In A Turkish Harem

Ad acconnt of the visit I paid to t;o zeuana or barem oi a Mohammedan nawab in a native state inay not be without interest. A carriage and mounted escort of soldiers were sent at 8 o'clock onemorning to convey us to the castle. A gate in tb iriViiense walls of the compound led ds into the ill kept gardeus. Passing froin these iuto the courtyard aud through long colonnades aud untidy paseages, we were couducted finally into the zenana. A large aud lofty room, ■with walls on three sides and a colonnade opening on toa courtyard, was the apartment in whieh we were received. Chairs were brought for our accommodation, but with the exception of the matting on the fioor the place was without furniture. Women, some yonug and tall, othera old and wrinkled, passed and repassed while we waited for the begum to appear. They were all dressed in the' same fashion. Trousers of light colored damasks or satin clothed them from the waist. These pan t aioons were baggy above, but so close fitting from the knee downward that t'iey have to be sewednp after they are ou. They are unsewed aud removed once a week for the bath. A short bodice, reaching just below the breast, is worn, and tben round the body and over the shoulders and head is wound the sari of muslin or silk, which falla in graceful folds from the hips and shonlders. The begum kept us waiting, and we wero told the reason was that Bhe was putting on all her jewels to de us honor. Preseutly she came in - a smal!, young woman, with an oval, immobile face and smooth, black hair. She wore tight trousers of a rich green damask and a sari of cloth of gold. On her bare ankles were anklets of uucutemeralds and diamonds, said to be worth 40,000 rupees. On her arms were a large number of jewoled bangles and armlets, on her fingers rings of beautifnl rubies and diamonds. Round her neck were strings of fine pearls, and, suspended by studs of large diamonds in the outer rirus of the ears, she wore across the hair at the back of the head pearls, emeralds and rubies, prettily set as a kind of collarette. The ears were pierced in several places to allow rings and jowels to be inserted, and in the nose a small diamond was worn. The little jeweled lady did not speak Euglish, and after we had admired her jewelry conversation soon came to an end. Her wee baby was brought in dressed in colored silk, with a gold laced cap on its little bald head. The nawab joined ns, and there was niuch lively chat over the subject of our visit to the state. In such a zenana the most rigorous seclusion of the wives is enforced - wives, I say, for in this zenana the begum waa the chief and the only wife and was married the day after the death of the first