INTERIOR OF MOSQUES. 209 



several mosques. It is curious that in some towns 

 in Turkey no objection is made to a stranger 

 visiting them, whilst in others a Frank cannot for 

 love or money gain admittance. There is, how- 

 ever, very little to see in a mosque. It is curious, 

 certainly, to observe a Moslem going through his 

 numberless prostrations; but there is nothing strik- 

 ing, no magnificence, no effect in the mosque 

 itself; all is plain and neat ; and excepting a num- 

 ber of small fancy lamps hanging on strings in all 

 directions all over the centre of the building, and 

 the sentences of the Koran written about, no one 

 would notice any difference from any other large 

 building with pillars, and perfectly plain in the 

 inside ; it resembles, in fact, a church without 

 any ornament. The upper end, nearest the altar, 

 is carpeted, the lower is covered with mats. In 

 one of these mosques a boy was singing, not at 

 all disagreeably, but the tune was of a most ex- 

 traordinary description. He made occasionally a 

 noise with his mouth, which, if it was not a shrill 

 whistle, certainly very much resembled one. 



One of these mosques had been a Greek church, 

 dedicated to St. Demetrius, at whose tomb, inside 

 the church, a lamp is always kept burning, even 



