withstanding the assistance of the soldans of Cairo, bring back to the channel of the Nile what had been turned off by the Indus, the Oxus, and the Phasis. The empire of the east was then as apathetic with regard to its interests as it is at the present day. The Genoese, established at Constantinople, had converted it into a national colony, and maintained the usurped title with as much arrogance as the colony shewed submission. It was here that the Genoese fought with ardour for what they pretended to be the cause of their allies, but what was really their own existence. Constantinople then only subsisted to increase the wealth and prosperity of foreign states as a central colony, nor is its fate at the present day much different. The Turkish empire only subsists by the jealousy of the European powers as to the division of it. The coasts beneath our eyes are those of the ancient kingdom of Bithynia, confounded by the Mussulmen into one province under the name of Anatolia. Numerous flocks, a country fertile in grain, and mountains covered with timber fit for every purpose, are its principal riches. Farther on, in the same direction, are the coasts of Paphlagonia, with the ruins of Sinope, still visible. This city seems to offer its port to the Ottomans, as an immense depôt for ship-building; wood, pitch, tar, hemp, &c. being found in abundance in the neighbourhood. Beyond Sinope is Trebisonde, the capital of an obscure empire, but part of the states of Mithridates, the great enemy of the Roman name; it abounds in copper-mines, which are not explored by the indolent natives. To the north-east is Colchis, watered by the Phasis, and separated from Iberia by the lofty Caucasus. All these countries are enemies to civilization, which has made no progress amongst them, notwithstanding their relations with Russia and Turkey; they are now called Georgians, Circassians, Mingrelians, &c.; they have no fixed notions on religion, nor any idea of the social contract, or the law of nations. Here the Egyptians recruit the mamelukes, and here the seraglio its beautiful victims. Notwithstanding all the cares of Catharine and her successors, the Crimea has lost much by emigration since it has become subject to the Russian yoke. The Mahometans detest all other religions, and will not unite with those who profess them. We are now arrived at the Nieper, and the Niester. What riches do those rivers bring to the Black Sea, and carry back in return! Grains, furs, timbers, hides, tallow, hemp, wool, wax, and numerous other articles, are transported in abundance to Odessa, Kerson, and Oslakoff, and increase the riches of Russia in an eminent degree. The three depôts we have here mentioned, of which the first has supplanted the second, are unequivocal proofs of what industry can effect. A few years since, Odessa did not exist; it now contains upwards of 30,000 souls. Commerce has the whole merit of the erection of this new city; for the soil by its nakedness, and the climate by its severity, were two obstacles against success. All the extent of country lying to the north is ancient Thrace, famous for its heroes and its horses; its fertile plains might become the granary of Constantinople, but it lies uncultivated. What a monster is despotism! It strikes with barrenness whatever it touches; it only knows how to destroy, and if it is not surrounded by ruin, it fancies it does not reign! Beyond the Homus, the Euxine bathes the coasts of ancient Dacia; the abundant waters of the Danube carry fertility into this bason, which to the north has no bound. Before we quit the commerce of the Black Sea, let us take a survey of those formidable rocks called by the ancients the Cyanea of Europe. On the summit of the highest, we find a marble column still standing, called Pompey's Pillar by the vulgar; some of the learned fancy it was erected in honour of Augustus, and some attribute it to Apollo. It is of Parian marble, whose whiteness contrasts well with the black rock which serves as its base; its circular form, its small height, the garland suspended in festoons, relieved by the heads of Apis, which wind round, with so much grace; all those characteristic signs, do they not seem to indicate that this is a votive altar, deprived of its tables of sacrifice, and erected, perhaps, to Neptune? What inclines us to this opinion is its position opposite dangerous rocks and shoals, which the seamen never approached without invoking Neptune; doubtless it has been the scene of many horrors; the wrecked mariner has, perhaps, often embraced it, and here offered up his vows to the Deity to whom it was consecrated. Travellers, who seem long to have been in the habit of visiting it, have engraved their names upon it. I sought a small space to place my own, and discovered that of a friend; the discovery caused an emotion in my mind, only to be exceeded by the reality of presence; I united our names as a lasting memento of the union of our hearts, which can neither be affected by time nor distance, till