The regular mountain costume consists of a sort of zouave jacket, worn open over a loose shirt; and very wide trousers, girt tightly around a rather slim waist. The point of junction between these two garments is masked by a broad sash. The material of which they are composed is generally a coarse Isabella-coloured fabric, striped at rather wide intervals with a narrow red or blue line. Green is less frequently seen, because it is the colour of the false prophet, but when the grounding is purple it is sometimes trimmed with green. The stripes are disposed vertically on the jacket and trousers, and horizontally on the sleeves; but the suit is often such a mass of patches that but little of the original survives. The head-dress is a conical felt cap,[64] which is often bound round with a turban. The front half of the head is shaved; and Tyari men wear their back hair plaited into two small pigtails, one on either side. The sash is generally garnished with a knife or pistol when the men are at home in the mountains; and often, slung across the shoulder, they carry an antiquated gun. The Kurds wear a similar costume, but a much more extensive arsenal; and the weapons with which they are furnished are usually of more modern type. This forms the main tangible distinction by which it is possible to tell a Kurd from a Syrian: but somehow a certain ruffianly swagger is the truest hall-mark of a Kurd. The third man who had joined our party was a certain _Rabban_ Werda (Friar Rose) who acted as our chief lieutenant. He too, like the others, was a deacon, but he was more usually addressed as _Rabban_; for he was one of a queer religious order which still survives in eastern Christendom, and which corresponds to one of the aspects assumed by monasticism in the west. _Rabbans_--and _Rabbantas_--(for there are a few women also in the order)--have bound themselves not to marry, not to use a razor,[65] and not to eat flesh meat. But they do not live in communities, nor obey any definite rule; and, except in the three particulars mentioned, they lead much the same life as other men. It is from the ranks of the _Rabbans_ that the Syrian episcopate is recruited; for, by old tradition, _Abunas_ or bishops must be celibate, though the _Qashas_ or priests are always married men. _Rabban_ Werda in personal appearance was the image of the immortal Sancho Panza; and he wore, with his gorgeous purple trousers, a European frock-coat and a fez. But his worth is not to be gauged by his rather uninspiring exterior. Though his views of our twentieth century may have sometimes a tinge of artlessness, in his own mediæval environment he is as intelligent and reliable a henchman as anyone need desire.