possess considerable advantages; first, from my brother’s knowledge of
the East, and secondly, from my plan of adhering strictly to habits
cherished by the people, which system has secured at once their respect,
while it has excited their surprise. We have even gone so far as to
adopt their manner of eating; and here I must digress to beg you not to
say “How very disgusting!” but read _how_ we do it, and then you may
confess that it is not so unpleasant as you thought. The dishes are
prepared in a very delicate manner; for instance, small cucumbers and
other vegetables of a similar kind are scooped out and stuffed with
minced meat and rice; minced meat is wrapped in vine-leaves, and so
dexterously cooked, that each leaf with its contents continues compact,
and is easily taken in the fingers. Fried meat in cakes, and the same in
form of sausages, are equally convenient; and all I have mentioned, and
a hundred others (for there is a great variety in their cookery), may be
taken almost as delicately as a slice of cake. For soups, rice prepared
in the Eastern manner, and stews, we use spoons; and so do the Turks.
One difficulty occasionally presents itself; but not at home. The chief
lady of a house, to do her guests honour, presents them with morsels of
her own selection, with her own fingers; and in some cases repeats this
compliment frequently. It would be a positive affront to refuse these;
and I am quite sure that no Englishwoman can so far strain her
politeness as to eat as much as her hostess, in her excessive
hospitality, desires, though the latter sets her a wonderful example. I
have really seen the ladies of this country eat as much as should
suffice for three or four moderate meals at one sitting. But to return
to my difficulty. I always found it to be the best plan to receive
readily, for a time, the morsels which were offered; and when satisfied,
to accept perhaps another, and sometimes two or three; at the same time
assuring my entertainer, that they were redundant, but that her viands
were so extremely well chosen, that I must, after the repast, inquire
who has superintended the _cuisine_, and derive from her some
information. Thus I removed the impression which was immediately formed,
that the dinner was not dressed agreeably with my taste: and induced
only the remark, that “the English eat so much less than the Easterns;”
accompanied by regret that so little satisfied me, but followed by an
expression of pleasure that the dinner was so agreeable to me.
I have not found the system of Eastern etiquette difficult of adoption;
and from the honourable manner in which I have been received, and
treated, and always pressed to repeat my visit, I may draw the
conclusion fairly, that I have understood how to please the people. It
has been a favourite opinion of mine, and one in which I have been
educated, that a little quiet observation of the manners and habits of
others will always prevent those differences about trifles which so
often disturb society, and sometimes separate even friends. Here I have
indeed found the advantage of exercising this observation, and it has
proved the means of securing to me invariably polite attention and
respect.
I think you would be amused could you see our dinner-arrangements at
home. First, a small carpet is spread on the mat; then, a stool cased
with mother-of-pearl, &c. is placed upon it, and serves as the support
of a round tray of tinned copper, on which is arranged our dinner, with
a cake of bread for each person. A maid then brings a copper ewer and
basin, and pours water on the hands of each of our party, and we arrange
ourselves round the tray, our Eastern table-napkins spread on our knees.
These are larger and longer than English hand-towels, that they may
cover both knees when sitting in the Turkish manner. During the meal,
the maid holds a water-bottle, or defends us from flies with a
fly-whisk. Having no change of plates, knives, or forks, no time is lost
at dinner; and it usually occupies twenty minutes. Thus, much valuable
time is saved by avoiding works of supererogation. One or two sweet
dishes are placed on the tray with those which are savoury; and it is
singular to see the women of this country take morsels of sweet and
savoury food almost alternately. Immediately after dinner, the ewer and
basin are brought round, the stool and carpet are removed with the tray,
and the stool is always placed in another room until again required.
There is something very sociable in this mode of sitting at table, and
it is surprising to see how many persons can sit with comfort round a
comparatively small tray. I should advise you and other friends in
England to resume the use of small round tables: I have often regretted
they are no longer in fashion: for a small family, they are infinitely
more comfortable than the large square or oblong tables used in England.
