to my old home, Zanzibar, with my children. May my book go out into to the world, and may it meet with as many friends as was my happy lot to find.
Berlin, May, 1886.
EMILY RUETE, n?e Princess of Oman and Zanzibar.
CONTENTS
AUTHENTICITY OF THESE MEMOIRS.
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.
FAMILY HISTORY. The Palace of Bet il Mtoni - The Bath-houses - Equestrian and Other Amusements - Princess Salamah's Father - Purchase of her Mother - Seyyid Sa?d's Principal and Secondary Wives - His Children - The Benjile - A Question of Discipline - Brother Majid Reaches his Majority - The Authoress's First Change of Residence.
CHAPTER II.
BET IL WATORO. Mahometan Belief in Foreordination - Parting Gifts - A Little Journey by State Cutter - Bet il Watoro - Arabian House Furniture and Decoration - Homesickness - Majid's Fighting-cocks - Amazonian Accomplishments - Oral Messages and Written - Chaduji the Haughty.
CHAPTER III.
BET IL SAHEL. A Cross-grained Doorkeeper - Fascinations of Chole - The Veranda at Bet il Sahel - Life in the Courtyard - An Outdoor Butchery, Kitchen, and Larder - Love of Arabs for their Horses - Social Distinctions at Table - Why Bet il Sahel was Preferable to Bet il Mtoni - Race Hatred between Circassians and Abyssinians - Curshit - Enforced Tuition.
CHAPTER IV.
FURTHER REMINISCENCES OF CHILDHOOD. Juvenile Tricks - Princess Salamah Climbs a Palm Tree - Majid's Seizure - A Family Quarrel which Ends in Divorce and Another Change of Abode for the Authoress - Extravagance of a Persian Sultana - More Divorce - Lessons in Caligraphy.
CHAPTER V.
NATIONAL SINGULARITIES. The Vaunted Activity of Northern Peoples - Infant Dress - A Climate Favouring Ease - Prayer Five Times a Day - Intervening Pursuits - Chewing Betel - Going to Bed - Menu ? la Zanzibar - Real Coffee.
CHAPTER VI.
CEREMONIES FOR NEWLY BORN. Birth - Tight Bandaging - Shaving of the Head - Protection Against the Evil Eye - The Sitting Ceremony - Black Nurses and European - Hardiness of Oriental Children.
CHAPTER VII.
SCHOOL. An Outdoor Classroom - Primitive Apparatus for Study - Play before Work - The Course of Instruction - Verbal Term Reports - Bribing the Schoolmarm - Defects of European Education - Civilisation and Religion.
CHAPTER VIII.
FEMALE FASHIONS. Yearly Distribution of Clothing Materials - Simple Wants of Arabian Women - The Shale - The Rainy Season.
CHAPTER IX.
THE SULTAN'S VOYAGE TO OMAN. Persian Hostility in Asia - Provisioning the Ships - Relatives in Oman - Difficulties of Corresponding with Them - The Departure - Khaled Represents Seyyid Sa?d - Chole as Lady Superintendent - The Sultan's Strangely Prolonged Absence - Resort to Professional Seers - Soothsaying by Ventriloquism.
CHAPTER X.
DEATH OF SEYYID SA��D. Preparations for the Sultan's Return - Majid Sets Out to Meet Him - The Palace Surrounded by Order of Bargash - Who Wants to Usurp the Throne - Arrival of the Sultan's Dead Body - Majid's Return - Court Mourning - Majid's Irregular Succession - Severance of Zanzibar from Oman - Division of Seyyid Sa?d's Property.
CHAPTER XI.
THE POSITION OF WOMAN IN THE EAST. Unhappy Western Matches - Seclusion from the Male Sex - Polygamy and Monogamy - Consideration Toward Wives - Redress Against Husbands - Domestic Prerogatives of the Women - Their Cheerfulness - Impenetrability of the Harem - Divorce Easy - Examples Disproving the "Inferiority" of Oriental Women.
CHAPTER XII.
ARABIAN SUITORSHIP AND MARRIAGE. First Acquaintance - Generally by Hearsay - Girls Free to Reject Suitors - Formalities to be Observed by the Bride - Wedding Rites.
CHAPTER XIII.
SOCIAL CUSTOMS. Calls Made in the Evening - With Escort of Armed Slaves - Form of Reception by the Hostess - Etiquette Concerning Slippers - Conversation - Rigid Exclusion of Men from Assemblies of Women - Saying Good-bye - Royal Audiences - Order of Proceedings Thereat - Obligation to Attend Them - Visits Between Men.
CHAPTER XIV.
MAHOMETAN FESTIVALS. The Month of Ramadan - Daily Fasting - Nocturnal Feasting and Hospitality - Presentation of Holiday Gifts - Watching for the New Moon - General Rejoicings - The Banyans - Henna, and the Way to Use It - Public Prayers - The "Great Feast" - Pilgrimages to Mecca - A Tenth to the Poor - How Pauperism is Consequently a Necessary Institution.
CHAPTER XV.
MEDICAL TREATMENT. Cupping - Kneading - Swallowing Sentences from the Koran - Consultation of Foreign Physicians - Maltreatment by Domestic Remedies - Superstitious Practices - Possession by Spirits, Good and Evil - Exorcism and Propitiation - Female Doctors Needed in Zanzibar.
CHAPTER XVI.
SLAVERY. A Ruinous Release of Slaves - Idleness of the Negro - A Defence of Flogging - Slaves and Concubines Kept by Europeans in the East - To Abolish a Time-Honoured Custom, Go Slow - Moslem "Fanaticism."
CHAPTER XVII.
HISTORY OF A DYNASTIC PLOT. The Authoress Loses her Mother - Family Dissensions - Princess Salamah's Equivocal Position - She Casts in her Lot with Bargash - Who Aspires to the
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