Walter Colton

American clergyman and writer Rev Walter Colton (1797-1851) served as a chaplain in the US Navy and also became the publisher of California's first newspaper. After graduating from Hartford School, he entered Yale in the fall of 1818. Here, he won the Berkeleyan Prize for the best Latin translation and graduated in 1822. He later became a professor of ethical philosophy. After declining the professorship, Colton moved to Washington, where he engaged in publishing. In 1831, he became the religious representative of the Navy Fleet and from 1832, he traveled the Mediterranean with the United States fleet. In 1831, he visited global connection points with the Indian fleet. He published his impressions of this journey in 1836. Colton, who died in 1851, focused more on the Bosphorus and Troy with the sensitivity of a romantic poet in his memories of Çanakkale and the region.

"...The next morning, we pass through the ancient Babakale (Leactum), which is now a beautiful village set on a wooded slope, where delicate minarets rise over green shadows and waterfalls cascade down like the sound of waves on the shore. By evening, we reached between Tenedos and Troas; though our ship's flag was not very long, it brought us to the silent shore of Priamos; we could now witness Vergil's very apt description:

Est in conspectu tenedos notissima fama insula (Aen. Ii. 21).
(In view is the famous island of Tenedos.

Extending his hand towards the magnificent tomb of Achilles, listening to the sound of the waves, we can say very little yet about the visual accuracy and prophetic truth of this blind bard who sang the epic of this romantic island...

...

By the end of our fortieth day, we reached Çanakkale (Chanak-Kellesi), where the strait suddenly narrows and the currents strengthen: indeed, it may be said that the strait begins here; it takes the shape of a small sea arm downward. Here, it is necessary to obtain a permit, and we also want to meet the need for fresh water and food. We all enter the small calm bay with our longboat; we anchor a little below the city. Our aimless wandering here was due to a worthless issue. The rundown houses are divided by narrow, dirty streets, and most of the inhabitants are Jews trading in the region's different wines, and they have a coarse style of pottery that cannot be recommended, though there are very few quality ones among them. The forts guarding the strait here are noteworthy because of their position directly opposite each other, having no other examples, and during bombardment, they have a mutually destructive effect. The Turks' ingenuity in defense triumphs over modern engineering!

Here, I must mention the quite elegant British consul and a hospitable Italian merchant enjoying some privileges given to him by our government. He invited us to join his son's wedding ceremony; we were told that a handsome young man of twenty would marry a young Armenian girl he had never seen before but was told was very beautiful.

But when our captain received the list regarding the permit and passage fees; and the cook found something else to replace the chickens lost in the storm, we decided to forgo attending the wedding and continue our journey. Otherwise, how much longer could we stay here like our famous predecessors, the Argonauts, passing through this difficult strait?

We soon went up on deck; but the night was so pitch dark and the wind so fierce that our captain preferred to remain anchored for a while longer for safety. If he had a poetic vein, he would warm our impatience with verses very suitable to this situation:

(The wind blows on the waves of the Dardanelles
On that stormy night
If Love forgot to protect, the brave and beautiful young man he sent,
Forgot the lonely hopes of the girl of Sestos)

...

A short distance from the shore, with classical ambiguity, we passed Lapseki (Lapseki), set on the place where the plain juts forward, its beauty and wealth seen from its streets. The marble mosque, once a church, now with its beautiful minarets, forms a very nice contrast with the small forest above the settlement; in the background, the green hills provide a very beautiful border. The spirit of joy and pleasure, and music, characterized by the ancient people here, like a lustful lyre, passes emotionally over the sparkling water with misfortune and time..."