This text is part of: Table of Contents:  Although the
Mauretanians inhabit a country, the greatest part of which is
very fertile, yet the people in general continue even to this
time to live like nomades. They bestow care to improve their
looks by plaiting their hair, trimming their beards, by wearing
golden ornaments, cleaning their teeth, and paring their nails;
and you would rarely see them touch one another as they walk,
lest they should disturb the arrangement of their hair. They
fight for the most part on horseback, with a javelin; and ride
on the bare back of the horse, with bridles made of rushes. They
have also swords. The foot-soldiers present against the enemy,
as shields, the skins of elephants. They wear the skins of
lions, panthers, and bears, and sleep in them. These tribes, and
the Masæsylii next to them, and for the most part the Africans
in general, wear the same dress and arms, and resemble one
another in other respects; they ride horses which are small, but
spirited and tractable, so as t