492 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



they have no longer to fear any 

 weapons of their enemies. 



The poggamoggoii is an instru- 

 ment, consisting of a handle 

 twenty-two inches long, made of 

 wood, covered with dressed lea- 

 tlier, about the size of a whip- 

 handle : at one end is a thong of 

 two inches in length, wliich is 

 tied to a round stone weighing- 

 two pounds and lield in a cover of 

 leather : at the other end is a loop 

 of the same material, which is 

 passed io\ind the wrist so as to se- 

 cure, the hold of the instrument, 

 with which they strike a very se- 

 vere blo\v. 



Besides these, they have a kind 

 of armour somctliing like a coat 

 of mail, Avhich is formed by a 

 great many folds of dressed ante- 

 lope skins, united by means of a 

 mixture of glue and sand. AVith 

 this they cover their own b(>dies 

 and those of their horses, and find 

 it impervious to the arrow. 



The caparison of their horses is 

 a halter and a saddle : the first is 

 either a rope of six or seven 

 strands of buffaloe hair platted or 

 tvasted together, about the size 

 of a man's finger, and of great 

 strength : or merely a thong of 

 raw hide, made pliant by pound- 

 ing and rubbing ; though the 

 first kind is much preferred. The 

 halter is veiy long, and is never 

 talcen from the neck of the horse 

 when in constant use. One end 

 of it is first tied round the neck in 

 a knot, and then brouglit down 

 to the under jaw, round which it 

 is formed into a simple noose,' 

 passing through the mouth : it is 

 then ch'awn uj) on the right side 

 and held by the rider in his left 

 hand, while the rest trails after 

 him to some distance. At other 



times the knot is formed at a lit- 

 tle distance from one of the ends, 

 so as to let that end serve as a 

 bridle, while the other trails on 

 the ground. With these cords 

 dangling alongside of them, the 

 horse is put to his full speed with- 

 out fear of falling, and when he 

 is turned to graze, the noose is 

 merely taken from his mouth. 

 The saddle is formed like the 

 pack-saddles used by the French 

 and Spaniards, of two flat thin 

 boards which fit the sides of tlie 

 horse, and are kept together by 

 two cross pieces, one befoie and 

 the other behind, which rise to a 

 considerable height, ending some- 

 times in a flat point extending 

 outwards, and always making tlie 

 saddle deep and narrow. Under 

 this a piece of buffaloe skin, with 

 the hair on, is placed .so as to pre- 

 vent the rubbing of the boards, 

 and wlien they mount they throw 

 a piece of skin or robe over the 

 saddle, which has no permanent 

 cover. When stirrups are used, 

 they consist of wood covered with 

 leather ; but stirrups and saddles 

 are conveniencies reserved for old 

 men and women. The young 

 warriors rarely use any tiling ex- 

 cept a small leather pad stuffed 

 with hair, and secured by a girtli 

 made of a leathern thong. In 

 this way they ride with great ex- 

 pertness, and theyhcve aparticu- 

 lar dexterity in catching the horse 

 when he is i unning at large. If 

 he will not immediately submit 

 when they wish to take him, they 

 make a noose in the rope, and al- 

 though the horse may be at a dis- 

 tance, or even running, rarely fail 

 tofi.xit on his neck ; and such is 

 the docility of the animal, that 

 however unruly he may seem, he 

 surrenders 



