The Sultan and His People

by C. Oscanyan

There has been concocted a peculiar kind or brand of the plant under the title of scafarlatti, which seems to have gained great celebrity in the United States as being the genuine Turkish article. This appellation is as yet unknown in Turkey, and must have sprung from the inventive brain of some one of the Barnum race, who would even enlarge the Turkish vocabulary at the expense of the lingua Italiana.

Not to notice the Western nations, who, with their clay pipes, have remained in statu quo in the art of smoking, the Germans deserve some criticism: for they have made many attempts to arrive at perfection.

The material of which the German pipe-bowls are made, poetically called meerschaum, is ill adapted for the purpose, and the forms of their stems and mouth-pieces imply entire ignorance of the science of smoking.

The meerschaum, or froth of the sea, is a native rock formation of Turkey, and is excavated about two or three hundred miles from the sea of Marmora. Every particle is exported to Vienna, and it is never used by the natives, because it is a calcareous substance, and when in contact with fire undergoes a process of combustion to a sufficient degree to decompose the tobacco. This fact is well attested by the circumstance that a meerschaum pipe-bowl is greatly enhanced in value when by a long and tedious process it has lost all its combustible properties, and is thus rendered incapable of deteriorating the tobacco. But why select a substance which requires so long an apprenticeship, when nature furnishes one well suited for the purpose? and why esteem an article for its power of absorption and then prize it the more for having lost it by time and use? German philosophy only can explain!

Apart from the unfitness of meerschaum for the bowl, the form in which it is modelled shows how little the nature of tobacco is understood by those sturdy people; for the form of an elongated cylinder only serves to surround the weed by a heavy body of combustible material capable of containing an excessive degree of heat, and thus decomposing the tobacco. But the main object of these amateurs of the mere-sham seems to be to deteriorate the fume of the narcotic plant as much as possible—for to cap the climax of their absurdity, a metallic cover is nicely fitted to those exquisite pipe-bowls, and thus the favorite meerschaum is converted into a perfect retort for the manufacture of tobacco-gas!

Their stems are generally made of the most ordinary wood, short and curving, and the mouth-piece of the minutest dimensions. The object in having such small mouth-pieces is to imitate the process by which infants are nourished, by introducing them into the mouth and regularly sucking up the smoke instead of inhaling it, as the Osmanlis do, by merely resting their lips upon the large and oval surface of the amber. The introduction of the piece into the mouth immediately excites the saliva, which in part passes into the pipe, and is otherwise discharged by spitting—a most disgusting practice unknown among the Orientals. Notwithstanding also the shortness of the pipe, owing to its curved form and the diminutive mouthpiece, it is almost impossible to keep it clean. But it seems to be a sort of German philosophy not only to have their pipes in a most filthy state, but to delight in and value them the more in proportion to their antiquity and impurity. Truly there is no accounting for taste, nor is it any longer a matter of wonder that pigs delight to wallow in the mire.

If, then, the nations of the East, the Persians and Osmanlis, are behind the age in other matters of civilization, they have surely attained the acme of refinement in this delight.

Nature, too, has favored them in the peculiar quality of their tobacco, and the very indolence of their habits has led them to meditate more diligently on their favorite luxury. Hence the palm in this matter is to be given to their musical gurgling narghillé, purifying and cooling the fragrant fumes, and to the long and graceful chibouk, which a little care will keep always pure and ready for use. These are well worth the adaptation of other nations. Some have, however, objected to the chibouk as not being portable and convenient during a promenade, as if there were a municipal law requiring all good citizens to smoke in the streets. If the good taste of the community should render the use of these chibouks and narghillés popular, there is no doubt that all the places for public refreshment would be provided with them, as they now are in Turkey and all over the East.

The coffee plant is well known to be a native of Arabia; it was used as a drink in that part of the world as early as the ninth century of the Hegira, and was gradually introduced into the countries of the Levant; it was many times declared unlawful by the followers of the Koran, as being of the class of inebriating liquors so often condemned by Mohammed; but the Eastern nations are so addicted to its use, that they say, “A cup of coffee and a pipe of tobacco are a complete entertainment!” It seems that this beverage was made fashionable in Paris about the year 1668, by a Turkish ambassador. “The elegance of the equipage recommended it to the eye, and charmed the women; the brilliant porcelain cups in which it was poured, the napkins fringed with gold, and the Turkish slaves on their knees, presenting it to the ladies seated on the ground on cushions, turned the heads of the Parisian dames. This elegant introduction made the exotic beverage a subject of conversation; and in 1672, an Armenian at Paris, at the fair time, opened a coffee house.” This establishment was much frequented by the literati, until the proprietor added the sale of wine and beer to its attractions.

A similar attempt was made in New York in 1855, but soon relinquished; notwithstanding the proverbial fondness of the Americans for good coffee and tobacco. The fact is, their temperament is too nervous, and their habits are too restless to allow them quietly to sip their coffee and smoke their pipes as the Orientals do.