12 €LARke’s travels. 
rounded by windows, and terminated by a divan.* On the 
right and left are the private apartments of the sultan and his 
ladies. From the centre of the dome is suspended a large lus¬ 
tre, presented by the English ambassador. Above the raised 
platform hangs another lustre of a smaller size, but more ele¬ 
gant. Immediately over the sofas constituting the divan, are 
mirrors engraved with Turkish inscriptions; poetry, and pas¬ 
sages from the Koran. The sofas are of white satin, beauti¬ 
fully embroidered by the women of the seraglio. 
Leaving the platform, on the left hand is the sultan’s private 
chamber of repose, the lloor of which is surrounded by couches 
of very costly workmanship. Opposite to this chamber, on 
the other side of the kiosk, a door opens to the apartment in 
which are placed the attendant sultanas, the sultan mother, or 
any ladies in residence with the sovereign. This room corres¬ 
ponds exactly with the sultan’s chamber, except that the 
couches are more magnificently embroidered. 
A small staircase leads from these apartments, to two cham¬ 
bers below, paved with marble, and as cold as any cellar.— 
Here a more numerous assemblage of women are buried, as 
it were, during the heat of summer. The first is a sort of 
antechamber to the other; by the door of which, in a nook of 
the wall, are placed the sultan’s slippers, of common yellow 
morocco, and coarse workmanship. Having entered the mar¬ 
ble chambers immediately below the kiosk, a marble bason pre¬ 
sents itself, with a fountain in the centre, containing water to 
the depth of about three inches, and a few very small fishes. 
Answering to the platform mentioned in the description of the 
kiosk, is another, exactly of a similar nature, closely latticed, 
w here the ladies sit during the season of their residence in this 
place. I was pleased with observing a few things they had 
carelessly left upon the sofas, and which characterized their 
mode of life. Among these was an English writing box, of 
black varnished wood, with a sliding cover, and drawers ; the 
drawers containing coloured writing paper, reed pens, perfum¬ 
ed wax, and little bags made of embroidered satin, in which 
their billets-doux are sent, by negro slaves, who are both mutes 
and eunuchs. That liqueurs are drunk in these secluded 
chambers is evident; for we found labels for bottles, neatly 
cut out with scissars, bearing Turkish inscriptions, with the 
* The divan is a sort of couch, or sofa, common all over the Levant, surrounding 
every side of a room, except that which contains the entrance. It is raised about 
sixteen inches from the floor. When a divan is held, it means nothing more than 
that the persons composing it are thus seated. 
