E-text prepared by Peter Vachuska, Chuck Greif, Greg Bergquist,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net)
TRAVELS IN THE FAR EAST
The Pyramids from the Nile, Cairo
The Pyramids from the Nile, Cairo
TRAVELS
IN
THE FAR EAST
BY
ELLEN M. H. PECK
(Mrs. James Sidney Peck)
Deco
NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
PUBLISHERS
Copyright 1909
By Ellen M. H. Peck
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
OZYMANDIAS
I MET a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley
To My Daughter
FOREWORD
AS the inspiration which caused the making of this "Tour" came from my
daughter (the "you" of my story), and as she wished a record of the same
published, my desire has been to give her as complete an idea of my
journeyings as is possible by descriptive text and illustrations. The
interest of friends in the plan has caused them to be included in my
thought, and if the public desire to be added to the personal
acquaintances whom I regard as my readers it will prove a pleasant
recognition of a modest plan.
The nine months tour included Egypt, Northern India, Burma, Southern
India, Ceylon, Malay Peninsula, Java, Siam, Southern China, Japan,
Northern China, Manchuria, and Korea.
Realizing that impressions suddenly formed are not always to be trusted,
an attempt has been made to have them tested by comparison with those
formed by a longer residence.
In like manner only statements have been made on the authority of those
who claimed to have knowledge and experience. The lack of guidance of
either a Baedeker or a Murray has been felt in Java, Siam, China,
Manchuria, and Korea, small local guide books and guides not being an
equivalent as regards accurate testimony.
May these pages prove a pleasant reminiscence to those who have visited
the scenes described, and an introduction to those who have not thus
travelled, but some of whom may plan to "do likewise."
E.M.H.P.
Milwaukee, December, 1908
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE |
| The Pyramids from the Nile, Cairo | Frontispiece |
| Meshrebeeyeah windows | 6 |
| A bridge spanning the Nile at Cairo | 11 |
| The peculiar head-dress of the Cairo women | 13 |
| The Mosque of Amr | 17 |
| The interior of the Tomb Mosque of Kalaûn | 20 |
| Fountain in the Mosque of Sultan Hasan | 24 |
| Openwork dagobas | 26 |
| Citadel and Mosque of Mahomet Ali | 28 |
| The obelisk marking the site of Heliopolis | 33 |
| The Suez Canal near Port Saïd | 36 |
| Aden, Arabia | 39 |
| Victoria Station at Bombay | 41 |
| Queen's Road at Bombay | 43 |
| Country scene in Bombay | 44 |
| A Tower of Silence | 46 |
| Entrance to one of the Caves of Elephanta | 48 |
| Street scene in Jeypore | 51 |
| A Hindu woman of Jeypore | 53 |
| Interior view of Amber Palace | 55 |
| General view of Amber Palace and fort near Jeypore | 57 |
| A gateway built during the seventeenth century in Delhi | 59 |
| The Pearl Mosque at Delhi | 59 |
| The Hall of Private Audience in the Palace, Delhi | 61 |
| Jumma Musjid, Delhi | 61 |
| The tomb of Emperor Humayun | 64 |
| Northern colonnade of the Islam mosque, showing ruined arch | 66 |
| Kutub Minar, the Tower of Victory in Old Delhi | 68 |
| Gateway leading to Taj Mahal | 70 |
| Taj Mahal | 70 |
| Screen in Taj Mahal | 70 |
| Shah Jahan and his wife in whose memory the Taj was built | 70 |
| Agra Palace and part of wall and gateway to the fort | 73 |
| An Octagon Tower of the Agra Palace | 73 |
| The Pearl Mosque | 74 |
| Akbar's tomb in Sikandra | 74 |
| General view of Fatehpur-Sikri | 77 |
| A column in the Audience Hall (Diwan-i-Khas) | 78 |
| Jasmine Tower and distant view of the Taj | 81 |
| The ghat at Cawnpore | 81 |
| The Residency at Lucknow | 82 |
| Bathing ghat, Benares | 84 |
| Burning ghat, Benares, where cremations occur | 84 |
| The Tope of Sarnath and the Jain Temple near Benares | 86 |
| A view of Darjeeling and the Kanchanjanga Range | 89 |
| A Nepaulese group | 91 |
| The Government House in Calcutta | 94 |
| An avenue of palms in the Botanical Gardens | 96 |
| Fort Dufferin and the moat, Mandalay | 98 |
| Mandalay palace and its tower, called The Centre of the Universe | 98 |
| The Arakan Pagoda | 100 |
| One of the four gateways to the 450 Pagodas | 100 |
| The Queen's Golden Monastery | 103 |
| Karen women in Mandalay | 103 |
| Burmese country house near Mandalay | 104 |
| A national dance at Mandalay | 107 |
| On the Irrawaddy River, near Sagoing | 109 |
| General view of Rangoon | 111 |
| Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon | 112 |
| Entrance gateway, Shwe Dagon Pagoda | 112 |
| Chapels on platform around Shwe Dagon, Rangoon | 112 |
| Elephants carrying logs at Rangoon | 115 |
