the south side of the Golden Horn, and is protected by a wall built by the Byzantium Emperors. The wall is 12 miles in circuit, and is pierced by 28 gates. That of Top-Kapussi is the one by which the Turks entered when they stormed the city, and where the last of the Palæologi died in the fight. The suburbs of Galata, Pera, and Tophaneh are on the northern side of the Golden Horn. On the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus lie Scutari and Kadikoi the ancient Chalcedon). city itself is built on hilly ground, and from this circumstance its numerous gardens, mosques, palaces, minarets, and towers present a magnificent appearance from the Golden Horn. The scenery of the Thracian Bosphorus is of almost unrivalled beauty.

The

A nearer approach to Constantinople reveals the characteristics of an Eastern town: narrow, filthy streets, and miserable houses. Great fires in recent years have swept away square miles of wooden houses, and in their stead many fine stone buildings have been erected. Among the principal sights are the SERAGLIO, Occupying the site of ancient Byzantium, and measuring three miles in circumference; the former Church of ST. SOPHIA, now a mosque, is a magnificent structure 265 feet long, by 243 broad, and is surmounted by a flattened dome, 180 feet high. The other important mosques are those of Solyman, Achmed, Mohammed II., and Eyret. The two obelisks of the ancient HIPPODROME, the Castle of the Seven Towers, now in a state of dilapidation; the aqueducts erected by the Emperor Valens, the cistern of Philoxenus and the numerous fountains, are the other most notable objects of

notice. The covered bazaars are very numerous. One feature of the city is the vast number of lean and hungry dogs which haunt the streets. GALATA is the residence of the European merchants, and the principal place of trade. Bridges of boats connect the opposite sides of the Golden Horn. Tophaneh has the Imperial cannon foundry, a mosque, and an interesting fountain. On the hill, behind Galata, is situated PERA. Before the fire of 1870, Pera had 70,000 European inhabitants, but the catastrophe reduced them to about one half that number. The population of Constantinople in 1873 was 750,000, of whom about one half were Mahomedans, one fourth Greeks, and the rest Armenians, Franks, and Jews.

Constantinople has several Greek, Roman Catholic, and Protestant places of worship. There are both Greek and Turkish public libraries. The manufactures are carpets, leather, and weapons.

It would be difficult for any imagination to associate in close array all the incongruous and discordant objects which may be contemplated in an hour's walk in Constantinople. The barbarous extremes of magnificence and wretchedness, and the majesty of nature, crowned with all the grandeur of art in contrast with the atrocious effects of unrestrained sensuality, fill up the varied picture. The howling of ten thousand dogs re-echoing through the streets all the live-long night, chases you betimes from your pillow. Approaching your window you are greeted by the rays of the rising sun, gilding the snowy summits of Mount Olympus and the beautiful shores of the sea of Marmora, and the town of Scutari; midway your eye ranges

with delight over the marble domes of St. Sophia, the gilded pinnacles of the Seraglio glittering amid groves of perpetual verdure, the long arcades of ancient aqueducts, and the spiry minarets of a thousand mosques."

Steamers of the Austrian Lloyd's leave Constantinople every alternate Thursday for Smyrna and Alexandria, reaching Smyrna on Saturday, and Alexandria Tuesday morning.

on

Another steamer of the same line leaves Smyrna on the arrival of the direct steamer, for Beyrout, Caifa, Jaffa, Port Said, and Alexandria. Beyrout is reached on Thursday morning. The Egyptian steamers leave Constantinople fortnightly for Alexandria, viá Smyrna.

Smyrna, Beyrout, and Jaffa, will be described in the following Routes.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

Turkey or the Ottoman Empire includes large portions of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and consists of Turkey proper, which is under the direct rule of the Sultan, and of numerous dependent and tributary States governed by their own princes, as Egypt, Tripoli, and Tunis in Africa; Servia, Montenegro, &c., in Europe. TURKEY in EUROPE, the smaller of the two divisions, is generally hilly and undulating, traversed by a mountain system which has its origin in the Alps. The great river of Turkey is the Danube, which, with its tributary the Save, forms the northern boundary.

