The panorama we witnessed during that nocturnal trip was as magnificent as can be imagined. The full-orbed moon on the wave was beautiful; and so was the landscape bathed in its light. Toward 10 o'clock we arrived at our destination, a town in La Porte Co., Indiana. _Michigan City_ is the largest lumber-market in the State, and has numerous manufacturing establishments. As a lake-port, it is a place of considerable prosperity comprising a population of about 11,000. It was in the early morning, Tuesday, August 22nd, that we left Michigan City. Having sailed along the coast of the lake for about three hours, we discerned in the misty distance the site of the "Queen of the West." At twenty minutes to 9 o'clock, it became plainly cognizable. In transports of delight we glanced at a vast, verdant tract of land adorned with magnificent structures appearing to be of the purest marble; in their matchless beauty imparting to the mind some grand allegorical _tableau_, intending to convey the poet's idea of the New Jerusalem. It was the famous _White City_, the site of the World's Columbian Exposition, that charmed our eyes and gratified our taste so much. No one can adequately describe that sight as seen from the clear waters of the lake.--I imagine that our illustrious Columbus must have been equally affected as he beheld Guanahani, that fruitful island in its wild luxuriance, on his first landing in the New World. CHAPTER IV. STAY IN CHICAGO AND VISIT TO THE WORLD'S FAIR. Our arrival in Chicago put an end to our pleasurable voyage comprising the considerable length of 1,243 miles, during which "The waves were our pillow, Our cradle the sea: When rough was the billow Not timid were we." This westward trip afforded us every hour a revelation of the surprising growth of the nation that lives under the Stars and Stripes. My traveling companions were equally delighted with this course, notwithstanding their being preacquainted with that portion of the west, whose rapid development makes it practically a new and another west every ten years. In fact, America astonishes the world; and it is no common pleasure to study and note the progress of this great republic of which Chicago is the second city in commercial importance, as well as in population.