osphorus for sixteen miles till it reaches the Sea of Marmora, which
you see far in the distance glittering in the sunlight. You look down on
the decks of the passing vessels, and the large steamers seem like toy
boats as they pass below you. Near the mosque is a remarkable well of
cool water. Shrubs and a few small trees grow on the mountain, and the
ground is covered with quantities of heather, wild-flowers and ivy. We
picked long spikes of white heather in full bloom, and pansies,
polyanthus, the blue iris and many others of our garden flowers. The
country all around Constantinople is very destitute of trees. The woods
were cut down long ago, and the multitudes of sheep, which you see in
large flocks everywhere, crop the young sprouts so they cannot grow up
again.

[Illustration: FORTRESS OF RIVA, AND THE BLACK SEA.]

Returning to Constantinople, our steamer ran close to the European
shore, stopping at the villages on that side. Most of the officers of
these boats are Turks, but they find it necessary to employ European
(generally English) engineers, as the Turks are fatalists and not
reliable. It is said they pay but little attention to their machinery
and boilers, reasoning that if it is the will of Allah that the boiler
blow up, it will certainly do so; if not, all will go right, and why
trouble one's self? Laughable stories are told of the Turkish navy;
e.g., that a certain captain was ordered to take his vessel to Crete,
and after cruising about some time returned, not being able to find the
island. Another captain stopped an English vessel one fine day to ask
where he was, as he had lost his reckoning, although the weather had
been perfectly clear for some time. In the Golden Horn lies an old
four-decker which during the Crimean war was run broadside under a
formidable battery by her awkward crew, who were unable to manage her,
and began in their fright to jump overboard. A French tugboat went to
the rescue and towed her off.

On our way to the hotel we saw the sultan's son, a boy of fifteen. He
was driving in a fine open carriage drawn by a very handsome span of bay
horses, and preceded by four outriders mounted on fine Arabian horses.
Coachman, footman and outriders, in the black livery of the sultan, were
resplendent in gold lace. The harness was of red leather and the
carriage painted of the same bright color. The cushions were of white
silk embroidered with scarlet flowers. It was a dashing equipage, but