The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1890-01-16
Your Friends at
Continued nest zOeek.)

letter TO former travelling COmraQe
of this city, from which we are per
mitted to publish extracts.
$ *As you and I tramped over Eu
rope, Egypt, and Palestine in perfect
harmony, some years since, you
ought to have been one of our party
last summer. You were little per-
sistent, at times, in pushing against
all obstacles and advice, particularly
to visit Damascus and BalbeC, while
Gauntlet and myself we're laid up
for repairs at that Arab hotel in
Beyrout But l have long since par
doned your persistency, solely on
the ground that you were western
man, land of persistent people!
But, to my story, l had a genial
comrade and we lied for the quaint
old city of Amsterdam, city of
400 900 people, 80 canals, and 800
bridges, so the guide book says.
The Amsterdamers are famous for
neatness and Dutch beer, the car
dinal virtue of the latter being its
cheapness.
Crossing the Zuyder Zee,we made
our way to Hamburg, thence one
day took us to Copenagen, very
fine capital, and Sc hours by steam,
er brought us to Christiana, quiet
over grown village. A railroad
jaunt of 375 miles due north landed
us at Drontheim and voyage 800
miles farther on coasting steamer
brought US in sight of the famous
North Cape, whose midnight sun
was pictured in the geography of our
school days. The entire voyage
was an inland passage, shut out
from the open sea by numerous
islands.
A broken spar, floating past the
steamer, gave rise to much specula-
ton. and the more learned of the
passengers were anxious to secure
it as relic, declaring it to be a piece
of the North Pole. broken off by
recent cyclone.
Hammerfort is noted for being
the most northern town on the globe.
The houses consist of dugouts COW
cred with earth and grass foot
high, and Tromso is near by. At
the distance of a few miles, the
North Cape looks like huge mon
ster, crouchant, with his three mile
snout thrust out into the Arctic Sea,
snufing up a north wester. 1t was
the 21st of June that we approached
this monster and climbed upon his
back 1900 feet high. The scene
presented, surpasses my power of
description. We stood upon the
northern extremity of Europe on
lofty promentory On the European
side our vision was bounded by
more capped mountain peaks, and
on the Hyperborean side lay out
stretched the dreary Attic Sea,
whose hidden secrets, the combined
efforts of the enlightened world have
not been able to unlock, while at our
feet lay the numerous islands, chan
nels, inlets and green valleys, spread
out like a map. The sun moved in
majesty, on her appointed round,
dipping a few degrees toward the
horizon as it approached the mid
night meridian at low twelve. and
crossing the boundary line between
two days, began rapidly to climb up
the sky, till it had again reached its
extreme height in the south at high
twelve. No moon, no star, no bed
time, but continual daylight. AS
the sun approached the midnight
meridian, the light assumed weird
appearance. not unlike that of an
annular eclipse, but so novel that
our interest was intense, some of the
illiterate passengers firmly believed
they could grasp the tail of the
Great Bear, from the promentory, if
the sun would dip little below the
horizon, so that he could venture
out, but l knew better. After hav-
ing obtained this high latitude 80
it was an easy matter to slide down
to the lower parallels, being all the
way OOWl uIll, 1ilG Ill duO lliIIO, O'll
good steamer landed US again at
Drontheim, after an absence of just
two weeks by the almanac.
A ride of 40 hours across the pen
insula brought us to Stockholm,
thence to Holsing for the capital of
Finland, thence to St Petersburg,
where we spent the Fourth of July,
not a fire cracker was heard! No
patriotism here. Do you remember
how we spent the Fourth in II, on
the plains of Jerico? How the Sheik
paid US his respects in the morn
ing, and we bathed in the Dead Sea
at noon, and swan in the Jordan
towards night? and how persistent
you were to swim the rapids, as you
said, to reach "The other side of
Jordan against the remonstrances