270 CONSTANTINOPLE INTOLERABLE 



being devoured by dogs ; where the common neces- 

 saries of life are not superabundant, and out- 

 rageously dear ; where the fair sex (confound 

 them !) exhibit the bridge of a well-shaped nose, 

 and a pair of irresistible eyes, through their yash- 

 maes, but are liable to be tied up in sacks and 

 thrown into the Bosphorus if discovered even so 

 much as speaking to a Giaour ; where there are 

 no public amusements of any description ; where, 

 if a stranger, expecting to see something of Turk- 

 ish manners and customs, ventures across to the 

 sweet waters of Asia on a Friday, and, at- 

 tracted by a pair of piercing eyes, approaches 

 within the forbidden space of ground allotted to 

 the Turkish women, he gets a most unceremo- 

 nious hint, from a sentry, to retire ; where, after 

 deluding oneself into the idea that by residing 

 amongst the Turks one is gaining information 

 concerning them and their domestic manners and 

 customs, one finds out, at last, that a Frank may 

 be twenty years there, and come away none the 

 wiser, because all his associates and acquaint- 

 ances are Franks ; where a day cannot pass over 

 the head of any thinking person without his re- 

 gretting that so fine a situation, so beautiful a 



