Page:Sixteen years of an artist's life in Morocco, Spain and the Canary Islands.djvu/57

46 the immense proportions of the other parts of her body, were unnaturally diminutive, perhaps appearing by contrast even more so than they really were. They must have been very much impdeded, however, in the process of locomotion, by the ponderous anklets of chased silver, with the burden of which most Moorish women are oppressed. The red slippers which, with one exception, terminate our description of her attire, were made to match the richness of material and ornament the other parts of her dress, being elaborately adorned with embroidery of silver thread and silks of varied colour. All these particular portions of her toilet having been carefully adjusted, a large clear muslin scarf was thrown over her shoulder; and as it retained all its crispness, it produced a remarkably angular effect in the appearance of her immense proportions.

It will be seen from this minute description, that the toilet of a Moorish lady must be a matter of serious consideration; and when there is so much gold and jewels, embroidery and lace-work, as in the present case, it becomes almost a question of art to settle how it all ought to be arranged so as to produce the greatest effect. With my European ideas, I might probably have criticized unfavourably some of the arrangements, and might have imagined