Constantinople - and the scenery of the seven churches of Asia Minor (1839) (14760239516)

Identifier: constantinoplesc01allo (find matches)
Title: Constantinople : and the scenery of the seven churches of Asia Minor
Year: 1839 (1830s)
Authors: Allom, Thomas, 1804-1872 Walsh, R. (Robert), 1772-1852
Subjects:
Publisher: London : Fisher, Son
Contributing Library: Northeastern University, Snell Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries



Text Appearing Before Image:
ce called by the Turks, kalchan, or the buckler-fish.These, and an infinite variety of others, crowd the waters in incredible quantities, fornine months in the year; and the boats engaged in taking them are so numerous, as to stretch from side to side of the strait in such a way as to bridge the current; and the eagerness to take them is so great, that all ranks indulge in it, from the sultan to thehummal. Mustapha, the brother of Mahmoud, was engaged in it when he heard of the insurrection in favour of Selim—and he left his fishing, to strangle his cousin. The present sultan is so fond of it, that one of his apartments at Beshiktash has a trap-door over the water, from whence he often angles. Nor is this amusement confined to the day : by night the waters are covered with many lights, which float in various mazes,and form picturesque objects round the islands of the Propontis. A brazier is projected from the prow, in which a glowing fire is kept up continually, and the fish, attracted by
Text Appearing After Image:
Baluk Hana, and method of fishing for the Red Mullet At this spot, state criminals are thrown into the Bosphorus from the Seraglio. Signed F. J. Havell. WITH THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR. 41 the flame, hover about like moths round a taper, and are harpooned as they approach the boat; when the water is disturbed or muddy, a small quantity of oil is cast upon the surface, which renders it transparent and every object distinct* The Baluk Hana, represented in the illustration, is distinguished by another circumstance. It is situated on the sea of Marmora, below the walls of the seraglio, and above it are seen, towering, the dome and minarets of the mosque of Achmet. The torch in the caique is not for the purpose of fishing, but for a very different and dismal one. When sentence of death is passed on an inmate of the seraglio, he is brought to the CapiArasi, a space so called between the second and third gates, and there arrested within the doors, as it is ordered. Here the executioners reside who despatch him; and the strangled or headless man is brought down to a kiosk on the sea-wall, from whence a window opens on the water. From hence, in