Round the world in silence

Preface

BOOKS of travel are legion now-a-days, and one has bnt to turn to the shelves of library or bookstore to obtain information on every land and sea under the sun. My excuse for adding to this collection is that I hope to offer something that will interest the stay-at-homes, revive pleasant memories in the globe-trotter, and give to both the novelty of being taken around a soundless world.

A deaf young lady made the remark to me once that it was a waste of time and money for a deaf person to go to Europe, as she could get so little benefit from the trip. I told her that as long as one could see there was a great deal one could absorb and enjoy. Then, when the time and opportunity came for me to take a tour around the world, there happened to be a young man in the party who was totally blind. I was full of sympathy for him, but he. instead of feeling regret, thought the sympathy should be bestowed on me, since I was deaf instead of blind. Cheerfulness is a fine trait, but I could not bear to think of going to India and then not being able to see the glories of the Taj or the pathetic beauty of the Residency, — Lucknow's memento of the Mutiny. Feeling that I was fully repaid for the months of strenuous life, I have been moved to rewrite and publish the letters I sent home telling of my experiences on the tour as I would like to show others, as well as my deaf brethren and sisters,

4 PREFACE

how much pleasure and profit one can get through travel not only in Europe but the Orient. I am not merely hard of hearing, but entirely deaf. Part of the time I was with friends of long standing, part of the time with almost entire strangers ; and even amid the stress of travel they were always kind and patient with me. If they should chance to read these pages, I would like them to know how much I thank them all.

On Board the Princess Irene.

DEAR MARGUERITE :— I wish yon could have been here yesterday, when this ship left Hoboken. All my dear ones within a hundred miles of the place were there, and I should have liked to have you with them. You could have seen Molly, her husband, and little son. You have not met her since our college days, when we were all at Monnett Hall together, have you? Her husband is such a fine fellow, and Buddie is the sweetest, most engaging three-year-old that I ever saw.

Did you ever know I wanted to go round the world? I didn't know it myself till Molly told me she was building such a castle in Spain. A year ago I never dreamed of such a thing; and it is wonderful how it came about. Molly came over from New Haven one day last spring and 'phoned me to meet her in Wanamaker's. We had a fine day, pretending we were school girls again. While we were at luncheon she told me that her husband and she were talking about " going around the world ". I told her to be sure and let me know if it came to a reality, for I wanted to be one of the party. That was in May ; in August, I was in Troy, visiting Edith, when one day I was thunderstruck to receive a letter from Molly's husband, saying that if I had really decided to take the trip I was to telegraph at once to a man in New York who was to reserve a berth for me on the Isis, from Brindisi to Port Said, and on the China, from Port Said to Colombo, Ceylon, until he could hear from me ; then the sailing date from New York could be decided later. It was necessary to secure passage on these two steamers at once, as the lists were made up in London. I did not see how I could go. If I had had a little time to consider the pros and cons I was sure I could do it, but there was no time, and I could not venture to say " yes " without time to see if all my affairs could be arranged. Though I was deeply disappointed, I felt that I must give it up, and wrote to Mr. Brown to that effect. Three weeks later, at home, when I had nearly forgotten all about it, the postman brought me another letter from Mr. Brown, saying he had just learned that, through a mistake made at the New York office, I was booked through to Ceylon, and as we did not sail for four weeks, I would have time to make arrangements to go. Hurry !

I am on board the Princess Irene, myself, but how many things necessary to my existence stayed at home, I have yet to learn.

For comfort there is nothing like the German steamers. Everything is kept spotlessly clean. The service is faultless, and the dinners are works of art. They learned at once that I cannot hear, and so, every time the meals are ready, the stewardess or steward comes to my stateroom to call me. And my stateroom is most conveniently arranged. I have two large wardrobes and plenty of drawers.

On Saturday morning, we came in sight of the largest of the Azore Islands and passed quite close to Ponta Delgada, the Capitol. It was raining when I came on deck, and the huge brown rocks and soft green slopes were veiled by a mist of rain. But as the Irene drew near the city, the sun shone out gloriously.

THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR

All the buildings on the island, even the fences, were a brilliant white. The city itself was crowned by a bright rose-pink clock tower. All the mummies in the deck chairs suddenly came to life, and there was high excitement on board during the two hours while we were passing the island. Head winds have fought us all the way, and it has been verv wet. My roommate says it is rough, but this is her first voyage. When I remember our crossings of the North Atlantic, it seems to me that there is just enough motion to give zest. For me it has been drifting from one opal clay to another.

What a wonderful day this has been ! We were called before daylight, — and there we were at Gibraltar. As I dressed, the light became stronger and I could see the huge, gloomy rock, it's top hidden in clouds. Daylight came very quickly and showed us a glorious panorama of mountain and sea : a white glimmer of a distant African city at the foot of grey hills ; a glittering bay, crowded with warships, ocean steamers, steam launches, and rowboats.

