CHAPTER XII 



CONCLUSION 



In conclusion, I feel it necessary to apologize, to 

 those who may honour me by reading this work, for 

 its shortcomings, which have arisen, first, because 

 the chapters were prepared for Australians only, 

 and were originally prepared for submission to an 

 Australian weekly newspaper as articles on the 

 Arab ; and, secondly, because, after they had grown 

 too long for publication in that shape, a severe illness 

 has prevented me from properly recasting them as I 

 would have wished either for shorter articles or for 

 a book. I have only been able to make additions, 

 and at seventy-three, after such an illness, I cannot 

 now face the labour of recasting. 



I make no claim to original research or to special 

 knowledge of horses ; indeed, I have indulged in no 

 original research at all except looking at two or three 

 articles in the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica ' (if that 

 could be so deemed) and looking through the 

 military reports. My references to ancient Biblical 

 history are for the most part either from memory of 

 the lessons of a dear and pious mother, who indoc- 

 trinated me with the love of such literature when 



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