Two quarters of the globe, on the shores of two seas united by the Bosphorus, lie spread before us.  The glorious hills with their towns and villages, the number of palaces, gardens, kiosks, and mosques, Chalcedon, the Prince’s Islands, the Golden Horn, the continual bustle on the sea, the immense fleet, besides the numerous ships of other nations, the crowds of people in Pera, Galata, and Topana—­all unite to form a panorama of singular beauty.  The richest fancy would fail in the attempt to portray such a scene; the most practised pen would be unequal to the task of adequately describing it.  But the gorgeous picture will be ever present to my memory, though I lack the power of presenting it to the minds of others.

Frequently, and each time with renewed pleasure, I ascended this tower, and would sit there for hours, in admiration of the works of the created and of the Creator.  Exhausted and weary with gazing was I each time I returned to my home.  I think I may affirm that no spot in the world can present such a view, or any thing that can be compared with it.  I found how right I had been in undertaking this journey in preference to any other.  Here another world lies unfolded before my view.  Every thing here is new—­nature, art, men, manners, customs, and mode of life.  He who would see something totally different from the every-day routine of European life in European towns should come here.

The bazaar.

In the town of Constantinople we come upon a wooden bridge, large, long, and broad, stretching across the Golden Horn.  The streets of the town are rather better paved than those of Pera.  In the bazaars and on the sea-coast alone do we find an appearance of bustle; the remaining streets are quiet enough.

The Bazaar is of vast extent, comprehending many covered streets, which cross each other in every direction and receive light from above.  Every article of merchandise has its peculiar alley.  In one all the goldsmiths have their shops, in another the shoemakers; in this street you see nothing but silks, in another real Cashmere shawls, etc.

Every dealer has a little open shop, before which he sits, and unceasingly invites the passers-by to purchase.  Whoever wishes to buy or to look at any thing sits down also in front of the booth.  The merchants are very good-natured and obliging; they always willingly unfold and display their treasures, even when they notice that the person to whom they are shewing them does not intend to become a purchaser.  I had, however, imagined the display of goods to be much more varied and magnificent than I found it; but the reason of this apparent poverty is that the true treasures of art and nature, such as shawls, precious stones, pearls, valuable arms, gold brocades, etc., must not be sought in the bazaars; they are kept securely under lock and key in the dwellings or warehouses of the proprietors, whither the stranger must go if he wishes to see the richest merchandise.