The Bosphorus in Mist—The Ferdinando Primo—Embarkation—Tardy
Passengers—The Black Sea—The Turkish Woman—Varna—Visit to
the Pasha—Rustem Bey—Mustapha Najib Pasha—Turkish
Gallantry—The Lines—Sunset Landscape—Bulgarian
Colonies—Discomforts of a Deck Passage.
I never beheld the Bosphorus to less advantage than on the morning of
our departure from Constantinople; for, as if to lessen our regrets on
leaving it, its shores were concealed by mists formed of small light
rain, which effectually veiled their beauty. As cloud after cloud rolled
by, each succeeded by a denser and darker vapour than its predecessor,
we lost sight of every accustomed object; and, though I flung back the
casement, and turned “a last, long, lingering look” along the channel, I
was unable to distinguish even the most prominent points of view.
The steam vessel _Ferdinando Primo_, in which we had secured our
passage, was to arrive at Yenikeuÿ at mid-day; and we spent the earlier
hours of the morning with some Greek friends whose summer residence
overhung the stream; and from whose windows we had hitherto been enabled
to see the fairy-like Palace of Beglierbey, and the hill-seated Castle
of Mahomet. But, alas! for our parting associations—the gilded glories
of the Imperial Seraï, and the ancient towers of the Prophet’s Fortress,
were alike invisible; despite the glitter of the one, and the whitewash
which had recently been profusely and provokingly lavished on the
time-tinted walls of the other.
Onward crept the mist as the day advanced; and at length the opposite
shore became veiled by a vapour so dense that even the little village of
Sultanïè, immediately facing the terrace, disappeared; and nothing was
distinguishable through the darkness save the foamy crests of the waves,
as they were driven onward by the force of the current; and the white
gleam of the seagull’s extended wings, as he dipped his bosom for an
instant in the troubled waters, and then rose, with a wild cry, into the
murky atmosphere.
It was an hour of tears; and I am not quite sure whether at the moment I
repined that no garish sun shone forth to mock them; while I am
nevertheless certain that a more comfortless sensation never oppressed
me, than that with which I contemplated the approach of the vessel
through the turbid waves; her column of sable smoke lending a deeper
tint to the angry clouds; and her prow dashing aside the current in
streaks of foam. As she lay-to in front of the house, we hurried into
the caïque that was already freighted with our luggage; turned a last
look towards the kind ones who thronged the terrace in despite of the
fast-falling rain; and pushed out into the channel.
When we reached the packet, we were miserably wet, and had to despatch
our cloaks, shawls, and coats to the engine-room to dry; while our
trunks and portmanteaux were lifted dripping upon the deck, giving the
last touch of discomfort to our embarkation for a long and tedious
voyage. In one respect I was, however, fortunate; as, from being the
only lady on board, (and, indeed, the first who had yet undertaken the
passage) I found myself in possession of a commodious and comfortably
arranged cabin; well fitted with every requisite for lessening the
inconvenience of ship-board.
In twenty minutes we were off Therapia; and in ten more we entered the
Bay of Buyukdèrè. By the time we reached this point, the fog had
deepened so much as to render it uncertain whether we should be enabled
to leave the Bosphorus until the following morning; a resolution to
which the Russian steamer, the Nicholas I., had already come the more
readily, as she had on board the mother and sister of Madame de
Boutinieff, who were not anxious to tempt the perils of the Black Sea
at so unpropitious a moment. Mr. Ellis, our late Ambassador in Persia,
was also among her passengers; and, like the ladies, he was quietly
preparing for a comfortable dinner at the Russian Palace.
As we lay alongside, these tidings were communicated by the Captain of
the Nicholas, who naturally endeavoured to induce our own to follow his
example, and remain in the bay until daylight; but the Commander of the
Ferdinand had too much energy to yield to the suggestion; and at seven
o’clock in the evening, the weather having somewhat moderated, he
summoned on board one of his passengers who had delayed his embarkation
until the last moment, and set the steam on; when away we went to the
great chagrin of the rival establishment: leaving behind us two or three
of the deck passengers who had failed to pay attention to the signals
which were made to announce to them our instant departure.
