the Mahometan Architecture in all Quarters of the City especially near the Mosquees to build a great number of necessary houses which in their Language they call Adepkana or the house of shame whence that reproach so usual among them that when they would denote a person without shame they call him Adepsis These public Conveniencies are very beneficial for besides the great care which they take to keep them neat and sweet which is the business of the Maidagi or public Scavenger who cleanses them every Thursday in the week there is a Fountain always running in every one of the Partitions or else a Cock to turn and ready to supply every one's necessity I must confess we have nothing so commodious nor any thing of this conveniency in any part of Europe and yet at the same time nothing so necessary especially in great Cities were it but only for decency which is a principal Ornament You shall never see in Travelling over all the East what is dayly observ'd and suffer'd in our Cities the Walls of our Churches stain'd with Urine and bedeck'd at the bottom with the excrements of those who it behov'd to have approach'd those places with more respect Nor is any body there oblig'd to prejudice his health by retaining his natural evacuations for want of a conveniency I never heard so many invectives against the Government of the Europeans upon this accompt as was utter'd by a Turk at Constantinople who had travail'd to Marseilles and thence to Paris He was wont accorâ—ing to the custome of his Country to eat great plenty of Fruits Salads and among the rest of Cucumbers half ripe together with their stalks a dyet very proper to break a French horses belly yet very much us'd among the Eastern people whose digestion tames it well enough This Turk lodg'd as he told me in the quarter of St. Eustachius during the heat of the Summer which he found more fierce than in his own Country Damasco in Syria though it lye fifteen degrees more to the South and therefore to cool himself he resolv'd to eat a great dish of Milk and Cucumbers and so to walk to the Fauxburgh St. Marcel where he had some business Returning back the motion of his body the coldness of the Cucumbers and the heat of the seaâ—on falling at variance and not being able to compose the quarell just as he came to Place Maubert the Cucumbers were so civil as to deâ—ire to part Company and knockt at the Turks back-door to let 'em forth where they might find a more quiet Lodging upon which the Turk entreating them to stay till he got to his Lodging doubl'd his pace Nevertheless the Cucumbers not brooking delays and urging hard for liberty he search'd about for one of those Adepkana's so well wash'd and so convenient as in his own Country But not being able to discover any thing but shops open and streets throng'd with people wherein it was not so proper to discharge a burthen of that importance as his was you may believe him to have been perhaps one of the most disconsolate men in Paris not knowing what course to take in such a disorder of his body This bitter affiction caus'd him with sighs to wish himself in the Geroon of Damasco which is a great place wall'd in containing near Forty of these necessary houses He curs'd all the streets of Paris and would have given the whole City as rich and populous as it is for his own dispeopled lowsie Antiochia He long'd for one of the Turkish Mosquees rather out of respect to their Adepkana's than out of any devotion at that time At last as he told me in the height of his extremity he thus lamented his misfortune Were I now said he to himself at Grand Cairo my pains would find redress by only bowing the head and crying according to custome to the Passengers Kouf nadarak ja sidi or Pray Sir look another way But here in Paris where there are more people than stones in the street what shall a man do in my forlorn condition But all these sad complaints little avail'd the distressed Syrian For before he could get over Pont au change the Cucumbers grew so importunately outragious that they forc'd open his back doors and breaking Prison vi armis gave the disconsolate Syrian to understand that Milk and Cucumbers was not so sweet as Milk and Honey What would he now have given for the hot and wholesome Baths in the Island of Milo where he might have stript himself privately and spent his time like one of the Muses in Helicon till his Cloaths might have been wash'd or new habit fetch'd But there was no help therefore he must endure the smell as he had made several others as he pass'd along I will not here repeat all the Curses with which he laded also the City of Marseilles where a man in a morning if he take not a great care to carry his Ears with him when he goes abroad may happen to be well moistn'd with a sort of very thick and very ill smelling showers But among all his reproaches besides that of Bokier I cannot omit this one very proper to the Subject of which I have been discoursing concerning the Taharat or cleanliness of the Turks which was that all