The Se- Ejoub in a suburb just without the walls, at the outer angle which it makes with the harbor side. raglio Point is at the vertex of the triangle. pare you for the accuracy of oriental descriptions, the authorities in so plain a matter as the circumference of the city, vary in their estimates, only from ten to twenty three miles. If you set it down at fifteen, it will not be far from the truth, and in your plan, you may mark the longest side, on the sea, and the least, on the harbor. The two water sides have their walls, with low turrets and gates. Along the Marmora, the turrets and angles often project into the sea. On the harbor side, there is usually a narrow space without, now in part occupied by dwellings. The walls on the land side, like the others, are in a ruinous condition, and their crumbling towers, will soon leave few of the Greek inscriptions to tell us by what "emperor in Jesus Christ," they were built or restored. About midway on this side, is the cannon gate, by which Mahomet entered the city in 1453. Though sober observers might not think of describing this second Rome, as another "seven hilled city," yet like the country around, it is irregular and considerably elevated. The most prominent objects as you approach, and the most interesting after you have entered, are the royal mosques. St. Sophia, with which we must of course begin, need not detain us long.—It is as well known as St. Paul's in London. Travellers differ in opinion how far they should have joined with the Christian emperor Justinian, who when he had completed this church exclaimed, "I have outdone thee O Solomon." For myself, I cannot say with the queen of Sheba, that it "exceedeth the fame which I heard." The other mosques, which are chiefly of Turkish origin, and modeled after St. Sophia, bear the names of their founders, as the Suleymanie, the Validea, Sultan Achmet, Sultan Bajazet, Sultan Selim, Sultan Mahomet and the like. You will find most of them surrounded with a large open court, in which are shade trees, fountains and cloisters, for the purposes of ablution. The central part is a high dome, with many smaller domes and minarets around. The white minarets, of which there are four to the royal mosques, are as high as any of our belfries, and as small about as a ninepin." Near the top is a gallery on the outside, from whence the muezzin proclaims the hour of prayer, towards the four cardinal points. 66 Though Christians at present, do not obtain access to the interior, you may find in the books of travellers, a minute account of the porphyry, jasper and marble columns, which the ruined cities of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and Greece, have furnished for their principal ornament. Near the mosques are the Mausoleums, or sepulchres of the sultans, and other celebrated personages. Here the Koran is often chained to the grave, and visiters spend much time in reading from it, as an act of piety. After the mosques and mausoleums, let us proceed to visit the antiquities of the Atmeidan. These are the obelisk of Egyptian granite, erected by the emperor Theodosius; the marble pyramid of one of the later Constantines; and the brazen Delphic pillar. The obelisk is fifty feet in height, of a reddish color, aud covered with hieroglyphics, which are as fresh as though inscribed but yesterday. The pyramid rises nearly a hundred feet, but being stripped of its bronze covering, looks like the tall chimney of some ruined dwelling. The part of the brazen column which remains, is composed, as you are aware, of the bodies of three twisted serpents, and is abont ten or twelve feet above ground. It supported the golden tripod, which the Greeks after the battle of Platæa found in the camp of Mardonius, and dedicated to Apollo at Delphos. The Atmeidan or ancient Hippodrome, is the open space around these monuments. Formerly it was much frequented, for playing the djerid. Military exercises have now taken its place, so that in only a single instance, have I seen an individual engaged in this sport. In the open court before the palace of the vizier, a black grandee was amusing himself with it alone. Putting his horse to his speed, he endeavored to hurl his djerid, which is a wooden stick two feet long, with such force, and in such a direction, as to catch it on its rebound. When several engage together, it is thrown with violence at each other. The other antiquities which a stranger is taken to visit, are the porphyry or burnt column about ninety feet high, erected by Constantine, together with several lesser columns, of a later date. There are also a number of ancient cisterns, the most celebrated of which is that of the Binderik, or thousand and one pillars. In this dark and damp cell, amidst several hundred columns, the twisting of silk is carried on, by a company of clamorous beggars. The other cisterns are wholly neglected, and almost wholly unknown. One of vast extent I once accidentally saw, through the polite invitation of the owner of the house, beneath which it was concealed. I was walking leisurely near the door, when a Turk came out, and, for what purpose we did not at first understand, requested us to enter. We found the cistern nearly filled with water, but could discover the tops of numerous columns, which we should gladly have explored more at length, had not part of our company gone on in advance. Since then we have not been able to get access to the house. The aqueduct of Valens, with others which the Turks themselves have erected, furnish the city with water, from the bents or artificial reservoirs in Belgrade and its vicinity. Were the city defended with cannon, and capable of enduring a siege from its fortifications and an adequate supply of provisions, it would be easy, by interrupting the aqueducts, to compel its surrender. In case of an attack by land, the struggle for its possession, would in consequence, be decided upon the heights without the walls. On these the Sultan is building most of the barracks, for the accommodation of his new soldiers, which are continually assembling at the capital. The fountains are very numerous, both in the city and by the way-side, and are an example worthy of imitation in Christian countries. When connected with establishments of dervishes they are furnished with a great number of metal cups, which are kept constantly filled. These are free to every passer by, whether he be the Mussulman, who reads the lines of the Koran in gilded letters above, and blesses the prophet and founder; or the poor rayah who curses inwardly, Mahomet and all his followers. In the villages, and by the way-side, a single cup is fastened by a chain to the fountain. The public baths are likewise an object worthy of notice. You will know them by the low dome, with Vol. I. 8 numerous openings for the vapor to escape. Nor would you ever forget them, should you once undergo the sweating process, as I did at Smyrna. Here I was cautioned not to enter, through fear of the plague. The bazars are much larger, and more exclusively devoted to a single article, than those of Smyrna. The first which I enter on crossing the harbor, contains drugs and dye stuffs; others are lined with silks, robes of fur, shoes of different colors, or arms of every kind. Copper vessels are manufactured to a great extent, and I have sometimes passed a hundred shops in succession, where none but Turkish workmen are employed. Indeed the rayahs are prohibited from engaging in most kinds of work in metals. In the bezestein, there is a splendid, rather than valuable, exhibition of jewelry, of which all the different classes of people are extravagantly fond. Here, as in Smyrna, are numerous khans, for the travelling, and which are sometimes occupied by the resident merchant. The dwelling houses, I should think, are more slightly constructed than those of that city, and more exposed to fire. The streets are better paved and more cleanly. The castle of the Seven Towers, which I have mentioned as being near one of the angular points, is, like most things else here, in ruins. Foreign ambassadors have not latterly been honored with a constrained residence within its walls. The mosque of Ejoub, which is without the other angle, is named from a holy disciple of the prophet, who is revered as the patron of Constantinople. No giaours or infidels are permitted to enter, but Ali Bey informs us that the tomb of the disciple, whose remains |