28 AN EGYPTIAN DINNER PARTY. 



him, presented him with a bouquet, and offered him 

 some raw cabbage to increase his appetite for wine, a 

 glass of which was taken before dinner — the sherry 

 and bitters of antiquity. 



The gentlemen wore wigs and false beards : their,, 

 bands were loaded with rings. The ladies wore 

 their own hair plaited in a most elaborate manner, the 

 result of many hours between their little brouze 

 mirrors, and the skilful fingers of their slaves. Their 

 eyelashes were pencilled with the antimonial powder, 

 their finger nails tinged with the henna's golden juice 

 — fashions older than the Pyramids, and which still 

 govern the women of the East. 



The guests met in the dining room, and grace was 

 said before they sat down. They were crowned with 

 garlands of the lotus, the violet a.nd the rose ; the 

 florists of Egypt were afterwards famous in Rome. A 

 band of musicians played during the repast on the 

 harp, the lyre, the flute, and the guitar. Some of 

 the servants carried round glass decanters of wine, 

 encircled with flowers, and various dishes upon trays. 

 Others fanned the porous earth-jars which contained 

 the almond-flavoured water of the Nile. Others 

 burnt Arabian incense or flakes of sweet-scented wood 

 to perfume the air. Others changed the garlands of 

 the guests as soon as they began to fade. Between 

 the courses dwarfs and deformed persons skipped 

 about before the company with marvellous antics and 

 contortions ; jugglers and gymnasts exhibited many 

 extraordinary feats ; girls jumped through hoops, 

 tossed several balls into the air after the manner of 

 the East, and performed dances after the manner of 

 the West. Strange as it may appear, the pirouette was 

 known to the Egyptians three thousand years ago, and 



