Part 12

Thursday, 6th.--Jeddi Calé, or the Seven Towers, may be considered as the Bastile of the East. They were erected by the immediate successors of Constantine the Great, to strengthen the fortifications at one of the angles of the wall which surrounds the city, but in succeeding ages were converted into a formidable state prison. This cluster of forts was originally five in number, until Theodosius, in order to commemorate his victory over Maximus, erected a triumphal arch, which being flanked by towers, the structure thenceforward received the appellation which it now bears. In 1768, one of the most ancient of these castles fell down, and its majestic ruins afford ample proof of the vast solidity of the masonry. Each tower is about 200 feet high, and the walls which enclose them are double, and enormously thick, being constructed of immense blocks of stone; but since the invention of gunpowder they are no longer considered impregnable. This edifice, after being first used as a barrack for the janissaries, was converted into a prison, in which, contrary to the law of nations and every principle of justice, the minister of any power against whom the Sultan happened to declare war, was immured, until the termination of the quarrel.

This shameful and barbarous violation of the usages which prevail in every other European government, has at all times been regretted by the respectable Turks, who acknowledge it to be a base and disgraceful stigma upon their national character.

From the time when the Seven Towers thus became the prison of ambassadors, they acquired an interest and celebrity which otherwise they never could have attained. Mystery and romance took them under their especial protection; and Eastern imaginations joined themselves to those of the West, in inventing tales of horror, dark, deep, and tragical, connected with the dungeons and caverns beneath these dreaded walls. That gloomy aperture which yawns beneath your footsteps is called the Well of Blood; even the Turkish guide acknowledges that it has often overflowed with human gore! Within this low arched vault, from which the cheerful sun is for ever excluded, the victim lay extended upon the rack, until death itself became a welcome relief; and upon its walls were arranged, in dreadful order, all the infernal instruments of torture, by which the cruelty of man endeavoured to extort from the wretched prisoners a confession of crimes, perhaps never committed, and of conspiracies, existing only in the guilty imaginations of their oppressors. A little court within the precincts of the building was pointed out to me as having frequently contained a pyramid of human heads, reaching so high, that, standing upon its summit, you might have looked over the walls, and beheld the pure and peaceful Sea of Marmora. The guide also made me remark a number of narrow passages, scarcely high enough to admit a dog, through which it is reported that the miserable captive was formerly compelled to crawl upon his belly, and then left to perish from starvation, while he licked the dust in the extremity of his agony.

Thanks, however, to civilisation, these horrors are now no longer perpetrated; and, indeed, for the honour of human nature, one is desirous of believing that the greater portion of them are mere fables, invented by the guides, for the purpose of gratifying a morbid taste for the horrible, and to enhance the interest of the place. A few old soldiers are at present the only occupants of this redoubtable fortress, which is rapidly falling to ruin, though a remnant of the jealousy of former ages still requires a firman to be obtained, before you are allowed to visit its once formidable interior.

It is a low square piece of rough masonry, erected of oblong stones, in the centre of a small verdant grove, and canopied by the luxuriant foliage of a magnificent plane tree.

Intermingled with this mass of smiling verdure and blossom-loaded boughs, appeared the dark funereal cypress, the emblem of death, intruding itself in melancholy contrast with the smiling and cheerful tints by which it is encircled.

The tombs consist of five tall sculptured stones, of unequal height, surmounted by turbans, and inscribed with the following legend in gilded characters, explanatory of the fate of the individuals whose names it commemorates:--"Here is deposited the head of the once celebrated Ali of Tepeleni, governor of the Sanjak of Janina, who for upwards of fifty years aspired to independence in Albania. Also, the heads of his three sons, Mouktar Pasha, Veli Pasha, Saelik Pasha; and that of his grandson, Mehemet Pasha."

No sooner, however, was it explained that they were Americans, than they were desired to wait, while the officer reported this communication to his superior; the result of which was, that the admiral himself came on deck and took them down to his cabin, where he treated them to a luncheon of bread and cheese, fruit, and porter. When he had shown them over the ship, he ordered his boat to be manned, and conducted them himself to the head-quarters of the camp, sent an officer as their guide, and patiently waited until they had fully gratified their curiosity. But his attentions did not end there; for he took them on board again, gave them another luncheon, and afterwards sent them ashore at Buyukdere in his own boat.

My friend Marriot, who left us some time ago to visit Ibrahim at Kutahieh, has returned with Mr. Costingen, who went to meet him at Broussa, a charming city, surrounded by mulberry groves, situated at the foot of Mount Olympus. It was the first residence of the Ottoman Emirs, commencing with Orchan, whose mausoleum, strange to say, is a beautiful octagonal church, belonging to a Greek monastery of that period. The tombs of sultans, Ilderim, Bayazid, and of Amurath I., are also at Broussa.

Marriot and his friend went up to Olympus, and remained encamped there two days, for the purpose of bear-hunting; but meeting with no success, they returned, and, taking boat, arrived at Constantinople by night.

It was very late when I started from Tophana to return to Terapia. The evening was calm and beautiful, and as the caique glided slowly up the stream, following all the sinuosities of the shore, the jasmine and orange flower, and the sweet roses which are now blooming in myriads, filled the air with their perfumed odours.

The only persons I met, were the soldiers composing the Turkish guard, which perambulates the streets every hour. Their leader carries a staff armed with a large iron ferrule, which he strikes against the pavement, to give notice that he is on duty.

"La Allah ila Allah, Muhammed Resoul Allah:" No God but God! Mahomet, prophet of God.

