servative in their manners and customs, they never
imitate, but they simply vie with each other in the
superlativeness of their own style; thus the dressing
of the hair is a most elaborate affair, which occupies
a considerable portion of their time. It is quite impossible
for an Arab woman to arrange her own hair,
she therefore employs an assistant, who, if clever in the
art, will generally occupy about three days before it
is satisfactorily concluded. First, the hair must be
combed with a long skewer-like pin, then, when well-
divided, it becomes possible to use an exceedingly
coarse wooden comb. When the hair is reduced to
reasonable order by the latter process, a vigorous hunt
takes place, which occupies about an hour, according
to the amount of game preserved ; the sport concluded,
the hair is rubbed with a mixture of oil of roses,
myrrh, and sandal-wood dust mixed with a powder of
cloves and cassia. When well greased and rendered
somewhat stiff by the solids thus, introduced, it is
plaited into at least two hundred fine plaits; each of
these plaits is then smeared with a mixture of sandalwood
dust and either gum water or paste of dhurra
flour. On the last day of the operation, each tiny
plait is carefully opened by the long hair-pin or
skewer, and the head is ravissante. Scented and
frizzled in this manner, with a well-greased tope or
robe, the Arab lady’s toilette is complete, her head is
then a little larger than the largest sized English mop,
and her perfume is something between the aroma of a
perfumer’s shop and the monkey-house at the Zoological