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1IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND PARTY TRAVEL BY THE PACIFIC RAILROAD "From ocean to ocean"--so say the Americans; and these
2four words compose the general designation of the "great trunk line" which crosses the entire width of the United
3States. The Pacific Railroad is, however, really divided into two distinct lines: the Central Pacific, between San
4Francisco and Ogden, and the Union Pacific, between Ogden and Omaha. Five main lines connect Omaha with New York. New
5York and San Francisco are thus united by an uninterrupted metal ribbon, which measures no less than three thousand
6seven hundred and eighty-six miles. Between Omaha and the Pacific the railway crosses a territory which is still
7infested by Indians and wild beasts, and a large tract which the Mormons, after they were driven from Illinois in 1845,
8began to colonise. The journey from New York to San Francisco consumed, formerly, under the most favourable conditions,
9at least six months. It is now accomplished in seven days. It was in 1862 that, in spite of the Southern Members of
10Congress, who wished a more southerly route, it was decided to lay the road between the forty-first and forty-second
11parallels. President Lincoln himself fixed the end of the line at Omaha, in Nebraska. The work was at once commenced,
12and pursued with true American energy; nor did the rapidity with which it went on injuriously affect its good execution.
13The road grew, on the prairies, a mile and a half a day. A locomotive, running on the rails laid down the evening
14before, brought the rails to be laid on the morrow, and advanced upon them as fast as they were put in position. The
15Pacific Railroad is joined by several branches in Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, and Oregon. On leaving Omaha, it passes along
16the left bank of the Platte River as far as the junction of its northern branch, follows its southern branch, crosses
17the Laramie territory and the Wahsatch Mountains, turns the Great Salt Lake, and reaches Salt Lake City, the Mormon
18capital, plunges into the Tuilla Valley, across the American Desert, Cedar and Humboldt Mountains, the Sierra Nevada,
19and descends, viâ Sacramento, to the Pacific--its grade, even on the Rocky Mountains, never exceeding one hundred and
20twelve feet to the mile. Such was the road to be traversed in seven days, which would enable Phileas Fogg--at least, so
21he hoped--to take the Atlantic steamer at New York on the 11th for Liverpool. The car which he occupied was a sort of
22long omnibus on eight wheels, and with no compartments in the interior. It was supplied with two rows of seats,
23perpendicular to the direction of the train on either side of an aisle which conducted to the front and rear platforms.
24These platforms were found throughout the train, and the passengers were able to pass from one end of the train to the
25other. It was supplied with saloon cars, balcony cars, restaurants, and smoking-cars; theatre cars alone were wanting,
26and they will have these some day. Book and news dealers, sellers of edibles, drinkables, and cigars, who seemed to have
27plenty of customers, were continually circulating in the aisles. The train left Oakland station at six o'clock. It was
28already night, cold and cheerless, the heavens being overcast with clouds which seemed to threaten snow. The train did
29not proceed rapidly; counting the stoppages, it did not run more than twenty miles an hour, which was a sufficient
30speed, however, to enable it to reach Omaha within its designated time. There was but little conversation in the car,
31and soon many of the passengers were overcome with sleep. Passepartout found himself beside the detective; but he did
32not talk to him. After recent events, their relations with each other had grown somewhat cold; there could no longer be
33mutual sympathy or intimacy between them. Fix's manner had not changed; but Passepartout was very reserved, and ready to
34strangle his former friend on the slightest provocation. Snow began to fall an hour after they started, a fine snow,
35however, which happily could not obstruct the train; nothing could be seen from the windows but a vast, white sheet,
36against which the smoke of the locomotive had a greyish aspect. At eight o'clock a steward entered the car and announced
37that the time for going to bed had arrived; and in a few minutes the car was transformed into a dormitory. The backs of
38the seats were thrown back, bedsteads carefully packed were rolled out by an ingenious system, berths were suddenly
39improvised, and each traveller had soon at his disposition a comfortable bed, protected from curious eyes by thick
40curtains. The sheets were clean and the pillows soft. It only remained to go to bed and sleep which everybody did--while
41the train sped on across the State of California. The country between San Francisco and Sacramento is not very hilly.
