Part 3

From Constantinople to Odessa (R. 83):—_North German Lloyd_ fortnightly; _Russian Steam Navigation & Trading Co._, direct line, weekly; Syria and Egypt lines fortnightly; Anatolian line fortnightly; _Austrian Lloyd_ fortnightly; _Società Nazionale_ weekly; _Messageries Maritimes_ weekly.

From Odessa to Batum (R. 84):—_Russian Steam Navigation & Trading Co._ weekly; _North German Lloyd_ monthly.

From Batum to Constantinople (R. 85):—_North German Lloyd_ alternate Saturdays; _Russian Steam Navigation & Trading Co._ alternate Thursdays; _Austrian Lloyd_ weekly; _Messageries Maritimes_, _N. Paquet & Co._, and _Società Nazionale_ all fortnightly.

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=Overland Routes.= Travellers bound for the Central or Eastern Mediterranean, and in particular those who wish to avoid the long voyage to Gibraltar and thus to save five, six, or more days, will choose an overland route to one or other of the Mediterranean ports. _Marseilles_ is reached from London by the ‘P. & O. Express’, starting on Thursdays, or by the ‘Calais-Mediterranean Express’, daily in winter, in 20–20¼ hrs., or by ordinary express in 22½ hrs.—_Genoa_ is 27 hrs. from London, viâ Paris and Mont Cenis.—_Venice_ is 32¼ hrs. from London viâ Bâle and the St. Gotthard.—_Trieste_ is reached in 43½ hrs. from London viâ Milan.—_Naples_ is 46 hrs. from London viâ Paris and Rome.—_Brindisi_ is reached in 45¼ hrs. by the ‘P. & O. Brindisi Express’, starting on Friday mornings, or by ordinary express, viâ Boulogne and Paris, in 54½ hrs.

Lastly, the traveller who proposes to explore the Mediterranean from east to west, and who desires to economize time, should consult Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Time Tables, or the German Reichskursbuch, or Hendschel’s Telegraph, as to the great Oriental expresses to Constantinople and the Black Sea.

=Hints to Steamboat Passengers.= During the height of the season (in Egypt Jan. and Feb., in other parts of the Mediterranean March, April and even May) passages often have to be booked a month or six weeks in advance. Holders of return-tickets or combined tickets must secure berths for the return-voyage also long beforehand.

_Heavy Baggage_, to be stowed away in the hold, should be sent on board at least one or two days beforehand. Each passenger should endeavour, for his own sake and that of others, to limit his requirements for the voyage to one or two cabin-trunks of moderate size. Private cabins should, as a rule, be kept locked, and small articles should not be left lying about on deck unwatched.

_Landing_ or _Embarkation_ by small boat is often an unpleasant proceeding, as the boatmen are apt to be extortionate in their demands, especially when the sea is rough. The charge for each passenger with his baggage should be ascertained beforehand and only paid at the end of the trip, or the whole transaction may be entrusted to one of the hotel-agents. Small articles carried in the hand should not be allowed out of sight.

The _Food_ is generally good. Coffee is served between 8 and 10, lunch at 1 or earlier, dinner at 6 or 7. First-class passengers in the British and German steamers dress for dinner.

The _Fees_ vary according to circumstances. They are of course higher if the passenger has been ill and has required much attention. The chief steward or stewardess usually expects at least 1 fr. per day, and the other attendants receive fees proportioned to the services rendered.

_Medical Attendance_ and medicines, in case of illness, are nominally free, but a reasonable fee is usually paid. _Baths_ in the larger steamboats are free, fixed hours being allotted to passengers on application. Passengers may bring their own _Deck Chairs_ or hire them from the chief steward.

IV. Intercourse with Orientals.

The objects and pleasures of travel are so unintelligible to most Orientals that they are apt to regard the European traveller as a lunatic, or at all events as a Crœsus, and therefore to be exploited on every possible occasion. Hence their constant demands for ‘bakshîsh’ (‘a gift’). To check this demoralizing cupidity the traveller should never give bakshish except for services rendered, unless occasionally to aged or crippled beggars.

