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THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
FOOTPRINTS OF THE LION 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 STORIES OF TRAVEL. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/footprintsoflionOOblakrich 
 

FOOTPRINTS OF THE LION 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 STORIES OF TRAVEL. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL J. BLAKSLEY. 
 
 With Frontispiece and Thirty -two Illustrations from 
 Photographs, &^c. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 W. H. ALLEN & CO., LIMITED, 
 
 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. 
 
 1896. 
 
MALCOMSON AND CO., LIMITED, 
 
 PRINTERS, 
 
 LONDON AND REDHILL. 
 
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 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. Footprints of the Lion ... ... ... i 
 
 II. Eastwards ... ... ... ... ... 35 
 
 III. The Evil Eye; or, the Colonel in Quest 
 
 OF HIS Regiment 57 
 
 IV. The Expected Buddha ; or, the Royal 
 
 Twins loq 
 
 M309540 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Lion of St. Mark's 
 
 Sebenico 
 
 The River Ombla 
 
 CURZOLA 
 
 Kerka Falls 
 
 Zara 
 
 The Walls of Diocletian's Palace ... 
 
 The Campanile at Sfalato 
 
 Porta Aurea 
 
 SpalXto 
 
 The Peristyleum at Salona 
 
 The Amphitheatke at Salona 
 
 Entrance to the Mausoleum, Spalato 
 
 Ragusa 
 
 CattXro 
 
 La Croma 
 
 LussiN Grande 
 
 La Croma 
 
 LUCKNOW 
 
 The Dhul Canal, Kashmir 
 
 The Modern Nourmahal 
 
 Nynee Tal 
 
 The Pindari Glacier 
 
 The Ear of Dionysius 
 
 Messina 
 
 Bastia 
 
 N6tre Dame de la Garde 
 
 Singapore 
 
 Bangkok 
 
 A Canal at Bangkok 
 
 Interior of Royal Temple 
 
 Wat Chang 
 
 Entrance to Wat Chang 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 To face 
 
 J» 
 
 » 
 
 page 
 
 11 
 
 JJ 
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 2 
 
 4 
 6 
 8 
 
 lO 
 12 
 
 
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 14 
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 28 
 
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 M 
 
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 >J 
 
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 30 
 32 
 
 34 
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 SO 
 
 52 
 
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 74 
 
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 106 
 
 108 
 
 no 
 
 112 
 
 114 
 
I. 
 FOOTPRINTS OF THE LION. 
 
FOOTPRINTS OF THE LION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Not the overrated, common, desert or jungle 
 wallah, but the proud old Lion of San 
 Marco, with his dextral uplift, and his 
 ^' Pax tibi Marce, Evangelista meusy Are 
 you a lover of Venice, and her history ? 
 Would you roam in fields and pastures 
 new? Then, with your two gladstone- 
 bags, start early in April for a cruise in the 
 Eastern Adriatic. It is via Trieste that you 
 proceed to visit these delightful old-world 
 
 B 2 
 
4 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 places, these possessions of Old Venice 
 when she was Queen of the Sea. 
 
 There are many whose idea of traveUing 
 is exempHfied by an arrow when shot from 
 a bow, — its main object is to gain its des- 
 tination, and everything en rontey no matter 
 how interesting, is to be ignored. Now, 
 we all know that every road leads to 
 Rome, and similarly, there are many ways 
 of getting to Trieste. We will not hurry 
 on the good old arrow principle, but leave 
 that for flighty people, who had much better 
 start by steamer from London Bridge and 
 go direct somewhere — anywhere, and stay 
 there. 
 
 If you are going from England, as plea- 
 sant a way as any is this : — Leave Victoria 
 at 1 1 a.m., and arrive at Brussels for 
 dinner ; similarly next day to Luxembourg ; 
 next Carlsruhe ; next Munich for three days,. 
 
^ 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 5 
 
 and let Sunday be one of them ; next 
 Botzen ; next Verona ; and then Venice the 
 ex-Queen. The Austrian Lloyd steamers are 
 plentiful from Trieste ; they are scrupulously 
 clean and well appointed, and are the " best 
 hotels in the Adriatic " ; the officers are 
 educated gentlemen whom it is a pleasure 
 to know ; they and the stewards all talk 
 Italian, as well as German ; of course, as 
 the whole of Dalmatia belongs to Austria, 
 and Herzegovina and Bosnia are under her 
 protection, most of the travellers in these 
 parts are Austrian, and German is the lan- 
 guage most heard on board. In securing 
 your berth. Oh, gentle viaggiatore ! beware 
 of the ^^ Allgemeine cabinet' — they hold eight, 
 and ventilation seems objected to, especially 
 at night ; therefore, unless you are imper- 
 vious to all that is malodorous, and especially 
 favoured by the good god Somnus, beware ! 
 
6 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 a ponderous, apoplectic, beer-imbibing Tedesco 
 on his back recumbent, his mouth wide 
 open to the noxious air, uttering sounds, 
 stertorous, loud, and ungodly enough to 
 awake the tenantry of a Campo Santo, will 
 not induce ''nature's sweet restorer"; and, 
 as you lie contemplating him by the never- 
 extinguished electric glare, in respectful 
 wonderment, you do not regard him as '' a 
 thing of beauty," although doubtless ''a joy 
 for ever" to his '^ Hebe Frau,^ whom he has 
 most carefully left at home. 
 
 The writer had one night of this, but it 
 was well-nigh forgotten in the beautiful 
 freshness of the early morn, coasting along 
 the picturesque shore of Ischia, with the 
 snowy peaks of the Julian Alps as a back- 
 ground ; Pirano, Parenzo were passed, and 
 Rovigno attracted much attention, — hark ! 
 what sweet sounds are these ? 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 7 
 
 " Ach ! Gott ! es ist schon, " 
 
 "Yaw!" 
 
 " Es ist wunderschon ! " 
 
 " Und gross ! " 
 
 " Yaw ! " 
 
 Chorus of " Yaw ! Yaw ! " 
 
 The good ship Metkovich is bound for 
 Pola, however, and " Vorwaerts " is the 
 motto — we touch nowhere. 
 
 At Pola, the great Austro-Hungarian port 
 and arsenal, we find six fine ironclads in 
 harbour ; they are in line, but have swung 
 round so as to present the appearance of a 
 perfect echelon to us as we steam along ; 
 forts innumerable crown every point. Pola 
 has many Roman remains — not many Vene- 
 tian ; the amphitheatre held 20,000 specta- 
 tors, and presents a very fine exterior, but 
 the interior is a scene of desolation; the 
 triumphal arch of the Sergii is very orna- 
 
.8 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 mental ; there are two temples, and on 
 Monte Zarro are several interesting re- 
 mains, and the monument to Admiral Teget- 
 hoff, the hero of Lissa. Cap Promontore 
 being passed, we turn north-eastwards, keep- 
 ing the rich and beautiful coast of Istria in 
 view, v/ith Monte Maggiore in the distance. 
 Abbazia, the Eden or '' Paradies in nuce " 
 of Austria, is crowded with fashionable visi- 
 tors at this time; here is a " Quisisana " 
 hotel among many others ; the grounds of 
 the Imperial Villa are lovely, and so are 
 the fine promenades around ; Abbazia is the 
 gem of this Austrian Riviera, which is 
 well protected from the scourge of the 
 Adriatic, the dreaded ''bora," and here, they 
 consider, are combined the beauties of 
 Cannes with its sweet flowers, of Sorrento 
 with its oranges and citrons, and of Men- 
 tone with its scenery. From Abbazia to 
 
s^ s 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 9 
 
 Fiume is a fine sea walk of a few miles ; 
 here is the great Hungarian port ; the 
 whole bay is very beautiful, with its islands 
 in front, and the snow-clad Dinaric Alps 
 to the east. 
 
lO 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The writer was favoured with real Italian 
 weather throughout, and, proceeding one 
 bright night through the Quarnerolo with 
 its numerous islands, could realise — 
 
 " Com' e gentil, un nott' in mezz' Avril, 
 Azzur' il ciel, la lun' e senza vel " — 
 
 and, after passing the Puntadura an hour 
 or two, a little miniature Venice appears 
 in the distance : it is Zara, the capital 
 of Dalmatia, glistening in the early sun- 
 shine — 
 
 " She looks a sea Cybele, fresh from ocean." 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 1 1 
 
 On a peninsula, with her once strong 
 battlements (now promenades), on which the 
 old Lion of San Marco frequently appears, 
 Zara is exquisitely situated, with the snow- 
 clad Dinaric range to the north-east, and 
 the island of Uglian opposite. The roman- 
 esque Duomo is interesting, and the B3^zan- 
 tine Church of San Simone has over its 
 high altar the quaint Byzantine sarcopha- 
 gus, containing the remains of the saint, 
 whose bones wrought many miracles ; there 
 are some fine old Roman remains in the 
 Giardino Publico — columns, etc. Venetian 
 remains are seen on the walls of houses 
 in every street. The town is, in common 
 with all other towns under Austrian rule, 
 perfectly clean ; the people seem gentle and 
 polite ; picturesque costumes, Bosnian, Croa- 
 tiiin, etc., are everywhere. The inhabitants 
 all speak Italian, and do not like the lingua 
 
1 2 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 tedesca. Here is made the real maraschino 
 from the marasca or wild cherry, which 
 grows in profusion on the hills ; they give 
 you one kind with the cherries in it. Zara, 
 founded by Augustus, for long was subject 
 to Venice, but became so rebellious at the 
 end of the twelfth century, that, finding 
 ^' the domination of a monarch less insup- 
 portable than that of a republic," she gave 
 herself up to the King of Hungary ; this 
 led to her being besieged in the Fifth Cru- 
 sade, 1 202, when her Cross, in which she 
 trusted, failed to deter her Christian foes, 
 and she was taken and pillaged by Vene- 
 tians and French. From Zara to Sebenico 
 is four to five hours by sea. Many islands 
 and rocks with remains of old Venetian 
 forts are passed. Sebenico is at the head 
 of a bay entered by a narrow channel, at 
 the entrance to which is Fort S. Nicolo, 
 
THE WALLS OF DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE. 
 
 [To face page 12. 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 13 
 
 with a grand old Venetian lion. The town 
 is very Venetian in style, with very narrow 
 streets ; the Duomo is Venetian Gothic, and 
 has a very fine " Baptisterium"; the sculp- 
 ture generally in the Duomo is most in- 
 teresting. From the fort on the summit 
 of II Barone, one enjoys a splendid pano- 
 rama. Near here is the River Kerka, on 
 w^hich a small steamer plies, and, having 
 crossed the Lake of Proclian, we pass 
 Scardona, and reach the celebrated Kerka 
 Falls, which are highly picturesque and sur- 
 rounded by fine, wuld scenery. 
 
 " Through sparkling spray, in thundering clash, 
 The lightnings of the waters flash." 
 
