Marine a building adjacent

The man who had taken the letter into the Arsenal came back in a quarter of an hour, and told us that the effendi was over at the Marine—a building adjacent. I sent it in by a messenger, who presently returned, and said that Sali Pacha wished to see me. I was accordingly ushered in, the ceremony of taking off my shoes being dispensed with, and found this gentleman, who has an important post in the Turkish navy, sitting on a divan at the end of a large room, looking on to the Golden Horn, and swinging the string of beads to which I have before alluded. To my delight he spoke English perfectly, and was well acquainted with our metropolis. We had an agreeable chat for a few minutes, on comparison between London and Stamboul; and then he took charge of my letter, telling me that the effendi was at Smyrna, but that he would take my address, and I might calculate on its being safely delivered.

So that the document was at last, to a certain extent, on its right mission; which, but for this gentleman’s courtesy, I do not suppose it would ever have been. The trouble I had in getting rid of it may show the difficulty of presenting a Turkish letter of introduction. Stampa subsequently told me that it was a wonder how anything in the way of publicity or correspondence at Constantinople was managed at all, with streets having no names, and hundreds of people the same. He said that a post delivery was unknown. If the people did not go after their letters they never got them ; but that sometimes, even under these circumstances, they got somebody else’s, which appeared to answer just as well. Amongst the Franks this is all excellently managed. There is a letter box, both for the Austrian and French mails; besides our own steamers. I believe the Austrian despatch is the quickest, but the police in that empire have an ugly knack of opening all the letters that go through their hands.

Resident at Constantinople

That evening a few of my kind English friends, resident at Constantinople, collected in a snug little house, on the bold hill beyond the large burying ground at Pera, and gave me a dinner—an honest English dinner, of joint and pudding, and goodly beer. It was a pleasant meeting, so far from home guided istanbul tours.

It was capital to hear make the headlands over the Golden Horn echo again, through the open windows, with a fine old English sea-ballad, and laugh with such heartiness, at the latest London jokes, that his amiable wife told me afterwards she had never known him so inclined to leave the East and return again; so much had we stirred up his old home feelings by songs and stories. Even ‘‘Jeannette and Jeannot” and “When other lips” came out bran spick-and-span new ; and a scene from “Box and Cox” played extempore, with dreadful interpolations and deficiencies, was pronounced so fine a thing, that I wonder, upon the strength of the applause, the performers did not, from that moment, renounce all other pursuits but the drama. Then we had small speeches, and homely toasts; not dismal conventional affairs, but little heartfelt bits that came well into such companionship ; and be sure that there were many in England to whose health and happiness we drank that night, three thousand miles away. And when another guest arrived late, and told us, on diplomatic authority, that the Sultan had determined not to give up the poor Hungarian people who had come to him for shelter, there was such a thoroughbred British cheer, that I think that if the Emperor of Russia had heard it, it would have knocked him completely over, powerful gentleman as he is.

Abbas Pacha used to come down

“Lor’ bless you, sir,” he began—“ the power of the boat hasn’t much to do with it! When Manned Ali started his boat on the Nile, Abbas Pacha started one as well, and tried to beat him; and did it too, though his’n wasn’t nigh such a good boat. When Manned Ali’s boat was on a-head, Abbas Pacha used to come down and say, £ Mr. Horton,’ he used to say, £ wo must lick my uncle’s boat;’ (leastwise he didn’t say lick, but he meant it in his tongue, as I might say), and then he used to go on and say, ‘Mr. Horton,’ he’d say, £ we’ll have a bottle of champagne together,’ says he. Now, they say the Mustaphas don’t drink, but, Lor’ bless us, I’ve had Abbas so overcome, as the saying is, down in the cabin, that we’ve often shut the doors to keep it a secret. Well, he’d send down the champagne, and then Abbas’s boat would creep up to Manned’s, and then he’d send down another bottle, and then we’d get alongside; and then another, and we’d go right a-head. I don’t mean to say that we used to put the champagne in the boiler; but, you may depend upon it, it did more than the coals, and so it will, any day.”

