have bracelets above the elbow, with rings on the fingers and thumb.

As you go south, the swarthy complexion of the people becomes darker. In Upper Egypt (the site of ancient Egypt) the inhabitants are quite black. The women are tall, slim, erect, and generally well formed. They have very perfect teeth; but the mouth is distorted by the custom of making the under lip project, and coloring it blue. Their hair generally hangs in braids all round the head, those on the forehead being shorter. Their dress, ornaments, and occupations, are similar to those in other parts of Egypt, excepting that they do not wear veils. They are very modest, but have such simplicity of manners, that they nurse their babes before travellers without any consciousness of impropriety. Their dances are rapid and vigorous, mixed with undulating motions, as they from time to time bend towards their partners. Both sexes are extremely fond of this amusement, and their performances are said to be far from ungraceful.

In some remote and poor villages of Egypt the people are more barbarous; the women grease their hair, wear rings in their nostrils, and strips of black leather for bracelets.

While Tyre was in its greatest prosperity, the capital of wealthy and proud Phoenicia, Pygmalion, the king, had a sister Eliza, generally known by the name of Dido. She married one of her royal relatives, named Sichæus, whom her brother put to

death, in order to obtain possession of his immense fortune. Dido privately eloped with the most valuable of her husband's effects, and after many disasters arrived at the northern part of Africa, near the place where Tunis now stands. Here she settled a colony, and built a city, called Carthage, which in the Phoenician language signified the New City. What Virgil relates of this queen is a fiction. She is supposed to have lived at least two hundred years before Æneas. Having bound herself by a solemn oath never to marry a second husband, she refused the offers of Jarbas, king of Getulia, who threatened to make war upon her colony, if she persisted in her resolution. Regarding her vow as sacred, and being unwilling to bring trouble upon her subjects, she caused a funeral pile to be kindled, into which she leaped and died.

History gives no information concerning the treatment of females in Carthagenia: a nation which owed its existence to a woman, who during her lifetime governed them with wisdom, and died to avoid involving them in danger, certainly ought to have regarded them with respect and tenderness. This is in some degree implied by the fact that when Tyre was besieged by Alexander, the Carthagenians, unable to assist them because they themselves were at war, offered to receive all the Tyrian women and children within their walls.

The conduct of Carthagenian women, during the invasion of Scipio, proves that they could not have been in a very degraded state. They not only

freely gave all their jewels for the public service, but they labored hard in erecting fortifications, and both maidens and matrons shaved their heads, that their hair might be used for cordage. And when at last there was no alternative but to yield to the conqueror or perish, the wife of Asdrubal, the Carthagenian general, reproached him for his cowardice in supplicating mercy from the enemy, and seizing her infant children, rushed into the flames of the temple of Esculapius, which she herself had kindled.

The inhabitants of the Barbary states and the neighboring deserts are descendants of the Arabs, known by the general name of Moors. Their manner of building is nearly the same that has prevailed in Syrian and Arabian cities from the earliest ages. Their houses have flat terraced roofs, sheltered courts with fountains in the midst, large doors, and spacious chambers. One small latticed window looks into the street; the others open into the private court. The latticed window is for the convenience of women on the occasion of great festivals. At such times both the inside and outside of the houses are much adorned, and the women show themselves in their best apparel. The same custom seems to be alluded to in Scripture, where we are told that when Jehu came to Jezreel, “Jezebel heard of it; and painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window."

On the occasion of a wedding, or any other great domestic ceremony, the company are received in the

open court, which is strewed with mats and carpets for their reception. In summer these courts are screened from the sun by means of an awning drawn up with ropes, like the covering of a tent. The large chambers are generally entirely separated ; each wife having her own apartment. Sometimes, when married children continue to reside with their parents, one room serves for a whole family. At the end of each chamber there is a little gallery raised a few feet above the floor, with steps leading to it. Here they place their beds; a custom which explains the Scripture phrases, "go up unto thy bed," and come down from thy bed.

The wealthy have their walls hung with velvet and damask of various colors, the ceiling richly gilded, or painted in arabesques, and the floor paved with painted tiles.

Linen, flax, figs, and raisins, are dried on the terraced roofs, which are guarded by a balustrade, or lattice work. On these roofs they likewise enjoy the cool breezes of evening, and when the weather is very warm they sleep there.

The dwellings of the poor are constructed merely of palm branches, plastered with mud and clay, which in case of a shower sometimes dissolves and tumbles in pieces. The wandering tribes, called Arabs, live in tents, and have habits similar to the Bedouins.

The hills and valleys about Algiers are ornamented with pretty gardens and country-seats, where the wealthy inhabitants retire during the summer sea

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These gardens are well stocked with vegetables and fruit, and the rivulets afford an abundant supply of excellent water.

Young children go entirely without clothing. The women wear a long wide robe, generally blue, without sleeves, and modestly high in the neck. Another piece of cloth, usually of a different color, is thrown over the shoulders, like a mantle. Some wear sandals, others European slippers, either of red or yellow morocco. In passing over the hot sands of the desert, they sometimes wear high wooden clogs, which raise them several inches above the ground, similar to those used to protect the feet on entering the hottest rooms of the eastern baths. The long ample drawers worn by girls are of striped linen or silk, and sometimes embroidered with divers colors.

When women appear in public they muffle themselves up in large mantles or blankets, called hykes, and veil themselves so that nothing can be seen but their eyes. Like other Arabs, they stain their eyebrows with powder of antimony, and sometimes paint a spot on the forehead, the chin, and one cheek; a circle round the eyes, in red or black, is likewise considered becoming. In the country they often go abroad without being veiled; but if they see a stranger approach they hastily screen their faces. Their hair is generally long and intensely black. They plait it in several tresses, and adorn it with ribbons, with glass, amber, or coral beads, and sometimes with shells. Sometimes two of these tresses are tied over the bosom, while the others fall