GAY REGATTAS.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 September 1928, Page 6

GAY REGATTAS.

OF OTHER COUNTRIES. . (By BERiIEiL BUCHANAN, author of “Diplomacy and Foreign Courts,” “Potrograd and Recollections of Imperial -Russia,” etc.). White wings on the Solent! The flags of the Royal Yacht Squadron fluttering proudly in the breeze, tall masts and yellow funnels crowding against the sky-line! No-wher© else in the world is there anything quite resembling Cowes Aveeks, bringing together, as it does, smart mondaiines whose love of yachting does not go much farther than their clothes 5 l>row.n-faced men and women whose eyes are as clear and fearless as the sea they love, and a- •crowd of foreigners come from all over the world ‘S fho little yachts race each other across the sunlit Avater. BRILLIANT YACHT CLUB OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA. The Yacht. Oju'b in old Imperial Russia Avas perhaps the nearest equivalent to the Royal Yacht Squadron in England, whicli is the- smartest and most exclusive in the whole of Europe. On still, summer evenings long ago one could -see the little boats coming in from racing each other across the Bay of Finland, stealing up the river to the Yacht- Oub just opposite the point of the last o-f islands outside St. Petersburg. White sails, golden sails, and sails of brilliant scarlet mirrored in the quiet Avaters, gleaming eerily in the ghostly light of a far northern summer night, coming to •'Test at last before the illuminated window's of the club house, from where the sound, of music, of laughter and singing Amices echoed across the river.

WHEN THE WATERS LAY FROZEN. Even when the Avaters lay frozen, in the grip of Avinter, ice-yachting still kept the white sails skimming between the low-lying Avoodcd shores. Racing acr-ovs the ice-hound Avaste oi river or bay, sails of scarlet, brilliant in that still pure Avorld, Avliite sails hardly seen above the snow, the roar of the hitter Avind, the steel-grev expanse of sky above one; beloAv one the mighty Avaters bound in that deathly stillness of frozen calm, jsvefy sensation lost except the thrill of siyed—no wonder people who have once done ice-yachting look on the more modern craze of motor-boat racing Avith its deafening noise and smoke, Avith a certain contempt.

RACING * BETWEEN RIVAL E.Mil YSSHvs. In the old days the Ambassador at Constantinople had a- steam yacht placed at life disposal by the Government, as Avq'.l as a small launch, the big official caique used only by him- , self, and .two smaler caiques for the private use of. his family. Most of the officers on board the Imogen—the British Embassy yacht^-had. their own little sailing boats, and there were constant races between them and the officers of the yachts attached to the embassies uf : other countries, as well as uetAveen the British colony and Greek, or other foreign colony, domiciled in CVjnstantin-o.p'Je. GORGEOUS OARSM EN OF THE; BOSPHORUS. And all day long there Avas life on the Bosphorus. Passenger steamers plied their fares up and down. Black flat-bottomed boats, Avliere Turkish women sat like little clustering grey pigeons, made their sloav, laborious AVay up the river. Police boats hurried along. Now and then an armed sloop of the Turkish Navy passed majestically. . Barges laden with grain' from the shores of the Black .Sea, pleasure boats of eA r ery description crowded the water from Beyukdliere to Yenikeuy and Tlierapia, pa-st the grim fortresses of Anatoli and luOKmeli Hissar, across to the wooded shores of sAia, to Kanda'li ’and Kadikeny and Haidar Pasha. And every Friday at the Sweet Waters of Asia wa.s a throng of boats betAveen the green shores—the caiques of pashas and court officials Avith the l’OAvei’s in gorgeous uniforms, rich Turkish ladies reclining on gold or silver cushions, the gleam of satins and brocades, tlie fire of jewels on. lreniia-tipped fingers, dark eyes studying us above the folds of a white or pink yashmak. Ambassadorial caiques passed with the harsh cry of the roAvers bidding the other boats make way. Turkish women of the middle class sat under the trees to Avatcli the oroAvd. A slender caique passed Avith two oarsmen in roA’al livery and a young dark-skinned boy, Avit.li eyes of insolent and proud eUriositv.

IN THE SHADOW OF SECRET GARDENS. Evening falling, and the little breeze which all day long had niff led the waters of the Bosphorus, falling to a breathless calm, now and then a caique passed, taking some Secretary of Embassy out to dinner, with gleam of white shirt front in the gathering du.sk, the. sort sheen of a woman’s dress, the flash of gold on some rower’s embroidered sleeve, the scent of roses and magnolia stealing across the water,

And then with the moon rising above the shores of Asia, and perhaps a caique stealing along in the shadow of secret gardens, a splash and a smothoredc cry in the stillness—Abdul Hamid taking his revenge on some unfortunate who had offended against him, and only the flocks of the lesser shearwater birds flying in a ceasless, unending quest up and down the Bosphorus to know the secret.