The Princess, who is the widow of a Pasha, is a noble-looking woman, with a very aristocratic manner, and strongly resembles her brother. She has evidently been handsome, but must now be more than sixty years of age. Her fair favourite, Nazip Hanoum, was seated beside her, but so closely veiled, that, until she saluted me, I was unable to recognise her. As we continued our drive, we passed a hundred groups of which an artist might have made as many studies. All was enjoyment and hilarity. Caïques came and went along the bright river; majestic trees stretched their long branches over the greensward; gay voices were on the wind; the cloud had passed away; and the sunlight lay bright upon the hill-tops. I know not a spot on earth where the long, sparkling summer day may be more deliciously spent than in the lovely Valley of the Sweet Waters. CHAPTER XIX. Easter with the Greeks—Greek Church at Pera—Women’s Gallery—Interior of a Greek Church—The Sanctuary—The Screen—Throne of the Patriarch—The Holy Sepulchre—Singular Appearance of the Congregation—Sociability of the Ladies—_L’Echelle des Morts_—Shipping—Boats and Boatmen—Church of the Fanar—Ancient Screen—Treasure Chests—The Sanctuary—Private Chapels—A Pious Illumination—Priests’ House—Prison—Remedy against Mahomedanism—Midnight Mass—Unexpected Greetings—The Patriarch—Logotheti—Russian Secretaries—Russian Supremacy in Turkey—Affinity of Religion between the Greeks and Russians—The Homage—Pious Confusion—Patriarch’s Palace—Lovely Night-Scene—Midnight Procession—Serious Impressions—Suffocating Heat—Dawn. Our own Easter was over. The last dinner had been eaten, the last quadrille had been danced; politics had succeeded to parties, and diplomacy to dissipation; when the Greeks were preparing to celebrate the festival with all the pomp and circumstance of the most gorgeous and glowing of religions. I took this opportunity of paying my first visit to the Greek Church of Pera; an elegant edifice built at the expense of the Russian government, and richly decorated with blue and gold; where the service is performed both in Greek and Russ, all the priests attached to it being Russians. A Greek lady, whose acquaintance I had made, politely offered me the use of her seat, which I accepted the more gladly, that without such accommodation I must have failed in my attempts to witness the ceremony; most of the females being obliged to content themselves with hearing the service, without a hope of seeing it. This difficulty arises from the fact that the women are not permitted to occupy the body of the church, but are confined to a gallery so closely latticed that it is impossible for those below to catch the faintest glimpse of the secluded fair-ones.