38 THE ARABIAN HORSE. 



four or five miles an hour, and a half running canter ; for only 

 when pursued does a Bedouin put his horse to full speed. It is 

 the distance they will travel in emergency, the weight they 

 will carry, and the comparative trifle of food they require, 

 which renders the Arabian horse so valuable, especially so to the 

 Arabs, in their land of stony mountains and sandy deserts. 



The rocky mountains and sunny valleys that temper the 

 dry air of the deserts are supposed to have an influence upon 

 the quality of bone and muscle, giving sound feet and legs to 

 stand great speed and endurance. The Arabian horse, as im- 

 proved and perfected by this first great artist in that line, Ma- 

 homet, at the time of his death, was justly considered the primi- 

 tive blood horse and the type horse of the world. There are in 

 Arabia to-day, according to Ali Bey (an Arabian writer, Avho 

 has had opportunities beyond the reach of ordinary writers), six 

 distinct breeds of Arabs. 



" The first," he says, " named the Dgelfe, is found in Arabia 

 Felix ; they are rare in Damascus but pretty common in the 

 neighborhood of Anaze. They are remarkable for speed and 

 fire, yet mild as lambs ; they support hunger and thirst for a 

 long time, and are of lofty stature, etc. A colt of this breed, at 

 two years old, will cost in his own country 2,000 piasters. 



" The second breed, called ' Seclaoni,' comes from the eastern 

 part of the desert and resembles the Dgelfe of Anaze in 

 appearance, but is not quite so highly valued. 



" Next comes the ' Mefki,' handsome, but not so swift as the 

 two former-named breeds, and more resembling the Andalusian 

 in figure. They are very common about Damascus. 



" Then the ' Sabi ' resembles the Mefki ; and the fifth breed, 

 called ' Fridi,' is very common but it is necessary to try them 

 well for they are often vicious and do not possess the excellent 

 qualities of the other breeds. 



" Sixth, comes 'ISTejdi,' from the neighborhood of Bussorah, 

 and if they do not surpass they at least equal the Dgelfe of 

 Anaze and Seclaoni. Horses of this breed are little known at 