 A few hours' sailing brings you to the 
 quaint little town of Trau (the Tragurium 
 of the Romans), on an island^ connected by 
 bridges with the mainland and- also with 
 
14 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 the island of Bua. TraQ is Venetian in 
 style, and, strolling about, one comes across 
 many exquisite little pieces of architecture. 
 In the Duomo are many columns, especially 
 those supporting the pulpit, with curious 
 Byzantine capitals ; the sacristan displays 
 many wonderful relics, vestments, etc., and 
 a fine old illuminated book of 1289. From 
 the summit of the graceful Campanile is a 
 fine view ; a great expression of dismay 
 came over the visage of the ciistode when 
 I sounded two on the bell, it being about 
 Jour o'clock. They have a great regard for 
 time in these old-world places, where it is 
 of little consequence, the clocks striking 
 the w^hole hour, followed or preceded by 
 the quarter, all through the day and night. 
 Here, over an old gateway, a sturdy little 
 evergreen is apparently springing out of 
 the stone, and has been there for 300 
 
THE CAMPANILE AT SPALXtO. 
 
 [7 face page 14. 
 
Footprints of the Lion, 1 5 
 
 yearS; shading and almost hiding the Lion 
 of San Marco. It is a very pretty little 
 -excursion from here to the Bai Sette Cas- 
 telli, and then to make the '' giro " of the 
 Bay with its seven little towns, beginning 
 with Castel Nuovo ; around this Bay is 
 some of the richest land in Dalmatia. And 
 now it is but two hours to Spalato, the 
 principal object of everyone's journey in 
 these parts ; here is the wonderful Palace 
 of Diocletian, eclipsed in size by the Es- 
 •corial alone ; here, near to his birthplace 
 (either Salona or Dioclea), the wearied 
 Emperor retired to spend his last years ; 
 within and upon the walls of this magnifi- 
 cent palace the old town is built, and these 
 walls enclose an area of nine to ten acres. 
 In the centre is the Imperial Mausoleum, 
 now used as a Christian Duomo, and the 
 model for the finest baptisteries ; soaring 
 
i6 ^ Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 above is the Campanile commenced in 1416; 
 the interior of this temple is most impres- 
 sive and beautiful, there is much scaffold- 
 ing, etc , around, as many alterations are 
 being most admirably conducted, and also 
 removals, with a view to laying open this 
 temple, the vestibule, and all the magnifi- 
 cent surroundings. The well-known ar- 
 chaeologist, Monsignore Bulic, lives here, 
 and it is a great pleasure to be accom- 
 panied round by such an enthusiast on the 
 subject. During the performance of High 
 Mass one morning in the Settin^ana Santa, 
 no less than eleven common-looking fellows 
 were up in the beautiful pulpit, leaning 
 over, and scarcely adding to the effect con- 
 templated by the architect. The museum 
 contains much that is interesting, chiefl}^ 
 from the excavations at Salona. 
 
 Salona, a few miles inland, a once-buried 
 
PORTA AUREA IN DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE. 
 
 \_To face page i6. 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 1 7 
 
 city, must be visited with Monsignore 
 Bulic. It was a celebrated Roman seaport^ 
 and was once the capital of Dalmatia, its 
 amphitheatre, gateways, baths, and its walls 
 testify to its ancient importance, its Chris- 
 tian cemetery contains many sarcophagi of 
 interest. On a precipitous rock near Salona 
 is the old fortress of Klissa. In Professor 
 Freeman's '' Cities Subject to Venice " is 
 by far the best description of the wonders 
 of Spalato, and of all these interesting 
 places. 
 
 Still, ^' vorwaerts " is the word, and still 
 our path lies o'er the sea ; one glorious 
 night that we passed between the beautiful 
 islands of Brazza, Lesina, Curzola, and 
 many others, sky and water of the deepest 
 blue, and, even after a fatiguing day, we 
 lingered long on deck, enjo3nng the " rap- 
 ture of repose " around : — 
 
1 8 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 " 'Twas sweet, when cloudless stars were bright, 
 To view the wave of watery light, 
 And hear its melody by night," 
 
 and to think over that " shrine of the 
 mighty " we had left behind at Spalato. 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 At Gravosa, where we arrive at daybreak, 
 we take a small steamer up the river 
 Ombla, and after about an hour and a half 
 we arrive at the commencement (not the 
 source) of the river ; from underneath a 
 perpendicular cliff of some 400 feet in 
 height comes forth, in three rushes, the 
 river, into a basin close under the cliff, 
 of some 300 feet in depth and iSo across; 
 then there is a weir-head, over which the 
 water bounds, and is, at once, a fine 
 broad river; it is supposed to be the same 
 river that disappears under a mountain 
 
 c 2 
 
20 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 some thirty miles awa3^ It is a natural 
 wonder. 
 
 Beyond are the villa and grounds of 
 Count Gozze ; in these grounds are two 
 splendid plane trees, said to be i,ooo years 
 old ; the larger one requires fifteen people 
 with outstretched arms to encircle it. In 
 a chapel here is a picture said to be by 
 Titian. It is a pleasant excursion to the 
 rich, park-like little island of Lacroma, 
 where Coeur-de-Lion landed, and endowed 
 the old Cathedral of Ragusa opposite, 
 and where there is a handsome villa in 
 the midst of a pretty garden. The 
 island was the property of an Englishman, 
 who built the villa and laid out the 
 garden, and then drowned himself. It was 
 afterwards a favourite retreat of the ill- 
 fated Emperor Maximilian ; it next be- 
 longed to Prince Rudolf, whose sad and 
 
THE PERISTYLEUM, DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE. 
 
 [To face page 20. 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 2 1 
 
 mysterious end is still discussed ; it is still 
 imperial property, but the Emperor, con- 
 sidering that some evil agency must have 
 prevailed, presented it to a religious body, 
 and it is devoutly to be hoped that, by 
 fasting, praying, dreaming, and carefully 
 and religiously doing nothing, all that is 
 Satanic about it may be dispelled, and 
 that, with the assistance of old Father 
 Time, it may again become fit for an Arch- 
 Duke's summer house. On the main land 
 opposite is Ragusa, as Professor Freeman 
 says, ''The one spot on the Eastern 
 Adriatic shore which never was subject to 
 either Venice or the Turk." With its fine 
 mediaeval fortifications, we view Ragusa 
 springing from the sea, more imposing by 
 far than any other Dalmatian town, and 
 with a natural rampart of hills at the 
 back, and fortresses around ; Ragusa has 
 
22 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 often shown her strength, and repulsed 
 many an enemy. The town is quite Vene- 
 tian in appearance, and has some hand- 
 some buildings ; the chief is II Palazzo 
 Rettorale, a fine Renaissance structure, in 
 which, upstairs, is a most interesting 
 museum ; it is Good Friday, the Proces- 
 sion of the Host is passing, and the 
 people seem very devout. Southwards 
 from Ragusa runs as beautiful a Riviera 
 as Europe can show, indented with little 
 inlets, banks covered with evergreens and 
 spring flowers ; this continues round the 
 Bai Breno to Ragusa Vecchia, and we 
 visit one of those curious vrelli (the term 
 applied by the Italians to those streams 
 springing suddenly from underneath the 
 cliff or mountain) ; this one is utilised 
 to w^ork the Molino at Breno, and runs 
 through a very picturesque nook in the 
 
=0 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 23 
 
 bay. In harbour at Gravosa the ever 
 kind and courteous Commandante of the 
 Metkovich had arranged, one lovely even- 
 ing, for a dance on deck, and — there 
 being many young and charming Viennese 
 ladies travelling — it was looked forward 
 to with pleasure ; the ship with its excel- 
 lent lighting and brilliant displa}' of bunt- 
 ing, with flags of all nations, looked its 
 gayest ; suddenly it was discovered that 
 the gruesome season of Lent was not 
 quite over — it was the last night — and de- 
 vout people on shore might be shocked ; 
 general disappointment prevailed, and wishes 
 were expressed that the inhabitants of 
 small towns would not be so bigoted ! 
 
 There is a small town in the most de- 
 vout country in Europe, not far north of 
 Mountserrat, where every respectable little 
 *' dawg " wears a black crape bow on his 
 
24 Footprints of the Lion, 
 
 tail during Lent, and where all the animals, 
 including the gentle " porco," to his great 
 astonishment and inconvenience, are com- 
 pelled to be religious, and to observe 
 Good Friday by rigid fasting ! As an 
 admirable set o^ to this, however, in the 
 renowned Zaragoza, there is always held, 
 on Easter Sunday, as duly announced^ a 
 ^^ gran Corrida de Toros!^ when six bulls 
 are slaughtered, and a dozen horses turned 
 inside out, in honour of Maria Santissima ! 
 
^^^^^^^^^^BIHv'j^-'"-' ' ^S^^KtlK^^^ *^ 
 
 _ 
 
 1 . . ' „ 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Once more upon the sea, — 
 
 " That tideless sea 
 Which changeless, rolls eternally " — 
 
 and at sunrise it is truly beautiful as you 
 enter the Bocca di Cattaro, leading to the 
 finest inlet of the Adriatic, which forms 
 what I have heard a naval officer describe 
 as the *' grandest harbour in Europe " ; 
 through several bocche you pass, and soon, 
 facing you, is the once strongly fortified 
 town of Castelnuovo, then several other 
 towns, then through the narrow passage 
 of Le Cattene, and then you emerge into 
 
26 Footprints of the Lion, 
 
 what appears a lovely inland lake with two 
 islands in the middle, and soon Cattaro is 
 seen, with its fortifications running zigzag 
 up the hill, and the mountains of Monte- 
 negro crowning all ; the forts around are 
 all of Venetian origin. The place was taken 
 by the English from the French in 1813 
 and the whole garrison made prisoners. 
 After a giro round this beautiful inlet, an 
 ascent into Montenegro by the '^ wunder- 
 voUen Serpentinenstrasse " (as the German 
 guide-book calls the ascent) is of the great- 
 est interest ; after a drive of about five 
 hours zigzag up the mountain, passing 
 several forts, especially the strong Fort 
 Gorazza, and enjoying magnificent views 
 over the bocche, we cross the frontier into 
 Montenegro, and another hour or so brings 
 us to Njegui,* in the midst of what has 
 
 * The sign " v " softens s into sh. 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 27 
 
 once been a lake ; here, at an elevation of 
 4,000 feet, we are indeed in the heart of 
 the Black Mountains,- after which the coun- 
 try is named. It is wild in the extreme, 
 huge rocks appear to have been hurled 
 everywhere, and houses and patches of 
 vegetation occupy the intervals. It is 
 Easter Sunday, and we see all the popula- 
 tion en fete, with their national dances, 
 showing their delight that the gruesome 
 season is over ; there are several open 
 stone circular enclosures in which the 
 ^^Kolo^' is danced — a circle is formed, men 
 forming one-half, girls the other ; two girls 
 and two men come to the front, dancing a 
 sort of wild jumping quadrille for about 
 three minutes, displaying great agility, then 
 each man kisses a girl, and they take their 
 places, to be followed by a similar quar- 
 tette, and so on. A little farther on brings 
 
