52 THE HOKSE OF AMERICA. 



Aladdin's Lamp as there is in most of the literature relating to 

 the Arabian horse. 



I am fully satisfied that these views of the Arabian horse will 

 not meet with a ready acceptance by the vast majority of the 

 horsemen of this or any other country, but my reasons for pre- 

 senting them will become apparent as the discussion progresses. 

 They smash too many idols and dispel too many chimeras of the 

 brain to be readily accepted. It takes the average man a long 

 time to get clear of the prejudices in which he was born, and the 

 first question that will be asked by the doubter is, "Why could 

 not Arabia have supported a race of indigenous wild horses, as 

 well as any other country?" Because the horse, wild or tame, 

 has never learned to dig a well forty feet deep, nor to draw water 

 after it is dug. Neither has he learned to lay up a store in time 

 of plenty against a time of famine. The horse could not live in 

 Arabia without the care of man. And, second, "Why were all the 

 civilized and semi-civilized nations west of Asia supplied with 

 horses a thousand years before Arabia, when so near the original 

 habitat of the horse?" It is the first law of our nature to supply 

 ourselves with what we need. The camel always has been a 

 necessity to the Arab, not only to carry him and his burdens, but 

 to furnish nourishment and sustenance to him and his family. 

 The camel is adapted to the country and the country to the 

 camel, and no other created animal can fill that place. He is, 

 literally, "the ship of the desert." The horse in Arabia is a 

 luxury that can be indulged in only by the rich; hence his owner- 

 ship is practically restricted to the chiefs of tribes. He is never 

 used except for display and war. Palgrave, in speaking specially 

 of the Nejd tribe, says: "A horse is by no means an article of 

 everyday possession, or of ordinary or working use. No genuine 

 Arab would ever dream of mounting his horse for a mere peace- 

 ful journey, whether for a short or a long distance." 



When we consider the immeasurable superiority of the camel 

 to the horse in meeting the wants and necessities of the Arab, 

 we will not be surprised at the immense herds of the former and 

 the small numbers of the latter that are bred and reared in that 

 country. A camel can go four days without water, and under 

 stress, it is said, a good one can cover the distance of two hun- 

 dred miles in twenty-four hours. The camel and the country 

 are suited to each other, while the horse is an exotic, and has no 

 part in any industrial interest except raiding and robbery. My 



