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TRAVELS

TO AND FROM

CONSTANTINOPLE.

VOL. I.

I I

LONDON :

PRIVTBD BY S. AND R. BKNTLEY^

Donet Street, F1««t Street.

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1

TRAVELS

TO AND FROM

CONSTANTINOPLE,

IN THE YEARS 182? AND 1828 :

OR

PERSONAL NARRATIVE

OF A JOURNEY FROM VIENNA, THROUGH HUNGARY,

TRANSYLVANIA, WALLACHIA, BULGARIA, AND

ROUMELIA, TO CONSTANTINOPLE ;

AND FROM THAT CITY TO

THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA, BY THE DARDANELLES,
TENEDOS, THE PLAINS OF TROY, SMYRNA, NAPOU DI
ROMANIA, ATHENS, EGINA, POROS, CYPRUS, SYRIA,
ALEXANDRIA, MALTA, SICILY, ITALY, ISTRIA,
CARNIOLIA, AND STYRIA.

BT

CAPT. CHARLES COLVILLE FRANKLAND,

ROYAL NAVY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:

HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

1829.

DEDICATION.

TO REAR-ADMIRAL THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

LORD COLVILLE,

OF CULROSS.

MY DEAR LOBD^

Permit me to dedicate to you the follow-
ing sheets, containing some part of three
years' rambles upon the continents of Europe

and Asia.

*

They consist for the most part of a mere tran-
script of my Journal, unembellished by any
attempts at authorship; and were originally
composed solely for the amusement of my
own domestic circle, and for the fireside of
my more intimate friends.

They will be found to be full of faults, and
more particularly such as are ahnost insepara-
ble from the familiar style of Journal writing.

6 DEDICATION.

From such as these latter 1 should have
found it difficult to free my humble pages,
nor indeed could I have attempted so to do
without totally altering the form of the manu-
script, and divesting it of that character to
which alone it pretends, namely, that of a
mere " Personal Narrative," by which I un-
derstand a simple relation of what 1 myself
saw, heard, and felt.

To you, who have ever been my kind friend
and patron, I again recommend my poor little
book, mon premier ni: treat it kindly; and
while you excuse its faults yourself, deprecate
in others those criticisms which I am but too
conscious it deserves.

Receive it, my dear Liord, as a proof of
affection and regard, from

Your dutiful Nephew,
CHARLES COLVILLE FRANKLAND.

London, February y 14, 1829.

^"^••w^i^m

ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOL. I.

Pag«
Costumes : a Mameluke^ a Lady of Mount Lebanon and an

Arab Princess . to face the Title

y Map of Turkey, with part of Austria, Hungary, &;c. showing the

Author's route from Vienna to Constantinople . i

The Passage of the Danube at Giurgero . . 43

Plan of the Environs of Constantinople 93

The Seraglio Point, Scutari, Leander's Tower, and Olympus 138

/View of Scutari, from the road above Dolma Ba^chi 141

View of Constantinople from the Heights towards Belgrade . 151
View of Buyuk Der^ .... 152

View of Constantinople from Fener Batchi . . iQo

The European and Asiatic Castles of the Bosphonis 157

Greek Papas at Chalki .161

Turkish Musicians at Principo . .163

DjoukSoyou . .167

Turkish Ladies ..... 168

Hunker Eskellessie, a fountain on the Asiatic Shore of Ae

Bosphonis . . .... 173

Bosphorus from the Giant's Mountain . .174

Teskex^, or Turkish Passport, with an Endorsement .177

The Castles of the Dardanelles . 22^

Sketch of the Plains of Troy, with ihe Author's route 232

Inscriptions found upon the Plains of Troy [Nos. 1, 2, and 3] 236
Distant View of the Bay and City of Smyrna . 257

A

VUl ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page
The Palamide, &c. Napoli di Romania . 285

A Bird's-eye View of Bailout 352

A View of Bailout from the Westwaxd ... 353

VOL. II.

Costumes : a Lady of Damascus, a Lady of Aleppo, and Arab

Sheik of the Mountains . to face the Title

Sketch of part of Syria and Palestine, showing the Author*s
route in the District of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and the
most eligible route through the Holy Land . l

Sketch of the Castle and Village of Solima .11

Temples of Faccra . .31

A Sketch of the Natural Bridge over Nahr el Leben 34

View of Baalbeck . . . . 70

A View of Damascus .... 107

VIGNETTES.

Crucifix in Wallachia ... .20

Albanian Soldier . . 44

Hadjee Achmet . . .60

Temple of Apollo Thymbrius . 239

Pedestal for an Idol ... . 359

Aqueduct of Berytas ... 362

Ancient Sarcophagus ..... 367

CONTENTS

OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

Departure from Vienna. — Deatch Altenbourg. — View of
Presbourg. — Hungarian Villages. — Peasantry. — Pest and
Ofen. — Gale of Wind on the Steppe of Soraskar. — Nature
of the Country. — Felegyhaza. — Szegedin. — ^Temeswar. —
Negligence of outpost. — Lugos. — Lenneck on the Maros. —
Deva. — Costume of Transylvania. — Siboth, and Latin of the
Country. — ^ Hermanstadt. — Rothen Thurm. — Saxon Co-
lonies. — Quarantine Station.— Frontier. — Kinnin. — Giurgius
Steriopoli. — Anecdote. - - - - 1—21

CHAPTER IL

Passage over the Carpathian Mountains. — Exertions and
perseverance of Wallachian Guides. — Kurte d'Argish. — Cos-
tume of Wallachians. — Fording the River Argish. — Gipsies
collecting Gold-dust. — Houses and Haystacks. — Churches
and Convents. — Crucifixes. — Pitesti. — Steriopoli's Chateau.
— ^Waggons drawn by Buffaloes. — Bucharest. — British Con-
sulate. — Dr. Griffiths. — Presentation to the Hospodar. — Go-

X CONTENTS.

vernment and State of Wallachia. — Soiree at Dr. Griffiths*.
— Marli Ballacciano. — Torches of Bucharest. - 22— -37

CHAPTER III.

Departure from Bucharest. — Mode of Travelling.— Night
at Tiya. — Wallachian Villages.— Giurgevo. — Embarkation
of horses. — Ferryboats. — Danube. — Ruschuck. — Khan.
— ^Eagerness of Turkish Soldiery to learn European tactics.—
Fortifications of Ruschuck. — Evening Devotions of Hadjee
Achmet and Surrudjee. — Illuminated Minarets of Rasgratz.
— ^Khan at Rasgratz. — Ramazan of the Turks^ and Religious
scruples. — Tumuli and Cemeteries. — Ruined Towns and
Villages. — View of the Balkan. — Sylvan flowers. — Bulgarian
cottages, costume, and manners. — Shumla, or Chumla. —
Gipsies. — Dragoleu. — Dancing girls. — Midnight ride. — Chali
Kavack. — Hadjee Achmet's pistols. — Fording the river
Kamtchi S6. — Gallantry of Turkish peasants. — Passage over
the Balkan. — Nocturnal ride. — Camabat. — Pastures at the
foot of the Balkan. — Conduct ofTurkish herdsmen.— Scenery
about Brimale. — Fording a river. — Forests. — Buffaloes. —

Faki. - Roumeliote peasantry Country beyond Turki. —

Kirk Iklessee. — Conduct of Hadjee Mehmet.—Scene in the
Khan. — Nocturnal ride to Burgaz - . - 38 — 76

CHAPTER IV.

Departure from Burgaz. — Plains of Roumelia. — ^Tumuli,
and observations thereon. — Caristrania.— Obelisks. — Break-
fast. — Pasha of Burgaz, withliis Charem, or Harem. — Bridges
and Pav6. — Nature of the country. — Tchorlu.— Departure
from Tchorlu. — Deserts. — ^Sea of Marmora. — View of Sely-
vria. — Narrow escape of our baggage horse. — Town of

1

CONTENTS. XI

Selyvrisk— Stone bridges. — Buados. — Clean caf^.-— Supper
witK Tartar. — Voices of the Imaums before day. — Depar-
ture from Buados.— Nature of our route. — ^Turkish troops
of Nizam .Djedid. — Costume and equipment. — B(iy(ik
Tchekmadj^h —Troops and sick soldiers. — K(itch(ik
Tchekmadj6h.— First view of Constantinople. — Desolation
of the environs. — Cemeteries. — Entrance into the city. —
Embarkation. — View of the Port and Squadron. — Pera. —
Hotel. — Repose. . - - - 77—92

CHAPTER V.

Visits of Ceremony Hasty tour of Pera. — Scenery. —

Grouping of Orientals.- Armenian females and cemetery.
-—Greek women. — British embassy. — Attack of Cholera
Morbus. — Hadj6e Achmet*s visit and exculpation.—- Visit
to the walls of Constantinople. — Canine scavengers. —
Anecdote of Turkish humanity. — Ottoman squadron. —
Visit to the Antiquities of Constantinople. — Palace of
the Divan. — Seraglio. — Human heads at the Gate thereof.
— Failure in an attempt to get into the Mosque of Santa
Sophia. — Caserne of Nizam Djedid. — Conduct of the
Aga. — Antiquities. — M. de Ribeaupierre. — State of the
Ottoman fleet. — Candiote sailors.— State of the Nizam
Djedid. — Cemeteries.— Hydraulic columns. — Sultan going
to Mosque.— Bazaars and Bezesteens. — Environs of Pera.

—Turks in the cemeteries.^— Turtle doves. — Tomb-stones.
—Contrast between my hotel and the neighbourhood of
Pera. ------ 98—126

CHAPTER VI.

Visit to Belgrade. — Bendts. — Romaika.— Return to Pera,
by Aqueducts and Sweet Waters. — Dancing Dervishes.^
Conduct of Turkish females. — Lapidation by Turks. —

XU CONTENTS.

Dolma Batchi.— Visit to the Sweet Water6.-^Mosque of
Eyoub. — Anecdote of Englishman and Eunuchs. — View
of Constantinople. -^ Excursion to Therapia and Buyuk
Deri. — Scenery on the Bosphorus - - 127—155'

CHAPTER VII.

Roumeli Hissar. — Excursion to Scutari and Fener Batchi.
— ^IVip to the Islands of the Propontis. — Monasteries of
Chalkt. — ^Tombstone of Sir Edward Barton^ and Inscrip-
tion. — Papas. — Principo. — Pic-nic. — Turkish Musicians.

Romaika. — Convent and Shrine of Panagia. — Maniacs
and Idiots.—Return to Pera.— Ball at the British Palace.
— Pic-nic at Djouk Soyou^ on the Bosphorus. — Reis Efiendi's
wife. — Conversation with her. — Excursion on the Bos-
phorus. — Mosquito Fleet.«<*Sultan going to Mosque by
Water. — Pic-nic at Hunker Eskellessie. — ^View from the
Giant's Mountain. — ^Gouter at Buydk Dere.— Return to
Pera. — Farewell Visit to the Bosphorus. — Proposal from
the Swedish Minister. — Disappointment. — Preparations for
Departure. — Determination to go by Sea to Smyrna in an
English brig.— Visites de Conge » - 156.jei9

CHAPTER VIII.

Departure from Constantinople.— Sea of Marmora. — Hel-
lesponty and notice upon the castles of the Dardanelles.
— Tenedos.. — Greek Vice-Consul and his daughter.^
Turkish Aga. — Nizam Djedid. — Visit to the Plains of Troy.
— Locusts. -* Sources of the Scamander. — Bournarbashi. —
Cemeteries. — Simois. — Callicolone. — Hallil EUi.— Supposed
Temple of Apollo Thymbrius. — Return to Bournarbashi.
—Incivility of Turks.— Bivouack at Yeikle. — Return to

\

COKTENTS. Xm

the brig.*-Saii for Smyrna, escorted by an Austrian brig-
of-war. — ^Arriyal at Smyrna. — Reception from the British
Consul .... - 220-246

CHAPTER IX.

Visits to the Cambrian — Turkish bath Promenades in

Sm3^na9 and lapidation by women and children. — Ex-
cursions to Bournabat, Bouj&t, and Sediqu6. — Passage of
locusts.»-Remarks upon the Bay of Smyrna and its city.
— Character of the Pasha Hassan. — Murder of the late
Pasha, Mehmet Effendi, by Koshrew Capitan Pasha. — Cape
Colonna. — Poros. — Mavrocordato and Tricoupi. — Hydra
and Spezzia. — Napoli di Romania. — Reflections on the state
of Greece ----- 247-r286

CHAPTER X.

Visit to Bourgi, and to Lord Cochrane.— Rencontre with
Colonel Heydeck. — General Church. — Visit to Grivas in
the Patamide. — Departure in his Majesty's ship Seringa-
patam for Athens. — Dandolo fires into the town of Speizia.
— Bay of Salamis. — Visit to Athens.— Pircens. — Phalerum.
— Delhis. — Interview with the Pasha Ibrahim's Divan Effen-
di. — Visit to the Pasha.— Dinner and debauchery of Turks.
— ^Via Sacra. — Jupiter Olympius. — Desolation and niin of
Athens. — Teiliple of Theseus. — Reflections.*-Hill of Mars.
-^Recollections. — Muscean Hill; and tomb of Phillopappus.
— Conduct of Turkish sentinels. — Return towards the Pi-
reeus* — Greek Tambouri, and field of battle. — Apprehen-
sions and conduct of Turkish escort. — Sunset upon the Bay
of Salamis, and our re- embarkation for the ships. — Visit
to Egina and its Temple. — Poros and its lemon groves. —
Dispersion of our little Squadron.— Inner harbour of Poros,

XIV CONTENTS.

and visit to Prince Mavrocordato. — Departure on board the
Raleigh for Cyprus.— Arrival at Larneca. — Change of des-
tination^ and new projects. — Visit to Larneca and the British
Consul.— Cypriotes. — Dinner at the Consul's. — Observations
upon the Saracenic or Gothic architecture. — State of Cy-
prus.— Arrival of the Mootselim.— Grand dinner at the Con-
suFs, and visit of ceremony to the Mootselim. — Departure
for and arrival at Baniti, or Bairout. - 287—824

CHAPTER XI.

Description of Bairout. — Visit to the British Consul. —
Excursion to Mount Lebanon. — St.Greorge and the Dragon.
— Description of the scenery in the Mountain. — Maronite
Convent and Monks. — Consular quarter. — Remains of
Phoenician Temple. — Ave Maria and Signor Fioravanti di
Bologna. -— Picturesque heads and figures of Maronite
Ascetics. — Striking group at the Consul's. — Return to
Bairout. — Head-dress of Maronite women.— Express from
Lady H. Stanhope.— Sail for Seide. —Return to Bairout—
Departure of the Raleigh, and my disembarkation. —
American Missionaries. — Venere Astarte and ancient coins
and idol. — Occupations and incidents.^WarUke rumours,
and Frank consternation.— My metamorphosis from Frank
to Mameluke. — *' Story Teller." — Departure for the Moun-
tains.— Encampment. — Antiquities. — Emir. —Sarcophagus
and Aqueduct. — Sarcophagi. — Feast of the Cross. — ^Came-
leons. — Bee Eaters. — Message from the Emir Beshir.-
Peparations for departure. - - - 325—875

1

I

I

\

JOURNEY FROM VIENNA

TO

CONSTANTINOPLE.

CHAPTER I.

Departure from Viennn. — Deutch Altenbonrg. — View of
Presbourg. — Hungarian Villages. — Peasantry. — Pest and
Ofen. — Grale of Wind on the Steppe of Soraskar.— Nature
of the Country. — Felegyhaza. — Szegedin. — ^Temeswar. —
Negligence of outpost. — Lugos. — Lenneckon the Maros.^-
Deva. — Costume of Transylvania.— Siboth, and Latin of
the Country. — Hermanstadt — Rothen Thurm.— Saxon
Colonies. — Quarantine Station. — Frontier. — Kinnin.-—
Giurgius Steriopoli. — Anecdote.

A WONDERFUL revolution had just taken
place at Constantinople, which attracted the
attention of the civilized world, and which
seemed to be the dawn of a new era in the
history of one of the most extraordinary and
interesting empires of the earth. The Sultan

VOL. L B

2 DEPARTUEE FROM VIENNA.

Mahmoud had trod in the steps of the greatest
reformer of nations the world had yet seen —
Peter the Great, and, like that monarch, had ex-
tirpated a factious and ungovernable soldiery,
who upon all occasions had shown themselves
the enemies of civilization and of the best in-
terests of humanity. My ima^nation was cap-
tivated by the grandeur of the supposed Bar-
barian Emperor's character, and I resolved to
repair to the capital of Constantine, and to see
with my own eyes that admirable man, who at
one blow had annihilated his most dangerous
enemies, and had at once shaken off those
shackles of prejudice imd fanaticism which had
for ages bound his Imperial predecessors and
the whole East in the worst of slaveries.

An opportunity for indulging my wishes soon
occurred, and accordingly, March 24, 1837, I
left Vienna at ten o'clock for Constantinople, in
company with an English gentleman who was
going thither upon business of importance, in
his caleche with two horses. The weather was
threatening, and we saw nothing extraordinary
on our route as far as Deutch Altenbourg, where

DEUTCH ALTENBOURG. S

thete is a remarkable tumulus, supposed to be
the tomb of a Turkish general slain here some
hundred and fifty years ago. This I do
not believe, as I penetrated some little way
into it, by means of an excavation which was
making in it, and I observed that its basis
was composed of an irregular mass of sand-
stone, and that its interior bore no appearance
of being raised by art. It may be, however,
that a natural protuberance in the surface of
the soil suggested this place as a favorable
spot for the erection of a tumulus, and in-
terring the illustrious dead within it.

We saw several immense stone shot in the
old walls of the town ; supposed to haye been
fired into it by the Turks at the period above
mentioned.

Upon leaving Deutch Altenbourg we caught
some fine views of the Danube, and shortly
after Presbourg, with its lofty citadel upon an
imposing eminence, burst upon us, with the city
and the Danube at its feet. It is not easy to
fancy a finer view than this. As my companion
was charged with despatches from Sir Henry

b2

4 HUNGARY.

Wellesley to Mr. Canning, we had deemed it
advisable to proceed with all haste to our des-
tination, and had purposely (to my regret) left
Presbourg out of our route, on our left hand.
The roads now became most dreadfully bad,
the mud being up to the axle-trees.

The Hungarian villages are like the Irish or
South A merican, but if possible more dirty than
cither. Their chief characteristic seemed to
us to be mud and filth ; but nevertheless the
cottages seemed to be comfortable. They are
all of one form, having the gable-ends towards

the road, and lighted merely at these ends.
They compose one long straggling street, in
which you sink mid-wheel in mud and ordures.
The Hungarian peasantry resemble the Gau-
chos of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, and as I
learn, the great family of Esclavonians, who are
scattered over so large a portion of the south-
east of Europe. They are clad in sheep-
skins, and are dirty and greasy enough.* They

* The holiday costume of the better classes is very simi-
lar to the uniforms of the Hussar regiments of Europe.

PEST AND OFEN. 5

are, nevertheless, well fed, cheerful, humble,
obligmg, and apparently contented. They
speak a kind of confusion of tongues, Hungary
being an immense receptacle of the yarious
Nomades, such as Rsclavonians, Germans, gip-
sies, Greeks, and tuUi-quanti. Latin is under-
stood, and. even spoken by the better class of
peasantry or rather bourgeoisie. The nobles
all speak it fluently, and the debates in the Diet
are carried on in that language. We spent the
first night in the carriage, the weather being
sufficiently mild to admit of the carriage being
open.

March 25. — The roads still execrable aU the
day. The country without a ' stone or bit of
gravel to make a road of; all, aU, was mud
We reached Ofen at midnight, and crossed the
Danube over a prodigious bridge of boats to the
city of Pest. Ofen is frequently called Buda,
which is, I believe, its Turkish appellation.
The city of Pest stands on the left bank of the
Danube. It is celebrated, in conjunction with
Buda, for its literature, its observatory, and uni-^

6 PEST AND OFEN.

versity. The united population of the two cities
is about 100,000. Buda is renowned for its
warm mineral baths, constructed, I believe, by
the Turks, when they were so long masters of
this country ; and I apprehend that the etymo-
logy of its Grerman appellation is derived from
" Of en," an oven, stove, or furnace. We ob-
tained, by the assistance of a watchman, ad-*
mittance into the inn ** Das Weiss Schiff," — ,
" The White Ship," and after much delay, pro-
cured beds and water.

March 86. — At six we arose, and were, as is

usual in bad inns, much cheated and uncivilly
treated by the German landlord. We left Pest
at eight, and caught a splendid view of Ofen^
with its citadel, its towers, and domes, and
bridge, and river, as we galloped along over a
good chaussee towards the south-east; a tre-
mendous gale blowing from the north-west; the
Danube foaming, fretting, and tearing its angry
course with immense velocity through a sandy
and desertJooking country. At the first post)
Soraskar, the country became one immense
tract of sand, without a blade of grass, or a

PEST AND OFEN. 7

tree, or a busb, to relieve the monotony of the
plain. The dust rolled around in clouds, and
penetrated in all directions. The light of the
sun was obscured as by an eclipse, and the hori-^
zon was enveloped as in a thick fog. I suf*>
fered dreadfully in my eyes, and had reason to
thank my stars that we had il vento in popa^
for I should otherwise have been most asstu*edly
blinded, as, indeed, were apparently many of
the unfortunate peasants who wei^ going to*
wards Pest. We saw many houses unroofed
by the gale, and some roofs in the act of flying
off. I never witnessed such another gal^ in
Ireland, or even off Cape Horn.

t observed several little animals of the weazel
kind, which buitow in the earth : they are of a
dirty white colour, and have a bushy tail, (query,
are they what are called ground-squirrels ?) We
saw several large buzzards. Towards simset, a
storm of rain coming on abated the wind a little.
I saw an unmense large brown bird, which, when
it rose from its heavy flight,! judged to be of the
vulture tribe. We also saw several storks. We
had by this time quitted the sand, and the coun-

8 FELEGYHAZA.

try began to assume a better appearance. Had
I been blindfolded, and placed down in this
country, and were the bandage to be with-
drawn suddenly from my eyes, I should have
declared that I stood in the midst of the Pam-
pas of South America. The same boundless
plain, the same bogs or pantanos, the same
swarthy, savage-looking population, and the
same huts or wigwams, (for they are but little
better than the Ranchos of the Gkiuchos.) We
halted at eleven at night at the post-house of
Felegyhaza ; here we took a cup of tea, (which,
by the bye, made me very s^ick when I got into
the carriage). The postmaster was an intdli-
gent, dvil, young German soldier, who had
served in Italy, and spoke Italian fluently.
We passed the night in the carriage, always
pursuing our route. The weather cold, and
uncomfortable enough.

March 27. — We breakfasted at Szegedin,*

* Here is a curious old fortress of brick, having case-
mates, &C. flanked by round towers. It is a kind of irregu-
lar square, and is all in decay and ruins. In this town were
stationed two battalions of Hungarian infantry, and the
regiment of the King of England (Hussars.)

TEMESWAR. 9

upon excellent coffee and milk. Here we came
to the river Theisse, which falls into the Danube,
not far to the south-west. The country still one
vast plain, but more green and smiling. At
2. SO. we crossed the river in the ferry-boat, to
a little viUage called IQdn-Kan. The view
from the bank is pretty and civilized. Here
we dined well upon proached eggs, ham, and
soup. Our track still continued over an im-
mense plain, full of ruts and holes. We saw
several vultures and cranes. We travelled all
night, the roads being still execrable.

March 28. — At four in the morning, we
reached the outer barrier of the fortress of Temes-
war, and found not a soul at the gate, either as
sentinel or watchman. We only obtained ad-
mittance into the fortress by means of our pos-
tilion's activity, who clambered over the barri-
cade, and reached the corps de garde^ where he
found a corporal, with whom he returned and
opened the gate. This circumstance did not
give us a very favourable impression of the
discipline of the garrison, in one of the strongest
fortresses of the Austrian empire. We break-

i

10 LU60S.

fasted at the post-house, and entered a formal
protest in the post-book against the conduct of
the outpost, a copy of which was sent to the
commandant for his edification. On leaving
the town, we caught a fine view of the Carpa-
thian Mountains, and as we advanced, of many
lofty glaciers backing the lower ranges. Near
Lugos our postilion threw down his horse, and
broke the pole. - The road thus far is good and
chauss^ed.

We dined at Lugos, a large town, with
some good houses. Here is a fine church of
the Greek rite, having a curious fresco painting
on its western front, representing the death
of the blessed Virgin, who is lying in her
bed, while the three persons of the Trinity are
looking complacently down upon her from
heaven. The " Bannat," in which countary we
now were, is a fine, open, and well-cultivated
plain, watered by four rivers, i. e. the Maros,
Danube, Tibiscus (or Theisse), and the Tchema,
which make a kind of rhomboid round Temes-
war. Some parts of the country are, however.

LUGOS. 11

very marshy and insalubrious. The cottages
of the peasantry are made of wattles^ and plas-
tered with mud : the poultry and pigs seem-
ing to be quite as well lodged as their masters.
The weather was now delicious. About an
hour from Lugos, we came to a broken bridge,
and had great difficulty in forcing the carriage
across the deep brook which the broken bridge
was thrown over. In this operation we were
civilly assisted by some Germans, who were
going by in a Styrian waggon. We had pre-
viously endeavoured to prevail upon two gip-
sies, who were tranquil spectators of our diffi-
culties, to help us ; but one of them refused to
get into the wiater, and to wet his feet. The
rotten state of the harness, which broke at
every puU, made us almost despair of extricate
ing the carriage from its position ; but fortu-
nately, we had some spare rope with us, and by
this means at length succeeded in drawing the
carriage up the steep bank. The inhabitants
of this country do not speak German, but a
dialect of Latin mixed up with Sdavonian, and

12 DEVA.

we had considerable difficulty and trouble in
making the postilions comprehend us. At
Kassan my companion had a great fracas with
the postmaster about the negligence with which
the service was performed, and the time we were
detained there for horses. ^ Shortly after, we
came to a dreadful bog, through which we had
to toil until day-light, when we had a fine view
of the river Maros.

March 29. — Breakfasted at Lenneck upon
the Maros : here the scenery is very beautiful,
the river being broad and winding its way
through lofty moimtains. At Deva, the next
post, is a fine old Roman Castle, standing upon
a conical eminence of rock. Augustus and
Trajan are both cited as the builders of this
castle. Dr. Clarke inclines to the latter, as
Roman coins of his reign and of his success(»*s
are found here. It appears, however, to have
been repaired and re-fortified h la gothique, pro-
bably by the Teutonic Knights, or the Knights
Templars, who it seems held lands here and
further onwards upon the frontier, and who,

DEVA. 18

according to ancient chronicles, were serviceable
barriers ftgainst the Ottomans. We had fine
views of the glaciers upon leaving the town; and
I made a sketch of the position. The road this
day led through a fine champaign country, with
plenty of wood, com and pasture, primroses and
violets all around us ; we saw many vultures, and
a vast variety of the buzzard tribe. The vulture
seems to me to be the vultur corvus of Linnaeus,
or what is commonly called the Turkey buzzard,
from its resemblance to the black turkey.

The dress of the peasants is remarkably pictu-
resque, the high Dacian cap, and long vestment
of sheepskins, just as that warlike nation is re-
presented in the Roman has reliefs, illustrative
of Trajan's conquests in this part of the world.
The women wear a peculi^ kind of jacket with
open bosom, hanging sleeves, and somewhat or-
namented with gold or silver : they have hang-
ing before and behind them, from the waist
down to the midleg, a kind of apron of che-
quered stuff, somewhat resembling the tartan of
the Celts : (query, does this not indicate one com-

14 HERMANSTADT.

mon origin ?) We were now in Tiwisylyania ;
the villages savage and dirty» cottages of wat*
ties, the postilion speaking Latin. ^' Sun multi
rupi, domine," said he to me, whenever the road
was bad. We saw many gipsies. We dined at
Siboth, a neat posthouse, but with very few re-
Sources for hungry travellersw Here we saw many
letters of which the address was written in Latin.
The roads nowbecamebad,andwetooksix horses.
March 30. — At day-light, we saw Herman-
stadt before us, bounded on three of its sides by
mountains, and on the fourth by the lofty tract
of Transylvanian doMms, The situation beauti-
ful, and as the sun arose the scenery was quite
bewitchmg, for here he gilded the tops of the
many domes and cupolas of Hermanstadt, and
there he threw all his succession of tints upon
the summits of the lofty glaciers. We were
much amused on seemg the peasants coming out
of the town, and going into it, driving then-
cattle and carts, the women sitting astride upon
the horses, and performing the duties 6f the
whip with great dexterity. They were gene-

HERMANSTADT. 15

wily very pretty, Hermanstadt is a large dirty
straggling tovm, the mud being half axle deep
in the streets. A little river, called the Zibbin,
runs outside of the walls on the Deva side,
which afterwards falls into the Olta or Aluta.
The town has been formerly strongly fortified,
and has often proved itself a bulwark against
its Osmanlee enemies. Its walls are now falling
into decay, and still bear marks of barbarian
violence and prowess, in the shape of shot holes,
which are more carefidly preserved by the good
citizens, than the walls, which show such honour-
able records. It contains about sixteen thou-
sand inhabitants, and has several convents and
chiu*ches. We were detained at the post ofSce
by the utter negligence of the postmaster, until
7. 15. My companion went to the Comman-
dant, and at length procured an order for the
post horses, without which order no traveller
can proceed on his joiuney.

The views on leaving Hermanstadt are mag-
mficent, for you now turn your face towards the
famous Pass of Rothen Thurm or Red Tower.

16 ROTHEN THURM.

We reached the Rothen Thurm at half-past
nine, and found there two very pretty Saxon
girls. Catty and Lilie, descendants of the Saxon
colonies of the heptarchy, which have been for
ages established in this country, and also in
Hungary. They are always the most industri-
ous, cleanly, respectable and thriving people of
the nation, among whom they are settled. Their
origin is involved in obscurity and tradition*

Here is the last post on the Austrian frontier,
and a military station with a Lieutenant-colonel
commanding it. He was absent, and we break-
fasted in a miserable canteen. However, as we
were extremely hungry, we relished fried ham,
eggs, coffee, and brown bread exceedingly. The
Red Tower is in itself nothing remarkable, but
below it are several tiers of heavy cannon frown-
ing down upon the pass : on the left side of the
road is a chancellery or douane, and here your
passport is viseed and countersigned by the com-
mandant or his deputy. We enjoyed the luxury
of a good purification, shaving and dean linen,
after having passed four nights in the carriage*

' I

ROTHEN THURM. 17

The scenery in the pass is nothing vay striking.
A river* runs rapidly through it. We reached
the quarantine station at three. Here we halted
to procure information as to our proceeding on-
wards with the carriage over the mountains. We
found several couriers of various nations waiting
here to carry on the next dispatches from Con-
stantinople. I called upon the director of the
quarantine, and talked German to his wife, a
good old lady; who, finding that we had no
provisions with us, most kindly furnished us
with a ham and three loaves of bread, for
which she would accept of no remimeration,
and which we afterwards foimd of the most
essential service.

The roads now became dreadful^ fuU of im-
mense stones and deep ruts. I made a sketch
of an old tower upon the hither bank of the
river. Towards sunset we arrived at a little rivu-
let, which forms the boundary between Transyl-
vania and Wallachia. Here is a guard-house

* The river Olta, or Olt, (in the German maps, Aluta,)
which empties itself into the Danube at Turnof.

VOL. I. C

18 OIURGIUS STEBIOPOLI.

and a picquet of Austrian soldiery, or rather of
Wallachians in the Imperial service, odd-look-
ing fellows, clothed in sheep-skins. On the
Wallachian side we found the Hospodar^s post^
master-general, a Greek, clothed in the Oriental
costume, mounted on a pretty little horse, and
attended by his secretary. He spoke German
fluently, and recdved us with great civility,
promising to come and dine with us at the
next station.

We reached Kinnin at about sunset, and
were quartered in a wretched mud-hut for the
night; for we could not venture to proceed
at so late an hour over the mountains. Here we
repaired damages, and fished* the pole of the
carriage. We supped with the postmaster at his
own house, who treated us most hospitably.
His name is Giurgius Steriopoli. His converse^
tion was extremely entertaining, and he rdated

* Nautical phraRes, for the use of which I ought to apo-
logise to the reader. The first will be readily understood ;
and the second means, patching up a broken spar with flat
pieces of wood tied firmly on with rope or cord.

OlURGtUS STKEIOPOII. 19

several curious anecdotes of the Turks diuiiig
their late occupation of the principalities.
Among others was the following: — ^A Turkish
soldier (an Aga of Amik>uts) had been in the
habit of borrowing money of him, which he
generally repaid, at uncertain periods, with
usury ; but upon some of these occasions }n$
demands were rather inconvenient, and could
not be easily complied with. At length one
day the Aga came to Steriopoli's house, much
intoxicated, from a carouse with some of his
brother soldiers, and demanded three or four
thousand piastres in a very peremptory manner.
Steriopoli remonstrated, and assured him that
he had not four hundred in the world. Thcf
Turk became the more irritated in proportion
to the humility of the Greek ; and at length
with great threats of vengeance and outrageous
language left the house, promising to return on
the following day and carry off the money by
force, or one of his daughters instead of it.
Steriopoli was very much alarmed, and related
the circumstance immediately to some other

c 2

20 GIUROIUS STEBIOPOLI.

Turks, mutual friends of his and of the Aga'Sp
requesting their interference and aid. The
Turks readily agreed to save him from the fiiry
of their countryman ; and early on the follow-
ing day went armed to Steriopoli's house, and
concealed themselves in an apartment conti-
guous to the principal room. Here they
quietly awaited the arrival of the Aga, who
soon coming thither, proceeded immediately to
demand the four thousand piastres from the
cunning Greek; which being refused him, he
drew his yatagan, and, threatening the affrighted
Steriopoli with immediate death, was proceeding
to execute summary vengeance upon him,
when the Turks rushed into the room, and,
attacking the Aga, knocked him down, and
beat him so furiously with the butts of their
pistols, that they left him for dead upon the
floor. Steriopoli profited by this drcumstanoe,
to have his friend carried quietly to the house of
the Governor, where he left him, and never
after was troubled by his inconvenient visits.
Staiopoli warned us not to enter any houses

GIUB6IUS STERIOFOLI. SI

in the diBtrict through which we had to passi
as a malignant fever, very much like the
plague, was said to have made its appearance
on the Wallachian side of the Carpathian
mountains.

I was devour^ by vermin all night upon
my bivouac, and rejoiced when the appear-
ance of daylight rescued me from their, tor-
ments. We made an agreement with the post-
master to send us on with eight horses to the
carriage, and four to the baggage-waggon, with
extra men* when necessary, and a capitanp, or
guide, as far as Bucharest, for five and a half
ducats of Austria. We breakfasted with our
Greek friend ; and set o£f for the passage over
ihe mountains, at forty minutes past seven in
the morning of the 31st.

* lliese extra men are very useful in holding the carriage
up by force^ and in balancing it upon the edges of ratines
and precipices, and upon the many abrupt inequalities of
surface.

82 PASSAGE OYER THE

CHAPTER II.

Passage over the Carpathian Mountains — Exertions and per-
severahce of Wallachian Ghiides.-^Kurte d*Argish. — Cos-
tume of Wallachians. — Fording the River Argish. — Gipseys
collecting Grold dust. — Houses and haystacks. — Churches
and Convents. — Crucifixes. — Pitesti. — Steriopoli's Cha*
teau. — Waggons drawn by buffaloes. — Bucharest. — British
Consulate. — Dr.Griffiths. — Presentation to the Hospodar. —
Government and State of Wallachia. — Soiree at Dr. Grif-
fiths*. — Marli Ballacciano. — Torches of Bucharest.

March 31.— The weather was threatening
and gloomy, the clouds hanging half-way down
the mountains. At about half-past eight we
crossed the river Olta Alp in a flat boat, and
disembarked upon a rocky uneven shore, full of
streams and ravines. The rain now began to
fall, and we had the unpleasant prospect of a
day's tedious ascent through the clouds. As
the day advanced, we were obliged to descend
from the carriage and to walk over the heights,
in many places totally deviating from the road,
which was generally impracticable for a carriage.
The first part of the journey led over a boggy

CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS. 28

and spewy kind of grass mountain ; but towards
evening we came to fine forests of beech-trees^
many of which had been thrown down in all
directions by the storms of wind and the
undennining influence of the waters. The
mountains all around us were richly dothed with
forests, in which were occasionally interspersed
a few fir-treeSi The roads or tracts becsme
more and more difficult and steep as we ad-
vanced; often leading over ravines which are
traversed by means of rotten and trembling
platforms of trunks of trees, so ill put together
that frequently the horses ran the greatest risk
of breaking their legs, by falling into the spaces
between tree and tree. Indeed it is not easy to
imagine any thing more arduous, than these as-
cents, or more determined and persevering than
the Wallachian postilions and guides ; for I am
convinced that no civilized man would enter-
tain an idea of the practicability of these passes.
Towards evening, as we were descending
into some deep vaUeys, and were flattering our-
selves that we had passed all the dangers of the
route, we were reposing quietly in the carriage.

24 PASSAGE OVER THE

when suddenly we were overturned in the pret-
tiest manner imaginable, upon the side of a
mountain torrent. Fortunately we were going
dowly ; and although the caleche was com-
pletely inverted, it sustained no other damage
than the demolition of one of the lamps, and
ourselves none at all. It was ludicrous to be-
hold the face of terror and concern with which
the capitano came and looked into the carriage,
as it lay upon its roof, to see if we were alive or
dead; and to witness his delight and surprise,
upon beholding us quietly hand out all that im-
pieded our exit, and then get out, arrange our
dress, and laugh immoderately at the ridiculous
posture in which we found ourselves. The pos-
tilions and himself each expecting to be wdl
bastinadoed, could not at all comprehend our
gaiety, and total unconcern at what had happen-
ed, and our readiness in assisting to right the car-
riage, which we effected without much difficulty.
As the night approached, we were again
involved in all the difficulties of the moun-
tains, such as torrents, bogs, and precipices;
and at one time were obliged to put on the

CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS. 25

four horses from the baggage-waggon to our
own eight, in order to drag us over a very dan-
gerous ascent, on the most precipitous side of
a mountain, in which the carriage sunk almost
axle-deep in the mud, and during which the
greatest apprehension was, that the harness
breaking, or the horses jibbing, might force us
backwards headlong down the precipices. My
comrade got out of the carriage, and lighting
our remaining lamp, and giving a little hand-
lantern to the capitano, was of essential service
in showing the best way to the benighted and
fatigued postilions. It rained in torrents all
the while ; and we thanked God most fervently,
when, after fording two or three swollen, rapid
streams, we arrived at the eastern foot of the
Carpathian Mountains, at a miserable post-house
called Kurt^ d'Argish. Here we resolved, as it
was past midnight and continued to rain in
torrents, to halt for the night ; and sending all
our people into the mud hovel, cal^d a post-
house, made ourselves up for the night in the
carriage, where both of us slept perfectly well
until daylight. .

26 KURT6 d'akgish.

April 1. — We breakfasted upon tea, (whidi
we carried with us,) eggs, the ham and breads
given us by the directress of the quarantine,
most heartily, surrounded by our Wallachians,
making ourselves comprehensible through the
medium of the little Latin we could muster,
interspersed with Italian and Spanish.

The Wallachians are a fine, robust, active, and
civil people, exceedingly poor, but well and
warmly dad in coai*se brown woollens, or aci fre-
quently in sheepskins. They wear on the head
the high sheepskin cap of the Transylvanians.
Their bodies are clothed in a kind of jacket of
skins, or woollen, open at the breast, with hang-
ing sleeves ; a kind of kilt, or shirt, hanging
down to the knee, of coarse linen ; the legs in
wide trowsers, sometimes fastened at the ankle ;
the feet in a sandal of hide. The jackets of the
better sort are ornamented with fanciful braiding
round the edges and seams, and the comers with
flowers nea^y worked in colours. Our capitano,
who was a dandy in his way, and an old soldier,
wore a handsome jacket, a sash round his waist,
with his arms inserted therein ; a pair of breeches

KUBT& d'aeoish. 27

of sheepskin, and a pair of Turkish boots, With,
large hanging tops of white doth, braided and
flowered with blue.

We left Kurt6 d'Argish at forty minutes past
six, and soon came to the banks of the rivei: of
that name; this was considerably swollen by
the rain of the preceding evening, and looked
dangerous to ford. Nevertheless, the guides
rode in, and reported favourably, and we
soon forded the stream; which was however
so rapid, that the postmaster, who followed
us on horseback, was near being drowned, his
horse having lost his footing, and himself hav-
ing fallen into the river. The women who
ware collected on the opposite bank, see-
ing this, began to screaln ; and a Wallachian,
instantly plunging. in, grappled hold of him,
who had meanwhile recovered possession of
his bridle, and soon got out of danger. The
river d'Argish is said frequently to produce
gold-dust, as indeed do many of the streams
arising in the Carpathian Mountains, all of
which contain more or less of auriferous metals;
the famous mines of Nagyag being in this.

28 KURTi d'argish.

region. We saw many gipseys employed in
waishing the sand, and collecting the gold, al-
though they offered none to us for sale. The
operation is very sunple, being merely the
washing of the sand upon an inclined plane
of board, the lighter parts going off with the
^ream of water, and the heavier particles re-
maining behind upon the board ; these are ge-
nerally grains of gold. The gipseys stand
nearly knee-deep in the torrents, performing
their simple task: This kind of occupation
suits their idle and indolent habits, and is
sometimes, as I learn, very lucrative. They
carry the gold in quills into the cities of Her-
manstadt and Bucharest. In the village we
observed a most beautiful church ; and near it;
upon a hill, a large conyent.

I must not here forget to mention a singular
contrast which strikes the traveller, between
houses under ground, merely covered in with a
wretched thatch, and houses perched up like
those of the Paraguay Indians in the trees. We
saw likewise many haystacks similarly situated.
Of these underground huts we had seen some

i

WALLACHIA. S9

previously in Transylvania ; but of the hay-
stacks and huts in the t9«es we saw none until
we reached Wallachia. We noticed many beau-
tiful Greek churches and convents. They are
all uniform in their architecture, having a neat
belfiy, and a front pierced with a pretty arcade
or colonnade. I observed many crucifixes,

Crucifix in WalUchia.

80 PITESTI.

sometimes three together, and sometimes twelve
all in a row. These crucifixes are covered with
inscriptions in the Wallachian diaracter, and
with the most barbarous symbols of the Deity,
of the Blessed Virgin, of the Magdalen, St.
John, and other saints. I never saw among the
Mexican or Peruvian idols any thing more gro-
tesque or barbarous than these objects of ve-
neration and worship. — (Query, how far is the
Greek church removed from Paganism ?)

We reached Pitesti, a large straggling village
or town, about forty minutes past one; here
we found sjnnptoms of trade, such as bazaars,
through which we drove over planked streets or
lanes ; all the merchants and shopkeepers being
clad in the Greek or Turkish costume. There
are many handsome-looking houses belonging
to the Wallachian Boyars in Pitesti ; and our
friend Steriopoli seems to be one of that class,
jud^ng from the splendid exterior of his
house. Here one begins to feel that one has
left Europe and arrived among a different
people; for at this point the manners and

PITESTI. 31

oostume of the East first begin to show them-

w

selves.. We visited a chateau belonging to

«

our friend Steriopoli, and saw some fine pea-
fowl and pheasants in his court-yard, guarded
by a handsome palisade. The country, as we
left Fitesti, became one vast plain ; the horizon
all around us, excepting in our rear, being as level
and blue as the sea. The roads were very much
cat up by the nuns. andfuU of deep ruts and
bogs. Towards evening we upset a horseman,
who came violently in contact with our cattle,
going at full speed, and threw down our near
wheeler. {We had at this time reshipped our
baggage, and dismissed the baggage-waggon.)
The weather during the night was fine, but very
cold, a frost having succeeded to the rain ; and a
north-easter to the south-wester of yesterday.

Apbil. 2. — Still enormous plains ; we passed
several convoys of waggons, (drawn by bufialoes,)
which are peculiar to this country in their con-
struction, each wheel being of the same size ;
in other respects they resemble the barbarous
Wains of Austria and Transylvania. We saw

83 BUCHAREST.

many droves of bufialoes, and a vast many storks,
and buzzards, kites, and other carrion birds. At
about eight o'clock we caught a glimpse of the
towers and domes of Bucharest, lying in a sort
of hollow in the plain. We reached the capital
of Wallachia at nine ; and, driving through a
straggling dirty town, presenting a strange
mixture of European luxury and Oriental filth
and squalour, reached V Hotel de r£urope, where
we were comfortably and cleanly lodged, to
our great delight, after a fatiguing journey of
nine days ; during which time, we had only
slept in a bed once, namely, at Pest, and then
only for four hours. As for our bivouac at
Kinnin, it was infinitely worse than remaining
in the carriage. My companion was charged
with packets and letters from Sir Henry Wei-
lesley to Mr. Blute, the British Consul at
Bucharest; and as soon as we had refreshed
and washed ourselves, we repaired to his house.
Passing through boarded streets and bazaars,
and observing many gaudy caleches and old-
fashioned-looking chariots well-varnished, and

BUCHABEST. 83

glittering with a profusion of gilded ornaments,
driven by a most anomalous-looking animal
of a coachman, half barbarian, half coxcomb;
and containing some fat boyard in his immense
bulbous-looking calpac of felt, or covered with
staring red or green velvet, and shrouded in his
rich pelisse trimmed with furs.

