III. 
GRAND CAIRO. IO5 
beating of tambourines, now swelling upon the chap. 
ear, now expiring in cadences, was repeated 
continually ; and as often as it seemed to cease, 
we heard it again renewed with increased ve- 
hemence. Having inquired the cause, we were 
told that this howling was nothing more than the 
usual ceremony of lamentation for a deceased 
person, performed by female mourners hired 
for the occasion. This remaining example of 
the Uhdation of the Antients, it may be sup- 
posed, was not suffered to pass without further 
notice. We sent our interpreter to the house 
whence the sounds proceeded, desiring him to 
pay particular attention to the words used by 
the performers in this plaintive chorus. He 
told us, upon his return, that we might have 
the same ceremony repeated in our apartments : 
that the singers were women, hired to sing and 
to lament in this manner ; the wealthier the 
family, the more numerous were the persons 
hired, and, of course, the louder the lamenta- 
tions : that those female sinoers exhibited the 
most frightful distortions ; having their hair 
dishevelled, their clothes torn, and their fea- 
tures disfigured with paint and dirt : that they 
were relieved at intervals by other women simi- 
larly employed ; and thus the ceremony may be 
continued for any length of time. A principal 
