CHAPTER XXI.
The Castle of Europe—The Traitor’s Gate—The Officer of the Guard—Military Scruples—The State Prison—The Tower of Blood—The Janissaries’ Tower—Cachots Forcès—Guard-room—The Bow-string—Frightful Death—The Signal Gun—The Grand Armoury—Flourishing State of the Establishment—A Dialogue—The Barracks of the Imperial Guard—The Persian Kiosk—Courts and Cloisters—The Kitchen—The Regimental School—A Coming Storm—The Tempest—Dangerous Passage—Turkish Terror—Kind-hearted Caïquejhe—Fortunate Escape.
Having obtained an order of admission from one of the Ministers, my father and myself started early one morning to visit the Fortress of Mahomet, commonly called by the Franks the Castle of Europe.
I have already stated elsewhere that this was the first pied-à-terre of the Prophet on the European coast; and that the entire pile, forming the characters of his name, was erected in six days. The strength of the fortress is much greater than its peculiar construction would lead you to believe when seen from the sea; and it is altogether an object of extreme interest.
When our caïque touched the landing-place opposite the Traitor’s Gate, our dragoman landed to obtain the authority of the officer on guard, who was sitting on his low wicker stool at the door of the guard-house, which is built upon the shore of the Bosphorus at the foot of the exterior wall of the fortress; and his surprise on ascertaining our errand was so great, that he scarcely removed the chibouk from his lips, as he declared the impossibility of his admitting us into a stronghold, within which no Frank had hitherto set his foot—The first European Fortress of the Prophet—The prison of the Janissaries—The—— I know not what else he might have added, for, in the midst of his harangue, he suddenly remembered that one of the two applicants for admission on the present occasion was not only a Frank, but, worse still, a woman; and he was just beginning to reason upon the fact, when our dragoman stepped in with the announcement of our order.
His scruples were silenced at once, and he immediately very civilly sent a corporal and a soldier of the garrison to point out to us the different localities; and two most intelligent men they proved to be, who, having been two years on the castle guard, were perfectly competent to do the melancholy honours of the place.
The Traitor’s Gate is the only seaward entrance to the fortress; and, when we had stooped to pass its low, wide arch, we found ourselves in a large court, having on our right hand one of the four principal towers; and precisely that which has hitherto served as a state prison for persons of distinction.
In the lower cell of this tower, which contains several ranges of dungeons, (none of them, however, subterranean), is a stone tunnel, descending deep into the sea; and beside its mouth is placed a block of marble, against which the victim knelt to receive the fatal stroke; when the severed head, and the gory stream that accompanied it, fell into the tunnel, and were carried by the current far beyond the walls of the fortress; the body, thus rendered irrecognisable, being afterwards thrown into the channel. A deep ditch passes near the entrance of this tower, which opens into an inner court; and, as we ascended a steep acclivity, and passed beside a ruined mosque, we traced the moat to the foundation of a second and lower tower, square in form, and castellated on the summit; distinguished by the fearful appellation of the “Tower of Blood!” The ditch opens immediately beneath a low archway, excavated in the foundation of the tower; and its use is similar to that of the tunnel in the lower prison, being intended to convey away to the sea all, save the bodies of the criminals executed within its walls, who were invariably the Aghas, or chiefs of the Janissaries, whom it would not have been safe to have dishonoured in the eyes of that formidable body, as it was customary to insult the remains of the less distinguished of their comrades.
In this ditch one of the soldiers informed us that near four hundred cases of ammunition had been discovered buried beneath the soil, for the private use of the Janissaries, in the event of their requiring such an auxiliary during any popular commotion; and it was singular enough that the deposit was revealed by the very individual who informed us of it, and who pointed out the spot where his pickaxe struck against the cover of one of the chests, when employed with a fatigue party to cleanse the moat from its accumulated filth.
