266 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
scription was written. Out of his two interesting 
volumes} this passage alone has survived : — 
“ Remarkably full in the haunches, with a shoulder 
of a slope so elegant as to make one, in the words of 
an Arab poet, ‘go raving mad about it’; a little, a 
very little saddle-backed, just the curve which indi- 
cates springiness without any weakness; a head broad 
above, and tapering down to a nose fine enough to 
verify the phrase of ‘drinking from a pint pot’; .. . 
a most intelligent and yet a singularly gentle look; 
“full eye; sharp, thornlike little ears; legs, fore and 
hind, that seemed as if made of hammered iron, so 
clean and yet so well twisted with sinew; a neat, 
round hoof, just the requisite for hard ground; the 
tail set on, or rather thrown out, at a perfect arch; 
coat smooth, shining, and light; the mane long, but 
not overgrown nor heavy; and an air and step that 
seemed to say, ‘Look at me, am I not pretty?’ — 
their appearance justified all reputation, all value, all 
poetry. The prevaling color was chestnut or gray. 
A light bay, an iron color, white or black, were less 
common. ... But if asked what are, after all, the 
specially distinctive points of the Nejdee horse, I 
should reply, the slope of the shoulder, the extreme 
cleanness of the shank, and the full, rounded haunch, 
though every other part too has a perfection and a 
harmony unwitnessed (at least by my eyes) anywhere 
else.” 
And yet Mr. Blunt says of this same stud: “Of 
all the mares in the prince’s stable, I do not think 
more than three or four could show with advantage 
among the Gomussa.” He admits, however, that 
1 “ Central and Eastern Arabia.” 