28 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 us to Kriva^ko Schrjelo, rather more ele- 
 vated ; here is a scene of the very wildest 
 desolation, as though chaos had come again; 
 the cold is intense, ice and snow all around. 
 We glance at the mountains of Albania 
 ' and the great Lake of Scutari, and then are 
 pleased to find ourselves descending, and, 
 passing a few habitations, we wonder 
 how life is there sustained. A thousand 
 feet of '' serpentinenstrasse," and we are at 
 Cettinje, the capital of Montenegro, which 
 has been likened to a Dartmoor village. 
 One thing greatly impresses me, and that 
 is the fine, soldier-like bearing of the hand- 
 some men ; they and the boys all either 
 salute or raise their caps ; they are tall, 
 active, and muscular, and in their Greek 
 jackets and vests of various colours, Turk- 
 ish knickers, either jackboots or stockings 
 •with a gold lace welt down the back, kam- 
 
Footprints of the Lion, 29 
 
 merband with daggers and pistols, and a 
 small cap, worn like a 5th Lancer's, they 
 look a fighting race, — they are, too. In the 
 last encounter with their hereditary enemies 
 the Turks, the Prince had explained to a 
 fine old warrior who numbered more than 
 eighty summers that he was too old to 
 serve, and must remain behind, — hurt and 
 insulted, the old man drew his revolver 
 and blew his brains out. In the arsenal 
 are several Krupp guns, all well kept, and 
 a large collection of old Turkish weapons ; 
 there is also a fine old Venetian Lion rest- 
 ing in the Piazza — a trophy, I presume. 
 Next day a long descent to Cattaro, and 
 departure northwards. In the morning we 
 arrive at the little island of Busi, far out 
 in the Adriatic, and there visit the Dalma- 
 tian Grotf azzura. It has a loftier en- 
 trance than its sister at Capri, which it 
 
30 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 does not quite equal, although the various 
 shades of blue are exquisitely beautiful, 
 contrasting with the pitch darkness above. 
 Thence to the island of Lissa, and walk 
 across from Comisa to Lissa (the capital). 
 The island is fertile, and produces good 
 wines. The English held it for three years. 
 Near the mouth of the harbour of Lissa is 
 a monument to the English Admiral Hoste, 
 who defeated here a ^French fleet under 
 Dubordieu, in 1811; above, on the hill, is 
 Fort Wellington. Near is the island of 
 Lesina (the ''Corfu" of Dalmatia, to which 
 all these islands belong) ; it is celebrated 
 for its healthy and delicious climate ; here 
 are several Lions of San Marco. On what 
 might be called the Acropolis of the town, 
 is the fine Fort Spanuola, entirely Venetian, 
 and commanding, from its battlements, a 
 splendid view over the little Spalmadori 
 
Footprints of the Lion, 3 1 
 
 Islands, which form a breakwater in front 
 of the harbour. On the many islands and 
 rocks we pass after leaving Lesina, we see 
 ruins of old Venetian forts, each telling its 
 story of the past. It is worth while to go 
 a few miles up the Fiume Narenta as far as 
 Metkovic. It is the port for Herzegovina, 
 and Mostar (the capital) is only two hours' 
 distance by rail. A walk from Metkovic is 
 the little town of Gabela with its fort 
 built by the Venetians. The Herzego- 
 vines are mostly Turkish in religion and 
 habits. The men all wear the fez, and 
 sit about a la Turque; the women ail wear 
 trousers, and an ungainly looking tunic 
 and kammerband. They are an unsightly 
 people compared with those we have left. 
 Alas ! northwards we are bound, and 
 must say '^ Addio " to these sunny climes, 
 where — 
 
32 Footprints of the Lion. 
 
 " Long delighted 
 The traveller fairi would linger on his way." 
 
 We touch at Lussin, a charming island, 
 in which is the busy little port of Lussin 
 Piccolo (the next favourite Austrian health 
 resort after Abazzia). It is a delightful 
 walk to the romantically situated little town 
 of Lussin grande. Lussin is very civilised, 
 and teems with olive gardens and flowers. 
 
 And now, as we are nearing Trieste, I 
 would pay a farewell tribute of praise to 
 my fellow-travellers, — to the general ex- 
 cellent spirit of good-fellowship, and cam- 
 araderie prevailing, — to the beauty, ele- 
 gance, and many graces of the Viennese 
 young ladies, who are right in thinking 
 this Dalmatian trip a ''safe" one, — to the 
 kindness, courtesy, and gallantry of the 
 Captain and officers of the good ship 
 Metkovitch, which delightful qualities seem 
 
Footprints of the Lion. 33 
 
 especially characteristic of the Austrian 
 people. And to any lover of the old 
 Venetian story, who may have been led to 
 follow these interesting old footprints, I 
 would suggest, as a charming route thence 
 to England, to proceed via Adelsberg, 
 Graz, Vienna (for as • long a stay as he 
 can), Ntirnberg, Frankfurt and the Rhine, 
 and would hope that he may have escaped 
 the '' Allgemeine cabine," and the ^' Bora." 
 
11. 
 EASTWARDS. 
 
IN MEMORY OF 1866, 
 
 AND OF THE 
 
 LATE LAMENTED LADY^ 
 
 WHO CAUGHT THE SHARK. 
 
 R.LP. 
 
 {i.e., NOT THE SHARK, BUT THE L.L.L^ 
 
EASTWARDS. 
 
 '^ Pa ! whereabouts is the Valley of Dia- 
 monds?" was the question once propounded 
 by a youthful Hebrew to the sagacious 
 author of her being. 
 
 ''The Walley of Diamonds ! that depends 
 on the shize of 'em, my dear," was the 
 cautious reply, which probably did not 
 quite satisfy the inquiring young spirit. 
 
 Oh ! gentle reader, alas ! we cannot pro- 
 
3 8 Eastwards. 
 
 mise to take you even in imagination to 
 this particular valley — you yourself will be 
 the only real gem throughout. Still our 
 journey will be across seas of the brightest 
 emerald and of the richest and deepest 
 sapphire, even through vallies, for weeks 
 together, of the purest waters. Yes, would 
 you see nature in her most varied moods, 
 and, at the same time, court health, novelty, 
 and life-long memories — time being of no 
 consequence to you— make up a pleasant 
 party, select a good "taut" sailing ship, a 
 tight ship, but with a sober crew, and, a 
 propos of gems, you may embark at worse 
 places than Kingstown, in — 
 
 "The Emerald Isle, that gem 
 Set in the imperial diadem " — 
 for Calcutta. 
 
 Such was the writer's fate; it was, in fact, 
 his honeymoon ; but happy though it was, 
 
Eastwards. 39 
 
 it involved changing the sweet island of the 
 pig, the Pat, the pratie, and the one-pound 
 note, for the land of the punkah, the pariah, 
 the pagoda tree, and the wily rupee. The 
 sadness of farewell is felt at these times ; 
 so the good ship bounded awa}^, one form 
 remained conspicuous on the pier, and 
 although seen through a vista of years, the 
 vision of that bright particular star will 
 ever remain sharply engraven on the retina 
 of the writer's eye — 'twas no less than his 
 mother-in-law ! 
 
 "Ah! memory, fond memory! 
 When all else fails, we turn to thee." 
 
 'Twas one July, the beautiful bay and 
 the Wicklow hills soon faded from our 
 view. We soon experienced all the toss- 
 ing, heaving, lurching, and rolling that a 
 lively ship is capable of. After tacking 
 about for a month we crossed the line, and 
 
40 Eastwards. 
 
 were becalmed for some days in the dol- 
 drums ; we afterwards continued far south- 
 west until, about 50 miles from Rio, we 
 met with favourable breezes, which carried 
 us down far south of the Cape, even to 40° 
 south latitude ; and then, after two months 
 from home, we met with those wonderful 
 rollers from Cape Horn, on which, with a 
 strong wind, we were wafted eastward; here 
 were the vallies of the purest waters ; from 
 the crest of one wave to that of the next 
 was more than a quarter of a mile, and it 
 was far more sensational than any switch- 
 back or wheel at Earl's Court. Some people 
 on hearing of these waves seem inclined to 
 take it all with a grain of salt — we took it 
 with many, even salt junk for a change ! 
 We encountered a severe gale in these 
 tremendous seas, and, for three days and 
 nights, were all fastened below. During this 
 
Eastwards. 4 1 
 
 terrible time, it appeared from facts after- 
 wards brought to light, that the soldiers, 
 having discovered that we were taking out 
 a cargo of beer, had very carefully removed 
 some planks enclosing the cargo, and 
 drowned their cares. Happily, our crew 
 was composed of young Scotchmen, for 
 whom the beer had not a similar tempta- 
 tion, but — 
 
 " Had ta mixture peen, 
 Only lialf Glenlivat,"— 
 
 this veracious account might not have been 
 written ! 
 
 The gale having abated, the chief amuse- 
 ment was catching sharks, and the unfor- 
 tunate albatrosses. One fine morning a 
 lady was watching a bait in the shape of 
 a huge piece of pork attached to a cable, 
 over the stern of the ship ; it so happened 
 that an enormous shark, accompanied, as 
 
42 Eastwards. 
 
 usual, by a little pilot-fish, was eyeing 
 it — 
 
 " Look there," said the shark, " if that 
 isn't a fine piece of pork, I'm a sardine." 
 
 '' Beware ! " said the pilot-fish ; '' I see 
 something like a hook projecting from it, 
 and God never made a porker like that." 
 
 '' Porker, be ," said the voracious 
 
 one, and swallowed the bait. 
 
 '' Well, there you are then, stoopid I 
 hooked ! or I'm a grampus ! " said the 
 loquacious pilot-fish; *^so now I'll hook it 
 myself— ta-ta ! " 
 
 The lady was the sole witness as to 
 this finny conversation, and, of course, 
 claimed to have caught the monster, which 
 was sixteen feet in length, and took eighteen 
 men to haul it on deck, where its antics 
 became dangerous — one lash of its tail 
 shook the vessel — whereupon, a sailor deftly 
 
Eastwards. 43 
 
 gave it a coup de grace with a chopper, 
 breaking its spine. It proved to be a 
 female, and, as she w^as viviparousl}^ in- 
 clined, four baby sharks were prematurely 
 ushered into the world. They were next 
 reintroduced to one another in a tub ot 
 water, and became very hilarious, and soon 
 indulged in a free fight. What remained of 
 them after this was made into a curry by 
 the sailors, who found it a pleasing change 
 from salt junk. A post-mortem was duly 
 held on the shark, and, very carefully 
 stowed away in a corner was found a 
 Tommy Atkins's jacket — a search was made 
 for the Tommy, but it was surmised that 
 he had executed a strategical movement, 
 and retired ; thus finishes the tail of a 
 shark ! 
 
