the monarchs repose who died after this city had been made the capital
of the Turkish Empire; and in Brusa there are six, in which are
deposited the remains of those who sat on the throne in this Asiatic
city, before the empire was transferred to Europe: Gummusch Kubbe,
where the bodies of Osman I. and Orchan are deposited; Dic Kirke, where
the corpses of Murad I., Bajazet I., and Murad II. are laid; and Yeshil
Jami in which moulder the remains of Mehmet, or Mahomet I. This last
is that given in our illustration, which presents the general features
in all Turbés. The head of the Sanndoucha, principal Catafalque, is
covered with cashmere shawls, &c., part of the veil said to be taken
from the covering of the Prophet’s tomb at Medina; the rest, is green
with gilded mouldings. At each end are the enormous unlighted tapers
which stand at the head and feet of the deceased, and above the circle
of suspended lamps by which the mausoleum is always illuminated. The
sides are covered with porcelain tiles. Around, on the matted floor,
are the “Reciters” going through their daily task, and at one end is
the case where their copies of the Koran are deposited. Behind are the
smaller tombs of the various members of his family admitted into the
sacred enclosure.
There is something in every form of Turkish sepulture, strikingly
adapted to the end proposed, and displaying a strong contrast with
our own. Death, without being divested of its solemnity, is disarmed
of everything that could disgust and repel. The dark and pensive
cypress groves, with their evergreen foliage and aromatic resinous
exudation−-the friend seen watering the flowers, or feeding the
singing birds, which are supposed to gratify the dear object that lies
below−-exhibit spectacles far more interesting and affecting than the
foul and mouldering heaps, and disgusting dilapidations of our dismal
church-yards; while the Imperial Turbés, where every thing is simply
neat and soberly decorated, are very different indeed from the dark and
noisome cells of our regal monuments.
[Illustration: T. Allom. J. Tingle.
SPRING OF THE MIRACULOUS FISHES AT BALOUKLI.
NEAR CONSTANTINOPLE]
Of all the “Ayasmata,” or Holy Wells, in the vicinity of
Constantinople, this is held in highest estimation by the Greeks, whose
faith in its efficacy seems daily to increase. Many poets have devoted
their gift of verse to its celebration; but two are more eminently
distinguished. Nicephorus the most Beautiful, called, from his
mellifluous song, the “Attic Bee;” and Johannes with the flowing hair,
who acquired for himself the name of the “Sweet-voiced Grasshopper.”
The former thus eulogizes the health-giving spring.
The stricken rock sent forth the bubbling tide:
That rock was Christ, the sacred bards declare−-
The perishable nature never died,
Which drank its rill.−-But, lo! faint mortal, where
Another fount his pitying mother gives.
Approach−-the dying man who drinks it lives.
This invitation was obeyed, and crowds rushed to drink the gifted
waters. The 29th of April was appointed, in the Greek church, for the
celebration of a festival in honour of the Spring, and the day always
displayed an extraordinary spectacle of Greek credulity and enthusiasm.
During the disturbance of the insurrection, this ceremony had been
suspended. Those who attempted to celebrate it were attacked by the
Turks, who assaulted and dispersed the crowds, and the sacred fount
was approached only secretly and occasionally by individuals. But when
tranquillity was restored, and the Greeks were again allowed to resume
the celebration of their religious rites, the multitude thronging to
this place on the appointed festival was astonishing. A traveller
who was induced to witness it, even before the church was rebuilt,
passed with a whole fleet of caïques from Pera and Constantinople, to
the nearest landing-place on the Sea of Marmora. From thence there
was a constant current of people ascending through the city to the
Selyvria gate, and on issuing from that, he found the whole plain
densely crowded for several miles with a concourse of Turks as well as
Christians; it resembled an English fair, where refreshments were sold,
trinkets and wares exhibited, and all sorts of amusements practised.