The tender started for the shore at ten o'clock, and we were all on board ; dear little Buddie as excited as any of us. On the dock all of us five women and Buddie squeezed into one of the odd little carriages in waiting, while Mr. Brown went off on foot to find the cable office. What a ride we had through the quaint narrow streets, crowded with a motley throng of Arabs, in flowing white robes ; English soldiers ; peddlers, with baskets of fruit and flowers ; and patient little donkeys, loaded down with huge panniers of vegetables, fruit and charcoal. The tall houses were painted bright purple or yellow. Dark-eyed beauties laughed down at us from flower-decked balconies. They looked pretty at a distance ; but a closer acquaintance showed them to be so powdered as to be almost ghastly. Even the little girls looked as if they had been white-washed. The streets were almost as steep as the side of a house. Molly and I jumped out of the carriage and followed it on foot. L T p and up we panted, until the driver stopped at the entrance of the fortifications. Here we registered and proceeded on foot, with a tall soldier for our guide. Then upward again, along a path nicked out of the side of the mountain. We could see nothing over the sides of the ravine, so we plodded patiently along until we came to the first of the galleries which honeycomb the rock. Our guide lifted Buddie to his shoulder and we groped our way along, stopping occasionally as we came to an opening through which big guns thrust inquisitive noses, spying across the glittering water for some sneaking enemy. The huge steamers, far below, looked like toys ; yet we found afterwards that we had not gone anywhere near the top of the rock. After we had gone through some half dozen of these dark galleries, the guide turned and took us back to where we had left the carriage. Buddie, riding happily on the guide's shoulder, made love to the man, patting his cheek, and putting his arms around his neck, blarneying him, — " You dear soldier ! " When Ave came to smooth ground again, Buddie was placed on his feet; whereupon that young gentleman remarked, " Xow we men will walk together ! "

Then came a drive through a lovely park, where huge oleander trees, thick with blossoms, cacti, pepper, banana, and pine trees mingled with tall geraniums and flowering shrubs in a luxuriant tangle. Later, on the Neutral Ground, where Spanish cavalry, resplendent in black and yellow, mounted guard on the entrance to the land of the young king, we found Air. Brown in a carriage, returning from Linnea, the Spanish town on the other side of the Neutral Ground. The customs officers had searched him, — fun for the rest of us ! As we were somewhat cramped in our wee carriage, Buddie was handed out to his father. We had only two hours on land, and came near getting left. Driving along*, so interested in the novel sights that we had almost forgotten the Irene, we happened to see a clock. It lacked only five minutes to ten, the time when the tender was to leave. We whipped up our horse, and as we flew along we caught sight of Mr. Brown, who had also taken alarm. He had left his carriage somewhere, and, with Buddie tucked under his arm like a bundle, was running for all he was worth. Luck was with us, for our tender was still at the wharf. The gang plank had been taken up, but the space was not too wide for us to jump.

II The Princess Irene

OUR sail on the Mediterranean was enchanting! The water was smooth as glass and a beautiful blue. One night we had a grand ball on board. For ball room we had the flag-draped deck with its red and white lights. The deck was sprinkled with what every one vowed was H. O. The band tuned up ; but alas ! the ball did not proceed. The girls were ready, but all the men had been seized with stage fright, and had betaken themselves into remote boiler rooms and other such masculine retreats. The ship's officers were still left us, and they would have made the swellest kind of partners, but — the rules did not permit them to dance. Well, at ten o'clock the Captain ordered lights out, and the ball came to a melancholy end.

Friday evening: — The "Captain's Dinner" is just over, and to-morrow we shall be in Naples. That dinner made up for the ball. They hung the diningsaloon with flags and banners, draped the pillars with bunting, and put the waiters into white waistcoats. Each one of us had a souvenir in the shape of a hat ribbon. When time for dessert came, and we were making gay with paper caps, and swapping mottoes, the lights went out, and little red and white lights flashed up on the miniature lighthouses which served as centerpieces. Then, in the semi-darkness, entered a brilliant procession. All the waiters and stewards filed in, waiters and stewards alternately. Each waiter carried a tray, bearing a large hollow block of ice with a light inside ; around this was the ice cream, molded into little seated figures holding tiny Japanese parasols. Each steward carried a large Japanese lantern. The gay procession circled all the tables and then passed out. After that we had our ice cream, and each lady was given a parasol and a flag.

Sunday : — Here we are in the Bay of Naples. Yesterday they woke me before daylight to look out at Vesuvius. The silvery grey-blue water was banked by dark blue mountains, and behind the mountains the sky glowed red.

Did you know they have strikes in Italy? They do. As we were about to go ashore this morning, we heard that it was uncertain when the Irene would proceed to Genoa, because there was a strike among the deck hands, and the cargo could not be unloaded. After waiting around for an hour we decided to land, for a while at least.