the Giaurs or Infidels for so the Turks call the Christians were Taharatisis a sort of unclean and nasty people Of the Turks Gouslu or Purification Nor is it enough for the Turks to wash themselves all over in their Baths after Abdest of which I shall discourse in the next place they are obliged to rinse their bodyes in some particular Bath after any extraordinary evacuation in the night whether they have lain alone or with company This purification is perform'd in a great square Tub or Vessel fill'd every morning and not empty'd till night This is that Vessel which the Ancients call'd Labrum or Oceanum and the Turks Aouz Gousli Now in regard they never make use of this Purification till they have been in the Bath and us'd the Abdest they soon make an end of this Ceremony for they do no more than plungâ— themselves three or four times in the water and so give way to another till they have all done that needed such Purification Now though the number of these Rinsers be very great considering the Marry'd men are ty'd to this Purification as well as the Batchelours nevertheless they never change the water till every one has rins'd himself and in the action said the usual Prayer La illa illalla Allam dulilla Alla hecher or some other to the same purpose Of their Abdest or Ablution THe fourth and last preparation for Prayers is the Abdest And this may be done with herbs or stones where there is no conveniency of water They believe that God who regards the inside and not the outside of men would not hear their supplications if they had not appeas'd him before-hand at least to the utmost of their
which was in a lovely Island joyn'd to the Shoar with two large Bridges for its lofty Towers and magnificent Buildings for the most part all of Marble For three great Arsenals or Magazines carefully kept in repair and provided continually with plenty of all things necessary for the preservation of the Inhabitants The first was a Store-house of Arms offensive and defensive The second of all sorts of Tools Houshold Furniture and other Necessaries not only for the Inhabitants but for all that were subject to the Jurisdiction of the City And the third contain'd the Granaries for Corn and other public Provisions for the common benefit The Liberty also which this City enjoy'd and which the Inhabitants always resolutely fought to maintain render'd it no less famous 'T is true they lost it once out of their extream desire to preserve it at what time not being able to endure the Insolence of the Romans they put some of them in Irons and caus'd others to be whipp'd which so incens'd Augustus that he depriv'd them of their Liberty which they held so dear and which they had acquir'd during the War with the Mithridates But at length that noble Prince o'recome with the Submissions of the Citizens who to appease his Anger finish'd the Temple which before they had began in honour of him though neglected during their Troubles restor'd them their former Liberty In this City it was that the Emperours Severus put Pescennius Niger to death for revolting against him in Egypt But of all those great advantages which formerly it enjoy'd there remains nothing now but that of its situation It is at present joyn'd to the Continent by an Isthmus about half a League broad made out of the Ruins of those two great Bridges which were formerly built over the Sea and were two flight Shot in length Upon two sides of the Island that is to say to the North and to the East lie two fair Harbours now utterly forsaken as is also the City it self which has nothing that remains to testifie its ancient Grandeur but prodigious heaps of stately Buildings overturn'd one upon another Yet among these deplorable Ruins of its ancient Grandeur there appears upon a pleasant Hill a very fair Amphitheater of an Oval figure sufficient to contain twelve thousand Spectators From this Amphitheater and those other parts of the Hill where you see all that remains of Cyzicum you may discover the two bosoms of Land that compose the Harbours But all these Buildings are quite abandon'd now by all Human Resort unless it be of Some few Travellers that are curious to behold the Relicks of Antiquity So that now that place where the confus'd noise of Number and the din of People of various Trades and Occupations made such a noise as would not let the roaring of the Sea be heard hears nothing but the mournful cries of Owls and Ravens and the doleful howlings of solitary Beasts that shelter themselves in their Nests and Dens among those once stately Fabricks and Monuments of the ambition of the Cyzicenians As for the City of Nice which the Turks call Isnir though it might not be thought perhaps one of the most celebrated Cities in the World for the famous Council of three hundred and eighteen Bishops there held in the year 325 during the Reign and in the presence of the Great Constantine under the Pontificate of St. Sylvester yet may it be so acknowledg'd by reason of its Foundations first laid by Antigonus