at night, the servant wishes the company a
good evening: he says "_M'sah elkhere_," the literal meaning of
which is "_Good be with you this evening_;" which salutation it is
courteous to return, even to a slave; and if any one, however great
his rank, were not to return it, he would be considered a bad
muselman, a disaffected and inhospitable barbarian. The morning
salutation is (_Alem Allah sebak_,) "May your morning be
accompanied with the knowledge of God;" or, (_Sebah el khere_, or
_sebahk b'elkhere_) "Good morning to you," or "May your morning be
good." Equals meeting, touch hands, and then each kisses his own
235 respectively; they then say, (I now speak of the middle order of
society,) "And how are you, and how have you been: how long it is
since I saw you! and how are you, and how are your children; (_uhel
Dar'kume_,) and the people of your family, how are they, certainly
you are well:" and so they will go on, sometimes for a quarter of
an hour, repeating the same thing. If an inferior meets a superior,
he kisses his hand or his garment and retires, when there is a
greater disparity of rank, the inferior kisses the stirrup of the
superior; or prostrates himself if the superior is a prince, a
fakeer, or a bashaw.

Another salutation among respectable individuals is, by each
placing his right hand on his heart, indicating that part to be the
residence of the friend!

The Jews of this country retain the customs of their ancestors more
pure and unmixed than those in other countries.

When a Jew dies he is interred the same day, or the day after at
farthest. The female relations and the friends of the deceased
assemble round the corpse, and utter bitter lamentations, tearing
their faces and their hair in a most woeful manner; they disfigure
their faces with their finger-nails, till they bleed, and during
the whole time keep stamping or moving their legs, beating time, as
it were, with their feet; these lamentations are continued, with
occasional intermission, till the body of the deceased is carried
236 away for interment. The performers of these bitter lamentations
appear to have all the marks of hideous grief inscribed on their
faces, but most of them feel no real concern; some of the girls,
young and handsome, near akin to the deceased, are a