A RIDE TO MAGNESIA. 135 



the poor horse's account and on my own. But I 

 made the best of the circumstances, encouraging 

 the animal with all that I could remember and im- 

 itate of the dialect in which man converses with 

 the horse, and comforting myself with thinking 

 how soon the poor fellow would be stabled and 

 shod. 



The bridge over which we passed was very pretty 

 ' and not very shaky, nor by any means so broken 

 backed as are the greater number of Turkish speci- 

 mens. At the moment of our passing it was lined 

 with venerable old fellows, who had turned out to 

 enjoy their evening pipe. They were dressed in the 

 most approved and unreformed style, and many of 

 them had long beards, descending to the girdle. 

 They sat in perfect stillness, no man speaking to or 

 seeming to care for his neighbour. Indeed, from 

 experiences among them, we might almost argue that 

 though man is by nature gregarious, he is conversa- 

 tional only by acquirement. At any rate, they show 

 how few Avords may answer all the purposes of busi- 

 ness, and how little all of us would talk if wives 

 and domestic matters were proscribed subjects. As 

 we passed through the midst of them, not a soul 

 looked at us, not a nudge did one of them give to 

 his neighbour, not a puff less of smoke was emitted. 

 One might have concluded it to be with them an 

 everyday occurrence to see three Europeans ride 

 in such style into their town. Yet you might be 



