THE ARAB AND HIS STEED 3 



' How many books hast thou written upon the 

 horse?' asked one day of a celebrated Arab poet, 

 the vizir of Mamoun, the son of Haroun-al-Kaschid. 

 ' Only one.' Then turning to Abou-Obeida, he put 

 to him the same question. ' Fifty,' replied he. c Rise, 

 then/ said the vizir. ' Go up to that horse, and 

 repeat the name of every part of his frame, taking 

 care to point out the position of each.' e I am not a 

 veterinary surgeon,' answered Abou-Obeida. c And 

 thou? ' said the vizir to the poet. 



6 Upon that ' it is the poet himself who relates 

 the anecdote ' I rose from my seat, and taking the 

 animal by the forelock, I began to name one part 

 after another, placing my hand upon each to indicate 

 its position; and at the same time recited all the 

 poetic allusions, all the sayings and proverbs refer- 

 ring to it. When I had finished, the vizir said to 

 me, "Take the horse." I took it; and if ever I 

 wished to annoy Abou-Obeida, I rode the animal on 

 iny way to visit him.' l 



General Dauinas, from whom we have just quoted, 

 was a distinguished officer of the French army, who 

 served sixteen years in Algeria. For two years he 

 was consul at Mascara, accredited to the Emir Abd- 

 el-Kader, and afterwards for a considerable time 

 Central Director of the Arab Office of Algeria posts 

 which brought him in close contact with the native 



1 The Horses of the Sahara, by General Daumas, translated by 

 James "Button. 



B 2 



