The Prince of India, vol 2 | Page 9

garden, and were permitted to join the

Princess.
CHAPTER XIII
THE HAMARI TURNS BOATMAN
The boatmen had taken up some of the marble blocks of the landing,
and planting long oars upright in the ground, and fixing other oars
crosswise on them, constructed a secure frame covered with fresh
sail-cloth. From their vessels they had also brought material for a dais
under the shelter thus improvised; another sail for carpet, and a chair on
the dais completed the stand whence the Princess was to view and
judge the race.
A way was opened for her through the throng, and with her attendants,
she passed to the stand; and as she went, all the women near reached
out their hands and reverently touched the skirt of her gown--so did
their love for her trench on adoration.
The shore from the stand to the town, and from the stand again around
the promontory on the south, was thronged with spectators, while every
vantage point fairly in view was occupied by them; even the ships were
pressed into the service; and somehow the air over and about the bay
seemed to give back and tremble with the eagerness of interest
everywhere discernible.
Between Fanar, the last northern point of lookout over the Black Sea,
and Galata, down on the Golden Horn, there are about thirty hamlets,
villages and cities specking the European shore of the Bosphorus. Each
of them has its settlement of fishermen. Aside from a voluminous net,
the prime necessity for successful pursuit of the ancient and honorable
calling is a boat. Like most things of use amongst men, the vessel of
preferred model here came of evolution. The modern tourist may yet
see its kind drawn up at every landing he passes.
Proper handling, inclusive of running out and hauling in the seine,
demanded a skilful crew of at least five men; and as whole lives were
devoted to rowing, the proficiency finally attained in it can be fancied.

It was only natural, therefore, that the thirty communities should each
insist upon having the crew of greatest excellence--the crew which
could outrow any other five on the Bosphorus; and as every Byzantine
Greek was a passionate gambler, the wagers were without end.
Vauntings of the sort, like the Black Sea birds of unresting wings, went
up and down the famous waterway.
At long intervals occasions presented for the proof of these men of
pride; after which, for a period there was an admitted champion crew,
and a consequent hush of the babble and brawl.
In determining to conclude the fete with a boat-race open to all Greek
comers from the capital to the Cyanian rocks, the Princess Irene did
more than secure a desirable climax; unconsciously, perhaps, she hit
upon the measure most certain to bring peace to the thirty villages.
She imposed but two conditions on the competitors--they should be
fishermen and Greeks.
The interval between the announcement of the race and the day set for
it had been filled with boasting, from which one would have supposed
the bay of Therapia at the hour of starting would be too contracted to
hold the adversaries. When the hour came there were six crews present
actually prepared to contest for the prize--a tall ebony crucifix, with a
gilded image, to be displayed of holidays on the winning prow. The
shrinkage told the usual tale of courage oozed out. There was of course
no end of explanation.
About three o'clock, the six boats, each with a crew of five men, were
held in front of the Princess' stand, representative of as many towns.
Their prows were decorated with banderoles large enough to be easily
distinguished at a distance--one yellow, chosen for Yenimahale; one
blue, for Buyukdere; one white, for Therapia; one red, for Stenia; one
green, for Balta-Liman; and one half white and half scarlet, for Bebek.
The crews were in their seats--fellows with knotted arms bare to the
shoulder; white shirts under jackets the color of the flags, trousers in
width like petticoats. The feet were uncovered that, while the pull was
in delivery, they might the better clinch the cleats across the bottom of

the boat.
The fresh black paint with which the vessels had been smeared from
end to end on the outside was stoned smoothly down until it glistened
like varnish. Inside there was not a superfluity to be seen of the weight
of a feather.
The contestants knew every point of advantage, and, not less clearly,
they were there to win or be beaten doing their best. They were cool
and quiet; much more so, indeed, than the respective clansmen and
clanswomen.
From these near objects of interest, the Princess directed a glance over
the spreading field of dimpled water to a galley moored under a
wooded point across