THE APPROACH TO THE CITY BY THE BOSPHORUS
Author and Artist have, for the sake of compactness, been rolled into
one. This method leaves to both a free hand and ensures absolute
unanimity: their harmonious whole now proposes to the reader a
personally conducted tour around the walls of Constantinople, within and
without, stopping at frequent intervals to allow the Artist to ply his
pencil while the Author holds forth to an eager circle of intelligent
listeners.
Constantinople should not be approached by those who hail from the West
with any Western hustle--no charging to the agents or the booking-office
at the last moment to demand a return ticket by the quickest possible
route, to traverse all Europe, passing through many strange and
interesting countries with the determined tourist's reckless haste, to
tumble out on to the platform of the German-looking Stamboul railway
station, worn out and wretched and wishing to be back at home again.
Rather should the traveller wean his mind from many Western notions.
Let him disabuse himself of the hackneyed superstition that time is of
any moment. In the East it is not. Men have all the time there is, and
plenty of that. In this respect it corresponds to the biblical
description of Heaven: "There is no time there." Conscious of their
easily won eternity, trains, and more particularly boats, make no
attempt to start at the hour mentioned in the schedule, aware that by
doing so they would only cause inconvenience to the large majority of
their passengers. Any one who has had official relations with the Turk
knows that his most frequent exclamation is "Yarsah--yarsah"
("Slowly--slowly"), but to most foreigners the system is, at first, a
little disconcerting. Again, the traveller should prepare his mind for
what he hopes to see--a walled city,--so should, ere starting, let his
mind's eye travel beyond his garden wall, against which perchance he may
safely lean as aid to meditation, to what he has heard of walls, walls
that were built by many devoted generations and in return protected
their descendants from those hungry powers that seek to destroy whatever
prospers.
And travelling toward his Eastern goal the reader passes through many an
ancient city whose walls chronicle the history of its inhabitants. He
should take his journey easily, should move eastward with no undue
haste. Let him go down the Danube, that mighty river which arises from a
small opening in the courtyard of a German castle, flows majestically
through the lands of many nations, where before the days of history Saga
held her sway and gave birth to the Nibelungs. In its waters many ruined
castles are reflected, amongst others Dürnstein, where Blondel's voice
at length brought hope of deliverance to his imprisoned liege, Richard
Coeur-de-Lion. He will pass many fair historic cities, Vienna,
Budapesth, Belgrade, the White Fortress, and so on through the Iron
Gates, whence the great stream swells with increasing volume through the
plains of Eastern Europe to throw out many arms to the Black Sea. It is
here that Author and Artist await you; for to worthily approach
Constantinople you should do so from the north, and by sea. And you are
in good company, for by this seaway came the Russians in their several
attempts on the Eastern capital. The Turks, too, the present masters of
the situation, found this way and followed it to victory. These, too,
overcame great difficulties--they sailed in small vessels and were much
at the mercy of wind and weather; in fact, the Russians found their
plans frustrated by the elements. They met with anything but a pleasant
reception, whereas the traveller nowadays steams in great comfort in a
racy-looking Roumanian
[Illustration: GENOESE CASTLE AT ENTRANCE TO BOSPHORUS FROM THE BLACK
SEA.
A narrow entrance this--strongly fortified it was too, in olden times,
for on that height to the left stands a frowning ruin, a Genoese
Castle.]
liner, and is sure of a courteous welcome from his hospitable host, the
Turk.
Along the coast of Bulgaria--that kingdom of strong men under a strong
ruler, whose history, with a long and melancholy hiatus, is taken up
again, is in the making, and bids fair to rival that of older nations as
a record of devotion and steadfastness of purpose. And so to the mouth
of the Bosphorus, a narrow entrance through which the strong current of
the Black Sea forces its way to join the warm waters of the
Mediterranean.
The Argonauts found their way through here, braved the crash of the
Symplegades, and sailed out into the unknown in search of the golden
apples of the Hesperides. Let no man say that these were simply oranges,
for these a man may cull in many a Greek garden to-day. No--it was an
ideal they sought, and, like true men, they found and followed it.
A narrow entrance this, and strongly held, as it deserves to be if
Nature be man's handmaid. Strongly fortified it was, too, in olden
times, for on that height to the left stands a frowning ruin, a Genoese
castle, commanding the entrance for many miles round the open sea and
the rolling, wooded heights of Asia inland.
