hot climate, a hue much darker than those parts of his neck which
were less frequently exposed to view, or than was warranted by
his full and well-opened blue eye, the colour of his hair, and of
the moustaches which thickly shaded his upper lip, while his chin
was carefully divested of beard, after the Norman fashion. His
nose was Grecian and well formed; his mouth rather large in
proportion, but filled with well-set, strong, and beautifully
white teeth; his head small, and set upon the neck with much
grace. His age could not exceed thirty, but if the effects of
toil and climate were allowed for, might be three or four years
under that period. His form was tall, powerful, and athletic,
like that of a man whose strength might, in later life, become
unwieldy, but which was hitherto united with lightness and
activity. His hands, when he withdrew the mailed gloves, were
long, fair, and well-proportioned; the wrist-bones peculiarly
large and strong; and the arms remarkably well-shaped and brawny.
A military hardihood and careless frankness of expression
characterized his language and his motions; and his voice had the
tone of one more accustomed to command than to obey, and who was
in the habit of expressing his sentiments aloud and boldly,
whenever he was called upon to announce them.

The Saracen Emir formed a marked and striking contrast with the
Western Crusader. His stature was indeed above the middle size,
but he was at least three inches shorter than the European, whose
size approached the gigantic. His slender limbs and long, spare
hands and arms, though well proportioned to his person, and
suited to the style of his countenance, did not at first aspect
promise the display of vigour and elasticity which the Emir had
lately exhibited. But on looking more closely, his limbs, where