It is true, as you suppose, that I am sometimes amused at my position,
and more particularly so, when, on the occasion of any thing heavy being
brought into the hareem, one of the men passes through the passage
belonging to it. Their approach is always announced by their saying
audibly “O Protector! (Ya Sátir) and “Permission!” (Destoor), several
times. Excepting on such occasions, no man approaches the hareem but the
sakka, or water-carrier; and I often think that any person with a
knowledge of Arabic, and none of the habits of the people, would think
these sakkas devotees, judging by their constant religious ejaculations.
The men are quite as careful in avoiding the hareem, as the ladies are
in concealing their faces, and indeed, in many cases, more so. I have
been amused particularly by the care of one of our men, who, having
lived many years in a Turkish family, is quite a Turkish servant. On one
occasion, on returning home from riding with my boys, my donkey fairly
threw me off as he entered the court; and when this man raised me up
(for my head was on the ground), I supported myself for a moment with my
hands against the wall of the house, while I assured my poor children,
who were exceedingly frightened, that I was not hurt, forgetting that I
was _showing my hands_ not only to our own men, but to the men who
attended the donkeys! I was immediately recalled to a consciousness of
where I was, and of the impropriety of such an exposure, by the servant
I have mentioned, who most respectfully covered my hands with my
habarah, and wrapped it around me so scrupulously that the men had not a
second time the advantage of seeing a finger.
No person can imagine the strictness of the hareem without adopting its
seclusion, nor can a stranger form a just estimate of the degree of
liberty enjoyed by the women without mixing in Eastern society. One
thing is certain, that if a husband be a tyrant, his wife is his slave;
but such cases are extremely rare. I do not pretend to defend the system
of marrying blindfold, as it were; nor do I look for those happy
marriages which are most frequently found in England; but I am pleased
to find the Eastern women contented, and, without a single exception
among my acquaintances, so cheerful, that I naturally conclude they are
treated with consideration. The middle classes are at liberty to pay
visits, and to go to the bath, when they please; but their fathers and
husbands object to their shopping; therefore female brokers are in the
frequent habit of attending the hareems. The higher orders are more
closely guarded, yet as this very circumstance is a mark of distinction,
the women congratulate each other on this subject; and it is not
uncommon for a husband to give his wife a pet name, expressive of her
hidden charms, such as “the concealed jewel.”
There lives opposite to us a good old woman, a devotee, who is a sort of
Deborah to the quarter, and who passes judgment from her projecting
window on all cases which are proposed for her opinion, much to our
edification. One occurred a few days since, which will show you that the
system I have described is not confined to any particular grade in
society. A young man in the neighbourhood had been betrothed to a very
young girl, upon the recommendation of his fellow-servant, without
sending any of his own female relations to ascertain if her appearance
was agreeable, or the reverse. Becoming anxious on this subject, two
days after the betrothal, he sent a female friend, who asserted that his
bride had but one eye, that she was pitiable in appearance, and unfit to
become his wife. The person who had recommended her was a married man,
and the bridegroom accused him of culpable negligence, in not having
ascertained whether she had two eyes or not, as he might have sent his
wife to pay her a visit; while, on his own part, he had taken no such
precaution, and, being the most interested, was certainly the most to
blame. Such was the state of the case when referred to Deborah. After
hearing it patiently, she said to the young man, “My son, why did you
consent to be betrothed to a girl who was not known to your mother and
to the women of your house?” “They have been, since my betrothal, to see
her,” he answered, in a very melancholy tone of voice, “but she sat in a
dark room, and they could not tell whether she had two eyes or not; and,
in truth, O my mother, I have bought her many articles of dress, and I
have paid four hundred piastres as her dowry, the savings of many
months.” “Has she learnt any trade?” asked the old woman, “that so much
was required as her dowry?” “No,” replied the bridegroom; “but she is of
a higher family than mine, possessing houses, and lands, and property.”
“Property belongs to God,” replied she; and so saying, she retired from
the conference. We have since heard that, although the family of the
girl is _too respectable_ to permit that her betrothed husband should
see her face even in her mother’s presence, he has put the houses, and
lands, and property in the scale, and found her defect too light to be
worthy of consideration.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER XVI.