Intensely interesting are the naval exploits of the city republics of
Italy during the Middle Ages. It is not easy to realize the power
developed by such towns as Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, and the enormous
importance of the part they took in the development of Europe. Other
cities are so much overshadowed by Rome, that those who are not
historians hear only echoes of their greatness.
Primarily there seems to be a divergence in the origin of empire between
those gained by a northern or southerly race. Latin empires grew out of
cities--Rome and Constantinople, and Athens with her Delian Confederacy;
the States of Pisa which owned large oversea possessions, Genoa which to
a long strip of coast counted Corsica among her spoils, Venice which
with varying fortunes controlled Dalmatia and Istria and built the stout
fortress of Nauplia commanding the Gulf of Argolis. Whereas England,
France, Germany, in fact those empires founded by the men of a Northern
race, began, it appears, by the conquest of other people's cities, and,
making themselves masters of a number of such towns, started states of
their own, drawing liberal and very elastic boundaries round them which
they could enlarge when strong enough by the simple expedient of picking
a quarrel with their neighbours. These depended for their defence more
on those who lived in fortified seclusion on the marches of their domain
than on the town-dwellers.
The Genoese navy, composed of ships fitted out alike for battle as well
as for commerce, was free to look further afield as soon as Pisa, their
whilom ally against the Saracens of Africa, Spain and the Mediterranean
islands (but a formidable rival at all other times), had been finally
crushed at Meloria. Opportunity soon offered, for trouble arose as usual
in the Eastern Empire. The Latin dynasty put into power by the crusaders
was sinking lower, and a feeling for the restitution of the Greek Empire
was growing. Also, the Venetians, new rivals, had assisted the Latins,
so there was every reason to interfere. The interference proved
successful, Michael Palæologus conceded the suburbs of Pera and Galata
to the Genoese. These places were fortified, and served as a base from
whence to push Genoese enterprise further into the Black Sea, and in the
Crimea a factory was established. From time to time the Genoese turned
against the Greeks, no doubt in order that their swords might not rust
for want of exercise during the piping times of that peace which in the
East was a seldom acquired taste. They stood by the Greeks, however,
when trouble came from elsewhere, and to the last upheld their high
reputation for bravery and devotion.
The Genoese tower of Galata still stands overlooking the Golden Horn. A
yet more notable monument to those gallant seafarers are the so-called
"Capitulations." The Genoese colony was ruled by a magistrate sent from
home, and to this day that right is still granted to the Powers of
Europe, and can only be fully appreciated by those familiar with the
ordinary standards of Eastern justice.
On the next height the Giant's Mountain, also on the left bank, is
another monument of yet greater antiquity, though perhaps its historical
value is less easily assessed--depending more than ever on personal
opinion and a romantic nature completely undisturbed by the galling
limitations of probability--the Tomb of Joshua. Its origin is shrouded
in mystery, as it well may be considering the countless ages that have
passed over it--there are so few records of Joshua's travels that no
doubt that eminent warrior may have gone on leave to travel for the
improvement of his mind like his colleagues of the present day without
our hearing anything of his experiences in foreign parts. It is equally
possible that he may not have returned from furlough--owing to decease.
This is purely speculation--very real, however, is the tomb itself. A
long, narrow, walled-in space in connection with a small mosque and
under the care of the Hodja in charge contains this, his resting-place,
enclosed by iron rails and about 24 ft. long by 10. It also serves as
fruit garden, or orchard--for several fig-trees grow here, so we see
that, unless the legend lies, Joshua must have been a tall strapping
fellow and the sons of Anak can have caused him no real surprise or
alarm.
The correct thing to do is to walk round the tomb a great many times
(there is a fixed number, but it does not matter much), tie a bit of rag
to the railing and express a wish, keeping it strictly to yourself. The
next best thing to do is to forget the wish, pay two-pence in baksheesh
and ride away to get the most of a glorious view. Artist and Author
alike do so.
