ings interspersed with
dark cypresses and beautiful plane trees, which covers the surface of
the "seven hills." Thousands of roses hang clustering on the trellis
work which adorns the gardens of the numerous villages, summer palaces,
and villas occupying the shores of the Bosphorus, and the harbour
between Constantinople and Galata appears crowded with ships, and with
numberless caiques, gliding rapidly from shore to shore. [Sidenote:
PERA.--SCUTARI.] Lastly, Pera, with its vast range of cypresses, crowns
the hill, and extends along the whole length of the town. Looking in
another direction, appears the burying ground of Scutari, also with its
cypress grove, many miles in extent; the mosque, and barracks of Sultan
Selim; Leander's tower in the channel which we have just quitted; and,
lastly, the Turkish fleet of many sail lying at anchor, and displaying
all their colours in honour of the Bairam.

Meanwhile, the Actaeon held on her silent majestic course towards the
destined anchorage; and as I stood upon the quarter deck, contemplating
the magnificent objects that presented themselves wherever I turned my
sight, I felt all those thrilling emotions of rapture and delight which
such scenes are calculated to inspire, and which constitute a sort of
oasis in the memory of those who have experienced them. Here nature and
art have gone hand in hand, assisting each other, and scattering roses;
here every thing that falls from the bosom of the former is rich and
luxuriant, and every thing that proceeds from the latter is novel,
extraordinary, in a word, it is _oriental_; and faults, which in more
civilised communities would be considered inconsistent with good taste,
are here ever pleasing, and seem necessary to the unity of the whole.

[Sidenote: TURKISH FLEET.] A royal salute was fired as we passed the
summer palace of Dolma Bashi, where the Sultan at present resides. It
was immediately returned by the Mahmoudie, the Capitan Pasha's ship.
What splendid vessels! Among them two are three-deckers, the largest
ships in the world, one carrying 140, the other 136 brass guns, and the
whole armament appeared to be in a condition that would not discredit an
English dockyard. Considering how short a period has intervened since
the Sultan lost his entire fleet, it is really miraculous to see him
with another, amounting to two three-deckers, four line of battle ships,
eight frigates, three corvettes, three sloops, and a number of cutters,