A month at Constantinople
Smith, Albert, 1816-1860
f V ....^ '-^^ \ 1 VI ■ ^-^ i ' (S, , I- i i //// ... ) •nia U] '0 ^ m^' |:C> ^ . _ f ' I LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF eALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE w M e'' A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE N BY .. C ALBERT SMITH. LONDON: DAVID BOGUE, 86, FLEET STREET, MDCCCL. /SCO 'T\<'-^^[ a- TO HIS MOTHER, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. I FEAR that those of my friends who looked for a "Comic Constantinople" in this volume, will be somewhat disappointed ; so also will those who thought I might be tempted, by the example of all other writers, to give my own opinions, either upon the long-vexed question of Eastern politics, or the social and probable condition of the Turks. With the conviction that, in the first place, the funny school has been a little overdone of late ; and, in the second, that far more able and experienced heads than those of the mere tourist are constantly and gravely discussing the relations between Tiukey and the Frank world, with practical views and powers, I have only essayed to present a book of First Impressions — describing all things, as plainly as may be, just as they struck me upon my journey ; colouring nothing for the sake of a page of poetical description or conventional enthusiasm, nor depre- ciating anything because it chanced to cross some private whim or fancy of my own. VI PREFACE. When I was on my way to the East, by the route that I have detailed in the appendix, I met many return travellers, whom I was always eager to question upon several points connected with the general superficial features of a sojourn at Constantinople : and I found many little practical hints they gave me, of much service on my arrival. In turn, I now present these to my readers, premising that my humble addition to the catalogue of works upon the East already published, is intended solely for those who have not been there. With respect to the illustrations, I have given only those which appeared to be the most characteristic, rather than the most imposing. After the magic pencils that have so admirably delineated the prin- cipal features of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, any attempt on my part, to offer a fresh view of the pinnacled glories of Stamboul, or the fairy palaces of the "Ocean Stream," would have been preposterous and absurd. There are many works of first-rate excellence, popular in England, in which fine drawings will be found of most of the spots I have described, and which they will more ably illustrate than any attempts of my own. It is with the greatest pleasure I am enabled to acknowledge, in this place, the kindness I received from my friends at Constantinople. Mr. Taylor, rii?:FACE. vu of the Gun Factory; Mr. Grace, of Galata; Mr. O'Brien, of Therapia ; Mr. Smith, the Architect; and Mr. Robertson, of the Mint, by their unwearying attentions, have caused me to look back upon Pera as a spot where some of my most pleasant hours were passed. To the latter gentleman, I am indebted for the charming water-colour sketch from which the frontispiece of this volume has been engraved. If I do not allude especially to the courtesy I expe- rienced at our Embassy, it is because the names of Sir Stratford and Lady Canning are already world- renowned for graceful hospitality. That my readers may gain a clearer notion of Constantinople than they have hitherto had, and be induced, by my statement of expenses and other practical matters in the Appendix, to make the tour; or that, haply bought at Malta, its perusal may beguile one or two of the hot lazy hours on the Levantine steamers, is the extent of my ambition with respect to the book now before them. London, April, 1850. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PACE The Depakture from Malta 1 CHAPTER II. On Board the Scamandue 8 CHAPTER III. Athens in Six Houe.s 17 CHAPTER IV. Smyrna 26 CHAPTER V. The First Day at Constantinople 39 CHAPTER VI. An Eastern Bath — Tjie Firbs at Pera .... 71 CHAPTER Vll. A Letter of Introduction —The Circu.s . ... 81 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGE The Gun-Factory — The Mint — Stampa's Shop . 90 CHAPTEE IX. The Sebaglio and the Mosques 96 CHAPTER X. The Sultan's Visit to Mosque — The Dancing Deevishes 102 CHAPTEE XI. The Letter of Introduction again — A Party at Peea 110 CHAPTEE XII. The Bosphorus 115 CHAPTER XIII. The Slave Market 128 CHAPTER XIV. A Ride round Stamboul • . 133 CHAPTER XV. The Howling Dervishes — Robbery of Travellers 140 CHAPTER XVI. BUYUKDEBE 148 CHAPTER XVII. Pbtnce's Island, and its Popular Amusements 155 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XVIII. PAGE Bazaaes genekallt — A Camel Eide — A Boat Builder 168 CHAPTEE XIX. Theeapia and Belgeade 175 CHAPTER XX. Depabtube foe Egypt 186 APPENDIX. Pbactical Details of the Expenses, Routes, and other mattebs connected with the toub . . 