Military Festival—Turkish Ladies—Female Curiosity—Eastern
Coquetry—A Few Words on the Turkish _Fèz_—The Imperial
Horse-Guards—Disaffection of the Imperial Guard—False
Alarms—The Procession—The Troops at Pera—Imitative Talent of
the Turks—Disappointment.
Having accidentally rowed down to Pera in order to visit some friends, a
week or two after the presentation of the Sultan’s portrait to the
Imperial Guard at Scutari, we were startled on arriving at Dolma Batchè
to see the shore lined with the caïques and barges of the Pashas, and
the principal Officers of the Fleet; and the heights covered with
military. Such being the case, we landed at the pier below the palace,
and I addressed myself to a group of Turkish ladies who had established
themselves very comfortably under the shade of a fine plane tree, to
ascertain the cause of so much unusual parade.
Women assuredly have some freemasonry by which they contrive to be
intelligible to each other, for it is certain that, with barely half a
dozen sentences of the language, I have frequently kept up something
that bordered upon a conversation; and on the present occasion, by a
judicious use of my very limited knowledge, and considerable
gesticulation, I made the persons to whom I put the question perfectly
comprehend its import. The reply commenced by an invitation to avail
myself of part of their carpet, which, as it was easy to see both by
their appearance and attendance, that they were highly respectable, I
did not hesitate to do; and they then informed me that the Sultan was to
pass in an hour, in state, to present his portrait to the Artillery, at
their barracks in the Great Cemetery.
In five minutes my new acquaintance had confided to me that they were
sisters, and that a sweet little girl who sat between them was the only
child of the younger one, and would be immensely rich; and had, in turn,
inquired my country, and my relationship to my father, who stood aloof,
lest he should annoy them; but whom they forthwith invited into the
shade by the usual title given to all Franks:—“Gel, Capitan, Gel—Come,
Captain, come”—while the daughter of the eldest lady, a pale, slight,
dark-eyed houri, who was perfectly conscious of her extreme beauty,
played off a thousand little coquettish airs to attract his attention.
First she let the lower portion of her yashmac fall, to discover the
prettiest mouth in the world; with, what is very unusual among the
Turkish females, a fine set of teeth, which she displayed in a laugh of
affected embarrassment at her awkwardness; and then, in her great haste
to remedy the misfortune, she contrived to throw back her feridjhe, and
disclose a throat and arms as dazzling as mountain snow; and a pair of
delicate little hands, of which the nails were deeply stained with
henna. I had seen several yashmacs adjusted in the harem, but I had
never yet met with one which required so much arranging as this; and the
young Hanoum was so persevering, and kept up such a soft little murmur
of Turkish ejaculations, that I had time to take an excellent lesson in
the difficult art of veiling.
And all this within ten paces of one of the sentinels, who stood leaning
cross-legged against the stock of his musket, according to the most
approved system of Turkish discipline; and who did not interfere to
remove the Frank strangers from the vicinity of the women, although a
couple of years ago it would have perhaps subjected my father to
temporary imprisonment, and certainly to insult.
As we had already had sufficient experience of the slight attention
which His Sublime Highness ever paid to time on public occasions, we
felt no inclination to spend half the morning under a tree on the edge
of a dusty road; and, having ascertained by the line of sentinels, that
the procession would pass the Military College; we accordingly made a
parting salutation to our new friends, and plunged once more into the
hot sunshine.
As we ascended the hill we came upon a squadron of the Imperial Guard,
who were to form a portion of the shew, and who were lying comfortably
in the dust, some asleep, and others nearly so; while the horses were
huddled together in groups in the centre of the road? This was a portion
of the corps which I mentioned in my account of the marriage festivities
of the Princess Mihirmàh, and they certainly were considerably more like
soldiers at a distance, than when seen thus on our very path.
Nothing requires more management than a _fèz_. It may be so arranged as
to form even a becoming head-dress; but wo betide the unlucky wight who
pulls it on until he is _fèzed_ over head and ears! As worn by the
Turkish soldiers, it were impossible to conceive any thing more hideous;
generally nearly black, and always more or less greasy; some fling it
down into their necks, where it forms a deep fold, others drag it over
their eyebrows, and others again bury their whole heads in it, till it
takes the form of the skull, and looks like a red clay basin. I need not
expatiate on the appearance of their white overalls, even on such an
occasion as the present, because I have already stated that the wearers
were lying about in the dust; and it were equally supererogatory to do
more than allude to the effect of a lancer jacket of coarse cloth,
braided with yellow cord, nine times out of ten a misfit.
The horses were in excellent keeping with their riders, and presented a
beautiful independence of accoutrement. Some had blue saddlecloths, and
some had brown ones; some scarlet, and some white; some had European
saddles, and some Tartar—some had holsters, (many of them, by the by,
to my great amusement, charged with cucumbers, of which the Turks are
extremely fond) and some were without. Their lances looked as though
they had dropped down among them by mistake, their points were so
glittering, and their crimson pennons so fresh and bright, for a Turkish
soldier is always careful of his arms. They do not carry these graceful
weapons like our own Lancers, although they are similarly provided with
slings, but grasp the pole in the Russian fashion.
We were curious to witness the bearing of the Sultan on this occasion,
as on the presentation of his portrait at Scutari, a portion of the
Imperial Guard had murmured openly against so glaring an infringement of
their law, which forbids literally the likeness of any human being to be
taken; whereas this had, moreover, been carried with great pomp, and
saluted after the same fashion as would have been the august personage
whom it represented. “We are be coming Giaours—Infidels,”—was the
complaint—“The Franks are turning the head of the Sultan, and he will
soon be as they are.”
