\N AMERICAN TRANSPORT 
 
 IN THE 
 
 CRIMEAN WAR 
 
 :APT. JOHN CODMAN 
 
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AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 THE CRIMEAN WAR. 
 
 JOHN CODMAN 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE ROUND TRIP," "TEN MONTHS IN 
 BRAZII^," "WINTER SKETCHES EROM XHB; 
 
 SADDi,E," e;tc. 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY I. C. ROPES. 
 
 NEW YORK ^ I 
 
 BONNELL, SILVER & CO., 
 
 24 West Twenty-Second Street. 
 

 Copyrighte;d, 1896, 
 
 BY 
 
 BONN:eLI., vSII^VBR & CO. 
 
THIS I<ITT];E VOI,UME 
 IS AFFECTlONATEI,Y INSCRIBED 
 
 TO 
 
 MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER, 
 
 Mes Compagnons de Voyage. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Dedication 3 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 Author's Preface — 9 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The old and the new Mediterranean trade — The pioneer 
 steamship — Arrival at Marseilles — The cholera — 
 Origin of the Crimean war — French hilarity suc- 
 ceeded by disappointment 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The passage to Constantinople — Reminiscences of an- 
 tiquity — Ashore in the Dardanelles — Disinterested 
 kindness of Suleyman Pasha— Constantinople and its 
 surroundings — The passage to the Crimea — The sea- 
 ports and the battle grounds — Starvation at the 
 English camp — French economy and hospitality. 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The mistake of the Allies in making their landing— The 
 commencement of the siege and the misery attending 
 it — Another passage from Marseilles — Narrow escape 
 from foundering in a gale — Arrival at Kamiesh — The 
 Monastery of St. George 51 
 
4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The American and the French cuisine — A trip to the Sea 
 of Azof — Contrasted scenes of peace and war — Van- 
 dalism of the Allies at Kertch — Trading with a Pasha 
 — The unsuccessful attack on Sebastopol — Panic at 
 Kamiesh and Balaklava — Return to Marseilles — Trip 
 to Algeria 68 
 
 CHAPTBR V. 
 
 Return again to the Crimea — Ravages of disease in the 
 camps — French transport system compared with ours 
 in the civil war — ^The Sisters of Charity — The capture 
 of the Malakoff and Redan — A view of the ruins 
 — Bomb-proof female curiosity 88 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Entering the Turkish service — The Tm-k a man of his 
 word — Good pay and little work — Our philosophic 
 chief officer — The Pasha's bed-clothes — His friend- 
 ship — No use for a propeller ii2 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Hafiz Effendi and his harem 134 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Mustapha Pasha wide awake — We are hurried off to 
 Eupatoria — A rescue in the Black Sea — A British 
 frigate comes to our aid — Arrival at Eupatoria. . . 149 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The blunder of a British General — A post-mortem held 
 by Mr. Sears and some of his religious ideas — The 
 eud of the war and comments on its results 176 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is witli great pleasure that I comply 
 with the request of my cousin, Captain 
 John Codman, to write a few lines by way 
 of an introduction to this entertaining 
 narrative of his experience in command 
 of an American chartered transport in the 
 Crimean War. 
 
 That war was concluded forty years 
 ago, and in the intervening period there 
 have been four wars in Burope, three of 
 them of great magnitude, and the other 
 having been another contest between 
 Russia and Turkey. It is probable that 
 the Crimean War receives to-day but little 
 attention from either historical or general 
 students. But it is, in reality, a very 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 interesting war, for it is tlie connecting 
 link between the old and the modern 
 systems of warfare. Not only by the sub- 
 stitution of steam for sails, and of iron 
 for wood, is the change marked ; it is dis- 
 tinctly to be perceived in the far more 
 comprehensive and serious character which 
 war has taken on since the days of the 
 expedition to Sebastopol. Steam and iron 
 are, in fact, but the symbols and illustra- 
 tions of the spirit which dominates the 
 nations of the present day, and insists 
 upon the employment of every invention 
 calculated to secure the greatest speed 
 and the most unfailing certainty ; in short, 
 the most conclusive results in the employ- 
 ment of forces possessing far greater 
 destructive powers than those known to 
 Lord Raglan and General Todleben. 
 
 It is, however, to wars conducted on the 
 old-fashioned scale and in accordance with 
 
INTRODUCTTON. 7 
 
 old-fashioned methods that we must look 
 for that element of pictiiresqueness in war 
 which has always so powerfully attracted 
 the imagination of mankind, and the Cri- 
 mean War was the last of the picturesque 
 v/ars of the world. It was, moreover, un- 
 usually rich in this element ; the com- 
 mingling of races, nationalities, religions 
 and customs in the contending parties ; 
 the seat of the struggle, the Dardanelles, 
 the Bosphorus, Constantinople, the Black 
 Sea, with all their historical associations ;- 
 the fact that, of the leaders of the con- 
 tending armies, some had participated 
 with distinction in the great Napoleonic 
 wars of the early part of the century; 
 these and similar things give to the Cri- 
 mean War a character quite its own. 
 
 The narrative of Captain Codman is not 
 in any sense a history of this war, but it 
 is valuable because it contains the observa- 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tions of a disinterested witness of many 
 of tlie incidents of tlie struggle. And the 
 story is told witH a simplicity and natural- 
 ness, wliicli, combined with the writer's 
 genuine love of humor, cannot fail, I 
 think, to make his modest contribution to 
 the history of that period entertaining, 
 suggestive, and well worth the attention 
 of the public. 
 
 John Codman Ropks. 
 
 Boston, December i, 1896. 
 
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE tiLOUght it opportune to publisli 
 tHis short narrative at a time when the 
 Turkish question is so generally dis- 
 cussed by the press. 
 
 It is merely an account of events that 
 occurred under my personal observation, 
 with occasional references to their polit- 
 ical significance. 
 
 No change to suit present conditions 
 has been made from the original notes, 
 taken upon the spot forty years and more 
 ago. I have spoken of the Turk as we 
 found him then, not as he is represented 
 to be now. 
 
 At that time Christians of all denom- 
 inations were protected by the govern- 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 ment equally witli tlie MaHomedans. 
 The Armenians, on account of their supe- 
 rior intelligence, and greater aptitude for 
 business than those of other sects, held 
 offices of public trust, and many of them 
 served in the army and navy. 
 
 Competent authorities agree that the 
 treatment of Christians in general by the 
 Turkish government has not changed 
 from that time to the present, that out 
 of a population of four million Chris- 
 tians, two millions of whom are Arme- 
 nians, the proportion of officials is far 
 greater than is that represented by all 
 the Moslems in the empire, and that in 
 ordinary civil life no distinction is made 
 among the people because of their relig- 
 ious faith. 
 
 It must be evident, therefore, to any 
 candid mind that the butcheries conse- 
 quent upon dissensions in Asiatic Turkey 
 
PREFACE. II 
 
 from whicii the Armenians have suffered 
 more than the Turks, because as contest- 
 ants they are fewer in number, are attrib- 
 utable to other causes than that of relig- 
 ious persecution. 
 
 There is great danger, however, that 
 the well-meant efforts of philanthropists 
 may give religion a prominence in this 
 controversy which does not belong to it. 
 Once made a casus belll^ either by armed 
 interference or by intemperate words of 
 diplomacy, the universal slaughter of 
 Christians of all denominations would 
 ensue from a general uprising of Mahom- 
 edans throughout Asia and Africa and 
 the Bast Indian Islands, where they 
 number more than 250,000,000, for it must 
 be remembered that the Sultan is Caliph, 
 and, as such, the head of the whole Mahom- 
 edan Church, as well as the despotic ruler 
 of his own dominions. 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 The humanity that would prompt such 
 inhumanity as this is as unchristian as it 
 is impolitic. 
 
 This suggestion is commended to the 
 reflection of my readers as of more value 
 than anything else they may find in fur- 
 ther turning over the leaves of this book. 
 
AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 THE CRIMEAN WAR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In tlie year 1854 the commercial ma- 
 rine of tlie United States was at the height 
 of its prosperity. Steam had not at that 
 time become to any considerable extent a 
 factor in the carriage of merchandise, and 
 the whole trade of this country with the 
 Mediterranean was carried on in sailing 
 vessels, and those almost universally un- 
 der the American flag. Passengers who 
 desired to visit the shores of that sea were 
 
 obliged, unless they had the inclination, 
 
 13 
 
14 AN AMERICAN TRANS FOR T IN 
 
 and time to spare to be wafted across 
 by the white wings of the sailing craft of 
 that day, to take a Cunard steamer for 
 Liverpool, and thence to travel across 
 England, the Straits of Dover, and the 
 entire length of France, until they reached 
 Marseilles. No merchant steamer from 
 this country had ever passed through the 
 Straits of Gibraltar. The feasibility of 
 establishing a steamship line from New 
 I York to Gibraltar and Marseilles first oc- 
 ' curred to the firm of N. L. McCready & 
 Co., an enterprising shipping house on 
 South Street, New York. With this in- 
 tent they purchased the steamer " William 
 Penn," and fitted her out as a pioneer. 
 She was a small ship even in those days. 
 Now, she would not be much too large for 
 a quarter boat to be hoisted at the davits 
 of the modern sea monsters. Still, she 
 was an excellent sea-boat, although of only 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 15 
 
 613 tons, and having been built for tbe 
 line between Pbiladelpbia and Boston, ber 
 accommodations for tv/enty or thirty pas- 
 sengers were as comfortable and luxuri- 
 ous as those of the British steamers. Her 
 first trip was to be made under the most 
 favorable conditions of surrimer weather, 
 and it was confidently expected that every 
 berth would be speedily taken, and that 
 her small space for cargo would at once 
 be availed of. §he was placed under my 
 command, and in view of the demand for 
 state-rooms, only a small cabin was re- 
 served for myself, wife and child. She 
 was advertised to sail in fifteen days from 
 the 5th of May, not only in the New York 
 papers, but likewise in those of Philadel- 
 phia, Baltimore and Boston. To our in- 
 tense chagrin, day after day passed with- 
 out a single application for freight or 
 passage, until I suggested to Mr. Mc- 
 
1 6 AN- AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 Cready tliat as his enterprise was likely 
 to be a complete failure, lie had better 
 withdraw the advertisements, and sell the 
 ship, or find some other use for her. But 
 he was a man of determination, as was 
 afterwards proved when he established 
 the Old Dominion Line to Richmond and 
 made of it a triumphant success. " No," 
 he said, '' we will not give it up. Take 
 coal enough for your return voyage, and 
 see what you can get in Marseilles to 
 bring back to New York." This was 
 done, and we started on the 20th of May 
 without a single passenger or a pound of 
 freight. The steamer was advertised in 
 the Marseilles and Paris papers to take 
 freight or passengers to New York, and 
 there was not a solitary application for 
 either. Korty-two years have since 
 elapsed, and what a change ! American 
 sailing ships have entirely disappeared 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 17 
 
 from tHe Mediterranean and practically 
 from all salt water excepting that whicli 
 washes our coasts. The Mediterranean 
 trade has increased to immense propor- 
 tions and is now carried on almost en- 
 tirely by steam. There are four great 
 lines of steamships of from four to eight 
 thousand tons, and innumerable tramps 
 carrying thousands of passengers and 
 millions of tons of freight, and earning 
 for their owners wealth enough to pay 
 the interest of our national debt. Not a 
 single one of them is under our flag, 
 simply because Congress persists in main- 
 taining restrictive navigation laws that 
 forbid us to own ships unless they are 
 built at home at exorbitant prices, which 
 preclude competition with other nations 
 who adopt a more liberal policy. 
 
 When we arrived at Marseilles the 
 
 cholera was just commencing its work, 
 3 
 
1 8 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 and every other Mediterranean port placed 
 vessels from tliat city in strict and long 
 qnarantine. There was consequently 
 nothing for any of ns to do, and nowhere 
 for any of ns to go, and I was determined 
 not to return to New York as we had come 
 out, in ballast. So we all lay perforce 
 huddled up in the docks under a broiling 
 sun. The cholera was first said to be 
 confined to the barracks and hospitals. 
 Bvery effort was made by the authorities 
 for a time to keep secret the advent of 
 this unwelcome visitor ; but when the 
 numerous funerals began to pass along 
 the streets, when in the cafes and on the 
 Bxchange men fell down in the agony of 
 its grasp, concealment became a vain en- 
 deavor. Then ceased the characteristic 
 gaiety of the F'renchmen, and in its place 
 came despondency and abject fear. Out 
 of a city of 250,000 inhabitants 100,000 cf 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 19 
 
 the survivors rushed to tlie country, those 
 who could afford to do so by means of 
 railroads and carriages, those who could 
 not, on foot, and thus they might be daily 
 seen hastening in crowds to encamp upon 
 the hills, where, under the fierce ra3^s of 
 the sun and the noxious dews of night, 
 they died by thoiisands. In the city all 
 was gloom and despair. Whole streets 
 of shops were closed. Nature seemed to 
 participate in the misery of man. For 
 three months not a drop of rain fell from 
 the heavens. Daily the lurid sun rose in 
 the east to set at night in the burning 
 west scorching in his progress all vegeta- 
 tion, and drying up the streams or reduc- 
 ing them to pools of stagnant water. 
 The sympathy of man for his fellow-man 
 was blunted and his heart beat only in 
 fear for himself. Thus coward man 
 trembled, and woman alone was brave, 
 
2 o AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 brave in tlie might of purity and of love. 
 In tiie splendid mansion, in tlie wretched 
 liovel, wherever disease and death were to 
 be found, there too were to be seen those 
 self-sacrificing Sisters of Charity minister- 
 ing to the wants of the sick and giving 
 the dying a foretaste of heaven in the 
 companionship of angels upon earth. 
 These are the genuine saints of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 As the autumn advanced the disease 
 abated, and the panic-stricken refugees 
 returned to their homes. Confidence was 
 at length restored, and an instantaneous 
 change came over the city. One would 
 have supposed that death had never en- 
 tered into the world, and that life would 
 never go out of it. From the depth of 
 misery the v\^hole population mounted 
 to the pinnacle of mirth. This was 
 French. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 21 
 
 In the meantime tlie Crimean War 
 was going on. Its progress is worthy the 
 attention of those of ns who were so im- 
 patient with what they considered the dila- 
 tory proceedings of our armies at the time 
 of the secession. This war had been for 
 months and even years anticipated by 
 France and Bngland. They both pos- 
 sessed large standing armies fully equip- 
 ped and disciplined, and their combined 
 fleets exceeded those of all the world in 
 ships, guns and men. All these existed in 
 a time of profound peace. Yet at the date 
 of which we are speaking, how little, or 
 rather how much of nothing, had been 
 accomplished ! As we pursue our narra- 
 tive, let us note how much time was still 
 to elapse before anything was done ; and 
 as we corde to its close let us see if this 
 tremendous armament effected anything, 
 after all, worthy of its boasted efEiciency. 
 
22 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 We shall find that we who had been sud- 
 denly dragged into a strife which we 
 deemed so unnatural as to be impossible, 
 and were consequently totally unprepared 
 for it, had nothing to be ashamed of in 
 comparison. 
 
 When their preparations were at last 
 completed, and their fleets were already off 
 the shores of the enemy, war was finally 
 declared by France and England in March, 
 1854. What had since been done ? The 
 great Baltic fleets, which were to return 
 ballasted with the guns of Cronstadt, had 
 twice performed an evolution similar to that 
 recorded, when '' The King of France 
 with twice ten thousand men, marched up 
 the hill and then marched down again," 
 and nothing had been accomplished in the 
 Black Sea excepting that the battle of the 
 Alma, to which we shall presently refer, 
 had just been fought. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 23 
 
 It is well known that the ostensible 
 cause of the difficulty between Russia and 
 Turkey in the first instance was the pre- 
 tended desire of the former to protect her 
 co-religionists in the Turkish domains, 
 and to secure to them equal rights with 
 the other subjects of the Sultan which 
 to all intents and purposes they already 
 enjoyed. It was only a pretext to cover 
 her ambitious designs. In the mirror 
 of destiny she had long seen Turkey in 
 her possession, and time has been the only 
 question in the matter. She would un- 
 doubtedly, if entirely successful, have 
 solved the problem at once ; but she was 
 unprepared for the emergency which was 
 thrust upon her. Since the war, with 
 capital loaned by her former foes, she has 
 constructed lines of railroads by means 
 of which, should they hereafter endeavor 
 to thwart her schemes, she can concen- 
 
24 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 trate an overwlielmmg force to oppose 
 them. 
 
 Tlie fleet which left the Bosphorus in 
 the summer of 1854, was known to carry 
 a force destined to attack some part of 
 the Russian territory in the Black Sea. 
 It was generally supposed to be directed 
 upon Odessa. The movement was con- 
 ducted with much secrecy and skill, but 
 it failed in its anticipated results from 
 want of thorough organization and from a 
 deplorable ignorance of the country it was 
 intended to subdue. After various feints 
 of attack upon other points, the course 
 was finally changed to the Crimea, where 
 the fleet arrived before the Russians could 
 oppose a sufficient force to prevent the 
 landing of the troops. They made, how- 
 ever, a gallant resistance after the in- 
 vaders had debarked. The whole of the 
 small garrison of Sebastopol came out to 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 25 
 
 meet tliem upon tlie heights of the Alma. 
 There the first battle was fought. It was 
 chronicled as the first great victory of the 
 allies. On the other hand, the Russians 
 justly regarded it as the first check upon 
 them. It was reported in France, where 
 we happened to be at the time, that Sebas- 
 topol itself had fallen, and for a week 
 people believed it. There was the most 
 boisterous rejoicing. In Marseilles the 
 affair v/as dramatized with incredible dis- 
 patch. It was represented in the theatre 
 before a delighted audience on the very 
 night preceding the day on which was 
 brought the contradictory intelligence. 
 Then was exhibited another proof of the 
 ups and downs of French character. As 
 the monarch of the barnyard flaps his 
 wings and crows on a bright sunny morn- 
 ing, so the jubilant Frenchman strutted 
 the boulevards, swung his cap and cried 
 
26 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 *' Vive la France ! Vive la gloire I " 
 As the same proud bird after a storm 
 of cold rain presses his pinions to his 
 sides, utters his mournful caw and drags 
 his drooping tail feathers in the mud, so 
 the utterly confounded Frenchman, when 
 the storm of disappointment overwhelmed 
 him, vented his " Sacres^'* withdrew his 
 forehead into the crown of his hat, dropped 
 his jaw under his shirt collar, and tried to 
 hide himself in his boots. 
 
 The Russians, after vainly opposing a 
 superior force, had retired in good order 
 to Sebastopol, and immediately com- 
 menced throwing up those entrench- 
 ments which for eleven months after- 
 wards bade defiance to the most un- 
 paralleled energy of attack. The town 
 was already impregnably fortified against 
 all attempts from the sea, as the fleets 
 shortly afterwards discovered on the 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 27 
 
 occasion of their ineffectual bombard- 
 ment. 
 
