io6 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



a jockey-boy. The title is ' The Horse of the 

 Sahara, and the Manners of the Desert,' and it is 

 written by the French General Daumas, General of 

 a division, commanding at Bordeaux, with commen- 

 taries by the Emir Abd-el-Kader. 



General Daumas appears to have submitted his 

 opinions to Abd-el-Kader, who wrote the General 

 some letters explaining various Arab views of the 

 horse, and giving Abd-el-Kader's own views and 

 criticisms on the opinions of the General. 



It seems to me that the opinions of General 

 Daumas are particularly well worthy of notice, and 

 that the statements of Abd-el-Kader are of more 

 than ordinary interest. No man ever lived who was 

 a better horseman, or knew more about horses, than 

 Abd-el-Kader, and in generalship and statesmanship 

 he was a man of his generation, while the practical 

 knowledge of the French General of Division could 

 not well be surpassed. 



Abd-el-Kader was an Arab chieftain, Emir of the 

 Southern Districts of Algiers, of high rank and 

 celebrated for his learning, a great master of horse- 

 flesh and a born leader of cavalry, with the bravery 

 of the Dervishes of Omdurman and the mind and 

 genius of a very great General. He kept the French 

 at bay from 1831 till 1847, when he surrendered. 

 He was of high renown, and I remember him as a 

 great hero in the eyes of the English for many 

 years. He gave the French in North Africa more 

 trouble than General Botha and De Wet gave the 



