Besides the swords of the sultans, there are in the treasury innumerable other swords with jeweled handles, and with scabbards inlaid with gold, silver and gems. There are guns also of every description, many of them engraved and ornamented with gold and silver. One fortification gun bears upon the barrel quotations from the Koran written in gold.
Then there are jewel boxes, vessels of gold and vessels of silver, rare china, some of it set with jewels, not to speak of enameled ware and embroideries. Many of these pieces were gifts sent or brought by other rulers, for in the Orient the gift is as indispensable in dealing with the sovereign as "baksheesh" is in dealing with the subordinate Turkish official.
When we had finished the inspection of Seraglio Point, we were conducted to one of the reception rooms and refreshed with a jam made of rose leaves, and this was followed by Turkish coffee. Turkish coffee by the way, is very different from the coffee of the Occident. The berry is ground or pounded until it is as fine as flour; it is then put into water and raised to the boiling point and cooled three times. It is usually served hot, and is very black and so thick that at least half of the small cup is sediment.
The streets of Constantinople are narrow, crooked and dirty. There is no park system, and the cemeteries scattered through the city, being shaded with cypress trees, furnish about the only picnic grounds for the people. It is not an unusual sight to see a gay party spreading its lunch amid the tombs. A Mohammedan graveyard is full of headstones as well as trees, and on top of the stone is often carved a fez or a turban. While most of this stony head wear is unadorned, one sees occasionally a painted fez, red being the popular color.
There is one park, called the Sweet Waters of Europe, and extending along the stream which bears that name, where the Turkish women congregate—especially on Friday afternoon. As might be expected, the men have formed the habit of driving in the park on these days in order to catch a glimpse of the women, for Turkish women live in such seclusion that they are seldom seen. They wear veils, but as we visited the park, we can testify that the veils are not always heavy enough to conceal the features. When the eye is especially lustrous or the face more comely than usual, the veil is occasionally lifted.
The ride to and from the park also gives one an opportunity to see a great many fine teams perfectly matched, for the Turk has caught the Arab's fondness for the horse.
The bazaars of Constantinople repay a visit, though quite like the bazaars of Cairo and Damascus. The booths are more substantially built and more commodious, and the labyrinth of streets and alleys which form the old bazaar are all under roof. As these passages wander about aimlessly, one can easily become lost in them. While one cannot rely upon the first price given, the vendors have a reputation for honesty, and a lady told us of having had her attention called to a mistake of five dollars in change and of having the money returned to her when she next visited the bazaar.
ROBERTS COLLEGE, NEAR CONSTANTINOPLE.