ANIMALS. 479 



as to flap against tiie liors.s' sides as they move, and thus to spur 

 them forward. They are set to run in a kind of railed walk, 

 about a mile long, out of which they never attempt to escape ; 

 but when they once set forward, they never stop, although the 

 walk from one end to the other is covered with a crowd of 

 spectators, which opens and gives way as the horses approach. 

 Our horses would scarcely, in this manner, face a crowd, and 

 continue their speed without a rider, through the midst of a 

 multitude ; and indeed it is a little surprising how in such a 

 place the horses find their own way. However, what our Eng- 

 lish horses may want in sagacity, they make up by their swift- 

 ness ; and it has been found upon computation, that their speed 

 is nearly one-fourth greater, even carrying a rider, than that of 

 the swiftest Barb without one. 



The Arabian breed has been diffused into Egypt as well as 

 Barbary, and into Persia also ; where as we are told by Marcus 

 Paulus, there are studs of ten thousand white mares all together 

 very fleet, and with the hoof so hard that shoeing is unnecessary.* 

 In these countries, they in general give their horses the same treat- 

 ment that they give in Arabia, except that they litter them upon a bed 

 of their own dung, dried in the sun, and then reduced to powder. 



« Persia, from the remotest 8^63, has been famous for iU horses ; acd at 

 the present day they are excelled only by the Arabian breed. The former 

 were, however in high estimation long before the latter existed. They were 

 the best cavalry in ancient times, amongst all the eastern nations. We are 

 informed by historians that Alexander the Great considered a Persian horse 

 as a gift of the highest value ; it was one which he only bestowed on po- 

 tentates, and favourites of the first class. Sir John Malcolm says,—" A va- 

 riety of horses are produced in Persia. The inhabitants of the districts 

 which border on the Gulf, still preserve pure those races of animals, which 

 their ancestors brought from the opposite shore of Arabfa. In Fars and Irak, 

 they have a mixed breed from the Arabian, which, though stronger, is still a 

 small horse, compared with either the Toorkoman or Khorassan breed, 

 which are most prized by the soldiers of Persia. Both these latter races have 

 also a great proportion of Arabian blood. The price of horses in Persia varies 

 extremely. The common horse is always to be purchased for from fifteen to 

 forty pounds ; fine horses, particul^irly of the Toorkoman or Khorassan 

 breed, are, in general, very dear ; a hundred pounds is a common price, and 

 sometimes a much larger sum is paid. They are often valued more from 

 their breed than their appearance." In some points the Persian horse excels 

 the Arabian. The head is nearly as beautiful, the crupper superior, and the 

 whole frame more developed : the neck is beautifully arched ; and the ani. 

 mat possesses much fire. They are about equal in speed ; but the Arabian 

 In capable of longer endurance. 