I found my friend was a very great man on board his boat. He had a smart cabin of his own below, close to the engine room, where the thermometer was always at 90°; and from the heat, the glare, and the noise, looked next door to the infernal regions. Here he reigned supreme. I asked him how he agreed with the officers. “ Oh,” he replied, “ very well; it’s best for them to keep in with me. Once we had a row in this boat, but I got the best of it. I’m allowed a cheese a week for my own store; and once we had a new captain between Beyroot and Alexander—a cocky chap, who was going to set everybody to rights in a hurry—and he never sent me my cheese. Well, what did I do? I wasn’t going to make a noise about it, but I stopped the engines, and let the boat toss about for half an hour, until he came to his senses. I pretty soon got my cheese ; and they never made a mistake about it afterwards.”

The weather cleared up the next day, but the Turks never came out again from their nestling place, nor were the women unpacked. The priest still kept to his book, and to all remarks about our probable detention, replied, “Metis, cest impossible” “ Out” returned M. Abro, who, being a Levantine, knew all about it, tl e’est impossible; mais cependant, cest rrai.” But the priest was still strong in the belief of going on shore, and looked out his three-cornered hat, and clean bands accordingly.

 Beyrout quarantine

We arrived off Alexandria on the morning of the 1st of October, and were, as may be expected, all most anxious to know our fate. A surly-looking old gentleman, in a European dress, came alongside, and inspected our papers, which the captain held up to he looked at, the other keeping at a proper distance. These did not seem satisfactory, so he received them in a tin box, and went hack to the health office. In a short time he returned, and told us that we could not have pratique, but must prepare for the Beyrout quarantine. In vain the passengers expostulated in a Babel of unknown tongues ; he only shrugged his shoulders, and said he would go to the board once more; at the same time he ordered the abominable yellow flag to go up again. As he departed the thin priest smiled grimly, and said that it all meant nothing —that he was sure we should laud that afternoon guided istanbul tours.

All that day we lay in the harbour, under a broiling Egyptian sun, with nothing to do but grumble, hope, despair, and watch the countless many-sailed windmills along the low coast, which almost twirled me into a frenzy. At night, we were told to get ready early the next day, for that the barge would come to convey us to the Lazaretto. We had been condemned by the board to the entire Beyrout quarantine ! The thin priest would not believe it. lie said to-morrow morning we should land, and returned to the intent perusal of his grubby book.

At daybreak, on the following morning, a wretchedly old and dirty lighter came alongside, into which we were all shot like so much pestilential rubbish; and two or three boats’ crews of Arabs taking us in tow, with a melancholy monotonous chant suited to the occasion, we made a dismal journey of two hours, to the distant lazaretto. All my Egyptian enthusiasm vanished as we came near its gaunt prison walls.

Raound from Beyrout

“ What’s that mean, sir ?” he replied. “ Why, that means we’re in quarantine, you know.”

“ And how the deuee is that?”

“ Because the boat you were to have gone down to ‘Alexander in, is ont of order; that’s her, lying out there—the Stamboul. So very luckily we’ve come round from Beyrout, and we’re going to take you on.”

“Then shall we be subjected to the Beyrout quarantine, on arriving at Alexandria ?”

“ Shouldn’t wonder at all, sir—unless they let the days of the voyage count.

I now saw that we were trapped; and this did not tend to enliven the voyage that evening.

Our only other second cabin companion -was a French priest—a tliin grim-looking fellow of five or six-and-twenty, so spare in form that he looked as if he had been allowed to grow up between two boards. He was constantly absorbed in a little dirty volume on Theology, moving his lips and muttering as he read. He was also affectedly humble—insisting upon pouring out wine for us at dinner, and abstaining from it himself, with an unpleasant smile. In addition to this, he was remarkably grimy to look upon; and never undressed during the voyage. But he had great faith. I could not bring him to understand that we were to be put into quarantine at Alexandria; he said, it was impossible. I put the case as practically before him as I could, but he only smiled grimly, and said I should see. I brought the captain down at last, as it became a matter of personal principle that he should be convinced ; but even this was unsuccessful. He said we were all wrong; and then returned to his thumbed volume.

