s,i 3 ' L:|i li^jL, fT' ffTrW/lrtMf.'U *'-.' ' ! ' |- ^SBj^Sj ; !;4-3^V^^j Mf-% -- ' GIFT OF Prof. C.A. Kofoid SCAMPAV1AS GIBEL TAREK TO STAMBOUL, HARRY GRINGO. f (Lieutenant Wife, United Statw Navy) AUTHOR OF " LOS GRINGOS," AND " f ALES FOR THE MARINES. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER, 377 & 379 BROADWAY. 1857. KNTKRD according to Act of Congrest, in the year 1867, by CHARLES SCRIBNER, In the Clerk'. Office of the DUtrUt Court of the United States for the Southern Ditrwt of New York. W. H. TIN80N, STERBOTYPKR. OEORGK RUS.SKI.L A CO., PKINTE1 I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME TO COMMANDEE JOHN EAISTDOLPH TUCKEE, OP THE NAVY OP THE UNITED STATES, Who has been my tried friend, in storm and sunshine, for a full score of years, and who is as true a gentleman and gallant a sailor as ever trod the deck of a ship. HARRY GRINGO. WASHINGTON, D. 0., January^ 186T. M1G2330 P E E F A E . " Les Marms icrwent mal, metis av6C assee de candeur." THIS volume contains a light record of a cruise on board a Ship of War in the Mediterranean. The title of " Scampavias," was taken from the name given to the clipper dispatch vessels, used by the Knights of Malta in the olden time, and means literally Runaways. The Illustrations have been drawn from sketches taken on the spot, by an accomplished brother blue jacket, whose initials and merit correspond with those of the Royal Academy. HARRY GRINGO. WASHINGTON D. C., January, 1867. Contents. CHAPTER I. PAGB THE COCKPIT 18 CHAPTER II. GIBEL TAREK 86 CHAPTER III. LA SPEZIA ! . . 48 CHAPTER IV. % THE LAST OF POOR JACK 52 CHAPTER V. SANTA LUCIA 68 CHAPTER VI. UNDER CANVAS 77 CHAPTER VII. PORTO LEONE 84 CHAPTER VIII. PINNACLE OF PENTELLICUS 94 THE ACROPOLIS 99 THE PARTHENON 101 HOTEL LIFE . 103 ix x CONTENTS . PAGF ON HORSEBACK 105 GOING UP 107 SAINT SPIRIDON Ill THE POPLAR GROVE 113 CHAPTER IX. GOING TO COURT 116 QUEEN AMELIA 117 MARBLE THIEVES 119 CHAPTER X. A NIGHT OFF MALTA 120 CHAPTER XL THE SHELL OF GOLD 128 CHAPTER XII. MONREAL 136 MONKS 137 THE FORCELLA 139 LA FAVORITA 141 CHAPTER XIII. CHASE OF A CONDESSA 142 CHAPTER XIV. PIEDIGROTTA 162 CHAPTER XV. A LAND SLIDE 157 TUSCAN BRIGANDS 161 GUISSEPPE 168 PORTO FINO 165 TURIN . . . . .167 THE BANQUETTE . . . 169 THE COTTINI FAMILY 17 1 PARISIEN NO. 46 173 THE RHONE 175 THE MERRY PORTERS . ... 177 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVI. XI PAQB ORANGES AND LEMONS 179 COZZANI 181 PALAZZO OLDNINI 185 DOMESTICS 187 THE CASINO . 189 CHAPTER XVII. MARINERS IN MINORCA 190 CHAPTER XVIII. EL CUATRO NA9IONES 209 THE SAN JACINTO 223 CHAPTER XIX. GREEKS -AND GIAOURS 224 CHAPTER XX. ON THE WING 235 STAMBOUL 239 NARGHILES 241 CHAPTER XXI. HIANGIN VAR 244 CHAPTER XXII. THE SUBLIME PORTE 247 GOING TO PRAYERS 263 CHAPTER XXIH. A STAMPEDE AT STAMBOUL 254 PARTING WITH CHRISTIANS 257 BOILED DOWN 259 BASHIBAZOUK 261 SLAYING JANISSARIES 263 SWEET WATERS 265 LAMP LANGUAGE 269 CHAPTER XXIV. FRANKINCENSE 270 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV. PAGH CRUISE IN A CAIQUE ........ 277 CHAPTER XXVI. ABDUL MEDJID AT HOME ........ 285 CHAPTER XXVII. IL SIROCCO ......... . 293 SMALL SWORDS ......... 295 CHAPTER XXVIII. DIVERTISSEMENT ......... 299 CHAPTER HALF-SEAS OVER ......... 311 BARCELONA .......... 313 COQUETTAS .......... 315 CHAPTER XXX. HALF-SEAS UNDER ......... 317 PEASANTS OF THE VAR ........ 321 CHAPTER XXXI. OENOA ........... 325 GOLD ........... 827 GENTILITY ........ . . 329 CHAPTER XXXII. WAR TIMES ........ . . 331 CHAPTER XXXIII. THE CITY OF ROSES ........ 836 CHAPTER XXXIV. THE PASHA AND HIS HAREM ....... 888 CHAPTER XXXV. DANCING DERVISHES ........ 348 CHAPTER XXXVI. DISPATCHES . . 348 Scampavias. Chapter I From the urchin pining, For his Father's knee From the lattice shining ; Drive him out to sea." The Cockpit. I WAS sitting, one dull, dreary morning, with my heels staring with great outward satisfaction at the fire, when the bell rang, and the postman brought me a letter. It was 18 S c AMP A vi A s. wrapped in a huge yellow envelope, sealed with a great splatch of red wax, and franked over the address, with the ominous words, " Navy Depart- ment. Official business." I have not the least doubt that many a poor trembling mariner has endured the same heart- sick feelings, as came over my spirits, on beholding a similar terrible engine so calculated to scatter dismay in peaceful families when about to be pryed out of a happy berth on shore, and sent away out upon the salt seas, to the Lord only knows where. The long, slim icicles, which hung stiff and sharp from the branches of the trees in front of the windows, rattling in the rough blasts of a bleak March wind, were not colder or more dismal than I was, as I slowly tore off the cover of the docu- ment. I knew, by instinct, what would be the contents, and I was not a whit wide of the mark. It was very brief these epistles usually are and it was couched in the ordinary cast a peremptory, and by no means affectionate, style. This was its purport: "Sir, You are hereby appointed Flag-lieutenant of the Mediterranean squadron, and will ' proceed forthwith to report for duty on board the frigate Cumberland." While perusing this explicit and expressive missive, I recollect there was a spark flew in both my eyes from the fire ; and when the baby was brought to me, as was custo- mary in the morning, to fondle and tumble about the carpet, I could hardly see the little witch, though her downy cheeks were buried in my whiskers, and the soft, fat arms were twined around my throat. THE COCKPIT. 15 " Another cruise, my dear," said I to my wife, pointing to the paper, which had fallen open upon the floor. " But you won't go, will you ?" exclaimed my help-mate, with a shudder, as we nearly let the baby drop, between us. " Why, you know I must," I replied, mechanically, " unless I toss up my commission and resign; and one don't care to take a step of that nature, here in the middle of the month, for it's so apt to derange the purser's accounts, and so I fear there's no help for me." The servant announced breakfast. " What will you have ?" inquired my help-mate, as she took a place at the table. " Tea, of the blackest and strongest decoction," I said sadly, for the document had taken the edge off my appetite for solids ; and be assured, brother sailor, that tea is your friend on these occasions, for it gives you a stout and indifferent heart. It is needless to relate how, for a time, there were indi- viduals about the premises, busily employed making up all sorts of linen, and other invisible gear ; while the tailors fit- ted me out in blue broadcloth and bullion ; until finally my kit was pronounced perfect, and away I went. Very sad it made me to go, and I was not chary of epi- thets upon the world at large, and the Navy Department in particular ; but one may as well rail at the northwest wind, while the breakers are dashing on a lee shore, as to look for sympathy in that quarter; and so I might have saved my breath. I joined the frigate, I remember, in a blinding snow-storm. 16 SOAMPAVIAS. She lay chained to the piers of the dock-yard, with her lofty masts, black yards, spar deck, and battery, sheeted in snow, while the boats coming from the receiving hulk, in the stream, were crowded with a living- freight, which were to compose the crew. There were about five hundred of these last, consisting of the usual reckless, careless spirits, who roam over the ocean, from all climes, and of all nations, including a goodly portion of newly imported wild Irishmen, and a few hardy Yankee salts. The ship was commissioned, and for about a fortnight after, in addition to the never-ceasing confusion which reigns on board a vessel newly put in service, there appeared to be a perfect tornado of dock-yard artisans carpenters riggers tinkers, and the like who rushed distractedly about, tear- ing everything to pieces that had been effected before, and never seeming to please anybody. It is worthy of remark, as a general rule, that there is always a wide difference of opinion between the dock-yard people and the mariners, with regard to the comparative utility of the various improvements or fittings of a sea-going ship, and, in the end, both parties are not disinclined to part with each other as soon as practicable. Our trials, in this respect, were not of long duration, and one bright, pleasant morning, early in the month of May, Anno Domini 1852, the sailing orders came. When the tide made in the afternoon, the pilot gave the word, the iron fasts were let run from the ports, the stagings hauled on shore, and slowly the vessel's head swung off from the pier-head towards the stream. THE COCKPIT. 17 There was a low, squat steam-tug in readiness for us, painted very red, and looking extremely infernal and wicked, as she lay at a wharf some distance astern, and only evinced her spleen at intervals, by short splenetic coughs from her escape pipes, as if she was viciously inclined upon bursting her boilers, out of the purest spite and rage, right under the frigate's counters. "Are the hawsers ready?" cried the first lieutenant. A toss of the hand was the affirmative reply from the man on board the tug, and, without a moment's hesitation or timid- ity, the red beast screwed noiselessly alongside the ship, and seizing her with a nip like to a forceps, the broad propel- ler vibrated backwards and forwards for a moment; and then, as if tired of such nonsense, with a whirling spin, that made the water foam, she breasted her enormous burden slowly, but surely, down the harbor of Boston. A little before sunset, we reached the outer anchorage of Nantasket Roads, where, the wind being unfavorable, we let go an anchor. The steam tug, having apparently done her worst in dragging us away from our homes, rested placidly beside us for a time, in the enjoyment of our grief; when, having taken on board some pleasant friends, who had come to see the last of us on this side of the globe, they departed, leaving us poor, sad, woe-begone mortals, to brood over our sorrows alone. At early dawn the following day, the wind came furtively fair. I am inclined to this opinion, though I did not feel it, nor ask a soul about it; for, I was much too miserable to care for anything of the sort. Yet, I felt assured my sur- 18 S CAMP AV IAS. mise was correct, because I heard the sharp ring of the boatswains' whistles, with the cry of: "All hands up anchor." Then there was a short race around the capstans, but presently the tramp of the busy feet ceased ; the word was passed along the gun-deck to " secure the cable ;" and then, I knew again that we were not off yet. I made a determined effort some hours later, and succeeded in reaching the upper air. The weather had changed, as the barometer had predicted ; the horizon, where the sun rose looked hard and gloomy ; and the wind, too, was creeping stealthily, but steadily, from the same direction. Before noon, rain came, and then the pilot muttered that he felt "dubersome" about the appearances. One of the ocean- steamers was anchored near us ; but presently she struck her paddles deep into the water, and, turning her nose up at sails and head winds, dashed away towards Halifax. It was a matter of discussion with us at dinner, that day, if the steward of the Cunarder had not supplied her with a superabundance of provisions, since long before night, with a rising head sea and strong gale, she must have been forced to reduce her revolutions, while, perhaps, her passengers increased theirs. In fact, with our big hull, and the very slight and almost imperceptible oscillations caused by the ocean swell, Bays, the young marine officer, was heard pathetically to request the caterer not to cook any delicacies for him, of any kind or description. From that, those of the strong stomachs divined that the soldier preferred the land for a lengthened residence. The warning, however, to the caterer, seemed to be a matter of supererogation, for no opportunity presented itself during THE COCKPIT. 19 our stay at the Roads for procuring delicacies of the most frugal sort ; with the exception of a merchant in a boat, from the famous town of Hull, hard b} 7 the anchorage. He came close under the frigate's stern, and, holding up a couple of eggs, asked if " sum wun of you fellers keer'd to buy 'em." He also volunteered to " go and kitch some torn cod," but, gaining no heed to his solicitations, he sailed away dis- gusted. For six tedious days, the easterly gale howled dismally, while the rain fell chillingly, in concert. There we lay, ready for sea, the guns secured, the messenger passed, the capstan bars laid beside the capstans, and all dancing attend- ance upon the perverse wind, while " All the noisy waves went freshly leaping, Like gamesome boys over the church-yard dead." The only object which seemed to revel with delight in this dreary scene, was our friend the red steam-tug. She was evidently out on a frolic. During the heaviest and wildest weather, the monster, as if conscious of her iron muscle and power, would go plunging out to sea, in and out and around the angry ledges and breakers, looking for all the world like a huge lobster, with her revolving claws ready, at a moment's notice, to snap up any misguided bark that had unfortunately been driven, in distress, upon the pitiless rocks by the gale. How we all doled through the time, during this tedious weather, I leave to those who are fond of the sea to imagine. For my own part, I mustered up a little energy one morning, and arranged my traps in some show of order. 20 SOAMPAVIAS. I lived down in a dark, gloomy aperture of the ship, in a place called, for what reason brain of man cannot divine, the cockpit. It is always associated in my mind with the " spot where Nelson died" which, by the way, aside from the cowardly musket-ball of the Frenchman, would not have been a subject of wonderment, if he had been obliged to lodge in any similar hole to mine. Owing to the detestable internal economy of space within our old-fashioned-built vessels of war, neither officers nor men enjoy the wholesome or well-arranged quarters they reason- ably should. In the present day, the ward-rooms are the most crowded apartments in the ship ; and it frequently hap- pens, as in my case, that, without swinging in a cot, alfresco, as it were, in the open "country," with the privilege of a wash-stand in the street, I should have been obliged to perambulate the frigate of nights, on my individual feet, or to roost in the boats, or, perhaps, in the codfish-boxes under the maintop, since the regular state rooms were legitimately occupied by those entitled to them. Fortunately, however, the cockpit was vacant, and there a cabin was placed at my disposal ; for, as I was in every- body's mess and nobody's watch, I had no claims to more agreeable accommodations. There were three others who shared with me this retreat ; the secretary and a brace of surgeons. It was a perfect ladderrinth to get down to this pit ; but, when once down, it had virtues of its own. Sunlight was never seen there by the Ancient Mariner himself. Air had been there occasionally, but in very small quantities I mean THE! COCKPIT. 21 breathing air. My private belief is, that the cockpit was solely invented for purposes of suffocation. The great bread- rooms opened into the pit, from whose capacious tinned receptacles the biscuit was daily taken to feed the mouths above. The purser's store-house, too, sent forth its tribute of slops, consisting of every imaginable material from blue jackets to red pepper brogans and bees-wax, thread, trowsers, thimbles, pins, pans, silks, and candles. Then, again, the hospital drugs, and the officer's private stores, were all drawn in bulk from these realms, to say nothing of the loaded shell magazines, with their villainous sulphur and saltpetre, being entombed directly beneath the deck. The awful smell, in warm weather, of tar, ropes, damp clothing, drugs, provisions, powder, and the compound fluid-extract of pure .bilge water, and the like refreshing elements, reeked here in stifling profusion ; but one good mouthful of pure oxygen, I say again, was never inhaled in the pit. Ethereal spirits of that volatile nature resort nearer to the heavens. This was the appearance of things at the outset of the cruise ; and, moreover, there was an obstructed passage- way leading forward from this den to the spirit-room hatch, and designed for filling shells, thus corking us up like a bottle. At a later period, however, on getting quit of the dock-yard men, our own carpenters, with a few vigorous blows of sledge-hammers and crowbars, knocked the entire fabric away, leaving a wide space, where a large lantern shed its gleams perpetually beside a sentinel placed there to keep guard over the residents and property ; and where, 22 SOAMPAVIAS. too, a plethoric wind-sail poured a current of fresh air from the breezy regions above : thus making, on the whole, our life more luxurious, wholesome, and comfortable than before. At the same time, notwithstanding the unavoidable ills of a sea life, not sufficiently alleviated by a liberal allowance of candles, and the certainty of being the first blown up in case of fire, we still existed as pleasantly and happily as human beings could expect to, six feet under water, within the walls of a ship. 1o descend, however to details ; my own cabin was pre- cisely six feet square, and nearly five feet high not quite, but an inch or two below a certain elevation is not impor- tant. Except in the struggle to put on my trowsers in a hurry, which, perhaps, could have been more easily per- formed by standing on my head, I experienced no difficulty or inconvenience whatever on that score. Of the six feet square, my bunk and bed occupied about one-fourthnarrow, to be sure, in the most sanguine view of the case. Had it been occupied by my Uncle Toby, before his anticipated marriage with Mrs. Wadrnan, I feel per- suaded that Mr. Shandy would not have cast reproach upon the widow for being about to prevent her lover from sleeping diagonally in his bed ; for, under the most favorable auspices, it would have puzzled a monkey to have laid crosswise in mine. I often pondered while lying awake in my narrow crib, how a gentleman in easy circumstances on shore would accept of a night's lodging like unto my retreat; to be asked to sleep in a hole six feet under ground except it THE COCKPIT. 23 were considered a grave with a smoked pork-shop next door, a bakery and druggery on the other, an old clothes emporium over the way, and a powder magazine beneath ; then to breathe a foul atmosphere of tar, cheese, and roaches ; without a ray of light, save that dimly emitted by smoky oil ; and the whole catalogue o"f delights closed by reposing on rockers, to roll and to pitch, or swing to and fro as in a bird-cage. I wonder, I say, whether, after a first trial, the visitor would care to enjoy the like hos- pitality again! A bureau, with a writing affair attachment stood in one corner; a small wash-stand in the other ; a couple of shelves held my books above, and around were racks of wooden pegs to hold my storm-clothes and ordinary raiment. Outside the cabin, behind a canvas screen, was a bath-tub, where I could disport myself to an unlimited extent in salt water. All this constituted my palace afloat ; and, though neither gilded nor frescoed, it still became a snug little home for the cruise, where I could be sad or merry, studious or dreamy, as the spirit moved me. It was on the 17th of May, at daylight, that we were all astir. The wind had veered fair, and, indeed, it was high time, for the pilot was out of shirts, and threatened to leave us to our fate. The anchors were soon wrung from their resting-places, the head sails hoisted, and, in company with a great crowd of outward bounders, we all steered seaward together. Or gaining an offing, we hove to for a moment, to give the pilot a chance to step into his cockle-shell of a boat. 24: SCAMPAVIAS. " Good-bye, Captin," said he, as he strapped up the certifi- cate of his pilotage in one of the fat pocket-books with which people of his profession invariably supply themselves. " Good-bye, pilot," said we all ; " keep a look-out for us three years from to-day." " Aye, aye I guess I won't," he exclaimed, as he gave his beaver a pull, and, seizing one of the oars, sculled on board his vessel. An hour later, we ran past the steam frigate Mississippi, gave a mutual salute of hearty cheers, and then, making all sail, before the night closed around us, the rocks, villages, light-houses, and sand-hills of Cape Cod had faded away in the distance, and the frigate held her prow resolutely towards the broad Atlantic. For some days we went bowling along at great speed, with a single reef in the topsails, past George's shoals into the Gulf Stream, with the fogs and drizzle which hang round those warm water regions obscuring the horizon, and holding the canvas of the frigate out full and rigid. The effect, too, produced by the sudden change of medium of air and sea caused the inside walls and ceilings of the vessel to condense moisture, and every plank, timber, and bolt pour out oozy drops of perspiration upon our devoted heads. At last, came clear, drying weather, when, with winds at times light, then fresh, first from one quarter, and then another, but always fair, we made rapid progress towards the Old World. The internal organa of the ship also progressed favorably ; a great portion of the crew were at first greener than the sea, in the ways of a man-of-war ; but constant drilling in the ordinary routine of duty soon put everything in tolerable THECOOK.PIT. 25 working order. At the outset, after recovering from the soul-harrowing effects of sea-sickness, their physical energies were devoted to recruiting their stomachs, and the effect was visibly manifest at every succeeding general muster, when they all marched around the captain for inspection. I should say, on an avoirdupois guess, that in aggregate bulk, the crew increased at the rate of about four tons per month. The marines, perhaps, fell a trifle below this esti- mate ; for, being of sedentary habits, and immoderately addicted to " duff," which invariably produced the colic, they were in a mass neutralized in fatness. Our friends, however, the Milesians, were the most difficult persons to bring into the traces. Paddy is tractable and witty, but stupid and blunder- ing. They would persist in stowing their hammocks on one side of the deck in the morning, and looking for them on the other at night ; being deluded into this dilemma, by remark- ing only the rising of the sun, and giving no heed to the stem or stern of the ship, they forgot that the sun had got round to another part of the heavens. Going up the rigging, however, was their severest trial. They were always " light in the hed, and wake in the ligs, not bein' accustomed to the say," though an old quarter-master of my acquaintance was eager to bet a month's pay that, with a hod of mortar over their shoulders, they could beat a cat to the main-royal truck. It was not, however, trifles of this nature that the officers had seriously to contend with. It was with that class of persons whose characters or habits had become distasteful to their fellow-men on shore; to whom a man-of-war is an 2 26 SOAMPAVIAS. Alsatia of refuge ; with whom clear good-natured persuasion or reason has but little weight ; and who require the strong hand, and not unfrequently the cold steel at their throats, to reduce them to wholesome discipline and obedience. The government had abolished flogging in the navy. Since the passage of the law, this was the first cruise wherein I had had the opportunity of witnessing the effect of that measure in a ship of war. It was, at the time, with me, a matter of exceeding doubt while the grog part of the ration was left to work its pernicious influence whether a man-of-war could be properly disciplined, without the lash, or the substitute of cruel and unusual means of punishment, to curb the naturally mutinous and vicious. Contrary, however, to all my preconceived convictions, trained, as I had been, for many years, under the old system, where the cats were swung habitually upon the backs of the seamen, I must candidly admit, that my views have under- gone an entire change. There is not an officer, with the true feelings of manhood, whose soul has not revolted at the disgusting practice of pun- ishment under the old regulations ; and neither, do I believe, are there many who would not willingly have seen the lash abolished, had wise and effective substitutes been devised to supply its place. This, however, in a moment of hasty legislation, was overlooked ; and the only means left with the officers to control the men, were those of an ordinary nature, or in nautical parlance, " according to the usages of the sea service." The experiment, I feel persuaded, was fairly tried on board THE COCKPIT. 27 the Cumberland, and I am equally certain with decided success. There was introduced on board the frigate a thorough and impartial administration of rewards, as well as punishments, which held out encouragement to the good, and meted out strict justice to the bad. A prison was constructed on the lower deck, where the prisoners could not communi- cate with their shipmates. It had transverse rods of iron at top and bottom, to which the culprits were shackled, and they were made to keep the same watch below that their shipmates did on the upper deck, instead of dozing away their time in comparative comfort. For light offences, the men were given extra work, and deprived of liberty on shore ; but for offences of greater magnitude, confinement for certain periods in double irons, and by sentence of court-martial, disratings, deprivation of pay, or disgraceful discharge from the service. It was, however, the minor delinquencies that required the most attention, and the burden of the duty fell entirely upon the executive officers, of whom incessant vigilance was at all times demanded. At the same time, the rights of the crew and their comforts were respected. They were treated with moderation and firmness. I never heard of an oath being- spoken through the trumpet during the period I was in the ship ; and eventually the frigate became the most creditable vessel, in many points of view, that it had been my lot to sail in. I must admit, however, that the crew did not, on all occasions, work with the same quickness and alacrity, as I had known in other ships ; but this was more attributable to 28 SOAMPAVIAS. the feebler stamina of the men themselves, than to any defect of the system. Of recent years, a great depreciation has been observed in the professional capacities of the enlisted men in the navy, and California and Australia may have been, in some degree, the allurements which have drawn them away, though it is fair to presume the race has not become entirely extinct. There is another reason, however, in the belief the sailors cherish, that, since the abolition of the cats, the brunt of the work on Uncle Sam's decks will fall upon the good men ; and that the lazy skulkers and worthless will have all the play and none of the labor. Even now, I venture to assert that, were the vote taken among the men themselves, on board every ship of war in commission, a large majority would be cast for the cats. The chronometric point from which everything dates, on ship-board, is seven bells. A man-of-war wakes fairly with bustling life at that hour in the morning. The boat- swains' whistles ring through the ship ; the men tumble out of their hammocks on the gun and berth decks, and prepara- tions are made for breakfast. As sounds fly upward, and as a salute of thirty -pounders might be fired without particularly disturbing the denizens of the cockpit, we were generally informed of the hour by a servitor who attended upon us a recent importation from Cork. Unlike his countrymen, he was a dandy, and had been known to reverse the oil cruets of the casters upon his hirsute locks, to give them a glossy hue. " Av ye plase, sur, to turn out," was his accustomed saluta- tion, while lighting a candle on the bureau. THE COCKPIT. 29 . Without a moment's reflection, I would throw my heels out of the bunk, and slide as gracefully as my attire would admit taking care the while not to jolt my brains against the hard pine beams above on to a camp-stool. Here, a few moments' rasping with the hair brushes served to restore my wits for the day, when ducking through the state-room door, into what we called the rural districts, I underwent a splash of sea-water, and then returned calmly to my vestments. There is nothing like a dip of cold water, at any time, but especially when the blood wants quickening in the sleepy morning. By the time the boatswains again begin their shrill music, in piping to breakfast, the bell strikes eight, and then I knew by instinct that the gun-room meal was ready also, and accordingly I ascended to the upper regions. The officers' breakfast is quite " a la traiteur," that is to say, each servant has something hot on the coals, at the cook-shop of the galley, for his officer. My individual prejudices were usually in favor of a grilled sea-robin the marine jargon for red herrings stale bread with red wine and water. Eggs I never touch on the ocean an absurd fancy which I could never overcome. The breakfast equipage remains on the mess table about an hour ; and any indifferent person, whether he be of the civil or military establishment of the ship, may sit and chat, or eat away the time, as it best pleases him. But, as the bell strikes nine o'clock, the drum takes up the sound, with a sharp quick beat to quarters, while all hurry off to their stations. In a few minutes, the morning inspection 30 SCAMPAVIAS. of the crew and vessel is over the batteries and gear examined the retreat sounds, and all are thrown upon their resources of duty or pleasure, as the case may be. The captain and executive officer visit the different parts of the vessel, to see if all is in a state of order and cleanliness; the lieutenants exercise the divisions at the great guns and small arms ; the surgeons make their professional calls upon the sick, and, if need be, the mechanics fall to work upon the canvas, wood, and iron. Every one has some- thing to do, and the time slips on to noon, when the sailing- master gets up the reckoning, marks off the ship's run upon the charts, and the crew go to dinner. The hours again creep on, until a little before three, when the beholder may remark through the lattices of the wardroom cabins, the inhabitants thereof putting on coats, and making other preparations of the toilet, to be in readiness for dinner, as the bell strikes six. It was, with us, and is commonly on board a well-regulated and har- monious ship, the most cheerful hour of the day. When the clatter of removing first courses partially subsides, conversation becomes general; and, since there is rarely a man to be found, among our seafaring tribe, who has not visited some outlandish spot on the globe, or beheld some strange sight, or is cognizant of some remarkable incident, that his brethren have not seen, heard, or dreamed of, it- follows that all, in turn, enjoy the opportunity of giving out their experiences, and one may readily imagine that, with narrators like sailor cosmopolites, there is often a world of amusement or adventure to be beguiled with. THE COCKPIT. 31 And oh, my messmates ! when we glance back upon the many merry, jovial hours we have passed together when we reflect upon the fitful changes of this fleeting life, and of the black lines drawn, by those below us, day by day, through our names on the navy list, have we not reason to be grateful that it pleased heaven to set a merciful watch over us, as individuals, and that we did not " sleep full many a fathom deep," but held our wind, without being crippled in spars or rigging, under full sails and happy auspices, free from jar or discord? Well, then, my friends, I am with you all, in -spirit once more, and wherever this may find you wandering in green or blue water, in storm or calm, under torrid or temperate suns I toss off a glass of our old "Pratz' Pale" to your health, happiness, and speedy pro- motion. Bismillah ! may the same blessings be showered upon the head of the drinker ! We rarely remained longer than an hour at table, unless as was the custom on Sundays the commanding officers dined at mess ; then, we sat a bit longer. The meal over, forward on the gun deck was a rendezvous, where chairs were placed, and cigars puffed out their soothing joys. At six, the everlasting drums again beat to quarters, and, after the usual inspection of guns and crew, the latter are given their hammocks. By eight bells the watch is set, and the Frigate in the main left in quiet. Then the duty and the busy hum of the day being done, those who have no watch near at hand, invite a small coterie of good fellows to their rooms, to talk over the past, or scheme for the future. 32 SOAMPAVIAS. It chanced that one of these occasions fell upon the natal day of one of the party. The individual said he was three- and-thirty. It was decided, however, that his chronology was incorrect. Be this as it may, he proposed to give a fete, and not wishing to disturb the slumbers of the watch officers in the gun room, volunteered to celebrate the event in the Pit. Accordingly, my cabin was selected. The party assembled at an early hour, and on reaching the lowest step of the ladder, were transfixed with surprise at the brilliant effect of the preparations made for their reception. In the centre of the little cabin stood a flat-topped clothes basket, on which was spread a snow white napkin, while above there towered boldly up a flask of Heidsick, with the wire untwisted from the neck, and the taut twine eagerly waiting to be severed by a sharp knife at the side. Glasses sparkled on the basket, and cigars too were sprinkled about, for any person who chose to indulge in a dry smoke ; since fire smokes were not tolerated on account of the loaded shells being only a few inches beneath our feet. On the bureau stood a brace of sperm candles, whose refulgent light reflected from the mirror the Koh-i-noor of the berth threw its rays into every nook and cranny of the apartment. Mr. Jack Toker, in virtue of his rank and numerous progeny, was the first to enter these precincts, and succeeded in reaching the place of honor on a small camp-stool situated in a retired spot between the bunk and bureau vice the basket. The secretary being accustomed to the purlieus, got to his place on the bed without serious difficulty. Then came Lorimer, followed by Benedict, who, after a painful THE COCKPIT. 33 series of struggles wriggled to seats on the trunk. Finally, Doctor Bristles effected his entree, and perched himself at once on top of the wash-stand, thereby depriving himself of a full view of the display below, in consequence of the enormously square beam which bisected the cabin. After this, I brought up the rear, and planted my back against the door. Now, here we were, all comfortably arranged, and all peres des families, save Benedict, who, though scorning the yoke, was yet admitted amongst us the elect in compli- ment to his generosity in furnishing the tipple. After a smiling silence for a few seconds, the gentleman whose age was a mystery, expressed the pleasure he enjoyed in meeting his friends on the anniversary of his birth; and that he would take advantage of the occasion, by unsealing a casket presented to him by his spouse before leaving home. Here- upon the casket, which was of paper, was passed around. It was pinched, bit, pressed, weighed, smelled, shook, turned and twisted ; and surmises were rife as to the contents. Benedict thought it was something good to eat, declaring his belief that it was gingerbread. Jack Toker, however, swore point blank, that in his opinion it contained a collec- tion of gold watches for distribution among the married men of the mess. This conjecture seemed to receive great interest, but impatience getting the better of our curiosity, the outer casings were removed forthwith from the casket. What was hidden there I am bound by mine oath not to reveal, but enough to say, that on being again passed around the circle, it was handled in the most respectful 2* 34: SCAMPAVIAS. manner; merely peeped into, and not otherwise dis- turbed. At this stage of the proceedings, Bristles, who was squeezed very close by the angle of the bulkheads on his elevated perch, affirmed that " He was like the wife of Sir Godfrey Minchin, Who didn't mind death, but couldn't bear pinchin," and, moreover, he felt sad, and believed a drop of cham- pagne would cheer him up a bit. This proposition was unanimously concurred in, and with- out further palaver, the cords of the cork were divided, and, like fire to a fuze, the velvet stopper rose briskly from its charge. The glasses were measured by the wine and not by the foam, and a toast was quaffed to the wife of the gen- tleman who gave the fete. While lips were smacked, and sighs bubbled up in the fullness of our joy, Benedict pro- duced a small box, which, upon touching a spring, out popped a minute African infant, attired in a pink frock and feathers. This was intended as a cadeau to the baby of the gentleman whose age was still a mystery ; whereupon we all bethought ourselves of filling the goblets again, and draining them on the instant to the above-mentioned baby. This ceremony over, it was suggested by Lorimer to begin seriatim, and drink the health of all the married ladies, and the whole to conclude with the children, in regular suc- cession, according to age! To this rather comprehensive conviviality, Benedict loudly demurred, having, after a hasty arithmetical calculation, discovered the aggregate of wives THE COCKPIT. 35 and infants to amount to considerably over a score ; and since he was expected to furnish the Heidsick, he concluded it would be a too copious drain upon his stores of that fluid. He very generously compromised, however, by dispatching our cockpit valet, Patrick Whack, for another bottle, when, taking the wives in one lot, and the babies in another, it was generally admitted that the full honors had been paid them. With the last seething foam of the flask, the master-at- arms tapped gently at the lattice, and in a subdued tone of voice, announced ten o'clock, and the lights to be dowsed. Wishing our companion of the uncertain calendar might live like the frisky old girl, 11 To the age of an hundred and ten, And die by a fall from an apple-tree then;" the guests quietly backed out, reversing the order of sailing upon going in, and groping their way up the pit-ladder, were no more heard of during the night. S C A M P A V I A 8. Chapter II. " Safely in harbor in the deep nook, where once Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew From the still- vex'd Berinoothes, there she's hid, The mariners all under hatches stowed ; Whom, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labor, I have left asleep : and for the rest of the fleet, Which I dispersed, they have all met again, And are upon the Mediterranean flote." Gibel Tarek. IT was on the seventh of June, that the frigate was flying over the water, going on her course like a belle to a ball. We had sailed past the Azores, the ocean smooth as a carpet, GIBEL TAREK. 37 the sky at times a little trade-cloudy, with the light, white fleece occasionally skimming, like gauze, through the heavens, and darkening the water beneath ; the lovely mellow moon, too, gleaming large, full, and soft, putting most of the stars to shame, and glowing like silver, over the rippling waters. Then the stately Frigate, all alone in this magnificent scene, flooded with white sails upon her lofty masts, up, up, there, to those little trucks, which almost touch that pale, twinkling planet, while her broad wings spread far out on either side the darkened hull, as the sea rolls back in sparkling bubbles from her bow, and opens a path before her resistless power. The bower cables had been bent ; for we scented the land afar off. As the sun colored the eastern sky, the mountains of Spain and Africa developed their high outlines, and, with the advancing light, we found ourselves at the entrance of the strait of Gibraltar. In a few hours, aided by the breeze and current, we said rapidly past Cape Spartel and Tangier, on the one side, and Trafalgar and Tarifa on the other, and soon after meridian, the frigate, heeling over to the strong puffs that swept through the gorges of Andalusia, reached the anchorage, and let run the chains, with the Devil's Tower just open with Gibel Tarek, or the rock of Gibraltar. A health-boat, with a boarding officer, was soon alongside. " Where were we from ? and were we contagious ?" was the pith of the information he cared to elicit ; and, being assured of our general salubrity and freedom from infection, he snapped up a blank bill of health with a pair of sheet-iron tongs, which, being properly filled out by the surgeons, was 38 ScAMPAVIAS. received again by the tongs. After an arm's-length inspection, we were informed that we might communicate with the shore, and thus we received what is called pratique. In a few minutes those jolly souls, the bumboat people, came bobbing about the frigate ; their pipes, bread, tobacco, fruits, straw hats, fried fish, oranges, eggs, and onions, piled in promiscuous heaps in their boats, while the venders were clamorously profuse in offers of sand and holystones to the first lieutenant, for the privilege of supplying the crew. The bumboats were soon followed by other vessels filled with soldiers' wives and maidens generally, each provided with letters of recommendation, as washerwomen, which they held above their heads to attract some sympathizing officer's eye, who might, perchance, be afflicted with soiled linen. Presently our young consul came on board, looking a smaller edition of his patriotic father before him, and then the thun- der of twenty-one guns officially informed the governor of the fortress of our arrival, to which the water-battery, at the ragged staff, replied in similar tones, when, with nine more by us to the consul, the powder was locked up in the magazine. I went on shore, and landed at the old mole, amid the crowd of quaint latteen-rigged luggers, with their picturesque sails and hulls shading the quay. I touched my hat to the same scarlet-coated soldier, on guard, at the pier-head ; pushed my way through the same throng of Moors, in their petticoat breeches; a thorough cluster of chibouque-sucking Turks ; Jews, with pointed beards and eyes ; Andalusians, all a-jingle with silver buttons and velvet jackets ; through smugglers, boatmen, porters, and GIBEL TAREK. 39 vagabonds that I had seen, or others, may be, just like them, years and years before. Then over the moat, under the portcul- lis, through ponderous gates and strong pickets all the while touching the point of my cocked hat, right and left, to the sentinels on post until, at last, I gained a little street-room in the main avenue of the town. Here the crowd thinned a little ; but yet there was no lack. Plenty of Moors still, with tawny legs, and full snowy turbans ; hosts of Levites, with hawk-bill noses, and usurious eyes ; lots of guides to the excavations and batteries ; droves of small buros, with their drivers and water-butts; groups of bustling, florid-faced Englishmen, dark-skinned Spaniards, and merchant-skippers ; then an interval of healthy-looking English women, or mantilla-robed brunettas, from San Roque or Algeziras all these moving throngs dotted about with the soldiers of the garrison. There they are, at the corners, on the pave, in the streets, craning out of e\3ry window of that great range of barracks, fatigue-parties moving backwards and forwards, guard-houses filled with them, everywhere, save in the wine shops ; then officers, too brilliant in red and blue, lace, bullion, and swords, greeting one at all times and in every quarter. To one fond of military display, there is no better place for this enjoyment than in Gibraltar. English troops, though more rigid and stiff in movement than the French, still fill the eye very pleasantly ; for, with scarcely an exception, they are picked men, of fine stature, and, so far as cleanliness of dress and elegance of equipment go, they are unexceptionable. At the time of our visit, the garrison was composed of 40 SCAMPAVIAS. four regiments of foot, five companies of artillery, and one of sappers. It was one of these regiments, the 44th, that had the opportunity of distinguishing themselves at the memor- able Bladensburg races, and to this day carry that name inscribed on their colors. After a visit to the consul, I strolled to the Alameda a flat esplanade, bevelled from the face of the rock, and where, even now, the monkeys sometimes descend from their subterranean retreats to watch how the world wags, and to note, perhaps, how well the pretty groves of orange trees and shrubbery thrive in their former haunts. Even in this promenade, there are everywhere seen great pyramidal stacks of cannon-balls and ranges of grim cannon staring out upon the bay. As all the world knows, Gibraltar is an isolated rock, about fourteen hundred feet high, with a ridge as sharp as a wedge ; narrow for its length of three miles ; which may once have been standing by itself, nearly midway of the strait between Africa and Europe. It has not, however, changed its relative position in that respect; but the low sand-link, which connects it by the neutral ground to Spain, has probably been formed by the meeting currents of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. On the side of the Mediter- ranean it is precipitous, but it shelves less abruptly on the western face, towards the bay, where the town is built. The renowned excavations are on the northern point, where the sheer, red rock rises almost perpendicularly, overlooking, as from the eyrie of an eagle, the green slopes of the hills of Andalusia, in the distance. GlBELTAKEK. 4:1 The galleries and batteries constructed there, were the result of a happy accident in war, during the assault of the Spanish and French forces, in 1782. Previously, a small battery had been planted on the northernmost peak of the rock; but, to reach this spot, many lives of the gar- rison were lost in carrying supplies by an exposed path, under the fire of the allies, the muzzles of whose guns were elevated by bags filled with sand. To remove this necessity of exposure, the English engi- neers began to cut a means of ascent by a channel within the shell of the mountain. In executing this work, and when about half-way up, while blasting in the gallery, a fragment of rock was blown clean out towards the Isthmus, which, upon being discovered by the allies, was welcomed by shouts of derision. The besiegers were n-ot left many hours to exult over this accident ; for, in the natural embrasure caused by the explosion, a heavy piece of ordnance was pointed, and the nearest batteries below were obliged to abandon their positions. In all the sieges for which Gibraltar has become his- torical, the most desperate, determined, and prolonged were those repulsed by General Eliot, afterwards Lord Heathfield. He married a descendant of Sir Francis Drake, who was, himself, one of the boldest old viking freebooters that ever scuttled ship ; and should their descendants be imbued with the blood of that union, Britannia will never lack, in that family, sailors to rule the main, or soldiers to lead her armies. 4:2 SCAMPAVIAB. There is a club-house for strangers, in the town, whither I betook myself, and swallowed an imperial pint of ale; for, of all things, " my soul sentimentally craves British beer !" and a free English port is the place to drink it in perfection. Then, buckling my sword about, I bent my steps to the mole again. As the sunset-gun, from the summit of the rock at St. Michael's, poured forth its report, I passed through the sombre archways ; the gates rolled together, the portcullis came down, the draw-bridge went up, and all the Gibraltar world were made sensible that the fortress was locked up, and, at the same time, I knew myself to be locked out for the night. Thus, being left to my own devices, I got into one of the frigate's boats, and pulled to my floating home on board. On the following day, in virtue of mine office as one of the staff, I went on a visit of ceremony to the governor of the fortress, Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Gardner, K.C.B. The official residence is at a former convent, near the centre of the old town. We were received at the gateway by a brace of aids-de-camp, who at once ushered us up a cool, spacious stairway to the second story. Then traversing a broad corridor, which overlooked a gem of a garden and lemon grove, and where, no doubt, in times past, many an old friar or imprisoned nun regaled themselves, while telling over their aromatic beads, we reached the end of the hall, and were, in a moment, in the presence of General Gardner. GlBELTAEEK. 43 He was a tall, elderly gentleman, on the advanced posts of life, with silvery hair, fine eyes, and a cordial, pleasant expression of visage. He wore an artillery uniform, and on his breast a Waterloo medal. He received us very graciously, but apologized for being deprived of the pleasure of granting more than a moment's interview, since he had been commanded to attend the Archduke Maximilian of Austria to the ragged staff, prior to the embarkation of that illustrious personage for Cadiz. This young brother of the Emperor of Austria, by the way, was serving as a lieutenant on board a steamer of War. lying at the time of our arrival in the bay. Contrary, however, to the usual naval etiquette, the commander of the steamer did not send a boat on board the American frigate, to inquire after our well-being. The omission was possibly attributable to the bad name M. Kossuth had given us in the dominions of the House of Hapsburgh. Our grief, however, at this slight, was not of a permanent nature ; and we hoped, at some future day, to teach the subjects of that house better manners. We took leave of the governor, returned to the mole, and rowing through a fleet of felucca-smugglers, watching a chance to evade the Spanish gun-boats, we reached the frigate. On getting on board, the wind was blowing too fresh from the westward to get under way, from the position the ship lay ; and it was only when the sun fell behind the mountains of Spain, that the wind lulled sufficiently to make sail. Ships I have always believed to have been the invention of the foul Fiend himself; for it matters not how great care 44 S CAMP A VI AS. or forethought be exercised in their peculiar management, there is, at the most inopportune moment, a screw loose, or something to go wrong, that our arch enemy, the inventor, delights in. The trouble this evening with us was. the refusal of the rope-messenger, used to draw in the chain-cable, to clasp the capstan tight enough to heave up the anchor. It would keep slipping around the oaken barrel, and no skill or contrivance would make it hold. At last, however, the anchor was dragged just clear of the bottom, but when canvas was spread upon the ship, she fell off into shoaler water, so that the infernal grapnel would take to the ground again, and then we went waltzing about the bay. Vessels, too, were all around us; but by the mere force of good luck, we avoided them very cleverly, and, notwithstanding our perplexities, we passed clear out in a style which would have called forth the utmost admira- tion from the British fleet, had they beheld our lucky manoeuvrings. As we got into deep water, the obstinate anchors were brought to the bows, and we steered for the open strait. The giant fortress reposed like a lion couchant in silent security, just as it did, no doubt, when the Moors, in 712, built their castles on it ; when Barbarossa's Algerine corsairs pillaged it in 1540; when John Bull planted his paws upon it at the storming in 1704 ; or afterwards, when the brave Eliot, in 1782, withstood the terrible siege of the allies for three years. In short, from the remotest ages, this Rock of Gibraltar this pillar of Hercules is still the same. GlBELTAREK. 45 In all the strifes and changes in which Gibraltar has borne so prominent a part, there may have been seen more mon- keys clambering about the rocky heights, more ships in the bay, more soldiers on the land, more murderous, fiery missiles flying through the air, " The bursting shell, the gateway rent asunder, The rattling musketry, the clashing blade, And, ever and anon, in tones of thunder, The diapason of the cannonade," with, perhaps, less to eat and drink than in these peaceful times ; but yet, without the aid of any grand convulsion of nature, it does not seem improbable that this hoary, sturdy monarch of rocks may, again and again, be an indifferent witness to bloodier and more terrible scenes than these. As the frigate slowly sailed along the base of the rock, thousands of lights sparkled in the town ; the nine o'clock gun pealed out its nightly warning, while the drums, flutes, and bugles echoed from point to point. Soon, however, we rounded Europa, and then, as we stood fairly into the Medi- terranean, the clusters of lights were shut from our sight, the music was lost in the distance, and at midnight the dim, red gleam of the light-house only marked where Gibraltar lay, in its pride and power. The following morning we were running, with a free wind, along the Spanish coast. We were too far off to catch more than an unclouded view of the back-ground ; but that was in itself magnificent. The topmost peaks of the Sierra Nevada were clearly cut against the far-distant sky, shining cold and white with the winter snows. 4:6 SOAMPAVIAS. Passing out of sight of Malaga, Almeria, and lesser ports, by evening we were abreast Cape de Gatt. The breeze held fair during the night, and the next day, after passing Cape Palos, we descried the English fleet. It was composed of five ships of the line, and two frigates. Four of the majestic two-deckers stood in shore, by the wind, while the rearmost vessel held towards the Cumberland. As she approached, we beat to quarters, cast loose the guns, and cleared for action, merely by way of friendly precaution, and the practice with men-of-war upon meeting one another on the high seas. After a mutual exhibition of pennants and ensigns, the Englishman put his helm down, and slowly went around towards the land, while at the same time he triced up his lower gun-deck ports to show his teeth, and to let us know, that he, too, was ready with the black-mouthed cannon, to belch forth red flame and destruction, should the necessity arise. Fortunately the necessity did not arise, and we thought, with the Spaniards, it were better to have 11 Con todo el tmtndo guerra Ypaa con Inglaterraf* and so we both departed on our several missions ; he to inform his admiral that he had shown his ensign to an American frigate, and we to keep on our course to the south- ward of the Balearic Isles. Passing Formentera, Majorca, and Minorca, our progress, somewhat hastened by a clear, cool snap of a mistral out of GIBEL TAREK. 47 the gulf of Lyons, the lofty, bold mountains of Corsica and Sardinia loomed up before us. Then, heaving about, we worked up towards the Italian coast, and a month from the day we sailed from Boston saw us overshadowed by the grand Apennines, whose high, shining summits of glacier and snow broke out clear and sharp above our heads. With the early morn we entered the gulf of Spezia, and dropped anchor near the Lazaretto. 48 So AMPA VI AS . Chapter III. " But many a peopled city tow'rs around, And many a rocky cliff with castle crown'd, And many an antique wall whose hoary brow O'ershades the flood that guards the base below." La S p e z i a. THE Gulf of Spezia is an arm of the Mediterranean, on the eastern confines of the kingdom of Sardinia, about midway between Genoa and Leghorn. It is six miles in length, and nearly four in width at the mouth. The land is high all around, from the cap of Mount Napoleon, which overhangs Porto Venere on the western side, to the rough, iaoreed ridares of the Carrara Mountains back of Lerici, and v OS O the river Magra towards Tuscany. The projecting head- lands run upward and backward in steep spurs from the water's edge, until they fall gradually away into the smooth upper surfaces of the more portly hills. Within these pro- jecting headlands are secluded harbors, and at every curving indentation is a quaint, old villagio with a still quainter church, reposing amid a nest of cypresses, upon the verdant cheek of a ravine, or struggling over the acclivities half shows the picturesque old tower and gable, peering out from the dell beyond. S P E Z I A . 49 The arms of the gulf exhibit ever-varying and interminable beauties of landscape. Sides, slopes, and valleys are covered and crowned by terraced groves of olives, corn and vines; and within each of the radiating gorges on the western shore, are tortuous pathways leading to the heights above ; where, amid bounding water- courses, light moss-covered arches spanning the torrents at intervals, you catch at every succeeding elevation the most charming views possible to imagine. It is not only around you ; where the sombre clefts in the hills are sheltered from the sunlight; or the gurgling rivulet scoops in unceasing eddying circles a bowl out of that hard marble below the cascade ; or, the bright patches of grain glowing at your feet ; but it is where the eye looks down upon the plain and well tilled gardens of Spezia, with the little city, the old, crumbling, black fortifi- cation toppling over it ; and glancing around further, in every gap and on every height stands a rare old hamlet embowered in the green. Then sweeping on around the opposite side, over that strip of deep, blue gulf, are those chill snow-peaks of the Carrara, whiter far than the marble within their breasts. If we mount higher, here up on this rough-hewn deserted fort of Napoleon, we embrace the coast on either hand from Genoa to Leghorn ; with the islands of Capraja and Corsica so dimly seen away there on the verge of the horizon ; those little dots of rocky islets, Tino and Tinetto here at hand ; the Mediterranean rolling so calmly beyond, and still trace it in all its angles and curves, with the waves dashing in angry force at your feet ; and then it is you will tell me 3 50 SCAMPAVIAS. you never saw a more magnificent coup d'ceil of land and sea together. I should, perhapsj have mentioned ere this, that the town of Spezia lies at the head of the horse-shoe shaped gulf, where the surrounding mountains recede in a wide valley, leaving a triangular plain for the city to rest upon. The houses are high, and the streets narrow, but well paved with blocks of marble from the inexhaustible quarries around ; and the houses, too, are of that sensible construc- tion, so well understood in the Old World, where one may go safely to sleep without the risk of being charred to a cinder by a conflagration of the premises before morning ! There are, besides, churches and monasteries of Franciscans and Capucini, with a pretty bower of a garden on the shores of the Bay. Abreast the anchorage for ships of war, is the Lazaretto, built on a prong which separates the little harbor-nooks of the Quarantine and Grazie. The Lazaretto itself is the finest structure of the kind in the world. A paved quay and causeway leads through a gateway from Grazie to the cluster of buildings which compose the magazines and dwellings of the officials. They are three stories high, having the lower apartments for merchandise of a perishable nature. Leaving this quadrangle by a slight ascent is another of great dimensions, paved with smooth blocks of marble, with vast ranges of store-houses on all sides, and all solidly built, spacious, and well ventilated. Beyond is a pretty chapel looking into the grand court-yard, where is also a hospital, infirmary, quarters, and barracks for a full legion ; while S P E Z I A . 51 the entire series of buildings are supplied with running streams of pure fresh water. It is at this grand Lazaretto that the Sardinian govern- ment, with the utmost liberality and courtesy, has permitted our squadron in the Mediterranean to form a depot for stores ; not fearing either the spread of republican doctrines from our ships while lying in their ports ; and quite in contrast to the Spaniards, who politely informed us at Mahon that our room was preferable to our society. We should, at the same time, be very much indebted to Sardinia for this mark of her good will, for in all the Mediterranean there cannot be found the same uninterrupted security and facilities for ships of war as in Spezia. S AMP A V I A S. Chapter IV. ' Though the worms gnaw his timbers, his vessel a wreck, When he hears the last whistle, he'll jump upon deck." The Last of Poor Jack. THE afternoon of the day of our arrival in La Spezia, while sitting in my little cabin in the pit, I was startled by a sound that jarred the whole ship, like the report of a heavy piece of ordnance. From the deathlike stillness which instantly prevailed above, I knew something serious had happened, and at once sprang to the main deck. Going forward, I met a THE LAST OF POOR JACK. 53 group of men, bearing in their arms a poor moaning wretch, who had just fallen from aloft. He had pitched out of the forward rim of the fore-top a height of near sixty feet and whirled over and over like a wheel until he struck the deck. There was no hope in life for him, and lingering along to mid- night, he breathed out his last sigh of agony. Then he was laid out on the gun deck, his mutilated limbs cold and stiff, shrouded in the Union Jack of his country, and ready to be consigned to the dust of the generations who had gone before him. He died a sailor's death, unwept, unknown, remote from home or kindred. This, alas ! was not the only mishap that befell us. We lost, at a later day, a messmate, under still more sad and deplorable circumstances. The following afternoon, the burial service was performed on board, over the body of the topman, and then with the frigate's boats, the floating procession moved slowly, to solemn music, with flags trailing in the water, towards the shore. I joined the party, for I have always made it a rule of action to pay proper respect to the remains of Poor Jack. It may be remembered one of these days, I hope, when my bad deeds are arrayed in judgment before me. We rowed to the head of Grazie Cove, where, on the side of the secluded inlet, stands a quaint old church, sliding as it were down the steep, and surrounded by terraced plantations of figs, olives, and grapes. At its base, curving with the bend of the shore, is a cluster of fishermen's dwellings, and facing them was a small fleet of feluccas, with their lateen sails, brown nets, and awnings fluttering in the breeze. Sweeping alongside the marble quay, the corpse was 54 ScAMPAVIAS. landed and the sailors disembarked. A pretty little girl, with a cheek of the dark, rich hue of a ripe pomegranate, timidly approached and laid a bunch of bright flowers on the flag which shrouded the coffin. A priest began his chant, and we moved up the pathway and entered the church. While the service was performing, I stole a glance around the Fisherman's Temple for such it is, and the spot where many a devotee of fish and salt water had been to offer up his simple tribute at the shrine of saint or virgin, in whose army he served. From the polished rails of the altar to the rude groinings of the arches above our heads, the chapel was plentifully decorated with sea-shells, miniature vessels, and other nautical treasures, hung up as votive offerings. Every one had crowded into the church ; the little ones were kneeling, with fingers crossed, and lips moving in mimic prayer, looking on in childlike wonder, but yet with an air of truthful piety ; while all around, the dark-tanned disciples of the nets, and our own sailors, bowed their uncovered heads in mute devotion. At the conclusion of the ceremony, we passed out from the little chiesa, and, forming again in procession, bore the coffin to a retired place of sepulture some distance up the hillside, where we left our shipmate to his long sleep of death. Like the music which plays the liveliest airs after the solemn dirges at these sad obsequies are ended, so did a band of us leave the boats, after pulling to the head of the adjacent cove, and leaping gaily on shore, tripped over the smooth road towards the town. Our walk was a very pleasant one. The well-tilled plan- THE LAST OF POOR JACK. 55 tations and gardens were strewn at our feet, as the road wound around the jutting promontories and rocky cliffs, or receding in easy beaches, spanned at intervals by solid little bridges over the beds of water-courses. Then we passed through queer little towns, and heard the cracked bells of a chapel tinkling slowly, guarded by tall and silent cypresses, like sentinels in green, as if to protect the worshipers within. Above our path, far up yonder by the steep and riven sides of the mountains, the boom of the quarry-blasts came reverberating faintly to our ears ; the terraces rose tier upon tier, wherever a basketful of earth could be held, and all teeming with grain, figs, and olive groves, or the vine trailed from tree to tree in graceful links. Then, too, the glorious Gulf was ever beneath us. Not only rippling in tiny waves about the base of the rocks ; or eddying, like a young Maelstrom, around that wonderful submarine fountain of sweet water La Polla which bubbles up there the third of a cable's length five fathoms deep from the point ; but the Gulf rolls away off to the opposite shore, at the spot where Byron lived with La Guiccioli ; or, still further out to sea, where the waves break harshly and meaningly upon that blue cape where poor Shelley met his watery grave. In all and everywhere the views are beautiful ; to say nothing of its being renowned in ancient story, or what we should consider more gratefully, that Mr. John Murray's wonder-mongering boa-constrictors have not as yet entirely swallowed up the charms of the Gulf in his universal guide- books. 