relatives, and hired women appear as mourners. I have devoted, my dear mother, so much of this letter to a description of the ladies of Egypt, in compliance with your expressed wish, and I will appropriate the residue of my papyrus, if the ink fail not, to an account of their homes, that you may see how they live; since, from their private life, great insight is obtained into their manners and customs. The household arrangements, the style of the dwellings, as well as the amusements and occupations of a people, explain their habits. The style of domestic architecture, in this warm climate, is modified to suit the heat of the weather. The poorer classes (for though all Egyptians are born equal, yet there are poor classes), as well as _castes_, live a great part of their time out of doors, seeking rather the shade of trees than the warmth of habitations. And now that I have alluded to "castes," I will briefly explain the degrees of society in Egypt. Though a marked line of distinction is maintained between the different ranks of society, they appear to be divided rather into "classes" than "castes," as no man is bound by law to follow the occupation of his father. Sons, indeed, do usually follow the trade of their father, and the rank of each man depends on his occupation. But there are occasional exceptions, as, for instance, the sons of a distinguished priest are in the army with Remeses, and a son of the admiral of the fleet of the Delta is high-priest in Memphis. Below the crown and royal family, the first class consists of the priests; the second, of soldiers; the third, of husbandmen, gardeners, huntsmen, and boatmen; the fourth, of tradesmen, shop-keepers, artificers in stone and metals, carpenters, boat-builders, stone-masons, and public weighers; the fifth, of shepherds, poulterers fowlers, fishermen, laborers, and the common people at large. Many of these, says the record from which I have obtained my information, are again subdivided, as chief shepherds into ox-herds, goat-herds, and swine-herds; which last is the lowest grade of the whole community, since no one of the others will marry their daughters, or establish any family connection with them; for so degrading is the occupation of tending swine held by the Egyptians, that they are looked upon as impure, and are even forbidden to enter a temple without previously undergoing purification. Thus you perceive, my mother, that Egypt practically acknowledges many degrees of rank, although she boasts that "every son of Misr is born equal."