Hence we ascended to the Janissaries’ Tower, the principal object of our curiosity. Built on the highest point of land within the walls, even from the base of this tower you command one of the noblest views in the world; having on one hand the whole stretch of the channel, to the opening of the Sea of Marmora; and on the other, the entrance to the Black Sea; the most sublime coup d’œil in the Bosphorus.
Here two additional attendants with lights were added to the party; and, having first visited a recess, or cell, in the masonry of the tower, which we entered by a low, narrow archway, that had been lately discovered, we stood within the secret magazine of the Janissaries, where they had built in upwards of six hundred cases of powder: and we then commenced our survey of the dungeons.
Throughout the whole Tower, which is of great height, and contains seven ranges of cells, all of them tolerably lofty, there were but two cachots forcés, or dark dungeons; every apartment being furnished with a narrow, grated aperture for the admission of air and light, and a small marble cistern for containing water. I wished to explore one of the two, but was withheld by the soldiers, who assured me that, since the destruction of the Janissaries, no one had ventured to enter them, and that they might be, and probably were, oubliettes, where one false step would plunge me headlong to destruction.
Thus warned, I desisted reluctantly from my purpose; and, sooth to say, we were sufficiently surrounded by horrors, to be enabled to dispense with one more or less. Our next point was the guard-room; an extensive apartment, with a floor boarded transversely with narrow planks, forming a lattice-work, through which the guard could both see and hear the prisoner beneath; and roofed in the same manner. Having traced the tower nearly to its summit, we descended, and passing onward a few paces at its base, we found ourselves in a compartment of the covered way that connects the towers throughout the fortress; and which was furnished with large arched doorways on either side. Here, within a recess, hung an old Roman bow of such strength that no modern arm can bend it; and to this, as we were informed, the cord was attached used in strangling the condemned Janissaries. I confess that I thrilled less at the sight of this instrument of torture, than at the idea of the refinement of cruelty, which, in a locality replete with gloom, had selected such a spot for the work of death.
Hither was the victim dragged from his twilight cell. Here, where the fresh breeze of Heaven came lovingly to his forehead, quivering among the broad leaves of the wild fig-trees; and dancing on the sunlighted waters. Hither, where the bright day-beam shed over the world a light which to him was mockery! What had he to do with the fresh breeze and the genial beam? His knee was upon the earth, and the cord was about his neck. One gaze, one long, wild, withering gaze, while his executioners were busied with the fatal noose; one sigh, the deep concentrated inspiration of despair; a shriek, a struggle; the last grappling of the strong man with his murderers, and all was over; the cord was transferred from the throat to the feet of the victim; and they who were lately his comrades and his friends, seized the extremity of the fatal rope, and, dragging after them the yet quivering body, it was thus hurried ignominiously down the rough and steep stone stair which traverses the fortress, ere it arrived at the Traitor’s Gate.
But I will pursue the revolting image no further. As the mangled body was hurled into the sea, the long gun which occupies an embrasure near the entrance of the fortress was fired, to announce to the authorities at Constantinople that justice had been done upon the guilty.
Early morning and noon were the periods usually selected for these executions; and few are the individuals who have been long resident in Turkey, who can fail to remember the dismal report of the solitary gun as it came booming over the Bosphorus!
The few houses built within the walls of the fortress are surrounded by cheerful gardens, and are kept in tolerable repair. As we left the castle, we were politely accosted by the officer on guard, who inquired whether we desired to visit the fortress on the opposite coast, which was formerly used as a prison for the Bostangis, or Imperial Body Guard; the order with which we were furnished sufficing for both. But I had become so heart-sick among the dungeons of the Janissaries, that I prevailed on my father to decline the proposal; and we accordingly reembarked, and proceeded to the Grand Armoury at Dolma Batchè.
Here again we were obliged to avail ourselves of our order, no female ever having been hitherto admitted within the gates of the establishment; but it was merely the delay of a moment, and, having passed the entrance, we stood within a spacious court forming the centre of the quadrangle, surrounded by the entrances of the several workshops, and furnished with an immense marble reservoir containing water for the supply of the artificers.
