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DSP Applications Using C and the TMS320C6x DSK 1st
Edition Chassaing Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Chassaing, Rulph
ISBN(s): 9780471207542, 0471207543
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 4.01 MB
Year: 2002
Language: english

DSP Applications Using C
and the TMS320C6x DSK

TOPICS IN DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
C. S. BURRUS and T. W. PARKS: DFT/FFT AND CONVOLUTION
ALGORITHMS: THEORY AND IMPLEMENTATION
JOHN R. TREICHLER, C. RICHARD JOHNSON, JR., and MICHAEL G.
LARIMORE: THEORY AND DESIGN OF ADAPTIVE FILTERS
T. W. PARKS and C. S. BURRUS: DIGITAL FILTER DESIGN
RULPH CHASSAING and DARRELL W. HORNING: DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING WITH THE TMS320C25
RULPH CHASSAING: DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING WITH C AND
THE TMS320C30
RULPH CHASSAING: DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING LABORATORY
EXPERIMENTS USING C AND THE TMS320C31 DSK
RULPH CHASSAING: DSP APPLICATIONS USING C AND THE
TMS320C6x DSK

DSP Applications Using C
and the TMS320C6x DSK
Rulph Chassaing
A Wiley–Interscience Publication
JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. In all
instances where John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is aware of a claim, the product names appear in initial
capital or all capital letters. Readers, however, should contact the appropriate companies for more
complete information regarding trademarks and registration.
Copyright © 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including uploading, downloading, printing, decompiling,
recording or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States
Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for
permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third
Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail:
PERMREQ@WILEY.COM.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject
matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering
professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a
competent professional person should be sought.
ISBN 0-471-22112-0
This title is also available in print as ISBN 0-471-20754-3.
For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.Wiley.com.

Contents
Preface xi
List of Examples xv
Programs/Files on Accompanying Disk xix
1 DSP Development System 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 DSK Support Tools 2
1.2.1 DSK Board 4
1.2.2 TMS320C6711 Digital Signal Processor 4
1.3 Code Composer Studio 5
1.3.1 CCS Installation and Support 5
1.3.2 Useful Types of Files 6
1.4 Programming Examples to Test the DSK Tools 7
1.4.1 Quick Test of DSK 7
1.4.2 Support Files 8
1.4.3 Examples 8
1.5 Support Programs/Files Considerations 24
1.5.1 Initialization/Communication File 24
1.5.2 Vector File 26
1.5.3 Linker File 26
1.6 Compiler/Assembler/Linker Shell 26
1.6.1 Compiler 28
1.6.2 Assembler 29
1.6.3 Linker 29
References 30
v

2 Input and Output with the DSK 33
2.1 Introduction 33
2.2 TLC320AD535 (AD535) Onboard Codec for Input and Output 34
2.3 PCM3003 Stereo Codec for Input and Output 35
2.4 Programming Examples Using C Code 37
References 60
3 Architecture and Instruction Set of the C6x Processor 61
3.1 Introduction 61
3.2 TMS320C6x Architecture 63
3.3 Functional Units 65
3.4 Fetch and Execute Packets 66
3.5 Pipelining 67
3.6 Registers 68
3.7 Linear and Circular Addressing Modes 69
3.7.1 Indirect Addressing 69
3.7.2 Circular Addressing 70
3.8 TMS320C6x Instruction Set 71
3.8.1 Assembly Code Format 71
3.8.2 Types of Instructions 72
3.9 Assembler Directives 74
3.10 Linear Assembly 74
3.11 ASM Statement within C 76
3.12 C-Callable Assembly Function 76
3.13 Timers 76
3.14 Interrupts 77
3.14.1 Interrupt Control Registers 77
3.14.2 Selection of XINT0 79
3.14.3 Interrupt Acknowledgment 80
3.15 Multichannel Buffered Serial Ports 80
3.16 Direct Memory Access 81
3.17 Memory Considerations 82
3.17.1 Data Allocation 82
3.17.2 Data Alignment 82
3.17.3 Pragma Directives 83
3.17.4 Memory Models 83
3.18 Fixed- and Floating-Point Format 83
3.18.1 Data Types 83
3.18.2 Floating-Point Format 84
3.18.3 Division 85
vi Contents

3.19 Code Improvement 85
3.19.1 Intrinsics 85
3.19.2 Trip Directive for Loop Count 86
3.19.3 Cross-Paths 86
3.19.4 Software Pipelining 86
3.20 Constraints 87
3.20.1 Memory Constraints 87
3.20.2 Cross-Paths Constraints 87
3.20.3 Load/Store Constraints 88
3.20.4 Pipelining Effects with More Than One EP
within an FP 88
3.21 TMS320C64x Processor 89
3.22 Programming Examples Using C, Assembly, and Linear
Assembly 90
References 100
4 Finite Impulse Response Filters 102
4.1 Introduction to the z-Transform 102
4.1.1 Mapping from s-Plane to z-Plane 105
4.1.2 Difference Equations 106
4.2 Discrete Signals 107
4.3 Finite Impulse Response Filters 108
4.4 FIR Implementation Using Fourier Series 110
4.5 Window Functions 114
4.5.1 Hamming Window 115
4.5.2 Hanning Window 115
4.5.3 Blackman Window 115
4.5.4 Kaiser Window 116
4.5.5 Computer-Aided Approximation 116
4.6 Programming Examples Using C and ASM Code 116
References 155
5 Infinite Impulse Response Filters 159
5.1 Introduction 159
5.2 IIR Filter Structures 160
5.2.1 Direct Form I Structure 160
5.2.2 Direct Form II Structure 161
5.2.3 Direct Form II Transpose 163
5.2.4 Cascade Structure 164
Contents vii

5.2.5 Parallel Form Structure 165
5.3 Bilinear Transformation 167
5.3.1 Bilinear Transformation Design Procedure 168
5.4 Programming Examples Using C Code 169
References 181
6 Fast Fourier Transform 182
6.2 Development of the FFT Algorithm with Radix-2 183
6.3 Decimation-in-Frequency FFT Algorithm with Radix-2 184
6.4 Decimation-in-Time FFT Algorithm with Radix-2 191
6.5 Bit Reversal for Unscrambling 195
6.6 Development of the FFT Algorithm with Radix-4 195
6.7 Inverse Fast Fourier Transform 198
6.8 Programming Examples 199
6.8.1 Fast Convolution 206
References 214
7 Adaptive Filters 216
7.2 Adaptive Structures 218
7.3 Programming Examples for Noise Cancellation and System
Identification 221
References 237
8 Code Optimization 239
8.2 Optimization Steps 240
8.2.1 Compiler Options 240
8.2.2 Intrinsic C Functions 241
8.3 Procedure for Code Optimization 241
8.4 Programming Examples Using Code Optimization Techniques 241
8.5 Software Pipelining for Code Optimization 248
8.5.1 Procedure for Hand-Coded Software Pipelining 249
8.5.2 Dependency Graph 249
8.5.3 Scheduling Table 251
8.6 Execution Cycles for Different Optimization Schemes 258
References 259
viii Contents

9 DSP Applications and Student Projects 260
9.1 Voice Scrambler Using DMA and User Switches 260
9.2 Phase-Locked Loop 261
9.2.1 RTDX for Real-Time Data Transfer 263
9.3 SB-ADPCM Encoder/Decoder: Implementation of
G.722 Audio Coding 263
9.4 Adaptive Temporal Attenuator 264
9.5 Image Processing 265
9.6 Filter Design and Implementation Using a Modified
Prony’s Method 266
9.7 FSK Modem 266
9.8 m-Law for Speech Companding 267
9.9 Voice Detection and Reverse Playback 268
9.10 Miscellaneous Projects 268
9.10.1 Acoustic Direction Tracker 268
9.10.2 Multirate Filter 269
9.10.3 Neural Network for Signal Recognition 270
9.10.4 PID Controller 270
9.10.5 Four-Channel Multiplexer for Fast Data Acquisition 270
9.10.6 Video Line Rate Analysis 270
References 272
Appendix A TMS320C6x Instruction Set 276
A.1 Instructions for Fixed- and Floating-Point Operations 276
A.2 Instructions for Floating-Point Operations 276
References 276
Appendix B Registers for Circular Addressing and Interrupts 278
Reference 278
Appendix C Fixed-Point Considerations 281
C.1 Binary and Two’s-Complement Representation 281
C.2 Fractional Fixed-Point Representation 284
C.3 Multiplication 285
Reference 287
Appendix D Matlab Support Tools 288
D.1 MATLAB GUI Filter Designer SPTOOL for FIR Filter Design 288
D.2 MATLAB GUI Filter Designer SPTOOL for IIR Filter Design 290
Contents ix

