I have already spoken of the services of women in the temples. These do not marry. Although females may make offerings to Isis, they cannot be invested with any sacerdotal office; and a priest must preside at the oblation. They are rarely seen reading, their leisure being occupied chiefly in talking together in social companies. They vie with each other in the display of silver jewels, and jewels set in gold; in the texture of their raiment, the neatness and elegance of the form of their sandals, and the arrangement or beauty of their plaited hair. If two ladies meet at a banquet or festival, it is considered an amiable courtesy to exchange flowers from the bouquet that Egyptian ladies always carry in the hand when in full costume. They are passionately devoted to dancing, and frequently both ladies and gentlemen dance together; but I think when the former dance in separate parties, their movements are marked by superior grace and elegance. Their dances consist usually of a succession of figures more or less involved; yet I have seen two daughters of the captain of the guard, at a private entertainment given by the queen, perform a dance to a slow air played upon the flute and lyre, with a grace of attitude and harmony of motion delightful to follow with the eye. Grace in posture, elegance of attitude, and ease of movement are their chief objects in the dance. It is not, however, customary for the nobles and their families to indulge in this amusement in public, where usually the dancing is performed by those who gain a livelihood by attending festive meetings. They look upon it, however, as a recreation in which all classes may partake; and all castes engage in it, either in private festivities or in public. The lower orders delight in exhibiting great spirit in their dances, which often partake of the nature of pantomime; and they aim rather at ludicrous and extravagant dexterity, than displays of elegance and grace. At evening, under the trees of an avenue; at noon, in the shade of a temple, by public fountains, and before the doors of their dwellings, I often see the men and women amusing themselves, dancing to the sound of music, which is indispensable. At the houses of the higher classes, they dance to the harp, pipe, guitar, lyre, and tambourine; but in the streets and other places, the people perform their part to the music of the shrill double-pipe, the crotala or wooden clappers, held in the fingers, and even to the sound of the drum; indeed, I have seen a man dancing a solo on the deck of a galley at anchor in the river, to the sound of the clapping of hands by his companions. Certain wanton dances, consisting of voluptuous and passionate movements, by Arabian and Theban girls, whose profession it was, from the impure tendency of their songs and gestures, have been very properly forbidden by the queen in her dominions. There are certain religious processions in which women take part; they attend the funerals of their deceased