The greatest activity and order prevails throughout the whole establishment. Fifteen hundred men are constantly employed within the walls; and their wages vary from one to two shillings a day, according to the difficulty of the work, and their ability to execute it creditably. No distinction either of creed or nation operates against the reception of an artificer; Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, and Jews are alike eligible, if capable of performing their allotted duties; but the most difficult and finished branches of the different departments are almost universally confided to Armenian workmen, who are the best artificers of the East.
The nominal head of the establishment is a Turk, but he does not interfere beyond making a weekly survey to ascertain that all is progressing satisfactorily; while his deputy, who is an Armenian, enters into the detail of the labour, makes the contracts for timber and metal, pays the workmen, and performs every other responsible duty. The number of firelocks completed daily, and sent across each evening to the Armoury within the walls of the Seraï Bournou, was stated to us to average seventy; but this was probably an exaggeration.
The musket-barrels are at present bored by hand-machinery, and between forty and fifty men are constantly employed at this labour alone; but a substantial and handsome stone edifice is now constructing in the immediate neighbourhood, under the superintendence, and according to the design, of an English architect, to which this branch of the establishment is to be transferred, and where the work is to be done by steam; by which means a great ultimate saving will be effected.
One of the muskets furnished with a spring bayonet was shown to us, which, although not equal in finish, and more heavy in form than those of Europe, was, nevertheless, very creditable to an establishment, that is yet comparatively in its infancy. I was much amused by the astonishment of a respectable old Turk who was superintendent of the finishing department, when he saw me engaged with my father in examining this musket. “What pleasure can a Frank woman find in looking at fire-arms?” he asked the Dragoman; “One of our females would be afraid to touch such a thing. Where does she come from? and how came they to let her in here?” The reply of the interpreter surprised him still more.
“Mashallàh!” he exclaimed, approaching me with a look of comic earnestness. “Did the Pasha send her? Why, she is but a girl. How should she know how to write books better than our women who never do so?”
“Because your women are shut up”—replied the Dragoman.
The Turk nodded assent; “True enough, true enough; they cannot learn of the walls. The Franks see and hear, and travel over land and sea; and that is why they know more than we who remain at home, and ask no questions.”
I give this little dialogue, because it strikes me as being very characteristic. How often have I been reminded by the Turkish women that if I had learnt many things of which they were ignorant, I had taken a great deal of trouble to acquire them, while they had remained comfortably at home without care or fatigue.
From the Armoury we crossed over to the barracks of the Imperial Guard at Scutari, where my appearance created as much astonishment among the troops as though I had come to take the command of the garrison; and once more I was stopped by the officer on guard; but, as Achmet Pacha had prepared the Commandant for our visit, he was immediately summoned by the Dragoman, and received us with the greatest politeness.
This magnificent barrack is nearly quadrangular, the centre of the fourth side being occupied by low workshops, and a noble gateway opening upon an exercise ground, at whose extremity on the edge of the rock overhanging the sea stands the Persian Kiosk of the Sultan. Nothing can be conceived more grand than the view from this graceful summer pavilion whence you command the port, the channel, the city of Constantinople, Pera, Galata, and every object of interest and beauty in the neighbourhood of the capital; the picturesque Seraï Bournou; and far, far away, the Sea of Marmora, and the dark mountains of Asia. The prevalence of northerly winds had prevented any vessel from entering the Golden Horn during the three preceding weeks, and a little fleet of about thirty merchant-men were lying at anchor under the very windows of the Kiosk, giving the last touch of loveliness to the scene spread out before us.
