ingenious. They make the tent-coverings of goat hair, and weave carpets scarcely inferior to those of Persia. They use no shuttle, but pass the thread with their fingers. They have peculiar skill in dying various brilliant colors. Nearly all the labor falls upon them. The men do nothing but feed the

horses and camels at sunset.

Syria is a part of the Turkish empire, and of course governed by Mohammedan rulers.

Dr. Clarke gives the following account of a pacha whom he visited at Acre. "The harem of the seraglio is accessible only to himself. Early every evening he regularly retired to this place, through three massive doors, every one of which he closed and barred with his own hand. Even to have knocked at the outer gate after he had retired would have been punished with death. No person in Acre knew the number of his women, but from the circumstance of a certain number of covers being daily placed in a kind of wheel or turning cylinder, so contrived as to convey dishes to the interior, without any possibility of observing the person who took them. He had from time to time received presents of female slaves; but after they entered his harem, none but himself knew whether they were alive or dead. If any of them were ill, he brought a physician to a hole in the wall, through which the sick person was allowed to thrust her arm, the pacha himself holding the hand of the physician while the pulse was examined. He put seven of his wives to death with his own hand, after his return from a

pilgrimage to Mecca, during which the janizaries had obtained admittance to the harem. From all the information we could obtain, he treated the tenants of his harem like the children of his family. When he retired, he carried with him a number of watch-papers he had amused himself by cutting with scissors during the day, as toys to distribute among them."

The same traveller says: "In the evening we took some coffee in the house of the imperial consul, and were introduced to the ladies of his family. We were amused by seeing his wife, a very beautiful woman, sitting cross-legged by us on the divan, and smoking tobacco with a pipe six feet long. Her eyelashes, as well as those of the other women, were tinged with the black powder made of sulphuret of antimony. Although this has by no means a cleanly appearance, it is considered as essential to the decoration of a woman of rank in Syria as her ear-rings, or the golden cinctures of her ankles. Dark streaks were likewise pencilled from the corners of her eyes along the temples. This reminded us of certain passages of Scripture wherein mention is made of putting the eyes in painting.' English translators, unable to reconcile this with their ideas of a lady's toilet, have rendered it 'painting the face.'"

The Arabs, though Mohammedans, seldom have more than one wife. Divorces rarely take place, unless for misconduct, or for not being the mother

of children. If the Arabian women are fortunate enough to have several sons, they are almost idolized by their husbands. The little girls are fair, but they are almost universally exposed to hardships, which soon spoil the complexion. When young they are very lively and agreeable, and sing almost perpetually. In cities the marriage ceremonies are similar to the Turkish. The processions are gay according to the wealth of the parties, and blessings are invoked on the bride as she passes.

The Bedouins live in tents, divided into three apartments, one for the men, one for the women, and one for the cattle. Though often ragged and half clothed, the Bedouin women generally manage to have jewels of some kind or other, for the neck, ears, nose, and arms. Those who cannot afford gold or silver, wear a nose ring of iron, sometimes two or three inches in diameter. The wives of sheiks, and other men of rank, generally wear rows of sequins across their foreheads, and fastened in bunches to the ends of their long braided hair. Rings in the nose, and very large clumsy glass bracelets about the wrist, are common. Their manner of churning butter is curious. They put the milk into a goatskin with the hair all on. This is suspended by strong cords to the branch of a tree, and a woman shakes it with all her might, until butter is produced. These skins are seldom washed, and the butter, of course, is none of the sweetest.

The Bedouins consider their wives as slaves, and exercise arbitrary power in punishing them for any

fault. One of them is said to have beat his wife to death merely because she had lent his knife without permission, though she begged pardon and offered in the humblest manner to go and bring it for him. Being called before a council of the chief men of the tribe, he acknowledged the offence; saying he had told the deceased never to meddle with any thing of his, and he was determined to have a wife who would obey him better. The chief reproved him for not first making a complaint to him; adding that if his wife should, after such a step, be guilty of disobedience, he had a right to kill her if he pleased. The murderer was ordered to pay four sheep, as a penalty for not making application to the sheik or chief; and soon after he married another woman.

They are married by a priest, who joins their hands, and reads certain verses from the Koran. The bride is blindfolded by the priest, and the bridegroom leads her into his tent, on the top of which a white flag is displayed; he seats her on a mat, saying, "You are at home." He then returns to the assembled company and joins with them in feasting, singing, shouting, firing guns, and performing rival feats on horseback, until after midnight. The bride remains blindfolded during an entire week, her hus band merely removing the bandage from her eyes for a moment, the first time he enters the tent, that she may be assured of his identity. Some female friend cooks the food, and performs other domestic duties for her, until she is allowed to see the light of day. The Arabs have many superstitious obser

vances respecting marriage. On such occasions they apply to old women skilful in sorcery, who are supposed to have the art of tying and untying the knots of fate. In cities, the Arabian women cover their faces with a cloth, with two holes worked for the eyes, which are almost always bright and beautiful. Their complexion is lemon-colored. They stain their fingers and toes a yellowish red, and blacken the joints of the latter. The eyebrows are stained black, and the lips blue; and a small flower or spot is often painted or stained on each cheek, the forehead, and the chin.

The following is a picture of an Arab beauty:"Her eyes are black, large, and soft, like the antelope; her look is melancholy and impassioned; her eyebrows are curved like two arches of ebony; her figure is straight and supple as a lance; her step is like a young colt; her eyelids are blackened with kahol, her lips painted blue, her nails stained a gold color with henneh, and her words are sweet as honey.".

The Arab women are said to be generally graceful in their motions, and in the adjustment of their drapery. On entering an apartment, they carelessly fling off their slippers, and show a naked foot peeping from beneath the loose ample drawers, which fall below the ankle. Mr. Madox, who visited the grand sheik, says: "His daughters sat on a sofa with him; not after the Turkish fashion, but with feet to the ground. They were rather pretty, gaily dressed, with coins suspended on gold chains by the sides of