ENGLAND TO NEW ZEALAND THROUGH AMERICA.

Evening Star, Issue 7361, 5 November 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

ENGLAND TO NEW ZEALAND THROUGH AMERICA.

Tun Liverpool Exhibition-The S.S,

Kthuma-The Pahsaoe Across

i Books of travel nowadays are as plentiful, but by no means on the average so good as ' blackberries. That most of them are published at the expense of the authors is self--1 evident, the satisfaction enjoyed at seeing I their compilations in print being generally the only reward. Froude made LIO.OOO by 'Oceana,' trading successfully on his literary fame to put off on a confiding public a superficial, inaccurate work ; but he is a very Triton among the minnows, and his success should not tempt ambition. In no way disposed, then, to commit myself to the perpetration of a book, I think it possible that a few brief notes of a through journey recently taken from England to New Zealand via San Francisco might bo not without interest. It must be understood that my observation has not been that of ttie political economist or the statistician, but of the mere traveller, who records in his mind, without any definite arrangement or design as to ulterior use, the impressions conveyed from day to day. The s.s. Etruria was advertised to leave the Mersey on the forenoon of Saturday, July 9 last; and, having previously secured a passage by her, I reached Liverpool from London early the previous evening, finding very comfortable quarters for the night at the Grand Hotel. After refreshing the inward man with an excellent dinner, two or three hours were passed very pleasantly at the Exhibition, the buildings being brilliantly illuminated by the electric light. My observations were necessarily of a cursory character, but I was struck with the very complete arrangement of colonial exhibits. The natural resources and products of each of the principal colonies, including of course New Zealand, were shown in as many courts, open to the main aisle of the central building ; ths walls and what might be termed the proscenium in every case displaying specimens of the flora and fauna artistically grouped, whilst the natural features of the several countries were shown by well-executed photographs, and in some instances mural paintings on a large scale. A very good idea could thus be formed of the climate and leading characteristics of the various little Britains in all quarters of the globe. I also specially noted a very complete collection of models of every description of modern artillery and projectiles these, from the 110-ton gun (a huge weapon somewhere) about 43ft long, were all of the actual size. The torpedo boats, of which every class in our Navy was represented, were on a small scale and exquisitely finished. It would have taken a couple of days at least to have seen the Exhibition thoroughly, but what I did manage to see was very interesting. The tram system in Liverpool appears to be very complete, and is largely availed of for business and pleasure. Horse traction, it may be noted, is universally used at present in all the cities of Europe, but it is generally expected that before long this will be superseded by electric motors. Driving down to the Cunard Company's landing stage about II a.m. on the Saturday, I found two steam tenders puffing and snorting alongside—one awaiting the embarkation of the passengers, the other being loaded up with the voluminous baggage whioh our American cousins so particularly delight in oumbering themselves with when travelling. There were piles of huge Saratoga trunks, any one of which would make a respectable emigrant's cottage by simply knocking out a couple of windows, a door in front, and adding a chimney. Then the queer miscellaneous articles of all sizes and shapes were a study in themselves s allegator-skin valises, black iron-bound boxes of mysterious form, a little mountain of sheaves of umbrellas and sticks enveloped in rugs of every conceivable fabric and color -these appertaining chiefly to the jeuaesne dorie of England and the States, who affect great variety in these articles, and average generally from four to five umbrellas apiece, and sticks in greater profusion. We start at the stroke of eleven, and are soon along? side the Etruria, which looms very large on the river, with her huge funnel and a perfect grove of big ventilators. She is 8,000 tons register, with engines of 10,000 horsepower nominal; a truly magnificent ship, with very fine lines, as may well be conceived, since her average ocean speed is twenty knots an hour. Arrived on board, I soon located my belongings in the stateroom reserved for me through the very obliging agency of Messrs Cook, in London. Always travelling in light marching order, I escaped the trouble and the anxiety attendant on exorbitant luggage, and was able to enjoy the perplexities and worries of my fellow-passengers, some of whom lost their tempers as well as small articles, and others sat down in apparent resignation, expecting missing portmanteaus to put in an appearance of their own volition. Among the 310 saloon passengers the wealthy lower orders were largely represented, including some terrible specimens of the New York cad. The nobility were represented by an Italian count and his family, the House of Commons by one Scotch member who believed in Mr Gladstone, and was consequently popular with the Yankee bagmen who took up, to all appearances, their permanent residence in the smoking room, improving the shining hours by chronic draw-poker. The Etruria can accommodate, and frequently carries, 600 first-class passeugers, so there wa3 on this occasion no over-crowding. The saloon occupies the whole width of the ship well forward, is spacious, handsomely fitted, and, after dark, brilliantly lighted. There are literally streets of state-rooms, extending a great length along the main and lower decks; all are comfortably fitted up, and the most scrupulous cleanliness prevails. In respect to the table, the Cunard boats hardly maintain the high character they once bore. There is abundance of everything, and any number of meals ; but the cooking and serving is by no means up to the mark, considering the high rates of passage-money. The wines and all liquors are exceptionally good, and there is always abundance of ice—a great desideratum in hot weather, such as we experienced throughout the passage. It is an almost universal experience to find in the saloons of ocean steamers many varieties of the "gorging Jack and guzzling Jemmy " school; and the Etruria was no exception. Not content with breakfast, lunch, and dinner—at each of which very complete meal they worked religiously through the bill of fare—there were cormorants (of both sexes, be it said) who had beef tea about 11 a.m. to sustain their sinking faculties, hot cakes with afternoon tea at 4.30, and finally, it may be hoped, at 10 p.m ; . wound, up with sardines on toast, a welsh rarebit or poached eggs, washed down with bottled porter. The only wonder to me was that there were not a dozen or' so cases of bilious fever. The weather was very fine, and the water as smooth as it ever is on the Atlantic, or surely there would have been a crisis in the digestive institutions of these people. As was to be expeoted among such a crowd of varied nationalities, there were some very odd and some queer characters. The usual man with the spy-glass, who walked the deck as if he commanded the vessel, and sniffed the wind with a thoroughly nautical air, turned out on this' occassion to be the bummer (traveller) for a leading trunk manufactory somewhere in the States. There were languishing ladies who reclined, apparently, for I never saw them move, all the daylight hours on lounge chairs, placed in rows along the upper deck ; dudes, got up in marvellous style, as aristocratic tourists ; disputatious Irishmen, who wanted to talk Homo Rule to all and sundry; snuffy Gentian's, and several happy couples oil hoiieyriioon trips, either going 1 or returning, whose proceedings generally, in the way of endearments, afforded much gratification. When, in a few years' time, they cross the sea again, with nurse and kids, what a different complexion everything will have. Instead of leaning fondly over Angelina, fcazing into her eyes and whispering soft nothings, Edwin will be found in the smoking-room keeping his spirits up with the drinks of the season, whilst Angelina reads a novel and knits socks, and discusses with other matrons the shortcomings of the stewardess or the perversity of men. On board the large Cunard boats neither the captain nor the officers mix sociably with the passengers; the Captain certainly dines m the saloon, Irat'takes his seat quietly at the

