56 HISTORY OF THE 



claimed that life was no longer worth preserving, 

 for he had lost both his son and his mare ; and 

 grieving for one as much as the other, he 

 immediately sickened and died."^ 



We have the following interesting account of 

 the love of an Arab for his horse in Clarke's 

 Travels : — 



*' Ibrahim, a poor but worthy Arab, unable 

 to pay a sum of money which he owed, was 

 compelled to allow a merchant of Rama to be- 

 come a partner with him in a valuable mare. 

 When the time came, he could not redeem his 

 pledge to this man, and the mare was sold. 

 Her pedigree could be traced on the side of sire 

 and dam for full five hundred years. The price 

 was £300, an enormous sum in that country. 

 After the sale, Ibrahim went frequently to Rama 

 to inquire after the mare ; he would embrace 

 her, wipe her eyes with his handkerchief, rub 

 her with his shirt sleeves, and give her a thou- 

 sand benedictions, during the whole two hours 

 that he remained talkmg to her. 'My eyes T 

 he would say to her, ' my soul ! my heart ! 

 must I be so unfortunate as to have sold thee to 

 so many masters and not keep thee myself? I 

 am poor, my antelope ! I brought thee up in 



* Smith on Breeding, p. 80. 



