Part 10

"To pass in peace along the magic waste; To spare its relics:--let no busy hand Deface the scenes, already how defaced!"

The Temple of Theseus, one of the most perfect existing specimens of ancient architecture, is an admirable combination of lightness and solidity. Neither time, war, nor the hand of man, often a more ruthless destroyer than either, has yet invaded the sanctity of this splendid relic of Grecian art. The bodies of the unfortunate Tweddel, and of a person named Watson, are buried within its precincts; and it struck me, at the moment, that the remains of Byron might here have found an appropriate resting-place.

Wednesday, 17th.--We quitted the Piræus, with great regret, early this morning, and continued beating about in the Bay of Egina, near Cape Colonna, the whole day, which was fine, though excessively hot.

A light breeze carried us by Ipsara and Mitylene, and every one on board was in high spirits at the prospect of seeing the Asiatic coast next day.

Sunday, 21st.--The wind blew so hard to-day, and there was such a swell on the beach, that it was impossible to land. A French government cutter passed us from Constantinople, with despatches for the French admiral. The captain came on board, and reported that the Russian force was receiving daily accessions; that Lord Ponsonby's arrival was anxiously expected; and that peace had been concluded between Ibrahim and the Porte.

We sat down on a green mound, between the largest of the two springs, and tried the temperature of them all. There are three principal sources rising out of the base of the rock, which is a limestone breccia; the fragments imbedded being limestone and reddish sandstone, which communicates to the water its golden hue. The temperature of the air was 55-6/10, and that of the springs, No. 1, 64°; 2, 65°; 3, 65°.

There are now seventy of the crew on the sick list, including the first and third lieutenant, the master, and several of the youngsters, all like myself, suffering from the influenza. The sailors have christened it the Dardanelles fever; and the men who are well, swear the others sham illness, in order to escape the working through the Hellespont. Should the captain get impatient and resolve to beat up, there will be no end to the tacking, and the orders, "Her helm's a lee, and mainsail haul," will be sufficiently imprinted on my memory.

There was now every probability of our arriving at Constantinople to-morrow, and we enjoyed the satisfaction of sailing past the Smyrna packet, which, having hauled too close in shore, lost the wind and lay there quite becalmed.

Long, long ago, my anxious hope was to behold, some day or other, the spot I was now approaching; at that time with little chance of its ever being accomplished, but now fulfilled to my perfect satisfaction. The Seven Towers, and the city walls, which are in many places thickly covered with ivy, appear to be in a very ruinous condition. These latter are trebled on the land-side, having a ditch between each. From the numerous fragments of marble and granite columns, many of them bearing inscriptions, every where intermingled with the masonry, it is evident that the fortifications of Constantinople were built of the remnants of the ancient capital. This is peculiarly visible in the neighbourhood of the seraglio, where Irene's palace is supposed to have formerly stood. Facing the water is that portion of the suburbs inhabited by the Armenians, but presenting no attractions to the stranger, being exceedingly crowded and dirty; and along the shore are the stations for washing, slaughtering cattle, and throwing into the sea the filth collected by the scavengers.

"Rolling waves, which hide Already many a once love-beaten breast, Deep in the caverns of the deadly tide."

Meanwhile, the Actæon held on her silent majestic course towards the destined anchorage; and as I stood upon the quarter deck, contemplating the magnificent objects that presented themselves wherever I turned my sight, I felt all those thrilling emotions of rapture and delight which such scenes are calculated to inspire, and which constitute a sort of oäsis in the memory of those who have experienced them. Here nature and art have gone hand in hand, assisting each other, and scattering roses; here every thing that falls from the bosom of the former is rich and luxuriant, and every thing that proceeds from the latter is novel, extraordinary, in a word, it is oriental; and faults, which in more civilised communities would be considered inconsistent with good taste, are here ever pleasing, and seem necessary to the unity of the whole.

The Russian encampment on the Giant's Mountain from the English Palace Garden.

Published by Longman & Co. April, 1835.]

As I before observed, every portion of the European and Asiatic coast is covered with villas and gardens. The houses are painted of various colours, and have verandas, with trellis work, covered with roses, running round them. Those situated near the water are built with an arched entrance for the caiques, through which, by means of a short canal, they glide into the centre of the court-yard. The water here is very deep, and we were sailing so close to the shore, that the mainyard scarcely cleared the houses. Indeed, instances have occurred, where the inhabitants have been surprised by the visit of a bowsprit pushing its way through the wood-work, and carrying off the roof of their dwellings.

