Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/36

 by a band of musicians from a balcony before the house. They play very well, and the whole looks very merry.

In front of the Astor House is a green space, inclosed with trees, and in the centre a large fountain, which has a refreshing appearance, and there I have refreshed myself by walking an hour this afternoon. Astor House is situated in Broadway, the great high-street and thoroughfare of New York, where people and carriages pour along in one incessant stream, and in true republican intermixture. Long lines of white and gilded omnibuses wind their way at an uninterrupted, rapid rate, as far as one can see, amid thousands of other vehicles, great and small. The broad side-paths are thronged with people of all classes; there are beautiful houses, and houses under erection; splendid shops, and a heap of horrible rubbish. There is something confused in this Broadway which makes one feel a little bewildered in the beginning. And thus, in the first place, I merely think of getting across the street alive. That beautiful little green plot, with its lovely fountain, seems to me, beside the bustling Broadway, like an oasis in the agitated sand.

I must now say something of my arrival here.

I last left you the day before we reached Halifax. That night was the end of any danger in our voyage; for it was during a thick mist that we approached the shore and its dangerous surf. We were obliged every now and then to lie still. In the morning, however, we were at Halifax, and I saw the surf-billows, like some unknown, enormous sea-creatures, heave themselves, roaring at a distance around us. I went on shore at Halifax, but only to meet again the worst features of the old world, fog, rags, beggars, dirty, screaming children, wretched horses, and such-like. I was glad to stay only a few hours there.

The following clay we took our course direct to New York; that was a real enjoyment,—warm weather, a calm