[15] Slaves.
[16] They were called “white” because they were originally attended by unmarried women only, and they all wore white dresses.—G. E.
[17] It sounds strange to the Western mind to speak of a “comfortable cemetery,” but the dead are very near to the living Turks; the cemetery is the Turkish woman’s favourite walk, and the greatest care is taken of the last resting-place of the loved ones.—G. E.
[18] The editor is not responsible for the ideas expressed in this book, which are not necessarily her own.
[19] Karakheuz = Turkish performance similar to our Punch and Judy Show.
[20] Zeyneb has forgotten that as well as Fridays and various fast days, every Catholic receives the Holy Communion fasting.—G. E.
[21] Inhabitants of Pera. There is no love lost between these ladies and the Turkish women proper. I personally found many of them very charming.—G. E.
[22] I received this letter in Constantinople, where I was staying in a Turkish harem, having travelled there in order to be present at the first debate in the newly-opened Turkish Parliament.—G. E.
[23] I leave my friend’s spelling unchanged—G. E.
[24] It may be reasonably urged in reply that Zeyneb’s criticism of our Christianity is far from adequate. But I have preferred to present the impressions of a Turkish woman.—G. E.