ian officer, who acted as our cicerone, pointed out
to us a cross carved above the mantel-piece of the bedroom. The mystic
symbol, placed above a crescent, eloquently interpreted the condition of
a life divided between love and grief. What tears, what conflicts of the
heart and mind had it not beheld!"

The travellers passed through a succession of gardens and walled
enclosures, in the course of their inspection of the various pavilions,
kiosks, and buildings comprised within the precincts of the palace. To
the one occupied by the harem has appropriately been given the name of
"The Little Valley of Roses." It is a beautiful rose-bower, which echoes
divinely with the sound of falling waters and the song of the
nightingales.

A tower of considerable altitude, with a terrace fronted with gratings
that can be raised or lowered at will, overlooks the principal court. It
was erected to enable the inmates of the harem to watch, unseen, the
martial exercises that were practised there. The prospect from the
terrace, embracing a bird's-eye view of the labyrinth of buildings,
gardens, and other enclosures, is very lovely. It includes a panorama of
the town as it rises, tier upon tier, against the background of the
sloping hills. The various voices of the town collected and reverberated
within the limited space, are heard distinctly, especially at hush of
eve, when the summons to prayer from every minaret mingles with the
bleating of the weary flocks, and the cries of the shepherds returning
from their pastures.

* * * * *

Before Madame de Hell quitted the Chersonese, she paid a visit to
Karolez, a mountain village belonging to the Princess Adel Bey, who
received her visitors with admirable courtesy.

"The guest-house was prepared with the ostentation which the Orientals
are fond of displaying on all occasions. A double row of servants of all
ages was drawn up in the vestibule when my husband and I dismounted;
and one of the eldest and also the most sumptuously attired, introduced
us into a saloon arranged in Oriental fashion, with brightly painted
walls and red silk divans. The son of the princess, a charming boy of
twelve, who spoke Russian fluently, attached himself to us, politely
translated our orders to the servants, and was careful that we should
want for nothing. I gave him my letter of introduction, which he
immediately carried to his mother, and soon afterwards, returning, he
told me,