As we
approached the first fortified village the sovereign and his army rode
out to meet us, and with many protestations of fidelity, expressed his
joy at our safe arrival. He was a fine-looking man and sat well on a
stamping roan stallion. His dress was imposing. A waistcoat of gorgeous
crimson, thickly covered with gold lace, displayed flowing sleeves of
white linen, buttoned at the wrist. Long, loose, baggy, linen trousers,
also fastened above the ankle, and curiously pointed shoes clothed his
nether limbs. This striking costume was completed by a small skull-cap,
richly embroidered, and an ornamental sabre.
He sprang from his horse with grace and agility, to offer his sword to
Major Deane, who bade him mount and ride with him. The army, four or
five rascally-looking men on shaggy ponies, and armed with rifles of
widely different patterns, followed at a distance. The fort was an
enclosure about a hundred yards square. Its walls were perhaps twenty
feet high and built of rough stones plastered together with mud and
interspersed with courses of timber.
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