WOMEN IN THE SERAGLIO.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 121, 29 March 1879, Page 2

WOMEN IN THE SERAGLIO.

Some of the true tales which are told by the author of" Les Fennnes en Turquie" are as marvelous as any of the " Thousand and One Night's" series. The mother of Abdul Medjid, for example, was a maid-of-all-work in the Sultan's seraglio. It was her business to warm the baths in the palace. One day the Sultan Mohammed met her as he was going to his hath, and a caprice burst like lightning through his soul, Without ceremony tlio servant girl received from him the lofty distinction of kalla. It is more than probable that after a few minutes reflection the Sultan regretted his precipitation, but he had given the word, and the result was that the maid-of-all-work gave birth to a Prince, and was proclaimed Sultan Yalide. " What « wonderful jump !" exclaims the author, " from the wash-tub to the throne!" 'flic account which lie draws of lifo in the seraglio is a most painful one. Discipline is stilhnaintained by corporal punishment. The practice of striking young girls on the soles of their feet has been abandoned, but blows aro given elsewhero by the eunuchs who execute the sentences, and rods are substituted for the stick. All the young women in the palace—and there are a thousand women there, wives, favorites, relation and servants, and there are as many more on the retired list in the old seraglio and in the courts of the Princesses, all being dependant upon the civil budget—are compelled to dress in light clothing, half dccolletee being the rule, and in winter are constantly exposed to colds and lung diseases.. Whenever the Sultan draws his lost breath, or is dethroned, his wives, favorites, and all their waiting-women have to pack up and be off within twenty-four hours.