第15章 ROUND THE WORLD 环球航行
To be read before a Map of the World.
A voyage round the world can be made only through the Southern Seas; for though there exists a north-west passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it is so obstructed with ice as to be practically useless. Vessels leaving the coast of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick sail south-eastward to the Cape of Good Hope, cross the Indian Ocean to Australia and New Zealand, and continue their course through successive groups of sunny isles till they reach Cape Horn and re-enter the Atlantic, and sail homeward to some Canadian port. The reverse course may be followed. A vessel from Halifax or St. John may sail down past the West Indies and the South American coast, double Cape Horn, and thence cross the Pacific to China, Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and homeward through the Atlantic. Such ocean voyages are tedious, being liable to long delays on account of calms and storms.
The tourist who wishes in these days to make the tour of the world under the most advantageous circumstances usually starts from London, the throbbing centre not of the British Empire only, but of the whole world; the largest, the wealthiest, the most influential of cities. The route is partly by sea, partly by land. Swift steamers, and swifter railway trains, contribute to make the journey rapid, safe, and delightful. Early in the nineteenth century, vessels sailing between England and Canada often had to battle with waves and winds for fifty or sixty days; to-day, by the Canadian Pacific route, the traveller can go round the world in sixty days.
In a few hours after the tourist has left London by rail he will arrive at Liverpool, one of the greatest seaports in the world. Its population exceeds three-quarters of a million. Its docks cover six hundred acres, and its wharfs extend nearly forty miles. Steamers of every size, and from every land, arrive here with their cargoes, and carry afar the products of British industry.
Swift Canadian “liners” are ready to bear the traveller in winter to Halifax, in summer to Halifax or Quebec. Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, is a city of nearly 60,000 inhabitants. It is beautifully situated on the west side of the harbour, and is so strongly fortified as to merit the name of the “Gibraltar of America.” The harbour is one of the finest in the world—safe whatever wind blows, accessible to steamers of the largest tonnage at all states of the tides. Halifax harbour, and the sheltered “basin”which extends landward beyond it, would easily afford safe anchorage to all the ships of the British navy.
From Halifax the tourist may proceed to Montreal by the Canadian Pacific Railway route by way of St. John, or he may proceed by the Intercolonial Railway to Quebec and thence to Montreal. The route from Halifax to St. John affords interesting glimpses of the Bay of Fundy, whose tides are among the wonders of the world, alternately rising and falling from sixty to seventy feet. The railway crosses extensive“marshes,” and skirts “dike-lands” which, in the eighteenth century, were owned by the French “Acadians.”
St. John is the commercial capital of New Brunswick, and is a thriving, well-built city of 47,000 inhabitants. In its immediate vicinity the St John River pours its waters into the Bay of Fundy. At low tide the noble river rushes through a narrow gorge and leaps into the bay with a fall of perhaps thirty feet. When the tide returns full and strong the fall is reversed: the Bay of Fundy pours its turbid waters into the basin of the river. From St. John to Montreal the route lies largely through an uncultivated country.
By taking the Intercolonial Railway from Halifax to Quebec, the tourist sees such progressive towns as Truro and Amherst in Nova Scotia, and Moncton and Campbellton in New Brunswick. Scenery of the most delightful description will be enjoyed along the Baie Chaleur, the Restigouche River, the Metapedia valley, and at length along the majestic St. Lawrence. In the province of Quebec he sees hamlets and towns reminding him of France as it was in the seventeenth century.
The city of Quebec presents peculiar attractions—new and old, French and English, past and present gracefully blending together. No city in America is more picturesquely situated, or presents a greater variety of natural and historic attractions. Cape Diamond is seen from afar as it frowns upon the low-lying portion of the city between it and the great river. The St. Lawrence as it sweeps past the Cape abates its swiftness and expands into a placid harbour, guarded by the Isle of Orleans. The city now extends from the river brink away up beyond the old walls to the famous Plains of Abraham, where Wolfe and Montcalm fought the battle which placed Canada under the British flag. The old walls and gates of the city are in as good repair as in the days of struggle and war happily long gone by.
