The eyebrows only, in my opinion, were very much
deformed by art. They were in the form of a dark-blue streak, an
inch wide, which extended in two connected curves from one temple to
the other, and gave the face a somewhat dark and very uncommon
appearance. The principal hairs were not dyed; her hands and arms,
however, were slightly tattooed. She explained to me that this
shocking operation was performed upon her when she was only a child,
a custom which is also practised by the Mahomedan women in Baghdad.
The dress of this beauty was like that of the women in the pasha's
harem, but instead of the small turban, she wore a white muslin
cloth lightly twisted round the head, which she could also draw over
her face as a veil.
Our conversation was not very lively, as the interpreter was not
allowed to follow me into this sanctum. We were therefore obliged
to content ourselves with making signs and looking at one another.
When I returned to the prince, I expressed to him my wonder at the
rare beauty of his young wife, and asked him what country was the
cradle of this true angel. He told me the north of Persia, and
assured me, at the same time, that his other wives, of whom he had
four in Baghdad and four in Teheran with his mother, very much
excelled this one in beauty.
When I would have taken my leave of the prince to return home, he
proposed to me that I should remain a little while longer and hear
some Persian music. Two minstrels presently appeared, one of whom
had a kind of mandolin with five strings; the other was a singer.
The musician preluded very well, played European as well as Persian
melodies, and handled his instrument with great facility; the singer
executed roulades, and, unfortunately, his voice was neither
cultivated nor pure; but he seldom gave false notes, and they both
kept good time. The Persian music and songs had considerable range
of notes and variations in the melody; I had not heard anything like
them for a long time.
I reached home safely before sunset, and did not feel very much
fatigued, either by the ride of thirty-six miles, the terrible heat,
or the wandering about on foot. Only two days afterwards, I set out
on my road to the ruins of the city of Babylon. The district in
which these ruins lie is called Isak-Arabia, and is the seat of the
ancient Babylonia and Chaldea.
I rode, the same evening, twenty miles, as far as the Chan Assad.
The palms and fruit-trees gradually decreased in number, the
cultivated ground grew less and less, and the desert spread itself
before me, deadening all pleasure and animation.
