_Polygamy Among the Turks and Arabs--A Full-Stocked Harem--Unveiling the Women--Romantic Adventure--A Brief Flirtation--The “Light
of the Harem”--Love at First Sight--How Egyptian Women Dress--Some Hints to the Ladies--Wearing Trowsers--Robes, Caftans, and
Peaked Shoes--Rainbow Colors--How they Dress their Hair--Crowned with Coins--A Walking Jewelry Shop--The Pretty Egyptienne Orange
Girl--Street Costume--Paris Fashions in the Khedive’s Ilarem--Beauties Riding Donkeys Man Fashion--How they Go Shopping--Animated
Bales of Dry Goods--Black Eyes in a Bundle of Silks--Marriage Brokers--How they Dispose of their Daughters in the East--A Turkish
Courtship--A Donkey Driver Gives an Opinion--The Wedding and the Honeymoon--Divorces in Egypt--An Easy Process--Many-Wived Men._
THE Mohammedan religion allows four wives to each masculine believer, but there is no limit to his number of brevet or spiritual
wives. Twenty-five years ago every well-to-do Turk considered it necessary for him to have the legal complement in the matrimonial
line, and he was not up to the social high water mark unless he had a well-stocked harem. But the West and its customs have invaded
domestic, as they have invaded commercial life Many respectable Turks have adopted monogamous habits, and live happily with one
wife. True, they may have a liberal number of slaves in their harems, and these slaves may be pretty and attractive to an extent not
approved by the lady of the house.
But the fact that monogamy is endurable, and has no social stigma attached to it, shows to what an extent the East has been
influenced by western ideas. All Oriental women must go veiled {652}in public, but it is observable that the veil is thinner than of
old, and a woman of the upper classes may now go abroad with perfect propriety, wearing a veil so diaphanous that the features are
clearly discernible through it.
Here is a little story--you may call it a confession if you like, but please consider it confidential.
One afternoon two of us--my companion was a handsome young man--were taking a stroll in one of these Oriental cities, and came upon
a blockade of vehicles, equestrians, donkeys, and pedestrians, just as we might happen upon a blockade in Broadway or Fourteenth
street. There was a gay carriage, with a gorgeous driver managing a pair of spirited horses, and in the carriage were two
richly-dressed and veiled ladies. A heavy and rather stupid looking eunuch was on the box by the driver’s side, and both he and the
driver had their attention diverted by the blockade. We edged up to the carriage under pretence of dodging a passing camel, and,
rude foreigners that we were, peered inside.
Through the faint gauze I could see that both women were pretty. I said so in French to my companion; the ladies laughed and one
of them made an inclination of her head toward the black fellow on the box. I nodded to indicate that he was not looking, and when
satisfied that all was right, she quickly raised her veil and showed us a face as pretty as any we had seen for many weeks. We had
only a momentary glance, but it was enough to photograph that pretty face on our memories.
There was a clear, transparent skin, finely-cut features of true Circassian type; there were rounded cheeks, eyes of melting
softness, and eye-brows that slightly pencilled, gave the eye a fullness it would not have otherwise possessed. She smiled as she
raised her veil, and the smile produced the most exquisite dimple and revealed a set of teeth that a belle of London or New York
might have envied.
“_Bien merci, Madame_,” said I, in a low tone; “_Comme vous êtes belle?_”
She smiled again and nodded as she dropped her veil. Just then the colored gentleman on the box caught sight of us, and shouted
“_Empshy!_” in no pleasing voice. Fearing to bring {653}trouble upon the fair lady who was destined to be the subject of our
thoughts and dreams until another pretty face should come in our way, we moved off and left the carriage to emerge from the
blockade.
But we looked back once and caught the flutter of a handkerchief, and a glimpse of the delicate hand that held it.
Is not the East becoming civilized when such an incident as this is possible? No fashionable girl in American society could show
more readiness for a flirtation with a stranger than did that pretty Orientale.
While in Egypt I received a letter from an American lady, in which I was thus commanded:
“How do the Egyptian women dress? I want to know all; and if you don’t tell me, you shall never be forgiven.”
To hear, under such circumstances, is to obey.
Before receiving that letter I had contented myself with looking at the pretty faces of the Egyptian women, for many of them _are_
pretty. They are rather vain of their beauty, and thus unlike their sex in all other countries. Many of them keep the word of
promise to the ear, but break it to the hope, as I have already explained, by wearing veils of such a slight texture that the
features are clearly discernible through it.
