The Press.
London, England, 1858-11-27 00:00:00

THE PRE S S, NOVEMBER 27, 1858.

1172

good billiard-tables," its shops " with fixed prices
front which no abatemement is made," its houses
" furnished in European style," its charming
walks and delicious climate, its unusual clean-
liness, and its inhabitants, pleasant, pretty, or
picturesque,—seems to offer the " splendour "
without the " havoc, of the East," and presents
a picture which, on a grey November day, when
the east wind is blowing out the sun and sending
the smoke down the chimney, becomes by the
force of contrast indisputably attractive.

Besides the fruits already mentioned, the
neighbourhood of Beyrout produces wheat, barley,
maize, rice, cotton, the sugar cane, and tobacco,
though it does not appear that the cultivation of
all of them is carried to the same extent. Slate,
iron, and copper, are also found ; but whether
they are extensively worked or not Mr. Farley
does not tell us. The climate is excellent for
pulmonary complaints, and is advantageously
contrasted in this respect even with Nice, Hyeres,
and Madeira—though the author's mention of
" quinine and Dover's powder," as the chief local
medicines, seems to point to the existence of almost
equally unpleasant maladies. Beyrout has long
been celebrated for its sea-bathing attractions,
and the formidable drawback to them, consisting
in the occasional appearance of a shark, may now,
we learn, be avoided by resorting to a certain
slathered cove—a discovery of the author's—
where the rocks are just high enough to let the
water in and keep the monster out. The expenses
of living are moderate : board and lodging at the
hotel,—which is the best in Syria, and not bad,—
costs 10 francs a day ; house rent averages from
251. to 501. a year; a horse (an Arab) may be
hired for 21. 10s. a month, or purchased for 10/.
or 121. A groom's wages are from 141. to 24/. a
year. But servants for personal attendance,
cooking, and housekeeping, had better be brought
from England.

The society of Beyrout seems half European-
ized in some of its habits. Thus, the Syrian
ladies " call," "receive," and go to balls. The
young girls are generally very handsome, but
marriage at fourteen makes old women of them
at thirty. With European habits they do not,
fortunately, adopt the European dress, and crino-
line and oystershell bonnets are still unknown in
the " land of the Sun," who certainly could not
" snile on the deeds that his children have done,"
if tut.y were. The "yashmak " is, at Beyrout, only
worn out of doors ; it is laid aside with the shoes
on entering a house. Slippers of yellow leather,
pointed at the toes, wide trousers, a silk pelisse
coming as low as the knees, and displaying the
bosom through a thin white gauze ; a loose jacket
of silk or velvet, open in front, and richly em-
broidered with gold; huge earrings, and tresses
so laden with gold coins and brilliants that the
wearer can scarcely turn her head,—complete the
costume of a Syrian lady of fashion. The " half-
hour before dinner," terrible to the Western
imagination, is in Syria often passed on the flat
top of the house, where the guests lean over the
stone parapets, enjoy the splendid views, eat
sweatmeats and drink raki, and smoke long
chibouks or hubble-bubbles. Then they descend
to the open court below, where dinner is " served
" in foe French style,—pillau and gourds stuffed
" with rice and meat, being the only native
"dishes." No etiquette, and little formality ; ladies
talk and laugh "with less constraint than in
Europe ; " then retire to the drawing-room,
whence they retire for and all on the
entrance of pipes and coke:, Such is a dinner
party at Beyrout.

But we had better allow Mr. Farley to speak a
little for himself. Here is the picture of a
Maronite princess :

Her dress was very picturesque, being composed of an
outer pelisse of blue silk, fringed with gold cord, a shawl
bound round her waist, and long loose trousers of yellow
silk, and yellow slippers. Her face and bosom were
covered with a veil, which hung from the tantoor. Yet
for a moment ahe contrived to take a sly peep at us, and,
as she opened her veil, disclosed a very pretty face, with
large almond•sbaped eyes, at the same time exhibiting a
silk vest under the pelisse, thickly embroidered with
gold lace. But the most curious part of her costume was
the tantoor.

