Rome [by
rail], Herculaneum, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Vergil’s
tomb, and
possibly the ruins of
Paestum can be visited, as well as the
beautiful surroundings
of Naples and its charming bay.
The next
point of interest will be Palermo, the most beautiful
city of Sicily, which
will be reached in one night from Naples. A
day will be spent here,
and leaving in the evening, the course will
be taken towards Athens.
Skirting
along the north coast of Sicily, passing through the
group of Aeolian Isles,
in sight of Stromboli and Vulcania, both
active volcanoes, through
the Straits of Messina, with “Scylla” on
the one hand and “Charybdis”
on the other, along the east coast of
Sicily, and in sight
of Mount Etna, along the south coast of Italy,
the west and south coast
of Greece, in sight of ancient Crete, up
Athens Gulf, and into
the Piraeus, Athens will be reached in two and
a half or three days.
After tarrying here awhile, the Bay of
Salamis will be crossed,
and a day given to Corinth, whence the
voyage will be continued
to Constantinople, passing on the way
through the Grecian
Archipelago, the Dardanelles, the Sea of
Marmora, and the mouth
of the Golden Horn, and arriving in about
forty-eight hours from
Athens.
After leaving
Constantinople, the way will be taken out through
the beautiful Bosphorus,
across the Black Sea to Sebastopol and
Balaklava, a run of
about twenty-four hours. Here it is proposed
to
remain two days, visiting
the harbors, fortifications, and
battlefields of the
Crimea; thence back through the Bosphorus,
touching at Constantinople
to take in any who may have preferred to
remain there; down through
the Sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles,
along the coasts of
ancient Troy and Lydia in Asia, to Smyrna, which
will be reached in two
or two and a half days from Constantinople.
A sufficient stay will
be made here to give opportunity of visiting
Ephesus, fifty miles
distant by rail.
From Smyrna
towards the Holy Land the course will lay through the
Grecian Archipelago,
close by the Isle of Patmos, along the coast
of Asia, ancient Pamphylia,
and the Isle of Cyprus. Beirut will be
reached in three days.
At Beirut time will be given to visit
Damascus; after which
the steamer will proceed to Joppa.
From Joppa,
Jerusalem, the River Jordan, the Sea of Tiberias,
Nazareth, Bethany, Bethlehem,
and other points of interest in the
Holy Land can be visited,
and here those who may have preferred to
make the journey from
Beirut through the country, passing through
Damascus, Galilee, Capernaum,
Samaria, and by the River Jordan and
Sea of Tiberias, can
rejoin the steamer.