On the high lands the cold is excessive in winter, and in the valleys the heat in summer is very great. Great climatic change is the rule in European Turkey, but the districts which are sheltered

from the cold winds, as the Albanian valleys, enjoy an equable temperature. The soil is for the most part very fertile, but owing to the excessive taxation, little progress has been made in agriculture. The cultivated products are maize in the south; rice, cotton, rye, and barley, in the centre; and millet in the north.

The Government is a limited despotism, the sovereign being the Sultan. The next in rank is the Grand Vizier. The established religion is Mahomedanism, but all other sects are tolerated, and a Mussulman, since 1856, has been free to change his religion without being liable to capital punishment. In 1847 a new system of education was established, and schools for elementary instruction have been established throughout the country.

The population of the whole Turkish or Ottoman Empire was put down in 1867 (the latest record), at 43,600,000; the population of Turkey in Europe being 16,350,000.

The first object seen on approaching Alexandria is Pompey's Pillar, soon the Pasha's Palace is seen. The entrance to the harbour is very circuitous. The landing is made by means of small boats, swarms of which surround every arriving steamer. The passenger having selected his hotel, has only to place himself and his luggage in charge of the commissionaire of the hotel selected, who attends to the details of landing, customs, &c. If passengers are travelling under the arrangements of Cook and Son, they will place themselves in charge of the Agent, who boards every steamer.

see

ALEXANDRIA (Hotels: "HOTEL APPENDIX "). Population about 220,000.

There is very little of interest to the tourist in this city.

Modern Alexandria is chiefly built on the isthmus now connecting the mainland with what was once the Island of Pharos, and also on the island itself, where the principal public buildings are situated. The Frankish quarter is the handsomest portion of the city, and more nearly occupies the site of the ancient town. The Great Square (Place Méhémet Ali) is the head-quarters of European life and business. Here the chief banks, hotels, and merchants' offices are situated. There are two harbours. The New Port is much exposed, and was, in days of Mahomedan exclusiveness, the only harbour permitted to foreign vessels. The Old Port is well protected with breakwater, mole, jetty, lighthouses, and spacious quays, and is crowded with ships.

The general aspect of the city is a strange mingling of European and Oriental. The shops are much the same as in any European city, the names of the streets being

affixed in French. The side streets, especially of the Arab Quarter, wear more of an Eastern aspect. A day will suffice for the tourist to see all that he wishes in Alexandria.

THE PRINCIPAL SIGHTS are:POMPEY'S PILLAR.-The name of this celebrated column is really a misnomer. It stands on a high piece of ground, probably the loftiest site in the ancient city. The shafts is of polished red granite, the capital and pedestal are of inferior workmanship. The total height is nearly 100 feet. The shaft is considered to have formed part of an ancient temple, utilized in the erection of the present column in honour of Diocletian, after his eight months' siege of Alexandria in 296 A.D., and sanguinary suppression of the rebellion of Achilleus.

The MAHOMEDAN CEMETERY is very near Pompey's Pillar. It is a wilderness of stones, without fence or rail, or anything of the sort, to seclude it from the common roadway. Many of the stones have a turban roughly carved on the top; some are painted green, showing that the deceased in his day made the pilgrimage to Mecca, or was a descendant of the Prophet.

CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLES.-These are two obelisks of red granite, one standing erect, and the other lying prostrate, almost buried in earth and rubbish. The upright one is seventy-one feet high; on one side the hieroglyphics are almost worn out, on the other side they are sharp and distinct. These columns bear the names of Thothmes III., Rameses II., and Sethi II. The first of these monarchs, in whose reign the stone for these immense obelisks was quarried, reigned over Egypt in 1495 B.C. They originally stood in front of

the Temple of Neptune at Heliopolis, and were subsequently removed to the Cæsarium at Alexandria. The fallen column has been presented to the English nation.

On the banks of the Mahmoodeah Canal are the residences of some of the grandees of Alexandria. This canal was formed by Mahomed Ali in 1819-20. А quarter of a million of men were forced to aid in its construction. It is cut from Alexandria to Atfeh, on the Rosetta branch of the Nile. On the right bank, near Alexandria, is the fashionable promenade of the city. Close at hand are the beautiful gardens of the Viceroy, which are open to the public. A band plays on Sundays and Fridays.

