THE ARAB. 



389 



ence ; Apuleius refers to it ; and Pliny has a 

 problem on it : " Cur sternutantes salutantur ; " ' 

 Asia still practises it, and the older Brazilians have 

 not forgotten it. Here the convulsion is considered 

 unsonsy : many a deputation waiting upon the late 

 Sayyid has been prematurely dismissed because the 

 ill-omened sternutation happened. As in Turkey 

 and the Moslem East generally, the visitor's place 

 of honour is on the host's left hand. Where 

 coffee is offered on ceremonious occasions, all rise 

 and take the little Firijan or thimble-cup from the 

 house-master, who does not allow the servant to 

 hand it ; they then sit down, and they drink, con- 

 trary to usual Arab custom, more than one cupful. 

 The hospitality concludes with a glass of sherbet. 

 Amongst the wealthier classes at Zanzibar and 

 Mombasah, tea is becoming a favourite beverage ; 

 not only 'fashionable,' but held to be hygienic 

 because less heating than coffee. 



At 5 o'clock, our 11 a.m., the Arab, like the 

 Syrian, eats the ' Ghada ' of fish and meat, of 

 wheaten bread and vegetables, and of rice boiled 

 with the cream of rasped cocoa-nut, ending with 

 half-a-dozen Einjans of coffee and with betel. 

 Some then repair to the Mosque ; most men pray 

 the noon-day at home, and sleep like the citizens 

 of Andine Mendoza till the Asr or after 3 p.m. 



