I entertain’d in my Family, a Youth of the Greek Religion; I employed him as my Steward. The rest of my Servants could never persuade him to eat any Periwinkles or Cockles; but at last, they put a Trick upon him; they caused them to be so high-season’d and disguis’d, that he, mistaking them for another sort of Fish, fed upon them most heartily. Whereupon, my People set up a Laughter, and threw down the Shells before him, where by he perceiv’d himself to be cozen’d: Whereupon, ’tis incredible to relate how much he was troubled. He went presently to his Chamber, and there fell a Vomiting, Weeping, and Afflicting himself most grievously, without any Intermission; insomuch, that two Months Sallary was not sufficient to expiate this Offence; for that’s the Guise of Greek Priests, according to the kind and greatness of the Offence, they lay a pecuniary Mulct upon those who come to Confess, and they never Absolve them till they pay it down to a Penny.
In the furthest Point of that Promontory which I mentioned before, stands the Palace, or Seraglio, of the Turkish Emperors: To me, it did not seem very magnificent, either for Work or Workmanship (for you must know, that as yet, I had not made an Entrance into it.) Under the Palace, in a low Ground, and as it were, upon the Sea-shore, are the Gardens of the Grand Seignior, where the greatest Part of Old Bysantium is thought to have stood.
I hope you do not expect to be informed by me, why the Chalcedonians, who built a City over-against Byzantium (the Ruins whereof are yet to be seen) were Sirnam’d The Blind; nor shall I tell you the Nature of that Sea, which always runs downward with a vast Stream, but never recoils with any Tide; nor will I spend Time to speak of those Hautgis which were brought to Constantinople from the Palus Mæotis, such as the Italians call Moronella’s Botargues and Caviare; the Description of all these Particulars would swell my Epistle to too great a Bulk, and besides, it would be needless; for both the Antients, and also Modern Writers, have given Information of those Particulars at large.
To return then to the Site of Constantinople. There is no Place in the World more pleasantly seated to the Eye, nor more convenient for Trade. But, let me tell you, the Buildings therein (as in all other Turkish Cities) are not magnificent, nor are their Streets stately or large; nay, in Constantinople, they are so narrow, that they much eclipse the Beauty of the Place. Yet there are in it some valuable Relicks of old Monuments to be seen; but not so many as a Man would imagine, considering how many Constantine brought thither from Rome. It is not my Purpose to insist upon each of these Particulars; yet, a Word or two of the principal ones.
In the Area of the old Hippodrome, there are two Serpents cut in Brass; as also, a mighty Obelisk. Moreover, Constantinople doth gratifie us with the Sight of two memorable Pillars; One over-against the Caravaserai, where I lodged, and the Other in the Forum, called by the Turks, Aurat-basar, i. e. The Womens Court, wherein, from Bottom to Top, is engraven the History of a certain Expedition of one Arcadius, who built it, and whose Statue, for a long time, stood on the Top of it. And yet it may rather be called a Stair-Case, than a Pillar, because it goes winding up like a Pair of Stairs. I caused the Shape of this Pillar to be drawn, which I have by me. But the other Pillar, over-against the House the German Ambassadors used to lodge in, the whole Structure, besides the Basis and the Chapiter, consists of eight solid Marble or Red Porphyry Stones, so curiously joined together, that they seem but one continued Stone. For, where the Stones are jointed one into another, upon that Commissure, there is wrought a circular Garland of Lawrels round about the Pillar, which hides the jointing, so that they which look upon it from the Ground, perceive no jointing at all. That Pillar hath been so often shaken by Earthquakes, and so battered by Fires happening near it, that it is cleft in many Places, and they are forced to bind it about with Iron Hoops, that it may not fall to pieces.
They say, That the Statue of Apollo once stood upon that Pillar, and that afterwards the Statues of Constantine, and of Theodosius the Elder, were erected there; but they are all thrown down, either by the Force of the Winds, or by Earthquakes.
The Greeks tell this Story concerning the Obelisk, in the Hippodrome, which I mentioned before, viz.
That it fell from its Basis, and lay for many Ages upon the Ground; but in the Time of the later Emperors, there was an Architect found, who undertook to raise it up to its Place; but he demanded a vast Reward for his Pains. After the Price was agreed on, he prepared abundance of Ropes, Pullies, and other Instruments, and by those means, he lifted up that vast Stone, within one Inch of the Place where it was to stand; but his present Apparatus being able to raise it no higher, the People, who in great Numbers were his Spectators, were of Opinion, that all his former Cost and Pains were lost, and he must begin anew to try to do the Feat some other way, to his vast Expence and Charge. The Artist himself was not discouraged; but being skilful in Mechanick Philosophy, he caused abundance of Water to be brought up to him, which, for many Hours, he cast upon the Ropes, to which the Obelisk hung; and those Ropes, being often wet and dry, shrunk a little, and by that means, lifted up the Weight to its designed Station, to the great Admiration and Applause of the Vulgar.
At Constantinople I saw several Sorts of wild Beasts, such as Lynxes, Cat-a-Mountains, Panthers, Leopards, and Lyons; but they were so gentle and tame, that I saw one of the Keepers pull a Sheep out of a Lyon’s Mouth, so that he only moistened his Jaws with the Blood, without devouring it. I saw also a young Elephant, so wanton, that he would dance, and play at Ball. Sure you cannot chuse but laugh, when I tell you of an Elephant’s dancing and playing at Ball; but if I should say no more, why may you not believe me as well as Seneca, who tells us of one that could dance upon the Rope? Or as Pliny, who speaks of another that understood Greek? But that you may not think me an egregious Forger, give me leave to explain myself: When this Elephant was bid to dance, he did so caper or quaver with his whole Body, and interchangeably move his Feet, that he seemed to represent a kind of a Jig; and as for playing at Ball, he very prettily took up the Ball in his Trunk, and sent it packing therewith, as we do with the Palm of the Hand.
Among those wild Beasts, there had been a Camelopardalis, but she died a little before I came to Constantinople; however, I caused her Bones, which had been buried in the Earth, to be digged up, that I might inspect the Make of this Creature. It is an Animal a great deal taller in the Forepart than in the Hinder; and, for that Reason, it is unfit to carry a Man, or any other Burden. It hath an Head and a Neck like a Camel, but a spotted Skin like a Leopard, and therefore it is called by a Name derived from both, (i. e.) Camelopardalis.