THE SULTAN'S TREASURE HOUSE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10070, 11 February 1909, Page 4

THE SULTAN'S TREASURE HOUSE.

(By Howard Wetmore.)

Nothing.in the world equals in splendor the Turkish Sultan's treasure house in Constantinople, which has never been photographed and scarcely ever entered, except by its royal owner and guardians. : So priceless are the treasures stored within that even Ambassadors are refused admittance. It is only some great favorite of the Sultau who may have a passing peep at its wonders. The whole treasure house consists of but two large rooms, with single galleries running above each. The first thing that strikes the eye on entering is the gigantic Persian throne, covered with a huge crystal canopy. ■ It is made out of beaten gold, one and a-half inches thick. The scat and the four thick legs are covered with Eastern designs workd out in thousands of huge pearls, equal in size and quality, with topazes and emeralds cut all alike. The throne is square in shape, measuring three yards long and two yards high. It was made in 1501 in Tabrys, in Persia, for the Shah lsmael I. There is yet another wonderful throne of Persian work in the same hall. This is rather different in form, having steps and being supported by slender pillars. It has a cupola of gold and is itself of cedar and sandal-wood designs which are again richly studded with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. Under the cupola, at the end of a golden chain, hangs an uncut emerald, six inches long and two and ahalf inches thick. It is covered with texts from the Koran. This throne was made in the sixteenth century, and was used by Aehmed 1., whose hobby was swords with precious stones of the very first quality. In a crystal cupboard next to the thrones lepose three of the largest emeralds which have, up to the present moment, ever been found. They are from eight to ten inches long and from five to six inches thick. In the eighteenth century there was a wonderful emerald in this same cupboard which weighed 420 carats, but Mustafa 11. gave it to be put over Mohammed's grave in Medina, where it hangs still. Under the window, next to the cupboard, stands a splendid bronze statue "of Abdul Azis. In the midst of the glare of gold and stones such a thing makes but little impression. It is, however, valuable, because it is the first and, as yet r only statue of a, Sultan. The Koran declares it to be a sin to patronise sculpture, and no other Sultan has dared to defy this prohibition of "the devil's art." Behind crystal cupboards between the two windows are historical relics of priceless value. There hang the sword of Mohammed the Conqueror, which he carried in his hand on entering Constantinople for the first time; the sword of Constantino Dragoses, the last of the Byzantine dynasty, the crooked sword belonging to Bajazet 11., when he set out against the Germans.: and Soliman the Great's sword, which he carried during his eonquest of Belgrade. All these are of gold, studded with turquoises, sapphires, pearls and rubies. Near them are the helmets, suits of armour, lances, stilettoes, and horse-trappings once used by these Eastern potentates. They are a blaze of diamonds, emeralds, rubies,

and pearls, all large enough to awaken the envy of duchesses, and so close together that the gold that they are embedded in can scarcely be seen. The effect is that of a, series of jewelled rainbows, which dazzles the eyes and recalls the wonderful tales of the Arabian Nights. The second room is called the '' Jewel Room." Nobody gives such magnificent presents as Sultans and Shahs. Some idea of this will be gained by the fact that, in this second room, are a dozen crysta! vases from twenty-fire to thirty inches high, filled with pearls, emeralds, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. Through the dazzle of these jewels can be seen stones of huge size, wliich arc again set with smaller jewels, in wonderful designs of flowers and beasts. Not even the most beautiful Parisian work can come near this, and those who have shops in the Rue de la Paix cannot imagine anything approaching the magnificence of color and the delicacy of workmanship that make the gems cast into these vases that stand in a small room in Constantinople unique.

in the middle of this room is a cupboard—crystal, of course—containing a perfect collection of every kind of .Mohammedan money, from the most ancient times to the present clay. And yet. rich as this collection is, it could not buy the stones in the vases opposite. Besides the coins, tliere is a collection of (lutes, studded with silver and precious stones, which the Calipha, contrary to the Koran's decree, play upon. In a casket adorned with huge rubies lie two pearls weighing forty-eight grammes. In another casket. studded with diamonds, is a ruby as large as a pearl. This was the gift of Persia's Shah to "Selim on his coronation day. In yet, another casket is a diamond of the first water weighing thirty-two carats, which probably once adorned the Byzantine crown. A child playing on the sands once found it in Aiva.ll Sera}' where, in Roman times, it was lost in the midst of some great public ceremony. Many priceless relies came to the Sultan from the Byzantine dynasty. There is a large piece '.>f Christ'.! Cross, given to Constantine the Great by the monks of Golgotha. From the same source came the sponge and crown of thorns used at the Crucifixion. it is not generally known that the head of John the Baptist, given to Salome by her stepfather, and his hand, are also in the Sultan's treasure house. But such is the case, and they now lie, ghastly relics, surrounded by tiie orgy of iight, color, and gold.

The galleries of the treasure rooms are lined with cupboards, in which repose hundreds of jewelled dresses and drinking cups. The enormous quantity of the latter is explained by the Eastern custom of sending a rich drinking cup with every present to the Sultan. Therefore, the eye is almost blinded by the dazzle of goblets and vases from Venice and the West, from Holland, Italy, Saxony, China, India, Persia, and Japan.

From the latter country are cups guaranteed to fall into pieces should poison be poured therein. Besides these are an unaccountable number of arms, from Bagdad, Toledo, and from Persia, all historical and all priceless. The collection of watches and clocks dates from the 16th century to the present day. One clock, sent in 1740, from'the Austrian Emperor to Mohammed 1., plays a fresh minuet every hour, or twenty-four different tunes within the day. Perhaps the most impressive part of this collection is the twenty-four costumes once worn by the Sultan. The first dates from the year 1453—the last from 1830. The magnificence of these dresses defies description. Each is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, even if we count only the value of the huge stones that adorn them, to say nothing of the gold with, which they are sewn and embroidered. Each dress is different in shape, color, and design, according to the taste of its royal owner.

The walls of the galleries are hung with portraits of dead Sultans, painted after death. Next to the treasure house is the throne room of Achmed I. and his library. But the few strangers who visit these rooms pay it little attention, dazzl&d as they are by the splendor they have already seen.