Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-08-25
IN THEINNER HAREM.
MRS. LESLIE CARTER RELATES A RE-
MkRKAeLe EXPERIENCE IN
CONSTANTlNOPLE.
with Party of Americans and English
Women the Chicago Divorcoc Visits
the Inwer Domestic sanetu-
AIRY of the sultan.
Correspondence Of the Richmond Olspa'ca.l
NV YoRk, August q, 1889.


Leslie Carter sat IN little room IN the
Academy of Music, on fourteenth street
and Irving Place, yesterday, and chat
ted with few friends about her drama
fic prospects and her travels abroad. She
Is q most. vivacious talker. and accom-
panies her conversation with pretty little
dramatic gestures that fully bear ont the
claim that she is no novice in stage mat
tiers. Her fan goes necessarily, and her
snug li:tle foot taps the floor IN sort Of
accompaniment Her eyes are dark
brown. and under excitement seem 10
grow absolutely purplish- black, while
she talks of the wonderful life she has
led since the days Of her girlhood.
A GREAT TRAVELLER
al have been q great traveller, she
aid. more 50 than most American wo-
men Of my age, although for that mat
fer. nv cCun;rywomcn travel more than
those Of any other nation. Halt OF my
life has been spent abroad. You want
10 know about my Mediterranean trip,
she added, smiling. "Weli, 1t was
about three years ago. | had been 10
India and Japan and hsd seen all
that was worth seeing IN those coun-
tries, when | thought ! should ike to
visit the land Of the Sultan. As it
happened a FREUD Of mine-un Amcr1-
can gentleman was about 70 take "A
party in his yachtnp tho Blue sea to the
Rosphorus, and, receiving an invitation
10 make one of the number, ] gleeiully
accepted. We were oil society people
and'inainlv New Workers, although there
were one or two English ladies and gen
tlercn aboard. We passed through the
Dardanelles and up the Bosphorous and,
for the first time in my life, J saw tho
romantic Golden Horn OF which l had
often read and dreamed.
IL CoSsTANTTOPLE.
"When We reached ConstantinOplo the
first thing in order was 10 hunt up Min
lister Cox. for IL was through his influence
at the palace that We expected to get
permission 10 zee the harem-the obJec-
tive point Of our visit. Now, many Vsl-
tors have been permitted to enter the
Larem- grounds, but very few Europeans
or Americans-inde ] think Mrs. Lew
Wallace ia the only exception among
my counuywomen have ever peno-
trated the inner harem. II IS strictly
guarded night and day. and 1t wOnld be
death 10 attempt 70 enter unless you had
the permission of the Sultan himself and
were accompanied 10y some officer de-
puted for that purpose, who IN turn hands
you over TO the harom officials.
STRONGEST AETICIPAroSs.
eve succeeded in getting the coveted
permission. it was a bright afternoon
in January, 1889. when We set out with
our escort for the royal seraghO. |
need hardly tell you that we were full
OF the strangest anticipations. We were
about t. enter into al unknown world,
a sacred precinct Of which few of us
bad the slightest conception as to Its
real character aud It's inmates. We
were conveyed through Il number Of
court-yards, and finally, after tralerSing
what seemed to bo IN almost endless
maze of passages and gardens, we
reached point whore the civic func-
tionary turned us over, after great deal
OF palaver and explanation, to one OF the
principal officers of the harem. He
guided US 10 the rooms occupied by the
Sultan's wives and their attendants. We
were greeted almost eifuslvely No Eng
hsh was spoken and all the talking that
was done was in French.
IN TIE HAREM.
"The room we entered was large
apartment, more like a courtyard than
chamber, according 70 American ideas.
In the centre WAS an immense fountain,
from which the water rose IN a misty
shower, cooling the atmosphere and
dihusing mild and pleasant fragrance
around. Had 1t not been for this the
air would have been very hot indeed :
for although II was January, the
thick walls of the buildings in Turkey
are meant to keep out the heat and cold
alike, and il is sometimes almost suiio-
eating in the apartments. There were
pillars Of marble. or some stone very
like it. and the tiled floor Was strewn
vii. rugs, skins, large pillows and otto
mans. The plants in different parts OF
the place made it look like dollhouse,
and there were colored lamps lit, al
though it was broad daylight outside.
| noticed a few opiumpipes, with their
long stems, lying about the room.
TIE sULTAN's wIyEs,
"Sevelal OF the women who sal
around rose rs We entered aud came for.
ward TO greet Us. There were probably
fifteen in ali there at the time, and what
struck me az the outset was the extra
ordinary hrilliancy OF their dress. They
we've attirod Just like SO many dolls.
Presently they all came around us ano
looked MS over ana over wOndeunglN, as
though We had been on exhibition.
They fingered our clothing cot course
there were no gentlemen III the party
who were admitted and made remarks
in audible whispers TO each other. They
didn't seem able TO make out exactly
what we were or where we came from
but they were all very much interested
aud smiled, showing their white teetl
and arching their thick. black eyebrows
In the prcttlest way imaginable. Cd,
assure you, tho women Of the harem
while they may not know much OF the
outer world, are Just as coQuettlsh az
Otlcf IeulticS, ulu uaNt Ill INC 4AtIlS ut u
that women love to practice.
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.
81 think some Of these women were
among the most beautiful creatures
ever saw. They were nearly all young
and had the most lovely black eyes
great, deep orbs, such aS you cannot fine
in the women OF any other nation under
the sun. and all the time We wer,
there black-skiuned, thick-lipped Nu
bian slaves or attendants cooled us will
long fans, tipped with feathers GnC
fitted on to bamboo handles as long a.
mau's height The women seemed Il
care nothing for the presence OF thes'
slaves
ALL BLACK-HAIRED.
Almost all the women were Of III,
same type OF beauty tincly-roundcG
limbs aud languishing eyes and as they
lay around on the couchcs In their THU
and almost transparent robes OF raw
Turkish silk, their necks aud bare arm
covered with gold and jewels, and thei
dark hair hanging l0Osp. they seemed