28 THE SEA. 



from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to New York is made through 3,000 miles of snow. 

 So he started, and for twelve hours or so all went well ; but at the very " summit " of 

 the railway line, i.e., its highest point among the Sierra Nevada, and near the station of 

 the same name, the train came suddenly to a standstill in the gloom of a long " snow- 

 shed" tunnel. Worse, as it seemed to some, the engine deserted it, and ran away, 

 while the conductor was also absent for a long time. The carriages were not too well 

 lighted, although quite warm enough, thanks to the glowing stoves, while memories of 

 former blockades and half-starved passengers did not aid in reassuring the frozen-iii 

 travellers. Few slept that night, and, indeed, in one carriage, where there were several 

 squalling babies and scolding females, it would have been difficult. Some of the older 

 travellers, who had something of Mark Tapleyism about them, did their best to cheer 

 the rest, and passed their wicker-covered demijohns flasks are hardly enough for a 

 seven days' journey, which might be indefinitely extended to those who had not 

 provided themselves; one individual did his best to relieve the monotony with a song; 

 but it fell rather flat, and melancholy reigned supreme.* But not for long. About seven 

 next morning there was a commotion ; a whistle in the distance ; another nearer, which, 

 hoarse as it was, sounded like heavenly music; and in a few minutes the good locomotive 

 arrived, coupled with the train, and took it to the nearest station, where breakfast was 

 ready for all who would partake. And that breakfast ! Trout, chicken, venison, hot bread, 

 buckwheat cakes, and molasses, and all the usual, and some other of the unusual, 

 adjuncts of a regular American meal. The traveller must not expect all these luxuries 

 at places nearer the centre of the continent, where, in some cases, all that you will 

 get are beans and bacon, hot bread, tea or coffee, and perhaps stewed (dried) apples 

 or peaches. At such places the excuse is sufficient, for everything is brought from 

 a considerable distance, while the stations themselves have only been erected for the 

 railway, and sometimes do not boast a single dwelling other than those immediately 

 connected with it. 



And so we descend, first to the foot-hills, and then to the plains of sunny California. 

 Evidences of mining, past and present, are to be often seen : flumes and ditches througli 

 which the water is rushing rapidly, old shafts, and works, and mills, and boarding-houses. 

 But the glory is departed, or rather changed for the more permanent vineyard and 

 grain-field and orchard. Some of the finest wines and fruits are raised among these 

 said foot-hills. And now we cross the American river, and are in Sacramento, the 

 legislative capital of the State, a city surrounded by pleasant suburbs, handsome villas, 

 and splendid mansions. Thence to San Francisco there is the choice of a ride on the 

 Sacramento River to the Bay, or one of two railways once so near the Bay City, 

 few care to delay, and so press on. The railway bears you through a highly- 

 cultivated country to Oakland, the Brooklyn of San Francisco, and place of residence for 

 many of its merchant princes. Here all the year round flowers are in full bloom. 

 When leaving California in winter we noted roses, daisies, verbenas, pansies, violets, 



* Although the railway had remained intact, avalanches had occurred that winter in the mountain districts 

 of Nevada and Utah, accompanied by serious loss of life. 



