the exception of a tuft. Their war-standards were horses'
tails; before a battle there was a muster, at which arms and horses were
inspected, and if any defects were discovered, the warrior who was
guilty was at once put to death. The day and hour of combat were fixed
by soothsayers, propitious signs were sought, and war-ditties chanted.
It was a custom to make a drinking-vessel of the skull of some famous
chieftain amongst the enemy when he was killed in battle. (We shall have
a notable example of this presently.) Any freeman or slave who strayed
beyond the boundaries of the territory was killed by the border-guard if
he was detected. Dogs and even human beings were offered as sacrifices.
Their sentences for the expiation of crime were as barbarous as the
people themselves. Noses and ears were cut off as the most ordinary
punishment. Polygamy was practised, and eunuchs protected the harem. The
ruler, who was called the 'Chagan,' had power of life and death over his
subjects. He alone sat at table during his meals; his 'court,' including
even his spouse, squatted around and fed upon the floor. In the seventh
century their religion was a mixture of heathenism and Mohammedanism,
and they were only converted to Christianity by slow degrees after they
had settled on the Danube and come into close contact with the Eastern
Empire.[116] Even then we find (about the middle of the ninth century)
that although the kings embraced Christianity, the great mass of the
people remained unconverted, and even resented the change of religion in
their rulers.

There is much more that is interesting in the customs of the Bulgarians,
especially when they had come under something like a settled government.
The nobles seem to have resembled our 'ealdormen' in the very earliest
phase of our history, and to have exercised considerable influence,
notwithstanding the absolutism of the ruling head. From living only in
tents of skins, a practice still adhered to in the warmer months, they
built wooden huts in winter. They clothed themselves in long robes, and
wore caps which were doffed reverentially in the presence of their
rulers. They fed on millet and on horseflesh, and drank mead and a
liquor extracted from the birch tree. Their punishments continued to be
most barbarous, quartering alive being a common practice. Their
superstitions were interesting. Serpents were 'taboo,' so was a hut
which had been struck by lightning, whilst the howlings of d