Thanks to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are
able to read books that are some times for decades no longer available for the
public for several reasons. That's quite a pity while these books contains
useful information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor
accessible. Morris visited Alexandria in the month November 1846?
P. 143: “A more magnificent sight I have never witnessed; the whole harbour seemed to be covered with fleets. As we slowly pushed on to anchorage ground, abreast of the town, we passed through the midst of the fleet. Upon one side of us rose the gigantic Mahmoudieh, bristling with upwards of one hundred and forty cannon, and with her four decks, and great height, resembling a floating fortress. Farther onward,
p. 144: we passed the most beautiful of corvettes, the Damanhour, commanded by Seyd Bey, the second son of the Pasha. The taut, trim-built air of this vessel was striking. Her tall, tapering masts, raked like a cutter, while her sharp, cut-water bows, her elegant mould, and high finish, and the grace with which she sat upon the water, struck me as the beau ideal of ship building. We passed immediately under the bows of the Nile, a fine, imposing-looking armed steamer. We were continually on the qui vive, running from side to side, to see here a beautiful cutter, there a ship of the line, by whose side we dwindled into insignificance, then an armed yacht. And what, with the immense size of these leviathans of the deep, the beauty of some, the gorgeous decorations of others, and the great number of all, we were interested in the highest degree. But our admiration was excited up to the highest degree when we dropped anchor alongside of a frigate lying hear to the landing. This was a long double-banked frigate. There she lay, a perfect model of naval beauty. The sharp, elongated bows, the swelling sides, and the inimitable grace with which the stern was rounded off—and then her very tall masts, which rose to such a height, and tapered off so gently, as to appear lost in air, and the air of defiance and proud confidence she wore, at once removed our prepossessions in favour of the corvette. We were all eager to learn her name and origin. The captain informed us she went by no other name than that of The American, and that she was built by Mr. Rhodes, the American constructor to the sultan. I, of course, was most agreeably surprised; and being the only American on board, was warmly congratulated at this exhibition of American skill. I subsequently made a visit to the principal vessels of the fleet. The Portuguese vice-consul obtained us an interview with Seyd Bey, the son of the Pasha, on board of this corvette. We were conducted to the corvette in his own barge, and introduced to the bey upon the deck of his own vessel. He was a large, ungainly personage, and for some reason or other always kept one eye closed, which made him appear blind. He received us, however, with much cordiality, and addressed us in very good French. His crew went through all the manoeuvres of a sea-fight with great dexterity and facility. They ran out the guns, and imitated the process of loading and firing; the marines mounted the bulwarks for boarding, and grappling men ran up to the tops to fire upon the decks of the foe. A cry of fire was raised below; a separate corps of men descended with buckets, extinguished the fire, and returned to their posts. We boarded, we fought; the foe
p. 145: surrendered, and the shout of victory was raised by the crew; in which, so much had we all been interested, that, losing our sense of propriety, his highness and the rest of us all joined. The whole affair was so admirably conducted, and the discipline was so excellent, that we could not but be enthusiastic in our congratulations to the bey. He conducted us to his cabin; the floor was covered with Persian carpets, and the Whole apartment was furnished with great sumptuousness. The bey did me the honour to make several inquiries after the United States, and I was much moved by the admiration which he expressed for that remarkable example of "Virtue confessed in human shape," Washington. I replied to his highness, that should he ever be called to the Divan, I hoped he might find this great character worthy of imitation, even in the exercise of oriental sovereignty. He responded that, as a general, a statesman, and a man, a sovereign could have no worthier example than Washington. Leaving this corvette, we rowed over to see the American. The Arabs call her by no other name than that of “Merkeb Amelikan” the American vessel. Upon sending up our names, we were very politely received by her Turkish commander. If we were struck with her external beauty, we were no less so with the interior. The clean decks, the polished guns, the well-dressed crew, and the ship like equipment of every thing, much delighted us. Her commander spoke only Turkish, but he invited us to his cabin, where coffee and pipes were served to us; though, as it was the fete of the Ramazan, he himself did not partake of them. He made us observe that the beautiful wood with which the cabin was decorated was American; most of it was bird's-eye maple. After a thorough examination of this splendid frigate, we desired our dragoman to express our sense of the civilities of her captain, and we then passed to visit the other vessels. There were in the harbour nineteen ships of the line—seventeen frigates, and twenty other armed vessels, in all about sixty. This great fleet almost tilled the harbour. It constituted the whole force of the combined Turkish and Egyptian fleets. It may be remarked that the Turkish were much better built, in general, than the Egyptian vessels. An armed brig in the Egyptian service is named Washington. The number of men in the fleet is estimated at more than forty thousand. This floating population, with the fixed
p. 146: residents of Alexandria, augmented the population of that place to eighty thousand. When I returned to Alexandria from Syria, the plague was on board the fleet, and it was in a state of quarantine; but such was the cleanliness and good condition of the vessels, that it- made but few victims.”
