CHAPTER XI

Notes San Francisco to New York

LKFT San Fran, for N. Y. in P.M. S.S. Co.'s Steamer,
Montana, July 6, 1868.

July 13. Arrived at Acapulco.
Only 150 passengers on board.

Montana fine ship—stateroom ought to have craft over
berths.

In Aspinwall, all it is necessary to do is to cry Viva
Rcvolucion! at head ot street, and instantly it is in com-
motion, Doors slam to, 50 soldiers march forth and crip-
ple half a dozen niggers in their shirt-tails, a new Presi-
dent is elevated, and then for 6 months (till next rev.)
the proud and happy survivors inquire eagerly of new-
comers what was said about it in America and Europe.

Trip of a man in a balloon from Paris over India,
China, Pacific Ocean, the plains to a prairie in Illinois.

This was a preliminary memorandum of a
story he had in mind to write. Some pages far-
ther along the story is begun, but by the time he
was well started he learned that Jules Verne had
published a story with a similar idea which
brought his own to a sudden end. His final
memorandum reads:

While this was being written, Jules Verne's "Five
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