es. Their diet is answerable to the poverty of their
habitations. They milk their herds, and, above all, their mares, and
preserve the produce in large bottles for months together. This sour and
homely mess is to them the greatest dainty, and composes the chief of
their nourishment; to this they add the flesh of their cattle and
horses, which they kill when afflicted with disease, but rarely in
health.

"'This is the simple and uniform life of all the Scythians; but this
simplicity renders them formidable to all their neighbours, and
irresistible in war. Unsoftened by ease or luxury, unacquainted with the
artificial wants of life, these nations pass their lives in manly
exercises and rustic employments; but horsemanship is the greatest pride
and passion of their souls; nor is there an individual who does not at
least possess several of these noble animals, which, though small in
size, are admirably adapted for the fatigues of war and the chase, and
endowed with incomparable swiftness. As to the Scythians themselves,
they excel all other nations, unless it be the Arabs, in their courage
and address in riding; without a saddle, or even a bridle, their young
men will vault upon an unbacked courser, and keep their seats, in spite
of all his violent efforts, till they have rendered him tame and
obedient to their will. In their military expeditions they neither
regard the obstacles of nature nor the inclemency of the season; and
their horses are accustomed to traverse rocks and mountains with a
facility that is incredible. If they reach a river, instead of waiting
for the tedious assistance of boats and bridges, the warrior divests
himself of his clothes and arms, which he places in a bundle upon the
horse's back, and then, plunging into the stream, conducts him over by
the bridle. Even in the midst of winter, when the hatred of other
nations gives way to the inclemencies of the season, the Scythian
follows his military labours, and rejoices to see the earth thick
covered with frost and snow, because it affords him a solid path in his
excursions; neither the severest cold nor the most violent storms can
check his ardour. Wrapped up in the thick furs of animals, the patient
horseman pursues his march, while all his food for weeks together is
comprised in a little bag of seeds or corn. Javelins, and bows and
arrows, are the arms which these people are taught from their infancy to
use with surprising dexterity; and, no less dang