478 HISTOXIY OF 



degenerate ; but there the same blood has passed down through 

 a long succession, without any diminution either of force or 

 beauty. 



The race of Arabian horses has spread itself into Barbary, 

 among the Moors,* and has even extended across that exten- 

 sive continent to the western shores of Africa. Among the 

 negroes of Gambia and Senegal, the chiefs of the countrj 

 are possessed of horses, which, though little, are very beautiful, 

 and extremely manageable. Instead of barley, they are fed in 

 those countries with maise bruised and reduced into meal, and 

 mixed up with milk when they design to fatten them. These 

 are considered as next to the Arabian horses, both for swiftness 

 and beauty; but they are still rather smaller than the former. The 

 Italians have a peculiar sport, in which horses of this breed run 

 against each ether. They have no riders, but saddles so formed 



* The present horses of Morocco are a race nearly allied to the Arabian, 

 and have been produced by a cross «ith those of Algiers, wliich are supposed 

 to have had their origin in a south European breed, crossed with the Arabian. 

 They are somewhat larger than the Arabian, with fine heads and crests, and, 

 in general, well formed about tlie shoulder, str;iif;ht back*, and droop con- 

 si<5erably towards tlie haunches. They are exceedingly .-.wift. As none of 

 them are geldings, tliey are possessed of great spirit, and are naturally fiery 

 in their dispositions. The forehead of the Barb is generally long and slender, 

 and his mane rather scanty ; his ears are small, beautifully shaped, and placed 

 in such a manner as to give him great expression ; his shoulders are light, 

 Hat, and sloping backwards ; withers fine, and standing high ; loins short 

 and straight ; flanks and ribs round and full, without giving him too large a 

 belly; his haunches strong and elastic; the croup i« sometimes long to a 

 ' fault ; the tail is placed high ; thighs well turned and rounded ; legs clean, 

 beautifully formed, and the hair thin, short, and silky ; the tendons are de. 

 tached from the bone ; but the pasterns are often too long, and bending ; the 

 feet rather small, but in general sound. The Moors being still unacquainted 

 with the use of the ring, are, therefore, obliged to commence breaking their 

 horses when very young, by taking them long and fatiguing journeys, moro 

 especially over the mountainous and rocky parts of the country, in which 

 tliey soim reduce their natural ardour. They next teach them to rear ur>, 

 stand fire, gallop, and stop short, almost instantaneously; and having ob. 

 tained these, they are satisfied, without any farther quallRcation. For this 

 reason, a Barbary horse seldom can perform any other pace than a gallop, or 

 a walk ; and from being broken in, and worked hard, before they have ar- 

 rived at their full strength, these horses, in a very few years, become unfit 

 for service. The Moors seldom ride mares, but keep them in the country for 

 breeding ; and, like other eastern nations, contrary to the general opinion in 

 lOuropc, they consiLiei- them so much more valuable thau horses, that they 

 are never permitted to be exported. 



