Haïsè Hanoum was a young creature of sixteen, very pretty, and very stupid, who, individually, created no great interest; but she had a rival in the harem, a sweet girl of twelve years of age, with the face of an angel, and the grace of a sylph; who, if the gossipry of the neighbourhood may be relied upon, was no especial favourite with her companion, whose dullness yet left her discrimination enough to be jealous of the superior attractions of the gazel-eyed Odalique. The Cadi himself had reached his eightieth year, and his silver beard would rather have distinguished him as the grandsire than as the husband of these two beautiful young creatures. I entered the house at eight o’clock in the evening; and, having traversed the marble court, whose fountain poured forth its limpid waters beneath the shade of a venerable fig tree, I passed along the latticed terrace of the harem, to the Hanoum’s apartment. Long before I reached it, I was deafened with the noise which issued from its open door; the voices of the singing-women—the rattle of the tambourines—the laughter of the guests—the shouts of the attendant slaves—the clatter of the coffee and sherbet cups—I could scarcely believe that I was about to be ushered into a sick-chamber! At length, the three attendants who had lighted me upstairs, made way for me through the crowd of women who thronged the entrance of the apartment, and one of the most extraordinary scenes presented itself upon which it has ever been my fate to look. Directly opposite to the door stood the bed of the Hanoum; the curtains had been withdrawn, and a temporary canopy formed of cachemire shawls arranged in festoons, and linked together with bathing scarfs of gold and silver tissue: and, as the lady was possessed of fifty, which could not all be arranged with proper effect in so limited a space, a silk cord had been stretched along the ceiling to the opposite extremity of the apartment, over which the costly drapery was continued. Fastened to the shawls were head-dresses of coloured gauze, flowered or striped with gold and silver, whence depended oranges, lemons, and candied fruits. Two coverlets of wadded pink satin were folded at the bed’s foot; and a sheet of striped crape hung to the floor, where it terminated in a deep fringe of gold.