It is not considered polite to look at Moslem ladies when out for a promenade; at any rate, such is the Koran’s injunction to the
faithful, and they are generally careful to observe it. But I was of the infidel race, could not read the Koran, and furthermore was
carried away by that fatal attribute of my sex, curiosity. What wonder, then, that I violated the Egyptian code of etiquette, and
embraced every opportunity to see the faces of the Oriental beauties?
On the receipt of that letter I invoked the aid of an American lady residing in Cairo, and set about the study of Egyptian fashions.
The Egyptian women display considerable taste in their dress, quite as much as one could expect in a country where there is very
little change of fashion from year to year.
They wear an under garment, with very full sleeves reaching to the wrist, made very loose and full, and which does not in the
{654}least impede the movements of the wearer. Then comes a pair of very wide trowsers, such as we see in pictures; they are held
around the waist by a running string, and the lower ends are fastened in the same way just below the knee. The trowsers are made
very long, so that when fastened in the way described they hang down to the feet. They are of colored, striped, worked, or plain
material, and may be of silk, cotton, or muslin, according to the taste and ability of the wearer.
The next article of apparel, is a vest or wrapper of the same material as the trowsers. It fits the body with reasonable closeness,
and is made to button down the front to a little below the waist, from which point it is open, and it is also open at the sides from
the hips downward. According to the strict rule of the Orient, this garment should reach to the floor when the wearer stands erect,
but many ladies wear it in the form of a loose jacket reaching only to the waist and gathered in rather loosely.
For the girdle a shawl or embroidered kerchief is folded diagonally, and tied loosely in such a way that the knots are not visible.
The sleeves of the vest are made much larger than the arm, but are cut open below the wrist so that they do not interfere with the
movements of the hands. Sleeves not much unlike them, are sometimes the fashion in Occidental countries.
Outside of the foregoing they wear a long dress or _caftan_ of cloth, silk, or velvet, entirely open in front, hanging loosely
and open at the sides like the vest, but having sleeves that reach only to the wrist. It is sometimes plain, but is more generally
embroidered with gold thread or colored silk, and it should be of sufficient length to trail on the floor when the wearer walks
about. Sometimes a short jacket or sacque of the same material as the above garment, and embroidered in a similar manner, is worn
instead of the _caftan_, particularly in the warm weather when the latter would be too heavy.
Shoes are of red morocco, pointed and turned up at the toes. Stockings or socks are not generally worn, but in place of them the
Egyptian ladies make use of slippers that fit quite closely. The outer shoes are large enough to go on over the slippers, and
whenever a lady has occasion to step off the carpet or matting of the inner rooms of the house, she thrusts her feet into the
{655}
[Illustration: 0672]
{657}large shoes, or into pattens or clogs that elevate her four or five inches, and thus lift her skirts from the ground. These
pattens are very difficult to manage, and give the wearer an awkward mincing gait. Adult novices find them especially inconvenient.
In the few times I attempted to wear them, I think I was never able to walk more than a dozen steps, without falling down and
bringing my head so near them as to illustrate the French proverb, _Les extremes se touchait._
The hair is cut short over the forehead, and hangs on each side of the face to a level with the chin. The rest of the hair is combed
so as to hang down the back, and it is divided into braids. These are from eleven to twenty-five, according to the wearer’s taste,
but the number is always uneven, since the Egyptian ladies share the belief of Rory O’More, as recorded in the familiar song. Each
braid sustains three cords of black silk, and to the cords are attached beads or scales of coral, gold, or silver, and sometimes
pearls or even diamonds. Coins are attached to the ends of the cords, and the general effect is not unpleasant.
The cords are sometimes attached to a band of silk, concealed by the hair, and when thus arranged they can be removed without any
disturbance of the braids. The metal or other ornaments begin just at the base of the neck, and the cords terminate about a foot
farther down.
Among the lower classes other ornaments are attached to the head, and hang down over the forehead and at the side of the face,
and sometimes there is such a profusion of them as to make you think a whole jewelry store has started on its travels. There was
a pretty Egyptienne who used to peddle oranges around the hotel where I stopped. Her entire head was spangled around with little
_plaques_ of gilded silver, that rattled as she moved, and made a brilliant effect when she stood or walked in the sunshine.