Our party was a pleasant one. We had a Prussian Baron, tall, serious,
and highly-bred; a German noble, gay, voluble, and _tant soit peu
gourmand_; a Colonel of the Coldstream Guards; an Hungarian Cavalier,
holding a distinguished rank in the Austrian service; a Russian-Greek
Artist, bound on a tour of Italy, and full of enthusiasm both for
himself and his art; the Captain of the Levant Steam-boat, on a survey
of the Danube Navigation; my father, and myself. The deck was crowded
with Turks, Greeks, and Jews; and among the rest by some poor old
Turkish women on their way to Varna; and a couple of pretty young Greek
girls bound for Galatz.
All went on tolerably well until a couple of hours had elapsed, when one
by one all the party began to disappear. The rude billows of the Black
Sea replaced the comparatively smooth channel of the Bosphorus,—the
light-houses of Fanaraki loomed through the fog,—we were fairly “at
sea,”—and the spray began to fall in showers over the paddle-boxes,
inundating all the shivering Orientals who had spread their mats and
mattresses on that part of the deck.
I never beheld a more perfect picture of wretchedness than one old
Turkish woman, who, having resisted all the kindly attempts of the
Captain to induce her to change her position, and having been fairly
soaked through by a succession of the heavy seas which we were
constantly shipping, at length permitted herself to be removed, and led
aft to the tiller; where she instantly buried herself among the folds of
the wet awning that had been flung there out of the way, and resigned
herself to her misery.
[Illustration: Miss Pardoe del.
Day & Haghe Lith^{rs}. to the King.
NEAR FANARAKI IN ASIA.
_Henry Colburn, 13 G^t. Marlborough S^t. 1837._]
What a night we passed! I thought that it would never end; and what
rueful faces I encountered in the morning, when with some difficulty,
and a great deal of assistance I dragged myself on deck! The wind was
directly in our teeth; and as the vessel rolled from side to side, we
continued to suffer direfully from the violence of the motion. It was an
unspeakable relief when, at half past four in the afternoon, we anchored
off Varna, where we were to land three hundred bags of coffee; and where
Colonel H——, Captain F——, my father, and myself accompanied the
Captain of the Ferdinand on shore, to pay a visit to the Pasha.
The surf was breaking so violently against the pier that we were for a
few moments undecided as to the most eligible spot on which to
land,—nor was it without difficulty that we ultimately effected our
purpose; and almost immediately on entering the main street of the town,
we encountered Rustem Bey, the Commandant, a fine, intelligent young
Italian Officer in the service of the Porte, who speaks several European
languages, as well as the Turkish, most fluently; and who would ere this
have been created a Pasha, could he have been induced to embrace
Islamism.
The answer that he is reported to have made when the terms of his
promotion were explained to him, is worthy of record; “I feel all the
honour which I refuse; but I am nevertheless compelled to forego it—I
can dispose of my services, but I am not at liberty to sell my
conscience.”
Under his guidance we traversed the town, and passed the ruined
citadel, on our way to the Palace of Mustapha Najib Pasha, the present
governor; who was removed from his post at Tripoli, in order to take
possession of this important charge. The Palace is a handsome and
somewhat extensive modern building, commanding, from one of its fronts,
an excellent view of the fortifications; and separated only by a high
wall from the barracks, which are capable of accommodating several
thousand men.
With an extent of courtesy unusual in the East, Najib Pasha received us
standing; and welcomed us with the cordial _Bouroum_, as he motioned us
to the sofa on which he had himself been sitting. He is a remarkably
animated looking man of about five and forty, with a quick eye, and a
most agreeable smile. He was surrounded by papers; and beside the
chibouk that he had been smoking, lay a small model for mounting guns
upon their carriages.
The most costly pipes were introduced for the gentlemen, and offered to
myself; and the procession of “blue-coated serving men” was quite
amusing, as they entered with the long chibouk in one hand, and in the
other the little brass dish, in which, as they knelt, they deposited the
bowl of the pipe. Coffee succeeded, and was replaced by raisin sherbet;
and as we shortly afterwards expressed our desire to see the
fortifications, we were instantly offered horses to enable us to ride
round the lines. The gentlemen were thus provided for at once; but, as
I was not prepared for such an excursion, I was about to resign myself
to what I considered an inevitable disappointment, when the Pasha
courteously expressed his regret that he could not provide me with an
European saddle; and begged me to accept his carriage as a substitute. I
gladly availed myself of his kindness; and while the equipage was
preparing, listened with as much surprise as interest to the
conversation with which he beguiled the time. Among other things, he
mentioned his extreme disappointment at the non-receipt from Europe of
some able works on fortification that he had been long expecting; and
expressed his earnest desire to possess models of all the new inventions
tending to perfect the works upon which he was engaged. He inquired
whether he could offer to us any thing that would be acceptable on
board; and even enumerated milk, fruits, and sweetmeats, which he
pressed upon us with an earnestness perfectly demonstrative of his
sincerity.
