The Sun.
London, England, 1829-07-13 00:00:00

over :

" On the 2d of May, while I was employed sketching,
sitting down on the road side, over the plain of Do'lna
Batchi, a young Turkish female, followed by a black slave
and some children, came up to me, and after looking a
long while over my shoulder and talking to me, placed
herself quite in front of me, and unveiled herself. I
hardly dared to take any notice of this manoeuvre, know-
ing that it is not customary in the East to speak to femaks
in public. She, however, wished me to make a drawing
of her, and signed to me to do so. I looked stedfastly at
her for some time, and began to draw upon a spare piece
of paper the outline of her figure. She was so pretty
that I could not refrain from kissing the end of my pencil,
and blowing the kiss to her, as one does in France to
children. Upon seeing this, she coloured up to her fiire-
head, made a sign as if she would draw a sword, and then
a motion with her hand, as though she said, ' if you dare
do such a thing, I would have your head cut off.' She
was likewise very lavish of her epithets, some of which

I had learnt were not very complimentary.
" I now began to be apprehensive of the consequences
of my indiscretion, and thought it best to continue my
sketch of Scutari, and to take no notice of her anger.
She waited some time, then went behind me, looked over
my shoulder, and seeing that I had ceased to make her
portrait, patted me caressingly on the back, spoke softly,
and then resumed her place in front of me, hoping that I
should finish her likeness; but while this little coquetry
was passing between us, some men Turks made their ap-
pearance, and she took the alarm, and walked hastily
away, looking very significantly as she departed. The
Turks passed on, and presently came some young girls,
who, after looking at my drawings, tipped my hat off my
head and spit in my face. I could not bear such uncivil
treatment as this, and rose and drove them off, while
they began to arm themselves with stones and earth, and
to throw at me with all their might. Ido not know how
this scene would have ended, had not some Effendi Turks
passed by, who seeing bow the matter stood, rebuked the
women and drove them away. I was employed in wiping
my face, arranging my clothes, and picking up my hat,
when some Greek ladies, who had likewise been specta-
tors of my distress, came up, and consoled me by saying
in Italian, ' A Signore! son cattiva gente, gente barbara,
canaglia, non turbatevi signore, son maladetta gente senza
fede.' "

After a few weeks' stay at Constantinople,
during which time our traveller made several ex-
cursions by water up the Bosphorus, which he
describes as being one of the most picturesque
and enchanting straits in the world, he quitted
the Turkish metropolis for Smyrna and the
classic regions of Asia Minor, of which he
does little more than present us with a sketch.
Of a similar slight character is the narrative of
his tour through Syria and over the passes of
Mount Lebanon, which he describes as

being beautiful and romantic in the extreme.
The whole: of his second volume, in fact, is
taken up with his rambles through this diver-
sified country, where he encountered the usual
vicisitudes of a wanderer, without meeting any
thing that should particularly entitle his
journey to the pre-eminence over that of
former travellers. On the whole, however
his volumes teem with interest and instruction—
with instruction, because it is impossible not to
perceive what strong and new lights they throw
upon the present seat of war between the Turks
and Russians—as also on the national habits
and strength of the former ; and interesting, be-
cause almost every page presents us with some
amusing incident, expressed in the most taste-
ful and appropriate language. The work, we
should add, is embellished with maps, designed
in a spirit of first-rate excellence, and with
sketches and engravings drawn by Captain
Frankland himself on the spot. We have no
doubt that ere long it will become eminently
popular.