MY QUEST OF THE ARAB HORSE 



the more we congratulated ourselves that we 

 had been able to secure INIr. Zeytoun's serv- 

 ices. He was of the greatest aid in smoothing 

 out any difficulties which arose from our ig- 

 norance of the language or the customs of the 

 people and was always diplomatic and courte- 

 ous. 



Nevertheless we were very glad to get away 

 from Beyrout. We saw there the kind of 

 "Arab" horse which could readily be sold to the 

 stranger as the genuine breed, and we also 

 encountered the crooked horse dealers of the 

 East, who naturally swear to anything unless 

 it be the truth. But we were spared from fall- 

 ing into their traps and it was daylight on 

 August 2nd, when the noise of the anchor 

 chain, as it rattled down, woke me up as we 

 were lying off Alexandretta. I had been 

 warned against Alexandretta by Chekib Bey, 

 the Turkish Ambassador at Washington, as a 

 dangerous place to stop in even for a night 

 and further bv IMr. Forbes, who said it was 

 one of the most unhealthy places in the world, 

 owing to the mosquitoes, and the fever which 

 followed their bite. We soon had first class 

 confirmation of these warnings. 



Shortly after the anchor was dropped, two 



[54] 



