Part 12

"Queen of the morn! Sultana of the East! City of wonders, on whose sparkling breast Fair, slight and tall, a thousand palaces Fling their gay shadows over golden seas! Where towers and domes bestud the gorgeous land, And countless masts a mimic forest stand; Where cypress shades; the minarets snowy hue, And gleams of gold dissolve on skies of blue; Daughter of Eastern art! the most divine, Lovely, yet faithless bride of Constantine: Fair Istamboul, whose tranquil mirror flings, Back with delight thy thousand colourings; And who no equal in the world dost know Save thy own image, pictured thus below! Dazzled--amazed--our eyes, half-blinded, fail, While sweeps the phantasm past our gliding sail. Like as in festive scene, some sudden light Rises in clouds of stars upon the sight. Struck with a splendour never seen before, Drunk with the perfumes wafted from the shore; Approaching near these peopled groves we deem That from enchantment rose the gorgeous dream. Day without voice;--and motion without sound; Silently beautiful! this haunted ground Is paved with roofs beyond the bounds of sight, Countless and colour'd; wrapp'd in golden light! 'Mid groves of cypress, measureless and vast, In thousand forms of crescents, circles, cast, Gold glitters; spangling all the wide extent, And flashes back to Heaven the rays it sent. Gardens and domes--bazars, begem the woods-- Seraglio, harems, peopled solitudes, Where the veil'd idol kneels; and vistas through Barr'd lattices, that give th' enamoured view; Flowers, orange-trees--and waters sparkling near. And black and lovely eyes, alas! that fear At those heaven-gates dark sentinels should stand To scare even fancy from her promised land."[20] I long'd to see the isles that gem Old Ocean's purple diadem. I sought by turns--and saw them.

The Seraglio and its dark groves; the gilded domes and their snowy, arrow-like minarets; the Seven Towers, with their fancy-pictured terrors, fade gradually from my sight, as the steam-boat rapidly ploughs the glassy wave. The eye, straining itself for a last glimpse of the beautiful city, beholds it resting, like a phantom, on the indistinct verge where heaven and the waters meet, until it sinks into the bosom of the unruffled ocean.

[Sidenote: MY FELLOW PASSENGERS.] What a motley crew! A royal prince; Spanish nobles; Italian counts; French marquises; Dutch chevaliers; and, I may proudly add, English gentlemen. We had also a quack doctor from Paris; a gaming-house-keeper from Milan; a clergyman, poor as an Apostle, from Iceland; a grim-looking student from the University of Goettingen; a Danish baron, music-mad; a singing count from Sienna; a crazy architect from Paris; and two Russian noblemen. There were only two ladies;--a Russian countess, who read nothing but Homer, and made classical mistakes; and a Bavarian lady, whose great merit was her inclination to render herself agreeable. Then there were the chief captain, the second captain, and the sub-captain; the manager, second manager, and sub-manager. However, two things most necessary to the establishment were still wanting; namely, a good cook, and an honest steward.

[Sidenote: MARBLE QUARRIES.] The vessel carried a Neapolitan pennant, and was armed with six brass cannon, a very sufficient stand of small-arms, and a forest of boarding-pikes; in case we should be attacked by any of the pirates infesting the Greek Archipelago. An awning was spread over its spacious deck, under which we lived like a swarm of flies, fifty in number, feeding on detestable provender, and sleeping in beds remarkable for uncleanness and their innumerable parasitical tenants. The place marked on our route to be first visited was that part of the Island of Marmora containing the quarries which have supplied Constantinople with building materials from time immemorial; but in reference to the precise spot where they were to be found, there were as many opinions as voices. The truth was plain, no one knew; neither captains, managers, pilots (of whom there were two), nor tourists; and in the midst of our Babylonish discussion, the boat arrived off the town of Marmora; and, of course, on the wrong side of the island for our purpose. Some insisted on returning; others were for crossing the isle on mules, or, if these could not be procured, on foot: but the majority, of which I was one, seemed satisfied with staying where fortune and steam had brought them. When the quarryites landed, they found it would take fourteen hours to visit their _lion_, and, as luck would have it, twelve hours only were marked on the itinerary as the period allowed for the passengers to remain at the island. Backed by this powerful argument, we the anti-quarryites demanded a ballot, and an overwhelming majority decided that the boat should start at midnight.

