present a plate of something:  if the officer ate it the man would retire behind him, and with the man at the wheel watch the disappearance of the contents.  If the officer left any or refused a dish, the sailor would go down to the kitchen for the next course, first slipping what was left or rejected behind the wheel, and after presenting the next course to the officer would retire and devour with great gusto the secreted dish; the helmsman sometimes taking a sly bite when the officer was particularly engaged.

The Dardanelles were reached very early in the morning.  The night before I had declared my intention to go on deck at daylight and view the Hellespont, but when I awoke and found it blowing a gale, I concluded it would not “pay,” and turned in for another nap.  All that day we were crossing the Sea of Marmora with the strong current and wind against us, so it was dark before we reached Constantinople, and our ship was obliged to anchor in the outer harbor till the next morning.  Seraglio Point rose just before us, and on the left the seven towers were dimly visible in the starlight.  We walked the deck and watched the lights glimmer and stream out over the Sea of Marmora, and listened to the incessant barking of the dogs.

Next morning, bright and early, we entered the Bosphorus, rounded Seraglio Point and were soon anchored, with hundreds of other vessels, at the mouth of the Golden Horn.  Steam ferryboats of the English kind were passing to and fro, and caiques flitted in and out with the dexterity and swiftness of sea-gulls.  Quite a deputation of fez caps came on board to receive the bride and groom, and when we went ashore they were still smoking cigarettes and sipping at what must have been in the neighborhood of their twentieth cup of Turkish coffee.  Madame A——­ was very cordial when we parted, saying she should call soon upon me, and that I must visit her.  We bade adieu to our captain with regret.  He was a very intelligent and entertaining man.  The officers of the Austrian Lloyd line ought certainly to be very capable seamen.  Educated in the government naval schools, they are obliged to serve as mates a certain time, then command a sailing vessel for several years, and finally pass a very strict examination before being licensed as captains of steamers.  Amongst other qualifications, every captain acts as his own pilot in entering any port to which he may be ordered.  They sail under sealed orders, and our captain said that not until he reached Constantinople would he know the ship’s ultimate destination, or whether he would retain command or be transferred to another vessel.  It is the policy of the company seldom to send the same steamer or captain over the same route two successive trips.  In time of war both captains and ships are liable to naval duty.  As we passed the island of Lissa the captain pointed out the scene of a naval engagement between the Austrians and Italians in 1866, in which he had participated.  The salary of these officers is only about a thousand dollars a year.