138 CONSTANTINOPLE. 
repairs in his dwelling, dug near the foundation, 
and found that his house stood upon graves, yet 
containing the mouldering relics of the dead- 
Rats and This may perhaps account for the swarm of 
Cats 
rats; not only in the buildings, but in the 
streets ; whither they resort in such numbers at 
night, that a person passing through them finds 
these animals running against his legs. The 
prodigious multitude, however, of the rats is 
not owing to any want of cats ; for the latter 
constitute the greater nuisance of the two. 
They enter through the crazy roofs, which con- 
sist only of a few thin planks, and render the 
smell of the bedchambers much more offensive 
than that of a dunghill. Some of these cats are 
of a very uncommon breed ; and they are re- 
markable for their great beauty. One evening, 
as the author was adding these notes, there 
descended from the trap-door of the roof, and 
came prowling into his room, a cat of such 
astonishing size and beauty, that he at first 
mistook it for some fiercer animal. It had long 
hairs, like the Angora breed ; and the colour of 
its fur was white, tipped with a golden yellow : 
its tail standing erect, like that of a squirrel, 
was flattened by the position of its hairs, which 
stuck out on either side, so as to make it a 
span wide : its ears were high and pointed. 
