They pounced upon me as if I were a new toy for them; they kissed me one after the other, and stroked my face. They had never seen a European, and told me that no daughter of the Franks had ever entered their town before. They said, "Be welcome, O sister from a far country; this house is yours, and we are your servants." Then they asked me with whom, and how, and whence I had come. The ladies wore full, long trowsers, made of colored silk; short, tight jackets, made of cloth or velvet, embroidered with gold; and flowers and jewels in their head-dresses. The servants wore cotton suits, and the slaves red cloth. They wondered to see my plain, long, dark riding-dress and hat. I told them that I wished to change my clothes, as they were wet.
The boys went to order my portmanteau to be brought to the precincts of the harem, and then two slaves fetched it. As soon as I had unlocked it, the ladies, servants, and children, one and all, began examining its contents. In a minute or two it was actually almost empty. Mantles, morning and evening dresses, night-gowns, and collars were passing from hand to hand; and, as the uses of them were not known, they were put on in all sorts of fantastic ways. One of the girls took a little lace-collar, and placed it tastefully on her forehead. She thought that it was part of a head-dress. I was very much amused, but was obliged to put a stop to their mischief by telling them to put every thing back into the box; they did so directly. I had already discovered that Arab women are like children; they almost always submit immediately to gentle but unhesitating firmness.
Then I dressed in the same room; for they said that they had not any other for their use. I fancy it was because they wished to see all my clothes, and how I put them on; theirs being so very different from ours. They told me that I wore too many dresses at the same time. They wear only a shirt of thin cotton or crape, made high to the throat, open at the bosom, and with long, wide
