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August 9, 1841: Back at Smyrna |
On board the Scamander - in the bay of Smyrna -
Was under some uncertainty this morning whether we should be allowed to land as our bill of health from Constantinople was not clean - being marked one case of the plague - the first thing I did on going on deck was to direct my eyes to that part of the city of Smyrna that a few days since, had been destroyed by the conflagration - from the deck of the steamer could see but little -
Soon after we were permitted to land - and I directed my steps to the pension swisse the house I put up at when in Smyrna two months ago - was well pleased with the street in which the hotel is situated after having seen the capitol and the other towns in Turkey - for I think it is the best of any that I have seen - being more straight & regular than the main street of Pera -
I soon directed my steps towards that part of the town that was in ashes viz the quarter inhabited by the Turks - thro crowds of loaded cornels I soon arrived at the spot - and scrambling over the ruins ascended the side of the mountain from whence I could see the extent of the destruction - which was fully one third of the city and they say amounts to 13,000 houses and shops - many of which are of course very small and nearly all built of wood - I counted the minarets of seven mosques - that had been destroyed - and several public baths - the remains of which could be distinguished by the cupolas left standing -
I sat looking at this scene of desolation for half an hour then returned to the hotel for breakfast - the Jew Eli - my old valet de place was at hand - he conducted me to the lower part of the town where the bazars were situated it was in the bazar for the sale of arms and saddlery that the fatal spark originated - most of them are destroyed, but being provided with small rooms built of stone and vaulted, many of the dealers saved their effects - here were numbers of men with haggard countenance sitting among the ruins, many were mechanics - and gathering together the burnt remains of their various articles of manufacture, some sifting the ashes in search of lost valuables, and others employed in cleaning away the rubbish to rebuild - perhaps of wood, to suffer the same fate - the Jews quarter was all in ashes, and all their synagoges - some of which appeared to have been built of stone and capable of resisting the fire -
In the midst of the destroyed houses were standing five venerable columns of other days - the remains of an ancient theatre ~ which for centuries have withstood the vicissitudes of modern Smyrna - the revered cypresses of the turkish cemeteries are even not spared, their scorched trunks standing as proofs of the intensity of the fire - some retired gardens are left - tho the houses to which they belonged are gone - in these the proprietors have taken refuge -
The door of one was one I looked in and sow two young women who did not seem displeased at the intrusion - and as I had seen as yet very indistinctly turkish women without the veil was glad of the opportunity they were alone except that one old man, probably a servant was occupied in one corner of the garden - the mistress was well dress'd and rather handsome - her hands were delicate and the tips of her fingers stained red after the turkish fashion- the teeth were also blackened - the dress was entirely too slight to appear in the street in for the loose pantaloons are fastened round the middle - and a slight jacket with short sleeves, which did not come down to the pants - to the middle part of the person and the breasts were only covered by a chimise of gauze - this gallant style of dress of course interested me -
And had scarcely begun to tell her, taking hold of her little hand with dyed fingers - how sorry I was for the loss she had experienced - when the voices of some women were heard at the garden door - which so alarmed the lady that putting me aside she went to the door and spoke to the women, who went away - when I was very unceremoniously put out, saying, ho paura, ho paura - come tomorrow when I will receive you with more politness - that was poor consolation I told her to one in love for I was going away that evening and should never see her again - addio - and she shut the garden door - this was in Italian of which she spoke a little - -
Now being tired of rambling among the ruins the sun being very hot returned to the hotel - in the sitting room was an english gentleman - who appeared to be an invalid - I spoke to him and we soon entered into conversation - this was Sir Cavendish Humbold - a military officer and nephew to the Duke of Devonshire - he was occupied with his maps marking out his course from Constanti— by way of Vienna and the Danube - I told him the objections to that route, as the quarantine in a low disagreeable place, and the tediousness of the voyage during the low water of the Danube - we became quite intimate and dined together -
In the evening he very kindly gave me directions for my voyage after leaving Corfu - as to the places and hotels to stop at, on the coast and islands of Dalmatia - also from Venice to Ancona and thence to Milan - late in the evening we exchanged cards and I took leave of him, very much pleased at having made his acquaintance, as the boat was to start early in the morning found a bed in a neighboring boarding house - with orders to be called early -
view pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Was under some uncertainty this morning whether we should be allowed to land as our bill of health from Constantinople was not clean - being marked one case of the plague - the first thing I did on going on deck was to direct my eyes to that part of the city of Smyrna that a few days since, had been destroyed by the conflagration - from the deck of the steamer could see but little -
Soon after we were permitted to land - and I directed my steps to the pension swisse the house I put up at when in Smyrna two months ago - was well pleased with the street in which the hotel is situated after having seen the capitol and the other towns in Turkey - for I think it is the best of any that I have seen - being more straight & regular than the main street of Pera -
I soon directed my steps towards that part of the town that was in ashes viz the quarter inhabited by the Turks - thro crowds of loaded cornels I soon arrived at the spot - and scrambling over the ruins ascended the side of the mountain from whence I could see the extent of the destruction - which was fully one third of the city and they say amounts to 13,000 houses and shops - many of which are of course very small and nearly all built of wood - I counted the minarets of seven mosques - that had been destroyed - and several public baths - the remains of which could be distinguished by the cupolas left standing -
I sat looking at this scene of desolation for half an hour then returned to the hotel for breakfast - the Jew Eli - my old valet de place was at hand - he conducted me to the lower part of the town where the bazars were situated it was in the bazar for the sale of arms and saddlery that the fatal spark originated - most of them are destroyed, but being provided with small rooms built of stone and vaulted, many of the dealers saved their effects - here were numbers of men with haggard countenance sitting among the ruins, many were mechanics - and gathering together the burnt remains of their various articles of manufacture, some sifting the ashes in search of lost valuables, and others employed in cleaning away the rubbish to rebuild - perhaps of wood, to suffer the same fate - the Jews quarter was all in ashes, and all their synagoges - some of which appeared to have been built of stone and capable of resisting the fire -
In the midst of the destroyed houses were standing five venerable columns of other days - the remains of an ancient theatre ~ which for centuries have withstood the vicissitudes of modern Smyrna - the revered cypresses of the turkish cemeteries are even not spared, their scorched trunks standing as proofs of the intensity of the fire - some retired gardens are left - tho the houses to which they belonged are gone - in these the proprietors have taken refuge -
The door of one was one I looked in and sow two young women who did not seem displeased at the intrusion - and as I had seen as yet very indistinctly turkish women without the veil was glad of the opportunity they were alone except that one old man, probably a servant was occupied in one corner of the garden - the mistress was well dress'd and rather handsome - her hands were delicate and the tips of her fingers stained red after the turkish fashion- the teeth were also blackened - the dress was entirely too slight to appear in the street in for the loose pantaloons are fastened round the middle - and a slight jacket with short sleeves, which did not come down to the pants - to the middle part of the person and the breasts were only covered by a chimise of gauze - this gallant style of dress of course interested me -And had scarcely begun to tell her, taking hold of her little hand with dyed fingers - how sorry I was for the loss she had experienced - when the voices of some women were heard at the garden door - which so alarmed the lady that putting me aside she went to the door and spoke to the women, who went away - when I was very unceremoniously put out, saying, ho paura, ho paura - come tomorrow when I will receive you with more politness - that was poor consolation I told her to one in love for I was going away that evening and should never see her again - addio - and she shut the garden door - this was in Italian of which she spoke a little - -
Now being tired of rambling among the ruins the sun being very hot returned to the hotel - in the sitting room was an english gentleman - who appeared to be an invalid - I spoke to him and we soon entered into conversation - this was Sir Cavendish Humbold - a military officer and nephew to the Duke of Devonshire - he was occupied with his maps marking out his course from Constanti— by way of Vienna and the Danube - I told him the objections to that route, as the quarantine in a low disagreeable place, and the tediousness of the voyage during the low water of the Danube - we became quite intimate and dined together -
In the evening he very kindly gave me directions for my voyage after leaving Corfu - as to the places and hotels to stop at, on the coast and islands of Dalmatia - also from Venice to Ancona and thence to Milan - late in the evening we exchanged cards and I took leave of him, very much pleased at having made his acquaintance, as the boat was to start early in the morning found a bed in a neighboring boarding house - with orders to be called early -
view pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
