444 
THROUGH THE THRACIAN BOSPORUS, 
chap, party of Turkish gondoliers in their own boat, 
- t _ ; and a set of Thames watermen in one of their 
wherries. We passed the gorge of the Canal, 
remarkable as being the site of the bridge 
constructed by Darius for the passage of his 
numerous army; the grandeur of the scenery 
increasing as we approached the capital. The 
sides of the Canal appeared covered with 
stately pavilions, whose porticoes, reaching to 
the water’s edge, were supported by pillars ol 
marble; when, all at once, the prospect ol 
Constantinople, with the towns of Scutary and 
Pera, opened upon us, and filled our minds 
with such astonishment and admiration, that 
the impression can never be effaced. Since 
nothing can equal the splendour of such a scene, 
it is impossible, by comparison, to give any 
description of what we saw. The Reader, by 
the aid of his imagination, combining all his 
ideas of Oriental pomp with the utmost magni- 
ficence of Nature, may endeavour to supply the 
deficiency 1 . The Turkish squadron, recently 
returned from a summer cruise, were, when we 
arrived, at anchor off the point of the seraglio. 
One of the ships, a three-decker, constructed 
(l) The Bay of Naples has often been compared with that of 
Constantinople, but improperly ; because the natural beauties of the 
former are of a different description ; and the external appearance of 
the city of Naples, viewed from the sea, is very inferior in grandeur. 