215 EBRATDM. Page 51, throe lines from top, /or "gasluiiack," read "yashm.'Mjk." V MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. CHAPTER I. THE DEPARTURE FROM MALTA. T six o'clock P.M., on Satur- day, August 25tb, 1849, the French Mediterranean mail steamer, Scconandre, left Malta harbour for Constan- '" ''■■"~'Z::>- -r - tinople ; after the proper ount of swearing, screaming, rushing about with- t a purpose, and general confusion, which charac- B ^< 2 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. terizes every species of action in Avhicb more than one Frenchman chances to be engaged. Lest my readers should imagine that I took the usual bustle attendant upon a vessel's departure for something more than common, the question put to the crew generally by an impertinent English sailor, (who was rowing from the Terrible to the Marina Gate,) of " Why don't you make a noise ?" may prove, however indistinctly, that the uproar was beyond what he con- sidered absolutely necessary. Although I had rested but a very short time at Malta, I left it with as much regret as though it had been a second home. For after a troublesome journey throucfh Baden, Lombardv, the Roman States, and Naples, at an especially troublesome epoch, subjected besides to every annoyance and imposition that police, passports, and joolitical quarantines could inflict on a traveller, the feeling was one of great comfort to catch the first sight of an English soldier on guard ; to walk under a gateway with the familiar lion and uni- corn— fighting for the crown as of old — boldly carved above it ; to see well known names over the shoj^s in every direction ; and to take halfcroAvns and half- pence in change, in as matter of fact a manner as though the shops had been in Oxford Street. Above all, it was pleasant to hear "God save the Queen" played by English drums and fifes, calling up the echoes from the glowing rocks of our far ofl' Mediter- ranean island. There was enough to interest one, before the steamer started, in the coup d'osil of the harbour — the noble ships of the line, and steam frigates, lying A MONTH AT COXSTANTIXOPLE, 3 lazily at anchor; the impregnable fortifications; the clean stone houses, dazzling in sharp outlines in the clear bright air ; and the odd mixture of all sorts of costumes from every corner of the Mediterranean, between Gibraltar and Beyrout. Besides this, there were two or three jDarties of dirty urchins — cousins Maltese of the boys who seek for halfpence in the mud of Greenwich and Blackwall — who came up in singularly fragile boats, and petitioned for pieces of money to be thrown into the harbour, that they might dive after them. One of these little fellows was suf- ficiently clever to attract general attention. His head was shaved all but a comical tuft over his forehead, giving him the appearance, in his party-coloured caleqom, of a small unpainted clown. When the piece of money was thrown into the water, and had sunk for a few seconds, he leapt in feet first after it, and he was never long in reapi:»earing at the surface, holding it up in his hand, always overtaking it before it had reached the bottom. These lads were suc- ceeded by a floating band of music, the members of which jilayed the Marseillaise and the Girondins' Hymn, out of compliment to the French steamer. But a shilUng brought them round in an instant to our National Anthem, and Rule Britannia; and as we left the port we heard the last chords, inappro- priately enough, of " Home, sweet home." They had evidently got up the latter to excite the people on their way home from India, in the quarantine harbour, but had immature notions of its application. For the last month the Mediterranean had been as calm as a lake — much more so, indeed, than that of b2 4 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. Geneva under certain winds — and the fine weather promised to continue. This was fortunate for several reasons ; the chief one being that the Scamandre was a very old boat, not calcuhited to encounter heavy seas ; and in foct was said to be making her last voyage before condemnation to short coasting or river ser- vice. With great exertion she could be propelled at the rate of something under eight knots an hour ; but the engineer respected the age of her machinery, and did not tax its powers. She was also very dirty, and the crew did their best to keep her in countenance ; at the same time, there were few places on deck to sit down upon, except such accommodation as the coils of rope, water-barrels, and chicken cooj)s afforded. It is far from my intention, however, in thus speaking of the old Scamcmdre, to run down the admirable service of French mail steamers inlying between Marseilles and the Levant generally. On the contrary, their extreme punctuality, their moderate fares, and their excellent arrangements, entitle them to the attention of all tourists to whom time and money are objects. There is