CHAPTER XXXII
A TURK'S HAREM
As we neared the water's edge, my companion started and turned perfectlylivid, as if labouring under some fearfully strong emotion. True to hisself-command, however, he allowed no other outward sign to betray hisfeelings. In front of us walked a Turkish lady, closely veiled, ofcourse, and accompanied by a female negro slave. Following theBeloochee's gaze, I observed by the lady's dress and demeanour that shewas of high rank, and in all probability the property of some great man,a Pasha at least. At that time a black attendant argued no inferiorityon the part of the mistress as it does now. It is only since the peaceof '56 that the negro woman has been at such a discount in Stamboul asto fill every corner of the streets with her lamentations, looking invain for a purchaser, a master, and a home.
The cause of this sudden fall in the value of a strong, serviceablearticle, which had hitherto commanded a fair and remunerative price, isto be found as usual in the enterprise of speculators, and the luxurioustendencies of an unfeeling public. The far-seeing slave-dealers whoprovide the Turkish market with Circassian wares had no difficulty inforetelling that the Treaty of Paris would abandon to their fate thosegallant mountaineers of the Caucasus who have so long and so manfullystruggled for independence from the Russian yoke, and that soon theymust bid an eternal farewell to their lucrative traffic in Circassianbeauty, and their judicious supply of wives for the Pashas ofConstantinople. Accordingly, ere the treaty came into operation, andthe Government of the Czar was authorised to forbid the export of itsnew subjects, they proceeded to buy up, far and near, every eligibleyoung lady of Circassian origin, and forward her as speedily as possibleto the Emporium of Matrimony at Constantinople. Nor was this so hard alot for these mountain-daisies as it may at first sight appear. Theyare taught to look upon the slave-market of the Turkish capital as thearena in which they are to contend for the prizes of life--namely,comfortable quarters, luxurious baths, a house full of slaves, and arich master. To be deprived of her season at Stamboul is a bitterdisappointment to a Circassian belle. We in England cannot understandthis. Our fair Anglo-Saxons broil in London through the dog-days simplyand entirely for the exquisite delights of its amusements and itssociety. Who ever heard of an English girl going to a ball with anyulterior view but that of dancing? Who ever detected her paying hermodest court to an elderly Pasha (of the Upper House) for the sake ofhaving jewels and amber, and gilded arabas and slaves, at her disposal?Who ever knew a blooming rose of June, that would have made the treasureof his life to Lazarus, and changed his gloomy dwelling to a bower ofParadise, transplanted by her own desire to the hothouses of Dives,there to queen it for a day among all his plants and exotics, and thenpine neglected and withering away? No, no, we know nothing of suchdoings, but the trade flourishes handsomely in the East, andconsequently the spring and summer of '56 saw Constantinople literally_smothered_ in beauty. I use the word advisedly, for an Orientalenslaver, in the language of Burns, is "a lass who has acres of charms,"and a Pasha purchases his wife as he does his mutton, by the pound. Now,demand and supply, like action and reaction, are "equal and contrary,"nor is woman more than any other marketable commodity exempt from theimmutable law; so when this invasion of beauty came pouring intoConstantinople, the value even of a Circassian decreased steadily in analarming ratio, till a damsel that, in the golden days of gallantry,would have fetched a hundred and fifty pounds sterling, was now to bebought "warranted" for five! Mark the sequel. Luxury crept in amongstthe lower classes. The poor Turkish artisan, ambitioning a Circassianbride, sold his tools, his all--nay, his faithful black wives--topurchase the unheard-of blessing. The poor negro women were turnedadrift into the streets. Who was to bid for them? During the worstperiod of the panic, black women were selling in Constantinople at ashilling a dozen!
The Beloochee griped my arm hard. "It is Zuleika!" he whispered betweenhis set teeth. "She has not seen me--she does not know I am here.Perhaps she has forgotten me!"
