14 THE HORSE. 



was three hundred pounds ; an enormous sum in that country. Ibrahim 

 went frequently to Rama to inquire after the mare ; he would embrace 

 her, — wipe her eyes with his handkerchief, — rub her with his shirt 

 sleeves, — and give her a thousand benedictions during whole hours that 

 he remained talking to her. ' My eyes !' would he say to her, ' my soul ! 

 my heart ! must I be so unfortunate as to have thee sold to so many masters 

 and not keep thee myself? I am poor, my antelope ! I brought thee up 

 in my dwelling as my child. I did never beat nor chide thee ; I caressed 

 thee in the proudest manner. God preserve thee, my beloved! thou art 

 beautiful, thou art sweet, thou art lovely ! God defend thee from envious 

 eyes !" 



Sir John Malcolm gives two anecdotes to the same purpose, but of a 

 more amusing nature. 



" When the envoy, returning from his former mission, was encamped 

 near Bagdad, an Arab rode a bright bay mare of extraordinary shape and 

 beauty before his tent, until he attracted his attention. On being asked if 

 he would sell her; — 'What will you give me?' was the reply: * That 

 depends upon her age ; I suppose she is past five ?' — ' Guess again,' said 

 he. ' Four V ' Look at her mouth,' said the Arab, with a smile. On 

 examination she was found to be rising three. This, from her size and 

 symmetry, greatly enhanced her value. The envoy said, ' I will give you 

 fifty tomans' (a coin nearly of the value of a pound sterling). * A little 

 more if you please,' said the fellow, apparently entertained. * Eighty. 

 A hundred.' He shook his head and smiled. The offer at last came to 

 two hundred tomans ! ' Well,' said the Arab, ' you need not tempt me 

 further ; — it is of no use. — You are a rich elchee (nobleman). You have 

 fine horses, camels, and mules, and, I am told, you have loads of silver and 

 gold. Now,' added he, * you want my mare, but you shall not have her 

 for all you have got*." 



*' An Arab sheick or chief, who lived within fifty miles of Bussorah, had 

 a favourite breed of horses. He lost one of his best mares, and could not 

 for a long while discover whether she was stolen or had strayed. Some 

 time after, a young man of a different tribe, who had long wished to marry 

 his daughter, but had always been rejected by the sheick, obtained the 

 lady's consent and eloped with her. The sheick and his followers pursued, 

 but the lover and his mistress, mounted on one horse, made a wonderfnl 

 march, and escaped. The old chief swore that the fellow was either 

 mounted upon the devil, or the favourite mare he had lost. After his return, 

 he found the latter was the case ; that the lover was the thief of his mare as 

 well as his daughter ; and that he stole the one to carry off the other. The 

 chief was quite gratified to think he had not been beaten by a mare of 

 another breed ; and was easily reconciled to the young man, in order that 

 he might recover the mare, which appeared an object about which he was 

 more solicitous than about his daughter t-" 



One of our own countrymen, the enterprising traveller, Major Denham, 

 affords us a pleasing instance of the attachment with which the docility 

 and sagacity of the horse may inspire the owner. — He thus relates the 

 death of his favourite Arabian, in one of the most desert spots of Central 

 Africa. His feelings needed no apology. We naturally honour the man 

 in whom true sensibility and \uidaunted courage, exerted for useful pur- 

 poses, were thus united. 



" There are a few situations in a man's life in which losses of this nature 



* Malcolm's Sketches of Persia, vol. i. p. 41. f ^^i^^- P- ^^' 



