o irritation to the eye when held under it. The smoke, drawn
through a long cherry-stick pipe and amber mouth-piece, is pure, cool, and
sweet, with an aromatic flavor, which is very pleasant in the mouth. It
excites no salivation, and leaves behind it no unpleasant, stale odor.

The narghileh (still bubbling beside me) is an institution known only in
the East. It requires a peculiar kind of tobacco, which grows to
perfection in the southern provinces of Persia. The smoke, after passing
through water (rose-flavored, if you choose), is inhaled through a long,
flexible tube directly into the lungs. It occasions not the slightest
irritation or oppression, but in a few minutes produces a delicious sense
of rest, which is felt even in the finger-ends. The pure physical
sensation of rest is one of strength also, and of perfect contentment.
Many an impatient thought, many an angry word, have I avoided by a resort
to the pipe. Among our aborigines the pipe was the emblem of Peace, and I
strongly recommend the Peace Society to print their tracts upon papers of
smoking tobacco (Turkish, if possible), and distribute pipes with them.

I know of nothing more refreshing, after the fatigue of a long day's
journey, than a well-prepared narghileh. That slight feverish and
excitable feeling which is the result of fatigue yields at once to its
potency. The blood loses its heat and the pulse its rapidity; the muscles
relax, the nerves are soothed into quiet, and the frame passes into a
condition similar to sleep, except that the mind is awake and active. By
the time one has finished his pipe, he is refreshed for the remainder of
the day, and his nightly sleep is sound and healthy. Such are some of the
physical effects of the pipe, in Eastern lands. Morally and
psychologically, it works still greater transformations; but to describe
them now, with the mouth-piece at my lips, would require an active
self-consciousness which the habit does not allow.

A servant enters with a steamy cup of coffee, seated in a silver _zerf_,
or cup-holder. His thumb and fore-finger are clasped firmly upon the
bottom of the zerf, which I inclose near the top with my own thumb and
finger, so that the transfer is accomplished without his hand having
touched mine.

After draining the thick brown liquid, which must be done with due
deliberation and a pause of satisfaction between each sip, I return the
zerf, holding it in the middle, while the attendant places a pa