A EOT TRAVELLER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1824, 5 November 1886, Page 34

A EOT TRAVELLER.

On October 6, 1884, a lad of 14, Benjamin Franklin Bates byname, a native of Michigan, was brought before Mr Raffles, the Liverpool stipendiary magistrate, for stowing away in the steamer England. He stated that he left home to join the Canadians in the Soudan expedition, though he had no money to pay his fare. He was sent to the Boys' Home, 9 Great George square. Some interesting particulars of the lad's travels have come to band. He is the son of a small farmer at Leoni, Michigan, and was born in June 1870. Almost from the time when he first learned to read he was a devoted student of history. He on several occasions told his father that he was going to see the pyramids of Egypt, but it was considered merely a boy's fancy, and nothing more was thought of it. One Sunday, however, in "June;lßß4, Bennie disappeared, taking a "small bundle and his savings, amounting to seven or eight dollars. The father did not worry at the boy's absence and said : " Bennie is all right, and is able to take care of himself." He first went to Detroit, and from there to Toledo, Sandusky, and Cleveland, Ohio; then to Erie, Dunkirk, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Troy Albany, New York, and Brooklyn. Then he returned to New York city, and with other passengers went on board the England, bound for Liverpool. He kept out of sight on the steamer until the pilot left her, then he made himself known, and was set to work. On arrival at Liverpool he was given in charge of the police, and being taken before Mr Raffles was sent t,o the Boys' Home. Mr Uzzell, the superintendent, wrote to his friends, but before an answer could be received Bennie had sailed in the steamer Marcotis for Alexandria, where he arrived about the same time as the Canadian boatmen. Here ho received a slight check, for some poisonous berries made him ill, and he was taken to a hospital, where he met the Times newspaper correspondent, who was so struck with his manner and perseverance that he ' engaged him as servant. In this capacity he journeyed up the Nile and as far as the third cataract, and was enabled to visit the battlefield of Tel-el-Kebir, Zagazig, Assiout, the ruins of Thebes, the great temple of Karnek Luper, the temple of Edfroo, Denderiah, Koornek, Ferayg, Koonombo, the

stone quarries and temple Denneh, the temple Dekkeh, the ancient temple of Serfhorsayne, Korosko, Way Haifa (the second cataract), and Surket (the third cataract). He then went to New Dongola, Quirus, Memphis, Antinopolis, visited the Obelisks, Pyramids, and Sphinx, Pompey's Pillar at Alexandria, the underground temple of Chaffra at the Pyramids, and Joseph's Well in the grand mosque at Cairo. Afterwards he worked his, way to Port Said and Suez, where he shipped as cabin boy in a vessel going to Singapore, whence they went to Hongkong, Woo Sung, and Shanghai. From there they went to Yokohama, and visited a number of the islands of the East Indies. He then returned to Yokohama, and shipped on a steamer to Victoria, Vancouver's Island, where he arrived early last spring. Not satisfied to return home by the nearest route he went, to New Westminster, 8.C., and followed the Pacific Coast south to spring. Not satisfied to return home by the Olympia, W.T., thence to Seattle and Everport, on Puget Sound. His next step was at San Francisco, whence he went to Oakland, Sacramento, and Stockton. He visited Yosemite Valley and the big trees at Mariposa, the largest of which is 32ft in diameter. Then he went to Los Angels, Fort Yuma, Paso del Norte, N.M., and to Galveston, Texas. Here he turned his course towards home ; and after visiting New Orleans, Natche, Vicksburg, Memphis, Louisville, Cincinnatti, and Datynton, Ohio, arrived at home on Saturday afternoon, July 10 after more than two years' absence. The hardships and privations he passed through would have discouraged many an older person, and it was only a determination to succeed that prei vented him giving up. He had not visited i London, and after a short stay with his family he set out again for a trip to London,' and the battlefield of Waterloo. In passing | through Liverpool he called at the Boys' I Home on Thursday, the sth inst., and gave an account of his travels. He said he intended to visit Rome, after which he would return to America, where tie would settle down and go to school. He desires to obtain a military education, and would like to go to the academy at West Point.