COMMON HORSE. 323 
Thessaly; a country? bordering * on Thrace. The 
fable of the Centaurs is well known. From every 
fact that antient authors have preserved, or mo- 
dern travellers relate concerning the horse in a wild 
state, this species of animals appear to have been 
destined by nature for inhabitants, not merely of 
one or two different tracts of country, but of a 
considerable part of the globe. An animal so 
useful and so friendly to man, is happily qualified 
to be his servant and companion in many varieties 
of climate, and through a great diversity of lo&al 
circumstances. : 
But of all countries in the world, where the 
horse runs wild, Arabia produces the most beau- 
tiful breed, the most generous, swift, and perse- 
vering, They are said to be found, though not 
in great numbers, in the deserts of that coun- 
try ; and the natives use every stratagenC to take 
them. Although they are active and^fceautiful, 
yet they are not so large as those that are bred up 
tame ; they are of a brown colour, their mane and 
tail very short, and the hair blacl| and tufted. 
Their swiftness is incredible ; the attempt to pur- 
sue them in the usual manner of; the chase, with 
dogs, would be entirely fruitless. Such is the 
rapidity of their flights t hat .. they are instantly out 
of view, and the dogs themselves give up the vain 
pursuit. The only method, therefore, of taking 
them is by traps, hidden in the sand, which en- 
tangling their feet, the hunter at length comes 
up r and either kills them or carries them home 
alive. If the horse be young, he is considered 
among the Arabians as a very great delicacy ; and 
they feast upon him while any part is found, re- 
maining ; but if, from his shape or vigour, he 
promises to be serviceable in his more noble capa- 
city; they take the usual methods of faming him; 
