1936 On the Continent

will find hand-woven rugs of intricate design, costumes fashioned hundreds of years ago, articles of decorated leather. But the extraordinary collection of illuminated manuscripts and rare books is undoubtedly the most interesting exhibit of all. The gold foil, the brilliant colours, the black ink are as bright and as definite to-day as they were when first applied to the parchment hundreds of years ago. This gold foil never dims. In spite of science it is impossible now to obtain the same perfect result. The knowledge of this art was a family secret, jealously guarded, which, for many a generation, was handed down from father to son. With the passing of these families the art of applying gold leaf to parchment also passed away and was forgotten.
    The most perfect collection of oriental china, collected from all over the continent of Asia, is to be found at the Top Kapu (Seraglio) palace. Here, too, we find the Persian Shah’s throne of massive gold set with rubies of extraordinary size. And, on the various shelves, we may admire diamonds, emeralds, sapphires so perfect, so large, so rare that, their worth exceeding the buying capacity ofindividuals and governments, they must remain without monetary value. A “show” worth seeing.
The People
    From the palace treasury we will pass on through the garden, along the winding paths, to the harem. Here, the guide will inform us, once lived and plotted and loved the most beautiful women of all times. The gloomy rooms still ring with the laughter, the shadowed walls still drip with the tears of blue-eyed Circassians, ebonyhaired Arab maidens, tall, strong Bulgarians, and the captured beauties of Europe. And passing thence back into the garden we come to a pond filled with sparkling water into which, during the Period of Lilies, strong-limbed maidens dived and, in the ruddy light caused by a thousand candles attached to the shells of living tortoises, sought the gold coins which a watching sultan had, in sport, cast away.
    These are only a few of the “sights” of Istanbul and perhaps not the most important. The most important things in Istanbul are the Turks who, in spite of all the intensive westernisation they have undergone in recent years, have remained true to their national characteristic and are all the more interesting on that account. You will learn to know them as you roam about in the streets of the city, or sit in the cafés, or visit a
real
Turkish bath, some of which are so deep underground that as you descend you may wonder whether you will ever return to the surface alive.
    I may leave you to get acquainted with the Turks in your own way and to discover the breath-taking scenic beauties of the Bosphorus, the picturesqueness of your surroundings wherever you go.
    The climate in Istanbul, and all along the shores of the Marmora Sea, is ideal practically all the year round, though in Turkey as a whole the climate varies so much from district to district that it would satisfy any requirement, even that of an Eskimo.
    In the circumstances you can indulge within a hundred mile radius of Istanbul in a variety of sports ranging from the more individual games of tennis and golf to swimming,rowing, sailing, yachting, fishing, hiking, riding, driving, camping, hunting, and, in winter, ski-ing.
    The sea of Marmora, which, in reality, is a beautiful inland lake of incomparable blue connected with the Black Sea and the Mediterranean by two narrow strips of water, forms an ideal yachting ground, and the many bays encourage rowing and canoeing. Small boats can be rented by the hour at reasonable rates and the many islands and beaches afford excellent bathing facilities at a ridiculously low figure.
Fishing
    But specially interesting to the sportsman is the art of fishing. The tax is low—approximately 10s. (British) a year. The waters of the Bosphorus and the Marmora contain a large variety of fish of all sizes. Here one may catch various kinds of mackerel ranging from 6 inches to 3 feet, red mullet, dab, sole, turbot, sea trout, ray, swallow fish, sunfish, sardine, sturgeon, tunny, and swordfish. Lobster, crab, shrimp, crawfish, oyster and mussel abound in these waters. Swordfish and tunny weighing from 800 lb. to 1,000 lb. are not uncommon, the average weight being around 650 lb. Another point in favour of the fisherman is the entire absence of man-eating sharks which, off the Florida coast, often destroy the catch before it is hauled on board. Many of these fish are