Chapter (অধ্যায়): MEMOIRS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL PAGE-399Page: 399 of 526
We had a long talk with Pere Hyacinthe about the American Colleges, after which we went to an Arab shop where we met a Turkish student. Then we returned from Scutari.- We had found out a boat, but it failed to reach its exact destination. However, we took a tram from the place where we were landed and returned to our quarters at the hotel at Stamboul. The Museum at Stamboul is situated where the ancient harem of the Greek Emperors once stood. We saw some remarkable sarcophagi and other things, and had a charming view of the city from above Topkhana. I enjoyed taking fried chick peas here after such a long time, and had spiced rice and some other dishes, prepared in the Turkish fashion. After visiting the cemetery of Scutari we went to see the ancient walls. Within the walls was the prison-a dreadful place. Next we met Woods Pasha and started for the Bosphorus. We had our dinner with the French charge d'affaires and met a Greek Pasha and an Albanian gentleman. The Police have prohibited Pere Hyacinthe's lectures; so I too cannot lecture. We saw Mr. Devanmall and Chobeji-a Gujarati Brahmin. There are a good many Indians here-Hindustanis, Mussalmans, etc. We had a talk on Turkish Philosophy and heard of Noor Bey, whose gradfather was a Frenchman. They say he is as handsome as a Kashmari. The women here have got no purdah system and are very free. Prostitution is chiefly a Mohammedan practice. We heard of Kurd Pasha and the massacre of Armenians. The Armenians have really no country of their own, and those countries which they inhabit have generally a preponderating Mohammedan population. A particular tract called Armenia is unknown. The present Sultan is constructing a Hamidian cavalry out of the Kurds who will be trained in the manner of the Cossacks and they will be exempted from conscription.
The Sultan called the Armenian and Greek Patriarchs and proposed to them conscription as an alternative for