One of the great sights is to see the sultan go to the mosque; so one Friday we took a caique and were rowed up the Bosphorus to Dolma Backte, and waited on the water opposite the palace.  The sultan’s caique was at the principal entrance on the water-side of the palace, and the steps and marble pavement were carpeted from the caique to the door.  Presently all the richly-dressed officers of the household, who were loitering around, formed on either side the steps, and, bending nearly double, remained so while the sultan passed down to his caique.  Abdul Assiz is quite stout and rather short, with a pleasant face and closely-cut beard.  He was dressed in a plain black uniform, his breast covered with orders.  The sultan’s caique was a magnificent barge—­white, profusely ornamented with gilt, and rowed by twenty-four oarsmen dressed in white, who rose to their feet with each stroke, bowed low, and settled back in their seats as the stroke was expended.  The sultan and grand vizier seated themselves under the plum-colored velvet canopy, and the caique proceeded swiftly toward the mosque, followed by three other caiques with his attendants.  A gun from an iron-clad opposite the palace announced that the sultan had started.  The shore from the palace to the mosque was lined with soldiers; the bands played; the people cheered; the ships ran up their flags; all the war-vessels were gay with bunting, had their yards manned and fired salutes, which were answered by the shore-batteries.  The mosque selected for that day’s devotions was in Tophaneh, near the water.  Several regiments were drawn up to receive the sultan, and an elegant carriage and a superb Arab saddle-horse were in waiting, so that His Majesty might return to the palace as best suited his fancy.  After an hour spent in devotion the sultan reappeared, and entering his carriage was driven away.  We saw him again on our way home, when he stopped to call on an Austrian prince staying at the legation.  The street leading up to the embassy was too narrow and steep for a carriage, so, mounting his horse at the foot, he rode up, passing very close to us.

[Illustration:  TURKISH COW-CARRIAGE.]

In the afternoon we drove to the “Sweet Waters of Europe” to see the Turkish ladies, who in pleasant weather always go out there in carriages or by water in caiques.  Compared with our parks, with their lovely lakes and streams and beautiful lawns, the far-famed Sweet Waters of Europe are only fields with a canal running through them; but here, where this is the only stream of fresh water near the city, and in a country destitute of trees, it is a charming place.  The stream has been walled up to the top of its banks, which are from three to six feet above the water, and there are sunny meadows and fine large trees on each side.  The sultan has a summer palace here with a pretty garden, and the stream has been dammed up by blocks of white marble cut in scallops like shells, over which the water