Semi-weekly interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1881-1905, 1885-11-26
LIFE In THE HAREM.
A WoMAN'S EXPERIENCE AMONG
THE WOMEN OF EGYPT.
A Life OF Great splendor and Total Idle
ness-Pity for the Women OF Civ
illzatlon "A Dinner In
the Harem.
lRose Eytlnge in New York start

tRose Eytnge IN New York start
You ask IL there is any home.life ia
| Egypt that old, old land OF science 10.
| gend aud superstition, OF sonsuous coloring,
OF semi.barbaric splsn1or, OF Isis and Osiris,
Of Cleopatra tho magnificent, and the mys-
| FERROUS pyramids-is there any home-life
therei No, certainly not, as we understand
| IT, or cour.e the people there must eat
drink Gn1 sleep In obedience t. the inexora.
BILE laws OF our common humanity, but
there can DO no domestic life where there is
no woman at the head Of the household, and
the Egyptian women are mere utilities
| There is no middle class, so that they are
| divided into the two class extremes Of high
| and low.
The high life Is that OF the haroem, as
| they call II, and not harem, and Is much
better known throughout Europe than that
of the lower class Egyptian women. Dur.
| ing my residence in Carlo was frequently
admitted 10 tho harem upon the invitation
Of the mother Of the viceroy Of Egypt, Is.
mail Pascha, father OF the present pasha.
Ismail was the viceroy. or second in dis.
tinction TO the sultan Of Egypt The pasha
was so afraid of being poisoned that his
mother cooked all he ate, and for that pur-
pose she accompanied him wherever he
went Poisoning is the favorits method In
that country Of getting rid Of an obnoxious
person. II is much more speedy and inf
ntely less expensive than q state trial
THE LOT OF WOMAN.
With tho exception OF the vicoroy's
mother ! never knew a woman of high
| position TO know anything at all OF the
culinary art | used often TO spend whole
day in the haren and never saw any OF the
women doing anything useful They are
very seldom taught TO read or write. Con.
versation is generally carried on with a
foreigner in French through the aid of an
interpreter soon picked up Arabic enough
to converse with them without aid. They
| live in great splendor and total idleness.
| They have no pictures in their palaces and
possess no foreign or native literature.
| They never sew, or even embroider, and
their only recreation consists in seeing girls
dance and in listening to some barbaric
music, or 70 stories told them by an old
woman in true Arabian Nights style.
The Egyptian women ars fully developed
at the age Of 10 and OLD at 81 Their forms
are usually most exquisite until fat-that
| bane Of both mon and women in high life
destroys the delicate beauty Of their out.
lines. The upper portion Of their faces,
eyes, brows and foreheads fare wonirously
| lovely, but the lower part below the nose,
is ugly. badly formed ami heavy, as a rule
| Fortunately for them, they are enabled t.
conceal these defects by the veil they wear
So far from ding disconnected with their
lot, the women ( Egypt have the utmost
| pity for their civilized sisters, especially in
matters OF the heart Thoy say our hus-
bands can care nothing for US, or they would
not allow other mon 10 look upon our faces,
and think that civilized women possess no
moiesty % go unveiled.
As the men DO the cooking and the main
| part Of the sewing in Egypt, it is easy TO see
| why there IS no employment for women.
| Except in rare cases, their intelligence does
| not exceed that Of an American child 10 or
| l2 years Of age. Thakefore, tho men, al.
! though themselves not much SUPERIOR still
| have hardly any respect for them
| DINNER IN THE HAREM.
| Let me describe a dinner in the harem
when CUES; is present. Their tables are
always circular and about foot and half
in height They sit like dolls around them
on cushions The old, inactive and fat,
once down, have to be pulled up They
serve but one dish at time AMI that in
| large circular salver Of silver, brass or
sometimes gold. They have no forks,
knives or spoons, but each dips
| two fingers Of the right hand
into the dish and takes out a bit, the meat
having been cut into small pieces in the
kitchen. II they wish to particularly dis
tingush a vi'i,or they select dainty piece
and place II in her mouth. 1t would be an
insult 10 betray any feeling but delight at
such mark of favor.
| A great dish for feast and one which
| few Christian women have ever tastel, Is
that Of lamb roasted whole. After the
manner of IA nest OF Chinese boxes, each
smaller than the other, the lamb Is
stuffed with whole turkey, the turkey
with chicken, the chicken with
a pigeon, the pigeon with quail, the quail
with a becafca, the smallest bird known
except the humming bird. 1t resembles our
reed bird in taste and makes just a mouth
| full The lamb is roasted over slow fire
until it is cooked to shreds and melts into
one as it were, The Egyptians have no
| systemiZed way of eating, no set time for
meals, but keep up a continual munching of
| sweets, of which they have great variety
unknown TO us, and all sickeningly sweet to
a European palate. They use honey for
| sugar.
In an Egyptian kitchen there is a total
| absence OF what a civilized cook would con-
slider indispensable In the way of cooking
utensils and appliances There is no dresser
| upon which &c arrange the dishes; there is
| no sink nor cunning water nor anything
like our coon ing stove or range, but upon
| one side Of tie kitchen there is erected q
structure Of masonry which resembles a
great square shelf with deep drawers, the
| openings TO which are on the top This
queer object is the Egyptian range-the
| openings are charcoal furnaces, and as they
are disconnected, a cook can have a dozen
fires, or only one, as he desires I have
| often been astoaished at the excellence and
delicacy of dinner cooked upon one Of
| these rude ranges