The next day, the 29th, there was a pretty stiff wind, and the boat began to toss, as she left the Archipelago. We passed many islands; all desolate- looking light reddish brown rocks, impressing one with notions of great dreariness. It rained towards afternoon, and at the first spit, all the Turks bundled up their carpets, crept under their long awning, and never appeared again for the rest of the journey. One or two of the Frank deck passengers made friends with the lieutenant, and came down into our cabin.

These were an Italian physician, driven from Verona by troubles, and going to practice in Alexandria; a young Hollander, travelling for an Amsterdam house of commerce; M. Abro, the Pasha’s dragoman, a very intelligent and communicative person, wearing the full Turkish costume; and the Count Stefano de, a young Ionian, speaking a little English, and first astonishing us by whistling “ Patrick’s Day” and “ The girl I left behind me,” as he walked up and down the deck that morning. He had, however, learnt these tunes from the bands of our regiments at Corfu. He was very musical, with a beautiful tenor voice, and proved both, on board and in our subsequent quarantine, a capital fellow. He had known Mademoiselle Angri, the contralto last year at our Royal Italian Opera, and told me many curious anecdotes connected with her early career— her father having been, as I understood, messman at Corfu, and keeper of the billiard tables. He said her popularity had been unbounded in the islands; and the greatest anxiety was evinced to know how she succeeded in London, when she had left them. He added, they were all perfectly convinced that she was the greatest contralto in the world; but then he had not heard Alboni, nor, indeed, had the report of her Venetian triumphs come down the Adriatic guided istanbul tours.

I have said that the engineer was an Englishman, as indeed the majority are, in the Levant boats. He had been on the stations between Cairo and Constantinople a long time; and now knew no other world. One night, I was asking him about the capabilities of the transit boats on the Mahmoudieh Canal and the Nile, when he told me this anecdote, which I have put down as well as I can recollect, in his own words.

The strict Moslem costume

All the Turks were old, and wore turbans. There was but one in the simple fez. They were evidently sticklers for the strict Moslem costume, and clung to its decaying insignia, as old country-gentlemen with us now and then are still seen with Hessian boots, powder, and bygone hats. One ancient Turk had a turban so high that its volutes were twisted six or seven times round his head; and I fancied that each day it increased in importance. Another—a Circassian—had a very strange head-dress, looking for all the world like a felt sugar-loaf pushed through a black mop. He was armed to the teeth, and never laid any of his accoutrements aside during the voyage. The only one in a fez was the head eunuch of the royal seraglio. He was grandly dressed in yellow silk, spotted with scarlet, and blue trousers. He, however, wore European boots — the only Frank innovation to be seen amongst them.

Yet we had not got entirely away from English enterprise; for on going down to supper, although the plates bore the motto, “ Naviyazione a v a pore del Lloyd Austriaco,” yet on the back there was the name of “Davenport,” on the familiar scroll. The cabin was small, but the berths were clean, and we had our choice of the entire twelve. I did not, however, sleep very well, for the pillows and mattress were of horsehair, with nothing but a fine sheet over them, so that the little ends coming through caused me to hear nearly all the hells, all the night through.

Dardanelles early next morning

We were in the Dardanelles early next morning; and the process of washing and dressing, in the cabin, was of the greatest interest to two young Arabs, who watched us through the sky-light with the keenest curiosity. They called one of their fellows after a time, and especially directed his attention to the nailbrush, and mimicked what I had been doing with it. In the cabin, the rules of the boat were hung up, in five languages—Italian, German, Greek, French, and English. From the latter I copied, “Rule 12. Passengers having a right to be treated as persons of education, will no doubt conform themselves to the rules of good society, by respecting their fellow- travellers, and paying a due regard to the fair sex.” This was a sensible rule; and, indeed, the others were equally so. I never saw any of them broken, at any time, on the Mediterranean: this will show the great superiority of the second-class places in the foreign boats, over the same division in our own. I am sorry to confess this, but it is the case.