Views of singular beauty may be enjoyed from Dufferin Terrace and other points in Quebec. The Falls of Montmorenci may be seen eight miles below the city—unquestionably the most beautiful falls in America. From this port enormous quantities of lumber and timber are shipped every season to Great Britain and other countries.
The tourist may proceed from Quebec to Montreal, a distance of 172 miles, by one of the great St. Lawrence steamers, or by either of two railways.
Montreal lies outspread between the river and the towering heights of “Mount Royal.” From this “mountain” behind the city the tourist may enjoy one of the finest views imaginable. At his feet, on the flanks of the hill, are stately palaces, the residences of the merchant princes of Montreal. The fair city extends for miles before him. In the distance he sees the spreading river spanned by Victoria Bridge, over two miles in length. A few miles above is the airy modern structure of the Lachine Bridge, which also spans the river. The foreground is occupied by churches, colleges, convents, the tall chimneys of factories and grain elevators, long streets of handsome dwellings, quays and wharfs crowded with steamers, railway trains and canal boats bringing from the west the products of the wheat-fields of Manitoba and Ontario, huge warehouses filled with merchandise for whole provinces.
The country traversed abounds with scenes of deep historic interest, covering a period of more than two centuries. Here planned and struggled Jacques Cartier, Champlain, Wolfe, and Montcalm, and many others, and here are the battlefields of two great and gallant nations who strove during a hundred years for the possession of a continent. There are also traces of a more recent struggle, when Canadians sprang to arms to repel invaders from the powerful Republic to the south of them. Happily“Peace hath her victories no Less renowned than war,” and the people of Canada have conquered for themselves and for the travel and traffic of two continents a highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In this magnificent achievement, the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, p' inestimable boon was conferred on those who desire a safe, rapid, and comfortable journey “round the world.”
The pioneers who explored Canada thought the St. Lawrence would lead them to China, and that the river above Montreal was the gateway of that country. Hence the name “La Chine.” The forecast of those men was in a sense realized, the shortest route to China being by Montreal and “La Chine.”
The Ottawa pours its dark waters into the clear flood of the St. Lawrence, partly above the city and partly below it. Montreal is thus built upon an island; and near the centre of the island rises the “mountain” which lends to the fair city so much of its loveliness. A journey of three or four hours takes the traveller from Montreal to Ottawa, the capital of the Canadian Dominion. Here the Chaudiere. Falls will attract attention and admiration. A group of elegant and substantial public buildings adorns the city, and indicates where the legislature of the Dominion sits, and where the Executive Government transacts the public business of the country.
From Ottawa westward the route lies through a famous “timber” country, with no charms for the farmer, but rich in lakes and streams, and abounding with fish and game. At the head of Lake Nipissing is North Bay Junction, where passengers from Toronto join the transcontinental trains. At Sudbury and other points along the line, very valuable mineral deposits have been discovered. Nickel has been found in quantities unequalled in any other part of the world. Iron, silver, and other minerals are also abundant.
For two hundred miles the road skirts the north shore of Lake Superior, that vast fresh-water sea whose cool breezes refresh the traveller in the hottest days of summer. It required skill, courage, and ample financial resources to build a railway through a territory so rocky, so mountainous, so barren. The mineral wealth of this belt will, it is hoped, amply repay the country for the cost and risk it has incurred. Besides, a railway connecting the western provinces with the older portion of the Dominion is essential to its national existence.
Thunder Bay, at the head of Lake Superior, presents very bold and beautiful scenery. Fort William and Port Arthur, in the vicinity, are the headquarters of an important lake traffic energetically prosecuted during the summer. Immense elevators receive millions of bushels of grain to be transferred to steamers and borne down the lakes, the canals, the St. Lawrence, and at last perhaps across the Atlantic to supply the markets of the British Isles.
A little over four hundred miles westward from Port Arthur stands the young and handsome prairie city Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, and the chief centre of trade for the great Canadian West. In 1871 Fort Garry, a trading-post of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the humble dwellings of a score of half-breeds, occupied the site of this busy and well-governed city of 180,000 inhabitants. Here the Assiniboine and the Red River of the north unite their turbid waters and hasten through the fertile plain to Lake Winnipeg.
