PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 47 



In Egypt, the nobles and wealthy inhabitants consume large 

 quantities of rose-water ; they scatter it over their divans, and 

 other places where they spend their time ; they also offer it with 

 confectionary, to their visiters. 



The custom of offering rose-water to a guest, is alluded to by 

 Shakspeare, who makes one of his characters in Padua say : 



" What is it your honor will command 1 

 Let one attend him with a silver bason 

 Full of rose-water, and bestrewed with flowers." 



Almost all the rose-water used in this country is distilled in 

 the province of Fayoum, from the pale rose. "About the mid- 

 dle of February, in Fayoum," says a French writer, "they pluck 

 the roses every morning before sunrise, while the dew is yet 

 upon them ; they then place them immediately in the alembic, 

 not allowing them to become dry or heated by remaining too 

 long a time without distillation. This lucrative branch of manu- 

 facture has not escaped the monopoly of Mehemet Ali. No 

 private individual can now distil roses in Egypt, and those who 

 cultivate them are obliged to sell the petals to government at a 

 low price. The value of all the rose-water distilled in Fayoum, 

 annually, is estimated at 50,000 or 60,000 francs." Of the pror 

 fusion with which rose-water is used in India, some idea may 

 be formed from the narrative of Bishop Heber, who was shown, 

 in the ruins of the palace of Ghazepoor, a deep trench round 

 an octagonal platform of blue, red, and white mosaic pavement. 

 This trench, he was told, was filled with rose-water when the 

 Nawab and his friends were feasting in the middle. " The 

 ancient oil of roses," according to Loudon, " is obtained by bruising 

 fresh rose-petals, mixing them with four times their weight of 

 olive oil, and leaving them in a sand -heat for two days. If the 

 red Rose de Provins is used, the oil is said to imbibe no odor ; 

 but if the petals of pale roses are employed, it becomes per- 

 fumed. This preparation was celebrated among the ancients. 

 Pliny says that, according to Homer, roses were macerated for 

 their oil in the time of the Trojans. The oil is chiefly used for 



