282 REGAIN THE STEAMER. 



for the life of me help laughing. The more I 

 laughed, the more he laboured to convince me 

 that it was no laughing matter, and fruitless were 

 his endeavours to get us into the right path. I 

 was urged by him to inquire the way. Worse and 

 worse, the lamentable intelligence then burst upon 

 his ear, that, like himself, I could not speak a 

 word of Bulgarian. It really became a desperate 

 case, so we took a bearing, that is, looked to that 

 point where we thought the ship must be, and 

 made straight for it, through the narrow, and 

 dirty, and innumerable streets of a Turkish town. 

 By good fortune, we succeeded ; the Swiss almost 

 jumped for joy, and, I dare say, vowed internally 

 never to trust himself to the guidance of a hare- 

 brained Englishman again. 



The boats at Varna are a great contrast to the 

 light, picturesque, easily-upset caique, to which 

 we, coming from Constantinople, had been accus- 

 tomed ; they are large, heavy, and serviceable, 

 and hold twelve or fourteen persons with ease. 



