The big American caravan in Europe

Preface

The following letters were written while making a tour en the Continent of Europe. There was no idea, at the time, of their publication. No pains was taken with them, and they were often hurriedly written under the most unfavorable circumstances. Our itinerary aimed to consume all our time, and frequently we were at a loss for rest. But for this reason they may be all the more acceptable, as they convey the impressions that were fresh upon me, and are honest impressions with regard to things as I saw them. A desire on the part of those who made this tour to have the letters, led to their publication, and they may not fail to entertain others. The putting through s/ this large party in the very height of the tourist season, was cer , tainly a mammoth undertaking, and shows to what perfection this business has attained. In Switzerland especially, where it has been estimated over a million tourists visited during the summer, it was a wonder that we experienced no inconvenience from delays or over crowding. The weather, for the most part, was very propitious and our chances for sight seeing were perhaps rarely excelled.

THE AUTHOR.

Letter I

The Tourgee Party— Crossing the Ocean— Sea sickness— Fogs and Fog horns— Life aboard the Ship— Fourth of July celebrated— Shivering in Mid. summer— Almost a collision.

On Board Ship, July 22, 1879.

In the uncertain stale of my stomach, with the minor hindrance of a little disturbance in the shape of church services going" on around and above me, I doubt if I can do justice to my friends in the way of a letter. But as a slight calm has come over me, I thought best to seize the opportunity and make what progress I can while there is allowed to me the happy privilege of holding up my head and knowing my name and residence.

This excursion, of which I am now a member, was gotten up by Dr. Eben Tourjee, of Boston. He took over a party last * Summer, the success of which induced him to take over another this year. There are 186 of the party on board this vessel, the ,*. Anchoria, while 127 have already gone ahead and are now probably out of their misery enjoying a little tour through parts of Ire. land. On our arrival at Glasgow the entire band will meet and there be divided up into four sections, all to travel over the same route but in different order, so as not to have the caravan so cumbersome. Twenty-one States are represented by those aboard this ship — as far East as Maine, down to Florida on the South, and as far West as Kansas and Minnesota. Massachusetts leads with 98, Boston contributing 38 of these, Ohio being the State sending the delegation second in size. The "little one," my daughter, and I are the only ones from Mississippi. Only two Southern States are represented, there being two ladies from Nashville, Tennessee, and one gentleman from Florida. Of the 1 86 here. 108 are ladies, showing quite a preponderance of the fair sex. And thus you have an analysis of the handsome little pamphlet liberally distributed to the passengers and their friends before the departure of the ship. I may add, as an item of interest to bachelors, that much over one-half of the ladies are single.

By a previous arrangement most of the party met at the St. Nicholas hotel in New York prior to sailing. On Saturday morning early the hotel coach began the no small task of carrying down passengers and baggage. I went down with the last load and found the ship crowded with people and everything in a jam and confusion. Hundreds had come on board to bid friends and acquaintances good-bye, and groups were standing about here and there in earnest converse. It never occurred that any familiar face would meet us, but we had that pleasure, nevertheless, for nearly an hour before starting we were joined by that most genial gentleman, John Bell, of Commodore Parisot's fleet; and when, an hour later, all visitors had gone upon the pier and our vessel was pushing out for the sea, the last we saw of his pleasant face was while he was waving his handkerchief, with hundreds of others, and bidding us God speed and a pleasant voyage. He is the only home friend we have seen since leaving Cincinnati. We were to have been accompanied by a charming young lady of Vicksburg, but the trivial circumstance of contemplated matrimony prevented her coming, and we have been out of humor with Cupid ever since.

