Granada. 61

Preliminary Skirmishes in a Bullfight 75

Tangier 83

Moorish Village 87

Snake Charmer oc

Moors on a Journey 95

Defenses of Gibraltar 113

Scene in Oran 117

Moorish Woman in Street Costume 123

Kabyle Family on a Journey 131

Cathedral of Milan 147

Interior of Cathedral 151

Monument of Leonardo da Vinci 155

Regatta on Grand Canal T50

Bridge of Sighs t6 3

Duomo of Florence 168

Gate of St. Paul 175

Roman Forum 179

Murillo's Sacred Family 183

Raphael's Sacred Family 185

Entrance to Pyramid 223

The Sphinx 233 xviii List of Illustrations.

Page

Step Pyramid of Sakkara 245

Tombs of Beni-Hassan 253

Cemetery at Asyoot " 259

Cleopatra — Temple of Denderah 269

Shadoof 271

Temple of Karnak 281

View of Temple of Rameses II 285

Carvings on the Rameseum 289

Statues of Memnon 295

Island of Phila; 307

Nubians 313

Howling Dervish 327

Jaffa (Joppa) 339

Mizpah 351

Jaffa Gate 353

Valley of Hinnom 359

The Brook Kidron 363

Mount of Olives 367

View of Jerusalem from Mount of Olives 371

The Golden Gate 375

Mosque of Omar 379

Wailing Place of the Jews 383

Chapel of the Scourging 387

Church of the Holy Sepulcher 391

Interior of the Holy Sepulcher 393

Convent of Mar Saba 401

The Dead Sea 407

The Jordan 411

Bethany 415

Tower of David - 423

Mount Tabor 447

Nazareth 452

Cana 459

Tiberias, Sea of Galilee 463

Capernaum 469

Mount Hermon 477

Damascus from Cemetery 481

Court of the Great Mo=que 485

Beirut 493

Isle of Patmos 501

Ruins of Temple at Aero-Corinth 525

Constantinople and the Golden Horn 533

Mosque of Santa Sophia 541

Bosporus and Castle of Asia 545

Dervishes 551

Buda-Pesth 569

Travels in Three Continents.

CHAPTER I. From New York to the Frontier of Spain

To London — In Paris — Anniversary of the Coup d'etat — Glimpse of Bordeaux — The Grotto of Lourdes — Pau and the Pyrenees — Bayonne and Biarritz.

Accompanied by a member of the senior class in Amherst College, whom my proposed outline of travel had allured from his studies at the expense of delaying his graduation, at 6:30 on Wednesday morning, November 21, 1888, I sailed for Liverpool, arriving on the seventh day. I contrast that flight with my first voyage to the same port early in 1863, which was fourteen days in length, and advertised in the English papers as a remarkably quick passage.

Five hours after our arrival in Liverpool we were in London, which was enveloped in a dense fog during the forty-eight hours of our stay. The business which called us there having been transacted, we hastened to Paris by way of Folkestone and Boulogne. How charming Kent looked as we rode through ! The trees not yet denuded of leaves, the farmers plowing, the sheep and cattle on the green hillsides made a true English pastoral scene.

The British Channel, generally vicious, was smooth as "a painted ocean." The walk about Paris on Saturday evening showed the same smiling, gossiping, pleasure loving, flippant city as of yore. Sunday was bright, clear, and the air crisp as a New England October day, yet it was a time of apprehension to the citizens, the thirty-seventh anniversary of the coup d'etat. A procession took place under the management of the radical municipal council of Paris, ostensible 2 to strew flowers on the tomb of Alphonse Baudin, a deputy who was shot down upon the barricades on the day when Louis Napoleon transformed the Republic into an Empire.

The procession, which was more than two miles in length, occupied two hours in passing a given point, and a chain of police kept back the crowds estimated at a half million, distributed along the route. Those who were marching did so, for the most part, in absolute silence. There were no arms; there was no instrumental music, though the Marseillaise hymn was frequently sung with spirit. Occasionally there was raillery between the crowds and those in the parade, and cries were heard of "Vive Boulanger J" and the counter cries of li A bas Boulanger /"

None of those terrible men with blue blouses, nor of the "unwashed" sans ulottes, who have figured in mobs, took part in this procession. The only hostile demonstrations were incited by the raising of a socialistic red flag. For a moment the uproar was tremendous, the cries incoherent and furious, the attitudes menacing; men, women, and children fled like sheep; but the police seized the flag and an obnoxious placard, and the tumult subsided.

In the town where I was reared lived a retired sea captain who told me of some of his adventures at Bordeaux, and from then until I visited it the name has had a witching interest for me. I found a city with a quarter of a million of population, connected by water with both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic; its streets adorned with noble buildings; its commerce second in volume in France, sustaining the closest commercial relations to the United States, and having a romantic history.

Its wines have made it famous. A writer divides them into five classes as to quality. Half of the best goes to England; Paris takes a second, third, and fourth rate, witl? a small amount of the best; Russia, considerable of the best; Holland, the second and third; and the United States, the third, fourth, and fifth, with a limited quantity of the best.

When Benjamin Franklin went from the United States to represent the Colonies struggling for freedom, the sailing

From New York to the Frontier of Spain. 3

important events in the history of this country, for the powerful intervention of France in its behalf depended much upon the influence of Franklin. One of the striking spectacles in Bordeaux is the miles upon miles of shipping, displaying every flag in the civilized world.

