22 



The letters of the famous Emir to General 

 Daumas, containing categorical replies to 

 questions put by the latter, show that the 

 Barbs possess endurance in a very remark- 

 able degree. Their average height is 

 nowhere mentioned in this work, but they 

 are, as we believe, somewhat smaller than the 

 Arab in his native country and in India. 

 There is a suggestive hint of their small size 

 in a remark by General Daumas : he says 

 that inexperienced horsemen with their spurs 

 4 'sometimes prick the animal on the knee- 

 pan and so lame him if the wound be deep." 

 Assuming that the average height of the 

 horseman be 5 feet 6 inches, and making 

 due allowance for the "straight-legged " seat 

 of the cavalry man, the General's remark 

 points to a horse certainly not over 14 

 hands. 



In answer to General Daumas' enquiry as 

 to the amount of work a Barb can do, the 

 Emir replies : 



" A horse sound in every limb and eating as much 

 barley as his stomach can contain can do whatever 

 his rider can ask of him. For this reason the Arabs 

 say, " give barley and over-work him," but without 

 tasking him over much a horse can be made to do 

 about sixteen parasangs (equal to about fifty English 

 miles) a day, day after day. It is the distance from 

 Mascara to Koudiat Aghelizan on the Oued-Mina : 



