Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-09-29


ches, the doors clapped 10 with loud rever-
herations. II was the laughter Of the fol-
lowers Of Mahound, frolicking and taking
their pleasure in the public bath. ! could
not go into that place | swore | would not
they promised me a private room, and the
dragoman left me. My agony at parting from
that Christian cannot be described.
When you get into the Sudarium, or hot
room, your first sensations only occur about
half a minute after entrance, when you feel
that you are choking. | found myself in
that STATE, seated on a marble slab the bath
man was gone he had taken away the cot
ton turban and shoulder shawl; saw I was
in a narrow room of marble, with a vaulted
roof, and a fountain Of warm and cold water;
the atmosphere was in a steam, the choking
sensation went off, and | felt a sort Of plea
sure presently in a soft boiling simmer,
which, no doubt, potatoes feel when they are
steaming. You are left in this state for a
bout ten minutes; it is warm, certainly, but
odd and pleasant, and disposes the mind to
~IeveTie.
But let any delicate mind In Baker street,
fancy my horror. when, on looking up out Of
this %reverie, ] saw a great brown wretch ex-
tended before me, only half-dressed, standing
on pattens, and exaggerated by them and the
steam until he looked like an ogre, g~rinning
in the most horrible way, and waving his
arm, on which was a horse.hair glove. He
spoke In his unknown nasal iargon, words
which echoed through the arched room his
eye seemed astonishingly large and bright,
his ears stuck out, and his head was all sha-
we'd, except a b~risiIing ~top-knot, which gave
it a demoniac ierceness.
This description, | feel, is growing too
frightful ladies who read il will be going
into Mysteries, or saying, Well, upon my
word, this is the most singular, the most ex-
traordinary kind Of language. Jane, my love,
you will not read that odious ~book"-and so
| will be brief. This grinning man belabors
the patient most violently with the horse.
brush. When he has completed the horse
hair part, and you lie expiring under a s4uir-
ting fountain Of warm water, and fancyiDg
all is done, he reappears with a large brass
basin, containing a quantity of lather, in the
midst of which is something like old Miss
acWhirter's flaxen wig that she is so proud
Of, and that we have all laughed at. Just as
you are going TO demonstrate, the thing like
the wig is dashed into your face and eyes,
covered over with soap and for five minutes
you are drowned in lather you can'tsee, the
suds are frothing over your eyeballs you
can't hear, the soap is whizzing into your
ears you can't gasp for breath, Miss Mac
Winters wig is down your throat with half
a pail full of suds in an instant-you are all
soap. Wicked children in former days have
jeered you, exclaiming, " How are you off
for soap?" You little knew what sapona-
city was till you entered a Turkish bath.
When the whole operation is concluded,
you are led-with what heartfelt Joy | need
not say-softly back to the cooiing-room,
having been robed in shawls and turbans as
before. You are laid gently on the reposing
bed somebody brings a %narghile, which
tastes as tobacco must taste in Mahomet's
Paradise a cool sweet dreamy langour takes
possession of the purified frame; and half an
hour of such delicious ~laZiness is spent over
the pipe as is unknown in Europe, where
vulgar prejudice has most shamefully malig-
ned Incidence. calls it foul names, such as
the father Of all evil, and the like; in fact,
does not know how to educate idleness as
these honest Turks do, and the fruit which,
when properly cultivated, it bears.
The after-bath state is the most delightful
condition OF laziness | ever knew, and | tried
1t wherever We went afterwards on our little
tour. At Smyrna the whole business was
much inferior to the method eIHployed in the
capital. At Cairo, after the soap, YOU are
plunged into a sort of stone coffin, full Of
water, which is all but boiling. This has
its charms; but | could not relish the Egyp-
tian shampooing. A hideous old blind man
(but very dexterous in his art) tried to break
my back and d~islocate my shoulders, but |
could not see the pleasure of the practice {;
and another fellow began tickling the soles
of my feet, but | rewarded him with a kick
that sent him off the bench. The pure idle
ness is the best, but | shall never enjoy such
in Europe again.-Journey to Cairo.