Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 17, No. 102, June, 1876Various
Science
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 17, No. 102, June, 1876
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
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 _à 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 which
exercise others occasionally took part in a quiet manner. After a while
they knelt in line opposite their leader and began to chant in louder
tones, occasionally bowing forward full length. Matters down below
progressed slowly at first, and were getting monotonous. One of my feet,
unaccustomed to its novel position, had gone to sleep, and I was in a
cramped state generally. Moreover, we were not the sole occupants of the
gallery: the sheepskins were full of them, and I began to think that if
the dervishes did not soon begin to howl, _I_ should. Some traveler has
said that on the coast of Syria the Arabs have a proverb that the
"sultan of _fleas_ holds his court in Jaffa, and the grand vizier in
Cairo." Certainly some very high dignitary of the realm presides over
Constantinople, and makes his head-quarters in the mosque of the Howling
Dervishes.
[Illustration: CASTLE OF EUROPE, ON THE BOSPHORUS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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