PREFACE. THE resurrection of Egypt, the emancipation of Greece, the revival of commerce in Persia, and-" though last, not least," the present state of the internal and external affairs of Turkey, invest these and the adjacent countries with a degree of interest they have not hitherto possessed; whilst the establishment of steam navigation throughout the entire length of the Danube, the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Archipelago, and the Adriatic, have converted what was hitherto a journey of toil and danger, into one of unmixed pleasure and enjoyment. Few tours that can be made, combine so many objects of interest and instruction as one from Vienna to Constantinople, which drawing, as to a common centre, the inhabitants and produce of the numerous countries composing the vast Ottoman empire, presents an epitome of the manners and customs of the eastern world; while the ease and safety with which this tour can now be made, will not fail to render it a favourite one with all who travel for pleasure or information. Those who are disposed to proceed further into the interior of Turkey and Greece than we propose to take them, must make up their minds to some hardships which we have not "set down." The general want of roads and hotels, the lawless state of society, and the absence of most of those objects of historical and artistical interest, which one is used to depicture as inviting attention at every step the traveller takes on his way through these countries, can hardly fail to disappoint the expectations with which any further exploration may be undertaken.. In order to enable the traveller to avoid the encounter of those delays, difficulties, and dangers, which must attend any attempt to search out many doubtful or unauthenticated sites of ancient places and other objects of curiosity, the tour sketched out in the following pages, embraces only the things worth seeing along the Danube, at Constantinople, in the Dardanelles, at Smyrna, Ephesus, Athens, the Ionian Islands, and on the way through Italy, by way of Venice, homewards. Such an excursion, whilst it is most economical, both as to time and money, will give the traveller ample means of forming a judgment of the political and social condition of some of the most interesting countries in the world; while it will bring under his notice almost every thing worth seeing amongst those monuments of former greatness, included within the limits of Greece and Turkey. Those who may cherish a desire of visiting the Ottoman capital before it is entirely stripped of its original Turkish features; or who, tired of the long-trodden routes through France, Switzerland, and Italy, may meditate a visit to Athens and the adjacent places, will here find a hand-book to carry them along their journey in the most agreeable and least costly manner. The list of prices charged by the French Government post-office steam-boats, with the days of their arrival and departure, distances, time occupied in the voyage, &c., forming pages xvi and xvii, has been compiled from information obtained whilst the sheets of the book were passing through the press; and will be found highly useful. The discrepancies which may occasionally appear between this and the statements in the book itself, arise in most cases out of the changes just effected in the regulation of the steamers. This list, however, may be relied upon for its accuracy. VENICE, R. T. C. |