[Sidenote: GREEK DEPUTATION.] Soon after the return of the passengers who had landed, a deputation of the inhabitants, consisting of the papa, or chief priest, with some of his brethren, as well as the civil authorities, all Greeks, came on board to compliment the brother of their King. As the Prince did not understand one word of their language, he begged Madame Manochini (the owner of a lodging-house at Smyrna, who had been treated to a passage to Stamboul and back) to be his interpretress. After thanking them in his name, she enquired if they had any daughters?

"Certainly."

"Are they pretty?"

Each father expatiated on the superior beauty of his own child; and the papa added that his was angelic,--"[Greek: Kale kale]." "Then," continued Madame, "I am desired to say, the Prince is very much obliged to you for your visit, and requests that you will immediately send the prettiest maiden of the whole to bear him company on board." Perfectly thunderstruck at this extraordinary address, the papa and his brethren looked first at each other, then at Madame and the Prince; and, making a hurried bow to the German Pasha, they jostled one another down the ladder, and into their boat, with a rapidity that amused as well as surprised us all; for, at the time, we were unacquainted with the nature of this audacious reply. They probably took him for a _vardoulacha_, or vampire, and thought to themselves, "If this Prince is such a curiosity, what must little Otho be!"

Well, of course his Royal Highness demanded the meaning of their abrupt and sudden flight, and wished to know what Madame had said to scare the holy fathers thus? "Was the reply complimentary? if so, it had produced a most extraordinary effect: they could not be pleased, that was evident."

"Oh yes," answered she, with a satirical smile; "I said you were delighted to see them, and that, knowing they had plenty of handsome daughters, you desired them to send the prettiest on board to bear your Highness company."

His Highness looked somewhat foolish: he did not know what to say; and appeared little less chagrined himself, than the Greek papas of the Isle of Marmora. We afterwards understood that the Prince had made some reductions in her bill while he occupied her house at Smyrna; and, by way of retaliation, she thus insolently attempted to injure his character among her countrymen; and, I have no doubt, completely succeeded, as far as the Greeks of this island are concerned.

[Sidenote: PLEASANT DORMITORY.] _Monday, 24th._--Myself and four companions in misery have passed a horrible night in a cabin worse than the Black Hole of Calcutta. The offensive odour from the chicken-coop, which stands just at the side of the only aperture where fresh air can find an entrance; the heat of the confined chamber; the myriads of insects, that devoured my body with ravenous appetite, after having endured a fortnight's starvation; kept me in such a fever, that I vowed never to enter the cabin again. [Sidenote: EXTRAORDINARY TRANSFORMATION.] When I looked out, my fellow-passengers burst into a laugh; and Barrow, taking an observation, as my phiz came to the meridian above them, exclaimed, "Who has been painting your face? it is as yellow as a canary-bird!" "Nonsense!" I exclaimed; and, jumping upon deck, I seized my glass, and saw myself indeed as yellow as our good King's face on a sovereign. Not my face only, but, by all that's startling! hands, arms, legs, body, were in the same condition, as though I had been plunged into a curry-pot. I beheld myself with jaundiced eyes! It was wholly inexplicable; for I had not suffered a moment's illness, since I arrived in Stamboul; neither have I felt any symptoms of approaching disease; yet, in one night, my skin has been gilded over like a counterfeit sovereign,--

"Suffering a _yellow_ change Into something rich and strange."

Nevertheless, I am afraid, unlike the false coinage, the gilt will not very easily rub off. On my first appearance, I observed the French doctor, who seemed to possess a hawk's eye for business, vanish from the quarter deck, and descend hastily below; in a few minutes he reappeared, bearing in his hand an ample supply of his _rob_; but I declined his services, as a medical officer from Corfu undertook to give me the necessary advice. We had also an English physician, and the Prince's body-surgeon.

