Turkish Ladies “At Home”—The Asiatic Sweet Waters—Holy
Ground—The Glen of the Valley—Hand Mirrors—Holyday
Groups—Courtesy of the Oriental Females to Strangers—The
Beautiful Devotee—The Pasha’s Wife—A Guard of Honour—Change
of Scene—The Fortress of Mahomet—Amiability of the Turkish
Character.
The traveller who desires to see the Turkish women really “at home,”
should visit the beautiful valley of Guiuk-Suy, the Sweet Waters of
Asia, on a Friday during the hot months. This lovely spot, shut in on
three sides by lofty hills covered with vegetation, is open to the
Bosphorus immediately opposite to the Castle of Europe, the prison of
the Janissaries, where the branch-embowered river which gives its name
to the locality, (literally “chest-water”) runs rippling into the
sunlighted channel.
The transition is delicious, as, shooting round an abrupt point of land,
gay with its painted palace and leafy garden, you glide into the deep
shadows of the little river, whose fringe of trees throws a twilight
softness over the water, and mirrors itself in the calm ripple. Beneath
the boughs rise, as is usual on every spot of peace and beauty, the
columned head-stones of many a departed Mussulmaun; while the birds,
screened from the noon-day heats, are ever pouring forth their glad song
in all the gushing joyousness of conscious security.
Your boatmen, refreshed by the grateful coolness of the locality,
speedily bring you to an open bridge; which, spanning the river at its
narrowest point, unites the secluded valley, in which the
holyday-keeping crowd are wont to assemble during the noon-tide
sunshine, with the more open space on which they congregate towards the
evening, to profit by the waters of a superb fountain of white marble,
richly adorned with arabesques; and to inhale the fresh breeze that
sweeps over the Bosphorus.
The stretch of turf on which the ladies spread their carpets, drive
their arabas, and spend the long summer morning, is screened from the
river by a small space thickly wooded, and appropriated to the men; who
smoke their chibouks, and enjoy their sherbet and water-melons, far from
the gossipry of their more voluble helpmeets. Passing through this “holy
ground,” you come at once upon the lovely nook, which, surrounded on all
sides by trees, and thronged with company, affords one of the prettiest
_coup-d’œils_ in the world.
[Illustration: PART OF THE VALLEY OF GUIUK-SUY.]
Here the Sultanas move slowly along over the smooth turf, the vizors of
their oxen flashing with foil and plate glass, and the deep golden edges
of their araba-awnings glittering in the sunshine; while they lean on
their silken cushions, with their yashmacs less carefully arranged than
on ordinary occasions. Here the gilded carriage of the Pasha’s Harem,
with its gaily tasselled draperies, and its gaudily caparisoned horses,
rolls rapidly over the yielding verdure; while the veiled beauty within
screens her pure, pale loveliness with a fan of feathers, which serves
at once to amuse her idleness, and to display the fairy-like hand that
grasps its ivory handle, with the priceless gems which glitter on the
slender fingers, and the taper wrist. Here, the wives of the Bey, the
Effendi, and the Emir spread their Persian carpets, and their crimson
rugs; and, while the elder ladies remove the fold of muslin which veils
the lower portion of their faces, and indulge themselves in the luxury
of the _kadeun-chibouk_, or woman’s pipe; the younger of the party find
amusement no less engrossing, in the re-arrangement of their
head-dresses with the assistance of a hand-mirror, (the constant
travelling companion of a Turkish female), which is held by a slave who
kneels at the edge of the carpet.
These hand-mirrors are the prettiest toys imaginable; and the taste
displayed in their decoration, as well as the expensive materials of
which they are frequently composed, prove their great importance in the
eyes of an Oriental beauty. One of these indispensable playthings is
constantly beside her in the harem; every latticed araba has four of
them panelled into the gilding of its interior, in which she may see her
charms reflected during her drive; and no Turkish lady would ever
undertake the three hours’ voyage from Buyukdèrè to Stamboul, without
carrying along with her the beloved _ainali_.