King of Asia Son of Philip who call'd it by his own name Antigonia afterwards call'd Nicea by Lysimachus according to the name of his Wife This City is almost four-square plac'd upon a little Bosom of the Sea between two Capes in a fair Plain About two Leagues to the North-east runs a long row or chain of small Hills abounding in Wood Wine Fruits and Fountains The Walls of it are about eight Miles in circuit defended with large Towers for the most part round containing several Rooms They were formerly surrounded with a Terrass like the Walls of some of the Cities in France but the Turks taking no care to repair them they are now tumbl'd down and fall'n to decay in several places The City is large beautifi'd with very fair Streets and several Relicks of Antiquity as well Christian as Pagan among the rest with a stately Gate to the South-west built all of Marble like a Triumphal Arch adorn'd with several Figures which the Turks hav'd defac'd and several Inscriptions as well Greek as Latin There are also to be seen several very curious pieces of Antiquity as well in the City as in the Parts adjoyning of which I took several Draughts but having lost them together with others and all the Money which I then had through the unlucky accident of our Caravan's meeting with the Arabs as we travell'd from this City to Aleppo I must beg the favour of the Reader to be content to share in my Misfortunes and my Losses At present there are not above ten thousand Inhabitants in Nicea counting as well the Christian Greeks as Iews and Turks They live altogether upon the Trade which they drive in their Corn Fruits Cottons Linnen and other Commodities which they carry to Constantinople from whence it is not distant by Sea above fifty Leagues or sixscore Miles by Land Among all the great number of Cities which have born the name of Apamea that which the Turks now call Montagniac is one unless there be any that can make it out to be the City of Nicopolis But if we may rather believe the ancient Inscriptions which are to be found upon the places then we may conclude that Montagniac is no other than Apamea Monsieur Vaillant a person famous in the search of Antiquity and whose company I had the happiness to enjoy in this City found a very fair Inscription upon a piece of square Marble whereon the name of Apamea was engraven True it is that this Inscription might have been brought from some neighbouring place However if Montagniac be not Apamea most certainly 't is not far from the place where Apamea stood And therefore having nothing more of certainty my self I shall leave the farther discussion of this Dispute to the foremention'd famous Traveller in those Relations which he gives us hopes will be made public and where we may likewise expect this Inscription among the rest The Situation of this little City is most pleasing The Bay upon the Shore of which it is built is called Sinus Cianus from the Ancient City of Cium of which the Ruins are yet to be seen but now it bears no other name than that of Montagniac by means whereof this City drives a vast Trade with Constantinople in regard that the shortness of the way between it and Bursa draws to it almost all the Traffick of that great City and of almost all Bithynia of which Bursa is the Metropolis From Montagniac to Bursa Brusa Brousa or Bursia for it is called by all these names it is but five Leagues Journey through a very pleasant Country and
Originals themselves Galand A LATE VOYAGE TO CONSTANTINOPLE FOR a Gentleman to travel to Constantinople and to view the adjacent Countries is certainly one of the most pleasing Diversions that may be and which furnishes a man with Observations the most admirable while he beholds what Nature offers to his Eyes the most charming that can be imagin'd in the delectable situation of Places and what Time has left in beautiful Ruins of the Magnificence and Grandeur of the Eastern Emperours They who have this Curiosity whether with an intention to pass farther or to set up their Hercules Pillars in this City are first to understand where most conveniently to take Shipping which is most usually to be done either at Marseilles Ligorn or Venice unless they design to travel by Land Above all things let them be sure to provide Money for their Expences and Bills of Exchange for a Supply without which there is nothing to be done And while a Man stays a Ship-board he will find no false Latin in a good warm Coat a good Quilt and Coverlet a Glass of brisk Wine a Case of good Waters and some change of fresh Diet. For all which Accommodations they who desire not to be troubled with so much Luggage may agree to be supply'd by the Master of the Ship which may be done for twenty five or thirty Crowns at most The first place through which there is a necessity to sail is the Streight of the Dardanels hither you arrive by steering several Courses after you have left behind you as well upon the right as left hand those Islands which are called Cyclades and Sporades as being scatter'd