end of a table near a side door, so that he can slip out in a moment if required on deck. The officers have a me3S of their own, and are never seen exoept on duty, with the single exception of the surgeon, who has frequently to be in attendance on ladies who are wont to be sea-sick on very small provocation, Whilst there were many passengers who distinguished themselves in eating, not a single instance of over-indul-gence in liquor came under my notice. There was certainly a queer customer who came on board at Queenstown very full of whisky, but he disappeared into the depths below, and never emerged again until alongside the wharf at New York, The rumor—and, I believe, a well-founded one, resting on the authority of the attendant steward—was that he tumbled straightway into his berth, and there stuck the whole voyage, boots and all! A very few words as to the voyage across. On the Sunday morning early, after a smooth run down the Irish Channel, we anchored in Queenstown Harbor, where the mails forwarded via Holyhead and Dublin are always embarked. The stay of a few hours enabled a visit to Queenstown, a picturesque little town, Having only one building of any importance—the recentlyerected Roman Catholic Cathedral, a magnificent Gothic pile, hardly completed as to details. This is the cathedral for which subscriptions were specially collected through the colouies a few years ago, and the share New Zealand had iu the work is gratefully remembered. The "Saxon invader" is represented here by infantry barracks on shore, an old line-of-battle ship used as a guard-Bhip, and two or three gunboats of an obsolete type afloat. The natives ate lively and good-tempered-looking. Women and children throng the wharf where the tender lauded us and took us off, trying with all the national blarney to sell locally-manu-factured lace, truculent shillelaghs, walking - sticks, and small trinkets and ornaments presumed to be of bog-oak. They did, 11 was glad to see, a lively trade, especially with lace handkerchiefs, but it was amusing to note how the prices came down literally "by the run" when the last whistle for leaving was sounded. Leaving Queenstown, we rushed—that is the only word to express the Etruria's pace—into a prottv heavy head Bea ; but she hardly condescended to pitch, going right through it, and sending the spray flying over the mast heads. After a few hours we ran out of this and had smooth water right up to Sandy Hook, consequently there were few vacancies at table, and nothing to check the gorging referred to above. The voyage was entirely without incident; only one vessel was sighted until we got well across. For about twenty-four hours, in the proximity of the banks of Newfoundland, there was a thick fog, but the Etruria never slackened speed, but tore along through the dim opaque, the huge fog-horn shrieking at regular intervals. It would have been a bad look-out for anything that had come in the way. In the forenoon of Saturday, July 16. land was sighted, and we made straight for Sandy Hook, meeting a regular procession of big steamers, this being a day on which all the lines despatch boats from New York. The weather became intensely hot and oppressive, and towards sunset the whole horizon was black with thunderclouds, glaring luridly now and again with dazzling flashes of forked lightning. The tide did not serve for so big a ship to go up to the wharves, so we had to anchor for the night within the entrance of the harbor. ( To he continued.)