Page:Thirty-five years in the East.djvu/125

Rh it not superfluous to mention on this occasion, that it is only the genuine drug that can produce the desired effect. That by which I was restored, was from Doctor Lehman. The good result which I experienced in myself and others, from adopting the homoeopathic system, induced me to extend the practice to a larger circle of patients. For that purpose I chose the capital of the Ottoman empire, which I thought particularly suitable, as it was at no great distance from my native country, and because I was acquainted with the oriental languages, habits and manners. Besides that, my pecuniary circumstances were rather embarrassed, as the reader may be aware, owing to the losses I had sustained in different countries, partcularly in Bokhara (by the Armenians) and in Russia (by my sable transactions). To carry out my plan, I petitioned for a passport to Constantinople, which I obtained without any difficulty.

I departed from Vienna, passed through Kronstadt and Bukarest for Gallaz, where I embarked, not as previously at Varna in an open vessel, but in a steamer bound to Constantinople. Contrary to my expectation, the plague was raging there at that time, and the Europeans kept themselves shut up in their houses, far from any contact with the world. Under such circumstances, I had no alternative but to wait for another opportunity. To do this with more comfort, I hired a small house on the shores of the Bosphorus, in a village situated in the most pleasant part of that country, from which I enjoyed a beautiful prospect. On the very evening of my taking possession of the cottage, I was called to attend a Greek lady living in my neighbourhood, who required my medical assistance. I was told that she had a fever. I found her in bed, complaining of being uneasy and costive, accompanied with a headache, so I ordered her an emollient clyster, which I myself was obliged to administer, as no-body could undertake to do it. But, to my alarm, I was informed on the following morning that she had died during the night of the plague, her husband having preceded