up and down in that part of the Egean Sea which bears the name of Archipelago by the Seamen vulgarly stil'd the Arches I shall say nothing of all those Islands though I have both seen and taken the Draughts of most of them it being my design to speak only of what relates to Constantinople to which the Dardanels are as it were the Gates that give an Entrance Of the Hellespont and the Dardanels THis famous Streight which is otherwise call'd the Hellespont lies in the 37 th degree and 42 minutes of Northern Latitude and of Longitude about the 55 th It extends not in length above ten or twelve Leagues at most At the Entrance it is in breadth a good League and a half To the Westward upon the left hand as ye enter you behold the Country of Thrace which is a part of Europe divided by the Hellespont from Troas a Province of Asia that lies to the East To the North lies the Propontis and to the South the Egean Sea with the Archipelago At the Entrance of this Streight upon the right hand the Sygean Promontory runs out into the Sea by the name of Cape Ianisary near to which stands a little Village inhabited by Christian Greeks The Turks call it Giaourkioi or the Village of the Infidels it being the name which they generally give to all places where there are no Mosquees It is situated near to the place where stood in former times the famous City of Sygeum and by the People of the Country is call'd Troïaki or Little Troy Here a Traveller may take in store of good Refreshments and excellent Provision as Hens Eggs Partridge Rice Butter Melons Fruit and all so very cheap that you may buy a Quarter of a hundred of Eggs for four or five Aspers which is no more than two Sols and six Blanks of French Money and a dozen of Hens or Pullets for half a Piaster which is not above 30 Sols French The Water also is there very good and well tasted but that is not all for the Island of Tenedos that produces most excellent Muscadine Wines is not above a League distance and where you may have it for little or nothing a whole Hogshead for a Crown From the top of this Cape or Promontory you may take a full prospect of all the lovely Country of Troas together with the Rivers of Xanthus or Scamander and Simois both taking their Sources and falling from the famous Mountain Id◠Both which Rivers are much more beholding for their Reputation to the ancient Poets than to the bulk of their own Streams as being no bigger than that of the Gobelins at Paris Sometimes in the Summer they are quite dry'd up but at other times both uniting on the place where Troy stood and there surrounding a great Marsh or Fen they glide away under a wooden Bridge supported with Stone Pillars and so empty themselves into the Hellespont some half a League above this Cape not far from the new Castle of Asia The Turks who never were addicted themselves to Liberal Arts have made it their business rather to ruin and pull down the Monuments of Antiquity than to erect new and sumptuous Fabricks according to the strict Rules of Architecture So that 't is no wonder while they so openly profess their ignorance in this particular that there should appear so much deformity and irregularity in this new Castle of Asia and that which is opposite to it in Europe or that there is to be seen the same defect in all their other Castles and Fortresses which they have occasion to build This Castle is seated upon a Tongue of Land pointing out into the Sea upon a square Platform compos'd of four large Panes of Walls flank'd at the four Corners with Towers of which those two next the Sea are square with a sort of Redoubt only upon one side the other two toward the Land are quite round Between these four Towers there are five others of which four are also square and one round which defend the Walls but neither in thickness bigness or distance one like the other As for those which are wash'd by the Sea they are furnish'd with Port-holes that lie level with the surface of the Water as also with their Curtins and Platforms I told above forty of these well provided with Cannon always mounted and continually charg'd ready to play upon any Enemy that will run the hazard of adventuring into the Harbour by force But notwithstanding all this Expence and Cost bestow'd upon these Castles there is no such necessity for a Royal Navy to fear the force of that Battery should a good occasion present it self to try the utmost of its Fury For all the Cannons which are within are mounted only upon Stones or great pieces of square Timber without Frames or Carriages So that being once discharg'd they will require a long time to charge and mount 'em again In which interval of Time it would be no diffcult thing with two or three thundering Broadsides to lay the inconsiderable Wall of the Castle level with the Earth it not being above three foot in thickness or beat it about the Ears of the Soldiers and Cannoneers By which means the Castles so made useless would soon be taken by Storm or Surrender The way to this Castle is from the
