The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton, vol 2 | Page 4

gold, and many other beautiful things too numerous to mention.

There was another bazar where they sold attar and sandle-wood oil; and
yet another where one could buy rich Eastern stuffs and silks, the most
beautiful things, which would make a fine smoking suit for one's
husband, or a sortie de bal for oneself. Here also you can buy izars to
walk about the bazars incognita. They are mostly brilliantly hued and
beautifully worked in gold. There was also the divan, where one bought
beautiful stuffs, gaudy Persian rugs, and prayer-carpets for furnishing
the house. There was the bazar where one bought henna, wherewith to
stain the hands, the feet, and the finger- nails. And last, but by no
means least, there was the pipe or narghileh bazar, which contained the
most beautiful pipe-sticks I ever saw, and the most lovely narghilehs,
which were made in exquisite shapes and of great length in the tube.
The longer the _narbish_, or tube, the higher your rank, and the greater
compliment you pay to your guest. I used to order mine to be all of
dark chocolate and gold, and to measure from four to six yards in
length, and I never had less than twelve narghilehs in the house at once,
one of which I kept for my own particular smoking, and a silver
mouthpiece which I kept in my pocket for use when visiting. I cannot
hope in a short space to exhaust the treasures of these gorgeous bazars.
I can only say in conclusion that there were also the bazars for
sweetmeats, most delectable; for coffee, of which one never tastes the
like out of Damascus; and every kind of _bric-a-brac_.
No account of Damascus, not even a bird's-eye-view, would be
complete without some mention of the great Mosque, whither I was
wont now and again to repair. When I went, I of course took off my
boots at the entrance, and put on my lemon-coloured slippers, and I was
always careful to be as respectful and as reverent as if I were in my
own church, and to never forget to tip when I went out. The Mosque
was a magnificent building, with a ceiling of beautiful arabesques; the
floor of limestone like marble, covered with mats and prayer-carpets.
One of the most beautiful domes had windows of delicately carved
wood, whose interstices were filled with crystal. There was a large
paved court with a marble dome and fountain; and there were three
minarets, which it was possible to ascend and from them to look down
upon Damascus. It was up one of these minarets that the Duchesse de
Persigny ascended, and when prayer was called she refused to come

down. The Shaykh sent all kinds of emissaries and entreaties, to whom
she replied: "Dites as Shaykh que je suis la Duchesse de Persigny, que
jet me trouve fort bien ici, et que je ne descendrai que quan cela me
plaira." She did not please for three- quarters of an hour. She also
visited cafes which Moslem women do not visit, and shocked the
kawwasses so much that they begged the French Consul not to send
them to guard her, as they were losing their reputation! But to return to
our muttons. This superb Mosque has alternately served as a place of
worship for many creeds: for the Pagans as a temple, for the Christians
as a cathedral, and for the Moslems as a mosque. Like Damascus, it has
had its vicissitudes, and it has been taken captive by Babylonians,
Greeks, Persians, Assyrians, and Turks.
The Hammam, Or Turkish Bath, is another feature of Damascus, and
was one of my favourite haunts. I first went to the Hammam out of
curiosity, and was warmly welcomed by the native women; but I was
rather shocked. They squat naked on the floor, and, despoiled of their
dress and hair and make-up, are, most of them, truly hideous. Their
skins are like parchment, and baggy; their heads as bald as billiard-balls.
What little hair they have is dyed an orange red with henna. They look
like witches in Macbeth, or at least as if they had been called up from
out of the lower regions. They sit chatting with little bundles of sweets
and narghilehs before them. An average Englishwoman would look like
an houri amongst them; and their customs were beastly, to use the
mildest term. The Hammam was entered by a large hall, lit by a
skylight, with a huge marble tank in the centre and four little fountains,
and all around raised divans covered with cushions. Here one wraps
oneself in silk and woollen sheets, and after that proceeds to pass
through the six marble rooms. The first is the cold room, the next
warmer, the third warmer still, until