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If thou art boiTow'd by a friend,
Eight welcome shall he be, To read, to study— not to lend,
But to return to me ; Not that imparted knowledge doth
Diminish leaa-ning's store, But books, I find, if often lent.
Return to me no more.
Read slowly. Pause frequently
Think seriously,
keep cleanly, return duly,
with the corners of the
leaves not turned
down.
^M^i^SS^S^gSSSSSx-ooco'
Digitized by tine Internet Arcinive
in 2008 witii funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/autobiograpliyofj02bucl<
Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM;
INCLUDING HIS
VOYAGES, TRAVELS, ADVENTURES, SPECULATIONS, SUCCESSES AND FAILURES,
FAITHFULLY AND FEANKLT N AERATED: INTERSPERSED WITH
CHARACTERISTIC SKETCHES OF PUBLIC MEN
WITH WHOM HE HAS HAD INTERCOURSE, DURING A PERIOD OF MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS.
WITH A PORTRAIT.
VOL. II.
LONDON;
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS.
1855.
Tlie Author of this JVork notifies that he reserves the right of translating it.
London;
A. and G. A. Spottiswoode,
New-Street-Square.
K8A3
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER L
Page
Voyage through the Straits of Scio to Smyrna - - l
Bccahned off the Island of Mytelene or Lesbos - - 2
Lines to the Setting Moon, air — "Fly not yet" - - 3
Anchor in the Bay of Smyrna. — Splendid scene - - 4
First landing in Asiatic Turkey. — First impressions - - 5
European or Frank society. — Country residences - - 7
Anecdote of an English captain as conjuror - - - 9
Turkish governor and Greek coiner of money - - 1 1
Fascinations of the soirees of Madame Marracini - ■• 13
Lord Byron. — Mr. Hobhouse.— Mr. Cockercll and Mr. Forster 13
Mr. Fiott's adventurous joiu-ney across Asia Minor - - 14
Captain Beaufort's survey of Caramania - - - 15
Coup-de-soleil. and severe delirious fever - - - 16
Anecdote of Captain Hope, of the Salsette frigate - - 1 7
Voyage home and safe arrival - - - - 20
CHAP. IL
New phase of life. — Gaiety and pleasure in London - - 21
Appointed to command the Scipio for the Mediterranean - 22
First interest about India and its commei'cial monopoly - 22
Meeting at the Mansion-house on the Company's charter - 22
Alderman Waithman and Sir William Curtis - - 23
Leave London for Portsmouth. — Domestic calamity - - 28
Liberality of the ship's owners. — My wife and child join me - 2!)
Scene at Gibraltar. — Female patriotism and loyalty - . 30 A 2
IV CONTENTS.
Page
Sail for Malta. — Sudden gale and great danger - - 32
The lost thimble, a first misfortune in life - - - 33
Singular obstruction to the progress of the fleet - - 35
Immense swarm of locusts drowned in the sea - - 35
Islands of Zambro and Pantellaria. — Cape Bon - - 38
Fu-st sight of Sicily. — History and poetry of the island - 39
CHAP. III.
Stay at Malta and agreeable parties there - - - 41
Voyage through the Archipelago.— Attacked by Greek pirates 42
Obstinate conflict and ultimate victory. — Injury sustained - 45
Succeeding storm and danger of shipwTeck - - - 54
Island of Santorin thrown up by submarine volcano - - 55
Crete or Candia, its history and associations - - - 55
Delos, the sacred island of the Greeks. — Awe of the Persian Fleet 57
Nicaria. — Singular custom of sponge divers - - - 58
Samos, its ancient celebrity and modern decay - - 59
Pythagoras and his doctrines. — Moore's classical odes - 60
Ancient traveller's description of Samos divers - - 61
Passage through the Straits of Scio to Smyrna - - 61
Plague raging in the city. —Villages happily free - - 62
CHAP. IV.
Agreeable stay at Smyrna, notwithstanding the plague - 64
Practical proofs of its non-contagious character - - 65
Visit of Mrs. Buckingham to the harem of the Governor - 67
Singular notions of Asiatics as to female beauty - - 68
Adventure on horseback, and narrow escape - - - 69
Friendly intercourse with Captain Hope of the Sa/seWe - 71
Dramatic entertainment given on board the frigate - - 72
Anecdote of a seaman and the Wooden Horse of Troy - 74
Admiral Hope, his practical piety and benevolence - - 74
Arrival of Sir William Ousel ey from Persia - - - 75
Mr. Price, the Oriental scholar.— Learned shoemakers - - 76
Excursion to Scio, the birthplace of Homer - - - 77
Beauty of the women and longevity of the men - - 79
Visit to Cheshme, the Erythjean and Cumcean Sybil - - 80
CONTENTS. • V
CHAP. V.
Page
Sail from Smyrna with a companion, the Hermes - - 82
Terrific hail-storm, and loss of topmast on the African coast - 83
Repair of damages. — Anecdote of a refractory carpenter - 85
Arrival at Gibraltar. — First news of War with America - 86
Narrow escape from being wrecked on Cape Finisterre - 87
An-ival in the Thames. — Stangate Creek. — Quarantine - 89
Seamen prevented from hanging the carpenter at the yard-arm 90
Absurdity and inefficiency of the Laws of Quarantine - 91
CHAP. VI.
Elegant hospitalities and agreeable parties in England - 95
Anecdotes of a Don Cossack Chief from Russia - - 97
Mania of the English for notoriety.— Lady Cork's rout - 98
Resolution taken to resign the sea as a profession - - 101
Plan for setthng at Malta as a shipowner and merchant - 101
Sail from London on this expedition. — Lines to the Moon - 102
Information of the plague raging at Malta - - - 106
Influence of fear on one of the passengers - - - 107
Terror of all parties on shore at the spread of the disease - 109
Currently received account of its origin and progress - 110
CHAP. Yll.
Sail for Smyrna. — Leaving goods behind at Malta - - 115
Excursion to Clazomene, the city of Anaxagoras - - 1 1 6
Description of the ruins.— Causeway. — Theatre. — Acropolis - 117
Fate of Anaxagoras, for being a man before his time - - 119
Continued disastrous news of deaths and failures in Malta - 122
Loss of all my property there, and increased liabilities - 123
Second instance of pecuniary misfortune without fault - 123
Resolution to try new ground, by going to Egypt - - 123
CHAP. VIIL
Embark for Egypt in the schooner T7ieocZosi'a - - - 125
Naval veteran commander's appearance and habits - - 125
A 3
VI CONTENTS.
Page
Watering at Vpurla, and passage tlirougli the Archipelago - 126
Sight of Candia, and Mount Ida of the Cretan Jove - - 127
Anecdotes of grog-drinking by the points of compass - 127
Eirst sight of the shores of Egypt. — Ponapey's Pillar - - 129
Unfavourable impressions on landing at Alexandria - - 129
Agreeable state of society among the Europeans - - 130
Excursions during the day.^Mareotis, Aboukir, &c. - - 131
Singular Club, called " The Bucolicanic Association" - 132
Anniversary celebrated in the gardens of Alexandria - 132
Pi'ize poem for translation. — Ode to Hope - - - 133
Resolution taken to repair to Grand Cairo - - - 136
CHAP. IX.
Voyage from Alexandria to Rosetta by the Lakes - - 138
Battle-fields of Abercrombie and Nelson ... 133
Rosetta and its environs. — Costume of the British Consul - 139
Embark on the Nile for Cairo. — The Inundation - - 142
Amphibious boatmen. — Current. — Etesian winds - - 143
Delicious climate and scenery on the banks of the Nile - 144
Eeast of Bairam. — Conversation with learned pilgrims - 145
Their notions of geography and history — The Aixtic regions 147
First sight of Cairo and the Egyptian pyramids - - 149
Striking peculiarities and varieties of the population - - 150
Hospitable reception at the Bi-itish Residency - - 151
Character of Colonel Missett and his suite and parties - 152
Visits to all the objects of interest in Cairo and its environs - 154
Anecdotes of Oriental ideas and manners - - - 155
View of Cairo from the citadel. — Ignorance of villagers - 155
State of European society in Cairo generally - - - 15S
CHAP. X.
Offer to transport ships across the Desert of Suez - - 161
Mode of operation and probable cost - - - - 162
Proposition for my making an expedition to India - - 163
Projected opening of a Canal from the Nile to the Red Sea - 165
Departure on a voyage to the Catai'acts and Nubia - - 166
CONTENTS. Vll
Page
Ruins of Memphis. — Pyramids of Saccara and Dashour - 167
Journey through Faioura to the Lake Moeris and Labyrinth - 171
Design of gathering rose-dew, to send to EngUind - - 171
Ruins of Antinoe and Hermopohs. — Contrast of styles - 174
CHAP. XI.
Visit a caravan of slaves from the interior of Africa - - 176
Stay amidst the ruins of the hundred-gated Thebes - - 177
Pirst interview with Mr. Burckhardt at Esne - - - 179
Reach Syene. — The frontiers of Egypt and Nubia - - 183
Proceed further, till rendered blind by ophthalmia - - 184
Return to Esne. — Letter of Mr. Bm-ckhardt and second meeting 185
Halt at Keneh, for my Desert journey to Cosseir - - 187
CHAP. XIL
Descent of the Nile fi-oni Nubia, and the Cataracts - - 189
Predicted perils of a journey across the Desert to Cosseir - 189
Disorganisation and disorder of the Turkish troops - - 1 9 1
Mohammed Ali's expedition against the Wahabees - - 192
An Arabian maiden warrior, a second Joan of Arc - - 192
Depai'ture from Keneh with an Albanian soldier - - 196
Travelling by night to avoid observation - - - 198
Jackals and Hyajuas encountered on the route - - 201
Drunken companion. — Robbed of our camels - - 202
Other animals obtained with difficulty - _ _ 2O4
Ai-rested by a party of Albanian mutineers - - - 2O6
Stripped of everything, and left naked in the Desert - - 208
Hospitality of a " Good Samaritan " Bedouin - - - 210
Dreadful suffering from wounds, hunger, and thirst - - 211
Arrival at Cosseir. — New difficulties there - - - 213
Return to Keneh without effecting my object - - - 218
CHAP. XIIL
Descent of the Nile from Keneh to Cairo - - - 219 Commission to siuwey the Isthmus of Suez, and ascertain the
practicability of a Canal across it - - - - 220
VIU CONTENTS.
Page
Leave Cairo in the costume and character of a Bedouin Arab 221
Companions of my journey, and route pursued - - 221
Rude hospitality of the inhabitants of the Desert - - 224
Aversion of both men and camels to enclosed buildings - 228
Halt at the castle of Adjerood for the night - - - 229
Arab opinions of regular government and civilised life - 230
Arrive at Suez, and favourable reception by the Governor - 230
Description of the to^vn, and nautical survey of the harbour - 232
Entry of the great caravan of 4,000 camels from Caii'o - 236
Variety of races, complexions, characters, and costumes - 236
Predicted dangers of our future Desert Journey - - 237
Moore's Vision of Philosophy. — Sage of the Eed Sea - 239
CHAP. XIV.
Journey in search of the ancient Canal - - . 242
Tradition of the Israelites passing the Eed Sea - - 243
Places still called the Island and Creek of the Jews - - 243
No phenomena observed to account for this event according to
the oi'dinary course of natui-al means - - - - 244
Ai'rival at the bed of the ancient Canal ... 245
Authorities of Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus, and Pliny - 246
Exact coiTcspondence of the remains with these - - 249
Cleopatra's voyage on this Canal in her splendid barge - 249
Dreadful storm in the Desert, and its effects - - - 250
Revival of the project for a Canal. — A Railroad will now be
more easy to execute - ... - 256
CHAP. XV.
Journey through the Land of Goshen, — the Israelites- - 259
Pelusium, Menzaleh, and Tanis, the Zoan of Scripture - 259
Works of the Hebi-ew captives still seen there - - 259
Arrival at Damietta, the chief port of the Nile - - 259
Cross the whole of the Delta, from east to west - - 260
Visit the ruined sites of Busivis, Thaubastis, and Sais - 260
Arrival at Alexandria, and reception there ... - 260
Captain Berrington, a traveller for the interior of Africa - 260
CONTENTS. IX
Page
Excursions on the Nile and in the Delta . . _ 261
Kindness of the Orientals to the brute creation - - 261
Fire and docility of the Arab horse, — Description of this by Job 261
Anecdote of an Arab merchant and voracious pigeons - 262
Accompany Mr. Maxwell and Captain Bramsen to Cairo - 266
CHAR XVI.
First interview with Mohammed Ali Pasha - - . 267
Suggestions offered to him for improving Egypt - - 268
Education of Egyptian youths in Europe and America - 269
Employment of these as teachers among his people - - 270
Increase of knowledge Avould bring increased wealth - 271
Improvement required in the quality of Egyptian cotton - 272
This certain to attract British merchants and capital - 272
Intercourse with Europe thus made profitable - - 273
Kesults of the adoption of these suggestions - - - 274
Ke-opening of the Canal between the Nile and Red Sea - 275
Reasons assigned by the Pasha for deferring this - - 276
His views of English policy, from their past history - - 277 Commission for me to purchase ships for him in India, and
encourage the merchants there to trade with Egypt - 280
CHAP. XVII.
Departure for India by Suez and the Red Sea - - 282
Harem of the Pasha going to the Holy War - - 283
Mounts Horeb and Sinai, Ailoth and Ezion Geber - - 284
Fearful storm and loss of life and property - _ . 286
Arrival at Jedda, the port of Mecca - - - . 290
Extreme illness, and reception by an Arab merchant - - 290
Visit from Othman, a Scotsman become a Turk - - 291
Removal on board an English ship in the harbour - - 292
Kindness and attention of Captain Boog. — Speedy recovery - 292
Visit from M. Burckhardt, who came down from Mecca - 293
Anecdote of Othman, and the Scotch Catechism - - 294
Mistranslation of the Scriptures into Arabic - - 297
Letters of Mr. Burckhardt from Mecca ... 298
CONTENTS.
Anecdote of an Indian Fakir and his prayers Successful issue of faitli and perseverance
Page 309 311
CHAP. XVIII.
Voyage from Jedda by Lolieia and Hodeida to Mocha - 313
Hydrographical information acquired . . _ 313
Arrival at Mocha. — Reception at the Residency - - 314
Agreeable party of seven English gentlemen - - - 315
Occupations and researches while at Mocha / - - 316
Letter to Mr. Burckhardt on the fate of Dr. Seetzen - 317
Lines adapted to the air, "Go where Glory waits thee" - 318
Peculiarities at Mocha. — Head-dresses of the Samaulies - 324
Abstinence from coffee, and substitute of ghasheb - - 325
Anecdote of an Indian Princess. — English tea - - 326
Visit to the port of Aden. — Letter to Mr. Forbes - - 329
Call at the Arabian port of Macullah ... 333
Singular disease and deaths among the crew . - - 333
Influence of the Moon at sea. — Pythagoras and Moore - 334
Safe arrival in the harbour of Bombay - - - 336
CHAP. XIX.
Entrance to the noble harbour of Bombay ... 337
Inquiries of Commercial Houses and their results - - 339
Private acquaintances speedily formed ... 339
Domesticated with intelligent and agreeable friends - - 340
Competition of Hindoo and Chinese agriculturists - - 343
Remarkable English women in Bombay - . . 345
Hospitality and gaieties of general society ... 347
Excursions to the Cavern Temples of the Hindoos - . 348
Basaltic pillars. — Geological Explorers ... 343
Adventures with Tigers in the Island of Salsette - - 350
Lines addressed to my Wife, with the rose-dew of Egypt - 356
CHAP. XX.
Mercantile want of confidence in the Egyi^tian Pasha - 359
Relinquishment of the Red Sea trade for the present - - 359
CONTENTS.
XI
Page
Appointment to command an Arab frigate, the Humai/oon Shah 360
Information given against me to the Solicitor-General - 361
Visits to the Chief Secretary and the Governor - - 361
Wish of Sir Evan Nepean to make me an American - - 362
Absurdity and injustice of the licensing system - - 363
Causes of this singular and unjust legislation - - 364
Correspondence with the Bombay Government - - 366
Eefusal to allow me to remain in India ... 370
Permission at length given to return to Egypt - . 384
Heavy pecuniary losses sustained thereby - . . 337
CHAP. XXI.
Voyage from Bomba}^ to Suez by the Red Sea - . 388
Agreeable and accomplished companion, Mr. Babington - 389
Preparations for sea, and farewell visits - . . 339
Liberality of my friends, Mr. Erskinc and Wedderburn . 389
Lines on leaving Bombay in the Prince of Wales, cruiser - 390
Southern passage beyond the Equator.— Heavy gales - - 392
Island of Diego Garcia. — Approach to the African coast - 392
Extract from the Manuscript Journal of our voyage - - 394
Mons Felix, an error for the Mountain of the Elephant - 395
Illustrations of Agatharchides and Ovid.— Halcyons - - 398
Arrival and stay at Mocha, and thence to Jedda - - 402
Peculiarities of the Red Sea — its crystal clearness - - 405
Beauty of the Coral formations on the reefs - . - 406
Difficulties and facilities of its navigation ... 407
Transformation of shoals to habitable islands - . . 410
Anomalies in the tides of the Red Sea - . .411
Lines to the air of " Montalambert " in a calm - - 411
CHAP. XXIL
Arrival at Suez, and jom-ney across the Desert - - 413
Short stay at Cairo. — INIeet Mr. Burckhardt there - - 4 1 3
Meet also Signor Belzoni, on his way to India - - 414
Dissuade him from the attempt, for reasons assigned - - 415
Hasten to Alexandria, to see the Pasha there - - - 415
Mr, Benjamin Babington remains at Cairo - - - 416
XU CONTENTS.
Page
Tribute to the character of my friend and companion - 416
Explanation to the Pasha, of want of confidence in India - 417
Recommend him to grant a Convention of Commerce - 417
Liberal concessions made by this Convention - - - 418
Contrast of its terms with former exactions . - - 420
Undertake to be the bearer of this to India - . - 422
Necessity for making this journey overland . - - 422
Preparations to traverse Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Persia - 422
Reasons for adopting the Oriental costume ... 423
Appointed as Envoy of the Pasha to India - - - 423
Safety of being a Turk Danger of being an Englishman - 424
AUTOBIOGEAPHY
JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM.
CHAPTER I.
Voyage througli tlie Straits of Scio to Smyrna. — Becalmed oil the Island of Mytelene or Lesbos. — Lines to the Setting Moon, air — "Fly not yet." — Anchor in the Bay of Smyrna. — Sjolen- did scene. — First landing in Asiatic Turkey. — First impres- sions.— European or Frank society. — Country residences. — Sunday evening parties. — Balls and petit soupers. — Anec- dote of an English captain as conjuror. — Turkish governor and Greek coiner of money. — Lord Byron. — Mr. Hobhouse. — Mr. Cockerell and Mr. Forster. — Mr. Fiott's adventurous journey across Asia IMInor. — Captain Beaufort's survey of Caramania.— Fascinations of the soirees of Madame Marracini. — Coup-de-soleil, and severe delirious fever. — Anecdote of Captain Hope of the Salsette frigate. — Arrogance of mer- chant ships giving convoy.— Voyage home and safe arrival.
I WAS now about to tread, for the first time, the soil of Asia, and ^yas glad when the abatement of the gale enabled us to shake out all our reefs and make sail for Smyrna. In our course towards this,
VOL. II. B
2 CLEAR THE STRAITS OF SCIO.
WG passed tlirougli the Straits of Scio^ having that island on the west, and the coast of Asia Minor, with the cave of the Erythrean Sybil, on the east. As a picture of marine scenery, this is perhaps the most lovely throughout the whole of the Archipelago : — the grandeur of its mountains, the fertility of its slop- ing shores, and the brilliance given to the whole by the numerous villages and villas on the slopes of Scio particularly, are really enchanting.
After clearing the Straits of Scio by its narrow entrance from the north, we passed close by the Island of Lesbos or Mytelene, the home of the poets Ter- pander, Alcseus, and Sappho, as fertile in subjects for reflection as any spot we had passed, and appear- ing to preserve all its ancient fertility and beauty. We were becalmed off this island during the night; when one of the most brilliant moonlights imaginable, such as are never seen in our northern latitudes, made it delicious to remain on deck and enjoy the balmy air, the exquisite perfume, and profound stillness which combined to make up an Elysium of delight. Before leaving England, I had often listened with pleasure to the favourite air of my beloved wife, — " Fly not yet," from one of Moore's Melodies ; and, adapted to that air, I employed the leisure of the midnight watch in penning the following lines to
LINES TO THE SETTING MOON. 3
tlio Moon, which was too rapidly declining in the west.
TO THE SETTING MOON. I.
Fly not yet ! thou radiant Moon, Nor sink on Thetis' lap so soon : Those rays, that light the western skies, Still conjure up the magic ties
Of Love's endearing chain ; Ties that defy e'en hoary Time, Or change of scene, or cliange of clime. While round this heart, with truth still glowing, Nature's purple tide is flowing.
