518 THE HISTORY OF THE HORSE 



the existence of man on it during thousands of years before the time of 

 Adam, and as such is the case there is not so much difficulty in believing 

 the Chinese tradition of their 75,000 years of national existence. If, there- 

 fore, it has been proved that man inhabited the globe at this early period — 

 75,000 years ago, — we can easily understand that the human family has 

 descended from ancestors of j^i'e-Adamic origin, and that the tradition of 

 the vast antiquity of the Chinese race, and of the subjugation of the horse 

 during the antediluvian period, is more worthy of credence than the authors 

 who wrote during the eighteenth century suspected. It must, however, l)e 

 admitted that legends cannot be received as authentic records of the jjast, 

 neither are the statements handed down to us in ancient history always 

 incapable of refutation. Sometimes they are fables composed after the 

 manner of Plato, l)ut always under the influence of religious sentiment, 

 and in this particular Arabian literature is con.spicuous. For instance, we 

 read: "When Allah willed to create the horse, he said to the south wind, 

 'Condense thyself; I will that a creature should proceed from thee'. Then 

 came the angel Gabriel and took a handful of this matter and presented it 

 to Allah, who formed of it a dark- bay and a dark-chestnut horse." It is 

 also related by many Arabian historians " that after the time of Adam the 

 horse, like many other animals, lived in a wild state, and was first subju- 

 gated by Ishmael, the son of Abraham; but that the horses trained by him 

 lost much of their purity, excepting one stock, whose nobleness was pre- 

 served by Solomon, the son of David". There is a tradition that some 

 Arabs of the Azed tribe went to Jerusalem to congratulate Solomon on 

 his marriage with the Queen of Sheba. Having fulfilled their mission, 

 they addressed him thus: " 0, Prophet of Allah, our country is far distant, 

 and our provisions are exhausted; thou art a great king, bestow upon us 

 wherewith to take us home". Solomon thereupon gave orders to bring^ 

 from his stables a magnificent stallion, descended from the Ishmael stock, 

 and then dismissed them with these words: "Behold the provisions I 

 bestow upon you for your journey. When hunger assails you, gather fuel, 

 light a fire, place your best rider on this horse, and arm him with a stout 

 lance. Hardly will you have collected your wood and kindled your flame 

 when you will see him return with the produce of successful chase. Go, 

 and may. Allah cover you with His blessing." The Azed took their de- 

 parture. At their fir.st halt they did as Solomon had prescribed, and neither 

 zebra, gazelle, nor ostrich could escape them. Thus enlightened as to the 

 value of the animal presented to them by the son of David, these Arabs on 

 their return home devoted him to foal-getting, and by carefully selecting 

 dams at length obtained the breed to which, out of gratitude, they gave 

 the name of Zad-el-Rakeb — the support of the horseman. This is the 



