394 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARABIA. 



it performs with great rapidity, assisted by its long muscular 

 tail. It is this peculiarity which induced naturalists to give 

 tliis species the name of Mus joculus, or flying mouse. The 

 flesh is eaten by the Arabs, and its taste is said to be very 

 little different from that of a young rabbit. 



Domestic Animals. — The Arabs rear in abundance all the 

 domestic animals common to hot countries. They breed 

 horses, mules, asses, camels, dromedaries, cows, buffaloes, 

 hogs, sheep, and goats.* Their cows and oxen are distin- 

 guished by a hump or bunch of fat on the shoulder, imme- 

 diately above the fore-legs. Those in Hejaz are described by 

 Burckhardt as small, but of a stout bony make ; they have 

 for the most part only short stumps of horns, and bore a 

 strong resemblance to those he had seen on the banks of the 

 Nile in Nubia. Of the instinct ascribed to these animals, of 

 forming into circular bodies to defend themselves against 

 beasts of prey, Niebuhr could obtain no information, nor did 

 he think the story probable. Buffaloes are found in all 

 marshy parts of the country and on the banks of the rivers, 

 where they are more numerous than the common horned 

 cattle. The male is as fit for the yoke as the ox ; his flesh 

 is inferior, being hard and unsavoury ; but when young, it 

 has much the taste and appearance of beef. The female 

 yields more milk than the ordinar}' cow. The Arabs have a 

 mode of forcing her to peld more than she would do vohm- 

 tarily : while one person milks, another tickles her ; a custom 

 which the ancient Scythians practised with their mares. 



Asses. — There are two sorts of asses in Arabia, — one 

 small and sluggish, which is there as little esteemed as in 

 Europe ; the other a large and noble-spirited breed, which 

 sells at a high price. Niebuhr thought them preferable to a 

 horse for a journey, and reckoned their progress in half an 

 hour equal to 3500 paces of a man. In Yemen, the soldiers 

 use them on patrol, as well as in every military service in 

 which parade is not an object ; the pilgrims employ them in 

 considerable numbers ; and Ali Bey mentions, that they 

 sometimes travel the distance from Jidda to Mecca (fifty-five 

 miles) in twelve hours. In various parts of the country these 



* Strabo must have been misinformed when he excepted 

 mules, horses, and hogs ; as also geese and hens. " In Arabia 

 pecorum, omnis generis copia, exceptis mulis, equis,.et porcis ; 

 avium etiam omnium prseter anseres et gallinas." — Lib. xvi/ 



