ROUGH COATS 373 



saddle-beasts in training. As you look at them they ap- 

 pear tall ; when you come to mount your foot goes read- 

 ily into the stirrup, while at home you must usually 

 'stretch well up to get the left foot in. Their small barrel 

 is proven by the fact that the immense amount of padding 

 under the saddle and flaps does not spread your legs too 

 much. At home we like a saddle-flap to be close to the 

 horse's side. It rarely is so in the Orient. 



The climate of Syria is chilly in winter, and the horse 

 of the desert puts on almost as long a coat as the bronco 

 of our north-western plains. In the spring, until he has 

 scoured off this coat on the fresh grass, he is a lamentable 

 object to look upon. The old flea-bitten gray mare in the 

 illustration shows small signs of blood in her staring coat 

 and woful appearance ; but in a few weeks she may be as 

 glossy as silk, despite her years ; and perchance she can 

 now out-travel many a May-bird. The Bedouin spear is 

 quite a feature of this part of the world. Its great length 

 reconciles one to the historically stated size of the Mace- 

 donian sarissa twenty-one feet. It seems as if one could 

 scarcely use so unwieldy a weapon, but in it the Bedouin 

 reposes almost as much confidence as in his fire-arm ; and 

 in view of the common condition of the latter it is no 

 wonder. The background shows the stony upland com- 

 mon in the desert. The camel's-hair tent is a family in- 

 heritance ; it is almost indestructible. 



The clothes of the Bedouin are much like those of all 

 Arabs, but the tout ensemble lacks the grace which the 

 burnoose lends to his cousin of Algeria and Tunis. The 

 garments are mere bags, as elsewhere, either upsidedown 

 or right side up. The trousers have already been sarto- 

 rially noticed, though there be many styles of these, from 

 the skirt-bags of the Syrian to the peg-tops of the Jew. 

 The upper garments are strictly on the same pattern, with 