We are now in the prairie-land, seemingly level and boundless as a sea. In summer it is richly clad in verdure, brightened with the gayest wild flowers. In winter it is covered with snow, but not to such depth as to prevent herds of buffaloes and cattle in the ranches from feeding on the frozen grasses. Only in the coldest weather do the herds on the ranches require to be sheltered or fed in barn or storehouse.
The settler's plough has transformed many a league of North-West prairie into the finest wheat-fields in the world. The process of settlement is going on with increasing rapidity. Hamlets, villages, and towns are rising where the conditions are favourable. The church and the school-house, unfailing signs of religion and civilization, appear at frequent intervals. There are many “junctions” where branch railways start from the main line, in order to render available for settlement millions of acres, fertile, well-watered, richly wooded, inviting the husbandman with the promise of abundant harvests.
A railway ride through nine hundred miles of prairie enables the tourist to see towns like Brandon, Regina, and Calgary, and many smaller ones, which have rapidly become important as centres of commerce, and the growth of which indicates the steady development of the surrounding country. Calgary is the centre of vast “ranching”enterprises, the place of the vanished buffalo being taken by immense herds of cattle intended for far-distant markets. The westward horizon seems closed against further advance, guarded by the snow-crested bastions of the Rocky Mountains. But the swift-flowing Bow River furnishes a key to the very heart of the mountains. The railway track keeps close to the river, which in fact digged out for it this “gap” and the whole pass long ages ago. We glance at the Kananaskis Falls, which are a prelude of wonders to come. Banff National Park has numerous attractions to induce the tourist to take a few days for the study of these majestic mountains at close quarters. As you fill eye, mind, heart, and imagination with these mountain forms and mountain masses, you feel overwhelmed with their grandeur. The six hundred miles from Calgary to Vancouver form beyond comparison the most striking and wonderful railway ride that can be enjoyed going round the world—rushing torrents, silvery cascades falling thousands of feet down steep mountain sides; mighty rivers hurrying to the sea; slumbering lakes reflecting snowy summits; deep and dark gorges torn by raving waterfalls; beetling precipices; forests of stately pines in quiet valleys;mountain sides ploughed and scarred by avalanches; leagues of slumbering glaciers slowly grinding their way down the rocky slopes; four vast ranges to be crossed—the Rockies, the Selkirks, the Gold and the Coast ranges, each with peculiar features of grandeur and beauty, of loveliness and terror. The road follows the Fraser River along its wild cañon for several hours. Nowhere else is such a sight or such a series of sights to be witnessed—the mighty river rushing with headlong haste, and bearing on its seething bosom all the wreckage borne by the swollen torrents from the impending cliffs overhead; the train winding its way into tunnels, out of tunnels, along the face of the solid rock, over bridges that span nameless cataracts. Even in midsummer the Fraser is full-flooded, angry, furious; and it seems a wonderful achievement of human science to wrest from its banks a safe highway for the “iron horse.”
The terminus on the Pacific Coast is Vancouver City, which sprang into existence in consequence of the building of the railway. Its population is now nearly 120,000, and is growing rapidly. Here the tourist embarks on one of the splendid steamers provided by the Canadian Pacific Railway for travel and trade across the Pacific Ocean. The steamers call at Victoria, the handsome capital of British Columbia. This city, of over 80,000 inhabitants, is on Vancouver Island, and is sixty miles distant from Vancouver City. Near Victoria is the town of Esquimalt, where there is a large dry dock, and where the British Pacific squadron usually makes its headquarters. From Vancouver to Yokohama, the chief commercial city of Japan, it is now a sail of ten days. From Japan to Shanghai, in China, a distance of 1,047 miles, is the next stage of the journey. From this port the steamer proceeds to Hong-Kong, where the Canadian Pacific Company hand over their tourists to the Peninsular and Oriental Company. The next stage in the voyage is Singapore, about five days from Hong-Kong. Then come Penang and Ceylon, Calcutta and Bombay. The Arabian Sea is crossed to Aden, through the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean to Brindisi or Trieste, overland through Italy and France, and across the Strait of Dover to England;or by water through the Strait of Gibraltar, and up through the Atlantic to some British port. The tour may, of course, be prolonged indefinitely for rest, for pleasure, for business, or for study. Attractions abound on every hand. Happily, the modern “grand tour” is becoming more popular and more practicable every passing year.
