The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-04-01
THE HAREMS OF THE EAST.
Tho Sultan and the sultana-Court Life
at the Turkish Capital.

The following are extracts from series OF
Constantinople letters published in the Perse-
veranza Of Milan:
The Sultan ls an indolent man, Of Emphatic
temperament; he has not had much education,
and understands no European language but
French, of which he can speak few Aords.
His fayorite occupation is TO look after his
poultry-yard, which contains the rarest specl-
mems OF hens, ducks, geese, swans. &c. He gives
enormous prices for rare birds, and passes hours
in feeding Ills ems and watching his cocks fight.
Among the higher officials of his court there
arc few abi. men, but the great maj ority CT
them, like the general body Of the employees
of the State, are ignorant and inefficient. All
the places under government are given by
favor. which Id usually gained by services that
cam 1t be openly acknowledged. But the in
efficiency Of the administration and the nnlllty
of the sovereign are small evil compared with
tho inf fence exercised by foreign diplomacy
and foreigners in general. There are
really ut Constantinople rs many governments
ns foreign repre- sentatives, each OF whom gives
his countrymen far more protection than they
would be entitled to al home.
The power which exercises the greatest IN.
flucupe is Russia. She is tho real promoter OF
the demands OF tho various nationnlities, and
especially OF the 100 600 Greek inhabitants OF
Cunsiantlnovle, vino still dream OF the resiora-
ton OF the Byzantine empire. Even IN out
ward appearance the Russian Embassy is easi-
ly dlStlngWsncu Irum an uuu-r5. It uvuupie1 q
magnificent palace which. being built on the
heights OF Per u, commands the whole OF the
capital, and looks down upon the residence OF
the Sultan, the Golden Horn, aud the distant
roofs oil Stamboul, as its wide portals only
awaited the entry OF the Car. During the
winter season the palace is opened to oil the
higher society OF the town, and in the bril-
lIantly lighted rooms balls and concerts are
frequently given. At Constantinople an am
TO the masnldcence Of his surroundings.
Though the interior Of harem is Htill-not-
withstandlng the spread Of European notions
among the Turks-stricty closed to all male
visitors, the society o. foreign ladies is eagerly
sought by the wives Of all the higher function
aries. The rooms they occupy. oven in the
wsalthiest houses, are low and dark, and fur
mania OF Turkish women for tawdry ornaments
from Vienna or Paris. By the sides Of the
finest specimens of Oriental art may frequently
be seen q vase OF common Bohemian glass,
with dusty wax flowers, which they prize more
highly than many Of the beautiful ornaments
OF their native manufacture. The same l5 the
case with their dress whicn ~ ls car.
discarded tho velvet jacket and trousers, fol-
stays, shiny boots, long trains, and chg
mons. y It has also become the fashion
10 learn music, and teacher on the piano
forte tof course LADY, has m lde fortune by
giving lessons in the harems. Another fash
ion is to have your portrait taken. Their IA
voriLe artist is an English woman-a Miss
Curtis. Some time ago this lady was compls,
stoned to pint full-length portrait Of one OF
the Sultanas. The Sultana was short and stout,
aud Miss Curtis painted her accordingly. This,
however, gave great off !nco, and the Sultana
insisted on her being made foot taller, say
ing that, as she was only nineteen years Old
she would be sure to grow to that size. But
instead of growing taller, the Sultana only grew
stouter; 30 that ut the end OF tweivemontn
the nor rait was almost unrecognizable. Miss
Curtis was then requested to paint the picture
third time, and 1T is now nailed up to the
ceiling OF the harem.