Oh ! stay, — Oh ! stay ; Nor let the web thy beams have wove In Memorj^'s loom for her I love
So soon be rent in twain.
II.
Thy silver orb recalls the hour When, at her touch, soft Music's power Through every sense transported stole. As o'er her song my captive soul
In silent wonder hung ; For such the enchantment of her strain, That bliss itself thrilled high with pain, But, as I fled those maddening pleasures, Soft she sighed, in Lydian measures,
Oh! stay, — Oh! stay.
4 SAIL UP THE BAY OF SMYENA.
The hours that glide on rapid wing
Such dear deh'glits too seldom bring.
Then fly not yet, so soon !
III.
" Fly not yet ! " — what spell divine Breathes o'er the cadence of that line, In dulcet notes like those which sung
Creation's dawning day. E'en here, amid the holier balm Of Grecian skies, in midnight calm, While mortal sounds are sunk in slumbers, Her sigh still breathes these melting numbers,
"Oh! stay, —Oh! stay." And thus, sweet Moon, thy setting light Prolongs the dream that Iiangs to-night
On that remembered lay.
In tlie morning, tlie sea-breeze setting In fresh and fair, we sailed up the Bay of Smyrna, the whole aspect of which is at once grand and beautiful, the mountains rising to a great height on all sides, with fertile plains near the sea. The city Is seated on the rounded bosom of a hill, covering it in a convex and at the same time semicircular form. Its summit being crowned by the extensive ruins of an old Genoese castle and fortification, by which It was defended when In possession of that enterprising people. All
SMYllXA. 5
the recollections of Homer, whose reputed birthplace was here, on the hanks of the Moles, that runs into the sea, — of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, of which Smyrna was one of the most distinguished, — of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp, a native of this city, who had lived and conversed with the apostles, being a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, who is believed to indicate his pupil, under the title of " the Angel of the Church in Smyrna," and to whom the Apocalypse is dedicated ; — all these rushed upon my mind while viewing the scene before me. But I repress the in- dulgence of my desire to give expression to all that I felt.
After taking up our anchorage among the numer- ous shipping now in port, and within half a mile of the shore, among which it was difficult to find a good berth in so thickly crowded a fleet, we made the ship secure, and in an hour after I made my first landing in a Turkish city. Here everything was so new, that it at once bewildered and delighted. Bearded and turbanned Turks, on splendid horses gorgeously ca- parisoned, passed through the streets with the stately and magnificent air of persons born to subjugate and rule ; camels in long trains, bearing merchandise to and from the magazines or warehouses ; Turkish women, moving along like bulky ghosts, enveloped in
B 3
" POPULATION OF SMYRNA.
in multitudinous muslin robes, with their faces con- cealed, except the large dark liquid gazelle eyes, which made their looks penetrate the whole frame of those on whom they cast them with an intenseness of which the European eye would seem incapable. Next came the varied physiognomy and costume of the Armenians, with their long robes and bulky calpacs ; the Albanian Greeks, with their short white petticoats, velvet and embroidered jackets, and jaunty little skull caps, often adorned with natural flowers ; the sturdy peasant, with his brown skin and furrowed bull's neck, from the heart of Asia Minor ; and the Turkish troops, literally bristling with arms to the teeth, in matchlock, pistol, yataghan, khandjar, and scimetar, looking as fierce as though destruc- tion was their pastime. It was like the moving scene of a drama rather than of real life, and was doubly ex- citing from the suddenness with which we were plunged into it, from the comparative uniformity of a long sea voyage.
My ship being consigned to the house of Lee and Sons, established more than a century at Smyrna, I was invited to take up my residence with them on shore, which I gladly accepted ; and by this means soon became introduced to the most agreeable society of the place. Mr. John Lee, the head of the firm hero, was assisted by two of his nephews, Mr.
EUROPEAN SOCIETY AT SMYRNA. 7
Ricliarcl and James Brant, whose father was an ex- tensive silk merchant in London, and whose mother, a native of Smyrna, was Mr. Lee's sister. The con- sul at this time was Mr. Werrj, an old officer of seventy years of age, who had been at his post for lialf a century, and was more than half a Turk in his opinions, manners, and practices. Besides these, who might be called the heads of the European circle at Smyrna, there were about a dozen English merchants and their families, three or four Americans, Mr. Van Lennap, the Dutch consul, of almost as long standing as Mr. Werry, and the consuls of France, Piedmont, Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Ame- rica, and many smaller states, making, with their families and those of the Levantines and Greeks into which they had married, a circle of from two to three hundred of European origin and descent.
These chiefly resided in v. hat was called the Frank quarter of Smyrna, wdiere the streets and houses were after French models, with port-cocheres, and courts or gardens in the centre, around wdiich the dwelling stood; while the Turkish quarter — built almost wholly of wooden houses — had narrow and tortuous streets, and was everywhere as dirty as the Frank quarter was clean. What constituted the great charm, however, of Smyrna as a residence, was the
B 4
8 EUROPEAN SOCIETY AT SMYRNA.
numerous and beautiful villages in its environs, par- ticularly Boudjali, Bournabat, and Sedikui, at each of which were villas and delightful gardens, to which the Europeans retire from their counting- houses every night during the summer, and where they sometimes remain for a week or more at a time in the season, when business was not pressing. Sundays and fete days, which seemed to occur even more frequently than the Sabbath, were the great daj's for visiting ; and on these occasions the houses were open to receive all who called. The hours of meals were, breakfast at eight, dinner at one, and supper at eight ; this last being the principal meal of the day ; and, after the ancient French mode, the visitors usually assembled an hour before supper for conversation, and, after the meal, wound up the evening by a dance, to which no invitations w^ere given, but at which every one once introduced to the family were sure of a cordial reception. At such parties it was not unusual for the Turkish governor of Smyrna, or some pulent or distinguished Turk, to be present, with his suite, as a guest or looker on ; while in the dance would be mingled European ladies and gentlemen in the latest fashions of London or Paris, long-robed Armenians, short-kilted Greeks, English and French naval ofhcers, in their blue uniforms and gold epau-
AMUSEMENTS. 9
lets, aiul European travellers making Smyrna tlicir head-quarters, in their ill-suiting Asiatic dresses; with a larger number of beautiful female forms and faces among the young Greeks and Levantines, than were ever seen among an equally limited circle of fashion and beauty in any city in Europe. The summer and autumnal evenings are so soft and balmy in tliis delicious climate, that during these festive entertain- ments every door and window can be thrown open with impunity ; and nothing was more frequent than at the close of the dance to see the partners retire together for a walk in the garden, where all the perfume and freshness of the open air might be enjoyed without risk to health.
At two of these Sunday evening parties, one at Bournabat and the other at Sedikui, which means " the village of love," I witnessed two scenes which may be worth recording. An English naval officer. Captain Mainwaring, commanding the Kite sloop-of- war, then in the harbour, had learnt in Sicilj' various tricks of legerdemain, and was solicited to exhibit his powers, between the dance, to the assembled com- pany. His feats of skill were intensely admired, and created universal satisfaction. As a final exhi- bition, he offered to take any quantity of blood from the complexion of anv young lady of the party, with
10 LEGERDEMAIN.
an assurance tliat no possible harm should happen to her from the process, but that she sliould be infinitely more beautiful at its close. It was some time before any one could be found ready to submit to the ope- ration; but at length, a young Greek, extremely lovely and about sixteen, tempted perhaps by the promise of increased beauty, consented. A large wash-basin being placed on the table, her head was held over it, and the Captain made what was sup- posed to be an incision with a lancet, just beneath tlie under lip, holding at the same time a silver funnel pressed close to the wound. The crimson stream began to flow immediately, and after a tole- rable quantity had escaped, the relatives and friends became somewhat alarmed, and asked the young lady how she felt. Her reply was, that she hardly knew, except that dizziness and faintness were fast seizing on her, and she hoped the Captain would soon desist. She had scarcely uttered the words, however, before she fainted away in a swoon, looking as pale as death. The shrieks from the female spectators were piercing, and tliese were soon followed by execrations against the murderer of this youthful beauty, as the Captain was now considered. The tumult, indeed, became so general, and the alarm and indignation so in- fectious, that there was scarcely a person in the
EFFECT OF THE MIND UPON THE BODY. 11
whole assembly unmoved ; and a party, which a few minutes before had been remarkable for its hilarity and joyousness, was now changed to one of sadness and gloom. There were two medical men among the visitors, and both were called in to look upon the supposed corpse, when, after the most diligent search, no trace of an incision could be found, as none had really been made ; the whole being a trick performed by having a funnel with a double casing, in the space between which a quantity of crimson fluid, exactly like blood in colour and general appearance, which was permitted to flow throngh a valve under the operator's guidance ; the fainting, therefore, was the mere effect of the mind upon the body, from the young lady believing that she was losing blood by the ope- ration.
The other incident was this. The Turkish Gover- nor being present as a guest, and Captain Main- waring's feats having been described to him, he said he would produce a Greek who should surpass them all. Tiie soldiers of his suite were accordingly sent to bring a man from the village prison, where he had been confined for some months for non-payment of taxes, he being one of the strolling class of conjurors, who earn their money easily and spend it freely, and are almost always in pecuniary difficulties. Tlie
12 A GREEK COXJUROR.
man came, and certainly performed [some tricks that would have been thought wonderful in Europe ; and at length, as the climax of his art, turned copper coins into silver, and silver coins into gold. This astonished the Governor beyond all the rest ; and he seemed really to doubt whether this was a mere conjuring trick, or whether it was not an actual trans- mutation of the metals, in the possibility of which, through alchemy, all the orientals believe. He ex- pressed his admiration accordingly in the highest terms. Some benevolent persons present, thinking it a good opportunity to perform an act of charity, went in a body to the Governor, and entreated him, as a reward to the Greek, to issue an order for his release from prison, for which they would all be very grateful. To this the shrewd Turkish dignitary re- plied, that if he had been Imprisoned for murder or any other crime which he could not clear himself of, it would be a different matter ; but as his imprison- ment was solely on account of his not paying his taxes, and he had the power to clear himself of this whenever he pleased, as he could convert copper into silver and silver Into gold, it was his own fault if he remained in confinement a day longer. The Governor therefore recommended him first to pay Ills taxes bv this transmutation, after which he should
MADAME MAEEACIKI. 13
be liappy to place him at the head of his own trea- sury, which was now too often empty, but which his art would always keep full.
The principal place of fashionable reunion in Smyrna itself, was the house of Madame Marracini, a Greek lady, widow of an Italian husband, who had two charming daughters ; the eldest peculiarly lovely and fascinating, and a handsome son, with his ex- quisitely beautiful Greek wife. At this house there were two receptions in the week, and they were always attended by the best European society of the place, as well as by some of the wealthiest of the Greek and Armenian merchants, and often by the Governor and his suite. Lord Byron and Mr. Hob- house, who were then on their travels in the East, and had only recently left Smyrna, were frequent visitors here ; and Mr.Cockerell and Mr. Forster, archi- tects, now here, made it their constant place of resort. The elder daughter soon after this accepted Mr. Eorster's offer of marriage, and he took her with him to Liverpool, where his father held some high office under the corporation, and he himself was appointed architect of the town, where they lived many years in happiness, and enjoyed universal esteem. Mr. Forster had just returned to Smyrna at tins period, after an excursion in Greece, where Mr. Cockerell
14 MR. FIOTT.
and himself had discovered the Temples of Tegea, and offered the sculptures and bas-reliefs to the British Government ; but though they were of the greatest interest in every point of view, the offer was rejected, and they were purchased by the King of Bavaria for the museum at Munich, where I had the pleasure to see them, most advantageously arranged, in the Glyptotheca of that city, in 1846.
Among other English travellers in the East at this period was Mr. Fiott, a gentleman who arrived in Smyrna, after a most enterprising journey through the heart of Asia Minor, in parts where no European had before travelled ; and his arrival created a great sensation, from admiration of the courage which such an undertaking, in a European dress, evinced. I understood that he then enjoyed what is called a Travelling Fellowship from the University of Cam- bridge, of which he was a member, receiving a small income of 300^. a year, for three years, on condition of his visiting foreign parts, and communicating from time to time the result of his observations ; a plan worthy of adoption by all the learned bodies of Europe, but with more liberal allowance of means, if any valuable or important discoveries were expected to be made by the recipients. After an interval of twenty years (from 1812 to 1832), I had the pleasure
CAPTAIN BEAUFORT. 15
of again meeting this same Mr. Fiott, in the person of Dr. John Lee, of Hartwell House, near Aylesbury, the owner of a fine estate, coining to him on condition of his assuming the name of its original possessor ; and I liave for twenty years more (from 1832 to 1854) enjoyed the frequent intercourse and friendship of tlie same estimable gentleman ; a scholar, a pliilanthropist, and a patriot, and the friend of every enterprise or undertaking calculated to advance the freedom and happiness of the human race.
It was at this period also that Captain (now Ad- miral Sir Francis) Beaufort was employed in the Frederickstein frigate, surveying the coast of Cara- mania, and the southern shores of Asia Minor, the results of which he subsequently published in his agreeable and instructive volumes, which obtained for him the reputation of being one of the most scientific and accurate hydrographers of the age, and ultimately led to his becoming the chief of the hydro- graphical department of the Admiralty. Captain Beaufort made Smyrna his head-quarters, and was as popular among all classes here for his quiet and gentlemanly qualities and manners, as for his bravery, science, and naval reputation.
My ship having received some injury by a Greek polacca running foul of her while coming to an
16 MY ILLNESS AND RECOVEllY.
anchor in a lubberly style, it became necessary to " heave her out," tlie sea phrase for turning her nearly bottom upwards, at the careening place, in order to examine and repair the injury. In attending this always delicate and difficult operation, my long exposure to the sun caused me to be visited by a coup de soleil, and this brought on a brain fever, under which I was prostrate in strength and delirious in mind for nearly a fortnight ; during which it was said by my friends and attendants, that I dwelt almost constantly on subjects connected with Oriental life and manners, sometimes imagining myself to be a Sultan, and addressing my surrounding ministers and officers of state in the true Cambj-ses vein. Nothing could exceed the attention of the kind family of Mr. Lee and his nephews, the Brants, during my illness, which would have been of much longer duration, and perhaps fatal, but for their aid.
My recovery being complete, and all our prepara- tions made for the return voyage to England, I paid a round of visits, took leave with regret, and went on board. As at this period the Archipelago was swarming with pirates from the Morea, chiefly Greeks, but associated with deserters, escaped con- victs, and renegades of all nations, I thought it might be acceptable to some of the unarmed coasters
OFFER TO CONVOY OTHER SHIPS. 17
and smaller craft navigating westward, to have the protection of an armed vessel like my own, with twelve guns, musketry, and small arms, and a stout and resolute crew. On making the first indication of sailing — the fore-topsail loose and blue Peter at the mast-head — we fired a gun, and hoisted the usual signal for convoy at the peak. Just at this moment the Salsette frigate. Captain Hope, entered the bay on her return from a short cruise ; when hearing a gun and seeing a signal for convoy, which ships of war alone generally give ; and seeing, moreover, by the low, graceful hull, taunt masts, square yards, and general style of the rigging, that there was some- thing of a naval cut in our vessel, he made the signal to show our number, which, not being a ship of war, we were of course unable to do. As soon, therefore, as the frigate had anchored. Captain Hope sent a midshipman in the jolly-boat to command the im- mediate attendance of the commander of the offending vessel to answer for his conduct. Of course I immediately obej'ed the command, and in half-an- hour I stood on the frigate's quarter-deck, where Captain Hope, surrounded by his officers, who evi- dently expected a scene, said to me, in a tone of genuine authority, " How dare you. Sir, to make signal for convoy, not holding his Majesty's commis-
VOL. II. C
18 INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN HOPE.
sion as a naval officer ?" To which I replied, with a firmness evidently not expected, — " Sir, I not only dare to do so now, but to repeat it if required : and dare you to haul down such signal at your peril." The answer seemed rather to amuse than to offend, by its very extravagance, and was received by Captain Hope with a hearty laugh, which lit up his fine features and benevolent countenance : " Oh 1 Sir," he replied, " I suppose you come armed with Vattell and Puffendorff, to show me it is not contrary to the law of nations ; or with De Lolme and Blackstone to prove that it is part of the constitutional right of a British subject ; but you will admit, I suppose, that it is not accordant with the naval regulations." I re- plied, that though I was not unacquainted with the high authorities named, yet this was a case not likely to be provided for in their books ; and as to regulations for the naval service, I could not be held amenable to them : but unless Captain Hope could point out to me some law or authorised regula- tion, by which an armed merchant vessel was for- bidden to offer protection to unarmed ones who chose to sail under her convoy, I should still keep the signal flying, and be happy to take under our wing as many vessels as chose to accompany us." " Oli ! oh ! " he replied, laughing, " I see you are a much
HIS IRONICAL MARK OF RESPECT. 19
greater man than I had expected to find — so great, indeed, that I cannot think of returning yovi in the jolly-boat, which will not be large enough to hold you. Where's the boatswain? Clear the launch, • — hoist her out, and let her be manned with double- banked oars, to take on board his ship this great merchant commander ! " The shrill whistle of the boatswain and his mates Avere soon heard piping out the launch, amid the laughter of officers and men, for all of them thoroughly understood this piece of prac- tical irony and satire'; and in a few minutes the launch was afloat, with a double-banked crew and coxswain and a master's mate to escort me on board — the huge size of the launch strikingly contrasting with the simple object for which it was employed.
During the transit, however, I meditated my re- venge, which was ample and complete. The officer who conveyed me in the launch, felt the sort of in- dignity displayed towards me in this practical naval joke ; and his sympathies were accordingly enlisted on my behalf. I proposed to him, therefore, after some conversation, that the launch should board my ship on the off-side from the frigate, which happened to be the lee or proper side for such a purpose, and that the launch's crew should all step on board and weigh our anchor, an affair of five minutes only, as
c 2
20 MY EEVENGE.
we were hove short in five fathoms water, and therefore had a very small range of cable out. While the fri- gate's men were doing this, all our own crew were ordered aloft, by which we were enabled to do what can only be accomplished in ships of war with all hands, namely, loose every sail at once, and sheet home and hoist them to the mast-head ; so that with this double crew, — one on deck heaving in the anchor, and the other aloft making sail, — we were under way in less than five minutes from the launch reaching us. We then fired a gun in triumph, and bore away under crowded canvas, followed by about a dozen smaller vessels bound to the Greek islands who had accepted our protection, as much, no doubt, to the astonish- ment of the frigate's officers and crew, as to all others who had witnessed this unusual rapidity without knowing its cause.
We soon cleared the capes of the Bay of Smyrna, saw all our little convoy safe to their destination, and then made the best of our way to England, stopping only at Gibraltar to fill up our water, encountering very heavy gales in the British Channel in December, and reached the Thames on Christmas-day, rejoicing again to enjoy this festive season in the bosom of my family and friends.
21
CHAP. II.
New phase of life. — Gaiety and pleasure in London. — Ap- pointed to command the Scipio for the Mediterranean. — First interest about India and its commercial monopoly. — Meeting at the Mansion-house for the renewal of the Company's char- ter.— Alderman Waithman and Sir William Curtis. — Leave London for Portsmouth. — Domestic calamity. — Liberality of the ship's owners. — My wife and child join me. — Scene at Gibraltar. — Female patriotism and loyalty, — Sail for Malta. — Sudden gale and great danger. — The lost thimble, a first misfortune in life. — Singular obstruction to the progress of the fleet. — Immense swarm of Locusts drowned in the sea. — Recorded instances of similar enormous hosts. — Islands of Zambro and Pantellaria. — Cape Bon. — First sight of Sicily, — History and poetry of the island. — Arrival at Malta, and short stay there.
Mt stay on shore after tlils voyage introduced me to a new phase of life, and the most agreeable that I had yet experienced. The owners of the William, being French gentlemen, had sold the ship and cargo, both of which passing into other hands, I had no disposi- tion to continue the connection, and accordingly re- signing my command, had a month or two of leisure on my hands for enjoyment ; and xoho can drink in so much pleasure in so short a time as sailors arriving c 3
22 NEW PHASE OF LIFE.
liome after a tempestuous vojage, such as the latter half of ours had been.
I was furnished, by the European friends I had made at Malta and Smyrna, with introductions to their relations and connections in London ; and my days and nights were spent in the gayest circles, in the enjoyment of dinners, musical parties, balls, and other entertainments, with such visits to the opera and theatre as the intervals of private parties ad- mitted, till pleasure itself began to be wearisome, and I longed to return to the sea, and to duty again. I accordingly soon obtained the command of another and larger ship, the Scijno, belonging to the firm of St. Barbe, Green, and Nicholls, in Mincing Lane, on highly liberal terms, for my second voyage to Smyrna, touching, as usual, at Gibraltar and Malta in the way ; being sufficiently well armed and manned to sail without convoy if more convenient, or to join with any other vessel of similar equipments for mu- tual protection.