Words
accessible,can be approached.
achievement,exploit.
advantageous,profitable.
alternately,by turns.
avalanches,falling masses of snow and ice.
canon(canyon),deep gorge made by a rapid river.
cataract,waterfall.
circumstances,surroundings.
commercial,trading.
contribute,aid.
double,sail round.
dry dock,artificial basin in which ships are repaired.
elevators,buildings for storage of grain.
energetically,actively.
enormous,vast.
essential,necessary.
financial,relating to money.
glaziers,fields of ice on mountains;ice rivers.
half-breeds,descendants from white fathers and Indian mothers.
husbandman,farmer.
imagination,fancy.
industry,labour.
inestimable,very valuable.
junctions,points where railways meet.
majestic,grand.
obstructed,hindered.
picturesquely,strikingly.
precipices,steep declivities.
prosecuted,followed.
rapidity,swiftness.
residences,dwellings.
reversed,turned back.
substantial,firm;strong
tonnage,capacity.
transcontinental,crossing the continent.
transferred,passed.
transformed,changed.
turbid,muddy.
vicinity,neighbourhood.
Questions
How must a voyage round the world be made? How long does it usually occupy? By what route may the journey be made in sixty days of continuous travel? Where does the tourist begin his journey? At what city in Canada does he arrive in winter? What city is first reached by the St. Lawrence route in summer? Arriving at Halifax, what is the next maritime city reached? How far is Montreal from Halifax? From St. John? What rivers surround Montreal? On what river is the city of Ottawa built? What notable buildings are in Ottawa? What metals are found in large quantity along the railway route from Ottawa to Lake Superior? What towns are built near Thunder Bay? What business gives chief employment