The City of the Sultan

Excerpt: "Seagulls were flying past us in clouds, and sporting like domestic birds about the vessel, while many of the adjoining roofs were clustered with them; the wild-duck and the water-hen were diving under our very stern in search of food; and shoals of porpoises were every moment rolling by, turning up their white bellies to the light, and reveling in safety amid the sounds and sights of a mighty city, as though unconscious of the vicinity of danger."

Julia Pardoe (1804-1862) was an English lyricist, writer, historian and traveler. Her most prevalent work, The City of the Sultan and Domestic Manners of the Turks, depicted the Turkish upper class with kindness and compassion. Pardoe published several books on various themes that strayed across genres and often had an international point of view.