ii6 The Arabian Horse. 



through one family of whom all nations are blessed, 

 were separate from those who were at Babel ; and as 

 Eber, the great-grandson of Shem, was the father of 

 two great families — the Hebrews and the ancient 

 Arabians — it is possible that, as to the former family 

 was confided the care of the knowledge of the true and 

 only God, so might the charge of man's most valued 

 servant be committed to the other family. I speak this 

 with all reverence. That the language of Shem's family, 

 or a considerable portion of it, was not changed or con- 

 founded, is probable, from the fact that the language of 

 his descendants, the Hebrews and Arabians, is very 

 similar, even at the present day. Of course the lan- 

 guage of Ishmael was identical with Abraham's, and, 

 being the same, or nearly so, with the descendants of 

 Joktan, which had probably become only slightly modi- 

 fied by time, was one of the reasons which rendered his 

 fusion with the ancient Arabians the more easy. 



Against the views I hold, it has constantly been urged 

 as a proof that Egypt is the original country of the 

 horse, that the first direct mention of the horse in Scrip- 

 ture is of his being in that country. This cannot, I 

 think, be taken as a proof that Egypt was the original 

 country of the horse after the Flood, or that the horse was 

 not in Arabia before the time when he is first mentioned 

 in Scripture. If so, it would show that the horse was 

 not in any other part of the Avorld, and that he was first 

 known and heard of some time between Abraham's visit 

 to Egypt and Joseph's sojourn there. The Scriptures 

 do not give the history of animals, although much valua- 



