236 SYRIA, PALESTINE, AND

these old worthies become highly indignant ; so
I used to look mysteriously grave, and say I
knew nothing of the matter, at which they
would nod at each other significantly, and
stroke their beards, whispering to one another,
he knows more than he chooses to tell. When
at a loss for information, they would invariably
ask me if it were true that the English had
a Queen, and on answering in the affirmative,
Mashalla ! Mashalla ! would pass from mouth
to mouth, the beards again be put in motion,
and all of them set to work, tooth and nail,
chanting verses from the Koran in a low,
grumbling voice. As I presumed these were
not over complimentary to my country, their
utterance was a signal for me to bear away,
possibly to undergo a like ordeal a few yards
further on.
The shops are arranged on either side of the
streets, each shop being about eight feet by
six; in the centre of which, cross-legged and



ASIA MINOR. 237

tailor-fashion, the owner is seated in all the
dignity of a tradesman. Opposite the coffee-
house is sure to be the barber's, for those who
undergo the operation of being shaved, are
generaUy faint when it is all over, and require
such stimulants as a cup of coffee and a smoke.
