William S. Walsh

“ About nine miles in length and from three-quarters of a mile to a mile and a quarter in width, it is sunk almost a mile below the level of the surrounding country. High granite walls rise sheer and inaccessible on each side. Cataracts of the wildest and strangest beauty abound. Flowers of every hue cover the ground. Where all is wonderful it might seem hard to select. Yet by common consent the surpassing feature of the valley scenery is the great cliff, known as El Capitan or The Captain. ”

“ If you wish to travel, the world is yours to command. Fictitious heroes have circled it in eighty days; real men and women have accomplished the feat in less time. A little leisure and a little money will enable you to do what a century or so ago would have been impossible to the greatest potentate on earth, with twenty-four hours of leisure every day, and the wealth of Indies at his beck and call. ”

“ THE TOWER OF LONDON, ENGLAND. In all the world there is no more famous fortress than this ancient citadel of London. Situate in the oldest portion of the city, on the north bank of the Thames, it at once arrests the attention of every stranger in the English metropolis. Tradition ascribes its erection to Julius Cæsar, but tradition is unsupported by historical evidence, and at the most it is only conjectured that the Romans had a fortress on this site. ”

“ It is a fantastic structure in the Byzantine style. The central portion consists of a circular edifice one hundred and eighty feet high and one hundred and eighty-nine feet in diameter, crowned by a dome, and flanked with two minarets two hundred and seventy feet high. On each side extends a wing in the form of a curve, six hundred and sixty feet in length, giving the entire edifice the appearance of an imposing crescent. On a level with the spring of the dome is a terrace adorned with thirty statues. The view of Paris from the terrace or the towers is superb. ”

“ The magnificent dome was mainly the work of Michael Angelo, though his plan was somewhat modified by Giacomo della Porta. The impressive colonnades, which almost encircle the square and lead up to the front, were added in 1667. The façade is confessedly a failure. But nothing can mar the beauty of this extraordinary edifice. Although it occupies some two hundred and forty thousand square feet, the interior, from its exquisite proportions, does not at once impress the beholder with a sense of its vastness. That grows upon one by degrees. ”

“ It contains some thirty islands, the chief of which is Innisfallen, celebrated in history and story. On the sides of these lakes rise the loftiest mountains in Ireland, intersected by the wildest ravines, and full of the boldest cascades. The beauty of the scenery is enhanced by the varied coloring of the thickly-wooded shores, the gray rock forming an effective contrast to the dark firs, the brown mountain heath, the light green arbutus and other features in an infinite variety of foliage and verdure. ”

“ It is a bewildering medley of great and little domes and towers, not only of different shapes and sizes, but gilded and painted in all possible varieties of color. There is no main chapel or church, but each dome surmounts its own chapel, dedicated to some particular saint, and services are carried on in each without disturbing the worshipers in any other. ”

“ Their beauty is equal to their singularity. The church itself is constructed entirely of white marble, with black and colored ornamentation. An elliptical dome covers the centre. The façade, adorned in the lower story with columns and arches, and in the upper story with four open galleries, is of exquisite and dainty beauty. So, likewise, is the Baptistery, a circular structure, surrounded by half columns below and a gallery of small, detached columns above, the whole crowned by a conical dome. ”

“ RUINS OF BAALBEK, SYRIA. Baalbek,—the city of Baal or the Sun, the Heliopolis of the Greeks, once famous as the most magnificent of Syrian cities, which passed successively under the rule of the Persians, Greeks and Romans, was plundered by the Arabs in A. D. 639, by the Christians and others during the Crusades, and was finally sacked and dismantled by the Tartars, under Tamerlane.—Baalbek to-day exists only as a mass of ruins; but its very ruins are of the utmost magnificence. The most imposing are the remains of the Great Temple. ”

“ To come face to face with the great monuments of the past and of the present, to see what man has done and is doing, is to get a new idea of the vastness, the imaginative strength, the creative power of the human mind, to renew your respect for your kind and for yourself, because you belong to that kind. ”

