400 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARABIA. 



be present, and within seven days a notarial certificate o^ 

 its legitimacy is made out, in which is written an account of 

 the colt's distinctive marks, with the names of its sire and 

 dam. These genealogical tables, called Hujeh, never ascend 

 to the granddams, because it is understood that every Arab 

 of the tribe knows by tradition the purity of the whole breed. 

 Nor are such testimonials at all necessary in the interior of 

 the desert, where many horses are of such illustrious descent 

 that thousands can attest their nobility. A Bedouin would 

 laugh at being asked by an inhabitant of Nejed for the pedi- 

 gree of his mare ; written evidence he never thinks of pro- 

 ducing, except when attending distant markets, such as Bus- 

 sora, Bagdad, Damascus, Aleppo, Medina, or Mecca. A 

 colt, at the moment of birth, is never allowed to drop upon 

 the ground ; they receive it in their arms, and so cherish it 

 for several hours, washing and stretching its tender limbs, 

 and caressing it as they would a baby. After this they 

 place it on its legs, and w^atch its feeble steps with par- 

 ticular attention, prognosticating from that time its future 

 excellencies or defects. The ears are tied together over 

 its head with a string, that they may assume a fine pointed 

 direction ; the tail is pressed upwards, and other mea- 

 sures taken at the same time, in order that it may be 

 carried high. The only care taken of the dam is to wrap a 

 piece of linen cloth round her body, which is removed next 

 day. At the end of a month the foal is weaned, and for the 

 space of a hundred days thereafter it is permitted no other 

 food than camel's milk. "VVTien that period has elapsed it 

 receives a daily portion of wheat diluted with water. A 

 handful only is given at first ; by degrees this quantity is 

 increased ; although milk still continues to be its principal 

 food. This diet continues a hundred days more ; and when 

 this second period has expired, it is allowed to eat grass, and 

 is fed on barley ; receiving every evening, along with that 

 proA-ender, a bucket of camel's milk, should the tent happen 

 to be well supplied with it. The Nejed Arab gives his colts 

 neither barley nor wheat, but nourishes them with a paste of 

 dates and water ; and sometimes to a favourite he will give 

 the fragments or leavings of his own meals. In that province 

 horses are regularly fed upon dates ; at Deraiah and in EI 

 Hassa the dates are mixed with birsim, or dried clover. 

 The wealthier classes often give them flesh, raw as w^ell as 



