Soyer's Culinary Campaign

he lady and her maid-Beautiful scene-The Golden Horn-Castle of the Seven Towers-Kadikoi-General and Barrack Hospitals-Grand panorama-Various edifices-Stamboul-Grand Oriental pageant-T

s, &c., filling up the time. We were like one happy and united family. I paid my daily visit to the restaurateur and his chef, with whom I was soon on good terms. Towards evening, we collected on the uppe

one of our party landed, and remained on shore about an hour. General Cannon had an excellent idea; he sent some oysters on board, which made a good addition to our bill of fare. The Gallipoli oysters are small and ill-formed, but very sweet. The same cannot be said of the town and its inhabitants-both extremely dirty. Indeed, this first Oriental seaport contrasts most outrageously with the grand paraphernalia of the "Arabian Nights." The evening before our arrival, to our sorrow, we learnt from the Captain that, owing to the favourable win

ns, probably because it was the last. We kept it up till eleven o'clock, and then retired perfectly delighted with our voyage, having already forgotten our unfavourable departure, and regretting nothing but our too-early arrival in the Bosphorus. The night was calm, and, on going on deck at daybreak, I heard, to my great satisfa

was anything but favourable-rain kept falling-everything on deck was wet, and the air very chilly. General Cannon said to me, "I am very sorry, Mr. Soyer, for your sake, and that of Captain Ponsonby and Colonel St. George, that we shall not see the famed view of Constantinople to advantage. I have already witnessed it, this being my third voyage. Howe

ganization in the cooking department, where all was confusion, in so strange a country. I must confess that, for an hour or so, I was quite at a loss to think how I should commence operations. I did not know one official there. I had not the least idea how I should be received; and, after all, I might probably catch the fever, or some other complaint at the time raging within its walls. Sudde

red patients. My resolution as to how I should act was then fixed; nothing appeared difficult to me; and, instead of fearing the undertaking, I was most anxious to begin. Having been advised to call at Pera, to announ

r. Messerie, I directed my friend T. G. to call there and make inquiries; and if he found that we could not be received, to go to the "H?tel des Ambassadeurs," that establishment being the next in standing. As I promised to remain on board till he returned, I was left almost alone. There

ntrance of the Corne d'Or-so called, no doubt, because it takes the shape of a horn of plenty-is in truth a Golden Horn, from the facilities it affords for maritime and commercial intercourse, as well as navigation, penetrating, as it does, into the very bosom of the imperial city. Constantinople, like London, has no quays; and on every side this immense metropolis plunges its feet, or banks, into the Bos

those frail barks, and the cleanliness of the light and cheerful costume of their owners, so well develops the Oriental style, that it cannot fail in forcibly striking every stranger. Numerous large sailing-vessels, steamboats, Greek and Turkish barques, and even men-of-war (many be

xplain to me the various places

the Castle of the Seven Towers, where the ambassadors were formerly imprisoned. Those islands to the left are the Isles des Princes. Al

der, I suppose,

etty summer residence, inhabited by rich merchants, particularly Greeks and Armenians. It is full of beautiful houses and ga

tal, with its hundreds of windows and four square towers. The

resides at his summer kiosque of Hyder Pacha. That forest of cypress trees is the grand Champ des Mor

what fo

y the Sultan. It is lighted by gas-quite a new thing in Constantinople. That large building above, on the heights, is the grand hospital of Pera, now used by the French; and all the neighbourhood as far as the pointed tower is called Pera, the Christian quarter, where are the foreign embassies and foreign merchants' residences. The large yellowish building with the colonnade you see fac

ouse there. The building at the bottom is the Custom-house, or, as it should be called, the confusion-house; for if unfortunately you get goods in, 'tis a hundred to one if you ever get them out again. The rough bridge you see yonder has only existed these last twenty years. Before that was built, people were obliged to cross from Stamboul to the European shore in caiques;

"pray be less prolix

of Sultan Bajazid, very remarkable for the number of its volatile inhabitants, consisting of several thousands of beautiful tame pigeons. That high tower behind it is called the Seraskier's Tower, and also serves the purpose of a signal-tow

ll do that, you

feast of the Ramazan. All the nobility of the Empire are in duty bound to appear in new and most gaudy costumes at this

ur for so great a c

the moon. An old Turk, with whom I am well acquainted, told me that he recollect

e custom,

ion, you should inquire about the six weeks of Rhamadhan, when

ormation; but pray cont

akes place is the Sultan Mahmoud's palace, the to

ows of small domes, lik

the kitche

all o

ugh that, although the Sultan no longer inhabits it,

, my friend, if n

ourite sons of high Turkish families. Here," he continued, "look at

y what a

bably still inhabited by a few of his old favour

ecies of chalets put me very

aking notes of the most interesting passages. The dragoman, turning quickly round-"Madam," said he, "you see that colossal spout shooting out at a sharp incline towards the water. That is the spot from whence, if any of the Tu

r, do you thin

ork; I believe it was French. At all events, European manners and customs are progressing throughout the world, and have even reached Turkey. I hear from every one, that the Sultan is a most amiable and humane man. I would t

erhaps, doubt

quite rig

tale related of the Lean

r name for it is La Tour de la Jeune Fille, a

l would die from the bite of a serpent or some such venomous reptile. The pacha having repeatedly asked the old woman if that was the only kind of speedy death with which his daughter was menaced, and having received a reply in the affirmative, parted upon very friendly terms with the hag, who was possessed, as he said, by an evil spirit. He then caused this tower to be built for his daughter's residence, and for several years she lived in this picturesque place, without being visited by any one but her father, who continually supplied her with provisions of the most delicate kind, and nosegays of the fines

from the bite of a reptile, very well; and I also heard that the name of the Tower of Leander is applied to it; but it

en way, and the holes are rather dangerous, as one might easily slip and break a leg. The very clean and picturesque caidjees are waiting amidst heaps of manure and the carcase of a dead horse, which had been thrown into the Bosphorus and had drifted on shore. A number of ill-looking, half-famished dogs were feeding upon that heap of corruption. On inquiring of the son of the proprietor of the hotel, who accompanied me, he coolly told me that it had only been there a day or two, and would probably

ing mirage of the panoramic Constantinople vanished rapidly from before my disenchanted eyes; this ephemeral Paradise of Mahomet changing at once into an almost insupportable purgatory. I could not imagine how such a mass of ruins and of miserable wooden houses could, from so short a distance, take such a brilliant aspect or create such ravishing sensations, as the first view of Constantinople had raised in my mind from the deck of th

d, sir; it has rained very much lately, which is the cause of so much mud." I now perceived, that as far as the names of pavements g

at once sent him his military blessing; and the Turk, spurring his horse, exclaimed, "Not Bono Johnny; Not Bono Johnny;" that being the name given to the English by the Turks. After passing through several similar streets, consisting of ruinous wooden shanties and shops of the lowest order, "viz., chibouque tube and pipe-bowl

very cordially shook me by the hand, and politely expressed his regret at not being able to accommodate me. He recommended the H?tel des Ambassad

n Ponsonby, &c., had gone to the H?tel de l'Europe, and I therefore felt free for that evening. About five o'clock, Mons. Pantaleone Veracleo, a young Greek, the son of the hotel-keeper, came and inform

"you can see it from the top of the ho

t which I had witnessed on board the Simois, and by which I had been so much charmed. In order to enjoy it fully, I expresse