And a pleasant thing it is to ride on into Asia Minor on an alert,
sure-footed Arab; he need be sure-footed, for at one time your road
leads along the very edge of a steep decline, at another over the bed of
what is a rushing torrent in the rainy season. Everywhere a changing
vista, bold, rolling hills, now covered with short scrub and heather,
with black rocks peering through it--now under oak and beech, everywhere
the glorious bracing air of the uplands mingled with breezes from the
Northern Sea. Here and there you find patches of cultivation, the
patient team of oxen drawing the primitive plough, merely an iron-shod
staff at an angle to the shaft to which the team is yoked. Near by, a
village, small wooden houses sheltered by fig-trees, a little shady café
where of an evening the men smoke a solemn hubble-bubble and discuss
events in the measured sentences of a conversation which begins about
nothing in particular and ends in the same district.
What changes those fields have known! armies pouring into Asia full of
enterprise and the lust of conquest, returning to escort a victorious
emperor in triumph through the Golden Gate, or beaten remnants of a host
to seek refuge behind the city walls. And a plough of the same
construction, drawn by the same faithful servants, stopped its course a
while to watch, and then went on its way unchanging.
But the fairest road is still that glittering waterway with its
ever-increasing number of craft, so we pass on to Constantinople. With a
fair breeze from the Black Sea dead astern small sailing vessels hurry
on towards their goal--the Golden Horn. They are high in the bows,
higher still in the poop, with an elegant waist but withal a reasonable
breadth of beam, brightly painted too, with cunning devices on the prow
and sails that glisten white under the Ottoman ensign; they carry for a
flag a crescent argent in a field gules (the Artist insists on heraldic
terms, as they are so picturesque). These little ships have been busy
collecting many things for the Stamboul market along the Black Sea
Coast. Heavy-laden tramps thump onward to Odessa to return with corn or
wool. We overhaul a yacht-bowed Russian mail-boat and get a shrill
whinny of greeting from the stout little passenger steamers, Tyne-built,
that ply between the many landing-stages along the Bosphorus bringing
officials, business men and even artists back from the city to those
quiet, cosy little bungalows that hide among the trees on either side.
White-painted caiques flit across from side to side, one-oared and even
two-, some more pretentious ones with more oars still, the boatmen
dressed in becoming uniform, veiled ladies in the stern sheets. A
hustling steam-pinnace shoots by from one or the other "stationaires,"
for every larger Power keeps one here; and there on the right, that row
of gleaming palaces by the waterside is Therapia, those palaces the
different embassies in their summer quarters. Here homesick travellers
of many nations may feast their eyes on the war-flag of their country
and get up a thrill, if the scenery should have failed to cause one. It
certainly is a pleasant sight to see a sturdy British bluejacket again
or his smart colleague of the U.S. Navy in his jaunty white hat.
Therapia will tell you that this is the only place to live in during the
summer; other places along the road on either hand claim the same
advantage, and the claims must be allowed where the choice is so
difficult. For there is Candilli, and who that has spent some sunny
weeks under the trees of that favoured spot, has dived from the garden
wall (displacing volumes of water) into the evening phosphorescence of
the Bosphorus, but wishes to return and to repeat the performance? And
Arnoutkeni, where, on a hill-top, lives the most hospitable of
consuls-general.
The silvery way narrows and widens, and winds, though slightly, past
ever-increasing signs of human habitation. Wooden Turkish houses with
the jealously latticed windows of the harems dipping their stone
foundations in the sea, some with a little scala leading to a stoep,
where the veiled ladies of the house may take the air while children
play around them. Stately palaces walled off towards the land, the
sea-front open and mayhap the lordly owner's steam-yacht moored just
opposite, barracks and cafés with vine-clad trellis-work, and behind the
narrow stone streets and little shops. Every now and then a mosque, its
dazzling minarets pointing to the sky, and also, too frequently, a very
modern residence in the very latest bad taste, which is saying a good
deal.
To all this a background of trees, the warm depth of pines, the pleasant
green of oaks and beeches, the bright shining green of fig-tree, and
everywhere larger or smaller groups of slim cypresses, close-serried
beneath whose shade rest faithful sons of Islam--and
[Illustration: ANATOLI HISSAR, OR THE CASTLE OF ASIA.
Within the precincts of this castle, entered by narrow gates, are other
small houses, still smaller shops and cafés.]
surely none of them might wish for a more lovely and decorous
burial-ground than here, looking out upon the narrow strait their
fathers won so dearly.