The tantoor is a conical tube of silver, from a foot to
two feet in length, about three inches in width at one
end, and one at the other. Its shape is something like
that of the long champagne glosses some time ago in
fashion, with the stem cut off. The narrow end projects
over the forehead at an angle of about 43 degs., the broad
end being fixed to a pad on the top of the bead by two

silken cords, which are wound round the head, and then
permitted to bang behind, terminating in large tassels
tipped with knobs of silver. It is the distinguishing
ornament which, among the Maronitea, is worn by the
married women. It is never laid aside, night or day, and
has a very ludicrous effect. It serves, however ;to support
the veli, which falls from it gracefully, without incom-
moding the face. The weight of the tube and the tassels
of silver is considerable, and causes, it is said, severe head•
aches to the women.

The " tantoor " plays an important part in
married life among the Druses. When the dowry
of a fiancee has been agreed upon, and the
" khanjar " or dagger presented by the wife to
her future husband, to be used by him in case he
shuld then or at any future time be deceived by
her,—

The bride, attended by the women, spends the day
gaily in the bath, while the bridegroom and his friends
amuse themselves with feats of horsemanship, or in
drinking coffee and smoking chibouks at the house of
the bride's father. This continues for two days ; on the
third the bride is conducted, with considerable ceremony,
to the house of the bridegroo.n, closely covered with a
red gold-spangled veil, which in the nuptial chamber he
removes, and presents her with the tantoor. This he
places upon her head, where it remains both night and
day, while life remains.

The Druse possesses absolute power to divorce his wife,
first paying the stipulated dowry. Nevertheless divorces
are exceedingly rare, and they seldom take place at all
except for very serious causes. If a woman is guilty of
conjugal infidelity (which is extremely uncommon), she
always pays the penalty with her life. The husband
sends his wife back to her father's house, and with her
the khanjar which he had received on his marriage, but
without the sheath. This notifies her disgrace to her
family. The dishonour does not attach to the husband,
but to the relations of the wife, and can only be washed
out with her blood. The father and brother sit in solemn
judgment over the wife at her husband's house, and if the
evidence is sufficient her doom is pronounced. A father's
love is of no avail, a mother's shrieks cannot stay the
hand that strikes, nor a sister's tears mitigate the punish•
went. The executioner, generally the eldest brother,
severs her bead from her body, and the tantoor with a lock
of her hair steeped in blood, sent to the husband, testifies
that the deed has been accomplished.

Mr. Farley shines in the description of marriage
ceremonies. Besides the .une just quoted, we
have an account of a Syrian wedding ; of a
" bridal bath" (not from personal observation) ;
and of a Bedouin wedding, each of which con-
tains much that is amusing and characteristic.
At the latter, the ceremonies began with a native
dance—a sort of Oriental fandango; but the grand
spectacle was a mock fight between the bride-
groom and his father, each at the head of a party
of horsemen, the account of which reminds us of
the boys' tournament in the 4Eneid

alternis orbious nrbes
Impediunt, pugmeque cient simulacra sub armis.
Spears and firearms conic into play, and djerreeds
are thrown, evaded, caught and hurled back as
the riders fly along on their highbred steeds. But
the most singular portion of the spectacle was to
Come : --

The mock combat ended, a new scene commenced of
scarcely less interest, for the bridegroom then returned
in triumph as if after a victory. A cunous custom
prevails with these tribes. The bridegroom, on his return,
bears attached, either to his horse or to some part of his
attire, a handkerchief, or some other token or trophy,
which he is bound to bring back untouched to his bride.
Unless he does this, he is prohibited from seeing her,
and the marriage cannot be concluded. Many instances
have occurred where a rival has attacked the bridegroom
successfully, and carried off the handkerchief; and as the
possessor has a right to claim the bride, the fight for the
handkerchief is one of interest.

In this instance the bridegroom bore in his hand a
bouquet of flowers instead of the handkerchief, and he
marched surrounded by a troop of his officers with drawn
sword,. Two supporters walked at each side of the
horse's head, their arms leaning against the animal's
shoulders, and the swords crossing before the bouquet;
two more walked behind, the swords crossing in the same
manner. As the coitege advanced up the hill, it was
stopped by a band of men, who crossed the path, disputing
the way, and attempting to seize the bouquet ; they were,
however, unarmed, and an equal number from the ranks
of the !bridegroom opposed them. Then commenced a
most peculiar dance, or rather movement of their hands
and feet. Each troop formed a compact mass, leaning
close against each others' shoulders, and they appeared
as if, in case one fell, they would all fall together. In
this way, their feet firmly fixed on the ground, they
moved their heads and shoulders forwards and backwards,
beating their hands against each other, so as to keep
time, and uttering wild, unearthly shouts. This con-
tinued at intervals until the band approached the village,
when the women came out to meet them, joining their
shrill cries to the shouts of the men.

