Journal of a visit to Egypt, Constantinople, the Crimea, Greece, &c., in the suite of the prince and princess of Wales

Front matter

I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.?

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Contents

CHAP. PAGE

I. Sweden — Copenhagen — Berlin — Vienna, and

Embarkation and Voyage in "Ariadne"..... i

Chapter I

On the 14th of September they left it to return to England, it being my intention, when they left, to follow in about three weeks ; and after a little time spent with my eldest brother, lately appointed Swedish Minister at Copenhagen, to return to England towards the end of October.

These plans were, however, all upset by a letter from the Princess, in which she told me that she wished me to accompany her on the tour she projected with the Prince of Wales to the East, and to join her at Copenhagen in the beginning of January ; and that in the meantime I might remain quietly — which she knew would be a pleasure to me — with my father and mother in Sweden. This was too tempting an offer not to be eagerly embraced, and accordingly, after six months spent happily with my dear parents, I left Stockholm at 6 P.M. on the 10th of January, to join her Royal Highness at Copenhagen. At five o'clock I went to say good-by once more to my dear mother and brother, who were neither of them well enough to come to the station, to which my father and many friends accompanied me to see me off.

The weather was dull, but very mild (8° Cent, above o) ; and being 17 in the railway-carriage, all the precautions against cold, of fur cloaks and wrappers, were quite unnecessary. At 11 P.M. I arrived

ARRIVAL AT COPENHAGEN.

at Elmhult, where I was delighted to find a clean and warm bed.

The next day, January n, I started at 8.45 for Malmo, where I arrived at one o'clock, and took the boat that left for Copenhagen at two, which latter place we reached by four o'clock ; the sea as calm as possible.

My brother met me on landing with his carriage, and at once took me home to his house, where he had tried — and certainly with complete success — to make me comfortable ; and here I spent four very happy days with him.

January 12. — Soon after breakfast I went to see my dear Princess, and to hear something of the proposed plans. I found her, as usual, most kind and affectionate, but very sorry that the few weeks she had been able to spend with her father and mother had come to an end. Her visit seemed to have been a great happiness to her. It is now arranged that we shall set out for our long journey on the 15th, and that while I accompany her Royal Highness as her lady-in-waiting, Lady Carmarthen and Colonel Keppel, who accompanied the Prince and Princess from England in November, shall part from us at Hamburg, and, with Sir W. Knollys, take the Royal children home. The plan is for us to pass by Berlin and Vienna, and embark on board the Ariadne frigate, fitted as a yacht, at Trieste ; sail from thence to Alexandria ; and, after going up the Nile as far as the Second Cataract, to visit Constantinople, the Crimea, and Greece, before returning home somewhere about the beginning of May. Such is the plan made out for us, but it is, of course, open to many changes, as the political state of things between Greece and Turkey at the present moment may, after all, very possibly upset the latter part of the journey ; and in that case we shall return home through Italy.

We dined at the Palace, where I saw all the Royal family, who were most kind and gracious. Later in the evening I went to a reception at the Russian Minister's, Baron Mohrenheim.

January 13. — In the morning paid some visits, and took a walk with my brother, with whom I spent the day, and dined alone at home, paying a quiet visit after dinner to a relation.

January 14. — I had a long audience of the Queen, and later of Princess Caroline.

We had some people to dinner, and at nine o'clock went to a ball at the Palace, from which we did not get home till three o'clock.

January 15. — My last day with my dear brother,

DEPARTURE FROM COPENHAGEN.

and though I looked forward with great delight to our Eastern trip, yet I felt quite sad to leave him, and my heart almost sunk within me at the thought of parting from all I love most in the world for such a long time.

