THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 11 



boat at the foot of the wharf. A few pointed remarks from my interpreter silenced the 

 crowd, and having selected two of the porters, we proceeded down to the dock. 

 Just before embarking another attempt was made to examine my baggage, but a 

 few coppers placed in the palm of the official had the desired effect, and my baggage 

 was stamped and loaded on the boat. We were quickly rowed out to the steamer, which 

 was anchored in the stream. She was a small iron tub of a thousand tons burden, 

 and her steerage and second class passengers were as untidy and dirty a crowd as 

 one seldom sees. Among the first-class passengers were several Englishmen and 

 Germans, so my trip was not as lonesome as I had anticipated it would be. Late in 

 the afternoon, our staunch but dirty little boat steamed out of the Bosphorus into 

 the Sea of Marmora, leaving the Golden Horn to our right. 



Once away from the dirt and bad odors of the Turkish capital, its many 

 mosques and striking minarets, and the finer residences on the higher elevations 

 in the background, with the sun sending its glancing rays along the many colored 

 roofs, odd buildings and palaces, made a pretty picture, not soon to be forgotten. 

 The following morning we passed through the Dardenelles, where a short stop was 

 made to unload passengers and freight. 



Our next stop was at Mt. Athos, where we arrived the same afternoon. This is 

 the most southerly peninsula of Turkey, and is noted for its large and ancient 

 monasteries. The peninsula is heavily wooded with a luxuriant growth of olives, 

 arbutus, laurel and oaks, and rises very abruptly from the water's edge. 



The monasteries, situated in various parts of the peninsula, make a striking 

 picture with their white walls, peeping out from the mass of green vegetation which 

 surrounds them. The steamer drew close to the shore, the water being very deep, 

 and during the short stay, some of the monasteries near by were visited. Fortunately, 

 among the inhabitants, I found a Russian who had resided in New York, and who 

 spoke very good English, from whom much of interest was learned of the inhabitants 

 and their mode of living. The inhabitants consist mostly of Russian and Greek 

 monks, members of the orthodox church, and although they are constantly migrating 

 there are said to be fully 15,000 of them on the peninsula. Females, either bipeds 

 or quadrupeds, are 'never permitted to land, and I was informed that there were 

 monks located on the peninsula who had not seen a woman in fifty years. Birds and 

 insects thrive and increase without molestation, and particularly the bed bug, which 

 seemed, so I was told by a gentleman who had spent several days visiting the 

 monasteries, to be very much at home in all of them. The monks make a rather 

 striking picture in their long hair, their peculiar headgear, and cassocks, and if they 

 were only a little cleaner would be fine looking men. 



The next day we reached Salonica, June 10, an important seaport town of 

 Turkey. No sooner had the steamer dropped her anchor in the offing than she was 

 surrounded by a jabbering crowd of boatmen. Having signified my intention of 

 going on shore for a few hours while our steamer was unloading freight, I was 

 beseiged by the yelling, fighting horde, who beckoned, pleaded in their broken 

 pigeon English to be allowed the privilege of rowing me to shore. The scene became 

 so animated I was finally compelled to retire to my cabin to get a few moments 

 respite. Selecting one of the quietest of the lot, in company with a passenger 

 familiar with the Turkish language, we were rowed to the wharf. The town is well 

 situated on a slightly elevated plateau, rising gently from the shore. The streets 

 are paved in a similar manner to all Turkish towns with rough stones, but 

 the place as a whole was far cleaner than Constantinople. Commercially it ranks 

 second in importance to that place, and has a population of 150,000, at least one-half 

 of which are Jews. A close inspection of the city was not possible, due to the 

 limited amount of time at my disposal, still one of the leading mosques, and a Jewish 

 school were visited, and also several of the bazaars. This school is situated in a 



