THE HORSE. 441 



creatures, peace and prayers be with our Lord Moham- 

 med and his family and his followers until the day of 

 judgment; and peace be with all those who read this 

 writing, and understand its meaning. 



" The present deed relates to the grayish-brown colt, 

 with four white feet and a white mark on the forehead, 

 of the true breed of Saklawye, called Obey an, whose skin 

 is as bright and unsullied as milk, resembling those horses 

 of which the Prophet said, ' True riches are a noble and 

 pure breed of horses ;' and of which God said, ' The war- 

 horses, those which rushed on the enemy with full blow- 

 ing nostrils, those which plunge into the battle early in 

 the morning.' And God spoke the truth in his incom- 

 parable book. This Saklawye gray colt was bought by 

 Khoshrun, the son of Emheyt, of the tribe of Zebaa, an 

 Aeneze Arab. The sire of this colt is the excellent bay 

 horse called Merdjan, of the breed of the Koheylan ; its 

 dam is the famous white Saklawye mare known by the 

 name of Djeroua. According to what we have seen we 

 attest here, upon our hopes of felicity and upon our gir- 

 dles, O Sheiks of Wisdom and Possessors of Horses! 

 this gray colt, above mentioned, is more noble even than 

 his sire and dam. And this we attest, according to our 

 best knowledge, by this valid and perfect deed. Thanks 

 be to God, the Lord of all creatures ! Written on the 

 16th of Saphar in the year 1223 (A. n. 1808). Wit- 

 ness," &c. 



This purity of blood and descent the Bedouins are ex- 

 tremely careful to preserve uncontaminated. During 

 twenty days, at a certain season, the mare must be watch- 

 ed to secure her from the approaches of any common 

 horse, which she is not allowed to see even at a distance ; 

 for the Arabs are believers in the effects of imagination 

 on the progeny of their cattle. When the foal is pro- 

 duced the same witnesses must be present, and within 

 seven days a notarial certificate of its legitimacy is made 

 out, in which is written an account of the colt's distinc- 

 tive marks, with the names of its sire and dam. These 

 genealogical tables, called Hujeh, never ascend to the 

 granddams, because it is understood that every Arab of 

 the tribe knows by tradition the purity of the whole 

 breed. Nor are such testimonials at all necessary in the 

 interior of the desert, where many horses are of such il- 

 lustrious descent that thousands can attest their nobility. 



