l6 A Relation of the Chap. VI. 



are advanc'd t< 



other ixrc.it O 



o the dignity of Bo/fas, Beys, Capigi-bachis, Haznadar-Bacbts, and the 



ffices of the" Port. But they are particularly culfd out of the number of 



r»t wretched t u, c Tributary Children, who are taken away from the Chrittians, or taken in War, by 



'fatoM* Sea or Land ' For > as t0 thc Bciczjdcf i or childrcn of M*'*> whoiT1 the Y bring up 

 children.* in the Seraglio, you arc to remember what I have already laid, that they can never 

 afcend higher, than to the Charges of %/, or Captains of Galleys. 



When any one of thefe lchglatis is defirous to remove out of the Seraglio, or if 

 any one of the white Eunuchs has the fame deiire, he piefents a Petition to the Capi- 

 Aza, who carries it to the Grand Seignor, he receives his dilmiiiion, and is allow'd 

 a certain Pay, proportionably to the continuance and quality of his Services. But there 

 are others, whom the fame Capi-Aga turns out of the Seraglio againlt their wills, and 

 that after they had weather'd out the rirft years, which are the molt infupportablc. 

 And that is done fometimes upon this fcore, that the Capi-Aga having had feme con- 

 teft with any one of thofe Icboglans, while they were Camerades in the time of their 

 youth, and fearing left he mould come one day to traverfe his deiigns, he employs all 

 his credit and intercit, to remove him out of the Seraglio,but withal procuring him a 

 Recompence and Salary, according to the number of years he has ferv'd. 



The rirft of the four Chambers, into which the Icfoglans arc difhibutcd, has the 

 dr^b which g 1 **^ number o£ them, becaufe they are yet very young, and as it were Novices, 

 thehlds n undcf the firft Fettda : and it is called the Coucbmk^O <U , that is to fay, the little 

 brought into the Chamber, though it be the largeft of them all, in regard it is the loweit in point of 

 Serseih art to Dignity. There they are taught to read and write, aud arc initiated in the rirft 

 f$ u grounds of the Mahometan Law. And after they have fpent lix years in that Cham- 



ber, the)- are remov'd into the fecond, which they call Quilar-Oda, wherein being 

 grown more robuft, they are inftruded in the F.xercifes of the Body, in mooting with 

 tne B< we, ufmg the Lance and otter divertifements of that kind. They are more 

 perfected in the fpeaking of the Tttrkijh Language, whereto they alfo adde the Arabian, 

 and the Perfian^ which they (hall have occaiion to ufe, in the Governments whereto 

 they may be fent. 



There are four years fpent in this fecond Chamber, out of which they are again re- 

 moved into the third, which they call Cbafnadar-Oda, or the Chamber of the Treafu- 

 ry. In this Chamber, they begin to do the Grand Seignor fome fervice, and to be im- 

 ploy'd in the Wardrobe, and the Baths, and there they are alio taught to ride, and to 

 perfed themfclvesin the Exercifes futable to that Station, wherein they ordinarily Ipend 

 four years. Each of thefe three forementioned Chambers has a white Eunuch for its 

 chief Overfcer. The Serai-Agafi has thc direction of the ririt s the Qxilargi-bacbi Com- 

 mands in the fecond i and the Cbafnadar-bacbi is the Governour of the third. 



I (hall have occaiion to fpeak more at large of the two lad, when I come to the 

 Chapters of the Cup-bearers Office, and the Treafury •, and therefore I ihall only add 

 here, concerning all the three in general, That the Icboglans^ who are inftruded there- 

 in, have not any commerce with thole of the fourth Chamber, of whom I (hall give 

 an account by and by, nor with any other perfon out of the Seraglio, or in the other 

 Courts, but with the particular permiffion of the Capi-Aga, and in the prefence of an 

 Eunuch, who hears all that is faid : That they cannot converfe amonglt thcmfelves, 

 but at certain regulated hours > and that converfation muft be managed with a great 

 obfervance of Modelty, as there is an exact Obedience remarkable in all their deport- 

 ments : And laftly, that they are all clad in ordinary C loath, even to the Beiczades, 

 that is, the Sons of Vizirs and Bajfas who are dead, while thofe of the fourth Cham- 

 ber wear Cloath of Gold and Silver, becaufe they come into the Grand Seignor's pre- 

 fence, and often approach his perfon. I Ihall give you an account anon of their Dor- 

 mitories, that is the places where they take their repofe, as alfo of the Functions of the 

 Oda-bacbi and the ~Deflergi-Aga x who ad according to the Orders they receive from the 

 four Eunuclis. 



The fourth Chamber, which is the Prince's Chamber, is called Haz~Oda> and I 

 fhall fpeak of it, when I come to treat of the Cup-bearers Office, and the Grand 



Seignor's 