that the Venetian Fleet was much inferiour to him in number of Men and strength of Ships weary of being so long pent up within the Castles resolv'd to weigh and by the favour of Wind and Tide to attack the Venetians and force his passage through their whole Body And now the Ottoman Fleet being come under the Protection of the Dardanel Cannon the Venetians impatient of so long a delay made toward the Enemy and set upon them so furiously for a whole day together and with that success that of all the great number of Turkish Vessels already mention'd only fourteen could possibly save themselves who to avoid a general loss were forc'd to make use of all their Oars and Slaves to get under the Protection of the two old Castles the rest being all taken or sunk before their faces True it is that the General Marcello Morosini being too far engag'd in pursuit of the flying Ottomans was kill'd with a Cannon Shot having lost about three hundred of his Men. But General Marco Bembo according to his wonted Valour and Prudence resolv'd to take the advantage of this Success and to revenge upon the Island of Tenedos the loss of Morosini whose place was soon after supply'd by Lazaro Mocenigo elected in his room These two Generals therefore knowing the important Situation of Tenedos to curb the Dardanels and secure themselves Masters of the Archipelago presently laid Siege to it and carry'd it in fourteen days and then fortifi'd it and furnish'd it with Provisions Nor is this the only time that the haughty Turks have been thus boldly outbrav'd upon their own Coasts They who have read the History of Venice or remember the War of Candy can tell how frequently the Christian Arms have defeated the Ottoman Fleets and taken their Ships within sight and within the reach of these Castles Among the rest that exploit of General Delphino in the year 1654. may serve for another Example which cannot be too often repeated besides that my Obligations to the most eminent Cardinal Delfino his Brother in some measure compell me to renew the Relation This illustrious General finding himself separated by a Storm from the rest of his Fleet with no more than four of his own Ships met the next morning the Ottoman Navy compos'd of thirty four great Vessels fourteen others of less burthen two Corsairs forty Gallies and six Galeasses with which he was surrounded in an instant This prodigious disproportion of Ships Men and Force was enough to have scar'd 'em into a present Surrender and to have daunted the Courage of any one but this undaunted Hero However he was nothing at all astonish'd but on the other side encouraging his slender Squadron either to overcome or dye he defended himself with so much prowess and was so well seconded by Signior Iohn-Baptista de Sessa and the rest of the Commanders of his small number that he sunk several Vessels of the Enemy kill'd above four thousand Turks he boarded the Sultaness and took her Colours from her and at length quitted himself with Honour from the throng of his Enemies with his four Vessels and little loss of Men. The famous Captain Georgio Maria would certainly have done the same had he been well seconded by those two Ships that were in his Company But they treacherously and basely deserted him and left him to fight all alone to the last drop so that he deserv'd at one time the honour of having defended himself without assistance and the reputation singly to have encounter'd the whole Ottoman Fleet. Another Venetian Corsair had set him a fair president sometime before who singly sustain'd the fury of the whole Ottoman Fleet in the Channel of Chio where they had surpriz'd him and yet got clear of them all after he had fought for five or six hours and very much endamag'd the Enemy But not to stop at any more of these Relations of which an infinite number might be brought I shall proceed to the description of the two Fortresses of the Hellespont by which a shrewd conjecture may be made of the strength of their other Militia These two Castles then being built after the two generous Exploits of Bembo and Mocenigo have no more reason to terrifie a brave and resolute Commander than if they had never been erected They are seated one from the other at such a distance that a Ship may easily sail betwixt them both without any great danger of their Culverins they being distant the one from the other more than a League They are both commanded by Hills more especially that on Europe side which is seated near to Cape Greco for its form altogether irregular The compass of the Walls contains certain Houses for the Aga and other Officers with a Mosquee of which the Domo and Steeple appear very plain to be seen as well as the other Edifices as being generally seated in the highest parts of the Fortification from whence you descend by large steps to the Platforms where the Guns are Planted which lie equal with the surface of the Water Near to this Castle lies a small Village remarkable for nothing together with five large Pilasters that serve to