The Castle of Europe—The Traitor’s Gate—The Officer of the
Guard—Military Scruples—The State Prison—The Tower of
Blood—The Janissaries’ Tower—_Cachots
Forcès_—Guard-room—The Bow-string—Frightful Death—The
Signal Gun—The Grand Armoury—Flourishing State of the
Establishment—A Dialogue—The Barracks of the Imperial
Guard—The Persian Kiosk—Courts and Cloisters—The
Kitchen—The Regimental School—A Coming Storm—The
Tempest—Dangerous Passage—Turkish Terror—Kind-hearted
Caïquejhe—Fortunate Escape.
Having obtained an order of admission from one of the Ministers, my
father and myself started early one morning to visit the Fortress of
Mahomet, commonly called by the Franks the Castle of Europe.
I have already stated elsewhere that this was the first _pied-à-terre_
of the Prophet on the European coast; and that the entire pile, forming
the characters of his name, was erected in six days. The strength of the
fortress is much greater than its peculiar construction would lead you
to believe when seen from the sea; and it is altogether an object of
extreme interest.
When our caïque touched the landing-place opposite the Traitor’s Gate,
our dragoman landed to obtain the authority of the officer on guard,
who was sitting on his low wicker stool at the door of the guard-house,
which is built upon the shore of the Bosphorus at the foot of the
exterior wall of the fortress; and his surprise on ascertaining our
errand was so great, that he scarcely removed the chibouk from his lips,
as he declared the impossibility of his admitting us into a stronghold,
within which no Frank had hitherto set his foot—The first European
Fortress of the Prophet—The prison of the Janissaries—The——I know
not what else he might have added, for, in the midst of his harangue, he
suddenly remembered that one of the two applicants for admission on the
present occasion was not only a Frank, but, worse still, a woman; and he
was just beginning to reason upon the fact, when our dragoman stepped in
with the announcement of our order.
His scruples were silenced at once, and he immediately very civilly sent
a corporal and a soldier of the garrison to point out to us the
different localities; and two most intelligent men they proved to be,
who, having been two years on the castle guard, were perfectly competent
to do the melancholy honours of the place.
The Traitor’s Gate is the only seaward entrance to the fortress; and,
when we had stooped to pass its low, wide arch, we found ourselves in a
large court, having on our right hand one of the four principal towers;
and precisely that which has hitherto served as a state prison for
persons of distinction.
In the lower cell of this tower, which contains several ranges of
dungeons, (none of them, however, subterranean), is a stone tunnel,
descending deep into the sea; and beside its mouth is placed a block of
marble, against which the victim knelt to receive the fatal stroke; when
the severed head, and the gory stream that accompanied it, fell into the
tunnel, and were carried by the current far beyond the walls of the
fortress; the body, thus rendered irrecognisable, being afterwards
thrown into the channel. A deep ditch passes near the entrance of this
tower, which opens into an inner court; and, as we ascended a steep
acclivity, and passed beside a ruined mosque, we traced the moat to the
foundation of a second and lower tower, square in form, and castellated
on the summit; distinguished by the fearful appellation of the “Tower of
Blood!” The ditch opens immediately beneath a low archway, excavated in
the foundation of the tower; and its use is similar to that of the
tunnel in the lower prison, being intended to convey away to the sea
all, save the bodies of the criminals executed within its walls, who
were invariably the Aghas, or chiefs of the Janissaries, whom it would
not have been safe to have dishonoured in the eyes of that formidable
body, as it was customary to insult the remains of the less
distinguished of their comrades.
In this ditch one of the soldiers informed us that near four hundred
cases of ammunition had been discovered buried beneath the soil, for the
private use of the Janissaries, in the event of their requiring such an
auxiliary during any popular commotion; and it was singular enough that
the deposit was revealed by the very individual who informed us of it,
and who pointed out the spot where his pickaxe struck against the cover
of one of the chests, when employed with a fatigue party to cleanse the
moat from its accumulated filth.
