The Great Regatta

Chapter Nine

'Let's look at the Old Athens,' Blaise said. 'It's not so far from here.'

'Sure, why not,' Justin said.

They went to the centre, looked at the impressive tetrahedral Tower of the Winds, the beautiful monument to Philopappos, the Amphitheatre, the Temple of Zeus, the Byzantine churches, the city walls of ancient Athens, and then they went to see the Acropolis. They made the long way up the winding steps, until at last they saw the Propylaeum, the magnificent gate, and a little beautiful temple near it, the Temple of Nike Apteros, or Nike the Wingless, as the Athenians of old wanted the Goddess of Victory to stay with them. Then they entered into the Acropolis itself, surrounded by walls. Right in front of them now was the Parthenon, the enormous, long, rectangular temple with columns all around and a splendid porch. To their left was another beautiful temple, a bit smaller - the Erechteion.

'Let's go to the Parthenon and see the frieze,' Blaise said. 'It goes all round the building and depicts a festive procession in Athens. The outer frieze, that is - there is also an inner frieze, behind the columns. It depicts the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapythes.

They went to see it. The relief was truly beautiful.

After they saw all the temples they descended and went strolling in the beautiful gardens on the Hill of Pnix.

'Yes, it was beautiful,' Justin sighed. 'Worth seeing it.'

'That it is,' the Hon. Evelyn said.

Then they went to a quiet inn and had a Greek pizza - with sliced mushrooms, garlic, crumbled brynza, oregano and olive oil.

'It's a pity Dalibor isn't here,' Blaise said. 'But if we took him with us, Avery would likely claim we are a passenger ship and not a racing yacht.'

'I wouldn't put it past him!' Justin laughed.

'Nor would I,' the Hon. Evelyn said. 'He's a slippery sort.'

'Perchance it is for better then that the gentleman in La Coruna had seasickness,' Blaise said thoughtfully.

'I believe so,' Trevor nodded.

'What gentleman?' the Hon. Evelyn asked.

'A nice Highlander, by name of Angus MacFusty of Spanzedell, who found Fonsie when I lost him,' Justin said. 'We made friends with him and asked him to sail with us, but he was seasick.'

Justin blushed, remembering his lapsus.

'So I'm not the first?' the Hon. Evelyn said in mock offence.

'Alas, no,' Blaise said.

'Well, I guess I'll have to overlook it.' The Hon. Evelyn smiled. 'You are such a good company!'

'Thank you, Eve,' Blaise said.

'But MacFusty - as in the Clan MacFusty? Those, who care of their native dragons?' the Hon. Evelyn asked.

'Precisely,' Blaise said.

'The people you meet!' the Hon. Evelyn said.

Next morning, as the sun was rising over Athens, the yacht sailed past Salamin and headed for the east. They passed the peninsula south of Athens to their left and went into the sea. But soon they saw some islands. Justin steered between two of them.

'This one to the right must be Melos, where the famous statue of Venus was found by a Greek tiller as he ploughed his field, and then sold by him to a rich Englishman,' Blaise said.

His friends eyed the green hilly island with interest.

Justin maneuvered his way between the islands, looking at the same time that Avery could not pass him, which was tricky.

'These islands are called Cyclades, from the Greek word kyklos, meaning circle,' Blaise said. 'If you look them up on a map, they form a vague circle.'

'We're skirting it from the south,' Justin nodded.

They passed a couple of other islands. Then Blaise said:

'And this is Naxos, where, as the Greek myth says, Theseus abandoned Ariadne after she helped him to vanquish the Minotaur and fled with him from Crete. She them became a mistress of Dionysus. And far to the north there is Delos where Apollo and Diana were born. Their mother, Leto, sought refuge there from Hera, the jealous wife of her lover Zeus.'

'And Rhodes, where the Knights Hospitallers once had their headquarters, is somewhere to the east,' Justin added.

'And Lesbos where the great poetess Sappho lived,' the Hon. Evelyn added.

Some time later Justin steered past all these islands.

'Now we are in a strait between Crete and Carpathos,' he said. 'Gosh, those islands are beautiful, but how icky it is to steer between them!'

The yacht now was going at her cruising speed, the great bulk of Crete to her right, the little Carpathos to her left. They went into the open sea. Justin sighed:

'Now the high seas are what I like!'

'Then you'll like the way from now on, Cap Finch.' Blaise smiled.

'That I will,' Justin said. Blaise recited:

'He had bought a large map representing the sea,

Without the least vestige of land:

And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be

A map they could all understand.

"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,

Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"

So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply

"They are merely conventional signs!

"Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!

But we've got our brave Captain to thank:

(So the crew would protest) "that he's bought us the best--

A perfect and absolute blank!"

'I hope I'm not like the Bellman in other aspects, though.' Justin grinned. 'If I remember right, he could only ring the bell and give orders such as, 'Steer to starboard but keep her head larboard.' I would never give such orders if I could.'

'No, of course not, Cap.' Blaise smiled. 'We'd have been in Timbuktu if you were!'

Justin felt inspired, and they left Avery far behind.

They crossed the Mediterranean and saw a low green coastline ahead, lagoons, and the branches of Nile flowing into the sea. A long spit was seen in front of them.

'This is the Rosetta spit,' Justin said. 'The Rosetta branch of Nile flows into the sea here, and we shall sail upstream by it.'

'Splendid!' Blaise said. 'The Nile Delta is a lovely place, and it has some very interesting fauna.'

They entered the mouth of the Rosetta branch. Now there were green plains on either side of them, with groves and fields, and reeds lined both shores of the river.

'A nice place,' Justin said.

They sailed upstream for some time, ahead of Avery, enjoying the landscapes. Then Justin said to Blaise:

'I need to heave the log. Mind the wheel for a while, please.'

'Sure,' Blaise said. He took the wheel, and Justin took the log and dipped it into the water. Suddenly Justin screamed and dropped the log.

'Justin!? What's the matter!?' Blaise exclaimed.

'I SWEAR something stroke me - like a lightning!' Justin said.

Blaise looked overboard and saw a fat, cylindrical, pinkish fish with spots, six barbells and no dorsal fin.

'Congratulations, Justin,' he said. 'You encountered a rare fish that dwells only in Nile and the Lake of Chad - an electric catfish. When frightened, it can generate a powerful discharge.'

'Excellent,' Justin said sourly. 'Talk about interesting fauna!'

'Yes, it is one of them.' Blaise smiled. 'The Arab fishermen call it ra'ad - thunder.'

'Thunder is right.' Justin grinned. 'I'll just have to buy a new log.'

'Logs are many, such experiences are not.' Blaise nodded, smiling.

'True,' Justin said. 'But catfishes or no catfishes, Avery won't be in Cairo before us! I'll take the wheel now.'

'Certainly,' Blaise said and stepped aside.

The ship rode the Nile waters merrily, the lovely Egyptian landscapes flitting past them. Trevor ahhed ceaselessly, and Blaise just looked at the landscapes quietly, but with shining eyes. The Hon. Evelyn just smiled and patted Miranda.

'Soon we'll see Cairo, my poppet,' he said to her.

And indeed, soon they saw the Rosetta branch meet with the Damietta branch, and this wider river carried them farther, until they saw a great city on the left bank, with towers and minarets. Justin dropped anchor near this city.