THE FATE OF AN EGYPTIAN HAREM.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 20 August 1880, Page 2

THE FATE OF AN EGYPTIAN HAREM.

Tlie New York Times learns that tbe ex« Khedive of Egypt Is in an uohapps state of mind. By care and industry accompanied by a large outlay, he sua ceeded while in Egypt in collecting a verj fine harem. It was especially rich h what art critics would call 'choice ex« atnples ' of Circassia and Georgia, and il included the beat specimens of Egyptian, Turkish, and Syrian girls, besides a small amount of select French moral bric-a« brae. When, in compliance with tbe enthusiastic desire of his fallow-country men. and the foreign consuls, tbe Khedive abdicated, he took his harem and sucl valuables as he could lay his hands on, and went to Naples, intending to live a quiet life of study and meditation, sur« rounded by his harem and his portable property. At Naples his trouble began. The Government rented him a fine palace •—popularly known as the Favorita— on the shore of the bay, and at the foot of Vesuvius, where he took up his residence and arranged h»s collection of wives in i series of pleasant rooms. It formed decidedly tbe best collection of the kind that any Italian city had seen since the days of the Roman i'mpire, and tbe ez« Khedive was naturally proud of it. Before very long, however, he found that a harem can not be kept toeetlier so easily in Naples as in Cairo. The windows of the palace were not latticed, and the 1 idles of the harem could not be prevented from looking out at the people in the street. Neither was it practicable tc prevent stray Italians from seeing an occasional wife at a window. The eunuchs did their best to keep (he harem in subjection, but their efforts were unavailing, and before tbe ex« Khedive had occupied his palace many weeks be was compelled to notice that his barem was gradually growing smaller. He at once spoke to the chief eunuch, and demanded to know if several of bis wives were not missing. The ennuch maintained that, beyond the usual loss of wives by the j wear and tear incidental to dressing, no losses bad occurred. The ex* Khedive could not thus be deceived. He was eon. fident that seven or eight of his best wives had vanished, and although, owing to the want of a trustworthy catalogue, he could not prove that he was right, he resolved that no more losses should occur without his knowledge. A careful watch soon showed the leak in the harem. Every night a throng of handsome young Italians would appear under the windows of tbe palace, and a few wives would jump into their arms; In this way a oonatant drain of wives was in progress, and the alarmed ex»Khedive saw that un« less it could be stopped he would soon be wifeless. The Italian Government showed itself cold and heartless. When ap« pealed to by the ex Khedive, it explained that there was no law under which an Italian could be beheaded for taking one of the ex»Khedive's wives, or the latter prevented from jumping out of the win' dow. In these circumstances he decided to take severe measures, and ordered his entire barem to be tied together by the ankles and chained to a post. To his great dismay, he found that his servants bad been corrupted by civilisation, and were unwilling to obey orders that would bring them into difficulties with the Lalian police. They flatly refused to lay illegal bands upon a single'ankle, and the ex* Khedive sadly realised that he was living in a free and Christian country; There was nothing for him to do but to sit up at night and watch his family. He walked up and down the corridors of tbe palace, bursting into a room whenever be heard a noise, and occasionally catching a wife in the act of climbing out of the window. But this could not last. The want of sleep soon told upon him. 'More* over, his wives resented his conduct in watching them ; and, whenever he put his head out of the window, the Italians that stood below in tbe street, watching for wives, and making bets as to who would j catch the next one, addressed disrespectful language to him. Thus he was forced to see his harem melting away. Day after day he would walk through the rooms in which he had arranged his collection, and note how many valuable specimens were missing. One Hay it 1 would be bis most costly Circassian who had left him, taking all her back hair with her ; and another day it would be a favourite Egyptian who had gone after solemnly pledging herself never to leare her lord and master. At last it became more than the ex-Khedive could bear. When no less than fifty seven valuable wives bad been lost, the ex»Khedive abandoned tbe palace and fled to Rome, leaving the remnants of bis once uni« que barem behind him. It is said that the five wives which he left at Naples

will probably prove faithful to him, as they are the most unattractive of the lot, and hare hitherto failed to find any Italinn who would consent to take them i The ex-Khedive, however, has expressed i the opinion that he does not care what becomes of them. He has dennitely g»»en up the profession of a wire-col-I lector, and he is now living at a Roman hotel as a single man.. Perhaps he will try to console himself by collecting postal stamps or other objects less elusive than wires. Meanwhile, the young I Neapolitan dandy no loneer blocks up . the street in front of the Favorita Palace, nnd his recent athletic sport of catching the ex«Ehedive's wives as they threw themselves from the windows is at end.