enshrined among his ‘Worthies;’ and it is astonishing to find how
comparatively ignorant of him and his works are even well-read men.
Ask one about him, and he will reply that he was a philanthropist,
but he will hardly be able to say in what way he was philanthropic:
ask another, and the reply will be that he was the man who introduced
umbrellas into England--but it is very questionable if he could tell
whence he got the umbrella to introduce. But in his time he was a
man of mark, and his memory deserves more than a short notice in
‘Chalmers,’ the ‘Biographie Universelle,’ or any other biographical
dictionary.
He was born at Portsmouth on the 12th of August, 1712, in the reign
of ‘good Queen Anne.’ History is silent as to his pedigree, save and
except that his father was connected with the navy, and was for some
years store-keeper to the dockyard at Portsmouth, and his uncle by
the father’s side was a Major John Hanway, who translated some odes
of Horace, &c. His father died whilst Jonas was still a boy, and Mrs.
Hanway had much trouble to bring up her young family, who all turned
out well, and were prosperous in after life: one son, Thomas, filling
the post of commander-in-chief of his Majesty’s ships at Plymouth, and
afterwards commissioner of the dockyard at Chatham.
On his father’s death, his mother removed to London, where, somehow
or other, she brought up her children by her own exertions, and with
such care and affection that Jonas never spoke, or wrote, of his mother
but in terms of the highest reverence and gratitude. He was sent to
school, where he was not only educated commercially, but classically.
Still, he had his bread to win, and, when he was seventeen years of
age, he was sent to Lisbon, which he reached June, 1729, and was
bound apprentice to a merchant, under whose auspices he developed the
business qualities which afterwards stood him in good stead. At the end
of his apprenticeship he set up in business for himself in Lisbon, but
soon removed to the wider field of London. What pursuit he followed
there, neither he, nor any biographer of his, has told us, but in 1743
he accepted the offer of a partnership in Mr. Dingley’s house at St.
Petersburg.
What a difference in the voyage from London to St. Petersburg, then and
now! Now, overland: it only takes two days and a half.
Then, in April, 1743, he embarked on the Thames in a crazy old tub,
bound for Riga, and got to Elsinore in May. As everything then was
done in a leisurely manner, they stopped there for some days, arriving
at Riga by the end of May, having taken twenty-six days to go from
Elsinore to Riga, now done by steam, under fair conditions, in two days.
Here he found, as most people do, the Russian spring as hot as he ever
remembered summer in Portugal, and was most hospitably entertained by
the British factors. But Russia was at war with Sweden, and, although
he had plenty of letters of recommendation, the Governor of Riga would
not allow him to proceed on his journey, until he had communicated with
the authorities at St. Petersburg, thus causing a delay of a fortnight,
and he did not leave until the 7th of June. His sojourn at Riga,
however, was not lost, for he kept his eyes open, and looked about him.
Travelling by post in Russia, even now, is not a luxury; it must
have been ten times worse then, when he started on his journey in
his sleeping-wagon, which was ‘made of leather, resembling a cradle,
and hung upon braces,’ and his report of his journey was that ‘the
post-horses are exceedingly bad, but as the stages are short, and the
houses clean, the inconvenience is supportable.’ He made the journey in
four days.
On his arrival, he soon set to work on the business that he came out
to execute, namely, the opening of trade through the Caspian Sea to
Persia, a journey which involved crossing Russia in Europe from the
north-west to the south-east. This route had already been trodden
by a sailor named Elton, who had spent some years among the nomadic
Tartar tribes, and had, in 1739, descended the Volga with a cargo of
goods, intending to go to Mesched; but he sold them before he reached
there, at Resched, for a good price, and obtained leave to trade for
the future. He returned to St. Petersburg, went again to Persia, and
remained there in the service of Nadir Shah. It was to supply his
defection that Jonas Hanway went out to Russia.
On the 10th of September, 1743, he set out on his veritably perilous
journey, and it is really worth while to describe the despatch of
goods in Russia at that day. ‘In Russia carriages for merchandize are
drawn only by one horse. These vehicles are nine or ten feet long, and
two or three broad, and are principally composed of two strong poles,
supported by four wheels, of near an equal size, and about as high as
the fore wheels of our ordinary coaches, but made very slight, many of
the rounds of the wheels are of a single piece of wood, and open, in
one part, for near an inch, and some of them are not shod with iron.
