I shall now proceed to record faithfully what I deem most memorable; not as many travellers have done, from their recollection, after their return home, but from notes, which I regularly made, either at the moment of observation, or very shortly afterwards.  When we first visited the shops, I was equally gratified and surprised with what was familiar and what was new; but I was particularly amused with those of the tailors and milliners.  In the lower part of their dress, the Lunarians chiefly resemble the Europeans; but in the upper part, the Asiatics—­for they shave the head, and wear turbans; from which fact the Brahmin drew another argument in favour of the hypothesis, that the moon was originally a part of the earth.  Some of the female fashions were so extremely singular and fanciful, as to deserve particular mention.

One piece of their attire was formed of a long piece of light stiff wood, covered with silk, and decorated with showy ornaments.  It was worn across the shoulders, beyond each of which it jutted out about half a yard; and from either end a cord led to a ring running round the upper part of the head, bearing no small resemblance to the yard of a ship’s mast, and the ropes used for steering it.  Several other dresses I saw, which I am satisfied would be highly disapproved by my modest countrywomen.  Thus, in some were inserted glasses like watch crystals, adapted to the form and size of the female bosom.  But, to do the Lunar ladies justice, I understood that these dresses were condemned by the sedate part of the sex, and were worn only by the young and thoughtless, who were vain of their forms.  I observed too, that instead of decorating their heads with flowers, like the ladies of our earth, they taxed the animal world for a correspondent ornament.  Many of the head-dresses were made of a stiff open gauze, occasionally stuck over with insects of the butterfly and coccinella species, and others of the gayest hues.  At other times these insects were alive; when their perpetual buzzing and fluttering in their transparent cages, had a very animating effect.  One decoration for the head in particular struck my fancy:  it was formed of a silver tissue, containing fireflies, and intended to be worn in the night.

But the most remarkable thing of all, was the whim of the ladies in the upper classes, of making themselves as much like birds as possible; in which art, it must be confessed, they were wonderfully successful.  The dress used for this purpose, consisted of a sort of thick cloak, covered with feathers, like those of the South Sea islands, and was so fashioned, by means of a tight thick quilting, as to make the wearer, at a little distance, very much resemble an overgrown bird, except that the legs were somewhat too thick.  Their arms were concealed under the wings; and the resemblance was yet further increased, by marks with beaks adapted to the particular plumage:  some personating doves, some magpies; others again, hawks,