We passed the Dardanelles that day, from which the people put off with crockery as before, and the Turks each purchased a huge water-jug. At night I saw the most beautiful sunset I had ever witnessed. The sky in the west was at first like burnished gold, with silver edges to the clouds. This turned to a bright orange, streaked horizontally with vermilion, whilst the mountains of Asia Minor on our left were tinted with the richest purple, and the whole of the eastern heavens were glowing with a lovely violet guided istanbul tours.

There was very little wind; the sea was as smooth as a canal, and about eight on the following morning we were onee more at Smyrna.

We now found that we were to change our boat, and as this transfer led to a most annoying and unpardonable occurrence, I shall give the Austrian Lloyd’s Company the entire benefit—or otherwise— of its publicity. We had been assured at their office in Galata, there would be no quarantine on our arrival at Alexandria. The same intimation was given to us at Smyrna, during the day and a half we stopped there, on this present occasion ; and so far as that went, our minds were at rest.

We spent the next morning in making a few farewell purchases—a carpet or two ; some drums of choice figs and raisins, and some minor souvenirs which were left in the eare of Messrs. Hansom to be forwarded by the first ship to England; and on the afternoon of the 28th, took final leave of Turkey.

An officer from the health office accompanied us in the boat to the Wien, another vessel belonging to the Austrian Lloyd’s fleet. I supposed this was usual, and thought no more about the matter, until looking up by chance, after I got on board, I saw the yellow flag flying. I asked what it meant, of one of the officers, but he was very busy, and passed on without deigning to reply. Presently the engineer erupt out of the engine-room, and he had such an English face that I addressed him at one in my own tongue.

Constantinople as we left the port

I could not take my eyes from Constantinople as we left the port, and commenced ploughing our way towards the Sea of Marmora; for now, in addition to the beauty of the view, there was some little association connected with almost every point of it on which the eye fell. There was the noble Genoese tower above Stampa’s shop, in which so many hours had been laughed away, and behind that minaret was the window of our bedroom at the Hotel, in which, on evenings, so many jolly little meetings had been held. There were the hills over which we had such famous gallops, and enjoyed such good spirits; and there was the Bosphorus, and the site of the little cafe, in the extreme distance, where the pickles were served with the bottled beer. The Seraglio, as I looked at it, had lost all its mystery, when I thought of the French clocks, and gimcrack furniture, and English pictures that it contained; and the picturesque tumble-down houses of Galata, I knew, on the other side, were ship-chandlers’ shops, merchants’ counting- houses, ordinary steam-packet offices, and other material establishments. But still the view was as beautiful as ever, even with every vivid recollection of its internal dirt and dilapidation; and, loth to lose it, I kept my eyes fixed on the domes and minarets, the distant Bosphorus and the violet hills above it, until the twilight stole over them, and I could only think of Constantinople as a bright fleeting vision of the past.

I believe that my companion and myself were the only two cabin passengers, and we were in the fore part. But on the deck there were a great many Moslems—Turks and Circassians principally—on their way to Mecca, for their pilgrimage. Their encampment, if so I may call it, was a curious sight guided istanbul tours.

One half, taken longitudinally, of the aft-deck was allotted to them. Of this, the stern portion was railed off into a species of pen, in which the women were placed, to the number of six or seven. They were shut up exactly like animals at a fair. Along the entire length of the aft-deck a sjiar was hung, over their heads; and when rain came on, they put canvas on this, and formed a species of tent. Under it each made his ‘divan;’ for the quantity of carpets, dirty cushions, and mattresses they carry about with them, when travelling, is incredible. They had also their cooking utensils, and the filth they prepared, from time to time, is equally matter of difficult belief.

