ON CO\ KS1N(;. 



12' 



Arabian 

 Coursing de- 

 scribed by 

 Xenoplion. 



wild asses,* which excel in speed, and power of holding out for Chat. XXIV 

 the greatest length of course. 



For when the Greeks marched with Cyrus, the son of 

 Darius, against the great king,^ (in which expedition Xenophon 

 was engaged, who relates the circumstance,^) while they were 

 passing over the plains of Arabia,^ there appeared herds of 

 wild asses, but not one could be caught by any single horse- 

 man, and therefore the Greeks pursued them with relays of 

 horsemen at stated distances ; and after the asses had held 

 out for a long while against several, they sunk at last from 

 fatigue. Thus even Cyrus himself, the son of the great king, 

 and the brother of the great king, had not horses good enough 



uKVTd.TdH' SopKoiv api'SijAa yeveOKa : and bis opinion is supported by the bigli autho- 

 rity of the Wayster of Game, who affirms that " he rennyth wondir fast, and some 

 tyme, at the partyng from his leyre, lie shal out goo a brace of good greye houndes." 

 4. The wild ass, or Koulan, is an animal of the greatest speed and beauty. He is 

 elegantly and correctly described by Oppian : 



iStagstcr of 

 a^am. c. V. 



fol. 32. 



fSff^opov, Tive/xSevra, 



Kpaitrvhv, o€\\oiro5r;i', Kpareptivvxov, alirvu ovaypov, 

 offTe TTeAei (fiatSphs, Se/xas &pKios, evpiis ISeaOat, 

 apyv(peos xpo'^>'i SoAiX'"^'»'''os, o|utotos 6e7y. 



Cyneget. in. 

 183. 



See also the Book of Job, c. xxxix. vs. 5. et seqq. Plin. Hist. Nat. L. viii. c. 44. 

 Varro de R. R. L. ii. c. 6. and the Veterinarian Apsyrtus, Geopon. L. xvi. c. 21. 

 IMartial records his beauty, " Pulcher adest onager." Spelman is mistaken in iden- 

 tifying the onager and zebra, and referring to the stuffed specimen of our college for 

 his example of the former under the type of the latter. 



5. MeT'OJ' ^affiXea. This is the title given by all Greek authors to the king of 

 Persia ; and it is preserved to the successors of Mahomet in that of the Grand 

 Seignor. Cyrus was the youngest son of Darius by Parysatis, and brother to 

 Artaxerxes. His father, therefore, and brother, were both called, kut e|oxV> " the 

 great king." 



6. Xenophon. Anabas. L. i. 5. 2. 



7. The inhabitants of this part of Arabia are denominated SKijv/Tat "Apa^es by 

 Strabo ; a vagabond people, living by depredation. " Nomades, infestioresque 

 Chaldaeonim, Scenit»," says Pliny, " a tabcrnaculis cognominati ;" afterv/ards 

 Saracens. 



Epigr. L. XIII. 

 100. 



