They are married by a priest, who joins their hands, and reads certain verses from the Koran. The bride is blindfolded by the priest, and the bridegroom leads her into his tent, on the top of which a white flag is displayed; he seats her on a mat, saying, “You are at home.” He then returns to the assembled company and joins with them in feasting, singing, shouting, firing guns, and performing rival feats on horseback, until after midnight. The bride remains blindfolded during an entire week, her husband merely removing the bandage from her eyes for a moment, the first time he enters the tent, that she may be assured of his identity. Some female friend cooks the food, and performs other domestic duties for her, until she is allowed to see the light of day. The Arabs have many superstitious observances respecting marriage. On such occasions they apply to old women skilful in sorcery, who are supposed to have the art of tying and untying the knots of fate. In cities, the Arabian women cover their faces with a cloth, with two holes worked for the eyes, which are almost always bright and beautiful. Their complexion is lemon-colored. They stain their fingers and toes a yellowish red, and blacken the joints of the latter. The eyebrows are stained black, and the lips blue; and a small flower or spot is often painted or stained on each cheek, the forehead, and the chin. The following is a picture of an Arab beauty:--“Her eyes are black, large, and soft, like the antelope; her look is melancholy and impassioned; her eyebrows are curved like two arches of ebony; her figure is straight and supple as a lance; her step is like a young colt; her eyelids are blackened with kahol, her lips painted blue, her nails stained a gold color with henneh, and her words are sweet as honey.” The Arab women are said to be generally graceful in their motions, and in the adjustment of their drapery. On entering an apartment, they carelessly fling off their slippers, and show a naked foot peeping from beneath the loose ample drawers, which fall below the ankle. Mr. Madox, who visited the grand sheik, says: “His daughters sat on a sofa with him; not after the Turkish fashion, but with feet to the ground. They were rather pretty, gaily dressed, with coins suspended on gold chains by the sides of their faces. One of them, seeing I had some difficulty in detaching a piece of meat from the bone, offered me another piece with her stained and jewelled fingers. After dinner, when they washed their hands, they made a great lather with the soap offered by the attendants, which they put in their mouths, and cleansed their teeth with their fingers. After this they smoked.”