Hence we ascended to the Janissaries’ Tower, the principal object of our
curiosity. Built on the highest point of land within the walls, even
from the base of this tower you command one of the noblest views in the
world; having on one hand the whole stretch of the channel, to the
opening of the Sea of Marmora; and on the other, the entrance to the
Black Sea; the most sublime coup d’œil in the Bosphorus.
Here two additional attendants with lights were added to the party; and,
having first visited a recess, or cell, in the masonry of the tower,
which we entered by a low, narrow archway, that had been lately
discovered, we stood within the secret magazine of the Janissaries,
where they had built in upwards of six hundred cases of powder: and we
then commenced our survey of the dungeons.
Throughout the whole Tower, which is of great height, and contains seven
ranges of cells, all of them tolerably lofty, there were but two
_cachots forcés_, or dark dungeons; every apartment being furnished with
a narrow, grated aperture for the admission of air and light, and a
small marble cistern for containing water. I wished to explore one of
the two, but was withheld by the soldiers, who assured me that, since
the destruction of the Janissaries, no one had ventured to enter them,
and that they might be, and probably were, _oubliettes_, where one false
step would plunge me headlong to destruction.
Thus warned, I desisted reluctantly from my purpose; and, sooth to say,
we were sufficiently surrounded by horrors, to be enabled to dispense
with one more or less. Our next point was the guard-room; an extensive
apartment, with a floor boarded transversely with narrow planks, forming
a lattice-work, through which the guard could both see and hear the
prisoner beneath; and roofed in the same manner. Having traced the tower
nearly to its summit, we descended, and passing onward a few paces at
its base, we found ourselves in a compartment of the covered way that
connects the towers throughout the fortress; and which was furnished
with large arched doorways on either side. Here, within a recess, hung
an old Roman bow of such strength that no modern arm can bend it; and to
this, as we were informed, the cord was attached used in strangling the
condemned Janissaries. I confess that I thrilled less at the sight of
this instrument of torture, than at the idea of the refinement of
cruelty, which, in a locality replete with gloom, had selected such a
spot for the work of death.
Hither was the victim dragged from his twilight cell. Here, where the
fresh breeze of Heaven came lovingly to his forehead, quivering among
the broad leaves of the wild fig-trees; and dancing on the sunlighted
waters. Hither, where the bright day-beam shed over the world a light
which to him was mockery! What had he to do with the fresh breeze and
the genial beam? His knee was upon the earth, and the cord was about his
neck. One gaze, one long, wild, withering gaze, while his executioners
were busied with the fatal noose; one sigh, the deep concentrated
inspiration of despair; a shriek, a struggle; the last grappling of the
strong man with his murderers, and all was over; the cord was
transferred from the throat to the feet of the victim; and they who were
lately his comrades and his friends, seized the extremity of the fatal
rope, and, dragging after them the yet quivering body, it was thus
hurried ignominiously down the rough and steep stone stair which
traverses the fortress, ere it arrived at the Traitor’s Gate.
But I will pursue the revolting image no further. As the mangled body
was hurled into the sea, the long gun which occupies an embrasure near
the entrance of the fortress was fired, to announce to the authorities
at Constantinople that justice had been done upon the guilty.
Early morning and noon were the periods usually selected for these
executions; and few are the individuals who have been long resident in
Turkey, who can fail to remember the dismal report of the solitary gun
as it came booming over the Bosphorus!
The few houses built within the walls of the fortress are surrounded by
cheerful gardens, and are kept in tolerable repair. As we left the
castle, we were politely accosted by the officer on guard, who inquired
whether we desired to visit the fortress on the opposite coast, which
was formerly used as a prison for the Bostangis, or Imperial Body Guard;
the order with which we were furnished sufficing for both. But I had
become so heart-sick among the dungeons of the Janissaries, that I
prevailed on my father to decline the proposal; and we accordingly
reembarked, and proceeded to the Grand Armoury at Dolma Batchè.
Here again we were obliged to avail ourselves of our order, no female
ever having been hitherto admitted within the gates of the
establishment; but it was merely the delay of a moment, and, having
passed the entrance, we stood within a spacious court forming the centre
of the quadrangle, surrounded by the entrances of the several workshops,
and furnished with an immense marble reservoir containing water for the
supply of the artificers.
