Augier Ghislen de Busbecq (1522–1592), a Belgian author and diplomatist, describes the Turkish archery he witnessed when ambassador to the court of Solyman, and the well-nigh incredible distances to which he saw arrows propelled. Full information to the same effect, with excellent diagrams, may be found in a Latin MS. on Turkish archery by J. Covel, D.D., Chaplain to the Embassy at Constantinople 1670–1676.[51] [51] MSS., B.M., 22911, folio 386. Another treatise (in Turkish) entitled ‘An Account of some famous Archery Matches at Bagdad (1638–1740),’ dedicated to the Governor of that city by the author, M. Rizai,[52] may also be consulted, as it gives the exact ranges of the longest-flying arrows. [52] Sloane MSS., B.M., 26329, folio 59. It should be remembered that many years ago flight-shooting was a very popular recreation of the Turks, that every able-bodied man was a practised archer, and that every male child was trained to use a bow from the earliest possible age. The origin of Turkish and other highly finished composite bows, and the approximate date when they were first used in sport and warfare, it is now impossible to determine. Bows that are undoubtedly of this kind and which are of excellent shape and design, are depicted on some of the most ancient pottery existent, and are also referred to in some of the oldest writings we possess. In further connection with long-distance shooting with the Turkish bow, I append a letter written by one of my ancestors to another. They were both skilled and enthusiastic archers in their day. This letter, and the notes and translations which follow it, describe the extraordinary feats said to have been achieved by the Turks with their bows when shooting to attain a long range with a flight arrow:-- [Page 123] ‘London, 1795. ‘Dear Brother,--I have just been to see the secretary of the Turkish Ambassador shooting with Waring[53] and other famous English bowmen. There was a great crowd, as you may suppose, to see them. The Turk,[54] regardless of the many persons standing round him, and to the amazement and terror of the Toxophilites, suddenly began firing his arrows up in all directions, but the astonishment of the company was increased by finding the arrows were not made to fly, but fell harmlessly within a few yards. These arrows the Turk called his “exercising arrows.” This was an idea that was quite new to the bowmen present and they began to have more respect for the Turk and his bow. The Turk’s bow is made of antelopes’ horns and is short, and purposely made short for the convenience of being used in all directions on horseback.