1 18 The Arabian Horse. 



numbers at a very early period of the world, and has 

 stronger claims to be entitled the primal seat of these 

 animals than any other country. His opinion is partly 

 grounded upon the extreme antiquity of the Arabs, 

 whom he regards as the most ancient people in the 

 world. Gibbon also gives Arabia the credit of being the 

 genuine and original country of the horse. ' It is a 

 climate the most propitious, not indeed to size, but 

 to the spirit of that generous animal' Niebuhr says, 

 ' Some animals appear to be originally natives of 

 Arabia, for they are not common through other regions 

 of the East ; they retain their primary instincts in a 

 higher perfection, and are more eminently distinguished 

 by strength and beauty here than elsewhere ; such are 

 the horse, the ass, and the camel.' And Mr. Gififord 

 Palgrave says the kingdom of Oman is as celebrated for 

 camels as Central Arabia for its horses. 



One would not be far wrong in assigning the ass to 

 the more northern districts ; the camel to the south- 

 eastern, and the horses to Central Arabia. 



With reference to the remark that horses were not 

 part of the plunder taken by King Saul from the Amale- 

 kites, it must be borne in mind that that people, the 

 descendants of one of the sons of Esau, of far less anti- 

 quity than the Ketanie Arabs or the Ishmaelites, 

 occupied a very small portion of Arabia, that small 

 peninsula between the gulfs of Akabah and Zuez, a 

 district not adapted to the rearing of horses, even if the 

 Amalekites were possessed of them. But because he 

 was not found among that people, is no proof he was 