As we steamed out of the bay at noon, in comparatively smooth water, the passengers loitered about the decks and cheerfully contemplated the scene, but after we got "outside" and fell in with a pretty stiff breeze and rough water, the numerous reclining chairs were soon filled and looked like so many occupied cots in an army hospital. Those who had not providid themselves with these chairs' generally disappeared and perhaps were not seen on deck any more that day. As for myself, I braved it out on deck as loiw as I could, When I went on board, the sensitiveness of my nasal organ over the unpleasant smells (and there are very, very many unpleasant smells about a ship) was an unfavorable omen. Still, as I saw victim after victim on this hand and that, I hoped, in a feeble way, that the little cruise I took two years ago among the islands in the Gulf of Mexico, would be of service to me here. But such hope proved a delusion and a fraud. It was not long before I joined the throng at the railing, and began a series of pilgrimages between that and my chair until four o'clock in the afternoon, when I grew so terribly sick and drunk and worthless, that I fled to my close and stifling room below. How I writhed down there in the arms of this awful monster of the sea, I think I will never be able to describe. Later, asleep, I forgot the billows, but the moment I awoke I became conscious of the rolling and pitching of the vessel. The room was away forward, and contained four berths, two running lengthwise and two at right angles with the ship. I occupied the lower one of the latter two. The wind was quartering with our course, and as the ship mounted a wave she twisted awfully to one side, and as she plunged down into the trough of the sea she swung up and twisted the other way, thus giving to one's person a species of rotary motion that made his stomach feel as though it contained a restless, uneasy lump as big as a foot ball, The greater number of passengers were sick, but most of them for a short time only, while others were pitiable invalids for so long a time as to wish themselves comfortably at home and Tourjee's excursion in Patagonia. I may safely be classed with the latter. I fasted literally from Saturday morning till Sunday morning, when I ventured down to the table. I looked with an air of determination on my countenance, and attempted to walk bravely up one of the aisles, but had scarcely reached the farther end where there was a vacant seat, when I turned sadly about and rushed up stairs and out on deck to contribute, for the fortyninth time, my share of food to the active little gulls that were continually skimming the foaming billows behind us, I count — we have now been four days out and I think, so far as • the records show, I have been the very sickest man in the party, and am utterly disgusted with my stomach. I can ap-

X THE BIG AMERICAN CARAVAN S

preciate and measurably forgive the insufferable and provoking vanity of a man whose stomach behaves itself while those around him are continually casting up their Jonahs.

At the very moment I penned the memorandum upon which the above painful remarks were based, a joyous party came out from the dining-table and regaled me with a description of the choice and bounteous dinner just served down stairs. Of course, as I lay prone upon my reclining chair, awaiting a call to the railing, I enjoyed this timely kindness in the fullest sense But let me pass from this subject. It is harrowing to my feelings. I feel that when I reach Europe much of my enjoyment there will be marred by the contemplation of a repetition of this thing on my return home. I have heard two or three declare with the most powerful emphasis, that no excursion, after they reach home, will ever tempt thim across the ocean again; and so far as I am personally concerned, if I retain my senses and my memory, I think the scenery of America will suit me to a dot. But those who do not suffer materially — and they constitute a very large majority — find much to enjoy in a voyage of this kind, and will always be ready to repeat it when occasion offers.

I have been astonished at the cool winds we have encountered off the coast of Maine, and that now blow as we plow through the pale blue waters on the banks of Newfoundland. Every book we read and every person we consulted on the subject, warned us to bring our heaviest wraps, but there are some things hard to realize, just as hard as it was for my friends to understand, while I was in the mountains of Colorado writing of snows and ice in July and they sweltering in the hot sun of the South, that the truth was in me. I could not get it into my head that there was any sense in bringing an immense overcoat and a horse blanket to swathe my person in during a passage across the ocean in July; but I now know the necessity for it, and would say to those likely ever to make the trip, to bringall their own wraps and to pilfer all they can from their neighbors. On one or two occasions the wind whistled through my thick overcoat, apparently with as much ease as it would through a seive. Those ladies who are the most outlandishlv "bundled up" and look most like animated mummies, are the most comfortable. Many of these have been enabled to occupy their reclining chairs night and day on deck and thus avoid the close and ill-smelling rooms below.

It has been very foggy much of the journey so far, and the fog whistle has been going at intervals throughout the entire journey. Here on the banks of Newfoundland the water is of a much paler blue than any we had heretofore encountered, and the fog has been so dense at times we could not see a ship two lengths of our own vessel. At noon to-day, just four days out, the log indicated that we had made 1226 miles, which is regarded as above the average speed. At that rate we will reach Scotland one day or more in advance of our time. If we should sight the Irish coast to-morrow, there is one excursionist, at least, who would rejoice.