April, 1843.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I do assure you that slavery in the East is not what you imagine it to
be. Here, perhaps, the slave is more in the power of the master than in
the West, and there are some monsters, at whose names humanity shudders,
who dreadfully abuse the power they legally claim; but, generally
speaking, an Eastern slave is exceedingly indulged, and many who have
been cruelly torn from their parents at an early age, find and
acknowledge fathers and mothers in those to whom they are sold. They are
generally extremely well-dressed, well-fed, and allowed to indulge in a
degree of familiarity which would astonish you. If they conduct
themselves well, they are frequently married by their masters to persons
of respectability, and the ceremony of the marriage of a slave in the
high hareems is conducted with extreme magnificence. It is not unusual
for a grandee to give away in marriage several female slaves, and
sometime concubines, on the same day, to husbands of his own selection.
In some instances, the slaves are distressed at being thus disposed of,
and would rather remain in their old home, but generally a marriage of
this kind is a subject for extraordinary rejoicing; and accustomed as
the women are to submit to the will of others in the affair of
matrimony, from the highest to the lowest in the East, the fact of their
superiors choosing for them their husbands rather recommends itself to
their approval, and excites their gratitude. On the day of their
marriage they are dressed in the most costly manner; while in the
hareems to which they belong, Cashmere shawls, sometimes cloth of gold,
are laid that they may walk over them. Singing and dancing women are
engaged for the occasion, and several girls bearing censers, and others
sprinkling perfumes, attend each bride. You have heard and read of the
Arab dancing, which is far from delicate, but the dancing in the Turkish
hareems is not in any respect objectionable. The girls throw themselves
about extravagantly, but frequently gracefully; and turn heels over head
with amusing dexterity. It is not a pleasing exhibition, but not a
disgusting one.
I cannot admire the singing, the women choose generally such exceedingly
high keys that it resembles screaming rather than singing. I sometimes
think that with the support of a tolerable accompaniment the songs might
be agreeable, but the instruments of the country are any thing but
musical, and interfere considerably with the purposes of harmony. The
voices of the singers are remarkably fine, and would be perfection under
European culture; and the performers are usually enthusiastic in their
love for their art, but still more so are their hearers. The vocalists
are for the most part respectable.
When the slave of a grandee is given away in marriage, the man chosen as
her husband is almost always somewhat of a dependant; and the lady
generally treats him as if he were somewhat of a dependant with respect
to herself.
I have been exceedingly amused lately, by reading in the “Sketches of
Persia,” the account which is given by some natives of that country
(including persons occupying high offices under government, therefore
the noble of the land), of the liberty and power of their women; and I
am disposed to think with them, that women, in many respects, have the
ascendancy among the higher orders throughout the East. We imagine in
England that the husband in these regions is really lord and master, and
he is in some cases; but you will scarcely believe that the master of a
house may be excluded for many days from his own hareem, by his wife’s
or wives’ causing a pair of slippers to be placed outside the door,
which signifies that there are visitors within. It is true that the
husband sometimes becomes tired of frequent exclusion, and forbids, as
indeed he has a right to do, the constant admission of visitors; but in
so doing, he draws down on his head much discomfort. He has his remedy,
certainly; but how sad is the system of divorce! Who can defend it?
Where a wife has become a mother, the husband is seldom willing to
divorce her; but where this is not the case, the affair is far too
easily managed.
Among the lower orders, some of the husbands are sad tyrants. The fact
is, that the men foolishly marry such little young creatures, they are
more like their children than their wives, and their inexperience
unjustly provokes their husbands. While on this subject, it occurs to me
to tell you that Deborah has a most refractory granddaughter, who is
certainly the plague of her life. This child is in the habit of reviling
the neighbours’ servants; and a few days since she used abusive language
to a man who was sitting in his master’s doorway. The doorkeeper was
exceedingly provoked, and at once retorted, “When I have a little more
money, I will marry you, and punish you every day.” This manner of
revenge is something really new to us Europeans.
Last week, a little bride was paraded through the streets in our
neighbourhood, whose age could scarcely have exceeded ten years.
Thinking the procession, and the whole affair, an exceedingly good joke,
she was impatient of control; and instead of walking under the canopy,
and submitting to march between two of her female friends, preceded by a
woman fanning her, she insisted upon walking backwards before the
former, and fanning them herself. This will give you some idea of the
mere children who are married here.
