On the 20th July I was summoned to the Embassy. When I got there, the Ambassador was at dinner, and I had to wait for some time. Presently His Excellency came into the room and told me that he was directed to offer me the appointment of Her Majesty's Delegate on the European Commission appointed under the Treaty of Paris for the improvement of the Mouths of the Danube.

I looked at him in some astonishment, as I had not the very faintest notion what the Commission was or what it had to do. Lord Stratford said, looking at me in his fixed way, "You don't mean to refuse?" to which I replied that I did not know what was being offered to me. He said, "There is a copy of the Treaty of Paris; you had better look it over and let me know in the morning what your decision is." I had not of course the slightest intention of refusing, but I really did not know what lay before me.

By perusal of the Treaty I learnt that this Commission was charged, by virtue of its stipulations, to employ Engineers for the purpose of removing the sand-banks which, by the silting up due to the floods of this large river, obstructed the navigation between Isaktcha at the head of the Delta and the Black Sea. The members appointed by the seven Powers represented, were authorized to levy tolls on shipping to cover the expense of the work. I went to my friend, Colonel, - now Field-Marshal, Sir Lintorn-Simmons who agreed with me that this was a thing to accept although our examination of the Treaty showed that the post offered to me, - an-important and responsible one, - was likely to present great difficulties.

The next morning I went to the Ambassador to say that I was ready to accept the offer of H.M.'s Government. This decision, in fact, changed my whole life. The term allotted by the Treaty to the Commission was apparently for a period of two years. I remained on it for more than fifteen years, and the work is still going on! Having thus accepted the appointment I at once asked permission to return to England to make arrangements for my family to join me, but I was told that I had better remain where I was, so that I might not be absent when my colleagues should arrive. I have since found that the assembling of colleagues, especially when there are six of them, is a matter of time. The commission did not meet till the month of November, the offer came to me in July. I passed my time pleasantly enough, however, at Constantinople living principally at the Hotel Petala at Therapia, - very comfortable quarters in a lovely neighbourhood. I met with the greatest kindness from Lord Stratford de Redclyffe, and was happy in the near neighbourhood of my brother officer, E.C. Gordon and his family.

I was also fortunate in the companionship of many officers of the Navy, as the Fleet was Iying on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. One friend I made there was the unfortunate Tryon, who was drowned in the Mediterranean in 1893, when he went down with his flag-ship the "Victoria".

Map of places mentioned by Sir John Stokes around the Black Sea and the mouth of the River Danube

Early in August Lord Lyons, who was in command, gave me a gun-boat to visit the Danube, so as to enable me to form some idea of the locality where I was to carry on my duties, and to make arrangements for my family when they should come out.

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The "Wrangler" was one of the old gun-boats, commanded by Captain Marryat, (nephew of the novelist) and her first officer was Arthur Cowburn, a nephew of my old friend, Mr Masters Smith of Camer. I had a particularly nice time with these officers.

The Sulina, which is the smallest of the three main mouths, bringing to the sea but 2/27 of the water of the river, was at this time the only one used for navigation, as the depth over its bar varied from 7 to 10 feet, according to the season, while the Kilia to the north bearing 10/27, and the St George to the south, with 8/27, had a depth rarely exceeding 6 feet.

We went up the Sulina branch accordingly, and on as far as the town of Galatz, the future headquarters of the Commission. There I made the acquaintance of Mr Cunningham, H.B.M.'s Vice Consul, a very hospitable old gentleman, but of rugged exterior and of somewhat intemperate habits. On our return we went down to the St. George's branch, - a much finer one than the Sulina. I had applied to the Government for the assistance of an of finer of engineers and a small number of sappers to enable me to carry out my duties on the Danube; accordingly Corporal Isaac and two sappers, with surveying instruments had been assigned to me at Constantinople. These I had taken with me, and I left them at the mouth of the St. George with instructions to take daily observations of the winds and river currents until my return. Mr. Cunningham, who had accompanied us to the St. George's mouth, strongly recommended me to take up land for the Government in case that mouth should be selected for improvement. This I did, and instructed my sappers to erect a hut for themselves upon it.

As there was insufficient water over the bar of the St. George to allow us to proceed to sea, we returned via the St. George and Sulina branches, to the Sulina mouth, whence we crossed to Serpent's Island. There we found two or three of H.M.S. ships keeping guard, and heard of the amusing way in which the Island had been preserved to Turkey. During the war the . Russian guard had been withdrawn and the light-house had remained unoccupied. The Treaty of Paris had made no special mention of the Island which lies about 20 miles off the Sulina mouth of the Danube, ceded to Turkey by the Treaty of Paris.

Captain Vansittart R.N. had been sent to Odessa to arrange with Count Strogonoff, the Governor General, for the occupation of the island by the Turks. He requested an interview, and was told that the Governor was much occupied just then, but would see him in a day or two. At the same time he perceived a small vessel in the harbour getting up steam, and immediately guessed that this vessel was going off to take possession of Serpent's Island. So, without waiting for the interview with the Governol General, he at once weighed anchor and steamed off for the island, where he hoisted the Turkish flag. A few hours later the little steamer arrived, as he had divined, with a similar object in view. Thus by his promptitude he prevented complications which might have arisen as the Russians would probably have demanded compensation for giving it up. In consequence of this incident Lord Lyons, for a time, kept ships Iying there. On my return to the Bosphorus I made my report to the Ambassador, and remained there according to his recommendation, waiting for news of my colleagues.

