24 6 
TEHERAN. 
sheep-skins come from Bokhara, and are covered with the finest wool 
certainly that I ever saw. 
The head-dress of every Persian from the King to his lowest subject, 
is composed of one substance, and consists of a black cap about one 
foot and a half high. These caps are all jet black, and are all made 
of skins of the same animals. The finest are taken from the lamb, in 
the first moments of its birth ; and they decrease in value down to the 
skin of the full-grown sheep, which the common Bay at wears. The lamb¬ 
skins are also used to line coats, and make very comfortable pelisses. The 
only distinction in the head-dress of Persia, is that of a shawl wrapped 
round the black cap; and this distinction is confined to the King, to 
the Princes his sons, and to some of the nobility and great officers of 
state. Cashmire shawls have been discouraged of late, in order to 
promote the domestic manufacture of brocade shawls. 
Like the Turks, and indeed generally like other Asiatics, the Persians 
are very careful in preserving warmth in the feet. In winter they 
wear a thick woollen sock; and in the air or in a journey, they bind 
their feet and legs with a long bandage of cloth, which they increase 
with the advance of the cold. They have three different sorts of shoes, 
and two sorts of boots. 1. A green slipper, with a heel about an inch 
and a half high, with a painted piece of bone at the top. These are 
worn by the higher classes, and by all before the King. 2. A flat 
slipper, either of red or yellow leather, with a little iron shoe under the 
heel, and with a piece of bone over that shoe, on which, as in the first 
instance, the heel rests. 3. A stout shoe (with a flat sole, turning up 
at the toe) which covers the whole foot, and is made either of leather, 
or of thick-quilted cotton. It is worn by the peasants, and by the 
chatters , or walking footmen. 
The boots are, 1. a very large pair with high heels, turned up at 
the toe, made generally of Russia leather, and covering the leg. 2. 
A smaller and tighter kind, buttoning at the side, and reaching only to 
the calf of the leg. When the Persians ride, they put on a loose 
