ADDRESSES 215 



dustrial population, and the rivers and coasts of her great 

 inland seas, Turkey ought to be our formidable rival in the 

 markets of Europe; but her state of paralysis is such that 

 nothing is to be apprehended from that quarter. Destruc- 

 tive treaties with England and stupid legislation on the part 

 of her own government have reduced her to a state of hope- 

 less bankruptcy. 



Turkish agriculture and horticulture furnish all that the 

 heart could wish in the shape of edible vegetables. All that 

 we produce is there produced, with the exception of potatoes, 

 which are imported from Europe; squashes of various kinds, 

 and measure unlimited; okra, spinach, celery; melons, un- 

 rivaled in flavor and size; cucumbers of any length you 

 choose. 



The people of the East eat hardly any meat, but live 

 almost wholly on vegetables. The same regimen that made 

 the three Israelitish captives at the Babylonian court so 

 much fairer and fatter than those fed on the king's meat, 

 seems to agree remarkably with the people now. Given a 

 little rice, some unleavened bread, a few olives, a cucumber 

 cut up with garlic and seasoned with oil, and a pound or two 

 of grapes or other fruit, and you produce those miracles of 

 strength to be found in the Turkish porters, who, adjusting 

 the burden to the pack they carry on their backs, walk off 

 with a load of from five to seven hundred pounds, and make 

 nothing of it. 



Tobacco is grown in many parts of the empire, but it is a 

 government monopoly, and the taxes levied upon the un- 

 happy cultivators are so burdensome that they are gradu- 

 ally being forced to give up the business. The finest tobacco, 

 distinguished for its mild character and exquisite flavor, 



