Travel Books

INTRODUCTION. In the midst of the universal sorrow caused by the intelligence that Dr. Livingstone had lost his life at the furthest point to which he had penetrated in his search for the true sources of the Nile, a faint hope was indulged that some of his journals might survive the disaster: this hope, I rejoice to say, has been realized beyond the most sanguine expectations. It is due, in the first... more...

MADRID AL FRESCO Madrid is a capital with malice aforethought. Usually the seat of government is established in some important town from the force of circumstances. Some cities have an attraction too powerful for the court to resist. There is no capital of England possible but London. Paris is the heart of France. Rome is the predestined capital of Italy in spite of the wandering flirtations its... more...

A DREAM OF ANTICIPATION The King of Cork was a funny shipAs ever ploughed the maine:She kep' no log, she went whar she liked;So her Cap'n warn't to blaime. The Management was funnier still.We always thought it dandy—Till it wrecked us on the Golden Horn,When we meant to land at Kandy. The Cap'n ran the boat ashoreIn aerated waters;The Purser died by swallowin' gas,Thus... more...

LONDON ARABS. Of all the protean forms of misery that meet us in the bosom of that "stony-hearted stepmother, London," there is none that appeals so directly to our sympathies as the spectacle of a destitute child. In the case of the grown man or woman, sorrow and suffering are often traceable to the faults, or at best to the misfortunes of the sufferers themselves; but in the case of the child... more...

At the urgent request of our worthy and most active President, I have been induced to follow the example of several other friends of this Institution, and bring before you some account of a short visit to St. Petersburg and Moscow. I may premise that about fourteen years ago, on our return from Egypt, vià Constantinople, I and my companion, Mr. Charles Darbishire, were placed in quarantine at a... more...

HOLLAND. ONE who looks for the first time at a large map of Holland must be amazed to think that a country so made can exist. At first sight, it is impossible to say whether land or water predominates, and whether Holland belongs to the continent or to the sea. Its jagged and narrow coast-line, its deep bays and wide rivers, which seem to have lost the outer semblance of rivers and to be carrying fresh... more...

CHAPTER I. EMBARKATION FOR CANADA. — VOYAGE OUT. — SEA-LIFE. — ICEBERGS. — PASSAGE UP THE ST. LAWRENCE. — QUEBEC. — MEMORIALS OF GENERAL WOLFE. — CATHEDRAL. — HOSPITALITY. — EARTHQUAKES. — NUNS. — MONTREAL. — PROGRESS UP THE COUNTRY. — MY ROMAN CATHOLIC FELLOW-TRAVELLER. — ATTEMPT AT CONVERSION. — THE TOWNSHIP OF WHITBY. A PREFERENCE for an active, rather than a... more...

Copenhagen, the metropolis of Denmark, is a large and flourishing city, with all the modern improvements of a commercial capital. It has an atmosphere of its own, an atmosphere of friendliness and gaiety, particularly appreciated by English people, who in "Merry Copenhagen" always feel themselves at home. The approach to this fine city from the North by the Cattegat is very charming. Sailing... more...

Chapter I Crossing the Desert A kind friend in Bolivia once placed in my hands a copy of a most interesting book by the late E. George Squier, entitled “Peru. Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas.” In that volume is a marvelous picture of the Apurimac Valley. In the foreground is a delicate suspension bridge which commences at a tunnel in the face of a precipitous cliff and hangs in... more...

INTRODUCTION. Public attention has been repeatedly and prominently directed to New Guinea during the last few months.  The name often appears in our newspapers and missionary reports, and bids fair to take a somewhat prominent place in our blue-books.  Yet very few general readers possess accurate information about the island itself, about the work of English missionaries there, or about the part New... more...