Ohfervations 5cc. 2?q 



pra£lifed or admired in this Country ; it being accounted very 

 impolite among the y^rahs to trott and amble. But the E- 

 gj/ptian Horfes have defervedly the Preference of all others 

 for Size and Beauty; the fmalleft of which are ufually fixteen 

 Hands high, and all of them ihaped, according to their Fhrafe, 

 iKiff el Gazel J!;*^^ «-^^] like the Ant'ilope. 



The Afs and the Mule are the moil hardy Creatures of Bar- The kk a,d 

 hary, not requiring half fo much Attendance as the Horfe. The '''' ^''^''' 

 firft is not fo generally trained up for the Saddle at Algiers as 

 at Tunis y where they are frequently of a large Size ; but the 

 Mule is in general Demand at both Places, and preferred to the 

 Horfe for common Ufe and Fatigue. It is certainly furer footed 

 and vaftly ftronger in Proportion. I could never learn that 

 the Mule was prolific; which Notion Tlinjf' and fome other 

 Authors feem to give into. 



To the Mule we may joyn the Kumrah, as, I think, thefe f/., Kumrah 

 People call a little ferviceable Beaft of Burthen, begot betwixt 

 an Afs and a Cow. That which I faw was fmgle hoofed like 

 the Afs, but diftinguiihed from It in all other Refpeols, hav- 

 ing a fleekerSkin, and the Tail and Head (excepting the Horns) 

 in Fafliion of the Dam's. 



Yet all thefe are vaftly inferiour to the Camel for Labour 7,;,, cmci. 

 and Fatigue. For this Creature will travel four ' or five Days 

 together without Water ; and half a Gallon of Beans and Bar- 

 ley, or elfe a few Balls made of the Flower, will nouriih It for 

 a whole Day. This I faw often experienced in our Way to 

 Mount Sinai ; notwithftanding the Burthen of each Beaft was 

 at leaft feven Quintals, and our Days Journey confifted fome- 

 times of ten, fometimes of fifteen Hours, at the Rate of two 

 Miles and an half an Hour. Thefe extraordinary Qualities, are, 

 without Doubt, fufficient Encouragements for thQ^rabs of all 

 Places to keep up and multiply the Breed •. which, I have been 



1 Eil in annalibus noftris , pepeiiiTe f^pe ( mulam ) verum prodigii loco habitum. 

 Theopbraflus vulgo parere in Otppadocia tradic : fed efTe id animal ibi iui generis, Plin. 1. 8. 

 cap. 44. 2 Sitim & qiiatriduo tolerant (Cameli } implenturquc, cum bibendi occgfio eft, 

 & in prKteritum & futurum, obturbaca proculcatione prius aqua: aliter potu non gaudent. 

 Plin. Nat. Hift, 1. 8. cap. 18. yit the Top of the fecond rentrule (of the Dromedary) there 

 were jeveral fqiure Holes, winch were the Orifices of about twenty Cavities , made like Sacks 

 placed between the two Membranes 7vhich compofe the Subflance of this Venticle. The Fiew of 

 thefe Sacks made us thinh^that they might well be the Refervatorfs where Pliny p/i that Camels do 

 a long time k?ep the Water, which they do drink^ in great Sundance when they meet with it, to 

 fupply the Wants which they may have thereof in the dry Deferts, where they are iifed to travel. 

 Memoirs for the Natural Hiftory of Animals &c. by the Academy at Paris. 



Ο Ο Ο X in- 



