5,24^ TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



lecT:ioii when the objeft is out of my fight. This hone's 

 name was El Fudda, the meaning of which I will not pre- 

 tend to explain. In Egypt this is the name of a fmall piece 

 of money clipped into points, otherwife called a parat ; but, 

 very probably, the name of horfes in Nubia may have as 

 little allufion to the quality of the animal as the name- 

 which our race-horfes have in England ; they are, how- 

 ever, very jealous in keeping up their pedigree. All noble 

 horfes in Nubia are faid to be defcended of one of the 

 five upon which Mahomet and his four immediate fuc- 

 ceffors, Abou Beer, Omar, Atman, and Ali, fled from Mecca^ 

 to Medina, the night of the Hegira. From which of thefe 

 El Fudda was defcended I did not inquire; Shekh Adelan,. 

 armed, as he fought, with his coat of mail and war faddle, 

 iron-chained bridle, brafs cheek-plates, front-plate, breaft- 

 plate, large broad-fv/ord, and battle-ax, did not weigh lefs 

 upon the horfe than 26 ftone, horfeman's weight. This 

 horfe kneeled to receive his mailer, anued as he was, when 

 he mounted, and he kneeled to let him difmount armed' 

 Hkewife, fo that no advantage could be taken of him in 

 thofe helplefs times when a man is obliged to arm and 

 difarm himfelf piece by piece on horfeback. Adelan, in 

 war, was a fair-player, and gave every body his chance. 

 He was the firll man always that entered among the ene- 

 my, and the lafl to leave them, and never changed this horfe,. 

 The horfes of Halfaia and Gerri do not arrive at thcfize of 

 thofe in Dongola, where few are lower than 16 hands. They 

 areblackor white, but a vail proportion of the former to the 

 latter. I never faw the colour we call grey, that is, dappled, but 

 there are fome bright bays, or inclining to forcl. They are 

 ali kept monflrouily fat upon dora, eat nothing green but 



the- 



