round about the church; and vpon the outside of the gallery
stand 66 marble pillars which beare vp the round roofe being the top of the
church: it hath three pulpits or preaching places, and about 2000 lampes
brought in by the Turke. Likewise vpon one side in the top is the picture
of Christ with the 12 Apostles, but their faces are defaced, with two or
three ancient tombs of Christians: to the West sticketh an arrow in the
toppe of the Church, which, as the Turks report, Sultan Mahomet shot when
he first tooke the city. Neere adioyning be two chapels of marble, where
lie buried most of the emperours with their children and sultanas. The 16
of Iuly, accompanied with some other of our nation we went by water to the
Blacke sea, being 16 miles distant from Constantinople, the sea al the way
thither being little broader then the Thames; both sides of the shore are
beautified with faire and goodly buildings. At the mouth of this Bosphorus
lieth a rocke some fourescore yards from the maine land, wherevpon standeth
a white marble pillar called Pompeys pillar, the shadow whereof was 23
foote long at nine of the clocke in the forenoone: over against it is a
turret of stone upon the maine land 120 steps high, hauing a great
glass-lanthorne in the toppe foure yards in diamiter and three in height,
with a great copper pan in the midst to holde oile, with twenty lights in
it, and it serueth to giue passage into this straight in the night to such
ships as come from all parts of those seas to Constantinople: it is
continually kept by a Turke, who to that end hath pay of the grand Signior.
And thus hauing spent eleuen moneths in Constantinople, accompanied with a
chause, and carying certaine mandates from the grand Signior to the Bassa
of Aleppo for the kinde vsage of our nation in those parts, the 30 of Iuly
I tooke passage in a Turkish carmosale or shippe bound for Sidon; and
passing thorow Propontis, hauing Salimbria with Heraclia most pleasantly
situated on the right hand, and Proconesus now called Marmora on the left,
we came to Gallipoly, and so by Hellespont, betweene the two castles before
named called Sestos and Abydos, famous for the passages made there both by
Xerxes and great Alexander, the one into Thracia, the other into Asia, and
so by the Sigean Promontory, now called Cape Ianitzary, at the mouth of
Hellespont vpon Asia side, where Troy stood, where are yet ruines of olde
walles to be seene, with two hils rising in a pirami