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26 - Around The World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne · Classic Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six, in which Phileas Fogg and party travel
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  Speaker 1: by the Pacific Railroad from ocean to ocean, So say
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  Speaker 1: the Americans, and these four words composed the general designation
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  Speaker 1: of the Great Trunk Line, which crosses the entire width
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  Speaker 1: of the United States. The Pacific Railroad is, however, really
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  Speaker 1: divided into two distinct lines, the Central Pacific between San
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  Speaker 1: Francisco and Ogden and the Union Pacific between Ogden and Omaha.
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  Speaker 1: Five main lines connect Omaha with New York. New York
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  Speaker 1: and San Francisco are thus united by an uninterrupted metal ribbon,
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  Speaker 1: which measures no less than three thousand, seven hundred and
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  Speaker 1: eighty six miles. Between Omaha and the Pacific, the railway
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  Speaker 1: crosses a territory which is still infested by Indians and
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  Speaker 1: wild beasts, and a large tract which the Mormons, after
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  Speaker 1: they were driven from Illinois in eighteen forty five, began
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  Speaker 1: to colonize. The journey from New York to San Francisco
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  Speaker 1: consumed formally, under the most favorable conditions at least six months.
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  Speaker 1: It is now accomplished in seven days. It was in
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  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two that, in spite of the southern members
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  Speaker 1: of Congress, who wished a more southerly route. It was
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  Speaker 1: decided to lay the road between the forty first and
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  Speaker 1: forty second parallels. President Lincoln himself fixed the end of
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  Speaker 1: the line at Omaha in Nebraska. The work was at
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  Speaker 1: once commenced and pursued with the true American energy. Nor
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  Speaker 1: did the rapidity with which it went on injuriously affect
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  Speaker 1: its good execution. The road grew on the prairies a
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  Speaker 1: mile and a half a day. A locomotive running on
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  Speaker 1: the rails laid down the evening before, brought the rails
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  Speaker 1: to be laid on the morrow, and advanced upon them
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  Speaker 1: as fast as they were put in position. The Pacific
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  Speaker 1: Sick Railroad is joined by several branches in Iowa, Kansas, Colorado,
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  Speaker 1: and Oregon. On leaving Omaha, it passes along the left
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  Speaker 1: bank of the Platte River as far as the junction
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  Speaker 1: of its northern branch follows its southern branch, crosses the
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  Speaker 1: Laramie Territory and the Wasatch Mountains, turns the Great Salt
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  Speaker 1: Lake and reaches Salt Lake City. The Mormon capital plunges
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  Speaker 1: into the Tuila Valley across the American Desert. Cedar and
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  Speaker 1: Humboldt Mountains the Sierra Nevada and descends via Sacramento to
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  Speaker 1: the Pacific, its grade even on the Rocky mountains, never
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  Speaker 1: exceeding one hundred and twelve feet to the mile. Such
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  Speaker 1: was the road to be traversed in seven days, which
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  Speaker 1: would enable Phileas Fogg at least, so he hoped to
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  Speaker 1: take the Atlantic Steamer at New York on the eleventh
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  Speaker 1: for Liverpool. The car which he occupied was a sort
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  Speaker 1: of long omnibus on eight wheels and with milkom apartments
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  Speaker 1: in the interior. It was supplied with two rows of
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  Speaker 1: seats perpendicular to the direction of the train on either
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  Speaker 1: side of an aisle which conducted to the front and
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  Speaker 1: rear platforms. These platforms were found throughout the train and
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  Speaker 1: the passengers were able to pass from one end of
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  Speaker 1: the train to the other. It was supplied with saloon cars,
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  Speaker 1: balcony cars, restaurants and smoking cars. Theater cars alone were
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  Speaker 1: wanting and they will have these some day. Book and
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  Speaker 1: news dealers, sellers of edibles, drinkables and cigars, who seemed
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  Speaker 1: to have plenty of customers, were continually circulating in the aisles.