 It was nearly three months now since 
 we had seen land, and one morning it was 
 
44 Eastwards. 
 
 pleasing to hear the dulcet voice of the 
 captain of the maintop proclaiming that 
 Amsterdam Island was in sight, and we 
 turned northwards for the Bay of Bengal. 
 One afternoon we counted more than 
 twenty whales gambolling together, and 
 trying which could blow the highest ; their 
 babies were all looking on approvingly, 
 and the spectacle would have gladdened 
 the heart of that old connoisseur, Polonius. 
 A commander of one of these transport 
 ships is very restricted as regards the 
 punishment he may award to an}^ member 
 of his crew for any breach of dicipline, — 
 our Captain's ultimatum was to strike a 
 man off duty, knowing that his comrades 
 would make his life a burthen to him. As 
 an instance, one fine day a young sailor 
 thought he w^ould commence to beguile 
 the tedium of a tropical afternoon by be- 
 
Eastwards. 45 
 
 stowing a kiss upon the tempting and ruby 
 lips of the young wife of a corporal, who, 
 in his wrath, went for that amorous child 
 of the ocean. A disturbance ensued, and, 
 as the sailor was afterwards very insubor- 
 dinate, the Captain inflicted what he told 
 me was the severest punishment he could 
 award, — he struck the man off all dut}^ 
 for a week. On about the fourth day the 
 sailor came begging to be allowed to 
 return to duty. But said the Captain, — 
 
 *' Na, yer'll no do yer-r duty till yer-r 
 holiday's expired, and ah hope yer-r enjo}-- 
 ing it." 
 
 Never shall we forget those wonderful 
 sunsets every evening in the Bay of Bengal 
 far surpassing even those of Egypt in their 
 colouring and infinite variety. It was the 
 middle of October, just the commencement 
 of the hurricane season. A little north of 
 
46 Eastwards. 
 
 the latitude of Madras we were becalmed. 
 A tremendous sea arose, without a breath 
 of wind, and continued for three days and 
 nights. The yards of the good ship touched 
 the water every roll ; everything break- 
 able on board was smashed. This fearful 
 sea had been raised by a hurricane which 
 had passed some sixty miles astern of us. 
 After this we proceeded northwards till 
 we saw the low-lying country about the 
 delta of the Ganges, — the first land since 
 leaving Kingstown, four months before. At 
 last, arrangements were made with a pilot, 
 and after about lOO miles up the Hoogly, 
 we found ourselves at Calcutta. This was 
 not, however, our destination ; but, after a 
 month spent in Earrackpore, we journeyed 
 up country to Meerut, and, oh ! reader of 
 inquiring mind, the end of October is just 
 the time to commence exploring all these 
 
Eastwards. 47 
 
 places of extremest interest — Meerut, Delhi, 
 Cawnpore, Agra, Lucknow, Benares, etc. 
 
 You will, perhaps, have escorted your 
 carrisima sposa to the gorgeous East, and 
 may deem it advisable to take a bungalow, 
 say, at Lucknow. In this case you will 
 rejoice in your fourteen domestics, Hindoos 
 and Mussulmans, and will be able to 
 study their peculiar idiosyncrasies. They 
 are excellent in many ways, and although 
 you live with doors and windows open for 
 months together, you may live for years 
 in India without losing a thing. Should 
 you suffer at all from torpidity of the liver, 
 it is probable that, by a process of gentle 
 but continued irritation, in which being 
 materially assisted by mosquitoes, white 
 ants, etc., they may serve as a corrective, 
 you will doubtless acquire, under the guid- 
 ance of the gentle Munshi, a little colloquial 
 
48 Eastwards, 
 
 Hindustani. You will soon discover that 
 the Mem Sahib is far more able to con- 
 trol your establishment than you are. In 
 your endeavours to get your wishes carried 
 out it is possible that the sweetness 01 
 your temper may be occasionally tried. 
 We have known men, wise men of philo- 
 sophical turn of mind, men who were 
 rarely given to using even a great big D, 
 so sorely tried that, at last, livid with 
 wrath, and well-nigh demented with fur}^ 
 they have let out with arms, legs, and 
 boots, in all directions, thundering volleys 
 of vituperation, such as only this, the most 
 flowery language on earth, is capable of, 
 using terms terrible enough, if translated, 
 to have made the corpses of their great 
 grandfathers wriggle in their graves, or 
 have brought a blush to the cheek of a 
 costermonger s donkey ! 
 
t 
 
 I 
 
Eastwards. 49 
 
 The mild Hindoo, as also the Mussul- 
 man, thinks that language was given him 
 to conceal his thoughts, and, as with that 
 " Heathen Chinee," or as we are just now 
 experiencing in our dealings with the 
 Turks respecting Armenia, their ways are 
 
 At a court-martial assembled not far 
 from Lucknow, the writer, bemg a mem- 
 ber, noted down the following scraps of 
 cross-examination, which may show slightly 
 that it is difficult to get much out of an 
 ordinary native in the way of truthful 
 evidence : — 
 
 Q. — Do you know the prisoner? 
 
 A. — I am a poor man, and would not 
 tell a lie. 
 
 Q. — Do you recognise the prisoner ? 
 
 A. — I know him by his marks. 
 
 Q._What marks? 
 
 E 
 
50 Eastwards. 
 
 A. — Two moles on his face. 
 
 Q. — Can you see the moles on his face ? 
 
 [Prisoner was in a very bad light, with 
 his back to it.) 
 
 A. — No, Gharib-purwur (protector of the 
 poor). 
 
 Q. — Then how can you say you recog- 
 nise him ? 
 
 A. — [In a high key.) Gharib-purwur! I 
 am a poor man ; how can I presume to 
 know ! 
 
 Q. — When you last saw the prisoner, 
 was he alone ? 
 
 A. — No, he was with two Sowars, and 
 a ghora led by a man. 
 
 Q. — Are you quite sure that the man 
 was not being led by the ghora ? 
 
 A. — If your honour says so, I will 
 swear it. I am a poor man. 
 
Eastwards. 5 1 
 
 Q. — At what distance was he when you 
 saw him ? 
 
 A. — About 700 yards off. 
 
 Q. — How was he dressed ? 
 
 A. — In a pair of shoes and a puggree, 
 
 Q. — Had he nothing else on ? 
 
 A. — Gharih-purwur^ he was far away, 
 and it was a dark morning. 
 
 Q. — You have a long sight ; how far 
 can you see ? 
 
 A. — As far as I can distinguish. 
 
 Q. — But how far can you distinguish ? 
 
 A. — May I be blown from a gun if I 
 would tell a lie — I cannot, being a poor 
 man, distinguish further than I can see. 
 
 The prisoner afterwards, in his defence, 
 confronted the above witness with a police- 
 man. 
 
 Q. — [to K 22) Would you believe that 
 
 man upon his oath ? 
 
 E 2 
 
5 2 Eastwards. 
 
 ^.— No. 
 
 Q. — For what reason ? 
 
 A. — Because, although he is the son of 
 only one mother, I know he has had a 
 hundred fathers ! [Sensation m Court.) 
 
 The prisoner was honourably acquitted. 
 It is possible that it is probable (a favour- 
 ite expression with the Bengali Baboo) 
 that by the end of April, having explored 
 and enjoyed all those above-named interest- 
 ing places, and having confessed to your- 
 self that Europe contains nothing so beauti- 
 ful, so impressive, as that most exquisite 
 " Dream in Marble/' the Taj Mahal, you 
 may begin to think the plains of Bengal 
 are getting rather warm — in fact, that you 
 have had a taste of the hot weather. You 
 are no exception, all the world and his 
 wife are thinking the same ; but, as they 
 cannot all go to the hills, very often it 
 
I 
 f5 
 
Eastwards. 53 
 
 happens that duty compels ''all the world" 
 to remain grilling in the plains below, 
 whilst his placens uxor goes off to Kashmir, 
 Simla, Mussourie, Nynee Tal, etc., and still 
 contrives to enjoy herself ! You have, 
 being your own master, an embarras de 
 richesses indeed before you, viz., all from 
 Kashmir to Darjeeling. You may now 
 enter Kashmir with great facility, and will 
 be richly repaid by enjoying the whole 
 summer in that ''Valley of bliss," fair as 
 this earth can show, 5,500 feet above the 
 sea, — 
 
 "With its roses, the sweetest that earth ever gave, 
 Its temples, and grottoes, and fountains as clear 
 As the /^^'^-lighted eyes that hang over their wave." 
 
 They do tell me that love is now assisted 
 by lucre, at a tariff fixed by the paternal 
 Hindoo Government, which duly exacts a 
 
54 Eastwards. 
 
 percentage ! Perhaps your Lucknow friends 
 may allure you to Nynee Tal, which, of 
 course, is much more easily reached, and 
 which has many charms peculiarly its own. 
 From it you should visit Almorah, and if 
 you desire sport, and are bent on a ven- 
 turesome excursion, you should procure at 
 Almorah a hushiydr (clever) Khansamah — a 
 man who can prepare you a good dinner 
 at any time, anywhere, with nothing and 
 out of nothing, and at the same time look 
 after your tent and Coolies (the writer was 
 favoured with a prodigy of this kind) — and 
 go to the Pindari Glacier. It will take you 
 a fortnight, and you will have to rough it, 
 and to cross many nerve-trying places by 
 rope bridges, and even by a single rope, if 
 you follow the route by the river. The 
 summit of the glacier is about 15,000 feet, 
 but, arrived there, you see towering above 
 
Eastwards. 5 5 
 
 you into the blue ether the magnificent 
 Nimda Deviy 27,500 feet, on which the 
 glacier, where the Pindar River has its 
 source, is situated. You may return by 
 another route, far safer, but infinitely less 
 wild and picturesque. 
 
 The " leave season " is over on October 
 15th, and shortly before that a stampede to 
 the plains commences. Of course you will 
 take it leisurely, and whether you afterwards 
 spend a month or two at Calcutta or at 
 Bombay, previousl}^ to your return, we 
 think you will agree that for a change of 
 life and habits, for beautiful climate {i.e.^ 
 for one who is his own master), for novel 
 experiences of all sorts, it would be diffi- 
 cult to suggest anything more enjoyable 
 than sixteen months in India. 
 
III. 
 . THE EVIL EYE- 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE COLONEL IN QUEST OF HIS 
 REGIMENT. 
 
TO 
 
 THE MARCHESA DI TESTAFERRATA, 
 
 IN 
 
 MEMORY OF A PILGRIMAGE. 
 
THE EVIL EYE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE COLONEL IN QUEST OF HIS 
 REGIMENT. 
 
 " There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew 
 them how we will." — Hamlet. 
 
 Most of us who lead active lives find, at 
 times, our intentions thwarted and our 
 plans frustrated, in ways utterly unforeseen, 
 just as they appear on the eve of fulfil- 
 ment ; we find the mysterious force majeure 
 dominating sometimes our wills and actions, 
 so that we suddenly become the creatures 
 of the strangest circumstances, and meet 
 
•6o The Evil Eye. 
 
 with, perhaps, the most curious adventures 
 of our lives. 
 
 In the year of grace '85 I w^as in com- 
 mand of my battalion at Fort Ricasoli, 
 Malta ; in May of that year I proceeded on 
 five months' leave of absence to England. 
 After the delights of London, I was enjoy- 
 ing a few days of dolce far niente late in 
 August, in a romantic spot in the Isle of 
 Wight, when I received a telegram ordering 
 me immediately to rejoin my battalion, as it 
 was to embark on the nth September for 
 the Straits Settlements. Having studied the 
 matter, I determined to proceed via Calais, 
 Lucerne, the St. Gothard, Rome, and Naples, 
 then by steamer, so as to arrive at Malta 
 in good time ; this seemed a perfectly happy 
 arrangement. 
 
