meeting one's kind, for social converse and the contemplation of
life. Hence it must be that they have so happy a tact for locality.
They seek shade, pleasant corners, open squares, the prospect of
water or wide landscapes. In Constantinople they enjoy an infinite
choice of site, so huge is the extent of that city, so broken by
hill and sea, so varied in its spectacle of life. The commonest
type of city coffee-room looks out upon the passing world from
under a grape-vine or a climbing wistaria.

[Illustration: A COFFEE HOUSE IN SYRIA--AFTER JARDIN]

Coffee-houses of distinction are to be found also in the Place of the
Pines overlooking the Marble Sea, on Giant's Mountain, in the Landing
Place of the Man-slayer, and along the rivers that flow into the Golden
Horn.

Originally the Turkish method of preparing coffee was the Arabian
method, and it is so described by Mr. Fellows in his _Excursions through
Asia Minor_:

Each cup is made separately, the little saucepan or ladle in which
it is prepared being about an inch wide and two deep; this is more
than half filled with coffee, finely pounded with a pestle and
mortar, and then filled up with water; after being placed for a few
seconds on the fire, the contents are poured, or rather shaken, out
(being much thicker than chocolate) without the addition of cream
or sugar, into a china cup of the size and shape of half an
egg-shell, which is inclosed in one of ornamented metal for
convenience of holding in the hand.

Later, the Turks sought to improve the method by adding sugar (a
concession to the European sweet tooth) during the boiling process. The
improved Turkish recipe is as follows:

First boil the water. For two cups of the beverage add three lumps
of sugar and return the boiler to the fire. Add two teaspoonfuls of
powdered coffee, stirring well and let the pot boil up four times.
Between each boiling the pot is to be removed from the fire and the
bottom tapped gently until the froth on the top subsides. After the
last boiling pour the coffee first into one cup and then the other,
so as to evenly divide the froth.

In Syria and Palestine the Turkish-Arabian methods are followed. The
brazen dippers, or _ibriks_, are used for boiling.

[Illustration: CAFETAN

Oriental coffee-house keeper's costume]

In the Near East, coffee manners and custo