Time seemed to pass rapidly away, and by and by we bade adieu to London, crossed over the Channel and found ourselves safe in France. The English Channel was rather smooth and the steamer crowded with passengers who had been waiting for the storm to cease. The passage was delightful, and I enjoyed the trip as much as a person with shattered nerves might expect to enjoy it. After riding in the cars three or four hours we reached the city of Paris, and that you know is the capital of France, and a very large city. We were there four weeks. Each day we visited places of interest, such as public buildings, palaces and cathedrals, public squares and cemeteries. Of the last named there is one called Pere la Chaise. It contains one hundred and six and a half acres. It is laid out in avenues and seems almost like a city, with its grand tombs, large enough to hold many, many people. We noticed that illustrious personages were buried there, for we saw the names of lords and ladies. Poor people were not able to buy lots there, so were content to place their dead in less beautiful places. It is the custom in Paris for persons to take off their hats on meeting a funeral procession, whether in the country or in the public streets. That seemed like an odd custom, but one gets used to many strange sights when abroad. The sewers of Paris are spoken of very highly, and it is said they are four hundred and forty-one miles in length. Some of the sewers are wide enough to allow boats to pass through them, and at certain times of the year visitors may take a tour through them; but they must first have a special permit. The river Seine flows through Paris, and small excursion steamboats take passengers out, thus giving a good view of both sides of the river and landing them at small towns outside of the city limit. There is no use for me to try to tell you all we saw in Paris, for each day there were new sights presented to us. Seeing the fashions seems to be the highest ambition of some people, and many of them go to Paris for that purpose. People are able to gratify the desire there, and it is to be hoped they return home satisfied. [Illustration] CHAPTER VI. _Venice.—A Gondola.—The Pigeons.—Trieste.—Piræus.—Athens.—Paul and Mars’ Hill.—Sickness.—From Athens to Smyrna.—Man Overboard.—A Lesson of Unselfishness.—Smyrna.—A Cruel Father.—Ephesus.—Paul’s Missionary Journey.—The Vesta.—Beyrut.—Jaffa Landing._