Afternoon of the second day out, they cleared a space on the after hurricane deck and played a game called pitch; with no pitch in it, a species of old fashioned hop-skotch in which blocks are shoved at the marked field with a long stick. At night there was a concert in the cabin, which was pronounced good ; and later there was quite a blow, great phosphorescent lights around and in the wake of the ship, and a rainbow by moonlight, none of which I saw. But as I lay in my berth, down in the tomb-like room, I could hear the roaring and thundering of the sea as the billows dashed against the sides of the ship, but if she had stood upon her head and wallowed over and over in the raging sea, I don't think my poor excuse of a stomach would have acted more disgustingly. Last Sunday we had an appropriate and entertaining sermon under the awning, and it being the day after departure and the temporary pulpit erected amid the array of invalids, the learned pastor had a^large congregation if he did not have an attentive one. This morning we had short Episcopal Church services ; this afternoon we had chorus singing, and now, as I write, I hear the strains of the organ at one end of the gallery over the cabin, and the piano at the other. To-night we are to have our third series of entertainments in the way of readings, recitations, music and the like. I heard one last night and was very much entertained indeed.

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There is almost a total absence of the signs of fish up here off Newfoundland. We have seen only two small schools of porpoises and nothir g else. Were we sailing in the Gulf of Mexico we would rarely be out of sight of the denizens of the deep, but constantly be in sight of great schools of fish and my old friends, the sharks. It may be that when we cross the Gulf stream we will fall in with some of these. I hope so, at least- I am tired seeing this vast waste of water with nothing to break the monotony. An iceberg would not go amiss, especially a large one, and Ave should pass it at a safe distance. But I would like above all things, to see this dense fog clear away and the bright sunshine to thaw out and enable me to realize that this" was July instead of midwinter. I am absolutely shivering with cold, here in the parlor, with all the thick clothes I have on my back, and my undergarments doubled. You may understand this when I tell you it is just 43 degrees colder than on the day I left home.

Night, July 5. — I add a few words, to say, among other things, that we had an intolerable fog for seven blessed days and nights — a most outlandish, cold, penetrating fog which has prevented enjoyment on deck. Yesterday being the 4th, we got up a little

f celebration on our own account and kicked up auite a smoke. There was a big procession around and about the ship, of men with horns.'pans, trumpets, tin cans and the like; hoisting and cheering the flags ; firing of crackers ; speeches, toasts, songs and such, during the day. The Captain of the ship was called out and gave us a nice little talk, and upon the whole we had a jolly time. At night, there were more speeches, recitations and instrumental and vocal music in the cabin. A large part of to-day has been devoted to the selection of sections to be taken by the party, and there has been a perfect Babel. The matter has now'been pretty generally and satisfactorily arranged.

We ;"came near 'having a collision this morning. Before

breakfast, and as a few of the early risers were on deck astern,

, and the fog so dense one could not see more than the length of

our ship, the whistle blew two shriil blasts, and in an instant a

full rigged sailing vessel, with all its canvass spread, suddenly emerged from the fog like some phantom bearing down upon us. She came quartering, and in less than thirty seconds would have struck us amidships, but when the whistle blew she luffed up and gave us her side, but as she passed us and drifted astern she came so near rubbing us we could plainly see the faces of the few men astir upon her. In less than one minute from the time she came in ^view, amid the cheers of the startled little band watching her, she had disappeared in the fog behind us. It was too close a graze to leave a favorable impression, and I notice the fog-whistle has since been blown with greater regularity.

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Letter II

First sight of land on the Irish Coast — Among the Canny Scots — A trip up the Clyde — Its Scenery — Glasgow— Hotel— Magnificent accommodations— A stroll over the City and an incident of Scotch life— Cathedrals and Castles to the front — The Big Caravan looking like animated bundles of wraps— Jammed by the crowd of People.

Glasgow, Scotland, July 8th, 1870.

On Monday afternoon as the first table were at dinner, and making a fearful hole in the stores, there rang out the joyous cry of "land !" In an instant all was confusion and a stampede to the port-holes, and out upon the deck to witness the spectacle. Sure enough, away off through the mist where ail seemed dark, there stood out a darker and irregular outline of the high bluffs on the northern coast of Ireland. It was not a very satisfactory view of land, still, the land was there, and it did our hearts so much good to have ocular demonstration of the fact. We ran along the coast for an hour or more, coming closer until the cheerful green of the hills came plain' -. Then we skirted by some rocky islands against which the angry Avatfes lashed themselves into foam as the spray was thrown high into the air; then by a light house ; then by some residences on the checkered slope that ran down to the sea; then by a station where a boat came out with a pilot ; then between an island, with high and rugged bluffs, and the main land to Movilie where a tug came out in answer to sky rockets and calcium lights, and brought a great batch of morning papers from Londonderry,

TOUR THUOUGH EUROPE. 1 3

and took off a large numberfof our steerage passengers. It was raining and cold, and the disembarkation of these returning emigrants appeared a gloomy J one as they went off our big ship down into the tug, lighted by the sickly glare of the lanterns as they struggled with the fog. But all our people were happy, and very few stayed on deck to witness the departure of our fellow voyagers.