56 SCAMPAVIAS. After tramping through the old, verde-antique-loo king- fisher villages of Fezzana and Marola where huge blocks of dark-veined marble were lying ready for shipping we passed on towards Spezia. It was Sunday, and also a fete day, and groups of tidily dressed peasants in holiday attire, the women in the little contadini straw hats scarcely smaller than ladies chapeaux of the present day were wending their steps with us to the town. On the left, perched on a grassy ledge before a rural chapel, was a concourse of peasantry dancing joyously, white " The contadino's song is heard, Rude, but made sweet by distance." Traversing a broad causewayed road, shaded by a double line of acacias, we reached the public garden, which was bloom- ing in flowers and shrubbery. A little way beyond was the new and handsome Albergo of the Croce di Malta, standing within sixty yards of the water; while at a con- venient distance in front, was a gaily-painted marine hamlet of bathing houses, with each a separate bridge leading to the shore. The old walls of Spezia, dating back to the close of the fourteenth century, begin with a hoary castle standing guard at the angle of a steep acclivity back of the town, flanked by what had been, before cannon were introduced, a redoubt on an eminence in the rear. The walls turn down at right angles from this point, and, protected by small bastions, formerly acted as a sea-wall to the town. On a bluff hill, beyond the walls, which stands with THE LAST OF POOR JACK. 57 the foot of a giant over the Gulf, is a Capucin monastery. In later days, I frequently visited this snug retreat, to enjoy the glorious views and sneeze being always regaled with snuff with the jolly friars. There were fifteen of these worthies, " rare, fat, notable fellows as any in Vienna I trow," sleek, bright-eyed, and rosy, who had no care but the supply of their larder, and no women, apparently, to meddle with their domestic economy. We wandered about the pretty garden by the Marina, where a regimental band was playing, and the townspeople and strangers who had come to indulge in sea-bathing, were lounging about the vicinity. There were soldiers, too, men- dicants and priests in abundance. These latter were of the tricornered hat species, with extravagantly profuse gowns, and nothing peculiarly artistic for a sculptor to admire in the study of legs. They were quite unlike my favorites the Capucini as the song goes : " For a monk of La Trappe is as thin as a rat, While a Capucin friar is jolly and fat." As the mellow soft glow of sunset fell dreamily over the waters of the Gulf, we embarked from a little jutting pier of the town, and before the pale silver beams of the moon had tipped the snowy peaks of the Apennines we were again on board the frigate. 58 S C A M P A V I A S . Chapter V. " Let us go round ; And let the sail be slack, the course be slow, That at our leisure, as we coast along, We may contemplate, and from every scene Receive its influence." Santa Lucia. THE Frigate picked up her anchors out of the waters of the Gulf of Spezia, and, with dallying summer breezes, we stood along the coast towards southern Italy. Leaving Elba and Monte Christo on our right the spot so SANTA LUCIA. 59 graphically painted as the scene of the hobgoblin exploits of the Count of that name, by his veracious biographer, M. Dumas and, with a distant view of the Tiber and Cam- pagna of Rome, we slowly sailed over the flat, warm sea, until one night the sluggish ship stood still, within the gigantic break- water of Ischia, at the mouth of the Bay of Naples. The moon came timidly up over the steep cliffs of Capri, and shed her soft, white light upon the magnificent panorama of land and water around us. The frigate lay becalmed, scarcely moving an inch from beneath the terraced shade of the high peaks of Ischia. The solid hull was too deep below the surface, her taper masts and canvas were too high in the heavens, and both were too rapt in beholding the scene around and the wonders below the bay, to give heed to the furtive fluttering airs, laden with the perfume of orange blossoms, which came stealthily off from the land. From the castle-crowned rock of Procida to Baiae, the curving sweep of the bay begins ; and the city, with its dense masses of white buildings, rises in amphitheatre-like ranges, until capped by the gloomy fortress of St. Elmo ; then beyond is the great dome of Vesuvius a thin puff of white smoke, toying and eddying around the crater, occasionally lurid with flame from the seething, red, molten lava within the volcano's broad and burning flanks : while on the eye insensibly wanders towards the east, where the sharp-cut peaks stand guard above Castellamare and Sorrento, until the panorama is nearly closed by the bluff cape and the gap of blue sea which separates it from the precipitous island of Capri. And now out here, in the lovely Italian night, in this 60 SCAMPAVIAS. paradise of the poets and painters, let us hold a conseil de mer upon our campaigns for the future. " My good sir," I would begin by observing, or, " Bless your heart, miss, I pray you not to come all the way here to be worried and oppressed out of your natural good sense by striving to see all the world at one peep ; or to take a flying vault over one wonder, or the top of another, solely because legions of other trifling, wonder-loving people have accom- plished the feat before you. Don't allow your precious wits to be confused, because the great rhymers and sculptors, from the times of the old Athenians, the Homers, and Phidiases, down to our day, have written sublime verse, or carved in marble, or portrayed on canvas, miracles and master-pieces of song and art ; or because Corinne has charmed this one, or Consuelo turned the head of that one, with their mere- tricious, insidious immorality ; or because Rogers has warbled sweet descriptions, and Starke may Heaven be merciful to that old lady, now that she is at rest in the Campo Santo and Murray, the insatiable for whom there is no future rest have exhausted the entire heathen mythology, mixed up with the price of washing and beefsteaks, merely to con- vince, nay, bully you, as to how, when, and where you must go, look, or eat, so as properly to appreciate what, in their opinions, constitute the beauties of Italy. Oh ! no, my hearers. I beseech you to jog gently about, like self- dependent mortals, relying upon the faculties Providence has vouchsafed you ; tarry or journey by the highways or goat-paths ; repose or fatigue yourself ; eat ravioli ; suck oranges ; smell flowers ; drink sour wine or sweet, as best SANTA LUCIA. 61 agrees with your constitution; pitch all guides and cicerones to the Diavolo which will only forestall their fate a little and then, having cleared your skirts of the vermin, and the film from your eyes, you may live like a prince indeed, far better than most of the race enjoy the delights which nature spreads, broadcast, before you have health, pleasure, and good cheer, all by following the bent of your own incli- nations." Remember too, that, " Anxious through seas and lands to search for rest, Is but laborious idleness at best," or as ^he Italian has it, Non e bello, quaPche bello, ma e bello quaVche piace. And now, my friends, if you like, we will go on shore, and take an inside look at Naples. In the morning, the sea-breeze wafted us to the anchorage abreast the arsenal. It is not, by the way, a position where King Bomba prefers to gaze upon ships of war, since their guns stare full in at his palace windows. In less than an hour, a peripatetic artist in a boat had painted the frigate in colored chalks, with a back-ground, comprising the most awful eruption of Vesuvius ever beheld since the days of Pliny. Punch and Judy were screeching and wrangling in the most agonizing tones on either side of us. A boat-load of charlatans and ballet-tumblers, of both sexes, were jabbering under the stern. A small imp, without any visible legs, beneath the cabin windows, was making music by hammering away with his knuckles on his lower 62 SCAMPAVIAS. jaw, keeping up a snap-accompaniment to a whistling-chorus. Crowds of itinerant venders of precious relics, coral orna- ments, lavas, and piles of daubs of pictures, were thick as bees around the ship, all striving to get up a little code of friendly signals with the officers on deck, or sentries at the gangways, so as to be admitted on board. I went on shore in the cool of the afternoon ; wound my way towards the Villa Reale, and entered the Vittoria Hotel. This albergo was, in former times, and is now, the grandest in Naples. I myself, once upon a time, picked up within the precincts of this establishment a handkerchief, belonging to that good old Dowager Queen Adelaide ; which, in itself, was enough to stamp the respectability of the house. Upon the strength of this knowledge, I had advised some of my im- Italianized messmates to bivouac there, and thus give the frigate a good name. The polite porter showed me up several pianos of stairs, until I had gained an altitude about as high as our main-top- gallant yard, when I was ushered into a pretty saloon, and welcomed by my friends. They were at table, enjoying themselves greatly, after the long Mediterranean sea voyage we had endured of four days. The dinner was excellent ; the very chickens seemed happy even in death. Small vegetables were coming and going until, at last, all made way for the fruit. Apricots, with their downy cheeks half hidden in the green leaves of their purple neighbors, the figs; cherries were heaped up in rich, luscious, red masses ; a pyramid of oranges rose above all ; while in every vacant space there stood ruby or pale SANTA LUCIA. 63 wine in flasks Falernian, Ischia, and the petit Bordeaux of Capri. Cigar-smoke curled gracefully over this little feast, and it was a picture of downright enjoyment. I was shown through a suite of apartments, too ; admired the finely-gilded and painted walls and ceilings ; the richly marble-tiled floors ; the damasked-curtained beds ; the magnificent furniture and the pictures ; and then I hung over the lofty balconies, and let my eyes drink in the animated loveliness of the bay. In a little while, carriages were announced, and, attended by a horde of boy beggars, we formed the queue, with the beau monde of the city, and whirled dustily along the Chiaja for the evening drive. We went through the long, stifling tunnel of Posilippo ; rolled on by the road to Baise ; took a couple of turns again on the Chiaja, and then descended for a walk in the Royal Garden, designed by Murat. We were all blinded and powdered by dust, and that of the nastiest and most disagreeable kind ; and we were wearied by the throngs of podgy priests, who darkened the side-walks, like daws in a rookery. After a saunter beneath the dense and pretty ave- nues, around the marble fountains and statues, we took an ice at an al fresco cafe, and I then bade adieu to my compan- ions. My friends, however, discovered the truth of the Italian adage, Miele in bocca guarda la borsa, and I deem it candid to mention, that, on the following day, a mutual acquaintance called upon them at the Grand Hotel, and discovered that they had levanted in a body, soon after breakfast ; and later in the day were found to be taking a frugal repast, at an obscure caravanserai near the mole, having been, it was 64 ScAMPAVIAS. presumed, thoroughly cleaned out during their brief sojourn at the Vittoria. During our stay at Naples, I had the honor of making the acquaintance of Count Bambozzi. I may here remark, that the general ruck of Neapolitan nobility is not a society much to be sought after. As a class, they are numerous, and, not uncommonly, needy. I call to mind, many years ago, a gen- tleman of this description, who, after informing me that he was a cousin to the Prince of Syracuse, the half-brother to the king, received some considerable attention on board the ship I was in. On visiting and inspecting the galley, he inquired where the stalwart old negro cook stationed at the coppers, came from, and being told from New York, he was anxious to know if the entire population of that commercial emporium were of the same color. Being assured that they were, he declared he had not the .heart to leave the vessel without taking away some slight token in remembrance of our country. I communicated this condescension, on the part of the prince, to the captain, who very innocently requested me to present him with a dollar. But not having the exact change about me, I substituted a cheap edition of the prayer- book, which his highness, on leaving, did not seem to be immoderately pleased with. My friend the count, however, was a person of altogether a different stamp. He was an intimate of the royal family. The king played billiards with him frequently, and he had import- ed a case of American biscuit for the royal children. In fact, the queen could not get on without him. He was a large, handsome man, drove superb English horses, and was, besides. SANTA LUCIA. 65 a general of cavalry, and a distinguished soldier, to boot. At least he assured me he was ; and from the extremely rigid cut of his hair, I had no reason to doubt the assertion, since his locks defied anything less than a pair of forceps to get hold with. He was, also, a very gentlemanly person, though, perhaps, a trifle too cordial in manner. The count invited Doctor Bristles and myself to his house, and accordingly we went. Disembarking at the old mole, by treaty, we hired a one-horse vettura. The cocchiere said he knew where the count lived, and, therefore, declined to read the address. We had doubts in our own mind, that the early rudiments of the driver's education had been omitted ; but still we mounted the open four-wheeled vehicle, the whip cracked, and, after a few frightful struggles, the wheels began to revolve. The poor white beast had hardly two legs to trust his body with, and one was a stump, without the merest hope of a flexible joint in it. To our dismay, too, we found that the Jehu was driving quite in the wrong direction ; and as he refused to listen to our entreaties to change his course, we pulled him with a jerk over backwards, so that we might get an upside down view of his face, and thus hold speech with him. This effort unfortunately arrested the progress of the vehicle, and before the coachman had recovered his equilibrium, his nag, while toiling painfully up a smooth narrow street, and trying to scratch his way over the pavement, at last gave a few bewilder- ing staggers, dropped heavily down, and gave up the ghost. It was a clear case, as Bristles observed, of " Death of the pale horse ;" so we jumped out of the chaise, threw the driver a 66 SCAMPAVIAS. carlino, and gaining the Strada Toledo, after due deliberation we selected a tolerable brute and vehicle, and set off again. A drive of two or three miles, by the road of La Foria and Capo de Monti, brought us to our destination. We found the establishment of the count new, spacious, and elegant. His well-bred horses stood quietly hitched to bronze rings in the court-yard. The saloons were blazing in splendor, and the owner received us with politeness. We found him to be a great amateur of new inventions and improvement in fire-arms ; and one of the apartments was fitted up as amuseed'artillerie. There was not a metallic contrivance in the way of daggers, guns, or pistols, from the days of the Phoenicians that our friend had not a specimen of. Among them was a stand of Colt's revolvers, and other recent inventions, all made under the coun-t's own eye in the royal arsenal. Bristles had already effected an advanced lodgment in the citadel of the count's affection, by presenting him a villainous-looking pistol, with an enormous bowie-knife attachment, the size and shape of a meat cleaver. Not to be outdone, I talked of importing a patent rifle, that would fire upon everybody for an entire cam- paign, without the trouble of loading. We passed an hour very agreeably, examining weapons and shooting at a mark, and then made our adieux to our hospitable entertainer. On a succeeding visit to Naples, I am sorry to say, that the noble Count cut us dead. Whether it was owing to our remissness in procuring the patent rifle, that he might copy the invention, as he had the revolvers ; or that we did not send for a new eleven-inch shell gun or boat howitzer ; or SANTALUCIA. 67 whether his friend the king and the royal family had frowned upon his intimacy with the transatlantic Saxons, we did not learn. All we know is, that his cruel treatment caused us infinite sorrow. We chose a different route on our return, and drove along by the shores of the bay. Had we not had ocular proof that every other street and lane in Naples had been as densely crowded with vehicles, we should have sworn that every one of them had been launched upon the Strada Marina. So, too, had we not known that the desperate racing going on there, was a matter of daily occurrence, we should have sup- posed the thing had been expressly got up for our amuse- ment. Fortunately our nag was driven by a human being, and one who, without indulging in the sport, delighted in con- templating it from a distance. He accordingly rolled us to a safe position by the roadside. Here we remained in com- parative security, within ear-shot of a very screechy and buf- feted Punch and Judy ; but we had ample scope to regard the furious devotees of the race, who went spinning by us. There are never congregated anywhere else such outlandish rumble-tumble coaches, low-wheeled vans, battered chaises, and vetturas, carts, donkey-wagons, and in fact, every imag- inable contrivance for land locomotion. All of them were literally crammed, too, and where room was not found inside, children, babies, and baskets were either slung under the axles, or the drivers themselves would be balanced on one leg from behind somewhere, snapping their thongs and urging their beasts, by jerk or wrench, to hurry on over the hard 68 SCAMPAVIAS. smooth pavement and distance their competitors. On they. flew with furious, headlong speed, utterly regardless of per- sonal property, cracking their whips over the smoking steeds, who seemed quite as wild in their career as their masters, dashing from side to side of the broad Strada, straining, plunging, running, slipping, smashing, shouting, singing, and laughing. In all my equine experience, I never saw such a pell-mell imbroglio of bipeds, quadrupeds, vehicles, and beasts such a really excitable, insane throng anywhere. Bristles and I were only too glad to quietly thread the mazes of these racers without mishap, and reach the open space near the mole, where, tailing on to a more quiet crew, we trotted slowly on to Santa Lucia. Here we got down, and dismissed our vetturino. We quarrelled with him, as a matter of course ; but this was to be expected, and we were not in the least disturbed by his moans, being persuaded that he would respect us the more for resisting extortion. Twilight had faded entirely, and as the lamps were begin- ning to twinkle along the quay of Santa Lucia, we strolled in that direction. Who ever visits Naples, should not omit a survey of all the shelly wonders which surround the famous fishermen of Santa Lucia. Along the seaside of the broad causeway, against the heavy stone copings, are arranged the upright stands of these bronzed old fishers. There is not one of them who could not stand, without a blush, for a study for Masaniello, or yet for San Antonio himself. Look at them ! Did you ever see such a corps of bony-flippered, salt-water, corrugated old SANTA LUCIA. 69 faces every furrow and wrinkle in their weather-beaten cheeks cut as deep and clear as the waves off Cape Horn. Those skinny throats and amphibious legs, too, with their impervious raiment, looking, for all the world, like quilted brown seaweed ! They are, indeed, the beau ideals of fisher- men. Their names are legibly painted over the sectional boxes names, too, of historical renown. Antonio Doria, Giacopo Machiavel, Giovanni di Bologna, Guiseppe Rinaldo, and half a score more of the like nobility, all waiting, with a sharp little knife in their palms, for customers. But, by Saint Barnabas ! what a variety of shell-fish. Oysters of goodly size, as clean and salty-looking as possible ! delicately-fluted clams ; snails red ones and green ones ; muscles similar to pretty pearl-handled pen-knives ; then other nameless monsters, with long stickers, like miniature black porcupines and all these tempting treasures tastily arranged in square, shallow baskets. Whenever the venders wished to call attention to their activity or freshness, they would give the cases a smart rap, when all the shells from their cosy sea-weed beds, with a simultaneous and spasmodic start, would open their mouths, run out their feelers, and make a knowing and impatient wriggle, before resuming their previous silent and observant manner. We lounged about for some time, rapt in admiration of these case-hardened luxuries vacillating between a desire to swallow a few, and fears of consequences. Our doubts, however, were put an end to, by the approach of a pretty woman, from a carriage hard by, who, without a moment's hesitation, seized a pair of the pearl-handled razor- TO SCAMPAVIAS. fish, and cracking the transparent case with her pearly-enam- elled teeth, the muscle put out its tongue, as if entranced at the fate of slipping so sweetly into the lady's mouth, and was seen no more. We waited no longer our fears were dispelled and step- ping up to a merry old scamp, we shouted, " Cos 1 avete /" "Ah ! Signori! tutti frutti di mare /" all the fruits of the sea he replied, and forthwith he caught up a nice looking oyster, inserted his sharp little blade at the hinges, the bival- vas parted, a small, embryo fisherman stood ready with a minute pot of pepper and half a lemon, with both of which condiments he gave a dash and a squeeze, and we thus began in earnest. First an oyster, then a clam, now a snail, and again a muscle, until we had well-nigh tucked down the entire stock of bivalvous crustacea. Carefully counting the empty shells, after a long and oft-repeated negotiation, we succeeded, with infinite pleasure, in cancelling our pecuniary obligation. This, however, was effected in great good-humor on both sides ; when shaking the bony hand of our entertainer, we moved away to the opposite side of the strada. We looked into the wine shops, took a sip of eau-de-vie, so disguised as to be unintelligible to King Alcohol himself, and then returned to our lounge among the Pescatori. By this time, the whole street, from the angle of the Ar- senal to Casteluovo, was profusely illuminated, and crowds of people were strolling about, inhaling the fresh sea air from the bay, while the round, yellow moon flooded a broad rippling road over the water, from Sorrento, Presently we came to a broad flight of marble steps, and SANTA LUCIA. 71 seeing the populace descend, we followed, not expecting, how- ever, to be repaid for our explorations by aught else save the naked quay, with the clusters of boats and bathing-sheds lying in the vicinity. On descending, our surprise was great to find a broad, well -paved space, pitched with painted tents and awn- ings, small, neatly-spread tables standing about, while arched casemates ran under the street above, brilliantly lighted, and making as charming an al fresco restaurant as one would care to behold. On the brink of the quay were more of our friends the fish- ermen, with their ostriconi as appetizingly displayed as ever, while scale -fish, too, were shining and gleaming in their dying struggles, just out of the nets. Opposite, by the tables, were the cooks, with kettles of steaming macaroni, pyramids of grated cheese, platters of oil, and all prepared to reel oft' any amount of miles of " pipe-stems made easy " the company might de- sire. There were tidy old women, too, rushing about, to attract the notice of wayfarers to their viands and salads ; while charcoal fires burned ruddily within the casemates where the broiling and frying was carried on unceasingly, for the guests without. In a trice, we resolved to sup ; and selecting a jolly, good- natured old lady, we arranged the preliminaries at her tent. In the first place, we summoned Antonio Tasso who, by the way, talked as if the whole world were deaf as stones and after carefully examining his fish, we chose a beautiful mullet, whose tail was just quivering with its latest flap. After driving a bargain with Antonio, we carried off our prize, and consigned it to the coals of our own signora. Then 72 SCAMPAVIAS. we had clear and precise stipulations with this last-named personage, with respect to the exact cost of every article we might consume. The bread was to be so much ; the salad to be dressed with good oil and salt; there were a brace of tomatoes, at so many grani ; and, lastly, there was to be a bottle of famous Capri bianco no sweet wine, according to the proverb " Guardate d'aceto di vin dolce" but good sound juice, squeezed ever so many years ago, and pressed for the lips of Bacchus ! The treaty being thus concluded, down we sat at table, adjoining a party of Swiss officers of the guard, with their wives and sweethearts beside them. We were not annoyed by beggars ; for our hostess had placed a small boy and a sharp, to keep watch over us ; and the lazaroni merely licked their chops at a respectable distance ; while, at the same time, a quartette of juvenile damsels were permitted to make music on harps and lutes in the back-ground. Presently our mullet came, smoking hot, and was laid crispy brown on the board ; then the bread ; then the cool, brittle salad, with the tomatoes ; and, finally, the rare old bot- tle of Capri. The Signora and Antonio Tasso shrieked in ecstasy, as we uttered sentiments of satisfaction, at the sight of our aupper. The venerable white-capped cook came out from the casemate, with a pair of devil's tormentors in one hand, and a casserole in the other, merely to admire us. The small, bright youth, attached as skirmisher to the establish- ment, warded off the beggars with decision and energy. Meanwhile, a trio of imps telegraphed in the distance for the bones of our mullet, making rapid pantomine by tossing their SANTALUCIA. 73 fingers down their wide-open mouths, in anticipation of those fragments, while at the same time they capered and danced to the chorus of " macaroni ! macaroni !" % Even the man with the white apron, who was ladling out of a huge earthen pot pickled star-fish, paused a moment to gaze upon us, and exclaim : " / signori Inglesi /" And the pretty, fat woman, with the smart Swiss officers, scattered bright smiles upon us, while she coquettishly pulled her lover's moustache, and sucked a razor-fish. Ah ! all was delightfully al-fresco and Italian ; and could we have convinced our stout friend Antonio Tasso that we stood no more in need of his ostriconi, we should have been in a state of perfect beatification. But the amiable Antonio was a logician, and extremely incredulous upon that point; and tripping up to our table every few seconds, and running through the entire gamut of his stock in trade, would implore us to name a fish, and " whillup," it would swim down our throats like oil : and he threw back his head, and went through the motion, by way of accompaniment. Nevertheless, we got on bravely with the repast set before us, and, on finishing, it was by the severest effort of self-denial that we were prevented from rushing straight away to bar- gain for another mullet. For a miracle, too, our rotund hostess never grumbled at the price originally drawn up in the protocol, and since the amount was not unreasonable, we gave a buona mano to the vigilant custode of the lazaroni, with a copper trifle to the aged cook. Then the young vultures, who had been dancing like 4 74 SCAMPAVIAS. demons, for an hour, pounced upon the crumbs of bread, morsels of salad and fish, while the indefatigable Antonio drained the last drops of the Capri, and carolled forth a note of thanksgiving, interspersed with an earnest exhortation for the bystanders to taste his ostriconi. The hostess patted us on the back, as we affectionately embraced her at parting, and hoped, by all the saints, / Signori would come and test her good cheer again. Buckling on our swords, we resumed our tour. After the hearty supper and generous wine, we felt charitably inclined, and accordingly we selected a poor blind cripple, with a brace of famished blind children at his side. To feed this party, we found a difficult matter ; for on leading them to the caldrons of macaroni, before the dispenser thereof could fill and hand a platter, the myriads of starving crea- tures around would snatch and devour it like magic. As a last resort, we barricaded the blind group in an angle by a casemate, where they were enabled to swallow their portions in peace. After this affair was settled, we concluded to part with Santa Lucia, having decided, on mature reflection, that we had acquired a taste for low life. Ascending the broad stairs, attended by the impish trio of urchins, we bent our footsteps towards the mole. The hour was late, but yet the streets and piazzas were thronged, and no languor was visible under the influence of the soft, refreshing Italian night. It is in the summer's night, long after the orange-heated glow of sunset has passed, that all Italy wakes fairly into life. SANTA LUCIA. 75 We sauntered lazily on, stopping at intervals to rest on the balustrade over the Arsenal, or on the rim of a fountain, or to listen to the delightful music in the front of the palace ; to sip a drop of cool lemonade in that execrable Cafe" Europa ; and to pause for a long gaze at the noble eques- trian statues, which stand at the northern gateway of the palace. All the while our ballet-boys, little gamins as they were, marched, danced, skipped, or sang snatches from operas, invariably ending their vocal performances with the tarantella. In due course, we reached the quay, and were hailed by the usual salutations of scores of boatmen: "Takee bote, sare ; go bode." " Here de raan-y-warr-bote, official," and so forth. We chose an individual from the gang, but when on the point of giving some slight recompense to our corps de bal- let, our intentions seemed to be divined ; for, like a shower, there fell upon us a troop of young vagabonds, who sprang so suddenly from the shade of the piers and walls, and resembled so closely our own especial imps, that we were utterly unable to distinguish them from their companions. We were in a quandary ; and not caring to distribute largesse to the whole community, while the din and shrill clamor waxed alarming, we were on the point of retreating to the boat, when a happy thought occurred to us. Com- manding silence for an instant, we trilled forth a quick note of the tarantella, which being immediately taken up by our own little chorus, leaping and chanting to the music, we seized them by the arms, and were thus enabled to indulge them with a few coppers. 76 SCAMPAVIAS. Then paddling through the fleets of merchant vessels which filled the port, we gained a cool offing in the bay, mounted to the deck of the frigate, and so betook ourselves deep down to our oaken parlors in the cock-pit. U NDER CAN v AS. Chapter VI. " A te fioriscono Gli erbosi prati : E, i flotti ridono Nel mar placati." The ocean smiles and smooths her wavy breast. Under Canva?. ON the evening of the 6th of July, as the first breath of the land wind came over the bay from the flanks of Vesuvius, 78 SCAMPAVIAS. the frigate's sails tilled, and she began to glide noiselessly away from Naples. I sat in one of the bow ports indulging in a dreamy state of forgetfulness, hearkening to the strains of delicious music which came floating over the water from the military bands at the palace of King Ferdinand, or tracing the torchlight processions which wound their tortuous course by the Marina and Santa Lucia for of course it was afesta while myriads of sparkling tapers, range upon range, up to the castle of Saint Elmo, marked out the terraced city; and the moon, rising above all, shed her white beams from the shaded heights of the Sorrento shore, to the sleeping islands of Capri and Ischia in the distance. The effect even to a sailor was charming. The following morning the pretty scenes of the night had vanished : the moon and the lights had been extinguished by the fierce rays of the sun ; the dome of the volcano was barely visible astern, and blue water was around us. We made in due time the Lipari Isles ; and that night Stromboli glared luridly, as at regular intervals it sputtered high in the heavens the red hot boulders, until the sun quenched its flames, and with the early rays of morning the shores of Sicily and Calabria broke forth in green, smiling dimples far up the radiating ridges and valleys inland. The Faro of Messina was before us, and taking a pilot-boat alongside, we boldly entered the Strait There has been a deal of good measured classic verse written and sung upon the wonders of this abode of sea monsters, such as : UNDER CANVAS. 79 " Charybdis, roaring, on the left presides, And in her greedy whirlpool sacks the tides : Then spouts them from below ; with fury driv'n, The wares mount up, and wash the face of Heav'n But Scylla, from her den, with open jaws, The sinking vessel in her eddy draws :" Again old Anchises warns us : " Tis that Charybdis which the seer foretold, And those the promised rocks ! Bear off to sea P' But in those days, they knew very little of the mariner's compass ; the virtues of a seven pound lead or current tables ; and no one that I have ever heard of, devoted his leisure to compiling a brief epitome of sailing directions, so that sailors navigating these intricate regions might weather these perils by day or night in comparative safety. Had Homer, or Virgil, the Argonauts, or even good Saint Paul himself, while sailing through these waters, fetched a compass with them, and paid a little attention to the soundings and tides, they could all have made the passage without risk to their under- writers. It was well, however, for these ancient navigators that they never were obliged to shoot the rapids of the St. Lawrence, where even in our times, on board a steamer with a powerful engine, driving wheels thirty feet in diameter, over the bursting white breakers, it is enough to make a nervous man's hair stand on end, and would unquestionably have deprived the ancients of their wits. But with regard to Messina, the whirlpools no longer suck down the unwary; there are merely strong eddies which twist a vessel around occasionally, but rarely swallow her up. 80 SOAMPAVIAS. We passed the fisherman's village at the light-house point, where tunny boats were thickly clustered upon the beach, their black wales smoking with breaming pitch, and people busy around them ; while a little way from the shore of the curving sandy spit, were lots more of the same vessels at anchor, with each a lookout perched in a sort of cage on the tall masts, peering into the clear water below for their tunny prey. By afternoon, the current swept the frigate beyond the city of Messina and towns on the Calabrian coast, and we dis- missed the pilots. The vocation of these gentlemen is not an arduous one, for they merely relieved one another in scream- ing unintelligible orders, which no one paid a particle of attention to ; and in- the pauses, the spare oarsmen lounged listlessly on the thwarts during the passage of the Strait, munching hard biscuit, calmly contemplating the lofty masts or heavy battery of the ship, or else slept profoundly on griego capotes, utterly regardless of the lovely scenery around, or the mellow cadences of the jackasses chanting Sicilian vespers from the shores. This natural indolence, however, seemed to be endemic in that vicinity ; for in the light wind a small fleet of speronari had their lateen sails brailed up, while the crews lay contentedly on their backs puffing cheroots, and watching the sinking sun dipping as within a shell of gold in a notch of Mount Etna. Our prow was turned Levantward, and with a broad sea and fresh breezes, in a few days, we were in sight of the Morea. The high mountains of the interior loomed up clear and smooth against the Eastern light ; Cape Matapan termi- UNDER CANVAS. 81 nated the point of the peninsula, and beyond to the South we beheld the Island of Cerigo. Scon we ran by the Cape, and then in the distance hung a dim blue haze over Mount Ida, and the mountains of Candia, to where the brave JEneas once steered and cried : " All hands aloft ! for Crete I for Crete ! they cry, And swiftly through the foaming billows fly." We, however, merely shouted "land ho!" "a point on the starboard bow !" and a few sure footed-topsmen lay out along the yards to guide a studding sail boom, which any one may remark is not a subject to write verse upon. The channel we sailed through was the Cervi. The island of Cerigo one of the Ionian group under the dominion of John Bull was on our right, and like the bold rugged masses of marble mountains on the shores of the Morea to the left, it seemed, from its physical geography, to be utterly incapable of cultivation. A but here and there ; patches of vines or corn on the hill-side slopes, or barely visible in the recesses of the valleys, is all that man can reclaim in. tribute from the red and sterile soil. By set of sun we had fairly passed the gates of the Archipelago, and were in the ^Egean Gulf. For nigh upon a week, in the middle of July, we had the devil's own time of it; alternate calms, catspaws, and be- devilments generally. Here we simmered upon the languid sea beneath a glaring sun, with scarcely a breath of air by night, to cool our hot and burning eyeballs. The sterile hills of the Morea stretched away up beyond the Gulf of Nauplia 4* 82 SCAMPAVIAS. di Romania, looking miserably naked and deserted, without forests or vegetation of any sort, and throwing off from their red and bluish marbled sides, a tremulous atmosphere of heat. Nor did the reflection, that these mountains held within their iron embrace the plains of Acadie, where " western gales eternally reside," in the least lessen our dis- comforts. Nor yet were our inflictions less severe to know that we were surrounded by full three score lumbering, suf- fering merchantmen of all nations, or that a French or Austrian vapore would, day by day, go smoking hot past us. With patience and a good cloak, saith the Italian, we may endure anything ; except possibly being roasted to death in midsummer without a cloak. It is well, however, to bear these atmospheric evils with equanimity, mingled with claret and water, and a hopeful reliance on the future. One morning the ship had drifted abreast Hydra. This island, in 1812, had a population of twenty-five thousand people, and was a famous place for commerce, but the Greek revolution nearly depopulated it. At that epoch, the Morea was not only the hot-bed of domestic contentions, but like- wise the field of Ibraham Ali's occupation, until at the battle of Navarino, Admiral Coddington, " went it Ned," and was the means of driving the intruder to Egypt, where, as all the world knows, he became a remarkable individual. It was, I think, in 1815, that Count Capo D'Istrias set on foot the secret society, known as the Hetairia, where the members were sworn on their bended knees at dead of night, to kill those who should divulge the objects of the associa- tion. This body, which had its grand arch at Saint Peters- UNDEK CANVAS. 83 burgh, assisted materially in fomenting and urging on that famous revolution, which partially broke out in 1821. At the termination of the struggle where a good deal of piracy and brigandage was joined to patriotism the combined Powers finally gave Greece to be governed by one Otho, a likely young Dutchman, who had his passage paid out to Nauplia, together with about three thousand of his father's Bavarian retainers, in 1832. At last, one morning, with the first rosy rays of dawn, we beheld Cape Colonna, the scene of Falconer's shipwreck capped in bold relief by the tall columns of the temple of Minerva ; and further on, we saw the Acropolis and city of Athens. A breeze came, one of those gentle zephyrs, which were supposed to be original in these latitudes, and wafted their perfumed breath on the wings of the west wind, and we steered for the head of the Gulf. There, turning our backs on the island of Salamis, and the scene of Queen Artemisa's cock-boat fleet strife, we glided between a gateway of stone beacons, and choosing an anchorage among the shipping of a French and Russian squadron, let run the cables in Porto Leone, or the modern Piraeus. SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter VII. 1 The way-woru mariner from afar Descries a lion of stupendous size, Unknown the sculptor, marble is the frame, And hence the adjacent haven drew its name.' THE PIRATK. Porto Leone. THE port of the Piraeus is a circular pool of water, scarcely half a mile in diameter, rimmed in by sterile rocks at the jaws ; PORTOLEONE. 85 the vale of Attica opening towards the North, while on the Eastern segment is the town. I remember it fifteen years before, when there were but a few straggling unfinished build- ings along the broken coping of the curving quay, with a dirty market; a cafd on poles, covered with rushes, and a few hovels stuck back in the hills. Now, however, the wharfs have been substantially repaired ; regular lines of stores and dwellings have been constructed, together with a Lazaretto and a number of well-built public offices. There is a square laid out too, by the water, with a spattering attempt at a fountain in the middle, and the faintest murmur of a grove of little saplings to raise the idea of incipient shade. Between the port and a narrow loop of blue water to the East where are bathing sheds and plenty of the saltest sea endurable to swim in is an embryo boulevard. The place is yet in its infancy. Walks are lined out and bare stumps of trees planted, but there is not a blade or leaf of green to be seen ; only sharp gravel, dust, and the imminent peril attend- ing every step, of tumbling down numerous dry and ancient wells, rather uncomfortably gaping open to receive you. To compensate for these dangers there is music occasionally in the evening, and you may have brackish ice-cream from perambu- lating Greeks, to wash the dust out- of your throat. I made a visit to this suburban promenade the day after our arrival. The whole population had congregated there, and among the throng I saw the daughter of the modern Greek hero, Botzaris. I recalled to mind a long time before, the budding, rounded form of a Greek beauty ; the transparent olive skin, the rich glossy tresses twined in the blue silk 86 SOAMPAVIAS. fringe of the gold embroidered cap ; the close-fitting rich scarlet jacket, the short skirt, pretty ankles and slippered feet ; and I tried also to trace a resemblance to her in the matron enshrouded in blue muslin, of rather a stoutish presence, who sauntered sedately beside me. But alas ! time has not re- spected the charms of the lovely royal favorite, and I could discover no resemblance to the girl I sought. Indeed, the dry dust and insufferable heat of Attica soon withers the fairest flower. There is, in fact, but one color in the town and out of the town up the rocky hills, and down the rolling slope ; the houses, the rocks, the very dust, the sky, the faces and the legs of the population are all, without an exception, tinged with a sickly yellow. When the music ended, Bristles and I stumbled again into the Piraeus. We inspected the markets, smelled the fried fish, looked into the wine vaults, and listened to the toper chants of the modern Greek tiplers. We were at the same time interested in examining the resources and facilities the publicans have for keeping drunken individuals from doing mischief during their hilarious and convivial hours. The arrangement is novel, and consists of a long latticed or railed pen, built some six feet from the floor over the wine casks, where through an aperture the inebriates are pitched, and then caged until they get sober. The vaults themselves are large affairs, with a tap at one corner, and the rest of the space around the walls filled with huge jars and casks. We did not taste the juice from these vats, but moved on along the badly-paved arcades of the PORTO LEONE. 87 quay, until we were shown up a gloomy dirty stairway, and found ourselves in a mean hotel, and the only establishment of the kind in the Piraeus. There was a small begrimed oaken box of a billiard- table, and a few flea-filled rooms, all ready for voyagers. We remained but a brief space to inspect the larder, to interrogate the Italian renegade who conducted the locanda, with respect to his prices for ales, wines, and provender, and then vanished. Descending to the ground, we were accosted by a vender of antiquities. He was very mysterious, and led us by a ser- pentine course into a grocer's shop, to examine the antique treasure he desired to dispose of. After cautiously threading the mazy windings of a magazine of bags of grains, beans peppers, jars of oil, wine, and an infinite variety of comesti- bles, we were taken into a darksome hole, where, striking a light to a tallow wick, our guide pointed to a corner, and our eyes fell upon an old champagne basket! This we approached, and the lid being opened, we perceived a piece of sculpture, with some half a dozen badly carved figures on the surface. The price demanded was a trifle a month's pay or two but since the marble was broken, defaced, muddy and imperfect, and as we strongly suspected, in our ignorance of these matters of high art, that there was nothing beautiful about it, moreover, that it was an effort of some very modern Phidias and a very poor one too we accord- ingly declined the purchase. Indeed, as a general rule, it is best to steer clear of all such commodities, whether of rusty pottery, acidulated coins, of images; or fragments of sculpture recently dug up, with 88 SCAMPAVIAS. mutilated ears and noses in an indistinct state of physiog- nomical preservation with mortar or brick-dust rubbed into them even if they do bear a dreamy resemblance to the old Greek orators or warriors ; it is well to avoid them. We had received a polite invitation to visit the Maid of Athens, now Mrs. Black, and thither we went. Now I am not given to invading the privacy of families, or lugging unobtrusive individuals before the public, to please anybody ; nor is it my intention to do so now, but the Maid of Athens is historical, and as I had the pleasure of becoming well acquainted with her husband and amiable family, I may be excused for breaking through my resolution in this instance. We soon found the dwelling, and joined the family circle on the little balcony. There, by starlight, I saw for the first time, the Maid of Athens. It would not do for me, as a veracious historian, to say that the nice, comfortable little woman sitting in the corner there, was the same fresh girl that my Lord Byron wrote sonnets to ; for, in truth, Time is no respecter of girls or boys, and I question much if the noble poet himself had been alive at this present, whether he would so well have preserved the freshness of heart or youth, or been so good in health and temper, as the pleasant matron he once professed to adore, some forty-two or three years ago! I have had many a cosy chat, many a pipe of latakia, and many a hearty laugh with the Maid, and I still hope to indulge myself in like manner again. I say nothing of Mademoiselle Carolina, the younger maid, who is as hand- PORTO LEONE. 89 some a young woman as her mother before her, and sings the sweetest of Greek ballads; nor of Jack Black, junior, as elegant a youth as ever figured in a ball-room but who, poor fellow, died afterwards of cholera in the Black Sea. No! my mission was with the original Maid herself. She assured me that most of the information vouchsafed the world by ambulating tourists, with respect to her early life and proclivities, was, in plain Turkish all bosh humbug. All she recalled of the distinguished poet, who made her famous, was, that when a little chit of a girl, Byron boarded at her father's house ; that he wrote verses to her, as well as to her sisters ; and that when under the influence of poetic gin, perhaps she had heard that he wished to spirit her away somewhere. But of this she was ignorant at the time, and don't think she would have been carried off by anybody ; and felicitates herself, moreover, in having waited to be loved and married by her present worthy liege. After pipes and brandy cherries these last preserved by the Maid's own hands we stole away, and sauntered down to the water's side. We were struck with the population quietly occupying imaginary sleeping-chambers on the pave- ments. They lay by scores, like soldiers in guard-rooms, their heels projecting over the curbstones, and wrapped in their "shaggy capotes," with anything but "snowy chemises" around them. They did not seem to be very loving, but they did a good deal of snoring ; were half naked, and most decidedly Greek. The next day, his majesty, King Otho, of Greece, was to leave his dominions to visit his vaterland. It was said his 90 AMP A VI AS . constitution was feeble, and he needed to inflate himself with the effervescing waters of Germany, so as to restore his energies and sparkle him up a bit for work. The royal embarkation was appointed for six o'clock in the evening, but after every preparation had been made by all the vessels of war in the harbor the crews dressed, life-lines rove on the yards, boats in readiness, and what not his lazy majesty kept us until sunset, before he drove down to the quay. Besides a few paltry Greek men-of-war in the Piraeus, and the Cumberland, there was a French squadron, with a mag- nificent ninety-gun steamer, the Charlemagne, with a trice up screw and a funnel that opened and shut like an opera glass. There were, also, a brace of Russian corvettes, which were handled in a style whether in evolutions of sails or guns that elicited unbounded admiration. There, in the little quiet sheet of water we all lay, and as the royal cortege drew up on the quay, the ships, in an instant, were attired in their motley array of flags fluttering in brilliant patches of parti-colored bunting from the trucks to the hulls. Then, as the royal couple for the Queen came to see the fun stepped into their white and gilded barge, the heavy thunder of the artillery began, while the sailors in pyramidal lines stood out on the wide and lofty yards. In a few minutes, the fire of so many batteries and tiers of guns made the little harbor thick with smoke, and nothing could be seen or heard save the sharp red vivid flashes, as they burst from the mouths of the cannon, and the reverberating peals of sound. PORTO L.EONE. 91 The Russians and ourselves fired leisurely, as usual, but the Frenchmen let fly broadside after broadside in rapid succes- sion, and the effect was exceedingly fine. There was a good breeze blowing, and when the cannonade and smoke rolled away, the ships appeared dressed in perpendicular streams of flags, while more than three thousand sailors were linked out upon the black spars, and their measured and hoarse hurrahs arose in musical harmony to the very heavens. Presently the royal barge ran alongside the Greek steamer Otho ; shortly after she grappled her anchors, and steering amid the fleet, the guns and cheers again made the hills shake, as she dashed out of the gates of the Piraeus. A French steamer followed in her wake, to bring back Queen Amelia, and towards midnight she returned with her pretty passenger. The vessel was illuminated by a multitude of colored lanterns on the masts and rigging, while the bow, stern, and paddle-boxes were blazing with blue lights, so as to give her the semblance of a floating transparency as she skimmed over the calm water towards the port. On enter- ing the gates, at a signal from the French Admiral, the whole Piraeus became a blaze of light. Lanterns swung as if by magic from the mastheads and shrouds of the ship. The yards were again manned, the white dresses of the sailors contrasting strangely with the blue lights without number, which cast their intense glare around ; while rockets went streaming and bursting in fiery showers, with their galaxies of stars, up into the sky, until the harbor, town and hills far and near, were a brilliant mass of flame and light. The Russians, however, bore off the palm. It seemed as 92 SCAMPAVIAS. if every man on board their vessels was an independent pyro- technical laboratory and had an inexhaustible stock of fire- works at his disposal. This we accounted for in some degree, by the taste they indulge according to popular belief in feeding on lamp-oil and candles. For the third and fourth time did the Russian ships flash out, rigging, masts and hulls, in one gorgeous atmosphere of burning port fires and blue lights ; we thought they would never cease blazing, nor, indeed, would they, had not the bright flames been quenched first by the French and Greeks. We watched the whole scene until cheers from the quay announced that her majesty's feet again trod her dominions, and the last rocket vanished amidst the stars. The display lasted full half an hour. The moon had gone down, and nothing could be more beautiful than the effect produced. Neither the illuminations of Saint Peter's and the Arno, nor the grand festa of Saint Rosalia at Palermo, compared with it. We were the only man-of-war that did not enter fully into the spirit of this affair, and while all the floating castles were glittering with fire, we lay black and silent amid the throng. The fact, is that the government does not put expensive material of that nature on board our ships to be idly wasted for mere show. But when the thing was ended, the few thousand car- tridges exploded, together with the few thousand dollars the noise and flame cost, the king sea-sick and the queen asleep, what, after all, was all the fuss about ? Merely the silly worship of a poor, weak-minded, imbecile, POKTO LEONE. 93 vacillating prince, who has been balanced on the Greeks 7 shoulders to rule and misgovern them. It served one purpose however, by inducing the ignorant masses to regard their kings as divinities, just lowered out of heaven ; but the day is coming when the people will hoist them up again, though possibly not quite so high. 94 SCAMPAVIAS, Chapter VIII. 1 Sometimes misguided by the tuneful throng, I look for streams immortalized in song, That lost in silence and oblivion lie ; Dumb are their fountains and their channels dry, Yet run forever in the Muse's skill, And in the smooth description murmur still." " La mattina al monte e la sera alfonte." Pinnacle of Pentellicus. WE were a long while at the Piraeus, where I passed the life of a parched chestnut, during the parching; for such PINNACLE OF.PENTELLIOUS. 95 a boiling pool of water, held in a basin of sun-roasted mar- ble, does not exist anywhere. One salamanderish, red-hot morning, while turning our parched eye-balls towards the high mountains around, we resolved to shake off our lassitude, and seek a mouthful of fresh air on the cool, tall peak of Pentellicus. We left the seething, smoking frigate, her black wales throwing off an atmosphere of lambent heat, and landed at the port. There we hallooed our obliging friend Black to his balcony, fresh from his mid-day siesta, and succeeded in dra- gooning him into a spare seat in a carriage which we had chartered for the occasion. Now, our friend Black is not only the husband of the ori- ginal maid of Athens, bless her good amiable soul, but an accomplished linguist, and a highly intelligent and entertaining gentleman. He came to Greece with that gallant old buc- caneer, Lord Cochrane, at the breaking out of the revolution, and has not only seen service, but is as conversant with the affairs of the country, and the rascalities of the rulers, as the prime minister himself; perhaps more so. Withal, our friend Black has an appreciative relish for rollicking about the world, and can tell a pure Havana, or a good glass of sherry, wherever he finds them. For my part, I almost adored Black. Our coach was an old rattle-trap of a superannuated tra- velling chase, evidently sold off the grande route, and furbished up for Greece. I had the front seat ; but as the cushion was as hard as lignum vitae, and a mere ledge of about four inches wide, I kept slipping off, while my feet and legs became numb 96 SCAMPAVIAS. in striving to maintain an equilibrium of bottom, so that I was fain to take a place outside with the driver. Leaving the broken streets of the port, we struck into the main road, and then jolted on as uncomfortably as could be expected. There was a breeze blowing up the gulf, which sent the dust flying in choking clouds around us. The horses were not to our taste, not being excitable creatures, though their Jehu was, and he continually made a noise to urge them on, very like to a person trying to light a hard rolled cigar. Like all Greek drivers, he was attired in the red fez, tight jacket, and a lot of nasty petticoats. The plain between the Piraeus and Athens was once, per- haps, very beautiful. Of late years, however, owing to the sloth and indifference of the government and people, the rav- ages of war and the Turks when the Moslems were good enough to cut down the famous olive groves that had with- stood the brunt of centuries, so that their cavalry could prance about to advantage what with all these causes, there is little left in the landscape pleasant for the eye to dwell upon. There is nothing green to be seen, except at intervals clusters of pale, sickly olives, a mournful fig-tree, or a few patches of corn. All else, from the shores of the blue gulf to the dried, baked hills of the interior, presents the same desolate, arid aspect. We passed a small herd of camels, browsing along the plain, and even they would at times raise their sharp snouts to heaven, as if beseeching the gods to send them some- thing green and grassy to feed upon. About mid-way to the city is a cluster of sheds and wells, where snarling curs are trained to bark horses to a halt; PINNACLE OF PENTELLIOUS. 97 where vile fiddles are scraping incessantly for the enjoyment of travellers; and where nauseous resin wine and strong liquids for bipeds, besides water for horses, are to be had. The proprietor of the principal shop seemed a retired Pirate, as indeed he was, living in easy circumstances after his perils by sea. He was a sociably disposed rascal, and fond of slap- ping respectable individuals on the legs, designating them familiarly, in imperfect Saxon, as his " chummies," not forget- ful, at the same time, to extend the hospitality of his bottles. On one occasion, however, he tried this innocent little game with our Admiral, who, in return, gave him such a double- jointed twist in the arm as to incapacitate the Pirate for his favorite amusement for some time to come. When times became dull on shore, the Pirate, it was said, sought his natural element, and labored in his vocation; captured a becalmed bark occasionally murdered the crew and then solaced himself on land until the season again became productive. It was, perhaps, an adventurous sort of life, for now and then a sharp little vessel of war would give chase to him, and sometimes put his friends to death without mercy. In an hour from the Piraeus we left the temple of Theseus, looking very rusty, on our right, and entered the city of Pericles, Pausanias, who was, I imagine, a very respectable old alderman or street-surveyor in the ancient time, has given us a tolerably fair idea what the city was then. Now, however the modern Athens is not only the very worst attempt at a civilized built town, but it is pitched in the wrong place. 