Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-03-04
N EGYPTIAN HAREMs. =

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You ask II there is any home-life in
Egypt, that old. old land of science,
legend and superstition, of sensuous
coloring. of semi-barbaric splendor, of
Isis and Osiris. Of Cleopatra the mag
nificent, and tho mysterious pyramids
lis there any home-life therep No,
certainly not, as we understand it. OF
course, not people there must eat,
drink and sleep, in obedience to the in
exorable laws of our common humani-
ty, but there can be no domestic life
where there is no woman at the head
of the household, and tho Egyptian
women are mere nulltics. There is no
middle class, so that they are divided
into the two classes extremes of high
and low.
The high life is that Of the hareem,
as they call it, and not harem, and is
much better known throughout Europe
than that of the lower-class Egyptian
women. During my residence in Cairo
Twas frequently admitted to the ha-
reem upon the invitation of the mother
of the Viceroy Of Egypt, Ismail Pasha,
father of the present pasha. Ismail
was the Viceroy, or second in distinc-
tion to the Sultan, of Egypt. The
Pasha was SO afraid of being poisoned
that his mother cooked all he ate, and
for that purpose she accompanied him
wherever he went.
Poisoning is the favorite method in
that country of getting rid of an OBJ
noxious person. 1t is much more
speedy and infinitely less expensive
than state trial. With the exception
of the Viceroy's mother | never knew
q woman Of high position to know any
thing at all Of the culinary art. I
used often to spend a whole day in the
harem and never saw any of the wo-
men 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 Interpreter. soon picked
up Arabic enough to converse with
them without aid. They live in great
splendor and 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 barbar-
ic music, or to stories told them by an
old woman in true Arabian Nights
style. The Egyptian women are fully
developed at the age OF IL and old at
80. Their forms are usually most ex-
quisite 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 part, below the
nose are 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
discontented 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
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 go unveiled. To
amuse them, told them once of the
great surplus of female population in
the New England Statcs-largely maid
en--and of the struggles SO many of
our girls there and elsewhere are
obliged to undergo in order to earn
their own living. They laughingly
quoted a proverb answering to ours Of
half 4 loaf being better than no bread
at all, and declared that the fractional
possession of a husband was better
than no husband at all. They were
much surprised, even indignant that
we shoulI call ouselves civilized and
yet make laws compelling rich man
to have but one wife, when hc might
maintain fifty or more, and so husbands
and support for our bard-working
single women would be provided.
As the men do tho 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 docs not exceed that
Of an American child 10 or II years of
age. Therefore, tho men, although
themselves not much superior, still
have 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 indispensable ad-
juncts Of tho continuance Of tho race.
Let me describe a 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 a time, and that ia a large cir
cular salver Of silver. brass or some
times gold. They have no forks,
knives or spoons, but each dip two
fingers Of the right hand into the dish
and takes out q bit, the meat having
been cut into small pieces in the
Kitchen.
II they wish to particularly distin-
guish visitor they select d dainty
piece and placc il in her mouth. II
would be an insult to belray any fecl-
my but delight Ut sucn i mark 0t favor.
a great dish for q feast, aud one wAich