Year: 1874

sired nothing else in the world to make
my life content forever. To lie there
on the marble and dreamily watch the
glorious white of the living statutes,
with the long black hair, and the rich
eyes: to see the soft, undulating mo-
tions of them swimming in the warm,
delicious water; to look at the lovely
forms stretched at full length on the
divans and on the edges of the fountains,
and others laughing, sporting, singing,
mingling with affectionate glances, and
wrestling in the water, or on the mar
BILE floor, dripping from every limb the
perfumed water that glistened on their
bodies, and the trickling of the foun-
tain, and the rosy, subdued light that
stole in through the jealously-guarded
windows, were enough to send one of
an imagination like mine off into the
realms of fancy, and make one believe
it the promised land, and cause the
whole soul to be satisfied with the pic
ture, which needed no Imagination to
embellish.


My attendant reused me from my
dreams of perfect peace by pointing to
the fountain and signifying that was
also to get in. My four friends then
made their appearance with the servants
and the luncheon, and nobody can tell
of the comical look of us five sitting
round the baskets eating, and without
any clothes on. 1 have seen many
sights in my life, but we women around
those baskets, with chicken legs in our
hands and glasses of wine, and other
things, were too perfectly ludicrous for
anything, and laughed till I couldn't
eat. Aud my dreams of luxurious,
sleepy, sensuous paradise, filled with
undulating figures of transcendent beau
ty, were gone, and was fully possessed
of the demon of mirth, aud I provoked
the others into my own state of mind,
and we were soon the maddest of the
crowd in the perfumed waters.


1t was two full hours before our wild
sport ended, and we slid out of the wa
ter and sat talking in little knots of four
or five, while the attendants were drying
our hair, and separating it till it stood
out in light puff all around our heads.
Not tangle was left in it, and no comb
or brush was used. Then we were laid
on the same marble divans, though with
a thick bathing towel this time under
us, while the attendants punched and
pulled and rubbed all our Joints, and
cracked all our knuckles, and elbows
and shoulders, till I thought I should
be always even more unsteady than
ever. They don't give you the least
nhonPn RI M oI-a ,,cntn,,t of <hso oE
thing. They roll you and rub you, up
and down and round and round, till
you only want a chance to get your
hands to "punch their heads" when
all at once, painting and perspirating,
they grin at you and say pekkey, which
means call right" and then you can
put on your handsome bathing dress,
and have your towels spread out on the
divan about you. Then the other la
dies came about me like bees around
holly-hock, and proceeded to admire
me from head to foot.


Then the attendants came in and we
all followed them through a succession
of rooms, resting a short time in each,
and drinking lemonade and sherbet.
and eating conserves made of roses and
violets-or, at least, favored with the
perfume of those flowers. Then we
went into another room cooler still.
where most of the ladies smoked while
they chatted of their dresses, husbands,
Airtations, etc. One thing surprises
me; the perfect freedom with which
they tell each other of their firtations,
some of which 60 somewhat beyond the
decorum of our American firtations
even.


After the ladies had all finished
smoking their marghiles and little his
tories of how they had managed to
throw dust into the eunuchs eyes, ETC.. !,
they proceeded to perform their toi-
lettes, something wonderful to see. I
am woman, and I thought I knew all
their little faults and something of the
intricacies of the toilette; but 1 learned
more that day than I ever thought any
one knew. First, an old woman came
to each woman OF girl, bearing dress
ing-case filled with the marvellous of
compounds for the improvement of the
beauty under their care. Little look
ing-glasses were given to each woman. .
and then commenced the operation. All
the superfucus hairs on the face were
removed by little pincers; then the wo-
men brought out stiff little brushes
made OF bristles, and after dipping
them into a preparation of arsenic,
proceeded to, by means of pulling the
skin over the face tightly, punc.ure it
with the sharp bristles, which thus
leaves an indellible white beneath the
surface, which is perfectly dazzling in
its transparence and brilliancy.


Next, the eyebrows are carefully
brushed with soft brush, and then
the smoke of frankincense, mixed with
the oil OF rose. is laid on while the eve
lashes are dyed with some vegetable
dye; which leaves them brilliant
black, and under the eye-lids and on
the upper lid is laid q sort of pale
brown, which gives the whole eye a
haQntv and 1anr,Yor moab