“ The mouldings of the upper colonnade are especially rich. The interior court of the building presents a wilderness of elegant columns, cornices, arches, carvings, sculptures and bas-reliefs. A magnificent collection of Venetian paintings is housed within these walls. On the east side the palace is connected with the prisons by the so-called Bridge of Sighs, which owes most of its fame to Byron’s sentimentality. ”

“ But if you have not the little leisure, if you have not the little money, you can travel without them. You can travel without passing out of your room, without quitting your chair. The resources of modern science are inexhaustible. ”

“ The one hundred and forty-six smaller canals and a perfect network of small streets and bridges form the other thoroughfares. The splendid churches, the vast treasures of art and the magnificent palaces, remind one of the glories of the past, and fill the present with a surpassing beauty. ”

“ The façade is one of the most admired pieces of early Gothic. The triple portal is ornamented by rich bas-reliefs. In the second story is a great rose window, flanked by double windows, enclosed in wide-spreading Gothic arches. The third story is an open gallery of slender arches and columns. In one of the towers is a famous bell, weighing thirty-two thousand pounds, which is only rung on state occasions. The interior of the church is adorned with sculptures, bas-reliefs and paintings and magnificent rose windows of stained glass. ”

“ GARDEN AND FOUNTAINS, VERSAILLES, FRANCE. The Palace of Versailles is in the town of the same name, ten miles from Paris, was built by Louis XIV in 1661, and became a royal residence in 1681. As such it has held a great place in the history of France. It is now used as a historical museum. The garden which surrounds it is justly celebrated for its extreme beauty. ”

“ A photograph is a modern invention whereby, by means of an artificial camera obscura, the sun, the author of all light, is cunningly induced to bind upon paper forever5 the impression made by the actual waves of light set in motion by certain objects. ”

“ Authorities generally agree that it is the finest specimen of a Moorish mosque in all Europe. The southern suburb communicates with the town by means of an ancient bridge across the River Guadalquiver, whose sixteen arches exhibit the usual combination of Moorish and Roman architecture. At one end of the bridge is an elevated statue of the patron saint, St. Raphael, whose effigy abounds all through the city. ”

“ EDINBURGH CASTLE, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND. Picturesquely situated on a rocky eminence, three hundred and eighty-three feet high, in the very heart of the old portion of Edinburgh, is this ancient fortress. The rock is perpendicular on three sides. On the fourth it slopes away gradually so that it can be ascended with ease. The fort is supposed to have been erected in the seventh century, the city gradually growing up around it. In early Scottish history it was frequently captured by and recaptured from the English. In the twelfth century it became a royal residence. ”

“ Among its chief marvels are the fountains, richly adorned with bronze statues, and from the centre of each rises a column of water to the height of forty feet, encircled by sixteen inclined jets of water, the whole forming a sort of basket. The water which feeds the fountains is brought from the Seine by the machine of Marly, constructed at enormous expense after the failure of the plan to turn the River d’ Eure from its course. ”

“ FORUM ROMANUM, ROME, ITALY. The ancient Forum of Rome exists only in ruins. That it lay at the foot of the Capitoline and Palatine Hills in Rome is certain from the remnants that survive. But the exact area it occupied and the true situation of the various buildings which once covered it are matters of dispute and uncertainty. Conspicuous among the ruins are three beautiful Corinthian columns of white marble belonging to the temple raised to Vespasian by Domitian ”

“ THE DOGE’S PALACE, VENICE, ITALY. At right angles to the Piazza San Marco, at the south-east end, runs the Piazzetta or little square, whereon is situated the former residence of the Doges, an ancient seat of government. Ruskin calls this “the principal work of Venice.” Originally built in 800, five times destroyed and as many times rebuilt in a style of greater magnificence, the present structure dates from the fourteenth century. It is in the Moorish-Gothic style. The form is an irregular square ”

“ The palace itself is in excellent taste. A high tower in one corner is a conspicuous object for miles around. From its summit a magnificent view of the surrounding country may be obtained.
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BLARNEY CASTLE, IRELAND. This imposing ruin of an ancient fortress is situated in the village of Blarney, about four miles from Cork. It was built in the early part of the fifteenth century by Cormac McCarthy, Prince of Desmond. Little now remains of it but the massive donjon tower, one hundred and twenty feet high. ”

