CONSTANTINOPLE, _Dec. 22, 1841_.
I took the steamer for this city, stopping at the island of Syra, which
is the concentrating point for passengers changing steamers for Egypt,
Constantinople, Malta, &c. The town is built upon the summit of a lofty
hill, so remarkable for its conical form that it may be compared to
a vast sugar-loaf covered with houses. In the distance it looks well
enough, but in the interior everything is dirty and filthy.
From Syra we came to Smyrna, which is prettily situated upon the
Asiatic shore, and on entering the city were struck with the Oriental
costume of Turks, Armenians, Jews, and Greeks; the women, with their
faces covered with a sort of white veil, disclosing only their
sparkling black eyes, appeared singular enough. The streets are ranges
of houses constructed of wood, mostly one story high, and without
chimneys. The population is about one hundred and fifty thousand. The
bazaars are crowded with buyers and sellers, while trains of camels
with loads upon their backs are passing through the narrow streets,
scarcely admitting the foot passenger to pass.
On the 14th I left Smyrna for this city, making the passage in less
than two days, passing the ruins of ancient Troy by daylight, the
island of Tenedos, stopping at Chesme, where the Turkish fleet was
burned in the harbor. On entering the Dardanelles we had a magnificent
view of the old forts and villages scattered along the coast. I should
think the width of the Hellespont about equal to the Hudson river
at Poughkeepsie. Our steamer received and discharged some Turkish
passengers at Gallipoli, a city of considerable importance, just
before we left the Sea of Marmora, which was the last point touched
until our arrival at Constantinople. We arrived about mid-day, having
an opportunity of seeing, under favorable circumstances, the most
beautiful port in the world. Nothing can exceed the magnificent view
that is before you on entering the Golden Horn, the eye resting upon
scenery one half in Europe and the other half in Asia, the painted
and gilded minarets of the mosques, the swelling cupolas, and immense
cypress trees towering above the houses--the forest of masts, the
thousands of caiques which cover the waters, all combined, render it
perhaps the most remarkable sight of the kind in the world.
On entering the city one finds the scene much changed, although there
is a vast deal of magnificence still; the streets are narrow and dirty,
thronged by immense crowds of people, and it is impossible to form an
idea of the extremes of grandeur and wretchedness that are exhibited.
Nothing can be more striking than the contrast in the character and
customs of the Turks and the other nations of Europe, and I hardly know
where to commence a description.
We procured a dragoman to accompany us, and speak the language, and
started to see the sights of the city. After visiting some of the
mosques and viewing the exterior--no one except “the faithful” being
permitted to enter until a firman is obtained from the Sultan--we
strolled along, and I was struck with the sight of an immense
cemetery, almost in the middle of the city, the tombstones being in
the shape of a turban on the top, with gilded letters, and tastefully
decorated; the grounds were filled with stately cypresses, as it is
the custom to plant one of these trees at the birth and burial of
each person. Singular as it may appear, the cemetery is the grand
promenade, and here the Turk sips his coffee and smokes his pipe under
the shade of trees when the weather is warm. On passing you observe
the coffee-houses, occupied also with groups squatted round the room
on a counter, which is raised from the floor and carpeted, and it is
amusing to see the attendants glide about through the long pipes and
the winding smokes of nargilhès supplying their customers with coffee,
without deranging the peculiar apparatuses for smoking.
The next day after our arrival was Friday, the Turkish Sabbath, and
it was announced that the Sultan would visit the mosque near the
arsenal. We were there in good time, and at mid-day precisely we heard
the thundering of cannon from the vessels of the port. Soon after we
discovered approaching four gorgeous state barges about fifty feet in
length, propelled by twenty-four oarsmen, the canopies glittering with
gold. An immense array of officers and military to escort him were in
attendance from the barges to the mosque. He walked on a carpet which
was laid for the occasion. I observed many prisoners carrying baskets
of gravel, and on inquiry learned that it was scattered for the Sultan
to walk on after he came from the mosque.
