Through Central Borneo | Page 6

you can
return here." There appeared to me small prospect that the three men
would succeed in obtaining the desired permission, but I had no time
for reflection. The train was ready to start and my luggage was hastily
thrown to the platform of the car. I bade the gentlemen a hurried
good-bye, thanking them for all the trouble they had taken. "You are
going to catch that train!" the reporter exclaimed in a firm and
encouraging tone. "But what do you expect to find in New Guinea?" he
suddenly inquired as I jumped on to the slowly moving train.
Reflecting that in the worst case I would be back in Montreal in one
and a half days, I fell asleep. At 6.30 in the morning I was awakened by
the voice of the porter saying, "the train is waiting for you, sir," as he
rolled up the curtain. It really was the Imperial Express! The big red
cars stood there quietly in the sunshine of the early morning. In a few
minutes I was dressed, and never with greater satisfaction have I paid a
porter his fee.

The station was Chalk River, and the train had waited forty minutes.
What a comfortable feeling to know that all my belongings were safely
on board! I had not only saved time and money but an interesting trip
across the continent lay before me. Having washed and put on clean
garments, I had my breakfast while passing through an enchanting hilly
country, amid smiling white birches, and the maples in the autumn
glory of their foliage, with more intensely red colouring than can be
seen outside North America. The oatmeal porridge seemed unusually
well prepared: the waiter intimated that the cook was a Parisian.
However that might have been, he was probably of French descent.
Four days later we arrived at Vancouver, where I wrote to the three
gentlemen of Montreal, my appreciation of services rendered,
addressing them care of The Star. Their names I did not know, but it
was not the first time that I had been reminded of Darwin's assurance,
in the account of his travels round the world, as to "how many truly
kind-hearted people there are, with whom he (the traveller) never
before had, nor ever again will have any further communication, who
yet are ready to offer him the most disinterested assistance."
Early in the morning on October 19 we saw the first Japanese
fishing-boats. The sea was green and in the atmosphere a kind of haze,
which almost seems peculiar to Japan, imparted an artistic tone to
everything. In splendid weather, almost calm, we sailed along the coast
of Nippon. As we entered the bay of Yokohama the sun was setting
over a landscape that realised one's preconceived ideas of the beauty of
the country. On one side, low ridges with rows of picturesque
pine-trees just as you know them from Japanese prints, while in the
background to the west, above the clouds rose the top of Fuji, nearly
4,000 metres above sea-level. We steamed up in absolute calm, while
the long twilight was still further prolonged by a brilliant afterglow.
Taking advantage of the permit to leave the steamer and rejoin it in
Kobe, and having received useful advice from Cook's representative
who came on board, I immediately went ashore. On calling a rickshaw
I was much surprised to find that the man spoke English quite well. He
trotted continuously twenty minutes, to the railway station, where in

good time I caught the train for the West, and at daybreak I was ready
to observe the beautiful country through which we passed. I had made
no provision for breakfast, but one of my fellow travellers, who came
from Tokio, had the courtesy to offer me two snipe with bacon, which
tasted uncommonly well.
In the morning I arrived at Kioto, the city of many temples, and found
the Kioto hotel satisfactory. I shall not attempt to describe in detail the
fascination of the two days I spent here, where one still may see
something of old Japan. In Kobe, Nagasaki, and other cities exposed to
the stream of travellers, Western influence is evident everywhere, and
the inhabitants are less attractive on that account. After all one has
heard and read about the charm of the country, one is inclined to think
that the reports are exaggerated, but as far as my brief experience in
Nippon goes, it is the most beautiful and interesting country that I have
visited, and I hope in the future to know it better.
The deepest impression made upon me by the Japanese was that they
are all so active, healthy, and strong; always good-tempered, their
manners are exquisite, even the plain people bowing to each other, and
many young people saluted