form of foot-gear is still that of the peasants of the Roman Campagna. The Papal _mula_ is thought by some to have a grander origin. Its name suggests that it is the representative of the _mullens_, a form of shoe worn by the highest Roman authorities, to whom it had come down from the kings of Alba. It is to be noted that the priests of all religions have made a point of wearing the simplest foot-gear, and have therefore longest adhered to that most primitive form of shoe, the sandal. The Egyptian priests wore sandals of papyrus or palm. In the British Museum is a fine collection of Egyptian sandals, many of them of tasteful workmanship. Such were the wear of Rhodope, the Cinderella of old Nile. Rhodope had the loveliest foot in Egypt. One day she was bathing, when an eagle stooped from heaven and carried off her sandal. She watched him soar with his treasure, and presently he vanished with it into space. When at last he let it drop, it fell at the feet of King Psammeticus, as he sat in the open air administering justice. He was charmed with its beauty, and commanded a search to be made for its owner. Rhodope was quickly discovered, and became the Queen of Egypt. At Cluny there are not only examples of Egyptian sandals, but specimens of those worn in various parts of Africa, by the negroes on the Gambia and by the Malagasy; with some of Arab origin, and some from India. One pair of Indian sandals of antique make, in black leather cut into innumerable thongs, have such a diabolical appearance that they might well be the foot-gear of a Rakshah--an ogre. [Illustration: BOOTS AND SHOES.--VI. 33. Indian, Female; 34. Indian; 35. Indian, Male; 36. Ancient Indian, Male; 37. Punjaubese, Male; 38, 39. Persian; 40. Chinese; 41. South Albanian; 42. Cochin-Chinese; 43. Lapland.] The collection at Cluny would hardly be representative of French foot-gear if it did not contain several examples of the sabot. There are some which date from the Seventeenth Century. Sabots do not appear to be an ancient wear; nevertheless their origin is involved in obscurity. A specimen in elaborate open-work suggests long periods of forced leisure; and it is not unlikely that the sabot originated in those great forests of Germany and France, where, during the winter, the people are compelled to cease their ordinary work, and to take up with some in-door employment. What more natural than that wood-cutters should carve for themselves and for their children shoes that should be proof against mud and briars alike? Now, sabots are shapen by machinery. A number of pattens are exhibited at Cluny. This old-fashioned wet-weather wear, like the modern goloshe, derives its name from the French _patin_, and not as Gay writes:-- “The patten now supports each frugal dame, Which from the blue-ey’d Patty takes its name.”