 I may mention en passant that I was 
 perfectly aware of the cholera prevailing at 
 
The Evil Eye. 6i 
 
 times in Spain and even Marseilles, but as 
 the news from Italy stated that ottima salute 
 (the best of health) prevailed there, I 
 laughed at the w^arning of a prophetic 
 friend — " I know you will be quarantined," 
 and started by the above route. As light- 
 hearted as was the oft-quoted OUivier, and 
 as confident as one can be of anything mun- 
 dane, was I, whilst wafted southwards, that 
 I should arrive in time ; at Genoa, Milan, 
 the papers all proclaimed the ottima salute 
 throughout Italy ; at Rome, to my horror, I 
 read that Sicily had instituted five days' 
 quarantine for all arrivals from Italy ! My 
 steamer was to touch there, and I should 
 never reach Malta in time ! At Naples I 
 ascertained that another steamer would 
 leave three days later, direttamente for Malta. 
 This was cheering ; it was duly announced 
 in the papers. This would serve me ; the 
 
62 The Evil Eye. 
 
 Gods appeared propitious, and I one of the 
 elect ! 
 
 Naples, in September, is a warm but not 
 a sweet place; the Hotel de Geneve (where 
 I put up, as it was near the quays and 
 bureaux) is not what I should recommend 
 to the fastidious. It is certainly cheerful, 
 it noise can make it so, and there are 
 mosquitoes and other lively provisions of 
 nature for ^^ preventing the human liver be- 
 coming torpid." Anxiously, with my heart 
 in my mouth, and not putting too much 
 faith in the bureau d aministrazione, I was 
 longing for the day fixed for departure, 
 when, on calling one morning at the bureau^ 
 I was informed that there would be no 
 communication with Malta except via Sicily, 
 with its five days* quarantine. Corpo di 
 Bacco ! — what did it mean ? That I could 
 not reach Malta till the 15th. How- 
 
The Evil Eye. (^2) 
 
 ever, I felt conscious of having done all 
 in my power to rejoin in time, and con- 
 fident that I could prove it on arrival in 
 Malta, and then take a passage for the 
 East. I could now do nothing but en- 
 deavour to preserve my sanity, study the 
 environment, accept the inevitable, and 
 make the most of it. Awaiting embarka- 
 tion in that good ship Sumatra was 
 almost maddening. The day arrived ; for 
 distraction I attended in the morning High 
 Mass at the Cathedral of San Gennaro (it 
 was the day of the purification of the 
 Virgin), and then went on board. I found 
 the first mate on deck in a paroxysm of 
 rage, with his gold-lace cap thrown down, 
 shaking his fists towards the heavens, and 
 abusing the Virgin terribly. I supposed 
 that something had gone wrong with him 
 at Mass, but soon discovered the cause of 
 
64 The Evil Eye. 
 
 this expense of energy to be, that so 
 much merchandise had to be stowed, that 
 the ship could not start at the appointed 
 time ; it was pleasing to meet a man with 
 a soul for punctuality ! Shortly afterwards 
 a notice appeared that, in consequence of 
 a forza maggiore, our departure would be 
 postponed till next day. 
 
 During the evening great crowds as- 
 sembled on shore to give vent to their 
 feelings at the Sicilians having established 
 quarantine. They said it was groundless, 
 and simply in retaliation for the quarantine 
 in Italy the previous year ; the ways of 
 the cholera microbe are certainly inscrutable, 
 and it would seem that the authorities in 
 Sicily are under the impression that the 
 insinuating bacillus reserves himself for 
 a sea voyage, as not a single case had 
 occurred on shore. 
 
The Evil Eye. 65 
 
 At last we started for Sicily ; it was a 
 glorious day, and the lovely bay looked 
 its best, the only cloud visible was the 
 smoke resting above Vesuvius. Our pas- 
 sengers were a heterogeneous collection ; of 
 course, we had many Sicilians homeward 
 bound, some for Palermo, not knowing how 
 they were illustrating the old incidit in 
 Scyllam, etc. We had a man in search of 
 his wife, — he said he had left her a few 
 weeks ago at Messina in charge of his 
 money-bags, but had heard she had left, 
 and had gone either to Constantinople via 
 Genoa, or to Paris via Algiers ! He was 
 a trustful man, and seemed very happy ! 
 We had a plump and fair prima donna 
 for Catania, and a lean and dark one 
 for Palermo ; an ex-German officer, turned 
 wine-merchant, who had lost his nose at 
 Gravelotte ; a few Sisters of Mercy ; some 
 
66 The Evil Eye. 
 
 Italian officers and men joining their regi- 
 ments quartered in Sicily ; and lastly, eight 
 British subjects, of whom I was one (and 
 the only Englishman on board), bound for 
 il ftor del mondo, as the Maltese lovingly 
 call their sea-girt home. 
 
 At 9 a.m. the following day we touched 
 at Reggio, there to hear that cholera had 
 broken out at Palermo ; this meant that 
 there would be no escape from Sicily, as 
 a Sicilian epidemic sets the whole Mediter- 
 ranean in a panic. In the evening we 
 dropped anchor in the Bay of Augusta (a 
 few miles north of Syracuse), where, after 
 a palaver, our papers were handed to the 
 health officers through the medium of a 
 pair of tongs ; they then came on board, 
 and we all marched past in slow time 
 before them for inspection, after which four 
 elderly but robust Sicilians, with broad 
 
The Evil Eye, 67 
 
 glaring yellow and red sashes, were placed 
 over us as our garde sanitaire, and we 
 entered on our five days' quarantine. 
 
 Next day (nth) was the date fixed for 
 the regiment's departure, and I, the colonel, 
 virtually a prisoner, was separated from it 
 by only seven hours' journey ! Was this 
 Nemesis ? j 
 
 We had a pleasant little table d'hote on 
 deck, under the awning, which for dinner 
 was removed, and we sat sous la belle etoile; 
 we eight for Malta soon became acquainted, 
 and exchanged mutual condolences ; having 
 studied Italian for some months in Malta, 
 I was too glad to have such an opportunity 
 of improving myself. On hearing of my 
 repeated disappointments, my companions at 
 once said that it was clear that a mal 
 occhio (evil eye) was upon me, that I was 
 under a jettatura (a something cast, a spell), 
 
 F 2 
 
6S « 77?^ Evil Eye. 
 
 that the malignance was palpable, and a 
 lady told me that I ought to pray to the 
 Virgin night and day that it might be 
 averted. 
 
 It is a pleasure to look back on hav- 
 ing here made the acquaintance of Colonel 
 
 the Count Dal V bound for Palermo, 
 
 where he was chief of the staff ; he is a 
 most accomplished officer, and good com- 
 panion ; he thought well of the Sicilian 
 soldiers, and told me that they and the 
 Piedmontese are the best soldiers in the 
 Italian army; those on board were five 
 young fellows of good physique. 
 
 We were strictly looked after by the 
 garde sanitaire to see if any of us showed 
 signs of illness, or any desire to escape ; 
 they were a comical quartette, and we named 
 them San Domenico (the patron saint of 
 Augusta), San Pietro,. Don Pasquale, and 
 
The Evil Eye. 69 
 
 Don Giovanni, and sometimes a funny man 
 would throw something overboard after 
 dark, so as to make a splash in the water, 
 when it was refreshing to see the excite- 
 ment among the garde sanitaire, who always 
 thought some passenger was trying to 
 elude their vigilance. 
 
 Very soon the news arrived that at 
 Malta fourteen days' quarantine in separate 
 rooms at the Lazaretto was the order for 
 all arrivals from Sicily. Now this was 
 piling Vesuvius on Etna — Pelion on Ossa 
 was nothing to it ! Oh ! thought I, for 
 a Newgate cell ! Shades of Pestal and 
 Bonnivard ! this was the crowning sorrow, 
 verily a jettatara maladetta pursued me! I 
 tried to write to my friends, but my pen 
 refused, — I wrote to Vanity Fair instead. 
 I sought consolation alternately in laugh- 
 ing at the garde sanitaire^ and in reflecting 
 
70 The Evil Eye. 
 
 that I'uomo propone ^ il dio dispone^ and che 
 sara sara. 
 
 Having completed fiwQ days in contumaciam 
 as they call it, we landed and radiated off, 
 — we eight hurried to Syracuse ; of course, 
 we clung to the idea that possibly we 
 might still be allowed across, on showing 
 that we had not been near any infected 
 port. 
 
 The epidemic raged at Palermo, and 
 hundreds a day were dying; the popula- 
 tion, frenzied with alarm, believed that the 
 germs of cholera were being spread by 
 agents of the Italian Government to thin 
 the . population, particularly among the poor. 
 We found all Syracuse in a wild state of 
 panic ; new arrivals were in danger, and 
 everywhere looked on with suspicion : a 
 cordon was formed every evening to 
 prevent all chances of refugees coming in 
 
The Evil Eye. Ji 
 
 from Palermo, and if one walked outside 
 the city gates one had to take a sort of 
 return ticket. In Syracuse, as in every 
 town in Sicily, the ignorance and disregard 
 of the commonest laws of sanitation are 
 appalling ; the whole town is one vast 
 temple of Cloacina, and everything is done 
 to invite cholera ; there is nothing a Sicil- 
 ian loves so much as a stench, and little 
 groups collect so as to discuss politics, 
 family matters, or the cholera news, usually 
 selecting for the purpose one of the many 
 unsavoury corners in every street, terrace, 
 or piazza. 
 
 In the midst of these fervent worship- 
 pers of the goddess aforesaid, with almost 
 tropical heat, with mosquitoes all day and 
 night, and with the prospect, if any cholera 
 showed itself, of having our throats cut, 
 or being otherwise disposed of, we lived 
 
72 The Evil Eye. 
 
 in hopes; it is probable, however, that the 
 good Sicihan wine helped to sustain us. 
 
 It is a great pleasure to recall to mind 
 the kindness and hospitality of Madame 
 and Mademoiselle B., the charming wife 
 and daughter of the acting British Consul, 
 who was away ill at the time ; it was at 
 their suggestion that, after a few days, I 
 drew up a formal petition to the Governor 
 of Malta, which we all signed, asking that 
 we might be allowed across, even to the 
 Lazaretto. 
 
 While waiting for His Excellency's de- 
 cision to arrive, there was time to explore 
 and enjoy the many objects of interest in 
 and near Syracuse. The best walk in the 
 neighbourhood is to the ancient fortress of 
 Epipolae, the stronghold of Dionysius ; it is 
 said to be the best preserved specimen of 
 Greek military architecture to be seen any- 
 
The Evil Eye. 73 
 
 where ; the rock out of which it is cut is 
 perfectly adamantine, and there is nothing 
 about it to tempt the curio-hunting, nose- 
 chipping tourist ; would that the grand 
 temples of antiquity had been so unmo- 
 lested. 
 