The employments of the hareem chiefly consist in embroidery, on an
oblong frame, supported by four legs; but they extend to superintending
the kitchen, and indeed the female slaves and servants generally; and
often ladies of the highest distinction cook those dishes which are
particularly preferred. The sherbets are generally made by the ladies;
and this is the case in one hareem I visit, where the ladies, in point
of rank, are the highest of Eastern _haut ton_. The violet sherbet is
prepared by them in the following manner:—The flowers are brought to
them on large silver trays, and slaves commence by picking off the outer
leaves; the ladies then put the centres of the violets into small
mortars, and pound them until they have thoroughly expressed the juice,
with which, and fine sugar, they form round cakes of conserve,
resembling, when hardened, loaf-sugar dyed green. This produces a bright
green sherbet, prettier than the blue or pink, and exceedingly delicate.
I do not know of what the blue is composed, but am told that it is a
particular preparation of violets: the pink is of roses; the yellow of
oranges, apricots, &c. It would be tedious were I to describe the
variety of sherbets; but those I have mentioned will give you an idea of
these cooling summer drinks. About four table-spoonfuls of syrup in
three quarters or a pint of water form a most agreeable beverage.
You will be surprised to hear that the daughter of the Pasha, in whose
presence the ladies who attend her never raise their eyes, superintends
the washing and polishing of the marble pavements in her palaces. She
stands on such occasions barefooted on a small square carpet; holding in
her hand a silver rod: about twenty slaves surround her; ten throw the
water, while others follow them wiping the marble, and lastly polishing
it with smooth stones.
It is very grievous that the women in general are merely instructed in
handiwork. But I must not speak slightingly of their embroidery; for it
is extremely beautiful—as superior as it is unlike to any fancy-work
practised in England. Taste of a very remarkable kind is displayed in
its execution; and similar, in many respects, to that exhibited in the
most elaborate decorations of Arabian architecture; but its singular
beauty is in some measure produced, where colours are employed, by the
plan of often taking the colours at random.
The embroidery which is done in the hareems is very superior to any
other, and frequently interspersed with precious stones, generally
diamonds, pearls, emeralds, and rubies. The rich large brocade trousers
often are richly ornamented with jewels, and are stiff with decorations;
but the Saltah (a small jacket) for chasteness and elegance is that
which I most admire of all the embroidered articles of dress. For winter
wear, it is of velvet, or fine cloth, lined with silk. Saltahs of rich
silk are worn during the autumn and spring; and, during the summer,
dresses of European muslin are almost universally adopted, and are the
only kind of apparel suited to the intense heat of an Egyptian summer.
Few of the ladies can read and write even their own language. I know,
however, some exceptions. In one family, the daughters have been
extremely well instructed by their brother, whose education was
completed in Europe. In their library are to be found the works of the
first Italian poets and the best literature of Turkey; and these they
not only read, but understood.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER XVII.
Cairo, June, 1843.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
There has been an alarm of plague in Cairo, and several of the great
hareems have been in quarantine. The apprehension has been induced by
the fearful murrain which has raged during nine months, as a similar
misfortune has proved in former years the forerunner of a severe
pestilence.
I mentioned to you some time since that such a calamity was dreaded; and
it has in some measure arrived. At El-Mansoorah, the cases of plague
have not been few; and while on this subject I must tell you an
extraordinary fact, which will show you that it is even possible to
extract sweet from one of the bitterest of human draughts. Some Russians
have been at El-Mansoorah for the purpose of studying the disease. As a
means of discovering whether it be contagious or not, they have employed
persons to wear the shirts of the dead, and paid them five piastres a
day for so doing. This was a considerable salary, being equal to a
shilling per day! Now when the poor of this country consider half a
piastre per day a sufficient allowance for each person, and maintain
themselves well, in their own opinion, on this trifling sum, you can
conceive how charmed they might be with the liberal offers of these
Russian gentlemen, were it not for the risk they incurred. Risk,
however, they did not imagine. The poor flocked to the physicians from
all parts of the town, and _entreated_ to be permitted to wear the
plague-shirts. One old man urged his request, saying, “I am a poor old
man, with a family to maintain; do not refuse me; by your life, let me
wear a shirt.” The women crowded round the house where their imagined
benefactors had taken up their quarters, to bless them for having
undertaken to support them, their husbands, and their children: and when
the chief of these adventurous gentlemen found the dwelling thus
surrounded, he walked forth among them, and, taking off his hat, made a
courteous low bow to his dark-eyed visitors; whereupon they made the air
resound with the shrill zaghareet, or cries of joy.