Direction of the Kibla

At certain times, they all went to prayers; those widow had carpets spread them out, and those who had not, took off their coats, shook them well, and then laid them down, to begin upon, when they were satisfied in their minds as to the direction of the Kibla. This is the point at which Mecca is situated; and if any of my readers have a Turkish hearth-rug, they will see, at the end of the pattern, a point or angle, which is always turned towards that holy city. They did not appear to care where they established themselves for prayer, but dispersed about the decks completely in everybody’s way, so as to put a stop to all walking up and down. One of the sailors told me that they usually did this; but that, as disturbing them might lead to unpleasant consequences, nothing was ever done to annoy them. Some prayed for a long time— twenty minutes, perhaps; others had soon finished; but all were evidently entirely wrapped up in their devotions, and in a state of utter abstraction. In these rites the women took no part. They had rolled themselves up into bundles when they came on board, and so, to all appearance, they remained to the end of the journey.

Finishing the Pera Theatre

Mr. Smith showed me two marvellously handsome snuff-boxes, set with diamonds, that had been given to him by the Sultan—one of them on the occasion of his finishing the Pera Theatre, the stage of which, he told me, was thirty-five feet across at the Proscenium. This is only five feet less than Drury Lane. I afterwards had the pleasure of dining with him. His house, at Pera, is the most thoroughly English, in point of comfort, that I saw in the East; and I could scarcely, at first, understand again feeling my feet on stair carpets. Looking at the elegant manner in which the entire house was furnished, I trembled to think of the loss, should one of the wretched Pera fires include it in the devastation. His amiable lady, who is a native of Barcelona, told me many interesting anecdotes connected with Turkish domestic life ; with the details of which she is very familiar, by visiting many of the native families. She had lately been to a wedding, where the bride was only ten years of age, and the bridegroom fourteen. The little lady had a star of diamonds stuck between her eyes, two on her cheeks, and one on her chin. She did not give the Turkish women in general a high character; but spoke of them as silly and very careless in their conversation, smearing themselves also with paint, and passing the whole day in dressing and undressing, for lack of other occupation. Some of the Turkish wives are, I believe, to a certain extent, educated; and indeed accomplished; but the greater part of them are lamentably ignorant.

At last, the day arrived for my departure. It was already getting cold towards evening—now and then bad weather made the streets all but impassable, and we had begun to dine, at six o’clock in the evening, by candlelight. Much ground, too, had yet to be traversed before I was again in England ; and so, in spite of many kind requests to prolong the visit, I was at length obliged to leave Constantinople, and T did so with real regret; for, looking back to the friendships I established there, I shall always remember my sojourn at Pera as one of the pleasantest portions of my life daily tours istanbul.

Daguerreotyped by an artist who lived at the top of a Pera

This day I was Daguerreotyped by an artist who lived at the top of a Pera building, in a hothouse of glass, where it was scarcely possible to breathe. The portrait has been copied with tolerable accuracy, and it may explain how it was that so few of my friends recognised me on my return. But the comfort of a beard, when travelling, to the abolition of shaving tackle, may be readily conceived.

Demetri had ordered two porters to come to the hotel for our luggage, but six arrived instead, upon which a great battle was fought in the street, before the door, and the final couple—apparently having “ fought the ties off”’ and remained the victors, carried our luggage down to the Golden Horn, on the 2oth of September. The Ferdinando Primo, one of the Austrian Lloyd’s boats, was getting her steam up, and at half-past four she started, just as the “ husband’s boat ” was leaving the bridge for Prinkipo, with the same class of passengers on board, quite ready to dress up again on the Sunday, and walk about as long as there were others to admire them or fireworks to show off their fashionable toilets.

