SYRIAN, ALGERIAN, AND MOORISH SHOES. 217 



and incessant work sufficing to wear it off naturally as it 

 tries to get beyond the iron. The necessity for paring 

 the feet is only perceived when horses have been for a 

 long time fastened in front of the tent without doing any 

 work, or have remained long in the Tell. In such a case, 

 the Arabs simply make use of the sharp-pointed knives 

 which they are never without. This method has the 

 further advantage, that if a horse casts a shoe he can still 

 proceed on his journey, as the sole remains firm and 

 hard. ' With you,' they say, ' and with your practice of 

 paring the foot, if the horse casts a shoe you must pull up, 

 or see him bleeding, halting, and suffering.' 



In Syria, however, the hoofs are shortened, and the 

 wall pared level with the sole. The shoes are somewhat 

 circular, or pear-shaped, and riveted, welded, lapped over, 

 or left open at the heels. The annexed figures repre- 

 sent a Syrian shoe and nail (fig. 73) ; shoes and nails 

 worn in the provinces of Constantine, Oran (fig. 74), 



fig- 73 



;%• 74 



and Algeria (fig. 75) ; also a shoe from Morocco, found 

 in a Moorish farrier's tent after the battle of Isly (fig. 