There are open spaces too, where groups of people, gay patches of bright
colours, disport themselves: a game of football is no unusual sight
here. Even a factory chimney stands out here and there, not emphatically
belching out defiant volumes of black smoke to insist on the power of
the _main-d'oeuvre_, but in a gentler manner, as if rather apologizing
for this outrage upon nature and trying its best to adapt itself to its
surroundings by the kindly aid of quaint-looking craft, blackavised, but
free from any suggestion of machine-made regularity; these craft carry
the coal necessary to enterprise, just to oblige, they seem to say.
The Channel widens, then narrows again, and here stand two ancient
fortresses, one on either hand. Ancient, compared to Western notions,
though too recent to be mentioned by chroniclers of Old Byzant, for they
are of Turkish origin, and date back but a few odd centuries. On the
Asiatic side stands Anatoli Hissar, or the Castle of Asia. Wooden houses
of all ages cluster about it, the wood of some painted in bright
colours, pink or ochre, or others left to be coloured by time and
climate, ranging from warm purple greys to the strongest burnt Sienna.
Within the precincts of this castle, entered by narrow gates, are other
small houses, still smaller shops and cafés. To southward broad green
streams join the Bosphorus, the sweet waters of Asia, along the banks of
which are pleasant open spaces, a mass of colour on Friday afternoons;
for here the Moslem ladies take their leisurely walks abroad on that
day, and spend many pleasant hours chatting under the shady trees,
though what they find to talk about except their children, Allah alone
knows. The bridge leading over the northern arm of these waters in an
attractive spot: here the Artist put up his easel to sketch the
continuous stream of passers-by--grave merchants, portly of person on
small donkeys, small horses laden with baskets, pedestrians many and of
all manner of races, mostly Eastern, now and again a squad of cavalry on
active little Arabs, or a body of infantry with the fine decisive tramp
of a conquering race. At the foot of the rather high-arched wooden
bridge a number of caiques, white-painted with crimson cushions, their
oarsmen dozing in the sun, while heavier boats laden with fruit and
vegetables go out to market at Stamboul. Across the bridge quaint wooden
houses with the usual latticed windows, and, connecting them across the
narrow street, vine-covered trellis-work beneath the shade of which some
business is transacted, buying and selling conducted with all the
leisure and decorum of men for whom a year more or less means little.
Behind and crowning all, the frowning though dismantled fortress. Here
the Artist had an experience that struck him enormously. His morning
sketch was of the scene described above, his afternoon work was from
inside a boat-builder's yard, looking over the sweet waters to some
Turkish houses, glorious in colour with quaint wood carving, each with
its tiny well-kept garden by the sea.
The second day while at work on the morning sketch, the genial
boat-builder approached and confided the key of his establishment to the
Artist, at the same time intimating that the yard would otherwise have
been found closed and thus the afternoon's sketch delayed. Would this
have happened on Clyde or Tyne?
Over against Anatoli Hissar stands Roumeli Hissar, the Castle of Europe,
a yet more imposing mass of ruins. Its plan is said to be the cypher of
Mohammed. The whole fortress is said to have been built in two months by
the forced labour of Greeks, to each of whom was delegated a measured
area. The towers that command the upper part are of the construction
peculiar to the Turkish architecture of that period, a tower of smaller
dimension superimposed on the lower one is what it looks like, and we
shall see it again at Yedi Koulé. This castle encircling a picturesque
village is peculiarly beautiful in the spring, for then the flaming
colour of the Judas tree, swamping with its vivid tone the delicate pink
of almond sprays, lights up the deeper ochres and purples of the
surrounding masonry, and makes the dark cypresses that stand all about
strike even a yet deeper note than when the glamour of high summer
bathes all things in a golden haze and draws light even from these
sombre trees. And they are so beautiful, though perhaps a bit wistful
also--their slender shape, the warm grey and purple of their stems and
branches and the cool depth of their foliage.
Close by this castle stands Robert College.