as little distinction observable between the appoint- ments of their first and second class passengers, as on the foreign railways ; and as there is, on the other hand, a great difference in the price, and no servants, nor persons considered by the administration to be in any way unfit society for educated and well-bred people, are admitted into the cabin, this part of the boat is the most extensively patronised. We mustered about twenty passengers, and the first class cabin had not above four or five, who looked so dull and lonely, that we quite commiserated them. Indeed, A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 5 •one of them — a good-tempered American — preferred now and then coming to dine with us, " to know what was going on," as he said. There were two other classes still. The third, who had a species of cabin, "Still fore, to retire to at night; and the fourth, who bivouacked upon deck. And very pleasant was even this last way of travelling. I had come down a deck- passenger from Genoa to Leghorn ; from Leghorn to Civita Vecchia ; and from Naples to Malta, with a knapsack (which comprised all my luggage, and which I had carried many times across the Alps) for my pillow ; and I had learned to sleep as soundly upon planks as upon feathers. In the mild, warm nights, no bed-clothes were required; and in the finest j)alace in the world there was no such ceiling to a sleeping chamber as the deep blue heaven afforded, spangled wuth its myriads of golden stars, which gleamed and twinkled with a lustre unknown to us in northern England. As we left Malta, the passengers all sat down to dinner ; and for the first time we saw our companions for the next week. To begin with, there were three very pretty French girls. Two of these were cousins — Mademoiselle Virginie, and Mademoiselle Pauline, and they said they were going out to Bucharest as governesses ; but we subsequently discovered that they were milliners, from a quantity of finery they got rid of at Smyrna. The third, who was from Marseilles, had large dark eyes, and long black lashes, with a tinged cheek that suggested Andalusian blood. She was travelling with her brother, and another Frenchman, to whom she was engaged; both these 6 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. being employed in commerce at Marseilles. They had large beards, were great republicans, and kept very much to themselves and their cigarettes. There was also a French lady of a tolerably certain age, who had been in London, and somewhat astonished me at first with her intimate knowledge of all the leading town circles. She was too well educated for a lady's maid, and yet wanted the repose of perfect good breeding; so that I was much puzzled to place her, until one evening she told me that she had been two seasons, several years ago, in the company of French actors at the St. James' Theatre. We had an Englishman, who was on a speculating expedition to see if he could get some muskets into Hungary ; he was also a great phrenologist, and, generally, a thinking, determined man. A young Irishman who had thrown up his commission in a line regiment, and was going to join the insurgents in the above named country, not having yet heard of their betrayal and disjoersion : the amiable and intelligent Greek professor of the Harvard University in America, Mr. Sophocles, going home to his country after twenty years' absence ; and several persons engaged in the Levant trade, whose race was as difficult to be detected as their exact occupation — their language being as complicated a jumble of odd dialects, as their luggage was of strange bags and boxes. So that, amongst them all, the conversation was tolerably lively ; and when I went again upon deck after dinner, I found Malta fading away into a small blue hill ujDon the burnished horizon, and felt, for the first time, fairly off, on my journey to the Levant. A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 7 The violet light lingered in the clear sky, high up above the east, long after the brilliant glow of sunset had died away behind the deep purple bars that flecked it as it disappeared. Then, one by one, the golden stars came out, and the bright crescent moon, looking like a symbol of the new land to which we were now hastening, was mirrored quivering in the sea, which scarcely rippled in the light evening breeze that swejDt over it. It was long, however, before the last gleam of light left the horizon, and I leant over the trembling stern of the old Scanumdre, watching its gradual departure with a feeling of pleasure in gazing on what I fancied might be the direction of England, which those only can appreciate, who, at a distance from home, have recalled its dear faces around them. A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. CHAPTER II. ON BOARD THE SCAMANDRE. The cabin assigned to us was a small closet off the cMef one, containing ten berths, -with a space of floor about seven feet