By the interest of a Greek, who serves the _bostangí bashá_ as his surgeon, I was admitted in company of Mr. John Philips, an eminent merchant, into the great _seraglio_ of _Constantinople_, where we passed thro two courts, that form the entry of the palace; the first of which has a small arsenal, furnished with arms and ammunition; the second has piazzas on two sides, in which the _janisaries_ are wont to eat, and opens at the upper end into the _diván_. From these two courts we were permitted to walk round the full extent of the garden, on each side of the palace. They are rude and wild places, affording nothing that is entertaining, but that wherewith nature has furnished them, which is an admirable situation rising into convenient ascents, and capable of infinite improvement, if it were happily in the possession of a Christian prince. The whole plat of ground, which they call the gardens of the _seraglio_, is covered with cypress and other trees, thro which are cut shady walks, where _kiosks_ are seen of various sorts; the most eminent and remarkable of which is that called the _Blew kiosk_, fronting the town of _Scutari_. This and the other called the _Alaí kiosk_, fronting the city of _Galata_, are rich and splendid pleasure houses, covered with a gilded cupola, and adorned in their several walls with Indian tiles, and stately chimneypieces of solid brass. Passing thro the extent of the _seraglio_ towards the extreme point, that looks up the Thracian _Bosphorus_, you observe a Corinthian pillar consisting of white marble, of which the ignorant Turks report a fabulous and ridiculous account; but its true original is discovered by this inscription on one plane of the basis: FORTVNAE REDVCI OB DEVICTOS GOTHOS[85] On the opposite plane is likewise this religious device: +--+--+ |ΙϹ|ΧϹ| |ΝΙ|ΚΑ| +--+--+