Entire Gutenberg Twain Texts | Page 7

Mark Twain
spent here, enjoying the fruit and wild scenery of these
islands, and the voyage continued, and Gibraltar reached in three or four days.
A day or two will be spent here in looking over the wonderful subterraneous fortifications,

permission to visit these galleries being readily obtained.
From Gibraltar, running along the coasts of Spain and France, Marseilles will be reached
in three days. Here ample time will be given not only to look over the city, which was
founded six hundred years before the Christian era, and its artificial port, the finest of the
kind in the Mediterranean, but to visit Paris during the Great Exhibition; and the beautiful
city of Lyons, lying intermediate, from the heights of which, on a clear day, Mont Blanc
and the Alps can be distinctly seen. Passengers who may wish to extend the time at Paris
can do so, and, passing down through Switzerland, rejoin the steamer at Genoa.
From Marseilles to Genoa is a run of one night. The excursionists will have an
opportunity to look over this, the "magnificent city of palaces," and visit the birthplace of
Columbus, twelve miles off, over a beautiful road built by Napoleon I. From this point,
excursions may be made to Milan, Lakes Como and Maggiore, or to Milan, Verona
(famous for its extraordinary fortifications), Padua, and Venice. Or, if passengers desire
to visit Parma (famous for Correggio's frescoes) and Bologna, they can by rail go on to
Florence, and rejoin the steamer at Leghorn, thus spending about three weeks amid the
cities most famous for art in Italy.
From Genoa the run to Leghorn will be made along the coast in one night, and time
appropriated to this point in which to visit Florence, its palaces and galleries; Pisa, its
cathedral and "Leaning Tower," and Lucca and its baths, and Roman amphitheater;
Florence, the most remote, being distant by rail about sixty miles.
From Leghorn to Naples (calling at Civita Vecchia to land any who may prefer to go to
Rome from that point), the distance will be made in about thirty-six hours; the route will
lay along the coast of Italy, close by Caprera, Elba, and Corsica. Arrangements have been
made to take on board at Leghorn a pilot for Caprera, and, if practicable, a call will be
made there to visit the home of Garibaldi.
Rome [by rail], Herculaneum, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Vergil's tomb, and possibly the ruins
of Paestum can be visited, as well as the beautiful surroundings of Naples and its
charming bay.
The next point of interest will be Palermo, the most beautiful city of Sicily, which will be
reached in one night from Naples. A day will be spent here, and leaving in the evening,
the course will be taken towards Athens.
Skirting along the north coast of Sicily, passing through the group of Aeolian Isles, in
sight of Stromboli and Vulcania, both active volcanoes, through the Straits of Messina,
with "Scylla" on the one hand and "Charybdis" on the other, along the east coast of Sicily,
and in sight of Mount Etna, along the south coast of Italy, the west and south coast of
Greece, in sight of ancient Crete, up Athens Gulf, and into the Piraeus, Athens will be
reached in two and a half or three days. After tarrying here awhile, the Bay of Salamis
will be crossed, and a day given to Corinth, whence the voyage will be continued to
Constantinople, passing on the way through the Grecian Archipelago, the Dardanelles,
the Sea of Marmora, and the mouth of the Golden Horn, and arriving in about forty-eight

hours from Athens.
After leaving Constantinople, the way will be taken out through the beautiful Bosphorus,
across the Black Sea to Sebastopol and Balaklava, a run of about twenty-four hours. Here
it is proposed to remain two days, visiting the harbors, fortifications, and battlefields of
the Crimea; thence back through the Bosphorus, touching at Constantinople to take in any
who may have preferred to remain there; down through the Sea of Marmora and the
Dardanelles, along the coasts of ancient Troy and Lydia in Asia, to Smyrna, which will
be reached in two or two and a half days from Constantinople. A sufficient stay will be
made here to give opportunity of visiting Ephesus, fifty miles distant by rail.
From Smyrna towards the Holy Land the course will lay through the Grecian
Archipelago, close by the Isle of Patmos, along the coast of Asia, ancient Pamphylia, and
the Isle of Cyprus. Beirut will be reached in three days. At Beirut time will be given to
visit Damascus; after which the steamer will proceed to Joppa.
From Joppa, Jerusalem, the River Jordan, the Sea of Tiberias, Nazareth, Bethany,
Bethlehem, and other points of interest in the Holy Land can be visited, and
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