Between her eyebrows was affixed an ornament composed of small brilliants, and forming the word “bride” in Armenian characters. Her chemisette was of blue crape, fringed with silver; and her antery of Broussa silk, worked and edged with gold, bound about her waist with a costly cachemire. She wore trowsers of figured silk, of a pale blue; thread stockings, and slippers of pink kid. Her rings and bracelets were a little fortune in themselves; and, had she known how to adjust her costume with the intuitive taste of a Turkish woman, she would have been beautiful; but the Armenian lady is as inferior in elegance to the fair Osmanli, as the Perote to the European. They wear the same description of dress, and employ the same materials, but they may, nevertheless, be distinguished at a glance, from the mere manner of its adjustment. The one is almost a caricature of the other. I remained long enough in the East to think the yashmac the most coquettish and becoming of all head-dresses; but to be either the one or the other it must be arranged by the fair fingers of a gentle Turk; for when put on as the Armenians wear it, it is the greatest disfigurement in the world. The same may be said of the whole of their costume. The inmate of the Turkish harem is as willow-like and graceful as a swan—the Armenian lady, on the contrary, overloads herself with shawls and finery; and is, consequently, fettered in her movements. Nothing could be more courteous than our reception by the family with which we had become so unexpectedly acquainted. The most delicate sweetmeats and the finest Mocha coffee were served to us by the fair hands of the bride herself, which were deeply stained with henna; and, as I have before remarked, blazing with jewels. When the refreshments were removed, we made a tour of the grounds; and were laden by our new friends with tuberoses, orange-blossom, and green lemons. There was not a courtesy that they did not shew us; not a flattering epithet which they did not lavish on us; and, as they led us by the hand from terrace to terrace, they pointed out with intuitive taste every fine point of view as it opened upon them—lingered beneath each little garden pavilion wreathed with parasites, where the passion-flower blossomed beside the creeping rose, and the violet nestled at the root of the tiger lily—playfully sprinkled us with the limpid waters of each sparkling fountain, whose marble basin looked like a glistening lotus in the sunshine—seated us in the painted kiosks which overhung the water—and selected for us the most tempting produce of the orangeries. When we at length reluctantly took our leave, the pretty bride kissed our hands with a graceful humility, perfectly charming; and we were followed to the gate by entreaties that we would renew our visit. To these I replied by an invitation which was instantly accepted; and on the morrow my room was a blaze of jewels and gold embroidery.