At length we reached St. Sophia; and I felt my heart beat quicker, as I once more traversed the flagged court, and passed the elegant fountain, at which the Faithful perform their ablutions; with its projecting octagonal roof, its marble basin, and its covering of close iron net-work, to protect the spring from the pollution of the birds. At the entrance of the peristyle to which I have before alluded, we put on the slippers we had provided, and, as soon as we had all passed, the doors were closed. How different was the aspect of every object around me from that which it wore on my last visit! Then, all was refulgent with light; and now, a sacred gloom hung upon the dark walls, and floated like a veil about our path. Few were they who did not pass on in silence; for there is a power and a sublimity in scenes like the one I am attempting to describe, which overawe for awhile even the most vulgar minds; while to the susceptible and contemplative the spell is deepened a thousand-fold. One burst, rather of sound than speech—the wordless tribute of irrepressible admiration—heralded our passage across the block of porphyry upon which close the interior doors of the mosque; and in less than a moment the richly carpeted floor of marble, porphyry, jasper, and verd-antique, was mosaiced with groups of gazers throughout its whole extent. Some stood riveted to the spot on which they had first halted, as if touched by the wand of an enchanter, and scarcely stirring a limb in the excess of their absorbing contemplation; others hurried rapidly along, as though breathless with eager and impatient curiosity—one tall, pale man, with amber-coloured mustachioes and long thin fingers, was already taking notes, with his little red book resting against the boots that he carried in his hand; and a couple of antiquaries were just commencing a dispute _sotto voce_ relatively to some pillars of Egyptian granite on the left hand side of the temple. Nor were the Imams idle; for they had instantly detected the unhandsome intrusion of one traveller with his boots on; an insult so great, that no Moslem can tolerate it; and they were busily employed in compelling their removal: accompanying the ceremony with certain epithets addressed to the Giaour, with which, if he were unfortunate enough to understand them, he had no opportunity of feeling flattered. Our party were not, however, the only tenants of the vast pile. A group of Ulemas were engaged in prayer as we entered, nor did they suffer our presence to interfere with their devotions; and almost in the centre of the floor knelt a party of women similarly engaged, while a couple of children, who had accompanied them, were chasing each other over the rich carpets.