nged
on Friday morning at 11 o'clock, but as the Turks have no faith in
astronomy, and do not believe the moon has actually changed until they see
it, all good Mussulmen were obliged to fast an additional day. Had
Saturday been cloudy, and the new moon invisible, I am not sure but the
fast would have been still further prolonged. A good look-out was kept,
however, and about four o'clock on Saturday afternoon some sharp eyes saw
the young crescent above the sun. There is a hill near Gemlik, on the Gulf
of Moudania, about fifty miles from here, whence the Turks believe the new
moon can be first seen. The families who live on this hill are exempted
from taxation, in consideration of their keeping a watch for the moon, at
the close of Ramazan. A series of signals, from hill to hill, is in
readiness, and the news is transmitted to Constantinople in a very short
time Then, when the muezzin proclaims the _asser_, or prayer two hours
before sunset, he proclaims also the close of Ramazan. All the batteries
fire a salute, and the big guns along the water announce the joyful news
to all parts of the city. The forts on the Bosphorus take up the tale, and
both shores, from the Black Sea to the Propontis, shake with the burden of
their rejoicing. At night the mosques are illuminated for the last time,
for it is only during Ramazan that they are lighted, or open for night
service.

After Ramazan, comes the festival of Bairam, which lasts three days, and
is a season of unbounded rejoicing. The bazaars are closed, no Turk does
any work, but all, clothed in their best dresses, or in an entire new suit
if they can afford it, pass the time in feasting, in paying visits, or in
making excursions to the shores of the Bosphorus, or other favorite spots
around Constantinople. The festival is inaugurated by a solemn state
ceremony, at the Seraglio and the mosque of Sultan Achmed, whither the
Sultan goes in procession, accompanied by all the officers of the
Government. This is the last remaining pageant which has been spared to
the Ottoman monarchs by the rigorous reforming measures of Sultan Mahmoud,
and shorn as it is of much of its former splendor, it probably surpasses
in brilliant effect any spectacle which any other European Court can
present. The ceremonies which take place inside of the Seraglio were,
until within three or four years, prohibited to Frank eyes, and travellers
were obliged to content themselves with a view of the procession,