44 MY HORSE ; MY LOVE 



no other type of horse had done. These so-called ' Eastern 

 horses ' were named from the countries whence they came, 

 as the Arab, the Barb, the Turk, and the Spanish jennet, 

 but all were included under the head of " Eastern horses."' 



Of course, Count, you remember the legend, that when 

 the Saracens were driven out of Palestine by the Crusaders 

 they crossed into the Soudan. Here they met the bold, 

 brave, ever-unconquered tribes of the desert. It is from 

 the Saracens that the sheiks, mounted on the 'air-drinkers' 

 — those who drink the air in lieu of water — are supposed 

 to have taken by force the wonderful armour, made of 

 finest links of steel, in which they subsequently rode, and 

 were so invincible. 



' I have not forgotten it. But it was also during the 

 Crusades that Coeur de Lion rode an i\rab of Cypriot 

 breed, "a magnificent bay," taken by stratagem from the 

 stable of Isaac the Great, Emperor of Cyprus. Edward 

 of England rode an Andalusian Barb, Gray Lyard, 

 which carried him "ever charging forward" in Palestine. 

 That stalwart warrior, the " Cid," owned a famous stallion, 

 Bavicca, also an Andalusian Barb, and rode besides, 

 a noted white Arab presented to him by the Sultan of 

 Persia. By weighing the armour of this trio of warriors, 

 now in the Tower of London, the fact is proved that 

 these small Arabs carried 4 cwt. each.' 



Yes, 'it is the blood which tells when the strain comes.' 

 Only lately I have been interested in reading that when 

 Sir Gerald Graham was sent at the head of six thousand 

 men to chastise Osman Digma, the Egyptian, he did it 

 effectually, but it was the reckless charges of the Arabs, 

 horse and man, which helped to win the day, and so 

 insure Osman's crushing defeat. Then, too, General 