Source
Edward Joy Morris. Notes of a tour through Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Arabia Petraea to the Holy Land. Aberdeen, 1847.
P. 143: “A more magnificent sight I have never witnessed; the whole harbour seemed to be covered with fleets. As we slowly pushed on to anchorage ground, abreast of the town, we passed through the midst of the fleet. Upon one side of us rose the gigantic Mahmoudieh, bristling with upwards of one hundred and forty cannon, and with her four decks, and great height, resembling a floating fortress. Farther onward,
p. 144: we passed the most beautiful of corvettes, the Damanhour, commanded by Seyd Bey, the second son of the Pasha. The taut, trim-built air of this vessel was striking. Her tall, tapering masts, raked like a cutter, while her sharp, cut-water bows, her elegant mould, and high finish, and the grace with which she sat upon the water, struck me as the beau ideal of ship building. We passed immediately under the bows of the Nile, a fine, imposing-looking armed steamer. We were continually on the qui vive, running from side to side, to see here a beautiful cutter, there a ship of the line, by whose side we dwindled into insignificance, then an armed yacht. And what, with the immense size of these leviathans of the deep, the beauty of some, the gorgeous decorations of others, and the great number of all, we were interested in the highest degree. But our admiration was excited up to the highest degree when we dropped anchor alongside of a frigate lying hear to the landing. This was a long double-banked frigate. There she lay, a perfect model of naval beauty. The sharp, elongated bows, the swelling sides, and the inimitable grace with which the stern was rounded off—and then her very tall masts, which rose to such a height, and tapered off so gently, as to appear lost in air, and the air of defiance and proud confidence she wore, at once removed our prepossessions in favour of the corvette. We were all eager to learn her name and origin. The captain informed us she went by no other name than that of The American, and that she was built by Mr. Rhodes, the American constructor to the sultan. I, of course, was most agreeably surprised; and being the only American on board, was warmly congratulated at this exhibition of American skill. I subsequently made a visit to the principal vessels of the fleet. The Portuguese vice-consul obtained us an interview with Seyd Bey, the son of the Pasha, on board of this corvette. We were conducted to the corvette in his own barge, and introduced to the bey upon the deck of his own vessel. He was a large, ungainly personage, and for some reason or other always kept one eye closed, which made him appear blind. He received us, however, with much cordiality, and addressed us in very good French. His crew went through all the manoeuvres of a sea-fight with great dexterity and facility. They ran out the guns, and imitated the process of loading and firing; the marines mounted the bulwarks for boarding, and grappling men ran up to the tops to fire upon the decks of the foe. A cry of fire was raised below; a separate corps of men descended with buckets, extinguished the fire, and returned to their posts. We boarded, we fought; the foe
p. 145: surrendered, and the shout of victory was raised by the crew; in which, so much had we all been interested, that, losing our sense of propriety, his highness and the rest of us all joined. The whole affair was so admirably conducted, and the discipline was so excellent, that we could not but be enthusiastic in our congratulations to the bey. He conducted us to his cabin; the floor was covered with Persian carpets, and the Whole apartment was furnished with great sumptuousness. The bey did me the honour to make several inquiries after the United States, and I was much moved by the admiration which he expressed for that remarkable example of "Virtue confessed in human shape," Washington. I replied to his highness, that should he ever be called to the Divan, I hoped he might find this great character worthy of imitation, even in the exercise of oriental sovereignty. He responded that, as a general, a statesman, and a man, a sovereign could have no worthier example than Washington. Leaving this corvette, we rowed over to see the American. The Arabs call her by no other name than that of “Merkeb Amelikan” the American vessel. Upon sending up our names, we were very politely received by her Turkish commander. If we were struck with her external beauty, we were no less so with the interior. The clean decks, the polished guns, the well-dressed crew, and the ship like equipment of every thing, much delighted us. Her commander spoke only Turkish, but he invited us to his cabin, where coffee and pipes were served to us; though, as it was the fete of the Ramazan, he himself did not partake of them. He made us observe that the beautiful wood with which the cabin was decorated was American; most of it was bird's-eye maple. After a thorough examination of this splendid frigate, we desired our dragoman to express our sense of the civilities of her captain, and we then passed to visit the other vessels. There were in the harbour nineteen ships of the line—seventeen frigates, and twenty other armed vessels, in all about sixty. This great fleet almost tilled the harbour. It constituted the whole force of the combined Turkish and Egyptian fleets. It may be remarked that the Turkish were much better built, in general, than the Egyptian vessels. An armed brig in the Egyptian service is named Washington. The number of men in the fleet is estimated at more than forty thousand. This floating population, with the fixed
p. 146: residents of Alexandria, augmented the population of that place to eighty thousand. When I returned to Alexandria from Syria, the plague was on board the fleet, and it was in a state of quarantine; but such was the cleanliness and good condition of the vessels, that it- made but few victims.”
Source
Edward Joy Morris. Notes of a tour through Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Arabia Petraea to the Holy Land. Aberdeen, 1847.
