My love for thee hath ta’en away my rest; By day and night I think of thee alone; I muse upon the curls which veil thy breast, And sigh to know that thou art not mine own. My love for thee is madness! All esteem My passion folly who do look on me; The arrows of thine eyes have drank the stream Of my fond heart; and I must part from thee. My love for thee is deep; and I of late Can look upon none other—Thou art cold, And ’tis the working of my hapless fate That I no more thy gracious smiles behold. Leyla! be mine, and learn my spirit-wrong; I’ll tell thee all my grief—the tale is long. CHAPTER XVIII. Kahaitchana—The Barbyses—The Valley of the Sweet Waters—Imperial Procession—National Interdict—Picturesque Scene—The Princess Salihè and her Infant—Forbearance of the Sultan—The Toxopholites—Imperial Monopoly—Passion of the Sultan for Archery—Record-Columns—The Odalique’s Grave—The Lost One—Azmè Sultane—Imperial Courtesy—A Drive through the Valley. The loveliest spot in the neighbourhood of Constantinople is undeniably Kahaitchana; called by the Franks the “Valley of the Sweet Waters,” a name as appropriate as it is poetical. The sparkling Barbyses takes its rise amid the rich vegetation of the valley, and traverses its greensward like a silver thread. As a river it is inconsiderable, but, being the only stream of any size within many miles of the capital, it is an object of great enjoyment and admiration. The valley itself, like that of Rasselas, is shut in on all sides by tall and arid hills, amid which it nestles so fresh, and green, and sunny, that you feel at once that it was destined by nature for holyday uses. Need I say that the Sultan has here both a summer palace and a kiosk? There exists no pretty spot near Stamboul where he has them not; but the Palace of Kahaitchana is a favourite retreat, where he generally retires to escape from the coil and cares of the capital, whenever he can contrive to wring a day’s leisure from the stern grasp of public duty. The ride from Pera is delightful: the air of the hills is so elastic that it seems to instil new life into your pulses; and the descent into the valley is so picturesque, that, despite your previous enjoyment, you are anxious to arrive in the lovely spot which lies, bathed in sunshine, at your feet. A brighter day never shone from the heavens than that on which I joined a party who were bound for Kahaitchana. I had been indisposed for several days, and was too weak to indulge myself with a gallop; and accordingly, comfortably nestled amid the cushions of my araba, I suffered the more joyous and healthful of my friends to fly past me, and leisurely pursued my way to the valley.