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contain jewellers' shops; others again present a diversity 
of warehouses for arms, rich harness, Indian cloths, 
cottons and woollens, books, but few in number; time 
pieces, and productions from all parts of the world. I 
particularly remarked some superb diamonds, anil a 
golden cup and cover of the greatest beauty and costli- 
ness. There are some magnificent Turkish arms, but 
they are very heavy. I enquired at the booksellers' shops 
for the history of the Ottoman Empire printed in the 
Turkish language, and met with a copy in two volumes, 
one of which was old, and the other new. They asked 
me eighty piastres for it. I offered sixty, but they would 
not let me have it at that price; I might, however, have 
obtained it for a trifle more, but one of the volumes 
being old, and having been much used in a country so 
often exposed to the plague, I was not very anxious to 
purchase it, and therefore renounced my intention with- 
out regret. 
The quarter of the city inhabited by the Greeks, is 
called Le FanaL The patriarch and the principal Greek 
families have their houses here. I merely traversed this 
quarter, and I perceived some houses of good appear- 
ance, though devoid of any luxury on the outside. That 
of Prince Suzzo, who had just been nominated Hos- 
podar of Walachia, was not apparently more elegant 
. than the rest. The Greeks are prohibited from painting 
their houses with lively colours on the outside; they 
can only paint them black, or some other deep colour, 
which gives them a very dismal appearance. 
During my stay at Constantinople I went three dif- 
ferent times by water to visit the surrounding shores. 
The first time I sailed in a shallop to see a kiosk 
belonging to the Sultan, situated upon the water's edge* 
