[141] [The Kizlar aghasi was the head of the black eunuchs; kislar, by itself, is Turkish for "girls," "virgins."] [142] A twisted fold of _felt_ is used for scimitar practice by the Turks, and few but Mussulman arms can cut through it at a single stroke: sometimes a tough turban is used for the same purpose. The jerreed [jarīd] is a game of blunt javelins, animated and graceful. [143] "Ollahs," Alla il Allah [La ilāh ill 'llāh], the "Leilies," as the Spanish poets call them, the sound is Ollah: a cry of which the Turks, for a silent people, are somewhat profuse, particularly during the jerreed [jarīd], or in the chase, but mostly in battle. Their animation in the field, and gravity in the chamber, with their pipes and comboloios [_vide post_, p. 181, note 4], form an amusing contrast. [fp] {169} _Her heart confessed no cause of shame_.--[MS.] [144] "Atar-gul," ottar of roses. The Persian is the finest. [145] The ceiling and wainscots, or rather walls, of the Mussulman apartments are generally painted, in great houses, with one eternal and highly-coloured view of Constantinople, wherein the principal feature is a noble contempt of perspective; below, arms, scimitars, etc., are, in general, fancifully and not inelegantly disposed. [fq] _The drops that flow upon his vest_ _Unheeded fell upon his breast_.--[MS.] [146] {170} It has been much doubted whether the notes of this "Lover of the rose" are sad or merry; and Mr. Fox's remarks on the subject have provoked some learned controversy as to the opinions of the ancients on the subject. I dare not venture a conjecture on the point, though a little inclined to the "errare mallem," etc., _if_ Mr. Fox _was_ mistaken. [Fox, writing to Grey (see Lord Holland's Preface (p. xii.) to the _History ... of James the Second_, by ... C. J. Fox, London, 1808), remarks, "In defence of my opinion about the nightingale, I find Chaucer, who of all poets seems to have been the fondest of the singing of birds, calls it a 'merry note,'" etc. Fox's contention was attacked and disproved by Martin Davy (1763-1839, physician and Master of Caius College, Cambridge), in an interesting and scholarly pamphlet entitled, _Observations upon Mr. Fox's Letter to Mr. Grey_, 1809.] [fr] _Would I had never seen this hour_ _What knowest thou not who loves thee best._--[MS.] [fs] {171} _If so by Mecca's hidden shrine_.--[MS.] [ft] _The day that teareth thee from me_.--[MS.] [147] "Azrael," the angel of death. [fu] _When comes that hour and come it must_.--[MS. erased.] [fv] {172} _Which thanks to terror and the dark_ _Hath missed a trifle of its mark._--[MS.] [The couplet was expunged in a revise dated November 19.] [fw] _With life to keep but not with life resign_.--[MS.] [fx] {173} _That strays along that head so fair._--[MS.] or, _That strays along that neck so fair._--[MS.]