 ' One day, strolling alone among the mighty 
 dead in the labyrinthine catacombi, I was 
 wondering how many of those countless 
 thousands had attained — 
 
 " Nirvana where the silence lives " — 
 
 or whether, with restless craving, they all 
 were still enduring, still struggling on, 
 in different states of being ; suddenly I 
 stumbled, and my candle went out ; after 
 much groping about it was a great plea- 
 sure to find myself in the sunshine once 
 more. 
 
 Hidden in a wild and weird hollow, far 
 
74 'The Evil Eye. 
 
 from human habitations, is the celebrated 
 '' Ear of Dionysius," up in which the tyrant 
 used to sit concealed so that he might 
 listen to the conversation of his captives far 
 below. Driving out one afternoon with two 
 friends to visit this extraordinary acoustic 
 contrivance, we had left the high road, 
 and preparatory to plunging into the jungle 
 path leading to the wonderful orecchioy our 
 Jehu thought it the correct thing to des- 
 cend and kneel, crossing himself before a 
 little shrine with a figure of the Virgin ; he 
 then drove on, and in about five minutes, 
 when crossing a rather rough and rutty 
 piece of ground, one of his fore-wheels 
 came ofi*, whereupon he again descended, 
 livid with wrath and shaking his fist at 
 the sky, poured forth a fearful torrent 
 of abuse, addressed to the gentle madre di 
 dioy to whom he even applied an epithet 
 
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 THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 
 
 [To/arepaoe74. 
 
The Evil Eye, 75 
 
 almost rhyming with gitana ! What a 
 simple faith was his, almost on a par with 
 that of the Mandingo or Fantee of West 
 Africa, who throws away or smashes his 
 fetish when anything goes wrong. 
 
 The favourite promenade at Syracuse is 
 by the sea, leading to the flowery and 
 shady nook in the gardens, where is the 
 statue of the great defender of Syracuse, 
 the sage Archimedes ; and here is the 
 fountain of Arethusa, the nymph who 
 
 " Arose 
 
 From her couch of snows, 
 
 In the Acroceraunian mountains," 
 
 and, transformed into a fountain, vanished 
 underground in Eblis, to reappear — 
 
 " In Enna's mountains, 
 Down one vale were the morning basks ; " 
 
76 • The Evil Eye. 
 
 here she ripples past a murmuring stream- 
 let, which the gold-fish love, till she takes 
 her final plunge - ■ 
 
 " Under the ocean foam." 
 
11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A WEEK had elapsed since I wrote to 
 Malta, when a letter arrived, saying that 
 His Excellency could not sanction our cross- 
 ing to Malta; it was now clear that we 
 must look about for some other means of 
 escaping from Sicily. I saw, in the paper, 
 mention of an English steamer lying at 
 Catania, and bound for Trieste. To Catania, 
 then, we went, and had an interview with 
 the captain of the steamer, but he said he 
 had strict orders, by telegram from home, 
 to take no passengers whatever, for any 
 sum of money, from Sicily. At Catania we 
 found that no Italian port would receive us, 
 
78 The Evil Eye. 
 
 unless we previously underwent two weeks' 
 quarantine off Asinara, in the north of 
 Sardinia. A young English artillery officer 
 whom I met, and who was on three months* 
 leave from India, had just arrived, and had 
 arranged to endeavour to join his family at 
 Como via Asinara ; I hope he obtained an 
 extension of leave ! 
 
 Catania is, perhaps, the finest and most 
 attractive town in Sicily (Palermo being 
 the most picturesque); its public gardens 
 are particularly pretty and well laid out ; 
 . situated near the foot of Etna, it has suffered 
 terribly at times from lava torrents, but 
 the worst catastrophe that ever befell it 
 was the earthquake in 1693, when 18,000 
 inhabitants perished. Etna was far from 
 quiescent when we were there, flames or 
 burning lava being frequently emitted ; on 
 this stupendous volcano, 11,000 feet in 
 
The Evil Eye. 79 
 
 height and ninety-one miles in circum- 
 ference, there are, despite its 700 cones and 
 bocche, sixty-three towns and villages, and 
 300,000 inhabitants — of such value are the 
 ashes for the cultivation of the vine. From 
 here comes the good Sicilian wine, exported 
 to many ports in such enormous quantities 
 (50,000 pipes from Marsala alone), and so 
 valued at Bordeaux for assisting the oft- 
 failing vintages, in allowing itself in dis- 
 guise to do duty as St. Julien, St. Estephe, 
 St. Emilion, etc. 
 
 Underneath the Duomo are the remains 
 of an old Greek temple of Bacchus. The 
 supply of water for the baths in the temple 
 ran down from a considerable height on 
 Etna ; in an eruption about 300 b.c, the 
 lava flowed down the watercourse, and has 
 solidified in huge adamantine masses in the 
 temple. It is possible that it might be well 
 
8o The Evil Eye. 
 
 if baths and cleanliness of habits in general 
 were nowadays encouraged by the priest- 
 hood among their flocks, whose conduct in 
 life is so much influenced by their spiritual 
 pastors. I have already alluded to the 
 pestilence-inviting ways of the people as 
 regards their out-door practices, but find it 
 more difficult to comprehend what there is 
 in the beautiful and spirit-cleansing adora- 
 tion of Santa Maria, Santa Agata, etc., to 
 necessitate the disgusting habit of spitting 
 about in the cathedrals and churches. I 
 recollect once, when wrapt in admiration at 
 the magnificent proportions of the interior of 
 St. Peter's from near the south-west corner, 
 being driven as far as the left transept, in 
 my anxiety to place distance between me 
 and a sacrilegious devotee, voiding his rheum 
 in front of Michel Angelo's Pieta ! Did the 
 ancients thus defile the temples of their 
 

 
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 1 
 
 
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The Evil Eye. 8 1 
 
 gods ? Would a Jew have thus desecrated 
 the temple of Solomon ? Would a Roman 
 or Greek have thus polluted the shrines of 
 Apollo or Athene ? It has always appeared 
 to me that the priests might with advantage 
 remind or instruct the people that cleanli- 
 ness is next to godliness, and thus more 
 favourably impress the mind of the enquir- 
 ing traveller, who is apt at present to leave 
 these lovely regions of the sunny south 
 with the conviction that, judging by the 
 outward and visible signs, the Christianity 
 prevailing has a distinctly cloacinaic tinge 
 about it. 
 
 After remaining four days here we con- 
 sidered it advisable to proceed to Messina; 
 all plans had been discussed, even that of 
 waiting at Aci Reale or Taormina, until 
 cholera had abated ; there seemed no better 
 
 plan, so to Messina we went. 
 
 G 
 
82 The Evil Eye. 
 
 At Messina I ascertained that, although 
 there was no chance of getting a passage, as 
 I so much desired, to an}^ port farther east, 
 I could in about a week proceed to Mar- 
 seilles and thence by the Messageries Mart- 
 times to Singapore ; this idea of Marseilles 
 recommended itself also to my companions. 
 We all agreed that it was of no use to be 
 down-hearted, and were quite a pleasant 
 little society among ourselves ; we acted 
 on the good principle, dum vivimus vivamus, 
 and enjoyed ourselves ; the bright and 
 cheering sunshine cast on us by the sweet 
 
 presence of the Marchesa di T and 
 
 Madame M., who with their husbands 
 and three other Italian gentlemen, formed 
 with myself the party, infused an atmos- 
 phere of life and gaiety, and we were any- 
 thing but gloomy. I have most agreeable 
 recollections of a charming little party of 
 
The Evil Eye. 83 
 
 pleasure organised by the Marchesa to the 
 picturesque and romantic shooting-box of 
 
 her brother, the. Prince di Sta. M , a few 
 
 miles drive from Messina ; the Prince was 
 away at Palermo heroically risking his life, 
 and alleviating the awful misery in the 
 cholera-smitten town ; the King, who is in- 
 variably foremost where real pluck and 
 courage are required, had expressed his 
 intention to visit Palermo, with the view of 
 encouraging and inspiring the populace by 
 his presence, but was happily dissuaded. 
 Much kindness and courtesy were shown 
 us by the British Consul, who had seen 
 and travelled much. I recollect his telling 
 me that on the first news of the outbreak of 
 the epidemic at Palermo, he had ordered out 
 from London several dozen bottles of some 
 strong disinfectant, intending to give it to 
 the poor round about the Consulate ; but he 
 
 G 2 
 
84 The Evil Eye. 
 
 had taken the advice of a friend, who had 
 told him it would be dangerous to do so, 
 as he would be at once suspected of spread- 
 ing cholera among them. So rooted was 
 this fancy among the poor that, in Palermo, 
 many people had been shot or stabbed for 
 having been seen holding a handkerchief 
 with camphor to their noses in passing 
 some foul, malodorous quarter ; it was 
 even unsafe to be seen entering a chemist's 
 shop ! 
 
 On a fine evening in October we bade 
 adieu to Trinacria; looking across the 
 beautiful Straits we seemed tantalisingly 
 near to the Calabrian shore, about four 
 miles distant ; the sun set soon afterwards 
 in a blaze of glory ; everything promised 
 well ; before retiring for the night we 
 sighted the Lipari Isles, and passed close 
 under the ever-active Stromboli. The next 
 
The Evil Eye. 85 
 
 day we were able to see Garibaldi's house 
 on Caprera, then through the Straits of 
 Buonafacio, after which we had a glimpse 
 of the entrance to Ajaccio ; a gentle breeze 
 made us dance a little ; by the third day 
 we were encountering a strong maestrale, 
 against which we did not do much — for 
 our small steamer it was a gale ; it was 
 perhaps partly in deference to the wishes 
 of our party that our Commandante altered 
 our course, so that we rounded Cape Corso 
 with a view to getting under lee of the 
 land of Corsica; for the first day we cer- 
 tainly derived some advantage, but the 
 next day a strong scirocco arose and blew 
 steadily, at the same time that the maestrale 
 prevailed on the west side of the island ; 
 the ladies, and in fact most of our party, 
 were much alarmed. I do not think they 
 had been on a rough sea before ; we had 
 
86 The Evil Eye. 
 
 not a very large supply of provisions on 
 board, and after beating backwards and for- 
 v^^ards (some twenty miles) for two days and 
 nights, we sent a boat to the small town 
 of Macinaggio to buy some provisions ; the 
 inhabitants, however, turned out en masse, 
 and threatened to fire on us and our boat 
 if we did not depart. The gale on the 
 west side being stronger than ever, we 
 went down the coast ; we had now been a 
 week or more at sea ; the scirocco increased 
 to half a gale, the weather was btirrascoso, 
 the demeanour of the inhabitants seemed 
 hostile to us, our provisions were running 
 short, the look-out was not promising ; 
 there was much fear and terror on board, 
 and much bead-telling and cries, repeated in 
 all keys, of '• Santa Maria I madre de Dio ! 
 prega per noi !^^ 
 
 One da}' we had been discussing the 
 
The Evil Eye. %"j 
 
 situation ; we liad some sardines, some 
 finocchio, and some casks of prickly pears, 
 and we recollected having that morning 
 heard chanticleer proclaim the break of 
 day, — gioja ! our live stock was not ex- 
 hausted ! We all went forward to inspect; 
 we discovered, residing up near the fore- 
 castle, one elderly feathered biped who for 
 years had paced the deck and weathered 
 many a burrasca ; his harem had all van- 
 ished one by one ; things looked ominous, 
 and he was making a sumptuous but soli- 
 tary meal, as though in prescience of his 
 coming doom, — perhaps it was in thoughtful 
 consideration for us, or perhaps he reflected 
 that, as had before happened, his harem 
 might be renewed, and his joys recommence. 
 We regarded him somewhat carnivorously ; 
 he contemplated us with a wistful, enquir- 
 ing look in his starboard eye ; our earnest 
 
88 The Evil Eye. 
 
 gaze seemed to shatter his hopes. Yes ! 
 thought he, his time was approaching, and 
 soon he would be sent to follow those 
 loved and lost ones ; but how would his 
 gallinaceous spirit have been consoled, and 
 what visions of glory have burst upon his 
 chanticlerical imagination, could he have 
 foreseen that the feathers adorning his 
 posterior would ere long be paraded in 
 pomp and circumstance, waving in the 
 helmet of some gallant bersagliere ! We 
 besought our accomplished chef to carefully 
 carry out his final injunctions as to whether 
 he preferred to be roasted or boiled, and 
 — we left him. 
 