We next went to the place of worship of the Whirling Dervishes. We
entered with slippers, according to their custom, and found many Turks
squatted on the floor, in their usual position. In the centre was
a ring about thirty feet in diameter, where were thirteen priests,
dressed in cloth frocks, with a white cloth cap, almost of a conical
form, without rim, passing round the circle, and going through many
strange evolutions. At length, to the music of the fife and drum, they
commenced whirling slowly, and then more rapidly, until the motion was
like a top; continuing this and other strange exercises for about an
hour, finishing by a tremendous howl, which is intended to make the
Christians, or the infidels, as they call them, tremble. The Turks
consider all Christians as dogs, of which animals they have thousands
upon thousands in Constantinople. They subsist in the streets, without
masters, and seem to despise Christians and Turks alike. The people,
however, are very kind to animals, that being a part of their religion.
Their litters are never destroyed, and they are the only scavengers of
the city. They feed upon the offal of the butchers’ shops and private
houses, and carcasses of animals. They are never domesticated within
private dwellings. The mosques are guarded to prevent their polluting
them, as they are very susceptible of the plague. One not unfrequently
hears the cry of “_Giaour_” from the lips of the Turks, in
passing, and the growling and barking of hundreds of dogs testify their
hatred.
It is unsafe for a stranger to appear in the streets after dark, and
never practicable to do so without a lantern. It is a strange sight,
on a clear, starlight night, to see perhaps one hundred lanterns at
once, flitting about the streets, which are so narrow and dark that all
who move about in them are compelled to carry lights. No strangers are
permitted to reside in Constantinople; the gates are closed at an early
hour, and all foreigners live at Pera, on the opposite side of the
harbor.
On visiting the slave-market, we found perhaps one hundred and fifty
slaves, all females, the largest proportion black. The blacks are sold
for servants, the whites for wives. The latter are mostly Circassians
or Georgians, belonging to good families in those provinces, who
entrust their daughters to the commissioner, who is responsible for any
insult or affront, while the female has the right of refusal to be sold
to any whom she may dislike. The female blacks are bought to be the
slaves of the mistress, not of the master. He is bound to support them
through life. The male slaves rise with the condition of the master.
The population of Constantinople is variously estimated from five
hundred thousand to seven hundred thousand, with the environs of
Scutari on the Asiatic shore, and Pera and Galata on the opposite side
of the Golden Horn, which is an arm of the Bosphorus running up and
forming the harbor. The city is well supplied with baths and fountains,
and nothing can exceed the luxury of the Turkish bath. It is amusing
for a stranger merely to enter one of these establishments. The rooms,
of which there are a number, of a circular form and lighted from the
top, have different gradations of heat, the last or warmest of which
is excessive. The first room entered, which is about sixty feet in
diameter, with a dome, is supplied with galleries, upon which are seen,
lying on different couches, the bathers reposing after their ablutions,
each with a pipe from four to six feet in length in his hand, the
servants supplying coffee and other refreshments.
Beautiful fountains are found near the mosques, as well as in other
parts of the city. You may see the Turks at all hours of the day,
bathing their faces, hands, and feet at the fountains attached to the
mosques, ablution being compulsory, under the Mahometan religion,
before entering the mosques. We enter a place of worship with our heads
uncovered; they shave their heads, upon which they wear a turban, at
all times, and enter their mosques with their feet uncovered. Some of
their fountains are of a quadrangular form, the roofs of which bend
out like a pagoda whose corners are cut off. On all sides are gold
inscriptions and Arabic characters.
The covered bazaars have more the appearance of a row of booths, than a
street of shops. Here may be found the jewelers, occupying one quarter,
the silk merchants another; one alley glitters for hundreds of yards
with yellow and red morocco boots and shoes, which are worn by Turkish
and Armenian ladies, all classes being distinguished by their costume.
The arrangement of the different trades, and the exposure of their
gaudy and rich articles, surprise even those who are acquainted with
London and Paris.
On Sunday last I found the little Episcopal church which is supported
here, and tolerably well attended. The service was all in English, and
the scene and associations presented by such a worship, so far from
England, were of the most pleasant and interesting character. Generally
the Americans attend this church, there being no other Christian church
here.
To-morrow we make an excursion upon the Bosphorus as far as the mouth
of the Black Sea, and the next day are to visit the seraglio of the
Sultan, the mosques, the tombs of the late Sultans, the Mint, and other
objects of interest, from which all strangers are excluded, except by
the special firman of the Sultan. The Austrian admiral, who is now
here, has obtained a firman, and my travelling companion, a young
Prussian, and myself, are invited to join the party.