17 



send her to his sovereign, Louis XIY. The Arab 

 would have rejected the proposal at once, with 

 indignation and scorn, but he was miserably poor. 

 He had no means of supplying his most urgent 

 wants, or procuring the barest necessaries of life. 

 Still, he hesitated ; he had scarcely a rag to cover 

 him, and his wife and children were starving ; the 

 sum offered was great ; it would provide him and 

 his family with food for life. At length, and reluc- 

 tantly, he consented to the separation. He brought 

 the mare to the dwelling of the Consul ; he dis- 

 mounted, and stood leaning upon her ; he looked, 

 now at the gold, and then at his favorite ; he sighed, 

 he wept. "To whom is it," said he, "I am going to 

 yield thee up ? To Europeans, who will tie thee 

 close — w^ho will beat thee — who will render thee 

 miserable ? Eeturn with me, my beauty, my jewel ; 

 God preserve thee, my beloved, and rejoice the hearts 

 of my children ;" and then sprang upon her back, 

 and was out of sight in a moment. Ah, jockey, 

 think of this ; did you ever part with a favorite that 

 caused your wife and children to weep ? 



Sir*John Malcom, in his sketches on Persia, gives 

 several anecdotes, but of a more amusing character, 

 one of which we wdll notice here : "When the enemy, 

 returning from his former mission, was encamped 

 near Bagdad, an old Arab rode a bright bay mare, of 

 extraordinary shape and beauty, before his tent until 

 he attracted his attention. On being asked if he 

 would sell her, 'What will you give me ?' was the 



