THE ARABIAN, 
431 
be seen prattling with and climbing over the bodies, and 
Banging round the necks of the docile creatures, who in 
their turn will frequently repose with their heads inclining 
on some one of the family. Whipping, by an Arab, is con¬ 
sidered the greatest cruelty to horses, and it is by gentle 
measures alone that he secures the willing service and 
affection of his steed. Their friendship is mutual; for if 
the rider falls, although in the most rapid career, the horse 
instantly turns round, and halts till remounted by his 
master. 
The Arab will never sell a mare on any consideration 
whatever. The genealogies are always recorded from the 
dams. In the pedigree of their steeds they are more par¬ 
ticular than any other people on earth; it is an undoubted 
fact that they have pedigrees among them of not less than 
five hundred years. In this respect they look upon it as of 
more importance than that of their chiefs. Among the 
great dealers, they pride themselves upon being rigidly 
strict, and are more to be depended on than many of those 
of Europe in the pedigree of the horses they offer for sale. 
Weston, in his “Fragments of Oriental Literature/' gives the 
following pedigree, which was hung about the neck of an 
Arabian, purchased by Colonel Ainslie during the campaign 
of Egypt :—“ In the name of God, the merciful and com¬ 
passionate, and of Seed Mohammed, agent of the high God, 
and of the companions of Mohammed, and of Jerusalem! 
Praised be the Lord, the Omnipotent Creator! This is a 
high-bred horse, and its colt's tooth is here in a bag about 
his neck, with his pedigree, and of undoubted authority, 
such as no infidel can refuse to believe. He is the son of 
Rabbamy, out of the dam Lahadha, and equal in power to 
his sire—of the tribe of Zazhalah. He is finely moulded, 
and made for running like an ostrich, and great in hi? 
