CONSTANTINOPLE. 23 
called the Upper Garden of the Seraglio ; and, chap. 
till within these few years, it was the only one. < y ^ 
Having thus completed the tour of this small Suitan's 
and insignificant spot of ground, let us now 
enter the kiosk, which was first mentioned as 
the Sultans summer residence. It is situate 
on the sea-shore, and commands one of the 
finest views the eye ever beheld, of Scutary and 
of the adjoining j4siatic coast, the mouth of the 
Canaly and a moving picture of ships and gon- 
dolas, with all the floating pageantry of this 
vast metropolis, such as no other capital in 
the world can pretend to exhibit. The kiosk 
itself, fashioned after the airy fantastic style of 
Easteiii architecture, presents a spacious cham- 
ber, covered by a dome ; from which, towards 
the sea, advances a raised platform surrounded 
by windows, and terminated hy ^ diva!i\ On 
the right and left are the private apartments of 
the Sultan and his ladies. Fron:i the centre of 
the dome is suspended a large lustre, presented 
by the English ambassador. Above the raised 
platform hangs another lustre of smaller size, 
(1) Tlie divan is a sort of couch, or sofa, common over all the Levant, 
surrounding every side of a room, except that which contains the entrance. 
It is raised about sixteen inches from the floor. 'When a Divan is held, 
it means nothing more, than that the persons composing it are thus 
seated. 
