CONVENT OF CATS. 235 Roman Catholic convent for the superior, who was asleep, I visited an institution of a similar description for cats-except that celibacy and sexual separation form no part of their statutes. It was near to the former, and the fights and flirtations of this feline community were a scandal in the eyes of the good Franciscans, who were said to consider the cats most lax in their discipline. They had amounted to five hundred, but the plague in the previous year had reduced their number to two hundred. This order was endowed by some pious Mussulman, and an old mosque with its court has been given up to their use. So liberal are the provisions of the endowment, that cats, whether of Mohammedan or Christian education, are equally entitled to admission: neither are the benefits confined to worn-out or broken-down cats ; but any one who has a favourite cat, or a cat that steals cream, or any dying person wishing to provide for a cat, sends it to this hotel, where it is taken care of for life. Many of them were basking upon their grassy divan in the court when I visited them, others had gone out to promenade upon the house-tops; and having deposited a small sum as backsheesh," I took 66 236 MOHAMMED'S FAVOURITE. my leave, highly gratified at having witnessed so wise, pious, and useful an appropriation of property. There is an extensive manufactory of cat-gut in the suburbs of the city. The superstitious esteem lavished upon cats by Mohammedans is derived from the partiality of the Prophet for one of these creatures. They relate that it chanced, upon a day when he was sleeping, his cat kittened in the sleeve of his abbas; and in order that his favourite might not be disturbed, he cut off the sleeve, and left her in possession of the bed she had chosen. Whether or not it be the Mussulman's creed, that the whole species "cat" has imbibed some portion of the Prophet's powers, from the above individual having received a fragment of his garment, is not told: but no stretch of credulity is beyond the reach of a Turk. The prejudice against dogs, as unclean animals, is not less extravagant among these people than their silly fondness for cats. If a dog touches a Mohammedan after he has washed, he must wash again before he prays. In Egypt, there is a sect called "Shaffi," who, if the shadow of a dog falls upon them, are obliged to wash; GREEN TURBAN MEN. 237 and if a dog touches their garment, they cut out the piece. The wearers of green turbans (who claim kin to the Prophet) were a powerful faction in Aleppo, and had shown strong symptoms of a rebellious spirit against the Pacha, in consequence of his indulgences to Christians, and his restraints upon themselves; but his vicegerent Sheriff Bey had reduced them to order. their rancour was rather smothered than extinguished, and they were said to await only a fair opportunity, when it would burst forth with greater violence than before. Still Among the gaieties of Aleppo may be noticed a dinner given by mine hostess during my stay, which comprised the best Frank society of the place. The occasion was one of family festivity, and the viands were of German multitude and massiveness. I found myself seated next the wife of the Consul, a sprightly little Levantine, whose communications were certainly not of the most moral tendency, but accompanied with such peals of laughter that she could have meant no harm, or they would have been made in a more sotto voce key. 238 DEPARTURE FROM ALEPPO. CHAPTER XXXII. Leave Aleppo.- Tartar's Dress. Turkish Bits. Women asleep. The Route to Antioch. — George Dib absent. His delay in procuring Horses. — Method of treating the Moosellim. Leave Antioch at Midnight. Quit the Tartar at Beilan.-Narrow Escape of the Consul's Servant at Scanderoon. An English Captain. -Tartar rides an Ass. Mustuk Bey's Quarters. July 9th. THE time having expired, and the demands for further delay with which the merchants plied me having failed, on the 8th July the Tartar declared himself ready for the field. The thermometer was at 90°; nevertheless the light dress which I wore upon my appearance in the Consul's yard, from whence we were to start, excited the sarcasms of the Turks, as being unfit to keep out the heat, and ill adapted for sleeping on the ground under the heavy dews. In the last objection there might be some reason, but it was not of weight enough to lead me to endure the penance of toiling through the day under the oppression of superThe difference between the fluous clothing. Tartar's dress and my own exhibited a striking contrast. His under vests, which were numerous and thick, were surmounted by a long robe or surtout of red cotton and silk, flowered, and reaching to the ankles; while his legs were equipped with a pair of long flannel stockings many times double, and turned down over strong boots, to which the upper part of the stocking served as a top, being embroidered in the front with blue worsted. His waist was girded many times round with a broad sash of silk and cotton; and upon his head were three tarboushes over each other, bound with the Wahabee handkerchief, the fringe of which partially shaded his face and hung down upon his back and shoulders. A short-handled whip, with a long heavy thong, completed his appointments, for he was unarmed. A light sailor's jacket and trousers, elastic cotton shirt, and straw hat, constituted my own dress, the most convenient and comfortable that can be adopted where exercise or heat are to be undergone. For nocturnal protection I |