THE PROPHET'S BIRTHDAY white gowns, whirled about in a ring, with their arms outstretched, going faster and faster, until their skirts stood out from their waists like those of a circus performer mounted on a bareback steed, as she dances over the banners and through the hoops.

There were Mohammedans of all sects in the mosque, each going through his own pious performances without paying any attention to the crowds that surrounded him. In his religious life the Mussulman is a much braver man than the Christian. At the hours for prayer he will flop down on his knees and touch his head on the ground in the direction of Mecca, no matter who are his companions or what his surroundings. He must take off his shoes before praying, and I saw yesterday in the bazaars of Cairo a man clad in European clothes who was praying in his little box-like shop with his stocking feet turned out toward the street, which was just then full of people. In the heel of each stocking there was a hole as big as a dollar, and the bare skin looked out at the crowds.

The Moslems of Egypt, like those elsewhere, have their fast days, during which, from sunrise to sunset, they do not allow a bit of food nor a drop of water to touch their lips. Some of them carry the fast to such an extent that they will not even swallow their saliva, and in this dry climate their thirst must be terrible. The moment the cannon booms out the hour of sunset, however, they dash for water and food, and often gorge themselves half the night. You may see a man with a cigarette in his hand waiting until the sun goes down in order that he may light it, or another holding a cup of water ready while he listens for the sound of the cannon. This fasting is very severe upon the poor people of Egypt, who have to work all day 47