Some of these mirrors, which are universally of a circular form, and
generally provided with a handle of the same material as the setting,
and similarly ornamented; are mounted in a frame of richly chased gold
or silver, studded with precious stones; but these, as I need scarcely
remark, are to be seen only in the Imperial Seraïs, or in the palaces of
the most wealthy among the nobles. Others are of coloured velvets,
wrought with seed-pearls in the most delicate patterns, or worked with
gold, which the Turks do to perfection. Nor are the meaner classes
without their _ainalis_, framed in wood, gaudily painted, and frequently
most minute in size.
The Valley of Guiuk-Suy, thronged as I have attempted to describe it,
presents a scene essentially Oriental in its character. The
crimson-covered carriages moving along beneath the trees—the
white-veiled groups scattered over the fresh turf—the constant motion
of the attendant slaves—the quaintly-dressed venders of _mohalibè_ and
_sèkèl_ (or sweetmeats) moving rapidly from point to point with their
plateaux upon their heads, furnished with a raised shelf, on which the
crystal or china plates destined to serve for the one, and the pink and
yellow glories of the other, are temptingly displayed—the
_yahourt_-merchant, with his yoke upon his shoulder, and his swinging
trays covered with little brown clay basins, showing forth the creamy
whiteness of his merchandize—the vagrant exhibitors of dancing bears
and grinning monkeys—the sunburnt Greek, with his large, flapping hat
of Leghorn straw, and Frank costume, hurrying along from group to group
with his pails of ice; and recommending his delicate and perishable
luxury in as many languages as he is likely to earn piastres—the
never-failing water-carrier, with his large turban, his graceful jar of
red earth, and his crystal goblet—the negroes of the higher harems,
laden with carpets, chibouks, and refreshments for their mistresses—the
fruit-venders, with their ruddy peaches, their clusters of purple grapes
from Smyrna, their pyramidically piled filberts, and their rich plums,
clothed in bloom, and gathered with their fresh leaves about them—the
melon merchants sitting among their upheaped riches; the _pasteks_ with
their emerald-coloured rinds, and the musk-melons, looking like golden
balls, and scenting the breeze as it sweeps over them; the variety of
costume exhibited by the natives, always most striking on the Asiatic
shore—the ringing rattle of the tambourine, and the sharp wiry sound of
the Turkish Zebec, accompanied by the shrill voices of half a dozen
Greeks, seated in a semicircle in front of a beauty-laden araba—all
combine to complete a picture so perfect of its kind, that, were an
European to be transported to Guiuk-Suy, without any intermediate
preparation, he would believe himself to be under the spell of an
Enchanter, and beholding the realization of what he had hitherto
considered as the mere extravagance of some Eastern story-teller.
The Valley, or at least that portion of it which I am now describing, is
further embellished by a magnificent beech, called the Sultan’s Tree,
beneath which the Imperial carpet is spread for His Highness when he
visits Guiuk-Suy. And a little beyond this rises a platform shaded with
willows, and occupied at one of its extremities by a handsome
head-stone. I could not learn what favoured dust had been deposited on
this sweet spot.
When we had selected a pleasant nook, and had spread our carpet,
arranged our cushions, and provided ourselves with fruit, one of the
party started on a shooting expedition among the hills; and my friend
Madame S—— and myself strolled round the magic circle, which became
each moment more thronged. We received many a gracious salutation as we
moved along, in return for our glances of involuntary admiration; and at
length were fairly stopped by a smiling entreaty that we would inform a
party of ladies, who had been too aristocratic in their ideas, or too
indolent in their habits, to descend from their araba, who we were,
whence we came, and to answer a score more of those simple questions,
which make a claim only upon your patience. Not one among them was
pretty, but they were all polite and good-natured; and, if they did ask
us many things which concerned them not in any possible way, they at
least communicated to us, in their turn, a variety of circumstances
relating to themselves, which regarded us quite as little.
