our. The Sultan sat quietly during all this time, his face expressing a
total indifference to all that was going on. The most skilful
physiognomist could not have found in it the shadow of an expression. If
this was the etiquette prescribed for him, he certainly acted it with
marvellous skill and success.

The long line of officers at length came to an end, and I fancied that the
solemnities were now over; but after a pause appeared the _Shekh
el-Islam,_ or High Priest of the Mahometan religion. His authority in
religious matters transcends that of the Sultan, and is final and
irrevocable. He was a very venerable man, of perhaps seventy-five years of
age, and his tottering steps were supported by two mollahs. He was dressed
in a long green robe, embroidered with gold and pearls, over which his
white beard flowed below his waist. In his turban of white cambric was
twisted a scarf of cloth-of-gold. He kissed the border of the Sultan's
mantle, which salutation was also made by a long line of the chief priests
of the mosques of Constantinople, who followed him. These priests were
dressed in long robes of white, green, blue, and violet, many of them with
collars of pearls and golden scarfs wound about their turbans, the rich
fringes falling on their shoulders. They were grave, stately men, with
long gray beards, and the wisdom of age and study in their deep-set eyes.

Among the last who came was the most important personage of all. This was
the Governor of Mecca (as I believe he is called), the nearest descendant
of the Prophet, and the successor to the Caliphate, in case the family of
Othman becomes extinct. Sultan Mahmoud, on his accession to the throne,
was the last descendant of Orchan, the founder of the Ottoman Dynasty, the
throne being inherited only by the male heirs. He left two sons, who are
both living, Abdul-Medjid having departed from the practice of his
predecessors, each of whom slew his brothers, in order to make his own
sovereignty secure. He has one son, Muzad, who is about ten years old, so
that there are now three males of the family of Orchan. In case of their
death, the Governor of Mecca would become Caliph, and the sovereignty
would be established in his family. He is a swarthy Arab, of about fifty,
with a bold, fierce face. He wore a superb dress of green, the sacred
color, and was followed by his two sons, young men of twenty and
twenty-two. As he advanced to the throne, and was about to kneel and kis