[Ill.u.s.tration: 77.--A LADY OF CAIRO.]

Almas, or Egyptian dancing-girls, are now-a-days scarcely more than a name in the country. It is difficult to find even one or two in Cairo.

The last specimens are restricted to the town of Esneh.

The travellers from whom we have taken the above details, visited the town of Esneh, and there saw the dancing-girls. They give the following sketch of them.

"We were conducted into a building of forbidding aspect. The dancing-girls were grouped together in the midst of the apartment. They were all plain enough in the face, but young and well made. The hope of large gains had induced them to take extra pains with their dress. I still see their low-necked vests, their wide silk pantaloons, fastened above the hips with dazzling waistbands; their inner tunic of gauze or flesh-coloured muslin; some with naked feet, others with long red or yellow Turkish slippers. Most of them wore necklaces and bracelets, and small coins hanging over their foreheads; whilst at the back of their heads hung a small silk handkerchief, carelessly thrown on. The dance began with a series of att.i.tudes, beseeching and graceful, then rapidly grew animated, till it expressed a pitch of deep pa.s.sion. Their bosoms remained immovable, while they moved the rest of their bodies as if in a frenzy. A distribution of olives, of liqueurs, and a shower of small coins, won us a thousand blessings, and brought our evening to a dignified close. The almas do not meet every day with such a windfall; and if they dance during the winter, they do not sing in the summer. The population amidst which they live cannot afford to remunerate their talents. Well versed in poses plastiques, but incapable of all work, they are reduced to all sorts of expedients, and to loans, which make them the slaves of the usurers. Their time is spent in smoking, in drinking aquavitae, and in consuming the omnipresent coffee. The miseries of such an existence daily decrease the number of almas, who, in the time of the Mamelukes, were to be found everywhere in Egypt. Esneh is their last refuge, and was, no doubt, their birthplace."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 78.--ALMA OR DANCING-GIRL.]

THE SEMITIC FAMILY.

We have already said that the races who composed the Aramean branch kindled in Asia, at an early period in history, the torch of civilization. This observation is more particularly applicable to the nations of the Semitic family, of whom we are now going to speak. It is from this family, in fact, that sprang the nations so well known in ancient history, under the name of a.s.syrians, Hebrews, Phnicians and Carthaginians. Conquered by other races, the a.s.syrians, the Hebrews, the Phnicians, and the Carthaginians have successively disappeared and are now almost entirely replaced by the Arabs.

We unite to the Semitic family the Arabs, the Jews, and the Syrians.

_The Arabs._--The Arabs const.i.tute the princ.i.p.al population of modern Arabia; they also form a great part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Nubia, Barbary, and Sahara. They extend into Persia, and even into Hindostan.

Some of the Arabs are shepherds (Bedouins), others cultivate the soil; the former are nomadic, the latter sedentary. The Bedouins, children of the desert, perpetual wanderers, active and very temperate, are smaller and of a more slender appearance than the others, and support with ease the fatigues and privations of their mode of life. The agricultural Arabs, or _fehles_, are taller and more robust. The former have a wild and suspicious cast of countenance. The characteristics of the Arab race are, a long face, with a high-shaped head; an aquiline nose, nearly in a line with the forehead; a retreating and small mouth; even teeth; the eye not at all deep set, in spite of the want of prominence of the brow; graceful figures, formed by the small volume of fatty matter and cellular tissue, and by the presence of powerful but not largely developed muscle; a keen wit; a lively intelligence; and a deep and persevering mould of character. These characteristics show that they possess a remarkable superiority over other races, and Baron Larrey has found fresh evidence of this superiority in the shape of their head, in the convolutions of their brain, in the consistency of their nervous tissue, in the appearance of their muscular fibre and their bony structure, and in the regularity and perfect development of their heart and arterial system.

We see therefore that the Arab type is really an admirable one. This type, consistent and well defined as a whole, has, however, undergone considerable modifications under the influence of divers causes. The colour of their skin varies a good deal: their complexion is sometimes as white as that of Europeans of the most northern countries. In Yemen, Arab women have been noticed whose complexion was a deep yellow. In that portion of the valley of the Nile contiguous to Nubia, the Arabs are black. In this same valley of the Nile, above Dengola, the _Shegya_ Arabs are jet black, a bright clear black, a colour which the English traveller Waddington thought the most beautiful that could be chosen for a human creature.