5 98 SOAMPAVIAS. Instead of planting it on one of the fine sites upon the eminences about the Piraeus, where blue water and commerce could be had at the gates, the present enlightened monarch of the empire, fearful of insult from hostile cannon, has not only built his own dreary white box of a palace out of gun- shot from the sea, but has encouraged his subjects to raise, likewise, their habitations around him. Upon the very grave, too, of the old city, and beneath the shade of the noble ruins of the Acropolis ; instead of leaving them alone in their grandeur, free from the contamination of houses of mud and sticks, the unpaved streets and foul markets of the mush- room town. The main street is a double succession of filthy cafes and Samian wine-shops, where, all the day and a greater por- tion of the night, in the clouds of dust, fleas, dirt, and heat, sit the petticoated Athenians, sucking their pipes and mous- taches, playing draughts and dominoes, and tippling. Idleness and vagabondizing seem to be predominant traits. Save in a few tradesmen's shops, where one sees a little gaudy embroidery going on for the gay legs or sleeves of their compatriots, industry is not known. Positively no one works. Even on the plains and on the hillsides, the very goatherds and shepherds lay down their crooks, and them- selves beside them, sleeping away their lives. Pipes and petticoats constitute the Greek existence. We drove through these idle vagabonds of Greeks through their miserable town, to the Hotel d'Angleterre, with a crack of the whip that fairly startled the red-legged sentry^ dozing on post, at the gateway. Other soldiers, likewise, THE ACROPOLIS. 99 in blue legs, who were reposing in the dust, near to a small park of field guns, raised up to stare at us, when, feeling satisfied the country was safe, they relapsed again into their several retreats. We ascended to the second story of the house, and found very decent apartments; for the hotel was new and com- modious. There we reclined on ottomans until the sun should hide his red and burning face behind the hills of Salamis. A permit was procured to visit the Acropolis by night, and at the going down of the sun we departed from our caravan- sary, dressed in mufti, and provided with some small stores of tobacco and drinks. Traversing a labyrinth of filthy lanes, we came to the monu- ment of Lysicrates. This exquisite little ruin, with its light, elegant Corinthian columns, stands in the midst of dilapidated hovels, the whole structure nearly undermined, and seeming about to tumble to the ground. The great monuments, which fringe the sky above, look down in pity upon their delicate and decaying child. From Lysicrates we wandered around the base of the Acropolis, by the Temple of the Winds, the Ancient Market, and the Stone Grain Measures, until we reached the pathway leading to the height, when we shortly entered the main approach to the Acropolis itself. We found ourselves, after our fatigue, on gaining the Propylse, in a profuse perspira- tion; but on getting into the open nave of the Parthenon, amid the white marbles which at least looked cool and becoming posed in the solid chairs of the elders, with the 100 SCAMPAVIAS. night breeze from the gulf about our brows, which was in reality cool, we found satisfaction in looking around us. The majestic columns of the Parthenon towered in their silent and imposing magnificence, like sentinels of the old world, beside us. The easy, graceful figures of the Caryatides seemed about to step from beneath their burdens, and wander in the opaque moonlight amid the huge fallen columns and fragments of marble, while the bats flitted about our heads as if incensed at mortals for daring to invade their lonely haunts. It was matter of discussion with us, however, whether in these modern days something equally magnificent and more utilitarian could not be constructed ; and we thought, too, what a capital speculation a cute Yankee might make by transforming the Parthenon into an ice-cream saloon, with an oyster-box in the Temple of Victory, and spittoons at the base of every column. Besides Jack Toker, Mr. Benedict, Black, and myself, we were accompanied by a stray and forlorn traveller, in the per- son of an Indian gentleman, from Benares, who bore about his garments a bag containing guide-books, a telescope, an edition of Byron, and other aids to memory, all in heavy sight-seeing order. We were, moreover, attended by a brace of venerable grey-beards, who had heard the Turkish shots whistle about their ears in the same precincts, and who pro- fessed to be ciceroni, ostensibly to guard against pilfering, but forgetful of their calling, became surreptitiously tipsy, and we might have shouldered half the loose sculpture in the Acro- polis, and they have been none the wiser. THE PARTHENON. 101 As it is not probable that the reader and I may vi^ii noble ruins again together, I wish to call attention to one or two matters which have recently come to light, and are not as yet universally known. For some time back excavations have been going on to determine, if practicable, the long mooted question of the true entrance to the Acropolis. This problem has at length been solved ; for on digging down the western face of the Propylae, they laid bare a great deal of work of the Roman era, and at last came to the natural rock itself. Here are the indisputable proofs of the design for the grand entrance, by the old Greek architects. The rock is graded for a wide flight of steps leading directly to the temples above, and the very grooves are visible in the rock, which were worn by the ropes used in hoisting up the marble from below. The other matter I refer to, is a very singular cohesion which has taken place in the southwestern column of the Parthenon. Two of the sections of the shaft, a few feet from the base, have become absolutely joined together, either by some organic or atmospheric agency. So perfect and posi- tive is the cohesion, that a fragment of the marble, when struck by a blow from a hammer, will split off vertically, and show no sign of their earlier separation. This phenomenon exists also, in two places in the steps to the portico, near the column, and neither M. Pittakis, the learned conservator of the ruins, nor other savans have as yet been able satisfacto* rily to account for it. In the same portico you can see the place where Lord Elgin had scratched his name, together with those of his coun- 102 SCAMPAVIA try wen. * Arrorg the first shots, however fired by the Turks from the Areopagus in 1821 (so say the Greeks), a cannon ball scaled off the name of his lordship from the desecrated shaft, leaving the names of his friends in the following order under the English Union Jack. When we had become fully sated with repose and wonder, we betook ourselves down the steep face of the hill, and bent our steps towards the temple of Jupiter. Under the shade of the giant columns we wandered awhile amid the stacks of corn and heaps of wheat, and then returned by the new Bou- levard to the city. It was midnight when we regained our inn, and then we found our supper ready served in the grand saloon. The LIFE. 103 dishes tasted to me as insipid as everything looked in Greece ; but the wine of Saint George was not on the same standard. Several friends joined our party, and presently we beheld a gentleman, in the fez cap, petticoat, and red embroidered leg costume, approach also. " Hillo !" quoth we, rather sharply, to his apparition, as he carelessly sauntered into the room, " what the deuce do you want here ?" He gave an abashed sort of look, but quickly informed us that he was not only the owner of the hotel we tarried at, but also of the " Orient." He was a handsome dog, with eyes twinkling with fun, and taking a seat at table, we soon became warmly attached to him. He was a wit, too, and baptized Benedict as Bifstek, on account of his fondness for those deli- cacies. Eliaa was our host's name ; he had been courier of the grand route, and not only understood, but talked a little of every known tongue in the universe. We played the piano, sang North American war-whoops, danced Patagonian reels, and made merry exceedingly. It was getting to be very late, and after making arrange- ments for horses, cold luncheon, and to be called at daylight, I took my leave of the party. Elias, however, would persist in attending me to my chamber, where he undressed me as carefully as a baby, tucked me up in bed, caressed my great toe, and then left me to repose. I went off to sleep, while the cheers and songs of my companions rose high and wild in the still night. It did not seem to me that I had slept a wink, when I was aroused by Elias, who, standing at the bedside, with my big toe again in his hand, induced the belief that he had not 104: So AMP A VIAS. left me a moment; but it was daylight, I could see from the lofty windows, and the fresh morning air came in deliciously. " Come, Cappin, git up Bifstek no go." " Well," I yawned, " we don't want beefsteak, only coffee for breakfast," thinking our landlord meant to apologize for want of that viand at our morning meal. Presently, however, I heard him calling Jack Toker, in the adjoining room, and exclaim, " Come, Cappin, must git up, but Bifstek no go." Losing all patience at his pertinacity, we sung out, " Dam beefsteak, we'll have chicken." Whereupon, Elias chirped out with, " Bifstek say dam, too, but he no git up, and no go. Him boots outside !" ON HORSEBACK. 105 Then it was we recollected he was designating our friend Benedict, and wished to convey the idea, that he did not desire to accompany us on the proposed jaunt to Pentellicus. To evince our approbation, we seized Elias around his waspy red waist and waltzed him about like a dervish. In a few minutes we had coffee, saw a rickety old fourgon stowed with our man Angelo and the provender, and then, our steeds being ready in the court-yard, we adjusted the stirrups, and vaulted into the saddle. Our acquaintance from Benares bidding us God-speed, the while, as he peered with his bottle-green colored eyes over an upper balcony, and com- plained of his natural rest having been disturbed in the night. The horses were very good, spirited, and not hard of gait ; the trappings, however, were somewhat worn and out of repair. We passed out of the city by the palace, and took the road along the base of Lykabatus. Droves of donkeys, which were all Mexican, save the crimson-jacketed Greeks astride them, for a time powdered the air with dust ; but soon we got beyond the market-people, and, though the sun was getting up, and a little warm, we enjoyed the ride extremely. Trotting a few miles over the bare plains, groves of venerable olives began to rear their gnarled roots, and seamed, per- forated trunks, over the landscape, while the perfume of thyme, sage, and bright flowering oleanders, filled the atmos- phere. Still further, we turned down a little ravine, where a rill of water ran, and, " Where winds with reeds and osiers whisp'ring play," amid a rich vegetation of canes, and where undergrowth 5* 106 SCAMPAVIAS. and green grasses sprang up, cool and refreshing to look upon. Leaving the plains, we began to mount easily up the slopes of Pentellicus, by an excellent road, constructed by the Duchesse de Plaisance. This lady, since dead, was a daugh- ter of the Count de Marbois, and born in Philadelphia, while her father was the French Consul to our country. She was a reigning belle under the empire, and, if I mistake not, invented, when queen of the mode in Paris, the riselle velvet hats. For many years, .the duchess, having forsaken the vanities of fashion, has resided in Athens, and devoted a large income to benevolent purposes. She was said to be a free- thinker on religious matters, and was, withal, somewhat eccentric, her chief pleasure consisting in building houses, but never completing them. About nine o'clock, we reached a grove of silver-bark poplars, at a height, perhaps, of fifteen hundred feet- above the level of the sea. It is in close proximity to an ancient Greek monastery, and famous for a pure, sparkling fountain of icy cold water, which falls splashing into a large marble bowl, shaded by the lofty trees around. On this spot, so delightfully cool, pic-nics are made for the court, and the elite of Athens come to dance upon the turf; and here we pro- posed to lunch on our return from the mountain. We dismounted, watered the horses, and waited until we heard the thumps and shouts of Angelo, while enticing his beast to pull the fourgon up the hill, when we put foot in stirrup, and began the ascent of Pentellicus. We steered first for the quarries. The road led up GOING UP. 107 between two sharp ridges, over loose fragments of white marble, that had poured down in clippings from the deep veins above. As we ascended, the pathway became steep, and the foothold precarious. At intervals, we paused to breathe the animals or look down the gorge, and again we clambered on, until at last we found our progress barred by a rocky defile, too perpendicular for further ascent. In fact, we had either mistaken the road, since it is rarely travelled, or else the debris of rocks and roots had blocked it up by the rush of torrents and storms. While my companions, leaving the bridles to their horses in my hands, went on a tour of exploration, to find, if possi- ble, a better track, I remained staring at the ancient quarries, those wombs of beautiful Art that gave birth, in a rude state, to the noble offspring in the Acropolis. The old Athenian wedge had cut the huge blocks in smooth and even surfaces from the parent mine, while, at the fissures from where the material was quarried to build the new Palace in Athens, the rough, jagged points and shivered, blackened ledges showed plainly how the villainous saltpetre was used to dig it out, and where king Otho's pioneers blasted the pure marble in a wasteful and wanton manner. There was not a man at work in the bowels of the moun- tain, and we only saw two blocks, roughly hewn, which appeared to have been lying on the brink of the quarry for many years. The larger might have contained ninety or one hundred cubic feet of marble, and upon inquiry afterwards of a Greek master mason, its probable cost at the Piraeus, he told me, that owing to the great expense of transportation, it 108 SCAMPAVIAS. would be valued at about four thousand drachmas, or eight hundred Spanish dollars. Indeed, there are none of the modern contrivances for getting the stone out of the quarries, by derricks or shears *and none either for swinging it without damage to the paths below. When quarried, it is simply tumbled down the steep, and then moved to its destination on rollers. My friends returned without being able to find an accessi- ble pathway, and we almost determined to picket the beasts and make the remainder of the journey on foot. Reflecting, however, from my experience of Mexican mountain passes, and scrambles in California, that an active horse could tread wherever a man could walk without using his hands, I accordingly went away on a little scout by myself, and after a time, discovered a practicable route. We took the bridles and moved on. The tramp was pre- carious, and though the animals were tolerably sure-footed, yet occasionally, they quivered on the smooth, rocky heights, and seemed on the point of sliding down by the run. By care, however, and patience, we gained the flanks of the Five- fingered Mountains, and then our difficulties ceased. Mount- ing, we rode to one of the eastern finger peaks, where, springing upon a great, hoary, moss-covered block of marble, the sight beneath amply repaid our toil. But there was yet* a higher point to reach, and only stopping to quaff long draughts of icy water from a little natural reservoir of a shepherd's well, scooped out of the rock, we swung into the saddle again, and picked our way cautiously up the steep. Wild pinks, bright yellow flowers, herbs and mosses were PINNACLE OF PENTELLICUS. 109 strewed over the mountain, and the air was filled with their perfume. Presently we secured our beasts, and accomplished the remainder of the ascent on foot. Then we stood upon the pinnacle of Pentellicus. There was no marble above our heads, nothing but the brilliant sun in a cloudless sky, and the pure blue ether of heaven. But below what a magnificent panorama of landscape beauty lay marked like a map at our feet ! To the east the plains of Marathon, carpeted by fields of green and yellow grain with the curving white beach ter- minated by the half-moon promontory ; then the sea, like a calm lake dotted by islands; while Negropont with its towering mountains stretched away up the coast toward Olympus, and only separated by a narrow belt of blue water from the main ; then nearer arose, in endless succession, the hills around Marathon, dipping in many a nook and dale off to the west, when the gaze is trailed on in the arc of a circle over the country, until it is arrested again by the Straits of Salamis. There we saw the distant lofty mountains of the Morea, Egina, Corinth, and Cape Colonna, all mingled with the blue water of the gulf; then nearer, the plains of Daphne, where the green groves, specked with bright dwellings, resem- bled a strong sea-breeze ruffling in white caps the waves. To the left was Athens amid the noble temples ; beyond, Hymettus, and nearer, just at our feet, the waving verdure of the poplar grove. In one single whirl around, the eye sweeps in all of Attica, with the mountains and sea which clasp it. For a long time we reclined on the rocks gazing at the pic- ture that nature presented to our view, while ever and anon 110 SOAMPAVIAS. the shrill whistles of the goatherds and shepherds arose from the hillsides a great way off, and the partridges answered the calls from their nestling thickets. The sun had passed the meridian when we began our descent, and this we found to be a more ticklish feat than the scramble up. We had to lead the horses nearly all the way down ; but since we had accom- plished our purpose in getting up, we were willing to pay liberally for the enjoyment. Reaching the base of the quarried acclivities, we mounted, and then, at quicker pace, galloped down to the rendezvous at the fountain. Here giving our good beasts water and a browse upon the grass, we dabbled in the little torrent until Angelo announced luncheon. We had appetites as sharp as a famished shark's, and each bracing his wearied back against a tree forming a triangular breakfast-table of the turf we fell to with a will. Lord ! how refreshingly cool was the claret, the ale, and the sherry ; and how we tossed the cups, after every draining into the bubbling, plashing water, so that not a breath of chill might escape our lips; and how we slashed into the chicken, the cold fillet of beef, the French rolls, and the salad ; utterly regardless, in our prodigality, of the fond looks of a hungry, dirty old. monk from the adjacent monastery. He was robed in a tattered garment of frieze as ancient, appa- rently, as that of the Parthenon, and he kept his eyes riveted upon our operations. But very sad it makes me now to think, that that unhappy anchorite, after Angelo had taken his por- tion, found nothing but bones and cheese -parings to polish his pious teeth upon. We recompensed him, however, with SAINT SPIEIDION. Ill a few coppers, which he implored us not to divulge to his brother the abbot, fearing, perhaps, lest that prebendary might demand a share. The meal ended, we borrowed from the friar a couple of large rugs, and, after being well beaten to knock the fleas out of them, they were spread upon the grass in the densest shade of the wood. Then, with the fourgon cushions for pillows, we betook ourselves to siesta. ! how soft seemed our couch, and how gratefal to our tired limbs ; and then when we awoke, so wide awake, how our yells of delight re- sounded, as a sailor's only can on shore, to the echo among the silent trees ! We took a douche in the fountain, and while our steeds were being saddled, and Angelo moving away with the train, we entered the crumbling old pile of mud, stones, and sticks, called the Monastery. In the centre of a quadrangle stood a small, roughly-built chapel. Within were a number of worm-eaten old books upon a coarse, ill-constructed altar, and around were a few rude pictures of the Virgin and saints. I believe there is no intelligible difference between the doctri- nal points of the Roman and the Greek or orthodox Eastern churches. The forms are nearly the same in both, and the only palpable dissimilarity is that the Greeks abhor images, and worship paintings. Among the pictures which decorated the wall of the chapel, was an ideal portrait of Saint Spiridion. He it is that is even now preserved, in the bones, in Corfu ; exhibited four times a year to cure all disorders of the flesh ; who, once in a while, makes journeys from his present abode in Ionia, under the sea to 112 S CAMP AVI A S. Attica, and always returns with seaweed sticking to his toes. He it was, too, who disconcerted the wise men of Ionia, with his splendid miracle of the brick-bat, as it illustrated the Holy Trinity ; and he is at the same time an inexhaustible mine of wealth to the happy family who own him by hereditary de- scent; hiring him out for processions, war, pestilence, or famine, as the market may require. Oh ! a wonderful, famous fellow is Saint Spiridion ! But I am wandering from the Monastery. The sides of the quadrangle contained little, filthy, close cells for the brother- hood, about six feet square each. Passing through a gateway we entered quite an extensive vegetable garden, where some slight labor had been bestowed, and where the monks enjoy a luxury, rarely known in Attica, an abundance of excellent water. Our guide of the tattered raiment informed us that he could read, and that, out of a hundred of his order, only five had survived the past fifty years ; most of them having been massacred by the noble Turks. In the days when the Sultan's Pashas held Greece under subjection, justice was administered as in a Tartar camp, according to the savage judgment or untrammelled wish of the Turkish rulers. It is not then to be wondered at, that the monasteries, which were reputed wealthy, underwent a fair share of the penalties inflicted. Our guide related also, that during the revolution, this old rookery had been occupied by the Moslems, and that he had lived for six months at a time in the quarries and caverns of Pentelli- cus, depending for subsistence on what he could take at night, from the vineyards below. THE POPLAR GROVE. 113 Taking to horse, we rode slowly around the grounds and dwelling of the Duchesse de Plaisance. The building stands on an eminence, and is called the maison de la lune de miel, in compliment to the married lovers who are invited to pass their honeymoons there. Continuing on down a valley, we came to an angle of a ravine, where the same eccentric lady, in one of her archi- tectural freaks, has built the shell of a large, handsome white marble chateau. The site is remarkably well chosen, and commands a view down the valley to the plains and gulf. The building was quite unfinished. We paced in and about the court-yards, where a spout of water bursts from the heart of a living rock, and then giving rein, we dashed by a bridle- path on our course. In a couple of hours, we once more stood upon the plain at the base of Mount Hymettus, and trotting along by the margin of the once famed Illysus, now but a dry bed of pebbles, we shortly struck the main road with Athens before us. During the whole jaunt, I was more than ever impressed by the striking resemblance between Attica and Upper California. Here we saw the groves of dull green olives like the scrub live oaks of the vales of California, and both held in by arid, sterile hills (in one case, however, of marble, and the other of gold) ; then, too, the wild flowers, the herbs more especially thyme, which here gives the taste to honey of Hymettus, as it does to the wild honey and game of California ; and then, too, the warm, yellowish misty haze of the atmosphere, plains, hills, and general aspect of the landscape, is very like indeed. There is also a touch of the SCAMPAVIAS. western world in the animal kingdom. The jackasses have the same brazen lungs as those in the far west. And the pathetic cries of those in our vicinity, rending the air with their laments, as if to break their hearts outright, made us believe they were inquiring about their nomadic relatives in the Americas. It may be interesting to modern Greek scholars to know that, according to my friend Black, the noise these creatures make is designated as yadapo^ovr), which being rendered into the vulgate, meaneth yadap6$ ass, (f>ovri sound. It was past nine o'clock when we threw ourselves from the backs of our trusty steeds, at the gate of the Hotel d'Angle- terre, and were pressed to the scarlet-clad bosom of our host Elias, the ci-devant courier of Saint Etienne. We made a light and hasty dinner, paid the score, which cleaned us out, and summoning a coach, we rattled out of the town, toward the Piraeus. I was seated on the box behind the driver, who appeared to me in the twilight like the Jack of Diamonds, and I have an imperfect recollection of falling asleep and being suddenly jolted awake, and escaping a fall beneath the wheels every few seconds, until we stopped at the Pirate's domain. There we had a bowl of lemonade, and then, by way of precaution, I put an arm through the loose embroidered sleeve of the coachman's jacket ; so that, if I tumbled off the perch, he would share the same fate. Thus I rode soundly and safely asleep, to the Port, where, after a saddle ride of about forty-five miles, a little tramping afoot, and not a copper in our purses, we pulled on board the Frigate. GOING TO COURT. 115 Chapter " We may roam thro' this world like a child at a feast, Who but sips of a sweet, and then flies to the rest : And when pleasure begins to grow dull in the East, We may order our wings and be off to the West." n./\. LTSICRATES. Going to Court. TOWARDS the close of our sojourn in Greece, we were presented at court. At the appointed hour, our party, six- 116 ScAMPAVIAS. teen in number, drew up at the north front of the palace. This structure is a great, dreary, square marble box, with holes in it, and entirely destitute of architectural beauty. The site is not badly chosen on a slight elevation facing the Acropolis and it has a garden on both fronts. One of them is planted over ruins of some antiquity, and, by great labor, irrigation, and expense, the leaves of shrubs and flowers are made tolerably green and bright. We passed up a broad, winding marble staircase, and, traversing a long, lonely corridor, were shown into an ante- room ; a square apartment, gaily painted on walls and ceil- ings, and the floor laid in mosaic of dark polished wood. Presently the door opened, and in came a puny, bodkin- waisted gentleman, with a narrow head, and sharp, irregular features, who was announced as Chamberlain to the Queen. He spoke nothing but Greek ; and as the education of most of us in that branch of learning had been neglected, that is, in a conversational way, a very few words were interchanged ; we had time, however, to admire his costume, which was a master-piece of art. During a pause, a pair of folding-doors opened, and the order of our procession being arranged, we followed our minister into the reception-room, it was of similar dimen- sions to the one we had left, except, that the light was thrown from the eastern angle through two lofty windows, between which stood a crowned, carved, and gilded chair of state. A magnificent Turkey rug and a few chairs consti- tuted all the furniture. We formed a semicircle. The Queen stood in the centre, and a lady with skinny, bare arms, possibly of remote origin, QUEEN AMELIA. 117 was placed a few paces off, and did not budge during the ceremony. The Queen was very becomingly attired in a sim- ple half dress. She wore a light wreath of green buds and red flowers over the smooth bands of her brown hair. The dress was cut low, with short sleeves, and in my fancy perhaps, or to my inexperienced vision, it seemed rather tightly laced ; but yet it developed a full bust and roundly- turned arms. The color of the dress was light green, and of the flimsy gossamer fabric that ladies usually wear in the summer. The feet were clothed in black satin shoes. The toilette was completed by a necklace and bracelet of fine pearls. I remembered when her majesty's waist was thinner; when a light, gay, sprightly, pretty, young bride, she first came to Greece ; but though twice seven years had drifted by since, she was still a very handsome woman, comfortably embonpoint, with fine teeth, eyes, hair, and complexion. So soon as we had taken our position, the Queen glided gracefully up to our Ambassador for she had no one to assist her in the presentations and, with a very winning smile and animated face, began the conversation. She chatted easily and pleasantly on a variety of topics ; the antiquities, the bathing, the views, the king's health, and the Turks. She spoke so sweetly, too, of the heat, that I almost wished myself a salamander, so as never to have the ungra- ciousness to complain again. From the Minister, she moved on around the line of blue-jackets, complimenting the Com- mander- in-chief, and making some little appropriate speech with infinite tact to each. At the end of her tour, she returned again to the Ambassador, smiled, courtesied the 118 SCAMPAVIAS. reception over, and we all glissee'd backwards with many a bow out of her presence. As the doors to the ante-chamber were closing, I caught a glimpse of the Queen as she ran up to the antique attendant, and, throwing up her hands and laughing, evidently asked if she had not made a favorable impression upon the Yankees. In my opinion, she decidedly did ; and I thought her Majesty a very well-bred and captivating woman ; though, I trust, I am not overstepping the limits of courtly phrase, by speaking of this Royal personage as a mere mortal. The chamberlain received our final adieux, and we left the palace. It may not be out of place to mention here, that there was a dinner given a few days after at the Otho palace ; but I regret to add, that I was not invited with the other distin- guished persons who composed the party. I acquit her Majesty, however, of all intentional blame or slight in the transaction. It was the Lord Chamberlain himself who deprived me of a good dinner, because I was not a major, he said. The delusion he appeared to struggle under was, that our marine was modelled upon the Mexican army system, more generals than troops more captains than sailors ; and, more- over, he forgot, that an aid-de-camp goes with his chief to bat- tle or dinner, as the case may be. Again, it was a piece of unmitigated cruelty on the part of the chamberlain functionary, who presumed, perhaps, on account of his own slimness and tightness of waist, which was a physical obstacle to taking food without violent effort, that I, too, would not be distressed at the loss of a dinner. In that MARBLE THIEVES. 119 belief he was mistaken, and I not only went off my usual nourishment at the gun-room mess-table for some days, out of pure chagrin, but I cherish to this moment a singular vindictiveness towards that Chamberlain, and hope, when the matter is fully explained to his handsome, charming Queen, she will disgrace him on the spot. The dinner business, however, was only the beginning of my sorrows in Greece. I had a small piece of marble given to me by a gentleman in Athens, and, accordingly, it was boxed up and transported to the port. There it was stolen by a couple of rascally Greek boatmen, who believed it to be silver. The police seized the thieves and box; but, on applying for my property, I was informed that a commission would have to sit upon the marble, to see if there was any ancient carving upon the same. When this result was arrived at, a long negotiation ensued. Application was made to all branches of the government, including the Conservator of pub- lic works ; and it was not, I believe, until the matter had been discussed in -cabinet council, and the assent of the Prime Minister obtained, that I was entitled to receive my own. After all these troubles, we were not sorry to leave Greece ; for where there is great heat, great dust, and nothing good to eat or drink, rational enjoyment is at discount ; and, although we ate honey from Hymettus, had ice from Parnassus maybe from Helicon, because it was so muddy bathed in the tomb of Themistocles also, and had the ruins of Attica standing in bold relief against the sky at all times, yet we did not regret leaving the country. 120 SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter X. A Night off Malta. WE sailed from the Piraeus on the seventh of August, and we fluttered and waltzed between calms and perverse 'breezes, out of the Archipelago, where old Nick would have been obliged to have fanned himself, and where cool air was worth a guinea the mouthful. At the expiration of a week, we were rolling off Malta, and with an early sea-breeze, we entered the harbor of Valetta, between the frowning batteries of Saint Elmo and Saint Angelo. We moored well up the harbor, abreast Spencer's monument, and in full view of the rude mottoes which the sailors of various English men-of-war had painted in white- wash on the tufo sides of the hills, "Happy Vengeance," " Jolly Britannia," and so forth. Nothing can exceed the parched appearance of the island ; foliage scarcely exists, and even without the hot siroccos from Africa, the climate in mid-summer is almost insup* portable. Before letting go the anchors, the ship was surrounded by A NIGHT OFF MALTA. 121 a great flotilla of boats gaily painted they are, with curv- ing prows like Dutch skates which attended us in floating procession to our berth at the anchorage. We were also beguiled by music ; and little impish, naked children without number, were screaming like cockatoos with the bronchitis, to attract our notice. " Offisar," they yelled, " won pennee for make little niggar dive," or, "won little niggar for dive pennee," ringing the changes on the nigger, and confounding themselves with the penny incessantly, while at the same time they stood in troops on the gunwales of the boats, ready to plunge five fathoms under water at the merest symptom of a coin. There were also a horde of bigger savages, with coal black hair and swarthy yellow features, who boarded the frigate by storm, and thought nothing of charging bare-breasted, full tilt, at the sentries on the gang-boards, in spite of their bayonets, so eager were they to exhibit their testimonials for traffic. We soon got pratique, and I went on shore. Landing at the Custom-house, I passed through the Lascaris gate, and found myself, with the thermometer at 100, in the city of stairs. Up, up, over the interminable smooth stone steps, as right and left the same long serrated ascents are visible, until on gaining the ridge of the town, with trembling calves, the toil is over. Descending again, I took boat and pulled across the narrow harbor to the dockyard ; a slip of an inlet, the second on the left from the sea, flanking the terrible batteries of Saint Erasmus, the patron saint of seamen. 6 122 SOAMPAVIAS. The water in these inlets is very deep, and, as at Venice, the houses rise from the brink. Here is a dry-dock, a magnificent steam bakery, and the public buildings of the arsenal. I called upon the Admiral, a hale, hearty old gentleman, with white hair, but I had no idea of the years of the head it covered, until he mentioned having known some of our officers in the West Indies in '95. I could merely smile my incredulity. The next morning I went on an official visit to the Gover- nor of Malta. We rowed to the landing at Valetta, and found vehicles in waiting on the quay, of a genus quite distinct from the race elsewhere, and called calessos. They are solid square-bodied affairs, with one or two seats, resting on leather springs slung to heavy shafts, with a single pair of wheels stuck on behind. They are, in fact, magnified editions of wheelbarrows, though, I should judge, not near so pleasant for locomotion. Mounting or descending the steep streets from the lower town is at best an arduous under- taking, particularly should the horse lose foothold and the calesso get stern board ; for then the retrograde movement must be very unpleasant indeed, until one happens to slide off into ever so deep water, or be pitched down a gaping dry moat, or over a precipitous parapet. Fortunately, we escaped these not unfrequent accidents, and got out within the palace court-yard in perfect safety. The palace was formerly the residence of the Grand Master of the knights of Malta, and is a great quadrangular building of two stories, constructed of brown tufo sandstone. The A NIGHT OFF MALTA. 123 exterior is not striking, but within are contained many valuable and interesting relics of the feats and exploits of the renowned conquerors of Jerusalem. We passed up an easy, winding, but very broad stairway where a troop of horse could easily mount, three abreast, as no doubt they did in times past, with mail-clad warriors on their backs and crossing a long, lofty frescoed corridor, we entered a reception chamber, and were presented by an aid-de-camp to the " Storm king," Sir William Reid. He is a tall old gentleman, with a patrician style of face and figure, clear, intelligent eyes, and a very mild and pleasing expres- sion. He was surrounded by what seemed to me a very happy and exceedingly handsome family. The reception-room was of great size, with a smooth, glassy Venetian floor, while the spaces between the heavy beams of the high ceiling were emblazoned and carved in Maltese crosses and other emblematic devices of the Order. On the upper part of the walls were a series of historical frescoes, after the manner of the illustrations of Froissart, depicting the brilliant deeds of the Grand Masters, and below them, a collection of paintings some of merit which filled the spaces between the deep embrasures of the windows. After luncheon, we walked through the western suite of apartments, where the walls were covered with paintings, by masters of repute, and among the portraits, a very fine one of Valette. There were also a good many gems of old furniture, quaintly fashioned and richly carved, gilded and worm-eaten, together with rare old Louis Quatorze clocks, like enormous brass spiders, with a web work of transparent 124: SCAMPAVIAS. wheels. All of these articles, perhaps, had been presents from foreign princes to the knights. Some distance beyond this suite, we entered the Library, a noble hall, of kingly dimensions, and well lighted from above. There was a tolerably large collection of old books, many of them ponderous tomes in white parchment, loading the capacious shelves. From the library we went to lesser rooms, where the librarian, a learned and highly intelligent person, aided by Governor Reid, had commenced a museum of antiquities of the island. Quite a number of interesting relics, such as sarcophagi, mummies, terracotta and Etruscan vases, Phoenician and Arabic inscriptions on marble, already cluster around the walls. From here we visited the most interesting spot in Malta the grand armory. The hall itself is on the same scale of magnificent proportions as other parts of the palace, but the furniture of antiquities is far more valuable. At the time of our visit, there stood in parallel racks, the entire length of the room, about sixteen thousand muskets, of modern pattern. There was, besides, a very curious and extensive collection of fire-locks and weapons, from their earliest use in Europe culverins, wall-pieces, blunderbusses, and the like to the present time. The walls themselves are covered with an immense number of suits of plate armor : shirts of ring mail standing in iron boots, swords and axes across them, which all belonged, ages and ages ago, to the bold knights. The greatest objects of note, are three suits of beautiful armor, formerly worn by the Grand-Masters, Vignacourt, L'Isle Adam, and Valette. That of the first is superbly inlaid A NIGHT OFF MALTA. 125 with gold. The castor I tried on my own head. It is an iron piece of hat-gear that I would not particularly care to wear habitually, and it was rather top-heavy, but neverthe- less, it was not the weight I expected to find it. Indeed, there is not, in the whole collection of armor, a suit of mail which would be considered too large for a six-footer in our days, for, on the contrary, most of this steel raiment would be in every respect too small for the Anglo-Saxon race of men we see around us. I believe it is pretty generally understood now-a-days, that the desperate old knights we read of, after being raised into their saddles by a derrick, or other contrivance, and being properly bolted and riveted to the horse, had their lances firmly secured in a horizontal position, and were then pur- mitted to go into battle. I always fancy they exhibited themselves like a policeman's horse in a riotous crowd, kindly kicking over all comers, and relying alone on main strength and stupidity. After wandering a long time around the armory, we were conducted to the famous tapestry-room, now used as the council chamber. The sides were completely hung with tapestry, representing the " Four quarters of the globe." I never beheld any fabrics of the kind so truly magnificent. Not only are the colors brilliantly vivid, and the grouping natural and artistic, but the costumes, the foliage, scenery and natural productions, are admirably portrayed. In the South American cartoon, the poncho on an Indian's shoulders and his horse are actually done to the life. For half an hour longer we moved about the noble corn- 126 SCAMPAVIAS. dors, where, in fresco and oil, we beheld the illustrations commemorative of the deeds, in court or camp, of the knights and their followers. We then took leave of Sir William Reid and his family, whose kindness and unaffected hospitality very much added to the pleasure of our visit. Afterwards, while strolling about the streets of Valetta, looking at flexile gold rings, ladies' mitts, Maltese crosses, and other productions of the natives, to escape being sun-scorched to a cinder, I took refuge in the great church of Saint John. The interior is a wide oblong, upholding a semicircular roof without groining, and like a long, horizontal half-barrel, it covers the nave. The chapel is richly decorated with handsome marbles, and enclosed by a silver balustrade. The church contains a num- ber of statues, an immense deal of sculpture, with paintings and frescoes ; and the walls are closely and regularly relieved in gold and blue-colored crosses of Malta. The hour of my visit was well timed, for a part of the vast pavement was uncovered. Except on great feast-days, or other extraordinary occasions, without considerable expense for the sight, the floor is Jkept carefully concealed by coarse matting and cloths, which no doubt adds very greatly to the preservation of the work. There is not, perhaps, a more splen- did exhibition of rich marbles in any edifice in the world than is contained in this pavement ; jasper, agate, lapis-lazuli, por- phyry, and other rare and precious stones, are all gorgeously mingled in profusion over the sepulchral repositories of the knights of Saint John. For ages it was a matter of pride with the relatives and friends of the knights, to undertake and A NIGHT OFF MALTA. 127 adorn these monuments in the highest state of splendor and art. There is a great deal to be seen in Malta of interest, and also in society, but our stay was so brief that we barely had time to take more than a passing peep. The garrison, during our visit, amounted to about three thousand troops. We found the officers remarkably civil and hospitable. The mili- tary club is a fine building, once a hotel of the knights. We were treated there with great cordiality, by a lot of good fel- lows, who went so far in their hospitality, at times, as to propose a throw of brandy, or soda, a devilled biscuit, a pint of Bass, and the like refreshments. It was a question with me, whether even the former occupants of that club could have been as jovial, and preserve, the while, an equilibrium in their wrought- iron boots, as did the hearty soldiers in their scarlet jackets, when we enjoyed the solace of their society. Leaving these convivial blades, we said " Adieu ye joys of La Valette, Adieu sirocco, sun and sweat, Adieu ye cursed streets of stairs." and, buffeting the west winds with dogged indifference, the frigate, with a reef in her topsails, threw the spray off her bows, in beating round the island of Sicily. 128 SOAMPAVIAS. Chapter XI. The Shell of Gold. ONE day we were close beneath the bold mountains, with the white walls and towers of the city of Marsala beside us, and the next we rounded the Egadean group, where was a venerable castle on the rocky bluff of Maritime, which, from its isolated position, might very readily gratify the most ardent thirst for salt water and solitude in the heart of man. After passing Trapani and Mount Saint Julien, capped by a Saracenic castle, we found ourselves on the northern shores of Sicily, with the headland of cape San Vito jutting up clear and fearlessly before us. In the morning we cast anchor in the bay of Palermo, with the conca dora, or shell of gold, as the plain is called, scooped out between bold promontories, and closed in by a lofty wall of hills beyond. The city is built upon the curv- ing sea-shore rim of the shell, and fills up the foreground, and nowhere are blue water, green, fertile valleys, white houses and rugged cliffs more harmoniously blended. The first move your sensible mariner makes upon getting into port, is to place his feet upon the dry land. Accord- ingly we took coach from the Marina, and drove to a new THE SHELL OF GOLD. 129 garden lately laid out on the western limits of the city. The garden is formed amid ancient quarries and pits, from where most of the material used in the construction of Palermo was brought. There are groves of cypress and olives, shad- ing entire acres of verbenas, bright flowers and shrubs, while fountains and running water refresh them, from the diver- sified ground above to the huge sunken pots of parterres below in the excavations. The situation is well chosen, though, indeed, it would be difficult to pitch upon any spot near Palermo that does not command a wide vista of sea, valley, and mountain. From these blooming gardens we rolled on to the great Capucin Monastery ; and, without wasting time in the church or adjuncts, we descended at once to the subterranean mum- mery. Here are entombed thousands upon thousands of disgusting human semi-petrifactions, with hideously distorted jaws and faces, some frightful to gaze upon ; while the sight is rendered yet more repulsive by the gew-gaws, or tinselled trumpery, that envelop them. The niches around the vaults are expressly appropriated to the Capucins themselves, where they are standing perpendicularly spiked against the walls, wrapped in the brown garbs and rope girdles, as in life. Then again, countless multitudes are laid in trunks, chests, boxes, or upright cases with glass doors, like windows of a show-shop, all decked and bedizened in crumbling, tattered finery, or attired in coarse serge, like withered, dried, horrid objects as they are. I learned that the price of preserving a body in this vast charnel house, was four pauls and a large wax candle a year, 6* 130 SCAMPAVIAS. which contribution, if not promptly paid, the body is uncere- moniously pitched down huge vaults beneath, to mingle with the dust of myriads who have gone before them. The pro- cess of preservation is effected by lime and heat, In hermeti- cally sealed chambers. Altogether there are reckoned to be half a million bodies contained within these awful recep- tacles. The Capucins, as all the world knows, are notorious old beggars, and pretend to feed all other beggars beside them- selves. They are shameless beggars, too, and importune one without charity or mercy ; taking pains also to drop strangers a line in all languages, per post, should they happen to stray away from their hotel. Here is a specimen : " The reverend monks of the convent of Capucins make you know they live by alms, which they collect from the benefi- cence of gratifying men, dividing the revenues of daily beg. ging with poor people." After leaving these good Capucins with half a dollar we took a circuitous drive around the ancient walls, and entered the eastern gate of the city by the Botanic and Floria gardens. The walls and ramparts generally are crumbling to decay. The bastions have long since been divested of cannon, and the broad moats are merely dry ditches partially filled up. Not only the walls, but the city itself is built of a perishable soft sandstone, which is soon worn away by the action of the ele- ments. The streets, however, are paved with solid blocks of marble very smooth, even, and well drained. Two broad, straight avenues bisect each other at right angles, thus cutting the town into quarters. THE SHELL OF GOLD. 131 I know no city, except, perhaps, the old towns by " Where foams and flows the glorious Rhine," Strasbourg, for example which presents so many quaint and singular objects as Palermo. The prevailing tone of architecture is a mixture of Italian, Norman, Grecian, Morisco, and Byzantine. Here are heavy Egyptian gateways also, held up by caryatides, and surmounted by sphinxes ; while queer old carvings and tracings are sculptured about the pilasters and columns. Again Byzantine peaked towers rise above all, and below are fountains, or rather syphon-like obelisks, stand- ing boldly up, while water from the valleys beyond trickles down the moss or ivy-covered sides. Then there are innumerable nunneries, which line the upper stories of the tall buildings of the Stada Toledo, latticed in by iron grilles, resembling bird-cages for black-birds, swinging up in mid-heaven. There, can be seen, through the live-long day, clusters of frowsy, podgy old nuns, peering and blearing down upon the crowded thoroughfares ; but seeming all too fat and sluggish to mingle in respectable society. Nor is it consoling to reflect with Dr. Slop, that " virginity " of that stamp " peoples Paradise." In the suburbs and narrow streets of the city, where the tall houses shut out all light save the blue ribbon of sky over head, long reeds and canes protrude from the windows and queer old balconies, hung with flaunting clothes to dry ; while flower-pots are suspended by wires across the alleys, or lean lopsided over the ridges of the moss-grown cornices ; and lower down to the pavement are little boxes of shops, with 132 SOAMPAVIAS. long racks of macaroni, like yellow icicles, stiff and pointed, awaiting customers. Then, the markets are at hand, with their babble of noises, and heaps of melons, vegetables, and fruits ; and then come the fishermen in their long, looped red caps, striped shirts and sea-soaked legs, with each man his flat wicker platter, carrying the prey from the bay, the fish rang- ed in fanciful grouping, according to the taste of their captors, in green beds of weeds. Commend me to markets at night, when the lights are twinkling, the crowd moving, and the din of bustle intense. A great attraction in Palermo is the Marina. It is a broad drive and walk, built from the base of the old ramparts, where the sea once washed the walls, along the quietly curving shores of the bay. A grove of lime trees fringes one side of the Marina, and midway is a spacious Corinthian temple, where, on fine evenings, a grand orchestra makes music until mid- night. A day or two after our arrival, we called upon the Viceroy of Sicily. His head-quarters were in the royal palace. The building makes one side of a square, with the rear resting on a curtain of the ancient wall of the city. In front was a park of eighteen howitzers, intended for close work with grapeshot or shrapnell among dense crowds in nar- row streets. The pieces were ready limbered, the horses picketed near, beside the caissons, while at the palace gates were a battalion of Swiss guards under arms. At the court- yard we were conducted by an aid-de-camp, through a dou- ble row of soldiers, to the bureau of the Viceroy, the Prince of Satriano, Duke of Taormina, and so forth. He was a man THE SHELL OF GOLD. 133 of about sixty-five years of age, for he was a lieutenant at Flessing in 1797, and could not be less. Besides being a dis- tinguished military officer, he is the son of the celebrated Gaetan Filangieri, of Naples. At Austerlitz, he was under Napoleon in command of a squadron of horse, and, after a brilliant career of arms, in which he rose from colonel to marshal and lieutenant-general, he finally reduced Sicily to subjection in the late revolution in 1848. From his dark intelligent eyes, and determined physique, we judged that, with the thirty-three thousand troops at his disposal, he was quite capable of governing the island for a long time to come. The prince received us with great frankness and urbanity, and seemed to be a man of experience, and extensive know- ledge of the world. At a later day, when he paid a viit to .the frigate, he said that he felt some right to tread the decks of an American ship, since his father had been a warm friend and correspondent of our great Franklin, whose letters he had carefully preserved to this day, At the termination of the audience we were ciceroned by the Marquis Forcella, the king's chamberlain, over the palace. The royal chapel rises from the first floor, over the great court. The dimensions are not great, but there is not a square inch of the interior which is not richly inlaid in a mosaic of rare marbles and gold. The ceilings and walls are profusely gilded, and represent, in mosaics of precious stones, Scriptural illustrations. The altar is a wonder of itself. The doors were modern, but as delicate and elaborate a mass of carving in oak as can well be conceived. 134: SOAMPAVIAS. From this sanctuary we mounted to the story above, where Swiss guards were thickly stationed and quartered on the landings and galleries of the quadrangle. We were told that during the revolution, when the populace held possession of Palermo, they destroyed the casernes, and until others were completed, the troops were billeted every- where. We passed through a large hall, hung with full-length portraits of former viceroys of Sicily, and entered the royal apartments. The mob had amused themselves in the palace some twenty-five days, and they did not hesitate to steal or ruin all they easily could from this part of it. In the main reception chamber, on a marble Jtable, stood, or rather kneeled, the famous bronze ram, which was found in Syra- cuse. The beast is so formed, that, when placed in the wind, he makes a low, hoarse bellow, like a living animal of his propensities. It is, in point of art and nature, the best and noblest work in bronze I ever beheld. We wandered on through suites of Chinese and old Roman rooms, and so on into the grand hall of the palace. Here the mob outshone themselves, and had mutilated and smashed everything within reach of hands and bullets, save the mag- nificent fresco of Velasquez, representing the deification of Hercules, which is painted on the lofty arched ceiling. This room, as well as many others, was filled with huge cases and packages of hangings, furniture, clocks, and lamps, to restore, in part, the damage done by the infuriated popu- lace. Continuing our course upward, we gained the noble THE SHELL OF GOLD. 135 terrace, which overlooks the city, sea, and lovely valley around. The tower of the observatory was yet above us ; but, having been for the time satiated with sights, we took our leave. In the afternoon, we drove to Monreal, a tolerably large town, built nearly at the upper hinge of the " Shell of Gold," and reached by an excellent road. We had a spirited pair of black stallions, and they went up the hills at a gallop. On our right arose jutting calcareous crags, that seemed in their strange fantastic shapes, beetling over the lofty peaks, as if bent upon our destruction, while on the left we gazed down upon a scene of tranquil and enchanting beauty. The broad valley gradually closing from its sea-girt shell, recedes slopingly up towards the background, narrowing easily between the rugged steeps which at last frame it in. Up we rolled, until we stood on the terrace of the Benedictine monastery of Monreal, and there the view was surpassingly fine. We looked directly into the heart of the valley. Green could not be greener than the dark foliage of the lime and orange groves of the plain, checkered as they were by the black patches of tilled earth, the pale hues of the clumps of olives and waving canes; the tall tubes of cypress, linked by " marriageable vines " to the elms, swinging in teeming festoons around the quaint old cottages and hamlets ; while still beyond, over the expanding valley, was the city, with its towers, spires, and palaces, washed by the blue sea, between the majestic sphinxes of Pelligrino. 136 SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter XII Monreal. WE found Monreal a dirty spot notwithstanding its rills of water and teeming with soldiers, priests, and beggars. The soldiers were in line in the plaza, flanked by a small park of nine bronze howitzers those charming little pieces, which, when crammed with shrapnell or canister, can sweep away a crowded street, in a hurricane of leaden hail or bits of iron, in no time. No need for heavy cannon on parapet or bastion, when the war is domestic, and the work to MONKS. 137 be done in narrow streets upon a starving, infuriated popu- lace, such as will come about one of these days in the crushed cities of Italy and Sicily. Howitzers will then blaze and crash, until there is no more blood to dye the gutters. But I am wandering from the dirty, picturesque town of Monreal. It is only remarkable, in other points of interest, for a grand monastery for nobles, and a splendid church together the richest benefice in Sicily. Since the late revolu- tion, however, the devout King had shaken the " imprisoned angels" out of the "bags of hoarding abbots," and taken the revenues in his own keeping, allowing a moderate stipend to the good bishop, and a trifle for repairs to his church. We went over the monastery, up a noble staircase of veined marble, with some good paintings by Velasquez, on the walls, and so on through the lofty corridors. The cloisters were roomy apartments, well furnished and com- fortable. There was a large and well-filled library; and in addition to a good stocked larder, there were a dark wine- cellar, a cool garden of luscious fruits, and a fine locality. " But the Abbots were thinking of scenery, About as much, in sooth, As a lover thinks of constancy, Or an advocate of truth." We had no reason, however, to doubt the happiness and even enjoyment of those blessed anchorites, who doom them- selves to exile from the world. Passing from this abode of oiliness, we entered the great 138 SCAMPAVIAS. church. A squeeze we had to get in, to say nothing of fleas ; for the lazaroni were extremely pressing and attentive in their demeanor, and tried to crowd into the gates with us. Kicks, however, were freely and liberally bestowed by the excellent sacristan, and dissatisfied howls were mournfully extorted in exchange. At last we stood in the great nave, and had just light sufficient in the last rays of the sun, reflected from the hills on the slopes of the valley, to gaze upon the glorious marbles, and to ponder upon the ages and ages of time that hands of men must have been occupied in their work. Watching a favorable chance to elude the beggars, we leaped into our barouche, and whirled rapidly down the road. On we dashed by friars, soldiers, fish-venders, nuns, priests, squalling children, Sicilian bullocks, with their wide, ele- gantly-shaped horns ; on we flew, by carts with high, fanci- fully carved and painted saddle-peaks ; on we sped, with ear and eye taking in the low* musical trill of the vesper bells, or glancing over the lovely vista of the Shell of Gold, until our foaming stallions once more stood still in Palermo. The following day, we visited the Forcella palace, by invitation of the noble marquis. The palace faces the Marina, within a biscuit toss of the sea ; but so far as externals go, it appears like an ancient, unfinished, and dilapidated structure. Appearances, however, are sometimes deceitful. We were received at the entrance, amidst a mass of building-rubbish, by the owner himself, who, conducting us up a long flight of steps, presented to us a scene of magnificence rarely beheld. There was a suite of rooms rather small in themselves, but an THEFORCELLA. 139 exact restoration of Pompeii. I have long entertained the belief, that the ancients had very crude and imperfect notions of cleanliness or comfort, in the manner of washing their per- sons, or absorbing their drink, or partaking their food, in the absence of water-pipes, the want of ventilation, and cane- bottomed chairs ; but on regarding these elegant apartments, resplendent with polished marbles, frescoed walls, luxurious seats, and graceful lounges, I began to change my opinion. Passing from Pompeii, we came to the wonder of the palace the halls of the Alhambra. The ceilings were arch- ed, and presented the most exquisite carvings, gildings, and inlaid work imaginable ; while the walls were a mass of great slabs of porphyry, agate, jasper, petrifactions, and, in fact, every variety of the richest and most precious marbles that art and taste could combine and harmonize together. The floors, too, were one mass of elegant mosaic, in rare combination of coloring and taste, while a sparkling fountain threw out its cooling spray over a noble vase in the centre. All this splendor, joined to a little rapid rivulet which flowed through the palace, and fed leaping fountains on the terrace, makes the Forcella a miracle of beauty and perfection. In all the interior decoration, the marquis had been his own designer and architect, most of the mosaic work being done under his own eye, by children he had picked up in the street. The noble marquis also told us that, within the past fifteen years, he had expended upon the palace five hundred thousand ounces of Sicily more than a million of Spanish dollars and all to be bequeathed to his good friend the King, whose dear Chamberlain he was. 140 SCAMPAVIAS. From the Forcella we drove to the royal Chinese villa of La Favorita once a favorite residence of the king ; but for the past four years that potentate has not even visited Sicily, much less his charming estates near Palermo. The grounds, which comprise about six hundred English acres, are situated just behind the precipitous heights of Mount Pellegrino, towards the west and south. They are well planted with olives, limes, oranges, and sumac, all of which valuable productions are sold to fill the already plethoric private purse of the king. There are fine, broad alleys, and drives through the plantations, with, here and there, old towers, where, in the olden time, look-outs were posted to mark down the royal game which here abounded. There are spouting fountains, too, and one is known by a statue of Hercules, surrounded by four majestic obelisks of living green. The villa is a la Chinoise, the same style of architecture as that seen on old fashioned china plates, and perhaps contains more elements of pleasure, comfort, and coolness, than a Chinaman ever dreamed of. There is a large pleasant hall below the surface of the ground, for family reunions during the heats of summer ; spacious rooms above, with a dining- saloon and dumb-betty contrivance, where a select circle could be fed, and chat state secrets, without the hands or ears of servants to assist; then higher up, are delightful sleeping chambers, prettily tiled terraces, commanding lovely views around, and all capped by a Chinese bell-tower. We returned to Palermo, spread ourselves out on the ter- race of the Albergo Trinacria, took coffee, listened to the LA FAVOEITA. 