The female relations of the Sultan are never allowed to quit Constantinople, lest their sons should escape the power of the despot, and occasion disturbances in the succession to the throne. When the Sultan dies, his women are shut up in what is called the old seraglio. If his successor be his son or brother, it is sacrilegious for him ever to look upon them; if otherwise, the love of novelty sometimes leads him among them to select new favorites. But the seraglios of the Sultan and his grandees do not furnish a true picture of the character and condition of the Turkish women; any more than the royal marriages and etiquette of European courts are indicative of the manners of the people. Women of the middling classes in Turkey appear to enjoy a very considerable degree of freedom and consideration. It is even said that hen-pecked husbands are as numerous there as elsewhere. Their houses are indeed divided into separate apartments, one portion devoted to the men and the other to the women. Sometimes these apartments communicate only by one door, of which the husband holds the key; and the food of the women is conveyed to them by means of a revolving cupboard, similar to those by which the poor are supplied with food at the gate of convents. But, generally speaking, the Turkish women go in and out at their pleasure. The streets and bazars of Constantinople are full of them. They seldom address a stranger, or reply if spoken to; but if any thing peculiarly attracts their curiosity, they ask questions with much simplicity. Their favorite recreation is an excursion on the Bosphorus, the arrangements for which are made with very little ceremony. A lady sends her servants to invite her female friends, orders the provisions to be carried with them, gives directions for her husband’s dinner, steps into her caique,[1] calls for her friend, proceeds up the Golden Horn, selects some pleasant scene where the children can frolic under the shade of lofty trees, and there they remain working, talking, singing, and playing on the thambourah,[2] till the declining sun gives them warning to return. Sometimes the husbands join in these excursions, and sit in a group apart from the ladies, smoking, and sipping sherbet and coffee, while female slaves amuse them with dancing and singing. Trustworthy attendants always accompany the ladies on these occasions, to protect them from intrusion. It would be considered extremely indecorous for a stranger to approach the group.