the bearer of the sacred standard. And high above them all on a hillock
towers the orange-coloured pavilion of the Padishah, with gold and
purple hangings, and two and three fold horse-tails planted in front of
the entrance.

At sunset yesterday there was not a trace of this vast camp, all night
long this city of tents was a-building, and at dawn of day there it
stands all ready like the creation of a magician's wand!

The plain is occupied by the Spahis, the finest, smartest horsemen of
the whole host; along the sea-front are ranged the topidjis, with their
rows and rows of cannons. Other detachments of these gunners are
distributed among the various hillocks. On the wings of the host are
placed the Albanian cavalry, the Tartars, and the Druses of Horan. The
centre of the host belongs of right to the flower, the kernel of the
imperial army--the haughty Janissaries.

And certainly they seemed to be very well aware that they were the cream
of the host, and that therefore it was not lawful for any other division
of the army to draw near them, much less mingle with them, unless it
were a few _delis_, whom they permitted to roam up and down their ranks
full of crazy exaltation.

The whole host is full of the joy of battle, and if, from time to time,
fierce shouts and thunderous murmurings arise from this or that
battalion, that only means that they are rejoicing at the tidings of the
declaration of war: the war-ships express their satisfaction by loud
salvoes.

Sultan Achmed, meanwhile, is engaged in his morning devotions, day by