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                             SUMMER CRUISE
                                   IN
                           THE MEDITERRANEAN.




                             SUMMER CRUISE

                                   IN

                           THE MEDITERRANEAN

                     ON BOARD AN AMERICAN FRIGATE.

                                   BY
                           N. PARKER WILLIS.

                                LONDON:
                    T. BOSWORTH, 215, REGENT STREET.
                                 1853.




                                LONDON:
               BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS




                                PREFACE.

                 *        *        *        *        *

Of one of the most delicious episodes in a long period of foreign
travel, this volume is the imperfect and hastily written transcript.
Even at the time it was written, the author felt its experience to be a
dream—so exempt was it from the interrupting and qualifying drawbacks
of happiness in common and working life—but, now, after an interval of
many years, it seems indeed like a dream, and one so full of unmingled
pleasure, that its telling almost wants the contrast of a sadness. Of
the noble ship, whose summer cruise is described, and her kind and
hospitable officers, the recollection is as fresh and grateful now, as
when, (twenty years ago,) the author bade them farewell in the port of
Smyrna. Of the scenes he passed through, while their guest, he has a
less perfect remembrance—relying indeed on these chance memoranda, for
much that would else be forgotten. It is with a mingled sense of the
real and the unreal, therefore, that the book is offered, in a new
shape, to the Public, whose approbation has encouraged its long
existence, and the author trusts that his thanks to the surviving
officers of that ship may again reach them, and that the kind favour of
the reading Public may be again extended to this his record of what he
saw in the company of these officers, and by their generous hospitality.

    HIGHLAND TERRACE,
        _October, 1852_.




                               CONTENTS.

                 *        *        *        *        *

                               LETTER I.

    Cruise in the Frigate “United States”—Elba—Piombino—Porto
    Ferrajo—Appearance of the Bay—Naval Discipline—Visit to the
    Town Residence of Napoleon—His Employment during his
    Confinement on the Island—His sisters Eliza and Pauline—His
    Country House—Simplicity of the Inhabitants of Elba      1

                               LETTER II.

    Visit to Naples, Herculaneum, and Pompeii      7

                              LETTER III.

    Account of Vesuvius—The Hermitage—The famous Lagrima
    Christi—Difficulties of the Path—Curious Appearance of the Old
    Crater—Odd Assemblage of Travellers—The New Crater—Splendid
    Prospect—Mr. Mathias, Author of the Pursuits of Literature—The
    Archbishop of Tarento      16

                               LETTER IV.

    The Fashionable World of Naples at the Races—Brilliant Show of
    Equipages—The King and his Brother—Rank and Character of the
    Jockeys—Description of the Races—The Public Burial Ground at
    Naples—Horrid and inhuman Spectacles—The Lazzaroni—The Museum
    at Naples—Ancient Relics from Pompeii—Forks not used by the
    Ancients—The Lamp lit at the time of our Saviour—The antique
    Chair of Sallust—The Villa of Cicero—The Balbi Family—Bacchus
    on the Shoulders of a Faun—Gallery of Dians, Cupids, Joves,
    Mercuries, and Apollos, Statue of Aristides, &c.      23

                               LETTER V.

    Pæstum—Temple of Neptune—Departure from Elba—Ischia—Bay of
    Naples—The Toledo—The Young Queen—Conspiracy against the
    King—Neapolitans Visiting the Frigates—Leave the
    Bay—Castellamare      32

                               LETTER VI.

    Baiæ—Grotto of Posilipo—Tomb of Virgil—Pozzuoli—Ruins of the
    Temple of Jupiter Serapis—The Lucrine Lake—Late of Avernus,
    the Tartarus of Virgil—Temple of Proserpine—Grotto of the
    Cumæan Sybil—Nero’s villa—Cape of Misenum—Roman villas—Ruins
    of the Temple of Venus—-Cento Camerelle—The Stygian Lake—The
    Elysian Fields—Grotto del Cane—Villa of Lucullus      38

                              LETTER VII.

