CONSTANTINOPLE. 63 
edifices of any note. The Menas:erie shewn to chap. 
"r II. 
strangers is the most filthy hole in Europe, and > 
it is chiefly tenanted by rats The pomp of 
a Turk may be said to consist in his pipe and 
his horse: the first will cost from twenty to 
twenty thousand piastres. That of the Capudan 
Pasha had a spiral ornament of diamonds from 
one end to the other; and it was six feet in 
length. Coffee-cups are adorned in the same 
costly manner. A saddle-cloth embroidered 
and covered with jewels, stirrups of silver, and 
other rich trappings, are used by their grandees 
to adorn their horses The boasted illumi- 
nations of the Ramadan would scarcely be 
perceived, if they were not pointed out. The 
suburbs of London are more brilliant every night 
in the year. 
As to the antiquities of Constantinople, those 
"which are generally shewn to strangers have 
been often and ably described. There is a 
method of obtainino- medals and g-ems which 
has not, however, been noticed; this is, by 
application to the persons who contract for the 
product of the common sewers, and are em- 
ployed in washing the mud and filth of the city. 
In this manner we obtained, for a mere trifle, 
some interesting remains of antiquity ; among 
which may be mentioned, a superb silver medal 
