THE HORSE. 445 



reckon above twenty evil indications ; but the only bad 

 effect they have on the animal is that of depreciating its 

 value by two-thirds or more. The Persian and Turkoman 

 horses, whose figures are much alike, differ from the Ara- 

 bian in this, that they are more corpulent, and their coat is 

 not so soft to the touch. It is, moreover, an opinion pretty 

 generally received in the East, that the latter are specially 

 distinguished from the others by the repugnance they evince 

 towards clear water ; whilst that which is turbid pleases 

 them to such a degree, that they never fail to prance about 

 in any that happens to come in their way. The price of 

 Arabian horses is variable, and often depends much on 

 the caprice of the buyer and seller : in Syria, it fluctuates 

 from 10 to 120. A good mare can scarcely be obtained 

 under 60 ; and even at that price it is difficult to pur- 

 chase one, as the Bedouins always prefer the females to 

 the males for riding, because they are not accustomed to 

 neigh, and thus expose them in their ambuscades to the 

 risk of detection. For a celebrated mare a sheik has been 

 known to pay 200 ; sometimes the price has amounted to 

 500, and even to 800. The favourite mare of Saoud, 

 named Koraye, which he constantly rode on his expedi- 

 tions, was purchased from a Kahtan Bedouin for 1500 

 Spanish dollars. Kinneir states that 1200 was refused 

 for one at Aleppo. At Bussora, where they form an im- 

 portant article of trade with India, the average price is 

 about 300 rupees, though the cost is thrice, or even five 

 times as much at Bombay or Calcutta. Over all Arabia, 

 as also in Egypt and Syria, horses are possessed by several 

 owners in partnership : each is divided into a number of 

 shares (kerat), of which several may be purchased by a 

 single individual. If an Aeneze has a mare of remarkable 

 breed, he seldom or never consents to sell her without reserv- 

 ing one-half or two-thirds for himself. The ownership of 

 the progeny is regulated by special compact : the fillies of 

 the first or second years belong to the seller ; those of the 

 subsequent years become the property of the buyer. This 

 contract is called " selling the mare's belly ;" and in this 

 manner most of the Arabian breeders are held in joint 

 property. Sometimes the dam and her offspring are dis- 

 posed of in equal shares, or on condition that the booty 

 shall be equally divided between the original owner and 

 the man who rides her. As the Bedouins are ignorant of 

 those frauds by which a European jockey deceives his 



VOL. II. 2 E 



