336 SILVER AND BEAD ORNAMENTS. 



the whole hill, which is surmounted by a church, 

 dedicated to the Virgin, is under the care of a vast 

 number of priests. I think it not improbable that 

 some excavated chambers that have been found in 

 Egypt, and in rocks near Jerusalem, and considered 

 to have been intended for tombs, were in fact the 

 treasuries of the monarchs of these countries. 



One ornament of silver, and which is worn by 

 the women of Shoa upon the breast, hanging from 

 the neck by a chain, also of silver, is in the form of 

 a clasp, three or four inches long, and one inch 

 broad; upon its front surface not unfrequently is 

 rudely engraved some simple design in waving 

 lines. Bracelets of silver are sometimes seen, and 

 with the Mahomedan women, they are invariably of 

 that metal ; but the Christians generally wear plain 

 ones, made of pewter, with anklets to correspond. 



Besides the little unpretending martah of blue 

 silk, the Christian women, if they can afford it, wear 

 large necklaces of beads, and the British Political 

 Mission have greatly increased the stock of these 

 ornaments that is now brought into the market. 

 Those I have seen were made generally by a suc- 

 cession of loops, consisting of seven or eight threads 

 of different coloured seed beads, collected at certain 

 lengths into one string, through a large angular-cut 

 piece of amber. Eight or ten of these loops formed a 

 long negligee, which, ornamented with a large tassel 

 of small beads, was a present suited even for the ac- 

 ceptance of royalty. The Mahomedan women, on 