The first intimation of this disaffection on the part of the troops
which reached the inhabitants of the capital, was the appearance of
bodies floating in the Bosphorus; and the fact that a Greek captain, who
had moored his vessel in the current, found it clogged in an
incomprehensible manner; and, on employing half a dozen men to remove
the evil, discovered that it was choaked with corpses!
After so decided a manifestation of the sentiments of the soldiery, it
was a courageous act of the Sultan to venture thus immediately on a
repetition of the offence; and the rather that a portion of the troops
are composed of the sons of the Janissaries, who cannot be supposed to
entertain the most favourable feelings towards the destroyer of their
fathers; and who would naturally embrace so favourable an opportunity of
spreading their own hate, as that which permitted them to enforce their
expressions of disgust with the name of the Prophet, and the authority
of their religion.
As it was uncertain whether His Highness might not descend at the
College, as he had done on a previous occasion, three temporary steps
covered with scarlet cloth had been prepared for him to descend from
his horse; and a carpet laid down from thence to the apartment of Azmè
Bey, where a handsomely-embroidered, and elaborately-cushioned sofa had
been arranged for his reception. In this room we took up our position,
near a window that commanded the long stretch of road, by which the
procession was to advance; and we had calculated justly on the
procrastination of the Sultan, for we waited nearly four hours ere the
_cortège_ was actually in motion. “The cry was still ‘they come!’” and
during all that time they came not. There were two or three false
alarms. The drums beat off at the Palace, and were answered by those on
the heights, and at the College; the gallant cavalry gathered themselves
up out of the dust, and mounted their horses: the Bey turned out his
guard, and all in vain. There was a mistake somewhere; and consequently
the cavalry dismounted, and lay down again to finish their sleep; and
the young Colonel turned in the guard; and we drank another glass of
sherbet, and tried to think that we were not at all out of patience; in
which attempt, I, at least, was very unsuccessful.
At length the moment came, and the distant sounds of a military band
announced the approach of the procession. The unfortunate Guardsmen
sprang to their saddles for the fourth time, and formed in double file;
in which order they moved forward at a foot’s pace. They were succeeded
by the Military Staff of the Army, and the Field Officers of the
different regiments; the Majors rode first, and were followed by the
superior ranks in regular succession, until the gorgeous train of Pashas
brought up the rear. The Pashas were succeeded by about thirty
musicians: and then followed a detachment of Infantry marching in double
files, between whose ranks moved the open carriage of the Sultan, drawn
by four fine grey horses, each led by a groom; and bearing the portrait
of His Highness carefully enveloped in green baize. Saïd Pasha, the
Sultan’s son-in-law, preceded the carriage, dressed in a Hussar uniform,
and mounted on a noble Arabian; and it was followed by the Seraskier and
Halil Pasha riding abreast; succeeded by a squadron of cavalry.
But where, then, was the Sultan?
Alas! for our high-flown expectations—He had reviewed five thousand men
in the course of the morning on the heights above the Palace, after
which he had started off for the Valley of Kahaitchana, in an open
carriage and four; leaving his portrait to the care of the Pashas.
We reached Pera amid the firing of cannon, the pealing of musketry, and
the beating of drums; and just in time to see the whole of the troops
march through to their respective barracks; which they did six deep, and
in very tolerable style—a circumstance rendered the more astonishing
by the fact that many of them had their shoes literally tied upon their
feet!
It was impossible not to be struck by a conviction of the perseverance
and adoptive powers of the Turks, on seeing this body of men; who,
although labouring under all the disadvantages of slovenly dress and
defective instruction, had, nevertheless, in a few years succeeded in
presenting an appearance of European discipline. Self-taught—for the
Turks have been deterred from exerting that which their own good sense
led them to feel would be the most efficient mean of speedily attaining
the perfection at which they aimed; that is, of profiting by the
instructions of foreigners; they have, amid all the difficulties of
their position, succeeded in proving that their imitative talents are
very considerable; and the jealous policy of Russia has only tended to
demonstrate to those who have had an opportunity of comparing the
present state of the Turkish army with that in which it was but three
years ago, that the Osmanlis have every inclination to avail themselves
of the opportunities that are afforded to them of studying the
institutions of other nations; where their efforts are not frustrated by
political considerations.
Recent events have, in some degree, weakened the Muscovite influence at
the Sublime Porte; and European Officers have lately arrived in
Constantinople who, should they be permitted to act, will probably soon
convert the “material” of the Turkish Army into available troops,
calculated to do honour alike to their country, to their instructors,
and to their Emperor. The docility of the Turkish soldier is admirable;
and his desire of improvement so unwearying that it is a common
occurrence for him to spend his hours of relaxation in perfecting
himself, as far as his own knowledge enables him to do so, in the
management of his firelock; while the care and time which he bestows
upon the arm itself, is visible at once from the lustre of its bright
barrel, and the cleanliness of its whole appearance.
But to return to the troops at Pera. The officers were only
distinguishable by their arms, being as heavily laden as the men, with a
knapsack, a mess tin, a cloak, and a prayer-carpet; and the different
corps were attended by numerous water-carriers, with small leathern
cisterns under their arms, and clay drinking-bowls suspended from a
strap about their waists.
After traversing Pera, the several regiments filed off in different
directions; and the faubourg resumed its accustomed tranquillity. The
interest of the pageant had however been greatly lessened by the absence
of the Sultan, who should have been its “head and front;” and I only
reconciled myself to the disappointment by engaging to join a party who
were to spend the following Friday at the Asiatic Sweet Waters, where
preparations were making to receive the Sovereign of one of the most
gorgeous Empires of the earth—the Monarch of a million designations!