"Let us follow her," said I, for in truth I sympathised with poor Ali,and my English blood boiled at the manner in which he had been deprivedof his bride.
The Beloochee loosened his dagger in its sheath, and drew the folds ofhis shawl tighter round his waist. "Effendi," said he, "you are a truecomrade--Bismillah! the end is yet to come."
The lady and her attendant walked provokingly slow, looking at everyobject of curiosity on their way, and making it exceedingly difficultfor us to adapt our pace to theirs without exciting observation in thepassers-by. At length they reached the waterside, and summoning acaique, pushed out into the Bosphorus. We were speedily embarked inanother, and following in their wake, our caigee, or boatman, at oncepenetrating our intentions, and entering into the spirit of the thingwith all the fondness for mischief and intrigue so characteristic of hisclass. As we glided along over the rippling waters we had ample time todispose our plans, the object of which was to give the Beloochee anopportunity of communicating with his lost love, to learn, and, ifpossible, to rescue her from her fate. "Keep close to that caique,"said I to our sympathising waterman, "and when we are secure fromobservation go up alongside." The rascal showed all his white teeth, ashe grinned intelligence and approval.
So we glided down the beautiful Bosphorus, past marble palaces andglittering kiosks, till we came under the very walls of a building, moremagnificent than any we had yet passed, with a wide frontage towards thewater, supported on shafts as of smoothest alabaster, the closedlattices of which, with its air of carefully-guarded seclusion, denotedthe harem of some great dignitary of the empire, who was in the habit ofretiring hither to solace himself after the labours of government andthe cares of state. Through a gate of iron trellis-work, beautifullydesigned and wrought, we caught a glimpse of a lovely garden, rich ingorgeous hues, and sparkling with fountains murmuring soothingly on theear, whilst from the lofty doors, securely clamped and barred, widesteps of marble reached down to the water's edge, lipped and polished bythe lazy ripple of the waves.
Here we brought our bark alongside the object of our chase, but we hadreckoned without our host in counting on the imperturbability of alady's nerves, for no sooner had the Beloochee turned his face towardsZuleika, and whispered a few short syllables straight from his heart,than with a loud shriek she tossed her hands wildly above her head, andfainted dead away in the bottom of the caique.
At that instant the boat's nose touched the lower step of the palace,and the negro woman, almost as helpless as her mistress, began screamingloudly for assistance, whilst a guard of blacks opening the huge doubledoors came swarming down to the water's edge, scowling ominously at theBeloochee and myself, who with our mischievous boatman had now shovedoff and remained at some distance from the shore.
There was but one thing to be done, and that quickly. "_Hakim!_" Ishouted to the blacks, who were bearing the lifeless form of the girl upthe palace steps; "I am a doctor, do you want my assistance?" and at thesame time I handed my pencil-case and the back of a letter to mycomrade. Alas! he could not write, but in a hurried whisper entreatedme, if possible, to communicate with Zuleika, and bear her the messagewhich he confided to me from his old and faithful love.
By dint of threats and a kick or two, I prevailed on my friend thecaigee, who began to think the fun was getting too hot for him, to pullashore; and boldly mounting the steps, I informed the chief of theharem-guard authoritatively that I was a physician, and that if theKhanum's (lady's) life was to be saved, not a moment must be lost. Shewas evidently a favourite wife of her lord, for her fainting-fit seemedto have caused much commotion in the household, and during his absencethe major-domo of the harem took upon himself, not without manymisgivings and much hesitation, to admit me, a Giaour and a _man_,within the sacred and forbidden precincts.
The Turks have a superstitious reverence for the science of medicine,which they believe, and not without reason, to be practised by theFranks more successfully than by the
mselves. To my adoption of thecharacter of a _Hakim_ I owed my present immunity and my entrance intothat sanctum of a Turk's house, which it is considered indecorous evento _mention_ in conversation with its master.
