ARABIAN HORSES. 279 



bred. He conies of the same stock which produced 

 the English thoroughbred, and he has had the very 

 best of training in running away from wolves and in 

 hunting his fodder. In other words, with him the 

 species is a survival of the fittest. . . . Barring his 

 attenuated form, which comes from his annual starv- 

 ing, he is one of the most astonishing creatures ever 

 made." 



The last touch of romance is added to the Bedouin 

 when we learn that he is not in any sense a horse- 

 dealer. The town Arab is often a dealer in horses, 

 bat the Arab of the desert treasures the glorious 

 animal for his own sake, and not as a merchantable 

 commodity. If he has a mare to sell, there she is, — 

 you may take her or leave her ; but the owner will 

 make no attempt to exaggerate her virtues or to 

 apologize for her defects. " He knows little of 

 showing off a horse, or even of making him stand to 

 advantage ; but, however anxious he may be to sell 

 him, brings him just as he is, dirty and ragged, tired, 

 and perhaps broken-kneed. He has a supreme con- 

 tempt himself for everything except blood in his 

 beast, and he expects everybody else to have the 

 same." The Arabian horse is frequently blemished 

 by lance wounds and other injuries, and especially 

 from firing with the hot iron. This is the sovereign 

 remedy among the Arabs for man and horse, and 

 upon both animals it is practised to a cruel and 

 ridiculous degree. Mr. Palgrave mentions one case 

 where a deep circular wound had been burned upon 

 the skull of an insane man, the injury being suffi- 

 ciently great to cause the madness which it was 

 intended to cure. 



