The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-05-25

sonally clean. The particularly neglectful
and neglected in this respect too, as i'll luck
would have it, are the old ladies, who al.
WAYS would kiss me, and the little children.
whom 1 was obliged to kiss; but let US hope
that the sense Of the sweetness of soap and
water may ere long visit item, and be con-
soled meanwhile by the reflection made to
me by an old French gentleman long resi-
dent in Egypt, who said: "You know that
we in our country have only Of late years
learned to wash from you English; so it is
no wonder that the art does not yet pene-
trate as far South as this"
The next change in the programme of the
lady visitor is occasioned by a fresh incursion
of motley servants, with huge tray. 1t
holds large covered cups of glass, with
sherbet; and though no one more than my
self seems inclined to swallow more than
draught of what is but sweetened and spiced
water, or syrup and wster-and l must own
that L always found it practically more
nauseating than the old ladies and the babies
it is considered as necessary part of the
polite routine Sometimes these coffee and
sherbet ''drums" would be further enlivened
by the appearance of a peddling merchsntess
from the bazaars who would drag huge
bundle, unannounced into the middle of the
floor, and proceed to hand around for ex-
animation judicious selection of handker-
chief, and calicoes, and pocket looking
glasses, which generally seemed to excite
ore amusement than admiration in the
chattering group, for she went away after
terrific amount Of haggling with but a
modest quantity of silver piastres tied up in
little cloth, though satisfied, / suppose, like
greater merchants than herself, that she had
| 4 L 4 A. 80 Il -
customed public.
invariably found that with the mothers,
and for the matter of that, with the fathers
too, opened hearts at once by inquiring for
the children. To be just, those kisses upon
the grubby little hands and cheeks were re-
paid tenfold in the grateful pleasure that
was shown me for having in the little ones
discovered a common ground wherOn to
meet; while in the case where 1 suggested
in substance, if not exactly in Saxon phrase,
that the tiny baby which was dsndling and
L were at least in the same boat since we
could neither of US speak Arabic, made by
lucky accident circle of life friends, the
Identification of baby's position with my
own being received with all the more de-
| light, because this was considered as q joke
hardly inferior to a stroke of genius And
such jokes delight the supplemented Arabs
inconceivably, even when they possess far
better brains of their own sort than my hosts
of this occasion could lay claim to.
But to sum up the points that are salient
in the hidden regions OF upper Egyptian
home life to an eye accustomed to the vigor-
orous civilization of the West, they are
found in what would seem to be incompat-
ible enthusiastically and childishness,
roughness and refinement, barbaritv and
delicacy. ignorance and knowledge. What
you demand for your own comfort in life,
moral, intellectual and physical, you MISS
much that you would not necessarily exact,
YOU find. Having learned of one woman
that she was slave in the most important
harem of the country, and was bestowed by
her viceregsl possessor upon her present
husband for political reasons, you meet her,
expecting visible traces of that coarseness
and degradation which such experience
might engender. You find her graceful as
any Duchess, full of thoughtful little
womanly attentions, with tender solicit
tude about her little ones, their health,
manners and education, and with a mind
for the acquisition of those very domestiss
and social arts from which she is debarred,
except in her dreams of them. In the
house, where there is neither book, nor pic
ture, nor piano, nor anything to grace life
or interest the mind-nothing absolutely
but cushions, carpets, shawls and bangles,
with few of the strictly needful clothes
and utensils; which is more barren of every
real convenience and means of progress in
any occupation or pursuit than the poorest
farm cottage of New England, you are yet
received as at little Court and are obliged
to feel the respect that instinctively you
show for some hidden excellence of nature
that these people own and that has from
the custom of their lives so little material
wherewith to work and be developed. There
is no regret, l suppose, but has its cOnsola-
ton, too; and AS L send in thought pleas
ant greeting to many friendly beings in
whom have felt passing interest, nat
does not entirely pass 1 remember Il at )c-
hind their little lattice screens they az pro-
tected from many of the most serious de-
velopments of more brilliant but harder
characters.