IN THE LEVANT, 1714]

There are seasons in the year when these various forms of
entertainment abound more than at others, as Ramazan and the two
Bairams. Throughout the month of Ramazan the purely Turkish
coffee-houses are closed in the daytime, since the pleasures which
they minister may not then be indulged in; but they are open all
night. It is during that one month of the year that Karaghieuz, the
Turkish shadow-show, may be seen in a few of the larger
coffee-shops. The Bairams are two festivals of three and four days
respectively, the former of which celebrates the close of Ramazan,
while the latter corresponds in certain respects to the Jewish
Passover. Dancing is a particular feature of the coffee-houses in
Bairam. The Kurds, who carry the burdens of Constantinople on their
backs, are above all other men given to this form of
exercise--though the Lazzes, the boatmen, vie with them. One of
these dark tribesmen plays a little violin like a pochelle, or two
of them perform on a pipe and a big drum, while the others dance
round them in a circle, sometimes till they drop from fatigue. The
weird music and the picturesque costumes and movements of the
dancers make the spectacle one to be remembered.

Christian coffee-houses also have their own festal seasons. These
coincide in general with the festivals of the church. But every
quarter has its patron saint, the saint of the local church or of
the local holy well, whose feast is celebrated by a three-day
_panayiri_. The street is dressed with flags and strings of colored
paper, tables and chairs line the sidewalk, and libations are
poured forth in honor of the holy person commemorated. For this
reason, and because of the more volatile character of the Greek,
the general note of his merrymaking is louder than that of the
Turk. One may even see the scandalous spectacle of men and women
dancing together at a Greek _panayiri_. The instrument which sets
the key of these orgies is the _lanterna_, a species of hand-organ
peculiar to Constantinople. It is a hand-piano rather, of a loud
and cheerful voice, whose Eurasian harmonies are enlivened by a
frequent clash of bells.

What first made coffee-houses suspicious to those in authority,
however, is their true resource--the advantages they offer for