The Morning herald., 1877-11-09
TSEslIL
SyIyKNAs

which swept over ASIA AKe an ln"-Aaa~o%
did not permanently destroy the Turkish
power when 1t to,7orthrew Bayasid on the
plains Of Angora, Is evidence sufficient to
show that the Ottoman Empife had in It
elements Of vitality far superior to that gem
orally shown by the numerous dynasties
and empires of the East. The son Of Boy
aid, Moham,med l., resumed the scepteF,
and captured Smyrna and with IL the neigh
boring portions Of Asia Minor, after long
siege sustained by the heroic Knights OF st.
John. Thus fell the queen city of the
Levant, famed for its earthquakes, its
bazaars, It's figs, Its carpets, its otto Of roses,
and its melons and grapes, the finest IN the
world, and still showing to us the cave where
Homer is said to have composed the ihad,
and the grand old citadel crumbhng on the
brow of the Acropolis, commanding one Of
the LOWEST landscapes of therworld, and the
lamphitheatre where Polycarp suffered mar
tyrdom ages ago. He who has once seen
Smyrna, and enjoyed its hospitalities and
attractions, is never content till he has seen
1t again. It is city Of $50, 900 inhabitants,
at the bottom of beautiful bay skirted by
ragged mountains tits almost European
city; so large is the number Of foreigners
and Christians, and is called by the. Mos
lens infdel Smyrna It's CONNECTIONS are
noted throughout the Levant; and as for
its figs, who has not eaten them? There is
short railway running to Adm by way Of
Ephesus, which brings some Of the figs to
Smyrna in August, but the larger quantity
are still brought across the famous Caravan an
Bridge by solemn trains of camels, led by q
driver mounted on dininutive donkey,
and marching to the doleful tom-tom OF a
rude bell attached to the saddle of the lead
ing camel. The figs, green OF purple, when
ripe and pear-shaped, and containing scar
let pulp within illumined by a centre Of
golden seeds, are brought in baskets and
emptied on mats in the courts where the
foreign merchants have their magazines
and offices. Peasant women then squeeze
the figs into the shape they have when
dried. They are then dipped in brine, and
after few days of drying, are packed in
drums. Few things are more delicious
than Smyrna fig when Just picked in the
early morning while glistening with dew.
+, The so-called Smyrna carpets are chiefly
brought thither for expectation from Ushak,
where they are woven or wrought by hand,
the women who do. the work being left
largely to their own artistic instincts in
working out the pattern. Regularity or
+, precision of design is not sought after, as in
our carpets, so much as certain breadth
of effect and harmony of flat tints. A
good. Ushak carpet. should last 50 to 40
wears in constant use, and tie colors should
only disappear with the texture into which
they are woven. But the introduction OF
aniline dyes, and the partially successful
attempts to manufacture them by other
processes, in England, have, it is to be
feared, made the Turkey carpet, like Japan
ese bronzes and potteries, d thing of the
past. The famous Smyrna porters all come
from Ushak; when lad of the lower class
is born there, it is said by the friends,
"May he become good Smyrna porter y
Immense strength is induced in the young
"a aspirant by systematic training, and when
he is of age, be leaves for Smyrna. The
pack alone which these men carry weighs
heavily, and the loads they sustain exceed
anything of the sort performed by the
porters in any other city. Five, six, seven
hundred pounds are not unIc common loads
for them to carry, and have known one
who bore over 900 pounds once. Smyrna
has for the last 80 years been notorious for
its brigands, who have sometimes been SO
bold that they have carried even Consuls
into the mountains, and levi ed a heavy ran
som on them; and by being in league with
confederates among the residents, have,
by fears of secret assassination, forced con-
tributions from the strong-boxes OF some OF
the leading Christians of Smyrna. a.-Harper's
Magazine. '..a.
| A GERMAN newspaper announces the