Samuel Murray

“ Passing through a coral reef channel, we arrived in the harbor of Apia, capital of the Samoan Islands. The little town stretches along the bay, cocoanut palms lining the shore at places, the trees and heavily verdured hills in the foreground 209 giving the Samoan capital a high position in the list of pretty places. The ship was soon surrounded by natives, who offered for sale fans, shells, corals, beads and flowers.
The Samoan is the native aristocrat of all peoples. In bearing, looks, manners, tidiness, hospitality and pride he leads the world. ”

“ For over a hundred miles the traveler looks out upon great herds of game feeding on both sides of the railway track. Gazelles have become so tame that they sometimes keep grazing as the train passes by; and the hartebeeste, or kongonie, much larger than the gazelle, with a wedge-shaped head and an outline of body resembling the giraffe, is nearly as numerous as the clean-cut, nimble gazelle. The wildebeeste is seen feeding and swishing his tail as contentedly as a cow in a pasture. ”

“ Traveling toward the city, the vessel circuits evergreen islands, passing smart sailing craft and swift-moving launches, when a point of land, part of an attractive park, invitingly juts its grassy space into the noted harbor. The Botanical Garden next comes to view, when the Norfolk Island pine tree—none more shapely in the world—seems to suggest to the visitor that there is something good even beyond. ”

“ At night a small light—generally a candle—attached to the axle of his sulky, may be seen at the sides of streets and showing from dark alleys or from under a spreading tree. The puller will jingle the little bell on the shafts of his ricksha to attract the attention of a passerby. The weird trappings, with the dim outline of the Zulu, together with his long horns showing from the darkness, will not inspire confidence in one unfamiliar with the native puller. ”

“ Entering the Tagus River on our way to the Portuguese capital, we passed a commanding fort, the banks green with grass and vegetables. Reaching the city, women in their bare feet and none too tidy, bearing heavy burdens on their heads, mostly in baskets—fish, vegetables, coal, flowers, and other marketable commodities—revealed a condition in Southern Europe not pleasant to contemplate, and which is seen in few countries of Continental Europe. The first suggestion of the tropics was had at Lisbon, by reason of a great many of the people, dark skinned, appearing in thin clothing and bare feet. ”

“ Seddon, of New Zealand, was a great man; Brazil, Argentine, Chile and Australia have produced men they consider great, but their fame is only local. Many in other countries tell one that the United States has produced but two great men—Washington and Lincoln. Looking at things from a world viewpoint, one cannot find a man born south of the equator who measures up to Paul Kruger's fame. So, in fairness to rugged genius, it would seem no overt act would be committed if the completed monument did stand in that park in Pretoria—to the memory of the greatest man born south of the equator. ”

“ The marketplace in Bloemfontein is typical of the Dutch, being located in the center of the town, business houses and hotels standing on the four sides. The long ox teams, led by natives with rawhide strips tied to the horns of the leading yoke; the big transport, with its tent at the rear, a Boer sitting in the doorway or opening, smoking his calabash pipe filled with Boer tobacco, and his frau, behind him, knitting; the auctioneers jabbering above a pile of farm produce; the group of farmers, with their wide-brimmed hats and full beards, arguing in the Dutch language, are all in evidence. ”

“ Homes seen along the railway track were of red brick.
When Perth—with a population of 60,000—was reached—well, it looked like one of the busy cities of the North. Smokestacks, streets crowded with people, splendid buildings, all work being done by Europeans, all vehicles drawn by good horses—no oxen in sight; streets asphalted—in that far-off land one will find as busy and as up-to-date a city as exists anywhere. Credit for this substantial condition of things is more strongly emphasized when it is remembered that West Australia is very hot, more suited to black races than white. ”

“ Upward the little locomotive climbs, seeming to make sharp bends at every hundred feet. The mountainside has now become a great tea plantation, and through the hazy atmosphere the plains are but dimly seen. The sky, which from below seemed to be resting on the point now reached, is further beyond. Approaching an ever-receding horizon at distant outposts from time to time leads one occasionally to fancy he were bumping his shoulders against the arch of the sky at sundry points of the outer circle. ”

“ One feels more comfortable in Pretoria after having spent some time in the Gold City, for he has left the red dust behind, the unattractive cyanide banks, the clouds of black smoke and the sooty buildings. The air is free from smoke, from the dirt banks, and a healthier atmosphere prevails. Pretoria is Dutch; Johannesburg cosmopolitan. ”

“ A fortune—which they all hope for—may escape them if their eyes are raised from the ground for even so brief a time as that required for the wink of an eyelash, as they might thus have missed the fleeting flash of a precious stone just peeping through the soil. For this reason, when engaged in the diamond diggings their eyes are constantly looking downward. After they leave the diggings—when they have spent their savings and become practically starved out—they walk about with bent head, looking at the sidewalk or ground as they did when hand-screening soil and digging alluvial dirt. ”

“ America is far behind some of the European countries in art galleries, good roads, docks, and splendid cathedrals, but there are features of the United States which neither Europe nor other divisions of the world can equal. For instance, no capitol can compare with the admirable appearance of the United States' legislative building; in no country will one find such splendid municipal parks as are found in some American cities. We have not seen Hagenbeck's Zoo in Hamburg, Germany, but, apart from that city, Bronx Zoo in New York is foremost of those seen in other cities ”

