118 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 96 



us whose classical course in college required five years' study 

 of Greek; who enjoyed translating from the original the 

 Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer and the Ajax of Sophocles. 

 The morning was still very young, the island of Tenedos 

 scarcely more than passed, when I was out on deck to watch 

 our approach to the Hellespont, and to see the shore upon 

 which the Greeks drew up their thousand ships, where 

 Achilles sulked, when crossed in love or ambition ; to view 

 the plains that stretched toward lofty Ilium on which the 

 Greeks fought so long in vain with Agamemnon ruling, the 

 silver-tongued Nestor persuading, the crafty Odysseus plan- 

 ning, and Telamonian Ajax, gone mad, dying on his own 

 sword. As we passed up the Dardanelles we found the birds 

 were going our way. There were Gulls, Cormorants, and 

 Common Heron, besides many flocks of shorebirds, too far 

 away for identification. It took until night for our heavily 

 loaded steamer to make the run to Constantinople. 



One should not expect the best of things at all times, but 

 I was glad that my turn for the best room came at Constan- 

 tinople. It was No. 161 in the Pera-Palace Hotel, a corner 

 room in the top story, with its windows commanding most 

 magnificent views. Pera and the Golden Horn lay below. 

 Across the waters of the latter rose the hills of Stamboul, 

 beautified by the domes and minarets of its many mosques : 

 a fanciful, fascinating picture; nevertheless a bit of night- 

 mare always intrudes itself into the memory dreams of those 

 scenes : the vision of the conflagration that would sweep 

 Stamboul should a fire be started among its old, unpainted, 

 wooden houses. 



With only six days for sightseeing in Constantinople and 

 its environs too much time could not be spent in window-gaz- 

 ing, so near views of the city were soon being taken under the 

 efficient guidance of a most gentlemanly dragoman, a native 

 of Cephalonia. The usual places of interest were seen, to- 

 gether with some of the unusual people. Among the latter 

 were the dervishes, whose strange exhibitions, probably, are 

 inspired less by religious zeal than by hope of financial re- 



