CHAPTER VII.
The Harem of Mustafa Effendi—The Ladies of the Harem—Etiquettical Observances of the Harem—Ceremonies of the Salemliek—Jealousy of Precedence among the Turkish Women—Apartment of the Effendi—Eastern Passion for Diamonds—Personal Appearance of Mustafa Effendi—The little Slave-girl—Slavery in Turkey—Gallant Present—The Dinner—Turkish Cookery—Illuminated Mosques—The Bokshaliks—The Toilet after the Bath—History of an Odalique—Stupid Husbands—Reciprocal Commiseration—Errors of a Modern French Traveller—Privacy of the Women’s Apartments—Anecdote of the Wife of the Kïara Bey—The Baïram Bokshalik—My Sleeping-room—Forethought of Turkish Hospitality—Farewell to Fatma Hanoum—Dense Crowd—Turkish Mob—Turkish Officers—Military Difficulty—The “Lower Orders”—Tolerance of the Orientals towards Foreigners—Satisfactory Expedient.
On the eve of the Baïram which terminates the Ramazan, we passed over to Constantinople with some friends to visit Mustafa Effendi, the Egyptian Chargé d’Affaires, whose magnificent mansion is situated near the gate of the Seraglio. Having passed the portal, we found ourselves in a spacious and covered court, having on our right hand a marble fountain, into whose capacious basin the water fell murmuringly from a group of lion’s heads; and, beyond it, the entrance to the women’s apartments, with the conventuallooking wheel, by means of which food is introduced into the harem; and on our left a stately staircase leading to the main body of the building. Here our party were compelled to separate; the gentlemen put off their boots, and followed the two black slaves who awaited them, to the suite of rooms occupied by the master of the house, while my companion and myself were consigned to the guidance of a third attendant, who beat upon the door of the harem, and we entered a large hall paved with marble, and were immediately surrounded by half a dozen female slaves, who took our shoes, shawls, and bonnets, and led us over the fine Indian matting of the centre saloon, to the richly-furnished apartment of the lady of the house.
A soft twilight reigned in the room, of which all the curtains were closely drawn to exclude the sun; and the wife of the minister and her daughter-in-law were seated at the tandour, engaged in conversation with several of their attendants, who stood before them in a half circle, with their arms folded upon their breasts. The elder lady was the most high-bred person whom I had yet seen in the country; the younger one was pale and delicate, with eyes like jet, and a very sweet and gentle expression; she spoke but seldom, and always in monosyllables, being evidently overawed by the presence of her companion.
There are probably few nations in the world that observe with such severity as the Turks that domestic precedence and etiquette, which, while it may certainly prevent any disrespectful familiarity, has a tendency to annihilate all ease. Thus, the other ladies of the family are each inferior to the first wife, who takes the upper seat on the sofa, and regulates all the internal economy of the women’s apartments: and, although they may be greatly preferred by the husband, they are, nevertheless, bound to obey her commands, and to treat her with the respect due to a superior. In the Salemliek, when she is desired by her lord to be seated, (without which gracious intimation she must continue standing before him), she is privileged to place herself on the same sofa, but on its extreme edge, and at a considerable distance; while the other ladies are only permitted to fold their feet under them on a cushion spread upon the carpet, and thence look up to the great and gracious ruler of their destinies! The ceremonies of the Salemliek are neither forgotten nor neglected in the harem, and it is customary for all the slaves to bend down and kiss the hem of their mistress’s garment on her first appearance in the morning.
These heart-shutting observances cannot fail to heighten the jealousy which their relative position must naturally excite in the bosoms of the other inmates of the harem, although such a circumstance as rebellion against the supreme power is never heard of, nor imagined.
During the day we were summoned to the apartment of the minister; whither, as the invitation was not extended to his wife, we went, accompanied only by three or four black slaves. After traversing several long galleries and halls, covered so closely with matting that not a footfall could be heard, we passed under the tapestry-hanging that veiled the door of the Effendi’s apartment, and found ourselves in an atmosphere so heavy with perfume that for a moment it was almost suffocating.
The venerable Chargé d’Affaires, who had been long an invalid, was sitting upon his sofa, surrounded by cushions of every possible size and shape, wrapped in furs, and inhaling the odour of a bunch of musk lemons, the most sickly and sating of all savours—a magnificent mangal, upheaped with fire, occupied the centre of the apartment; the divan was almost covered with inlaid boxes, articles of bijouterie, books, and papers; a large silver tray resting upon a tripod was piled pyramidically with fine winter fruits; and within a recess on one side of the room were ranged a splendid coffee service of French porcelain, and a pair of tall and exquisitely-wrought essence-vases of fillagreed silver—in short, the whole aspect of the apartment would have satisfied the most boudoir-loving petite-maitresse of Paris or London. Near the mangal stood the four attendants of the master of the house, two fine boys of twelve or fourteen years of age, and two pretty little girls, one or two years younger, gorgeously dressed, and wearing magnificent brilliant ornaments on their heads and bosoms.
The rage for diamonds is excessive among both the Turks and the Greeks; but, while the Greek ladies delight in heaping upon their persons every ornament for which they can find space, many of the fair Osmanlis, with a pretty exclusive scorn of adventitious attraction, content themselves with a clasp or two, a bracelet, or some similar bagatelle; and decorate their favourite slaves with their more costly and ponderous jewels.