Orientals indicate reverence by uncovering their feet, and do so on all occasions when Western nations would remove their hats. Their heads, being generally shaven, are always covered, and are surmounted by a head-dress which could not be replaced without considerable trouble; while for the feet they have loose slippers, with a single sole, made of coloured morocco or embroidered silk, which are easily thrown off. Few things inspire them with greater disgust than for anyone to enter their rooms with shoes on. They think such conduct an insult to themselves and a pollution to their apartment; and it is considered the height of irreverence to enter a church, mosque, or a temple without removing them. Even classical heathenism affords instances of this usage. The Roman women were obliged to go barefoot in the Temple of Vesta; the same rule existed in that of Diana, at Crete; and those who prayed in the Temple of Jupiter also followed this custom. In the East, the public removal of the sandal or shoe, and the giving it to another, accompanied by certain words, signifies a transfer of authority or relinquishing possession. We are told in the case of Ruth and Boaz, when her kinsman gave up his right to marry her, in favour of her second husband, "he drew off his shoe." Among the Bedouins, when a man permits his cousin to marry another, or divorces his runaway spouse, he generally says, "She was my slipper; I have cast her off." Again, when shoes are left at the door of an apartment, they denote that the master or mistress is engaged, and even a husband does not venture into a wife's room while he sees the slippers on the threshold. The idea is not altogether unknown among ourselves, as it is expressed in the homely proverb, "to stand in another man's shoes;" or when we speak of coming into a future inheritance as stepping into a "dead man's shoe." Also in flinging the slipper after a departing bride, signifying that the father transfers his authority to the husband. CHAPTER V. BRIDAL COSTUME. [Illustration: MARRIAGE PROCESSION OF A BRIDE IN LEBANON.]