The Morning Of The Marriage-Day, (For The Ceremony Is Always Performed In The Evening, That Is, The Final Ceremony,

For they are generally betrothed, and the fatah read a year before,) is ushered in by the music of the

Town or tribe, consisting of a bagpipe and two small drums, serenading the bride first, and then the bridegroom, who generally walks through the streets, very finely dressed, with all the town at his heels; during which all the women assemble at the bride's house, dressed in their finest clothes, and place themselves at the different holes in the walls, which serve as windows, and look into the court-yard. When they are so placed, and the bride is in front of one of the windows, with her face entirely covered with her barracan, the bridal clothes, consisting of silk shifts, shawls, silk trousers, and fine barracans, to show her riches, are hung from the top of the house, quite reaching to the ground. The young Arab chiefs are permitted to pay their respects; they are preceded from the skiffa, or entrance, by their music, and a dancing woman or two advance with great form, and with slow steps, to the centre of the court, under the bride's window; here the ladies salute their visitors with "loo! loo! loo!" which they return by laying their right hand on their breasts, as they are conducted quite round the circle. Ample time is afforded them to survey the surrounding beauties, and there are but few who on those occasions are so cruel as to keep the veil quite closed.

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