28 



FAST OF THE RAMAZAN. 



During our stay at Janina it chanced to be the 

 Turkish fast of the Ramazan, when the Moslems 

 are prohibited by the laws of Mahomet from eat- 

 ing, drinking, or even smoking, between sunrise 

 and sunset. As soon as the sun is below the 

 horizon they may do as they please ; it is, accord- 

 ingly, customary for them to turn night into day 

 during the Ramazan. Sunset is proclaimed by 

 the firing of a gun, and I used to be much amused 

 at the hour at which this signal for the Turks to 

 break their fast was sometimes fired. They cer- 

 tainly were very liberal, and, in nautical language, 

 " made it " sunset often long before the sun had 

 thoughts of sinking below the western horizon. 



The appearance of the mosques at night, during 

 the Ramazan, is very striking. All the minarets 

 are illuminated ; and as most of the mosques have 

 many minarets, the whole town at night presents 

 a very beautiful spectacle. 



During the Ramazan all public business com- 

 mences in the evenings, goes on at night as if it 

 was day, and as we were to be presented to the 

 Pasha, we were obliged to proceed to his palace 

 about nine o'clock in the evening. The pasha 

 (Mustafa Nourri Pasha, Mouchiere, or Plenipo- 