Nothing can exceed the courtesy of the Turkish ladies to strangers. They
always appear delighted to converse with an European female who seems
disposed to meet them half way; and they do so with a frankness and ease
which at once destroy every feeling of _gène_ on the part of the
stranger. In five minutes every thing they have is at your service; the
fruit of which they are partaking, and the scented sherbet that they
have prepared with their own hands. To make acquaintance with them, you
require only to be cheerful, willing to indulge their harmless
curiosity, and ready to return their civility in as far as you are
enabled to do so. There is none of that withering indifference, or that
supercilious scrutiny which obtains so much in Europe, to be dreaded
from a Turkish gentlewoman; but there is, on the contrary, an earnest
urbanity about her which is delightful, and which emanates from the
intuitive politeness so universal among the natives; coupled with a
simplicity of feeling, and a sincerity of good-nature that lend a double
charm to the courtesies of life. Nor is the eye less satisfied than the
heart, in these moments of agreeable, although brief, communion; for the
graceful bearing of an Oriental female greatly enhances the charm of her
ready kindness; and her self-possession, and dignity of manner, render
her superior to the paltry affectation of assumed coldness; while they
convince you that she would be as prompt to resent impertinence, as she
had been ready to proffer courtesy.
When we bowed our adieu to the party in the araba, and prepared to
continue our stroll, the elder lady presented to us four large
cucumbers, a vegetable highly relished by the Orientals, and eaten by
them in the same manner as fruit. Of course we accepted the offering in
the spirit in which it was made, although we declined indulging in the
unwholesome luxury; and I merely mention the circumstance, trivial as it
is, to prove the truth of my position. The ladies had been regaling
themselves with this primitive fare when we joined them, and shared it
with us from precisely the same feeling of courtesy, as an English
gentlewoman would have tendered to a stranger the sandwich and champaign
of her carriage luncheon.
A short distance beyond the araba, we came upon a beautiful young
female, who had alighted from her carriage, and was kneeling upon a
costly Persian prayer-carpet, on whose eastern edge was placed a vase of
wrought silver. Three slaves stood, with folded arms, immediately
behind her; and she was so completely absorbed in her devotions, that
not even the apparition of a couple of European females, always objects
of curiosity to a Turkish lady, caused her to lift her eyes. She was
strikingly handsome, and her attitude was most graceful, as, with her
small hands clasped together, she bowed her head to the earth in the
deep, voiceless, prayer, which is the heart’s offering, and requires not
to shape itself into words. Had she been otherwise engaged, I could have
lingered for an hour, for the mere pleasure of looking upon one of the
loveliest faces in the world; but I felt that it would be indelicate to
intrude upon her devotions, and once more I moved forward.
No occupation, whether of business or pleasure, is permitted to
interfere with the religious duties of a Turkish female, however
distinguished her rank; nor has locality or circumstance any influence
in deterring her from their observance. It is a common occurrence to see
the sister of the Sultan alight from her araba at Kahaitchana, or any
other public place in which she may chance to find herself when her
accustomed hour of prayer arrives; and, when her slaves have spread her
prayer-carpet, kneel down within sight and sound of the crowds that
throng the walk, as calmly and collectedly as though she were shut
within one of the gilded chambers of her own Seraï. It were idle to
comment upon such a fact.
What a glad scene it was as we wandered on under the leafy branches of
the tall trees, over the fresh turf, breathed upon by the cool breeze
that swept down into the valley from the encircling hills, giving and
receiving a thousand salutations! The Sultan was momentarily expected;
and many a dark eye was turned at intervals towards the entrance of the
glen, and the noble beech tree to which I have already made allusion;
but they were turned thither in vain, for, greatly to our
disappointment, he did not appear.
During our progress we came upon an araba which instantly attracted our
attention. The painted oxen[5] had been withdrawn, and were grazing a
few paces off; a line of female slaves, reaching the whole length of the
carriage, were ranged side by side; and two negroes were stationed
immediately in front. All these indications of rank induced us to
slacken our pace as we approached, and to glance with more than ordinary
attention towards the occupants of the vehicle. They were two in number;
a serious-looking elderly person, earnestly engaged with her chibouk;
and a fair young creature, so buried among her richly embroidered
cushions, that she was scarcely visible.
I have called her _fair_, but that is not the correct expression, for,
as she raised herself at our approach, and removed from before her face
a hand mirror, curiously set in a frame composed of ostrich feathers, I
never beheld any thing living with such a complexion. She was so deadly
white, that no difference was perceptible between the folds of her
yashmac, and the brow on which they rested! She looked as though she had
been the partial prey of a vampyre; who, sated with some previous
victim, had left his unholy repast only half completed—But such eyes!
so dark—so sad—veiled by lashes as black as night, resting upon the
pallid cheek like sable fringes—I never saw such eyes, save in a
dream!—Her nose was thin, and finely-shaped; and the perfect oval of
her face, was revealed by the tightly-adjusted yashmac—It was the most
spectral beauty I ever beheld, but beauty of a most rare description.
