144 Description o f the People. persons are rarely met w i th ; the loose Arabian dress covers d e formity, and their mode o f bringing u p children, (every thing being left to follow nature,) gen erally prevents it. Corns and deformed feet are un kn ow n ; the toes take the ir natural growth, and are as useful to the mechanics as their fingers. Lame people are seldom seen; but the blind are more numerous than in Europe. Both sexes have remarkably fine te e th ; the y un ive rsally use a dentifrice,* w hich is procured from vegetables from the interior country. T h e ir complexion, from frequent intermarriage, or intercourse with the Soudanic race, is o f all shades, from black to white. T h e women o f Fas are as fair as the E u ropeans, with the exception o f their eyes and hair, which are un iv e r sa lly dark.-f- Those of Mequinas are in general so handsome, that it is a rare thing to see a young woman in that c ity w ho is not lo v e ly or pretty. W ith large, black, and expressive sparkling eyes, th e y possess a healthy countenance, uniting the colours o f the l i ly and the rose, that beautiful red and w hite.so much admired b y foreigners in our English ladies; indeed th e ir be au ty is proverbial, as the term Mequinasia t is applied to any beautiful woman o f elegant form, with black sparkling eyes, and white teeth ; they also possess a modesty and su a v ity o f manners rarely met with elsewhere. It is extraordinary that the inhabitants o f two great and: populous cities, situated within th ir ty miles o f each other, should discover such a physiognomical difference* as is apparent between the females o f Fas and those o f Mequinas,: the former being generally o f a sallow or * This dentifrice has been imported lately, and is sold at Bacon’s Medicinal Warehouse, No. 150, Oxford Street. f Whenever a bine, or gray-eyed Mooress is seen, she is always suspected to be the descendant of some Christian renegade. J Mequinasia, a woman of Mequinas. pale complexion. T h e women o f Duquella are ordinary and diminutive, whilst the men are the reve rse ; being tall, and w e l l - l i m b e d , with regular features. T h e men ofTemsena, and Shawia, are a strong, robust race, o f a copper c o lo u r : t e women possess much beauty, and have features h ig h ly expressive ; and the animation o f the female countenance is encreased b y the use o f El kahol filelly, with which th e y tinge the eye lashes and eye brows, as already described. In these provinces they are particularly fond o f dying their hands and feet with a decoction or preparation o f the herb Henna,* which gives them an orange colour, and, in hot weather, imparts a pleasing coolness and softness to the hands, b y obstructing, in a certain degree, the quickness o f perspiration. C T h e Moorish dress resembles that o f the ancient patriarchs, as represented in pain ting s; that o f the men consists o f a red cap and turban, a (Kumja) shirt, which hangs outside o f the drawers, and comes down below the knee, a (Caftan) coat, which buttons close before, and down to the bottom, with large open sleeves; over which, when th e y go out o f doors, th e y throw carelessly, and sometimes elegantly, a h a yk o r garment o f white cotton, silk, or wool, five or six yards long, and five feet w id e : the Arabs, however, often dispense with the caftan, and even w ith the shirt, wearing nothing but the hayk. T h e Berebbers wear drawers, and a cloak o f dark blue cloth, called a Silham. The. poor and penurious are contented w ith the Burnose, or black cloak of woollen cloth, o f a close texture, made so as to resist the rain. T o this dress is added a pair o f y e llow sandals. T h e dress o f the women nearly resembles that o f the men, except in the adjustment o f the ha yk, or surtout covering, and in * This is the Lawsonia inermis of Linnaeus. U
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