ering cliffs; have you passed the mouths of mighty rivers and so gone
steadily on northward to the bleak coasts of Scotland where the waves
beat on granite cliffs; have you rounded stormy Cape Wrath, and sailed
in and out by all the deep-cut inlets on the west of Scotland, and thus
come back to the very place from whence you started? If you can even
imagine this it gives you some idea of what being an island means. We
are on every side surrounded by water, and nowhere can we get away to
any other country without crossing the sea.

The very nearest country to us is France, and at the narrowest point of
the Channel there are only twenty-one miles of sea to get over. One way
of starting on our great enterprise is to cross this little strip of
water and take the train across France, right to the other side, there
to meet a ship which will carry us onward. Or we can start in the same
way across the Channel but go much farther on by train, all along Italy
as well as France, and then we can catch the same ship a considerable
way farther on in the Mediterranean.

Or there is another way, the quickest of all, and the newest; by this
means--after crossing the Channel--we can go the whole distance across
Europe, and Asia too, by train, and come out on the other side of the
world, near China, in about ten days! To do this we should have to get
to Russia first by any European line we pleased, and on arriving at the
town of Moscow change into the train which does this mighty journey. It
starts once a week, and is called The International. It is quite a small
train, though the engine is large. There are only half a dozen coaches,
and one of these is for luggage and another is a restaurant. First-class
people are put two together into a compartment. It certainly sounds as
if that would allow plenty of room, but then if anyone has to live and
sleep and move for ten days in a train, he can hardly be expected to sit
cramped up all the time, he must have some space to stir about in. At
night one of the seats forms one bed and another is let down crossways
above it. There is, alas, no bath, but there is a small lavatory for
every two compartments where we can wash after a fashion. There are even
books provided in the restaurant car, some in Russian, some in French,
some in German, and some in English.

The journey itself is not very interesting, and we should be glad enough
to get to the end of it I fancy. No, I am not going to allow you t