141 delicious music from the Marina, watched the red gleaming torches of the fishermen out upon the bay, and, while the full moon dashed her soft light upon the surface of the water, we soon ceased to envy the king or kaiser. The following day, we dined in state with the Viceroy. His cook was an unexceptionable artiste, who had evidently taken his degrees in the three courts. The sun never shone on more delicate tipple than that which moistened our lips. The dinner was served rapidly with ices between the courses. Buckling on our harness, we made our salaams to the prince, and when left to ourselves, as we descended the palace stairs, my companions decided that it had been a particularly brown little repast ; in which I concurred, in all save a slight qualm I felt for having experimented upon a dish of queer shaped snails, which I ate out of pure curiosity, and which nearly were the death of me. However, I bore up with resignation, went on board the frigate, took the usual pre- scription, and passed the night peacefully. 142 SCAMPAVIA Chapter XIII. Chase of a Condessa. THE next morning, just as the bell had been struck eight, I was seated at the gun-room breakfast-table. My man, Angelo, was raising a barricade of oranges, eggs, chops, cherries, and a bottle of claret, before me. I was in a reflective mood, and, leaning on both elbows, watched my mess-mates as they severally emerged from their dens, and proceeded to lay in ballast for the day. I was somewhat depressed in spirit, and my thoughts would turn back to the Viceroy's snails, when, at the moment I had called up resolution to peck away at an egg, the gun-room windsail came tumbling through the hatchway, and nearly capsized me. " I say, Gringo, why will you always sit under that hatch?" quoth Doctor Bristles, as he seemed to enjoy my discomfiture with as keen a relish as the orange he was sucking. " Look here, you lubber, what are you about ?" I shouted, at any imaginary mizen-toprnan or quarter-deck loafer who might have committed the offense, in hopes that the guilty one would show himself and confess judgment at once. But CHASE OF A CONDESSA. 143 the only response I got was from the orderly on the gun- deck, who, exhibiting his white cross-belts and bright buttons over the coamings of the hatch, observed, " Av ye plase, sir, the awnings is jist spread, and the First Liftinint gave orders to Jet down the windsail." " O ! the windsail be bio wed." At this moment, the gun-room door opened, and in stepped my friend, Jack Toker. I must remark that Gracieux was his right name, and the one he bore on the purser's books in the first ship we sailed in ; but he changed it in expectation of a fortune which, by the way, he didn't get to Toker. Jack took his place at the head of the table, and, reaching over with a long arm, gave me a friendly slap on the back. " Hillo, my boy, you seem riled ; hope the noise of the holy stones didn't disturb your repose in the morning watch !" u Bah ! the holy stones be pitched overboard." "Hush, not a word against my small property, if you please, or by Saint Peter I'll try you by court-martial on the spot." This threat kept me quiet, and I went into the egg and chop business for some minutes without a word in reply. Presently, however, I leaned over towards my companion, and whispered : 11 What do you say to a quiet little run on shore, to-day ?" Jack elevated his eyebrows, and gave three distinct and emphatic nods bolting a mouthful of cherries at each inflec- tion thereby intimating that he was on hand. " Let's be rural," quoth Jack, after he had cracked several 144 SOAMPAVIAS. cherry-stones, and extracted the kernels, "and let's go in mufti, like Haroun, the Retchid, and wear loose white rigging and sombreros." Angelo smiled, and we felt assured that those articles of raiment would be in waiting for us when we left the ship. An hour later, the bell tolled for divine service, and our dear old Chaplain preached to us. Little did we think then, that that good, kind, and gentle mess-mate would be the first to leave us ; but no man knoweth his billet for even a day, and he fell a martyr to his duty, ministering to the sick and desolate, during the terrible scourge which swept over Nor- folk last summer. Peace be with thee, brave Eskridge, we drop a tear to thy memory ! After service, Toker and I quietly stowed ourselves in a shore-boat, while Angelo ensconced himself in the bow, with a bundle under each arm. As we were indifferent with respect to any settled plan of campaign, and were rather surfeited with palaces and churches, we engaged a com- fortable barouche at the Albergo Trinacria, changed all our toggery that was adorned with lace or navy buttons; took a moderate sip of iced pale ale, and a bite of cheese, and then bade our coachee to take us wherever he pleased. One or two of our fellows craned out at us from the balconies, and volunteered to hold our hats, and in fact, several jocose persons insisted upon accompanying us. We assured them our mission was a profound secret that we were in the pay of the police and then, planting our heels on the front cushions, we lit cheroots, and gave a signal to our Jehu to start. CHASE OF A CONDESSA. 145 With many a ringing crack of the whip we rattled out of the city, but where we went to I had no distinct idea ; all we absolutely knew was, that we were sometimes rolling along between walled gardens of fruits and flowers, trellised vines and waving fields of grain, groves of olives, dotted at inter- vals by quaint little clusters of houses with a moss-covered chapel in the midst ; again we came upon the brink of the Mediterranean, with the cool sea-breeze rustling over the waves which lapped the shore beneath our wheels, while the red-capped disciples of the nets were urging their boats silently over the water, or hauling in their seines. At last we drew up before the gates of the noble villa of Belmonto, only a few miles distant from Palermo. This char- ming residence was leased by the Earl of Shrewsbury, until his death, which occurred a few months subsequent to our visit. The Earl was the well known Catholic zealot, who for many years devoted his time and fortune to the advancement of his religion. The search after modern miracles was also one of his steadfast pursuits. The labors he gave to investi- gate the miracles of the winking Virgin at Rimini, and the Holy Coat at Treves, to say nothing of those wonders of the Adolorati and Staccati women, must of themseves have been very severe. We were politely shown over the villa by the servants, in the absence of the noble occupants. Like all Sicilian palaces, this is on a grand and spacious scale. The ceilings were handsomely frescoed, and the walls were hung with portaits of the earl and countess, and also their grandchildren, the sons of Prince Valmon. But what pleased me most was a gem 7 146 SOAMPAVIAS. of a painting, a present from the King, of Santa Rosalia. The sweet little saint is wrapped in a mantle of brown serge ; the lovely hands are crossed upon the bosom and clasp the beads and cross ; the rich auburn hair ripples in golden tresses upon the neck, and the head is crowned by a wreath of roses. The expression of the face is of soft devotion, and the whole effect of the figure is modest and charming. Leaving the palace, we strolled through the grounds, rested awhile in the little temple of Novura Sidus, and then pausiug to glance at the autograph of " Nicolas, primo," of all the Rus- sias, which that Czar had scratched with his sabre on a marble corner of the villa, during a visit Le made in 1845, we once more took to coach, and gave ourselves up to the driver, who, three hours post meridian, again carried us to the Albergo. Oh 1 my pleasure-seeking travellers, when wearied with the dust, din, heat, beggars, and extortion of southern Italy, jump on board the steamer and paddle over to the glorious bay of Palmero. Go to the Trinacria, where you will, per- chance, find a portly Boniface, who was for a score of years a courier of distinction and good repute, and who will, out of pure love for your society and dollars, treat you well and kindly. Toker and I chose a pleasant apartment on the sea side of the Albergo, and casting pillows and mats upon the tiled floor, we threw ourselves down and took a siesta. We slumbered tranquilly, as sailors do on shore, and might have emulated M. Van Winkle, had I not been startled by the sullen boom of heavy guns out upon the bay. I had CHASE OF A CONDESSA. 147 not the energy, however, to rouse myself up, so I gave my companion a vigorous kick near the region of the knee joints. Jack was lying quite loose about the floor, with his legs folded up like a two-foot rule. He was, by long odds, the handsomest fellow you ever saw, and withal the most graceful figure, though he admitted himself, in. his serious moments, that having been fed considerably upon ham down in " old Virginny," in his boyhood, he had run away a good deal into legs and arms. " Jack," said I, as he straightened himself out a bit, and rolled over on his back, " don't you think somebody is firing guns somewhere ?" " The very best imitation of them I ever heard," quoth my friend, as he once more twisted round on his side, and pushed the hair out of his glims. " Let's take a look." Accordingly, we kicked open the blinds, and there, half hidden in a dense mass of smoke, lay the French fleet, roaring and blazing away a royal salute, in honor of the Viceroy. We were wide awake by this time, and ordered dinner served upon the terrace. It was a charming little spread, light, pleasant and convivial. The Julien was perfect, and the Mb'et frapped to the atmosphere of a snow bank. All this, however, was as nothing to the lovely terrace, embowered as we were in a little thicket of lime and orange trees, inhaling the sweet fragrance of the early dew upon the fruit, and gazing, over our green almonds and walnuts, upon the rippling sea beyond, while the brass music from the ships of war in the distance, came melodiously over the water. 148 SCAMPAVIAS. " Do you know, shipmate," said Jack Toker to me, with a satisfied sigh, as he allowed his fingers to dabble in the finger bowl, " that we engaged a carriage for the day ?" I expressed myself thoroughly alive to that contract, and added something contemptuously with regard to the expense. " Bene, where shall we go ?" I suggested a quiet drive to the Floria gardens, an ice and a pipe in the Strada Toledo. Jack thought we might accomplish all that, and perhaps get up an intrigue with a princess, a countess, or other distinguished dame, which might give an air of romance to our day's recreation. The fact was, that several of our dandy mess-mates, in their jaunty caps, accurate coats, and spotless white trowsers, were continually making conquests of this description all over Italy never going to the opera without levelling their glasses at some remarkably beautiful woman in the boxes; or letting fly a volley of bravas at the prima donna, or the pets of the ballet. Now, Jack Toker and I, who rarely indulged in these diversions, became, at times, exceedingly exasperated, and entertained, withal, the belief that most of these conquests were mere myths ; for neither of us had encountered so much as a wink, or a wave of a fan, since we had been in the Mediterranean. Accordingly, Jack being my superior officer, I acquiesced in his proposition. In the court-yard, we found our carriage the driver coiled up on his perch, fast asleep, with the whip held firmly by his teeth. We recalled him to a sense of his duties by a CHASE OF A CONDESSA. 149 summary method, when exclaiming " andiam, siyniori? he cracked his thong, and put his cattle in motion. The moon was round as a wheel, and bright as a mirror. The broad marble-paved stradas were crowded with vehicles, rolling slowly toward the Marina; the cafes were brilliant with light, and the ices and lemonades were melting away like mist, between the lips of the pretty women who reclined and sipped them in their carriages. A close column of troops, or a squadron of cavalry, with glancing arms or clat- tering sabres, would occasionally block the way ; but we, unmindful of all, pushed on resolutely in search of our princess. We traversed the Toledo, drove to the new gardens back by the Marina, and so, round and round the city, until we made ourselves somewhat remarkable for our ubiquity, and after all our fatigue there never a countess or even contadina smiled upon us. Hereupon we held a council of war, and resolved to call the first man out who dared to plume him- self upon having won the affections of any lady of whatever rank or fortune, for the future. Unluckily we did not come to this determination a few minutes sooner; for just at this epoch, we suddenly found ourselves shut up in a dense procession, in honor of Saint Ursula. The old lady was escorted by a battalion of Swiss guards and a crashing band of music. She was lying flat on her back, on a satin couch, and borne on a gilded trestle. She had a crown of jewels on her waxy and venerable head bogus trinkets, we presumed and in other respects of raiment and finery, she was got up entirely regardless of 150 SCAMPAVIAS. expense. At every few paces, the car and the Saint were let down to be admired by the populace, while showers of sky- rockets went streaming up into the air, and chants arose from pious throats, and church chimes were banging deafening peals, balconies illuminated, damask canopies were suspended across the streets, and still, all the while, poor Saint Ursula was turned, and twisted, and frisked about in all directions, until they finally bore her away, and it is to be hoped " Put her to bed, With a pain in her heels and a pain in her head, To dream in her delirious fever Of a high trotting horse and a black deceiver." We were forced, however, to follow or be driven in her path until we reached the Floria gardens, when we made our way to the music of the Marina. It was past midnight when we found ourselves reclining in the stern sheets of a bowl of a boat, and moving slowly over the gentle swell of the bay. Our oarsmen chanted a low Sicilian refrain as their oar-blades dipped in the tranquil water, and the music still wandered sweetly in our wake from the Marina. My companion was lying on his back, with his heels well drawn up, and his sombrero hanging on his knees. His head rested on his hands, and a cigar burned dimly between his teeth. He was the first to break silence. " Harry, my lad,'' said he, in a cheerful way, " this would be pure, real enjoyment if we only had those dear ones at home to enjoy all these pleasant scenes with us. This has CHASE OF A CONDESSA. 151 been the only drawback to the downright fancy I have for the navy. These long separations from those we love," he went on, "often sadden me in my gayest moments, and I sometimes mentally swear that if it please heaven to waft me once more to my little anchorage at home, no man with the badge of Neptune, shall ever tear me away. Then again," continued Jack, " the service has its charms, it is a gallant and honorable profession; promotion, though Tontine in its system, may come one of these days. If there ever come a war we have a chance for a gold chain or a wooden leg for you know, my boy, the spray and the prize money go aft." " And more than all," I interrupted, seizing Toker by the fist, " we yearn kindly towards our dear and true companions from boyhood to manhood; fellows with warm, generous hearts, and unselfish souls, with whom we have buffeted the ocean in all parts of the globe, and whom we feel and know to be as staunch and steadfast as the needle to the pole." I should have, perhaps, gone on in this strain for an hour, had not the sharp hail of " Qui vive !" from a sentinel on board the French admiral's ship, the " Ville de Paris," as we crossed the shade of his counter, warned us that we were approaching our own frigate. An hour later, we quietly weighed anchor, and, with the early breath of the land-wind, the ship moved majestically through the French fleet, and stood out to sea. 152 SCAMPAVTAS. Chapter XIV. KING BOMBA IN PERSPECTIVE. Piedigrotta. WE had a rapid run over to Naples, and in twenty-four hours we were again riding at our anchors within rifle shot of Santa Lucia. PIEDIGROTTA. 153 The eighth of September was the anniversary of the grand Festa of Piedigrotta. The origin of this festival is not very remote. On the night of the tenth of August, 1741, king Charles of Bourbon beat the Austrians at Belletri, under the following circumstances : Count Lobkowitz, who commanded them, had previously surprised the king's troops, and nearly made the king himself prisoner. But the latter collecting in haste a few troops, not far distant, fell unawares upon the victorious enemy, and completely routed them. This victory secured the crown of the two Sicilies to Charles, who founded the present dynasty, and instituted the Festa di Piedigrotta to celebrate the event. For some days previous, government steamers had been arriving with troops from all points of the coast, and on the morning of the celebration, the city was absolutely swarming like a bee-hive with soldiers. I attended the Commodore on shore, and pushing our way through the dense crowds which thronged the streets, to the Villa Reale, we gained our position on a broad balcony, about mid-way of the Chiaja. The batteries and large masses of artillery and cavalry were planted at both outlets of the garden, while a triple rank of infantry lined both sides of the wide strada through which the procession was to pass. It was a glorious sight to look down upon the bright and glittering hosts beneath us. Heavy dragoons, hussars, and cuirassiers, with jet black horses, and shining helme's; lancers with fluttering plumes, steel and pennons; brilliant uniforms, and splendid trappings of numerous generals and 7* 154 SOAMPAVIAS. taff-officers ; battalions of Swiss guards in gorgeous scarlet- facings; then, regiment after regiment, in heavy marching order, and squadron after squadron, passed down the line to take position beyond, until the eye fairly became bewildered with the red, and white, and lace, and glitter of the large holiday army moving before us, and the air filled with the sounds of champing bits, clinking weapons, and musical carillons of bells. There were fifty-eight battalions of infan- try ; forty squadrons of horse, and nine full batteries ; in all, not less than sixty-five thousand troops under review, though, at the same time, there did not seem to have been any diminution of regular sentinels and reliefs at the numerous barracks, and other military posts throughout the city. As far as the eye could reach, and even beyond, from the gates of the royal palace, by San Carlos, to the church of Piedigrotta a distance of about two and a half miles there was little else but troops. I was very much impressed with their fine soldierly appearance. The infantry were full sized, and went through their evolutions in a creditable manner. The artillery did not move from their position, but their guns, horses, and equipments, were modern and serviceable. Whether this fine array will ever cross bayonets, with guns unlimbered in battle, with the proper degree of pluck, remains for future historians to narrate. At four o'clock, the cannon of castle d'Ovo announced the departure of the royal cortege from the palace, and then came the heavy booming roar from the foreign ships-of-war in port, while as the procession approached the Chiaja, the Neapolitan squadron moored abreast the villa, with yards FlEDIGBOTTA. 155 manned, and the ships decked in gay bunting, pealed forth their salutes, also. Soon, there wheeled into the broad strada a squadron of hussars preceding a royal coach of brass, bearing the crown, drawn by eight horses, with uncovered grooms at the bridles ; then came another body of horse and four pursui- vants, richly dressed in gold lace and blue satin, who walked before a splendid glass and gilded carriage, surmounted by white plumes, and surrounded by a brilliant staff of generals, which held the king and queen. This was followed by two more state coaches and eight horses all magnificently caparisoned containing the heir apparent a fine looking youth and his sister. Again the cortege swept slowly on, followed by thirteen more coaches- and-six, like the others, attended by bare-headed grooms, and the whole closed by solid squadrons of lancers and dragoons. As the royal carriage passed down the line, the bands of the different regiments burst forth in martial strains, the troops presented arms, and the colors were dipped to the ground. The king a fat, coarse looking person raised his eye-glass on passing each regiment ; but it seemed more from curiosity than pleasure in beholding his fine army. But from all the dense multitude which thronged the gar- den in rear of the infantry, there never a cheer nor viva went up ; no, not a cry or shout broke forth from the listless and silent masses, to greet their sovereign. Ah ! magnificent and pious Ferdinand, you may, perhaps, slay and stab with those hosts of bayonets and sabres, but they cannot be made to 156 SCAMPAVIAS. shout paeans of thanksgiving to your glory. Perhaps, too, among those groups of haggard, wretched spectators, there arose many a stifled curse upon the cruel King, while their hearts yearned towards the eight thousand prisoners of state who were mouldering in their chains, deep down in the gloomy dungeons of those rock-bound castles which start up out there upon the lovely bosom of the bay. Have a care, most princely Bourbon, " la gallina covava" and when an out- raged people, rising in their might, thunders at your palace gates, neither sword, rosary, nor saint can save you. The procession was nearly an hour on its journey to the little church of Piedigrotta, where the annual vow was made, when they returned in the same order to the palace. Then the troops, from the other extremity of the line, broke up into marching order, sometimes three regiments abreast the Swiss guards swinging by in advance, and nothing was seen save the close serried forests of steel, until the whole ended by the artillery and cavalry. That night our republican frigate made sail, and before the lurid glare from the summit of Vesuvius was put to shame by the rising sun, we were running with the snorting sea-breeze along the island of Ischia, with our head for northern Italy. In a few days we once more furled sails in the glori- ous gulf of La Spezia. A LAND SLID]':. 15T Chapter XV A Land Slide. THE awnings of the Frigate were closely tented fore and aft the spar-deck; the rain came hammering down in a steady deluging manner ; a few topmen and some bare-legged marines were pattering around the eaves of the canvas roof, 158 SCAMPAVIAS. catching buckets of fresh water for a quiet scrub somewhere in the waist. The sentries at the gangways were moulting like wet chickens over their muskets ; the old salt of a quar- ter-master on the look-out on the poop, wrapped in his oil-skin jacket, with a spy-glass clasped in his arms, was masticating his tobacco-cud, beneath the drippings from his tarpaulin, with all the enjoyment in life. The officer of the watch was slowly pacing the quarter-deck upon a. temporary plank-road, made of gratings, to keep his feet out of the puddles of water which flowed beneath. The ship was riding uneasily at her anchors, with heavy gusts tearing down the western gorges of the mountains, and a cross swell was rolling into the gulf. Through the open spar-deck ports could be seen the lateen fishing-boats, two abreast, scudding in from seaward, with their sails reefed down, seeking a haven in the quiet basins of Fezzana or Marola ; while in-shore of us, towards the town, a small fleet of feluccas and coasting-craft were making all snug for a gale. It was two hours past high noon when I mounted the after- ladder, and touched my visor to the officer on guard. That individual, Lieutenant Frank Bimshaw, returned my salute with a jerk of his right fore-finger upward, and pausing in his walk, made the following observation : " I say, Gringo, if you know of anybody who has been lay- ing by money for a rainy day, here's the place for him to come and spend it." Mr. Bimshaw said this with some exasperation ; for every few moments a squall of wind would give the awning a A LAND SLIDE. 159 vicious shiver, and dash the chill October rain in his face. "Hallo," he added, "what are you going to do with that valise I see there at the fife-rail ?" " Going ashore with it." "What in?" " Gig ; orders," I replied, sententiously. " Oh ! you are, eh ? life insured, and will made, I hope !" Bimshaw said this with real sympathy, but recollecting perhaps, that duty was paramount to all personal considera- tions, he smothered his feelings, and ordered a boatswain's mate to u man the gig." The boat was soon at the gangway, and, watching a favora- ble lull, I jumped in, and with a bit of sail, no bigger than a napkin, we shot away like a gull towards the head of the gulf. The slim little boat tugged and strained at the main-sheet, but still she danced gaily over the rising sea, and never shipped a drop of brine during our brief voyage. I was bound inland, and was anxious to intercept the dili- gence from Leghorn. No sooner had I leaped on shore, than that vehicle hove in sight, and announced its coming by a cannonade of whip-crackings from the thongs of the postil- lions; and shortly after, lumbering through the drenched little streets, it drew up before the post office. To ray dis- may, there was not a vacant place in the diligence a wonder that had not been known for more than a century. My hand- some friend, Galleazi, however, came to my aid, and there being another in the same pickle with myself, he sent for an extra voiture. 160 SCAMPAVIAS. A bargain was soon struck, with the understanding that two other well-disposed youths should occupy the vacant seats. It was getting dark as the horses were roped in ; my valise was strapped on, and in we got. The voiture, from an im- perfect view afforded by a lantern through the heavy rain, had a venerable appearance, and bore a striking resemblance to an old, frowzy, bonneted woman ; but withal, rather com- fortable we found it inside. I lit a cigar and took my place. Of the two extra pas- sengers, one was a good, stout, wholesome-looking Genoese sailor, who was bound on a visit to his mother, prior to his departure for California as third mate of a brigantine. The other was a sturdy fellow, dressed in a fustian jacket with brass buttons, relievo'd in dogs, all of which I was able to discover by the light from my cigar. He was attended by a pointer bitch, which I at once kicked out of the vehicle. This proceeding caused some inquietude to the owner (who told me he was a marble-cutter from Carrara, and I presume had probably stolen the brute), and he never ceased keep- ing his neck stretched out of tho window, whistling or chirp- ing to his property. The sailor became very masonic. He related to me his private biography in the first five minutes, and then made personal friends, by pulling out a jack-knife and a pear from his trowsers pockets, which he cut in halves and divided gen- erously between us. In a short time we all became friendly and sociable. The road from Spezia towards Genoa leads up the high hills back of the town by a steep succession of zigzags, until TUSCAN BRIGANDS. 161 the summit of the ridge is gained, and then down we went on the other slope to the valley of Borghetto ; where wind- ing along a branch of the river Magra, with the rain still descending in torrents, bells ringing the vesper chimes, and lights twinkling through the misty gloom, we drove into the little town of Borghetto. Here we stayed till some chickens were killed, plucked, and grilled for supper, at which repast the sailor stood treat for a three-franc bottle of Marsalla when our Jehu, Guiseppe, putting his weather-beaten mahogany profile within the door, cried, " Andiam, Signori? and we passed out of the albergo in readiness for the road. Before taking our places, however, we discovered a small corps of three stragglers, who it seemed were about to occupv some hitherto unknown portion of the vehicle. The general aspect of these gentry was certainly forbidding. They had a dash of real theatrical brigands, with bushy black beards and gleaming eyes, surmounted by regular robber red caps, which hung in bags down their backs. Moreover, they were a trifle under the influence of drink, somewhat incoherent in speech, and altogether rude and boisterous in behavior. I examined them attentively by the glare of the lanterns, and though they did not strike me as being moral specimens of humanity, yet they might prove perfectly harmless. If, on the other hand, as brigands, they chose to labor in their vocation, why it might prove a round family game, and we all could take a hand. This was the way I reasoned. My companions, however, seriously demurred to continuing* the journey ; the sailor more particularly, and being in a high 162 SCAMPAVIAS. state of alarm and Marsalla, he positively refused to budge a step in such very suspicious company. Meanwhile, I held a private council with Guiseppe, and as he assured me, by half a dozen saints of his especial venera- tion, that the bandits in question were friends of his poor Tuscan peasants, a little the worse for wine and that there was not the slightest danger to be apprehended from them, I then boldly encouraged my comrades. I assured them I had pistols I meant those on board the Frigate and if the worst came to the worst, we were four to three, and we might in case of need, assassinate the villains beforehand, or as soon as we got clear of the town. These, with other cheering reflections, calmed, for a time, the general panic, and we all resumed our places. The pointer bitch made a bolt during this crisis, to get in also, when by mistake, I kicked her mas- ter severely on the shins, which he at once transferred to the brute, and so kept her out. With the exception of the stout sailor, whose fears still beguiled him, we were again tolerably comfortable. Our course lay up the mountains, the rain still beat upon the rough road, and our pace was tediously slow. Feeling myself quite happy, even amid these discomforts, I wrapped in a plaid, and resigned myself to a jolting sort of doze. Soon after midnight I was aroused by the wheels coming to a dead lock, and presently the cochero put his old face in at the window, and implored us to descend and have a care for our several necks. The night was black as Avernus. The muttering thunder of the waves greeted our ears, as the sound came up from the G U I 8 K P P E . 163 sea with angry gusts of wind ; and the fog and rain made the atmosphere so opaque that the carriage-lantern could hardly pierce the darkness. By the rood, the mules, too, harnessed three abreast, were becoming uneasy, which was in itself remarkable, since those animals are of a phlegmatic tempera- ment, and never exert themselves without cause. " Signori," bawled Giuseppe, " get down." "Cospetto," I swore genteelly, " a gentleman to descend in all this fog, mud, and drizzle, with patent-leather boots, when he has paid ever so many francs to be taken drv to Chiavari. Oh ! no ! Signor Guiseppe." Accordingly I refused to stir, believing, at the time, that the disagreeables attending a tramp under the circumstances were greater than a reasonable biped could endure. Well, on we creaked and jolted a little while longer, when another halt occurred, and the driver again opened the coach door. On this occasion I began the conversation by inquiring, 41 When he thought we should arrive, provided the wind held ?" To this nautical interrogatory he promptly replied : in forty days and nights; and that the Capitano had better talk to the lovely Madonna to save him from tumbling into the Mediter- ranean,, instead of calling out for the Diavolo. " Lascia la burla quando piu place" he added gruffly, as he turned to his kicking mules. Finding that Guiseppe was a wit as well as a Jehu, and that I was only wasting time and breath by resisting his entrea- ties, I therefore alighted. My companions did the same, as they seemed somehow to regard me in the light of a leader* and protector. 164 SCAMPAVIAS. On getting pretty firmly planted in the mud outside the vehicle, and peering about a little in the gloom, what was my indignation to discover two of our brigand passengers stretched on top of the luggage, clasped in each other's arms and crying piteously ; while the third villain was strapped on to the boot and snoring like a porpoise. I immediately took vigorous measures to dislodge the whole party. This I achieved by prying them out separately from their nests, with a sharp, iron-pointed, little stick, and requesting them to tramp in the mire with their betters. Indeed, they were so peace- able and tractable, that I had some idea of insisting upon their transporting me bodily on their backs the remaining portion of the journey. I did not, however, wish to desert my friends. But what was to be done? We were upon the steep slopes of the mountains which fringe the Mediterranean ; loose rocks and earth, undermined by heavy and incessant rains for a month past, had, in many places, swept away the track, and, indeed, the hoarse, roaring slide of these ava- lanches every few minutes resounded in our ears. Our best plan, however, was to get on as soon as possible. So, attended by the sailor with a lantern, I marched ahead, while the other varlets walked by the bridles of the mules, or buoyed the wheels over defective places in the road. We made slow headway ; but it was the only safe course to pursue. Nor had Guiseppe at all exaggerated the peril ; for, as we wound and toiled along the sheer faces of the pre- cipices, with the noise of the land-slides around us in the valleys, the loud crash of the waves breaking with the force of the gale upon the rock-ribbed coast, hundreds of feet PORTO FINO. 165 beneath us, I felt convinced that Guiseppe was a friend and safe guide to travellers. For four mortal hours, drenched to the bones with rain, fog, wind, and mud, we trudged on, until at last daylight struggled through the dense vapor ; the road became more passable ; we regained our seats in the carriage ; the bandits festooned themselves on behind ; Guiseppe swung his person into the saddle, and in due season we rattled into the city of Chiavari. In a few minutes I sought shelter within a small cafe*, while the torrents of rain pattered so fiercely upon the paved marble streets, as to deaden the music of the matin Sunday bells. Signor Guiseppe, having disposed of his mules, stood before me. He seemed a combination of a cataract and water-ram. His huge flapped hat still poured out streams over his face and shoulders, while, at every movement in his enormous postillion boots, the mud and water jetted up to his nose. I paid Guiseppe liberal buona-mano for his ser- vices, to which I added a stiff mixture of rum and chocolate, having myself experimented in that compound to prevent the night-dews from striking into the system. I took a place in the banquette of the diligence for Genoa, and, wet as I was, I enjoyed the drive greatly. The road as magnificent a work as this part of Italy presents leads high up the projecting acclivities of the mountains bordering upon the sea, where, for many miles, the traveller seems to overhang the beetling crags below. At the headland of Porto Fino, the sun burst forth, and the view was positively magnificent. 166 S O AMPA VI A 8 . From east to west, the eye ranges along the receding shores; the points and rocky capes indented with gothio/- shaped curves, guarded by giant promontories, sparkle with villages by the margin of the sea ; while towns, spires, groves, and terraced vineyards, deck the slopes above, and the Medi- terranean, with its broad blue expanse specked far and near with white sails, comes rolling in with headlong impetuosity upon the iron-bound coast dashing its foam into wild and fanciful wreaths, and filling up the glorious picture. They make fine lace in Brussels and France, and warm colored velvets in Italy ; but the sea, the sun, the sky, and a gale upon a coast like this, can put to blush the most gossamer fabrics and the most gorgeous hues ever woven or dyed by the hands of man. Three changes of horses brought us to Genoa, where, taking a coupe" corner in the Bonafous diligence for Arquata, I retired to the vestibule of the Brignoli palace, where I had my boots polished by a youth of some fifty summers, and made myself somewhat tidy these liberties not being uncommon in the palaces of the nobility. From there I went to the cafe" Concordia, had a decentish dinner, and so on, for another night in the coach. I took my place in the huge leviathan of a diligence, and should, I think, have dozed through the journey peacefully, had it not been for a brace of velvet merchants of Genoa beside me, who talked veluti, taking snuff and sneezing between whiles, the entire distance. I made a futile attempt to get up a chat with one, by asking if he parleyed Fran9ais, TURIN. 167 to which he responded, "un pew," and the other replied to the same interrogatory in the English vernacular, "a small," so there the conversation ended. Though the rain had ceased and the weather partially cleared, yet the roads were dreadfully heavy and cut up with deep ruts. Still we were making good time, when at the turn of a bridge, where the magnificent work for the new railway was then under construction, a large loaded fourgon got stuck in the mud directly in our way, which detained us an hour. When enabled to get on, notwithstanding rapid driving, we only reached Arquata a minute before the train started. I was ushered into the cars with exceeding firmness and great politeness, on the part of a smart field-officer, or aid- de-camp to some distinguished military personage, as I took him to be, until I afterwards discovered that all the employes of the railway were attired in a similar manner. However, everything was exceedingly well managed ; and it was, at the same time, solacing to reflect that, in the event of an accident of a serious nature, the president and directors of the com- pany were liable to be put in the galleys for life. We glided quietly over the level plains of Piedmont until morning, and then we were at Turin. Here I found sufficient business to occupy me until towards evening, when I again took lodgings in a diligence ; this time my quarters were in the third story, up in the imperiale, or banquette. I kept my eyes open as we crashed and rattled through the noble streets of the city, and even for some miles along the grand avenue of elms of the Mont Cenis road ; but the 168 SOAMPAVIAS. last incident I remember was, the postillion on the leaders, letting off a sharp volley of whip-cracks at several clusters of Jesuit priests walking unicorn beneath the trees, when I went off to sleep, to be prepared for the snow-clad mountains before us. When I awoke, I beheld a long line of horses, mules, and oxen ahead of the ponderous coach, slowly tugging us up the sides of the pass. The night was clear, cool, and bracing ; the stars twinkled merrily, and, about midway up the moun- tain, I alighted, and walked to the top on foot. Here we cast off our sturdy oxen and spare beasts, and, again climbing up to my roost, we ran down the opposite slopes, into the valleys of Lombardy ; while the glorious sun poured its rays from the everlasting snows above, down to the dancing, foam- ing torrents, which leaped and bounded noisily beside us. The banquette of a diligence is not a place provocative of quiet repose ; but, in fine weather, one has air and light, so that on occasions it is to be preferred. I was fortunate, too, in finding a place even there; for every inch of space was filled below, and another individual (who, by the way, was a sharp Yorkshire horse-dealer, returning from Parma, where he had disposed of some showy old rips to the Duke) was obliged to crawl away behind, in amidst the straw and the luggage. How he escaped suffocation, was then, and is now, to me, a mystery. Towards noon, we stopped at the little town of St. Jean, where we breakfasted at the table d'hote of the Lion d'or. I regret to say that I made an unfavorable impression on the mind, and especially the countenance of the strapping THE BANQUETTE. 169 girl garden who served the repast, by helping myself twice to red-legged partridges. Rolling on from Saint Jean, through a delightful country, with the valleys widening in all directions, water bubbling everywhere, and the vintage just ready for gathering, at dark we found ourselves in Chambery. We were approaching France. You know that by the taste of the wine, which is thin and pure, and quite unlike the bitter, husky, acrid, rotten-apple goft,t of all the thick-skin- ned grapes of Italy. At Chambery the vender of horses left us ; but while I was standing beside the coach, waiting for a ladder to reach my lodgings, I found his place was supplied by a person who hailed me with : " Monseer etes vouge Francay ?" " No," I replied, " but you are a Johannes Taurus, I rather fancy." " Oho !" he chuckled, " and you are a Jonathan, and Fm glad to find a Christian in this country who speaks Saxon." Thereupon, we held a council upon the stock of prog and drink we had for the night ; and I discovered that my new acquaintance was amply supplied with every creature comfort, save what he called " pipes ;" and, as I happened to have the articles he desired (cigars), why I took my place, and we passed the time cheerfully until we came to Pont Beauvoisin, on the French frontier. Here, on the little bridge, we were forced to wait until our turn came to be examined by the douaniers ; and when, at last, it did come, the diligence was dragged into a great building, unloaded, luggage overhauled, plombd, restowed 8 170 SOAMPAVIAS. again, and all made right : then we went on a few miles further, where pretty much the same process was gone through again, before we finally resumed our journey. At Beauvoisin, I came into possession of a corner of tho coupe", which was not a bad exchange from the realms above ; for the rain began to fall, and I preferred to keep my raiment dry. One of my companions in the coup was a slim student, in a black velvet cap and spectacles, highly scented with garlic, and indulging in a frugal repast of Bologna-sausage and brown bread. Withal he remained in the profoundest state of mental abstraction. The other occupant was a huge, fat monster, with a face like a heated oven, and very unwieldy in the legs, which were carefully swathed in green baize. I soon became aware that he was the pere defamille of a small band of six in the interior of the diligence, consisting of la mere, who was built on the same model as her old epoux, and five daughters, who had evidently been launched from the same ways. The name of this interesting family was Cottini, who were grocers of means in Genoa, and bound on a pleasure excur- sion to Paris. The senior Cottini being, as I have already affirmed, very large of girth, and heavy of limb, took up, as a consequence, his full share of room, and rather more ; so that I was squeezed like a lemon for the remainder of the drive. If this venerable parent had remained quiescent in his obesity, I should have become resigned to minor inconveni- ences ; but every few minutes he would break out in a snort, THE COTTINI FAMILY. 171 roll his walrus-like proportions over me or the contemplative student, and roar some solicitous observations out of the win- dow, with respect to the health or comfort of his interesting spouse and progeny in the interior. The delay at the frontier and the inner custom-house cor- don had belated us considerably, and, since I was extremely anxious to reach Lyons in time for the Saone steamer, I did not cease to " drink the horses," as it is termed ; by giving the conductor francs at various auberges where we changed cattle ; which seemed to exercise a beneficial influence upon the postillions, and the teams galloped along bravely. Day- light found us rolling rapidly over the fine level roads towards the Rhone. At eight o'clock we drew up at the outer bar- rier of the great town of Lyons, when the polite Octroi people made the usual demand of: " Rien declarer, Messieurs ?" Of course, no one ever has anything to declare ; but, on this occasion, what was my horror, to hear the senior Cottini announce a cheese as big as a millstone, which he had brought from Genoa. Here was another detention, to make out half a dozen forms for a small duty of seventeen sous, when every minute was valuable. This matter disposed of, we continued slowly on through the crowded thoroughfares, until we came to the Rhone bridge, where, again, in reply to another Octroi man, the truthful Cottini would declare that same cheese. I lost all patience, and promised, if he would pitch it into the river, I would get him the contract to supply the fleet when I got back to the Mediterranean. But no ! my entreaties were laughed to scorn, and I saw at once that the prettiest of the Cottini demoiselles despised me. 172 SOAMPAVIAS. At last we crawled over the bridge, and descended at the court-yard of the Messagerie. I seized my valise, sprang into a cab, and, by furious driving, succeeded in getting on board of the steamer just as the paddles were put in motion. 8hortly after I beheld the entire Cottini brood arrive, shriek- ing on the quay, "with uplift arms, and broken-hearted," but, greatly to my satisfaction, we steamed rapidly away, and left them and their cheese to fate. All through the day in the pouring rain we paddled up the river, until, towards nightfall, we came to the luxurious rail- way carriages at Chalons. From this time forth, I have a confused recollection of rush- ing through Paris to Havre ; of there going on board a small black beetle of a steam-tug and sailing out to the good ship Humboldt, lying in the offing ; of the manner in which the beetle ran into the paddle-box of that ship and butted her bowsprit short off: how in going to the port again, the pas- sengers were regaled with our national anthem of Yankee Doodle, played by two boys with each a grinder ; how, with an addition to my responsibilities of a lady and baby, I was kept in pawn by the attentive douaniers, until the trunks had been divested of cigars ; how at last we glided back to Paris, where we saw the entre'e of the Prince President. That was a sight of which I still retain a vivid recollection. From the barriere at the Lyons terminus over the bridge of Austerlitz, all the way by the Boulevards to the Place Concorde, the avenues were lined with dense masses of troops. Clouds of cavalry swept through the open space on a trot, and presently appeared a brilliant throng of generals, while. PARIBIENNo. 46. 173 sixty yards in advance, rode Louis Napoleon. He was mounted on a superb Arabian, and sat him like an Arab. He looked proud and elated, as well he might, since he had first taught the bourgeois of Paris that the departments of France could make revolutions as well as they ; and this triumphal entry was the result of it. My memory again becomes confused, and I remember nothing of consequence until we found ourselves at the city of Lyons, in the Hotel Univers at three o'clock one raw, foggy morning. It was at this unchristian-like hour that we were summoned to prepare to embark on the Rhone boat ; not that the boat had the slightest intention of starting at the time designated, but simply the matter is done to make people uncomfortable. A Frenchman knows no more of managing a steamboat than of driving trotting horses. These feats he has never been able to accomplish. The whole service of the river steam navigation in France is carried on in a slip- shod, careless, indifferent manner, and no mere passenger can tell where, when, or how, to reach his destination. So on the occasion I speak of, when the omnibus poked its way through the fog to the banks of the Rhone to embark us on board the "Parisien, No. 46," after wading ankle-deep in the mud between crowds of ruffianly porters, with huge loads of trunks or merchandise on their shoulders, striving to dash the brains out of quiet persons within reach, we at last by a suc- cession of miracles contrived to get buffeted on to a slippery plank bridge leading to the steamer, and then to slide, at the risk of our necks, to the deck. Such a filthy, miserable craft the best on the river, too I never beheld. She was 174 SOAMPAVIAS. about two hundred feet long and fourteen wide. Luggage, carriages, and merchandise filled four-fifths of this space on the deck, and the passengers were huddled into the remainder. Below, in what was called, in superlative French, the " grand salon" were holes shaped like bread-trays, with scarcely room for two persons to sit face to face, yet it was so jammed with men, women, and children, that to move was simply an impossibility. In addition to the disagreeables below, the fog and drizzle on deck combined with the filthy jets of smoke from the low pipes, pouring their offerings just into our eyes ? made the " Parisien, No. 46," the most abominable beast con- ceivable. I had but one unceasing aspiration, that of beholding the directors of the company simmering in their own boilers. After squabbling with hotel-porters, and being extortion- ized by a villain encased in a wooden box on the bridge, for extra luggage, I at last had the satisfaction of seeing my trunks plunged pell-mell, like so many paving stones, down into the hold. The " Parisien, No. 46," had been advertised to leave punctually at four o'clock, yet it was long past six before any demonstration was made at all in that direction. Then her nose was pushed out into the stream, where she lay broad- side on to the strong current, reeling half over with a great top-heavy weight of freight, until I thought every instant she would roll bodily over and drown all hands. 11 So now the headlong, headstrong boat, Unmanaged, turns aside, And straight presents her reeling flank Against the swelling tide." THE EHONE. 175 She escaped, however, and, after several trials, her head was turned down the stream ; but then the fog came up, and we seemed to be shrouded in wool. So, once more, we were made fast to ring-bolts on the river's bank, and waited in all the slime, suffocation, and discomfort, for a glimmer of sun- shine to enable us to begin our voyage. In another hour the weather brightened and away we skimmed with the rushing tide. The Rhone was at a high stage of water, which rather added to the difficulties of the navigation ; at all times not safe in descending. Owing to the extreme length and narrowness of the boat, she became at times unmanageable, and, when caught in the whirling eddies of the water, she would be spun like a cork out of the course, and, notwithstanding the stout helmsmen, perched high up on the steering platform over the stern, would ply the tiller ropes with all their force, the rudder could not direct the hull. Once we were within an ace of being cracked to pieces like a walnut, upon a sharp reef of rocks near the bank ; and again, in shooting a bridge, we grazed one of the piers so narrowly that I thought it was all up with us ; this, too, going at a speed of full eighteen miles the hour, with steam and current, would have made the chances of salvation desperate for the three hundred souls on board. In all my canal, river, and ocean experience, from a bolsa to a line of battle-ship, I never sailed in such a dan- gerous vessel as that " Parisien." This class of boats are merely long iron tubes, not braced nor strengthened in any substantial way the plates no thicker than pasteboard and the inevitable consequence 176 SCAMPAVIAS. must be, that if they happen to touch amidships, they will break in two pieces like a stick. To fancy one of these sheet-iron bottles filling in five seconds, and the scene that would follow. Ah ! Towards noon, the sun had killed the fog, and had it not been for the smoke-pipes being lowered every few miles, and charging the passengers to the brim with coal soot, we might have enjoyed some transient gratification in beholding the fine country, with the cultivated fields and vineyards around us. At intervals we touched at landings along the river, and then the confusion knew no bounds. Order or authority did not exist ; but we were overrun by coarse ruffians, with short pipes and blouses, who dashed on board and seized any article they could lay violent hands on. These fellows were Goths, to be sure, but they proved to be gentlemen of the Grandison school, compared to the merry men whom we encountered at Avignon. By the rood, the porters of this ancient residence of the holy fathers of Saint Peter are rascals of eminence ! Stand clear ! Here they come. The " Parisien " has backed alongside the river's bank, darkness is over us, and here come the porters. May the Bon Dieu befriend the timid and the weak of limb, who oppose their progress ! Here they are, these brutal enfans du Diable, right in amongst us. What is it they want ? Is it pillage, rape, or murder, they have come for ? No ! trunks ! trunks ! They are desperate fellows, and will have them. It is needless to strive against their violence, abuse, extor- THE MERRY PORTERS. 177 tion, or rascality. There is no redress. They not only snap their fingers at the police, but being, as a class, wealthy, they maintain three hundred superannuated old miscreants ; and all get drunk together every night of their lives, after the depredations of the day are ended. I had sturdily refused to permit a single one of these brigands to carry off my effects, until a servant returned from seeking lodgings in the town ; but, meanwhile, most of the luggage had been pounced upon, and there was very little game left. I was, however, constantly assailed with oppro- brious epithets, for daring to defend my property. But, at last, one venerable villain, of moderate dimensions, resolving, perhaps, to put a stop to all such nonsense, boldly seized one of my trunks. His companions were, for the moment, invisi- ble. I had been in a tempest of suppressed rage all the voy- age, and, without more provocation, I planted a blow right between the eyes of the old harpy, which hurled him with such violence against the coaming of the paddle-guards that I reasonably presumed it would incapacitate him for plunder, and place him hors-de-combat for many "Parisiens" to come. In a moment I had changed my hat and cloak for a cap and shawl, so that when the howls of 'my fallen adversary attracted the attention of a horde of his comrades, they could not detect the aggressor. During the evening, however, the little square in front of our hotel was thronged with porters, and a committee appointed, after due consultation, to dis- cover, if possible, the person who had assaulted one of their honorable body. I need not say that the investigation was 8* 178 SCAMPAVIAS. a failure ; but I believe there was not a man in that old town who ate his supper, or drank his Bordeaux with greater satisfaction that night than I did. Indeed, when rolling on the following day to Marseilles, it was with a resigned and grateful heart that I looked back to the injury I had inflicted on the Avignon porter. After a few days of repose at Marseilles, we embarked in another nasty bed-buggy boat for Genoa, where, with a little caravan of children, to whom I caused to be administered a teaspoonful of paregoric all round, to keep them quiet during the night, we took a coach, and the next day we were once more in secluded little Spezia. ORANGES AND LEMONS 1T9 Chapter XVI. There stands a city neither large nor small, Its air and situation sweet and pretty ; It matters very little if at all Whether its denizens are dull or witty, Whether the ladies there are short or tall, Brunettes or blondes, only there stands a city Oranges and Lemons. THE lady and the baby whom I convoyed to Spezia made up their minds especially the baby to go to housekeeping. Now, this is a very easy matter for families who drop down into Florence, Rome, or Naples, where there are plenty of 180 SCAMPAVIAS. furnished houses ready at a moment's notice, but in a little out- of-the-way spot like Spezia, where few ever think of stopping longer than to change horses or pass a night, the thing is quite different. On first coming we lodged at the fine new Albergo of the Croce di Malta, where we remained a month a small flock of pigeons to be plucked by the rooks who kept the hotel. Our rooms, hewever, were spacious, and beau- tifully situated, looking out upon the lovely bay, which, in part, reconciled us to the miserable fare we endured, of little rechauffes from the table d'hote freshly oiled and mussed up for our own board. Meanwhile I was cautiously canvassing the town in quest of eligible lodgings. This was a serious difficulty, for in reality there was but one unoccupied private suite of apartments, and they belonged to a noble Marchesa, who passed most of her time in Florence, and was disinclined to let them. To this lady I applied, and after a vigorous interchange of notes, mutual recriminations, consultations with agents, troubles and delays of one sort or another all, however, conducted with the utmost propriety at last we came to an understanding, and the contract was signed. During this tedious period the hotel keepers there were three brothers of them who, by the way, incontinently shifted their own lies upon an absent brother, were tolerably sure that they had made game of me and mine, including my Spanish dollars per diem for ever so many months to come. At the same time another individual, Cozzani by baptism who was the reputed contractor-general of the province, for everything from bathing-sheds to lodgings, wine and olive C O Z Z A N I . 181 crops, and even to the little sardines brought to the fish mar- ket believed, too, in his secret soul, that we were in his con- tracting clutches ; in short, that he had signed the papers, and there could be no escape for us. Now, the Signor Cozzani was a man of large proportions, broad of back, and round of zone. His form was considered not only imposing, but terrific, and the common people stood in awe of him. He invariably wore the uniform of the National Guard, which consisted of a suit of grey, with the cap and sleeves inlaid with red stripes, while the same encar- mined rows of color ran down the legs of his trowsers, and which gave the idea that he had been scalped and bled in both jugulars, and the bloody torrent was perpetually pouring into his boots. I had several quiet interviews with this personage, negotia- ting for a small and pretty house he professed to own, adjoin- ing the Albergo. Our confabs were strictly confidential ; the brothers of Malta were not to have a hint of my design for a thousand scudi for they too philanthropic souls were very fond of me, and had no thoughts of letting me go. I examined the little house, and spoke of a few alterations in the arrangments of furniture ; the addition of a carpet, an extra oven in the kitchen, and so forth ; all of which matters were to be furnished, and nothing was wanting but to hear from the red-legged Signor's own lips what rent he could consistently demand. I was impelled to this negotiation under the suspicion that if he got wind of my designs elsewhere, he would at once con- 182 SCAMPAVIAS. tract for the Marchesa's property, and thus hold me at defiance. There is nothing like a counter-irritant for conquest, either in war, or diplomacy. Even when paying court in the path of Venus, and about to kiss the hand or clasp the waist of some timid nymph, it is better to talk of the balance of power in Europe, the multitudes of stars above your head, or some other remote topic, so that the attention be diverted from the subject in hand. Except in devotion to Bacchus where it is not safe to taste of more than one goblet without the risk of losing your head and heels together this system answers admirably, and I accordingly tried it with Signor Cozzani. My last interview with this universal purveyor and con- tractor was one bright moonlight night, when I met him by secret appointment in a broad alley of the public garden. There we stood, face to face the moon in his for I maneu- vered to obtain this advantage, as I wished to study well his intelligent countenance. The charms of the little house by the sea were newly gone over for the twentieth time ; the perfection of the views extolled ; the expense of alterations taken into account ; and all the while Red-legs was, I felt convinced, like Michael Cassio, casting up in his own brain the last franc he could safely impose. All the time, too, he had, I am sure, fearful misgivings of mind lest he should not ask quite enough. Finally, however, swinging back his huge head, like a jerk to a fishing-rod or a musket at full cock, he said, with an air of great sincerity, that the lowest price would be four hundred francs the month ! COZZANI. 183 I saw through his extortion in a moment, as I knew that he had heretofore rented his small tenement during the fash- ionable bathing season for less than one third the sum he demanded of me. My heart, however, was too brimfull for words, and throw- ing myself in a recumbent posture on a stone bench, I gave vent to my oppressed feelings in reiterated peals of laughter. This strange, not to say inhuman behavior on my part, utterly astounded the gentle Cozzani, who began, apparently, to believe that I had lost my wits. He might have been prepared for a remonstrance, or perhaps an objurgation, but to behold a Christian roll over on a hard marble bench and cachinnate chokingly, was evidently too much for him. Still I laughed on, until I felt sufficiently relieved, when, springing to my feet, I clasped Cozzani to my heart, and implored him to join me at the neighboring cafe in a glass of absinthe, as I was quite exhausted. Never a sign or word, however, did I make or utter with respect to the original subject under discussion, but ever after, when returning my would-be landlord's salutation from the red-bound cap, the scowls would chase away the smiles from his broad visage. He made some futile attempts, subsequently, through the medium of his friends, to ensnare me, but they all failed, and the little mansion by the seashore remained tenantless and deserted. On the termination of the Cozzani negotiation, the good Brothers of Malta, to whom the affair had been promptly communicated, seemed to experience no further alarm about my departure from their midst, until one sunshiny morning 184 SOAMPAVIAS. I summoned one of the three, and pleasantly informed him that I was on the point of removing to the Olduini Palace, and would be pleased to pay my dues. It was a sad blow to- the peace and profit of these scamps, but they were veterans who had suffered defeat in many a sharply-contested bill, and knew how to bear misfortune heroically. They saw at once that their grand piano would be likely to remain vacant, except at intervals of single-night occupation by a train of post-coaches of the haute noblesse ; but they fell gracefully with their casseroles and rechauffe's around them, trusting that I would give the house a good name. I have accordingly done so. We were soon installed in our new quarters, and for nearly two years the lady and the baby had every reason to be pleased with the exchange. A.S is generally the case with noble dwellings in Italy, the principal entrance to our abode was from a narrow and filthy lane. The building itself was immense, with gateways and walls like a fortress. The lower part was a vast connection of cellars and magazines for wine, oil, grain and fruit, which were stored there from the yield of the farms belonging to the estate. These receptacles held in the articles of wine and oil alone, more than four thousand barrels. The first story was a great suite of rooms appointed for the lord of the mansion, when he chose to make them a visit. Above were those of the marchesa, and the half of which we had taken. We had a large handsome saloon, painted and gilded, with spacious bed-chambers adjoining, all looking over the Gulf; then a grand billiard saloon, with dining and bed-rooms; PALAZZO OLDUINI. 