and
of the body-guard, which has its quarters in the vicinity of the palace.
He seldom, however, commands their attendance; their duties are to keep
watch at the principal entrances, and to salute him or any other higher
officers who may arrive at or leave the royal residence. The secretaries
write out his orders, and the chief of their number receives all foreign
functionaries or Turkish dignitaries who visit the palace on business. One
of them is the Sultan's interpreter, and translates articles for his
perusal from the many foreign papers received from Europe and America by
the Sultan. All official documents are sent to the chief secretary by the
different ministers of the Sublime Porte, and those received from the
foreign embassies and legations are translated there, previous to being
transmitted to the Sultan. No foreign legation ever transacts any official
business directly with the Sultan, or through the chief (private)
secretary; but the latter may be visited on matters relating to the
sovereign personally. Documents from the Sublime Porte are always
communicated through the Grand Vezir, who has a number of portfolios in
which these are placed, and he sends them to the palace by certain
functionaries charged especially with their conveyance. Of these the Vezir
possesses one key, and the Sultan, or his chief secretary, another. The
sultan passes several hours of the day, from eleven till three, in
perusing these papers, and in hearing their perusal by the private
secretary before him; and his imperial commands are traced on their broad
margin, either by his own hand in red ink (as is customary in China), or
he directs his secretary to do it for him. So very sacred are all
manuscripts coming from his pen, that these papers seldom ever leave the
bureaux to which they belong, except after his decease. It is only on such
documents that the autograph of the Sultan is ever seen.

At about three o'clock the Sultan generally leaves the palace in a
_caique_ or barge, which, being smaller than that used for official
purposes, is called the _incognito_ (_tebdil_), and visits the edifices
that he may be erecting, calls upon his sisters, or spends the remainder
of the day at one of the many delightful nooks on the Bosphorus or Golden
Horn, where he possesses _kiosks_, or summer-houses. Sometimes he takes
with him his brother or his sons; and he is strongly attached to them. It
is said that he is having the latter instructed in