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ACCOUNT of the TURKISH Manner of BATHING.

[From Colonel CAPPER'S "Obfervations on the Paffage to India, through Egypt, and across the Great Defert."]

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FTER your arrival at Cairo I would advife you as well for health as for pleafure, almost immediately to repair to the hummam or bagnio. The Turkish manner of bathing is infinitely fuperior to any thing of the kind that is now known, or at least practifed in any part of Europe: for even moft of the inhabitants of Italy, once fo famous for the magnificence of their baths, have long neglected this luxurious but falutary custom as fome of your friends may never have feen a Turkish bagnio, I fhall attempt a defcription of that I ufed, which was one of the common fort, fuch as are to be met with in every city in the Levant.

diately begins rubbing you with his hand covered with a piece of coarse stuff called Keffay, and thereby peels off from the skin a kind of kurf, which cannot be moved by washing only. When he has rubbed you a few minutes, he conducts you to a fmall room, where there is a hot bath about four feet deep and ten feet fquare, in which he will offer to wath you, having his hand covered with a fimoother stuff than before; or you may have fome perfumed foap given you to wash your felf; after

"The first room is the undreffing chamber, which is lofty and fpacious, about twenty five feet long and eighteen wide; near the wall is a kind of bench raifed about two feet from the floor, and about feven or eight feet wide, fo that after bathing, a perfon may lie down upon it at full length; the windows are near the top of the room, as well that the wind may not blow upon the bathers when undreffed, as for decency's fake. After undreffing, a fervant gives you a napkin to wrap round you, and alfo a pair of flippers; and thus equipped, you are conducted through a narrow paffage to the team-room or bath, which is a large round building of about twenty-five feet diameter, paved with marble, and in the centre of it is a circular bench, where you are feated until you find yourself in a profufe perfpiration; then your guide or attendant imme

you have remained here as long as is agreeable, you are conducted to another little fide room, where you find two cocks of water, the one hot, the other cold; which you may throw over you with a bafon, the water being tempered to any degree of warmth, or perfectly cold if you prefer it. This being the last ablution, you are then covered with a napkin, and from hence again conducted to the undreffing room, and placed upon the before-mentioned bench with a carpet under you, and being extended upon it at full length, your attendant again offers to rub you dry with napkins. Some people have their nails cut, and alfo are fhampoed; the Turks generally fmoak after bathing and the operation of shampoing, and in about an hour, a few minutes more or lefs, they commonly drefs and go home.

"It is to be wifhed that fome able phyfician would take the trou ble of informing us what would be the probable effects of the use of the Turkish baths in England. If we were to judge by a comparison

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thefe matters being very fuperficial, I only humbly fuggeft these ideas to the faculty for their confideration and opinion: thus much, however, I can pretend to fay from my own experience, that the warm bath is very refreshing after undergoing violent fatigue. In coming from Suez to Cairo, a journey of feventy miles, I was expofed to very bad weather, for two days and two nights, with no tent or covering but a cloak. On my arrival at my journey's end, very much haraffed with fatigue, and benumbed with cold, I went into a warm bath, in which having remained about half an hour, I was perfectly recovered, and never in my life was in better fpirits, or more able to have pursued my journey."

"EG

General Idea of the prefent State of the EGYPTIAN
GOVERNMENT.

[From the fame Work.]

owed his fafety to the mutual jealoufy of two rival beys nearly of equal power, who both afpired to his place. The bafhaw is fent from the Porte as viceroy on the part of the grand fignior: if he can contrive to fow fedition amongst the beys, and fecretly attach himself to the strongest party, whilft he feems to obferve a frict neutrality, he fometimes acquires more influence than even the fheick belled himfelf; but then he must act with great care and circumfpection; for thould his intrigues be difcovered, and the adverfe party to his prevail, he certainly will be obliged to quit the country.

