The Story Teller of the Desert—"Backsheesh!" / or, Life and Adventures in the Orient
CONTENTS
The following pages are the result of a peaceful crusade to the East, undertaken for purposes of pleasure and profit. The author has endeavored to combine the humorous features of the journey with the store of useful knowledge that should be the result of a tour through the Orient. He trusts that he has so combined them that both will be satisfactory, and that the reader will be amused while seeking instruction and instructed while seeking amusement.
There is a story of an honest old Quaker resident of Philadelphia, who sent his son to make the tour of Europe. The young man determined to see all that could be seen, and gave his whole mind to the search for enjoyment. When he returned from his travels his father said:
“John, thou hast been absent a twelvemonth and past, and thou hast drawn on me for eighteen thousand dollars. John, that is a great deal of money for thee to spend in one year.”
“I know it, father,” was the young man’s response, “but I have had lots of fun for that money.”
In return for the labor and fatigue incident to Oriental travel, the author believes that he found an ample reward in the entertainment and information which the journey afforded.
The author is glad to avail himself of this opportunity to express the gratification he feels at seeing his book so profusely and artistically illustrated. In this department of the work the publishers have displayed their enterprise and liberality in such a creditable manner, as to justly entitle them, not only to the author’s grateful acknowledgments, but to the hearty thanks of all who may read his book.
He would also return his thanks to the artists and engravers, who have so skilfully designed and executed the illustrations, many of which were drawn and engraved in London and Paris, expressly for this volume.
Thomas Wallace Knox
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or, Life and Adventures in the Orient
With fine Steel-Plate Portrait of the Author.
1885
AUTHOR’S PREFACE.
ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAP I—STEAMER LIFE ON THE ATLANTIC.
CHAP II—SCENES IN VIENNA.—DOWN THE DANUBE.
CHAP III—LIFE AMONG THE MAGYARS.
CHAP IV—NEARING THE ORIENT.—“BACKSHEESH!”
CHAP V—THROUGH THE CRIMEA.—IN AND AROUND SEVASTOPOL.
CHAP VI—ACROSS THE BLACK SEA.
CHAP VII—CONSTANTINOPLE.—THE CITY OF DOGS.
CHAP IX—LIFE IN THE HAREM.—MYSTERIES OF THE SERAGLIO.
CHAP X—THE MOSQUES.—FAITH AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE MUSSULMANS.
CHAP XI—WHIRLING AND HOWLING DERVISHES.—WHO AND WHAT THEY ARE.
CHAP XII—GOOD-BYE, CONSTANTINOPLE!—ADVENTURES BY THE WAY.
CHAP XIII—SYRA, THE MARBLE ISLAND.—LIFE IN AN ATHENIAN HOTEL.
CHAP XV—ROUND ABOUT ATHENS.—THE COUNTRY OF THE BRIGANDS.
CHAP XVII—ADVENTURES IN QUARANTINE.—RHODES AND ITS MARVELS.
CHAP XIX—THE GROVES OF LEBANON.—A NIGHT AMONG THE ARABS.
CHAP XX—DAMASCUS.—THE GARDEN CITY OF THE EAST.
CHAP XXII—TRAVELLING IN A CARAVAN.—SIGHTS ON THE WAY.
CHAP XXIV—ADVENTURES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF SYRIA.
CHAP XXVI—IN THE HEART OF PALESTINE.
CHAP XXVIII—FROM DAMASCUS TO JAFFA.—INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP.
CHAP XXIX—ENGAGING A DRAGOMAN.—OUR START FOR JERUSALEM.
CHAP XXXI—AMONG THE MONKS.
CHAP XXXIII—THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, AND SHRINE OF THE CITY OF DAVID.
CHAP XXXIV—THE LAND OF PHARAOH.—THROUGH THE EGYPTIAN DESERT.
CHAP XXXV—IN AND AROUND THE CITY OF THE CALIPHS.
CHAP XXXVII—STREET LIFE IN CAIRO.
CHAP XXXVIII—THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.—EGYPTIAN CURIOSITY SHOPS.
CHAP XXXIX—ADVENTURES WITH A DONKEY.—A DAY AT THE RACES.
CHAP XLVIII—CAMEL-RIDING.—ADVENTURES AMONG THE NUBIANS.
CHAP L—SUNSET IN THE ORIENT.—VOYAGING DOWN THE NILE.
CHAP LII—WOMEN AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS.—LIFE IN THE HAREM.
CHAP LIV—LAST DAYS IN EGYPT.
BACKSHEESH.
“B A C K S H E E S H.”
CHAPTER I—STEAMER-LIFE ON THE ATLANTIC.
CHAPTER II—SCENES IN VIENNA—DOWN THE DANUBE.
CHAPTER III—LIFE AMONG THE MAGYARS.
CHAPTER IV—NEARING THE ORIENT—“BACKSHEESH!”
CHAPTER V—THROUGH THE CRIMEA—IN AND AROUND SEVASTOPOL.
CHAPTER VI—ACROSS THE BLACK SEA.
CHAPTER VII—CONSTANTINOPLE—THE CITY OF DOGS.
CHAPTER IX—FASTING AND FEASTING—THE SULTAN AND HIS COURT.
CHAPTER XII—ON THE BOSPHORUS.—AMONG THE ISLES OF GREECE.
CHAPTER XV—ROUND ABOUT ATHENS.—THE COUNTRY OF THE BRIGANDS.
CHAPTER XVII—ADVENTURES IN QUARANTINE.—RHODES AND ITS MARVELS.
CHAPTER XIX—THE GROVES OF LEBANON.—A NIGHT AMONG THE ARABS.
CHAPTER XX—DAMASCUS—THE GARDEN CITY OF THE EAST.
CHAPTER XXII—TRAVELING IN A CARAVAN—SIGHTS ON THE WAY.
CHAPTER XXIV—ADVENTURES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF SYRIA.
CHAPTER XXVI—IN THE HEART OF PALESTINE.
CHAPTER XXVIII—FROM DAMASCUS TO JAFFA.—INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP.
CHAPTER XXIX—ENGAGING A DRAGOMAN.—OUR START FOR JERUSALEM.
CHAPTER XXXI—AMONG THE MONKS.
CHAPTER XXXIII—THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, AND SHRINE OF THE CITY OF DAVID
CHAPTER XXXV—IN AND AROUND THE CITY OF THE CALIPHS.
CHAPTER XXXVII—STREET-LIFE IN CAIRO.
CHAPTER XXXIX—ADVENTURES WITH A DONKEY.—A DAY AT THE RACES.
CHAPTER XLVIII—CAMEL RIDING.—ADVENTURES AMONG THE NUBIANS.
CHAPTER L—SUNSET IN THE ORIENT.—VOYAGING DOWN THE NILE.
CHAPTER LII—WOMEN AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS—LIFE IN THE HAREM.
CHAPTER LIV—LAST DAYS IN EGYPT.
FINIS.