Before my expedition to the Danube, I had arranged with my wife that she should join me, with our children, as soon as she could break up our establishment at Gravesend and get our furniture shipped for the Danube. She and the children were to come out by steamer to Constantinople. As there was no direct steam communication between London and the Danube at that time all our things had to be sent in a sailing ship. During the two months that I passed at Constantinople I amused myself principally with cricket. Gordon and I were devoted to the game and we found several Naval men to join us. We used to play in the Sultan's valley, or wherever we could find a level piece of turf. I had unfortunately sold my horses before I knew I should have to remain in these parts, but I was fortunate enough to find two others, one of which was a beautiful lady's horse for my wife. In September I was warned of the early assembling of the Commission, and proceeded again to Galatz with my horses and servants. I took the lease of a new house that was nearly completed, - the finishing of which I could myself look after, including the addition of an external staircase - it having been forgotten!

One of my early duties was to extricate Her Majesty's Vice Consul from a very unpleasant position. It was on the occasion of the fete day of the Emperor of Austria. At this time, the Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, were occupied by the Austrian troops who had held them for some months, before and since the signing of the Treaty of Peace. We were invited to the banquet given by the Officer Commanding, in honour of the Emperor's birthday. When the Colonel had given the toast of the Emperor, Mr. Cunningham got up, and said that he could not agree with the Colonel that the occupation of the Principalities had been a blessing to the country. Of course, this speech by an officer representing Her Majesty at the banquet, produced the utmost confusion, and the Colonel considered that, to make such an observation, at that time and place, was an insult to his Master. I got Cunningham away as quickly as I could, and called the next day and offered apologies for what had occurred. I said it must have been evident that Mr Cunningham was not responsible for what he had said. The Colonel was most indignant, and wished to fight a duel with him, but I managed to smooth matters over, and nothing more came of it.

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Early in October, I heard of the arrival of my family at Smyrna in the "Teneriffe", and I hurried down to Constantinople to meet them. I trans-shipped them into the AustrianLloyd steamer "Schlick" and we sailed in roughish weather for the Danube. On reaching the mouth of the Sulina, there was too much sea to enter, so we had to lie there until the weather moderated. It was on this voyage that my third son, Frank, an infant in arms, had a narrow escape. His nurse was going to carry him down the companion ladder, when her foot slipped; she did her best to save the child, but they both fell to the bottom. Happily no bones were broken, though both were much frightened. After a few hours the weather moderated. We got into the Danube and arrived at Galatz, where I installed my family. I had bought a few necessary beds, tables and chairs, for use until the arrival of the vessel which carried our furniture, but this did not take place for more than two months, and the discomfort in which we passed our time can hardly be conceived. Our servants were all English and could not speak a word of the language of the country. The occupation of the Austrians made the purchase of the simplest necessaries of life very difficult; in fact the Austrian troops ate up everything. The meat was so coarse that we lived upon Irish stew, with an occasional hare, and caviare. - this last was a most useful nutriment to us. Caviare is obtained from the sturgeon, a grand fish from 12 to 15 feet long, which is caught at the mouths of the Danube. Its flesh is coarse, rather like veal; but the caviare, or roe, taken out and eaten quite fresh with lemon juice, pepper and bread, is most excellent. The sturgeon is caught in this way; the fishermen stretch across the river a stout line from which are suspended, a few feet apart, short lines with large pointed hooks attached at distances of a few inches. The points where the hanging lines are attached, are marked by small buoys of reeds. As the sturgeon passes up or down the river he touches these hooks, which scratch him; he then rubs himself against them and gets entangled, and the little buoys above, which have been floating horizontally turn up vertically. The fishermen on shore, who are watching, put off in canoes and finish the fish with harpoons. Back to the Top

Shortly after I returned from Constantinople, my colleagues on the Danube Commission assembled, and we held our first meetings on the 4th November and the following days. We then resolved to make an inspection of the river, which it was our duty to render navigable. For this purpose we embarked on the "Albricht", a river gun- boat which was placed at our disposal by our Austrian colleagues and which had plenty of accommodation. We steamed successively down the St. George's branch, the Sulina Branch, as far as the Argagni shoal, and the Kilia branches. The weather was getting cold and rough but we were much interested in all that we saw, and began to form some idea of the magnitude and complexity of the task that lay before us.

Lying outside the mouth of the Kilia we found H.M.S. "Medina", the officers of which were employed in surveying the Kilia mouths under the direction of Capt. Spratt R.N. This vessel had been sent up from the fleet by Lord Lyons for the purpose of making surveys of the several mouths of the Danube, and Capt. Spratt had, during the autumn been making valuable surveys of the Kilia and the St. George, and these he placed at the disposal of the Commission.

One of our expeditions at the Kilia mouth was made in company with Lieut. Hamilton, commanding a gun-boat Iying outside, with whom we visited the town of Kilia. It may give some idea of the intensity of the cold at that season when I say that he gave us each a glass of gin which we drank thinking it water; it was only when we got back to the warm steamer that the strength of the liquor began to make itself felt.

I have not said a word about my companions. Omar Feizy Pascha, a Turk and the President of the Commission, was a dapper little man, a General who had, however, seen but little military service; M. Englehardt, the Frenchman, was a young man of some ability, belonging to the Consular service. The Austrian, M. Becke, was a very able man, and was also Consul of his country at Galatz. We found it an advantage that he understood English, and also spoke it a little. M. Bitter, who represented Prussia, was a Civil servant of the State; a very bureaucratic, self-opinionated gentleman, hardworking and thorough in all that he did, like most Germans, but very much inclined to take the Prussian view of everything.

Baron d'Offenberg, who represented Russia, was a military man in the diplomatic service; he had been through the Crimean war, and had represented the Russian Foreign Office at the head-quarters of the Generals, Prince Menschikoff and, subsequently, Prince Gortchakoff. Sardinia was represented by the Marquis d'Aste, a captain in the Sardinian Navy, a very jolly, pleasant fellow.

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