native life, I endeavoured to adapt myself to it also, not only because
it was my duty, but because I loved it. For instance, though we always
wore European dress in Damascus and Beyrout, we wore native dress in the
desert. I always wore the men's dress in our expeditions in the desert
and up the country. By that I mean the dress of Arab men. This is not
so dreadful as Mrs. Grundy may suppose, as it was all drapery, and does
not show the figure. There was nothing but the face to show the curious
whether you were a man or a woman, I used to tuck my _kuffiyyah_ up to
only show my eyes. When we wore Eastern clothes, we always ate as the
Easterns ate. If I went to a bazar, I frequently used to dress like a
Moslem woman with my face covered, and sit in the shops and let my Arab
maid do the talking. They never suspected me, and so I heard all their
gossip and entered into something of their lives. The woman frequently
took me into the mosque in this garb, but to the harim I always went in
my European clothes. Richard and I lived the Eastern life thoroughly,
and we loved it.

We went to every kind of ceremony, whether it was a circumcision, or a
wedding, or a funeral, or a dervish dance, or anything that was going
on; and we mixed with all classes, and religions, and races, and tongues.
I remember my first invitation was to a grand _fete_ to celebrate the
circumcision of a youth about ten years of age. He was very pretty,
and was dressed in gorgeous garments covered with jewellery. Singing,
dancing, and feasting went on for about three days. The ceremony took
place quite publicly. There was a loud clang of music and firing of guns
to drown the boy's cries, and with one stroke of a circular knife the
operation was finished in a second. The part cut off was then handed
round on a silver salver, as if to force all present to attest that
the rite had been performed. I felt quite sick, and English modesty
overpowered curiosity, and I could not look. Later on, when I grew more