    Island of Sicily—Palermo—Saracenic appearance of the
    town—Cathedral—The Marina—Viceroy Leopold—Monastery of the
    Capuchins—Celebrated Catacombs—Fanciful Gardens      45

                              LETTER VIII.

    The Lunatic Asylum at Palermo      51

                               LETTER IX.

    Palermo—Fête given by Mr. Gardiner, the American Consul—Temple
    of Clitumnus—Cottage of Petrarch—Messina—Lipari
    Islands—Scylla and Charybdis      57

                               LETTER X.

    The Adriatic—Albania—Gay Costumes and Beauty of the
    Albanese—Capo d’Istria—Trieste resembles an American
    Town—Visit to the Austrian Authorities of the
    Province—Curiosity of the Inhabitants—Gentlemanly Reception by
    the Military Commandant—Visit to Vienna—Singular Notions of
    the Austrians respecting the Americans—Similarity of the
    Scenery to that of New England—Meeting with German
    Students—Frequent Sight of Soldiers and Military
    Preparation—Picturesque Scenery of Styria      63

                               LETTER XI.

    Gratz—Vienna      70

                              LETTER XII.

    Vienna—Magnificence of the Emperor’s Manège—The Young Queen of
    Hungary—The Palace—Hall of Curiosities, Jewelry, &c.—The
    Polytechnic School—Geometrical Figures described by the
    Vibrations of Musical Notes—Liberal Provision for the Public
    Institutions—Popularity of the Emperor      76

                              LETTER XIII.

    Vienna—Palaces and Gardens—Mosaic Copy of Da Vinci’s “Last
    Supper”—Collection of Warlike Antiquities; Scanderburg’s Sword,
    Montezuma’s Tomahawk, Relics of the Crusaders, Warriors in
    Armour, the Farmer of Augsburg—Room of Portraits of Celebrated
    Individuals—Gold Busts of Jupiter and Juno—The Glacis, full of
    Gardens, the General Resort of the People—Universal Spirit of
    Enjoyment—Simplicity and Confidence in the Manners of the
    Viennese—Baden      82

                              LETTER XIV.

    Vienna—The Palace of Liechstenstein      87

                               LETTER XV.

    The Palace of Schoenbrunn—Hietzing, the Summer Retreat of the
    Wealthy Viennese—Country-House of the American Consul—Specimen
    of Pure Domestic Happiness in a German Family—Splendid Village
    Ball—Substantial Fare for the Ladies—Curious Fashion of
    Cushioning the Windows—German Grief—The Upper Belvidere
    Palace—Endless Quantity of Pictures      92

                              LETTER XVI.

    Departure from Vienna—The Eil-Wagon—Motley quality of the
    passengers—Thunderstorm in the Mountains of
    Styria—Trieste—Short Beds of the Germans—Grotto of
    Adelsburgh—Curious Ball-Room in the Cavern—Nautical
    preparations for a Dance on board the “United States” swept away
    by the Bora—Its successful Termination      98

                              LETTER XVII.

    Trieste, its Extensive Commerce—Hospitality of Mr. Moore—Ruins
    of Pola—Immense Amphitheatre—Village of Pola—Coast of
    Dalmatia, of Apulia and Calabria—Otranto—Sails for the Isles
    of Greece      106

                             LETTER XVIII.

    The Ionian Isles—Lord and Lady Nugent—Corfu—Greek and English
    Soldiers—Cockneyism—The Gardens of Alcinous—English
    Officers—Albanians—Dionisio Salomos, the Greek Poet—Greek
    Ladies—Dinner with the Artillery Mess      110

                              LETTER XIX.

    Corfu—Unpopularity of British Rule—Superstition of the
    Greeks—Accuracy of the Descriptions in the Odyssey—Advantage
    of the Greek Costume—The Paxian Isles—Cape Leucas, or Sappho’s
    Leap—Bay of Navarino, Ancient Pylos—Modon—Coran’s Bay—Cape
    St. Angelo—Isle of Cythera      115

                               LETTER XX.