The greatest activity and order prevails throughout the whole
establishment. Fifteen hundred men are constantly employed within the
walls; and their wages vary from one to two shillings a day, according
to the difficulty of the work, and their ability to execute it
creditably. No distinction either of creed or nation operates against
the reception of an artificer; Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, and
Jews are alike eligible, if capable of performing their allotted duties;
but the most difficult and finished branches of the different
departments are almost universally confided to Armenian workmen, who are
the best artificers of the East.
The nominal head of the establishment is a Turk, but he does not
interfere beyond making a weekly survey to ascertain that all is
progressing satisfactorily; while his deputy, who is an Armenian, enters
into the detail of the labour, makes the contracts for timber and metal,
pays the workmen, and performs every other responsible duty. The number
of firelocks completed daily, and sent across each evening to the
Armoury within the walls of the Seraï Bournou, was stated to us to
average seventy; but this was probably an exaggeration.
The musket-barrels are at present bored by hand-machinery, and between
forty and fifty men are constantly employed at this labour alone; but a
substantial and handsome stone edifice is now constructing in the
immediate neighbourhood, under the superintendence, and according to the
design, of an English architect, to which this branch of the
establishment is to be transferred, and where the work is to be done by
steam; by which means a great ultimate saving will be effected.
One of the muskets furnished with a spring bayonet was shown to us,
which, although not equal in finish, and more heavy in form than those
of Europe, was, nevertheless, very creditable to an establishment, that
is yet comparatively in its infancy. I was much amused by the
astonishment of a respectable old Turk who was superintendent of the
finishing department, when he saw me engaged with my father in examining
this musket. “What pleasure can a Frank woman find in looking at
fire-arms?” he asked the Dragoman; “One of our females would be afraid
to touch such a thing. Where does she come from? and how came they to
let her in here?” The reply of the interpreter surprised him still more.
“Mashallàh!” he exclaimed, approaching me with a look of comic
earnestness. “Did the Pasha send her? Why, she is but a girl. How should
she know how to write books better than our women who never do so?”
“Because your women are shut up”—replied the Dragoman.
The Turk nodded assent; “True enough, true enough; they cannot learn of
the walls. The Franks see and hear, and travel over land and sea; and
that is why they know more than we who remain at home, and ask no
questions.”
I give this little dialogue, because it strikes me as being very
characteristic. How often have I been reminded by the Turkish women that
if I had learnt many things of which they were ignorant, I had taken a
great deal of trouble to acquire them, while they had remained
comfortably at home without care or fatigue.
From the Armoury we crossed over to the barracks of the Imperial Guard
at Scutari, where my appearance created as much astonishment among the
troops as though I had come to take the command of the garrison; and
once more I was stopped by the officer on guard; but, as Achmet Pacha
had prepared the Commandant for our visit, he was immediately summoned
by the Dragoman, and received us with the greatest politeness.
This magnificent barrack is nearly quadrangular, the centre of the
fourth side being occupied by low workshops, and a noble gateway opening
upon an exercise ground, at whose extremity on the edge of the rock
overhanging the sea stands the Persian Kiosk of the Sultan. Nothing can
be conceived more grand than the view from this graceful summer pavilion
whence you command the port, the channel, the city of Constantinople,
Pera, Galata, and every object of interest and beauty in the
neighbourhood of the capital; the picturesque Seraï Bournou; and far,
far away, the Sea of Marmora, and the dark mountains of Asia. The
prevalence of northerly winds had prevented any vessel from entering the
Golden Horn during the three preceding weeks, and a little fleet of
about thirty merchant-men were lying at anchor under the very windows of
the Kiosk, giving the last touch of loveliness to the scene spread out
before us.
