Walter Matthew Gallichan

“ In Andalusia, where there is a Moorish strain in the people, the ' ' black eye that mocks her coal-black veil " often glows with an extraordinary fascination from the white, moon-like faces of the women. Even more lambent are the glances of an Egyptian woman. ”

“ The eyes, which, notwithstanding their apparent fire, never expressed anything but calm and voluptuous in- dolence, lose their lustre; the nose, which even in its normal relations exceeds the limits of beauty, assumes, in consequence of the premature hollowness of the cheeks, such abnormal dimensions that many people imagine that it actually continues to grow; and the bosom, which the national costume makes no effort to conceal, prematurely loses its natural firmness all of which phenomena are observed in European women much less frequently, and in a less exaggerated form. ”

“ I have heard more than one Western woman, living under Eastern custom, assert that polygamy possessed many advantages for their sex, and solved the problem of the enforced celibacy which is common among whole masses of women in the monogamous countries. ”

“ There can be no true social intercourse between the sexes, and no reciprocal under- standing of each other's spiritual and mental needs and aspirations in societies wherein men and women move in entirely separate spheres. ”

“ From this period women seem to have cultivated plumpness. The chief characteristics of an Egyptian beauty were brilliant eyes, a soft skin, and a full figure. In Turkey most women desire to be fat, and they eat fattening food for that purpose. It is said that women of Eastern countries maintain the firmness of their flesh much longer than their sisters of the West.
The beards of the men in Egypt are much admired by women. A man should have a flowing beard, and a woman long hair. ”

“ They may all be beautiful the presumption is against it, but the possibility is always there, and with crows' feet gathered too palpably above the yashmak, the eyes express the possibility in the most alluring manner knowing very well that you are thinking of it, secure in the knowledge that you can't find out. ”

“ The wealthy owner of a seraglio often selects those Circassian women who are most susceptible to blush- ing. A capacity for blushing adds to a girl's monetary value in the harem market.
The custom of the women of the Abode of Bliss is to dress in their daintiest attire for the pleasure of their husbands in the home; but out-of-doors they often wear plain and unattractive clothes. When not invited to the presence of the pasha, the girls often wear dowdy, untidy costumes in the harem. ”

“ Romantic love, based upon highly refined sentiment and mutual esteem, as it is understood in the older Western nations, is perhaps rarely associated with polygamy and love in the harem. Nevertheless, in the single marriages, which are the rule amongst the greater number of Turks and Egyptians, there is often intense conjugal devotion. ”

“ The older ideal of a graceful woman in Egypt was slenderness in form, resembling Psyche, or the figure of a boy. On the ancient pointings of the walls, and in statuary, it is often difficult to distinguish the men from the women. There is a strong facial likeness in the sexes even at this day.
In the time of the Ptolemy s, the standard of female beauty seems to have changed, and we find in the statues a tendency to represent women as stouter in
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body, with curving outlines. ”

“ The flowers are often used in the harems to scent the body.
In spite of the religious injunction to avoid alcoholic liquors, wine is generally imbibed in the seraglios.
Under conditions in which one man controls several wives and a large regiment of concubines, it is obvious that polygamy does not solve adequately the problem of celibacy for women. Such an overplus of women for one man is an anomaly ”

“ A small mouth is esteemed, and the nose should be straight. Bright, ruddy lips should reveal regular, small, white teeth. The breasts must be firm, rounded, and not large. A slender waist is an essential charm, and so is a fullness of the hips. The tapering fingers should not be large, and the feet well-formed and small.
The eyes of the Oriental belle are very beautiful and expressive, and their glance is rendered more conspicuous by the veil which covers the lower features. ”

“ Bodenstedt, a poet and an accredited critic of womanly beauty, declares that the Georgians are a very handsome race, but he does not consider that the women excel the men in beauty. The women's faces seemed to this writer lacking in intelligence and refine- ment. ' In a Georgian everything fades with youth. ”

“ Lane refers to the delightful moulding of the Egyptian woman's body, and says that fine forms are commoner than entirely beautiful faces. Many of the Nubian girls are extremely lovely, and willowy in figure. Blacker is her hair than the darkness of night, blacker than the berries of the blackberry bush," runs an Egyptian inscription in the Louvre. ”

“ If you add to this the habit, so prevalent among Georgians, young and old, of using white and red cosmetics, you will understand that such rude and inartistic arts of the toilet can only add to the observer's sense of dissatisfaction. ”

“ The use of perfumes of a powerful odour is common throughout Islam. Mohammed, according to his favourite wife Ayesha, was very fond of the scent of musk and ambergris, and liked to smell camphor burning amongst wood. Musk is a favourite scent. It is popular in the Eastern harems, and is known as ' the noblest of perfumes. ”

“ Her sole desire is to become an ikbal, a petted play- thing of her master, and to receive his lavish gifts and favours. The outside world scarcely exists for her. Too often she has had little or no education ”