"These men," says Waddington, "entirely differ from negroes in the brilliancy of their colour, in the quality of their hair, in the regularity of their features, in the gentle expression of their limpid eyes, and by the softness of their skin, which in this respect is not at all inferior to that of Europeans."

Amongst the Arabs who dwell in more temperate climates, hair more or less fair, and blue or grey eyes have been observed. As a contrast, in the Libyan desert, tribes have been met with whose hair was woolly and nearly a.n.a.logous to that of negroes. Taken altogether, the nomadic Arabs, who have faithfully adhered for many centuries to the same mode of life, exhibit, in spite of varying climates, the original mould of an exceptional beauty.

Fig. 79 shows a tent of nomadic Arabs.

_The Jews._--Among the lesser nations with an affinity to the Semitic family, there is one remarkable by its historical importance, and by the manner in which it has managed to preserve its original type during the eighteen centuries in which it has been scattered all over the whole world: we mean the Jews or Israelites.[6]

[6] French politeness has made between these two words a distinction which is too odd to allow us to pa.s.s it over. In France, a rich Jew is called an _Israelite_, a poor Israelite is called a _Jew_.

The Messrs. Rothschild are _Israelitish_ bankers; but if by some impossibility they lost their millions and went to live at Frankfort, in the Jew's quarter, in the old family house, which is still there, and which we have seen, they would become, like their ancestors, _Jewish_ traders.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 79.--WANDERING ARABS.]

The Jews have preserved much of their own peculiar physiognomy. They are distinguished from the nations among whom they are dispersed, by peculiar features easily recognized in many paintings of the great masters. Still they have ended by adopting more or less the characteristics of the nations with whom they have long resided. Under the sole influence of external circ.u.mstances and mode of life, the medley of races amongst which they have existed has little by little altered their national type. In the northern parts of Europe the Jews have a white skin, blue eyes, and fair hair. In some portions of Germany many are to be seen with red beards; in Portugal they are tawny-coloured. In those districts of India where they have been long settled, in Cochin for instance, on the Malabar coast, they are black, and resemble the natives so exactly in complexion that it is often difficult to distinguish them from the Hindoos.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 80.--JEW OF BUCHAREST.]

Fig. 80 represents a Jew of Bucharest.

_Syrians._--The ancient Syrians have, as a rule, become absorbed in the races who have conquered them; their language, however, is still spoken by the Christian population of Mesopotamia and Chaldea, the Sourianis and the Yakoubis or Chaldeans.

Beyrout, at the foot of the mountains of Liba.n.u.s (fig. 81), is a town and port which is the commercial centre of all Syria. Thither Liba.n.u.s sends its wine and its silks; Yemen, its coffee; Haman, its corn; Djebal and Lattakiah, their pale-coloured tobaccos; Palmyra, its horses; Damascus, its arms; Bagdad, its costly stuffs; and all Europe, the countless productions of its industry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 81.--BEYROUT.]

The very first glance at Beyrout shows how commerce prospers in that town. The Maronite in his gloomy and coa.r.s.e garments, the Druze in his white or parti-coloured turban, armed with the most costly weapons, the Arab displaying his picturesque rags, the Turk, the Greek, the Jew, and the Armenian, all hurry to and fro, jostling one another in the crowd.

It is a regular Babel of language and costume: in which, however, the Christian element predominates.

But the streets of Beyrout, like all those of Eastern towns, are not in unison with such a brilliant panorama.

The houses are ma.s.sive sh.e.l.ls of stone; the streets are narrow and steep, communicating sometimes by tunnelled pa.s.sages; some of the broader ones are occupied by _cafedjis_, inside which squatting Arabs tranquilly smoke their chibouks, sheltered from the rays of the sun by awnings of coa.r.s.e rush-matting hung above their heads. In the middle of the street the children roll about in the dust.

The _Maronites_ and the _Druzes_ are two lesser nations of Liba.n.u.s, speaking, however, like most modern Syrians, the Arabic tongue.