D.3 MATLAB for FIR Filter Design Using the Student Version 292
D.4 MATLAB for IIR Filter Design Using the Student Version 294
D.5 Bilinear Transformation Using MATLAB and Support Programs
on Disk 295
D.6 FFT and IFFT 302
References 302
Appendix E Additional Support Tools 303
E.1 Goldwave Shareware Utility as Virtual Instrument 303
E.2 Filter Design Using DigiFilter 304
E.2.1 FIR Filter Design 304
E.2.2 IIR Filter Design 305
E.3 FIR Filter Design Using Filter Development Package 306
E.3.1 Kaiser Window 306
E.3.2 Hamming Window 306
E.4 Visual Application Builder 306
E.5 Miscellaneous Support 308
References 309
Appendix F Input and Output with PCM3003 Stereo Codec 310
F.1 PCM3003 Audio Daughter Card 310
F.2 Programming Examples Using the PCM3003 Stereo Codec 315
References 324
Appendix G DSP/BIOS and RTDX for Real-Time Data Transfer 325
References 327
Index 329
x Contents

Preface
Digital signal processors, such as the TMS320 family of processors, are used in a
wide range of applications, such as in communications, controls, speech processing,
and so on. They are used in fax transmission, modems, cellular phones, and other
devices. These devices have also found their way into the university classroom,
where they provide an economical way to introduce real-time digital signal pro-
cessing (DSP) to the student.
Texas Instruments recently introduced the TM320C6x processor, based on the
very-long-instruction-word (VLIW) architecture. This newer architecture supports
features that facilitate the development of efficient high-level language compilers.
Throughout the book we refer to the C/C++ language simply as C. Although
TMS320C6x/assembly language can produce fast code, problems with documenta-
tion and maintenance may exist. With the available C compiler, the programmer
must consider to “let the tools do the work.” After that, if the programmer is
not satisfied, Chapters 3 and 8 and the last few examples in Chapter 4 can be very
useful.
This book is intended primarily for senior undergraduate and first-year graduate
students in electrical and computer engineering and as a tutorial for the practicing
engineer. It is written with the conviction that the principles of DSP can best be
learned through interaction in a laboratory setting, where students can appreciate
the concepts of DSP through real-time implementation of experiments and projects.
The background assumed is a course in linear systems and some knowledge of C.
Most chapters begin with a theoretical discussion, followed by representative
examples that provide the necessary background to perform the concluding experi-
ments. There are a total of 76 solved programming examples, most using C code,
with a few in assembly and linear assembly code. A list of these examples appears
on page xv. Several sample projects are also discussed.
xi

Programming examples are included throughout the text. This can be useful to
the reader who is familiar with both DSP and C programming but who is not
necessarily an expert in both.
This book can be used in the following ways:
1. For a DSP course with a laboratory component, using Chapters 1 to 7 and
Appendices D to F. If needed, the book can be supplemented with some addi-
tional theoretical materials, since the book’s emphasis is on the practical
aspects of DSP. It is possible to cover Chapter 7 on adaptive filtering, follow-
ing Chapter 4 on FIR filtering (since there is only one example in Chapter 7
that uses material from Chapter 5). It is my conviction that adaptive filtering
(Chapter 7) should be incorporated into an undergraduate course in DSP.
2. For a laboratory course using many of the examples and experiments from
Chapters 1 to 7. The beginning of the semester can be devoted to short pro-
gramming examples and experiments and the remainder of the semester used
for a final project.
3. For a senior undergraduate or first-year graduate design project course, using
Chapters 1 to 5, selected materials from Chapters 6 to 9, and Appendices D
to F.
4. For the practicing engineer as a tutorial, and for workshops and seminars,
using selected materials throughout the book.
In Chapter 1 we introduce the tools through three programming examples.
These tools include the powerful Code Composer Studio (CCS) provided with
the TMS320C6711 DSP starter kit (DSK). It is essential to perform these three
examples before proceeding to subsequent chapters. They illustrate the capabilities
of CCS for debugging, plotting in both the time and frequency domains, and other
matters.
In Chapter 2 we illustrate input and output (I/O) with the codec on the DSK
board through many programming examples. Alternative I/O with a stereo audio
codec that interfaces with the DSK is described. Chapter 3 covers the architecture
and the instructions available for the TMS320C6x processor. Special instructions
and assembler directives that are useful in DSP are discussed. Programming exam-
ples using both assembly and linear assembly are included in this chapter.
In Chapter 4 we introduce the z-transform and discuss finite impulse response
(FIR) filters and the effect of window functions on these filters. Chapter 5 covers
infinite impulse response (IIR) filters. Programming examples to implement real-
time FIR and IIR filters are included.
Chapter 6 covers the development of the fast Fourier transform (FFT). Pro-
gramming examples on FFT are included. In Chapter 7 we demonstrate the use-
fulness of the adaptive filter for a number of applications with least mean squares
(LMS). Programming examples are included to illustrate the gradual cancellation
of noise or system identification. Chapter 8 illustrates techniques for code opti-
xii Preface

mization. In Chapter 9 we discuss a number of DSP applications and student
projects.
A disk included with this book contains all the programs discussed. See page xix
for a list of the folders that contain the support files for all the examples.
Over the last six years, faculty members from over 150 institutions have taken
my “DSP and Applications” workshops. These workshops were supported for three
years by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and subsequently, by
Texas Instruments. I am thankful to NSF, Texas Instruments, and the participating
faculty members for their encouragement and feedback. I am grateful to Dr. Donald
Reay of Heriot-Watt University, who contributed several examples during his
review of the book.I appreciate the many suggestions made by Dr.Robert Kubichek
of the University of Wyoming during his review of the book. I also thank Dr. Darrell
Horning of the University of New Haven, with whom I coauthored the text Digital
Signal Processing with the TMS320C25, for introducing me to “book writing.” I
thank all the students (at Roger Williams University, University of Massachusetts,
Dartmouth, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute) who have taken my real-time DSP
and senior design project courses, based on the TMS320 processors, over the last
16 years. I am particularly indebted to two former students, Bill Bitler and Peter
Martin, who have worked with me over the years. The laboratory assistance of
Walter J. Gomes III in several workshops and during the development of many
examples has been invaluable. The continued support of many people from Texas
Instruments is also very much appreciated: Maria Ho and Christina Peterson, in
particular, have been very supportive of this book. I would be remiss if I did not
mention the librarians in Herkimer, New York (where I was stranded for two weeks)
for the use of their facility to write Chapter 8.
Rulph Chassaing
Chassaing@msn.com
Preface xiii

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the Pasha recovered, and my anxiety was set at rest.
At Buda I made my first acquaintance with the Janissaries; this is
the name by which the Turks call the infantry of the royal guard. The
Turkish state has 12,000 of these troops when the corps is at its full
strength. They are scattered through every part of the empire, either
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the head, while the remainder hangs down and flaps against the
neck. On their forehead is placed a silver-gilt cone of considerable
height, studded with stones of no great value.
These Janissaries generally came to me in pairs. When they were
admitted to my dining room they first made a bow, and then came
quickly up to me, all but running, and touched my dress or hand, as
if they intended to kiss it. After this they would thrust into my hand
a nosegay of the hyacinth or narcissus; then they would run back to
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breach of etiquette. After reaching the door, they would stand