Bulgarian minstrels, the constant attendants on such meetings, walked
pompously about, blowing their enormous bagpipes; crowds of Greeks,
holding white handkerchiefs so as to form a long chain, went through
all the mazes of the romaika, while a vast number of Turkish females,
shrinking from such a display of themselves, sat decorously and quietly
on the elevated banks, in various groups, passing from mouth to mouth
the tube of one long chibouque, or nargillai, while the bowl or vase
remained fixed in the centre, and the mouth-piece went round the circle.
Though more passive in their admiration, they seemed no less interested
in the object of the festival.
But the crowds congregated about the sacred well were far more
seriously engaged: various “impotent folk, of blind, halt, and
withered,” were placed near the waters, like those of the pool of
Bethesda, brought there to be healed. They lay stretched on carpets
or blankets, on which all the pious who passed, threw money, till the
patient and his bed were spangled over with paras. In different parts
of the ruined edifice were priests in their richest vestments, who
displayed the most celebrated and wonder-working relics of their church
on shrines erected for the purpose, and supported, in both their hands,
capacious silver dishes, which were filled with the contributions of
the crowd. But the ardour and enthusiasm of the devotees who repaired
to the well for health exceeded all belief. Priests stood around the
Spring with pitchers in their hands, which they constantly filled,
and handed up to those about them. They were eagerly seized by every
person who could catch them, and poured with trembling emotion on their
heads and breasts, where they were rubbed, so that every particle of
the health-giving fluid might be imbibed by the pores of the skin;
while those who could not pay for, and were not favoured with this
precious ablution eagerly caught at the stray drops with their hands,
and applied them reverently to their faces and bosoms. Occasionally, a
frighted fish darted across the bottom of the well; and when a glance
of this fried phenomenon was caught by the crowd, a shout of exultation
was raised, followed by a low murmur of praise and thanksgiving for the
miracle.
When the church was re-edified, the Spring was also repaired, and the
annual ceremony was observed with equal enthusiasm, but somewhat more
decorum, in the regular edifice, than among the dilapidated ruins. The
chancel of the church, as the most sacred part, was built directly
over the well, and from thence there is a descent by a flight of stone
steps. This terminates in a vaulted apartment, ornamented with niches
surmounted by handsome pediments, which resemble the porches beside the
pool of Bethesda; and in the centre is a square enclosure, surrounded
by a marble parapet, within which the sacred Spring now bubbles up.
Behind it, under an arcade supported by marble pillars, is the shrine
of the panaya, by whose bounty the waters were endued with their
inestimable virtues, lighted by a perpetual lamp. On the occasion of
the grand festival, the vault is illuminated by the enormous chandelier
which is seen on one side.
Our Illustration presents the characteristic features of this abiding
superstition of the modern Greeks. Down the steps are seen descending
the devout to this pool of Bethesda who expect to see the miraculous
fishes, like the angel, “trouble the waters”, and then to partake of
its healing qualities. Within the enclosure of the well are men eagerly
imbibing the precious fluid; and on each side are papas in their robes,
strengthening the faith of the pious, and receiving the price of the
miraculous waters.
[Illustration: T. Allom. Drawn from Nature by F. Hervé, Esq. W. Floyd.
ASCENT OF THE HIGH BALKAN MOUNTAINS.
ROUMELIA.]
Among the many wild and stupendous objects presented by the different
passes through this magnificent chain, those by Tornova are, perhaps,
the most striking. Tornova is the seat of a bishop of the Greek church,
rendered particularly interesting to the people of England by the
conduct and character of its present prelate, the learned Hilarion.
