Around the World in Eighty Days, Chapter 26 summary

What happens

1. The narrator explains the railway network and Fogg’s plan to reach his Atlantic steamer after seven days of rail travel.
2. The train leaves Oakland at six, snow begins, and a steward arranges sleeping berths for the passengers.
3. The travelers sleep through Sacramento, then watch the mountain scenery as the train crosses the Sierra Nevada.
4. After a breakfast stop at Reno, the party continues across Nevada beside the Humboldt River.
5. Thousands of buffalo block the rails for three hours; Passepartout protests, but Fogg waits quietly and the engineer avoids a dangerous collision.
6. With the track clear, the train passes through the Humboldt Range and enters Utah at half past nine.

In this chapter

What to notice

The herd controls the train’s progress despite the locomotive’s power. The line explains why waiting is safer than trying to force a passage.

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