28 A Relation of the Chap.lIL 



ï ■ 



Un Turks have 

 an aver (ion for 

 the Hare. 



Conferves. 



Several Compe~ 

 fitions of 

 Sherbet. 



uncowardly, that wheh they are brought up to the Table, they appear fo mangled and 

 diforder'd,that it is no eafie matter to diftinguifh the head from the feet. But it is to 

 be obferv'd, that the filau, and all forts of Flelh-meat are not ferv'd up, but only at 

 Supper, about five of the Clock in the Evenings and that in the morning, thofe of 

 better Quality eat dnly Sallets, Herbs, Fruits, and Conferves -, the meaner fort of peo- 

 ple contenting themfelves with meats made of Milk, Melons, and Cucumbers, ac- 

 cording to the Seafon. 



. As>ibr .Fifti, the ■1'm'ks, care not much for it, and though the Seas and Rivers ate 

 well ; ;replenilh'd the^wifh, yet they feldom eat of them. It feldom happens alfo,that 

 any Veniion or WUd-Fowl comes into their houfcs, as being a kind of meat they do 

 not any way reliih. But above all meats they have an averiion for the Hare ■■> which 

 obfer-yation Î made alfo in the Armenians, who are of a perfwafion, that the Female 

 of tHat Creature, has its monthly courfes regularly, as the Woman hath. It is eafily 

 perceivable,by what account I have given, that there is no great variety or delicacy in 

 the ff&tojh Entertainments, and that the French and other Europeans would not think ' 

 themfelves well treated thereat. But, however, their Kitchins are kept very neat, they 

 have all the accommodations requifite for their way of dreiling, and whether you con- 

 fider the Dilhes and other Veflels they ufe, or the meat it felf, there is as much clean- 

 linefs as can be expe&ed. 



The Officers where the Conferves and Sweet-meats are made (there being fix or 

 feven of them) are above the Kitchins, and ferv'd by four hundred- Halvagis, who 

 were eftablilh'd by Sultan Solyman, a magnificent Prince, who alfo regulated all the 

 Offices and Officers of the Seraglio. They are perpetually at work in thofe feven 

 Offices, and there they prepare all forts of Conferves, dry and liquid, and feveral forts 

 of Syrups, as alfo feveral kinds of Turcbi, which are Fruits preferv'd in Vinegar and 

 Salt, into which, they put a quantity of fragrant Herbs, fuch as Rofemary, Marjo- 

 ram, and Sage. 



In the fame Offices they alfo prepare the ordinary drink of the Turfa which they 

 call Sherbet, and it is made feveral ways. That which is moft common in Turkey comes 

 fomewhat near our Lemonade, but there is very little water in it i 'tis in a manner 

 all juyce of Lemmon, or Citron, having an intermixture of Sugar, Amber, and Musk. 

 They make another fort of it, which is highly in elteem, and that is made with the 

 water diftiU'd from the flower of a Plant, which grows in Pools and Rivers, and has 

 the figure of a Horfe-fhooe. Thefe flowers are yellow, and called Nuloufer. But the 

 Sherbet which they moft efteem, and which is drunk by the Grand Seignor himfelf| 

 as alfo by the Baffa'sand other Grandees of the Port, is made of Violets and Sugar, 

 and there is but little juyce of Citron put into it. They make alfo another fort of 

 drink, which they call Magion, compos'd of feveral Drugs , whereby it is made 

 hot : and there is another fort purpofcly prepar'd for the Grand Seignor himfelf, cal- 

 led Mufcavi, of which he takes a Dofe, when he intends to vifit the Sultaneffes. The 

 principal Perfons about the Court fend for it fecretly to the Halvagibachi, who does 

 not deny them as being a great advantage to him , becaufe he is well paid for 

 it. Nor do they want Snow and Ice, to cool all thofe Liquors, and the Turk$ arc 

 much more humorous and delicate in their drinks, than they are in their Meat. 



Receptacles for 

 the waters of 

 the Seraglio, 



The little Su- 

 bies. 



At a place ten or twelve paces diftant, and oppofite to thefe Offices, is the Recep- 

 tacle, or Refervatory, which diftributes all the Waters of the Seraglio, and they are 

 thence directed to every Quarter, into the places where there is a neceffity of them. 

 One of the Baltagis has his ftation there all the day long, to give Water as he is di- 

 rected. And when the Grand Seignor paffes from one Quarter to another, the foun- 

 tain of that, where he is in perfon, plays Continually during his abode there, by a. 

 Signal which is given to the Baltagi. 



On the left hand, in the fame Court, and oppofite to the Kitchins, may be feen 

 the Grand Seignor's little Stables, which do not hold above twenty five or thirty 

 choice Horfes, defign'd- for his Exercifes with his Favourites, and above the Stables, 

 in great Rooms, they keep the Saddles, Bridles, HoulTes, Trappings, Foot-cloaths,and 

 . . r Stirrops, 



