fitted up at the navy yard. Within the walls of Tershane, is the prison of the bagnio. In this are hundreds of poor wretches confined for trifling offences, or some slight suspicion of the government, and not unfrequently at the request of the Jewish President or Armenian and Greek Patriarchs. Prisoners of war are usually shut up here. All the inmates are chained two and two, and employed in the most laborious services. Here, amidst all their sufferings from sickness, stripes and labor by day, our brethren, the Jewish Christians, still continue at midnight, to "pray and sing praises unto God."

On the hill above Trophana and Galata, and forming with them one continuous city, is Pera. A vast Turkish cemetry-one of the favorite walks of the people, occupies the side between it and the navy yard. In Pera, are the palaces of the Foreign Ambassadors, and the dwelling houses of most of the Frank merchants. Here and in Galata, all the Franks reside, with the exception of a few of lesser note in Trophana. hundred years since, some of the Ambassadors had their palaces in Constantinople, but at present no Frank is suffered to remain there, or out of the curve of the Golden Horn.

An

Scutari, is the great Asiatic suburb. The population of this, and indeed a great part of the inhabitants of the Frank suburbs, are Turks intermingled with their three great classes of subjects. The strength of the current which sets from the Black Sea into the Marmora, at the rate of several miles an hour, increases the labor of communication between Europe and Asia. As you cross over, you pass a tower on a little island, not far from the Scutari point, which has

been called Leander's tower. It derives its appellation from an oriental story, bearing a slight resemblance to that of the lover of Abydos.

The Bosphorus on both of its sides, and especially the European, is for more than half of its extent, a constant succession, not merely of villages, but of dwellings. Just above Tophana is one of the light and airy summer palaces of the sultan. Others belonging to himself, his relatives and different officers of the court, are interspersed along the shore, among the dusky dwellings of his subjects. As you approach the Black Sea, the white washed castles and batteries take the places of these kiosks, and the shores become less populous.

Most of the foreign Ambassadors and merchants, have their summer residences at Buyuk-dere on the European side of the canal, twelve miles or two thirds of the distance from Constantinople to the Black Sea. The Russian ambassador has no palace in Pera, but stops with his chancellor there when he has occasion to be in town. The French and English ambassadors, with several of their respective countrymen, have latterly resided at Therapia, a village on the same side, just below Buyuk-dere.

The banks of the Bosphorus are high, with vineyards and gardens, often rising above the houses. But you want a more, glowing pen than mine to describe its lovely scenery; or the surpassing beauty of the wide semi-circular city which seems to embosom you, on approaching its entrance from the Marmora, or the celebrated Turkish cemetries without Scutari and Constantinople, and the Armenian burying ground on the borders of Pera. My object is to give you merely an outline of the picture, and leave it for others to add its rich and variegated coloring.

Let me then direct you to the valley of the Sweet Waters, and the village of Belgrade with its lakes and forest. These you will find by following up the rivulet which creeps with its sluggish fellow into the head of the harbor. The Sultan has a kiosk at Kiathana, in the valley of the Sweet Waters, and Belgrade was a favorite place of summer residence, before Buyuk-dere was built. With these exceptions, the country around Constantinople to a great extent, is exceedingly uninviting. Where there is a cluster of houses, a few acres may be under tillage, but generally, the land is unenclosed, uncultivated, and without inhabitants. The surface is irregular and sometimes hilly, presenting to the eye either the naked earth, scattered grass and weeds, or evergreen shrubbery. On the opposite shores of Asia, the hills rise into mountains, but the soil is usually more fertile. After doubling the Scutari point, you pass on the coast, the village of Kaddi-kui, the representative of the ancient Chalcedon, which is truly "the blind man's city," in comparison with Byzantium, its finely situated successor. Just beyond is the grove of Fanar-Baktchesi, the favorite resort, alike of Franks, Turks, and Rayahs. In the Marmora farther to the east, and at no great distance, lie scattered the Princes' Islands. These are likewise pleasant summer quarters, frequented more particularly by the Greeks.

Thus much in brief for the city, and now but a word more respecting its inhabitants. I trust we shall by and by be able to determine their numbers with greater certainty, when the census which is now said to be in progress, shall be brought to a close. Till then you must be content with taking the mean of the

different estimates, though I believe this is almost always too high. Including the villages of the Bosphorus, the two extremes which I have found stated, are 300,000 and 1,000,000. I cannot persuade myself that there are more than 5 or 600,000 of which more than half are probably Turks. Of the remainder, 80 or 100,000 may be assigned to the Armenians; 60 or 80,000 to the Greeks; 40 or 50,000 to the Jews; and 6 or 8,000 to the Franks.

CHAPTER XII.

THE PLAGUE AND KINDRED EVILS.

Removal to the Princes' Islands-Singular precaution against the plague---Number of its victims---History---Symptoms--Remedies---Great terror caused by the disease---Different theories respecting contagion---Preventives---Duty of the philanthropist---Filth of the Levant---Vermin---Dogs---Proposed plan for their destruction---Two modes of self-preservation---Fires.

Prinkipos, April 15, 1827.

I HAVE now been a month in these islands, which I find a delightful retreat from the crowd and filth, and dogs and disease, (I wish I could add vermin,) of Constantinople. The crowd however I should have no disposition to shun, were it not for two reasons-ignorance of their languages, and exposure to the plague. Coming to the Mediterranean without the slightest knowledge of any of the spoken languages of the people, it will necessarily be some time before I can converse advantageously on the momentous truths of

the gospel. As for the plague, according to the prevalent opinion of the Christian population, and particularly the Franks and Greeks, it is communicated chiefly by contact with the person and dress of the infected. Hence, it has become a habit in walking the streets, studiously to collect the skirts of one's garment, and to shun the passer-by as though death were in the touch. Sometimes, notwithstanding all the dexterity thus acquired, the robe of a careless Turk will brush against you, and cause no small misgiving at the accident. The older residents endeavor to quiet the fears of strangers, and become somewhat remiss in their precautions, not so much perhaps from a disbelief of their importance, as of their insufficiency. Do what they may, unless they wholly abstain from business, nor even then, can they be sure for an hour, of not having been exposed to the contagion. But let me reduce my remarks on this scourge of the Levent to some order. I can however add little to the statements of books, though I may give the impression more fresh from the minds of the people. The subject is also one of great practical importance to us, in our missionary capacity. Besides using proper precautions to preserve ourselves from danger, it is our duty to be doing something, if possible, to mitigate an evil that involves the comfort, the intellectual and moral improvement, and the lives of so many millions.

First then as to the numbers, which his "besom of destruction" sweeps away. In the single street of Pera, from which I have just removed, one thousand died last year. In 1812, a year indeed which had been without a parallel since 1778, we are informed by Turner, that according to the most authentic accounts,