She was pillowed on satin, and her hands and brow were bright with gems,
but I am sure she was unhappy—there was a languid hopelessness in the
expression of her pale face, and a listlessness in her manner, that told
of a bursting heart. I would have given much to have learnt her history.
There must have been some telltale indication of my involuntary
conviction, in the long and earnest gaze that I turned upon her; for
ere I removed my eyes, she smiled a sad, sweet smile, and pressed her
hand upon her heart as though she thanked me for the melancholy feeling
with which I had looked upon her beauty. The elder dame, meanwhile,
smoked on in silence, as calmly as if she had been seated beside a more
light-hearted companion; and the silver fringes of the costly araba
glittered in the sunshine; and the embroidered cushions looked like a
parterre of flowers; and all within that gorgeous vehicle was gay and
gladsome save its drooping mistress. I made a thousand inquiries, but
failed to ascertain who she was. One individual alone was able to assure
me that she was the favourite wife of a Pasha; but the name of the said
Pasha had escaped the memory of my informant, and I was fain to content
myself with this very unsatisfactory fragment of intelligence.
Having completed our tour of the glen, we took possession of our
cushions, and regaled ourselves with the delicious water-melons that we
had provided to refresh us after our walk; and a small party of Turkish
ladies shortly afterwards followed, and established themselves under the
shade of the same tree, whom we initiated into the mysteries of
_papillotes_, a secret science which has just become highly interesting
to them from their adoption of ringlets. We amused ourselves with these
follies for half an hour very pleasantly; and, having shared our fruit
and sweetmeats with our new acquaintance, and perceiving that the
company were rapidly departing for the sea-side, I established myself
under a fine beech-tree to take a sketch of the locality. But although
comparatively few persons remained in the glen, I soon discovered that
enough yet lingered to form a dense crowd about me, which effectually
prevented my obtaining a view of any object more picturesque than a
yashmac or a feridjhe; and I was about to give up the attempt in
despair, when a Turkish Officer approached, and requested me to favour
him with a sight of my sketch-book.
I complied at once, and was rewarded for my ready acquiescence in the
most agreeable way in the world; for, perceiving by its contents that it
was not persons but places which I was transferring to my little volume,
he explained to the ladies who had gathered about me, that I was
prevented from prosecuting my design by the fact of their having
entirely shut out the view I was most anxious to secure; and at the
first hint they moved aside to the right and left with all the good
humour imaginable; one succeeding the other in leaning over me, to
examine my work; and all rewarding my forbearance with exclamations of
“_Mashallàh_,” and “_Pek Guzel_.”
At length the little sketch was completed; and, putting up my pencils, I
thanked the Officer who had remained on guard over me and my
undertaking, very sincerely for his politeness; and we followed the
crowd along a lovely green lane on the opposite side of the bridge, to
the shore of the Bosphorus.
It was indeed a change of scene. The Castle of Europe, cold, and white,
and bare, cut sharply against the blue sky on the opposite coast; and,
as the channel is unusually narrow at this point, I was enabled to trace
more accurately than I had ever done hitherto, the architectural cypher
of the Prophet.
[Illustration: CASTLE OF MAHOMET.]
Within the walls are clustered about a dozen houses; and their
inhabitants are bound by an ancient law not to suffer their descendants
to marry without the precincts of the fortress; they are consequently
all closely related, and no instance has ever been known of their having
slighted the injunction.
Immediately before me, on the seaward edge of the fine stretch of turf
in which the lane terminated, all the throng of company that had crowded
the glen of the Valley during the earlier part of the day, were now
collected together under the long shadow of a double avenue of fine
trees fringing the border of the channel, and terminating at the elegant
fountain to which I have already made allusion. On one side rose the
painted kiosk of the Sultan; and near it stood the little mosque, with
its slender minaret shooting heavenward, and almost hidden by the leafy
branches of the surrounding trees. On the other a cluster of arabas,
with their crimson and purple awnings, and fringes of gold and
silver—while, in the midst, groups of women were dotted over the
greensward, and gaily-dressed children gambolled in their young
gracefulness, making the elastic air buoyant with mirth.
