In the intervals of temporary relief from the spasms of sea-sickness they chatted, not only with one another, but with the sailors and stokers, who all seemed to be personal acquaintances of the passengers. When the vessel rolled —and she rolled so that one could hardly feel sure whether she would ever recover her balance—the passengers remained tranquil. The women never screamed, and, as the crates and boxes in rolling from one side of the deck to the other cannoned against them, they simply turned round and tried ineffectually to cover themselves beneath their soaked wraps and drenched sheepskins.

It is impossible to say beforehand how any body of people will behave in moments of extreme excitement But, speculating idly, as one is apt to do under such circumstances, as to what might happen with our overloaded and obstructed deck, our feeble, broken-down engine, and our one small, leaky boat, supposing the gale to rise into a storm, it was satisfactory to note the great apparent self-possession of the Bulgarian passengers. Indeed, the only indication of any notice being taken by anybody of the plight of the vessel was on the part of two Turkish women, lying huddled on the deck, who, between the accesses of sea-sickness, kept mumbling some kind of prayer, in which the words "Allah El Allah" occurred again and again.

Their husband, who bore the sea some-what better than most of the passengers, left his wives to look after themselves, and smoked incessantly, while his fingers were always passing to and fro the wooden beads of his rosary, so that it is possible that he too was praying mentally.

England and spoke a little English

I was told by the captain, who had made a voyage to England and spoke a little English, that the husband was a Tomak, who had occupied some small post in the public service, but who had thrown it up because he had made up his mind to flit to Asia Minor, where he could live amongst people of his own religion. Alongside the women of his harem there were piled masses of pots and pans, curtains, bedding, and the various utensils of a peasant's household, most of them cracked and broken, and all bearing the impress of the res angusta dami.

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