22 



THE HORSE 



miserably neglected state, and most of the horses had galled backs and 

 tender feet (' heffi ') from marching on rocky ground. Only the horses of 

 a few Emirs were in good condition. What different treatment did the 

 noblest of animals receive in the Sudan twenty years ago. 



" Fast-trotting, upstanding pairs of Dongola horses were much prized in 

 Cairo, and a well-matched pair would fetch £100. The best saddle-horses 



DERVISH CAVALRY HORSE. 



Specimen caiJtured at the battle of Firlcet, drawn by Lieut. N. M. Smyth, and sent to the 

 editor by Slatin Pasha, 1896. 



were descended from a well-known horse called Abu Dru. The Dona breed 

 of the island of Argo, north of Dongola, is also celebrated, and a fable 

 exists that it owes its excellence to a strain of supernatural blood introduced 

 by a river-horse in the remote past. The peaceful inhabitants of the 

 Dongola province, always with an eye to the main chance, were naturally 

 careful of so valuable an inheritance in horseflesh. The Dongola horse 

 was stabled in a well-built thatched shelter, brick houses being considered 

 ill-ventilated ; in summer-time he was picketed out at night. The winter 



