The Kiära Bey, or Minister of the Interior, despite his exalted station and his immense wealth, has declined to avail himself of his polygamical privilege; and, although his wife is both plain and elderly, she has such a supreme hold, if not upon his heart, at least upon his actions, that, a short time since, having discovered that her lord had suddenly become more than necessarily attentive to a fair Circassian, her own peculiar favourite, whom she had reared from a child, and whose beauty was of no ordinary character, she very quietly placed her in an araba, sent her to the slave-market, and disposed of her to the highest bidder. The ingratitude of the _protégée_ had loosened her hold on the affections of her patroness; nor did the husband venture to utter a reproach to his outraged helpmate, when he discovered the absence of the too-fascinating Circassian. Had the unhappy girl been the _Odalique_ of the lord, instead of the slave of the lady, the evil would have been irremediable, however; as in that case, the Bayuk Hanoum would have possessed no power to displace her. Early in the morning, the stately Fatma Hanoum presented to my companion and myself a _bokshalik_ from the venerable Effendi, which consisted of the material for a dress, neatly folded in a handkerchief of clear muslin, fringed with gold-coloured silk; and, as I made my hasty toilette, in the hope of witnessing the procession of the Baïram, and seeing Mahmoud “the Powerful” in all the splendour of his greatness, I glanced with considerable interest round the apartment in which I had passed the night. In the domed recess, which I soon discovered to be common to every handsome Turkish apartment, stood a French clock, that “discoursed,” if not “eloquent,” at least fairy-like, music—a piece of furniture, by the way, universally popular among the natives of the East, who usually have one or more in every room occupied by the family—two noble porcelain vases—a china plate containing an enamelled snuff-box, and a carved ebony chaplet—and a tray on which were placed cut crystal goblets of water, covered glass bowls filled with delicate conserves, a silver caïque, whose oars were small spoons, and a beautifully worked wicker basket, shaped like a dish, and upheaped with crystallized fruits, sparkling beneath a veil of pale pink gauze, knotted together with bunches of artificial flowers. Turkish hospitality and _prévoyance_ provide even for the refreshment of a sleepless night! The divan was of flesh-coloured satin, and the carpet as delicately wrought and patterned as a cachemire shawl. The cushions which had been piled about my bed were of velvet, satin, and embroidered muslin, and the coverlets, of rich Broussa silk, powdered with silver leaves.