in the Cataract, and he remained half dressed on the rock,
without a farthing, four men came and offered to lend him anything.
While I was in England last year an Englishman to whom Omar acted as
_laquais de place_ went away owing him 7 pounds for things bought. Omar
had money enough to pay all the tradespeople, and kept it secret for fear
any of the other Europeans should say, 'Shame for the English' and did
not even tell his family. Luckily, the man sent the money by the next
mail from Malta, and the Sheykh of the dragomans proclaimed it, and so
Omar got it; but he would never have mentioned it else. This 'concealing
of evil' is considered very meritorious, and where women are concerned
positively a religious duty. _Le scandale est ce qui fait l'offense_ is
very much the notion in Egypt, and I believe that very forgiving husbands
are commoner here than elsewhere. The whole idea is founded on the verse
of the Koran, incessantly quoted, 'The woman is made for the man, but the
man is made for the woman'; _ergo_, the obligations to chastity are
equal; _ergo_, as the men find it difficult, they argue that the women do
the same. I have never heard a woman's misconduct spoken of without a
hundred excuses; perhaps her husband had slave girls, perhaps he was old
or sick, or she didn't like him, or she couldn't help it. Violent love
comes 'by the visitation of God,' as our juries say; the man or woman
must satisfy it or die. A poor young fellow is now in the muristan (the
madhouse) of Cairo owing to the beauty and sweet tongue of an English
lady whose servant he was. How could he help it? God sent the calamity.

I often hear of Lady Ellenborough, who is married to the Sheykh-el-Arab
of Palmyra, and lives at Damascus. The Arabs think it inhuman of English
ladies to avoid her. Perhaps she has repented; at all events, she is
married and lives with her husband. I asked Omar if he would tell his
brother if he saw his wife do anything wrong. (N.B.--He can't endure
her.) 'Certainly not, I must cover her with my cloak.' I am told, also,
that among the Arabs of the desert (the _real_ Arabs), when a traveller,
tired and wayworn, seeks their tents, it is the duty of his host,
generally the Sheykh, to send him into the hareem, and leave him there
three days, with full permission to do as he will after the women have
bathed, and rubbed, and refreshed him. But then he must never speak of
that Hareem; they are to him as his own