Having seen a similar fringe in the collection of a friend at home, I at once recognized in “Madame Nubia” one of those curious girdles, which, with the addition of a necklace and a few bracelets, form the entire wardrobe of little girls south of the cataract. They vary in size according to the age of the wearer; the largest being about twelve inches in depth and twenty-five in length. A few are ornamented with beads and small shells; but these are _parures de luxe_. The ordinary article is cheaply and unpretentiously trimmed with castor-oil. That is to say, the girdle when new is well soaked in the oil, which softens and darkens the leather, besides adding a perfume dear to native nostrils. For to the Nubian, who grows his own plants and bruises his own berries, this odor is delicious. He reckons castor-oil among his greatest luxuries. He eats it as we eat butter. His wives saturate their plaited locks in it. His little girls perfume their fringes with it. His boys anoint their bodies with it. His home, his breath, his garments, his food are redolent of it. It pervades the very air in which he lives and has his being. Happy the European traveler who, while his lines are cast in Nubia, can train his degenerate nose to delight in the aroma of castor-oil! The march of civilization is driving these fringes out of fashion on the frontier. At Assûan they are chiefly in demand among English and American visitors. Most people purchase a “Madame Nubia” for the entertainment of friends at home. L----, who is given to vanities in the way of dress, bought one so steeped in fragrance that it scented the Philæ for the rest of the voyage and retains its odor to this day. Almost before the mooring-rope was made fast our painter, arrayed in a gorgeous keffiyeh[47] and armed with the indispensible visiting-cane, had sprung ashore and hastened to call upon the governor. A couple of hours later the governor (having promised to send at once for the sheik of the cataract and to forward our going by all means in his power) returned the visit. He brought with him the mudîr[48] and kadi[49] of Assûan, each attended by his pipe-bearer. We received our guests with due ceremony in the saloon. The great men placed themselves on one of the side-divans, and the painter opened the conversation by offering them champagne, claret, port, sherry, curaçoa, brandy, whisky and Angostura bitters. Talhamy interpreted. The governor laughed. He was a tall young man, graceful, lively, good-looking and black as a crow. The kadi and mudîr both elderly Arabs, yellow, wrinkled and precise, looked shocked at the mere mention of these unholy liquors. Somebody then proposed lemonade. The governor turned briskly toward the speaker. “Gazzoso?” he said, interrogatively. To which Talhamy replied: “Aïwah [yes,] Gazzoso.”