by five, which they surrounded. We were quite full, and when each passenger had brought in his carpet-bag or hat-box — and one light-hearted foreigner ajDpeared to be travelling from Marseilles to Smyrna with no more luggage than the latter con- tained— there was little room to turn round ; indeed, that cruel feat with a cat, traditionally performed to determine habitable space, was here j)ractically im- possible. So we were obliged to go to bed and get up one at a time ; and when undressed, we had to pack our clothes up at our feet as well as we could, only to find that they had all got down into the depths of the mattresses, and underneath them even, by the morning. We were fortunate, however, in having a species of stout cucumber frame for a sky- light, which could be lifted right away ; and but for this, there is no telling how any one of us might have survived asphyxiation to recount our voyage. For having crept on to my shelf, which was one of the lower ones, about ten o'clock, with a very stout A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. SF Armenian above me, who weighed so heavily on his sacking, that I was constantly knocking my head against it whenever I moved, I could not very readily get to sleep. The night was uncommonly sultry, even for the i^arallel of Malta, and I could not shake off a horrible impression that the stout Armenian would break through his sacking, and smother me at some remote j^eriod of the night. I could not get the fearful story I once read, of a man who was in a prison that got smaller every day until it crushed him, out of my head ; and this suffocating notion followed me into a troubled doze ; so that when I awoke about twelve, almost stifled by the heat, and looking up, saw the skylight above-mentioned, with the stars shining through the o^jening, I had some hazy impression that this was the last window of the six that had disap^Deared, one by one, and day by day, in the story alluded to. In an agony of terror, such as I had never before experienced, I scrambled from my berth, and springing on a portmanteau, con- trived to raise myself through the hatchway, and get a little breath of such air as was stirring. On the foreigners, the close and stifling heat appeared to make but a small impression. Not only had some of them gone to bed with the greater part of their clothes on, but one or two had even drawn closely together the blue curtains that ran on rods along the top of the berths, and so almost hermetically closed themselves up, to stew and swelter, as is their wont in diligences, steamers, and even rooms of hotels, or anywhere in fact, wherever an opportunity can be found of excluding such fresh air as might otherwise 10 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. intrude. To me the sensation was so indescribably distressing, that I shuiSed on some clothes, and pulling myself up through the opening, once more laid down upon the deck, amidst a dozen fourth class passengers, scarcely disturbed by the occasional visits of an enormous rat, who was scuffling about, picking up such few scraps as had fallen from the deck suppers. Here I remained until six in the morning, when I went below for my toilet. The four ladies had a cabin opposite to ours, and about the same size, but it had no hatchway. There was only a thick plate of ground glass to light it, and they had ojDened the door into the saloon for as much ventilation as they could get. They appeared to care but little about privacy — air was evidently the chief considera- tion; so that, as it happened, a man might have looked upon far more disagreeable objects than the dark-eyed Marseillaise, as she was lying in her berth and fanning herself, with her black hair floating about her pillow, and — if such may be mentioned — half-uncovered shoulders. She did not appear to think anything of the display, nor indeed did any body else — her Jiance and her brother included, with the latter of whom she kept conversing all the time he was dressing. I should be very sorry to class foreigners, generally, as a dirty set of people when left to themselves, but I fear there is too much reason to suppose that (in how many cases out of ten I will refrain from saying) a disrelish for a good honest plunging wash is one of their chief attributes. It requires but very little experience, in even their best hotels, to come to this conclusion. I do not mean in those houses A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. II where an iufliix of English has imposed the necessity of providing large jugs, baths, and basins; but in the equally leading establishments — patronized chiefly by themselves — in these, one still perceives the little pie-dish and milk -jug, the scanty d'oyley-looking towel, and the absence of a soap dish ; whilst it would be perfectly futile to ask for anything further. So, on board the Scamand re, this opinion was not weakened. They dipped a corner of a httle towel, not in