 Tlie news of tlie battle of tbe Alma and 
 its want of entire success created an in- 
 tense excitement in France and Bngland. 
 It had been imagined that this expedition 
 into the Black Sea would have been suf- 
 ficient to disperse the Russian forces from 
 its shores, but all at once the Western 
 powers awoke to the seriousness of their 
 mistake. The capture of Sebastopol, 
 though of course exceedingly desirable, 
 as the destruction of the Russian fleet 
 would have ensued, was not of abso- 
 lute importance. But it was now more 
 than ever determined upon as a matter of 
 pride. It could have been blockaded, 
 and all the other operations of the war 
 might have been carried on nearly as well 
 by that means as by the final conquest of 
 only a portion of the town. Thus, many 
 
28 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN- 
 
 tliousands of lives miglit have been spared, 
 but the pride of France and England was 
 toucbed, and tbey were determined to 
 enter Sebastopol, tbougb obliged to wade 
 through the blood of their own children. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 29 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The " William Penn" was ttie first 
 transport under a foreign flag chartered 
 by tlie Frencii government. We left Mar- 
 seilles on the first of November with a 
 cargo of stores and ammunition and a de- 
 tachment of troops for the Crimea. With 
 pleasant weather, v/hich is rare even in 
 the Mediterranean at that season, we 
 passed through the Straits of Bonifacio 
 between Corsica and Sardinia, and then 
 through the Straits of Messina, lighted by 
 the fires of Stromboli and Etna. Thence 
 steering across for the Morea, we rounded 
 Cape Matapan and entered the blue ^gean 
 Sea. Everywhere the landmarks of the 
 past greeted our eyes. There were the 
 lands and the v/aters of great deeds made 
 
30 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 infinitely greater by the poetry of history, 
 for poetry is the history of Greece and 
 Troy. As we look back upon them through 
 such telescopes, truly the distance of time 
 lends enchantment to the view, and the 
 eye gains delight by viewing them with a 
 lens which softens their rougher outlines. 
 Mythology, the poetical religion of the 
 ancients, is more worthy of study than 
 the story of their everyday life. The one, 
 though false, is full of charm ; the other, 
 though real, was too much like that which 
 we now see around us. Homer and Vir- 
 gil were the best historians of those early 
 days. Homer borrowed wreaths from the 
 skies to adorn the brows of such bar- 
 barians as Hector and Achilles. Virgil 
 called from them a goddess to give birth 
 to the filibustering ^neas, and chiselled 
 Ijis black inamorata into the form and 
 features of an angel. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 31 
 
 At dark on the evening of the 9th we 
 passed between the Island of Tenedos and 
 the plains of Troy. Afterwards repeated- 
 ly we saw them in broad daylight. Then 
 a black rock and a barren shore were dis- 
 played to rnin the picture imagination 
 had painted of besieging Greeks and be- 
 leaguered Trojans. 
 
 We were about entering the Darda- 
 nelles, the ancient Hellespont. It should 
 not have been attempted in a foggy night, 
 especially as the narrow and crooked 
 Strait was unlighted. But our orders 
 were imperative to follow the French gun- 
 boat which bore us company. The result 
 of this temerity was that we both found 
 ourselves snugly ashore before morning. 
 We grounded on Nagara Point, the very 
 spot where Leander landed when he swam 
 the Hellespont, and where Leander had 
 more occasion to be pleased in getting 
 
32 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 ashore. We were unable at tlie time to 
 back off, but fortunately the ground was 
 soft, and no damage was eventually done 
 to either of the ships. It was, after all, 
 perhaps a fortunate accident. Had not 
 this detention occurred, we should in the 
 ordinary course of the voyage have been 
 off Balaklava in the destructive gale of the 
 fourteenth of November. 
 
 It was the occasion of my first acquaint- 
 ance with a nation from whose people I 
 have since received much kindness, and 
 at no time a greater proof of their gener- 
 ous disposition than in this instance. As 
 soon as morning dawned and the ship was 
 discovered from the town, the Pasha of the 
 Dardanelles came off in person to offer 
 his assistance, which was, of course, grate- 
 fully accepted. In less than an hour a 
 fleet of boats was alongside discharging 
 cargo to lighten the ship, the troops being 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 33 
 
 provided for in tlie Turkish barracks on 
 shore. All tke men that could be ad- 
 vantageously employed were sent to ex- 
 pedite the removal of the cargo. The 
 Pasha himself remained on board most of 
 the time. His kind expressions of sym- 
 pathy were really consoling, and when at 
 last the steamer floated off, his satisfac- 
 tion seemed equal to my own. Suleyman 
 Pasha was a strict observer of the forms, 
 and precepts too, of his religion. When 
 the hour of prayer came he turned his 
 face toward the tomb of the prophet, and 
 prostrated himself in devotion upon the 
 deck. At evening for a few moments 
 work was suspended, while all the people 
 bowed in prayer. Suleyman dined with 
 us every day. Upon the principle of not 
 making one's brother to offend, I had 
 given directions to exclude wine from the 
 table. Think, then, of my astonishment 
 
34 A^ AMERICA N TRA NSPOR T IN 
 
 at a gentle hint from the Pasha as to 
 champagne ! It was, of course, immedi- 
 ately produced. Upon my remarking 
 that it had not been offered before on ac- 
 count of regard to what I supposed to be 
 his religious scruples, he replied with an 
 air of perfect sincerity, ^' Wine was for- 
 bidden by the prophet ; not champagne. 
 Champagne did not exist in his day ; how 
 then could he have forbidden it ? Mar- 
 shallah ! God is great," continued Suley- 
 man, smoothing his beard and soothing 
 his conscience. *' Pass the bottle." 
 
 While the ship was reloading I visited 
 him at his house, meeting with a most 
 cordial reception, and was there permitted 
 to see the Turkish gentleman in his ha- 
 rem. This word has been the subject of 
 the grossest misapprehension. The ha- 
 rem means the home ; and the home of the 
 Turk, though different in many respects 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 35 
 
 from ours, is equally sacred. The Turk- 
 ish woman is by no means always the de- 
 graded creature that many have supposed 
 her to be, but she is often well educated 
 and seldom unable to read. She is a faith- 
 ful wife (though frequently not the only 
 wife), and it may seem astonishing to 
 many women in other lands who cannot 
 live peaceably with their husbands, hav- 
 ing them all to themselves, that these 
 women can be happy not only in their 
 husband's society, but in that of each 
 other. In a state of polygamy, woman is 
 not so lightly esteemed by man, but man 
 is held in higher estimation by woman. 
 We have scarcely a right to reproach the 
 Turks for practising a polygamy that is 
 cumulative while the laxity of cur divorce 
 laws permits it in a consecutive form 
 among ourselves. 
 
 After a detention of three days caused 
 
36 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 by our mishap, we were reloaded and 
 ready to proceed. It had been a period 
 of incessant work day and night, such as 
 we could not have accomplished with our 
 own boats and crew in many days. 
 When about to leave, Suleyman Pasha 
 was on board. I asked him what was the 
 amount of expense incurred, that I might 
 pay it by a draft on Constantinople. Seiz- 
 ing my hand and placing it upon his 
 heart, he replied, *' God pays me, my 
 brother." I shall never forget that Chris- 
 tian Mahomedan. 
 
 Issuing from the Dardanelles we en- 
 tered upon the Sea of Marmora, a salt 
 water lake about one hundred and twenty 
 miles in length. Leaving soon after mid- 
 night, on the evening of the next day we 
 were within a few miles of Constanti- 
 nople, when the heavy gale came upon us 
 which was still more violent in the Black 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 37 
 
 Sea, and was the cause of terrible destruc- 
 tion of life and property. We were 
 obliged to haul off, as we were on the lee 
 shore, and to hold our own were forced to 
 carry all the steam that our boilers could 
 bear. The night was one of great anx- 
 iety ; but, as after all nights of affliction, 
 joy came in the morning. The gale 
 abated ; the angry waves fell quietly again 
 upon the bosom of the Marmora, over 
 which the sun rose in his full blaze of liv- 
 ing light and shone back again from the 
 gilded domes and minarets of the queen 
 city of the Bast. There she lay before us, 
 exceeding all the splendor with which im- 
 agination had clothed her, decked with 
 the jewelry of her first love, and her ra- 
 visher. The daughter and rival of Rome, 
 her beauty, matured in Oriental luxury, 
 soon eclipsed her mother's fading charms. 
 Mistresses of the Western and Eastern em- 
 
38 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 pires in the days of tlieir glory, now in 
 tlie days of tlieir decadence, both so low 
 in the scale of nations. We ronnded 
 slowly the point where stands the old Se- 
 raglio, at whose name Christian hair has 
 been wont to stand on end, passing so 
 closely under its windows that had a faith- 
 less sultana been dropped at the moment 
 we might have caught her upon our decks. 
 The practice of making such useless dis- 
 position of women, however, is not in 
 vogue in our days. 
 
 In the harbor it v^^as a busy scene. 
 Light caiques propelled by lusty oarsmen 
 were dancing about on every side, inter- 
 spersed with boats from foreign and 
 Turkish men-o'-war and merchantmen, 
 and as we ran up the Turkish flag and 
 fired a salute, we received in all tongues 
 cheers of welcome. 
 
 The first appearance of the American 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 39 
 
 flag in the fleet, although it floated 
 from the peak of a transport steamer, was 
 evidently hailed as an indication that our 
 national sympathy was enlisted in the 
 cause. At subsequent times, under a 
 summers sky, the Golden Horn was 
 found more enchanting; but the first 
 impressions of Stamboul and Pera, as they 
 towered above us on either side in marble 
 columns, are the longest to endure. And 
 yet at any season the whole charm of 
 Constantinople is lost when once upon 
 the shore. The wretched and filthy con- 
 dition of the streets, especially in the 
 Christian quarters, creates a feeling of in- 
 tense disgust. Would you visit this far- 
 famed city, remember the whited sepul- 
 chres. Observe it well on every side, but 
 within look not. From the deck let your 
 eye and imagination rove from minaret 
 to minaret, and thence wander to the 
 
40 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 natural scenery wliicli gives them their 
 charm. The Bosphorus, the Golden 
 Horn, and the Sea of Marmora, encircling 
 the picturesque architecture of temples 
 and kiosks, afford a perpetual scene for 
 admiration and delight. Well do I re- 
 member one morning when the declina- 
 tion of the sun brought him at his rising 
 directly over the hoary summits of the dis- 
 tant hills, and the sudden change from 
 gray twilight to blazing day, as from 
 thence he threw abroad his spreading 
 beams on heaven and earth and sea, light- 
 ing such a picture of nature and art, till 
 every feature was so lovely that it would 
 have been marred by the contrast of any 
 shade. But evening has a charm above 
 that of the day. As it draws on every one 
 quits his toil, if toil it can be called where 
 there is such general indolence. The 
 lazy Turk, the ever-joyous Greek, the 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 41 
 
 sly Armenian, and even tlie grasping 
 Jew, all seek for recreation then. Hun- 
 dreds of caiques are seen shooting over 
 the waters to places of resort upon the 
 Bosphorus, the Islands of the Marmora, 
 or the Sweet Waters which lie at the ex- 
 tremity of the Golden Horn. 
 
 As we afterwards lay at the navy yard, 
 how often have we seen these happy 
 parties returning. Nature painted a liv- 
 ing picture ; the moon threw shadows 
 of tall cypresses and taper masts upon 
 the silver mirror, its polished surface 
 broken only by the silent dip of oars. 
 The stillness of the hour was stiller as it 
 seemed to be listening to the dream-like 
 music of the lute and tambourine, while 
 the veil of mist which nightly shrouds 
 the waters hung like a thin gauze over 
 the fairy-like turrets of the city. 
 
 Receiving renewed orders from the 
 
42 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 agents of the French, government, we 
 proceeded up the Bosphorus and entered 
 the Black Sea. After the battle of the 
 Alma, when the allies had discovered 
 that Sebastopol was not so easily to be 
 captured as they had imagined, they 
 made their preparations to invest it. 
 For this purpose they took advantage of 
 convenient harbors to land their muni- 
 tions and troops. A nearly equilateral 
 triangle may be supposed, having for its 
 points Sebastopol, Balaklava and Kam- 
 iesh. The first was occupied by the 
 Russians, the English took possession 
 of the second, and the French of the 
 third. The area of this triangle served 
 during the war for the outposts of the 
 Russians and the encampments of the 
 allies, and the neighborhood on the inland 
 side was the great battlefield on which 
 all the subsequent actions were fought. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 43 
 
 Balaklava is completely land-locked, 
 having an exceedingly narrow and crooked 
 entrance, wkicli makes it when entered 
 one of the best harbors in the world. 
 But it is very small. This did not seem 
 an objection to it at that time, for no 
 idea was then entertained of the extensive 
 use to which it would afterwards be ap- 
 plied. The English accordingly, with 
 the consent of the French, appropriated 
 it for their vessels. The disadvantage 
 arising from this error was proved first in 
 the terrible hurricane of November 14th, 
 in which so many English transports, 
 unable to find shelter in the inner harbor, 
 were wrecked upon the rock-bound coast. 
 At the same time the French loss was 
 slight, their harbor being sufficient to re- 
 tain all their ships. Subsequently I have 
 seen twelve hundred sail of vessels safely 
 moored within it. We were ordered to 
 
44 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 Kamiesh, and arrived tliere after a pas- 
 sage of a day and a half, the distance 
 being three hundred and fifty miles 
 from Constantinople. 
 
 I have thus with digressions not a few, 
 gone over the ground from Marseilles to 
 the Crimea, and as the same passage was 
 afterwards repeatedly made, the narrative 
 of one may suffice for all. At the time 
 of our arrival there prevailed the famine 
 and distress which the survivors of the 
 English army still hold in sad remem- 
 brance. There was absolute starvation 
 in their camp, while at four or five miles' 
 distance provisions were rotting upon the 
 beach. Much has been said of the mis- 
 management of the British government 
 and of the superiority of the French com- 
 missariat. There is a certain degree of 
 truth in this, but the neglect was not so 
 extreme as has generally been supposed. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 45 
 
 The Bnglish made many mistakes. Their 
 first and greatest arose from a misappre- 
 hension of the enemies they had to deal 
 with — the Russians and the Russian cli- 
 mate. A summer's cruise was projected 
 to capture the little town of Sebastopol 
 and to return with the guns of its fortress 
 at about the same time that those from 
 Cronstadt were expected to arrive.. But 
 before they accomplished this part of the 
 undertaking, the other part being in- 
 definitely postponed, they were obliged to 
 carry a great many more guns there. 
 They supposed that a few miserable Tar- 
 tars, the abject slaves of the Czar, would 
 be eager to hail them as deliverers. But 
 they caught Tartars that they did not ex- 
 pect. They found that patriotism was as 
 ardent and self-sacrificing among the in- 
 habitants of the Crimea as among those of 
 any other lands that they had before 
 
46 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 endeavored to conquer. THe lesson of 
 Bunker Hill had been forgotten. No 
 people should be despised who have their 
 own soil to defend. 
 
 Added to this motive for resistance there 
 was a determined spirit of religious enthu- 
 siasm to meet, for the Russians had been 
 taught that the war was waged against 
 their Church. ^' God, and your native 
 land ! " the battle-cry of Bozzaris, nerved 
 likewise their arms for the defence of 
 their inheritance. 
 
 The English were unfortunate in the 
 selection of Balaklava for other reasons 
 besides the smallness of its harbor. It 
 was at a greater distance from their camp 
 than was Kamiesh from the headquarters 
 of the French, and the road to it was 
 chiefly of clay. While therefore the 
 French managed with difficulty to keep 
 up communication with their port, that of 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 47 
 
 the English was nearly cut off. !Four 
 miles was sometimes a day's journey for a 
 man on foot. The road was packed with 
 animals that had died in their tracks. 
 Under such circumstances it was abso- 
 lutely impossible to transport sufficient 
 provisions for an army. While the 
 French barely succeeded in doing it on 
 account of a better road and a shorter dis- 
 tance, the English could not do it at all. 
 There was another reason for theif 
 greater suffering, which observation war- 
 rants me in believing important. A 
 Frenchman can live upon what is starva- 
 tion to an Englishman ; he can adapt 
 himself to short allowance as no other 
 mortal can. But an Englishman remem- 
 bers his roast beef and his beer, and if he ] 
 cannot get them, he will growl and lie^/' 
 down and die. Three or four French- 
 men can live upon the rations of one 
 
48 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 Bnglishman, and be more jolly upon 
 their empty stomachs than he would be 
 with a tight waistband. When every- 
 thing else fails, they can live upon 
 ragouts made of remembrances of the 
 past and seasoned with hopes of good 
 times to come. 
 
 Once after a toilsome tramp to the Eng- 
 lish headquarters, my purser and I entered 
 the tent of an officer with whom we were 
 acquainted. Woebegone he looked, as he 
 gave us a grouty welcome. " Come in," 
 said he ; " sit down. I wish I had some- 
 thing to offer you, but I have not. Ex- 
 pected a dozen of porter and a pair ,of 
 fowls up to-day. Couldn't have cooked 
 the fowls if they had come. No coal. 
 However, might have lived a day or two 
 on the porter, but done out of that too. 
 Infernally miserable, by Jove ! " And 
 so he was. He looked it all. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 49 
 
 Feeling little inclined to accept the 
 only hospitality lie had to offer — that 
 of a camp stool, — we pursued our way 
 tediously to the French camp, where 
 our gay friend, Lieut. Courtois, was 
 quartered. Before reaching his tent we 
 heard a snatch from an opera. With what 
 empressement he rushed to embrace us, 
 invited us to dine, insisted upon it, and 
 sent for some of his comrades to meet his 
 guests ! His larder was scarcely better 
 stocked than that of the Englishman, 
 which had nothing in it. But roots were 
 grubbed up and a fire was made, some 
 rough boards were laid out, and a clean 
 cloth spread upon them. On came the 
 soup, hot, at any rate, if it was homoeo- 
 pathic. And in the other courses, which 
 were numerous, beans, the material of the 
 soup, were disguised in infinite variety 
 with such skill that they served for fish, 
 
50 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 roast, entremets^ and dessert. I am sure 
 that we had salad of something ; perhaps 
 it was an old green silk umbrella. A 
 little red wine was eked out with water, 
 upon which we all pretended to be excited 
 as we drank the health of the Bmperor. 
 Beans again — as, alas ! too often with us 
 at home — served for coffee, and my jolly 
 friends after dinner tramped along with 
 us on the road for a mile, imagining we 
 were all on the boulevards, and sharpened 
 their remembrances of departed joys by 
 addressing every one they met as Made- 
 moiselle. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 With the imperfect geograpiiical knowl- 
 edge of the country, which has been 
 noted, and with not the most remote idea 
 of spending the winter there, the . allies 
 had entirely neglected preparations for it. 
 The rainy season came upon them sud- 
 denly. Hence the deplorable condition 
 which resulted from not having con- 
 structed roads over which to transport 
 their provisions. Not having the happy 
 faculty of adaptation inherent in the 
 French, the English starved until a rail- 
 road was brought out from home. Then 
 John Bull had enough to eat and he was 
 contented. Without the bounding im- 
 petuosity of his ally he has a bull-dog 
 
52 AN AMERICAN- TRANSPORT IN 
 
 courage when cornered, and lie never 
 loses it. He marches up to the cannon's 
 mouth, and meets a death which has no 
 fears for him equal to those of a hungry 
 life. 
 
 The great battles of Balaklava and In- 
 kerman had been fought, each chronicled 
 in Bnglish history as victories, although 
 the former was a decided triumph of the 
 Russians. From the results of both, all 
 parties were satisfied that the contest was 
 not to be decided by pitched battles, but 
 that it was to be a work of siege, and 
 thenceforward with occasional skirmishes 
 the science of attack and defence occupied 
 their chief attention. 
 