When the British and Foreign Bible Society proposed to place the word
of God within the compass of every man’s understanding, by translating
it from the dead language in which it was written, and presented it
to him in his vernacular tongue, some of the prelates of the Greek
church, like those of the Latin, were opposed to the measure; but
the late excellent patriarch, Gregory, who fell a victim to Turkish
cruelty at the commencement of the revolution, was too pious and too
enlightened to sanction such a sinful exclusion. He therefore gave
his free consent to have the Scriptures rendered into modern Greek
for the use of the laity of his flock, and it was assigned for that
purpose to Hilarion, one of his clergy distinguished for his learning
and piety. The circumstance caused no small degree of excitement in
the Greek church. The great majority who favoured the measure were
ardent in their wishes and zealous in their endeavours for its speedy
accomplishment. The indefatigable Hilarion proceeded with his pious
task, which was to effect the same reformation in the Greek as it had
in the Latin church. It was actually put to press in the printing
establishment of the patriarchate, and the first sheet of the precious
work thrown off, when the Turks, excited, it is suspected, by the
enemies of the measure, rushed in with axes and other implements,
broke in pieces the cases, scattered the types abroad, and cast the
first impressions of the Gospel into the court-yard and tank of water,
where they were trampled on, torn, and sunk, till the whole of the
printed sheets were destroyed, with other literary matter found in the
printing-office. This event suspended the work, and the unsettled and
disturbed state which followed prevented its resumption. The good and
enlightened patriarch and his chaplains, who had laboured to promote
the undertaking, were dead, the greater part of his clergy were in
exile or in prison, while the learned Hilarion, having escaped the
first burst of persecution, was, by one of the sudden vicissitudes so
common in the East, dragged from his obscurity, and elevated to the see
of Tornova, and, on the summit of the lofty Balkans, completed that
sacred work which is to enlighten the world below.
The town of Tornova, besides being the largest in the region of the
Balkans, is the only one built on the elevated central ridge from the
Euxine to the Adriatic. Its site is very singular; it is seen from
below, “hanging, like a swallow’s nest,” from the stupendous craigs
above. When the traveller climbs to these upper regions, he walks
through streets running on ridgy terraces, and looks down from a dizzy
height on the road far beneath, which is at length lost to his sight in
a deep abyss. A singular effect is observed in these regions, similar
to that which occurs between the tropics. The setting sun is succeeded
by no crepuscular illumination, and the eye is not accustomed to the
gradual decrease of light: sunset seems to extinguish all atmospheric
reflection, and darkness suddenly envelopes the horizon long before it
is expected. Thus it happens that travellers are frequently surprised
in the most dangerous and difficult part of the precipitous road, and
compelled to halt on some projecting rock, till day-dawn extricates
them from the perilous position in which night had unexpectedly
overtaken them. To guard against this, paper lanterns are sometimes
provided. The paper of which they are made is compressed into a small
flat circular surface, and carried easily inside the hat or turban.
When used, they are drawn out into a cylinder, and a taper placed
inside, and, by the help of this faint and uncertain light, tied to the
end of a pole and hung over the edge of the precipice, the adventurous
traveller cautiously creeps along, rather than remain all night exposed
on a naked craig to the inclemency of a mountain-region.−-Among the
phenomena of these mountains are certain visionary figures, which
have something awful and supernatural in their aspect. Dense forms
of gigantic beings, resembling those observed on the Hartz, are seen
suddenly to issue out of chasms or forests, and move along like dim
and undefined spectres through inaccessible places, where no mortal or
embodied existence could possibly find a footing. These are columns
of mist, sometimes so numerous and frequent as to seem like companies
of giants travelling through the mountain-passes. The janissary or
surrogee, who accompanies the traveller, is struck with awe, and
exclaims “Allah keerim,” (God is merciful,) bows his head, and repeats
his namaz as the spectres pass. It not unfrequently happens that sudden
bursts of wind follow these appearances, tearing up trees, and sweeping
through valleys with dangerous violence. As the misty columns are often
the precursors of these storms, they are supposed to be their cause;
they are, therefore, ascribed to the malignity of these visionary
giants, who blow them forth over the unfortunate traveller, as the
breath of their nostril.
Sometimes the traveller is surprised by sudden light gleaming from
the rocks around him, and the roar of fires bursting from caverns.