At 8 P. M. I joined the Prince and Princess at the station, to which they were accompanied by the King, the Queen, and the Crown Prince, who, together with their suite, and also the English Minister, Sir C. Wyke, and some other members of the Embassy, went with us as far as Korsoer. At the station a great many Danish officials, Foreign Ministers, and many members of society, had assembled to take leave of their Royal Highnesses. We arrived at Korsoer at eleven, and left again at twelve o'clock by the steamer Freya for Liibeck. The Danish Royal family took leave of us at Korsoer, and returned to Copenhagen the same night. After a very fair passage of ten hours, we arrived at Liibeck at half-past ten in the morning of January 16. We started at once by special train for Hamburg, where we arrived at 1 . 30 P. M., and drove to the Victoria Hotel.

Our party, including the servants, was now forty-two in all. The weather much colder (5 Reaum.) and we saw ice and snow.

JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO EGYPT, ETC.

We were all rather tired, and did not leave the hotel. We dined at seven o'clock, our dinner-partyconsisting of ourselves, the Duke and Duchess of Gliicksburg, Princess Louise, and Prince Julius of Gliicksburg, and Mr. Warde, the English Minister for the Hanse Towns.

January 17. — Got up early to see the Royal children off, who, under the care of Lady Carmarthen, Sir W. Knollys, and Colonel Keppel, left at 7.30 A.M. for England. At one o'clock we started by special train for Berlin, and arrived there at 7 P.M. We were received at the station by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Prussia, the English Ambassador, and Lady A. Loftus, and all the members of the Embassy, as well as by the Danish Minister, and many other persons belonging to the Government or Court.

We were lodged (that is, the Prince, Princess and myself,) at the Crown Prince's palace ; the gentlemen of the suite, now consisting of Colonel Teesdale, Captain Ellis, Lord Carington, Mr. O. Montagu, and Dr. Minter, being put up at the King's palace. I dined in my own room, and went to bed early.

January 18. — Went to pay some visits in the morning with Countess Hohenthal.

Dined at five o'clock at the King's palace, and

BERLIN.

after dinner went to the ballet of Sardanapahts, beautifully given at the opera.

The weather very cold (8° Reaum.).

January 19. — At one o'clock we went to the skating place near the " Forster Haus " in the Thiergarten, and remained there more than two hours. I and all the suite dined with Lord A. Loftus at five o'clock. At 9.30 there was a great ball at the King's palace, in the round white hall. It was very pretty, and the decorations of all the adjoining rooms very bright, and tastefully done. Came home at three o'clock.

January 20. — Went out shopping early in the morning with my maid, and at one o'clock to a skating party at the same place as yesterday, where regimental bands played, and a breakfast was given by the King. It was a pretty sight, but for those who, like myself, did not skate, a very cold pleasure, though we were pushed about in small sledges.

We dined at five o'clock at the Crown Prince's palace, and at seven o'clock went to the ballet, Flick and Flack. We returned home after it to change our dresses, and at eleven left Berlin by the ordinary train for Vienna, being accompanied to the station by the Crown Prince and Princess and their suite, and met there by the English Ambassador and the

JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO EGYPT, ETC.

members of the British Embassy, the Danish Minister and his wife, &c. It was frightfully cold all night ; the thermometer in my carriage was below Zero Centigrade, and when I awoke in the morning I found a heap of snow on my feet that had come in through the window !

January 21. — Travelled all day. The weather bitterly cold ; (io° of frost, Reaumur.)

Prince Teck joined us at Breslau at 7 A.M. We breakfasted at Oderberg, and arrived at Vienna at 8 P. M. ; and were met at the station by the Emperor.

Drove straight to the Burg, where the Empress received us in the hall, looking beautiful, dressed all in white and diamonds. She was attended by Countess Konigsegg, the Princess Taxis, and Countess Hunyady. General Baron Schall, Count Bellegarde, and Baron Bechtelsheim, are appointed by the Emperor to be in attendance on the Prince and Princess during their stay here. The Prince and Princess have a splendid suite of rooms in the Burg. I, too, am very comfortably lodged.

January 22. — The cold to-day is greatly increased, (14° Reaumur.) We spent all the morning in calling upon the Royalties : first, the Empress and the Dowager Empress ; then the Archduchess Sophie (the

VIENNA.

