Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/122

 each dressed as handsomely as possible, wearing a long velvet or scarlet dress, and long trousers, drawn together at the ancles, with handsome sabres, bridles, and saddles, and, above all, exceedingly beautiful horses. These they rode, or had led by leading-reins, and each carried in his hand a long stick, as thick as a stout man’s thumb, and a fathom and a half long, like a dart, and had a small wooden hook at his saddle-bow. When they had all assembled, they divided into two parties, and, as with us a game is played among boys on foot, so they rode out against each other on horseback, threw their sticks at each other, and if any one heedlessly rode out too far, they took him prisoner, and set him on one side. When each had thrown his stick, they picked them up from the ground with their wooden hooks, sometimes at full gallop, while others showed their agility by springing down from their horses, and leaping into the saddle without help, and without making any use of their stirrups. Others again, when three or four had hurled their wands at some one, seizing in their hands, at full gallop, sometimes one and sometimes two of them, and, turning in a moment, chased again those who had chased them, and threw their sticks with good aim at their backs. They practise this stick-throwing in order, in time of war, to be able to throw darts sharply against the enemy. And their great agility is certainly matter of admiration, for, as ladies from windows, and thousands of the common people are looking at them, each seeks to display his manhood, and show his agility. Here you can see the most beautiful horses, neatly covered with Persian carpets, as the grooms of almost all pashas, begs, and other honourable lords,