Further south, obliquely opposite is Candilli, a place where it is good
to be. At first glance, but for its prominent situation, it may appear
to be much like other places along the banks of the Bosphorus. A short
bit of narrow street, stone-paved and very bad to walk on, leads to a
cross-road, the cord that connects all these little villages. It is
equally badly paved, but as many of the blocks of stone that once served
as pavement have vanished, there are quite a number of softer spots
wherein a man may set his feet when walking. There is a café by the
waterside, where Turks, Armenians, Greeks and others take their
[Illustration: ROUMELI HISSAR, OR THE CASTLE OF EUROPE.
Over against Anatoli Hissar stands Roumeli Hissar, the castle of Europe.
Its plan is said to be the cypher of Mohammed.]
leisure, drink endless cups of coffee and gaze into the water.
The gentleman who sells tickets to those who leave by boat, and collects
them from those who land here, may generally be seen fishing from the
landing-stage. He is a philosopher; it is but little that he wants, and
he takes a long time getting it. There is a mosque close by whose Hodja
is counted among the Artist's personal friends. He is a busy man, as
Turks go: he sweeps out his mosque, trims and lights the candles that
adorn it by night, and fulfils all the Koran's requirements in daily
prayer, encouraging others in the same commendable practice. He also
possesses a magnificent tenor voice which is heard to best advantage
rising up from his minaret to the hill overlooking Candilli, when
exactly one hour and a half after sunset he announces to the world that
"Allah is Great. There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His
Prophet." He has a son who is learning to chant the same refrain and to
quote the Koran. Like most of the early apostles, he is a fisherman.
All around by the seaport, on the hillside, in garden and under trees,
stand the houses of those who live in Candilli, either permanently or as
summer tenants only. Should the reader ever visit here, let him turn
sharp to his right and keep along the sea-front, a stone-paved terrace
about 8 feet broad occasionally broken to admit boats into the
boathouses, caverns in the stone foundations of the houses that stand
here. These breaks are planked over for the convenience of
foot-passengers; and so we keep on till a sharp turn to the left takes
us to a flight of steep steps. We ascend and join the high-road, the
cord referred to above. You are welcomed there by a sportive litter of
pariah pups who have an _al fresco_ lodging here on a luxurious bed of
melon-skins, which provide food and bedding at the same time, and quite
a plentiful supply of each during the season. The neighbourhood for
miles round, city and suburbs, is full of little corners convenient for
receiving things that you no longer want. A few hundred yards along the
high-road another sharp turn to the left, another litter of pariah pups
and their white mother, generally called the "old lady," all most
pleased to see you; another ascent, short but sharp with holes torn out
of the pavement as if the shell of a cow-gun had struck it, and you
arrive at a doorway in the wall. It is quite unpretentious, in fact its
modesty is carried so far that a piece of string that dangles out of a
hole will, when you pull it, lift the latch and so give you admittance.
You enter an unpaved yard, in fact after a few days' rain you may call
it a garden, for grass grows up without any other encouragement, just
as it does in all Eastern gardens. Before you stands a wooden house,
shrouded with vine and overshadowed by a fig-tree; there is yet another
fig-tree in the garden, and a walnut-tree and another sitting-out-under
tree, which finds that sufficient avocation, and therefore yields no
fruit of any kind.
Entering the house, the first thing that meets your eye and holds it is
a row of boots on the left-hand side of a stone-flagged apartment called
the hall. Your eyes rest on the boots, for you know at a glance that
they are British made--they are, for Englishmen live here. A doorway
opposite the entrance leads to the kitchen; here the Greek cook, Aleko,
reigns supreme, and with him the butler, Kotcho, which being interpreted
means Alexander and Constantine. A wooden staircase leads to upper
regions, to a spacious sitting-room, where no one ever sits save in wet
weather. But why this lengthy description of an ordinary English
bachelor abode? the reader asks of the Author. He gets behind his
collaborator--the Artist lived here, and thus history is made.
The Artist lived here as the guest of those whose work lies in
Constantinople. There were several, their numbers had frequent additions
towards the weekend, and the assembly went by different names, the most
common being the "Y.M.C.A.," because one of the number nearly lunched in
the company of a bishop one day, and a bishop in the Levant is rare
enough for comment.
