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Page:Walter Matthew Gallichan - Women under Polygamy (1914).djvu/188

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WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY

is a connecting door through which the pasha can pass at will. The walls are very beautifully decorated with painted panels of birds and flowers in gorgeous colours. In many harems the bath is in one of the arms or wings, or in a separate building in the gardens. A solid stone wall, thirty feet in height, encompasses the palace and the delightful gardens.

The chief apartments of a Grand Pasha's daughters in Cairo have been described by Emmeline Lott, in her book on "Harem Life," as two large saloons. The carpets are of the finest Brussels. On the carpets are innumerable spots of melted wax that have fallen from the candles carried in the fingers of the slaves. Divans, covered with fine red damask satin, surround the room.

A tall mirror reaches from the floor to the ceiling. In one corner of the mirror fruit and flowers are painted; in others, musical instruments, weapons, and the crescent. The marble tables are supported on gilt legs, and upon each table is a silver chandelier holding eight candles. The candles have red glass shades, adorned with paintings of flowers.

Seven rooms, approached from the saloons, are used as bedchambers. One of these rooms had a divan covered with striped red and green damask, standing near a window overlooking the pasha's garden. Damask hangings were attached to the window and

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