LETTER OF FREDERIC BARBAROSSA. 145 but it is not without a manifest judgment of God that they have been reserved for these latter times, as a chastisement for the sins of men, and, perhaps, for the destruction of Christendom. " This ferocious and barbarous nation knows nothing of the laws of humanity. They have, however, a chief whom they venerate, and whose orders they blindly obey, calling him the God of the earth. These men are short, and thick set, but strong, hardy, of immov- able firmness, and, at the least sign from their chief, rushing with impetuous valour into the midst of perils of every kind. They have broad faces, eyes set ob- liquely, and they utter the most frightful cries and yells, which correspond but too well with the feelings of their hearts. They have no other clothing than the hides of oxen, asses, and horses, and up to the present time, they have had no other armour than rough and ill-joined plates of iron. " But already — and one cannot utter it without a groan — they are beginning to equip themselves better, from the spoils of Christians; and soon the wrath of God will p>erhaps permit us to be shamefully massacred with our own weapons. The Tartars are mounted on the finest horses, and they now feed on the most dainty viands, and dress richly, and, with care. They are incomparable archers. They carry with them leathern bags, skilfully fashioned, with which they cross lakes and rapid rivers. It is said that their horses, when they have no other forage, will feed on the leaves, bark, and roots of trees, and that they are, notwithstanding, full of spirit, strength, and agility." *
- Matth. Paris, " Hist. Angl.," p. 820. Odor Raynald, « Annal.
Eccl. ad Ann. 1241." VOL. I. L