Finishing the Pera Theatre

Mr. Smith showed me two marvellously handsome snuff-boxes, set with diamonds, that had been given to him by the Sultan—one of them on the occasion of his finishing the Pera Theatre, the stage of which, he told me, was thirty-five feet across at the Proscenium. This is only five feet less than Drury Lane. I afterwards had the pleasure of dining with him. His house, at Pera, is the most thoroughly English, in point of comfort, that I saw in the East; and I could scarcely, at first, understand again feeling my feet on stair carpets. Looking at the elegant manner in which the entire house was furnished, I trembled to think of the loss, should one of the wretched Pera fires include it in the devastation. His amiable lady, who is a native of Barcelona, told me many interesting anecdotes connected with Turkish domestic life ; with the details of which she is very familiar, by visiting many of the native families. She had lately been to a wedding, where the bride was only ten years of age, and the bridegroom fourteen. The little lady had a star of diamonds stuck between her eyes, two on her cheeks, and one on her chin. She did not give the Turkish women in general a high character; but spoke of them as silly and very careless in their conversation, smearing themselves also with paint, and passing the whole day in dressing and undressing, for lack of other occupation. Some of the Turkish wives are, I believe, to a certain extent, educated; and indeed accomplished; but the greater part of them are lamentably ignorant.

At last, the day arrived for my departure. It was already getting cold towards evening—now and then bad weather made the streets all but impassable, and we had begun to dine, at six o’clock in the evening, by candlelight. Much ground, too, had yet to be traversed before I was again in England ; and so, in spite of many kind requests to prolong the visit, I was at length obliged to leave Constantinople, and T did so with real regret; for, looking back to the friendships I established there, I shall always remember my sojourn at Pera as one of the pleasantest portions of my life daily tours istanbul.

Daguerreotyped by an artist who lived at the top of a Pera

This day I was Daguerreotyped by an artist who lived at the top of a Pera building, in a hothouse of glass, where it was scarcely possible to breathe. The portrait has been copied with tolerable accuracy, and it may explain how it was that so few of my friends recognised me on my return. But the comfort of a beard, when travelling, to the abolition of shaving tackle, may be readily conceived.

Demetri had ordered two porters to come to the hotel for our luggage, but six arrived instead, upon which a great battle was fought in the street, before the door, and the final couple—apparently having “ fought the ties off”’ and remained the victors, carried our luggage down to the Golden Horn, on the 2oth of September. The Ferdinando Primo, one of the Austrian Lloyd’s boats, was getting her steam up, and at half-past four she started, just as the “ husband’s boat ” was leaving the bridge for Prinkipo, with the same class of passengers on board, quite ready to dress up again on the Sunday, and walk about as long as there were others to admire them or fireworks to show off their fashionable toilets.

DEPARTURE FOR EGYPT

One of the most difficult social points to understand at Constantinople is the time of day; to be up to it requires a more careful application than even our received signification of that degree of intelligence calls for. Of all things he has brought with him, a traveller will find his watch the most useful.

There are no public clocks, and if there were, they would be of little use, for they would have to be set every evening, in consequence of the Turkish arrangement of time. The Moslems divide their day and night into twenty-four hours; hut these begin at a different period every day, since they are guided entirely by sunset. An hour after that time it is one o’clock ; and then they go on till twelve have been counted, when they begin again ; so that noon may arrive at all sorts of hours, according to the length of the days.

At sunset, the muezzim, as he is named, makes one of his calls to prayers from the summit of the minarets. There is something very musical in his chant: and it is astonishing how flir he can make himself heard. The common expression of belief “ La allah illah allah Mohammet re&ool allah,” (there is but one God, and Mahomet is his pro-phet,) forms the chief part of his summons to prayer.

Muezzims blending together

The window of my room at Pera overlooked one or two minarets, and the sound of the voices of the Muezzims blending together, not in- harmoniously, in the repose of sunset, was very impressive.