From a commercial city to the chief modern seat of alleged miraculous powers in western Europe, is indeed a transition, but we experienced it after traveling one hundred and sixty-seven miles to Lourdes. For fifty miles after leaving Bordeaux one could easily have imagined himself journeying in North Carolina, for the eye could see nothing but pines, interspersed with cottages and cultivated grounds. Such scenery is monotonous and desolate on a cloudy day; but when sunlight illumines earth and sky, and the warm breath of the pines finds its way to the face of the traveler, if not diversified, it is far from dull.

Gradually the face of the country became more hilly when, surmounting green valleys upon whose sides sheep and cattle were grazing, arose suddenly above the horizon the long line of the Pyrenees, snow-clad and resplendent in the full flood of sunlight, with here and there a fleecy cloud resting upon their loftiest peaks. A passenger in our compartment, a medical professor in the University of Paris, as the wonderful panorama greeted us, exclaimed: "This is my country! I was born in the Hautes-Pyrenees. "

Lourdes is in the heart of the Pyrenees, surrounded by mountains, the highest of which glisten by day like ice palaces, are transformed at sunset into burnished pyramids of gold, and into huge lamps of silver when the moonlight whitens them. From a hundred elevations in and around the valley, varying in height from three hundred to three thousand feet, views may be had, any one of which, were it not for the wealth of splendor lavished upon the whole region of the Pyrenees, would make the place attractive to lovers of the beautiful, and a magnet even to those who worship the sublime. From some of these heights I beheld landscapes whose aspect could be so changed as to challenge recognition by a difference of not more than fifty yards in the point of view. We saw remains of walls built by the Romans, and visited a ruined castle which withstood a protracted seige in the time of Charlemagne.

Till about thirty years ago Lourdes had scarcely been heard of; but in the year 1858, eighteen times between February and July, the Holy Virgin, it is alleged, appeared in a grotto at the foot of a rock, to a little peasant girl by the name of Bernadette Soubirous. The child was twelve years old, and her business that of feeding hogs. The substance of what it is claimed was said to her is: "I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the other. I desire that many people shall come here. You shall pray for sinners. You shall kiss the ground for sinners. Penitence! Penitence! Penitence! Go, tell the priests that a chapel must be built here. I desire that pilgrims may come here in procession. Go and drink of the fountain, and bathe there. You shall eat of the grass which is near it. I am the Immaculate Conception."

No one except Bernadette could see the vision, but one hundred and fifty thousand visited the grotto during the six months after the first of the visions. When subsequent trances occurred, multitudes of these were present watching the child, whose face, when' she said the Virgin appeared, "seemed to be glorified by a holy light and beauty entirely unnoticeable at other times, and which continued till the vision fled." To prove her identity, the Virgin caused a spring of water to burst from the earth. It is certain that a spring, previously unnoticed, exists. Cures followed the drinking of the water and bathing in it, and such crowds nocked to the place that the authorities, not believing in the reality of the visions or of the cures, forbade persons to approach the grotto, and would not allow votive offerings placed in the church. But the people continued to come, the bishop of the diocese of Tarbes encouraging them.

Various medical men and other prominent citizens certified to the genuineness of the miracle. Finally Pope Pius IX was persuaded to sanction the opinions of the bishop. Revenues flowed to the church, the town grew rapidly, hotels and pensions were called for to accommodate the pilgrims, thirty or forty thousand sometimes arriving in one day. A handsome church and many other buildings have been constructed,

From New York to the Frontier of Spain. 7

a square laid out, an image erected representing the Virgin as she appeared to the girl, and roads cut through the hills and rocks. We found the church filled with offerings from those helped or cured, or whose friends had been benefited. The grotto, which was formerly called the Grotte de Massavielle, is known as the Grotte de la Vierge (the Virgin).

Kneeling before the image of the Virgin were many pilgrims drinking the water, bottling and carrying it away, and some, both men and women, with outstretched arms, praying with intense earnestness. The town contains the ordinary proportion of cripples, lunatics, sick children, and more than the average number of persistent beggars.

As we were dining in the hotel a nun with attractive manners advanced to the table and inquired if we spoke English. As I was responding in the affirmative she gave us to understand that she could not speak a word of English, and began by signs to beseech us for money to assist in building a hospital to take care of poor pilgrims, aged and abandoned, and the sick who were brought there to drink and wash themselves in the miraculous fountains. She presented a paper stating that no matter how little we might bestow our names would be inscribed in a special register; that if we gave a thousand francs or more our names, with a title of " Founder," should be engraved in letters of gold on a marble tablet; five hundred francs would give us the title of "Benefactor," a mass would be said once a month in perpetuity, and the poor pray every day for us, and especially would the Blessed Virgin call down upon us the choicest celestial blessings, and God would give it back to us a hundredfold.

We drank of the water at the fountain, but were not a whit the better nor any the worse. It was pure and good, and we brought away a bottle of it.

Only nine miles from Lourdes is Betharram. Its church stands at the foot of a hill, and upon the slope are thirty-two praying places, erected of granite, and from the bottom to the top of the long declivity thirty years ago crowds of pilgrims climbed, many upon their knees, pausing for prayer at each place. Numerous cures were reported, but now Lourdes nourishes and Bettharam is almost deserted.

It is so all over Europe under Greek, Roman, Armenian, and Mohammedan forms. The fame of supernatural cures arises, has its brief day, and a new locality or "Home " takes its turn. Similar traditions, connecting alleged supernatural healings with places, living persons, signs, and relics, have a strong foothold in Protestantism.

From Lourdes to Pau is but twenty-four miles, and the railway runs through the valley of the Gave, making a descent of several hundred feet before this fashionable resort is reached. I cannot conceive a more beautiful region for a pedestrian or equestrian tour. The successive villages with their churches, the diversified hill scenery, with occasional mountain views, the Gave meandering like a silver thread, and occasionally descending rapidly in short cataracts, form a charming picture.