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  Speaker 1: The train left Oakland station at six o'clock. It was
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  Speaker 1: already night, cold and cheerless, the heavens being overcast with
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  Speaker 1: clouds which seemed to threaten snow. The train did not
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  Speaker 1: proceed rapidly. Counting the stoppages, it did not run more
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  Speaker 1: than twenty miles an hour, which was a sufficient speed, however,
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  Speaker 1: to enable it to reach Omaha within its designated time.
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  Speaker 1: There was but little conversation in the car, and soon
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  Speaker 1: many of the passengers were overcome with sleep. Passepartout found
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  Speaker 1: himself beside the detective, but he did not talk to him.
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  Speaker 1: After recent events, their relations with each other had grown
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  Speaker 1: somewhat cold. There could no longer be mutual sympathy or
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  Speaker 1: intimacy between them. Fix's manner had not changed, but Passepartout
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  Speaker 1: was very reserved and ready to strangle his former friend
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  Speaker 1: on the slightest provocation. Snow began to fall an hour
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  Speaker 1: after they started, a fine snow, however, which happily could
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  Speaker 1: not obstruct the train. Nothing could be seen from the
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  Speaker 1: windows but a vast white sheet, against which the smoke
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  Speaker 1: of the locomotive had a grayish aspect. At eight o'clock,
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  Speaker 1: a steward entered the car and announced that the time
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  Speaker 1: for going to bed had arrived, and in a few
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  Speaker 1: two minutes the car was transformed into a dormitory. The
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  Speaker 1: backs of the seats were thrown back, bedsteads carefully packed,
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  Speaker 1: were rolled out by an ingenious system. Berths were suddenly improvised,
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  Speaker 1: and each traveler had soon had his disposition a comfortable bed,
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  Speaker 1: protected from curious eyes by thick curtains. The sheets were
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  Speaker 1: clean and the pillows soft. It only remained to go
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  Speaker 1: to bed and sleep, which everybody did while the train
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  Speaker 1: sped on across the state of California. The country between
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  Speaker 1: San Francisco and Sacramento is not very hilly. The Central Pacific,
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  Speaker 1: taking Sacramento for its starting point, extends eastward to meet
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  Speaker 1: the road from Omaha. The line from San Francisco to
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  Speaker 1: Sacramento runs in a northeasterly direction along the American River,
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  Speaker 1: which empties into San Pablo Bay. The one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: twenty miles between these cities was accomplished in six hours,
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  Speaker 1: and towards midnight, while fast asleep, the travelers passed through Sacramento,
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  Speaker 1: so that they saw nothing of that important place, the
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  Speaker 1: seat of the state government, with its fine keys, its
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  Speaker 1: broad streets, its noble hotels, squares and churches. The train,
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  Speaker 1: on leaving Sacramento and passing the junction Roklan, Auburn and Colfax,
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  Speaker 1: entered the range of the Sierra Nevada. Cisco was reached
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  Speaker 1: at seven in the morning, and an hour later the
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  Speaker 1: dormitory was transformed into an ordinary car, and the travelers
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  Speaker 1: could observe the picturesque beauties of the mountain region through
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  Speaker 1: which they were steaming. The railway track wound in and
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  Speaker 1: out among the passes, now approaching the mountain sides, now
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  Speaker 1: suspended over precipices, avoiding abrupt angles by bold curves, plunging
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  Speaker 1: into narrow defiles which seemed to have no outlet. The locomotive,
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  Speaker 1: its great funnel, emitting a weird light with its sharp
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  Speaker 1: bell and its cowcatcher extended like a spur mingled its
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  Speaker 1: shrieks and bellowings with a noise of torrents and cascades,
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  Speaker 1: and twined its smoke among the branches of the gigantic pines.
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  Speaker 1: There were few or no bridges or tunnels on the route.
