Memoirs of an Arabian Princess | Page 7

Sultan would usually visit mother and child on the
seventh day, when he would bring ornaments for the infant. A newly
arrived secondary wife would likewise be presented with the proper
jewellery soon after she was bought, and at the same time the head
eunuch would appoint the domestics for her special service.
Although my father observed the greatest simplicity for himself, he was
exacting toward the members of his household. None of us, from the
oldest child to the youngest eunuch, might ever appear before him
except in full dress. We small girls used to wear our hair braided in a
lot of slender little plaits, as many as twenty of them, sometimes; the
ends were tied together; and from the middle a massive gold ornament,
often embellished with precious stones, hung down the back. Or a
minute gold medal, with a pious inscription, was appended to each little
plait, a much more becoming way of dressing the hair. At bed-time
nothing was taken off us but these ornaments, which were restored next
morning. Until we were old enough to go about veiled, we girls wore
fringes, the same that are fashionable in Germany now. One morning I
surreptitiously escaped without having my fringe dressed, and went to
my father for the French bonbons he used to distribute among his
children every morning, but instead of receiving the anticipated
sweetmeats, I was packed out of the room because of my unfinished
toilette, and marched off by an attendant to the place from which I had
decamped. Thenceforth I took good care never to present myself
incompletely beautified before the paternal eye!
Among my mother's intimates were two of the secondary wives who
were Circassian, like herself, and who came from the same district as
she did. Now, one of my Circassian stepmothers had two children,
Chaduji and her younger brother Majid, and their mother had made an
agreement with mine that whichever parent survived, should care for
the children of both. However, when Chaduji and Majid lost their
mother they were big enough to do without the help of mine. It was
usual in our family for the boys to remain under maternal tutelage until
they were about eighteen to twenty, and when a prince reached this age

he was declared to have come to his majority, that is to say, the
formalities took place sooner or later, according to his good or bad
conduct. He was then considered an adult, a distinction as eagerly
coveted in that country as anywhere else; and he was at the same time
made the recipient of a house, servants, horses, and so on, beside a
liberal monthly allowance.
So my brother Majid attained his majority, which he had merited rather
by his disposition than his years. He was modesty itself, and won all
hearts through his charming, lovable ways. Not a week passed but he
rode out to Bet il Mtoni (for, like his deceased mother, he lived at Bet il
Sahel), and although my senior by a dozen years played games with me
as if we had both been of the same age.
[Photograph by A. C. Gomes & Co., Zanzibar]
RUINS OF PRINCESS SALAMAH'S EARLY HOME.
One day, then, he arrived with the glad news that his majority had been
announced by his father, who had granted him an independent position
and a house of his own. And he besought my mother most urgently to
come and live, with me, in his new quarters, Chaduji sending the same
message. To his impetuous pleading my mother objected that without
his father's consent she could not accept, and said she must therefore
first consult him; as for her, she was willing enough to share Majid's
and Chaduji's dwelling if they wished. But Majid offered to save my
mother this trouble by himself asking the Sultan's sanction, and the next
day, in fact - my father happening to be at Bet il Sahel - he brought
back the coveted permission. Thus our transmigration was decided
upon. After a long talk between my mother and Majid, it was
concluded that we should not move for a few days, when he and
Chaduji would have had time to make the necessary arrangements for
accommodating us.

CHAPTER II

BET IL WATORO
MAHOMETAN BELIEF IN FOREORDINATION - PARTING
GIFTS - A LITTLE JOURNEY BY STATE CUTTER - BET IL
WATORO - ARABIAN HOUSE FURNITURE AND DECORATION
- HOMESICKNESS - MAJID'S FIGHTING-COCKS - AMAZONIAN
ACCOMPLISHMENTS - ORAL MESSAGES AND WRITTEN -
CHADUJI THE HAUGHTY
THE change, after all, was not an easy one for my mother. She felt
deeply attached to Bet Il Mtoni, since she had spent most of her life
there; besides, she disliked novelty. Yet the idea of possibly being of
some help to her friend's