THE FAST. 



391 



the Bayazi waits till daylight has almost faded 

 from the east, and he prays before breaking bread. 

 Most men begin hygienically with something 

 easily digested, as dates and sonr milk, — a more 

 substantial meal follows after an hour. The rich 

 pass much of the fasting time in sleep, and the 

 burden here, as elsewhere, falls far more heayily 

 upon the poor. At Zanzibar, howeyer, the inflic- 

 tion is lightened by the damp climate and by the 

 equinoctial day, short compared with the terrible 

 16 hours which must sometimes be endured in sub- 

 tropical latitudes. Yet the servants and slayes 

 are useless during Rainazan : idle at all times, 

 they then assert a right to do nothing : as I be- 

 fore observed, the fast is one-twelfth of the year 

 thoroughly wasted. On the other hand, it may 

 be remarked that El Islam has wisely limited its 

 festivals to six days in the year, a great contrast 

 to the profuse waste of time which still charac- 

 terizes the faith of Southern Europe. 



As at the beginning of the month, crowds 

 assemble to sight the new moon which ends the 

 fast, and every fellow who has a matchlock wastes 

 powder and ball, without much regarding where 

 the latter flies. Here, as in the Brazil, nothing 

 can be done without wasting gunpowder : at 

 Zanzibar the matchlock is perforce preferred, in 



