The Kanzas news., 1857-09-19
The KaIlzas News.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 10, 1857.
The Bath at Damascus.
By BATARD TAYLOR.

France and America; the Pipe is a cosmop-
olite, and his blue, Joyous breath conSeals
under the Arctic Circle, or melts languldly
into the soft air of the Polynesian Isles; but
the Bath, that sensuous elysium which era
died the dreams of Plato, and the visions of
Zoroaster, and the solemn medItations of
Mahomet, Is only to be found under an orr
entaI sky. The naked natives of the torrid
zone are amphibious; they do not bathe,
they live In the water. The European and
AnpIo-American wash themselves, and think
they have bathed, they shudder under cold
showers, and perform laboriOus antics with
coarse towels As for the Hydropathist-
the genius of the Bath, whose dwelling is in
Damascus, he would be convulsed with
scornful laughter, could he behold that
aqueous Diogenes in his tub, or stretched
out in his wet rappings, ike sodden mum
nv. In catacomt Of blankets and feather
beds. As the rose III the East has a rarer
perfume than in other lands, so does the
Bath bestow superior purlfcation, and I'M
part more profound enjoyment.
Come with me, and l will show you the
mysteries of the perfect Bath. Here is the
entrance, heavy Saracenic arch, opening
upon the crowded bazaar. We descend a
few steps to the marble pavement of lofty
octagonal hall, lighted by dome. There
is Jet of sparkling water In the centre,
falling into a heavy stone basin. A platform
about five feet in height runs around the hall,
and OH this are ranged number of narrow
couches, with their heads to the wall, like
the pallets In hospital ward. The platform
is covered with straw mating, and from the
wooden gallery which rises above it, are
suspended towels, with blue and crimson
borders The master OF the bath receives
us courteously, and conducts US to one of
the vacant couehes We kick off our red
slippers below, and mount the steps to the
PLATFORM Yonder traveller, in Frank dress,
who has just entered, goes upwith his boots
on, and we know, from that fact, what sort
of a bath he will get.
As the work of disrobing proceeds, a
dark-eyed boy appears with napkin, which
he holds before us, ready to bind it about
the waist, as soon as we regain our primitive
form. Another attendant throws napkin
over our shoulders, and wraps third around
our head, turban wise. He then thrusts a
pair of wooden clogs upon our feet, and, ia
king us by the arm, steadies our tottering
and Gathering steps, as We pass through
low door and warm ante-chamber into the
first hall of the bath. The light, falling dim
1y through cluster of bulls'-eyes in the
dOmed ceiling, shows, first, silver thread
of water, playing IN streamy atmosphere;
next, some dark motionless objects, stretch
ed out on a low central platform of marble.
The attendant spreads linen sheet in one
of the vacant places pillow at one end,
takes off our clogs, deposits rs gently on
our back, and leaves US. The pavement is
warm beneath us, and the first breath we
draw gives us-a sense of suffocation But a
bit of burning aloewood has Just been car
ried through the hall, and the steam is per-
meated with fragrance. The dark-eyed boy
appears with narghileh, which he places be-
side us, offering the amber mouth-piece to
our submissive lips. The smoke we inhale
has an Odor of roses; and as the pipe bub-
bles with our breathing, we feel that the
dews of sweat gather heavily upon US
The attendant now re=appears, kneels beside
us, and gently kneads us with dexterous
hands. Although no anatomist, he knows
every muscle and sinew whose suppleness
gives ease to the body, and so moulds and
manipulates them, that we lose the rigidity
of our mechanism and become plastic in his
hands. He turns us up on our face, repeats
the same process upon the back and leaves
us little longer to lie there passively, glis-
tening in our own dew.
We are aroused from reverie about moth
ing by dark brown shape, who replaces
the clogs, puts his arm around our waist,
and leads US into an inner hall, with steam
ing tank in the centre. Here he slips US
off the brink, and we collapsed over head and
ears in the fiery fluid. Once-twice-we
dip into the delicious heat, and then are led
into the marble alcoye, and seated fiat upon
the floor. The attendant stands behind US,
and We now perceive that his hands are en-
cased in dark hair gloves. He pounces up
on an arm, which he rubs until, like SER
peht, we slough the worn out skin, and re-
sumo our infantile smoothness and fairness.
No man can be called clean, until he has
bathed in the East. Let him walk directly
from his accustomed bath and lf-friction
with towels to the Hamman-el-H -Hhyateen,
and the attendant will exclaim as he shakes
his hair gloves; go Frank it is a long time
since you have bathed'' The other arm
follows the back, the breast, and legs, until
the work is complete, and we know precise
ly how horse feels after he has been curried.
Now the attendant turns two cocks at the
back of the alcove, and holding basin al
ternateiy under the cold and hot streams,
hoods US at first with fiery dash, that sends
delicious warm shiver through every
nerve; then with mhder applications, less
enlng the temperature of the water by semi
tones, until, from the highest key of heat
which we could bear, we glide rspturously
down the gamut until we reach the lowest
base of eoolness. The skin has by this
tune attained an exquisite sensibiIity, and
answers to these changes of temperature
with thrills of the purest physical pleasure
In tact, the whole frame seems purged of It's
earthly nature and transformed into some
thlng of a finer and more delicate texture
After pause the attendant makes his