The British Consulate is a handsoine house,
standing in an European-looking garden. Here
we found the Consul, with a Dr. Griffiths, an
English medical gentleman, who had been some
years established in Bucharest. With the lattar
we dined at two, and were most hospitably and
agreeably entertained by him and his Countess.
At seven in the evening the Consul called upon
us, and took us in his carriage to be presented
to the Hospodar of Wallachia.* His High-
ness received us with the greatest affability,
rising from his sofa, and standing upon it as
he received us. He then gave us pipes and
coffee, and we conversed with him in Italian

* Nicholas Ghika, a Wallachian by birth.
VOL. I. D

34 BUCHAREST.

and French. He is a middle-aged, goodJook-
ing man. His revenue is about three hundred
thousand pounds sterling, and he is said to
have amassed an immense fortune, which he
has lodged at Vienna. His military force
consists of a few hundred Albanians, the
Turks having evacuated the principality, with
the exception of the frontier town of Giur-
gevo, where they have still a garrison.

The Hospodar of Wallachia holds his appoint-
ment only for seven years, at the end of which
he must resign ; he may, however, be re-elected
by the Porte, if he have either influence or
money enough to secure such re-election. Most
of these temporary sovereigns are so well aware
of the value of time, that they have taken care
to amass great sums of money during the pe-
riod of their rule. His government is purely
despotic ; but he may be deposed by the Porte,
upon any well-founded complaint against him
being lodged by the native boyards, with whom
he is at present embroiled, respecting the ap-
plication of sundry sums of public money.

BUCHAREST. 35

which he is suspected of having converted to
his own private purposes. His Court resem-
Hes the private dwelling-house of a poor Ger-
man noble; and when we had the honour of
an audience, we saw no appearance of pomp or
sovereignty, other than that of a few fine Al-
banian guards, and an artful and suspicious-
looking Italian Dragoman, who remained all
the time in the presence. Upon quitting the
Hospodar, we were desirous of being presented
to his Highness's sister, the Princess ; but as
she was not prepared to receive visitors, she
sent an excuse, declining the honour of our
visit.

I learnt from Mr. Blute, that Wallachia is ca-
pable of producing great quantities of com, cat-
tle, horsies, tallow, hides, and honey ; and that
many of the native boyards are extremely rich ;
but that the country is ill-governed, and its
natural resources much neglected.

Bucharest stands upon a small river, call-
ed the Domnitza, which joins the river Ar-
gish, a little to the south-east of Bucharest,

D 2

36 BUCHAREST.

and falls into the Danube below Giurgevo.
We now returned to our hospitable fidend.
Dr. Griffiths, who had invited some of the
boyards, with their ladiqs, to come and
meet us for the evening. One of these ladies
was a most bewitching and fascinating crea-
ture, with a fine classic Greek countenance,
eyebrows arched like half -moons, eyes which
beamed like the gazelle's, and seemed to melt
into softness ; hands and arms fit for a statuary
to model from ; and her pretty bust enveloped
in such a delicious little Greek jacket of black
velvet, embroidered with gold, that I felt it
worth while to have come all the way from
Vienna to have had the pleasure of beholdingher.
Her name is Marli BaUacciano ; her conversa-
tion was lively and agreeable, and her manners
highly polished and lady-like.

The females of Bucharest are renowned for
their beauty and their attractions. I felt that it
might be a dangerous place to remain long in ;
but regretted that the morrow would, in all pro-
bability, hurry me away into a country where I

BUCHAREST. 37

should see no more pretty faces, and enjoy no
longer the sweets of female society. We return-
ed to our hotel at eleven o'clock, fatigued, and
glad to get into a clean, comfortable bed.

We learnt from our friends that Bucharest
contained about seventy or eighty thousand
inhabitants, three hundred and sixty churches^
and twenty or thirty convents, monasteries, and
nunneries. The number of the religious pro-
fessions seems to bear an immense and fatal
disproportion to that of the laical. At night
we were lighted through the streets by men
bearing torches made of the pitch pine tree;
indeed^ they were merely long pieces of this fir
lighted at the end, and yielding a most prodi-
gious blaze. These rude and primitive torches
gave very much the appearance of demons to
the ragged wretches who bore them. The
strange mixture of Oriental and European cos-
tumes and manners, which strikes the stranger
at every step in Bucharest, makes it a very
interesting place to the picturesque traveller.

38 DEPAKTURE FAOM BUCHAREST.

CHAPTER III.

Departure from Bucharest. — Mode of Travelling^. — Night at
Tiya. — Wallachian Villages. — Oiurgevo. — Embarkation of
horses. — Ferryboats. — Danube. — Ruschuck. — Khan. —
Eagerness of Turkish Soldiery to learn European tactics. —
FortiBcations of Ruschuck. — Evening Devotions of Had*
jee Achmet and Surrudjee.— Illumiaated Minarets ^
Rasgratz. — Khan atRasgratz. — Ramazan of the Turks, and
Religious scruples. — Tumuli and Cemeteries. — Ruined
Towns and Villages. — View of the Balkan. — Sylvan flowers.
— Bulgarian cottages, costume, and manners. — Shumla,
or Chumla. ^Gipsies. — Dragoleu. — Dancing girls. — Mid»
night ride. — Chali Kavack.'-Hadjee Achmet*8 pistols. —
Fording the river Kamtchi S6. — Gallantry of Turkish
peasants. — Passage over the Balkan. — Nocturnal ride.—
Gamabat. — Pastures at the foot of the Balkan. — ^Conduct
of Turkish herdsman. — Scenery about Brimale — ^Ford-
ing a river. — Forests.— Buffaloes. — Faki. — Roumeliote
peasantry. — Country beyond Turki. — Kirk Iklessee. — Con-
duct of Hadjee Mehmet — Scene in the Khan.— Nocturnal
ride to Burgaz.

April 3. — We arose early, and commenced re-
packing ; for here my comrade determined upon
leaving his carriage, and it became necessary to

1

W^ALLACHIA. 89

make a new stowage of our clothes, books, &c.
Mr. Blute had very kindly hired a Tartar, with
a green turban, to otrry us on to Constan-
tinople, for the sum of one thousand three
hundred piastres;* and we were to make the
journey, as far as the Danube, in the carts of
the country, and from thence to the Turkish ca-
pital, on horseback. The distance is about four
hundred tniles. We employed all the morning in
changing om* Austrian money for Turkish du-
cats and piastres, and in making various necessary
arrangements for a journey through a country
where, during the Ramazan, or Lent, of the
Turks, nothing but eggs and coffee is to be
procured.

We left Bucharest at 2. 45., with four
waggons, one for each of us, one for the Tartar,
and one for the baggage, each drawn by four
little savage-looking horses, and driven by as
savage-looking a postilion (mounted upon the
near wheeler), who keeps shouting out in a me-
lancholy manner to his horses, and whose mono-
tonous cries are re-echoed by his fellow-drivers.

*" N.B. A piastre is worth about fourpence English.

40 WALLACHIA.

These little waggons are about a foot and a half
fjfom the ground, and are the rudest and most
extraordinary vehicles I have ever yet seen or

heard of. You are dragged along, with im-
mense rapidity, through bogs and ruts, over
brushwood, and through ravines and streams^
seated upon a truss of hay, and nearly shaken
to death by the violence and rapidity of the
motion. Nevertheless, in spite of all the in-
convenience, and even pain of your position
you cannot avoid laughing most heartily at the
grotesque and ridiculous appearance which yon
make, squatted cross-legged upon yoiu* truss of
hay, or lying backwards at full length in your
waggon, your feet protruding through the front,
and your legs in danger of being broken by the
heels of the galloping wheel-horses ; the dust
and mud flying into yoiu* eyes, nose, ears, cra-
vat, hair, and every part of your body. Our
Tartar, Hadjee Emir Achmet, preceded us with
the utmost gravity of countenance, smoking
his short chibouque, or pipe, neither ap-
pearmg to sympathize in our discomforts, or to
partake of our joviality. We changed horses

TIYA. 41

several times, and crossed the river Argish,
over a rotten and trembling bridge of boats,
towards sunset ; but could not reach Giurgevo
that night, on account of the swelling of another
river, over which the bridge was not practicable.

We halted at about 9. 30. o'clock, at a
wretched mud hovel, at Tiya, where the post
is established, and here we took up our quar-
ters for the night, Mr. being very-
unwell from the motion of the waggon. We
supped with Hadjee upon tea, and bread, and
eggs, and lay down upon our saddles and the
horse rugs which we had brought with us from
Vienna. Here we were, as usual, devoured by
fleas, and were glad to set off at daylight.

April 4. — About five o'clock we resumed
our seats upon our trusses of hay, and drove
rapidly towards the Danube, passing by some
villages of underground cottages, whose exte-
riors presented the appearance of so many dung-
hills. In many parts of Hungary and Tran-
sylvania these miserable abodes of wretched-
ness are to be met with. The ancient Sarma-
tians, I believe, Uved very much in similar dens.

42 GIURGEVO.

These wretched hovels are merely oblong ex-
cavations in the earth, about three feet in
depth, over which a miserable roof of sticks and
straw is thrown. The entrance is by one of
the gable ends. Nothing can be more abrutie
than the existence of the WaUachian peasantry.

At six, we reached a little river on the Walla-

«

chian side of Giurgevo. There was a bridge, but
it was not practicable for our vehicles ; and here
it 'was a question, whether we could ford the
river. Upon experiment with an empty waggon,
we found that it was too deep for us and our
baggage to attempt the passage. We our-
selves, therefore, clambered over the bridge, and
made thie people carry the baggage over it like-
wise on their shoulders, while the empty wag-
gons were towed swimmingly over the river.

We entered the fortress of Giurgevo about
6. 30. This, for a Turkish fortification, may, per-
haps, be reckoned strong : it is surrounded by a
good wall, and has bastions of gabions or fas-
cines at certain inten'als, mounted with cannon.
It is an important point, inasmuch as it com-

PASSAGE OF THE DAMDBE AT GIUBGEVO.

PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE. 43

mands the passage over the Danube from Rus-
chuck. It is a large, straggling town, and is
.pretty from the Danube. It presents, in its in-
terior, the semblance of all other Turkish towns,
namely, dirt and wretchedness, wooden houses
and shops, mosques and minarets, (and here and
there, by the bye, a Greek church or two).
Giurgevo has a Tui'kish garrison in it.

We traversed the town, and went out
through a sally-port upon the bank of the Da-
nube, which had risen considerably, owing to
the late floods. We had to drive a long way
through the water, under the walls of the town,
until we reached the quay. Here was col-
lected a number of horses, purchased for the re-
mounts of the Turkish cavalry. It was curious
to see the way in which the furious^looking
Turkish soldiery drove the poor, trembling,
snorting animals into their huge, rude, mis-
shapen ferry-boats. These boats are of a very
primitive construction, extremely sharp at both
ends, nearly flat-bottomed, high pooped, and
low in the bow. They have an immense ill-

RUSCHUCK.

rigged mast, and a huge shoulder-of-mutton
sail, and when once under weigh, are extremely
picturesque in their appearance.

Albanian Soldier at Giutgevo.

The Danube may be here about a mile and a
half broad; but as Huschuck lies a good ' deal
higher up the river, the passage is rather long.
It was a fine calm morning, and our Turks land-
ed upon an island called Slobods^, and towed the

RUSCHUCK. 45

boat along a considerable way, after which they
ran us ashore two or three times. We reached
Ruschuck at 8. 40., and disembarking upon a
kind of open beach, beneath a formidable bat-
tery, among the Turkish boatmen, we went to a
khan, (a kind of caffe,) looking upon the beach,
and here purified ourselves, some female gipsies
eyeing us all the while, and talking a great deal
to us as we washed at a well in an outer court-
yard. We reposed a little, while the Tartar was
making arrangements for our horses, &c. I was
much amused with the Turks, who showed the
greatest curiosity respecting our arms ; and one
or two of whom, taking hold of a rifle belonging
to Mr. , went through the manual and pla-
toon exercise as taught by Europeans. They
then asked me to do the same, which I did, to
their great satisfaction. They next begged me
to show them how to face and to wheel, which
I likewise did ; and arranging some half dozen
of them in battalia, put them through various
manoeuvres, to their great delight. 1 was much
surprised with the quickness they showed in
learning this; for, at first, they did not know

46 EUSCHUCK.

how to face or to wheel, but stepping backwards
or forwards too far, always came violently in
cont^u^ with each other. The aptitade which
they showed for martial exercises, made me
tremble for the success of the cause in the Mo-
rea; for should the Turks once take cheerfully
to the new system of organization, Eurc^ will
find them more formidable than she had ever
thought them to be. 1 endeavoiu-ed to sketch
some of the most remarkable-looking of them,
and this seemed to flatter their vanity exceed-
ingly, as they stood still, looking very compla-
cently all the while, and asked to see their por-
traits afterwards.

Ruschuck is a fortified and large town. It
has a wall and a trench, with drawbridges, all
around it. The fortifications are, however, ap-
parently much neglected and decayed. Its po-
sition upon the bank of the Danube is very
commanding, and it has many fascine bastions,
well garnished with cannon, towards the river.
It contains about nineteen thousand houses : a
great proportion of its inhabitants are Greeks
and Armenians. It has a considerable com-

RUSCHUCK. 47

merce by water with the towns of Hungary,
and even with Vienna. Its minarets and domes
give it a very picturesque appearance. It was
taken by the Russians, under Kaminski, in
1810, and set fire to by Kutusof on evacuating
it, when pressed by Ahmed Aga.*

At twelve o'clock, we set off with our caval-
cade, consisting of ourselves, Hadjee Achmet,
a postilion, or surrudjee, and a baggage-horse,
through steep and irregular streets, and a kind
of open market, separated from the town by a
palisade and gate; we then came to the outer
wall or rampart of gabion or fascine, and pass-
ing through a gate, and over a drawbridge,
entered a cultivated country, with one most
beautiful valley full of picturesque cliffs and
woods. At sunset, Hadjee Achmet and the sur-
rudjee dismounted from their horses at a pretty
little fountain, performed their ablutions, and
repeated long prayers; after which they walked
round and round the fountain several times, and
sung a kind of monotonous canticle, or hymn,
the only words of which that I could distin-

* See Dr. Walsli and Dr. Clarke.

48' RASGRATZ.

guish were Allah ! Allah ! Amaum ! Amaum !
About nine in the evening we discerned, from
a distance, the minarets of Rasgratz illuminated,
it being the Ramazan, or Lent, of the Turks.
We reached Rasgratz very much fatigued, at
about 9. 30., and alighted at a tolerably dean
and spacious khan. Here we threw ourselves
down upon the mats which were spread round
the room, took coffee with the Turks, who were
squatting down all around us, and'making some
pimch of brandy from our stores, made up our
bivouacs upon our rugs and saddles, and re-
tired to repose ; but not until we had induced
our Tartar, although a hadjee, to drink a good
glass of punch, assuring him that it was not
wine, and making signs that AUah, although it
were Ramazan, shut his eyes, and did not
behold such little peccadilloes. The Turks
were, however, inexorable, and would drink
none. I left a glass fuU purposely on a little
tabouret, which was placed near me ; and in the
morning the punch had disappeared, although
the glass remained ! I slept tolerably, being too
much fatigued to mind the fleas.

BULOABIA. 49

April 5. — ^We set ojff at five, and passed by
several tumuli and sepulchral stones; the for-
mer, our guide told us, were the burying-places
of a Russian force which had been defeated
here. These sepulchral stones have a most
curious appearance ; they are of all shapes and
dimensions, and are stuck mto the ground in
every direction. They look at a distance like
an immense flock of grey geese or cranes, graz-
ing upon the plains. We saw many more in
the course of the day's ride, far away from any
sjonptoms of habitation. There is perhaps no*
thing more remarkable throughout the jour-
ney from the Danube to the Bosphorus, than
the frequency of these vast cemeteries, which
meet the eye in all directions, most of them
far removed from the habitations of the living:
they form so many cities of the dead, and
the total silence and desolation which reign
around them cannot fail of striking melancholy
sensations into the breast of the traveller.

The Turks usually surmount their grave*
stone with a rude turban of the same material ;
but if the number of these sepulchral stones

VOL. I. E

50 BULGARIA.

which are without that ornament, afford any
criterion for judging of the relative proportions
of the two religions, (after deducting the usual
calculation for women and children,) I should
not heintate to say, that of the past generation,
at least three^fourths must have been Chris-
tians ; and I see no reason for supposing that
the number of that communion should have
decreased during the present generation.

During the whole of our journey to Con-
stantinople, at sunrise and sunset, Hadjee
Achmet and our surrudjees never failed to
perform their religious ceremonies, and to
pray and sing to Allah; and this they did
with becoming gravity, although I own I
was now and then tempted to laugh at their
barbarous shouting and monotonous chanting.
Sometimes, by way of contrast, I would sing
them a cavatina by Rossini, or an aria by Mo-
zart, to their great astonishment; although I
fear they thought their own strains much more
harmonious than those of the giaour.

Hadjee Achmet was an excellent and cheerful

BULGARIA. 51

fellow : he had been at Mecca, at Bussora, Da-
mascu8» Aleppo, Cairo, Alexandria, Morra, (or
Morea,) was at the siege of Missolonghi, hated
the Muscovites and the Rayas, but loved the
pretty girls (cockonas) of Bucharest, with a
zeal becoming of a true believer. O! beUa!
bella cockonitza! Bucharest" — he would exclaim
in his lingua franca, folding both his hands, and
pressing them on his bosom.

We passed through several ruined towns and
villages, bearing the appearance of having been
destroyed by the hand of war. Towards noon
we had a fine view of the great ridge of Mount
Haemus, or as the Turks call it, the Balkan. All
the loftier mountains were covered with snow,
but the lower ranges presented a kind of line
of isolated, round mountainets, very blue, and
beautiful to look at. We passed through some
fine woods, and observed grea^t quantities of wild
anemones, ranunculuses. Virgin Mary's cowslip,
cyclamins,a great variety of the vernal crocus, vio-
lets, and forget-me-not, and several other flowers
to me unknown, who am but a poor botanist.

E 2

52 BUL.GABIANS.

We breakfasted at a little village called
Liazzan, in a clean Bulgarian cottage. Nothing
can exceed the cleanliness and comfort of the
interior of these humble dwellings, which,
although their exterior does not present an in«
viting appearance, are whitewashed neatly in
the inside, the day floor nicely swept, a dean
mat always ready for the stranger, near the
blazing wood fire, every article of their little
domestic menage cleanly scoured, and htmg
around the room. The poor people them-
selves, humble and obliging, give you readily
all they have; such as milk, eggs, and fresh.,
brown bread, or rather cake, which they make
before yoiu- eyes, upon an iron griddle. They
are all Christians of the Greek conmiunion.

Their women are extremely beautiftil, hav-
ing, it is true, a skin dark as the mulatto's,
but such faces, hands, feet, and arms, as would
serve for models to the statuary. They are
fond of trinkets, and all wear handsome gold or
silver armlets or bracelets, much resembling in
shape the Turkish or Persian bracelet, so much
the fashion in Germany. Their costume resem-

BULGARIANS. 5S

bles that of the Wallachian women, — a kind of
half turban in the matrons, and their own long
hair ornamented with gold coins in the maidens;
ear-rings of gold or sUver, rings of sUver on the
fingers ; a jacket with short wide sleeves, open
at the throat and bosom a little embroidered ;
and a petticoat, having the skirt of various co«.
lom^, which is very becoming. Their feet are
always bare, and beautiful.

The men are in general robust, but not
remarkably well favovu-ed; they are aU alike
in features, and I have frequently thought
that I have seen the same individual in every
cottage. Their dress consists of a sheepskin
cap^ a large loose jacket of coarse brown cloth,
a sash of worsted or silk round the waist, a
capacious pair of breeches, and their legs en-
cased in sheepskins or coarse woollen hose,
their feet in sandals of hide.

They seem to be the most humble slaves of
the Turks (whom, however, 1 have detected them
eyeing, with contempt and detestation, when
they have thought themselves unpereeived).
They are all disarmed, and are the ray as or

54 SHUMLA.

slaves of their Turkish masters, whom it i^ easy
to discern among them by their turbans, their air
of superiority, and then* pistols in their ^rdle ;
for every Turk, down to the meanest hamaa]
or porter, carries these weapons, and sometimes
a yatagan or a sabre. Hadjee Achmet always
styled the woman of the house " boba/' He was
generally kind and caressing in his manner to
the sex, as far as I saw of him : he always paid
generously for what little we had received ; and
if we chose to make a present to the poor boba
or her children, the most unbounded gratitude
WM expressed by their smUes and eyes.

We reached Shumla, or Chumla, at about two
o*clock, having crossed a very high and steep
ridge of sandy but well-wooded hills, in which
we were caught by a violent storm of snow and
rain.

Shumla, or Chumla, is called the Thermo-
pyke of Bulgaria ; and indeed the pass over the
mountains which separate it from the Danube
is a very difficult one, but the town ittelf is
commanded by the heights which surroimd it
on three of its sides, in the shape of a crescent.

SHUMLA. 55

These heights seem nearly iiupregnable, and
form the chief strength of the fortress, or ra-
ther vast entrenched camp.

We saw here many tail<Hrs and braziars at
work, which gave the town an appeioranoe of
activity and commerce. There are likewise
many vines upon the sides of the sandy hills
which nearly surround Shumla, which there*
fore I infer manufactures wine. The Russians
have twice advanced as far as Shumla, in 1774
and 1810, but have never yet taken it. I
should consider the fortress untenable in the
hands of European troops.

Dr. Clarke inclines to think that ^humla is

»

the ancient MarianopoUs, the capital of Moesia
Inferior. It is a large straggling town, having
a wall round it, flanked at intervals by brick
towers, in many parts broken down and de-
cayed. It has a considerable commerce in
braziery and clothing. The country round
about it might be even beautiful at a more
advanced season of the year. Here we took
coffee at the khan with the Tiu^ks, changed
horses, and proceeded on towards a village called

56 DRAOOLEU.

Dragoleu, observing on onr left hand upon the
horizon five very high and remarkable barrows.

On leaving Shumla, we passed on our right
hand a large encampment of gipsies, with their
carts and dogs ranged in battalia round them.
This seemed to have been the site of an en-
trenchment, probably during some former wars.
Some of the women came running down to
us, begging for charity in rather an impor-
tunate manner ; but we were soon freed from
them by the interference of our Tartar, whose
whip, like the rod of the magician, was never
waved in vain. The Bulgarians call the gip-
sies Tchingan6i. It is remarkable, that in
Hungary they are called Cyganis, or Czin-
garris. They are apparently the same people
in all parts of the world.

We halted at Dragoleu to supper, it being
about nightfall. Our Tartar was very anxious
that we should remain here for the night m the
cottage. We could not at all divine his motive,
when suddenly, in the midst of our supper, in
came about a dozen pretty girls, who began to
sing a kind of monotonous song, and to dance

DRAGOLEU, 57

to a measured pace, in a circle round us.* We
now began to comprehend our Tartar's anxiety
to remain here. We were, however, desirous
to get on, and resisted the Circean spell which
was cast around us. We made the young
damsels a present of a few paras; and they
all fled upon my companion's endeavouring to
kiss the prettiest among them. One of them
had previously to their departure, placed a white
handkerchief upon my shoulder. I did not know
whether to be flattered by this mark of distinc-
tion or not, as I was not quite sure of its import
We remounted our horses at eight o'clock,
and proceeded slowly through the woods and
valleys of the inferior range of the Balkan. As
the night advanced, the weather became very
unfavourable, snowing and raining almost con-
stantly. The roads were in a wretched plight,
and my horse knocked completely up. At one
time we came to the remains of a pav6, appa-

* This custom seems to be a relic of the ancient worship
of the Syrian Venus — " Venere Astarte." I have since
learnt many more particulars respecting it, and only regret
that I (from ignorance of its existence in this country) did
not more clearly ascertain the fact.

58 CHAH KAVACK.

rently of Turkish construction, the stones being
often round. At length, after a dreadful night's
journey, at 1 . 80. in the morning of the 6th, we
reached Chali Kavack, a large viUage, seated
between the superior and inferior range of the
Haemus. In entering the village, I had my right
eye nearly put out by the branch of a tree which
hung over a wall and over the road, but which
I did not see. We first rode up to a Turkish
house ; but here we were denied adniittance.

We rode wearily onwards, and on the out-
skirts of the village, guided by a Bulgarian,
we gained admittance into a nice, dean, com-
fortable cottage. We regretted to perceive
that we turned the poor cottagers and a Greek
lodger out of the best room ; but we were too
much fatigued to listen to the dictates of deli-
cacy, and took possession of the mats near a
good fire immediately, and stretching ourselves
out at full length, soon fell asleep. We were,
however, disturbed by the entrance of the own-
er of the cottage, who seemed to dispute with
the Tartar our right of possession ; upon which
the Tartar looked big, and at length seized his

CHALI KAVACK. 69

whip. This last demonstration seemed to pco-
duce the desired effect of silencing all orgu-
meiit, and we fell sound asleep. In the morn-
ing it snowed and rained tremendously, and now
we had no prospect of being able to proceed,
until the waters should have gone down a little ;
we therefore made ourselves as comfortable as
we could, breakfasting heartily, and indulging in
the luxury of a good purification and shaving.

As there was no table or chair in the cot*
tage, I had been obliged to fasten the looking-
glass of my portable dressing-case to a long
piece of cord with which some of our baggage
had been lashed up, and to suspend it from
a beam of the cottage, over which I contrived
to throw the other end of the cord. When
I had done shaving, and had detached iny look-
ing-glass from the running noose which I had
made in the end, Hadjee Achmet passed close
by me ; and as his back was turned to me, I
made a motion as though I would throw the
noose over his neck and hoist him up to the
beam. The Bulgarian cottagers, and more par-
ticularly the females, were delighted at this ap-

60 CHALI KAVACK.

parent demonstration of hatred towards their
Osmanlee oppressors, and gave great outward
tokens of satisfaction in thdr countenances, al-
though they did not dare to let Hadjee Achmet
perceive the cause of their d^ght.

HADJEE ACHMET.

As Hadjee sat at his breakfast at Chali Ka-
vack, one of his pistols suddenly disdiarged it-
self, the ball passing through his very capacious
nether garment, and entering his saddle-bags,
ludcily doing no farther damage.

FORDING THE RIVER. 61

Towards noon the weather brightened up, and
the snow changed to rain. At 2. 80., notwith-
standing the constant rain, we set off; but had not
proceeded onwards more, than a couple of hours,
when we came to a large river ; this we crossed
and recrossed several times, the water running
at a prodigious rate; at length this river fell into
another, (the river Kamtchi-s6, which empties
itself into the Black Sea, between Capes Aspro
and Mauro,) a much wider and deeper flood,
and here our Tartar and postilicm came to a full
stop, not daring to attempt the ford. After
some consideration, we turned backwards, and
off a little to the right, over some hills, to a vil-
lage of Turks, Here they consulted with a ve-
nerable old Turk, with a white beard and a green
turban, and he called out some dozen of his fel-
low villagers, who ran down with us to the banks
of the river ; and stripping off their trowsers and
shoes, but retaining their wide linen drawers,
two of them seized each of our horses, one by
the^ bridle, and another by the flank of the
saddle, and rushed into the stream, bearing our
horses up by main force against the violence of

62 FORDING THE RIYER.

the current, which was running at least six or
seven miles an hour, and forcing us in a diagonal
direction across the river to the opposite bank.
I was much astonished and pleased with the gal-
lantry and alacrity with which these fellows ren-
dered us so important a sandce ; for indeed I
think that without their assistance the horses
could not have kept their footing, aiid would
most probably have been washed away down
the stream. Hadjee Emir Achmet paid them
very liberally, and they dashed into the water
again^ and resuming their capacious nether gar-
ments and sandals, returned to their village,
which I have denominated the Village of Emirs,
each of its male inhabitants wearing a green
turban.

This passage over the Mount Haemus is in
no ways interesting; there are no very lofty
heights to cross, but you ascend from one
plateau to another, cross one height, and
when you think you are over the main ridge,
you still find you have another hill to go over.
We rode on all night ; and very wet and weary
we were, for it rained incessantly. We reached

ROUMELIA. 63

Camabat, a large town with many illuminated
minarets, at about fifteen minutes past one in
the morning of the seventh of April. Here
we descended at a wretched Turkish khan, and,
wet and weary as we were, could get no sleep,
on account of a number of Turks who were
sitting up aU night long, eating and drinking ;
which they cannot do during the day, while the
Ramazan lasts. I bore all this for a long time
with patience ; but at length, finding it past all
endurance, I sprung up, and anathematizing
them in all the languages of Europe, drove them
fairly out of the khan.

At a quarter past seven, we again proceeded
to horse. It rained as before ; but we obtsmxed
some fine views as we rode through the woody
plains, at the foot of the Balkan, full of herds
of buffaloes, goats and sheep, the herdsmen fero-
cious-looking armed Turks. In riding through
these woody pastures, I was obliged to dis-
mount from my horse, and to retire to a little
distance among the thickets ; but upon return-
ing to my moNture, I met a fierce-looking
green-turbaned Osmanlee, who seemed to ques-

64 ROUMELIA.

tion my right of intrusion upon his ground, and
from his gestures and loud language, to threaten
me, and to forhid my departure from the thicket
to rejoin my companions, who were already at
some distance. I was however too well armed
to fear any rencontre with equal force ; and per-
ceiving that his drift was to intimidate me, and
perhaps extort money from me, I drew a pistol
from my girdle, and advanced towards him ;
upon which, putting his hand upon his own
weapons, he withdrew, and left me quietly to
remount my horse, and to trot away after my
friend Hadjee Achmet, shouting out chopeck
Biid giaour! (dog and infidel,) at the top of his
voice, as I rode off.

These plains are however bounded by another
ridge of lofty and woody hills or mountainets, to
the south-east ; and we had the mortification of
finding that we should stiU have a tedious day's
ride through the mazes of the mountains and
forests. Had the weather been more favourable,
we should no doubt have enjoyed this kind of
scenery very much, but the constant wet and

ROUM£LIA. 65

fog hanging about the heights, added to our
weariness of the Balkan, made us sigh for plains.
At twelve, we reached a little village called
Brimale, and here we breakfasted as usual well,
in a cottage. Shortly after leaving the village,
our road lying through beautiful wood and park
scenery, over gentle slopes and through fertile
valleys, we came to a deep and narrow river.
The postilion, after some hesitation, rode in ;
but, finding the water up to his horse's middle,
took fright and came back again. However,
after some delay, the Tartar persuaded him to
try again, and we all crossed over, the water
being up to our knees, as we sat on horseback,
and our baggage getting a little wet. The coun-
try continued beautiful, and the evening cleared
up, which enabled us to get, now and then, some
splendid views. The soil hereabouts was gravel*
ly, and the scenery resembled (but was much
finer) some parts of the New Forest in Hamp-
shire, the gravel was of the same bright yellow
colour, and the wood chiefly oak and beech.
These fine trees are all indigenous to the soil,

VOL. I. F

66 ROUMELIA.

and are left entirely to themselves, being blown
down by the storms, or now and then burnt
down by the peasants, who find the process of
fire easier than that of the axe. The timber
seems to be of no value, as it is left to rot on the
ground; but the branches the peasants carry
off to build thebr huts and make their fences
with. We saw some deer, and a vast many
vultures, and birds of prey of all descriptions.
There are many buffaloes in this country, so in-
deed there are in Bulgaria. They plough and
draw the carts, and perform all the duties of
oxen : they are the most frightful animals in
the world, and look as if the devil had created
them as a caricature upon the race of homed
cattle. They look like fiends, but are, I hear,
quiet, inoffensive, slow animals. Their milk is
excellent ; but I believe their flesh is hard and
ill-flavoured.

We reached Faki, (Umar Fakih,) a large
village situated in a beautiful valley, at about
fifteen minutes after six. Here we were, as
usual, well lodged in a cottage^ the Roumeliote

ROUMELIA. 67

Christian peasantry being apparently of the
same race and habits as their neighboiu*s the
Bulgarians. We supped gloriously upon eggs,
ham, hot cake, milk, and tea (of which we had
a store), and slept well until midnight, when,
owing to some misconception on the part of our
Tartar, who by four o'clock in the morning
understood four hours' repose, he aroused us, and
brought the horses to the door. We however,
after some time, discovered, by reference to our
watches, and by the darkness, that it could not
be four o'clock in the morning, and lay down
again until daylight.

Apeil 8. — We set off at five. Rain and fog
aU the morning* Our route, as yesterday, lay
through woods and mountains; the country
superb; the views, although a good deal ob-
scured by the fog, were splendid. I, from being
constantly wet, suffered much from rheumatism
in my left knee and thigh. We saw a great vari-
ety of sylvan flowers, and vultures and buzzards
innumerable. At noon we breakfasted at Tur-
ki, in a cottage. As we advanced this day, we

F 2

»-^,

68 KOUMELIA.

passed over and by several mountains, whose
summits were covered with immense masses of
marble and granite, in such incongruous and
fantastic forms, as quite to bewilder the imagi-
nation in trying to account for their being so
placed and thrown together. Sometimes a
huge square block, flanked by taller and smaller
pieces, resembled a feudal castle, perched upon
a height, and frowning down with its battle-
ments upon the passes. Sometimes a large rock,
curiously balanced upon another, looked as if it
could be thrust down by the effort of a pigmy
into the plains, and crush every thing in its
fall. Here, a block, placed upon a kind of pla-
teau, looked for all the world like some huge
tortoise upon a dish; and there, were other
masses which resembled men's heads and hands,
and birds and beasts, in all imaginable postures
and situations. In short, it was a perfect
chaos, and looked like the vast ruins of some
anterior formation, or the wreck of a world
destroyed by the Titans of fable. A great deal
of the marble was of the most brilliant white.

k >

KIRK ISSA. 69

and some resembled that "king of brescias,"
the verde antioo ; the granite was' generally
red. What a source of riches these rocks would
prove to a civilized government ! but here they
are totally neglected, not a soul being near
them for many leagues around. We saw during
this morning a prodigious number of storks,
who seem to enjoy a kind of immunity from
all disturbance throughout Turkey in Europe,
as in Holland. They very often take possession
of some chimney-top, or some minaret, and there
build their great clumsy nest of twigs and day.
At four in the afternoon, upon reaching
the summit of a lofty ridge of hills, we
came suddenly . upon the town of Kirk Issa,
(Ejrk Iklissee, or Quaranta Chiesa,) which
stands a little below the brow of the hills.
Prom hence the eye roves over the bound-
less plains of Roumelia, which look as blue
and as level at your feet as the sea. Bark
Issa* is, as its name indicates, of Christian

* I have since learnt, that although the name Kirk Iklissee
signifies " forty churches," there is no proof of any churches

70 KIRK ISSA.

origin. It had once forty churches in it, but
now the minaret lords it over the campanile,
and the crescent towers above the cross. There
are many beautiful mosques in this town. It is
celebrated for its wines, and a curious descrip-
tion of preserve made of boiled grapes and wal-
nuts : this is rolled out into long sausage-look-
ing forms, and contains, in the centre of a sweet
kind of pulp, the kernels of the walnuts; in
taste it somewhat resembles almonds and rai-
sins. The Turks are very fond of it; and
indeed during Ramazan, it must come into
full play. The wine tastes very much like
dder, and is of a pale yellow or golden colour,
somewhat tinged with violet. It is a plea-
sant beverage, and might be made an excel-
lent wine by a little care and skiU. We de-
scended at the khan kept by the postmaster,

having ever existed here. There is, however, a tradition re-
lative to forty Santons, who resided in this place; and thus,
perhaps, in the confusion between saint ai d church, the
mistake has originated. Kirk, in Turkish, signifies the num-
ber forty. Iklissee is a corruption of the Greek word exXeffia
(church).

KIEK ISSA. 71

in hopes, as the evening had cleared up
a little, of getting horses immediately, and
proceeding on to Burgaz. Upon entering the
khan, we foimd, as usual, a number of Turks
squatting upon their mats, smoking and drink-
ing coffee.

We ordered horses ; but were given to under-
stand that we must wait while they were feed-
ing. The Turks, as usual, showed great cu-
riosity about our pistols, some of which were
upon the percussion principle ; and were much
gratified by being allowed to. fire them, ex-
pressing great astonishment at the distance to
which a small pair of rifle pocket-pistols of
mine threw the shot. We amused ourselves
and them in this manner for about half an
hour, when we began to be anxious about our
horses. An old Turk, who spoke a little (Jer-
man, gave me to understand, that as it was the
Sabbath, the postmaster would not be induced
to give us horses, unless we agreed to give him
five ducats above the usual price ; telling me,
at the same time, that if we chose to remain

72 KIRK ISSA.

until the morning, we should have them free
of the extra charge. This seemed to us to be
an imposition; but as our Tartar was bound
by his bargain to carry us to Constantinople
free of all expenses, we said it was his affair
and not ours, and insisted upon being imme-
diately forwarded, the more especially as Mr.

was the bearer of despatches. The

Turkish postmaster, however, would not listen
to our reiterated demands, in lingua franca and
malo Russian, for horses {** cavalli and cognV').
The Tartar did not seem to relish the idea of
paying five additional ducats, and would not
exert himself in our behalf. The postmaster was
a Hadjee, a man of authority, and much vene^
rated and feared by the Moslem ; he was exceed-
ingly angry at our pressing instances, and threw
his slippers about at the heads of his attend-
ants, right and left, eyeing us, as we sat in our
comer, with great contempt and abhorrence.

Meanwhile the time wore away, and sun-
set approached. The Turk sat near the window,
holding the shutter in his hand, watching

KIRK ISSA. 73

the descent of the luminary, with his supper
of caviar, olives, and cheese, on a little tabouret
before him. As soon as the sun had disappeared,
his countenance assumed an appearance of bene-
volence ; he called his secretary (a Greek) and
his servants around the tabouret, and they soon
dispatched the temperate meal which the Ra-
mazan imposes upon all good Mussulmans. He
then took his hookah, Xthis description of pipe is
called by the Turks nagelay,) which he smoked
through a large crystal vase of rose-water, and
offered a pipe to Mr. , in token of re^

conciliation : this was declined, and the Turk's
countenance again darkened. We now thought
we had better advance the five ducats ourselves,
reserving to ourselves the power of deducting
them from the half of the Tartar's fee,' which
remained in our hands. The Turk, mean-
while, arose from his mat and began to say his
orisons, turmng his face towards the East : he
knelt, knocked his head against the floor, rose
again upon his feet, prayed, knelt again, again
knocked his head against the floor, and repeated

74 KIBK ISSA.

these movements, alternately, twelve times,
during which we with difficulty restrained our
laughter, and the Turks observed the most pro-
foimd silence and gravity. This operation being
at length finished, we paid the five ducats to the
Tartar ; and he, adding thirteen more, handed
them to the postmaster, who eyed and weighed
them. aU carefully in ins hand, and then locked
them up in a kind of strong box which he had
in the room. We now hoped that we should
get the horses ; but not at all ! The Turk was
determined to mortify us by a show of power,
and gave no directions about them. In vain we
called upon the Tartar to exert himself; he
pointed to his throat, and showed evident
signs of terror and dismay. This was at length
too much for mortal patience to endure: my
wrath was kindled ; and advancing to the Turk,
as he sat in the comer, I pointed with one
hand to my pistols, shook my clenched fist in
his face, and apostrophized him in all the tm-
guages I could command, in the hope that he

BURGAZ. 75

might perhaps understand some few of the op-
probrious epithets which I lavished upon him.
He seemed utterly confounded by my gesti-
culations and volubility ; and perhaps took me
for a madman, or one suddenly inspired. I
then seized a lighted candle, and threatened to
set fire to his khan if he did not immediately
order out the horses : to all this he tranquilly
replied, in broken Italian, ^^ Cavalli mangiano.*'
The Tartar and the Turks meanwhile looked
on in utter amazement, expecting every mo-
mait to see the Hadjee postmaster draw his
yatagan, and smite off the head of the pre-
sumptuous Giaour, who had dared thus to beard
the Jion in his den.

This demonstration of resolution on my
part produced however, although tardily, the
order for the horses, which were to carry us on,
all the way to Constantinople (three days' jour-
ney). At length, at about 8. 30., having been
detained here upwards of four hours, we
mounted our horses, and proceeded on towards
Burgaz. Nothing remarkable occurred during

76 BURGAZ.

this long and tedious ride, except the falling
of our baggage horse, who was a lame and
wretched animal : we were all obliged to alight
and assist in unloading and Ufting him up.
We did not reach Burgaz until half-past four
in the morning of —

April 9. — 1 suffered exceedingly during
this nocturnal ride, from the rheumatism ; and
was too happy when we reached a wretched
khan in the town, where I threw myself down
in a comer and reposed for four hours, not-
withstanding the efforts which the fleas made
to keep me awake.

DEPAKTUEE FROM BUIIGAZ. 77

CHAPTER IV.

Departure from Burgaz.— Plains of Roumelia. — Tumuli, and
observations thereon. — Caristrania. — Obelisks — Breakfast.
— Pasha of Burgaz, with his Charem, or Harem. — Bridges
and Pave.— Nature of the country. — ^Tchorlu. — Departure
from Tchorlu. — Deserts. — Sea of Marmora. — View of Sely-
vria. — Narrow escape of our baggage horse. — ^Town of
Selyvria. — Stone bridges. — Buados. — Clean cafe. — Supper
with Tartar. — Voices of the Imaums before day. — Depar-
ture from Buados. — Nature of our route. — ^Turkish troops
of Nizam Djedid. — Costume and equipment. — BdyCik
Tchekmadjeh.— Troops and sick soldiers. — Kdtchdk
Tchekmadj6h. — First view of Constantinople. — Desolation
of the environs. — Cemeteries. — Entrance into the city. —
Embarkation. — ^View of the Port and Squadron. — Pera.
— Hotel. — Repose.

At half-past eight we left Burgaz, which seems
to be a pretty town, having several handsome
mosques and manufactories of pottery in it. We
rode through bog and splash and marsh up to
our horses' knees, over vast plains full of immense

78 CARISTEANIA.

tumult/until one, when we halted ontside of a
town (I believe, the ancient Caristrania) ; here
we observed three extraordinary obelisks,f and a
pav6 apparently of Turkish construction, like-
wise a large stone bridge over a river. We en-
tered a species of underground hut by the road-
side ; here we found two Greek merchants going
to Burgaz; and spreading our stores upon the
ground, inviting the Greeks to eat with us,
breakfasted most voraciously upon cold fowl

* Roumelia is full of these tumuli, which are so numer-
ous, that supposing them to be burial-places, the whole hu-
man race must have fallen in these regions to have filled up
these immense mounds with its dead. I believe them to
be some, ancient camps or entrenchments, and others, land-
marks, indicative of the various routes which cross these
immense deserts, and serving more especially, in the total
default of all other leading objects, to guide the traveller
(and formerly the Turkish, and perhaps even the' Roman
troops,) over the boundless wastes. Without these tumuli, I
do not see how, with the snow upon the ground, it would be
possible for the natives themselves to find their way over the
country; and my supposition is perhaps borne out, by the
circumstance of most of these tracks or routes having at
certain distances a tumulus on either hand.

t These obelisks are constructed for the purpose of rais-
ing water to a given height. — Hydraulic columns. —See
Cyclopedia, article Column.

CARISTftANIA. 79

and ham, and Kirk Issa wine, drinking to the de-
struction of old Hadjee Mehmet, the postmaster.
On resuming our route, we met the Pasha
of Burgaz going thither, a.nd transporting in
two Turkish carriages (arabas) all the ladies
of his charem. They passed close to us, and
appeared to view us with considerable ciuio-
sity and interest. Mr. — — looked boldly into
one of the carriages, or covered waggons, much
to the annoyance of the Pasha, who was at a
little distance on horseback, accompanied by
an escort of soldiers. We crossed several stone
bridges, which I believe to have been built,

m

as weU as the pav6 above-mentioned, by
Solyman the Great: this pav6 is a part of a
great military road from Constantinople to the
Danube, and is a continuation of that portion
of it which we had seen in the Mount HaBmus,
and occasionally in the lower hills of Roumelia.
The country now became the most hideous
and disagreeable imaginable, all mud and splash,
nothing growing upon it but a coarse kind of
bulbous plant, resembling in some degree a
crocus, but having longer and crooked leaves.

80 TCHORLU.

Not a tree, or a stone, or a bush, could be seen
for leagues. We saw many vultures, cranes, and
storks. I suffered much from rheumatism all
day, and was very glad when, about six in the
evening, we reached Tchorlu,* a large town
standing upon a ridge of steep hills, surrounded
by an old wall, bearing tokens of antiquity, and
the opus incertum of the Romans.

Tchorlu contains a handsome mosque, but, like
nearly every thing else I had hitherto seen in
Turkey, almost in ruins. The town seems to have
been the scene of contention, for the minarets and
dome of the mosque were a good deal marked
by cannon shot. Here we were badly and un-
savourably lodged at the khan, it being too late
to proceed that night, and owr horses too much
fatigued, by toiling all day through the marshes
and bogs of the plains. The Turks at the
khan did not seem to treat us with much de-
ference, but came in and stared at us whenever
they thought fit so to do ; and another Tartar, a
friend of Hadjee's, came and supped with us.

* Tchorlu is the Roman Turullus. — Da. Clarke.

SEA OF MARMORA. 81

They seemed to eonvCTse together very eagerly,
and the word yemseri often struck my ears,

April 10. — ^We left Tchorlu at five o'clock,
it raining all the morning. Hadjee Achmet
had now exchanged his green turban for a long
calpac made of black felt. We passed by several
large convoys of loaded mules and horses, with
bale goods, apparently from Germany; the
country bearing the same aspect as yesterday.
We breakfasted in a Tm'kish cottage, at a place
called Kimneklea. The vast plains all satura-
ted with wet, rendered the journey exceedingly
fatiguing to the. horses. All was one continued
desert, without a habitation or a tree. Suddenly
we came upon the Sea of Marmora. I felt de-
lighted at seeing my own element, and greeted
it with a huzza, not having -seen " the glad
waters of the dark blue sea" during a period of
twenty months. We soon descried a vessel,
apparently a brig, going to the southward. It
was blowing a tremendous gale from the north-
east where we . stood, much elevated above the
sea, and exposed to the violence of the wind

VOL. I. G

82 SELYVKIA.

from the Euxine; but as it was an off-shore
wind, the sea was smooth, and the brig seemed
to have fine weather. Our postilion lost his
way, and took us a detour of at least four
miles out of the track, in search of the beadi.
We saw the picturesque town of Selyvria, with
its port, its vessels, and its old walls, looking
bright, and prosperous, and picturesque. Sely v-
ria has evidently been a town of much military
and commercial importance. Its position is
nearly impregnable, and its ancient Greek -look-
ing walls are still nearly entire. We now got
down upon the sands, and enjoyed for a short
time the pleasiu^e of a firmer footing. Upon
ascending, however, a steep diff, to regain the
track, our baggage-horse was thrown down,
and was within an ace of being blown, by the
violence of the wind, over the precipice into
the sea. Nothing but our promptitude in
jumpmg off our horses and runnmg to his
assistance, saved the poor brute and our bag-
gage Ax)m being dashed to atoms.

