Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar | Page 9

happened the failure of a contractor; next, the
non-arrival of a ship; next, the purchase of supplies; and so on through
a long list of hindrances. In the beginning I was vexed, but soon
learned complacency and gave myself no uneasiness. Patience is an
admirable quality in mankind, and can be very well practiced when,
one is waiting for a ship to go to sea.
On the twenty-third of June we were notified to be on board at five
o'clock in the evening, and to send heavy baggage before that hour. The
vessel which was to receive us, lay two or three hundred yards from the
wharf, in order to prevent the possible desertion of the crew. Punctual
to the hour, I left the hotel and drove to the place of embarkation. My
trunk, valise, and sundry boxes had gone in the forenoon, so that my
only remaining effects were a satchel, a bundle of newspapers, a dog,
and a bouquet. The weight of these combined articles was of little
consequence, but I positively declare that I never handled a more
inconvenient lot of baggage. While I was descending a perpendicular
ladder to a small boat, some one abruptly asked if that lot of baggage
had been cleared at the custom house. Think of walking through a
custom house with my portable property! Happily the question did not
come from an official.
It required at least an hour to get everything in readiness after we were
on board. Then followed the leave taking of friends who had come to
see us off and utter their wishes for a prosperous voyage and safe return.
The anchor rose slowly from the muddy bottom; steam was put upon
the engines, and the propeller whirling in the water, set us in motion.
The gang-way steps were raised and the rail severed our connection
with America.
It was night as we glided past the hills of San Francisco, spangled with
a thousand lights, and left them growing fainter in the distance.
Steaming through the Golden Gate we were soon on the open Pacific
commencing a voyage of nearly four thousand miles. We felt the

motion of the waves and became fully aware that we were at sea. The
shore grew indistinct and then disappeared; the last visible objects
being the lights at the entrance of the bay. Gradually their rays grew
dim, and when daylight came, there were only sky and water around us.
"Far upon the unknown deep, With the billows circling round Where
the tireless sea-birds sweep; Outward bound.
"Nothing but a speck we seem, In the waste of waters round, Floating,
floating like a dream; Outward bound."


CHAPTER II.
The G.S. Wright, on which we were embarked, was a screw steamer of
two hundred tons burthen, a sort of pocket edition of the new boats of
the Cunard line. She carried the flag and the person of Colonel Charles
S. Bulkley, Engineer in Chief of the Russo-American Telegraph
Expedition. She could sail or steam at the pleasure of her captain,
provided circumstances were favorable. Compared with ocean steamers
in general, she was a very small affair and displayed a great deal of
activity. She could roll or pitch to a disagreeable extent, and continued
her motion night and day, I often wished the eight-hour labor system
applied to her, but my wishing was of no use.
Besides Colonel Bulkley, the party in the cabin consisted of Captain
Patterson, Mr. Covert, Mr. Anossoff, and myself. Mr. Covert was the
engineer of the steamer, and amused us at times with accounts of his
captivity on the Alabama after the destruction of the Hatteras. Captain
Patterson was an ancient mariner who had sailed the stormy seas from
his boyhood, beginning on a whale ship and working his way from the
fore-castle to the quarter deck. Mr. Anossoff was a Russian gentleman
who joined us at San Francisco, in the capacity of commissioner from
his government to the Telegraph Company. For our quintette there was
a cabin six feet by twelve, and each person had a sleeping room to

himself.
Colonel Bulkley planned the cabin of the Wright, and I shall always
consider it a misfortune that the Engineer-in-Chief was only five feet
seven in his boots rather than six feet and over like myself. The cabin
roof was high enough for the colonel, but too low for me. Under the
skylight was the only place below deck where I could stand erect. The
sleeping rooms were too short for me, and before I could lie, at full
length in my berth, it was necessary to pull away a partition near my
head. The space thus gained was taken from a closet containing a few
trifles, such as jugs of whiskey, and cans of powder. Fortunately