162 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



and attested pedigrees extend, with true Eastern exaggeration, 

 to the stud of Solomon 1 ." 



Though, as we shall see, there are many inaccuracies in 

 this statement, it will be found that its main proposition is 

 true. Down to a quarter of a century ago all that was known 

 at first-hand about the history of the Arabian horses was 

 derived from the writings of Niebuhr, Burckhardt, and Palgrave, 

 the former of whom had never visited the great horse-breeding 

 tribes of Arabia, whilst the last-mentioned took but little 

 interest in the horses of the region through which he travelled. 

 Fortunately since 1876 several most competent observers, whose 

 chief interest was centred in the horse, have travelled or lived 

 in various parts of the wide region occupied by the Arab tribes, 

 and have published invaluable accounts of the horse based on 

 their own first-hand knowledge. 



The late Major Upton 2 , who in 1876, after visiting the 

 Sebaa, Maoli, and other tribes, published, to use the words of 

 Mr W. Scawen Blunt, "an exceedingly good account" of Arabian 

 horses. Next, Mr W. S. and Lady Anne Blunt 3 published in 

 1879 an account of the Bedouin tribes of northern Arabia 

 and the horses bred by them, and in 1881 a diary of a second 

 journey made into central Arabia 4 . In the same year appeared 

 a posthumous work by Major Upton 5 ; whilst thirteen years 

 later was issued the sumptuous volume of Major-General 

 Tweedie 6 , who, having been for many years the British 

 Consul-General at Bagdad, had exceptional opportunities for 

 collecting information, and for checking and criticising the 

 observations of his predecessors, a task which he performed 

 vigorously whenever occasion offered. 



The following description of the Arabian horses has been 

 compiled from a careful comparison of the facts collected by 

 the writers named, and as they are practically agreed on all 

 main questions, though differing in their theories of the origin 



1 The Horse, pp. 22-3 (ed. 4). 2 Frazer's Magazine, Sept. 1876. 



3 The Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates (1879). 



4 A Pilgrimage to Nejd (1881). 



5 Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia (1881). 



6 The Arabian Horse, his Country and People (1894). 