The head-covering of an Egyptian lady consists of a _fez_ or _tarboosh_--the little red cap with a silk tassel which is worn from
one end of Mohammeddom to the other. A kerchief of colored muslin or crape is wound round the _fez_ and forms a turban something
like that worn by the men, but higher and more conical. On the top of the turban they frequently place a sort of inverted saucer
{658}of gold or silver gilt, embossed or in filigree-work, and ornamented with precious stones, or imitations of them. Every
Egyptian lady that can afford the expense has a supply of diamonds, often of a very poor quality, and those who have not the genuine
stones make a display of artificial ones. Vanity and envy are not unknown in the land of the Pharoahs.
So much for the indoor dress--the “at home” costume. Let us follow our lady out of the house and into the street.
Outside of what we have seen her wearing, she puts on a loose gown with very wide sleeves, and of rose, pink, or violet silk. Then
she dons her veil, a strip of white muslin covering the face below the eyes and reaching almost to the ground. The corners are
attached to a band that passes round the head, and the middle is kept well up over the nose by a narrow strip that goes over the
forehead and is fastened to the encircling band. Then she puts on, if she is married, an outer covering of black silk that conceals
everything but the white veil and the eyes above it. An unmarried lady wears a similar garment of white, not black silk, or she may
wear a shawl instead of it. This outer garment is exceedingly inconvenient for a pedestrian excursion, and its use is obligatory
only when the promenade is not to be made on foot.
For an out-door excursion the shoes give way to morocco boots, at least in. theory. But the customs of Europe are gaining ground in
the Orient to the extent that many ladies of Cairo and Constantinople have adopted the French boot and discarded the Oriental one
altogether. Even in Damascus, the centre of Islam, and far more fanatical than the other cities of the Orient, the French boot has
found a foot-hold, (joke, poor and not intentional,) and its popularity is increasing. And this may be a good place to remark that
the ladies of the Khedive’s family get a great many of their fashions from Paris, and very often the _yashmak_, or veil, is the only
thing about them of a truly Oriental type. And this veil is not the muslin one that I have described, but the light Turkish veil,
descending only a little below the chin and wound loosely about the face. Very many of the women of the lower order never conceal
their faces, and many of the water-carriers and those who sell bread, oranges, and other edibles, in {659}the streets of Cairo, go
barefoot, their dress consisting only of a long gown reaching to the ankles, and a loose cloak thrown over the head and shoulders.
[Illustration: 0676]
When our lady whose costume we have been examining goes out for a promenade, she generally rides upon a donkey. Of late years
carriages have intruded upon the donkey’s domain, and the natives use them considerably, but the patient animal is still regarded
with respect, and is a fashionable beast of burden. The saddle for Egyptian ladies’ use is high and broad, and covered with a small
carpet, and our heroine is seated astride with both feet in {660}the stirrups. She appears to sit very high above the animal’s back,
and to be in danger of falling off, but is really quite safe and secure.
The donkeys are trained to their work, and move along very easily, with a motion that inspires confidence in the rider. There is
always a man on one, and frequently on each side of the beast, and he is very watchful, knowing the trouble that would come to him
should any accident befall his precious charge.
Generally all the ladies of a single harem go out together, so that the sight of two, three, or four persons thus equipped is more
frequent than that of one alone. I do not mean that all the women of a single group are necessarily wives of one man; they may be
his wife’s sisters, or mother; in fact, the same relation may exist as among the feminine members of an English or American family.
Many Mohammedans are monogamous, and the notions of the Occident in regard to plurality of wives are every year becoming more and
more in vogue through the Orient. Many of the Cairene gentlemen have their mothers and sisters in their families, and some few have
their mothers-in-law. It is proper to remark that the views of the Orient on the mother-in-law question do not differ materially
from those of the Occident.
A lady in her out-of-door dress, and mounted on a donkey, appears far more like a bale of goods than like a human being. Especially
is this the case if a slight wind is blowing and she is riding against it, or if the air is still and she rides faster than a walk.
The silken wrapper is puffed out like a balloon, and sometimes appears to be three or four feet in diameter.
At my first view of a private harem taking its promenade, I asked a friend what those donkeys were laden with.
“The most valuable goods in Cairo,” he replied. “Without them Egypt would soon cease to exist.”
“Really!” I said. “And what are they?”
Before he could answer, one of the bundles turned in my direction, and I saw a pair of lustrous black eyes above a veil. I was
enlightened, and had no more questions to ask.
