pays, she is by no means ignorant of the life and character of her
neighbours, thanks to certain old women (amongst them the professional
match-makers) who go about as veritable gossip-mongers, and preserve
their more cloistered sisters at least from dying of inanition. Thus
the veriest trifles of house arrangement or management are thoroughly
canvassed.

Nor is it a privilege commonly extended to European women to be
received into the hareems of the high-class and wealthy Moors,
although lady missionaries have abundant opportunities for making
the acquaintance of the women of the poorer classes, especially when
medical knowledge and skill afford a key. But the wives of the rich
are shut away to themselves, and if you are fortunate enough to be
invited to call upon them, do not neglect your opportunity.

You will find that the time named for calling is not limited to the
afternoon. Thus it may be when the morning air is blowing fresh from
the sea, and the sun is mounting in the heavens, that you are ushered,
perhaps by the master of the house, through winding passages to the
quarters of the women. If there is a garden, this is frequently
reserved for their use, and jealously protected from view, and as in
all cases they are supposed to have the monopoly of the flat roof, the
courteous male foreigner will keep his gaze from wandering thither too
frequently, or resting there too long.

Do not be surprised if you are ushered into an apparently empty room,
furnished after the Moorish manner with a strip of richly coloured
carpet down the centre, and mattresses round the edge. If there is a
musical box in the room, it will doubtless be set going as a pleasant
accompaniment to conversation, and the same applies to striking or
chiming clocks, for which the Moors have a strong predilection as
_objets d'art_, rather than to mark the march of time.

Of course you will not have forgotten to remove your shoes at the
door, and will be sitting cross-legged and quite at ease on one of
the immaculate mattresses, when the ladies begin to arrive from their
retreats. As they step forward to greet you, you may notice their
henna-stained feet, a means of decoration which is repeated on their
hands, where it is sometimes used in conjunction with harkos, a black
pigment with which is applied a delicate tracery giving the effect of
black silk mittens. The dark eyes are made to appear more lustrous
and almond-shaped by the application of a