They lived in great contentment, did these Britons abroad; at work
during the day, they foregathered at dinner in the variegated garb that
betokens ease and talked of many things between the peals of the pianola
wafted from a villa higher up on the hillside. They listened to the
Eastern sounds that came to them from afar, to the warning hum of the
mosquito, the distant barking of a dog, the tapping of the watchman's
iron-shod staff on the pavement outside. One night they heard his cry of
"Yungdin Var" ("There is a fire"), as in accordance with time-honoured
custom he proclaimed some distant conflagration, while his colleagues
all along the coast on either side gave the same warning. This call
sounded in the lane below the bungalow, and was vigorously repeated from
within. The watchman answered, "Pecci, pecci, effendi" ("All very fine,
gentle sirs"--or words to that effect), but tell me where it is? and
then himself announced the place and went on his way rejoicing in a
"score."
Now and then these men would sally forth of an evening to one or the
other hospitable house, to dance or dine, a solid phalanx of dazzling
shirt-fronts.
The nights on the shores of the Bosphorus are very fair. Quite still,
the lights of Stamboul and Pera gleaming in the distance, the swish of
passing steamers whose searchlights flash unbidden through your windows,
and the moonlight reflected in their wash in myriads of sparkling
facets. And then the rosy dawn dispelling the faint haze upon the
waters, when the tall trees that are silhouetted black against the clear
nocturnal sky, lose their sharply-defined shape as they resume their
colours and merge with the glorious scheme of awakening chiaroscuro.
And for many ages night on the Bosphorus has enjoyed this deep repose,
making an occasional disturbance such as happens where men inhabit seem
incongruous. Imagine the deep stillness when Byzas first settled in his
City, set out in early morning to search out the land on his own side of
this broad waterway, that led to lands remotely known to him through
legend only. His constant pleased surprise at finding more and more
treasure beautiful and material in the wooded bays where safe anchorage
offered. And his return at nightfall in the stillness till he saw the
ramparts of his City purple against the evening sky, faint lights
twinkling and fainter sounds reaching him across the water betokening
the activity of his settlers.
These peaceful waters have known much strife and turmoil, the valleys on
either hand, the hills of Europe and Asia have echoed back the sounds of
battle. Fast sailing ships brought swarms of adventurers down time after
time to try their fortunes before the walls of Cæsar's Castle. From
Roumeli Hissar, the fortress built by Mahomed the Conqueror, right down
beyond Seraglio Point and into the Sea of Marmora stretched that
monarch's fleet. But it was of no avail against the seaward walls.
Entrance to the harbour was impossible, as a chain had been stretched
across the mouth of the Golden Horn, and behind it the larger vessels of
the Genoese and Venetians rode at anchor. So Mahomed conceived a plan
bold and in keeping with his character and ability. He decided to convey
a portion of his fleet across country to the upper reaches of the Golden
Horn and to attack the walls that guarded the upper harbour.
There appears to be some doubt still as to the exact spot where these
galleys were beached and as to the route they took. Galata, the Genoese
fortress, must be avoided, and at the same time the shortest route must
be taken. Galata stands in a position somewhat similar to
Constantinople, on a promontory formed by the Hellespont on one side and
on the other by the Golden Horn, which bends slightly to the north
after passing west of where the land-wall of Theodosius joined the
sea-wall of the Bosphorus, towards the sweet waters of Europe. At any
rate we pass the place where this great feat was accomplished, and this
is how it was done. Mahomed made a road of smooth planks covered with
grease, and along this road a host of men pulled eighty galleys in the
night. The next morning these ships were riding at anchor in the upper,
shallower part of the harbour beyond reach of the larger vessels of the
Genoese and Venetians. According to the Byzantine chronicler Ducas,
every galley had a pilot at her prow and another at her poop, with the
rudder in his hand, one moved the sails while a fourth beat the drum and
sang a sailor's song. And thus the whole fleet passed along as though it
had been carried by a stream of water, sailing, as it were, over the
land.
Certainly a most remarkable feat carried out to the sound of the drum.