It was at this period (1812), that I heard, for the first time, anything to interest me about Lidia and its affairs. On passing by the Mansion House in London, I observed a large placard announcing a public meeting then holding in the Egyptian Room, on the subject of the East Lidia Company's charter,
MK. ALDERMAN WAITIOIAN. 23
then soon about to expire, and the renewal of which was to be advocated by the Corporation of the City of London. My curiosity being awakened, I entered th^ building, and found a large and elegantly dressed audience assembled, containijig quite as many ladies as gentlemen. The speaker then addressing it was Mr. Alderman Waithman, who had moved an amendment to the original resolution recommending the renewal of the charter, the substance of which amendment was, that commercial monopolies were injurious to the nation granting them, even when the individuals in whose favour such monopolies were established, benefited by them ; but that in the present instance both the nation and the monopolists suffered: — the nation, by the exclusion of its subjects generally from the benefits of the trade with India and Chma, comprehending nearly half the inhabitants of the globe; and the monopolists, by their annual losses in the very trade of which they had exclusive pos- session, by their extravagant manner of conducting it — their original capital being six millions sterling, — and their debt having increased from year to year till it amounted to more than twenty millions ; so that, in fact, as a Trading Company they v.'ere insol- vent, and really resembled the popular fiction of the dog in the manger, as they did not enjoy the benefits c 4
24 SIR WILLIAM CURTIS.
of the trade themselves, and yet resisted every at- tempt on the part of others to participate in it.
The worthy alderman sustained his position by statements and arguments, so cogent as it appeared to me, that in my ignorance of public bodies and their proceedings, I thought his amendment was sure to be carried by an overwhelming majority — conceiv- ing— alas! how innocently! — that reason and justice would carry all before them. When he resumed his seat, however, the hisses and murmurs of the large assembly greatly predominated over the marks of sympathy or approbation ; and I had the mortifi- cation to find myself the only one, on the row or bench on which I sat, that applauded by clapping of hands, which I did most lustily nevertheless.
Immediately after Alderman Waithman, rose Sir William Curtis, a wealthy ship biscuit baker and contractor, and a large proprietor of East India stock, who, though rather renowned for the absence than the presence of much wisdom, was, nevertheless, one of the most popular aldermen of London, and celebrated for his gastronomic fame, turtle and cham- pagne dinners, and civic hospitality. He was re- ceived with the most boisterous applause, even before he had opened his lips — so entirely satisfied were the audience, apparently, that what he was going to
niS ORIGINAL VIEAVS. 25
say would be agreeable to them. His speech was certainly original^ and highly characteristic of the man. He said, in substance, it was all very well for the honourable alderman who had just sat down to come forward with his statistics, by which a man might prove anything, and with his arguments, which were not worth the trouble of refuting ; it would, no doubt, answer the speaker's purpose in increasing his popularity among the enemies of our glorious constitution, who wanted to pull down all established institutions, beginning with the East India Company, and then passing on to the House of Lords, the Established Church, and at last the very Crown itself. But he, Alderman Curtis, and his friends, had come forward to stand by the altar and the throne, to uphold whatever was established, and to resist all innovations. He knew enough of the Hin- doos and the Chinese to know that they would never trade with any other parties than the Honourable East India Company ; and as to the opening their covmtries to the rabble that would be sure to find their way there, if once the charter were abolished and the trade and intercourse made free, he was quite certain that before a year was over, we should be forcibly expelled from China — we should lose our glorious empire in India altogether, and then
26 EAST INDIA company's CHARTER.
tlie sun of England's greatness would be set for ever !
His speech, though short, was repeatedly inter- rupted by vociferous applause, and his portly body and round full rubicund face seemed lighted up with more than its usual tints of purple and crimson, in which the juice of the grape and the good cheer of his brother alderman, the cook and confectioner Birch, who furnished forth the city feasts, contended for the mastery. When the motion was put from the chair. Alderman Waithman's free-trade amendment was lost by an overwhelming majority, and the origi- nal resolution recommending the renewal of the East India Company's charter carried unanimously; for the minority was so small that none held up their hands when the original resolution was put to the vote.
I returned from the meeting as much astonished as I was disgusted at the result. I remembered, when ten or twelve years younger, before the death of Pitt or Fox, reading the debates in Parliament, then scan- tily reported in the public papers ; and being struck with the fact, that the arguments of the Whigs seemed to me so convincing, compared with those of tlie Tories, that I could never comprehend how it happened that the votes were always in favour of the latter. But anything so palpably gross as the ex-
TRIUMPH OF FREE-TRADE PRINCIPLES. 27
liibition at the Mansion-house I had never before experienced.
At this period I had not the most remote idea that I should ever visit India myself; still less that 1 should take so prominent a part in advocating and enforcing the unpopular views of Mr. Alderman Waithman, as enunciated at the meeting in question. But though for the time powerfully impressed with the trutli, the whole subject soon passed away from my mind, having other more pressing claims to attend to ; yet when I was thrown, by a combination of un- expected circumstances, into India itself, and could see with my own eyes, and hear with my own ears, the evidences by which I was surrounded, I received my convictions from original sources ; and though, like Mr. Waithnian, at first in a miserable minority, I have happily lived to see the whole country converted to my views, and the results I predicted, of advan- tage to India and to England, more than realised and acknowledged by the Crown, the Legislature, and the people.
Dui'ing my last voyage, my dear wife had given birth to a second daughter, which was about three months old at the time of my arrival, and her ex- treme beauty, even at the period of my first seeing her, was remarked by all as something too perfect to
28 DOMESTIC CALAMITY.
last ; but she grew in loveliness as well as in endear- ing ways, till her sixth month, when I was about to resume my vocation, and this rendered our parting more than usually painful. But the calls of duty were imperative, and I was obliged to go. The ship being fully prepared and equipped for the voyage, we dropped down to Gravesend, passed through the Downs in a heavy gale, had a contrary wind and tedious passage all the way round to Portsmouth, and on our arrival there I received a letter containing the unexpected and painful news of our dear child's sud- den death by a spasmodic seizure, which instantly stopped her breath in the very moment of laughing hilarity in her mother's arms. It had occurred only the day after my leaving London, and a post-mortem examination of the body having been made, it was found that some organic affection of the heart was the cause of her death.
In the first impulse of the moment I intended im- mediately to return to London; bu.t as railroads did not then exist, the journey to and from, and my stay in town, would have risked the loss of the convoy about to sail for the Mediterranean, then waiting only for a fair wind, and my duty to the owners of the ship and cargo would not justify such a step. I wrote off immediately by post, however, to Messrs. St. Barbe,
START FROM PORTSMOUTn. 29
Green, and Nicliolls, requesting their permission to take my wife and only remaining child with me on the voyage, and bade her at the same time to prepare to join me at once. One of the owners immediately waited on my wife in Burr Street, communicated the consent of the firm to the wish I had expressed, and wrote to me authorising whatever extra expenditure I miffht think necessary for the accommodation and comfort of my wife and child during the voyage, leaving the amount entirely at my discretion. We felt, as might be supposed, deeply grateful for such a mark of kindness and confidence, and took great care that such generosity should not be abused. The dis- consolate mother and her sorrowing little daughter, who was old enough (three years) to feel the affliction of losing a playful companion and a sister, arrived at Portsmouth, on the evening that brought intelligence of the death of Mr. Perceval, the Prime Minister, who was shot in the lobby of the House of Commons by Bellingham, on the 11th of May, 1812.
We remained some days at anchor on the Mother Bank, off Portsmouth, wind-bound ; when about the 1 5th, a north-east wind having sprung up, we sailed with a large fleet which had been for some weeks collecting, under the convoy of a frigate and two sloops of war ; and passing through the Needles we
30 DELIGHTFUL VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR.
Jiad a fine run down Channel^ and were out of sight of land on the following day. The continually shift- ing scenes presented by a large fleet under sail (and this numbered more than two hundred vessels of all sizes) was extremely favourable to the recovery of my Avife's spirits after her recent loss; and the novelty of everything around her was a perpetual source of de- light to my young daughter. As neither of them were at all affected by sea sickness, they were on deck the whole day, and generally some portion of the night too, as the weather was delicious, and every day of our progress southward made the heavens more brilliant with xrlowino; stars.
Our voyage to Gibraltar, from the prevalence of light winds, was longer than the usual run, occupying about a fortnight, as we anchored in the bay on the Istof Jime. The rates of freight were at this time, however, so high, in consequence of the war, that there was ample margin for profit even on long voyages : bl. a ton to Gibraltar, 11. 10s. to Malta, and 10/. to Smyrna, were not uncommon, being at least five times the prices paid during the subsequent years of peace. Our stay at Gibraltar occupied about a week, and the 4tli of June, King George the Third's birth- day falling within it, we went on shore early In the morning to witness the review of troops which was to
SCENE AT GIBRALTAR. 31
be made in honour of the occasion. As my wife and I alternatelj carried our child through the streets of Gibraltar to the parade, the little creature attracted all eyes by its excessive beauty of feature and brilli- ance of rosy complexion, — so utterly unlike any thing usually seen in this garrison, where the Spanish po- pulation are dark brown, and the few English children, belonging to the officers or men in the fort, are pale and languid in appearance — while this newly imported English-born child, with its blue eyes, flaxen curls, and rosy cheeks, was full of animation, and had a nod or a smile for every one that approached it with ca- resses, which were so frequent that we thought we should never get to the parade ground. We were, however, in good time, to hear the royal salutes fired from the batteries and troops, which were overpower- ingly grand, from the number and size of the cannon and the echoes and reverberations of the rocky gal- leries from which many of them were discharged. The scene was terminated by all the military bands on the ground uniting in playing the national air of " God save the King." At this moment the tears began to roll down my wife's cheek, and her utter- ance was completely choked ; her child, from mere sympathy, wept copiously also, and I found myself so touched by the same influence as to share fullv
32 DANGEROUS GALE.
in their feelings. It was tlie first time my wife had ever been out of England ; and the sentiment of pa- triotism^ loyalty, pride in British supremacy, and joy at finding English hearts and English hands here united in so formidable and yet fascinating a form, quite overcame her, and broke up the fountain of tears, without sorrow, which flosved freely, and which there was no desire to restrain.
On the following day we sailed from Gibraltar for Malta, the fleet being now reduced to about a hundred sail, many having left the convoy to go into Oporto, Lisbon, and other ports on the way : but we had not proceeded far on our way before we encountered a sudden change of wind from the east- ward, which came on in the middle of the night, blew with great violence, and threw the whole fleet into confusion. Some of the ships bore up with their heads to the southward, others with their heads to the northward; while others again, being slow sailers, and having all their canvas spread, found their only safety in flying westward before the gale. The con- sequence was, that several of the vessels ran foul of each other : and the whistling of the wind, the crash of falling masts, the flapping of rent sails, and the hoarse vociferations of the ofiicers and men from each, made up a scene of terror. We had ourselves a
NARROWLY ESCAPE COLLISION. 33
narrow escape of being cut riglit in two amidships. Being awakened from my sleep by the first burst of the gale, I left my cot and leaped on deck without stopping to dress ; and right on our weather beam was seen, rolling down towards us, one of those heavy sailers, deeply laden, running before the wind, breast- ing an immense mass of foam before her prow ; and in three minutes her stem would have cut us just before the main chains, so that one or both would probably have foundered from the shock. There was really no time to give orders, so rushing myself to the wheel, we put the helm hard~a-weather. The ship being under full steerage way, answered her helm immediately; and we thus came into contact side by side, just grazing each other as we went along, till we found an opportunity of disentangling. It was one of those hair-breadth escapes which depend upon self-possession and the action of a moment, where there is no time for deliberation ; and a sea-life is full of such, especially in the variable latitudes.
As a striking illustration of what seemingly trifling events may be regarded as severe misfortunes, ac- cording to the circumstances under which and the persons to whom they occur, I may mention that our little daughter Virginia here suffered her first " great misfortune," as she then deemed it. Her
VOL. II. D
34 A child's first 3IISF01iTUNE.
mother had taught her to use her needle ; and she was provided with a work-box and all the usual im- plements and materials for a labour of three or four hours a day at this useful art, to which she had become much attached. On leaving the cabin to come on deck for a short interval of time, she negligently forgot to leave her thimble behind her, and looking over the ship's side to watch the motion of the waves, her hand holding fast of the bulwark railing, the thimble dropped from her finger into the sea. Unfortunately there was no duplicate in re- serve ; and by no ingenuity on our part could her mother's thimble be sufficiently reduced in size to answer the purpose. The child's grief was intense : all her dreams of what she was going to make and do in the course of the voyage, were in a moment destroyed ; and till our arrival at Malta, where it was replaced, " the lost thimble " seemed to be her first thought on awaking in the morning, and the last before she went to sleep at night. She has, indeed, often since confessed that she never remembers to have suffered a grief more poignant than this in all her after-life.
The easterly gale at length moderated in force, but continued to blow from the same quarter for several days, so that our progress in beating to windward.
SHIP IMPEDED BY DEAD LOCUSTS. 35
always at the rate of the slowest sailers in the fleet, Avas very slight. At length the wind shifted to the south-east, and then south, with a suffocating heat, this being the sirocco of the Levant ; and blowing over the great Libyan and Nuniidian deserts, comes charged with hot and sulphurous vapours, causing a most disagreeable sensation of a stifling and oppressive kind. On the third day after this shift of wind, and when we were well up abreast of Sicily, but nearer to the African shore, we were surprised one morning at seeing all the headmost vessels of the fleet arrested in their course by some obstacle which impeded the progress of each ship as she came up with it, till the entire convoy formed an almost straight line. On looking over the ship's side there was seen a thick mass of brown matter, which it was difficult to sail through with all canvas spread, it appearing to be between the consistency of oil and tar, or melted butter and honey. Buckets full of it were drawn up on deck for inspection, but all we could per- ceive was that it was some animal matter in a state of decay, and emitting a most disagreeable odour. Sending the buckets deeper and deeper, however, by attaching weights to their bottom, so as to brino- up some of the lower strata, we perceived the leo-s and wings, and half-putrid bodies, of brown locusts,
D 2
36 IMMENSE ELIGIITS OF LOCUSTS
in a less advanced stage of decomposition than the brown oily mass of the surface ; and we concluded of course that the whole mass was composed of the same materials. Desirous of ascertaining the extent of the space occupied by it, I went to the fore-topmast cross-trees with a glass, and sweeping the horizon ahead and on each side of us, I perceived that it extended as far as the eye could reach to the east, north, and south, which presented one solid and un- broken mass of smooth brown surface, while to the west the open sea presented the deep blue which dis- tinguishes the waters of the Mediterranean. The conclusion was that some vast flight of locusts passing from Africa to Europe, had encountered a contrary wind in their passage, and had fallen, exhausted, into the sea, and were there gradually decaying in the state in which we found them.
Such flights of locusts have from time to time been recorded in history, as marking the devastation everywhere caused by their numbers. In the year 593, a famine was caused in Turkey and Persia by their consumption of the fruits and grain of the fields. In 677, Syria and Mesopotamia were overrun with them. In 852, immense swarms of them took their flight from the eastern regions into the west, flying W'th such a sound that they might be mistaken for
RECOKUED IN IIISTOKY. 37
birds: they destroyed all vegetables, not sparing even the bark of trees or the thatch of houses ; and they devoured the corn so rapidly as to destroy, on a computation^ a hundred and forty acres in a day. Their daily progress was about twelve miles ; and their movements appeared to have been regulated by kings or leaders, who flew first and settled on the spot which was to be visited the next day at the same hour by the whole legion ; their movement always commencing at sunrise. After traversing the continent of Europe, they were driven at last into the Baltic Sea, where, being thrown back on the shores, they caused a dreadful pestilence by their putrefac- tion. In 1271, all the corn fields around Milan were destroyed by locusts; in 1339, all those of Lombardy; and in 1541, such incredible hosts of them afliicted Wallachia and Moldavia, that they darkened the sun by their numbers, and ravaged all the fruits of the earth. Volney gives a striking description of their numbers, and the devastation they committed in Syria and Palestine ; but the most remarkable account on record, in modern times, is that of a gentleman of Poonah, who was witness to an immense army of locusts v/hich ravaged the Mahratta country in India. The column they composed was said to have extended five hundred miles in length ; and so compact was
D 3
38 C03IE IN SIGHT OF SICILY.
tlieir body when on the wing, that like an eclipse they completely hid the sun, so that no shadow was cast by any object, and some lofty tombs at a short distance were rendered quite invisible. What added to the horror of the scene was, that they were of the red species of locusts, so that clustering upon the trees, after they had stripped them of their foliage, they turned the verdant green into a bloody hue. The second chapter of the Book of the Prophet Joel, describing these hosts, says emphatically : — " The land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness : " and again, " The sun and the moon shall be dark before them, and the stars shall withdraw their shining."
We were heartily glad to get through this mass of animal putrefaction, by a strong breeze from the west, to which every ship crowded all the sail she could spread ; and by daylight on the following morn- ing we had the gratification of being once more in the pure element of water, which seemed doubly beautiful after the brown surface we had so recently traversed. About nine o'clock we were abreast of the uninhabited island of Zambro, at noon off Cape Bon, at sunset abreast of the island and town of Pantellaria; and on the following day we came in sif;fht of Sicily.
BICJLY; ITS V AIM El) STORY. 39
Here was a new chapter of history opened for study and investigation ; and having a good historical library on board, we profited by our proximity to the island to read its varied story, from the aboriginal Sicanians to the Greeks — with the disastrous ex- pedition of Nicias and Alcibiades — the lives of Phalaris, Gelon, and Dionysius — of Hiero and Thrasibulus, Timoleon, and Agathocles, as well as of Simonides, Pindar, and Archimedes, up to its conquest by the Romans under Marcellus, b. C. 208, and after this its changes under the Vandals, the Saracens, and the Normans. As an island, it is, perhaps, one of the most beautiful and interesting in the world — its scenery embracing every variety, from the flame-emittino; and snow-crowned grandeur of Mount Etna, to the softest and most fertile valleys and plains — its ruins embracing the mighty cities of Agrigentum, Syracuse, and Taormina; and its mythology and poetry, the forge of Vulcan, the residence of the Cyclops and the Sirens, and tlic famed Scylla and Charybdis of Homer and Virgil ; while its modern cities of Palermo, Messina, and Catania are full of interest of another kind. All this, and much more than can be here detailed, formed the subject of our reading and discourses during the intervals of duty by day and night,
D 4
40 ANCHOR AT MALTA.
till we reached Malta, where we anchored in safety in the middle of July, to remain a week or two for the transaction of business in disposing of a portion of the cargo, and taking in other goods on freight or for sale at Smyrna.
41
CHAP. III.
Stay at Malta and agreeable parties there. — Voyage tlirougli the Greek Archipelago. — Attacked by Greek pirates near Cerigo. — Obstinate conflict and ultimate victory. — Injury sustained in wounded and disabled. — Succeeding storm, and danger of shipwreck. — Island of Santorin thrown vip by submarine volcano. — Crete or Candia, its history and asso- ciations.— Delos, the sacred island of the Greeks. — Herodotus, Virgil, and Horace. — Persian ' fleet. — Nicaria. — Singular custom of sponge divers. — Samos, its ancient celebrity and modern decay. — Pythagoras and his doctrines- — Moore's classical odes. — Ancient traveller's description of Samos divers. — Passage through the Straits of Scio to Smyrna. — Plague raging in the city. — Villages happily free.
Our stay at Malta extended to about a fortnight, whichj notwithstanding the heat of a June and July sun, reflected from its white limestone rocks and buildings, which is excessive, were passed most agree- ably; my wife and her infant daughter exciting great attention, and excursions being made for them by friends and residents to whom we had become known, to every part of the island, as well as to all the public establishments and private parties in the city, in which, Avhenever the intervals of duty admitted, I was too
42 LEAVE MALTA FOR SMYENA.
Jiappy to join them. Extreme exertion, however, to get the ship ready for sailing by a given time, was followed in my case, as at Smyrna on the preceding voyage, by a coup-de-soleil and high fever.
Recovering from this, and finding no ship of war giving convoy up the Archipelago, I formed an agree- ment with Captain Brigham, of the ship Ilehe, of Hull, belonging to Staniforth and Blunt of that port, to sail together for mutual protection, as we were each sufficiently well armed, we thought, to be a match conjointly for any pirates we might meet ; these being the chief enemies to be encountered in these parts.
We accordingly left Malta on the evening of the 25th of July, and kept well together till Ave made the coast of Greece, between Cape Droso and Cape Ma- tapan, the southern promontory of the JNIorea. To save the delay and risk of calling at Milo for a pilot, we took on board a Greek at Malta who was return- ing home, and who was thoroughly acquainted with the navigation of the Archipelago ; and we found him fully competent to his duties.