On our rising to take leave, he said that he should expect us back to
dinner, and that he would cause it to be prepared against our return;
and he appeared much hurt at our assurance of the impossibility of our
availing ourselves of his hospitality. As we were preparing to make our
parting salutation, he left the room, and moved forward to the head of
the stairs; where he saluted us individually as we passed him, in the
kindest and most gracious manner, wishing us a fortunate voyage, and
assuring us of the pleasure that he had derived from our visit.
A troop of servants followed us to the door; where we found the
_kavashlir_ of the Pasha stationed on either side the entrance to do us
honour. But a still more agreeable object was the German Britscha drawn
by four gray Tatar horses, which was awaiting me at the Palace gate. The
carriage held forth such goodly promise, that Colonel H—— and Rustem
Bey only were firm in their original purpose of riding round the lines;
the rest of the party immediately being of opinion that they should
prefer a drive. Nor had they any reason to repent the arrangement, for
the spirited little Tatars carried us along at a surprising pace over
all the rough and uneven ground, and through all the ditches of the
neighbourhood, as though they had been cantering across a bowling-green.
The fortifications are proceeding rapidly, and most creditably; five
thousand men are constantly employed on the works, and the number is
occasionally doubled.
As the evening was closing in ere we regained the town, the scene was
extremely singular. The huts of the Bulgarian labourers, built of
branches, and huddled together in clusters, were revealed by the
camp-fires that blazed up among them, and revealed the flitting figures
of those who were engaged in the culinary preparations of the little
colonies to which they belonged; while the appearance of the carriage
drew to the entrances of their primitive dwellings all the unoccupied
inhabitants of the temporary village.
Upon its outskirts herds of cattle were to be seen, slowly returning
from their mountain pastures to the vicinity of the town; and driven by
ragged urchins, with sheepskin caps and gaiters. The sun, meanwhile, was
setting gloriously; and the outline of the fortifications cut darkly
against a background of orange and crimson clouds, that stretched far
along the west, and were pillowed upon two dark and stately mountains.
Altogether the scene was one of enchantment; and I believe that there
was not an individual of the party who did not regret the necessity of
exchanging it for the “floating prison” that awaited us on the Euxine:
and which we regained under a heavy swell that rendered our passage from
the shore the very reverse of agreeable.
During our visit, the deck of the Ferdinand had been nearly cleared of
its passengers; and the poor old Turkish woman whom I have already
mentioned, had, with some difficulty, crawled forth from her awning,
shivering with cold, and looking the very picture of wretchedness. I
had endeavoured in vain during the day to induce her to bathe her hands
and feet with brandy; for she no sooner smelt it than she put it from
her, exclaiming, “Sin—sin;” nor could I prevail on her to follow my
advice. The only thing that she would receive was a cup of coffee, and
on that she seized as a famishing man would have clutched food. It was
really a relief to me when I saw her safely embarked on board the boat
which was to land her at Varna.
On our departure from Buyukdèrè, we had been half amused and half
annoyed by the efforts of a young Turkish officer, to appear unconcerned
at the rough treatment that we were experiencing from the tempest-chafed
waves of the Black Sea. He sang, he shouted, he tossed his arms above
his head, and yelled forth his _Mashallahs_ at every roll of the vessel;
but ere we had been tossing about many hours, the exulting tones died
away in a querulous treble, which announced that his exultation was
destined to be short-lived; and on the morrow I remarked that he walked
the deck with a step as tremulous as that of a lady; and was one of the
first to make his escape on shore.
The two little Greek girls who were bound for Galatz were still lying
upon the deck, rolled in their fur pelisses: in that state of hopeless
and resigned misery which is the last stage of seanausea; and when we
retired for the night their young brother was sitting beside them, with
a pale cheek and heavy eyes, as though he, too, had not escaped a
portion of their suffering.