to the railway and to steamers at this point? What is the chief city in Manitoba? What rivers unite their waters here? What is the principal industry in the province of Manitoba and in the North-West? Through what mountain range does the railway pass? What famous cañon does the road traverse? At what city does the tourist take a steamer in order to cross the Pacific? Name the ports the tourist must visit before arriving at London. Give the principal distances.
(请参照世界地图阅读此文)
在世界各地航行可以只通过南部海域,因为在此,存在着太平洋和大西洋之间的西北通道,也是因为冰的阻碍,实际上几乎是不可通行的。船只离开新斯科舍和新布伦瑞克的海岸,驶向东南部的好望角,穿越印度洋,到达澳大利亚和新西兰,并通过阳光群岛,直到它们到达合恩角,并由此进入大西洋,继续它们的航程,然后在加拿大的一些港口原路返航。
一艘来自哈里法克斯或者圣约翰的船只,越过西印度群岛和南美洲的海岸,折返于合恩角,在那里穿越太平洋,到达中国、锡兰、好望角,并穿越大西洋返航。海上的平静或风暴容易长时间地拖延航行,以致这样的海洋航行是乏味的。
如今,许多游客们希望周游世界,在最有利的情况下,他们通常会从伦敦出发。伦敦不但是大英帝国活力的中心,而且是世界最大、最富有、最有影响力的城市。这条航线一部分在海上,一部分在陆地上。快速的轮船和火车,有助于让旅行变得快速、安全、令人愉快。在19世纪早期,船只在英格兰和加拿大之间航行的50或60天中,经常不得不与海浪和风速进行战斗。然而如今,在加拿大至太平洋的路线中,旅行者在60天里就可以环游世界。
游客乘火车离开伦敦后,在几个小时之内,将会抵达世界上最大的海港之一——利物浦。它的人口超过75万。这里的船坞占600英亩,码头延展近40英里。各种规模的轮船从各地载着货物到达这里,或者载着英国的工业产品驶向远方。
快速的加拿大“班轮”已经准备好承载旅行者在冬天去哈利法克斯,而在夏天,则从哈利法克斯到魁北克。哈利法克斯是新斯科舍的首府,是一个拥有近6万居民的城市。美丽的哈利法克斯位于港口西岸,它拥有一个非常突出的名字,彰显了它的优势——“美国的直布罗陀”。这里是世界上最好的港口之一——即使海风吹拂也很安全,在任何潮汐状况下,即使最大吨位的轮船也可以在此靠泊。哈利法克斯港,连同它向内陆伸展的庇护“盆地”,都将轻易地向所有英国海军的船只提供安全的锚地。
从哈利法克斯,游客们可以继续通过加拿大太平洋铁路路线,途经圣约翰,到达蒙特利尔。或者他们也可以继续沿着洲际铁路向魁北克前行,继而到达蒙特利尔。从哈利法克斯到圣约翰的路线中,可以瞥见一处有趣的名为芬迪湾的景象。这里的潮汐堪称世界奇迹之一,可以交替上升和下降直至60~70英尺。铁路跨越广阔的“沼泽”地带和裙带的“壕沟地带”,在18世纪,这里是属于法国“阿卡迪亚人”的。
圣约翰是新不伦瑞克的商业之都,是一个繁荣、发展迅猛的城市,拥有47000名居民。它紧邻的圣约翰河,将河水倾泻到芬迪湾之内。在退潮时,这条壮阔的河流,会冲过一条狭窄的水道,汹涌跃到大概30英尺的高度,奔涌到海湾之中。当潮水涨满时,水的倾泻会变得相反,芬迪湾浑浊的水注入圣约翰河的河床之中。从圣约翰河到蒙特利尔的路线,主要穿过一片未开化的乡村。
通过洲际铁路,从哈利法克斯到魁北克,旅行者可以陆续看到一些城镇,比如特鲁罗、阿默斯特和新斯科舍,还有在新布伦瑞克的蒙克顿和坎贝尔顿。沿着沙乐海湾、雷斯蒂古什河和麦特皮迪亚山谷到雄伟的圣劳伦斯河,人们会享受到令人愉快的风景。在魁北克省,人们会看到一些村庄和城镇,似乎在告诉着他们这是在17世纪的法国。