The Mosque of the 1,001 Columns is said to occupy the site of the old Church of St. Mark, which commemorated the scene of the Evangelist's martyrdom. In the Mosque of St. Athanasius, so named from a pre-existent church, was found the sarcophagus now in the British Museum, once known as "the Tomb of Iskander,” but evidently of Pharaonic origin.

The first-class carriages are good.

Soon after leaving Alexandria, Lake Mareotis is skirted to the right. Early in the year the waters are abundant, and the lake appears of vast extent, but it is very shallow. As the summer advances the waters diminish, and there is a broad expanse of swamp. Thousands of birds are seen on the shores of the lake-ducks, pelicans, and every description of waterfowl.

Kafr Douar is the first station. At Aboo Hommoos the Mahmoodeah Canal is left, and the railway proceeds to Damanhoor, a large town with cotton factories and a few good houses. Near Damanhoor Napoleon narrowly escaped being taken prisoner by the Memlooks in 1798. After passing Tel-el-Baroot, the Rosetta branch of the Nile is crossed by an iron bridge, which opens to allow large vessels to pass. Here the brother of the Khedive was drowned. He was returning to Cairo from Alexandria, and the ferry bridge being out of place, the train plunged into the river. At Kafr-ez Zyat the train halts for refreshments. We are now in the Delta of Egypt. The country is very fertile, and cotton plantations, sugar fields, and grain of every kind abound. The soil is the rich mud deposited by the Nile, and the divisions of the land are not made, as in most places, by hedges and walls, but by small canals.

The tourist will be interested in watching the various industries of the people. Watering the land seems to be one of the chief, and this is done by the most oldfashioned appliances. The shadoof and the sukieh are both seen in frequent operation; and as these are notable Egyptian insti

tutions, which will everywhere meet the traveller's eye, it would be better to describe them.

"The shadoof is the arrangement most in vogue. It consists of a long pole, made heavy at one end, and resting on a pivot, at the other end a bucket, or large water-tight basket, which 18 lowered to the water and filled; and, as the heavy end of the pole goes down, turns out its contents into a little gutter, whence it is worked by the foot into the appointed channels. Sometimes this is superseded by the sakieh, which is a water-mill of cogged wheels, turned by a buffalo, or camel, each revolution of the wheel working up a series of earthen pitchers, which empty themselves into a trough or pool.

More

primitive still is the practice, in frequent use, of raising the water without any mechanical contrivance. Two men stand in the stream or canal with a waterproof basket between them, which they swing as regularly as clockwork, and throw the water on to the bank, where another stands ready to divert it into its proper place. It was in contrast to this style of work that it was said in Scripture that the land which the Israelites should possess is not as the land of Egypt, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot; but is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven.'(Deut. xi.)." Not less interesting is it to watch the ploughing with the quaint plough, which is familiar by illustrated scriptural books. Not unfrequently it is drawn by camel and buffalo "unequally yoked" together. Tantah, celebrated for its fêtes or festivals, is now passed. They are held in January, April, and August, lasting eight days in each month.

They are in honour of Seyyid Ahmed-el-Bedawee, a Moslem saint, to whom an invocation in time of sorrow is guaranteed to bring strength to the faithful. These fêtes, which are attended by two or three hundred thousand people, are the most interesting in Egypt. At Birket-es-Sab the Damietta branch of the Nile is crossed. The palace of Abbas Pasha is seen, and then Benka is reached, a junction for Mansoorah or Ismailia, both via Zagazig. Tookh station is passed and the first sight of the Pyramids is obtained. The next station is Kalioob.

Looking out on the left, the Mokattam hills and the minarets of the city are seen; and after passing through some of the most charming scenery of the whole route, the terminus of the railway is reached at CAIRO.

Before the train stops at the platform it is surrounded by Arabs, clamorous for the passengers' luggage; but passengers are advised not to allow anybody to touch an article of luggage except the commissionaire from the hotel where he proposes stopping, or if he is travelling under their arrangements, the agent of Cook and Son.

CAIRO (Hotels: see "HOTEL APPENDIX").