Not one of the shirt-wearers died, although the physicians after a short
time (during which they awaited the result of their experiment) had
recourse to heating the shirts to 60° Réaumur. Still the poor peasants
lived, and throve on their good fare; but one of the physicians died.
How he took the disorder is of course a subject for controversy, but
that the shirt-wearers escaped, is a great triumph to the
non-contagionists of Cairo; and from all we can learn, the best informed
are of this party.
In the house of a merchant in Cairo, a slave has lately died of plague,
and, according to custom, a soldier was placed at the door to enforce
strict quarantine. The merchant did not relish this restraint, and
desired the comfort of going in and out at pleasure. Accordingly, he
attacked the cupidity of his temporary gaoler, and coaxingly addressed
him, saying, “Thou knowest, O my brother, that I am a merchant, and
therefore have much business to transact in the markets, where my
presence is necessary. Let me go, I beseech thee, and I will hire
another to take my place. Consider my case in thy generosity,” he added,
putting into his hand a piece of nine piastres; and the soldier found
his pity so sensibly touched, that further remonstrance was unnecessary:
the merchant passed, and the substitute was accepted—a new way of
keeping quarantine!
Long since I told you that I feared the plague might induce us, this
year, to go to Upper Egypt; but the accounts have never been such as to
show us the necessity; indeed, on the contrary, though constantly making
the most anxious inquiries, we did not hear that there had been many
cases of plague in the city, until the time of danger had passed.
It is a singular and sad fact, that during our few months’ sojourn here
this country has been visited by three of its peculiar plagues—murrain,
boils and blains (or common pestilence), and locusts. The first has
destroyed cattle to an almost incredible amount of value; the second has
not been so severe as it usually is; but the locusts are still fearfully
eating the fruits of the ground. In the gardens of Ibraheem Pasha and
others, the peasants are employed to drive them away by throwing stones,
screaming, beating drums, &c.
My assertion with regard to the small daily pay that contents these poor
people will show you how much it is in the power of a person of moderate
income to dispense comfort to a considerable number of poor grateful
fellow-creatures; and could you but see the blind, lame, old people who
solicit alms in the streets of Cairo, you would yearn to supply their
simple wants.
Those who are above distress are, with the exception of a very small
proportion, such as we should number in England among the poor; but, in
many respects, they husband their little property in a very strange
manner: though they never waste a morsel of food, they are sometimes
extravagant with trifles, simply from want of management. A short time
since we received from a shop a little parcel about a span long, round
which was wound forty-seven feet of string, so that the paper was only
here and there visible; and this was not, as you might suppose, on
account of the value of its contents, which cost but a few pence.
The climate produces a great degree of lassitude, and the people will
often use any thing within their reach (if their own property) rather
than make the smallest exertion; and yet, as I have remarked to you some
time since, no people can work harder or more willingly when called on
to do so. I do exceedingly like the Arabs, and quite delight in my rides
in remarking the grace and politeness which cast a charm on their
manners. It is very interesting to see two peasants meet; there appears
so much kindly feeling among them, many good-humoured inquiries ensue,
and they part with mutual blessings.
While riding out, a few days since, I was surprised by witnessing the
extreme display which is exhibited during the wedding festivities of a
mere peasant. When I arrived within a few doors of the house of the
bridegroom, I passed under a number of flags of red and green silk,
suspended to cords extending across the street; above these were hung
seven immense chandeliers, composed of variegated lamps; and awnings of
green and white canvass were stretched from roof to roof, and afforded
an agreeable shade. Here the bride was paraded, covered with a red
Cashmere shawl, numerously attended, and preceded by her fanner, beneath
a rose-coloured canopy.