uish any fire
that should break out in the course of the night.

"I stood still for a few moments, to consider how it would be most
prudent to act. It would be impossible for me to run to all parts of the
city, that I might stop the pipes that were running to waste. I first
thought of wakening the watch and the firemen, who were most of them
slumbering at their stations; but I reflected that they were perhaps not
to be trusted, and that they were in a confederacy with the incendiaries,
otherwise they would certainly before this hour have observed and stopped
the running of the sewers in their neighbourhood. I determined to waken
a rich merchant, called Damat Zade, who lived near me, and who had a
number of slaves whom he could send to different parts of the city, to
prevent mischief and give notice to the inhabitants of their danger.

"He was a very sensible, active man, and one that could easily be
wakened; he was not like some Turks, an hour in recovering their
lethargic senses. He was quick in decision and action; and his slaves
resembled their master. He despatched a messenger immediately to the
grand vizier, that the sultan's safety might be secured, and sent others
to the magistrates in each quarter of Constantinople. The large drums in
the janissary aga's tower beat to rouse the inhabitants; and scarcely had
they been heard to beat half an hour before the fire broke out in the
lower apartments of Damat Zade's house, owing to a _coundak_ which had
been left behind one of the doors.

"The wretches who had prepared the mischief came to enjoy it, and to
pillage; but they were disappointed. Astonished to find themselves taken
into custody, they could not comprehend how their designs had been
frustrated. By timely exertions, the fire in my friend's house was
extinguished; and though fires broke out during the night in many parts
of the city, but little damage was sustained, because there was time for
precautions, and, by the stopping of the spouts, sufficient water was
preserved. People were awakened and warned of the danger, and they
consequently escaped unhurt.

"The next day, as soon as I made my appearance at the bezestein, the
merchants crowded round, called me their benefactor, and the preserver of
their lives and fortunes. Damat Zade, the merchant whom I had awakened
the preceding night, presented to me a heavy purse of gold, and put upon
my finger a diamond ring of considerable value; each of the m