With no clocks, and this wild division of time— with few names to the streets—and no methods of giving publicity to anything, it may be imagined that no little research amongst the dirty and intricate lanes of Galata, is necessary to find out any matters relating to the departure of the steamboats. I was desirous, as I have said, of going down to Egy pt from Constantinople; and I could not arrive at any satisfactory information as to the starting of any of the boats. The Nile was still in the Golden Horn, and her quarantine was over, but her English engineer told me he did not know when she would start—that she was a fast boat, and ran down sometimes in three days and a half; but that, for this voyage, all her first and second berths had been taken by the government. I could have gone as a deck passenger, had I pleased; but the appearance of the Arabs loitering about -was not very pleasant, so I gave up that mode.

There was also an English boat, which touched at Beyrout, but this also I declined ; for there was a quarantine at Alexandria of ten days upon all vessels arriving from Syria; and nothing repays one for the misery of an Eastern lazzaretto. “ Imprisonment with the chance of catching the plague,” is bad at all times, but in the Levant it is insufferable daily tours istanbul.

The Austrian Lloyd’s Company was my last resource, and they had a correspondence, at Smyrna, with an Alexandrian boat coming down from Trieste. They were uncertain, however, about starting. Once already they had put me off a week when I had got everything packed up. However, they assured me at last that they were certain to start on a particular day, and I took my berth.

I regret that it was only during the short period between my visit to Therapia and my departure from Constantinople, I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. Smith, the architect, at Pera. I went over the new palace, which he was building for the English Ambassador, and was struck by the skill with which he had produced a more splendid effect than the actual dimensions of the building appeared capable of allowing. By this time it must be completed; indeed, I heard that Sir Stratford Canning had arrived there, at the beginning of February.

TURKISH AIR

I walked out the first evening, for a stroll, along the edge of the Bosphorus; the road being a small flint-paved path between the houses and the water, unapproachable for carriages. It was a cold wintry- looking night, and the spent swell of the Euxine was lapping and splashing against the quay. But the lights along Buyukdere and the Asiatic coast were very effective ; and the occasional sound of a tinkling guitar, or the voice of a Greek girl singing, gave a sufficiently romantic air to the scene. Some of the songs I heard, appeared to be popular. I was indebted to a young lady of Pera for the music which 1 subjoin.

We had sword-fish for supper that evening. It was of excellent flavour, and far more delicate than would be imagined, from looking at the huge specimens of the tribe hung up at the shops—some having been caught that weighed eighty pounds. T may mention, by the way, that every kind of fish is taken in the Bosphorus. Some of the specimens are very beautiful, but the shopkeepers do not see the use of displaying them to advantage, as we may observe at our fishmongers.

Whilst I was at Therapia, I had the honour of receiving an invitation from Sir Stratford Canning, to the Embassy, which is situated on the side of the Bosphorus. The palace of our Ambassador at Peru was burnt down in 1831; and a new one is nearly completed, under the able direction of Mr. Smith— it is needless to say, an English architect—to whose taste and experience Pera and the Bosphorus will soon be indebted for most of their finest buildings. Our Ambassador’s house at Therapia is charmingly situated. Extreme good taste and refined comfort are visible everywhere; sufficient in themselves to leave an agreeable recollection, quite apart from the amiable courtesy exhibited to the visitor.

A ride to Belgrade was proposed, and we formed a large party—ten or twelve in all. This village is two or three hours from Thcrapia. It must not be confounded with the Belgrade on the Danube, six hundred miles away—for I have heard more than one traveller make this mistake before he has been there—but it is still an important plaee in its way, inasmuch as the greater part of the water that supplies Constantinople is collected about it. It is, so to speak, the “New River Head” to that city. How this is managed, I will endeavour to explain daily tours istanbul.

Belgrade is situated in the centre of a large and finely-wooded forest, about which several springs rise and form small rivulets. This wood is very carefully preserved, for the shade of its foliage prevents the ground from becoming heated, and the springs therefore from drying up. The country is very irregular, and the rivulets, of course, collect into some ravine by chance channels, to form a larger stream. The ravine is then clammed up, and the body of water thus formed, with its masonry, is termed a bend. When a street-boy in town blocks up a gutter with mud and rubbish, to make a pool behind it, he con-structs a bend on a minor scale.

