the marketplace was divided into separate quarters , one full of gaily painted waggons that were both transport and shop , drawn by mules or the small shaggy ponies , many of them adorned also with waving colored plumes ; in the other , tents of breezy cotton were set up on frameworks of poplar-branches to provide a kind of storefront , and smallish dragons in bright spangly jewelry curled around them in company with the traders , raising their heads curiously to watch temeraire go by ; he eyed them with equal interest , and some covetous gleam .