urally an unusually steep one, and
should, one would think, necessitate the utmost caution during the
descent, but we rattled down the mountain at a pace which in any country
but happy-go-lucky Alaska would certainly have seemed like tempting
Providence, especially as only brakes are used to check the speed of the
train. However, the fact that two passenger trains are run daily (also a
goods train), and that not a single accident has occurred during the
four years the line has been in operation, are sufficient proof that the
officials of the White Pass Railway know what they are about, and are
not lacking in care and competence. I can speak from personal experience
as to their civility and also punctuality, for, towards three o'clock,
the silvery waters of the Lynn Canal were disclosed through a rift in
the mountains, and an hour later we were steaming into the town of
Skagway, within half a minute of the scheduled time.

CHAPTER XIX

THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY--SKAGWAY--NEW YORK

While on the subject of railways a few remarks anent the projected line
from France (_via_ Siberia and Bering Straits) to America may not be
amiss. As the reader is already aware, the main object of our expedition
was to determine whether the construction of such a line is within the
range of human possibility. The only means of practically solving this
question was (firstly) to cover the entire distance by land between the
two cities, by such primitive means of travel as are now available, and
(secondly) to minutely observe the natural characteristics of the
countries passed through, in order to ascertain whether these offer any
insuperable obstacle to the construction of a railway.

I would again remind the reader that the overland journey from Paris to
New York had never been made, or even attempted, until it was
accomplished by ourselves. This is the more necessary in so far as,
before our departure from Paris, the project of an All-World railway was
freely discussed in the English and French Press by persons with no
practical experience whatsoever of either Siberia or Alaska. Their
opinions would, therefore, have been equally valuable with reference to
a railway across the moon or planet Mars. From a humorous point of view,
some of the letters published were well worth perusal, notably those of
a French gentleman, who, in the Paris _New York Herald_, repeatedly drew
my attention to the fact that he "claimed the paternity of th