Aqueducts for that distance

The next task is to convey the water to Constantinople. Aqueducts for that distance would be very expensive, and so it flows through underground pipes, —at least for the greater proportion of the distance. Every now and then, at particular levels, it ascends to the top of a pyramidal tower, called a Souterazy, whence it again passes underground, having come in contact with the air, to the next conduit. The advantages of this system are that it is comparatively in-expensive, and it enables the superintendent to tell readily at what point any leak or obstruction may occur, which he could not do, if it flowed continuously underground. Neither in that case could it come in contact with the air, and so be freshened.

Along the edge of the Bosphorus

I walked out the first evening, for a stroll, along the edge of the Bosphorus; the road being a small flint-paved path between the houses and the water, unapproachable for carriages. It was a cold wintry- looking night, and the spent swell of the Euxine was lapping and splashing against the quay. But the lights along Buyukdere and the Asiatic coast were very effective ; and the occasional sound of a tinkling guitar, or the voice of a Greek girl singing, gave a sufficiently romantic air to the scene. Some of the songs I heard, appeared to be popular. I was indebted to a young lady of Pera for the music which 1 subjoin.

TURKISH AIR

We had sword-fish for supper that evening. It was of excellent flavour, and far more delicate than would be imagined, from looking at the huge specimens of the tribe hung up at the shops—some having been caught that weighed eighty pounds. T may mention, by the way, that every kind of fish is taken in the Bosphorus. Some of the specimens are very beautiful, but the shopkeepers do not see the use of displaying them to advantage, as we may observe at our fishmongers.

 Sir Stratford Canning

Whilst I was at Therapia, I had the honour of receiving an invitation from Sir Stratford Canning, to the Embassy, which is situated on the side of the Bosphorus. The palace of our Ambassador at Peru was burnt down in 1831; and a new one is nearly completed, under the able direction of Mr. Smith— it is needless to say, an English architect—to whose taste and experience Pera and the Bosphorus will soon be indebted for most of their finest buildings. Our Ambassador’s house at Therapia is charmingly situated. Extreme good taste and refined comfort are visible everywhere; sufficient in themselves to leave an agreeable recollection, quite apart from the amiable courtesy exhibited to the visitor daily tours istanbul.

A ride to Belgrade was proposed, and we formed a large party—ten or twelve in all. This village is two or three hours from Thcrapia. It must not be confounded with the Belgrade on the Danube, six hundred miles away—for I have heard more than one traveller make this mistake before he has been there—but it is still an important plaee in its way, inasmuch as the greater part of the water that supplies Constantinople is collected about it. It is, so to speak, the “New River Head” to that city. How this is managed, I will endeavour to explain.

Belgrade is situated in the centre of a large and finely-wooded forest, about which several springs rise and form small rivulets. This wood is very carefully preserved, for the shade of its foliage prevents the ground from becoming heated, and the springs therefore from drying up. The country is very irregular, and the rivulets, of course, collect into some ravine by chance channels, to form a larger stream. The ravine is then clammed up, and the body of water thus formed, with its masonry, is termed a bend. When a street-boy in town blocks up a gutter with mud and rubbish, to make a pool behind it, he con-structs a bend on a minor scale.

The next task is to convey the water to Constantinople. Aqueducts for that distance would be very expensive, and so it flows through underground pipes, —at least for the greater proportion of the distance. Every now and then, at particular levels, it ascends to the top of a pyramidal tower, called a Souterazy, whence it again passes underground, having come in contact with the air, to the next conduit. The advantages of this system are that it is comparatively in-expensive, and it enables the superintendent to tell readily at what point any leak or obstruction may occur, which he could not do, if it flowed continuously underground. Neither in that case could it come in contact with the air, and so be freshened.