POLO 



of divers colours all of a dingy hue and the inevitable dhootee ; 

 and between the knee and the ankle they wore things somewhat 

 resembling cricket pads. The unusual quantity of clothing we 

 conclude was donned in honour of the Belatee Rajah,^ for when 

 they first appeared in public they wore little except a hockey 

 stick. Their ponies were shaggy, unkempt and ungroomed, 

 and the saddle gear almost beyond description. The saddles 

 were a kind of cross between a pillion and an elephant howdah. 

 They have a frame-work of skin and wood which rests on the 

 ponies' backs, and above it soft leather for the rider. At the 

 back is a sort of hollow, to sit in ; in front of this comes a kind 

 of mound, goodness knows what for, and in front of this is a 

 curved frame like a pair of bull's horns over which their reins 

 are hitched now and again. They cling to their saddles like 

 monkeys, their naked feet rammed into rough iron stirrups 

 braced up so short that their thighs are at right angles to their 

 hips. Hanging from each side of the saddle are articles of the 

 same colour and material, and very much the same shape, as 

 carriage splash boards. The stirrups hang inside them and 

 the two sides of the articles are curved round, away from the 

 ponies' sides and in front of the players' legs, the object of 

 them being apparently two-fold, viz. to protect the players' 

 legs, and to extract the speed of terror out of the ponies, for 

 when they get into action the splash-boards make a noise 

 hideous enough to frighten the most stout-hearted tat. The 

 prettiest part of the get-up was the ponies' headstalls, which 

 were made of scarlet cloth dotted over with white worsted balls, 

 and the reins were of a thick plaited substance and light blue 

 colour. 



' The men were a strong wiry-looking lot, but Avore an 

 anxious expression, arising perhaps from excess of keenness to 

 win, rtunoiir saying that they get ' toko ' from the Rajah if 

 they do not distinguish themselves. The Calcutta team, in 

 perfect confidence of being utterly beaten, had no anxiety on 

 this score, and commenced the game therefore in a more 



' English Prince. 

 215 



