If the young man does not like the account they bring the matter is dropped, but if he is pleased with it he makes a present to the broker, and sends her again to confer with the girl and her parents. Her parents have the right to arrange the whole matter without consulting the girl,

unless she is over fifteen years of age; in the latter case she may choose her husband for herself, but her parents have still a good deal to say about it.

"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.

MAKING A MARRIAGE CONTRACT.

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"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.

"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

PREPARING FOR THE WEDDING.

otherwise decorated, so that everybody may know that a wedding is about to take place.

"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 FUNERAL PROCESSION.

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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.

"She is still closely veiled, and in nine cases out of ten the two have never met. After a feast, which he has ordered before going to the mosque, he is permitted to raise her veil, and has an opportunity to look for the first time on the features of his wife. No matter how much either of them may be disappointed in the appearance of the other, they are expected to smile and seem happy.

"In some parts of the East the bridegroom comes to the house accompanied by torches and music, and with a small boy walking at his side dressed like himself, and instructed to imitate all his motions. He carries a folded handkerchief held close to his face, and the boy does the same; a little behind them is a girl mounted on a horse, and dressed like the bride, and attended by two men who are supposed to be her guards. When this procession approaches the house, the friends of the bride light their lamps and go out a short distance to meet the procession. It is probably from this custom that we have the passage of Scripture which says, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.'"

UNVEILING THE BRIDE.

While Frank was busy with his account of the wedding-party, Fred was occupied with another and sadder procession he had seen the same. day. While walking in the Mooskee he met a funeral-party on its way to the cemetery, near the Tombs of the Caliphs, and his curiosity led him to ascertain some particulars concerning funerals in the East.

"The procession that I saw," said Fred, "was led by half a dozen blind men, who walked slowly two and two together, and chanted the Moslem confession of faith-There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the apostle of God! Behind them came several men who were relatives of the deceased, and then there was an open space of three or four yards. Beyond the open space were four boys in pairs; the front pair carried a copy of the Koran on a small frame or desk, covered with an embroidered handkerchief, and the second pair had their hands empty.

"Then came the coffin on a bier, supported on the shoulders of four men, and covered with a red shawl; the bearers were changed every few minutes, and those who were relieved took their places in the group behind the blind men. Behind the bier were several women, who frequently shrieked as if in great grief. I was told that some of them were the family of the dead man, and the rest were mourners who had been hired, according to the custom of the country. From long practice in their profession they were able to shriek louder than the real mourners.

"The funeral of a rich man is sometimes preceded by three or four camels laden with provisions that are to be given at the tomb to any poor people who may ask for them. Then there will be a good many people in the procession, including men who have been invited to the

funeral, and members of several religious sects, each delegation being not less than four. Sometimes the flags of some of the orders of dervishes will be carried in the procession, and the line is closed by servants leading two or three horses.

"The party generally stops at a mosque, where prayers are said, and the first chapter of the Koran is repeated by a priest, and then it moves on to the cemetery. The ceremony at the tomb is very brief, and consists of a few prayers and the wailing of the hired mourners. The blind men and boys who have accompanied the procession receive their pay as soon as the body is laid in the ground, and then the funeral is supposed to be ended."