There was a large party of us, and we engaged a guide, — one who was very proud of his English. After we had looked into the Aquarium and a few shops, we turned toward Pompeii to spend the rest of the day there. We were all crowded into one wagonette, and the sun was hot, so we were glad enough to stop for luncheon at an out-of-door restaurant. The little building was roofed with vines, and, in the garden, real oranges and lemons hung from the trees. Here we had our first meal in the land of macaroni and garlic ; but we left out the garlic.

Then on we went again, jolting over uneven pavements walled in on either side by bright painted houses. All around us, on the street, cooking, washing, sewing, quarrelling and love-making were going on. One glance at the dirt would have turned Marietta's hair white ; and the odors were not of cologne ! As we drove farther out, open archways framed fleeting glimpses of lovely gardens. Our guide told us that the lively street we were on had been buried nine feet deep in lava at the time of the last eruption, and for a week it had been so dark that one could hardly see one's hand before one's face. There was a good deal of lava dust, and as we got outside of the city it grew deeper, and there were great heaps of it on either side of the road. It took about two hours to cover the fourteen miles from Naples, and when we left our carriage at the hotel, outside the entrance to Pompeii, there was no sign of anything like our preconceived notions of that city. We were admitted to a lovely park, — the more lovely to us because of our dusty drive. The high banks on either side of the path leading to the ruined city were dotted with beautiful flowers. They say a king of Naples, digging to get water to the city from a spring, was the first to discover the place. By good fortune we had Pompeii almost to ourselves, and we wandered for hours through the ruins. Think of it ! ruins two thousand years old. The narrow streets worn in deep ruts by the chariot wheels of long ago, with their huge stepping stones at the crossings, spoke eloquently of the tide of life that had once flowed through them. Excavating is still going on, as the ancient city has not yet been entirely uncovered. Restorations have been so carefully made that one can form an excellent idea of what the city was. There are bakeries with their ovens and mills for grinding flour, wine shops with their empty reservoirs, chemists' shops, with all their vessels and instruments. In the houses the wall paintings are as bright as if fresh from the brush. The homes of the wealthy had beautiful flower gardens in the inner court, and on pedestals in the gardens stand portrait busts of the long dead owners. AYe took some snap shots of each other in the Forum and

POMPEII

Roman Theatre, and had drinking water offered us from a well in the temple of Isis.

The Baths must have been the height of luxury. with hot and cold baths, plunge baths, and Turkish baths, all provided for. In the Museum are shown, in glass cases, casts of some of the victims, made from the lava-molds that formed about their bodies. The poor creatures are doubled up or lying on their faces evidently in the vain effort to shield themselves from the awful storm of lava. It seems cruel that their death agony should be exposed to curious gazers. The shelves around them are filled with things they had used in life, — household utensils, jewelry, glassware, bronze and copper vessels, swords, coins, vases, in pathetic array.

Three days later: — We have just left Naples, having had four days there instead of one. The strike made it impossible to unload the Irene on time. Naples was swarming with troops, and our vessel, which lay at anchor in the bay about a mile from the landing stage, was guarded by a number of Italian officers, swell-looking fellows, all red and silver braid, with feathers on their flapping beaver hats. It has been interesting to watch the unloading, and the people who come out in rowboats at night to sing and dance for us. I wonder how they manage to dance in those rowboats without going overboard. They hold up a big umbrella, inverted, to catch the change ; and they always catch it, too.

We have gone back and forth from the city every day either in the tender, that plies regularly, or in a rowboat. Yesterday we went to the Monastery of San Martino, a picturesque landmark on the top of the hill behind the city. There is quite a fine museum up there ; the carriage in which the present king was taken to his christening is kept in the museum. Besides the museum there is a beautiful church on the hill, and, best of all, some glorious views.

We have also visited the Cathedral, and several of the four hundred Catholic churches in Naples, and taken a drive out to Puteoli, where Paul landed on his way to Rome. There are still traces remaining of the ancient Roman wharf on which he landed. Part of the four days we have spent in shopping for corals, guide-books and photographs, and in watching the interesting street-life of the city. Altogether, we have enjoyed ourselves in a leisurely way. Buddie has gone with us every day, and has been as good and happy as a king, happier, probably, and better too, judging from all accounts of kings. It has been huge fun to go about with Mr. Brown. No difficulties of language daunt him. I told him one day he could soon graduate in the sign language. Yesterday he bought himself an Italian-English Phrase Book. The rest of us stood in a row along the side walk while he hunted for the phrase he wanted, and tried it on one of the ever-present soldiers. It was amusing to watch them !

I have been out shopping all by myself, and the only trouble I had was with the beggars that followed me. You know Naples swarms with them. They dog every step we take. "We will take American money", they say, — obliging creatures ! An intelligent Italian told Mr. Brown that the soldiers' pay was only two cents a day. And only two cents a day was paid to the men unloading and coaling the Irene.

We are due at Genoa about the middle of the afternoon, to-morrow ; our trunks have been left in storage at Naples, and we are to travel in light marching order.