ASIA.

TURKEY IN ASIA embraces a considerable extent of territory, but, generally, all countries under the Mahometan religion are subject to the same permissions and restrictions which have been detailed under the head Turkey in Europe.

At Cairo, in Egypt, (which bounds Asia at the Nile,) contracts are made for the young men by their relations, as they meet most of the young women of the city at the baths, whom they perfectly describe, and the choice being made, the alliance is mentioned to the father of the female, the portion specified, and if he consent, they make him presents. The following day the same persons go to the house of the bride, and tear her, as it were, violently away from the arms of her mother; she is then triumphantly conveyed to the house of the bridegroom.

The procession usually begins in the evening; dancers go before, and (if a person of rank) numerous slaves display the effects destined to the bride's use; numbers of dancing girls keep time with their instruments, and the young bride appears under a magnificent canopy, borne by four slaves, and entirely covered by a veil, embrodered

with gold, pearls, and diamonds. A long file of flambeaux illuminates the procession, and the Almés, in chorus, occasionally sing verses in praise of the bride and bridegroom. On their arrival at the house of the bridegroom, the men and women repair to separate apartments, those of the women being so constructed that they can see what is performing in the men's. The Almés descend and display their ability and address, in dances and pantomimical representations suitable to the occasion; this ended, they chaunt, in chorus, the epithalamium, extolling the allurements of the bride, and the bliss of that mortal who shall enjoy so many charms. During the ceremony, she passes several times before the bridegroom to display her wealth and elegance. The guests having retired, the husband enters the nuptial chamber, the veil is removed, and, for the first time, he beholds his wife. The inferior classes observe the same ceremonies, except that the procession is not so pomp

Ous.

THE COPTS have a custom of betrothing girls at six or seven years of age, which is done by putting a ring on their finger; but permission is after obtained for her friends to educate her till she arrive at years of discretion. The Mahometans consider marriage as a civil institution, entirely detached from religion.

Among the ancient Egyptians, parents who kill

ed their children did not suffer death, but were adjudged to embrace their dead bodies for three days; and guards were placed over them to see that they duly performed the sentence passed on them. Pregnant women were not executed till they were delivered. Parricides were punished with the most cruel and lingering death they could inflict.

At Cairo Mr. Wittman saw a grand procession of women mounted on asses, riding astride, on very high pads, covered with small Turkey carpets. The procession was occasioned by the approaching nuptials of two females belonging to the party, both fine girls of 14 years of age, and distinguished by wearing a rich shawl.

Sometimes the bride is sprinkled with rose-water, and perfumes are burnt, and not unfrequently a boy who is to be circumcised rides on horseback in front of the procession, preceded by a person carrying a gilt box, containing the razors for the operation.

Speaking of the Almés, he says, these dissolute and abandoned girls have their face uncovered, which, with the women in eastern countries, denotes the most notorious profligacy. Their attire is loose, and thrown on with the most indecent negligence. Their movements display more suppleness than grace. As the dance advances, the gestures and motions of the body become more

indecent. The performance is generally confined to two females, who use castanets, like the Spaniards in their fandango.

Lord Valencia describes the dances of Cairo as being too lascivious even for description. Mrs. Mrs. Macarolle, a pretty Greek, was present, with a number of ladies, at an entertainment where his lordship was; they looked on without the least discomposure, and thought so little from habit of its impropriety, that, when asked, they danced themselves with the same motions and gestures. The female Greeks born in Egypt are pretty, fair, and well made, when young; but child-birth soon destroys the firmness of their flesh and roundness. The head is richly adorned in the Asiatic style, but, in point of cultivation, it is a mere blank.

PERSIA, &c.

THE Persians were anciently the worshippers of fire, but, since their conversion to Mahometanism, the laws of the Impostor are in general use, and the women are held as the sensual instruments of enjoyment in this world, and in that which is to come. Considerable numbers, however, re

tained the ancient faith, and were stigmatized by the Mahometans with the name of Gaures and Guebres, (unbelievers.) They are dispersed all over Persia, but are most numerous in the barren province of Kirman.-Their priests are allowed but one wife, unless she prove barren; in which case, with the consent of the first, they may take another, as they consider a prolific stock will be considered meritorious in the day of Judgment. It is the custom to go to church to be married, the parents having previously settled the marriage, &c. When the bride is given to the bridegroom, the priest throws grass on both their heads, kindles a fire, and, having first tied the hems of their garments together, leads them in procession round it. An elegant collation follows, but neither obscenity nor intoxication are permitted at the festive board. If young persons betrothed die in a state of celibacy, the nuptial ceremony is solemnized after their decease. In the nuptial ceremony by adoption, the bride and bridegroom seat themselves, about midnight, close by each other upon a bed, and the priest demands of the woman if she is willing to have this man for her wedded husband; upon her replying in the affirmative, their hands are joined together; some pieces of gold are given by the bridegroom to the bride, as a confirmation of the contract, and rice, as an emblem of fruitfulness, is thrown over their heads.