‘The first care is to lay the bales as high as the cart will admit on a
bed of mats of the thickest sort. Besides the original package, which
is calculated to stand the weather, the bales are usually covered with
very thick mats, and over these other mats are laid to prevent the
friction of the ropes; lastly, there is another covering of mats, in
the want of raw cowhides, which are always best to defend goods from
rain, or from the snow, which, when it melts, is yet more penetrating.
Each bale is sealed up with a leaden seal, to prevent its being opened
on the road, or any of the goods vended in the Country, that is, when
they are intended for Persia....
‘The Caravans generally set out about twelve, both in the night
and day, except in the heat of summer. In the winter, between St.
Petersburg and Moscow, they usually travel seventy wersts[78] (about
forty-seven English miles) in twenty-four hours, but from Moscow
to Zaritzen only forty or fifty wersts: in summer their stages are
shorter. Great part of the last-mentioned road being through an
uninhabited country, makes the Carriers cautious not to jade their
horses. Every time they set out, the conductors ought to count the
loads. When necessity requires that the Caravan should be drawn within
fences, or into yards, the heads of the waggons ought to stand towards
the door in regular order, and a guard, who will keep a better watch
than an ordinary carrier, should be set over it: for want of this
precaution, whole Caravans in Russia have been sometimes consumed by
fire. It is most eligible to stop in the field, where the usual method
is to form the Carriages into a ring, and bring the horses, as well as
the men, within it, always observing to keep in such a position as best
to prevent an attack, or repulse an enemy.
‘The Khalmucks on the banks of the Volga are ever ready to embrace
an opportunity of plundering and destroying passengers; therefore,
when there is any occasion to travel on those banks, which should be
avoided as much as possible, an advance guard of at least four Cossacks
is of great use, especially to patrole in the night; it is not often
practised, but I found it indispensably necessary when I travelled on
those banks....
‘A hundred carriages take up two-thirds of a mile in length, so that,
when no horseman is at hand to spread the alarm, the rear might be
easily carried off. They have not even a trumpet, horn, or other
instrument for this purpose; they trust in providence, and think any
care of this kind unnecessary, though the neglect has sometimes proved
of fatal consequence.’
In this primitive style he set forth on his trading venture to Persia,
taking with him a clerk, a Russian, as menial servant, a Tartar boy,
and a soldier, by way of guard. He had ‘a convenient sleeping-waggon’
for himself, and another for his clerk--the Russ, the Tartar, and the
soldier evidently having to shift as the drivers of the twenty loads of
goods (consisting of thirty-seven bales of English cloth) did. It is
interesting to follow out this little venture. The caravan started on
the 1st of September, 1743, and ten days afterwards he set out to join
it, which he did at Tver, arriving at Moscow on the 20th of September.
Here he looked about him, saw the Great Bell, &c. received no little
hospitality, and repaired the defects of his caravan, starting again
on the 24th of September, and his instructions to his limited suite
were to avoid all occasion of dispute, and, should such unfortunately
arise, he should be informed of it, in order that he might deal with it
according to the best of his judgment. But he went among the Tartars
without any misadventure, noting some very curious facts, until he
came to Tzaritzin, on the Volga, whence he proposed to commence his
somewhat perilous journey by water, to the Caspian Sea. He arrived
at Tzaritzin on the 9th of October, but, as there was not the same
pushing and driving in business then as now, he stopped there for a
month to recruit, and hire a vessel. He succeeded in getting one, such
a thing as it was, but then he only paid a nominal sum for it. As he
justly observes: ‘The reader will imagine that forty roubles[79] cannot
purchase a good vessel; however, this price produced the best I could
find. Their decks were only loose pieces of the barks of trees; they
have no knees, and but few beams: hardly any pitch or tar is used, in
place of it are long slips of bark, which they nail over the gaping
seams, to prevent the loose and bad corking (caulking) from falling
out. Instead of iron bolts, they have spikes of deal with round heads.
