"When we were passing along the road called Piccadilly there were collected to see us so many people that never in my life had I seen so great a crowd; indeed I afterwards heard that several persons had been injured through the pressing of the crowd trying to get a glimpse of us. Our dress and our turbans must, I think, have appeared very curious to them. We arrived at St James's Palace, and after I had presented my credentials we were invited to dinner. What most impressed me was the charming manners and appearance of the ladies. Some young ladies belonging to the King's family bound round their heads the embroidered silk handkerchiefs I had offered on behalf of my sovereign, and said laughingly and with infinite grace, 'Now we belong to the harem of his Majesty the Sultan!'"
[11] It may be said that vessels other than men-of-war could not, in international law, be exactly considered parts of the territory of the State to which they belong when they are in foreign ports. But owing to the privileged state of foreign ships in the Ottoman empire, the Sultan could not now, under any circumstances, have taken me back from this paraffin-oil ship, had he been informed of my taking refuge there.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Diary of a Turk, by Halil Halid