* * ^ ' ■ i n il tar — fd>^»— — ^ nmmm*mm» — w^—— ^— — — mm^— — ^^^ 



Chap. VII. GrW Seignor's Seraglio. 41 



thereof. ^ Among the Kullyngis, he who is the moft ancient in that employment has 

 a pre-eminence and fupcriority over the reft, whom he many times commands to ex- 

 crcife themfclves in wraHling-, and lifting a heavy Iron Barr with one hand. 



There are three fuch Bars faften'd upon great Cramp-irons over the door that goes rbe prodigious 

 into the Eaths, andthemiddlemoftof the three, as it is commonly reported, weighs a ftrength of Body 

 hundred 0%f, whkh amount to Three hundred and fifty pounds, Paris Weight, an °f a certan 

 Ok& weighing three (sounds and a halt', or thereabouts. There was heretofore one of Icho 8 Ian . 

 thofe Ichoghns^ of lb prodigious ftrength, that the Grand Seignor himfelf would 

 have the fatisfaclion of feeing a tryal, whether he could with one hand lift up and 

 turn about that Iron-bar j wliich he did to the great aftonilhment of the Prince, and 

 prefently after he entertain'd him with another demonftracion of the ftrength of his 

 Arm. Over thofe three Iron-bars, there hung two Head-pieces of Iron, whereof one 

 was an inch in thicknefs, and the other about the eighth part of an inch. The fame 

 Icboglan did, in the Grand Seignor's prefence, at one blow of a Battle-Axe, cut through 

 the head-piece of an inch thick, and, at one blow with a Sabre, eleft the other to the 

 middle or. it. 



^ Oppofite to thofe Ovens are the Cocks,whereby the Waters are diftributed into the the Mofquey 

 fcveral Rooms of the Baths ; and I forgot to tell you, That before you enter into that belonging to 

 place, you tind a little Mofquey, adjoyning to the Appartment of the Saraiket-boudaft, ^ f^ rtm Hf 

 where all the Icboglans go to their devotions twice a day. If they fail the doing of it, * EmchS ' 

 the Oda-bacbi, who, in every Chamber, takes notice of their demeanours, calls them 

 to an account, and they are fureof thebaftinado, as they are alfo for any other fault 

 they commit-, and fometimes they receive the faid punifhment on the foles of their 

 feet, and, upon fome occafions to fuch a number of blowes, that the nails of their 

 toes come off i and that is the punifhment which is properly call'd Drubbing. 



Out of that Mofquey you pafs into a Gallery, adjoyning to the Baths, and there the rte Employ. 

 Diflis and the Geuges j that is to fay, the Mutes and the Dwarfs are employ'd in fome mat of tbe 

 work or other all day long. Some fpend the time in learning to make up Turbants, D7var f s an * 

 wherein there is more work and difficulty than is imagin'd, efpecially in making up Umi% - 

 the Grand Seignior's own Turbant, when he goes to the Divan. For then he takes an 

 extraordinary large one, as do alfo all the Officers of the fame Divan when they go to 

 Council : and I cannot make a better reprefentation of that kind of Turbant, then by 

 the form of our largeft fort of Citrals, if they be made hollow in the middle, fo as that 

 the head might enter into that hole. 



Others arc employ'd in (havin&paring the nails, and other things of that kind. They 

 do not make nfe of any Scizars for the nails, in 7«r%y, nor in any part of Afta j it 

 being a thing forbidden by Mahomet in his Law, and accordingly they account the do- 

 ing of it a great fin. Eut they make ufe of a little Steel Inirrument, fomewhat like a 

 Pen-knife, and the only cutting part is the end of it, and they are dextrous enough 

 in the performance of that Office. It is theCuftomc all over the Eaft, that the Barber, 

 who trims you,lhould alfo make up your Turbant, which is many times difcompos'd' 

 pare the nails of your hands and toes, and take away the filth out of your Ears: For 

 the Turks and all the Inhabitants of Afta are great lovers of cleanlinefs, and cannot en- 

 dure the leaft naitinefs, either on thcmfelves, or thofe who come near them, as I (hall 

 give you an account anon. 



And having fpoken fo much of the Turbant, it will not be unfeafonable, for me to colours forbid^ 

 communicate this Remark to you here, That in the Ottoman Empire, and all over Ara- &* tbt cbrijli- 

 bia, none but Mabumetans are permitted to make ufe of White, for the covering of their ans .' n J heir 

 heads j whereas in Perfia> and all over the Great Mogul's Empire, men may take what Coi ^ m ' 

 Colours they pleafe themfelves. 



I come now to the Great Bath,which is adjoyning to the Chamber of the Hamangi- the dtfcrifthn 

 bacbi, who is the chief Overfeer of it, and which makes part of the Appartment of the tfihtMhs* 

 Seferlis, or the Grand Seignor's Laundry-men. The place where they put off their 

 Cloaths is a fpacious Louver, or Banquetting-houfe of Freeftone, high enough, and in 



one 