These, however, arise from a more explicable cause. The iron-ore with
which the interior of the mountains abounds, is generally smelted on
the spot. The red flame is then seen issuing from the riven rock, the
blows of sledges echo through the caverns, and the dark and grim visage
of the workmen are visibly illumined by the blaze. These appearances
at night, in the deep solitude of the mountains, are very striking,
and strongly remind the traveller of Vulcan’s forge in Etna, and his
Cyclops fashioning thunderbolts. When a commotion of the elements
supervenes, as frequently happens in these elevated regions, when the
air is rent and the rocks around are shattered by the electric fluid,
it requires no great stretch of the imagination to fancy it is the
fabricated bolts of these grim artisans, that have now, as in the days
of the poets, caused the destruction.
Our illustration presents one of those rugged ascents, suspended
as it were over the perpendicular flank of a mountain-wall, on one
side bounded by a deep chasm, and on the other overhung by a lofty
precipice. This path is sometimes not more than a yard in breadth,
and does not allow loaded horses space to pass each other. When this
occurs, there is a mortal contest for the inside, and one pushes the
other into the gulf below. Sometimes the path turns round a short
angle, and when the traveller has accomplished the passage of the
perilous point, he sees just before him a dark and dismal chasm, over
which his horse’s neck projects, and his next step would precipitate
him. His feeling of insecurity is increased by the state of the
animal he rides. Instead of being shod with rough and pointed irons,
which would give a firmer footing in ascending and descending such
declivities, the shoe is a flat circular piece of smooth metal,
perforated by a single opening in the centre, and affording not the
slightest hold on what it presses. Hence, in going down, the motion of
the animal is sliding, and the rider with horror sees the beast, to
which he trusts his life, every moment ready to shoot over the edge
of the narrow road, without a possibility of stopping or restraining
itself. Yet such is the sure-footed sagacity of these mountain-steeds,
that accidents rarely occur, and they glide down for several hundred
yards, through a steep and tortuous descent, dexterously turning round
every projecting rock before them, which seems to stand in the way for
the express purpose of pushing him over the edge.
[Illustration: T. Allom. H. Mote.
CIRCASSIAN SLAVES IN THE INTERIOR OF A HAREM.
CONSTANTINOPLE.]
The country now called Circassia was part of that undefined region
formerly denominated Colchis, between the Euxine, the Palus Mæotis,
the Caspian sea, and the Caucasus. It was this region whence the
Greeks brought their first golden freight, of which a woman formed
the most valuable part. From that time to the present day there has
been constant importations of females. These countrywomen of Medea
retain that beauty of person and ferocity of character of their eminent
predecessor, as also, it is said, her knowledge of noxious herbs, which
abound to this day, as formerly, in their country, and which they apply
not to prolong but to abridge the term of human life, whenever their
interests or their passions demand the sacrifice of their rivals.
Circassia was formerly governed by its own wild but independent
sovereigns; it is now almost all absorbed in the vast territories of
Russia; the people have but little advanced in civilization since Jason
first visited their shores; their habits are, as they have always been,
predatory and unsettled; they are a nation of robbers and man-stealers,
who trade in slaves, and add their own children, whom they bring up
to sell. Like all barbarous people, they are divided into tribes; the
eldest of each becomes the leader, but he is not allowed to possess
any property except his horses and arms, and such tribute as he can
exact from his neighbours. Their element is war, during which only they
have authority. When it is at an end, they merge into obscurity, their
dress, food, and habitations being no way distinguished from those of
the common people.
Next to these are the Usdens, who are the landholders and lawgivers
of the community, and who alone display what little of civilization
exists among them. They govern by no written law, but certain
hereditary usages, which are varied as the caprice or will of the
Usden determines; the great body of the people are vassals or slaves.
Their manufactures are rude and scanty, and their tillage insufficient
to supply their own wants. They have no written language, and no
circulating medium of coin; all their knowledge, then, is confined to
traditionary fables, and all their commerce to exchange and barter.