Emperors mother), with arch-dukes and duchesses without end, whose names would be too long and too many to enumerate.

The Prince and Princess dined at six o'clock with the Emperor and Empress (Familien Tafel), and all the suite with the household ; after which we went to the ballet Sprohfeuer at the opera.

January 23. — As cold as ever. At twelve o'clock we started in four carriages, with six horses each, to pay a visit to the King and Queen of Hanover at Heitzing. They were most kind and amiable, as, indeed, they always have been to me ; and I thought it quite sad to see them in a position, and leading a life, so different from what we had witnessed when I went with the Prince and Princess on a visit to Hanover in 1864.

We went thence to see the skating at the Schwarzenberg Garten. We dined at six o'clock with the Emperor and Empress, and after dinner went to see Don Juan, not very well given.

January 24. — Went at 11.30 to church at the English Embassy. Lunched with Lord and Lady Bloomfield, and afterwards went to see the skating. It was very cold, indeed — 15 of frost ! At six o'clock there was a great dinner at the Burg, a band playing all the time, led by Strauss. I went afterwards with Countess Konigsegg to the Burg Theatre, to see Donna Diana, which was rather amusing, and afterwards went to a small party at Countess Lariche's. I like all the people of the Court very much, — everybody was so kind to me ; and it touched and pleased me more than I can say, to see how everybody seemed still to remember dear William, of whom they all spoke with real regard and affection ; yet it is seventeen years since he belonged to the Embassy at Vienna !

January 25. — The Princess and I went out shopping together. Later, I went out again with Princess Taxis, and drove to the Promenade Prater. There was a five-o'clock dinner-party at Prince Augustus's of Saxe-Coburg, after which we went to the play to see Blaubart ; and at ten o'clock to a concert at the Emperor's, in the Burg, given in the " Alexander Zimmer." The music was beautiful, but the arrangement was quite new to me. We sat at small tables in the same room as the music, each person being told at which table they were to sit ; and between each piece of music different refreshments were brought in, ending, at last, with a real supper. No table-cloth was put on the table ; the plates were merely set before you, and the dishes handed round.

January 26. — I went out early with Princess

STRANGE FUNERAL CUSTOMS. II

Taxis to see the church in the Burg where all the royal hearts are kept ! In a small corner of the church you look through some iron railings at a long row of silver urns, with inscriptions on them, which contain the hearts. The custom is, whenever a royal person dies, to take out the heart, and place it here ; the inside of the body being placed in another church, and the rest of the body in a third ! I confess that, in spite of the honour of being buried with royal rites, I should prefer, when I die, that my poor body should be left at peace. We then walked through a splendid winter garden belonging to the Burg, and afterwards went to the " Treasury," and saw most beautiful jewels, agates, crystals, and gems of all kinds.

We also went to the Imperial stables, which are on a great and magnificent scale ; 500 horses, 600 carriages, and so on. The Empress takes great interest in it herself, and they say she rides very well and a great deal. Some of the State coaches were beautiful, with paintings on them by Rubens. At two o'clock we went to the Burg, and I accompanied the Princess to a skating party at Princess Schwarzenburg's, for which she only returned just in time, having been with the Prince to pay a visit to the King and Queen of Hanover.

Home to dress. The Prince and Princess dined at the Prince of Wiirtemberg's, and I with the Swedish Minister. At nine o'clock we went to a small evening-party at Prince Hohenlohe's, given on purpose to let the Prince and Princess hear the two brothers Strauss play on the piano. From thence I went to a ball called the " Picnic" ball, also in the Burg, given every week for a charitable object. The music was excellent, but it was not otherwise a pretty ball. I did not get to bed till two o'clock, with the pleasant prospect of getting up again in three hours to commence our long and cold journey to Trieste.