Small fees are, however, not unreasonably expected by drivers, guides, donkey-boys, and others, over and above their stipulated hire. Excursionists should therefore always be well provided with small change. If no previous bargain has been made the charges and fees stated in the Handbook are usually ample.

While the traveller should be both cautious and firm in his dealings with the natives, he should avoid being too exacting or suspicious. Many of those he meets with are like mere children and often show much kindliness of disposition. In most cases their attempts at extortion are comparatively trifling; but if serious, the matter may be referred to the police or to the traveller’s consul.

On the other hand exaggerated professions of friendship should be distrusted, loyalty towards strangers being still rarer in the East than elsewhere. The natives are apt to make common cause against European visitors. While their religion usually requires them to address each other as ‘_yâ akhûya_’ (my brother), their brotherhood does not extend to outsiders.

As the Orientals are often remarkably dignified and punctilious in their bearing, the traveller should show corresponding respect and consideration for their customs and prejudices. He should never, for example, photograph a Mohammedan without his leave, nor look too curiously at the veiled women, nor don Oriental costume. Sacred places, such as mosques, chapels, and religious houses and their schools, must not be entered without removing one’s shoes or putting on slippers, lest the carpets and mats on which prayer is offered be polluted. Korans must never be touched; and when prayers are being recited, strangers must keep carefully aloof. In every part of the Orient the traveller meets with ‘saints’ (often imbecile or insane), who go about in fantastic rags and sometimes stark naked. Needless to say he will give them a wide berth.

The traveller may least obtrusively observe the various phases of Oriental life by visiting the native quarters of the towns, the bazaars and markets, and the popular festivals and recreations of the Moslems. Story-tellers at the native cafés (reminiscent of the Arabian Nights), jugglers, wrestlers, snake-charmers, barbers’ shops, and native schools are all objects of interest. In Turkey and in Egypt the popular theatres with their shadow-scenes (kara göz) are curious. Ladies may sometimes, by special introduction, obtain admission to a private dwelling-house and get a glimpse of the manners and customs of Oriental women. On Fridays they may see the Moslem women raising their veils in the cemeteries (comp. p. 220).

Gentlemen, when visiting an Oriental, knock at the door with an iron ring. From within is asked the question ‘_mîn_’ (who is there)? On being admitted, after the ladies who happen to be in the court have retired, he removes his shoes lest the costly carpets be sullied, and uncovers his head. The host approaches to meet him, one step or more according to the honour he desires to do his visitor. The latter salutes him in Oriental fashion by placing his right hand on his heart and then moving it up to his forehead. Questions as to health are first asked, but no allusion must be made to the ladies of the family, who are regarded as under a veil (_sitr_). Coffee is always offered. The servant with his left hand on his heart, hands round the little cups to the guests in order of their rank. The guest holds the cup in his hand till it is taken back by the servant. If the host wishes his guest to pay a long visit he delays his order for coffee, and the guest must not leave before then.

It is considered highly impolite to decline a visit, and each visit must of course be returned.

The GUIDES who proffer their services everywhere may generally be dispensed with, except by novices or by travellers pressed for time. Most of those at Constantinople and in Asia Minor are native Jews, who speak a little English, Italian, French, or German. All, as a rule, are ignorant and uneducated, and their ‘explanations’ of antiquities or works of art are worthless. When, as sometimes happens, they assume a patronizing or a familiar manner, they should be promptly checked and kept in their proper place. If a purchase has to be made, or a carriage or horse to be hired, the aid of a guide should be declined, as the sum demanded is then considerably raised, and part of it given to the guide as commission. On short excursions the guide usually walks, and it is quite unnecessary to provide him with a mount.

In the large towns the guides and commissionaires are sometimes in the pay of gambling-rooms or low places of entertainment. Against such, especially at night, the traveller should be on his guard.

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The Mediterranean Sea and adjoining Lands.

Geographical Sketch by the late _Prof. Theobald Fischer_.

