THE ARABIAN 407 



during the campaign of Egypt : — '' In the name of God, 

 the merciful and compassionate, and of Seed Mo- 

 hammed, agent of the high God, and of the com- 

 panions of Mohammed, and of Jerusalem ! Praised be 

 the Lord, the Omnipotent Creator ! This is a high- 

 bred horse, and its colt's tooth is here in a bag about 

 his neck, with his pedigree, and of undoubted 

 authority, such as no infidel can refuse to believe. 

 He is the son of Rabbamy, out of the dam Lahadha, 

 and equal in power to his sire — of the tribe of 

 Zazhalah. He is finely moulded, and made for 

 running like an ostrich, and great in his stroke and 

 his cover. In the honours of relationship, Zaluah 

 reckons Lalaack, sire of Mahat, sire of Kallack, and 

 the unique Alket, sire of Manasseth, sire of Alsheh, 

 father of the race down to the famous horse, the sire of 

 Lahalala ; — and to him be ever abundance of green 

 meat and corn, and water of life, as a reward from the 

 tribe of Zazhalah, for the fire of his cover ; and many 

 a thousand branches shade his carcass, from the 

 hyaena of the tomb, from the howling wolf of the 

 desert ; and let the tribe of Zazhalah present him with 

 a festival within an enclosure of walls, and let thou- 

 sands assemble at the rising of the sun, in troops, 

 hastily, where the tribe holds up under a canopy of 

 celestial signs within the walls ; the saddle, with the 

 name and family of the possessors. Then let them 

 strike the hands with a loud noise incessantly and 

 pray to God for immunity for the tribe of Zoab, the 

 inspired tribe." 



The Arabs have a breed of horses which they pre- 

 tend is descended from the stud of King Solomon ; 

 but this, of course, is not the case ; at all events, 

 exceedingly unlikely. 



The Persian, Tartar, and Turkish horses are all 