The drum an instrument, some say of torture during the month of Ramazan,
for it serves to arouse the faithful Moslem an hour before sunrise that
he may eat--for he may touch neither meat nor drink between sunrise and
sunset during this fast, and it cannot fail to wake others in the
neighbourhood. Entirely oriental in its origin--no doubt an ancient, its
enthusiasts think venerable means of producing sound--its appearance in
Europe is of comparatively recent date; in fact, not till after West and
East met in the Crusades did the drum become part of a European army's
outfit, and to this we may directly trace the creation of military
bands, for where would any band, save a German one performing in
England, be without a drum? We may conclude that in all probability it
served a double purpose, the uncanny noise both struck terror into the
heart of the enemy and cheered on "the Faithful" to battle. The Roman
armies sounded the tuba, Frank or Teuton put his soul into a bullock's
horn, which a later period imitated in brass, and that so successfully
that not even the best of modern composers can altogether do without it.
The Crusaders rallied their bands by means of horns, each in a different
key, no doubt; the Saracens beat drums to draw their followers to the
Crescent standard, and a happy blending of these two, with the addition
of some attempts at harmony, now brighten the soldier's life when
marching to church in sections, or returning heavy footed from a field
day.
The traveller is at liberty to choose any spot he likes, given that it
be on our right, to settle where Mahomed's galleys left the waters; that
safely accomplished, he should look before him. We have passed many
charming little villages quaintly named--Beylerbey,
[Illustration: THE TOWER OF GALATA.
Galata's proud Tower comes into view, and right at its feet the Golden
Horn, all life and bustle and glittering harmonies of colour.]
the Bay of the Beys; Tshengelkeui; Beshiktache; Kabatache. On the
heights above palaces, palaces on the sea-front, as we sail on towards
Constantinople, and there it is before us.
We see Seraglio Point, and then the view increases, showing a glorious
vista of mosques, gleaming domes and tapering minarets. We pass on our
right a couple of steam-yachts, bright and trim, moored opposite a
splendid palace. H.M. the Sultan's yachts lie here, and his residence is
the Palace of Dolma Bagche. On the heights above Pera, the city of
Italian origin, now inhabited by those Western by birth or inclination,
and standing some distance away from it, is Yildiz Kiosk, the deserted
haunt of baleful associations.
Galata's proud tower comes into view, and right at its feet the Golden
Horn, all life and bustle and glittering harmonies of colour. The very
smoke rising from the tall funnels of tramps and ocean liners catches
the light, reflects it, and add another beauty to the aspect.
Over our port bow we look down the smooth, shining expanse of the Sea of
Marmora, in which the Prince's Islands seem to float as in a sunny haze.
These have their history, and sad it is for the greater part, and
reference will be made to that later, when the Artist has finished
talking about the scenery, and has returned to his legitimate
occupation. Behind these islands are faintly seen the mountains of the
Asiatic mainland, then the coast draws in towards the Golden Horn, and
here are Modar and Kadikeui, villages so called, though perhaps more
truly suburbs, wherein you may find many hospitable houses. One of them
gave shelter to a Turkish gentleman, a high-placed personage whom an
angry soldiery were in search of during the last counter-revolution, the
last dying effort of reaction. And here below Modar lie many yachts, for
it is a fair sea for yachting is the Sea of Marmora, and the coast and
the islands offer ever-varying change of scene. Then close to Kadikeui
and north of it is Haidar Pasha, with its blot upon the landscape, the
terminus of the Bagdad railway, an edifice German in construction and of
consummate ugliness. Close under this eyesore is a peaceful spot where
many tombstones and a monument bear record of the deeds of the English
soldiers, victims of the Crimean War. A peaceful spot, and oh! so
beautiful. Above it stands a large yellow building many storied, with a
background of tall cypresses in thousands that shade the Turkish
cemeteries, where many lie who fought side by side with Britons and our
gallant friends the French against their old northern enemy, Russia.
This building may fall to ruin and perish, the dead that lie about here
and their deeds may be forgotten by all but the straight-stemmed
cypress-trees, but the memory that lives about this place will never
die, for it tells the glorious story of a noble woman's work--this
building was Florence Nightingale's hospital.
And near here another work by women is in progress, work devoted to
rising generations at the American Girls' College.
The traveller may cast a glance backward to the way he came and see a
small tower standing in the sea--this is a trim-looking tower and shows
a light o' nights--this is called the tower of Leander.
But no more looking back. We have arrived opposite Seraglio Point, and
our goal is before us; for here is the starting-point of the strange and
glorious history of the City of Constantine, here the foundations of the
city of Byzas were laid--here is Constantinople.