The weather was beautifully fine all the morning; but in hauling round Cape Matapan, which is a bluff rugged point, and entering the Gulf of Colokythia, we were suddenly visited by a heavy thunderstorm,
GREEK PIRATES. 43
\vlucli burst upon us witli sucli nipulity as scarcely to allow time to take in all sail to meet it. The ex- ertion on mj part brought on a relapse of fever, from which I had so recently recovered, and compelled me to return to my cot, leaving the chief officer in charge of the deck.
At nio-ht we lay becalmed, without a breath of air, between the Islands of Cervi and Cerigo ; and though the scenery was lovely, and the associations of the most romantic and agreeable kind, yet the sense of danger greatly marred the enjoyment of both. The whole of this region was inhabited by a set of pirates calling themselves descendants of the Spartans and Lacedaemonians, and acknowledging no law but force. Calm weather and night is the time of their harvest, for then they steal out of the creeks and bays of which the coast is full, with muffled oars or sweeps, and as soon as they have ascertained the probability that the vessel th(^y are about to attack is compa- ratively unarmed and unprepared, they immediately board them with overwhelming numbers, and make them an easy prey, beheading and casting into the sea all the crew, and reserving only such of the officers and passengers as are likely to yield them a ransom. A knowledge of these circumstances in- duced us to be fully prepared for an encounter ; and
44 GREEK PIRATES.
we had all our carronades cast loose for action, matches lighted, muskets and boarding-pikes on deck, board- ing-nettings triced up, and all hands to quarters. Several suspicious craft swept past us, near enough to see these preparations, when they sheered off and held their way, as pirates never fight for the honour of conquest, but merely for plunder, and unresisting captives are therefore their chief aim.
At sunrise we were boarded by an officer from a Maltese polacca, having under his convoy a Greek vessel bound for Malta. AVe learnt from him that at this moment the Archipelago '\'\ as crowded with pirates, who took their prizes into obscure ports in the Adriatic, where they found a ready sale, after having destroyed all evidence against them by burning the ship's papers, and butchering every creature on board. At sunset another Maltese cruiser, about 300 tons, passed within hail, and sent his boat alongside, in- forming us that he had on the previous day, a little further to the eastward, engaged a well-armed pirate from daybreak till noon, and ultimately drove her on shore under Cape St. Angelo; but that another lateen-rigged craft, with from eighty to a hundred men on board, and well armed, was lying in wait in a creek under the land, so as not to be visible from
ATTACKED IN THE ARCIlirELAGO. 45
without, to intercept any vessels likely to fall an easy prey.
In consequence of this information our vigilance Avas increased, and in a couple of hours afterwards word was brought me in my cot, from deck, that the large lateen-rigged pirate described by the Maltese cruiser was in full sweep, under oars and sails, bear- ing right down upon us. I leaped from my cot in an instant, but fell in the act, when I requested to be taken on deck by two of the crew, and placed on the capstan, from whence I could see all that was passing and give the necessary commands. Most unfortu- nately, our companion ship, the Ilehe, was about three miles astern, in a dead calm, while we had a lio-ht breeze ; and as it was impossible for Captain Brigham, thus fixed in one spot, to bring his ship into action, we had to bear the brunt of the attack alone. It was a perception of this on the part of the pirate that no doubt led him to come out of his hiding place at this particular moment. Our armament was ten carron- ades, 12-pounders, and a crew of five and twenty men. Had these been all Englishmen we should have been more at our ease; but this being a time of war, scarcely any English seamen could be got for merchant ships, though their wages were 51. a month; for they were constantly liable to be impressed by
46 CONFLICT AVITH GREEK PIRATES
any ship of war wanting hands, and made to go and serve the King at twenty-five shillings a month, with the additional privilege of being flogged if they de- serted, and hung or shot if they should mutiny against their officers. Our ci'ew was, therefore, like that of all other merchant ships at this period, a very motley one indeed, there being about a dozen Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, all hardy and excellent seamen, three or four Genoese and Venetians, the former the best of all Italian mariners, and the rest made up of Portuguese, French, and Maltese, with a Russian steward ; the first and second mate, and a young lad of fifteen, whom I was training to be an officer, being, besides myself, the only English persons in the crew. To protect my wife and her infant daughter from harm, and at the same time to prevent the possibility of their coming on deck during the fray, they were confined to their cabin below, in charge of the steward, and the hatches were then battened down.
At length the pirate came within hail, stem on towards us, as we lay with our courses up, and all sail furled except the topsails, jib, and spanker, just to keep the ship under steerage way. The Greek pilot hailed the pirate, and bade him drop astern or be prepared to receive a broadside. No answer was returned, though his decks were crowded with men.
IN THE ARClIirELAGO. 47
A second challenge was given, but with no effect, — when the pirate, luffing up his vessel under our lee- quarter, with an evident intention to board us, we fired a broadside of round, grape, and canister right into his decks, with a volley of musketry at the same time. His mainmast instantly fell by the board, with a horrible crash, and killed and wounded in its fall perhaps as many as our broadside had done, — the screams and cries of the dying and wounded being most pitiable to hear. After a moment's pause, the remaining part of the pirate's crew got out their sweeps, and came so close alongside that their grap- nell irons were twice hooked in our main chains ; and but for the intrepidity and vigilance of the carpenter, who stood at the gangway with his well-sharpened axe, prepared for such an emergency, and who twice cut away the lanyards of their grapnells, so as to render them useless, our decks would have been swept by their overwhelming numbers, and all hands perhaps butchered.
The excitement of the scene so entirely restored my strength, that I jumped from the capstan, where I had been held fast till the first broadside was discharged ; and I felt as if I had the strength of twenty men, — so that I had all my faculties perfect for the command. Foiled in his attempt to board us
48 PIEATES STOUTLY EESISTED,
alongside, the pirate dropped astern, and was now joined by a second vessel of about the same size and number of men, who came iip fresh to the combat, while our own crew were greatly exhausted by per- petual watching before the contest began. A couple of broadsides, followed up quickly, caused her so much damage as to induce her to sheer off also, and we were beginning to hope for a conquest ; but at this moment, a twelve-pound shot, fired from the second vessel, entered between the timbers in the state room, in which my wife and child had taken shelter below, and cutting away the lanyards of the cot in which the child was lying, the shot, cot, and child came rolling together at her mother's feet ! She caught the infant in her arms, with a piercing shriek, which I heard with great dismay on deck, as I thought one or both must have been killed; but on going down I found them only terrified, but not hurt. My wife, however, immediately recovered her presence of mind, and finding I was myself safe, thanked Heaven for our deliverance. I returned immediately to the deck, and found the first of the pirates now assuming a new position, and using her sweeps to approach us under the stern, for the purpose of boarding us over the taffrail. Fortunately, instead of this being our weakest point, as it too often is in merchant ships
AND FINALLY BEATEN OFF. 49
especially, it was our strongest, for we had here two long nine-pounders, stern-chasers, which were charged to the muzzle with round, grape, and double-chain shot; and superintending myself the discharge of these, we poured their contents right down on her crowded deck, and must have committed great slaughter, from the cries which immediately arose from the wounded. Unfortunately, in the discharge, one of the guns leaped from its carriage, and in its recoil gave me so severe a wound in the thigh that I was completely dis- abled from moving, and had to resume my original position on the capstan as before. The pirate re- taliated by a volley of musketry, the greater part of which entered the cabin windows, from her being so close under our stern ; but just at the moment of this discharge, my wife was in the act of removing her- self and her child from the state-room where the cannon-ball had entered, to the after cabin, which she had to cross ; and though we counted sixteen musket-balls in the bulkhead by which they passed, not a hair of the head of either of them was hurt ! In the meantime, the pirate under our stern had received so much injury in her hull from the dis- charge of our stern guns, the shot of which had gone through her bottom, that she sunk immediately under our quarter, and all the crew perished by
VOL. IL E
50 INJUEY SUSTAINED IN
drowning: for it was impossible to attempt to save them without harbouring the very men who would have cut our throats the moment they were in safety. The second pirate then put out all her oars, and swept away from us with the utmost speed, leaving us the victory, but in a state of such exhaustion and helplessness, that we were quite unequal to any new evolution.
• In the course of this furious and obstinate contest, a number of the pirates were cut down in their attempts to board, tlieir bodies falling into the sea, and being crushed by the occasional contact of the vessels' sides, so closely was the action maintained. Others were slain on our own decks, and afterwards consigned to the deep ; but from the circumstance of none of our own crew ever venturing from the deck of their own ship, being all charged to act on the de- fensive, not one of the whole number was killed, though more than half the crew were wounded with musketry, splinters, and sabre cuts, some few severely. Tlie decks were covered with blood ; and the wreck of shattered bulwarks, stranded rigging, split sails, and general dilapidation was so great, that it was matter of surprise to us how a single gun could have been worked efficiently amidst the darkness and con- fusion that prevailed. The loss of the enemy, on the
WOUNDED AND DISABLED. 51
other hand, must have been considerable, as their crews were so thick that it was impossible for either a cannon-ball or musket-shot to pass amono- them without killing several in their passage.
It took us great part of the remainder of the night to clear away the wreck occasioned bv our conflict, and bind up the wounds of the disabled ; and when this was done, the exhausted crew were so overcome with fatigue, that a cock-boat might have made an easy prize of us, as scarcely an eje could resist the influence of that sleep to which all had been now for so many hours strangers. For myself, the excite- ment being over, my fever returned, and soon after, my delirium. But while I was confined to my cot, Mrs. Buckingham, the Russian steward, and my youno- pupil, Edward Lyons, the only individuals not pros- trated by exertion, kept watch on deck, while every one else was absorbed in the profoundest slumber; and happily the calm which prevailed rendering no evolutions necessary, this was all the watch that was required.
On retnrning to the possession of my reason, I felt deep sorrow for the necessity under which I had been placed, as it seemed to me, of assisting to destroy so many of my fellow creatures ; for my opinions re- specting the criminality as well as folly of war, when
E V!
52 EIGHT OF RESISTANCE.
aggressive, were quite in harmony with those of Lady Mary Wortley Montague and Benjamin Franklin, as quoted in a previous chapter ; and indeed I might say a higher authority than both — our blessed Saviour himself, in his precepts as promulgated through the Gospel. Willingly did I seek release from the responsibility of such destruction, in the consideration that we were not the aggressors, and that in my own peculiar position I could hardly, with justice to others, have acted otherwise than I had done; and this was the train of reasoning that helped to calm my mind. I considered that from the day I took command of the ship from her owners, I became re- sponsible for the safety of the property committed by them to my care, as well as to the various mer- chants who had placed their goods on board to form the cargo, the whole probably of 50,000/. in value. I considered also that every seaman who had consented to join the crew, looked up to me for the protection of his life, to the utmost of my means, in any position of danger that might arise ; and, above all, that I was doubly bound, as a husband and father, to prevent, if possible, the violation and murder of my wife and child. My own life I might, perhaps, have been free to sacrifice (though that even is a doubtful point; and if we have no right to take it away by our own
CALM AND REPOSE. 53
hands, we can have no ri2;ht to resio;n it without a struggle, into the hands of others) ; but as to the lives and property placed under my care, and the charge of which I had knowingly and voluntarily undertaken, my conclusion was that I had no right whatever to sacrifice these, and that, therefore, I was bound to do my utmost to protect both ; especially against assailants who knew no law of mercy, but whose maxim and practice is to sink, burn, and de- stroy, and then to murder even those who surrender. It continued calm all the following day, and by sunset the crew were sufficiently refreshed by repose and food to resume their duties as usual, though, from the number of the men disabled in the fight, our effective force was reduced to twelve hands only. At night I was sufficiently recovered to be taken on deck, to enjoy the delicious coolness so agreeable after a sultry day ; and as the slight swell of the water made the moonbeams rest alternately on the surface of each rising ridge, I felt the full force and beauty of Moore's exquisite simile.
" See, how beneath the moon-beam's smile Yon little billow heaves its breast, And foams and sparkles for awhile, And, murmuring, then retires to rest. E 3
54 OVERTAKEN BY A STORM.
" Thus man, the sport of bliss and care, Rises on Time's eventful sea. And having swelled a moment there, Thus melts into eternity."
As the night advanced, our troubles were renewed ; at sunrise it began to blow freshly, increasing in force, and by noon we had strong gales from the northward, and were carrying all sail to keep off a lee shore. Vfe now discovered the bowsprit to be sprung ; and from the press of sail necessary to keep our course, we carried away the main-stay, and parted the fore and main swifters and back-stays, sprung the fore top-mast a little above the cap, and parted some of the standing rigging aloft, which had been injured by musket-shot in the action of the preceding night. We accordingly sent do\vn the top-gallant yards on deck, housed the masts, close- reefed the fore top- sail, and made the ship snug, it blowing harder and harder, with a high running sea throughout the day.
At daybreak on the following morning, we saw the islands of Christiana under our lee-bow ; but from the strength of the gale, we were not able to weather them, and accordingly we bore up and ran to leeward of them, hauling in for Santorin, intending to anchor under its shore ; but the extreme depth of water
ISLAND OF SANTORIX. 55
rendered the experiment hazardous, and we therefore still kept the sea.
This ishxnd presents a remarkable appearance on every side, it being one of a group of three that have been thrown up from the bottom of the sea by vol- canic action, within the historical period. Its first appearance above the level of the water was in the year 169 before the Christian era; and other sub- sequent submarine eruptions added to the group in the years 47, 1373, 1427, and so recently as 1711, the lava of which, at the bottom of some of the largest crevices, is still said to retain a great deal of its primitive heat ; and, as on the slopes of Etna and Vesuvius, the soil covering this lava is everywhere remarkably fertile.
The weather continued so stormy that it was more like a Baltic winter gale than a summer in the Medi- terranean ; and in our disabled state both of men and materials, we were kept stretching across from west to east and east to west again, losing ground on every tack, till we were nearly driven on shore on the northern coast of the great Island of Candia or Crete. Here, the celebrity of Mount Ida — the history of the poet Orpheus — of the king Idomeneus, who conducted a fleet to the assistance of Agamemnon at Troy — of its laws serving as the model for the republic of
E 4
06 CEETE OE CANDIA.
Lycurgus — of its intricate labyrinth, and tlie story of Theseus and Ariadne — of its conquest by Julius Caesar, and the defeat of Marc Antony — and, lastly, its memorable siege by the Turks, and heroic defence by the Venetians, during a period of twenty-five years — all formed materials for reflection and study. It was here, too, that Falconer the poet describes the Britannia as anchoring just previous to her perilous voyage among the Cyclades, and where he laments the devastation caused by the Turkish invasion.
"Eternal powers ! what ruin from afar Marks the fell track of desolating war ! Here arts and commerce with auspicious reign Once breathed sweet influence o'er the happy plain ; For wealth, for valour, courted and revered, What Albion is, fair Candia then appeared. But since the S[>irit of her sons is broke, They bow to Ottoman's imperious yoke."
As the weather moderated, we repaired our damages day by day, and were enabled to carry more sail, by which we threaded our way up through the northern islands of the Archipelago, every one of tvhich had its mythology, its poetry, and its history to interest ns, but especially Delos, Nicaria, and Samos, all of which we passed in our course.
SACRED ISLE OF DELOS. 57
Considering the reputation of Delos, its small size and insignificant appearance is disappointing. It was renowned as the birthplace of Apollo, whose oracle at Delphi was celebrated throughout the ancient world ; and the remains of a temple to that deity, with a colossal statue, a noble portico, and a fine marble theatre, yet remaining at the foot of Mount Cynthus, where the twins of Latona were brought forth under an olive tree, still testify to its ancient grandeur. Ovid calls the island Erratica Delos, and Virgil calls it a floating island first fixed by Apollo. Herodotus informs us of the remarkable fact that even the Persians were overawed by the sacredness of the spot ; and when they had approached the island with six hundred sail of their ships, they were struck with reverence, and forbore their intended depreda- tions, to which the poet Polwhele, a country clergy- man of Cornwall, whom I had the happiness to know, beautifully alludes, in his exquisite little poem of Grecian Prospects.
" Where Delos trembles on her desert wave,
Rose there a rock but breathed religion round ? Hath ancient Echo murmured from her cave, Nor Inspiration swelled the sacred sound ? \Yitness her fane, with holier shades embrowned.
58 ANDROS — TINO— NICAEIA.
Her proud colossal gods, that, hovering near,
Paled Persia saw, nor touched the hallowed ground. But sudden, as she dropped th' uplifted spear. Her sails inuumerous checked, and paused in mid career."
Aiidros is a large island, and remarkably fertile. Tino, close hy, is celebrated, according to Eton, for its female beauty. *' In Tino," he says, " the women are almost all beauties, and there the true antique head is to be found." Nicaria, which divides the Egean from the Icarian Sea, is the scene of the story of Dasdalus and Icarus. Though the island of Ni- caria is comparatively unproductive in its soil by land, the inhabitants derive subsistence from their labours beneath the sea, in diving for sponges, and inhabiting the caverns with which their rocky shores abound. Thevenot, the French traveller, mentions a sino;ular custom amono; them. " The richest men in the island," says he, " give their daugliters to the best divers, who are tried before the maid and her fiither, and he who remains longest under water wins her." Of such men it is no figure of speech, but a literal fact, to say that they may be " over head and ears in love." Thevenot adds that " the women have the ascendancy ; and as soon as the husband arrives from any place in his boat, the wife goes to the sea-
ISLE OF SAMOS. 59
side, takes the oars and carries them home, after which the husband can dispose of nothing without her permission."
The Island of Samos, which we approached wliile standing to the eastward, is larger in area, and its interior much loftier than most of the group to which it belono-s. It is also fertile, and abounds in all the fruits of this delicious region. It enjoyed great ce- lebrity in antiquity, having been colonised by the lonians more than a thousand years before Christ. It was deemed the birthplace of Juno, from whence she dispatched her messenger Iris, upon the wings of the rainbow, whose office it was to unloose the souls of dying women from the chains of the body. The island was subdued by the Athenians under Pericles, and a statue of Alcibiades was erected within the precincts of the Temple of Juno, some remains of which still exist. Horace alludes to the beauty of Samos and its various works of art. Antony and Cleopatra passed some months here in luxurious en- joyment, and Augustus twice wintered here, and granted the citizens many immunities ; yet, such are the vicissitudes of fortune, that Knowles, in his His- tory of the Turks, describes it as desolate and unin- habited in 1472. Its chief celebrity, however, arises from its being the birthplace and home of Pytha-
60 PYTHAGOEAS AND HIS DOCTRINES.
goras, who became a voluntary exile from the tyranny of Polycrates, and travelling in Egypt and Greece propounded his remarkable doctrines among the sages of Heliopolis and Athens, and founded his school at Crotona and Sybaris, in Magna Grecia, from whence his disciples spread his fame through the world. Moore, in his irregular ode " The Genius of Harmony," which we read here in sight of the island, has a beautiful passage, alluding to the intercourse of Pythagoras with Heaven, and his inspiration at the fount of Nature ; and in another of his classical pieces, " The Grecian Girl's Dream of the Blessed Isles, addressed to her Lover," where she relates having met in Elysium, Liontium, Pythea, and Aspasia, in whose soft embraces Epicurus, Aristotle, and Socrates, their respective admirers, forgot the toil of " less endearing ties," he introduces the beloved of Pytha- goras, with an exquisite allusion to his great doctrine of the transmigration of souls-
" While fair Theano, innocently fair, Played with the ringlets of her Saniian's hair, Who, fixed by love, at length was all her own, And passed his spirit thro' her lips alone."
In modern days, Samos is as celebrated for its sponges as Nicaria; and an old voyager to the Levant
DESCRirXION OF SAMOS DIVERS. 61
in 1664, Sir H. Blunt, gives us, in the quaint lan- guage of his day, the following account of Samos, as he found it. — " Samos," he says, " is a place under whose rocks grow sponges : the people from their infancy, are bred up with dry bisket and other extenuating dyet, to make them extremely lean : then, taking a sponge wet with oyle, they hold it part in their mouths and part without : so go they under water, where at first they cannot stay long ; but after practice, some of the leanest stay an hour and half, even until all the oyle in the sponge be corrupted ; and by the law of the island none of that trade is suifered to marry until he have stayed half- an-hour under water : that they gather sponges from the bottom of the rocks more than a hundred fathoms deep ; which, with the other stories of the islands, was told me by certain Greeks in our galleon." It is clear from some parts of this, that the Greeks of that day were not inferior to their descendants in the art of exan-o-eration : thouirh the substratum of the account has, no doubt, some truth in it.
We at length, after much tedious tacking and beating to windward, reached the southern entrance to the Straits of Scio, where we caught a fair wind ; and our passage through this delightful arm of the sea, though by night, was as agreeable as that of the
62 EEACH SMYRNA.
preceding voyage, — indeed, nothing could be more bright or beautiful than the marine picture on every side.
" 'Twas one of those delicious nights, So common in the climes of Greece,
When day withdraws but half its lights, And all is moonlight, halm, and peace.''
