The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-02-04
Dark Arches under Constantinop!e
OR THE SULTANs EEFTGF.

W !!1l y We coii!i wear them TOO.
Dark Arches under Constantinop!e:
OR THE SrLTAN's EEFrGr.
When Russia. as now appears almost incv
liable. marches to the gates of Constantine
pie, the stru~ce will be fierce and protrac.cd
Under the banner of the Prophet. the Turk,
vii! fight valicntly. They will oppose tn,
iicrcc>t ianatiri>m to the discipline of foe a,
skilliul as rugged. And who can doubt the
result However. should the enemy ap
rroarh Cons'antincplc. The city might be de-
Tended to an indeinit" period that is. >np-
posing the fleets of France and England kent
the communications bv sea open and unintcr-
rurtcd for the walls Of Cons.antinoplc are
considered very GOOD Those on the Land
SIDE have double range, twcntv-fiyc feet
broad. The outer wall which is about twelve
feet hi.h. is defended hv two hundred and
ATTY strong towers The inner wall is about
twenty feet hiGh with towers similar to those
II !hr ou'er Military Stratcci>'> cou>i,lr>
i'at If 81. these ,oin:S were well Fortified an
ihc sea approaches kept clear TIE enemy
Con>tantino,'ir might he defended against any
force which the power OF Russia could brinn
against it. EUt suppo>ing the city was ;, :
durcd to the last extremity, it might still hc
desperately defended. The population wonl,,
be DESTROYED. but the military could hold on,
until famine swept them awav For tie stor-
age Of provi ions, the wonderful vaults of
Con>tantinoplc supply ample conycnicrcc.
One OF them affords abundant supply Of pure
fresh watcr-in fact. it is >ubterrancan v7s
yr,oir.
Ike vast under ground c,lficc> rank amoo.
tn" most remarkable monuments Of old Con-
StantnoP!c. They were built Nv the Grcrl, :
as c'stcrnS. and were a,ways kept full in ease
OF siege. Through the neglect Of The Turk
many OF them are much dcravtI. ard sono ara.
wholly blocked up, so that their Position. ,r,,
unknown. There is one vault. called .th.
palace OF the thousand and one pillars which
the Turks allow strangers to inspect Tn,
entrance to it is from the center of the city
DOWN narrow but substantial aud well pre-
served stone staircase. Instead of being
ci>tcrn filled with an immense body Of water
It Is occupied as silk factory 1t is ahou
thirty feet deep, and the roof is about six feet
from the surface OF The street This vault cy
tcn'!s over about an acre of ground But tht
greatest curiosity is the vault which still cx
lists as cistcrn. This vault the TdrkS ON. =,
with the greatest .lcalor>v-yc-, few oven of
those who ilv" about IT. hcinc aware Of ~,
precise locaIltv 1t isa snltcrrancan lake
extending under many streets. and the form
er has an arched root; supported hv thrc,
hundred and thirtv-six pillars Of solid marble
An English gentleman who was fortunate {,
obtain access to it. has supplied us with We
ry animated description of its appearance.
He says:
Having learned that there was Grecl
reservoir in the city. in good preservation
and still partially full Of water. made m,
inquiries respecting it. but all in vain 4
length, meeting friend whose lone rcsidcn,,
IN Con>tantinopc ha,: afforded him the means
OF knowing more than | could do ahont il.
asked HIM If the account of the existence of
the reservoir was correct.
Expressing an earnest wish to behold it
ne told me that with large bribc. he tbouoh
he could obtain me pcrmis>ion-for he wa
acquainted with the old Turk whose hous,
was sald to cover one of the openings into it
readily agreed to give the required louccnl
and he arranged it to call the next mornino
successful. The following morning, m,
friend came with the news of his succeSs-
After passing through several streets. WI
reached the upper part of the city, and en-
tered an old looking house. We were rc
ccivcd by an aged Turk. with a vcncrab!,
beard, whose dress betokened neither YER,
great wealth. or very great cleanliness. Af
ter being invited to take coffee AMI pipe
which We acceptcd-my friend serving as in
terpretcr to the few words of conversation
that passed between us-our host intormc,
us nc was ready to show us the way to til,
subtcrrancan palace.
we proceeded to the court of the house
and turning sharp to the right, were ushcret
INTO small room, the floor of which was Z
few steps below the surface of the ground
here the guide provided two torches. and put
ting one into my hand, and CARRYING the 9th
er himself, proceeded to raise sort ii ira.
door. aal tj,'isic Us follow i,n, /. gan to .lc-