 It had never been anticipated by the 
 Russians that the south side of Sebastopol 
 would be exposed to an enemy. It was 
 already fortified to an extent that would 
 prove impregnable from the sea, while 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 53 
 
 the north side, to which they eventually 
 retired, continued impregnable to the end 
 of the war. It may therefore be truly 
 said that the fortress of Sebastopol has 
 never been taken. The fleet moored in 
 the harbor was at first almost the only 
 protection from any attack from the south, 
 till the wonderful genius of Todleben 
 threw up the earthworks of the Malakoff , 
 the Redan and the outer forts while the 
 allies were deliberating upon a plan of 
 operations. 
 
 Had they landed first at Balaklava 
 and Kamiesh, they might have taken 
 the city with ease, but they could not 
 have held it even then, as the north 
 side commanded it. The Russians always 
 would have been perfectly secure upon 
 that side to which they eventually re- 
 tired. Their efforts were now directed to 
 the possible salvation of the city and the 
 
54 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 fleet. Sebastopol never cotild have been 
 completely invested witH less tlian half a 
 million of men. Consequently roads were 
 kept open at all times to bring them 
 reinforcements and provisions. Their 
 great difficulty was in getting these from 
 a distance, and their principal loss of men 
 was occasioned by fatigue upon the road 
 in the winter season. Many more per- 
 ished in this way than in the defence of 
 the town. 
 
 Meanwhile the allies commenced the 
 work of the trenches. It will be readily 
 understood, especially by those who have 
 had sad experiences in our Civil War, 
 that it was impossible for a body of 
 men without cover to march several miles 
 towards a fortified city, dragging with 
 them their siege train with which they 
 expected to batter down its walls. It 
 was necessary to travel in a ditch, and 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 55 
 
 that not a straight one, whicli would Have 
 been exposed to a raking fire. These 
 ditches or trenches were accordingly dug 
 in a zig-zag manner, so that, nautically 
 speaking, the besiegers could " work up 
 at short tacks." The dirt was thrown up 
 on the side next to the city, in order to 
 afford additional cover, and the whole with 
 the embankment was of sufficient depth 
 to protect the troops who passed along. 
 This trenchwork was the severest trial 
 they were called upon to endure. Added 
 to the inclemency of the season was the 
 necessity of night work to prevent the 
 enemy from taking accurate aim. Not- 
 withstanding this, many bombs fell in the 
 midst of the working parties, and the ex- 
 plosions were awfully fatal. Wherever 
 heads were shown in the course of their 
 work, they were exposed to a rain of 
 bullets. 
 
56 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 But all tliis was as notliing com- 
 pared to tlie cold and wet wliicli brought 
 upon tliem fevers and cholera, enemies 
 more to be dreaded than the Russians. 
 Tedious and slow was their progress as 
 they met with rocky soil, and as the 
 heavy rains nearly drowned them in their 
 holes. Still they worked on, continu- 
 ally expecting sorties which were almost 
 nightly made. Anxiously they waited 
 for the dawn which would give a little 
 relief to the miserable survivors of the 
 night, who could then drag their wearied, 
 stiffened limbs to their tents. Even there 
 their covering was little better than the 
 open air, like their bed on the ground, 
 chill and damp. No consolation was 
 theirs that they were fighting for their 
 country's sake ; they were hired by their 
 governments to fight for what they knew 
 not, and to die with curses upon them in 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 57 
 
 the cold embrace of tlie soil wliicH tliey 
 had invaded. It was only in the delirium 
 of fever that happiness existed, when the 
 spirit transported from the wretched body 
 saw and tasted sumptuous fare, wandered 
 in the green fields of boyhood, or reclined 
 upon the luxurious couch of ease, was 
 clasped in a mother's fond arms, or re- 
 ceived again the long remembered kiss of 
 love. Happy was he who did not awake 
 from his dreams to feel once more the 
 reality of woe ! 
 
 It was no pleasure for us to visit the 
 camps and trenches where sights of misery 
 were so constantly present. Curiosity 
 was soon satisfied, and we realized that 
 glory bought at such prices was dearly 
 bought indeed. The condition of the 
 Turks was in some respects more pitiable 
 than that of their allies. No one seemed 
 to care for them ; for their ignoble 
 
58 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 retreat at Balaklava they were heartily 
 despised by their friends as well as by 
 their enemies, and till they redeemed their 
 character at Bupatoria, were treated with 
 scorn and neglect. I have actually seen 
 a mule and a Turk harnessed together to 
 a cart, and a Frenchman riding -upon it 
 and whipping up the team ! 
 
 Such was the condition of the armies 
 before Sebastopol at the close of Decem- 
 ber, 1854. Afterwards the state of things 
 became worse as the rigor of the season 
 increased. 
 
 The troops subsisted mostly on " hard 
 tack," and on every return from Constan- 
 tinople we bought up all the fresh bread 
 the bakers could supply, so that, although 
 on the passage it became somewhat stale, 
 it was eagerly sought for at any price we 
 might choose to demand, and it is a satis- 
 faction to remember that the price de- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 59 
 
 manded was not exorbitant. On the 
 contrary, it was a sufficient reward to be 
 able to contribute to tbe relief of tbe poor 
 fellows wbo were so sadly in need. 
 
 In this connection I cannot forbear to 
 mention tbe delicacy of tbe French Inten- 
 dant, which was carried to such an absurd 
 extreme, that he refused to dine on board it 
 our abundant and comparatively luxuri- 
 ous table lest an unworthy motive should 
 be attributed to him. I can truly say 
 that in all my intercourse with the busi- 
 ness officers of the government I never 
 saw the least sign of bribery or corruption. 
 I believe that nearly all the money dis- 
 bursed by France, nominally for the ex- 
 penses of the war,was actually expended for 
 that purpose. I wish that the same could 
 be said of my experience in the transport 
 service of our Civil War, to prosecute 
 which an enormous national debt was in- 
 
6o AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 curred — no small part of it for individual 
 benefit. 
 
 Tlie Frenclimen were determined in all 
 cases to get value received for wliat they 
 paid out, and with this end in view they 
 kept us so busily at work that towards the 
 close of that winter I was glad to get an 
 order to proceed to Marseilles, where it 
 was found necessary and convenient to 
 make extensive repairs to boilers and ma- 
 chinery. These having been completed, 
 we renewed our accustomed routine of 
 the transport service, leaving Marseilles 
 deeply laden with shells and other war 
 materials in the hold, four hundred sol- 
 diers in the between-decks, and the upper 
 deck encumbered fore and aft with horse 
 stalls. 
 
 We had scarcely left the harbor when 
 a furious mistral burst upon us. Down 
 it came from the mountains, over the 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 6i 
 
 plains and into the Gulf of Lyons, where 
 it had full play for its fury. The wind 
 was dead aft, and we scudded before 
 it with a full head of steam, to keep out 
 of the way of the continually rising seas. 
 These at length were too much for us, as 
 they broke over the stern and either quar- 
 ter flooding the decks and pouring down 
 into the engine-room and the quarters of 
 the troops, and finding their way into the 
 hold. Some of the horse-stalls fetched 
 away, and two of the horses were pitched 
 through the skylight upon the heads of 
 the cylinders, necessitating a stop of the 
 engines until we could hoist them out and 
 throw them overboard. 
 
 Doubtless those officers and soldiers 
 afterwards marched up without fear or 
 trembling to storm the ramparts of Sebasto- 
 pol, but now they were utterly demoralized. 
 They had been seasick, but were seasick 
 
62 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 no longer. Fright effectually took the 
 place of the mal de mer. 
 
 It was indeed a critical situation. I 
 dared not round the ship to, in order to 
 bring her head to the wind, in which posi- 
 tion she would have been comparatively 
 safe, lest we should be swamped in the 
 evolution. So we kept on running, the 
 water gaining on us, until it got nearly 
 even with the furnace fires, in spite of all 
 that steam pumps and hand pumps could 
 do. Recourse was then had to bailing with 
 the deck buckets and with such as we 
 could extemporize. One important effect 
 of this process was that the panic was 
 overcome, as the soldiers were forced 
 into a bucket brigade and there was some- 
 thing to occupy their minds. The fire- 
 men steadily stuck to their duty, although 
 they were knee-deep in water. 
 
 At last the fierceness of the gale mod- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. d^ 
 
 erated, tlie seas subsided, and we went on 
 our way rejoicing, over smooth water and 
 under sunny skies. I made a little speecli 
 to les braves miliiaires^ thanking them for 
 the service they had rendered to them- 
 selves and to the ship, and ordered a 
 double allowance of cognac for them. 
 Then they cheered me as a " brave com- 
 manda7it^^ and we were all happy because 
 we had not been drowned. 
 
 When we reached Kamiesh we found 
 that it had changed its appearance since 
 we left it at the close of the winter. In 
 place of the outdoor accommodations, a 
 town had sprung up at the head of the Bay. 
 It was like San Francisco in its youth. 
 The story of gains to be derived from the 
 wants of the armies had flown to all parts 
 of Europe like those of the gold discov- 
 eries in California, and there was a general 
 rush to secure a portion of the prize. The 
 
64 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 new and heterogeneous population was 
 composed mostly of Greeks, Maltese, and 
 Jews. 
 
 As the season advanced the roads 
 had become more passable, and we im- 
 proved the opportunity to ride about the 
 plateau. There was only one carriage 
 in Kamiesh, an old Russian drosky, a 
 machine resembling a stage-coach with 
 wheels and no body. I had hired this 
 vehicle, to give my family a drive to Bala- 
 klava, a distance of eight miles, for the 
 price of twenty-five dollars. Refresh- 
 ments upon the road were also costly. 
 
 We passed the residence of Lord Rag- 
 lan, an old farmhouse which his lord- 
 ship would consider unfit for his horses 
 at home, but it was a palace here sur- 
 rounded by trees and vines. They were 
 the only trees and vines that had been 
 suffered to remain. . Everything else of 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 65 
 
 the kind had been cut down or rooted up 
 for fuel. The climate does not differ 
 much from that of New England, but the 
 want of shade rendered the summer heat 
 insupportable. 
 
 Balaklava, like Kamiesh, had wonder- 
 fully improved in appearance and com- 
 fort, but its crowded state soon made it 
 a scene of greater suffering in summer 
 than in winter. Surrounded by high 
 hills and deprived of the circulation of 
 air, the cholera made fearful havoc among 
 the shipping and the inhabitants. 
 
 On our return to Kamiesh we deviated 
 from the direct road to visit the Monastery 
 of St. George. The religious character 
 of this institution had preserved it and its 
 grounds from the general devastation of 
 the country around. Upon an eminence 
 of six hundred feet overlooking the 
 sea, whose waves were beating at the 
 
66 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 base of the cliff, it was at any time a 
 picturesque object, but was now more 
 attractive tban ever as an oasis in tlie 
 desert of war. Here some of the clergy 
 bad found a refuge, where they passed 
 their time in devotions, doubtless offer- 
 ing fervent prayers for peace to de- 
 scend upon their unhappy land. Their 
 sad and careworn faces seemed to speak 
 of sickened hearts and of hopes long de- 
 ferred. We attended service in the Cha- 
 pel, where the mournful cadence of their 
 voices chanting in an unknown tongue, 
 seemed to be a true interpretation of the 
 language of their souls. 
 
 A lady of rank, from whom the invaders 
 had wrested her property and whose man- 
 sion they had destroyed, whose husband 
 was their prisoner in a distant land, had 
 been afforded by the magnanimous foes who 
 were waging this war of civilization, a place 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 67 
 
 in the sanctuary to die. The only luxury 
 she had enjoyed for months was that now 
 upon her deathbed, in accents of broken 
 French, she could tell her sorrows to one 
 of her own sex, who came not from the 
 land of her enemies, and thus could find 
 consolation in mingled tears. Beautiful 
 as was the place, the sad thoughts these 
 scenes inspired, more sad than those of 
 battlefields, made us not reluctant to 
 leave it. 
 
6S AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ThK spring montlis were chiefly occu- 
 pied in short and frequent trips between 
 Kamiesh and Constantinople, and the 
 business came to be almost as monotonous 
 as that of a Long Island Sound steam- 
 boat. It was once, however, varied by a 
 delightful trip to Yenikale and Kertch in 
 the Sea of Azof, whither we were sent with 
 supplies for the French and Turkish troops 
 left there to garrison those towns recently 
 captured from the Russians. We carried 
 a small detachment of troops and a few 
 officers whose society was most agreeable. 
 It was an exquisite pleasure to see them 
 feasting at the table. Their great desire 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 69 
 
 was that some accident migHt happen to 
 the machinery, so that they could have 
 time to recuperate from their long enforced 
 starvation. 
 
 I will here take occasion to say a 
 word about our misine. The terms of 
 our charter were in brief fifty thousand 
 francs per month and our coal. Added 
 to this was a tariff for board and lodging 
 of the soldiers and officers. The allow- 
 ance for the soldiers was one franc and 
 sixty centimes per diem, and that for offi- 
 cers was graded according to their rank, 
 from three francs upward to five francs, 
 and six francs for a general, as if a 
 general could eat more than a subaltern. 
 
 It is needless to tell those of my readers 
 who have voyaged on passenger steamers 
 that there was '' no money " in this. On 
 the contrary, it entailed considerable loss, 
 but it was submitted to in consideration 
 
70 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 of the general profit derived from tlie 
 wliole contract. There was, moreover, a 
 curious clause at the end of the charter 
 party which was very verbose and minute 
 in its specifications. It was this : " In 
 case of disputes or misunderstandings 
 between the government and the captain, 
 the government shall be the sole arbiter." 
 After all, that did not differ very much 
 from the way in which our government 
 proposed to arbitrate questions connected 
 with the Monroe Doctrine. 
 
 On the first passage from Marseilles I 
 essayed to be as liberal as possible in 
 regard to the table. There was provided 
 a good solid breakfast of tea and coffee, 
 beefsteak, chicken, omelets, and buck- 
 wheat cakes ; for dinner at two o'clock, 
 we had soup, fish, roast meats, pies and 
 puddings ; and for supper, tea, and plenty 
 of cold meat and other accessories. The 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 71 
 
 soldiers were as amply fed as the crew, 
 and it is sufficient to say tliat tliere was 
 abundance fore and aft, and tlie receipts 
 did not amount to one-half of the ex- 
 penses. Strange as it may appear, there 
 was universal discontent. 
 
 On our return from this first voyage 
 to Marseilles I showed my agreement to 
 a popular restaurateur, and he said, " I 
 ask nothing more. I will take that con- 
 tract and give bonds to satisfy the gov- 
 ernment." His proposition was accepted, 
 and in order not to have two culinary 
 regimes in progress at the same time, I 
 paid off and discharged all my own crew 
 excepting the chief officer and chief en- 
 gineer, shipped a French one, and agreed 
 to pay for myself, my family, the purser, 
 and the two remaining officers the tariff 
 rate for generals. In short, although we 
 still flew the American flag at our peak, 
 
72 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 we became to all intents and purposes 
 Frenclimen, so that we almost forgot our 
 native tongue. 
 
 This arrangement worked admirably. 
 There was coffee early in the morning, a 
 dejeuner h la fourchette at noon, a dinner 
 of an infinite variety of small dishes with 
 abundance of vin ordinaire at six o'clock, 
 and a cup of tea in the evening. The res- 
 taurateur made a little fortune out of his 
 contract ; the government was satisfied ; 
 the officers, soldiers and sailors and fire- 
 men were satisfied ; the purser and I, re- 
 lieved from all care, were better satisfied 
 than any of them, and the only objection 
 to it all came from the innate cravings 
 of half a dozen American stomachs. 
 
 Our route along the coast of the Crimea, 
 in an easterly direction, was picturesque 
 and beautiful. The besom of war had not 
 swept over the green fields and vineyards, 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 73 
 
 for the civilizing allies had not there set 
 their feet. There was not a point of land 
 for the whole distance which we could not 
 have approached within a stone's throw. 
 Still, in order to keep out of the range 
 of masked batteries and rifles, prudence 
 dictated a proper degree of caution. 
 ^ Around the Bosphorus everything is 
 beautiful. Here beauty lay at the feet of 
 sublimity. In the distance were rugged 
 mountains and abrupt precipices seeming 
 to frown upon the lovely landscape below, 
 yet yielding it protection from the cold 
 northern blasts and sending down streams 
 in sparkling cascades to fertilize the 
 valleys. Vineyards and orchards lined 
 the coast, and in the background were 
 immense fields of waving grain. There 
 were hamlets above and towns below, 
 churches and palaces here and there, 
 everything denoting prosperity and 
 
74 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 happiness. The smile of the Almighty 
 had not yet faded from this garden of His 
 earth. What a change to us from a few 
 hours past, and what a change was to be 
 in a few hours to come ! 
 
 Yenikale, the place of our destination, 
 is a small seaport situated at the en- 
 trance of the Sea of Azof. While the 
 cargo was discharging we rode across the 
 country to Kertch, a distance of nine 
 miles. We entered the city with a feeling 
 of melancholy most oppressive. There 
 but a few weeks before had been a thriv- 
 ing city, its harbor filled with peaceful 
 traders, its magazines full of grain 
 and merchandise, its 18,000 inhabitants 
 thronging its streets or domesticated in 
 their often splendid homes or kneeling at 
 the altars of their magnificent churches, 
 all in mankind's general pursuit of gain, 
 pleasure and happiness. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 75 
 
 Now the blackened stumps of mastheads 
 showed where were the sunken hulls of 
 the vessels. The grain was still smoking 
 amidst the ruins of its storehouses, and this 
 happy people had been driven like thieves 
 from their own houses, all ransacked from 
 garret to cellar, after a surrender in which 
 protection of life and property had been 
 most solemnly promised. 
 
 As we passed along the deserted streets, 
 the empty buildings sent back the echo of 
 our horses' hoofs, and desolation seemed to 
 be in its tone. Even the churches were 
 desecrated, and " There," pointing to a pic- 
 tureless frame, a Russian priest, whose 
 scared figure flitted about the ruin of his 
 sanctuary, found only words to say, — 
 " there was our Saviour, till an English 
 sailor cut the canvas out." Seminaries of 
 learning had been destroyed, and their li- 
 braries given to the flames. Their splendid 
 
76 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 museum, one of the richest in the world 
 with treasures of antiquity, built upon 
 the foundations of the palace of Mithri- 
 dates, where cherished memorials of his 
 time and even of antecedent ages had 
 been piously collected, was ruthlessly 
 sacked, not for the purpose of enriching 
 temples of art elsewhere, as was done by 
 Napoleon when he pillaged Italy, but for 
 vandal pastime and insensate love of de- 
 struction, under the instigation of the 
 same drunken frenzy that perpetrated 
 murder and rape scarcely surpassed by 
 the hell-hounds of Delhi and Cawnpore. 
 What a comment upon the idea advanced 
 by the Western powers that Russia re- 
 quired lessons in civilization from them ! 
 
 The Turks who formed the garrison at 
 Yenikalewere very comfortably situated. 
 They had driven in from the country a 
 considerable number of cattle and sheep, 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 77 
 
 SO that they had plenty of beef and mut- 
 ton, and to spare. As provisions of 
 this kind were scarce at Kamiesh, we 
 availed ourselves of the opportunity to 
 obtain a supply. The purser and I ac- 
 cordingly repaired to the camp, and sought 
 an interview with the Pasha in command, 
 who received us with great courtesy, but 
 he could speak neither Bnglish nor PVench 
 and we had only about a half-dozen words 
 of Turkish at command. 
 
