THE PERSIAN HORSE. 41 



hesitate to travel any distance. The preceding has already inti- 

 mated to you my conclusion, that the sire has more to do with the 

 foal than the dam. And my conclusion is identical with the uni- 

 versal opinion of the Arabs. They say, El lior ilebal el fahal — 

 'The foal follows the sire.' " 



In corroboration of this opinion, he describes the Arab horses 

 as distinguished under the following heads : — " El Horr, El Had- 

 jim, El Mekueref, and El Berdoune. El Horr is that in which 

 sire and dam are both of noble race ; that takes the lead. El 

 Hadjim is that in which the sire is noble and the dam of common 

 race ; it is considered less than El Horr. its name Hadjim, ' defec- 

 tive,' being derived from the word ' Hureljiss,' which signifies 

 faulty. El Mekueref is that in which the dam is high bred and 

 the sire is half bred ; although this approaches the Hadjim, it is 

 of much less value. The name of this class is derived from ' haraf,' 

 mixed. El Hadjim is superior in quality on the same principle 

 that a man whose father is white and whose mother is a negress is 

 superior to him whose mother is white and whose father is a negro. 

 El Berdoune is that class in which both sire and dam are badly 

 bred. This animal is a stranger to our country. The value of a 

 horse is in its breeding." 



THE PERSIAN HORSE. 



Sir John Malcolm and Sir Robert Ker Porter, both of whom 

 resided many years in Persia, are the chief authorities on this 

 subject. The former says : — " A variety of horses are produced 

 in Persia. The inhabitants of the districts which border on the 

 Gulf still preserve here those races of animals which their ances- 

 tors brought from the opposite shore of Arabia. In Fars and Irak 

 they have a mixed breed from the Arabian, which though stronger 

 is still a small horse compared with either the Toorkoman or Kho- 

 rassan breed, which are most prized by the soldiers of Persia. 

 Both these latter races have also a great proportion of Arabian 

 blood." Sir Robert thus alludes to them : — " The Persian horses 

 never exceed fourteen or fourteen and a half hands high ; yet 

 certainly on the whole they are taller than Arabs. Those of the 

 Desert and country about Hillah seem very small, but are full of 

 bone, and of good speed. General custom feeds and waters them 

 only at sunrise and sunset, when they are cleaned. Their usual 

 provender is barley and chopped straw, which, if the animals are 

 picketed, is put into a nosebag and hung from their heads; but if 

 stabled, it is thrown into a lozenge-shaped hole, left in the thick- 

 ness of the mud wall for that purpose, but much higher up than 

 the line of our mangers, and then the animal eats at his leisure. 

 Hay is a kind of food not known here. The bedding of the horse 

 consists of his dung. After being exposed to the drying influence 

 4 * 



