TURKISH STREET TYPES.

Inangahua Times, Issue 19, 30 September 1878, Page 2

TURKISH STREET TYPES.

(Prom llio London Graphic.) Ie is a truism to Rny tlmt nonhoro clso in Europo cun wo encounter such a variety .of oostumo and figures as in Constantinople, much as old vosulouts complain that in tiio lust few dcctido3 it hits been ; terribly tturopamisod. Wo apcak> of , course* of Consiaiiitinoplo in, ordinary ■timos r not when, each atrcot id choked '. with, fugitives fron> «t> pUilos9 war. The usofuji powonago, whoso book, bent crcs* ctmt-shopo from, constant loads, will carry 'iip.tho. stoopest lano in Gnlato,with tho aid of straps, ovor brow and breast,, a ■burden for which in .England wo Bhould, send a horso and cart, is an old member of tho confraternity of Hammals or por« tors,, A^mpnian probably by desoont, water drinlcors, and, vegetarian, almost beyond doubt; Not many hours should wo hjivo boon in Pura before mooting tho cavas* of tbo Russian Embassy— -a sort of oiliao mosscngori.iiitorpretur, and private pohcomnn, rollpd into one — tlio caviass, whoso terriblo moustacho is tho Ijtb-lonp; envy of th.o cavnswes of nil tho olhpr missions. Tho stroet oollor of thoeo hard, flat gingerbread cakesr which ooom to posKOSs a mysterious attraction, for th>e swect'toothod Oriental ; : tho barber,, so dcxlcrously removing, with, tho most

primitivo of razor*, tho superfluous hairs from tho 'brow and skull of the true boliover ; tho Turkish lady, whoso yashmak is no longor a disguise, but tho thinnest of voils, adding, in fact, nn additional charm to faces, whoso regular features and dark cyos aro ofton coupled with an unhealthy pallor, will meet us again and again on our way tb tho baaaars, Not every day shall wo oncounter in tho street tho stately couple who como next— the ono tho Patriarch of tho Greek Church, tho spiritual head, not of 200,00) Grocks alono of tho Fannr and tho suburbs, but of all Grocks within tho Ottoman domains, a Pontiff who claims equality with Popes, and whoso various drosses, whito satinoJ partioolorod, violet- huod, cluspod with diamonds and friugod foot»deep with gold embroidery, as ho sits enthroned in Iho Groat Church of tho Patriarchate, would furuiih wholo chaptcn for a book of ecclesiastical millinery ; tho other tho Patriarch of tho Armonian Rito— not tho Unitod Armonians, whoso squabbles with Mgr. Hassoun nmusod Rorao during; tho Ecumenical Council, but tho truo Monophysite?, in feudal phrase, of Westcru Aain — a magnate, too, hut of a lowor rank, holding from the Catholicus ■ f '•"•.?!"uiad>:in and liablo to bo deposed or confirmed in it anew at tbo ond of crcry thrco years. Islam supplies another typo of n»on!t in tho porson of a member of tho Conrent of tho Howling Dervishes of Scutari— a body much rosombling tho Twirling B/othorhood in tho aoal with which they metaphorically lhakc ofF from thopi (Jo, d ti s t of this wickod world, aud provo* tho slk.cngth of devotion by oxpen.iituro of muscular force. Lo-i-lah-il-la-liili — tho Moslem profession of faith — begins tho chint (ufter tho customary prnycr and rccitas titivo of tho first Sura), as bonding for* ward, raising themselves up and bendiKg backward, bowing to right, oroot again, bowing to lift, they timo with ever-({-liukcnin^ speed tho six movements to tho six ♦tyjlablos till distinct ulteranco becomes impossible ; ' nnd only,' say*, M array, Mho one syllable howl of lab can bo hoard toward tho conclusion of tho ceremony.' Tho Turkish bath presents features of a moro familinr type. Wo append the desonption given by a French writer only throo*and twenty yoan ago. • Tho stranger,' said ho ' should bewnro of an outertainmenti which might moio truly bo called a martyrdom ; wo moan tho Turkish bath* Thoy tako him and stretch him oi a a marblo slab; llu>y dislocate bis points j they torture, they slrnnglo him. Ho is froß3n, hammaroJ, torn by pincers a wholo hour, and then ho is told that ho has had a bath. Thoy aro sparing of tho water ; tho stiff ror U bathed in his own sweat. Yet, they look so grave you oannot si>-ipeet thoro is any triolc. So you piy, and go with angor in your heart, and plunge, Loan der»l ike, into Iho BosphoroiM to suro yoursHl by a Grcok , bath of your Turkish one.'