and the sherbet, compounded of
the juice of many fruits and flowers and cooled with snow, is the most
delicious drink I ever tasted. There are also many kinds of nice
sweet-cakes; but, on the whole, I should prefer not to board in a
Turkish family or employ a Turkish cook. No wonder the women are pale
and sallow if they indulge much in such food!

Being anxious to see a good display of Turkish rugs, and our party
having some commissions to execute, we sallied forth one afternoon on
this errand. If you intend to visit a Turkish carpet warehouse, and your
purse or your judgment counsels you not to purchase, put yourself under
bonds to that effect before you go; for, unless you possess remarkable
strength of character, the beautiful rugs displayed will prove
irresistible temptations. Near the bazaar in Stamboul is a massive
square stone house, looking like a fortress compared with the buildings
around it. Mosses and weeds crop out of every uneven part of its walls.
A heavy door that might stand a siege admitted us to a small vestibule,
and from this we passed into a paved court with a moss-grown fountain in
the centre. Around this court ran a gallery, its heavy arches and
columns supporting a second, to which we ascended by a broad flight of
steps. A double door admitted us to the wareroom, where, tolerably
secure from fire (the doors alone were of wood), were stored Turkish and
Persian rugs of all sizes and colors. The Turkish were far handsomer
than the Persian, and the colors more brilliant than those I have
usually seen. The attendants unrolled one that they said was a hundred
years old. It had a dusty, faded look, as if it had been in the
warehouse quite that length of time, and made the modern ones seem
brighter by contrast. Several rugs having been selected, we returned to
the office, where a carpet was spread and we were invited to seat
ourselves on it. Coffee was passed around, and we proceeded to bargain
for our goods through our interpreter. The merchant, as usual, asked an
exorbitant price to start with, and we offered what was equally
ridiculous the other way; and so we gradually approached the final
price--he coming gracefully down, and we as affably ascending in the
scale, till a happy medium was reached, and we departed with our
purchases following us on the back of an ammale.

[Illustration: THE SULTAN ABDUL ASSIZ.]

Three days of each week are observed as holy days. Friday is the Turkish
Sabbath, Satur