ily. There was a sort of oven, or cooking-place, in one corner of the hall, and I could see the red glow of a charcoal fire. On the left hand there was a broad wooden platform, raised about two feet from the ground, with a low ornamental wooden railing at the edge of it. Here mattresses and lehaffs were piled up; I suppose it was the sleeping-place of the lord of the harem. We went straight across the hall, to a dais, in a broad, arched recess, just opposite to the door by which we had entered. Two crooked stone steps led up to it, and two women—one old and the other young—stood there ready to receive me. They took my hands in theirs, and placed me on a cushioned seat on the matted floor.
The governor introduced me to the younger of the women, telling me that she was his wife, the mother of his little Daoud. She was perhaps twenty, rather tall and graceful-looking, with bright blue eyes and black hair, and a brilliant though dark complexion. She had used kohl and henna freely, and her chin and forehead were tattooed. I think that she was prepared for my coming, for she had on a fête-day dress. A blue cloth jacket, embroidered with gold, very open in front, exposed her tattooed chest, and a white spun silk shirt. Her full trowsers were of Aleppo silk, white and straw-colored. Her shallow red cloth cap was decorated with rows of gold coins, pearls, and everlasting flowers. A long purple tassel hung down behind, and a perforated, flat, crescent-shaped gilt ornament, about five inches wide, was fixed on the top of the head-dress. (Is this the "round tire" like the moon, referred to in Isaiah iii, 18?) Her long hair was plaited, and interwoven with black silk braid, to make it appear still longer. She told me that Shefa 'Amer was not a pleasant place to live in, and that she was quite a stranger there. I asked her what part of the country she came from. She said, "Neby-Daoud is the place of my birth, and the place I love." She referred to a cluster of buildings round the tomb of the Prophet David, or Neby-Daoud, just outside
