Litchfield enquirer., 1852-11-11
LTCHFIELD CONN., NOVEMBER II,

multitude of her long twists of black hair, shining with buttsr, brushed my cap. This was intended as a salntation and sign of welcome. l bowed ny head at the same time, and she went back to her place in,the iank. After a pause the chorus was resumed and another advanced, and 90 ia sueeessi ion. till all had saluted me, ceremony which occupied an honr They were nearly all young. between the ages, of IA and 20, and some were strikingly beautiful. They had the dark. olive Arab complexion, with Irregular features, teeth of pearly white. ness. and. black, brilliant eyes. The coarse cotton robe thrown over one shoulder left frec the arms, neck and. breasts. which were exquisitely moulded. Their bare feet and ancles were as slen. der and. delicate as those of the Venus of Cleomeaes. Owing to the skirts worn by ths American women have no rec ollect;on of ever having seen .n entire female foot among them. and therefore can make no comparison ;: but I doubt if one ina thousand stands on SO light and beautiful pedestral as these wild Afri, can girls. There were two or three old women in the company. but they con- tented. themselves. with singing and did not venture into tue lists with the young. CT ones..
 Several of the men, who had followed in. the rear of the women, came and sat near us on the sand. They were all ev. idently delighted with the occasion, and encouraged the more timid of the dancers i by their words. One of them was an old man, with g. long grey moustache and beard, carrying in his hand spear
 pointed with iron. My rais and sailors
 were on the ground, and one of the lat>
 ter, a splendid fellow, whose form was almost perfect imits manly strength, took
 his station among the women and acted
 as master of the ceremonies. He drew a line in thel sand down the centre of the ring. and another along the edge of my carpet, and she who did not dance down the line until the final toss of her
 head threw her hair over the Sultan's cap, was obliged to perform her part lover again. My sailor clapped his hands. joined in the song, and moved with such entire and absolute grace in the dance. that he almost drew away my attention from the women. As the ceremony was
 prolonged, they accompanied the dance with a, hard, eattural breathing, iu time Ewitll the music. and some of the old
 women. in their anxiety to encourage the
 younger and moro timid. dancers. leaned
 forward with eager eyes. uttering short
 quick screams at intervals. It was 2
 most remarkable scene 1; the figures and the dancers were unlike anything l ever
 witnessed. For the first time in fact
 perhaps because have hitherto seen few
 women unvailed-I find. undoubted beau. | ty in the Arab female countenance.
 The last dancer was the. wife of tho
 Shekh, who came towards the close
 with two negro slaves behind her. Sht
 was woman of twenty, and the mos
 beautiful of the group. Making allow
 ance for the difference in complexion
 she had a strong resemblance to the Ole. Eopatra of Guido. Her eyes were large Y black and lustrous; her face the full, tipe Eoval of the South, with a. broad. round
 forehead. perfect lips, and a most q,een-
 iy neck and chin. She wore diadcm oi
 white beads, under which her thick hair -unfortunately plastered with bu,tef---
 hung to. her shoulders in at least fifty
 slender braiLs. She went through the
 monotonous movements of she dance 1 with the stately ease. of a swan gliding , d,wa stream, and. so delighted nis , sailors and the men who had come doxr . from the village, that she was obliged b repeat her salulation. several times. 3 bowed lower to her than .o the others 3 but took care to keep her unctious braid ' from touching my face. When all wa , concluded directed Aclmet to. distri- bute few handfuls of copper money among them. whereupon they returned
 to the village, u1teIing sharp yells of i'y as they went. Alter they had left asked the men if what lad heard ir Khartoum concerning their peculiar con Eiugal customs was true, and they replied 
 , that 1t was.
 7 As ~e were about leaving. one of tn D Shekhs or holy men of the tribe cam r down. to greet us. He was an old ma
 in blue cotton mantle, and had witl { him two attendants. After touching m, 9 hand twice and asking many times 10 my health, he commenced singing passa . ges of the Koran in loud. resonant. anl B l not unmusical tonc. some Shat resembling ' the sunset cry of the muezzin from hi , minaret. The two others responded and thus this religions entertainment wa kept up for some time. But the ral , was at his post and the wind had fallen SO I acted my despo;is character of Sul . tan by leaving the holy man in the m.ds 2 1 of his chanting and going on board. .--
 When we left he was still standing undc : | ,ha FaiaaoFaaa. ainOinW 0f Muhanasnad