14 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



and of tillage. Has not God made the ox for the 

 plough, the camel to transport merchandise, and the 

 horse alone for the race ? There is nothing gained 

 bj changing the ways of God " ' (T. B. Thorpe). 



And if the Arab horses are capable of doing the 

 amount of work stated in the following tale (which 

 comes from one of the French generals in Algeria), 

 they ought to be highly prized ; 



' With regard to the great distances accomplished 

 by the horses of the desert of Sahara, instances may 

 be quoted which will appear incredible, and the 

 heroes of which are still alive (1863), if witnesses 

 were wanted to confirm the truth of the story. Here 

 is one of a thousand, which was told to me by a man 

 of the tribe of Arbaa. I give his own words : 



' " I had come into the Tell (a most fertile district 

 - -the granary, in fact, of the Sahara) with my father 

 and the people of my tribe to buy corn. It was in 

 the time of the Pasha Ali. The Arbaa had had some 

 terrible quarrels with the Turks ; and as it was their 

 interest for the moment to feign a complete submission 

 in order to obtain an amnesty for the past, they 

 agreed to win over by presents of money the Pasha's 

 suite, and to send to himself not merely a common 

 animal as was customary, but a courser of the high- 

 est distinction. It was a misfortune, but it was the 

 will of Allah, and we were forced to resign ourselves. 

 The choice fell upon a mare, ' Gray Stone of the 

 River,' known throughout the Sahara, and the pro- 