underprop several conveyances of Water to the Fort. You are no sooner past these two new Castles but you come to that part of the Sea which is call'd the Hellespont or St. Georges Arm into which they are the Inlets It has been always the Theater of famous Actions which the better a Man understands the Greek Latin and Modern History with the greater delight he calls this place to memory It is a great satisfaction at one and the same time with one glance of the Eye to behold Europe and Asia so nearly joyn'd together as if they had a desire to embrace and unite under one and the same Conquerour or that they did only separate there to open him a passage and facilitate his generous Enterprises From these new Castles which we have describ'd 'till ye come to the Old ones there is nothing to be set down worthy Observation at this present time Antiquity indeed beheld the shore adorn'd with several Cities and fair Villages whose names are now so utterly forgotten that they are no where to be found but in History The People of the Country as well Greeks as Turks are so miserably overwhelm'd with Ignorance that 't is a vanity to ask them any Questions concerning them or to expect from them the least accompt of the place where the unfortunate Helle was drown'd who losing her life in passing this same Streight at what time she fled from Colchis with her Brother Phryxus with the famous Golden Fleece bequeath'd her Name and Life to the honour of this narrow Arm of the Sea They know nothing of the City of Arisbe to which Homer gives the Epithite of Divine nor of the Promontory or Town of Raetion where the brave Ajax was entomb'd being ignorant whether it were upon that Cape where now stands the new
Castle of Asia or upon that same jetty of Land near to the Mouth of Xanthus and Simois So that you travel all this way whether by Sea or Land 't is all one without observing any thing remarkable and at length you arrive at the old Castles which the Turks call Boghase-issari or the Castles of the Throat The old Castle upon Asia side by the name of Natoli-iski-issar is a square Building flank'd at the four corners with Towers of which those that are next the Sea are four-square also but those that look toward the Land are round In the midst of this Castle is a large square Tower upon whose Platform are planted several Culverins From this same Tower was made the fatal Shot that took away the Life of Lazaro Mocenigo at what time after he had giv'n a second defeat to the Turks Fleet in the year 1657 he was designing in spite of these Castles to have run up the Channel and have fir'd Constantinople had not that unfortunate blow at the same time disappointed him in the pursuit of so noble an Enterprise Behind this Castle lies a large Village inhabited by about three thousand People whereof some few are Christians the rest Turks and Iews This place is considerable for nothing but for the command of the Passage where it lies and the most part of the great Guns lye unmounted even with the surface of the Water like those in the new Castles They are in number twenty eight and carry to the other side of the opposite shoar large Stone Balls each weighing sixty pound as likewise do those which are planted on the other side in the European Castle the Channel lying between these two Castles not being above half a League broad The European Castle which the Turks call Roumeli-iski-issar is more irregular and not so strong as that upon the Asiatic side It is plac'd upon the descent of a Hill which commands it and is compos'd of three great Towers joyn'd together in a Triangular form resembling the shape of a Heart These Towers are environ'd with a circuit of Walls with certain half Towers which descend to the Harbour where lye about thirty Cannons equal with the Water that carry the same Bullet with those on the other side and they are planted obliquely lest by shooting streight forward the two Castles should mischief one another Most people believe that these two Castles and the two Towns adjoyning are the Ruins of the two ancient Cities of Sestos and Abydos but in regard there are several that question the truth of it and that it is a difficult thing to prove it unless some curious Traveller shall hereafter discover something more convincing I shall leave the matter undetermin'd The Franks or Europeans who travel into Turkie call these two Castles the Dardanels for that Dardanus the Son of Iupiter by Electra the Daughter of Atlas was the first King of this Country who built therein a City which he call'd by his own name Dardanum and the Country round about it Dardania Virgil will have this City to be the same with Troy so call'd by Tros the Grandchild of Dardanus and Father of the fair Ganimed Others assure us that the ancient Dardanum which was built upon the Hellespont where now the Dardanels stand retain'd its ancient name and that the new City built upon the Xanthus and Scamander was first call'd Dardanum afterwards Troy or Ilium However it were the Inhabitants