DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62355#0291
THE SLAVE-MARKET.
129
also because it is an useless and cruel misrepresentation of facts, of which common
justice demands the refutation. There is always a painful and a revolting
association connected with the idea of slavery, and an insurmountable disgust
excited by the spectacle of money given in exchange for human beings; but.
beyond this, (and assuredly this is enough !) there is nothing either to distress
or to disgust in the slave-market of Constantinople. No wanton cruelty, no idle
insult is permitted: the slaves, in many instances, select their own purchaser
from among the bidders; and they know that when once received into a Turkish
family, they become members of it in every sense of the word, and are almost
universally sure to rise in the world if they conduct themselves worthily. The
Circassians and Georgians are generally brought there by their parents at their
own request; preferring a youth of ease, and a future of probable luxury, to
labour in the fields, and the life of household drudgery, which must be their
lot if they continued in their own mountain-homes. These voluntary slaves
occupy the closed apartments, and are only seen by such individuals as are likely
to purchase them ; care being taken to protect them against gratuitous annoyance,
and the gaze of the idlers who throng the court. The utmost order, decency, and
quiet prevail; and a military guard is stationed at the entrance to enforce them,
should the necessity for interference occur, which is, however, very rarely the case.
The Negro slaves squat in groups upon their mats all over the court; some
laughing, jesting, and devouring huge slices of pastek, or clusters of purple
grapes; others sleeping; and some again looking anxious, or sulky, or sad,
according to their mood ; but nothing takes place around them which can embitter
their position : the Turks never make either a sport or a jest of human suffering,
or human degradation ; they have not yet discovered that it is witty to do so;
and accordingly they drive their odious bargain seriously and quietly, and lead
away the slaves whom they purchase without one act of wanton cruelty or
tyrannical assumption.
The Yeser Bazar is situated in the immediate vicinity of the Tchernberle
Tasch, or Burnt Pillar; and commands a view of the mosque of Osmanie, or
" the Light of Osman;" a splendid temple of pure white marble, beautifully
covered with carpets of bright and rich colours, and having the Mihrab, or niche
at its eastern extremity, guarded by a gilded railing. Like almost every mosque
in the city, it is embosomed in fine maple trees, which, springing from amid
the marble pavement of the court, spread their leafy branches far and wide,
and afford a sweet and refreshing resting-place for the eye, which has been
pained by immediate contact with the interior of the Slave-Market
* Water-melon.
129
also because it is an useless and cruel misrepresentation of facts, of which common
justice demands the refutation. There is always a painful and a revolting
association connected with the idea of slavery, and an insurmountable disgust
excited by the spectacle of money given in exchange for human beings; but.
beyond this, (and assuredly this is enough !) there is nothing either to distress
or to disgust in the slave-market of Constantinople. No wanton cruelty, no idle
insult is permitted: the slaves, in many instances, select their own purchaser
from among the bidders; and they know that when once received into a Turkish
family, they become members of it in every sense of the word, and are almost
universally sure to rise in the world if they conduct themselves worthily. The
Circassians and Georgians are generally brought there by their parents at their
own request; preferring a youth of ease, and a future of probable luxury, to
labour in the fields, and the life of household drudgery, which must be their
lot if they continued in their own mountain-homes. These voluntary slaves
occupy the closed apartments, and are only seen by such individuals as are likely
to purchase them ; care being taken to protect them against gratuitous annoyance,
and the gaze of the idlers who throng the court. The utmost order, decency, and
quiet prevail; and a military guard is stationed at the entrance to enforce them,
should the necessity for interference occur, which is, however, very rarely the case.
The Negro slaves squat in groups upon their mats all over the court; some
laughing, jesting, and devouring huge slices of pastek, or clusters of purple
grapes; others sleeping; and some again looking anxious, or sulky, or sad,
according to their mood ; but nothing takes place around them which can embitter
their position : the Turks never make either a sport or a jest of human suffering,
or human degradation ; they have not yet discovered that it is witty to do so;
and accordingly they drive their odious bargain seriously and quietly, and lead
away the slaves whom they purchase without one act of wanton cruelty or
tyrannical assumption.
The Yeser Bazar is situated in the immediate vicinity of the Tchernberle
Tasch, or Burnt Pillar; and commands a view of the mosque of Osmanie, or
" the Light of Osman;" a splendid temple of pure white marble, beautifully
covered with carpets of bright and rich colours, and having the Mihrab, or niche
at its eastern extremity, guarded by a gilded railing. Like almost every mosque
in the city, it is embosomed in fine maple trees, which, springing from amid
the marble pavement of the court, spread their leafy branches far and wide,
and afford a sweet and refreshing resting-place for the eye, which has been
pained by immediate contact with the interior of the Slave-Market
* Water-melon.