We reached Selyvria, passing over an im-

BUADOS. 83

mense bridge of thirty arches, at three. This is
a large and apparently prosperous town ; a great
deal of commercial activity seemed to pervade
the streets and numerous shops. On leaving
Selyvria, we observed some remains of ancient
columns lying about, and an immense burying,
ground: the old walls are very beautiful and
curious.

There are many vineyards in the neighbour-
hood of Seljrvria, and we saw many fruit-trees
in full blossom. The couBtry was pretty much
as before, with now and then the pav6 before-
mentioned, and stone bridges, on the keystone
of the centre arch of one of which I observed
a Greek cross,* having beneath the arms two

little highly ornamented tabernacles. Mr.

likewise saw on another arch a Roman eagle.
(Query, is this bridge of the Greek empire, or
were these stones put in by chance, by Turkish
architects ?) • We reached Buados at six. Here
the Tartar, upon the receipt of some information

* I have since seen in the walls of Constantinople many
of these crosses, but without the tabernacles.

G 2

84 BUADOS.

respecting Tchekmadjeh, the next town, did

not think it advisable to proceed ; and here

we halted for the night, at a very neat and

clean caf6, kept by a civil Greek; but did

not' find the room they assigned us to sleep

in, much better or sweeter than the usual

average of Tm-kish khans. Here we supped

heartily with our Tartar upon pillau^ or, as the

Turks call it, piUafF, and remained until half
past two in the following morning. 1 was

m

dreadfully tormented by the fleas and the
rheumatism all night, and, at midnight, aroused
by the calls of the imaum^ from the lofty mi-
narets of the mosques. Nothing can be more
striking than these sonorous voices breaking the
complete silence of the darkness.

April. 11.— The morning was fine and
tranquil ; a great pleasure to us after the three
tempestuous and rainy days we had just pass-
ed. Our route lay, for some distance, along
the beach; and, as the day broke, we saw
several small vessels and picturesque-looking
fishing-boats hovering about the coast. We
were, however, after about tliree hours' ride,

BUYUK TCHEKMADjfeH. 85

obliged to take up our old line of mud and
water, over the heights, sometimes passing over
the most wretched pav6 conceivable, and some-
times quitting it for the mud on either hand,
hardly knowing which was to be preferred.

About six o'clock, we heard a distant drum ;
and as we approached Buyiik Tchekmadjeh,
met a large body of the newly organized troops,
with twelve pieces of cannon, and about one
hundred ammunition and provision waggons.
The state of the guns and waggons very much
surprised me, as their equipment and order
appeared to be equal to any thing of the sort
in European armies. The horses were beautiful
and well harnessed. The troops seemed very
young; and out of the whole column, which
perhaps might amount to fifteen hundred or
two thousand, hardly one hundred had a mus-
taehio, or beard, or any external symptom of
manhood. Their line of march was very dis-
orderly, and their equipments and arms appa-
rently none of the best. These troops had
many standards with them of green silk, bear-

86 BUYUK tch£kmadj£:h.

ing thereon a crescent and a star. I have known
worse-lookmg troops, however, beat much better
soldiers than these Turks are likely to find
among the Greeks. We met with no incivility
on the part of these troops, except in one m-
stance, and I believe that was purely in joke.
One of the lads advancing up to me, presented
his musket at my head, and called me Giaour ;
I, in retiun, shook my stick good-humouredly at
him, upon which he ran laughing away. The
Aga, or Colonel, was a venerable-looking old
gentleman, and retimied our salute as we passed
him very cordially.

These troops, as we learnt afterwards, were
destined to reinforce Reschid Pasha before
Athens. Their costume is not very becom-
ing: it consists of a round high cap, without
brims, a large loose round jacket, and loose
breeches, which are very capacious until they
reach the knee, when they become tight over
the calf and shin ; many had boots pulled over
these nether garments, and others wore sho^s.
They did not seem to be very particular re-

BUYUK TCHEKMADjiH. 87

specting the manner of wearing their arms and
accoutrements; some carrying their bayonets
on one side, some on another, and many upon
their muskets: their pouches and belts were
in a most lamentable state. External appear-
ances, however, do not constitute the soldier ;
and we must not forget that the Tiurks are
now only begiiming to discipline their troops ;
and that all things must necessarily have a
beginning, and cannot at once reach perfection.

I could not help being struck with the
circumstance of meeting these barbarous and
implacable enemies of the Grecian name and
nation, the hordes of Asia, upon their march
to invade the classic fields of Attica and L&-
cedemon; and I was, in imagination, carried
back to the days of Darius and Xerxes, of
Leonidas and MUtiades.

Shortly after we had passed these troops, we saw
a dump of fine trees, the first we had seen since
we ld% Burgaz, excepting two solitary, miser*
able-looking oaks, each a day's joiuney from the
other, between Caristrania and Buados, and the

88 BUYUK TCHEKMADJ&H.

fruit-trees near Sely vria. The approach to Buyiik
Tchekmadj6h is remarkably picturesque : it is
seated upon a kind of peninsula, formed by
two lagoons or inlets from the sea. It joins the
main land towards Buados, by a row of foiu"
bridges* of twenty-six arches, and is backed
towards Constantinople by a high promontory;
between which and the plain on which it stands,
(bounded by another height,) runs an arm of the
sea, making a kind of a strait. We entered
the town at seven o'clock, and found it full of
troops and waggons, with many sick ; all was in
confusion ; but such is the extraordinary change
operated by the new state of things in Tur-
key, that, as we were afterwards informed, not
an instance of pillage or disorder ever occurs
with the new troops, in the towns and villages
through which they pass. Formerly, the people
always fled upon the approach of troops, well
knowing that their rapacity and indiscipline
were equally dangerous to their friends and foes.
On leaving Tchekmadjfeh, we were as usual

* Buy6k Tchekmadjeh, si^ifies in Turkish 'Hhe great bridge.*'

CONSTANTINOPLE. «9

caught in a terrible storm of rain, which af-
terwards changed into a thick and cold fog.
At about three-quarters past ten, after cross-
ing the second lagoon or inlet of the sea, over a
wooden bridge, we reached another little town,
called Kiitchdk Tchekmadjeh :* here are a barrier
and a custom-house; and here we halted for about

m

a quarter of an hour, while Hadjee Achmet ar-
ranged matters with the officers of the customs.

Pursuing our way wearily over the lofly
downs, we suddenly, towards one o'clock,
perceived the domes and minarets of Stam-
bool. No pilgrim ever hailed the towers of
the Holy City with greater delight than did
I, sinner as I am, the minarets of Constan-
tinople. We halted for some time, and ex-
amined very carefully with a spy-glass the
beautiful scene before us: the long line of
cypress-trees, broken here and there by the lof-
ty domes and taper minarets, relieved by the
blue hills of Asia Minor, produced a charming
effect. We had, however, stiU several miles to

♦ Kutchuk Tchekmadjeh, " little bridge."

90 CONSTANTINOPLE.

go, and our horses were completely wearied,
one of them, indeed, knocked up ; and we were
obliged to leave him at a farm*house, and make
the postilion (Surrudjee) lead on foot the bag-
gage-horse all the way to Constantinople. As
we neared the capital, we passed on our left
hand some ancient remains, apparently of an
amphitheatre or entrenched camp, and came in
full view of the fine old walls and towers of
the ancient city : farther on we came to a most
magnificent and extensive barrack,* built of
brick, and saw another beyond us of the same
size and form. The universal silence and air of
desolation, which mark the approach to Con-
stantinople, impress the mind of the traveller
with painful and gloomy feelings : he seems to
be entering upon a scene of death, or one laid
waste by the pestilence, or some sudi great
national calamity.

We now soon entered the cemeteries
which form the fauxbourgs of the city : these

* This I afterwards learnt was no barrack, but Daud
Pasha, an imperial kiosk.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 91

are some of the most ttriking objects in Tur-
key, and are planted with cypress-trees,
whidi in this country grow to a very large
size. I thought we should never get out of
these cities of the dead, and enter that of the
living ; but at length, after having nearly made
the circuit of the old walls, we entered the
city at its eastern extremity, and passing
through some narrow, wretched streets, reached
a little wooden quay; and here quitting our
horses, we took a caique (or ferry-boat), and pull-
ing across the beautiful port, enjoying the fine
view of the city, Tophana, Galata, Pera, Scu-
tari, the squadron of four or five frigates and a
ship of the line, which were equipping for sea,
and the animated scene before us, landed at
Galata, and clambering over the steep hills and
through an immense cemetery, reached the dirty
and offensive streets of the celebrated Pera.

Here, after some difficulty, we found a lodg-
ing in a species of hotel, (placed at the extremity
of a dark and filthy passage full of ordures,) kept
by an Italian, named Giuseppe Vidal. We

92 CONSTANTINOPLE.

were, however, too happy to get housed, and to
repose and refresh ourselves, to feel very parti-
cular upon this score ; and here, after delivering
the despatches to the ambassador, and a packet
with some letters which I had brought for M.
Guilleminot, we dined and slept in compara-
tive luxury.

1

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III

CONSTANTINOPLE. 93

CHAPTER V.

Visitsof Ceremony.— Hasty tour of Pera. — Scenery. — Group-
ing of Orientals. — Annenian fetnales and cemetery. —
Greek women. — British embassy. — Attack of Cholera
Morbus. — Hadj^e Achmet's visit and exculpation. — Visit
to the walls of Constantinople. — Canine scavengers.—
Anecdote of Turkish humanity. — Ottoman squadron. —
Visit to the Antiquities of Constantinople. — Palace
of the Divan. — Seraglio. — Human heads at the Gate
thereof.— Failure in an attempt to get into the Mosque of
Santa Sophia. — Caserne of Nizam Djedid. — Conduct of
the Aga. — Antiquities. — M. de Ribeaupierre. — State of
the Ottoman fleet. — Candiote sailors. — State of the
Nizam Djedid. — Cemeteries. — Hydraulic columns. — Sul-
tan going to Mosque. — Bazaars and Bezesteens. — Envi-
rons of Pera. — ^Turks in the cemeteries. — ^Turtle doves. —
Tomb stones. — Contrast between my hotel and the
neighbourhood of Pera.

Apbil 12. — I was employed all the morning
in caQing upon the British ambassador, and the
various members of the corps diplomatique and
consulate, to some of whom I had brought

94 CONSTANTINOPLE.

letters of introduction. These essential visits
over, I indulged in a hasty tour of Pera, its
beautiful cemeteries, which form the prome-
nades of the beau monde, its picturesque bar-
racks, and those points from whence the loveliest
views of the Gkjlden Horn, the city of Constan-
tine, the mouth of the Bosphorus, with Dolma
Batchi, Scutari, and its kiosks, mosques, and
enormous burying-ground, the Tower of Lean-
der, (" Kiz Koulessi") the Sea of Marmora, the
islands of the Propontis, backed by the Blue
Mountains of Asia Minor, and surmounted by
the lofty glacier of theThradan Mount Olympus.
It is easier to conceive than to describe the
feelings with which I contemplated the love-
ly scenery before me. I now indeed felt that
I was amply repaid for the fatigue and anxie-
ty incident to such a journey as I had just
performed. I longed for the pencil of the artist
and the pen of the poet, to enable me to give
some faint picture to my friends at home, of
those sensations which, delightful as they were,
almost overpowered me, and to which I knew
not how to give a sufficient vent. Again, how

CONSTANTINOPLE. 95

could I convey any idea of the grouping of the
splendid orientals among whom I found myself?
How describe the grave, majestic, and grace*
ful Effendi Turk, with snow-white turban, jetty
beard, sparkling and full eyes, long flowing
caftan, scarlet trowsers, yellow boots, rich cash-
mere shawl round the waist, in which shone
the glittering gilded handjar (dagger) — The
light, gay, chattering, active, but cunning-
looking Greek, distinguished by his shorn chin,
black turban, enormously large but short trow-
sers, bare legs, and black shoes — The grave
but respectful Armenian, with his calpac of
black felt, swelling like a balloon upon his
head ; he too wears the long robe of the Turk,
but in his girdle the silver ink-horn supplies the
place of the handjar, and his feet are clothed
in the crimson slipper or boot. Next comes
the despised and humiliated Jew, whose sallow
countenance, contracted eyebrow, sunken eye,
and quivering lip, are the characteristics of his
nation all over the world ; his head bent down-
wards, as if by the weight of tyranny and the
everlasting sin of his tribe, is surmounted by a

96 CONSTANTINOPLE.

blue turban, and his slippers are of the same
colour. With these are seen the high taper
calpae of the Tartar, the melon-shaped head-
piece of the Nizam Djedid, the grey felt co-
nical cap of the Imaum "and Dervish, and oc-
casionally the ungraceful hat of the Frank,
with its concomitant angular, rectilinear, bebut-
toned and mean-looking costume of Europe.

Far apart from these groups, in the shade
and cool breezes of the lofty cypresses, upon
the marble tombs of their countrymen and
relatives, sit the quiet and unobtrusive females
of Armenia, whose forms, enveloped in the
feridjee of the Turkish women, betray but
little of their Oriental symmetry, and whose
fine expressive black eyes, long lashes, and
arched brows, bespeak the beauty of their souls,
and give promise of the lovely countenance
which the jealousy of their males, and the never-
changing manners of the East, forbid them to
unveil to the gaze of the world, but of which
from time to time the watchful observer obtains
a glimpse, as they unpin the comer of the mus-
lin which covers the lower part of the coun-

CONSTANTINOPLE. 97

tenance, (yachmack,) to enable them to indulge
in their favourite habit of eating sweetmeats
and smoking the long chibouk or pipe of the
Turks. But interesting as are the females of
the East, and beautifid as our imaginations and
the pens of poets have pictured them, I must
say, that their exterior is any thing but inviting,
their carriage utterly devoid of either grace or
dignity^ and the embonpoint, so much admired
by their proud masters, too luxuriant to please
the fastidious taste of the European connois-
seur. Indeed, it is impossible to imagine a
dress more calculated, by the demon of jealousy,
to deprive its object of the outward means of
ifasdnation ; and I must confess, that as I gazed
upon them, and upon the many Turkish fe^
males who likewise frequent the same spots, and
who are equally affublies and disguised, that I
could not help thinking of those ghouls in the
cemeteries, of which I had read in the Arabian
Nights, in the days of my youth. The Greek
women, however, have no objection to exposing
the charms of their persons, and for the most
part wear such a costume as I have described

VOL. I. H

98 CONSTANTINOPLE.

under the head of Bucharest. They have fine
black eyes and hair, and in the white muslin
turban, sprigged with gold, insert all the gau-
diest productions of Flora; they too partake
rather too much of the luxuriant curves and of
the obesity consequent upon the indolent life
and the languid customs of the East.

I returned to my hotel much delighted with
my promenade, and had the honour of dining
at his Excellency the British Ambassador's, from
whom I met with the kindest reception, and
where I found many agreeable members of the
corps diplomatique^ and of the European mer-
cantile body. His Excellency's hospitality is
profuse, and his household upon a footing of
great magnificence. The graceful and fasci-
nating manners of his beautiful and accom-
plished wife, contribute very much indeed to
the ease of every one who has the honour to
sit at her table, and diffuse the elegance and
polish of European refinement over a scene so
far removed from its focus.

April 18.— This morning early, I was dis-
agreeably surprised by a violent attack of

CONSTANTINOPLE. 99

diarrhaa^ (cholera morbus,) accompanied by vo-
mitingy which confined me all the day to my
bed. I knew how to treat this malady, from
former experience in South America, and did
nothing but fast and drink syrup of orjeat and
water. Mr. Parish, attach^ to the embassy,
was so good as to call upon me, and send for
the physician. Dr. M*Gufifog ; but ere the healer
came, the violence of the malady was over ; and
he told me that I could do nothing better than
follow up mine own prescription.

April 14. — This morning Hadjee Achmet
caUed to pay his respects to his late employers.
He was beautifully dressed in a long caftan of
orange-coloured Brusa silk, trimmed with sables ;
his vest was of flowered silk ; round his waist
was a red shawl, in which shone a handsome
handjar ; he had scarlet trowsers, red boots, and
on his head the long taper calpac of his pro*
fession. We could now, through the kind
offices of our landlord's son, converse freely
i^dth him, and naturally, after all the usual cere-
monies and mutual inquiries were gone through,
asked the reason of his apparent want of zeal

H 2

100 CONSTANTINOPLE.

at Kirk Iklessie, and the cause of his evident
fear and anxiety upon that occasion. He re-
plied, that Hadjee Mehmet, the postmaster, was
« great man, — a MoUah, and one much re-
verenced by the people for his reputed sanctity,
having made several pilgrimages to Mecca; that
he was also feared for his power and courage ;
that the Turks of Kirk Iklessie were a very bad
set of people, noted for their arrogance and
hatred of Franks and strangers ; that the Mol-
lah Hadjee Mehmet had made use of very
abusive language to him, accusing him of his
friendship for the infidels; that when I had
talked of referring to the Cadi, the Turk was
much enraged, and said ** he did not care for
the Cadi, nor the Elchi Bey (ambassador) at
Constantinople ; that he was the great man at
Kirk Iklessie ;" and a great deal more such fan-
faronade.

We now observed to Hadjee Achmet,
that he must be aware that we had a right to
deduct five ducats from the half of his hire,
which remained in our hands ; and that we had
the intention of representing the whole circum-

CONSTANTINOPLE. 101

Stance to our Elchi Bey, and awaiting his de-
cision upon the matter, before we paid him a
para. He replied very humbly, that he knew
we had a right so to do, and moreover begged
of us to entreat the Elchi Bey to insist with the
Reis EfFendi, that Hadjee Mehmet should be
punished, as a lesson to all other postmasters,
and as a protection to all future travellers
and Tartars, whose interests were identified
with those of the persons committed to their
charge.

He implored us to believe that he had not
been deterred from doing his duty by any
improper motives; but that he had acted
cautiously, and with apparent timidity, for fear
of embroiling himself with the Turks, and thus
compromising our safety ; that he had no means
of making us understand his real motives, and
was just as much rejoiced as we were, when
he found himself extricated from the difficulty,
by our volunteering to pay the five ducats ex-
torted by the postmaster, and by my demon-
strations of defiance which had operated so suct
cessfiilly upon the old Mollah, although at the

102 CONSTANTINOPLE.

time he was apprehensive of another result. We
were so well satisfied with Hadjee Achmet's ex-
planation, that we paid him the full amount of
what had remained in our hands, and more-
over made him a present of a few ducats, as a
proof of our good will towards him. He was at
first unwilling to receive any gratuity, saying,
that he would wait until he had heard that our
representations to the Elchi Bey, and his own to
the chief of the Tartar couriers, had produced
the desired effect of a sound bastinade upon
the soles of old Hadjee Mehmet's feet» and that
then we should be satisfied in our own minds of
the sincerity of his ( Achnjet's) dealings with us-
He was at length prevailed upon to accept our
present, (or baackshish,) and went away, leaving
us very favourably impressed with his conduct
and character.

I find that there is another English traveller
lodging in this house, Mr. Vane, (now Lord
Henry Vane,) son of Lord Darlington. He
has been making a tour in Asia Minor, and has
been here some time. In the coiurse of the
forenoon, Mr. Turner, secretary to the embassy,

CONSTANTINOPLE. 108

called, and was so good as to propose taking

Mr. Vane, Mr. , and myself, over the

water in his caique, and to show us some
of -the antiquities. We gladly availed our*
selves of his kind offer; and descending the
rugged and steep hill of Galata, embarked in
the beautifully dean and swift caique, escorted
by a splendid-looking chaoush belonging to the
embassy, pulling round the Seraglio Point, and
landing at the foot of the Seven Towers.

I shall not attempt to describe the outward
beauties of the city of Constantinople, nor of the
suburbs of Pera, Galata, Tophana, the harbour,
the shipping, the blue sea of Marmora, Scutari,
the Mountain of Bugerloo, the Prince's Islands,
the coast oi the ancient Chalcedon, the tower-
ing and glittering Olympus, nor the bright blue
sky, which added its splendour to this unrivalled
scenery. I should utterly fail in the endeavour to
pourtray such various and such glorious features ;
nor can 1 compare it with any thing I have yet
seen either in Europe or America. The bays
of Naples, Genoa, Rio de Janeiro, and Constan-
tinople, although, perhaps, each of them equally

104 CONSTANTINOPLE.

beautiful, are so totally different in their, out-
lines, and in their accompaniments, that I can-
not draw any parallel between them, nor can I
decide in. my own mind which of these great
masterpieces of nature and of art I the most
admire.

We walked all round the old Byzantine
walls to the further extremity of the city ; they
are double, and flanked at short intervals by
square towers: they are in great beauty and
preservation ; and being of stone, are much more
beautiful than those of ancient Rome. They
have been so often described by travellers, that
I have nothing to add to the accounts already
given by Chevalier, Clarke, Gell, and others.
The most interesting point is the " Cannon
Gate,*' (Top Kapousi,) so called by the Turks,
who have placed over it some immense stone
shot. Near this spot Paleologus, the last of the.
Greek emperors, met his fate gloriously in the
siege by Mahomet the Second. The In^each
through which the Turks entered victoriously
into the city is near this gate, and is still un-

CONSTANTINOPLE. 105

repaired, and full of fine trees and evargreen
shrubs. Nearly opposite to the Adrianople
Gate are the tombs of Ali Pacha and his three
sons and grandson, all of whom the Porte deca^
pitated. I believe that Ali's head alone has the
honour of reposing here ; his body, I conclude,
remains at Jannina ; his sons and grandson . had
been hostages for his good behaviom*, and fell
victims to the sanguinary policy of the Porte,
which loves to hew away both root and branch
with its all-devastating sabre.

There are many Greek inscriptions in the walls,
and likewise crosses carved on stones in the gate-
ways and towers. These inscriptions have all
been copied by learned travellers: I therefore re-
frained from committing any of them to the un-
pretending pages of my Journal, well aware that
I could find nothing new in them. The Golden
Gate is still easily distinguishable in the wall,
although it has been built up, and completely
immm*ed. Its beauties appear to have been of a
very inferior description, notwithstanding the
exaggerations of the Greek historians ; the two

106 CONSTANTINOPLE.

pillars which support the arch being of a very
low composite. We entered the dty by the
Adrianople Gate, and in our way down to the
waterside were a good deal annoyed by the curs
which infest the streets in whole packs, and
which, as in Lisbon, belong to nobody, but
are the only scavengers tolerated by the police.
These odious animals seem to have, like their
masters, an instinctive hatred of the Franks,
whom they easily distinguish by their costume;
and one of them, attacked Mr. Turner, who
threw his stick at' him in defending himself:
the dog profited by this circumstance to return
to the charge ; and had it not been for the timely
interference of the chaoush, with his baton of
office, Mr. T. might have been considerablh
worsted in the encounter. The Tiu^ks looked
on tranquilly, and, to judge by their counte-
nances, rather sided with the dog than with the
Christian.

It is related, I think, by that quaint old
writer, Busbequius, that the Turks (whose hu-
manity to animals presents a strange contrast
to their cruelty towards man) once deliberated

CONSTANTINOPLE. 107

in full Divan upon the expediency of ridding
the capital of this canine nuisance. Many
plans were proposed by which the object might
be effected, and poison seemed to be the most
ready and least troublesome means ; but one
of the Divan, being more humane than the
rest, observed, that the stench which would be
caused by so many carcases lying about the
streets, would, in all probability, create a pesti-
lence in the city, and cause a much greater nui-
sance than the one proposed to be abated.. He
observed, moreover, that it was against the pre-
cepts of their holy law to be cruel to animals,
which are held by the Prophet to be irrespon-
sible beings; he therefore proposed, that the
wisdom of the Divan should adopt a soft of
mezzo terminCy and ship off all the dogs for a
small desert island in the Sea of Marmora ; his
parceptions of humanity not suggesting to him
that the poor doggies would soon die there of
starvation.

I know not whether this sagacious propo-
sal was approved of and acted upon ; but cer-
tain it is, that these anunals have found the

108 CONSTANTINOPLE.

means of infesting the streets of Constantinople
as much as ever, fanning, in all the various
stages of helpless puppyhood, lank and lean ma-
turity, and mangy old age, the most disgusting
and disagreeable of spectacles. We were glad
to escape from the hungry fangs of our enemies,
and felt happy in squatting down in the bottom
of a caique, and being rapidly ferried over the
tranquil surface of the Golden Horn, amidst the
imposing-looking Ottoman fleet, and the com-
mercial vessels of all Christendom.

I cannot comprehend how the Turks manage,
with such materials as they now possess, since the
loss of their maritime population, to man and
equip their vessels of war, and stiU less how they
can possibly find officers capable of taking-charge
of them ; but in spite of these almost insuper-
able obstacles, they do contrive to rig, arm, and
send out to sea, vessels, the hulls of which are
in such a state, that I should think few Euro-
peans would deem them sea-worthy ; and, in-
deed, I must do them the justice to say, that
these ships, which are now fitting out, are as

CONSTANTINOPLE, 109

well-rigged as many of our own vessels of war
are by the King's dock-yards; and yet I am
informed, that by far the greater part of the
Turkish ships' companies have never been on
board of a large ship before, but consists of boat-
men of the Bosphorus, and the Greek navigators
of the Black Sea, who have nothing larger than
a tartane or a mahoun under their feet. The
solution of the problem will probably be found
in the energy of the bastinade, which, no doubt,
is liberally applied throughout the squadron.

April 16.— This day Mr. Vane and myself
resolved upon visiting the antiquities of Con-
stantinople ; and engagmg the son of our land-
lord, who is a native Perote, and well ac-
quainted with the Turkish language, customs,
and curiosities, we descended to the market-
place and quays at Tophana, where stands ar
most beautiful fountain, erected by a certain
Capitan Pasha, which is of the loveliest forms,
proportions, ornaments, and materials, bemg
built of dazzling white marble. I know not if
any artist has given a representation of this

I

1

110 CONSTANTINOPLE.

fine speciinen of Oriental architeeture. We
were soon ferried over in the light and graceful
caique to the wooden quays of Constantinople,
and walked up through the narrow and offensive
streets, passing the Imperial M ausoleiun and the
Palace of the Divan, with its beautiful gate-
way, from whence is derived its appellation of
the Sublime Forte. This immense building
was undergoing a thorough repair, and indeed
re-edification, having been lately burnt down
in some sedition of the Janissaries.

As we walked along, we heard a female voice
applying very liberally the terms of " Giaour
and Chopeck" to us ; and, turning round, caught
a glimpse of a female figure retreating from be-
hind her closely latticed window. When we
walked on, she returned to the charge, and con-
tinued to lavish all the abusive epithets of the
Turkish language (as our interpreter informed
us) upon- our unlucky heads, imtil we were
out of hearing. We met, however, with no
incivility from the men, who generally took
no notice of us. We now arrived at the outer

CONST AKTINOPLE. Ill

gate of the Seraglio, and penetrated a consi-
derable way into the first court, but were ci-
villy sent back by one of. the Bostangees. At
the gate on the right hand, in a niche in the
wall, we saw about a dozen human heads, or ra^
ther scalps, the skull and bones having been care-
fully removed, and the skin stuffed with hay.
They were said to be Greeks ; but I have rea-
son to believe them to have been Bosnians,
who had lately fallen victims in partial attempt
at insurrection, which had been quelled by
the devouring sword of the Mussulmans : they
had long beards, which the Greeks do not wear,
and the shaven crown and long topknot of the
Osmanlees ; there were likewise several pairs of
ears. The Turks came and looked at them,
and walked away apparently proud of these
disgusting trophies.

We next made an attempt to bribe an Imaum
of Santa Sophia, to let us in, by a private door,
into the mosque. He answered very civilly, that
if we would go round to the front of the build-
ing we should meet some of the superior Imaums,

112 CONSTANTINOPLB.

who, no doubt, would gladly avail themselves of
such an opportunity of making a little money ;
that he himself was merely an inferior servant,
and had no authority. We were delighted with
our apparent success, and walked roimd to the
principal entrance ; and were upon the point
of marching boldly in, when we were met
by about a score or two of the Nizam Djedid,
upon whose appearance we thought it pru**
dent to make a retreat, and again consult with
the friendly Imarnn, who told us that we must
come some morning very early, before the Turks
came to prayers, and that he would undertake
to gratify our curiosity. This, in point of fact,
amounted to nothing, for the Turks always
come to pray at daylight ; and if we came be-

I

fore that time, we should not have stood much
chance of seeing any thing ; we therefore aban^
doned the project for the present.

Upon quitting the holy precincts of Santa
Sophia, we proceeded to a handsome caserne
occupied by the. newly organized troops (or
Nizam Djedid), and asked permission of the

CONSTANTINOPLE. 1 13

sentinel on duty to enter, which he readily
granted, no doubt looking for a reward. We
had, however, scarcely time to look around us,
before out salUed a fierce, red-bearded, renegado-
looking Aga, who, calling for a stick, asked of
our interpreter how we got in there, and by
whose leave ; upon hearing the reply from our
trembling dragoman, he beckoned to the un-
fortunate sentinel, and, making him ground his
arms, laid the stick pretty heavily over his shoul-
ders, first on one, and then on the other side.

I own I expected that our own turn would
come next; and was deliberating what I
should do, and whether I should shoot him on
the spot, for I was armed with pocket-pistols,
if he attempted to lay his hands on me, when
he waved his stick to us to begone; and we
did not even stay another moment to reward
the poor friendly sentinel, lest we should be
perceived by the infuriated Aga. Congra-
tulating each other upon our escape with a
whole skin, we now proceeded to the Ack-
maidan, as the Turks call the Hippodrome, and

VOL. I. I

114 CONSTANTINOPLE.

visited the obelisk of Theodosius, the brazen
column^ the burnt column, the mosque of Sul-
tan Achmet, and thence to the celebrated cis-
tern, called by the Turks Bin-Bir-Du-ek, sup-
ported, as it is said, by one thousand marble
columns ; there was at this time no water here,
but a great many rope-makers and silk-spin-
ners. We discovered that it had been con-
verted into a place of worship, for there were
several crosses carved on the pillars, and near
about a niche on the western side, in which
we thought had stood an altar. The next re-
markable object of antiquity is the aqueduct of
Valens. All these things have been so well de-
scribed by other travellers, that I shall add no
observations of mine own.

We had now seen aU the principal remains
of the Byzantine age, which were accessible to
a Frank, and returned to Pera much pleased
with our expedition; although I own I was
a good deal disappointed, after all the accounts
which I had read of the beauty and splendour
of these interesting relics. In the evening, I

CONST ANTINOPL E. 115

dined at the British Ambassador's, and was
presented to his Excellency M. de Ribeau-
pierre, to whom I had brought verbal intro-
ductions from the Princess Rasoumowska, at
Vienna. Mr. Black, the principal merchant of
the English factory, dined there likewise, and
I had the pleasure of making his acquaintance.
April 17. — I dedicated this day to peram-
bulating Pera, Galata and Tophana, and then
taking a caique, pulled up to the Arsenal, and
looked at the remains of the once powerful
Ottoman fleet. It now consists of seven ships
of the line, whereof three are of three decks ;
they are all without poops, and are apparently
built by French architects, as their beautiful
model indicates. They are aU broken-backed,
and seem dreadfully rotten ; there are three or
four very large frigates, and some corvettes
and brigs ; all of these vessels seem to be laid
up as unseaworthy. There are two large Hy-
driot brigs afloat, and rigged and armed ; these
do the duty of the port, and are, in company
with many small misticoes and boats, prizes

I 2

116 CONSTANTINOPLE.

captured from the Greeks. There is, however,
a squadron of one ship of the line, five frigates
and a corvette fitting for sea ; these I have before
noticed; they are destined for Navarino. I
landed at the Admiralty, which is a handsome
building, with a long Turkish inscription over
the door, and here I saw a number of men in
chains embarking for the fleet. They were
principally Candiote Greeks, and fine-looking
athletic fellows. The Chaoushes who had the
charge of them, applied the stick pretty freely
to their shoulders as they huddled them into the
boats. I learn that it is customary with the
Turks to chain these unfortimate men to their
guns in action.

In the evening I hired horses, and rode about
in the neighbourhood of Pera, examining the
Topchi (or artillery barrack,) and the troops of
the Nizam Djedid, who were drilling in the
open space before it. There are at present, as I
learn, about twenty thousand of these troops in
and about the capital, including the villages of

CONSTANTINOPLE. 1 17

the Bosphorus. They are just now very con-
temptible troops, consisting ahnost entirely of
boys, with a sprinkling of very old men to dis-
cipline them ; they are, to use the French term,
" enta-e loup et chien," having lost the elan and
energy of their ancient system, and not yet
attained the advantages of European tactics.
Let Europe, however, beware of them ; for they
display an aptitude for martial exercises, which, if
once properly applied by their government, and
placed under the restraints of discipline, will
render them again formidable to the nations of
the West.

Near to this barrack lies the Frank bury-
ing-ground, in which are several handsome
tombs ; and further on is the Armenian ceme-
tery, full of fine mulberry-trees. On the
right hand of the road stand four or five
very remarkable obelisks, the use of which I
was quite at a loss to divine ; but upon inspect-
ing them, I found that they were used as the
means of raising water, for they have upon their

118 CON ST A NTINOPLE.

surface pipes of baked earth, and from their
summit the water sprinkles about upon the
heads of those who stand beneath them.*

April 18. — ^To-day we went to see the Sul-
tan go in great state to Mosque, and found no
difficulty whatever in getting very near the
person of his Highness. He is a handsome,
fine-looking man, with very black eyes and
beard. We saw some women present a peti-
tion to him, which is done by holding it over
the head, and calling out to attract his notice.
He stopped, and desired the Divan Effendi who
followed him to take it, who placed it in a silk
bag. I was very much amused with the Kislar
Aga (or chief of the black eunuchs) : this guar-
dian of the purity of the Ottoman blood
seemed to be of much more consequence than

* I have since examined these more minutely, and find
that they are what are commonly called hydraulic columns,
and are continuations of the line of Aqueducts from the
woods of Belgrade to Constantinople and Pera. There are
many more of these pillars in the neighbourhood, and I have
since seen them in Asia Minor, and Syria. I am indebted
to Mr. Elliot, the Oriental Secretary, for some information
upon this subject.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 119

his Imperial Master, and bowed, and showed his
white teeth, and blessed the people with his
hand in all the consequence and vanity of his
brethren of the coast of Guinea, or the Carri-
bee Islands. The Selictar Aga, or sword-bearer,
was a noble-looking Turk, and carried the sword
of state with great majesty. The horses of the
Sultan, richly caparisoned, were not the least
interesting part of the show ; and the imperial
turban, borne before the Dulbendi Aga, seemed
to be almost worshipped by the crowd.

I refer my readers for an account of this in-
teresting ceremony to Dr. Clarke, who has de-
scribed it in language and colours more appro-
priate and just than I can possibly make use of.
The escort was entirely composed of the new
troops and the Bostangee corps, organized d la
Franque. We saw likewise the Grand Vizier,
the Capitan Pasha, the Reis Effendi, and most
of the ' principal officers of state and army.

The Sultan was preceded and followed by men
bearing immense sfans made of peacocks' fea-

thers ; and in front of the troops forming the

120 CONSTANTINOPLE.

double line through which his Highness passed,
were men wearing helmets with enormous
nodding plumes : one of these men found his
helmet so much too large for him, that he was
oblige^ to borrow the turban of a poor devil,
who stood behind him, to cram into it. The
helmet now was so filled, that it sat tottering
upon his head in a most ludicrous manner, and
was with difficulty restrained from falling upon
the ground, to the evident embarrassment of the
Turk, who did not dare lose for a moment the
decorum imposed upon himf by the ceremony.
I believe these helmets to have been used, upon
occasions of state, by the Greek emperors, and
to form part of the treasures of the Seraglio.

We waited until the crowd had dispersed.
We then visited the bazaars and besesteens,
so celebrated for their beauty and vast ex-
tent, and returned to otir hotel in Pera. In
the evening, we dined at the hospitable t&ble
of Mr. Black, from whose conversation we
gained a great deal of information respecting
the government and customs of the Turks.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 121

Apml 19 and 20. — I employed myself
in riding about the environs of Pera, accom-
panied sometimes by Mr. Vane, and in looking
at the Nizam Djedid and the squadron, which
was now nearly ready for sea. LordwCoch-
rane's arrival in Greece was known, and ex-
cited a feverish kind of feeling among the
Turks ; and I was cautioned, from a particular
quarter, not to hazard my personal safety by
attempting to get into the Arsenal and Dock-
yard, nor on board the fleet ; fill of which things
I was very desirous of doing. I was likewise
aware that I was surveille by a man in an
Armenian dress, whom I generally found at
my heels, and was not at all disposed to do
aiiy thing which might excite suspicion in the
breast of the Turks. My usual loimge was
the great Turkish cemetery, (opposite to Scu-
tari, and behind the Topchi barrack,) and the
smaller cemetery of the Franks and Armenians
dose by. The Turks usually surmount the
tombstone of their males by a turban, denoting
the rank and character of the deceased ; and they

1 22 CONSTANTINOPLE.

ornament that of the females by a full-blown
rose for a matron, and a rose-bud for a vkgm.

Nothmg can be more delightful than the
sensations created by the gloomy shades of
these cypress-forests, filled as they are by the
striking-looking and picturesque tombstones
and sarcophagi of the Turks, while every now
and then you come suddenly upon some solemn-
looking solitary Moslem on his knees at the
foot of the tomb, perhaps of some dear wife,
child, or relative; are witness to the tears
which trickle down his beard, and hear the
sighs and even groans which issue from a
breast which seems to struggle for the mastery
over its tender (and, in his eyes, perhaps un-
manly) feelings. Frequently have I found
the mother and the widow paying these sad
tributes to their departed idol, and offering
up their fervent prayers to AUah and to Ma-
homet for the happiness in Paradise of the
soul of their beloved; and carefully watering
the little bouquets of emblematic flowers with
which they ornament the grave.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 128

The Turks, although barbarous, are remarka-
ble for their tenderness to their females and their
offspring ; and while they visit infidelity and dis-
obedience with death, they are generally kind
and caressing to the faithful wife and the du-
tiful child. Again at mid-day and sunset, the
Turks in groups, under the deep shadows of
the cypresses, spread their shawls and cloaks
upon the ground, and remain for many minutes
in fervent prayer, and apparent abstraction from
all worldly ideas. Meanwhile, above your head
and around you, are hundreds of beautiful little
turtle-doves, cooing and billing, and adding by
their gentle murmurs and the extatic flutter-
ing of their wings, to the witching sensations
excited by such delicious scenery, and such a
sky and climate as that of Turkey at this period
of the year.

It would not require a great stretch of poeti-
cal imagination to embody the souls of the de-
parted in these lovely and loving little genii of
the place. The Frank burying-ground is not
planted with C3rpresses ; and although it possesses

124 CONSTANTINOPLE.

some handsome tombs, is a good deal neglected,
and somewhat defiled by the Moslem.

The Armenians manage these things better ;
but they are a people esteemed and beloved by
the Turks, who consider them as useful to them,
and call them the camels of the Osmanlee state.
They indeed differ but little from their imperi-
ous masters in habits and appearance. Their
tombs are flat and built of white marble ; and if
it should so happen that the deceased has been
put to death by the devouring glaive of the
true believers, a rough bas-relief, representing
the victim with his head cut off and placed
between his legs, teUs his melancholy fate. The
Turks, indeed, do the same thing with the
monumental stone of their own brethren, simi-
larly executed; but with this difference, the
decapitated head figures under the right arm
of the victim.

The Orientals, however, do not regard this
tragedy with the eyes of the Western na-
tions: they say, "Would you have had
him die in his bed like a woman ?" in reply

CONSTANTINOPLE, 125

to any commiserating remarks made by the
Franks upon the violent end of their friends.

In the neighbourhood of the Armenian bury-
ing ground, but more towards the Bospho-
rus, are many small marble columns at unequal
distances, evidently of Barbaric origin. I was
at a loss to discover what they coidd mean.

I have been since informed that they are
placed there to mark the distances to which
the Sultans used to shoot their arrows, upon
particular occasions of imperial archery. When
I returned home after such excursions, I own
I did not like the contrast between these scenes
and the dirt and meanness of my abode, looking
upon the ruined roofs of houses, covered with
disgusting kites, and tribes of lank and mangy
cats ; placed in a cul de sac at the end of a
long and filthy passage full of dogs, and their
concomitant ill smells and dirt ; but fortunate-
ly for me, Mr. Vane, Mr. — — — , and myself
generally dined together, and their conversa-
tion and the compilation of my journal pre-
vented my falling a victim to ennui and dis-

126 CONSTANTINOPLE.

gust. Poor Vane, however, was in delicate
health, and soon began to feel the effects of the
diarrhoea of the coiintry, which attacked him
as weU as myself. Mr. Canning was so good
as to give us permission to walk in his deli-
cious garden, of which indulgence we afterwards
never failed to avail ourselves.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 127

CHAPTER VI.

Visit to Belgrade. — Bendts. — Romaika. — Return to Pera,
by Aqueducts and Sweet Wate s. — Dancing Dervishes. —
Ck>nduct of Turkish females. — Lapidation by Turks. —
Dolma Batchi. — Visit to the Sweet Waters. — Mosque of
Eyoub — ^Anecdote of Englishmen and Eunuchs. — View
of Constantinople. — Excursion to Therapia and Buyuk
der6. — Scenery on the Bosphorus.

April 21. — In the afternoon, my friends,
and myself accompanied Mr. Black to his
villa, in the woods of Belgrade. We had an
agreeable ride of about fomteen miles, partly
over high downs and heaths, through fertile
valleys fuU of pretty wild flowers, particularly
anemones and forget-me-nots, (of which latter
I gathered some to send to Vienna,) and watered
by gracefully meandering streams. The woods
of Belgrade consist of fine oak-trees and ches-

128 CONSTANTINOPLE.

nuts, in many parts completely enveloped (as
in a net-work) with wild roses (apparently of
the sort called in England China-rose). The
ground is full of valleys, and intersected by
deep ravines, some of which are extremely pic-
turesque. The village is not very large, and
is inhabited exclusively by Greeks. Mr. Black's
house stands in a fine garden, with some most
enormous and venerable oak-trees in it: it is
spacious and comfortable. We visited the
former abode of the charming and lively Lady
M. W. Montague, now, alas ! no longer inha-
bited by the Muses and the Graces, but by a
herd of goats.*

April 22. — In the morning we inspected
one of those singular reservoirs of water, called

* As we rode along towards Belgrade, we heard the sound
of cannon from the fleet, which had moved into the Bos-
phorus the day before. We learnt in the evening, by a mes-
senger from Pera, that the Capitan Bey had hoisted his
flag on board the line-of-battle ship, and that the Porte had
heard of Lord Cochrane's arrival at, and manifesto from
Poros, and had despatched positive orders for the squadron's
putting to sea immediately. Trusting to Mahomet to help
them, they got under weigh, and proceeded down with a fair
wind to the Dardanelles, where, as we afterwards learnt.

CONST ANTlNOPLfc. 129

bendts,* by means of which Constantinople is
supplied with this most necessary element.
There are several of these bendts in the woods of
Belgrade ; and I will here endeavour to describe
what they are like. The Turks (and indeed the
ancient Greeks) profiting by any sinuosities
of the earth upon the higher grounds in the
neighbourhood of the springs, with which these
forests abound, throw a high embankment across
the mouths of valleys where they lead towards
the plains on the lower ground, thus forming
a kind of lagoon ; into these they conduct the
water. This embankment they face within and

they anchored, and could not be persuaded to go out, and
look for the Frangi Capitan, whose prowess they very much
dreaded. At length successive Tartars and Capidjee Bashis
prevailed upon the Capitan Bey to put to sea, and'^rave the
Greek fireships and Lord Cochrane's steam-bgats. — More-
over, the chief astrologer had decided that the aspect of the
stars was favourable. .

* In the neighbourhood of Belgrade, on the heights, to-
wards the Black Sea^ are the remains of some field-works
thrown up by the Capitan Pasha in the last war with Russia,
to protect the bendts in case of a descent from the Muscovite
fleets. This is a weak point, the capture of which would at
any time almost ensure the fall of Constantinople.

VOL. I. K

180 COKft'IA:tfTINOFiJ&.

without with in^mense blocks of white ]BarUle»
which they omament with inscriptions, in cha-
ractcFS of gold, upon a ground of blue, generally
giving the name of the Sultan and a quotation
from the Khoinpi. They construct sluices in the
centre of the wall thus raised, and by these means
can drain off or retain the water in the reservoir
or bendt, as may suit their purpose. The water,
when there is a great abundance, (as wajs the
case in the present instance,) falls over the head
of the sluice with great violence into the lower
ground, making a fine cascade ; and then is con-
ducted along to the first valley, where it is. led
over an aqueduct, and so on to the hydraulic
columns in the neighbourhood of the capital.
These columns being raised upon a gradually
inclined plane, a little below the level of the
bendts or the springs, and leaning towards the
city, are supposed to increase the velocity with
which the water runs into the cisterns and
fountains in Pera and Constantinc^le ; but I
own I am at a loss to discover the utiUty of
such contrivances, for the water will of ne-

CQNgTANTINOPL^ 131

eessity rise ta the level of its ownk source, anA
not much higher, without the interference of
hydrauUc machineiy.

