ON BOARD THE "POCCIR."
STEAMER "POCCIR," March 4, 1890.
The steward gave me a very poor state-room below with another man, but I
handed him a fee, and in the morning he put me in a beautiful cabin on
deck, a large room, lined with handsome polished wood with two large
looking-glasses, and fit for a prince or an American to occupy. I could
not find a man on the ship who spoke a word of English, but I rather
enjoyed the novel situation, and got along very nicely.
On the 28th instant, in the morning, I came on deck, and found that we
had arrived at Beyrout, and after partaking of a glass of tea and some
bread, I took a boat and went ashore, and there engaged an Arab guide.
The first call we made was on Mr. Bissenger, our Consul, formerly from
New York, with whom I had a pleasant talk. We then went along the
streets lined on both sides with fine stores occupied by English and
other foreign merchants, and then through the bazaars of the native
town. We inspected a fine palace, splendidly furnished, owned by a
Russian nobleman, who has not been here for seven years, but who keeps
it open, with servants in attendance, ready to be occupied by himself
and family at any time.
We drove out to a handsome public garden, and came back over the famous
Damascus road built by the French. A fine macadam roadway, over which
are run diligences to Damascus, eighty miles away, but now it is blocked
by heavy snow in the mountains, and consequently two hundred travellers
are detained in Beyrout. One gentleman tried to get through on
horseback, but the snow was too deep, and he was obliged to return. The
bay is a beautiful one; as seen from the city, a range of mountains
looming up around it, the lower ones being covered with cedars, and the
higher, including Mount Lebanon, capped with snow.
It will be remembered that Solomon obtained the cedars from these
mountains with which he built the temple at Jerusalem. I had some
anxiety about my passport, as it had not been endorsed by the Turkish
Consul at Cairo, but a fee put into the hands of the customs officer was
sufficient, and he permitted me to depart without even looking at the
document. We got aboard the ship at noon, and after a nice lunch,
including excellent red and white Odessa wine, the steamer whistled, and
we were off. During the afternoon we stopped at Napoli, which is a
well-built town, extending along the shore a mile or two, with the
snow-covered mountains for background. Here a dozen passengers got off,
mostly Turks. There was a heavy sea, and the small boats could only be
brought up to within six feet of the ship's ladder, so the passengers
wishing to disembark had to jump. The steam engines were kept in
constant use from 4 P.M. until midnight, taking on board from lighters
three thousand large boxes of oranges for Odessa.
The steamer and the lighters pitched about, and it was a sight to see
how skilfully every thing was managed.
The cooking on this ship is excellent, though some of the food is new to
me, and I look with some surprise to see the Russians drink a small
glass of raw brandy before each meal.
We arrived at the ancient and important city of Smyrna yesterday at 10
A.M., and went ashore with Mr. Zucker, Swiss Consul to Chili, who speaks
English, and very kindly assisted me in making known my wants.
We employed a guide and went through the city, which is a large one,
containing two hundred thousand people.
The foreign streets and stores are very fine, but those occupied by
Jews, Turks, Armenians, and Greeks are very dirty and disagreeable.
After a couple of hours' walking about in the heat and dirt, we came
back to the street running along the bay, which is a couple of miles
long, well-paved and clean. A dozen large steamers were at the docks,
and much business going on. We saw numbers of fine buildings, hotels,
and cafés.
Mr. Zucker and I called on the United States Consul, Mr. Emmet, and I
was agreeably surprised to find that he was an old acquaintance,
formerly in the Comptroller's office of New York.
At 4 P.M. we went on board, and were soon off. The steamer had been
invaded by a dozen young Englishmen, and on interviewing them I found
that they belonged to a foot-ball club of Constantinople, and had been
to Smyrna playing against a club there. They were a jolly set of young
fellows, and made things lively on the ship for the remainder of the
trip.
The wind blew hard all day. It was cold and disagreeable, and we saw
little of the land, though we were passing through the famous
Dardanelles, the Hellespont of the Greeks, past the site of the ancient
city of Troy, of which Homer sung, and I would have given much for a
bright day or a moonlight night so that I could have seen the exact
place where "Leander swam the Hellespont." But this was not to be, so I
turned in and slept until morning, and when I came on deck found that we
were at anchor in the world-renowned and beautiful harbor of
Constantinople.