42The Central Pacific, taking Sacramento for its starting-point, extends eastward to meet the road from Omaha. The line
43from San Francisco to Sacramento runs in a north-easterly direction, along the American River, which empties into San
44Pablo Bay. The one hundred and twenty miles between these cities were accomplished in six hours, and towards midnight,
45while fast asleep, the travellers passed through Sacramento; so that they saw nothing of that important place, the seat
46of the State government, with its fine quays, its broad streets, its noble hotels, squares, and churches. The train, on
47leaving Sacramento, and passing the junction, Roclin, Auburn, and Colfax, entered the range of the Sierra Nevada. 'Cisco
48was reached at seven in the morning; and an hour later the dormitory was transformed into an ordinary car, and the
49travellers could observe the picturesque beauties of the mountain region through which they were steaming. The railway
50track wound in and out among the passes, now approaching the mountain-sides, now suspended over precipices, avoiding
51abrupt angles by bold curves, plunging into narrow defiles, which seemed to have no outlet. The locomotive, its great
52funnel emitting a weird light, with its sharp bell, and its cow-catcher extended like a spur, mingled its shrieks and
53bellowings with the noise of torrents and cascades, and twined its smoke among the branches of the gigantic pines. There
54were few or no bridges or tunnels on the route. The railway turned around the sides of the mountains, and did not
55attempt to violate nature by taking the shortest cut from one point to another. The train entered the State of Nevada
56through the Carson Valley about nine o'clock, going always northeasterly; and at midday reached Reno, where there was a
57delay of twenty minutes for breakfast. From this point the road, running along Humboldt River, passed northward for
58several miles by its banks; then it turned eastward, and kept by the river until it reached the Humboldt Range, nearly
59at the extreme eastern limit of Nevada. Having breakfasted, Mr. Fogg and his companions resumed their places in the car,
60and observed the varied landscape which unfolded itself as they passed along the vast prairies, the mountains lining the
61horizon, and the creeks, with their frothy, foaming streams. Sometimes a great herd of buffaloes, massing together in
62the distance, seemed like a moveable dam. These innumerable multitudes of ruminating beasts often form an insurmountable
63obstacle to the passage of the trains; thousands of them have been seen passing over the track for hours together, in
64compact ranks. The locomotive is then forced to stop and wait till the road is once more clear. This happened, indeed,
65to the train in which Mr. Fogg was travelling. About twelve o'clock a troop of ten or twelve thousand head of buffalo
66encumbered the track. The locomotive, slackening its speed, tried to clear the way with its cow-catcher; but the mass of
67animals was too great. The buffaloes marched along with a tranquil gait, uttering now and then deafening bellowings.
68There was no use of interrupting them, for, having taken a particular direction, nothing can moderate and change their
69course; it is a torrent of living flesh which no dam could contain. The travellers gazed on this curious spectacle from
70the platforms; but Phileas Fogg, who had the most reason of all to be in a hurry, remained in his seat, and waited
71philosophically until it should please the buffaloes to get out of the way. Passepartout was furious at the delay they
72occasioned, and longed to discharge his arsenal of revolvers upon them. "What a country!" cried he. "Mere cattle stop
73the trains, and go by in a procession, just as if they were not impeding travel! Parbleu! I should like to know if Mr.
74Fogg foresaw this mishap in his programme! And here's an engineer who doesn't dare to run the locomotive into this herd
75of beasts!" The engineer did not try to overcome the obstacle, and he was wise. He would have crushed the first
76buffaloes, no doubt, with the cow-catcher; but the locomotive, however powerful, would soon have been checked, the train
77would inevitably have been thrown off the track, and would then have been helpless. The best course was to wait
78patiently, and regain the lost time by greater speed when the obstacle was removed. The procession of buffaloes lasted
79three full hours, and it was night before the track was clear. The last ranks of the herd were now passing over the
80rails, while the first had already disappeared below the southern horizon. It was eight o'clock when the train passed
81through the defiles of the Humboldt Range, and half-past nine when it penetrated Utah, the region of the Great Salt
82Lake, the singular colony of the Mormons.
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