I never witnessed a more magnificent or profuse display of diamonds, and embroidery; of proud steeds, and glittering parade. The crowd of running footmen—the trampling of impatient chargers—the clashing of jewelled weapons against the gilded stirrups—the noise, the hurry, and the glare, baffle all description; and when at length the princely train had disappeared within the tent, and the grooms were leading away the splendid animals, who, freed from the control of a rider, were rearing and prancing among the crowd, I felt like one suddenly awakened from a gorgeous dream, and had only a severe headache left, to convince me that I had really been a spectator of the splendid scene. In the evening, well furred and cloaked, we descended to the pier of Topphannè; and having secured one of the large caïques that ply to the islands, we stepped on board; and, rowing out into the middle of the channel, contemplated at our ease the wonders which surrounded us. From the centre of the stream, the whole mass of waters appeared to be girdled with fire; the shore was wrapt in darkness, and the edifices of light seemed to lift themselves almost to the clouds. I can conceive nothing finer of its kind; and we continued almost motionless where we had first paused, our caïque heaving gently upon the bosom of the blue waters; until a large flight of rockets gave us a momentary view of the surrounding shores; but, above all, of the surface of the channel. If I had been surprised at the density of the crowd on shore, I was tenfold more so at the floating throng which had almost choked up the passage of the Bosphorus. Every light and manageable craft that could be made available, was astir that night, from the caïque of the Pasha, to the little, round, tub-like boat of the Archipelagon trader; while the countless white yashmacs of the women gleamed out in the light of the rockets like a dense ridge of surf, as you approached nearer to the edge of the shore; a circumstance which was readily accounted for by the fact that no Turkish female is allowed to walk the streets after eight o’clock at night, and that this was consequently their only method of witnessing the illuminations. Having contemplated the general effect from a distance, we with some difficulty made our way through the caïques which were closely wedged together opposite the Palace of Dolma Batchè, just in time to escape one of the magnificent explosions produced by the Greek fires, that were blazing up out of the water in every direction, and which burst not five yards from our boat.