We had marked several other passages for
extract, but our readers have by this time suffi-
cient opportunity of judging of Mr. Farley's

powers of amusement or instruction. Those who
wish for a new book of travel, and are not sur-
feited with Eastern life, will find in Two Years
in Syria" much that is fresh and interesting.

Fellow Travellers. By the Author of " Margaret,
or, Prejudice at Home." London : Hurst and
Blackett.

True is so good a stay that we wonder it is not
better. The leading idea is original, the plot show,
real power of imagination, and the characters are not
below the average of average novels. Yet, on the
whole, " Fellow Travellers " is rather a heavy hook
to get through. It is founded on the plan of two
sets of personages being brought into momentary
contact at the beginning of the story, and then at
once flying off in the opposite direction, till at length'
somewhere towards the middle of the book, we begin
to see indications of a change, and gradually the two
sets come circling back to one another, much like
two snipes, which, on being flushed close together,
often dart away at first towards exactly opi.osite
quarters of the compass, bat, after performing many
curious gyrations in the air, ultimately begin to waver,
hang on the wing, and finally wheel round again to
each other, and continue their flight in company.
There are some striking effects in the tale;
and, probably, what spoils it is that too much has
been sacrificed to these. Like stage painting, the
representations are done with a bold, free hand, hut
at the same time are coarse, and net calculated t)
bear a minute inspection. Miss Osborne, daughter
of an old reprobate country gentleman, who had
brought her up among the most abominable scenes.
and then, supposing het to have been seduced, shots
her np from the world, and on his death coniigui
her, with a large annuity, to his agent, a Mr. John
Rycroft, is unquestionably a remarkable conceptio:.
The fearful situation of Miss Osborne through
long years of misery in her keeper's house—fot
she is supposed to be, and at times indeed ts,
insane—is very vividly brought home to us
and the final discovery of her marriage and her
child is wcrked up in a style that weuld as
credit to more famous writers. Perhaps, however,
the really best character in the book is the Countess
Clementine, a sort of cross between Becky Sharpe
and the Widow Barnaby, and we regret that we do
.
not see more of her. The hefoine is a good grit•
sacrificing little body, of the type much in vogue
just now, and the several heroes have the requisite
degree of unamiability to suit the modern taste.
We think the author of this work might, perhaps,
write a very good novel, but her talent seems more
suited to the stage, and in melodrama she would
probably achieve a great success.

Checkmate. A Tale. London : Bentley.
" CHECKMATE " is a story which, being in one volume,
and alternating between some readable sketches of
rural life and some tolerably exciting incidents of
London ditto, we have read through without a check.
This one merit, then, the book possesses—the inte-
rest never flags. But we are sorry we can say little
more in its praise. It is undeniably vulgar, notwali•
standing the author's power of describing what
not so ; and the character of Ernest, an underbred
town profligate, is one to inspire us alternately with
contempt and aversion. The heroine ends her life
in a convent from a pure conviction of its abstract
desirableness, and, if any other evidence of the
author's own belief were required. it would be food
in that unpleasant mode of speaking about VW and
vicious things which is almost peculiar to Romanist°
in this country.

The Two Brides; or, the French Chateau and Oa
English Home. By F. Bildwen. London •J.
Blackwood.
THIS is a tale of a widely different s'amp from tlit
last, and is a tolerably fair imitation of Mr. G. P.
R. James's medium style. The age is the age of
Queen Elizabeth. The scene lies alternately at
tol,
hi
English Court, the camp of Henry IV., and n
French chateau, to which a wounded English
iotBcee
i
is brought after the battle of Ivry. He falls n loy
with a daughter of the house; and his escape witl
her from the soldiers of the League down into a su
b.
te rranean passage reminds one of a very
in similar scent
Mr. James's " Henry Masterton." Unluckily, th'
Lady Clarisse is engaged to the Duke de 'Verdun
who bad saved her new lover's life in the battle, am
things are rather at a dead lock, till the duke, goo
over oti an embassy to England, falls in love will
his rival's sister, which opens a way of escape for all
parties. There is a good deal of pure and pleassui
writing in " The Two Brides."

London: Printed and Published by ALFRED i‘E, at the Ott
110, Strand, iu the Precinct of the Savoy, in the C‘fit
Middlesex, on Saturday, the 27th day of November, 10,..