The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-01-23
A LITTLE GIRL in EGYPT.
she Tells About Some of the queer
Things TO De Seen In the
Old Country.

|
| then it is so hot that we do not know
what to do with ourselves. Last win
ter was exceptionally cold. We have
not had many khamsins yet. On bad
khamsin day every body stays indoors
with shut windows, and it is much hot
ter out than in. II is hot, hot wind
that blows from the desert, whirling
burning sand along with it. In the
evening swarms of little flies come In.
attracted by the lights. and die all
over your paper, if you are writing
letter. The dampness is another very
disagreeable thing in Alexandria, which
is not dry like Cairo. But the real
plague of Egypt is. the black beetle.
1t is a continual fight to keep them
from swarming all over the house.
Some are enormous and even have
wings. We call all the natives Arabs,
though really there are many tribes
for instance, the Bedouins of the des-
ert, who pitch their dirty tents among
the country houses of the Europeans.
Whole families live in one tent. Some
gentlemen pay the chief Bedouin OF
The family not to rob them and to pre-
vent others from doing so. was told
once that they descended from some
Greeks of the time of Alexander the
Great. They keep up family feuds ms
the ancient Greeks did They have
sheep, fowls, donkeys camels and
buffaloes (Which they call giamoose.) In
fact, they live the same kind of life
as the patriarchs in the Old Testa
ment, wandering about with hocks and
herds. The women wear black robes
and bright-colored sashes; the men a
sort of burnoose folded gracefully
about them. We go sometimes to sketch
their tents, and the children come TO
watch and ask for "bakshisk." The
Arab men wear a scanty long skirt of
different colors, and the red fez called
tarboosh, or turban. Usually they go
barefooted. Some of the women wear
a long robe, with glass or brass bangles
on their wrists and ankles; others a
sort of scarf turned over their heads,
and a veil covering their faces below
the eyes, which is tied behind their
ears.
They wear a plait of cotton, mixed
with their hair, stain the nails red
and their lower eyelids black. The
women of the harems wear black silk
clothes with white muslin yashmak
They never 60 out except carefully
veiled. The carriages they go in have
the blinds drawn. On the railway there
are special Compartments in which they
are locked in. At the 'theater they
have before their box a wooden lat
ticework so that they cannot be seen.
At the weddings of the lower classes
the furniture is paraded round the
town on carts, and in the evening the
bride is brought home by tofchlight
while little street Arabs dance about
to the sound of fearful band.
Their funerals are very singular.
| They used 10 throw the body over their
shoulders and take it TO be buried.
Now they are not allowed to do that.
They put the BODY on kind of stretch
er and cover it with piece of cloth.
At the head of the corpse they fix
stick of wood, on which is put the fez
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 that is dead prays for
each one that carries him. crowd fol-
lows, wailing, shouting and making
frantic noise. The women wave their
handkerchiefs, pull their hair, and
make a funny sound with their tongue.
There are special women paid to do
his. and often have seen them laugh
ing at the same time. The cemetery
is not inclosed, and the tombs are made
of stone. with a pole sticking up IN
one side. Moslems shave all over their
| heads, except one tuft, which they
| leave for Mohammed to catch hold of
and drag them into Heaven by. Their
Sabbath day is Friday. They have
two Ramadans, or fasts, the great and
the little A gun is fired at sunrise and
sunset; between these guns they may
not eat or drink. They make up for
it by feastng and rioting in the open
air all night. The longest lasts about
30 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 commemorate
| day when Mohammed lost his camel
He prayed all day long to find it, and at
sunset he discovered that he was sit
ting on it! They do not know exact
ly which day of the month it was, SO
they fast 80 to 40 days so as TO hit the
right day. The fast ends when the
moon is seen reflected in a certain well.
The event is telegraphed all over, guns
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