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Chap. XLV.
VOLUMINOUS PETTICOATS.
219
is highly curious. We are now in the land of
petticoats—not crinolines, but good, substantial, coloured
woollen petticoats—of which the fair inhabitants, and
very fair they are, wear an indefinite number, from
seven upwards, according to the solemnity of the
occasion. They tell of a bride who appeared at the altar
almost fainting under the weight of her thirteen—
but she was “ somebody ”—such a wedding, the old
people said, had not been seen for many a day.
Thirteen petticoats reminded them of the times of their
grandmothers when they were young.
As we crossed over last night in the ferry-boat a
peasant girl stood leaning over the’1 cargo talking away
to the watermen, her back turned towards me; so I
inspected her “bearings.” Her outermost garment
was of green woollen, bound round with black velvet
gathered in flat plaits round the waist; then came a blue,
afterwards a red, which she should have worn outside,
for it looked very smart. On arriving at the red she
moved, so I had to cease my researches, but commenced
again later. Well, the red was followed up by a brown,
then came a yellow, then a second blue—dingy blue,
quite right to wear it undermost—then came—never
mind what—and lastly a pair of legs, very neat-turned
ankles, clothed in purple worsted stockings, with no
feet to them. She wore a black velvet jacket,
ornamented with filigree buttons, and a foulard twisted
round her head.
But the oddest custom of all is that of wearing a
black mask, similar to those worn at the bal masque,
minus the bavolet, when working out in the fields.
The men are occupied on the high seas, or fishing;
on returning, they eat, drink, and sleep, never leaving
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