though the freight their beasts bore was of extremely modest dimensions (only five camels, with panniers that lay almost flat against their flanks), yet the detachment was protected by no fewer than a dozen riders—black-hooded, with their faces masked—all Jews of the orthodox sect of Sadducees, identified by their balloon trousers and nine-foot lances, mounted on the swift, hardy runt ponies of the peninsula, and all armed to the teeth.