185 while above, communicating by private stairways, were a score of rooms for servants and stores, with a magnificent kitchen, big enough for a picture gallery. All this space with linen, china, lamps and silver, carpets, fireplaces, and comfortable furniture, made up a very pleasant residence. In truth, there is an air of imposing grandeur which clings around the fine old palaces of Italy no matter where they are to be found, whether in the Corso at Rome, the Arno at Florence, or in the decaying little towns of the Mediterra- nean which, added to their solidity, their ancestral associa- tions, the veneration they are still regarded, notwithstanding the wreck of their former splendor, by the lower orders, all tends to impress you with a feeling of respect, which no mere mushroom palatial gem of the present day can inspire. A broad and long terrace ran the entire length of the rooms facing the sea, of the Olduini, and the view was enchanting. It embraced the whole sweep of the gulf from point to point, while to the east arose the sharp peaks of the Carrara mountains, tipped with snow, even in midsummer, and at our feet lay ranges of pretty gardens, fenced in by the ancient sea-wall of the city, clustering with lime and orange groves, whose spheres of golden fruit contrasted with the rich green foliage of the leaves. After getting installed into our new lodgings, our first trial was for servants. In this strait, however, we were so fortunate as to engage an old lady named Teresa, for cook. Then there was the pretty bride of my man, Angelo, for maid, and a small, hump-backed dependent of hers, who was taken at a mere song, for the express purpose of carrying up 186 SCAMPAVIAB. copper kettles of water on her head, washing marble stair- cases, and other work which came in her way. This small retinue, in addition to our little American nurse, made up the household, until a little stranger came upon us, and then we hired another healthy, handsome young married woman, named Mirandola. On the score of beauty alone leaving the venerable Teresa out of the gallery our collection were chef d'oeuvres of the modern living Italian school. We at first had fears lest our native domestics like the pilfering race elsewhere in Italy might rob us of stray articles of stores or o.ther treasures, but after considerable experience, we became entirely convinced that with the exception of pretty Marina and Humpy the rest were perfectly faithful, virtuous and honest. As for this last named donna, she was much too coquettish to keep, and she one day gave place to the sister of Mirandola, a beautiful young girl named Argentina. As a caution to foreigners begining a menage in Italy, I would advise them to employ servants who are not amiably disposed towards their family outside the house, or if the reverse be the case, to encourage if possible, the bitterest animosity, since there is no doubt but that this state of feel- ing will in the end save a deal of cold viands and light articles suitable for transportation. The household expenses were regulated like a clock or rather much better than the clocks pertaining to the palazzo, since they never behaved properly for even an hour. At night the good Teresa came with her report upon the state of the market, and the daily exchequer. Then it was DOMESTICS. 187 all jotted down in a little book a perfect tariff of fish, chops, fruit, and vegetables. Unlike the plan adopted in our own country, the servants had an entirely different course of living from that which we enjoyed, and in fact, I have no question but that they preferred their own taste in these mat- ters, in the choice of their simple dishes, than to partake of the richer food from the Padrone's table. I have omitted in the catalogue of servitors, to mention Luigi, the Portiere of the Olduini Mansion. He was a splendid old fellow of seventy, and one of the most faithful, obliging, and affectionate old boys in the world. He it was who held the keys of his master's magazines, who measured the dues paid to the estate in kind, and who was a living tradition of the family for three generations. He not only slept in the house, and not only was to be found at any moment in any part of the immense building, from cellar to terrace, but his ubiquity was so wonderful, that a whisper would call him to your side either in the town, suburbs, or Apennines, and mayhap, the name of Luigi would summon him to the bottom of the gulf. The high-steward and agent for the estate was a kind old gentleman, named Carosini, who was ever ready to do us a service. In fact, from the Marchesa down, we soon learned to know that we were dealing with ladies and gentlemen, and all our affairs were conducted pleasantly. Spezia, I have said, is but a quiet, out of the way little place, though of late years becoming a resort for pleasure- seeking travellers particularly the families of Russian diplo- mates for the wholesome climate and pure sea-bathing. The 188 ScAMPAVIAS. only wonder is, that these elements of health have not been discovered before. There are few excitements, comparatively, for a permanent residence, and very little society. The Queen of Sardinia, with a select court, and her children, passed one season there, during our stay, which, with the addition of a battalion of rifles and a couple of steam frigates, and a brief visit from the King, made the place quite gay and attractive. The Marchesa Teresa Doria of Genoa, also, has a fine new palazzo in Spezia, and did much by her courtesy and hospitality to enliven the time. She is one of the noblest women that Italy or any other country ever produced. Beautiful, personally and morally ; highly cultivated and accomplished, and endowed with a princely fortune, her only aim seemed to be to aid the already rapid advancement of liberal constitutional government in the kingdom of Sardinia. Mr. Charles Lever, too, with his charming family, passed the summer in Spezia. He talks a new book every day of his life. The author is the man ; and whether swimming in ten fathoms water at Lerici ; getting capsized in a boat ; dri- ving tandem ; playing ^cartd for coppers ; dancing the mazourka; speaking all languages the while, or singing a song, he is, par excellence, the most genial soul in existence. It is indeed rare to meet a gentleman who combines so much talent, fun, and intelligence, with such irresistible social quali- ties. Lever made a tour through the United States many years ago, but I feel persuaded, should he renew the visit, his unpretending talent and refined manner will ensure him a welcome equal to his reputation as an author. THE CASINO. 189 There is a pretty little white marble theatre in Spezia, where we had excellent opera, and gay ballets. The casino and ball-room were in the same edifice. It was a tidy little club, with billards and a reading-room ; where some two or three of the small octavo Italian newspapers were taken in, and where the dignitaries of the town assembled to discuss the affairs of Europe. At all times, numbers of refugees frequented this casino. They were generally men of broken fortunes, who had escaped the fangs of some of the despotic governments of the Conti- nent, and sought refuge in Sardinia, where they might exist in safety, and carve out new and endless Utopian schemes for Italian revolution. I always regarded them, however, as very innocent, and perfectly harmless creatures, and marvelled how King Ferdinand, or the Emperor of Austria, paid the least attention to them. We played whist in the evenings for soldi or sous, and once, when I was so lucky as to win thirty of those coins from a distinguished baron, he left town the next day, forever in my debt ! There were some noble examples, however, among these gentry, and a few who had been men of mark and honor in the modern scenes of Italian revolution ; who had stood before the iniquitous courts of Naples, beside peorio, and Settem- brini ; and who when the time comes, as it must, will play a high and noble game for the regeneration of their country. 190 SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter XVII. " One day (quoth he) I sat (as was iny trade) Under the foot of Mole, that mountain hore, Keeping my sheepe amongst the cooly shade Of the green alders by the Mullaes shore : There a strange shepheard chaunst to find me out, Whom when I asked from what place he came, And how he hight, himself he did ycleepe The Shepheard of the Ocean by name, And said he came far from the main sea deepe." " A table, croyez que nos peres N'enviaient pas le sort des rois, Et qu'au fragile eclat des verres Us le comparaient quelquefois." Mariners in Minorca. " MAKE signal for the San Jacinto to be ready to take the tow-lines at one o'clock." This was the order from the Frigate to our consort a long, black steamer, that was always breaking her piston-rods, or bell-cranks, or smashing her cylinder-heads, or getting the dash-pots into hot water, and coming into port with temper- MARINERS IN MINORCA. 191 ary plank escape pipes to be continually patched up, repaired, and otherwise made to go. There wasn't a harbor, from Gibraltar to Trieste in the Mediterranean, where she had not been taken apart, put together again, and tinkered up gener- ally. She was, in fact, an everlasting steam joke. Now, there is a deal to be said in favor of paddling loco- motion in a fine war-steamer, where everything plays easily and smoothly ; and, barring the permeating dust from the coal bunkers, the heat from those volcanoes of furnaces, and the perfume of the oiled cotton and the engine, a steamer is not a bad contrivance to plough salt water in. A sailing vessel, however, is the cleanliest and tidiest, and, indeed, for a long sea residence, many unhappy mariners prefer it ; par- ticularly when those on board have no bother with the ropes and sails, while the hawsers are taut ahead fast to a steamer, tugging you against wind and sea. Then it is all fun and no work. So it was with us, on board the flag-ship, as we hitched on to our consort and drove her with a strong rein past the island of Tino, one fine November afternoon. We were all at the gun-room mess, devouring soup, pre- liminary to dinner. The Commissary, R. Peeteet, U. S. N., who looked out for our cash and subsistence, was seated at the foot of the table. Surgeon A. A. Archimedes Franklin Lint, Lorimer, Doctor Bristles, Jack Toker, Washington Mirrick, Bimshaw, Bays, and a lot more of us were there. All tip-top republicans, who touched the pen, and drew our pay regular at the first of every month. 192 SCAMPAVIAS. " Anybody tell where we're bound ?" suggested Lint. He was of a controversial disposition, and fond of argumentation. " Ask the Flag ; he's in the cabinet," said Bimshaw. The Flag, however, refused to open his lips, save for okra soup. "Posey," ejaculated Bays, the marine, to the wine-boy, " you needn't pass the lachryma to Mr. Gringo till he comes to terms." " Oh ! by no means," said Bristles, " and if he don't make a clean breast of it, won't. I fly-plaster him in the back, when he complains of the lumbago again." " Come, out with it," said Toker, authoritatively, " or I'll order the cock-pit bread-rooms broke out this afternoon, and smother you in bread dust." The Flag, hereupon, finding the mob clamorous against him, struck up the following chant : " Off Cape de G-att, I lost my hat, And where do you think I found it ? In Port Mahon, upon a stone" The concluding line of this stanza was suddenly drowned in a tumult of groans and shrieks from both sides of the mahogany. " Port Mahon !" they wailed. " Heaven save us ! Have we been broiled in Muscat, stewed in Shanghai, baked in the Piraeus, and roasted in Rio and Benin, and now to be mil- dewed in old Mahon, and fed on red-legged partridges, and our thirst quenched with monkey soups ! O ! wirra, wirra !" "Gentlemen," said the First Luff, with a pleasant frown, MARINERS IN MINORCA. 193 " howling is contrary to regulation. We should be patriotic, and go where duty calls us, without a murmur. Glass of wine with you, Purser ?" Purser Peeteet was the only member of the mess who seemed to be indifferent as to where the frigate went, so long as she had water under her keel. He merely muttered, as he plunged the carving-knife through the side bone of a walnut- stuffed turkey : " If this meeting have any observations to make, they had better organize ; yes, sir, organize, draw up resolutions and reduce them to form to form, sir, instead of raising all this riot." The conversation, after this reproof, became more subdued and general ; and with the delicious music of La Favorita floating over our heads on the gun-deck, we resigned ourselves to dessert and Port Mahon in perspective. Moreover, the frigate, without canvas to steady her, was beginning to roll and wallow in a very undignified manner ; and not caring to slide about the gun-room, I went to the upper deck. After struggling through the waves, all night, close beside the high mountainous coast, at daylight we were tugged into Genoa, where we dropped anchor, and remained a day or two. In the evening, Mirrick and I, after flanering about the Strada Nuova, paused at the book-shops, dipped into a French bazaar, where we bought bogus jewelry for the natives of Minorca, took coffee with some of our officer friends of the Sardinian Bersiglieri, and finally procured our entradas to the magnificent white marble opera-house of Carlos the Happy. 9 194 SOAMPAVIAS. The season had not fairly commenced for good music, and we were only regaled with a miserable buffa opera, which set us off to sleep. Between the acts, however, we had a beautiful ballet, and then the Persiani not the divine artiste of that name, but a lot of jugglers from Persia. They per- formed all sorts of feats such as sticking their heads on the floor, and galloping around that part of their system with their legs, then putting their feet in their waistcoat pockets, and jumping about like unto crickets on their knee-joints. One descendant of the Prophet ran with great celerity up a long pole, and tried to pull it up after him, but failed misera- bly and came down on his back, to the disgust of the specta- tors. Mirrick and I were diverted, however, and even A. A. Franklin Lint, who had joined us in the parquet, found leisure, during his struggles of winking at that beautiful Condessa up there in the boxes who had fallen desperately in love with him through his lorgnette to be amused, also. The following afternoon, under the hempen wings of our wig-wagging consort, we turned our faces from Genoa, and, in twenty-four hours after, we rounded the bluff promontory of La Mola the eastern cape of Minorca and stood up the narrow inlet to Port Mahon. All the world knows that Port Mahon is the finest harbor on the face of the earth. Mighty fleets can repose with per- fect safety within its land-locked arms, as they have for scores and scores of years, from the time of the Druids, down to the bloody wars on water, of the English, French, and Spaniards. The entrance is as narrow, proportionally, as the neck is to a flask of champagne The shores are bold ; and the water MARINERS IN MINORCA. 195 deep enough for the greatest Leviathan ever built. On the left, as you enter, stand the remains of the strong fortress of Saint Philip ; its long and irregular lines, where cannon once frowned, are now in ruins ; the vast excavations, where, in times past, two thousand horse were stabled, with huge bomb- proof magazines and interminable subterranean galleries, now a confused mass of stones and rubbish. In a word, this great castle was blown up, according to the treaty of Amiens, in June, 1802, when it was given up to Spain. But had the officer in command waited for his dupli- cate instructions, which countermanded the first orders, Eng- land would have proved recreant to her plighted word, as she did with Malta, Cape Town, and Pondicherry, and still kept her lion's paw on Minorca.* These facts are matters of his- tory. Nevertheless, Minorca must, for all time, be a bone of contention between France and England. It is midway between Gibraltar and Malta, and a half-way house from France to her possessions in Algeria. It is positively essen- tial to France, and there is not a doubt in my mind though I have never peeped into the secret archives of the French embassy at Madrid that Louis Napoleon had resolved to * Minorca was taken by the English in 1708, in the war of the Spanish Succession, by General Stanhope, to whom it gave the title of Lord Mahon. In 1758, Admiral Byng haying failed to relieve the island, it was captured by the French and held until 1763, when at the Peace of Paris it was restored to the English. At this period a large emigration went to East Florida, where their descendants are now numerous. In 1782, Mahon was retaken by the Spaniards, but in 1798, again reduced by the English. At the Peace of Amiens, in 1802, it was finally ceded to Spain. The reason of this last evacuation, is explained by a letter from A. Vails, Consul des Pays Bas, published in 1844. 196 SOAMPAVIAS. seize the island in May, 1852 ; but John Bull got wind of the design, and Admiral Dundas hovered about the place with seven ships of the line, until the French Dictator turned his attention to affairs in the Orient. The Spaniards them- selves, however, after nearly half a century of inaction, have, at last, begun in earnest to put the port in a state of de- fense. By treaty, Spain cannot restore Saint Philip, but she has chosen a far better position, and on the shelving ascent of La Mola she is rapidly rearing a great series of fortifications, which not only protect the approaches from the sea, but com- mand the harbor itself. It will be all useless, however, for France must have the island, sooner or later, whatever the cost in blood or treasure may be. After passing within pistol shot of Saint Philip and mark well those white clusters of tomb-stones which meet your gaze, for beneath lies the dust of many a gallant English soldier and sailor who fell in the French war along the starboard hand stretches the Lazaretto, the grandest of all Spain. It was here, in this enormous enclosure of buildings, that the great commerce of Spain coming from the Indies was sent for purification, and to ride out long quarantines of many months' duration. Howard and other wise philanthropists have done much to change these absurd laws, but many still exist to annoy and delay the rushing tide of commerce. Further on, by the same side, is " Horsepittle " Island, as Jack calls 4ft, and to the left is the decayed town of San Car- los, or, as the English have christened it, Georgetown, after the third Rex of that name, whose amiable domestic traits of MARINERS IN MINORCA. 197 character we read such pleasant accounts of in the Memoirs of Madame D'Arblay. Continuing on, the harbor expands into a circle, and then closes upon a narrow oblong basin, with the city of Mahon looking into it, from the hills on the left, and over the Royal Arsenal on the right. As the Frigate moved slowly and silently over the water, nearly rubbing her black wales against the salient points of the harbor, the natives came running from all direc- tions to welcome us. Old Pons, the pilot, and his son Pon- tius were already on board, and shook us all as heartily by the flippers as if it were only last week he had parted with us. As a general rule, nobody dies in Mahon, and Pons senior had piloted Nelson, Collingwood, Decatur, and hosts of other heroes, in and out the port, many a time. Jack Toker, trumpet in hand, with his second-best swabs and gold-laced trowsers on, was standing on the horseblock, giving a rapid glance aloft, to see that the sails were properly rolled up in the gaskets, the running gear taut, and every- thing ship-shape, as it always was in that fine Frigate. Lieu- tenant Marquand was on the forecastle, perfectly cool and impassible, with the triggers all set to let the anchors go at a moment's notice. The boatswain was looking out for the tow-lines to the steamer ; and Mr. Patrick Bee, the carpenter, was very busy in the waist, getting the accommodation-lad- ders ready to go over the side. Albeit, there was not a word spoken in the tops, nor a murmur about the decks, as the stately ship moved on. Presently we came abreast of the point of Galifiguera Bay, 193 SCAMPAVIAS. and there was congregated a dense mass of the population Evidently the town was taking a holiday principally of the softer sex, however and there they thronged in their striped calico dresses, gay kerchiefs, and shining black hair, dancing with delight. "Now is kum de Amerikene sheeps,'' they screamed. I must parenthesize here that the Mahon lingo or patois is a jabbering admixture of Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, Choctaw, French, Moorish, Portuguese, and, in short, a little bit of every dialect under the sun. And all talk a sort of English with a most peculiar tone and accent. " I say, Bill," one would cry, waving a belcher, to some trim-built sailor, stationed in the tops, " how de do ! kum 'shore to-morrow, sell jacket, go 'board, take you dozen like a man." " Hola! Jiminee, no forget me; plentee turpentine gin in de old grog-shop." " Sargente," another would yell to a dignified marine in the gangway, " you offisar now, I kum take care de mess-kettle when de sheep kum to anker." Nor were these friendly offers entirely addressed to the crew ; for suddenly, as the ship turned towards the anchorage, a venerable old lady burst out with " Santa Maria ! Oh, my ! Toker shugar candee I ole Teresa me know you wen you leetel reefar in short jackette ; poor ole gale now ; givee de clothes to wash." " Stand clear the port anchor ; cast off the hawsers from the steamer," came in a sharp note from the trumpet. " Let go the anchor," followed. MARINERS IN MINORCA. 199 The San Jacinto gave a long and satisfied sigh from her steam-pipe, the cable rattled out, and, as the ship swung to her birth, we lost sight of our gay friends on the shore. We found our whole squadron at anchor, and nothing could exce- the enthusiasm of the natives. They seemed to indulge in the belief that we had come to pass the remainder of our lives with them, and make the port a permanent rendezvous, as in the olden time. There was some doubt, however, whether their rulers in old Spain would subscribe to this hospitality, since our filibuster demonstrations upon Cuba had rather lessened their national love for us. Indeed, they as much as told us so ; but they based the refusal upon the ground that France and England took umbrage to granting any more facilities to us than to them. The thing was done courteously, but decidedly; for there are no such polite people in the world on paper as your pure, blue-blooded Hidalgos. The ships were, in a moment, surrounded by boats remarkably clean, well-built little vessels they are, too filled with our numerous friends. I think I have observed that no one dies in Mahon. What with mildew, damp, and olive oil, they become moist and saturated, and thus endure for- ever. Now, there was old Nancy, eighty-four years of age last week. She married an English sergeant of marines, by whom she had two sons. The entire family were on board Nelson's flag-ship, the Victory, at Trafalgar. Her husband and sons were killed early in the battle. Nancy took their places at the guns, as they fell, and received, for her share of the 200 SOAMPAVIAS. damages, five musket-balls in her body I have seen with these eyes the scars of some of them was knocked overboard by a splinter, floated about on a spar, for hours, and was finally picked up by a French boat, and carried to France. For all this she receives a small pension from the English government, and ekes out a tolerable existence on eleemosy- nary soup and biscuit from foreign ships of war. Then there was John Porpoise nobody can ever dream how old he is ; but he is the Nestor of Mahon boatmen, and has raised a large shoal of young Porpoises, now old, who have taken to boats as naturally as crocodiles shed tears. The number of reefers he has smuggled on shore on u French leave," of dark nights, and the aggregate of tipsy sailors he has brought off, defies all arithmetical calculation. John Porpoise, however, is universally beloved. But who have we here ? This rosy-faced, huge-paunched old fellow, rolling slowly up the ladder. Ah ! that is Jimmy Huot, a soldier of Austerlitz, the expertest master of small- sword fence, in his prime, the emperor had in his grand army. He keeps the fond a of the Cuatro Na9iones, at the corner of Castle street, a time-honored institution. He has charming- daughters, too, of whom more anon, and his books are inscribed with the names of many of the most famous men for paying their debts in the navies of Christendom. There is good Johnny Cacho, too the shape of an oil-jar whom we all embrace heartily ; for it is his truthful boast, that " Cacho was nevvar hard on de midshipmites." ' 4 Ho ! Gilibert, my prince of patent leather, how are you ?" '' Guapo !" says Crispin, " only de ole pane in chist, gemmel- MARINERS IN MINORCA. 201 men ; can't stop in dis world mush more." At this, we all shout with laughter, and Bays, the marine, pokes his fist sharply into the staunch ribs of Gilibert. For be it known, that the pain had been in our chests, and Gilibert, who has, more or less, for a quarter of a century, cultivated a taste for corns in generations of the navy, was wont to get up reports of his rapidly-approaching dissolution ; send off his " leeteel beels " to the ships, and delude us into paying them, under the belief, as it were, that he was a dead man thus taking advantage of our necessities, and then coming to robust life again, pegging away at his boots and shoes, so soon as the accounts were settled. Gilibert gave place to Guillermo Pons, of veinte uno, Calle Nuevo, with a large sack of navy caps slung over his shoulder. Then came Pedro Orfilia, the dandy tailor, own brother to Earn of that name, who had seventeen children, and a pension from the queen of Spain for those exploits. He was followed by Pratz, of pale sherry notoriety, forty years in cask, with so immense a progeny, that, after exhausting the Christian vocabulary, he began upon the days of the week, and ended by designating his infants by Roman numerals. Poor Pratz, he made an unfortunate speculation some twenty years ago, in buying a large cargo of soap for the squadron, which has preyed upon his mind ever since ; for the government took to furnishing that article, and Pratz was as good as ruined. He, nevertheless, never failed to inquire if soap was wanted, and always remarked, in a com- plimentary vein, " The sheep look veree fine to-day." The only worthy we missed in this assemblage, was old 9* 203 S O AMPA V IAS. Paul, the gambling priest, who used to follow the squadrons all over the Mediterranean, and whether we went to Gibral- tar or Vourla all the same to Paul he was always on the spot to open his little game of monte'. THIS IS PKATZ AND JAOU!:i> IltTOT. All the rest of these good people came to see us, and though some of them, perhaps, had been the cause of bring- ing many an imprudent fellow to a court-martial, put back in his date, or cashiered, and so forth, yet the fault was not altogether on one side. In many respects, Port Mahon possesses very great ad van- MARINERS IN MINORCA. 203 tages for refitting men-of-war, and for their security in tem- pestuous weather ; yet, in other essentials, it is, perhaps, the worst place for a rendezvous in the Mediterranean. Mahon has bred more demoralization amongst our navy than any other port on the globe. There are not, in fact, any rational enjoy- ments to be found in the place, for officers or crews ; and, in former times, when our ships lay here many months in the year, the town was kept in one continual scene of riot and low dissipation. The sailors besotted themselves in low, drunken haunts of Rough-alley street, and the officers, who rarely mingled in the quiet and respectable island society, keeled over the miserable Mahon sogers who interfered with their frolics, kicked up rows at the masquerades or fandan- gos, and ruined themselves at monte. Many a hasty quarrel, too, brought about by these wild nightly revels, caused early excursions the next morning to the " Golden Farm," or " Hospital Island," where ten paces and a brace of pistols not unfrequently gave the surgeons and carpenters the opportu- nity of exercising their professional skill. Aside from all this, the place is isolated from the conti- nent, there is no regular mail communication, and revolu- tion or war might flame forth over all Europe, and no one in Mahon be a whit the wiser. The gulf of Spezia, on the other hand, comprises all the advantages of Port Mahon, with few, if any, of the objections. At our rendezvous there, we have ample range for target- practice with the great guns, good fresh water, the use of vast magazines for stores and hospital, and the mail every day, to say nothing of the extreme liberality evinced by the 204: SCAMPAVIAS. kingdom of Sardinia, in affording all these facilities, free of charge, to our navy. But we must go on shore. We can look at the town as we pull slowly up the inner harbor. It is on the left, about one hundred and fifty feet from the water, and faced by a precipitous natural wall, and looking down upon the low tiled sheds and public offices which fringe the quays. The north side of the harbor, from Mola up, is a rolling succession of low hills, tufted with scrub-oaks and brambles ; while, on the Saint Philip side, the land is laid out in cultivated fields of grain, intersected by loose stone fences, and sprinkled about with a multitude of whirling windmills. Away to the west, in the distance, rises the conical eminence of Mount Toro, the highest point of Minorca. We land anywhere, between a little cluster of feluccas, coasters from Algiers, Majorca, or Barcelona, which lie prow on to the quay, with their picturesque lateen sails brailed up in graceful festoons on the long, bending yards. We are assailed, at the same time, by an aroma of salt fish, jerked beef, and garlic, and feel a damp sensation, arising from the porous, soft tufo formation of the island, as we turn up a paved causeway to the upper town. Five minutes' toil of legs does the business, and here we are fairly in old Mahon. Mark how scrupulously clean and white are the houses whitewashed in and out the streets, also, with sharp pave- ments of pebbles, nearly all whitewashed. These good Mahonese have a love and devotion for whitewash quite unexampled in modern history. In less civilized regions, people take delight in music, painting, books, scenery and MARINERS IN MINORCA. 205 the like, but here they enjoy themselves in whitewash. A Mahonese may exist with very little food, drink, and rai- ment, but then he must be recompensed with whitewash. In passing through many of these silent streets, the clean, shroud-like appearance of the windowless houses, with narrow doorways, presents the idea of an immense cemetery of upright vaults, and it is easy to believe they are all crowded with whitewashed ghosts. In fact, whitewash is part of the Mahon religion. No one exists without a pot of whitewash, and, to paint with that compound, their artistic energies are continually called into play. We come to little plazas in the vicinity of the cathedral what quiet reigns around ! See how silent and desolate are those fine, substantial dwellings, which were reared by the island grandees in their days of wealth and pride. Alas, faded, faded away ! In those prosperous times, the rich com- merce of Spain arid her colonies came here for pratique ; the combined fleets of Europe wintered here ; money was reckoned by golden ounces ; but now, the population, with all their prudence and industry, are miserably poor ; and a Mahon fortune is a peseta a day and a jackass the latter regarded as an hereditary appanage to a family. Yet, in recent years, a decided improvement has taken place in Mahon, which is attributable to the advent of a considerable division of the royal army a brigade of infantry and two battalions of engineers, occupied in constructing the fortifications of La Mola. Fine troops they were, and in all their field duty and evolutions, I never saw better. They were well officered, too, by carefully-trained and educated 206 SOAMPAVIAS. men. This army, of itself, gave employment and money to the needy population. There is, beside, a good casino, with newspapers and billiards to while away the time. But hold ! it is high noon. We saunter down the Calle de Castillo Castle-street stop to see our old acquaintances, the " shell girls," with their pretty mute sister ; look at the com- plex encrustations of marine cowries, snails, and what not, stuck over work-boxes ; or shelly floral fabrics, under glass shades, to decorate the mantels of sailor boarding-houses. We then sally out, and shake fins with all the shoemakers and tailors, pause at the little shops, and inquire how every- body does. We say guapo, ourselves, in return to these salutations, and so continue our walk. We reach the end of the street at the Georgetown road. There we behold our ancient steeds, all ready caparisoned and numbered on the saddle-cloths according to special police regulation, with boys yelling forth their biographies beside them, as they implore us to mount, for the small sum of "half a dollar." There stands Number 12. We recog- nize that stallion of yore. He is a wonderful brute, and own brother to the charger of Mazeppa. He has the happy and sportive faculty of taking an equestrian sailor just so far out of town as he, the beast, chooses ; and then, in defiance of whip or steel, suddenly wheeling round, bolting down the harbor road by Jack Straw's castle, pitching his rider, by a process peculiarly his own, into the water, or knocking his knees out of joint by running against the old guns planted muzzle up on the quay. I would caution imprudent mariners to steer clear of No. 12. MAEINEKS IN MINORCA. 207 Well, on our return, we meet lots of pretty young damsels on their way to their little white-washed homes from work, to enjoy the frugal olla of cabbage and sausage soup. See what magnificent raven tresses they have, and how smooth and glossy as satin it is banded over their olive brows and dark, flashing eyes, beneath those gay kerchiefs. But these doncjellas are damp, Madam ! aye, all damp ! It gives one cold to look at them. Yet they are gay and graceful ; for, mark you, every one of them is as free of corsets and whale- bone as an antelope, and they can raise their arms high above their heads : actually, I have seen the thing done more times than you can count. We turn round the corner, and pay a visit to Senora Leocadia. She is the most influencial politician in Mahon. The municipal junta would as soon think of discussing a question without Leo's sanction, as to go without paper cigars before breakfast, or petition for the restoration of the Holy Inquisition. If an appeal is to be made for an extra mule to the mail from Ciudadella which goes once a month to the Captain General, Leo draws it up. If, perchance, a poor fel- low is drafted for the army, or the duties to be remitted on a pound or two of snuff, why Leo points to the Royal Court of Spain, and the matter is accomplished. In short, Leo is a very sensible woman, and knows exactly how much sugar on the tongue and salt on the. tail a biped needs, to be coaxed, or driven in the right direction. We chat awhile with our friend, and then as we rise to go, she says "Hola! you 'ave not seen my laces yet. Must come up stairs." There we see spread before us the delicate webs 208 SOAMPAVIAS. of mantillas, veils, mits and scarfs not so elegant or rich as those of Barcelona but still very pretty and serviceable. " This," says Leo, as she waves a mass of fluttering flounces before our inexperienced optics, " this belong to very old Spanis' family, but very poor now, must sell him, how buti- ful ! eh ! only haf an ounce, the vara. But mira /" she goes on, while throwing a graceful mantilla over her shoulders, " this, worked by Tonia Mendez, most pretty girl in Mahou, made to order, by Lady Dundas last year, but s'pose you like it, you take it ?" We make our purchases of Leo, and then step into the Cuatro Na^iones, where we refresh with a monkey soup a compound of rum, Mahon wine, milk and sugar, which, after a little practice, you will not find hard to take and then we hobble down the steep causeways again to the harbor, and so go on board ship. EL CUATRO NA TONES. 209 Chapter XVIII. El Cuatro Naciones. THE frigate remained for some weeks at Mahon on the first visit, and the following winter a much longer period ; when she was hauled alongside the arsenal, the crew placed in bar- racks on shore, and a general overhaul of rigging and stowage went on, so as to bring the ship out bright and trim in the spring. On the last occasion, with my friend, Mirrick, who occupied the adjacent berth to mine, in the cock-pit, we arranged to take up our quarters in the town. Though there are whole streets of rooms to be had in Mahon, indeed, noMe suites of apartments in the more lordly mansions, with tiled floors, and lofty gilded ceilings, yet they contain very little furniture ; and, since the climate in winter is cold and damp, and the fuel of olive-roots costs ever so much the arroba, it would take a fortune to make one comfortable. We, therefore, chose the well-kept posada of the Cuatro Naciones, and thither we removed our traps. We had a parlor and two bed-rooms, looking angularly out into the little triangular plaza. The parlor was a pentagon, with brick floor the walls whitewashed, of course, and hung with 210 S C AMP A VI AS . engravings of arsenals of the last century. We had a table, sofa, and four chairs all of them the most rigid and unbend- ing structures a mortal ever beheld. My bed-room had two old strips of carpet on the floor, a chest of drawers, which required the sinews of a Titan to pull out one of those obstinate sort of things that, when you have nearly dislocated your elbows in the struggle, unexpectedly yield, and land you on your back and a large four-poster bed, with dark calico hangings. The figures on these curtains were to me a never- failing and hopeless study. There was a tableau of a multi- tude of the same individual, rescuing a baby in a basket, out of a thicket, and, had a bull been visible in the distance, I should naturally have made up my mind that it was an alle- gorical representation of Moses in the bulrushes ; but then the individual wore a Paris bell-crowned hat, and so I was always in doubt. Our apartments were whitewashed and cared for by the remains of a female mummy, of the Druidi- cal species, and I judged partially ossified ; but we were made very neat and comfortable, and passed the time resignedly. For all of which we paid a peseta apiece per day, about nine- teen cents. For breakfast we had French buttered rolls, new eggs, and coffee ; and for dinner delicious clam soup, or date fish ; the former made of small scolloped bivalves, and the latter a long species of muscle, found in the clefts and fissures of the rocks along the sea-shore. They are esteemed very rare crustacese, and that gourmand, good King Louis Philippe he of the pear-faced physiognomy was so fond of them that a steamer was wont to touch at Mahon twice a month ostensibly for EL CUATRO NAgiONES. 211 dispatches but, in reality, for clams and date fish for the royal table. We also feasted upon woodcock when a high northerly wind blew the birds from Europe to the island ; and always upon red-legged partridges. Our amusements were various. In the morning we took long rambles. Not, however, after the Mahonese mode ; that is, when a lot of old cronies emerge, wrapped in blue cloaks lined with crimson velvet, or attired in frogged and braided coats, a mile too small for the wearers like Prussian half- pay officers of high rank meet together, they make a rapid bolt for ten paces ; then stop, light paper cigars ; discuss the chances of their quartillo shares in the royal lotteria, or the threats of th^ Captain-General to consign any one who plays monte" to the galleys a threat, by the way, which he put in execution ; and then ramble a few feet further, renew their arguments, and so on, until at the end of half a day, they have got over a few roods of ground. Our walks, on the contrary, were vigorous, healthful tramps ; away to the little town of Aleao, on the south side of the island ; near to where stand some ancient Druidical altars, huge masses of stone slabs, balanced one on top of the other, in shape of the letter T ; or out on the Ciudadella road, amid the green fields of grain and vegetable gardens. Sometimes we went a la buro, don- key back, and extended our explorations to Mount Toro, where there is a habitation of friars ; or, round by the sea- lashed gaunt rocks and salt water lakes to the north. On Sundays we would saunter down to San Carlos, if they happened to shoot a soldier on that day for strict and severe discipline was maintained in the army or else we went to 212 SCAMPAVIAS. the great barrack-square to attend high mass for the troops. This last was a very imposing sight. The different battalions, in full-dress parade, were drawn up on three sides of the plaza, while the bishop and priests officiated. At the elevation of the host, the colors of the regiments were dipped, the sol- diers kneeling, and all the while sweet and impressive music from the bands rolled up to the heavens. On one occasion, this ceremony was interrupted by a regular stampede of the officers' horses, which broke from their orderlies They were hot-mettled Andalusian barbs, and, having it all their own way, dashed like demons right and left at the close columns of troops; and in defiance of the glitter of the forest of bayonets, they plunged through the lines in some places, and leaped in amongst the crowds of spectators beyond. To place my own person in a spot of comparative safety, I immediately climbed a tree ; for, from the little knowledge of natural his- tory I possessed, I felt convinced that horses could not get up trees, and only elephants could pull them down. On feast-days we sought the cathedral to listen to the organ which, after that of Haarlem, is the finest in the world. It was built in Germany by the bequest of a rich old prebendary of Mahon. It suffered shipwreck near Cartha- gena, on the voyage to Minorca, but eventually reached its destination in safety. The organists are capital musicians, and the power of the instrument is almost beyond concep- tion. Many an hour have I stood in the nave of that great church, bewildered by the volume of sound which rolled in tones of thunder from its sixty stops, through the vast space. EL CUATRO NA^IONES. 213 Now the vox humani would pour out its liquid and plaintive melody from Bellini or Mozart ; anon, a full orchestra of wind and stringed instruments would mingle in some glorious opera ; again the trumpets would clang shrill and clear for a battle-charge, and you hear the rush and tramp of horse and foot, the clash of steel, the moans of the dying, the rattle of musketry and boom of cannon. And then is heard the ap- proaching storm ; the wind comes sighing and moaning on, the thunder mutters, rain and hail come beating down, crash succeeds crash in wild uproar, until the din of war and the elements are at their height, when, finally, the discord dies mournfully away in the distance, leaving the cathedral, from the very foundation walls to the lofty groinings of the roof, vibrating and tremulous with the volume and power of that grand old organ, I often thought, that T would rather be master of those keys and barrels, with the power to produce such music from that glorious instrument, than to be the captain of half a thousand sailors on a Frigate's decks ! Lau- date Dominum in chordis te organo. In the evenings, we occasionally assisted at the perform- ances at the little theatre, and if the actresses were tolerably pretty, we would go behind the scenes and encourage them with our applause. Or we made visits to the pleasant society of the city, where we were always kindly welcomed, and we did all possible to make ourselves agreeable. Many of the ladies are very beautiful in the Spanish type of loveli- ness, and they are passably accomplished. Benedicts, how- ever, as married men, enjoy an exemption in being admitted to the social circles of unmarried women. Except on tertulia 214 SCAMPAVIAS. receptions, nobios, or bachelors, are obliged to pay their court on the wrong side of the strongly-barred windows. It is inconvenient for a short man at a high-silled window ; but he must submit to it, or forego the low love-whispers and the thrilling clasp of his sweet-heart's hand. This system of love-making, peculiar to Mahon, is called festajao window- woo'd and it lasts sometimes for years. EL OUATBO NAgiONES. 215 The dongellas, however, have rights of their own, and if obdurate parents deny a lover the house, or forbid a match without cause, the lady can demand the law. I knew an instance of this kind. A lovely girl, the daughter of a grandee of a famous name in old Spain, had been festa-jad'd for a long time. Her father vowed, by his noble escutcheon, that the lover was the son of a pirate, and he should not darken his portals. The girl knowing that lovers were scarce on the island, clung to him. Now there is an edict of Spain, by which, if a parent refuses permission to marry without good reasons, the alcalde of the district may issue a decree a sort of habeas corpus for the lady in dispute, take her from her natural guardians, and hold her in safe custody for four days. If, at the end of this pro- bation, without seeing, or being influenced by her innamor- ado, she is of the same mind, and he shows a sufficiency of douros buenos hard dollars to support a wife, the law allows them to be publicly married. All of which happened to the warm-hearted maiden I have alluded to. When the winter fairly set in, and the sharp mistrals blew in hurricanes out of the Gulf of Lyons, whirling the salt spray and sleet half over the Island, or when a gale came Levanter, with cold, chilly rain, we kept snug at home, in the Cuatro Na9iones, knocked the balls about over the rickety billiard- table, or descended to the little sitting room, back of the cate, of our host Huot's, family. Our host had two daughters ; the elder a handsome, buxom widow of a gallant Spanish brave, and the younger was Mademoiselle Virginie. She had a sloe- black, espiegle eyes, rich masses of dark hajr, and a plump, 216 SCAMPAVIAS. symmetrical figure ; and through her pearly teeth she warbled sweet little chansons which she had been taught at that ele- gant pension in France; and, in a word, she was all a sailor needed for a goddess. For hours we would watch the nimble figures of these donnas, as they plied the tambour with golden threads, for our shoulder-straps or embroidery. Ah me ! I once loved Virginie very tenderly ; and my feelings so got the mastery of me, that on coming from a ball one moonlight night, I threw myself and fortune at her feet. But she refused me. She told me her heart was another's ; she was fiancee to a skipper from Lapland ; a villain who put into Mahon leaky, won the affections of Virginie while caulk- ing, and then sailed away to his frozen home, since which no tidings have been heard of him. My own impression is, that he was congealed up in an iceberg, and may be floating about at this moment, like a transpar- ency, in the frozen ocean ; for, not even the frigid heart of a Laplander, nourished on whale's blubber, could have, of his own volition, left so charming a virgin as Virginie in the lurch. When these dear girls retired to rest Virginie had a cham- ber over Mirrick's, and it was a treat to hear her dainty feet patting the floor above we would seek our own quarters, and await visitors. Strangers we were never troubled with, for no sane individual ever comes to Mahon for pleasure or curi- osity. I did hear, however, or rather there was a tradition, that one God-forsaken tourist actually drifted on the island, but some kind souls instantly wrote to his friends to take him away, fearful lest he had escaped from a mad-house. EL CHAT BO NA^IONES. 217 Jack Toker, Marquand, and Robert Peeteet, the purser, who were the staid wheel-horses and ship-keepers of the Frigate, frequently honored us. We, at the same time, as an econo- mical measure, exacted small contributions of olive-stumps from those who chose to warm themselves at our fire. Pratz, too, with his feet clothed in thirteen pairs of yarn stockings and yellow leather shoes, which he habitually wore, would occa- sionally favor us with a call, discuss the price of soap, and the affairs of the nation, and bring us a bottle of the old sherry, aetat. 40. This last attention, however, was very unusual. " Well, Pratz, are you sure you're quite guapo to-night 3" " Oh, yes, gemmelmen." " Any news flying round ?" " Si, mucho. A man speekee to me that Spams' engineer ossifer and navy man fite wis swords, 'bout pretty gal ; navy ossifer run Spanis' man troo his boddy killim on de spot P ; " Ah ! what has been done with him ?" " Bury, him, gemmelmen," says Pratz, unconcernedly. Here conies the commissary, with his pea-jacket buttoned over his ears, and his eyes watering with cold. " Well, Bob ! the wind seems to be rising, by the way these windows rattle." "That's none of my business," gruffs out Bob, "but there'll be no raising the wind out of me before the first proximo ; take your 'davy of that my lads. What's in that bottle, Tok?" " Strychnine !" " All right, give us a glass ; and do for mercy's sake somebody throw another toothpick on that fire." 10 218 S CAMP A VI AS. Strange to say, our messmate Robert, who at first was overjoyed at the prospect of visiting Mahon, had lately become rather soured in mind, after only a couple of months' expe- rience. He would not dance at the fandangos, flirt with the pretty girls who roasted chestnuts at the corner as did Bays and Bimshaw sedulously or make himself happy in any way. He said the place was the stupidest on earth, and he longed for a dog-fight even, or to see an injy rubber man perform, or a jackass-race, for excitement. The door opens again, and our bright muchacho, Juan Suredez, ushers in a stout " Johndarms," who, in his deep scarlet facings, gives us a glow of warmth to behold him. He makes a military salute, and presents a large square packet, which, on opening, we find cards of invitation to dine with Don Fernando Cotoner, Captain-General of the Balearic Isles. " Sorry for you fellows," say the secretary and I ; " only us nobs on the staff dine with the high nobility." " I s'pose you're going to wear your copper-laced trowsers, and that old cocked hat," sneered Bays ; " but don't come back perfumed with garlic." Presently, we hear mellow chants rising from below : " Moi, tout convert de cicatrices, Je voulais quitter les drapeaux, Mais quand la liqueur est tarie, Briser le vase est d'un ingrat Adieu femme, enfants et patrie ! Vieux grenadiers, suivons un vieux soldat." since we catch considerable repetition of " mes braves," EL CUATKO J^AgiONES. 219 u bataillons," " mes enfans," and other snatches of patriotism, we divine they are wafted from the dulcet throat of Jacques Huot, who, in the small hours of night, was accustomed to warble melodies referring to the battles and glory of La France. In fact, we had long entertained suspicions that our Boniface turned more than one bottle upside down in the course of an evening ; but, nevertheless, this tapage was the signal for us to break up. Even as I pen these pages, I hear that mine old host has at last succumbed to the inevitable rataplan of death. No more shall we see those Carlo Dolci tints of nose ; never again shall we hear those sonorous chants ; and never, ! great shade of Huot, shall navy men be cheered by thy jovial drinks ! In due season, we met at the Captain-General's. He was surrounded by the ajudantes of his staff, the governor of the town, Done Josd Leimery, a distinguished colonel of cavalry, some of the island judges and officials, and his family. The Generala, whom I had the pleasure of knowing, was, in every sense, a most charming, intelligent, and agreeable woman. She was a good linguist, and dressed conforme to the most accurate Parisian mode. The General himself was a man of mark, and owed his high position more from a well-earned reputation of being a brave and loyal soldier, in more than one field, than from family influence. We had an excellent dinner with wine from the General's own estates in Majorca and pleasant conversation. When we took our leave, I was really sorry to say, for the last time, " Buenos noches" So AMPA VI AS. All sublunary things, even in Mahon, come to an end ; and one day I received orders to be ready to leave in the steam- frigate at noon. At the precise minute, I was on the deck of that ship. Steam was up asthrnatically, as it always was in the San Jacinto and away we screwed, down the harbor. We met with no other mishap in the beginning of our voy- age than winding about twenty fathoms of seine around the propeller, from some poor fishermen's nets, which made them yell in a manner very sad to think of. We parted with Cape Mola with 'a light breeze from the southward ; but away to the north there was a dirty mist cowering along the horizon, and the sky above looked as grey, hard, and cruel, as blue steel. We all knew what those appearances portended, and towards nightfall the puffs swept over the water on the weather bow ; the white caps of foam began to show them- selves as the sea rose and fell in that dreadful Gulf of Lyons. Still we jogged on easily, and being myself a passenger, with nothing to do with wind or weather, I betook me below, to look about for a comfortable haven during the approaching gale. Bittenhouse offered me an asylum. His state-room was somewhat lumbered up with trunks, curiosities, and a library of large books ; but, as everything seemed to be secure from danger, I confidently entered. At dark, when the gun-room lamp was lighted, I noticed that it danced about considerably ; and I could hear the scream of the rising gale through the rigging, as the steamer rolled, floundered, and dipped, in her struggles to get onward. A heavy pitch, like a ram butting at a gate-post, and an EL CUATKO NAgiONES. 221 uneasy sensation in the region of the stomach, too, warned me that the commotion had only begun. I assuaged my inner man, however, with pale sherry, and, wedging my outer between a valise and the mattress of the bunk, I awaited my fate. Bittenhouse was quite sanguine innocent commissary that he was that the storm wouldn't last ; but, just then, the ship reared up, gave a drunken stagger, and, falling over on her side, sent half the Encyclopaedia Britannica, together with a couple of solid brass candlesticks, on top of me. My cries, however, soon brought succor, and Roger Terry, holding on to the door, with his heels out at right angles, recommended his state-cabin as the safest retreat in the ship. Thither I went. That is to say, I was flung there bodily, by a heavy lee lurch ; and, forthwith, secured myself, by wedges, on the berth. Into the gun-room came some one with, " I say, my hearties, we're going to have a ring-tailed sneezer ; the barometer has fallen a foot, and the wind's chopping right into our teeth." Now, a landsman, perhaps, would, presume, that the teeth was the very place for a chop, but I knew that our prospects were only made worse by that meteorological manoeuvre. I swallowed more Xeres, and resolved to let fate do her worst, as we sailed, and we railed at the Gulf of Lyons, ! An hour or two passed, and still the gale howled more violently, the waves broke and buffeted us more savagely, and the steamer lounged, plunged, wallowed, and twisted about like a marine boa-constrictor. All the while the pro- 222 SCAMPAVIAS. peller shaft went turning, writhing, and creaking ; the engine, at half-stroke, clanking, shuddering, and groaning, in dogged indifference to all on board. Suddenly the ship made an awful semi-summerset, and down came a cocked hat-box, three cases of shell flowers, some valuable old paintings price two caiiini each and a Colt's revolver, slap upon my already bruised and battered body. " Pull me out, somebody," I yelled, " and, steward, go to the Doctor for more sherry." Rescued, at length, from these miseries, I tumbled into a swinging cot, hung in the open " country." There I per- formed aerial flights, that would have done credit to Gabriel Ravel or the Gnome Fly. I described rapid segments of inverted circles, beneath those ward-room beams, at the rate of about forty per minute, diversified by incidental fore and aft plunges, that nearly snapped the clues of the cot frame. Towards midnight, affairs had reached a crisis. The ten- inch shot for the pivot guns jumped half their diameters out of the racks, and such a game of leaping and smashing as they kept up, while they were hurled from side to side of the upper deck, was truly marvellous. Between my tumblers of sherry, and noise overhead, I could hear the quick, sharp orders of the officers, shout- ing: " Here, afterguard, get swabs and hammocks to chock these shot. Look out, there, or you'll have your legs broken. Aloft, there, and stand by to close reef the main top-sail. Keep the ship by the wind. Quick. I say !" THE SAN JACINTO. 223 These, and many other sounds I heard, as I lay on my dizzy perch, praying that the old Smoker might drive on the rocky coast of Corsica, or descend rapidly to the bottom of the sea, and thus put an end to the agony at once. I spare, however, any further allusions to that painful night, and will only add, that, when on the following afternoon we labored wheezing and puffing into Spezia with a dislocated engine, I took a final sip of Xeres, and offered up thanks to the immortal Gods for all their favors. 224 SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter XIX. " With busy hammers closing rivets up, Give dreadful note of preparation." 41 Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." Greeks and Giaours. IN the early spring of 1853, the mutterings of warlike thunder began to be unmistakably heard in the East. All Europe was arming for the shock ; nothing was talked of but the question Turque ; and we, too, feeling some curiosity to know how matters were progressing, spread our sails in that direction. It took us some days to get our sea legs shipped, for we had been a long time in port. We devoted our mornings to cider and an inch or two of broiled mackerel for breakfast. Mirrick stretched himself out on the ward-room sofa; a retreat that he affected, and from which no entreaties or threats could move him. He was, in fact, the laziest living mortal on shipboard, and I've known him to sit on the sharp brass cover of a spy-glass, until a circle like a muffin was nearly cut out of him, without the slightest sign of suffering. He was the picture, however, of plumpness, happiness, and contentment. Lint was busy at the table, copying old love letters for some new flame, and asking the Greek for the GREEKS AND GIAOURS. 225 Pillars of Hercules. By that, we judged that he had only brought up his love log to the Straits of Gibraltar. He is now the Jefferson Brick of the Georgia Banner, but I trust he will forgive me for telling the truth about his marine recreations during his last cruise. Some of the mess, for light reading, were deep into the Jefferson State papers; others were poring over old newspapers, growling at Fate, playing back-gammon, or nibbling biscuits for distraction. On deck, there was more life. The sea was blue as the Empyrsean above; the lofty peaks of the Apennines were heavy and glistening white with their mantles of snow, and the Frigate was swimming along under her port studding sails like a skip-jack. In a day or two, we touched at Naples. There, as usual, we visited the " old pigtures and paintigs restorers' " shops ; bought enough lavas to pave a saloon ; enough coral to build a reef; laid in our supply of gloves for the summer; had our pockets picked by the Lazaroni ; went to a penny theatre to see the spectacle of Tio Tomas, and where we beheld Uncle Tom flogged to death for not abjuring the Catholic religion; and we fell in, also, with our asthmatic consort, the San Jacinto, as usual with a smashed-up engine, which gave us no concern at all ; and then we sailed away again. Continuing on our course through the Straits of Messina, we plunged into open water, with the great Thunder Cape on our left, " Where laves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale, When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of spume," 10* 226 SCAMPAVIAS. and steered for the Archipelago. Again we bowled along under full sails through the Cerigo passage, and running close beside the sterile mountains of the Morea, we passed the French fleet at anchor in the Bay of Salamis, and once more moored in the Pirasus. There we found the English frigate Tiger, whose brave captain Gifford was afterwards killed at Odessa. We came to Greece to aid a little Diplomatic Missionary negotiation, and for the purpose of exacting indemnity for landed property, of which our citizen, Mr. King, had been despoiled by the Hellenic government some twenty years before. The matter was handled in an able manner with our guns to back him by our excellent minister, Mr. Marsh, who, after many folios of sound argument, at last brought the Greeks to a fair understanding of evenhanded justice. As a nation, we were roundly abused by the Athenians for our presumption in supporting the claims of our countrymen ; and one individual, who had been handsomely educated in America for philanthropy's sake, kept from starvation while there, and otherwise well treated, was kind enough to register a vow to blow up the Frigate. That is to say, sink, drown, burn, murder and destroy every man of us, and leave nothing to tell the story, save our soiled linen with the laundry women. The name of this charitable Samaritan is Tricallistes. Far be it from me to say, however, that the Greeks, as naturally dishonest and vicious as they are, in the matter of property, have not some just complaints to make of American missionaries. At the same time, I would not wish to utter a word in disparagement of these worthy GREEKS AND GIAOURS. 