LOVES OF THE ARABS 215 



belly, l^ext to his steed he loves his fire-arm. This, po- 

 etically speaking, ought to be a six-foot, gold and jade in- 

 laid, muzzle-loading horror of a matchlock, which would 

 kick any man but an Arab flat on his back at every shot ; 

 but actually, in Algeria and Tunis, when he lives near a 

 city and is allowed by the French authorities to own one 

 at all, it is rather more apt to be a modern English breach- 

 loader of approved pattern, with plenty of ammunition 

 handy. You must fly from the busy haunts of men in 

 these days of ours to find the ancient matchlock. Next 

 to his fire-arm the Arab loves his oldest son, in w^iom he 

 really harbors a worthy pride. Last comes his wife — or 

 one of his wives. If he is a man by nature faithful, his 

 first wife may always remain his favorite ; if inconstant, it 

 will be his last. Daughters do not even count; I mean 

 the Arab scarcely takes the trouble to count them, unless 

 in so far as they can minister to his comfort, dietetic or 

 otherwise. Until some neighbor comes along and proposes 

 to marry, in other words to make a still* worse slave of 

 one of them, she is only a chattel, a soulless thing. And 

 yet she is said to be a pretty, amiable, helpful being ; said 

 to be, for no one by any hap casts his eye on one worth 

 seeing. I have made every eff'ort, within and without the 

 bounds of Arab propriety, I might saj^ safety, to investi- 

 gate the Arabian maiden — but to no avail. This disre- 

 gard of women, be it said to their honor, does not always 

 apply to the w^ilder, but more intelligent, independent, and 

 manly Bedouin of the S^anan and Arabian deserts. But 

 of this wdien w^e get so far upon our travels. 



Let me premise, in this screed anent the horses on the 

 south and east of the Mediterranean basin, that it is not 

 my purpose to descant solely upon the choice steeds Avhich 

 may be classed as Arabians. This is the burden of the 

 song of nearly all who tell us of the horse of the Orient. 



