John Muir Is At Home Again. Noted Scientist Makes a Tour of the World, Collecting Many Botanical Specimens. Crosses Siberia Into Manchuria. Much Impressed With What He Saw in the Himalayas-Spent Some Time in Eucalyptus Forests of Australia.

CHRONICLE, SATTJEDA Noted Scientist Makes a Tour of the World, Collecting Many Botanical Specimens, i CROSSES SIBERIA INTO MANCHURIA, Much Impressed With What He Saw in the HimalayasΓÇö Spent Some Time in Euca- rrpiuo- John Muir, the famous geologist and botanist, arrived yesterday on the liner Siberia from a tour of the world. From strange lands he brought huge parcels of rare specimens of flora that men of science will be interested in knowing about and in the course of his year\u27s journey in foreign lands saw sights that repaid him for his time and labor. A year, less one day, he has been abroad. On May loth last\u27 year Muir left this city with President Roosevelt for a trip to the Yosemite, and a few days later went East to Boston. There he was joined by Professor C. S. Sargent and son, and on May 28th they sailed from New York fo\u27r Europe. Mtiir and his companions visited all the famous gardens and parks of Europe. A fortnight was spent in London, an equal length of time in Paris and as much time in Holland, where the party was greatly impressed by the beautiful public gardens. Then Berlin was visited and the magnificent parks of the German capital were inspected. The making of botanical gardens and large parks in the principal cities is more in favor than ever before, says Muir, and a noticeable effort is made to reproduce the old woods and forests that existed many years ago. Leaving Berlin, Muir w-ent to St. Petersburg and Moscow last summer. Ke and Professor Sargent had intended to study the forests of Russia, Siberia and Manchuria, but having an opportunity to visit the Caucasus mountains, separating Europe from Asia, went by train to the Crimea and thence along the shore of the Black sea and by steamer to Batoum. There the party went into the Trans- caucasus by train to Tifiis, were, a mail coach was taken for the trip through the celebrated Dariel pass, which has been in use from time immemorial. From the pass a grand view of the glaciers and the wild forests was obtained, as well as a sight of Mount Elburz, 18,300 feet high, and covered with ice. Here, too, was the mountain Kasbek, higher even than Mont Blanc. ACROSS SIBERIA. Leaving the Caucasus, Muir and Black sea and by steamer to Batoum. There the party went into the Trans- caucasus by train to Tifiis, were a mail coach was taken for the trip through the celebrated Dariel pass, which has been in use from time immemorial. From the pass a grand view of the glaciers and the wild forests was obtained, as well as a sight of Mount Elburz, 18,300 feet high, and covered with ice. Here, too, was the mountain Kasbek, higher even than Mont Blanc. ACROSS SIBERIA. Leaving the Caucasus, Muir and Professor Sargent went to Moscow by a new route, and thence across\u27 Russia and Siberia by rail to Manchuria. They zigzagged back and forth from Harbin to points on the lower and upper Amur river, botanizing all the time. They expected to go thence to Peking, but the washing away of three bridges on the road prevented the trip and for the second time they were obliged to go to Vladivostok. They left there about September 1st for Nagasaki, and from that place Professor Sargent and his son proceeded to Peking. Thereafter Mr. Muir was alone in his extensive travels. Muir proceeded to Shanghai and Hongkong, and went to Singapore. There he took a steamer for Calcutta and boarded a fast train for Darjeel- ing, in the foothills of the Himalayas, 7000 feet above sea level. There Muir obtained magnificent - views of the great mountains, including glimpses of Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. Thence he went to Benares, Cawnpore, Lucknow, Delhi and Agra. Two or three days were spent in enjoyment of the beauties of the Taj Mohal, considered the most beautiful tomb in the world. Anxious to see some specimens of the deodars, or trees of the gods, Muir went from Delhi to Calpa, and thence by a two-wheeled mail cart to Simla. This trip by cart, says the scientist, was the fastest and most exciting he ever experienced in mountain traveling. Leaving Calpa early in the morning, the cart, drawn by only two horses, reached Simla, fifty-eight miles distant, early in the afternoon, the road making an ascent of 7000 feet on the w_ay. Change of horses was made every twenty or thirty minutes. The horses used were part Arabian and fairly flew up the steep mountain road. GROVE OF DEODARS. At Simla, Muir found a vast grove of the deodar, in the midst of which was a fine hotel, the proprietor of which did not know the difference between the deodar and Oregon pine. From Simla the scientist returned to Delhi and on to Bombay, where he took a steamer for Egypt, intending to visit Syria and the cedars of Lebanon. But the existence of cholera prevented that trip to the Holy Land. In its\u27 place Muir went up the Nile, far above Memphis, and saw where great excavations had been made. He is enthusiastic over the results accomplished by the scientists in charge of the unearthing of the old cities that have for many centuries lain burred in the sands. From Egypt Muir proceeded to Port Said and by way of the Red sea to Ceylon. Thence he went to Australia to study the eucalyptus. Stories that had been told of eucalyptus trees being 400 or 500 feet in height he found to be untrue, none of the genus reaching a greater height than about 300 feet. But the extensive forests of this tree gained the admiration of the scientist. He was enabled .to gather a large quantity of specimens of flora indigenous to the big island. Later he spent two months in New Zealand, and later visited the interesting forests of Luzon, in the Philippine archipelago. From Manila Muir went t/\u27 Hongkong and boarded the Siberia fc this port. It was his first trip abrophttps://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/1609/thumbnail.jp