CHAP. II.] RAILWAY TRAVELING. 31 



wooden back ingeniously contrived, so as to turn and permit the 

 traveler to face either way, as he may choose to converse with 

 any acquaintance who may be sitting- before or behind him. 

 The long row of windows on each side affords a good view of 

 the country, of which more is thus seen than on our English 

 railroads. The trains, moreover, pass frequently through the 

 streets of villages and towns, many of which have sprung up 

 since the construction of the railway. The conductor passes 

 freely through the passage in the center, and from one car to 

 another, examining tickets and receiving payment, so as to pre 

 vent any delay at the stations. 



If we desire to form an estimate of the relative accommoda 

 tion, advantages, comforts, and cost of the journey in one of these 

 railways as compared with those of England, we must begin by 

 supposing all our first, second, and third-class passengers thrown 

 into one set of carriages, and we shall then be astonished at the 

 ease and style with which the millions travel in the United 

 States. The charge for the distance of fifty-four miles, from 

 Boston to Portsmouth, was 1^ dollar each, or 6s. 4:d. English, 

 which was just half \vhat we had paid three weeks before for 

 first-class places on our journey from London to Liverpool 

 (21. 10s. for 210 miles), the speed being in both cases the same. 

 Here there is the want of privacy enjoyed in an English first- 

 class carriage, and the seats, though excellent, are less luxurious. 

 On the other hand, the power of standing upright when tired of 

 the sitting posture is not to be despised, especially on a long 

 journey, and the open view right and left from a whole line of 

 windows is no small gain. But when we come to the British 

 second and third-class vehicles, cushionless, dark, and if it happen 

 to rain, sometimes closed up with wooden shutters, and contrast 

 them with the cars of Massachusetts, and still more the average 

 appearance, dress, and manners of the inmates, the wide differ 

 ence is indeed remarkable; at the same time, the price which 

 the humblest class here can afford to pay proves how much 

 higher must be the standard of wages than with us. 



On starting, we had first to cross the harbor of Boston in a 

 large ferry-boat, where, to economize time, there is a bar- with 