The shores of the Mediterranean, formerly visited in part only and imperfectly known, now most deservedly attract, throughout their whole extent, an ever increasing number of travellers and explorers. No part of the earth’s surface can offer so marvellous an intellectual feast. Land where he may, the traveller is almost invariably struck with the beauty of the scenery, the richness of the vegetation, and the wealth of historical memories. For three thousand years the Mediterranean was the theatre of all history, the cradle of all culture, to which the whole of humanity more or less directly owes its modern civilization. It was here for the first time that the nearness of the opposite coasts and the numerous island stepping-stones, coupled with winds blowing gently for months at a time, deprived the sea of its terrors and gave birth to a hardy race of mariners. The stagnation of the continental peoples was thus powerfully stirred and their ignorance gradually dispelled. It was first in Egypt, and then above all in Greece and in Italy, that those mighty intellectual weapons were forged which were to conquer the whole earth, while from Palestine came the mightiest of all religious and moral influences. The Mediterranean was the school of almost all the mediæval geographers and navigators, such as Toscanelli, Columbus, Vespucci, the Gabotti (the ‘Cabots’ employed by Henry VII.), and others, who added a New World to the old, and who brought Europe into touch with the great Asiatic cradles of culture. The Italians were the first to educate the Spanish, Portuguese, French, and even English mariners, and to introduce them to that Ocean which was to become the world’s commercial and intellectual highway.

The ancient Romans were fully aware, from a very early period, that they could maintain their empire on land only by securing their supremacy at sea also. Favoured by the central situation of Italy, they gradually subjected the whole of the Mediterranean lands to their sway, thus imparting to them a certain social and political unity. The name of ‘sea in the middle of the land’, though of late-Roman origin, still suggests the idea that both sea and land belonged to Rome. But this unity was afterwards destroyed by the repeated incursions of Germanic tribes from the north, followed by Arabs and Turks from the south and east. Owing to the discovery of the great ocean highways the Mediterranean was almost entirely neglected in the 16–19th centuries, but since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 it has become one of the world’s most important arteries of traffic. The establishment of the French in Algeria (1830) and Tunisia (1881) and that of the British in Egypt (1884) have still more effectually reunited Europe and Africa and promoted the progress of civilization and commerce. With Asia also Europe has been brought into closer touch since the Crimean war of 1854–6, when the Black Sea was opened up, and new avenues to the Orient were thus rendered available. While nominally belonging to three different quarters of the globe, the Mediterranean with its shores, being bounded on the north by a long wall of high mountains and on the south by a vast and even more impenetrable expanse of desert, possesses quite a unique individuality of its own.

Geologically considered the Mediterranean forms part of an immense depression girdling the whole of the earth’s crust and separating the northern from the southern parts. This depression probably existed during the earlier geological periods, but in its depths has not yet assumed a settled character, as is evidenced by frequent earthquakes, mostly tectonic, and by continuous volcanic activity. This great depression is believed by geologists to have extended in the mesozoic period into Central Asia, far beyond the limits of the present Mediterranean, forming an immense sea to which the name of _Tethys_ has been given. In its depths were deposited those strata, chiefly calcareous and argillaceous, which were afterwards raised and converted into dry land by means of the centripetal motion of the earlier masses of rock and by lateral pressure. In proof of this it may be noted that some two-thirds of Italy and four-fifths of Sicily consist of subaqueous formations of the tertiary or even a later period.

In the midst of this vast ‘Eurasian’ (European-Asiatic) region of folded rock formation, some 930 miles in length, bounded on the north by the solid primæval rocks of the continent of Europe, and on the south by the great plateau of the desert, lies the =Chief Basin of the Mediterranean=, embracing the Adriatic and the Greek Archipelago, where the highly indented coast and the numerous islands and peninsulas display a most striking variety of picturesque scenery. On the other hand the smaller part of the sea, lying to the south of a line drawn from the Lesser Syrtis, past the south coasts of Crete and Cyprus, to North Syria, has been formed by encroachment on the plateau of the desert (p. xxxiii), and is almost entirely destitute of attraction. In the geological history of the Mediterranean it is important to note also that three great rock-masses of the earliest periods still survive. These are the Iberian mass to the west, once probably connected with the kindred rocks of the Atlas in Morocco; then the Tyrrhenian mass, in the centre, and the Rumelian to the east. These three belong to the archæan and palæozoic periods. Once towering to Alpine peaks, they were gradually undermined by the action of the waves and by the subsidence of the land. Their bases were thus partly covered with their débris, built up in new formations. By later movements of the earth’s crust, however, these shapeless primæval masses were again broken up, and by the pressure and counter-pressure of the fragments were piled up anew into smaller mountain-ranges of considerable height. Thus from the Iberian primæval rock sprang up, in the Castilian range (Sierra de Gredos), peaks to a height of nearly 9000 feet; in the Rhodope of Rumelia rise similar peaks to nearly 10,000 feet high; and even amid the ruins of the Tyrrhenis (p. xxxi) still towers the granitic Monte Cinto in Corsica to a height of 8900 feet.

