379 
or to read. These things produce in the temple the ap- 
pearance of a camp, which is very ridiculous. There 
is a superb marble jar in the northwest angle of the 
principal nave, which is executed with great taste, and 
serves for a fountain. I observed in an upper gallery a 
partition of marble in the form of a skreen, which 
was very well executed in imitation of wood. 
I saw the Sultan Mustapha go to public prayer on 
a Friday in a mosque called Sultan Djeami, or the 
mosque of the Sultan, situated opposite one of the 
gates of the seraglio. The street which the Sultan had 
to traverse in his way thither, was lined with two 
rows of janissaries from the gate of the seraglio to 
that of the mosque. My interpreter and my janissary 
would not approach, because every body trembles at 
the name of the Sultan. As for myself I crossed the 
ranks, penetrated into the court of the mosque, and 
placed myself in the most advantageous situation to 
see his highness. 
Several of the great personages of the court first 
arrived in succession, mounted upon superb horses, 
richly caparisoned, and surrounded with servants on 
foot. They alighted at the door of the mosque, and 
the servants ranged their horses on one side in the 
court. 
The janissaries of the guard wear, as do all the 
Turks, a long robe, but of different colours, each ac- 
cording to his taste, without any other sign of dis- 
tinction, than an extravagant cap of grayish white 
felt, the hinder part of which hangs behind and covers 
the back; there is a plate of metal before, which falls 
upon the forehead, and encloses, as if in a case, a 
wooden spoon of a rude shape, which each janissary 
