ittin' and most knit one of
Josiah's heels whilst I rid by palaces and elephants and camels and
fakirs and palm trees. Oh, Jonesville yarn! you never expected to be
knit amid seens like this. I can knit and admire scenery first rate,
and my blue and white yarn seemed to connect me with Jonesville in
some occult way, and then I knew Josiah would need his socks before we
got home.

Seein' that the other ladies did so I had throwed my braize veil
gracefully over my head instead of my bunnet. The natives are as fond
of jewels here as they are in Ceylon. Women with not a rag on down to
their waists will have four or five chains on, and bangles on their
naked arms. They spend all their earnin's on these ornaments and wear
'em day and night. Well, seein' they don't have any other clothes
hardly, mebby it is best for 'em to keep holt on 'em.

We went by some wimmen preparin' manure for fuel; it wuz made into
lumps and dried. The wimmen wuz workin' away all covered with chains
and bangles and rings; Josiah looked on 'em engaged in that menial and
onwelcome occupation, and sez he:

"To see wimmen to work in the barnyard, Samantha, has put a new idee
into my head."

I never asked him what it wuz, but spozed it had reference to Philury
and mebby me, but I shall never go into that work, never.

One day we went to the American mission school and see the native
children settin' flat on the floor. Josiah wuz awful worked up to see
'em settin' down in such a oncomfortable posture, and he said to me
that if he had some tools and lumber he would make 'em some seats. But
that is their way of settin' to study their lessons.

Among 'em wuz a little girl with a red spot on her forward, indicatin'
that she wuz married, but don't spoze that she had gone to keepin'
house yet. Girls are married sometimes at six or seven, but their
husbands don't claim 'em till they're ten or twelve. Good land!
they're nothin' but babies then; I used to hold Tirzah Ann on my lap
at that age. Widders never marry again, and are doomed to a wretched
life of degradation and slavery; I guess that is the reason why some
on 'em had ruther be burnt up with their relics than to live on to
suffer so. How much they need the religion of love and mercy our
Saviour come to teach! Our missionaries are doin' a blessed work,
literally loosin' the chains of the captives, and settin' at liberty
them that are bound.

One evenin' we met a bridal procession, the groom was ridi