A L M 
troops penetrated through the centre of tire Spanifli army; 
but the Portuguefe cavalry being broken by the Spanifli, 
and the French infantry making a dreadful fire on their 
flanks, the allied army was at laft broken, and began their 
retreat when it was alnioft dark. Colonel Hill carried off 
the remains of thirteen battalions towards the river Xucar, 
which if they could have pafled, they might have been 
i'afe : but, being very much fatigued, they were obliged to 
halt; by which means they were furrounded, and forced 
to furrender prifoners of war. In this battle, the allies 
loft 120 ftandards, together with all their artillery and 
baggage ; a great number were killed, and feveral thou- 
fands taken prifoners. The Marquis de las Minas was 
dangeroufly wounded ; and his miftrefs in the garb of an 
amazon was killed by his fide. The earl of Galway had 
two cuts acrofs the face, which, though not dangerous, 
had prevented him from feeing or giving orders properly, 
ALM A'RIA, in old records, the archives of a church; 
a library. 
AL'MARIC Heresy, a tenet broached in France by 
one Almaric, in the year 1209. It confifted in affirming, 
that every Chriftian wasaftually a member of Chrift ; and 
that without this faith no one could be faved. His follow¬ 
ers went farther, and affirmed, that the power of the Fa¬ 
ther lafted only during the continuance of the Mofaic law ; 
that the coming of Chrift introduced a new law ; that at 
the end of this began the reign of the Holy Ghoft ; and 
that now confeflion and the facraments were at an end, and 
that every one is to be faved by the internal operations of 
the Holy Spirit alone, without any external aft of religion. 
—Their morals were as infamous as their doftrine was 
.abfurd. Their tenets were condemned by a public decree, 
of the council of Sens, in the year 1209. 
AL'ME, or Alma, fingingand dancing girls in Egypt, 
who, like the Italian Improvifatori, can occafionally pour 
forth “ unpremeditated verle.” They are called Alme, 
from having received a better education than other women. 
They form a celebrated fociety in this country. To be 
received into it, according to Mr. Savary, it is neceflary 
to have a good voice, to underftand the language w ell, to 
know the rules of poetry, and be able to compofe and fing 
couplets on the fpot, adapted to the circumftances. The 
Alme know by heart all the new fongs. Their memory is 
furnifhed with the mod beautiful tales. There is no fef- 
tival without them ; no entertainment of which they do 
not conftitute the ornament. They are placed in a roftrum, 
from whence they fing during the repaft. They then de- 
feend into the faloon, and form dances which have no re- 
femblance to ours. They are pantomime ballets, in which 
they reprefent the ufual occurrences of life. The myfte- 
ries of love, too, generally furnifti them with feenes. The 
fupplenefs of their bodies is inconceivable. One is afto- 
nifhed at the mobility of their features, to which they give 
at pleafure the impreflion fuited to the charafters they 
play. The indecency of their attitudes is often carried to 
excefs. Their looks, their geftures, every thing, fpeaks, 
but in fo expreflive a manner, that it is impoffible to mif- 
take them. At the beginning of the dance, they lay afide 
with their veils the modefty of their fex. A long robe of 
very thin filk goes down to their heels, which is flightly 
failed with a rich girdle. Long black hair, plaited and 
perfumed, is flowing on their Ihoulders. A ftiift, tranf- 
parent as gauze, fcarcely hides their bofom. As they put 
themfelves in motion, the fliapes, the contours, of their 
bodies, feem to develope themfelves fucceflively. Their 
fteps are regulated by the found of the flute, of caftanets, 
the tambour de bafque, and cymbals, which accelerates or 
retards the meafure. They are ftill further animated by 
words adapted to fuch feenes. They appear in a ftate of 
intoxication. They are the Bacchants in a delirium. It 
is when they are at this point, that, throwing off all referve, 
they abandon themfelves totally to the diforder of their 
fenfes; it is then that a people far from delicate, and who 
like nothing hidden, redouble their applaufes. Thefe 
Alme are'fent for into all the haratns, They teach the 
Vol. i. No. 23. 1 
ALM 357 
women the new airs ; they amufe them with amorous- 
tales, and recite in their prefence poems, which are fo much 
the more interefting, as they furnifti a lively pifture ot 
their manners. They initiate them into the myfteries of 
their art, and teach them ito contrive lafeivious dances’. 
