7 - R. E. Coons, “Steamships and Quarantines at Trieste 1837-1848”, Journal of History of the Medicine and Allied Sciences, vol. 44, January 1989. A doctor always boarded the Lloyd’s boats as the ones of the Messageries who called at the Levant ports, for the early diagnosis of a possible infectious disease. Doctors onboard Lloyd vessels were equal in rank to the first officers and were receiving the same treatment. Over and above their medical and pharmaceutical duties, they were entrusted with the mail service and the health surveillance of those on board. Furthermore, the practice of guardians was applied in the Greek area since the creation of the Greek state although the relevant legislation codified the old practices only in 1845. Each vessel arriving from abroad, instead of remaining immobilized and without contact with the coast where certain days of quarantine was expected, could, at the expense of the passengers bring aboard one or two guards whom the local health office assigned, and continue its voyage in the Greek waters without calling at another port until the days of quarantine passed.
The other possibility was the passengers to remain onboard accompanied by a guard, until the required days of isolation passed, instead of disembarking and remain in the facilities of the lazaretto –not such a particular pleasant situation-, a practice which the British first applied in the Ionian islands (The Ernst Gardner case in Α. Virvilis, «The lazaret of St. Georgios of Salamis», Philotelia no. 591/1999, p. 118).
The guards, usually retired seamen, watched if the passengers showed any symptoms of infectious disease and reported the pertinent. Relative descriptions are found in the memoirs of many travellers (E. M. Grosvenor, Narrative of a yacht cruise in the Mediterranean during the years 1840-1841, London 1842 and A. Papanikolaou-Christensen, Christiane Luth: A Danish in Otto’s Court, Hermes, Athens 1988).
8 -
The route Trieste, Ancona, Corfu, Patras, Vostitsa (Aighion), Loutraki and from there Kalamaki, Piraeus, begun on July 1, 1843 and continued, with several calling changes until 1858. From Loutraki the passengers and the mail bags were transported to Kalamaki by carriages, where a boat of the Company transported them to Piraeus. In October of 1843, the famous Austrian traveller Ida Pfeiffer sails from Piraeus to Kalamaki onboard
Baron von Kubek (320 tons with 75HP, built 1842) and from Loutraki to Trieste with
Hellenos (?) (120HP). (Ida Pfeiffer, A woman’s journey round the world, London 1852).
The short overland trip, Loutraki-Kalamaki, was not always an easy one. On August of 1844, thieves ambushed the carriage and robed the passengers and the cargo. Newspaper
Athina of 12 August mentions “The Lloyd coach directed from Loutraki to Kalamaki was robbed by approximately 70 robbers. It is supposed that their intention was to capture the diplomatic mail as well“ (M. Constantinis, The Posts in Greece, Hellenic Post, Athens 2002, p. 234 and U. Del’ Bianco, Il Lloyd Austriaco e gli annulli maritime dell’Austria-Ungheria, Sorani, Milano 1978, vol. II, pp. 114 and 306).
9 - Del Bianco who examined the Lloyd Archives, recording also the dates of timetables, mentions that the duration of the Trieste-Piraeus trip, via Loutraki, was 6 days (U. Del’ Bianco, op. ct., p. 114). From January 1850, according to the New Timetable of the Lloyd’s Steamers, which was also published in the Greek Government Gazette, three lines were established. The first, as the premier one, with calling at Brindisi also (14 days to Piraeus), the second, the express line, Trieste, Corfu, Syra (7 days), Smyrna and Constantinople and the third which linked the connections from Syra to Piraeus (twice a week). The Syra-Piraeus leg was taken place at night and the boat was arriving in Piraeus at sunrise.
Known vessels which at different times carried out this route were Lloyd’s
Arciduca Lodovico (it is the same boat that inaugurated the Trieste-Constantinople line and was pulled out of circulation in 1868) (Henry M. Baird, Modern Greece, A narrative of a residence and travels in that country, New York 1856, p. 371), the boats of Messageries Imperiales
Tagus (787 tones, built in 1837),
Pericles (582 tones, built in 1852) and
Eurotas (620 tons built in 1836) and the Greek ones
Maximilian, (180 tons with 2X20HP built in 1837) and
Omonia (565 tons with 94 HP).
10 - France had every reason to fear. Recent example also –with the publication of Ross’ book- was the cholera epidemic, the result of the Crimean War, which started in Marseilles in 1854 and was transported to Piraeus –with the occupying armies- and to Athens the summer of the same year (B. Anninos, «The cholera of 1854» in Historical Notes, Hestia, Athens 1925).
11 - Until the 19th century, Italy as well as the entire Europe had paid a big price for the cholera epidemics. The opening of the maritime routes toward the Levant, added another big danger. The Italian States had undertaken strict measures at their ports, in conjuction with their land borders. (Luciano De Zanche, Storia della disinfezione postale in Europa e nell’area Mediterranea, Padova 1977).