respectfully with their arms crossed, and their eyes bent on the
ground, looking more like monks than warriors. On receiving a few
small coins (which was what they wanted) they bowed again,
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them for members of some order of Turkish monks, or brethren of
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During my stay at Buda a good many Turks were drawn to my
table by the attractions of my wine, a luxury in which they have not
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make a night of it, but at last I got tired of the game, left the table,
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to go, and great was their grief as they reflected that they were not
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servant to request that I would allow them access to my stock of
wine and lend them some silver cups. ‘With my permission,’ they
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would do for them.’ Well, I ordered them to be furnished with as
much wine as they could drink, and also with the cups they asked
for. Being thus supplied, the fellows never left off drinking until they
were one and all stretched on the floor in the last stage of
intoxication.
To drink wine is considered a great sin among the Turks,
especially in the case of persons advanced in life: when younger
people indulge in it the offence is considered more venial. Inasmuch,
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after death whether they drink much or little, if they taste one drop
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them to have their sin out, and get dead drunk, since it will cost
them as much in either case. These are their ideas about drinking,
and they have some other notions which are still more ridiculous. I
saw an old gentleman at Constantinople who, before taking up his
cup, shouted as loud as he could. I asked my friends the reason, and
they told me he was shouting to warn his soul to stow itself away in
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be defiled by the wine he was about to drink, and have hereafter to
answer for the offence which the worthy man meant to indulge in.
I shall not have time to give you a full description of the good
town of Buda, but that I may not pass it over altogether, I will give
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only kept from falling by a liberal use of props and stays. The
inmates of these mansions are generally Turkish soldiers, who, as
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purpose of mending the walls or patching the roofs of these vast
buildings. Accordingly, they do not take it to heart if the roof lets in
rain or the wall cracks, provided they can find a dry spot to stable
their horses and make their own bed. As to the chambers above,
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in full enjoyment of them. Another reason for this negligence is that
it is part of the Turkish creed to avoid display in the matter of
buildings; they consider that a man proves himself a conceited
fellow, who utterly misunderstands his position, if he aims at having
a pretentious house, for he shows thereby, according to their notion,
that he expects himself and his house to last for ever. They profess
to use houses as travellers use inns, and if their habitations protect

them from robbers, give them warmth and shade, and keep off rain,
they want nothing more. Through the whole of Turkey it would be
hard to find a house, however exalted or rich its owner may be, built
with the slightest regard to elegance. Everyone lives in a hut or
cottage. The great people are fond of fine gardens and sumptuous
baths, and take care to have roomy houses to accommodate their
retinues; but in these you never see a bright verandah, or a hall
worth looking at, nor does any sign of grandeur attract one’s
attention. The Hungarians also follow the same practice, for with the
exception of Buda, and perhaps Presburg, you will scarcely find a
city in the whole of Hungary containing buildings of any pretension
whatever. For my own part, I believe that this is a very old habit of
theirs, and arises from the circumstance that the Hungarians are a
warlike nation, accustomed to camp life and expeditions far from
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must shortly leave it.
Whilst at Buda I was much struck with a spring which I saw
outside the gate on the road to Constantinople. The surface of the
water was boiling hot, but at the bottom you could see fish
swimming about, so that, if they were caught, you might expect
them to come out ready boiled!
At length, on December 7, the Pasha was ready to receive me. I
gave him a present with a view to securing his favour, and then
proceeded to complain of the arrogance and misdeeds of the Turkish
soldiers. I demanded the restitution of the places which had been
taken from us in violation of the truce, and which he had undertaken
in his letters to restore to my master on his sending an ambassador.
The Pasha replied with complaints as heavy as mine about the losses
and injuries he had sustained at the hands of our people. As to
restoring the places, he took refuge in the following dilemma:—‘I,’
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must comprehend that I made a promise which I have neither the
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you like.’ He concluded by remarking that ‘it was very wrong of me
to bother a man still weak from illness with a long discourse about
nothing.’
When he had delivered this decision with the air of a judge, I had
leave to go. All I gained by my interview was the conclusion of a
truce until an answer should be brought back from Solyman.
I observed, when we were presented to the Pasha, that they
kept up the custom of the ancient Romans, who put in the word
‘feliciter’ at the end of their speech, and used words of good omen. I
noticed also that in most cases the left-hand side was considered the
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in a certain sense his sword under the hand of the man who flanks
him on the left; while the latter, of course, would have his sword free
and disencumbered.
Our business at Buda being thus concluded, in so far as we were
able to accomplish it, my companion returned to the King, while I,
with my horses, carriages, and people, embarked on some vessels
which were waiting for us, and sailed down the Danube towards
Belgrade. This route was not only safer than that by land, but also
occupied less time, for encumbered as I was with baggage, I should
have been twelve days at the very least on the road, and there
would also have been danger of an attack from Heydons—for so the
Hungarians call the banditti who have left their flocks and herds to
become half soldiers, half brigands. By the river route there was no
fear of Heydons, and the passage occupied five days.
The vessel on board which I sailed was towed by a tug manned
by twenty-four oarsmen; the other boats were pulled along by a pair
of sweeps. With the exception of a few hours during which the
wretched galley-slaves and the crew took food and rest, we travelled
incessantly. I was much impressed on this occasion with the

rashness of the Turks, for they had no hesitation in continuing their
voyage during the night, though there was no moon and it was quite
dark, amid a gale of wind. We often, to our very great danger,
encountered mills and trunks and branches of trees projecting from
the banks, so that it frequently happened that the boat was caught
by the gale and came crashing on to the stumps and branches which
lined the river side. On such occasions it seemed to me that we were
on the point of going to pieces. Once, indeed, there was a great
crash, and part of the deck was carried away. I jumped out of bed,
and begged the crew to be more careful. Their only answer was
‘Alaure,’ that is, ‘God will help us;’ and so I was left to get back to
my bed and my nap—if I could! I will venture to make one prophecy,
and that is, that this mode of sailing will one day bring about a
disaster.
On our voyage I saw Tolna, a Hungarian borough of some
importance, which deserves special mention for its excellent white
wine and the civility of the people. I saw also Fort Valpovar, which
stands on high ground, as well as other castles and towns; nor did I
fail to notice the points at which the Drave on the one side, and the
Theiss on the other, flow into the Danube. Belgrade itself lies at the
confluence of the Save and Danube, and at the apex of the angle
where these streams join, the old city is still standing; it is built in an
antiquated style, and fortified with numerous towers and a double
wall. On two sides it is washed by the rivers I mentioned, while on
the third side, which unites it to the land, it has a citadel of
considerable strength, placed on an eminence, consisting of several
lofty towers built of squared stone.
In front of the city are very large suburbs, built without any
regard to order. These are inhabited by people of different nations—
Turks, Greeks, Jews, Hungarians, Dalmatians, and many more.
Indeed, throughout the Turkish Empire the suburbs, as a rule,
are larger than the towns, and suburbs and town together give the
idea of a very considerable place. This was the first point at which I
met with ancient coins, of which, as you know, I am very fond, and I

find William Quacquelben, whom I mentioned before, a most
admirable and devoted fellow-student in this hobby of mine.
We found several coins, on one side of which was a Roman
soldier standing between a bull and a horse, with the inscription
‘Taurunum.’ It is a well-ascertained fact that the legions of Upper
Mœsia were quartered here.
Twice in the days of our grandfathers great efforts were made to
take Belgrade, on the first occasion by Amurath, and on the second
by Mahomet, the captor of Constantinople. But the efforts of the
barbarians were on both occasions baffled by the gallant defence of
the Hungarians and the champions of the Cross.
It was not till the year 1520 that Belgrade was taken. Solyman,
who had just ascended the throne, advanced against the city with
powerful forces. He found it in a weak state, the garrison not having
been kept at its proper strength, owing to the neglect of the young
King Louis and the feuds of the Hungarian nobles; consequently he
made himself master of the city without much loss. We can now see
clearly that Belgrade was the door of Hungary, and that it was not till
this gate was forced that the tide of Turkish barbarism burst into this
unhappy country. The loss of Belgrade entailed the death of Louis98
on the battle-field, the capture of Buda, the enthralment of
Transylvania, and the utter prostration of a flourishing realm, amid
the alarm of neighbouring kingdoms lest their turn should come
next. The loss of Belgrade ought to be a warning to the Princes of
Christendom that they, as they love their safety, should take the
utmost possible care of their forts and strongholds. For the Turks
resemble in this point great rivers swollen by the rains; if they can
burst their banks in any single place, they pour through the breach
and carry destruction far and wide. In yet more fearful fashion do
the Turkish hordes, when once they have burst the barriers in their
path, carry far and wide their unparalleled devastations.
But we must now return to Belgrade, with full purpose to make
our way straight to Constantinople. Having procured in the city what
we thought needful for our journey by road, leaving Semendria,