Beyond the village of Jani Keni, and opposite the Sultan's valley, we also found the Russian head quarters established, and a Russian frigate occupying the berth in which the Actæon had anchored twice before. We therefore passed on, and dropped anchor a little a-head of a French frigate, opposite Terapia, and close to the Russian camp. The usual firing immediately commenced, but, by some oversight, the Russian admiral's salute was returned with two guns less than the usual number. In about an hour afterwards, he sent his flag lieutenant, who spoke English, on board the Actæon, to inquire why we had only fired fifteen guns when he had paid the compliment of seventeen. The omission was immediately acknowledged, the two remaining guns discharged, and the gallant lieutenant rowed off again well satisfied. We soon ascertained that this sensitiveness proceeded from their anxiety to convince the Turks that no ill-will existed between England and Russia, and that no insult was meditated by our ship, more particularly as the British ambassador to the Porte, was known to be on board. I doubt much, however, if the Turks, although quite au fait to all matters of ceremony, understood the firing of the two guns afterwards.

Thursday, 2d. It is a most lovely morning: all nature seems to rejoice in the freshening breeze, which, blowing from the Black Sea, tempers even the hottest days with its refreshing coolness, and extracts the sweets from millions of roses, which ever bloom on the shores of the Bosphorus. From the jasmine or orange flower, it floats with its odorous burthen along the current, and lays all its perfume at the foot of Stamboul.

When we arrived at the landing-place of Tophana, a Turk, splendidly habited, pulled the caique close up with a long pole, and assisted us out; for which service he was rewarded with a few paras.

A fountain of singular beauty is here erected in the centre of the fish and vegetable market, which, from its vicinity to the arsenal, and from its being the landing-place for all pleasure boats coming from Scutari and the neighbouring villages of the Bosphorus, is constantly occupied by a crowd of idlers.

In the street leading up to Pera, the throng, which was also considerable, presented an infinite variety of novel and picturesque costume. The pavement is bad, but very clean, and greatly exceeds in this respect the narrow streets of the generality of Italian or Scotch towns. There is no cry of "heads below;" and a man may wander about at night without any fear of other rain than that of heaven, provided he carries a light with him.

Friday, 3d.--To-day it poured with rain without cessation, and in consequence, the ambassador could not go on shore. In the evening I went to the palace for a few minutes, but it felt so cold and comfortless that I had no wish to remain. This is by no means a fit residence for our ambassador. I returned to the ship loaded with newspapers, the appearance of which on the gun-room table was hailed with satisfaction, nearly a month having elapsed since any one on board had heard of the state of home and Europe.

Sunday, 5th.--On looking out of window into the street this morning, I beheld crowds of Armenian and Greek women proceeding to church, the former wearing the gashmak, or veil, and their long dark feridges, or cloaks, with red morocco slippers just peeping out beneath. They differ from the Turkish women only in not covering the nose, and having red instead of yellow slippers, in which they shuffle along slowly to their worship. Of the Greeks, however, some wore over their hair embroidered handkerchiefs, arranged à la Française in the shape of a toque; others were muffled in cloaks of a snuff-brown colour, with a white muslin veil arranged upon the back of the head, and having both ends brought round upon the breast: thus exposing the whole face, and setting off to the best advantage the handsome regular features, and the dark eye, with its long black silky lash.

