THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 179 



of the mouth. The Bedouins, on the contrary, never 

 use anything more severe than a snaffle. One of the 

 most precious qualities of the Turkman horse, accord- 

 ing to some amateurs, is, the admirable instinct with 

 which it seconds its rider in the fight, and itself takes 

 an active part against the foe. 



Stevens, in his travels in Egypt, describes a curious 

 scene, highly characteristic of the Turk, and his eques- 

 trian sports : 



" It was an excessively hot day," he says ; " you, 

 who were hovering over your coal fires, or moving 

 about wrapped in cloaks or greatcoats, can hardly 

 believe that on the 20th of January the Arabs were 

 refreshing their heated bodies by a bath in the Nile, 

 and that I was lying under my tent actually panting 

 for breath. I had plenty to occupy me, but the heat 

 was too intense ; the sun seemed to scorch the brain, 

 while the sands blistered the feet. I think it was the 

 hottest day I experienced on the Nile. 



" While leaning on my elbow looking out of the 

 door of my tent towards the temple of Luxor, I saw 

 a large body of Arabs, on foot, on dromedaries, and 

 on horseback, coming down towards the river. They 

 came about half-way across the sandy plain between 

 the temple and the river, and stopped nearly opposite 

 to my tent, so as to give me a full view of all their 

 movements. The slaves and pipe-bearers immediate- 

 ly spread mats on the sand, on which the principal 