of that ancient Dardanum did not much exceed in Reputation those that now possess the Dardanels For those formerly were accounted Magicians according to that of Columella At si nulla valet Medicina repellere Pestem Dardaniae veniant artes But if no Physic can repell the Plague Let then Dardanian arts be us'd Or else such as minded nothing but their Profit according to that of another Poet Dardanius merces divendit carius emptas Dardanian Wares he sells more dearly bought They who now inhabit those Castles are much of the same disposition where as in several other parts of Greece you shall find several of those old kind of Sorceresses which they call Striglais who being addicted to all sorts of mischief in their Infancy and despairing of any other Allurements to purchase their Love put to sale the Affections of others of which they falsly vaunt themselves to be the Mistresses or else they sell the satisfaction of their Hatred They make use of several sorts of Witchcraft some they call Philtra to create Affection others Ecthra to procure Hatred others Vaskarmiais or Phtarmiais that deal in all sorts of Fascinations and Enchantments These old Haggs practice after various manners according to the mischief which they design and although they go to work but by night and in secret for fear of being apprehended by the Soubachi and thrown into the Sea with a Stone about their Necks ty'd up in a Sack yet I shall here set down one remarkable passage which was related to me by a person that liv'd upon the place concerning one of these Witches that was taken in the fact This same Race of Circe having a design to revenge themselves upon any one that has perhaps but given them cross language in the Street do it in this manner They rise about Midnight and take three Flint Stones over which they mumble for about half an hour certain words which they teach to none but their Scholars Which being done they put the Stones in the Fire 'till they are red hot at what time they take 'em out again to light a little Wax Candle at each which they place upon the three feet of a three-legg'd Stool in a kind of imitation of the Trikirion of the Greek Bishops This done they lay the three-legg'd Stool across upon their Heads take up the three Flints by this time cold and in this Equipage forth they go into the Street where the Party lives and being come to the first place where they find three ways to meet they throw the three Stones into the three different passages believing that by the help of such words which they utter at the same time that those Fascinations will procure the mischief they intend Beside these they have also a hundred other little Tricks which they practice as well for the telling of Fortunes as for Witchcraft to which as the more rational Turks give little or no credit so are they much less worth mentioning here As for their Trading the most part of the Merchants in the Towns belonging to these two Castles especially the Iews are great gainers For they buy cheap out of the Christian and Turkish Vessels that pass through the Channel and sell again with considerable advantage either upon the place or else they carry their Markets to other Towns and Villages upon the dry Land where they turn to good accompt But as it is common with all Merchants to sell as dear as they can I shall say no more concerning the Inhabitants of the Dardanels who
Emperours to receive at the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff the Arms and Ensigns of the Imperial dignity To the Four ancient Towers of this Gate Mahomet the Second who took the City of Constantinople added three more to make it a Castle wherein he and some of his Successors kept the greatest part of their Treaâ—ure But now it is no more than an â—onourable Prison where the Grand Signor shuts up his Slaves of quality and other Prisoners of State who if any of them happen to be Christians they are permitted the liberty to have their Priests to say Mass in a small Chappel belonging to the Prison as also to give them the Sacrament freely Or if any of these Prisoners chance to be a Knight of Malta or some other person of Quality they are likewise suffer'd to walk about the City or to go into the Country for some days provided some Embassadour or other publick Person residing at Constantinople will engage to the Aga of the Seven Towers for his forth-coming when the Aga shall have occasion to send for him This civility of the Turk is a great consolation to such as their misfortunes have enclos'd within the Seven Towers Without which it would be a grievous thing for a man to find himself shut up for no offence committed and condemned to perpetual Imprisonment such as is that of the Seven Towers for a Knight of Malta who is taken Roving upon the Sea For as for those that are taken in War they are Releas'd again upon the conclusion of Peace In this Castle it was that the unfortunate Prince Sultan Osman miserably ended his days in the year 1622. Hussein Bassa was also there strangled and