CONAN: "a picturesque figure..."

We meet CONAN, leader of teh kozaks as he approaches an island where he believes the beautiful Octavia has escaped from her master and is in need of rescue.

The man in the boat was a picturesque figure. A crimson scarf was knotted about his head; his wide silk breeches, of flaming hue, were upheld by a broad sash which likewise supported a scimitar in a shagreen scabbard. His gilt-worked boots suggested a horseman rather than a seaman, but he handled the boat with skill. Through his widely open white silk shirt showed his broad muscular breast.
The muscles of his heavy bronzed arms rippled as he pulled the oars with an almost feline ease of motion. A fierce vitality that was evident in each feature and motion set him apart from common men; yet his expression was neither savage nor somber, though the smoldering blue eyes hinted at ferocity easily wakened. This was CONAN, who had wandered into the armed camps of the kozaks with no other possession than his wits and his sword, and who had carved his way to leadership among them.

From "The Devil in Iron"
Page 269-70. The Complete Chronicles of CONAN.