"Some of them wear swords," Mrs. Armsby went on to say; "but, bless you, they can't draw them, and even if they should succeed in getting them out, they couldn't put them back in their scabbards again.
"The Mystery of the Locks"
Edgar Watson Howe
The Shan's blade is slightly curved and pointed, with no guard, the hilt sometimes of ivory and the scabbard richly ornamented with silver, and the shoulder belt is of red or green velvet rope; the Kachins' swords that I have seen are more simply made as regards their scabbards and are square across the end of the blade.
"From Edinburgh to India & Burmah"
William G. Burn Murdoch
On went the glittering phalanx-winding up the road like some destroying serpent on its way to wickedness-the pattering of their horses' feet, and the occasional clink of steel scabbards, striking against stirrups and cuisses, were the only sounds that broke upon the still air of the morning-to proclaim the passage of armed and mounted men.
"The White Gauntlet"
Mayne Reid