THE BAZAARS.
The bazaars of Constantinople are built of stone, and lighted from
the top. They seem like long streets covered with arched roofs,
each street being appropriated to some particular merchandise; thus,
there are the spice bazaar, where all kinds of condiments, drugs,
and dye stuffs are sold; the perfumery bazaar, containing the most
delicious perfumes of the East, the otto of roses, Tcherkess-souyou,
and many other essences, also the fragrant pastilles, which are placed
upon the pipe bowls, filling the atmosphere with their delicious
scent, and the singular rat's tails which emit a perfume like musk,
and retain their odor for any length of time; the silk bazaar, the
calico bazaar, the shoe bazaar, depots of most varied and exquisite
embroideries; the jewelry bazaar, the pipe bazaar, where are displayed
the beautiful and costly mouthpieces studded with gems, the long and
graceful stems of jessamine, or cherry, and the gilded and delicately
modelled red clay bowls.
The space occupied by these bazaars is equal to the whole of the
sixth ward in the city of New York, and the internal arrangements are
entirely unlike the shops of this country. There are no front windows,
nor counters. The entire façade of the streets being shelved for the
display of wares and goods, presents a whole front with the appearance
of a vast library, not of books, but of merchandise. A sort of elevated
platform, about five or six feet wide, and two feet from the ground,
extends the whole side, on which both merchants and customers sit,
thus serving the double purpose of counter and seats. The shops are
divided by elbow boards, and a small room is attached behind each
for the storage of goods, etc.
The ends of the streets are furnished with immense gates, which are
closed every evening about an hour before sunset, and are opened
again in the morning about eight.
The whole effect is very interesting; the fanciful wares, the great
number and proximity of the stalls or shops, and the varied costumes of
the venders and purchasers, combine to create rare and beautiful groups
for the pencil of the artist. Carriages, horses, and foot-passengers,
are continually passing and re-passing in crowds.
Occasionally the owners of the shops are obliged to leave their
merchandise for a short time, and during their absence, a covering
of net-work suspended across the front of the stall, is sufficient
to indicate the absence of the proprietor, and also to protect the
property from all depredation.
These bazaars are the favorite resort of the Turkish ladies of
all ranks, and there is no little coquetry displayed by the fair
purchasers, when the unusually handsome appearance of the merchant
tempts them literally to ransack his whole establishment for the
most trifling article. These occasions are also made available
for the purposes of flirtation, assignation, and all other romantic
amusements. It is amusing to observe the ladies as they fit themselves
with their peculiarly colored and shaped chaussure, for they make
no scruple of displaying their beautiful ankles, which are generally
divested of every semblance of hosiery.
The method of buying and selling is peculiar to the country, and
doubtless very entertaining to strangers. The system of Prix-Fix,
is unknown in Turkey, for, as they go on the principle "each
one for himself," no one is content with any price except his own
valuation. Besides, the people are so conceited that any concession on
the part of the merchant is flattering to their vanity. He, therefore
enjoys the privilege of being beaten down, merely as complimentary to
his customers. So the merchant always demands an exorbitant price,
which he has no idea of receiving, in order to give his customer a
fair chance to gratify his vanity, and also to exercise his judgment.
As London has its "Whitechapel Road," Paris its "Temple," and New
York its "Chatham street," so Constantinople has its "Bit-Bazaar,"
emphatically so denominated from the vermin which infest old clothing.
Infinite diversity pervades the garments here displayed, and as
people's clothes always look something like themselves, so the empty
garments seem to tell tales of their good or bad fortunes, whether
the former owners died of plague or small pox, were solitary occupants
of the robes, or shared them with other animalculæ.
At the auction, which occurs every day in these purlieus, poverty may
find a momentary relief by the disposal of its surplus wardrobe, or
may even don the cast off rags of some less fortunate victim of misery.
There is a more respectable auction at the Bezesten every day except
Friday, until noon, where jewelry, embroideries, carpets, arms,
and all sorts of superior second-hand garments are disposed of. Here
the humblest citizen may at least enjoy the semblance of grandeur,
as he invests himself in the same setry which the Efendi discarded
the day before; or an ambitious mother may procure the same toilette
de noces as graced the form of a beautiful Hanum.
The Bezesten is a large quadrangular stone building, surmounted by a
cupola, in the centre of the bazaars, and serves not only as a place
of public auction, but for the safe deposit of valuable property,
either money, shawls, or jewelry.
There are numerous khans in the city, which are constructed in the
form of a hollow square, and are two or three stories in height. The
various rooms are occupied as offices, by jobbers, wholesale merchants,
and bankers.
Goods are sold in wholesale, usually at two or three installments of
31 days each, which are seldom liquidated in less than 6 or 8 months.
The trades are divided into different guilds, called esnafs; each one
governed by its own laws and officers. The chiefs of these guilds are
always Mussulmans, and appointed out of the corps of superannuated
palace attendants, such as boatmen, cooks, and scullions, who are
thus pensioned off.