“ We have now left the Straits and the Indian Ocean, and the ship is sailing through an island-dotted stretch of sea; a city appears ahead—Singapore, the maritime junction of the Far East.
What a difference in the condition of the people in this city to those seen in India and Ceylon! None looked starved, there were no deformed people, no beggars, and the natives were tidier and better dressed. The native Malay is much lighter in color than the Indian and Singhalese. Though the Malay is the native of Singapore, Chinese far outnumber them or any other race. ”

“ The tremendous force from contraction ejects flaming substance from the nether-world high up against the sides, and from Halemaumau's flare the sky above is aglow—an esplanade of fire spanning the space between the infernal abyss and the vault of heaven! ”

“ It is said of a visitor that "a look at New York will knock his eye out," and to travel through the busy waterway of the big harbor of this South American metropolis, and look through the dense thicket of masts, spars, shrouds, ropes, pennants, flags and many-colored funnels from ships that stretch for miles about the outer and inner harbors, will surely cause one's eye to bulge with astonishment. ”

“ Hobart is situated at the delta of the Derwent River, and has a splendid harbor, with Mount Wellington behind the city, water in front, and a large domain or park at one side. While showing little life commercially, there is a charm about the Tasmania capital that sticks to one.
Three women to one man is Hobart's unequal population. The wages are so small that any young fellow with an ounce of pluck will cross Bass Straits to the mainland cities, where his labor sells for more than a bare living wage, with opportunities for amounting to something later that Tasmania does not offer. ”

“ A good park is another feature, and the old wells are an example of art in a high degree in the past. The necessity for these wells will be understood when it is stated that rain does not fall from the termination of the monsoons until rain is again due, a period of eight months; but the sacred tamarind trees do not die. All the cities of India put one in mind of a rosy apple rotten in the center: the outskirts are beautified with nice parks, good roads, and shady trees, but the inside is always spoiled by a dirty, bad-smelling bazaar. ”

“ Thousands of acres of Singapore Island are under pineapple cultivation, and large quantities of that fruit are shipped from this port. The bountiful yield of this product has been brought about almost entirely through the industriousness of Chinese.
Passing a cocoanut grove, trees, almost uprooted, will be seen lying flat on the ground, the fronds being as fresh and green as those standing. Nothing can inspire hope so much as the cocoanut palm. It is often blown down by storms, twisted and wrecked, but as long as there is left even a thread of root the palm will continue to grow. ”

“ Seeing these beasts of the plains stretched out in plain view, about which most people read but do not see, creates a far-off feeling—a feeling that, were the eyes shut to the brick and mortar walls close by, one would be in a wild, unblazed section of the world.
Hundreds of ox teams in the market ground worm their way through piles of bags, hay and transports, led by the natives with bare feet and bare head. A South African ox team numbers nine yoke—18 oxen. The transport, or wagon, is 18 feet long and strongly built. ”

“ From some of the temples radiate a dazzling light when the sun is shining, by reason of the rich gold-lacquering and the wood carving being painted in flaring colors. Standing at the base of a pine tree-covered hill, these temples are not imposing, yet, by reason of no expense being spared in their embellishment, they are conspicuous, and even famous. ”

“ Hearing so much of the English Parliament building, one is led to believe that he will see the best legislative structure in the world when his eyes rest on this historical edifice. He may see in his mind's eye an imposing structure of white marble or granite built on an elevated plot of land, as most capitols are, rich with ornamentation and strikingly imposing. ”

“ On a range of hills rising several hundred feet, overlooking the business portion of the city and the Indian Ocean, many Durbanites live in broad-verandaed homes, shaded with semi-tropical flowering trees, perpetually blooming plants, vines growing so luxuriantly that the porches, and often the sides, of the houses are shut in by a green and floral portière, as it were. Added to this attractiveness are various species of palms and clusters of giant and Japanese bamboo. ”

“ Here, too, as in Rio de Janeiro, one wonders what women do to occupy their time, as men make the beds, do the dusting, look after rooms, sweep the carpets, and do general household duties one is so accustomed to seeing women perform in North America. Neither is there any chance for a woman to earn her living working in eating places, as men seem to have made that source of livelihood a "closed shop" to women. ”

“ Into another tunnel the train suddenly disappears, and an upward grade is traveled, when short, stubby rows of tea bushes appear. Then, looking to the right, rise mountains to a height of 2,000 feet. On another side natives may be seen in a large grove, with small tin cups in their hands, devoting their time to the trees; these are rubber-tree tappers and sap collectors. The air has now become clearer and cooler than the humid atmosphere of Colombo. Along the roads that parallel the railway track may be seen a light wagon, or trap, with two fast-stepping bullocks hitched to the vehicle. ”

“ Yet it is better for a woman to have her teeth blackened than to have her eyes dug out, as is the custom in India. A husband goes and comes when he so desires, as his liberty is not questioned by his wife. Everything is in favor of the man in Japan; the woman must breast an opposing current of inferiority almost from the time of birth until death.
A saucy child is seldom met with in Japan, and it is a rare thing to see a parent chastising one. Obedience of children—and women also—is a national characteristic. Both Japanese and Chinese children are the picture of health. ”