Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 2, 1851).djvu/162

his motion. His robe was like the terlick, and made of cloth of gold. From his girdle hung small knives, after the fashion of the country, as well as a dagger; behind him hung, below his girdle, a kind of weapon like a cæstus, such as they commonly use in war. The handle is somewhat more than a cubit long, with a thong of two palms' length attached to it; at the end of which is a knob, or kind of block, of brass or iron, which is gilt all over. At the right side of the prince was the banished Tartar King of Kasan, named Scheale, and on the left two young knesi, one of whom carried an ivory hatchet, which they call "topar", very like what we see stamped on Hungarian coins. The other carried a club, also like an Hungarian club, which they call "schestpero", which means six-winged. King Scheale carried two quivers at his girdle, one of which contained his arrows and the other his bow. There were more than three hundred horsemen in the field. As we rode along, the prince would order us from time to time to stop at this or the other place, and occasionally to come nearer to him. When we reached the hunting ground, he spoke to us and said, that it was the custom whenever he amused himself with hunting, for himself and other gentlemen of rank to lead the hounds with their own hands, and recommended us to do the same. He then appointed two men to each of us, each of whom led a dog for our own especial amusement. To which we replied, that we gratefully accepted this favour; and told him that such was the custom also in our own country: but he made this remark by way of excuse, because a dog is regarded among them as an unclean animal, and it is a defilement to touch a dog with the naked hand. Moreover, about an hundred men stood in long array, one half of whom were dressed in black, and the other in yellow; not far from them stood all the other horsemen, to prevent the hares from running through and escaping. Nor was any one permitted from the commencement to let a hound slip, except King Scheale and