EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



709 



Turkish Women making Bread. 



Strongest motives of a barbarian. Travel- 

 ers, wlio put llieniselves under an Arab 

 guide, first partake of food with him, be- 

 fore they trust him in the desert. 



Wine, which was interdicted by Ma- 

 homet, is now freely drank, except by the 

 most fanatic and austere, and its use is be- 

 coming more general still. After dinner, 

 ladies often take several small glasses of 

 rosoglio, a distilled cordial. The pipe, 

 however, afibrds the chief pleasure, or rath- 

 er employment, to a Turk. The use of it is 

 universal and almost uninterrupted. On 

 horseback, riding, sitting, walking, reclin- 

 ing, or laboring at his art, it is a constant 

 companion. It is one of the few things 

 on which the Turks display much splen- 

 dor or taste. It is always sumptuous, 

 with those who can aflbrd it. The tube 

 is 6 or 7 feet in length, and the bowl is 

 richly ornamented. The bowl is some- 

 times supported on wheels, that, in moving 

 it, the indolence of the smoker may not 

 be violated. 



In a life as void of incident as that of a 

 Turk, some there are who seek the ex- 

 citement of opium. There are coffee- 

 houses for these Theiiakis, or opium-eat- 

 ers, where they may be seen sitting on 

 benches before the door, absorbed in their 

 celestial visions. The composition used 

 at Constantinople to produce the excite- 

 ment, is made of the pistils of the hemp 

 blossom, honey, powdered cloves, nutmeg, 

 and saffron. The dose varies from 3 grains 

 to a drachm, and the effect lasts 4 or 5 

 hours. The gestures of men under the 

 operation of the drug are frightful, and 

 their eyes have an unnatural wildness and 

 brilliancy. The Theriakis seldom live be- 

 yond 30, if they begin to use the drug 

 young, and their moral and physical de- 

 bility is deplorable. They are not, how- 

 ever, very numerous. 



1 1 . Diseases. Fevers are common in 

 the greater part of Turkey, and in Wallachia, goitres and other alpine diseases. Le])rosy is 

 often found, and opthalmia is frequent. It is the plague, however, that is the bane of the cities- 

 This terrible destroyer has generally baffled all human skill, both in its natural climates, and in 

 others to which it has been imported. It is contagious, and it has been supposed also to be 

 infectious. The Turkish mode of life seems devised, especially to perpetuate the plague, the 

 virulence of which is much aggravated by putrefying animal and vegetable substances. The 

 streets have no scavengers ; they are receptacles of fiUh, and whatever animal dies, is left to 

 taint the air, in a burning climate. The science of meoicine is unknown in Turkey, and a be- 

 lief in predestination, with the general indifference of the Turks to all things but ease, suffi- 

 ciently account for the unchecked ravages of the plague. The disease commonly runs its 

 course in 3 days, and the patient may have his system thoroughly invaded before he is sensible 

 of the presence of the disease ; generally, however, the glands are sore, and there are buboes 

 on the groin. When these break and are kept open, tlie patient recovers ; if they remain 



Sellers of Vegetables. 



