ARABIAN HORSES. 265 



special mission to Medina for the sole purpose of 

 procuring a rare work on farriery. At another time 

 he sent a bullock cart from Egypt all the way to 

 Nejd to bring home a famous mare, old and unable 

 to travel on foot, that he had purchased from the 

 Anazeh. A Bedouin, who had been sent to Cairo by 

 one of the chiefs of Nejd, was shown over the vice- 

 roy's stables, bv order of that official. On being: 

 asked his opinion of the blood, he replied frankly 

 that the stables did not contain a single thorough- 

 bred. He added an apology on the part of his chief 

 for the animals which he had just brought to the 

 viceroy from Arabia, declaring that neither Sultan 

 nor sheikh could procure colts of the best strain. 



Bagdad is on the very edge of the desert, and the 

 Pasha of that place has unlimited resources ; but 

 Mr. Blunt says : " Although his Excellency's horses 

 were, as a lot, good of their kind, they were very 

 different from real Arabs ; and on comparing them 

 with those of the Anazeh their inferiority was con- 

 spicuous, and their history could easily be under- 

 stood. They were very nearly all gray." 



In the centre of Arabia, in the district of Nejd and 

 on the border of the desert, is the city of Hail, where 

 for many years has existed the famous stud of the 

 Emir of Hail. Emissaries of this dignitary are con- 

 stantly on the lookout for mares, wherever they can 

 find them, and not infrequently ghdzus, or maraud- 

 ing expeditions, have been sent out by the Emir 

 against this or that tribe, for the express purpose of 

 capturing some particular mare whose fame had 

 spread over the desert. It was of the animals in 

 this stud that Mr. TV. G. Palgrave's oft-quoted de- 



