24 FOREIGN BREEDS OF HORSES. 



Muscat. It was sold for 410 guineas. The higher price that was given for the 

 black Arabian proves that he was the general favourite ; but the bay one, although 

 not so striking in his figure, was a stronger, a speedier, and a better horse. 



BAY ARABIAN. 



The Barb alone excels the Arabian in noble and spirited action ; but if there 

 is a defect about the latter, he is perfect for that for which he was designed. 

 He presents the true combination of speed and bottom : strength enough to 

 carry more than a light weight, and courage that would cause him to die rather 

 than yield. 



Mr. Burckhardt, in a letter to Professor Sewell, says that " the tribes richest 

 in horses are those who dwell, during the spring of the year at least, in the 

 fertile plains of Mesopotamia; for, notwithstanding all that is said of the 

 desert horse, plenty of nutritious food is absolutely requisite for its reaching 

 its full vigour and growth. The numerous tribes on the Red Sea, between 

 Akaba and Mecca, and especially those to the south of Mecca, and as far as 

 Yemen, have very few horses ; but the Curdes and Bedouins in the east, and 

 especially in Mesopotamia, possess more horses, and more valuable ones, than 

 all of the Arabian Bedouins ; for the richness of their pastures easily nourishes 

 the colts, and fills their studs." These observations are very important, and 

 are evidently founded on truth. He adds, that " the number of horses in 

 Arabia is not more than 50,000 ; a number far inferior to that found in any part 

 of Europe, or Asia, on an equal extent of ground." 



*' During the Wahabee government, horses became scarcer every year among 

 the Arabs. They were sold by their masters to foreign purchasers, who carried 

 them to Yemen, Syria, and Bassora ; which latter place supplies India with 

 Arabian horses, because they were afraid of having them seized upon by their 

 chiefs it having become the custom, upon every slight pretext of disobedience 

 or crime, to declare the most valuable Bedouin mare forfeit to the public 

 treasury." 



