"No, she takes three bits of live charcoal from out of the fire; giving each of her lovers a piece, she tells them to place it in the palms of their hands. The fire burns through the skin, the tendons are laid bare; sometimes the amorous gentlemen will resist till the flesh has been burnt to the bone. Here one or two of them generally succumb to the torture; the man who resists the longest, wins the lady." "But if they are all equally indifferent to pain, and the charcoal burns out, what happens then?" I inquired. "The lady takes three more pieces of charcoal, and begins again with the other hand," replied the Bey. "The more they resist, the better the girl likes them, because it is a proof to her mind that they value her more than their own torture." "Did you ever try it?" "No," said the Bey, laughing. "I can get a wife without any trouble, so I do not care about burning my fingers. We burn our fingers quite soon enough after marriage, as it is." "Yes," said the doctor, and he began to give me a long account of the domestic life in some of the harems in Angora. According to the doctor's experiences there was a great deal of immorality amidst the fair sex in the city, although nothing to what existed in Yuzgat, another town which I should pass by on the way to Kars. In Angora, although the women are very unfaithful to their husbands, yet everything is kept more or less concealed. In Yuzgat it was very different, and there you could actually see the dance of the Turkish gipsy women, although in Angora it was strictly prohibited. M. Gasparini was doing a large practice. He had been established for ten years in Angora and its neighbourhood. From his position as a medical man he had the opportunity of knowing more about the domestic life of the inhabitants than the other European residents. "Well, although the women may be immoral, the men are very hospitable," said the Consul. "Wherever a stranger may go he is always received with the greatest hospitality. A few years ago a friend of mine, Mr. Thompson, was travelling from the Black Sea to Angora. He arrived at a village. The Khan was full, every room was occupied. However, he was an old traveller, and could easily accommodate himself to circumstances. Taking his cloak, he lay down in the yard and prepared to pass the night in the open air. Presently he was awakened by a tap on the shoulder. On looking up, he found an old Turk bending over him. "Why are you sleeping here?" inquired the Mohammedan. "Because there is no room in the Khan." "This is not right. A stranger, and outside the gate. Come with me." Taking Mr. Thompson by the hand, the Turk led him to his house, gave him a clean bed and his breakfast, waited himself upon his guest, and would not receive any remuneration.