In the distance they saw beside a stream in a little valley, a group of mud-walled cabins with straw-thatched roofs, with an open hole to let light into the dwelling and to give exit to the smoke. The women, bony and dressed in skins, surrounded by naked children, came out of their hovels to stare at the passing caravan, with wild expressions of alarm as if the approach of strangers could only bring misfortune. Others younger, barelegged, with ragged aprons hanging from their waists, were reaping the stunted wheat, which barely rose like a golden film above the sterile, whitish earth. Girls, strong and ugly, with masculine limbs, came down from the mountains, bearing great bundles of fagots on their backs, while the men sat in the shade of nut and oak trees braiding bull-tendons for making their shields, or they practiced hurling, darts and handling the lance, their tangled hair falling over bronzed and bearded faces.
On the highest points along the way appeared warriors of doubtful aspect, a mixture of bandit and shepherd, armed with long lances and carrying leather shields, mounted on small horses with long and filthy hair. They looked the company over, and after measuring its strength, and seeing it would be difficult to conquer, they turned back to their sheep pasturing in the deep mountain gorges filled with a tangle of shrubbery. The innumerable flocks of lambs and herds of cattle, accustomed to the wild solitude, fled terrified as they heard the passing of the caravan. Bevies of quail ran in search of food like gray ants among the rosemary and thyme growing on the slopes, and flew away at the sound of the horses' hoofs, whirring like a hiss over the travelers' heads.
Actæon was interested in the rude customs of these people. The cabins were made of red adobe, or of stones laid in clay, and roofed with branches. The women, uglier and more energetic than the men, performed the fatiguing labor. Only boys worked, imitating their mothers. Young men early grasped the lance, and under the direction of their elders learned to fight on foot or on horseback; they broke the colts, springing to the ground, and mounting again while the horse was running, and they trained themselves to remain kneeling motionless on the horses' backs with their arms free to wield the sword and shield.