DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62355#0141
BEGLIER BEY.
59
state wing of the palace, are the very embodiment of comfort : two of them are
lined with wickerwork, painted cream-colour—the prettiest possible idea, exe-
cuted in the best possible style.
" The harem is, of course, a sealed book; for, as the ladies of the Sultan's
household have never been allowed to indulge their curiosity by a survey of that
portion of the palace appropriated to Mahmoud himself, it can scarcely be
expected that any intruder should be admitted beyond the jealously-barred door
forming their own boundary."*
The Bath of this imperial residence has already been described in an earlier
portion of our work; and we have now only to notice the extensive and princely
gardens, which rise, terrace above terrace, to the very summit of the mountain
which overhangs the palace. Each terrace is under the charge of a foreign gar-
dener, and arranged according to the fashion of his own land; but the finest
portion of the grounds contains a noble sheet of water, called the Lake of the
Swans, whose entire surface is frequently thickly covered with these graceful
birds, of which the Sultan is so fond, that he sometimes passes hours in contem-
plating them as they glide over the still water; and, in the words of Wordsworth,
" Swim double—swan and shadow."
Boats, gaily gilded and painted, are moored under the shadows of the magnolias,
willows, and other beautiful trees which form the framework of the lake; and
about fifty yards from the bank stands a pretty, fanciful edifice, called the Air
Bath,—an elegant retreat from the oppressive heats of summer ; whose roof, and
walls, and floor, are alike formed of marble, wrought in marine devices; and
whose fountains, trickling down the walls, pour their waters over a succession of
ocean-shells, marine divinities, sea-weeds, and coral reefs; and keep up a constant
current of cool air, and murmur of sweet sound, perfectly charming. Inferior
apartments branch off on either side from this beautiful saloon, and altogether it
is as pretty a toy as ever exhausted fancy in its invention.
A gilded kiosque glitters amid the group of cypresses and plane-trees by which
the last height is crowned; and the artist has ably portrayed the magic beauty of
the scene which is mapped out beneath him as he stands beside the boundary-
wall of the palace garden. The undulating shores, belted with houses, and
sheltered by richly-wooded hills,—the castle-crowned rocks,—the gleaming sails
of the passing vessels upon the channel,—and, far away, the "storm-tossed
Euxine," lashing its billows as if in scorn against the fortress-barriers that bristle
its shores—all combine to form a picture well calculated to arrest the eye of the
painter and the admiration of the tourist.
* City of the Sultan.
59
state wing of the palace, are the very embodiment of comfort : two of them are
lined with wickerwork, painted cream-colour—the prettiest possible idea, exe-
cuted in the best possible style.
" The harem is, of course, a sealed book; for, as the ladies of the Sultan's
household have never been allowed to indulge their curiosity by a survey of that
portion of the palace appropriated to Mahmoud himself, it can scarcely be
expected that any intruder should be admitted beyond the jealously-barred door
forming their own boundary."*
The Bath of this imperial residence has already been described in an earlier
portion of our work; and we have now only to notice the extensive and princely
gardens, which rise, terrace above terrace, to the very summit of the mountain
which overhangs the palace. Each terrace is under the charge of a foreign gar-
dener, and arranged according to the fashion of his own land; but the finest
portion of the grounds contains a noble sheet of water, called the Lake of the
Swans, whose entire surface is frequently thickly covered with these graceful
birds, of which the Sultan is so fond, that he sometimes passes hours in contem-
plating them as they glide over the still water; and, in the words of Wordsworth,
" Swim double—swan and shadow."
Boats, gaily gilded and painted, are moored under the shadows of the magnolias,
willows, and other beautiful trees which form the framework of the lake; and
about fifty yards from the bank stands a pretty, fanciful edifice, called the Air
Bath,—an elegant retreat from the oppressive heats of summer ; whose roof, and
walls, and floor, are alike formed of marble, wrought in marine devices; and
whose fountains, trickling down the walls, pour their waters over a succession of
ocean-shells, marine divinities, sea-weeds, and coral reefs; and keep up a constant
current of cool air, and murmur of sweet sound, perfectly charming. Inferior
apartments branch off on either side from this beautiful saloon, and altogether it
is as pretty a toy as ever exhausted fancy in its invention.
A gilded kiosque glitters amid the group of cypresses and plane-trees by which
the last height is crowned; and the artist has ably portrayed the magic beauty of
the scene which is mapped out beneath him as he stands beside the boundary-
wall of the palace garden. The undulating shores, belted with houses, and
sheltered by richly-wooded hills,—the castle-crowned rocks,—the gleaming sails
of the passing vessels upon the channel,—and, far away, the "storm-tossed
Euxine," lashing its billows as if in scorn against the fortress-barriers that bristle
its shores—all combine to form a picture well calculated to arrest the eye of the
painter and the admiration of the tourist.
* City of the Sultan.