"When we were passing along the road called Piccadilly there were
collected to see us so many people that never in my life had I seen so
great a crowd; indeed I afterwards heard that several persons had been
injured through the pressing of the crowd trying to get a glimpse of
us. Our dress and our turbans must, I think, have appeared very curious
to them. We arrived at St James's Palace, and after I had presented
my credentials we were invited to dinner. What most impressed me was
the charming manners and appearance of the ladies. Some young ladies
belonging to the King's family bound round their heads the embroidered
silk handkerchiefs I had offered on behalf of my sovereign, and said
laughingly and with infinite grace, 'Now we belong to the harem of his
Majesty the Sultan!'"
[11] It may be said that vessels other than men-of-war could not, in
international law, be exactly considered parts of the territory of the
State to which they belong when they are in foreign ports. But owing to
the privileged state of foreign ships in the Ottoman empire, the Sultan
could not now, under any circumstances, have taken me back from this
paraffin-oil ship, had he been informed of my taking refuge there.
PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD
EDINBURGH.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Diary of a Turk, by Halil Halid
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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