formerly a stronghold of the Despots99 of Servia, on our left, we
commenced our journey towards Nissa. When we came to high
ground the Turks showed us the snow-capped mountains of
Transylvania in the distance, and they also pointed out by means of
signs the place near which some of the piles of Trajan’s bridge may
still be seen.100
After crossing a river, called Morava by the natives, we took up
our lodgings in a village named Jagodin, where we had an
opportunity of seeing the funeral ceremonies of the country, which
are very different from ours. The body was laid in a chapel, with its
face uncovered, and by it was placed food in the shape of bread and
meat and a cup of wine; the wife stood by the side, and also the
daughter, dressed in their best clothes; the latter wore a head-dress
of peacock’s feathers. The last present which the wife made to her
husband, after he had been waked, was a purple cap of the kind
that young ladies wear in that country.
Then we heard wailing and crying and complaining, as they
asked the dead man ‘What they had done that he should desert
them? Had they in any way failed in showing submission to him or in
ministering to his comfort? Why did he leave them to loneliness and
misery?’ &c. &c. The religious ceremonies were conducted by priests
of the Greek Church. I noticed in the burial-ground a great many
wooden figures of stags, fawns, &c., placed on the top of posts or
poles. On inquiring the reason, I was informed that the husbands or
fathers placed these monuments as memorials of the readiness and
care with which the wives and daughters had discharged their
domestic duties. On many of the tombs were hanging tresses of hair,
which the women and girls had placed there to show their grief for
the loss of relations. We heard also that it was the custom in these
parts, when the elders had arranged a marriage between a young
man and a young woman, for the bridegroom to seize his wife by
force and carry her off. According to their ideas, it would be highly
indelicate for the girl to be a consenting party to the arrangement.

Not far from Jagodin we came to a little stream, which the
inhabitants call Nissus. This we kept on our right, skirting its bank
until we came to Nissa (Nisch). Some way on, we found on the bank
(where the traces of an old Roman road still remained) a little
marble pillar with a Latin inscription, but so mutilated as to be
undecipherable. Nissa is a small town of some account, to which the
people of the country often resort.
I must now tell you something as to the inns we make use of, for
that is a subject on which you have been some time wanting
information. At Nissa I lodged in the public inn, called by the Turks a
caravanserai—the most common kind of inn in those parts. It
consists of a huge building, the length of which somewhat exceeds
the breadth. In the centre is an open space, where the camels and
their baggage, as well as the mules and waggons, have to be
quartered.
This open space is surrounded by a wall about three feet high,
and this is bonded into the outer wall surrounding the whole
building. The top of the former is level, and about four feet broad.
This ledge serves the Turks for bedroom and dining-room, and
kitchen as well, for here and there fireplaces are built into the outer
wall, which I told you encloses the whole building. So they sleep,
eat, and cook on this ledge, three feet high and four feet broad; and
this is the only distinction between their quarters and those of the
camels, horses, and other beasts of burden.
Moreover, they have their horses haltered at the foot of the
ledge, so that their heads and necks come right over it; and as their
masters warm themselves or take their supper, the creatures stand
by like so many lackeys, and sometimes are given a crust or apple
from their master’s hand. On the ledge they also make their beds;
first they spread out the rug which they carry for that purpose
behind their saddles, on this they put a cloak, while the saddle
supplies them with a pillow. A robe, lined with skins, and reaching to
the ankles furnishes their dress by day and their blanket at night.

And so when they lie down they have no luxuries wherewith to
provoke sleep to come to them.
In these inns there is no privacy whatever; everything is done in
public, and the only curtain to shield one from people’s eyes is such
as may be afforded by the darkness of the night.
I was excessively disgusted with these inns, for all the Turks
were staring at us, and wondering at our ways and customs, so I
always did my best to get a lodging with some poor Christian; but
their huts are so narrow that oftentimes there was not room enough
for a bed, and so I had to sleep sometimes in a tent and sometimes
in my carriage. On certain occasions I got lodged in a Turkish hostel.
These hostels are fine convenient buildings, with separate
bedrooms, and no one is refused admittance, whether he be
Christian or Jew, whether he be rich or a beggar. The doors are open
to all alike. They are made use of by the pashas and sanjak-beys
when they travel. The hospitality which I met with in these places
appeared to me worthy of a royal palace. It is the custom to furnish
food to each individual who lodges there, and so, when supper-time
came, an attendant made his appearance with a huge wooden
platter as big as a table, in the middle of which was a dish of barley
porridge and a bit of meat. Around the dish were loaves, and
sometimes a little honey in the comb.
At first I had some delicacy in accepting it, and told the man that
my own supper was being got ready, and that he had better give
what he had brought to people who were really in want. The
attendant, however, would take no denial, expressed a hope ‘that I
would not despise their slender fare,’ told me ‘that even pashas
received this dole, it was the custom of the place, and there was
plenty more for supplying the wants of the poor. If I did not care for
it myself I might leave it for my servants.’ He thus obliged me to
accept it, lest I should seem ungracious. So I used to thank whoever
brought it, and sometimes took a mouthful or two. It was not at all
bad. I can assure you that barley porridge is a very palatable food,

and it is, moreover, recommended by Galen101 as extremely
wholesome.
Travellers are allowed to enjoy this hospitality for three full days;
when these have expired, they must change their hostel. In these
places I found, as I have already told you, most convenient lodgings,
but they were not to be met with everywhere.
Sometimes, if I could not get a house to lodge in, I spent the
night in a cattle shed. I used to look out for a large and roomy
stable; in one part of it there would be a regular fire-place, while the
other part was assigned to the sheep and oxen. It is the fashion, you
must know, for the sheep and the shepherd to live under the same
roof.
My plan was to screen off the part where the fire was with my
tent hangings, put my table and bed by the fire side, and there I
was as happy as a king. In the other part of the stable my servants
took their ease in plenty of good clean straw, while some fell asleep
by the bonfire which they were wont to make in an orchard or
meadow hard by, for the purpose of cooking our food. By means of
the fire they were able to withstand the cold; and, as to keeping it
burning, no vestal virgin at Rome was ever more careful than they. I
dare say you will wonder how I managed to console my people for
their bad lodgings. You will surmise that wine, the usual remedy for
bad nights, is not easily found in the heart of Turkey. This is quite
true. It is not in every district that you can get wine, and this is
especially the case in places where Christians do not live. For
ofttimes, getting wearied of Turkish insolence, they leave the
neighbourhood of the high road, and take refuge in pathless wilds,
where the land is poorer, and they themselves are safer, leaving their
conquerors in possession of the more fertile spots. When we drew
near to such places, the Turks warned us that we should find no
wine there, and we then despatched a caterer the day before under
the escort of a Turk, to obtain a supply from the neighbouring
Christian districts. So my people did not lack this solace of their
hardships. To them wine supplied the place of feather beds and

bolsters, and every other comfort that induces sleep. As for myself, I
had in my carriage some flasks of excellent wine, which supplied my
own private table.
I have now told you how I and my people provided ourselves
with wine; but we had one hardship almost worse than want of
wine, and this was the dreadful way in which our nights were
broken. Sometimes, in order to reach a good halting-place betimes,
it was necessary to rise very early, while it was still dark. On these
occasions it not unfrequently happened that our Turkish guides
mistook the moonlight for the approach of dawn, and proceeded to
wake us soon after midnight in a most noisy fashion. For the Turks,
you must know, have neither hours to mark their time, nor
milestones to mark their roads.
They have professional people, called talismans, set apart for the
service of their mosques, who use a water-glass; and when these
talismans know that morning is at hand, they utter a cry from a lofty
minaret built for that special purpose, in order to call and invite the
people to the performance of their devotions. They utter the same
cry when one quarter of the day has elapsed, at midday, again when
three quarters of the day are over, and, last of all, at sunset; each
time repeating the cry in shrill quavering tones, the effect of which is
not unpleasing, and the sound can be heard at a distance that would
astonish you.
Thus the Turks divide their day into four portions, which are
longer or shorter according to the season. They have no method for
marking time during the night.
But to return to my subject. Our guides, deceived by the
brightness of the moon, were wont to give the signal for striking
camp when the day was yet far distant. Up we jumped in haste, for
fear of causing any delay, or being blamed for any misadventure that
might ensue. Our baggage was got together, the bed and tents
thrown into the waggon, our horses harnessed, and we ourselves
stood ready and equipped, waiting for the signal to start. Meanwhile,

