THE ARABIAN HORSE. . 17 



vicious. The Turks, on the contrary, esteeming horses the 

 most, purchase those which are not kept for stallions. The 

 Arabians are exceedingly careful of the breed of their horses, 

 which, instead of crossing, as is generally practised in other 

 countries, they take particular care to preserve pure and un- 

 mixed. They know their generations, with all their alliances 

 and ramifications, and preserve for an amazing length of time, 

 the genealogies of their horses, with as much care as the no- 

 bility of other countries do those of their families. The lowest 

 price for a mare, of the first class, is from one hundred to two 

 or three hundred pounds sterling. It is, therefore, no wonder, 

 that they should be sold for exceeding high prices, when carried 

 into foreign and far distant countries. Horses form the principal 

 riches of many of the Arab tribes, who use them both in the 

 chase, and in their plundering expeditions. They never beat 

 them, but always treat them with the utmost kindness. The 

 Arab, his wife, and children, lie in the same apartment with the 

 mare and foal, who, instead of injuring, suffer the children to 

 rest on their bodies and necks, and even seem afraid to move 

 lest they should hurt them. 



The fondness and tender attachment, which the Arabs have 

 for their horses, are well illustrated by the following anecdote, 

 related by the Chevalier D'Arvieux in his Travels in the Desert 

 of Arabia, and also in St. Pierre's Studies of Nature : " The 

 whole stock of a poor Arabian consisted of a beautiful mare, 

 which the French consul, at Said, offered to purchase, with in- 

 tention to send her to Louis XIV. The Arab, pressed by want, 

 hesitated a long time, but, at length, consented, on condition of 

 receiving a very considerable sum of money, which he named. 

 The consul wrote to France for permission to close the bargain, 

 and having obtained it, sent immediately to the Arab the infor- 

 mation. The man, so poor as to possess only a miserable rag, 

 a covering for his body, arrived with his magnificent courser. 

 He dismounted, and looking first at the gold, and then stedfastly 

 at his mare, heaved a deep sigh: ' To whom is it, (he ex- 

 claimed) that I am going to yield thee up? To Europeans! who 

 will tie thee close ; who will beat thee ; who will render theo 

 miserable ! Return with me, my beauty, my jewel ! and rejoice 

 the hearts of my children !' As he pronounced the last words, 

 he sprang upon her back, and was out of sight almost in a 

 moment." 



Arabia seems to have been the parent country of horses, 

 whence they have probably spread into BaFbary, and other parts 

 of Africa, which produce a breed that is considered next to the 

 Arabian in swiftness and beauty, although somewhat inferior in 



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