Chap.XIII. Grand Seignor's Seraglio. 6y 



ment of the Pages, with three great Windows on the right hand, and as many on the 

 left : And 'tis there that the iix moft elderly Pages of the Treafury have their refidence 

 night and day. From that door, along a walk pav'd with white Marble ftones, very 

 large ones, about fifteen paces in length, and five in breadth, you come to another Por- 

 tal, of the lame material, fuftain'd by two Pillars of black Marble \ over the faid Por- 

 tal, there may be read thefe words, which are ordinary enough in the mouths of the 

 XarJy, and which I have explicated elfewhere s 



'La Illahe Ilia Alia, Muhammed <%efoul Alia. 



It gives entrance into a long Hall, where there may be fcen on both fides a kind of Beds % cor ^ 

 Seat, or Scaffold, a foot and a half in height, and between feven and eight in breadth. Jj «* Turkl,h 

 Every Page has but four foot in breadth for his repofmg place, as well by day, as by 

 night : And for their Beds, they are permitted to have under them, only a Woollen 

 Coverlet, four times doubled, which ferves them for a Quilt, and over that they ordi- 

 narily have one of Gold or Silver-Brockado, or fome other fumptuous Silk-fluff •, and 

 in the Winter time, they are permitted to have three of them. They are not to have 

 their Coverlets all of Wooll, which would be fo much the warmer, becaufe it would 

 not be a decent fight for the Grand Seignor, when he comes ever and anon, in the 

 nighttime, pretending indeed as if he would furprize them, and fee how they demean 

 themfelves, but in effect, fometimes ,to cover lewd defigns. D Tis between thofe Co- 

 verlets that the Pages take their repofe, having their Waft-coat and Drawers on ; lot 

 there is no talk of any other kind of Linnen, either in Turkey, or any part of the Eaft > 

 and whether it be Winter or Summer, they alwaies lay themfelves down to deep, half 

 clad, without any great Ceremony. 



Over the Beds of the Pages , there is a Gallery, which goes quite round the Hall, ^ytstofatis : 

 and is fuftain'd by Pillars of Wood, painted all over with red varnifh, and there they ^ZZedl]-' 

 have their Coffers, wherein their Cloaths are kept. Every one has a Coffer to himfelf, f mn tfr m ours, 

 hut the twelve Senior Pages have each of them two Coffers, and one of thofe twelve 

 has the Key of the Gallery in his cuftody. It is ordinarily open'd but one day in the 

 Week, which is anfwerable to our Wcdmfduy, and then, every Page goes, and takes out 

 of his Coffer, what he Itands in need of. It any 01 ie of them mud of neceiTity look for 

 iome thing there upon any other day, he gets rive or iix Pages together, and they all 

 go to the principal Officer of the Treafury, and he commands the Rafgi, who has the 

 Key of the Gallery in his cuftody, to open it for them, and to have a care that they 

 meddle not with the Coffers of their Companions. 



At one of the ends of the Hall,there is a Door, which conducts you to the Fountaines, 

 where thofe that have their dependance on the Treafury go and wa(h, when they arc 

 call'd to their Devotions. There are Cc\Qn Copper Cocks for that convenience, and as 

 well the pavement, as the Walls, of that place are of white Marble. 



The places appointed for the eafing of Nature are on the right hand, divided into 

 four little Rooms, which are al waves kept very clean, and pav'd with fquare pieces of 

 white Marble, as the Room of the Fountain is. The Turkj do not fit down, as we 

 de, when they are in thofe places, but they fquat down over the hole , which is not 

 half a foot, or little more above the ground. That hole is cover'd with an Iron plate, 

 which rifes and falls by a Spring, and turning one way or other, at the falling of the 

 lcalt weight upon it, it comes to the nation it was in before, affoon as the ordure is fal- 

 len from it. I have obferved elfewhere, that the lurks, and generally all the Mahuma- 

 tanes, do not ufe paper in fuch cafes, or upon any undecent occafion, and when they 

 go to thofe kinds of places, they carry along with them a Pot of water, to warn them- 

 felves withal, and the Iron-plate is alfo made clean at the fame time* And fo the hole 

 being alwaies cover'd, and the Iron plate alwaies kept clean, there can be no ill fmell. 

 in the place, and that the rather, for that a fmall current of water, which palfcs under 

 that place, carries away all the Ordure. 



(K) Bur. 



