THE ARRIVAL AT CONSTANTINOPLE
Since the departure from Algiers the weather had been like a dream of
paradise. The African winds came over water enough to cool them, and
the thermometer on the deck of the Guardian-Mother stood at seventy,
hardly varying from that during the day. Across the Ionian Sea, between
Sicily and Greece, the sea was somewhat disturbed, but not enough to
make it uncomfortable, even on board of the Maud.
"I think this is perfectly delicious!" exclaimed Mrs. Belgrave, as the
little steamer was passing Cape Matapan about noon.
"Nothing could be finer," replied Captain Scott, who had just been
relieved by the port watch.
Morris was at the wheel, and Louis had seated Miss Blanche on the
forecastle, where he was keeping the lookout. Pitts was busily engaged
in getting up a dinner as elaborate as the resources of the little
steamer would permit for the guests on board.
"You seem to know all the land and all the water in this part of the
world as well as Captain Ringgold, Captain Scott," said Mrs. Belgrave,
after they had passed the Cape.
"Why should I not? I have never been here before, but my chart puts me
in possession of all it is necessary to know in connection with the
navigation," replied the captain, flattered by the remark and not less
by the smile of the lady. "We have to cross the entrance of the Gulf of
Kolokythia now; but it is not more than twenty miles wide, and then we
go into the Cervi Channel."
"Dinner all ready for the starboard watch, Captain Scott," said Pitts,
presenting himself in the standing-room.
"Where is Miss Blanche?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.
"She is keeping the lookout with Louis," replied the captain with a
significant smile. "The steward will call her."
"I will call her myself," replied the lady as she went forward, where
she found Blanche looking through a spy-glass at the shores of Greece
under the direction of Louis, who held the end of the glass. "Come to
dinner with the starboard watch, Miss Blanche."
"I don't want any dinner yet, Mrs. Belgrave, for I wish to find the hut
of the hermit of whom Captain Ringgold told us this morning."
"You will not find it here, for the hermit lived on Cape Malea," said
the lady with a merry laugh. "Besides, they don't keep a restaurant on
board the Maud, and have 'meals at all hours.'"
"But the port watch must have meals at all hours; and I have already
accepted an invitation to dine with Mr. Woolridge, the distinguished
first officer of the Maud, and the equally distinguished deck-hand
without any handle to his name whom you call Louis, and I call Mr.
Belgrave."
The young lady had her own way, and dined with the port watch to the
great satisfaction of the young millionaire deck-hand. The dinner was
late on account of the extra preparations made for the guests, and did
not conform to the usual hours. The dinner was very creditable to the
skill of Pitts; and Miss Blanche enjoyed it quite as much as Louis,
though it was doubtless a very tame affair to Morris, who was not
elevated to the seventh heaven by the circumstances.
The Maud sped on her course, and was in the middle of the gulf with the
Greek name when the port watch finished the dinner, and Louis returned
to his post on the forecastle; but the young lady seemed to prefer this
part of the deck, and accompanied him. The captain and Felix returned
to the standing-room when they were relieved, for they had served out
of course on account of the lateness of the dinner hour.
"I suppose you begin to feel at home here, Flix," said the captain as
they seated themselves opposite Mrs. Belgrave. "I believe you have
always claimed to be a Greek, though you were born in America."
"Is it a Grake? Upon me worrud I am a Grake from Kilkenny," replied
Felix; Mrs. Belgrave, who had known him from his childhood, always
laughed when he spoke the Milesian dialect, and he used half a dozen
different ones.
"Can you give us the Greek name of this island on the starboard hand to
which we are coming?"
"Av coorse Oi kin; sure it's Sayraygo."
"I was not aware that you knew any Greek, Felix," added Mrs. Belgrave.
"Nayther do I know the Grake these haythins shpake out here. It's only
the pure Grake, as it comes from Kilkenny, that Oi know."
"But what is the name of the island we are coming to, Captain Scott?"
asked the lady.
"Flix told you correctly, only he pronounced it in Greek. It is Cerigo."
"That's jist what Oi say, Sayraygo!" exclaimed Felix. "Sorra one uv 'em
out here knows how to shpake Grake."
Louis had to take the wheel at four bells, and Miss Blanche resumed
her place on the lee side of him, precisely as he had imagined the
scene beforehand. She remained there till eight bells, when the port
watch was relieved. At three whistles, about three bells, the steamer
stopped, and the second cutter came for the two lady passengers. The
young lady declared that she had had a delightful time all day when she
met her mother at the gangway.
The next day, while the little fleet were sailing through the
Archipelago, the entire party went on board of the Maud, and passed the
day with the big four. They chatted, laughed, and sang all day long,
making just such a pleasure excursion of it as most of them had often
enjoyed at home. They were so delighted that they repeated the visit
the next day, and left the little steamer only at the entrance to the
Dardanelles, for they could see the shores better from the deck of the
big steamer. The night was passed on the Sea of Marmora; and they were
all sorry when the darkness prevented them from seeing the strange
sights that still surrounded them. The steamers had been obliged to
slow down so as not to arrive in the night; but early in the morning
they went into the Golden Horn.