 First, we made mutual salaams, and then 
 sat down together on the grass ; next I 
 offered him and his officers some cigars. 
 We smoked for a while in silence. Indeed, 
 the whole occasion was one of silence. At 
 last I drew a paper from my pocket and 
 made a sketch of the steamer, which was 
 tolerably exact and easily recognized ; then 
 I made one of a steer and another one of a 
 sheep. They were distinguishable, for one 
 
78 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 had horns and the other had not. I showed 
 it to the Pasha, and pointing to the repre- 
 sentation of the steer, raised two fingers. 
 He nodded an understanding assent. I 
 then pointed to the supposed sheep and 
 spread out the fingers of both hands twice. 
 He realized that this meant twenty. 
 Next I said in an inquiring tone, " Evet ? " 
 That means, '' yes," and it is one of the 
 six words that I knew. The Pasha nod- 
 ded his approval and repeated '' Evet " in 
 an approving tone. 
 
 Thus much having been accomplished, 
 I took a handful of sovereigns from my 
 pocket and held them out to the Pasha in 
 the palm of my hand. After some deliber- 
 ation he gathered in eight of them,and then 
 pressing my fingers on the ten or twelve 
 that remained, indicated that I should put 
 them back in my pocket. I did so, and 
 pointed down to the harbor, whereupon he 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. yg 
 
 detailed some soldiers to round up the ani- 
 raals, and when they had got the requisite 
 number together he ordered them to drive 
 them down to the beach, from whence they 
 were speedily put on board the ship. Only 
 two words had passed between us, and 
 they were all-sufficient. So that was the 
 way in which I traded with a Turk. Had 
 he been a Jew or a Yankee, many more 
 words and sovereigns would have passed 
 between us. 
 
 We took on board a number of invalids 
 whom we were to transport to Gallipoli 
 in the Dardanelles, and thence with a load 
 of cattle, we again sailed for the Crimea. 
 After clearing the Bosphorus wc became 
 enveloped in a thick fog for the whole 
 passage across the Black Sea. It was not 
 surprising, therefore, that we slightly over- 
 ran the distance, and did not make a very 
 good landfall. In consequence of this, 
 
8o AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 serious disaster was narrowly avoided. 
 Suddenly in the early morning tlie veil 
 lifted and we found ourselves running di- 
 rectly into tlie harbor of Sebastopol and 
 almost under the guns of Fort Constan- 
 tine. Of course we were seen as plainly as 
 we could see, and as we turned about in all 
 haste to escape into the o£&ng, shot after 
 shot came booming after us, splashing 
 the water all around, but fortunately there 
 had not been time to get an accurate 
 range before the fog shut down again. 
 Never was a fog more gratefully welcomed. 
 The Russians naturally supposed that 
 we were making the best possible time 
 towards Kamiesh, and so they banged 
 away in that direction with the hope that 
 a chance shot might take effect ; but all 
 this while we were steering due west as 
 fast as our screw could revolve, and it was 
 not until we were fairly out of gun-shot 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 8i 
 
 that we turned to tlie soutli, and then, 
 after a sufficient detour, headed for the 
 port of our destination. 
 
 The roar of artillery and the crack of 
 rifles day and night had long since be- 
 come so familiar that we came to regard 
 them as part of our daily life, and as we 
 were at a safe distance they did not dis- 
 turb our sleep ; but at daylight on the 
 morning of the eighteenth of June we be- 
 came conscious that there was something 
 unusual in the air, as suddenly hell itself 
 seemed to have broken loose. No one 
 had dreamed of the preconcerted and sim- 
 ultaneous attack of the allies on the de- 
 fences of Sebastopol, for we had supposed, 
 as the beseigers themselves to their sor- 
 row discovered on that disastrous day, 
 that the trenches had not been sufficiently 
 advanced for the assault. 
 
 Nevertheless, the attempt was now made, 
 6 
 
82 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 and the battle was waged witli varying 
 success from early dawn until tlie darkness 
 of niglit closed down upon tlie horrible 
 scene of slaughter. There was no cavalry 
 charge like that of Balaklava with artil- 
 lery on only one side, but it was artillery 
 on both sides now. When it was all over, 
 the unsuccessful invaders were fifteen 
 thousand less in number than when it 
 began. At one part of the day this Quix- 
 otic charge was nearly successful, not a 
 few of the French troops having succeeded 
 in scaling the earth-works of the Malakoff . 
 All was consternation ashore and afloat 
 at Kamiesh and at Balaklava, and every 
 transport received orders to go to sea at a 
 moment's warning. All day long bombs 
 were whistling and bursting in every di- 
 rection. A blaze of fire illuminated the 
 sky from the horizon to the zenith, and 
 terrific explosions causing the ships in 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 83 
 
 the harbor to tremble to their keels, while 
 
 " Earth shook ; red meteors flashed across the sky, 
 And conscious Nature shuddered at the cry." 
 
 We climbed to the mast-heads, and some 
 of us went up to a little knoll two or 
 three miles from the harbor to get a 
 better view of the fight. But little more 
 was to be seen excepting when, through 
 the smoke " far flashed the red artillery ; " 
 and as stray shots occasionally ploughed up 
 the ground around us, we did not remain 
 long upon the hill. 
 
 The allies were finally repulsed, and 
 before morning dawned, the town of 
 Kamiesh was filled with the wounded. 
 Had it not been for them there would 
 have probably been a rush of everybody 
 and everything on shore for the ships 
 that would perhaps have tried to get to 
 sea, for it was the general impression 
 that the Russians would follow up their 
 
84 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 advantage, and come ont in force to drive 
 away tlieir demoralized enemies. 
 
 As reports iiad come in from tlie battle- 
 field during tlie day, not only tlie officials 
 but the camp followers and merchants 
 were most seriously alarmed. Tbe latter 
 picked up tbeir belongings, and piteously 
 begged for leave to bring tbem on board 
 tbe ships, and it was not until tbe next 
 day indicated tbat we should not be 
 molested, that confidence returned and 
 people resumed tlieir usual vocations. 
 
 Fortunately for them, the besieged had 
 suffered nearly as much as the besiegers 
 and they were content with repulsing 
 their assailants instead of following up the 
 advantage they had gained. If they had 
 been able to improve it we should have 
 been at their mercy. There were thirteen 
 hundred sailing vessels in the harbor of 
 Kamiesh alone, and there would have 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 85 
 
 been sucli a jam tliat we could not liave 
 gotten out. They miglit liave set on fire 
 and destroyed tlie whole fleet. 
 
 Such a contingency had often occurred 
 to us, and there was a constant fear that 
 among the Greeks who formed a part of 
 the crews, there might have been some 
 Russian spies who could on any night 
 simultaneously have set a number of 
 ships on fire to windward, and caused 
 the unavoidable destruction of them all. 
 With this in mind, I always selected a 
 berth as near as possible to the mouth of 
 the harbor and kept the fires constantly 
 banked. It was strange indeed that this 
 means of doing more injury to their ene- 
 mies than could have been caused by 
 sorties or battles was not improved by the 
 Russians. 
 
 There was no time lost in the morning. 
 Every steamer and sailing ship that could 
 
86 AN- AMERICA N TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 be utilized was ordered to make prepara- 
 tions to receive and carry away all the 
 wounded tliat were not actually dying, to 
 tlie hospitals below, and some of those 
 who could bear the transportation to 
 Marseilles. Hasty preparations were 
 accordingly made by covering the lower 
 decks with straw for human bedding as 
 we bedded down the horses and cattle. 
 Then the steamers took the sailing vessels 
 in tow, and v/e all proceeded down the 
 Black Sea, our destination being Mar- 
 seilles. 
 
 From thence we were sent to Algeria 
 to take a regiment of Zouaves to the 
 Crimea. Owing to the necessity for some 
 correspondence with France — which for 
 want of telegraphic communication re- 
 quired a week for a reply — we had that 
 time at disposal for a journey of a hun- 
 dred miles in the interior to visit Con- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 87 
 
 stantine, tlie ancient capital of Jugurtha. 
 It liad been for many years a stronghold 
 of the Arabs, and was wrested from them 
 by the French after a prolonged siege, in 
 which the garrison was starved out, the 
 assault of the perpendicular cliffs on 
 which the citadel was built being out of 
 the question. The account of their heroic 
 resistance, until famine compelled sur- 
 render, is historical, like that of the siege 
 of Saragossa, and like that it will live for 
 all time to come, and stir the hearts of 
 patriots everywhere who are willing to 
 sacrifice their lives in the sacred cause of 
 their country. ' 
 
88 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ThKRE^ was no railroad tlien to Con- 
 stantine, and we travelled slowly by dili- 
 gence, our road lighted at intervals by 
 bonfires as a protection against tlie wild 
 beasts tbat infested this region. Return- 
 ing to our port of Philip ville, we took the 
 Zouaves on board and were ready for sea. 
 As an instance of the unvarying attention 
 and politeness of the French officers 
 everywhere with whom we came in con- 
 tact, I must record my obligations to the 
 general in command, who invited us to 
 dine, and then, taking me out to his 
 stable, presented me with a beautiful 
 Arab stallion. The docile creature be- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 89 
 
 came so accustomed to getting to and 
 from the ship in a small boat, that I had 
 the pleasure of horseback exercise in 
 every port. When the steamer was sold 
 at the close of the war, he was shipped in 
 a return sailing transport to New York, 
 and carried me many a mile in our own 
 country until he was superannuated. 
 
 The allies sustained their heaviest 
 losses in the summer months of 1855. 
 They came more from disease than from 
 battle. We perused with astonishment 
 the accounts of what was transpiring 
 around us, as they reached us in the 
 French and English newspapers. " The 
 sanitary condition of the army is excel- 
 lent," was the stereotyped despatch to the 
 London Times from Lord Raglan until 
 he, himself, died with the cholera, and the 
 same message was regularly sent in re- 
 gard to the navy by Admiral Boxer, till 
 
go AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 he, too, was taken off by the same dread 
 disease. 
 
 There was more of truth in the ad- 
 miral's report than that of the general, 
 for there was comparatively little sick- 
 ness afloat, as the sailors were subjected 
 to no exposure or hardship, and were 
 better fed and cared for than the soldiers. 
 But the messages of Lord Raglan and 
 General Pelissier had their effect in de- 
 ceiving their countrymen at home and 
 encouraging perseverance in the war, 
 while everybody on the ground knew 
 they were stupendous falsehoods. 
 
 We transported some of the eighteen 
 hundred survivors who were originally in 
 the camp at Maslak, after it had been re- 
 peatedly announced that but a few caseS of 
 cholera had occurred there. In Eupatoria 
 the garrison of thirteen thousand had been 
 reduced to six thousand without a battle. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 91 
 
 Among our passengers were frequently 
 surgeons of the army and officers of higli 
 rank. They agreed in fixing as the 
 lowest estimate the loss of the allies for 
 that summer at thirty thousand men. 
 Sickness was prevalent, too, among the 
 civilians and aboard the ships. Our sur- 
 geon, to whom we owed a debt of gratitude 
 for his sanitary precautions which kept 
 us all in good health, was constantly oc- 
 cupied while we were in port. One day 
 I said to him as he returned to the ship 
 with a pocketful of napoleons and five- 
 franc pieces, '' Doctor, you get rid of 
 more medicine here in two hours than you 
 have dispensed on board the ship since 
 you joined us." He replied, " Ah, well, 
 you" pay me by the month." 
 
 The secret of our immunity was that 
 we never drank any water that had not 
 been filtered elsewhere or distilled on 
 
92 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 board. In the naval fleet the water was 
 never brought on board from the shore, 
 but was always distilled. On land this 
 precaution was perforce not taken. Still, 
 something might have been done to pre- 
 vent the soldiers from drinking the water 
 of stagnant pools and streams polluted 
 with the carcasses of dead animals that 
 had been dumped into them to save the 
 trouble of burial. It really seemed as if 
 the allies were not content with being 
 killed in their engagements with the Rus- 
 sians, but were determined to add to 
 battle, and murder, the sudden death 
 they brought upon themselves. 
 
 The men wounded in the various battles 
 and skirmishes, as well as fever and cholera 
 patients, Vv^ere cared for as far as possible 
 in temporary hospitals under canvas, for 
 there were no buildings left standing when 
 it was known by the Russians that the 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 93 
 
 allies would occupy the territory around 
 Sebastopol. The Moscow policy was 
 adopted again. 
 
 So soon as the patients became con- 
 valescent or partly so, they were shipped 
 to Scutari, where there was plenty of 
 room for them and a better chance for 
 their recovery. A large fleet of steamers 
 was constantly employed in this trans- 
 portation. On the return we were ac- 
 customed to bring recruits, horses, stores 
 and ammunition. The lower deck, with 
 the exception of the cabin reserved for 
 officers, was fitted up as a permanent 
 stable. When carrying cattle or troops, 
 the bars between the stalls were removed, 
 making room for four hundred cattle, two 
 thousand sheep, seven hundred soldiers, 
 or two hundred and fifty sick and v/ounded. 
 The crowded condition of the little steamer, 
 measuring only six hundred and thirteen 
 
94 ^^ AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 tons, including the machinery, may be 
 imagined. The cattle, however, were of a 
 very small breed, and, being furnished 
 by contractors with regard to number 
 and not to weight, they were so thin 
 that they could be easily stowed away, 
 and so light that they were always hoisted 
 in and out by the horns. 
 
 In our civil war, although there was an 
 enormous amount of bribery, corruption, 
 and stealing that was unknown in the 
 French commissariat and intendance, there 
 v/as seldom such overcrowding as this. 
 An inferior class of transports was, how- 
 ever, employed, rotten old hulks. North 
 River barges fitted with teakettle power, 
 being accepted by our government officials 
 — for a consideration. We were then, as we 
 still are, prohibited from the purchase of 
 substantial iron steamers from abroad, and 
 such rattle-traps as these were necessarily 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 95 
 
 employed for the emolument of their 
 owners, who considered protection of home 
 industry of this kind to be good policy. 
 The coast from Maine to Florida was lined 
 with these coffins of our soldiers, whose 
 only satisfaction was, before they were 
 drowned, that they were not packed as 
 were these Frenchmen, like sardines in 
 a box. 
 
 Upon arrival at Kamiesh, with any of 
 these supplies from Marseilles or Con- 
 stantinople, frequently scarcely an hour 
 was allowed to cleanse the Augean stables. 
 As the last package, man, beast or am- 
 munition, went over the side, the hose was 
 led to play on the decks, and whitewash 
 was laid on the ceiling. The decks were 
 then swabbed and clean straw was strewed 
 upon them, whereon were placed the sick 
 and wounded. 
 
 The unpleasant nature of this occupa- 
 
96 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 tion may be readily conceived, and I will 
 not sliock sensibility by minute descrip- 
 tion of tbe objects of misery tbat came 
 under our cbarge. Turned out from the 
 camp hospitals where man}^ of them might 
 have survived, sometimes in a critical 
 stage of fever or cholera, they were 
 brought at early morning in ambulances 
 or on mules, one slung on each side of 
 the animal, and arrived at about eight or 
 nine o'clock at the beach. There I have 
 seen hundreds of them lying in the hot 
 sun for hours, the steamers, or the scows 
 in which they were to be floated oif not 
 being ready to receive them. There 
 they groaned, and cursed, and prayed — 
 prayed for death. Many died upon the 
 beach and upon the short passage to the 
 ship, and some died as they were being 
 carried up the ladders. As we steamed 
 away at our fullest speed, many a poor 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. . 97 
 
 fellow found liis grave in tlie Black Sea. 
 The Buxine is its rightful name in geog- 
 raphy and history, but now it came to de- 
 serve the name by which it is more often 
 called. 
 
 Familiarity with misery and death 
 tends to make the hearts of men cal- 
 lous, and dries up the fountains of sympa- 
 thetic tears. One day as I was taking 
 my rounds in the between-decks, I came 
 to a poor man in the last agonies of 
 cholera. He was powerless to help him- 
 self, and his glassy eyes showed that he 
 was beyond the reach of hope. Seated 
 near him was another not severely 
 wounded soldier, employed in mending 
 his clothes. I said to him, " Why don't 
 you try to do something for that poor fel- 
 low, and at least brush the flies from his 
 face ? " " That's not my affair," he re- 
 plied ; ''I did not come from the same 
 
98 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 hospital, and besides lie belongs to an in- 
 fantry regiment." " What is all that row 
 about ? " I asked a chief officer on another 
 occasion. '' It comes from some of the 
 soldiers," he answered, " because we had 
 to disturb their game of cards when haul- 
 ing up a couple of dead men from the fore 
 hatch." 
 
 But let us turn to the only humaniz- 
 ing feature of this sad experience — the 
 never-failing sympathy and tenderness of 
 those blessed Sisters of Charity. As soon 
 as we anchored off Scutari, by day or by 
 night, in summer or in winter, in sun- 
 shine or in storm, they were alongside 
 the ship. At sight of them, the ferocious 
 soldiers for the time changed their nat- 
 ures. When they descended among the 
 sick, whose lips were almost sealed in 
 death, grateful eyes spoke in clearer tones 
 than words could express. They brought 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 99 
 
 witli them little delicacies to tempt the 
 appetite, and ointments and dressings for 
 the mangled limbs of the wonnded. 
 There they sat down npon the filthy straw 
 among them, and when earthly snccor 
 was of no more avail, they soothed their 
 dying moments by telling them of 
 
 " A sovereign balm for all their woes, 
 A cordial for their fears." 
 
 Florence Nightingale has nobly won 
 a renown that will endnre for ages, and 
 this part of her reward she has npon 
 earth. St. Arnand, Raglan, Canrobert, 
 Pelissier, Omar Pasha, Gortchakoff, and 
 other heroes of the war have written their 
 names in blood upon the scroll of 
 history. The name of no one of these 
 Sisters of Charity has been sounded by 
 the trumpet of fame. Barth has never 
 rewarded them, for they sought not wealth 
 
I OO AN A MERTCAN TRANS FOR T IN 
 
 or applause, but their names have been 
 written on tbe records of heaven, in tears 
 of gratitude and holy love. 
 
 The main defences of Sebastopol, after 
 a persistent siege of nearly a year, were 
 at length captured on the 8th of Sep- 
 tember, 1855. The town, a wreck of 
 brick and mortar, that had been riddled 
 for so many months by a storm of iron, 
 was evacuated by its remaining inhabi- 
 tants. The old wooden fleet, comprising 
 but few vessels fit for modern warfare, 
 was scuttled and sunk in the harbor. 
 In one night the Russian garrison, after 
 thus disposing of the fleet, blew up the 
 southern forts, crossed and burned the 
 bridge, and retired unmolested to their 
 northern Gibraltar, which commanded the 
 ground that they had previously occupied, 
 thus performing the most masterly evolu- 
 tion of this eventful war. Everything of 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. loi 
 
 value that was left to their enemies were 
 tlie splendid docks whose position sheltered 
 them from the Russian guns. Actuated 
 by the same vandal spirit which led them 
 to destroy the treasures of antiquity of 
 Kertch, they proceeded systematically 
 with the destruction of these works un- 
 equalled by any others at that date. 
 