 A happy thought struck a French wine 
 merchant on board, who entertained hopes 
 of one day getting to Bordeaux, that he 
 had a friend in the Syndic of Bastia (the 
 second town in Corsica); it was determined 
 
The Evil Eye. 89 
 
 to proceed thither, and to submit that, 
 
 eight or nine days having elapsed since 
 
 we had left Sicily, we might be allowed to 
 
 land. The oracle was worked, we eight 
 
 paid the harbour dues, and, never since 
 
 that eventful day in the annals of the 
 
 human race, when the ark rested on Ararat, 
 
 did a party of eight souls set foot on terra 
 
 firma with greater delight than we did ; 
 
 that night we dined and slept at the Hotel 
 
 de France, Bastia. Here, then, ended 
 
 another little fytte of my pilgrimage. By 
 
 this time the regiment had arrived at 
 
 Singapore ; the distance between it and me 
 
 seemed to be steadily increasing ; was I to 
 
 regam it in this century or the next, and 
 
 reappear a species of military Rip Van 
 
 Winkle ? When was the drama to end ? 
 
 What was to be the denouement ? There 
 
 were nine days to wait for the regular 
 
90 The Evil Eye. 
 
 French steamer to Marseilles ; the weather 
 was too bad to tempt the mistral in the 
 Gulf of Lyons on the vaporino by which 
 we had arrived. 
 
 There is much sound philosophy in the 
 French saymg, " Quand on n'a pas ce qu'on 
 aime, il faut aimer ce qu'on a;" we acted 
 up to that, and life at Bastia seemed to 
 us, by contrast, very pleasant. Bastia is the 
 second town in Corsica, and of some com- 
 mercial importance ; it is surrounded by 
 picturesque scenery ; seawards, to the east, 
 were visible Elba, Capraia, and Monte 
 Cristo's Isle ; the people, of course, are far 
 more Italian than French, although they 
 generally profess Republican principles. 
 There is a leading man in Corsica who is 
 looked on as a very pronounced Republican, 
 but wears a gold coin, struck for Napoleon 
 IVth, next his heart ! Who can wonder 
 
The Evil Eye. 91 
 
 at a Corsican having Napoleonic fancies ? 
 There was a fine French regiment here, the 
 138""^; man}^ more like it will be required 
 before la revanche takes place. 
 
 The Corsicans think highly, and rightly 
 so, of their fine chalybeate spring at Orezza, 
 in the mountains ; the water has more acid 
 and iron in it than any other, and our act- 
 ing Consul told me that a small tumbler of 
 it in the morning was the finest tonic ; we 
 drank it at the hotel ad lib. ; it was sold 
 in Corsica for 3 sous a bottle, but 
 throughout France it fetched ij francs. 
 
 It was with great delight that we em- 
 barked for Marseilles; the mistral had 
 moderated slightly, we had a larger steamer, 
 and, after rather more tossing about than 
 the ladies found agreeable, arrived the even- 
 ing of the following day off the Isle of the 
 Chateau d'lf; shortly afterwards we passed 
 
92 The Evil Eye. 
 
 a vigorous medical inspection, and were 
 allowed to land. That same evening, on 
 enquiring at the bureau, I was informed, — 
 sacrebleu ! sapristi ! ventre sain gris ! — that 
 the Messageries Maritimes packet for the 
 East had left on the previous day ! I 
 really think that even St. Lazarus, who 
 fled thither after having been raised, and 
 became the first patron Saint of Mar- 
 seilles, would have used strong language 
 at this ! The next steamer would not leave 
 for a fortnight ; my friends opined that the 
 jettatura had not yet been averted from me, 
 and I was invited to accompany La Mar- 
 chesa the next morning on a little pilgrim- 
 age to Notre Dame de la Garde ; high on 
 a pinnacle is the little church so highly 
 venerated by all who have narrowly es- 
 caped the perils especially of the deep ; it 
 commands a grand sea-view over the blue 
 
n6tre dame de la garde. 
 
 {^To face page 92. 
 
The Evil Eye. 93 
 
 water. Little tapers were carried by us up 
 the ascent and duly placed on the altar ; 
 the music, the sweet voices, the spirit-sooth- 
 ing calm of the place crept o'er me, and, — 
 they who choose may take it con grano salij 
 — induced a conviction that by the combined 
 influences of the sweet blue eyes of the 
 Madonna, and the bright flashing orbs of 
 the handsome Marchesa, the malign effects 
 of the mal occhio were at last averted, and 
 that the next move would lead to my goal. 
 
 The stream of life flows very agreeably 
 at Marseilles ; the climate in October is 
 lightful ; the Cannebiere is ever gay and 
 lively ; the hotels and cafes are good. One 
 may indeed rest and be thankful in that 
 charming verandah of the Hotel Rubian, 
 admiring the glorious sea-view and enjoying 
 the most delicious bouillabaisse in France. 
 
 After a few days our little party divided ; 
 
94 '^^^ ^^^^ E,ye, 
 
 the two married couples took a villa on the 
 Prado, intending to remain there till the 
 cholera had died out, then to travel by land 
 to Reggio, and cross thence to il fior del 
 mondoy that '' gem set in a silver sea " ; they 
 were not anxious again to tempt the rolling 
 deep ; they preferred to contemplate it from 
 their island home, and were sated with the 
 joys to be found upon its heaving bosom. 
 In their society many hours of my two 
 months' agony had been most agreeably 
 beguiled, and, — recollecting their complimen- 
 tary and pleasing wishes a rivederla on 
 parting, — I find myself regretting that past 
 friendship should ever come to be regarded 
 as one of les illusions perdues ! 
 
 The time soon arrived for my departure 
 in the magnificent steamer Anadir for the 
 far East. Prince Jerome Bonaparte came 
 on board to see his son, Prince Louis. 
 
The Evil Eye, 95 
 
 comfortably cabined, as he was starting on 
 a trip round the world ; many French 
 consuls for India, Burmah, China, came 
 with many belongings to see them off ; 
 several charming young Dutch ladies, mar- 
 ried and single, bound for Java ; some 
 Irish girls, sisters of the Society of '' Le 
 bon Pasteur," with some elderly sisters 
 in charge, for Ceylon ; Dutch officers for 
 Sumatra, &c. ; a Japanese minister and his 
 family ; all these and many others were 
 arranged for, and then — 
 
 '* Adieu ! sweet land of France, adieu ! " 
 
 we steamed off. A gentle breeze was with 
 us the whole length of the Mediterranean 
 to Port Said, but we did not use the sails, 
 as these crews do not much approve of 
 canvas, and sometimes flatly refuse to raise 
 it. The ships of the M.M. are well ap- 
 
96 The Evil Eye. 
 
 pointed and fitted up in every way, the 
 most perfect order and regularity prevail, 
 the cuisine is excellent, and the table most 
 liberally kept. I would allude to the 
 trustworthiness of the cabin attendants. 
 Many a time on entering my cabin after 
 morning chocolate I have found money, 
 which I had carelessly left about, placed 
 conspicuously in the middle of my berth, 
 so that I must see it. It would appear 
 that a different system prevails as regards 
 treasure trove in certain ships on which we 
 are wafted to and fro ! 1 he navigation on 
 board the M.M. is worked with great 
 precision ; such precaution is taken to avoid 
 the faintest suspicion of laxity, that the 
 officers never join in any dancing or other 
 amusements. 
 
 I like the sociability on a French ship 
 which admits of intercourse between the 
 
The Evil Eye. 97 
 
 different classes, if they desire it, and as 
 most of our young ladies were in the Pays 
 BaSy as they patriotically called their part 
 of the ship, they came and were welcomed 
 to all our dances, which were frequent, and 
 kept up with spirit. One of the sisters 
 bound for Ceylon was a lovely girl, and of 
 a high type of beauty, and such as one 
 pictures when reading — 
 
 " The light of love, the purity of grace 
 The mind, the music breathing in her face ; " 
 
 hers was a face that Sodoma or Andrea del 
 Sarto would have immortalised ; at those 
 hours when conversation was permitted her, 
 she loved to talk of Ireland and the home 
 she had left for ever; at times she was 
 full of Irish fun and humour ; she was 
 the admiration of all, and was invariably 
 
 H 
 
98 The Evil Eye. 
 
 called La Madonne de Ceylon. All honour 
 to those sweet sisters ; their devotion and 
 the good they do are incalculable. Still, on 
 those bright mornings in the Red Sea, at 
 hour set apart for meditation, I have 
 watched her angelic face, her blue eyes 
 rigidly fixed on the deck as though nothing 
 less than a messenger from heaven des- 
 cending in a water-spout could raise them, 
 and blamed the fates that such a chef 
 doeiivre of nature should be thus sacrificed, 
 and breathe nought but the odour of 
 sanctity ; it might be that a messenger 
 would one day arrive in the form of — 
 
 " L Amour, qui fait Vaurore enchantee de toute existence" 
 
 and come to the rescue, and change the 
 current of her life. Then when one re- 
 membered the societe to which she belonged, 
 there was the melancholy reflection that it 
 
The Evil Eye. 99 
 
 was possible, if not probable, that perhaps 
 TAmour — improving some holy occasion, 
 and embracing the tempting opportunity, — 
 might come masquerading in the gruesome 
 garb of some seductive bon pasteiir ! 
 