As we made our exit from the Straits at the north end, and rounded our course up the Bay of Smyrna, we hailed a homeward-bound vessel just coming out of port, and asked the captain, " What news ? " To which he replied through his speaking trumpet, with Spartan brevity, "Damned bad!" — and on further inquiring in what respect, he bluffly answered, " The plague is raging, and people are dying like rotten sheep, — a thousand a day at least." This was, in- deed, very discouraging intelligence after our rough passage and severe handling by the pirates ; but there was no retreating, so we sailed up to the anchorage, brought up among the shipping ; and then taking Mrs. Buckingham and her infant daughter with me in the ship's boat, I conveyed them safely to the village of Bournabat, there to remain until tlie plague should abate. I had to come into Smyrna myself, however, to attend to the business of the ship,
THE PLAGUE. 63
day by day, and return to tliem at niglit ; by which we were all more happy than we should have been had we been lodged anywhere in the city, where the plague continued to rage, though the villages were as yet tolerably free from its scourge.
64
CHAP. ly.
Agreeable stay at Smyrna notwithstanding the plague. — Prac- tical proofs of its non-contagious character. — Visit of Mrs. Buckingham to the harem of the Governor. — Singular notions of Asiatics as to female beauty. — Adventure on horseback, and narrow escape. — Friendly intercourse with Captain Hope of the Sahette. — Dramatic entertainment given on board the frigate. — Admiral Hope, his practical piety and benevolence. — Arrival of Sir William Ousely from Persia. — Mr. Price the Oriental scholar. — Learned shoe- makers. — Excursion to Scio, tlie birthplace of Homer, — Beauty of the women and longevity of the men. — Visit to Cheshme, the Erythasan and Cunifean Sybil.
Our stay at Smyrna was as agreeable as it was possible to desire, notwithstanding our first alarm at the raging of the plague. But it is astonishing how all dangers of this description are magnified by dis- tance from the scene, and how they diminish in im- portance when actually amidst them. In the Turkish quarter of the city — where there are neither sewers, drains, water, or ventilation — ^ where medicine and medical attendance are neither sought after nor valued, nor could be had, indeed, if ever so much desired, — where no adaptation of diet or change of
THE PLAGUE IN SMYRNA. 65
raiment is ever thought of in a sanitary point of view ; and where the settled conviction of every one is, that the hour of their death is fixed by Fate, and can neither be accelerated nor retarded, — the deaths were so numerous that the living wore hardly sufficient to bury the dead. But as there are no registrations of deaths or burials in Turkey, tlie computed numbers varied from one thousand to five thousand per day, out of a population of about a hundred and eighty thousand in all — the former being, perhaps, not far from the truth. In the Frank quarter — where the streets are broader, and where ventilation, water, and cleanliness obtain, where medical advice is at hand, and where precautions are taken — the deaths were very few ; and in the surrounding villages, inhabited chiefly by Christians and Europeans, the plague was unknown. The merchants, therefore, who had houses in the country went into town in the morning, tran- sacted their usual business in their counting-houses, and went even into the Turkish quarter if required, at the Custom-house and elsewhere with impunity, without apprehension and without danger, for not one of all their number was attacked by the plague during our stay. It was this practical proof of the non-contagiousness of this terrible disorder, or its communicability from a diseased to a healthy subject, VOL. II. r
66 FRIENDLY INTERCOURSE WITH RESIDENTS.
by personal contact, wliich first led me to investigate the subject of the quarantine laws, and ended in the conviction that they were inefficacious, unnecessary, vexatious, ruinously expensive, and ought to be en- tirely abolished ; to which effect I subsequently wrote, as will be hereafter shown ; and to which conviction, after a lapse of nearly forty years from this period, the statesmen of England appear at length to have arrived.
From the infrequency of the visits of English ladies to Smyrna, and from her many attractive and amiable qualities, my wife became a universal favourite among all the Levantines, that is, families of European origin, but of Asiatic birth and con- nections, and her really beautiful and intelligent child was the object of interest and admiration. From being a great favourite with the Greek pilot, who had her frequently in his arms in the intervals of duty, she had acquired enough of Italian and Greek to be able to hold imperfect communication with children of her own age among tlie Levantine families, and this increased to such facility by daily intercourse and practice, that she spoke both these tongues fluently before the end of our stay.
Two or three incidents connected with our sojourn at Bournabat and Smyrna, during this period, may
THE governor's HAREM. 67
be selected from a number perhaps equally deserving of record.
The first was Mrs. Buckingham's visit to the harem of the Governor of Smyrna. Some of the Levantine ladies who had access to the Governor's family, had mentioned my wife and daughter in such glowing- terms, that the chief lady of the harem expressed a desire to see them ; and a day was appointed for the visit, accompanied by ladies of their acquaintance, who spoke Turkish, and could therefore act as in- terpreters. The party were admitted into the principal entrance of the garden wliich surrounded the governor's house, by the chief of the eunuchs ; and as they a])proached tlie palace, they saw a number of these repulsive attendants planted in different quarters, to prevent the possibility of any intrusion from male visitors. Ascending to the harem, which was a spacious apartment, with a fountain in the centre, and highly adorned according to Turkish taste, they were received by the chief lady of the Governor, and a number of young and handsome Georgian and Circassian female slaves. Pipes and coffee, perfumes and sherbet, conserve of roses and delicious fruits were served in abundance, and every possible mark of respect paid to the visitors. When conversation began, the first observation of the
F 2
68 ASIATIC CEITEEION OF FEMALE BEAUTY.
Turkish lady was an exclamation of surprise at the slender waist of mj wife, and still more when informed that she was the mother of the child who accompanied her. She could not comprehend how the human figure could be compressed into such a compass, and asked to be permitted to examine the dress, which was accordingly granted. On arriving, however, at the stays, and seeing the manner in which it was tightly laced, her wonder was at the climax ; nor could she be made to comprehend how a person could breathe freely or enjoy any movements of the body, " cased up and imprisoned," as she called it, " in such a tight sack as this." Still greater was her surprise to learn that a slender figure was regarded as a feminine trait of beauty esteemed by men, and therefore sought to be attained by women even where Nature had denied it. In short, the horror with which we look upon the cramped feet of the women of China, could not be greater than that in which this English custom was viewed by the Turks. It should be added, however, that their standard of beauty is in the opposite extreme ; both in Africa and Asia, women are " fattened up " to the requisite size for male admiration, as we fatten our prize cattle, which gave Volney occasion to say that the Turks value beauty by the quintal — one of their measures
MES. Buckingham's adventure. 69
of weight ; and he quotes a verse from a Turkish poet, who eulogises the object of liis admiration in these glowing terms :
" Her face is like tlie full moon, And her haunches are like cushions."
Another incident was this. Our kind friend, Mr. James Brant, (since, I believe, consul at Erzeroum, and now consul at Smyrna,) was an accomplished horseman, and kept several beautiful Arabs for him- self and friends ; and Mrs. Buckingham being an ex- cellent horsewoman, from her country education and experience, a party was formed of some half dozen gentlemen, to accompany us in a ride over the beau- tiful plain that extends along the foot of the moun- tains behind Smyrna. On our return from this excursion, while approaching the sea-shore, we en- countered a party of young Turks, to whom the sight of a woman on horseback, unveiled, in the company of men, appeared such a public scandal, that one of them approached behind the Arab on which my wife was mounted, and gave it a smart cut across the haunches with the courbash, or short flexible whip of the hippopotamus hide, with which Turkish horsemen are generally furnished. The
F 3
70 MRS. Buckingham's adventure.
generous steed, full of blood and vigour, never having, perhaps, received such a blow before, (for the Asiatics, generally, are humane in their treat- ment of animals), first resented the indignity by flinging his hind heels in the air, and projecting a backw^ard kick, during which my wife had nearly lost her seat, and then set off as fast as his legs could carry him in a gallop which it was impossible for her to restrain. The gentlemen — of course my- self among the number — could not but keep up with her, in case of accident ; and the faster we followed the faster her steed endeavoured to fly from us. Her head-dress now became loose ; and first flew off the bonnet, next all the combs of the hair, which being long and ample, floated horizontally behind her head from the mere force of her passage through the air ; and on arriving at the sea-shore, where, fortunately, there was a shelving beach, and where we hoped the mad career of the indignant steed would have been arrested, he plunged into the sea, and swam out at least a quarter of a mile with his firm and intrepid rider. Fatigue, however, at length subdued his impetuosity, and he then answered the bit by turn- ing gently round — swinnning to the shore — and as he gained the land stood trembling at the edge of the Avater while some of us patted his neck, and the rest
CAPTAIN HOPE. 71
helped my wife to dismount, and congratulated her on her horsemanship and her safety.
Another and more agreeable incident was this. The Salsette frigate, which was absent on a cruise when we first reached the port, had subsequently arrived; and Mr. Brant, knowing nothing of what had passed between her commander. Captain Hope, and myself on the previous voyage, as described at page 17., invited him to meet us and spend the evening together. The gallant officer, as sailors always are, was most attentive and complimentary to Mrs. Buckingham, and full of admiration for her little daughter, who, now nearly four years of age, was well-behaved in company, and always in- vited with us wherever we went. I remarked, how- ever, that the captain regarded me with that sort of attention which would seem to say, " I tldnk we have met somewhere before, but can't exactly call to mind the time or place." I thought it, therefore, best at once to clear up all ambiguity, by stating to him who I was, and recalling the circumstances of our inter- view. At first he blushed, and seemed embarrassed; when I gave such a turn to the matter as relieved him from all anxiety, and we enjoyed a hearty laugh over the story. But he made ample amends for all, by inviting us to an entertainment which he proposed to
F 4
72 THEATRICALS ON BOARD THE " SALSETTE."
get up for our special enjoyment on board his frigate, and wliicli we gladly accepted. It should be under- stood, that in those days, the captain of a man-of-war condescending to invite or entertain on board his ship the captain of a merchantman, would have been regarded as a rare act of condescension ; and it was an honour which many of my brother captains greatly envied me.
On the day appointed we repaired on board the frigate, where we met a most distinguished and agreeable company to dinner : and the half deck being fitted up as a stage, a comedy and farce were admirably represented by the officers [and seamen of the crew. As the height between decks was only about seven feet, there was not much space for scenery, machinery, and decorations ; but these were not necessary to the enjoyment of the audience, which consisted of all the officers, and as many of the crew as could by possibility so place themselves in any position as to get a sight of the acting, by which crowding all the avenues for air were blocked up, and we were gasping for breath. The hardy tars went through their parts, nevertheless, with perfect self-possession ; and though the female characters were necessarily most imperfectly represented by rough, hairy-bosomed, and braNvny-armed seamen.
A sailor's curiosity. 73
the whole passed off to the intense satisfaction of actors and spectators.
An anecdote was current here, connected with Captain Hope's visit to Athens, which is strikingly characteristic of the force of curiosity when excited, even among the most uneducated, by tlie stories of ancient times. The Salsette being anchored at the Pir?eus, Captain Hope and some of his officers went up to visit Athens ; but gave the strictest charge to the coxswain of his cutter, not to venture himself nor permit any of the boat's crew to venture to land, as they miglit get into trouble with the Turks there. The desire, however, to do what was expressly for- bidden, became, with the coxswain, perfectly irre- sistible; and in defiance of his captain's injunctions, and with the probability of being flogged for his transgression, he sent the boat's crew aboard, to re- turn in the evening ; and went himself alone up to Athens also. While wandering among its ancient ruins and modern dwellings, to his great surprise and horror he met his captain at the turning of a street, so close, as to make concealment or escape impossible. They both stood silent for a short while in mutual surprise, when the captain first broke silence, by saying, — " Why, is it possible, after my strict command, that I find you up here, where you were
74 THE "WOODEN HORSE OF TROY."
expressly forbidden to come ? "What on earth brought you here ? — who or what did you come to see ? — and what excuse have you to offer for your conduct?" To which the coxswain, taking off his hat as a mark of humility and respect, coolly replied : — " Why, Sir, I thought I might never be so near to it again ; and, therefore, I came up to see the ' Wooden Horse of Troy,' about which I read in a story-book a long time ago ! " The good-natured captain was perfectly disarmed by this frank and unexpected reply; and did not even wound the coxswain's feelings by cor- recting his historical knowledge, but simply said, — " Well, when you have seen it, my good fellow, go aboard and describe it to your shipmates." With most captains of the navy the truant coxswain would have been subjected to some punishment ; but it was no doubt the wisest policy thus to attach him still more strongly to his commander by kindness.
During the remainder of our stay in Smyrna, Captain Hope did all in his power to add to our enjoyments, by boating and other excursions ; and we felt ourselves largely indebted to his good nature and politeness for a great share of our pleasures. The gallant officer is now Admiral Hope, resident in London, and distinguished for his piety and benevo- lence, which is manifested by his frequent and liberal
SIR WILLIAM OUSELY, 75
contributions to almost every religious or pliilan- thropic object proposed, and especially towards the formation and support of those Seamen's Homes, so long wanted but happily now becoming so fi-equent, to protect the u.nsuspecting mariner from the traps and pitfalls by which he is surrounded on his first landing in every port of the kingdom, and shelter him from the temptations to evil, and stimulate him by the attractions to good. Long may the worthy veteran survive, to continue his useful and honour- able labours, for the benefit of his fellow-seamen and an example to the rest of mankind !
During my stay at Smyrna on this occasion there arrived here, by a journey overland from Persia, Sir William Ousely, a great Oriental antiquary and scholar, brother of Sir Gore Ousely, then Ambassa- dor at the Persian Court. He was accompanied by Mr. Price, as his travelling secretary or companion. The contrast between these two persons was very striking. Sir William was a perfect gentleman of the old school, aristocratic in appearance and bearing, courteous and polished in manners, and full of general information. Mr. Price, who we understood was originally a shoemaker, had imbibed an intense desire to become acquainted with Oriental languages, and, under immense disadvantages had, by great labour
76 LITERARY SHOEMAKERS.
and perseverance, mastered the Hebrew and Arabic, and made some progress in Persian, when being in- troduced to Sir William Ousely, before his leaving England, the worthy baronet consented to take him with him and pay all his expenses. Mr. Price re- tained all his original rusticity of manners and appear- ance, and was so entirely engrossed with his studies as a linguist that he appeared to know nothing else, though no doubt he was a great proficient in these.
By the way, it is remarkable how many clever men and scholars have been produced by this class of workmen, which some attribute to the sedentary yet social nature of their occupations, as they sit round a small table in parties of four or six to labour, and can carry on all their operations and enjoy uninterrupted intei'chano;e of tliouo;ht and conversation at the same time. Among the rest may be mentioned Dr. Carey and Dr. Marsham, the learned missionaries of Seram- pore, who translated the Bible into many eastern tongues, and wrote admirable books besides ; — Dr. Morrison, the most eminent Chinese scholar, to whom we owe the best Dictionary and Grammar of that singular language ; — Gilford, the translator of Juve- nal, and for many years the editor of the Quarterly Review; — and, though last not least, Samuel Drew, of St. Austell, in Cornwall, the author of one of the
ISLAND OF SCIO. 77
profounclost metaphysical essays on tlie immortality of the soul; — and Mr. Price, the Oriental scholar and companion of Sir William Ousely.
On our first introduction to these newly arrived travellers. Sir William was immediately enamoured of our little daughter Virginia, who, he said, was an almost exact resemblance of a child of his own, whom he had left in England, and whom he soon hoped to see again. Accordingly he was never more happy than when he had her in his arms, and they would sometimes pass hours together to their mutual satis- faction. In an excursion which we made to the Island of Scio, in the Salsette frigate, which conveyed Sir William and Mr. Price to Malta, the learned baronet carried the child in his arms through the streets of Scio, and appeared to feel the greatest de- light in stopping at the doors of many of the Greek inhabitants, where the females were thickly conore- gated to see the strangers pass, and enjoying the ad- miration and caresses of the mothers and daughters of Scio as much as if the child had been his own, while to us it was most agreeable to see the springs of parental sympathy thus freely flowing, and Nature triumphant over all conventionalities.
Scio, or Chios as it was anciently called, besides being one of the most fertile and beautiful of all the
78 SCIO — BEAUTY OF ITS FEMALES,
Greek islands, lias great historical celebrity. It is generally recognised as the birthplace of Homer ; for though, according to the poet, —
" Seven cities now contend for Homer dead, Through which tlie living Homer begged his bread,"
yet Chios is admitted to have the supremacy, and hence the line —
" See the blind Bard of Chios' rocky isle."
The family of the Homeridte, as his descendants were called, undoubtedly dwelt in Chios, and Leo Allatius gives abundant evidence of this ; while Homer himself, in his Hymn to Apollo, addresses the god from his native island Chios. Ion, also an ele- giac poet of the age of JEschylus and Sophocles, was a native Chian.
The modern town of Scio is one of the largest and best built in all the Archipelago. The inhabitants of the island are computed at 150,000, of which the Tui'ks form only a fortieth part ; and yet this minority rule the majority with a rod of iron, and carry oflp a heavy tribute to Constantinople every year in the corn, wine, oil, silk, gum mastic, fruits, and honey, which the labour of the Greeks and the fertility of the soil produce in abundance. The English tra- veller Dallaway justly praises the beauty of its
AND LONGEVITY OF ITS MALES. 79
female inhabitants. "As we walked throuo;li the town," he says, "on a Sunday evening, the streets were filled with women, dancing, or sitting at their doors in groups, dressed in the fashion of the island. The girls have most brilliant complexions, with regu- lar and delicate features. The ringlets which are so elegantly disposed round the sweet countenances of the fair Chiotes, are such as Milton describes by " hyacinthine locks," crisped and curled like the blossom of that flower, while their faces are lovely, and their eyes varying with infinite variety of ex- pression, from tenderness and softness to animation and vivacity." As a proof of the salubrity of the climate, longevity is very common. Among other instances, Dallaway mentions his being accosted at a fountain by a venerable old man who said he was 120 years of age, and that he had a son now living Avho was eighty, and had recently become a father. He acknowledged that there were many older men in Scio than himself, but none who like him had been preferred, as he could boast to have lately been, by a girl of twenty to a rival of her own age ! We saw quite as much female beauty as Dallaway describes, and several instances of hale and hearty men above a century old ; and Sir William Ousely admitted that though there was a great deal of female beauty
80 CTSSUS OR CHESHME.
among the Persian women of Sliiraz and Ispahan, lie thought the pahn of excellence was with the Greeks.
From Scio we crossed the Straits to pay a hasty visit to the port of Cheshme, on the coast of Asia Minor. Its present importance arises solely from its being one of the places at which ships from Smyrna occasionally touch to take on board dried fruits, figs, and raisins, to save the expense of freight or carriage to the larger port. Anciently it was the port of Cyssus, where the fleet of Antiochus was defeated by the Romans, and more recently, in 1772, it was memorable as the scene of the entire destruction of the Turkish fleet by a Russian squadron under an English commander. Erythra3, famous for a sybil, and Mount jNIenias, on the summit of which Anaxa- goras built an observatory, were only a few miles to the north of Cyssus or Cheshme. The Erythrsean sybil, and the sybil of Cuma3 in Italy, were the same. Her oracular communications were placed by Tarquin in the Capitol, and burnt by accident during the war of Marius and Sylla ; and it is said that the Emperor Augustus deputed three ambassadors to Erythraj, to procure genuine transcriptions, but they collected only mysterious verses known by oral tradition.
We were courteously entertained by the English vice-consul at Cheshme, a Greek, whose young wife
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AT CHESHME. 81
we thought even more beautiful than any of the women we had seen at Scio, and whom it was im- possible to regard without being fascinated ; but the husband appeared more jealous than pleased at the manifestations of our admiration. We here parted from our Oriental friends, Sir William Ousely and Mr. Price, who took their departure for Malta, while we returned to Smyrna.
VOL. II.
82
CHAR V.
Sail from Smyrna with a companion, the i/ermes. — Terrific hail-storm, and loss of topmast on the African coast. — Repair of dama<res, and arrival at Gibraltar. — Narrow escape from being wrecked on Cape Finisten-e. — Arrival in the Thames. — Stangate Creek. — Quarantine. — Seamen prevented from hanging the carpenter at the yard-arm. — Absurdity and inefficiency of the Laws of Quarantine.
Our business at Smyrna being completed, and our cargo of valonea, madder-roots, raw silk, dried fruits, and wines, being all on board, we sailed from the Bay, in company with the ship Ilermes, Captain Williams, for London direct. As expedition in the voyage was of great importance, I conceived that we might shorten it by some days if, instead of pursuing the usual course after reaching Cape Bon, in Africa, we kept close along the African coast, and availed our- selves of the land and sea breezes, blowing alternately night and day on that hot and sandy region, instead of being carried to the northward on the coast of Spain, and having often to beat down from thence to the Straits of Gibraltar against contrary winds. My
TEKKinC ITAIL-STOIIM. 83
companion assenting to this arrangement, wo pursued tliat course after passing tlirough the Archipelago and by Malta in the usual track.
