ARAB AND BARB HORSES 17 



greatest perfection. As a matter of fact, the pas- 

 ture land of Arabia is singularly good. The very 

 desert, during the greater part of the year, supplies 

 sufficient browse for camels; while the pasture 

 grass for horses, kine, and above all for sheep on 

 the upper hill slopes, and especially inNejd, is first- 

 rate. To be sure there are occasional droughts, 

 but few grazing countries in the world are free 

 from them. No, the scarcity in horses is not due 

 to a lack of food, but to two other reasons entirely 

 satisfactory to the chiefs of Nejd. Horses there 

 are not a common possession and used by all. On 

 the contrary, their ownership is a mark of dis- 

 tinction and an indication of wealth, as they are 

 never used except for war and the chase and rac- 

 ing, the camel carrying the burdens and doing the 

 heavy work of the caravans. The second reason 

 for the scarcity is that Nejdee horses are very 

 rarely sold to be taken out of the province. This 

 is not the result of sentiment, but one purely of 

 protection and the desire to preserve a monopoly 

 in a race that is easily the very purest in the 

 world. 



The traditions as to the origin of the Arabian 