| The Gilded Sule as seen from Hytche Square | 115 |
| General view of Madras | 117 |
| The Great Subrahmanya Temple at Tanjore | 119 |
| Fort Rock, Trichinopoly | 121 |
| The Golden Lily Tank, Madura | 123 |
| Entrance to the Madura Temple | 123 |
| Street Scene in Colombo | 124 |
| General view of Nuwara Eliya | 129 |
| General view of Kandy | 131 |
| Entrance to the Botanical Gardens, Kandy | 132 |
| Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy | 132 |
| Ruins of Anuradhapura | 135 |
| Near the Sacred Road, Thuparama Dagoba | 136 |
| The Moonstone Steps | 139 |
| Mihitale Steps | 141 |
| Street scene in Kandy, Ceylon | 143 |
| The canal in the old city of Batavia | 144 |
| Batavia, Java | 147 |
| View of Mt. Salak from the Hotel Belle Vue | 149 |
| A village scene in Garoet, Java | 151 |
| The crater of Papandajang | 153 |
| The ruined temple of Prambanam | 155 |
| Bas-reliefs in the Siva Temple, Prambanam | 155 |
| The stairs leading to a Prambanam temple | 155 |
| The Three Graces in the Lara Jongram Temple, Java | 157 |
| The old temple at Mendoet | 159 |
| Boro Boedor, in Java | 162 |
| Stairway of Boro Boedor, Java | 162 |
| Boro Boedor, Java, showing one part of the gallery | 162 |
| A public square in Djokjakarta, Java | 165 |
| Designing sarongs in Batavia | 167 |
| Landscape near Batavia | 169 |
| Javanese vegetable sellers | 170 |
| A Javanese dignitary and his attendants | 172 |
| The King of Siam | 175 |
| In the Royal Palace of Wang Chang, Bangkok | 180 |
| Entrance to Prakeo, the Royal Temple | 182 |
| The Klong Canal at Bangkok | 185 |
| The famous Elephants' Kraal | 189 |
| Tower of Royal Palace at Ban-Pa-In | 190 |
| A Siamese girl | 193 |
| A royal barge at Bangkok | 194 |
| The collier quay at Singapore | 201 |
| The Sultan's Palace at Johore | 202 |
| A general view of Hong-Kong | 205 |
| The public gardens in Hong-Kong | 205 |
| A typical street in a Chinese city | 207 |
| A five-story pagoda | 211 |
| Temple of the Five Genii at Canton | 212 |
| The San Paulo Façade | 215 |
| The bund at Macao, called Praia Grande | 216 |
| The bund at Shanghai | 224 |
| Mogi Road at Nagasaki | 228 |
| The main street in Kobe | 231 |
| The fort and castle at Osaka | 232 |
| The rapids near Kyoto | 235 |
| Bamboo Avenue in Kyoto | 235 |
| The Golden Pavilion | 237 |
| The largest pine tree in the world at Lake Biwa | 238 |
| Kasuga Temple | 243 |
| The Temple of Ise (Yamada) | 249 |
| Nagoya Castle | 250 |
| The way to the Temple, Ieyasu | 254 |
| Kokamon: Iemitzu Temple | 254 |
| A five-story pagoda | 257 |
| The gate called Yomei-mon | 259 |
| The Imperial Palace at Tokio | 261 |
| Court of the Temple Shiba at Tokio | 263 |
| Gate of Chionin in Kyoto | 264 |
| Ueno Park pagoda | 264 |
| The Little Orphan Rock in the Yangtse River | 268 |
| Road to Kaling above Kia-Kiang | 270 |
| The Hankow bund | 272 |
| The Great Wall at Peking | 274 |
| Hata-men Gate | 277 |
| Peking girls | 278 |
| Llama Temple | 278 |
| A Peking cart | 281 |
| The Confucius Temple | 281 |
| Temple of Classics | 281 |
| The Inner Temple of Heaven | 282 |
| Outer Heaven, Temple of Heaven, Peking | 285 |
| The White Pagoda of the Yellow Temple | 286 |
| The Winter Palace of the Forbidden City | 289 |
| View from the Forbidden City | 289 |
| Marble Terrace of the Summer Palace | 291 |
| Marble Bridge of the Summer Palace | 291 |
| Nankow Pass | 292 |
| A tower of the Great Wall | 295 |
| Five Arch: First pailow of the Ming Tomb | 295 |
| Emperor Yunglo's tomb | 297 |
| Emperor Kwangsu of China | 298 |
| The Dowager Empress of China | 300 |
| Gordon Hall at Tientsin | 303 |
| Old gateway of Tientsin | 303 |
| The Temple at Mukden | 306 |
| Dalny | 310 |
| Port Arthur before the siege | 313 |
| Tiger-Tail Promontory and Port Arthur during the conflict | 315 |
| 203-Metre Hill, Port Arthur—The last point to be taken | 317 |
| The city wall and gate of Seoul | 319 |
| A group of Koreans | 320 |
| An old tomb of a high official | 323 |
| A white marble pagoda in Seoul | 324 |
| Street scene in Seoul | 326 |
| Torii Miyajima | 328 |
| Stone lanterns, Miyajima | 330 |
| Islands of the Inland Sea | 332 |
| Mississippi Bay | 335 |
| View of Miyanoshita | 336 |
| Theatre Street in Yokohama | 340 |
| Mountains around Hakona | 343 |
| Mount Pali, Honolulu | 344 |
TRAVELS IN THE FAR EAST
MILWAUKEE, October 27th, 1907: The adieux have been said, the friends
have departed, and the train is moving slowly out of the station; a
profusion of flowers, tempting new books, and other gifts are visible
proofs of the thoughtfulness of friends on the eve of a long journey in
untried fields, and it seems as if I had lost my moorings and was
drifting out on an unknown way.