60 made the dwarfs dance against their will. Ali Chelebi al Moufti, in a treatise on the subject, held that dancing, after the example of the derviches, who made it a part of their devotion, was allowable. But in this opinion he was deemed to be heterodox; for Mahometans, in general, place dancing amongst the things that are forbidden. D’Herbelot, p. 98.

61 durst not refuse the commander of the faithful. The mandates of Oriental potentates have ever been accounted irresistible. Hence the submission of these devotees to the will of the Caliph. Esther i. 19. Daniel vi. 8. Ludeke Expos, brevis, p. 60.

62 properly lubricated with the balm of Mecca. Unguents, for reasons sufficiently obvious, have been of general use in hot climates. According to Pliny, “at the time of the Trojan war, they consisted of oils perfumed with the odours of flowers, and, chiefly, of roses.”—Hasselquist speaks of oil, impregnated with the tuberose and jessamine; but the unguent here mentioned was preferred to every other. Lady M. W. Montagu, desirous to try its effects, seems to have suffered materially from having improperly applied it.

63 black eunuchs, sabre in hand. In this manner the apartments of the ladies were constantly guarded. Thus, in the story of the enchanted horse, Firouz Schah, traversing a strange palace by night, entered a room, “and, by the light of a lanthorn, saw that the persons he had heard snoring, were black eunuchs with naked sabres by them; which was enough to inform him that this was the guard-chamber of some queen or princess.” Arabian Nights, vol. IV. p. 189.

64 to let down the great swing. The swing was an exercise much used in the apartments of the Eastern ladies, and not only contributed to their amusement, but also to their health. Tales of Inatulla, vol. I. p. 259.

65 melodious Philomel, I am thy rose. The passion of the nightingale for the rose is celebrated over all the East. Thus, Meshii, as translated by Sir W. Jones:

Come, charming maid, and hear thy poet sing,

Thyself the rose, and he the bird of Spring:

Love bids him sing, and Love will be obey’d,

Be gay: too soon the flowers of Spring will fade.

66 oil spilt in breaking the lamps. It appears from Thevenot, that illuminations were usual on the arrival of a stranger, and he mentions, on an occasion of this sort, two hundred lamps being lighted. The quantity of oil, therefore, spilt on the margin of the bath, may be easily accounted for, from this custom.

67 calenders. These were a sort of men amongst the Mahometans, who abandoned father and mother, wife and children, relations and possessions, to wander through the world, under a pretence of religion, entirely subsisting on the fortuitous bounty of those they had the address to dupe. D’Herbelot, Suppl. p. 204.

68 santons. A body of religionists who were also called abdals, and pretended to be inspired with the most enthusiastic raptures of divine love. They were regarded by the vulgar as saints. Olearius, tom. I. p. 97 1. D’Herbelot, p. 5.