[Sidenote: BRITISH FLEET.] At the Dardanelles we learned the very interesting news that the English fleet had arrived in Basike Bay; and in swinging round "old Sigaeum," we beheld the Admiral's ship at anchor, and several other large vessels sailing towards the harbour. At mid-day we were alongside the Britannia; and a boat came off from her, to ask intelligence from Constantinople. As I was anxious to renew my acquaintance with Sir Pulteney Malcolm, and as many of the passengers wished to see the ship, the boat took as many as could get into her, and in a few minutes we stood on the deck of the largest of those majestic floating castles which, I trust, are destined, ere long, to teach the Russian that all "Old England's wooden walls" have not got the dry rot in them. It is some years since I had the pleasure of seeing the Admiral before; and though the march of time has imprinted on his noble figure a few slight traces of its progress, yet he appears to be as active, enterprising, and determined as ever. He accompanied us over the ship; and was very anxious that we should inspect his improved kitchen, cattle-pen, and newly invented gun-screws for elevating the breech of the cannon. After a hearty luncheon, during which I forgot all my jaundice, we took leave, and on entering the Captain's gig the Francesco hoisted the British colours, and saluted. The compliment was immediately returned, and the thunder of the cannon re-echoed from Tenedos, and spread itself over the Plain of Troy, with a report loud enough to rouse Achilles, Ajax, and Hector, from their graves,--

"That with the hurly, death itself might wake."

It was a beautiful, no less than a proud and gratifying sight to behold the Malabar, the St. Vincent, and the Alfred, all sailing in with every stitch of canvass set; telegraphing the Britannia, and with the utmost precision taking up their positions as the Admiral announced them. At that moment there could not have been a soul on board the Francesco who did not acknowledge the superiority of Britain on the seas.

[Sidenote: GULF OF SMYRNA.] Passing Mitylene and the opposite ruins of Assos, we entered the Gulf of Smyrna as it was growing dark. As I was by no means comfortable from a slight fever which enervated me, I determined to sleep below no longer, and therefore brought my mattress on deck. I laid it out near the cabin skylight, and there courted sleep, rolled in my _Greco_. Thank Heaven and a clear sky for most delicious repose!

Towards morning, I was awakened by a sensation of damp and cold; and found myself and mattress soaking wet, and exhaling the odour of rose-water. I found that a stream of this rich perfume had inundated me; it was flowing from a large jar belonging to one of the passengers, which, standing too near the tiller of the helm, had been broken by it during the night.

[Sidenote: FRENCH SQUADRON.] _Tuesday, 25th._--This morning we saw the French fleet lying at Vourla. The four combatants on these seas have thus passed in review before us; and I cannot suppose England and France have sent their fleets here on a pleasure trip; but that they actually mean to do something effective. Of these four, the Russian is the weakest, and the Turk the next in inferiority: report says, also, that the French fleet is not in the most perfect order; but, at all events, it is equal, if not superior, to the two former united. As soon as we came in sight of the Madagascar, which was lying in the harbour or roadstead of Smyrna, a boat put off from it towards the steam-vessel, and in a few moments the King of Greece was in the arms of his brother. The usual bustle incident to the transfer of luggage from one vessel to another, at sea, followed; and the Prince, with all his suite, left us, to accompany the King in his cruise on board the Madagascar.

[Sidenote: SMYRNA.] We established our quarters at a wretched little inn, close to the water-side, kept by a negro, who had been cook on board some English man-of-war. Unpromising as was its external appearance, the house was clean notwithstanding; and, having all to ourselves, except the billiard-room, we got on famously; particularly as the dinners were wholesome, and of good, plain, English cookery. We had plenty of soda-water, porter, and ale, which were kept constantly flowing; for the heat was excessive. In the evening, I strolled about this celebrated sea-port for a short time, and was much struck with the beautiful appearance of the houses of the merchants, which, however, are situated in narrow dirty streets. The bazars are much inferior to those of Constantinople; and I did not see a single Smyrniote woman who had any pretensions to beauty. In the course of the day the King landed _incog._, and went through the town; and towards night, the Madagascar sailed away for Syra.

