concerning the nature of his mission in Turkish territory.  During this interesting comedy the “audience” are fairly shaking in their rags with suppressed merriment; and when the taciturn individual himself — who has thus far retained his habitual self-composure — growing restive under the hateful imputation of being a Muscov and my supposed bellicose sentiments toward him in consequence, finally repudiates the part thus summarily assigned him, the whole company bursts out into a boisterous roar of laughter.  At this happy turn of sentiment I assume an air of intense relief, shake the taciturn man’s hand, and, borrowing the speculative transient’s fez, proclaim myself a Turk, an act that fairly “brings down the house.”

Thus the evening passes merrily away until about ten o’clock, when the people begin to slowly disperse to the roofs of their respective habitations, the whole population sleeping on the house-tops, with no roof over them save the star-spangled vault — the arched dome of the great mosque of the universe, so often adorned with the pale yellow, crescent-shaped emblem of their religion.  Several families occupy the roof which has been the theatre of the evening’s social gathering, and the men now consign me to a comfortable couch made up of several quilts, one of the transients thoughtfully cautioning me to put my moccasins under my pillow, as these articles were the object of almost universal covetousness during the evening.  No sooner am I comfortably settled down, than a wordy warfare breaks out in my immediate vicinity, and an ancient female makes a determined dash at my coverlet, with the object of taking forcible possession; but she is seized and unceremoniously hustled away by the men who assigned me my quarters.  It appears that, with an eye singly and disinterestedly to my own comfort, and regardless of anybody else’s, they have, without taking the trouble to obtain her consent, appropriated to my use the old lady’s bed, leaving her to shift for herself any way she can, a high-handed proceeding that naturally enough arouses her virtuous indignation to the pitch of resentment.  Upon this fact occurring to me, I of course immediately vacate the property in dispute, and, with true Western gallantry, arraign myself on the rightful owner’s side by carrying my wheel and other effects to another position; whereupon a satisfactory compromise is soon arranged between the disputants, by which another bed ia prepared for me, and the ancient dame takes triumphant possession of her own.  Peace and tranquillity being thus established on a firm basis, the several families tenanting our roof settle themselves snugly down.  The night is still and calm, and naught is heard save my nearer neighbors’ scratching, scratching, scratching.  This — not the scratching, but the quietness — doesn’t last long, however, for it is customary to collect all the four-footed possessions of the village together every night and permit them to occupy the inter-spaces