194

CHEERFULNESS AND HOPES OF FEMALE SLAVES.

but they forget, if they ever knew, the imprisonment of hundreds for life, or their destruction in the sea upon the death of their imperial masters. I saw nothing that indicated dejection of spirit in those whom we are accustomed to regard as absolutely wretched, but, on the contrary, much evidence of gayety of heart, as if they anticipated an improvement in their condition by being domesticated in the family of a rich man, and thus defended from want and oppression. Their expectations are generally realized. Those that come from Africa are usually given in marriage among themselves by their owners; and not a few of those from Europe become the sons-in-law and daughters-inlaw of their masters. Slavery in Turkey, when the slaves are Mohammedans,* is of the mildest form, not impressing degradation and infamy on those who serve, but rather incorporating them as members of the same family. They are looked upon rather as adopted children than as servants, and are treated accordingly.

the pure Tartar as heretofore, but in his veins is mixed the blood of the Turkoman, the Mongol, the Greek, the Circassian, and the Georgian. The result is a great degeneration of the race.

* The reducing Christians to slavery has nearly, if not entirely, ceased in Turkey.

SUPPLY OF WATER IN THE EAST.

195

CHAPTER XXV.

CONSTANTINOPLE.

Supply of Water in the East.-Fountains and Aqueducts.-Artificial Lakes. -Imperial Conduit at Constantinople.-Cistern of the Thousand and One Pillars.-Present Fountains.-Fountains at Tombs.-The Hippodrome.→ Its Monuments.-The Mosque of Achmet.-Mr. Brown.-His Attentions. -Firman.-Visit to the Mosques.-Mosque of Achmet.-Delicate Question for a Mufti.-A Sultan's Device.-General Structure of the Mosques. -Domes and Cupolas.-Sacred Pigeons.-Minarets.-Muezzins.-Interior of the Mosque.-Impressions.-Disenchantment.-Mausoleums.

IN all Oriental countries where the heat is intense, the greatest possible comfort is an abundant supply of pure cool water. Hence the traveller sees everywhere on the highways ruined cisterns and dilapidated fountains, which once offered water to the thirsty wayfarer. As I descended Mount Tmolus to Sardis, I noticed two subterranean aqueducts exposed in the road by the wearing away of the soil. They were formed of thick earthenware cylinders, ten or twelve inches in diameter, luted together at the ends, forming a conduit, that had once conducted the mountain streams to the capital of Lydia. Everywhere throughout the old Roman Empire, among the many evidences of the great power of that wonderful people are the remains of gigantic aqueducts, resting upon lofty arches, and stretching across valleys, or running through hills, which once conveyed water to populous cities that have long since disappeared.

The Eastern emperors were equally careful to have their capital well supplied, and, as there are neither rivers nor living fountains in the vicinity sufficient for

196

LAKES AND AQUEDUCTS.

the purpose, they threw dams across the mouths of the valleys in the mountains bordering on the Black Sea, where rain falls frequently and abundantly, and thus formed many small triangular lakes in elevated positions. These are now called bendts. Their waters are drawn together into two or three principal lakes by means of small connecting aqueducts, formed by tunnels, masonry, and the earthenware conduits already described. The embankments or dams which support the large lakes are of vast height and thickness, faced with marble, and once adorned with sculpture, but now covered with Turkish inscriptions in praise of water, and expressive of gratitude to God for an abundant supply. They are imbosomed in thick forests of venerable trees, which seem to increase and preserve the water, and, at the same time, afford delightful retreats to the inhabitants of the capital and of the villages on the Bosphorus. The traveller will be in the midst of this unique scenery at the little town of Belgrade, some ten or twelve miles from the city.

From these large lakes the imperial aqueducts, constructed on a still grander scale, conveyed the water to the city, and poured it into a thousand subterranean cisterns.* Only one of these imperial conduits remains, and forms a most striking feature in the view of the city as seen from the heights on the opposite side of the Golden Horn. Its double ranges of arches, rising one above another, and clustered over with laurels, briers,

* It seems surprising that Constantinople was besieged twenty-four times, and taken only six times in the period of 2000 years, when, as far as appears from history, or may be now learned by inspection, it might have been reduIced in a very few weeks simply by breaking the connexion between the bendts and the city, and thus cutting off the supply of water. It could not now hold out a month, some think not a week, if the aqueducts, which stretch unprotected through the country, were interrupted.

CISTERN OF THE THOUSAND AND ONE PILLARS. 197

vines, and even fig-bushes, are seen here and there stretching from hill to hill, and lying above the houses like a wall of rich verdure. From it innumerable pipes diverged, carrying water to the thousands of public and private baths, fountains, and cisterns. Some of these were subterranean excavations of incredible capacity, whose vaulted ceilings, supported by a thousand marble columns, sustained the weight of the city above. Until recently, all traces of these stupendous works were lost to Europeans; some of them are filled up, and their areas occupied as gardens; some still afford water to the inhabitants, who know not whence it comes, while others are "broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Of these, the most remarkable is called Bin-ber-derek, or the Cistern of the Thousand and One Pillars. The space above it is a waste lot offensive to the sight. We descended into it by a flight of stone steps, and found the earthen floor moist, and the atmosphere cool and damp. Through holes broken in the vaulted ceilings a dim light is admitted, by which are seen, vanishing in the distance, the ranges of lofty marble columns that support the roof. The dimness of the view multiplies their number in the imagination of the beholder, who is surprised, upon counting them, to find only two hundred and twelve; but each column is made up of three, the base of the second resting upon the capital of the first, and the base of the third on the capital of the second. The deposites of 1500 years have filled up the cistern so as to bury the whole of the first, and much of the second shaft of each column, so that its present capacity, however vast it may appear, is not so great as when it furnished water to the strangers of the capital, and was on this account dignified with the title of Philoxenos, or

198

CISTERNS.-PUBLIC FOUNTAINS.

Strangers' Friend, a name which may still be seen engraven on the shafts and capitals of the columns. This single cistern, if in good repair, would, it is supposed, contain water sufficient to supply the Turkish capital for sixty days. It is now used by some Jews and Armenians as a place in which to reel silk.

We visited another of these ancient imperial cisterns, which has been recently discovered, and found to be full of water. It is approached through an adjoining stable, at a point where the wall has fallen in, and admits sufficient light to show its structure, and the apparently interminable ranges of marble pillars that rise out of the water and bear up the vaulted roof. Those who have dwelt above this cistern have drawn water from it during many centuries without knowing of its existence, or whence the water came. I made diligent inquiry, and could not learn whence the supply is derived. I felt a strong desire to explore its dark and vanishing recesses, but no one is allowed to launch upon its mysterious flood since an adventurous Englishman was lost in it some years ago. Probably he perished by some noxious gas, into which he suddenly impelled his caique.

The Turks have been as careful to have the city well supplied with water as were the Greek emperors, and some of their public fountains are ornaments to the capital. The two most remarkable are the one near the Mosque of St. Sophia, and another near the quay in Tophanna. The last is, perhaps, the most beautiful. It is a square building of white marble, with far-projecting eaves, and finished with a balustrade. The frieze is finely fretted, and various parts of the building are covered with sentences from the Koran in praise of water, and of Him who bestoweth it upon the people.