XLIX 



WHEN we cross the Libyan desert which from its west- 

 erly limits is usually done by a prosaic Mediterranean trip 

 back to Malta or Italy, and thence to Alexandria, rather 

 than aboard a "ship of the desert," for it is easy to go 

 around and all but impossible to go across this merciless 

 waste we come to a more marked type of the so-called 

 Arabian than we find in either Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, 

 or Tripoli. The first thing which strikes the horseman 

 on reaching Egypt is the high -carried tail. The close- 

 hugged tail which to such a degree disfigures the other- 

 wise admirable mount on the west of the Libyan desert is 

 here replaced by the fine upright haunch and high -set 

 tail which we have so long admired in art. The whole 

 bearing of the animal is altered by this single feature. 

 One would scarcely credit the change. It is not the arti- 

 ficial tail of commerce, produced among civilized (?) na- 

 tions at such a cost in pain and sacrifice in looks for the 

 delectation of ultra-fashionables ; it is the same fine tail 

 you see bred for in Kentucky, set on a haunch which none 

 but the Arabian can boast. The reason why the tail of 

 the Spanish horse is carried so close is that he is of Moor- 

 ish origin. It is, perhaps, impossible to determine the ex- 

 act line of demarcation in race or breeding which sep- 

 arates the close-carried from the high-set tail, or to give 

 the rationale of either ; at the Libyan desert is the geo- 

 graphical line of separation. It suffices to call the horses 

 on the west of the desert Barbs ; those on the east Ara- 



