From Sri Lanka Edward resumed his trip on the P&O ship Bengal, stopping in at Aden before continuing on to land at Suez. He was 15 years too early for the Suez Canal and in his day, you landed at Suez before travelling overland via Cairo to Alexandria where you once more boarded ship for further ports.
In Edward's case, he decided to pursue an early version of "adventure tourism" and visit the Crimean War! He initially intended to visit Syria and Palestine but unpleasant accounts of fever and sickness in those countries have served to deter me. While fever may have deterred him, war did not. Accounts from Sebastapol concur in representing that a general assault is likely to be soon attempted, and ... I am most desirous to reach the Crimea in time to witness that event!
To achieve that end Edward took ship for Constantinople from where he sought an audience with an Admiral Boxer and gained a permit to sail on the appropriately named Golden Fleece, to Balaklava, arriving on the last day of 1854. He then spent the next 8 days roaming quite freely around the battlefields of Balaklava and Sebastapol. Edward was clearly of the view that a gentleman citizen of the British Empire, such as he, had every right to go wherever he wished in the world to observe and comment upon what he saw. He was not impressed with much of how the war was being conducted by the British, passing scathing comment on inefficiency and the lack of concern for lower ranks.
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| A few years ago Trish spotted this print of an 1856 British camp near Sebastapol in a Perth junk shop. It now hangs in our dining room and represents what Edward may have seen. |
Fortunately military hardware of that time was not as efficient as today's. For example he describes traversing one area of conflict where he was told that mounted persons were seldom allowed a pass without the compliment of a shot or a shell, and the snow rendered me very conspicuous. I was almost affronted at being treated with such contempt, as I felt half a wish to see a shot or two strike the ground about me, provided they did not come too near.
Now all this presents something of a problem for me. Since we were last on Edward's trail, my wife Trish has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a blood disorder which compromises her immune system. Thus travel in countries with hygiene issues and inefficient health systems (like Egypt, sorry Egypt but we've been there before and there are issues) is problematic for Trish. Likewise, 170 years on and the Crimean issues are still unresolved. Crimea is still disputed territory. According to Ukraine and most of the rest of the world, including Australia, the Crimea is part of Ukraine. However, according to most of the population of Crimea, and to Russia, it's part of Russia. My understanding is that the only way to enter Crimea currently is to fly to Moscow and then travel down from there. For an Australian to visit Crimea at the moment could well result in a visit from ASIO on return, asking you to explain exactly what you thought you were doing.
I can't have quite inherited Edward's spirit of adventure (although I can claim that he was a single man without a wife's opinion to consider) because the thought of confronting the issues mentioned above does not appeal. Hopefully in years to come the Crimean issues may become better resolved and at that time I could retrace Edward's path through Egypt and the Crimea.
For now, however, Trish and I have decided to skip those areas and travel to Malta which is where Edward went after visiting the Crimea. We then plan to travel on to Sicily, then mainland Italy from Naples up to Rome. Trish's health situation requires her to have 3 monthly checkups to ensure her condition is under control. We will therefore need to return home rather than continue through Northern Italy and into France. That we can do at a later date.
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