American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-05-01
A Turkish Spectacle.

Mr.. Frederick 7. Martin writes TO the
Troy Times as follows of visit to Con-
stantinople: At four O'Clock on the day
after leaving Syria we were approaching
Constantinople, and in the Sea Of Marmo-
ra, and here the gilded domes and NINA
rcts of the city and glittering crescents be-
gan to appear in sight. High above ev-
erything else lowered the beautiful dome of
St Sophia, the ancient Christian church,
/ but now the - ST. Peters" of the Turks. 1
shall never forget the effect this magnifi-
cent spectacle had upon me, so much
more splendid and grand than had ever
| imagined; and as we glided on, past pal
/ aces and gardens, | felt l really must be
! about to see an ideal city. The shipping
/ in the harbor and the sight of the lovely
| Bosphorus added much to the beauty of
the scene. We had no sooner anchored
than we were surrounded by crowds of
carques, or little boats, and the cries of
the boatmen plying for hire was some
thing deafening. After a little time we
were rowed on shore to the custom-house,
passing through which we proceeded to
the hotel, Armenians, in their picturesque
costumes. carrying our luggage. 1t was
now that we experienced our first disap-
pointment, not to say shock of surprise.
A lazy, idle and filthy population;
streets never cleaned but by the rain-and
we could not but ask ourselves if il was
possible that, in such place, health can
ever dwell. The thing that most struck
us was the dogs to be seen on all sides.
They belong to nobody, but are fed by all;
they act as scavengers, feeding upon the
refuse thrown into the streets and upon
the carcasses of other animals; indeed 1
have seen them devouring the dead bodies
of other dogs. Each dog belongs to a
district of his own, and should he venture
into that of another he is Immediately
driven off by the dogs that occupy it.
After walk Of a quarter of an hour we
reached the Hotel d'Angleterre, which we
found very good and clean, and the pro-
prietOr Immediately informed us that we
had arrived Just in the nick of time to see
a most wonderful sight-that on the NOR
row the Sultan was to 60 to the mosque in
his barge, a thing he very rarely does, pre-
fcrring on most occasions to 90 in a car
riage. We did not fail to rise betimes
the next morning, for all L had read
in years gone by respecting the
gorgeous appearance the Sultan made
in his progresses in public had given me
a great desire to see him. After breakfast
repaired 10 the shore of the Bosphorus,
and threaded our way as best we could
through the dense masses of people, and
by the aid Of great good fortune managed
to get upon one of the projecting docks or
jetties which run out from the shore, there
by getting an exceptionally good view.
Picture to yourself lovely, cloudless day,
the banks of the rushing Bosphorus lined
with one soothing mass of human beings,
kept back by continuous line of troops,
with bands of music stationed at short in
intervals. From our standpoint we could
command the marble steps of the Sultan's
palace, and we had not been standing
many minutes before the sound of great
trumpet was to be heard, and we knew it
was announcing the opening of the doors
of the Sultan's palace, and that he was
f.NA av,A fol ,ic harr
cession had no sooner commenced to move
from the palace than the firing of guns
commenced from a fort situated above the
palace, which was Immediately taken up
and answered by the men-of-war in the
bay, and amid the shouts of the populace,
strains of music and the boom of
many guns the most imposing spectacle
that | ever expect to see commenced its
progress. AS it passed ON the different
bands struck up, and felt l had never
been present at such wonderful sight be-
fore. l will describe as we'll as / can the
order of the procession. The barges were
all of FURNISHED gold, and glittered in the
sun, the bows and sterns slipping, grace
fully up. There we've five in all. The
first was rowed by twelve men and occu-
pied by only a single aide-de-camp, who
stood motionless, with his arms crossed
upon his breast and his head bowed to-
ward the boat of the Sultan. The second
was rowed by sixteen men, and contained
two of the Sultan's staff standing in the
same manner as the first, motionless as
statues. The following and third barge
contained His Majesty the Sultan, and l
shall ever retain vivid remembrance of
the splendor of this sight. This barge was
rowed by twenty four men, and their mo-
tons were perfect wonder to me. At
every stroke they rose and stepped for
ward, and then receded to their seats with
wonderful precision and regularity.
The Sultan sat in the stern, under
magnificent canopy of crimson velvet, the
deep fringes of gold rejecting the rays of
the sun. Two of his staffstood notion
less before him, with their arms folded
across their breasts and their heads bowed
low; and they did not alter their positions
in the slightest all the time they We're in
sight. The only contrast to all this SPLEEN
dor was the Sultan himself. A republ-
can President could not have made less
pretension to state and show than did this
q Shadow of God upon earth" One order
only glittered upon his breast, and he wore
the usual Turkish fez The Sultan's barge
was followed by two others similar TO
those that preceded it, but, instead of bow.
ing toward his face, the officers were
obliged to bow toward his back. We
stood watching the procession until it was
quite out of sight, and we could but feel
that we had seen something we should
never see again in our lives. The surround
ings, the brilliant sky above our heads,
the crowds of shipping of every nation,
and the people in their picturesque cos
Tunes the music and roar of the guns, all
conduccd TO deepen the impression upon
our minds.