234 Description of Bokhara., (May, 
of a soldier is not to be mistaken, though he has traversed the moun- 
tains and deserts to Bokhara. 
The house in which we lodged was exceedingly small, and over- 
looked on every side’; but we could not regret it, since it present- 
ed an opportunity of seeing a Tuirkt beauty, a most handsome young 
lady, who promenaded one of the surrounding balconies, and wished 
to think she was not seen. A pretended flight was not even neg- 
lected by this fair one, whose curiosity often prompted her to steal 
a glance at the Firingzs. Since we had a fair exchange, she was 
any thing but an intruder, though unfortunately too distant for us to 
indulge in the sweet ‘‘ music of speech.” The ladies of Bokhara stain 
their teeth quite black, they plait their hair and allow it to hang in 
tresses down their shoulders. Their dress differs little from the men; 
they wear the same pelisses, only that the two sleeves, instead of being 
used as such, are tucked together and tied behind. In the house even 
they dress in large Hessian boots, made of velvet and highly ornamented. 
What a strange taste for those who are eternally concealed, to choose 
to be thus booted as if prepared for a journey. On the head they wear 
large white turbans, but a veil covers the face, and many a lovely coun- 
tenance wastes its fragrance beneath this netting. The exhibition of 
beauty, in which so much of a woman’s time is spent in more favored 
countries, is here unknown. A man may shoot his neighbour, if he 
sees him on a balcony at any but a stated hour. Assassination follows 
suspicion. The laws of the Qorda regarding the sex are here most 
strictly enforced. 
In my travels through Cabil I had often enjoyed the luxuries of the 
bath, according to the custom of the Orientals. I now had the same 
pleasure in Bokhara, but it was only admissable in some buildings, 
since the priests had asserted that the water of certain baths would 
change into blood if polluted by a woman or aninfidel! A bath is too 
well known to require a description, but the operation is really most 
singular, You are stretched out like a fish, rubbed with a hair brush, 
‘scrubbed, buffetted and kicked about, but it is still very refreshing. 
‘The baths of Bokhdra are most spacious. They are constructed on the 
plan of a panoptagon, many smaller domes surrounding a great one, 
and heated to different temperatures. In the day time the light is 
admitted from coloured glasses over the large dome, in the night a 
single lamp under it suffices for all the cells. The portion of the circle 
towards Mecca is appropriated as a mosque, where the luxurious Mu- 
hammedan may offer up his orisons while he is enjoying one of the 
