The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-12-17
ORIENTAL LADIES.
1T IS POSSIBLE TO SEE THEM,
BUT NOT AT ALL EASY.
Interesting Things About the Homes
and the Home Life of the People
of Mohammedan Countries
-InQuiSitive Beauties.

llDlClOQ CQdC IL cAlcuuS 1tSell uOI WeISly
to foreigners and unbclievers, but to those
of their own race and creed and even to
their nearest relations. From the day OF
her marriage to the day of her death q
Moslem bride must never see or be seen
by any man save her husband. But with
lady visitors it is quite different matter.
Seldom, indeed, does the most jealous
and fauaticsl of Mussulman hust ands OBJ.
ject to admit them to the society of his
wives, and, in fact, such visits are often
looked upon by the honest Bluebeard in
the light of favor rather than an affront,
inasmuch as it keeps his own ladies in
good humor for the time being and saves
him the trouble of doing anything to
entertain them.
Let us suppose that you are European
or American lady travelling along the
North African seaboard and about to pay
q visit to the Gagged beauties IN the home
of some great Moorish dignity in Mo-
rocco. Following the two tall, red
capped, white-frocked Moorish soldiers
sent to conduct you, you thread your
way through cobweb of narrow, gloomy,
filthy lanes, almost blocked at times by
heaps of dust and garbage, among which
numbers of gaunt, wol6sh dogs are root
ing hungrily. Meanwhile your two guides
clear the way for your horse or donkey
through the eddying whirl of men, boys,
camels, asses, horses and old women by
constant shouts of "Cheloh! cheloh!'
Cook out) and remorseless punches with
the brass-shod butts of their rifles.
At length you halt in front of high,
bare, windowless wall, the only visible
opening in which is a deep, shadowy
porch of the key-shaped form, peculiar
to Saracenic architecture, edged with
curious fretwork, and brilliantly paint
ed with alternate stripes of crimson
and blue. This leads into marble
paved quadrangle with tiny fountain
splashing and tinkling in the centre
the 'patio" of the Spauiards. in fact,
borrowed by them from their Moorish
conquerors. Shady colonnades run along
its four sides, above which are clustered
passages protected by screens of lattice
work. And now you discover why the
outside of Moorish house is always
windowless. for with jealous precau-
ton thoroughly characteristic of the
East all the windows open upon the in
ner courtl
Visitors being frequently received in
the court itself, it is strewn with mats or
carpets and shaded from the weather by
a colored awning, which subdues the
burning African sunshine into a rich
summer gloom Of purple twilight, such
as that which fills the aisles of some vast
cathedral. Beyond this lies spacious
saloon, with richly carpeted floor and
q paneled ceiling, for which any Venc-
tian noble of the fourteenth century
would gladly have given half his yearly
revenue. No chairs are to be seen, but
the soft cushions scattered about the
floor and the velvet or damask holsters
placed along the sides of the room show
where the inmates are wont to squat or
recline. The upper part of the wall is
frescoed with appropriate texts from the
Koran in quaint, arrowy, Eastern char
acters, while along the lower part da-
mask hangings of white, scarlet or blue
mask the doorways of several bedrooms
from which three or four steps of pol
ished white marble lead down into the
saloon itself.
Suddenly the hangings of curtained
archway at the far end of the room are
thrust aside, and the master of the house
in person comes forward to greet you-a
stately old Eastern gentleman in flowing
Moorish robes, whose long silky beard is
as white as the many folded turban that
overshadows it. He puts his hand to
his forehead in graceful oriental saluta-
ton, and begs you Gin broken French or
Spanish if you do not understand Ara
bic) to consider his house and all that it
contains as your own, after which you
are requested to ''honor with the touch
of your foot the threshold of his home" !"
Following the old gentleman's guild
ance, you are led through maze of dark
passages and low doorways till you feel
as if playing a never-ending game of
hide-and-seek. At length you halt be-
fore flight of broad marble steps lead
ing up to high archway, through the
curtains of which come the ripple of fe-
male voices and the silver tinllle of girl
ish laughter. Beside the steps stand
like bronze statues two gigantic black
slaves, gorgeous in white and crimson,
with drawn swords cleaning in their
huge bony hands. But at the sight of
the "master" and the "Faringhi kha-
noon" (foreign LADY, the sabres are low
cred in salute, the curtains fall back and
you are ushered into the midst of scene
which appears to have come bodily out
of the "Arabian Nights"
Before you lies large and lofty room,
the shadowy interior of which looks de-
Tightfully cool and shaded, after the
blistering glare outside. The rich Per-
sian carpets leave enough of the floor un-
covered to let you admire to the full one
| of those miracles of ornamental Mosaic
which are still the wonder of all who
visit the Tai Mahal or the Alhambra.
From the vaulted roof hang splendid
silver lamps of the kind familiar to
those who have seen the mosques of Tun-
is and Cairo. Tall vases filled with
gorgeous flowers stand ranged along
either side of the entrance, and above
the silken hangings that clothe the low