x LAST LETTER FROM AMERICA 259 



describe this place in a letter. It is a magnificent 

 town. I never saw such buildings in any town in the 

 world. It runs along Lake Michigan, which is 70 

 miles across and 300 miles long. We drove down 

 Michigan Avenue (6 miles) yesterday evening, amongst 

 houses built by the different men who have made their 

 money here. The most beautiful houses surrounded by 

 lawns and all different architecture. The parks are 

 kept as well as Hyde Park, and laid out in flower-beds 

 and look lovely. We went to the stockyards to-day, 

 but I must keep the description of them till I come. 

 Yesterday 20,000 head of cattle and 37,000 pigs came 

 in, all of which were sold for export. To-day the 

 numbers were about half that, so you can fancy the 

 scale things are done on. All these cattle come from 

 the ranche and farm country for hundreds of miles 

 round. All Nebraska and Iowa, which the line runs 

 through from Denver, is just like France ', especially 

 round Dieppe ! It is all just as highly farmed fine 

 farmhouses and woods and hedges and magnificent 

 cattle on all sides. Twenty-five years ago the wild 

 buffaloes and Indians had this all to themselves, and 

 roamed free as air over it. In 1871 ^all Chicago was 

 burnt. Ten years ago there were 500,000 inhabitants, 

 and now there are a million. All this shows the 

 incredible rate things grow at in this marvellous 

 country. Dear old Toby Cairnes * is here, came all the 

 way from Omalia, about 600 miles, to see me. We 

 leave for Niagara on Friday afternoon, and get to New 

 York on Monday at eleven, the dear old 2 8th ! We have 

 a first-class cabin in the Britannic, very cool and large, 

 40. To-morrow we go down to see Hammond's 

 yards, the Company Lord Anson is Chairman of. I 



1 Mr. Cairnes was a young friend of Brooke's, with whom he had great 

 lawn-tennis matches at Pau. 



