were mixed with sugar, until of the consistence of damson cheese. The
Turks eat a vast quantity of these cloying sweetmeats, after which they
drink abundance of sherbet. A glass of good brandy, however, would, in
my opinion, be a much better corrective.

[Sidenote: ARMENIAN VISITORS.] _Sunday, 26th._--Went up to Terapia this
morning, and spent the day in wandering through the Sultan's Valley,
under the superb plane trees, and returned to dine on board the Actaeon.
After dinner, a party of young Armenians came on board, accompanied by
their tutor. They were sons of a man of distinguished rank among his
countrymen, residing on the Bosphorus; and one of them, the eldest,
about eighteen years of age, was so fat, round, and sleek, that we all
decided him to be what Baba threatened to make poor Juan. The other two
brothers were very fine intelligent lads, and there was also a cousin
with them, a heavy, shy, youngster. The tutor, who was a young man of
about twenty-two, spoke French, Italian, English, and Latin, fluently.
His pupils, likewise, understood a little English, and French uncommonly
well. They were delighted with their reception, and remained a long time
at table in the gun-room, drinking their wine with much relish, and
seeming to prefer it to coffee, especially the younger boy, who, had he
been permitted, would have willingly finished a whole bottle to his own
share. On taking leave, they invited us all to their father's residence;
but we never availed ourselves of the invitation, possibly because we
discovered that they had no sisters; and the inside of the black house,
below Jene Keni, was in itself an insufficient attraction, without the
chance of getting a glimpse of a fair Armenian girl, divested of her
odious gashmak, and the form-concealing cloak.

The evening was lovely, and my sail down to Pera delightful: no sound
broke upon the ear, save the rippling of the current against the caique
as it glided lightly along, like the bird, which skims closely over the
surface of the ocean, and appears to bathe its plumage in the waves,
though in reality without wetting its crescent wings.

[Sidenote: ORIENTAL COSTUME.] _Monday, 27th._--Strolled again in the
bazar: this word means barter, or the act of bargaining for the sale or
purchase of any commodity; and it is in them that all the retail trade
of Constantinople is carried on. As these cloistered passages exclude
the rays of the sun, they are cool and pleasant