In a coffee-house of a rather superior class we found one of the so-
called "story-tellers." The audience sit round in a half-circle,
and the narrator stands in the foreground, and quietly begins a tale
from the Thousand and One Nights; but as he continues he becomes
inspired, and at length roars and gesticulates like the veriest
ranter among a company of strolling players.

Sherbet is not drunk in all the coffee-houses; but every where we
find stalls and booths where this cooling and delicious beverage is
to be had. It is made from the juice of fruits, mixed with that of
lemons and pomegranates. In Pera ice is only to be had in the
coffee-houses of the Franks, or of Christian confectioners. All
coffee-house keepers are obliged to buy their coffee ready burnt and
ground from the government, the monopoly of this article being an
imperial privilege. A building has been expressly constructed for
its preparation, where the coffee is ground to powder by machinery.
The coffee is made very strong, and poured out without being
strained, a custom which I could not bring myself to like.

It is well worth the traveller's while to make an

EXCURSION TO EJUB,

the greatest suburb of Constantinople, and also the place where the
richest and most noble of the Turks are buried.

Ejub, the standard-bearer of Mahomet, rests here in a magnificent
mosque, built entirely of white marble. None but a Mussulman may
tread this hallowed shrine. A tolerably good view of the interior
can, however, be obtained from without, as the windows are lofty and