The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-22 00:00:00

A VISIT TO A lIAREM IN TUNIS.

"Tie rich carpets on which I trod, the drowsy at-
mosphere laden with the finest perfumes of Arabia, and
the countless figures, clad in gay, fantastic garments,
that surrounded me, ell strengthened the illusion tl3a; I
was present in an actual scene from the thousand and
one nights. Lillah took 1103 by the hand and led me up to
the handsome divan, which was raised two steps, and
furnished with soft cushions covered with yellow da-
mask. The❑ sfe made me a sign to sit down beside her,
which of course I did, though by no means with the
same ease as herself, since the very low divan was made
to be sat on with crossed and bonded legs. Whilst my
eyes were gradually accustoming themselves to the dark-
ness of the spacious room, I bent them upon my neigh-
bour, the queen of this sumptuous harem. Lillah is a
well-preserved woman of five-and-thirty, or from that to
forty. Three of her grown-up daughters were present
and conversed with the other ladies of our party, as well
as they could, by means of signs. NV° had for inter-
preter Mlle. d'H.'s cousin, a lad about ten years old,
who was still privileged, by virtue of his tender years, to
enter the jealous doors of the harem; not only, how-
ever, did he often refuse to interpret to the ladies all the
questions which our curiosity suggested, but he was so
tondled and petted by them that he was all but useless
to us.

"But to return to the harem queen. Her figure may,
perhaps, have been handsome, but it is now spoiled by
excessive corpulence, which, however, according to the
Moorish canons of beauty, only serves to heighten her
charms. Her dress was very simple. Her upper gar-
ment was only a loose, shapeless kind of caftan, of bright
rose-coloured levantine silk, fastened at the threat by a
splendid diamond clasp, and reaching only to the knees.
Under it she wore a jacket thickly embroidered with
gold; her richly brocaded trowsers were fastened from
the knees to the ankles like leggings. Her bare feet
were fattened out of all symmetry. Several female
slaves waited behind her with various kinds of slippers.
"All the two hundred women in the harem, with the
exception of the negresses, were dressed in bright.co-
loured silks, and Lillah was only distinguised from the
rest by her incomparably beautiful jewels, and by the
universal deference shown towards her. Anything finer
than Lillah's diamonds and other jewels 1 never saw.
On her right thumb she wore a splendid ring, with the
Bey's cypher in diamonds, and on the third and fourth
fingers of both hands she had rings, one pair of which
was set with emeralds, and each of the others with five
or six diamans-monstres. On ber right arm she wore
three rows of fine pearls, each of which was as large as
the tip of my little finger. I was not a little astonished
to see several rows of the commonest glass beads in ouch
costly company.
"Her head-dress was very simple,,apart from the im-
mense value of the jewels attached to it. All the Moor-
ish women I had hitherto seen wore their hair combed
smooth backwards, in the fashion we call a /a chinoise;
but Lillah's hair, the incipient greyness of which had
been changed to brown by artificial means, hung down
her cheeks in bands as broad as a finger, and was cut off
below. The hair of the back of her head was tied up
in a white silk kerci,ief, two long ends of which, worked
with gold, hung down her back, whilst the other two
stood upright on the crows of her head like horns. All
the other women had head-dresses of the same curious
form; and Lillah moreover wore pendent from the back
of her head a great lot of amulets of every shape and
size. Not to weary the reader with details of the costly
things I saw, I will only mention that a ring with a
solitaire, worn by one of Lillah's daughters, has been
valued in Paris at a hundred and twenty thousand
francs."

"Lillah's nails and hands were dyed with henna, like
those of all Moorish women, and her eyelids and eyed
brows were tinged with a black powder. I gave her to
understand, through our young interpreter, that I wished
to know how the colouring was effected, whereupon
she sent one of her women to fetch the little apparatus
containing the indispensable materials. Finding that I
was to be made acquainted with the cosmetic, not only
by sight but by personal trial. I asked why I, of all our
party, was especially chosen for that honour. Her an-
swer was, " You are not yet married, I am sure, but if
I paint your eyes you will very soon get a handsome
husband." To this I could only reply that I was mar-
ried, but that nevertheless the honour of having my face
painted by so fair a princess was most welcome to me
under any circumstances. I now submitted to the beau-
tifying process, but perhaps I did not sit for it as coolly
as I should have dune, for when Lillah had finished, her
daughters expressed the strongest disapprobation of her
performance. So much the worse was it for me.
"Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdin."
" Scarcely had I begun to cotigratulste myself on
having escaped from Lillah, who had twenty times been
near putting out my eye with her sharp pencil, ere I fell
into the hands of her daughter, who, without more ado,
fell to rubbing my face all over with her handkerchief,
which she moistened with her spittle. The powder used
for darkening the eyelashes is black lead. It is kept in
a little flisk of horn, or even of precious metal, to which
is fitted a wooden pencil, that alter being blackened with
the powder, is drawn along between the lids. Some
dexterity is necessary to perform this operation success-
fully, and without causing pain. The practice was
known to the Greeks and Romans. Pencils and powder,
just like these used in the present day, have been found
in the tombs of Egyptian women in the catacombs of
Sahara.

