The Maccabaean

BERLIN did not have a particularly wintry appearance when we left it, but at Füsstenwald the snowy region began, and it continued to within a short distance of Constantinople.

On a Thursday morning we reached Constantinople, and according to our time-table, should have continued our journey at four o'clock in the afternoon. It soon appeared, however, that the mail-steamer would not arrive until the next morning, to leave in the afternoon. There was therefore plenty of time, in spite of the delay occasioned by the censor* and the time occupied by various formalities, to make a few visits and see the main points of attraction in the city.

Constantinople serves as a good preparation for Turkey in Asia. Whoever goes to Jaffa by way of Trieste or direct from Hamburg without first having seen other Levantine harbors might easily believe that Jaffa is an exceptionally filthy place. Whoever, on the other hand, has traveled by the pools and dungheaps of the capital city, Constantinople, will be able to appreciate the excellently paved and, taking all circumstances into consideration, the neatness at least of the main streets, however little these may satisfy middle European taste.

The steamer did not leave until about five o’clock on Friday afternoon: first into the Bosphorus, then into the sea of Marmora, past the Prince Islands—and here the picture was once more the same that I have enjoyed so

*My two volumes of “Palaestina,” “Altneuland,” and some Jewish papers and pamphlets seemed especially suspicious to the customs officials, and as tie censor was not there so early in the morning I had to return at about 11 o’clock to get my last satchel. The censor, however, had scarcely spelled out the word “Judentum,” when he motioned complete assent and let the whole satchel pass, remarking to his associate, “Affaires d’humanite.”

many times and that ever displays new glories; the setting of the sun with the wonderful, almost incredible sea colors and the floating silhouettes of the picture-like city, with flaming reflection of the sun on the window panes of one part of the city after the oth- ar

Toward evening, it became cloudy and the ship had to ride at anchor for several hours at the entrance of the Straits of Dardanelles, so that instead of reaching Smyrna in the afternoon we reached it so late in the evening that we were not permitted to land. That even in Smyrna—otherwise the freest and most European harbor of Turkey in Asia—entrance into the harbor after sundown is prohibited, is attributable to a series of bombardments and other unpleasant incidents of recent times, through which the Turkish authorities found themselves forced to adopt more stringent measures.

Between the Dardanelles and Smyrna we had passed the beautiful isle of Mytilene, which not very long ago was the scene of the European Blamage, when they had their famous naval demonstration. The Turks understood the livelier side of the affair from the beginning and sent to the troops of the nations taking part in the demonstration, rightly estimating the importance of this international affair—cigarettes and confections. In general, the situation of Turkey is more favorable now than it has been for a long time. Its hostile neighbors have more to busy themselves than they would really like to have, and they may almost thank their patron saints that Turkey does not make use of its opportunity against them.

The next morning we had several hours' time to look around Smyrna. Unfortunately, the unusually short stop-over gave us no opportunity to see anything of the magnificent surroundings of the city and we had to be