The Maronites are an influential but ignorant people. They derive their origin from a Christian monk of the name of Maroun, who lived towards the close of the sixth century, and died in the odour of sanct.i.ty. A convent was founded to honour his memory. A century later, one of his disciples, John the Maronite, espoused the quarrel of the Latin Christians against those of Greek descent, at that time making much headway in Liba.n.u.s. The latter drew their inspiration from Constantinople; the Maronites, on the contrary, imbibed theirs from Rome. A religious pretext was made use of to hide political differences.

John the Maronite armed his mountaineers, led them against the enemy, and seized the whole of Liba.n.u.s right up to the walls of Jerusalem.

Keeping within their mountains, although comparatively few in number, the Maronites preserved for a long time their independence. It was not until 1588 that they were conquered by Ibrahim, Pacha of Cairo, and forced to pay a yearly tribute, which they still continue to do.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 82.--MARONITES OF LIBa.n.u.s.]

In spite of this the Maronites, like all mountaineers, have kept their desire for independence. Persecuted by their masters, the Mussulmans; and by the Druzes, rivals raised up against them by the English, jealous, according to the French, of the latter's influence in Liba.n.u.s; on bad terms with the Ansarieh or Mutualis; they still manage, the spade in one hand and the sword in the other, to cultivate and defend the inheritance of their fathers.

Ignorant as they are, the Maronites are the only educated race in the country. The magnificent convents which exist in the districts of the Maronites, are full of ancient ma.n.u.scripts and modern Arab writings.

Fig. 82 represents a Maronite convent in Liba.n.u.s.

The Druzes are schismatic Mussulmans, as the Maronites are sectarian Christians. They are inclined to cultivate the soil, but are naturally warlike. Every Druze is a ready-made soldier, hospitable, if you will, but quite as capable of fighting, when the opportunity offers, as the best guerilleros in Europe.

THE PERSIAN FAMILY.

The white races who come from the south-east of the Caucasus are generally cla.s.sed in the European branch, because the languages of both are somewhat similar, and have both some affinity with Sanscrit. But these races have a much greater resemblance to the Arameans than to the Europeans. Like the Arameans, the nations of the Persian family early acquired a certain degree of civilization, to which they have since added.

The races belonging to the Persian family have a white skin, black eyes and hair, and are of middle height. They inhabit not only Persia, but Armenia, Turkistan, and some portions of Hindostan.

Five well-defined divisions can be made in the races that const.i.tute this family: 1st, the Persians, properly so called, or the _Tadjiks_; 2nd, the Afghans; 3rd, the Kurds; 4th, the Armenians; 5th, the small tribe of the Ossetines.

_The Persians._--A great part of Persia is still occupied by tribes who wander about the country, living in tents, and forcing their slaves and servants to till the soil. But many of these tribes are aliens to the Persian race. The pure race of Persians only inhabits towns and their immediate neighbourhood. These Tadjiks or thoroughbred Persians were formerly much more numerous than they are now. The north-east of the kingdom of Iran is the land of their ancestors. All ancient writers have spoken of the primitive Persians (Medes and Persians) as a singularly fine and well made race. Ammia.n.u.s Marcellinus speaks of Persia as a country renowned for the beauty of its women (ubi feminarum pulchritudo excellit), and all the old authors describe the Persians as men of a tall stature and a handsome countenance.

The figures we find in the numerous ancient sculptures on Persian monuments, at Istakhar, at Persepolis, at Ekbatana, and in many other places, confirm in every respect this evidence. In the ba.s.so-relievos from Nineveh in the Palace of the Louvre, in Paris, the refined features and the good looks which distinguished the men of that ancient city are at once recognizable. The type is a n.o.ble and dignified one, and shows traces of much reflection and intelligence.

The Tadjiks, or modern Persians, are likewise extremely handsome. They possess a great regularity of feature, an oval countenance, luxuriant hair, large and well defined black eyebrows, and that soft dark eye held in such high estimation by Easterns.

The Tadjiks are cheerful, witty, active, frivolous, idle, and vicious; fond of luxury, dress, and display. They possess a literature, and their language, remarkable for its flowery and ornamental diction, is spoken not only in Persia, but by the upper cla.s.ses in a large portion of Hindostan.

Persia (the kingdom of Iran) is governed by a king (shah) who exercises almost absolute authority and who resides at Teheran. The heir to the throne is the eldest son of the king's eldest son, according to an ancient Russian custom.