Huntsville gazette., 1885-10-24
EGYPTIAN WOMEN.
ThefS Sndition and Accomplishments
Life in q Harem.

Life In 3 Harem.
With the exception of the Viceroy's
mother I never knew woman OF high
position to know anything at all OF
the culinary art. I used often to spend
Q whole day in the harem and never
saw any of the women doing anything
useful. They are very seldom taught
to read or write. Conversation is
generally carried on with foreigner
in French through the aid Of an inter-
prefer. l soon picked up enough
Arabic 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,
nor even embroider. and their only re-
creation consists in seeing girls dance
and in listening to some barbaric
tAusic, or to stories told them by an old
woman in true Arabian Nights style.
The Egyptian women are fully devel-
oped at the age of thirteen and old at
thirty. Their forms are usually most
exquisite until fat-that bane of both
men and women in high life-destroys
the delicate beauty of their outline.
The upper portion of their faces. eyes,
brOws and forehead are wOndrOusly
lovely, but the lower parts, below the
nose, is ugly. badly formed and heavy,
as rule. Fortunately for them, they
are enabled to conceal these defects by
the veil they wear. So far from being
djscontented with their lot, the women
of Egypt have the utmost pity for their
civilized sisters, especially in matters
of the heart. They say our husbands
can care nothing for us, or they would
not allow other men to look upon our
faces, and think that civilized women
possess no modesty to 60 unveiled. To
amuse them, I told them once of the
great surplus of female population in
the New England States largely
maiden-and of the struggles so
many of our girls there and
elsewhere are obliged to under
20 in order to earn their own
living. They laughingly quoted pro-
verb answering to ours of half a loaf
being better than no bread at all, and
declared that the fractional possession
of husband was better than no hus-
band at all. They were much sur
prised. even indignant, that we should
call ourselves civilized and yet make
laws compelling q rich>man to have
put one wife, whom he might maintain
Fifty or more, and so husbands and sup
port for our hard-working single
xr,o,,1I h~ vrar-iIn1
As the men do the cooking and the
main part of the sewing in Egypt. it is
easy to see why there is no employ
ment for women. Except in rare cases.
their intelligence does not exceed that
of an American child ten or twelve
wears of age. Therefore the men. al
though themselves not much superior,
still haye hardly any respect for them.
and as there is little of the sentiment
Of love among them, they seem TO look
upon their women only as indispen-
sable adiuncts of the continuance Of
the race.
Let me describe dinner in the
harem when guest is present. Their
tables are always circular and about a
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, and that in large
circular salver of silver, brass, or some
times gold. They have no forks,
knives or spoons, but each dips two
fingers of the right hand into the dish
and takes out bit, the meat having
been cut into small pieces in the
kitchen. If they wish to particularly
distinguish visitor they select dainty
piece and place it in her mouth. 1t
would be an insult to betray any feel
ing but delight at such mark of favor.
A great dish for feast, and one which
few Christian women have ever tasted,
is that of lamb roasted whole. After
the manner of nest of Chinese boxes,
each smaller than the other, the lamb
is stuffed with whole turkey, the tur-
key with a chicken, the chicken with a
pigeon, the pigeon with quail,
the quail with becafica, the
smallest bird known except the hum
ming bird. 1t resembles our reed bird
in taste and makes just mouthful.
The lamb is roasted over a slow fire
until it is cooked to shreds and melts
into one, as it were. The Egyptians
have no systematized way of eating, no
set time for meals, but keep up con-
tinual munching of sweets, OF which
they have great variety unknown to us,
and all sickeningly sweet to Euro
pean palate. They use honey for sugar.
In an Egyptian kitchen there is total
absence of what civilized cook would
consider indispensable in the way Of
cooking utensils and appliances. There
is no dresser upon which to arrange
the dishes; there is no sink nor rum
ming water, nor anything like our
cooking-stove or range. but upon one
side of the kitchen there is erected a
structure of masonry which resembles
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 fur
naces, and as they are disconnected, a
cook can have dozen fires, or only
one, as he desires. l have often been
astonished at the excellence and deli
cacy of a dinner cooked upon one of
these rude ranges.-Rose Eytinge, in
N. y. Sun.