s. Should some female friend who has visited a
harem and seen these radiant beauties face to face mildly suggest that
paint, powder and the enchantment of distance have in a measure deluded
you, you dismiss the unwelcome information as an invention of the
"green-eyed monster," and, remembering the brilliant beauties who
reclined beside the Sweet Waters or floated by you on the Golden Horn,
cherish the recollection as that of one of the brightest scenes of the
Orient.

These I have spoken of are the upper classes from the harems of the
sultan and rich pashas, but those you see constantly on foot in the
streets are the middle and lower classes, and not so attractive. They
have fine eyes, but the yashmaks are thicker, and you feel there is less
beauty hidden under them. The higher the rank the thinner the yashmak is
the rule. They also wear the long cloak, but it is made of black or
colored alpaca or a similar material. Gray is most worn, but black,
brown, yellow, green, blue and scarlet are often seen. The negresses
dress like their mistresses in the street, and if you see a pair of
bright yellow boots under a brilliant scarlet ferraja and an unusually
white yashmak, you will generally find the wearer is a jet-black
negress. Sitting so much in the house _a la Turque_ is not conducive to
grace of motion, nor are loose slippers to well-shaped feet, and I must
confess that a Turkish woman walks like a _goose_, and the size of her
"fairy feet" would rejoice the heart of a leather-dealer.

[Illustration: ENTERING A MOSQUE.]

We have been to see the Howling Dervishes, and I will endeavor to give
you some idea of their performances. Crossing to Scutari in the steam
ferryboat, we walked some distance till we reached the mosque, where the
services were just commencing. The attendant who admitted us intimated
that we must remove our boots and put on the slippers provided. N----
did so, but I objected, and the man was satisfied with my wearing them
over my boots. We were conducted up a steep, ladder-like staircase to a
small gallery, with a low front only a foot high, with no seats but
sheepskins on the floor, where we were expected to curl ourselves up in
Turkish fashion. Both my slippers came off during my climb up stairs,
and were rescued in their downward career by N----, who by dint of much
shuffling managed to keep his on. Below us were seated some thirty or
forty dervishes. The leader repeated portions of the Koran, in whic