At a huge station the train again stopped and everyone in the carriage got out I said to myself doubtfully that this must be London. A porter came to the door, looked round the carriage, and then stared at me. I said to him "Laundaun?" He said, "Yes, London." So I got out and he took my bag. Whither was I going now? I was going to a place of which the name was written in my pocket-book, no less a place than Olympia. It was the year that some enterprising Israelite gentlemen had undertaken to represent Constantinople in London, and they sent an agent to Constantinople to bring over some Turks as boatmen, and to perform other services in their show. The agent whom I met at the Turkish capital did not, however, succeed in bringing a single Turk, as the police, by order of the Sultan, would not allow any such men to leave Turkey. The agent therefore engaged some Greeks as boatmen, and some Jews came to set up stalls of embroidery and other things at Olympia. I hoped that some of these people would help me in finding a lodging. I said to the porter at King's Cross station "Olympia?" and he nodded and said "Yes, Kensington," and signed to me to follow him through a subterranean passage down to the Underground, and put me into a train which I believe was not going direct to Olympia I lost my way in the Underground, got out at many stations, changed often into many trains, and paid several fares. It was nearly dark by now, and the trains were all full. I mixed up Kensington, of which the porter had told me, with the somewhat similar name of Kennington. I found it very trying to rush in and out at every station with my heavy bag in my hand. Many people laughed at my stupid excitement, but some, better bred than the others, attempted to assist me, though their efforts were not of much use to a person who was practically speechless. At one station my French vocabulary came to my assistance, so I succeeded in hiring a boy to come with me, and at last I got to Addison Road station. Outside Olympia I saw a man with a red fez on his head, and wearing some sort of odd Oriental dress which I had never seen in Turkey. I spoke to this man in Turkish, and from his accent discovered that he was a Turkish Jew. Through this fellow I engaged a room in a neighbouring lodging-house.
Medicine Report
The Diary of a Turk — Part 86
2026-11-15 13:19:36 · The Daily Ledger
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