 A few days afterwards we visited the 
 captured city, having hired the same old 
 drosky on which we made the excursion 
 to Balaklava months before. It was 
 nearly the only four-wheeled vehicle that 
 could be obtained, and its owner derived 
 a large income from its profitable employ- 
 ment, at the rate of a dollar per mile. 
 My wife could sit upon it with difiiculty, 
 but it was necessary to pass lashings 
 over the young lady of six, whose curi- 
 osity, like that of her mother, was bomb- 
 proof. First we proceeded over a tolera- 
 
102 . AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 bly good road througli the Frencli head- 
 quarters, stopping for a moment to pay 
 our respects to General Pelissier at his 
 little ten-foot shanty, and then went on 
 to the English camp, where we were po- 
 litely received and furnished with a pass 
 to enter Sebastopol. It was necessary to 
 be provided with this, as a general admis- 
 sion was forbidden, it having been found 
 that large crowds frequently drew a heavy 
 fire from the north side, whereas, under 
 this regulation, the risk was diminished. 
 The road, which, after leaving the 
 F'rench camp, had gradually been growing 
 worse and worse, now became villainous 
 as we bounded over it on this cart-frame 
 without springs or cushions. For the 
 last two miles the ground was literally 
 covered with balls and fragments of 
 shells that had been fired from the Mala- 
 koff and Redan. We passed several regi- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 103 
 
 mental cemeteries of the Bnglisli. That 
 of the 1 1 7th was neatly fenced and kept 
 in order like a garden, presenting a pleas- 
 ing contrast to the general inhuman dis- 
 position of the dead. 
 
 Being now on the Woronzoff road, we 
 passed the Mamelon Vert. This fort 
 had been in the possession of the allies 
 for a long time, and under its cover the 
 final successful rush was made, when the 
 English were exposed to such a storm of 
 shot as had seldom before been faced by 
 an army, and which nothing but emula- 
 tion could have enabled them to en- 
 counter. Standing there now it was dif- 
 ficult to imagine the possibility of its 
 accomplishment, even if the thousands of 
 dead who had been thrown into the 
 ravine had already been there to lessen 
 its depth. We first entered the Redan, 
 and there, as afterwards at the Malakoff, 
 
1 04 AN AMERICAN TRA NSPOR T IN 
 
 all preconceived notions were dissipated. 
 Instead of granite walls of masonry, 
 tliere were barricades of sand-bags, more 
 formidable and more easily repaired tban 
 fortifications of stone. From thence we 
 looked down upon the city, wbicb before 
 liad been seen bnt indistinctly. Now the 
 whole town was exposed to view, and a 
 melancholy view it was indeed. Scarcely 
 a house had been untouched, and whole 
 blocks and squares had been completely 
 demolished. The mast-heads of the 
 ships in the harbor were above v/ater, and 
 the pride of the Russian navy, " The 
 Twelve Apostles," could be seen almost 
 down to her deck. Forts Constantine 
 and Catherine, were blazing away occa- 
 sionally, principally upon that part of 
 the town where the French were throw- 
 ing up breastv/orks against it. We de- 
 scended to the city merely that we might 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 105 
 
 say that we liad been in Sebastopol, and 
 walked about what Gortciiakoff so aptly 
 termed its " bloody ruins." But we soon 
 saw enough of its desolation, and were 
 willing to leave this charnel-house, whose 
 horrid odors had more effect in driving 
 us away than the booming of the guns. 
 
 The estimate of plunder found in the 
 city has been much exaggerated, the in- 
 habitants having long before removed 
 their money and' valuables to places of 
 safety in the country. The prey that 
 remained was distributed in a ratio of 
 two-thirds to the French and one-third to 
 the English, each of whom made the 
 Sardinians a small allowance. The 
 Turks got nothing, it being supposed 
 that they owed the whole of their share 
 in gratitude ! 
 
 Ascending a quarter of a mile, we stood 
 upon the Malakoff, the key of Sebas- 
 
lo6 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 topol. From its summit was the most 
 comprehensive view, and the whole field 
 of operations could be taken in at a 
 glance. The tower of the Malakoff, of 
 which so much has been said, v/as noth- 
 ing but a small stone battlement, whose 
 foundation only remained. The earth- 
 works were like those of the Redan, ex- 
 cepting that they consisted of baskets of 
 dirt and of rigging of dismantled ships, 
 instead of bags of sand. The position 
 far exceeded that of the Redan in size, 
 strength and ability for desperate resist- 
 ance. In both forts, as well as everywhere 
 else in the vicinity, the ground had been 
 ploughed up by shells, which must have 
 cost the lives of thousands of the brave 
 defenders. 
 
 From this height the labor of months and 
 the result of the final conflict could be seen 
 at a glance. Beneath lay the ruined city ; 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 107 
 
 beyond, tlie Harbor dotted witb. tbe mast- 
 heads of sunken ships ; further still, the 
 bristling Russian batteries terraced above 
 each other, and vomiting fire and shot upon 
 the enemy, tantalized by the sight of an 
 unavailable prize. Turning around and 
 looking beneath we could see the long zig- 
 zag lines of attack, those of the French 
 reaching to the base of the Malakoff. 
 Thence the nimble Zouaves, who decided 
 the fate of the day, sprang at the signal 
 and scaled the parapets with a bound. 
 
 At the right and facing the Redan were 
 the Bnglish works uncompleted in their 
 length. By Pelissier's order, the Bn- 
 glish were obliged to storm the Redan 
 under a disadvantage not shared by the 
 French ; for they were forced to run 
 down a hill into the ravine, and thence to 
 attempt an ascent which proved to be im- 
 possible. Nearly all were mowed down 
 
Io8 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 by tlie Russian guns and fell into this 
 valley of the shadow of death, which 
 became a vale of mortality made almost 
 level with the bodies of the slain. The 
 English were compelled to retreat. But 
 the Redan was evacuated in the night, 
 and they entered it unmolested in the 
 morning. 
 
 The conflict was yet too recent for the 
 dust of men and the dust of earth to be 
 mingled together. Mangled and unburied 
 corpses were still seen around, and the 
 air was impregnated with this vast human 
 sacrifice. 
 
 The brave soldiers who perished in the 
 attack belong now to a legion of honor. 
 The altar of patriotism is the monument 
 of the defenders, and a halo of glory sur- 
 rounds their memory — a memory forever 
 enshrined in the heart of Russia, of the 
 gallant band who withstood that year's 
 
THE CRIMEAN- WAR. 109 
 
 long, fiery rain, not for honor, but for 
 country and for home. 
 
 By a tacit understanding, the dinner 
 hour had been respected during the siege, 
 and both parties were allowed to dine 
 quietly, and after a suitable allowance of 
 time for pipes and cigars, fighting was re- 
 sumed. It was therefore justly considered 
 an affront by the Russians when this con- 
 ventional truce was broken by the other 
 side, and the French commenced the 
 scaling of the Malakoff, just as they 
 were sitting down at their noonday meal. 
 
 But now the practice had been resumed, 
 and everything was quiet, till about two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, when the Russians 
 could be seen bestirring themselves across 
 the bay. Forts Constantine and Cath- 
 erine were becoming more energetic, and 
 a little battery across the harbor began to 
 exercise its mortars in our direction. We 
 
1 1 o AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 accordingly executed a speedy retreat 
 across the ravine below tlie Redan where 
 our cart was in waiting. Just as we were 
 driving away, a shell burst in the centre 
 of the Malakoff and another over the path 
 on which we descended. 
 
 Here is an extract from a letter written 
 on the next day to a Boston newspaper : 
 
 " To own the truth, however incumbent 
 it was upon me, as your correspondent, 
 to enter Sebastopol, I felt that I had in- 
 curred a risk for others who were of vastly 
 more importance to me than are the read- 
 ers of the Journal. But ' all's well that 
 ends well,' and I do not regret it now. 
 Female curiosity has been satisfied. 
 What American woman would depart 
 from the neighborhood of such a scene 
 without investigating it, regardless of a 
 little danger, and years hence (God bless 
 her ! may it be many of them !) my little 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. m 
 
 daughter may tell her children of the 
 ever memorable siege of Sebastopol, and 
 of that lovely autumn day when she stood 
 upon the Malakoff and clapped her hands 
 with delight as the balls came whizzing 
 over her head." 
 
AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Our contract with, the French gov- 
 ernment had now nearly expired, and 
 although it might have been renewed, it 
 was not advisable. As has been already 
 intimated, the French, while strictly hon- 
 orable in all their dealings, were hard 
 task-masters, and were always on the 
 alert to get the full worth of their money. 
 There was a clause in their charter party 
 to the effect that any delay on our part 
 caused by accident to the ship or machin- 
 ery should incur a reduction of pay corre- 
 sponding with the time lost thereby. If 
 we shut down steam for an hour or two, 
 even if we made the same speed under 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 113 
 
 canvas, while prosecuting repairs, it was 
 sure to be reported by some one of the 
 passengers. But it was " nominated in 
 tlie bond," and we liad no rigbt to com- 
 plain of it. 
 
 Nevertbeless, the conditions were so 
 onerous that, as the Turkish govern- 
 ment offered the same rates, I con- 
 cluded to become a Mussulman for the 
 time being. In their service we had, on 
 the whole, an exceedingly easy time. 
 The French idea of putting off nothing 
 for the morrow that could be done to-day 
 was exactly reversed. Anything that 
 should be done to-day was postponed till 
 to-morrow excepting in case of dire neces- 
 sity. 
 
 Having made the agreement with the 
 
 Minister of War, I drew up a charter 
 
 party similar to the one we had with the 
 
 French, taking care, however, to omit the 
 8 
 
114 ^^ AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 provision that in all disputes the govern- 
 ment was to be the sole arbiter, and pre- 
 sented it to the Minister for his signature. 
 He cast a half -awake look at it and asked, 
 "What is that?" "The charter party, 
 your Excellency," I replied. " A charter 
 party ? What is a charter party ? " 
 " ¥/liy, your Excellency, it is our agree- 
 ment." " Our agreement ! " he repeated 
 after me. " Well, have we not agreed to 
 pay you what you had from the French, 
 — ^2,000 per month and your coal?" 
 "Precisely so," I answered. "And this 
 is it." He took the paper, scanned it 
 over, and then returned it to me saying, 
 that there appeared to be a great many 
 words used to express a very simple 
 matter, and that there was no use for any 
 writing, for all that I had to do was to 
 come at the end of the month and get 
 my money. Thereupon I told him that 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 115 
 
 for my own part I needed no paper, as I 
 was fully satisfied witli his word, but that 
 the other owners of the ship at home 
 would object to my doing business in that 
 way. " Ah, well," he replied, " if you 
 must have a paper, make it short as 
 possible. Sit down and write this : 
 * The Ottoman Government charters the 
 William Penn at ^2,000 a month, fur- 
 nishing the coal and paying for passen- 
 gers' food the same as heretofore." 
 
 I wrote that down accordingly, and hav- 
 ing signed it, with a yawn he returned to 
 his pipe and his coffee. The money was as 
 punctually paid as if this simple charter 
 party had covered a ream of paper, and 
 although we went when we were told to 
 go and stayed when we were not told to 
 go, I honestly think that there was a great 
 deal of pay for a very little work. Our 
 trips were generally from Constantinople 
 
1 1 6 AN A MERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 to Varna or Bupatoria, that is, wHen we 
 did anything but lay at the dock. 
 
 On arrival it was my duty to report to 
 Mustapha at the Arsenal. Always when 
 admitted to his presence I found him cross- 
 legged on the divan in exactly the same 
 spot and position he occupied v/hen I had 
 last taken leave. He must have moved in 
 order to go to bed at night, but it did not 
 seem as if he needed to have done so, for 
 he appeared to be asleep most of the time. 
 
 I made my habitual salaam, which he 
 acknowledged v/ith a slight nod, and then 
 made a motion with his hand that I was 
 to sit down, which I did, not after his 
 fashion, but after my own. A sort of 
 grunt brought a servant, and some kind 
 of a signal, without the needless use of 
 words, told him that he was to bring 
 coffee and chibooks, both of which, partic- 
 ularly the coffee, I detested. Coffee pre- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 117 
 
 pared in Ttirkisli style is an abomination 
 of fine grounds stirred np v/itli hot water 
 strained th rough the teeth before it can 
 be swallowed, and there is an unpleasant 
 bitterness in the taste of their tobacco. 
 Nevertheless, it would have been a breach 
 of etiquette to decline the offered refresh- 
 ments. 
 
 Silently we sat and sipped and smoked 
 for perhaps ten minutes until the Pasha 
 broke the dream-like stillness by ask- 
 ing, " When did you arrive ? " '' This 
 morning at eight o'clock, your Excel- 
 lency." " I will send your coal to-morrow." 
 That was all that there was to be said, 
 and it was the end of the interview. The 
 coal did not come on the morrow, but it 
 came in little driblets towards the end of 
 the week. Meantime the pay was going 
 on, and I rather liked this change from the 
 energetic practice of the French. 
 
1 18 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 Once we were sent up to Bupatoria in 
 the dead of winter with a cargo of stores. 
 When we arrived, it was blowing a gale on 
 a lee shore, and several vessels were an- 
 chored in the outer roads, rolling and pitch- 
 ing in the big seas that were tumbling 
 on to the beach. We anchored ahead 
 of a sailing ship, giving her, as I sup- 
 posed, a suf&cient berth. But instead of 
 riding with two anchors with ninety fath- 
 oms of chain to each, she was riding with 
 one hundred and eighty fathoms out at a 
 single anchor in eight fathoms of water. 
 
 Suddenly in the night there was a fear- 
 ful crash under our stern. In rising and 
 falling on the seas, the propeller had 
 struck the chain of the ship astern of us 
 and was shivered at the hub, leaving the 
 shaft bare ! This was indeed a most un- 
 fortunate accident, for although no such 
 contingency was provided for in the con- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 119 
 
 cise agreement drawn up by tlie Minister 
 of War, I felt that I was in honor bound 
 to claim no pay while off duty till another 
 propeller could be substituted. 
 
 "This is a bad business, Mr. Sears," I said 
 to my chief officer. Mr. Sears was a genu- 
 ine Cape Cod Yankee, and I was greatly 
 attracted to him for his sterling good quali- 
 ties, and his characteristic humor was 
 always enlivening. His experience had 
 heretofore been entirely in sailing vessels, 
 and he had a very poor opinion of " bilers 
 and fireplaces " in the hold, and was al- 
 ways expecting a fire. But nothing ever 
 disturbed the equilibrium of his philoso- 
 phy. 
 
 Once, when in the French service, 
 as we were crossing the Black Sea in a 
 heavy gale, a fire broke out in some cot- 
 ton waste in the engine-room. As I 
 jumped belov^^ to see that the hose was 
 
1 2 o AN A MERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 led on, I sliouted to Sears to keep tlie 
 sliip off before the wind, to lessen tlie 
 draught. 
 
 A French General who happened to be 
 on board, who would not have winked be- 
 fore the guns of Sebastopol, was, like many 
 of the soldiers, paralyzed with fear. He 
 rushed up to Sears, who was standing by 
 the man at the wheel, exclaiming, " Oh, 
 Monsieur Se — ars, ze ship vill burn, vill 
 burn, vill burn ! " 
 
 ^' Like enough," he replied, interject- 
 ing an order (" steady as you go "). 
 " I've been cal'ating on that for some 
 time. What can you expect when there 
 is so much fire around ? Mebbe we'll 
 put it out, and mebbe we won't. You'd 
 better get them sojers of yourn for'ard. 
 I want to have the davit tackle falls ready 
 for runnin'. Take it easy, Gineral, you 
 can't do nothing but keep out of the way. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 121 
 
 Whatever is fated will come to pass ; 
 that's sartain." 
 
 When we were shut up with all the 
 other vessels in the port of Marseilles at 
 the time of the fearful cholera visitation 
 in the summer of 1854, and the fleet was 
 abandoned to the care of ship-keepers, I 
 offered to take him with us into the 
 country, but he bluntly refused to go. 
 
 " I can look out for the ship better than 
 any ship-keeper," he said. *' If it is fated 
 for me to catch the cholera, in course I 
 shall catch it, and if it ain't, I shan't. 
 No, sir, I am going to stay aboard, and 
 get my grub ashore, if there is anything 
 fit to eat. That's the worst of it, for these 
 darned French dishes may give me the 
 cholera after all ; but that depends on 
 how it is fated." 
 
 Sears was very reticent about matters 
 pertaining to his home circle, and we had 
 
122 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 been away six months before any letter 
 came to him. At last one day in the 
 Consul's office I found one addressed to 
 '' Snow Y. Sears, First-mate of Steamer 
 William Penn," having upon it the post- 
 mark of Hyannis. On handing it to him 
 lie put it into his pocket. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Sears," I said, " aren't you 
 going to read your letter you have been 
 waiting for so long ? " ''I haven't been 
 waiting for it," he replied, " it's come of 
 itself. I was going to keep it till after 
 dinner, but I suppose I might as well 
 read it now." 
 
 With that, he slowly opened it, glanced 
 at the signature to see from whom it came, 
 and then read it with unmoved features till 
 he came to the close, when a smile stole 
 over his countenance. 
 
 " Well, what's the news from home ? " 
 I asked. " Nothin' very particular," he 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 123 
 
 answered. " Well, there is, tHougli. A 
 man in Hyannis lias run off with a 
 woman." " That's a rather common 
 thing," I said. '' Yes, but he was a mar- 
 ried man." " That makes it worse." 
 " But the woman was married too," he 
 continued. " That's about as bad as it 
 could be," I remarked. '' No, it ain't," he 
 
 replied. " The d d rascal owed me 
 
 two hundred dollars ; but we're even 
 now ! " 
 
 '' Why ? " I inquired. " How does his 
 running away pay his debt to you ? " 
 
 '' Well, sir," answered Sears, " when 
 a man is bothered with one woman, it's 
 generally bad enough, but when he's lum- 
 bered up with two, he is to be pitied more 
 than two hundred dollars' worth, and I 
 shan't f oiler him up any more." 
 
 The conclusion we arrived at after 
 this was either that Mr. Sears was a 
 
124 ^^ AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 bactielor, or that he would prefer to be 
 one. He maintained his confidence in 
 fatalism to the end. After his return to 
 New York, when the yellow fever was 
 raging in Havana, he was offered a com- 
 mand of a bark in that trade, a position 
 that no one seemed to covet. But he 
 accepted it at once. When some of his 
 friends endeavored to dissuade him, he 
 simply said, " If it is fated for me to catch 
 the yellow fever, I shall catch it, and if it 
 is fated the other way, I shan't." Un- 
 fortunately, this time fate was against 
 him ; he had the fever and died. 
 
 Dear, good, faithful, honest old soul, 
 though not much of a Presbyterian, you 
 believed in one article of their catechism, 
 and you were predestined to receive your 
 reward ! 
 
 While I was in despair at the loss of the 
 propeller Mr. Sears took this consolation 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 125 
 
 to Himself, " Well, we've got to be a sail- 
 ing vessel now, anyway, and I begin' to 
 feel to home." THen after a little reflec- 
 tion, lie added suddenly, " Captain, that 
 propeller ain't gone — leastways it ain't 
 gone yet." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " I said. " It's 
 very much gone, and gone altogether." 
 " No, it ain't — yet," he replied, '' and it 
 won't be gone till them Turks find out it is 
 gone, and then it'll be time enough for us to 
 lose it. We've got to discharge this cargo, 
 and the way things go among these fellers 
 that'll take a week, and till then the pro- 
 peller is just as safe as if it was on the 
 shaft ; and when we've got the cargo out, 
 who knows what may turn up ? What- 
 ever will be, will be, and there's no use 
 bothering about the futur' now. The 
 best thing we can do is to turn in and get 
 some sleep. It won't come off again to- 
 
126 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 night, anyway, and if fhe wind holds this 
 way till morning we can get into the har- 
 bor easily enough without any propeller." 
 
