The  Black  and  the  White  Sea  play  a  great  part  in
these  matters,  the  White  Sea  meaning  the  Marmora
and  the  Mediterranean. In  the  days  when  guilds  were
more  important  than  they  are  now  the  Captains  of  the
White  Sea  were  the  navy,  while  the  Captains  of  the
Black  Sea  were  the  merchant  marine,  and  that  must
have  something  to  do  with  the  fact  that  the  watermen
of  the  Golden  Horn  still  come  from  the  Httoral  of  the
Black  Sea. The  Prophet  Noah  also,  whom  I  have  just
mentioned,  is  Hkewise  involved  in  matters  maritime,
as  being  the  father  of  ship-builders. The  archangel
Gabriel,  according  to  Mohammedan  tradition,  taught
him  how  to  model  the  keel  of  the  ark  from  the  breast-


By  courtesy  of  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris


The  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus

From  a  Persian  miniature


THE  GOLDEN  HORN  127

bone  of  a  goose,  and  wrote  talismanic  invocations  on
different  parts  of  the  ship  —  as  "0  Steadfast  One"  on
the  planks,  and  "0  Allotter  of  the  True  Path"  upon  the
rudder. The  patrons  of  Turkish  seamen  are,  if  you
please,  the  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus!  Mohammed
seems  to  have  entertained  a  sympathy  for  these  mythic
beings,  whose  adventures  are  told  in  the  eighteenth
chapter  of  the  Koran. The  name  of  their  dog,  somewhat
variously  known  as  Kitmir  or  AI  Rakim,  used  to  be  writ-
ten on  the  outside  of  letters  in  order  to  ensure  their  safe
passage  across  the  sea,  and  this  happy  animal  is  one  of
the  few  to  whom  paradise  is  specifically  promised. Von
Hammer  accounts  for  the  association  of  so  curious  a
company  with  seamen  on  the  ground  that  a  verse  of  the
Koran  mentions  their  entering  a  ship. But  astrologi-
cally,  I  believe,  they  are  related  to  the  constellation  of  the
Great  Bear;  whence  it  is  clear  enough  why  they  should
be  concerned  with  navigation. It  is  further  to  be  noted
of  the  seamen  of  the  Golden  Horn  that  whether  they
belong  to  the  Black  Sea  or  the  White,  and  whether  they
sacrifice  to  the  Seven  Sleepers  or  to  St. Nicholas,  the  jar-
gon of  their  trade  is  almost  purely  Itahan. Even  the
boatmen  in  the  harbour  shout  sia  when  they  want  each
other  to  back  water,  not  suspecting  that  the  gondohers
in  Venice  do  exactly  the  same  —  though  the  gondohers
may  not  spell  it  quite  as  I  do. 