The Shasta courier., 1864-09-10
Wild Riders.

i4lLcu udtlOuS VI lut MOilu. 1cN NClC uOIC
remarkable for certain barbaric skill, com
bined with picturesqueness of costume and
horse furniture, than the now extinct Nam
louks of Egypt. These reckless troopers
came originally from a race of Turkish and
Circassian slaves introduced into Egypt about
the year 1927. They were noted for their
daring horsemanship, their utter disregard
of all moral obligations, their cheap estimate
of human life, and the strange influence ac-
quired by them over the people Of whom they
were once the slaves.
These men were all riders of the horse
from their earliest years, evincing remarka-
BILE dexterity in the management of their
small wicked-headed Egyptian steeds, from
the backs of which they used Il variety OF
weapons with wonderful precision and skill.
Their horse gear was cumbrous, however.
and barbarous in its design. The saddle used
by them consisted of clumsy frame, loaded
heavily with wood, leather and iron. The
cantel, or hinder part of the saddle, was some
inches higher than the hips ofthe rider, while
the pommel rose before him in a high peak.
Three or fonr thick woollen cloths were pla-
ced between the saddle and the horses back,
and the whole was fastened with asurcingle,
which instead of being buckled, was tied with
thongs Of leather. in series of wonderfully
complicating knots. They used no cruppers,
but the martingale was invariably a portion
of their equipment. The stirrup was plate
of copper, longer and wider than the foot,
! having circular edges an inch high in
the middle and gradually declining to-
wards each end. These edges were sharp,
and used as spurs, made long ugly gashes in
the horses sides. A pair of these stirrups
would sometimes weigh as much as twelve
or thirteen pounds and as the weight of the
saddle and other housings was not less than
twenty-five, the smart little horse of Egypt
had 4 pretty good load to carry without count
ing his rider. The Mamlouk bit was a kind
of snafie, without any joint, and having an
iron ring attached to it by way of curb. By
this apparatus the sensitlveness of the ami
mails mouth was altogether destroyed, and
it was only by the main force Of the bit as a
lever that he was guided or stopped.
The Mamlouks rode in very short stirrups,
like the Bedouins of the present day. A IA
vorite feat Of theirs was to rush their horses,
at the very top Of their speed, towards a
house or wall, and pull them up. suddenly,
Just as their noses almost touched it. Their
exercises were carried on at early morning,
on plain in the neighborhood of Cairo. As
they dashed along over the ground, at full
gallop, they would draw their short Elglish
carbines from the bandaleers with which they
were sluns, discharge them, place them in
stantly between thigh and saddle, and then
e.their pistols with extraordinary precision
at mark as they flew past. Their fayorite
weanpn in these exercises, however, was the
jesr1M-a iavelin made from the branch of
a palm tree, about four feet in length, and
weighing five or six pounds. The riders
dashed furiously at each other from distance
and the first who threw his jerreed wheeled
his horse suddenly round and fled away, pur
sued by the other, and SO accustomed were
the horses to this exciting exercise, that they
appeared to enjoy it quite as much as the II
ders.
1t was not until the beginning of the pres
ent century that Egypt was freed from the
presence ofthese wild riders, who had so long
been a scouIge and terror to the land. Twice
had their numbers been thinned by decoys
laid for them by the Sultan, but their extir-
patton dates so late as March, 1911. Infor.
nation had been conveyed to Mehemet Ali,
the then viceroy. of some intended foray on
the part of the Mamlouks, and he resolved
to make an end of the remnant left of them.
once and forever. To compass this, he ar
ranged solemn festival at Cairo. in honor
of the appointment Of his son to high CON-
mand in the army Of the Sublime Porte and
to this festival the unsuspecting Mamlouks
were invited en- HeasSe. Sciam Bey was their
chief, then-the rank Of bey being somewhat
equivalent to that of colonel in our armies.
The procession moved glitterinely through
the streets of Cairo to the CITADEL First the
Turkish infantry, then the Mamlouks on their
proud, oxeyed little chargers, other troops
followed in grand array. The passage to the
citadel was narrow, between the inner and
outer walls. As soon as the Mamlouks had
filed it, the gates at each end were closed
upon them, and the Turkish infantry, sud.
denly surmounting the ramparts and ruinous
buildings, opened upon them with murder.
Gus fire. Many fell in this corridor of death,
and the survivors, seeing that escape was i'm
possible, surrendered themselves, and, led
outside the walls of the citadel. were stripped
and beheaded, one by one, The numbers of
this last remnant of the once powerful Mann
louks have been variously estimated at from
40 to 500. Butone soul escaped of the whole
phalanx, and he by deed worthy of the
wild riders of Egypt. While the Turkish
fire was poured on his comrades in the mar
row pass, he leaped his horse up a series of
rubbish heaps and ruined buildings on to the
Atos SfSA spQIEtu MN Iurl-
ously in desperate death-leap The drop
was one of some sixty feet The noble horse
was dashed TO pieces, but, strange to say, his
rider escaped unhurt and made good his way
to place of safety.
One ofthese Mamlouk horsemen was once
put to the test of his equestrian skill in the
heart of civilization-amio the rank and
fashion OF London. 1t was in the palmy davs
of the Prince of Wales, (Thackeray Is immoral
George, and Brummell's fat friend. y and
Elf Bey, military gentleman of renown
from Egypt, was for the moment one of the
lions of the Court. The Prince at that time
possessed remarkable horse of Egyptian
breed, a creature Of ferocious beauty, spotted
like leopard, and of such savage and un-
tractable disposition, that the boldest rough
riders of the household cavalry had failed in
bringing him to submission, and no one had
ever mounted upon his back. Conyersinc
with Elf Bey, the Prince touched upon the