Personal Narrative Of Military Travel And Adventure In Turkey And Persia Comprising A Brief Sketch

Author : Robert Macdonald
Publisher : Theclassics.Us
ISBN 13 : 9781230320380
Total Pages : 70 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (23 download)

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Download or read book Personal Narrative of Military Travel and Adventure in Turkey and Persia written by Robert Macdonald and published by Theclassics.Us. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1859 edition. Excerpt: ... chapter vii. Arrive at Constantinople--Description of the City--Mosques--Streets--Dog-Scavengers--Observations on the Turks--Their Dress--Smoking--Private Dwellings--Turkish Females--Jannat-al-Eden--Turkish Government--Sultan Mahmoud--Account of the Destruction of the Janissaries--Visit to Therapia--Excursions--Uncomfortable Quarters on Board the VolatjcSir Henry Bethune--Flogging, &c. We arrived at Constantinople, or, as it is called by the Turks, Stamboul, on the morning of the 8th of May. The sun was just rising as we entered the mouth of the bay called the Golden Horn, where the steamer came to anchor. I was completely lost in wonder while standing on the deck, surveying this great and pompous oriental city, the capital of the Ottoman empire, the metropolis of Eastern Europe. I, ere now, had heard much, yea, and dreamed more, about the grandeur of Constantinople; but all the descriptions I ever read, and all the day dreams I ever indulged in, were nothing to be compared to the reality. To see it, as I saw it, with the golden rays of the sun of a clear summer morning tinging everything around, was a scene of magnificence never to be forgot. It would be in vain for me to try the description of that glorious sight. Greater artists in description than I am could not, I am sure, do justice to it. The view of the city from where I lay, at the mouth of the Golden Horn, I should say was about the best that could be had. On my left was the Sultan's Seraglio, lying in repose, like the palace of a fairy queen, among trees, fountains, and gardens of beautiful roses. Pera and Galata, the chief residence of the Franks or Christians, lay on the face of a hill on my right. In my front lay the imperial city itself, resting on its hills, breasting and...