indigenous. Equipment In 1914 spahi armament was the M1822/82 sabre of the French light cavalry together with the 1892 carbine. All harness was of dark-red red leather, of indigenous North African pattern and manufacture. Indochinese Spahis Short-lived cavalry units designated as "spahis" were raised by the French Colonial Army in Indochina. The first of these was a squadron of spahis recruited from Cochinchina in 1861 and disbanded in 1871. The second was a small detachment of "Spahis Tonkinese" raised in Tonkin in 1883 and disestablished in 1889 for budgetary reasons. Spahis in other armies Senegalese Spahis Senegal maintains a mounted cavalry detachment of spahi origin as its modern presidential security unit and ceremonial guard. In addition to the North African cavalry, two squadrons of spahis were raised in French West Africa. The first spahis in Senegal were an Algerian detachment sent to West Africa in 1843 to deal with an outbreak of tribal conflict. This platoon-sized unit of 25 French and Algerian spahis stayed and began recruiting locally. The troopers were recruited from the inhabitants of Senegal and the French Sudan while their French officers were seconded from Algerian Spahi regiments. The Senegalese Spahis saw extensive active service in the French West African territories of Tchad, the Sudan and the Congo between 1853 and 1898, as well as serving in Morocco between 1908 and 1919. The Senegalese Spahis were disbanded in 1928 as an economy measure but provided the cadre around which a newly-raised mounted gendarmerie was formed. The modern Gendarmerie Nationale of the Republic of Senegal therefore traces its origins to the spahis, and the Red Guard still wears the burnous, fez and red tunic of the French period. Algerian Republican Guard and Tunisian President's Bodyguard The modern Republican Guard of Algeria includes a mounted detachment for ceremonial purposes. This unit is mounted on the same breed of white barbs as those utilised by the French spahis prior to 1962 and wear red and green uniforms with white burnouses, which broadly resemble those of their predecessors. A similar ceremonial mounted unit is maintained as part of the Tunisian President's Bodyguard. Descended from the 4th Tunisian Spahis Regiment the modern unit retains the uniform of the French period but in the red and white of the Tunisian national colours. ` Italian Spahis The Italian colonial administration of Libya raised squadrons of locally-recruited Spahi cavalry between 1912 and 1942. The Italian