12 - The observation of Ross reveals the intense competition of the interested nations, but also of the companies, for the development of the commercial routes with the Levant but also the fears of transmission of infectious diseases, especially the plague, typhoid and cholera. The duration of the isolation in quarantine at the harbours of Syra and Triest was one of the main weapons of the antagonism (see analytically R. E Coons, op. cit.)
Characteristic of the competition is the report of the French Consul in Athens, who since 20th August 1842, underlines the importance of the Austrian activity and writes “It would a great competition of our Athens line…. No passenger anymore directed to France or the northern Italy would be boarded to our vessels from Syra or Piraeus.
Everybody would naturally take advantage of the Ancona and Trieste line, where a simple restriction of seven days at the first port and three at the second which will be reduced to five and to one respectively by deducting the days of incoming and outgoing, reduces the endless quarantine which our vessels coming from Egypt or Turkey are subject in Malta” (Β. Tsokopoulos, Piraeus, 1835–1870, Introduction to the history of the Greek Manchester, Kastaniotis, Athens 1984, p. 156).
The antagonism was carried out in all levels. Following the relatively contemporary description of French writer Edmond About “
The Lloyd’s ships travel generally somewhat better than ours [the French]. However I do not advise anyone to take them. The ship, the cabins, the beds, the kitchen, all have a doubtful cleanliness. The Greeks who are not known to be delicate, take, by preference, the Lloyd’s ships because they cost less and especially, because the administration makes deals with them….. All the Company’s [Messageries Imperiales] ships are sound and comfortable.
The officers are well brought up, courteous with the people, obliging to the ladies” (Εdmond About, La Grece Contemporaine, Paris 1855).
One of the means of attracting passengers was also the services offered onboard the ship. The famous writer Theophile Gautier who traveled on September of 1852 from Smyrna via Syra to Piraeus with Lloyd’s vessel “
Imperatore”, (700 tones, built in 1850), describes: “The Austrian ships who service the lines of the Levant, in order to accommodate the customs of their eastern customers, on the deck –where usually the captain and the first class passengers have the exclusive privilege to take their walk- have an area enclosed with net at the height of the arms, which they call seraglio. With this arrangement the Turks protect their women from associating with the dogs the infidels and travel without putting to test their inborn jealousy.
Certainly you understand that this part of the ship is the most interesting and the most picturesque”. (Three French romantics in Greece: Lamartine–Nerval–Gautier, Athens 1990). Another traveler during the short trip from Syra to Piraeus on August 8, 1884 –quite few years after L. Ross’ times- describes the first class meals on Lloyd’s boat
Vorwaerts, (2,380 tones built in 1878) as follows: ‘’On the ship the appetizers cover the table, they include the famous caviar, thick marmalade, fish roe, then huge plates, at the end pudding so heavy that the stewards have difficulty to carry. At 8 at night, tea with sweats, at 7 in the morning coffee, at 10 a complete breakfast, at 1 the lunch which consist of tea, meats, ice creams etc, a fact which means within 13 hours five small and large dinners.
’’ (L’abbe Leon Gauthey, L’ Orient, notes de voyage et d’etudes des moeurs, Chardles 1886). The tradition of excellent meals offered on board the Levant ships was continued at the later years. The great Greek poet C. Cavafy, following his first voyage from Alexandria to Athens in June-July 1901 with the ship
El Kahira of the Egyptian Company Khedivian Mail Lines, returned to Alexandria via Patras and Brindisi with the ship
Scilla of the Italian Company Rubattino and from there to Alexandria with Bohemia of Lloyd (4318 tons built 1896). He writes in his Diary: “We are compelled to this roundabout way by the absence of direct communication (by Russian or Egyptian steamer) between the Piraeus and Alexandria”.
The experience from the three ships are detailed in his diary in English: “The “El Kahira” is a very good ship. Our cabins excellent […].The ”
Scilla” of Rubatino, a wretched ship. Though each of us has a cabin of two births all to himself there is scarcely place to move in it […]. I had tea at 3 p.m. We sailed at 5 p.m. Dinner was served on deck. Prince Nicolas sat at the captain’s right hand side. The food was very good. I am sorry I cannot say that the sleeping accommodation was also very good. It was horrible. A very torture. I hardly slept a couple of hours […].This “
Bohemia” is a splendid ship. We have each a cabin of two births.
The cabins are large and airy. The dining room is very large; and there is an excellent smoking room and a very pleasant drawing room […]. Yesterday (the 3d August), I passed quite agreeably on the “Bohemia”. The weather is excellent and the food perfect […]. Lunch and tea and dinner were very good […]”. (C. P. Cavafy, Works, Prose, 3rd vol. Fikiris, Athens 1982).