264 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



Arabs, the "sons of horses," are raised. The chief 

 horse market of Syria is Damascus, on the shore 

 of the desert. Opposite, on the eastern shore, in 

 almost a straight line from Damascus, is Bagdad, the 

 capital of Turkish Arabia, another great horse mar- 

 ket ; and south of Bagdad, between the Euphrates 

 and the Tigris, there is a wide stretch of country 

 where many half Arabs are bred, chiefly for sale in 

 India. 



The Arabian horses, so called, that are found in 

 Turkey, especially in Constantinople, in Egypt, in 

 Syria, and in India, are not the true coursers of the 

 desert, but their " sons." They are commonly gray, 

 and hence the popular idea that gray is the normal 

 color of the Arabian horse. As a matter of fact, the 

 Bedouins prefer bay with black points, — not objecting 

 to three white feet, — and this is the most frequent 

 color among the Anazeh mares ; next comes chestnut, 

 then gray. Black is a rare and inferior color. White 

 horses are much esteemed, but seldom occur. Roans, 

 piebalds, duns, and yellows are never found among 

 pure-bred Arabs. The two Arabian stallions sent to 

 General Grant as a present from the Sultan of Tur- 

 key, in 1876, are both grays, and though they were 

 supposed to be pure bred, the probability is, I can- 

 not help thinking, that they are kadishes, " sons of 

 horses," not horses themselves. Neither monev nor 

 high office can command the flower of the desert. 

 Even Abbass Pasha had only a few really thorough- 

 bred mares, and yet he spent five million dollars in 

 gathering his famous stud at Cairo. 



This man appears to have had a notable passion 

 for horseflesh. On one occasion he despatched a 