 The wind did hold, and the gale abated, 
 so that at daylight we hove up our 
 anchors, made a little fire for the sake of 
 appearances, hoisted the jib and sailed 
 into port, anchoring among the rest of the 
 fleet. As we brought up, Sears rubbed 
 his hands and quietly remarked, " The 
 propeller ain't gone yet." 
 
 The sentinels were pacing their rounds, 
 but the camp was not yet awake. For- 
 tunately for the invaders, the Russians 
 had not had time to destroy the town in 
 accordance with their usual practice, so 
 that the quarters of the troops were more 
 comfortable than they would have been in 
 tented fields at this inclement season of 
 the year, when, as on the day of our ar- 
 rival, the mercury stood at zero, and the 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 127 
 
 Streets were blocked with snow. With 
 what we had brought them, the garrison 
 had a good supply of food, but scarcely 
 enough fuel to cook it, and none whatever 
 wherewith to keep themselves warm. 
 
 I made inquiries for the Pasha in com- 
 mand, and was directed to a house occu- 
 pied by him. Through the interpreter I 
 asked the guard in what room he was to 
 be found, and he pointed out the door to 
 me. On entering, I saw, literally, a pile 
 of bodies, a dozen or more heaped up to- 
 gether and all asleep. They were awak- 
 ened by the noise we made, and as they 
 uncoiled themselves, the Pasha was dis- 
 covered at the bottom of the heap, where 
 he had kept himself warm by having men 
 instead of blankets piled over him. 
 
 When he learned that a steamer had 
 come to him with provisions, he soon got 
 over his resentment at having been so 
 
1 28 AN AMERICAN TRA NSPOR T IN 
 
 rudely av/akened, and wlien I expressed 
 my synipathy and offered to send asliore 
 a few tons of coal to warm tip his house, 
 lie blessed me in the name of the Pro- 
 phet and hugged me in his arms. From 
 that moment he was our friend, and I 
 verily believe that had the loss of the pro- 
 peller come to his knov/ledge he would 
 have carefully ignored it. 
 
 But that propeller was not yet gone. 
 It took nearly a week to discharge the 
 cargo in small boats, and in stormy 
 weather, and truth compels me to say 
 that we fell naturally into the Turkish 
 habit of doing nothing to-day that could 
 be done to-morrow. 
 
 At last what I supposed would be the 
 inevitable day was drawing near when 
 we should be ordered to return to Con- 
 stantinople with invalids. But to my 
 great relief the Pasha informed me that 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 129 
 
 they had on hand a large amount of 
 barley that had been captured from the 
 Russians, and that he wished us to load 
 with that instead of carrying passengers. 
 
 When I communicated this pleasing in- 
 telligence to Mr. Sears, I said that there 
 might be a question as to its being fair to 
 take that barley on board knowing that 
 we could not carry it away under steam. 
 
 " Well," he replied, " barley ain't a per- 
 ishable article, like a sick sojer, and if it 
 should take a little longer to get it down 
 to Constantinople, no harm will be done. 
 It will be a week at any rate before we 
 can get it in, and that time will be saved 
 anyway. Then, like enough, we'll have 
 a slant of wind to get out of the harbor, 
 and we can lose the propeller going down 
 the Black Sea." 
 
 This consideration of the subject seemed 
 to be reasonable, and its adoption under 
 
130 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 the circumstances justifiable, as at the 
 worst tlie minister of war would probably 
 only deduct from our pay tbe difference 
 of time occupied in sailing and steaming. 
 So we commenced taking in tbe barley, 
 and soon afterwards Providence came to 
 our aid in a manner the possibility of 
 wbicli bad never presented itself even to 
 tbe sanguine imagination of Mr. Sears. 
 
 It lacked but two or three days of 
 the completion of our lading when the 
 little English trading steamer " Tubal 
 Cain " came into port. Captain Savage, 
 her commander, had been peddling his 
 cargo at Balaklava and Kamiesh, and 
 as Bupatoria was not very much out of 
 his way to the Bosphorus, he came in 
 here to dispose, if possible, of the balance 
 of it and also to get a supply of coal. 
 
 Here then was an opportunity. I went 
 on board and confided our condition to 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 131 
 
 him, offering my services in aiding him 
 to sell his goods to my friend, the Pasha, 
 and moreover promising him an ample 
 supply of coal on condition that he would 
 take us in tow. He was only too glad to 
 accept these terms. His stores were sold 
 at once at a satisfactory profit, and he 
 hauled alongside the next night to take 
 in the coal. If Lord Dunraven had been 
 there, his eagle eye would have detected 
 a change of draught in the " Tubal Cain " 
 on the following morning. 
 
 The barley being all on board, our sail- 
 ing orders were received. I bade the un- 
 suspicious Pasha good-bye as he over- 
 whelmed me with thanks for the coal, 
 and for the two cases of champagne, 
 which I had already discovered was not 
 forbidden by the Prophet. 
 
 When all the garrison had gone to sleep 
 at their usual hour, we hove up our anch- 
 
132 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 ors simultaneously, tlie '' Tubal Cain " 
 taking us in tow. We had pleasant 
 weather in tHe Black Sea, managed to 
 enter tlie Bospkorus at nigkt, and morn- 
 ing found us alongside of our dock. 
 
 Tken Mr. Sears fairly jumped as He 
 exclaimed, *' Tkat propeller ain't gone 
 yet ! " adding, " Wkat's tke use of a pro- 
 peller, anyway ? " It really did look as if 
 we could get along pretty well without 
 one; tkat is to say, in tke Turkisk em- 
 ploy ; but if tkis sort of tking kad kap- 
 pened in tke Frenck service, we migkt 
 kave lost a montk's pay. 
 
 Tkere was no difficulty in obtaining a 
 spare screw from anotker steamer, wkick, 
 witk very little reaming, was made to fit on 
 our skaft. As all tke dock room was occu- 
 pied by vessels of tke navy, v/e were put 
 to some little trouble after our cargo was 
 disckarged in moving all tke ballast into 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 133 
 
 the fore-peak and constructing a coffer- 
 dam around the stern of the ship. That 
 having been pumped out, we hoisted our 
 new propeller over it and put it upon the 
 shaft. When this operation was com- 
 pleted, there was a final occasion for Mr. 
 Sears to say, " The propeller ain't gone 
 yet — and it never has been gone ! " We 
 had, by the exercise of no little prudence 
 and ingenuity, fairly and honestly earned 
 our charter money, for our employers had 
 not been defrauded of a single piastre, 
 although they did not know the difference 
 between a steamer and a sailing vessel. 
 
1 34 Al^ A MERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Hafiz Bffkndi was an officer on duty 
 at the arsenal with whom we were often 
 associated in the routine of business. He 
 was a man of agreeable manners, and al- 
 ways courteous in his deportment. He 
 had been educated in Paris and had trav- 
 elled extensively in England and in Ger- 
 many. With the languages of those 
 countries he was familiar, while he spoke 
 French with the fluency of a native, and 
 in his manners and habits was more a 
 Frenchman than a Turk. He had never 
 crossed the Atlantic, but it was his great 
 desire and full intention at no distant day 
 to visit the United States. Perhaps he at- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 135 
 
 tached himself to ns for the purpose of get- 
 ting all the information we could give him 
 for the furtherance of his project, while 
 he was always ready in return to answer 
 our many questions about his own coun- 
 try, its government, its people and its 
 resources. 
 
 The acquaintance thus formed in the 
 line of his duties ripened into a sincere 
 friendship upon which we set a value 
 that it deserved. One day Hafiz asked 
 the purser and myself to dine with 
 him. He was still sufficient of a Turk to 
 adhere in a degree to the customs of his 
 country, for ladies were not included in 
 the invitation. Indeed if it had been given, 
 it could not have been accepted, as my 
 family were then at Prinkipo, a charming 
 island in the Sea of Marmora, not far dis- 
 tant from Constantinople, where they were 
 out of the way of the rough associations 
 
136 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 they would have been obliged to encounter 
 in the service in which we were now 
 engaged. 
 
 We accordingly repaired to the house of 
 our entertainer inPera at the appointed hour 
 of six o' clock, and were ushered into a re- 
 ception-room which did not differ much in 
 its furnishing from that we should have 
 found at home. Our host soon presented 
 himself in the conventional Buropean and 
 American evening dress, which we pre- 
 sumed had been donned for the occasion 
 out pf deference to his guests. 
 
 Dinner being announced soon after- 
 wards, we were ushered into a dining-room 
 of moderate dimensions, the walls on all 
 sides covered with mirrors, giving tis the 
 impression that, as the Bffendi was sup- 
 posed generally to dine alone, he was fond 
 of having himself for society all around, 
 for he was really a very handsome man, 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 137 
 
 worthy of being seen by himself as well 
 as by others. 
 
 The mefiu was excellent but not elab- 
 orate, and did not differ much from 
 what we might have found at a small 
 dinner party at home, the only outlandish 
 dishes on the table being the inevitable 
 kobobs and a species of pillau. Of course 
 there was some of the champagne not 
 prohibited by the Prophet. We all had 
 good appetites, and the dinner, as they 
 say, '' went off " in a very satisfactory 
 manner. 
 
 After the last course, which did not 
 include any sweets, Hafiz arose and 
 said, " Now, gentlemen, we will adjourn 
 to the drawing-room and take our coffee 
 with the ladies." " You see," he added, 
 with some slight hesitation, " our customs 
 are not exactly like yours, and such as 
 they are, I am innovating upon them some- 
 
138 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 what in tliis instance. But my family 
 will be glad to meet yon, and I trust that 
 you will find tliem agreeable." 
 
 He tben ushered us into a large draw- 
 ing-room, abounding also in mirrors, and 
 elaborately furnished in semi-French and 
 semi-Oriental style. The floor was car- 
 peted with beautiful rugs ; heavy curtains 
 dropped before the windows, and divans, 
 chairs and little tables were distributed 
 around. 
 
 Reclining on the divans were four 
 ladies, two of them in the bloom of youth, 
 somewhere about sweet sixteen, one be- 
 tween her second and third decade, and 
 another perhaps between her third and 
 fourth. They were all beautiful women in 
 their various stages of maturity, and their 
 beauty was of various types. 
 
 Evidently variety was pleasing to the 
 eye of our host, and although we had 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 139 
 
 not tte same interest in it that lie 
 had, it was pleasing to us. Of the two 
 young houris, one might have sat for 
 the portrait of Lolah and the other 
 for that of Katinka. These two and 
 the eldest (I mean the least youth- 
 ful) were in Turkish costume exceed- 
 ingly becoming, and the second in age, 
 if it be permitted to apply that term 
 to any of them, wore a dkcolleti Buropean 
 dress. The ease with which we made 
 oiirselves at home before this brilliant 
 array was, I think, creditable to both of 
 us, especially to my young friend, Mr. 
 
 D , who was a modest as well as a 
 
 handsome youth, and he must have been 
 regarded by these ladies as particularly 
 handsome just then, when his face was 
 suffused with blushes. 
 
 I have only given his initial, accord- 
 ing to promise, for he is now a well 
 
140 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 known business man in New York, hav- 
 ing achieved an honorable career. Hafiz 
 might have been jealous, but if he was 
 so, he gave no signs of any such dis- 
 position. We were not introduced to all 
 of these ladies by name. Our host simply 
 said, '' Void ma famille!''' But he dis- 
 tinguished the lady in European dress 
 as " Ma femme Josephine. ^^ 'Nowfemme is 
 a very convenient French word, and its 
 ambiguity often serves a very desirable 
 purpose. 
 
 Coffee and sweetmeats were passed 
 around by a coal-black Nubian, and I 
 will do Hafiz the credit to say that the 
 coffee was brewed in French, and not in 
 Turkish style. " The ladies will per- 
 mit us to smoke," he said, as again he 
 evinced his considerate politeness by 
 offering us cigars, while he resorted to 
 the chibook himself. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 141 
 
 Then '' Mafemme Josephine " gave us 
 some excellent music, delicately touching 
 tlie piano to accompany her songs which 
 were a little after the style of Madame 
 Yvette Guilbert. 
 
 After that I sat down by her side, while 
 Hafiz was talking with the lady least 
 
 young, having placed Mr. D between 
 
 the brunette and blonde beauties, with 
 whom he entered into an animated con- 
 versation, carried on chiefly by signs, for 
 neither of the ladies spoke French or 
 English, and " Bvet " and " Yoke " ( yes 
 and no) was about all the Turkish the 
 purser had at command. 
 
 Madame Josephine had no use for 
 the words of one of her celebrated country- 
 women, " God has given me my eyes, 
 and I can provide the rest for my- 
 self." She certainly had a pair of soul- 
 stirring eyes, abundant black hair, regu- 
 
142 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 lar features, and a faultless form. To 
 add to all this, slie liad been provided 
 witli a tongue tipped with sweetness and 
 stirred with vivacity. 
 
 She was well read in French litera- 
 ture, especially conversant with the poetry 
 of Racine, Corneille and Chenier, with the 
 philosophy of Voltaire and the novels of 
 the elder Dumas, and of Paul de Koch. 
 Besides, she had studied English in the 
 convent where she was educated, and 
 when she got out of it she had seized upon 
 Byron and Moore with avidity. She con- 
 fessed that the pleasing scenes of Orien- 
 talism depicted by them had their in- 
 fluence in determining her life. 
 
 After a little preliminary talk on ordi- 
 nary topics, she settled down to what she 
 considered the chief object of a woman's 
 existence, commencing with a romantic 
 account of her own great affair of love. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 143 
 
 " Ah, that dear Paris ! " she exclaimed. 
 " Hafiz has promised to take me there 
 again when this terrible war is over." 
 She said this in a tone snfficiently lond 
 to attract his attention, and then added, 
 " Will yon not, mon cher? " 
 
 " Yes, certainly," he replied, with 
 an approving smile. " Yon see," she 
 said, turning towards me, "he is still 
 under my control. Would you like to 
 have me tell you of my first acquain- 
 tance with him ? " " Nothing would 
 interest me more," I replied, with all 
 sincerity. 
 
 " Well, it was five years ago at the 
 theatre when I was ravished by the 
 divine Rachel in Adrienne. I was away 
 from the world and from myself, till be- 
 tween the acts, an acquaintance brought 
 Hafiz around to my box and presented 
 him to me. Then I forgot Rachel, forgot 
 
1 44 AN AMERICA N TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 Adrienne, forgot myself, forgot every- 
 tliing ! He simply looked at me, and I 
 only looked at liim. Nothing was said. 
 It was all tlie language of tke eyes. It 
 was accomplislied in an instant. It was 
 tin coup d^ eclair y une fureitr^ une tempete. 
 It was at once a beginning and an accom- 
 plislied fact. Do tkey know wkat love 
 means in America ? " 
 
 Instead of a direct reply, I repeated 
 these lines, that the situation brought to 
 my remembrance. 
 
 *' Oh, love, sweet despot of the soul ! 
 Who would not own thy blest control ? 
 What's an eternity of power 
 To love's enthralment for one hour ? 
 Who shall compare all worldly pelf, 
 Fame or ambition, love of self, 
 To the warm rapture of one kiss ? 
 That moment is an age of bliss ! " 
 
 '' Ah, monsieur," she replied, "you 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 145 
 
 have answered my question. Whoever 
 wrote those verses understood the mean- 
 ing of the word. That is a good begin- 
 ning for love, but one cannot always live in 
 a delirium. It would be exhausting. It is 
 natural as it is best for the hurricane to sub- 
 side and for soft gentle zephyrs to succeed 
 it. That is a happier, because a more 
 permanent, condition. Thus it is now with 
 us. At that supreme moment we thought 
 that if we had each other we should never 
 want anything more, but now some acces- 
 sories are convenient." And she cast a 
 sly glance across the room. " For my 
 part, I have music, books, dress, jewelry, 
 a carriage, and everything that I desire. 
 We love each other still, but more sensi- 
 bly." Upon my saying that with all the 
 surroundings that made her happy she 
 must sometimes find Constantinople dull 
 after Paris, she assented ; but continued, 
 
146 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 '' Well, we are going there again for a 
 little excitement, and when we return I 
 think I shall be quite contented. But I 
 am about to tell you what followed that 
 grand coup at the theatre. I did not ask 
 Hafiz if he was already married, nor did 
 he ask me any foolish questions. We 
 loved, and that was sufficient. I wished 
 to prove his love, although I did not 
 doubt it, and so I told him that we must 
 be married in a church. He consented. 
 I knew he w^ould, as I would have been 
 willing to have been married in a mosque. 
 I adore Lalla Rookh ; don't you ? Do 
 you remember what Hinda said to Haf ed ? 
 
 " Thou for my sake at Allah's shrine, 
 And I — at any God's for thine ! " 
 
 Well, I am still a Catholic ; I go to mass 
 sometimes, but I don't go to confession 
 here, for I have no sins to confess. This 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 147 
 
 kind of life is so quiet that there is no 
 temptation or opportunity to sin. Do you 
 think Byron was a very maiLvais siijet f " 
 I told her I did not think he was so bad as 
 he painted himself. " I'll tell you what I 
 think about him," she replied. " He was 
 a bad man for an Englishman. As a 
 Frenchman he would not have been bad. 
 In England they place religion before 
 love. In Prance love is supreme over 
 religion and everything else." 
 
 Our host perhaps thought that this con- 
 versation had lasted long enough. He 
 walked over to where we were sitting, and 
 said, but not in a tone of reproach, " Ma 
 femme^ you have been talking a great 
 deal about yourself and me." Josephine 
 turned her beautiful eyes upon him and 
 replied, in a voice devoid of all affectation, 
 '' What else could I talk about but that 
 which interests me most ? " And I saw 
 
148 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 by the glance lie returned, that she was 
 still 
 
 " His Nourmalial, his harem's light." 
 
 Then we had some more music, and the 
 tv/o youngest ladies each executed a pas 
 seul. They did not dance with their 
 feet, but swayed voluptuously to and fro, 
 keeping time to the music with this 
 silent music of their own. At last the de- 
 lightful evening came to an end, and we 
 bade adieu to Hafiz Bff endi and his charm- 
 ing family. Most charming of all was 
 " Ma femme Josephine y 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 
 
 149 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Two days afterwards I was sent for from 
 the Arsenal. News had been received 
 from Bupatoria that there was the proba- 
 bility of a Russian attack upon the garri- 
 son ; that many of the soldiers had died 
 and were dying of typhoid fever; that 
 provisions were again becoming scarce, 
 and that supplies of men and food were 
 in urgent demand. 
 
 This time I found old Mustapha very 
 much awake. He had laid aside his 
 chibook, uncoiled himself, got up from 
 the divan, and was pacing the floor in a 
 state of actual excitement. Then came 
 the usual question, " Have you got your 
 
150 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 coal ? " sharply put. *' No, your Bxcel- 
 lency, it has been promised but it has 
 not yet come." He gave an order to an 
 official attendant in an angry tone, and 
 then turned to me sa3dng, " Your coal 
 will come this afternoon, and to-night you 
 will take on board one thousand men and 
 five hundred sheep, and sail to-morrow 
 morning for Bupatoria." 
 
