[Illustration: A KHATIBEH, OR MARRIAGE-BROKER.] "The broker does not confine herself very closely to the truth in dealing with either party. She will describe a girl of ordinary appearance as the greatest beauty in the world, and will represent an equally ordinary man as handsome, graceful, and well educated, with plenty of money which he is ready to throw at the feet of his bride. And all this when she does not know whether he has any money or not, and has never seen or heard of him till the day she was engaged to find a bride. It is the object of the broker to make a commission. Doctor Bronson says she is not unlike some brokers he has known in New York, and other cities of America. "The girl must have a _wekeel_, or deputy, to arrange a marriage for her, and to sign the contract. This office is filled by her father, if living, or by some masculine relative or guardian; and when the preliminaries have been arranged by the broker, the bridegroom goes with two or three friends to meet the wekeel and sign the contract. "The first thing is to fix the amount of the dowry of the bride, and they spend a good deal of time haggling over it, just as they do in every transaction where money is concerned. The wekeel demands more than he expects to receive, and the bridegroom offers less than he expects to give. The amount varies according to the position and property of the parties; for those in fair circumstances it is usually a little over a hundred dollars. It is arranged that the money shall be paid to the bride's deputy when the marriage contract is signed, which is generally within a couple of days. [Illustration: PREPARING FOR THE WEDDING.] "When the contract is finished and the money paid over, the day is fixed--generally a couple of weeks later--for bringing the bride to the bridegroom's house. The time is consumed in preparations for the wedding; the amount of the dowry, and generally a great deal more, is spent in furniture and clothing for the bride, and all these articles are her property, and cannot be taken from her if she is divorced. The bridegroom gives a dinner and party to his friends, and for two or three nights before the wedding the street where he lives is hung with lanterns, and otherwise decorated, so that everybody may know that a wedding is about to take place. [Illustration: A MARRIAGE PROCESSION AT NIGHT.] "The bride goes to the bath in the procession I have described in the first part of this letter, and afterward she is taken to the house which is to be her home. This procession is in the night, and therefore it carries a good many torches, and sometimes the effect is very pretty. Meantime the man is at the mosque saying his prayers, and when he comes home he finds his bride there with her friends. [Illustration: UNVEILING THE BRIDE.]