our Turks had found out their mistake, and turned into bed for
another sleep.
When we had waited some time for them in vain, I would send a
message to tell them that we were quite ready, and that the delay
rested with them. My messengers brought back word that ‘the Turks
had returned to their bedclothes, and vowed that they had been
atrociously deceived by the moon when they gave the signal for
starting; it was not yet time to set out, and we had much better all
go to sleep again.’ The consequence was that we had either to
unpack everything at the cost of considerable labour, or to spend a
good part of the night shivering in the cold. To put a stop to this
annoyance, I ordered the Turks not to trouble me again, and
promised to be responsible for our being up in good time, if they
would tell me the day before, when we ought to start, assuring them
that ‘I could manage it, as I had watches that could be trusted; they
might continue their slumbers,’ I added, ‘relying on me to have the
camp roused at the proper time.’
My Turks agreed, but were not quite comfortable about it; so at
first they would come early, and wake up my servant, bidding him go
to me, and ask what the fingers of my timepieces said. On his return
he would tell them, as best he could, what the time was, informing
them that it was nearly morning, or that the sun would not rise for
some time, as the case might be. When they had once or twice
proved the truth of his report, they trusted the watches implicitly,
and expressed their admiration at their accuracy. Thenceforward we
were allowed to enjoy our night’s rest without having it cut short by
their uproar.
On our way from Nissa to Sophia we had fair roads and good
weather, considering the season of the year. Sophia is a good-sized
town, with a considerable population both of residents and visitors.
Formerly it was the royal city of the Bulgarians; afterwards (unless I
am mistaken) it was the seat of the Despots of Servia, whilst the
dynasty still existed, and had not yet succumbed to the power of the

Turk. After quitting Sophia we travelled for several days through
fruitful fields and pleasant valleys, belonging to the Bulgarians.
The bread we used through this part of our expedition was, for
the most part, baked under ashes. The people call these loaves
‘fugacias:’ they are sold by the girls and women, for there are no
professional bakers in that district. When the women hear of the
arrival of strangers, from whom they may expect to earn a trifle,
they knead cakes of meal and water without any leaven, and put
them under the hot ashes. When baked they carry them round for
sale at a small price, still hot from the hearth. Other eatables are
also very cheap. A sheep costs thirty-five aspres,102 a fowl costs
one; and fifty aspres make a crown. I must not forget to tell you of
the dress of the women. Usually, their sole garment consists of a
shirt or chemise of linen, quite as coarse as the cloth sacks are made
of in our country, covered with needlework designs, of the most
absurd and childish character, in different colours. However, they
think themselves excessively fine; and when they saw our shirts—
the texture of which was excellent—they expressed their surprise
that we should be contented with plain linen instead of having
worked and coloured shirts. But nothing struck us more than their
towering head-dresses and singular bonnets—if bonnets they can be
called. They are made of straw, woven with threads; the shape is
exactly the reverse of that which is usually worn by our women in
country districts; for their bonnets fall down on the shoulders, and
are broadest at the lowest part, from which they gradually slope up
into a peak. Whereas, in Bulgaria the bonnet is narrowest at the
lowest part; above the head it rises in a coil about three-quarters of
a foot; it is open at the top, and presents a large cavity towards the
sky, so that it seems expressly made for the purpose of catching the
rain and the sun, just as ours are made for the purpose of keeping
them off.
The whole of the bonnet, from the upper to the lower rim, is
ornamented with coins and figures, bits of coloured glass, and
anything else that glitters, however rubbishy it may be.

This kind of bonnet makes the wearer look tall, and also obliges
her to carry herself with dignity, as it is ready to tumble off at the
slightest touch. When they enter a room you might imagine it was a
Clytemnestra,103 or Hecuba such as she was in the palmy days of
Troy, that was marching on to the stage.
I had here an instance of the fickleness and instability of that
which, in the world’s opinion, constitutes nobility. For when, on
noticing some young women, whose persons had an air of better
breeding than the rest, I inquired whether they belonged to some
high family, I was told that they were descended from great
Bulgarian princes, and, in some cases, even from royal ancestors,
but were now married to herdsmen and shepherds. So little value is
attached to high birth in the Turkish realm. I saw also, in other
places, descendants of the imperial families of the Cantacuzeni104
and Palæologi, whose position among the Turks was lower than that
of Dionysius at Corinth. For the Turks do not measure even their
own people by any other rule than that of personal merit. The only
exception is the house of Othman; in this case, and in this case only,
does birth confer distinction.
It is supposed that the Bulgarians,105 at a time when many tribes
were migrating of their own accord or under compulsion, left the
Scythian river Volga to settle here, and that they are called
Bulgarians (an equivalent for Volgarians) from that river.
They established themselves on the Balkan range, between
Sophia and Philippopolis, in a position of great natural strength, and
here they long defied the power of the Greek Emperors.
When Baldwin106 the elder, Count of Flanders, gained possession
of the imperial throne, they took him prisoner in a skirmish, and put
him to death. They were not able to withstand the power of the
Turks, who conquered them, and subjected them to their heavy
yoke. They use the language of the Illyrians, as do the Servians and
Rascians.107

In order to descend to the level country in front of Philippopolis it
is necessary to cross the mountain by a very rough pass. This pass
the Turks call ‘Capi Dervent’108—that is to say, The Narrow Gate. On
this plain the traveller soon meets with the Hebrus, which rises at no
great distance in Mount Rhodope. Before we had crossed the pass I
mentioned above, we had a good view of the summit of Rhodope,
which stood out cold and clear with its snowy covering. The
inhabitants, if I am not mistaken, call the mountain Rulla. From it, as
Pliny tells us, flows the Hebrus, a fact generally known from the
couplet of Ovid:—

‘Quâ patet umbrosum Rhodope glacialis ad Hæmum,
Et sacer amissas exigit Hebrus aquas.’
In this passage the poet seems to refer to the river’s want of
depth and its scant supply of water; for though a great and famous
stream, it is full of shallows. I remember, on my return, crossing the
Hebrus by a ford close to Philippopolis, in order to reach an island,
where we slept under canvas. But the river rose during the night,
and we had great difficulty next day in recrossing and regaining our
road.
There are three hills which look as if they had been torn away
from the rest of the range. On one of these Philippopolis is situated,
crowning the summit with its towers. At Philippopolis we saw rice in
the marshes growing like wheat.
The whole plain is covered with mounds of earth, which,
according to the Turkish legends, are artificial, and mark the sites of
the numerous battles which, they declare, took place in these fields.
Underneath these barrows, they imagine, lie the victims of these
struggles.
Continuing our route, we followed pretty closely the banks of the
Hebrus, which was for some time on our right hand, and leaving the
Balkans, which ran down to the Black Sea, on our left, we at last
crossed the Hebrus by the noble bridge built by Mustapha, and
arrived at Adrianople, or, as it is called by the Turks, Endrene. The
name of the city was Oresta until Hadrian enlarged it and gave it his
own name. It is situated at the confluence of the Maritza, or Hebrus,
and two small streams, the Tundja and Arda, which at this point
alter their course and flow towards the Ægean Sea. Even this city is
of no very great extent, if only that portion is included which is
within the circuit of the ancient walls; but the extensive buildings in
the suburbs, which have been added by the Turks, make it a very
considerable place.
After stopping one day at Adrianople, we set out to finish the last
stage of our journey to Constantinople, which is not far distant. As
we passed through these districts we were presented with large

