In the manuscript, the interpreter remarks that the measurements of the distances on the marble columns at Ok Meydan are in pikes, the pike being a Turkish measure of a little over two feet, easily convertible into English yards, feet and inches. It will be observed that the longest flight recorded on the columns selected for quotation is 838 yards, and the shortest, 625 yards. Though these distances are almost too extraordinary to be true, they corroborate the statement made in 1795 by the secretary of the Turkish ambassador, p. 123. If they are correct, they can only be accounted for by the use of a light short arrow, a very powerful bow, great strength and skill, and above all else by the horn appendage which the Turkish archer attached to his left hand, and without which he could not shoot so short an arrow from his bow. [Page 126] Even if we accept the shortest range recorded on the columns as correct--_i.e._ 625 yards--it is an extraordinary distance for any arrow to be propelled, and is 285 yards beyond what has ever been achieved, as far as we know, by an English bowman with a longbow, p. 120. It is, however, beyond question that the secretary to the Turkish Ambassador did shoot an arrow 482 yards (the arrow and bow being even now preserved in the Toxophilite Society’s rooms), though he declared at the time of the occurrence that he was not proficient in the art of sending a flight arrow to what he considered a great distance. We may from this safely assume that a range of 143 yards further than the Turkish secretary attained with his bow, or a total flight of 625 yards, was quite possible in the case of a more powerful and skilled Turkish archer than he was. [Illustration: TURKISH CAVALRY SOLDIERS WITH THEIR BOWS. From an illuminated Turkish MS. in the Sloane Collection, B.M., dated 1621, No. 5258. These reproductions plainly show how small was the size of the bow formerly used in warfare by Turkish soldiers.] _Spottiswoode & Co. Ltd., Printers, New-street Square, London._ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced. Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations.