hly refreshed,
and grew delightfully cool in a short time, though I fancied I had lost
some pounds of flesh.

As regards the natives of the East, bathing can scarcely be styled a
luxury; to them, it is really indispensable; for as they do not change
their clothes even at night for months together, in fact, not until worn
out, they would be otherwise insufferable beasts; but by frequenting the
bath every day, or every other day, and performing the ablutions imposed
on them in the Koran, with their quiet sedate mode of life, they are
actually rendered very cleanly animals. The women have the use of the
baths in the afternoon, when they assemble in crowds, and all the
scandal and news of the town is circulated, marriages concluded, and the
secret intrigues of the parties are reciprocally detailed; in short,
every thing which may be supposed to be brought on the tapis in an
exclusive meeting of the fair sex. Nature is every where the same; and I
presume, whether in a bath at Stamboul, a Parisian saloon, or a
drawing-room in London, a similar love of gossip is their distinguishing
characteristic. Almost every quarter of Stamboul is furnished with its
baths or hummums; and the houses of all rich Turks possess this
desirable luxury, which is used by the male part of the family in the
morning, and by the females afterwards. The plan on which they are
constructed is the same throughout the East: in them shaving is
universally performed; the hair is dyed, the beard is made to assume a
beautiful glossy black; and the depilatory pincers and ointments of the
ladies are applied to the purposes for which they are designed. The bath
I used was opposite the sherbet vender, on the hill of Pera, who is so
well described in "The Armenians" of Macfarlane; and whose little
fountain of water, flowing through machinery, and setting wheels,
circles, and bells all in motion together, is no slight decoy to the
thirsty passenger. I have read "The Armenians" with great pleasure. The
description of the _locale_, as well as of the manners, customs, and
general appearance of the native and foreign inhabitants of
Constantinople, is given with admirable fidelity; in short, no modern
work with which I am acquainted presents a more lively and faithful
picture of this queen of cities.

[Sidenote: EASTERN STORY-TELLER.] _Friday, 31st._--Instead of making an
excursion to the Sweet Waters, I went with my friend the American
secretary to visit the coffee-hou