Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/186

138 THE PORTUGUESE POLICY IN THE EAST pers studded with gems, and raised on cork soles " nearly half a foot in height. ' ; " They do not wear any mask, but paint their cheeks to a shameful degree." " These ladies, when they enter the church, are taken by the hand by one or two men, since they cannot walk by them- selves on account of the height of the slippers." Each is thus helped " to her seat some forty or fifty paces off, taking at least a good quarter of an hour to walk that distance, so slowly and majesti- cally does she move >: after the fashion of the high-born Venetian ladies of that time. For these and the following statements we may look again to Pyrard and other early authorities. When a gentleman rode forth he was attended by a throng of slaves in gay and fanciful liveries, some holding painted umbrellas, others displaying richly inlaid arms; while his horse glittered with gold and silver trappings, jingling silver bells, reins studded with precious stones, and gilt stirrups wrought into artistic patterns. The poor aped the rich and resorted to amus- ing makeshifts to exhibit an air of grandeur. Gentle- men who lived together had a few silk suits between them in common. " These they used by turns when A GOANESE WOMAN.