The whole interior extent of the barrack is furnished with arched cloisters along each story of the building; by which means a sufficient space is ensured for the purposes of drill and exercise during inclement weather. The cleanliness of the rooms was beautiful; and here, as elsewhere, we had occasion to remark the extremely orderly conduct of the troops. We were standing in the yard of a barrack containing five thousand men, and there was not sufficient noise to have annoyed an invalid. The barrack was constructed to accommodate fifteen thousand, but it is at present garrisoned only by four regiments, and a brigade of artillery, whose stabling is situated under the lower range of cloisters. The kitchen is fitted up with steam; and the steam-tables are of white marble, with which material the vegetable store is entirely lined. Meat and pillauf are furnished daily to the troops in ample quantities; and all their clothing is supplied by the government, while the sum allowed as pay, for the purchase of coffee, fruit, and similar luxuries, is greater than that given to Russian soldiers, who are moreover obliged to furnish themselves with several articles of clothing. The workshops were thronged; that of the shoemakers contained a hundred and sixty individuals, who were making shoes of every description, from the coarse slipper of the private, to the neatly-finished boot of the Pasha. Every member of the Imperial Guard is furnished from these workshops, and five hundred men are instructed in each trade, who relieve one another in the event of duty or sickness.
The Regimental School was a model of neatness and order, and the number of pupils very considerable; all the children of the Imperial Guard being expected to attend it, whatever may be the rank of their fathers. Many of the sergeants and corporals were studying geography; and on a table in the centre of a second and smaller apartment, stood a handsome set of Newton’s globes. Of the imitative talent of the Turks I have already spoken; and on this occasion we were shown a map of Iceland, etched by a corporal of the guard, in as good style as any pen and ink drawing that I ever saw from the college at Sandhurst.
The arms, as I have already remarked to be universal with the Turkish troops, were in the most admirable order, and the stores containing clothing were well filled, and very neatly arranged. We declined visiting the Hospital, as three recent cases of Plague had occurred there; added to which we discovered certain threatenings in the sky which denoted a coming storm; and, as the passage from Scutari to Topphannè is, though comparatively short, extremely dangerous in the event of a sudden tempest, we spent half an hour with the Commandant in his apartment, where we partook of some exquisite sherbet, made from the juice of the green lemon; and hurried thence to the pier, laden with a basket of the delicious grapes and melons of Asia. But we had already lingered too long: the wind was blowing briskly from the Black Sea; and the distant shores were veiled in dense and heavy vapour.
We had just reached the Maiden’s Tower when the gust caught us. Of all the environs of the Bosphorus this is the most dangerous, for the current runs madly out into the Sea of Marmora; and the wind, released from the Asian mountains which hem it in to the point of Scutari, is suddenly set free in all its violence. Hence it arises that, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Maiden’s Tower, more caïques are wrecked during the year than in the whole of the channel; and there we were, every wave dashing angrily against the side of the frail boat, and pouring over us its foaming waters; the wind driving us down the current, and the Turkish boatmen scarcely able to ejaculate their “Mashallàhs!” and “Inshallàhs!” from the terror which made their teeth chatter in their heads.
It was a frightful moment. At one instant we made way; at the next we were carried back by the force of the current; we could not guess how the affair would terminate; but meanwhile the venerable old caïquejhe who pulled the after-oars, amid all his alarm sought to comfort me: “Tell her,” he said perpetually to the dragoman, “tell her that there is no danger; she is a woman, and the fear may kill her. My heart is sick and I can scarcely pull, for my hand trembles, and my breath fails; but console her—tell her that we shall soon be across the channel—that I will put her ashore somewhere—anywhere—tell her what you will, for she is a woman, and I pity her.”
But, grateful as I was for his consideration, I did not require comfort; I had already escaped from so many dangers at sea, that I never for a moment contemplated drowning on the present occasion; and I took some credit to myself for upholding the honour of my sex for courage in the eyes of the kind-hearted old Turkish caïquejhe. With considerable difficulty we at length made the pier at Topphannè, and, a voyage homeward being perfectly out of the question, we ascended the steep hill to Pera, wet and weary as we were; and passed the night under the roof of a worthy and hospitable Greek friend, listening to the wild gusts which swept down the channel, and congratulating ourselves on our escape from a danger as unexpected as it was imminent.