魁北克市呈现出一种独特的吸引力——崭新的与古老的,法国的和英国的,过去的和现在的,都优雅地结合在一起。在美洲,没有其他任何一座城市比魁北克更加风景秀丽,更独特地展现出各种各样的自然和历史景观。从远处看,钻石角是一片位于城市和大河之间的不起眼的低洼地带。圣劳伦斯河在冲刷过钻石角之后,减缓了流速,舒展开来,形成了一个平静的港湾,奥尔良岛环绕在它四周。在这里,魁北克沿着河流边缘延伸,越过了旧墙,一直到著名的亚伯拉罕平原。也就是在这里,沃尔夫和蒙卡姆赢得了战斗胜利,将加拿大置于英国的管辖之下。冲突和战争的日子一去不复返了,城市的老墙和大门却完好地保留了下来。
在特勒斯的达幅和魁北克的其他地方,人们都可以享受到独特的美景。人们可以在低于城市8英里的地方,看到蒙特默伦西瀑布——毫无疑问,它是美洲最美丽的瀑布。从这个港口,每个季节都会有大量的木材运往英国和其他国家。
旅客们可以从魁北克继续前行,到达蒙特利尔。其间有172英里的距离,旅客们可以乘坐圣劳伦斯大轮船,或两条铁路中的任意一条。
蒙特利尔在圣劳伦斯河和高耸巍峨的“皇家山”之间延展开来。从这座城市背后的山上,游客们可以享受到他们能想象到的最美丽的景色之一。在山脚之下和山的侧翼,是一片庄严的宫殿,这里是蒙特利尔富商们的府邸。在这座山后面,平坦的城市延伸数英里。人们可以看到远方的维多利亚桥,跨越河流,有两英里长。几英里以上,是现代结构的拉钦桥,它也跨越了整条河流。山的前麓布满了众多教堂、学校、修道院、工厂和谷仓的高大烟囱,美丽住宅区长长的街道,挤满了轮船的渡口和码头,从西部马尼托巴省和安大略省的小麦产地运载产品的铁路列车和运河船只,还有来自于整个省的装满商品的巨大仓库。
延展开的乡村遍布历史古迹,贯穿了两个多世纪的漫长时期。雅克·卡地亚、尚普兰、沃尔夫、蒙卡姆,还有许多其他人,都曾在这里抗争和战斗。在这片战场上,曾经有两个伟大、英勇的国家在一百年的时间内,为争夺一个大陆的统治权而进行过战斗,更近的战斗的痕迹是加拿大人为击退入侵共和国南部的侵略者而突然发起的进攻。“和平胜利的著名程度不亚于战争,加拿大人民为自己实现了征服,也为从大西洋到太平洋以及两大洲之间的旅游和交通实现了征服”。在这辉煌的成就里,加拿大太平洋铁路的修建,给予了那些渴望一个安全、快速、舒适的“周游世界”旅程的人们无价的恩惠。
早期探索加拿大的先锋者们认为,圣劳伦斯河将带领他们到达中国。而流经蒙特利尔的水域则是通向那个国家的关卡,因此得名“中国河”。那些人的预测在某种意义上是真实的,从这里去中国的最短路线,确实是通过蒙特利尔和“中国河”。
渥太华河将其浑浊的河水注入清澈的圣劳伦斯河之中。一部分在城市中的地面之上,一部分在地面之下。蒙特利尔因此建立在一个岛屿之上,在这个岛的中心附近,突起了一片山地,让这座平坦的城市显得尤其可爱。三到四个小时的旅程,会将旅客们从蒙特利尔带往加拿大的首都渥太华。在这里,超迪乐瀑布吸引了人们的注意力和赞赏。众多优雅、巨大的公共建筑装扮着这座城市,并展示出这个国家的立法机关以及政府是如何从事国家的公共事务。
从渥太华向西,通过一个著名的“木材”之城,虽然对农民没有什么魅力,但充满了丰富的湖泊和溪流,还有大量的鱼虾和游戏。在尼比斯英湖的湖口处是北海湾,在这里,从多伦多驶来的乘客们,加入到横贯整片大陆的火车航程中。在萨德伯里和这条线路上的其他地点,人们发现了许多非常有价值的矿藏。此处发现镍的产量远远超过世界上的其他任何地方。另外,铁、银和其他矿物质也相当丰富。
这条铁路围绕苏必利尔湖北岸,延绵200英里。这是一片巨大的淡水湖,在夏天最热的日子里,它凉爽的微风,能给旅行者带来清凉。在如此崎岖、多山、贫瘠的区域修建一条铁路,需要技巧、勇气和充足的财力。人们希望,这条铁路带上的矿产财富,能够充分偿还国家修造这条铁路所花费的成本和所承担的风险。此外,这条铁路能够通往到古老的西部省份,对国家来说也是十分必要的。
位于苏必利尔湖河头的桑德角,展现出壮阔而美丽的风景。附近的威廉堡和阿瑟港是重要的湖区交通枢纽,在夏天尤为活跃。巨大的升降机接收着数以百万计的大量谷物,它们从这里被转移到轮船上,越过湖泊、运河、圣劳伦斯河,最后跨越大西洋,供应不列颠群岛的市场。
