2 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 



was on board, with whom I conversed in Moldavian. On 

 the approach of evening, we sailed from Varna, with a favor- 

 able wind, in company with a Turkish fleet of about twenty 

 small vessels. Fatigued by travelling, and lulled to sleep by 

 the soothing motion of the vessel, I sank into the most 

 charming reveries of the future ; when, towards midnight, 

 I was aroused by the noise of the crew and passengers. A 

 dreadful tempest from the north had overtaken us so sudden- 

 ly, that there was not time to haul down the sails, which, in 

 a few minutes, were shivered to pieces, and continued flap- 

 ping and whistling in the storm. The mast itself did not 

 escape the violence of the elements, but fell overboard with a 

 crashing noise ; and the foaming waves gushed into the open 

 vessel. The night was profoundly dark, illumined occasion- 

 ally by flashes of Hghtnins:, accompanied with peals of thun- 

 der.; hail and rain fell tempestuously ; the elements seemed to 

 have conspired against us. Too late, I became aware of my 

 error, and regretted having embarked in a heavily laden open 

 vessel ; but, as all the other ships were of a like size, and 

 similarly laden, I had no choice. By the lightning we could, 

 now and then, perceive some of the vessels belonging to our 

 squadron exerting their efforts to get through the foaming 

 waves, sometimes riding on the watery mountains, at other 

 times plunging between the gaping billows. We felt some 

 consolation so long as we held them in sight ; but, they soon 

 disappeared altogether. 



As our vessel had shipped a great deal of water, the 

 sailors (few in number) were obliged to bail without inter- 

 ■mission, in which they were assisted by the passengers, 

 while standing up to their knees in ice-cold water. Every 

 •exertion was made to save the vessel ; and, at the commen- 

 •cement of the tempest, when the mast went by the board, it 

 was found advisable to lighten the vessel by throwing the 

 *cargo into the deep. Notwithstanding th'rty-five years have 

 elapsed, I vividly recollect their beginning with a large 

 earthenware-stove which stood on the poop. They then 

 threw overboard barrels of honey, bags of walnuts, &c., so 

 that there remained only a quantity ofburduffes (oxhides, 



