THICK-SKINNED QUADRUPEDS. 85 



147. The finest horses in the world are found in Ara- 

 bia, and nowhere is this animal more highly prized. The 

 Arab treats his horse as one of the family, permitting 

 liirn to live in the same tent with him, to feed from his 

 hand, and even to sleep among his children. The mutual 

 attachment between the horse and his master is there- 

 fore often of the strongest character, and the most ex- 

 travagant offers will sometimes fail to induce an Arab to 

 part with his horse, even when pinching poverty makes 

 these offers very tempting to him. 



148. The Ass was domesticated probably before the 

 Horse. It was, and is now, in many parts of the East, 

 the beast usually ridden in civil life, the Horse being 

 especially devoted to war. The care bestowed upon it 

 there makes it really an elegant and spirited animal. 

 The custom of having persons of distinction ride on white 

 asses is of great antiquity, as appears from Judges v., 10, 

 " Speak, ye that ride on white asses." Some asses are 

 fleeter than the Horse, as the Dzigguetai, Fig. 72, which 

 inhabits the greater part of Central Asia. 



Fig. 72. The Dzigguetai. 



149. The Zebras, Fig. 73 (p. 86), found in Southern 

 Africa, live, like the horse, in troops, and, with their dis- 