nosegays of flowers, the narcissus, the hyacinth, and the tulipan (as
the Turks call this last). We were very much surprised to see them
blooming in midwinter, a season which does not suit flowers at all.
There is a great abundance of the narcissus and hyacinth in Greece;
their fragrance is perfectly wonderful, so much so, that, when in
great profusion, they affect the heads of those who are
unaccustomed to the scent. The tulip has little or no smell; its
recommendation is the variety and beauty of the colouring.
The Turks are passionately fond of flowers, and though
somewhat parsimonious in other matters, they do not hesitate to
give several aspres for a choice blossom. I, too, had to pay pretty
dearly for these nosegays, although they were nominally presents,
for on each occasion I had to pull out a few aspres as my
acknowledgment of the gift. A man who visits the Turks had better
make up his mind to open his purse as soon as he crosses their
frontier, and not to shut it till he quits the country; in the interval he
must sow his money broadcast, and may thank his stars if the seed
proves fruitful. But even assuming that he gets nothing else by his
expenditure, he will find that there is no other means of
counteracting the dislike and prejudice which the Turks entertain
towards the rest of the world. Money is the charm wherewith to lull
these feelings in a Turk, and there is no other way of mollifying him.
But for this method of dealing with them, these countries would be
as inaccessible to foreigners as the lands which are condemned
(according to the popular belief) to unbroken solitude on account of
excessive heat or excessive cold.
Half way between Constantinople and Adrianople lies a little town
called Tchourlou, famous as the place where Selim was defeated by
his father, Bajazet. Selim,109 who was only saved by the speed of his
horse Caraboulut (i.e. the dark cloud), fled to the Crimea, where his
father-in-law exercised supreme power.
Just before we reached Selimbria, a small town lying on the
coast, we saw some well-preserved traces of an ancient earthwork

and ditch, which they say were made in the days of the later Greek
emperors, and extended from the Sea of Marmora to the Danube.
These fortifications were intended to defend the land and
property of the people of Constantinople which lay within their
defences, against the inroads of barbarians. They tell of an old man
in those days who declared that the existence of these works did not
so much protect what was inside, as mark the surrender of the rest
to the barbarians, and so encourage them to attack, while it damped
the spirit of the defenders.
At Selimbria we stopped awhile to enjoy the view over the calm
sea and pick up shells, while the waves rolled merrily on to the
shore. We were also attracted by the sight of dolphins sporting in
the waters; and, in addition to all these sights, we enjoyed the heat
of that delicious clime. I cannot tell you how warm and mild the air
is in this charming spot. As far as Tchourlou there was a certain
amount of cold, and the wind had a touch of the North about it; but
on leaving Tchourlou the air becomes extremely mild.
Close to Constantinople we crossed over bridges, which spanned
two lovely bays.110 If these places were cultivated, and nature were
to receive the slightest assistance from art, I doubt whether in the
whole world anything could be found to surpass them in loveliness.
But the very ground seems to mourn its fate, and complain of the
neglect of its barbarian master. Here we feasted on most delicious
fish, caught before our eyes.
While lodging in the hostels, which the Turks call Imaret, I
happened to notice a number of bits of paper stuck in the walls. In a
fit of curiosity I pulled them out, imagining that there must be some
reason for their being placed there. I asked my Turks what was
written on the paper, but I could not find that they contained
anything which could account for their being thus preserved. This
made me all the more eager to learn why on earth they were kept;
for I had seen the same thing done in other places. My Turks made
no reply, being unwilling to answer my question, either because they
were shy of telling me that which I should not credit, or because

they did not wish to unfold so mighty a mystery to one outside the
pale of their religion. Some time later I learned from my friends
among the Turks, that great respect is paid to a piece of paper,
because there is a possibility that the name of God may be written
on it; and therefore they do not allow the smallest scrap to lie on the
ground, but pick it up and stick it quickly in some chink or crack,
that it may not be trodden on. There is no particular fault, perhaps,
to be found with all this; but let me tell you the rest.
On the day of the last judgment, when Mahomet will summon his
followers from purgatory to heaven and eternal bliss, the only road
open to them will be over a red-hot gridiron, which they must walk
across with bare feet. A painful ordeal, methinks. Picture to yourself
a cock skipping and hopping over hot coals! Now comes the marvel.
All the paper they have preserved from being trodden on and
insulted, will appear unexpectedly, stick itself under their feet, and
be of the greatest service in protecting them from the red-hot iron.
This great boon awaits those who save paper from bad treatment.
On some occasions our guides were most indignant with my
servants for using paper for some very dirty work, and reported it to
me as an outrageous offence. I replied that they must not be
surprised at such acts on the part of my servants. What could they
expect, I added, from people who are accustomed to eat pork?
This is a specimen of Turkish superstition. With them it is a
fearful offence for a man to sit, even unwittingly, on the Koran
(which is their Bible); in the case of a Christian the punishment is
death. Moreover, they do not allow rose-leaves to lie on the ground,
because they think that the rose sprang from the sweat of Mahomet,
just as the ancients believed that it came from the blood of Venus.
But I must leave off, or I shall tire you with these trifling matters.
I arrived at Constantinople on January 20, and there I found the
colleagues I mentioned above, Antony Wranczy and Francis Zay. The
Sultan was away in Asia with the Turkish army, and no one was left
at Constantinople except the eunuch Ibrahim Pasha, governor of the
city, and Roostem, who had been deprived of his office.

Nevertheless, we visited the ex-chief-Vizier, showed him every
courtesy, and gave him presents to mark our esteem; for we did not
forget the great influence he once had, and his prospect of shortly
regaining it.
Now that I am speaking of Roostem, I may as well tell you how
he came to be deprived of his high office. Solyman had a son by a
concubine, who came from the Crimea, if I remember rightly. His
name was Mustapha, and at the time of which I am speaking he was
young, vigorous, and of high repute as a soldier. But Solyman had
also several other children by a Russian woman (Roxolana).111 To
the latter he was so much attached that he placed her in the
position of a wife, and assigned her a dowry, the giving and
receiving of which constitutes a marriage amongst the Turks. In
taking her as his wife, he broke through the custom of his later
predecessors on the throne, none of whom, since the days of
Bajazet the elder, had a lawful wife. For of all the indignities which
the vanquished Sultan endured, when he and his wife fell into the
hands of Tamerlane,112 nothing seemed more dreadful than the
insults which his wife received before his eyes. His humiliation made
so deep an impression on his successors that, up to the time of
Solyman, they abstained from contracting a legal marriage with any
woman, by way of insuring themselves, under all circumstances,
against a similar misfortune. The mothers of their children were
women in the position of slaves, the idea being that, if they were
insulted, the disgrace to the Sultan would not be so great as in the
case of a lawful wife. You must not be surprised at this, for the Turks
do not consider the position of the children of concubines and
mistresses inferior to that of the offspring of wives; both have
precisely the same rights of inheritance to their father’s property.
Thus, then, matters stood. Mustapha’s high qualities and
matured years marked him out, to the soldiers who loved, and the
people who supported him, as the successor of his father, who was
now in the decline of life. On the other hand, his step-mother, by
throwing the claim of a lawful wife into the scale, was doing her

utmost to counterbalance his personal merits and his rights as eldest
son, with a view to obtaining the throne for her own children. In this
intrigue she received the advice and assistance of Roostem, whose
fortunes were inseparably linked with hers by his marriage with a
daughter she had had by Solyman. Of all the Pashas at Solyman’s
court none had such influence and weight as Roostem; his
determined character and clear-sighted views had contributed in no
small degree to his master’s fame. Perhaps you would like to know
his origin. He was once a pig-driver;113 and yet he is a man well
worthy of his high office, were his hands not soiled with greed. This
was the only point as to which the Sultan was dissatisfied with him;
in every other respect he was the object of his love and esteem.
However, this very fault his master contrived to turn to his
advantage, by giving him the management of the privy purse and
exchequer, Solyman’s chief difficulties being on the score of finance.
In his administration of this department he neglected no gain,
however trivial, and scraped up money from the sale of the
vegetables and flowers which grew in the imperial gardens; he put
up separately to auction each prisoner’s helmet, coat-of-mail, and
horse, and managed everything else after the same fashion.
By these means he contrived to amass large sums of money, and
fill Solyman’s treasury. In short, he placed his finances in a sound
position. His success in this department drew from a very bitter
enemy of his an expression, which will surprise you as coming from
a Turk. He declared that, even had he the power to hurt Roostem,
he would not use it against one whose industry, zeal, and care had
re-established his master’s finances. There is in the palace a special
vault, where these hoards are kept, and on it is this inscription, ‘The
moneys acquired by the care of Roostem.’
Well, inasmuch as Roostem was chief Vizier, and as such had the
whole of the Turkish administration in his hands, he had no difficulty,
seeing that he was the Sultan’s adviser in everything, in influencing
his master’s mind. The Turks, accordingly, are convinced that it was
by the calumnies of Roostem and the spells of Roxolana, who was in

