2 66 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [en. xxvnr. 



was the first distinction made by the Bedouins 

 among their horses. 



Tlie Benat-el-Ahwaj, or Aluvaj, as it is more 

 commonly called, may therefore be considered the 

 oldest breed known. I have never heard of it in 

 the Arabian deserts, but the Emir assures me that 

 it exists under that name in the Sahara ; and that 

 the breeds now recomised in Arabia are but ramifi- 

 cations of this original stock. 



It is difficult to give more than a guess as to the 

 antiquity of the names now in use. The five 

 breeds known as the Kliamsa are not possessed by 

 tlie tribes of Northern Africa ; and it is therefore 

 probable, that at the time of the first Arabian con- 

 quests (in the 7tli and 8th centuries of our era), 

 they had not yet Ijecome distinguished from the 

 general stock. The Emir, however, does not doubt 

 of their extreme antiquity, and I think it is cer- 

 tain that the Kehilans must have been contem- 

 porary with Mahomet ; for a breed called Koklani 

 exists in Persia, and we may fairly suppose it 

 to have been brought there by the early Arabian 

 invaders. It has not, however, been kept pure in 

 Persia. 



The Kehilans, then, we may presume, were an 

 early sub-breed of the Ahwaj, receiving their name 

 from the black marks certain Arabian horses have 

 round their eyes ; marks which give them the 

 appearance of being painted with kohl, after the 

 fashion of the Arab women. Or, indeed, " Kehilan " 



