CONSTANTINOPLE. i;j 
riiifrs of the Turks\ In one of our miiieralogi- chap. 
cal excursions, the merchants of the bezesten, ,- - 
where jewels are sold, directed us to the labo- 
ratory of this man, to obtain the precious 
stones of the country in their natural state. 
He was then employed upon the fragments of 
this vase, and very gladly spared the labour 
which he would otherwise have bestowed, by 
consigning, for a small sum, the whole of them 
into our hands. It is hardly possible to con- 
ceive a more extraordinary proof of the genius 
and industry of Grecian artists, than was pre- 
sented by this vase. Its fragments are still in 
the author's possession; and have been reserved 
for annual exhibition, during a course of public 
Lectures in the University of Cambridge. When 
it is considered, that the treasury of Mithradales 
contained four thousand specimens of a similar 
manufacture ; and that the , whole collection 
came into the hands of the Romans; that the 
Turks, moreover, are unable to execute any 
thing of the same nature ; it is highly probable 
that this curious relic, after passing into the 
possession of the Moslems at the conquest of the 
cit}^ had continued to adorn the palace of their 
(1) yhe Turks rarely write themselves : they employ scribes, who stand 
ready for hire in the streets ; and afterwards apply a signets which has 
been previously rubbed over with Indian ink, by way of voucher for th« 
manuscript. 
