22 THE HORSE IN AMERICA 



horse was the winner. Then came the final heat 

 between the winners of the trial heats. The result 

 was that the de Lesseps Barbary horse was first, 

 a Cairo-bred Nejdee horse was second, and Nej- 

 dee horses third and fourth. 



This trial was cited by General Daumas as evi- 

 dence that at least the Barb was not inferior to 

 the Nejdee in fleetness. It only indicates to me 

 that Count de Lesseps was the shrewder of the 

 contestants and had selected the best individual 

 animal among the sixteen competitors. However, 

 the Emir Abd-El-Kader believed in the superior- 

 ity of the Barbs, and as an instance of this, quot- 

 ed the practice of Aamrou-El-Kais, an ancient 

 King of Arabia, who " took infinite pains to secure 

 Barbary horses wherewith to combat his enemies^ 

 He was doubtful of success if obliged to trust 

 himself to Arab horses. It is not possible, in my 

 opinion, to give a more invincible proof of the su- 

 periority of the Barb." This illustration may 

 have been convincing to the learned Musselman, 

 but to-day we should want, I think, a more mod- 

 ern instance to be satisfied; and we should want 

 to know more of the individuals in the de Les- 