7he Tuxks call these hydraulic pillars sou
terras^ the etymology of which term I
take to be sou (turdc^) water, and terrassh a
corruption of the Venetian word terrazzo, a
terrace. They will not suffer the trees of the
forest to be cut down, well knowing that
they serve to retain the humidity and to
protect the springs necessary to the supply of
the bendts. Mr. Black was good enough to
explain all this to me; he told me likewise
that the forest abounds with wild boars and
deer. These former the Greeks and Franks
hunt and kill with spears and dogs, and the
lal^r are hunted by the Tiu'ks, with a fine
breed of greyhounds from the peninsula of
Negpopont.

In the afternoon we rode about the neigh-
bourhood of Belgrade, examining the various
bendts, and visiting a superb and^it aqueduct,
through the arches of which we caught some

K 2

182 CONSTANTINOPLE.

splendid views of the blue Bospborus, and the
kiosks and gardens upon its romantic shores:
we likewise saw the national dance of the
Greeks, called the Romaika, performed in a
village, by a dozen or more Greek females
clad in their holiday costume. It is in my
opinion graceless and dull enough. The mu-
sidah, if such he could be called, sat in the
middle, playing upon a sort of violin, and the
women formed a cirde round him, holding
hands, stamping with their feet, and now and
then following the leader in various evolutions^
I saw, however, none of the indelicacy of atti-
tude, or meretridous expression of the eyes and
countenance, which generally characterise the
dances of barbarians. The musidan sometimes
accompanied his instrument with his voice, and
seemed to excite the votaries of Terpsichore to
greater and more rapid exertions.

April 23.— We returned to Pera by a dif-
ferent route to that by which we came, passing
through the vale of Pirgos and by the aqueduct
(commonly called) of Justinian, of which and

n

CONSTANTINOPLE- 188

a Turkish one farther up the valley, I made a
sketch. On the Pera side of the valley we
passed a convoy of loaded camels : these were
the first I had yet seen, and were the ugliest
beasts I have ever beheld. We passed by the
kiosk and m^tdow of the Sweet Waters, a
lovely spot.

April 24. — ^We went to-day to see the CoUege
of the dancing dervises (dervishes), and to witness
their sacred rotatoiy dance. In the outer court
of the mosque is the mausoleum of the famous
Halet Effendi, where I found an Imaiim stand-
ing with a quadrant in his hand ; before him
was a little pool of water. I asked him, through
our interpreter, what he was doing with the
-. quadrant. He repUed, he was observing what
the hour of the day was ! It was now about
half-past ten. We were told to return about
two hours after noon, to witness the evolutions
of the dervishes. This we did ; and were ad-
mitted without difficulty into a neat little oc-
tagonal building, with a dome over our heads.
We left our boots at the door, and put on our

184 CONSTANTINOPLE.

slippers, with which we had come provided.
We sat cross-legged upon mats, underneath a
kind of corridor, which ran nearly all round the
interior of the mosque. At the eastern side was
a small niche, in which was deposited the Kho-
ran,* and over the niche was an inscription in
letters of gold. Across and under the dome
hung many shahhy4oo1dng variegated temps
full of oil, such as we use in EuK>pe upon
general illunpnations. We had not long takeii
our stations, when the dervishes, about eight
in number, headed by the Sheik M6vI6vi,
entered with great gravity and with noisdesft
step, being barefooted. There were two pretty
little boys in theur number, and all were dad
in the decent green robe, brown vestment, and
leather girdle, with grey felt truncated conical
cap of their order. The Sheik Imaum pro*
strated himself in front of the Holy Khoran,
placing his forehead upon the ground. In this

* This U an error, as no Khoran is ever deposited in this
niche, which merely serves to denote the invisibility of the
Deity, and to direct the face of the praying parties towards
Mecca.

CQNSTANTINOPLE. 185

' he was followed by all the dervisheis, who w»«
ranged a little behind hisa. They all ranained
moae time inphtyer ; after which, seating them-
selves upon their heels, tihey listekied to a long
discourse from the Sheik, oeoalsiondUy making
a kind of response, in which they were accom-
pikiied by some most barbalt>us but characteris-
tic music from a gallery over the corridor.

This music seemed to be made by a species of
rustic pipe, accompanied by a stringed instru*
ment and a tambourine or drum. After about
half an hour this ceased, acid the dervishes^
rising on their feet (the Sheik rt»na]£|ii^ Ui a
atthig posture), rahged themselves round the
faiosque; and after remaining some little
Iffiife with their heads bent downwards, and
^11^ hands fblded upon their bosoms, ^t a cer-
taki signal made by the Sheik, began to put
tiiemselves into a gentle rotatory motion, wavipg
their extended arms gracefully up and down, iA
if to balance themselves as they swuhg roimd>
They idid not rehiain fixed to tiieir places, but
mlide, as it were, an orbit of the circumference
of the mosque. They quickened and mode-

186 CONSTANTINOPLE.

rated their moyements as the music in Hie
gallery seemed to excite or to cahn them ; and
suddenly, upon a sign from the Sheik, they
stopped, and then began to go round again in a
contrary direction to the former. The spread^
out umbrella-looking shape of their garmeiits,
the undulating motion of their arms, the heated
and perspiring countenances of the dervishes,
the fatigue and evident giddiness of the two
children, and the swimming motion of the
whole group, produced upon me almost all the
disagreeable effects of sea-sickness, and I was
glad when, after about three-quarters of an hour,
they ceased to spin round before my reeling
sight. At a moment's notice, they aU stopped
and prostrated themselves before the Sheik
M^vl^vi, placing their foreheads frequently
upon the ground, and reciting a prayer, with a
sonorous but agreeable voice, which finished,
they all arose, and the Sheik heading the pro-
cession, they marched once or twice round the
area of the mosque, and departed as they came
in. The Turks seined to be much edified by

CONST ANTIN OPLE . 137

this spectacle, and there were many women m
the latticed galleries, which ran half-way round
the dome over the corridor. We met with no
incivility while here, and gave away a few paras
to some poor women Txirks, who were awaiting
our departure at the door.

We dined this evening at Mr. Turner's, the
Secretary to the Embassy, and enjoyed very
much his lively conversation and that of his
agreeable English lady. Here we met a charm-
ing person, a Frank lady of Pera (i. e. bom
here, but of European parents). She is the
wife of the Chancellor to the British Embassy,
and is one of the prettiest women I ever saw.
She speaks no English, but French, Italian,
Turkish, and Romaik. Her husband is a very
fine young man, a nephew of Mr. Black's.

From April 24th to May 4th, I have written
nothing in my Journal, with the exception of
two notes upon the conduct of some Turkish
females to me, while employed sketching at
Dolma Batchi on the 2d of May, and of some
labourers upon the ground beneath the Sultan's

> >

188 CONSTANTINOPLE,

kiosk at that place, while I was looking at some
horsemen employed in throwing t ^ djerid at
each other. I find, however, by my sketdi-
bQok, that on the 1st of May I made a sketch
of the Seraglio Pointy Scutari, Leander's
Tower, Kadi Ku (or Chalcedon), the Islands of
tile Propontis, the mountains of Asia Minor,
and the Thracian Olympus. My position was
the wall of the Sultan's garden at Dolma Batchi,
dose to a little guard-house of the Nizam
Djedid, many of whcrai came and looked over
me as I drew, and good-naturedly pointed with
their fingers at what they thought would be
likely to attract my notice; occasionally, how-
ever, placing their dirty hands upon my book,
and exdaiming, *^ Dobra Capitan, Sttimbobl,
Sera'i, Pera, Caique," and so on, as the objects
grew beneath my pencil. They seemed pleased
by the confidence which I showed in them, and
were delighted when I let than look at all the
sketches my book contained.
. I am averse to going. about with an ^Mi-
ed attendant, as this shows a su^dous abd
tmconfiding disposition, and cannot be at

' \

->!

COIWTANTINOPLE, 1»9

all flattering to the Turks. I always, how-
ever, in my solitary rambles, carried my pocket-
pistols, as the "ultima ratio" in the event
of my personal safety being compromised.
In the heat of the day, I either returned home
or repiEured to my favourite lounge in tJie Turk-
ish and Armenian cemeteries, sketching women,
m«i, and things. I likewise frequented, as
mueh as I could, the parades and drills of the
Nizam Djedid, and have been frequently asto-
nished at the process these troops make in the
manual and platoon exercise, and the rapidity
and closeness of their fire. I do not think
much of their manoeuvres or their marching,
and they are evidently in want of superior
officers. The topchis, or artillery, are a £ne
corps, and were organized d la Franque by
Sultan Selim : their materiel is extrelndy
good.

On the 2d of May, while I was employ-
ed sketching, sitting down on the roadside,
over the plain of Dolma Batchi, a young
Turkish female, followed by a black slave and
some children, came up to me, and after Ijok«

1 40 CONSTANTINOPLE.

ing a long while over my shoulder and talking
.to me, placed herself quite in front of me, and
unveiled herself, I hardly dared to take any
notice of this manoeuvre, knowing that it is
not customary in the East to speak to females
in public. She, however, seemed to wish me
to make a drawing of her, and signed to me to
do so- I looked steadfastly at her for some
time, and began to draw upon a spare piece of
paper the outline of her figure. She was so
pretty that I could not refrain from kissing the
end of my pencil, and blowing the kiss to her,
as one does in France to children. Upon see-
ing this, she coloured up to her forehead, made
a sign as if she would draw a sword, and then a
motion with her hand, as though she said, " if
you dare do such a thing, I would have your
head cut off." She was likewise very lavish of
her epithets, some of which I had learnt were
not very oompUmentary.

I now began to be apprehensive of the conse-
quences of my indiscretion, and thought it best
to continue my sketch of Scutari, and to take

A VIEW OF SCUTARI FROM THE ROAD ABOVE
DOLHA B^TCHt.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 141

no notice of her anger. She waited some time,
then went behind me, looked over my shoulder,
and seeing that I had ceased to make her por-
trait, patted me caressingly on the back, spoke
softly, and then resumed her place in front of
me, hoping that I should finish her likeness ; but
while this little coquetry was passing between us,
some men Turks made their applearance, and she
took the alarm, and walked hastily away, look-
ing very significantly as she departed. The
Turks passed on, and presently came some
young girls, who after looking at my draw-
ings, tipped my hat off my head and spit in my
face. I could not bear such uncivil treatment
as this, and rose and drove them off, while they
began to arm themselves with stones and earth,
and to throw at me with all their might. I do
not know how this scene would have ended,
had not some Effendi Turks passed by, who
seeing how the .matter stood, rebuked the
wom^n and drove them away. I was employ-
ed in wiping my face, arranging my clothes, and
picking up my hat, when some Greek ladies,

142 CONSTANTINOPLE-

who had likewise been spectators of my ^tress^
came up, and cmisoled me by saying in Italian.,
** A SigTiore ! son cattiva gente, gaite barbaro,
cana^a» non turbatevi signore, son maladetta
gente senza fede."

UpcMi another occasion^ I was witnessing,
with great pleasure, upon the plain at Dolma
Batchi, the evolutions of some Turkish horse-
men, who were exercising with the djerid.
Suddenly I found myself assailed by a shower
of stones, and looking upwards towards the hill
upon which the Sultan's kiosk stands, the wall
before which was crowded with Turkish fe^
males, I perceived on the left, at a little distance,
two men who were amusing themselves at my
expense, and pelting me as fast as they could.
It was in vain that I shifted my ground ; the
more moderation I displayed, the more they
pelted me ; at length, I thought of my arms,
and brandishing a pistol in the air, I pointed it
at my opponents, in hopes of warning them
to desist It was not my intention to fire my
weapon, but I thought that its display might be

CONSTANTINOPLE. 1 48

productiye of a good effect; and so indeed it
was ; for, upon the sight of its glittering steel
bwrel, my two aasaUants ran away, laugUng.
When I related. this circumstance afterwards^ in
coaversation at the embassy, I was informed,
that if I thought I could identify eitha- ci
the men who had insulted me, his Excellency
would have them, punished ; and that the Sul-
tan was determined to protect Franks in the
most effectual manner: indeed, by disarming the
populace cf the capital, his Highness has taken
the first step towards this measure, as the Turks
are now no longer so< prone as they were to in-^
suit Eurcqpeans, now that they feel they possess
no loaded pist(^or sharp yatagan, ready to as-
sat their superiority. His Excellency was so
good as to oflfer me the protection of his own
chlumshes at any time that I might think fit
to ask for thMr services: of tliese, how-
ever, I never availed my9elf, adhering to my
maxim of showing no fear of the people among
whom I was ; and of avoiding, upon all occa-
sions, as far as I could, doing any thing that

144 CONSTANTINOPLE.

might offend their prejudices, or shock their
feelings.

Dohna Batchi, I believe, signifies the Garden
of Gronrds. ** Batchi" is garden ; and the Turks
have a dish made of gourds, stuffed with
minced meat, which they call " dohna." I have
often eaten of this dish.* The Sultan has here a
large country-house, or kiosk, from the windows
of which, upon certain occasions, he witnesses,
the throwing of the djerid by the mounted
eimuchs, who are extremely expert at this
exerdse. It was from this point that Mahomet
the Second, in one night, caused his ships or
galleys to be hauled upon platforms of greased
plank over the lulls of Pera, and launched into
the Golden Horn, near the Tower of Galata ;
the Genoese, who at that time held that im-
portant position, receiving a jsum of money for
their neutrality upon the occasion, and stipu-
lating for privileges to be enjoyed by them-
selves and their descendants, in the event of
the Sultan's succeeding in capturing G>n-

• In Syria, the Arabs likewise call it *« Dolma.''

CONSTANTINOPLE. 145

stantinople. These privileges, whatever they
were, are enjoyed by the mongrel descendants
of those traitors to Christianity to this hour.

May 4. — Mr. Vane and myself, accom-
panied by our landlord, Giuseppe Vitali, em-
barked at the Admiralty stairs, in a caique,
upon a trip to what are called in Pera the

Sweet Waters (Ketkhana Sou). We passed
dose by the Ottoman fleet, as it lay rotting and
falling into decay, and had a prodigiously fine
view of both sides of this unique capital and
scenery. Our landlord had been fourteen years
chief cook in the Imperial Seraglio, and knew
weU the excellent Sultan Selim. He had been
many years among the Turks, and was well ac-
quainted with their character, and the personal
history of many of the Imperial family and
great men. His conversation was very amusing
and instructive; he had imbibed, like almost
all other Franks who reside among this extra-
ordinary people, a great love and veneration for
them, not a little heightened by his fear of their
courage and prowess. He spoke of the present

VOL. I. L

146 CONSTANTINOPLE.

Sultan in the highest possible terms, always
styling him " II Soverano," and throwing an
air of respect into his countenance whenever be
mentioned him. He knew likewise a great
many anecdotes about the ladies of the Im-
perial blood, and the wives of the great men,
some of which served to show that they were
not always either faithful or obedient to their
masters and husbands, and indeed by no means
the encaged and watched captives which we
Europeans are apt to imagine them.

We landed at the beautiful mosque and
mausoleum of Ayub, or Eyoub, the friend and
brother soldier of Mahomet. It is a magnificent
building of the whitest marble, most tastefiiUy
gilded and ornamented, of perfect proportions,
and in the best possible taste. It is indeed a
lovely specimen of the Oriental style of archi-
tecture. It stands in the midst of gardens and
fruit-trees. As in aU other Turkish mauso-
leiuns, one can look through the latticed
window, and see the funeral catafalque sur-
mounted bv the turban of the deceased. It

CONSTANTINOPLE. 147

was a f6te-day, and a great many Turks came as
well as ourselves to see the mosque, and to pray
there, which latter we were not allowed to do.

I learnt from II Signore Vitali, that it is
customary with the Sultans, upon the ceremony
of their inauguration, which takes place in this
mosque, to receive the sword of the Caliphs at
the hand of the Sheik Dervish ; and to gird it
upon their thigh, as a pledge of their determi-
nation to maintain the law of the Prophet, and
to subdue its enemies.

We now returned to our caique; and
pulling up a narrow river, through a fleet
of boats full of handsomely-dressed Turks,
and women and children, reached with con-
siderable difficulty the landing-place, under
some very fine trees in a beautiful vaUey.
Here stands, on the right bank, a kiosk of the
Sultan, in a fine meadow, in which his High-
ness's horses, covered with rich housings,
guarded by Bulgarian grooms, are picketed in
the luxuriant pastures. The river is led over a
succession of marble terraces, laid one higher

I. 2

148 CONSTANTINOPLE.

than the other, formmg so many little cascades
over their projecting edges, which are tastefully
indented like the lips of a scollop shell. The
soft murmuring sound of these beautiful rills,
added to the gentle breathing of the zephyrs
through the agitated leaves of the fine trees,
the splendid groups of contemplative Turks,
seated near the stream, enjoying their pipes and
their coffee; the quiet, modest-looking knots of
veiled females, retired to a little distance from
the men; their beautiful and richly-dressed
children, playing about the green enamelled
with flowers, attended by negro women; the
picturesque-looking Greek and Jew venders
of trinkets and bonbons, gliding about; the
Oriental facade and porticoes of the kiosk, the
green hills on each side of the. valley, the blue
sky and bright sun, formed altogether a scene
of fairy land, or Eastern romance, and will never
be effaced from my memory.

The Perotes, with reason, are proud of this
beautiful spot ; and it is related of a lady of the
noblesse (a dragoman's wife), that in speaking of

CONSTANTINOPLE. 1 49

the return of a young attachS to the French
embassy to his own country, she observed with
much ndivetiy "Qu'est-oe qu*il deviendra ce
pauvre jeune homme k Paris ? — 2t Paris, ou il
n'y a point d*eaux douces.'*

On a particular day of this month (I for-
get which), all the horses of the Sultan are
brought in great state, and amidst discharges
of cannon, to this meadow; and occasionaUy
the favourite ladies of the Imperial harem are
conveyed hither, to walk about, and enjoy the
fine air of this lovely spot. Upon these latter
occasions, the eunuchs of the seraglio are posted
on horseback all around on the hills, to keep off
the gaze of intrusive eyes ; and woe be to the
unlucky wight whose evil stars may have acci-
dentally brought him within this prohibitory
cordon!

.These eunuchs are noted for their mali-
cious humour, their skill in horsemanship, and
in the use of their weapons ; and they would
not fail to exercise all these their talents, and to
wreak their spite upon any one of the nude sex

150 CONSTANTINOPLE.

who should chance to fall into then* hands.
Vitali related ah anecdote of an Englishman,
who, in returning from Belgrade, X^he road
from which leads near the spot,) unaware that
the sultanas were at the kiosk, found himself
suddenly pursued by two of these sable guar-
dians of the harem ; he was fortunately well
mounted, and armed with a heavy hunting
whip. One of the eunuchs soon came up with
him, and fired his pistol without effect; upon
which the Englishman, before his adversary
had time to draw his sabre, hit him over the
face with the butt end of his whip, and brought
him to the ground, not waiting to recrive the
second pursuer, who, seeing how his comrade
had fared, reined in his Arab steed, and left
the field of battle to the intrepid Briton.

After indulging for some time in the delicious
sensations with which we were inspired by the
nature of this scenery, we set out on foot for
Pera, our way leading over the heights, co-
vered with gum-cistus and wild-sage, and
through the Hebrew burying-ground, looking

V

I ■JF^"""^^^f^^

CONSTANTINOPLE. 151

cold and desolate, upon the side of a hill, and
being very full of large and timid hares, who
started out every moment from the sepulchres.
After crossing several hills and valleys, we
came suddenly upon a magnificent view of Con-
stantinople, having the Greek village of San De-
metrio (over which we caught a glimpse of the
Golden Horn), and the long row of cypresses
which mark the immense cemeteries of Pera,
the Tower of Galata, the top of the British
palace, the Topchi and Nizam Djedid bar-
rack, forming the outline of the foreground;
behind this line came the domes and minarets
of the various mosques, the Tower of the Fanar,
and the Aqueduct of Valens ; these in their
turns relieved by the blue Sea of Marmora,
crowded with shipping, and backed in the dis-
tance by the mountains of Asia Minor. T en-
deavoured to make a sketch of this beautiful
view ; but I quite despair of giving any thing
like a true picture of the scene, either by the
trait de plume or the coup de crayon. I wish
that some eminent artist would come out to

153 CONSTANTINOPLE.

this country, and give the European public
some ideas of its picturesque merits.

May 5. — To-day I had the pleasure of
making an excursion on horseback with the
Turners, to their campagne on the Bosphorus,
at Therapia ; and made a sketch of Bdy 6k Der6,
and the opening into the Black Sea, with the
castles on either hand. " Therapia," I believe,
signifies ^^fine air ;" and to this spot most of the
rich people of Pera resort in the summer, in com-
mon with B<iy6k Derfe, to breathe the refresh-
ing breezes from the Euxine, and to bathe and
indulge in retirement. The French ambassador
has at present a fine house here, with a beautiful
garden; this once belonged to some of the
unfortunate Greek princes who fell victims to
the sanguinary Moslem policy, at the breaking
out of the Hellenic revolution. Alas ! one can-
not visit the lovely shores of the Bosphorus,
without being struck with the ruin and deso-
lation which this unhappy war has brought
down upon the heads of the once thriving,
happy, and elegant Greek princes.

mi, Kjji/f^f^r^^^a^^^

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iv.'t 1 ' ;» M\ r'\ -li. r* . i ■*

\' i. ••'. this uji) -'.'siv

Ill U liPVm^"W JNI ■ ^ ■■

CONSTANTINOPLE. 1 58

** B6y6k Der^y' I believe, signifies ** great
quay." Here, upon a long esplanade, are seated
the country-houses of many European am-
bassadors, consuls, dragomans, and the no-
blesse of Pera; and here is a lively, little,
and agreeable town. The Russian minister
and the Austrian intemimdo have delight-
ful houses and gardens, but more particularly
the Russian. I had received a very kind in-
vitation from M. de Ribeaupierre, to come and
pass a few days with him at this place; but
I felt myself more in the centre of what was
worth jseeing at Pera, and with regret declined
availing myself of his offer for the present time.

After visiting all the remarkable spots on this
part of the Bosphorus, we returned by water
in a light and graceful caique to Pera. I
shall' not attempt to describe the succession of
fairy lakes of bright azure which this strait
forms; their sloping banks covered with the
red dwellings of the Turks, and the dark grey
houses of the Rayahs ; the gardens of gloomy
cypresses, contrasted with the glowing flowers

154 CONSTANTIKOPLE.

of the Judas-tree, now in full blossom; the
kiosks, the domes and minarets of the mosques;
the villages, the creeks and harbours, the quays
crowded with shipping of all nations and
of all descriptions, the gliding caiques; the
flocks of sea-birds, which, fljring dose upon the
bosom of the water in myriads, make a whiz-
zing kind of sound witfi their wings, and
which, from their eternal motion, have been
named by the French "les ames damn^es;"
then come the towers and turrets of the Cas-
tles of Darius on either hand, then the Peak
of Bugerloo, and then Scutari breaks upon
the enraptured sight, Leander's Tower, the
Seraglio Point, Oljrmpus, islands, mountains,
sea, cities.

But I must pause, lest I should appear too en-
thusiastic. Go, reader, and see ! If you have a
soul, you will feel as I do ; if you have an eye
capable of appreciating the beauties of nature
and of art, you will see as I have seen, and
you will confess that I have not overcharged
the picture.

_/

CONSTANTINOPLE. 156

For some days after my visit to Therapia,
I have noted nothing of any importance. I
mounted one evening to the top of the Tower
of Galata, and enjoyed from thence the finest
panoramic view in the world. But I will write
no more descriptions. My evenings were ge-
nerally passed at the Ambassador's, the Consul-
G^eneral's, the Secretary Mr. Turner's, or Mr.
Black's ; and my mornings^ in looking at the
troops and ships.

156 COMSTANTINOPLE,

CHAPTER VII.

Roumeli Hisaar. — Excursion to Scutari and Fener Batch!. —
Trip to the Islands of the Propontis. — Monasteries of
Chalki. — ^Tombstone of Sir Edward Barton, and Inscrip-
tion. — Papas. — Principo. — Pic-nic— Turkish Musicians.—
Romaika. — Convent and Shrine of Panagia. — Maniacs
and Idiots. — Return to Pera. — Ball at the British Palace.
— Pic-nicatDjoukSoyou,on the Bosphorus. — Reis EfFendi's
wife. — Conversation with her. — Excursion on the Bos-
phorus. — Mosquito Fleet. — Sultan going to Mosque by
Water. — Pic-nic at Hunker Eskellessie. — View from the
Giant's Mountain. — Gout6 at Buyuk Der6. — Return to
Pera. — Farewell Visit to the Bosphorus. — Proposal from
the Swedish Minister. — Disappointment. — Preparations for
Departure. — Determination to go by Sea to Smyrna in an
English brig. — Visites de Cong6.

May 9. — I rode with Mr. Vane to see the
European castle of the Bosphorus, "Roumeli
Hissar.'* At this point Darius crossed over
into Europe ; and Mahomet 11., following his
example, fortified it, and made it his t^te-de-
pont. The three towers were built by his three

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CONSTANTINOPLE. 157

Viziers; and this castle has fonned the sub-
ject of a fine opening to one of the chapters
in Gibbon. On the opposite shore stands the
Asiatic castle, ^'Anadoli Hissar/' upon the
banks of a little river. I made a sketch of this
interesting point.

As fortifications^ they are now quite con-
temptible, particularly that on the European
side, which is commanded from the rear; on
the water's edge, however, the Turks in later
days have placed some heavy cannon in case-
mate ; but, as usual, these works are in decay.
Here, in the silence of the night, the secret exe-
cutions of the Sultan's enemies, or rather vic-
tims, take place ; the bowstring and the yata-
gan do their work, and the blue Bosphorus
is stained by the bloody and headless corse
which is consigned to its bosom. This ^* Rou-
meli Hissar" has, in the late judicial slaughter
of the Janissaries, been the principal scene of the
bloody tragedy. In the neighbourhood of this
castle are some beautiful points of view, some of
which we visited : of these I shall say nothing.

May 12. — A most delightful excursion * to

158 CONSTANTINOPLE.

Scutari, in company with many Frank gentlemen
and two or three ladies ; here we landed, at what
is called the Sultan's Scale (scala), and sent for
our horses, which had been previously ordered.
We went to examine a handsome fountain near
the water-side; and here, as usual, found a great
many Turkish women drawing water, who,
perceiving a green veil upcn one of the Frank
ladies of the party, were exceedingly angry at
what they deemed a profanation of the sacred
colour, and abused her and all of us most
heartily : indeed it is probable that they would
not have contented themselves with words, but
would have proceeded to voies de fait^ had it
not been for some young soldiers of the Nizam
Djedid, who drove them off. I. am sorry to
say that I generally foimd the fair sex much
more intractable than the other; being, I sup-
pose, less in fear of the bastinado.

We rode through the immense cemetery of
Scutari, and up to the top of Bugerloo, from
whence we had a splendid view of Constan-
tinople and of Pera, and of all their concomi-
tant beauties of sea and land, of mountain and

CON STAN TINOPLE. 1 69

plain, of Mands and shipping. After reposing
here some little time under a fine clump of
trees, we descended by another road, passed by
kiosks, fountains, gardens, and mosques, through
shady lanes and smiling meadows, to the point
of the lighthouse opposite the Islands of the
Propontis, called by the Turks " Fener Batchi,"
the Garden of the Lighthouse. Here we found
prepared, by the care of our friends, a plentiful
and elegant pic-nic, spread upon the greens-
sward, beneath an immense clump of pine-trees ;
around us on all sides were groups of Turks en-
joying their contemplative pleasures, seated on
their handsome carpets, and there were as usual
many women and children.

Along the beach opposite to the islands,
some women, attended by their negro slaves,
were bathing; and I regret to say, that my
sketching propensities were the cause of my
disturbing some of these aquatic nymphs, and
of my getting a dreadful scolding from one of
the enraged swarthy Ayahs, upon whom I ac-
cidentally stumbled. I have seen ladies in Ire-
land bathe in the same manner as did these

1 60 CONSTANTINOPLE.

beauties of the East, clad in a large loose bath-
ing dress, and without the convenience of a
bathing machine, in which to unrobe and robe
themselves.

After dinner, I wandered away to the point of
the Fener; and seating myself at the foot of one
of the large pines, made a sketch of Stambool,
during which occupation my book was struck
out of my hand by a stone thrown at me by a
passing Turk, which left its mark upon the
page. We retiuned to Pera at simset, en ba-^
teau^ and spent the evening very pleasantly at
the house of one of the ladies.

May 18. — I had the honour of accompanying
the Ambassador, his lady, and suite, in his Ex-
cellency's splendid barge, manned by seven ga-
liongees, (each pulling two oars,) and steered by
a venerable old Reis, to the Islands of the Pro-
pontis. They are four in number, viz. Anti-
gone, Protae, Chalki, and Principo. We landed
first upon Chalki, (copper, so called from that
metal abounding there,) and wandered over hiUs
covered with arbutus, myrtle, gum-cistus, wild-
sage, thyme, and a variety of sylvan flowers, to a

VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE PROM JENER BATCHI.

^•i

GREEK PAPAS AT CHALKI.

CONSTANTINOPLE. l6l

monastery of Greek Papas. Here, over the sUl
of the door, is the tombstone of Sir Edward
Barton. I have copied the inscription, which I
insert below.

EDUARDO BARTON
ILLUSTRISSIMO SER
RUENTISSIMO. J^
GLOR. REGINE. OR
ATORE VI RO. PRiE
STANTISSIMO: QUI
POST REDITUM, A
BELLO UNGARICE
CO QUOCUM IN
VICTO TURCiE X
IMPERATORE ; P
PROFECTUS FUER
AT. DIEM OBIIT
PIETATIS
ERGA
JETATIS AN XXX.

SALUT VERO
ANNO MDXC.VII
XVIII. C. Nifi .

These Greek monasteries present nothing re-
markable, unless I may except the presence of
many women and children. The Papas are al-
lowed, while in deacon's orders, to marry, and

VOL. I. M

162 CONSTANTINOPLE.

they cohabit with their wiv€js until their eleva^
tion to the episcopal dignity, which, as it falls
to the share of comparatively few, does not
often interfere with their domestic arrange-
ments. They seemed to be mostly very igno-
rant and clownish men; but they were ex-
tremely humble, civil, and obliging. There is
another of those convents on the top of a high
hiU in this island, whither we likewise went to
enjoy from thence the fine view of the Sea of
Marmora, and the distant minarets and domes
of Stambool. Here I made a sketch. In the
monastery was a curious picture of the Last
Judgment, with all its concomitant horrors and
whimsicalities, equal to any thing of the sort in
the celebrated performance upon that subject
by Michael Angelo, in the Sistine Chapel.

Tliere is a pretty town on the south side of
the island, with some good houses in it, whi-
ther many families resort in the heats of sum-
mer. The Austrian Internuncio has a villa
here. We called upon the family of the first
dragoman to the British Embassy, and walked

TURKISH MUSICIANS AT FRINCIPO.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 168

about upon the quays of the place, with the
belles of Chalki. We afterwards went in the
barge through a heavy sea (for the sea-breeze
had set in,) to the island of Prindpo; and here,
after wandering about some time, we dined
under an immense tree in the centre of* a Greek
village.

We were enteitained during our repast by a
group of Turkish musicians, and by about a
dozen Greeks, who danced the Romaika to the
barbarous sounds of the itinerant band. It con-
sisted of three very droU-lpoking fellows, one of
whom scraped away most zealously upon a spe-
cies of violin, another strummed heartily upon
a creaking guitar, while the third hammered
away upon a tamborine ; at intervals, they all
joined their monotonous and discordant voices
with the strangely uncouth sounds of their
minstrelsy, while a large ape, which belonged to
the party, frisked about, and looked as grave
and consequential as his masters, no doubt ima-
gining that he was a very important personage
in the drama; which, in truth, he was, for he was

m2

164 CONSTANTINOPLE.

much the most amusing vagabond there. After
dinner, we procured asses, and almost aUthe
party rode up over the heights to obtain views,
and to visit the famous shrine of the Panagia,
contained in an old convent near the summit of
the mountain. In the chapel we found two or
three sick people lying upon mattresses on the
floor: they told us, they had come hither to
be prayed for by the Church ; but, judging
from their appearance, it would not seem that
these prayers had been very efficacious. This
is a common practice in the Greek Church, and
is of great antiquity.

We saw some poor maniacs in the court-yard
of the convent, chained like malefactors ; and
one wretched creature, who seemed to be mere-
ly idiotical, was under the same species of re-
straint. These miserable objects were likewise
brought hither for the same pious purpose.

The Greeks believe in the old superstition of
the possession of devils ; and I rather appre-
hend that mania and possession seem to be in
their eyes one and the same thing. Hence the

^nm

CONSTANTINOPLE. 165

custom of bringing maniacs hither to the shrine
of the Panagia, to be exorcised and prayed
over. We cannot quarrel with their piety, al-
though we may pity their ignorance. The
island of Principo, on its southern shore, pos^
sesses many remains of antiquity, some baths,
columns, fragments of altars, &c. &c. Coins of
the Roman and Greek emperors are frequently
found here.

We returned at sunset to the boats, and had
a long and weary pull back to Tophana, where
we landed at nearly midnight, and were pur-
sued up the steep and uneven streets by the
whole pack of Tophana hounds, yelping and
barking at our heels nearly all the way to the
Galata Serai. We were all weary and hungry,
and I was glad to accept an invitation to sup at
the palace.

May 17. — A splendid ball at the British
palace, which was attended by all the corps di-
plomatique, the dragomans, the principal Frank
merchants, and the strangers of condition. The
suite of state rooms, which are very magnifi-

166 CONSTANTINOPLE^.

cent, was brilliantly lighted up, and there was
a superb supper in the great hall. The mixture
of all the costumes of the East and West that
was here exhibited, produced a most striking
effect; for there were many Greeks, Arme-
nians, Turks, Dragomans, (habilles d la langue^
as it is called,) and the wives and daughters of
these latter, in the dress of their country ; and
then there was all the lace and embroidery, the
silks, muslins, and feathers, the cocked hats,
epaulettes, and decorations of Europe. The
costume, however, of the ladies of Pera, is more
to be admired than their dancing, faute de bons
maitres a danser.

May 20.— I went with a large and agreeable
party of ladies and gentlemen, to a pic*nic
upon the banks'of the Bosphorus, at a place call-
ed by the Turks, " Djouk Soyou," upon the
Asian side, and just opposite to the '' Roumeli
Hissar^" or the European Castle.

We first wandered about the delicious lanes
and groves in the neighbourhood, and among
fountains, kiosks, and gardens ; and then re-
turned to dinner, which we found spread upon

4 •
■ »

I

, s -vii*. • , -i I " *

^ «! •• l!)('<\ \' •

J \va\\ ..I

CONSTANTINOPLE, l67

a large table, underneath an immense Oriental
plane-tree, with which this country abounds.
After dinner, when the ladies retired, and left
the gentlemen to their Champagne and Bur-
gundy, I stole away to make a sketch of the
beautiful scene. A Frank band of musicians
had been stationed near the dinner-table, and
attracted whole groups of Turks, who seemed
to listen with much pleasure to the airs of
Mozart and Rossini, and the occasional God
save the King, Rule Britannia, and other na-

ft

tional airs, called for by the loyal votaries of
Bacchus.

When I had finished my sketch, I joined
the ladies of our party, who were sitting toge-
ther upon a kind of temporary divan near a
handsome fountain, in the foreground, and not
far from the banks of the Bosphorus. Close
behind them was a group of Turkish females,
apparently of consequence, as they were at-
tended by two well-dressed chaoushes, who re-
mained at a little distance, with their heads
turned discreetly another way, and by several
black slaves.

168 CONSTANTINOPLE.

I was seated at the feet of one of the Frank
ladies, and showing her the sketch I had just
made. One of the Turkish dames was curious
to see the book, and began to converse with the
lady at whose feet I was sitting. She said,
" Come here, I like your beautiful face, come
and be acquainted with me; I wish to know
you all." The fair Frank replied courteously
to her, and they conversed very animatedly.

The Turk now unveiled herself, and said,
" Who is that young man at your feet with the
book? Is he your husband?" Which being
answered in the negative, she replied, ** Ah !
how happy you ladies of Frangistan are, who
can enjoy the society of the male sex without
restraint !"

She was a very handsome and young woman,
with fine large black expressive eyes, and arch-
ed brows : she smoked her chibouque, and ate
bonbons, while she talked to us. We endea^
voured to prevail upon another of her com-
panions to unveil : she at first excused herself,
and expressed fear of being observed; at length

TURKISH LADIES.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 169

she sighed very heavily, and showed her face
likewise; but she was not so young or hand-
some as the other, and was perhaps her mother.

The younger lady now^d to the fair Frank,
" Ask him to make my likeness." I immediately
set about making a rough outline of the group ;
and when I had finished it, showed it to her.
Meanwhile, a great many Turkish women of
inferior grade had gathered about us, and the
poor lady began to be alarmed, saying, "-Tell
him not to show the drawing to those other
women, for they will know who it is. I am
the wife of the Reis EfTendi ; and should it be
known that I have unveiled before the Franks,
I shall devour a great deal of grief."

The fair Frank explained all this conversa-
tion to me, and I have written it as nearly as I
coidd remember its import, not however answer-
ing for its being verbatim. The Reis FfFendi's
wife, seeing that she had attracted the observa-
tion of her own countrywomen, now withdrew,
saying many civil things, and casting many soft
looks from her black eyes upon her Frangi

170 CONSTANTINOPLE.

friends, some of which the draughtsman had
vanity enough to think were meant for himself.

In the evening we embarked for Therapia,
and spent the rest of a pleasant day in dancing,
at the house of one of the ktdies of the party.
I and several others, indeed, passed the whole
night there, upon sofas, beds, and divans, re-
turning early the following morning, by water,
to Pera, and enjoying very much, indeed, the
beauties of the scene at this early hour.

May 25. — I had the pleasure of accompany-
ing their Exceileneies of the English Embassy
in their barge to Dolma Batchi, and saw the
manoeuvres of the Sultan's Mosquito squadron^
which formed line of battle, tacked, wore, fired
salutes, and performed several evolutions to the
beating of drums, and amid the clangour of
cymbals. The boats were of all sizes and of
all rigs, some as frigates, others as schooners, and
some as sloops, &c. &c., each having at its mast-
head a man placed to keep a good look-out,
whose size was very much out of proportion to
the pigmy vessel upon whose top-gallant yard

CONSTANTINOPLE. 171

or mast-head he stood. They manoeuvred,
however, 'much better than could have been ex-
pected, and seemed to pay much attention to
the movements and signals of the flag-ship,
which remained in the centre of the weather
line.

After witnessing with much pleasure the
scientific efforts of the infant marine, we dis«n-
barked, and went into the palace of a great
Turk, which was not quite finished, and from
behind the latticed windows of the Harem we
saw the Sultan go by in immense state in his
beautiful galley, cutting like a swallow through
the air, dashing the spray about the boat with
its many oars, preceded by the black and white
eunuchs of the Seraglio, in handsome barges, and
followed by the Viziers, Reis Effendi, Capitan
Pasha, and all the great dignitaries of the Otto-
man throne, in richly ornamented galleys. I
cannot attempt to describe this procession, it
shot so rapidly past us, and was surrounded
with so much state and splendour, that the
dazzled imagination could not comprehend its

172 CONSTANTINOPLE.

individual features, but could only seize the
general eflfect.

We saw several men stand up in a caique,
holding hand in hand, and calling out with a
loud voice as the Sultan approached, one of the
party having a large paper in his extended right
hand. His Highness stopped a moment, and
the Reis Effendi's galley, dashing up with the
speed of an arrow, received the petition ; while
the Sultan proceeded and landed at a Mosque
on the water's edge, amid the thunder of cannon
and the smoke from the Mosquito fleet, which
hovered about the Bosphorus, It was a lovely
scene.

We now re-embarked, and had a delightful
row up the strait to a valley on the Asian side,
where we landed, and found M. de Ribeau-
pierre and suite. We pic-nic'd under some
prodigious Oriental planes, opposite to a foun-
tain, and near a kiosk of the Sultan's, which
I believe is now converted into a paper-mill.
The name of this delicious spot is " Hunker

HUNKER ESEELLESSIE, A FOUNTAIN ON THE ASIATIC
SHORE OF THE BOSFHORUS.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 173

Eskellessie." The Chaoushes killed a large
serpent at the foot of our trees.

Here, as usual, we saw many groups of
Turkish women, with their children and female
slaves, some of whom unveiled themselves, and
looked at the Elchia (Ambassadress) and our
European party, with great interest and good
humour. Indeed, I am sure that if we knew
the language of this interesting people, and
would try to become acquainted with them,
we should find them more traitables and civi-
lized than we are apt to imagine. But unfor-
tunately there is a mutual repulsion existing
between Frank and Turk ; and I verily believe
that we know almost as little of each other
as if we had only been mutually viewed in a
panorama, or in a camera obscura.

After dinner I made, as usual, a sketch of the
fine trees, the fountain, and the blue Bospho-
ru8 gUding rapidly down and showing itself
between the massive trunks of the planes. We
walked up to the summit of a hill, near the

174 CONSTANTINOPLE.

entrance into the Black Sea, called the Giant's
Mountain, and from this lofty point of view I
could not resist the temptation of making a
feeble attempt to pourtray the beautiful pro-
spect at my feet.

The Bosphorus here forms a wide and lovely
lake. In the foreground was the valley of
" Hunker Eskellessie," its fine trees, its kiosk,
and the " Sultan's Scale." On the left was the
wooded hill covered with villages and gardens,
backed by the peaked mountain of Bugerloo, in
front and in the distance the minarets and
domes of the outskirts of Scutari ; and on the
right, upon a bold and woody promontcny,
stood the picturesque Castle of Europe — " Rou-
meli Hissar." The blue bosom of the Bos-
phorus, covered with the light forms and white
sails of the boats and caiques, completed the
picture.

We descended to the Sultan's Scale, and here
embarking in the barge, pulled over to Btiyiik*
derd, where we enjoyed an elegant gout6 in
the delicious gardens of the Russian palace.

4

3

CONSTANTINOPLE. 175

beneath the shelter of the finest trees, amid the
fragrance of roses, soothed by the gentle splash-
ing sound of fountains and the song of nights
ingales, while our eyes rested upon the purple
lake before us, gilded by the departing tints of
the setting sun.

We returned late at night to Tophana, and
were pursued by our canine adversaries, many
of whom we stumbled over in the dark, and
who avenged themselves by barking and yelling
at us in full concert through the streets.

May 27. — I made another excursion up the
BosphoruSj with the British Consul-general, at
sevai in the morning, to his country-house
near Therapia, and took a farewell view of the

«

beauties of this unequalled Strait. I had now
been about six weeks at Constantinople, and
was desirous of recommencing my rambles,
before the extreme heat should set in and pre-
vent my prosecuting my tour.

May 28. — I received a proposal fix)m the
Swedish Envoy, M. de Lowenheim, to make
wiA him a tour of the Sea of Marmora, Darda-

176 CONSTANTINOPLE.

iielles, Tread, Pergamus, Mount Olympus and
Broussa* I gladly accepted this advantageous
offer. His Excellency is a great draughtsman,
antiquary, and a scientific surveyor. Unluck-
ily, he only gives me twenty-four hours to pre-
pare for departure. In the course of the day
I called upon him, and we sketched out toge-
ther the outline of our excursion. He travels
with tents, dragomans, a physician, and all the
conveniences and luxuries of a Pasha. I fear,
however, that the time necessary to make my
preparations, get my firman, &c. &c. will render
it impossible for me to be ready to start on the
morning of the 30th, which is the period of
his Excellency's departure.

May 29. — Occupied all the day in packing
and getting ready for the Swede ; but find to
my great mortification, that I cannot have my
firman till late to-morrow. The evening was
entirely devoted to visites de cong^.

May 30. — I determined upon setting off for
Smyrna in an English brig, and to visit the
Dardanelles, the Troad, and Tenedos, in my way

i<-

TESKERi:, OR TURKISH PASSPORT.

^

C\

INDORSElf ENT UPON THE BACK OF THE TESKERI.

CONSTANTINOPLE. 177

thither. I may thus perhaps meet M. de Low-
enheun upon the plams of Troy, and then pro-
ceed to Smyrna by Pergamus overland. The
brig is only waiting for her firman to depart.
This evening I received my passport from
Mr. Canning, and a tesker^ from the Reis
Effendi, a firman not being necessary, and
requiring more time to procure than I had
to spare.

May 31. — I took leave of their Excellencies
of the British embassy, of the members of the
suite, and consulate, and of all the rest of my
friends in Pera ; and I must confess, that I did
so with a heavy heart, for I had been most kindly
and hospitably treated by every individual of
my acquaintance. To a person circumstanced
as I was, thrown down by chance, as it were,
among them, such kindnesses were indeed in-
valuable ; and I shall long, I trust, think with
pleasure of the delightful days I have spent
among my countrymen in one of the most in-
teresting quarters of the globe. X find I am to
have the pleasure of being accompanied as far

VOL. I. N

/

178 CONSTANTINOPLE.

as Smyrna by a young gentleman belonging to
Mr. Black's house: he is a good Oriental
linguist, and is fond of antiquarianism. I trust
much in his assistance, and hope to derive great
advantage from his society.

179

REMARKS AND NOTES.

