"Coffee was brought to us as soon as we lay down, and we found it very refreshing. We stayed there at least half an hour before the guide suggested that it would be safe to dress and go back to the hotel. We felt a little weak and weary, but had the satisfaction of knowing that we were as clean as water, soap, heat, and scrubbing could make us. A barber tried to do up our hair, but did not succeed very well, as the Oriental head-dressing is not exactly like our own. But he was desirous of making himself useful, and so we let him try his skill.
[Illustration: THE BATH AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.]
"The bath of to-day is much like that of thousands of years ago, as can be seen by the pictures on the walls of the tombs. The bath is the favorite resort of the women, and many of them spend the whole day there, or at least a large part of it. The baths for women are much more numerous than those for men; many of them are set apart on different days of the week for different religious sects, and sometimes families or parties of friends hire the bath for themselves, so that they shall not be disturbed by others.
"Doctor Bronson says a good deal of nonsense has been written by travellers concerning the baths of the East. He says better and more comfortable bathing establishments may be found in Paris, London, or New York than in Constantinople or Cairo, and the number is increasing every year.
"The Oriental bath is recommended for a good many things besides cleanliness, although the latter is the great consideration. It will cure colds and slight touches of rheumatism, is excellent for many maladies of the skin, improves the digestion, and has often restored invalids whom medicine had failed to benefit. Doctor Bronson has a friend in New York who suffers occasionally from gout, and whenever he feels it coming upon him he goes straight to a Turkish bath, and, as he says, 'boils it out.' One should be very careful, after taking a bath, not to go too soon into the open air, for fear of catching cold."
While on their way from the bath to the hotel the youths encountered a procession, and naturally asked the guide what it was.
"That is a wedding," was the reply; "somebody is going to be married, and this is part of the ceremony."
