HOESS-STBALING.] 



THE HOKSE, AND 



[ba-ebaet hoeses. 



able fact, however, that although there was a 

 mounted cavalry in Egypt, and, as already ob- 

 served, that Solomon's horsemen were mounted 

 on trained Egyptian animals, there is but one 

 representation of a man on horseback in the 

 whole range of the sculptured and painted 

 antiquities of that country. 



In the Adventures of Giovanni Finati, tlie 

 following anecdote is given of an Arab robber, 

 who, when the Mamelukes were in Egypt, had 

 taken a fancy to the horse and the robe of one 

 of their Beys : — 



"When some of the Mamelukes were en- 

 camped about Minich, a thief set his mind 

 upon carrying off the horse and wearing ap- 

 parel of one of their Beys ; and, with this in- 

 tention, contrived, in the dead of the night, to 

 creep unperceived within the tent, where, as it 

 was winter, embers were burning, and showed 

 the rich clothes of the Bey lying close at hand. 

 The thief, as he squatted down by the fire, 

 drew them softly to him, and put them all on : 

 and then, after filling a pipe and lighting it, 

 went deliberately to the tent door, and tapping 

 a groom, who was sleeping near, with the pipe 

 end, made a sign to him for the horse, which 

 stood piquetted in front. It was brought ; he 

 mounted and rode off. On the morrow, when 

 the clothes of the Bey could not be found, no 

 one could form a conjecture as to wh^-t could 

 have become of them, until the groom, on 

 being questioned, maintained to his fellow- 

 servants, that their master was not yet re- 

 turned from his ride ! and told them how he 

 had suddenly called for his horse in the 

 night; which, at last, seemed to give some 

 clue to what had really happened. Upon this, 

 the Bey, anxious to recover his horse, as well 

 as curious to ascertain the particulars, ordered 

 it to be published abroad, that, if the person 

 who robbed him would, within two days, bring 

 back what he had taken, he should not only be 

 freely pardoned, but should receive also the 

 full value of the animal and of the suit of 

 clothes. 



" Belying on the good faith of his promise, 

 and possibly, too, not a little vain of his ex- 

 ploit, the Arab presented himself, and brought 

 his booty. The Bey also, on his part, punc- 

 tually kept his word ; but since, besides the 

 loss, there was something in the transaction 

 that placed the Bey in rather a ludicrous light, 

 12 



it went hard with him to let the rogue depart 

 so freely, and he seemed to be considering 

 what he should do. Whilst thus resolving, 

 and in order to gain time, he kept continually 

 asking, over and over again, fresh and more 

 circumstantial accounts of the manner in which 

 the stratagem had been conducted : but tlie 

 other was too crafty not to perceive that no 

 good was preparing for him, and began to feel 

 anxious to get safe out of the scrape. He 

 showed no impatience, however, but entered 

 minutely into every detail, accompanying the 

 whole with a great deal of corresponding ac- 

 tion ; at one time sitting down by the fire, 

 and making believe as though he were slily 

 drawing on the diflorent articles of dress, so as 

 to throw the Bey liimself, and all wlio saw and 

 heard him, into fits of laughter. When he, at 

 last, came to what concerned the horse, ' It 

 was,' he said, ' brought to me, and I leaped 

 upon his back ; ' and so in effect flinging him- 

 self again into the saddle, and spurring the 

 flanks sharply with the stirrup-irons, he rode 

 off with all the money that he had received for 

 the animal, in his pocket, and had got much 

 too far, during the first moments of surprise, 

 for any of the bullets to take effect that were 

 fired at liim in his flight ; and nothing further 

 was ever heard of him or the horse." 



The animal of the Bey was, no doubt, of a 

 better quality than are the generality of 

 Egyptian horses, or the speed of the robber 

 would have relaxed soon enough to have 

 allowed him to have been overtaken by that 

 of some of the others that joined in the 

 pursuit. 



THE BARB. 



Proceeding from Egypt along the northern 

 coast of Africa, we enter the states of Bar- 

 bary, which are understood to comprise the 

 i\Iauritania, Numidia, Africa Proper, and 

 Libya of antiquity. These, in succession, 

 answer to the modern Morocco, Algiers, Tuiii.^, 

 and Tripoli — states which formerly seemed to 

 constitute one great political confederacy, 

 though regulating their internal policy and 

 government entirely independent of each 

 other. Barbary derives its modern name from 

 Bar, a desert ; and is divided into two parts by 

 the Atlas mountains, which extend from east 

 to west, and are intersected by deep and 

 beautiful valleys. This, then, is the country 