At just nine o'clock, before reaching Movih , the heavens cleared up some and the mists drifted away '" >m the shore, giving us one grand view. Cheer after cheer rang out from that ship, and the people felt good for the rest of the night.

Here the agent of Gaze & Son came on board, and at once began the task of arranging the little parties in the different sec _ tions who were to room together on the two months journey ahead of us. It was one o'clock at night when he got through, and the steward had driven us all out of the cabin by turning down the lights. 1 his morning, or, going on deck, I found we were steaming up t. -: channel towards Greenoch. The

day was dark and tkrc - , but the shores were beautifully

green, laid off in little pal \i :s separated by hedges, and terminating in. hills against the horizon. There did not appear to be a foot of available land not utilized. Ev rybitof it seemed to be in cultivation where there was any soil, and the foliage $Mi a variety of shades about, it that rendered the view very pleasant indeed. I would like to describe my feelings for this da}/. I can not do it. The scene was so new to me, the landscape so cheerful, arid the houses, and Jthe way of cutting the the land up ii%L<> wee bits of patches, so edd, that my interest in the picture amounted almost to excrement. Persons who have come over here for the first time*, after dreaming year after year of the trip, and having undergone the miseries of a voyage dot often encountered, may be able to appreciate the feelings of our party as the country lay spread out, for the first time before them. No others could, even though the picture should be drawn by the most graphic pen.

At 7 o'clock we anchored off Greenoch and a large, sidewheel tug came out to carry away the baggage. It took two of them to do it. A. "little, dirty urchin,' with a timid voice, as

T4 'THE BIG AMERICAN CARAVANS

though he was frightened by the pilgrims, made his appearance in the cabin with the Glasgow morning papers. He didn't sing out strong and recklessly, like an American newsboy would have done. It had been the intention to go ashore at Greenoch and take cars for this city, but by a vote last night it was decided that we should take one of the swift steamers that ply between the two great places and run up the Clyde. As we lay there having the necessary chalk marks put upon our trunks by the Custom-house officer (which was a mere formal matter, in our case, though requiring two hours — for they had never had as big a batch before, ) we could see Roseleith Castle, the prop erty of the Duke of Argyle, and where our neighbor, the Marquis of Lome, spent his honeymoon. I speak of it specially because it was the first live castle I had ever seen and I wanted to make a sort of landmark of the fact. I don't want to go into the castle business too strongly, but hope to fill up my letters with a recital of minor details which, though I have almost always found entertaining to me, most writers have omitted. Nearly all of the guide books can give you a history of these castles and a list of the nabobs who have held them, but they rarely ever tell you if they give you hash at this hotel or pea soup at that. Of course I will have to own I have seen a castle now and then, and perhaps when I am short of material may throw in a descriptive paragraph or so.

I was glad of the change to a steamer for a run up the Clyde. It was a most enchanting trip till we neared this city, and it was entertainining all the way. Beside, I didn't like the looks of the dumpy cars I saw as we steamed by the station at Green. och. I don't think I will ever overcome my preconceived ideas of and prejudices against them. But let me hurry on here. Directly after leaving Greenoch we passed Dunbarton Castle, a very ordinary sort of stone house stuck at the base of and against a huge solid stone mound that would have been all the more attractive without the Castle. On the left of us the rocky promontories reached nearly to the proportions of mountains, but always covered with trees or grass or grain where there was any soil. On the right, the country sloped gradually from the river and was often cultivated to the very edge of the quay. Houses were nestled about everywhere. The entire distance appeared like a continuous village, blooming out, every three or four miles, into quite a town, where we made landings, as quick as you could say Jack Robinson, to put off and take on passengers. We passed another castle, (confound them, I fear they will be in my way) old, tumbled down and ivy-grown, when every one said "how beautiful!" and indeed it was so. It enabled me to see how ivy can ornament and render attractive decaying and unsightly ruins. The buo3^s and light-houses and other devices to mark the channel, were very numerous and varied in their character and construction.

