A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

276 SOFIA.
Sofia is still a young and a pretty woman ; and,
after the dark visages I have of late been accus-
tomed to see, she appeared to me to be compara-
tively fair—a clear brimette, with elongated black
eyes, rendered still longer and darker by the
application of kohl that encircled them, and
aquiline features, much resembling those of
the Pasta — such as she was in her best days,
— and pretty hands tipped with henna and
covered with rings. Before standing up to
dance, she asked for tchorba to be brought to
her, which I imagined to be sherbet; but on
tasting it I found that it was aniseed liqueur of
the most ardent quality, and hot as liquid fire.
Sofia, however, tossed off a large bumper of it
without making a grimace, and, to my conster-
nation, finished the bottle before her exhibition
was over, without appearing to be in the least
affected by such an excess.
As to her dancing or rather pantomime, no-
thing can be less graceful or more monotonous
striking her silver castanets, sometimes with her
arms half raised, sometimes with her hands
stretched out before her, she shuffled about upon
a very small space of ground without executing
anything like a step ;
in short, she put every part
of her body into movement except her feet. She
;