ing of these objects; and the soldiers from a neighbouring
guard-house really appeared to consider I was forming a plan to pocket
the columns and run away with them. Had not Mustapha been with me, it is
probable I should have been arrested, as a friend of mine was yesterday,
when he attempted to sketch Constantinople from Tophana. A superior
officer, however, soon ordered him to be released, and gave him two
soldiers as a protection whilst he finished his drawing. [Sidenote: ST.
SOPHIA.] Thence our course lay to St. Sophia, which is a confused heap
of unsightly buildings; the centre having enormous buttresses built
against it, and the dome is much too low in proportion to the great size
of this edifice. The principal entrance to the seraglio is also situated
in the square, of which St. Sophia occupies one side, the walls of the
palace another, and a row of small houses and coffee shops a third. In
the centre is a very beautiful fountain; which, though inferior in size
to that of Tophana, is much more richly ornamented.

[Sidenote: SERAGLIO.] The guard having allowed us to pass the gate, we
entered the first court of the seraglio--a large oblong enclosure,
formed by the Sultan's gardens, the inner gate, the grounds of the
serai, barracks, stables, and a portion of the outer wall. Within a
niche on the left-hand side of this entrance, the heads of rebellious
Pashas and other traitors are exhibited to the gazing multitude, and
among the more recent of those placed there, may be mentioned that of
Ali Pasha. The second gate, which is flanked by double towers, resembles
that of an ancient Gothic abbey; the interior is highly ornamented with
gilding and inscriptions in letters of gold; and a large gilt cipher of
the Sultan decorates the front. Our attempt to pass into the second
court was less successful: Mustapha being a great coward, he was afraid
to offer the sentinels a bribe; yet I have no doubt that the sight of a
gold dollar never fails to gain admission for the unbeliever, whether
Jew or Christian. Turning away from this forbidden paradise, we
proceeded to examine a fine old plane tree, in the trunk of which three
people live and keep a coffee-shop. A grove of plane, oak, chestnut, and
cypress trees, conducted us out by the lower gate, and we walked to the
sultanas' mosque, where the bodies of the late Sultan, and of the wives
of his two predecessors, lie in state. The present Grand Signior's
favourite sultana, and her