Those islands of the Cyclades which we saw had a barren appearance, exhibiting neither verdure nor trees. Zea is of the number. The town stands on the top of a conical mountain, which occupies the centre of the island. I landed, and procured a mule, which carried me up to it. I was entertained with coffee, preserves, and a pipe, at the house of Mr. Pangolo, the British agent, and I procured a few coins from some of the inhabitants.
On the 22nd we quitted Zea, and passed Negropont and Mytelene. The weather was unusually fine. Dolphins gambolled round our prow, and light airs filled our cotton sails. On the 24th we were abreast of the Troad, and entered the Hellespont at twelve o’clock.
When we had passed the two castles which guard the entrance, lovely indeed were the prospects that opened upon us, in each of the two quarters of the world! On the side of Europe the scenery was bolder than on the opposite; but the softness of the Asiatic shore was too attractive to lose by the comparison, and its warm and languishing features accorded with the enervating character which we imagine to be so fatal to the energies of its natives. As we advanced, every spot on each side of us revived the recollections of some classic story. It was here that Xerxes lashed the waves—it was there that Leander braved them: now we looked for the corpse of the too adventurous lover; and now we thought we saw the eddies writhing under the scourge of the vain and baffled despot. We saw, also, where the battle of Ægos Potamos was fought.
On the 24th, in the evening, passing Gallipoli, we entered the sea of Marmora. On the 25th, we were becalmed within three miles of the island that gives its name to the sea.
At night the wind blew strongly, and our situation by degrees became extremely perilous. My cot was slung athwart the deck from the mizen-mast to the quarter-railing, which, landsman-like, (in spite of the representation of the Greek captain) I had fancied to be the best way; when, after having been a short time in bed, the heeling of the vessel became so great that I was constantly thrown to the foot of my cot, and was, at last, compelled to get out and dress myself, as the sailors wanted all the facility which could be afforded them for working the ship.
As the wind increased, the utmost noise and confusion prevailed among the crew. Instead of doing their duty, they set about collecting money from us, which they tied in a handkerchief, and fastened to the tiller, making a vow to St. George that they would dedicate it to his shrine if we reached some port in safety. The wind was south, and we ran before it towards Erakli, a port on the N.W. shore of the Gulf of Rhodosto. We reached it in safety; but the specimen we had had of the incapacity of the captain and his crew induced Lady Hester to disembark. A house was provided for us on shore, and we, and all the baggage, were transferred to it.
There are many things revolting to a European when he first travels in the East, and nothing more so than the filth of the natives. This, perhaps, is more manifest in the Christians than in the Turks; for the former are not compelled, as the Mahometans are, by their religion, to wash themselves frequently; and one observes in them habits of uncleanliness which are quite disgusting. Thus, our captain, besides appearing to us to be no mariner, had the itch in its worst stage; and his men daily assisted each other, on the deck in the sunshine, in keeping under the stock of vermin attached to each. They were observed never to have shifted themselves during the whole voyage; and, to protect ourselves from the results of their filthiness, we were obliged peremptorily to forbid any one coming on the quarter-deck, except to steer and haul.
Erakli, the ancient Heraclea, is now a ruined village, but exceedingly pretty in its situation on a promontory that projects into the bay. We were lodged in a Greek monastery. The same evening Lord Sligo and Mr. B. set off, on post-horses, for Constantinople. During the five days we remained there, I had excellent shooting at divers and teal, which abounded in the port.
On the 2nd of November, Lord Sligo and Mr. B. returned, accompanied by a Turkish officer, who was sent to conduct Lady Hester to Constantinople: he bore a firmán or mandate, that all proper facilities were to be afforded her for the completion of her voyage. As the roads were said to be infested with deserters from the army, who plundered and murdered travellers, it was thought best to continue our course by sea, more especially as we were now so near its termination. We therefore embarked in two open boats, which had come for that purpose from Constantinople. These galleys are as clean, as trim, and as richly gilded, as a nobleman’s barge on the Thames: they are elevated at the stern and the stem, and sharp at both ends.
On the 3rd of November, at eleven in the morning, we landed at Ponte Grande, where we dined, and arrived, at about eleven at night, at Topkhana, one of the principal stairs of the harbour of Constantinople, on the side towards Pera. A sedan-chair was sent down for Lady Hester, and the rest of the party walked up; whilst the luggage was carried on the backs of porters, who seemed to be very powerful men. We ascended a very steep street, where scores of dogs, like so many Cerberuses, poked their ugly heads out of dark corners, and stunned us with their incessant barking. A huge lantern was carried before us, there being no lamps in use; and in this manner we reached Pera.