Therapia and Buvukdere

At two or three points of the shore of the Bosphorus were some graveyards, better kept than those about Constantinople. The tombstones were painted most gaudily, and the inscriptions were written in gold and silver. I was told that the crews of ships passing along were in the habit of breaking off these monuments and taking them away as future ornaments to gardens—an offence calling for more severe reprehension than the generality of travelling sacrileges.

We passed Therapia and Buvukdere, about which pleasant places I shall have more to say by and by; and at last landed at a little village on the Asiatic side of the stream. This was as prettily oriental a spot as I saw during my sojourn at Constantinople ; but I fear I cannot do it justice by description. The village was situated at the base of a wooded mountain, rising from a small bay round the corner of one of the promontories, with which the shores of the Bosphorus abound. The waves coming in from the Euxine rippled against its very street—for it had but one, and this was not above ten feet wide; with a long row of rustic coffee-houses facing the water, in all of which some dirtily picturesque fellows were lolling about and smoking private tour Istanbul.

The thoroughfare was not altogether clear; for the spars of the ships—many of which were anchored in a line along the shore—at times crossed it. They were all wicked looking felucca-rigged craft: and the wild swarthy men who slept about them only knew in what their real trade consisted; for between Trcbizonde or Odessa, and the Archipelago, all sorts of wickedness’s may be achieved. This street ended in a small open place, surrounded by ragged wooden houses, one of which had been built round a gigantic plane-tree— so enormous that its bows stretched over the whole of the little square; and caused the ground to be pleasantly chequered with dancing lights and shadows.

Fountain of purely Eastern build

At one end was a fountain of purely Eastern build, at which some of the faithful were performing their holy ablutions, and at its side a tired camel was nodding and blinking lazily in the heat. Two little shojs adjoined this fountain : one was a coffee-house and the other belonged to a cook. A seller of melons had spread his store upon the ground, near there, and some of his fruit, not bigger than oranges, were delicious. Rude wooden benches were placed about in front of the coffee-house and round its walls, and our old friends, the dogs, were sleeping about, or squabbling for carrion, everywhere. At last, we were away from every trace of Europe.

We settled to dine here, so we brought up our basket from the cacique, and got some cups and plates from the coffee-house, which had a mud floor and walls, and in it some natives were playing at ricrac, casting the dice from their hands instead of a box, whilst others were going through their prayers, in corners. We were evidently objects of great curiosity for all of them; and the pale ale they could not understand at all. Indeed, they grouped round us when the cork was drawn, like a street audience round a conjuror; and the very dogs appeared to partake of the bewilderment.

We were very hungry, and such a good odor came from the cook’s shop, that we determined to patronize him. He was making kebobs—and if there was a spot on -which it was proper to taste that oriental delicacy, this was certainly the one. His shop was an open one, with a brazier in the window place, upon which the meats were being cooked. At the door-post hung a piece of mutton, of excellent quality; this was exhibited to show that he only made use of good meat. He cut it into small bits, seasoned these, and put them on a skewer: they were then cooked over the fire, and when properly done, served up with pepper, salt, and onion chopped very fine. No knife or fork was required, but the morsels were eaten from the skewer, and very excellent indeed they were. Then we finished our hard boiled eggs, had a delicious melon for dessert, which cost four- pence, and so made as fine a dinner as I ever partook of. Certainly I never sat down to one so full of agreeable associations, or served in so picturesque a fashion.

I have said that this little village was situated at a bend of the Bosphorus. We therefore agreed to walk over a mountain which rose directly behind it, and send the boat round to meet us at another yioint, as there were some curiosities to see on the summit, as well as a fine view. We first passed the ruins of a building known as The Genoese Castle, which must in former times have been of enormous extent and magnitude. Getting higher up, we had a fine prospect of the opposite, or European, shores of the Bosphorus; and, at last, on a ridge of ground, we got our first view of the Black Sea, with its long heavy swell coming towards the entrance of the strait in mighty curves, and dashing over the Symplegadcs which still thrust their rugged heads from the foam, as they arc said to have done when Jason passed with the Argonauts.