"There go good wives and good mothers," one says.

Their Amazonian air is accentuated by the casque of gold or silver which fits tightly over their heads and gleams through its lace covering: perhaps the most curious head-dress in this country of elaborate head-dresses, and never so curious as when, on Sundays, an ordinary black bonnet, bristling with feathers and jet, is mounted on the top of it.

That, however, is a refinement practised only by the middle-aged and elderly women: the young women wear either the casque or a hat, never both.

If one climbs the Oldehof and looks down on the city on a sunny day--as I did--the glint of a metal casque continually catches the eye.

These head-dresses are of some value, and are handed on from mother to daughter for generations.