8 HISTORY OF THE 



then instituted, both chariot and horse races 

 were included. 



The natives of Canaan are spoken of in the 

 11th chapter of Joshua, (1420 before Christ,) 

 and again in Judges, (1250 before Christ,) as 

 having used great numbers of horses in battle ; 

 but the Israelites, partly that their leaders 

 might keep their nation distinct from the sur- 

 rounding heathens, and partly from making 

 their strongholds among the mountains, made 

 no great use of cavalry in war. A passage in 

 Deuteronomy, (chapter XVII, verse 16) — *' But 

 whoever shall be king of Israel shall not mul- 

 tiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to 

 return to Egypt, to the end that he should mul- 

 tiply horses" — proves that, although perhaps 

 not the original domesticators of the horse, the 

 Egyptians, in every respect undoubtedly the 

 most civilized people of that age, were then 

 famous for breeding horses. 



Modern authors have been generally induced 

 to adopt the opinion of BufFon, who held the 

 horse to be indigenous to Arabia ; but we find 

 this position in direct opposition to the authority 

 of the sacred writings. About 1095 years be- 

 fore Christ, when Saul, king of Israel, led his 

 army against the tribes of Arabia, we find no 

 mention of horses amongst his plunder, although 



