ARAB AND BARB HORSES 21 



tained by Saladin in his domestic wars, and were 

 used also in his contests with the faith-breaking 

 crusaders who vainly tried to destroy the Moslem 

 rule and obtain perpetual possession of Jerusa- 

 lem. From the earliest times it has been a mooted 

 point as to which was the superior, the Berber or 

 the Nejdee. Among the Europeans who have 

 lived much in Egypt this is still a disputed mat- 

 ter, and when Count de Lesseps was a young 

 man he endeavored to decide the question by a 

 series of races at 4^ kilometers (about 2t miles). 

 Other horses, however, were admitted. In the 

 first heat there were three Nejdee horses all bred 

 in Cairo — -the purity of the blood being open to 

 suspicion — and one Syrian horse. A Cairo-bred 

 Nejdee was the winner. In the second heat there 

 were three Nejdee horses, one bred in Cairo, and 

 one Barbary horse from Tunis owned and ridden 

 by Count de Lesseps himself. The Barb won. In 

 the third heat there were three Nejdee horses, 

 one of them ridden by de Lesseps, and one Sa- 

 mean horse. A Cairo-bred Nejdee horse won. In 

 the fourth heat there were three Nejdee horses 

 and one Egyptian horse from Abfeh. A Nejdee 



