The Drake Letters 106
YOU ARE HERE: Drake Letters ► 106. Louisa to Maria Drake 7 July 1856
105. Drake to John and Maria Drake 23 June 1856 ◄ ● ► 107. Drake to John and Maria Drake 7 July 1856
Louisa Drake (Pera) – Maria Drake (London), 26 June 1856
| Pera June 26th [1856] 1 |
My dear Mrs. Drake,
We have to thank you all for many kind letters received since the last Mail, some of the 18th May, they were all most welcome. I think we shall all soon be tired of Pera, it is a nasty, stinking place, and the weather now very warm, we have been in the house the last two days, taking our walks in the Evenings; but the streets are so rough, the walking is not very pleasant, of course Henry is engaged in the mornings, and now we shall be rather at a loss for an escort, as our Kertch doctor (a very agreeable young man) goes away in the Mail Steamer today; we went with him the other day, over to the Golden Horn, walked all round the walls of the Seraglio, and then through the Bazaar, where he made some purchases to take home, it was the first time Louisa had been there, and she was quite pleased; we must get Henry over there some day, to give us some of the pretty things, we had some delicious iced Sherbet there, it is sold at a penny a glass; our greatest treat here is the fruit and vegetables, which are very plentiful, a pleasant change after being so long without any, indeed, we were half starved at Kertch, nothing but our rations, not even a Potatoe [sic] to be bought, it was fortunate I took my stores with me, we have brought the remainder here, we get no rations here, but a small sum of money instead. We called at Mr. Hadfield’s the night before last, we did not see her, I was very sorry to find she has been seriously ill, been up a little for the first time that day, after being in bed two months, 2 we have not yet seen Mr. Edwards, 3 he is laid up, with fever, and his eyes, he will go to Therapia 4 for a change, when he is well enough to move, many of our fellow passengers leave in the Steamer today, General Neil [sic] 5 among them. All the fashionables of Pera, are now at Therapia, our Ambassador is still here (his residence there is not quite ready for him). Henry called on him yesterday. They talk of the Sultan’s 6 giving a Ball, I wish he would do it while we are here, it would be something worth going to. This is a shocking scrawl, we are all writing at one very small table, which is so shaky, that [written across the page] when either of us lift up our hand to take some ink, we give our neighbors a shake; Henry, having finished his epistles, tells us our time is up, so I must finish. With kind love to all, Believe me,
Ever Your affect. Daughter,
Louisa Drake
Footnotes
1. Private family manuscript (Judith Hall and Sally Mac, Auckland, New Zealand). ▲
2. Possibly William Hadfield and his wife, Martha. William Hadfield was a merchant and commission agent, operating out of Constantinople. ▲
3. Acting DCG Alexander Edwards. ▲
4. There was a Naval Hospital at Therapia, Constantinople. [The Times (London, England), 23 January 1855, p. 1:1.] ▲
105. Drake to John and Maria Drake 23 June 1856 ◄ ● ► 107. Drake to John and Maria Drake 7 July 1856
©Megan Stevens 2024
Copyright