NOTES ON A SOJOURN IN THE LEVANT. 4I 
to whom we are indebted, if not for our religion, yet for our 
learning, our arts, and sciences. 
When you have passed through the Dardanelles, and are getting 
across the Sea of Marmora, your thoughts naturally begin to turn 
to the great city of Constantinople, which you are rapidly nearing. 
The Sea of Marmora ends towards the north in a small bay 
which leads into the narrow channel of water called the Bosphorus. 
Ships which have to discharge at Constantinople do not enter the 
Bosphorus, but turn to the left and enter an arm of water a few 
miles long called the “Golden Horn.” The Golden Horn 
separates the old town on the south from the new on the north, 
and serves as the harbour of the port. 
It only needs a glance to see the importance and strength of 
the situation of this city for on the land side a line of fortifica- 
tions of only a few miles in length is needed for its protection, 
while seaward there is room in the waters of the Bosphorus and 
the Sea of Marmora for the largest fleet which any nation could 
wish to possess. The only sea approach from the south is through 
the Dardanelles, a narrow channel, at one place only a quarter of 
a mile wide, while the sea approach from the north is the channel 
leading out of the Black Sea into the Bosphorus, which is not 
more than a mile wide. In the hands of a powerful maritime 
nation Constantinople would be practically impregnable. 
As a commercial centre, Constantinople, if properly taken in 
hand and provided with docks, wharves, and railways, might be 
the port for distributing the produce and goods of Asia among 
the nations of Europe. 
The principal building in the city is the mosque of Santa Sophia 
in the old town. This was originally a Christian Church, and was 
built by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century. 
It is generally supposed that at one time the Bosphorus was a 
succession of lakes united by a stream, and that in course of time 
the stream became widened, and the lakes somewhat contracted, 
thus producing the present condition of things. The European shore 
of the Bosphorus from Constantinople to Biyukdere, which is about 
four miles from the Black. Sea, or twelve from Constantinople, is 
