712 



EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



the houses are finished first at the top. The upper story is often inhabited, while there is, of 

 the lower, nothing but the frame. 



The polygamy and other indulgences permitted by the Koran, tend to the utter debasement 

 of the Turks. They are attended with various circumstances, which mark a very peculiar and 

 degraded state of society. For instance, the Kislar Aga, or chief of the black eunuchs, is an 

 important officer, not only of the household, but of the state. He is by nature ferocious, for 

 ugliness and ferocity are the best recommendations to his office. Mutes, or the deaf and dumb, 

 are sought for by Pachas, as acceptable presents to the Sultan ; there are 40 of these servants 

 at the seraglio, who can see, but not tell ; suffer, and not complain. Dwarfs and deformed 

 persons are also attached to the court, as in various eastern countries. Caliph Vathek is repre- 

 sented to have been met and welcomed on a visit in the East by a " superb corps of cripples." 

 It sometimes forms the amusement of the great to vex these poor beings. If a mute has the 

 good fortune to be at the same time, deformed, and a eunuch, his welfare is established ; and 

 he becomes a favorite with those whose favor is fortune. The Kislar Aga is often a formida- 

 ble enemy to the grand vizier ; he heads the plots of the seraglio, and naturally undermines the 

 credit of the vizier, that he may himself receive more bribes from applicants for offices, or par- 

 dons ; his situation gives him great power to serve his friends or punish his enemies. 



The seclusion of the harems or women's apartments is never invaded ; the great have eunuchs, 

 but the other classes trust to-the security of locks, and the custom of seclusion. The harems 

 are generally fitted up with some attempts at splendor, for the poorest Turk seems to have some 

 hidden means of supply ; living at a rate of expenditure far beyond his ostensible income. The 

 overplus is made up by extortion upon the industrious classes, the Jews, Armenians, Greeks, 

 and Franks. 



Madden, in his capacity of physician, had an opportunity to visit the market for female 

 slaves ; a deplorable consequence of the state of society in Turkey. This is a horrid slavery, to 

 which all other is as freedom. The young and the beautiful Greeks, Circassians, and others, 

 are sold to the highest bidder, and their beauty becomes the measure of their value. A Ne- 

 gress sells for about 80 dollars, an Abyssinian, for 150, and a Greek or Georgian, for 300, or 

 more. 



14. Amusements. The Turks are too grave and indolent to have many amusements. Games 

 of chance are forbidden in the Koran, but chess is common. The jereed, or exercise on 

 horseback with lances, is pursued with great adroitness and skill. Horsemen scour the plain 

 and throw the lance while riding at full speed, and catch it from the ground without checking 

 the horse. The lances are thrown with great precision, and the mastery of the rider over his 

 horse is perfect ; both seem to have but one will. The manner in which the Turks wrestle is 

 to grasp the waist, while one strives to lift the other from the ground and throw him on his 

 back ; a feat often accompanied by broken bones. 



The baths form the chief amusement, especially of the females, for whom separate ones are 

 provided ; or the common baths are devoted to them on particular days, when none of the other 

 sex approach. The females go with a slave or two, and pass many hours in each other's so- 

 ciety. The baths are here what the operas are in western Europe. Bathing is the luxury of 

 a warm climate, but, after the Turkish fashion, it is of no easy endurance to a novice. The 

 bather undresses in an outward room, and enters an inner one with an atmosphere of steam ; 

 he can hardly draw his breath, till a profuse perspiration comes to his relief. He seats hmiself 

 on a slippery board, at the side of a fountain, while an attendant rubs him with a glove of horse 

 hair. This process is so severe, that the skin of a new beginner, or foreigner, sometimes fol- 

 lows the glove. After this comes the shampooning, in which the body is turned over as though 

 it were dead, the joints cracked, and the whole surface thumped and kneaded. The bath is 

 exceedingly refreshing ; it renders the joints supple, and removes all obstruction from the 

 pores. 



15. Education. To read the Koran is the principal end of education in Turkey, and even 

 to do this is by no means universal. All religion, morals, and law, are supposed to be found 

 in the Koran ; and all education begins and ends with this. To be able to repeat many chap- 

 ters is to have a character both for piety and learning. A Turkish female, that can read, is 

 hardly to be found ; and is considered a miracle of knowledge. A newspaper is printed at 

 Constantinople, under the direction of the Sultan, but there are few books of any kind in the 

 language, that contain useful knowledge. The Turkish books are chiefly commentaries on thp 

 Koran. 