 The Prince was most courteous and agree- 
 able ; he speaks English perfectly ; ecarte 
 a quartre with him, his A.D.C. and a 
 Mons. S. (bound for Saigon) beguiled the 
 hours in the afternoon. H.H. left us at 
 Aden to await the Bombay steamer, as he 
 intended to spend three months in India. 
 We had a fine passage across the Indian 
 Ocean, and I realised, with feelings of much 
 pleasure, that I was now at last approach- 
 ing home (the Regiment) at the rate of 300 
 miles a day ; a short stoppage at Colombo, 
 and then four days found us in the Straits 
 of Malacca with its wonderful current. 
 Some Dutch engineer officers on board 
 
 H 2 
 
lOO The Evil Eye. 
 
 had some very elaborate plans relating to 
 the fearful volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 
 August, 1883 ; it, perhaps, was felt over a 
 wider area than any other in the history 
 of man. One-half of the island subsided 
 to an unfathomable depth ; a tidal wave 
 was caused 100 feet in height, which 
 destroyed, in a few minutes, the town of 
 Angers in Java, wath 17,000 inhabitants, 
 and carried on its crest a steamer for 
 nine miles into the interior of Java ; the 
 sound of the eruption was heard at Cey- 
 lon and even farther, and ashes from it 
 fell in showers at Singapore ; the whole 
 earth's atmosphere was affected by it for 
 some time after. We were rapidly nearing 
 the equator, the heat was great and sug- 
 gestive of a vapour bath. All said that it 
 was a very healthy time of year, as the 
 north-east monsoon (the maestrale here) 
 
The Evil Eye. loi 
 
 had just set in. The approach to Singa- 
 pore is picturesque, and there is much 
 richness in the vegetation around ; cocoa- 
 nut, nutmeg, every kind of tropical fruit 
 tree abounds ; it is the land of the deli- 
 cious mangosteen. On the afternoon of the 
 28th November we arrived. As I stepped 
 on shore, a weight, a burden, seemed to 
 fall off me. I wondered if Ulysses [parvis 
 componere magna), that weary wanderer, 
 when, after having escaped Scylla and 
 Chary bdis, he had gained the ever-fragrant 
 bowers of Calypso's isle ; or even if 
 Jonah, when he found himself ejected, 
 after his three days' discomfort (I had had 
 three months), felt greater joy than I did. 
 1 found a sympathetic letter awaiting me 
 from that kind friend and excellent soldier, 
 now departed, who was then commanding 
 the troops in Malta ; and, thanks to the 
 
102 The Evil Eye. 
 
 General in the China command, the whole 
 of my expenses from Marseilles were after- 
 wards granted me. Right proud have I 
 been for thirty years to be associated with 
 the British soldier ; but never did I be- 
 hold one with greater delight than the first 
 time after landing, when I beheld a red 
 coat of the Buffs. 
 
IV. 
 
 THE EXPECTED BUDDHA; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE ROYAL TWINS. 
 
TO 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF DISTRACTION, 
 
 WHICH LED THE WRITER TO SIAM, — AND IN 
 GRUESOME MEMORY OF 
 
 DECEMBER ioth, 1886. 
 
THE EXPECTED BUDDHA; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE ROYAL TWINS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 One December, a few years ago, the writer 
 embarked at Singapore for Bangkok, the 
 Capital of Siam. The north-east monsoon 
 was prevailing, and, after bounding for four 
 days over those magnificent rollers coming 
 down from the China seas, and, having 
 passed the '* Pulo Panjang" and two other 
 rocks in the Gulf of Siam, the mighty 
 
io6 The Expected Buddha. 
 
 Meinam (the Mother of Waters) was en- 
 tered ; shortly after appeared Fort Puknam, 
 on the left bank, and soon Bangkok, the 
 so-called '^ Venice of the Far East," was 
 seen in the distance. As we approached, 
 we were struck with the semi- Venetian look 
 of the place, with its numerous canals, and 
 its immense rafts of linked bamboos, on 
 which are streets of substantial houses and 
 shops. On the canals and creeks around are 
 seen many floating islets of houses : thou- 
 sands of Siamese are said never to have 
 set foot on land. On landing, the most 
 pretentious modern building seen is the 
 Royal Seminary ; but the lofty Buddhist 
 Temples or " Wats " give the character to 
 the place. The hotels are, of course, very 
 primitive ; but the writer had the good for- 
 tune to be invited to stay at the British 
 Legation, there to meet with the kindness 
 
^ 
 
The Expected Buddha. 107 
 
 and splendid hospitality of the Consul, who 
 is now our Minister in Japan. To one who 
 had been living for a year in Malaya, in a 
 sudorific state, the climate here seemed, at 
 this season, delightful, the nights being cool 
 and pleasant. Bangkok is a densely popu- 
 lated city of 350,000 inhabitants of all 
 Oriental nationalities. The industries are 
 mostly carried on by Chinese, as the Siam- 
 ' ese are not a very industrious race. They 
 are rather a mean, and certainly not a highly- 
 favoured people by nature. The women wear 
 their hair quite short, and do not contrast 
 well with their handsome neighbours, the 
 Burmese, with their laughing, sparkling eyes 
 and rich wavy tresses ; they are not too 
 straight-laced in their morals, and, of course, 
 a man may have as many wives as he 
 likes, and he generally prefers them young. 
 Their dress is simple, consisting of a 
 
io8 Ike Expected Buddha. 
 
 ''sarong" which is fixed round the waist, 
 caught up between the legs gracefully, and 
 hitched behind ; boys and girls wear a top- 
 knot of hair, which they twist into a lump, 
 and when they reach puberty (about thir- 
 teen) this is cut off, and the hair allowed to 
 grow all over the head. 
 
 At this time the Queen of Siam, who 
 was the King's half-sister, was the happy 
 mother of twins, of five months old. 
 Shortly before their birth, the Siamese 
 doctors declared that she was about to 
 bring forth a white elephant, and the idea 
 was supported by the priests, who affirmed 
 that another Buddha was expected on earth 
 (a Buddha always arrives in the form of a 
 snow-white elephant), but the doctor of the 
 British Legation, on being consulted, dis- 
 illusionised them with, '' No ; not a white 
 elephant, your Majesty — only twins ! " Their 
 
^ 
 
The Expected Buddha. 109 
 
 birth was a great source of royal joy, as 
 no Queen of Siam had ever had twins be- 
 fore. One of these twins died during my 
 visit, and I witnessed the extraordinary 
 funeral procession to the temple, where 
 the body was to be cremated the following 
 day. The procession was two miles in 
 length, and included all the embodied 
 Siamese Army, each regiment with its 
 band, and many elephants bearing palan- 
 quins containing gold-coloured priestly 
 robes presented by the King to the various 
 temples. The hearse was a species of 
 pagoda, with sixteen long silver cords pen- 
 dant from the corners, each held by a 
 Siamese on foot, in European evening dress 
 and tall hat with crepe streamers. The 
 hearse was followed by a swarm of 400 
 nuns in gold-coloured raiment (that being 
 the sacred colour), and, with their heads 
 
no The Expected Buddha. 
 
 closely shaven, they resembled a sea of 
 cocoa-nuts, going along, all were chattering 
 or wailing — verily a sight for the gods ! 
 The King, borne aloft on a golden palan- 
 quin by many subjects, concluded the pro- 
 cession. The Queen and women of the 
 Court proceeded by a different and far 
 shorter route to the temple, and long 
 curtains or purdahs were held by female 
 police, with a view to screening them from 
 the public gaze. After a few days, I was 
 presented to, and most courteously received 
 by, His Majesty. We (the Consul and I) 
 were ushered into the royal presence by 
 the King's half-brother, who has visited 
 England, and talks English well. The audi- 
 ence hall is very handsome, and the arms 
 of Siam (the elephant with three trunks) 
 was very noticeable. The King was look- 
 ing over a large illustrated work on 
 
The Expected Buddha, 1 1 1 
 
 Rome. He was then thirty-three years of 
 age, and smart and intelligent. He moved 
 about as an active man is supposed to, 
 and there was nothing of luxurious, lazy 
 Orientalism about him. He had just received 
 a splendid orchestrion from Paris, which 
 was placed in the hall of the palace, and 
 interested him greatly. His Majesty is 
 very enlightened, and busies himself much 
 in all that relates to the welfare and im- 
 provement of his country and people. He 
 has travelled in India, and was pleased to 
 converse about it, and to find that I 
 recollected his visit, some years before, to 
 Benares. The Royal Temple ('' Prakas 
 Wat ") is very ornate. In it is the cele- 
 brated Emerald Buddha, a figure eighteen 
 inches high. It is placed twenty-five feet 
 from the ground over a kind of altar, and 
 is said by some to be of crystal, by 
 
112 The Expected Buddha. 
 
 others of jade ; but certainly the eyes are 
 two magnificent emeralds. The white 
 elephants are disappointing, as they are not 
 white. About their ears and some other 
 parts some patches of a dirty cream colour 
 are to be seen. They are undersized, and 
 very dirty, even to their tusks, and 
 although they are each one tenanted by 
 the ' soul or consciousness of a departed 
 prince, they do not greatly impress one 
 who has been for many years admiring 
 the fine, stately animals to be seen in 
 India. 
 
 The temples in Bangkok are interesting. 
 In " Wat Poh " is the great reclining Buddha, 
 150 feet in length, covered throughout 
 with pure gold. At ''Wat Saket " the 
 dead are all cremated, except those who 
 are unable to pay for it ; and these are 
 cast to the birds of the air. I saw a corpse 
 

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The Expected Buddha. 113 
 
 laid out, with six vultures sitting expectant 
 on a branch above ; but, I believe they 
 were disappointed of their banquet, as this 
 corpse was for cremation. The Temple of 
 the Elephant (''Wat Chang") is the finest 
 of all, it is 189 feet high, and commands 
 a fine view all around. 
 
 Priests are very numerous. There is a 
 law compelling all young men on reaching 
 the age of twenty-one to join the priesthood 
 for one year, during which they have to 
 lead correct and even ascetic lives, and if 
 caught departing from the paths of virtue 
 lose their heads ! After this they have to 
 give three months every year to military 
 training. There is much trade in slaves, in 
 Siam, and in Cambogia and Annam many 
 males and females are sold — a Cambogian 
 fetching 250 tikals, an Annamite 100; a 
 tikal is sixty cents. 
 
1 1 4 The Expected Buddha. 
 
 The Siamese permanent army is less than 
 4.000, officered largely by Danes, but with 
 English words of command and drill, and 
 English dress. If required 30,000 men 
 might be available. The King had some 
 gatling guns, three batteries of small brass 
 cannon, and two of small Armstrongs. Some 
 of the infantry are armed with Martini- 
 Henrys, and the majority with Snyders. 
 The Siamese are not a fighting race, and 
 certainly do not look so. The city (proper) 
 is surrounded by a wall (with rampart) 
 17 feet high. There is a fort (Fort Puknam) 
 with some guns on the left bank of the 
 Meinam, near which is a pagoda. 
 
 Ever since the French expedition in 
 1866, to explore the country between 
 Cochin China and Yunnam, the Siamese 
 have been uneasy and distrustful of French 
 intrigue. They have lately, in their answers 
 
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The Expected Buddha, 115 
 
 to the French demands, shown up to the 
 world the absurdities of the French in 
 expecting Siam to cede territory which did 
 not belong to her. This perhaps is not 
 wonderful, when the Gallic ignorance of 
 geography is considered ; but it is remark- 
 able that a country which has so signally 
 failed, whenever it has attempted to 
 colonise, should lecture us on the subject 
 of etats tampons or buffer states. 
 

 
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