whe. 
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE, ry 
above the flaps of the faddle, into which the horfeman put 
his thighs and legs, and.which covered him from his hip 
(where his fhirt of mail ended) down to a little above his 
ancle: his feet. were covered with dlippers of thin leather, 
without heels, and his ftirrups were of the Turkifh or 
Moorifh form, into-which his whole foot entered, and, be-- 
ing hung very fhort,.he could raife himfelt, and fland as 
firmly as if he:was upon plain ground.. The. faddles were 
in the Moorith form likewife,.bigh before and behind; a 
firong lace made faft to the coat of mail by the one end, the 
other paffed through a-fmall hole in the back ofthe faddle, 
kept it clofe down, fo that the back was never-expofed by the 
coat of mail rifing over the hinder part of the faddle. Each 
had afmall ax-in the furcingle of. his faddle, and a pike 
about fourteen feet.long, the weapon with which he char- 
ged; it was made of very light wood, brought from the banks 
of the Nile, with a.fmall four-edged. head, and the butt 
end balanced by a.long fpike of iron; this entered a lea- 
ther cafe faftened by a-thong to the faddle, and. was refted. 
fometimes below the thigh, and fometimes above, and guid- 
ed by theright hand at the height the point was intended 
to ftrike at: The horfeman’s head was covered with a hel- 
moet of copper, or block tin, much like thofe of our light. 
horfe, with large crefts of black horfe tail.. 
Tue officers: were diftinguifhed from the foldiers by locks: 
of hair dyed yellow, interfperfed with the black. Upon the: 
front of each helmet was a.filver ftar, at leaft.a white-metal 
one, and before the face, down to the top of the nofe, a flap 
of iron chain, made in the fame manner as the coat of mail, 
but only lighter, which ferved as a vizier. This was the: 
moft troublefome part of the.whole, it was hot and heavy,. 
