248 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



Strabo, unfortunately, does not give us any information 

 respecting the colour of the Libyan horses, but we can infer 

 from the pottery pictures of Daphnae that they were of a 

 dark colour, which harmonizes well with the fact that the 

 horses on Egyptian monuments are usually painted brown. As 

 it will be remembered that dark colour is the characteristic of 

 the pure-blooded Arabian, and that the grey and white Arabian 

 horses come from regions where Turcoman horses have been 

 in universal use, the agreement in colour between the Arab 

 horses of the Kohl race, and those of ancient Libya, and the 

 Egyptian monuments indicates clearly that the Arabs have 

 not derived their famous breed from the dun or white horses 

 of Persia and Upper Asia, but from a dark-bay stock of 

 Libya. 



Turning to the North African horses of to-day, we find that 

 in the Barbary States the prevailing colours are dark -bay, brown, 

 chestnut, black and grey. In Morocco the horses are said to be 

 of every colour, but black and chestnut are considered the best. 

 The black colour as well as grey is probably due to importations 

 from Europe and Asia dating from a long time back down 

 to recent times. In the last century the Sultan of Ducaila 

 imported a black English thoroughbred stallion and thereby 

 obtained a splendid breeds On the other hand we find the 

 Roman Senate sending to Masinissa, the Numidian king, two 

 military cloaks fitted with two golden brooches each, two horses 

 fully equipped, and two sets of cavalry accoutrements, including 

 breastplatesl Plainly, then, from the second century B.C. the 

 Barbary horses could have been crossed with the heavier and 

 stronger strain of Italy. In later centuries the Barb has been 

 largely crossed with imported Syrian Arabs, which of itself 

 is sufficient to account for the occurrence of grey and black 

 amongst them. The Barbs of Algeria have in modern times 

 been much crossed with French and English blood, and have 

 consequently lost a good deal of their original type. It is 

 only in Morocco that it has been kept at all pure, for few horses 

 are imported into that country. The Morocco Barbs are excep- 



1 Hamilton Smith, oj). cit., p. 224. - Livj', xxx. 17. 



