LAZARETTO AT MALTA-VISIT то THE MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA-THE SLAVE MARKET-THE CISTERN OF THE THOUSAND AND ONE COLUMNS--CUTTING CAPERS--SERASKIER'S TOWER--MOSQUE OF

BAJAZET-PIGEONS

MONUMENTS, &c.

Malta.

MY DEAR J.-You need not be under any apprehension from this being written in the Lazaretto at Malta, and within quarantine accommodations, which I can assure you are by no means bad, though to us new and strange; and if the ravenous appetites brought with us after a week spent on the Mediterranean, together with being sound in health and sane in mind, could warrant our egress from the strong walls of Fort Manoel, (where we are in a measure honorable prisoners,) we should be exploring this rocky Isle and its curious forts and fortifications. As it is, we are not sorry to have a little time to read and acknowledge letters received. I must take you back again to Stamboul, as the Turks always denominate their city of the sultan, Constantinople being the name usually applied by the Franks, but it is too much of an infidel cognomen to suit the MussulMy last was written after a week's illness, which of course I had not the opportunity to devote to sight-seeing, but when I give you an account of next day's explorations, you will admit I improved my time to the utmost. from indisposition to avail myself of the Firman issued on our first arrival, and fearful there would not be another while we remained, I gladly accepted the kind offer of our

man.

Unable

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THE MOSQUE OF SOLYMAN

Chargé, Mr. B., to accompany us with the "Crevasse" (a the soldier in the costume of former Janizaries,) who, armed with two stout pistols and a cimiter, act as guards to the several legations; each having one or two who serve as protection as well as passport to many places to which we could not otherwise gain access. By a little after ten A.M. we were all mounted, five of us, forming quite a cavalcade for the narrow streets of Pera and Stamboul, directing our course first to the most splendid of all the mosques, that of Solyman the magnificent, the only one thought to surpass that of St. Sophia in size and beauty, which last when finished by Justinian its founder, in the sixth century, for a christian church, so delighted him that he exclaimed, “I have conquered thee, O Solomon," thinking the temple he had lived to complete exceeded that of the wise king : while Solyman might exclaim with equal justice, "I have surpassed thee, O Justinian." A description of this splendid mosque will answer for all, as in their main features they are all alike.

In front is a large quadrangle called the harem, from the fountain always placed in the centre where the faithful perform their ablutions prior to their devotions, which occur five times a day. These marble fountains are either oblong, octagon, or square in form, with a sloping, indented roof, and much ornamented with arabesque carving, which is painted and gilded. This court is enclosed by a colonnade supported by light pretty arches, surmounted by small domes, twenty-eight in number. The doors of the mosque have a beautiful arched recess, gothic in form, but with Saracenic carving, having much the appearance of stalactites suspended from the roof of a grotto, giving an unique and pretty effect. Before entering, you are required to take off your shoes, or put on slippers over those you wear, that nothing impure may be brought within the sacred walls.

A heavy curtain hangs before the door, which is held forward for your admittance : you enter a spacious temple with its lofty and numerous domes. The walls are a pure white, the Turks allowing no pictures or images in their places of worship. There are some beautiful specimens of Persian stained glass in the windows, which last, though small, are numerous. The altar, pulpit and praying place for the sultan are of white marble, and there is a beautiful templelike enclosure, specially for those who have performed the pilgrimage to Mecca. From the vault of the dome, lamps are suspended by wires, so long that they nearly reach the heads of the worshippers. They are of glass, globular in form, and in every variety of arrangement and color; and intermingled with them are a great number of ostrich eggs, having some astrological meaning, also horses' tails, usually the standard of a Pacha; but why placed here, I know not. Over the whole floor is thick India matting, which prevents noise, and is perfectly clean and neat. Within the altar are numerous candlesticks as large as a man, holding wax candles of a proportionate size. During the Ramazan, (or Turkish fasts) which last twenty-eight days, and at which time they worship during the night, these candles as well as the innumerable little lamps are lighted, forming a beautiful and brilliant spectacle. In the wall, near the floor, at short intervals, are strong iron boxes, where the Turks leave their money and valuables when going on a pilgrimage or long journey, having no banks or other places of security for them from fires, which, owing to the houses being all of wood, are frequent and extensive. Around the whole building, near the floor, is a stone platform, raised about half a foot. On this the faithful squat themselves, while perusing the Koran, portions of which are read daily, and these are so allotted to the priests of the different mosques, that the whole Koran is read every day, it being one of the requisi

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THE SLAVE MARKET.

tions of the prophet; and it is not unusual for the followers of Mahomet to know the whole Koran by heart. Children may be seen learning portions of it, which they do in a singing, monotonous tone, bowing themselves towards the book placed on a low wooden stand before them, but which they never touch. Near the dome are two galleries running entirely around, and half way down is the gallery appropriated to females, with its pretty gilded net work lattice. Pigeons, for which the Turks have a great fondness, were flying about over our heads, quite a novel, though pretty sight. We lingered here till near the hour of prayer, at which no infidel is allowed to be present, and then departed with a good idea of the exterior and interior of a Mahometan temple, which, from its spaciousness, as well as loftiness, and the purity of all within, has an imposing and solemn effect, aided by the utmost stillness and total silence, arising partly from its matted floors and slippered worshippers.

Our next point was the slave market—a large square, cevering perhaps two acres, surrounded on all sides by a range of low small rooms for the captives, and a few in the centre for the buyers. I should think there were two hundred of the former, nearly all black, and all females with the exception of a few boys, the females being enveloped in veils and coverings after the Turkish custom. There were

a few Circassians in inner apartments, but these are generally bargained for at private sale. They all seemed happy and contented, laughing, chattering, and making fun, and anxious to be sold, as their treatment and fare is much better after than before that event. There were Turkish They are allowed to

women barganing for one or two. take them on trial and return them if not satisfied. One lady was chaffering for five days, not content with three, and another came to bring one back after a short trial. The objection was that she snored so loud that the mistress herself

THE CISTERN OF COLUMNS.

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could not sleep, and as she wanted the slave to be always near, and about her, this was, of course, a fault not to be mended. Another slave was taken back to her quarters, having been put up for sale without any one offering to buy her. Slavery here, however, is not so great an evil as with us we are apt to imagine, except being torn from country and kindred, which, perhaps, in this instance, is not much regretted. They They are kindly treated, and well cared for; often adopted as children, and frequently promoted to offices in the household, which entitle them to authority and respect. The Koran requires that they shall be freed after a term of seven years, and the Turks are proverbially a kindhearted people, when custom or policy does not require them to be otherwise-which does not often happen in these latter days. The Circassians sell themselves, or are sold by their parents. As any one here may rise to the highest rank, family having nothing to do with the matter, they of course have the same opportunity to rise as others. The son-in-law of the late sultan was an instance of this, and indeed it is not unusual for slaves to rise to high stations.

From the slave market we went to the cistern of the thousand-and-one columns, an immense reservoir under ground, the roof a kind of brick-work supported by a double row of columns, one tier above the other, the pediments of the upper and capitals of the lower row coming together. Half of the lower ones had become buried in the ground, two hundred and twenty four in all, and in good preservation. They were supposed to be the work of Constantine, whose name we were shown in Greek characters, on one of them. It is now dry and useless as a cistern, but is occupied by a number of people employed in spinning and twisting silk, to be used in making the blue tassels to the fez, or red cap worn by the order of the late Sultan Mahomed, in place of the turban formerly used by the Turkish soldiers.