As we sailed along the African coast from the pro- jecting portion where the ruins of Carthage are situated, towards Bona, a sandy and desolate track, we heard during the night the roar of the lions, loud, distinct, and thrilling, amid the otherwise dead silence of all around; and between Bona and Algiers we experienced one of the most terrific hail-storms that it was ever my lot to encounter, before or since. We were under full sail, with single reefed topsails and topgallant sails set, and staysails all drawing, with the wind off the land on our larboard beam, when with a suddenness like that of the white squalls in the Indian seas, there burst upon us such a gust of wind as carried the main-topmast away by the board before a sail could be clewed up, and laid the ship on her starboard beam-ends. At the same time the hail- stones came down as large as pigeon's eggs, and with sharp, ragged edges, like fragments of broken ice, cutting the faces and hands of all on whom they fell, driving the men from the helm, and causing all the crew to run for shelter under the booms, in the forecastle, or wherever else the hail could not reach them. It was a period of intense anxiety, and I ex-
G 2
84 LOSS OF TOPMAST,
pected every moment to see the hatches filled and the ship go to the bottom ; but after as sudden a lull, when the fury of the hail-storm was spent, the men repaired to their duty ; and by throwing over- board our lee-guns, clearing away the wreck of the main-topmast, gathering in all the after-sail, and hoisting the flying jib, we got the ship round before the wind, when she righted with a violent oscillation that nearly capsised ns on the other side.
Our main business now was to get up a new main- topmast and topgallant mast, with their proper yards and rigging before we could make sail ; and as we had only one carpenter on board, and the wood-work of the maintop had been torn away by the fall of the mast, we made signal to our companion for assistance in this respect. Instead of answering it, however, which he probably would have done had there been any imminent danger of our foundering, he profited by our misfortune to crowd all sail, and leave us to our own resources ; the motive being sheer avarice, as he was part owner of the ship and cargo ; as, if he could reach the Thames a'^few days before us, he would command the early market, and increase his profit by perhaps ten or fifteen per cent. We were all indignant at such shabby treatment, but resolved to do our best to overtake him nevertheless.
AND REPAIR OF DAMAGES. 85
A new difficulty now arose. Our carpenter had been wounded in the head, in a ship of war, and had been invalided on that account ; and though when sober he was a valuable and well-behaved man, the slightest quantity of liquor affected his brain, and made him as capricious and wayward as a spoiled child. He had taken an extra glass of grog, just after the hail-storm, and now declared that he had been so bruised by the fall of the main-topmast that he was quite unable to go aloft or do any work in the main-top. The sailors, not believing his story, stripped him perfectly naked, and not the least sign of a bruise or hurt of any kind was found on his body ; so they determined that if he would not go into the main-top himself he should be hoisted there. I approved of this determination, being persuaded that he had put forth a false pretence. A sling was accordingly made, by which the carpenter and his tools were hoisted together into the main-top ; and he was then told that he should have nothinii to eat or drink till he began to work, nor permitted to leave the top till he had finished it. Pie continued as obstinate as a mule, so that the seamen had to do his duty and their own too, and not waiting for his assist- ance, very speedily and cleverly repaired the woodw work, got up the spare topmast, and topgallant-mastj
G 3
86 ARKIVAL AT GIBRALTAR.
crossed the yards, bent the sails, and had everythuig in perfect order by sunset, when we made sail and continued our course. The carpenter, however, was kept in the top all night, and next morning pretended to be dying of hunger, thirst, and fatigue. This too was believed to be a sham, for it was not more than eighteen hours since he had made a hearty meal, and of fatigue he had none. But considering it possible that he might jump overboard in his frenzy, or die of chagrin and passion, and that, in such a case, an in- dictment mio-ht lie ao-ainst us all as the authors of his death, I thought it best to release him, greatly to the mortification of the crew ; and he was lowered down and sent to his hammock accordingly.
Being favoured with a fresh and fair wind, we crowded every stitch of canvas, and just overtook our companion as she was rounding Point Europa to go into the bay of Gibraltar, there to fill up her water for the remainder of the voyage. As we stood in need of the same supply, we anchored here for a similar purpose ; and to save time got all our empty casks on deck during the night for the purpose of sending them on sliore at daylight to be filled, so that our decks were literally crowded. At daylight, how- ever, to our astonishment Ave saw the Hermes getting under way, either having come into port as a feint to
RACE WITH COMPANION. 87
deceive us^ or not needing the supply of water as supposed ; when I immediately appealed to the crew, placed before them the treacherous conduct of our companion, who thus sought to steal a march upon us, and reach the Thames in advance, and asked them whether they would consent to be put on half allowance of water for the rest of the voyage, rather than be thus beaten or overreached. They answered the proposal with three hearty cheers. We accord- ingly got under way immediately, without even wait- ing to replace our empty water casks in the hold till we got clear of the Straits ; but by sunset we had everything put to rights, and the Hermes, still in sight, but hull-down, ahead of us. Our next con- sideration was how to cut her off by shortening our route ; though we had heard while at Gibraltar of the war with America (proclaimed since our leaving England), and that the British Channel already swarmed with American privateers, which we were certainly in no condition to encounter, having thrown overboard all our starboard guns when laid on our beam ends off the coast of Africa, and lost, also, the support which our late companion, better armed and better manned than ourselves, would have af- forded us. Nevertheless, with that firmness of resolve which is characteristic of seamen everywhere, we de-
G 4
88 NEARLY WRECKED OFF FINISTERRE.
termlned to run all hazards rather than be beaten in the race. In shaping our course, therefore, for the Channel, instead of keeping the usual offing for the coast of Spain and Portugal, to avoid being embayed in the Bay of Biscay, I directed a course which should just round Cape Finisterre within two or three miles only, and gave special injunctions to the officer of the watch for a vigilant look-out as we approached that promontory. Unfortunately these orders were but very imperfectly observed, and we were within a stone's throw of being wrecked on the Cape itself. Just before daybreak, I was awakened by the ex- traordinary silence that prevailed, for I had gone to sleep amid the ordinary noises of the deck, (and it is a fact sufficiently familiar to all seamen, that any remarkable change, whether from noise to silence or silence to noise, motion to stillness or still- ness to motion, will awake the soundest sleeper,) so jumping on deck to learn the cause of this change, I found the officer of the watch asleep, the man at the wheel in a sort of stupor or dosing, the ship rocking from the rebound of the breakers on the shore, and the bluff cliffs of Cape Finisterre just appearing through the morning mist, as if directly overhead. It was a fearful moment, as we were literally in the jaws of death, and five minutes more our destruction
ARRIVAL IN Till-: THAMES. 89
would have been inevitable ; but by rousing the fuw hands on deck, throwing all aback at the risk of our masts, and aided by the off swell of the recoiling waves, we happily escaped, though it was many days before I was entirely free from the sensations that this hair-breadth escape occasioned.
Our course up Channel was rapid, from the strong south-west gales that blew, and we arrived off Dover just after sunset in a dark December day, where firing a gun and making the usual signal for a pilot with lighted lanthorns at the peak, we soon received one on board, who was terrified, however, at learning that we had a foul bill of health, and that the plague raged at Smyrna when we left it, though none of the men had suffered the least illness during the voyage. The fact, however, of our not having a clean bill of health obliged us to run through the Downs with the yellow flag and a black ball in the centre, denoting the plague spot, at the main, and anchor in Stangate Creek, the usual quarantine ground, instead of pro- ceeding direct to London.
It was Saturday afternoon when we reached the anchorage ; and after the sails were furled and all made snug, the usual enjoyment of " Saturday night at sea," was allowed to the crew, in the double al- lowance of all their provisions for the day, not
90 AN EXECUTION PREVENTED.
omittino; the means of drinkino; the healths of their " Sweethearts and Wives." In the cabin, we were seated round a brisk coal fire, and a bright brass stove, which our Russian steward prided himself in keeping like a mirror ; and the pilot, and chief offi- cer, Mrs. Buckingham, our little daughter and my- self, were just beginning to enjoy a cup of tea with the luxury of fresh milk and soft bread and butter, brought off to us by a shore-boat just after we had anchored in the Creek. Suddenly, how^ever, we heard a noise and a scviffle on the forecastle, as if the n.en wxre quarrelling, — for oaths were thickly uttering by many voices, so that some evil was afloat. We instantly repaired on deck, and to our astonishment found the carpenter half drunk, standing on the projecting end of the windlass, a rope round his neck, with the fall in the hands of half a dozen men, and the boatswain with his silver call to his mouth just ready to pipe " hoist away." I de- manded what was the meaning of all this, to which the boatswain ansvi^ered, with the utmost calmness, as if quite unconscious of doing anything wrong, — " We are going to hang the carpenter at the yard- arm !" " Good God!" 1 exclaimed, "why you will all be hung for murder!" " Never," said one of the seamen, " for such a blackQ;uard as this ; he oufrht to
QUARANTINE. 91
have been hung months ago." I implored them to desist, but it was with the utmost reluctance that they abandoned their intention, though at length quiet was restored. On inquiry, it appeared that the men had never forgotten his conduct when we lost our mast in the gale ; but that the immediate cause of the present outbreak was that he had not only got drunk on his own double allowance, but had stolen some of the men's grog, and by his con- duct so broken in upon the harmony of their " Satur- day Night,*' that the verdict of hanging him at once at the yard-arm was pronounced by acclamation ; and but for our timely intervention, would have been carried into execution without delay !
While kept in the confinement of Stangate Creek, I had a good opportunity of witnessing the practical absurdity of the quarantine laws. Three ships from Smyrna, leaving at the same period, and arriving in the Thames within a day or two of each other, — the Scipio, the Marij, and the Hermes, our treacherous companion, which arrived two days after us, with all her efforts to get in before — were now under quarantine: and from the similarity of the circum- stances under which they were all placed, it might have been expected that all would have shared the same fate, especially as there had not been a death.
92 ABSURDITY AND INEFFICIENCY
or a case of plague or fever In either of them since leaving the Turkish vs^aters. But the Hermes was released in five days ; the Scipio in fourteen ; and the Mary remained to fulfil the full terra of forty- days ; the loss and injury to the owners by these de- tentions being just in proportion to the respective periods of their detention. On inquiring afterwards into the cause of these differences, I was informed that the owners of the Hermes had interest at the Treasury, and therefore obtained the speediest re- lease ; that continual importunity and pressing, and the precedent of the Hermes, secured our freedom ; but that the great obstacle to the Mary's being let off for a shorter time than the full period, was, that instead of her having laid in her stock of brooms for sweep- ing the decks in England, so as to last her out and home, she had renewed her supply of brooms at Smyrna, where they are made of a particular kind of broad-leaved grass or flag, growing by the river's side, and which, with mats of the same material, were classed among the substances deemed highly susceptible of conveying the matter of Infection or contagion to all who handle them. It was proved, nevertheless, that the said highly susceptible brooms had been used every day in sweeping the decks, till they were all worn to a stump, without any of the
OF THE QUARANTINE LAWS. 93
persons using tliem being affected in any way ; and that if there had been any plague matter in them when first brought on board, it must have been scrubbed out of them long ago. The plea was of no avail ; the officers of the quarantine were bound by a certain official routine, from which they could not depart ; so that this vessel, with a cargo of great value, and a crew as healthy as our own, was com- pelled, on account of these worn-out brooms, to re- main till her cargo, consisting chiefly of Turkey figs and raisins for the Christmas market, was not only lost for the season, but so injured by the delay, that we heard the owners had petitioned the Treasury to be allowed to throw this portion of the cargo over- board in the Channel to avoid payment of the duty, which would be greater in amount than the goods would sell for, but that this favour was denied ; and the loss was consequently greatly aggravated by this refusal. To cap this climax of absurdity, it may be added, that any ship of war, with a crew of a thou- sand men, and a voyage of only half the duration, arriving in England from Smyrna, though the plague might be raging when she left, and though several cases of sickness might have occurred on the pas- sage, would have been released from quarantine by an Admiralty order in eight and forty hours after
94 ABSURDITY OF QUARANTINE.
her arrival ; which proves that the apprehension of contagion is a mere pretence for keeping up a system by which a number of officials are maintained in the service of the Government, to the great injury of the shipping and commercial interest of the country ; and the sooner this absurd and inefficient practice is abolished the better.
95
CHAP. VI.
Elegant hospitalities and agreeable parties in England. — Anec- dotes of a Don Cossack Chief from Russia. — Mania of the English for notoriety. — Lady Cork's rout. — Resolution taken to resign the sea as a profession.— Plan for settling at Malta as a shipowner and merchant. — Sail from London on this expedition. — Lines to the Moon. — Liformation of the plague raging at Malta. — Influence of fear on one of the passengers. — Terror of all parties on shore at the spread of the disease. Currently received account of its origin and progress.
The agreeable connections formed in Smyrna led to still further introductions to London friends ; so that for the first month after our return to England we were overwhelmed with invitations more than we could accept. Among other families with whom Mrs. Buckingham and myself were invited to make some stay, was that of the parents of our friends the Brants, of Smyrna. Their house of business as raw silk merchants was in Cheapside, near St. Paul's; but they had a delightful country residence at West Hill, near Roehampton, where we passed some weeks in the enjoyment of that quiet rural elegance, without parade or ostentation, which is no where to be met
on AGREEABLE PARTIES IN ENGLAND.
with in the same perfection as among the moderately opulent families of England, without any distinguished rank to demand certain appearances for the credit of the order, but yet a sufficient income to obtain every luxury worth enjoying ; a happy blending, in short, of the material and intellectual pleasures conducive to health, and in harmony with the most refined taste. Our mornings were given to reading and writing, our afternoons to riding, driving, or walking, and our evenings to music, poetry, and amusement ; and there was every day one or two new faces at the dinner table to give variety to the scene.
As neighbours, living at Roehampton, were the wealthy families of the Ruckers, Daniel and Sigis- mund, both West India merchants, the former living in a splendid mansion, and both having lovely and accomplished wives, worthy of any court in Christen- dom. Mrs. Brant, being a native of Symrna, de- lighted to get Mrs. Buckingham or myself into a corner, and talk over the topics connected with her native home; its noble mountains, fertile plains, the caravan bridge, the cypress groves of the cemeteries, the pretty villages of Boodjah and Sedikui, the turbanned Turks, the kalpacked Armenians, the lively Greeks, the dance of the Romaika, and all the recollections of her youth. Her daughters were
AN OFFICER OF THE DON COSSACKS. 97
interesting and accomplished; and a relative, Miss Arbojne, and a frequent visitor, Miss Nash, daughter^ I believe, of the celebrated architect, made a constant agreeable home party ; while their neighbours fre- quently dropped in to give additional zest by their variety.
On one of the evenings of our dining at Mr. Daniel Rucker's, there was an officer of the Don Cossacks present as a guest. This man had come over from Russia on a special mission to the Government, and though little removed from a savage in his look and manners, he became " fashionable " for the season, and no party was considered complete without him. There was at that period a fierce war between Russia and France, in which the English sympathised en- tirely with the former ; and so much did the London merchants make of this Don Cossack — the first, per- haps, that had ever been seen in England — that one afternoon at high 'Change, between three and four o'clock, he was placed on the pedestal of the central statue in the open court of the Royal Exchange, and there made to answer, through an interpreter, the various questions put to him by the surrounding- bystanders. One of them we heard was, " How many Frenchmen have you killed with your own hand?" To which he answered, without hesitation, " Two
VOL. II. H
98 MANIA OF THE ENGLISK
hundred and fifty ! " which few were disposed to beheve, though others proposed " Three cheers for the hero of the Don."
This Cossack was at the dinner party of Mr. Daniel Rucker, and was placed on the right hand of his accomplished lady, with an interpreter intervening. But when the dinner was served, his mode of eating was so disgusting, and the quantities of oil, mustard, vinegar, and sauces which he consumed so revolting, that ahiiost every one near him lost their appetites, and several of the ladies were compelled to rise and leave the table. Every one appeared to rejoice, therefore, when the dinner was over, and the Don Cossack took his departure for London, where he was engaged to three different evening parties !
This mania was very happily hit off by Moore, in his little volume of " Intercepted Letters," published about a year after this event (1814), in a letter from the Countess Dowager of Cork, famed for her fashion- able parties, to one of her lady friends, whose in- fluence she solicits to help her to some novelties for the occasion.
" My dear Lady L I've been just sending out
About five hundred cards for a snug httle I'out, But I can't conceive how, in this very cold weather, I'm ever to bring my five hundred together.
FOR NOTORIETY. 99
But my clear Lady L can't you hit on some notion
At least for one night to set London in motion ?
Is there no Algerine, no Kamschatkan arrived ?
No Plcnipo-Pasha, — three-tailed and ten-wived ?
No Russian, whose dissonant consonant name
Almost rattles to fragments the trumpet of Fame ?
In short, my dear, names like Windtzschitstopschcn-
zoudhoff, Are the only things now make an evening go smooth
off. So get me a Russian, — till death I'm your debtor ; — If he brings the wdiole alphabet, so much tlie better ; And, Lord ! if he would but, in character, sup Off his fish-oil and candles, he'd soon set mc up !"
The mania is so peculiarly English, tliat it has lasted ever since, and will continue to endure for a long time to come. Every East Indian, who arrives in London, provided he can exhibit a gay and gorgeous dress of cloth of gold and Cashmere shawls, with diamonds and other jewels on his person, is sure to be sought after as a lion of the season. Dwar- kanauth Tagore, a simple merchant ; the Nepaul princes, despots of the severest kind ; the deposed Rajah of Coorg ; the conquered chief of Scinde ; an ordinary office- clerk, Mohun Lai, — by dint of their dark skins, gay turbans, and gold and jewelled ornaments, have been sought out as lions for fashion-
TOO RUSSIAN PRISONERS AT BRIGHTON.
able parties up to tlie present liour ; and tliough tliey could in general contribute nothing of an intellectual character to their entertainers, they were gaudy objects to be gazed at, and so far answered the purpose of their exhibitors. Even while this sheet is passing through my hands, I read in the Times of Dec. 15. 1854, that the Russian officers taken prisoners in the Baltic, and being at Lewes and Brighton on parole, are feted as lions by the inhabitants of both these places, and that no party is supposed to be complete without some Russian uniforms; while at a Public Ball, given at Brighton to raise money for the Patriotic Fund for the sick and wounded in the Crimea, several of these Russian officers appeared ; and English ladies seemed to account it an honour to be partners in the dance with those whose countrymen were beating out the brains and putting to death the wounded English, even after they had given them water to allay their thirst, and rendered them such succour as was in their power ! Alas ! for the heartlessness and frivolity of those to whom fashion and notoriety are the chief objects of their idolatry, and who would link themselves to savages and murderers for the sake of momentary eclat !
The great happiness which we had now enjoyed in being together ever since the loss of our dear infant.
EESOLVE TO KEl.lNQUISH THE SEA. 101
and my wife's personal experience of the " perils of the sea," in battle and in storm, induced her to desire most ardently that I should relinquish the profession, and seek some other occu[)ation by which our separation miijlit be avoided. Beino- nothino; loth to comply with a request so much in harmony with my own desires, I readily yiehled ; and after nuich conside- ration and the advice of friends, the following course was resolved upon.
I had been so successful in a pecuniary point of view in all my voyages, by the liberality of the owners of the ship under my command, and by for- tunate speculations in mercantile adventures, that, with the credit which all persons of known cliaracter and capital could obtain, I possessed sufficient means to establish a house of business as a shipowner and merchant at Malta. For this I was further qualified by my acquaintance with all the languages in use there — Arabic, Greek, Italian, and French — as well as by a practical knowledge of the trade of the Mediterranean, and especially of the value of ships. This, indeed, was most important ; for Malta being at that time the chief depot of all the goods forced into the continental ports in defiance of the decrees of Buonaparte for their exclusion, was the greatest mart of trade within the Mediterranean ; and as all ships u 3
LIBRARY
tJNTVERFJTTY OF CALIFORNIA S.AVTA BARBARA
102 ' SAIL FROM LONDON,
taken as prizes by our cruisers there were taken into Malta for adjudication and sale, it was the great centre of activity for this branch of traffic also.
It was accordingly resolved that I should lay in, in London, a general cargo of goods suited to the peculiar market of the island, in which I expended all my own capital, and as much credit as I thought it safe to obtain ; and placing them on board the ship Gallant Schemer, Captain Worts, took my place as passenger with him, so as to superintend the landing and sale. I therefore resigned the command of the Scipio, very much to the regret of lier owners, and prepared to carry out my plan, being furnished at the same time with letters of credit and introduction from some of the first houses in London to their correspondents in Malta.
The question was next discussed whether my wife and daughter should accompany me or not ; but on the whole, it was thought better that I should first go alone, get comfortably settled in a house, and have all the preliminaries of my establishment completed, and that then my wife and daughter should join me ; a decision which was deemed the more prudent from another reason ; namely, that my wife's confinement might be expected in a month after leaving London, and if this should fall out at sea, it would be ex-
TO SETTLE AT MALTA. 103
ceeclingly inconvenient. We parted therefore with the strongest conviction that we should meet again at Malta in three or four months at farthest ; instead of which, we never met again (though both ardently de- siring it) for ten long years ; when the son, born within a month after our separation, was ten years old before I beheld his face or he mine, for reasons which will appear in the sequel.
