180

ROYAL COUNTRY SEAT.

explained that his departure was altogether uncertain.

Tuesday, 18th. I was informed to-day, by Hodgson, that on Thursday, the American chargé d'affaires intends visiting the mosques, having received a firman for that purpose; and he very kindly invited me to go, observing, at the same time, that if my two friends chose to be at the gate of the seraglio, opposite St. Sophia, at a certain hour, they might enter in the train.

On returning to Terapia, I joined a party who were going to see the Sultan's palace on the lower side of the bay. It is a very comfortable pleasant country seat, without containing any furniture of a costly description; the usual display of Oriental taste and magnificence being lavished on the baths, which are situated at a short distance from the main building, in a delightfully secluded spot; and are as splendid and luxurious as art can render them. little valley in which the kiosk stands has been entirely enclosed by stone walls, in order to form gardens and pleasure-grounds; and it is possible to ride for five or six hours through the broad and stately alleys cut through the groves and shrubberies of this lovely domain, without passing twice over the same route. This truly royal dwelling once belonged to an

The

RAPACITY OF THE SULTAN.

181

imân, whom the Sultan thought proper to bowstring *, and forfeit his lands. Of the precise nature of his crime I am ignorant; but in a country like Turkey, where the caprice of the Sultan is the law, a very slight pretext is sufficient to ensure the destruction of such as have excited his rapacity by an imprudent display of wealth, or his jealousy by attempts to acquire popularity in the present case, it was probably the great beauty of this estate that caused its owner's destruction. However this be, I certainly envied his sublime highness the possession of so charming a retreat: it is a place to live and die in; and I felt a momentary desire to pass the remainder of my existence within its ever

* This mode of executing criminals seems peculiar to the East, and is partly explained by the word itself. The Turkish bowstring, which is amazingly strong, is formed of untwisted silk, generally white, bound together at intervals by threads of a different colour. At either end is a large loop attached to the centre portion of the cord, by a very curious and intricate knot: the executioners slip their hands through this, and having passed the string once round the victim's neck, who was placed on his knees, they drew it in opposite directions with all their force, and thus produced death by strangulation. Since the gradual decline of archery among the Turks, the bowstring has also been falling into disuse; for the original cause of its being adopted as an instrument of criminal punishment was the readiness with which it could be procured, when every man carried at his shoulder the weapon of which it formed a part.

87

178

PRINCE BUTERA.

ply to this unreasonable application was, “that it appeared extraordinary a prince royal, who, together with his suite, had treated the passengers during the whole voyage with supercilious contempt, and thwarted them whenever they wished the slightest change in the route, should now condescend to solicit those same individuals to delay the boat a week, and inconvenience themselves, to further an object in which the Prince alone was at all interested."

The conduct of the royal party, on the very morning when this selfish request was made, was not at all calculated to remove the prejudices to which their previous behaviour had given rise. The Prince had obtained a firman to see the mosques, which would have admitted four hundred as readily as four; yet he had not the good feeling or politeness to announce to any single passenger that he was going to visit these exclusive curiosities, but went with his suite and his particular friends alone; and though he had appointed a certain hour for assembling before St. Sophia, he actually went thither an hour earlier, so that those who intended to spunge upon the royal firman came too late, and were disappointed. After such treatment, could they assent to postpone the departure of the boat for a single day? Though I am proud to say none

of

PREPARATIONS TO DEPART.

179

my countrymen gave in, yet the Neapolitans, Germans, and Spaniards, and one or two Frenchmen on board, uniting with the Prince's friends and suite, obtained a majority for the measure. As we dined at the palace, I determined to sound Lord Ponsonby, in the evening, as to the probability of the Acteon's departure; for hitherto he had repeatedly told me it would take place in a few days, or, at the latest, by the end of the month. This state of uncertainty was very unpleasant; for I was prevented from leaving Terapia on any excursion, even for two or three days; because it was possible she might sail any day at six hours' notice. Now, as it seemed very probable that the steam-boat would remain in the harbour till the end of the week, I might arrange to go in her, especially as my friend and fellow-lodger Barrow was very anxious to be off, and a house divided cannot go on smoothly. By taking a passage in the Francesco, I should also have an opportunity of visiting Smyrna and most of the Greek islands. Unfortunately, however, the French ambassador and several of his legation came in, and sat until a late hour; so the opportunity did not occur. In fact, the reply of Captain Grey, in answer to an observation made by the commander of the French frigate, in the course of the evening, sufficiently

184

VISIT TO THE MOSQUES.

desecration and sacrilege of the Latin and the Moslem; and nothing of that description is now left to astonish the pilgrim of either creed, who approaches this sacred temple. Justinian gloried that he had erected a place of worship which far surpassed the work of Solomon; and on dedicating it the second time, after the restoration of the dome, he was nearly maddened by joy. What would have been his feelings, could he have foreseen the day when the conquering Latin should defile its altar, and the infidel Turk convert it into a temple for the worshippers of his prophet, after being consecrated to the pure religion of Christianity for a period of nine hundred years! St. Sophia is thus equally an object of veneration to the Christian and the Musulman.

On the arrival of our American friends, we mustered in a large party before the bronze gates of the church, where we were all for a few moments busily engaged in taking off our boots and putting on the slippers we had purchased. This done, we proceeded into the interior of the edifice, with which I confess myself greatly disappointed; as the tout ensemble displays no magnificence, and the impressions on the gazer's mind, partake of none of that involuntary admiration and religious awe, which the sight of an