Page:Domestic Life in Palestine.pdf/253

246 Then all the women rose and stood in a circle, forming a chain by slipping their hands into each other's girdles. They first moved slowly and gently round, in a measured step and to a monotonous tune, which they sang, while the servants and children, seated on the floor, were beating time by clapping their hands. They sang thus:

They sang this over and over again, and the dance gradually quickened till it became very animated, but the dancers always kept in step. At last they sat down quite tired. While they rested I told them how I passed my time at Hâifa, and I tried to give them an idea of my home in London, and how it was quite possible to live there, without camels or olive-trees. They asked me if the people ever danced in England. They were very much shocked when they heard that men and women danced at the same time and together.

At sunset little Selim told me my brother wished to speak to me. He led me to him. He was in the vaulted chamber, with several Effendis and Moslem gentlemen, who asked me if I did not feel afraid to travel in a country where the people were fighting and plundering each other. I said, "I am not afraid, your excellencies, for I have found that all in this land are kind to the stranger." Then they said, "May Allah make a straight path for you!"

Supper was brought into the divan for the gentlemen, so I returned to the harem. It was cheerfully brightened by little red clay lamps, placed in niches in the walls, and a large lantern stood on a low stool in the middle of the