THE HOESE AND ITS DISEASES. . 13 



rising thi^ee ; this, from her size and symmetry, greatly 

 enhanced her value. The envoy said, *' I will give thee 

 fifty tomas" (a coin nearly of the value of a pound), " a 

 little more" said the Aarab, *4f you please ;" ''eighty" — 

 ' ' a hundred." The Arab shook his head and smiled. The 

 offer at length increased to two hundi-ed tomas ; " well," 

 said the Arab, "you need not tempt me any further," 

 " it is of no use." " You are a rich elche" (nobleman) 

 "you have fine horses, camels, and mules, and loads 

 of silver and gold." " I^ow," added he, " you want my 

 mare, but you shall not have her for all you are worth." 

 An Arab and his tribe had attacked in the desert, the 

 Damascus caravan ; the victory was complete, and the 

 Arabs were already busy in packing up their rich booty, 

 when the cavalry of the Pacha of Acre, who had started 

 to meet this caravan, suddenly poured down upon the 

 victorious Arabs, killed a great number, and captured 

 some prisoners, and having bound them with ropes, they 

 led them to Acre, in order to present them to the Pacha. 

 Abow-el-!Marsch, the leader of the party of plundering 

 Arabs, had received a ball in his arm during the sker- 

 mish ; the wound not being mortal, the Turks tied him 

 on a camel, and took possession of his charger, and led 

 away both the horse and his rider. The night previous 

 to the day they were to enter Acre, they encamped with 

 their prisoners in the mountains of Saphadt. The 

 wounded Arab had his legs tied together with a thong 

 of leather, and was streatched near the tent where the 

 Turks were sleeping. During the night the pain of his 

 wound kept him awake, and he heard his own horse 

 neigh amongst those of the Turks, which, according to 

 oriental custom, were shackled together around the tent. 

 He recognized his horse's voice, and could not resist the 

 desire he felt to speak once more to the companion of his 

 life. He dragged himself painfully along the ground, 

 by the aid of his hands and knees, and at length managed 

 to reach his courser, saying, "my poor friend, what will 

 you do among the Turks ? thou wilt be imprisoned 