Wednesday the 27th. — Up at five, and took the 6.30 train for Trieste. The Princess's uncle, Prince Wilhelm of Glucksburg, the Prince of Lippe, and many members of the Court, as well as the English Ambassador and Danish Minister, coming to the station to take leave of their Royal Highnesses. The weather was less cold, and the day very fine and sunny, and I seldom saw anything prettier than the scenery we passed this day. The Alps on each side of us, with their tops covered with snow, and the sun shining on them, had the prettiest effect possible. The ascent of the Simmering is most curious ; the railroad goes in a zigzag line, so that after having left a station or a house to the right, we found it in a few minutes at a great distance below us on our left !

EMBARKATION AT TRIESTE.

At Gratz, Prince Teck, who had come so far with us from Vienna, left us.

We breakfasted at Murzuschlag at 10 A.M., and dined at Steinbruck at 4 P. M., arriving at Trieste at 9.30. We drove at once down to the Quay, and went on board the Psyche, Captain Sir C. Blackwood, which took us off to the Ariadne, Captain F. Campbell, which ship has been fitted as a yacht for the accommodation of the Prince and Princess during their tour in the East.

As we left the Quay a few rockets were sent up, and the Ariadne was then lit up with red and blue lights, which had a very pretty effect. The sea was perfectly calm ; and the moon shining over the town, and on the distant snow-topped Alps, with the innumerable ships lying in the harbour, made it altogether a perfect picture. After we had all retired to our cabins, a fearful" fire broke out in some of the warehouses close to the Quay. I rather think that all our luggage, sent on before, had been kept in this very house till the morning of this day, when it was put on board the Ariadne. Thus we had a very narrow escape of losing all our property, which, considering where we were going, would have been very serious.

January 28. — Weighed anchor at 9 A.M., and left Trieste in the finest weather possible. Our party now consisted of the Prince and Princess and myself, Colonel Teesdale, Captain Ellis, Lord Carington, Mr. O. Montagu, Doctor Minter, and Mr. Brierley, who had joined us at Trieste to accompany us during our tour, in order to make a series of sketches for his Royal Highness.

The Ariadne, in reality a man-of-war, but for this occasion fitted up as a yacht, is most comfortable. The Prince and Princess have two large sleeping cabins, besides a large cabin for a sitting-room, and another for a dining-room. I have a charming cabin also, with a bath-room outside, and my maid next-door to me. In short, I think we were all much pleased with the accommodation and arrangement of what is to be our home, while at sea, for the next four months.

All day running smoothly down the Adriatic. Passed Pola at two o'clock.

January 29. — The wind right against us, and the weather squally and misty. Passed the island of Lissa at one o'clock.

January 30. — My birthday, and I felt rather sad at being so far from those I love ; however, I felt that our thoughts met. In the evening a performance took place amongst the crew, of dancing, mesmerizing, &c.

January 31. — Very fine weather, and quite calm.

ARRIVAL OFF ALEXANDRIA.

Service at eleven o'clock ; which I heard from my cabin. We were all day running down the Albanian coast, which looked beautiful with the sun shining on the hills. Passed Zante at eleven o'clock, Navarino at two o'clock, and came later in sight of Cerigo.

February 1. — Passed Candia, and had Mount Ida in sight all the morning till two o'clock. The weather was warm and fine and the sea very cairn.

February 2. — -The weather is exceedingly fine and warm. At 5.30 we were 100 miles from Alexandria, off which we arrived and lay to, in the course of the night.

Chapter II. Arrival At Alexandria Cairo

February 3. — At 7 A.M. ' Colonel Stanton, British Consul-General in Egypt, and Sir Samuel Baker — the latter having come out on purpose to accompany the Prince up the Nile — came off to us where we were lying to outside the harbour, which we entered soon after they came on board.

The first sight of Alexandria was really very striking. The weather, though cold, was very bright, and nothing could be more gay and interesting than the whole scene as we came into the harbour. The vessels in the port had all " dressed ship," as I had learnt to call it on board the Ariadne, that is, they were covered with flags from the top of each mast to the water's edge, and all saluted and manned yards ; while hundreds of boats of the most picturesque shapes, and very gaily painted, filled with black and bronze-

LANDING AT ALEXANDRIA.

faced half savage -looking people, dressed in the brightest Egyptian costumes, came out to see us, and pulled round the ship. I was immensely amused and interested by the sight. The band of the Ariadne, meanwhile, played on board ; and music, such as it was, in many of the boats, added to the effect.