    The Harbour of Napoli—Tricoupi and Mavrocordato, Otho’s Cabinet
    Councillors—Colonel Gordon—King Otho—The Misses
    Armanspergs—Prince of Saxe—Miaulis, the Greek
    Admiral—Excursion to Argos, the ancient Terynthus      122

                              LETTER XXI.

    Visit from King Otho and Miaulis—Visit an English and Russian
    Frigate—Beauty of the Greek men—Lake Lerna—The Hermionicus
    Sinus—Hydra—Ægina      129

                              LETTER XXII.

    The Maid of Athens—Romance and Reality—American Benefactions
    to Greece—A Greek Wife and Scottish Husband—School of Capo
    d’Istrias—Grecian Disinterestedness—Ruins of the most Ancient
    Temple—Beauty of the Grecian Landscape—Hope for the Land of
    Epaminondas and Aristides      134

                             LETTER XXIII.

    Athens—Ruins of the Parthenon—The Acropolis—Temple of
    Theseus—The Oldest of Athenian Antiquities—Burial-Place of the
    Son of Miaulis—Reflections on Standing where Plato taught, and
    Demosthenes harangued—Bavarian Sentinel—Turkish Mosque,
    erected within the Sanctuary of the Parthenon—Wretched
    Habitations of the Modern Athenians      139

                              LETTER XXIV.

    The “Lantern of Demosthenes”—Byron’s Residence in
    Athens—Temple of Jupiter Olympus, Seven Hundred Years in
    Building—Superstitious Fancy of the Athenians respecting its
    Ruins—Hermitage of a Greek Monk—Petarches, the Antiquary and
    Poet, and his Wife, Sister to the “Maid of Athens”—Mutilation
    of a Basso Relievo by an English Officer—The Elgin Marbles—The
    Caryatides—Lord Byron’s Autograph—Attachment of the Greeks to
    Dr. Howe—The Sliding Stone—A Scene in the Rostrum of
    Demosthenes      145

                              LETTER XXV.

    The Prison of Socrates—Turkish Stirrups and Saddles—Plato’s
    Academy—The American Missionary School at Athens—The Son of
    Petarches, and Nephew of “Mrs. Black of Ægina”      150

                              LETTER XXVI.

    The Piræus—The Sacra Via—Ruins of Eleusis—Gigantic
    Medallion—Costume of the Athenian Women—The Tomb of
    Themistocles—The Temple of Minerva—Autographs      155

                             LETTER XXVII.

    Mytilene—The Tomb of Achilles—Turkish Burying Ground—Lost
    Reputation of the Scamander—Asiatic Sunsets—Visit to a Turkish
    Bey—The Castles of the Dardanelles—Turkish Bath, and its
    Consequences      160

                             LETTER XXVIII.

    A Turkish Pic-Nic on the plain of Troy—Fingers v.
    Forks—Trieste—The Boschetto—Graceful Freedom of Italian
    Manners—A Rural Fête—Fireworks—Amateur Musicians      166

                              LETTER XXIX.

    The Dardanelles—Visit from the Pacha—His Delight at hearing
    the Piano—Turkish Fountains—Caravan of Mules laden with
    Grapes—Turkish Mode of Living—Houses, Cafés, and Women—The
    Mosque and the Muezzin—American Consul of the Dardanelles,
    another “Caleb Quotem”      171

                              LETTER XXX.

    Turkish Military Life—A Visit to the Camp—Turkish
    Music—Sunsets—The Sea of Marmora      179

                              LETTER XXXI.

    Gallipoli—Aristocracy of Beards—Turkish Shopkeepers—The
    Hospitable Jew and his lovely Daughter—Unexpected
    Rencontre—Constantinople—The Bosphorus, the Seraglio, and the
    Golden Horn      184

                             LETTER XXXII.

    Constantinople—An Adventure with the Dogs of Stamboul—The
    Sultan’s Kiosk—The Bazaars—Georgians—Sweetmeats—Hindoostanee
    Fakeers—Turkish Women and their Eyes—The Jews—A Token of
    Home—The Drug Bazaar—Opium Eaters      190

                             LETTER XXXIII.