lyes buryed in a Tomb in the Garden belonging to the Prison And out of this Prison it was that Monsieur de Beaujeu made his Escape as we have already related after he had endur'd Sixteen years Imprisonment and large summs offer'd for his Ransom which would not be taken Without the Walls of the Castle near one of the Towers which compos'd in former times the Golden Gate lye two large Sculptures of white Marble the one representing a man asleep and resting his head upon his arm and a Goddess Descending from Heaven with a Taper in her hand Which may perhaps be rightly thought to be Endymion and the Moon coming to visit him The other if I mistake not represents the Nine Muses with the Horse Pegasus Yet neither the one nor the other tho pieces well enough wrought are so exactly done as to oblige an Artist to say as some of ourâ—Travellers do that we have nothing in Europe that approaches near to the delicacy of those Pieces or that there is any such superexcellent design or spirit in the figures which might deserve any extraordinary present either to the Caimacan or Aga for leave to carry them away Going by Sea from the Castle of the Seven Towers to the Serraglio you meet with a square Tower upon the left hand that stands in the Sea distant from the City-wall about twenty paces The Inhabitants of the Country call it Belisarius's Tower Affirming that it was in this Tower where that great and famous Commander for the recompence of all those signal services which he had done the Emperour Iustinian in subduing his eneâ—ies as well in Asia and Affrica as in Europe being despoyl'd of all his Estate and Honours and reduc'd to the extremity of necessity after he had endur'd putting out both his eyes was at length shut up and forc'd for his subsistance to hang out a Bag from the Grate of his Chamber and cry to the Passengers give poor Belisarius a Farthing whom envy and no crime of his hath depriv'd of his eyes Near to the place where stands this Tower was formerly the Haven where Theodosius Arcadius and their Successors kept their Galleys A little above and over against which Haven was formerly a large Piazza in the midst of which stands the famous Historical Pillar the upper part whereof is still to be seen but the lower part is so surrounded with Houses built upon it that neither the Pedestal nor the Basis of the Pillar can be discover'd It is all of Marble encompass'd with figures which are very good Workmanship representing a certain expedition of Arcadius However they are not done by the hand of so good an Artist as the figures upon Trajans Column at Rome Yet it is much higher than that and more room within with a pair of Stairs quite up to the top But at present 't is almost impossible to obtain the favour of going up Nevertheless there was a certain young Traveller whom I will not name more fortunate than wise who some years since had obtain'd the liberty to get up but when he was at the Top he was so indiscreet as to shew himself openly contrary to the cautions which were given him More than that nothing would serve him but that he must write his name upon the top of the Pillar and flourish his Handkerchief at the end of his stick All that walk'd the streets of that quarter and all that liv'd in the Neighbourhood were strangely supriz'd to perceive contrary to custome a fellow mounted upon the Top of the Pillar but more especially when they perceiv'd him to be a Frank with a Hat upon his head Immediately all the street was full of people and all that quarter of the City in a Hubbub Some ran in heaps together out of curiosity to behold that same new figure believing it to be the soul of him that first erected the Column and that he was come to reassume the place which his Statute had possess'd before Others incens'd with jealousie lest the Frank should prie into their houses and discover the privacies of their Wives ran out of their Habitations to see who 't was that was so bold as to get up to the top of the Pillar believing the Frank â—ad taken his stand there for his better discovery of their Women and to enable him the better to make his choice With these imaginations and exagitations of Passion away they flew to the Pillar beseig'd the House that had given entrance to the Frank and having fetch'd him down with a vengeance away they hall'd him to the house of the Soubachi or Commissary of that quarter Not forgetting as they went along to mall him with their fists and knock their Papouches or shoes about his ears Presently the Falaque and the Battoons were brought forth and the poor Frank had pay'd dear for his curiosity at least fifty good drubbs upon the soles of his feet if his Embassadour who was immediately advertiz'd of the accident had not sent with all speed an Interpreter with a present to the Soubachi and to tell him withal that the Frank who had ascended the Column was a stranger who did not understand the custome of the Country and therefore was not so much to be blam'd as the Turk who had given him admission And