The Horse. 125 
residence than a tent, this also serves for a stable ; the 
husband, the wife, the child, the mare, and the foal, lie 
together indiscriminately, and the younger branches of 
the family may be often seen embracing the neck, or 
reposing on the body of the Mare, without any idea of 
fear or danger. 
Of the remarkable attachment which the Arabs have 
to these animals, St. Pierre has given an affecting in- 
stance in his Studies of Nature. — " The whole stock of 
a poor Arabian of the desert consisted of a beautiful 
Mare : this the French consul at Said offered to pur- 
chase, with an intention to send her to Louis XIV. 
The Arab, pressed by want, hesitated a long time, but 
at length consented, on condition of receiving a very 
considerable sum of money, which he named. The 
consul wrote to France for permission to close the 
bargain ; and having obtained it, sent the information 
to the Arab. The man, so indigent as to possess only 
a miserable covering for his body, arrived with his 
magnificent courser: he dismounted, and first looking 
at the gold, then steadfastly at his Mare, heaved a sigh, 
1 To whom is it,' exclaimed he, ' that I am going to yield 
thee up ? To Europeans ? who will tie thee close, who 
will beat thee, who will render thee miserable ! Return 
with me, my beauty, my jewel ! and rejoice the hearts of 
my children :' as he pronounced the last words, he sprung 
upon her back, and was out of sight almost in a moment." 
The intelligence of the Horse is next to that of the 
elephant, and he obeys his rider with so much punctuality 
and understanding, that the Americans, who had never 
seen a man on horseback, thought, at first, that the 
Spaniards were a kind of tentaurs, half men and half 
horses. The Horse, in a domestic state seldom lives 
longer than twenty years ; but it is supposed that in a 
wild state he attains a much greater age. The Mare is 
as elegant in her shape as the Horse ; and her young is 
called a foal. The age of the Horse is known from 
his teeth ; and his colour, which varies from black to 
white, and from the darkest brown to a light hazel tint, 
has been reckoned a criterion by which to judge of his 
strength. 
