divorce herself or be divorced for any trifle, while the other can demand and insist on a proper allowance. The children of these women are free, and they themselves are generally made so on the birth of the first-born, especially if it be a son; and numbers are married to their masters, and become not only the most affectionate, but the most faithful women in the community. Compare this with Christian slavery-compare it likewise with the condition of those people in their native state, and we must acknowledge it an improvement of their condition. This was the slavery of the primitive Hebrew nation, allowed by Scripture and practised by the patriarchs, but which refinement and Christianity, the well-being of society, and the respect which man owes his fellow in the present day, alike forbid.

Our hotel at Cairo, though by no means the best, was comfortable, and its owner, Mr. Manson, formerly in the service of the Básha, took every pains to make it so. Attached to it is a handsome garden, growing some rare and beautiful tamarisks and acacias. A billiard-room forms its under part, which being much frequented by the instructors, foreigners, and officials, both native and European, and the usual class of idle loungers which fill such places in all countries, has made it quite a place of news in the evenings, where the politics of Great Britain, as reported in the last papers, or detailed by the latest traveller, the news of India, the different arrivals in the city, the last levee of Mohammad Alee, the war in Syria, and such like topics, were usually discussed.

We generally dined early, and as there were at Cairo several visitors of various countries, who, like ourselves, could not obtain accommodation in the other inn, we were not at a loss for society, both agreeable and instructive, as we enjoyed our pipes and coffee in the evenings.

And now a few words on those two articles of eastern luxurycoffee and tobacco. I was anxious to see and become personally acquainted with the manufacture of Oriental coffee, which far surpasses ours in flavour and aroma. The preparation of this is another royal monopoly. I visited the factory, a large oblong room, containing a series of roasters over stoves running down the centre. On these the fresh beans are placed, attended with the greatest care, and watched with such nicety that a single minute is not allowed to elapse after they have acquired the desired

224

COFFEE MANUFACTORY.

state of torrification until they are removed. They are then placed in large stone mortars, set in a raised bench, which surrounds the whole apartment, where a man pounds the contents with an immense metal pestle, worked with both hands, to a state of the finest comminution. The coffee is then sifted, the coarser grains separated, and again submitted to the pounding process, which is continued till it is all reduced to an almost impalpable powder, so fine, indeed, that it not only imparts its flavour and essence to, but absolutely mixes with, the water. All the men engaged at the work were black slaves, nearly naked, as the heat is very great; and in producing the finest description, some spend a whole day at a few pounds of berries; but it is never ground in a mill. When the coffee is about to be prepared for use, the water is boiled in the coffee-pot; the coffee is then put in when it comes to the point of boiling, suffered to simmer for some time, the vessel is then removed from the fire, well shaken, allowed to stand a few minutes in order to settle, and then poured off; and it has this peculiarity over every other, that so fine is the powder, and so perfectly is it dissolved or suspended in the fluid, that it is thick, and at the same time perfectly clear. This is its state of perfection, a state not always to be found in the kahwehs, or coffee-shops, where it is often muddy, and always too thick for the taste of Europeans.

How much of life and manners are to be seen in a coffeeshop!-the solemn visages and portly persons of the turbaned visitors revealed in momentary glimpses, as the veil of smoke clears away, upon the renewal of a pipe or the sipping of a cup of coffee; and the Arab story-teller, singing or reciting his tale from the beauties of the thousand-and-one nights, or some other popular romance, in all the glowing imagery, with all the occasionally rapid enunciation, and all the touching pathos of an eastern bard. 'Tis true, that as I sat and listened among the crowd, I could not understand one word he uttered; but I saw the fire of his eye, I felt the power though I knew not the exact meaning of his language, and caught the spirit of his song, though I could not fully appreciate the letter; for such is eloquence, however expressedproudest, noblest of the innate powers of man-and all can feel it— the untutored Indians surrounding the Mohawk warrior, equally with the refined audience of the gifted senator.

It may appear strange that an article so much abused as tobacco

PIPES AND TOBACCO.

225 is in England, is yet made use of in one shape or another by nearly one-half of the inhabitants of the world, yet such is the fact. Here in Cairo it is smoked by all, rich and poor, male and female, and the consumption is immense; but then it must be acknowledged that it is an article perfectly different in flavour, perfume, and effect, from the stuff manufactured for general use in Great Britain. It undergoes no artificial process; but the dried leaves are placed in a semicircular case or box, with a smooth face on an inclined plane, into which they are packed very tight, and cut down in very fine shreds with an instrument not unlike a hay-knife, and worked by the right hand, while with the left the tobacco is pushed gradually forward to meet the edge of the cutter. The best description is the Gebalee Latakea, which, as the name implies, comes from the ancient Laodicea; it is exceedingly mild, and has a natural perfume that would not be disrelished even in a European drawing-room; its fragrance is peculiar to itself, and its action on the nervous system is perfectly different from any in common use here, as, even when a quantity is smoked, it has neither the sickening nor narcotising effect of ours, but a gently stimulating action on the intellectual powers, at the same time that it soothes and tranquillizes the spirits. It is smoked through a long cherrytree pipe, or one of plain wood, ornamented with blue, pink, or scarlet silk, fastened on with gold thread, wrought in a frame in a most ingenious manner. The bowl is of plain red clay, but the principal part of the shibook is the mouth-piece, which often costs upwards of twenty dollars ;-it is of amber, ornamented. with enamel, and in some instances with precious stones. The form and colour of this mouth-piece is as much subject to the caprice of fashion as is the form and cut of any article of dress with us. The present mode is a long oval piece, of a pale yellow colour, opaque and uniform, and without marks or veins. The Mohammadan is often as extravagant in the number and equipment of his pipes as an Englishman is in his dogs, guns, or horses. For each of his guests or visitors a separate one is brought in; and when he rides abroad to any distance, his pipe-bearer generally accompanies him.