London^ Dec. 18:88.
COURTEOUS READER^

Before I take leave of Constantinople,
perhaps for ever, you have a right to expect of
me some general observations upon what I have
seen, and, perhaps, a few ** pieces justicatives"
upon what I have written ; and now that I am
no longer upon the wing from one scene to
another, nor under the continual excitement of
constant variety, together with its accompany-
ing fatigue, I have abundant leisure to write,
(which while travelling I had not at all times,)
and indeed good authority within my reach to
refer to, by means of which I hope to correct
any errors of mine own, and to convey to you

N 2

180 REMARKS AND NOT£S.

some authentic information, in the shape of
notes and extracts, from an author whom I have
consulted since the compilation of the few
rough and iU^mposed pages of my Journal,
(which indeed wias never in the first instance
intended for publication, but merely for the
amusement of mme own domestic fireside, and
that of my more intimate personal friends).
The interest, however, excited by the events
now passing in many of the scenes which I have
feebly attempted to describe, has induced me to
submit my narrative to the eyes of the public, in
the pleasing hope of in some degree contributing
to give it a little local information, and a faint
idea of the habits of that extraordinary people,
of whom, in general, Europeans know so littl^
and about whose fate, in their present magnani-
mous struggle for political existence, so intense

9

an anxiety is shown by the nations of the
West.

Our ignorance of their language, the abhor-
rence with which the good Mussulmans regard
the Giaour, the manner of travelling, and short

K£MARKS AND NOTES. 181

time generally taken in passing through the
country of the TruQ Believers, are unfortunately
so many obstades to our gaining much insight
into their personal character ; and as to their
domestic life, of this we must for ever remain
in ignorance : for such is the inviolable sanctity
of the harem, and such the mystery that en-
velopes all that passes within its walls, that no
traveller, with the exception of Lady M. W.
Montague and Lady Hester Stanhope, has had
opportunities of exploring its recesses, and be-
coming acquainted with the life and manners of
its inmates. In short, all that we see of the
Turks is their out-of-door existence, or their
hours of idleness at the khans and caf6s, while
even these are avoided as much as possible by the
Frank traveller, fear^ of exciting the ferocity
and wounding the prejudices of the Moslem.

Eiu*opean residents in general allow, that the
Turks are humane and indulgent to their wives,
slaves, and children ; they are charitable to the
poor ; they endow and build hospitals, khans,
caravanserais, and fountains, and that they dig

182 EBMARKS AND NOTES.

wells in the deserts to refresh and preserve the
thirsty and worn-out traveller; that they are
not totally devoid of a taste for literature and
the arts^ for that they endow colleges and pub-
lic schools; that they have lately established
printing-presses and paper manufactories, and
that they construct splendid bendts and aque-
ducts, hydraulic columns, and mosques. Al-
though fanatics in matters of religion, still they
are tolerant to aU sects who profess the belief in
a Supreme Being, and who can authenticate
that belief by divine books. They are scrupu-
lous observers of treaties, and respect the in-
violability of the houses and persons of foreign
ambassadors, political agents, and consular au-
thorities ; and hence it arises that the Franks
in general enjoy much more liberty and many
more privileges in the Ottoman empire than
they do in their own countries.

Now let us reverse the picture, and we shall
see that the Turk punishes infidelity and some-
times disobedience in his harem with death ;
that individuals erect khans, caravanserais,

EEMAEKS AND NOTES. 183

fountains, &c. &c. because the Government
does nothing of the sort ; and because these in*
dividuals have been perhaps prompted by the
stings of conscience to make up in their latter
days, by works of piety, for the evil doings of
their youth, as was customary in Europe in the
darker ages. If they endow public schools and
colleges, these are very few in number in pro^
portion to the extent of the empire and to the
wants of the people; and the literature there
taught consists chiefly in the Khoran and the
Arabian poets; their chemistry degenerates
into alchemy, their astronomy into astrology,
and their natural philosophy into magic and sor-
cery. The merit of the bendts and aqueducts
Mth the hydraulic columns, belongs not to
the Turks, but to the ancient Greeks ; and it is
a curious fact, that the men employed to this
day in the construction and preservation of
these great national works, are chiefly Greeks
from a particular province in Albania, (Drino-
polis, of which Agiro Castro is the capital : see
Andreassif chapter 7, du corps des Sou Yoldij.)

184 REMARKS AND NOTES.

and the mosques, kiosks, and serais, are all
built by Greek architects, as the ships of the
fleet, and their principal fortresses upon the Bos-
phorus and Dardanelles, are under the directicm
of French engineers ; nay indeed almost all the
artisans and artificers of the Ottoman empire,
excepting in some few particular trades, are
Rayahs, principally Greeks. For the Turk is
the master, and his trade is the sword, or agri-
culture, in which latter he is but a sorry practi-
tioner. They tolerate the Greek, Armenian,
and Jewish religions among them, because of
the obstinate adherence of these several races to
their belief, from which nothing but death can
separate them; and because, presupposing the
total extermination of these sects, *' what would
the true believers do for slaves f^ as was saga-
ciously remarked in full Divan, by one of its
members, when upon the breaking out of the
Moreote war, such an expedient was recom-
mended. What would they do for bankers,
dragomans, architects, engineers, artisans, mer*
chants, &c &c. ?

REMARKS AND NOTES. 185

Again, the Turks are, personally, extremely
brave, but so are all barbarians ; and this quality
is more than counterbalanced by their want of
discipline, tactics, and activity. They are ge-
nerally esteemed for their va»city ; and yet no
government has ever been stained by so many
acts of perfidy and atrocity as theirs. They are
said to be honourable in their dealings ; and yet
they worship gold, and are sordid and avari-
cious, and will have recourse to any measures
short of actual theft, to obtain this sovereign
good. Nay, they have a proverb, " Riches are
power ;'' and it is notorious, that corruption has
always been, and stiU is, the medium through
which almost every thing is transacted in the

Divan ; that the Pachalicks and great offices
are generally sold to the highest bidder, and
that each great man has his agent at the Porte,
to make a golden bridge to all his opponents in
the council. Their hospitality is a thing much
talked of, but I fancy very little known ; for
Europeans seldom put themselves in the way of
experiencing it. Their humanity to animals is

186 EEMARKS AND NOTES.

strangely opposed to their cruelty to man ; and
they would thmk liess of beheading or basti-
nading a whole province, than they would of
ill-treating a horse or a camel. In their ex-
terior, they are remarkable for a decency and
apparent propriety of conduct; but yet we
know that in secret they indulge in all sorts of
abominable vices. They are apparently frank
and cordial in their manners ; but are often
known to disguise the most atrocious designs

«

beneath the doak of benevolence, and to be

< •

plotting the ruin and destruction of the un-
suspecting victim of their duplicity, while
lulling him into a false security, by a show
of kindness and affection. The Mussulman
justice is much vaunted ; but yet it is notorious,
that in no nation upon earth so little of this
commodity is dispensed in the courts of the
magistrates, where, if Justice be represented
holding the scales, it is to weigh, not the merits
of the case, but the gold of the confficting
parties; and that although the law punishes
false witnesses with death, yet in no country

BEMABKS AND NOTES. 187

are they so numerous, or so easily obtained, as
in Turkey.

If indeed it were a fair maxim to estimate
the virtues of a nation by the measure of the
acts and influence of its government, and by
the effects produced by its iK)licy, one would
arrive at this conclusion: that the Ottoman
nation is the bitterest enemy to the human
race, and the severest scourge that ever was
sent by Providence to chastise mankind. From
the banks of the Danube to the shores of the
Fropontis, the traveller will find abundant
cause to reason in this manner. He will see
fertile provinces lying waste, well inhabited
cities of the dead, but desolate and ruined
abodes of the living. He will see the remains
of the arts, and the civilization of a former
and a better age, and but few marks of the pre-
sent era, save such as denote barbarism and
decay. The few towns that he will meet with in
his long and dreary journey, are rapidly falling
into ruin, and the only road (the great means
of civilization) now existing, and which can

188 AEMAUKS AND NOTES.

put in any daim to such an appellation, is
either of the Roman age, or of that of the
great Sultan Solyman, but even this pavement
is now almost worse than nothing. Wherever
the Osmanli has trod, devastation and ruin
mark his steps, civilization and the arts have
fled, and made room for barbarism, and the
silence of the desert and the tomb. " Where the
Sultan's horse has trod, there grows no grass,"
is a Turkish proverb and a fatal truth.

The great city of Constantinople, and the well
peopled villages of the Bosphorus indeed present
a contrast with the melancholy scene I have just
described; but they owe their apparent pros-
perity to the desolation of the provinces, the
miserable inhabitants of which, fleeing from the
extortions and oppressions of the local autho-
rities, herd together in and about the capital,
where (as is the case in all countries) they less
feel the hand of power and the persecution of
petty tyrants. This plethora of the heart, I
look upon as one of the strongest symptoms of
the fatal disease which affects the whole system.

•"'

REMARKS AND NOTES. 189

But even Stambool, rich and beauteous as she is,
verges towards her decay. By the alienation
of the Greek nation, she has lost the brightest
jewel in her imperial diadem ; by it she has been
bereft of the great bulk of her maritime, com-
mercial, and literary population. She is now
making an heroic struggle against accumulating
evils ; but it looks more like the convulsive
effort of the dying Colossus, than the well
regulated exertion of a healthy body.

We have no instance in history of the regene-
ration of such a people as this, who witnessing the
advancing civilization, and the increasing power,
moral and physical, of all the nations around
it, remains nearly in the same condition as it
did when first it forced its way into Europe,
with this only difference, that it has long
ceased by it^ warlike energies to terrify and to
overcome the nations of the West. The per-
sonal character /md magnanimous efforts of the
Sultan may do much : but he stands alone ; he
has no followers in the race towards reform:
should he fall, it is to be feared that the Otto-

190 REMARKS AND NOTES.

mans will relapse into their old system, for they
are oonstitutionaUy opposed to novelty, and
regard aU innovation as a dereliction from the
precepts of their law.

But even Constantinople, although appa^
rently weU peopled, has in reality, within the
last twenty years, rapidly decreased in this great
essential to a nation's wealth. Dr. Walsh
says, (in Chapter XI.) that she has in that pe*
riod lost ** more than half her population," by
the plague and by massacres; and that the
Greek population of the Fanar has since 1821
been reduced from 40,000 to half that number.
We must add to this, the loss of life caused
by the total extermination of the Jannissaries*
which some estimate as highly as 45,000 per-
sons. " If," says Dr. Walsh, " to these casual-
ties be added, the frequent conflagrations, the
Russian and Greek wars, which were a con-
stant drain upon the Jannissaries of the capital,
and the silent operations of the plague, which is
continually active, though not always alarm-
ing, it wiU be considered no exaggeration to

REMARKS AND NOTES. 191

say, that, within the period mentioned, from
three to fom^ hmidred thousand persons have
heen prematurely swept away in one city of
Europe." The Turks, from theu* fatalism, take
no measures of precaution against either the
plague or the fire. If it be fated, says the Mos-
lem, that I shall die of the plague, I should in
vain strive to avert the decree of Providence.
If it be written that my house is to be
burnt, it would be in vain for me to build
it of stone, fOid presumptuous in me to endea-
vour, by human means, to avert a calamity
which Allah has reserved for me, perhaps to
chastise me for my sins; and my very pre-
sumption, in constructing my dwelling of an in-
combustible material, would doubtless draw
down upon my offending head some greater and
well deserved punishment. As long as the Turks
continue to be fatalists (that is, as long as they con-
tinue to be Turks), there is little hope of their
advancing in civilization, for the prostration of
the faculties produced by this benumbing prin-
ciple must necessarily unfit them for long

19S REMARKS AND NOTES.

struggling against those difficulties and obstacles
which they would meet with in then- progress
towards a better order of things, and m which
they would not fail to read the decrees of fate.

Upon the policy of the war undertaken by
Russia at the present crisis, and upon the proba-
ble success of the Muscovite arms, I shall not
hazard an opinion, for this does not come within
the meaning or compass of such a trifling work
as mine ; neither have I had opportunities suffi.
dent to enable me to judge of the comparative
means of the two great belligerents.

It seems to me, however, that the true policy
of Europe is to drive out the barbarian Mussul-
man, the enemy to civilization and to the human
race ; and to restore, in its full extent, the Eu-
ropean Greek empire, whose political existence
might be guaranteed and fostered by the three
great powers of Europe.

Such an act would be worthy of the age, and
a proof of the magnanimity of the Christian
world, which has tolerated too long the pre-
sence of the infidel in some of its finest pro-

REMAKKS AND NOTES:' 193

vinces. Christendom is now united in th6
bonds of peace and mutual interest ; she is now
strong enough to repair the disasters of that
fatal period of anarchy and weakness, by which
the followers of Osman profited to bring fire
and sword, pestilence and the khoran, into her
very heart. t

The Greeks are an active, enterprizmg, com-
mercial, and improvable people. The Turks
are neither. The mercantile interests of man<-
kind would derive immepse benefit from their
holding the keys of Europe and Asia, while
the barbarians from caprice or pride, so fre-
quently close the Hellespont and the Bospliorus
against the commerce of the world.

We are most of us in the habit of vitupe-
rating the Greeks, and identifying the crimes of
a few with the merits of their cause : in so. doing
we commit an act of great injustice. The
cause of Greece is the cause of freedom, reli-
gion, and civilization, against the most terrible
slavery that mankind has ever yet seen, — against
the khoran and against barbarism. That

VOL. I. o

194 REMARKS AND NOTES.

the Greeks are vicious and degraded as a nation,
I am not prepared to deny; but let not Eu-
rope f (»-get that the neck of that suffering peo-
ple has for four centuries bowed beneath the
intolerable yoke of the Osmanlee ; the slave is
ever worse than the master ; and of a verity the
Greek was not likely to improve in virtue
under the tutorage of the Turk.

No man visiting Turkey in Eiuope can help
being struck with the air of intelligence and
activity, the intellectual countenance of the
Greek, as contrasted with the dull, slow, indo-
lent-looking Turk; no man can observe that
the Greeks are still the active agents in all such
works of art and science as yet remain in this
degraded country, without seeing that they are
an improvable and a meritorious people, though
suffering under adversity, and bowing the knee
and the will at the beck of their haughty
masters.

In the course of the unhappy Moreote war
they have, among many atrocities, given abun-
dant proofs of valour and enthusiastic devoted-

REMARKS AND NOTES. 195

ness to the cause of their bleeding country^
W(»*thy of their better days ; and in palliation of
their offences, let us not f(H*get what provocation
they received, and the horrid murder of thdr
martyred Patriarch, followed by an indiscrinii-
nate massacre of the Greek people wherever the
furious and armed Mussulman mob met them.
Let us be just !

OF THE ARMENIANS.

This quiet but speculating people have con-
trived to slide in between the Turks and the
Greeks, and silently to possess themselves of all
the advantages once held by the latter. *^ Re-
semUing,'' says M. Andreossi^ '' the Mussul-
mans in their habits, which have made them
adopt for their women the severity of the
harem and the g^ne of the Yachmak, (veil)
they inspired the Turks with no distmst ; they
were the most docile, the most faithful, and the
most submissive of subjects. Leaving to the
Boyards of the Fanal their intrigues to ob-
tain the principalities, to which these sacrificed

o 2

196 REMARKS AND NOTES;

the dearest ties» and abandoning to the remains
of the Greeks the affairs of commerce, because
they seldom traded with foreign countries, the
Armenians attached themselves to the represen-
tative token of real riches. Sarraf or bankers to
the men in office, and charged with the task of
recoining the gold and silver money at the
mint, the Armenians of Constantinople ac-
quired immense fortunes. Beyond the capital
the Armenian nation is not rich, but it is in
easy circumstances ; simple in its ihann^, it
obtains a merited consideration, of which it
knows how to profit, but which it does not
overrate.*' — (See Discours Prclimnaire^ pages
83 and 34). How well the Porte has repaid
the fidelity and utility of this people, has been
lately seen by its cruel exile and proscription, in
the middle of a rigorous winter, (that of 1827,)
of the greater part of this community.

UPON THE STATE AND INFLUENCE OF
WOMEN IN TURKEY*

" There are few countries in which the

REMARKS AND NOTES. 197

women express themselves with regard to the
sovereign, with more liberty than at Constant!-
nople. This sort of licence which is accorded
to them, would seem to be in compensation for
the state of isolation and neglect in which they
are left. But although banished to the re-
cesses of the Harem, and apparently enjoying
no consideration, there, as every where else, they
know how to profit by the ascendency which
their sex gives them ; there, as elsewhere, when
ambition has been able to make itself heard,
.the influence of women in affairs, sometimes
useful to the Prince and to the country, may
sometimes become fatal to the state.

" The Turkish women are for the most part
purchased slaves : if polygamy be injurious to
population^ which, however, has not been yet
proved, it contributes, at least, to preserve that
purity of the blood, and that beauty of the
forms, which, on the other hand, marriages of
interest or of policy often deteriorate : but if
polygamy occasions under some circumstances
considerable difficulties, it is in the ulterior of

198 REMARKS AND NOTES.

the seraglio that they are seen to arise. The
women of the Sultan, who are called Kadines,
(ladies of the Palace,) destined to propagate the
imperial race, are not married, and have not the
title of Sultanas ; they only take this title when
one of their sons mounts upon the throne.
They are then called Sultana Valid6, or Mother-
Sultanas, and go from the old seraglio to the
palace of the Sultan ; placed about the person
of their son, they exercise upon him and upon
the government an influence which is some-
times dangerous. A Sultan who dies and leaves
young children and several kadines^ leaves a
field open to intrigues and seditions, from
whence the greatest disorders result; and there
is no country where minorities and regencies
are so much dreaded as at Constantinople."—
Andreassiy p. 24.

PERSONAL CHARACTER OF SULTAN MAHMOUD*

^^ Sultan Mahmoud has given himself a vi-
zier without talents, and of ordinary capacity.
He watches over his Divan with extreme care.

BEMARK6 AND NOTES. 199

and leaves to it nothing but the symbols of
power: he directs and regulates every thing
himself: better and sooner informed than his
ministers, by means of a secret and active po-
lice, his measures are taken before the reports of
his grand vizier have reached him. Active, la-
borious, impenetrably secret, a zealous observer
of his religion, faithful to his word, sober, and
a respecter of morals. Sultan Mahmoud may be
justly looked upon as a phenomenon for Tur-
key." — AndreouL

CEEEMONY OF INAUGUKATION IN THE
MOSQUE OF EYOUB.

'' The fifth or sixth day after his accession to
the throne, the Sultan, followed by all the gran-
dees of the empire, and by the body of the
ulemas, goes to the mosque of Eyoub, vene-
rated on accoimt of the tomb of Eyoub, a be-
loved disciple of the Prophet. Here it is that
the Sheik of the Mevl^vi, (or dancing Dervishes)
or his deputy, girds him with the sword of
Osman^ with the customary ceremonies. This

200 REMARKS AKD NOTES.

jsolemnity, which holds the place of enthrone-
ment, dates from Mahomet the Second, after the
capture of Constantinople in l4i5S:'—Andr€09sL

ON THE SERAGLIO OF THE SULTAN,

" With respect to the situation of the Seraglio
at the extremity of the Bosphorus, at the point
where it joins the Sea of Marmora, having in
front the Princes Islands, the eastern bank of
the Bosphorus, and Bithynia, which is termi-
nated by Mount Olympus, nothing can be com-
pared to the view which it embraces.

" The Seraglio has eight gates, three large,
which communicate with Constantinople, and
five on the side of the sea, which are more like
wickets than gates ; these have been fatal to
more than one victim. It was by the gates of
the sea that the wives of Sultan Selim the
Third were conducted to be thrown into the Bos-
phorus, for having participated in the murder of
that prince. The principal gate looking upon
Constantinople, is called ** Babi Humaioun," or
the Imperial Gate. Although ornamented by

BEMARKS AND NOTES. 201

two columns of marble, it has nevertheless all
the character of the entrance into a fortress; its
heavy and massive style has something repul-
sive in it. But one cannot see without dis-
gust two niches, in which are deposited and ex*
posed to view, the heads of victims who have
fallen by the orders of the Sultan," &c. &c. —
Andreossiy p. 16.

UPON THE PUBLIC PROCESSIONS OF THE

SULTAN.

" When the Grand Seigneur goes out upon
solemn occasions, or at the period of the Bai-
ram, the variety of the costume, and the rich-
ness of the dresses of the great dignitaries,
of the officers of the Empire, and those of the
Court, give to this brilliant cortege an air of
grandeur and magnificence of the most impo-
sing description." — Andreossi, p. 25.

ON THE KISLAR AGHA.

" The service of the interior of the seraglio is
confided to the Black and White Eunuchs : the
most considerable of these situations is that

202 REMARKS AND NOTES.

held by the * Kyzlar Agha^i,' or Master of the
Women.

*' This person is the * Grand Black Eunuch ;'
he has the care of the women of the Sultan,
and he enters into the harem whenever he
pleases. This is the post of the highest rank in
the seraglio : he is called by distinction * Bdyuk
Agha,' Great Master, or Dar-us Siadet Agha9i,
Master of the Imperial House (literally, the
Palace of Felicity.) He is the chief of the
Black Eunuchs ; his rank is that of Vizier, or
Pacha with three tails, and he takes place im-
mediately after the Grand Vizier, and the Ca-
pitan Pacha." — AndreossU p- 26.

SILIHDAIt AGHA.

" The Silihdar Agha is one of the first offi-
cers attached to the person of the Sultan; his
principal functions are the intendancy of all the
officers of the interior, who are not eunuchs.
He carries, upon ceremonies of state, the sabre
of the Sultan ; and it is from this part of his
duties that he has taken his title^ which signi-

&EMARKS AND NOTES. 209

fies ' Swoid Bearer.' The Siiihdar performs the
duties of ' Carver ;' and he first tastes the food
of the Sidtan in the presence of his Highness.''
— Andreossif p- 29-

POUNDING THE MUFTI IN A MORTAR.

I remember to have seen in the outer court
of the seraglio, at a distance, an object resem-
bling an inverted mortar. I was, however, so
short a time there, and had penetrated tp so
small a distance, that I did not make any ob-
servations upon it. I was afterwards asked by
one of the British merchants, if I had seen the
mortar in which it was customary to pound the
Mufti when guilty of disobedience or rebellion.
I imagined that this was a joke, or, at the most,
some story founded upon an obscure tradition.
I find, however, that Andieossi (p. 16.) says, in
speaking of the outer court of the seraglio —
*' In the same court is to be seen an inverted
mortar, which was formerly destined, as it is
said, ito grind therein Hie chief of the Oulema,
(Ulema,) when he was guilty of infractions.

204 REMARKS AND NOT£S.

They had recourse to tMs expedient, in order
to gratify that prejudice which does not allow
of a hand being laid upon the sacred person of
the Mufti/' &c. &c. But it appears that this
has been only invented to frighten the chief of
the law, as history does not mention any in-
stance of an execution of this nature.

RIGHT OF PETITIONING THE SULTAN.

When the Sultan goes to mosque on Fri-
days, in the suburbs of the capital, or to some
of the villages of the Bosphorus, " the peo^
pie have the pleasure of beholding their So-
vereign, and appear very weU satisfied. This
circumstance is, besides, favourable for present-
ing their petitions to the Grand Seigneur; for
the right of petitioning exists in all its pleni-
tude in Constantinople. His Highness causes
the placets to be received by the proper officers,
who accompany him always upon solemn occa-
sions. When he returns to the seraglio, he
indorses them with his own hand, and sends
them to the respective ministers, ordering that

REMARKS AND NOTES. 205

an account should be given to him of the exe-
cution of the decisions taken respecting them."
— Andreossl.

TOWER OF LEANDER.

The Turks call this pretty little fort « Kiz-
Koulessi," " the Tower of the Maiden," from
some tradition relative to a young girl who
was confined there by her parents, in order to
separate her from her lover, who, like another
Leander, contrived by night to swim across
from the Scutari shore, and to visit his be-
loved; he, too, like the classic hero, was im-
fortunately drowned ; and the similarity of the
two melancholy stories has caused the name
of Leander to be applied (no doubt, by popular
error) to this tower; it contams a lanthom or
fanal, and is fortified and mounted with a few
cannon.

ON THE OJtGANIZATION OF THE NIZAM

DJEDID.

These troops are divided into bodies of one
thousand men eadi, which number constitutes

206 REMARKS AND NOTES*

a legion or regiment, commanded by a ** Bin
Bashi/' " chief of a thousand." They are sub-
divided into hundreds and tens, commanded
respectively by " Gius Bashi," " chief of one
hundred," and " Om Bashi," « chief of ten,"
These latter officers are generally from the
army of Mehmet Ali, and have learnt Eu-
ropean tactics from the French " instructors"
at Cairo. They seem to be indefatigable in
drilling these troops; and, as far as the ma-
nual and platoon goes, have succeeded to a
certain degree : but I doubt whether they
are equal to the duties of manoeuvring either
battalions or large bodies. These troops are
generally very young men and boys; and
I remember to have seen a whole corps de
garde of them at Pera, who were such children,
that one felt as if one could, with the assistance
of one's surrogee, have ridden over the whole
of them as they defiled in the narrow streets.
Nevertheless, I admire the wisdom of the Sul-
tan in this arrangement. He well knew that
the grown men and soldiers of the old system

REMARKS AND NOTI^IS. 207

could never be reconciled to the new one; and
he felt that the rismg generation presented
the best subjects for forming a new army upon
a new system of tactics. In the course of a
few years, these boys will become men and
good soldiers. It is calculated, that the Sultan
can raise throughout the empire foiu* hundred
thousand of the Nizam Cjedid ; but those best
informed upon the subject say, that the finan-
cial means of the country, which yet remain
to be organized^ wiU not support such an ex-
pense for any length of time. However this
may be, the Sultan is taking every opportunity
of assimilating, as much as possible, the new
institutions to those of Europe; and, should
he live, he will effect great ameliorations in
the state of things in this country.

UPON THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF CON-
STANTINOPLE.

Perhaps in no city in the world such strong
contrasts between splendour and squalour, mag-
nificence and meanness, meet the eye of the

208 REMARKS AND NOTES.

traveller as in Constantinople. The swelling
domes and lofty minarets of the mosques, with
their marble fountain, and brazen portals, are
strangely opposed to miserable tenements of
painted wood, through which the daylight pe-
netrates in all directions, and many of which
are supported by a crumbling-looking post, or
shored up by a crooked and tottering pole»
or branch of a tree, looking as if indeed it were
the protecting power of Mahomet alone that
held it up. The streets are fidl of filth, and
heaps of carrion ; from time to time the stran*
ger lights upon some marble palace or mauso-
leum, surrounded by the black and miserable
remains of whole districts destroyed by those
continual fires, which lighted either by the rage
of conflicting parties, or by the carelessness
of the predestinarian Mussulmans, so frequently
lay waste the capital of Constantine. At one
moment he will find himself amid groups of
wretched and disgusting paupers and hungry
curs, and at another he will perhaps meet with
some magnificent-looking Enur, in green-robed

REMAKES AND NOTES. S09

and turban, mounted upon his spirited and richly
caparisoned barb, preceded by beautiful led-
horses, and followed by richly dressed and em-
broidered chaoushes and slaves*

Almost the only buildings of stone in Con-
stantinople, are the Seraglio, £ski Serai (or old
Palace), the Palace of the Porte or Divan, the
great Khans or Bazaars, the Mosques, Mauso-
leums, and^ perhaps, a few Palaces of the great
officers of state ; the rest of this immense city
is built of wood ; and, I must say, that how^
ever beautiful and picturesque it is from a
distance, it is, in its interior, one of the meanest
and most filthily disagreeable cities I ever be-
held. Its population is very variously esti-
mated; but I believe, from all that I could
learn from persons who had been many years
resident at Pera, that four hundred thousand is
about the number of its inhabitants, including
those of the fauxboiu'gs of Pera, Galata, and
Tophana.

VOL I..

210 REMARKS AND NOTES.

UPON THE GREAT CISTERNS OF CON-
STANTINOPLE.

Andreossi mentions several of these vast

«

works, but I only visited one, my guide not
being aware of the existence of any others.
I shall merely note the three first that he de-
scribes, as being sufficient for my purpose.
They are caUed, first, " Veri-batan^erat, or the
subterranean palace; 2nd, BinMr^irdk^ or the
thousand and one columns ; 3rd, the cistern of
thirty-two columns. The first of these still
serves to contain water, and was originally
called the imperial cistern : its vast vaulted ceil-
ings are supported by columns of marble of
difierent orders and sizes. The monograms
and crosses which have been discovered upon
the bricks of which it is built, indicate the
epoch of its construction to be the middle age.
This is the only cistern which still answers its
original purpose, and it owes its preservation to
its vicinity to the Seraglio.

REMARKS AND NOTES. 211

** The cistern of the thousand and one co-
lumns was originally called philoxene^ and was
exclusively reserved to the use of the Emperor."

" This cistern is situated behind the Hippo-
drome towards the south ; it consists of an im-
mense subterranean of four unequal sides, one
of which is an hundred and ninety feet long,
another hundred and sixty-six feet. The thick-
ness of its walls is nine feet. Its vaulted ceil-
ing is supported by three stages of white marble
columns, which correspond to each other. Each
stage has two hundred and twenty-four columns,
making in the whole six hundred and seventy-
two. These of the upper stage are the only
ones which show themselves in all their height,
which is fourteen feet four inches. Only seven
feet seven inches appear of the height of the
second stage ; the rest, as well as of the lowest
stage of all, is buried in earth and deposited
sediment. A well of fifteen feet deep sunk in
this stratum of deposit, and which is believed
with reason to reach the ancient floor of the

p2

212 REMARKS AND NOTES.

cistern, appears tx) confirm the opinion that the
cistern of Bin-bir-dir^k had three stages of
columns, answering to which calculation it
would have contained one million two hundred
and thirty-seven thousand nine hundred and
thirty-nine cubic feet of water !

" The quantity necessary to supply the wants
of Constantinople during twenty-four hours,
being two hundred and sixty-seven thousand
six hundred and seventy-eight cubic feet, it
would be necessary, to fiU this cistern, to bring
into it all the water arriving in the interior of
the city, and running during nearly five con-
secutive days : according to this calculation, it
would then contain a reserve of more than sixty
days' water, wherewith to supply the quarter to
which the cistern belonged,"

" The cistern of the thirty-two columns is
supported by thirty-two Corinthian columns of
white marble, disposed in four ranks ; the bases
of which are buried in the deposited earth
which the water has left there. A stone stair-

REMAKES AND NOTES, 213

case, as ancient as the dstem, conducts to its
interior, and facilitates the means of measure-
ment. Its length is one himdred and twenty-
nine feet ; its breadth, seventy feet six inches.'*
— Andreossi, pages 442, 446, 447.

The traveller will not fail to observe, that
these great national works were raised, not by
the Turks, but by the Greeks ; and that the bar-
barians (although in some instances they have
had the good sense to follow up the ancient
system of conducting water to the capital,)
have in general let these magnificent monu-
ments of a polite age and people fall into ruin^
or converted them into baths, and sometimes
gardens.

OF THE MOSQUES.

When I was at Constantinople, such was the
impression still remaining upon the Mussulman
mind, that the Franks were all, more or less,
at the bottom of the Moreote insurrection; and

1

214 , BEMAKKS AND NOTES.

such the distrust and disinclination felt by the
Franks to placing their persons much in the
power of the fanatical mob, that no European
had for some years ventured to enter the
mosques of the capital ; nay, the Government
of the Sultan had intimated to the foreign
ambassadors, that it would no longer give
firmans even to their Excellencies, authorizing
them to vidt these edifices, fearing, as it said,
some popular ebullition of feeling, against which
it would not undertake to guarantee the per-
sons of their Excellencies and those of their
suite. Under these impressions, the ambassa-
dors had ceased to solicit, as was their custom,
a firman for this purpose once during their re-
sidence at the Sublime Forte; and travellers
were obliged to content themselves with view-
ing the outside of these fine buildings.

They appear generally to have been copied
from the great church of Sta. Sophia, which was
defiled by Mahomet the Second, when he cap-
tured the city. Upon that occasion, he is re-

BEMABKS AND NOTES. , 215

lated to have rode up through the nave of the
church, and even to have profaned the high
altar with the presaice of hinuself and his steed.
The victor had, howev^, the good taste to pre-
serve this monument of the arts, although he
converted it to the purposes of Islamism. He
likewise preserved the church of St. Irene, now
converted into an arsenal, standing in the outer
court of the SeragUo.

** The cupola of Sta. Sophia, has served as a
model to the cupolas of Saint Mark at Venice ^
to the dome of Pisa, and that of the church of
Saint Augustin at Rome, &c. But the Italians,
who are able decorators, have in the end (feel-
ing the influence of perspective) constructed
cupolas in such a manner as to produce exter-
nally a fine effect.

^ The cupola of Sta. Sophia being only in
height (de fl^che) one third of its diameta*, and
bemg of circular exterior, appears too low.** —
Andreossif page 118.

I (aomot say that I admire the exterior of

dl6 REMARKS AND NOTES.

Sta. Sophia; its dome is low and heavy, and its
architecture sievere and sombre. I understand
that its principal beauty consists in the splendid
antique columns which support the nave. The
church is built in the form of a Greek cross.
It has nine gates of bronze in marble gate-
ways ; these are very splendid. Its long taper
minarets give it a very singular appearance,
and the effect of the Imaum's voice from the
little gallery which runs round the exterior of
those elevations is extremely striking.

These minarets have at a distance a very
curious effect ; they resemble long wax candles
with ah extinguisher upon them, for the shape
of their pointed roof gives it exactly that ap-
pearance.

" There are about three hundred and forty-
six mosques at Constantinople, of which the
most remarkable are called Imperial mosques.
These are Sta. Sophia, Sultan Bajazet, Sul-
tan Mahomet the Second, Sultan Achmet, the
Suleimani^, the Osmaine, Sultan Selim the
First, Mosque of Ayoub, Mosque of Laleli^ two

REMARKS AND NOTES. 217

Sultana Valid^, Chah Zad6, and Abdul Hamid."
Afidreossif page 124.

The mosque of Sultan Achmet is generally
allowed to be the most beautiful; and indeed the
superior height of its dome, its superb court
paved with white marble, and its fine fountain
underneath beautiful trees, give it a great advan-
tage in its exterior over that of Sta. Sophia ; its
principal doorway is likewise very much to be
admired; its minarets are distinguished from
those of the other mosques by having two rows
of galleries.

The Sulei'mani^ has four minarets, and is said
to be full of fine columns and antique treasures ;
it is the largest and the loftiest of the mosques.

The Osmanie is said to contain the sarco-
phagus in porphyry of Constantine; but as there
is another of these of verd antique in Constan-
tinople, near the mosque of Kilir^-Djami, and
likewise one in the Vatican at Rome of porphyry,
which lay claim to this honour, I do not know
which has the merit of truth.

From all that I could learn at Constantinople

218 REMARKS AND NOTES.

respecting the mosques» from those persons who
had seen them, it seems to me that their prin-*
cipal merit lies in the ancient columns and
fomitains which they contain ; and if there be
any beauty in the design of their architecture,
it is derived from the Greek builders of Sta.
Sophia.

BAIRAM AND COURJAM BAIRAM.

The festival of the Bairam nearly answers to
that of the Easter, as celebrated by the Greek
church. It is remarkable that the Turks eat
" lamb" during this season. On the first Friday
of this festival, the Sultan goes in immense state,
and amid the thundering of cannon from the
ships and forts, to mosque. I was prevented by
a provoking circumstance from witnessing the
ceremony. The Bairam lasts for forty days, and
is a season of rejoicing and indulgence, after the
privations of Lent orRamazan,both to Turk and
Greek. It is amusing to behold the Greeks, upon
an evening during this period, wrestiing, boxing.

REMARKS AND NOTES. 219

pitching the bar, and throwing the paUum, in
the manner described by the ancient writers as
prevailing in their day. Thus, the supple Greek
wrestler oils his limbs and rolls himself in the
sand, and the player at the palliun guards his
hand with a thick piece of leather ; the boxer
continues to wield the cestus and to inflict
dreadful blows upon his adversary, whose face
yields token of the cutting edge of the metal
glove. The Turks have forbidden the use of
the cestus, but it still continues in vogue.

220 SEA OF MABMOBA AND HELLESPONT.

CHAPTER VIII.

Departure from Ck)a8tantinople — Sea of Marmora. — Hel-
lespont, and notice upon the castles of the Dardanelles.
— ^Tenedos. — Greek Vice-Consul and his daughter. —
Turkish Aga. — Nizam Djedid. — Visit to the Plains of Troy.
— Locusts. — Sources of the Scamander. — Boumarbashi.
— Cemeteries. — Simoi's. — Callicolone. — Hallil Elli. — Sup-
posed Temple of Apollo Thymbrius. — Return to Bour-r
narbashi. — Incivility of Turks. — Bivouack at Yeikle. —
Return to the brig. — Sail for Smyrna, escorted by an Aus-
trian brig-of-war. — Arrival at Smyrna. — Reception from
the British Consul.

June 1, 1827. — I embarked at Galata about
noon, on board the brig Hekne, one hundred

DARDANELLES. 221

and fifty tons, with Mr. Starbuck. We sailed
about two, after carrying away some of our
finery alongside of a Turkish lighter. The
view, on leaving the port, was magnificent. The
Seraglio Point, Pera, Galata, Scutari, and the
Bosphorus, being all in a blaze of light and
beauty. The breeze was at first fine and favour-
able ; we shot rapidly past the Prince's Islands ;
but towards evening it failed us. I was very
sick about nine o'clock ; my fellow passen-
gers, to the number of five, being all quite well,
to my great mortification.

June 2. — The morning broke upon a dead
calm and glassy sea. We were just abreast of
the Island of Marmora. The weather hot all
day ; towards evening a little breeze.

June 8. — Calm and hot. I bathed alongside.
Towards noon a little air ; and as the evening
advanced, we slid gently down past GaUi-
poli, Lampsaco, Sestos, and Abydos. The
views superb, and the Castles of the Dardanelles
opening upon us majestically as we moved on-

222 DARDANELLES.

wards. We anchored at sunset just below
Point Nagara, or old Abydos.*
June 4. — ^Morning hot and calm. The views

• NOTICE UPON THE CASTLES OF THE

DARDANELLES,
beoimnino at capb8 oreco and jannis8ary.

European Side.

Shahim Kalessi — Is an old battery, situated outside of
the eutrance of the Hellespont. It has about fifteen guns,
and was in bad condition, but has lately been repaired.

Setilbah Kalessi — Is an old castle situated upon a
promontory at the entrance of the Hellespont. It has se-
venty guns and four mortars.

EsKi Sarlick — Is a little fort, about three miles from
Setilbar Kalessi. It is situated upon an elevated place,
mounting twelve guns.

Naumatia — Is a new battery, situated on the right hand
of Killit Bahar.

Kalessi — At a little distance from it. It is mounted by
thirty-five forty-pounders.

Killit Bahar, the European Castle of the Dardanelles —
Is an old castle, well fortified, and garrisoned. A governor
resides in it. The town is inhabited by Turks only. It has
sixty-four large guns, eighteen of which are of very large
dimensions, and throw the stone shot.

DiRMAN BuRUN — Is a ncw battery, situated on the left
of Killit Bahar, and half a mile from it. It has thirty
sixty-pounders.

DARDANELLES. 228

alfaround beyond conception beautiful. I made
some sketches^ and reconnoitred the forts, while
the Captain and other passengers went on shore

Chiamly Burux — Is a new battery, situated on the
south side of a Greek village, called Maitas. It has thirty
gpins.

BovALLi Kalessi — Is a new battery situated upon the
spot assigned to Sestos. It has fifty guns, and is the last
place of defence on the European side«

Asian Side.

KoomKale' — Is an old castle, situated near the entrance
of the Hellespont (between the Sigean Promontory and the
Mouth of the Simois). It has lately been repaired. It has
eighty guns, sixteen of which throw stone shot, and four

mortars.

Cbemev Lik — Is a very strong battery, annexed to the
fort of Sultani Kalessi on its left, and is mounted by twenty-
five heavy guns.

SuLTACii Kalessi, the Asian Castle of the Dardanelles —
Is a strong old castle, having about one hundred and
twenty guns, eighteen of which are very large, (i. e. stone
shot guns.) The distance between this fort and that on the
European shore is about three quarters of a mile.

Tabia — Is a strong new battery, annexed to the fort
Sultani Kalessi on its right. It has thirty heavy guns.
The whole garrison of disciplined troops reside in it now.

Kiossi BuRUN — Is a new battery, situated on the point

224 DARDANELLES.

to their respective Consuls. At about noon
1 went on shore, on the Asian side, to the
British Consul's house, to consult with him 9s
to the means of visiting the Troad from Tene-
dos, and journeying by land to Smyrna, in case
our brig did not wait at that island for convoy.
There are upon the European shore of the

of the Bay of Abydos, called Nagara Point. It has forty-four
guns.

Nagara Burun — Is a new fort, and built seven years
ago» It has eighty-four guns.

This is the last point of defence on the Asiatic side.
Since the affair of Navarino, five hundred of the Nizam
Djedid have been distributed among the batteries of the
Hellespont. Mustapha Pasha, of two tails, defends the
European side, and resides at Setilbar Kalessi. Pasha Sy-
gem resides at Koom Kale. Four hundred of the Nizam
Djedid are added to the garrison of Sultani Kalessi. Pasha
Hadjii Mustapha commands in chief in the Hellespont.
Kafiss Ali Pasha, of three tails, commands at Tenedos about
one thousand men. He has fortified the eminence which
commands the town and fortress.*

* This notice, for which I am indebted to private friend-
ship, was obtained from an official quarter after the battle
of Navarino, and comprises the whole of the fortresses on
the Hellespont.

1 •< ' 1 V

ii

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t \\\ti IP" .^t J >vr,,iM. J. . •

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i'i* rv » .,•

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M

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>' mils:
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DARDANELLES. 225

Hellespont two most formidable castles, mount-
ing from seventy-five to ninety gmis : besides
these castles there are three very strong re^
doubts above, and two below the Castle of
the Dardanelles. On the Asian shore are
two castles, and two very formidable forts
above the Asian castle of the Dardanelles.
These upper castles are of old construction,
but have been much strengthened and improv-
ed by new works. That on the European side
mounts about eighty guns, whereof seventeen
throw the large stone shot, of which Sir J. T.
Duckworth's squadron received a specimen.
That on the Asian shore mounts ninety guns, of
which fourteen are enormous. The lower castles
are modem, and are extremely formidable and
beautiful; they must mount each from seventy
to eighty guns, whereof, on the European side,
seventeen are of the description above mention-
ed, and on the Asian shore are fourteen. These
castles, and indeed all the upper redoubts on
the European side, are attackable from their rear,

VOL. I. Q

226 DARDANELLES*

from whence diey are all commanded by the
heights'; but the two lower forts between the
castle upon Cape Greco and the European castle
of the Dardanelles, are well situated, and hot
commanded. The ruins of Sestos* are still visi-

Ue above the upper European redoubt ; while
those of Abydos are found a little below Sestos,
on the Asian shore, just to the north of Point
Nagara, upon which sandy tongue is built a
very strong fortress, mounting about seventy

* Who can view the sites of Sestos and Abydos without
emotion, and pass the blue strait which divides their shores,
without remembering the pathetic and fatal loves of Hero
uid Leander ? —

^* When first I swam the ford, while Cinthia's beams [27
Look'd pale, and trembled for me in the streams ;
My drooping arms, in hope they shall at leng^
Embrace thy n^k, feel fresh supplies of strength.
The wond*ring waves to their new fury yield ;
Not Tritons faster plough the liquid field. [St

Why is not Sestos to Abydos join'd, [SO

Since we united are in heart and mind ?
The same our hopes, our fears, and our desires ;
Love is our life, and one love both inspires/'

Ovuf# Epistles — Leander to Hero,

TENEDOS. 227

guns : here is a shoal running out about pistol-
shot from the redoubt to the westward, and upon
it is a beacon. I I'econnoitred with my glass, as
well as I could, aU these works, but the Turks
will not allow any Frank to enter them. I may
be deceived as to the number of guns; but I
cannot be much oiit when I say they are the
most formidable^ooking sea defences I ever yet
saw. The large guns fere all hjleur iTeau.

The Asian town of Dardjmelles is celebrated
for its pottery, and is supposed to stand near the
site of the ancient Dardanus. I had not much
time to look at the place, as the brig was drift-
ing rapidly down with the current (although
hove-to); and as we deemed it expedient to
proceed as far as Teiledos in her, in hopes of
thefe finding some vessel of war to protect us
against the pirates who were swarming about,
and who are by no means pleasant people to deal
with. We remained hove-to for an hour and a
half, waiting for the captain of the port's visit ;
he did not come : so, after we had drifted out of

Q 2

228 TENEDOS.

fi^un-shot of the castles, we filled and made sail,
passing by the tomb of Ajax, the mouth of the
Scamander, three tumuli on the Asian shore,
and the tomb of Esyetes. Towards evening it
fell calm, and we proceeded merely with the
ciurent slowly towards Tenedos.

It is difficult to convey an adequate impression
to the mind, of the sun setting upon a scene com-
posed of the islands of Tenedos, Lemnos, Im-
bros, and Samothrace, with the shipping scattered
about the ^gean Sea, and all this associated as
it was with ideas created by the sight of the
plains of Troy, that classic land, of which in my
early youth I had so much read, with a tender
and lamented instructor now no more.

June 5. — We anchored about daylight off
the town of Tenedos, N.N. W; one league, in ten
fathoms. We found here a Sardinian frigate.
La Christina, of forty guns. I went on board
her to inquire of her commander if he was
likely to give us convoy shortly to Smyrna.
She is a nice little ship, in good fighting order.

T5NED08. 229

quite i tAnglahe. Her captain, Le Chevalier
Serra, received me most kindly, and offered
every assistance in his power upon the return
of certain messengers from Constantinople.

About mid-day I went on shore with two of
my companions, to look at the island, and see
the Vice-Consul, who was instructed by his su-
perior, at the Dardanelles, to assist us in our
projected trip to the Troad. We strolled about
the island, which is bare and desert towards the
sea, but cultivated and smiling in the interior.
At its northern extremity is a high conical hiU,
and upon this we mounted in despite of the
broiling sun, and from thence enjoyed a very
fine view of Moimi Ida and the Plains of
Troy, to the south-east, and of the islands of
Imbros and Lemnos to the north and north*
west, with a very distant view of the continent
and Mount Athos.

