PAGE PORTRAIT Frontispiece VIGNETTE Title RABBIT AND THISTLE vii TERRA FIRMA 1 TENERIFFE 7 THE SPORTS 8 THE CAPTAIN 11 ASCENSION 17 CROSSING THE LINE. WHY, DON’T YOU SEE IT? 19 THE BABY HIPPOPOTAMUS AT PLAY 21 BURYING THE DEAD HORSE 23 THE CLASSIC DOLPHIN 28 A COLONIAL PARSON 31 IN THE TROPICS 40 GOLD MINE 49 A BIG TREE 52 ON THE BLACK SPUR 56 THE LYRE BIRD 59 THE DOCTOR CONTEMPLATES—A POEM 64 AVOCA 67 ST. MARY’S 68 FALMOUTH HOTEL 69 BURIAL PLACE 70 SUMMIT OF MOUNT WELLINGTON 76 VIEW IN HOBART GARDENS 77 OUR WAITER 79 SYDNEY HARBOUR 80 COTTAGE AT MOUNT VICTORIA 86 WEATHERBOARD FALLS 87 DESCENT TO HARTLEY VALE 88 THE LAUGHING JACKASS 90 THE AUTHOR SKETCHING 91 A BULLOCK-TEAM 94 A BUSH HUT 95 AN UP-COUNTRY TOWN 98 THE PLATYPUS 112 A FIJIAN 117 THE KING’S SISTER 127 THE CHINAMAN 142 LITTLE MIN-NE 143 SEAL ROCKS, SAN FRANCISCO 145 THE LAST OF “MISTER” 146 THE EUCALYPTUS 148 SALT LAKE 155 MONUMENT ROCK 158 THE DEVIL’S SLIDE 159 UNDER THE FALLS, NIAGARA 163 THE PALLISADES, HUDSON RIVER 166 JOHN SCALES, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE 168 A DRAGOMAN 182 A DONKEY BOY 184 THE “ORIENT” 186 THE SCHOOLMASTER “ABROAD” 189 A “PEEP” 190 “BERY CHEAP, SAH!” 191 THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN HASSAN 193 ASCENDING THE GREAT PYRAMID 197 VIEW ON THE NILE 198 THE SPHINX 199 A WASH AND A SHAVE 201 THE SERAPEUM, SAKKARA 204 BAS-RELIEF, TOMB OF TIH 206 A CAMELCADE 208 PRAYERS IN THE DESERT 209 A RUNNER, OR SAIS 212 IN SHUBRA AVENUE 214 WATER CARRIERS 215 THE TOMBS OF THE KHALIFS 218 A STREET IN BÛLAK 219 A HOLY FAKIR 222 A WRECKED SHIP OF THE DESERT 223 AU REVOIR! 225 IN THE SUEZ CANAL 226 A FEATHER MERCHANT 227 CETEWAYO DISGUISED AS A GENTLEMAN 236 ADENESE WOMEN 240 A FAMILIAR FACE 261 THE END 268
It is commonly supposed by landsmen that the perils of ocean travelling are much greater than those encountered upon land. For my own part, I believe that, once on the open sea, there is no pleasanter or safer mode of locomotion than is to be found in a well-appointed sailing ship or steamer. I certainly was in much greater danger of being drowned while travelling on the railway between Bristol and Plymouth upon one occasion than I have ever known myself to be while on board ship. The autumn had been exceedingly wet, and the low-lying districts in Somersetshire had become flooded, causing the railway to be completely submerged for a distance of about three miles. The water reached to the floors of the railway carriages, while the locomotive in its progress made a great wave in front of the train. The wheels of the locomotive were 8ft. 10in. in height, and the fire-box was 6ft. above the ground. Boats accompanied the train on either side during its passage through the water. Certainly I have never felt in so much danger in the 60,000 miles of ocean travelling which I have had since then. Not that there are no dangers to be met with on the water, as I found to my alarm before I had fairly commenced my last voyage.