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To His Excellency, the Admiral and Minister
of the Navy and the Colonies
Paris
Constantinople, 14th October, 1869
Dear Minister,
The Aigle dropped anchor at Constantinople yesterday afternoon.
As I have already had the honour of informing Your Excellency
in my dispatch from the Piraeus dated 11th October (which perhaps
will not get to France until after this one), there was a very
strong N.E. wind and a rough sea in the Oro Canal, which obliged
me to slow the engines as far as Tenedos so as not to tire the
vessel and, especially, in order to avoid taking on too much water
at the front.
Despite this bad weather, the Aigle, thanks to its fine seaworthiness,
managed to reach the waters of Besika during the evening of 12th.
There, I tried to get in contact with the Forbin using the night
signals. However, as we had left the Piraeus 3 hours late and with
the wind against us at sea, the Empress advised me that she did
not wish to be held up again by this corvette which, had we waited
for it, would have caused the Aigle to arrive in Constantinople
during the night, i.e. a long time after the time scheduled in
our programme. Consequently, I had to continue straight on to
the Dardanelles.
The whole length of the strait, the banks, the batteries and a
good number of vessels lying at anchor or steam were covered with
multi-coloured lights and greeted the Aigle as she passed them
with cheers and gunfire.
At Cap San Stephano, over 30 steam ships from different countries,
dressed with flags and full of people, moved in front of the Empress
to acclaim and escort her.
Since her departure from Toulon, the Aigle has not ceased to give
amazing results in terms of speed and she was now running at about
15 knots. So, I now found it necessary to slow down considerably
in order to wait for the other vessels, even though quite a number
of them were reputed for running very well.
At that moment, the Sultan’s yacht caught up with us and I had
to come to a complete stop in order to receive a chamberlain sent
by His Highness.
It was 2 o’clock when the Aigle dropped anchor at Beylerbey to
the sound of applause from the vessels and forts and cheers from
the people who were literally crammed on the two banks.
The Sultan was not slow in coming aboard to greet the Empress
and accompany her in his galley to his palace, which he put at her disposal.
The Imperial yacht paid the Sultan all the proper honours on this
occasion.
On the Empress’s orders, the Aigle’s general staff joined Her
Majesty’s retinue to accompany her on land.
After the usual receptions, the Empress started her programme
by visiting Sultana Validé at the Dolma Bagtche Palace.
If no change is made to the disposals already given, the Aigle
will leave Constantinople on 18th and sail directly to Alexandria.
Her Majesty, who continues to be in excellent health, still seems
to be very pleased with her stay on board the Aigle.
Being busy at sea with taking care of the vessel and obliged to
accompany the Empress at port, I have very little time to myself.
I therefore beg Your Excellency to excuse the haste with which
I write my dispatches.
I remain, Sir, your most devoted servant,
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