h vfine trees and well supplied with fountains. Tiic stillness and melancholy magnificence of this
street arc very impressive, and congenial to its high and solemn dcstmation. ( Voyage in the Mcdi.
shaded by an extensive forest of cypresses a t Bournabat, a village of
eleeant country houses built in the European fashion, belonging to th e merchants of bmyrua. (Ilob-
h J s c 's Travels in Albania, v o l.i. p. 640.) The hills on the side ot the modern Chrysopohs are. for
some height, one cemetery, or forest of cypresses. T h e prediction which foretells the subjection of
Constantinople to a white or yellow-haired nation has gained credit during th e last century; and the
Mussulmen who choose a more secure repository for their ashes prefer the burying-groumls on the
Asiatic banks of the Bosphorus to those of tho capital. On the top of the hil Bongalou is a fountain of
clear water, much esteemed a t Constantinople, and the country upon the declivity o fth e hill is coveied
with gardens, raelon-grounds, and vineyards, supplying the capital with Iruit. Korthwards the ground
is also well cultivated, and divided by hedgerows, frequent avenues, and clumps of trees. (Ibid.)
TJir Trwish burmns-eround. There is a considerable space, unoccupied by any houses, between the
su b u rb s S tlm sumfnil o fth e hill, and this is
™ d i tw i t i r t lm i r i : > n ground anánSt= rais«l in the manner u s ^ l in our
chnrchvards A little to the north-east of the Jews’ burying-ground, and also on tlie side of the
iastfolfill, is a Turkish cemetery, which Mr. Hobhouse declares to b e th e most crowded he ever saw,
and which is walled in, and shaded by a thick forest ol cypresses, {/¿»ití., p. 623.) „ , .
The Necropolis ofthe ancient city o f Byzantium was near the Bosphorus, on the north and nortli-west
of the buildings, which do not ever appear to have extended close to the water m th a t direction . I here
a r c h e re still remaining many ancient sepulchres hewn out ot the rock. These are descended to b y
fliirhts of stcDS like those south of Tartooze, when a square and sometimes an arched door leads toclaik
chambers, in which the sarcophagi were deposited in cells in the usual way. 1 he roi^ks here seem also
to have formed the quarries for the buildings of the living, as appearances oi that kind arc seen all
around The environs of Ladakea have many olive-gronnds, gardens, little country retreats, and places
of pleasure • th e inhabitants are all fond of rural recreation ; and those who cannot Imd time for a longer
exiursion, scat themselves along the sides of th e public roads, both in the “ « T T .f 3 / 1 , ? ’
to oniov th e freshness o fth e air, and as they themselves sot, to lengthen out tbeir days by de ight.
Travels among the. Arab Tribes, p. 535.) -rhe work of Pausamas inlorms us that a
munber of tombs o fth e illustrious dead were in Uie vicinity of Athens; 'i^ r k T / t
Verv few however, still remain, {llobhousc's Travels in Albania.) The buiial-ptaccs oi th e 1 urks at
Smyrna are varied by cypresses, and anemones and other gay flowers are frequently planted on the
graves. (Stvan’s Voyage up the Mediterranean, p. 132.)
635. Tke cemeteries ofcmmtrics such as Turkey may, in ono sense, be comsidered the
most interesting of thcir gardens. To botanists and refined iiorticnlturists of otiior
parts o fth e world, there may bo a great deal of interest in seeing tho plants which are
rare in tlicir own countries, common in tho neighbourhood of Constantinople. Even
the want of fences, and of trees and shrnhs, and regular plantations, may, hy contrast
witli what is common in cultivated countries, be a source of interest; but all this says
nothing for the gardening of Turkey. In order to foim an estimate of the state of horticulture,
or of any other branch of gardening, in any country, we must not compare that
country with otlier countries, but compare tho garden productions raised there by art,
with those spontaneously produced hy nature. The finest garden productions in the
world are to be found in a wild state in Persia and India, countries where gardening
is at its A^cry loAvest cbh. The state of gardening in the ncighbonrhood of Constantino]de,
about 1816, Avas such as might he conceived hy any reflecting mind, acquainted Avith the
loAv degree of civilization Avhich then existed in tluit part of the Avorld. In short, it may l)e
said that there Avas no gardening in Tixrkey, scarcely even excepting the grounds of the
grand signior. Tn horticulture no productions Avere raised but Avhat Avcrc indigenous
to the soil and climate ; and Avhat Avcre groAvn Avere neither forced nor retjirded by art.
It is clear, therefore, that the horticulture of Turkey Avas then, as wc belicA’c it is uoav,
of the very simplest kind. With respect to floriculture, some few .shoAvy flowers from
Persia and Syria, not natives of the shores of the Bosphorus, Avcre to he lound in some
"-ardcns; hut, beyond the tulip and the jjolyanthus nai’cissus, there were fcAv. Tlic rose
and the jasmine, which arc the favourite floAvcrs among the Turks, arc indigenous, or so
common as to be believed to be so. With respect to the arboriculture of Turkey, though
the gi-cater part of the hoxAvood on which Avoodcuts arc generally cngTaA'cd is imported
from that part of the world, it does not appear that a single timher tree is phintcd
with a view to prolit. The box (Rúxus balcái-icus) gi*ows Avild on all the rocky surfaces
ol' the country, botli on the European and on tho Asiatic shores, and may he said to
correspond to the holly in the woods of Europe. Landscape-gardening cannot be expected
to he practised in sucli a co u n try ; because the grand signior has no countiy
residences, with parks and plcasure-gi’ounds a ttach ed ; and there is no ari.stocracy, or
Avcalthy commercial or manufacturing class. The insecurity of the higher classes from
the military despotism of the government, and the frequency of insurrections, to which
the wealthy and poAvcrftil generally fall victims, arc also great bars to any extensive im-
1 irovcmcnts in landed property. The only scene in Turkey where the landscape-gardener
can display his art is the burial-ground ; and here his resources arc limited to the indigenous
trees of the country, and the prescribed forms of its religion. On the avIioIc,
tliercfore Avhatcvcr may be the excellence of tho natiA'C productions of 1 urkcy, and hmv-
ever much they may he admired hy the gardeners and botanists of other countries, it is
evident that, speaking teclmically, that part of the world is as far behind in our art, as
it is in CA-ery other.