    The Sultan’s Perfumer—Etiquette of Smoking—Temptations for
    Purchasers—Exquisite Flavour of the Turkish Perfumes—The Slave
    Market of Constantinople—Slaves from various Countries, Greek,
    Circassian, Egyptian, Persian—African Female Slaves—An
    Improvisatrice—Exposure for Sale—Circassian Beauties
    prohibited to Europeans—First sight of one, eating a Pie—Shock
    to Romantic Feelings—Beautiful Arab Girl chained to the
    Floor—The Silk Merchant—A cheap Purchase      196

                             LETTER XXXIV.

    The Bosphorus—Turkish Palaces—The Black
    Sea—Buyukdere      201

                              LETTER XXXV.

    The Golden Horn and its Scenery—The Sultan’s Wives and
    Arabians—The Valley of Sweet Waters—Beauty of the Turkish
    Minarets—The Mosque of Sulymanye—Mussulmans at their
    Devotions—The Muezzin—The Bazaar of the Opium-eaters—the Mad
    House of Constantinople, and Description of its inmates—Their
    Wretched Treatment—The Hippodrome and the Mosque of Sultan
    Achmet—The Janizaries—Reflections on the Past, the Present,
    and the Future      207

                             LETTER XXXVI.

    Sultan Mahmoud at his Devotions—Comparative Splendour of Papal,
    Austrian, and Turkish Equipages—The Sultan’s Barge or
    Caïque—Description of the Sultan—Visit to a Turkish
    Lancasterian School—The Dancing Dervishes—Visit from the
    Sultan’s Cabinet—The Seraskier and the Capitan Pacha—Humble
    Origin of Turkish Dignitaries      215

                             LETTER XXXVII.

    The Grand Bazaar of Constantinople, and its infinite Variety of
    Wonders—Silent Shopkeepers—Female Curiosity—Adventure with a
    Black-Eyed Stranger—The Bezestein—The Stronghold of
    Orientalism—Picture of a Dragoman—The Kibaub-Shop—A Dinner
    without Knives, Forks, or Chair—Cistern of the Thousand and One
    Columns      223

                            LETTER XXXVIII.

    Belgrade—The Cottage of Lady Montagu—Turkish
    Cemeteries—Natural Taste of the Moslems for the Picturesque—A
    Turkish Carriage—Washerwomen Surprised—Gigantic Forest
    Trees—The Reservoir—Return to Constantinople      229

                             LETTER XXXIX.

    Scutari—Tomb of the Sultana Valide—Mosque of the Howling
    Dervishes—A Clerical Shoemaker—Visit to a Turkish
    Cemetery—Bird’s-Eye View of Stamboul and its Environs—Seraglio
    Point—The Seven Towers      234

                               LETTER XL.

    Beauties of the Bosphorus—Summer-Palace of the
    Sultan—Adventure with an old Turkish Woman—The Feast of
    Bairam—The Sultan his own Butcher—His Evil Propensities—Visit
    to the Mosques—A Formidable Dervish—Santa Sophia—Mosque of
    Sultan Achmet—Traces of Christianity      240

                              LETTER XLI.

    Unerring Detection of Foreigners—A Cargo of Odalisques—The
    Fanar, or Quarter of the Greeks—Street of the
    Booksellers—Aspect of Antiquity—Purchases—Charity for Dogs
    and Pigeons—Punishment of Canicide—A Bridal
    Procession—Turkish Female Physiognomy      245

                              LETTER XLII.

    The Perfection of Bathing—Pipes—Downy
    Cushions—Coffee—Rubbing Down—“Circular Justice,” as displayed
    in the Retribution of Boiled Lobsters—A Deluge of Suds—The
    Shampoo—Luxurious Helps to the Imagination—A Pedestrian
    Excursion—Story of an American Tar, burdened with Small
    Change—-Beauty of the Turkish Children—A Civilised
    Monster—Glimpse of Sultan Mahmoud in an Ill-Humour      251

                             LETTER XLIII.

    Punishment of Conjugal Infidelity—Drowning in the
    Bosphorus—Frequency of its occurrence accounted for—A