Immediately beneath the hill, and close upon the shore, stands the Palace of Dolma Batchè, with its walls of many tints, and its fantastic irregularity of outline; while behind its spacious gardens, sloping gently upward, and clothed with turf, rises a stretch of land which was now crowded with Turkish women. Nothing could be more picturesque than their appearance: the nature of the ground having enabled them to arrange themselves amphitheatrically, and from thence to command an uninterrupted view of the esplanade in front of the Grand Armoury, which is enclosed on its opposite side by a raised terrace, along whose edge were pitched the tents of the Pashas. There must have been at least five hundred women clustered together on that one small stretch of land; and in the distance it presented precisely the appearance of a meadow covered with daisies, with here and there a corn-poppy flaunting in the midst; the white yashmacs and red umbrellas lending themselves readily to the illusion. The tents of the Pashas were many of them very magnificent: the Grand Vèzir’s was hung with crimson velvet, richly embroidered; while that of Achmet Pasha was lined with green satin, and fringed with gold; and the whole were richly carpeted, and surrounded by handsome sofas. The reception-marquee, in which the Sultan was to entertain a party of guests daily, was situated in the rear of those that I have just described: and the kitchen, ingeniously fitted up with stoves, dressers, and tables, hewn in the hill-side, was tenanted by five hundred cooks. The Bosphorus was crowded with caïques, almost as countless as its ripple; and immediately in front of the Palace, and nearly in the centre of the stream, were anchored two rafts, supporting small fortified castles, whence the fireworks were to be displayed. A survey of these different preparations proved to be the principal amusement of the day, as the rope-dancing on the Esplanade of the Armoury was not sufficiently attractive to detain any individual less indolent than a Turkish woman; and consequently, after having completed our tour of observation, we returned to Pera in order to repose ourselves, and to prepare for the magnificent spectacle that awaited us in the evening.