Constantinople, one of the largest and richest cities of Europe, at the end of Romany, capital of the Ottoman Empire and residence of the sultans. It was formerly the capital of the Eastern Empire of the Greeks. It lies on the strait which separates Europe from Asia. Longitude . 46. 33. latitude . 41. 4. Immense trade is conducted there. It is the ancient city of Byzantium. It was erected by Constantine: it was this emperor who shifted the seat of the empire there. It was called the New Rome and rightly so, as there was a senate, a circus, theatres, a capitol, and, in a word, everything that was remarked on in ancient Rome. Turks captured the city in 1453. Almost all the Christian nations had a minister there to protect their merchants. The English, the Dutch, and the Venetians bring fabrics [to sell] there. This merchandise must be well-dyed, well-fashioned, and of good measure. It [merchandise] also comes from Spain. A lot of precious fabrics are also traded there, in silk, gold, and silver. The French sell large quantities of paper there. Other types of merchandise appropriate to this place are hardware, needles, shells, minestuff, tinplate, gold and silver threads; hosiery; pharmaceutical preparations, such as aspic oil, verdet, tartar etc. ; certain groceries, such as sugar, camphor, quicksilver, cochineal, white lead, lead, etc . On letters of exchange one receives some wools, skins, potash, wax, etc . Many slaves of both sexes are sold there; they come mainly from Georgia, Mingrelia, Circassia, and various places close to the Black Sea. The sale is known as the jassir - barat or slave market. It is a place surrounded by walls and planted with large trees. They begin by praying for the sultan. The young girls are naked, under a sheet in which they are wrapped: a crier announces the price for them: the merchant checks out the merchandise; if it satisfies him, he pays for it and leads her off.