and is procured at a great expense, even in India; some deputtahs are formed of gold-worked muslin, English crape, coloured gauze, &c.  On ordinary occasions ladies wear them simply bound with silver riband, but for dress they are richly trimmed with embroidery and bullion fringes, which add much to the splendour of the scene, when two or three hundred females are collected together in their assemblies.  The deputtah is worn with much original taste on the back of the head, and falls in graceful folds over the person; when standing, it is crossed in front, one end partially screening the figure, the other thrown over the opposite shoulder.

I should say they rarely stand; but when distinguished guests, or their elders amongst relatives, are announced, this mark of respect is never omitted.  It is an interesting sight, as they have much ease and grace in their manner, which no tutoring could impart; they rise and arrange their drapery, advance a few steps from their place in the hall, and embrace their visitor thrice in due form, ending by salaaming, with the head bowed very low towards the ground and the open hand raised to the forehead, three times in succession, with solemnity and dignity.

I have told you, in a former Letter, how many precious ornaments were laid aside on the eve of Mahurrum, and need hardly describe them again.  Their fondness for good jewellery perhaps exceeds the same propensity in any other females on the globe:  the rude workmanship of Native jewellers is never an object of weighty consideration, provided the precious metals are unalloyed in quality.  The same may be remarked in their selection of jewels:  pearls of the largest size, even when discoloured or misshapen, are selected in preference to the most regular in form and colour, of a smaller size; large diamonds, having flaws, are often preferred to smaller ones most perfect.  The gentlemen are good judges of precious stones, and evince some taste in their style of ornaments; they are worn on their turbans, and in necklaces or harrhs[23]—­rings, armlets, &c.; but these are all laid aside at seasons of devotion, when they are restricted wearing, not only ornaments, but mixed articles of silk and wool in their apparel.  The most religious men and women invariably abstain from ornamental dress in every way, deeming it frivolous vanity, and inconsistent with that they profess—­’to be seeking God, and forsaking worldly things’.

The ladies never wear stockings,[24] and only cover the feet with shoes when pacing across their court-yard, which bounds their view and their walks.  Nevertheless, there is a fashion and taste about the ladies’ shoes, which is productive of much emulation in zeenahnah life;—­they are splendidly worked in many patterns, with gold and silver spangles, variously-coloured small seed beads and embroidery—­the whole one mass of glittering metal;—­they are made with sharp points curling upwards, some nearly reaching half-way to the knees, and always worn down