A stranger in a Mohammedan city is sure to have his curiosity aroused, before he has been there many days, on the subject of
{661}marriage. Wedding processions are quite numerous; in a single afternoon’s promenade in Cairo I have seen as many as half a
dozen. Naturally, the sight of such a procession leads one to ask about the marriage customs.
Among the Moslems, marriages are generally arranged by brokers, though not always so. There are some love-matches in which the
parties become attached to each other without the introduction of a third party, but they are by no means common. When a man has
reached the marrying age he is expected to enter the matrimonial state, unless prevented by poverty or some other impediment, and it
is considered improper, and even dishonorable, for him to refrain from so doing.
If a marriageable youth has a mother, she describes to him the girls of her acquaintance, and enables him to decide whom to take to
his house and home. If he has no mother, and frequently when he has one, he engages a woman whose profession is that of _Khat-beh_,
or marriage-broker; she has access to harems where there are marriageable women, and is employed by them quite as often as by the
men. She receives fees from one party and frequently from both.
Observe the superiority of Christendom over Islam. In our own country feminine match-makers are numerous, but they work without
pay. The only reward they expect or desire is the satisfaction of having made two people happy--or miserable. For the result of the
marriages they cause, they generally care as little as do their Moslem sisters.
The Moslem broker goes to the harems, accompanied by the mother or other feminine relations of the young man; she introduces them as
ordinary visitors, but gives a sly hint as to the object of their call. If they do not like the appearance of the maiden they plead
many calls to make, and cut short their stay, but if satisfied, they come to business at once, and ask how much property, personal
or otherwise, the young lady possesses. When these facts are ascertained, they depart, with the intimation that they may call again.
It is a strange peculiarity of Moslem countries that a rich girl can find a husband more readily than can a poor one. I am sure such
a thing was never heard of in England or America. {662}The young man hears the report of the broker, and, if satisfied, he sends her
again to the harem to state his prospects in life, and give a personal description of himself.
[Illustration: 0679]
The broker is not particular to confine herself to facts, and indulges in that hyperbole for which the Orient is famed. Her client
may be a very ordinary youth, with no property of consequence, and whom she has never seen three times in her life. She strikes an
attitude before the maiden, and says:
“O, my daughter! he has heard of you, and his heart is heavy for love of you. He is handsome as the moon, and his eyes sparkle like
the stars; he has a form and figure which all the world envy, and he has wealth surpassing all that Aladdin’s Lamp could bestow. He
will buy the finest house in Cairo; you will be his {663}thought by day and his dream by night, and his whole time will be devoted
to loving and caressing you.”
It is customary for parents to obtain a daughter’s consent to a marriage, but this is not at all necessary, and very often is
considered a mere trifle not worth regarding. Sometimes the father interferes when he discovers that the proposed husband is
poor, or has a bad temper; any slight objection of this sort makes _pater familias_ whimsical, and serves as a stumbling block. He
frequently insists that a younger daughter shall not be married before an elder one, and sometimes the broker describes a young and
charming maiden to the anxious youth while she negotiates the match for her elder and less attractive sister. If he subsequently
complains, she assures him that it is all in the family, and says he can imagine that he has wedded the beauty by wedding her
sister.
Among the middle and upper classes the man never sees the face of his bride until the marriage ceremony is concluded. This excellent
custom greatly facilitates business, as it does away with any absurd notion he may have about beauty.
When the preliminaries are settled, the bridegroom calls upon the girl’s “_Wekeel_,” or deputy, and concludes the contract. This
deputy is her nearest male relative, or her guardian, and his special duty is to fix the terms of the dowry which the husband is to
pay. This varies according to the wealth and position of the parties; the least sum allowed by law is equal to about five English
shillings, and this is indispensable.
Among respectable tradesmen and people of the middle classes, fifty or seventy-five dollars will suffice, and there is almost always
a great deal of haggling before the amount of the dowry is fixed. From the necessity of paying something to the bride’s family,
the youths not unnaturally speak of marriage as “buying a wife.” A donkey-driver whom I employed occasionally in Cairo, used to
discourse upon the matter as follows:
“I save money for buy wife. When I save three pounds I buy wife, one wife. I now have save two pounds. I have wife next year.”
The contract between bridegroom and deputy is nearly always verbal, but in presence of three or more witnesses. The first
{664}chapter of the Koran is recited by them in unison, and certain prayers or other formulae are repeated, and the bridegroom is
fairly “hooked.” Before they separate they fix the night when the bride is to be taken to the bridegroom’s house.
