| Transcript |
WITH, THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR. 43
with their aromatic scent, are presented to your choice. The last are particularly
recommended, as used by the ladies of the seraglio, who burn them in their pipe-bowls.
But of all the singular perfumes presented to you, are rats'-tails. An animal of this
species is endued with musky secretions, and its tail yields a strong scent, which it
retains for an indefinite term. All these and many more odoriferous delicacies, which a
Turk prizes, are presented to you; and to induce you to buy, your hands, lips, hair,
whiskers, and cravat, are bedewed with them all, and you go forth redolent with animal
and vegetable odours. The next attraction is the shoe-bazaar. Here the varied display
of imeh and papoosh, boots and slippers, is very dazzling: a Turk never wears a boot
without a slipper. The first are red or yellow morocco, without soles, but sewed below
into a pointed bag, into which the foot is first forced; and then, with the boot, into the
slipper. The gait of both men and women, thus encumbered, is singularly awkward and
helpless. The feet scrape the ground, and the sole of the slipper, which scarcely adheres
to the point of the toe, is dragged along, continually flapping against the heel. These
characteristic parts of Oriental dress are the particular objects of Frank purchasers. The
slippers are made of all materials, and braided with all kinds of embroidery in gold and
silver, and often ornamented with pearls and precious stones. In this department are
found drinking-cups of untanned leather, and mirrors with morocco frames.
But by far the most attractive display is the pipe department, and the variety of
chiboques. It is here the fancy of a Turk luxuriates, and loves to exhibit itself with a
dexterity shown in nothing else. The implement consists of three separate parts—tube,
bowl, and mouth-piece—in each of which there is an endless variety of shape, size, and
material. The most favourite wood for the first is cherry-tree brought from Trebisond,
rose-wood and jasmine, sometimes extending to the length of ten or twelve feet. When
you choose your rod, the artist pierces it with the aid of his toe, a member he uses with
more skill than his finger. The bowl is a red earth, found and manufactured at Burgaz,
highly gilt and polished. The mouth-piece is generally amber, imported by Armenians
from the Baltic. This is prized above all materials, not only for its beauty, but for its
qualities. It is supposed to be unsusceptible of the contagion of the plague; and when
that disease is raging, and every man shrinks from contact with his neighbour, the amber
chiboque passes from mouth to mouth without any apprehension of pestilent saliva.
A pipe is sometimes ornamented with precious stones, and, with the tobacco-bag glittering with spangles, varies in price from 10 to 1000 piastres, according to the workmanship. Besides these and other articles peculiarly Turkish, clothing, stuffs, carpets, shawls,
&c. are displayed, and among them the highly-prized manufactures of Manchester. |
