Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-02-04
THE THIRD SEX.


Eunuch Peculiarities They Die
Rapidly.
l don't propose to prove through plati-
tudss what the strong-minded editorial
writer's have already made common and
ungrammatical, but rather / intend to tell
you Of eunuchs. In Egypt they are spoken
Of as the third sex, and a rum lot they are.
They speak in c~rescendos, and that at the
sound of a bass note.
Col. Charlie Long, formerly of sthe
Egyptian Army, and o American Con
sui, told me all about them, and intro
duced me to one, the head eunuch of
Cherif Pasha. He was a big, broad
shouldered. tall, healthy, well-made chap,
black as 16 nights, and had a face whose
u~gliness Attorney General Benjamin Har-
ris Brewster, fortified as he is with beauty
conspicuous by its absence, would envy.
After the Attorney General this man was
the furtherest removed from beauty
of any one l ever saw. 1t
was almost startling to hear this
fellow speak. Every time he opened his
mouth it was a new surprise. One ex-
pected a diapson flow, but heard instead
high pipings, not unmusical, it is true, but
pitched even higher than a woman's organ.
Nevertheless, his modulations were strik-
ingly %tuneful, and his manner had a charm
Of interest apart from all the curiosity
such a one rs he creates. / am told that
Cheriff Pasha's eunuch is the only eunuch
in Egypt, except the one owned by the
Khedive, that speaks any French, or. in
deed, any tongue except the Arabic. Weak
of mind and body they soon die, and they
never learn much.
The eunuchs are, for the most part,
Arabians. They are all very black, they
are al slaves, they are highly honored, not
sneered at as you might think, are we'll
treated and are worth at the least figure
for the poorest $500. From that they
range to $1,000. These figures do not rep
resent their market value. Indeed, they
have none, for they are not on sale. For
many years the trade in eunuchs has been
confined to the transactions between the
first owner and the first purchaser, for
every harem has its eunuch, and he is as
trusty as a dog, and twice as serviceable.
Their initiation into the third sex begins
at the age of Z to IL. Ninety-five per cent
Of them die, and no wonder, for they are
brutally treated in the first instance, and
then restricted to chance to aid them to
recovery. When they have been impris-
oned they are carefully examined, and
then the operation follows. Immediately
afterward they are buried neck deep in
the mud of the Nile, where they stay till
they get well or die. They usually die.
Those who get we'll stay in these mud
graves for a month sometimes. They are
then brought to market. Not an open
one, you know, and not where you can buy
them outright, but they are taken from one
pasha to another; then, if not sold, to bevs,
and, finally, to the offendi or private gen
tleman. They are always bought. The
supply and the demand never equal each
other. When the eunuch enters the palace
of the master or owner his duties are those
of servant to the harem, and they fill those
offices in all particulars. There is a lineal
promotion for them. They govern the
harem. So far as I can learn, there is no
such thing as the mother of the maids, as
told about in charming meter in 'sDon
juan" All the offices, from those of a
chambermaid to the stewardship of the
palace, are conducted by the third sex.
They are the masters executive, the guard
ian of their owners honor, the protectors
of the purse, the manager of his domestic
affairs, and the %contidante of all his
troubles.