MEIIEMED ALI'S SLAVE-HUNTS. 309 for in the course of a few days the same beasts we had seen so refractory and dull before, obey their riders at a mere wink. The complement of the brigade employed in a slave-hunt consists ordinarily of from one thousand to two thousand men regular troops of infantr)' ; from four hundred to eight hundred Mogghrebeen armed with guns and pistols; from three hundred to one thousand native troops on foot, with shields and spears, each man carrying from three to five javelins in a small leathern quiver attached to his shoulder by a cord ; and from three hundred to five hundred natives mounted on dromedaries, armed with shield and spear. The dromedary riders present a very military appearance ; they are quite naked, with the exception of a small piece of calico round their loins, and exhibit an alacrity which is almost incredible; they also exercise for a certain time before the march, and their shouts in a charge, which is always made in a body and at the full speed of the dromedary, the whistling of their lances in the air, whilst their shaggy locks float in the wind, and the oblong shields covering their entire bodies, give the riders a very fearful appearance, sufficient to overawe the most courageous man. I was always present at their manoeuvres, and can assure my readers, that it took a long time before I accustomed myself to the sight of these men without feeling a secret horror, although I lived among them, and had absolutely nothing to fear. At these moments