Huntsville gazette., 1884-05-03
The Egyptian Fellah at Home.
Let US begin by visiting the house

Let US begin by visiting the house of
. poor member Of the community so as
to get an idea of fellah life in its
s. simplest form. In q blank wall OF
about eight feet high, composed of un-
burnt bricks and veneered with a coat
ing of sundried mud, we find a small
door through which no one over five or
six years O.: age could pass without
STOPPING. AS this is the only ent ance
we conclude that the proprietor has
neither buffalo nor any of the larger
kinds of agricultural instruments, and
that any hopes he may have o acquir-
ing live stock in the future do not soar
above q cat, q few barndoOr fowls. and,
perhaps, very diminutive donkey. A
glance at the interior confirms this con-
clusion. The inclosure consists of
three small courts If space twelve
feet by six feet can be dignitied with
such a Dame connected with holes in
the "a tition walls similar in SIZE to the
entrance. The first court is occupied
almost entirely by windowless mud
hut, covered By a flat roof of maize
stalks mixed with clay. This diminu
tive stru ture is "a once the kitchen and
winter bedroom of the whole family,
comprising married co Iple, the hus-
bands old mother and two young chill
dren. A large brick stove. which occu-
pes two-thirds of the dark interior, is
used in the day time for baking bread
and cooking the scanty fare, and at
night it serves as bed for all the in
mates. During the warm summer
nights they can sleep on a.bit Of reed
mating in one OF the two other
'courts." In the first of those
are two hollow mud-pillars for
storing the grain and other provisions,
and close to these primitive provision
chests sis the old grandmother churn-
ing buffalo's milk presumably for one
of the neighbors in q kids skin sus-.
pended by bit of palm-tree rope from
long peg in the wall. Leaning on
her shoulder is young chi d, whose
perfect nudity is only partially con-
cealed by the multitude of flies which,
cluster on his dark brown skin, and
who divides his at ention b tive II
the churning operation, the unex-
pected strangers, and the bit of
sugar-cane which he is gnawing with
intense satisfaction. In the third
and innermost court is nothing but a
small mud-hut which represents the
family treasury. Without making a
personal inspection, we can construct
with tolerable certainty an inventory
of its contents. There will be the
gaudily-painted wooden trunk, in
which the wife when a bride, brought
her modest trousseau to her new
home. the few articles Of wearing
apparel and female ornament not
actua 'ly in u.s., and some copper
cooking utensils. These constitute
the entire movable property of the
family, unless we include under this
term half-a-do en- lean chickens, which
nave been taught to subsist by Their
own exertions. The premises are
quite sufficient, therefore, for all
practical wants, and if the livestock
should be hereafter increased by the
add ton of few k ds, lambs, or
even a donkey, no addit onal accom-
mo !ation will be required, for the
newcomers can sleep comforta' ly in
close proximity to the family without
any danger of bipeds and quadrupeds
interfering with each others comfort.
-LcnGOn Times.