THREE:Mrs Keeling began to fear the worst, and forced a twin tear from her other eye.{51}"Their dresses are folded around them, and then held in place by an obi, which is nothing more nor less than a wide belt. It is of the most[Pg 259] expensive material that the wearer can afford; and sometimes it costs a great deal of money. Generally it is of silk, and they have it of all colors, and occasionally it is heavily embroidered. It is several yards long, and the work of winding it into place is no small affair. I shall enclose some pictures of Japanese women in this letter, and you can see from them what the dress of the women looks like, and understand much better than you will by what I write. I think the women look very pretty in their dressesmuch better, in fact, than when they put on European garments. Their hair is always black, and they dress it with more grease than I wish they would. It fairly makes the hair shine, it is laid on so thick. But they have some very pretty ornaments for their hair, which they stick in with large pins, something like the hair-pins you use at home. I am told that you can distinguish the social position by the number and style of the hair-ornaments worn on a woman's head;[Pg 260] but I have not yet learned how to do it. I suppose I shall find out if I stay long enough in Japan.