ill repute as a practiser of witchcraft, that the Sultan was so
estranged from his son as to entertain the design of getting rid of
him. A few believe that Mustapha, being aware of the plans of
Roostem and the practices of his stepmother, determined to
anticipate them, and thus engaged in designs against his father’s
throne and person. The sons of Turkish Sultans are in the most
wretched position in the world, for, as soon as one of them succeeds
his father, the rest are doomed to certain death. The Turk can
endure no rival to the throne, and, indeed, the conduct of the
Janissaries renders it impossible for the new Sultan to spare his
brothers; for if one of them survives, the Janissaries are for ever
asking largesses. If these are refused, forthwith the cry is heard,
‘Long live the brother!’ ‘God preserve the brother!’—a tolerably broad
hint that they intend to place him on the throne. So that the Turkish
Sultans are compelled to celebrate their succession by imbruing their
hands in the blood of their nearest relatives. Now whether the fault
lay with Mustapha, who feared this fate for himself, or with
Roxolana, who endeavoured to save her children at the expense of
Mustapha, this much at any rate is certain—the suspicions of the
Sultan were excited, and the fate of his son was sealed.
Being at war with Shah Tahmasp, King of the Persians, he had
sent Roostem against him as commander-in-chief of his armies. Just
as he was about to enter the Persian territory, Roostem suddenly
halted, and hurried off despatches to Solyman, informing him that
affairs were in a very critical state; that treason was rife everywhere;
that the soldiers had been tampered with, and cared for no one but
Mustapha; that he (the Sultan) could control the soldiers, but that
the evil was past his (Roostem’s) curing; that his presence and
authority were wanted; and he must come at once, if he wished to
preserve his throne. Solyman was seriously alarmed by these
despatches. He immediately hurried to the army, and sent a letter to
summon Mustapha to his presence, inviting him to clear himself of
those crimes of which he was suspected, and indeed openly
accused, at the same time assuring him that, if he proved innocent,
no danger awaited him. Mustapha had now to make his choice. If he

obeyed the summons of his angry and offended father, the risk was
great; but if he excused himself from coming, it would be
tantamount to an admission of treason. He determined to take the
course which demanded most courage and involved most danger.
He left Amasia, the seat of his government, and went to his
father’s camp, which lay at no great distance,114 either trusting in
his innocence, or feeling confident that no evil would happen to him
in the presence of the army. However that may be, he fell into a trap
from which there was no escape.
Solyman had brought with him his son’s death doom, which he
had prepared before leaving home. With a view to satisfying
religious scruples, he had previously consulted his mufti. This is the
name given to the chief priest among the Turks, and answers to our
Pope of Rome. In order to get an impartial answer from the mufti,
he put the case before him as follows:—He told him that there was
at Constantinople a merchant of good position, who, when about to
leave home for some time, placed over his property and household a
slave to whom he had shown the greatest favour, and entrusted his
wife and children to his loyalty. No sooner was the master gone than
this slave began to embezzle his master’s property, and plot against
the lives of his wife and children; nay, more, had attempted to
compass his master’s destruction. The question which he (Solyman)
wished the mufti to answer was this: What sentence could be
lawfully pronounced against this slave? The mufti answered that in
his judgment he deserved to be tortured to death. Now, whether this
was the mufti’s own opinion, or whether it was pronounced at the
instigation of Roostem or Roxolana, there is no doubt that it greatly
influenced Solyman, who was already minded to order the execution
of his son; for he considered that the latter’s offence against himself
was quite as great as that of the slave against his master, in the case
he had put before the mufti.
There was great uneasiness among the soldiers, when Mustapha
arrived in the camp. He was brought to his father’s tent, and there
everything betokened peace. There was not a soldier on guard, no

aide-de-camp, no policeman, nothing that could possibly alarm him
and make him suspect treachery. But there were in the tent certain
mutes—a favourite kind of servant among the Turks—strong and
sturdy fellows, who had been appointed as his executioners. As soon
as he entered the inner tent, they threw themselves upon him, and
endeavoured to put the fatal noose around his neck. Mustapha,
being a man of considerable strength, made a stout defence, and
fought—not only for his life, but also for the throne; there being no
doubt that if he escaped from his executioners, and threw himself
among the Janissaries, the news of this outrage on their beloved
prince would cause such pity and indignation, that they would not
only protect him, but also proclaim him Sultan. Solyman felt how
critical the matter was, being only separated by the linen hangings
of his tent from the stage, on which this tragedy was being enacted.
When he found that there was an unexpected delay in the execution
of his scheme, he thrust out his head from the chamber of his tent,
and glared on the mutes with fierce and threatening eyes; at the
same time, with signs full of hideous meaning, he sternly rebuked
their slackness. Hereon the mutes, gaining fresh strength from the
terror he inspired, threw Mustapha down, got the bowstring round
his neck, and strangled him. Shortly afterwards they laid his body on
a rug in front of the tent, that the Janissaries might see the man
they had desired as their Sultan. When this was noised through the
camp, the whole army was filled with pity and grief; nor did one of
them fail to come and gaze on that sad sight. Foremost of all were
the Janissaries, so astounded and indignant that, had there been
anyone to lead them, they would have flinched from nothing. But
they saw their chosen leader lying lifeless on the ground. The only
course left to them was to bear patiently that which could not be
cured. So, sadly and silently, with many a tear, they retired to their
tents, where they were at liberty to indulge their grief at the
unhappy end of their young favourite. First they declared that
Solyman was a dotard and a madman. They then expressed their
abhorrence of the cruel treachery of the stepmother (Roxolana), and
the wickedness of Roostem, who, between them, had extinguished
the brightest light of the house of Othman. Thus they passed that

day fasting, nor did they even touch water; indeed, there were some
of them who remained without food for a still longer time.
For several days there was a general mourning throughout the
camp, and there seemed no prospect of any abatement of the
soldiers’ sorrow, unless Roostem were removed from office. This
step Solyman accordingly took, at the suggestion (as it is generally
believed) of Roostem himself. He dismissed him from office, and
sent him back to Constantinople in disgrace.
His post was filled by Achmet Pasha, who is more distinguished
for courage than for judgment. When Roostem had been chief Vizier
he had been second. This change soothed and calmed the spirits of
the soldiers. With the credulity natural to the lower orders, they
were easily induced to believe that Solyman had discovered
Roostem’s machinations and his wife’s sorceries, and was coming to
his senses now that it was all too late, and that this was the cause of
Roostem’s fall. Indeed, they were persuaded that he would not even
spare his wife, when he returned to Constantinople. Moreover, the
men themselves met Roostem at Constantinople, apparently
overwhelmed with grief and without the slightest hope of recovering
his position.
Meanwhile, Roxolana, not contented with removing Mustapha
from her path, was compassing the death of the only son he had
left, who was still a child; for she did not consider that she and her
children were free from danger, so long as his offspring survived.
Some pretext, however, she thought necessary, in order to furnish a
reason for the murder, but this was not hard to find. Information is
brought to Solyman that, whenever his grandson appeared in public,
the boys of Ghemlik115—where he was being educated—shouted
out, ‘God save the Prince, and may he long survive his father;’ and
that the meaning of these cries was to point him out as his
grandsire’s future successor, and his father’s avenger. Moreover, he
was bidden to remember that the Janissaries would be sure to
support the son of Mustapha, so that the father’s death had in no
way secured the peace of the throne and realm; that nothing ought

to be preferred to the interests of religion, not even the lives of our
children; that the whole Mussulman religion (as they call it, meaning
‘the best religion’) depended on the safety of the throne and the rule
of the house of Othman; and that, if the family were to fall, the
foundations of the faith would be overthrown; that nothing would so
surely lead to the downfall of the house as disunion among its
members; for the sake, therefore, of the family, the empire, and
religion itself, a stop must be put to domestic feuds; no price could
be too great for the accomplishment of such an end, even though a
father’s hands had to be dipped in his children’s blood; nay, the
sacrifice of one’s children’s lives was not to be esteemed of any
great account, if the safety of the faith was thereby assured. There
was still less reason, they added, for compunction in this case,
inasmuch as the boy, as Mustapha’s son, was already a participator
in his father’s guilt, and there could be no doubt that he would
shortly place himself at the head of his father’s partisans.
Solyman was easily induced by these arguments to sign the
death-warrant of his grandson. He commissioned Ibrahim Pasha to
go to Ghemlik with all speed, and put the innocent child to death.
On arriving at Ghemlik, Ibrahim took special care to conceal his
errand from the lad’s mother, for that she should be allowed to know
of her son’s execution, and almost see it with her eyes, would have
seemed too barbarous. Besides, his object, if it got wind, might
provoke an insurrection, and so his plans be frustrated.
By the following artifice he threw her off her guard. He
pretended he was sent by Solyman to visit her and her son; he said
his master had found out, when too late, that he had made a terrible
mistake in putting Mustapha to death, and intended, by his affection
for the son, to atone for his injustice to the father.
Many stories of this kind he told, in order to gain credence with
the fond mother, whose fears had, at that time, been to a great
extent dispelled by the news of Roostem’s fall. After thus flattering
her hopes, he presented her with a few trifling gifts.