The only commodities in which they can trade are two−-horses, and
human beings. The former are well trained in all the discipline and
instruction necessary for their state, and a Circassian horse is a well
educated and accomplished animal; the latter are totally neglected,
and, however attractive by personal comeliness, are altogether
ignorant, and seem to have no capability beyond the instinct of nature.
When females are not sold, but remain at home, and are married, they
reside in huts distinct from their husbands, and bring up a brood of
children in no respects superior to themselves. Their whole energies
are exerted to stimulate the predatory habits of their husbands, and
their greatest gratification is in the plunder they are able to bring
home. They seem to have no ties of kindred, no domestic affections, no
family attachments; the daughter, if she is found to have any personal
attractions, is educated solely on the speculation of selling her to
advantage, and she frequently demands it from her parents as a right to
which she is entitled. From this cause it is that all kindly feelings
are obliterated, all love for others extinguished, and all passion is
centred in self. Christian missionaries early penetrated into this
region, and converted the people to their faith, and subsequently the
followers of Mahomet entered it, and divided them between the Koran and
the Gospel; but they now seem to have little knowledge of either. A
nominal Moslem parent brings up her daughter in the seeming profession
of that faith, that it may recommend her to her future master at
Constantinople; a nominal Christian educates her child in no religion
at all, that there may be no impediment to her conforming to any other;
thus her natural passions are freed from all the restraints that
religion would impose on them. From these causes it is, that there is a
certain ferocity and irreclaimable wildness observable in a Circassian
beauty. She gratifies the sensuality, but never secures the esteem, of
him to whom she is afterwards consigned. She is an object of desire,
but never of regard, and always excites more fear than love.
When a vessel arrives on the coast, it is always for the purpose
of traffic in slaves; and all the girls, who have been waiting its
approach with longing eyes, prepare themselves to be sold to the best
advantage, and their hearts bound with the bright prospect which they
are taught to believe lies before them. The splendour of the harem is
contrasted with their own miserable huts; the rich stuffs in which they
are to be clothed, with their homely, coarse, and squalid garments; the
generous viands on which they are to be fed, with the meagre of their
scanty diet. They have no ties to attach them to their native land, or
dim the bright prospect that awaits them in another. They look upon
their sale to a foreign merchant to be the foundation of their future
fortune, and their entrance into a foreign ship their first step to a
life of pleasure and enjoyment; nor are they disappointed even in the
outset.
These Oriental slaves are conveyed, not in the coarse and brutal manner
in which European traders carry on their traffic in human flesh. The
vessels sent to bring them to their capital are well appointed in
every respect for their accommodation. As the price is to depend on
the state of health and beauty in which they arrive, every precaution
is taken to preserve them. Instead of being crammed into noisome and
suffocating holds, the greatest attention is paid to their comforts;
their appetites are consulted, their pleasures are complied with, so
that neither privation nor anxiety may impair their looks; and the
slave dictates to her owner, in whatever she wants or wishes. When
arrived, they are lodged in a spacious khan provided for them, and the
police are especially ordered that every thing shall be cared for.
Now comes the Kislar Aga, or chief of the black eunuchs, to select for
the imperial harem the most lovely and desirable of the importation,
and having conducted them to his master, they are assigned apartments
in the seraglio, and placed under the care of the instructress of the
females. The rest are sent to the Aurut Bazaar, to be sold to those
who have the means to purchase them. The Africans, and slaves of other
countries, are here exposed, but the Circassian is secluded from the
general crowd in separate apartments, which are carefully closed
against all intruders, except on days of sale, when the sacred rooms
are thrown open from nine in the morning till midday; and every true
believer comes to avail himself of the permission of the Koran, and
make new selections for the enjoyments of his harem. An infidel is
inhibited from entering the market, unless by special permission; and
so far from being allowed to purchase, he is not even permitted to look
on those chosen females, lest the glance of his evil eye might wither
the expected enjoyment of the faithful purchaser.