The method of keeping them clear of water is by a large scoop, which
is suspended by the beam over the well-way, and through a scuttle at a
proper height they scoop out the water with great facility.’
He bought two of these A.1. vessels, and put a crew of five fishermen
on board each, besides his own suite, and, because of the pirates who
infested those waters, he hired a guard of six soldiers. By-the-way,
they had a rough and ready way of dealing with these pirates when
they did catch them. ‘As their cruelties are very great, so is the
punishment inflicted on them when they are taken. A float is built, in
size according to the number of delinquents, and a gallows erected on
it, to contain a sufficient number of iron hooks, on which they are
hung alive, by the ribs. The float is launched into the stream, with
labels over their heads, signifying their crimes; and orders are given
to all towns and villages on the borders of the river, upon pain of
death, not only to afford no relief to any of these wretches, but to
push off the float, should it land near them. Sometimes their partners
in wickedness meet them, and, if there are any signs of life, take
him down, otherwise they shoot them dead; but, if they are catched in
these acts of illegal mercy, they are hung up without the ceremony of a
trial, as happened about eight years ago. They tell me of one of these
miscreants who had the fortune to disengage himself from the hook,
and though naked, and trembling with pain and loss of blood, he got
ashore. The first object he saw who could afford him any relief was
a poor shepherd, whose brains he beat out with a stone, and took his
clothes. These malefactors sometimes hang thus three, four, and five
days alive. The pain generally produces a raging fever, in which they
utter the most horrid imprecations, and implore the relief of water, or
other small liquors.’
He was observant, and, on his journey down the Volga, he noted many
things which throw much light on the social life in Russia of these
days. Take for instance the following: ‘The 14th of October I sent
letters to my friends, by messengers who are appointed to attend a box
of grapes, which is sent from Astrachan to the Empress’s Court every
three days during the season. It is carried by two horses, supported
in the manner of a litter. The grapes are preserved in sand, but, at
best, are ill worth the expense of the conveyance for one thousand two
hundred English miles.’
He sailed from Tzaritzin on the 14th of October, and on the 19th of
the same month he reached Astrachan, where he was kindly received by
Mr. George Thompson, agent to the British merchants trading to Persia;
and also by the Russian governor (a quondam page to Peter the Great)
who gave him many assurances that every help should be afforded him
in his trade with Persia--but candidly informed him what rogues the
Armenian traders were: ‘They are the most crafty people in all Asia,
and delight in fraud. Let them get fifty per Cent. in a fair way, they
are not contented without cheating five, and the five is sweeter than
the fifty.’
Lapow, even then, was a recognized institution in Russia, for Hanway
observes, ‘The Officers of the the Admiralty and Custom-House of
Astrachan have very small salaries, which is the case in all other
places in Russia: so that, instead of doing their duty to despatch
business, they often seek pretences to protract it, in order to obtain
the more considerable presents. Upon these occasions French Brandy,
white wine, hats, stockings, ribbons, and such like are acceptable.’
Now-a-days, things are managed in a less cumbrous form. Rouble Notes
take the place of gross material--but the Russian Official is unchanged.
Again, ‘Whilst I was busied in getting what informations were
necessary, the governor invited me to a feast, at which there were
nearly a hundred dishes; here I saw a singular specimen of Russian
intemperance, for there were above thirty people who drank to excess,
in goblets, a kind of cherry brandy. This feast was made for the
birth of his granddaughter, on which occasion the guests presented an
offering each according to his rank. This is a civil way of levying a
heavy tax on the merchants, and a custom, tho’ not elegant, less absurd
than that of some politer countries; for here, without disguise or
ceremony, you leave one or two ducats, or some richer present on the
lady’s bed, who sits up with great formality to be saluted.’
From Astrachan he went to Yerkie, at the mouth of the Volga, and
virtually on the Caspian Sea, whence he set sail on the 22nd of
November, arriving at Astrabad Bay on the 18th of December, where his
vessel was taken for a pirate, and signal fires were, in consequence,
lit on the hill-tops, etc. So he lay at anchor for a few days,
employing his men in packing his goods so that they might be easily
carried on land; and he gives us a curious insight into the life of
sailors of that period.
