D-AJNXrS'G GERLS. 43 



Egypt; it is of considerable size, possesses a large sugar- 

 factorv, and has direct communication with Cairo bv rail. 

 On the following day we reach Beni Hassan, where the small 

 rock-temples are well worth visiting ; for on their walls are 

 depicted incidents illustrative of the people who formerly 

 dwelt in the country ; among the subjects, their games, with 

 wrestlers in a varietv of attitudes, and many of the common 

 bii'ds of Eg\'pt are most faithfully delineated. 



At Sioot we stop to see the " girls make dance," as our 

 dragoman expressed it. This performance, unlike any Euro- 

 pean dance, does not consist of any peculiar step, but of a 

 sort of shivering motion of the body from the hips upwards, 

 which, while it hardly reaches the graceful, borders rather 

 closely on what strict mortals might call the indecent. It is 

 generally danced by two at a time, both women ckessed in 

 loose trousers of blue or white, or of some striped material 

 tied round the ankles, and thin white shirts cut rather low ; 

 over this is worn a jacket, the sleeves generally tight, but cut 

 up from the wi-ist to the elbow, ornamented with numerous 

 small gold buttons ; on then- heads thev wear a small kind of 

 Fez cap thickly covered with strings of gold coins, and round 

 the neck more strings of gold coins ; they have nimierous 

 rings of silver or gold round theii- wrists and ankles, and 

 large silver rings thi'ough their ears. Their nails are stained 

 red with henneh, the invariable custom of women in Egypt, 

 their eyelids are blackened, and their chins, foreheads, and 

 cheeks, are generally marked with the " elegant tattoo " in 

 blue. To then- middle lingers and thumbs are attached 

 small silver cymbals, or castanets, to accompany their dance. 

 The doors being shut, we sit round on the divans to see the 

 performance ; the matron of the establishment plays or. 



