Shepp's Photographs of the World

by James W. Shepp; Daniel B. Shepp

TROPICAL SCENERY, India.

HEATHEN TEMPLE, India.

ROYAL OBSERVATORY, India.

WONG TAI KEN, China.—The people of China are a thoroughly settled class of agriculturists and traders. They are partially Buddhist, and have a peculiar monosyllabic, uninflected language, with writing consisting of symbols, which represent words, not letters. The photograph represents one of the better class, dressed in a richly made costume after the fashion of her country. Her feet, like all of her race, are extremely small and encased in velvet sandals, with thick wooden shoes, which are peculiar to these people.

TYPICAL SCENE, Sandwich Islands.—The ravines and mountain-slopes on the windward side of the larger islands contain much forest growth, while the leeward uplands and plains are comparatively bare. Among the most remarkable forms of vegetation is a screw-pine and candle-nut tree, so named from the fact that the natives string together the kernels, which are very oily, and make candles. The natives derive their sustenance chiefly from pork and fish, both fresh and dried, and from the banana, sweet potato, yam, bread, fruit and cocoanut.

SITKA, Alaska.—Sitka, the capital of Alaska, is situated on the west coast of the Baranoff Island, which is one of the principal of the Alexander Islands. It is the second town in size, and has a custom house, a Greco-Russian church, a hospital, a half dozen stores, schools and several saw mills. Its principal business is fishing, and a number of steamers ply between this place and Portland, Oregon. The island is about seventy miles long and fifteen miles wide, and is densely timbered.

TOTEM POLES, Alaska.—A totem is a class of material objects which a savage regards with superstitious respect, believing that there exists between him and every member of the class an intimate and special relation. These poles, which rise to the height of 70 feet, are elaborately carved from top to bottom with a succession of figures, representing the wolf, frog, bear, eagle, whale and a variety of other animals. They are planted near Indian villages, but it is hoped church steeples will soon tower in their places and work a change in these strange people.

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, Ottawa, Canada.—The capital of the Dominion of Canada is situated on the Ottawa River, four hundred and fifty miles from New York, and one hundred and twenty-six miles from Montreal. It is one of the most flourishing cities in Ontario, on account of the great lumber products in the surrounding districts. The city was founded sixty-three years ago, its chief attraction being the Government Buildings, which stand on Barrack Hill, and are built mainly of light-colored sandstone. The style of architecture is that of Italian Gothic. The main building is five hundred feet long, covering nearly four acres, and involving a cost of $4,000,000 in its construction.

GOLDEN GATE, California.—This forms the entrance to San Francisco Bay, which is about seventy miles long and from ten to fifteen wide, and is narrowed into a channel only about one mile wide; here the waters escape in a current as the tide ebbs and flows to and from the ocean. As one approaches from the ocean towards the bay, the south side of the Golden Gate exhibits a shelving point of land which terminates in a long fortification called Fort Point. The portion of the strait between the light house on the north and the fort on the south, is termed "The Golden Gate," or "Chrysopylæ."

SAN FRANCISCO, California.—The city is the commercial metropolis of California, and is situated nearly six miles from the ocean on the west side of the magnificent bay from which it derives its name. It stands on a plain which inclines towards the bay, and has numerous hills behind it. The city is regularly laid out, the streets crossing each other at right angles. Market Street, which has four street-car tracks, two of which are cable lines, is the principal business street; it runs south-west from the bay, and divides the older from the newer portion of the city. The city was originally called Yerba Buena ("good herbs"), and was settled by the Spaniards about 1777, but was changed to San Francisco in 1847.