This exhortation is uttered in a loud and piercing tone of voice, which steals through the calm morning, producing a powerful effect: it is like the shrill call of a spirit to devotion, and has an unearthly sound. Though the bell tolling to prayer, possesses over the soul a power whose influence is very generally acknowledged, yet the awful voice of the priest crying from the minaret is infinitely more solemn, and seems as if it proceeded from the Divinity itself. There are few Mohammedans in Terapia who obey the summons, except those in authority.

I walked out this afternoon with the ambassador, and took him to a garden belonging to my landlord, an entrance into which I had stipulated for on taking the house. It commands a view of Terapia and the Bosphorus, and the prospect is so beautiful and picturesque, that it has even been visited by the Sultan.

"Observe," said she, "that range of dark houses which lines for some distance the shore beneath us: they were once the happy homes of my dearest friends and connexions. The evening which preceded the fatal day to which you allude, had been passed in their society, and when I quitted them, to return to my own residence, it was with feelings of security as great as could be reasonably indulged in a city, where, at that time, the life of a Greek was exposed to a thousand perils. Alas! it was the last time I ever saw them alive. On the following morning, when I looked from my window, I beheld the body of each of my friends suspended from his own threshold, where they remained for the greater part of the day. In vain we petitioned to have them delivered up, that we might perform towards them the last sad duties of humanity. No! the request was denied, and they were delivered to the Jews, who, with a brutal feeling unequalled, except among the most ferocious savages, mutilated and defiled the remains of these descendants of the Grecian princes;--yesterday men of rank and fortune,--to-day treated as dogs, and refused even Christian burial.

"But enough of this; let us now converse on more agreeable subjects. Two years ago, our noble Sultan,--may his beard be white!--having heard of the beauty of this garden, and the extensive prospects it commands, sent a message to signify it was his pleasure to pay me a visit; and, a day being appointed, he came with his sword-bearer, and two other officers of the court. Let me first inform you, however, that some hours previous, every dish and sweetmeat intended to be placed before his Highness, was commanded to be sent over to the kiosk, in order that they might be tasted before he partook of them, to prevent the possibility of poison being administered through their means. After each dish had undergone the necessary scrutiny, it was returned to me, enclosed in a gauze net, carefully sealed by the proper officer.

"Well, the Sultan came, as I said before, and eat, drank, and was merry. He is passionately fond of music, and the piano-forte was placed out under the trees, where Anna and Zuleika sat singing and playing Greek and Italian music to him, until he was quite enraptured.

"In the course of the evening, several of the young people of Terapia were sent for by his Highness's special desire; and we waltzed, and danced quadrilles, until long after the morn had shed its golden beams on the smooth waters of the Bosphorus.

"Our sovereign remained during the whole time, so perfectly did he relish and enter into the entertainments we had provided for him. Next day, I received a magnificent present of flowers, sufficient to deck some half dozen churches, and sweetmeats enough to last for a whole year; accompanied by a message from the Sultan, expressive of the pleasure he had experienced the evening before.

"But he could not be more delighted with my poor efforts to entertain him, than I was by his affability, condescension, and engaging demeanour. He promised to renew the visit; but, the aspect of public affairs has ever since been too stormy and menacing, to allow the anxious Mahmoud any opportunity of relaxation. Should days of peace return, and the father of his people still remember his promise, he may again delight us by his presence."

Whilst thus expatiating with an air of enthusiasm on the virtues of Sultan Mahmoud, all the cruelty, indignity, and outrage committed on her countrymen and relations, by his orders, seemed to vanish from the old lady's recollection, as though she had tasted of the fabled Lethe.

Happy the tyrant, who, by a single act of condescension, can thus obliterate the sanguinary records of his earlier days; and wash out the remembrance of blood in libations to Bacchus, and draughts of the too seductive and all-powerful Champagne!

Sunday, 9th.--I went down to Pera at an early hour this morning, and found the Francesco Primo floating proudly in the centre of the Horn. She was surrounded by hundreds of caiques, full of Turks and Greeks, admiring this fine vessel, the largest steamer that had ever visited Constantinople.

At Tongo's, I roused up some of its passengers, whom I had expected, and who were in our old quarters. They had been delighted with their trip, but were highly dissatisfied with the treatment on board, where they had to quarrel with bad provender, bad wine, and disobliging servants. In the course of the voyage, they had visited Corfu, Napoli, Egina, Corinth, Athens, and Smyrna. At the consul's I found Taylor, and near the house, Lord Wiltshire, Ruddel, and Hatfield: every lodging-house, every thing which went by the name of an albergo, was occupied; and such an immigration of visitors with purses full of money, and pockets crammed with note books, had probably never happened in Stamboul before. The Prince of Bavaria and his suite occupied the Palace of Austria.

Alendo falendo Malendo Calendo Li fuli Culendo Buon Giornò.

which he repeated five or six times, much to the satisfaction of his Turkish auditors, but more to our amusement, for most of us laughed heartily, notwithstanding the sour looks of the old Turks, who, I presume, were scandalized at seeing us expose ourselves in the presence of the fair. The poor singer was heartily glad when we moved away, when he, no doubt, treated his attentive listeners to another series of English or Italian airs.

Boat loads of laughing, joyous Greeks now began to crowd the landing-place; and every caique had either a guitar, flute, or violin on board. After landing, the parties strolled about, while their servants spread the carpets and viands upon the velvet turf. This done, each jovial company squatted down on their cushions, and commenced feasting and merry-making, which generally lasted until the night was far advanced.