She rode a-straddle on a fine horse, whose
trappings were of the first order for this country. The head of the horse
was ornamented with brass plates, the neck with brass bells, and charms
sewed in various coloured leather, such as red, green, and yellow; a
scarlet breast-piece, with a brass plate in the centre; scarlet
saddle-cloth, trimmed with lace. She was dressed in red silk trousers,
and red morocco boots; on her head a white turban, and over her shoulders
a mantle of silk and gold. Had she been somewhat younger and less
corpulent, there might have been great temptation to head her party, for
she had certainly been a very handsome woman, and such as would have been
thought a beauty in any country in Europe.
* * * * *
AFRICAN NURSE.
She was of a dark copper colour. In dress and countenance, very like one
of Captain Lyon's female Esquimaux. She was mounted on a long-backed
bright bay horse, with a scraggy tale, crop-eared, and the mane as if the
rats had eaten part of it; and he was not in high condition. She rode
a-straddle; had on a conical straw dish-cover for a hat, or to shade her
face from the sun, a short, dirty, white bedgown, a pair of dirty, white,
loose and wide trousers, a pair of Houssa boots, which are wide, and
came up over the knee, fastened with a string round the waist. She had
also a whip and spurs. At her saddle-bow hung about half a dozen gourds,
filled with water, and a brass basin to drink out of; and with this she
supplied the wounded and the thirsty.
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