OF FARRIERY. 



309 



all fine children, and I did not see a single one 

 deformed •. they are very hardy, fight the 

 whole diy, are exposed to a burning sun with- 

 out injury : they exercise with the lance, and 

 in wrestling. 



The women direct the household in the 

 kitchen, and >veave and ^pin the cloth, but 

 the kitchen affairs do not take up much of 

 their time, for though these people are very 

 voracious if an opportunity offers, they mostly 

 live on meagre fare, which rarely exceeds a 

 pilau of red rice with melted butter. During 

 the dinner, sour milk, dates, honey, duphte, &c., 

 is now and then added. The women are 

 obliged to grind the corn, done by clumsy 

 hand-mills. The bread is baked upon iron 

 plates, and resembles a flat cake. Lastly, 

 their duty consists in fetching the water, which 

 is only to be procured but at times at a great 

 distance. I don't think, however, they have 

 much trouble about washing, for both sexes 

 are alike indifferent as regards cleanliness, in- 

 deed most disgustingly so. 



They are very superstitious, and much less 

 religious than the Osmanlys : many, however, 

 observe the Ramadan, and they pray in com- 

 pany, ranged in one line, with a priest at 

 their head, who makes the most horrible grim- 

 aces. Their wealth consists of camels and 

 horses, but no cows — in a few herds of sheep 

 and goats, which yield them milk and butter ; 

 they also use camel's milk. The number of 

 camels is very considerable : many possess 

 ten, twenty, and upwards ; and their Cheick 

 Donechy owned three hundred, of which they 

 annually sell a great many to the Turcomans, 

 who, during my sojourn in the Arab camp, 

 purchased about two thousand at the rate of 

 two hundred, and two hundred and fifty Turk- 

 ish piasters a-piece. The evening return of | 



the camels to the camp affords a sinoular si^ht 

 to an European — from five to six thousand 

 followed by their young ones gambolling- alon" 

 the barren ground like goats, and these clumsy 

 looking animals chase and frisk about like 

 gazelles. 



This Nomadic people no doubt possesses 

 the finest race of Horses known to us ; but 

 such a mass of nonsense, such erroneous and 

 romantic stories have been promulgated, that 

 it will be very difl^cult to enable the reader to 

 see through the mist of untruth : I shall, 

 therefore, content myself by stating plain and 

 and true facts. 



The Arabian Horse in general comes from 

 Nedgit, and they are commonly called Nedji. 

 A more noble race is called Koenlan, divided 

 into five different families, or noble Cherifs, 

 which five races, as the legend goes, origin- 

 ated from the five Blessed Mares of the 

 Prophet, and are named Tonaisse, Gilphe, 

 Manegine, Sedie, and Seclawe. Besides 

 these, there are a number of other ftimilies too 

 difficult to enumerate. I must own 'here are 

 no certain signs by which one can ascertain 

 whether a Horse is Nedgedi or Koenlan, for 

 I have conversed with many intelligent Arabs, 

 and they all assured me they could not dis- 

 tinguish them unless the origin of the dam 

 was known to them, and for that reason they 

 kept their mares unstained by the leap of an 

 inferior stallion, which is considered one of the 

 principal sins in the Koran ; and this com- 

 mand of their religion they at least follow to 

 the very letter. If by chance the contrary 

 should happen, the Bedouin does not value the 

 foal the least, and however handsome and 

 promising it may be, he will part with it for a 

 mere trifle. If a Koenlan mare is stinted to a 

 Nedgedi stallion, the foal is a Koenlan ; but if 

 4 I 



