10 THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 



surprise another set of officials requested to see my valises for another inspection. 

 All the books, etc., had been replaced, and to say that my heart was in my mouth 

 would hardly express my feelings. However, my fears were groundless, for a few 

 coins passed into the ever open hand of the officials by my guide, who had been 

 telegraphed for previously, and who met me at the train, caused the grips to be 

 closed with a snap. My guide having procured a carriage, and with the baggage piled 

 around me, our driver dexterously piloted the way through the vile streets of the 

 city and landed us at the hotel without further mishap. 



My stay in Constantinople was to be of short duration, for arrangements had 

 been made to depart on a steamer for Smyrna the same day. New troubles now 

 arose. In Turkey, one cannot travel without a Turkish passport, called a Teskera, 

 and how to get this, after having had my other passport taken from me, was the 

 problem. In company with my guide I called on the American Consul General, who 

 by the way was Mr. Dickerson, prominently connected with the rescue of Miss Stone 

 from the grasp of the bandits. The consul being absent the only credential I 

 possessed, viz., the commission from the United States Government, was presented to 

 the vice-consul, my predicament and the importance of departure that day for 

 Smyrna fully explained, with a request that I might proceed on my journey. 

 This he stated was an utter impossibility, for not having my passport properly 

 vised, it would take some time to secure the Teskera. Turkish officials take 

 their time in attending to business and my experience would have been no exception 

 to the rule, but by the liberal use of baksesh, the official machinery was accelerated, 

 and by 2 P. M. a properly vised Teskera was handed to me. 



The day before my arrival there had been quite a rain storm in Constantinople, 

 and the streets were reasonably clean, but the bad odors for which the city is noted 

 are truly emphatic, and are one of the first disagreeable features noticeable to the 

 traveler, particularly in the lower part of the city, bordering on the Bosphorus, where 

 the ground is quite flat. The next feature that impresses itself on the foreigner 

 is the narrow streets, paved with rough stones, and so full of deep ruts that were 

 it not for the rattle of vehicles, the yelling of drivers, and the vociferous voices of 

 the street fakirs, one would almost be led to believe while riding, that he were on the 

 high seas. 



Everyone has heard of the dogs of Constantinople, and the reports have not 

 been exaggerated, for no matter where you turn, these scavengers are to be seen in 

 groups of from six to ten, sunning themselves on the sidewalks. Pedestrians rather 

 than disturb them, pick their way gingerly over the cobblestones in the streets. 

 A mother dog with a litter of pups, carefully protected from the weather with a 

 canopy, which some kindly resident had made for her, is no uncommon sight in the 

 main streets of the city. 



Highly elated in having secured the Teskera, I started from the hotel with the 

 guide, for the quay, fully an hour and a half before the steamer was scheduled to 

 leave. Calling at the steamship office first, in order to exchange the Tourist 

 Company's ticket for one of theirs, I was indignant to learn that an additional sum 

 was necessary to that already paid in order to secure passage on the boat leaving that 

 afternoon. This steamer, instead of going direct to Smyrna (a trip of twenty-four 

 nours) called at several ports en route, so that the trip occupied several days, and for 

 this reason additional fare was charged. As there was no other steamer for a number 

 of days, my only alternative, after making a vigorous protest, was to pay the 

 additional sum required. Money flows like water when you travel in the Orient, 

 and plundering an American is one of the pastimes of all the many nationalities 

 of the Ottoman Empire. The exciting incidents of the day, however, were not yet 

 over, for on reaching the pier we were surrounded by a rough and uncouth crowd of 

 porters, all of whom clamored for the privilege of carrying my baggage to the small 



