THE BAEB.] 



MODEEN YETEEINAET PEACTICE. [the ahabia^. 



of the horse known as the Barb. Its original 

 country is Arabia; and it was brought into 

 Africa by those Arabs who either voluntarily 

 left their country, or were driven from it by 

 force of arms. The true animal is found in 

 Morocco. Fez, and Tripoli, and is described by 

 Bereuger as seldom exceeding fourteen and 

 a-half \and3 high. He further says that the 

 countenance is indicative of spirit, though fre- 

 quently rounded, and, in this particular, pre- 

 senting a marked distinction to that of the 

 Arabian. The ears are pointed and small, but 

 occasionally they are to be found long and 

 drooping. The crest is generally fine, but 

 prominent, and not overladen with mane. "The 

 neck is of a good length ; the shoulders flat 

 and oblique ; the withers prominent, and the 

 chest almost invariably deep; the back is 

 moderately curved, and the carcass somewhat 

 round ; the arms and thighs are muscular, and 

 strongly marked; the knee and hock are 

 broad and low-placed; the back-sinews sin- 

 gularly distinct, and well-marked from the 

 knee downwards; the pasterns rather long; 

 the feet firm, and but moderately open at the 

 bars." ' ^ The croup, as compared with the 

 Arab, is said to be a little too long ; but the 

 quarters are muscular and well developed. 



The Barb has vastly contributed to the 

 beauty and excellence of the horses of the 

 Iberian peninsula; and when higher quali- 

 ties in the horses of Great Britain were anx- 

 iously sought, the Barb was introduced, and 

 has been the means of greatly improving 

 the racing blood of this country. In Africa 

 mares are never ridden, but always stallions 

 —a practice just reversed in Arabia. ^ The 

 reason for these national peculiarities is ob- 

 vious. The Arab is almost always at war ; 

 and as the stallion neighs whenever it smells 

 the stale of the mare, this would frequently 

 be the means of alarming his enemies when 

 secretly approaching their encampments 

 during the night, in his predatory expedi- 

 tions. The African pursues a difl'erent 

 mode of warfare from this. He trusts to 

 the superiority of his force or skill ; fights 

 by day ; and therefore rides the animal that 

 he deems best adapted to carry him safe 

 through his enterprises, whatever may^ 

 be the danger in which these may involve him. 

 Bruce, in bis African travels, observes, that 



" the best African horses are said to be de- 

 scended from one of tlie five on which Maho- 

 met and his four immediate successors fled 

 from Mecca to Medina, on the night of tho 

 Hegira." But this must be taken as an Oriental 

 fiction, rather than as a statement of sober 

 truth. The aff"ection of the Arab for his horso 

 is so strong, that there is no origin, however 

 noble, to which, so far as breed or race is con- 

 cerned, he would not assign him. D'Arvieui 

 describes the lamentations of one Ibrahim 

 Abou Vouasses, over a favourite mare of noble 

 race which he had parted with, and which he 

 frequently made a journey to Earaa to see. 

 " He would embrace her, and wipe her eyes 

 with his handkerchief, and rub her with his 

 shirt sleeves, and would give her a thousand 

 blessings during whole hours that he would be 

 talking to her. ' My eyes, my heart, my soul !' 

 would he exclaim, ' must I be so unfortunate 

 as to have thee sold to many masters, and not 

 be able to keep thee myself? I am poor, mj 

 gazelle. Tou know well enough, my sweet, 

 that I have brought thee up like a child. I 

 never beat thee, never chid thee, but did 

 cherish thee as the apple of mine eye. God 

 preserve thee, my dearest! Thou art beau- 

 tiful, thou art sweet, thou art lovely. God 

 defend thee from the evil eye.' And so he 

 would go on saying a thousand things like 

 these ; he then embraced her, kissed her eyes, 

 and went backwards, bidding her the most 

 tender adieus." 



THE ARABIAN HORSE. 



It is not a characteristic of either the Eng- 

 lish or the Scotch mind, to indicate any 



lo 



