ARABIAN HORSES. 275 



temper and ferocity which characterize some strains 

 of the English thoroughbred come from the Arab 

 blood in their ancestry. Hence he infers that Ara- 

 bian horses are bad-tempered. His conjecture is very 

 likely correct, but his inference is a vicious one. It 

 is not improbable that a generation or two of the old- 

 fashioned English groom, with his rough " Come up, 

 horse ! " and dig in the ribs or kick in the belly, 

 added to the use of whips and spurs and severe bits, 

 would sour the temper and awake the resentment of 

 so highly bred and finely organized an animal as one 

 of Arabian descent. But in the desert viciousness in 

 the horse is absolutely unknown. The Arab rides, 

 without saddle or stirrups, on a small pad fastened in 

 place by a surcingle. As for bridle and bit, he has 

 none. The horse is guided by a halter, the rope of 

 which the rider holds in his hand, and he is con- 

 trolled by the voice. " I have never seen either vio- 

 lent plunging, rearing, or indeed any serious attempt 

 made to throw the rider. Whether a Bedouin would 

 be able to sit a bare-backed, unbroken four-year-old 

 colt as the Gauchos of South America do is exceed- 

 ingly doubtful." 



The Arabian mare has no more fear of her master 

 than a dog would have with us, and she is on terms 

 of almost canine intimacy with the whole family. 

 An old traveller in the desert describes an incident 

 on a wet evening at the sheikh's tent : " Evening 

 clouds gathered. . . . The mare returned of herself 

 through the falling weather, and came and stood at 

 our coffee fire, in half-human wise, to dry her soaked 

 skin and warm herself as one among us. She ap- 

 proached the sitters about the hearth, and, putting 



