March 13th.—Arrived at Constantinople at seven A.M. Went to Hôtel de Byzance—much better than Misseri’s; to the bazaar—hot, noisy, and interesting. I had a Turkish bath; much better than the Persian ones. They give you clogs to keep your feet from the hot floors, and wicker cages with couches in them to smoke your hubble-bubble and drink your coffee in, after the bath.
Monday, 15th.—Left Constantinople by the French boat for Trebizonde.
March 20th.—Reached Trebizonde; breakfasted with Mr. G. Palgrave, our well-known consul, and his wife; started with the courier for Erzeroum at seven the same evening.
The first few stages were muddy and uneventful; we soon came to snowy passes; here my eyes got swollen, and I could barely follow the courier. When we reached Erzeroum (23rd), after having been several times stopped by snow, and once nearly lost in it, I was led into the house of Mr. Taylor, our consul. I could just see a dim form and hear a kind voice.
March 24th.—Next morning I could not open my eyes, they were so swollen. The tatar who came with me is in the same state. This is caused by the snow; my head is also swollen, and my face all swollen and puffy.
The Persian chupper (or post) was to start in the afternoon, and I decided to go on, but when I found that after leeching my eyelids they were still closed, I was only too glad to accept Mr. Taylor’s kind invitation to stop. I was a prisoner to the house for five days, and at the end of that time I could open my eyes.
Erzeroum is a terribly cold place, although there are double windows and stoves all over the house, and though the skin-covered doors shut tight by means of a weight, it is impossible to keep warm. The snow in the town is four to twelve feet deep. It is supposed to be the coldest place in Turkey, and is on a snow-covered plain, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. Only four months in the year are surely free from snow.
Mr. B⸺, the Chancellier here, tells me that the Erzeroumis are so sharp that there are no Jews. A colony once came, but finding that the natives weighed the eggs and bought only the heaviest ones, they left the place in disgust.
Of course the state of my eyes prevented my seeing anything of the place, but I shall never forget the cold. Of my journey from Trebizonde to Erzeroum I have few details,[18] and my blindness prevented my writing up my diary.