f the hands; a brass
bason or pan, which they call _tas_, is brought round to all the
company, the slave holding it by his left hand, while, with the
right hand, he pours water on the hands of the guests from a
(_garoff_) pitcher, in the form of an Etruscan vase, having
(_zeef_) a towel thrown over his shoulder to dry their hands. This
ceremony is performed before and after meals. The master of the
feast, before they begin to eat, pronounces (_Bismillah_) the grace
before meat, which signifies, "In the name of God;" after the
repast, he says (_El Ham'd u lillah_) "Praise be to God." Each
guest eats with the fingers of his right hand, none ever touching
the food with their left. If a piece of meat, or a joint of a fowl
232 or chicken is to be divided, two of the guests take hold of it, and
pull it till it is divided. This is somewhat repugnant to an
European's ideas of delicacy; but if we consider that the hands are
previously washed, and that they never come in contact with the
mouth in decent or respectable society, there is not so insuperable
an objection to this way of eating as might otherwise appear. Each
person in eating the granulated flour or cuscasoe, puts his two
fore-fingers into the dish before him, and by a dextrous turn of
the hand converts the quantity taken up into the form of a ball,
which he, with a peculiar dexterity, jirks into the mouth. The
Africans never drink till they have done eating; when dinner is
over, a large goblet, or _poculum amicitiae_, of pure water is
passed round, and each person drinks copiously; the washing is then
repeated, and the repast is terminated. Afterwards coffee is
introduced, without milk: the cup is not placed in a saucer, nor do
they hand you a spoon, for the sugar is mixed in the coffee-pot;
the cup is presented in an outer cup of brass, which preserves the
fingers from being burned. They use no bells in their tents; but
the slaves or servants are called by the master when wanted, one
generally standing in the corner of the tent to superintend the
others. The pipe is sometimes introduced after the coffee, but this
is by no means a general custom, except among the negroes. The pipe
is of rose-wood, of jasmin, or of rhododendrum wood: great
233 quantities of the latter are conveyed across the Sahara, for