Richland beacon., 1877-07-07
TREASURES IN THE SERAGLIO At
CONSTANTINOPLE.

| toIiSuc VI 'NtdiuDOul IL tuIusI INTO LII
midst of the waters of the Golden Horr
the BOsphOrus and the sea of Marmor.
1t is an oblong hill crowned with whit
walls, domes and minaret., and hedge
about with groves of black, funeral cy
presses. Here stands the seragliO, whic
was for fifteen centuries the abidin
place of the Ottoman emperOrs. 1T
now used only on state occasions, and tn
palace, the courts and the innumerabl
tenements that cover the promsntory-
the ground plan of the seraglio is nearl.
three miles in circumference-are bat
tered, dusty and out of repair. The sub
lime porte is singularly ugly and any
thing but sublime. The buildings thai
cluster about the several courts have
not, for the most part, the slightest pre-
tensions to architectural beauty or ever
dignity. The second court is fanked by
row of nine kitchens, looking very
much like nine limekilns. They are
domed, but without chimneys, 20 the
smoke passes out through hole in the
roof. Here the sultan and his court
consumed annually 10000 oxen, and
there were daily brought to the table 200
sheep, 100 lambs, 10 calves, 200 hens, 200
pairs of pullets, 100 pairs of pigeons, and
so green geese. The late Sultan Add. ul-
Aziz was accustomed to feeding his fam
lily as bountifully, and still he was not
happy. In the stables by the water
side thousand horses were formerly
stalled and amsng the cannon that
swept the sea and the mouth of the BOs-
phorus is one huge old fellow at whose
hoarse voice Babylon surrendered to
Sultan Murad. The chief attraction of
the seraglio is the treasury. Here, in
chamber by no means large, is gathered
treasure such as one reads of in tales of
the genii. The actual value of this store
of jewels is almost beyond conception.
Each sultan seeks to succeed his prede.
cesscr in the richness of his additions to
the collection, and the result is a daz-
zling but not very expressive array of
theatrical-lOoking properties, that might
just as we'll be made of glass and tinsel-
the effect upon the spectator would be as
pleasing. Imagine to yourself a carpet
crusted with pearls. many of them as
large as sparrow eggs; throne of gold,
frosted with pearls; draperies for the
horses ridden by the sultan, embroidered |
with pearls and rubies; a cradle coated
with precious stones; inlaid armor, Jew
lied hemlets, sword hilts-one of these
ire decorated with fifteen diamonds,
Zach one as large as the top of a mans
humb; coffee trays of ebony, with a
iouble row of enormous diamonds, set
lose together; pipe stems, nargilehs,
word belts, baskets and bushels of neck
aces of the most splendid description,
leaped together in glass showcases and
lashing like fire-fies in the dark. The
most costly article in the treasury is a
oilet table, of lapis lazuli and other val.
liable material, richly inlaid with pre-
ious stones of every description. The
illars that support the mirror are set
nth diamonds; the stem and claws of
ne table are covered with diamonds,
meralds, rubies, carbuncles, etc.; along
be edge of the table hangs deep fringe
f diamonds, with immense solitaire tas-
lis. The whole is gorgeous-bore. ,
[ultitudes of attendants are stationed ,
trough the apartment, and you may be I
Ire that you are never left for a second Z
nobserved by these watchful guardians
the treasure house. What a relief it
to withdraw into the kiosk of Bagdad,
e private library of the sultan, sit >,
thin eight walls that close about you 7
ke the exquisite panels of an ivory or =
rtoiseshell ian, under a dome of rose =
Mt and gold mosaic, and, shutting the :;
'ors of bronze inlaid with pearls, o
'ainst the world, to think how pleasant 4
thing it is to be poor but honest. On q
e shelves of the library there are n
veral codices brought from the collec- =,
IN OF King Matthias Corvinus at Buda. :,
ID there are dainty rolls and folios of 6,
rchment laid away, each in its separate h.
Sc, and all looking very much as if -
ey were not often disturbed. From :.
e kiosk of Bagdad it is pleasant to =,
* down into the deep garden of the :,
urls, sloping to the swift Bospho rous, .,
d to mediate on the lights of the =,
rem that have suddenly gone out for. =.
er, quenched in that fatal food, but, ~
mixing on the stifed cries and the -.
my oh rOuds drounod Iou,r 49, Al