Tenedos, as all the world knows, is famous
for its wines. The little collection of mud ho-
vels, called a town, contains about three hun-

S30 TENEBOS.

died Turkish and two hundred Greek houaes.
It has a respectable fortress to the north of its
little harbour, of Turkish construction, mounts
ing about forty-two pieces of cannon. It is
completely commanded from the heights in its
rear, and may be turned by disembarking in a
little sandy bay, about a league below the town,
to the south, from wh»[ice there is a road.

On our descait from the mountain, we took
shelter under the refreshing shade of a wild fig-
tree, from whence I made a sketch of the for-
tress. We found the Vice Consul,* a bare^legged
and ordinary-looking Greek, at his house. We
were received (up a kind of staircase, in a tole-
rable room) by a most lovely little Greek girl,
her hair hanging in long plaits down her back,
her head and neck ornamented with a profusion

* Let DO one imagine this portrait of a Levantine Vice-
Consul to be over or under-drawn. These authorities, if so
they may be called, receive no salary or emolument from
their office, but are contented to do the duty for the sake of
the importance attached to it. They are always chosen from
among the natives, usually Greeks.

TENEDOS. 2S1

of gold coins, her feet in a kind of embroidered
cloth sock and yellow leather slip(!iers. She
soon disappeared ; but came back again to offer
us coffee, and sweetmeats, and flowers, according
to the custom of the country. We made our
arrangements for boats, horses, guides, &c. &c.
for to-morrow's visit to the Troad.*

In the evening the Captain of the Christina
came on board, and took myself and two fel-
low-passengers on shore for a walk. Here we
found our friend the Aga superintending the
drill and parade of the garrison, consisting of
three hundred of the new levies. It is surpris*

* Before we returned on board, we went to call upon the
Aga of the island. We found him sitting, bare^legged, under
a kind of shed, thatched with branches of trees, a mat spread
all around the earthen floor, which was well sprinkled with
water, situated close to the beach, and 0(>en on all sides to
the breeze. Here he was employed smoking his pipe, while
several of his officers were amusing themselves by playing
at draughts, <&c. &c. He wrote for us a Tesker^, and an
order to the commandant on the other side of the water, to
procure horses for us ; and with this, and a pipe and some
coffee, we passed away half an hour pleasantly enough. We
now returned to our brig.

SSa TEOAD.

4

ing to see the facility with which these semr*
barbarian x urks take to the European drilL

June 6. — At daylight our caique came
alongside, to convey us to the classic shores of
Troy. We had a long passage, as the wind was
scant, and the current strc»ig against us. On
landing, we found a Tiu'k, with some horses
and a mule ; and after resistbig the usual at-
tempt at imposition, on his part, by threaten-
ing him with the vengeance of the Aga of Te-
nedos, we procured our cattle at ten piastres
a-head, (about forty pence English,) and pro-
ceeded through groves of oak-trees,* called, in

* We had here a pretty good specimen afforc|^ us of
that terrible pla^e the locust, the ground being for many
leagues covered with them, and the air swarming with them
as they came flying over the mountains to the eastward
before the wind. These animals desolate every thing as they
pass : they cut the corn down as with a knife, alighting in
pairs upon the ear, and eating gradually down the stalk ;
their track is marked as by fire, turning the bright green of
the herbage and foliage into a deep brown. In reply to a
remark of mine to our Greek cicerone, as to the means which
might be adopted for destroying them, he said, "A ! Signore,
e un castigo di Dio besogna sofTrir lo con pazienza.*'
The country abounds with juniper, gum-cistus, prickly

TROAD. 233

the language of the country, Valonia {Quercus
calyce echinato glanda mqjore.) The acorns of
this plant are much used in Europe for tanning,
and frequent shipments of it are made here.

At about eleven we reached a pretty little
grove * by the side of some springs,f near the
source of the Scamander, and about a quarter
of a mile from the Turkish village of Boumar-
bashi. Here, spreading our horse-rugs on the
ground, at the foot of some ancient olives, we
breakfasted heartily upon salt beef and biscuit,
which we had brought from the ship; after
which we proceeded towards the source of the
Scamander, near the foot of a large limestone
hill. This hill, according to Le Chevalier, if?
the site of the Acropolis of Troy.

mimosa, Valonia oak, fir, myrtle, and here and there the
pomegranate and wild-sage.

* This groYe is completely in possession of the storks, of
which we saw many hundreds standing, as is their custom,
upon one leg. This reminded me forcibly of the story of
Gianni Fillazzio, in the Decamerone.

t These springs were called by the Turks " Kirk ios,*' or
'* forty eyes/' and are considered as the sources of the Sca-
mander. Their temperature, according to Turner, is about
sixty-three and a half degrees of Fahrenheit.^

J

234 TROAD.

We now were quite delighted with the beau-
ty of the trees: olive, fig, mimosa, and dwarf
oak, covered with wild vines in full blossom, wd
forming natural bowers and arcades, und^neath
which glided tranquilly the dear crystal waters
of the Scamander.

Boumarbashi is a wretched village, inhabited
by the most disobliging set of bigoted Turks
imaginable. This appears to me to have been
the site of the ancient city ; for it is placed be-
tween the Slmois and the Scamander, aad an-
swers to Homer's account, who mentions, that
Troy stood near the source of the Scamander.
There is close to Boumarbashi a burying-ground,
full of broken columns, architraves, entabla^
tures, &c. with which the Turks have ona-
mented their graves.

From hence we rode through a fine plain,
north-westerly, and through some deep dells
down the side of a range of mountains, to the
banks of the Simoi's, which is here a consider-
able stream running down from Mount Ida,
which we occasionally saw, with a little snow on

TROAD. 285

its summit. We crossed the Simois in two of its
arms ; for it hereabouts divides into a kind of
fcnrk, the intermediate space being a bed of
sand and clay, {ynth a few olive-bushes upon
it») which, no dpubt, during the winter, is co-
vered with the water, and then would form a
formidable current. We drank oif its. classic
waters.

Upon leaving the Simois, we proceeded in
a north-westerly direction, about three , quar-
ters of an hour, when, on pur left hand,
upon a gentle eminence, we discovered i^ome
columns standing erect. We rode up the hill,
and examined them carefully. Three of them
stand in a line facing the south-east : they are
of grey granite, and are perhaps eight or nine
feet above the ground. To the north, about a
hundred yards, stood two more granite co^
lumns,* and about north-west stood a solitary
one. All of them are of a plain Doric, with*-
out entablature. I could not discover their

* I cannot find that either Clarke or Turner has seen those
six remarkable coinmns, as they make no mention of them.

236 TttOAD.

bases, as the com was high all around them ;
but the quantities of stone, chiefly white mar-
ble and verd antique, scattered about, induced
me to think that this must have been the site
of some considerable city. To the left of these
ruins is a remarkable burying-ground, situated
upon a beautiful eminence, covered with fine
oak-trees. This is called by the Turks Calli-
colone.* Here we foimd such immense quanti-
ties of broken columns, of all orders, of ex-
treme beauty, entablatures, cornices, architraves,
&c. &c., as to convince ns that some great dty
must have formerly stood hereabouts.

I remarked only two inscriptions which I
could copy upon the spot, one of which was
upon the fragment of an architrave [see No. 1.],
and the other upon an extraordinary-looking
shaft of a fluted column, having thereon a ta-
blet. [See No. 2.]. I have written the inscrip-
tion of this latter apart from its appropriate

^ Clarke has made a remarkable error respecting this
spot, which he calls '' Beyan Mezaley." This term, in
Turkish, signifies *^ Deserted Burying-ground."

It

VlSllKAAy^lWKAIlKf.

rB»*IJlV( HSilUAUOYA

Tt^t\ntnB iffHKAWHc

OlSAYTJlfflM iTHZYl

KAITHIAdHNATHUAl^. . . .

AlftASX rtBSTtox.KA

JMNoy£yfOS.^MO(C

HryA/HAYTCYKAAY/X

2Not.eYrAri^nA PMH

NZT^AH KMTAB NAYT.

^TAffiATAZfi-BYAZAHT

KTO N' I A lattf -A K( 6 6 H K. .

INSCRIPTIONS FOUND UPON THE PLAINS OF TROY.

TKOAD. 2S7

tablet^ for want of space« [See No. 3.] Clarke
and Turner have given both of these inscrip-
tions.

Leaving this beautiful cemetery, we pursued
oiur course towards a village called Tchiblack,*
where we saw several remains of ancient ma*
sonry, and some beautiful capitals of columns
of white marble. Here we endeavoured to pro-
cure some ancient coins, but in vain ; a child
offering a copper coin of Sultan Achmefs as
such. From Tchiblack we rode over the plain
towards Hallil Elli, observing as we went many
immense vultures, and one large black eagle
with a serpent in his claws. This circumstance
reminded me forcibly of the omen seen by
Hector and Polydimas, upon the attack by the
Trojans upon the Greek lines :

<' A signal omen stopp'd the passing host,
Their martial fury in their wonder lost.
Jove's bird, on sounding pinion, beats the skies ;
A bleeding serpent of enormous size
His talons truss*d." pope.

* We met a good many Spanish Jews in the villages of
the plain ; they spoke a corrupt Castilian.

238 TROAD.

We crossed a small river, called by Clarke the ^
Thymbritns, just above a broken bridge; and
rode up a gentle hill, towards the village of
Hallil Elli, at 4 o'clock. To the right of this
village we observed two columns, and upon ap-
proaching them found two others of a similar
form lying upoii the ground. These four co-
lumns w«e of plain Doric, about eight feet
long ; -they appeared to me to have been placed
there by some Turk, to mark his burial-pkoe,
as they were surrounded by a kind of low
parapet of Turkish masonry, and had between
the two erect ones a slab of white marble lying
on the ground, as if to cover the grave.

A little beyond Hallil Elli, to the north-
west, is an inunense burying-ground having
a profusion of broken colunms, architraves, ca-
pitals, &c. &c. of all orders ; and here we found
very perfect remains of a temple, having three
sides of its basement in very good preservation,
and part of a flight of steps in its western
front. Within its area we observed three erect
granite columns of plain Doric, and three of a

TROAD.

2S9

^similar kind lying on the ground. On its
northern side, we could plainly perceive the
mark of thtee pedestals. No doubt, these co-
lumns had been removed by the Turks from
their original bases, and placed in the centre of
the area to mark a tomb.* Clarke places here-
abouts the Temple of Apollo Thymbrius : pro-
bably this is it.

%

Mmmmmm

3

@

e

omiiniiiiBk

iDI^^

The Temple of Apollo Thymbrius.

There are several inscriptions among the tonib-
stones at Hallil Elli, the most remarkable of

* Querif. — Are not the four columns on the other side of
Hallil Elli taken from hence ?

240 TJEIOAD.

which are given by Messrs. Turner and Clarke. '
We did not find »the stone with the Car-borne
victory in bas-relief described by these authors :
the weather was so dreadfully hot, and there
being no shade here, we could not roam much
about in pursuit of it. We killed a large yellow
serpent, of which reptile there is a vast number
hereabouts.

The evening was now too far advanced to
admit of our pursuing our rambles on to
Ajax's tomb, and returning by the sea coast, by
Achilles and Patroclus's and Esyetes' tombs, "
as we should have done, had there been suffi-
cient time, to our boat, which we had sent
back to Alexandria Troas, to await our arrival
there. Moreover, our cicerone and Surogee had
eaten nothing all day, having brought no pro-
visions with them, and not a piece of bread
could be procured either at Tchiblack or Hallil
Elli. We were therefore reluctantly com-
pelled to return by the same route to Bour-
narbashi, in the hopes of getting something
for them to eat.

TBOAD. 241

On our return, we were passing over myriads of
locusts, which looked exactly like heaps of dead
leaves upon the ground.

Upon arriving at Boumarbashi, we took up
our quarters under the friendly shades, at
half-past six, where we had breakfasted, and
sent our people out to the village to pro-
cure bread, eggs, arid milk. Meanwhile we
were amused with some Greek women and
girls, who came down to the springs for water.
One of these girls was a most lovely little crea-
ture, very coy and coquetish. Our guides re-
turned, and informed us that the Turks in
the village had told them, that they would not
seU to them (being Greeks) a loaf of bread, or an
egg, even if they offered forty piastres for it.
We had now no remedy but to divide otir scanty
supper with them, and proceed on our route
towards Alexandria Troas. I enjoyed the splen-
dour of a most magnificent sun setting upon
Tenedos and the tomb of Esyetes, gilding the
plains and sea for many leagues, and making the
islands of Imbros and Samothrace and Lemnos

VOL. I. R

242 TROAD.

quite purple with his departing rays. We were,
however, benighted within about two hours'
ride of that ancient city, and deemed it better
to take up our quarters under a fine oak-tree
near a Greek village, called Yeikl6, at ten o'clock.
Here we were more fortunate than at Boumar-
bashi, procuring eggs and bread in abimdanoe ;
and under shade of our friendly oak, sheading
a mat and two horse-rugs, we slept until day-
light very comfortably. We had taken the pre-
caution c^ sending a messenger on to Alexan-
dria Troas, to order our boat to come to us here,
as we were anxious to return to the brig, lest
she should get under weigh and give us the slip.

June 7 ^The morning most glorious, the

sun rising from behind the long line of moun-
tains, and tinging M ouint Ida with gold. On
looking to seaward, we perceived the horizon to
the south completdy covered by a large convoy
of merchant^hips, which sight greatly enhanced
the beauty of the scene, and rejoiced us much
at the idea of soon getting an escort to Smyrna.
We reached our boat^bout half-past five, hav-
ing abandoned aU idea of going on to Alexandria

TEKED08. 24S

Troas» for fear of missing our ship. We re-
turned on board about half-past seven. The
convoy consisted of seventy-one Austrian and
Genoese vessels, escorted by a fine Imperial
c(»rvette the Elmo. After breakfast, we saw
another fleet approach, whidi proved to be
English, escorted by His Majesty's sloop the
Rose, a pretty corvette. She, however, to our
great disappointment, stood on for the Darda-
nelles ; and then having seen her charge safe into
port, hauled her wind for some other destina-
tion, and did not again come near us. It blew
a gale from the south aU the evening, and made
me, as wdl as some of my fellow-passengers,
extremely sick.

June 8. — Fresh gales all day ; very qualmish
and uncomfortable from the vessel's pitching
so heavily. In the evening arrived a French

corvette.

June 9. — More moderate ; arrived an Impe-
rial brig of war with convoy and a Sardinian
corvette (Le Triton). I took a wdk on shore
and clambered over the highest hill in the

R 2

244 T£N£DOS.

island. The evening more moderate, the wind
changing a little more to the westward.

June 10. — In the morning, finding that an
Austrian brig-of-war was going to proceed to
Smyrna, we took the advantage of that circum-
stance to get under weigh, keeping close to her
for protection. About noon a man fell over-
board from the Austrian brig-of-war, and in
endeavoiuing to clear a boat away to pick him
up, two others followed his example. Had it
not been for the promptitude with which the
seamen of the " Helme" lowered their little
jolly-boat, I believe all three of the poor
Austrians (or Venetians) would have been
drowned; for such was the confusion created
on board their vessel, and such the time taken
to get their boat into the water and dear of
the brig, that the Englishmen reached the
struggling swimmers long before their country-
men were near them, and rescued them from
their apparent fate.

The captain of the brig behaved very hand-
somely to the English crew, and sent his thanks

SMYRNA. 245

and compliments on board to the master of *the
"Helme." As the evenmg set in, we were
becalmed off the Island of Mytilene.

June 11.— Becalmed all day, between Myti-
lene and the devoted Sdo.

June 12. — ^Becalmed all the morning ; haunt-
ed all the while by a suspicious-looking mistico.
Towards evening a breeze from the south-east
ran us along under the land towards Cape Kara-
boiunou. Two Austrian and one French
schooner- of-war came out of the port. At
nightfall a fine breeze from the north-west
carried us rapidly in towards Smyrna.

June 13. — ^At three a. m. we passed the Cas-
tle, and at four anchored in the bay of Smyrna,
which is one of the finest ports I have ever seen.
Here we found His Majesty's ships Cambrian and
Parthian, the United States ship Constitution,
and Warren corvette ; his Imperial Apostolic
Majesty *s ship Bellona, and several others ; a
Dutch frigate and corvette, a French frigate
and corvette and schooner, and a Sardinian
brig ; in all about thirteen sail. I called on the

246 SMYRNA.

British Consul to' deliver my letters of intro-
duction. He not only has given me a room in
his house, but likewise two letters, one from
England, and one from Vienna. I called on
the Vioe-Consul and Mr. Fisher. In the even-
ing I had the pleasure of meeting Captains
Hamilton and Martin, and Sir W. Eden, a
tvavdler. I went to the Casino, whidi is a de-
lightful establishment, and here read the papers
until eleven o'clock.

SMYRNA. 247

CHAPTER IX.

Visits to the Cambrian. — Turkish bath. — Promenades in
Smyrna, and lapidation by women aod children. — Ex-
cursions to Boumabat, Bouj^t, and Sediqu^. — Passi^
of locusts. — Remarks upon the Bay of Smyrna and its
city. — Character of the Pasha Hassan. — Murder of the
late Pasha, Mehmet E£fendi, by Koshrew Capitan Pasha. —
Cape Coloona. — Poros. — Mavrococdato and Tricoupi. —
Hydra and Spezzia. — Napoli di Romania. — Reflections
on the state of Greece.

June 14 This afternoon I went on

the Camhrian, to pay my respects to Captain
Hamilton, and to see Mr. WeUesIey, who was
one of her lieutenants. Here I had the plea-
sure of finding two old shipmates. Captain
Hamilton was so good as to show me some
papers relative to the unfortimate capitulation
of the Acropolis, and likewise some letters from

248 SMYBNA.

Prince Mavrocordato and Tricoupi, describing
the miseries of Greece and the devastating
progress of Ibrahim Pacha.

My heart blcJeds for this poor sacrificed
people; but I trust that Providence will ere
long send them a deliverer and avenger, or they
faU!

I dined in the evening at the house of Mr-
Black's partner, Mr. Fisher, who has married a
very charming Frank lady of Smyrna, of French
extraction. It rained and thundered a great
deal all the evening.

June 15. — I passed a pleasant day on board the
Cambrian with Captain Hamilton, who was so
kind as to give me a great deal of interesting
information relative to the state of the Morea,
and the intrigues and quarrels of the various
Primates and Capitani.

June 16.— I went with Sir William Eden and
Captain Martin to the principal Turkish bath,
escorted by one of the Consul's chaoushes, a fat,
joUy, red-bearded Tiirk. I will endeavour to

SMYRNA. 249

describe this extraordinary, and to me disgust-
ing, purgatory.

We were first ushered into a large square
antechamber, around which were numerous
Turks squatting and lying down upon divans,
smoking their chibouques and sipping sherbet.
Upon these divans dirty-looking mattresses are
spread, and each candidate for the bath is con-
ducted by half-naked bathing men to one of these
couches. Here he is to undress himself and
leave his clothes : he is supplied with a wrapper,
a large cloth or towel to tie around his middle,
a large pair of wooden clogs raised upon two
pieces of wood, at least six inches from the dirty
and streaming floor, and he is then conducted to
an inner apartment, (at the door of which he
leaves his wrapper,) underneath a dome lighted
at the top, and amid an atmosphere of steam.
The sensation upon entering this horrible scene,
is the most oppressive thing possible ; for such is
the heat kept up by the stoves and flues under-
neath this pandemonium, that at first, the bather

250 SMYRNA.

is entirely deprived of the power of breathing,
and until he is relieved by the copious perspi-
ration which soon bursts out all over him, he
feels as if he were going to expire. The first
thing that strikes his eye, when he has suffi-
ciently recovered himself to be sensible of what
is passing around him, is a number of naked
figures with shaven heads, but long top-knots
and long beards or moustaches, lying about
upon boards, undergoing the various opera-
tions of rubbbig, scrubbing, lathering, and cham-
pooing. The Turk yields himself up entirely
to the hands of the operator, who, leaning or
stooping over him, turns him over as he would
a dead body, first lifts one limb, and thpn
another, letting them fall again as if they were
masses of inanimate matter ; cracks all his joints
in succession, and thumps and kneads him as he
would a lump of day or a piece of dough.

Your imhappy self, meanwhile, is seated upon
a wet and slimy board by the side of a foun-
tain, into which hot or cold water can be con-
ducted at pleasure by means of two brass cocks.

SMYRNA. 251

Your savage-looking and naked tormentor
firsik begins his annoyances by scrubbing you
all over with a kind of glove on las right hand,
made of horse hair; your delicate European
skin, not used to such a scarifying operation,
peels off in rolls upon your limbs and person,
to the great disgust of yourself and triumph of
your infidel persecutor, who, calling your at-
tention to these symptoms of effeminacy,
knocks them off with his hand with an air of
contempt. But how shall I describe the horror
which I felt, when I found that I too was to
be subject to the champooing and the knead-
ing of my whole frame ? I knew that it was in
yain to resist, and yielded myself up, as I
should have done into the hands of an exe-
cutioner, with mingled feelings of disgust and
resignation; but when the garlick-breathing
Moslem, stooping over my prostrate person,
rained down upon me torrents of his own per-
spiration, I felt that I should die with sickness
and despair; but I had no remedy. I went
through it all with the feelings of a martyr.

252 SMYRNA.

and was recalled from my dreams of death and
infemus, by being seated in a comer, and
covered from head to foot in a cloud of thick
soap-suds, which streaming into my eyes, nose,
mouth, and ears, awakened me into a sense of
mundane existence, and comforted me, while I
smarted all over, with a feeling of cleanliness.
This was rapidly succeeded by copious ablu-
tions of hot and then of cooler water. I now
looked about me, and saw that my companions
were, like myself, undergoing the latter stages
of the process, and perceived through a dense
cloud of steam, our friend the chaoush yield-
ing up his fat carcass to the hands of the tor-
mentors. We could now laugh at what we
had gone through, and after a little while rose
from our comers, and wrapping the friendly
cloth round our waists, proceeded upon our
clogs towards the door, where we were sup-
plied with hot wrappers, (but were obliged to
scrutinize them rather closely, not being all
quite clean,) and were conducted each to our
couch, where we reposed until the perspiration

SMYRNA. 253

had entirely subsided, drinking sherbet, coffee,
and smoking chibouques. It must be allowed,
however, that in spite of the disgust with
which a stranger can hardly fail of being in-
spired upon his first experience of a Turkish
bath, that the sensations produced, when it is
oyer, and during his repose upon his couch, are
of the most agreeable nature. His body feels
quite restored to vigour and elasticity, and
there is a satinny smoothness of his skin, to
which he was before a stranger ; he feels that
all obstruction of the pores has been removed,
and that he has been most thoroughly cleansed
from all external impurities.

After the bath, I went on board the Cam-
brian, to dine with Wellesley ; and in the even-
ing went on board the Parthian, to call upon
Captain Martin, and to see my cousin Felham.

June 17.— In the evening I took a delight-
ful walk along the Marina and into the country,
among gardens and villas, with Sir W. Eden.
His Majesty's ship Rose had arrived this fore-
noon with four misticoes, which she had cap-

254 SMYRNA.

tured at Samothraoe. In the evening they
sailed again, being manned by detachments from
the Rose and Cambrian, to decoy and capture
some pirates off Ipsara.

June 18.— To-day, Sir William Eden and
myself lionized the bazaars and fountains of
the town, and penetrated a long way into that
part of the city which is exdusively inhabited by
the Turks, — a wretched, ruinous, dirty, strag-
gling place. Not being Tery well acquainted
with the localities, we found ourselves suddenly
in a cul de sac^ terminated by a garden, attach-
ed to the house of some great Turk. At the
garden-gate were some women, who at first
showed no symptom of displeasure or alarm ;
but upon our approaching the gate, thinking
to find a thoroughfare that way, they set up a
great shouting, and thereupon began to arm
themselves with stones; many other women
and some children, alarmed by their cries, came
out of their houses in our rear, and the stones
began to whistle about our ears in all directions.
As we were (although unintentionally) the

SMYRNA. 255

offending parties, we did not like to retaliate
upon our assailants, and were quietly withdraw-
ing, when some boys, being bolder than the
rest, pursued us, and threw the stones so
sharply and so near us, that we agreed we had
better give them a sample of our savior /aire
in this description of missile warfare. Eden,
who is an old Etonian, threw some pebbles in
such a manner as quickly to disperse the light
infantry, who had, imtil now, hung about us ;
and some Effendi Turks coming up, soon drove
away the nest of wasps which we had drawn
about our ears. We salaamed our friends, the
Effendi, who smilingly returned the compliment,
and we each went our way home.

June 21.— To-day I made a very pleasant
excursion with Captain Sotheby, of His Ma-
jesty's ship Seringapatam, who had arrived
the day before yesterday, and Sir W. Eden, to
Boumabat. We went in the Seringapatam's
boats to the landing-place, a considerable way
up the harbour, and past the careening ground.
Here we found a little wooden pier and a water-

S56 SMYRNA.

ing-place; and here, as is the custom of the

country, we were mounted upon remarkably

fine large asses, each of which has his bridle oma^

mented tastefully with shells and blue beads,

to attract the evil eye to the bridle, but keep it

from the animal, — the supposition being, that

the evil principle delights in the colour of

the turquoise, which these beads are made to

I resemble. Each of these humble animals is

I accompanied by his driver, generally a Greek,

[ who belabours him all the way with a great

I stick, keeping him constantly upon a brisk

trot, and being almost always dose behind him,
to animate him with his voice, or stimulate him
with the stick, as the case may require.

We went through shady lanes, and a pretty
country full of mimosa and olianders,and, indeed,
were delighted with the scenery. The village,
or rather town, of Boumabat, contains many
fine houses, belonging principally to Frank and
Armenian merchants, with some great Turks •
it has a large bazaar, and a handsome mosque,
with some magnificent Oriental planes in the

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SMYRNA. 257

court of it. Near Boumabat is a large mound
or barrow, commonly called the Tomb of Tan-
talus.

Eden and myself strolled about to a little
distance from the place, and made a sketch of
the bay and distant city of Smyrna, its maniy
and gloomy-looking cemeteries, and the old
Grenoese castle upon the hill behind the city,
with the high mountains of the " Two Brothers,'*
the Turkish castle at the entrance of the har-
bour, and the Cape Kara Boumou (black rock),
terminating the scene. We dined very well
at a neat little hotel, kept by a Frank of Smyrna,
and passed a delicious evening in wandering
about by the light of an Eastern moon, listening
to the song of the bulbull, amid the gardens
and villas of the place, and observing the happy-
looking groups of Greeks and Smymiote Franks,
whom the beauty of the evening had called out
to the threshold of their houses, or to saunter
about amid the lanes.

June 22. — We returned in the forenoon by
the same route, to the Seringapatam, wherfe we

VOL. I. s

258 SMYRNA.

spent the day and dined, enjoying much the
oool sea*breeze.

June 28.— Captain Sotheby, Sir W. Eden
and myself 9 having made our arrangements over
night, set out on horseback at half-past six in
the morning, to visit the Consul's lady at a
village some twelve or fourteen miles off, called
Boujat. Our road led us ovct the heights be-
hind Smyrna, and through some of the great
cemeteries ; we had some very fine views of the
bay and adjoining moimtains, as we rode along
the hills. We passed by the remains of a
Roman aqueduct, which seems to have been
constructed for the purpose of supplying the
old citadel which stood where are at present
the ruins of the Genoese castle, which I have
before mentioned, and which, although it has
never been put in a state of defence since the
Turks took it, is occupied by some of the
Pacha's troops of the line (Nizam Djedid).
It is melancholy to observe how completely the
impending ruin of this nation is typified by the
moral and physical decay of every thing which
meets the eye of the traveller.

SMYRNA. 259

Bouj At is a pretty spot, and contains some good-
looking houses, with many gardens ; but most of
these symptoms of proisp^rity arise from the cir-
cumstance of the Franks being the occupants of
the houses, — ^they repair to this spot, to Bouma-
bat and to Sediqud, to pass the hot months away
beneath the shade of mulberry-trees, which here
grow to an immense size, and to wile away
the day by the side of murmuring fountains,
fanned by the gentle breezes, whidi, at mid-
day, set in firom the sea. The Consul has
a delightful villa here, with shady walks,
blooming gardens, and fruitful vineyards.
We dined ill enough at a kind of hotels
named, I know not why, " la Soci6t^ Philantro-
pique."

In the evening, after our siesta, we returned
to Smyrna by another road, and another aque-
duct, stretching across a deep ravine full of
olianders, cypresses, &c. &c. Here is a remark-
able petrifaction, consisting of the stump of
a large tree. The ground was covered with
locusts in all directions, and these reptiles were

s 2

260 SMYRNA.

pursued by nimiberless storks, who pick them
up in immense numbers.

I made a sketch of the aqueduct, and the
hill, crowned by the old Genoese castle, as it
was seen through the arches.

July 1.— I went early this morning with
Sir W. Eden and Captain Dalling, of His
Majesty's ship Raleigh, to visit the Vice-Consul
and his Lady, at his villa at Sediqu6, a village
situated amid some pretty hills about twelve
miles from Smyrna, on the road to Ephesus.
The ride was extremely beautiful, through a
very fine country, presenting all the varieties of
hill and dale, plain and mountain, trees and
streams. Here we passed an agreeable fore-
noon, enjoying the luxiuy of "il dolce far
niente,'* upon soft divans, with long chibouques,
fine Salonica tobacco, sherbets, sweetmeats, and
books. In the evening we wandered about
the round rough hiUs of the neighbourhood,
and met some very agreeable young ladies^ the
daughters of the Swedish Consul, who were
likewise passing the summer months here.

SMYRNA. 261

They related to us some curious facts respecting
the predatory expeditions of their neighbours,
the ** Samians," who to this day, as in the time
of Telemachus and Ulysses, frequently land in
this quarter, in spite of the Turks, and carry
off cattle, and sometimes men and women.

%

We returned to the Vice-Constd's at night-
fall, and from thence we went to the Swedish
Consul's, and danced away all the night, not-
withstanding the height of the thermometer,
eighty-nine or ninety,

July 2. — Early in the morning we returned
to Smyrna.

The remainder of my stay at Smyrna was
passed in continued parties of pleasure, on board
His Majesty's ship of war, now and then varied
by excursions to Boumabat and Boujat, at which
latter place the two naval chiefs gave a great
f(§te, with music and fire-works, to the great
delight of the Greek, Turk, and Frank popu-<
lation. We danced all the day and all the
night long, comme des for cents ^ the thermometer
in the shade ranging from eighty-five degrees

262 SMYRNA:

to ninety. The rockets set fire to some corn-
stacks, to the great dismay of the people. We
returned to Smyrna, momited upon our trusty
donkies, at half-past two in the morning.

Mr. Elliot, the Oriental Secretary, to the
British Embassy, had arrived at Smyrna about
this time, upon some l)usiness of importance.

There was a gay dejeuni d la fourchette on
board the Seringapatam, given by the Captain
to a number of Greek and Smymiote ladies,
and a very pretty dance on board His Majesty's
ship Zebra, which, in spite of the excessive
heat, and the melting of the wax tapers, was
kept up with the greatest ' spirit until an early
hour in the following morning.

The weather continued to be dreadfully hot :
the wind from the north-east has all the ef-
fects of a sirocco ; it feels as if it had passed
over burning sand; it enervates the body, and
lowers the spirits most surprisingly; one cannot
sit for a few minutes upon a chair or sofa,
without wettiiig it . through and through with
perspiration; evien wood and stone feels like

SMYRNA. 263

heated metal, and it is in vain that the fatigued
and harassed sufferer seeks for refreshing sleep
or repose ; he rises from his couch more weary
than he lay down, sodden, languid, and un-
happy.

I wished much to visit Ephesus, but no one
would join me in such an excursion, at this
period of the year, fearful of the malaria, which
always haunts that spot. I was, therefore,
forced to relinquish the project.

I had the pleasure of meeting occasionally
Admiral de Rigny, who strongly advised my
not quitting the Levant at this crisis. ** Nous
sommes sur le point des grandes evSnemens^ he
observed to me.

July 26 and 27. — I passed two delightful
days in company with my two kind friends,
Sotheby and Eden, at the house of an English
merchant of Smyrna, at . Boumabat. We had
projected making an excursion to Sardis and
its classical neighbourhood, which lays claim to
the honoiur of having produced a Homer. We
talked likewise of visiting the Tomb of Tantalus,

264 SMYRNA.

and other antiquities ; but the weather was so
hot, that we each of us secretly wished that the
other would internally abandon the project, and
talk no more of it. This, indeed, proved to be
the case ; for, as we always sat up late at night,
enjoying the beautiful scenery from the win-
dow, and bright moon, none of us had much
inclination to quit our couches at an hour
sufficiently early to set off upon our tour,
and thus the matter dropped; and as will be
seen in the sequel, no future opportunity pre-
sented itself.

While we were enjoying the hospitalities of
Boumabat, the French Consul at Smyrna died,
and was attended to the grave by all the Consids
of foreign nations, and the chiefs of the naval
forces in the bay. At this period an immense
flight of locusts (which indeed had for some days
shown themselves in great numbers) passed over
the city, falling upon the roofs of the houses,
where they lay two or three inches deep, and
tumbling into the sea in such quantities, that
they could be traced in continuous streams for

SMYHNA. 265

many leagues from the land, resembling in colour
and appearance so many millions of boiled
shrimps. These insects, being brought by the
sea-breeze into the harbour, were thrown upon
the shores and against the quays in such masses,
that their putrefied carcases infected the air in
all directions. The passage of these animals
lasted during many days, and at night as they
crossed over the disk of the moon, by reflecting
the light as they shot across the face of the planet,
they resembled so many flakes of snow, or almost
as many shooting stars.

The heat of the weather at this period (87^) was
so intense^ that during the night I was always
obliged to sleep with my window open, the conse-
quence of which was, that the locusts used to
tumble into my room and upon my musquito
curtains, and by hopping about the floor and
creeping up into my bed, generally annoyed me
extremely. I observed that there was one de-
scription of locust which materially differed in
shape from the rest ; this animal was more like a
large round moth, or beetle, in form, although

266 SMYRNA.

covered, like the rest, with a shining coat of
mail; he was shorter and thicker and much
stronger than the other sort, which in shape re-
sembles the common grasshopper. These reptiles
are amazingly powerful in their hoppers, but do
not seem to fly very well. They are extremely
saladous, and deposit their eggs in all directions
in great abundance. Poultry of all sorts are
very fond of eating the locusts, and particularly
of devouring the ovce, which however produce
a very bad effect upon their own eggs, which,
at such periods as these, are extremely strong,
and quite red in the yolk ; indeed the natives
will not eat them at this time, saying that they
are unwholesome.

I went one day with Mr. Elliot to call upon
M. Fauvel, the French Consul, who had passed
so many years at Athens, and whose antiquarian
researches have brought so much to light of
what remains of poor Athena's temples, Acro-
polis, and walls. He was so good as to show us
some excellent models of that dty, which were
doubly interesting to me, as I hoped soon to visit
Minerva's Fane.

SMYRNA. 267

On the 14th of July, we took a farewell dinner
on board the Seringapatam, where we met De
Rigny and his fitaff, and at midnight sailed in
His Majesty's ship Cambrian, for the Morea;
Sir W. Eden, Elliot, and myself being quartered
upon her hoispitable and gallant captain.

The Bay of Smyrna is one of the finest har-
bours in the world ; the fleets of the universe
might anchor here in safety. It is perfectly
landlocked, and is surrounded by high and
picturesque mountains. The water is deep and
the anchorage good, excepting opposite the
Turkish castle at the entrance, where there is a
shoal and quicksand to the north ; the passage is
however sufficiently wide to work a line-«f-
battle ship through it. (N.B. Keep the Castle as
close aboard as you can.) • There is excellent
anchorage in eight fathoms dose to the town,
and good holding-groimd. '

Smyrna, in the time of the Byzantine empire,
was considered as the most lovely of the Ionian
cities, and was styled the " beauty of Asia.*' The
Turks captured it in 1084 ; Tamerlane took it

268 SMYRNA.

from them in 1492> with great slaughter. It is
one of the seven cities which contended for the
honour of being the birth-place of Homer, and
is one of the seven Asiatic churches named in
the Apocalypse. It possesses several remains of
antiquity, among the rest a Roman circus on the
side of a hill, upon which stand the ruins of the
citadel.

The modem city, as far as respects Frank
Town, is comparatively well built and spacious ;
its houses are large and commodious and of
stone. This part of it runs parallel to the sea,
and has ready communication with a long quay,
which of an evening becomes the promenade of
the beau monde.

The Turk town is dirty, oflTensive, and ill-built:
the bazaars are tolerable and well-stocked ; the
baths indifferent: some of the mosques are
handsome ; and Franks may enter them without
fear, if accompanied by a chaoush, cavass, or
dragoman. The population amounts to about
one himdred and fifty thousand, whereof about

SMYRNA. 269

one hundred thousand are Mussuhnans ; the rest
are Jews, Armenians, Greeks, and Franks of
every name and nation.

The Smymiote ladies are famed for their
attractions : of these I must confess I saw but
little. Some of the Greek women have superb
heads, eyes, and hair; but their bust is too exu-
berant, their form too massive, and their hands
and feet dumsy and coarse.

The garrison of Smyrna is at present very
contemptible, consisting of a few hundred of the
Nizam Djedid ; and the place is not defensible
either by sea or land.

On the whole, Smyrna is a pleasant place, and
I should prefer residing here to Constantmople,
on account of the presence of the formidable
naval forces of the Eiu'opean powers, sometimes
amounting to eighteen sail at anchor at the same
time ; chiefly French and Austrians. The de-
monstration of such a force serves to keep the
barbarians in order.

The Pasha is by all accounts a clever and

270 SMYRNA.

well-disposed man : he protects the Franks with
a strong hand, and is entirely devoted to the
Sultan and his measures.

One day, while I was in Smyrna, a Capidgee
Bashi arrived with his suite, bringing with him
various orders, relative to the new mode of tax-
ation, which it was to be apprehended would
create a disturbance among a people not accus-
tomed to regular modes of financial levies. The
Pasha, however, took measures for securing the
public tranquillity, and the thing passed off
without much alarm. It is generally thought,
however, that the people of Asia Minor will
not submit to regular taxation, which will neces-
sarily raise the price of provisions in spite of
the arbitrary measm'es of the authorities, who
insist that the butchers and bakers shall supply
the people at the same price as before, although
each kilo of wheat and each head of cattle shall
be heavily taxed. This may be a very inge^
nious temporary method of meeting difficulties,
but it cannot continue to be enforced for any
length of time.

SMYRNA. 271

It is to be hoped that this faithful servant of
the Porte wiU not meet that horrid fate which
generally awaits all the great men of Turkey,
and which so miserably befeU his unhappy but
excellent predecessor, Mehmet Effendi Pasha,
who was treacherously entrapped on board the
fleet, and cruelly murdered there by Koshrew
Capitan Pasha.

I have heard this story related by our own
venerable Consul at Smyrna, Mr. Werry, — a man
whose long residence in the Levant has enabled
him to appreciate the character of the Turks,
and who was intimately acquainted with Meh-
met Effendi.

It seems that the Porte entertained some
suspicions relative to Mehmet Effendi's con-
nexion with the Jannissary party ; and the Sul-
tan, who had, de tongue main, determined upon
the extermination of that body, thought that
by cutting off that man whom he looked upon
as its head, he should strike a salutary terror
into the Ortas stationed at Smyrna and in the
Pashalic, and render it easy for him to place in

272 SMYRNA.

the vacant seat a man devoted to his views. In
Turkey, suspicion is equivalent to proof, and
Koshrew Pasha Capitan was despatched with a
fleet from the Dardanelles, under the pretence
of visiting the islands of Mytilene and Sdo,
and levying the usual annual contributions.

This man had been the intimate friend and
schoolfellow of Mehmet Effendi, and for this
very reason was less liable to suspicion.

No great man in Turkey can however view
the arrival of another in his government or Pa-
shalic without distrust; and Mehmet Effendi
felt very jealous of the Capitan Pasha's appear-
ance in the bay of Smyrna, and for a while took
such precautions as he deemed necessary for his
own personal safety. Koshrew Pasha mean-
while was perfectly well informed by his spies
of what was passing in the Serai of Smyrna ;
he affected at first to avoid coming on shore to
see Mehmet Effendi, lest, as he hinted with true
Turkish perfidy, he should give him cause of
alarm or suspicion; but he said, as he recollected
that during the days of their early friendship,

SMYRNA. 278

■

Mehmet Effendi had been foiid of shooting, he
begged he would accept from the hands of his
oldest friend a gun of English workmanship, as
a proof of his undiminished regard.

Mehmet Effendi was so much affected by
what he deemed a proof of friendship, and a
gentle rebuke for his own want of confidence
in his old schoolmate, that he fell into the
snare, as the Capitan Pasha had foreseen. He
immediately sent off his Divan Effendi to com-
pliment him, and to entreat him to come on
shore with as many troops as he might deem
necessary for his own body-guard, promising
on his side, as a proof of good faith, that he
would only keep an equal number of soldiers in
Smyrna.

The Capitan Paslia felt now that his victim
was caught in the toils; he had just reached
that point of ill-placed confidence to which he
wished to bring him ; and with an affectation of
magnanimity, which he well knew how to as-
sume, said that he would come entirely alone,

VOL . I. T

S74 SMYRNA.

and would place himself with equal confidence
in the hands of his friend.

On the following day, Mehmet Effendi re-
ceived the crafty Koshrew, who came merely
attended by a few personal servants, to the
Serai, and here he overwhelmed him with proofs
of affection and esteem. The Capitan Pasha
remained here for some days, preserving in all
his actions and words the appearance of perfect
good-will and amity towards his unsuspecting
victim.

In his turn, he invited Mehmet Efiendi to
come off to the flag-ship, and returned loaded
with presents on board the fleet. So completdy
blinded was Mehmet Effendi by the artifices of
the subtle Koshrew, that in an evil hour he
embarked with a small suite in his boat, and
repaired to the flag-ship, where he was received
by the Capitan Pasha with all possible demon-
strations of the liveliest friendship; but when
he was conducted to the great cabin, he found
that the doors were closed upon him, and a
strong guard of Galiongees mounted outside.

SMYRNA. 275

He now saw that he was lost ; he begged to be
allowed an interview with the Capitan Pasha^
but was informed that it could not be granted.

Meanwhile the intelligence of what had been
passing on board the fleet reached the shore,
quantities of troops were landed from the ships,
who, meeting with no opposition, — for the troops
of Mehmet Effendi had all been marched out of
Smyrna by previous condition,— took possession
of the place and the Serai, and the people were
struck dumb with dismay and surprise.

The various Consuls repaired to the flag-ship
and entreated the Capitan Pasha to spare the
life of Mehmet Effendi; nay, indeed, Mr. Werry
was so lively in his intercessions, that the crafty
Koshrew at length reluctantly promised that
** no evil should befall him on board of his ship."
Mr. Werry, delighted at this assurance, and
believing in the inviolability of the Mussulman
honour, rushed to the presence of Mehmet
Effendi, and assured him of his safety.

" How did the Capitan Pasha look?" was his
question. '' He looked mild and tranquil, and

T 2

276 SMYRNA.

spoke in affectionate tenns of your Excellency,"
was the reply. "Then/' rejoinedMehmetEfiendi,
" I am a lost man.'' In vain his friend assured him
that no evil was intended him. He immediately
set about giving directions respecting his pro-
perty, which he confided to Mr. Werry ; charged
him with his dying injunction to his wives and
diildren, and prepared himself for death.

On the following day after this conversation,
he was conducted to a boat, under pretence of
putting him on shore in the island of Mytilene,
but as he stooped to seat himself in the bottom
of the boat, (as is the custom of the Turks,) his
head was smitten off at one blow by a chaoush.
Thus the perfidious Koshrew kept his word !

Instances of Mussidman treachery are so com-
mon, that it would be an endless task to attempt
the relation of them : one or two such as these
suffice to show us what is the character of their
government, and what is meant by the profound-
ness of the Ottoman policy.

Two words explain the enigma; — perfidy
and cruelty !

CAPE COLONNA. 277

JOURNAL CONTINUED, ON BOARD HIS MA-
JESTY'S ship CAMBRIAN.

July 15. — This morning off Scio and Ipsara,
we fell in with His Majesty's ships Glasgow and
Rifleman, the former from Alexandria, and the
latter with a convoy from the Dardanelles ; we
remained hove-to almost all the day, communi-
cating with the Glasgow. The weather very
fine.

July 16. — At daylight off Cape Colonna,
and dose under the beautiful temple dedicated
to Minerva, which still braves the hand of time
and Austrians ; the officers of their ship, the
Bellona, having profaned the architrave of this
interesting relic, by writing upon it in immense
black letters,

« BELLONA AUSTRIACA."

Thirteen columns still attest the skill of the
architect and the solidity of the structure. It
was at this point that the divine Plato was wont
to give lessons upon the immortality of the soul
to his pupils; and in our days, an inspired poet

278 POROS.

has rendered this spot familiar to our imagina^
tionsy* and shed an additional splendour upon

^

the glorious halo which encircles Mount Su-
nium's classic height.

At noon we looked into the harbour of Poros,
and took on board Prince Mavrocordato and the
Ex-secretary to the Hellenic government, Tri-
coupi. These distinguished and patriotic men
were anxious to proceed, under the auspices of
Captain Hamilton, to Napoli di Romania, where,
in consequence of an intrigue of the elder
Colocotroni's, a sort of civil war had broken out
between his partizans, under the orders of the
Capitani Photomaras and Stratos, (who held the
town and lower forts of Napoli,) and Grivas, who
with his followers was in possession of the im-
pregnable citadel, the Palamide. These parties
had been for several days keeping up a mutual
cannonade and cutting each other's throats, as if
there were not sufficient work of this sort to be
found in the ranks of the Osmanli.