"Among the objects that greatly struck me in this
abode of luxury I must mention the ladies' pocket hand-
kerchiefs. What will the reader think when I say that
a hand like Lillah's, loaded with some forty thousand
pounds' worth at least of jewels, coquetted with a dark
cotton handkerchief, such as might be worn by a labour-
ing man in England?"

THE OLD JUDGE; or, Life in a Colony. By
the Author of " Sam Slick, the Clockmaker." New

Edition.

On its first appearance we noticed at length the
peculiarities of this delightful volume. We are glad
to meet with it in a new edition and a more condensed
form, in which we doubt not it will find a cordial
welcome among the numerous friends and admirers
of the censorious, but, withal, good-humoured," Clock-
maker." The manners and customs of communities,
and the peculiarities of individual character, are
touched off by Sam Slick with a smartness and
nicety which give at once an actuality to the sketch
and a charm to the description.

MEMORIALS OF WESTMINSTER. By
the Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott, 111 A.
The curate of St. Margaret's, Westminster, has here
presented us with a very comprehensive and care-
fully compiled history, or series of memorials, of the
city of Westminster, Saint Peter's College, the parish
churches, palaces, streets, and worthies. To its au-
thor the composition of this work has evidently been
a labour of love, and its perusal will afford pleasure
to all whose tastes lead them to sympathise with, or
whose habits of thought enable them to appreciate,
the peculiar spirit in which it is penned,
and the peculiar subject to which it relates.
" The streets constantly traversed," says Mr. Wal-
cott in his preface, " and the registers constantly re-
ferred to, by the clergyman of a large metropolitan
parish, in the course of his daily avocations, suggest
in themselves subjects of great and permanent in-
terest, affording at the same time a pleasant source
of relaxation in an inquiry into the histories con-
nected with them. In the case of a parish like that
attached to the Church of St. Margaret, which owes
its foundation to King Edward the Confessor, the
records which it possesses, all that it contains and has
embraced within its ample circuit—the kingly palaces,
the ancient college, the courts of law, the royal parks,
the sites in a city instinct with rich memories of
eight centuries and dwelling-places of worthies me-
morable in Church and State—afford "ample scope and
verge enough" for the most enterprising pen, patient
research, and the keen spirit which describes the
past.
.• nigh towers, fair terepleti, goodly theatres,
Strong walls, rich porches, princely palaces,
Large streets, brave houses, sacred sepulchres,
Sure gates, sweet gardens, stately galleries,
Wrought with fair pillars and fine imageries."
SPENSER.
Such were the attractions of the theme which fasci-
nated the attention of Mr. Walcott, and originated
the splendid volume now before us. To render the
work worthy of the theme has evidently been the
aim of author, artist, publisher, and printer. ft is
adorned with nine pictorial illustrations, re-
presenting St. Margaret's Church, Westminster,
in the olden time, Whitehall and its Gates,
St. Margaret's, from Henry the Seventh's Chapel,
great window of St. Margaret's Church, Entrance of
Westminster School, New Palace-yard, the Gate-
house and the Church of St. John the Evangelist.
The initial letters of every chapter are drawn from
letters in Cardinal Mazarin s Bible, which, together
with its beautiful typography and the peculiar nature
of its contents, give the work a venerable and un-
common appearance. Many of the copious lists of
dates, Scc. herein contained will not prove interesting
to every reader, but those who may be inclined to
pass over such species of information will pause with
pleasure at many an amusing anecdote and interesting
record connected with the worthies and walls of
Westminster.

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MR. SMITH O'BRIEN IN AUSTRALIA.---"The Nation
states that " Smith O'Brien is held in close and solitary con-
finement by the English authorities—forbidden all inter-
coarse with his fellow-exiles—attended by turnkeys under
strict orders not to exchange a syllable with him—and
visited by his gaoler at midnight."