Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/210

A. JO0ST. 197 ward to the victor was the favor of liis lady love; if he had none the fact of his being a vianquisher of others would redound to his credit with the females of his acquaintance. A man may have been ever so brave, but much, if not more, depended upon the sagacity of his horse as upon himself, and persistent training was given the animal so it would become accustomed to the game, if you like to call it by that name. The joust is an entirely different thing, although resem- bUng the tournament, for in the last-named it is troop against troop, whereas in the joust the combatants engage one another singly. Sir Walter Scott, in his inimical way, teUs of a joust in "The Talisman," where Eichard Cour de Lion and Saladin are on the plains of Palestine, both mounted on beautiful horses. Richard of Eng- land, being encased from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes; his horse weU protected by the barb. The Arab or Mohammedan has no defensive clothing, but attired in Ught silk, his only weapon is the cymi- ter, or a crooked haJf-moon shaped sword. Then they are described as maneuvering to procure an ad- vantage, but so much more agile was the Mussulman's steed that the burly Englishman could not get an op- portunity to wound his opponent, but the wUy fol- lower of Islam frequently made passes for the joints of the armor, those being the only vulnerable places where he expected to reach the flesh of the enemy. One thing in the Saladin's favor was the lightness of his*equipment; thus giving his peerless gelding so much better chance to make quick turns, for which such animals are famous, and although the mighty