the great destroyer effaces us from the tablet of life. THIRD PROMENADE. The Exterior of Constantinople and the Seven Towers. CONSTANTINOPLE is, in more than one sense, the rival of Rome; superior to the latter in position, it also stands on seven hills, separated from each other by spacious valleys; its extent appears immense, unless we go round its boundaries, and we are then astonished to find, that in four hours and a half we easily complete its circuit, which is about fifteen miles; but the greater part of this excursion being made by water, and the strong current singularly aiding the rowers, saves much time. Constantinople is, however, far from being included by its walls; the numerous buildings which cover the banks of the Bosphorus, and were formerly distinct cities, are now only its suburbs: but its appearance is most imposing, and whatever idea a traveller may form of it before he sees it, he will find the reality to surpass it. To have the most delightful view of it we must place ourselves on the point of Chalcedonia, at sunrise, on a summer's day; our extasy is then complete. Here we forget our pains and our pleasures, absorbed by the magnificence and the variety of "nature's gayest, happiest attitude of things." This capital, in changing its masters, has not changed its fortune, unless it be to shine with additional splendour; in detail, it does not offer those tributes of genius which the unshackled mind of freedom can alone produce. The fine arts every where bear the imprint of the government, the manners, and the religion of the country. In Greece they excelled in all the branches. In modern Italy, superstition confined the chissel of the statuary, and the pencil of the painter, to the portraits of saints, the mysteries of the gospel, and the fables of the golden legend. In Belgium, the same bias is evident, but the reformed church of the United Provinces offering no attractions to these sacred fictions, the painters selected nature in her humblest and most grotesque forms, for the exercise of their genius. France and England can scarcely be said to boast of schools, but though one is catholic and the other protestant, their artists have risen above the servility which enchained the talents of their neighbours; hence portraits, historical subjects, landscapes, and marine views, offered to the different tastes of the artists so many theatres of success. In Constantinople, on the contrary, the fine arts exist but in name; the musselman's faith accords not with either painting or images; and though some of the sovereigns have shewn a VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 1. Vol. IV. C predilection for the fine arts, the soil of Islamism has prevented their taking root. Forty-three gates, in the time of its splendour, led to the public roads of its different provinces, but its external architecture has now nothing to recommend it. Constantinople is now more populous than in the time of the Greeks, which is not, however, owing to its industry, but the gradual increase of population, and the accidental influx of residents, which great cities always obtain at the expence of the country. At the foot of the walls, on the side of the port, is erected a number of houses occupied by the Greeks, which prove the conquerors took possession of the residence of the conquered, compelling the latter to seek an asylum elsewhere. The city has now only twenty gates, of which, seven open on the port, seven on the Propontis, and six on the land side. None of them are remarkable for their structure. It is on the mosques, the baths, the kiosques, the fountains, the hospitals, and the tombs, that the Ottomans display their magnificence. Selim the Third is the first who travelled out of the beaten track. If we embark from the Field of the Dead, to make the tour of Constantinople, before we double the point of the seraglio, we pass the beautiful mosque erected by the mother of Mahomet IV.; it is called Jeni-Dojami; it is distinguished by its two gilded minarets. We pass successively in review Jali-Kiosk, situated at the foot of the seraglio, and where his highness gives audience of leave to the Capitan Pacha, when he is going to cruise in the Archipelago; Mermer-Kiosk, remarked by its columns of vert antique, on which it stands. In admiring the lightness of those edifices, we are struck with the happy manner in which the shade of trees and architecture are blended, and give to the seraglio the air of enchanting disorder. FOURTH PROMENADE. THE AQUEducts. Valley of Buyuck-Dèré.-Knowledge of the Turks in Hydraulics. Aqueduct, Village, and Valley of Baktché-Keuïu.Village of Belgrade.-Romeca.-Dancing of the antient and modern Greeks.-Dancing of the Turks.-Music and Poetry of the Turks and Greeks.-Village of Pirgos, and Valley of Barbysès.—Aqueduct of Justinian, and Village of Dgibedge-Keuiu.-Rules of oriental Versification. THE lover of nature, who is susceptible of those sweet emotions which the sight of a beautiful country in fine weather |