Every person, before he sits down to the table, or rather to the tray, washes his hands,[246] and sometimes his mouth also, with soap and water; or, at least, has some water poured upon his right hand. A servant brings to him a basin and ewer (called “tisht” and “ibreek”), of tinned copper, or brass.[247] The former of these has a cover pierced with holes, with a raised receptacle for the soap in the middle; and the water, being poured upon the hands, passes through this cover into the space below; so that when the basin is brought to a second person, the water with which the former one has washed is not seen. A napkin (“footah”) is given to each person. [Illustration: TISHT AND IBREEK.[248]] A round tray (called “seeneeyeh,” and “sáneeyeh”) of tinned copper, or sometimes of brass, generally between two and three feet in diameter, serves as a table; being placed upon a stool (“kursee”) about fifteen inches high, made of wood, and often covered with mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, bone, etc. These two pieces of furniture compose the “sufrah.” Round cakes of bread, such as have been before described, sometimes cut in halves across the middle, are placed round the tray, with several limes, cut in two, to be squeezed over any of the dishes that may require the acid; and a spoon of box-wood, or of ebony, or tortoise-shell, is put for each person. The bread often serves as a plate. Several dishes of tinned copper, or of china, containing different kinds of viands, vegetables, etc., are then placed upon the tray, according to the common fashion of the country; or only one dish is put on at a time, after the Turkish mode. [Illustration: KURSEE AND SEENEEYEH.]