Litchfield enquirer., 1876-11-30
lFron seribaers Monthly hsgazine.l . SAuNTERlMCs ABOuT CoMSTAM- s7A" aiais aTBNQPLE. Gs s M


 '''" aiait.y eTBNoPlE. v s4 During theiday steamers leave the Ga lata bridge eyerY. half hour for the yil- lages and pz1aces az1one Che Bcspherass. there is, large fleet Of them. probably thirty, but they are always crowded. like the ferry-boats that ply the waters of New York Bay.
 We took our first sail on the Bosph orus one afternoon toward sunset, ascending as far as Bebek, U here we had been invited to spend the night by Dr. Washburne, the President of Roberts College. I shall not soon forget the animation of the har Dor, crowded with shipping, amid which the steamers and caiques were dartine about like shuttles, the first impression made by the palaces and ravishipgly love iy shores of this winding artery between two seas. Seven promontories from. Asia and seven promontories from Europe pro- ject into the stream, creating as many cor respon ling bays; but the villages are more numerous than bays and promontor
 les together, for there are over forty in
 he fourteen miles from the Sea of Mar. mora to the Black Sea: on the shores is an almost unbroken line of buildings, many of them palaces of marble; the heights are crowned with cottages and luxurious villas, and abodes of taste and wealth peep out along the slopes. If you say that we seem to be sailing in the street of city, can only answer that it IS not so; nature IS still supreme here, and the visible doweress of the scene. These lovely hills rising on both sides, these gracious curves are hers. as are these groves and gardens of fruits and flowers, these vines and the abundant green that sometimes conceals and always softens the work of man ....l.. .'.,, .. ',...-.I
 Before we reached the Sultan's palace at Beshlktash, our steamer made Q detour to the east bank, outside of the grim iron Glads that lie, before line imperial resi- dence. No steamers are permitted to ap- proach nearer, lest the smoke should soil the sparkling white marble of the palace, or their clamor and dangerous freight of men should disturb the serenity of the harem. The palace, which is beautiful building, stretches some distance along the water, with It's gardens and conserva- tories. and seems to be very comfort able home for a man who has no more ready money than the Sultan.
 We landed at Bebek and climbed the steep hill, on whose slope nightingales were singing in the forest, just in time to see the sunset Roberts College occnpies the most commanding situation on the strait, and do not know any view that surpasses in varied beauty that to be en- joyed from it. I shall make myself con- prehended by many when I say that it strongly reminded me of the Hudson at West Point; If nature could be suspected of copying herself, should say that she had the one in mind when she made the other. At that point the Hudson resem- bles the Bosphorus. but it wants the pal aces, the Vale of the Heavenly Water in- to which we looked from this height, and some charming medieval towers, walls and castles. A asI 5fI
 The towers and walls belong to the fort l ress built in 1451 by Mohammed H.; and ! are now fallen into that decrepitude in which like best to see all fortresses. But this was interesting before it was a l rum. It stands just above the college, at Roomeli Hissar. where the Bosphorus is. l mot more than half mile l broad, ,-and with the opposite fortress of Anatolia could perfectly close the stream. Two years before the capture of the city, 1 built this fort. and gave it | the most peculiar form of any fortress ex- istlng. His idea was that the towers and l the circuit of the walls should spell the l name of the Prophet, and consequently 1 his own. As we looked down upon it. my l friend read for me this singular piece of | but could understand it no 1 further than the tower which stands for | the Arabic ring in the first letter. It was at this place that Darius threw a bridge l across the Bosphorus. and there is tra- dition of stone seat which he occupied l here while his Asiatics passed into Flu l rope.
 So far as l know, there Is no other | stream in the world upon which the | wealth of palaces and the beauty of gar aens may be so advantageously displayed. | So far as 1 know, there is no other place | where nature and art have SO combined | to produce an enchanting prospect. As the situation and appearance of Constan- tinople are unequalled, so the Bosphorus is unique. H Hv
 Whatever may be the political changes of the Turkish empire, I do not believe | that this pleasing picture will be destroy ed; rather let us expect to see it more | lovely in the rapidly developing taste of new era of letters and refinement It was | 3 wise forethought that planted the Amer ican College just here. It is just where it should be to mold the new order of things. saw among its two hundred pupils scholars of all creeds and races. who will carry from here living ideas to every part of the empire, and learned to respect that thirst for knowledge and ability to acquire 1t which exist in the neighboring European provinces. If i'm patient men could wait the process of ed. lcation, the growth of schools, and the development of capacity now already most the Eastern question might be solved by the appearance on the scene in less than score of years, of a stalwart and intelligent people, who would not only be able to grasp Constantinople. but 10 administer upon the decaying Turkish | empire as the Osmani administered upon the Greek. s.--
 On Friday the great business of every body is to see the Sultan go to pray and the eagerness with which foreigners crowd | 10 the spectacle must convince the Turks that we enjoy few .religiona privileges at nome. It is not known beforehand, even to the inmates of the palace, to what mosque the Sultan will go, nor whether he will make street progress on horse back or embark upon the water, for the | chosen place of prayer. Before twelve D clock we took carriage and drove down the hill, past the parade ground and the artillery barracks to the rear of the palace of Beshiktash; crowds on foot and in car riages were streaming in that direction; regiments of troops were drifting down the slopes and .emptying into the avenue that leads between the palace and the of gardens; colors were unfurl- ed, drums beating, trumpets called from barrack and guardhouse, gorgeous officers on caparisoned horses, with equally gaudy cantered to the rendezvous, and all the air was full of the expectation of great event. < At the great square! of the palace we waited amid an intense throng; four or five lines of carriages stretched for mile along; troops were in rank along the avenue and dis posed in hollow square on the places the palace gates were closed, and everybody looked anxiously toward the high and gilded portal from which 1t was said the of the Sultan's intention