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    NOTICES OF BOOKS. 273

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    ^ Ragged Life In Egypt. By M. X*. Whatel...

    whitewash , shavings , and litter of all kinds , they took possession . The locality selected was admirably situated for observing the

    . domestic life of the native population , and our authoress thus became acquainted with the daily doings of her future scholars .

    The house , a corner one , was higher than those adjoining , and had an excellent " sky terrace , " which commanded extensive views

    of the surrounding country . Indeed , high and low life were equally represented , and to begin with the former : —

    and " Some respectable of the -looking houses . in Bab One -el of -Bah these ar were was , exactl like our y opposite own , tall ; , its and ' rez white de ,

    chaussee' was inhabited hy an old seedsman , or seller of beans , corn , and fodder family . , but It seemed the upper to hav part e been was an occup old one ied , b partl y a y wealth remodelled y Chri , as stian the S upper yrian

    lattices windows , projecting were furnished from the with walls the , and picturesque made of ' beaut meshra iful beers and , ' elab or Arab orate carved wood-work , while the lower ones had the Turkish lattices , which are

    exceeding of the three ly inferior ladies of in the appearance house ( . who From were these all pr windows etty ) , their we often long p saw laits one of hair fastened hang roun ing over d the an head embroidered . Sometimes jacket they , and were a handkerchief at work on called some a garment mendeel

    made of the of children beautiful , or s dusting triped Damascene furniture with silk , a sometimes palm-branch busy ; for making Syrian the ladies beds two are very sturd domestic _isTegresses , and not one above of whom homel was y duties fonder , thoug of the h they window were than aided her by

    mistresses y , and spent many , a half-hour in leaning out , and in grinning at her some opposite , dark neig Syrian hbours from from Damascus time to time , was . husband The master to one of the of house the ladies , a hand , and

    brother to the two others ; he was in bad health when we first settled , and used to _recline on a divan at the window , playing with a quill a rather monotonous quentl tune seen on at a the curious door old but guitar after ; a and time the he native was doctor seen going ' s ass off was to fre his

    business y in the city , richly ; dressed and flourishing . Pie was scribe or writer to the Pasha , we were told , and therefore eminently respectable in position , and apparently quite the Oriental gentleman . "

    Yet low life has its own peculiar charms , and we must admit that the sugar-cane selleras depicted in the wood-cutis a very pleasing

    figure . She lived at , the other corner , and was wont , to spread her mat under the shadow of the wall and there display her goods , —

    onions , bread , and sugar-canes , —breaking the monotony of her employment by talking incessantly to every onecustomers or not ,

    , who chanced to pass by . The huts , constructed of sun-dried bricks , were mostly so

    dilapidated , that Miss "Whately could watch the inmates at their avocations . Here would be the mistress of the house" in her

    trailing garments of dark blue cotton , spreading fuel ( calle , d _geeleli ) to dry in the sun , picking doura ( or maize ) from the husk , sifting

    . wheat , winding thread on reels , or squatted before a small extempore fire , cooking some of the queer native messes that suit

    Egyptian palates . " The brother might sleep if he pleased , but the sister will be busy about the family washconsisting chiefly of pink

    trousers and blue shirts . The roofs supp , ly the place of dustbin ,

    drying-ground , and poultry-yard j they are reached by a sort of rude

    Notices Of Books. 273

    _NOTICES OF BOOKS . 273

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1862, page 273, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121862/page/57/