GYPT is divided into belled was rather a weak man, and twenty-four provinces, each of which is governed by fangiack or bey: the major part of thefe twenty-four beys refide at Cairo, where always once a week, and fometimes oftener they fet in council, called by them the divan: the theick belled is the prefident of the council, and executive member of the government: his office is fomewhat fimilar to that of the doge of Venice, with rather more authority; but that indeed depends upon a variety of circumftances, fuch as whether he is a man of great abilities and firm efs himself; whether he is fupported by a large party amongst his colleagues; and whether or not he is on good terms with the bafhaw. When I was at Cairo, the fheick

"The manner of his difmiffion is characteristic of the gloomy and ar

bitrary

bitrary proceedings of this oriental republic. The beys having come to a refolution of fending him away, difpatch a carracoulouck from the divan or council to his houfe, who approaches the place where the bafhaw is feated, and having filently turned up the corner of the carpet, abruptly goes away: he is, how ever, obliged to carry an order with him, which he puts into his bofom, leaving out a corner of it fo as to be plainly perceived. The name carracoulouck fignifies a black metlenger, for he is dreffed in black, with a fort of bonnet on his head, of the fame colour.

"The bafhaw never pretends to oppofe this mandate or rather hint from the divan, knowing that refiftance would very probably coft him his life. He therefore as foon as poffible retires quietly to Boulako, fituted about two miles and a half to the westward of Cairo; or when he fufpects a violent degree of refentment against him, he proceeds to Rofetto, and from thence by the first conveyance to Cyprus, where he remains until he hears from Conftantinople.

"The divan or council of the beys, to keep up appearances with the Porte, difpatch a special meflenger to Conftantinople, complaining of the mifconduct of the bathaw, but the grand fignior, confcious of his inability to fupport his offeer, takes no other notice of his difinition than in fending another bathaw to Cairo, and often impofing a fine on the one that has been difgraced. Such, fir, is the general outline of this government, and as it is impoflible for you, during your fhort itay in Egypt, to difcover the fecret intrigues of the fate, fo as to judge which party predominates, you perhaps will think it most prudent to

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be equally attentive to both. On a future occafion, when poffeffed of full information, and more leifure, I fall probably trouble you with some farther obfervations on this extraor dinary government, but I thall conclude the prefent with a curious trait of their policy, which has no precedent that I know of in any other country whatever.

"The children of the beys cannot inherit either the rank or the property of their fathers, nor even be appointed to any office which it is deemed proper for a bey to hold. It is true, the divan, after the death of a bey, appropriates a part of his property to the maintenance of his family, but the remainder goes to his cafleef or lieutenan, who generally fucceeds both to his office and eftate. These cafheefs are Georgian or Circaffian flaves, whom the bey has bought and adopted when young, and of courfe educated with great care and tenderness, with a view of leaving them grateful guardians to their orphan children. This law was doubtlefs fuggefted to them by their diflike to monarchy and predilection for a republic; but furely it firft took place during the adminiftration of fome childleis perfon, or the voice of nature would have fuppreffed the dictates of policy.

"The city of Cairo and its environs, as you well know, are full

curiofities, but nothing attracted my attention fo much as the infinite variety of people in the public ftreets, and yet I could difcover nothing like an orignial national character among them. The prefent Egyptians are an heterogenous mixture of all nations, and having unfortunately retained only the worst features both of the minds and perfons of their anceitors, in E 4

my

my opinion they are now become the most difagrecable and contemptible nation on earth, bearing no more refemblance to the former

Egyptians, than the prefent ruins do to their once magnificent build. ings."

Some ACCOUNT of ROSETTO and its INHABITANTS. [From the fame Work.]

"IN

N advising you to travel by night from Rofetto to Alexandria, I do not mean that you fhould depart from Rofetto the night of your arrival, for if you can stay there you will find fufficient amusement for a weak at leaft; not that Rofetto itself I believe abounds with antiquities, but there are many modern buildings, in and near the city, very well worth feeing. It is a place much refpected by the Mahomedans, who fay if Mecca were to be taken from them, that the pilgrims who now go thither, would in future vifit Rafhid, i. e. Rofetta; which opinion is probably founded on a tradition that one of Mahomed's nearest relations, formerly lived, and is now buried at a mofque which is fituated at the northern part of the fuburbs. The length of this city is near two miles, but it is not more than half a mile broad; in the environs of it there are many country houfes belonging to Chriftian merchants, whofe garIdens abound with exceeding the oranges, and many of the choiceft fruits of the Eaft; but what contributes most to make it an agreeable refidence to them, is the libes rality and politenefs of the Mahomedan inhabitants, who notwithftanding the reputed fanctity of the place, are particularly civil to the Chriftians; whereas at Damietta, which is fituated only on the oppofite or Pelufian fide of the Delta,

