The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1872-09-12
Foyptian Women.

The Egyptians possess Arabian charac-
tcri>ticS, although there are differences
The importation of Georgian and Circas
sian slaves, over long period. has modi-
fed the type Of the middle and upper
classes. No public market for slaves eN-
i>tS ut the present time, but they IRE sold
by stealth The traditions of Georgian
ana Circassian beauty are familiar to the
world for centuries historians have drawn
them in lines of generous curves and
poets have painted them in Titan colors.
With these pictorial fancies upon me, |
was taken aback on landing ut Ale Xandria.
\ dozen of these mountain women We're
sitting on the shore, where they had Just
landed from the ship. They were pale,
Thin, rough skinned, tawny-haired, una
kempt in coarSest atire-and were n
the pursuit of tleas. | expressed my dis
appointment to an Egyptian dragoman
standing near, who, with graceful wave
of his hand replied:
80 ehndI could You see these women
three months hence you would say that
the Prophet had fitted them for heaven
Good mashed beetles and generous jThtt
Shall make them plnmp, the daily bath
shall give their kins the hue of creamy
illlh, anu litlI lbiDlS tlt Su pttlltNS itilfi
grace OF the gaelic With new health ).
their eyes shall sparkle with mirth and be
dewed with tenderness, the rose shall
bloom on their cheeks, and gold shall gid
their tresses. God is great"'
The mans statement was substantially
correct; the Slaye-dealer endeavors to
bring them mp to their highest physical
perfection before offering them for sale
| aterward saw some who had been
trained, tattene Il and purified to the selling
point They We're eXqniSiely fair, blue
eyed and golden-hare,, hut for the most
part like wax figures. 1t was surface
beauty without depth, and | looked in
vain for some indication of thought or
1enslbility in their vacant faces.
The bought woman is assured life of
ease, perhaps luxury, and is not resold
If she becomes a mother she at the same
time becomes wife, and her children are
Legitimate. Fair victims are no longer
sewed up in a sack and thrown into the
Nile for crime or peccadllo; that belongs
to the past. According to the custom of
his country, when an Egyptian takes a
Moslem wife. he may not see her fac, or
know anything of her character until after
marriage, and thus an Objectionable wife
is frequently imposed upon him He often
avoids this risk by taking a slave to wife,
whom he can examine and get acquainted
with before bringing her under his roof
The Circassians and Georgians sold are
generally voluntary slaves, who are edu-
Gated to it by their parents TO be the
harem belle of a wealthy Turk or Egvp-
tan is their lifelong ambition. Thus the
chain by which they are bound is a goldM
one, rivited by themselves A Nnbian
slave, ordinarily good-looking, is sold for
about 500; a comedy Abyssinian for 5000 :;
a Georgian from $500 and upward, varying
according to her beauty The lowc
priced slaves are those who come from
the Gala country, they of the thick lips.
woolly heads and black skins. These are
usually bought for household work they
are the domestics of the East, and resem
Bile the negroes on the cotton plantations
of the South as they were before the war
The complexion of the Abyssinans is
usually of rich coffee color the ewes
weI-shaped and gentle in expression. the
hair curly, but not woolly.
When woman becomes mother she
is entitled to some consideration but is
seldom more than an instrument of pleas
ure. The Koran enions high regard on
the part of the offspring to the mother,
but this is not shared by the husband. In
point of lineage, the Arab attaches more
Importance to the maternal line. 1t is the
same with blooded horses, where the pedi