Evening star., 1898-11-09
A GIRL IN EGYPT.
Some of the Queer Things to Be Seen
in That Country.
From ST Nicholas,


I have lived all my life in Egypt. except
! the summer months. We leave for Europe
in May or June, but already then it is 50
hot that We dc not know what to 30 with
ourselves Last winter was exceptionally
cold. We have not had many khamsns yet.
On g bad kkamsin day everybody stays in
doors VITA shut windows as it is much hot
| ter ont than in. 1t is a hot. hot wind that
| blows from the desert. whirlng burning
| sand along with 1t In the evening sWarms
Of little flies come in, attracted hy the
| lights anI die all over your paper If You
are writing letter The dampness is an
| OF her very disa ereea bile thing in Alexandria.
| which is not dry like Cairo But the real
plagre of Ervpt Is the black beetle. 1t IS =
continual fight to keen them from Swarmtng
all over the house. Some are enormous an1
| even have wings. We call all the natives
Arabs though really there are many tribes
/ for instance. the Bedoufns of the desert.
| who mitch their drtv tents among the coun-
| try houses Of the Euroneans. Whole fam
| iies live in one tent. Some gentlemen pay
| the chief Re6ouin of the family not to rob
| II en- and to prevent others from doing so.
| I was told oEce that they descend from
| some Greeks of the time of Alexander the
| Great. They keep up family feuds as the
| ancient Greeks did. They have sheep.
| fowls. dontevs camels and huffaloes (Which
they call eiamoose). In fact. they live the
same kind of life the patriarchs in the
Old Testament. wandering about with Their
fccks and herds. The women wear black
robes and bright-colored sashes: the men
sort of buri,Gose folded gracefully about
them. We &C sometimes to sketch their
| tents. and the children come to watch and
ask for ''ha rkshsh" The Arab men wear
| a scanty long skirt of different coIors. and
| the red fez called tarboosh. or a turban.
Usually they go barefooted- Some of the
| women wear long rohe. with glass or
bass bangles their wrists and ankles:
others a sort of scarf turned over their
| heads. and a veil covering their faces be
low the eyes, which is tied behind their
ears.
They wear plait of cotton mixed with
| their hair, stain their nails red and their
lower eyeids black. The women of the
harems wear black silk clothes. with 2
white muslin yashmak. They never go out
except carefully veiled. The carriages they
| go In have the blinds drawn. On the rail
way there are special compartments in
which they are locked in. At the tneater
| they have before their box a wooden lat
tioework, so they cannot be seen. At the
weddings of the lower classes the furniture
| is parade1 around the town on carts and IN
| the evening the bride is brought home by
| torchlight, while little street Arabs dance
| about to the sound of fearful band.
Their funerals are very singular. They
used to throw the body over their shoulders
| and take 1t to be buried. Now they are not
| allowed to do that. They put the body OH a
| kind OF stretcher and cover 1t with d piece
| of cloth At the head of the corpse they
|
| Of the deceased. If he is man. Four Arabs
| carry this, and on the way any passer-by
| offers to help for they say that the person
| who is dead prays for each one that carries
| him. crowd follows, wailing. shouting
| and making a frantic noise. The women
| wave their bandkerchiefs. pull their hair
| and make funny sound with the tongue
| There are special women paid to do this.
and often I have seen them laughing at the
| same time. The cemetery is not inclosed
and the tombs are made of stone, with a
| pole sticking up side. Moslems
! slave all ove- their heads, except one tuft
which they leave for Mohammed to catch
| hold of and drag them into heaven. Their
Sabbath day is Friday. They have two RAM
| adams, or fasts. the great and the little. A
| gun is fired at sunrise and sunset; between
| these guns they may not eat nor drink.
They make UP for 1t by feasting and riot
| ms in the open air all night The longest
lasts abort thirty days. and it must be
| dreadful in the hot weather, when they
| cannot drink drop of water all day long.
| The great Ramadan Is kept to commemo-
| rate a day when Mohammed lost his camel.
| He prayed all day long to find 1t. and at
| sunset he d scovered that he was sitting on
1t! They do not know exactly which day of
| the month 1t was, 80 they fast thirty to
| forty days so as to hit the right one. The
| fast ends wien the moon is seen reflected In
| a certain well. The event is teiegraphed all
| over, guns are fired and the great Bairam.
| or feast, sets in.