The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-27 00:00:00

CONSTANTINOPLE.

On the 25th, says a despatch from the Turkish
capiial, the RUssians were manoeuvring to cut off
the communication between Varna and Silistria.

An English division was to embark at Constanti-
nople for Varna, while the French force was to
march on the Balkans.

The merchants of Galata complain of the war,
but at the same time they are realising enormous
profits on horses and other objects in request by the
army, which those who know the country and the
ways of supply caa buy cheap and sell at prices
which but' six months ago would have been consi-
dered fabulous. The people of Pera and Stamboul
are declaring that the war is ruining them, but the
fact is, that, besides the thousands of officers who
spend their money pretty freely, there never was
such an influx of strangers, such coming and going,
and so much money given for the most indifferent
accommodation. Every steamersends its boat-loads
of strangers to the shore ; the hamals, or porters,
,4treaterally worked to death with the weight of
luggage they carry up the steep streets of Pera,
the kaikshis are making their fortunes in convey-
ing, -all---day and almost all night, parties of officers
across the Bosphorus, and the horse lenders, who,
some fcur weeks ago, assailed every passer-by with
their laud" cries of " Cavallo I" have doubled and
trebled their prices and have ceased to offer their
horses, for people are but too happy if they can
get the loan of one for an afternoon. And as
Constantinople is, after all, not far from England,
and Englishmen are proverbially fond of travelling,
' it is quite certain that the influx of strangers
will increase. Indeed, it is not too much to an-
ticipate that Parliament and the bar will make
this their summer excursion.. Therefore, a few
hints as to the manner of going, and the way of
making oneself comfortable at. Pera in this extraor-
dinary time, will be acceptable and interesting to all
those who meditate an excursion to the Bosphorus.
Those that would go by the quickest and cheapest
route--now that tl7e line of railway from Paris to
Marseilles is complete—should go through France,
and time.their arrival at Marseilles so as to catch
one of the direct steamers plying between that port
and Constantinople. Those steamers leave Mar-
seilles:on the 6th, 16th, and 26th of each month,
and make the passage in eight days. So that a
man need not be longer than 10 days on the road.
Those that mean to confine their excursions to
Stamboul and its vicinity want no weapons, but
those that mean to go inland had better provide
themselves with some portable efficacious arms,
such as the smaller size of Colt's revolvers. There .

are tic) many lasiii-ba•Laul.:,- about to a(l vise any- one
to leave the viH,.:ity of Colkstantiiv)pie u narn;e:l.
Travellers who wisi to licep in good health shoal
recollect that the climate in summer is changing from
one extreme to another, and that the same day, even
the same hour, may be intensely hot and cold. They
should wear cotton shirts and flannel; their outer
dress should be of light make and colour, as for India,
but they should have some very warm and portable
outer clothing, to provile against a sudden change
of temperature. On coming here, they should not
adopt the Fez, which exposes novices to a coup de
soleil, but they should wear white hats or caps, of
such a make as to shelter the head and keep it cool.
Those that would smoke cigars should bring them,
for cigars here are as expensive as in London, and not
near so good. It is the same with gloves and other
small luxuries. Goods of this class sold in Pera are
bad and dear. It should be recollected that the cli-
mate of Constantinople, with its thin, pure, and ex-
citing air, is salubrious, but also very dangerous, and
that persons of a full habit, or those that are in-
temperate, are liable to acute diseases of an alarm-
ing character. Catching cold very frequently leads
to bronchitis and pneumonia ; intemperance pro-
duces dysentery. Wino, water, milk, eggs, and
fruit, if not actually obnoxious, are at least dan-
gerous. The water should never be drank pure,
but mixed with wine or coffee, and those that
would be in very good health should profit from
the hint the Turks take from the climate, and
drink as much black coffee as possible. nt as
Turkish coffee is too strong for English palates, it
should be thinned with water. Cold water mixed
with coffee is a delightful and salubrious beverage
—at least in this country—and those alone can
appreciate it who have vainly sought to quench
that consuming thirst front which all strangers
suffer in summer.