 I was about to make some remonstrance 
 when he waved his hand impatiently as a 
 signal for me to take my leave, which I 
 did forthwith, and repaired on board to 
 communicate the intelligence to Mr. Sears. 
 
 He received it with an extended whistle 
 and then observed, " Well, I thought these 
 Turkish ways were too good to last. We've 
 had an easy time of it so far, but this 
 is crowdin' the mourners, I should say. 
 Why, the Frenchmen never'd have done 
 anything like this." 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 151 
 
 Then he took his log-slate out of the 
 drawer and sat down to make figures. He 
 knew every inch of room there was in the 
 ship from frequent experience in the stow- 
 age of men, cattle and cargo, and he now 
 made his calculations accordingly. 
 
 After a while he arrived at this re- 
 sult : " Allowin' two square foot for a 
 man, and providin' the sodjers will stand 
 up all the way, and calling every sheep 
 a sodjer, providin' he will stand on his 
 hind legs, we can just about accommodate 
 'em. Sheep won't do that, though. The 
 sodjers will take up all the room in the 
 between decks and on deck, and the sheep 
 will have to go on top o' one another in 
 the hold. Why didn't the P'shaw have 
 'em killed and skun, so't they could 
 go as mutton ? A good many of them 
 v/ill be mutton anyway before they get 
 there." 
 
152 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 I remarked that it was too late to 
 adopt that expedient, and if there had 
 been time for it the Pasha was not in a 
 state of mind to entertain the suggestion. 
 " 'Pears to me," answered Sears, " from 
 the way yon say he looked and acted so 
 different from usual, this Bupatoria busi- 
 ness wasn't enough to stir him up so. 
 Somethin' or 'nother must have happened 
 to home. That's what comes of having 
 large families." 
 
 " Very likely," I said, " but that does 
 not concern us. The question is, can we 
 carry all these troops and sheep ? " " No, 
 sir, we can't," replied Sears, " but I sup- 
 pose we've got to. It's fated that way." 
 
 The coal came alongside in the after- 
 noon, and in the course of the evening the 
 sheep were driven down the dock and put 
 into the hold. And, before morning, we 
 received our complement of men, so that 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 153 
 
 we were ready to cast off and go to sea 
 soon after day light . 
 
 Some idea of the appearance of tlie 
 ship may be formed by looking at a 
 Coney Island steamboat as sbe leaves 
 the wbarf on a warm Sunday morn- 
 ing. The officer in command of tbe 
 regiment, answering in rank to our term 
 of Colonel, bitterly remonstrated against 
 tbis excessive overcrowding. I told bim 
 we were obeying tbe Pasha's orders, and 
 that I should be greatly obliged if he 
 would address his remonstrances to him. 
 Whereupon he made a significant gesture 
 by squeezing his throat with his fingers, 
 that was very suggestive of what might 
 happen if he should presume to interfere, 
 and remarked with becoming resignation, 
 " God is great. His will be done." " Jes' 
 so, jes' so," observed Mr. Sears. 
 
 We threaded our way down the Golden 
 
154 ^^ AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 Horn among tlie fleet, rounded Seraglio 
 Point, and pointed up tlie Bosphorus 
 against a strong head-wind wliicli veered 
 to tlie eastward when we got into the 
 Black Sea, where we rolled about in the 
 trough of the waves, and there was a con- 
 dition of seasickness among the soldiers 
 too abominably filthy to be commented 
 upon. 
 
 We had proceeded in this way about 
 three hours when we made a sail ahead. 
 As we drew near to her she proved to be 
 a small Xebec, partially dismasted and 
 flying a signal of distress. Coming up 
 with her, we saw that her deck was 
 crowded with men and women, frantic- 
 ally waving their arms and shrieking 
 at the top of their voices. Upon being 
 hailed by the interpreter, they reported 
 that they were in a sinking condition and 
 wished to abandon their vessel. They 
 
THE CRIMEAN- WAR. 155 
 
 were from Sukumkale, bound to Constan- 
 tinople, and Tiad been blown out of their 
 course by a south-westerly gale, had lost 
 their mainmast, and had sprung a leak 
 that was steadily gaining upon them in 
 spite of their pumps. 
 
 Of course there was nothing to be done 
 but to lower a lifeboat and take them off. 
 The cool-headed old Sears volunteered 
 for this duty, and in two trips got them 
 all safely on board. 
 
 There were twenty-six in all : eight men 
 of the crew, seventeen female passengers, 
 and a nondescript. Bvery one, especially 
 every woman, was in such a state of 
 fright that they were nearly crazy. The 
 women were more frightened, if possible, 
 when they got on board the steamer than 
 they were at the prospect of perishing in 
 the sea. They screamed and cowered 
 down under the bulwarks of the quarter- 
 
156 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 deck as tlie crowd of savage soldiers 
 pressed in upon them, so tliat I was 
 obliged to organize our whole crew as a 
 marine guard, armed with capstan-bars, 
 heavers, belaying-pins, and whatever came 
 to hand to keep them off. Fortunately, 
 the arms and ammunition of the troops 
 were stowed away aft under the cabin. 
 
 The military officers were too seasick 
 and too cowardly to control the mob. Al- 
 though an agony of fear distorted the 
 features of these poor girls, their exquisite 
 beauty shone through their tears. Some 
 of them were of the Persian type, with 
 lustrous black hair falling over their 
 shoulders, dark eyes and silken lashes ; 
 others, and these the majority, with 
 brown or golden hair, large blue eyes 
 and complexions like a peach when the 
 dew of the morning is upon it. There 
 they crouched down upon the deck, their 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 157 
 
 beautiful heads resting upon the breasts 
 of eacli other in the vain endeavor to 
 conceal their charms. 
 
 '' What are we going to do with these 
 hell-cats? " asked the practical Mr. Sears. 
 " If somethin' ain't done they'll jump 
 overboard, and I dunno but what that's 
 about the best thing they can do." 
 
 " Get them down below as soon as pos- 
 sible," I said. '' Whereabouts ? " inquired 
 Sears. " The cabin's full o' them Turkish 
 officers, and that's the only place there is." 
 
 " Well, get the officers out and the 
 women in." 
 
 Sears jumped below, calling two or 
 three men of the marine guard after him, 
 and in a few moments he got the officers 
 out, in spite of their objections, for they 
 were too seasick to offer much resistance. 
 Leaving the doctor at the door as a senti- 
 nel to prevent them from re-entering, he 
 
I S 8 AN A ME RICA N TEA NSPOR T IN 
 
 put his head out of the companionway, 
 calling out : " All clear, sir. If you'll 
 get the women along with that old 
 nigger that 'pears to have 'em in charge, 
 I'll shut 'em all up together." 
 
 By means of the interpreter they were 
 made to understand what disposition was 
 to be made of them, and the sunshine of 
 their eyes beamed through the mist of 
 their tears as they followed the " nigger " 
 down below. Then Sears locked the door 
 and put the key in his pocket, having 
 stationed the doctor as a sentinel. 
 
 The cursing and growling of those who 
 had been so summarily turned out of their 
 quarters was loud and deep. The officers 
 and soldiers all had a right to be angry, 
 but the man against whom their anger 
 should have been directed was doubtless 
 smoking his chibook and sipping his 
 coffee, squatted on his divan, and more 
 
7 HE CRIMEAN WAR. i^cj 
 
 sleepy than ever after tlie excitement of 
 tlie previous day liad passed off. 
 
 For tliem there was no sleep to be liad, 
 unless they got it perpendicularly ; and as 
 it was impossible to do very much cooking 
 for such a multitude, their only provisions 
 were soup, hard-tack and water. Two 
 nights were to be passed on board, under 
 the conditions of the weather, before we 
 could reach Bupatoria. Mr. Sears, the 
 purser and I were discussing the situa- 
 tion, when we were joined by the chief 
 engineer, who reported that one of his 
 firemen, a Maltese, who understood Turk- 
 ish perfectly well, had told him that there 
 was a very ugly feeling among the sol- 
 diers on account of their limited accom- 
 modations and rations, and of their rough 
 handling by the crew since our new pas- 
 sengers had come on board, and he did 
 not know what might come of it. 
 
l6o AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 I was not surprised to hear this, for 
 I suspected it already. "I'm cur'ous to 
 know what they propose to do about it," 
 said Sears. " Here we be, and with the 
 doctor, the only five white men, as you 
 may say, on the ship, the crew bein' mainly 
 Frenchmen and the passengers Turks. 
 S'posin' it's fated that they should kill us, 
 they couldn't navigate the ship, and they 
 don't know enough to bile water to keep 
 the ingines a-goin' ; but it ain't fated 
 that way. They're too seasick to do any- 
 thing. They won't do nothin' anyway 
 till we git in, and we'd better be kind 
 of careful then how we circulate 'round 
 ashore till they get their bellies full once 
 more and so get good-natured. 
 
 " In the meantime," he asked, " as the 
 staysail and trysails have been keeping 
 her tolerably steady lately, hadn't we 
 better take 'em in and let her roll again 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. i6l 
 
 so's to keep their stomachs out of order ? If 
 that ain't enough, perhaps the doctor might 
 put a little tartar emetic in the soup." 
 
 The purser had no suggestions to offer ; 
 his mind was probably wandering to the 
 drawing-room of Hafiz Bffendi, and I 
 must confess that I would not have been 
 sorry to be there to. 
 
 Our colloquy was interrupted by the 
 cry of " Sail ho ! " from the lookout 
 at the masthead. " Where away ? " I 
 asked. " Right ahead, sir." " Can you 
 make her out ? " " Yes, sir ; she is square- 
 rigged, under easy sail, and coming this 
 way." In a short time we could see her 
 from the deck, and it was not long before 
 we could distinguish a ship under single 
 reefed topsails, a pennant streaming from 
 her mainroyal truck, and the British en- 
 sign floating from her peak. 
 
l62 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 She was evidently in no linrry ; but in 
 order to make sure that she would heave 
 to, I ordered our ensign to be hoisted 
 half-mast and Union down, and the Tur- 
 kish flag at the fore. This had the desired 
 effect, and her main topsail was immedi- 
 ately laid to the mast. We slowed down 
 to barely steerage way and ranged along- 
 side within speaking distance, waiting, 
 according to etiquette, for the first hail to 
 come from the frigate, as it did. 
 
 " ¥/hat steamer is that ? " " The Wil- 
 liam Penn, bound for Bupatoria." '' Are 
 you in distress ? " 
 
 *' I will come on board, if you please, 
 and inform you." 
 
 '' Very well." 
 
 The quarter-boat was lowered, and tak- 
 ing with me some late English news- 
 papers that I knew would be most accept- 
 able, I was soon alongside and up the 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR, 163 
 
 ladder of tlie frigate, where I was met by 
 an o£&cer at the gangway, and escorted to 
 the Captain on the quarter-deck. 
 
 He was a somewhat elderly man, with a 
 rosy complexion, a kindly eye, and the 
 traditional mutton-chop whiskers. He 
 received me very courteously, extending 
 his hand, and saying that he would be 
 very happy to be of service if I would tell 
 him what we needed. 
 
 ''It is a rather long story, sir," I said, 
 " but I will try to cut it as short as I can. 
 First, however, let me give you these news- 
 papers, which you would like to have, as 
 they must be later than any that you have 
 seen." 
 
 " Thanks, they will be very welcome," 
 he replied. " Now, will you step down into 
 my cabin? " 
 
 As we entered it he called to his serv- 
 ant, " Sherry, two glasses and biscuits." 
 
1 64 A^ AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 These were at once produced, and we sat 
 down at the table. " Now, we'll take a 
 glass of wine and then you go ahead," 
 said the old Captain. 
 
 As succinctly as possible I told him 
 how abominably overcrowded we were 
 forced to be when we left Constantinople, 
 and then gave him an account of the addi- 
 tion we had received a few hours before. 
 
 To all of this he listened with attention 
 and manifest interest, frequently interupt- 
 ing my narrative with, " Bless my soul ; 
 you don't say so ! " and the like. He 
 touched the bell for his servant, and said : 
 " Put another glass upon the table, and 
 then say to the First Lieutenant that I 
 should like to see him if he is disengaged." 
 
 The Lieutenant came down at once and 
 I was presented to him. " Thorton," said 
 the Captain, in the customary familiar 
 style of the navy when off duty, " here is 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 165 
 
 a Yankee skipper in trouble — Bless my 
 soul, sir," lie said, turning to me, '' pray 
 excuse my rudeness, I did not mean it ; 
 I should liave said an American Captain." 
 " No apology is necessary, sir," I replied. 
 '' I am ratker proud of tke title ; you were 
 quite right. In the merchant service we 
 are called Captains by courtesy amongst 
 ourselves, but by the officers of our navy, 
 as v/ell as of yours, we are frequently 
 called masters, or skippers, if you please." 
 
 " Thank you for taking it so pleasantly," 
 he replied, " but it was rude in me never- 
 theless. Let's take another glass of 
 sherry." If Salisbury and Olney had 
 only had a glass of sherry between them, 
 it would have done more than all their 
 diplomatic correspondence to settle the 
 Venezuela dispute. 
 
 At the Captain's request I repeated my 
 story to the First Lieutenant as concisely 
 
l66 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 as I could, for time was valuable to me if 
 it was not so to them. Wlien I iiad fin- 
 isliedit the Captain proposed the familiar 
 question, " What are you going to do about 
 it?" 
 
 " I came on board, sir," I replied, " to 
 see what you were going to do about it." 
 
 " What can we do about it ? " he rejoined. 
 
 " You can do a great deal, sir," I said. 
 " We have saved these women and men 
 from drowning, and I would not great- 
 ly care if the men had been drowned, 
 but the women ! Gentlemen, I wish you 
 could have seen them as they are penned 
 up in a small cabin to hide them from 
 the eyes of a thousand infuriated brutes 
 who are threatening us with mutiny ; 
 and whose officers, turned out of their 
 cabins to take their chance with them 
 on the crowded deck, are making no 
 attempt to control them. Won't you 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 167 
 
 take tliese poor wretches on board? If 
 this wind holds you will be in the Bospho- 
 rus to-night, and you can bundle them 
 all ashore at Buyukdere." 
 
 The Captain and the Lieutenant agreed 
 that carrying passengers would be entire- 
 ly contrary to the rules of Her Majesty's 
 service. 
 
 " I knov/," I replied, '' what Her Gra- 
 cious Majesty, God bless her, if she v/ere 
 here present, what every woman in En- 
 gland and America would think, and what 
 every man would say." " What would 
 they say? " asked the Captain. " Damn 
 the rules of the service," I replied, " when 
 it is a question of humanity." 
 
 It was a bold speech, but it had its effect. 
 The two naval officers looked silently at 
 each other for a moment, and then the 
 Captain brought his fist down on the 
 table in a style that made the decanter 
 
1 68 AN AMERICA N TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 and glasses rattle, as lie said to his 
 Lieutenant, " Call away the pinnace, sir, 
 and have those people brought on board." 
 
 I thanked him from the bottom of my 
 heart. '' No thanks," he said, " you are 
 right ; take another glass of sherry and 
 we will go on deck and see this thing 
 out." 
 
 I there bade him good-bye and was 
 hastening to the gangway to get down 
 into my boat, when he put his hand on my 
 shoulder and said, " But won't you stop to 
 introduce us to the ladies ? " 
 
 " Thank you, no," I replied ; ''you can 
 introduce yourselves to them, as we did, 
 and I am sure they will be more pleased 
 to see you than they were to see us." 
 
 The pinnace was already alongside the 
 steamer when I reached the gangway. 
 '' Now, Mr. Sears," I said, " you can take 
 the interpreter down to the cabin, unlock 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 169 
 
 the door, aud tell him to inform that 
 colored gentleman and his protegees that 
 they are to be transferred to that man-of- 
 war, now on her way to Constantinople. 
 Get them up as soon as possible, and down 
 the ladder into the Bnglishman's boat, 
 then pitch their crew in after them." 
 
 Never was Sears more active than he 
 was in executing this order. The pinnace 
 was soon alongside of the frigate, and we 
 saw the bedraggled crowd passed up a 
 gangway ladder, and the boat hoisted in. 
 
 Then, as her maintopsail was filled, we 
 hoisted our ensign and saluted by running 
 it up and down three times, the courtesy 
 being returned. In a moment her yards 
 were covered with men shaking out the 
 reefs, loosing the light sails, and rigging 
 out the studdingsail booms. In less than 
 five minutes she was under a cloud of can- 
 vas, and, as she careened slightly to star- 
 
1 7 O AN- AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 board, her bright copper was awash, and, 
 with a bone in her mouth, she spread away 
 to the south. 
 
 ''Look at that, look at that!" ex- 
 claimed Sears in an ecstasy of delight. 
 " That's a sight for the eyes of an old 
 sailor. There she goes, without any 
 bilers or blacksmith work to push her 
 along. See her spread out her own white 
 wings like a bird of the air ! God made 
 the birds and He learned men to imitate 
 'em. The devil learned men to build 
 steamboats, and helped 'em out with his 
 own hell-fire." 
 
 Having exhausted himself in this burst 
 of enthusiasm he subsided into his usual 
 taciturnity. The frigate was, indeed, a 
 picture to look at, as she clothed herself 
 in canvas, and not a voice was heard, and 
 no sound came from her, but that of the 
 boatswain's whistle. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 171 
 
 Never again will there be exhibited sucli 
 seamanship as that of those days. The 
 poetry of the ocean has given place to 
 prosaic utility, as the beauty of the sail- 
 ing ship is now superseded by the down- 
 right ugliness of the ironclad, and " white- 
 winged messengers of commerce " are 
 fast disappearing and giving place to the 
 black leviathans that monopolize war and 
 trade. 
 
 Bven with the few that remain, the 
 double topsail rig, and the three, four, 
 and five-masted schooners, are sad de- 
 partures from the perfect symmetry of 
 the olden type. Soon there will be noth- 
 ing left but the disproportionate play- 
 things of our grown-up boys. 
 
 The sailor has gone and the black- 
 smith has come. In naval war it is now 
 only a question of rams and torpedoes, of 
 guns that can penetrate any armor, of 
 
172 AN- AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 armor tliat is impervious to any guns, 
 with crews of coal-passers, deck-liands 
 and gunners, hammering away till one 
 or the other goes to the bottom with her 
 thousand men. Our merchant marine is 
 gone, but we do not feel the need of it 
 as our fathers did, when merchant Cap- 
 tains like Hull, Decatur, Perry, Bain- 
 bridge, Truxton, and McDonough, with 
 crews brought up in the merchant serv- 
 ice, gained their victories more by splen- 
 did seamanship than by the training of 
 guns. 
 
 Mr. Sears came down from his poetic 
 exaltation, and busied himself with hav- 
 ing the cabin cleansed so that the officers 
 might again occupy the quarters from 
 which he had so rudely ejected them. 
 They had measurably recovered from their 
 sea-sickness, and their appetites came to 
 them as they were domesticated once 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 173 
 
 more. The best tliat we liad was spread 
 before tbem ; soup, sardines, potted meats, 
 preserves, and tbe cbampagne that the 
 Prophet did not forbid. They made a 
 hearty meal, and the Colonel, who was 
 a very good fellow at heart, especially 
 when his heart was warmed up by 
 champagne, then 'went on deck, at my 
 request, and made a conciliatory speech to 
 the soldiers. He told them that the ship 
 was overcrowded on account of a misap- 
 prehension on shore of her capacity ; that 
 they m.ust bear their sufferings in con- 
 sequence of it like true followers of the 
 Prophet, and that there would be a con- 
 stant supply of soup to the full ability 
 of the coppers to turn it out. 
 
