Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria, and across the desert into Egypt ...

SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C. 31
(or barley alone), and that sparingly, once or at most twice daily ;
once a day they have water; they litter them in their own dung,
which is first dried in the sun, The Turks are excellent grooms ;
the skins of the horses are kept very clean and shining, as they fre-
quently wash them all over with soap and water. In stables, and
when not ridden, the horses are always fettered or tethered with
cords, in order to prevent their lying down, and to keep them quiet,
as the principal or best horses are stallions. The saddle is scarcely
ever totally removed from the horse's back, except to clean him,
even when in stable, and they are otherwise kept very warm, with
thick clothes, and h-ods, &cc.
I shall now make a short digression from my journal to describe
several particulars relative to the country in which I resided. The
frogs in Turkey are very large; and it is impossible to describe the
noise they make, which must be heard to form a competent idea of
it. The grasshoppers are also of a large size, and extremely noisy.
In my rides to Chiflick my ears were perpetually dinned by the
croaking of the former, and the discordant notes of the latter of
these creatures.
Our evening walks on the strand in front of Buyukdere were
very pleasant and c eerful. This spot has a strong resemblance to
the beach at Weymouth. The Greeks, and indeed most of the
inhabitants, assemble in the evening to walk, or to amuse them-
selves in boats, which are rowed up and down in front of the village.
Music and singing constitute a part of these aquatic amusements,
and, without being of the most exquisite kind, serve to diversify
and enliven the scene.
Buyukdere may with some propriety be compared to the tower
of Babel: individuals belonging to almost
every nation
residing
there, a
strange mixture of
languages must
consequently ensue.
The dresses of the inhabitants are as varied as are the
languages.
The Turkish women are fair; they
cover the face, the eyes and a
part of the nose excepted, with a piece of white muslin: another
piece of muslin envelops the head. This part
of their dress is
styled mahramah. In stature they are rather low, and corpulent,
the latter condition being much admired among themselves :
they
are usually clad in a long green garment, which hangs very low
behind, with a square cape, resembling on the whole a riding dress,
and it is cdWe&feredgt. They wear yellow boots with slippers
over them, but the latter they take off on entering a house. They
stain their finger-nails of a red colour, or, more properly speaking,