Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-02-15
A Visit to an Egyptian Princess.

BcutIdlly lOuuu tu6 princess cOlleu
up on a divan, attired more simply
than her attendants, for she usually
dressed in white, as her husband pre-
ferred it. Her jewels surpassed any
thing / ever saw they were both
quaint and valuable. This princess 1
refer to was the first who ever intro
duced the fashion of birds and butter
flies, made in precious stones, as orna-
ments for the head. | was with her
One day when she was giving an order
to a FrenchWoman to have several
made for her in Paris. She selected
them out of book, and chose those of
the brightest plumage. In those days
visits were always long; you were
generally expected to remain three or
four hours. A short visit was looked
on as not polite. These beautifully
dressed slaves handed chibouques
(long pipes) to the visitors, and then
others entered, carrying tray draped
and covered in velvet, embroidered in
gold, with long gold fringes, while
others poured out the coffee in small
china cups, like our egg cups without
the shank, and then placed them in
gold zarfs set with precious stones.
1 laye seen zarfs with large rubies
and emeralds, worth I don't know how
much, in the princess harem, and in
filigree gold of the most exquisite
workmanship, and all done by native
workmen. When you had finished your
coffee, the slave came and took your
cup, placing her hand on the top Of
the cup and holding the foot Of the
zarf with the other hand, making you
slight salutation, which you returned
by putting your hand to your lips and
head. After this you converse a. little,
in sleepy fashion, as silence is golden
in the East, and talkatiye people are
not appreciated there. Then come
the dancing girls and the musicians,
who play a kind of music, very un-
musical to our ears, but seeming to
give them intense pleasure, judging by
the movements of the dancers. These
girls are generally dressed in kind of
tinsel, and are most of them very
young. The most wonderful feat they
perform is taking a small coin off
the floor with their mouths, bending
back their bodies in perfect arch
without touching their hands, with
the head thrown backward. This
dance lasts about an hour and half.
have seen them dance our Lancers," !"
which was very funny. They were
danced in much more elaborate
style than we ever danced them. The
princess had this dance for me, in
compliment to my country, and she
turned to me and said: "This is the
way you English ladies dance" 1 tried
to disabuse her mind of such an idea.
Whether I succeeded or not, I am
sure 1 don't know In the East they
look on dancing as menial occupa-
ton, and therefore cannot understand
ladies and gentlemen indulging in
such things and calling it amusement.
There is one very erroneous idea about
Eastern people which 1 have read in
several books, written by persons who
had no practical experience Of their
habits and customs; which is, that
they are very generous and give
handsome presents. l can only say
my opinion is quite the reverse, as I
never received present from one of
them, and when l asked lady the
cause of it. she replied: "They hold
you in too high esteem to dare to offer
you anything" On one occasion |
presented a lady to the princess, and
to my horror this lady intimated to
the interpreter that she would like a
Turkish costume; the next morning
she received a magnificent one at her
hotel; so that this proves that those
who have had presents ask for them,
and that these Turkish ladies throw
the Christian "dog" Gas they term
us) bone, in the shape of costume
or jewel. 1 should prefer my self
respect to all their cast-off finery.-
Whitehall ReUies0.