 For this purpose some of the sheep 
 were killed, and their ears were saved. 
 This was with the consent of the special 
 supercargo having them in charge. He 
 
174 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 was to see tliat the five hundred sheep 
 were delivered at Bupatoria : if any died 
 on the passage he was to cut off their 
 ears in order to account for the missing. 
 He might have sold a hundred if the 
 opportunity had been offered him. The 
 whole of his duty was to produce the 
 sheep, or the ears of sheep that were not 
 delivered. 
 
 So passed the night, and another day 
 and another night, hammering against a 
 head sea ; and it was bitterly cold as the 
 snow flew over the decks, and the men 
 crouched down as best they could for 
 sleep while their officers were very com- 
 fortable in the cabin. 
 
 On the afternoon of the second day we 
 arrived at our destined port, and were as 
 glad to get rid of our passengers, as they 
 were to go ashore. The delivery of the 
 sheep as stated in the log-book was 405 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 175 
 
 alive, 190 ears, equal to 95 sheep, total 
 500. A few of them had gone into 
 the soup, but most of the 95 had been 
 smothered or trampled to death in the 
 hold. 
 
fje AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ThB reinforcement of troops we had 
 bronglit up was entirely unnecessary. 
 THe Pasha had not asked for them. On 
 the contrary, they were very unwelcome, 
 as just so many more men were to be fed. 
 It was an unfounded rumor that had pro- 
 duced the scare at Constantinople. The 
 Russians had not the remotest idea of 
 regaining Bupatoria at present, for they 
 knew that they could not hold it against 
 the fleet of the allies that would bombard 
 it, and they now had no ships of their 
 own to resist them. 
 
 The possession of the place would 
 have been as useless to them as it was 
 to the Turks, and so they were con- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 177 
 
 tent to let them keep tlieir white elephant. 
 " I wish," said our old friend, " that you 
 had brought us up a full cargo of provis- 
 ions and coal instead. The sheep are 
 more welcome than the troops." 
 
 The weather in February was still as 
 cold as when we were here before. The 
 little coal we had been able to supply 
 from our bunkers was nearly exhausted, 
 and the champagne the Prophet did not 
 forbid was all gone. His " brother and 
 his friend," as he called me, was only too 
 happy to turn over to him again all the 
 coal that could be spared, and two more 
 cases of champagne, for all of which the 
 " brother and friend " will candidly ac- 
 knowledge that he expected there would 
 be some value received. 
 
 One would suppose that we had an 
 abundance of champagne for any emer- 
 gency, and so we had. In the begin- 
 
178 AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 ning of tlie war a large quantity of it 
 shipped to Odessa had been captured 
 in transitu and sold at auction at an 
 exceedingly low price. I bought one 
 hundred cases of Veuve Cliquot at five 
 dollars per case as a speculation, intend- 
 ing to sell it again at a large profit ; but I 
 concluded that the most advantageous dis- 
 position of it was to give much of it away. 
 It was accordingly stored at a warehouse 
 and drawn upon as occasion required. It 
 was the best investment that could have 
 been made. 
 
 The mistake of Mustapha Pasha was 
 not, however, quite so costly as that made 
 at an earlier period by an Englishman, 
 whose countrymen made so many notori- 
 ous blunders during the war, this among 
 the rest. 
 
 In November, 1855, General Vivian 
 was in command of the British forces 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 179 
 
 stationed at Kertcii, and General Shirley 
 commanded tlie Turkish contingent, 
 idling away the time at Buyukdere, where 
 he found it rather dull. In one of his 
 letters to his old friend Vivian, after dis- 
 cussing military affairs, he added some- 
 thing about his family, who were likewise 
 tired of the monotony. In return he re- 
 ceived a short note to this effect, " Bring 
 everybody up here; they will be most 
 welcome." 
 
 Shirley had forgotten that he had men- 
 tioned his family in his despatch, and 
 jumped to the conclusion that the Russians 
 were threatening Kertch with an attack, 
 and that reinforcements were urgently 
 needed, whereas the- sole intention of 
 General Vivian was to give him, his wife 
 and the young ladies an outing. So he 
 embarked his three thousand cavalry on 
 board a fleet of sailing vessels that were 
 
l8o AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 taken in tow by steamers, and away 
 they all went across tlie Black Sea to 
 Kertck. 
 
 Wken General Vivian saw tkis fleet 
 coming up tke Straits ke kad no idea from 
 wkence it kad sailed or wketker it was 
 friend or foe. His anxiety, kowever, was 
 soon relieved by Skirley's jumping askore 
 and kailing kim witk, " How are you, old 
 boy? You see me kere." 
 
 " Yes," answered Vivian, " I was ex- 
 pecting you, but wkat tke devil is tke 
 meaning of tkis fleet?" 
 
 " Wky, it kas brougkt up my cavalry, 
 to be sure," was tke reply. 
 
 " Your cavalry ! Bless your soul, tkere 
 isn't a tiling for a korse to eat kere and 
 I don't need any kelp." 
 
 An explanation followed. Tke result 
 was tkat Skirley's visit was a skort one. 
 Tke skips disckarged neitker men nor 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. i8i 
 
 horses, but weighed anchor as soon as 
 they had watered, and returned with the 
 cavalry to Buyukdere, from whence they 
 had come. 
 
 The Pasha at Bupatoria did not exactly 
 follow this example, but he was disposed to 
 send back a thousand invalids in place of 
 the recruits, until he was made by the coal 
 and champagne to realize that we could 
 furnish accommodations for only three 
 hundred men of that class. This number 
 was accordingly sent on board and prop- 
 erly cared for. They were in a deplor- 
 able condition, and it was not surprising 
 that several of them died on the passage. 
 
 In the case of the French soldiers who 
 died, the burial always took place at sea, 
 but this was never consented to by the 
 Turks, if it could possibly be avoided. 
 In the present instance their feelings 
 could be respected, and the bodies were 
 
l82 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 retained on board till arrival, as tlie 
 weather was cold. 
 
 Mr. Sears observed tliat " tbey would 
 keep very well if stowed under tbe to'gal- 
 lant forc'sle out of the way of the sun." 
 When the first was brought on deck, he 
 stood looking at his face for a moment and 
 then remarked, "I've seen a good many 
 dead Frenchmen, but this is the first dead 
 Turk I've set my eyes on. I wonder 
 where he's gone." 
 
 Sears was a believer in phrenology, 
 a science that has an intimate relation 
 to his favorite doctrine of fatalism. He 
 stooped down and felt his bumps, and 
 then turning to the purser, whom he 
 knew to be a staunch Presbyterian, he 
 remarked, " Reverence is pretty large, 
 so I hope he's gone to heaven ; but 
 their heaven ain't the same as our'n, with 
 halos and crowns and harps and hosannas 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 183 
 
 and hallelujahs and such, is it, Mr.D.? " 
 " No," replied the purser. *' Their idea 
 of heaven is very different from ours ; it 
 is a sensual heaven, with gardens, trees, 
 
 flowers, music, dancing and " " Must 
 
 be kind o' pleasant," interjected Sears. 
 '' Yes," continued the purser, " for those 
 who have no higher aspirations than to 
 live in gardens with houris." " With 
 what ! " exclaimed the philosopher ; " what 
 are houris ? " *' Houris," was the reply, 
 " are supposed to be women somewhat 
 like those you called hell-cats the other 
 day." Sears shook his head meditatively 
 and said, " Well, I reckon our kind o' 
 heaven may be a little dull and monoto- 
 nous like, but on the whole I'd rather 
 put up with it than go to their'n. Bend 
 on to him, Bo'sn ; take him for'ard and 
 cover him up. Bight bells ! Lay aft, 
 two of you, and heave the log." 
 
184 A^ AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 On arrival I learned that the Bnglish- 
 man had not landed his passengers at 
 Buyukdere, as I had suggested, but had 
 taken them directly down to Constanti- 
 nople and turned them over to Mustapha 
 Pasha. When I made my usual report at 
 the arsenal, I found him coiled up again 
 in his customary place on the divan and 
 in his habitual mood of silence and self- 
 satisfaction. After the questions to which 
 I had become accustomed, " When did 
 you arrive ? " and " Have you got your 
 coal ? " had been answered, I asked : " Did 
 your Bxcellency receive some shipwrecked 
 people we picked up on the way to Bupa- 
 toria? " He nodded his head in assent. 
 '' What became of them ? " I inquired, 
 Mustapha evidently thought that this was 
 none of my business, for his reply was 
 very short : " They were — confiscated." 
 
 Comment has been made upon the bad 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 185 
 
 management of the English commissariat 
 at Balaklava that entailed such disastrous 
 consequences. The only excuses made for 
 it were an ignorance of the country and 
 the distance from the seat of war. The 
 Turks had not these apologies to offer for 
 the neglect of their troops at Bupatoria. 
 That station was within less than two 
 days' sail from Constantinople and easily 
 supplied with all the necessaries required. 
 The place was captured by the allies 
 without any resistance in November, 1854, 
 and was strongly fortified on the land side 
 against attack from the enemy, should 
 they be disposed to regain it, as they 
 were when, in the winter that ensued, 
 they made an unsuccessful attempt in 
 that direction. It is said, upon authority, 
 which seems scarcely credible, that the 
 failure of the Russian troops in this in- 
 stance had such an effect upon the Czar 
 
l86 AJV AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 that lie died of cHagrin soon after receiv- 
 ing tHe news. 
 
 Tlie only object the allies could have 
 had in possessing themselves of this in- 
 significant port must have been to obtain 
 a base of supplies from the rich farming 
 country in the interior. For a time this 
 scheme v/orked admirably ; the natives 
 were almost always ready to sell their 
 produce to these new and. eager custom- 
 ers, and when they were indisposed to 
 do so, foraging parties obtained all they 
 desired without cost. There was no let 
 or hindrance to this generally beneficial 
 commerce till Mentchikoff withdrew a 
 large part of his force from Sebastopol, 
 for the purpose of harassing his ene- 
 mies from the outside and of eventually 
 driving them into the sea, as he inef- 
 fectually attempted to do in the battles 
 of Inkerman and Balaklava. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 187 
 
 Although he was not successful in this, 
 he did accomplish the shutting off their 
 means of obtaining provisions, and kept 
 the road open for abundantly supplying 
 his own troops in the field, as well as 
 the beleaguered garrison at Sebastopol. 
 Bupatoria had been left mainly in charge 
 of the Turks and a few companies of 
 French soldiers, and it had been left to 
 starve. 
 
 My " friend and brother," Azim Pasha, 
 had remonstrated as far as he dared, in 
 vain, and he and his troops hungered and 
 froze with resignation, rather welcoming 
 than deploring the sickness that was daily 
 depleting their ranks, as it reduced the 
 number of mouths to be fed. 
 
 It suited us very well to lie at the dock 
 in Constantinople and draw our pay for 
 doing nothing, but humanity prompted 
 me to induce Hafiz Bffendi to stir up old 
 
l88 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 Mustaplia to the performance of some part 
 of his duty. 
 
 ^' The best thing you can do for those 
 poor devils up there," I said, "is to 
 send them provisions instead of more 
 troops. There is no danger of any 
 further attack from the Russians, who 
 don't want the place any more than you 
 ought to want to retain it. They need 
 fuel to warm them and food to eat. Fill 
 our hold with coal and our betv/een decks 
 with groceries and provisions ; give us a 
 deck load of sheep and hay, and send us 
 off as quickly as you can." 
 
 The Bffendi accordingly awakened 
 Mustapha and kept his eyes open long 
 enough for him to sign an order to 
 this effect, and away we sped to Bupa- 
 toria to gladden the hearts of the 
 sufferers. My friend and brother, who 
 was by this time again out of coal 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 189 
 
 and champagne, received me witli open 
 arms. He would be no longer obliged to 
 cover Himself witli human comforters and 
 to confine himself to hard-tack and cold 
 water, but he could keep his house warm, 
 treat himself to a cup of coffee, cover 
 himself with sheepskins that were as 
 acceptable as the mutton that had been 
 under them, to say nothing of an occa- 
 sional sip of the champagne that the 
 Prophet did not forbid. The remainder 
 of our service under the Turks may be 
 summarized as repetitions of trips like 
 this with provisions for Kupatoria, and 
 returning with invalids. 
 
 The news of peace being declared 
 reached us on the 2d day of April, 1856. 
 The event had been anticipated for a long 
 time, and, in business parlance, had been 
 discounted by all the belligerents who, 
 excepting the English, had come to the 
 
igo AN AMERICAN TRANSPOR T IN 
 
 wise conclusion that it was folly to sacri- 
 fice any more lives in useless warfare. 
 
 The Bnglisli were opposed to a speedy 
 termination of hostilities, while the French 
 were anxious to bring them to a close. 
 The elan with which they had gone 
 into the war had long since subsided. 
 On the other hand, the mistakes the 
 English had made, and their suffering in 
 consequence of them, had taught them 
 some salutary lessons. In short, it may 
 be said that at this period the French 
 had become tired and demoralized, where- 
 as the English, with bull-dog pertina- 
 city, had just got themselves into good 
 fighting trim. The French were ready 
 to leave off ; the English were ready to 
 begin afresh. The news was therefore 
 hailed with joy by the French, and received 
 by the English as a bitter pill that 
 Napoleon obliged them to swallow. 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 191 
 
 He knew full well the conditions to 
 wliich each, party had arrived, that the 
 superiority of his troops could no longer be 
 maintained, and that if any more victories 
 were to be won, the English would be 
 entitled to the credit. From first to last 
 his army had not only been fighting 
 the Russians, but it had been engaged 
 in humiliating the English, and this 
 process was as much a source of satis- 
 faction to him as were his victories over 
 the common enemy. 
 
 The land forces of the French being 
 the most numerous, their generals natu- 
 rally exercised a greater control. This 
 was made manifest in things both great 
 and small. It was a luxury for the 
 French to supply the deficient commis- 
 sariat of the English, and it was their 
 policy to place them at disadvantage in 
 battle, as they did in the culminating 
 
192 AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 event of the war, when, as has been 
 already related, the English were re- 
 pulsed at the Redan, while the F^rench tri- 
 umphantly scaled the Malakoff. French 
 and English alike held the Turks in de- 
 rision. All three of them had a greater 
 respect for the Russians than for each 
 other. 
 
 But the British navy did excite the ad- 
 miration and envy of the French. They 
 learned some useful lessons in seaman- 
 ship from their association with it. But 
 it was in vain that their ships endeavored 
 to rival those of the English in naval 
 tactics and evolutions. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that 1855 was 
 still the era of sailing ships in the navies 
 as well as in the mercantile marines of 
 the world — a surviving era of a now 
 almost forgotten seamanship. It was a 
 study to see an English and French line- 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 193 
 
 of-battle ship or frigate coming to anchor 
 together. On board the former, silently 
 and as if by magic, every sail was furled 
 at once before the Frenchmen could man 
 their yards and gather up the bunts, 
 chattering all the while like a lot of 
 magpies, and all apparently giving orders 
 to each other. Happily for the French, 
 they are now on more even terms, as 
 seamanship is no longer required. 
 
 There is a general impression that the 
 introduction of iron-clads commenced with 
 the plating of the Merrimac and the build- 
 ing of the Monitor. This is not true, for 
 there was a rude beginning made by the 
 English in this war. 
 
 Two iron-clads were sent out from Bn- 
 gland in tow, although they had limited 
 steam-power of their own. They were 
 wooden vessels plated over with iron 
 sheets not more than an inch thick, with 
 
194 ^^ AMERICAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 Open bulwarks, and decks rounded up so 
 tliat a skell miglit roll into tke water 
 in case it did not immediately explode. 
 
 They floated almost as low as rafts. 
 At tke reduction of Kinbourn the masts 
 were taken out of them and they were 
 towed as far as it was prudent for the 
 tugs to accompany them, and then they 
 propelled themselves under the batteries 
 which they successfully silenced. 
 
 I do not know what became of them 
 afterwards, or if they were ever again 
 brought into requisition. They have prob- 
 ably been broken up long ago, but they 
 should have been preserved to appear in 
 future naval exhibits where they would 
 attract as much attention alongside of a 
 modern battle-ship as did the first railroad 
 engine by the side of one of the latest con- 
 struction at the World's Fair in Chicago. 
 
 The navy played but a small part in 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 195 
 
 the Crimean War. Almost its only use 
 was to prevent tlie exit of the Russian 
 fleet from Sebastopol, which would have 
 been disastrous to the seaports in its 
 neighborhood occupied by the Allies, and 
 to the transports that brought their sup- 
 plies of men, munitions and provisions. 
 
 As to the Russian fleet, it had accom- 
 plished its purpose of annihilating that of 
 the Turks at Sinope before the Allies 
 made their appearance in the Black Sea. 
 After that, it retired to the harbor of 
 Sebastopol to await the course of events. 
 When the fortune of war at last went 
 against the Russians, as we have seen, 
 their ships were scuttled and sunk. 
 
 In bringing this narrative of personal 
 experiences and of the great events to 
 which they were incident quorum parva 
 pars fui^ to a close, the writer may be 
 permitted to chronicle succinctly his own 
 
196 AN AMERTCAN TRANSPORT IN 
 
 conclusions. They may not be those of 
 the historian, the statesman or the poli- 
 tician. They claim no such authority. 
 They simply emanate from the quarter- 
 deck of an American transport steamer. 
 
 The Allies certainly succeeded in curb- 
 ing Russia's designs upon Turkey and 
 in postponing the inevitable for a time. 
 The life of the " sick man " has been 
 prolonged forty years, but the sick man 
 is bound sooner or later to die. The ques- 
 tion is, whether it would not have been 
 better for the world if he had yielded up 
 the ghost in 1854, v/hen Nicholas diag- 
 nosed his case and said to the British 
 ambassador at his court in almost so 
 many words, " Leave him to me ; you 
 shall have Egypt, and I will guarantee 
 you that, and your Indian possessions, 
 for all time." 
 
 England knew that she could not make 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 197 
 
 a better bargain for herself tban tbis, 
 provided it could bave been carried out. 
 But unfortunately for ber, tbe star of tbe 
 tbird Napoleon was at tbat time in tbe 
 ascendant. 
 
 It was a mean estimate of bim tbat 
 was made after tbe day of Sedan to say 
 tbat " be went up like a rocket and 
 came down like a stick." He did go up 
 like a rocket, but be stayed up in tbe 
 zenitb of bis splendor and power for 
 twenty years. England feared bim be- 
 fore tbe Crimean War, during tbe war, 
 and for a long time afterwards. All 
 Europe was afraid of bim ; and we, too, 
 were a little afraid of bim ourselves, dur- 
 ing our family quarrel. 
 
 Now tbat be bas gone and tbe inordinate 
 pride of France bas been somewbat bum- 
 bled, perbaps tbere may soon be a recon- 
 struction of tbe map of tbe eastern con- 
 
igS AN AMERICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 tinent, and tlie second Nicliolas may invite 
 England to accede to his terms. If this 
 should come to pass, I can only commend 
 to my good friends, the Turks, whom I 
 shall always hold in kindly remembrance, 
 a graceful submission to their own doc- 
 trine of fatalism, which Mr. Sears was 
 wont to consider their crowning virtue. 
 
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