Enterprise and Adventure/Wanderings of Jonas Hanway
THE WANDERINGS OF JONAS HANWAY.
Jonas Hanway, the philanthropist—famous as the first man who carried an umbrella in England—was, when a young man, engaged in mercantile pursuits in St. Petersburg. At that time great anxiety was expressed for the opening of a trade through Russia into Persia, by way of the Caspian Sea, a region then little known, and altogether uncivilized. Hanway being naturally of an enterprising turn, offered his services to the Russian government to proceed on a commercial mission to that part, and the offer was accepted.
Hanway published an account of his travels on this occasion, in four huge volumes, which, though now forgotten, are of considerable interest. On the 10th of September, 1743, after making the necessary arrangements for his journey, he set out from St. Petersburg with an interpreter who had been before in Persia, a Russian servant, a Tartar boy, and a guard, having under his care a caravan of thirty-seven bales of English cloth, making twenty carriage loads. On the 1st of October following, he entered the Steppe, or desert, and having arrived at Laritzen, embarked from that town on the river Volga for the Caspian. At Yerkie they embarked in the "Empress of Russia." the first complete ship ever seen on that great inland sea. Arrived safely at Astrabad, on the further shore of the Caspian, an accident had nearly destroyed their vessel and cargo. The inhabitants having set fire to the rushes on the shore to destroy the insects which breed in them, the flames extended to the woods, and the wind feeding the flame, made a dreadful blaze, which extended for several miles, and by the intense heat caused all grease and tar aboard the vessel to run like oil. His merchandise was now placed in a caravan, and upon the backs of camels and horses, but before he had left the town an insurrection broke out among the people. The city was besieged, and the cowardly governor who befriended him fled in the disguise of a peasant. Hanway's attendants advised him also to disguise himself in a Persian habit, and escape from the city; but as he was at a distance from the bay, and knew well that if he could reach it the ship would probably have sailed, he determined to remain in his own character. The rebels took possession of the city, and seized the stranger's merchandise; Hanway, however, retaining a bag of gold coin, which he contrived to conceal. With this he soon afterwards found means of leaving the city with his attendants. Their journey now lay for some time through pathless woods, over ditches and hills, the wanderers taking care to keep the least frequented way, and sleeping at night in the open fields. A guide whom they had bribed refused to take them to Balfrush, the city which Hanway desired to reach, and finally left him and his companions at a fisherman's hut on a lonely part of the coast. Here he was compelled to embark in an open boat, like a canoe, very leaky and too small for six persons. The boat, moreover, could be navigated only with oars or paddles near the shore, where the surf then ran very high, and the sandbanks forming breakers, made the sea still more dangerous. With much fatigue and danger, however, they arrived safely at Teschidegar, and learning that the Shah's officers were there collecting their forces, Hanway begged their protection. This application was completely successful. The chief sent him a horse handsomely caparisoned, with four mules for his servants, with which equipage be safely arrived at Balfrush. Many years afterwards, when the eccentric but benevolent Hanway was a wealthy man in London, he adopted a motto and arms alluding to this episode in his life. On his chariot he had painted a man dressed in Persian costume just landed from a storm on an inhospitable coast, and leaning on a sword. In the background was depicted a boat beaten about by the billows, in the front a shield, with his arms leaning against a tree, and underneath, the motto "Never Despair."
