It Argues "Peculiarity," I Own, To Enjoy Such A Life.
In the first place,
there is no woman's society:
El Islam seems purposely to have loosened the
ties between the sexes in order to strengthen the bonds which connect man
and man. [13] Secondly, your house is by no means your castle. You must
open your doors to your friend at all hours; if when inside it suit him to
sing, sing he will; and until you learn solitude in a crowd, or the art of
concentration, you are apt to become _ennuye_ and irritable. You must
abandon your prejudices, and for a time cast off all European
prepossessions in favour of Indian politeness, Persian polish, Arab
courtesy, or Turkish dignity.
"They are as free as Nature e'er made man;"
and he who objects to having his head shaved in public, to seeing his
friends combing their locks in his sitting-room, to having his property
unceremoniously handled, or to being addressed familiarly by a perfect
stranger, had better avoid Somaliland.
You will doubtless, dear L., convict me, by my own sentiments, of being an
"amateur barbarian." You must, however, remember that I visited Africa
fresh from Aden, with its dull routine of meaningless parades and tiresome
courts martial, where society is broken by ridiculous distinctions of
staff-men and regimental-men, Madras-men and Bombay-men, "European"
officers, and "black" officers; where literature is confined to acquiring
the art of explaining yourself in the jargons of half-naked savages; where
the business of life is comprised in ignoble official squabbles, dislikes,
disapprobations, and "references to superior authority;" where social
intercourse is crushed by "gup," gossip, and the scandal of small colonial
circles; where--pleasant predicament for those who really love women's
society!--it is scarcely possible to address fair dame, preserving at the
same time her reputation and your own, and if seen with her twice, all
"camp" will swear it is an "affair;" where, briefly, the march of mind is
at a dead halt, and the march of matter is in double quick time to the
hospital or sick-quarters.
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