CONSTANTINOPLE. 
215 
the rushing waters. And as for railways, I will not under¬ 
take to say with what facility one can become a traveled 
gentleman in Europe, lest you should deem me guilty of 
raillery, or at how cheap a rate a man may become classical, 
with the aid of Murray and steam, lest I should be suspected 
of puffing. 
Near the Dardanelles we had a fine view of the plains of 
Troy, upon which stood in ancient times the famous city of 
that name, now the site of a small town called Taos. There 
stands in bold relief to this day the tomb of Achilles at $i- 
gseum, where Homer says the hero was buried. It was here 
that most of the battles between the Greeks and Trojans were 
fought; and on this tomb Polyxena was sacrificed, and Al¬ 
exander, in after ages, paid tribute to the “ bravest of all the 
Greeks”—for which see Homer, Lempriere, and Murray, es¬ 
pecially the latter, who gives the particulars neatly done up 
in a hand-book. 
On entering the Dardanelles, we looked out for the place 
where Leander was drowned in swimming to his lady-love, 
and where the beautiful Hero threw herself from the tower 
in despair ; also the precise spot where Byron caught a cold 
in swimming for fame, and where Xerxes built his bridge of 
boats, and made a fool of himself a long time before by beat¬ 
ing the sea because it swamped his ships and destroyed his 
labors—all of which we probably saw, but I can not assert it 
as a positive fact. 
We entered the Sea of Marmora by sundown, and became 
poetical over its sleeping isles. It was a night for romantic 
thoughts; the moon was so minutely visible through the 
clear atmosphere that its seas and mountains lay outspread 
upon it like a chart of silver, the sky glittered with stars, the 
waters of Marmora were as smooth as glass, and the isles 
softly steeped in a mellow light, and the dim outlines of the 
mountains of Europe and of Asia loomed up like sleeping 
giants in the mystic background. 
About the decks lie bearded Turks, smoking their chiboucks, 
and Greeks in petticoats, and pale Armenians in tall turbans 
and long robes, sipping their coffee and talking of the money- 
