THE AKABIAN HOKSE. 57 



stroyed, and his followers then shouted, "Allah is Allah, and 

 Mohammed is his Prophet!" Thus he became master of all 

 Arabia and woe to the Christian or the Jew who stood in his 

 way. Two years afterward he died, and there is nothing in bis 

 life or history to indicate that he ever owned a horse or that he 

 ever mounted one, except on a single occasion. In the ten short 

 years of his public life he had something more important on hand 

 than to determine how to breed horses. 



In studying the Arabian horse in the light of what he has done 

 and what he has failed to do, we are indebted to English writers 

 for little snatches of experiences extending back for a period of 

 about two hundred and fifty years. The earliest English writer 

 who has had anything to say about the Arabian horse was the 

 Duke of Newcastle, who seems to have known a great deal about 

 the various types and breeds of horses of his day. During the 

 period of the Commonwealth it appears he devoted his time, in 

 the Netherlands, to training horses in the manege of that day. 

 From his experience in this employment he became an expert in 

 the form, structure, and docility of the different kinds of horses 

 that hie handled. When Charles II. was brought back and placed 

 upon the throne, the duke also came to his own, and being a 

 personal friend of the king he became his counselor and adviser 

 in all matters relating to the improvement of the horses of the 

 realm. In 1667 the duke published his famous book upon the 

 horse, in which he speaks right out on any and every question that 

 he touches. There can be no doubt that he knew more about 

 horses and horse history than any man of his day. In speaking 

 of the Arabian horse he says: "I never saw but one of these 

 horses, which Mr. John Markham, a merchant, brought over, and 

 said he was a right Arabian. He was a bay, but a little horse, 

 and no rarity for shape, for I have seen many English horses far 

 finer. Mr. Markham sold him to King James for five hundred 

 pounds, and being trained up for a course (race), when he came 

 to run every horse beat him." 



It is generally held that this Markham Arabian was the first of 

 that breed ever brought to England, and this seems to be estab- 

 lished by the fact that historians antedating his arrival make no 

 mention of any Arabian horse before this one, and those follow- 

 ing always speak of this horse as the first. In speaking of the 

 powers of endurance of the Arabian horse, the duke says: "They 

 talk they will ride fourscore miles in a day and never draw the 