[Sidenote: DEPARTURE FOR SYRA.] _Thursday, 27th._--Hotter by several degrees than yesterday: I wish to heaven we could get away from this broiling place. Not a breath of air stirs to relieve me, or mitigate the weakness and fainting with which I am oppressed. I am incapable of exertion, and, indeed, there is no inducement to walk out: it is too much labour to play at billiards; and smoking sickens and disgusts me: I have but one pleasure, if such it can be called; namely, that of lying on the sofa, in a state of stupor. This afternoon the American corvette John Adams sailed away in fine style.

_Friday, 28th._--Another oppressive day: a storm of thunder and rain, during the night, has had no effect in cooling the air. I walked out on the Marina in the evening; and having ascertained that they produce ices in great perfection at Smyrna, I have fully availed myself of the discovery, and the day was spent in cooling one's interior, as no means could be found to do the same for the outward man.

_Saturday, 29th._--This morning the Rover, a very pretty and wicked-looking sloop, came in from the West, and sailed again soon after. I was occupied this entire day in making blue and white lights to burn in the grotto of Antiparos. By midnight all the passengers and crew were in their places on board the steamer; and the ladders were hauled up, the cook's assistant being the only individual missing. Our object was, to get a day off the quarantine, by having every one on board before midnight, and making that day count as one, as we might be said to have nominally left Smyrna on it. The Spaniards returned to the vessel, accompanied by a band, and three boat-loads of ladies, who continued sailing round and round the vessel until a very early hour, so unwilling were they to say farewell.

[Sidenote: FORTUNATE ESCAPE.] One of the young gallants, in leaning over the bows of the boat, overbalanced himself, and dropped into the water, from whence he was quickly rescued by these fair damsels, who thus became the guardian Naiads of the place; for without their assistance he most probably would have been drowned.

[Illustration: HOUSES IN SCIO.]

_Sunday, 30th._--At five this morning we bade adieu to Smyrna; and never did I send aloft a more sincere prayer than when petitioning to see it no more. By the forenoon, we were off the Island of Scio, the coast of which presented much beautiful and picturesque scenery. The wind now gradually increased to a stiff breeze, and the weather became threatening; so that the first symptoms of turning in made their appearance among the passengers. The night following was black and stormy, and we had reason to anticipate an Archipelago gale: fortunately, however, it cleared up, much to the satisfaction of the captain and myself; for never did a boat traverse these seas with less of the seaman in the composition of its crew, from the said captain down to the slop-boy.

[Sidenote: QUARANTINE.] _Monday, July 1st._--The Island of Tinos was in sight at daylight this morning; and, passing through the channel between it and Andros, we approached Syra, the quarantine station of the new Greek kingdom for all vessels coming from Smyrna or the plague countries. The situation of Syra is very beautiful; the houses rising gradually in a succession of terraces, built upon the slope of a steep mountain, situated at the bottom of an extensive bay, in which we found the Madagascar lying at anchor.

[Sidenote: KING OF GREECE.] Shortly after our arrival, the officers of health came alongside, and informed us we were destined to seven days' quarantine. Of these, the day we left Smyrna counted as one, that passed at sea as another, and the one on which we got _pratique_ as a third; so we had, in reality, only four days to remain in _durance vile_. To console us for the unwelcome detention, the inhabitants brought off quantities of delicious fruit, honey, and meat to regale our appetites; while, in the evening, our eyes were gratified with the brilliant spectacle afforded by the illumination of the Madagascar and the town. The presence of the King seemed to have transported the good people of the island beyond themselves: such firing of guns and blazing of bonfires, such screaming and hallooing, probably never before disturbed the quiet precincts of Syra. His Majesty gets _pratique_ to-morrow, and there is to be a dinner and ball ashore. We could plainly discern them making preparations, and decorating the governor's house, but had no prospect of partaking of these festivities.