an European cannot appear without a certainty of being infulted. For this violent antipathy no other rea fon can be affigned, but that during the crufades confiderable detachments of the Chriftian armies used to land there, and the accounts of the ravages they committed being tranfmitted to pofterity has fixed a deep-rooted refentment in the minds of the Damiettans, that will never be eradicated as long as those stories are remembered.

"European travellers in general complain of the ill treatment they meet with in all the countries of the Levant, but particularly when they are examining the ruins of ancient cities: the jealoufy fhewn by the Mahomedans on thefe occafions is always imputed to religious prejudices, or the want of urbanity, but I fhall beg leave to account for it in another manner.

"It is generally believed by them that all Europeans are deeply verfed in the abftrufe and occult fciences, which makes them confider us in the fame light as the vulgar and ignorant in Europe confider our fortune tellers or conjurors, that is, with a kind of admiration mixed with fear and deteflation. Added to this prejudice, they are alfo thoroughly perfuaded from the ftories they daily hear repeated out of the Arabian Nights Entertainments, that there are many fubterraneous palaces in their country

full

full of pearls and diamonds, in fearch of which, they fuppofe the Europeans are come to Egypt: we always acknowledge that we are looking after curiofities, which ferves to confirm them in their error; for as they have not the moft diftant idea of what we mean by curiofities, they naturally conclude we are looking for the pearls and diamonds fuppofed to be concealed in thofe fame places; which opinion alfo is ftrongly corroborated by the zeal and anxiety fhewn by our antiquaries in their researches.

"As the mean heat of a country is faid to be nearly afcertained by the mean heat of the fprings; fo are the genius and character of a nation difcovered by perufing their favourite books; for which reafon I advise you by all means to perufe the Arabian Nights Entertainments before you fet out on your journey. Believe me, fir, they contain much curious and ufeful information. They are by many people erroneoufly fuppofed to be a fpurious production, and are therefore flighted in a manner they do not deferve. They were written, as I have already hinted, by an Arabian, and are univerfally read, and admired throughout Afia by all ranks of men both old and young: confidered therefore as an original work,, defcriptive as they are, of the manners and cuftoms of the

Eaft in general, and alfo of the genius and character of the Arabians in particular; they furely must be thought to merit the attention. of the curious nor are they, in my opinion, entirely deftitute of merit in other refpects; for although the extravagance of fome of the stories is carried too far, yet on the whole, one cannot help admiring the fancy and invention of the author, in ftriking out fuch a variety of pleafing incidents: pleafing I call them, becaufe they have frequently afforded me much amufement, nor do I envy any man his feelings, who is above being pleafed with them; but before any perfon decides upon the merit of thefe books, he fhould be eye-witness of the effect they produce on those who best understand them. I have more than once feen the Arabians on the Defert fitting round a fire liftening to thefe ftories with fuch attention and pleafure, as totally to forget the fatigue and hardship with which an inftant before they were entirely overcome. In short, fir, not to dwell any longer on this subject, they are in the fame estimation all over Afia, that the adventures of Don Quixote are in Spain; and I am perfuaded no man of any genius or tafte would think of making the tour of that country without previcafly reading the works of Cervantes."

General DESCRIPTION of the Perfons of the INHABITANTS of SUMATRA.

"TH

[From Mr. MARSDEN's Hiftory of Sumatra.]

HEY are rather below the middle ftature; their bulk is in proportion; their limbs are for the most part flight, but well fhaped, and particularly fmall at the

wrists and ankles. Upon the whole they are gracefully formed, and I fcarcely recollect to have ever feen one deformed perfon, of the natives. The women, however, have

the

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