276 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



clown her soft nose, kissed each member of the group, 

 till the sheikh was fain to rise and scold his mare 

 away." 



" Air's tent," writes Mr. Blunt, " was partly occu- 

 pied by a filly and a bay foal, the latter not a week 

 old, and very engaging. It was tied up, as the cus- 

 tom is, by a rope round the neck, while its mother 

 was away grazing, and neighed continually. It was 

 very tame, however, and let me stroke it, and sniffed 

 at my pockets, as if it knew that there might be 

 some sugar there." 



No wonder, then, that the Arabian foals are de- 

 scribed as being gentle and familiar. They do not 

 run away when they are approached at pasture ; they 

 are not to be intimidated by the flourishing of sticks 

 or by the waving of garments. If they happen to be 

 lying down when one comes near them, they continue 

 iu that position, instead of scrambling to their feet in 

 alarm ; and they have an engaging habit of using 

 their masters as rubbing-posts. All this is true, in 

 general, of our trotting-bred American foals. The 

 fact is that any colt, whatever its origin, if treated 

 with uniform kindness, will become by the age of six 

 or eight months as tame and fearless as the pets of 

 the desert. 



The manner of rearing the Arabian colt is as fol- 

 lows. It is weaned at the tender age of one month, 

 instead of being allowed to run with its mother for 

 four, five, or six months, according to our custom, 

 but it is then fed on camel's milk, which is very nu- 

 tritious. So soon as it is weaned, the dam goes out to 

 pasture, and the foal remains close by the tent, being 

 tied by a cord around the neck, or around the hind 



