Chap. I. RAILWAY JOURNEY. 205 
thus conveyed to New Mexico, and down the Eio Grande 
to El Paso, where it passed the frontier, and thence to the 
town of Chihuahua. El Paso was at that time the only 
place of entry on the Chihuahua frontier. The Presidio 
del Norte, further south on the Eio Grande, has since been 
added as a second, and the road through Texas has thus 
acquired a decided preference. 
These commercial expeditions through the interior of 
the Continent are attended by considerable danger to life 
as well as property, and great personal courage and perse- 
verance are required to bear the fatigue and privations 
attending them. It is the more surprising to find German 
Jews taking a prominent part in this commerce, and 
exhibiting a fearless courage rarely attributed to the 
Jewish nation. 
In company with Mr. H. Mayer I started from New 
York on the morning of the 16th of June; the steam-ferry 
conveyed us over the North Eiver to Jersey City, where 
we took the train for Dunkerke on Lake Erie. The rail- 
way is constructed in the bold and careless manner peculiar 
to the North Americans. We were swept along on rails 
laid down upon the edge of steep mountain declivities, 
or^ round projecting rocks, through the wooded and 
mountainous country. The air was close, and the rocking 
and shaking motion of the carriage, together with the dust 
and heat, extremely fatiguing. The country, however, 
offered a refreshing aspect ; for some distance the railway 
runs at a considerable height along a mountain ridge, with 
views alternating right and left into the wooded valleys. 
From the Delaware to Lake Erie the country increases 
in beauty: the railway runs through green valleys, richly 
watered by rivulets, between beautifully wooded hills. The 
