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

830 AMUSEMENTS.
could furnish no more cushions for the guests,
I heard a tinkling of metal castanets in the ante-
chamber, and a young Abyssinian eunuch ush-
ered in the Ghawazees of Kenneh for my amuse-
ment.
I would gladly have dispensed with this part
of the entertainment, for my curiosity had been
so thoroughly satisfied by what I had seen of
Sofia's performance at Esneh that I never
wished to witness a similar exhibition. But
there was no escape for me ; and as on this
occasion no restriction was laid upon the Gha-
wazee's performance, but, on the contrary, the
more cynical it became the greater was the ap-
plause bestowed upon it, I was not only wearied
but disgusted by what I saw. It would be im-
possible to describe the strange vagaries indulged
in by these women ; and there was something
not only undignified but indelicate in the free-
doms taken with them by the ladies of the
hareem ; and although it is notorious that the
Ghawazees are women of abandoned character,
they were made to sit down familiarly among
us between each dance, and allowed to bandy
their practical jokes with their superiors with
an effrontery that was quite revolting to me.
Imagine four mortal hours passed by me in this