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expedition, it would have about it that gravity, that profundity, and that impressive
incomprehensibility which are so proper to works of that kind, and withal so attractive.
Yet notwithstanding it is only a record of a pic-nic, it has a purpose, which is to suggest
to the reader how he would be likely to see Europe and the East if he looked at them with
his own eyes instead of the eyes of those who traveled in those countries before him. I
make small pretense of showing anyone how he ought to look at objects of interest
beyond the sea--other books do that, and therefore, even if I were competent to do it,
there is no need.
I offer no apologies for any departures from the usual style of travel- writing that may be
charged against me--for I think I have seen with impartial eyes, and I am sure I have
written at least honestly, whether wisely or not.
In this volume I have used portions of letters which I wrote for the Daily Alta California,
of San Francisco, the proprietors of that journal having waived their rights and given me
the necessary permission. I have also inserted portions of several letters written for the
New York Tribune and the New York Herald.
THE AUTHOR. SAN FRANCISCO.

CHAPTER I.
For months the great pleasure excursion to Europe and the Holy Land was chatted about
in the newspapers everywhere in America and discussed at countless firesides. It was a
novelty in the way of excursions--its like had not been thought of before, and it
compelled that interest which attractive novelties always command. It was to be a picnic
on a gigantic scale. The participants in it, instead of freighting an ungainly steam

ferry--boat with youth and beauty and pies and doughnuts, and paddling up some obscure
creek to disembark upon a grassy lawn and wear themselves out with a long summer
day's laborious frolicking under the impression that it was fun, were to sail away in a
great steamship with flags flying and cannon pealing, and take a royal holiday beyond the
broad ocean in many a strange clime and in many a land renowned in history! They were
to sail for months over the breezy Atlantic and the sunny Mediterranean; they were to
scamper about the decks by day, filling the ship with shouts and laughter--or read novels
and poetry in the shade of the smokestacks, or watch for the jelly-fish and the nautilus
over the side, and the shark, the whale, and other strange monsters of the deep; and at
night they were to dance in the open air, on the upper deck, in the midst of a ballroom
that stretched from horizon to horizon, and was domed by the bending heavens and
lighted by no meaner lamps than the stars and the magnificent moon--dance, and
promenade, and smoke, and sing, and make love, and search the skies for constellations
that never associate with the "Big Dipper" they were so tired of; and they were to see the
ships of twenty navies--the customs and costumes of twenty curious peoples--the great
cities of half a world--they were to hob-nob with nobility and hold friendly converse with
kings and princes, grand moguls, and the anointed lords of mighty empires! It was a
brave conception; it was the offspring of a most ingenious brain. It was well advertised,
but it hardly needed it: the bold originality, the extraordinary character, the seductive
nature, and the vastness of the enterprise provoked comment everywhere and advertised
it in every household in the land. Who could read the program of the excursion without
longing to make one of the party? I will insert it here. It is almost as good as a map. As a
text for this book, nothing could be better:
EXCURSION TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT, THE CRIMEA, GREECE, AND
INTERMEDIATE POINTS OF INTEREST. BROOKLYN, February 1st, 1867
The undersigned will make an excursion as above during the coming season, and begs to
submit to you the following programme:
A first-class steamer, to be under his own command, and capable of accommodating at
least one hundred and fifty cabin passengers, will be selected, in which will be taken a
select company, numbering not more than three-fourths of the ship's capacity. There is
good reason to believe that this company can be easily made up in this immediate vicinity,
of mutual friends and acquaintances.
The steamer will be provided with every necessary comfort, including library and
musical instruments.
An experienced physician will be on board.
Leaving New York about June 1st, a middle and pleasant route will be taken across the
Atlantic, and passing through the group of Azores, St. Michael will be reached in about
ten days. A day or two will be