CHAPTER XVII. 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
Being depressed in spirits to-day, in consequence of a bad 
opera last night, I am going to be serious and give you a 
chapter on dogs. Doubtless you will think, after the essay 
I intend to give you on Parisian and Italian lap-dogs, that I 
am predisposed to hydrophobia, and labor under a prejudice 
against the canine species ; but this is not so. The fact is, 
I was bitten in my younger days by a perfectly sane dog, 
without the slightest provocation ; and ever since, I have 
taken a personal interest in the study of the entire race. Be¬ 
sides, the dogs of Constantinople are a legitimate part of the 
population. Without them it would be no longer Constanti¬ 
nople. They are as much a part of it as the mosques, or the 
Turks, the Armenians, or the bazaars. Dogs are here pro¬ 
tected by public sentiment, or some superstition, or by law ; 
so they swarm in immense numbers : they do not belong to 
any body, but roam in freedom, enjoying the fullest immu¬ 
nity from molestation. Travelers generally set them down as 
the great nuisances of the East, and heap unmeasured abuse 
upon every cur that dares to bark his sentiments. This is 
unjust; they might as well abuse the Turks for wearing- 
beards and worshiping Mohammed, as denounce the poor dogs 
for showing hostility toward Christians. Now, for my part, 
I consider them an extraordinary race of animals, in spite of 
the prejudices of education, and especially those of Constan¬ 
tinople, and I intend to do them justice. Throughout the 
streets, and in all the grave-yards and public places, the at¬ 
tention of the stranger is attracted by the extraordinary num¬ 
ber of wolfish-looking dogs that he sees prowling about or 
