ns and pistols, repair to the
extremity of the oasis, where they gather plates of fine sand. With this
sand they return to the village, where it is exposed overnight to the
glare of the full moon on the terraces of the house. This last day
closes with a grand banquet, given by the rich whose children are about
to be circumcised, to which all the people are invited.

The next morning all the relatives of the candidates repair to the house
where the rite is to be performed; the women going up into the second
floor, wherefrom they can look down into the court from a porch screened
with lattice-work, without themselves being seen. The men gather
together on the ground-floor, together with the operator and his
assistants and the children about to be circumcised, who are dressed in
yellow, silken gowns. The child to be operated upon is seated in a pan
of sand, while an assistant fixes his arms and holds the thighs well
separated from behind. The circumciser then examines the prepuce, the
glans, and removes any sebaceous collection. This done, a compress with
an aperture to admit of the passage of the glans is slipped over the
organ; a small piece of leather, some six centimetres in diameter, with
a small hole in the centre, is now used, the free end of the prepuce
being drawn through the aperture; a ligature of woolen cord is then tied
on to the prepuce next to the front of the leather shield, and, the
knife being applied between the thread and the leather, the prepuce is
removed at one sweep; the mucous inner layer is then lacerated with the
thumb-nails and turned back over to join the other parts. The surface is
then sprinkled with _arar_ or _genevriere_ powder and dressed with a
small cloth bandage, the subsequent dressings consisting of _arar_
powder and oil. During the operation the women in the gallery keep up an
unearthly music by means of tumtums, cymbals, and all the kettles and
saucepans of the neighborhood, which are brought into requisition for
the occasion. This music is accompanied with songs and chants, each
woman striking out with an independent song of her own, either
improvised or suggested by the occasion. This not only serves to drown
the cries of the children, but it must, in a manner, assist to draw them
away from the immediate contemplation of their sufferings. The prepuces
are now gathered together and carried to the end of the oasis, where
they are buried with ceremony and rejoicings. This circumcision