At eleven o'clock we disembarked under salutes from the A riadne and other ships, and from the shore, and were met on landing by the Viceroy's eldest son, Mehemet Taafik Pasha, as well as by numbers of officers and official persons of all sorts, in full uniform. The officers appointed to attend upon the Prince during his stay in Egypt — Mourad Pasha and Abdel Kader Bey — came on board the Ariadne before we landed. State carriages were provided for us in the railway, to which we walked up ; a regiment of Zouaves of the Guard lining the way up to the station, where there was a guard of honour. The number of people out to see us was enormous, forming, indeed, a regular wall of natives on both sides all the way up ! The effect of their beautifully bright dresses was very striking ; even those who were scantily clothed, or not clothed at all, having always some bright cap or handkerchief on their head, which gave them a bright appearance ; and I must say I was immensely struck by it all. At 3 P.M, we arrived at Kafr Zayat, and got out at the station to have luncheon, which was a grand affair ; and after it large pipes were brought into the carriage, and everybody smoked and had coffee.

At five we arrived at Cairo, where we were received by the Viceroy ; the special train running through the public station to the Viceroy's private one, opposite the garden of Kazr-el-Nil. Their Royal Highnesses were also met here by Mrs. Stanton and General McLean, with his wife and daughter.

The Viceroy and his eldest son took the Prince and Princess to an immense hall in the Palace, where I and all the suite followed, and were all presented to the Viceroy. We then went straight to carriages which were waiting for us in the large courtyard, — English carriages and horses, with postilions and liveries in the English fashion, — and then, with regiments of Zouaves drawn up all round, and an escort of Lancers following each of the first carriages, we drove to the Palace Esbekieh, which has been appropriated co the Prince of Wales during our stay in Egypt. The Prince and Princess and the Viceroy were in the first carriage ; the young Prince and I, with Mourad Pasha, in the next, and so on.

The Palace of Esbekieh is beautiful ; full of French luxury, but without the real comfort of an

ARRIVAL AT CAIRO.

English house. The Prince and Princess have an immense bedroom, full of rich French furniture. The beds are very beautiful, made of massive silver, and cost, I believe, 3,000/. each ! My room is so large that even when the candles are lit, there might be somebody sitting at the other end of it without your knowing it. You could not even hear people speaking from one end to the other ! It is as high as it is long, with nine large windows. There is a beautiful silver bed ; a large divan (rather high and hard for comfort) round half, of the room ; a common writing-table and washhand-stand (put in all the rooms at the request of Sir S. Baker) ; a large sofa, and quantities of very smart chairs round the walls. The curtains and covers of the furniture are all made of the richest silk. Add to all this, one immense looking-glass, and you have the whole furniture of my room, which is more like a state drawing-room at Windsor, than a bedroom. All the other rooms are furnished in the same way.

We dined at seven o'clock, after which we went into a very pretty drawing-room, where we had coffee, and then beautiful long eastern pipes were handed round, all the mouthpieces being of the lightestcoloured amber, and set with large rings of diamonds and precious stones ! The money spent on pipes in this country must be fabulous, and they say that in the Viceroy's treasury there are pipes the value of some of which amounts to no less than 6,000/. apiece ! I could not resist the temptation of following the example of the rest, as I thought smoking out of those lovely- pipes must be quite different from any other smoking ; but I am sorry to say I soon found the taste very like what it is elsewhere, and gave it up at once. In fact, I only tried it out of curiosity ; though I must confess I constantly had to accept a pipe when offered afterwards in the course of our tour.

At nine o'clock we went to the French play, and saw Le Servient de Horace, Contributions indiscretes, &c. It is a rather nice little theatre, open for the first time this year. Opposite our box we saw two " loges grillees" in which we were told that the Viceroy's wives and daughters were sitting.

