Page:Thirty-five years in the East.djvu/44

4 the many remedies which I applied,Lawsonia inermis proved the most effective.Every evening, before going to bed, I applied to the affected part the pulverized herb, with as much water as was sufficient to make a sof tpoultice.In the morning I washed it off,but the place continued red;it is the same herb,indeed, with which the fair sex in the East stain their hands and feet.To strengthen my body,and especially my feet, I also used sea-bathing, which had a very good effect. From Sissopolis, we arrived, after a voyage of two days, at Constantinople. The view of the panorama of the Turkish capital and its environs, which we had on entering the Bosphorus, was so fine, and so imposing, that I felt compensated for all the dangers and troubles hitherto endured, and completely forgot them for the time.In winter(the middle of December, 1816) nature was still arrayed in green.This, however, did not last long ;for in the beginning of January a heavy fall of snow, three feet deep, took place, and it grew much colder than I expected to find it in Stambul.

Before the expiration of the year 1817,I had an opportunity of continuing my journey towards Jerusalem,a city I was desirous of visiting.I was engaged as physician in ordinary to the Governor of Tocat,with whom I travelled into the interior of Asia Minor. However agreeable this journey might have been during the summer,it was very fatiguing during the winter, as almost every step cost us an effort, and we made our way with difficulty through the snow which covered the high mountains of Asia Minor. The caravan of the new governor, which whom I travelled, consisted of sixty horses and mules. One day we lost our way during a violent snow-storm in the mountains of Anatolia, and we had to pass a very bad night, till at last we got out of the deep snow, and found a village. On this journey I began to make a collection of antiques ( ancient Greek coins and engraved stones ), which at that time were easily obtained at the silversmiths, at a low price. I regret I did not then so well understand the value of them. From Tocat 1 travelled to Aleppo, passing through Kaisari,