ave several
times been addressed by Turkish and Egyptian ladies in the open street,
and asked all sorts of questions in a way that could not be done in any
European country. The harem, it is true, is by law inviolable: no one
but the Sultan can enter it unannounced, and if a pair of strange
slippers are seen left at the outer door, the master of the house cannot
enter his own harem so long as this proof of the presence of a visitor
remains. If the husband is a bore, an extra pair of slippers will at all
times keep him out; and the ladies inside may enjoy themselves without
the slightest fear of interruption. It is asserted also that gentlemen,
who are not too tall, have gone into all sorts of places under the
protection of a lady's veil, so completely does it conceal the person.
But this is not the case with the Levantine or Christian ladies:
although they live in a harem, like the Mahomedans, it is not protected
in the same way: the slippers have not the same effect; for the men of
the family go in and out whenever they please; and relations and
visitors of the male sex are received in the apartments of the ladies.

On one occasion I accompanied an English traveller, who had many
acquaintances at Cairo, to the house of a Levantine in the vicinity of
the Coptic quarter. Whilst we were engaged in conversation with an old
lady the curtain over the doorway was drawn aside, and there entered the
most lovely apparition that can be conceived, in the person of a young
lady about sixteen years old, the daughter of the lady of the house. She
had a beautifully fair complexion, very uncommon in this country,
remarkably long hair, which hung down her back, and her dress, which was
all of the same rich material, rose-coloured silk, shot with gold,
became her so well, that I have rarely seen so graceful and striking a
figure. She was closely followed by two black girls, both dressed in
light-blue satin, embroidered with silver; they formed an excellent
contrast to their charming mistress, and were very good-looking in their
way, with their slight and graceful figures. The young Levantine came
and sat by me on the divan, and was much amused at my blundering
attempts at conversation in Arabic, of which I then knew scarcely a
dozen words. I must confess that I was rather vexed with her for smoking
a long jessamine pipe, which, however, most Eastern ladies do. She got
up to wait upon us, and handed us the coffee, pipes, and sherbet, which