50 THE HORSE. 



a man approaches them while they are feeding by day, 

 this sentinel walks boldly near him as if to examine his 

 strength, or to intimidate him from proceeding ; but if the 

 man appears within pistol-shot the sentinel then thinks it 

 high time to alarm his fellows : this he does by a loud kind 

 of snorting, upon which they all take the signal, and fly off 

 with the speed of the wind ; their faithful sentinel bringing 

 up the rear. 



There is scarcely an Arabian, how poor soever in other 

 respects, but is possessed of his Horse, which he considers 

 as an invaluable treasure ; and having no other dwelling 

 but a tent, himself, his horse, and family, live upon the 

 most equal terms. The Arabs never beat their horses ; 

 they speak to, and seem to hold friendly intercourse with 

 them. We have been particularly struck with the affec- 

 tionate regard displayed by one of these people in the 

 following anecdote : 



" The whole stock of a poor Arabian of the desert 

 consisted of a beautiful mare : this the French consul at 

 Said offered to purchase, with an intention to send her to 

 Louis XIV. The Arab, pressed by want, hesitated a long 

 time, but at length consented on stipulating for a considera- 

 ble sum of money, which he named. The consul wrote to 

 France for permission to close the bargain, and having 

 obtained it, immediately sent information thereof to the 

 Arab. The man, so poor as to possess only a miserable 

 covering for his body, arrived with his magnificent courser. 

 He dismounted, and, looking first at the gold and then 

 stedfastly at his mare, heaved a deep sigh : ' To whom 

 (he exclaimed) am 1 going to yield thee up ? To Euro- 

 peans ! who will tie thee close, who will beat you, who 

 will render thee miserable ! Return with me, my beauty ! 

 my jewel ! and rejoice the hearts of me and my children.' 

 As he pronounced the last words, he sprang upon her 

 back, and was out of sight almost in an instant." 



"What an amiablfe and affecting sensibility in an untutored 

 Arab! 



As a counterpart to the above, we shall here introduce 

 an account of a recent occurrence equally replete with 

 sentiment and humanity : During a campaign in the 

 peninsula of Spain, while our troops were under the 

 command of that brave and lamented officer, the late 

 General Sir John Moore, there was, among the regiments 

 of cavalry there, a man named Ford, who, having seen a 

 great deal of service in that country, had conceived a 

 particular degree of regard for the honest animal that had 