In crossing the Bay of Biscay we had a heavy sea, which sufficiently sustained the reputation of that hollow indentation of the coast for its angry billows rolling in from the vast expanse of the Western Ocean, though we happily had a fine moonlight, which is always so w^elcome at sea. We anchored at Gib- raltar for a few days, during which I made a pleasant excursion to the Spanish towns of Algeziras and San Roque, and a trip up the pretty stream called the little Quadaiquiver; but my thoughts were so ab- sorbed by home and its associations, that I was the least happy, perhaps, of all the party, and soon after suffered an attack of fever, with great depression of spirits.
Within the Straits we encountered a heavy gale off the African coast ; and, at its cessation, the young moon appeared in its thin crescent form, like silver
H 4
104 LINES TO THE MOON.
inlaid in the most beautiful azure, so clear and deep seemed the vault of heaven. I know of nothing so suggestive, at sea at least, as the moon in all her phases, of love and friendship, and the thoughts of those we have left behind us ; and full of these I penned the following lines : —
TO THE MOON.
Hail to thy lamp again, pale Moon !
In silence sinking down the west ; Hail ! tho' thy beams disturb too soon
The halcyon calm that charmed my breast. Oh ! why, in this expectant hour,
Didst thou arrest my wandering eye ? Why, but to triumph in thy power,
And wake me from my dream of joy !
II.
Fair Queen ! thy first revolving round,
Since exiled from my dear loved home, Saw me o'er Biscay's billows bound,
Regardless of their angry foam ; While gazing on thy welcome ray.
Remembered scenes my heart absorb, As Feeling poured, in simple lay
Her vespers to thy new-born orb.
LINES TO THE MOON. 105
But when, returning from thy course,
To re-assume soft Evening's reign, As fell Disease, with venomed force.
Poured maddening pangs thro' every vein, Thy troubled disk was veiled in cloud,
And dimly seemed thy lamp to burn, With paler beams to wrap my shroud,
With fainter fires to light my urn.
IV.
Oh ! I had lulled each pang to rest,
That Recollection loved to trace, And Hope had soothed my love-lorn breast.
With Friendship's near and fond embrace ; When gazing round Heaven's fretted dome,
Soon as I saw thy silver ray. My heart again was filled with Home,
And Joy's fair prospects swept away.
V.
And now, on this auspicious eve.
That crowns our triumph o'er the storm, While future hopes my heart relieve,
I see again thy crescent form. Retiring down the blushing sky.
Still warm from Day's expiring beams. Like the soft tints of home-felt joy,
Reflected faint in Memory's dreams.
106 INFORMATION OF THE PLAGUE
As I was now a passengei" on board the ship and had no duty to perform, I read usually eight liours a day, and had still abundant time to be on deck when any evolutions were to be performed, of which it was always agreeable to me to be at least a spectator. As I had now been twice over the same track, there were no novelties to attract my attention. Nothing re- markable, therefore, transpired on our voyage till we were within about a day's sail of Malta; when, to the great horror of some, and the disappointment of all, we had a signal from the commodore of the fleet — for we were sailing under convoy of the Blossom sloop of war — to shorten sail, and each ship to send a boat to the commodore for instructions.
On our boat's return we learnt that a sloop of war had been dispatched by the Governor of Malta to meet such ships as might be bound for the island, to communicate to their commanders that the plague had broken out in La Valetta, and was raging with the greatest fury ; and to command all vessels having Government stores on board to repair to Port Mahon, in Minorca, leaving the commanders of other ships to enter Malta or proceed elsewhere as they thought best.
As the cargo we had embarked was selected with especial reference to the Maltese market, and would
KAGING AT JLALTA. 107
lose considerably in value if taken elsewhere, our commander concurred with me in the determination to proceed direct to Malta, though the greater portion of the fleet were soon scattered in all directions, some obeying the order respecting Government stores, and others, never having been in plague-stricken ports before, terrified at the danger. We had a remark- able instance in our own ship, of the powerftd in- fluence of fear in predisposing persons to become aftccted with the disease itself. On our anchorino- in INIalta, we were forbidden, by orders from the shore, to land any of the passengers, officers, or crew, though boats would be sent for the discharge of our cargo, if we desired it ; the Governor having determined that no more persons should enter the island, as he con- ceived that the crowding of the population, and the consumption of provisions and water would only ag- gravate the sufferings of the people. The persons who brought us this intelligence were Maltese belonging to the quarantine establishment, and they looked gloomy and despairing enough, so as to cast a damp on the spirits of all on board, except two of the youngest officers, who conceived the idea of a very heartless practical joke.
Among the passengers was a stout, over-fed, hypo- chondriacal subject, an army clothier from Bond
108 INFLUENCE OF FEAR.
Street, who had come out to Malta on some business connected with his supplying the troops with apparel. He had never been at sea before, was sick on the least motion of the vessel, and was so timid as to be alarmed at the slightest sign of danger. One of the young officers alluded to, with a view to frighten this passenger with the fear of the plague, went into his berth or bed-place, had his face and lips rubbed over with flour, to make him look deadly pale, and a table placed b}^ his bed-side with phials of medicine la- belled, and boxes of pills. His companion, going on deck, accosted the army clothier in melancholy tones, saying, " Well, Sir, it 's likely to be soon all over with us ; the plague is already on board, and my young friend below is suffering from a violent attack of it." The passenger disbelieved it at first ; but, on the officer challenging him to come and see, he went down to the supposed sick man's berth, and the sight so shocked him that he was instantly seized with faintness, which was followed by vomiting and diar- rhoea to a degree that, had it not been arrested by the invalid jumping out of bed and assuring him it was all a hoax, would possibly have brought on the plague in reality. This is perfectly conformable to the general maxim which experience has established as a true one, namely, that the plague rarely attacks those
TERROR OF THE ISLA^^DEllS. 109
who are not afraid of it ; and hence, medical men and merchants long resident in the East walk fear- lessly through the ranks of the dead and the dying when their duty calls them so to do ; and the first victims that are seized are those who are predisposed for the attack by physical weakness and nervous de- pression. We all agreed, however, in condemning this youthful and mischievous prank, and were rejoiced when the terrified victim of the ill-timed joke re- covered his health and composure, which it took three or four days to effect.
We could gather no information respecting the number of deaths on shore, except from the pratique officers who came alongside ; but the accounts differed materially, from 1,500 to 3,000 a day ; both, no doubt, above the real number. But as the plague had not been known to be in Malta for upwards of a century, it was so new to every one, that from the Governor down to the sentry on guard at the landing place, every one seemed to be terror-struck, and to have become quite incompetent to give directions or obey them. We heard that the reluctance on the part of the survivors to bury the dead was such, that the prisons were obliged to be opened, and the convicts released from their sentences on condition of their performing this office; and as these men had conceived
110 CURRENTLY RECEIVED ACCOUNT
the notion that brandj and other strong spirits were the best preventives of the contagion, they were nearly all drunk while engaged in this duty, so that most revolting and disgusting scenes were the result. All kinds of stories also were prevalent as to the origin of the disease ; the most accredited of which was the following, which I transcribe from a letter written to my wife in England, at this period, dated Malta, June 11. 1813: —
" It appears that early in May a ship arrived here from Alexandria, laden with flax, having the plague on board, and having lost several of her crew on the passage. She was accordingly put under guard In Marsamashute harbour. It was suggested by the merchants here to burn her ; but this the Governor refused to do, under the hope of saving the lives and property on board. All her crew, however, fell victims to this terrible disease, as well as some Maltese who went on board her, but were not allowed to re- turn on shore. She was then towed round to St. Paul's Bay, where she lay, I think, fifteen days with- out a living creature on board, and is now either sunk or intended to be. No one can ascertain with certainty how the disease was communicated to the shore, since no one came out of the ship that ever
OF ITS ORIGIN AND PROGllESS. 1 1 1
went on board lier ; but rumour attributes it to some goods received out of her by one of the health-guards, whose whole family have died, and whose house is burnt to the ground. It soon spread rapidly ; and although the number of deaths daily vary, they are on the increase, in spite of every caution that human prudence can suggest. A transport came in here dismasted, and the captain, in opposition to all advice, employing some persons from the shore to refit, got the plague on board, and yesterday we witnessed the melancholy spectacle of the vessel being towed out to sea, to be burnt with everything on board her, and the crew set on some isolated spot. Captain Chilcott, of the navy, with a wife and five grown daughters, resident here, lost one servant, and another is now lying ill of the plague ; in consequence of which they were all ordered to abandon their house, and are forced to the Lazaretto, having taken leave of their friends without a hope of ever returning to them. So rifrid are the reo-ulations, that the instant an in- dividual is seized with the pestilence, himself and family are taken to the Lazaretto, and from tlie niimber of persons actually having the plague there, death is almost inevitable ; while such is the general alarm, that it is not considered safe to wait until those symptoms confirm themselves before they are
112 WHETHER CONTAGIOUS OR NOT.
removed from the rest of society. When this is the case, the health-guards of course do not touch them ; and if the poor wretches have not strength to walk along, they are literally dragged through the streets with a sort of boat-hook, and when in the Lazaretto, can receive little assistance beyond what they are enabled to afford themselves. The instant they are dead they are thrown, by flesh-hooks, into a cart, taken to a distant spot, their bodies burnt, and all their property and effects destroyed. Throughout the town every house is shut up ; and every street where the plague has been is barricaded with gates and sentinels, so that we can see no one, hear from no one, and all is at a stand."
These statements, if they are all strictly accurate as here reported, would seem to favour the contagion- theory ; but in opposition to it may be set this other great fact, namely, that when the medical staff" of the island had exhausted all their skill and powers in vain, a body of Jews from Smyrna, well acquainted with the disease and its appropriate remedies, offered their services to the Maltese Government, on con- dition of being paid a certain sum per head for those only that they cur>.'d. This offer was accepted : the Jews arrived, went freely among the dead and dying,
FEAR rilEDISrOSES TO DISEASE. 113
liandled their bodies without any visible precaution, and cured about ninety per cent, of those attacked, by taking them in hand on the first symptoms of the disease appearing ; and not one of these medical attendants was affected with the disease during all their stay in the island.
So powerful a protection is confidence, and so certain a predisposer to the disease is fear, that it was currently said and believed here that an experiment was tried on two convicts, one of whom was placed in a bed, in which he was told a man had died of the pliigue a few hours before, which was not true, and he caught the disease, and died of it ; while the other was placed in a bed in which a man had actually died on the preceding day, and the clothes were not changed, but the convict was told that the bed had never been slept in by any but healthy persons, and he was not affected in the slightest degree.
Considering the great interests at stake, it is as wonderful as it is discreditable, both to the govern- ment and the medical profession, that such a course of inquiry and experiment is not set on foot and pursued rigorously by impartial persons wedded to no previous theory, as should settle the question de-
VOL. II. I
114 QUAKANTINE AT PRESENT INJURIOUS.
finitively, whether the plague is really contagious or not ; and if the latter, to abolish the system of qua- rantine and all its injuries and absurdities at once and for ever ; but if the former, so to revise the system as to make it as efficacious and as little injurious as possible.
115
CHAP. VII.
Sail for Smyrna. — Leaving goods behind at Malta. — Excursion to Clazoniene, the city of Auaxagoras. — Description of the ruins. — Causeway. — Theatre. — Acropolis. — Fate of Anaxa- goras for being a man before his time. — Continued disastrous news of deaths and failures in Malta. — Loss of all uiy pro- perty there, and increased liabilities. — Second instance of pecuniary misfortune without fault. — -Resolution to try new ground by going to Egypt.
It was arranged that all the goods laid in by me for the market of Malta should be landed here, under charge of the ship's agent, to be sold as opportunities might offer, when the plague should abate and busi- ness be resumed : and the whole was accordingly placed in one of the public magazines or warehouses, after which we took our departure for Smyrna, ar- riving there on the 30th of June, to await the pro- gress of events. I was kindly received by my friend, Mr. James Brant, who made me take up my abode with him ; and nothing could exceed the friendly attentions I daily received at his hands.
During my stay, I became acquainted with Captain Clavell of the Orlando frigate, who had succeeded
1 2
116 EXCURSION TO CLAZOMENE.
Captain Hope in the Salsette, and with the Rev. Mr. Renouard, chaplain to the British Factory of the Levant Company at Smyrna, an accomplished scholar and a great Orientalist and antiquary. By Captain Clavell's kindness, an excursion was planned, to unite the pleasures of a sporting and an exploring party, by a visit to the site of Clazomene, the birth- place of Anaxagoras, the astronomer and philosopher, and the preceptor of Socrates, Euripides, Themisto- cles, and Pericles, the most illustrious group of pupils or disciples, perhaps, that were ever taught by one master.
I must venture on a short account of this excur- sion. We embarked at nine o'clock in the evening, after dining together at the English consul's, Mr. Worry's, in order that we might start, with the land breeze which blows off shore and right out of the Bay, soon after midnight, as beating down against the sea bi'eeze of the day would be very tedious. At three o'clock a.m., the boatswain's whistle roused us all from our cots and hammocks, and was soon followed by the hoarse summons, " All hands, up anchor ! ahoy ! " There is scarcely any scene more animating, perhaps, than that of a fine frigate with smart officers and an ample crew, getting under way with all possible expedition ; and it is the usual
EXCURSION TO CLAZOMENE. 117
ambition of naval commanders to excel each other in the rapidity of such evolutions. In less than ten minutes, the anchor was at the bow and every sail set, and the bright starlight was soon succeeded by the glowing dawn opening behind the eastern moun- tains of Asia ]\Iinor. We anchored at sunset in the harbour of Vouria, and dined with the captain and officers in the chief cabin. Vouria was the Chytrium of the ancients, and Clazomene was on an island opposite to it. From being subsequently connected to the main land by an artificial causeway made by Alexander of Macedon, as he afterwards did to the celebrated island of Tyre, this place is now called by the Turks the " Island of the Ruad," and we were conveyed across to it by a boat from the shore.
Though the city of Clazomene has entirely dis- appeared, the substantial work of the mole or cause- way is perfectly visible beneath the water, coming up near to the surface, having the form of a reaping- hook with its outer face to the seo, to bear the full brunt of the waves, and forming, like the breakwater at Plymouth, a smooth cove or bay in the hollow of its concave segment of a circle. Tracing the shore, along the north-east extremity of the island, ruins of extensive foundations were to be seen on the beach,
I 3
118 EUINS AT CLAZOMENE.
and receding behind it, constructed of large well- hewn blocks of stone, some of them being probably the baths described here by Pausanias and Livy.
Ascending the hill, fragments of buildings were to be seen at every step, and the whole ground was covered with broken pottery, — some highly glazed, of fine texture, black within and brown without, with Etruscan and Greek figures greatly mutilated. They appeared to be fragments of vases and vessels of religious and domestic use, the handles, lids, and bases of many being perfect.
On gaining the summit of the hill, which com- pletely commanded the whole island, and particu- larly the port below, we found a level space of about 200 yards in diameter, and nearly circular. In the centre were the foundations of large buildings, and on the slope of the hill, where the ascent was easiest, were the remains of an ancient Greek theatre, the stone benches rising in semicircles, one above the other, being in many parts nearly perfect, the site commanding, as was the custom with the Greeks in choosing the spots for such edifices, a noble and ex- tensive prospect, so that the spectators, in their un- roofed theatre, might enjoy all the freshness and beauty of Nature while witnessing the highest per- formances of the dramatic art. Around the outer
ITS ACROPOLIS. 119
edge of this elevated platform were a number of massive unhewn stones, as if forming originally por- tions of a Cyclopean wall, and probably enclosing the theatre and the Acropolis, as the Parthenon is in- cluded within that of Athens.
We descended into the middle of the island, which is the lowest part of it, as its two most distant and op- posite extremities are elevated promontories. From the summit of what we inferred to be the Acropolis, to the bottom of the valley between, the ground was cultivated for corn by the few Turks residing on the island, of whom there were only three families ! Along this valley were scattered extensive fragnipnts of buildings, with pedestals and shafts of colunms, both fluted and plain, about four feet in diameter and twenty in length, with broken cornices, mould- ings, and pieces of alabaster.
Clazoraene was founded by the lonians, 850 years before Christ, and both Pliny and Strabo describe the artificial peninsula or causeway of Alexander of Macedon uniting the island to the mainland. It is as the birthplace of Anaxagoras, however, that it most deeply interested us, as he was certainly one of the most remarkable among the many remarkable men of antiquity. He travelled into Egypt for im- provement, and used to say that he pi'eferred a grain
I 4
120 FATE or ANAXAGORAS.
of wisdom to heaps of gold. About the second year of tlie 78th Olympiad, a meteoric stone fell near the river Egas in Thrace, which excited his attention, and led him to theorize on the formation of the heavenly bodies ; some of his ideas being, as we might well expect in such an age, strangely different from our own, but many in conformity with what was afterwards received as truth. He regarded the sun as a mass of fire, and ascribed the whiteness of the Milky Way to the native light of its innumerable stars. He considered comets to be wandering stars, and was the first who wrote on the phases and eclipses of the moon ; and anticipating in his sagacious mind the discoveries of the telescope, he taught that the moon contained seas, mountains, and valleys, like our own globe, and was in all probability inhabited.
The attempts of Anaxagoras to explain by natural causes the phenomena of the heavens were regarded by the Athenians as likely to subvert the influence of the gods ; and the philosopher, with all his family, was proscribed as an enemy of the established re- ligion, accused of impiety, and condemned to die ; but he ridiculed the sentence, and said truly that it had long been pronounced against him by Nature, and would be the fate of his persecutors also. Pericles, his friend and disciple, interposed in his behalf, but
FATE OF ANAXAGOKAS. 121
the conversion of death into banishment was the only mitigation he had the influence to procure. Anaxa- goras died at the age of seventy-two, 428 years bo- fore Christ ; and being asked, during his ilhiess, whether his body should be carried into his own country, he answered, " No ! as the road that led to the other side of the grave was as long from one place as the other." When the people of Lampsa- cus, the place of his exile, inquired of him before his death whether he wished anything to be done in commemoration of him, he replied, " Yes ! let the boys be allowed to play on the anniversary of my death." This, it is said, was carefully observed for a long period ; and the time thus dedicated to relax- ation was, from that circumstance, called Anaxago- reia. Yet, this once renowned city, the birthplace of this illustrious sage who could penetrate the fu- ture, and soar above the prevailing superstitions of his age, was now the habitation of a few obscure in- dividuals, lost in more than primitive ignorance.
The sporting party having returned from their excursion, with little to reward their trouble, we all re-embarked on board the frigate, and returned to Smyrna, after a most agreeable cruise.
During the remainder of my stay here, having un- fortunately too much leisure, of a most unproductive
122 CONTINUED DISASTROUS NEWS
kind, I visited everj spot of interest in and around the city, to a distance of ten or twelve miles, always finding companions ready to join in such excursions, which were made on horseback, leaving the city before sunrise, and returning after sunset, to avoid the sultry lieat of the August sun. I must resist the temptation, however, strong as it is, to record many interesting incidents and descriptions, which would be strictly in place in a Book of Travels, but might be thought, perhaps, less adapted to an Autobiography ; and yet I find it extremely difficult to draw the line ; but in passing over some hundreds of pages of my unpublished Journal, still in manuscript, I cannot be said to err on the side of exuberance.
The most painful portion of my stay here was that which brought me, week after week, more and more distressing intelligence from Malta as to the continu- ance of the plague there ; the deaths and bankruptcies of individuals with whom some portion of my pro- perty was lodged, and the burning down of maga- zines in which goods were stored, because all the par- ties employed in them had died, and no insurance could cover such calamities as these. The result was that I not only lost by this state of things all the earnings of my profession as an officer and com-
OF DEATHS Al^D FAILUK]:S AT JIALTA. 123
mancler (and tliey were considerable) during a period of several years, but I became involved in heavy- liabilities for goods obtained on credit, in addition to those paid for with cash; and I had not \00l. left nie in the world, with a wife and two children at home to remit to for their support ; and with no certainty whatever as to any occupation for the future without returning again to sea, which we both desired if pos- sible to avoid.
Hei^e then is the second instance in which I ivas sub- jected to great pecuniary loss, from, no faidt of my own, hut from circumstances ivhich I could neither avoid nor control.
On consulting with my friends as to the best course I could pursue, Malta being still unpromising as a field of action, perhaps, for many months to come; and Smyrna, suffering from the effects of the mercan- tile stagnation occasioned by this state of things, offer- ing no hope of advantageous employment, it was thought best to try entirely new ground ; and Egypt was suggested as a very likely field. The pasha, Mohammed Ali, who had just succeeded to power there, was known to desire the aid of Europeans of talent and character in his service, and by letters of introduction to our Consul General there, of which a
124 PREPARE TO EMBARK FOR EGYPT.
large number could be furnished me from Smyrna, I might obtain a favourable introduction to his notice. This course was therefore resolved upon, and I began at once to make preparations for my voyage to this new and, by me at least, hitherto untrodden region.
