is now, and if the tourist was not careful of his company, he would find himself sold as he walked through the streets; Fynes Moryson, when very ill, was told by the Janizary who was his guide that an old woman had just offered 100 aspers (thirty shillings) for him. For the population of Constantinople and what the population consisted of, nothing more can be stated than the beliefs on the subject, of which this one may be mentioned, that in less than three months in 1615 there died of plague 120,000 Turks, 2000 Jews, and 18,000 Christians. Plague was always present in Constantinople; no precautions were taken against it; when a man died from plague, his clothes were put up for auction immediately, and bought, and worn. But the fatalism which decided the Turks' attitude towards plague did not manifest itself in all directions; their behaviour in danger at sea was the reverse of what might be expected on Christian-manned ships. After they had taken Cyprus, moreover, which suffered greatly from locusts, it was prescribed that every farmer should bring a fixed quantity of locusts' eggs yearly to a stated official, who was to see the eggs ground to powder and the powder thrown into the sea. They had their medicines too, and were the only people in Europe who had hitherto managed to make medicine-taking pleasant, because they alone had sherbets and took medicines in their sherbet. Moreover, what may be said of drinks applies equally to games. For swings, they were part of every Turkish festivity; likewise roundabouts and "great wheels"; how well acquainted Christians were with all these may be judged by the fact that both an Englishman and an Italian describe them all in detail. Yet with all that we have imported, there still remains one hint to take. A Mohammedan crowd kept itself in order for the most part then; George Sandys, in nine months' stay in Constantinople, never saw a Mohammedan quarrel with one of his own creed; but to restrain the excitability that might occur in a crowd, they had policemen in leathern jackets, bearing bladders, both bladders and jackets being smeared with oil and tar, which commanded the respect of the cleanly Turks in their most youthful moments.