It was a heart-inspiring spectacle! and it was beautiful to remark the
kindness and good feeling which pervaded the whole assemblage. I cannot
understand how any European who has once contemplated a scene of this
description, can carry away with him an unfavourable impression of the
Turkish character. I have remarked elsewhere on the happy freedom from
_morgue_ which pervades the wealthier classes of the capital. Neither
superciliousness nor assumption on the part of their more fortunate
neighbours, withers the enjoyment of the humble and the laborious; the
day of rest and recreation levels all ranks, and suspends all
distinctions; and thus each is secure to find the pleasure which he
seeks; for that pleasure is in itself of so natural and simple a
description that it requires no combination of causes to produce it—a
bright sky—a balmy atmosphere—a lovely landscape—are all that is
necessary to its enjoyment; and they are ever within the reach of the
humblest during the long summer season—And when to these are superadded
the kindly smile and the ready greeting which are never withheld in
Turkey from those who seek them, it must at once be acknowledged that
the Osmanlis have made a wise selection, in preferring to the strife and
struggle for precedence, and the uncertainty of ultimate success, which
clog the more refined and “exclusive” pleasures of Europe, the simple,
kindly, and ever-enduring enjoyment of nature and universal good-will.
But I am committing an error in thus applying the word “refined.”—Are
not such pleasures as those of Turkey infinitely more refined than the
elaborated dissipations of the West? Is not the holiness of nature a
loftier contemplation than the gilded saloons of the great?—The power
to feel and to appreciate the noble gifts of the Creator, eminently more
glorious than the talent to discover the finite perfections of the
creature? Is not the breeze which sweeps over the heathy hill, or
through the blossom-scented valley, more redolent of real sweetness than
the perfume-laden halls of luxury?
If these be “barbarous” pleasures, then are the Turks the most barbarous
people upon earth, for in these consist their highest enjoyments—In
them the Minister finds his ready solace for the cares of office, and
the labourer for the toils of weary days—But if they be indeed those
which should be the best calculated to impart their charm to cultivated
minds and unsullied hearts; then, as I have already ventured to suggest,
the Turks have “chosen the better part,” and are authorised to smile, as
they ever do, in quiet pity at the coil and care with which we of
“civilized” Europe, cheat ourselves into the belief that we have far
outstripped them in enjoyment, as well as science; and toil throughout a
long life in pursuit of a phantom which flits before us like a beckoning
spirit, but is ever beyond our grasp.
I was never more struck with this truth than at Guiuk-Suy, I never saw
the women of Turkey under a more favourable aspect.—Every heart
appeared to be holding holyday; and when, as evening closed, we returned
to our caïque, and bade adieu to the valley of the Asian Sweet Waters, I
felt that I knew them better—that I understood more correctly their
social character, than I had hitherto done; and it is an important fact,
and one which is well worthy of remark, that the more an European,
resolved to cast aside prejudice, and to study the national habits and
impulses, comes in contact with the inhabitants of the East, the more he
is led to admire the consistency of thought, feeling, and action which
influence them; and the high-minded generosity with which they tolerate
the jarring and discordant habits and prejudices of their foreign
visitors.
I am obliged to concede that no assemblage of European gentlewomen would
have welcomed among them two female strangers, as the Turkish ladies,
during the day which we spent at Guiuk-Suy, received my friend and
myself. The wandering Giaours were every where greeted with smiles,
urged to linger, invited to partake of every rural collation: treated,
in short, as friends, rather than persons seen for the first, and,
probably, the only time. And such a welcome as this might be secured by
every Frank lady, did she consider it worth her while to conciliate the
Turkish females; who are always sufficiently rewarded for their
courtesy and kindness, by a gay smile and a ready acceptance of their
proffered civility; and yet it is a singular fact, that the European
ladies resident in Constantinople are scarcely acquainted with one
Osmanli family, and I have been asked more than once if I was not
frightened of the Turkish women!
It were needless to comment either on the illiberality of the prejudice,
or the effects which it is so unfortunately calculated to
produce—Effects which are painfully visible; and whose cause is
anything but creditable to European generosity or penetration.