attire, they wear a kind of trowsers long enough to reach up to
the chin, and so large that each of the legs /~> o is biog enouogh to con ■
tain a man’s body. That they may not be totally incapacitated
for walking, all the loose parts of their dress are bound up by a
sash.
The accoutrements of their horses are little less clumsy. On
the back part of the saddle is a trussequin about eight inches in
height, and in front the pommel rises four or five inches. Instead
of a stuffed frame three thick woollen cloths are placed under the
saddle, the whole being tied with a surcingle, which is not fastened
by a buckle, but by leathern thongs tied in very complicated knots,
and liable to slip. The stirrups are made of copper, frequently
gilt, longer and wider than the foot, having circular borders, an
inch high in the middle, and the edge terminating posteriourly in
a sharp point, which is used instead of a spur. These stirrups
never weigh less than nine or ten pounds, and often thirteen or
more, while the saddle and it’s other accessories are not less than
five and twenty. Their principal weapon is the scymefar, the
blade of which is at least thirty inches long, though it is so much
curved, that it measures but two feet in a straight line from hilt to
point. This is slung in a shoulder-belt, richly adorned with gold
and silver. They have likewise an english blunderbuss, about
thirty inches long, and capable of discharging ten or a dozen balls
at a time; and sometimes they carry a heavy mace at their saddle
bow, beside a brace of large pistols stuck in their sash.
Every return of the fast of Ramadan their masters must give
them a new suit of clothes; and they frequently require fresh