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  Speaker 1: The railway turned around the sides of the mountains and
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  Speaker 1: did not attempt to violate nature by taking the shortest
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  Speaker 1: cut from one point to another. The train entered the
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  Speaker 1: state of Nevada through the Carson Valley about nine o'clock,
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  Speaker 1: going always northeasterly, and at midday reached Reno, where there
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  Speaker 1: was a delay of twenty minutes for breakfast. From this point,
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  Speaker 1: the road running along Humboldt River passed northward for several
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  Speaker 1: miles by its banks. Then it turned eastward and kept
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  Speaker 1: by the river until it reached the Humboldt Range, nearly
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  Speaker 1: at the extreme eastern limit of Nevada. Having breakfast, mister
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  Speaker 1: Fogg and his companions resumed their places in the car
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  Speaker 1: and observed the varied landscape which unfolded itself as they
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  Speaker 1: passed along the vast prairies, the mountains lining the horizon,
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  Speaker 1: and the creeks with their frothy, foaming streams. Sometimes a
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  Speaker 1: great herd of buffaloes massing together in the distance seemed
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  Speaker 1: like a movable dam. These innumerable multitudes of ruminating beasts
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  Speaker 1: often form an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of the trains.
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  Speaker 1: Thousands of them have been seen passing over the track
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  Speaker 1: for hours together in compact ranks. The locomotive is then
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  Speaker 1: forced to stop and wait till the road is once
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  Speaker 1: more clear. This happened indeed to the train in which
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  Speaker 1: mister Fogg was traveling. About twelve o'clock. A troop of
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  Speaker 1: ten or twelve thousand head of buffalo encumbered the track.
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  Speaker 1: The locomotive, slackening at speed, tried to clear the way
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  Speaker 1: with its cowcare, but the mass of animals was too great.
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  Speaker 1: The buffaloes marched along with a tranquil gait, uttering now
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  Speaker 1: and then, deafening bellowings. There was no use of interrupting them,
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  Speaker 1: for having taken a particular direction, nothing can moderate and
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  Speaker 1: changed their course. It is a torrent of living flesh
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  Speaker 1: which no dam could contain. The travelers gazed on this
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  Speaker 1: curious spectacle from the platforms, But Phileas Fogg, who had
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  Speaker 1: the most reason of all to be in a hurry,
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  Speaker 1: remained in his seat and waited philosophically until it should
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  Speaker 1: please the buffaloes to get out of the way. Passepartout
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  Speaker 1: was furious at the delay they occasioned, and longed to
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  Speaker 1: discharge his arsenal of revolvers upon them. What the country cried,
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  Speaker 1: he mere cattle, Stop the trains and go by any procession,
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  Speaker 1: just as if they were not impeding travel. Par Bleu.
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  Speaker 1: I should like to know if mister Fogg foresaw this
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  Speaker 1: in his program. And here's an engineer who doesn't dare
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  Speaker 1: to run the locomotive into this herd of beasts. The
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  Speaker 1: engineer did not try to overcome the obstacle, and he
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  Speaker 1: was wise. He would have crushed the first buffaloes, no
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  Speaker 1: doubt with the cowcatcher, but the locomotive, however powerful, would
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  Speaker 1: soon have been checked. The train would inevitably have been
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  Speaker 1: thrown off the track, and would then have been helpless.
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  Speaker 1: The best course was to wait patiently and regain the
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  Speaker 1: lost time by greater speed when the obstacle was removed.
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  Speaker 1: The procession of buffaloes lasted three full hours, and it
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  Speaker 1: was night before the track was clear. The last ranks
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  Speaker 1: of the herd were now passing over the rails, while
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  Speaker 1: the first had already disappeared below the southern horizon. It
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  Speaker 1: was eight o'clock when the train passed through the defiles
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  Speaker 1: of the Humboldt Range, and half past nine when it
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  Speaker 1: penetrated Utah, the region of the Great Salt Lake, the
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  Speaker 1: singular colony of the Mormons. End of chapter