, LETTER, XII. 



able tractabjencss of disposition in this noble and 

 useful animal. 



The Horse, my clear Sir, "is so well known to you, as 

 well as to every one else in this country, that it would 

 be entirely needless to trouble vou with a particular 

 description of his shape and exterior appearance. It 

 will be sufficient for your information, to exhibit to 

 your view the principal distinctions which nature has 

 made in the different breeds of this noble quadruped, 

 through the influence of climate and other accidental 

 circumstances. For this purpose, I shall first call 

 your attention to 



THE ARABIAN HORSE. 



Of all the people in the world, the Arabians set 

 the greatest value on horses ; and almost every. Ara- 

 bian, how poor soever he may be in other respects, 

 possesses at least one horse. They are particularly 

 fond of mares for riding, as they find them to bear 

 hunger and thirst better than horses, besides being 

 less vicious. The Turks, on the contrary, esteeming 

 horses the most, purchase those which are not kept 

 for stallions. The Arabians are exceedingly careful 

 of the breed of their horses, which, instead of cros- 

 sing, as is generally practised in other countries, they 

 take particular care to preserve pur'e und unmixed. 

 They know their generations, with all their alliances 

 and ramifications, and preserve for an amazing length 

 of time, the genealogies of their horses, with as much 

 care as the nobility of other countries do those of their 

 families. The low*est price for a mare, of the first 

 class, is from one hundred to two or three hundred 

 pounds sterling. It is, therefore, no wonder, that they 

 should be sold for exceeding high prices, when carried 

 into foreign and far distant countries. 



Horses form the principal riches of many of the 

 Arab tribes, who use them both in the chace, and in 

 their plundering expeditions. They never beat them, 

 but always treat them with the* utmost kindness. 

 Tfre Arab, his wife, and children, lie in the same^ 

 apartment with the mare and foal, who, instead of 

 injuring, suffer the children" to rest on their bodies and 



