750 
THE SUBLIME PORTE, 
the Golden Horn, landed in the city some hundred yards north 
of the palace of the Grand Seignior. I found the streets exces¬ 
sively narrow, dirty, and crowded, but was so fortunate as not 
to meet any ocular evidence of the cruel malady that was ravag¬ 
ing their houses. Indeed, the busy multitude before us, made 
one almost forget the enemy which moved invisibly amongst 
them ; while the very circumstance of their thus carelessly herd- 
ing together, under all moveable stages of the disease, spread the 
infection, and caused the death of thousands. In our progress 
we passed, at different points, the high turreted walls of the 
Seraglio, to an extent of four miles; also its several gates, open¬ 
ing into the city, and bearing frowning testimony of the con¬ 
queror’s hand, Mahomed II., which had placed them there. One 
faces the celebrated church of Santa Sophia; but I could only 
view its huge shapeless bulk from without, which appeared 
buried in buttresses: the present Sultan has excluded all 
Christians from passing its threshold. When seen from a distance, 
its attendant minarets rather lighten its ponderous effect; yet of 
all the mosques in Constantinople, it offers the least theme for 
admiration, whilst those of Sultan Ahmed Selim, and Bajazet, 
rise with every architectural grace of united elegance and gran¬ 
deur. But, as I said before, all these things have been too 
fully described by former travellers, for me to do more than 
merely mention objects as I pass. 
My kind conductor took me into the great court of buildings 
dedicated to business of state, the grand entrance to which gives 
its name to the Empire, — that of the Sublime Porte; and like 
the chief gate of the palaces in Persia, there called the Der-i- 
Khanah, it represents the hall of justice, and of royal audience. 
The place of judgment, where the Vizier presides, is a fine 
4 