It was very late before I could get asleep, owing to the gambling going forward on deck until two o'clock in the morning. There was a _rouge et noir_ table, and a whist party, by both of which very high stakes were played, much to the annoyance of the better disposed passengers, who wished for rest and quietness.

[Sidenote: SHIP LAUNCH.] _Tuesday, 2d._--At nine o'clock, after dressing the ship in her colours, and receiving a salute from the shore, the King left the Madagascar in the captain's gig. A deputation of the principal inhabitants awaited his arrival, and the keys of the town, according to "ancient and approved usage," were delivered to him under a triumphal arch. The governor then addressed him in a Greek speech, to which his Majesty replied; but in what language the court newsman has not thought fit to inform us. After parading through the town, the procession arrived at the governor's, where the King held a levee. In the afternoon, he returned to the vessel, on board of which a dinner was given to the principal inhabitants; and again the poor Greeks illumined their houses and burnt bonfires.

The English in the steamer set up a singing-party this evening, in opposition to the hazard-players; and we kept it up until there was a dissolution of the card table; it being impossible either to gain or lose money with any satisfaction while the jovial chorus disturbed their calculations.

[Sidenote: INHABITANTS OF SYRA.] _Wednesday, 3d._--Great preparations were made for a ship-launch; and again the King went in state to the governor's residence, and proceeded thence to the dockyard, where he performed the ceremony of naming a small vessel; which glided beautifully into the ocean amid salvos of artillery, volleys of small-arms, and the cheers of the surrounding spectators. The grand festival and ball took place on shore in the evening; when they kept it up till past midnight; and the moment the King and his party returned on board, the Madagascar set sail, and "left us alone in our glory." It seems rather extraordinary that the Prince of Bavaria had not the inclination, as he certainly had the power, to put off these _fetes_ until the passengers of the Francesco, with whom he had sailed for two months, and to whom he was now under some obligation, could have

## participated in them. There was no reason for hurry; there existed no

necessity for the King's immediate return to Nauplia; in short, no excuse can be found to palliate such paltry, ungenerous, unfeeling conduct: certainly unfeeling, when it is considered that his fellow-travellers were witnesses of these festivities, without the possibility of joining in them.

_Friday, 5th._--By the first boat which came alongside to-day, many of the more restless part of our crew hurried ashore. I remained on board till the evening; and amused myself, during the interval, in watching the numerous boats, crowded with the inhabitants, which came off to visit the steamer. I did not notice a single Greek woman who maintained the reputation of her countrywomen for any thing but ugliness; and none of the men were of that fine race of beings whom I expected to see. There was nothing national in their costume; the women being mostly dressed in imitation of the Parisian mode; and, apparently, many of the men took their cut from Bond Street. Over a cabinet in the billiard-room, I afterwards observed several plates from the "Courrier des Dames;" and as Syra is destined to be the principal port of the Greek islands, I presume its inhabitants wish also to show themselves leaders in the march of improvement. Of course, the ladies will prefer stiff stays, gigot sleeves, and spacious bustle, to the loose jacket, short petticoat, and coloured stockings of their grandmothers.

[Sidenote: GRAND FESTA.] There is to be a grand _festa_ this evening, to-day being the eve of the [Greek: genethlion tou prodromou], or birth of St. John the Baptist. There was an incessant firing of muskets and petards; which proved that the gunpowder had not been all expended upon King Otho. Towards night, every one lighted a large bonfire before his house, and the favourite amusement seemed to be, who would run the oftenest through it when the blaze was at the fiercest. Shouts of laughter burst from the crowd, as each unlucky wight issued, scorched and singed, from the fiery trial; while the applause was proportionate towards those who ventured bravely, and escaped uninjured.

Many of us joined in the sport, leaping through the mass of newly kindled flame, and, among others, I had the satisfaction of presenting myself on the other side, _minus_ a good portion of whiskers, and with eyelashes singed into little tufts, close to the lid.