[498] slight promotion from our railroad travel from Paris to Marseilles.
It was delightful to be upon the Mediterranean, of whose islands and coasts I had from my childhood read interesting stories. The weather could have hardly been more mild and pleasant and we spent much of our time on the upper deck or on the bridge with the politest and most accommodating of captains, so that we were shown everything that eye could take in as we coasted along eastward.
There was one attractive French family on the steamer who seemed to enjoy our society; three ladies and a gentleman, very tidy in their dress and sprightly in their conversation. There was besides a retired English army officer about sixty years of age — a bona fide Englishman in every respect. He had traveled; had seen the world, and was willing to admit when driven to extremes that the United States was already on the road to coequal prosperity and rank with Great Britain. I only wondered, as perhaps he himself did with regard to us, why he had allowed himself to be consigned to the second class; probably because of the price.
In good time we arrived at Naples and anchored out in the offing. Our ship had hardly stopped before she was thronged with small boats of different sizes. After having taken a general survey of the situation, of the city so beautiful in the morning light, of the islands in sight, and of the mountains, particularly of Vesuvius of which we had heard so much, we slowly descended to take one of the most commodious of the transport boats. The man in charge was able to talk a little English and was very polite and accommodating. He sold us our passage at a reasonable rate and
