THE ARAB AND HIS STEED g 



His ribs are bare, it is true ; but if you encounter any 

 enemies on your path lie will not leave you in peril. 

 I swear it by the clay of last judgment, when Allah 

 shall be kadi, and the angels witnesses." 



' " Hola, there ! tether the dark chestnut before my 

 tent," I would cry to my servants, " and satisfy this 

 man." ' ^ 



But although the Arab horse is worked hard, it 

 is most tenderly treated, as a rule — petted as the 

 collier in England pets his dog — at the expense of 

 the rest of the family. 



' The love the Arabs bear their mares is exemplified 

 by an anecdote which was told me,' says the ' Old 

 Shekarry,' ' by a celebrated Arab chieftain who 

 served on my staff in the Crimea, Mahomet Ben 

 Abdullah, better l^nown as Bou Maza(the son of the 

 Goat), whose daring exploits and hairbreadth escapes 

 in his predatory expeditions against the French have 

 caused his name to become famous in song among 

 the Santons of the desert. One of the tribes of the 

 Djdjhura mountains possessed a coal-black mare of 

 the pure Nedjed breed, which in the desert was of 

 untold value ; for her fame had gone forth far and 

 wide, and the tribes were wont to swear by her 

 lleetness and endurance. Bou Maza, then a young 

 man, determined to possess her either by fair or foul 

 means, and offered the whole of his wealth in ex- 



> D aura as, The Horses of t Tie Sahara. 



