THE HORSE. 



Arabian horses. 



the pastures or stables to which he has been con- 

 signed by man ; but in those wild and extensive 

 plains where he has been originally produced, 

 where he ranges without control, and enjoys that 

 freedom bounteous nature has given him. 



In the extensive deserts of Africa, and the 

 widely spread countries that separate Tartary 

 from the more southern nations, these quadrupeds 

 are frequently seen in herds of five or six hun- 

 dred together; but Arabia is the spot where they 

 are found in the highest state of perfection. To 

 the Arabs they are as dear as their own children ; 

 and the constant intercourse resulting from living 

 in the same tent with their owner and his family, 

 occasions a familiarity that could not otherwise 

 be effected, and a tractability that only the kind- 

 est usage can induce. They are the fleetest ani- 

 mals of the desert, and are so admirably trained 

 as to stop in their most rapid course, by the 

 slightest check of the rider. Unaccustomed to 

 the spur, the least touch with the foot sets them 

 again in motion; and so obedient are they to 

 the rider's will, as to be directed in their course 

 merely by the motion of a switch. They con- 

 stitute the principal wealth of many of the Arab 

 tribes, who use them both in the chase, and in 

 their predatory expeditions. The Arab, his wife, 

 and children, always lie in the same apartment 

 with the mare and foal ; who, instead of injuring, 

 suffer the children to repose on their bodies and 

 necks without in the least incommoding them : 



