siegers. The indignation of the brave man, however, completely
allayed her fears as to the fidelity of the troops, but the experiment
nearly cost her her own life. The soldiers were about to massacre the
supposed spy on the spot, and it required all her presence of mind to
make good her escape.

The situation grew, however, to be very critical at Mesket. Famine at
last broke out, and the people were well-nigh distracted, as no
assistance or relief could be expected from without. It was therefore
decided to attempt a last sortie in order to die at least with glory.
There was just sufficient powder left for one more attack, but there
was no more lead for either guns or muskets. In this emergency the
regent ordered iron nails and pebbles to be used in place of balls.
The guns were loaded with all the old iron and brass that could be
collected, and she opened her treasury to have bullets made out of her
own silver dollars. Every nerve was strained, and the sally succeeded
beyond all hope. The enemy was completely taken by surprise and fled
in all directions, leaving more than half their men dead and wounded
on the field. Mesket was saved, and, delivered out of her deep
distress, the brave woman knelt down on the battlefield and thanked
God in fervent prayer.

From that time her Government was a peaceful one, and she ruled so
wisely that she was able to transfer to her nephew, my father, an
empire so unimpaired as to place him in a position to extend the
empire by the conquest of Zanzibar. It is to my great-aunt,
therefore, that we owe, and not to an inconsiderable degree, the
acquisition of this second empire.

She, too, was an Eastern woman!

All through her book the Princess protests against the idea that Oriental
women are degraded or oppressed, and in the following passage she points
out how difficult it is for foreigners to get any real information on the
subject:

The education of the children is left entirely to the mother, whether
she be legitimate wife or purchased slave, and it constitutes her
chief happiness. Some fashionable mothers in Europe shift this duty
on to the nurse, and, by-and-by, on the governess, and are quite
satisfied with looking up their children, or receiving their visits,
once a day. In France the child is sent to be nursed in the country,
and left to the care of strangers. An Arab m