On landing at the Balouk, or fish bazaar, we passed through the bazaar of drugs, called also that of Alexandria, an extensive covered building, where rhubarb, paints, senna, and other commodities of that sort, are sold in stalls fitted up on both sides of the passage. The articles are all exposed in the most tempting manner, according to the fancy of the vendor, who sits cross-legged on the shop-board behind, waiting anxiously for his customer; and when any one stops but for an instant, he pops out his head like a spider, to ascertain whether it is a bite or not. We passed through the pipe-stick bazaar, situated in an open street: on one side of which, pipe-sticks and amber mouth-pieces are exposed to sale; the other being almost entirely occupied by turners, who work with extraordinary neatness, considering the imperfect nature of their tools. From the bazaar where cotton handkerchiefs and shawls, English and German, are sold, we passed to the shop of Mustapha, the scent dealer, where we established ourselves for a luncheon, consisting of pipes, coffee, and lemonade, while the various bottles of perfume,--viz. attar of roses and jasmine, musk, musk rat-tails, lemon essence, sandal wood, pastilles, dyes, all the sweet odours that form part and parcel of a sultana's toilet, were temptingly exposed to our view. From time to time, portions of these delicacies were rubbed on our whiskers, hands, and lips, to induce us to purchase; so that when we left the shop to return to Pera, we were a walking bouquet of millefleurs, and might have been scented a mile off. After visiting the dockyard, where a line of battle ship and two frigates were getting ready for sea, we climbed the hill of Pera, under the shade of the dark and splendid cypress trees covering the burial ground, and from which long avenues lead to various parts of the town. [Sidenote: PUBLIC PROMENADES.] These are the favourite walks of the Perotes; and the gay dresses of the ladies, who, in joyous parties, ramble along the silent and gloomy pathways, contrast oddly with the sad and mournful character of this place of tombs. We again strolled about in this ground after dinner; but were soon tired, the cold being too severe to be pleasant; and even the inhabitants retire early. The evenings at Pera are not agreeable, there being no public amusements into which one can enter; and society is so garbled with form and etiquette, that it is hardly worth seeking; smoking, therefore, is the only resource, and most people adopt it.

Thursday, 9th.--I again went up to Terapia, where there is a report, that the pilots of the Sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles have gone on board the Russian fleet, and that more troops have arrived. The Russians, however, strongly deny both facts. [Sidenote: AUDIENCE OF THE SULTAN.] Our ambassador had a private audience of the Sultan this morning, an express having arrived, somewhat unexpectedly, at the palace of the British embassy yesterday evening, intimating that the Sultan would receive Lord Ponsonby at nine o'clock on the following day. It seems that Count Orloff had peremptorily demanded an audience; but as our ambassador arrived before him, he was entitled to precedence in this matter; and Count Orloff's reception was accordingly arranged to take place one hour afterwards. Lord Ponsonby went with his nephew Captain Grey, and Mr. Waller, the attaché. They were received at the palace or new kiosk at Dolma Batché, on the European side; and as they landed, the Sultan's band struck up "God save the King." On being ushered into the presence, they found his Highness seated on his divan, an apartment splendidly painted and decorated, and after the ambassador had paid and received the usual compliments, coffee and pipes were introduced. The Sultan shewed them a portrait, in a wide gilt frame, of himself on horseback, painted by some Sardinian artist. It was a resemblance, but indifferently executed. After remaining an hour, they took leave; and found a Russian steamer, with Count Orloff on board, waiting near the palace. The Count's audience lasted two hours. Many plans were, no doubt, formed; and every one feels in great anxiety to know the result of this conference. [Sidenote: NAVAL PUNISHMENTS.] I dined to-day at the palace. Admiral Roussin, the French ambassador, came in, in the evening. He is frank and undisguised, as a sailor ought to be; and entered at once upon the policy intended to be adopted by his government. He seemed persuaded that Ibrahim would retire behind Mount Taurus; and expressed himself very doubtful of the good faith of the Russians.

Slept on board the Actæon, in the cockpit,--a terribly close berth, and hot as an oven. Penny, one of the carpenter's crew, who had been ill for a long time with rheumatic pains, died in the course of the afternoon, and will be buried to-morrow.

Friday, 10th.--There being a punishment this morning, of course I remained in the gun-room. Two sailors received the cat, and although the thing is perfectly disgusting, my experience convinces me it is necessary to the maintenance of discipline. The captain and first lieutenant are averse to the practice of flogging; but, if the first man had been punished for a similar dereliction of duty, a fortnight since, he very probably would not have repeated the offence; and his fate might have served as a warning to his companion in suffering. In fact, the knowledge that the captain dislikes to proceed to this extremity, encourages the unruly to get drunk and be insolent.

Sweet Waters

Published by Longman & Co. April, 1835.]

As our caique again glided swiftly down the stream, we passed many similar vessels, containing seven or eight Turkish women each, and up went the yashmak at our approach. Boat loads of Perotes, with gay turbans and toques, were also seen hastening to the festive scene; and, on arriving at our homes, we found the churchyard empty, and all Pera silent and tranquil, as if deserted by its inhabitants.