[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.