Of all the illuminations, that of the Seraskier Pasha, taken individually, was by far the most brilliant. The whole _façade_ of the palace was one blaze of light; and, in lieu of the oil by which the lamps were filled in every other instance, he had fed the flame with some ardent spirit, which gave to it the fitful tint and the flashing brilliancy of diamonds. A magnificent screen in arabesques, on the opposite coast, at the small summer palace of Scutari, was the next most attractive object of the Bosphorus. But it is only as a whole that such a pageant should be judged; and all those who looked upon the one which I have attempted to describe, will doubtlessly concede that it was a spectacle of beauty which has probably never been exceeded. We made our way slowly, but without much difficulty, along the European shore, until we reached the Palace of Azmè Sultane; but for a while after we had gained that point all further progress was impossible. There must have been many hundred caïques wedged together in front of her terrace, and not less than fifty of them contained musicians. We had intended to disembark at the palace steps, and to pay a visit to Nazip Hanoum, but were obliged to abandon the idea, as we became instantly aware that the thing was impracticable. We therefore remained quietly in our boat, under the bright light of the magnificent screen upon whose surface coloured lamps were intermixed with orange boughs and exotic flowers. The terrace was crowded; and I saw more than one light and fairy figure, that even the feridjhe failed wholly to conceal, which looked as though its owner should rather have been peering through the slender lattices, than from beneath the shade of a yashmac; but the occasion was so rife with excitement, and the voices from the caïques were so enticing, that doubtlessly more than one fair Dilaram and Leyla played truant that evening after the prescribed hour.