The ripple was not enough communion, and the seeing of
the blue Propontis was not to know and possess it - I must needs
plunge into its depth and quench my longing love in the palpable
waves; and so when old Moostapha (defender against demons) looked
round for his charge, he saw with horror and dismay that he for
whose life his own life stood pledged was possessed of some devil
who had driven him down into the sea - that the rider and the steed
had vanished from earth, and that out among the waves was the
gasping crest of a post-horse, and the ghostly head of the
Englishman moving upon the face of the waters.
We started very early indeed on the last day of our journey, and
from the moment of being off until we gained the shelter of the
imperial walls we were struggling face to face with an icy storm
that swept right down from the steppes of Tartary, keen, fierce,
and steady as a northern conqueror. Methley's servant, who was the
greatest sufferer, kept his saddle until we reached Stamboul, but
was then found to be quite benumbed in limbs, and his brain was so
much affected, that when he was lifted from his horse he fell away
in a state of unconsciousness, the first stage of a dangerous
fever.
Our Tatar, worn down by care and toil, and carrying seven heavens
full of water in his manifold jackets and shawls, was a mere weak
and vapid dilution of the sleek Moostapha, who scarce more than one
fortnight before came out like a bridegroom from his chamber to
take the command of our party.
Mysseri seemed somewhat over-wearied, but he had lost none of his
strangely quiet energy. He wore a grave look, however, for he now
had learnt that the plague was prevailing at Constantinople, and he
was fearing that our two sick men, and the miserable looks of our
whole party, might make us unwelcome at Pera.
We crossed the Golden Horn in a caique. As soon as we had landed,
some woebegone looking fellows were got together and laden with our
baggage. Then on we went, dripping, and sloshing, and looking very
like men that had been turned back by the Royal Humane Society as
being incurably drowned. Supporting our sick, we climbed up
shelving steps and threaded many windings, and at last came up into
the main street of Pera, humbly hoping that we might not be judged
guilty of plague, and so be cast back with horror from the doors of
the shuddering Christians.
Such was the condition of our party, which fifteen days before had
filed away so gaily from the gates of Belgrade. A couple of fevers
and a north-easterly storm had thoroughly spoiled our looks.
The interest of Mysseri with the house of Giuseppini was too
powerful to be denied, and at once, though not without fear and
trembling, we were admitted as guests.
CHAPTER III - CONSTANTINOPLE
Even if we don't take a part in the chant about "mosques and
minarets," we can still yield praises to Stamboul. We can chant
about the harbour; we can say, and sing, that nowhere else does the
sea come so home to a city; there are no pebbly shores - no sand
bars - no slimy river-beds - no black canals - no locks nor docks to
divide the very heart of the place from the deep waters. If being
in the noisiest mart of Stamboul you would stroll to the quiet side
of the way amidst those cypresses opposite, you will cross the
fathomless Bosphorus; if you would go from your hotel to the
bazaars, you must go by the bright, blue pathway of the Golden
Horn, that can carry a thousand sail of the line. You are
accustomed to the gondolas that glide among the palaces of St.
Mark, but here at Stamboul it is a 120 gun ship that meets you in
the street. Venice strains out from the steadfast land, and in old
times would send forth the chief of the State to woo and wed the
reluctant sea; but the stormy bride of the Doge is the bowing slave
of the Sultan. She comes to his feet with the treasures of the
world - she bears him from palace to palace - by some unfailing
witchcraft she entices the breezes to follow her {5} and fan the
pale cheek of her lord - she lifts his armed navies to the very
gates of his garden - she watches the walls of his serai - she
stifles the intrigues of his ministers - she quiets the scandals of
his courts - she extinguishes his rivals, and hushes his naughty
wives all one by one. So vast are the wonders of the deep!
All the while that I stayed at Constantinople the plague was
prevailing, but not with any degree of violence. Its presence,
however, lent a mysterious and exciting, though not very pleasant,
interest to my first knowledge of a great Oriental city; it gave
tone and colour to all I saw, and all I felt - a tone and a colour
sombre enough, but true, and well befitting the dreary monuments of
past power and splendour. With all that is most truly Oriental in
its character the plague is associated; it dwells with the faithful
in the holiest quarters of their city. The coats and the hats of
Pera are held to be nearly as innocent of infection as they are
ugly in shape and fashion; but the rich furs and the costly shawls,
the broidered slippers and the gold-laden saddle-cloths, the
fragrance of burning aloes and the rich aroma of patchouli - these
are the signs that mark the familiar home of plague.
