throwing any check on their natural impulses. At such times, I have heard girls of seven and eight years of age, and even younger ones, discussing the comparative value of the wardrobes and jewels of the ladies of Hâifa. One child would say, "Sit Hafîfi has the largest pearls and emeralds," and, "Such a one has the greatest number of diamonds," and " Um Elia has the handsomest dresses and embroidered jackets." They could tell how many coins the women from Nazareth, who lived in Hâifa, had on their head-dresses.
On Sunday, February 24th, a Moslem, of considerable influence and learning, asked permission to attend the Morning Service. We welcomed him, and he, Prayer book in hand, followed every word attentively, evincing unusual interest, or curiosity. He even abandoned his amber rosary for the time. Directly after prayers, however, the beads were to be seen again, rapidly slipping through his well-shaped, carefully-trimmed fingers. A Moslem does not appear at ease till he has a pipe in one hand and a chaplet in the other.
When the Christians had gone, I said to him, "Will your Excellency tell me the use of the rosary ? Is it simply a toy, or is it a help to reckon prayer or praise?"
Without showing the slightest unwillingness, he explained its use, saying, "The attributes or characteristic excellencies of God are manifold; but there are ninety-nine which should be learned, and remembered continually, by all men. These rosaries consist of ninety-nine, or thirty three beads, on which to reckon the attributes, thus"—he took the chaplet out of my hands, and, while passing bead after bead through his fingers, said, with unusual slowness and solemnity: "God the Creator—God the Preserver—God the most Bountiful—God the Deliverer—God the Eternal—God the Ever-present—God the All-seeing—God the most Merciful—God the All-powerful—God the King of Kings"—and so on, till the chaplet had passed three times through his hands; for it consisted of only thirty