The river is so narrow a little below the city any Scottish lad ten years old can cast a pebble across it. In some places the banks are literally lined with ship yards, where great iron vessels are under process of construction — and the scene is a busy one. As we met the thirty or forty steamers similar to our own, going down the river, the passengers would look with a species of awe upon our hooded and cloaked and bundled up crowd. There was a strong, coo^ breeze blowing, with spits of rain every once in a while, and I think I never saw a more ungraceful looking set in my life than our party appeared just then. When we reached the station, in the city, where we went ashore, an immense crowd soon collected, and while we were filing off the wharf to the line of vehicles in waiting for us, it took half a score of policemen to pre. vent our being jammed. Some of our vehicles were double-decked omnibusses, with a stairway astern leading to the top, and held thirty or forty passengers. They were drawn by three *> horses abreast, the middle animal between shafts, which gave the appearance of two poles instead of one. I climbed upon top, the better to see. The remarks of the throng around us were humorous. They spoke of us as "sight-seers," " Ameri- ^ cans," etc. All except section one were driven to the Grand Hotel — that section went to Cockburn's. At the Hotel we ■;& found our rooms already assigned, and, upon registering, were handed a slip of paper with the number upon it which enabled us to reach it with the aid of one or more of the two dozen or so f of female servants eager to get her clasp upon our hand parcels.

The Hotel is a new one, large and handsomely furnished, and resembles an American hotel only so far as it has gas throughout and soap at the wash stands. Everything has an odd look, but a substantial one. The rooms are furnished in wood resembling dark cherry, a drugget or carpet covering about four-fifths of the floor, the bare part being highly polished and waxed. The bedsteads are metal throughout, the head and foot being of brass, in which you could make your toilet in the absence of a looking glass, and the balance is of bronzed iron. I have critically examined one, and I think the conception must have been that of a sensitive traveler who had often been burdened with too many voracious bed-fellows, The dining-room, I think, is the handsomest I ever saw ; not gorgeous in gewgaws and gingerbread work, but solid, clean, airy and quiet. It seemed even to have a soothing effect upon our boisterous caravan, for they toned down here and submitted to the tedious dinner courses in which they had as little voice in selecting as the man in the moon, with such grace as to give assurance that they did not intend to kick against the customs of the country. There was one apparently solid and unbroken table running the entire length of three.sides of the room, a sort of family concern, where your destinies are placed in the hands of the very few dandy waiters who officiated.

On arrival, we lunched at I o'clock, a special arrangement. There was not much of it, but what there was was nice and well cooked, all cold except the potatoes, and on your own plate when you sat down. At lunch there were the tiniest little bits of butter at great distances apart, ,fJ and at dinner, eaten by us as early as seven, there was no visible trace of this article of food, I had noticed the same trouble aboard the ship. At that rate of consumption I wonder what becomes of the tons of it which every ship coming from our own country brings here, Perhaps it is manufactured into pomatums or worked up into machine grease. I can't think the natives consume no more of it than is fed to Americans that it gets away as an article of food. The hotel is exclusively in charge of ladies. One £or two porters to wrestle with the heavy baggage, and the waiters who keep constantly dressed, ^though ready to rush off to the next dress ball, and the fellow who shines the boots, are the only males on duty here. No supercilious, high-flown, shallow-brained popinjay behind the counter to freeze you with his loftiness and his idiotic stare, but neatly dressed ladies within the office that is encased with glass, to politely and quietly see to your wishes.

After lunch, having some necessary purchases to make, the "little one" and I took an aimless stroll about the city and among the stores, leisurely sauntering by the windows and ciphering out the value of the articles on exhibition from the prices, in shillings and pence, that in most cases were marked upon them. Some of them appeared cheap, while others did not. We had been told prices were generally high here. But we bought a few things, however, including some trinkets, and fell into such confusion over our first endeavor to become accustomed to the coin of the realm, that before I knew it my pockets were so full of silver and their ugly copper pennies and half pennies that my suspenders would hardly bear the great weight. The stores are very small and the doors are nearly all closed as though it were Winter. We did not intend to go to the Cathedral with the party, but in our tramp got into that neighborhood and went there. It is an old place and seems to be suffering for want of air. The lower part, down where the dead are buried, is dark and damp and not calculated to be beneficial to rheumatic people. There are two great organs whose largest pipes seemed to me as though they might be as big as the chimneys of a Sunflower river steamer. The windows were the chief attraction. But if there had been other things they could not have been seen that dark afternoon. So our stay here was brief.