Chap.X V. Grand Seignor s Se r ag l i o. 75 



in? of the Curtains, he immediately rings a fmall Bell, which is the lignai, that the 

 Grand Seignor and the SùïtanefTes are come into their feveral Rooms. 



Upon their arrival,the forefaid Mitezim begins to fing thefe two WfXàSyAllahulLfyer, The ceremonies 

 wliich figniries,Go^ is Great ..repeating them four times : and afterwards, having added of their Devo* 

 thereto fome words, (peaking as 'twere to himfelf, the Im an in his turn, fings thefe 

 following ; Elhamdu lillahi Kabbil akmifn, that is to fay, The Grace of God is the 

 Mafier of all things. He thus continues the Prayer, proftrating himfelf feveral times 

 to the ground, and all the people prefent do alio proftrate themfelves as he does. 



In the midft of the Domo of the Mofquey , there is a Hoop of Iron, all about 

 which there hangs a great number of Lamps, of Fewice-Cryftal, and there are alfo 

 fome difpos'd along the Galleries, of the fame Metal, they being not permitted to 

 have in their Mofqueys, either Gold or Silver. They do not light thofe Lamps, but 

 only for the Prayers at night, and the fire calling a reflection on thofe Cryftals, cre- 

 ates a moft delightful Object to the fight. 



The Chamber of the Sarai-Agafi, one of the four principal Eunuchs, is adjoyning 

 to that Mofquey, and the leaft of all the Chambers, of the Officers, belonging to the 

 Inner-part of the Seraglio. He has but little place more than is requilite for him to 

 lleep in, and he is waited on by two Pages of the Conchouh^Oda^ or the little Cham- 

 ber. 



Adjoyning to the Door of the Haz-Oda, there is a Hall pav'd with a Checquer- 

 work, of black and white Marble, in the midft whereof there is a Balm of the fame 

 material but of feveral colours, out of which there is an afcent of water four or five 

 foot high. That water is receiv'd into a fécond Bafin, made in the form of a Scal- 

 lop-ihell, out of which it falls again into a third, much larger than the two precedent 

 ones. The upper-part of the Hall is built Domo-wife, having therein fome Win- 

 dows, which give it light, and a certain piece of dull painting is all the Ornament 

 of its Walls. At your entrance into this Hall, you fee two Doors, one on the right 

 hand, the other, on the left. That on the left hand conducts to a Flower-Garden h 

 and the other is the door of a Chamber, into which the Grand Seignor comes, fome- 

 times, in the Winter-feafon. 



This Chamber is one of the moft fumptuous of any in the Seraglio. It's arched 4 Magnifiant 

 Roof is divided into a great number of little Cells, Triangle-wife, diftinguifli'd by J^£hm-- 

 two little filets of Gold, with a green ftreak in the midft, and cut of every Angle, 

 there juts fomewhat like the bottom of a Lamp, excellently well gilt. Though the 

 Walls are of a curious white Marble, yet is there a delicate piece of Wainfcotage, of 

 about the height of a man's wafte, carried quite round the Room, and the rich Car- 

 pets, upon which you walk, deprive your light of the large fquares of Marble, of fe- 

 veral colours, wherewith the Floor is embellith'd. Of a great number of Culhions, 

 which are plac'd along the Walls, fome are embroider'd with Pearls, and precious 

 Stones, and fet there only for often tation -, the others, which are for fervice, are co- 

 ver'd with Gold, or Silver-Brokadoes, and other coftly Stuffs. At one of the cor- 

 ners of the Chamber, there is a little Field-bed, about two foot in heighth, embroi- 

 der'd all over, the Counterpane, the Culhions, and the Quilt ; and that Embroidery 

 is all of Pearles, Rubies, and Emeralds. But when the Grand Seignor is to come in- 

 to that Chamber, they take away the Counterpane and Culhions, which are lefs ht 

 for Service than for Ornament, and they bring in others of quilted or tufted Velvet, 

 or Satin, upon which the Grand Seignor may more conveniently repofe him- 

 felf. 



Towards the feet of thefaidBed, there is a kind of Neech made within the very Mahomet's 

 Wall, in which there is a little Ebony Box, about half a foot fquare, and in that is StaU 

 lock'd up Mahomet's Seal. It is enchae'd in a Cryftal, with a Bordure of Ivory, and 

 taking all together, it may be four inches in length, and three in breadth. I have 

 feen the Impreilion of it upon a piece of Paper i but he who Ihew'd it me, would not 



fuffer 



