close down, so that the back was never exposed by the coat of mail rising over the hinder part of the saddle. Each had a small ax in the surcingle of his saddle, and a pike about fourteen feet long, the weapon with which he charged; it was made of very light wood, brought from the banks of the Nile, with a small four-edged head, and the butt end balanced by a long spike of iron; this entered a leather case fastened by a thong to the saddle, and was rested sometimes below the thigh, and sometimes above, and guided by the right hand at the height the point was intended to strike at. The horseman's head was covered with a helmet of copper, or block tin, much like those of our light horse, with large crests of black horse tail. The officers were distinguished from the soldiers by locks of hair dyed yellow, interspersed with the black. Upon the front of each helmet was a silver star, at least a white-metal one, and before the face, down to the top of the nose, a flap of iron chain, made in the same manner as the coat of mail, but only lighter, which served as a vizier. This was the most troublesome part of the whole, it was hot and heavy, and constantly fretted the cheek and nose, when either the man or the horse were in motion; and therefore I always substituted a black silk net, which concealed my colour better, and for the rest of my face I committed it to the care of Providence. This body of horse was able to make their way through all the cavalry in Abyssinia, if they had been drawn up against them with equal fronts; for every horseman sat immoveable upon his saddle, and acted most powerfully by his weight alone, and was perfectly master of his person also by the breadth and shortness of his stirrups; whereas the Abyssinian horsemen were placed most disadvantageously, their head and body naked, their saddle small, and of no support to them, their stirrup-leathers long, and no stirrups to put their foot in; but being constantly afraid of their horse falling upon them, the only hold which they had was the outside of an iron ring, which they grasped between their great and second toe, so that they had no strength from their stirrups, whilst their foot was always swelled, and their toes sore and galled. Of the thousand Shoa horse about 60 had deserted; the rest were all in good order, each armed with their lances about ten feet long, and two light javelins, their shafts being of cane, which they threw at a great distance; the lance they never loosed out of their hand; as for their stirrups and saddle, they were of the same bad construction as those of the Abyssinians in general, and this reduced them nearly to a footing with them.