Around these great primæval masses, deeply rooted in the earth’s crust, were gradually built up the recent folded mountains, out of materials forced aside and upwards by the débris of earlier rock as it sank into the sea. Thus on the IBERIAN PEDESTAL, from the north side, out of the depths of the great Biscay abyss, arose the _Pyrenaean-Cantabrian Folded Chain_ (culminating in the Aneto or Maladetta, 11,168 ft.), the fan-like structure of which has been due to lateral pressure coming from the Ebro depression also. By similar pressure from the south side the _Andalusian Folded Mountains_ were piled up against the Iberian nucleus (Meseta Mts.), and, though only 23 miles distant from the Mediterranean, they tower in the Mulhacén of the Sierra Nevada to a height of 11,424 feet, the greatest altitude in Europe apart from the Alps. As the Pyrenees are fringed on the east, on the frontier of Spain and France (near Port Vendres), with a deeply indented coast, so too the Andalusian range is strongly marked by transverse fissures, the eastmost of which have severed the Balearic Islands from the mainland. Still more striking is the great westmost fissure or cleavage, where the girdle of mountains takes a sharp turn from west to east, where the action of tides and waves has hollowed out the _Straits of Gibraltar_, and has further widened them within the historic period. The Mediterranean is here separated from the Atlantic by a submarine bar or threshold, at a depth averaging only 650 feet, extending from Cape Trafalgar to Cape Spartel, a distance of 27½ miles, and forming the boundary between the inner Alboran basin or depression and the outer or Andalusian. Thus, on north and south alike the Iberian central bed-rock is bordered with lofty mountains, whose seaboard almost everywhere repels human traffic, and seems barred against Europe by the Pyrenees and against Africa by the mountains of Andalusia. On the east side, however, between the Pyrenees and Cabo de la Nao (p. 112), the original rock-nucleus slopes gradually down to the Mediterranean. Still more important is the western slope down to the Atlantic, whose waves have penetrated into the lower estuaries of primæval rock on the coast, thus forming a number of excellent harbours, such as in particular that of _Lisbon_ at the mouth of the Tagus. Towards the Atlantic descend also the plains of Lower Andalusia, the so-called _Guadalquivir Basin_, which lies between the Iberian central pedestal and the Andalusian sedimentary and contorted formations. In this basin lie Spain’s chief seaports for traffic with Africa and America, the island-harbour of _Cadiz_, the estuary-harbour of _Huelva_, the starting-point of Columbus, and the river-harbour of _Seville_, accessible to large vessels at high-tide.

In NORTH-WESTERN AFRICA the Andalusian contorted formation is continued by the _Rîf Mts._ of Morocco (p. 93) and by the _Tell Atlas_ (p. 169), extending to the south and then turning eastwards. These ranges are characterized by deep fissures, formed by prehistoric volcanic action and descending abruptly to the Mediterranean. The whole northern coast of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, apart from numerous wave-worn beaches, is completely rock-bound, forbidding all approach. Even the artificial harbours like that of _Algiers_ are maintained with difficulty. At the east end of this long stretch of coast comes at last the welcome haven offered by the _Gulf of Tunis_ which runs inland at the mouth of the depression between the Tell Atlas and the Sahara Atlas (p. 320), and on which the Medjerda and other streams and several important roads converge. Here, as in Lower Andalusia, a great avenue to the interior was thus opened up. This favoured spot therefore became a great focus of traffic, and as it lay on the Straits of Pantelleria (p. 396) it was also of great political importance. The ancient _Utica_ (p. 353) was succeeded by the ‘new city’ of _Carthage_ (p. 344), the predecessors of the modern Tunis. From this base the Carthaginians, the Vandals, and the Moors ruled Sicily and Sardinia. With such a base as the admirable naval harbour of _Bizerta_, lately constructed by the French, they in turn may perhaps some day become masters of the Mediterranean.

The _Straits of Pantellería_, leading from the western to the eastern basin of the Mediterranean and separating the Atlas from the Apennines, have been formed, like those of Gibraltar and the narrow side-portal of Messina, by transverse cleavage. Owing to the subsidence of the flat offshoots of the Apennines and to the erosive action of the waves the straits have been gradually widened to about 90 miles. The _Maltese Islands_ are fragments, now broken up by fissures, of what was once a tableland, but they too are being rapidly washed away by the action of the surf. On the other hand the island of _Pantellería_, which has given its name to the straits, rising to a height of 2743 ft. from the verge of the central abyss and 3900 ft. in depth, is of volcanic origin. These transverse fissures are indeed generally the scenes of volcanic action, and they are usually situated at points where the mountains of recent contorted formation take a sudden bend (as is notably the case in the lower valley of the Danube).

ITALY forms an immense bridge across the trough of the Mediterranean, extending to Cape Bon in Tunisia. Like a lofty embankment, rising over 18,000 ft. from the bottom of the sea, _Calabria_, culminating in the Aspromonte (6424 ft. above sea-level), separates the _Tyrrhenian Sea_ (12,000 ft. deep, though of recent formation) from the _Ionian Sea_. The latter is the deepest basin in the Mediterranean, attaining a depth of 14,500 feet. The _Apennines_, deviating in their southern course from the usual ‘Eurasian’ direction, were probably influenced by the primæval _Tyrrhenis_. This ancient nucleus of the Italian continent has been broken up by movements of the earth’s crust which began in the mesozoic period, were still more marked in the later tertiary period, and continue to this day. Some of the solid blocks, as in Tuscany, Calabria, and Sicily (the Monti Peloritani near Messina), have been incorporated in the later rock structure of the Apennines; others again rise as isolated masses from the abysses of the Tyrrhenian Sea, such as Corsica, Sardinia, and Elba. The lines of cleavage, especially between Cosenza and Palermo, were marked by great volcanic activity. In a curve, parallel with the abrupt ramparts of Calabria and Sicily, rise the volcanoes of the Lipari Islands (Stromboli) and Ustica in succession. To the north the series is continued by Vesuvius, the Epomeo, and the Ponza Islands near Naples, and by the Alban Mts. near Rome. All these lie on the inner declivity of the Apennines. To the south the series is continued by Mt. Ætna in Sicily, lying outside of the Apennines. In the quaternary period the new Apennine formations underwent an upheaval which imparted to the range its present orographical unity. The result was that the straits which once intersected Southern Italy, connecting the Tyrrhenian with the Ionian basin, were filled up, with the exception of those of Messina, while these last were narrowed to 2 miles and shoaled at the north end, where they are only 335 ft. deep. The intensity of the upheaval is evidenced by the fact that quaternary deposits cover the terraces of the Aspromonte in Calabria to a height of 3900 feet above the sea-level. That these movements of the earth’s crust still continue is proved by the variations of level in the Bay of Naples observed within historic times. The most striking instance of this is the great subsidence in the island of Capri which has taken place within the Christian era. In the Blue Grotto there we find remains of a flight of steps of the time of Tiberius, descending to the water, but the lowest step is now 19 feet below the surface.

Italy opens towards the west. On the west side lie its picturesque bays and islands, as well as most of its great centres of culture, _Rome_ and _Florence_, _Genoa_ and _Naples_, besides many others. But the east side also is important owing to its close connection with the south-eastern basin of the Mediterranean. The chief outlets in this direction are the lagoon-harbour of _Venice_, as great a portal of continental commerce in the middle ages as Genoa is at the present day, and the excellent harbours of _Brindisi_, _Taranto_, _Messina_, and _Syracuse_. Were geographical advantages alone decisive, Italy might again become mistress of the Mediterranean. Ethnographically also she is highly favoured. Her population, densest on the coasts, is about one-third of the scattered and heterogeneous hundred million inhabitants of the whole of the Mediterranean lands.