The Press.
London, England, 1854-02-11 00:00:00

Turkish morality, and undid the frigate's canopying more
than once. At length the heavens cieared, also long faces,
and by nine o'clock p.m. the distinguished three-tailed,
and two-tailed, and no-tailed, company assembled beneath
the ensigns of England, of Turkey, and of Russia; the two
latter amicably joining, and forming, it might have been
supposed, a galling sight for the Osmanleys, as well as the
word peace, which was multiplied in transparencies round
the quarter-deck. If it was so, they concealed their feel-
ings ; looked at both with their usual apathy, and leant, as
might be, on the arms of some of Diebitsch's aides-de-
camp present. Abaft the mizenmast a superb divan was
arranged where their excellencies the pachas sat by their
excellencies the ambassadors—cashmeres vying with stars.
The ladies were ranged opposite, prim and prude, to be
eyed by these terrible four-waved fellows, who made them-
selves as perfectly at home as in their own harems,
smoking chibouques, and caressing their stockingless
feet, which for greater ease they took out of their slippers
and put on the sofa, according to custom; they probably
would have liked the fair Franks to have rendered them
the titillating process on the cranium, that minor vet
cherished luxury of the harem —though, if they had the
wish, it was not evpressed. Coffee was sipped, tea drunk,
and the dancing then commenced between the fore and main
masts. The music was excellent, and a gentle breeze
brought waves of perfume from a bosquet on the fore-
castle. The Osmanleys left their sofas and their pipes to
gloat their eyes on the mazes of the waltzers, and, but for
their pelisses, might have joined them. The old Capidgi
Bashi was in a state of ravishment, which the sameness of
his harem had failed to produce " Wonderful !" he
emphatically exclaimed; " I have lived fifty-seven years
and seen nothing like this ; now that I have seen a kilo 1
will die content." The Capitan Pacha was more mode-
rate; lie sat himself down to learn ecarte, and succeeded
in losing his money. His brother pacha, the little, lame,
roundhacked, sanguinary Seraskier, Khosrew, he whom we
so lately saw chief head-cutter and limb-racker in Con-
stantinople, was as• merry as ri buffo.
• • •
The entertainment went off admirably, as may be sup-
posed, with so much variety and novelty. Even the fair
prudes became disposed to take the circumstance of
having bearded spectators as a joke, and did not show off
the less because avidly gazed on. Supper was announced.
Each noble Osmanley then took a lady under his arm, and
led her down on the maindeck, where it was served in
perfect style, with a liberality which did honour to the
representative of a great nation. The coup dieil was good:
knives and cutlasses, forks and tomahawks, spoons and
sponges, glasses and rammers, bottles and guns, napkins
and aprons, flags and flounces, sparkling eyes and sparkling
liquors, were all together in a narrow apace, relieving, not
perplexing. Champagne flowed like fountains, other
liquids like rivers. The Ostnanleys laid aside their
g -avity, and dispensed for that night with the orthodox use
of their fingers, though we feared that sundry man
slaughters would have taken place in consequence of their
awkwardness with those "accursed contrivances," knives
and forks. There was never a more jovial or a more
noisy banquet. They pledged the sovereigns of Europe,
they pledged the ambassadresses, and they pledged each
other in repeated bumpers, and talked much nonsense.
The ladies fortunately did not understand Turkish. Some
of them, it must be said, by repeated doses, were brought
very near the verge of inebriety. Nourrey Bey /the
Capitan Pacha's kinisnadar, captain of the Scherif reran,
to whom I have before alluded) drank immoderately,
partly from complaisance, and partly from good taste.
At length, he told me, putting down his glass, filled
alternately with champagne and porter, and taking my
hand, that he could drink no more; I believed hint, for he
had already swallowed what no one but an habitual water-
drinker could have done without being speechless; hit,
p 'Mang to a young belle, he discreetly expressed another
idea, in a tone which showed that he thought he was in
the right sphere. I endeavoured, iufinitely amused, to
make hint comprehend the difference between clench)/
ladies and " dancing girls." He smiled incredulously,
and stroked his beard, then said," Very good ; you Franks
are right to keep them for yourselves." This calumnious
opinion, derived from seeing them waltz, was not con-
fined to honest Nourrey. More than one other grave
Effendi thought there would be no harm in making
proposals to ladies who they saw allowed themselves to be
embraced in public. The warmth of the Seraskier's
language to a beauty obliged her to appeal to an ambassa-
dor, who gently remonstrated with the old sinner. How-
ever, nothing unpleasant occurred : they were all attentively
polite, and after supper consented to lower themselves, by
walking a polonaise with the ladies They then took
leave, having thus. in a few hours, made three giant
strides in civilisation—danced with females. drank pub-
licly, and gamed ; and were so much pleased, that the
Capitan Pacha expressed his intention of giving a ball on
board the &limier, and the Seraskier Pacha of having
one at his palace : of course neither one or the other took
place.
The Icnig stay of Captain Slade at Constanti-
nople enabled him fully to depict its beauties
and singular fascination. Here is a piece of
odd information on one of its street economies,
the dogs :
The dogs of Constantinople belong to everybody and to
nobody ; the streets are their homes; their appearance is
between a wolf and a jackal. It is astonishing how they
continue their species, exposed to a rigorous winter and
the casualties of a large city. They are littered and
reared in the streets. In the summer several die of thirst,
but none have ever been known to go mad. Though a
worrying nuisance to walkers, their general utility is ob-
vious, for, as the Turks throw the leavings of theirkitchens
nut of doors, the streets would very soon be impassable but
for the scavenger-like propensities of the dogs and the
storks, assisted occasionally by vultures. M they subsist