THE ARAB AND THE BARB. 



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but not, except in one day of trial, cruel exercise." The attachment an Arab feels for his Horse is pro 

 verbal, cases having been recorded of a devotion so deep that the owner prefers ahnost to starve rather 

 than part with his Horse. The following anecdote is an instance : The whole stock of an Arab of 

 the desert consisted of a mare. The French Consul offered to purchase her, in order to send her to 

 his Sovereign, Louis XIV. The Arab would have rejected the proposal, but he was miserably poor 

 he had scarcely a rag to cover him, and his wife and children were starving. The sum offered was" 

 great ; it would provide him and his family with food for life. At length, and reluctantly, he yielded. 

 He brought the mare to the dwelling of the consul, dismounted, and stood leaning upon her; he looked 



ARAIi HORSE. 



\ow at the gold, and then at his favourite. ' To whom is it,' said he, ' I am going to yield thee up 1 

 To Europeans, who will tie thee close ; who will beat thee ; who will render thee miserable. Return 

 rith me, my beauty, my jewel, and rejoice the hearts of my children !' As he pronounced the last 

 rords, he sprang upon her back, and was presently out of sight." 



The Barb is found throughout the North of Africa, from the Mediterranean to the Sahara desert, 

 and has obviously been introduced by the Moors. It io to the Barb that the principal excellence of 

 the Spanish Horse is due ; and to this Horse, as well as to the Arab, may be assigned a large share in 

 producing the English Hunter and Racer. All English thoroughbreds are descended from one or 

 other of these. 



The Persian Horse is closely allied to the Arab, and possesses great powers of endurance. The 

 distance marked for a race, which Sir R. K. Porter saw, was no less than four-and-twenty miles. 

 In some points, according to Youatt, the Persian Horse excels the Arabian. 



WILD HORSES IN AMERICA. At the time of the discovery of America there were no Horses in 



