The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
a BRILLIANT SIGHT.
An American Lady's Description of Sunset
on the Bosphorus.

on the BosphOrus.
Far up the Nile, where the stars which
look down upon the empty tombs of the
Pharaohs shine with so greata brillian-
cy that one can almost read by their
light, l have seen sunsets so gorgeous
that even the yellow sands of the great
desert seemed all aglow with the colors
Of crimson and gold shooting up from
the western sky to the zenith like the
auroras near the North Cape. But never
have | seen sunset like the one on
the Bosphorus, which comes back to me
now more wildly than any tn ng else
which l saw in the strange Oriental city
of Constantinople, half Asiatic and half
European. We were standing on the
deck of the Behera, which was to take
Us to Athens. The city was still shroud-
ed in the gloom Of a wintry sky, for it
was February, and the wind blew sharp
and chill from the Black Sea to the Mar
mora, through the Bosphorus on which
we were sailing. But it was our last
look at place we might never see again.
and we staid outside in the Geld, watch
ing as far as we could see it, the muddy
Golden Horn and the long bridge across
it. Then, with thought of the coming
night and the tossing sea which we were
entering, glancing at the clouds above
us, where riffs of light began to show
themselves, followed by patches of blue
and salmon, which increased in size and
intensity until at last there was spread
out around US the grandest panorama Of
sunset colOring it has ever been our fort
une to witness
In front, to the west, the sun was go
ing down-dying, as the old Egyptians
used to think, and, in dying, unvailing
it's face for farewell look at the world
it was leaving. But it was behind u.s.
on the city, that the glory lay-the gor-
geous, golden light ia ling on the grand
palaces of the Sultan and the gilded
dome of ST. Sophia, which, from it's
height of one hundred and eighty feet
looked like great ball of fire, and shed
its brilliancy upon windows below, until
they, too, blazed in the reflection, as if
all the many lamps and candles inside
the huge building had been lighted for
gala night. Beyond ST. Sophia the
minarets of the mosque of Sultan Ach-
meid and of. Suleiman, the Magnificent,
cut the sky, bathed in the crimson sun
shine which shone through the tall cy-
press trees and upon the old Seraglio
and tinged the water below its walls
with hue like blood.
And now the heavens were all aglow
and as the rainbow colors deepened and
the windows of Scutari came into view,
the whole city looked as if watch-fires
had been kindled on all it's hills in hon.
Or OF some great victory, and behind
each pane of glass in palace and hum
bier dwelling candle had been o. aced
Even the stolid sailors working at the
ropes paused moment in their work to
look at the magnificent picture, which
soon began to fade, for the sun had gone
down, and with its going the domes and
minarets lost their bright coloring-the
candles went out behind the window
panes and the tall cypress trees looked
black against the old Seraglio over
which darkness was gathering so fast;
STAN boul, Galata and Scutari were lost
in the twilight; the fires went out upon
the hills; the night winds blew cold
across the deck; the blue Bosphorus was
behind us; we were on the sea of Mar
mora, and that glorious sunset was gone
forever. Mary j. Holmes, in Ladies'
Home Journal