Prince Rupert and taking a Canadian vessel, or by sailing on one of the big American steamers from Puget Sound to Japan. The latter route is the one we shall travel.
Our vessel is one of the greyhounds of the Pacific. It is propelled by steam, and the distance is now a matter of hours rather than space. It will take us from ten to twelve days to go from North America to Asia, and we shall be quite as safe on the boundless deep as in our own house at home.
The ship itself is a wonder. It is one of the palaces of the ocean, and is made almost altogether of steel. It is about five hundred feet long, and more than fifty feet wide. It is long enough to stretch the whole length of the average city block; and it would fill the street from side to side. The vessel is as high as an eight-story house, and it has as many rooms as a large hotel. It has its parlors and kitchens, its sleeping rooms and bathrooms; and it contains a butcher shop, a bakery, a carpenter shop, and all sorts of machinery. The dining room is so large that several hundred can sit down to the tables at once, and we find the food quite as good as that we have at home. Our waiters are yellow Chinese boys dressed in blue or white gowns, and we order by the numbers which are marked opposite each dish on the bill of fare.
We are delighted with our cabins, the little rooms which form our homes throughout the voyage. Each room accommodates two of us, and we sleep in two narrow beds or bunks built against the wall one over the other much like the berths of a sleeping car. The room has a sofa as well, and also places for washing and hooks for our clothes. It has an electric bell, by which we call our Chinese room boy, and it is lighted by electricity.
The great steamer has hundreds of such rooms. They