The whole interior extent of the barrack is furnished with arched
cloisters along each story of the building; by which means a sufficient
space is ensured for the purposes of drill and exercise during inclement
weather. The cleanliness of the rooms was beautiful; and here, as
elsewhere, we had occasion to remark the extremely orderly conduct of
the troops. We were standing in the yard of a barrack containing five
thousand men, and there was not sufficient noise to have annoyed an
invalid. The barrack was constructed to accommodate fifteen thousand,
but it is at present garrisoned only by four regiments, and a brigade of
artillery, whose stabling is situated under the lower range of
cloisters. The kitchen is fitted up with steam; and the steam-tables are
of white marble, with which material the vegetable store is entirely
lined. Meat and pillauf are furnished daily to the troops in ample
quantities; and all their clothing is supplied by the government, while
the sum allowed as pay, for the purchase of coffee, fruit, and similar
luxuries, is greater than that given to Russian soldiers, who are
moreover obliged to furnish themselves with several articles of
clothing. The workshops were thronged; that of the shoemakers contained
a hundred and sixty individuals, who were making shoes of every
description, from the coarse slipper of the private, to the
neatly-finished boot of the Pasha. Every member of the Imperial Guard is
furnished from these workshops, and five hundred men are instructed in
each trade, who relieve one another in the event of duty or sickness.
The Regimental School was a model of neatness and order, and the number
of pupils very considerable; all the children of the Imperial Guard
being expected to attend it, whatever may be the rank of their fathers.
Many of the sergeants and corporals were studying geography; and on a
table in the centre of a second and smaller apartment, stood a handsome
set of Newton’s globes. Of the imitative talent of the Turks I have
already spoken; and on this occasion we were shown a map of Iceland,
etched by a corporal of the guard, in as good style as any pen and ink
drawing that I ever saw from the college at Sandhurst.
The arms, as I have already remarked to be universal with the Turkish
troops, were in the most admirable order, and the stores containing
clothing were well filled, and very neatly arranged. We declined
visiting the Hospital, as three recent cases of Plague had occurred
there; added to which we discovered certain threatenings in the sky
which denoted a coming storm; and, as the passage from Scutari to
Topphannè is, though comparatively short, extremely dangerous in the
event of a sudden tempest, we spent half an hour with the Commandant in
his apartment, where we partook of some exquisite sherbet, made from the
juice of the green lemon; and hurried thence to the pier, laden with a
basket of the delicious grapes and melons of Asia. But we had already
lingered too long: the wind was blowing briskly from the Black Sea; and
the distant shores were veiled in dense and heavy vapour.
We had just reached the Maiden’s Tower when the gust caught us. Of all
the environs of the Bosphorus this is the most dangerous, for the
current runs madly out into the Sea of Marmora; and the wind, released
from the Asian mountains which hem it in to the point of Scutari, is
suddenly set free in all its violence. Hence it arises that, in the
immediate neighbourhood of the Maiden’s Tower, more caïques are wrecked
during the year than in the whole of the channel; and there we were,
every wave dashing angrily against the side of the frail boat, and
pouring over us its foaming waters; the wind driving us down the
current, and the Turkish boatmen scarcely able to ejaculate their
“Mashallàhs!” and “Inshallàhs!” from the terror which made their teeth
chatter in their heads.
It was a frightful moment. At one instant we made way; at the next we
were carried back by the force of the current; we could not guess how
the affair would terminate; but meanwhile the venerable old caïquejhe
who pulled the after-oars, amid all his alarm sought to comfort me:
“Tell her,” he said perpetually to the dragoman, “tell her that there is
no danger; she is a woman, and the fear may kill her. My heart is sick
and I can scarcely pull, for my hand trembles, and my breath fails; but
console her—tell her that we shall soon be across the channel—that I
will put her ashore somewhere—anywhere—tell her what you will, for she
is a woman, and I pity her.”
But, grateful as I was for his consideration, I did not require comfort;
I had already escaped from so many dangers at sea, that I never for a
moment contemplated drowning on the present occasion; and I took some
credit to myself for upholding the honour of my sex for courage in the
eyes of the kind-hearted old Turkish caïquejhe. With considerable
difficulty we at length made the pier at Topphannè, and, a voyage
homeward being perfectly out of the question, we ascended the steep hill
to Pera, wet and weary as we were; and passed the night under the roof
of a worthy and hospitable Greek friend, listening to the wild gusts
which swept down the channel, and congratulating ourselves on our escape
from a danger as unexpected as it was imminent.