阿瑟港向西400英里多一点的距离之外,有一座年轻而美丽的草原城市温尼伯。它是马尼托巴省的首府和加拿大西部主要的贸易中心。1871年,哈得孙湾公司的一个交易站加里堡,还有一些混血儿的定居住所,占据了这个繁忙的、拥有18万居民的城市。在这里,阿希尼伯因河和红河的北段浑浊、湍急的水流,穿越过其间肥沃的平原,最终注入温尼伯湖之中。
现在,我们处于一片大平原之上,就像一片平静而无限的海洋。夏天,草原穿披翠绿,布满华美的野花。冬天,这里覆盖着积雪,但积雪也不是很厚,但足以防止牧场里成群的水牛和野牛啃食雪下的冻草。只有当天气最冷时,牧场上的牛群才需要庇护在谷仓或仓库里进行喂养。
定居者们用犁改变了许多北部联盟的面貌——西部的大草原变成世界上最好的小麦田。部落、村庄、城镇,只要条件允许,就不停地增加扩大。教堂和学校,作为经久不衰的宗教和文明的标志,以一定的时间为间隔不停地出现。有许多“接口处”,铁路从主线在这里分出支线。以便向定居者提供数百万英亩的土地,这里土壤肥沃,水分充足,有丰富的森林,能够保证农民有丰富的收成。
穿越大草原900英里的铁路航行,游客们能够看到许多城镇,比如布兰登、雷吉娜、卡尔加里,当然还有许多较小的城镇,但它们也已迅速成为重要的商业中心,其迅速发展也表明周围地区的稳定进步。卡尔加里是一片巨大“牧场”企业的中心,这里的水牛已然消失,取而代之的是饲养牛群来满足远方市场。西方的地平线在很远的地方逐渐消逝,积雪覆盖的落基山脉像一座堡垒一样守卫着这里。
但快速流动的河流为落基山的中心提供了一个关卡。铁路轨道继续靠近河边,实际上,在很多年之前,这条沟壑是为它专门挖掘出来的。卡纳纳斯基斯瀑布就像是奇迹的序幕。班夫国家公园有许多景点,旅行者要在这里花费几天的时间,以便近距离地研究这些雄伟的高山。当你的眼睛、意识、心灵、想象力,都充斥着这些山峦,它们的宏伟会让你深深陶醉。在这次周游世界的旅程中,从卡尔加里向温哥华行进的600英里,人们可以享受到声音与景致形成的无与伦比的美景——湍急的激流;从陡峭的山壁下降数千英尺、奔流而下的银色的瀑布;奔向大海的壮丽河流;沉睡的湖泊表面反射出的山峰;奔流的瀑布割裂的深邃、黑暗的峡谷;割裂开的悬崖;宁静的山谷里庄严的松树林;被雪崩割裂得伤痕累累的山涧;沉睡的冰川慢慢打磨的岩石斜坡。其间列车驶过四大山峦:落基山脉,塞尔扣克山脉,黄金山脉和海岸山脉。它们形状各异,因此宏伟而美丽,可爱而令人畏惧。道路沿着弗雷泽河蜿蜒几个小时。在其他任何地方,人们很难看到这样一系列的景象——壮丽的河流卷着泥沙,匆忙地奔涌,激流从头顶的悬崖夹杂着各种物体的残骸而来。火车蜿蜒着进入了隧道,继而又驶出隧道,途经坚硬的岩石和跨过众多无名河流之上的桥梁。即使在仲夏时节,弗雷泽河河水涨满,愤怒地咆哮,人们在河岸之上建造了一条如此安全的,称为“铁马”的高速铁路,印证了人类科学的精彩成就!
太平洋海岸航线上的终点站是温哥华市,它的存在是铁路建设的结果。这座城市的人口如今接近12万,并且还在迅速增长。从这里开始,游客们可以享受由加拿大太平洋铁路提供的壮观轮船,在太平洋上进行旅行和贸易。轮船会停靠在不列颠哥伦比亚省的美丽首府维多利亚。这个处于温哥华岛上的城市,拥有超过8万居民,距离温哥华市有60英里远。在维多利亚附近,有一个埃斯吉摩镇,那里是一个大型的干船坞,英国的太平洋舰队通常将这里作为他们的总部。从温哥华到日本的主要商业城市横滨,现在需要10天的航程。然后从日本到中国的上海,距离1047英里。再从这个港口出发,轮船继续前行至香港,在那里,加拿大太平洋公司会将他们的游客转送给半岛公司和东方公司。旅程的下一个阶段是新加坡,从香港出发,需要大约5天到达。然后来到槟城和锡兰、加尔各答和孟买。轮船穿越阿拉伯海,开往亚丁湾,穿过红海,通过苏伊士运河,穿过整个地中海,到达布林迪西或的里雅斯特,再通过陆路穿越意大利和法国,穿过多佛海峡到达对岸的英格兰;或通过水路,穿越直布罗陀海峡,到达英国在大西洋沿岸的一些港口。当然,这一旅程可能会因为休息、游乐、业务或研究,被无限期地延长。但其景点比比皆是。幸运的是,现代的“环球旅游”一年比一年变得更受欢迎,也更加可行。