Suppose that, in the evolution of those ups and downs to which our earth’s surface is subject, it is destined that the waves of the ocean shall again roll over the vast expanse of the Sahara, which, as things now are, is one of Nature’s greatest factories for desiccated air. Then every wind that will blow from the west, or the south-west, over the present polygamic area, will be charged with moisture, and will bring clouds that will not only give rain, but will also very much diminish the amount of light which is now poured down upon it. Suppose, too, something of the same kind to have been brought about with respect to the great Syro-Arabian desert. Northerly and easterly winds will then also have the same effect. What now withers will have become humid. There will be no more tent life. Better houses will be required, more clothing, more food, more fuel. Men will not marry so early. Women will not get old so soon. Polygamy will die out of the region. Religion will be so modified as to accept, to hallow, and to legislate for the new ideas, which the new conditions and necessities will have engendered. Religion will then forbid polygamy. CHAPTER XLIII. HOURIISM. Married, not mated. There are some aspects and incidents of the subject of the preceding chapter which, though one would prefer passing them by unnoticed, cannot be omitted from an honest attempt to sketch the peculiarities of Eastern life. For instance, in the Christian heaven they neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Of this everybody approves: at all events one never met, or heard of, a Christian who wished it otherwise. In the Mahomedan heaven, however, those who have kept the faith, and lived holy lives, will be rewarded with houris, damsels whose earthly charms have been perfected for the hareems of Paradise. This article of his faith is of such a nature, that it colours all the believer’s conceptions not only of the life that is to come, but also of the life that is now. The vision of these companions, as bright as stars, and as many in number, is so attractive, and so engrossing, that all other thoughts of Paradise die out of the mind and heart by the side of it. It is enough. It is Paradise. And if so, then the houris of earth are the Paradise of earth.