A MOHAMMEDAN ROMANCE.
237
perfumes of Araby. The tables were overspread
with the finest fabrics from the looms of Bagdad,
and the floors with the richest carpets from those of
Iran. Silken punkas depended from the ceiling,
waving over the heads of the luxurious nobles, and
cooling the apartment heated by the blended exha-
lations from dishes and guests.
Abdallah was in his glory. He drank till his eyes
sparkled with brighter lustre than the wine that had
infused it, and his tongue seemed to pour forth the
eloquence of inspiration. From him the animating
contagion was caught by his lords, and the hum
of conversation was like that of a communitv of bees
over their own honey. Nautch girls, exceeded onlv
in beauty by the maidens of the Mohammedan para-
dise, were introduced, and by the singular grace of
their evolutions, with which the small golden bells
attached to their ankles chimed in exquisite unison,
excited the raptures of the whole assembly, who first
murmured their applauses, which the elevated Mirza
at length heightened into boisterous acclamation.
Nothing could exceed the luxury of this banquet.
Amid the natural heat of an atmosphere that would
have raised the thermometer of the celebrated Fah-
renheit to an elevation of a hundred and twenty de-
grees, the air was as temperate as upon the surface of a
lake in the evening of early summer amid the beautiful
scenery of a European landscape. The wine and other
liquids were cooled by men so practised in the art,
that in a few minutes they could render water almost
boiling as cold as if it had just been drawn from a
well-spring.
237
perfumes of Araby. The tables were overspread
with the finest fabrics from the looms of Bagdad,
and the floors with the richest carpets from those of
Iran. Silken punkas depended from the ceiling,
waving over the heads of the luxurious nobles, and
cooling the apartment heated by the blended exha-
lations from dishes and guests.
Abdallah was in his glory. He drank till his eyes
sparkled with brighter lustre than the wine that had
infused it, and his tongue seemed to pour forth the
eloquence of inspiration. From him the animating
contagion was caught by his lords, and the hum
of conversation was like that of a communitv of bees
over their own honey. Nautch girls, exceeded onlv
in beauty by the maidens of the Mohammedan para-
dise, were introduced, and by the singular grace of
their evolutions, with which the small golden bells
attached to their ankles chimed in exquisite unison,
excited the raptures of the whole assembly, who first
murmured their applauses, which the elevated Mirza
at length heightened into boisterous acclamation.
Nothing could exceed the luxury of this banquet.
Amid the natural heat of an atmosphere that would
have raised the thermometer of the celebrated Fah-
renheit to an elevation of a hundred and twenty de-
grees, the air was as temperate as upon the surface of a
lake in the evening of early summer amid the beautiful
scenery of a European landscape. The wine and other
liquids were cooled by men so practised in the art,
that in a few minutes they could render water almost
boiling as cold as if it had just been drawn from a
well-spring.