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19 April 1878 — Gulf of Izmit, on board the Helicon | |
Friday. 19th April [1878]. Good Friday. I had not slept very well & at at 4.30 AM was thoroughly aroused by hearing the sentry come to tell the Capt that a Turkish officer had come to see Mr Layard. Mr Ashburnham was called up & he told Henry that an ADC had arrived bringing him a letter from the Sultan wh he would give to no one but himself. Henry had him into the cabin & said he wd telegraph an answer & we all settled down to sleep again. At breakfast we heard that the Sultan had written to tell Henry of the change of ministry & to assure him that if he had anything confidential to say to him he would continue to do so thro’ English Said and that the new Ministry was not Russian. Mr Ashburnham & I went to the service on board the “Alexandra” wh was a short one with very good singing & a sermon. At ¼ to 1 we went in the Adls steam cutter & landed on the opposite coast to the town. There Mr Winslow met us with ponies & Henry, the Genl, Mr Winslow & I rode. Mr Ashm, Capt Fitzroy, the Cavass & Jerry walked. We went abt 4 miles to a river where we found Manning the old cockswain waiting with our lunch. We then fished and picked wild sage but caught no trout. Capt. Grubbe had caught 2 wee trout before we arrived. We rode back by the head to the gulf to Izmit. We had to go along a horrid causeway wh was in bad repair & trying to our ponies. My pony cast a shoe just as we got to the town– We got back to the Helicon abt 6. Had tea & rested. Dined at 8. After dinner Henry went on Deck & I & the Genl were sitting in the saloon when we felt a curious vibration & heard a rattling & thinking we had been run into by the “Torch” wh was approaching I rushed up & was told it was an earthquake. It was a very severe shock & had not quite finished when I got on deck & one could hear houses falling in the town. There was a great deal of shouting & moving of lights in the town & all the ships & presently Manning came to ask me from the Adl whether I was alarmed & to say they had first believed it to be torpedoes. The Dutch gunboat who arrived here today sent to ask the Adl “how often they did those things” & to beg “they wd give him notice next time.” The Dutchman had a lively recollection of having been fired into by a torpedoe at Malta when he luckily sent an apology for “being in the way.” This shock happened at 8 and at 10.10 we felt another slight shiver—a very small shock & then went to bed. The Torch brought out letters for us. | |
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