Friday is the Turkish
Sabbath, Saturday the Jewish, and the Greeks and Armenians keep Sunday.
The indolent government officials, glad of an excuse to be idle, keep
all three--that is, they refrain from business--so there are only four
days out of the seven in which anything is accomplished.
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.
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