Thefe girls, who have a cultivated underftanding, are very 
agreeable in converfation. They fpeak their language 
with purity. The habit of dedicating themfelves to poe¬ 
try renders the fofteft and mod fonorous expreffions la- 
miliar to them. They repeat with a great deal of grace. 
In finging, nature is their only guide. Sometimes two of 
them ling together,, but always with the fame voice. It is 
the fame with an orcheftra, where all the inftruments 
playing in unifon execute the fame part. 
The Alme afiift at the marriage-ceremonies, and march 
before the bride, playing on inftruments. They make a 
figure likewife at funerals, and accompany the proceftion, 
finging forrowful airs. They break forth into groans and 
lamentations, and give every fign of grief and defpair. 
Thefe women are paid very high, and feldom appear but 
amongft the grandees and rich men. 
The common people in Egypt have alfo their Alme. 
They are girls of the fecond clafs, who try to imitate the 
former ; but they have neither their elegance, their graces, 
nor their knowledge. They are every where to be met 
with. The public places and the walks about Grand Cai¬ 
ro are full of them. As the populace require allufions ftill 
more ftrongly marked, decency will not permit the rela¬ 
tion to what a pitch they carry the licentioufnefs of their 
geftures and attitudes. 
Alme, or dancing-girls, are alfo employed all over 
the eaft, as affording the principal diverlion at all public 
entertainments. They are moftly proftitutes ; and, by the 
laws of their fociety, are bound to refute no one for their 
price, which is rated according to their beauty and other 
accompliftnnents. There are even particular fets of then* 
appropriated to the fervice of the Gentoo temples, and the 
ufe of the bramin priefts who attend them. Thefe poor 
creatures fay that they were firft debauched by their god, 
and afterwards by him configncd over to the ufe of the 
priefts who belong to his temples. 
Thefe dancing-girls, whether in a fettled or unfettled 
condition, live in a band or community under the direc¬ 
tion of feme fuperannuated female of the fame profeflion, 
under whom they receive a regular education, and are 
trained up in all the arts of love and pleating, like fcholars 
in an academy. Thus they acquire the art of captivating the 
affeftions of the other fex to fuch a degree, that nothing 
is more common than for one of the princes or chief peo¬ 
ple of the country to take a liking to one of thefe girls, and 
wafte immenfe fums on her, though at the fame time their 
own haram is flocked with beauties far fuperior, and who 
are befides pollefled of the natural modefty of the fex, to 
which the others have not the fmalleft pretenfions. Thus 
forne of thefe girls acquire immenfe wealth. In the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Goa, for inftance, on a part of tire continent- 
bordering on the diftrift of that ifland, the dancing girls 
founded a village, after being driven from Goa by the zeal 
of the archbifhop. Here they refide in a body corporate, 
and attend the parties of pleafure of the noblemen and prin¬ 
cipal inhabitants, for it is not every one’s purfe that can 
afford them. Here many of them acquire conliderable for¬ 
tunes by this fcandalous traffic, and throw it into a com¬ 
mon flock for the fake of carrying on merchandife ; "being 
concerned in {hipping and the mod profitable voyages, fur 
which they have regular faftors and brokers. 
The drefs of thefe women varies according to the coun¬ 
try they live in; but in all it is the mod gorgeous imagi¬ 
nable. They are loaded with jewels, literally from top to 
toe, fince even on their toes they wear rings. Their necks 
are adorned with carcanets, their arms with bracelets, 
and their ancles with chains of gold and (liver, often en¬ 
riched with precious (tones. They alfo wear nofe-jewels, 
which at firft have an odd appearance, but to which tiro 
eye is foon reconciled. In Hindoftan thefe dancing girls, 
