The Beauties Of The Bosphorus; by Miss Pardoe

SULEIMANIÈ. 82

PLATE: THE MIHRAB OF THE MOSQUE OF SULEIMANIÈ.

these are piled one on the other to the very roof of the building, and each is carefully marked with some hieroglyphic known only to its absent owner, and to its temporary guardians. Each package, when received by the authorities at Suleymaniè, is described and registered with the most scrupulous exactness; and when once it has been deposited within the holy precincts of the mosque, it remains intact and inviolate, whatever time may elapse, or whatever changes may ensure ere it is reclaimed by its proper owner, either in the government, or the institutions of the Empire. The sacredness of the trust is felt, acknowledged, and respected; and men of every nation, and professors of every creed, are free to deposit their property within the walls of Suleymaniè, secure of its restoration whenever they may see fit to reclaim it.

It is said that the amount of treasure in gold, silver, jewels, and rich stuffs, thus collected together, is immense; and that many of the chests have occupied their place in the gallery for a century. But this fact does not operate against their security - no seal is ever forced at Suleymaniè; and this great national bank, for such it truly is, remains untouched and sacred throughout every popular convulsion, and every intestine change. Here the Turkish government exercises no despotism, exacts no avaniah,(*), levies no tax; and amid all its reverses, and all its necessities, preserves an admirable integrity which is less generally known than it deserves to be.

THE PORT OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

"Where'er we gaze, around, above, below,
What rainbow-tints, what magic charms are found!
Rock, river, forest, mountain - all abound,
And bluest skies that harmonize the whole." BYRON.

THERE is no better point whence to obtain a view of the Port of Constantinople than from the great cemetery of the "Infidel Hill" of Pera. The harbour lies at your feet, crowded with shipping, moored in treble lines along the shore, and filling every little creek and bay.

(*) Fine.