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WITH THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR. 67
European manege, at considerable personal risk. He cast away the wooden pack-
saddle, and set his cavalry an example by mounting himself on a bare-backed horse.
The sudden transition from a lofty seat, where the limbs were confined and fixed to the
horse by a wooden frame, and the legs supported by firm pressure on a broad stirrup, to
the sharp spine of a beast without either saddle or stirrup, was scarcely tolerable; and
the imperial recruit would have been often precipitated to the ground, but for the aid of
his Italian instructor, who wras alwyas at hand to support him. Yet he persevered with
his usual determination, and he became in a short time an accomplished European
horseman, and induced his subjects to follow his example. There was no European
usage which a Turk found it more difficult to adopt than this. A short stirrup was
congenial, and in keeping with all his other habits. When he sat, bis legs were not
properly pendent, but turned, as it were, under him, and he preserved on his pack-
saddle nearly the same position as he occupied at ease on his divan. His first sensations,
therefore, in bis new position, with his legs stretched down, were those of discomfort and
insecurity; and the first training of a squadron of Turkish cavalry, was one of the most
difficult reforms the Sultan had to encounter.
Our illustration presents the magnificent barracks built for the cavalry on the shores
of the Bosphorus. Kislas, or "barracks," are among the largest and most striking edifices
seen round Constantinople. The first object seen on approaching the Bosphorus is the
vast barrack at Scutari; and on the opposite bill, over the hanging grounds, at Dolma
Baktche an equally large one. A splendid edifice of this kind existed at Levend Cbiflik ;
but in the sanguinary conflict which took place between the military on the establishing
of the Nizam Djeddit, or " new corps," this noble edifice, with others, was razed to the
ground. But of all the barracks round the city, that erected for the cavalry is the most
decorated, and forms one of the most striking objects which ornament the lovely Bosphorus.
ENTRANCE TO THE DIVAN.
The Divan is not only a court of justice, but of legislature and diplomacy. It is here
that laws are made, suits decided, firmans issued, troops paid, and the representatives of
sovereigns made fit to be introduced to the august presence of the Sultan.
The chamber where all those affairs are transacted is a room in a small detached edifice
surmounted by two domes, in the interior court of the seraglio. It is quite naked, with
no furniture but a wooden bench running along the wall, about two or three feet high,
covered with cushions. This long and fixed sofa is the furniture of every house. It is called
a Divan, and gives its name peculiarly to this apartment. This chamber has no doors
to shut at the entrance, for, as it is a court of justice, it is supposed to be always open,
inviting all the world to enter it, and never to be closed against any suitor. Opposite
the entrance is a moulding forming an arcade, round the summit of which is written in |
