AN ARAB TOURNAMENT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 215, 8 June 1877, Page 3

AN ARAB TOURNAMENT.

From General M'Clellan's "Winter on the Nile," in Scribner for March. Soon after our arrival five horses were brought in, richly caparisoned in the Moorish style ; powerful Moorish bits, with the ring encircling the lower jaw ; short stirrups, serving also as spurs ; the high saddle, covered with velvet housings, embroidered and fringed with gold ; heavy gold fringes on the neck and breast of the horses. All the horses were good, some very fine. Five sons of Sheik Achmet, all clad in Oriental robes of brilliant silks, all wearing the turban, now mounted, and the sport began. It consisted mainly of dashing across the court at full speed, and suddenly bringing up the horses on their haunches, and of riding rapidly around one another in various circles, lunging and parrying with long, light lance poles, one endeavouring to gain the unguarded flank of another. It was an admirable display of horsemanship, and with the fine carriage of the animals, the superb riding, the rich and graceful robes of the men, the housings of the horses formed a remarkable spectacle. It was a scene of another age and of another race, and the first thought that occurred to all of us was that at last we could realize the games that graced the festivals of the "Alhambra. Among those who took part were two very marked men who happened to be the best and most daring riders ; these were the oldest and the youngest of those who rode. The elder was a powerfully built man of about forty, perhaps five feet eight in height, with an intelligent and very determined countenance, though there was nothing unpleasant in it. The other could not have been more than twenty ; light and graceful as possible, with a charming face full of intelligence and good nature, yet strong and full of courage ; he was the beau ideal of a noble young man, while the elder looked like a soldier hardened by many campaigns. The youngster's horse was trained to kneel and lie down and rise ngain to the sound of the drum, and this was ihe amusing part of the exhibition. A brace of wild Avabs danced frantically in front of the noble bay, wildly beating their drums until he knelt, and stretched himself at full length on the ground, the young sheik keeping his seat until the horse rolled over on his side.