{8b} _Samarah_. A city of the Babylonian Irak, supposed to have stood on the site where Nimrod erected his tower. Khondemir relates, in his life of Motassem, that this prince, to terminate the disputes which were perpetually happening between the inhabitants of Bagdat and his Turkish slaves, withdrew from thence; and, having fixed on a situation in the plain of Catoul, there founded Samarah. He is said to have had in the stables of this city a hundred and thirty thousand pied horses; each of which carried, by his order, a sack of earth to a place he had chosen. By this accumulation, an elevation was formed that commanded a view of all Samarah, and served for the foundation of his magnificent palace. Herbelot, p. 752, 808, 985. Anecdotes Arabes, p. 413. {9} _Houris_. The Virgins of Paradise, called, from their large black eyes, _Hur al oyun_. An intercourse with these, according to the institution of Mahomet, is to constitute the principal felicity of the faithful. Not formed of clay, like mortal women, they are deemed in the highest degree beautiful, and exempt from every inconvenience incident to the sex. Al Koran; passim. {10} _Genii_. Genn or Ginn, in the Arabic, signifies a Genius or Demon—a being of a higher order, and formed of more subtile matter than man. According to Oriental mythology, the Genii governed the world long before the creation of Adam. The Mahometans regarded them as an intermediate race between angels and men, and capable of salvation: whence Mahomet pretended a commission to convert them. Consonant to this, we read that, “When the servant of God stood up to invoke him, it wanted little but that the Genii had pressed on him in crowds, to hear him rehearse the Koran.” Herbelot, p. 357. Al Koran ch. 72. {23} _Accursed Giaour_. Dives of this kind are frequently mentioned by Eastern writers. Consult their tales in general, and especially those of “The Fisherman,” “Aladdin,” and “The Princess of China.” {26a} _Bababalouk_, _the Chief of his Eunuchs_. As it was the employment of the black eunuchs to wait upon, and guard the sultanas, to the general superintendence of the Harem was particularly committed to their chief. Habesci’s State of the Ottoman Empire, p. 155–6. {26b} _The Divan_. This was both the supreme council, and court of justice, at which the Caliphs of the race of the Abassides assisted in person to redress the injuries of every appellant. Herbelot, p. 298. {27} _The Prime Vizier_. Vazir, Vezir, or as we express it, Vizier, literally signifies a porter; and by metaphor, the minister who bears the principal burden of the state. {50} _Gian Ben Gian_. By this appellation was distinguished the monarch of that species of beings, whom the Arabians denominate _Gian_ or _Ginn_, that is, _Genii_; and the Tarik Thabari, _Peres_, _Feez_, or _Faeries_.