Hanway's troubles were far from being at an end. Scarcely had he found shelter at Balfrush before he was informed by the authorities that it was impossible to defend the town against the rebels, who were daily expected; and he was compelled to depart again, the governor providing him with a miserable horse. Hanway was then compelled to take leave of his interpreter and servants. Giving them a passport obtained from the rebels, and what money he could spare, he recommended them to the protection of Providence, and set out alone on his journey. The Tartars were actually entering the city by one gate, as he departed by the other. After awhile he fell in with a party who were escorting the baggage of the Turkish admiral, and the admiral himself soon followed; but Hanway, on his wretched horse, found it impossible to keep pace with them. A poor Tartar boy, who had been with him throughout his wanderings, and was attached to him with more sincerity than his other servants, had followed him out of the city on foot; and when he grew fatigued, Hanway took him up behind him. They had not proceeded in this way more than six miles when the horse fell, and died by the road-side. In this situation, without a guide, and understanding but little of the language of the country, it was with great difficulty that he found his way to the coast once more. He had found it necessary to disguise himself in the poorest apparel, and his clothes were in tatters. They had several rivers to pass, but pleading poverty were, thanks to their appearance, carried over gratis. Hanway still retained the greater part of his money, but he dared not show a single coin. He was frequently for nearly forty hours without any food except a few parched peas which he had in his pocket, and he was driven to beg of the peasants what he dared not buy. In this way, after many days of wanderings and great privations, he arrived at Langarood. Here he learnt that the Shah was expected to be near the borders of Syria in a short time, and Hanway determined to pursue his journey in search of him. Having provided fresh clothes, horses, and tents, as well as firelocks and sabres for himself and five attendants, he accordingly set out from Reshd, and on the second of March arrived nearly blinded with the glare of the snow which lay on the ground throughout his journey at Casbin, a famous residence of the ancient kings of Persia, where was a new palace built by Nadir Shah. From this point he was able to join a company going to the camp of the Shah, who was reported to be marching towards Hamadan. Finally he arrived at the Shah's camp, and the adventurous English merchant pitched his tent near the royal standard, and delivered a petition to the Shah, praying to be reimbursed the value of his caravan. In this he was so far successful that the Shah issued a decree that the particulars of his loss should be delivered to the commander-in-chief, who was to return such parts of the goods as could be recovered, and make up the deficiency out of the sequestered estates of the rebels. This decree, however, made it necessary to return to Astrabad, the scene of his former travels; but his zeal for the cause in which he had embarked, overcame every obstacle.
The wanderer's return journey was scarcely less adventurous than the previous one. He passed again safely through Langarood, in company with six men well armed; but the first evening afterwards they were benighted, and lost their way in a wood. At length discovering a light, they made towards the place, and found a house barricaded with trees. Having made use of every entreaty to persuade the master of it to conduct them on their journey, without effect, the guards proceeded, like true Persians, to break into the house, and, tying a rope to one of his arms, compelled him to conduct them. This outrage being the effect of mere necessity, the benevolent Hanway took care to reward the man well for his trouble, and, when they had regained their path, sent him home again. This, however, was but the least of his difficulties. The men hired to guard the baggage absconded under cover of the darkness; wolves attacked their horses and cattle in the night; the country was infested by lawless bands of soldiers, which made it dangerous to travel after dusk; and in the day-time the heats were intolerable. At length they reached Astrabad. The tide of the Shah's fortune had now turned; the rebels were subdued, and Hanway was fortunate enough to obtain from the general, in goods and money, as directed by the Shah, nearly the whole of the original value of his caravan, with which he once more embarked on the Caspian. At Reshd he reinvested the wealth thus recovered in raw silk, which he was enabled to convey safely by way of Astrachan to Moscow, where he received letters informing him that, by the death of a relative in England, he had become the inheritor of a fortune. From Moscow to St. Petersburg, four hundred and eighty-seven English miles, he travelled in three days in an open sledge over the frozen snow, and on the 1st of January, 1745, arrived in that city, from which he had originally set out on his wanderings, after an absence of a year and sixteen weeks, during which time he had travelled more than five thousand four hundred English miles. Although he had gained little by his journey, he brought back valuable information as to the trading capacities of a country then but little known to Europe; and the Russian Government, when the civil war in Persia was ended, were enabled to avail themselves of this information, with great advantage to the merchants of the country. Having remained in St. Petersburg for five years afterwards, he then returned to England, where he devoted the remainder of his long life to literary labours, and to those charitable and philanthropic schemes which subsequently made his name known throughout England.