he agreed that it was necessary to guard against it, but asked through his interpreter that he should be shown the chart every four hours, which was agreed.  The interpreter then intimated that the priest would hold a service previous to retiring to rest, and during the passage they would be held before and after every meal.  The food, cooking utensils, and cook were provided by themselves.  They would not eat the food of Christians, or use their utensils for the purpose of preparing it.  In fact, what with the weird, shrill wail of their “yahing” prayers, the intolerable smell of their cooking, the smoke from their “hubblebubbles,” and a perpetual run of messages coming from the pasha (while he was awake) to the officer in charge, they became somewhat of a nuisance before the first twenty-four hours had expired.  The officers could not get their proper rest, which caused them to feel justified in becoming profane, and wishing the Turkish windpipes would snap.

The fog lifted, as it generally does, a little before noon, on the day after sailing, and an accurate latitude was got; but during the afternoon it shut down blacker than ever.  The engines had to be slowed, and the whistle was constantly going.  The pasha’s anxiety to get to his destination was giving him constant worry, and he became more and more troublesome.  The interpreter explained that the Sultan was waiting to consult his master about the plan of campaign, and other military matters, and that the delay was making the pasha impatient; but in spite of annoying pressure, the captain refused to depart from the wise precaution of going slow while the fog lasted.  At midnight it cleared up a little, and the engines were put at full speed until 8 a.m. the following morning, when they ran into a bank of fog again.  The speed was slackened to dead slow, and as she was nearing the Bosphorus land the lead was kept going; but, owing to the great depth of water, sounding is little guide towards keeping vessels clear of the rocks of that steep and iron-bound coast.  Currents run with rapid irregularity, and in no part of the world is navigation more treacherous than there.  According to the reckoning, the vessel was within four miles of the entrance to the Bosphorus, but no prudent navigator would have risked going farther until he could see his way; so orders were given to stop her.  This brought more urgent messages from the pasha.  As the day wore on and the mist still continued, all hope of getting into the Bosphorus had disappeared.  The pasha sent for the captain, and said he must be at Constantinople that evening.

“Well,” said the captain to the interpreter, “tell your master that if the Sultan and all his concubines were to ask me to go ahead I would have to refuse.”

Then he proceeded to point out the dangers on the chart.  This did not appeal to the pasha’s military understanding.  What he wanted was to be landed somewhere, and he did not regard running the vessel ashore with any disastrous consequences to himself until he was assured that the rocks were so steep that even in a calm the vessel might sink in deep water and everybody be drowned.