(Test autant epargni awv Turcs. Ibrahim

• See "Don Juan" and " Childe Harold/'

HYDRA. 279

Pajsha has demolished the fortress and razed the
town of Tripolizza, and lately pushed some of
his marauding parties as far as Argos. He is
said to have retired to the coast. What' an ex-
traordinary mode of warfare is this that has so
long desolated the land of Minerva! Neither
Turk or Greek seems to profit by any success
which he may have obtained : but the one sits
down and smokes his pipe, and lets things take
their chance ; while the other, doing what is worse,
employs the precious time in quarrdling with
his friends, instead of following up his enemy.

Mavrocordato is a man of much physiognomy;
his black pierdng eyes and the lines on his fore-
head bespeak talent and reflection. Tricoupi
has less countenance, but his eye is quick and
intelligent, and his general outline denotes
frankness and honesty. One cannot behold and
converse with these two men without feelings
of the liveliest interest.

July 17. — We are off Hydra. The chiefs
Sachtury , Mavromichali and Nota Bozzaris, with
their suites, and some of the primates, are on

280 sp^zziA.

board, paying their repects to Captain Hamil-
ton. It is delightful to see with what veneration
and affection these rude but brave men regard
the gallant Commodore. Talking upon this
subject to Mavrocordato, he replied to my ob-
servation,— "Hamilton a su se faire aimer et
craindre k la fois." The Greeks, in their em-
phatic manner, style him, by way of excellence,
" TO ^ai^skrov :" they love him for his benevolence,
and they fear him for his rigid impartiality.
No man has done so much as he has to foster
the growing virtues of Grecian liberty ; but, at
the same time, no one has done more to chastise
the lawless and piratical practices which have so
unfortunately taken their rise out of the drcum-
stances of the times, and the fearful state <^
destitution and desperation to which the rem-
nant of a famished and a slaughtered population
has been driven.

In the afternoon we were off Spezzia. Hydra
is a barren-looking rock, with a bad harbour and
a good town. Spezzia is as barren, but less
rugged than Hydra ; its port and town better.
Garden bay, on the opposite side of the gulf»

NAPOLI DI ROMANIA. 281

is a good roadstead, and its shores look green
and tempting.

In the evening, as we proceeded slowly down
the gulf, we fell in with the Asia, bearing the
flag of Vice-Admiral Sir E. Codrington, who,
after communicating with Captain Hamilton,
put about and a^Jbompanied us towards Napoli
di Romania.

July 18. — In the morning, running quietly
up the deep and mountain-bounded bay of
Napoli di Romania ; His Majesty's ships Asia,
Raleigh, and Brisk in company. We anchored
about noon close to the town, and under the
formidable-looking Palamide. Here we saw
groups of miserable beings huddled together,
about and under the shelter of the rocks, to avoid
the fire of the citadel. Hundreds were crammed
on board the vessels in the roads, and the nomi-
nal government, with many wretched creatures,
have taken possession of a little fort, perched
upon a rock in the harbour, called " Bourgi."
Great numbers of the wealthier classes have fled
across the bay in boats to Argos, being forced by
the soldiers of Stratos and Fhotomaras to pay

r

282 NAFOLI DI ROMANIA.

a considerable sum for this privilege. Our
gallant Admiral, with characteristic humanity
and firmness, put an end to this infamous pro-
ceeding, by sending his boats well manned and
armed, to protect the remaining fugitives agidnst
this shameful extortion.

The political state of the Gii^k nation seems
to me to resemble pretty nearly the condition
of the Highlanders during the system of clan-
ship. Each Greek chief is the head of a clan,
who makes war both upon the common enemy
and his rival Capitano whenever he sees fitting
occasion. These men never forget a feud ; and
although their natural hatred of the Turk in-
sures their joint co-operation against him when-
ever he can be attacked with advantage, the
Moslem is no sooner repulsed or defeated or
inactive, than the Capitani employ all their
energies in mutual destruction, by craft or
violence. This was pretty nearly the case with
the Highland chiefs, who, although upon the
approach of the Saxon they united their forces
against him as the common foe, persecuted

NAPOLI DI ROMANIA. 28S

each other with long-cherished hatred and de-
sire of revenge unto extermination.

It is, however, some source of comfort to the
well-wishers of the Greek cause to reflect upon
this known iact, that there is as yet no instance
of a Greek chief of any importance having
joined the ranks of the infidels. If, indeed, by
their fatal and frequent broils they have done
much to retard the bright epoch of their coun-
try's regeneration, their faults have arisen out
of the state of society and those bad pas^ons
which a barbarous and feudal system has gene-
rated not only in Greece but elsewhere.

This people may indeed be annihilated by
the sword of the Osmanli, the monuments of
what they were may be swept by the con-
temptuous barbarian from the face of the earth,
the " ashes of the Pelleponesus", may be scat-
tered to the winds in the Seraglio of the Sultan ;
but Greece will never submit ! Her suffering
sons and ravished daughters may be consigned
to the executioner and the pollution of the
Harem ; the stake, the sword, the fire, and the

284 NAPOLI Dl ROMANIA.

atrocious practices of the Mussulman, may do
their work ; but can Providence look on and
suffer such things ? Will the day of vengeance
never arrive ?

It must come ! arise, Europe, and blot out the
foul stain from the page of history. SuflPer not
the land of fame to become one universal tomb ;
suffer not the classic soil of Hellas to be cola*
nized by the Arab and the Nubian; the descen-
dants of Leonidas and Themistocles to be swept
from the face of the earth, and their once great
name to be erased from the list of nations !*

July 19 The anniversary of the corona-
tion. Smoke and noise, and a few shots from
the Falamide and town, in token of amity. (This
is a way the Turks and Greeks have of paying
a great compliment, sometimes rather dange-
rous.) The Admiral and Commodore are zea-
lously employed in mediating between the con-
flicting parties, and endeavouring to persuade
the one and the other to give up the forts and

* The treaty of Alexandria has since taken the Morea
from the hands of the Egyptians.

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NAPOLI DI ROMANIA. 285

citadel into tlie hands of some one nominated
by the Government. Photomaras, Stratos, and
many other chiefs, are on board the flag-ship.

Many Greeks came here to see their favourite
ship the Cambrian. The young men are the
most beautiful race I ever saw ; their long hair,
of which they are very proud, falling over their
shoulders from under the red Greek cap, their
embroidered jackets, vests, and buskins, their
splendid arms and white kilts, compose on the
whole the most graceful and becoming cos-
tume in the world. There is a fire in their eye ;
and an elasticity and dignity in their step and
demeanour, which impress the spectator most
forcibly in their favour. The older men are
less vivacious in their manner, but equally
splendid in their dress. Like the Turks, these
people seem to lay out all their money in
decorating their persons and in purchasing the
most expensive arms. A great deal of wealth
is thus, no doubt, lavished upon trifles that
might have been rendered more available to
the well-being of the state. But I must not

286 NAPOLI DI KOMANIA.

forget that this nation is still barbarous, and
that it naturally copies and imitates the Turks
in all their distinctive follies, and, I regret to
say, vices *

The bay of Napoli di Romania has excellent
anchorage all over it, and there is a good
harbour for smaller vessels within the island
of Bourgi. On the western side stands the
AcropoUs of Argos, with its ancient town
at its foot: near this is the tomb of Aga-
memnon.

There are some mills upon the shore of Ar-
gos, and here is an excellent watering-place for
shipping.

The weather is too hot, and the state of the
country too insecure, to allow of my making
any excursion to Corinth, or elsewhere.

* Hadji Mickali, Zaimis, Count Metaxa, Nicetas, or Nikitas,
the young Color. otroni, and many other Greek chiefs, came
on board the Cambrian, oifHydra and Spezzia,.and at Napoli
di Romania, during my stay there.

NAPOLI DI ROMANIA. 287

CHAPTER X.

Visit to Bourgi, and to Lord Cochrane. — Rencontre with
Colonel Heydeck.— General Church. — ^Visit to Grivas in
the Palamide.— Departure in his Majesty's ship Serin-
gapatam for Athens. — Dandolo fires into the town of
Spezzia. — Bay of Salamis. — Visit to Athens. — Piraeus. —
Phalerum. — Delhis. — Interview with the Pasha Ibrahim's
Divan Effendi. — Visit to the Pasha. — Dinner and de-
bauchery of Turks. — Via Sacra. — Jupiter Oiympius — De-
solation and ruin of Athens. — Temple of Theseus. — Re-
flections. — Hill of Mars. — Recollections. — Musoean Hill,
and tomb of Phillopappus. — Conduct of Turkish sentinels.
— Return towards the Pirseus. — Greek Tambouri, and
field of battle. — Apprehensions and conduct of Turkish
escort. — Sunset upon the Bay of Salamis^ and our re-
embarkation for the ships, — ^Visit to Egina and its Temple.
— Poros and its lemon groves. — Dispersion of our little
Squadron. — Inner harbour of Poros, and visit to Prince
Mavrocordato. — Departure on board the Raleigh for Cy-
prus. — Arrival at Lameca. — Change of destination, and
new projects. — Visit to Lameca and the British Consul. —
— Cypriotes. — Dinner at the Consul's. — Observations upon
the Saracenic or Gothic architecture.— State of Cyprus. —
Arrival of the Mootselim. — Grand dinner at the Consul's,
and visit of ceremony to the Mootselim. — Departure for
and arrival at Baruti, or Beirout

July Sil, 1827- — I went on shore upon the
island of Bour^, the temporary seat of the Gk)-
vemment, and found there a number of persons

288 NAPOLI DI ROMANIA,

entassees les unes sur les autres, and the principal
members of the executive and legislative de-
partments, with many Palicari and Capitani. —
I went onboard of the Hellas, which immense fri-
gate had arrived the day before : Lord Cochrane
was sick, and unable to see me. I found my old
acquaintance, the Bavarian Colonel Heydeck, on
board a small schooner in the bay. The Admiral
sailed in the evening, in the Asia, for Smyrna.

July 23. — I went in the evening to take a
walk upon the plains between Napoli and Argos.
Salt marsh full of quails, view of the Palamide
and city on the left hand, sea and islands to the
south, Argos and its Acropolis on the right, a bril-
liant sunsetgilding and reddeningthe mountains.

July 24.— I dined on board the Raleigh, and
in the evening went quail-shooting with Dalling
and Anson : --bad sport.

July 25.— General Church came on board : he
is come from Corinth with 1000 men, to put them
to rights here. His dress most splendid. [That
of the Greek light infantry once in our service.]

July 26 Mavrocordato and Tricoupi return-
ed to Poros in the Brisk : I visited Napoli in the

NAPOLI DI ROMANIA. 289

evening with Dalling tod Eden:— ruins and
misery.

July 27. — In the momingi went with Dalling
and Martin to visit General Sir Richard Church,
bivouacked at an old ruined monastery about
three miles on the left flank of the Palamide-^
his troops lying scattered about under the wild
fig-trees. We afterwards were mounted on his
horses, and rode up to the Palamide, accompanied
by about two hundred Palicari ; about fifty of
whom bestrode horses captured from the Egyp-
tians. As we rode up towards the Palamide,
the cavalry of the escort, wishing to give to their
general and to the British oflicers a specimen
of their skiU in horsemanship, and of their effi-
ciency in the use of their weapons, started out
of the line in pairs, riding furiously at each other
with drawn swords, exhibiting every method of
attack and defence : then one affecting to be van-
quished fled, the other rapidly pursuing him ; as
he wheeled his foaming steed round and round
in a narrow circle, suddenly the pursued in his
turn became the pursuer, with levelled pistol, and

VOL. I. U

290 NAFOLI DI ROMANIA.

loud shouts animating his horse and terrifying
his antagonist. Nothing could give one a better
idea of a single combat between Orientals. They
seemed much gratified by our admiration of
their dexterity. The foot soldiers, or Tacticos
of the escort, were all well and uniformly
clothed and armed, and were indeed a very fine
set of men.

We entered the fortress under a salute, and
were received and entertained by the famous
chief Grivas.

When we had entered the gates of the Pala-
mide, they were suddenly closed upon us with
prodigious clangom-. One could not help a sort
of feeling that we might be betrayed. Many of
the Palicari clinging to the saddles of General
Church and of ourselves, got into the fortress,
resolved to share our fate and to protect their
chief and his friends to the last : Nota Bozzaris
and Mavromichali were with us. I felt struck
by this proof of thefa* devotion ; for it was evident
that they suspected treachery.

When we were afterwards all assembled in

NAFOLI DI EOMANIA. 291

Griva's house, I watched most attentively the
countenanoe of our gallant countryman ; but it
defied scrutiny. I looked at Grivas, and beneath,
the appearance of respectful homage which veiled
his fine features, thought I perceived a lurking
distrust.*

Nota Bozzaris looked, as he has ever proved
himself to be, a man prepared for any peril, and
equal to any proof of heroism. G^eral Church
speaks Romaick fluently ; he is much beloved
by the Greek chiefs, for most of them had served
in the Albanian Greek regiment which he com-
manded in our service during the war.

We walked round the ramparts of this ex-
traordinary fortress, but I was almost blinded
by the dust flying about in all directions. The
Lion of St. Mark, at one time the ascendant con-
steUation of the Morea, still ornaments many
parts of the old fortification.

* Some months after this remarkable interview, I was
informed that, had it not been for the presence of the Bri-
tish officers upon this occasion, Grivas would have made pri-
soners of the General and all his suite.

U 2

292 NAPOLI Dr ROMANIA.

It is curious to contrast the conduct of the
present Venetians with that of the formerly con-
quering republic.

The assemblage of so many wild-looking
chieftains and fierce vassals around an Eng-
lish officer, (dressed in the rich uniform of the
Greek light infantry once in our service,) and
acknowledging him as their general and de-
Kverer, was striking and interesting.

We returned by a most precipitous and dan-
gerous pathway on foot into the town, and I
embarked with Dalling and Martin for the
Cambrian, to meet General Church at dinner.

July 28. — I breakfasted with Martin, and
dined with Dalling. Arrived His Majesty's
ship Seringapatam.

July 29. — In the evening I walked with
Sotheby, Dalling, and Martin, on the plain of
Argos.

July 80. — I sailed in the Seringapatam
for Athens: Mes compagnons de voyage are
the Honourable Captain Law, Sir W. Eden,
and a Mr. Williams of the Commissariat de-
partment at Corfu. Raleigh in company. At

BAY OF SALAMIS. S93

night, when oflP Spezzia, nearly ran on board of
the Imperial razee, Bellona.

July 31. — -All the day beating through the
gulf of Spezzia. When abreast of Hydra, the
Austrian admiral in the Bellona, accompanied
by a man-of-war brig, was seen to fire into
the town of Spezzia, and to throw in several
rockets.

August 1. — All the morning beating into
the bay of Egina. We saw the temple (upon
the island) very distinctly, and the Acropolis of
Athens in the distance, but clearly defined. In
the evening we anchored in the bay of Salamis.
The Piraeus on our right hand, Xerxes' throne
on our left, and the island of Kalouri behind
us. Raleigh and Parthian in company.

August 2. — A large party of us left the ship
at about six in the morning, and pulled into the
old harbour of the Piraeus. The remains of the
Pier are still very distinct and perfect. In former
times there stood two immense marble lions, one
on either hand of the harbour. The Venetians,
from this ch-cumstance, gave it the name of
** Porta Leone f" they transported the lions to

294 VISIT TO ATHENS.

Venice, where they still are to be seen, I believe,
in the Arsenal.

We landed at the ruined monastery of San
Spiridione, which was destroyed by Lord Coch-
rane, in the Hellas, and Hastings, in the Greek
steam-boat, on the 6th of May. We saw many
68-pound shot lying about here. The Turks
had intrenched themselves in this building, and
defended it with characteristic valour, being a
key to the position of their army employed in
the siege, or rather blockade, of the Acropolis.

We walked to the height of the Phalerum,
for the purpose of obtaining a good view ; fix»n
hence we could trace very distinctly the line of
the old Piraean wall, immense masses of it
stretching, like a gigantic skeleton, over the
plain towards the Acropolis.

From this point the eye roams over the Acro-
polis, crowned with the matchless Parthenon,
Mounts Hymettus and Anchesmus, Maps Hill
(where stood the Areopagus), the Mus»an and
Pnyx Hills, the Tomb of Philopappus, the
plains of Athens and its olive grove, and the Via
Sacra, towards Eleusis.

VISIT TO ATHENS. 295

As we gazed upon this scene, and some of us
sat down to make a sketch of it, suddenly we
saw the flashing of arms in the plain, and per-
ceived a crowd of Delhis advancing with led
horses for our party ; and as we stood admiring
the view, an Emir, with but one hand, green
turban, and black beard, galloped up to us and
explained that the party of horse on the plain
below was sent by the Pasha, commanding at
Athens, to escort us up to his camp.

Our party consisted of eight or ten, besides
servants : we were all soon mounted, d la
Turque, and rode on towards a little eminence,
at the foot of which we found the Pasha's
Divan Effendi, and an Aga of Delhis, seated
upon their carpets, smoking in the shade cast
by the hillock (for the sun was yet low). We
alighted to salute them, and soon squatted down
cross-legged like themselves, smoking the long
chibouques, and drinking coffee with them.

We were very fortunate in having the ad-
vantage of possessing an excellent interpreter
in the person of Mr. Elliot, who speaks Turk-
ish fluently. We learned that Reschid Pasha

296 VISIT TO ATHENS.

was in Livadia, and that Ibrahim Pasha, of two
tails, an Albanian, commanded at Athens. They
did not give us much hope of seeing the inte-
rior of the Acropolis, unless we had a firman
from the Sultan, authorizing the Pasha to
allow us so to do. Mr. Elliot had one of these
documents for himself; but unfortunately he
had given it to his dragoman, who was, by some
unaccountable mistake, not with the party.

The grouping of the Delhis, as they gathered
round to stare at the Frangi, their savage faces,
shaggy beards, grotesque armament, and splen-
did but uncouth dresses, formed a singular con-
trast with our fresh, rosy-faced, smooth-chiimed
and cheeked European-dad party ; not much, I
thought, to our advantage. The barbarians
seemed very much to admire one or two pretty-
looking middies who were with us.

We soon remounted, and rode in great state
through the olive grove, watered by the river
Cephisus, and saw several picquets of Albanian
soldiers lying about under the trees ; reaching
the camp of the Pasha at about eleven o'clock.

VISIT TO ATHENS. 297

situated at a village upon the Via Sacra, and
about three miles from Athens. We found
his Excellency ill-lodged enough, in a dirty-
Greek kiosk, seated upon his divan, smoking,
and driving away the flies with a little instru-
ment made of horse-hair, of different colours ;
and having, like his own insignia, two tails.
He was a most sinister-looking and ferocious-
visaged Turk, squinting fataUy with both his
eyes, his butcher-like face overgrown with a
most enormous and goat-like beard of black
ftizzled hair.

We were, however, well received, and placed
upon the same divan with himself, — an honour
only conferred by Turks upon people of dis-
tinction. We smoked and drank coffee with
him, and opened a negociation for seeing the
Acropolis, but in vain. The Turk was offended
because the frigate had not saluted him ; and
although this was satisfactorily accounted for,
by the circumstance of the castle of the Acro-
polis not being in sight from the anchorage,
still we saw that he could not overcome what

298 VISIT TO ATHENS.

he looked upon as a breach of etiquette. In
vain the Captain offered to send orders oa board
to fire a salute : His Excellency was inexorable.

But again» he had another and a fairer pre-
text ; — we had no finnan to show, and Reschid
Pasha was off the spot ; it was more than his
head was worth, to show the fortress to the
Frangi, without either a finnan or an order
from his superior officer. He ofFared to send
a messenger to Reschid Pasha ; but we doubted
his sincerity, and we knew that the Seraskier
was too far off to allow of our waiting for his
decision.

We had then no remedy but to wait until
the Pasha had dined and slept his siesta, when

«

we hoped to find him in a better humour, and
that Mr. Elliot's finnan might turn up. We
agreed then, after much discussion, that we
had better accept the offer made us by a poor
miserable-looking Greek Papa, (who they said
was a bishop, and detained by the Pasha as
a sort of hostage,) to make use of his house
wherein to repose and dine. The care of

VISIT TO ATHENS. 299

Captains Sotheby, Dalling, and Martin, had
supplied us with a most bountiful stock of cold
viands, wines, and spirits ; and we resolved upon
making the best of our disappointment about
the Acropolis, by enjoying a cheerful dinner
among ourselves, inviting likewise the Divan
Eifendi, the Aga of the Delhis, the Kehaya, and
the Greek bishop, to partake of our fare.

The bishop's house was close by, and we
soon attacked our provisions with a good ap-
petite : we had almost finished them, when in
came a number of the Pasha's servants, loaded
with dinner from His Excellency's table, con-
sisting chiefly of a lamb stewed, and stuffed
with a suet-pudding and Pistaccio nuts, and
of several dishes of ragouts and dolmas ; these
of course we all partook of, some from curi-
osity, and others from hunger. The Turks,
meanwhile, drank of our wine and brandy in
sudi a heterodox manner, as soon to become
extremely drunk, hiccupping, and attempting to
sing, with countenances of the most ludicrous
gravity ; nay, even the poor Papa appeared to

800 VISIT TO ATHENS.

forget his captivity and his miseries, under the
influence of the jolly god. The Aga of Delhis
drank a tumbler of raw brandy at one draught ;
and we all agreed that we had never before
seen such devout worshippers of Bacchus.

After dinner the Turks arose as they best
could, and being very prodigal of their caresses
and embraces, staggered away to their quarters,
to sleep away the effect of their debauch ;
while we dispersed in various directions, some
to stroll about the camp, or rude huts of the
Albanians, and others to find a quiet and cool
comer, wherein to repose during the heat of
the day.

I and two others of the party had the good
fortune to find a little wooden platform just
under the Pasha's windows ; here we esta^
blished ourselves among lances, pistols, sabres,

«

and yatagans, belonging to the guard on duty,
and here we found a fine old Turk, the Pasha's
Selictar, or sword-bearer. He invited us to
share his carpets, and here we lay down for an
hour or so, awaiting the auspidous moment of

VISIT TO ATHENS. 301

the Pasha's rising from his siesta, when to re-
new our negociations.

We succeeded in part ; his Excellency or-
dered a party of Delhis, commanded by his Se-
lictar, to escort us into the city of Athens, and
to show us every thing we desired to isee, with
the exception of the Acropolis. The Delhis
came to us with led horses as before, and off we
rode over the remains of the Via Sacra, towards
the city of Minerva.

We first made a half circuit of the walls,
going to the splendid remains of the Temple
of Jupiter Olympius, the Stadium, the gate of
Adrian, the grotto and spring of the Nymph
Callirhoae, and the bed of the Ilissus, in which
there was just now but little water. The co-
lumns remaining of the Temple of Jupiter
Olympius (so called) are sixteen in number, of
beautiful Corinthian, of white marble, and
sixty feet in height. I think, with all due de-
ference to antiquarians, that this was never a
temple, but a portico, there being too much
length and too little breadth for the former of

302 VISIT TO ATHENS.

these structures. A Fakir, or Dervish, had
contrived to ensconce himself upon the remains
of the Epistylia in one angle of the colonnade.
How he could ever get up and down there is
an enigma.

On the left hand of the Ilissus stands a
pretty Greek chapel, but quite deserted and
ruined : the poor fresco saints and virgins have
been most dreadfully treated by the Moslem,
who seem to have enjoyed the pleasure of figu*
ratively executing these objects of their detes-
tation, by decapitating them all.

We entered the desolate and ruined dty
through a gate, having an inscription over it.
[/wip. Tit. Cas. Aug. Elius. Cos. &c.&c.&c.] We
saw no inhabitants, save the Turkish soldiery.
The Greeks had all long since abandoned their
Lares and Penates, and fled to the mountains
of Bceotia and Epirus. The houses were
mostly burned or knocked down ; and the
Turks seemed to live pretty nmch in the open
air, and under the shelter of a few planks,
which they had put together ; or in the moul-

VISIT TO ATHENS. 308

deling and tottering bazaar^ where they had
contrived to collect some few saleable articles,
and established a sort of commerce.

We passed on amid the desolation of fallen
Athena, and groups of the sleeping or yawning
Delhis and Albanians of the Seraskier's army,
apparently exdting but little interest, to the
Temple of Theseus.*

This beautiful relic of antiquity is as perfect
as if it had survived only twenty years instead
of two thousand. The alti relievi, on its east-
em and western fronts, on the frieze under-
neath the portico, are still sharp and prominent^
and defy the hand of time, of Turk, and of
civilized spoliators. The roof appears to have
been repaired ; and upon the marble pavement
is the tombstone of Sir J. Watson, an English
baronet. The fane of the Virgin. (Panagia) has
usurped the shrine of the demigod ; and the fa-
naticism of the Turks has induced them to de-
face the saints and virgins, which decorate in

* The Temple of Theseus was built by Cimon, not long
after the battle of Salamis, 479 B. C.

304 VISIT TO ATHEN9.

gaudy fresco colouring the walls round the
altar ; while most unaccountably the bassi re-
Uevi of the friezes have escaped from their
iconoclastic fury. Some of these, however, had
lost their heads ; but I thought I could clearly
make out the story portrayed by them to have
been the fights between the Centaurs and the
Lapithffi.

The grouping of the barbarous Delhis and
Amaouts, as they leaned against, or sat at the
foot of the Doric columns of the portico, was
the most picturesque thing imaginable; one
might in vain seek for a stronger illustration of
the civilization and the arts of a former age,
and the barbarism of the present. The mind
was forcibly carried back over the lapse of ages,
and beheld before its eye the Asiatics of Xerxes
triumphing over the vanquished Athena.

The Temple of the Winds is dose to that of
Theseus ; and most of our party, leaving their
horses here, proceeded to examine it, and to look
for the remains of Demosthenes's lanthom. I
sat under the colonnade of the temple, watch-

VISIT TO ATHENS. 305

ing the barbarians, and indulging in a train of
reflections, when the dragoman who had Mr,
Elliot's firman made his appearance. This do-
cument was eagerly produced, and we hoped
that the Selictar would aUow the whole party
to profit by it, and suffer lis to enter the walls
of the Acropolis. Unfortunately for us, the
Selictar could not read a word of it, and, turn-
ing it over and over, regarded the signature of
the Sultan with a most vacant stare. The Divan
EfFendi next examined it ; but whether they
had all their cue from the Pasha, or whether
they were jealous of allowing so many of the
Frangi to inspect their citadel, I know not :
they made various excuses, talked of sending
away a messenger to the Seraskier in Livadia,
and, in short, did aU they could to gain time,
and to evade the question.

I took advantage of the discussion which en-
sued, to make a solitary visit to Mars Hill and
the remains of the Areopagus. This spot had
a much deeper attraction for me than the mere
classical recollections associated with its name.

VOL. I. X

S06 VISIT TO ATHENS.

When I reached its summit, my feelings were
of such a nature as nearly to overpower me.

I remembered, with the strongest emotion, a
sermon which was preached by a tenderly-be-
loved but departed friend, upon the Quirinal
Hill at Rome, in the year 1820. The subject
was Paul before the Areopagites. I quote from
memory.

** "Hien Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill, and said,
^ Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are coo
superstitious :

' For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I [found
an altar with this inscription, — ^To the Unknown Grod !

^ Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I
unto you.* "

Here, where by so extraordinary a coinddenee
my fate had placed me, I thought I heard the
soft, mild, persuasive tones of that voice; 1
again saw the eloquent expression of his coun*
tenance ; I beheld the mute attention of his
audience! *♦♦♦♦♦

The scene swam before my eyes, and I gal*
loped rapidly down the steep path, and in my
way to the Musaean Hill, I was joined by Cap-

VISIT TO ATHENS. S07

tain Martin. Here we met with some othar
officers from the ships, and among them the
Chaplain of the Seringapatam, who had with
him one of those lithographic sketches of Athens,
which are hound up in the little hooks of its
panorama. This he was so good as to lend us,
and a very correct thing it is. It was of great
use to us in making our reconnoisance of the
place.

On the summit of the Musaean hill stands the
Tomh of Phillopappus, and here is a Turkish
advanced hattery within six hundred yards of
the foot of the Acropolis. From hence I had
hoped to have enjoyed at my leisure a very near
view of the Parthenon, but we were forced back
by a Turkish sentinel, who seemed to be very
much inclined to favour us with the contents of
his musket. However, one of the escort coming
up, explained matters to the soldier, who never-
theless drove us all away.

The Parthenon does not seem to have suffered
much during the siege, and will stand as long as
the world lasts, to attest the skill of the classic

X 2

308 VISIT TO ATHENS.

land free ancestors of a barbarized and enslaved
people.

Can Europe much longer tolerate the occu-
pation of Greece by the hordes of Asia ?

The soldiers in the Acropolis seemed to watch
us with great attention, standing grouped round
a great gun during our reconnoisance.

At about five o'dock in the evening we all
reassembled, and returned towards the port by
the old Piraean wall. The evening was very
warm, and several of us, among the rest myself,
drank of the water from a deep well by the
road side, attributing a sort of putrified taste to
the hide bucket out of which we drank it We
were afterwards informed by one of the Turks,
with a sort of malicious grin, that forty Greeks
had been thrown into it after the battle of the
6th of May.

No doubt the Moslem rejoiced in his heart
that the dogs of Franks should drink the impure
remains of their fellow Christians : but enough
of this disgusting circumstance.

Our route lay through the Greek positions.

VISIT TO ATHENS. 809

and the tambouri occupied by them during the
fatal day before mentioned. The details of this
action are too well known to need any repetition

Upon our arrival at the Piraeus, we found that
by some mistake the boats had not yet arrived,
and resolved upon proceeding to the bay of
Kalouri, where the ships lay. In this, however,
we found considerable difficulty and opposition
on the part of the Turks, some of whom menaced
and bullied a good deal. I believe they did not
wish to go near the ships, from distrust of us, or
from fear of falling into some ambuscade ; for it
seems that parties of forty or fifty armed Greeks
frequently appear in the neighbourhood, and
carry off or put to death such straggling Turks
as they may fall in with. Nay, one of the escort
even assured us that they seldom ventured far
away from the camp, unless in great numbers,
such was their fear of the exasperated and des-
perate Greeks.

We reached the place of embarkation about
the setting of the sun, which indeed was a
splendid sight, gilding the summits of the moun-

810 VISIT TO ATHENS.

tains of the Morea (which threw their long
shadows over the tranquil surface of the hay of
Salamis,) as he descaided.

** Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be ran,
Along Morea's hills, the setting sun ;
Not as in northern climes obscurely bright,
But one unclouded blaze of living light.
O'er the hush'd deep the yellow beam he throws.
Gilds the green wave that trembles as it glows.
On old Egina's rock and Idra's isle,
The God of gladness sheds his parting smile ;
O'er his own regions lingering loves to shine.
Though there his altars are no more divine.
Descending fast, the mountain shadows ktss
Thy glorious gulph, unconquer'd Salamis !
Their azure arches through the long expanse
More deeply purpled, meet his mellowing glance ;
And tenderest tints, along their summits driven,
Mark his gay course, and own the hues of heaven ;
Till darkly shaded from the land and deep.
Behind his Delphian cliff he sinks to sleep."

The Corsaie, Canto hi.

Here we found the boats, and returned to our
respective ships, much delighted with our day^s
excursion, although somewhat mortified in not
obtaining access to the Parthenon. We consoled
ourselves with the reflection that we had at all
events seen a great deal which was highly in-

EOINA. 811

teresting, and we hoped that we had perhaps
carried away a more general impression of the
Acropolis from our external reconnoisance, than
we could have done if we had merely seen its
interior.

August S. — I was employed all this day in
collecting my ideas and writing my journal
from the notes of yesterday. In the evening
we went ashore on the island of Kalouri,* and
rambled about the rocks and hills.

[The ship is anchored in eighteen fathoms,
sheltered from aU winds; holdmg-ground good.
Town of Salamis, W.^N. Heights over Athens,
E. Island of Kalouri, S.]

August 4. — Weighed at day-break and ran
down to the island of Egina. Raleigh and Par-
thian in company. At about nine we landed on
the south side of the island, in a kind of natural
dock or basin, upon a curious calcareous forma-
tion incmsted with shells of all sorts, and large
blocks of a red stone like porphyry. We clam-
bered over the heights through dwarf firs, juni-
per, and wild olives, with here and there a patch of

* Kalouri is the Turkish name for Salamis.

312 E6INA.

cultivated ground, to the summit of the island,
where stands the beautiful Temple of Jupiter.
Twenty-two columns of the Doric order, with
part of the architrave, still remain erect. The
temple has apparently consisted of twelve co-
lumns in each of the principal fronts, six in each
side front, and two interior rows of ten each,
making in the whole fifty-two. Its proportions
are beautiful, and its preservation, considering
its great antiquity, is astonishing. Upon a frag-
ment of a fallen column, we found a sentence
pendlled in French, stating that an inscription
to the memory of Count Sta. Rosa (one of the
Italian Philhellenes) had been engraved upon
this stone, and that by a singular coincidence,
the name of Eiuraiskaki, written on the 5th of
May,* coupled with a fervent vow to achieve

* Karaiskaki died on the 6th of May^ 1827, at the

Phalerum ; he was wounded on the 4th, near the banks of

the niyssus. Church was defeated before Athens, 6th May,

1827. Colonel Inglesi fell upon this occasion. His head was

' exposed at Constantinople while I was there ; and from the

name attached to it, it was considered to be that of an English-
man ; many said it was that of Lord Cochrane, from the colour
of the hair and beard. The Ambassador sent over to the
Porte and made inquiries about it.

EGINA. 313

the liberty of Greece, had been found upon
the same fragment. Some friend of Karaiskaki's
had caused the end of the stone to be sawed off
and sent to the Government.

The position of the temple is superb. It com-
mands a view of the sea, of Hydra, of the Bay of
Salamis,of the Piraeus and the Acropolis, relieved
in the background by its mountains.

We returned to our boats about noon. I went
on board the Parthian, and in her ran down to
Poros. In the evening we went on shore, to take
a walk in a celebrated lemon grove.* The views
superb, and the walk delicious. Eight million
lemons are yearly exported from this grove to
various parts in the Levant. The sunset the
most magnificent thing imaginable ; the island
and town of Poros looking like a purple and
gold Acropolis bosomed upon a fairy lake. O
that some painter of celebrity would visit the
lovely scenes of the Morea !

On our return on board the Seringapatam,

* In this grove Lord Cochrane swore upon the cross of
his sword, never to desert Greece as long as she shonld con-
tinue faithful to herself.

1

814 POBOS.

we found that the Brisk had arrived from Napoli,
and had brought orders for us all to dispene in
Various directions, — ^Soingapatam to Smyrna,
Parthian to Scyra, Brisk to Napoli, and Raldgh
to Cyprus and Corfu. Never was there so com-
plete a break-up of a merry party. Nothing was
heard on all sides but ^^ which way are you
going ?" I determined upon embarking in the
Raleigh with my kind friend Captain Dalling,
and so did Mr. Elliot. Eden goes to rejoin the
Commodore in the Brisk ; Law and Dalgleish
go in the Seringapatam to Smyrna, on their
way to Constantinople, and Martin by himsdf
in his little brig.

August 5. — I shifted my quarters to the Ra*
leigh. At nine, sailed Seringapatam and Par-
thian. I went with Dalling into the inner hailbour
to see Captain Copeland, who had arrived in the
MastijflT over-night from Smyrna. The harbour
is one of the finest and most picturesque I have
ever seen.* We found Captain Copeland and

* Monasterio Bay. Good anchorage; but open to the
southward and eastward. Anchored in eleven fothoms.
Cape Skilli, S. £. and £. Red cliiF outside of the Monastery,
E. S. £. Island of Stavro, S. i £.

CYPRUS. 815

his spouse on board, and returned to the town
of Poros, to call on Prince Mavrocordato. At
one o'clock we sailed for Cyprus; the Brisk
sailing likewise for Napoli.

August 6. — At sea. Fine and pleasant
weather.

August 7. — Off Candia. Fresh breezes and
heavy swell.

August 8. — Fine and pleasant ^'eather.

August 9- — In the morning, we made Cape .
Blanco, in the Island of Cyprus. All the day
running with a fine breeze along-shore, towards
Lameca. We passed Cape Gatto and Cape Sa^
lines, and made the point Chitti about sunset.
At about nine» soimded off Cape Chitti in five
fathoms. We anchored in the roads of Lameca,
about 11 p. M. in eight fathoms. [N. B. Give
Cape Chitti a wide berth.]

August 10. — In the morning, the British
Consul came on board, and we found, to my
great mortification, that our destination is
changed from Corfri to Baruti in Syria, and
from thence back again to Smyrna. I think of

«

going into Egypt, being now so near Alexan-

316 CYPRUS.

dria. This move completely deranges all my
projects, and will cause me to give up some of
my most favourite plans. " L'homme propose^ et
Dieu dispose'*

I went on shore in the evening with Dalling.
The Marina of Lameca is a wretched place^
consisting of a long row of mud-built houses
with flat roofs : it has a bazaar and a oistle. The
palm-trees which are thinly scattered about the
back of the town, give it a very Egyptian ap-
pearance, and I am told make it very much re-
semble Alexandria. The Consul sent his car-
riage for us, to convey us to his residence at
Lameca, about three quarters of a mile from
the Marina. It was an open kind of cal6che
drawn by one horse, just such a one as Gil Bias
and his friend Scipion went down in to Anda-
lusia, to take possession of his Quinta at Lena.

On our way out saw a few Cyprians. God
only knows how this island ever attained its
celebrity for beauty ; for, to judge of it from the
specimen we saw, one would have said it was
the last place which Venus would have chosen

CYPRUS. 317

in which to fix her favourite residence. 1 am
told, however, that in the neighbourhood of
Paphos (whose temple still exists), il y a le plus
beau sang possible. The male part of the popu-
lation is handsome and robust ; and perhaps the
laughing and wanton Goddess had an eye to this
circumstance. The Consular residence is spa-
dous and cool. The old gentleman received us
with much politeness and urbanity, offering us
beds, &c. &c. He has several daughters ; but I
in vain looked for a Haidee among them. In-
deed, as far as I have hitherto seen in the
Levant, it strikes, me that female beauty is a
rare plant, and that all the poetical accounts
which we have been in the habit of reading up-
on this subject, are gross exaggerations. Pipes
and coffee employed the evening, and at about
nightfall we returned to our bark.

August 11. — ^AU the morning at the Ma-
rina with Dalling. — At noon, we drove out h la
GUBlas toLameca. — We dined with theConsul,
and saw several of the European Consuls. — Tutti,
lUustrissimi Signori.— I observed at dinner that

318 CYPRUS.

the fair Cansuiesses had tinged their finger-nails
with henna, d la Turque. It is curious to ob^
serve how much the Greeks, in their humilia-
tion and slavery, imitate their masters in their
fashions and absurdities. I should have re-
marked, that our Consul is by birth an Ionian,
and that he had married a Greek Cypriote ;
his daughters, therefore, are Greek in costume,
language, and ideas.

I observed that in most of the houses at Lar-
neca, the ceiling of the large rooms is sup-
ported by a Gothic or rather Saracenic arch.
The beams likewise rest upon such wood^i
projecting supports or buttresses as we see in
old chiu*ches in England, under the wood work
of the roof. Many of the houses have a kind
of '£Eu^e, extending half the height of the
house, of stone, and of the same order of Sanu
cenic architecture. I think that some antiqua-
rians trace the origin of this style of building
in England back to the days of the Crusaders,
who are said to have found it existing in
Cjrprus and Palestine, and to have imported it

CYPRUS. 819

into Europe on their return. I observed like-
wise several columns with such capitals and
pedestals as we see in cathedrals and churches
of the Gothic style.

There are by all accounts about two thousand
troops of Mehmet Ali Pasha in Cyprus, Alba*
nians : the whole population consists of about
twenty-five thousand souls, of which five-sixths
are Greeks. The island remains in a' state of
uncultivation, owmg to the rapacity and tyranny
of the Grovemment, and is depeopling very fast.
The population, both Turk and Greek, are re-
presented as extremely indisposed towards the
yc^e of the Sultan, and as ripe for revolt upon the
appearance of any thing like an auxiliary force.

The neighbourhood of Ali Pasha is, however,
a formidable obstacle to the emancipation of
Cyprus; and I fear that, unless that tjrrant
should be blockaded in his port of Alex-
andria, there is but little chance of the Cy-
priotes shaking the Ottoman yoke from off
their shoulders. Dalling and Elliot are pur-
chasing Cyprus wines. The old and superior

320 CYPRUS.

wines are rare and dear, but the ordinary sorts
cheap and abundant. The Commanderia, as it
is called, is one of the best sorts. The Muscat
is a perfect liqueur, but is about a dollar and
a half the okka. The bread of C3rprus is ex-
cellent.

Sunday, August 12.— H dolce far niente.

August 13. — I was awakened by a salute
from the fort, in honour of the arrival of the Go-
vernor of Cyprus, (Mootselim,) upon a visit to
Mr. Elliot. The,weather very hot. In the even-
ing I walked with Dalling in a cotton plantation
near the beach. We enjoyed the cool sea^-breeze
and the splendour of an Oriental sunset upon
the picturesque mountains of Cyprus exceed"
ingly.

August 14. — ^A grand field-day on board ; ex-
ercising the ship's company in firing the great
guns at a mark. Some very good shots. I receiv-
ed a contusion on both my knees in firing a car-
ronade, the gun recoiling farther than I had cal-
culated upon. I stayed aU the evening on board,
my knees being too stiff and uncomfortable to

CYPEUS. 321

admit of walking. Mr. Elliot came off, having
had an interview with the Mootselim.

August 15. — My knees stiff, but the contu-
sion subsided considerably. We exercised small
arms at a target : — practice good. I remained
on board all the day.

August 16. — His Majesty's ship Raleigh
fired a royal salute upon the occasion of rehoist-
ing the Consular flag, which had been struck*
owing to some misunderstanding between the
British Consul and the Governor of Cyprus
^Mobtselim) ; and indeed this misunderstanding
was the cause of Mr. Elliot's being sent hither
by Mr. Stratford Cannmg, with instructions to
bring the Governor to his senses (backed as his
representations would be by the thirty-two-
pounders of the Raleigh). The Turkish fort
saluted likewise with twenty-one guns, the last
of which, according to their custom, was shotted,
throwing the ball a little ahead of the ship.

At noon Captain Dalling and myself, both in
uniform, went on shore to dine with and felici-
tate the Consul. After dinner, we all went to call

VOL. I. Y

322 CYPBUS.

upon the Mootselim, in the house of the Cogk
Bashi.

Our procession from the C<»i8ular lesidenoe
to the Cogia Bashi's house was rather ludicrous,
but appeared to produce a very grand effect
upon the minds of the good inhabitants of Lar^
naca, who all came out at their doors to stare at
us. I could hardly retain my gravity on wit-
nessing the awkward attempts made by an <dd
Turk of the Consulate, in his long scarlet robes,
and grey beard, to stand up behind the ricketty
carriage of the Consul {d la chasseur) with a
large truncheon in his hand, as an ^nblem of
his office and dignity.

We found his Excellency seated upon his
divan, and surrounded by his Albanian guarda
We were ushered into his presence with con*
siderable pomp, and invited by him to seat our*
selves on his divan. He told Us that we were
welcome, and that he was ddighted to make
our acquaintance, and so forth.

As usual, we were regaled with pipes and coffee;
after which, we were each presented with con-

i

CYPRUS. 323

serves in Kttle filagree cups of silver, (closed at
the top by a hinged cover) ; then followed excelr
lent sherbet with embroidered napkins; and next,
we were sprinkled with rose-water, and perfumed
with incense contained in filagree silver censers.
Hi? Excellency was very desirous that Captaip
Dalling should go over to a port in Caramania,
and take under his charge a vessd, on board of
which his Excellency's charem was to be em-
barked. This unusual and extraordinary re-
quest was naturally declined. On taking our
leave of the Mootselim, he requested Captain
Dalling's acceptance of two casks of Comman-
deria wine and four bullocks.

In the evening, we paid some visits of ceremony
to the various Consuls and their spouses, and re-
embarked at about eight o'clock. To-day and
indeed the day before yesterday, two vessels ar^
rived, having been plundered by a piratical
schooner on the north-east side of Cyprus. We
read a proces-verbal, taken before the French
Consul, of the treatment received by one of the
passengers ; it was indeed most atrocious. We

Y 2

S24 CYPRUS.

hope to fall in with the pirate on our return
fromBaruti. We hear from Alexandria that the
Egyptian fleet, of eighty-nine sail, had sailed for
the Morea ; two ships of the line, nine frigates,
twenty corvettes and brigs, and forty-eight
transports with four thousand troops on board.

Average height of thermometer, 82^ in the
shade, on board. Much ophthalmia and fever
at Cyprus.

Exports, silk, cotton, wine.

August 17. — We weighed at about 2 f. m.
for Baruti. In the evening, we fell in with a
French sloop-of-war, having a brig in company.

August 18. — At daybreak we saw the high
land of Mount Lebanon. We were visited to-
day by a beautiful hoopoe, which kept hovering
about the ship all day, alighting from time to
time upon the yard-arms; and at about nine
p. M. we anchored in nine fathoms, in the roads
of Baruti.

BAJtUTI^ OR BAIROUT. S25

CHAPTER XI.

Description of Baiibut — Visit to the British CodsuI. — Ex*
cursion to Mount Lebanon. — St. George and the Dragon.
— Description of the scenery in the Mountain.— Maronite
Convent and Monks. — Consular quarter. — Remains of
Phoenician Temple. — Ave Maria and Signor Fioravanti di
Bologna. — Picturesque heads and figures of Maronite
Ascetics. — Striking group at the Consul's. — Return to
Bairout. — Head-dress of Maronite women. — Express from
Lady H. Stanhope. — Sail for Seide. — Return to Bairout —
Departure of the Raleigh, and my disembarkation. —
American Missionaries. — Venere Astarte and ancient coins
and idol. — Occupations and incidents. — Warlike rumours,
and Frank consternation. — My metamorphosis from Frank
to Mameluke.— *' Story Teller." — ^Departure for the Moun-
tains. — Encampment ^Antiquities. — Emir. — Sarcophagus

and Aqueduct. — Sarcophagi. — Feast of the Cross. — Came-
leons. — Bee Eaters. — Message from the Emir Beshir. —
Preparations for departure.