Eight or ten days pass away. He sends presents to _her_, and she and her family are busy preparing linen, carpets, clothing, and
other items of an outfit for the bride, so that all the dowry and generally much more is expended for her use. The articles thus
bought belong to her under all circumstances, and she takes them away in case she is divorced.
Two or three nights before the wedding the bridegroom hangs lanterns in front of his house to indicate what is coming, and these
lanterns remain there till after the wedding. On the last night of his bachelorhood he gives a party, and it is a pleasing custom of
the country that the persons invited to this party are expected to bring or send presents, so that the entertainment generally pays
for itself, and very handsomely, too.
Traces of this custom are found in American weddings, where the relations and friends of the victims are expected to “come down”
with valuable articles that may be useful in housekeeping, and at the same time will “spout” well at the pawnbroker’s.
The day before the bride is to be brought home she goes to the bath; her feminine friends and relatives accompany her in procession.
In front are the musicians; then come married relatives; then unmarried girls and then the bride.
She walks under a canopy of bright colored silk, carried by four men who sustain a pole at each corner. The canopy is open in front,
but closed on the other sides and the bride walking beneath it is completely concealed by her dress which generally consists of red
silks or a red cashmere shawl over her ordinary clothing. Two of her friends walk with her under the canopy, one on each side and
the procession is ended by a couple of musicians and the rag-tag of small boys that adhere to processions in all parts of the globe.
The party remains several hours in the bath which is generally hired for the occasion, and they sometimes have a grand feast there.
Then they return to her house and have another feast, and on the following afternoon she is taken to the bridegroom’s {665}house in
a procession similar to that of the bath. She is conducted to the harem; her friends sup with her and then depart.
The same evening the bridegroom submits himself to the manipulations of his barber, and then goes to one of the mosques accompanied
by musicians, torch-bearers, and friends.
[Illustration: 8682]
He says his prayers, goes home, sups with his friends and leaves them after a time to their pipes and coffee while he proceeds to
the harem. There he finds the bride and her attendant. The latter retires; the bridegroom lifts the veil from the bride’s head and
for the first time sees her face.
So much for the forms of courtship and marriage.
Another important element of matrimony is divorce, and it is more prevalent than in our own country for the reason that it is
easier. Indiana and other states famous for their facilities for unsplicing married couples might learn something from benighted
Egypt and something in the language of the popular advertisement “to their advantage.” Divorce is fashionable and every respectable
man must indulge in it.
The first few days of my stay in Cairo our party employed a guide whom we found at the hotel. He was an intelligent Mohammedan
speaking French quite well, and his certificates of character were most flattering. While I was questioning him about marriage
customs he declared with no appearance of regret in any form: {666} “I have had nine wives and am now living with my tenth. When I
don’t like a wife I divorce her.”
The whole story is told in the last sentence of his remark--“When I don’t like a wife I divorce her.” The only form of divorce
necessary is for the husband to say to the wife in the presence of a single witness, “I divorce you.” No residence in Chicago
or Indianapolis is necessary; there are no lawyers to be engaged and no fees to be paid; no troublesome affidavits about
im-compatibility of temper and the like are to be signed, nor must one stretch his conscience in making oath to any document. Say
only “I divorce you,” and the work is accomplished.
As a consequence of these facilities the people of Egypt are very much married. Men can be found in Cairo by the hundred who have
had as many as twenty or thirty wives in half that number of years, and women who have had the same plurality of husbands in a
similar time. But divorced women are not considered as desirable as those who have never been married, and consequently these
frequent divorces fall more heavily on them than upon men. The Khedive is well aware of the debasing effect of the marriage laws and
has improved them in several ways.
Polygamy is becoming less popular every year, and would probably die out altogether in course of time if it were not expressly
sanctioned by the Koran.
The legal number of wives is four, but not one man in five hundred in Cairo or Constantinople avails himself of the privilege. A
Mohammedan whom I questioned one day on the subject of polygamy made the following reply:
“I have one time two wife. Now I have one wife. One wife make house enough warm. Two wife make house so hot you bake bread in all
times and no fire. You have three wife,--Bismillah,--house hot so no man live there.”
The mother-in-law has the same popularity among husbands in Moslem countries that she enjoys in more western lands. Most men there
prefer to marry women whose mothers are dead and who have no near relatives of their own sex, and some husbands forbid their wives
to see any women except those who are related to the lord and master of the house. But this latter rule is very seldom enforced.
{667}
[Illustration: 0684]