30 DETERIORATED CONDITION OF 



in breeding from which good stock has been 

 obtained for every purpose, save that of com- 

 peting on the turf with the speed of our present 

 race-horses. The Arabian horses, as found in 

 the Desert, are not without speed, as was shown 

 some years ago at Goodwood ; but they can 

 only run at their full stretch for about half-a- 

 mile. At a hand gallop, and under a burning 

 sun, their endurance is scarcely credible, and 

 their value in the Desert rests on the distances 

 they can travel at that pace without fatigue or 

 being attacked by staggers from long exposure 

 to an ardent sun. When a horse has acquired 

 in the Desert reputation for this power, a large 

 sum of money can be obtained for him, as the 

 life of a freebooter is often made to depend on 

 the endurance of his horse. 



General Daumas, who has been in Africa, 

 either as Consul or General, since the year 

 1837, and speaks the language, says in his work 

 on the horses of the Sahara district, that a 

 good horse there will travel during five or six 

 days continuously journeys from 75 to 90 miles, 

 and after two days' rest will be fit to recom- 

 mence this task. He adds that " Les voyages 

 dans le Sahara ne sont pas toujours d'aussi 