I do not lay claim to more courage than my neighbours, and I confess itwas with a beating heart that I followed the helpless form of Zuleikaborne by her swarthy attendants up the palace steps, through the massivedoors which swung and closed behind me, as if to shut out all chance ofescape, to find myself at the top of a handsome staircase, on the verythreshold of the women's apartment. What confusion my entrance created!Shrieks and jeers and stifled laughter resounded on all sides, whilstblack eyes flashed inquiring glances at the Frankish doctor, veiled,indeed, but scarcely dimmed by the transparent folds of the _yashmak_,and loosely-clad forms, in all the colours of the rainbow, flittedhither and thither, with more demonstration of activity than theoccasion seemed to warrant.
I had heard much of the discipline of these caged birds, and pictured tomyself, with sympathising pity, their isolated condition, cut off fromfriends and relatives, weighed down by all the fetters of wedlock, butdenied the consolations of domestic happiness, and had imagined that theTurkish woman was probably the most unhappy of all the daughters of Eve.What a deal of commiseration thrown away! Perhaps no woman in the worldis more completely her own mistress in her own way than is the wife of aTurkish dignitary. Habit reconciles her to the veil, which indeed is ofthe thinnest material, and is almost her only restriction. She can walkabroad for business or pleasure, attended by only one female slave, andwith such a convoy comes and goes unquestioned. It is only of very lateyears that an English lady could walk through the streets of Londonwithout at least as efficient a guard. The Oriental beauty, too, hasher own hours, and her own apartments. Even her lord himself, he whomwe picture as a turbaned Blue-beard, despotic in his own household, theterror of his wives and servants, preserves a chivalrous etiquettetowards the lady that adorns his harem. He does not venture to crossthe threshold of her apartment should he find her slippers placedoutside. It is a signal that he is not wanted, and nothing would inducehim to be guilty of such an act of rudeness as to go in. He comes atstated times, and his visits are always preceded by due notice. Helavishes handsome presents on his departure, and when he is unable tosun himself in the sight of her beauty, in consequence of his otherengagements, and the rest of the suns in whose rays it is his duty tobask, he provides her with caiques and _arabas_ to take her abroad, andfurnishes her with plenty of pin-money to spend in the delightfuloccupation of shopping.
The chief of the negro-guard looked wistfully at me as I accompaniedhim, rolling the whites of his eyes in evident uncertainty andperturbation. As, however, Zuleika was still senseless, it seemedabsolutely necessary that I should prescribe for her before mydeparture, and, accordingly, he motioned me to follow the stout blackswho were carrying her into the very inner recesses of the harem.
As I passed through those luxuriously-furnished apartments, I could notrefrain from casting many a curious glance around at the diverseimplements and accessories of the Turkish toilette, the many devicespractised here, as in all lands, by the ladies, to "keep them beautifulor leave them neat." Costly shawls, silks from India, muslins like theweb of a gossamer, and brocades stiff and gorgeous as cloth of gold,were scattered about in unlimited profusion, mixed with amber beads,massive gold chains, necklaces, bracelets, and anklets, French watchesset to Turkish time, precious stones of every value and hue, sandal-woodfans, and other rare knick-knacks, mixed up with the most insignificantarticles one can imagine, such as card-racks, envelope-cases ofpapier-mache, small brushes with oval mirrors at the back, and all sortsof trifles sent out from Paris, and bought in Pera, to amuse thosegrown-up children. The rooms were lofty and spacious, but thecasements, even those that overlooked the gardens, jealously closed, andthe lattices almost impervious even to the cool northern breeze.Bath-rooms opened from either side of the apartments, and everyappliance for that Turkish luxury was of the most complete kind. Atlength we reached the room appropriated to Zuleika's especial use, andas her bearers laid her on the divan I observed that in this, more thanin any other apartment of the palace, luxury reigned supreme. I arguedZuleika must be, at least for the present, the reigning favourite andqueen of the seraglio.