Europe—whither bound? (Quo vadis Europa?) : $b being letters of travel from the capitals of Europe in the year 1921Graham, Stephen
History
Europe—whither bound? (Quo vadis Europa?) : $b being letters of travel from the capitals of Europe in the year 1921
Graham, Stephen
Europe -- Description and travel
Of course there were discontented spirits in the army, and some who
talked of marching on Constantinople should rations cease, but there were
only a few rifles and little ammunition left in the men's hands. By
sheer weight of numbers they might achieve something, but Constantinople
is a hundred miles away, and that is a great distance for famished men to
go.
Two nights lying on the deck of one of Wrangel's transports brought me
back to Constantinople. This vessel was controlled by French officers,
but captained by one-eyed Admiral Tsaref, of what was once the imperial
Fleet of Russia. She did five knots an hour when the weather was fine;
the railings at the stern had been carried away, and many parts of the
ship were tied together with rope. The five French officers on board
each had a cabin to himself; Russian officers, American Red Cross, and
myself, slept where we could. The French also had their meals served to
them separately. Nevertheless, we were a jolly company on board, and
played an absurd wild game of solitaire each night, and the only tedium
was the slow way we splashed like a lame duck up the narrow seas.
In the harbour in Constantinople in the morning a bright sun shone on
four hulks packed from stem to stern with Georgians, the latest comers to
Imperial City. They waited and stared whilst we slowly steamed to the
French base. Then in a short while we were in the great capital again
amid the surging masses of humanity.
I was asked by Count Tolstoy, the aide-de-camp, and also by Treloar, if I
would see the General, and accordingly did so, boarding a caique at
Galata, and being rowed to his yacht "Luculle." First I saw the Baroness
Wrangel, a bright, bird-like lady, trim and neat and cheerful, speaking
English like one of us. Baron Wrangel is a tall, gaunt, and very
remarkable-looking personage. His Cossack uniform with ivory-topped
cartridge-cases intensifies the length of his body and of his face. He
has all the medals there are, but only wears two, a Vladimir Cross at the
centre of his collar, like a brooch, and a Georgian on his chest. His
head is long, and his cheeks seem to curve inwards from his temples.
There is sparse grey hair on his whitish scalp, and lifting his
full-sleeved arm he scratched his head with an open penknife whilst he
talked.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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