227 people, which is not strictly true. I have met numbers of them in all parts of the world, of every shade of denomina- tion, and I never knew one who did not seem to be actuated by a sincere desire to do his utmost to advance the good cause in which he was enlisted. It is, however, an excess of zeal which occasionally leads them beyond the bounds of prudence, and involves both them and their country in endless difficulties. The Greeks say : " Yes ! it is quite true that you are excellent persons. You establish schools to teach our children, and do us all a world of good. But then, leave our religion alone. We have a creed older than yours, and we are satisfied with it. Don't proselyte amongst us, or ridicule our saints, or smuggle your Bibles by barrel fuls over the country, or try to force your religion down our throats. You have tried the experiment for more than thirty years, and you have not yet made the first convert. Even the wives you have married from our midst, still adhere to the church of their fathers. Reflect, too, that we are not Heathens or Infidels, but Christians, like yourselves, and permit us to worship God as we have been taught to." This is the language that intelligent Greeks use in speak- ing of the efforts of American missionaries in Greece, and I repeat, with some show of reason. During our absence, on the 26th of October of the last year, the gulf was visited by a tremendous hurricane, which blew down one of the columns of Jupiter's temple. The sections of the column with the capital fell in a straight line like a pile of bricks. There it lies now, grand even in death ; with the private marks and chisellings of the ancient marble 228 SOAMPAVIAS. cutters as plainly visible on the intersections of the drums, as the hour they were cut. The same gale stove in the windows of the palace ; tore the hangings of the throne to shreds, and destroyed the portrait of King Otho himself. The Greek corvette, Amelia, named after the Queen, was shipwrecked in the same storm. She providen- tially struck in a small craggy cove of the Island of Salamis, when the masts went over the side and made a sort of pre- carious bridge to the rocks. The terrified crew gave them- selves up to cursing and praying. On board were some army officers and their families from Nauplia de Romania, and among them the married daughter of Marco Botzaris. Imbued with the heroism of her sire, she was the first to lead the way from the shattered wreck ; and, with her eldest child, a boy, sitting on her shoulders, and a little girl under each arm, she bravely walked over the writhing mast and spars during the height of the tempest, to the shore. Our visit occurred at the feast of the Greek passover. Ruddy fires were gleaming, and sheep were roasting in every vessel in port. The air was redolent with the perfume of mutton-chops, pilaus, and Cypress wine. A considerable por- tion of the Alcibiades, Agamemnons, and Pericles, got drunk. At the Piraeus was a procession of the Host, on a tinsel car, attended by filthy soldiers and farthing dip candles. I gave my arm to the maid of Athens ; the youthful maid, Miss Carolina, the loveliest girl in Greece, was escorted by Bays the Marine, #nd we skipped about the hill-sides like lambkins in play ; and, finally, had some brackish ice-cream under a tent on the treeless Boulevard. GREEKS AND GIAOURS. 229 On driving to Athens, we were, of course, ordered to heave- to at the residence of the Pirate. " Ah ! my Capiten !" he roared, as he affectionately pinched Captain Bangs under the muzzle, " Watee have drinkee ? brandee cigarite limon- adee yes ! give it one," while he handed his fluids, and cheated us out of two drachmi in the change. We drove to the Temple of Theseus, where the annual fete succeeding Easter is held. There were a large concourse of some thousands of people scattered about the eminences and slopes, all around from the noble ruins to the observatory and the Tribune of Demosthenes. On the partially level spots were crowds of dirty wretches somewhat under the influence of their nauseous, bitter, thick wine gambolling with the grace of dromedaries in their national dances. They linked hands to the music of discordant fiddles, and led by a fellow waving a kerchief and chanting dolefully, they performed a series of steps, so awkward, ungainly, and pain- fully laborious, that it was positive torture to behold them. It was classical to reflect, however, that they were the descendants of " Those Ancient, whose resistless eloquence, Wielded at will that fierce democratic, Shook th' Arsenal and fulmined over Greece To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne." I hold the Greek male costume to be unseemly, unhealthy and undignified. The practice of screwing the waist so unnaturally tight, to keep up the weight of the lower dra- pery forty yards of calico or muslin is a fair average withers the lungs and breast, and makes the men round 230 SOAMPAVIAS. shouldered, with small thin limbs, and sprawly hands and feet. Besides, the great cumbrous folds of these petticoated fustenellas impede their natural movements, and it is rare to meet a Greek who walks like a man ; and in the matter of labor or any physical exertion, they are helpless. Nevertheless, many of the costumes were rich and elegant. Some profusely embroidered in gold and silver, on dark green velvet-or scarlet cloths, and the tout ensemble of the Fete was gay and picturesque. I had the pleasure to escort, on this occasion, Miss Eliza- beth, of Crete, a young Greek lady, who united the charms of intellect and amiability to a devoted love for her country. Indeed, her enthusiasm was so sincere, that I often hoped her fervid anticipation for the redemption of Greece might be realized. Though under the present government the pros- pect is very dim and gloomy. It occurred to me, however, that if the kingdom were put up to the highest bidder, an enterprising Barnum might take the job, and contract to keep affairs international, civil, military, and domestic, on a proper and respectable footing. Maintain the king, royalties, and a small parliament in good condition ; keep the palace in repair ; make roads, encourage agriculture and trade, enlist an army, institute cleanliness, suppress lying, and, in the end, retire on a handsome compe- tency. If necessary, the contractor could, no doubt, get up a battle occasionally, with a stipulated number to be killed on both sides ; then, by having the run of the ruins, with the privilege of digging out a street or two ; throwing the Par- GREEKS AND G-IAOTJKS. 231 thenon open for monster excursion trains, with a chaplain and coroner in attendance, and supplying harems gratis, the investment might be still more profitable. But we must return to the Easter fete. I stood near the observatory, a small though handsomely constructed edifice, built and endowed by a rich Philhellene, in the vain hope that something would be effected in astronomical science by the modern Athenians. It was closed and deserted, and the heavenly bodies went through their aberrations unnoticed by telescope or circle. The reason given was, that the King changed the professors so frequently, the superintendent had thrown up the work in disgust. The motley crowds were moving listlessly about the sterile slopes or rocky heights, gazing upon the equipages of the foreign ambassadors, shuffling the dust in clouds with their tipsy gambols, or yelling dreadfully. Towards sunset two buglers, belonging to a squadron of ten lancers, gave a blast, and the cavalry swung into their saddles. A detachment of sixteen infantry this was the entire army by actual count formed in line, the populace gave a shrill howl, between a cheer and a whine, and presently their Imperial Majesties of Greece cantered up the hill, attend- ed by four dignitaries, and as many equerries. The Queen was dressed in a dark green riding-habit, black beaver with droop- ing feather, and veil. King Otho wore the Albanian costume of crimson, gold embroidered jacket and legs, white fustenella, with a richly chased sabre belted over his shoulder. Both were well mounted on dark chestnut barbs, and the Queen sat 232 SOAMPAVIAS. her horse gracefully and with spirit. They rode over the ground, pausing to look at the fitful antics and dances of their subjects, and bowing graciously to all, they turned bridles and galloped down to the city. A few days previous to this fete we were presented to King Otho. The apartments were in a different part of the palace from those in which we had audience of Queen Amelia, the year before. The ante-rooms were lined with medallion por- traits of the heroes of Revolutionary Greece, among them that of Botzaris. There were two large historical paintings also, with a profusion of sharp lights and grouping, of battle and warriors, thrown upon the canvas, but executed with decided merit. We were received by Kolokotroni, the Chamberlain, and an officer in cavalry uniform. The presentation took place in the throne-room ; the walls and ceilings painted a la, Grec ; the floors inlaid with polished woods, and the throne, canopy, and dais were of crimson velvet. When the doors were thrown open, we beheld King Otho standing in the centre of the chamber. I would wish to observe here, that it is by no means a difficult matter to be presented at the Greek Court. The King, especially, rather likes to exhibit his fine clothes, and goes through the exhibi- bition almost daily. It is, in fact, one of the sights which all travellers undergo who visit Attica. The ceremony, however, did not impress me with half as much interest, as when I had the honor to, pay my homage to my portly (but now defunct) friend, King Kammehamma, of the Sandwich Islands. Otho is tall and slim, with a small head and very large GREEKS AND GIAOURS. 233 neck ; dark hair, flat nose, turned up at the apex ; no front teeth, and somewhat hard of hearing, in fact, " So very deaf, That he might have worn a percussion cap And been knocked on the head without hearing it snap." But still, with his German greyish eyes, the face is, on the whole, pleasing. He was encased in one of his favorite cos- tumes of Albania ; a silver embroidered jacket, with large fall- ing shirt-collar, thrown well back to expose the full length of his neck ; a white cambric fustenella fell to the knees, where his legs came into the picture gorgeously worked in silver. He wore red tipped morocco slippers on his toes, and in his hand, he held a red cloth fez, while a pearl-hilted sabre swung from his shoulder. He resembled, at the first glance, with his thin legs close together, and standing on tiptoe, a silver scaled fish, of the transparent smelt species. All he wanted to preserve the unities, would have been a little silver in his pocket, which, if the report was true, he had not. His Majesty began with our Minister and went round the circle, saying something pleasant to each, and the audience being over we went our way. Otho is a plodding man, and devotes a good deal of his time to business ; but somehow or other, he does not get on. He and the queen, and the foreign ministers, are forever squabbling. They both intrigue without any fixed purpose. The Russian was the queen's party. The Bavarians and Aus- trians were for the king. The French and English opposed both, while the Turk fought them all. The court and cabinet were also at loggerheads, and it was 234 SCAMPAVIAS. only after the Eastern war fairly broke out, and a brigade of English and French troops in the following spring, were encamped on the soil of Greece, that the government could be brought to reason. Then the king was coerced into dismis- sing his advisers, and recalling the brigands who were battling against the Turks on the Albanian frontier. Kalergi, who was regarded as the Redeemer of Greece, came into power, and Otho was at his feet. I dined with Kalergi and his associates the day the new cabinet was formed, and I really began to believe, that at last the buttresses of the arch were laid, which might once bear the weight of a strong government. It proved fallacious however, for not many months elapsed, before the fabric crumbled to dust, and now things go on much in the old style : "Oh feeble statesmen, Ignominious times, That lick the tyrant's feet, and smile upon his crimes." I am certain that I never was more happy in my life, than when I presented the last diplomatic dispatch to the Prime Minister, M. Paicos, at Athens. Very savage and menacing the document looked, in its huge envelope and red seals. M. Paicos, however, was calm, and even amusing. So was I, in a more moderate degree. " Ah !" said he, " remercie infiniment. You are charmed, perhaps, with Greece." " Think it detestable," I smiled in reply. " Vraiment, then you don't fatigue the curiosities?" " Of course not." And so, after mutually expressing delight at parting with one another, I inclined my dorsal ridge, and took leave. ON THE WING. 235 Chapter XX. " The minarets already, Sir ! There, certes, in the valley I descry, Gleaming vermilion, as if they from fire had issued." On the Wing. THE French fleet still lay at Salamis, but Admiral Dundas, with his sea battalions, were moving swiftly up the Archi- pelago to the mouth of the Dardanelles. We, too, made sail, and with gentle breezes, and a sea without enough ripple to lull a turtle to sleep, we went through the Doro passage, and after sighting the islands of Mitylene, Ipsera, and Scio, we at last floated up to Tenedos, and dropt anchor in view of the plains of Troy. Here we lost a good little sailor boy, whose head was crushed by a block which fell from aloft. He was buried in a secluded and romantic little cove on the Island of Tenedos, and his shipmates strewed his lonely grave with flowers. The following morning, with a light flirting air, the Frigate crept on ten miles, and when the fowls went to roost, we anchored again near the Asiatic shore, beneath a bluff on which stood the little town of Yeni Kiou. This place had a dusty, reddish hue ; the houses ranged in layers on a sand- 236 SCAMPAVIAS. bank, and since neither mosque nor minaret were to be seen, we presumed the population to be Greek. The next day there came a breeze. None of your idle, lazy, flawy, fluttering breezes, that toys a moment with the lofty dimity, first on one quarter and then on the other, or else hops round and takes you flat aback, but a clear, well defined rippling line over the water, growing steadier and stronger every minute, until the waves start up in snowy crests, and plunge, leaping headlong in your wake ; heeling the ship over to her bearings, keeping the braces taut, and the sails rap full. This gives life to Jack, as well as his ship, and as he dances a merry jig round the capstan, while the cables come rattling in, the canvas shakes itself free from the loose cordage, and bulges out with its stout folds to the rising wind. " The anchor's up," says the officer on the fore-castle, and the prow of the Frigate heads for the mouth of the Dar- danelles. All around us, from the jaws of the Straits to far astern, the white sails of merchant-men, from every clime under the sun, like so many flocks of sea-gulls, are crowding on in the same direction. Soon we dash by the forts which guard either side of the entrance. On the left is Europa, a castle and water-battery of some forty cannon, with great heaps of shot outside the embrasures, flanked by a redoubt on the height above. On the opposite coast, plunges down a long tongue of land, loaded with batteries, where the plains of Troy are drained by the river Scamanda, and capped by here and there, spires of tapering minarets like flag staffs. On we swirl up, the lands of Asia rolling along into ON THE WlNG. 237 swelling hills, green at times with fields of grain and groves of figs and olives, while in Europe, the banks rise pre- cipitously from the Hellespont, in dull, rubbishy banks of stones and clay. Soon we come to the town of Dardanelles, which rests on the Asiatic shore. The houses are low, red-tiled struc- tures, and the flags of the Consuls of all nations flutter gaily above. Here is another grim set of heavy batteries, vis-a-vis in the passage, mounted with enormous mortars for stone balls. Here, too, a boat pulled out to meet us, but before the hail from the official of " Watee sheep namee ?" and the reply of "Cumberland," was shouted through the trumpet, the Frigate flew by; while at the same time, the Turkish ensign was displayed from the fore, and the roar of our guns followed. We had our firman, regularly countersigned by the proper authority, and before the garrisons of the forts had thronged the parapets, and the women in their white bernouses had clustered about the heights, in the cypress groves to behold us, we were well-nigh out of sight. In fact, the boom of the heavy guns from the batteries, in return- ing our salute, only came faintly to our ears. From here to Gallipoli, the Strait narrows ; the points on either hand curve towards each other like half closed calli- pers ; the shores swell from the water in gentle hills, fertile with the hues with which nature paints her fields. ' There stands Abydos I here is Sestos' steep, Hard by the gusty margin of the sea, Where sprinkling waves continually do leap, And that is where those famous lovers be." 238 SCAMPAVIAS. The breeze, strong and fresh still, wafts us on. We ran past Lampsaki, Karabonga, Peristi, and many a village besides, and then we found ourselves bounding out into the Marble sea, with the island of Marmora dimly looming up in the distance. On looking back upon the windings of the deep blue Hellespont, with the shores lapped apparently one with the other by the shooting points, and apart from the associa- tions of Hero, Leander, Xerxes, and all the gods and mortals of ancient story ; apart, too, from the magnificent array as in a moving picture of great fleets of vessels whitening with their distended wings the blue water ; aside, I say, from all these accessories, we see nothing bewildering in the coup cToeil. The country is simply pleasing, tolerably well tilled, and undulating in hill and valley. But there is much wanting. There is not a leaping rill or foaming watercourse to be seen. The trees are neither light nor waving ; they do not seem as if birds could fly through them : there is only the grim green cypress, and the gray speckled trunks of the iron-leaved olive ; and the view, under any point of aspect, or any phase of sunlight, cannot compare in beauty with any ten miles of the lower Hudson. Early the following morning we were lying idly on the Sea of Marmora, within a league of Constantinople. Stam- boul and Scutari lay before us, a mass of low, dilapidated buildings, from the water's edge on either bank of the Bos- phorus to the slight elevations beyond. A decided effect, however, was produced by the great gilded domes of the mosques, and multitudes of minarets, with their fretted and STAMBOUL. 239 gilded railings tipped in peaks of fire by the rays of the rising sun in the cloudless morning, as they were severally and distinctly marked out from the meaner fabrics at their feet. Then, too, the patches of green foliage of the almond, fig, and cypress, prettily contrasted with the white around. But instead, as I fancied this capital of the Caliphs, ranging tier above tier upon the " seven hills," the houses begin unevenly from the shore, and were they of a uniform height and a little taller, there would only be seen those portions of the city which face the sea. I am rather accustomed to sights, and not easily thrown off my balance, and in this instance, I was not disturbed in the least. In fact, in my first impressions, I was disap- pointed. With a steam-tug ahead of the Frigate, she was pulled, by a severe effort, slowly up, amidst a labyrinth of merchant vessels, against the current (which always sets from the Black Sea through the Bosphorus), into the mouth of the Golden Horn, where we let go an anchor near Top Hane, on the Pera shore. In coming even this short distance, the beauties of the city rather stole upon us more especially on passing Seraglio Point. There the quaint old ivy green walls, with clusters of fir, spruce and cypress, struggling as if for life and air above the surrounding palaces, harems, and bath houses of those sacred precincts, gave the mind something to feed upon. To behold a Turkish town, however, it must be viewed from a distance. Then the true enchantment is realized ; but the moment you get in it, the charm vanishes. 240 SOAMPAVIAS. " Bill," I heard an old salt say to a topmate on the gun- deck, as he calmly contemplated the city through the bow port. " Bill, they say these Musselmen don't drink rum, and it's my opinion they wont go to the devil for want of churches, either. I don't see nothin' else, and that big one there, I 'spose is Saint Sophy, where the Sultan and the Howling Devices do their private screeching." " Well, my hearty, we must take a turn on shore, and smoke some opium through a hubble bubble of rose water, and make love to the ladies." " You'd better leave that game alone, Bill ; these turbaned fellers is very skeery about their wimmin, and will wipe ycur head clean off with a skimetar before you can cut a chaw of tobaky." Without listening further to the manners and customs of the Turks, we landed at Stamboul, and losing sight of all celestial objects, plunged pell-mell into the narrow, filthy lanes, over a broken pavement which was frightful on corns and stumbling over heaps of snarling curs, by a gen- tle ascent we reached the Bazaars. Here we wandered tor- tuously under covered arches, with little stalls of booths on either side, and cross-legged proprietors exposing their various wares for sale. Tramping on, we came to the Mosque of Bejazet, and entering the courtyard a square of the true Byzantine order with fountains in the centre from which little squirts of water poured, and where the devout believers were laving before or after saying their prayers in the adja- cent Mosque. There were thousands of sacred pigeons, too, of the breed of those which attended Mahomet to Mecca, NARGHILES. clustering on the pavements, and fluttering about in the tamest confusion. From Bejazet we steered to the Seraskier tower, a lofty shaft from where the never-ending fires which devour the city are pointed out to the Turks below. The bureau of the Minister of War is hard by, and we saw that Functionary in the flesh a fat, venerable gentleman seated on horseback, attended by his pipe and portfolio bearers, and half-a-dozen cavasses, who were whacking the populace indis- criminately, so as to keep the pathway clear for his Excel- lency. Dodging, on our return, through an interminable series of dirty lanes and dog kennels, we paused awhile at a Turkish cafd. Heaven only knows where it was, but we found it surrounded by a puppery, and also a full grown yelping doggery. The cafd was not spacious, and the furniture con- sisted of a few rough benches and stools, a great pile of pipes, a shelf filled with narghiles, and a little furnace. The waiters were all hump-backed and bare-legged, with the exception of the proprietor, an obese person, who evidently had not seen 11 242 SOAMPAVIAS. his toes for many moons. He was attired in a spotted calico shirt, and a pair of the loosest and most immodest drawers you ever saw. On his little finger he had but one he wore a sparkling brilliant, the size of a hazel nut. We had hubble bubbles, and a thimble-full of coffee-grounds, and making friends with the Turks, found them quite jolly and companionable. Then crossing one of the two bridges which spans the Golden Horn, we came to Pera, and after another toilsome, dirty ascent, we halted at the hotel d'Angleterre. In old Stamboul and Pera, there are few exceptions to the wooden build of the city ; mere mud, clapboard, plaster structures, with the second stories projecting over the lower, upheld by timbers similar to the knees of a ship, and all closely latticed, decayed, and rickety. The charm, if any there be with these habitations, is all on the inside. In our ramble we met numbers of Turkish women, swaddled to the eyes in muslin yasmaks ' Shrouded in white With two holes for their eyes to give room, Seem like corpses in sport or in spite Who have slily whipped out of their tomb," leaving their great expressionless eyes, like preserved dam- sons, and parts of their wax-like faces visible. They stared quite ruthlessly at us infidels, but there was in them not the slightest inducement to excite even a wink in return. From the hotel we descended the steep paths to Top Hane*, ON THE WING. 243 and just as the cannon, far and near along the Bosphorus, announced the eve of the great feast of Ramazan, by the light of the illumined minarets we jumped in a caique, and shot swiftly on board the Frigate. 244 SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter XXI . Hiangi n Var! WHILE walking the deck an hour or two later, there sud- denly flashed out on the Stamboul side, a conflagration amid the paper-built houses near the shore. The red flames leaped up in the star-light night, lighting the great cities and bridges on both sides of the Golden Horn, clearer than day. The pure white minarets resembling long candles with bur- nished extinguishers on top encircled by triple rows of lamps around their stems, stood out in vivid relief above the glowing and gilded domes. As the fire spread, sweeping and crackling in its wrath, our boats, with those of the English Corvette Wasp, with the engines, were manned, and away we dashed to the scene. We cracked half a score of caiques like so many walnuts, as the bows of our heavy cutters swept into the quay. The fire was raging near the custom-house, on the very spot where we had disembarked in the afternoon. Fortunately, there was no wind, and water was to be had in profusion from the Golden Horn. The sailors worked like beavers, and landing the engines, and being supplied by the Turks with buckets, HIANGIN VAR! 245 hooks, and ropes, they sprang into the burning buildings, and tore all down before them. Meanwhile, the populace were whacked unmercifully by the armed police, to give a clear field for the Franks to work ; and crowds of indifferent Turks besides, calmly stood by at a safe distance, and smoked their chibouques peacefully. Soon the Seraskier appeared, together with other high officials, giving us to understand, that Allah would reward us ; but at the same crisis, they evinced no wish to lend a hand to subdue the conflagration. The English and American sailors, however, reckless as demons, plunged amidst the flames, and hitching on to the pillars or roofs of the buildings in the vicinity, with the stout hooks and chains, would then tail on, and with a roaring cheer, the whole fabric would be torn to the ground, in a whirl of cinders and smoke. Under this treatment, the fire was soon checked, but still the jolly tars, regardless of mis- chief, were in for a frolic, and since no alcoholic rewards were at hand to repay them for their exertions, they seemed resolved to pull half of Stamboul down, out of the purest fun and delight. While this sport was going on, and a daring fellow had succeeded in clambering up to a cornice of the custom-house, and there securely made fast an iron grapnel to the portico ; while a hundred of his excitable companions were eagerly waiting for a pull, a diminutive Turk I thought at the time it might be the Caliph himself trotted up to us. In the most imploring dumb show, he begged us in the name of the Pro- phet, to desist. He even went so far, as to take his pipe from 246 SCAMPAVIAS. his mouth, and break it over the head of his cavasse, in his anxiety to save the destruction of more property. We regarded this demonstration as downright ingratitude, but at the same time, the request was a reasonable one, and accordingly we gave orders to draw off our firemen. The boatswain's mates piped belay, and embarking the machinery we pulled on board. Thus ended my first day's experience in Constantinople. THE SUBLIME POKTE. 247 Chapter XXII. On helm and harness, rings the Saxon hammer, Through Cimbric forest roars the Norseman's song, And loud, amid the universal clamour. O'er distant deserts sounds the Tartar gong. The Sublime Porte. FOR the second time in the history of the present genera- tion of Turks, they had thrown off their natural apathy, and were getting wide awake to the danger of a hug from the Northern Bear. It was only a few days before our arrival that Prince Menschikoff had demanded his passports, and gone out of the Bosphorus in a huff, with just civility enough at parting to touch his chapeau to the Sultan, and refrain from kicking the Grand Vizier out of the Seraglio gate. Steamers were arriving with Turkish, Tunisian, or Egyptian troops every day. Great barges loaded with guns, shot and ammunition, were going continually to the various fortified points on the Bosphorus. Soldiers were pouring in from all parts of the Turkish dominions. Platforms for batteries were being hastily erected at Top Hane. The Arsenal was teeming with five thousand workmen. Every hour Tartar expresses 24:8 SOAMPAVIAS. came galloping to the different Embassies at Pera, or to the Porte, and dispatch steamers came whizzing nearly red-hot, into the Bosphorus, to keep up the excitement. The cry was in the cafe's, " The Russians have crossed the Danube ; their fleet was signalled off the mouth of the straits yesterday. The forces of the Czar will occupy Stamboul next week, and the Greeks will rise en masse." On the other side, they said, "The combined fleets are at Tenedos; the Austrians and Prussians have joined the Allies ; we shall have an hundred thousand Franks at Gallipoli before Bairam. Long live Abdul Medjid !" Meanwhile, the Turks fasted in the day and feasted at night. The Infidels looked anxiously to their ships of war for refuge. The Hebrews bought bills of exchange on London, and all the time the rataplan of war became louder than ever. Amid all this hubbub we made our calls of ceremony upon the High Dignitaries of the Padisha's dominions. First we went to the Arsenal, which lies on the left bank of the Golden Horn on the Pera side. We landed to pay our respects to the Capudan Pasha the Lord High Admiral, who flies his red crescent flag at the main of the fleet. We were received by a full guard of soldiers, and ushered with great state and decorum, into a long lofty apartment, laid with matting, with chintz covered divans ranged around the walls. The Pasha an exceedingly large of girth and jolly looking, black-eyed Turk, received us very cordially, and we were soon seated near him. He wore a blue frock-coat with navy but- tons and pantaloons, but his Excellency was manifestly ill- at-ease in those garments, and what plainly augmented his THE SUBLIME PORTE. anxiety was, feeling, perhaps, obliged to sit like a Chris- tian. In that position an Oriental is deprived of the power of speech. The stout Admiral, however, presently tucked one leg, surreptitiously as it were, under his base, and then allow- ing the other heel to swing to and fro, he seemed to recover his spirits, and chatted away becomingly. Pipes were brought, with sticks six feet long, having great amber bulbed mouth-pieces, and the stems^ribbed and strapped with diamonds and emeralds. There was a bearer to each one of these valuable tubes, which were never lost sight of. Coffee was served, so soon as the pipes were under way ; and the attendants balanced the diminutive cups in their jewelled stands, in the palm of the left hand, while the dexter flipper was held over to steady them. After this, we had sherbet in large porcelain bowls, when our pipes were taken away, and we made our adieux to the Pasha. We made a tour of the Arsenal, where we saw the Bagnio of Anastasius, the work-shops, dry dock, and some creditable specimens of American ship-building ; and then embarking, we struck across the Golden Horn, and landed at Stamboul. On the quay we found horses superbly caparisoned, to bear us to the Sublime Porte. Our cavalcade was eminently respec- table, and on our passing through the noisome lanes, we bore ourselves as proudly as Saladin amid the Infidels. It must have been rather an expensive turnout to some one, but who paid the scot we did not pause to inquire. I learned, how- ever, that the Grand Vizier alone, could not be seen for less than fifty hard dollars even by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe himself but as these are the barbaric customs of the coun- 11* 250 SCAMPAVIAS. try, I presume our government paid it out of the contingent fund without a murmur. Passing beneath the famous Porte, we dismounted at the entrance to a large pile of stone buildings, and marching through a dense lane of people, we ascended a couple of flights of steps, and were shown into an ante-chamber. Here we kicked our heels, and were told that on account of Ramazan, tobacco pr coffee were not allowed in the purlieus of the Porte. This was aggravating, for we had become fond of the aroma of Latakia and pure mocha, and the Turkish grandees always serve you the best. In a brief space, a curtain was drawn aside from a door- way, and we stood in presence of Reschid Pasha who married the Padisha's daughter who has lovely odalisques in his harem, and who is, in fact, the greatest man in Turkey. He is a man of about fifty-eight years; of small stature, an intellectual head, fine, intelligent dark eyes, and grizzled beard. He speaks French perfectly, though it is not etiquette to address him in any language but that of his master the Caliph. In manner, he was extremely pleasing, and in the duty of making civil speeches, he was quite at home ; and he praised our country and institutions, as if he had been acquainted with our theory of government all his life. Leaving Reschid Pasha, we were presented to the Grand Vizier. This was a tall, dignified old gentleman, who had been governor of Candia. From the Vizier, 'we went to the President of the Council, where the usual forms took place, and then we countermarched out of the building. THE SUBLIME PORTE. 251 On all the visits to the Porte, we were preceded by a grizzly old mute, who, during the interviews, always sta- tioned himself in the middle of the room, and seemed to take great interest in the proceedings, frequently nodding his red fez, and making signs of approbation with his wrinkled digits, to give the world to understand that he thought the affairs were creditably conducted. We were told he was a privileged character, and attended all secret divans when important business was transacted. Taking to our steeds again, we capricoled out of the Sublime Gate, where stands a gilded kiosk in front, and from where the Sultan can behold his ministers enter the council chamber, and then we re-embarked at the quay, everything having passed off perfectly well. The next morning we heard that the Caliph himself was going to say his prayers at a mosque some distance up the Bosphorus. A party of us jumped into one of the frigate's cutters, and pulled up the European shore. The houses line the brink of the Strait, and though not quite so dilapidated as those in the city, are yet decayed, and of the same flimsy material. The only advantage is in position. The Turk, indeed, is fond of water, and if he can puff his chibouque over an ocean, lake, tank or mud- puddle it matters not which he will not waste a glance on scenery, however picturesque or inviting. To my view, the only sensible plan for the Russians to pursue when they occupy the Bosphorus as they assuredly will one of these days would be to burn Constantinople to the ground, and then begin anew with more solidity 252 SCAMPAVIAS. and regularity. It is, in fact, as it stands, nearly swept away every year by fire, but since the houses are run up again with nearly the same rapidity as they are destroyed, there is nothing gained. On our way up, we passed the new palace of the Sultan. It is of white marble, delicately carved and sculptured in a florid Italian style, but it presents the finest fagade I ever beheld. The state apartments are in the centre, while the Imperial Salmanik and the Harem are in either wing. It was not finished at the period of our visit, and the Sultan occupied his summer Palace of Lights, some distance beyond. At the last named residence, the entrance is by marble steps to a portico, supported by marble columns, but the structure itself is of boards, and many of the finely-latticed grilles were hanging lopsided and unhinged from the windows. Landing a little further on, we traversed a lane and came to an irregular space, where a couple of regiments of native troops lined the approaches, and where we found very few persons to intercept the view. The mosque faced the square, and the mollahs were already chanting the rites of the Koran within, in presence of the Ruler of the Universe. In about half an hour there was a stir among the soldiers ; three horses were led forth, all magnificently dressed in jewelled bridles and saddle housings, while one was held at the steps of the mosque. First filed out the high officers of state, all, with the exception of Reschid Pasha, men of enormous bulk, whose curved, weak legs were not strong enough to support them. GOING TO PKAYERS. 253 " There's some with their legs straight by natur And some is born with bow legs from the first, And some that should have grow'd a good deal straighter, But they were badly nursed." Then came Abdul Medjid, the Grand Signior. He walked slowly down the steps, with a timid, shuffling gait, and was carefully assisted to mount his charger. He wore a plain blue cloth cloak, clasped by a crescent of brilliants, and white trowsers ; and his crimson velvet fez was crowned by a jewel that sparkled like a planet. As his beautiful steed daintily moved on towards the palace, his attendants fell in the rear, the troops wheeled into line, the band struck up the imperial march, and the cortege swept by. In person the Sultan is rather below the medium height, and has a defect in one of his feet. I saw him several times after- wards, and his face always bore a pale, care-worn, effete expression, with a print of pain stamped deep upon his brow. He rarely smiles, and his mild, dark vacant gaze wanders about with scarcely a gleam of light. He is, however, greatly beloved by his subjects, for he treats them with gentleness, never interferes with the just administration of the laws,' and abhors the shedding of blood. He has, also, in all praise be it said, put a stop to the inhuman and cruel system of preparing Eunuchs, to make janitors and guardians of the imperial harems. The Sultan regarded us with a furtive look of curiosity, and almost smiled upon the cluster of handsome sailors standing near us, but at last the palace gates closed after him, and then returning to our boat, we skimmed rapidly down the current to the frigate. 254 So AMP A VI A S. Chapter XXIII " And now he rose ; and after due ablutions, Exacted by the customs of the East, And prayers, and other pious evolutions, He drank six cups of coffee at the least." A Stampede at Stamboul. HAVING now had a sight of the living notabilities of the Ottoman Empire, we turned our attention to other objects of minor importance. A STAMPEDE AT STAMBOUL. 255 One pleasant morning, Captain Bangs who, I believe, either won a bet, had a legacy left him, or at all events, found a considerable balance standing to his account on the exact books of Commissary Peeteet generously bethought him to ask Jack Toker and me to spend the day, and dine with him on shore. We, nothing loth, accepted the invitation, and seizing Bangs by the fist, shook that mem- ber heartily, and forthwith sealed the bargain. Shoving pistols in our belts, and girding on our swords, we got away from the ship early. The programme was to go to Miseri's Hotel, procure horses and guides, cross over to Stamboul, take a bath, look through the bazaars, then gallop anywhere out of the city, and so back to Pera, in time for dinner in the evening. We went on very well in these recreations, until we came to the bath establishment, and there Captain Bangs used strong language as was his wont when moved and intimated that, he would rather take thirteen dozen with the knout, than be flayed alive by a Turk. " For," said Bangs, quoting Scripture, " Gilead abode beyond Jordan ; and why did Dan remain in ships ? Asher continued on the sea-shore, and abode in his breaches." We reasoned with Bangs, and tried to change his views, but he remained firm. He consented, however, to wander about the bazaars, buy a lot of slippers, Broussa silks, and lay in his stock of otto of rose, while we disported our- selves in the hot water. The baths we selected were the finest and most spacious, open to the public in Stamboul. I caught a glimpse of the structure from a little eminence, as we approached. It seemed, 256 SCAMPAVIAS. to me, a collection of low conical huts, closely resembling a cluster of bee-hives. Toker said that the style of architecture was Beezantine, in consequence of that resemblance. These hives, as I afterwards discovered, on getting in one of them, have quite a number of circular glass bull's eyes let into the mortar domes, which act as burning lenses, and answer as well for light as heat. The whole affair was en- closed by a high mud wall. We left the crowded stre3t, and parting some heavy cur- tains of a door-way, found ourselves in a long, dimly lighted apartment, perfumed with odoriferous plants, and laid with rush matting; while around the sides were raised platforms at intervals similar to the couches in a ward of an hospital where a goodly number of the Faithful were reposing, prior to the bath. On either side from the centre of this hall, branched off low narrow passages, leading as I surmised from the puffs of steam which occasionally came flurrying out in light wreaths to the bee-hives beyond. At one end, sat a large, ponderous, swarthy Turk, with a desk before him, waiting for the receipt of custom. We had a Greek dragoman Cosandi by name loaned to us for the day, by a person of distinction in Pera, and who, I presume, informed the Turkish master of ceremonies, that Tokcr and I had come to be regularly soaked and scraped, in the real Oriental manner. Hereupon the Turk clapped his hands, and a tall, grey- headed, muscular old object, with a grizzly beard, like the ruffled plumage of an ossary, and paws like the claws of a huge bird, with no raiment on to speak modestly of sud- PARTING WITH CHRISTIANS. 257 denly bopped with a cry into the hall, from a cage-like nook in the wall. A telegraph of nods passed between this hybrid and his keeper, when they both nodded at me, and the for- mer crooking his fore-finger in the direction of the low por- tals beyond, I forthwith proceeded to obey. I bade farewell to Jack Toker rather sadly, and following my guide, came to another room, paved in a fantastic mosaic of pebbles, with large comfortable ottomans ranged around the walls. A sheet was spread on one, and by a nod and croak from the bird, Cosandi began to divest me of my gar- ments. This operation was no sooner performed, than a coarse striped piece of cloth was wound around my waist, and tell to my knees ; while a pair of high rush pattens were thrust on my feet. Then another signal was made by the Birdy claw for me to move on. The agony I endured upon leaving Cosandi was too deep for words. I could have fallen upon his brawny bosom and wept. He wore a fez and fustanella, to be sure, but I some- how regarded him as a Christian, and I did not know whether I should ever behold another. I am not a remarka- bly timid person by nature, but I think there are times of peculiar peril, when it behooves a man to reflect upon what may befall him. Cosandi encouraged me, however, to be of good heart, and turning mournfully away in my scanty attire, I mechanically followed my guide through another low door- way and vaulted passage, until, on looking up, I found myself in one of the beehives I had remarked from without. It made a sort of pentagon of alcoves, and in each stood a deeply sculptured marble bowl bubbling and seething with 258 SCAMPAVIAS. hot water, which fizzed, too, from metal valves above, and rushed over on to the paved stone floor. Into one of these nooks my conductor motioned me to be seated, and, accord- ingly, down I banged on a marble sarcophagus, which, from the shock it gave me, I believe was also a heated oven. Hereupon the wretch kicked my legs from under me at an angle to suit him as if he intended to chop those limbs off and then turning his hairy back upon me, disappeared the way he came. When I first entered the hive, it was stifling, steaming hot, and I began to choke at the outset. Presently, however, the perspiration started in streams from my face and body, and the respiration became easier. Still the Bird did not return, and just as I began to cherish hopes that he would stay away altogether, aud leave me to enjoy the languid feeling of ease stealing over my senses, the low door opened, and in he hopped. In one claw he held a black thing like a carding machine which was, in reality, a stiff hair glove while in the other, he clutched a copper bowl. Dipping the last implement into the marble reservoir, he dashed a quart or two of scald- ing water over my back ; merely, I presume, to give me a skin loosening, and to test my powers of endurance. I winced, but pride came to my aid, and I refrained from knocking my tormentor down. He then very leisurely pulled on the carding apparatus, hurled a copious shower of screeching hot water all over me, and seizing my arm like unto a pump-handle, went to work viciously. His motions at first were gentle, though vigorous at least, I suppose he thought BOILED DOWN. 259 so as he rasped and rubbed, slapped, rolled, wrung, twisted, snapped and cracked my body, joints, knuckles and bones, from the toes to the crown ; but he became excited with the business, and going on with renewed energy, he succeeded, apparently, in scraping me dry to the skeleton. All the while the monster, with sinews like whipcord, was cool as a lily, and the thermometer as high as it reasonably could reach. When he had sufficiently amused himself at this cruel pro- cess, he derisively pitched a few gallons of boiling water into my face and eyes, and before I could recover my faculties, or even shake my fist at him, he had vanished. But I mentally ejaculated, ! my Moslem ! O ! pride of my existence ! if I only had you triced up to the gratings of our starboard gang- way, wouldn't I tickle your brawny back ? O ! no ! Cats, my Moslem ! cats with nine stinging tails ! O ! Turk ! There came another interval of relief, when my persecutor again appeared. This time with an enormous copper vessel, and an affair similar to the broad tail of a Smyrna sheep, or the bagwig of a bishop. Without paying me any other attention than turning a conduit of hissing steam at my legs, which I cleverly evaded, he busied himself by rubbing a large cube of soap over the wool mop, until having raised a small mountain of lather, he squatted at my side, and very care- fully dumped about a barrelful over my head and shoulders. I was so thoroughly saponaceous, that I am sure I could have blown soap-bubbles all day long without even a pipe. At the same time, I must have borne a remote resemblance to Venus emerging from the foam. The Bird, however, without 260 SCAMPAVIAS. indulging in any mythological allegories, went into a series of soft polishing sharapooings, and after smarting my eyes, nose, and ears with suds, and finally deluging me with whole cataracts of scalding water from the tank, he flew away, leaving me in a parboiled state of soap, to dally as best I might, with the heaps of soapy foam piled around me. When the Moslem again entered the bath, it was with an armful of linen cloths. One he turbaned round my head, another was passed about my loins, and a third laid over my shoulders. Now I was attired like a houri going into Para- dise. Then the Bird, presenting his talons, led me back to the robing room, where he buffeted me over on an ottoman, tucked me up in a hot sheet, and sitting down, gratefully titillated his beak with snuff, out of a round tin box, which was appa- rently steam tight. My sufferings being now at an end, and while about to fall off into a pleasant doze, I was startled into consciousness by the apparition of Jack Toker, emerging from one of the dun- geon-like passages. He was the most abject picture of woe I ever saw in Europe. " Isn't it dreadful, Jack ?" I murmured plaintively. " Dreadful !" quoth Toker, with a horrid imprecation, as gasping with rage he rolled himself up in a hot sheet " By the beard of Mahomet, it's positively hellish. I knocked my man down three times, but he got the better of me, and he's rasped me away to a splinter, and broken every bone in my body. All that's left of me is boiled down to a jelly besides. Here ! Cosandi ! you Greek brigand, bring us that flask of absinthe, and some hubble bubbles !" BASHIBAZOUK. 261 We swallowed a thimbleful of the tonic from our private store, and narghiles being produced, we placed the flexile tubes in our mouths, and sucked away reflectively. The silence remained unbroken for some minutes, when a door opened, and in stalked a mahogany-colored, leather-faced object, with the air of a conqueror. He wore a dark green turban in heavy folds about his brows, and a filthy tattered caftan. His waist was swathed with a crimson silk sash, in front of which was thrust three long pistols, a yataghan and an arabesqued dagger ; behind the belt, dangled a silver tea-ket- tle, and a watch as big as a coffee cup. In his hand he held a short pipe and a pouch of tobacco. We could divine, that he sniffed the tainted gale from the Infidel, the moment he darkened the room, for he made a face as if he was sitting on a dead pig on a sea-beach. Going to the furthest end of the apartment, he said his prayers, and then proceeded to unroll himself. He was evidently not pleased, but, " 'Twere vain to guess what shook the pious man Who looked not lovingly on that divan." " I say, shipmate," muttered Toker, " that fellow must be a Kurd, he looks so sour." " More likely, in my opinion," said I, " from his armory and rig, that he's a Bashibazouk." Now, whether the individual I had reference to, understood what we were saying, or only caught the sound of the last word, and was at enmity with that race, I am at a loss to determine ; but certain it is, that his blood-shot eyes flashed wicked fire, and with a villainous scowl, his hand grasped one 262 SCAMPAVIAS. of the long flint-lock weapons, and he half drew it out of the sash. " One hand is on his pistol, On its ornamented stock, While his finger feels the trigger And is busy with the lock The other seeks his yataghan, And clasps its jewelled hilt Oh ! much of gore in days of yore That crooked blade has spilt !" Toker, however, was beforehand with him, and jerking up his body, so that his base made a right-angled triangle with the head and toes, he threw back a cloth at his side, and laid his hand on a navy-revolver, carefully loaded and capped for service. " Oho ! my Bashi," said Toker, familiarly addressing our friend by his first patronymic, and omitting the Bazouk, " you mean mischief, eh ! my Bashi ?" Then he added, sternly, " This is what we dogs call a six shooter, designed by Cadi Colt, and if you expose another inch of that ironmongery stuck about your filthy carcase, I'll make dog's meat of you; a regular mortuum caput, in fact, that is a dead-head ; so mind your eye, oh ! my Bazouk !" I began to feel a little uneasy and nervous at the turn the affair was taking, for I knew that Jack Toker was all the more dangerous when most polite ; and when roused, would think no more of depriving the Sultan of a valuable subject, than of smoking a pipe. In that case, I felt rather doubtful if there might not be a couple of vacancies in our own mess before we could reach the Frigate. Our antagonist, however, was more prudent than I at first thought him, and dropping SLAYING JANISSARIES. 263 his hold on the pistol, he spat his venom upon the pavement, and then strided in his naked majesty through the door- way. Our time having now expired, we donned our raiment. Cosandi played purse-bearer, and finding Captain Bangs with the horses in waiting, we mounted and rode off. First we went to the Seraskier tower, which we ascended, and had a glorious view of the city and Bosphorus. Then we descended to the subterranean reservoirs of the Thousand Columns ; but these, similar to the superlatives of French cafe's, in reality contained but two hundred and twenty-four. It was in ancient times, an underground series of wells, built by Constantine, to water strangers coming to Stamboul, but is now a damp, dark excavation, partly used for a sort of silk- spinning manufactory. From here we visited the museum Elbicei-Atika, of the Janissaries, where wax figures are dressed in the same costumes in which that band of soldiers were massacred. Here let me pause a moment, and say, that this horde of insolent pretoriens, who took the name of Janissary from the fur caps they wore, were butchered by the nerve and bravery of Mahmoud, which saved Turkey, at the time, from absolute ruin. It began in 1826, by the attempt to introduce reform in the tactics of the Turkish army, by means of European instructors. A blow was given to a Janissary by one of these instructors. His comrades instantly capsized their camp- kettles their usual sign of revolt, in refusing to eat the Sul- tan's food and threatened to set fire to the city. They sur- rounded the palace of their Aga, and demanded the head of 264: SOAMPAVIAS. the Grand Vizier. It would seem from this, that in those days, it was necessary for Grand Viziers to have as many heads as Hydra, since they were so often wanted to be chopped off. Old Mahmoud, however, hurried to the scene of action, united his faithful troops, convoked the Ulemas, occupied the mosque of Achmet, near the hippodrome, and unfurled the sacred standard of the Prophet, which is never raised unless the empire is in danger. The Janissaries, meanwhile, entrenched themselves in the Atmeidan square, near their barracks, but the regular troops commanded the approaches with cannon. Then brave old Mahmoud, thoroughly master of the situation, strode up to his rebellious cohorts, and ordered them to lay down their arms and surrender. These, however, were terms unknown in the Janissary vocabulary ; the camp-kettles remained upside down ; the action began, and continued until the entire corps, of full twenty thousand, were slaughtered. From the Atmeidan and its obelisques, we looked into a dozen mosques and tombs of the sultans, and then with a parting peep into Saint Sophia, we galloped out of Stamboul. Gaining the elevated plains back of the town where an army of famished dogs were encamped for the day we rode on a few miles, when, descending to a narrow meadow, we came to a small muddy stream where oxen and buffaloes were wallowing and halted at the valley of Sweet Waters. Here also, were a few regiments of dogs skirmishing and foraging on offal in the neighborhood. No one owns these brutes, and no one would, as property, if he could. Some of them resemble long-legged French pigs others, SWEET WATERS. 265 Brobdingnag rats while the major part have the physiog- nomy of the Muscovite wolf, or the California coyote. There is not one whose ribs like the hoops of an old barrel don't protrude through the scrawny hide ; and no one ever saw them wag their " organs of recognition," or look with any show of affection upon a human being. The well-fed dogs who are on the staff, as it were lie about the streets of the cities in the day-time undisturbed, but the irregular troops of the line, prowl over the suburbs for carrion or battle until nightfall, when they trot to their respective quarters, and howl hideously in suicidal notes, all night. At the Sweet Waters, a few stragglers would occasionally leave the main body, and come sniffing and snarling about our horses' feet. There was no doubt that they were hungry, for they seemed to take a violent, and rather snappish fancy to Captain Bangs' legs whose calves were eminently respect- able to his very great annoyance; evidently wishing to " On the tempting limb, Like a shark on the leg of a nigger." The Sweet Waters are a branch of the head tributaries of the Golden Horn, and at certain seasons of the year are a great resort for Constantine cockneys, who come hither on keffs or pic-nics. The banks are fringed with noble ranges of trees, which fling a grateful shade over the road, and there are numerous summer houses in the Italian style one of grim old Mahmoud dotted about the groves upon the banks or islets of the waters, while herons and swans swim between, and slender white Chinese bridges span the stream. 12 266 SOAMPAVIAS. Crossing to the right bank, we again coursed up the hills to a plateau beyond, and came to the great barracks erected by Mahmoud. On demanding admittance at the gateways, we were, at first, rather churlishly refused, but in the act of moving away, we were summoned back, politely received by the officer in command, taken to a reception room, squatted on divans, and regaled with pipes and coffee. Afterwards, we visited the soldiers' quarters, which occupied all sides of the vast quadrangular building, and found them remarkably well ventilated and clean. The barracks are capable of bil- leting ten thousand men, but at the time of our visit, there were but fifteen hundred ; their companions having been hurried off to serve with Omar Pasha at the Balkans. The prospect from the plain upon which the barracks stand, is one of the finest from any point near Constantino- ple. You look down upon the Golden Horn for its whole length ; take in the immense suburbs and cities of Starnboul, Scutari, Galata, and Pera, where the white minarets ever a beautiful feature in the landscape gleam up from amid the dark green foliage ; and then the view embraces the winding Bosphorus, with its myriads of vessels ; the Sea of Marmora, decked with islands ; and beyond the hills and mountains which close around the distant horizon. Returning, we trotted along the Stamboul side until we reached the Horn, where we crossed the upper bridge above the arsenal ; and where, for two mortal hours, we twined and threaded the endless, narrow paths of the ravines. Some- times we would get bewildered in a gloomy cemetery, and surrounded by bands of yelping, savage curs, who started up A STAMPEDE AT STAMBOUL. 267 like famished spectres from the recesses of the tombs and cypresses. Again, we became lost down amid filthy lanes and hovels, where the projecting lattices nearly picked our eyes out as we rode by. We also encountered more starving dogs, and slovenly women, wrapped in gauze feridjees, wear- ing yellow slipshod boots to correspond with their com- plexions. Yet, again, we would mount a slope, and come upon half-naked groups of imps of children, attended by vil- lainous-looking negro wenches long and lanky, walking like wet cats who evinced their delight by casting stones and spitting at us. At last, we reached the Jewish Ghetto, where " All the fleas in Jewry Jumped up and bit like fury," and where we saw hosts of the real Shylock breed ; glorious studies for Rembrandt, in ho: les of scrofulous lepers, of thes3 descendants of Abraham ; and there were the women too, glaring with their sharp, unearthly eyes, down upon us from the lattices. In all these places in the silent Turkish quarter, as well as in the Babel Phanar of the Levites we beheld vile nests of bakers and pilaus shops, and nasty cafes, festering with the living maggots of the population, and all bearing the lowest type of squalid misery, filth, and wretchedness. Riding through the abode of the Jews, we came to the more open streets of Galata and Pera, and shortly after joy- fully dismounted at the Hotel d'Angleterre. Here we had dinner, with Burgundy and pipes, and after- wards a regular row with the Effendi of the caravanserai Mon- 268 SOAMPAVIAS. sieur Mysseri. This publican from the prestige of his renown in a book entitled Eothen* assumes to be one of the most powerful Agas Pashas even in the Sultan's dominions. The way-worn traveller can behold him at all times, seated in an elegantly carved frame, attired in a profusion of rich furs and velvet, with a shiny hat between his fingers and thumb, looking dovtn patronizingly upon his own state saloon. We had reason to believe, however, that the sleek Sieur Mys- seri was a sharper of eminence. He charged California prices, which we did not cavil at, but when he only allowed twenty-three piastres for French dollars, and twenty-four for the Colonnati coin about one-fourth less their value we ex- pressed our opinion of him in very strong and decided Saxon. The guide and horse boys, too, taking the cue from their master, tried the same game of extortion, and festooning themselves around our skirts, bellowed for more backsheesh. At every repetition, however, of this demand, we gave it to them, where they seemed to want it, with the toes of our boots, until they were driven from our presence. It was now quite dark ; the muezzins had long ceased their shrill, melodious cries from the mosques, and the minarets were sparkling with ever-shifting lamps; when, attended by boys, with paper lanterns, we drew our pistols, and felt the way carefully down to Top-Hand. This populous * The consequential author of this famous production, gives us as fair an idea of the peculiar manners and customs of the Orientals, as an ourang outang might form from his cage in Regents' Park of the cockneys of London. Eothen appears to have been a newly fledged Proctor from Oxford, or a pettifogging lawyer of the Temple, in the chrysalis state between a Puseyite and a votary at the Holy Sepulchre LAMP LANGUAGE. quarter was a blaze of light. The fruit markets, pilaus shops, and cafes, were thronged, and the pious Mussulmans were making amends for their diurnal fast in Ramazan. The Turk, however, is pious and simple in his tastes. He has but one book and one dish the Koran and Kebobs so that he need not go far to be satisfied. We entered a large open cafe" on the point, and reclining on benches near the spray of a fountain, we indulged in ices and narghiles. We amused ourselves the while, gazing at the novel illuminations which flashed out from mosque and minaret far and near along the Bosphorus. W"e watched, too, the silent, rapid transformations of various maxims of the Koran all the more impressive, in the absence of chimes or carillons of bells as they came and went in the myriads of twinkling lamps. It was, nevertheless, refreshing to stretch our jaded frames on the soft rugs of a quivering caique, and under the skillful pilotage of one Ibraham, to be pulled out into the cooling atmosphere of the Golden Horn, and once more go to rest on board the frigate. 