‘The 25th being Christmas Day, I excused the seamen from the package
of cloth, and prevailed on them to hear prayers, and a sermon. English
seamen, of all mankind, seem the most indifferent with regard to
religious duties; but their indifference is more the effect of want
of reflection than the irreligious carelessness of their leaders. It
is not to be imagined they would fight less if they prayed more; at
least we find the praying warriors in Cromwell’s days fought as if
they were sure of becoming saints in heaven. Certain it is our seamen
do not entertain the same impressions of religion as the common run of
labouring people.’
Hanway had been warned that he must take care of himself at Astrabad;
that, probably, he would be robbed, and most certainly cheated; but
never having received such treatment, and with his conscious faith of
being an honest Englishman, he gave but little heed to the caution, but
spent many days on ship-board, making up his merchandize into suitable
packages for land carriage, and when he did land, he went in state,
on horseback, to visit the governor, taking with him the invariable
Oriental present, which, in his case, consisted of fine cloth, and
loaves of sugar. He was kindly received by the governor, but soon
having experienced the deceit and duplicity of the people, he hurried
forward his departure for Mesched, sending ten camel loads of goods in
advance. Luckily he did so, for the next day the town was besieged by
Turcomans, who wanted to get possession of the Shah’s treasure, then
in Astrabad, as well as the English goods, which presented an almost
irresistible temptation to them.
Hanway was advised to disguise himself and fly, but he was an
Englishman, and had the pluck of his race; so he concluded to stay, in
spite of the objurgations and maledictions of some of the inhabitants,
who cursed him as being the cause of their misfortunes. The town made
but a feeble resistance, and, soon after its fall, Hanway received a
visit from the captors, the story of which he thus tells:
‘I had collected my servants in one room, from whence I sent a little
boy, a servant, who understood the Turkish language, which is most
known to the Khajars, to conduct these hostile visitors to us, and to
tell them that, as we were at their mercy, we hoped they would treat
us with humanity. They immediately entered, and assured us they did
not mean to hurt us; on the contrary, that as soon as their government
was established, they would pay me for my goods. They demanded, at
the same time, where they were lodged; and informed me that the forty
bales which I had sent out of the town some days before, were already
in their possession. Mahommed Khan Beg then demanded my purse, which I
had prepared with about thirty crowns in gold and silver; he contented
himself for the present with counting it, and then returned it to me,
demanding if I had any more, for that it would be the worse for me if
I concealed any. I thought it warrantable, however, to make an evasive
answer, though it was a true one as to the fact; _viz._, that all the
town knew very well that I had been searching for money in exchange
for my bill on Mr. Elton, not having sufficient to convey my Caravan
to Mesched. As gold can purchase anything except virtue and health,
understanding and beauty, I thought it might now administer to our
safety. I therefore reserved a purse of one hundred and sixty crowns
in gold, apprehending that the skilful application of it might ward
off the danger which threatened us; but I afterwards found that our
security was in our supposed poverty, for in near three weeks distress,
I durst not show a single piece of gold, much less acknowledge that I
had saved any money.’
He made up his mind to leave Astrabad as soon as possible, and, having
obtained an acknowledgment of the value of his goods, at last set out
with an escort of about two dozen armed men, under the command of a
Hadji, or a holy man, who had made a pilgrimage to Mecca. Needless to
say his escort were a pack of rogues, and it was by sheer good luck,
and at some risk, that, at last, he fell in with some officers of the
Shah, who were recruiting for forces wherewith to re-conquer Astrabad.
They helped him to horses, although he complained of their quality.
He got along somehow, although he lost his servants, and at last he
reached Langarood, where the renegade Captain Elton lived, seven weeks
after he had left Astrabad, and was received by Elton with open arms.
Here he stayed some days to recruit, and then pushed on to Reshd.
A few days more of journeying, and he fell in with the Shah’s camp,
but failed to have an interview with that exalted potentate. Still his
case was brought before Nadir Shah, and, the bill Hanway had received
from Mohammed Hassan being produced as evidence, a decree was issued
‘that I should give the particulars of the loss to Behbud Khan, the
Shah’s general at Astrabad, who had orders to deliver to me whatever
part of the goods might possibly be found, and to restore them in kind,
and the deficiency to be paid out of the sequestered estates of the
rebels to the last denier. This was not quite the thing which I wished
for, because it laid me under a necessity of returning to that wretched
place, Astrabad; however, I could not but acknowledge the highest
obligation for so signal a mark of justice and clemency.’
