184 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



the Shammar was white, and of six selected Shamraar horses 

 seen by Upton in the possession of an Arab gentleman, the 

 only good one, which proved to be a pure Anazah, was chestnut, 

 whilst of the remaining five, which were all inferior, three were 

 grey, and two reddish-grey ^ 



It seems, therefore, highly probable that a beautifid young 

 mare belonging to a Shammar sheikh described by Layard 

 was of Anazah blood. She was chestnut, " her limbs were in 

 perfect symmetry, her ears erect, slender, and transparent ; 

 her nostrils high, dilated, and a deep red ; her neck grace- 

 fully arched, and her mane and tail of the texture of silk^" 

 To the same Anazah strain probably belonged the mare of 

 matchless beauty owned by the Shammar sheikh, Sofuk, 

 already mentioned, and named Shammariyah^, whose dam 

 was said to be able to hunt down the wild ass with her master 

 on her back (p. 51). 



" There is some difference in external form to be observed 

 between horses in Syria and those east of the Euphrates, even 

 among such as are supposed to be of genuine Arab blood, 

 but bred respectively in these two districts; and in general 

 character, and in several minute respects, both differ from the 

 Arabian horse, or the Keheilan of the superior tribes of the 

 interior desert. Many horses bred in and to be found in both 

 of the before-mentioned countries are not real Arabs at all, 

 but most are related to, or are partly of Arabian blood ; for 

 it must be understood that the Arabian bears a similar relation 

 to all other horses in the East, as also to the horses of 

 northern and north-western Africa, as does the thoroughbred 

 horse in England to the various half-breds, only in a far 

 greater degree*." 



We shall soon see that Upton, like all previous writers, 

 completely misunderstood the relation of the horses of Arabia 

 to those of North Africa. 



The Syrian horses, i.e., horses bred in Syria and on the 

 west side of the desert, of supposed pure Arab blood, and 



1 Op. cit. p. 358. 



2 Nineveh and its Remains (ed. 1867), p. 66. 



3 Op. cit. p. 74. •* Op. cit. p. 375. 