Captain Ringgold, fully appreciating the anxiety and trouble into which
the reappearance of Ali-Noury Pacha had thrown the parents of Miss
Blanche, had suddenly reversed his principal plan, which was to follow
the southern coast of Europe to its most eastern point which it was
desirable to visit. Instead of doing so, he had followed the coast of
Africa as far as Cape Bon, and then continued to the eastward till he
reached the Archipelago. In this manner the Guardian-Mother and her
puny consort had sailed over two thousand miles.
A great deal had been said by the boys and also by the passengers about
the Orient; and they had certainly been cruising in the Orient the
greater portion of the distance. The Barbary States were Mohammedan
countries, and they had been near their shores half the time. The
commander was sorry they had not been able to pass through the Sea of
Marmora in the daytime; but he had slowed down so that they entered the
Bosporus at six o'clock in the morning, and the passengers had seen the
sun rise, which most of them were not in the habit of seeing.
The entire party were gathered together in their usual place when
they desired to see to the best advantage the surroundings--on the
promenade, which was about seven feet higher than the upper deck. A
pilot had been taken at the entrance to the Dardanelles, and another on
the sea a few miles from the Oriental city.
"The Bosporus here is just about one mile wide," said Captain Ringgold,
who had now nothing to do but attend to his passengers.
"What does Bosporus mean?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.
"It means 'Cow-ford,'" replied Professor Giroud, whom the Captain asked
to make the explanation. "Perhaps 'Heifer-ford' would be the better
name, for it comes from mythology. Io was the daughter of Inachus, king
of Argos, Peloponnesus (now called the Morea), which we saw day before
yesterday, Cape Matapan being its most southern point. She was a very
pretty young lady, and Jupiter, as he was very apt to do in such cases,
fell in love with her."
"We haven't much time for long yarns just now, Professor," laughed the
commander.
"I will finish in a moment. Juno, who was the wife of Jupiter, properly
enough under such circumstances, was jealous of Io, and turned her into
a white heifer. She then caused a gad-fly to torment Io, and sent her
wandering all over the earth. In the course of her travels she swam
over this Strait. 'Bos' is the Latin for ox or cow. It is also said
that the name was given because the Strait was so narrow that a cow
could swim across it. That is all, Captain."
"Thank you, Professor, for the explanation. I did not wish to hurry
you, but I desire to point out some of the localities here. The land on
our left is occupied by the site of the ancient city of Byzantium. We
are now off the Seraglio, where you see the palaces. It is an enclosure
three miles in circumference; but we shall visit it in due time."
"Is that Constantinople also on our right?" asked Uncle Moses.
"That is Scutari," replied the commander.
"There is a lighthouse near the shore," added Miss Blanche.
"It is not a lighthouse, Miss Woolridge. It is sometimes called
Leander's Tower, and the Turks call it Kiz Kullehsi, which means
Maiden's Tower. I suppose you have heard of a young gentleman by the
name of Leander," added the captain, turning to Miss Blanche.
"He swam the Hellespont to see Hero. Then this is the Hellespont of
ancient times," replied the young lady.
"It is not; and there is no reason to call that tower after Leander.
The Dardanelles was the Hellespont over which he swam; and it was no
great thing, for Lord Byron did it for the fun of it. Now we are off
Seraglio Point, and entering the waters of the Golden Horn, which is
simply an arm of the Bosporus, of which there are several others,
extending about five miles inland. The water in it is very deep, and
there is room enough for more than a thousand large ships to lie at
anchor in its quiet waters.
"Now you will leave the Bosporus on your right," continued the
commander, as the steamer turned into the Golden Horn, closely followed
by the Maud. "In front of you is the modern city, and the part nearest
to us is Galata, the commercial section. On the hill is Pera, where
the hotels are situated, and where all the foreign ministers reside.
Farther up the Strait is Tophana, where the Sultan lives at the present
time in a magnificent palace."
In the earlier morning the party had taken its first view of
Constantinople, and some of them had made the usual remark that it
looked like the most beautiful city in the world. The mosques, towers,
and minarets glittered in the rays of the rising sun, and gave it a
glory which a walk through its streets, narrow and dirty, fails to
realize. The pilot rang to stop the screw when the ship was near the
shore; and she came to anchor quite near the landing, for the water was
very deep.
Both of the steamers were immediately surrounded by a multitude of
boats, containing runners for the hotels, and men who wanted the job of
taking the passengers to the shore. A big fat Turk, who proved to be a
custom-house officer, came on board of the Guardian-Mother. He could
not speak English, but addressed the captain in Italian, which is the
language used on board of the Austrian Lloyd's steamers, which ply on
the Black and Mediterranean Seas in great numbers.
"Hotel d'Angleterre," called a man dressed like a Greek, as a boat came
alongside the Maud.
"We don't want any boat," replied Captain Scott.
"Come alongside, Maud!" shouted Captain Ringgold.
Scott rang the bell, and the Maud went ahead to the discomfiture of the
boats, and the little steamer was made fast to the big one. Louis and
Morris went on board, and were warmly received by their mothers. The
passengers had descended from the promenade, and were seated under the
awning, where the professor was to speak to them about Turkey.