. William H. Seward's travels around the world. royalty here, morethan elsewhere, would conceal its visage from us, yet an opportunityto see the Sultan Abdul-Aziz in a pageant to-day, and perhaps onno other day, was not, at least in the judgment of the youngerportion of our party, to be lost. Successor of the caliphs, theSultan is the spiritual as well as temporal head of Islam. In thischaracter he goes in public procession from his palace at twelveoclock every Friday, either on horseback or in a barge, to offerprayers for the faithful in one of the principal mosques. This cus-tom is one of ve
. William H. Seward's travels around the world. royalty here, morethan elsewhere, would conceal its visage from us, yet an opportunityto see the Sultan Abdul-Aziz in a pageant to-day, and perhaps onno other day, was not, at least in the judgment of the youngerportion of our party, to be lost. Successor of the caliphs, theSultan is the spiritual as well as temporal head of Islam. In thischaracter he goes in public procession from his palace at twelveoclock every Friday, either on horseback or in a barge, to offerprayers for the faithful in one of the principal mosques. This cus-tom is one of very ancient standing, and is mentioned by travellersamong the Turks as early as the fifteenth century, though it is prob-ably even much older than that. It affords an opportunity of see-ing the Sultan of which nearly all strangers avail themselves. Wefound two imperial carriages awaiting us at the door of our hotel,and in them, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Brown, we were driveninto the street before the gate of the imperial residence. Our party. ALBANIAN COSTUME. was not recognized among the many curious strangers whose car-riages thronged the way, to witness the pageant, and we werenearly an hour in finding a suitable stand. The palace clock had 48 630 EUROPE. been set back, and, an hour and a half after high noon struck theequivalent of twelve in Turkish time, Abdul-Aziz issued from thegate, dressed in the magnificent costume which is equally the uni-form of the civil and military service of Turkey. He was mountedon a noble white Arabian steed, caparisoned in gold and squadron of cavalry, with a sonorous flourish of trumpets, openedthe way, and another covered the rear. His majesty was attendedby all the ministers of the Porte on horseback, and surrounded bya guard of Albanian officers on foot. These wore jackets, caps, andgaiters, of maroon-velvet and gold, and full, spotless white skirtsreaching the knee—said to be the most exquisite costume in theworld. Their shi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury180, bookdecade1870, booksubjectvoyagesaroundtheworld
