Page:Domestic Life in Palestine.pdf/114

Rh were already sleeping. It seemed to me like a dream to be standing there alone in the moonlight, the night-silence only broken by the rippling of the waves on the shore, the bleating of my tethered lamb, and distant sounds of shouting and singing.

The next day the Pasha of 'Akka arrived. He visited each of the consuls, and then held a council at the castle. It was proposed that a force should march against Tîreh, in order to arrest and punish the plotters of the late attack on Hâifa; but it was soon made apparent that the Tîrehites had friends at Court and protectors in the Council. Some Moslems of influence in Hâifa had personal interest in the prosperity of Tîreh, for they had considerable property there, and some of the Tîrehites were largely in their debt. Through their interference and bribes, the affair was allowed to pass by almost unnoticed, notwithstanding the strongly expressed indignation of the consuls and others.

A few days afterward, I was invited to a wedding in the Sekhali family, Christian Arabs of the orthodox Greek community. At about eight o'clock, A.M., I was led into their church, a domed building, lighted from above, and gaudy with highly-colored, distorted copies of ancient Byzantine pictures; for the Greeks, though not allowed to have images to assist them in their devotions, may have pictures, provided they are not too life-like! The body of the church, unincumbered by stalls or chairs, was already nearly filled with wedding guests, holding lighted—home-made—wax tapers; one was placed in my hands. In the center of the crowd, at a lectern, stood a priest, and, immediately before him, the bride, closely shrouded in a white izzar. A many-colored muslin vail entirely concealed her features. The bridegroom by her side, who was only seventeen, wore a suit of sky-blue cloth, edged with gold thread, and a handsome crimson and white shawl girdle. He had only once seen the face of the bride, and that was six months before, on the day of the betrothal.

The service was in Arabic, and rapidly uttered in clear