36 THE CHANGE COUNTY 



cluce muscular fibre, but no superfluous fat. The Arab is as 

 lean as his steed, and the enduring power of both is wonder- 

 ful. Fatigue, privations, and thirst, are the lot of both, and 

 their country makes them what they are, i. e. adapted to the 

 climate. 



The skin of light-colored Arabians is either pure black, or 

 blueish-black, and this gives them the silvery-gray color so 

 much esteemed. Bay and chestnut are common, and are 

 considered good colors. Horses of a dark-gray color are not 

 so much esteemed as runners. 



But there are in fact many breeds of horses in Arabia. 

 In Egypt alone they reckon five, the least of which can 

 scarcely be classed above the rank of ponies, the hardiness 

 and speed of which is surprising, though laboring under 

 every possible disadvantage but that of kind treatment. 



As our space will not permit us to enter into these varie- 

 ties, we will notice the noble breed only, which is thus des- 

 cribed by Count Kzeiousky : 



" Above all the horses in the world, the Kohlan is dis- 

 tinguished for the goodness of his qualities and the beauty of 

 his form. An uncommon mildness of temper ; an unaltera- 

 ble faithfulness to his master ; a courage and intrepidity as 

 astonishing as they are innate in his noble breast ; an unfail- 

 ing remembrance of the places where he has been of the 

 treatment he has received ; not to be led, not to be touched 

 but by his master." 



The Arab horse is not gorged with large quantities of 

 food as our horses are. In spring they are turned out to 

 pasture, when pasture is available ; in the desert it is out of 

 the question. At other periods of the year their day's pro- 

 vender does not exceed five or six pounds of barley, with 

 sometimes a little cut straw, and on this they can sustain 

 great fatigue and exertion. The Arabs give them a very 

 small quantity of drink two or three times a day, judging 

 that an unlimited supply of water would not only destroy 

 their shape but effect their breathing also. 



The Bedouin Arabs are great horse-breeders, and produce 

 some first-rate animals. The skill of these people as breed- 

 ers is unsurpassed in any country, and their accumulated ex- 

 perience is handed down from father to son by oral tradition, 

 never by written rules. 



, The genealogy of the horse is reckoned from the mother ; 

 and the Arabs are as particular in their pedigree of the no- 

 ble breeds of horses as in that of their chiefs. It is an un- 

 doubted fact they have pedigrees amongst them of not less 



