the snow-clad summit of Mount Olympus, close the prospect. Such is a mere
outline of the natural and artificial beauty of Constantinople.

The city itself is surrounded by walls, built of freestone, with alternate
layers of Roman brick, flanked by 478 towers; the walls, however, are in
several places so dilapidated as to be incapable of any defence without
great reparation. On the land side, the fortifications consist of a triple
wall, with towers at every 150 yards; the first wall being 30 feet in
height; the second 20, and about 30 feet from the first; the third is
twelve feet in height; beyond this is a fosse, thirty feet wide, now
converted into gardens, and filled with fine grown trees, and a low
counterscarp. There are five gates on this side, and several to the water.
The streets, of which there are 3,770, with the exception of two or three,
are narrow, irregular, badly paved, and exceedingly dirty, the only
scavengers being vultures and half-starved dogs. There are fourteen
imperial mosques, about 200 others, and above that number of messjids or
chapels. The number of houses is prodigious; in 1796, the register of
Effendissy gave 88,185 within the walls; they are mostly constructed of
wood, and the dwellings of the lower classes are mere wooden boxes, cool
in summer, the windows being unglazed, and in winter heated by pans of
charcoal. Fires are consequently very frequent. The khans, or warehouses
of the merchants are, however, fireproof; the bazaars are also defended
from fire, and are well built; and coffeehouses very numerous. The city is
amply supplied with water, there being 730 public baths, a superb fountain
in the Chinese taste in every street, and few houses without similar
provision. The population of the city and suburbs is estimated at upwards
of 600,000; of these above one half are Turks, the remainder Jews, Franks,
Greeks, &c.

We have only space to particularize a few of the most prominent buildings