A couple of days later he threw in a word about the confined
atmosphere of the city, and the desirability of change of air, and so
obtained her consent to their setting out next day for a seat near the
city. She herself was to go in a carriage, and her son to ride in front
of the carriage on horseback. There was nothing in these
arrangements that could excite suspicion, and so she agreed. A
carriage was got ready, the axle-tree of which was so put together
as to ensure its breaking when they came to a certain rough place,
which they needs must cross. Accordingly, the mother entered the
carriage, and set forth, poor woman, on her journey into the
country. The eunuch rode well in front with the lad, as if to take the
opportunity for a chat; the mother followed with what speed she
might. When they reached the rough ground I told you of, the wheel
struck violently against the stones, and the axle broke. The mother,
whom this accident filled with the worst forebodings, was in the
greatest alarm, and could not be kept from leaving the carriage, and
following her son on foot, attended only by a few of her women. But
the eunuch had already reached his destination. As soon as he had
crossed the threshold of the house which was to be the scene of the
murder, he uttered the sentence of death: ‘The order of the Sultan is
that you must die.’ The boy, they say, made answer like a true Turk,
that he received the decree, not as the order of the Sultan, but the
command of God; and, with these words on his lips, suffered the
fatal noose to be placed round his neck. And so—young, innocent,
and full of promise—the little fellow was strangled. When the deed
was done the eunuch slipped out by a back door, and fled for his life.
Presently came the mother. She had already guessed what had
taken place. She knocked at the door. When all was over, they let
her in. There lay her son before her eyes, his body still warm with
life, the pulses throbbing, the breath hardly departed from him. But
we had better draw a veil over the sad scene. What a mother’s
feelings must have been to see her son thus entrapped and
murdered, it were easier to imagine than describe.
She was then compelled to return to Ghemlik. She came into the
city with her hair dishevelled and her robe rent, filling the air with

her shrieks and moanings. The women of Ghemlik, high and low,
gathered round her; and when they heard of the fearful deed that
had been perpetrated, like frenzied Bacchantes they rushed out of
the gates. ‘Where’s the eunuch? Where’s the eunuch?’ is their cry.
And woe to him had he fallen into their hands. But he, knowing what
impended, and fearing to be torn in pieces by the furious women,
like a second Orpheus,116 lost no time in making his escape.
But I must now return to my subject. A messenger was
despatched to Solyman, with a letter announcing my arrival. During
the interval, while we were waiting for his answer, I had an
opportunity of seeing Constantinople at my leisure. My chief wish
was to visit the Church of St. Sophia; to which, however, I only
obtained admission as a special favour, as the Turks think that their
temples are profaned by the entrance of a Christian. It is a grand
and massive building, well worth visiting. There is a huge central
cupola, or dome, lighted only from a circular opening at the top.
Almost all the Turkish mosques are built after the pattern of St.
Sophia. Some say it was formerly much bigger, and that there were
several buildings in connection with it, covering a great extent of
ground, which were pulled down many years ago, the shrine in the
middle of the church alone being left standing.
As regards the position of the city, it is one which nature herself
seems to have designed for the mistress of the world. It stands in
Europe, Asia is close in front, with Egypt and Africa on its right; and
though these last are not, in point of distance, close to
Constantinople, yet, practically, the communication by sea links them
to the city. On the left, are the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff. Many
nations live all round the coasts of these seas, and many rivers pour
into them; so that, through the length and breadth of these
countries, which border on the Black Sea, there is nothing grown for
man’s use, which cannot, with the greatest ease, be brought to
Constantinople by water. On one side the city is washed by the Sea
of Marmora, on the other the creek forms a harbour which, from its
shape, is called by Strabo ‘the Golden Horn.’ On the third side it is

united to the mainland, so that its position may be described as a
peninsula or promontory formed by a ridge running out between the
sea on one side, and the frith on the other. Thus from the centre of
Constantinople there is a most exquisite view over the sea, and of
Mount Olympus in Asia, white with perpetual snow. The sea is
perfectly crowded with shoals of fish making their way, after the
manner of their kind, from the Sea of Azoff and the Black Sea
through the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmora into the Ægean and
Mediterranean, or again returning to the Black Sea. The shoals are
so big, and so closely packed, that sometimes fish can be caught
with the hand. Mackerel, tunnies, bigheads, bream, and sword-fish
are to be had in abundance. The fishermen are, for the most part,
Greeks, as they take to this occupation more readily than the Turks,
although the latter do not despise fish when brought to table,
provided they are of the kinds which they consider clean; as for the
rest, they would as lief take a dose of poison as touch them. I
should tell you, by the way, that a Turk would sooner have his
tongue or teeth torn out, than taste anything which he considers
unclean, as, for instance, a frog, a snail, or a tortoise. The Greeks
are subject to the same superstition. I had engaged a lad of the
Greek Church as purveyor for my people. His fellow-servants had
never been able to induce him to eat snails; at last they set a dish of
them before him, cooked and seasoned in such a way that he
fancied it was some kind of fish, and helped himself to it most
liberally. But when the other servants, laughing and giggling,
produced the snail shells, and showed him that he had been taken
in, his distress was such as to baffle all description. He rushed to his
chamber, where there was no end to his tears, misery, and sickness.
He declared that it would cost him two months’ wages, at the least,
to obtain absolution for his sin; it being the custom of Greek priests
to charge those who come for confession a price varying with the
nature and extent of the offence, and to refuse absolution to those
who do not comply with their demand.
At the end of the promontory I mentioned, stands the palace of
the Turkish Sultan, which, as far as I can see—for I have not yet

been admitted within its walls—has no grandeur of design or
architectural details to make it worth a visit. Below the palace, on
lower ground near the shore, lie the Sultan’s gardens fringing the
sea. This is the quarter where people think that old Byzantium
stood. You must not expect here to have the story of why in former
days the people of Chalcedon were called blind,117 who lived
opposite Byzantium—the very ruins of Chalcedon have now well nigh
disappeared; neither must you expect to hear of the peculiar nature
of the sea, in that it flows downwards with a current that never
stops nor changes; nor about the pickled condiments which are
brought to Constantinople from the Sea of Azoff, which the Italians
call moronellas, botargas, and caviare. Such matters would be out of
place here; indeed, I think I have already exceeded the limits of a
letter; besides, they are facts which can be read both in ancient and
modern authors.
I now return to Constantinople. Nothing could exceed the beauty
or the commercial advantages of its situation. In Turkish cities it is,
as I told you before, useless to expect handsome buildings or fine
streets; the extreme narrowness of the latter renders a good effect
impossible. In many places are to be found interesting remains of
ancient works of art, and yet, as regards number, the only marvel is
that more are not in existence, when we remember how many
Constantine brought from Rome. I do not intend to describe each of
them separately, but I will touch on a few. On the site of the ancient
hippodrome are a pair of bronze serpents,118 which people go to
see, and also a remarkable obelisk. There are besides two famous
pillars at Constantinople, which are considered among the sights.
One of them is opposite the caravanserai where we were
entertained, and the other is in the market-place which the Turks call
‘Avret Bazaar,’ i.e. the female slave market. It is engraven from top
to bottom with the history of the expedition of Arcadius, who built it,
and by whose statue it was long surmounted. It would be more
correct to call it a spiral staircase than a column, for there is inside it
a set of steps, by ascending which one can reach the top. I have a

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