The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-01-19
BEAU1 YSOLDBTA UCTToN
Heg the Horems of ro,,sla"ti,.op,e are

Heg the Harems of c9astanti1,opte ar,
Recrtdrd.
A correspondent ofFthe Paris Gauloi.
describes a recent visiE tea slave sale in
Constantinople Notwithstanding the
nominal abolition of he slave trade in
Turkey, through the aorts of the civil
lied European governments, it still con-
tinues in furtive waysAs long as the
harem exists, this trad wil exist.
This sale was in hose. All the
windows facing the sreetswere closed.
The correspondent acconpanied an
Egyptian friend and is ssvaet in a car
riage to the mosque h sultan Mo
hammed, at.which poll ts,ey turned into
narrow and conlplicasi teets, which
finally became iponas " alighted
! $40 ssz-s.s 49, s.Jtfid be
crossed only on foot r. n the house,
they were introduced mo the selamlik.
or chamber reserved fa male visitors.
Here they found the slwe dealer stand
ing, short pipe in hand He was a little
old Tripolitan, Gassirgi9Iessoud-Aga by
name He has followedthe business for
forty years. After the cStomary saluta-
tions, pipe and coffee wee ordered, and
taken with the silence euaI TO Orien-
tails before any business tansaction.
An ebony young eunuG soon entered
and whispered in MessoOFs ear. The
latter made a sign of acguiescence, and
turning to the guests, said &" Bouyou-
roun" (permit me). The guests rose
and followed him into nom of the ha-
rem. A long divan, about foot and
half high, and four feet wide, surrounded
three sides of the chamber An excava-
tion in the wall held the cushions and
coverings used at night. The floor was
covered with mats and loos pieces of car
pet. Upon the diyan wen seated, side
by side, two white girls from Circassia,
i'll the dress of their country Opposite
were three other women, one of whom
was white, from Georgia, and the Others
black.
All arose as the visitors Uttered. One
of the Circassians seemed ,carcely four
teen. She had bright Chestnut hair, long,
dark eyelashes, which shaded eyes of
liquid blue; light, well Dunded form
and regular features, overcast with mel
She was beauy of the first
class. Her companion, aged eighteen,
was slightly less beautiful, hut was per
former on the kemendja or Turkish vio-
lin. In addition, she was rcomended as
a good cook, seamstress and washer. Her
brown hair fell to the kness. She looked
at the visitors coolly, and txed her eyes
on the Egyptian with an exoression that
seemed to ask him to purchase her.
At a sign from Messou6 one of the
black girls disrobed the Circassians.
This was not complicated process, as
their dress was simply tune, pair OF
-rowsers, and a chemise. The younger
.eeunad di=tressed thaathsz<Sss7l,iiy--'- sod
ler eyes upon the floor. Me1yud pass
ng his hands over them, called attention
% their good points and made them show
their regular, pearly teeth, He dwelt
.lso upon the strict decorum Of their an
-ecedents.
After an examination of the Georgian,
md glance at the black girls the party
to the selamlik to close the bar
gain. The youngest Circassian was quo
ed at two hundred pounds Turkish, the
elder at one hundred and thirty, the 9th
sr at one hundred ana twenty. The
Egyptian found them too high priced,
md took enc of the black girls for thirty
light pounds. He simply wanted
house servant. The sale being completed,
he party were again served with pipes
md coffee, and left the house.
The preliminaries to this were conduct
ID with great caution. The Wallet of
he Egyptian was sent the day before to
his masters desire, and Mes
;oud Immediately came to the latter to
assure himself that all was right by
inspection of his customer. As
/ mere visitor to the harem vould have
,een eyed askance, the correspondent was
Introduced as Tah;r-Bey, aSyrian gen
.leman, who wished to take chamber
maid home with him.