nd the mattresses upon which you
are invited to sit are immaculate in their whiteness.

Having made yourself comfortable, you will admire the arrangements
for the first item upon the programme. The slave-girl appears with a
handsome tray, brass or silver, upon which there are a goodly number
of cups or tiny glass tumblers, frequently both, of delicate pattern
and artistic colouring, a silver tea-pot, a caddy of green tea, a
silver or glass bowl filled with large, uneven lumps of sugar, which
have been previously broken off from the loaf, and a glass containing
sprigs of mint and verbena. The brass samovar comes next, and having
measured the tea in the palm of his right hand, and put it into the
pot, the host proceeds to pour a small amount of boiling water upon
it, which he straightway pours off, a precaution lest the Nazarenes
should have mingled some colouring matter therewith. He then adds
enough sugar to ensure a semi-syrupy result, with some sprigs of
peppermint, and fills the pot from the samovar. A few minutes later he
pours out a little, which he tastes himself, frequently returning the
remainder to the pot, although the more Europeanized consume the whole
draught. If the test has been satisfactory, he proceeds to fill the
cups or glasses, passing them in turn to the guests in order of
distinction. To make a perceptible noise in drawing it from the glass
to the mouth is esteemed a delicate token of appreciation.

The tray is then removed; the slave in attendance brings a chased
brass basin and ewer of water, and before the serious portion of the
meal begins you are expected to hold out your right hand just to
cleanse it from any impurities which may have been contracted in
coming. Orange-flower water in a silver sprinkler is then brought in,
followed by a brass incense burner filled with live charcoal, on which
a small quantity of sandal-wood or other incense is placed, and the
result is a delicious fragrance which you are invited to waft by a
circular motion of your hands into your hair, your ribbons and your
laces, while your Moorish host finds the folds of his loose garments
invaluable for the retention of the spicy perfume.

A circular table about eight inches high is then placed in the centre
of the guests; on this is placed a tray with the first course of the
dinner, frequently puffs of delicate pastry fried in butter over a
charcoal fire, and containing sometimes meat, sometimes a delicious
compound of