224 THE BARB OF MOROCCO. 



many to endear, to admire, or to use ; and this 

 opinion we are warranted in passing, since neither 

 Asia nor Europe can boast of a breed in all or in 

 some respects superior or equal, that is not mainly 

 indebted to the Arabian blood for the estimation it 

 has obtained. But it is doubtful whether the great 

 qualities of these animals are not now rapidly on 

 the decline, the wants and expectations of the people 

 evidently taking a new direction. 



Numerous anecdotes might be here inserted re- 

 lating to these horses, but as they occur mostly in 

 books deservedly popular, we would repeat only 

 what is familiar to most readers. 



Of the bay stock, but already distinguished before 

 the Arab was extolled, is 



THE BARB OF MOROCCO. 



Ancient and renowned, but nevertheless greatly 

 improved since the conquests of the Moslem, and 

 therefore in every respect the nearest ally in blood, 

 and superior in some qualities. The climate and 

 soil of that empire might indeed sustain an enor- 

 mous number of horses such as the best among 

 them are ; but that under a government, where pro- 

 perty is insecure, there is not sufficient inducement 

 for breeders to bestow the same unremitting atten- 

 tion upon them for a succession of generations, as 

 among the free Arabs, and hence the Moors do not 

 produce pedigrees of horses equally valued with 

 those from the East. In the Barbary states, the 



