Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/117

 their aga, or captain, to take care that no harm happened to any of us. The Turkish sultan gave orders to provide and deliver to us provisions daily, viz. a quarter of an ox, two sheep, six fowls, a certain measure of rice, sugar, and honey; forage for the horses, spices, salt, raisins, and wine; and a Turk, whom they call a saka, brought us water for necessary uses in leathern bags. To this man, also, my lord the ambassador gave food and annual wages. Not having anything else to do, we learnt music, of the kind each liked, and some of us learnt the art of shooting with bows and arrows.

Once upon a time some of us being curious to see the church of St. Sophia, we took a janissary with us in order to see it. We were admitted to it through special favour and indulgence, and also through presents and the intercession of the janissary, and saw it throughout. It was erected by Justinian, the thirteenth eastern emperor, and he continued building it at great expense for many years in succession; but the Turks have now made it into their own mosque, or conventicle. It is a circular and very lofty building, in the form of the Roman temple called the Pantheon, which Agrippa built, and which is now called the Rotunda; but the church of St. Sophia is much higher and wider. It has in the midst a very lofty vaulted roof, and a circular crypt, into which light enters merely by an opening made to let in the air. It has three very handsome galleries, one above the other, adorned with remarkable marble pillars, of wonderful height, and so thick that two men can scarcely embrace one of them; there are, also, many lamps constantly burning in it; in a word, I never saw a more beautiful temple. It is said that, in