Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/383

Rh Several impertinent remarks were made by these fanatics as I rode through the streets with Mrs. Badger, whose green veil seemed to excite their prejudices,—green being the sacred colour of Islâm. On account of the frequent insults to which they have been exposed, the Christian females scarcely ever venture abroad except to church, and that not more than once a month. They are moreover confined at home much after the manner of Mohammedan women, and are seldom seen in the domestic circle beyond the limits of their separate apartments. Being a priest I was admitted, in company with Mrs. Badger, into one of these harems, and had an opportunity of judging what were the effects of such seclusion. I found the women excessively ignorant, untidy, and not over clean in their persons or habits. They stared at us with silly amazement, and seemed incapable of comprehending anything that we said to them. Their indoor head-dress is peculiar to this town, consisting of an inverted truncated pyramid, made of silver plate, and measuring about a foot in diameter at the base, hung about with chains