"To confirm my belief that he was a foreigner, he made a remark in English, which, of course, the attendant did not understand, but went on scrubbing harder than ever. He seemed too weak to use his hands to stop the performance, but finally gathered strength enough to seize the brush, and motion to the performer that he had had enough. Then he was taken to another part of the room and laid on a marble slab, where he was handled more gently.
"While we were smiling at the misery of the Englishman the perspiration was oozing out of us at every pore, in consequence of the great warmth of the place. 'Our turn next,' Fred whispered, as our attendants began to manipulate our limbs, to find out whether they were in a proper condition for operating on.
"Fred was right, as our tellaks evidently considered us sufficiently cooked for their purpose. They began by kneading us with their hands and knuckles, and went over our bodies so vigorously that we thought they would make holes in our flesh, though they didn't do anything of the sort. Then they rubbed us down with brushes, and left us a few minutes; the rubbing and kneading increased the flow of perspiration, and when this had gone on long enough, they made us sit on little wooden frames close to a fountain in one of the side alcoves. Then they soaped our heads and rubbed them vigorously with their hands, and kept pouring on water while the rubbing was progressing; they repeated the operation twice, and then brought some fibres of palm-leaves, which they used with soap and water for polishing our limbs, and they finished the performance with the brush, just as they had done with the Englishman.
"The brushing was the severest part of the process, and was followed by great quantities of water thrown over us till we were thoroughly rinsed. The water was warm enough to be quite comfortable, and sometimes a little too warm, but we said nothing, as we wanted to have the bath just as it is given to others. Basin after basin of warm water was poured over us, and finally we were wrapped in dry towels that completely covered us, and thick towels were folded around our heads till we looked like turbaned Turks. Then we were taken to our couches, where we rested, and became cool enough to go out-of-doors again with safety.
THE BARBER.
"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.