ADDRESSES 219 



life, women play a conspicuous part, that, in fact, of pre- 

 paring, by their gentleness, vigilance, and unceasing atten- 

 tion, the solidarity that ought to exist between the man and 

 the animal. A sustained education, daily contact with man, 

 that is their grand secret; it is that which makes the 

 Arab horse what he is, an object worthy of our unexcep- 

 tional admiration. No wonder the Arab poets sing, with the 

 metaphor and hyperbole peculiar to that glowing clime: 

 "Say not it is my horse; say it is my son. He outstrips the 

 flash in the pan, or the glance of the eye. His eye-sight is so 

 good that he can distinguish a black hair in the night-time. 

 In the day of battle he delights in the whistling of the balls. 

 He overtakes the gazelle. He says to the eagle, 'Come 

 down, or I will ascend to thee.' When he hears the voice 

 of the maidens, he neighs with joy. When he gallops, he 

 plucks out the tear from the eye. He is so light he could 

 dance on the bosom of thy mistress without bruising it. He 

 is a thorough-bred, the very head of horses. No one has ever 

 possessed his equal. I depend on him as my own heart." 



The famous Arab chieftain, Abd-el-Kadr, who for so many 

 years gloriously resisted French aggression in northern 

 Africa, betrayed unhappily by fortune, but saved by his- 

 tory, prepared, while languishing in confinement in France, 

 a series of maxims concerning the horse and its management, 

 that are worthy of close attention. His method of judging a 

 horse is "to measure him from the root of the mane close to 

 the withers, and descend to the end of the upper lip be- 

 tween the nostrils. Then measure from the root of the mane 

 to the end of the tail-bone, and if the fore-part is longer than 

 the hind part, there is no doubt the horse will have excellent 

 qualities. To ascertain if a young horse will grow any more, 