There is another form of pipe, more like the hookah, consisting of a glass or wooden vessel, containing water, through which the smoke is made to pass, and received by the person in a long flexible tube. The tobacco used differs from that which I have

Q

just described, in its being much more narcotic;-it is called Toombak; and being damped, it is laid in small pieces on a grating at the top of a brass tube leading into the water-vessel, with some lighted charcoal over it. Considerable difficulty is experienced in smoking this pipe, and as a very strong inhalation is necessary, a quantity of the smoke mixes with the atmospheric air, and is received into the lungs, and this, added to the increased exertion in respiration, makes this form of smoking unpleasant, nay, absolutely dangerous. The apparatus used is called a sheesheh, but I would strongly advise all Europeans to abstain from it. A third form of pipe, much used by the lower orders, is constructed on the same principle as the last, but is merely a cocoa-nut, and a piece of cane for a tube : it is carried in the hand, and is that from which the fumes of the hemp* as well as tobacco are inhaled by those who are addicted to that species of intoxication. Opium-eating is a practice little known in Egypt, at least among the aboriginal inhabitants.

I made particular inquiry as to whether the use of coffee and tobacco shortens life, or is injurious to health. As far as I could judge, they do not; and now, as regards the former of these two

'The leaves and capsules of hemp, called in Egypt hasheesh, were employed in some countries of the east, in very ancient times, to induce an exhilarating intoxication. Herodotus informs us that the Scythians had a custom of burning the seeds of this plant in religious ceremonies and also in baths, and that they became intoxicated. Chewing or smoking it, for a similar purpose, prevailed in India at a very early age; thence it was introduced into Persia, and, about six centuries ago, was adopted in Egypt, but chiefly by the lower order; though Mr. Lane, who has written upon it, says that "several men, eminent in literature and religion, and numbers of fakeers, yielded to the fascination of this degrading custom. The leaves are used alone, or mixed with tobacco for smoking. The term hashshash, or hemp-smoker, is one of contumely, and signifies as well a noisy, boisterous person."-Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians.

It is the Cannabis Indica, or Indian variety, which is used as a stimulant; it is there principally cultivated as a luxury, and besides being smoked and chewed, an intoxicating beverage is extracted from it. Some suppose that our word assassin, a name applied to murderers at the time of the crusades, and who made, it is said, use of this drug, is derived from the word hashasheen others say it was from As Hassin, or the old man of the mountains, their founder.

An excellent essay on the preparations of this hemp, and their effects on

substances, in such constant use throughout the east, no possible comparison can be made between it and those beverages indulged in by our own countrymen of all ranks. Can the agreeable, soothing, comparatively healthy, or, at least, innocuous effects of this cheap and convenient fluid be for a moment likened to the deleterious, debasing results arising from the use of ardent spirits, drank no matter under what guise? Diseases, the effects of drunkenness, and the horrors of delirium tremens, are almost unknown in Egypt. Why do not temperance societies endeavour to have the duty on coffee lowered, and by establishing shops for the sale of it, as manufactured in the east, afford the newly-reclaimed drunkard some slight but harmless stimulant, and give to all, a refreshment loudly called for in this country? But the coffee must be prepared according to the oriental mode, and the price so lowered as to allow the poor man to purchase it as a luxury, without materially curtailing his income. I grieve to state, what I believe to be a fact, that Frankish intercourse is daily conducing to the drinking of wine in the east.

Few females of the better class are to be met with in the streets of Alexandria, but they throng the avenues of Grand Cairo in great numbers, and are nearly all dressed alike; the outer garment being a large black silk cloak, enveloping the whole person, coming up over the head, and drawn low down on the forehead. It is open in front, and held out from the waist by the hands; and as it does not meet before, the gown or under garment, a tunic of pink, rose colour, or white, is displayed. The face-veil, or boorko,

the animal system, in a healthy and diseased state, has since been published by Dr. O'Shaugnessy, professor of chemistry at the medical college Calcutta. From his statements it appears, that Indian hemp is one of the most powerful and at the same time harmless medicines for alleviating pain and spasm. It seems to possess, in small doses, an extraordinary power of stimulating the digestive organs, and exciting the cerebral system. Larger doses produce insensibility, or act as a powerful sedative. A full dose given to a dog produced the following ridiculous exhibition, highly illustrative of its characteristic effects :-In half an hour after taking the dose he became stupid and sleepy, dozing at intervals, starting up, and wagging his tail as if extremely contented; he ate some food greedily; on being called to, he staggered to and fro, and his face assumed a look of utter and helpless drunkenness. These symptoms lasted about two hours, and then gradually passed away.