August 19, 1827.— I was surprised in the
morning to find the little town of Baniti,* and

* Population about three thousand within, and two thou-
sand without the walls-

S26 BARtJTI, OR BAIROT7T.

its environs, so beautiful. It is surrounded by
an old Saracenic wall, flanked at intervals with
high towers and castles. The country in its im-
mediate vicinity is covered with mulberry-trees,
and prickly pears and fig-trees, all of which con-
tribute to give it a very verdant appearance.
The lofty tract of Mount Libanus (or Lebioion)
backs the town to the northward. Upon its
summits are scattered large pine-trees^ and here
and there a solitary monastery adds much to
the picturesque nature of the scenery. So here
I am in Sjrria!

This morning I bathed. The water was so
hot and uncomfortable, that I came out of it in
a perspiration, and with a sick head-ache. In
the evening Mr. Abbott, the British Consul,
came on board, and Mr. Elliot left the ship,
to go upon a mission to Lady Hester Stanhope,
near Seide, about seven hours from hence. I
would fain have accompanied him, but I thought
it probable, from what I had heard, that her
Ladyship might deem my visit an impertinent
intrusion, and not receive me. This day the

BAEUTI, OR BAIROUT. S27

heat has been most oppressive. The thermo-
meter in the shade about eighty-five degrees.

August 20. — The morning oppressively hot :
the glass eighty-five degrees at eight o'clock.
It is too hot to undertake long journeys, but
I wish to visit Jerusalem very much indeed.
We shifted our birth farther out, being rather
too near the breakers, and in foul ground. In
the evening I went on shore with Dalling to call
upon the British Consul. I was surprised, on
nearing the quay, to see a multitude of ancient
colmnns piled promiscuously one over the other
to form the foundation of the pier, many other
eolumns standing erect, to serve as posts to
make the ships' hawsers fast to.

We went through the narrow and dark laby-
rinths of this extraordinary litde town. Each
house is like a castle, built of solid stone masonry,
with Saracenic arched passages, and corridors
paietrating in all directions. It was like pass^
ing through a succession of cloisters, or aisles of
a cathedral, but of a gloomier and larger style.
This town stands near the ancient Berytus,

396 BARUTI, 0& BAiaOUT.

and many relics of antiquity are constantly
found here ; but» as 1 learn, the Turks are too
jealotfs to allow of excavating, they always
imagining that the Franks search for heaps of
gold and silver, when they are looking for
antiquities. This was one of the principal points
held by the Crusaders under Richard Coeur
de Lion, and thus becomes doubly classical.

Bairout was built and fortified by the Druses,
the Emirs of which nation held it as their capi-
tal and only seaport, until the celebrated Djezear
Pasha of Acre expelled them from it, and sub-
dued militarily the province of Mount Libanus.
The walls are in excellent repair, yet contemp-
tible as a fortification agidnst regular forces.*

On quitting the town through the gate whidi
looks towards Moimt Lebanon, we pursued
our way through very pretty plantations of
mulberry-trees, for about a quarter of an hour,
and found the Consul in a small flat-roofed stone

* On the south side of Bairout, the town is commanded
from an eminence. In thb part the wall, and a square
tower which flanks it, have been a good deal battered with
cannon shot, (said to be) by aRussian force, which landed here
in the time of the last Muscovite expedition into these seas.

BAR13TI, OR BAIBOUT. 329

house, built of great strength, {as indeed are
all the houses hereabouts, as a pi^ecaution against
earthquakes.) He recommended me most
strongly to remain here some little time, until
the extreme heats are past; and then johiing
Lord Frudhoe, whom he expects here shortly
from Cairo, go with him to Damascus and
Balbeck. This idea flatters my taste for ram-
bling, and I shall make my arrangements for
putting this trip into execution.

We are to go to-morrow, before daylight, to
the top of one of the lower mountains of Le-
banon, to visit the Consuless and her daughter,
who are lodged in an old Maronitish convent;
built out of the ruins of a Fheenician temple.
We returned to the ship about eight o'clock,
much pleased with our visit to the Consul, and the
extreme beauty of the scenery about Bairout.

August 21. — I arose at four o'clock, and
accompanying Dalling and the surgeon . of the
Raleigh, Dr. Dickson, disembarked in a small
bay, outside of the town, to the left hand. We
found the Consul ready to mount, and off we
set before the sun was above the mountains.

8S0 BABUTI, OR BAIROUT*

over an oLd Roman road, we came
shortly to the river, over which is an aacaent
bridge of six arches. A little before the river,
we came to the identical spot where* (according
to the tradition) St. George of Cappadoda slew
the dragon, and close by is an ancient fountain,
in which the hero of England is said to have
cleansed his hands from the blood of the
monster, the soap from his hands is stiU visible
upon the front of the fountain (the' soap is
merely an incrustation of muriate of '■ lime, the
fountain being built of limestone*) A little to
the left hand, but about one himdred yards
farther on, is the first chapel diiedicated by St.
George to the Christian worship in this part
of Syria. It is now converted into a ibosque,
but is still called by the Turks by the appel-
lation of its founder (Mar Giuigius).

The face of the country is extremely beau-
tiful; the soil rich and of a red loam. The
mulberry-tree is cultivated with great care and
success, silk being the principal article of export
from Bairout. Mr. Abbott says, the soil is so

BAIROUT AND MOUNT LEBANON. 381

fine and good, that it would produce every thing.
I was much struck with the -skill and care dis-
played by these poor people in the irrigation
of their plantations.

As we approached the mountains, the
scenery became beautiful and grand beyond
description; pines, arbutus, myrtle, wild-sage,

and taany other odoriferous plants and shrubs
loading the morning air with perfume; the sun
gilding the summits of the mountains, and
lighting up the sea and sky in their brightest
azure. The vegetation was sm^risingly ver-
dant and vigorous, and my imagination, which
had previously recoiled with horror from the
idea of Syrian sands and deserts, was delighted
with the reality which here presented itself of
smiling valleys, and huge rocks crowned with
the sweetest smelling and most lovely-looking
evergreens. The pine is here numerous and
large, and there is likewise a great deal of that
beautiful variety of oak, the Vellonia (Valonia).
Our road, or rather our track, became, as we
advanced higher up the mountain, very rugged

SS2 BAIROUT AND MOUNT LEBANON.

and even dangerous ; but the extreme beauty of
the points of view, which burst upon us at
almost every turn, made us think little of the
difficulties of the route. I have seen some of
the most picturesque parts of Europe and Ame-
rica, but I really think I have never yet beheld
such superb scenery as here presents itself.
Were I a painta*, I would linger long in this
neighbourhood, and by trying to do justice to
the beauty of this comparatively little known
r^on, induce travellers of every nation to
visit it. One spot in particular attracted our
notice ; it was a hummock starting boldly out of
the side of the mountain, crowned by a group
of Claude B pines, and looking down upon the
fertile environs of Bairout, and upon the red,
bumt*up-looking sands beyond, skirted by a
bright blue sea, the picturesque and castellated
town standing up amidst the green plantations
upon its little promontory, like a city of the
Genii, with the ocean bathing its feet On
either hand and over our heads hung in rich
clusters the luxuriant vine, and far far up, as it

BAIROUT AND MOUNT LEBANON. 3S8

were in the sky, stood the melancholy, desolate-
looking Maronitish convent, the object of our
search, with groups of Ascetics, in long black
robes and grey beards, standing like so many
statues of the apostles, gazing down upon us,
as we wound our way up the steep and tedious
zig«zag8 amid the limestone rocks. At length
we reached the convent, and were delighted
with the little cherub voice of a child calling
out ^* Papa, papa.'*

We were welcomed^ upon alighting from
our horses, by the Consuless, an interesting
young Italian, and the Consul's daughter by a
former bed. Nothing could be more striking
than meeting with European women and chil-
dren in such a savage and remote spot as this.
The apartment of our hospitable Consul con-
sists of a large outhouse, in which the monks
used to breed their silk-worms and attend to
the process of silk-spinning. It is built, as I
have before remarked, out of the ruins of an
old temple, several of whose columns are stuck
upright into the wall. It is roofed with the

8S4 MOUl^T LEBANON.

pines of I^banon, and its ceiling is supported
at intervals (in long rows) by fragments of eo-
lunms placed one upon another. The Consul, by
means of divisions made of reeds and curtains,
has contrived to make several spacious and aiiy
apartments; and as in this climate air is the great-
est luxury, he may be said to be well lodged.

At right angles to the consular apartment,
or barrack, stands the convait itself,
in front of its chapel, on the extreme rights
the remains of a magnificent colonnade. This
chapel is built upon part of the foundation of
an ancient Phoeniciaii temple, whose basement
still remains entire. It apparently was deoo*
rated in front by a double row of inmiense
Doric columns of granite. Four of these co-
lumns still renuiin in their places erect, al-
though not perfect, either in height or circum*
ference. We measured one of them, and found
it to be eighteen feet round. The beae of one
of the others had been hollowed out into a
f oimtain ; but it stands in Its place, in front of
the chapel. Mr. Abbott informs me that most

MOUNT LEBANON. 335

of the Phoenician coins have on the reverse a
square temple, surrounded by a colonnade, six
in each front, but having a portico with a dou-
ble row of pillars. I could not, however, dis-
cover the basements of any other columns than
those in the front, which appear to have formed
a double row. I forgot to mention that one
part of the chapel front is built over a prostrate
column, whose end protrudes beyond the wall ;
the architect having found it more easy to make
use of it as a foundation, than to place it in an
upright position, or even to move it.

Aftar dinner we entered the chapel dining
the celebration of the Ave Maria. The good
monks, none of whom understand any language
but Arabic, (although their service is performed
in Syiiac) handed to each of us a book, as I
thought of devotions ; but upon opening mine,
I found it to be entitled, " H Tesoro della vita
humana, scritto dal Ex"*^ and lUus"'' Signor
Cavaliere Fioravanti di Bologna." This learned
book treated not of saving the soul, but the
body ; being, as far as I had time to examine it.

I
V

386 MOUNT LEBANON.

a treatise upon curing the ** Ethesie" and divew
other troublesome and dangerous disorders.

These monasteries are very numerous in the
mountains of Syria ; the Maronitish Christians
being estimated at two hundred thousand, and
the friars bearing a large proportion (that is,
one-tenth) to the working classes. They
aire subject in ecclesiastical matters to the
Roman Pontiff. (I remember, when at Rome,
being present at the consecration of a Maronit-
ish bishop.) They seem to be a very poor and
very harmless people. They never eat meat, or
eggs, or poultry, but live chiefly upon vege-
tables and olives and oil, &c. &c. They are the
proprietors of most of the land in the mountain*
ous regions. We saw them occupied in beiating
out with stones the kernels of the pine cone,
which is a great article of food with them.
Their chapel was poor and meanly decorated.
On one side of the dbu*, in the niche, stood a
skull. I never saw any thing more primitive or
apostolic than the head and face of one of the
officiating friars, while leaning on his staff, as he

MOUNT LEBANON. 337

read the service, his loins girded up by a leather
girdle; he looked like one of Leonardo da
Vinci's saints. In the evening we sat out under
a shady Valonia oak, enjoying much the sun-
setting tints over the plains and the sea below,
I was much charmed with the patriarchal
and simple style of the Consular establishment,
and surprised and delighted to find that a man
like him, who has lived many years in the. gay
world, can make himself happy and contented
in such a place as this. But I cannot refrain
from attempting to sketch a group which I
saw. Figure to yourself a long, lofty, gloomy-
looking barrack, such as I have described it to
be ; near the door, reclining against the wall,
stood the lady, her long hair hanging down in
ringlets from under her crimson turban : at her
feet knelt the Greek dragoman, his dark eyes
flashing from under his blue turban, looking
up in her face, his white teeth shining beneath
his large black moustache ; he is measuring out
the com for the horses, which the Maronite, in
his blue shirt, red Arab cap, wide blue breeches,

VOL L z

388 MOUNT LEBANON.

and bare brown legs, is pouring out of a sack
into the measure, as he stoops over the kned-*
ing figure of the dragoman. The beautiful
pyramid is complete: add to this t^e colouring
of the costumes, increased in viridness by the
glare of a lamp as it falls throu^ the strag-
gling partition of canes, and you have some
faint idea of a picture by Reubens, illustrative
of some Scripture scene.

The good friars had appropriated the stran-
ger's room in the convent to our use ; and at
about ten we retired to the couches spread
upon mats, which the kindness of the Consul
had prepared for us. The night was hot, a
sirocco blowing, and the glass at eighty-nine
degrees. The fleas, and the heat, and the mid-
night and matin-bell, prevented me from sleep-
ing; add to these hindrances the apprehen-
sions incident to a long and imexpected jour-
ney through Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and
my restlessness will be accounted for. At four
o'clock of —

August 22. — We arose, and taking leave of

BAIROUT. 839

our kind host, returned by the same route to
the town, enjoying extremely the hwaty of the
scenery as we descended from the heights of
Lebanon. As we rode into the town, I observed
the Turkish soldiers (Stationed at the gate^ exact-
ing money from the poor peasantry, as they
drove their asses laden with fruit and firewood
into the town. One of them, a good-looking
fellow, in an Albanian dress, held out his hand
to me but of course got nothing but a refusal.
By the bye, I must not forget to describe the
curious head-dress* of the Maronitish women.

It consists of a long horn of silver in the richer,

J-

and wood in the poorer classes, which stands
out from the forehead, inclining upwards, and
about fourteen inches in length: over this and
the head is thrown a veil, or coarse black or
white handkerchief, having its comers drawn
under the chin, and leaving the face exposed or
veiled, which, however, is usually very ugly

* This singular head-dress is called '^ Tantoura*' by the
Arabs.

z 2

340 BAIROUT.

and wrinkled. These women wear trowsers
and slippers like the Turks.

We came off to the ship at eight o'clock, in
a shore-boat, and had some difficulty in dislodg-
ing a number of Turks who had taken posses-
sion, and wanted to get a lift off to the ship* free
of expense. Thermometer eighty-seven degrees.

August 28. — I was employed all the morn-
ing in writing a long letter to England. In
the afternoon an Egyptian convoy arrived, es-
corted by two of Mahomet Ali's brigs-of-war.
Thermometer eighty^ix degrees.

August 24. — Employed in writing to F.
W. W. at Corfu, and to Fisher at Smyrna,

* Anchora^ good off the town in summer, but open from
west to north -Dorth-east ; but the wind never blows home.
The Raleigh anchored in eleven fathoms. Cape Bairout
west by south ; Cape Sicilia north-north.east half-east ;
fort of Bairouty south half-west, three-quarters of a mile.
In the winter months, the best anchorage is off the mouth of
the river, about two miles further to the eastward, round a
low point, with a square tower on it, near which are some
detached rocks above water. Anchor here in twelve fa-
thoms. You can water in the river in fine weather, and
likewise at a well on the cliffs, between the river and the
town, when there is not too much swell or sea, which ren-
ders the waters at such times brackish.

BAIROUT- 341

and in making arrangements for my journey to
Damascus, Balbeck, Jerusalem, and Cairo. In
the afternoon, a despatch from Lady H. Stan->
hope arrived, informing Captain Dalling that
Mr. EUiot had been taken ill of a fever and
sore throat, owing to his having incautiously

• * *

drunk cold water while he was heated ; and re- ,
questing that Dr. Dickson might be sent to
attend upon him. In the cool of the evening,
therefore. Captain Dalling, accompanied by Dr.
Dickson and myself, went on shore to the Con-
sul's country-house, near the town ; ahd after
some difficulty in procuring a Monture for the
Doctor, equipped him with a Damascus sabre
and a pair of pistols, and saw him mount a fine
mule, and set off for Djouni, her Ladyship's re-
sidence, attended by two guides. We returned
on board about nine o'clock. Thermometer
eighty-seven degrees.

August 25.— n dolce far niente.

August 26. — ^An express from Dr. Dickson
arrived, stating that Mr. Elliot was worse than
we had anticipated; and requesting Captain Dal-
ling to run down to Seide in the Raleigh, and

842 BAiROirr.

take him on boaird ^t that port, three or four

• ■

hours' ride from Djowxi* The two Captains of
the Egyptipn men-of-war came on board to
pay their respects ; jolly, well behaved, and in-
telligent Turks ; Ali and Mustapha, speaking
a little bad Italian.

In the evening, about eight o'doek, we sailed
for Seide, wind right an end, and heavy swell
against us. We learnt to-day that the Egyp-
tian fleet had arrived at Rhodes.

August 27.— In the morning still off Cape
Bairout ; having made no progress, on accoimt
of impediments above stated. At sunset, off
Seide. Stood off all night

August 28. — ^At about nine in the forenoon,
reached into the roads of Seide, and picked
up. a boat in which were Messrs. Elliot and
Dickson, who had come down from Lady H.
Stanhope's this morning. The Doctor appears
to have been much pleased with Ms visit ; but
poor Elliot looks very unwell indeed.

Seide is a rcnnantie, gothic-looking place, the
roads open and dan^jamis ^s^ough. Many pretty

BAIROUT. 34S

gardens surrouiid the town. We returned to the
roads of Bairout about one p. m., and at half*
past three I took leave of all my kind friends
in the Ralei^, and went on shore to the British
Consulate, where a chamber was prepared for
me ; bat finding the town too hot and gloomy^
I retired to the maison de campagne^ where I
found the Consul, and there passed the night
coolly and agreeably enough.

August 29. — I was occupied all day in buying
the necessary articles of Mameluke equipment.
I dined with die Consul at the house of some
worthy and hospitable American missionaries,
unobtrusive and good people ; but I fear that
their success in the great work is not commen-
surate to the expectations of their Society.*

* It is curious that Christianity, in the very country in
which it was ^rst planted, should have so degenerated and dwin-
dled away, as to require the aid of foreign Missionaries to
bring it back again to its own cradle ; and that these very
gentiles, who were converted to the faith by the ministry of
the Apostles and Missionaries from this country, should now
pay back the inestimable benefit of that conversion upon
the heads of the benighted descendants of the primitive
Christians.

344 ' BAIROUT.

We returned home about eight o'clock, the
night sultry and disagreeable. Thermometer
eighty-seven degrees.

August 80. — I agreed with a poor Maroni-
tish Arab to take him into my service. " Si
chiama Giaocomo o Yakoub, parla Italiano^
Arabo, Turco, e Siriaco ;** his wages three dollars
per mensem. Mr. Abbott showed me a curious
bronze and gilt bust of Venere Astarte, the
pati*on Goddess of the Syrians. It is about
four inches in height, and wears upon its head
a niural crown ; he showed me likewise many
Greek coins found here, most of which had on
the reverse a head of Astarte crowned in the
same manner ; likewise many Phoenician and
Roman coins^ some of which are very curious,
and of merit ; but what was still more interest-
ing, was a little bronze calf, which he had obtain-
ed from some of the Druses. — Query, whether
this worship be the remains of that of the
golden calves of Bethel ?

In the afternoon Mr. Abbott returned to
his family in the mountains, and left me here.

BAIROUT. 345

Mr. St. John, a friend of Mr. Abbott's, came
and dined with me, and in the evening we
walked out together to the pines. The even-
ing very hot and close. The country beautiful,
and the mountains as viewed through the pine^,
with the convents and Maronite villages upon
the sides and summit of Mount Lebanon, had a
beautiful effect. The famous Emir Fakreddin
had made a beautiful garden at this spot. The
night hot and close.

August 31. — Employed copying a plan of
Jerusalem from Jowett's Christian Researches in
Syria and the Holy Land, and in tuning an old
piano-forte, and stringing a guitar, both of which
instruments I fortunately find here. When I
sing I attract, like another Orpheus, all the Feri
of the neighbourhood around the house ; for
these barbarians are little accustomed to harmo-
nious sounds, much less to the airs of Rossini.

In the evening I walked out -with my com-
panion, old Ponto, an English pointer, left
here by one of the lieutenants of the Raleigh.
The poor old brute is so happy with me, arid so

S46 BAIBOUT.

delighted to be in the company of an European,
that he never leaves my side. At nightfall a
fuie breeze from the eastward, which kept me
cool all night, and blew away the mosquitoes,
which have dreadfully bitten me all over.

September 1. — Fine breeze, and compara-
tively cool weather. I was occupied all the morn-
ing in copying a chart of the country through
which I propose to traveL I just hear that Mr.
Maddox, an English gentleman, has arrived from
Damietta and Cairo by sea. He brings letters
from the Foreign Office for Mr. Abbott, andtis 1
am informed, news of rather a warlike nature.
This is a sad bore, and I fear, if true, will oUige
me to abandon all hopes of visiting Damascus
and Jerusalem. It seems that Major Craddock is
arrived at Cairo from England, upon some mis-
sion to Mehmet Ali, and has since gone on to
Smyrna, as is Lord Prudhoe and his party.

I begin to regret having left the Raleigh; but
suppose that some man-of-war will be sent hare
immediately to take away the Consul and the
British subjects. II tempo vedra. Mr. St. John

BAIROUT. 847

dined with me, and afterwards we took a delight^
fill walk to the ruins of the ancient Berytus,
to the westward of the modem town, or the
port of that city. The remams are chiefly part
of an aqueduct, a subterraneous cistern of pecu-
liar construction, some Cyclopian waUs,a mosaic
pavement, part of some baths, and a large oblong
structure having a semicircular front towards
the sea, where there has apparently been a co-
lonnade. Further towards the Point of Beirout,
is a large Turkish or Druse ruin of a fountain,
in the massive walls of which are thrust in, end-
ways, several granite columns. Oh! these
barbarians!

The view, from the top of this ruin, of
the modem town, backed by Mount Lebanon,
and surrounded with old walls, and towers and
gardens, and washed by the sea, is one of the
most splendid and picturesque possible. I shall
go there again and make a sketch. To the east-
ward of this old fountain, upon a sandy region^
under the sand, lie the remains of the ancient
eity. I leam that several of the houses are still

348 BAIROUT.

entire, and that no traveller has as yet explored
this spot. Here is then a new field for anti«»
quaries. It is said that the Pasha will not allow
of excavation in this spot; but I question whether
his leave has ever been asked by any body likely
to obtain it. Surely his covetousness might be
satisfied by paying a price for this permission, or
agreeing to share with him, or even giving up
entirely to him, any treasure which might there
be found, reserving to oneself the antiquities^
and the satisfaction accruing from the discovery
of any thing new. I must visit this spot, and
satisfy myself of the probability of making any
valuable discoveries. I observed in the course of
my walk several of the Oriental sycamore, a
species totally distinct from that of Europe. It
bears a small fig, which is eaten by the natives.
Its wood is yellow, and said to be very dura*
ble. At night a fine cool fresh breeze from the
north and eastward.

My poor friend and companion, old Ponto,
had been plagued to-day by a nasty horse-leech,
which had got into his mouth while he was

BAIROUT. 349

drinking at some fountain. The poor animal
bled most copiously all the day at the mouth,
and would not eat any thing. It struck me that
it might be a leech, and upon examining his
mouth, I found an immense fellow under his
tongue, and with the assistance of the Consul's
servant, puUed it out. This was no easy opera-
tion, the animal being so tenacious and so slip-
pery, that it was necessary to take a piece of shal-
loon in the hand, and by means of this, pull it out
with great force. Old Ponto is now quite well.
Sunday, S£pt£MBer 2. — This morning ar-
rived a French man-of-war brig with a vessel
under her escort, and sailed again. I took a walk
Math old Ponto before breakfast. The Franks
here are in a great state of alarm, and are fleeing
to the mountains. I think this is very impru-
dent, as it may give cause of suspicion to the
Turks ; at all events, such alarms are premature.
After breakfast my tailor brought me my Ma-
meluke dress, which is very handsome, and I
think becoming. It consists of a silk shirt, loose
vest of pink and white striped Damascus stuff

850 BAIROUT.

with wide open sleeves, braided aU around vnth
purple braiding; jacket of crimsoned dotb^ tiim-
med and Iffaided with narrow gold braids made
very loose, with -i^ort and wide sleeves ; an im-
mensely capacious pair of nether ganaents of
the same crimson doth, l»aided and flowered
with purple braid ; a sash of Sidon silk manu-
facture of many colours, very handsome and
wide; and to complete the costume, a white
muslin turban. Old Fonto does not know me
at all. The Greek servants declare it is a superb
dress, and that I make an excellent Mameluke.
In the evenmg I walked out to the sands, in
search of the ancient Bery tus, but could find no
traces of stay thing ancient ; some indeed Turk-
ish or Druse ruins I did find. If there be any
thing here, it is most completely buried in the
moving sands, which being piled up here by the
prevalent winds, tlureaten some day to over-
whelm the modem town likewise. The weather
is becoming much cooler, and a fSew drops of rain
have fallen. I was disturbed all night by the
cries of jackals, but in the morning was delighted

BAIROUT. 351

by the song of the bulbul, which bird abounds
hereabouts.

" Thit rose, to calm my brother's cares,
A message from the bulbul bears ;
He says, to-night he will prolong,
For Selim's ear, his sweetest song:
And though his note be somewhat sad,
He '11 try for once a strain more glad.
In some faint hope his alter'd lay
WiU sing those gloomy thoughts away." — Byron.

September $. — The Franks and native
Christians are all in the greatest possible agita*
tion, and are fleeing to the mountains with great
precipitancy. The Turks, meanwhile, know not
what to imagine. They are confoimded and
quite thunderstruck at the idea of a war, which
this absurd conduct on the part of the Eiuropeans
seems to indicate. They think that the com-
bined fleets and armies are commg to takepos-
session of all Syria and Palestine ; and one of the
principal men among them went yesterday to a
British merchant here, and observed to him, that
in case of a war happening, he and his should
seek protection at the hands of the English. As
for me, I see no ground for alarm.

S52 BAIROUT.

Several Tartars from Constantinople in eleven
days, passed through Bairout yesterday, with
despatches for the P»sha of Acre, They report
that great agitation prevailed in the capital and .
in Damascus. I went into the bazaars of Bairout
in search of various things, and was bitten by a
dog in the inside of the right thigh. Mr. St.
John dined with me, and after dinner we called
upon my good neighbours the missionaries, who
seem to look on with the greatest tranquillity,
as people who were likely to suffer for righteous-
ness' sake. One of them observed mildly to me,
that he supposed the Pasha would imprison us
all, but that he hoped we should not remain very
long in prison.

We took a very pleasant walk down to the
mouth of the river, and sat some time under
a tree with an Arab, close to his little reed hut.
The evening was cool, and our return to town by
the sea-side delicious. We overtook a party of
poor Maronites, who anxiously inquired of us
what was the news, and what the cause of alarm.
I assured them, as much as I could, that there

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BAIROUT^ S5S

was no ground for it» and that Turkey could not
possibly go to war with the three Great Powers,
fautt de moyens.

September 4. — I was occupied all the morn-
ing in drawing, writing notes for my itinerary,
and purchasing various necessary articles for my
travels. The panic among the Franks and Chris-
tians still continues. In the evening, I -took a
solitary ramble through some delicious lanes to
the old fuined fountain near ancient Berytus,
when clambering up into its interior, I made a
sketch of the modem city, but unluckily for me,
I broke my pendl before I had half finished it,
and having no knife, was obliged to scratch
away with the stump.

On my return homewards, I found sitting
under an Oriental sycamore outside the walls,
a " story teller;" he was seated upon a carpet,
having a little tabouret before him, upon
which was placed an open book; from one of the
branches of the Sycamore hung a lamp of oiled
paper, throwing a dim light upon the book. He
was reciting some apparently interesting story,
and between the pauses played three or four

VOL. I. 2 a

354 BAIROUT.

notes upon a kind of viol, which he rested on
the ground before him. The story became very
animated and droU, if I could judge from the
various intonations and modulations of his voice,
and was apparently interspersed with dialogue,
during which he imitated the different voices
with great effect. The Turks were squatting
around him in great numbers, and seemed en-
tirely absorbed in the interest of the story. I
remained some while listening and observing
the scene, which reminded me much of the
Arabian Nights. It was one of the most cha^
racteristic scenes of Oriental manners which I
have yet met with.

Do not let me forget to mention the quan-
tities of that beautiful bird the hoopoe, which I
see every evening of my rambles, and a curious
description of king-fisher, grey with white spots,
likewise the blue species.

September 5. — ^This morning Mr. Maddox
arrived frcmi the mountains, and did me the
favour to breakfast with ine. He is dressed
a la Turque, and looks extremely well. He

BAIROUT. 855

recommends remaining quiet, until we hear
something definitive from Constantinople. He
tells me, that our friends the Missionaries have
likewise fled to the mountains.

This afternoon, having completed my Oriental
equipment, I packed up all my European cloth-
ing, &c. &c. in my trunks, which I shall send by
sea to Alexandria, and sent for a barber to come
to shave my head, preparatory to putting on the
turban. Shall I own my weakness, and say,
that I felt grieved and annoyed at parting with
my hair ? While under the operation, I felt as
if I had been in the hands of the executioner ;
this is so complete a denationalization^ that one
feels humbled and pained at suffering the
process, which, after all, is a voluntary act of
one's own. Me voici done travesti en Mamluc ! I
feel awkward and uncomfortable enough in the
immense nether garments, the copious involu-
tions of which embarrass my limbs, and heat me.

My poor old companion Ponto is unwell, and
won't eat any thing ; he seems to have swal-
lowed a leech, or something which sticks in his

S A 2

856 BAIROUT.

throat. At nightfall I spread my carpet upon
the flat roof of the house, and reposed ct la
Turque in the cool breeze and bright rays of
the moon, inunersed in meditation upon the
past, land anticipation of the future.

September 6. — This morning I employed
myself in making preparations for departure.
I hear that a Greek cruiser is off the port. The
Tiurks are all in alarm. In the afternoon Messrs.
M addox and St. John dined with me. We
kiUed a large adder in one of the bed-rooms.
We spent the evening upon the roof of the house,
lying down upon my carpets, gazing upon the
moon, and playing upon the guitar to the airs
of Kossini .and the Troubadoiu*s.

Septembeh 7.— I set off for the moimtains
at six o'clock, accompanied by Mr. Maddox
and old Ponto. Our guide took us by the most
execrable route imaginable, through rocks and
stones. We saw an old aqueduct, apparently
Roman, in a deep dell ; it has now two tiers of
arches, and has had three, one of the piers of
the third tier still standing. We reached Mr.

BAIROUT. 857

Abl>ott's» at Deir el Kalaa, at about ten o'clock.

I pitched a tent for myself just below the house,
upon a j^tform, commanding a most splendid
view of Bairout, the sea and plains, hills and
dales. I slept very coolly and comfortably, old
Ponto keeping guard.

September 8. — // dokefar niente.— My right
hand is disabled by a bite from Ponto, while
pulling another leech out of his mouth; the
poor brute did not bite me piuposely, but his
long tooth has quite divided the ligament which
unites the thumb and forefinger ; I can't draw
or write.

Septembee 9.— The ladies of the house
went to call upon some of the princesses of the
mountain, (that is, wives and daughters of the
Emirs, or country gentlemen.) We gentlemen
walked about, and visited the Hakim, or doc-
tor, and an Armenian bishop, Signor Dionisio,
who has become a convert to the Missionaries :
of his sincerity I know nothing ; but I learn,
that the chief motive for his becoming con-
verted, was, that he might marry.

358 DEIR EL KALAA.

September 10. — I was occupied all the
morning in pitching Mr. Maddox's tent.

September 11« — ^I went with Maddox in
search of antiquities, and found indeed a vast
heap of ruinsy the remains of at least four
temples, large and small ; about twenty columns
of the Doric order, part of a frieze, cornices,
pedestals of statues, bones and broken inns, and
three altars, one of which is a beautiful morceau
in perfect preservation ; its form is quadrilateral,
and upon each of its faces is a rose, and under-
neath it a garland : it is three feet eight inches
by two feet ten inches ; that is, three feet eight
inches in height, and its base and top two feet
ten inches each way. I wish much I had the
means of transporting it to Europe ; butitistoo
heavy to be easily moved. Its material is a rough
description of limestone, full of petrified shells
and veins of reddish marble. We foimd no
inscription ; but we came to a spot upon which,
I have no doubt, the principal idol stood. It
was an elevated square of large flag stones, the

DEIR EL KALAA.

359

centre one of which was grooved in a remark-
able manner in the form of a square, having at
each comer of the groove a deep cell^ or chamber,
and on one of its sides another cell. Here, I
have no doubt, stood the principal idol, Venere
Astarte. For the little bronze figiure of the
goddess, which I have seen, was just of such a
form as, supposing it to have been colossal,
would have fitted into this grooved sqimre.

I have no documents by which I could
guess at the date of these temples ; but I
have seen some Phoenician coins having the
temple of Berytus upon them, on one side of
which temple stands a smaller one. — (Query,
is this it ?)

360 DEIR EL KALAA.

September 12,— I wait with Messrs. Ab-
bott and Maddox to call upon an Emir. These
Emirs are improperly styled Prino^ by Euro-
peans. He was ill-lodged in a dirty open kind
of bam, having a few carpets and cushions
placed upon the floor at one end of the room,
a rusty musket and sabre hanging against the
wall, his bed or mat rolled up in one comer,
likewise upon the groimd ; himself good-look-
ing, but shabbily dressed ; his attendants, half
Christians and half Druses, about a dozen in
number, dirty and ragged, and lousy enough.
We saw a Greek cruiser off the port, board and
carry away a French brig.

September 18 and 14. — // dolce far niente.
I measured the chief temple, forty-four paces by
twenty-two; Cyclopean; stones enormous, some
of them twelve paces in length. There is a tra-
dition that the Crusaders fortified themselves in
these ruins; and the word Kalaa, which signifies
castle, bears out the story.

September 15. — I strolled out with my dog
to the eastward of the convent, and found an

DEUt EL KALAA. 861

ancient sarcophagus, hewn out of a vast mass of
lunestone, six feet six inches by three feet six
inches ; in height, four feet. It was open, and
broken in the bottom; no inscription. There
are several of these tombs in the neighbourhood
of the ruins ; six or seven at least. I wandered
down a steep mountain, towards the bottom of
the valley of Berytus, pursuing, as I approached
it, a path through a noble forest of pines to my
right hand. Finding that I was going in the
direction of the old Aqueduct,* I determined
upon visiting it ; and after jumping over rocks,
and sliding down precipices, at the risk of break-
ing my neck, I came full upon it. Here my
old propensities for climbing and exploiing
were of great use to me. The Aqueduct is
undoubtedly Roman, and is of great size: I
shoidd judge it to be one hundred feet from
the river's bed, which it stretches over, to the
summit of the second complete tier of arches : —
I say complete tier, in contradistinction to one
or two incomplete or imperfect tiers, which

* See page 356, September 7th.

36s AQUEDUCT OF BERYTUS.

fonned the lower part of the structure as here
represented.

After examining the source on the Deir el
Kalaa side, which is still arched over, although
dry, and finding the stone tunnels through
which the water had run (resembling the boxes
of waggon-wheels), I descended towards ihe
liver ; but upon approaching the first arch of
the Aqueduct, I was scolded away by an ugly
old Arab woman, who had taken up her abode
under one of the arches. She took me for a

mm

4
«

AQUEDUCT OF BERYTUS. SttS

Turk, and feared the ** evil eje/" Making a
circuit to avoid the dd bddflme, I reached the
river, and there bathed my feet and washed my
socks, which had got dreadfully dirty in the
course of my scrambling descent. Opposite to
me, at the foot of the lower row of arches, stood
a little water-mill, where were two Arabs, who
stared at me for a long while, wondering no
doubt how I came there. When I was suffi-
ciently rested, I crossed the river and went up
to the mill, where, by dint of a little voca-
bulary, which I had written the preceding
evening, I conversed in Arabic with them,
asking if the Aqueduct were Roman, if they
had any coins, &c. &c. I then scrambled up
the opposite cliff to a row of arched caverns in
the rock, which I presumed to be so many
sources of water. I reached one and entered
it. I could nearly stand upright in it, and
walked about twelve or fourteen yards up it.
No water is there at present. It is lined with
a kind of vitreous substance resembling Dutch
tile or mosaic, three layers in depth. I broke

864 AQUEDUCT OF BERYTUS.

off a piece of each layer for examination. In
ascending these cliffs, I found the myrtle bushes
of the greatest service, as I swang from rock to
rock ; but my Turkish trowsers and slippers em-
barrassed me sadly, and I was sometimes left
almost suspended upon the top of a projecting
point by the copious folds of my nether gar-
ment. I remained about an hour here, examin-
ing very carefully all parts of the structiu^, but
could find no inscription. I conjecture that
there had been one large arch thrown across the
river, over which the other tiers of arches have
stood. I found, upon examining both banks of
the stream above the Aqueduct, very strong
and high walls or revetemens of the opus in-
certum, pierced at certain heights by rows of
earthen pipes, laid apparently to serve as waste
pipes, and prevent the waters from overflowing
the opus incertum. I had not time to ascertain
the direction in which the waters from the
Aqueduct formerly flowed. This would pro-
bably have been an interesting experiment, for,
by means of it, one might have discovered the
site of ancient Berytus. I do not find that

AQUEDUCT OF BERYTUS. 866

any European but myself has ever visited this
Aqueduct. It is certainly not mentioned in
any book of this country which I have seen.

I quitted this spot about two o'clock, and re-
turned by another tract to Deir el Kalaa, avoiding
the precipices which I descended, as impossible
to ascend. I. followed the edge of a deep ravine,
so deep and precipitous that I could not see its
bottom in some parts, but throwing stones down,
guessed, by the time elapsed in their fall, and
by the crash they made in falling, that it must
be very deep indeed. Here, in the rainy season,
no doubt, is a fine cascade. I saw some owls
and hawks, and one wood pigeon. The poor
Fellahs are very industrious, for they have cul-
tivated every spot of ground where it is pos-
sible for man to set his foot, and where there
is an inch of soil; but their eternal rows of
loose stones, which succeed each other like so
many furrows in a ploughed fields make it most
laborious walking. By and by I found myself
in the track by which I last came from Bairout;
and, wearily ascending the rocky pathway,
reached by a cross cut some vineyards, where,

366 DEIR £L KALAA.

plucking the immense branches of luscious
grapes, I refreshed my parched throat and
mouth, and setting out with renewed vigour,
reached my tent at thirty minutes past four,
dreadfully fatigued by a ramble of six hours
and a half, over ground part of which cer-
tainly was never trod by foot of man before.

September 16. — Arrived a French brig
from Cyprus and Smyrna : she had been plun-
dered by a Greek cruiser, and is the same which
we saw boarded and carried o£F a few days ago.
^o particular news. Likewise a French brig and
schooner-of-war, from Alexandria, apparently.

September 17, 18^ 19.— Nothing remark-
able but the discovery of more sarcophagi in
the enormous blocks of limestone which are
scattered in profusion hereabouts. They are
all, unfortunately, opened and pillaged, and
have no inscription, or any date from whence to
judge of their antiquity. — A report frt>m Cy-
prus of the death of Mr. 6. Canning.

September SO, SI, and SS.— More sarco-
phagi: seven altogether*:- in one, the bones of

DEIR EL KALAA. 367

a female or a youth. Tombs of limestone, six
feet long, three feet six inches wide, and four feet
high. All have been opened and rifled. Some
of them are merely excavations in the rocks ;
but generally they are as here represented.

September 38. — The Emir Hyder' came to
dine with the Consul, accompanied by his Ke-
haya and Efiendi, and some other fellows, all
very barbarous and dirty :— much puzzled with
knives, forks, &c. &c.

In the evening my servant Jiaccomo, who
had been away a week upon stmie business of his

S68 DEIR EL KALAA.

own, returned. In my evening ramble, I ex-
amined a remarkable spot, where I hoped to
have found some antiquities. It was a circular
heap of large blocks of limestone: each block
shaped alike, and resembling an altar that had
inclined a little out of the perpendicular. There
were three classes of stones, and each stone had
precisely the same angle of inclination towards
the same point. Such a spot as this would have
been attributed, by a superstitious people, to the
agency of demons. It is in the summit of a
high hill, and from it you command a splendid
view of Bairout.

We hear of plague in the mountains : this is
a formidable enemy and obstacle to tourists,
and I fear will very much derange my plans.
Lately, the weather has become much cooler ;
and the rains will now soon set in. I must be
moving. We hear nothing from Constantinople*
My tent now becomes rather too cool at night.
I shall regret the beautiful scene which I have
daily under my eye : and more particularly the
morning view, as I open my tent, upon the
plains, the woods, the sands, the sea, and the

BEIR EL KALAA. S69

mountains. At night the Greeks celebrated the
vigil of the Feast of the Cross. The mountains
and plains and valleys are illuminated with bon-
fires. The Maronites did the same twelve days
ago.

September 26, 27, 28 Nothing remark^

able, but some storms of thunder and lightning,
and heavy rain. My tent at night is quite
illuminated by the electric fluid, and rather
damp from the aquatic.

I found on the 26th a large cameleon in a
mulberry-tree, and was much amused with this
strange but ugly animal, and more particularly
with the construction of its singularly revolv-
ing eyes. Ponto was also much entertained,
and smelt and turned it over and over, without
attempting to hurt it. The animal itself spat
and hissed at the dog, opening a most enormous
mottth, underneath which is a large bag, similar
to that of the pelican.

On the 27th I found another smaller cameleon,
and shot a beautiful bird, of the fly-catcher tribe,
called in this country a "bee-eater:" its back
and wings of a greenish blue, and its belly and

vol.. I. 2 b

870 DEIR EL KALAA* -

thighs bright yellow ; it has a long black bill«
rather curved towards the point, and the black
streak over the eye, characteristic of the fly-
catcher species. It is gregarious, and flies ra<-
pidly in flocks after bees, and no doubt locusts^
&c. &c. It is about six inches in length, from
tip of the bill to end of the tail, and makes
a loud and harsh kind of cry as it flies. It is
very common in this country, and is good eating.

M . Chasseaud * discovered about thirty sar-
copha^ altogether. Maddox and I went to
see them. They are all similar in shape and
size to what I have already described, with these
differences, that there were some double, (or for
two persons side by side,) and some for infants.
Most of these were cut in the solid rock. From
the drcumstance of there being no inscriptions
upon any of these tombs, I judge tiiem to be
of very great antiquity, probably prior to the
invention of letters in these regions. We can
learn nothing from the priests respecting them.

We w^re a good deal amused, by observing

* This gentleman is the British Vice-Consul at Beirout,
and had been partaking, as well as myself and Mr. Maddox«
of the Consul's hospitalities.

D£IR EL KALAA. 371

that many of these tombs had been converted
by the Arabs into reservoirs, into which to
pour a kmd of vinous liquid, called '^dibs/'
made from the grapes of the mountains. They
construct, in the vicinity of three or four neigh-
bour-like tombs, a small platform of stones,
having a little parapet all around it; close to
this platform is a little boiler, and below the
platform the tombs. Thus, the juice of the
grape runs off from the platform into the tombs,
and there it cools. This is rather a jovial way
of dispossessing one's ancestors, and substituting
Bacchus for death.

September 29. — Mr. Abbott received a
curious message from the Emir Beshir, (the
nominal prince of the mountains,) informing
him that he, the Emir, could afford the Eng^
lish no protection against the Pasha of Acre,
in the event of this latter being ordered by the
Sultan to seize upon our persons. So much
for the boasted independence of the Prince of
the Druses, and the much vaunted security of
the Mountains of Lebanon !

September 80, Sunday. — Maddox and

87S DEIR EL KALAA.

myself intend setting off for Solima to-monx)W,
a vills^e about three hours from hence. We are
tired of waiting for the Sultan's ultimatum, and
I think of prosecuting my tour to Baalbec im«
mediately. The Pasha of Acre has from time
to time sent orders to put Beirout into a state
of defence, and lately, to allow no neutral man-
of-war to approach the town (as if he could
prevent them). The Turks are all in great
alarm, and the greater part of the inhabitants
have fled into the interior, such is the dread they
entertain of an European force. Indeed nothing
would be easier (as I learn) than to drive the
Mussulmans out of all these countries; they have
no physical force, and are far inferior in numbers
to the Christians and. Druses, all of whom hate
them, and would take up arms if an auxiliary
force were sent to appui them. The Pasha of
Egypt would not interfere, as he would be happy
to profit by the weakness of the Porte, and de-
clare himself independent of it.

During my residence at Deir el Kalaa, my
usual lounge, accompanied by Maddox and my

DEIR EL KAI/AA. 373

faithful Ponto, was to a fountain on the side of
the mountain near the Druse village of Bet-
mem. Here, beneath some venerable pines, we
used to sit and observe the females with their
remarkable costume come to draw water, and
to wash their sheep. In general, I should say-
that the women of the mountain are not pretty.
At first they took us, from our dress, to be
Turks; and they usually veiled their counte-
nances as they passed, staring however at us
with their great fierce black eyes. Latterly,
when they knew who we were, they became
less afraid of us ; and the younger ladies would
frequently show their faces and display the
graces of their persons, returning our saluta-.
tion of "Sebah el hair," and "Taibme?" with
"Taib," or "Mabsout ham'd Allah!" Good
morning ; how do you do? I am weU, I thank
Gk)d; are you well?

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

LONDON :
PRINTED BY 8. AND R. BENTLEY,

Dor»4tt Slreei, Fleet Street.

ERRATA.

VOL.!.

Page 0, Une 5,Jifr * Nomades/ rmd ' Datkws.'

— 78, — l,>br ' tamult/ read ' tomoll.'

— 124, — 15,/or ' Torki/ ranf < Greeks.'

— vat, — 18, ^fier < Kittit Bahar/ immrt ' Naamatta Kaksil.*

— 903, — 14, /or ' grandes,' rtad ' grmads.'

— 814, — for * 5.B. and E.' read ' S.B. by 8.'

— 300, '•^for * branches,' read ' bvnches.'

^.

572775

DAWKINS COLLECTION

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OF THE TAYLOR INSTITUTION BY

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