270 Chapter XXIV. My boy !" said he, " amidst this motley crew, Of Georgians, Russians, Nubians, and what not, All ragamuffins, differing but in hue, With whom it is our luck to cast our lot, The only gentlemen seem I and you." Frankincense. IN the cool of the mornings, the bazaars of Stamboul present a very interesting study. You can ruin yourself there, and be unblushingly cheated with the greatest ease imaginable. You meet there rascals of all the races of the East ; Kurds, Armenians, Jews, Persians, Nubians, Tartars, FRANKINCENSE. 271 Tunisians, Circassians, Afghans, and Bashibazouks. The Jews and Armenians, however, are the sellers in detail ; the other merchants have their Khans, where the cargoes of camels and ships are stored, and merchandise disposed of by the bale. The slipper, silk and seed bazaars develop the gayest sights, but the arms bazaar is by far the most curious of all. Strange to say, smoking is defendu there. You may buy there anything, from an antique ring worn by the Prophet, to the sword of Scanderbeg. Rare old coins, gems, silverware, strings of pearls, gold or copper pots, oriental guns, of bars of steel frapped together, and the queerest of locks ; yataghans and daggers, of Damascus workmanship, richly inlaid with gold, arid embossed scab- bards which " Were those that once a Pasha wore, Which still, though gemm'd and boss'd with gold, Even robbers tremble to behold ;" precious stones, gun-powder, amulets, antique china; carved furniture ; beads, horse-gear ; together with an infinite variety of costumes, from a sheepskin Tartar robe, to the vest for an EfFendi, ranging in price from a few paras to thousands of dollars. All these articles, and many more, are to be had in the arms bazaar. Most of them, however, are disposed of by lottery or raffle, and the din and hubbub attending these sales, in every known dialect, is deafening. To visit these marts as a mere observer of strange people and things, is highly diverting, but as a matter of business, it is quite the reverse. If you wish to make purchases, as you don't speak the language, of course you must have an inter- 272 SCAMPAVIAS. preter. He will be a Jew or Armenian, who comes with a book filled with recommendations from helpless Franks who have been fleeced before you, but, nevertheless, in the end you will find that your interpreter is a great rogue. For example, I was told by a man high in rank in Pera, that a certain person who sold silks and rugs of the Persian loom, in the silk bazaar, was the honestest fellow outside of Christendom. To this prodigy I straightway went, but after making my purchases, what was my horror to learn from some English ladies, who possessed a knowledge of these fabrics, that he was par excellence the veriest scamp ever circumcised; and had sold them a second-hand carpet for new, to establish that reputation. Again, in the article of otto of rose, I was especially recom- mended to a vender, whose whole life from infancy up, had been passed amid those delicate perfumes ; and he was said to be the most virtuous Mohammedan that ever wore beard, or entered mosque. All Asia had not his equal for probity, and he would rather eat a dog in broad day in Ramazan, and curse Allah to boot, than sell a spurious article. Oh ! no ! not he. Being further strengthened in spirit, by the information that the genuine essence of roses should congeal at a tempera- ture where gutta percha ought to melt, I forthwith deter- mined to lay in my stock for half a century to come. My worthy dragoman soon trailed me along to the designated shop, and there, ensconced behind a little desk, sat the honest Moslem. On a low ottoman hard by, squatted a Persian potentate, who, I was assured, was a relation on FRANKINCENSE. 273 the mother's side, probably of the Prophet himself, as was denoted by his green turban, and a beard flowing to his gir- dle. He \vas likewise deputed to act as umpire. " Salaam Aleikum !" said they both. First, there was an imploration from my dragoman to the keeper of the scent-shop to sell the veritable stuff. Whereupon the last named individual elevat- ed his eyes to a gorgeous old yellow rug hanging against the wall as to a spirit, and as if Mahomet was peering out of a pattern thereof; while, at the same time, I thought the Per- sian squatter was going to fall on his face without further warning, and say his prayers outright at the mere suspicion ! After this display of almost seraphic honesty, I would have placed my purse and person in their hands. Presently a small cupboard was opened, and there I beheld a couple of square case bottles containing pale yellow fluids. " Now ! Hamet !" says my dragoman, with a serious wag to his beard, as if in caution. " ! o-o-h-a ! Listen, oh my lamb ! my soul ! Joy of my Liver !" he said in the beautiful language of the East. u ! ki bilurtzen !" By she we both think of swore the otto mer- chant affectionately ; and then his oily fingers went up and he took down the yellowest bottle which was frozen almost solid placed it carefully on a stand, with a tin-box of blad- ders, and a pair of scissors, before him. All around the shop, too, were ranged lots of jars, canisters, jugs, and even demijohns, containing, no doubt the same precious oil as that on the table ; and no question either, but that it could have been bought by the quart, gallon, or hogs- head, had the demand been made. There was, at the same 12* 274 SOAMPAVIAS. time, such a nauseous compound of smells musk, sandal, aloes, and bergamot that it took me several consecutive baths to drive the taste out of my mouth. The next operation was to immerse the bottle in a tin re- servoir of hot water, so as to dissolve the yellow congealation. But no Christian would believe who has not witnessed a similar interesting operation that I actually waited with per- fect inward satisfaction, and saw this otto boiled down to a fluid state, under the mistaken belief that it was the very quintessence of pressed rose leaves ! After this liquefaction had taken place, I chose some pretty little gilded bottles. There was bargaining and higgling about the price ; I, of course, relying upon the guide and not understanding a syllable of what was said by the rogues. Finally, I was told the lowest para was reached ; the oil was weighed by drams, the bottles carefully sealed and paid for. Then it was understood that if I would keep the affair a profound secret, I might buy out the entire shop. I went off to the frigate in a transport of joy, and perfumed like a muskrat; but on exhibiting my mixture to an expe- rienced old Greek pilot we had on board, he assured me I had been cheated. This, of itself, was sufficiently pro- voking, but not being convinced, I consulted Liebig and Stockhardts both, I believe, received authorities in organic chemistry. There, to my dismay, I learned that otto of roses is a "yellowish thick fluid, with flakes resembling tallow floating in it;" and that it takes one hundred pounds of fresh roses to make a quarter of an ounce of oil. FRANKINCENSE. 275 Now, how in the name of common sense could I, or any one else, as a non-chemist, detect . the difference between real tallow and the resemblance; or know how many hundred pounds of rose-leaves had been squeezed into my oil ? I resolved, however, to push my researches still further, and accordingly, under the lee of our Greek Palinurus, I went to a mild and benevolent-visaged old Turk, who was, indeed, a real Tunisian trader. His retreat was Allah and the dogs only know where in a remote part of somewhere, at the end of a dark court in Stamboul. Outside the shop or khan were piled bales of carpets and rugs from Ispahan; with shawls and silks in bulk from Broussa and Thibet. The softest haired goats from all Cashmere, Angora, and Tartary, had no doubt contributed their offerings. Within was a long divan, and the floor was strewed with quaint- shaped jugs and canisters. A chibouque was brought me ; a negro imp laid a live coal on the bowl, and after a few preliminary whiffs and a dignified silence, I produced a bottle of the ingredient I had procured of honest Hamet in the bazaar. The venerable Tunisian received the phial with as much distrust as if it had been a live rattlesnake, and his patri- archal beard became tremulous. He gave the little bottle a shake, then shook his head, and holding it up to the light, he calmly imparted some oracular intelligence to the Pilot. " What does the patriarch say, Demetri ?" I ventured to ask. " He say, sar," spoke up Demetri, " zat ze pure otto rose do nevvar congeal, and zat you buy him a preparashun ov de wax, and mush bad wax old man say am, too." I dashed down my pipe, respectfully salaamed my thanks 276 SCAMPAVIAS. to the venerable Tunisian, and returned to the ship a madder and a wiser man, resolving henceforth never again to enter the perfume markets of the East. It was remarked, how- ever, spitefully by my messmates on getting on board, that instead of bringing off Frankincense, I came off an incensed Frank. CRUISE IN A CAIQUE. 277 Chapter XXV. The European with the Asian shore Sprinkled with palaces ; the ocean stream, Here and there studded with a seventy-four ; Sophia's cupola with golden gleam ; The cypress groves ; Olympus high and hoar The twelve isles, and the more than I could dream, Far less describe, present the very view Which charmed the charming Mary Montagu," Cruise in a Caique. ONE pleasant afternoon I was invited to take a cruise up the Bosphorus in the English yacht Genevra. She was owned by Sir Percy Bysshe Shelley the son of the Poet who, with his charming lady, were making a tour of the 278 SCAMPAVIAS. Mediterranean. The vessel itself was a little beauty, schooner-rigged, and fitted with luxurious saloons, cabins, and baths. I would much prefer, as a matter of mere taste, to live permanently on the dry land; but if one will roll about the water at every angle, save the perpendicular why a staunch, snug yacht, well manned and sailed, is not a residence to be despised. You carry your bed and board with you, and when in port, you are not put to shift for lodgings, or suffer the unavoidable discomforts of voyagers, with couriers and post-coaches. It is an expensive under- taking, however, though with a trifle of ten or twelve thousand pounds sterling a year, the thing can be accom- plished. We got underway, with a steam-tug ahead, and winding amidst the maze of shipping waiting for a breeze to drive them into the Black Sea, we held our course up the Strait. As you ascend, the views are exceedingly picturesque, but the general aspect of the country is similar to that about Constantinople. For a great distance along the banks of the Bosphorus, on both sides, is lined with dwellings, kiosks, palaces, and gardens. The gardens, however, are generally hidden in rear of the buildings, and thus one great effect in landscape waving and drooping foliage is lost ; but the Turks, as I have heretofore remarked, prefer to smoke their tobacco directly over the water. About midway up, on the western shore, stands the castle of Europe. It is a quaint old collection of crenulated walls and towers, but quite in ruins. Beyond, the stream comes CRUISE IN A CAIQUE. 279 down with a rush, at a place called Mega reuma, or the Devil's Current; and further still, the Bosphorus takes a curving bend at Therapia and Buyukdere. It was here, I believe, where Darius crossed to make war upon the Scythians, and where, also, the Eastern hordes crossed in their invasion of Europe. The Turkish fleet was anchored in this bight, the van held by the Mahmoud, a three-decker, of one hundred and forty guns. At Buyukdere, where are some of the summer palaces and gardens of the foreign embassies, we dropt anchor ; and after a pleasant dinner on board the Genevra, I went on shore and took lodgings at the quiet little hotel of La Pierre. While smoking a pipe in the dusk of the evening on the veranda, I entered into conversation with an intelligent gentleman, who, perhaps, observing by my uniform that I was an American officer, talked very frankly upon the grave question Turque, then pending. He likewise politely volun- teered to take me the next morning in his caique to the Black Sea. I accepted, and at sunrise we stepped into a commodious caique, manned by two Greek caique-jees, and set out on our cruise. By the way, these caiques are the only graceful moving things in the East. They are frail as egg-shells, and shaped like bean-pods sharp at both ends and the steersman sits on a little raised deck in the stern. The oars have large bulbous looms, with crescents cut out of the outer blades, and accurately balanced by swivels on the gunwales. There are not seats for passengers, but they recline on cushions or rugs in the after part of the bottom of the boat. The rowers, who 280 SCAMPAVIAS. are uncommonly handsome Arnouts, in red fezzes with blue silk tassels, white gauze caftans, and wearing no beard, save the moustache, pull like clock-work, in a measured quick stroke ; their arms doing all the labor, while the dark-carved, or gilded caiques skim with their raised prows like sea- serpents over the waves. During this excursion, I paid considerable attention to the defences of the Straits, and examined as well as I could from the water, the batteries permanent and temporary which had been thrown up to defend the passage. There were twelve batteries, but all miserably mounted with cannon of light calibre on fixed carriages, and very imperfect means of handling them. They would not, in fact, have been able to hold out five minutes from a resolute assault by land or sea. At the extreme outer point, where stands a light- house like the one on the opposite Cape, without lamps we saw a battalion of Turkish artillery unloading from large flat barges, guns and shot. The guns were of bronze long, unwieldy, and not fit for service. The balls were of various diameters, and not one in ten would enter the muzzles of the pieces. " Voyez ! Monsieur," said my companion, after he had quietly counted and noted down in a little book all we had seen of the Turkish defences. " Se what vain efforts these barbarians are making to resist the Black Sea fleet of sixteen ships of the line ? Look, too ! at those half-manned Otto- man frigates planted there in straight line, when one heavy broadside would rake and sink them all ! In five days from the order, the Russians could be in the Golden Horn with CRUISE IN A CAIQUE. 281 their fleet and forty thousand troops ; and then where would be the Allies. But, bah !" he continued, " the French and English will never ally themselves to Turkey." In this last conviction, my friend proved out of his reckon- ing, for not long after, as all the world knows, the alliance was formed, and the combined fleets blocked up the Bospho- rus with a bulwark of near four thousand cannon. He was right, however, in the first views he expressed, and had the Czar made a demonstration by sea, the Western powers would never have landed a soldier on the banks of the Bos- phorus, or even entered the Dardanelles. As for the actual resistance the Turks could have offered, it was, in their own figurative language, mere bosh. They had the opportunity for trying their metal in the November following, at Sinope ; with what disastrous results and all caused by their own imbecility and cowardice is now pretty widely understood. On the other hand, I undertake to say, that notwithstanding the preponderance of force on the side of the Russians, there never was known, in naval warfare, so complete and entire an annihilation in so short a time as that of the Ottoman squadron. Had this squadron been "painted ships upon a painted ocean," and set up as a target, there could not have been, even as a matter of practice, greater skill displayed. The Russians came into the bay under all sail ; anchored within a thousand yards of their object, and in less than two hours from the time the fire was opened, the Turkish fleet was absolutely destroyed. The only material damage the Russians sustained in the action, was from contemptible little earth batteries on shore, 282 CAM PA VI AS. which cut away a mast or two, and killed a score or more of men ; but their fleet sailed the next day for Sevastopol leaving only blown up and sunken wrecks, burning timbers, and mutilated corpses, which once composed a squadron manned by nearly five thousand Osmanlis. If this result does not exhibit clearly what efficiency is in the Muscovite navy, I should like to hear of some better example. Again, if it required but a portion of the Black Sea fleet to make this havoc, what would have been the fate of Constantinople had the passage of the Bosphorus been attempted ? We rowed from side to side of the two promontories which guard the entrance to the Strait. Great flocks of marine swallows, or les ames damnees, were skimming up and down on untiring wings, sacred from shot or missile. The Black Sea rolls in like a dreary ocean, with a dull roar, upon the gloomy, rock-bound, craggy coast, and then forcing its waters between the bold sterile head-lands, drives the current, in pleasing contrast, within the verdure-covered banks of the lovely Bosphorus. Towards meridian our caique's prow was turned down the stream, and we floated quietly back to Buyukdere'. There, disembarking at the upper end of the village, we walked along a high stone wall, which shut in a magnificent forest, and coming, presently, to a small door let into the masonry, my companion pulled a bell. In a moment the gate swung back, and half-a-dozen servants in rich liveries bowed before us. As the door closed again, my companion raised his castor, and said : CRUISE IN A CAIQUE. 283 " Monsieur, I am the sole remaining diplomatique repre- sentative of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, left in Constantinople. I am glad to receive an American." Breakfast was ordered, and after wandering about the princely chateau and domain, we sat down to a table, laid beneath the refreshing shade of a terrace, which commanded a panoramic view of the Strait and Asiatic shores. Between the omelette and the pilaus we resumed the conversation upon the all-absorbing question Turque. " Tell me, sir," began my host, " suppose, by way of exam- ple, a horde of infidels, without energy or progress, or even a more enlightened nation, were encamped at the mouth of your great Mississippi, which drains a vast agricultural terri- tory scarcely superior to southern Russia, would you prefer to remain locked up, your commerce cramped, and your resources wasted, without pursuing a policy to open the com- munications with the world at large ?" This was the true filibuster doctrine, and I could not patri- otically gainsay it. ' Then," he continued, " why should this Turk, who grinds the orthodox church to the dust ; who is corrupt and totter- ing to his fall the mouse the cats are playing with why, monsieur, should we hold back the advance and noble interests of the Russian Empire ? Is it not monstrous that we should longer submit to this miserable system ? Moreover," he went on bitterly, " regard France, not content with colonizing nearly all of northern Africa, she wishes to plant her foot upon Syria. And only the other day she sent Lavallette here to pick ac. absurd quarrel with the Porte about the keys of 284: SCAMPAVIAS. Jerusalem : but not succeeding in that, she is making love to her natural and hereditary enemies, the English, to mount guard over the communications to India, and prevent Russia from getting a foothold in the Mediterranean ! Sacre bleu ! It is too bad ! We ought to bear in mind the excellent advice of the Emperor Peter (here he took off his hat) of blessed memory to his successor, II faut battre les Turcs chaque annee ! Try some of that Clos vogeot, monsieur, after the Bordeaux." I found the reasoning and champagne of my host unexcep- tionable, and after a hearty breakfast, I said, bon jour, and returned to my Locanda. Then I bathed in the Bosphorus, which laved the front of the house, dined and slept, and the following morning I threw myself in a caique, and was car- ried to the Frigate. On my trip down, the cannon thundered along the Bosphorus, and looking up, I beheld the Imperial caique shoot like a flying sea-dragon, gilded in gold and white, and pulling twenty-two oars, out from the Tcheragier Palace. As the caique flew by, I raised my cap, and saw his Highness, the Caliph, reclining like any other mortal, in the stern, smoking his pipe calmly, and shaded by the Imperial crimson umbrella. ABDUL MEDJID AT HOME 285 Chapter XXVI. " He went to Mosque in state and said his prayers With more than Oriental scrupulosity ; He left to his Vizier all state affairs, And show'd but little royal curiosity." Abdul Medjid at Home. WHILE at Constantinople we exchanged ceremony calls with the English Ambassador, Lord Stratford de Redcline, and M. de Brtick, the Austrian Internuncio, but now a member of the cabinet of Vienna. The former is a tall, aristocratic per- sonage, famous for his wonderful influence with the Ottoman Porte ; and the latter gentleman is a splendid specimen of manhood, and bears a striking resemblance to Ex-President Fillmore. 286 SCAMPAVIAS. The Turkish dignitaries also visited us. Among them the Capudan Pasha ; the same ponderous Turk with whom we puffed the pipe of peace at the Arsenal. Him we called Abdomin Pasha, in compliment to his aldermanic corporation. He was bowed and speechified at ; shown in and around the Frigate, and when he went away in his superb twenty- oared caique, we cannonaded him with nineteen heavy guns. Amin Bey, however, the gentleman who made a tour through the United States at the expense of our government, did not find time to pay his respects ; and, indeed, when we met him once or twice in a steamer going to Therapia, he was so near-sighted that he failed to recognize us. We continued to while away the time very agreeably. We rarely walked, for the streets are nasty and torturous to pedestrians, and since Providence does not provide us with four legs, we seldom exerted ourselves. We always found, however, excellent horses, and made excursions to Belgrade, the splendid aqueduct of Justinian, or boated it over to Scu- tari to see the spinning dervishes, or lounged about the cafes and bazaars. One peculiarity I remarked in passing through the narrowest streets, and that is, the populace, whether male or female, never so much as a garment touched, notwithstand- ing the loose and flowing drapery worn. This precaution has evidently been taught by the plague. The day of our departure from Constantinople, we were presented to the Sultan. At the appointed time a flotilla of four boats left the frigate, the Commodore's barge leading. We moved off for the Tcheragier Palace, where the audience ABDUL MEDJID AT HOME. 287 was to be held. This palace is above that of the " Gourds," the elegant white marble structure, which, with its crimson crystal dome, sculptured fa9ade, and noble*gateways, attracts all gazers. Landing at the stone brink of Tcheragier, we formed and marched up the colonnade, between rows of Turkish soldiers, who had brass tubes for cartridges on their breasts, similar to Pandaen pipes, and entered the north wing of the palace. We passed up a low flight of matted stairs, creaking beneath our tread, were shown into a square room, and became seated on divans which filled three of the sides. The room itself was scantily, and even tawdrily furnished. The floor was laid with coarse straw matting; the sofas covered with soiled figured silks, and the curtains to the closely latticed windows which looked delightfully upon the Bosphorus were of tattered gauze, while a dirty brass lamp, without shades, was suspended from the low ceiling. In contrast, however, to this ordinary display, there pre- sently came in a long file of well-dressed servants with pipes, and each of us twenty-two in all were supplied with one. The richly gilded earthen bowls were alight and placed in silver platters, at convenient distances on the floor. Many of the stems were full seven feet long. O ! delicious must have been the cherries that once ripened on these straight shoots under the warm suns of Teheran ! The enormous amber bulbs were ribbed with clasps of diamonds, which made our mouths water to behold them, while the delicate aroma of the Latakia rolled upward from 288 SCAMPAVIAS. our lips, and the fumes of the grateful though pernicious weed lulled us to repose. But another band of attendants appeared, and with graceful oriental salaams, presented us each with a cup of coffee, whose gold filagree stands were enamelled blue, and thickly studded with diamonds. We now began to realize the sensation that we were tasting the same Mocha as that sipped by the Protector of the Universe ! Allah ! Infidels that we were ! We merely looked at one another and winked, each man mentally calculating the value of the treasures before us, and hoping that the good old customs might be revived for the occasion, and we be permitted to walk off with our prize. Those watchful bearers, however, put those burglarious visions to flight, by again approaching and bearing away the little cups with their precious stands* In a few minutes that pleasant, intelligent, little old Mo- hammedan, Reschid Pasha, was announced, and welcomed us kindly. He took a seat in our midst, but had not long to chat, before, by some mysterious signal, we all got on our pins ; the servants seized the pipes, and then, in the wake of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, we descended to the lower story. There traversing a court-yard and blooming flower garden, between files of soldiers, we reached the main trunk or reception centre of the palace. At the piazza, the Dragomen, and even Reschid himself, kicked off their slippers ; then entering a vestibule, we passed up a broad staircase, where, at the angles, and on the landing above, stood the Sultan's body guard. This guard was gorgeouply dressed in scarlet frock coats, heavily embroidered ABDUL MEDJID AT HOME. 289 and banded with ropes and aiguillettes of gold, with high plumed red caps, which added to their tall stature, and in their hands they carried long, double crescented halberds. Turning to the left, where was a large, lofty apartment, we beheld Abdul Medjid, the Caliph. The floor of the reception room was raised a few inches from the hall, and not only the Dragomen, but the Minister, touched the ground with their fingers, and then raised them to their foreheads in approach- ing the Presence. I had only time to remark, that the apartment was deco- rated with several valuable French clocks standing on marble consoles, which did not appear to go, or, if they did, they kept miscellaneous time ; that the artificial flowers, within superb crystal shades were shabby and out of vogue ; that the heavy brocade hangings were dusty and ill-arranged, and, in short, that the whole establishment was sadly out at elbows, and needed woman's taste and attention to keep the incongruous furniture in order. The Sultan stood with his back to the windows, and in front of a small sofa. He was dressed, to begin below, in varnished shoes, badly made ; white trousers, still worse, and a dark blue frock coat, on the left breast of which glittered a star of brilliants. Over all, he wore a short blue cloak, with the collar and cuffs both royally encrusted to the depth of three inches with large brilliants on a scarlet ground. The hilt of his gold-sheathed scimitar was also gleaming in jewels. I stood within a yard of him and studied him attentively. He is not much over thirty years of age, but he looks full 13 290 SOAMPAVIAS. forty-five. He has good features, a fine forehead, black eyes, good mouth, and white teeth : with jet black moustache r and beard closely trimmed. When he tried to smile, a very pleasing and touching expression passed like a breath upon a mirror, over his face. He looked indifferent, and even sleepy? as we drew near, but when the light came into his dark eyes, the most saddened expression of sorrow peeped out, as if from a soul that had suffered patiently from the hour it was created. There were civil speeches made on both sides all, how- ever, murmured in low, half-audible whispers and the Sultan desired the Commodore to congratulate the President of the United States upon his accession to office. But my interest was fixed upon the man. There he stood, the descendant of Mahomet ! at whose nod heads may fall, and houris be sewed up in sacks, and pitched into the Bosphorus! Ay, there he stood, the lord of a quaking empire, now only upheld by the Infidel giants, his subjects, still spit upon ; and whom the vassal of his ancestors, the pirate Barbarossa, once sold for an onion apiece! There stood Abdul Medjid. May he live a thou- sand years ! Yet, even with his deformed foot, there was an air of calm dignity surrounding him, though he seemed much better suited for a holy monk, with rope and serge, telling his beads with downcast, meditative mien, than an Eastern despot^ throwing handkerchiefs at odalisques, or ruling a nation. The audience was soon over, and we reversed out of the reception chamber, bowing to His Highness unto the ABDUL MEDJID AT HOME. 291 threshold. T was the last, and saw the wearied man sink languidly on the ottoman, tuck one of his legs under him, and then pull out a paper from beneath a cushion, as if it were the greatest labor in life, Poor mortal ! He can't eat with his species ; nor be jolly, nor hear scandal, or have fun ; but must pass his time with ignorant white-faced women, be hen-pecked to death, and lead the life of a mute. On the whole, however, there is something fascinating about Abdul Medjid much in the style of Kossuth and it occurred to me, that the very touching sadness of his countenance would make him, in sentiment, a very dangerous person for conquest with the fair sex. Descending to a large saloon immediately below the audience-room, we were refreshed after our exertions, with large bowls of sherbet; and afterwards had the satisfaction to wipe our profane lips on the Sultan's fine lawn and gold- worked napkins. Then the amiable Reschid parted with us. The imperial guards were drawn up, and out we went, through gardens, courts, and gateways, salaaming right and left, until we reached the marble stairs at the Bosphorus, where we jumped into the boats, and dashed away to the Frigate. Whether any or all of the favorites and ladies of the Harem fell in love with us, we never knew. It was more than probable, however, that they did, and may have been shot like so many sacks of coals into the Bosphorus for their preference. In the evening we weighed anchor, and with the swift, 292 SOAMPAVIAS. rolling current, we swung past Seraglio point, and before set of sun, the tall green cypresses beside the graceful, glittering minarets, " Spires whose silent fingers point to Heaven," and the flat-domed mosques, faded from our sight as we sailed out into the Sea of Marmora. IL SIKOCCO. Chapter XXVII. ' Cresce 1'ardor nocivo, e sempre awampa Piu mortalmente in queste parti e in quelle. A giorno reo notte piu rea succede, E di peggior di lei dopo lei riede. * * * # * Sembra il ciel nell' aspetto atra fornace ; *** Vento che move dall' arene maure, Che gravoso e spiacente, e seno e gote Co' densi fiati ad or ad or percote." " Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch' entrate." " Like a dark furnace Heaven seems : in vain The weary eye refreshment seeks ; silent Is Zephyr in his cave, nor does remain One sound of life ; no breath of air is sent To cool the cheek : like flame of burning brands, Blows the hot wind that comes from Moorish sands. In fitful gusts it strikes the languid breast ; Which pants for purer air and vainly seeks for rest." R. A. II Sirocco. WE rapidly crossed the Sea of Marmora, and with a whistling breeze, entered the Hellespont. It being contrary, however, to Turkish regulation to pass the castles at night, we let go an anchor near Sestos. At early dawn, we were again under canvas, and before noon, we had run through 294 SOAMPAVIAS. the Dardanelles, and were in Beshika Bay, within sight of the combined fleets of France and England. There were twenty-five sail in all, from huge three-deckers down to steam-corvettes. It was a grand sight truly those mighty bulwarks of oak, the black-muzzled cannon pro- truding from their checkered sides, while above arose the great cumbrous forest of masts, spars, and cordage, bearing aloft their defiant banners. They were all anxiously waiting, too, for the guns to be cast loose, and the signal given to rush at the Russians. But with no " Soft greetings to the infanticidal Czar, The Bear on Poland's babes that wages war !" Oh, no ! All were emulous and eager for a gripe with that Bear, though, perhaps, they little anticipated at the time what a death-hug they were likely to receive in return. In truth, John Bull might have exclaimed, when the war was ended, as did one of his captains after the battle of Navarino, " We have had a devilish good fight, but, unfortunately, we knocked down the wrong man." As we passed slowly before the line, the English cross of Saint George was displayed from our fore, and we saluted Admiral Dundas. Scarcely had the thunder of our guns ceased, when the flashes belched forth from the ports of the Britannia, and the sound was rolled, like an echo, back again. At the same time, we could see with the glass a ball of bunting at the mast-head of the French Admiral doubtless the American flag in readiness to be unfurled when the same compliment had been paid to him, as that to his SMALL SWORDS. 295 colleague. But we held on our course in solitary dignity, without burning another ounce of gunpowder for anybody. We heard afterwards from some English officers of the fleet, that the rage of the Frenchmen, at what they regarded a deliberate insult cast upon them in presence of their allies, exceeded all bounds; and lucky it was, perhaps, that we Republicans were out of reach of their small swords, or else some of our digestions might have been injured. The fact was, that non-intercourse existed between us, and the cause dated back to our visit to Palermo. There the French fleet, under Admiral de la Susse, entered the Bay. Now, by the laws of naval etiquette, after preliminary com- pliments are mutually interchanged through the medium of aid-de-camps, it becomes the duty among equals in rank, for the last comer to make the first visit. Admiral de la Susse, however, did not honor our Commander-in-chief with a call. Then we went to Naples, whither the French fleet followed us, but no courtesies, either of aid-de-camps or visits, passed between us. Whereupon the Frenchman took umbrage, and the matter being referred to the respective governments, considerable diplomatic correspondence ensued ; all, however, without a satisfactory result, so far as deciding these ever-recurring disputes with respect to naval rank. The ground assumed by the French Admiral was simply this : that by the rules of his own code, he was bound to pay homage to his superiors in rank of foreign navies, and, therefore, he demanded the same honors to be conceded to him by inferiors; in other words, that an American Commodore stood in this last position. On the other hand, 296 SCAMPAVIAS. we said : there is no legitimate rank of Commodore in our navy ; we have a Commander-in-chief, who carries his authority as far and wide relatively as your Admiral; it is the highest grade we are allowed, and should we acknow- ledge our inferiority in point of rank, we should be compelled to fall down before every petty state which maintains a couple of frigates or a few gun-boats for a navy, merely because they choose to style their flag-officers Admirals ; we, therefore, decline to extend official courtesy, save on terms of perfect equality. " In that case," said the Frenchman, " why do you wear a broad, swallow-tailed pennant which is the distinctive mark of our own Commodores instead of the square flag of a Commander-in-chief ?" This, indeed, was a very nice question to answer, and, unless some such regulation as that suggested by the French be introduced into our navy, we shall always have unpleasant controversies with the officers we meet abroad. Once more threading the Grecian archipelago, and paying a usual call upon our friends at Athens, we at last sailed into open water, with our head down the Mediterranean. As we crept out from the shade of the Morea, there came a Sirocco. Everybody, I presume, knows what that is ; or, if they do not, just let them take a cruise along the northern shores of Africa, about the change of the moon, and the chances are ten to one they will soon be enlightened with respect to that phenomenon. The siroccos are strong gales of wind from the southward, which come, burning hot, from the face of the arid deserts IL SIROOCO. 297 of Africa, accompanied by a stifling, enervating atmosphere, at once suffocating and depressing. The Maltese and Sici- lians attribute all the ills of life to the sirocco. If a maiden happens to go astray, or the eggs are bad, or a horse runs away Ecco ! il sirocco ! If gloves don't fit, jackasses bray, fish don't bite, or a woman has twins ! Why, look you the sirocco ! Neither will wine fine, medicine operate, meat be salted, or a man pay his debts, on account of that horrible sirocco. It is, however, a wind to make a person commit suicide. The harder it blows the hotter it gets. The sea is all a dirty white mist ; the horizon a sickly, purply haze. Your head aches, your skin is parched and cracked, and the hot breath of Sahara is the cause of all. No drink allays the thirst ; no food goes to the right spot ; a feeling of lassitude unbends all your energy, and you only exist in a frightful waking state of nightmare. Purgatory must be an ice-cream saloon in contrast. But just to fancy if this ovenlike blast is so dreadful on shore, where you may dive down in a cellar, or be shut up within damp stone walls, what it must be on shipboard, deep down in the cockpit, breathing and choking as if in the vacuum of a steam-chest? Living in a slimy cave with vampires would be a comparative Elysium. Fortunately, these terrible siroccos exhaust their heated lungs in twenty or thirty hours, and then comes a deliciously fresh breeze from the opposite direction. Ah ! you swallow your claret and water with mucho gusto ; crack the green, juicy walnuts with zest, and go to bed with a cool sheet, and sleep refreshingly. 13* 298 SOAMPAVIAS. Soon we came in sight of Mount Etna, with a white ber- nous of snow around its shoulders, and rearing its lofty brow to the clouds. Beating through the Straits of Messina, we continued on to Naples, Leghorn, and Spezia ; and, finally, to end the sum- mer's cruise, we raced along the coast of France, and in the month of August, we sailed into the magnificent basin of La Joliette, at Marseilles. DIVERTISSEMENT. 299 Chapter XXVIII. " De travers en travers, Tout va dans 1'univers De travers. Toute femme est perverse, Tout traiteur exigeant Pour 1'argent." Divertissem ent. LA JOLIETTE, though one of the grandest basins for shipping ever built, was, nevertheless, highly perfumed with mud, which I chose to dispense with, and accordingly I took a chambre garnie in Rue Paradis, number one hundred and something, facing the Cours Bonaparte. The furniture consisted of two large gilt clocks ; one stand- ing on black marble legs, and the other upheld by Father Time, with a bronze diaper around his loins ; besides there were several brilliant vases of muslin flowers in a rapid state of decay, a few incorrigible chairs, two marble tables, a secretary bureau, which would neither open nor shut as they never will in France and a couch in an alcove, with a wool mat- tress. There was an air of dreary splendor about the apartment, 300 SCAMPAVIAS. which, however, contrasted with the cramped sub-sean pro- portions of my quarters in the cock-pit, and somewhat recon- ciled me to the change. My landlady was an enormously large woman one of these persons who grow upon you whose custom-house register would probably have measured three hundred pounds bur- den. She expatiated upon the advantages of her lodgings. The Belgian Consul lived two stories below me; an artist in chalk colors occupied the leads ; the concierge never slept ; the troops paraded to the sound of drums every day in the Cours Bonaparte, and she never permitted a woman or a bed- bug in the maison ! In short, I should have a sponge-bath in shaoe of an inverted umbrella every morning ; breakfast DIVERTISSEMENT. 301 on English tea and new eggs ; and be made altogether tres comfortable, for only forty sous per diem. Even were all these enumerated delights in perspective denied me, I yet felt confident that I should be quiet, and none but the dearest friends would climb up to me. I thought, too, that it would be impossible for my landlady to accomplish the feat conveniently, without being assisted by a crane or ropes, at imminent personal risk ; but in this conjecture I was mis- taken, for once she did venture the dangerous struggle, though at the time, I feared she would puff herself to death, and die on my hands. The occasion of this visit of Madame Bellepoule that was her name was to wind up the clocks, receive her rent, and request Monsieur le Lieutenant riot to shout the Marseillaise hymn with full chorus, in so loud a tone of song at so late an hour of night, or else the Prefect who was a rank Napoleon- ist might place her establishment under strict surveillance, which would not be genteel, you know ! I put the blame, of this Republican cantata upon fleet-sur- geon Bunter. and commissary Peeteet, who were well known to be the most roystering blades in the Frigate, whose patriot- ism could rarely be kept under wholesome restraint in for- eign parts and I promised that no future ebullitions of that nature should occur again in my lodgings. " Not," said Madame, " that I love the royalists ! Oh ! no ! on the contrary, I detest them ! Me ! I adore the Republic. But my infant, look ! how is it possible to have a republic in France where there is not one sole Republican ! Answer me that, my jewel ?" 302 SCAMPAVIAS. I began to write. "Who was the letter to? Your wife? ah!" said she, laughing till her fat sides shook like the dewlap of an ox, "Excuse me, my little boy, one rarely loves his wife in France." "But," she added, " est elle jolie ?" "Lafemme qu'on aime est toujours belle, madame" "Very well, young man, very well," she replied, and pat- ting me on the back, she rolled down stairs like a bale of cotton. While some of my companions went to Paris, Toulon, or made tours into the interior, to investigate the condition of the people, I remained tranquilly in Marseilles, lounged about the city, visited the fairs, did shopping, and otherwise amused myself. I must not forget to mention here, that a few of us dined with great pertinacity, with our worthy consul, who at the time occupied the ancient chair of the Caesars. We seized the keys of his well stocked wine cellar, conversed with the pretty housekeeper, Marie ; consulted with the cook, and, in fact, took absolute charge of the menage, until Caesar prayed, in spirit, that such another horde of navy-vandals might never again visit Gaul. We loved the consul, however, which in conjunction with his charity, covered the multitude of our sins. Allans ! Marseilles is a very bustling, busy, hot place, full of mud and merchants ; excellent restaurants where you meet a cuisine that would do honor to Brillat Savarin cafe's of thousands of columns, with whole seas of mirrors on walls and DIVERTISSEMENT. 303 ceilings and plenty of showy shops. China, plate, glass, soft A.ubusson carpets, Lyons velvets, and ladies' finery are to be had for the paying. No biped, however, in trowsers save under extreme pressure should attempt to bargain with the shrewd and well trained shop-people who deal in these com- modities. I tried the experiment, and was perfectly satisfied with the result. I had a commission to purchase a few yards of ribbon, and accordingly, after some search in the fashionable street of Saint Fe'reol, I found an elegant boutique where nothing but ribbons were sold. " Prix fixe " was neatly emblazoned under the sign of the " Soeurs Clos" Those charming sisters received me with that indescribable sweetness of voice and expression which pretty French dames de Comptoir so naturally assume. " What did M. le Capitaine desire ? The newest modes for hats, belts, scarfs, or dresses ? They had them all direct from the manufactory at bon marche" I stated my wishes in my choicest idiom. I burred the r-r's like a tambour major ; I skipped glibly over the annoy- ing little articles, took playful liberties with the verbs, and on the whole, I believed that Mezzofanti himself could not have made a better lingual impression. In a moment, a multitude of white cartons, filled with delicate tissues strewed the broad counter. The sisters Clos shot the bright glistening fabrics in rainbow streams of dazzling brilliancy right and left before me. The rolls of beautiful colors swam before my vision in a kaleidoscopic species of jugglery. I became, of course, magnetized with 304: SCAMPAVIAS. ribbon, and lost all control of myself. In fact, the negatives of the French language utterly forsook ine. I said, " Oui, mademoiselle, demi carton de fa ; trois pieces de cette nuance de rose. Certainement ! encore plus" and so on. They finally asked, seeing, no doubt, that I was helpless, and having a tinge of true womanly pity in their natures, " Has Monsieur selected all his commission ?" I had just sufficient presence of mind, in a moment of con- sciousness, to say that Monsieur had made up his commission, though Heaven knows that I little dreamed at the time, how near I came to selling out my commission to pay for what had already been chosen. In a trice one of the fair sisters Clos went to a desk, and before I could think, a delicate little slip of paper was laid on the counter ; and with a " thank you, infinimently," the sisters Clos smiled upon me with the archest expression of pleasure possible. I gave a timid look at their rapid arithmetic, and beheld an addition of three hundred and fifty-four francs ! Yes ! there was no mistake ; the neat little figures were perfectly well formed, and the calculation exact. Had I not drank a bottle of La Malgue a generous wine for breakfast, I should certainly have fainted, been taken to the u Secours aux blesses" or else been placed in a maison of health for life. As it was, I recovered my faculties partially after the first shock, grinned spasmodically at the lovely sis- ters Clos, desired the articles sent to Madame Bellepoule's, and left the shop. DIVERTISSEMENT. 305 Sometimes, of evenings, I would wander to the great fair of Saint Lazarus, which was held in a broad boulevard back of the town. The road was lined with canvas tents and booths, temporary cafes, striped muslin theatres, with most of the performances outside ; waxwork museums ; celestial mechanisms ; wild beast arenas ; which, with charlatans, mountebanks, ballet-tumblers, and other cheateries, made a very gay scene. There was, also, about an acre covered entirely with toy shops. It seemed as if all Belgium, and the toy towns of Germany and Switzerland had been sacked. I counted ninety-three dolls, of a wonderful ingenuity, that squeaked by pinching the stomach, sold in half an hour. Baby-houses, with kitchens crowded with casseroles, were in great demand. Rabbits, that beat tattoos on drums with their fore-legs, went off rapidly, as well. I saw one little boy with nine of these rabbits. Indeed, the small urchin popula- tion generally, were coming and going loaded chin-deep with toys of all sorts. On one visit, Bays and I determined to take a peep inside of the tented theatres, and, accordingly, we pitched upon a Lion Tamer and his ferocious beasts from the wilds of Africa. We had already studied the wise monkeys of Brazil, and beheld the fleet ostriches race round a dusty circus, with their feathers nearly beat off them by the exhibitor, to make them go at all. At the entrance to the Lion Tamer's arena, we were accosted by a brace of females, demanding to know what was going on inside. " Enter Mesdames," said we, " and see for yourselves." Without further conversation they bolted 306 SCAMPAVIAS. through the canvas doorway, and the next moment we were met by a request from an old Scorpion who stood guard over the ticket precinct, of " Three francs fifty centimes, Messieurs." " What for ?" said we, aghast. " For the ladies you invited to enter," accompanied by a little dash of spattering abuse. Meanwhile, a couple of stalwart gendarmes, in swords and elegant white cotton embroidery, were attracted to the spot, and gave heed to the discussion. They also observed, that it was necessary, absolutely, that Messieurs should pay the demand. " Epigrammatic, but decidedly summary," said Bays. But rather than have a row on the soil of Beautiful France, with such polite odds against us, we paid the money and contented ourselves with ten sous places, while " the ladies " occupied reserved seats, and frowned upon our forced generosity. We had the satisfaction, however, of seeing the Tamer of the ferocious beasts, who bearded them in their dens, nearly have his own beard torn off by an enraged cougar, and sharply bitten by another howling animal in the same cage. The recipients of our bounty likewise suffered damage, and had their chip-straw bonnets whisked off by a stunted, but affectionate and evidently hungry elephant ; neither of which disasters pained us in the least. One afternoon we visited the untamed and untamable savages from the kingdom of Dahomie. The exhibiter, with a heavy drawn sword in his hand, stationed himself before the bars of a large cage. He begged to be permitted to remark to the audience that the exhibition of the spectacle would be entirely without risk to them, even if the heavy chains and iron bars were too weak to restrain the fury DlVEBTISSEMENT. 307 of the savages, for he would interpose his own person, and sacrifice, if need be, his life to the general safety. With this, he rattled his naked blade against the cage, and the growls and moans, mixed with clanking of chains, which had pro- ceeded from behind a screen, suddenly increased to wild howls, and two figures sprang forward and frantically began to beat the bars of their prison. To our eyes, accustomed to penetrate the disguise of Ethiopian minstrels, the African savages were palpably com- posed of lamp-black and Frenchmen. The exhibitor told us that one had been named Jaques, while the other was of so untamable a disposition, that all efforts had failed to give him a human epithet ! He invited us to regard with what intensity they gazed upon the sun that luminary being very bright in their own country. At this, the savages, albeit not articulating the French idiom, were seen to gaze with great intensity through a crack at the sunshine without. The food, their keeper of this peculiar race informed us, consisted entirely of tobacco, which being an expensive diet in La France, he therefore assured himself the liberty of passing round a vessel the shell of a huge turtle that all might have the opportunity of contributing sustenance of that deleterious vegetable to those poor exiles. This being done, and the exiles having thrust some old stumps of cigars into their mouths, the exhibition ended. We learned, however, that at a subsequent display of these savages, a gentleman, strange to say, recognized one as a thievish boot-black, and it would seem that the business being limited to the region of boot, the savage had blacked himself 308 SCAMPAVTAS. all over, and made his appearence as a beau savage noir in the Foire of Saint Lazare. Both he and his companion were very violently ducked and scrubbed by the populace. Another evening, while enjoying ourselves at the fair, there suddenly came up a shower. Now it may be supposed to rain elsewhere, but it only pours in Marseilles. The smooth, glassy surfaces of the rocky hills around, shed water like from the back of a duck, and the floods come streaming down the valleys, until they deluge the city. Umbrellas are of no more service, on these occasions, than so much blotting-paper ; and without one goes about habitually in a diving-bell, or an india-rubber retort, he must be drenched. With the first drops, the votaries of Saint Lazarus ran to the cafe's, which were soon crowded to suffocation. The proprietors of the booths tumbled their dolls, rabbits, and toys into their canvas shops. The old chair women of the Boulevard piled their property eight square on their heads, and vanished ; and females generally turned their exterior petticoats over their hats, and incontinently mizzled. We thought there was a political revolution, and began to look around for the National Guard. "What's the matter?" we asked, of the hurrying multitude. " ! forage ! la pluie ! courez done /" If it's only a squall, there's no necessity for running, we thought, and so we sought cover under some trees. Here, however, we soon became uncomfortably damp, when moving a little further, we crawled beneath a cage filled with hyenas. Strange to say, these beasts, who are said to be domestic in their tastes, became displeased at our intrusion, and tried DIVERTISSEMENT. 309 to get hold of us with their claws ; so that there was no other alternative than to make a clean bolt for more agreeable shelter in the city. Meanwhile, the rain descended in cataracts ; the gutters and sewers overflowed, and the water rose above the side- walks. At every bound we made, the torrents became deeper and broader ; and when we reached the main ravine of a street, we were nearly up to our girdles amidst a wreck of planks, boxes, struggling omnibuses, screaming women and children. Positively, a Mississippi steamboat full of 310 ScAMPAVIAS. cotton, could have paddled about with the greatest ease. We really expected to swim for it, but before being swept into the slimy Port, we floated into an eddy, where was a haven of a cafe", and thus escaped a mud and watery grave. This was our last visit to Saint Lazarus. HALF-SEAS OVER. 311 Chapter XXIX. " Winds that like a demon, Howl with horrid note, Round the toiling seaman, In his tossing boat." Half- seas Over. AFTER staying some weeks at Marseilles, we hoisted sail, and stretched away over towards the coast of Spain. It came on to blow mistral. This wind comes from the north, and with the awful sirocco, they are the two most detestable coursers in the chariot of Eolus. Madame de Sevignd describes the mistral as, le tourbillon, Vouragan, tons Us diables dechainds qui veulent bien emporter votre chateau ! all the unchained devils striving to blow away your castle. It is a biting, dried, hardened, gravelly wind, filled with evil wings, and it sears like a nip of cold steel all that stands in its path. It mingles with the yellow, dusty granite, which it grinds from the bleak, rocky hills, and comes screaming in piercingly bitter notes out to sea, rasps with the scrape of a file the skin off your face, and parches your eyeballs until they are enamelled like porcelain. The Frigate jumped about the short seas like a mad cat ; the Musicanti and the French cooks were thrown on their 312 SCAMPAVIAS. beam ends ; the Marine who invariably snored a falsetto gamut, beneath the rays of the cockpit lantern, absolutely remained awake the whole watch. Doctor Lint, who usually did the harmony of that region on a cornstalk violin, threw by his instrument of torture, and lay helpless and prostrate on his back ; the sailors beat all Flanders in swearing, and every one spoke ill of the mistral. Towards morning, however, we ran beyond its influence, the sea went down, a gentle breeze urged us pleasantly along the picturesque coast of Spain, and before us lay Barcelona, a mass of white buildings spread in amphitheatre-like form upon the sides of the sloping hills and plain. Soon we dropt anchor in the outer roads. Barcelona is a fine town, progressing rapidly in wealth and importance. It is thriving, populous, and solidly built. The streets are broad, straight, and cut each other at right angles. They burn gas all night ; the tall tubes of factory chimneys stick up in many directions about the suburbs ; great stacks of grain and piles of merchandise encumber the ramparts ; there is a railway, too, and the mules are regularly shaved. This summary will at once point out to the reflective reader the virtues of enterprise, commercial activity, and cleanli- ness. Yet the town is all Spanish. The Alameda is thronged with mantilla-robed maidens ; old Duenas stump about after their tiny-footed charges ; the Arrieros wear knives in their red sashes ; fungiones and bull- fights prevail ; so do revolu- tions, sometimes twice a month ; everybody smokes, and all talk a villainous dialect called Catalan. BARCELONA. 313 Then, too, there are sombre old churches, with kneeling figures wrapped in veils or mantas ; the mist of aloes rising forever from the swinging censers ; the low muttered chants of priests ; burning tapers, and an occasional peal of bells and organs. In the streets, you see the heavily barred Spanish windows, with deep carpeted sills, where, shaded by veranda-like curtains, you catch glimpses of white arms and rattling fans, which move gracefully and enticingly to and fro. There is not, howerer, a decent hotel in Barcelona. The one we patronized on the Calle Mayor, had but one advan- tage, in being the best position for viewing a revolution of any Fonda in town. Baths, or comfortable quarters in any shape, are rarely met with in Spanish inns. The table d'hote, too, is always crowded with ravenous priests, with bristly, scrub- bing-brush pates, red handkerchiefs, and snuff which they will take over their soup as an appetizer to the podrida. The dishes are excellent, though the cookery might be improved with less garlic and rancid oil. I am, however, fond of gar- lic myself, but I rather object to other people eating it, who move much in polite society. Arraying ourselves in great magnificence of bullion and embroidery, we made state calls upon the Authorities. A pair of mettlesome, vicious-bred stallions whirled us to the gates of the palace, but instead of going in, they baulked, reared, then dashed full split into a phalanx of soldiers drawn up to receive us. The pole of the carriage struck the front rank en tchelon, as it were, at a present arms, and brought their pieces to a reverse, quicker probably, than they had <3ver performed that evolution before. 314 SCAMPAVIAS. The officer in command of the guard ground out, "C-c-ristof que brutos ! que demonios de infierno /" as our fierce beasts lashed out with their hoofe, and rushing on, hurled us into the courtyard. The Captain General received us graciously. He was in bourgeois, but each button of his plain black coat was a dia- mond encased in gold. He was extremely civil ; dry-washed and wrung his hands pleasantly ; offered us in perfect frankness all he possessed in houses or lands ; to command him to any extent, and ended by begging us to accept his state-box for that evening at the theatre. We, in return to these polite speeches, kissed his hands ; the feet of his Excellency ; we hoped he might live many years a thousand years in fact, forever. Then he bowed us out, with the same pleasant manner of dry-washing and wringing his aristocratic hands, until we disappeared from view. From the Captain General, we went to the Governor of the city, and afterwards to the Commander of the Forces. All were very civil and earnest in demeanor, and really seemed anxious to encourage the most cordial relations. Neither of these gentlemen and true gentlemen they were presented the appearance of the noble Hidalgos in the pictures of Velasquez with pink satin trowsers, slashed velvet doublets, and steel hilted Toledo blades but yet, they were of the pure blue-blooded stock of old Spain, and quite as courtly, and perhaps more intelligent and sincere than their noble progenitors. At the theatre, where we went in the evening, we were handsomely received by an aid-de-camp, and shown into the COQUETTAS. 315 Captain General's box a small saloon, in fact adjoining the royal balcony. The play was hearty old Spanish drama perfectly legitimate and suitable to the times. There were Gonsalvos di Cordova Dukes of Alva Moors, assassins Queen Isabel of Castile, and, of course, ancient Kit Columbus. Kit, on this occasion, resembled a red-legged partridge in wor sted hose and short cloak, fringed with tail feathers. A very u'ood play or a very bad one, are alike enjoyable, and in one of these respects our tastes were gratified. The General, attended by a brilliant staff of agreeable officers^ paid us marked attention. Ices and liqueurs were served in profusion, and they absolutely sat out the entire performance. This last attention, I thought the most self-sacrificing evi- dence of kindness than anything they had hitherto done for us. We were presented, also, to some charming Spanish ladies, who were pretty, glossy-haired, bright-eyed, and innocently coquettish. Lint, as usual, fell as desperately in love as his susceptible nature would permit, and declared the maidens of Catalonia were ravishing beyond expression. It was not until the great cathedral clock struck one, and the Serenos cried forth three quarter past midnight which was, perhaps, near enough for a watchman that we bade adieu to our hospitable entertainers, at the very portals of our Fonda. Then we returned to our chambers ; made an ineffectual search after fleas ; killed a few mosquitoes in revenge, and slept. The following morning we were shaved with our throats half garroted by notched silver platters after the manner of the 316 SCAMPAVIAS. Barber of Seville partook of a chocolate breakfast ; sallied out and bought some Spanish fans made in France ; a few second hand Barcelona laces gummed up and ironed out to look like new and the next night we were once more rolling off in the gulf of Lyons. HALF-SEAS UNDER. 317 Chapter XXX. Then up and spake an old jailor, Had sailed the Spanish Main, " I pray thee, put into yonder port, For I fear a hurricane." Half- seas Under. SKIRTING along the bold coasts back to Sardinia, we turned to Minorca, where we lived for a couple of months on zopazada sausages, and became mildewed to such an extent, as to endanger a lumbago epidemic in the ship. Towards the close of the year, however, we joyfully committed ourselves once more to the Briny, and saw the windmills of old Mahon twirling us adieux with their close- reefed wings, for the last time, as we sailed away from Cape Mola. Bobbing about on the slate-colored winter sea, we ducked hither and thither for many days. We would go for an hour or two under all sail, with the wind over the quarter, and the next, there we were floundering under double-reefed topsails, with the spray flying high up the weather-leeches of the courses, and the gun-deck a cataract of brine, from the bridle ports to the main hatch. The showers of snow or sleet would swish over our heads ; the gulls would peer down 318 SCAMPAVIAS. at us with their wicked sharp eyes, wondering, no doubt, what brought us out in such weather ; and the sailors blew their fingers, and muffling themselves in their warm pea- jackets, clustered under the lee of the weather bulwarks. Whatsoever port we headed for either Villa Franca or Genoa the wind was certain to fillip us in the teeth, and drive us away like a stone from a sling elsewhere. At night, Mirrick, Bristles, and the rest of us Pitites would hold divans in our retreat. Down there the motion of the struggling ship was comparatively subdued, and we could squat about the deck on rugs, sip our cold grog, read that excellent moralist, Paul de Kock, or resurvey our Mahon purchases, and talk pleasant scandal. Visitors would occasionally slide down the cockpit-ladder secure themselves on the lower step, take a sneering glance around, and inquire what you fellers are about, who gives the treat, don't you want to keep my watch ? and so forth. As the night waxed older, the wind would howl louder ; the Frigate would twist and writhe like a newly-awakened sea- serpent, and the boatswain would chirp up with his silver bill for all hands to reef topsails. Then followed the quick, energetic orders from the trumpet, the flapping of the stout canvas, the rattle of the slack-cordage, and the rapid tramp of feet. Then it was time for us idlers to bestow ourselves in our bunks, wedge ourselves tight with pillows and blankets, and be pitched and tossed about in a very unstomachy manner. One morning T made an attempt after being^ tea'd and toasted to make a toilet ; but on cutting a slice clean off HALF-SEAS UNDER. 