the basin, but in the stream that trickled from the cistern as slowly as vinegar from any oyster-shop cruet, and dabbed their face about with it. Then they messed about a little with their hands; and then, having given a long time to brushing their hair, they had a cigarette instead of a tooth brush, and their toilet was complete. This description does not only apply to the Scamandre passengers, but to the majority of their race, whom I afterwards encountered about the Mediterranean. There was such a terrible noise still upon deck — such hauling about of huge chains and dashing them down, as though theatrical gaolers were constantly making their entrances or exits — such renewed squabbling, and stamping, and screaming ; and useless covering up and darkening of hatchways, that I was glad to get back upon deck, along which the rising sun came right from the bowsprit, to tell us again that we were at last going towards the East. And here it would have been more to our comfort, if the sailors had transferred to themselves, some of the pains they took to wash the decks. The engine pumped up the water into a tub, and this they dashed 18 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOrLE. about in the most reckless manner ; now flooding you away from the seat you had j)icked out upon a coil of ropes ; now almost washing the scared poultry clean out of their coops; and at last not leaving a spot so big as a foot-print to stand upon. So that when the ladies were dressed, we were not sorry to go down to breakfast, at three bells — which, (as everybody will say they knew,) is the nautical for half-past nine ; — and here a very good meal of omelettes, fish, cutlets, potatoes, fruit, and wine, awaited us. On board ship, breakfast or dinner is made to last as long as j^ossible — there is so little to occupy the rest of the time ; so that we did not complain of being kept waiting between the courses, but clutched eagerly at any subject of general conversation that was started. There was no lack of this amongst the French, at their end of the table; but it was astonishing to analyze it, and see what trivial subjects occupied them. Those accustomed to the clatter of a table d'hote must frequently have obser^-ed the same thing. In the present case, one of the i:»arty occupied the attention of the entire table for ten minutes with an anecdote, which he prefaced by saying, " II in est arrive quelque chose de Men singulihr quand fetais a Smyrne pour la dernier e fois ;" and then recounted his story at length, of which, in all honest truth, the following is the essence : — that he had been going by a shop and seen a large fish exposed for sale, and that, the same morning, he called upon a friend at breakfast- time, and saw a piece of the same sort of fish on the table. This was all ; but one would have thought from his energy and excitement, that a matter of the deepest A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 13 importance was connected with the occurrence, as he struck the table so violently to enforce its singularity, that the glasses jumjsed about. But his audience appeared amazingly astonished at the event, and said, " Tietis !" " Dieu r and " Voila, ce qii'est charmant !" ■with the liveliest enthusiasm. Encouraged by this, he next called the attention of the company to a peach that he had cut through, stone and all, as another affair '•' tres singidiere." There is no telling what other matters of interest he might have touched upon, had not our phrenologist turned the conversation by observing that the bust of Lycurgus, in the Koyal Academy, at Naples, was the image of Mazzini ; whereupon everybody went off at once about Eome and the Pope, Hungary, Louis Napoleon, Garibaldi, Russia, and the state of Venice, in such full cry, that it is a wonder how their mouths found opportunities to finish breakfast. It was, however, over at last, and then we all went upon deck, beneath an awning, to read, work, or smoke, until the heat was so intense that we could do nothing but lie down, completely overcome, in our berths, until dinner. This meal was a superior edition of breakfast ; and when it was over we went on deck again. The crew were lying lazily about, playing at cards and dominoes ; and a young Maltese, whom I found out to be the first flute in the orchestra of the Italian Opera at Constantinople, played several popular airs from Norma and Lucrezia Borgia. He was a nice intelligent fellow, and had established himself in a boat, upon deck, where he had his mattress and baggage, with a species of " bachelor's kitchen,'' in which he made coflee and soup, 14 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. cooked fish, boiled eggs, and concocted all sorts of dishes. As night came on, the fourth-class passengers arranged their different bivouacs — under the bulwarks, alongside the guns, and about. One group was especially effective. A young Greek girl, her brother, and a little child in their charge — all from Tunis and on their way to Athens, took up their position under the capstan, and looked so well — the man in his Albanian costume, and the girl in her petticoat, (for her night toilet only consisted in taking off her gown) that I did my best to make a sketch of them, which a more able hand has put on the w^ood. Gavarni himself could not have surprised some wearied masqueraders in a better j)ose. As soon as it became tolerably dusky, the fowls and ducks were assassinated by the light of a lantern, at the side of the paddle- A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 15 box, for the morrow's consumption ; and later, a sheep shared the same fate. Then, one by one, the passengers of the cabins crept below ; but the heat was still so far beyond anything jjossible to be con- ceived, that I got my knapsack, as before, and laid myself down again uj)on the deck, where I was soon fast asleep, being followed in my example by one or two more of my gasping fellow travellers. This night I am not aware that the large rat paid us a visit ; he was possibly attracted by the results of the fowl- murders on the other side of the boat. Anyhow, I slept undisturbed until after four in the morning. The progress of the next day presented little variety. We still had nothing but blue sky and sea to look upon, when we sought distraction beyond the bulwarks of the steamer. Mademoiselle Virginie was studying navigation with the Commissaire, in his cabin ; she was there nearly all day. Pauline was incessantly employed upon a jnece of crochet-work, which lasted all the journey, and got very dirty towards the end of it — being one of those fearfully uncomfortable things called anti-macassars, which hang on the backs of chairs, to make your hair rough and tumble over your head. About four o'clock in the afternoon we caught sight of Greece — high uj) over the larboard bow; and at dinner-time a pretty stiff breeze came on and the boat began to ride, which had the ad- mirable effect of keejjing the foreigners rather more quiet at table ; indeed, one or two left it. At dusk, we passed Cerigo, one of our English possessions — a melancholy reddish-rock island. It was dif- ficult to conceive a more dreary time than the officer 16 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOrLE. must have had of it who was stationed there with his handful of troops. I longed to have seen some small boat by which I could have sent him a bundle of Galifjnmm, and a few numbers of Punch that we had on board. Then the little concert on deck began again — the opera airs bringing up thoughts of Grisi, and Covent Garden and the London season, here, out and away, at one of the gates of the Archipelago ; and then, at nine o'clock we all began to think of retiring, I did not try the berths again ; but the Maltese lent me a coat, and lying down on this, with my knapsack as before, for a pillow, I was soon comfortably curled up with my own thoughts. I was, however, obliged to silence two runaway patriots, from some of the Italian States, who had been arguing loudly for an hour upon the affairs of Rome, without any chance of approaching a conclusion. When this was done, and the usual quantity of fowls had been killed, as on the preceding night, everything became quiet, and I was soon wandering in the world of dreams. A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 17 CHAPTEK III. ATHENS IN SIX HOURS. On getting up at six in the morning of the 28th, we found land about us in all directions. Passing the islands of Poros and Egina — the former possessing a fine arsenal, with every capability for building large ships on English princiiDles, if the money could but be found ; and the latter, the remains of a noble temple — on our left, and Sunium on our right, we came to anchor in the Piraeus about half past nine. It was here that I found myself in the midst of the first Levantine fancy costumes, that attract the tra- veller's attention — the real well-known bright Albanian dress of the masquerades and panoramic paper hang- ings, to say nothing of Madame Tussaud's Byron. One after another, picturesque fellows, in clean white kilts, so to speak, and scarlet leggings, shot ofi' from the shore in light boats, which they rowed admirably, having adopted our own fashion from the people of the Ionian Islands. As soon as they had surrounded the bottom of* the steamer's ladder, they commenced fighting in a most furious manner to get tlie best position ; banging each other with boat-hooks and large sticks, which they had evidently brought with 18 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. them for the nonce, and chmbing up the sides of the packet, hke cats. In vain the crew of the Scamandre repulsed them — brushing them back into the swarm of boats, to get freshly beaten by their fellows on whom they tumbled — they were up again like wasps in an instant ; and the passengers had enough to do to avoid being involved in the battle, which continued even on deck, amongst the hotel touters. " I say, sir ! here, sir ! Hotel d'Orient is the best. Here's the card, sir — old palace — Murray says ver good," cried one of the costumes. "Hi!" screamed another; "don't go with him, master — too dear ! Come with me!" The parties were immediately engaged in single combat. " Hotel d'Angleterre a Athenes, tenu par Elias Polichronopulos et Yani Adamopulos," shouted another, all in a breath ; I copy the names from the card he gave me, for they were such as no one could remember. " Yes, sir ; good hotel," said his companion. " Look in Murray, sir — page 24 — there, sir : here, sir : look, sir !" " Who believes Murray ?" asked a fellow in plain clothes, with a strong Irish accent. " You would, if he put down your house in the handbook," replied another. They all appeared to have, more or less, a know- ledge of English. ^ At length, by dint of great strength of mind, com- bined with physical force, a few of us got into a boat, (having been told that the packet would wait until next morning in the harbour,) and we were soon A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. ] 9 Standing on the quay of the Piraeus, the town being a collection of small newly-built houses, consisting chiefly of merchants' stores, customs establishments, and agents' offices, with some inferior cafes, on one of which was written " Groffs-shoj)," intended, I sup- pose, as a translation of the more classical OlwnciXecv, on the other shutter. A nominal examination of the luggage of such of the passengers as were going to land took place on the quay, and every one was then allowed to go where he pleased. Just. then a good- looking fellow, in an Albanian dress, stepped up to our party and proffered his services as guide, for the day, to Athens. His name was Demetri Pomoni ; he spoke excellent English, and told us •' that he was a subject of Queen Victoria ; that he had lived in London, and that we should find his name in the eternal Murray, page 25." They had all got their position by heart. We engaged Demetri for the day, and hiring a shabby hack carriage, from a cluster of regular country railway flies, drawn uj) in cab-stand rank upon the port, we started off" at a dismal jjace for Athens, distant about five miles. It was very hot, and the road was very dusty — indeed the whole country about appeared parched up to the last degree of drought. We put up the windows, but the dust still got in, and before long our beards assumed a most venerable appearance. We stopped to bait at a little wine-shed half-way on the road, where there was a well, and where one or two Alba- nians lounging about under a rude trellis of grapes made an efiective " bit." Here we had some iced lemonade, which appeared to be all the establishment c 2 20 A MONTH AT CONSTANTIXOFLE. afforded, i,vith some lumps of Turkish sweetmeat; and then we dragged on again for another half-hour, in the heat and dust, until we were deposited at the door of the Hotel d'Orient — a fine house furnished in the English fashion, and formerly a palace, as the touter had informed us. Demetri now told us that he let horses with English saddles to travellers ; and that if we wished to see all the •' lions," we must hire some, otherwise there would not be time to do so. So we had up some stumbling ponies from the town, for which we were to pay a dollar each ; and then started to visit the wonders, and be back to dinner by five o'clock. "Athens in six hours" is rather quick work to be sure ; however, after I had been taken the round of the usual sights, I should have been sorry to have remained there much longer. But the exceeding beauty of the ruins can scarcely be overpraised ; albeit the degree of enthusiasm, real or conventional, with which one regards them, must depend entirely upon such early classical training as the traveller may have been fortunate enough to have undergone. Yet I doubt whether I could have gazed upon those graceful remains with greater delight than I did on this oc- casion, had I gone through any further preparation to visit them than had been afforded by an ordinary public school education. Apart from their histories and their associations — their lovely symmetry, the effect of their clean sandstone colour against the bright blue sky, their admirable position, and the horizon of finely swelling purple hills almost surrounding them, broken to the south-west by the silver harbour of the Piraeus, were quite sufficient to call up the most vivid A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 21 sensations of delight. Their beauty, also, was en- hanced by the picturesque people who idled about them — all was so artistic, so sunny, so admirably thrown together, that whichever way the eye was turned, it appeared to rest on the reahty of some exquisite drop-scene. Guardians are stationed where there is anything to knock off and carry away more portable than the Elgin marbles