Letters to his mother, Ann Borrow, and other correspondentsBorrow, George
General
Letters to his mother, Ann Borrow, and other correspondents
Borrow, George
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Correspondence; Borrow, George, 1803-1881 -- Correspondence
I am about to leave Constantinople and to return home. I have given up
the idea of going to Russia. I find that if I go to Odessa I shall have
to remain in quarantine for fourteen days, which I have no inclination to
do; I am moreover anxious to get home, being quite tired of wandering,
and desirous of being once more with my loved ones.
This is a most interesting place, but unfortunately it is extremely dear.
The Turks have no inns, and I am here at an English one, at which, though
everything is comfortable, the prices are very high. To-day is Monday,
and next Friday I purpose starting for Salonica, in a steamboat—Salonica
is in Albania. I shall then cross Albania, a journey of about three
hundred miles, and get to Corfu, from which I can either get to England
across Italy and down the Rhine, or by way of Marseilles and across
France. I shall not make any stay in Italy if I go there, as I have
nothing to see there.
I shall be so glad to be at home with you once again, and to see my dear
mother and Hen. Tell Hen that I picked up for her in one of the bazaars
a curious Armenian coin; it is silver, small, but thick, with a most
curious inscription upon it. I gave fifteen piasters for it. I hope it
and the rest will get safe to England. I have bought a chest, which I
intend to send by sea, and I have picked up a great many books and other
things, and I wish to travel light; I shall, therefore, only take a bag
with a few clothes and shirts. It is possible that I shall be at home
soon after your receiving this, or at most three weeks after—I hope to
write to you again from Corfu, which is a British island with a British
garrison in it, like Gibraltar.
The English newspapers came last week. I see those wretched French
cannot let us alone, they want to go to war; well, let them—they richly
deserve a good drubbing. The people here are very kind in their way, but
home is home, especially such a one as mine, with true hearts to welcome
me.
Oh, I was so glad to get your letters; they were rather of a distant
date, it is true, but they quite revived me. I hope you are all well,
and my dear mother. Since I have been here I have written to Mr. Lord.
I was glad to hear that he has written to Hen. I hope Lucy is well; pray
remember me most kindly to her, and tell her that I hope to see her soon.
I count so on getting into my summer-house again, and sitting down to
write; I have arranged my book in my mind, and though it will take me a
great deal of trouble to write it, I feel that when it is written it will
be first-rate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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