319 ray chin while shaving, I gave it up in despair, slipped on my storm-rig, and went on deck. The sky was cold, grey and dreary. The high lands of France broke out at intervals, with their snow- covered heads nestling warm within their winter mantles, while along the beam there stretched away the Hyeres Islands, and when a flash of sunlight peered out from the dull, dark clouds, we could see a wide sweep of the French coast, dotted with vineyards, villages, bourgs, little towers, and light-houses. Finding it useless to battle against adverse winds and tides, the helm was put up, and the lively Frigate flew with a slack rein into the large bay of Hyeres, where, with a great fleet of wind-bound vessels, we came to anchor. The gale, however, chased us out of spite into the haven : the barometer went down, and so did a couple more hang-dogs of anchors, and then we defied the wind and sea together, both of which fought us in the most savage manner for nigh upon a week. During a lull, one morning, I made a complimentary call on board a French frigate lying near us. The captain received me on deck. He said the Cumberland was beauti- ful charming never remembered to have seen anything like her; the weather was terriblement mauvais ; the question Turque comme fa ; and then he bowed me over the side with Siberian courtesy, without seeming to be in the least desole, ravi, nor yet charme to see or yet part with me ; which I, in ( some measure, attributed to the little tiff we had had with Admiral de la Susse. I went, also, with Bristles on shore for pratique. We landed at a small, yellowish, cluster of buildings, within half a 320 ScAMPAVIAS. league of the anchorage. There we were met by several Douaniers, attired in blue pea-jackets and short pipes. The sergeant stepped forward, as if on the point of detecting infection through the medium of his frosty nose. After a careful scrutiny of our bill of health, which Bristles held up like a shield, and a harsh order to whip away a dog, who sniffed contagion from our heels not being a well educated quarantine cur we were permitted to step on the shore of France, and enter a guard-room. We learned the name of the place of debarcation to be Salines ; a spot where a vast quantity of salt is formed during the summer solstice, by a natural process of evaporation. The level country, for a goodly distance around, was cut up into pans and shallow reservoirs, where the sun has full play upon the salt water ; while beside them where pyramidal pens, covered with red tiles to protect the porous stacks of salt within. Having now got on shore, we set off for the town of Hyeres, which lies entwined around a conical eminence, about five miles from Salines. The road was excellent as they always are in France and on either side were vine- yards, looking black and desolate of grapes, while the bare trunks of morus multicaulis lined the road. On our right, were forests of maple and poplar, turning their pale, green leaves about in the wind, and still beyond, were ranges of hills and mountains, crowned here and there with an old tower or ruin of the Middle Ages ; while on the left, was the broad sea-lashed bay, crested with white wave-caps, and the shipping breasting the eastern gale. PEASANTS OF THE VAR. 321 The plains were spotted with flocks of black sheep, with the bergers wrapped in coarse, serge cloaks, and planted, as they might be, on the crooks of their stout staves, leaving to the dogs the duty of keeping the flocks within bounds. Occasionally, too, we passed groups of women and girls all peasants of the Var kneeling on the ground, with each a panier, gathering the crop of olives as they were threshed from the ugly, cadaverous trees above their heads. Their cos- tume struck us as rather peculiar. The head covering was an immense black straw flat ; their waists were under the armpits ; their jupons were as brief as Nature would tolerate with any regard to propriety, and their sabots would have been whole- sale murder on a velvet carpet. I made the accompanying fly- ing sketch of one of those damsels in passing. It is not a chef (Tceuvre but what can you expect at ten o'clock in the morning ? 322 SCAMPAVIAS. We reached Hyeres at high noon. It is a very nice place, and a great resort for invalids, whether in health or purse. We saw several English families, red-nosed old veterans and dowdy dowagers, with sweet, fresh, rosy-faced girls and boys, who were pattering about in stout shoes, or riding on don- keys. We sauntered into the churches, and saw the statue of the Duke of Anjou; the bust of Massillon, the famous preacher who was born in Hyeres, and then we passed through the fruit market, and so on to a restaurant, where, by a sign in the window, we saw that " English is speaken here." Here we lunched on Roquefort cheese, bread with butter as yellow as marigold, and delicious fruits washed down by a bottle of L'Anglade. Strolling further, we stepped into a book shop and library, where a quiet little flirtation was going on between a pretty demoiselle and a jaunty young officer of carabineers, bought some almanacs, and thus having accomplished our mission, we beat a retreat for the Salines. Going off to the ship, we caught an awful ducking, for the wind was rising in strength and wrath, and the sea dashed clean over the cutter at every dip she made. It was sadly damaging to gold lace and gilt buttons, but we were only too happy once more to regain the solid hull. In the early part of the evening, I went forward on the gun deck for consolation. There I found Mirrick sucking his cigar in his usual methodical and oblivious way. Toker was sniffling with a violent influenza, and speechless ; so finding conversation languid, I betook me to the wardroom. In that resort, there were none but Doctor Bunter, and Bays, HALF-SEAS UNDER. 323 the Marine, playing backgammon, and rattling the bones of dice like Ethiopian minstrels ; and again being lost to society, and requested to take my ugly mug out of that, and not interrupt the game, I ordered my saloon in the pit illu- minated, and went to bunk. During the raging of the tempest overhead, while I was reading " Advice to Young Mothers " in one of my illustrated almanacs, and wondering why no advice was ever tendered to young fathers, I was aroused by the loud shouts of " All hands house top-gallant masts." This is a nautical expres- sion, meant to convey the idea of sliding down and securing those long-pointed masts, from where the pennants fly, to the deck. While the bustling throngs of sailors were pulling away at the ropes, or clinging to the slender rigging aloft, I heard a shrill shriek as if from a bird high in air, and caught the warn- ing cry of " stand from under !" At the words, there was a hurried rush of flying feet, and the next instant I expected the heavy shock of falling bodies or the crash of broken spars upon the deck, but, fortunately, there was a Providence in the matter. Owing to some unforeseen accident, the main topgallant mast was snapped by the surging of the ropes, in three pieces, but instead of pitching headlong down and killing or maiming a dozen men, the fragments caught in different parts of the rigging. Think of it, you land-lubber ! what destruction a great stick of timber, sixty feet long, would cause, plunging from three times its height aloft among crowds of sailors in the black night ! Surely it must have been the intervention 14* 324 SCAMPAVIAS. of that sweet little cherub who sits up there looking out for the life of poor Jack ! Still the storm roared and the sea raged ; the boatswain's mates whistled and bawled ; the cables shuddered and groaned, but still held their iron gripe upon the " crooked bite" of the anchors; while all the time, till daylight, the dear old Frigate bowed her dripping head into the tumultuous waves, rose again, shook the brine from her eyes, as staunch as ever. I began to think the time had come looking darkly as possible at Fate for corking up a valedictory in a bottle, and committing it to the deep, in anticipation of shipwreck. There was, however, small fears on that score for us, though numerous lumbering merchant vessels near by had serious cause for alarm. One large brig parted her cables, and was thrown a helpless wreck, broadside on to the beach ; whether the crew were saved, we could not learn ; and another craft nearly shared her fate, but as she drifted past us with colors union down, and her crew waving their arms in pitiable distress, we happily managed to give her a strong hempen cable, which enabled her to ride out the gale in comparative safety. In the course of time, the wind died a natural death, leaving only long, undulating, unbroken billows, as if angry in being foiled of their prey. With a breeze which blew "in the shoulder of our sail," we left Hyeres, and after knocking about for a few days in the Gulf, we at last crept into Genoa during a blinding snow storm, and moored ship. G E N O V A . 325 Chapter XXXI. " 'Tis in the heart of Genoa (he who comes, Must come on foot), and in a place of stir." Genoa. WITH my faithful companion and pitmate, Mirrick, I took rooms in the Hotel Feder. Our apartments were very high 326 SCAMPAVIAS. up, almost out of sight of the earth. No one with any pretensions to position in Genoa, lives below one hundred and fifty steps. We were just one hundred and forty-nine, for it diverted my mind by counting them every time I went up. We were on the exact level with the lantern of the tall lighthouse on the opposite side of the harbor ; for we made a temporary theodolyte of an old boot-leg, and ascertained that fact exactly. We had thoughts, at first, of taking up our abode at the Albergo Italia ; but the proprietor of that establishment declined, one night at supper, to swallow more than one glass of rare old Xerez which he had generously furnished us at two dollars the bottle so that we went to the Feder. The severest test of virtue a Boniface can be put to, is to make him drink his own wine. The Feder was kept by Madame Feder or rather it kept her, and very handsomely, too, I should judge, from the charges she made. The article of wood alone, drove us to the verge of bankruptcy. Like Marius, at the ruins of Carthage, I used to sit by the hour watching the burning embers, and fancy each spark thrown off was a glittering franc consumed in darkness. Wood, in fact, cost us more than beefsteaks. Our breakfasts were not bountiful, though palatable; but if we did not decoct strong tea, Lord ! how strong ! it was because there was not enough in the caddy. When we dined at table d'hote, which we did occasionally, to pass judgment upon distinguished travellers, whose fame might reach up to our quarters, we made a rule to destroy all we could not eat. GOLD. 327 There was something revengefully consoling in the act, and compensated us for the money we spent. No one should go abroad, however, in these days, without, as a varlet once told me expecting to be fleeced. That Eldorado of California has done it all. Not that bread is dearer, but gold has fallen in value, and does not buy so much as formerly. In fact, the cost of living has more than doubled in the past ten years, in all the great towns of western Europe ; and our people live more extravagantly than all the world beside. You cannot go anywhere, but along thunders the heavy travelling chariots. Ho ! there ! six horses on the lead ! postillions in their gala-boots and costumes ! Ho ! portly cou- rier, in glazed cap and pouch of louis d'ors ! baggage fourgon ! and the grand piano suite for II Signori Americani ! Down, too, in the dark little streets of Genoa, the elegantly dressed ladies, in paper boots, flounce into the velvet or lace shops. Robes of price, and hundreds of fathoms of rich old fibres of Point d'Espagne or Venice, that have figured, time out of mind, on the backs and skirts of Popes, Card- inals, Queens, and dames of high degree; or on altars and saints in many a courtly pageant are all swept into the golden laps of Le Signore Americane ! So, too, in Rome or Florence carved furniture, honeycombed by art or ages it matters not; pictures and sculpture, coins and bronzes, are shipped away at fabulous prices for the Western Croe- All this is very pleasant and instructive not a doubt of it but where is it to end, and what are the rest of us poor 328 SCAMPAVIAS. devils to do on a moderate stipend, in the meanwhile ? An- swer me that, Master Brooke ? Yet this stream of gold, poured, as it is, without stint, like an auriferous river into Italy, is beginning to be felt. It flows as well into the palaces as the churches. Instead of decay and mould eating up those masterpieces of art and renown, they now shine forth in gorgeous gilding, fresco, and carving ; the old nobles once more appear in their princely residences, and the lovely dames of Balbi, Serra, Brignoli, and Doria, flash and blaze with renewed splendor in the superb saloons of their ancestors' palaces. In Genoa, especially under the liberal government of Sar- dinia, society has become more intelligent, sound, and healthy than ever before. Trade flourishes on a more sold basis than even in the days of the Donas ; the priesthood are restrained and bent to the prevailing progress of the kingdom they are. in fact, drawn in the conscriptions for the army the schools of science flourish, and we may look forward to no distant day when this germinating influence will sweep all over Lombardy and southern Italy, and rescue the fairest country the sun shines upon from despotism, ignorance, and superstition. The authorities of Genoa, treated us with extreme considera- tion. We had cards to all the grand receptions, and the Admi- ral gave us a banquet in the old admiralty palace, where the carvings on the table were nearly as rich and delicate as those of the beautiful ceiling above our heads. The dancing soirees of the strada Nuova and Balbi were also open to us, where we saw all that was gay and brilliant of the city. I may remark here, that we saw none of the GENTILITY. 329 slate-pencil legged boys who throng the drawing-rooms of the modish houses of our own commercial towns ; none of that class of precocious youths who seem to have been born only last night who jump apparently, from the cradle to long- tailed coats and a billiard-table ; who block up the doorways, and put a stop to all sensible conversation ; who ignore and overpower all quiet middle-aged men like myself, to the great detriment of what should constitute pleasant and agreeable society. No ! I don't remember ever to have seen a single example of this species in Genoa, and they were probably packed off to bed at an hour suited to their time of life and associations. We had. free access, also, to the private boxes at the opera of Carlo Felice, where we had fine music, and saw the usual brief display of pink tarletan and pretty ankles in the ballet. In the day-time, when violent gusts of cold, biting wind took a respite in the narrow gorges of the mountain, we would leave the little clefts of streets, and stroll around the ram, arts by the sea, or saunter amid the throngs of the Aqua Sola. There is ever much to be seen of interest or amusement. The open-air riding-schools of the cavalry ; the everlasting broadsword exercise of the troops ; the fishermen with their brown nets and sturdy boats, toiling in the boiling surf of the rocky reefs beneath the ramparts ; the fortifications that have withstood real and bloody seiges, and which look over many a league of land and sea ; the bright and varied cos- tumes of the peasantry ; the gaily frescoed villas, and the charming views, all combine to make Genoa La superba, an attractive city. 330 SCAMPAVIAS. So passed the winter, and when the orders were issued for the Frigate to prepare for sea, we gathered up our traps descended our one hundred and odd steps of the Hotel Feder, and returned to our quarters on board. WAR TIM us. 331 Chapter XXXII. " He sings his songs, and smokes his weed, He spins his yarn of monstrous fables, He cracks his biscuit, and at need Can soundly sleep on coiled up cables. " Though the sea be sometimes rough, His bark is stout, its rudder steady, Ant other whiles 'tis calm enough, And buxom as a gentle lady." War Times. WE sailed round to Spezia, where cramming the capacious stomach of the Frigate with salt-beef, pork, biscuit, whisky, and water the provisions she most affected we once more raised the sea-washed anchors, and steered Levantward. On this cruise we were tugged by a fine side-wheel steamer, the good ship Saranac vice the San Jacinto, which old Smoker, with her fractured shafts, and cranks in splints, and her leaky valves and boilers stopped up with clay, had been ignorniniously ordered home to be sold for old iron. With furled sails and square yards, or else at times with the broad topsails and lofty canvas spread, to catch a favoring breeze, and take up the "slip" of the powerful steamer ahead, we ran gallantly on our course. We had plenty of sea-corn- 332 So AM PA vi AS. pany too, for the whole Mediterranean from Gibraltar to the Dardanelles, was alive with sail, and steam transports, bearing their cargoes of troops and horses to the borders of the Bos- phorus. Scarcely a day passed that we did not see a squad- ron of frigates or huge steamers, their decks clustering with soldiers, with their red legs dangling over the gunwales, or scarlet coats peeping through the ports. Ah ! many of those legs became redder, and their jackets, likewise, before the bloody work at Sevastopol was ended. In the last days of May, 1854, we found ourselves in the Greek Islands, and anchored at Milo. This place is the great rendezvous of the Archipelago pilots, and not unfrequently for pirates frequenting these seas. It is a barren island, with a small miserable village or two, perched on the rocky heights, looking like splashes of white-wash in the flash of the mor- ning sun. For the purpose of enjoying a little equestrian exercise, a considerable mob of us landed near some rickety huts, and chartered all the four-legged, hornless animals, on the island. It required an amazing deal of good temper and skill to array these brutes of the donkey species with appliances for sit- ting astride of them. Some had what the natives called sad- dles of course in Greek which, in a modernized country would be thought wood-horses, but howbeit, what with old rugs, bits of leather, sheep-skins, and improvised rope stir- rups ; and voting the most diminutive donkeys to the men with the longest legs, we were soon prepared for the journey. The first attempt at a start was a decided failure, for more than half of the beasts would not budge, except to kick up WAR TIMES. 333 and bite doubling themselves up perversely the while until their owners nearly twisted their tails off ; under which severe discipline they changed their minds, and giving utterance to brays of anguish, bolted in a lump. We trotted some miles up the rugged hills, where a few blades of grain were struggling through the stony fields, when we reached an underground warren, where most of the popu- lation had burrowed out their habitations. A little beyond^ on the highest point of Milo, were a few houses above ground, very much shattered and decayed, but yet houses. Stepping a few inches to the earth, from our steeds, we were ushered by some white-headed old veterans into the House of the Pilots, where these storm-beaten mariners sit all the day, spy- glass in hand, peering over the blue water of their sea-girt isle, in quest of ships to be guided through the labyrinths beyond. Pretty Greek girls, and frightful old matrons, all with very dirty feet and faces, served us with pipes and sour wine. Their sires who had known us from the days of our sucking reefer-dom, up to epaulets on our shoulders recount- ed the dangers they had passed, and the awful gales they had weathered, time out of mind. It was interesting to hear them, in their polyglot lingo, recall the strirring events of their profession. " Attendez ! mon Lootenant," said old Matteo, " spose you tink ov ze night in dat harricane orage, wen we wos in ze Myconi passage ; me sabe the rochers by light ov flash ov lightning same time ze Frenchy seventee-four go nau- frage to pieces on ze rocks lose um all hands ! Diable ! how urn blow ! Remember dat time ?" Aye ! there were some of us who did remember that time, when the struggling Frigate, 334 S CAMP A VIA8. on a dead-lee shore, in the inky night, with battened down hatches, and 'e lee hammock nettings under water with the pressure of the howling tempest, when all hands were called to save ship ! Don't come, my amateur sailor, to the Archipelago in the winter months, without keeping an eye to windward for the fierce gales which rush like the Furies out of the gorges and narrow straits of the islands. Better cruise in the trade-wind seas, or stay at home and paddle in a duck-pond. Remounting our donkey chargers, we toddled down the steep cliffs to the landing, spilling a too eager messmate occasion- ally from his saddle, or stopping a few minutes to cudgel one or two rascally Greeks who tried to indulge themselves in their national pastimes of picking pockets, somewhat after this style. THE CITY OF ROSES. 335 Chapter XXXIII. " Now as the paradisiacal pleasures of the Mahometans consist in playing upon the flute and lying with houris, be mine to read eternal new romances of Marivaux and Crebillon." The City of Roses. FROM Milo, we steamed away for Smyrna. Passing up the gulf, with the inbat or sea-breeze fanning the smooth sur- face of the water, and leaving Vourla on our right, we moored abreast of the City of Roses. In striking contrast to the red arid aspect of Greece and the Islands, the verdure here is fresh and smiling, the green is intense, and the embowering foliage of the fig groves mingled with majestic cypresses, sweeps up from the shores to the circling hills which bound the gulf. The harbor was alive with caiques, skimming like mosquito hawks hither and thither ; steamers and transports filled with troops some of them, the one-eyed Egyptian contingent, contributed by the Pasha a couple of Dutch frigates, some French men-of-war, and the Austrian corvette which figured in the Kosta affair, and came so near going up in the air or finding the bottom of the gulf, through the intervention of Ingraham's guns. Smyrna is the most modernized walkable Mohammedan 336 SOAMPAVIAS. town under the banner of the crescent in the East. Many of the houses are solid and comfortable, and some of the streets are paved, and not much infested with dogs. In the Armenian quarter, the dwellings are spacious and well-built. The court-yards are cooled by spouting fountains, and pots of brilliant flowers give forth their sweet perfumes. There too, in the morning, you behold lovely women, with uncovered faces, and rather decollete' dresses, exposing their rounded vol- uptuous forms, as they sit beneath the awnings sipping spoon- fuls of sweetmeats, like veritable houris. You see them too, after the noon-tide siesta, in their rich robes and head-gear, with glowing black eyes, gazing at the Franks who pass, with modest curiosity. There are pleasant walks also, beyond the city, in the direc- tion of the suburb of Bournabat. But you must be cautious, and not extend your promenade too far, or leave your pistols at home ; for there are famous brigands hereaway, who, if they take a fancy, will whisk you off to the mountains in no time, and if a ransom be not paid by the next morning, they will chop off your head, and send it to your friends in a fig- basket. The chief of one of these bands was caught just pre- vious to our arrival at Smyrna, but as he had honorably shared his earnings with a Turkish Cadi of distinction, he was let loose again ! There is exceedingly pleasant Frank society in Smyrna, great numbers of Consuls and commercial men, who, when the fig-packing season is over, devote themselves to pleasure and hospitality. Hotels decent ones there are none, though raff's and pilaus-shops abound. The cafe's line the curving THE CITY OF KOSES. 337 brink of the quay, where cool sea-breezes greet you, and you puff your chibouque, and sip coffee or ices with satisfaction. In one of these resorts, which stands on post-like stilts half over the water, was where the enlevement of Kosta, the Hun- garian, was effected. " Ecco ! signore," said a dark-browed, bilious looking Italian refugee to me one day, as he stamped his foot, till the crazy floor of boards trembled and quaked, " Here on this bench sat my friend, in the act of smoking his pipe, when suddenly he was beset by some monsters of rene- gades, who, after a violent struggle, seized and tossed him into the bay. Cospetto ! there," pointing with a quivering finger, " lay in wait the boats and crews of that cursed brig of Austria, who, beating him like fiends with their oars, pulled him, bruised and bloody, in amidst them, and carried their prey to the ship. By the blood of Christ ! would that I could have passed my stiletto through their infamous hearts !" Suiting the action to the word, he clutched the hilt of a knife within the folds of his vest, but relaxing his grasp, he went on with a grim smile u Ah ! Excellenza mio, when the brave Cap- tais Ingraham got ready his gallant ship, and moved close to the Austrians, how we prayed for the moment when the red flame should leap out from his cannon, and destroy those, our bitter enemies. Diavolo ! but they cried peccavi ; cowards that they are. I am a poor painter, signore, with scarcely a maravedi in the world, but I would give my right arm to kiss the hands of that brave officer of your republic !" I gave my enthusiastic artist some maravedis and a cup of, chocolate, which, perhaps, did him more good, physically than the loss of his limb possibly could. 15 338 SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter XXXIV. " Of all bis harem, all that busy hive, With music and with sweets sparkling alive, He took but one." The Pasha and his Harem. IN the society of noble Turks in which I had the honor to move in Smyrna, I made the acquaintance of the Pasha. He was a Greek by birth, educated in France, but gaining favor in the eyes of his Imperial Master as a physician, he turned Turk, and rose to power under the empire. He was a man of talent, and very courteous in demeanor. I met the Pasha one evening at a soiree given by a Consul- General, and in the cool garden of that residence, he compli- mented me with ever so many bowls of precious latakia, from the jewelled-clasped casket of his own pipe-bearers, and we blew srnoke at each other for two pleasant hours. I found him highly intelligent and conversible, and thought that if the Sultan had a few more such rulers over his Pashaliks, the empire would get on far better than it had done for several centuries past. There were some ladies of our party, whom the Pasha politely invited to visit his harem. He would have extended THE PASHA AND HIS HAREM. 339 the same courtesy to me, but as none other of the male species than music-masters, physicians, and eunuchs were admitted within those sacred precincts, and as I unfortunately did not come strictly within the rule, I was denied the pleasure. Our country-women, however, went. The Pasha's palace, as those ladies described it, was an old fashioned summer-house on a large scale, all wooden lattice-work, and tumble-down stairs. Entering the gate-way, they were conducted by a negro, up two flights of stairs, where they were met by a troop of ugly women in blue calico trowsers and bare feet, their hair dan- gling about their ears, who deprived them of their parasols and other defensible feminine property. They were then shown into a large hall, running the entire length of the building, having deep bay windows at either end, in one of which was a piano, yellow ottomans auJ chairs. The furniture was, in fact, European. At one end of the room stood the Pasha's wife the only one, as our ladies were pained to hear, that despot possessed and beside her was a grown daughter, together with a little boy and girl. Their dresses, though very rich, were unbecom- ing, and in the absence of crinoline, perfectly absurd* The wife wore a red and gold tissue, over red silk ; full trowsers hid the feet entirely, and over them fell an upper dress, which, being made of " two widths " only, gave the appearance of a very full pillow stuffed into a very narrow pillow case. This upper robe swept a yard or two on the floor, and was slit open in front to the knees, so as to admit of a little shuffling locomotion. The waist was fashioned in the usual mode, but as neither whalebone nor steel was inserted, the pillow-like 340 SCAMPAVIAS. appearance was typified throughout. A thin silk gauze under the dres?, partly screened the neck and bust. The mother had her hair cut short having lost it by fever and wore on her head, attached in some inscrutable manner, a profusion of flowers, ribbons and diamonds. She had also splendid bril- liant ear-rings, and necklace, and a sapphire ring of enormous size. The daughter, a maiden of about seventeen years, was attired in the same style, only the color of her costume was pink with silver trimmings, and she wore large pearls around her throat. Both were very stout, and exquisitely beautiful. Their hair and eyes were black, and the expression was per- fect. The little girl was one mass of tinsel, and had a full grown bird of paradise, and a large spray of diamonds on her head. The boy, a small man of four years of age, wore a full suit of dark blue cloth. The front and tiny collar stiff with gold embroidery, a broad stripe of gold lace down the seams of his little trowsers, and his long yellow curls, which fell on his shoulders, was surmounted by a red fez. Our ladies thought of their own little ones, in cool white frocks, pretty bare arms and shoulders, and pitied these imprisoned Turkish babies from their hearts. The party had been seated but a moment, when the Pasha himself came in. His wife handed a chair, and crouched on the cushions behind him. He addressed himself politely in French to our ladies, begged them to excuse his wife and daughter, if they, in ignorance of foreign customs, did any- thing peculiar, and then bowed himself out. The universal sweetmeats were now handed on little silver dishes, and on the tray was a vase full of spoons, and another THE PASHA AND HIS HAREM. 341 empty, in which the spoons were dropped after every taste. Then came coffee, the cups resting in jewelled stands, and then conversation began. This was effected through an inter- preter, by a bridge formed of the Turkish and modern Greek languages, into French. The Ottoman ladies said they amused themselves by sewing a little, very little, by going out on the water in a caique occasionally, and sometimes, being muffled and shut up in a carriage, where they could not see anything. But all the while, they deeply envied the Frank women, who could move about the world, talk to whom they pleased, and make purchases. They were also particularly curious with respect to feminine mysteries, the precise tenor of which I did not learn. The daughter played the piano, too, while the mother looked on, delighted at this exceedingly rare accomplishment in Turkey. Our countrywomen were charmed with these specimens of Turkish ladies, and thought, in spite of the bondage in which they existed, their customs, education and dress which all tended to repress ease of manner, or conversation that they were admirably successful in paying pretty atten- tions to their visitors. During the whole of the visit, the poor little children were on their knees behind their mother, and a circle of slaves went stumbling about in their incon- venient dresses, to the great peril of the cups and other rare articles they carried. On leaving, they embraced cordially, and expressed the greatest pleasure and gratification to our ladies for making the visit. Our countrywomen having now seen the Turks, with a 342 .SOAMPAVIAS. laudable curiosity desired to see the Jews. I had the plea- sure to attend them. We were conducted by one Leah, a person who had turned an honest penny out of us in the sale of perfumes, shawls, and amulets. His habitation, which also covered the families of all his relatives, was a large wooden structure, enclosing a court, and cut up into a vast number of small rooms. In the reception salon we had pipes and coffee, and reposed the while on cushioned divans. The house was thronged with women and girls, some of them very beautiful, but our ladies thought, with too bold and brazen faces. Their hair was black and abundant, and fell in multitudes of braids down their backs, giving them a somewhat squawy and weird-like appearance. They all spoke Spanish, and we found no diffi- culty in making ourselves understood. Trade, however, was never touched upon, and, indeed, I never knew an eastern Jew to broach that topic within the threshold of his man- sion. DANCING DERVISHES. 343 Chapter XXXV. " Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The Devil always builds a chapel there ; And 'twill be found upon examination, The latter has the largest congregation." Dancing Dervishes. ONE Sunday morning we planned an expedition to a Dervish Church, which stands on one of the steep hills which overlook the bay. It was a terrible tramp over the stony ground to get up to it, but at last we succeeded. We were beguiled towards the close of the walk by a boy in an odd-looking stove- pipe-hat, green cloak, and dirty petticoats, who howled awfully on the brow of the hill, in calling the people to prayers. On a clear spot, in front of the Church, we were met by a cluster of as villainous looking, ragged scoundrels as could have been gathered together in the Levant. They looked like Bashibazouks and Brigands, who had not done a good business of late, and were waiting the opportunity to resume operations in their calling. They were immediately attracted by a large family crystal seal, attached to a watch, worn by our friend, Mr. Dunwoodie, of Culpepper County, Virginia, and at once surrounded us. One of the boldest of the group approached, and, with a wolfish glare out of his eyes, demanded 344 SCAMPAVIAS. to know if it was a diamond ? Our friend, taking pride in ' the family treasure, gave him to understand that it was not exactly a stone of that water, but something equally valuable. This was received by a gleam of ferocious civility by the raga- muffins, but I took the liberty to instantly correct any such dangerous impression, by assuring them that the bauble they so much admired, was merely a decanter-stopper, which it closely resembled, and only valuable for old glass. This, however, was evidently received with contemptuous disgust, and I began to be scared, for the day being warm, we had left our side-arms in the town, and we only had one sword against a horde of wretches stuck as thick as could be, with pistols and daggers. We desired them, therefore, to stand off, while we closed up and entered the church. In the centre of the church was a square sort of arena, with a deep niche in the wall on one side, while all around ran a railing, leaving room for the believers to kneel or squat, and where we found seats. Above, were latticed galleries for women, and a space for musicians. There, also, some of our Bashibazouk acquaintances bestowed themselves, keeping a hopeful regard at the decanter-stopper. There were six dervishes, the chief standing in the niche, while the remaining ones stood at his side. They had white skirts, close-fitting cloth jackets, and brown or green cloaks. The feet were bare, and on their heads they wore brimless flower-pot shaped funnels of hats, the color, and consistency of sponge. The chief had his own hat decorated with a green scarf. He led off the ceremonies by bendings and genuflec- tions, imitated by the others, to the music of drums and lugu- DANCING DERVISHES. 345 brious chanting from above. After this the chief took the floor, and turning slowly once round the vacant space, he then regained his niche, and the spinning began. It is very difficult to give any exact idea of this mode of worship, for to one who has never witnessed the process, he would believe it beyond a man's endurance to perform at all. The dancers take off their cloaks, and loosening their gir- dles, their dresses, while in repose, sweep the floor. Placing the right foot as a pivot on the ground, and galloping with the left over it, with half-closed eyes, and arms first crossed, and then extended, like the blades of a screw propeller, or the regulator of a steam-engine, they slowly begin to revolve Id* 346 SCAMPAVIAS. round and round the circuit of the room. At the same time their flowing dresses become inflated like the half of a balloon or a bell, and stand out in graceful curves, while the spinning lasts. This can only be done by the most perfect a plomb- like regularity of balance and motion. The dervishes, that we saw, twirled in this manner for forty-five minutes, mak- ing but two pauses of a few seconds each, during the dance, to bow to their chief. Finally, they stopped, the water pouring like rain from their faces, and putting on their cloaks, sank ex- hausted to the ground, and seemed to indulge in prayer, while the doleful music from the choir still continued. The best spin was made by a youth about fifteen years old, who exhi- bited himself somewhat in the way shown on the previous page. Leaving the church, we were again surrounded by those thievish Bazouks, who were extremely solicitous that we should extend our tour a little further only a step or two up the country, to see how fine the view was all the while having burglarious eyes upon the family diamond. But we positively declined to gratify them, and moving off with a crowd of more respectable looking Believers, we hurried down the hill. On another occasion, we had a glorious little ball and pic- nic by daylight, given by the family of our hospitable Consul, Mr. OfHey, at their pretty villa in Bournabat, We took boats to cross the bay, in preference to donkey-back ride by the road, and the chance of meeting the Bashibazouks of the inte- rior. We had a mile or two to walk from the point where we landed, but the weather was fine, and the country charming, so we did not mind it. The ladies, however, were provided with DANCING DERVISHES. 347 jaunty-cars, somewhat on the omnibus order, and so were tho musicanti with the big drum and ophicleide instruments. I fancy few will ever forget the delightful hours we passed in the lovely grounds of that bower of a summer-house, in the dense shade of the waving trees. How we danced and fro- licked on the grass, made wreaths and earrings of ivy and flowers for the ladies, ran races, did jugglery, threw acrobats, made gymnastics, and did a world of pleasant things. Aye ! how we forgot that such contrivances as ships, with narrow, hot berths and quarter decks, or middle watches existed while we lounged beneath the cooling shade of the foliage, listened to the sweet music, ate ices, drank champagne and milk-punch, and became rural exceedingly. If, perchance, that charming old lady who entertained us, and her agreeable descendants, should ever read these lines, they must believe, that though thousands of miles now sepa- rate us, we still remember their kindness and hospitality dunng our pleasant visit to Smyrna. With the going down of the sun, we embarked in our flot- tilla of cutters, and with the spray flying over us against the strong inbat, we soon regained the ships. In another week, we were once more steaming bravely down the gulf, where touching for water at Vourla, we went to the Island of Syra for a brief quarantine ; thence, for a last adieu to the Piraeus, and so down the Mediterranean to Naples. There leaving the flag-ship, I jumped on board the Saranac, and in forty-eight hours her untired wheels ceased revolving in the gulf of Spezia. 348 SCAMPAVIAS. Chapter XXXVI " And now I've ended, what I pretended, This narration splendid, without poet-thry, Ye dear bewitcher, just hand the pitcher, Faith! it's myself that's getting mighty dliry "ALL KOADS LEAD TO ROMK. Dispatches. '" SIGNORE," said I, to our Vice-Consul that official not parleying the American language, nor, in fact, any written tongue " Signore, I am bound post-haste to Naples, with ever so important dispatches, and wish you to vise these little documents, and place the seal of the Great Republic thereon " " Why not?" said he, as writing some ill-spelled words in DISPATCHES. 349 bad French on the envelopes, and impressing the American eagle and gridiron on the wax, said, "Voila! Mossew! six francs." " What," I exclaimed, " charge for doing your duty ?" " Sicuro /" he replied, with his dirty paws distended. So I paid the Vice-Consul, and with a post-chaise at the door, I sprang in, and was off. Whirling along by the shores of the beautiful gulf, and nodding to the lively Contadini, with their smuggled cargoes of sugar or calicoes on their heads, I crossed the Magra, and chirruped the horses into Modena. Cielo ! how lovely the country was, with its bending fields of yellow grain and pur- ple grapes. On we rolled over the smooth roads by the sea, or down through the gentle slopes and avenues of acacias, saluting respectfully at every mile or so the patrols of mounted carabineers, who moved majestically along, in quest of revolutionists, who here abound ; observing, too, at every relay, great pyramidal stacks of pattens in the rough, like so many unfinished timber-hewn shoes, for the entire population perhaps, of northern Italy. On I went, at a swinging gallop, my red-jacketed, and heavy booted postillion shouting and cracking his whip like a demon, until just as we struck the stones of Pietro Santo, my chaise broke down, axle, wheel, harness and horses, while my brave postillion was shaken clean out of one boot, and lay kicking up the road. Snatch- ing a hasty meal, I chartered another conveyance, and by midnight I was in Livorno. No time to pause, however, so with the earliest crack of dawn, 1 was up and away again. Not by the sea-route, for the cholera was used as a political 350 SCAMPAVIAS. check to keep the allied belligerents away from Naples, so I laid my course by way of Sienna and Rome. At noon, by the rails I was at Sienna, and having an hour to spare before the velocipede or some such designated coach started, I ran through the noble cathedral, and after taking a good look at the famous bronze wolf which suckled the founders of the Immortal City, I took my place on the roof of the velocipede. A deluging shower quenched the dusty roads, and getting among the hills quite unlike the verdure covered fields of Modena, and the valley of the Arno we rolled rapidly onward. At midnight we stopped for dinner at a road-side inn. There we had tough pigeons and sweet wine, in little flasks stopped up with cotton and oil. And here, too, the night being cool, I squeezed into the interior of the velocipede, where there was a vacant place. I had four companions. One a fat young woman destined for a nun, in charge of a Polish priest. The other two were Brothers of the Order of Loyola. All and each of this party took snuff, sometimes simultaneously, then separately, but without any pause or interruption. Towards daylight, they began a general nose blowing. Each was provided with two large cotton bandanas, kept in separate pockets. The nas- tiest, if possible, of these handkerchiefs, would first be brought out, and a clear spot selected for the work. Then seizing their noses with a snap for being mostly Romans, they of course had a good hold they would wring the member, and shake and twist it with much exasperation, blowing and snorting the while like asthmatic grampuses. When exhausted by this exertion, the bandana was jerked round SNUFF. 351 into a rope, and returned to its place ; then the other was extracted from its receptacle, and the proboscis made to endure still more violent ill-usage ; when finally, by a few vicious tweaks and polishings, the matter was ended for the time. Any one may presume that so soon as the sun rose, I left this snuffy region, and scrambled to the roof, where, rolling on rapidly all the day long, by sunset Saint Angelo and the dome of Saint Peter's loomed up before us, we crossed the Tiber, and entered the city by the Porto di Popolo. It was the beginning of August, and all the sight-seeing Roman world had run away from the malaria. The hotels were turned inside out, and I was only able to get a high-up lodging in the Piazza di Spagna. Learning that the coach did not leave by the Terracina route until the following day but one after my arrival, I pre- pared to make the most of my time, for in fact, I had made a wager that I would see all of Rome in a day. I accordingly engaged a sharp little old valet out of place, who at five o'clock in the early morn, had a smart little horse and vettura standing ready for me, in the court-yard of the albergo. " Giovanni," said I, " do you see this bright yellow effigy of Napoleon Bonaparte ?" His black orbits twinkled. " Well then, if you so much as miss a single old stone, temple, ruin, virgin, obelisk, garden, or fountain in Rome, I shall keep Napoleon Bonaparte in my pocket, and you will go without your supper, my little cabbage." " Andiam ! let us be off," said Giovanni, impatiently. 352 SOAMPAVIAS. Off we went. First to the Forum, under all the triumphal arches, and in and out of the Coliseum, Temples of peace, war, winds, and what not. Then a regular scamper through the galleries of the Vatican, where I saw the Pontiff leaning out of a window, attired in a yellow flannel night-gown, like a venerable Pelican ; then a dash at Saint Peter's, where the fine sculpture that I so admired in days of yore, I found more than half dressed in plaster-paris chemisettes, a style of dra- pery introduced by the Pius Nono, to prevent his holy car- dinals and prelates from falling in love, Pygmalion-like, with the lovely nude forms. From here out to the gorgeous church of Saint Paul, back by Saint John di Lateran, the Capitoline, Marcus Aurelius, and other antiquities, and without being guided by any rigid rules of sight-seeing topography, I cried halt ! where the " dread Pantheon stands, Amid the domes of modern hands, Amid the toys of idle state, How simply, how severely great." In truth I was hungry ; so poking Giovanni with the point of my sword scabbard, I said, " It is high noon, we shall have time hanging heavy on our hands if we go on at this rapid ra te suppose we take a bite of breakfast.'* "Sicuro! Sicurof" quoth Giovanni, "Altrof why not? why not ? The Signore must eat ! Sicuro ! we all should eat !" Accordingly, we drove to a quiet little garden-restaurant, where beneath an arbor of clustering grape-vines, and where were groups of jaunty French officers occupants of Rome DISPATCHES. 353 I had a sumptuous repast of small bifsteks, vegetables and luscious fruits. My cicerone, meanwhile, with the Vettura man and his beast, ate heartily of the good things set before them. After drinking one or two of the little wicker-bound flasks of the tipple of the Roman States, I felt somewhat disin- clined, I must admit, to see the remainder of Rome, but Gio- vanni, having no doubt the effigy of Napoleon Bonaparte legi- bly impressed upon his vision, urged me to resume the tour. I accordingly threw myself back in the vettura, and we started again. I may have taken siesta, or I may not, but towards the set of the sun, Giovanni smoothed me gently on the knees, and told me that I had won my wager ; that if I had been the Pope, or Milord Anglais, I could not have succeeded so well ; that I had bowed to several cardinals, bought Etruscan bracelets in the best shops ; spoke well of Mazzini and Gari- baldi in the market-place ; walked through the Borghese gar- dens, and Ecco ! Signore, here we are on the Pincian Hill. I at once descended from the little vehicle, and rewarding the conductor liberally, sat down upon a marble bench and gazed upon the pretty throngs who swept by. Then I took a stroll along the Corso, saw a brigade of French troops, with some fine cavalry returning from a review, and then having fully made up my mind that there was nought else worth seeing in Rome, I betook me to bed for an early start on the morrow. The sun was just getting up from the sickly haze which hung like a pall in the direction of the Pontine marshes as the small courier-diligence I was in rattled out of 354 SCAMPAVIAS. the gate of the Saint John di Lateran. For miles along our left, loomed up from the thick mist, the arches of the great aqueducts which carried the aqua felice to Rome, and all around, the country looked silent, unwholesome and desert- ed. Nor did the animated nature impress me pleasantly. Here and there over the hedgeless fields, were groups of rag- ged peasants of the Abruzzi, gathering the remains of the harvest, their faces yellow and sunken with the breath of the malaria, while their cattle were thin and wan with the thirst and heat of the tree-less plains. Besides me, in the coupe" was a dismounted Gendarme. His long sabre was very inconvenient to both our legs. He was so extremely polite to me that I somehow suspected he had an object in making the journey with me, which conjecture afterwards proved well founded. To be sure I bore no re- semblance to Garibaldi, who at the time was supposed to be hovering about the coast of the Roman States, nor even if I did, with an American uniform on my back, did I care a carlino for the entire host of spies or police of his Eminence the Pope. So if it afforded them the slightest gratification to travel with me, or listen to my conversation, they had it for nothing. " This," said the agreeable Gendarme, as we rumbled over the broad causeway, " is the Appian way, built by Appius Claudius the Censor, at his own expense. Brundusium Nu- mica melius Via ducat, an appi? " Oh ! he did !" said I, " but why don't his Holiness do something in that way, and make an iron road, instead of jolt- ing us over these round stones ?" DISPATCHES. 356 " Altro f sicuro ! why not ? But Signer Capitano, what would become of the horned cattle, the horses and their dri- vers, if we go by steam ?" " Put some of them in express wagons," I replied, " and turn the monasteries into silk factories, and make the rest of the vagabonds work. " Altro ! sicuro f The Excellenza understands it." After a pause, he lugged out a bag, from which he extract- ed a hunk of cheese, some brown bread, and a flask of Ovieto wine, all which, by polite invitation, I freely partook of. Then he continued, "The Capitano has but few effects to carry," alluding to my diminutive valise "he is, perhaps, not going far." The Capitano told him, he had not made up his mind at all upon the subject of his journey, but he thought it likely the day would pass without rain. Meanwhile we turned off from the main road and struck down by the sea shore, in the direction of Porto d'Anzo. Towards four o'clock in the afternoon, after the last change of horses the leading beast became fractious, swung sharp round in the road, tripped up the off-wheel horse, and cap sized the diligence like a ten-pin. I fell on top of my Gen- darme soldier, and escaped with a few skin abrasions, caused by the scabbard of his long sabre. But he, poor Roman, had his ankle dislocated, and his handsome face badly cut by the broken glass of the carriage door. When I succeeded in crawling out of the wreck, I found the driver tearing his hair, and cursing as if he had never lived in a religious community, and it was with the greatest difficulty I could induce him to assist me in extricating the wounded Roman. We then got 356 SCAMPAVIAS. him laid on, a couch of cushions by the way-side, and made him as comfortable as practicable. It now became my turn to look about for the means of prosecuting my journey. I knew a steamer was to leave Porte d'Anzo that evening for Naples a distance of two leagues from the coach and I determined to march. This project, however, was received with great apparent grief by the Gendarme. He implored the noble Capitano not to leave him to die on the road, that brigands infested that part of the country, who always killed helpless wayfarers; that, in short, the Santissima Madonna would reward me liberally if I remained. It was cruel of me, perhaps, to leave my companion, but my dispatches were important, so, after pointing out to him, that the driver could go back to the post-house and return in a couple of hours with another vehicle, and that as I greatly feared the Pontine fever, I said addio ! Looking back after walking some distance up the road, I was a little surprised to observe the prostrate soldier give a paper to the postillion, and then to see that individual mount a horse and take after me. The beast, however, objected to going, and shook his burden off his back. I watched the fellow while he began to disengage the harness from one of the leaders, and then I quickened my pace to a long trot. I suspected, too, that the soldier had designs for detaining me, or putting me, perhaps, to some needless annoyance. I had not gone far, before I met a half-naked little black- haired imp, driving a mule cart. I at once accosted him. and holding up a round silver scudo, asked if he knew what that was ? and if he could turn back with me to the port ? DISPATCHES. 357 " But Excellenza, my father is waiting for me at the rocks down there, to take the fish from the boat." " !" I exclaimed, u your excellent padre, and your caris- sima madre, too, wants a dollar, and you shall have another if you gallop me into D'Anzo." " Whirr-a !" shouted the imp, as he jerked the rope to the mule's head, and pulled him round in the right direction. " chelenza mio, how he runs ! Remember the scudo, Signore, for me." I could barely keep in the jolting little cart, for we went at a rattling gait. I looked back, however, occasionally, and just on a slight rise, near the summer retreat of his Holiness, who has a fine villa in this neighborhood, I saw the diligence driver laboring along the road in our wake, and belaboring his beast the while. Going straight through the ancient Port, I stopped on the quay, and soon learned where the vessel lay which was bound to Naples. Placing the silver dollars in my small mule-man's hand, I seized my valise, and passport in hand, presented myself at the Bureau of Embar- cation. There, without a moment's hesitation, the paper was stamped and vise'd, and I immediately took a boat, went on board the steamer, paid my passage, and sat down to rest. Scarcely, however, had I discovered that the steamer was not much bigger than a soup tureen, of half a pony power, and ordered a generous repast from a cook who did the restaurant business on board the boat, when I beheld the postillion come galloping up to the Bureau on the quay, and enter the build- ing. Presently, an official rushed out, paper in hand, fol- lowed by two or three confederates, who looked up and down 358 SCAMPAVIAS. the street. Not seeing, apparently, anything of consequence there, they turned their eyes to the port, and, perhaps, saw what they were in quest of, within a hundred yards of them, comfortably seated beneath an awning. Meanwhile, steam was up, and some half-a-dozen passen- gers among them a brace of gay young Frenchmen had come on board with the Padrone. A few moments after, a custom-house boat came alongside, and the same gentleman who had countersigned my passport mounted to the deck. " Signori !" said he, in a loud voice, " you will produce your passa-porti" When it came my turn, he elevated his fine eyebrows and exclaimed, "Capitano, there is some mistake here, be good enough to go on shore." " Excuse me, sir," I said, emphatically ; " my passport is perfectly regular, you vised it yourself ; if there be any mis- take, it is your fault, not mine, and, therefore, I have no intention of going on shore." This conversation attracted some attention, and the gay Frenchmen came to my side. Still the official declared that the Capitano must make a visit to the Bureau with his effects, or else the steamer could not depart." Losing a little temper at last, I said, " Now, sir, I am an American officer with government dispatches here they are ; I am vised by your own act, out of the Roman States ; that is a Neapolitan flag flying over this vessel, and I shall stay on board of her until she either sinks or reaches Naples, in spite of you, and the Pope to boot. But, if you think it necessary to use force, why, here I am, seize me." My persecutor uttered, at these words, such a wonderfully DISPATCHES. 359 voluble denial of any such intention as that of laying violent hands on the Capitano Americano, that it was painful to listen to him. Hereupon arose, also, a dreadful clamor in the equipage of the steamer ; the Padrone raved, and the passengers grum- bled, all, but the gentle Frenchmen, who swore I was quite right, and consigned the police to the Diavolo. Having likewise expressed my own individual views on the subject, I addressed myself to the dinner spread before me, and let the mob fight it out. The Porto D'Anzo man was, evidently, in a great quan- dary ; he feared to detain the vessel on my account, and he was in equal trepidation about parting with me altogether. But, finally, after a deal of Italian howling and disputing, which had no more effect upon me, than it did upon Mount Circello in the distance it was decided that an official, in a yellow collar and the keys of the Pontiff embroidered in red tape on the tails of his coat, should take passage in the steamer, and see the unreasonable Capitano safely delivered to the chief Director of Police in the city of Napoli. This gloomy scheme for my future state, did not in any way affect my appetite ; and in the matter of drink, I tossed off a tumbler of champagne to the health of my friends in Porto D'Anzo, together with kind compliments to the college of Cardinals, the Pontifical guard, the Sberri, the monks, assassins, and, in fact, the whole population of the States of the Church. We paddled pleasantly away from the Porto D'Anzo, out into the calm bay of Gaeta, where, in the society of my 360 SCAMPAVIAS. newly made French friends, we made merry, until daylight appeared, and the little steam tureen came to anchor at Naples. The Padrone soon went on shore for pratique, accompanied by the key embroidered person whose prisoner I was. The Cumberland, however, was lying within rifle shot of us, and as one of her cutters pulled by, I made a signal to the cox- swain to stop for me when he should return to the Frigate. Presently, the Padrone of the steamer, with the subject of the Pontiff, came on board, escorted by two large custom house boats. " Signori passagieri si pud debarcare" u Passengers can go on shore," the Padrone bawled. The voyagers at once tumbled over the side, but, as I moved in that direction, a large man, in a still larger cloak, touched me on the shoulder, and said in my ear, " II Signor Direttore della Polizia vuol parlure col Capitano." " Ah ! so the Director of Police wishes to see me, does h^ ? Give him my love, and tell him he can see as much as he likes after I've had my breakfast on board that Frigate there." " ! Signor Capitano non e possibile /" At this juncture, the Frigate's heavy cutter came leisurely alongside the steamer, the blades of the oars tossed and flashing in the rays of the morning sun. " Here, Pooley," said I, to the sturdy coxswain, " catch this valise, will you ?" " Aye, aye, sir, all right." It by no means impressed the man in the cloak as being all right, for he raised an unearthly yell, and called to the two custom boats to come alongside. I merely remarked, as I acciden- DISPATCHES. 361 tally punched him with the point of ray sword scabbard below his belt, that if he did not stand clear of the gangway, he might fall headforemost into the water. Then bidding him farewell, I sprang into the boat. We had scarcely pulled a cable's length from the steamer, when along wal- lowed the boats of the custom house, shouting at us as if we owed them money. " Pooley," I observed, " if any of those rascals astern, so much as splash a pint of water over us, break them in pieces like a stick of maccaroni." " Throw in your bow oars there," quoth coxswain, " and get yer boat-hooks ready to harpoon them maccaroni chaps' eyes out if they comes near us." After this display of defense, our pursuers maintained a respectful distance, and I went up the side of the jolly old Frigate, in peace with all the world. It was thought advisa- ble^ .however, after iny dispatches had been delivered, and the breakfast things cleared away, that I should call upon the High Admiral, the Prince Luigi, and ask for what reason such care had been bestowed upon me by the police. Accordingly, I took boat to the arsenal, where I met His Highness just giving the reins of his thorough -bred horses to the grooms as he stepped out of his open phaeton. By the way, Prince Luigi is one of the manliest, and best bred gen- tlemen you will meet anywhere, and I never wondered that the Sicilians wished him to reign over them in preference to his august brother, Ferdinand. It took but a few minutes to recount to the handsome Prince, the solicitude which had been exercised for my wel- 16 362 SCAMPAVIAS. fare, and to inquire of him if, in his opinion, the annoyance would be repeated. He graciously replied, that the whole affair was evidently a mistake, though he was ignorant of the cause ; perhaps it was owing to some new regulation about quarantine, and, in fine, he felt quite confident it would not occur again. Here this deep mystery ended, and I don't know to this day, nor can't divine for what object the Pope or the police tried to entice me into their clutches ! ADDIO. Leaving Naples, we beat up the Italian coast to Civita Vecchia, and Leghorn, and again dropt anchor in the Gulf of Spezia. There bidding adieu to the dear old Frigate, and while the cheers of my messmates rang out clear and hearty up the hills, I turned my face towards Switzerland, and ended my Scampavias in the Mediterranean. THE END. 20807 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY