CONSTANTINOPLE, 
11 
on one side of the apartment, was a raised bench, crossing a 
door, on which were placed an embroidered napkin, a vase and 
bason, for washing the beard and hands. Over this bench, 
upon the wall, was suspended the large embroidered port 
feuillc , worked with silver thread on yellow leather, which is 
carried in procession when the sultan goes to mosque, or else¬ 
where in public, to contain the petitions presented by his sub* 
jects. I11 a nook close to the door was also a pair of yellow 
boots; and on the bench, by the ewer, a pair of slippers of 
the same materials. These are placed at the entrance of every 
apartment frequented by the sultan. The floor was covered 
with gobelins tapestry; and the ceiling, as before stated, mag¬ 
nificently gilded and burnished. Groupes of arms, such as 
pistols, sabres, and poignards, were disposed, with very singu¬ 
lar taste and effect, on the different compartments of the walls ; 
the handles and scabbards of which were covered with dia¬ 
monds of very large size : these, as they glittered around, gave 
a most gorgeous effect to the splendour of this sumptuous 
chamber. 
We had scarce ended our survey of this costly scene, 
when, to our great dismay, a bostaoghy made his appearance 
within the apartment; but, fortunately for us, his head was 
turned from the window, and we immediately sunk below it, 
creeping upon our hands and knees, until we got clear of the 
garden of hyacinths. Thence, ascending to the upper walk?, 
we passed an aviary of nightingales. 
The walks in t he upper garden are very small, in wretched 
condition, and laid out in worse taste thau the fore court of a 
Dutchman’s house in the suburbs of the Hague. Small as they 
are, they constituted, until lately, the whole of the seraglio 
gardens near the sea; and from them may be seen the whole 
prospect of the entrance to the canal, and the opposite coast 
of Scutary. Here, in an old kiosk, is seen a very ordinary 
marble slab, supported on iron cramps: this, nevertheless, was 
a present from Charles the Twelfth of Sweden. Tt is precisely 
the sort of sideboard seen in the lowest inns of England : and, 
while it may be said no person would pay half the amount of 
its freight to send it back again, it shows the nature of the pre¬ 
sents then made to the Porte by foreign princes. From these 
formal parterres we descended to the gardener’s lodge, and left 
the gardens by the gate through which we entered. 
I never should have offered so copious a detail of the sce¬ 
nery of this remarkable place, if I did not believe that m se- 
