These  gentlemen  travelled  through  the  East  in  full
Oriental  costume ;  and,  speaking  a  little  Arabic,  at
the  same  time  having  suitable  personal  appearances,
passed  muster  as  very  good  Mussulmans.
Harrison  was  clad  a  la  Turque  when  with  us.  One
day  he  attempted  to  enter  a  mosque  without  a  fir
man.  He  was  flushed  with  confidence,  inasmuch  as
he  had,  clad  in  his  Eastern  guise,  with  his  flowing
beard,  and  smattering  of  Arabic,  succeeded  in  accom
plishing  what  very  few  Christians  ever  have  accom
plished,  viz.  :  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  kneeling  and
muttering  his  prayers,  with  the  most  faithful  and
devout.  It  so  happened  that  a  Turk  recognized  him
as  a  gentleman  whom  he  had,  a  day  or  two  previously,
observed  holding  a  very  animated  conversation,  in
good  Anglo-Saxon,  with  the  American  charge ;  and
knowing  that  none  of  his  countrymen  could  perform
such  a  lingual  miracle  as  that,  he  made  his  way
towards  Harrison  with  no  very  amiable  expression  on
his  countenance.
Our  friend,  observing  his  advance,  concluded  that
discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor,  and  beat  a
retreat,  making  good  his  escape  from  the  vicinity  of
the  mosque  ere  the  virtuous  indignation,  occasioned
by  his  intrusion,  had  gathered  into  a  storm.
ST.    SOPHIA.  131

It  is  superfluous,  I  think,  to  furnish  the  reader  with
a  description  of  the  mosques,  as  those  noble  Moslem
temples,  that  constitute  the  chief  features  in  the
beautiful  tableau  that  Old  Stamboul  presents  to  the
greedy  eyes  of  the  voyager  as  he  rounds  the  Golden
Horn,  have  been  so  frequently  and  so  faithfully
described  by  others  more  competent  to  the  task  than
myself.
