8 The Arab Horse 



goal, the horses of the other forty-six 

 dying en route. 



There is then some slight compensation 

 for the afflicted countries of the Balkan 

 peninsula, so often the scene of Turkish 

 rapine, in the fact that when driven out 

 the Turks left good horses behind them. 

 Constantinople was captured by Mo- 

 hammed 11. in 1453. His successors 

 Bajazet II. and Selim I. conquered Meso- 

 potamia, and overran Syria, Palestine 

 and Egypt. Selim also won a great 

 victory over the sheik of Mecca, Lord of 

 Nejd, so putting him in possession of 

 some of the finest horses in the world. 

 In 1522 the Turks invaded Hungary, 

 500,000 strong, including in the army 

 their terrible cavalry squadrons number- 

 ing 300,000 horsemen. Having twice 

 besieged Vienna, the wave of Mohamme- 

 dan conquest was finally rolled back on 

 itself by the great victory won under 

 Jan Sobeiski, King of Poland. It is told 

 that when Mustapha was finally repulsed 

 from Vienna, the Turkish Vizier lost his 



