26o Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [en. xxvnr. 



merits of their mares can hardly be guessed at in 

 the fantasias where they figure. Even in war it 

 is rather a question of endurance, than of speed, 

 Avhich is the better animal ; and, where a real 

 flight and a real pursuit takes place, the course is 

 so seldom a straight one, that it is as often that 

 the best trained or the best ridden mare gets the 

 advantage, as the one which really has the speed. 

 A mare, celebrated for speed in the desert, is as 

 often as not merely a very well-broken charger. 

 The Bedouins have, moreover, no idea, even if 

 they had the intention, of riding their horses so as 

 to give them full advantage of their stride. They 

 must be very hard pressed indeed, if they keep on 

 at a steady gallop for more than a mile or two 

 together. Their parties and expeditions, even where 

 haste is necessary, are constantly interrupted by 

 halts and dismountings ; and a steady pace all day 

 long is a thing not to be thought of. They go, 

 however, immense distances in this way, cantering 

 and stoj)ping and cantering again, and are out 

 sometimes for a whole month together, during which 

 time their mares are very insufficiently fed, and 

 often kept for days at a time without water. They 

 are also exj)osed to every hardship in the way of 

 climate, heat, and cold, and pitiless wind. The 

 mares then, depend rather on stoutness and long 

 endurance of privations, than on speed, for finding 

 favour with their masters. 



The education they receive, no doubt, prej)ares 



