It is certain that no woman ever accomplished a more
daring exploit! The mental as well as physical energy required was
enormous; and only a strong mind and a strong frame could have endured
the many hardships consequent on her undertaking--the burning heat by
day, the inconveniences of every kind at night, the perils incidental to
her sex, meagre fare, a filthy couch, and constant apprehension of attack
by robber bands. The English consul at Tabreez, when she introduced
herself to him, found it hard to believe that a woman could have
accomplished such an enterprise.
At Tabreez, Madame Pfeiffer was presented to the Viceroy, and obtained
permission to visit his harem. On August 11th, 1848, she resumed her
journey, crossing Armenia, Georgia, and Mingrelia; she touched afterwards
at Anapa, Kertch, and Sebastopol, landed at Odessa, and returned home by
way of Constantinople, Greece, the Ionian Islands, and Trieste, arriving
in Vienna on the 4th of November 1848, just after the city had been
recaptured from the rebels by the troops of Prince Windischgratz.
[Constantinople: page21.jpg]
Ida Pfeiffer was now a woman of note. Her name was known in every
civilized country; and it was not unnatural that great celebrity should
attach to a female who, alone, and without the protection of rank or
official recommendation, had travelled 2800 miles by land, and 35,000
miles by sea.
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