home, when he stopped to call on an Austrian prince staying at the
legation. The street leading up to the embassy was too narrow and steep
for a carriage, so, mounting his horse at the foot, he rode up, passing
very close to us.

[Illustration: TURKISH COW-CARRIAGE.]

In the afternoon we drove to the "Sweet Waters of Europe" to see the
Turkish ladies, who in pleasant weather always go out there in carriages
or by water in caïques. Compared with our parks, with their lovely lakes
and streams and beautiful lawns, the far-famed Sweet Waters of Europe
are only fields with a canal running through them; but here, where this
is the only stream of fresh water near the city, and in a country
destitute of trees, it is a charming place. The stream has been walled
up to the top of its banks, which are from three to six feet above the
water, and there are sunny meadows and fine large trees on each side.
The sultan has a summer palace here with a pretty garden, and the stream
has been dammed up by blocks of white marble cut in scallops like
shells, over which the water falls in a cascade. The road to the Sweet
Waters, with one or two others, was made after the sultan's return from
his European trip, and in anticipation of the empress Eugénie's visit.
European carriages were also introduced at that time. The ladies of the
sultan's harem drive out in very handsome coupés, with coachmen wearing
the sultan's livery, but you more frequently see the queer one-horse
Turkish carriage, and sometimes a "cow-carriage." This last is drawn by
cows or oxen: it is an open wagon, with a white cloth awning ornamented
with gay fringes and tassels. Many people go in caïques, and all carry
bright-colored rugs, which they spread on the grass. There they sit for
several hours and gossip with each other, or take their luncheons and
spend the afternoon. A Turkish woman is never seen to better advantage