The interior of the temple of Theseus is used as a museum; and the fragments are of greater interest, even to the most ordinary traveller, than such as he may elsewhere encounter. Here we made a luncheon from some singularly fine grapes and fresh figs, with bread, sjDread on part of a column, and then proceeded to the Acropolis, which Demetri had properly kept for the last visit. From hence the view was most superb, but it wanted the relief of green. Everything for miles round was baked up. The channel of the Ilyssus was without water, and the barley which covers the undulating ground had all been cut, leaving only the naked hot reddish tracts of land. The guardians had a sort of habitation below the Proi)yl8ea, and cultivated a few vegetables in small artificial gardens, the leaves of which looked quite refreshing. Amongst the masses of marble ruins which the Turks had tumbled down from the Parthenon, to make cannon balls from, or grind up for mortar, several wild jilants trailed and flourished. One of these bore a green fruit which, being ripe, burst into dust the instant it was touched, however gently, by the foot ; and the guides appeared more anxious to call the attention of the visitors to this fact, than to the solemn glories of the Acropolis. 22 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. As we were standing before the Erectheum, Demetii said, " When I was in London, sir, I lived in Euston Square ; and I used often to look at the Caryatides at the side of St. Pancras Church, and think of this temple." It must have been a strong home feeling that called up associations of Athens and the Acro- polis, amidst the mud, stunted shrubs, metroiDolitan atmosphere, and omnibuses of the New Road! We had killed all our lions by five o'clock ; and, by making all use of our eyes and tongues, had become as well acquainted with the positions and appearance" A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 23 of the Tower of the Winds and the Arch of Hadrian ; the Areopagus and poHshed Anti-Malthusian slope ; the Stadium and the prison of Socrates, as Demetri himself. Our horses, too, were tolerably weary ; and so we returned to the hotel through Athens, which is as dirty, irregular, uninteresting a place as can well be imagined. An enormous village is a better term for it than an insignificant city. The dinner, to which six or eight of us sat down, was perfectly English. We had the luxuries of anchovy and cayenne with our fish, Harvey's sauce with our steaks, and a bottle of pale ale was gravely put down before me and my compatriots. Our plates and dishes had a British name on their backs, and our knives were accredited by " Deane, Monument Yard." One only comprehends to the full, under similar circumstances, the extent of business pertain- ing to certain of our London houses. The traveller's story of the English-built omnibus running from the city to the Parthenon, with the cad, named Themis- tocles, cr)ung " 'Cropolis, 'Rectheum !" and of the placard of Warren's Blacking, posted on the temple of Victory Apteros, may prove a truth yet. I strolled through some of the streets after dinner, and my companion, who was a smoker, was delighted at the quantity of latakia he could purchase for a few pence. Some people came up and offered curiosities for sale : these chiefly consisted of chaplets of shells from the Archipelago made up with little glass beads, and walking sticks and pipe tubes of Parnassus Blackthorn. Possibly the most novel feature of my stroll was the lettering on the shops. Sec, everj-where in the 24 A MONTH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. familiar Greek character, hitherto only associated with my Merchant Tailors' School knowledge of the Diatessaron, Isocrates, and the Iliad, hut now used to betoken the store of tlie baker, the coffee-house keeper, and the bookseller. At one of the latter establishments I bought a child's first primer for twenty-five lepta — about twopence-halfpenny. The curiosity of seeing little urchins, who can scarcely sj^eak, puzzling out their Greek characters, must be as great as that which everybody experiences and notices upon first landing in France, on hearing the children squabbling in that language. It may not be out of place to give a page of the book I pur- chased:— AA^ABHTAPION nAIA.A rxiriA:^ *• /3a 7^ ^V l^ Ot KV \e fia ^o TTT] pv i>e Kl \pv TO yv (pa ve ^i KV TTOJ Xe TTtyw pa Xiyo) Xu>fia vepoy kyu} ydXa \1/U)fll \pdpi X"P« X«>' TLfMt) tiiOVJ] KOpi] f'xw ;//?';)'w TVpi ydra 'O paTTTtjg poLTTTti. — 'O ipwpag ^vpovii. — 'O "HXiog ^iyy€t. — "0 KTiffrrjQ KriZii. — '0 I3a<ptvg ^a<pu. — 'O ^aoag ypaptvH. — O 'imrog rpi^^tt. — 'H jitXovti KtVT^. — 'O aicvXog cayKavu. — 0 (^oOKog /36(T<c£i. — To Traidiov Trai^n. — 'H Kopt] yvtOii. — To vtpbv x^verai. — 'H ntrpa iriirrti. The streets became more striking as the warm twilight crept over them, and the people turned out to walk about in great numbers, or sat at their doors. 