This act of justice was somewhat unusual with Nadir Shah, of whose
cruelty Hanway gives several examples. As, however, one perhaps
outstrips its companions in brutality, I venture to give it in his
words. ‘I will give another example of Nadir’s avarice and barbarity,
which happened a little before I was in camp. The Shah, having
appointed a certain general as governor of a province, imposed an
exorbitant tax on it, to be levied in six months: at the expiration of
the time the governor was sent for to the camp, and ordered to produce
the account. He did so, but it amounted to only half the sum demanded.
The Shah called him a rascal; and, telling him he had stolen the other
half of the money, ordered the executioner to bastonade him to death:
his estates also being confiscated, all his effects fell very short of
the demands. The servants of the deceased were then ordered to come
into the Shah’s presence, and he inquired of them if there was anything
left belonging to their master; to which they answered, _Only a dog_.
He then commanded the dog to be brought before him; and observed that
he appeared to be much honester than his master had been; however,
that he should be led through the camp from tent to tent, and beaten
with sticks, and wherever he expired, the master of such tent should
pay the sum deficient. Accordingly the dog was carried to the tents of
the ministers, successively, who, hearing the case, immediately gave
sums of money, according to their abilities, to procure the removal of
the dog: by which the whole sum the Shah demanded was raised in a few
hours’ time.’
On the 27th of March they set out on their return journey, accompanied
by a small escort; they were detained for some time at Langarood,
where Hanway had hoped to find a vessel, as the way by land was
insecure. But, although a ship was sighted, she never put in; and
the land journey was therefore, perforce, undertaken, and Astrabad
was reached on the 16th of May. He saw the Shah’s general, who said
‘the decree must be obeyed.’ Those who had insulted Hanway were most
brutally punished--some of his cloth was recovered and given back to
him, but there was a difficulty in raising the money for the missing
portions, and he was pressed to take payment in women slaves. On his
refusal, they begged of him to give them a receipt as if he had been
paid, assuring him the money should be forthcoming in a very few days;
but the British merchant was too wary to be caught in such a palpable
trap. Eventually he got the greater part of it, and with it returned
to Langarood, where he waited for some little while, and, at last, he
recovered eighty-five per cent. of the value of his goods, according to
his own valuation, so that, probably, he made a good sale.
At Langarood he fell ill of a low fever, but was cured by a French
missionary, who administered Jesuit’s bark (quinine) to him, and he
then set out on his return journey, having invested all his cash in
raw silk. He met with no particular adventures, and arrived safely at
St. Petersburg on the 1st of January, 1745, ‘having been absent a year
and sixteen weeks, in which time I had travelled about four thousand
English miles by land.’
In noticing this trip of Hanway’s to the Caspian, it would be a pity
if attention were not called to his description of Baku, now coming
so much to the front (thanks to the industry and intelligence of the
Messrs. Nobel) in providing the world with petroleum. This was the
chief shrine of the followers of Zoroaster, who considered light,
which was typified by fire, (which is bright both by day and night) as
emblematical of all good, and they therefore worshipped Ormuzd, or the
good god, whilst they regarded Ahriman, or darkness, as the evil god.
Here, near Baku, the soil is so soaked and saturated with petroleum
that a fire, natural and never-ceasing, could easily be obtained, and
consequently, being perfectly unartificial, was looked upon as the
personification of Ormuzd. Hanway writes, ‘The earth round this place,
for above two miles, has this surprizing property, that by taking up
two or three inches of the surface and applying a live coal, the part
which is so uncovered immediately takes fire, almost before the coal
touches the earth.... If a cane, or tube even of paper, be set about
two inches in the ground, confined and closed with earth below, and
the top of it touched with a live coal, and blown upon, immediately a
flame issues without hurting either the cane or the paper, provided the
edges be covered with clay, and this method they use for light in their
houses, which have only the earth for the floor; three or four of
these lighted canes will boil water in a pot; and thus they dress their
victuals.’