18 



FOREIGN BREEDS OF HORSES. 



must be doubtful, and it is difficult to suppose that any breed of English horsea 

 could be materially improved by it. 



Some of these horses have lately reached England ; and one of them was 

 recently in London, and belonged to an officer of the Life Guards. 



THE HORSE OF ETHIOPIA OR ABYSSINIA. 



Ludolph in his history of this country says that the horses are strong, nimble, 

 mettlesome, and mostly black. They are used only for war and in the chase : 

 they travel no long and fatiguing journeys, and all the drudgery of every kind 

 is performed by the mule. 



An Abyssinian who accompanied Ludolph to Europe expressed a great deal 

 of pity for the horses when he saw them drawing heavy carts, and loudly 

 exclaimed at the cruelty of putting so noble a creature to such base and^ servile 

 employment. He said that he wondered at the patience of the animals, and 

 was every moment in expectation that they would rebel against such unheard- 

 of tyranny *. 



The number of horses in Ethiopia must have considerably decreased, for Cyr- 

 tacus, a former king of that country, entered Egypt at the head of 100,000 

 cavalry. 



The art of shoeing had not in Ludolph's time (the middle of the seventeenth 

 century) reached Abyssinia ; and consequently, when the natives had to travel 

 over rough and stony ground, they dismounted and got upon mules, and led their 

 horses in hand, that by having no burden to carry, they might tread the lighter. 



Bruce says little of the Ethiopian horses; but Mr. Salt, an enterprising 

 traveller, says that the horses are generally strong, well-made, and kept in 

 good condition ; that their accoutrements are also good, and the men themselves 

 are excellent horsemen 



THE BARB. 



THK GODOLPHIN ARABIAN. 



By the term Barbary is understood the northern part of Africa, extending 

 along the coast, and as far inland as the Great Desert, from the frontiers of 



* Ludolph's New History of Ethiopia, 1684, p. 53. 



