Beyond that point lay the Golden Horn; and, along the summit of the hill which shuts it in on the opposite shore, stretched the cypress-grove and houses of Pera. But ere long we turned away from these accustomed objects to glance upwards to the crest of Mount Olympus, far, far away in the distance, forming a mighty background to the Sea of Marmora. We saw it at a happy moment, for the sunbeams had turned its snows to jewels, which were flashing with a brightness that almost forbade our gaze; when suddenly a light cloud passed over its stately brow, and, deadening for an instant the glitter that it had borrowed from the day-beam, sobered down its tints into more subdued beauty, and made it look as though it were girdled by a rainbow. As we reluctantly quitted this fair scene, and walked towards the valley, we saw the araba that we had appointed to await us there, standing beneath the shade of the tall trees; and as the arabajhe observed our approach, he rose from his seat beneath a stately elm, laid aside his chibouk, and prepared to assist us into the carriage. But I lingered yet another moment to contemplate his costume—his voluminous turban, which it must have required ells of muslin to produce; and his gaily-tasselled and embroidered jacket, falling back to disclose the shawl that bound his waist. I scarcely knew which to admire the most;—his black and bushy beard, and the thick mustachioes that adorned his upper lip; or the elaborately-wrought Albanian leggings and yellow slippers which completed his costume. No one but a native of the luxurious East could ever have invented an araba; with its comfortable cushions, and its gaily painted roof, and gilded pillars. The prettiest are those of brown and gold, with rose-coloured draperies, through which the breeze flutters to your cheek as blandly as though it loved the tint that reminded it of the roses of the past season amid which it had wandered.