125
CHAP. VIII.
Embark for Egypt in the schooner Theodosia. — Naval veteran commander's appearance and habits. — Watering at Vourla, and passage through the Archipelago. — Sight of Candia, and Mount Ida of the Cretan Jove. — Anecdotes of grog-drink- ing by the points of the compass. — First sight of the shores of Egypt — Porapey'sPillar. — Unfavourable impressions on land- ing at Alexandria. — Agreeable state of society among the Eu- ropeans.— Excursions during the day.— JNIareotis, Aboukir,&c. — Singular Club, called " The Bucolicanic Association." — Anniversary celebrated in the gardens of Alexandria. — Prize poem for translation. — Ode to Hope. — Object of my visit to Egypt not neglected. — Resolution taken to repair to Grand Cairo.
A FAVOURABLE Opportunity offering for my going to Egypt, I readily embraced it, and embarked on the 30th of August in the King's schooner Theodosia, bound for Alexandria, a free passage having been solicited for me by the consul, and cheerfully granted by the commander. This naval veteran was at least fifty years of age, and had seen a great deal of hard service; but having no family interest at the Admi- ralty, or parliamentary interest in any borough, he still remained only a lieutenant, though scores of " youngsters," as he called them, had been promoted
126 APPEARANCE OF NAVAL COMMANDER.
to commanders and post-captains over his head. This was too frequently the case in the naval service at that period ; and its general result was to make those neglected officers first dejected and then reckless, most frequently giving way to intemperate habits which grew upon them by indulgence, and often ended in making them confirmed sots, which again operated in preventing them from obtaining either promotion or employment. Our commander had not quite arrived at the last stage, but he was far gone towards it ; and his rubicund face, enlarged and car- buncled nose, filmy eyes, and alcoholic breath, gave unmistakeable signs of his confirmed habits. Never- theless he was " every inch a seaman," and one of the most jovial of companions when sufficiently braced up for mirth, though heavy, dull, and hypo- chondriacal till the requisite stimulus had been taken. Leaving the Bay of Smyrna, we toiiched at the anchorage of Vourla to fill up our water at a gushing fountain there ; and, sailing from thence, we rounded Cape Carabourna, the southern promontory of the Gulf of Smyrna, passed round the north end of Scio, going between that island and Ipsera, and thence through the Faro channel, passing Milo and other islands, and then steering away south, with a fair wind, for Alexandria.
GROG-DRINKING BY TOINTS OF COMPASS. 127
On the fourth clay after leavmg Smyrna, we came in sight of Candia, and had a fine view of the Cretan Ida, or the Mount of Jove, towering its head above the clouds as if in conscious majesty. TJie wind, however, here lieaded us off, and blew with great violence, so as to oblige us to reduce our canvas, and beat to windward under reefed sails. The harder it blew, the more the commander seemed to require the consolation which his grog alone appeared capable of aflPording him ; and his calls to the cabin-boy for another glass, were more frequent than the heaving of the log, though this took place at every bell, or every half hour of the watch. It was amusing, though at the same time melancholy, to see how the use of stimulants deadens the palate, and requires in- creased strength with every successive dose to produce the desired excitement. From habit, the boy understood his captain's taste pretty well, and made his grog " stiflfer," as it is called, than the ordinary standard of strength for drinking ; and a kind of thermometrical test had sprung up between them, regulated by the points of the compass, in which north signified the pure spirit, south the water, and east and west equal portions of each. In the early part of the day, therefore, half an hour after breakfast, the captain would call for a south-wester.
128 GKOG-DKINKING BY POINTS OF COMPASS.
which would mean a mixture of one fourtli brandy and three fourths water ; by noon the taste would have been gradually brought up to an east-and-wester, which would mean half brandy and half water. After dinner, a north-easter would be acceptable, composed of three fourths brandy and one fourth water ; and this was professedly the limit which the commander set to himself, intending not to go beyond, regarding this as temperate, for it was his constant boast that he never drank drams, that being left for drunkards. Several times, however, it had happened that when the north-easter was prepared by the boy, the captain would send it down for a point or two more of northing, meaning a little more brandy to be added ; and this had lately been done so often, that, to save himself trouble, the boy brought him up at eight bells, after a wet, stormy day, a tumbler of pure brandy, without any water at all. The captain tasted it, and his commendation of it was enthusiastic. " By God ! Jack," said he, '' this is excellent ; but it is a pity that it should not be made perfect — a pomt or two more of northing is all that it requires." To which the boy replied, " I beg your pardon. Sir, but that is impossible, for it is due north already ! "
On the 9th of September, just ten days after leav- ing Smyrna, we first made the coast of Africa to the
ALEXANDRIA. 129
westward of Alexandria in the bay of Cape Rosa. We sounded in forty-five fathoms, with a soft muddy bottom, and the sea-water greatly discoloured by the discharge of the turbid stream of the Nile. Standing eastward along a low, flat, sandy and barren coast, we descried the column usually called Pompey's Pillar, rising so high above the town of Alex- andria that for two hours at least it was the only ob- ject in sight. As we drew nearer, the castle, occu- pying the site of the ancient Pharos, began to be de- veloped, and then the flat-roofed dwellings, the flags of the European consuls, and the obelisk called Cleopa- tra's Needle, — all suofsestino; reminiscences of the his- tory of Alexander, Pompey, the Ptolemies, Caesar, An- tony and Cleopatra, the Saracens Omar and Amrou, the Soldans, the Mamalukes, and all the successive rulers of Egypt.
The aspect of the town was anything but promis- ing, as seen from the harbour; but on landing the scene was revolting in the extreme, — so much appa- rent poverty, dirt, decay, and stagnation, I had never before witnessed ; and its contrast with the splendour of the ancient Alexandria, — when it was the great mart of nations for concentrating the commerce of the eastern and western world, the school of philosophy, poetry, and science, and the court of the accom
VOL. IL K
130 EUROPEAN SOCIETY AT ALEXANDRIA:
plished Ptolemies, — was painful in the extreme. But I must not trust myself with the description.
I was most hospitably received by Mr. Peter Lee, then British Consul at Alexandria, brother of Mr. John Lee at Smyrna, and of Mr. Edward Lee, the head of the house in London ; and in the society of his accomplished wife, the sister of Miss Arboyne, whom we had met at the family of the Brants in England, I found all the comforts of a second home.
Among the inmates of the same house, guests like myself, were Mr. Schutz, a wealthy merchant just returning to Europe, after acquiring a large fortune in the corn trade of Egypt, and Signer Martucci, a Ro- man traveller, who spoke English well, had seen much of the world, was a good musician, and an agreeable companion. I was soon introduced to all the Euro- pean Consuls and their families ; and in the course of a week knew every one in Alexandria whose acquaint- ance was worth cultivating.
French and Italian being the languages chiefly spoken by the Europeans and Levantines, and the manners of France prevailing among all these classes, we had most agreeable reunions every evening ; as each Consul, as matter of duty, kept open house for an evening reception once in the week ; and on Sunday evenings the parties were still more numer- ous. After an hour devoted to receptions, from seven
THEIR REUNIONS. 131
lO eight, music was usually introduced, and pleasant chamber concerts given, in which Signor Martucci and myself usually took our parts, and from half past nine to eleven the evening was wound up by a dance. No other refreshments than coffee, eau sucr4, and le- monade were produced for the visitors, so that the entertainments were inexpensive, and therefore easy to be often repeated ; and as the houses were large, there were always rooms or balconies to which those who did not join in the music or dance might retire for conversation. How much more rational is this than the heavy dinners and costly wines of England, which cannot, by reason of their expense, be fre- quently given, and which, when they are, keep the gentlemen at table till ten o'clock, and the ladies without their society, while they are sitting over their wine ; so that the whole evening is cut up, unless the party is continued till an unreasonable and unhealthy late hour.
During the daytime, accompanied by Mr. Lee, or some of his household, I visited every spot of interest in and ai'ound Alexandria, including the supposed baths of Cleopatra to the west, but which are conjec- tured to have been catacombs — now in a state of great dilapidation, but once highly adorned with ar- chitectural and sculptured details — as well as the K 2
132 THE BUCOLICANIC ASSOCIATION.
Lake Mareotis behind the citj, and the fortified heights raised by the English and French armies in their contest for the possession of Egypt — the scene of the brave Abercrombie's deatli and victory, and the bay of Aboukir, in which Nelson destroyed the great fleet of France under Napoleon.
Among other novelties there had been recently established here, by the Europeans and Levantines, a sort of Club, called " The Bucolicanic Association," the object of which, as its name imports, was the enjoyment of rural parties in the few gardens which have been artificially made by art and industry amid the arid sands of Alexandria. It had a king and queen resident at Cairo, where its numbers were greatest, and at Alexandria was a prince regent, with princesses, admirals, ministers of finance and police, counsellors of state, and, in short, every grade of office known vxnder a well constituted monarchy. The anniversary of its foundation happened during my stay at Alexandria, and I was invited to join its ranks as a visitor or guest. We dined early a^/resco, and on returning in the evening, were all fatigued with the excessive warmth which prevailed during this festive meeting.
One of the customs of the Association was for the ladies to propose subjects for essays or poems, or to offer existing poems in one language for translation
l'espekance. 133
into another ; and the successful competitor was made an honorary member, if not already enrolled in the body, or elevated a grade in rank, if already within its members. As visitors were thus admitted as competitors, a copy of a French Ode to L'Espe- rance was presented to myself and others by the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the Sar- dinian Consul, Mademoiselle Thedenard, of Turin, as her own composition, for translation into English ; and as my version obtained the prize, and obtained for me the rank of an honorary member, I record it here, to show, by tlie original, tliat even in these rural and somewhat boisterous enjoyments of mirth and good cheer, there were not wanting the softening influences of beauty and poetry to grace and dignify its pleasures.
L' ESPERANCE
Salut ! 6 divine Esperance !
Toi, dont le cliarme seducteur, Donne una aile a la jouissance,
Ote une epine a la douleur : Quand sur son sein I'homme repose,
Ah ! qu'il goute un doux abandon ! Si le Plaisir est une rose,
L'Esperance en est le boutnn.
K 3
1 34 L ESPERANCE :
Ton ancre soutien la nacelle
Du mallieureux, battue des vents ; Toi seule lui reste fidelle,
Quand ses amis sont inconstants : Malgre les verroux effroyables,
Dans un cachot tu suis nos pas ; Si les Enfers sont redoutables,
Cast que tu n'y penetre pas.
ni.
Des amours cliarmante nourrice,
Que seraient ils sans ton secours ? Ce sont tes soins, ton kit propice,
Que les font croitre tous les jours ; En vain, apres bien des traverses,
lis sont au comble de leurs vceux : Sur tes genoux quand tu les berces,
lis sont souvent bien plus Leureux.
IV.
Je te vois repousser dans I'ombre
Et les craintes et les regrets, Et sur I'avenir le plus sombre
Jeter un voile pleins d'attraits ; — Quand, par les maux I'ame epuisee,
Touclie a I'heure ou tous n'est plus rien, Au loin tu montre I'Elysee,
Et la mort nous paroit un bien.
ITS TRANSLATION, 135
HOPE. I.
Hail ! Hope, fair daughter of the skies.
The charm of whose seductive reign Gives wings to pleasure as it flies,
And plucks away the thorn from pain ; Lulled on thy bosom to repose,
How sweetly sleep our mortal cares, And oh ! if Pleasure be a rose
Hope is the sweetest bud it bears.
II. Man's shattered bark thine anchor stays,
Till tlie rude storm has o'er him blown, And thy bright star still lends its rays.
When fortune, friends, and all are flown ; Tho' frightful darkness gathers round,
Tliy light the wanderer's path can cheer ; Nor would Hell's self a hell be found.
But that thou never enterest there- in. Of love the tenderest nurse confest,
To thee the infant passion clings ; And fed at thy propitious breast.
With life's invigorating springs, It finds at length, when quitting thee,
Possession's warmest vow to meet, Fondled on thy maternal knee,
Its bliss was often more complete. ,
K 4
13G DETERMINE TO GO TO CAIRO
IV.
O ! Hope ! 'tis thine o'er present ill
Thy magic ray of light to pour, And the dark future brighten still
With pictured scenes of joy in store ; E'en when the soul exhausted yields
In that last hour when life must cease, The dream of thine Elysian fields
Makes death itself a pledge of peace.
Amidst all this I'ound of pleasure, however, I had never forgotten the object of my visit to Egypt, which was to seek some employment of a mercantile cha- racter, by which I might hope to recover, in some degree, my heavy losses by the plague at Malta, and the bankruptcies, burnings, and destruction of property to which it gave rise. On this subject I had frequent conferences with Mr. Lee and other friends, and all a'greed that the Pasha, Mohammed A li, just then firmly established in power, would be very likely to value such information as I could give him on maritime and mercantile affairs ; that the best thing to be done would be for me to repair to Cairo, where he then was, with such letters of re- commendation as could be afforded me from hence ; and through the medium of the Consul General there, obtain a personal introduction to His Highness, to
TO VISIT MOHAMMED ALL 137
state my views and wishes, and place my services at his disposal. To this arrangement I readily acceded, as I had now an additional motive for exertion, having just received intelligence from England of my dear wife giving birth to a son on the 29th of June, little more than a month after my leaving her for Malta, to which place it was therefore a fortunate circumstance that she did not accompany me.
I might occupy many chapters with the result of my researches and observations at Alexandria, both as respects its ancient remains and the state of its modern society ; but rich and abundant as these materials are in novelty and interest, I pass them by to continue my Personal Narrative only.
138
CHAP. IX.
Voyage from Alexandria to Rosetta by the Lakes. — Battle- fields of Abercrombie and Nelson. — Rosetta and its environsr
— Costume of the British Consul. — Embark on the Nile for Cairo. — The inundation. — Amphibious boatmen. — Current.
— Etesian winds. — Delicious climate and scenery on the banks of the Nile. — Feast of Bairam. — Conversation with learned pilgrims. — Their notions of geography and history. — The Arctic regions. — First sight of Cairo and the Egyptian pyramids. — Striking peculiarities and varieties of the popu- lation. — Hospitable reception at the British residency. — Character of Colonel Missett and his suite and parties. — Visits to all the objects of interest in Cairo and its environs. — Anecdotes of Oriental ideas and manners. — View of Cairo from the citadel. — Ignorance of villagers. — State of European society in Cairo generally.
On the 22nd of September, all being ready for my journey to Cairo, I left Alexandria by the Rosetta gate, and passing over the battle-field of General Abercrombie's death, and along the shore of Aboukir, the scene of Nelson's victory, we traversed the site of the ancient city of Canopus, so famed for its re- juvenating fountains, whose waters had the power of restoring health and beauty to the aged and decayed, but of which nothing now remains but heaps of frag-
VOYAGE TO ROSETTA. 139
ments in brick and marble scattered over the plain. Arriving at the margin of the Lake Etko, we traversed its waters, and entered on a sandy desert, till we came in sight of the minarets of Rosetta, which afforded an agreeable relief to the eye, after the wide waste of yellow sands, and its insufferable glare.
We reached Rosetta some time after sunset, and found good quarters in one of the caravanseries of the town. On the next morning I waited on the British Vice-consul, a Levantine, but who always put on a European military officer's uniform when he received any travellers from England or France. Nothing could exceed his politeness in accompanying me to all the points of interest in this prettily situated, and in many respects agreeable little town. Its Arabic name is Rasheed ; and it is erroneously con- sidered by the inhabitants to be the birthplace of the celebrated caliph, Haroun-el-Raschid — meaning Aaron the Just — which they have more literally translated as Aaron of Rosetta ; the latter being the name used by Europeans only, and probably of Italian origin. The town stands on the western bank of the Nile, with the full stream flowing northward in front of it to the sea, a distance of some ten or twelve miles, with a boghaz, or bar of sand banks,
140 COSTUME OF THE
which makes the entrance very difficult and dange- rous. The fertile Delta presents a rich level plain in front of the town, beyond the Nile, which lies between them ; and the gardens in and around Rosetta, with the graceful towers or minarets of the mosques, and the excellent Turkish baths, of which, after my journey, I was glad to partake, as well as its spacious quays, serving as a wharf for merchandise and a pleasant promenade along the river's bank, made up a combination of most agreeable objects.
Wherever we went, however, our European dress attracted attention ; the men gazing in silence — the women and children setting up a shriek either of surprise or alarm, and the dogs, as numerous here as in Constantinople and Smyrna, following at our heels with their yelling and howling bark. It must be confessed, however, that the costume of the Vice-consul was such as would have drawn a crowd around him in any town of England. His stature was at least six feet six inches ; his form remarkably slender, and his legs so thin as to seem quite inade- quate to the support of even his attenuated trunk. His dress consisted of a pair of white kersemere pantaloons as tight as the skin, and carried up to within six inches of the arm-pits, for the sake of dis- playing a profusion of dark braiding in front, after
BRITISH CONSUL. 141
tlie Hungarian fashion, with a pair of Hessian boots and gold tassels. The waistcoat was not more than eight inches in depth, to prevent its covering the braiding of the pantaloons ; and the flaps of the coat, which was bright scarlet, were equally short, leaving an immense length of coat-tails, descending to a sharp point, and covered, wherever possible, with gold em- broidery ; a silk sash and long straight sword hung from the upper waist, and his head was crowned with one of those lofty pyramidal cocked-hats which rise to a great height in the centre, and being worn at right angles, like a parish beadle's, presented a most imposing front ; and as he was preceded by a janissary with a large silver-headed stick, to clear the way, the boys who crowded round our path flew in all di- rections at his near approach. Contrasted with the loose flowing robes of the Arabs and Turks, the whole appearance of the Consul was as ridiculous as it was striking ; he seemed like a man sewn up in garments never intended to be taken off, and so tightly laced and buttoned as to realise exactly the picture wdiich the Persian Ambassador in London presents to his friend Mohammed at Ispalian, of the contrast between his own dress and that of the English people : —
142 EMBARK ON THE NILE
" Thro' London streets, with turban fair, And caftan floating to the air, I saunter on, the admiration Of this short-coated population ; This sewed-up race, this buttoned nation, Who, while they boast their laws so free, Leave not one limb at liberty ; But live, with all their lordly speeches, The slaves of buttons and tight breeches."
I was really glad, when our excursion was over, to be relieved from the penance of being thus followed by a crowd ; and enjoyed exceedingly the luxury of a Tiirkish bath before returning to repose.
On the following morning I took my departure for Cairo in one of the large Nile boats, called jerms, undecked in the fore-part for carrying cargo in bulk, and having a half-deck abaft, with very scanty ac- commodation for passengers ; but the climate was so delicious at this time of the year, September, that it was most agreeable to be on deck, at night as well as by day. It being the period when the Nile is at its height, the stream ran with great velocity, four or five miles an hour, towards the sea; and the river was so full, that on both sides, the Libyan and the Delta, the water was everywhere up to a level with the land, and in most cases overflowed it. Tlie limits of tlie channel or river's bed were then marked
FOR CAIRO. 143
by the palm groves on its banks, and tlie villages built on mounds to prevent their being submerged ; while the interior beyond the banks, as far as we could see, seemed to be a vast lake studded with little islands, formed of the elevated mounds on which the villages are built ; the communication between them being by raised causeways when the distance is short, and by boats when it is greater. Each village, too, was sur- rounded with palm groves of dates, and from the flat- roofed dwellings of the villages, rose innumerable pigeon-houses, in little towers, which gave a strange appearance to the whole scene.
The boat, which was about fifty tons burden, was navigated by a crew of some twenty men, with dark swarthy skins, naked, except a rag of cloth around the waist ; and they seemed almost amphibious, for whenever a turn or bend of the river made the velo- city of the stream greater, they leaped overboard, and with a hawser passed along from hand to hand, drew the vessel against the current. The large ample lateen sails, of white cotton, were powerful agents, however, in forcing us over the stream; and by a wise and beneficent arrangement of Nature, the Ete- sian winds, as they were called by the ancients, blow with increased force from the north at the very season when the counter current of the Nile runs strongest
144 SCENERY OF THE NILE.
from the south ; so that its stream is navigable at this period both wajs, with great ease, the ascending boats spreading all sail to the fresh breeze, and thus gliding over the surface of the current, while the descending boats strike their masts and yards, having then no sails, and making their hulls deep in the water, and keep- ing at right angles with the current, they are carried down by its mere velocity at a rate of five miles an hour at least.
As in my several visits to Malta I had made my- self acquainted with its corrupt Arabic, and during my stay at Alexandria had studied diligently the more correct language of Egypt, to which, however, the Maltese was a great help, I could already con- verse pretty freely with the natives, and this made the voyage far less tedious than it would have been. As it was really a trading voyage on the part of the reis or head, for so the captain was called, we stopped at almost every village of importance on the way, and buying and selling, bartering and exchange, occupied several hovirs at each ; for nothing can be conceived more tardy, or vociferous, or