It is a common belief in Egypt, that, if any one makes a marriage-contract in the month of Moharram, the marriage will be unhappy, and soon dissolved: wherefore, few persons do so. The most propitious period is the month of Showwál. Footnote 279: This appellation is commonly given to a schoolmaster. See a note in page 48. Footnote 280: If the bride be not a virgin, a word importing this is substituted; namely, “seyyib,” or, more properly, “theyyib.” Footnote 281: Among the peasants, however, the father, or other lawful guardian of the bride, receives the dowry, and gives nothing in return but the girl, and sometimes a little corn, etc. The bridegroom, in this case, supplies everything; even the dress of the bride. Footnote 282: Burckhardt has erred in stating that _Monday_ and Thursday are the days on which the ceremonies _immediately previous_ to the marriage-night are performed, he should have said _Sunday_ and Thursday. He has also fallen into some other errors in the account which he has given of the marriage ceremonies of the Egyptians, in the illustrations of his “Arabic Proverbs” (pp. 112-118). To mention this I feel to be a duty to myself; but one which I perform with reluctance, and not without the fear that Burckhardt’s just reputation for general accuracy may make my reader think that he is right in these cases, and that I am wrong. I write these words in Cairo, with his book before me, and after sufficient experience and inquiries. Footnote 283: The lantern here represented, which is constructed of wood, and painted green, red, white, and blue, is called “tureiya” (the Arabic name of the Pleiades), and, together with the frame above, from which six lamps are suspended, and which is termed “khátim Suleymán” (or Solomon’s seal), composes what is called a “heml kanádeel.” Footnote 284: These entertainments I do not here particularly describe, as it is my intention to devote the whole of a subsequent chapter to the subject of private festivities. The “khatmeh” is the recitation of the whole of the Kur-án; and the “zikr,” the repetition of the name of God, or of the profession of his unity, etc.; I shall have occasion to speak of both more fully in another chapter, on the periodical public festivals. Footnote 285: From the verb ‘adna,’ “he brought,” etc. Footnote 286: These cries of the women, which are heard on various occasions of rejoicing in Egypt and other Eastern countries, are produced by a sharp utterance of the voice, accompanied by a quick, tremulous motion of the tongue. Footnote 287: I have once seen this “zeffeh,” or procession, and a second which will be described hereafter, go forth much later, and return an hour after sunset. Footnote 288: The music is generally of a very rude kind; and the airs usually played are those of popular songs; specimens of which will be found in this work. Footnote 289: