, 1873-01-26
Ii! L.! LII!

| NEeSS1IkE3 :" ~ u1n4nS,s7 E11lIn.SiME.
Ing, Etc.
From tho aubjoined sketch Of Jowis,, we'd
| ding in Algeria, extracted from tho recent work
OF Lady Herbert on ''Alseria in 1871" will be
seen what q fearful and wonderful thing tho
weddlng-ceremony. as practiscd at the present
| day. in that country, is: Particularly harsh il
| Is it upon tho poor bride; so much so that our
American maids would doubtless declare, almost
| TO a man, that, sooner tlan endure oil the
| stcamlng, Bcrubbing, fumigatiDg, parboiling,
dressing, undressing, hallooins, psalm-sinsins;,
and miscellaneous torture described By the fair
tourist, they would remain single al! their born
days. Tho account runs thus, III Lady II. 3 Ian
"Wo paused in our eight-Bceing to 20 with
Nine. do C and her beautiful dauehtor to
see'a jewish wedding, for which she had kindly
obtained us IN invitation. We were received in
en allowed room, where breakfast OF sweot-
meats, cakes, and iswoet wines were set out, tho
bride and hor parents being seated On diyan at
one end, dressed in rich jewish costume After
ehort time, wosvero told to precede the young
lady to the Moorish vapo1-bath, which ia the
nozt part Of the ceremony. Such q marvellous
scene az there met our eye I despair Of repro
ducing On paper! About fifteen young Jovieh
grls from 12 to 20 years Of ago whose only cloth
ingwas ascarf Of gold o. silver gauge round their
loine, with their beautiful dark hair all down
thoi1 backs and their lovely white nocks and
arms covered With necklaces and bracelets, woro
seen dimly standing in the water through
cloud Of steam and incense, waiting for tho
bride, and when she appeared d received he7 With
ascending scale. Among the6e girls wcre hide
Gus uegresgcs equally scanti1y clothed, md ono
or two OF them with their black, wooly hair
dyed bright orange color; theeo wero tho bath
wanted to force LIS to undress too, which wo
etoutly resisted, and took refuge on tho raised
marble slab which surrounded the bath, md
wLere the pretty little bride, with her mother
and annta,, was standing waiting to
to be unrobed too. They took of her
beautiful gold-dgu1ed gauze chemise and some
lovely short rcd-and- gold DRIVERS; they then
led her, with the same cries, into m inner room,
which WAS sitting with wet rnpor and steam, and
for two mortal hours, the women pouring water
on her head from picturosquo-e shaped gold jars,
and every kind of cosmetic and sweet scent be-
ing rubbed upon her. Reing unable to stand the
we esesped 1sis fsa sd &s nfo Tie oPen
turned nftor about an hour to find another bride
going through tho game ceremonies. Some Of
tho bridesmaids wore very beautiful; one
COLDER hair and blno oyes! And the whole
scene was like bnllot at the opera, or rather
Get Of naiads or water nymphs in 3 picture not
Like anything in real life. Their glorious hair
floating over their shoulders with their beantl-
as thoy disported themselves round the bride,
would hayo driven a sculptor or painter, wild
with delight But could not get over the in
delicacy OF the whole thing it was scene in
the nude with vengeance.
ing, We got up and went to the BRIDES house
for the conclusion Of tho ceremony. great
crowd of men and musicians wero grouped in
the lower court. Above, the bride WAS citing
IL state, in the deop recess Of .l handsome
while q red-and- gold figured scarf hung In
graceful folds behind her head. On either Hilo
Of lor were two ycnerable-lo looking old men With
long. white boards, and in front OF heT another
holding a candelabrum with three candles. They
wero rabbis, and chanted palms alternately
with eongs Of praise about tho dove with the
beautiful eye etc. in fact, q sort Of cantic1e
All this timo the Ministries III tie quadrangle
below we're making a. noiRe, while over the
leaned variety Of Jcwish women, all beauti-
fully dressed in brown velvet mud satin, with
and girdles- richly brocaded in gold,
end gold-ombroidered lappets hanging from the
black silk head-dress; which ia the inTariablo
for hours, till tho poor little bride loos-
cd quite worn out. From time to time
spoonfuls Of soup we're put into her mouth,
which che Htrove to resist; and then she WIS
conducted into the court below, where the saino
species Of buffoon danced before her, and was
rewarded by ten-franc bits put into his mouth,
which he kept in his cheek while drawing out
q queer kind of song, which VIC supposed vas
witty, as the audience were in fits Of laughter.
was done, both upstairs and down,
to make the bride lnugh, even to chuckiug and
pulling her under the chin. But she remained
lmpassive, it being part Of her business to
look grnve, md to prove by her occurrences
that she Was old enough to bo married. All
Of sudden the same unearthly cry or yell
of Iii Ii! Lii WAS heard in the oueide court,
caught up instantly by every one in and out of
the house. thought of the words, Behold,
the bridegroom cometh7' 80 exactly were the
old traditions preaerved. A very ordinary-look-
ing youth, in frock coat md red fez, accord |
ingly made hiH appearance, and then tho women |
covered their faces with their game @handker-
chiefs, and the men, who never ceased eating |
and drinking at intervals during tto whole |
night, formed themselves into proc: ::.sion |
while the BRIDES father "a venerable-looking old
Jew, with long, white beard, white turban, and
crimson sash) led her to the carriage which was |
to take her to the bridegroom's home, re a!l
and tho women's CRY Of LII Ii! Ii!
through the narrow strcets.'
A Coming Picture Sale.
The London correspondent OF the Manchester |
Guardian writes that very extensive aud in |
tc1esting sale Of engravings BY and after Turner
il to come on at Messrs. Christles in March. |
Tho engrayings number considerably more than |