The Duke of Sutherland, with his party, consisting of Lord Stafford, Colonel Marshall, Dr. Russell, Mr. Sumner, Professor Owen, Mr: Fowler, and Major Alison, are also at Cairo, and are going to follow us in a steamer as far as the First Cataract.

The cold here in the house is really intense ; it is all built for hot weather, and that at present being

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anything but hot, we are all shivering. The thermometer shows only 12° in my great room, or rather hall. February 4. — A very fine day, but very cold in the l A

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PROCESSION OF THE HOLY CARPET. 21 shade, and I was so cold in the night that I slept very little. The noise, too, in the streets of Cairo is really something dreadful. People scream and shout, and the dogs bark and howl all night long, and altogether the noise is most disagreeable.

At nine o'clock we went to the Place of the Citadel, which is an immense open square, to see the procession of Pilgrims set out with the holy carpet for Mecca, where is the grave of their Prophet. Here a tribune had been erected, on which the Viceroy's eldest son and the principal Ministers had taken their stand, the carriage or the Prince and Princess beingdrawn up close to it.

The carpet is carried on the back of a camel in a white silk mehmal, embroidered in gold ; on another camel was carried a sort of temple, or small mosque, in gold, about three yards wide. Then followed a most horrible sight : a half-naked and immensely fat man, sitting on a camel, rolling his head all round as if it had been fastened on by a spring ; shutting his eyes, and holding his hands on his sides ! He is supposed to represent a saint ; but, in my eyes, he only represented the most disgusting object possible. He has already been twenty times to Mecca, and he never changes his position or ceases to turn his head, so to say, round and round, at all events as long as the procession is in the town, which lasts many hours. Next followed a long string of camels, dressed out with trappings all embroidered in gold, and decorated with looking-glasses, and flags and beads of every possible kind. Natives on their backs in their wonderful costumes and finery, many playing on pipes and tomtoms. Troops closed the procession.

As soon as the procession had gone twice round the large square, the camel with the holy carpet was stopped before the tribune, and the Crown Prince, or rather Mehemet Taafik Pasha, kissed it, and blessed it ; after which the cortege went on its way. We had remained in our carriages the whole time, but as soon as the procession had passed, we drove to an old house, or convent, from the windows of which we again saw the whole procession, which had now increased to thousands and thousands of people, and certainly a more striking sight, or a more beautiful one, can hardly be witnessed. Hundreds of banners and flags carried by the natives ; camels, and horses, and donkeys, carrying priests, all dressed out ; the people following, some reading out, some screaming, some singing, some carrying snakes about two yards long, or more, in their hands, of which I was told they only cut off the head, and then eat them alive ! Then there were men carrying nets with fishes, while

PROCESSION OF THE HOLY CARPET.

every now and then came two savage-looking men, naked as far as the hips, with swords in their hands, having a sham fight, and throwing themselves violently on their swords, as if they were trying to cut themselves in two, and all the time screaming and shouting. This procession lasted fully an hour and a half, and never for a moment did one see the same picture before one's eyes. At last came the part of the procession we had already seen, and then there was such a screaming, and cheering, and clapping of hands as was never, heard, from all the houses, in which I may say every window was filled, and every roof covered, with ladies, all veiled. I hardly think it possible for anybody to give an idea of this most curious sight.

We then drove home, and both coming and going, in the midst of these crowded streets, and in spite of the excitement we had witnessed, a degree of order and quiet prevailed wmich seemed to me quite wonderful. No police or soldiers were to be seen, and we only had two boys (Syces), dressed in white, with red velvet bodies, running barefoot before our carriages, with their long sticks to clear the way, when everybody moved on and made way for us much more readily than they would have done in any civilized country. Yet this was their greatest feast of the year, and I should add, that the sight of Europeans, or rather, of Christians, is by no means pleasant to them, and in former days it often happened that they insulted travellers by throwing things at them, and calling them " unclean dogs," and so on. But certainly civilization is making its way here, and nothing of the kind ever happens now.