22 
clarkeY travels. 
galleries. Great interest was making, w hile we remained io 
Constantinople, to have these chambers examined. A little 
gold soon opened all the locks; and we scrutinized not only 
the interior of these apartments, but also every other part of 
the building. They were all empty, and only remarkable 
for the Mosaic work which covered the ceilings. Some of 
the doors were merely openings to passages, which conducted 
to the leads and upper parts of the building; these w ere also 
either empty, or filled with mortar, dust, and rubbish. Still 
more absurd is the pretended phosphoric light, said to issue 
from a mass of lapis lazuli in' one of the gallery walls. This 
marvellous phenomenon was pointed out by our guide, who 
consented, for a small bribe, to have the whole trick exposed. 
It is nothing more than a common slab of marble, which, be* 
ing thin, and almost worn through, transmits a feeble light, 
from the exterior, to a spectator in the gallery. By going to 
the outside, and placing my hat over the place, the light im¬ 
mediately disappeared. 
The other mosques of Constantinople have been built after 
the plan of St. Sophia; and particularly that of Sultan Soly- 
raan, which is a superb edifice, and may be said to offer a mi¬ 
niature representation of the model whence it was derived. 
It contains twenty-four columns of granite and of Cipolino 
marble, together with some very large circular slabs of por¬ 
phyry. Four granite columns within the building are near 
five feet in diameter, and from thirty five to forty in height. 
There are also two superb pillars of porphyry at the entrance 
of the court. The mosque of Sultan Bajazet is rich in an¬ 
cient columns of granite, porphyry, verde aniico , and marble : 
Two of them, within the mosque, are thirty feet high, and 
five feet io diameter. In the mosque called Osmania are pil¬ 
lars of Egyptian granite, twenty two feet high, and three feet 
in diameter; and near it is the celebrated sarcophagus of red 
porphyry, called the tomb of Constantine, nine feet long, seven 
feet wide, and five feet thick, of one entire mass. This 
mosque is also famous for its painted glass, and is paved with 
marble. In the mosque of Sultan Achmed are columns of 
verde aniico, Egyptian granite, and white marble. Several 
antique vases of glass and earthenware are also there sus¬ 
pended, exactly as they were in the temples of the ancients 
with the votive offerings. 
In a mosque at Tophana was exhibited the dance of the 
dervishes; and in another, at Scutary, the exhibition of the 
bowling priests ; ceremonies so extraordinary, that it is neces- 