“ Here the estuary of the Forth is divided by the island of Inchgarvie into two channels, whose depth—two hundred feet—precluded the construction of intermediate piers. A design for a gigantic suspension bridge, by Sir Thomas Bouch, had almost been adopted, when the collapse of the Tay bridge, in 1879, led to the abandonment of the project. A new plan was accepted from Benjamin Baker. This was a cantilever bridge of steel. A cantilever is a structure overhung from a fixed base. Work was begun in 1882 and completed in 1889. There are three granite piers, the central one being on the island ”

“ Peter’s, at Rome, and the Cathedral at Seville, this is the largest church in Europe, covering, as it does, an area of fourteen thousand square yards.
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PANORAMA OF VENICE, ITALY. No city in the world is more fascinating than Venice. Its very situation makes it unique, built as it is on a cluster of small islands, a hundred or more in number, in the lagoon of the same name. A long, narrow sand-bank, divided by several inlets, separates the lagoon from the Adriatic. The largest of the islands is the Isola di Rialto, which gives its name to the famous bridge. ”

“ On a promontory, overlooking the Valley of the Thames, stands the castle. Its chapels and its terrace are among the noblest in Europe. The interior is lavishly decorated, and contains valuable paintings, statuary, furniture, tapestries and plate. In its vaults lie the bodies of the Kings and Queens of England.
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SHAKESPEARE’S HOUSE, STRATFORD-ON-AVON, ENGLAND. The birth-place of genius must always be full of interest to his fellow-men. How great then must be the interest in the birth-place of the greatest of geniuses! ”

“ NOTRE DAME, PARIS. The cathedral of Notre Dame, one of the great historical churches of the world and one of the most beautiful specimens of mediæval architecture, was founded in 1163 on the site of an earlier church, was consecrated in 1182 and was completed in 1420. It suffered sadly during the Revolution, when it was made a Temple of Reason ”

“ No vestige remains of the shell of Parian marble which encircled it, while the statues were torn off to be used as missiles against the Goths, and later as cannon balls.
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ST. PETER’S, ROME, ITALY. This is the largest and most magnificent of all Christian temples. It is built on the supposed site of the burial-place of St. Peter. As early as A. D. 90 an oratory was raised on the spot; in 306 this was followed by a basilica. The present edifice was begun in 1506, and after employing the talents of Bramante, Michel Angelo and other architects, was dedicated by Urban III in 1626. ”

“ Louis Philippe and Napoleon III spent large sums in restoring it. The exterior of the building, with the exception of several pavilions, is only two stories in height. The interior is a splendid example of decorative work. Some of the greatest French and Italian artists of the epoch of its creation were employed upon it. Especially beautiful is the chamber of Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV, and Queen-regent in his minority, who made Fontainebleau her favorite residence, and spent money lavishly in the decoration of her chamber. ”

“ But the pride of science and of patriotism have had to bow to the will of the populace, which has been satisfied with the simpler and therefore more energetic title of Big Trees. They are confined to the western portion of the California range, occurring in detached groups or groves at an altitude of from four thousand to five thousand feet above the sea. Some of these vast vegetable columns are upwards of thirty feet in diameter, and from three to four hundred feet in height. ”

“ CLIFF-DWELLINGS, NEW MEXICO. Cliff-dwellers is the name given to more or less savage people in the past who inhabited dwellings built on projections from the face of cliffs, or cut out of the solid rock. Sometimes the houses are four stories high, and divided into many rooms. Often they are not to be distinguished from the rest of the cliff. Such dwellings are found in various parts of the world, but nowhere are they so abundant and so interesting as in Arizona, New Mexico and California. It is generally supposed that the American cliff-dwellers were the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians. ”

“ Eight other lakes, including a bit of Zurich, may be counted in the distance. Snow-capped mountains—the Jungfrau, the Wetterhorn, the Schreckhorn, the grand snow-covered peaks of the Bernese Alps and countless other peaks of lesser note—stretch away on every side to the horizon. The railway up the mountain is of ordinary gauge. Along the centre runs a cogged track, into which a cog-wheel on the locomotive works, thus giving the power for the ascent. In going down the brakes are worked by atmospheric pressure. ”