race when I was describing the Asiatic origin of my forefathers. I am not, nevertheless, contradicting myself here; for when the pedigree of a person is being considered with us, it is only his ancestry on the father's side that counts. My mother passes a most retired life in her town and summer houses. In town there is a market-place situated a few minutes' distance from our house, which she has never seen in her whole life. She went, however, to Mecca on a pilgrimage some five years ago. CHAPTER II. AT SCHOOL AND IN THE HAREM. My hatred of lessons--Compulsory attendance at school--The bastinado in schools--My own experience of it--How schoolgirls are punished--The old-fashioned implement for beating--"The rod is a gift from Heaven"--I help to kidnap a bride--My mother's grief at my behaviour--I am handed over to a stem uncle in consequence--My uncle's wives--Etiquette in the harem--A first cigarette--Bastinado again--I am shut out of the harem--The practice of polygamy--Its popularity estimated--The European system. "PARADISE is beneath the ground over which mothers walk," said Prophet Mohammed. This saying is to be thus construed: "If any man desires to gain paradise, let him obey and respect his mother." This precept I was taught to follow from my earliest childhood. But I fear I must be destined for some place other than paradise, for when I was a boy I frequently gave my mother much trouble and caused her great and many anxieties, for I found my conduct free from masculine control after my father's death, and made good, or bad, use of my opportunities. I was a child of unthinking and reckless nature. I had an intense horror of going to any school. At our summer residence I owned a flock of geese, and I loved to spend my time looking after them. I was therefore given the nickname of 'goose-herd,' which is tantamount in Turkish to 'idiot'. In our town-house I trained and reared pigeons, and I must say I had some excuse for this, as I have never seen such beautiful birds elsewhere. They were very small, and of a pure white hue. They would fly to an extraordinary altitude, and would remain out of sight for several hours. At other times they would suddenly let themselves fall, swooping and wheeling in mid-air, and then shoot upwards once more. Birds of this most intelligent and trainable breed have been frequently taken to Constantinople, but they cannot live in the climate of that town.