birds
with the boomerang from his boat, wears it, but simply
thrown over the left shoulder, with the two extremities
hanging free. Khnumhotpu at Beni-Hasan, the Khrihdbi, the
overseers, or the peasants, all have it rolled and slung
round them; the Prince of el-Bersheh wears it like a mantle
in folds over the two shoulders. If it is objected that the
material could not be reduced to such small dimensions as
those represented in these drawings of what I believe to be
the Egyptian cloak, I way cite our cavalry capes, when
rolled and slung, as an instance of what good packing will
do in reducing volume.

[Illustration: 070.jpg a dignitary wrapped in his large cloak. 1]

1 Statue of Khiti in the Gizeh Museum (XIIth and XIIIth
dynasties), drawn by Faucher-Gudin.

Travellers, shepherds, all those whose occupations called them to the
fields, carried it as a bundle at the ends of their sticks; once arrived
at the scene of their work, they deposited it in a corner with their
provisions until they required it. The women were at first contented
with a loin-cloth like that of the men; it was enlarged and lengthened
till it reached the ankle below and the bosom above, and became a
tightly fitting garment, with two bands over the shoulders, like braces,
to keep it in place. The feet were not always covered; on certain
occasions, however, sandals of coarse leather, plaited straw, split
reed, or even painted wood, adorned those shapely Egyptian feet, which,
to suit our taste, should be a little shorter.

[Illustration: 072.jpg COSTUME OF EGYPTIAN WOMAN, SPINNING. 1]

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the spinning-women at
the Paris Exhibition of 1889. It was restored from the
paintings in the tomb of Khnumhotpu at Beni-Hasan.

Both men and women loved ornaments, and covered their necks, breasts,
arms, wrists, and ankles with many rows of necklaces and bracelets. The
bracelets were made of elephant ivory, mother-of-pearl, or even flint,
very cleverly perforated. The necklaces were composed of strings of
pierced shells,[**] interspersed with seeds and little pebbles,
either sparkling or of unusual shapes.[***] Subsequently imitations
in terra-cotta replaced the natural shells, and precious stones were
substituted for pebbles, as were also beads of enamel, either round,
pear-shaped, or cylindrical: the necklaces were terminated and a uniform
distan