Accompanying the Arabas large parties of Turkish women and children may often be seen riding astride on donkeys, with donkey-drivers at their heels. No Oriental or Turkish lady would think of riding otherwise, and it is reported that quite a sensation was created when a European lady was first seen riding on a side-saddle. The conclusion was that the unfortunate creature had lost a leg, and people wondered how she could keep on with only the other.
But perhaps the pleasantest method of locomotion is by caik—that daintiest of all boats that float on the surface of the waters. Slender and tapering, its side view may be compared to a half-bent long-bow, and when looked upon from above to two such bows lying opposite each other, string to string. A picture of a heavy sort of caik, used for ferrying passengers across the Golden Horn, may be seen in the frontispiece. A caik is about 20 feet long by 4 feet broad in the middle; it is constructed with slender boards, and is only decked at the bows and the stern. The boatman sits on a seat in the middle of the boat, and its two to four passengers on cushions in the bottom, while a servant sits cross-legged on the raised stern. The oars are long and slender, with a peculiar bulge at the upper extremity to balance them. They are fixed to the rowlock peg by leather thongs, which the boatman continually greases. He is clad in a shirt of transparent gauze, with long hanging sleeves, and bordered round the open chest with a scalloping of needlework. His feet are bare, his ample trousers are of white cotton, and his shaven head is only partially covered by a red fez with tassels of purple silk. At each stroke of the oars the arrowy boat flies and skims the waters like a thing of life. Yet, though swift and graceful, the caik is not so safe nor commodious as an ordinary boat, and in this practical age the barka is rapidly replacing it.
Friday, the Turkish Sunday, is par excellence the day for excursions during the summer to Geuk-sou or the Heavenly Waters, a lovely spot on the Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus. A rivulet there discharges itself into the latter, and hundreds of boats may be seen shooting towards it from all directions. A vast concourse of people meet and sit on rugs or low stools, making kef under the shade of superb Oriental plane-trees which abound on that spot, and while sipping coffee or smoking hubble-bubbles, they watch the various performances going on for their benefit. Here is a Punch and Judy show, called cara-geuz, or the black eye, closely resembling our own, and equally popular with the children. There goes a Pomak with a huge Olympian bear, fastened through the nose with a ring; it has been trained to dance at the sound of a tambourine played by its master, and then to go round with it for coppers. Children are always delighted with the bear-show, but the street-dogs set up a tremendous barking, and their cry of alarm is so peculiar and distinctive that one can always tell from the sound when a bear is in sight.
There is frequently also on these occasions an open-air theatrical performance on an improvised stage, but the acting is coarse and vulgar, and admission is generally limited to men.
Of course at this, as at every open-air gathering, vendors of eatables and temperance drinks abound.
Among them I may enumerate yiaourtgis or sellers of that curdled milk, resembling curds, which is now so largely advocated in this country for promoting longevity. It is sold in little bowls, carried in two wooden trays, which are suspended like a pair of scales on either side of a yoke thrown over the shoulders. Dondulmagis or ice-cream vendors, who also carry their burden over the shoulders, one side containing the ice-cream box wrapped in folds and folds of snow-white sheeting, and the other a polished brass receptacle for spoons, cups, and saucers, and water to wash them after use.
A brazier with live coal may also be seen, on which heads of Indian corn are roasted, and greedily munched by the purchasers. Hoshaf and sherbet, or syrup vendors, are also there, with a stand for bottles and glasses, and an ingenious contrivance for revolving, by means of dropping water, a small wheel or paddle, the flaps of which strike against a glass and produce a merry jingling sound which draws attention.
The charm of this concourse of people is the primitive orderly enjoyment of outdoor life, without the disgraceful accompaniments of drunkenness.