CHAP. XVI. FUNERAL OF A SHEKH. 407 



the virtues of the deceased. . . . Some of these pre- 

 cepts are every day violated ; . . • and I have seen 

 mourning women of the lower classes following a 

 bier, having i\\e\Y faces (which were bare), and 

 their head-coverings and bosoms, besmeared with 

 mud. 



" The funeral procession of a man of wealth, 

 or of the middle classes, is sometimes preceded by 

 three or four or more camels, bearing bread and 

 water to give to the poor at the tomb, and is com- 

 posed of a more numerous and varied assemblage 

 of persons." In this, besides the persons already 

 mentioned, ''the led horses of the bearers, if men 

 of rank, often follow the bier ; and a buffalo, to be 

 sacrificed at the tomb, where its flesh is to be dis- 

 tributed to the poor, closes the procession.'* 



The funeral of a devout Shekh differs in some 

 respects from that of ordinary mortals ; and "the 

 women, instead of wailing, rend the air with the 

 shrill and quavering cries of joy, called zughareet : 

 and if these cries are discontinued but for a minute, 

 the bearers of the bier protest they cannot proceed, 

 that a supernatural power rivets them to the spot.'* 

 Very often, it is said, a welee impels the bearers of 

 his corpse to a particular place ; a curious anec- 

 dote of which is related by Mr. Lane * ; and I 

 have repeatedly witnessed instances of this at 

 Cairo, having for some time lived in the main 

 street leading to a cemetery near one of the gates 

 of the city. 



* Lane, p. 294. Fide supra, p. 298. note \. 



D D 4 



