"The first idea of Delange, de Morin and myself, was to hold our fête in the open air, and invite our dancers to come on the poop. The night was lovely—so luminous was the sky, and so bright was the star shine, that it gave one the idea of a prolonged twilight. Not a breath of air was there to raise a ripple on the water. Our engine alone disturbed the calm that reigned around, and its throbs were the only sound that broke the perfect stillness that had fallen on all. Never was there a night more propitious for a spectacle in the open sea. But the Captain, who, in order to make us forget his shortcomings, had placed himself entirely at our disposition and was doing his very best to help us, pointed out that the fête we were preparing would certainly lose much of its originality, and would be much less natural if it took place on the poop; because the Hindoos would object to being exposed to the gaze of all the common sailors, and would in consequence not give us any real idea of their dancing powers, He advised us to select as our theatre the apology for a cabin, already occupied by his female passengers, and he undertook to enlarge it by removing some of the largest packages, and rolling up the mats which now served for curtains. His opinion and advice prevailed.
"About eleven o'clock in the evening, as we were creeping along the eastern shore of the Red Sea, the Captain, who had run in as near land as possible, stopped the engines, and cast anchor right in the centre of a perfect little bay, formed by some of the banks of coral so numerous in these parts. This manoeuvre had scarcely been completed, when the trusty Joseph-Mohammed, in a black coat and a white tie, as correct "on duty" as he had promised to be, announced to us that all was ready. We descended from the poop, and, going a little way along the deck, reached the main hatchway, down which we went with the aid of a ladder.
"The little cabin had been made about seven yards long, its width remaining the same as before. We took our places at one end, just underneath an opening which had been made by removing the hatches, and we thus had the clear sky above our heads. Four lanterns of coloured glass, ornamented with arabesques, were suspended from the sides of the ship, two on either hand, but the moon, after dallying with the sea, peeped in through the open ports, and spread around us all the light she thought we needed.
"We had no sooner seated ourselves on a kind of low couch, made of cushions with mats spread over them, than an Arab brought us coffee, served in small cups wreathed with silver filagree-work, and lighted for us chibouks filled with latakia. We looked about us, tolerably surprised, I assure you. All these surroundings, absolutely new to us, excited our curiosity, for though blasés as Parisians, as travellers we were without any experience.
"Very soon the draperies which answered the purpose of a drop-curtain were stirred, and a woman appeared, bowed low before us, crept cringingly to our feet, prostrated herself there, sprang up again with a bound, and took refuge in a corner of the cabin, whence we saw her take two large circular plates made of copper, which she began to beat gently, one against the other, with measured, but plaintive and seductive rhythm. In her, I thought, I recognized the one whom I had seen asleep with her knees up and her elbows resting on them. She might have been twenty years of age, but jaded and prematurely worn, as are all Eastern women, she looked older.
"Placed on the retired list as a dancer, she had been converted into a musician for the sake of keeping her employed. Her hair was interwoven with small gold coins strung on a thread; she wore a jacket and skirt of richly embroidered blue satin, and a cashmere bodice served to display her still charming figure. Her large sleepy eyes, whose lustre was but slightly dimmed, gazed vacantly into space.
"Little by little, the cymbals were beaten in quicker time; in lieu of just touching them gently, she struck them against each other, and the rhythm losing its plaintive character, became more animated and more marked. At last the two parts of the instrument, after being held suddenly apart, were brought together with a clash, the curtains were lifted all together, and three girls bounded into the midst of us.
"Their hair, the black-brown hair I described to you, was dishevelled, their shoulders bare, the lower part of their figures was draped in a tightly-fitting scarlet satin garb, and the rest of their bodies was covered with silk-gauze, fringed with gold, through which could be seen the burnished tints of their velvety skin.
"At first, without moving their feet from the Smyrna carpet which had been placed for them on the ground, they wound in and out, their arms extended before them, their heads turned backwards, their almond-shaped eyes half closed, their mouths slightly opened, their nostrils quivering, and their bosoms heaving with a slow, but even and continuous motion. They uttered not a sound, not even a sigh escaped them; their eyes alone grew gradually brighter, and their breasts heaved more quickly.
"They were, all three of them, wonderfully lovely, and though the eldest of them could not have reached fifteen, their figures were fully developed. But, as I have already described them to you, I will only add that the animation which the motion of the dance lent them, served to enhance their beauty.